1004-18 NY Times Crossword 4 Oct 18, Thursday

Constructed by: Joon Pahk
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: Soda Mixer

Themed answers each end with an anagram (MIXER) of a SODA brand:

  • 60A. Ingredient in some cocktails … or a hint to the last words in 17-, 23-, 32-, 43- and 48-Across : SODA MIXER
  • 17A. It might pop out of a kid’s mouth : BUBBLEGUM (giving “Mug”)
  • 23A. Heavy metal band whose name is a euphemism for “Jesus Christ!” : JUDAS PRIEST (giving “Sprite”)
  • 32A. Main connections, of a sort : GAS PIPES (giving “Pepsi”)
  • 43A. Fashion designer whose namesake brand features a rhinoceros in its logo : MARC ECKO (giving “Coke”)
  • 48A. Swinger’s club : BASEBALL BAT (giving “Tab”)

Bill’s time: 9m 59s

Bill’s errors: 3

  • OLIO (oleo!)
  • STIEB (Steeb)
  • BIBI (Bebe!!!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Pride Month inits. : LGBT

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)

The police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn on June 29th, 1969. That raid triggered to a spate of violent demonstrations led by the LGBT community. Now known as the Stonewall riots, those demonstrations are viewed by many as a significant event leading to the modern-day fight for LGBT rights in the US. Since then, June has been chosen as LGBT Pride Month in recognition of the Stonewall riots.

5. Org. defending 1-Across rights : ACLU
(1A. Pride Month inits. : LGBT)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has its roots in the First World War when it was founded to provide legal advice and support to conscientious objectors. The ACLU’s motto is “Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself”. The ACLU also hosts a blog on the ACLU.org website called “Speak Freely”.

9. At full speed : AMAIN

“Amain” is an old term meaning “at great speed” or “of great strength”.

14. This and that : OLIO

“Olio” is a term meaning a hodgepodge or a mixture that comes from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used for cooking.

15. “Yay!” : WOOT!

Apparently “woot” is computer slang, and an expression of excitement of joy. It has been suggested that the term comes from the game “Dungeons and Dragons”, and is a contraction of “wow, loot”. Unknown to me outside of crosswords …

16. 1930s vice president John ___ Garner : NANCE

John Nance Garner was Speaker of the House when he ran against New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt for the Democratic nomination for the presidential race in 1932. When it was clear that Roosevelt was to win the nomination, Garner cut a deal with FDR and joined the ticket as candidate for Vice President. When the two Democrats won, they were sworn into office on March 4, 1933. As he was still Speaker of the House at the time, Garner is the only person to have held the office of both Speaker and Vice President on the same day.

17. It might pop out of a kid’s mouth : BUBBLEGUM (giving “Mug”)

Chewing gum has been around for thousands of years, but bubblegum only dates back to 1928. It was developed by one Walter Diemer of the Fleer Chewing Gum Company. Diemer was a Fleer accountant, and apparently an accountant who liked to mess around with gum recipes in his spare time.

Mug Root Beer is produced in San Francisco. The beverage was introduced in the city in the forties under the name Belfast Root Beer.

21. Wind instrument : OCARINA

An ocarina is an ancient wind-instrument that sounds like and is played like a flute. Usually an ocarina has an egg-shaped body with a number of finger holes cut into the material making up the instrument (usually ceramic). There is a tube protruding from the body through which one blows to make sounds. The air vibrates within the body of the instrument, and the pitch of the vibrations is changed by covering and uncovering the finger-holes. Ocarinas date back as far as 12,000 years ago when they were used both in China and Central America. The ocarina was brought to Italy in the 1800s where it became popular as a child’s toy, but also as a serious instrument. It was given the name “ocarina” as its shape resembles that of a goose, and “ocarina”is a diminutive word stemming from “oca”, the Italian word for “goose”.

23. Heavy metal band whose name is a euphemism for “Jesus Christ!” : JUDAS PRIEST (giving “Sprite”)

Sprite is Coca-Cola’s answer to the very successful soft drink called 7UP. Sprite was introduced in 1961, and Coca-Cola used its muscle to topple 7UP from its dominant position in the market. Sprite has been the number-one selling lemon soda since 1978.

