0403-21 NY Times Crossword 3 Apr 21, Saturday

Constructed by: Peter A. Collins
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 17m 53s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Kind of poet : BEAT

The group of American writers known as the Beat Generation first came to prominence at a poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco in October of 1955. Five young poets presented their work that day:

  • Allen Ginsberg
  • Philip Lamantia
  • Michael McClure
  • Gary Snider
  • Philip Whalen

16 Pro in tech since 2015 : IPAD

The iPad Pro tablet computer, when it was released in November 2015, featured a larger screen than all prior iPad models. The iPad Pro also came with some interesting accessories, including an attachable keyboard and the Apple Pencil.

17 Keister : ARSE

Well, the word “arse” would never make it into a crossword on the other side of the pond, as it would be considered too rude. I have a similar reaction to the word “shag” as in “The Spy Who Shagged Me”. The film would never have been released with that title in the UK.

Back in the early 1900s, a keister was a safe or a strongbox. It has been suggested that “keister” was then used as slang by pickpockets for the rear trouser pocket in which one might keep a wallet. From this usage, “keister” appeared as a slang term for the buttocks in the early 1930s.

18 Artist’s application : GESSO

“Gesso” is the Italian word for “chalk” and gives its name to the powdered calcium carbonate that is used as a primer coat under artistic panel paintings. Gesso is mixed with glue and applied to wood so that it acts as an absorbent surface for paint.

19 So, in Sicily : COSI

In the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, the “boot” is the mainland of Italy, and the “ball” being kicked by the boot is the island of Sicily.

28 Buenos Aires-to-Brasília dir. : NNE

Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina, and is located on the estuary of the Ria de la Plata. As it is a port city, the people of Buenos Aires are known as porteños (“people of the port”). The name “Buenos Aires” can be translated from Spanish as “fair winds”.

Brasília is the capital of Brazil, and is located in the central-west of the country. A decision was made in 1956 to move the nation’s capital from Rio de Janeiro on the coast, to a more central location. So, Brasília was founded in 1960, and is now the fastest growing city in the country.

39 Brown : SAUTE

“Sauté” is a French word. The literal translation from the French is “jumped” or “bounced”, a reference to the tossing of food while cooking it in a frying pan.

45 Hit reality TV series spun off from “16 and Pregnant” : TEEN MOM

“Teen Mom” is an MTV reality TV show.

50 It circles the globe : TROPIC

Lines of latitude are imaginary horizontal lines surrounding the planet. The most “important” lines of latitude are, from north to south:

  • Arctic Circle
  • Tropic of Cancer
  • Equator
  • Tropic of Capricorn
  • Antarctic Circle

51 Role for Jay Chou in 2011’s “The Green Hornet” : KATO

Jay Chou is a musician, singer and actor who is considered a superstar in his native Taiwan. He made his Hollywood acting debut in the 2011 film “The Green Hornet”, in which he played the title character’s sidekick Kato.

52 People who follow a set of rules known as the Ordnung : AMISH

The Amish are members of a group of Christian churches, and a subgroup of the Mennonite churches. The Amish church originated in Switzerland and Alsace in 1693 when it was founded by Jakob Ammann. It was Ammann who gave the name to the Amish people. Many Amish people came to Pennsylvania in the 18th century.

55 Athletic conference that UMass belongs to : A-TEN

The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) actually has more than 10 member colleges, despite the name. The A-10 was founded in 1975 as the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) is the largest public university in New England. UMass was founded back in 1863, although it took a while to get the school into service. Construction work was delayed and the college went through two presidents before William S. Clark took charge. He cracked the whip, completed the construction and enrolled the first students in the same year that he took over the reins, in 1867. As a result, although Clark was the third President of UMass, he is regarded by most as the school’s founding father.

56 Pat ___, three-time N.B.A. Coach of the Year : RILEY

Pat Riley is a former professional basketball player and NBA head coach. Off the court, Riley is quite the celebrity and is noted as a snappy dresser. He is a friend of Giorgio Armani and wears Armani suits at all his games. Riley even modeled suits at an Armani fashion show.

