0410-20 NY Times Crossword 10 Apr 20, Friday

Constructed by: Byron Walden
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 11m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15 “Baba ___” (“CSI: NY” theme) : O’RILEY

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”

16 Greek : HELLENIC

Someone from Greece can be called a Hellene. “Ellas” is the Greek word for “Greece”, the name of the country. Greece is also known as the “Hellenic” Republic.

17 Time release? : PAROLE

“Parole” is a French word that we use in English, with the French “parole” meaning “word, speech”. Of particular interest is the French phrase “parole d’honneur” which translates as “word of honor”. In the early 1600s we started using “parole” to mean a promise by a prisoner of war not to escape, as in the prisoner giving his “word of honor” not to run off. Over time, parole has come to mean conditional release of a prisoner before he or she has served the full term of a sentence.

19 Pichelsteiner, pozole and pot-au-feu : STEWS

Pot-au-feu is a French stew made with beef and is similar to many stews made around the world, containing cheap cuts of meat with mainly root vegetables and spices. The name “pot-au-feu” means “pot on the fire”, and used to apply to a pot that was kept on the fire during cold weather, with ingredients being added when they became available, and stew doled out when needed.

22 Nickname for Eric Cartwright on “Bonanza” : HOSS

Dan Blocker was the actor who played Eric “Hoss” Cartwright in the Western TV series “Bonanza”. Hoss was the “slow” character on the show. Paradoxically, Dan Blocker was the most-educated member of the cast, having earned a master’s degree in the dramatic arts. Blocker passed away while “Bonanza” was still running. He was undergoing relatively routine gallbladder surgery and developed a pulmonary embolism which killed him. Bonanza ran for just one more season after Blocker passed away.

23 Starbucks 12-ouncers : TALLS

Starbucks introduced us to coffee drinks in a whole range of volumes:

  • Demi … 3 fl oz
  • Short … 8 fl oz
  • Tall … 12 fl oz
  • Grande … 16 fl oz (Italian for “large”)
  • Venti … 20 fl oz (Italian for “twenty”)
  • Trenta … 30 fl oz (Italian for “thirty”)

26 Material in doblones : ORO

The doubloon was a Spanish gold coin worth two escudos. The name comes from the Spanish “doblón”, which means “double”.

29 Wanders around LAX or JFK? : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.

30 Deterrent to squatting : WI-FI PASSWORD

“Wi-Fi” is nothing more than a trademark, a trademark registered by an association of manufacturers of equipment that use wireless LAN (Local Area Network) technology. A device labeled with “Wi-Fi” has to meet certain defined technical standards, basically meaning that the devices can talk to each other. The name “Wi-Fi” suggests “Wireless Fidelity”, although apparently the term was never intended to mean anything at all.

34 Sam who won at the Battle of San Jacinto : HOUSTON

Sam Houston was the first President of the Republic of Texas, a US Senator for Texas, and governor of the state. Houston was also Governor of Tennessee in his earlier life and is the only person in US history to have been governor of two different states. The city of Houston is named for Sam, and the nearby city of Huntsville boasts a statue of Houston that’s the largest freestanding statue of any American.

38 Metaphorical source of the next generation of coders and researchers : STEM PIPELINE

The acronym “STEM” stands for the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. An alternative acronym with a similar meaning is MINT, standing for mathematics, information sciences, natural sciences and technology.

44 Largest labor union in the U.S.: Abbr. : NEA

The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the country, and mainly represents public school teachers.

45 The Miners of Conference USA, informally : UTEP

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) was founded in 1914 as the Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy. To this day, there is a mine shaft on the campus. The mascot of the school’s sports teams is Paydirt Pete, a prospector from the mining industry. The teams are also known as the UTEP Miners and Lady Miners.

48 Company originally called Zimride : LYFT

Lyft is a ridesharing service that is based in San Francisco, as is Uber, Lyft’s biggest competitor.

51 ___ Palmas, capital of Gran Canaria : LAS

Gran Canaria, or Grand Canary Island, may be grand but it isn’t quite as big as Tenerife, the largest island of the group and the most populated. The capital of Gran Canaria is Las Palmas, which was a port of call for Christopher Columbus in 1492 on his way to the Americas.

