1011-18 NY Times Crossword 11 Oct 18, Thursday

Constructed by:Johanna Fenimore & Jeff Chen
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: No Bra Day

In honor of NO BRA DAY, themed answers need the letters BRA removed in order to make sense:

  • 61A. Annual event to support breast cancer awareness … or a hint to answering 16-, 22-, 24-, 35-, 53- and 55-Across : NO BRA DAY
  • 16A. Picking out of a lineup, e.g. : BRAIDING (giving “ID’ING”)
  • 22A. Upper body muscles, for short : LAB RATS (giving “LATS”)
  • 24A. Extremely : BRAVERY (giving “VERY”)
  • 35A. Didn’t delete : LEFT BRAIN (giving “LEFT IN”)
  • 53A. First name in “The Godfather” : VIBRATO (giving “VITO”)
  • 55A. Chess piece : BRAKING (giving “KING”)

Bill’s time: 8m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Keeps in the loop, in a way : CCS

I wonder do the kids of today know that “cc” stands for carbon copy, and do they have any idea what a carbon copy was? Do you remember how messy carbon paper was to handle? A kind blog reader pointed out to me recently that the abbreviation has evolved and taken on the meaning “courtesy copy” in our modern world.

4. Ones making passing judgments, for short? : QBS

Quarterback (QB)

13. Genre at the Grammys : FOLK

The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held in 1959 and focused on recognizing outstanding achievement in the recording industry. The idea of a Grammy Award came up when recording executives were working on the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the fifties. These executives concluded that there were many people in the recording industry deserving of accolades but who would probably never make it to the Walk of Fame. As a result, they founded the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Academy considered naming the award the “Eddies” after Thomas Edison, but then opted for “Grammy” after Edison’s invention: the gramophone.

14. Its capital is Abu Dhabi, for short : UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates (states) in the Middle East. Included in the seven are Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with the city of Abu Dhabi being the UAE capital and cultural center.

15. ___ Sea, body of water between Sicily and Greece : IONIAN

The Ionian Sea is that part of the Mediterranean lying between Greece and the southern part of Italy (under the sole of the “boot”). The Ionian Sea is one of the most seismically active regions on the planet.

20. Lamb in literature : ELIA

Charles Lamb was an essayist and poet from England. Lamb’s best-known works are “Essays of Elia” (1823) and “Tales from Shakespeare”, an 1807 children’s book that he co-authored with his sister Mary Lamb.

22. Upper body muscles, for short : LAB RATS (giving “LATS”)

The muscles known as the “lats” are the latissimi dorsi, and are the broadest muscles in the back. “Latissimus” is the Latin for “broadest” and “dorsum” is Latin for “back”.

26. Pulitzer Prize winner for “A Death in the Family” : AGEE

James Agee was a noted American film critic and screenwriter. Agee wrote an autobiographical novel “A Death in the Family” that won him his Pulitzer in 1958, albeit posthumously. He was also one of the screenwriters for the 1951 classic movie “The African Queen”.

29. James who sang “At last, my love has come along …” : ETTA

Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.

30. Headwear in a Prince hit : BERET

The singer Prince was born in Minneapolis, and he lived there most of his life. Born Prince Rogers Nelson, his given name honored his father, a jazz musician who used the stage name Prince Rogers. Prince died in 2016 due to an accidental fentanyl overdose at his home and recording studio located just southwest of Minneapolis. The home and studio, known as Paisley Park, is now a museum that is open to the public.

34. ___ sauce : SOY

Soy sauce is made by fermenting soybeans with a mold in the presence of water and salt. Charming …

39. Potus #36 : 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.

President of the United States (POTUS)

42. One choice in a party game : DARE

That would be “Truth or Dare”.

47. Car named after an automotive competition : IROC

The IROC-Z is a model of Camaro that was introduced by Chevrolet in 1978. The IROC-Z takes its name from a famous stock car race, the International Race of Champions.

49. “I’m Down” vis-à-vis “Help!” : SIDE-B

Those would be songs by the Beatles.

53. First name in “The Godfather” : VIBRATO (giving “VITO”)

Mario Puzo created the Corleone Mafia family in his 1969 novel “The Godfather”. The head of the family is Vito Corleone (whose birth name was Vito Andolini), a native of Corleone in Sicily. He was given the name Corleone by immigration officers at Ellis Island. Don Corleone was played so very memorably, with a distinctive rasping voice, by Marlon Brando in the 1972 movie adaptation directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

55. Chess piece : BRAKING (giving “KING”)

In the game of chess, when the king is under immediate threat of capture it is said to be “in check”. If the king cannot escape from check, then the game ends in “checkmate” and the player in check loses. In the original Sanskrit game of chess, the king could actually be captured. Then a rule was introduced requiring that a warning be given if capture was imminent (today we announce “check!”) so that an accidental and early ending to the game doesn’t occur.

58. Award from the American Theater Wing : OBIE

There’s a slight error in the clue, I think. The American Theatre Wing uses the “Theatre” spelling.

