0408-21 NY Times Crossword 8 Apr 21, Thursday

Constructed by: Jake Halperin
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Sounds from the Boat

Themed answers are “BOATY” phrases that sound like common phrases:

  • 17A Weary boater’s welcome sight? : A PIER ON THE SCENE (from “appear on the scene”)
  • 27A Cry on arriving for a boating trip? : WHAT’S UP, DOCK? (from “what’s up, Doc?”)
  • 49A Completely retire from boating? : FOREVER MOOR (from “forevermore”)
  • 63A Boaters, collectively? : QUAY DEMOGRAPHIC (from “key demographic”)

Bill’s time: 9m 19s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Hidden addresses, for short : BCCS

A blind carbon copy (bcc) is a copy of a document or message that is sent to someone without other recipients of the message knowing about that extra copy.

14 Island where it once rained for 331 days straight : OAHU

Oahu has been called “The Gathering Place”, although the word “O’ahu” has no translation in Hawaiian. It seems that “O’ahu” is simply the name of the island. One story is that it is named after the son of the Polynesian navigator who first found the islands. The island is made up of two volcanoes, Wai’anae and Ko’olau, joined together by a broad valley, the O’ahu Plain.

15 Emerald is a variety of it : BERYL

The mineral beryl is a source of a number of different semi-precious stones, depending on the nature of the impurities present. Pure beryl is colorless; blue beryl is called aquamarine, and green beryl is emerald. Traces of iron cause the blue color, and traces of chromium give the green hue.

16 Source of a purple puree : ACAI

Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

20 Airer of political parodies, briefly : SNL

The youngest person to host “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) was Drew Barrymore, at age 7 in 1982. The oldest host was Betty White, at 88 in 2010.

21 Prominent focus for a navel-gazer? : OUTIE

The navel is basically the scar left behind when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby. One interesting use of the umbilicus (navel, belly button) is to differentiate between identical twins, especially when they are very young.

22 A pup is a young one : OTTER

Male and female otters are known as dogs and bitches, with the offspring called pups. Males and females are sometimes referred to as boars and sows. A collection of otters is a bevy, family, lodge or perhaps a romp. When in water, a collection of otters can be called a raft.

25 Flying monsters in Dungeons & Dragons : ROCS

The mythical roc is a huge bird of prey, one reputedly able to carry off and eat elephants. The roc was said to come from the Indian subcontinent. The supposed existence of the roc was promulgated by Marco Polo in the accounts that he published about his travels through Asia.

31 “___ queen!” (slangy affirmative) : YAS

“Yas” is a slang term used in place of the interjection “yes!”, when it expresses pleasure and excitement. The exclamation often takes the form “Yas, queen!”

36 Bring down by coup, e.g. : DEPOSE

A coup d’état (often just “coup”) is the sudden overthrow of a government, and comes from the French for “stroke of state”. The Swiss-German word “putsch” is sometimes used instead of “coup”, with “Putsch” translating literally as “sudden blow”. We also use the abbreviated “coup” to mean “sudden, brilliant and successful act”.

40 Big gobbler : TOM

A male turkey is called a “tom”, taking its name from a “tomcat”. The inference is that like a tomcat, the male turkey is relatively wild and undomesticated, sexually promiscuous and frequently gets into fights. A female turkey is called a “hen”.

42 “Adam Ruins Everything” airer : TRUTV

truTV is a Turner Broadcasting cable network that launched in 1991 as Court TV. The name, and programming, was changed to truTV in 2008.

48 Drink originally called “blanc-cassis” : KIR

Kir is a French cocktail made by adding a teaspoon or so of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) to a glass, and then topping it off with white wine. The drink is named after Felix Kir, the Mayor of Dijon in Burgundy, who used to offer the drink to his guests. My wife is particularly fond of a variant called a kir royale, in which the white wine is replaced with champagne.

52 Victor who wrote “Odes et Ballades” : HUGO

Victor Hugo was a French writer who is known in his native country mainly for his poetry. Outside of France, Hugo is perhaps more closely associated with his novels such as “Les Misérables” and “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”.

53 Having no application : MOOT

To moot is to bring up as a subject for discussion or debate. So, something that is moot is open to debate. Something that is no longer moot, is no longer worth debating. We don’t seem to be able get that right, which drives me crazy …

54 When Tatum O’Neal won her Oscar : AT TEN

Tatum O’Neal is the youngest actress to win a competitive Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1974 when she was just 10 years old, for her role as Addie in “Paper Moon”. The youngest person to win an honorary Academy Award was Shirley Temple, who was only 5 years old when she was presented with an Oscar in 1934.

60 Org. concerned with air bags? : TSA

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

68 Galactic conquerors of film : SITH

The Sith are characters in the “Star Wars” universe who use the “dark side” of “the Force”, and as such are the antithesis of the Jedi Knights. Members of the Sith use the title “Darth” before their name, as in Darth Vader. The last made of the six “Star Wars” movies is called “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”.

Down

2 Boss of a bo’s’n : CAP’N

A boatswain works on the deck of a boat. He or she is unlicensed, and so is not involved in the navigation or handling of the vessel, and instead is in charge of the other unlicensed workers on the deck. “Boatswain” is pronounced “bosun” and this phonetic spelling is often used interchangeably with “boatswain”. The contraction “bo’s’n” is also very popular.

4 Sic legal on : SUE

To sic on is to let at or set on. The verb “to sic on” comes from the attack command given to a dog “sic ‘em”.

