1014-18 NY Times Crossword 14 Oct 18, Sunday

Constructed by: Ross Trudeau
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Game Hunting

Themed answers are phrases that include the name of famous board games:

  • 23A. “We can’t play that game – I can’t reach it on our shelf!” : THE RISK IS TOO HIGH!
  • 38A. “My sincerest apologies, but that game is off the table” : SORRY, NOT SORRY!
  • 54A. “We can’t play that game unless we borrow someone else’s” : I HAVEN’T A CLUE
  • 76A. “I’m begging you, let’s not play that game!” : PLEASE, DON’T GO!
  • 85A. “No, that game would be over in a flash” : LIFE‘S TOO SHORT
  • 103A. “I’ve finally decided! I’m …” : ASKING FOR TROUBLE

Bill’s time: 22m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. ___ Page, the Queen of Pinups : BETTIE

As a model, Bettie Page was famous for her fetish modelling pictures from the fifties, depicting images of bondage. After her successful career as a pinup she changed her lifestyle completely by converting to Christianity and taking a job with evangelist Billy Graham.

15. End-of-week cry : TGIF

“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF) is a relatively new expression that apparently originated in Akron, Ohio. It was a catchphrase used first by disk jockey Jerry Healy of WAKR in the early seventies. That said, one blog reader wrote me to say that he had been using the phrase in the fifties.

22. Country’s McEntire : REBA

Reba McEntire is a country music singer and television actress. McEntire starred in her own sitcom called “Reba” that aired on the WB and the CW cable channels from 2001 to 2007.

23. “We can’t play that game – I can’t reach it on our shelf!” : THE RISK IS TOO HIGH!

Risk is a fabulous board game, and one introduced in France in 1957. Risk was invented by a very successful French director of short films called Albert Lamorisse. Lamorisse called his new game “La Conquête du Monde”, which translates into English as “The Conquest of the World”. A game of Risk is a must during the holidays in our house …

25. Operating system developed at Bell Labs : UNIX

Unix is a computer operating system that was developed at Bell Labs in 1969. The initial name for the project was Uniplexed Information and Computing Service (Unics), and this evolved over time into “Unix”.

26. Onetime White House family : TAFTS

William Howard Taft may have been the 27th President of the United States, but his lifelong ambition was to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. President Taft was able to realize that dream in 1921, eight years after losing his bid for re-election as president. As Chief Justice, this former US President swore in two new presidents: Calvin Coolidge (in 1925) and Herbert Hoover (in 1929). William Howard Taft is also remembered as the most obese president. In the last year of his presidency, he weighed about 340 pounds (he was 5 feet 11 inches tall). Twelve months after leaving the White House, President Taft had dropped 80 pounds and substantially lowered his blood pressure.

30. Travel option for Birthright trips : EL AL

El Al Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of Israel. El Al is known for its high levels of security, both on the ground and in the air. Reportedly, the airline’s passenger aircraft have been operating with anti-missile technology for several years.

31. Natural gas component : ETHANE

Ethane is the second largest component of natural gas, after methane. Ethane’s main use is in the production of ethylene, a compound that is widely used in the chemical industry.

34. Dress (up) : TOG

The verb “tog up”, meaning to dress up, comes from the Latin “toga”, the garment worn in Ancient Rome. “Tog” can be also be used as an informal word for a coat or a cloak. Back in Ireland, togs are what we call swimming shorts.

36. Turning point in history : ONE BC

The designations Anno Domini (AD, “year of Our Lord”) and Before Christ (BC) are found in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The dividing point between AD and BC is the year of the conception of Jesus, with AD 1 following 1 BC without a year “0” in between. The AD/BC scheme dates back to AD 525, and gained wide acceptance soon after AD 800. Nowadays a modified version has become popular, with CE (Common/Christian Era) used to replace AD, and BCE (Before the Common/Christian Era) used to replace BC.

38. “My sincerest apologies, but that game is off the table” : SORRY, NOT SORRY!

