0730-19 NY Times Crossword 30 Jul 19, Tuesday

Constructed by: Christina Iverson
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer(s): Startup Capital

Themed answers each START with a nation CAPITAL:

  • 38A With 40-Across, money required to open a business … or a hint to 18-, 24-, 47- and 57-Across : STARTUP …
  • 40A See 38-Across : … CAPITAL
  • 18A Petty set of procedures : RIGAMAROLE (giving “Riga”)
  • 24A Local officials in dioceses : PARISH PRIESTS (giving “Paris”)
  • 47A Longest-serving Independent member of Congress in U.S. history : BERNIE SANDERS (giving “Bern”)
  • 57A Part of a Juliet soliloquy : ROMEO, ROMEO (giving “Rome”)

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

Bill’s time: 6m 36s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9 Lies lazily in the sun : BASKS

Our verb “to bask”, meaning “to expose one to pleasant warmth”, is derived from the gruesome, 14th-century term “basken”, meaning “to wallow in blood”. The contemporary usage apparently originated with Shakespeare, who employed “bask” with reference to sunshine in “As You Like It”.

15 Brad of “Fight Club” : PITT

Brad Pitt’s first major role was the cowboy hitchhiker in the 1991’s “Thelma and Louise”. Pitt’s life offscreen garners as much attention as his work onscreen, it seems. The tabloids revel in the series of high-profile relationships in which he has been involved. He was engaged to Gwyneth Paltrow for a while, married to Jennifer Aniston and then to Angelina Jolie.

“Fight Club” is a 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk about an insomniac who uses an underground fighting club as psychotherapy for his sleeping disorder. Palahniuk’s novel was adapted into a famous 1999 movie starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.

16 Someone’s in the kitchen with her, in an old song : DINAH

“Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah” is a line from the American folk song “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”. The section with this line is actually “lifted” from an older song published as, “Old Joe, or Somebody in the House with Dinah”.

18 Petty set of procedures : RIGAMAROLE (giving “Riga”)

“Rigmarole” (sometimes “rigamarole”) is a lovely word, used for an elaborate and complicated procedure. According to the OED, the term evolved from a medieval game of chance called “Ragman’s Roll”. I guess it was a complicated game …

Riga is the capital city of Latvia. The historical center of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of the city’s magnificent examples of Art Nouveau architecture.

20 Woman who’s bid good night in an old song : IRENE

“Goodnight, Irene”, also known as “Irene, Goodnight”, is a lovely American folk song that was first recorded commercially back in 1932 by blues singer Lead Belly. The song made it to number one in the charts for the Weavers in 1950 and for Frank Sinatra in the same year.

24 Local officials in dioceses : PARISH PRIESTS (giving “Paris”)

The French capital of Paris is named for the Parisii, a Celtic Iron-Age people that lived in the area on the banks of the River Seine.

35 Sites of biceps and triceps : ARMS

The biceps muscle is made up of two bundles of muscle, both of which terminate at the same point near the elbow. The heads of the bundles terminate at different points on the scapula or shoulder blade. “Biceps” is Latin for “two-headed”.

The triceps brachii muscle is found at the back of the upper arm. The muscle’s name translates to “three-headed arm muscle”, fitting as it is actually made up of three bundles of muscles.

36 More cunning : FOXIER

Foxes are often described as cunning or sly. This is a reference to their reputation for eluding hunters.

41 Permeates : IMBUES

“To imbue” is to pervade, to soak in. “Imbue” has the same etymological roots as our word “imbibe”.

44 Some beans : SOYS

What are known as soybeans here in the US are called “soya beans” in most other English-speaking countries. So, I drink soy milk here in America, but when I am over in Ireland I drink “soya milk”.

47 Longest-serving Independent member of Congress in U.S. history : BERNIE SANDERS (giving “Bern”)

Bernie Sanders has served as a US Senator from Vermont since 2007. Sanders often describes himself as a democratic socialist, and used to appear on the ballot as an independent. Prior to joining the Democratic Party in 2015, Sanders had been the longest-serving independent in the history of the US Congress.

Bern (sometimes “Berne”, especially in French) is the capital city of Switzerland. The official language of the city is German, but the language most spoken in Bern is a dialect known as Bernese German.

53 Vaccine target : FLU

Influenza (the “flu”) is an ailment that is caused by a virus. The virus is readily inactivated by the use of soap, so washing hands and surfaces is especially helpful in containing flu outbreaks.

55 Greeting in Guatemala : HOLA

“Hola” is Spanish for the greeting “hi”.

