1022-17 NY Times Crossword Answers 22 Oct 2017, Sunday

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Constructed by: Tracy Gray
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Selfies

Each of today’s themed answers are famous tourist spots, and each includes the hidden word “ME”. Themed clues refer to what one might post as one’s Facebook Status, ME in those tourist spots:

  • 23A. Facebook Status: “2016 Summer Olympics and a day trip to one of the new Seven Wonders of the World!” : CHRIST THE REDEEMER
  • 31A. Facebook Status: “Across the pond! And front-row seats to the Henley Royal Regatta!” : RIVER THAMES
  • 51A. Facebook Status: “Yes! Retail therapy at the largest shopping spot in the U.S.!” : MALL OF AMERICA
  • 70A. Facebook Status: “Ahhhh … Sun and surf in Cancún, Mexico! Bring on the unlimited piña coladas!” : CLUB MED
  • 86A. Facebook Status: “Hej from København! This statue turned 100 years old in 2013 but is still a beauty!” : LITTLE MERMAID
  • 106A. Facebook Status: “10-9-8-7 … Ringing in the New Year with 1,000,000 of my newest, closest friends!” : TIMES SQUARE
  • 116A. Facebook Status: “History abounds! Neo-Classical architecture surrounded by gorgeous cherry blossom trees. Next stop … the White House!” : JEFFERSON MEMORIAL
  • 16D. Facebook Status: “Vegas, baby! And who would believe I’m standing next to Beyoncé and Katy Perry!” : MADAME TUSSAUDS
  • 50D. Facebook Status: “Nosebleed seats – but home-field advantage! GO GIANTS!!!” : METLIFE STADIUM

Bill’s time: 17m 51s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4. Bei Bei and Bao Bao : PANDAS

Bei Bei and Bao Bao are two giant pandas that were born at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

10. Mike’s place : PODIUM

“Podium” (plural “podia”) is the Latin word for “raised platform”.

20. Morphine, for one : OPIATE

Opiates are the narcotic alkaloids found in the opium poppy plant, although some synthetic versions and derivatives of the same alkaloids are also called opiates. To produce opiates, the latex sap of the opium poppy is collected and processed. The naturally-occurring drugs of morphine and codeine can both be extracted from the sap. Some synthesis is required to make derivative drugs like heroin and oxycodone.

23. Facebook Status: “2016 Summer Olympics and a day trip to one of the new Seven Wonders of the World!” : CHRIST THE REDEEMER

The iconic statue of Jesus overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is known as “Cristo Redentor” (Christ the Redeemer). The statue was constructed between 1922 and 1931. It is the largest Art Deco statue in the world, as it stands at over 30 feet tall.

Even though the 2016 Olympic Games was a “summer” competition, it was held in Rio de Janeiro in winter. As Rio is in the southern hemisphere, the opening ceremony on 5th August 2016 fell in the local winter season. The 2016 games was also the first to be held in South America, and the first to be hosted by a Portuguese-speaking country.

The New7Wonders of the World is a list of seven existing monuments that were selected by a popularity poll conducted by telephone and over the Internet between 2000 and 2007. The final list is:

  • The Great Wall of China
  • Petra (Jordan)
  • The Colosseum (Rome)
  • Chichen Itza (Yucatán)
  • Machu Picchu (Cusco)
  • The Taj Mahal
  • The statue of Christ the Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro)

The Great Pyramid of Giza gets an honorary mention as the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that remains largely intact.

27. Tea party girl : ALICE

In Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, the Mad Hatter makes his first appearance in a chapter called “A Mad Tea-Party”. This event is usually described as “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party”, even though the Mad Hatter was just a guest. The host was the March Hare. In fact, the phrase “mad Hatter” doesn’t appear anywhere in Lewis Carroll’s novel, although the character, the Hatter (and sometimes “Hatta”), is described as mad.

29. Valuable china, e.g. : ARTWARE

The ceramic known as “porcelain” can be referred to as “china” or “fine china”, as porcelain was developed in China.

31. Facebook Status: “Across the pond! And front-row seats to the Henley Royal Regatta!” : RIVER THAMES

The River Thames flowing though London is the longest river entirely located in England.