56 Big 12 college town : AMES, IOWA

Iowa State University of Science and Technology (ISU) is located in Ames, Iowa. Among many other notable milestones, ISU created the country’s first school of veterinary medicine, in 1879. The sports teams of ISU are known as the Cyclones.

58 Like 4×4 sudoku, typically : VERY EASY

Number puzzles similar to our modern-day Sudoku first appeared in French newspapers in the late 1800s. The format that we use today was created by Howard Garns, a 74-year-old freelance puzzle constructor from Connersville, Indiana and first published in 1979. The format was introduced in Japan in 1984 and given the title of “Sūji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, which translates to “the digits are limited to one occurrence”. The rather elaborate Japanese title was eventually shortened to Sudoku. No doubt many of you are fans of Sudoku puzzles. I know I am …

59 City in Fitzgerald’s “Tender Is the Night” : CANNES

Cannes is a city on the French Riviera that is noted as host of the Cannes Film Festival. The decision to host an annual film festival was adopted by the city just before WWII. However, the festival had to wait for the end of the war for its launch in 1946.

“Tender Is the Night” is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that was adapted into a 1962 film starring Jennifer Jones, Jason Robards and Joan Fontaine.

Down

2 Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex,” for one : ORATORIO

Composer Igor Stravinsky’s most famous works were completed relatively early in his career, when he was quite young. His three ballets “The Firebird”, “Petrushka” and “The Rite of Spring” were published in 1910-1913, when Stravinsky was in his early thirties.

7 Home to Blofeld’s lair in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” : THE ALPS

“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is the sixth of the James Bond series films, and the only one to star George Lazenby in the leading role. He wasn’t a great choice for 007 …

Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a villain in the James Bond universe. Blofeld has been played on the big screen several times by different actors. My favorite is Donald Pleasance in 1967’s “You Only Live Twice”. In the original Ian Fleming novels, Blofeld was born on 28 May 1908, which happens to be Fleming’s own birthday.

9 Part of REO : ELI

10 Part of REO : OLDS

Ransom Eli Olds was a pioneer in the automotive industry, and the founder of the Oldsmobile and REO brands. Olds introduced the first modern “stationary” assembly line (Henry Ford’s famous innovation was the “moving” assembly line). As a result, it can be argued that the Oldsmobile Curved Dash was the first mass-produced, low-priced automobile, rather than the Ford’s Model T.

13 Sporty Mazdas : MIATAS

The Mazda MX-5 is sold as the Miata in North America, and as the Roadster in Japan. I’ve always liked the looks of the Mazda Miata, probably because it reminds me so much of old British sports cars. The Miata is built in Hiroshima, Japan. The name “Miata” comes from an Old High German word meaning “reward”.

14 Cornea neighbor : SCLERA

The sclera is the white part of the human eye. The sclera is white in most mammals, but in horses it is black. Really! Go check …

20 Pac-Man and the ghosts, in Pac-Man cereal : MARSHMALLOWS

The Pac-Man arcade game was first released in Japan in 1980, and is as popular today as it ever was. The game features characters that are maneuvered around the screen to eat up dots and earn points. The name comes from the Japanese folk hero “Paku”, known for his voracious appetite. The spin-off game called Ms. Pac-Man was released in 1981.

23 Collections dating back to the Han dynasty : TEA SETS

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China and lasted from 206 BC to 220 AD. It came after the Qin Dynasty, and before the Three Kingdoms.

32 Broadband letters : DSL

The initialism “DSL” originally stood for Digital Subscriber Loop, but is now accepted to mean (Asymmetric) Digital Subscriber Line. DSL is a technology that allows Internet service to be delivered down the same telephone line as voice service, by separating the two into different frequency signals.

