Constructed by: Sam Trabucco
Edited by: Will Shortz
Not your puzzle? Try today’s …
… syndicated NY Times crossword
Today’s Reveal Answer: Married Men
Themed answers are common words and phrases that can be parsed into two MEN’S names:
- 62A Bachelors no more … or, literally, the answers to the six starred clues : MARRIED MEN
- 17A *Plays around (4 & 6) : PHILANDERS (Phil & Anders)
- 23A *Language in which “hello” is “privet” (4 & 3) : RUSSIAN (Russ & Ian)
- 25A *Opening a beer bottle with a ring, e.g. (4 & 4) : BAR TRICK (Bart & Rick)
- 38A *Bounce (4 & 4) : RICOCHET (Rico & Chet)
- 53A *Omaha Beach locale (4 & 4) : NORMANDY (Norm & Andy)
- 55A *1988 Winter Olympics host (3 & 4) : CALGARY (Cal & Gary)
Read on, or jump to …
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Bill’s time: 7m 10s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Blog feed format, for short : RSS
Many websites and blogs publish content in a format known as Rich Site Summary (RSS). The “feed” can be read using an RSS reader. The advantage of using an RSS reader, is that the user doesn’t have to check the website for new content. That new material is fed to the RSS reader as soon as it is published.
14 Where some R.N.s work : ICU
A registered nurse (RN) might work in an intensive care unit (ICU).
17 *Plays around (4 & 6) : PHILANDERS (Phil & Anders)
To philander is to womanize, with the verb coming from the noun “philander” that was used in the 1700s to mean “lover”. In fact, the name “Philander” was often used back then in novels and plays for a character who was a lover. The name was derived from the Greek adjective “philandros” meaning “with love for people”.
20 “Lohengrin” soprano : ELSA
“Lohengrin” is a very popular opera by Richard Wagner that was first performed in 1850. Many arias from “Lohengrin” are staples in “Opera’s Greatest Hits” collections. We’ve often heard the “Bridal Chorus” from “Lohengrin”. It’s the tune to “Here comes the bride …”, which is played regularly at the start of wedding ceremonies as the bride walks down the aisle. In the opera, the “Bridal Chorus” is sung not at the start of the ceremony but afterwards, by the women of the wedding party as they accompany newlywed Elsa to the bridal chamber.
21 Siri runs on it : IOS
iOS is what Apple now call their mobile operating system. Previously, it was known as iPhone OS.
30 Sin-ful teaching? : TRIG
The most familiar trigonometric functions are sine, cosine and tangent (abbreviated to “sin, cos and tan”). Each of these is a ratio: a ratio of two sides of a right-angled triangle. The “reciprocal” of these three functions are cosecant, secant and cotangent. The reciprocal functions are simply the inverted ratios, the inverted sine, cosine and tangent. These inverted ratios should not be confused with the “inverse” trigonometric functions e.g. arcsine, arccosine and arctangent. These inverse functions are the reverse of the sine, cosine and tangent.
31 In medias ___ : RES
“In media res” is a Latin phrase that translates as “into the middle of things”. We use “in media res” to describe a literary technique in which a story starts at some point other than the beginning of the plot.
33 Jazz singer Anita : O’DAY
“Anita O’Day” was the stage name of the jazz singer Anita Colton. She chose the name as “O’Day” is Pig Latin for “dough”, a slang term for “money”. O’Day had problems with heroin and alcohol addiction leading to erratic behavior, and earning her the nickname “The Jezebel of Jazz”.
34 Presidential threat : VETO
The verb “veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The term was used by tribunes of ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.
35 Ride that you “catch” : CAB
A hansom cab is a very specific design of horse and buggy that was patented by Joseph Hansom in 1834 in England. The “cab” in the name is short for “cabriolet”, an earlier design of carriage on which the hansom was based. It’s from “hansom cab” that we get our modern term “cab”.