The Atlantic Ocean has been referred to as “the pond” for quite a long time. The expression dates back to the 1640s.

The Henley Regatta is a rowing competition that has been held every year since 1839 on the River Thames near the town of Henley-on-Thames.

35. “King ___” (1978 hit) : TUT

Comedian Steve Martin wrote and recorded the comic song “King Tut”, and it appeared on his 1978 album “Wild and Crazy Guy”. The song was later released as a single, and made it as high as number 17 in the charts. Some of the song’s success might have been due to the fervor surrounding the exhibition of the real king’s tomb artifacts that were touring the country that year.

37. “Above” and “beyond,” e.g. : IAMBS

An iamb is a metrical foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Robert Frost’s “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” consists of lines made up of four sequential iambs e.g. “Whose woods / these are / I think / I know”. With a sequence of four iambs, the poem’s structure is described as iambic tetrameter.

38. Island ring : LEI

“Lei” is the Hawaiian word for “garland, wreath”, although in more general terms a lei is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.

40. Okapi feature : STRIPE

The okapi is closely related to the giraffe, although it does have markings on its legs and haunches that resemble those of a zebra. The okapi’s tongue is long enough to reach back and wash its eyeballs, and can go back even further to clean its ears inside and out.

43. Lily who played Ernestine : TOMLIN

Lily Tomlin is a comedian and actress who got her big break as a regular member of the cast of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” in the late sixties and early seventies. Tomlin created several great characters on the show. My personal favorite is Ernestine, the condescending telephone operator with the marvelous nasal voice and snorting laugh. Ernestine was fond of saying “One ringy dingy …” I really enjoy Tomlin’s performances as an actress, notably in the movies “9 to 5” and “All of Me”, and on the TV shows “The West Wing” and “Grace and Frankie”. I went to her stage show many years ago in San Francisco, and just did not enjoy it. I was devastated …

51. Facebook Status: “Yes! Retail therapy at the largest shopping spot in the U.S.!” : MALL OF AMERICA

The Mall of America (MoA) is a huge shopping mall located in a suburb of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The MoA receives over 40 million visitors each year since opening in 1992, and that’s more visitors than any other shopping mall on the planet.

54. Cyberaddress : URL

Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

57. Van Susteren of cable news : GRETA

I remember watching Greta Van Susteren as a legal commentator on CNN during the celebrated O. J. Simpson murder trial. She parlayed those appearances into a permanent slot as co-host of CNN’s “Burden of Proof”, before becoming host of her own show on the Fox News Channel called “On the Record”. Van Susteren parted company with Fox in 2016, and apparently that parting wasn’t a happy one. She was immediately replaced on air, without giving her a chance to bid adieu to her TV audience.

59. Campbell of “Scream” : NEVE

Neve Campbell is a Canadian actress whose big break in movies came with the “Scream” horror film series, in which she had a leading role. I don’t do horror films, so I haven’t seen any of the “Scream” movies. Nor have I seen the TV series “Party of Five” which launched the acting careers of both Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt in the nineties.

61. ___ Miguel (largest island in the Azores) : SAO

São Miguel Island is the largest in the archipelago known as the Azores.

The Azores is an archipelago of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic lying about 1,000 miles west of Portugal. The Azores are an autonomous region belonging to Portugal.

64. Sicilian erupter : ETNA

Mount Etna on the island of Sicily is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-gauge railway, and two ski resorts.

69. TV host Geist : WILLIE

Willie Geist is a co-anchor on MSNBC’s news and talk show “Morning Joe”. He also solo-anchors NBC’s Sunday edition of “Today”, known since 2016 as “Sunday Today with Willie Geist”.

70. Facebook Status: “Ahhhh … Sun and surf in Cancún, Mexico! Bring on the unlimited piña coladas!” : CLUB MED

Club Méditerranée is usually referred to as “Club Med”. It is a French company that started in 1950 with a resort on the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean. It was originally a “club” with annual membership dues. Now it is an operator of numerous all-inclusive resorts located all over the world.

