0627-19 NY Times Crossword 27 Jun 19, Thursday

Today’s Reveal Answer(s): Check All the Boxes

We have a rebus puzzle today, with the word “CHECK” filling four of the BOXES:

• 9D With 39-Down, fulfill requirements … or how to fill four of this puzzle’s squares? : CHECK ALL …
• 39D See 9-Down : … THE BOXES

• 20A What the Constitution provides among the branches of government : CHECKS AND BALANCES
• 30A Free rein : BLANK CHECK
• 55A Famous symbol of the Cold War : CHECKPOINT CHARLIE
• 63A Tipping point? : COAT CHECK
• 2D Preconcert job : MIC CHECK
• 33D “Game over” : CHECKMATE
• 55D Last step of a purchase : CHECKOUT
• 64D One of 24 game pieces : CHECKER

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 9m 31s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

16 First name in morning TV : HODA

Hoda Kotb is an Egyptian-American television journalist who is perhaps best known as co-host of the NBC morning show “Today”. She is also the author of the bestselling autobiography “Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee”.

18 “Let There Be Rock” rock band : AC/DC

The Heavy Metal band known as AC/DC was formed by two brothers Malcolm and Angus Young in Australia. The group is usually called “Acca Dacca” down under.

34 The Red Wolves of the Sun Belt Conf. : ASU

Arkansas State University (ASU)

35 You might take his word for it : ROGET

Peter Mark Roget was an English lexicographer. Roget was an avid maker of lists, apparently using the routine of list-making to combat depression, a condition he endured for most of his life. He published his famous thesaurus in 1852, with revisions and expansions being made years later by his son, and then in turn by his grandson.

37 Good gardening soil : LOAM

Loam is soil made up of sand, silt and clay in the ratio of about 40-40-20. Relative to other soil types, loam is usually rich in nutrients and moisture, drains well and is easy to till. Loam can also be used in constructing houses as it is quite strong when mixed with straw and dried.

42 “Livin’ la Vida ___” : LOCA

“Livin’ La Vida Loca” is a 1999 single recorded by Ricky Martin, the title of which translates as “living the crazy life”.

52 What apiphobes fear : BEES

Something described as apian is related to bees. “Apis” is Latin for “bee”.

55 Famous symbol of the Cold War : CHECKPOINT CHARLIE

Checkpoint Charlie was the most famous crossing point in the Berlin Wall, between the East and West. Originally designated as “checkpoint C”, it was quickly termed “Checkpoint Charlie” from the C-designation in the NATO phonetic alphabet.

61 Cajole : COAX

To coax is to cajole, to influence using gentle persuasion. Back in the 16th century, “coax” was a noun meaning “fool”, and was used in the sense of “make a coax of, make a fool of”.

62 The Big Easy : NOLA

The city of New Orleans, Louisiana has the nickname “The Big Easy”. This name might come from the early 1900s when musicians found it relatively “easy” to find work there. The city is also known by the acronym NOLA, standing for New Orleans (NO), Louisiana (LA).

65 Like a leviathan : HUGE

Something described as leviathan is huge, of immense size. The word was used for a sea monster mentioned in the Old Testament. As a result, “leviathan” has come to be associated with any large sea monster or creature.

66 Monopoly token replaced in 2013 by a cat : IRON

There are eight tokens included in the game of Monopoly as of 2013. These are the wheelbarrow, battleship, race car, thimble, boot, Scottie dog, top hat and cat. The latest to be introduced was the cat in 2013, replacing the iron. The battleship and the cannon (aka “howitzer”, now retired) had been added to the Monopoly game as part of a recycling exercise. The pieces were intended for the game “Conflict” released in 1940, but when Parker Bros. pulled “Conflict” off the market due to poor sales, they added their excess battleships and cannons to Monopoly.

67 Court locale, with “The” : HAGUE

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is commonly referred to as the World Court, and is based in the Hague in the Netherlands. Housed in a building known as the Peace Palace, the ICJ is the main judicial branch of the United Nations. One of the court’s functions is to settle disputes between UN member states. The US no longer accepts the jurisdiction of the ICJ, after the court’s 1986 decision that the USA’s covert war against Nicaragua was in violation of international law. The UN Security Council is charged with enforcing the ICJ rulings, and so the US used its veto power in the Nicaragua v. United States case.

68 Western tribe : UTES

The Ute are a group of Native American tribes who now reside in Utah and Colorado. The Ute were not a unified people as such, but rather a loose association of nomadic groups. The word “Ute” means “Land of the Sun”, and “Ute” also gave us the state name “Utah”.

70 Some detective fiction, informally : NOIR

The expression “film noir” has French origins, but only in that it was coined by a French critic in describing a style of Hollywood film. The term, meaning “black film” in French, was first used by Nino Frank in 1946. Film noir often applies to a movie with a melodramatic plot and a private eye or detective at its center. Good examples would be “The Big Sleep” and “D.O.A”.

Down

3 Food that may be puréed for babies : PEAS

A purée is a food that has been made smooth by straining or blending. “Purée” is a French term, which I believe is now used to mean “pea soup” (more completely written as “purée de pois”). The French verb “purer” means “to strain, clean”, from the Latin “purare” meaning “to purify, clean”.