41 Barrett of the original Pink Floyd : SYD
Syd Barrett was the lead singer and a founding member of the English rock band Pink Floyd. Barrett was only active as a musician for just over ten years. He retired from the music scene in 1975 and spent the next 30 years living off Pink Floyd royalties until he passed away in 2006.
44 Western wolf : LOBO
The timber wolf is also known as the gray wolf, tundra wolf or lobo.
45 Wall Street average, with “the” : DOW
Dow Jones & Company was founded as a publishing house in 1882 by three newspaper reporters, Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser. Today, the company’s most famous publication has to be “The Wall Street Journal”. In 1884, Charles Dow started reporting the average dollar value of the stock of eleven companies, an index which spawned a whole host of metrics that carry the Dow Jones name to this day. The most famous of these metrics is the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), also known as “the Dow 30” or simply “the Dow”.
48 What Romeo and Juliet plan to do : ELOPE
In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, it is explicitly stated that Juliet is 13 years of age, and the assumption is that Romeo is perhaps a little older.
50 Jesus, in a metaphor : LAMB
“Agnus Dei” is Latin for “Lamb of God”, The expression is used in Christian traditions to describe Jesus Christ, hence symbolizing his role as a sacrificial offering (sacrificial lamb) to atone for the sins of man.
53 *Omaha Beach locale (4 & 4) : NORMANDY (Norm & Andy)
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy in the north of France. They were descended from Viking stock, so the name “Norman” derives from a translation of “North Men”.
The Normandy landings on D-Day in 1944 took place along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. The worst fighting by far took place on Omaha Beach, a sector assigned to the US Army that was transported by elements of the US Navy and the Royal Navy.
55 *1988 Winter Olympics host (3 & 4) : CALGARY (Cal & Gary)
Calgary, the largest city in the Canadian province of Alberta, is named for Calgary on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. The Canadian Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.
60 Fort ___, Ontario : ERIE
The original Fort Erie was built by the British in 1764. The current structure can be visited today and is located in the province of Ontario, just across the Niagara River from the city of Buffalo, New York.
61 Store of riches : TROVE
The term “treasure trove” comes from the Anglo-French “tresor trové “ meaning “found treasure”.
65 Ed of “Up” : ASNER
Ed Asner is most famous for playing the irascible but lovable Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and on the spin-off drama “Lou Grant”. Off-screen Asner is noted for his political activism. He served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), and was very involved in the 1980 SAG strike. When “Lou Grant” was cancelled in 1982, despite decent ratings, there was a lot of talk that the cancellation was a move by the network against Asner personally. In fact, one of Asner’s activist colleagues, Howard Hesseman (who played Johnny Fever) found that his show “WKRP in Cincinnati” was also canceled … on the very same day.
“Up” was the tenth movie released by Pixar studios, and features the wonderful animation that we have come to expect from Pixar. The film earned itself two Academy Awards. The main voice actor is Ed Asner, whose animated persona as Carl Fredricksen was created to resemble Spencer Tracy, as Tracy appeared in his last film, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”.
66 They might include an R.S.V.P. interface : E-VITES
“RSVP” stands for “répondez s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “answer, please”.
70 Org. whose workers get hands-on experience? : TSA
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.
Down
2 Disheveled sort : SCHLUB
A “schlub” is a clumsy, stupid person. The term comes into English possibly via Yiddish from the Polish “żłób“ meaning “blockhead”.
3 Credit ___ (financial giant) : SUISSE
Credit Suisse is a financial services company that was founded in 1856 by one Alfred Escher. The original purpose of Credit Suisse (then known as the “Swiss Credit Institution”) was to fund the buildout of the Swiss rail network.
4 Setting for much of the “Odyssey” : SEA
“Odyssey” is one of two epic poems from ancient Greece that is attributed to Homer. “Odyssey” is largely a sequel to Homer’s other epic “Iliad”. “Odyssey” centers on the heroic figure Odysseus, and his adventures on his journey home to Greece following the fall of Troy. We now use the term “odyssey” to describe any long series of adventures.
