0426-20 NY Times Crossword 26 Apr 20, Sunday

Constructed by: Royce Ferguson
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Turn, Turn, Turn

To make sense of today’s themed answers, we have to imagine that the 8 L-shapes made by black squares in the grid are TUNNELS. Inside each of the TUNNELS is a CAR (the letters C-A-R). The CAR takes a TURN, and finishes off the themed answer using a perpendicular regular answer. Complicated and challenging, but fun:

  • 47A With 86-Across, fixation problem suggested by this puzzle’s theme : TUNNEL …
  • 86A See 47-Across : … VISION
  • 58D The driving force behind this puzzle? : CAR
  • 1A 1969 hit for Neil Diamond : SWEET CAROLINE
  • 44A Belief in Buddhism and Hinduism : REINCARNATION
  • 59A Deal with : TAKE CARE OF
  • 116A Bone connected to the wrist : METACARPAL
  • 25D Cousin of cream cheese : MASCARPONE
  • 48D Magical rides : FLYING CARPETS
  • 83D Throwing away : DISCARDING
  • 89D Doesn’t give a hoot, colloquially : COULD CARE LESS

… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 31m 20s!

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 1969 hit for Neil Diamond : SWEET CAROLINE

“Sweet Caroline” is a classic soft-rock song written and performed by Neil Diamond. The inspiration for the song was Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F Kennedy. Sweet Caroline Kennedy was 11 years old at the time the song was released.

13 Southern bread : PONE

“Pone” is another name for corn bread, and comes from the Powhatan term “apan” meaning “something baked”.

17 Risk maker : HASBRO

The Hasbro toy company was founded in 1923, to sell textile remnants. The founders were Herman, Hillel and Henry Hassenfeld, three brothers and hence the name “Hasbro”. The company diversified into toys in the early forties, with the first real market success being Mr. Potato Head.

Risk is a fabulous board game that was introduced in France in 1957. It was invented by a very successful French director of short films called Albert Lamorisse. Lamorisse called his new game “La Conquête du Monde”, which translates into English as “The Conquest of the World”. A game of Risk is a must during the holidays in our house …

20 Comics mutant : X-MAN

The X-Men are a team of superheroes created by Stan Lee for Marvel Comics. Nowadays, the X-Men are perhaps best known as the subject of a series of movies, with Hugh Jackman playing Wolverine and Patrick Stewart playing Professor Xavier (or simply “Professor X”). Some very respected actors have also played the villains whom the X-Men have to battle. For example, the enemy called Magneto is portrayed by veteran Shakespearean actor Sir Ian McKellen.

24 What Santa does before Christmas : MAKES A LIST

Santa checks his list of those who are naughty or nice.

27 Tempe sch. : ASU

Arizona State University (ASU) has a long history, and was founded as the Tempe Normal School for the Arizona Territory in 1885. The athletic teams of ASU used to be known as the Normals, then the Bulldogs, and since 1946 they’ve been called the Sun Devils.

29 [Let it stand] : [STET]

“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

30 Pop singer Ora : RITA

Rita Ora is a British singer who was born Rita Sahatçiu in Pristina, Yugoslavia to Albanian parents. The family name “Sahatçiu” comes from a Turkish word meaning “watchmaker”. Rita’s parents changed their name to make it easier to pronounce. So, the family name morphed from “watchmaker” to “time”, which is “ora” in Albanian.

31 Heats : PRELIMS

The term “heat”, meaning “qualifying race”, dates back to the 1660s. Originally, a heat was a run given to a horse to prepare it for a race, to “heat” it up.

33 Bête noire : BANE

Today, we tend to use the word “bane” to mean anathema, a source of persistent annoyance. A few centuries ago, a bane was a cause of harm or death, perhaps a deadly poison.

“Bête noire” translates from French as “black beast”, and is used in English to describe something or someone that is disliked.

34 Italian pal : PAISAN

“Paisan” is Italian for “brother, fellow countryman”.

45 Certain make-your-own-entree station : TACO BAR

“Entrée” means “entry” in French. An entrée can be something that helps one get “a way in”, an interview for example perhaps helped along by a recommendation letter. In Europe, even in English-speaking countries, the entrée is the name for the “entry” to the meal, the first course. I found the ordering of meals to be very confusing when I first came to America!

