1124-17 NY Times Crossword Answers 24 Nov 2017, Friday

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Constructed by: Bruce Haight & David Steinberg
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Arithmetic Clues

We have a mini-theme today, with some grid art. Three sets of black squares in the grid resemble hats that are FLIPPING, DROPPING downwards:

  • 17A. Snapping … as suggested by some black squares in this puzzle : FLIPPING ONE’S LID
  • 58A. With only slight provocation … as suggested by some black squares in this puzzle : AT THE DROP OF A HAT

Bill’s time: 17m 13s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Dish whose name means “pierce flesh” : SASHIMI

“Sashimi” is thinly sliced raw fish, although it can also be raw meat. The word “sashimi” translates literally as “pierced body”, which may be a reference to the practice of sticking the tail and fin to sliced fish to identify it.

8. Squids’ squirters : INK SACS

Octopodes and squid have the ability to release a dark pigment into the water as a means of escape. The dark pigment is called cephalopod ink (the squid and octopus belong to the class cephalopoda). The dark color is created by melanin, the same substance that acts as a pigment in human skin.

15. What can get two feet higher : OTTOMAN

The piece of furniture known as an ottoman can be a couch, usually with a head but no back or sides. Here in the US, the term more usually applies to a padded and upholstered seat or bench that can also be used as a footrest. The original ottoman couch came from the Ottoman Empire, hence the name.

16. Chocolate truffle filling : GANACHE

Ganache is a rich sauce made from chocolate and cream. To make a ganache, one pours heated cream over chopped chocolate, mixes until smooth, with perhaps a liqueur added for flavor. “Ganache” is French for “jowl”. I’m not sure how “jowl” links to a rich chocolate source, though.

20. High-and-mighty sort : SNOOT

“Snoot” is a variant of “snout” and is a word that originated in Scotland. The idea is that someone who is snooty, or “snouty”, tends to look down his or her nose at the rest of the world.

21. Asian capital that’s home to Jokhang Temple : LHASA

Jokhang is considered by most Tibetans to be the most sacred temple in the whole of Tibet. Located in Lhasa, it was founded in the 7th century. The name “Jokhang” is translated today as “House of Buddha”.

22. Sci-fi TV series before “DS9” : TNG

When Gene Roddenberry first proposed the science fiction series that became “Star Trek”, he marketed it as “Wagon Train to the Stars”, a pioneer-style Western in outer space. In fact his idea was to produce something more like “Gulliver’s Travels”, as he intended to write episodes that were adventure stories on one level, but morality tales on another. Personally I think that he best achieved this model with the spin-off series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (TNG). If you watch individual episodes you will see thinly disguised treatments of moral issues such as racism, homosexuality, genocide etc. For my money, “The Next Generation” is the best of the whole franchise …

“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” is TV series belonging to the “Star Trek” franchise that originally ran from 1993 to 1999. This show was set on a space station, so there wasn’t much trekking going on. The stations name is “Deep Space Nine”. I never cared for this one …

27. It has the world’s highest per capita income : QATAR

Qatar is a sovereign state in the Middle East occupying the Qatar Peninsula, itself located in the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar lies on the Persian Gulf and shares one land border, with Saudi Arabia to the south. Qatar has more oil and gas reserves per capita of population than any other country in the world. In 2010, Qatar had the fastest growing economy in the world, driven by the petrochemical industry. Qatar is scheduled to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, although the nation’s eligibility to do so is under question after a far-reaching bribery scandal was uncovered at the sport’s governing body.

29. Ferris wheel part : CAR

The first Ferris Wheel was built for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. That wheel was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. who lent his name to wheels built from then on.

45. Oscar follower, in communications : PAPA

The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. It goes Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

48. Fictional hero who wore a sombrero cordobés : ZORRO

The character Zorro was created by Johnston McCulley in 1919 for a series of stories and pulp fiction, the first title being “The Curse of Capistrano”. The name “Zorro” is the secret identity of a Spanish colonial nobleman called Don Diego de la Vega.

49. Beam that might hit someone hard? : JIM

Jim Beam is the world’s highest-selling brand of bourbon. Jim Beam whiskey has roots going back to around 1795 when Jacob Beam sold his first corn whiskey. The whiskey took on the name “bourbon”, possibly after Bourbon County in Kentucky.

52. Staten Island Railway inits. : MTA

The MTA is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has public transportation responsibility in the state of New York (as well as part of Connecticut). “MTA” might also refer to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is known as the Metro and sometimes the MTA.