57 Native Canadian : CREE

The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Americans on the continent. In the US, Montana is home to most of the Cree nation. They live on a reservation shared with the Ojibwe people. In Canada, most of the Cree live in Manitoba.

58 One-named singer awarded a C.B.E. in 2017 : SADE

Singer Sade’s real name is Helen Folasade Adu. Although born in Nigeria, Sade grew up and lives in the UK. She was the lead vocalist for the English group Sade, and adopted the name of the band. The band’s biggest hits were “Smooth Operator” (1984) and “The Sweetest Taboo” (1985).

60 Big name in oil : HESS

Leon Hess founded the Hess Oil and Chemical Corporation in the 1930s, originally to distribute heating oil. Today’s Hess Corporation still bears Leon’s name. Leon Hess was also co-owner, and eventually sole owner, of the New York Jets football team from the late sixties until his death in 1999.

Down

2 Winter hat feature : EARLAP

Earlaps (or ear flaps) might be attached to a cap.

12 Beamed, in a way : LASERED

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”.

13 Worked for Money, say : EDITED

“Money” magazine is a sister publication of “Time”, and focuses on personal finance.

23 Nonstandard adjective in “Alice in Wonderland” : CURIOUSER

In Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, Alice follows the white rabbit down a rabbit hole and finds a bottle labelled “DRINK ME”. When she drinks the contents, it causes her to shrink. She also sees a cake adorned with the words “EAT ME” written using currants, and when she eats the cake she grows so big she finds it hard to stand up. After eating the cake, she utters the words, “Curiouser and curiouser”.

33 Title for Eva Perón: Abbr. : SRA

Eva Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón who was in office from 1946 to 1955. The Argentine First Lady was known affectionately by the people as “Evita”, the Spanish language diminutive of “Eva”. “Evita” is also the title of a tremendously successful musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that is based on the life of Eva Perón.

34 Massenet’s “Le ___” : CID

“Le Cid” is an opera by Jules Massenet that premiered at the Paris Opéra in 1885. The opera is adapted from a play of the same name by Pierre Corneille. Both works are based on the legends surrounding Spanish military leader El Cid.

35 Showed brazenly : FLAUNTED

Someone described as brazen might also be described as shameless. The term “brazen” comes from the Middle English “brasen” meaning “made of brass”. The suggestion is that a shameless person has a hardened, brass-like face. And so, the similar-meaning word “brassy” has the same etymology.

36 Former name of Kazakhstan’s largest city : ALMA-ATA

Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan, although only since 1997. Prior to 1997, the nation’s capital was Almaty. The decision to move the capital was made as Almaty is in a part of the country populated by ethnic Russians and the new government wanted to distance itself even further from its Soviet history. The city was renamed Nur-Sultan in 2019 in honor of the nation’s first president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

37 Worn down apparel? : PARKAS

A parka is a hooded jacket that is often lined with fur, and that is worn in cold weather. The original parka was a pullover design, but nowadays it is usually zipped at the front. “Parka” is the Russian name for the garment, and it was absorbed into English in the late 1700s via the Aleut language.

40 One who might sit in a high chair : UMPIRE

That might be tennis.

41 Fabrics with printed designs : TOILES

Toile fabric can be used as upholstery, as wallpaper, or even as a fabric for clothing. The name “toile” comes from the French word for “canvas, linen cloth”.

42 Makes introductions, in a way : EMCEES

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

44 “The sentinels, silent and sure,” per a “Les Misérables” song : STARS

The 1980 musical “Les Misérables” is an adaptation of the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The show opened in London in 1985, and is the longest running musical in the history of London’s West End. My wife and I saw “Les Miz” in the Queen’s Theatre in London many years ago, but were only able to get tickets in the very back row. The theater seating is very steep, so the back row of the balcony is extremely high over the stage. One of the big events in the storyline is the building of a street barricade over which the rebels fight. At the height we were seated we could see the stagehands behind the barricade, sitting drinking Coke, even smoking cigarettes. On cue, the stagehands would get up and catch a dropped rifle, or an actor who had been shot. It was pretty comical. I didn’t really enjoy the show that much, to be honest. Some great songs, but the musical version of the storyline just didn’t seem to hang together for me.