51 Per ___ : ANNUM

The Latin word for year is “annus”. We often see it used in Latin phrases, but usually with a different spelling. In “anno Domini”, the “anno” is the ablative case of “annus” as the phrase means “in the year of the Lord”. Another example is “per annum”, in which “annum” is the accusative case as the literal translation of the phrase is “during the year”.

52 Arc on a musical score : SLUR

In the world of music, a slur is a curved line that connects neighboring notes that are to be played smoothly, without separation.

53 Go back (on) : RENEGE

To renege on something is to back out of it. It’s a verb commonly used in card games like bridge and whist. A renege is when a player doesn’t follow suit, even though there may be a card of the suit led in his/her hand.

55 British ending : ZED

The letter named “zed” has been around since about 1400, and derives from the Greek letter zeta. The spelling and pronunciation “zee”, used in America today, first popped up in the 1670s. The spelling and pronunciation “zed” is still used in Britain and Ireland.

60 Suffix with block : -ADE

“Embargo” and “blockade” are two similar yet different terms. An embargo is a legal prohibition of trade with a particular country, whilst a blockade is an act of war, a militarily enforced prevention of the movement of goods and services. The term “embargo” came into English from Spanish, in the late 16th century.

61 China’s Zhou ___ : ENLAI

Zhou Enlai (also “Chou En-lai”) was the first government leader of the People’s Republic of China and held the office of Premier from 1949 until he died in 1976. Zhou Enlai ran the government for Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong, often striking a more conciliatory tone with the West than that of his boss. He was instrumental, for example, in setting up President Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972. Zhou Enlai died just a few months before Mao Zedong, with both deaths leading to unrest and a dramatic change in political direction for the country.

67 Arroz ___ cubana (Cuban-style rice) : A LA

Arroz a la cubana is a Spanish dish with the name translating as “Cuban-style rice”. It consists of white rice with tomato sauce and a fried egg.

72 Once-ubiquitous electronics outlets : RADIOSHACKS

The store we know today as RadioShack was founded as “Radio Shack” in 1921 and focused on serving the amateur radio market. The name was chosen as a “radio shack” was the wooden structure that housed the radio equipment on a ship, and a ham radio station was also known as a “radio shack”. Radio Shack was losing money in the sixties and was bought for a song by Charles Tandy who merged it with his leather goods stores under the name Tandy Radio Shack & Leather (can you believe it?). Tandy eventually dropped all lines bar the electronic items and changed the name “back” to the trendy “RadioShack” in 2000.

77 A hot one can burn you : MIC

One of my favorite hot-mic moments took place in 2005, when Paris and London were vying to host the 2012 Olympics. French President Jacques Chirac compared Paris and London in that context while chatting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Chirac said, over a hot mic:

The only thing that they have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease … You cannot trust people who have such bad cuisine.

78 Stars in western movies, e.g. : BADGES

In the Old West, a sheriff’s badge was often referred to as a “tin star”.

81 Son of George and Jane Jetson : ELROY

“The Jetsons” is an animated show from Hanna-Barbera that had its first run in 1962-1963, and then was recreated in 1985-1987. When it debuted in 1963 on ABC, “The Jetsons” was the network’s first ever color broadcast. “The Jetsons” is like a space-age version of “The Flintstones”. The four Jetson family members are George and Jane, the parents, and children Judy and Elroy. Residing with the family in Orbit City are their household robot Rosie and pet dog Astro.

87 Sea that Jesus is said to have walked on : GALILEE

The Sea of Galilee is actually a lake, the largest freshwater lake in Israel and the lowest elevation freshwater lake in the world. The main source of the water in the Sea of Galilee is the Jordan River that flows through it.

90 South American barbecue : ASADO

“Pollo asado” is a Spanish for “grilled chicken”.

94 D.C. types : POLS

Politician (pol)

98 Former Saudi king : FAHD

King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud was the head of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia until he passed away in 2005. King Fahd was somewhat of a titular head of state since 1995, when he suffered a stroke. In his heyday, the king was fond of a luxurious lifestyle, especially when outside of the kingdom. His 482-ft yacht sported two swimming pools, a garden, a hospital with two operating rooms, and four Stinger missiles. His personal Boeing 747 aircraft even had its own fountain.