5 Amor vincit ___ (love conquers all) : OMNIA
“Omnia vincit amor” is a line from Eclogue X, one of the major works of the Latin poet Virgil. We know the phrase in English as “love conquers all”.
6 Genetic sequences : CODONS
Proteins are synthesised in the body from amino acids, which are linked together in specific sequences that are determined by the genetic code. The language of the code is sequence of nucleotides. The nucleotides are arranged in groups of three called “codons”, with each codon determining a specific amino acid.
7 Bauxite and others : ORES
Bauxite is an aluminum ore. It takes its name from the absolutely beautiful village of Les Baux in southern France, the home of the geologist who first recognized that the mineral was a useful source of the metal.
10 Invention celebrated by NBC’s peacock logo : COLOR TV
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) has had a number of different logos in its history, including the famous peacock with which we are familiar today. The first peacock logo was introduced in the early days of color television and was designed to illustrate how wonderful color television would be, so go buy one! (NBC was owned by RCA, and so had a vested interest in sales of color television sets).
16 Singer/songwriter Bacharach : BURT
Composer and pianist Burt Bacharach had an incredible run of hits from the fifties through the eighties, usually working with lyricist Hal David. Bacharach’s hits ranged from “Magic Moments”, a fifties hit for Perry Como, “Close to You”, a sixties hit for the Carpenters, and “Arthur’s Theme”, a hit for Christopher Cross in the seventies. Bacharach was married to Angie Dickinson for fifteen years.
18 Kind of beam : LASER
The term “laser” is an acronym standing for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”. It has been pointed out that a more precise name for laser technology is “light oscillation by stimulated emission of radiation”, but the resulting acronym isn’t quite so appealing, namely “loser”.
24 Way of old Rome : ITER
“Iter” is Latin for “road”.
26 Wife of Esau : ADAH
Esau is a son of Isaac, and someone whose story is told in the Bible’s Book of Genesis. Esau had three wives, Adah, Aholibamah and Bashemath.
35 Machine for counting loose change : COINSTAR
Coinstar is a brand of coin-cashing kiosk that can be found at various locations, such as grocery stores and banks. Users can cash in their collections of loose change for a voucher, with the Coinstar operator deducting a fee. I tend to avoid the fee by opting to receive an Amazon.com gift voucher for the full amount of the coins.
36 Class for college-bound kids, maybe : AP COURSE
The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers college-level courses to kids who are still in high school. After being tested at the end of the courses, successful students receive credits that count towards a college degree.
49 Card game akin to whist : ECARTE
Écarté is a card game that comes to us from France, with a name that translates into ‘discarded”. Écarté is similar to whist but is played with a stripped-down deck and involves only two players.
51 Animal in the squirrel family : MARMOT
Marmots are large ground squirrels. Included in the genus is the famous groundhog, but not the equally famous prairie dog.
54 Violin virtuoso Leopold : AUER
Leopold Auer was a Hungarian violinist, as well as a conductor and composer. Auer wrote a small number of works for the violin, the most famous of which is the “Rhapsodie Hongroise” written for violin and piano.
56 “Till we meet again” : ADIEU
“Adieu” is the French for “goodbye, farewell”, from “à Dieu” meaning “to God”. The plural of “adieu” is “adieux”.
57 Gossipy sort : YENTA
Yenta (also “Yente”) is actually a female Yiddish name. In Yiddish theater “yenta” came to mean a busybody, a gossip.
59 ___ large : WRIT
Something writ large is expressed in a more obvious way.
63 Director DuVernay : AVA
Ava DuVernay is a filmmaker who became the first African-American woman to win the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, a feat she achieved in 2012 for her feature film “Middle of Nowhere”. “Middle of Nowhere” tells the story of a woman who drops out of medical school to focus on husband when he is sentenced to 8 years in prison. DuVernay also directed the 2014 film “Selma” about the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
64 “I know what you’re thinking” feeling : ESP
Extrasensory perception (ESP)
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Blog feed format, for short : RSS
4 “Awesome!” : SO COOL!