31. Pacific Northwest hub, informally : SEA-TAC

Sea-Tac Airport (SEA) is more fully known as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Sea-Tac is the main hub for Alaska Airlines.

32. Main connections, of a sort : GAS PIPES (giving “Pepsi”)

The Pepsi-Cola formulation was developed by one Caleb Bradham who made the drink at home and sold it as Brad’s Drink. Bradham’s aim was to provide a drink that was pleasant to taste, that would aid digestion and boost energy. Included in the formula were pepsin (a digestive enzyme) and kola nuts. These two ingredients inspired the brand name we use today: Pepsi-Cola.

43. Fashion designer whose namesake brand features a rhinoceros in its logo : MARC ECKO (giving “Coke”)

Marc Ecko is a fashion designer from New Jersey. Marc was born Marc Milecofsky. In college, he became a fan of graffiti and used the name “Ecko” to tag his drawings.

The first cola drink to become a commercial success was Coca-Cola, soon after it was invented by a druggist in 1886. That original Coca-Cola was flavored mainly with kola nuts and vanilla. The formulation was based on an alcoholic drink called Coca Wine that had been on sale for over twenty years.

48. Swinger’s club : BASEBALL BAT (giving “Tab”)

Tab was the first diet cola introduced by the Coca-Cola company, in 1963. It was produced as a competitor to the very successful Diet Rite cola that was made by RC Cola. The name “Tab” was used as the beverage was aimed at people who wanted “to keep tabs” on their weight.

53. Eponymous regatta-winning yacht of 1851 : AMERICA

The America’s Cup is a trophy that has been awarded for yacht racing since 1851. It was first presented to the winner of a race around the Isle of Wight in England that was won by a schooner called “America”. The trophy was eventually renamed to “The America’s Cup” in honor of that first race winner.

The word “regatta” is Venetian dialect and was originally used to describe boat races among the gondoliers of Venice on the Grand Canal back in the mid-1600s.

65. Long nap? : SHAG

Shag carpet is one with a deep pile, one with a “shaggy” appearance.

66. Actress Dobrev of “The Vampire Diaries” : NINA

“The Vampire Diaries” is a series of horror novels by L. J. Smith that is aimed at teens. There is a spin-off television series of the same name. I don’t do vampires …

68. “This is probably dumb but I’m doing it anyway” hashtag : YOLO

You only live once (YOLO)

A hashtag is a word preceded by the symbol #. Hashtags are big these days because of Twitter, a microblogging service that I don’t think I will ever understand …

69. Online handicrafts marketplace : ETSY

Etsy.com is an e-commerce website where you can buy and sell the kind of items that you might find at a craft fair.

Down

3. Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname : BIBI

Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu has been the Prime Minister of Israel since 2009. Netanyahu is the only leader of the country to date who was born in the state of Israel. After graduating high school, he served in the Israeli special forces and participated in several combat missions, and was wounded on multiple occasions. After leaving the army in 1972, Netanyahu studied at MIT in the US, earning bachelors degree in architecture and a masters degree in business.

4. Choice A for Hamlet : TO BE

There has been centuries of debate about how one interprets Hamlet’s soliloquy that begins “To be or not to be …”. My favorite opinion is that Hamlet is weighing up the pros and cons of suicide (“to not be”).

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous fortune;
Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles …

7. Comedian Costello : LOU

Lou Costello was half of the Abbott & Costello double act. One tragic and terrible event in Lou Costello’s life was the death of his baby son, Lou Costello, Jr. Lou was at NBC studios one night for his regular broadcast when he received word that the 11-month-old baby had somehow drowned in the family swimming pool. With the words, “Wherever he is tonight, I want him to hear me”, he made the scheduled broadcast in front of a live and unsuspecting audience.

9. Southern, and then some : ANTARCTIC

On average, Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest of all seven continents. Although Antarctica is very cold, it is essentially a desert, receiving only 8 inches of precipitation annually at the coasts and even less inland.