57. Singer Green and others : ALS

Al Green is a gospel and soul music singer. Green was born in Arkansas, where he started out as a gospel singer and moved into R&B. In 1974, he was assaulted by a girlfriend who burned him badly on much of his body by pouring boiling grits over him (and then she committed suicide). The incident changed Green’s life and he turned to the church, becoming a pastor in Memphis in 1976. He continued to record music, but never really enjoyed the same success that he had in the early seventies with hits like “Let’s Stay Together” and “I’m Still In Love With You”.

58. With only slight provocation … as suggested by some black squares in this puzzle : AT THE DROP OF A HAT

It is suggested that the idiomatic phrase “at the drop of a hat” comes from the Old West, where a signal to start a fight was just a that, a drop of a hat.

63. Pincered bugs : EARWIGS

The insect known as the earwig may have gotten its name from the mistaken belief that it burrowed into the human brain via the ear canal in order to lay its eggs in the brain.

64. Villain whose alter ego is Edward Nigma : RIDDLER

The Riddler is a supervillain from the Batman universe. He first appeared in “Detective Comics” in 1948. The Riddler’s real name is Edward Nigma, who became obsessed with solving puzzles and winning prizes by cheating at school. He uses his puzzle-solving skills to cheat customers at a carnival, and eventually dons the guise of the Riddler to take on Batman.

Down

2. Brave person, typically? : ATLANTAN

The Atlanta Braves are the only team to have won baseball’s World Series in three different home cities. They won as the Boston Braves in 1914, the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and the Atlanta Braves in 1995.

3. Brandy cocktails : STINGERS

Stingers are a class of cocktails made from a spirit mixed with crème de menthe. The classic stinger recipe calls for brandy and white crème de menthe, and dates back at least to 1917. The variation that calls for brandy mixed with green crème de menthe is known as green hornet.

6. Steady : MAIN SQUEEZE

Back in the late 1800s, a “main squeeze” was the “most important person”. It wasn’t until almost a century later the one’s main squeeze became one’s sweetheart.

9. Bread also called khamiri : NAN

Naan (also “nan”) bread is very popular in Indian restaurants, as well as in other West, Central and South Asian cuisines. Indian Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.

11. Something the narrator of “A Visit From St. Nicholas” threw up : SASH

The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” was published anonymously in 1823, and is better known today by its first line “‘Twas the night before Christmas”. Most scholars believe that the poem was written by Clement Clarke Moore, a theologian from New York City. Others say that it was written by Henry Livingston, Jr. a poet from Upstate New York.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash …

18. One forced to take the blame : GOAT

A scapegoat is a person chosen to take the blame in place of others. The term comes from the Bible’s Book of Leviticus, which describes a goat that was cast into the desert along with the sins of the community.

24. What we have “in order not to die of the truth,” per Nietzsche : ART

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher. Not my cup of tea …

28. Fitbit had one in 2015, for short : IPO

An initial public offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).

Fitbits are wearable activity trackers that are mainly used to track the number of steps walked. Fitbit Inc. was founded in 2007 in San Francisco.

30. Former telco giant : GTE

GTE was a rival to AT&T, the largest of the independent competitors to the Bell System. GTE merged with Bell Atlantic in 2000 to form the company that we know today as Verizon. Verizon made some high-profile acquisitions over the years, including MCI in 2005 and AOL in 2015.

32. E.R. staples : IVS

One might see an intravenous drips (IV) in an emergency room (ER).

34. Plan for later yrs. : IRA

Individual retirement account (IRA)

36. Attraction on the bank of the Yamuna River : TAJ MAHAL

Agra is a medieval city on the banks of the river Yamuna in India. Agra was also the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1658. The city is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

  • The Taj Mahal: the famous mausoleum built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal.
  • Agra Fort: the site where the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was seized.
  • Fatehpur Sikri: a historic city that’s home to well-preserved Mughal architecture.

41. Sci-fi beeper : ARTOO

Artoo’s proper name is R2-D2. R2-D2 is the smaller of the two famous droids from the “Star Wars” movies. British actor Kenny Baker, who stood just 3 ft 8 ins tall, was the man inside the R2-D2 droid for the first six of the “Star Wars” movies.

43. Trattoria treat : TORTONI

Biscuit Tortoni is an ice cream dessert made with eggs and heavy cream and usually enhanced with a couple of teaspoons of rum. “Tortoni” was apparently an 18th century owner of an Italian café in Paris.

46. Name on an annual literary award : AGATHA

The Agathas are literary awards given annually for mystery and crime writers producing exceptional works in the “cozy mystery” genre. “Cozies” are crime fiction in which there is a dearth of sex and violence, and in which the crime is committed and solved in a small community or gathering. The awards are named for the queen of the cozy mystery genre, Agatha Christie.

