0506-20 NY Times Crossword 6 May 20, Wednesday

Constructed by: Ali Gascoigne
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: You Are Here

We have a rebus puzzle today, with the letters UR in eight squares in the grid:

  • 52A Words on a mall map … or a punny hint for eight squares in this puzzle : YOU ARE HERE
  • 17A Cookout option for someone avoiding red meat : TURKEY BURGER
  • 19A Robert who was the subject of the 2003 true crime book “A Deadly Secret” : DURST
  • 29A Places surfers frequent, for short? : URLS
  • 36A Practical, stubborn, ambitious sort, so it’s said : TAURUS
  • 44A Relating to bears : URSINE
  • 58A Capital of France : EUROS
  • 59A Sound made by a noisy noodle eater : SLURP
  • 2D Mixed drink with lemon or lime juice : SOUR
  • 6D Mickey of “The Wrestler” : ROURKE
  • 11D Mental operation? : NEUROSURGERY
  • 27D Wolfgang Puck, e.g. : RESTAURATEUR
  • 28D Actress Metcalf of “Lady Bird” : LAURIE
  • 50D Part of un jour : HEURE

… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 10m 12s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “Chop-chop!” : ASAP!

“Chop chop” is Chinese Pidgin English, and is just a reiteration of the word “chop” used in the sense of moving quickly.

5 Barrel : cooper :: ___ : fletcher : ARROW

A fletcher is an arrow maker, with “fletcher” coming from the French word for an arrow, i.e. “flèche”.

10 Actress Chlumsky of “Veep” : ANNA

“Veep” is a political satire sitcom on HBO that is a remake of the British show “The Thick of It” (Warning: strong language!). “Veep” is set in the office of fictional US Vice President Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

15 Title heroine of a 2016 Disney film : MOANA

“Moana” is a 2016 animated feature film and the 56th animated Disney movie. The title character is the daughter of a Polynesian chief who heads off in search of the demigod Maui, hoping that he can save her people.

16 Light element? : NEON

The basic design of neon lighting was first demonstrated at the Paris Motor Show in 1910. Such lighting is made up of glass tubes containing a vacuum into which has been introduced a small amount of neon gas. When a voltage is applied between two electrodes inside the tube, the neon gas “glows” and gives off the familiar light.

21 75% of 1,000? : ZEROES

75% of the numerals in “1,000” are zeroes.

23 Sheltered, at sea : ALEE

Alee is the direction away from the wind. If a sailor points into the wind, he or she is pointing aweather.

24 Dove shelters : COTES

The Old English word “cote” was used for a small house. Our modern word “cottage” comes from “cote”. We now use “cote” to mean a small shelter on a farm for sheep or birds.

25 Person who makes do? : BARBER

Our term “barber” comes to us via Anglo-French from the Latin “barba” meaning “beard”. Barbers originally offered a wide range of services, including surgery. Henry VIII restricted barbers to just haircutting … and dentistry!

28 Singer Del Rey : LANA

“Lana Del Rey” is the stage name of singer/songwriter Elizabeth Grant. Del Rey calls herself a “self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra”. Nice …

29 Places surfers frequent, for short? : URLS

An Internet address (like NYXCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) is more correctly called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

32 Creme-filled cookies : OREOS

There’s a smartphone app featuring the Oreo cookie. It’s a game in which one twists Oreo cookies apart, “licks” the cream from the center and then dunks the remainder of the cookie in a glass of milk.

33 So-called “ship of the desert” : CAMEL

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of a camel is the large deposit of fatty tissue on its back. The dromedary is the most common camel, and has one hump of fatty tissue on its back. The Bactrian camel has two humps, and makes up just 6% of the world’s camel population. Those fatty humps are useful if no food or water is available, as fat can be broken down into water and energy.

36 Practical, stubborn, ambitious sort, so it’s said : TAURUS

Taurus is the birth sign for those born between April 21st and June 16th. “Taurus” is Latin for “bull”.

39 Evert of tennis : CHRIS

Chris Evert is a former professional tennis player from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Evert has the best winning percentage in professional tennis, man or woman worldwide, losing less than 10% of all her matches.

40 Intrinsically : PER SE

“Per se” is a Latin phrase that translates as “by itself”. We use “per se” pretty literally, meaning “in itself, intrinsically”.

41 Org. whose workers look into cases : TSA

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

44 Relating to bears : URSINE

Something described as ursine is related to a bear. The term “ursine” comes from “ursus” (plural (ursi”), Latin for “bear”.

46 Buffoon : CLOD

A buffoon is a clown or jester, although the word “buffoon” tends to be used more figuratively to describe someone foolish and ridiculous. The term comes from the Italian “buffa” meaning “joke”.

47 Max who lent his name to a constant in physics : PLANCK

Max Planck was a theoretical physicist from Germany who developed quantum theory. Planck won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.