The Obies are the “Off-Broadway Theater Awards”. The Obies have been presented annually since 1956. The recipients used to be chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper, but now are jointly administered with the American Theatre Wing.

61. Annual event to support breast cancer awareness … or a hint to answering 16-, 22-, 24-, 35-, 53- and 55-Across : NO BRA DAY

No Bra Day has been observed annually since 2011. Originally observed on July 9th, the day was moved to October 13th in 2014, so that it falls in the middle on National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

63. Producer of rain : EL NINO

When the surface temperature of much of the Pacific Ocean rises more that half a degree centigrade, then there is said to be an El Niño episode. That small temperature change in the Pacific has been associated with climatic changes that can stretch right across the globe. El Niño is Spanish for “the boy” and is a reference to the Christ child. The phenomenon was given this particular Spanish name because the warming is usually noticed near South America and around Christmas-time.

67. Letters for college applicants : ETS

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) was founded in 1947, and produces standardized tests for students from kindergarten through college. Perhaps most famously, ETS operates the SAT testing process.

68. Result of imperfect service : LET

That could be tennis, for example.

Down

1. Wrist attachment : CORSAGE

“Corsage” is a word that we imported from French in the late 15th century and meaning , believe it or not, “body size”. By the early 1800s, a corsage was a bodice, or the body of a woman’s dress. At the beginning of the 20th century, the French term “bouquet de corsage” was being used for a “bouquet worn on the bodice”, and this has been shortened simply to “corsage”.

6. Company in the book “Console Wars” : SEGA

Sega is a Japanese video game company headquartered in Tokyo. Sega actually started out 1940 in the US as Standard Games and was located in Honolulu, Hawaii. The owners moved the operation to Tokyo in 1951 and renamed the company to Service Games. The name “Sega” is a combination of the first two letters of the words “Se-rvice” and “Ga-mes”.

7. Precursor to IMAX : CINERAMA

Cinerama is a widescreen format that was introduced in some theaters in the fifties. A Cinerama screen is very curved, and it takes three movie projectors operating simultaneously to provide the full image.

The IMAX Corporation, which is behind the IMAX film format, is a Canadian company. The impetus for developing the system came after Expo ’67 in Montreal. Back then large format screenings were accomplished using multiple projectors with multiple screens, with images basically stitched together. The team behind the IMAX technology set out to simplify things, and developed a single-camera, single-projector system.

8. Bathtub item : LOOFA

The loofah (also “loofa”, “lufah” and “luffa”, all Arabic words) is a vine, with fruit that’s very popular in Asia and Africa. If the fruit is allowed to mature, it can be processed to remove everything but the more rigid xylem structure (remember your high school botany class?) leaving a soft, sponge-like mass that is used as a skin polisher.

9. Salad green : ENDIVE

Endive is a leaf vegetable belonging to the chicory genus, and is in the daisy family. Endive is also known as “escarole”.

10. State flowers of Rhode Island, Illinois and New Jersey : VIOLETS

Someone who is very shy might be described as a “shrinking violet”. The violet in this case is the flower, and not the girl’s name. The plant Viola odorata has been referred to “shrinking violet” because of its habit of hugging the ground as it grows.

12. Co-workers of M.D.s : RNS

One might find a registered nurse (RN) or a medical doctor (MD) in an emergency room (ER).

13. Facility at Quantico : FBI LAB

The FBI Academy is located on a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. The academy opened for the first trainees in 1972. Included in training complex is a 10-acre mock city known as Hogan’s Alley.

17. Govt. agency that combats smuggling : DEA

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

24. ___ Fox : BR’ER

Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox are characters in the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris. The “Uncle Remus” stories are adaptations of African American folktales that Harris collected across the Southern States. “Br’er” is an abbreviated form of “brother”.

28. Journalist in a military unit : EMBED

Although journalists have been directly reporting from the front lines in military conflicts for some time, the term “embedded journalism” only came into fashion during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. A formal arrangement was made between the US Military and hundreds of reporters allowing the journalists to travel with military units and, under pre-ordained conditions, report directly from those units. Some say that the arrangement was mutually beneficial. On the one hand the journalists had relatively little to worry about in terms of transportation and travel through combat zones. On the other hand, the military had better control over what did and did not get reported.

31. Colleague of Mary, Murray and Lou on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” : TED

Ted Knight was the actor best known for playing the slow-witted news anchor Ted Baxter on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. Knight’s most famous role on the big screen was Judge Elihu Smails in the 1980 comedy “Caddyshack”.

33. Application for the Mr. Universe contest? : OIL

There are several bodybuilding competitions that have used or continue to use the title “Mr. Universe”. I think that the original dates back to 1953.

37. Donald Duck’s nephews, e.g. : TRIO

Donald Duck’s nephews are identical triplets called Huey, Dewey and Louie, and they first appeared on the screen in 1938. Once in awhile due to errors in production, a fourth duck can be seen in the background. This little “mistake” is affectionately called “Phooey Duck” by folks in the industry.