102 Peninsula with seven countries : ARABIA

The Arabian Peninsula (also “Arabia”) is part of Western Asia that is located just north-east of Africa. The peninsula is bordered to the west by the Red Sea, to the northeast by the Persian Gulf, and to the southeast by the Indian Ocean. Most of the Arabian Peninsula is taken up by Saudi Arabia, but also included are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen. And, it’s the largest peninsula in the world, covering about 1¼ million square miles.

106 Hosp. area : ICU

Many a hospital (hosp.) includes an intensive care unit (ICU).

109 Hierarchical systems, so to speak : TOTEM POLES

“Totem” is a word used to describe any entity that watches over a group of people. As such, totems are usually the subjects of worship. Totem poles are really misnamed, as they are not intended to represent figures to be worshiped, but rather are heraldic in nature often celebrating the legends or notable events in the history of a tribe.

112 News items often written in advance : OBITS

Our word “obituary” comes from the Latin “obituaris”. The Latin term was used for “record of the death of a person”, although the literal meaning is “pertaining to death”.

114 Nasdaq, e.g.: Abbr. : MKT

The NASDAQ trading system created in 1971 is the successor to the over-the-counter (OTC) trading system that was common at the time. OTC trading is done directly between two parties without being facilitated by an exchange.

116 Bone connected to the wrist : METACARPAL

There are five metacarpal bones in each hand. They make up the framework of the palm and the back of the hand. Each metacarpal is connected to a finger and the wrist. The equivalent bones in the foot are called the metatarsals.

117 Founding member of the U.N. Security Council, for short : USSR

The United Nations Security Council has 15 members, 5 of whom are permanent and who have veto power over any resolution. The 10 non-permanent members are elected into place, and hold their seats for two years. The UN charter requires that authorized representatives of the member nations are always present at UN headquarters so that the Security Council can meet at any time. The permanent members are:

  • China
  • France
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

118 Humanities dept. : PSY

Psychology (psy.)

The academic studies of human culture are collectively called the humanities. Subjects included in the humanities are languages, literature, philosophy, religion and music.

119 Like the entire 290-page Georges Perec novel “A Void,” curiously enough : E-LESS

Georges Perec was a French novelist. Perec’s most famous work is “La vie mode d’emploi”, or “Life: A User’s Manual”.

Gilbert Adair is a Scottish author. He wrote a translation of the book “La Disparition” by the French author Georges Perec, an interesting work in that it contains no instances of the letter “e”. Adair’s translation is called “A Void”, and in it the author also managed to avoid using the letter “e”. Remarkable …

Down

1 Bygone kings : SHAHS

The last Shah of Iran was Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. The post-revolution government sought the extradition of the Shah back to Iran while he was in the United States seeking medical care (he had cancer). His prolonged stay in the United States, recovering from surgery, caused some unrest back in Iran and resentment towards the United States. Some say that this resentment precipitated the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran and the resulting hostage crisis.

3 Nail polish brand : ESSIE

Essie Cosmetics is a company that was founded by Essie Weingarten, and which is now owned by L’Oreal. Apparently, Queen Elizabeth II will only wear Essie’s Ballet Slippers color nail polish. Well, that’s what Wikipedia claims …

4 Who said “No good movie is too long. No bad movie is short enough” : EBERT

Roger Ebert co-hosted a succession of film review television programs for over 23 years, most famously with Gene Siskel until Siskel passed away in 1999. Siskel and Ebert famously gave their thumbs up or thumbs down to the movies they reviewed. Ebert himself died in 2013.

7 Subsidiary of CVS Health : AETNA

When the healthcare management and insurance company known as Aetna was founded, the name was chosen to evoke images of Mount Etna, the Italian volcano.