Sorry! is a board game that dates back at least to 1934 when it was introduced in the UK market by Waddingtons. The game itself is based on the ancient game of Pachisi, and involves players racing against each other to move their playing pieces around the board as quickly as possible. Players can cause opponents to return to the start, hopefully while saying “Sorry!” in the process.

47. Many a Snapchat posting : SELFIE

A selfie is a self-portrait, one usually taken with a digital camera or cell phone. A “group selfie” is sometimes referred to as a “groufie” or “wefie”. A “couple selfie” is known as an “usie” or “ussie”, although those terms are sometimes also used for a group picture.

51. Old Buick : LESABRE

The Buick Special was a car produced by General Motors in various forms from 1936, making a final brief appearance in 1975. The Buick Special was given the name “LeSabre” in 1959, and a “Skylark” option was introduced in 1961. The engine was changed from a V8 in 1962, making the Buick Special the first American production car to use a V6.

53. What’s plucked in “she loves me, she loves me not” : COROLLA

The corolla of a flower is its collection of petals viewed as a unit. “Corolla” is Latin for “small garland”.

54. “We can’t play that game unless we borrow someone else’s” : I HAVEN’T A CLUE

Clue is board game that we knew under a different name growing up in Ireland. Outside of North America, Clue is marketed as “Cluedo”. Cluedo was the original name of the game, introduced in 1949 by the famous British board game manufacturer Waddingtons. There are cute differences between the US and UK versions. For example, the man who is murdered is called Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US), one of the suspects is the Reverend Green (Mr. Green in the US), and the suspect weapons include a dagger (a knife in the US), and a spanner (a wrench in the US). I think it’s a fabulous game, a must during the holidays …

57. French city grid : RUES

In France, one might drive along a “rue” (road) through “une ville” (a town).

58. People vis-à-vis gods : MERE MORTALS

We can use the French phrase “vis-à-vis” as a preposition meaning “compared with”. When used as an adverb or adjective, it means “face-to-face”, which is a more literal translation from French.

59. It’s a trek : HAJ

“Haji” (also “Hajji” and “Hadji”) is the term used for someone who has made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and it is sometimes also used as a form of address for such a person. The journey itself goes by the name “haj”, “hajj” or “hadj”.

60. “It ___” (“Who’s there?” reply) : IS I

The much debated statement “it is I” is actually grammatically correct, and should not be “corrected” to “it is me”. Traditionally, pronouns following linking verbs, such as “is”, “appear” and “seem”, are written in the nominative case. Examples are:

  • It is I (who called)
  • It was he (who did it)
  • It is we (who care)

61. Show overuse, as a sofa : SAG

“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

65. Hammarskjöld once of the U.N. : DAG

Dag Hammarskjöld was the second secretary-general of the United Nations, right up until his death in a plane crash in Rhodesia in 1961. The crash was considered suspicious at the time as the bodyguards were found to have bullet wounds when they died, but this was put down to bullets exploding in the fire after the crash.

73. ___ Mode, woman in “The Incredibles” : EDNA

“The Incredibles” is a 2004 animated feature from Pixar, and not a great movie if you ask me. But asking me probably isn’t a good idea, as the film won two Oscars …

75. Word repeated in the openings of “Star Wars” movies : FAR

Every “Star Wars” film starts out with an opening crawl announcing “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….”

76. “I’m begging you, let’s not play that game!” : PLEASE, DON’T GO!

Go is a strategy board game that was invented in China over 5,500 years ago. Go’s name in Chinese translates as “encircling game”, which reflects the objective of surrounding the largest area on the board.

79. Pop-up site : TOASTER

The electric toaster is a Scottish invention, one created by the Alan McMasters in Edinburgh in 1893.

80. Daniel who wrote “Flowers for Algernon” : KEYES

“Flowers for Algernon” was first a short story and then a novel, written by Daniel Keyes. It is a science fiction work about a mentally disabled man who undergoes surgery that briefly gives him the powers of a genius. Also featured in the tale is a laboratory mouse named Algernon, the first test subject to benefit from the experimental surgery.