40 Name shared by the composers Holst and Mahler : GUSTAV

Despite the Scandinavian-sounding name, Gustav Holst was born in Britain and was the most English of classical composers. His most famous work is the orchestral suite known as ‘The Planets”. The suite has seven movements, one for each of the planets known at the time (1914-1916) except Earth. Pluto was discovered during Holst’s lifetime, but decades after he had completed his masterpiece. Anyway, Pluto was relegated from the league of planets …

I’m still trying to keep an open mind when it comes to the music of Gustav Mahler, but I find it hard to appreciate. Mahler was an Austrian composer who was active in the late-Romantic period. During his own lifetime, he was most notable as a conductor, and his compositions gained in popularity only after his death in 1911. Mahler’s music was banned as “degenerate” during the Nazi Era, as Mahler was Jewish.

48 Clunker car : LEMON

Long before we associated the term “lemon” with a defective car, it was used to describe defective items in general.

50 Barre bend : PLIE

The French word for “bent” is “plié”. In the ballet move known as a plié, the knees are bent. A “demi-plié” is a similar move, but with less bending of the knees.

A barre is a handrail used by ballet dancers for warm-up exercises and to provide support when practicing certain moves.

52 Weapon on a cord : BOLA

Bolas are heavy balls connected by cords that constitute a throwing weapon. Bolas are often used to capture animals by tripping them as they run. The weapon is usually associated with gauchos, the South American cowboys, although there is evidence that the Inca army used them in battle.

54 Mauna ___ : LOA

Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

55 Home of “The Monkees” on 1960s TV : NBC

The Monkees pop group was assembled in 1966 specifically for a planned television series called “The Monkees”. The show aired from 1966 to 1968, and the band continued to perform in concerts until 1970. 20 years after the band was formed, there was a revival in interest for both the show and the band’s music, so the Monkees got together for several reunion tours. The lead singer of the group was Englishman Davy Jones, who passed away in February 2012.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Word with cake or shop : COFFEE …
7 Ones with something to prove? : THEOREMS
15 “Baba ___” (“CSI: NY” theme) : O’RILEY
16 Greek : HELLENIC
17 Time release? : PAROLE
18 Shot in the back : EPIDURAL
19 Pichelsteiner, pozole and pot-au-feu : STEWS
20 It can show you the way : MAP
21 Rush : SPATE
22 Nickname for Eric Cartwright on “Bonanza” : HOSS
23 Starbucks 12-ouncers : TALLS
25 Go a few rounds : SPAR
26 Material in doblones : ORO
27 Speaker of the words “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil,” in Genesis : SERPENT
29 Wanders around LAX or JFK? : TSA
30 Deterrent to squatting : WI-FI PASSWORD
33 Rather impressionable? : SOFTISH
34 Sam who won at the Battle of San Jacinto : HOUSTON
38 Metaphorical source of the next generation of coders and researchers : STEM PIPELINE
40 Hoedown lass : GAL
43 Played from the tipoff, say : STARTED
44 Largest labor union in the U.S.: Abbr. : NEA
45 The Miners of Conference USA, informally : UTEP
47 “The ___ the theft, the sweeter the honey”: Edmund Clarence Stedman : SLYER
48 Company originally called Zimride : LYFT
49 With 6-Down, acute power of discernment : SHARP …
51 ___ Palmas, capital of Gran Canaria : LAS
52 Back at the track : BET ON
53 Coming after : TO FOLLOW
55 “Cut it out!” : NO MORE!
56 Big 12 college town : AMES, IOWA
57 Flourishes : BLOOMS
58 Like 4×4 sudoku, typically : VERY EASY
59 City in Fitzgerald’s “Tender Is the Night” : CANNES