10. An official language of New Zealand : MAORI

The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. They are eastern Polynesian in origin and began arriving in New Zealand relatively recently, starting some time in the late 13th century. The word “māori” simply means “normal”, distinguishing the mortal human being from spiritual entities. The Māori refer to New Zealand as “Aotearoa”.

11. 2014 movie musical starring Quvenzhané Wallis : ANNIE

The Broadway musical “Annie” is based on the Harold Gray comic strip “Little Orphan Annie”. There have been two film adaptations of the musical. Both were really quite successful, including one released in 1982 directed by John Huston of all people. It was his only ever musical.

18. Great Society prez : LBJ

President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) is one of only four people to have held all four elected federal offices, namely US Representative, US Senator, US Vice-President and US President. As President he is perhaps best remembered for escalating involvement in the Vietnam War, and for his “Great Society” legislation.

22. Audit expert, for short : CPA

Certified public accountant (CPA)

24. “We deliver for you” org. : USPS

The US Postal Service (USPS) is a remarkable agency in many ways. For starters, the government’s right and responsibility to establish the Post Office is specifically called out in Article One of the US constitution. Also, the first postmaster general was none other than Benjamin Franklin. And, the USPS operates over 200,000 vehicles, which is the largest vehicle fleet in the world.

25. Off! ingredient : DEET

“DEET” is short for N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, an active ingredient in insect repellents. DEET is most often used to repel mosquitoes by applying it to the skin and/or clothing. It is also used to protect against tick bites.

29. Rush order : ASAP

As soon as possible (ASAP)

36. Stone-cold cinch : LOCK

The term “cinch” was absorbed into American English from Spanish in the mid-1800s, when it was used to mean a “saddle-girth”. “Cincha” is the Spanish for “girdle”. In the late 1800s, “cinch” came to mean a ‘sure thing”, in the sense that a saddle-girth can provide a “sure hold”.

37. Gospel with the Prodigal Son parable : LUKE

The Gospel According to Luke is the longest of the four Gospels in the Bible. Some well-known stories are unique to Luke, and do not appear in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark nor John. A couple of examples would be “The Prodigal Son” and “The Good Samaritan”. It is believed that the author of the Gospel of Luke was the same person who wrote “Acts of the Apostles”.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is related in the Gospel of Luke. Someone who is prodigal is wasteful or extravagant. The parable tells of a man with two sons. The youngest asks for and receives his share of the family estate, and then spends it all unwisely. The “prodigal” son returns, to an unwelcoming older brother. The father, however, declares happily that his son “was lost and now is found”.

40. Epitome of gentleness : LAMB

The more common meaning of “epitome” is “perfect example of a group, quality, type”. An epitome is also an abstract or summary of a book or article.

41. Calculus calculation : AREA

In the world of calculus, the integration function calculates the area between a curve and the x-axis or y-axis.

43. Evil, in Laval : MAL

Laval is the largest suburb of Montreal.

45. High Sierra runner : MAC

Macintosh (also “Mac”) is a line of computers from Apple Inc. The first Mac was introduced in 1984, and I remember someone showing me one at work in those early days of personal computing. There was a piece of white plastic connected to the main computer by a cord, and I was amazed when the guy showed me that it controlled where the cursor was on the screen. My colleague told me that this lump of plastic was called “a mouse” …

Apple introduced the OS X Operating System in 2000. Each version of this operating system has had a code name, and that code name until recently has been a type of big cat. The versions and code names are:

  • 10.0: Cheetah
  • 10.1: Puma
  • 10.2: Jaguar
  • 10.3: Panther
  • 10.4: Tiger
  • 10.5: Leopard
  • 10.6: Snow Leopard
  • 10.7: Lion
  • 10.8: Mountain Lion
  • 10.9: Mavericks
  • 10.10: Yosemite
  • 10.11: El Capitan
  • 10.12: macOS Sierra
  • 10.13: macOS High Sierra

48. Herb with “sweet” and “holy” varieties : BASIL

Traditionally, basil is considered “the king of herbs”. And in fact, the herb’s name comes from the Greek “basileus” meaning “king”.