51 VW or BMW : AUTO

“VW” stands for “Volkswagen”, which translates from German into “people’s car”. The original Volkswagen design was the Beetle and was built under a directive from Adolf Hitler, who wanted a cheap car built that ordinary people could afford to purchase. Hitler awarded the contract to engineer Ferdinand Porsche, whose name (paradoxically) would forever be associated with high performance, expensive cars. The Beetle was the official name of the VW model released in North America, but it was usually referred to as a “Bug” here in the US, and a “Beetle” elsewhere in the world.

52 Words on a mall map … or a punny hint for eight squares in this puzzle : YOU ARE HERE

Surprisingly (to me!), our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to be a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.

56 Legendary ruler of Egypt, informally : CLEO

Cleopatra was the last pharaoh to rule Egypt. After she died, Egypt became a province in the Roman Empire.

58 Capital of France : EUROS

The Euro is the official currency of most of the states in the European Union, but not all. The list of EU states not using the Euro includes Denmark and Sweden.

61 Iambs and trochees : FEET

An iamb is a metrical foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The lines in Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” use four sequential iambs, e.g. “Whose woods / these are / I think / I know”. With that sequence of four iambs, the poem’s structure is described as iambic tetrameter.

A trochee (also “choree, choreus”) is a metrical foot in poetry. It consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (so is an iamb reversed). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Song of Hiawatha” is written using trochaic meter

Should you / ask me,/ whence these / stor/ies?
Whence these / legends / and tra/ditions,

Down

1 PC key : ALT

The Alt (alternate) key is found on either side of the space bar on US PC keyboards. The Alt key evolved from what was called a Meta key on old MIT keyboards, although the function has changed somewhat over the years. Alt is equivalent in many ways to the Option key on a Mac keyboard, and indeed the letters “Alt” have been printed on most Mac keyboards starting in the nineties.

2 Mixed drink with lemon or lime juice : SOUR

A whiskey sour is made from whiskey, lemon juice and sugar, and is usually garnished with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry.

6 Mickey of “The Wrestler” : ROURKE

Actor Mickey Rourke had trained as a boxer before his acting career took off. He turned to professional boxing when he lost his love for acting. Rourke took a lot of punishment in the ring in the nineties, resulting in a lot of damage to his face. He also admits that some problems with his appearance were aggravated by botched plastic surgery.

“The Wrestler” is a really hard, gritty movie from 2008, and a comeback film for actor Mickey Rourke. Rourke stars as an over-the-hill professional wrestler, with Marisa Tomei playing a faded stripper, the love interest. The film received really strong reviews, but I found it to be a tough movie to sit through.

10 Wrestling Hall-of-Famer ___ the Giant : ANDRE

André the Giant was a professional wrestler from France whose real name was André René Roussimoff. He suffered from gigantism, overproduction of growth hormone, and reached the height of 6 feet 3 inches by the time he was 12-years-old. But, he used his size to develop a very successful career in the ring.

12 Part of a Groucho Marx disguise : NOSE

Groucho Marx’s real name was Julius Henry Marx. By the time Groucho started his successful, post-Hollywood career hosting the quiz show “You Bet Your Life”, he was sporting a real mustache. For all his movies, his mustache had been painted on with greasepaint.

13 Workers in formicaries : ANTS

“Formicary” is another name for “ant nest”, and comes from the Latin “formica” meaning “ant”. The phrase “ant colony” describes the ants living in an ant nest. A formicarium is similar to an aquarium, and used to house an ant colony perhaps for study. The phrase “ant farm” is usually reserved for ant nests built by an ant colony in a formicarium.

18 Wassailing times : YULES

Yule celebrations coincide with Christmas, and the words “Christmas” and “Yule” (often “Yuletide”) have become synonymous in much of the world. However, Yule was originally a pagan festival celebrated by Germanic peoples. The name “Yule” comes from the Old Norse word “jol” that was used to describe the festival.

Wassail is ale or mulled wine used for toasting at festivals, especially Christmas. The term “wassail” comes from Old Norse “ves heill” meaning “be healthy”.

22 List ender : ET AL

“Et alii” (et al.) is the equivalent of “et cetera” (etc.), with “et cetera” being used in place of a list of objects, and “et alii” used for a list of names.

24 Author of “L’Étranger” : CAMUS

Albert Camus was a French author, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. Sadly, Camus died in a car accident just two years after he received the prize, at only 46 years of age.

“The Stranger” was Albert Camus’ first novel, and it is probably his most famous. The original title in French is “L’Étranger”, which can indeed be translated as “The Stranger”. However, the book is usually called “The Outsider” when translated into English, as this alternative meaning of “L’Étranger” better reflects the novel’s theme.

26 French city whose last two letters are silent : ARLES

Quite a few years ago now, I had the privilege of living just a short car-ride from the beautiful city of Arles in the South of France. Although Arles has a long and colorful history, the Romans had a prevailing influence over the city’s design. Arles has a spectacular Roman amphitheater, arch, circus as well as old walls that surround the center of the city. In more modern times, it was a place Vincent van Gogh often visited, and was where he painted many of his most famous works, including “Cafe Terrace at Night” and “Bedroom in Arles”.