81. Island greetings : ALOHAS

The Hawaiian word “aloha” has many meanings in English: affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. More recently, “aloha” has come to mean “hello” and “goodbye”, but only since the mid-1800s.

85. “No, that game would be over in a flash” : LIFE’S TOO SHORT

The board game that we call “The Game of Life” was created quite a few years ago, in 1869 by Milton Bradley. Back then it was called “The Checkered Game of Life” and was the first parlor game to become a popular hit. The modern version of the game was first released in 1960.

88. One of 26 for Walt Disney : OSCAR

Walt Disney was awarded a record 26 Oscars in his lifetime, winning 22 and receiving 4 honorary awards. He also holds the record for the number of Oscars won in the same year, taking away a total of four in the 1954 awards ceremony.

93. “If you are always trying to be ___, you will never know how amazing you can be”: Maya Angelou : NORMAL

Maya Angelou is an African-American author and poet. Angelou recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at the inauguration of President Clinton in 1983. Here are some words of wisdom from the great lady:

I work very hard, and I play very hard. I’m grateful for life. And I live it – I believe life loves the liver of it. I live it.

96. Praise for a picador : OLES

In Spanish bullfighting, picadors are horsemen that take on a bull in pairs, using lances to jab the poor creature. The picadors have a specific job, to lacerate the muscle on the back of the bull’s neck and to fatigue him before the toreros (bullfighters) are let loose.

98. Frida Kahlo, por ejemplo : ARTISTA

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who was famous for her self-portraits. She was married to the equally famous artist Diego Rivera. Kahlo was portrayed by the actress Salma Hayek in a film about her colorful life called “Frida” released in 2002.

100. Novelist McEwan : IAN

Ian McEwan is an English novelist with a track record of writing well-received novels. His most famous work of recent years I would say is “Atonement” which has benefited from the success of a fabulous movie adaptation released in 2007.

101. Grammy winner Mary J. ___ : BLIGE

Mary J. Blige is a singer-songwriter from the Bronx, New York. Her best known album is probably “My Life”, released in 1994. Blige is also making a name for herself as an actress, and was nominated for several awards for her performance in the 2017 film “Mudbound”.

102. Cosmonaut Gagarin : YURI

The Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space when his spacecraft Vostok I made a single orbit of the Earth in 1961. Sadly, Gagarin died only seven years later in a plane crash.

103. “I’ve finally decided! I’m …” : ASKING FOR TROUBLE

The board game called Trouble was introduced in the US in 1965, and is very similar to the competing game called “Sorry!” that was already on the market. Both games are in turn based on the ancient game of Pachisi. The big selling feature of Trouble was the Pop-O-Matic dice container in the center of the board. I remember it well …

111. Densest natural element : OSMIUM

Osmium is a metallic element in the platinum family. Osmium is the densest naturally occurring element, and is about twice as dense as lead.

Down

1. Isolated hill : BUTTE

“What’s the difference between a butte and a mesa?” Both are hills with flat tops, but a mesa has a top that is wider than it is tall. A butte is a much narrower formation, and taller than it is wide.

3. 1996 Robert De Niro/Wesley Snipes psychological thriller : THE FAN

“The Fan” is a 1996 thriller that is based on a 1995 novel of the same name. The title character, played by Robert De Niro, is an obsessed and violent fan of the San Francisco Giants baseball team.

4. Bird in a holiday song : TURTLE DOVE

The fabulous Christmas Carol called “The Twelve Days of Christmas” dates back at least to 1780 when it was first published in England, though it may be French in origin. The concept of twelve days of Christmas comes from the tradition that the three kings came to visit the Christ Child twelve days after he was born. This same tradition is the origin of the title to Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night”.