Cancún is a city and island on the east coast of Mexico, on the other side of the Yucatan Channel from Cuba. The city is growing rapidly due to its booming tourist business. Cancún is the center of what’s often called “The Mexican Caribbean” or the “Mayan Riviera”.

“Piña colada” is a Spanish term which translates into “strained pineapple”. The Piña colada cocktail was introduced in the Caribe Hilton San Juan in 1954, and since 1978 it has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico. Yum …

72. Battle of the Atlantic craft : U-BOATS

U-boat stands for the German “Unterseeboot” (undersea boat). U-boats were primarily used in WWII to enforce a blockade against enemy commercial shipping, with a main objective being to cut off the supplies being transported to Britain from the British colonies and the US. The epic fight for control of the supply routes became known as the Battle of the Atlantic.

75. Old United rival : TWA

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a big carrier in the US, but was perhaps even more recognized for its extensive presence in Europe and the Middle East. For many years, especially after the collapse of Pan Am and TWA’s purchase by Howard Hughes, TWA was considered the unofficial flag carrier for the US. The company started in 1930, the product of a forced merger of Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express. The Transcontinental and Western Air that resulted (the original meaning of the initialism “TWA”) was what the Postmaster General wanted, a bigger airline to which the Postal Service could award airmail contracts.

77. One crossing the line? : SCAB

We first started calling strikebreakers “scabs” in the early 1800s, and before that a scab was a person who refused to join a trade union (back as early 1777). The word probably comes from the use of “scab” as a symptom of a skin disease, and so is a term that is meant to insult.

79. Call, as a game : REF

Back in the early 17th century, a referee was someone who examined patent applications. We started using the same term for a person presiding over a sporting event in the 1820s. “Referee” is derivative of the verb “to refer”, and literally describes someone who has the authority to make a decision by “referring to” a book, archive etc.

80. “Live With Kelly and Ryan” co-host : RIPA

When Kelly Ripa secured the co-host spot on morning television with Regis Philbin, she was still acting in “All My Children” in a role she had been playing for over ten years. After a year of holding down two jobs, she eventually gave up the acting gig. Ripa has acted as spokeswoman for several brands over the years, most recently for Electrolux and Rykä.

84. 10-time French Open champ : NADAL

Rafael “Rafa” Nadal is a Spanish tennis player. He is noted for his expertise on clay courts, which earned him the nickname “The King of Clay”.

86. Facebook Status: “Hej from København! This statue turned 100 years old in 2013 but is still a beauty!” : LITTLE MERMAID

In the 1989 Disney animated film “The Little Mermaid”, the title character is given the name “Ariel”. In the original fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen that dates back to 1836, the Little Mermaid is given no name at all. There is a famous statue of the unnamed Little Mermaid sitting in Copenhagen Harbor, in Andersen’s homeland of Denmark.

Copenhagen (“København” in Danish) is the largest city and the capital of Denmark. I haven’t had the privilege of visiting Copenhagen, but I hear it is a wonderful metropolis with a marvelous quality of life. The city is also very environmentally friendly, with over a third of its population commuting to work by bicycle.

90. Double-O sort : SPY

The character James Bond was the creation of writer Ian Fleming. Fleming “stole” the James Bond name from an American ornithologist. The number 007 was “stolen” from the real-life, 16th century English spy called John Dee. Dee would sign his reports to Queen Elizabeth I with a stylized “007” to indicate that the reports were for “her eyes only”. There’s an entertaining miniseries that aired on BBC America called “Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond” that details Ian Fleming’s military career, and draws some nice parallels between Fleming’s experiences and aspirations and those of his hero James Bond. Recommended …

93. Top that may have a built-in bra : CAMI

A camisole (also “cami”) is a sleeveless undergarment worn by women that extends down to the waist. “Camisole” is a French word that we imported into English that ultimately derives from the Latin “camisia” meaning “shirt, nightgown”.

96. Fleur-de-lis, e.g. : MOTIF

“Lys” (also “lis”) is the French word for “lily”, as in “fleur-de-lys”, the heraldic symbol often associated with the French monarchy.

104. Praying figure in Christian art : ORANT

An orant is a gesture made during some Christian services. It is the name given to the pose with the hands raised, set apart, and palms facing outwards. The term can also be used for someone holding such a pose. If you’ve looked at many examples of early Christian art, you’ll know what I mean. The term comes from the Latin “orare” meaning “to pray”.