47. Literary orphan who lived for a while in a cupboard : POTTER

Joanne Rowling changed her name to J. K. Rowling at the request of her publisher, who believed that young boys might have shied away from reading the first “Harry Potter” book if they believed the story was written by a woman (this was 1997!). “Jo” Rowling chose J for Joanne, and K for Kathleen after her grandmother (Jo has no middle name to use).

51. Dearest, in Dijon : CHERI

Dijon is a city in eastern France in the Burgundy region. Dijon is famous for its mustard, a particularly strong variation of the condiment. The European Union doesn’t protect the name “Dijon” so anyone can use it on a label. That seems fair enough to me, given that 90% of the mustard made in and around Dijon is produced using mustard seed imported from Canada!

56. Cal tecs? : SFPD

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the 11th largest police department in the country. The SFPD dates back to the days of the Gold Rush, being founded in 1849 as a force of 35 officers. SFPD has featured a lot in movies and on television. The most famous films are probably “Bullitt”, the “Dirty Harry” series and “48 Hrs.” On television there was “Ironside”, “The Streets of San Francisco” and “Monk”.

60. City govt. official : ALD

The term “alderman” comes from English law, and is used for a member of a municipal assembly or council. Some cities in the US have a Board of Aldermen instead of a city council.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Dish whose name means “pierce flesh” : SASHIMI
8. Squids’ squirters : INK SACS
15. What can get two feet higher : OTTOMAN
16. Chocolate truffle filling : GANACHE
17. Snapping … as suggested by some black squares in this puzzle : FLIPPING ONE’S LID
19. Summer shade : TAN
20. High-and-mighty sort : SNOOT
21. Asian capital that’s home to Jokhang Temple : LHASA
22. Sci-fi TV series before “DS9” : TNG
23. Attack, as a gnat : SWAT AT
25. No longer flexible : SET
26. Got things down : ATE
27. It has the world’s highest per capita income : QATAR
28. One surrounded at sea : ISLE
29. Ferris wheel part : CAR
30. Fall ___ : GUY
31. Thanks for waiting : TIP
33. Not remote : ON-SITE
35. Person picking a ticket : VOTER
39. Goes through the motions of? : RE-ENACTS
44. Sack : AXE
45. Oscar follower, in communications : PAPA
48. Fictional hero who wore a sombrero cordobés : ZORRO
49. Beam that might hit someone hard? : JIM
50. Heretofore : AGO
51. Football lineman : CENTER
52. Staten Island Railway inits. : MTA
53. Childproofing option : LATCH
55. Meter masters : POETS
57. Singer Green and others : ALS
58. With only slight provocation … as suggested by some black squares in this puzzle : AT THE DROP OF A HAT
61. “Toodle-oo!” : CHEERIO!
62. Board near a gate : ENPLANE
63. Pincered bugs : EARWIGS
64. Villain whose alter ego is Edward Nigma : RIDDLER

Down

1. Its shell isn’t hard : SOFT TACO
2. Brave person, typically? : ATLANTAN
3. Brandy cocktails : STINGERS
4. Quick flight : HOP
5. Parenting challenges : IMPS
6. Steady : MAIN SQUEEZE
7. Not even slightly : IN NO WAY
8. “You can’t stop me!” : I GOTTA!
9. Bread also called khamiri : NAN
10. Assumed the hero pose, in yoga : KNELT
11. Something the narrator of “A Visit From St. Nicholas” threw up : SASH
12. Compact Mercedes-Benz : A-CLASS
13. Chip maker : CHISEL
14. Tranquil : SEDATE
18. One forced to take the blame : GOAT
24. What we have “in order not to die of the truth,” per Nietzsche : ART
28. Fitbit had one in 2015, for short : IPO
30. Former telco giant : GTE
32. E.R. staples : IVS
34. Plan for later yrs. : IRA
36. Attraction on the bank of the Yamuna River : TAJ MAHAL
37. Branch from an artery : EXIT LANE
38. Enhance, as a recording : REMASTER
40. Amateurs : NON-PROS
41. Sci-fi beeper : ARTOO
42. Trumpet vine, e.g. : CREEPER
43. Trattoria treat : TORTONI
45. State quarters? : PALACE
46. Name on an annual literary award : AGATHA
47. Literary orphan who lived for a while in a cupboard : POTTER
51. Dearest, in Dijon : CHERI
54. Cogitate (on) : CHEW
56. Cal tecs? : SFPD
59. Go for : DIG
60. City govt. official : ALD