5. “Black ___,” Georgia O’Keeffe painting at the Met : IRIS

Georgia O’Keeffe was an influential American artist, one who led the introduction of American art into Europe. Famously, she was married to photographer Alfred Stieglitz who helped develop her career in the early days. Georgia O’Keeffe’s last home was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she had done a lot of her work during her lifetime. She died there in 1986, at the ripe old age of 98. One of her most famous paintings is from 1926, called “Black Iris III”.

6. Ewoks or Jawas, in brief : ETS

The Ewoks are creatures who live on the moon of Endor in the “Star Wars” universe. First appearing in “Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”, they’re the cute and cuddly little guys that look like teddy bears.

In the “Star Wars” universe, the Jawa are a race of rodent-like pygmies who live on the desert planet called Tatooine.

7. One of academia’s Seven Sisters : SMITH

The Seven Sisters are a group of (traditionally women’s) colleges in the northeast of the country that were founded to parallel the all-male (as they were then) Ivy League colleges. The seven are:

  • Mount Holyoke
  • Vassar
  • Wellesley
  • Smith
  • Radcliffe
  • Bryn Mawr
  • Barnard

9. It might result in a defensive TD : INT

Interception (Int.)

10. Aviary sound : COO

An aviary is a large cage that houses birds. “Avis” is Latin for bird.

14. Narcissist’s quality : BIG EGO

Narcissus was a proud and vain hunter in Greek mythology. He earned himself a fatal punishment, being made fall in love with his own reflection in a pool. So, take was he by his own image, that he could not leave it and wasted away and died by the pool. Narcissus gives us our term “narcissism” meaning “excessive love of oneself”.

17. One of the first birds released by Noah after the flood, in legend : IBIS

The ibis is a wading bird that was revered in ancient Egypt. “Ibis” is an interesting word grammatically speaking. You can have one “ibis” or two “ibises”, and then again one has a flock of “ibis”. And if you want to go with the classical plural, instead of two “ibises” you would have two “ibides”!

24. Krazy ___ of the comics : KAT

“Krazy Kat” is a successful comic strip that ran from 1913-1944 and was drawn by George Herriman.

31. Hosp. readout : ECG

An EKG measures electrical activity in the heart. Back in my homeland of Ireland, an EKG is known as an ECG (for electrocardiogram). We use the German name in the US, Elektrokardiogramm, giving us EKG. Apparently the abbreviation EKG is preferred as ECG might be confused (if poorly handwritten, I guess) with EEG, the abbreviation for an electroencephalogram.

32. Penalties for illegal bowls in cricket : NO-BALLS

Cricket is the national game of England. The term “cricket” apparently comes from the Old French word “criquet” meaning “goalpost, stick”.

33. Largest active Antarctic volcano : EREBUS

Mount Erebus is a volcano that is located on Ross Island in Antarctica. Erebus is the second-highest on the continent, after Mount Sidley. It was discovered in 1841 by Sir James Clark Ross, along with the companion volcano Mount Terror. Ross named the peaks for the ships used on his voyage: HMS Erebus and HMS Terror.

34. Little ‘un : TYKE

“Tyke” has been used playfully to describe a young child since at least 1902, but for centuries before that a tyke was a cur or mongrel, or perhaps a lazy or lower-class man.

37. Vessels seen in 2004’s “Troy” : BIREMES

Triremes were galleys used in the Mediterranean by a number of cultures, including the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The trireme was so called because there were three rows of oars on each side of the vessel. The term “trireme” comes from the Latin “tres remi” meaning “three-oar”. There was also a less ambitious version of the trireme that had only two banks of oars, and that was known as a bireme.

“Troy” is a 2004 epic movie that is based on Homer’s “Iliad” and tells the story of the Trojan War. “Troy” has quite the cast, including Brad Pitt as Achilles, Eric Bana as Hector and Diane Kruger as Helen. Most of the filming was done on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean. It was an expensive film to make, with costs running at about $175 million. The film did well at the box office though, with most of the profits being made outside of the US.

39. Like albino alligators : RARE

An albino is an organism lacking normal pigmentation. The term “albino” comes from “albus”, Latin for “white”.