4 Capital on the Mississippi : ST PAUL

Saint Paul that is the state capital of Minnesota, and is one half of the “Twin Cities” , also known as Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Saint Paul used to be called Pig’s Eye, named after a popular tavern in the original settlement in the area. In 1841, Father Lucien Galtier established a log chapel nearby that he dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle, giving the city its current name. The magnificent Cathedral of St. Paul now sits on the site where the log chapel was built.

8 Like many popular 13-Across : NO-CARB
(13A Subjects of many nonfiction best sellers : DIETS)

Perhaps most notably, the eating of relatively few carbohydrates is central to the diet proposed by Robert Atkins. Atkins first laid out the principles behind the Atkins diet in a research paper published in 1958 in the “Journal of the American Medical Association”. He popularized his diet starting in 1972 with his book “Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution”.

25 Source of the words “pajama” and “spinach” : FARSI

“Farsi” is one of the local names for the Persian language.

26 Lightning Bolt : USAIN

Usain Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter who won the 100m and 200m race gold medals in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. Back in Jamaica, Bolt was really into cricket, and probably would have been a very successful fast bowler had he not hit the track instead.

28 Assistant in a horror film : IGOR

In the world of movies, Igor has been the assistant to Dracula, Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein among others. Igor is almost invariably portrayed as a hunchback.

29 Home on the range : TEPEE

A tepee (also written as “tipi” and “teepee”) is a cone-shaped tent traditionally made from animal hides that is used by the Great Plains Native Americans. A wigwam is a completely different structure and is often a misnomer for a tepee. A wigwam is a domed structure built by Native Americans in the West and Southwest, intended to be a more permanent dwelling. The wigwam can also be covered with hides but more often was covered with grass, reeds, brush or cloth.

31 Who has been nominated for more acting Oscars than Meryl Streep : NO ONE

Meryl Streep has had more nominations for an Academy Award than any other actor, which is both a tribute to her talent and the respect she has earned in the industry. I am not a huge fan of her earlier works but some of her recent movies are now on my list of all-time favorites. I recommend “Mamma Mia!” (you’ll either love it or hate it!), “Julie & Julia”, “It’s Complicated” and ”Hope Springs”.

32 Grammy-winning Musgraves : KACEY

Kacey Musgraves is a country singer from Golden, Texas.

33 “Game over” : CHECKMATE

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.

41 Work of Bellini or Gounod : OPERA

Vincenzo Bellini was a composer of operas active in the Italian bel canto era of the early 1800s. Bellini’s most famous works are probably “Il pirata” (1827) and “Norma” (1831). Sadly, Bellini died at only 33 years of age, in 1835.

Charles Gounod was a French composer from Paris. Gounod’s most frequently performed work is his setting of the Latin text “Ave Maria”. When Gounod passed away in 1893, two famous French composers attended his funeral service. Camille Saint-Saëns played the organ and Gabriel Fauré conducted the orchestra.

48 Outdoor retail giant : REI

REI is a sporting goods store, with the initialism standing for Recreational Equipment Inc. REI was founded in Seattle by Lloyd and Mary Anderson in 1938 as a cooperative that supplies quality climbing gear to outdoor enthusiasts. The first full-time employee hired by the Andersons was Jim Whittaker, who was the first American to climb Mount Everest.

57 What “thrombus” means to a doctor : CLOT

A blood clot is a very necessary response to an injury and is intended to prevent bleeding. Also called a thrombus, the clot comprises aggregated blood platelets trapped in a mesh made from fibrin, a fibrous protein. If a thrombus forms in a healthy blood vessel, restricting blood flow, that condition is known as thrombosis.

58 First name in fairy tales : HANS

The wonderful storyteller Hans Christian Andersen became very successful in his own lifetime. In 1847 he visited England for the summer and made a triumphal tour of English society’s most fashionable drawing rooms. There Andersen met with the equally successful Charles Dickens, and the two seemed to hit it off. Ten years later Andersen returned to England and stayed for five weeks in Dickens’ home as his guest. Dickens published “David Copperfield” soon after, and supposedly the less than lovable character Uriah Heep was based on Dickens’ house guest Hans Christian Andersen. That wasn’t very nice!

59 Manipulator of Othello : IAGO

In William Shakespeare’s play “Othello”, Iago utters the words “The Moor already changes with my poison.” Iago is celebrating the fact that Othello’s mind has already become infected with iago’s devious suggestions.

60 Decorative sewing case : ETUI

An etui is an ornamental case used to hold small items, in particular sewing needles. We imported both the case design and the word “etui” from France. The French also have a modern usage of “etui”, using the term to depict a case for carrying CDs.

61 Steven ___, secretary of energy under Obama : CHU

Steven Chu is a former Secretary of Energy in the Obama Cabinet. Chu is a physicist by trade, and a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997.

64 One of 24 game pieces : CHECKER

“Checkers” is yet another word that I had to learn moving across the Atlantic. In Ireland the game is called “draughts”.