46 Kind of alcohol : ETHYL

Ethyl alcohol is more usually known as ethanol. Ethanol is the alcohol found in intoxicating beverages, and nowadays is also used as a fuel for cars. It is also found in medical wipes and hand sanitizer, in which it acts as an antiseptic.

53 Ending of titles by Jean Rhys and Ernest Hemingway : … SEA

“Wide Sargasso Sea” was written by Jean Rhys and first published in 1966. It’s a clever work that was written as a sort of prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s famous “Jane Eyre”, which dates back to 1847.

If you’ve read Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man And The Sea” (maybe first at school, like me!) you’ll likely remember it as a quick read as it is a novella, although it might be better described as a “long short story”. It was first published in 1952, the last major work that Hemingway had published in his lifetime. That first publication was as a story in “Life Magazine”, and it was such a hit that the magazine sold 5 million copies in the first two days. “The Old Man and the Sea” won a Pulitzer in 1952 and two years later the title was cited when Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Kind of poet : BEAT
5 Locales on a campus map : HALLS
10 Nondairy source of calcium : KALE
14 Impetuous : RASH
15 Coat in the winter : ICE UP
16 Pro in tech since 2015 : IPAD
17 Keister : ARSE
18 Artist’s application : GESSO
19 So, in Sicily : COSI
20 Part of a driver’s manual : CLUTCH
22 Squat : THICKSET
24 Soup bone selection : HAM HOCK
26 Crown Jewels’ quality : LUSTRE
27 ___ bank : SPERM
28 Buenos Aires-to-Brasília dir. : NNE
31 Worked up : RILED
32 “Squee!” : I’M SO EXCITED!
35 Making goo-goo eyes, say : FLIRTATIOUS
36 Covered in ink : ALL TATTED UP
37 Lock option : PLAIT
38 Thither : YON
39 Brown : SAUTE
43 Charms : AMUSES
45 Hit reality TV series spun off from “16 and Pregnant” : TEEN MOM
47 Place for a pot and kettle : RANGE TOP
50 It circles the globe : TROPIC
51 Role for Jay Chou in 2011’s “The Green Hornet” : KATO
52 People who follow a set of rules known as the Ordnung : AMISH
54 Component of some fractals : TILE
55 Athletic conference that UMass belongs to : A-TEN
56 Pat ___, three-time N.B.A. Coach of the Year : RILEY
57 Native Canadian : CREE
58 One-named singer awarded a C.B.E. in 2017 : SADE
59 Mistake? : STEAL
60 Big name in oil : HESS

Down

1 Maker of candy corn and conversation hearts : BRACH’S
2 Winter hat feature : EARLAP
3 Adopt : ASSUME
4 Blues classic that contains the lyric “I’m free from your spell” : THE THRILL IS GONE
5 Hard pitch to hit? : HIGH C
6 Wizard : ACE
7 Cautionary word : LEST
8 Very green : LUSH
9 Turn : SPOIL
10 Adds more spice : KICKS IT UP A NOTCH
11 They’re on a mission : APOSTLES
12 Beamed, in a way : LASERED
13 Worked for Money, say : EDITED
21 One of 20 standing in the House : COMMITTEE
23 Nonstandard adjective in “Alice in Wonderland” : CURIOUSER
25 Tough : KNOTTY
29 “Nifty!” : NEATO!
30 Scope : EXTENT
33 Title for Eva Perón: Abbr. : SRA
34 Massenet’s “Le ___” : CID
35 Showed brazenly : FLAUNTED
36 Former name of Kazakhstan’s largest city : ALMA-ATA
37 Worn down apparel? : PARKAS
40 One who might sit in a high chair : UMPIRE
41 Fabrics with printed designs : TOILES
42 Makes introductions, in a way : EMCEES
44 “The sentinels, silent and sure,” per a “Les Misérables” song : STARS
46 Kind of alcohol : ETHYL
48 Jump over : OMIT
49 Word with junk or dog : -PILE
53 Ending of titles by Jean Rhys and Ernest Hemingway : … SEA

19 thoughts on “0403-21 NY Times Crossword 3 Apr 21, Saturday”

  1. 17:33, no errors. The lower left corner held me hostage for a bit, but KATO broke me out.