Guatemala in Central America became independent from Spain in 1821, first becoming part of the Mexican Empire, and then becoming completely independent two years later.

56 Generate by dubious means : GIN UP

“To gin up” is slang meaning “to enliven, excite”. The term probably derives from the older “to ginger up”. Gingering up was the rather nasty practice of putting ginger up inside a horse to make it lively and move with a high tail.

57 Part of a Juliet soliloquy : ROMEO, ROMEO (giving “Rome”)

In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, the lovers discuss the sad fact that they have been born into two feuding families in the famous balcony scene. Juliet says:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo’s reply includes the famous lines:

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

According to tradition, Rome was founded by the twin brothers Romulus and Remus. The pair had a heated argument about who should be allowed to name the city and Romulus hit Remus with a shovel, killing him. And so, “Rome” was born, perhaps instead of “Reme”!

61 Crème ___ crème : DE LA

The “crème de la crème” are the elite, the best of the best. The term is French and translates as “cream of the cream”.

63 Noted terrier in a 1939 film : TOTO

Toto is Dorothy’s dog in the film “The Wizard of Oz”, and in the original book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum. Toto was played in the movie by a dog called Terry, but Terry’s name was soon changed to Toto in real life due to the success of the film.

64 Scott of an 1857 Supreme Court case : DRED

The landmark case of Dred Scott vs. Sandford came before the US Supreme Court in 1857. Scott had been born a slave, but lived with his owner in a free state for several years before returning to the slave state of Missouri. Scott’s argument was that living in a free state entitled him to emancipation. A divided US Supreme Court sided with Scott’s owner John Sandford. The decision was that no African American, free or enslaved, was entitled to US citizenship and therefore Scott was unable to petition the court for his freedom. The decision heightened tensions between the North and South, and the American Civil War erupted just three years later.

65 Inventor with a coil named after him : TESLA

A Tesla coil is used to create the high voltages needed to ionize air in those pyrotechnic shows where sparks jump from globe to globe. The same technology was used up to the twenties in spark-gap radio transmitters, which were central to wireless telegraphy back then.

Nikola Tesla was born in Serbia, but later moved to the US. Tesla’s work on mechanical and electrical engineering was crucial to the development of alternating current technology, the same technology that is used by equipment at the backbone of modern power generation and distribution systems.

66 Lead-in to chat or dragon : SNAP-

Snapchat is a messaging system that allows users to send photos and video clips to a limited list of recipients. The photos and clips, called “snaps”, can be viewed for only a few seconds before they are deleted from the recipient’s device, and from the Snapchat servers.

Snapdragons are so called because the plant’s flower is said to resemble that of a dragon. The snapdragon genus is “antirrhinum”, which is derived from the Greek for “like a nose”.

Down

1 Unit of bacon : STRIP

“Bacon” is an Old French word that we imported into English. The term ultimately comes from the Proto-Germanic “bakkon” meaning “back meat”.

2 Actress Linney of “The Truman Show” : LAURA

The wonderfully talented actress Laura Linney is a native New Yorker from Manhattan. The performances of hers that I most admire are in “The Truman Show” and “Love Actually” on the big screen, and in the HBO miniseries “John Adams” on the small screen.

“The Truman Show” is an interesting film starring Jim Carrey as a man who, although unaware of the fact, is living and starring in life-long reality show.

3 Common basket-weaving material : OSIER

Most willows (trees and shrubs of the genus Salix) are called just that, “willows”. Some of the broad-leaved shrub varieties are called “sallow”, and the narrow-leaved shrubs are called “osier”. Osier is commonly used in basketry, as osier twigs are very flexible. The strong and flexible willow stems are sometimes referred to as withies.

5 Financing letters : APR

Annual percentage rate (APR)

6 Midnight, on a grandfather clock : XII

There are several sizes of longcase clocks, tall and freestanding clocks driven by a pendulum swinging inside a tower below the clock face. A longcase clock over 6 feet tall is called a grandfather, and one below five feet is a granddaughter, One that falls between five and six feet is known as a grandmother. The name of the clock derives from an 1876 song called “My Grandfather’s Clock”.

7 Edie Sedgwick and Kendall Jenner, for two : IT GIRLS

Clara Bow was a fabulous star of silent film, with her most famous movie being “It” from 1927. Clara Bow’s performance was so celebrated in the movie that she was forever to be known as the “It girl”. The term “it” was a euphemism for “sex appeal”, and that is what Clara Bow was known to “exude”. Bow applied her red lipstick in the shape of a heart, and women who copied this style were said to put on a “Clara Bow”.