10 Heart-to-heart, maybe : CHAT
14 Where some R.N.s work : ICU
15 Modern music hybrid : EMO RAP
16 Diner option : BOOTH
17 *Plays around (4 & 6) : PHILANDERS (Phil & Anders)
19 Very, very : ULTRA
20 “Lohengrin” soprano : ELSA
21 Siri runs on it : IOS
22 Start appealing to more : GROW ON
23 *Language in which “hello” is “privet” (4 & 3) : RUSSIAN (Russ & Ian)
25 *Opening a beer bottle with a ring, e.g. (4 & 4) : BAR TRICK (Bart & Rick)
27 ___-red : BEET
28 27-Across, e.g. : SHADE
30 Sin-ful teaching? : TRIG
31 In medias ___ : RES
33 Jazz singer Anita : O’DAY
34 Presidential threat : VETO
35 Ride that you “catch” : CAB
38 *Bounce (4 & 4) : RICOCHET (Rico & Chet)
41 Barrett of the original Pink Floyd : SYD
42 Abbr. above “0” : OPER
44 Western wolf : LOBO
45 Wall Street average, with “the” : DOW
47 Summertime cooler : ICEE
48 What Romeo and Juliet plan to do : ELOPE
50 Jesus, in a metaphor : LAMB
53 *Omaha Beach locale (4 & 4) : NORMANDY (Norm & Andy)
55 *1988 Winter Olympics host (3 & 4) : CALGARY (Cal & Gary)
58 Give a break from the game : SUB OUT
59 Load of cash : WAD
60 Fort ___, Ontario : ERIE
61 Store of riches : TROVE
62 Bachelors no more … or, literally, the answers to the six starred clues : MARRIED MEN
65 Ed of “Up” : ASNER
66 They might include an R.S.V.P. interface : E-VITES
67 What’s frequently found in poetry? : OFT
68 Rules, for short : REGS
69 Be out of one’s league, in a way : DATE UP
70 Org. whose workers get hands-on experience? : TSA
Down
1 Less green, perhaps : RIPER
2 Disheveled sort : SCHLUB
3 Credit ___ (financial giant) : SUISSE
4 Setting for much of the “Odyssey” : SEA
5 Amor vincit ___ (love conquers all) : OMNIA
6 Genetic sequences : CODONS
7 Bauxite and others : ORES
8 Crew’s control? : OAR
9 D.J.’s library : LPS
10 Invention celebrated by NBC’s peacock logo : COLOR TV
11 Starts without a key, say : HOT-WIRES
12 Horrible event : ATROCITY
13 “Phew!” : THANK GOD!
16 Singer/songwriter Bacharach : BURT
18 Kind of beam : LASER
22 Aged, in England : GREYED
24 Way of old Rome : ITER
25 Dark blue? : BAD COP
26 Wife of Esau : ADAH
29 “Whew, that was something!” : HOO BOY!
32 Like three of the letters of “aisle” : SILENT
35 Machine for counting loose change : COINSTAR
36 Class for college-bound kids, maybe : AP COURSE
37 Aid for getting drunk fast : BEER BONG
39 Distant : COLD
40 Cost that weighs heavily : TOLL
43 Takes off : REMOVES
46 Carried on, as war : WAGED
49 Card game akin to whist : ECARTE
51 Animal in the squirrel family : MARMOT
52 Underwear option : BRIEFS
54 Violin virtuoso Leopold : AUER
56 “Till we meet again” : ADIEU
57 Gossipy sort : YENTA
59 ___ large : WRIT
62 T-shirt size: Abbr. : MED
63 Director DuVernay : AVA
64 “I know what you’re thinking” feeling : ESP
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