  2. 14:29. SW was the last to fall, and ALMAATA was a guess. I got KICKS IT UP A NOTCH right away and that helped the right side, but the left was slower going. I liked “Mistaken?” for STEAL. And despite doing crosswords for 20 years, GESSO has still not locked in my brain. Good puzzle.

  3. 27:52 Struggled with the entire right 1/3 of the puzzle, with the NE corner the last to go. Surprised that UP is in three of the answers.

  4. Finished in about 25 minutes. I don’t know my actual time as I had a few interruptions. It’s a beautiful spring day here in Las Vegas, and I did this outside.

    Two biggest time vampires were ALL TATTooed (??) before …TATTED UP and stoveTOP before RANGETOP. The former caused more problems than the latter.

    I’m officially at war with my next door neighbor, a 200 year old woman who’s remained alive just to curse the rest of us still on the planet. Long story short, she’s painting a decorative fence that goes on top of a stucco wall that divides two pool areas a particularly ugly shade of excrement-brown. It got all over my side of the wall, fence…everything. Somehow my jovial, good-natured self got lost in the discussion of said paint job coupled with her less than neighborly attitude. A seasoned longshoreman would have blushed at the language used during the…uhhh….discussion.

    I digress, but all this took place as I was attempting this thing. It’s no minor miracle I finished at all.

    Best –

  5. In your commentary of 37D (with an appropriate ‘?’) I was surprised you omitted mentioning the ‘down’ in the clue. Just ducking your editorial responsibilities a bit I guess though not really a complaint. Just letting you know that I hang on your every word. Alas, like Jeff, ALLTATTOOED before ALLTATTEDUP.
    Tx.

  6. 17:11 With a few lookups,(11). Would have finished sooner but the dog ate my pencil.

    1. @Wayne …

      I always hate it when that happens. Darn dogs. 😜😜😜

  7. 37A and 37D got me. Went with CLAIT and CARCAS because I had CATO for 51A… I got all cornfused…

    Had EARFLAP for 2D early thinking there was some sort of reveal. Nope, just a word I never heard before EAR LAP?? can’t wait to try that out on someone.

  8. 30:19, no errors. Tremendous amount of difficulty with the clues today. I want to thank my wife for buying all those B.B. King albums over the years. THE THRILL IS GONE enabled me to break into the grid today.

  9. 1:09:50 with 2 errors…I had PATE for 10A which seemed to fit but didn’t …I keep getting slower and slower👎👎
    Stay safe😀

  10. Just wondering how you can give yourself a time if you have 11 look ups. Maybe that was a joke. says:

    Just wondering how you can give yourself a time if you have 11 look ups. Maybe that was a joke.

    1. My guess would be that he started working on the puzzle at time A and he finished working on the puzzle at time B and the difference between A and B was 17 minutes and 11 seconds, during which time he made use of Google or something similar eleven times in order to make progress with it.

      Not everyone treats the process of working the crossword as a competitive event. Not everyone comes here for the ego boost of bragging about how spectacularly fast they could work the thing and how few errors they made. Some actually do the puzzle for the simple pleasure of watching it grow and possibly for the benefits of being exposed to words and expressions that they have not heard before. They use whatever rules their skill level requires and they have a healthy enough ego not to be insulted when others try to put them down for somehow doing the puzzles the “wrong” way.

      My hat is off to them all … 😜.

      And … here endeth my rant … 🤪.

  11. It was a sarcasm. I’ve seen a lot of times given lately,”With a few look ups” which to me is a d.n.f. Thought I’d have a little fun with it.

  12. @Nonny: Huzzah! I’m nearly 80 and I do the crossword every day in ink, sometimes very messily, and I always finish them. It’s often quite a while before I finish them, but I get there. I’m amazed at some of the finish times but not intimidated. Sometimes I look things up. That’s learning for me. And if one thinks Shortz is such an awful editor, don’t do the NYT crossword. And if you’ve made up “rules” that you expect the rest of the world to follow, you’re in for a lot of disappointment!

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