106. Facebook Status: “10-9-8-7 … Ringing in the New Year with 1,000,000 of my newest, closest friends!” : TIMES SQUARE

Times Square in New York City isn’t a square at all, but rather a triangle. When the New York Times newspaper opened new headquarters in the area in 1904, the city agreed to the name “Times Square”, changing it from Longacre Square.

110. Excessive regulation : RED TAPE

Back in the days of yore in England, official documents were bound in bundles with red ribbon. So, getting through all the paperwork required “cutting through the red tape”.

112. Swahili “sir” : BWANA

“Bwana” is a Swahili word meaning “important person” or “leader of a safari”.

115. QB Manning : ELI

Eli Manning plays as quarterback for the New York Giants. Eli’s brother Peyton Manning retired from football as the quarterback for the Denver Broncos in 2015. Eli and Peyton’s father is Archie Manning, who was also a successful NFL quarterback. Eli, Peyton and Archie co-authored a book for children titles “Family Huddle” in 2009. It describes the Mannings playing football together as young boys.

116. Facebook Status: “History abounds! Neo-Classical architecture surrounded by gorgeous cherry blossom trees. Next stop … the White House!” : JEFFERSON MEMORIAL

The beautiful Jefferson Memorial was completed in 1947 and sits on the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. The idea for the memorial really came from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as he was a great admirer of President Jefferson.

The famous cherry trees that line the Potomac River in Washington D.C. were a gift from the city of Tokyo, Japan. The first two of the trees were planted in a ceremony by First lady Helen Herron Taft and the wife of the Japanese ambassador. The US government reciprocated the gesture and presented the people of Japan with flowering dogwood trees.

The White House was designed by an Irishman, I am proud to say. James Hoban from County Kilkenny emigrated to the US in his twenties, and won the design competition for the White House in 1792.

121. Sch. with the mascot Mike the Tiger : LSU

The LSU Tigers are the sports teams of Louisiana State University (LSU). They are officially known as the Fightin’ Tigers, and the school mascot is “Mike the Tiger”. The name comes from the days of the Civil War, when two Louisiana brigades earned the nickname the “Louisiana Tigers”. Given the French/Cajun history of Louisiana, the LSU fans use the cheer “Geaux Tigers” instead of “Go Tigers”.

122. Anatomical ring : AREOLA

An areola (sometimes “areole”) in anatomy is a small ring of color, as in the areola surrounding the nipple, and the areola surrounding the pupil of the eye. “Areola” comes from Latin, meaning “small open space”, and is a diminutive of the Latin word “area”, meaning “open space”.

123. Recording studio effect : REVERB

When audio mixing in the process of sound recording, the sound engineer might add some reverb, a slight reverberation.

124. J.F.K. posting : ETA

The Idlewild Golf Course was taken over by the city of New York in 1943 and construction started on a new airport to serve the metropolis and relieve congestion at La Guardia. The Idlewild name still persists, even though the airport was named after Major General Alexander E. Anderson from the first days of the project. When the facility started operating in 1948 it was known as New York International Airport, Anderson Field. It was renamed to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in 1963, one month after the President was assassinated.

125. Place of Bible study: Abbr. : SEM

Originally, a “seminary” was where plants were raised from seeds, as “semen” is the Latin for “seed”. The first schools labelled as seminaries were established in the late 1500s. Those first schools were more likely to be academies for young ladies back then, rather than for trainee priests.

128. Oedipus, for one : REX

“Oedipus Rex” (also “Oedipus the King”) is a tragedy penned by the Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles. The play tells the story of Oedipus, a man who becomes king of Thebes. Famously, Oedipus was destined from birth to murder his father and marry his mother.