9 They’re almost always shared by twins, informally : B-DAYS

Birthday (b-day)

19 Fannie ___ : MAE

The Federal National Mortgage Association is commonly called “Fannie Mae”, a play on the initialism FNMA. Fannie Mae was founded in during the Great Depression as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.

25 Falcon-headed Egyptian god : HORUS

Horus was one of the oldest gods in ancient Egyptian religion. Usually, Horus was depicted as a falcon or a man with a falcon head. The Eye of Horus was a common symbol used in ancient Egypt, a symbol of protection and royal power.

26 Circumstance’s partner : POMP

Sir Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance Marches” is a work that takes its name from a line in William Shakespeare’s “Othello”.

Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, th’ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!

The most famous part of the whole work is the trio section of March No. 1, also known as “Land of Hope and Glory”. Here in the US, that trio section is often referred to simply as “Pomp and Circumstance”, or sometimes as “The Graduation March” as it is a staple at school graduations across the country.

30 Blue-green shade : TEAL

The beautiful color teal takes it name from the duck called a teal, which has dark greenish-blue (teal) markings on its head and wings.

31 Alternative to Charles de Gaulle : ORLY

Orly is a town on the outskirts of Paris to the south of the city. It is home to the Paris-Orly Airport, the second busiest international airport for the city after the more recently built Charles de Gaulle Airport. That said, Orly is home to more domestic flights than Charles de Gaulle.

32 Some CBS police dramas : CSIS

The “CSI” TV show franchise uses hits from the Who as theme music:

  • “Who Are You” … “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
  • “Baba O’Riley” … “CSI: New York”
  • “Won’t Get Fooled Again” … “CSI: Miami”
  • “I Can See for Miles” … “CSI: Cyber”

36 Fruity soda brand : FANTA

The soft drink named “Fanta” has quite an interesting history. As WWII approached, the Coca-Cola plant in Germany had trouble obtaining the ingredients it needed to continue production of the cola beverage, so the plant manager decided to create a new drink from what was available. The new beverage was built around whey (leftover from cheese production) and pomace (left over after juice has been extracted from fruit). The inventor asked his colleagues to use their “imagination” (“Fantasie” in German) and come up with a name for the drink, so they piped up “Fanta!”

40 Tops of corp. ladders : CEOS

Chief executive officer (CEO)

45 Ones doing loops and barrel rolls : PILOTS

A barrel roll is an aerial stunt in which a plane makes a complete rotation around the longitudinal axis. The manoeuvre is so called as the corkscrew path that the aircraft executes makes it appear as though it is rotating through the inside of an enormous barrel.

46 Onetime stage name of Sean Combs : P DIDDY

When Sean John Combs started his rapping career, he used the stage name “Puff Daddy”. Then he went with “P. Diddy”, and I think that he is now recording simply as “Diddy”. Having said that, he has to stick with “P. Diddy” in some countries as he lost a legal battle over use of the simpler “Diddy” name as there is another artist called Richard “Diddy” Dearlove.

48 “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” spinoff : RHODA

The seventies sitcom “Rhoda”, starring Valerie Harper, was a spin-off of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. The eighth episode of the show was an hour-long special in which Rhoda married her fiance Joe (played by David Groh). At the time of airing it was the second-most watched television episode in history, second only to the 1953 birth of Little Ricky on “I Love Lucy”.

49 ___’easter : NOR

A nor’easter is a storm that blows from the northeast.

50 Month after diciembre : ENERO

In Spanish, “el año” (the year) starts in “enero” (January) and ends in “diciembre” (December).

54 Togolese city on the Gulf of Guinea : LOME

Lomé is the capital city of Togo in West Africa.

The Gulf of Guinea is a large gulf that forms part of the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Africa. One of the Gulf of Guinea’s claims to fame is that it is home to the intersecting point between zero degrees of latitude and zero degrees of longitude, i.e. where the Equator and Prime Meridian cross.

58 Fish that can be electric : EEL

“Electrophorus electricus” is the biological name for the electric eel. Despite its name, the electric “eel” isn’t an eel at all, but rather what is called a knifefish, a fish with an elongated body that is related to the catfish. The electric eel has three pairs of organs along its abdomen, each capable of generating an electric discharge. The shock can go as high as 500 volts with 1 ampere of current (500 watts), and that could perhaps kill a human.

59 Second letter after epsilon : ETA

Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”. Originally denoting a consonant, eta was used as a long vowel in Ancient Greek.