38. Make out : NECK

The term “necking” applies to kissing and caressing. I like what Groucho Marx had to say on the subject:

Whoever named it necking was a poor judge of anatomy.

39. Tyler of “The Lord of the Rings” : LIV

Actress and model Liv Tyler is the daughter of Steven Tyler, lead singer with Aerosmith, and Bebe Buell, a celebrated model and singer. Liv Tyler plays the Elf maiden Arwen Undómiel in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

44. She helped Theseus navigate the Labyrinth : ARIADNE

In Greek mythology, Ariadne was the daughter of Minos, the King of Crete and master of the Minotaur. Minos charged his daughter with control of the labyrinth that housed the Minotaur. However, Ariadne fell in love with Theseus who had vowed to kill the Minotaur, and she helped him fulfill his mission. In other myths, Ariadne became the bride of the god Dionysus.

56. ___ Lingus : AER

Aer Lingus is my favorite airline! Well, the service isn’t that great, but when I get on board an Aer Lingus plane I feel like I am back in Ireland. Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland, with “Aer Lingus” being a phonetic spelling of the Irish “aer-loingeas” meaning “air fleet”. These days Aer Lingus can only lay claim to the title of Ireland’s oldest airline as it is no longer the biggest. That honor goes to the controversial budget airline called Ryanair.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Keeps in the loop, in a way : CCS
4. Ones making passing judgments, for short? : QBS
7. Witty : CLEVER
13. Genre at the Grammys : FOLK
14. Its capital is Abu Dhabi, for short : UAE
15. ___ Sea, body of water between Sicily and Greece : IONIAN
16. Picking out of a lineup, e.g. : BRAIDING (giving “ID’ING”)
18. Sign at some beaches : NO DOGS
19. Doctrine : ISM
20. Lamb in literature : ELIA
21. Not pay taxes by mail : E-FILE
22. Upper body muscles, for short : LAB RATS (giving “LATS”)
24. Extremely : BRAVERY (giving “VERY”)
26. Pulitzer Prize winner for “A Death in the Family” : AGEE
27. Animated Princess of Power : SHERA
29. James who sang “At last, my love has come along …” : ETTA
30. Headwear in a Prince hit : BERET
32. Posting on an office bulletin board : MEMO
34. ___ sauce : SOY
35. Didn’t delete : LEFT BRAIN (giving “LEFT IN”)
39. Potus #36 : LBJ
42. One choice in a party game : DARE
43. Home pages? : LEASE
47. Car named after an automotive competition : IROC
49. “I’m Down” vis-à-vis “Help!” : SIDE-B
52. Climber’s challenge : CRAG
53. First name in “The Godfather” : VIBRATO (giving “VITO”)
55. Chess piece : BRAKING (giving “KING”)
57. Mantelpiece, e.g. : SHELF
58. Award from the American Theater Wing : OBIE
59. Mix in : ADD
60. Apartment type : STUDIO
61. Annual event to support breast cancer awareness … or a hint to answering 16-, 22-, 24-, 35-, 53- and 55-Across : NO BRA DAY
63. Producer of rain : EL NINO
64. Prompt : CUE
65. About : IN RE
66. Dampened : WETTED
67. Letters for college applicants : ETS
68. Result of imperfect service : LET

Down

1. Wrist attachment : CORSAGE
2. Scale awkwardly, with “up” : CLAMBER
3. Go downhill fast : SKI
4. Collections of patches, say : QUILTS
5. Exile : BANISH
6. Company in the book “Console Wars” : SEGA
7. Precursor to IMAX : CINERAMA
8. Bathtub item : LOOFA
9. Salad green : ENDIVE
10. State flowers of Rhode Island, Illinois and New Jersey : VIOLETS
11. Enthusiastically gonna : EAGER TO
12. Co-workers of M.D.s : RNS
13. Facility at Quantico : FBI LAB
17. Govt. agency that combats smuggling : DEA
23. Stagger : REEL
24. ___ Fox : BR’ER
25. “Woo-hoo!” : YAY!
28. Journalist in a military unit : EMBED
31. Colleague of Mary, Murray and Lou on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” : TED
33. Application for the Mr. Universe contest? : OIL
36. Burgers and fries, typically : FAST FOOD
37. Donald Duck’s nephews, e.g. : TRIO
38. Make out : NECK
39. Tyler of “The Lord of the Rings” : LIV
40. Visibly take offense : BRISTLE
41. Activity for many a senior : JOB HUNT
44. She helped Theseus navigate the Labyrinth : ARIADNE
45. Seaside sculpture, say : SAND ART
46. Easter supply : EGG DYE
48. Give recognition : CREDIT
50. Flow away from the shore : EBB OUT
51. Payments made with a wink, maybe : BRIBES
54. Dress style : A-LINE
56. ___ Lingus : AER
58. Start of a reminiscence : ONCE …
60. Darn, e.g. : SEW
62. Be in bad shape : AIL