40. General ___ chicken : TSO’S

General Tso’s chicken is an American creation, and a dish often found on the menu of a Chinese restaurant. The name General Tso may be a reference to General Zuo Zongtang of the Qing Dynasty, but there is no clear link.

45. More smoky, as Scotch : PEATIER

I do not agree with this clue/answer at all. Peaty and smoky are two very different tastes in whisky, and are definitely not equivalent …

49. Bird named for a Titan : RHEA

The rhea is a flightless bird that is native to South America. The rhea takes its name from the Greek Titan Rhea. It’s an apt name for a flightless bird as “rhea” comes from the Greek word meaning “ground”.

In Greek mythology, Rhea was one of the Titans. She was the sister and husband of Cronus, and together they had six children, the last of which was Zeus. Cronus swallowed all of his children as soon as they were born, except for Zeus, who Rhea managed to hide from her husband.

55. Actor’s honor, informally : NOM

Nomination (nom.)

63. Whiz : MAESTRO

The gangster Meyer Lansky was known as the “Mob’s Accountant”. When he died in 1983 at the ripe old age of 80 years, on paper Lansky was worth almost nothing. However, the FBI believed that he actually had about $300 million in hidden bank accounts, funds which the authorities were never able to find.

64. Classic work whose “shorter” version comes in two vols. : OED

Work started on what was to become the first “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) in 1857. Several interim versions of the dictionary were published in the coming years with the first full version appearing, in ten bound volumes, in 1928. The second edition of the OED appeared in 1989 and is made up of twenty volumes. The OED was first published in electronic form in 1988 and went online in 2000. Given the modern use of computers, the publishing house responsible feels that there will never be a third print version of the famous dictionary.

66. Image on the ceiling of la chapelle Sixtine : ANGE

The Sistine Chapel, in the Pope’s residence in Rome, takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV who was responsible for restoring the old Capella Magna in the 15th century. It was about a century later (1508-1512) that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel under the patronage of Pope Julius II.

67. Classic Pontiacs : GTOS

The Pontiac GTO was produced by GM from 1964 to 1974, and again by a GM subsidiary in Australia from 2004 to 2006. The original GTO’s design is credited to Pontiac chief engineer at the time John DeLorean, who later was found the DeLorean Motor Company.

69. He’s often pictured carrying an hourglass : FATHER TIME

“Chronos” is the Greek word for time, with the name applying in Ancient Greece to a personification of time. He was not a Greek god, although Chronos has often been confused with the Titan Cronus of Greek mythology. The Titan Cronus was often depicted with a scythe, as this was the tool he used to castrate his father Uranus. The confusion of Chronos and Cronus led to the traditional depiction of “Old Father Time” with a scythe.

71. Apply haphazardly : SLAP ON

Our word “hap” means chance or fortune. It turns up combined in words like “haphazard” and even “happen”. “Happen” originally meant to “occur by hap, by chance”.

78. Low voices : BASSI

The bass is the lowest male singing voice. A man with such a voice might be called a “basso” (plural “bassi”). In an opera, the villain of the piece is usually played by a basso.

79. Turn’s partner : TOSS

Toss and turn.

87. Old vacuum tube : TRIODE

A triode is like a diode, in that it has a cathode from which electrons flow to an anode. However, there is a third terminal called a grid, between the cathode and anode. By applying a potential to the grid, the flow of electrons can be regulated.

89. Suspect statements? : ALIBIS

“Alibi” is the Latin word for “elsewhere” as in, “I claim that I was ‘elsewhere’ when the crime was committed … I have an ‘alibi’”.

94. ___-nest : MARE’S

The term “mare’s nest” has two meanings these days. More commonly it refers to a confused mess, although this usage is really an error, confusion with the idiom “rat’s nest”, which has that meaning. The correct usage of “mare’s nest”, dating back to the 16th century, is to describe a hoax, a promising discovery that turns out to be next to nothing.