Down

1. Its official name is Academy Award of Merit : OSCAR

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is the organization that gives the annual Academy Awards also known as the “Oscars”. The root of the name “Oscar” is hotly debated, but what is agreed is that the award was officially named “Oscar” in 1939. The first Academy Awards were presented at a brunch in 1929 with an audience of just 29 people. The Awards ceremony is a slightly bigger event these days …

7. Morse word : DAH

Samuel Morse came up with the forerunner to modern Morse code for use on the electric telegraph, of which he was the co-inventor. Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. The most common letters are assigned the simplest code elements e.g. E is represented by one dot, and T is represented by one dash. When words are spelled aloud in Morse code, a dot is pronounced as “dit”, and a dash is pronounced as “dah”.

9. Classic blazer fabrics : SERGES

Serge is a type of twill fabric with diagonal ridges on both sides. The name “serge” comes from the Greek word for “silken”.

A blazer is a less formal version of a suit jacket, usually one with a less formal cut and often metal buttons. The original “blazer” was a red jacket worn by members of the rowing club at a Cambridge university in England. The “blazer” is so called because the Cambridge version was “blazing red” in color.

10. Mani-___ : PEDI

Manicure & pedicure (mani-pedi)

15. Wife on “The Addams Family” : MORTICIA

Gomez and Morticia (“Tish”) Addams were the parents in “The Addams Family”, a creation of the cartoonist Charles Addams. In the sixties television show, Gomez was played by John Astin and Morticia was played by Carolyn Jones.

16. Facebook Status: “Vegas, baby! And who would believe I’m standing next to Beyoncé and Katy Perry!” : MADAME TUSSAUDS

Marie Tussaud was a wax sculptor from France. Some of her early work was very gruesome as she lived through the French Revolution. She would take the decapitated heads of executed citizens and use them to make death masks which were then paraded through the streets. She eventually moved to London, taking with her a vast collection of wax models made by her and her father. She opened a museum to display the works, and the Madame Tussauds wax museum is a major attraction in the city to this day. Now there are Madame Tussauds wax museums all over the world.

Beyoncé Knowles established herself in the entertainment industry as the lead singer with the R&B group Destiny’s Child. She launched her solo singing career in 2003, two years after making her first appearance as an actor. In 2006 she played the lead in the very successful movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls”. Beyoncé is married to rap star Jay-Z. She is also referred to affectionately as “Queen Bey”, a play on the phrase “the queen bee”.

Katy Perry is an American singer who grew up listening to and singing gospel music, as she was the daughter of two Christian pastors. In fact, her first musical release was a gospel album in 2001. She has branched out since then. Her first successful single was “Ur so Gay”, followed by “I Kissed A Girl”. She was married (for only a year) to the British comedian Russell Brand, until 2012.

17. Very cute, in slang : ADORBS

“Adorbs!” is a colloquial term meaning “So cute, adorable!”

36. Tongue-lash : UPBRAID

To upbraid is to reproach, find fault with, and is a term of Swedish origin.

44. Muscat resident : OMANI

Muscat is the capital of Oman, and lies on the northeast coast of the state on the Gulf of Oman, a branch of the Persian Gulf.

50. Facebook Status: “Nosebleed seats – but home-field advantage! GO GIANTS!!!” : METLIFE STADIUM

The New York Giants (NYG) football team play their home games in MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a stadium shared with the New York Jets (NYJ). The Jets are the only team remaining from a group of five that joined the league in 1925. For many years, the Giants shared team names with the New York Giants MLB team, before the baseball franchise moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season.

52. Ultrasound target : FETUS

The word “fetus”, used for an unborn young animal, comes from Latin as one might expect. “Fetus” is the Latin word for the act of hatching or bringing forth a young animal or child. The mistaken spelling “foetus” is seen quite a lot, but there’s no historical basis for adding that “o”.

A sonogram is an image made created using ultrasound. “Ultrasound” is the name given to sound energy that has frequencies above the audible range.

53. Cousin of 15-Down : ITT

In the television sitcom “The Addams Family”, the family had a frequent visitor called Cousin Itt. Itt is a short man with long hair that runs from his head to the floor. Cousin Itt was played by Italian actor Felix Silla.
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56. How Mark Twain is often quoted : LOOSELY

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was the real name of the author Mark Twain. Twain wasn’t the only pen name used by Clemens. Early in his career he signed some sketches as “Josh”, and signed some humorous letters that he wrote under the name “Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass”. The name of Mark Twain came from the days when Clemens was working on riverboats on the Mississippi. A riverboatman would call out “by the mark twain” when measuring the depth of water. This meant that on the sounding line, according to the “mark” on the line, the depth was two (“twain”) fathoms, and so it was safe for the riverboat to proceed.