9 Ken Griffey Jr. or Ichiro Suzuki : EX-MARINER

Ken Griffey, Jr. is noted as a home run hitter as well as a defensive player. In fact, Griffey is tied for the record for the most consecutive games with a home run. “Junior” is the son of Ken Griffey, Sr. who played professional baseball from 1973 to 1971. In fact, the Griffeys became the first father and son to play on the same Major League Baseball team, when they turned out together for the Seattle Mariners in 1990.

Ichiro Suzuki holds quite a few batting records including the single-season record for base hits (262), and a record-breaking streak of 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons. Ichiro Suzuki is a huge celebrity in his native-Japan. His agent says that if you address fan mail to “Ichiro Suzuki, Japan”, he’ll get your letter …

11 Alan who directed “All the President’s Men” : PAKULA

“All the President’s Men” is a marvelous book by “The Washington Post” journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The book tells the remarkable tale of the investigation undertaken by Woodward and Bernstein into the Watergate scandal. The pair followed “All the President’s Men” with a sequel called “The Final Days” which told of President Nixon’s final months in office. One of my favorite movies of all time is the 1976 film adaption of “All the President’s Men” that stars Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.

13 Florida county named for a president : POLK

James Knox Polk was the 11th US President. Polk is known as a president who delivered on promises that he made during his election campaign. He left office after serving only one term, as he had promised the voters, and then contracted cholera on a goodwill tour of the South. Polk died at only 53 years of age, the youngest age for any president to die in retirement. He also enjoyed the shortest retirement of any president, at only 103 days.

18 Way to run someone out of town, idiomatically : ON A RAIL

The practice of “running out of town on a rail” was a mob punishment inflicted on mainly men in the colonial days. The victim was made to sit astride a triangular rail which was then carried by at least two men as a mob escorted the unfortunate from the town. The victim’s weight bearing down between his legs on the sharp edge caused great pain and injury. The practice was also known as “riding the rail”.

23 QB-protecting group, for short : O-LINE

Offensive line (O-line)

25 Cousin of cream cheese : MASCARPONE

Mascarpone is a very, very creamy Italian cheese. It is the main ingredient in the dessert tiramisu.

33 German city on the Weser : BREMEN

Bremen is an industrial port city in northwestern Germany. The city actually lies almost 40 miles inland on the River Weser, with the relatively young city of Bremerhaven (literally “Bremen’s Harbour”) lying at the river’s mouth. Together, Bremen and Bremerhaven comprise the German state known as the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.

37 Island famous for its nightlife : IBIZA

Ibiza is a Mediterranean island located almost 100 miles off the Spanish coast. It is a very popular tourist destination, largely for its legendary nightlife.

40 Orgs. running drives for school supplies : PTAS

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

41 Little piggy : RUNT

Back around 1500, a runt was an old or decayed tree stump, and by the early 1600s “runt” was being used to describe animals that were similarly old and decayed. Ultimately “runt” came to mean the smallest and often sickest in a litter.

42 Sullivan who taught Helen Keller : ANNE

Helen Keller became a noted author despite being deaf and blind, largely through the work of her teacher Anne Sullivan. Keller was left deaf and blind after an illness (possibly meningitis or scarlet fever) when she was about 18 months old. She was to become the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The relationship between Sullivan and Keller is immortalized in the play and film called “The Miracle Worker”.

49 No longer working: Abbr. : RET

Retired (ret.)

57 Gerontologist’s study : OLD AGE

Gerontology is the study of all aspects of aging, including its biology, psychology and sociology. Geriatrics is the study of diseases encountered in older adults.

66 A dip, or a series of steps : SALSA

The genre of music called salsa is a modern interpretation of various Cuban traditional music styles.

“Salsa” is simply Spanish for “sauce”.

68 Things once tossed in the Trevi Fountain : LIRAS

The Trevi Fountain (“Fontana di Trevi”) is a huge fountain in Rome, one that is the largest constructed in the Baroque style. The tradition is that if one throws a coin in the fountain then one is guaranteed a return visit to the city. Tourists throw in an amazing 3,000 euros (over $4,000) every day. The money is collected and is used to stock a supermarket for the needy of the city.

69 It stops at Union and Penn Stations : ACELA

The Acela Express is the fastest train routinely running in the US, as it gets up to 150 mph at times. The service runs between Boston and Washington D.C. via Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. Introduced in 2000, the brand name “Acela” was created to evoke “acceleration” and “excellence”.