Down

1 Series of crimes? : COP SHOWS
2 Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex,” for one : ORATORIO
3 Sends in a huff : FIRES OFF
4 Moves from the head to the mouth : FLOWS
5 Fish in the order Anguilliformes : EELS
6 See 49-Across : … EYE
7 Home to Blofeld’s lair in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” : THE ALPS
8 Classic chairs with shield-shaped backs : HEPPLEWHITES
9 Part of REO : ELI
10 Part of REO : OLDS
11 Avoids a service break? : RE-UPS
12 Hanging on every word : ENRAPT
13 Sporty Mazdas : MIATAS
14 Cornea neighbor : SCLERA
20 Pac-Man and the ghosts, in Pac-Man cereal : MARSHMALLOWS
23 Collections dating back to the Han dynasty : TEA SETS
24 Nosy Parker : SNOOPER
27 Hot rods? : SPITS
28 Set straight : TRUED
31 “___ all a blur” : IT’S
32 Broadband letters : DSL
35 Any student at Acme Looniversity : TINY TOON
36 Self-serving comment? : ONE FOR ME
37 What ataxophobes crave : NEATNESS
39 Extricate with leverage : PRY AWAY
40 Name shared by the composers Holst and Mahler : GUSTAV
41 In : AT HOME
42 Certain autumn tourist, slangily : LEAFER
46 Far from crisp, as text : PROSY
48 Clunker car : LEMON
50 Barre bend : PLIE
52 Weapon on a cord : BOLA
54 Mauna ___ : LOA
55 Home of “The Monkees” on 1960s TV : NBC

14 thoughts on “0410-20 NY Times Crossword 10 Apr 20, Friday”

  1. For those that follow Bill’s LAT blog, this was the championship puzzle for the contest I posted about doing a month ago (the all-online one people did when the ACPT got cancelled) – easy track (note there was a hard track). This one had a small number of clues rewritten (not in any formidable way), so I’m not going to post my time from then. Overall, I thought this to be an excellent puzzle and enjoyed doing it immensely when I did the month ago version of it.

  2. 23:59, no errors. Good puzzle. I don’t watch television and had never heard of “Baba O’Riley”, so that held me up a bit.

  3. 35:11 with multiple lucky and/or unconfident guesses. “Neatness”, “Theorem”, “Hepplewhite” all fortunate guesses… Like Nonny, I watch almost zero TV(yeah, occasionally “Jeopardy”), but grew up when The Who was big so Baba O’Riley was an easy one

  4. Well, that was hard for me. Maybe too much biking and not enough mental exercise. 31:47 with no errors. NW corner was the last to fall. I tried starting there…and got nothing except for Hoss.

    1. @Steve … Google “wifi squatting” and review a few of the hits that you get. Basically, I guess it involves using a wifi connection that isn’t password protected. (I don’t see a lot of those where I live, so I’m not too familiar with the concept.)

  5. 28:37. Fun puzzle. The fact that I was able to fill in HEPPLEWHITE was no minor miracle. I finished but heard no music. Then I saw I spelled SCLaRA wrong. I fixed it and got the congratulatory music.

    Steve – “Squatting” is considered using an unsecured wifi network without anyone’s permission. You hear about it a lot in apartment complexes. Lesson: make good passwords for your own wifi networks.

    Best –

  6. @ A Nonny-

    I don’t watch any of the CSIs, but “Who’s Next” is one of the all-time greatest rock albums, with every song a hit. Some people think the title of Baba O’Riley is Teenage Wasteland. Maybe you’ve heard that.

    SE corner was the last to fall for me and I had to start at the
    SERPENT/MARSHMALLOW cross. Thought several clues were on the lame side, 33A, 52A and disagree with TSA wandering around airports.

  7. Good Friday challenge. Oddly enough, I knew HEPPLEWHITE, probably from Antiques Roadshow. Had to chew on the south east a bit but finished WNE.
    JRH: Think of 29-A as agents who hold wands.

  8. When I read the note that precedes this puzzle I said to myself “forget it” but somehow 1:23:41 later I finished and somehow had no errors.
    Right now I feel pretty good about this solve so I suspect David Steinberg will come along and bust my bubble.
    Stay safe

  9. Excellent, challenging puzzle. I felt very good about completing it in 26 minutes.

  10. 19:16, no errors. Fairly smooth for me, initially misspelled O’RILEY as O’REILY and entered TEA POTS before TEA SETS. Thank you @Dave for clarifying 29A: I was also going to question ‘wanders’; I was thinking that TSA also patrols the airport, and could be considered ‘wanderers’. Your explanation set me straight.

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