63. Russian “invader” of the 1980s : TETRIS

Tetris is a very addictive video game that was developed in the Soviet Union in 1984. The name Tetris comes from a melding of the prefix “tetra-” (as all the game pieces have four segments) and “tennis” (a favorite sport played by the developer). Since 2005 there have been more than 100 million copies of the game installed on cell phones alone.

68. Speck : IOTA

Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet, one that gave rise to our letters I and J. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

71. Critic Roger : EBERT

Roger Ebert co-hosted a succession of film review television programs for over 23 years, most famously with Gene Siskel until Siskel passed away in 1999. Siskel and Ebert famously gave their thumbs up or thumbs down to the movies they reviewed.

86. Still partly open, as a door : LEFT AJAR

Our word “ajar” is thought to come from Scottish dialect, in which “a char” means “slightly open”.

88. Mazda two-seaters : MIATAS

The Mazda MX-5 is sold as the Miata in North America, and as the Roadster in Japan. I’ve always liked the looks of the Mazda Miata, probably because it reminds me so much of old British sports cars. The Miata is built in Hiroshima, Japan.

89. Roadside bombs, for short : IEDS

Having spent much of my life in the border areas between southern and Northern Ireland, I am sadly all too familiar with the devastating effects of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). One has to admire the bravery of soldiers who spend their careers defusing (or attempting to defuse) such devices in order to save the lives and property of others.

96. Some edible fungi : MORELS

The morel is that genus of mushroom with the honeycomb-like structure on the cap. They’re highly prized, especially in French cuisine. Morels should never be eaten raw as they are toxic, with the toxins being removed by thorough cooking.

98. Prime setter, informally : THE FED

The Federal Reserve System is more usually known simply as “the Fed”, and is the central banking system of the US. It was introduced in 1913 in response to a number of financial panics at the beginning of the 20th century. The original role for the Fed was to act as a lender of last resort, in case there was a run on a bank. This can happen as most of the money that is deposited by customers in a bank is reinvested by that bank, so it has very little liquid cash available. If too many customers look for their money at one time, then the bank can be short of cash and this can start a “run”. The Fed’s responsibilities have broadened since those early days …

99. Cassiterite, e.g. : TIN ORE

Cassiterite is an ore containing tin oxide, and is the most important source of metallic tin. The ore’s name comes from the Greek “kassiteros” meaning “tin”.

108. Chipotle rival : QDOBA

Qdoba is a chain of casual restaurants specializing in Mexican cuisine. The chain started out in 1995 with the name Zuma Fresh Mexican Grill, then Z-Teca Mexican Grill in 1997. Both “Zuma” and “Z-Teca” were challenged by establishments that already had similar names, and so the company settled on Qdoba Mexican Grill in 1999, a completely invented moniker.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a chain of casual dining restaurants that was founded and is now headquartered in Denver, Colorado. For several years, the major investor in Chipotle was McDonald’s. The chain is named for the smoke-dried jalapeño called a “chipotle”.

109. You might take it to go : EX-LAX

Ex-Lax is a brand of laxative. That should get you going …

111. Arequipa is its second-largest city : PERU

Arequipa is located in the south of Peru and is the second-most populous city in the country, after the capital Lima. Arequipa has been the center of many uprisings since the city was founded in 1540, and was declared the nation’s capital on two occasions, in 1835 and in 1883.

113. Fay of “King Kong” : WRAY

Fay Wray was a Canadian-American actress who was best known for her starring role in the classic 1933 film “King Kong”. When Wray passed away at the age of 96 in 2004, the lights of the Empire State Building were extinguished for 15 minutes. That fine gesture was a nod to the celebrated Empire State Building scene in “King Kong”.