95. Aesop’s “The ___ and the Grasshopper” : ANT

In Aesop’s fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper”, the grasshopper spends the warm months singing and having a good time while the ant toils away storing food. When winter arrives, the grasshopper starts to die from hunger and begs the ant for food. The ant tells the grasshopper that he should have been more sensible instead of singing away all summer, and maybe he should dance through the winter!

99. ___ Marino : SAN

San Marino is a small enclave in northern Italy with an area of just under 25 square miles. It is the oldest sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world, and has the world’s oldest constitution (dating back to 1600). What is most impressive to me is that San Marino has no national debt and a budget surplus. One can only dream …

101. Big name in speakers : BOSE

Bose Corporation was founded in 1964 by Amar G. Bose, and is a company that specializes in manufacture of audio equipment.

104. Tyrant Amin : IDI

Idi Amin received most of his military training in the British armed forces, eventually achieving the highest rank possible for a Black African in the British Colonial Army in 1959, that of Warrant Officer. On his return to Uganda Amin joined his country’s military and quickly rose to the rank of Deputy Commander of the Army. During that time he was quite the athlete. He was a noted rugby player and swimmer, and for nine years held the Ugandan national light-heavyweight boxing title. By the early seventies, Amin was commander of all the armed forces of Uganda and in 1971 seized power in a military coup, displacing the country’s president Milton Obote. There followed seven years of brutal rule by Amin during which it is estimated that between 100,000 and 500,000 people were murdered. Amin was ousted from power in 1979 after a war with Tanzania, and fled to Libya where he stayed for a year. He then moved to Saudi Arabia, where he was financially supported by the Saudi Royal Family for the remainder of his life. Amin died in 2003.

106. “Despicable Me” protagonist : GRU

The main protagonist in the “Despicable Me” movies is the supervillain Felonius Gru, usually referred to simply as “Gru”.

“Despicable Me” is a 2010 animated comedy film. The main voice actor in the movie is the very funny Steve Carell. “Despicable Me” is a Universal Pictures production, although all of the animation was done in France. The 2010 film was followed by a sequel “Despicable Me 2” released in 2013, with a prequel/spin-off film called “Minions” released in 2015.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. ___ Page, the Queen of Pinups : BETTIE
7. Flavorful meat coating : SPICE RUB
15. End-of-week cry : TGIF
19. O.K. to play, in a way : UNHURT
20. Obsession with a single subject : MONOMANIA
22. Country’s McEntire : REBA
23. “We can’t play that game – I can’t reach it on our shelf!” : THE RISK IS TOO HIGH!
25. Operating system developed at Bell Labs : UNIX
26. Onetime White House family : TAFTS
27. Corroded : ATE
28. Sunken ship sites : SEABEDS
30. Travel option for Birthright trips : EL AL
31. Natural gas component : ETHANE
34. Dress (up) : TOG
35. Standout : ACE
36. Turning point in history : ONE BC
38. “My sincerest apologies, but that game is off the table” : SORRY, NOT SORRY!
43. Unearth : DIG UP
46. Bills : BEAKS
47. Many a Snapchat posting : SELFIE
48. Suit that’s hard to get into : ARMOR
51. Old Buick : LESABRE
53. What’s plucked in “she loves me, she loves me not” : COROLLA
54. “We can’t play that game unless we borrow someone else’s” : I HAVEN’T A CLUE
56. Laughs and laughs : HAS
57. French city grid : RUES
58. People vis-à-vis gods : MERE MORTALS
59. It’s a trek : HAJ
60. “It ___” (“Who’s there?” reply) : IS I
61. Show overuse, as a sofa : SAG
62. They may have attachments : EMAILS
63. Strand : MAROON
65. Hammarskjöld once of the U.N. : DAG
68. Provisions : IFS
70. ___ school : MED
71. Bone connection with convex and concave fittings : SADDLE JOINT
73. ___ Mode, woman in “The Incredibles” : EDNA
75. Word repeated in the openings of “Star Wars” movies : FAR
76. “I’m begging you, let’s not play that game!” : PLEASE, DON’T GO!
77. Antinuclear treaty topic : TEST BAN
79. Pop-up site : TOASTER
80. Daniel who wrote “Flowers for Algernon” : KEYES
81. Island greetings : ALOHAS
82. Take over : CO-OPT
83. Info in dating profiles : TYPES
85. “No, that game would be over in a flash” : LIFE’S TOO SHORT
88. One of 26 for Walt Disney : OSCAR
91. Common filler words : ERS
92. Common filler words : UMS
93. “If you are always trying to be ___, you will never know how amazing you can be”: Maya Angelou : NORMAL
96. Praise for a picador : OLES
98. Frida Kahlo, por ejemplo : ARTISTA
100. Novelist McEwan : IAN
101. Grammy winner Mary J. ___ : BLIGE
102. Cosmonaut Gagarin : YURI
103. “I’ve finally decided! I’m …” : ASKING FOR TROUBLE
109. Small matter : ATOM
110. “Looking to go somewhere?” : NEED A RIDE?
111. Densest natural element : OSMIUM
112. Bead source : PORE
113. Officials in ancient Rome : TRIBUNES
114. They vary from past to present : TENSES