60 “Alley ___!” : OOP

French people, and French circus acrobats in particular, use the phrase “allez hop!” as words of encouragement, sort of like our “let’s go!”. The phrase was anglicized to “alley oop!”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 What a coin may go in : SLOT
5 ___ & Allies (classic board game) : AXIS
9 Lies lazily in the sun : BASKS
14 Stun with a gun : TASE
15 Brad of “Fight Club” : PITT
16 Someone’s in the kitchen with her, in an old song : DINAH
17 Wreck : RUIN
18 Petty set of procedures : RIGAMAROLE (giving “Riga”)
20 Woman who’s bid good night in an old song : IRENE
22 “___, old chap!” : I SAY
23 “With this ring, I thee ___” : WED
24 Local officials in dioceses : PARISH PRIESTS (giving “Paris”)
28 Seats in many bars : STOOLS
29 Car : AUTO
32 Car with a meter : CAB
35 Sites of biceps and triceps : ARMS
36 More cunning : FOXIER
38 With 40-Across, money required to open a business … or a hint to 18-, 24-, 47- and 57-Across : STARTUP …
40 See 38-Across : … CAPITAL
41 Permeates : IMBUES
42 Feature of many an old car : DENT
43 Cunning : SLY
44 Some beans : SOYS
45 “Here’s how experts handle this” : PRO TIP
47 Longest-serving Independent member of Congress in U.S. history : BERNIE SANDERS (giving “Bern”)
53 Vaccine target : FLU
55 Greeting in Guatemala : HOLA
56 Generate by dubious means : GIN UP
57 Part of a Juliet soliloquy : ROMEO, ROMEO (giving “Rome”)
61 Crème ___ crème : DE LA
62 Juiced (up) : AMPED
63 Noted terrier in a 1939 film : TOTO
64 Scott of an 1857 Supreme Court case : DRED
65 Inventor with a coil named after him : TESLA
66 Lead-in to chat or dragon : SNAP-
67 Time long past : YORE

Down

n
1 Unit of bacon : STRIP
2 Actress Linney of “The Truman Show” : LAURA
3 Common basket-weaving material : OSIER
4 Something you’ll have to go to court for? : TENNIS
5 Financing letters : APR
6 Midnight, on a grandfather clock : XII
7 Edie Sedgwick and Kendall Jenner, for two : IT GIRLS
8 Condition of inactivity : STASIS
9 They’re almost always shared by twins, informally : B-DAYS
10 Televise : AIR
11 Winter play outfits : SNOWSUITS
12 Leafy vegetable that can be green or purple : KALE
13 Place to store a lawn mower : SHED
19 Fannie ___ : MAE
21 Locale for a manor : ESTATE
25 Falcon-headed Egyptian god : HORUS
26 Circumstance’s partner : POMP
27 Car with a meter : TAXI
30 Blue-green shade : TEAL
31 Alternative to Charles de Gaulle : ORLY
32 Some CBS police dramas : CSIS
33 Prefix with sphere : ATMO-
34 Obvious signs of pregnancy : BABY BUMPS
36 Fruity soda brand : FANTA
37 Selecting, with “for” : OPTING
39 Ploy : RUSE
40 Tops of corp. ladders : CEOS
42 “That’ll never happen!” : DREAM ON!
45 Ones doing loops and barrel rolls : PILOTS
46 Onetime stage name of Sean Combs : P DIDDY
48 “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” spinoff : RHODA
49 ___’easter : NOR
50 Month after diciembre : ENERO
51 Side of many a protractor : RULER
52 Garden tool : SPADE
53 ___ row (some blocks in a college town) : FRAT
54 Togolese city on the Gulf of Guinea : LOME
58 Fish that can be electric : EEL
59 Second letter after epsilon : ETA
60 “Alley ___!” : OOP

10 thoughts on “0730-19 NY Times Crossword 30 Jul 19, Tuesday”

  1. 8:52….still didn’t see the theme, even after I finished. It’s tough being the village idiot…

  2. I did get the theme and it did help me on my last remaining theme answer which happened to be PARISH PRIESTS.

    My only erasure was from the erroneous ASTA to TOTO. I had not realized until today how much these two dogs have in common. Both were terriers, both were in the movies in the 1930’s, both are spelled with four letters, and they both share the letter T. Interesting.

    Nice piece of construction from Christina Iverson.

  3. 8:19, no errors. Didn’t bother with the theme, wouldn’t have recognized Riga or Bern in any case.

Comments are closed.