118. Series honor, for short : MVP

MVP (most valuable player)

119. Workplace inits. : EEO

“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

120. Half a couple : MRS

Mr. is an abbreviation for “master”, and Mrs. is an abbreviation for “mistress”.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Signs off on : OKS
4. Bei Bei and Bao Bao : PANDAS
10. Mike’s place : PODIUM
16. Barnyard bleat : MAA!
19. Remained unused : SAT
20. Morphine, for one : OPIATE
21. Still : EVEN SO
22. Pitches : ADS
23. Facebook Status: “2016 Summer Olympics and a day trip to one of the new Seven Wonders of the World!” : CHRIST THE REDEEMER
26. Bobs and buns : DOS
27. Tea party girl : ALICE
28. “Repeat …” : AGAIN …
29. Valuable china, e.g. : ARTWARE
31. Facebook Status: “Across the pond! And front-row seats to the Henley Royal Regatta!” : RIVER THAMES
35. “King ___” (1978 hit) : TUT
37. “Above” and “beyond,” e.g. : IAMBS
38. Island ring : LEI
39. Chill out : VEG
40. Okapi feature : STRIPE
42. Salad green : CRESS
43. Lily who played Ernestine : TOMLIN
46. An arm or a leg : LIMB
47. “___ it the truth!” : AIN’T
48. Dough dispenser : ATM
51. Facebook Status: “Yes! Retail therapy at the largest shopping spot in the U.S.!” : MALL OF AMERICA
54. Cyberaddress : URL
57. Van Susteren of cable news : GRETA
59. Campbell of “Scream” : NEVE
60. Second-___ : RATE
61. ___ Miguel (largest island in the Azores) : SAO
62. Use part of : EAT INTO
64. Sicilian erupter : ETNA
67. “Am ___ believe …?” : I TO
68. Analogy connector : IS TO
69. TV host Geist : WILLIE
70. Facebook Status: “Ahhhh … Sun and surf in Cancún, Mexico! Bring on the unlimited piña coladas!” : CLUB MED
72. Battle of the Atlantic craft : U-BOATS
74. “Sleep ___” : ON IT
75. Old United rival : TWA
77. One crossing the line? : SCAB
78. Eminence : STATURE
79. Call, as a game : REF
80. “Live With Kelly and Ryan” co-host : RIPA
82. Gusto : ZEAL
84. 10-time French Open champ : NADAL
85. Born : NEE
86. Facebook Status: “Hej from København! This statue turned 100 years old in 2013 but is still a beauty!” : LITTLE MERMAID
90. Double-O sort : SPY
91. Cows and sows : SHES
93. Top that may have a built-in bra : CAMI
94. Exam administered on the forearm : TB TEST
96. Fleur-de-lis, e.g. : MOTIF
98. Bad place for a frog : THROAT
100. Captained : LED
101. ___ room : REC
104. Praying figure in Christian art : ORANT
105. It can be smoked : HAM
106. Facebook Status: “10-9-8-7 … Ringing in the New Year with 1,000,000 of my newest, closest friends!” : TIMES SQUARE
110. Excessive regulation : RED TAPE
112. Swahili “sir” : BWANA
114. Neuter : DESEX
115. QB Manning : ELI
116. Facebook Status: “History abounds! Neo-Classical architecture surrounded by gorgeous cherry blossom trees. Next stop … the White House!” : JEFFERSON MEMORIAL
121. Sch. with the mascot Mike the Tiger : LSU
122. Anatomical ring : AREOLA
123. Recording studio effect : REVERB
124. J.F.K. posting : ETA
125. Place of Bible study: Abbr. : SEM
126. In an uncivil way : RUDELY
127. Wife, to Juan : ESPOSA
128. Oedipus, for one : REX