49. ___ acid : AMINO

Amino acids are essential to life in many ways, not least of which is their use as the building blocks of proteins. Nine amino acids are considered “essential” for humans. These nine must be included in the diet as they cannot be synthesized in the body.

52. Senator Kaine of Virginia : TIM

Tim Kaine took office as US Senator for Virginia in 2013, having served as the state’s governor from 2006 to 2010. He was also chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 until 2011. Famously, Senator Kaine ran as vice presidential running mate in Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2016.

55. Soccer striker’s jersey number, traditionally : NINE

We use the word “jersey” for a sports shirt worn by a particular team member, one that usually bears the player’s name and team number. Back in the mid-1800s, the term was used for a knitted shirt or close-fitting tunic. The item of clothing was named for Jersey in the Channel Islands off the coast of France. The island was famous for its knitting trade during the Middle Ages.

57. Female swans : PENS

An adult male swan is a cob, and an adult female is a pen. Young swans are swanlings or cygnets.

62. Indian lentil dish : DAL

I love dal dishes, which are prepared from various peas or beans (often lentils) that have been stripped of their outer skins and split. Dal is an important part of Indian cuisines. I suppose in Indian terms, split pea soup (another of my favorites) would be called a dal.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Pride Month inits. : LGBT
5. Org. defending 1-Across rights : ACLU
9. At full speed : AMAIN
14. This and that : OLIO
15. “Yay!” : WOOT!
16. 1930s vice president John ___ Garner : NANCE
17. It might pop out of a kid’s mouth : BUBBLEGUM (giving “Mug”)
19. Thus far : TO NOW
20. Seven-time All-Star Dave, who pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays : STIEB
21. Wind instrument : OCARINA
23. Heavy metal band whose name is a euphemism for “Jesus Christ!” : JUDAS PRIEST (giving “Sprite”)
27. Notable times : ERAS
31. Pacific Northwest hub, informally : SEA-TAC
32. Main connections, of a sort : GAS PIPES (giving “Pepsi”)
34. Going rates? : TOLLS
39. Touching : AGAINST
40. Carefully explained : LAID OUT
42. Profundity : DEPTH
43. Fashion designer whose namesake brand features a rhinoceros in its logo : MARC ECKO (giving “Coke”)
44. “Count me in!” : I’M GAME!
47. Distort : SKEW
48. Swinger’s club : BASEBALL BAT (giving “Tab”)
53. Eponymous regatta-winning yacht of 1851 : AMERICA
54. Bumbling : INEPT
59. Occupy, as a table : SIT AT
60. Ingredient in some cocktails … or a hint to the last words in 17-, 23-, 32-, 43- and 48-Across : SODA MIXER
64. Occupied : IN USE
65. Long nap? : SHAG
66. Actress Dobrev of “The Vampire Diaries” : NINA
67. Bounded : LOPED
68. “This is probably dumb but I’m doing it anyway” hashtag : YOLO
69. Online handicrafts marketplace : ETSY

Down

1. High shots : LOBS
2. Overabundance : GLUT
3. Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname : BIBI
4. Choice A for Hamlet : TO BE
5. Flabbergasted feeling : AWE
6. Minor player, metaphorically : COG
7. Comedian Costello : LOU
8. Greatest extent : UTMOST
9. Southern, and then some : ANTARCTIC
10. An official language of New Zealand : MAORI
11. 2014 movie musical starring Quvenzhané Wallis : ANNIE
12. Phone tapping targets? : ICONS
13. Unused to : NEW AT
18. Great Society prez : LBJ
22. Audit expert, for short : CPA
24. “We deliver for you” org. : USPS
25. Off! ingredient : DEET
26. Penlight powerers, often : AAS
27. “My word!” : EGAD!
28. Fury : RAGE
29. Rush order : ASAP
30. Stick in the fire? : SPIT
33. Under restraint : INHIBITED
35. “To …” things : ODES
36. Stone-cold cinch : LOCK
37. Gospel with the Prodigal Son parable : LUKE
38. Put in a hold : STOW
40. Epitome of gentleness : LAMB
41. Calculus calculation : AREA
43. Evil, in Laval : MAL
45. High Sierra runner : MAC
46. Like a blank stare : GLASSY
48. Herb with “sweet” and “holy” varieties : BASIL
49. ___ acid : AMINO
50. Institute : SET UP
51. Wipe away : ERASE
52. Senator Kaine of Virginia : TIM
55. Soccer striker’s jersey number, traditionally : NINE
56. Out : EXIT
57. Female swans : PENS
58. Server load? : TRAY
61. “Well, what have we here?!” : OHO!
62. Indian lentil dish : DAL
63. Before this time : AGO