There are quite a few stations called “Union Station” in the US. This is because the generic “union station” is one built by two or more railroad companies acting in concert, or “union”, sharing tracks and facilities.

Penn Station in New York City may have been the first Pennsylvania Station, but it’s not the only one. The Pennsylvania Railroad gave that name to many of its big passenger terminals, including one in Philadelphia (now called 30th Street Station), one in Baltimore, one in Pittsburgh, one in Cleveland, as well as others.

73 Agnus ___ (prayers) : DEIS

“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.

74 Banned aid? : CRIB

A crib is plagiarism. It is most commonly the copying of an answer in an examination.

75 Lead-in to Aid : KOOL-

The drink we know today as Kool-Aid was invented by Edward Perkins and his wife in Perkins’ mother’s kitchen in southwest Nebraska. Kool-Aid is now the Official Soft Drink of the state.

76 “Auld Lang ___” : SYNE

The song “Auld Lang Syne” is a staple at New Year’s Eve (well, actually in the opening minutes of New Year’s Day). The words were written by Scottish poet Robbie Burns. The literal translation of “Auld Lang Syne” is “old long since”, but is better translated as “old times”. The sentiment of the song is “for old time’s sake”.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

79 One with special I.T. privileges : SUPERUSER

Information technology (IT)

85 Pond critter : NEWT

Newts wouldn’t be my favorite animals. They are found all over the world living on land or in water depending on the species, but always associated with water even if it is only for breeding. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental stages during their lives. They start off as larvae in water, fertilized eggs that often cling to aquatic plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, the first developmental form of the newt. After living some months as tadpoles swimming around in the water, they undergo another metamorphosis, sprouting legs and replacing their external gills with lungs. At this juvenile stage they are known as efts, and leave the water to live on land. A more gradual transition takes place then, as the eft takes on the lizard-like appearance of the adult newt.

92 Applebee’s competitor : CHILI’S

The first Chili’s restaurant opened in 1975 in Dallas, Texas. There are now more than 1,400 Chili’s restaurants operating all over North America.

94 System of government : POLITY

A polity is the form of government of a nation, or perhaps a state, church or organization. Another term for polity might be “body politic”.

99 Texas A&M athlete : AGGIE

Texas A&M is the seventh largest university in the country, and was the first public higher education institute in the state when it accepted its first students in 1876. The full name of the school was the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (hence “A&M”) and its primary mission used to be the education of males in the techniques of farming and military warfare. That’s quite a combination! Because of the agricultural connection, the college’s sports teams use the moniker “Aggies”. Texas A&M is also home to the George Bush Presidential Library.