Down

1. Its official name is Academy Award of Merit : OSCAR
2. “The Prophet” author Gibran : KAHLIL
3. Shoot (for) : STRIVE
4. Brainteaser : POSER
5. Well-put : APT
6. Niggling detail : NIT
7. Morse word : DAH
8. Elite group : A-TEAM
9. Classic blazer fabrics : SERGES
10. Mani-___ : PEDI
11. Dingy part of a kitchen? : OVEN TIMER
12. Just-passing mark : DEE
13. Con : INMATE
14. ___-friendly : USER
15. Wife on “The Addams Family” : MORTICIA
16. Facebook Status: “Vegas, baby! And who would believe I’m standing next to Beyoncé and Katy Perry!” : MADAME TUSSAUDS
17. Very cute, in slang : ADORBS
18. Judge : ASSESS
24. Seal the deal : ICE IT
25. Where the Santa Ana and Long Beach Fwys. meet : EAST LA
30. Tip off : WARN
32. For 17+ viewers : TV-MA
33. “When pigs fly!” : HELL NO!
34. Lightsome : AGILE
36. Tongue-lash : UPBRAID
41. Crater’s edge : RIM
44. Muscat resident : OMANI
45. Unheard-of : NOVEL
47. Get the better of : ACE OUT
48. Damaged over time : AGE-WORN
49. Workplace newbie : TRAINEE
50. Facebook Status: “Nosebleed seats – but home-field advantage! GO GIANTS!!!” : METLIFE STADIUM
52. Ultrasound target : FETUS
53. Cousin of 15-Down : ITT
55. Bad joint : RAT TRAP
56. How Mark Twain is often quoted : LOOSELY
58. Bias : TILT
63. Russian “invader” of the 1980s : TETRIS
65. Olympics airer since 1988 : NBC
66. Bowl over : AMAZE
68. Speck : IOTA
70. Challenge to prove you’re human : CAPTCHA
71. Critic Roger : EBERT
73. Alabama and Kansas, for two : BANDS
76. Quick thinking : WIT
78. Schedules : SLATES
81. Start of a drill, maybe : ALARM BELL
83. Saunter : AMBLE
86. Still partly open, as a door : LEFT AJAR
87. Punk offshoot : EMO
88. Mazda two-seaters : MIATAS
89. Roadside bombs, for short : IEDS
92. This answer ends in “T,” e.g. : HINT
95. More on the mark : TRUER
96. Some edible fungi : MORELS
97. “Otherwise …!” : OR ELSE …!
98. Prime setter, informally : THE FED
99. Cassiterite, e.g. : TIN ORE
102. Less strict : EASIER
103. Spawn : CREATE
107. Flowing locks : MANES
108. Chipotle rival : QDOBA
109. You might take it to go : EX-LAX
111. Arequipa is its second-largest city : PERU
113. Fay of “King Kong” : WRAY
117. Rival : FOE
118. Series honor, for short : MVP
119. Workplace inits. : EEO
120. Half a couple : MRS

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11 thoughts on “1022-17 NY Times Crossword Answers 22 Oct 2017, Sunday”

  1. 36:39 – A fun one. A little easier than normal. I never use facebook – something about putting my life online – so I never understood the ME part of the theme. Didn’t affect the solve at all. “You might take it to go” ?….Setter has a sense of humor..

    Best –

  2. Was not familiar with “captcha”. I understand it is an acronym. I wish Mr. Web would have explained this answer.

  3. 29:11, no errors. Agree with previous posters, no clues were particularly difficult, although a few humorous puns did take some time to recognize. Enjoyed the theme with Facebook selfies putting ‘ME’ into popular tourist locations.

    CAPTCHA had me scratching my head as well, since I’ve only heard something similar relating to screen captures. Had to Wiki it: an acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”. Turns out they are those inputs where you have to read those somewhat oddly shaped numbers and letters; and type in what you see.

  4. 40:04, and no errors. Not exactly “hard,” but I had a lot of re-writes in this one, all over the grid. Not much came easy, even after figuring out the ME squares.

  5. Well, I never figured out the ME squares–never really noted that they were shaded. I was able to solve the puzzle from the clues, but the themed answers do make more sense now that Bill’s explained them.
    Bill, I saw Lily Tomlin’s show in San Francisco many years ago and absolutely loved it. I went in the afternoon, and the audience was mostly female. Maybe you needed to be female to really get it?

    1. @antnene
      Maybe that was it, or maybe I was just having a bad day. I binge-watched “Grace and Frankie” not too long ago, and absolutely lapped it up. Great stuff.

  6. If I’m remembering correctly, on the old version of this blog, CAPTCHA was the validation mechanism that was used for new postings. If I’m not remembering correctly, well, that’s not unusual either.

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