27 Wolfgang Puck, e.g. : RESTAURATEUR

From the French, a “restaurateur” (without a letter N) owns or manages a “restaurant” (with a letter N).

Wolfgang Puck is a celebrity chef from Austria. Puck is the man behind the famous pair of restaurants in Southern California called Spago.

28 Actress Metcalf of “Lady Bird” : LAURIE

“Lady Bird” is a 2017 coming-of-age movie starring Saoirse Ronan in the title role, a high school senior who has a strained relationship with her mother (played by Laurie Metcalf). Roman and Metcalf earned themselves Oscar nominations for their performances.

33 ___ blanche : CARTE

The phrase “carte blanche” was imported from French in the early 1700s, when it was used to mean “blank paper” (in French it means “white paper”). Later in the century, the term came to mean “full discretionary power”, which is how we use the phrase today.

39 Very smart : CHIC

“Chic” is a French word meaning “stylish”.

46 Debussy’s “___ de Lune” : CLAIR

“Clair de lune” is the beautiful third movement from Claude Debussy’s piano work called the “Suite bergamasque”. “Clair de lune” is French for “moonlight”.

47 Campaign support grps. : PACS

A political action committee (PAC) is a private group that works to influence the outcome of a particular election or group of elections. Any group becomes a PAC by law when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election. In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that PACS that did not make direct contributions to candidates or parties could accept unlimited contributions. These “independent, expenditure-only committees” are commonly referred to as “super PACs”.

50 Part of un jour : HEURE

In French, 1/24 of a “jour” (day) is an “heure” (hour).

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “Chop-chop!” : ASAP!
5 Barrel : cooper :: ___ : fletcher : ARROW
10 Actress Chlumsky of “Veep” : ANNA
14 Be bested : LOSE
15 Title heroine of a 2016 Disney film : MOANA
16 Light element? : NEON
17 Cookout option for someone avoiding red meat : TURKEY BURGER
19 Robert who was the subject of the 2003 true crime book “A Deadly Secret” : DURST
20 Moves stealthily : SKULKS
21 75% of 1,000? : ZEROES
23 Sheltered, at sea : ALEE
24 Dove shelters : COTES
25 Person who makes do? : BARBER
28 Singer Del Rey : LANA
29 Places surfers frequent, for short? : URLS
32 Creme-filled cookies : OREOS
33 So-called “ship of the desert” : CAMEL
34 Prefix with physics : GEO-
35 “And another thing …” : ALSO …
36 Practical, stubborn, ambitious sort, so it’s said : TAURUS
37 Be on the mend : HEAL
38 Rigid : SET
39 Evert of tennis : CHRIS
40 Intrinsically : PER SE
41 Org. whose workers look into cases : TSA
42 Detest : HATE
43 Like some ropes and nerves : FRAYED
44 Relating to bears : URSINE
46 Buffoon : CLOD
47 Max who lent his name to a constant in physics : PLANCK
49 Fighter’s embrace : CLINCH
51 VW or BMW : AUTO
52 Words on a mall map … or a punny hint for eight squares in this puzzle : YOU ARE HERE
56 Legendary ruler of Egypt, informally : CLEO
57 Go round and round : ORBIT
58 Capital of France : EUROS
59 Sound made by a noisy noodle eater : SLURP
60 ___ manual : USER’S
61 Iambs and trochees : FEET

Down

1 PC key : ALT
2 Mixed drink with lemon or lime juice : SOUR
3 Questions : ASKS
4 Game played with the fingers : PEEKABOO
5 Person going for a stroll : AMBLER
6 Mickey of “The Wrestler” : ROURKE
7 Poverty, metaphorically : RAGS
8 Phone button that lacks letters : ONE
9 Places on travel advisory lists : WAR ZONES
10 Wrestling Hall-of-Famer ___ the Giant : ANDRE
11 Mental operation? : NEUROSURGERY
12 Part of a Groucho Marx disguise : NOSE
13 Workers in formicaries : ANTS
18 Wassailing times : YULES
22 List ender : ET AL
24 Author of “L’Étranger” : CAMUS
25 Brag : BOAST
26 French city whose last two letters are silent : ARLES
27 Wolfgang Puck, e.g. : RESTAURATEUR
28 Actress Metcalf of “Lady Bird” : LAURIE
30 Rental agreement : LEASE
31 Like shoes : SOLED
33 ___ blanche : CARTE
36 “Much obliged” : THANK YOU
37 Director of many courses : HEAD CHEF
39 Very smart : CHIC
40 Accident-___ : PRONE
43 Toys (with) : FLIRTS
45 Prying sort : SNOOP
46 Debussy’s “___ de Lune” : CLAIR
47 Campaign support grps. : PACS
48 Quiet period : LULL
49 343, to 7 : CUBE
50 Part of un jour : HEURE
53 Some conjunctions : ORS
54 Fish eggs : ROE
55 Is from France? : EST