Down

1. Isolated hill : BUTTE
2. Surround with light : ENHALO
3. 1996 Robert De Niro/Wesley Snipes psychological thriller : THE FAN
4. Bird in a holiday song : TURTLE DOVE
5. “Black ___,” Georgia O’Keeffe painting at the Met : IRIS
6. Ewoks or Jawas, in brief : ETS
7. One of academia’s Seven Sisters : SMITH
8. Impersonate : POSE AS
9. It might result in a defensive TD : INT
10. Aviary sound : COO
11. Full of broodiness, say : EMO
12. Cheerleader’s cheer : RAH!
13. Synchronized states : UNISONS
14. Narcissist’s quality : BIG EGO
15. Who you really are : TRUE COLORS
16. M->F->M, e.g. : GENDER FLUIDITY
17. One of the first birds released by Noah after the flood, in legend : IBIS
18. Kind of number not much seen nowadays : FAX
21. “Of course!” : AHA!
24. Krazy ___ of the comics : KAT
29. More villainous : BASER
31. Hosp. readout : ECG
32. Penalties for illegal bowls in cricket : NO-BALLS
33. Largest active Antarctic volcano : EREBUS
34. Little ‘un : TYKE
37. Vessels seen in 2004’s “Troy” : BIREMES
39. Like albino alligators : RARE
40. General ___ chicken : TSO’S
41. Work (up) : RILE
42. Things needed in passing? : YEAS
44. Supervillain in DC Comics : ULTRAMAN
45. More smoky, as Scotch : PEATIER
48. Goals : AIMS
49. Bird named for a Titan : RHEA
50. Polling calculations : MARGINS OF ERROR
52. Spill coffee on, maybe : SCALD
53. Blandishment : CAJOLERY
55. Actor’s honor, informally : NOM
56. Rigid : HARD-SET
59. Attacked : HAD AT
60. They’re shared among friends : IN-JOKES
63. Whiz : MAESTRO
64. Classic work whose “shorter” version comes in two vols. : OED
66. Image on the ceiling of la chapelle Sixtine : ANGE
67. Classic Pontiacs : GTOS
69. He’s often pictured carrying an hourglass : FATHER TIME
71. Apply haphazardly : SLAP ON
72. It comes just before a period : ONES COLUMN
73. List-ending abbr. : ET AL
74. Scale site : DELI
75. Fleet : FAST
76. When doubled, dismiss out of hand : POOH
78. Low voices : BASSI
79. Turn’s partner : TOSS
82. Secondary loan signer : CO-MAKER
84. D.C. insider : POL
86. Get-go : OUTSET
87. Old vacuum tube : TRIODE
89. Suspect statements? : ALIBIS
90. Fix, as a model plane : REGLUE
94. ___-nest : MARE’S
95. Aesop’s “The ___ and the Grasshopper” : ANT
97. Is for all intents and purposes : SEEMS
98. Taurus or Touareg : AUTO
99. ___ Marino : SAN
101. Big name in speakers : BOSE
102. Go on and on : YAP
104. Tyrant Amin : IDI
105. Catch : NAB
106. “Despicable Me” protagonist : GRU
107. Ominous sight at a beach : FIN
108. Go bad : ROT