110 Buckeyes’ sch. : OSU

Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus was founded back in 1870 as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The athletic teams of OSU are called the Buckeyes, named after the state tree of Ohio. In turn the buckeye tree gets its name from the appearance of its fruit, a dark nut with a light patch thought to resemble a “buck’s eye”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 1969 hit for Neil Diamond : SWEET CAROLINE
6 Big dipper? : OAR
9 Event at a convention center : EXPO
13 Southern bread : PONE
17 Risk maker : HASBRO
19 What a plastic bag might come with, nowadays : FEE
20 Comics mutant : X-MAN
21 Specks of dust : MOTES
22 Ad label in red and white : AS SEEN ON TV
24 What Santa does before Christmas : MAKES A LIST
26 They do dos : HAIR SALONS
27 Tempe sch. : ASU
28 Invites out for : ASKS TO
29 [Let it stand] : [STET]
30 Pop singer Ora : RITA
31 Heats : PRELIMS
33 Bête noire : BANE
34 Italian pal : PAISAN
35 Burning : AFIRE
40 Some of the American heartland : PRAIRIE
44 Belief in Buddhism and Hinduism : REINCARNATION
45 Certain make-your-own-entree station : TACO BAR
47 With 86-Across, fixation problem suggested by this puzzle’s theme : TUNNEL …
48 One hanging around the yard : FEEDER
50 Statement that may precede “Wish me luck!” : HERE I GO
51 Per ___ : ANNUM
52 Arc on a musical score : SLUR
53 Go back (on) : RENEGE
55 British ending : ZED
56 Conventional : STEREOTYPIC
59 Deal with : TAKE CARE OF
60 Suffix with block : -ADE
61 China’s Zhou ___ : ENLAI
62 Hound : NAG
64 Some bolt holders : T-NUTS
67 Arroz ___ cubana (Cuban-style rice) : A LA
70 Demerit : DING
72 Once-ubiquitous electronics outlets : RADIOSHACKS
77 A hot one can burn you : MIC
78 Stars in western movies, e.g. : BADGES
80 “That’s my foot!!!” : YEOW!!!
81 Son of George and Jane Jetson : ELROY
82 Verbal concession : I RESIGN
84 Start to pay attention : TUNE IN
86 See 47-Across : … VISION
87 Sea that Jesus is said to have walked on : GALILEE
88 Beloved members of the family : PETS
89 Having a fix : CURABLE
90 South American barbecue : ASADO
91 Rather eccentric : SCREWY
94 D.C. types : POLS
95 It fits a big frame, for short : XL-SHIRT
97 1990s Nickelodeon show about a preteen boy : DOUG
98 Former Saudi king : FAHD
102 Peninsula with seven countries : ARABIA
106 Hosp. area : ICU
107 What torcedores can skillfully do : ROLL A CIGAR
109 Hierarchical systems, so to speak : TOTEM POLES
111 It may spit venom : ACID TONGUE
112 News items often written in advance : OBITS
113 Beget : SIRE
114 Nasdaq, e.g.: Abbr. : MKT
115 Things that can bounce : EMAILS
116 Bone connected to the wrist : METACARPAL
117 Founding member of the U.N. Security Council, for short : USSR
118 Humanities dept. : PSY
119 Like the entire 290-page Georges Perec novel “A Void,” curiously enough : E-LESS

Down

1 Bygone kings : SHAHS
2 Attended : WAS AT
3 Nail polish brand : ESSIE
4 Who said “No good movie is too long. No bad movie is short enough” : EBERT
5 Dos más uno : TRES
6 Worth mentioning : OF NOTE
7 Subsidiary of CVS Health : AETNA
8 Races in place : REVS
9 Ken Griffey Jr. or Ichiro Suzuki : EX-MARINER
10 Short winter days? : XMASES
11 Alan who directed “All the President’s Men” : PAKULA
12 Any nonzero number raised to the power of zero : ONE
13 Florida county named for a president : POLK
14 Los Angeles’s ___ College of Art and Design : OTIS
15 Where talk is cheep? : NEST
16 This: Sp. : ESTO
18 Way to run someone out of town, idiomatically : ON A RAIL
21 Heavy defeat : MASSACRE
23 QB-protecting group, for short : O-LINE
25 Cousin of cream cheese : MASCARPONE
31 Not outstanding : PAID
32 Aware : IN THE KNOW
33 German city on the Weser : BREMEN
34 Try to see if anyone is home, maybe : PEER IN
36 Adversary : FOE
37 Island famous for its nightlife : IBIZA
38 Was livid : RAGED
39 Slowly disappear : ERODE
40 Orgs. running drives for school supplies : PTAS
41 Little piggy : RUNT
42 Sullivan who taught Helen Keller : ANNE
43 Temper : INURE
44 Enlist again : REUP
46 Early king of Athens, in Greek myth : AEGEUS
48 Magical rides : FLYING CARPETS
49 No longer working: Abbr. : RET
52 Sedate state : STAIDNESS
54 State : NATION
57 Gerontologist’s study : OLD AGE
58 The driving force behind this puzzle? : CAR
63 Cheerfulness: Var. : GAYETY
65 Nonbinary pronoun : THEIRS
66 A dip, or a series of steps : SALSA
67 Spanish girlfriend : AMIGA
68 Things once tossed in the Trevi Fountain : LIRAS
69 It stops at Union and Penn Stations : ACELA
71 Understand : GET
73 Agnus ___ (prayers) : DEIS
74 Banned aid? : CRIB
75 Lead-in to Aid : KOOL-
76 “Auld Lang ___” : SYNE
78 Gambler’s alternative to Las Vegas, NV, or Atlantic City, NJ : BILOXI, MS
79 One with special I.T. privileges : SUPERUSER
83 Throwing away : DISCARDING
85 Pond critter : NEWT
86 Latin version of the Bible : VULGATE
89 Doesn’t give a hoot, colloquially : COULD CARE LESS
92 Applebee’s competitor : CHILI’S
93 Kitchen gadgets : RICERS
94 System of government : POLITY
96 ___ dog : LAP
97 Loading areas : DOCKS
98 Championship : FINAL
99 Texas A&M athlete : AGGIE
100 Lugs : HAULS
101 Add oil and vinegar to, say : DRESS
102 Bit of chemistry : ATOM
103 Legal cover? : ROBE
104 Plugging away : AT IT
105 Testing stage : BETA
107 Ratchet (up) : RAMP
108 Command to a dog : COME!
110 Buckeyes’ sch. : OSU