18 thoughts on “1004-18 NY Times Crossword 4 Oct 18, Thursday”

  1. Made the same mistake on “Bebe”, still don’t get amain/icons. If you hadn’t spelled out the anagram thing, I never would have noticed it or figured it out. Solved the puzzle, but without understanding the “soda mixer” reference

    1. Icons got me for awhile. What do you tap on your phone? The screen? Better have a smart phone or it won’t work!

  2. 8:33, no errors; totally missed the anagrams, partly because I was in a hurry to get to something else and forgot to check for a theme (but I’m not sure I’d have seen them even if I had remembered to look).

  3. 20:40. I got the theme, but I got it when it was too late to help me. I also wanted to put MARC Jacobs so I was looking for a rebus that wasn’t there which killed a lot of time.

    Best –

  4. 40 min. and one dumb error.
    Never heard of woot,yolo, or Marc Ecko.
    I have never gotten an explanation of exactly what hashtag means, anyone care to enlighten this computer illiterate old man?

    1. I’ll try – I avoid In-Your-FaceBook, Twitter and all other forms of social media. The terms “hash” and “hashing” were used in designing computer based search algorithms back in the days before every 9 year old was a systems engineer. I guess the social media wonks adopted the use of the “#” symbol to denote the following name (or tag) as a person or topic thread that can be used as a search target. The “#” symbol is also called a “pound sign” or “number sign” and if you really want to wow your friends, you can tell them that the telephone engineers at Bell Labs called it an “octothorpe”. Aren’t you glad you asked?

  5. What happened to Thursday? I’m one of the masochists that look forward to the Thursday to Saturday gauntlet. I made it through this one without picking up the anagram theme – luckily, BEBE, YOLO and WOOT were still rattling around in my brain. This one felt like a Tuesday puzzle.

    1. @Miles—-This is referring to poetic ODES that are always written “to” things. For example, Ode to a Nightingale, Ode to the West Wind, Ode to Billie Joe, etc.

  6. 12:26, same 3 errors as @Bill. Should have recognized that an OLIO is not an OLEO, which would have caused me to change BEBE to BIBI. Many unknowns in this puzzle. For me, the theme was totally opaque and unnecessary for solving the puzzle. The setter can pat him/herself on the back.

  7. No errors. I got everything without any help from the theme revealer. The SODA MIXER is referred to as a “hint” yet I could not figure it out even already knowing all the answers. To call it a “hint” is disingenuous on the part of the editor.

    Otherwise, I liked the puzzle. It was difficult in spots but that is how Thursday’s are supposed to be.

  8. Will join the line-up of those who didn’t see the anagrams but got the right entries. One/two errors with WOOp instead of WOOT(!?), and the resulting UpMOST instead of UTMOST (which was my first choice).

  9. No errors. Used the anagrams of the sodas to check for errors but it didn’t help at all during the solve. Decent Thursday creation.

  10. I can’t believe no one is complaining about the fact that the revealer is not actually a phrase that anyone uses. I’ve read probably a half dozen books about cocktails, and skimmed dozens more, and I’ve never seen the phrase “soda mixer”.

  11. One day when being a Torontonian makes Dave Stieb a gimme. Didn’t time it – maybe 15 minutes with no errors. Did not understand the theme until I checked on here. Does “TAB” still exist ?? I am actually surprised OLIO would get Bill since it shows up in crosswords a lot. Not that I knew BIBI

  12. Wow, I NEVER thought I could complete a puzzle that Bill missed 3! Thanks for being human Bill, you made my day! That being said, it took me an hour or so to do it and I had no clue as to the “soda” anagrams.

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