18 thoughts on “1014-18 NY Times Crossword 14 Oct 18, Sunday”

  1. 29:53, no errors. Did it while observing my new new washing machine … which, unlike the new one, actually works! … 😜

  2. 2 hrs. and 5 min. with my usual one error (artiste for artista)
    Way too many off the wall clues and foreign words for the non pro that is me.
    Not a fan of this one at all.

    1. Jack starting to think we should learn a couple of new languages also. May help us answer some of these abbreviated clues of a different language.

  3. I liked this one. It brought back a lot of memories about fighting over, er, playing board games with my brother and sisters growing up.

  4. 34:17, no errors. Enjoyed the challenges presented by the vague and esoteric clueing. The theme actually helped in solving the puzzle. Fell into the same difficulty as others with the ARTISTE vs. ARTISTA, especially since the term COMAKER was unfamiliar.

    @Bill: While I am glad to see that your blog has picked up advertisers, the pop-up from ePlane is particularly annoying. I don’t know if others have the same issue, or if you have any control over the pop-up ads on your site.

    1. @Bruce –
      I’m no expert, but I believe those ads are generated based on your browsing history. That’s why everyone doesn’t get the same ad. I also think in some instances (Google does this, e.g.) you can request not to see an ad. Somewhere at the bottom of the ad is a place where you can request not to see that particular ad. I’ve done that on my phone a few times, and it worked.

      Worth a shot anyway

      Best –

    2. @Bruce … FWIW, I access this site mostly on my iPad; I have noticed little advertising in general, and no recent increase in such activity. On this page I see ads for “Rotita”, “The Executive Wallet”, and “Non-Surgical Knee Relief”, all of which are placed between sections of the blog and are static and non-intrusive (no pop-ups). I doubt that Bill has much control over what appears, but I’m not very knowledgeable about such things.

  5. Liked this one although it took quite awhile. No errors for a change on Sunday. I wonder what causes people to be so mean and negative?

  6. 56A: Can someone please tell me how the clue “Laughs and laughs” leads to the answer “Has”? This mystifies me. Thanks.

    1. Think, “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” A weird clue, with deceptive punctuation (or a deceptive lack thereof) … 😜.

      1. Actually, there should be no punctuation in “has”. In this case, it’s merely the plural of “ha”. An apostrophe indicates possession or a contraction.

        1. @Gail Petrie … True, but I actually wasn’t thinking of using an apostrophe. The setter is taking shameless advantage of the fact that the word “ha” is normally used as an interjection, rather than as a noun. Consider the following sentence: My joke got lots of has. Even though it’s correct, I think most people would find it a bit awkward and difficult to interpret. Instead, I would probably write this: My joke got lots of “ha”s.

          (In truth, I would be far more likely to write, “My joke got lots of laughs.” And, in any case, I would probably be lying; I’m not that good at telling jokes! 😜)

          Also, I was a math major, so what do I know? 😜

  7. I have no idea why people are complaining about this puzzle. Sure, some of the clues are hard, yes, but that’s what makes the puzzle enjoyable. These puzzles require a little more advanced thinking in order to get the cluing, that’s all.

    This puzzle was not too shabby at all. I have heard of most of these games, except for go. Perhaps I need to brush up on my Chinese gaming? Also, a shout-out to Ian McEwan, whose novel Saturday I read as a senior in college. Good times, good times….

    Anyway, a fun puzzle from Ross. Keep them coming, sir!

Comments are closed.