14 thoughts on “0426-20 NY Times Crossword 26 Apr 20, Sunday”

  1. 27:24, no errors. The NYT crossword app provided arrows in the little L-shaped “tunnels”. I think my performance would have been far worse without them. (As it was, I understood the theme pretty quickly and made use of it throughout.) It’ll be interesting to see what the syndicated editions do with this.

    A fascinating construction … 😜.

  2. 53:08 Agree with Nonny regarding the arrows, likely would have figured it out with “Sweet Caroline”, not fast, mind you, but I would have figured it out 🙂

  3. 43:14. One mindless error – XMaN for XMEN. I used the NYT app and the arrows were conspicuous even before I started the puzzle. I don’t know how difficult it would have been without them, but it definitely would have been more difficult.

    Texas A&M is the largest university in the U.S. in terms of acreage on a single campus, if I remember correctly. I’ve been on that campus many times and it is enormous albeit in the middle of nowhere.

    Best –

    1. I thought my alma mater (University of Washington) was large at 700 acres, but it is dwarfed by A&M at over 5000 acres. However, A&M appears to be the 9th largest campus in the U.S.. Berry College in Rome, GA is over 27,000 acres. Air Force Academy is number two at 18,000+ acres. For comparison, Walt Disney World is 25,000 acres.

      1. Bruce – I guess A&M was the largest single campus in Texas I was thinking. A school 5 times the size of Texas A&M is unfathomable to me.

        I went to undergraduate school at Rice U. in Houston (300 acres) and then graduate school at Univ of Texas in Austin (437 acres), and I thought those places were enormous at the time. Shows what I know.

  4. Puzzle in the NYTimes printed version also had the arrows which made it much simpler.

  5. 1:24:32 no errors…the arrows were also in my papers version and they really helped…a ton of “never heard ofs” in this one.
    Stay safe

  6. 34:33, no errors. Enjoyed the novel theme. Once I figured it out (after SWEET CAROLINE and REINCARNATION), was able to fill in the remaining theme answers, fairly quickly. My syndicated paper had the prominent arrows.

    Wasn’t sure about ASADO, have eaten carne asada; I assume it has to do with the gender assigned to the meat being grilled.

  7. I agree with the experts… The arrows helped greatly. Had one blunder when I spelled Paisan -Paison. DOH😖

  8. Puzzle theme was cute, especially the use of “car” in the turn squares. But the answer to 88D is wrong. The correct answer is “couldntcareless, but that answer would not fit in the puzzle construction with the “car” turns.

  9. Oops. I just realized that my comment about 88D was actually intended for 89D.

    1. @Kirk … You’re ignoring the word “colloquially” in the clue. People do often say, “I could care less,” even though it isn’t, logically, what they mean.

  10. 4 errors. 11D, PEKULO instead of PEKULA, which made PAISON for 34A. Couldn’t get the Italian pal right., Then there was 94D, POLITY .. I had POLITI.. Which have me PSI for 118A. I thought it was PSY but what the heck is POLITY..?? New one in me.. Along with MASCARPONE and CRIB. I thought CRIB was referring to the banned child cribs.. Ha!! It was fun. .. Thank goodness for WIKI-Bills explanation.
    Be safe

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