6 Spring time : LENT

In Latin, the Christian season that is now called “Lent” was termed “quadragesima” (meaning “fortieth”), a reference to the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert before beginning his public ministry. When the church began its move in the Middle Ages towards using the vernacular, the term “Lent” was introduced. “Lent” comes from “lenz”, the German word for “spring”.

7 Beginning of the Constitution: Abbr. : ART I

Article One of the US Constitution establishes the US Congress. The second section of Article One establishes the House of Representatives, and the third section establishes the US Senate. Section 8 of Article One lists the powers delegated to the legislature.

9 Flamenco shout : OLE!

Flamenco is a style of Spanish music and dance. The origin of the word “flamenco” isn’t clearly understood, but the explanation that seems most credible to me is that it comes from Flanders in Northern Europe. Given that “flamenco” is the Spanish word for “Flemish” and Flanders is home to the Flemish people it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

11 Rapper with a hyphenated name : ICE-T

Rapper Ice-T must be sick of having his name come up as an answer in crossword puzzles (I know I am!). Born Tracy Marrow, Ice-T has been interested in acting for decades and made his film debut in the 1984 movie about breakdancing called “Breakin’”. He has also played Detective Fin Tutuola in the TV show “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” since the year 2000.

24 Upper atmosphere, with “the” : ETHER

The Greek philosopher Empedocles proposed that there are four elements that made up the universe, namely earth, water, air and fire. Aristotle later proposed a fifth element which he called aether (also “ether”). Aether was the divine substance that made up the stars and planets. We’re still using the term “ether” with a similar meaning.

26 Paxil may alleviate it, in brief : OCD

Apparently, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed mental disorder, making it about as prevalent as asthma.

The most commonly prescribed antidepressants in the US (in 2010 anyway) are:

  • Zoloft (sertraline)
  • Celexa (citalopram)
  • Prozac (fluoxetine)
  • Lexapro (escitalopram)
  • Desyrel (trazodone)
  • Cymbalta (duloxetine)
  • Paxil (paroxetine)

28 Language written in the Devanagari script : HINDI

Hindi is one of the two official languages of India, along with English. Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world (after Mandarin, Spanish and English).

29 Hardest part of a date : PIT

Date palms can be either male or female. Only the female tree bears fruit (called “dates”).

32 Dino : the Flintstones :: ___ : the Jetsons : ASTRO

“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.

In the Hanna-Barbera cartoon “The Flintstones”, Dino the pet dinosaur was voiced by the famous Mel Blanc, until Blanc passed away in 1989.

41 Dallas N.B.A. player, in brief : MAV

The Mavericks (also “Mavs”) are the NBA franchise in Dallas, Texas. The team was founded in 1980, and the Mavericks name was chosen by fan votes. The choice of “Mavericks” was prompted by the fact that the actor James Garner was a part-owner of the team, and Garner of course played the title role in the “Maverick” television series.

50 iRobot product : ROOMBA

The Roomba vacuum cleaner is a cool-looking device that navigates its way around a room by itself, picking up dirt as it goes. Like I said, it’s cool-looking but I am not sure how effective it is …

51 ___ Klebb, Bond villain in “From Russia With Love” : ROSA

Lotte Lenya was an Austrian singer and actress. She was married to composer Kurt Weill, and was noted for her performances of his works. Late in her career she played Rosa Klebb, one of the main villains in the 1963 Bond movie “From Russia With Love”. Klebb was the character who had the knife that popped out from the toe of her shoe.

52 2003 #1 Outkast hit : HEY YA

“Hey Ya!” is a 2003 song by hip hop duo Outkast. I took a look at the song’s official music video, as I read that it was inspired by the 1964 appearance of the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show”. Fun …

58 Physics Nobelist who developed an early model of the atom : BOHR

Niels Bohr and Ernest Rutherford introduced a model in which the atom comprised a small, positively charged nucleus around which traveled negatively-charged electrons. This model is often referred to as the Rutherford-Bohr model, or simply the Bohr model.

Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who won his 1922 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics and atomic structure. Later in his life, Bohr was part of the team working on the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bomb. Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein had a series of public debates and disputes in the twenties and thirties. Although the two respected each other very highly, they held very different views on quantum theory, different views on the laws of physics at the atomic level. The passage of time has shown that Bohr won out in those debates.

59 Psalm starter : O GOD …

The Greek word “psalmoi” originally meant “songs sung to a harp”, and gave us the word “psalms”. In the Jewish and Western Christian traditions, the Book of Psalms contains 150 individual psalms, divided into five sections.

61 Wikipedia, e.g. : SITE

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, and is the most-used reference site on the Internet. The site was launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger in 2001. I, for one, am very grateful …

65 Inflation fig. : PSI

Pounds per square inch (PSI) is a measure of pressure.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Hidden addresses, for short : BCCS
5 City in the Rio Grande Valley with a historic namesake : ALAMO
10 Hard ball? : FIST
14 Island where it once rained for 331 days straight : OAHU
15 Emerald is a variety of it : BERYL
16 Source of a purple puree : ACAI
17 Weary boater’s welcome sight? : A PIER ON THE SCENE (from “appear on the scene”)
20 Airer of political parodies, briefly : SNL
21 Prominent focus for a navel-gazer? : OUTIE
22 A pup is a young one : OTTER
23 Student ___ : DEBT
25 Flying monsters in Dungeons & Dragons : ROCS
27 Cry on arriving for a boating trip? : WHAT’S UP, DOCK? (from “what’s up, Doc?”)
31 “___ queen!” (slangy affirmative) : YAS
34 Deep-pocketed : RICH
35 Title for the entitled, maybe : SIR
36 Bring down by coup, e.g. : DEPOSE
38 Input : ENTER
40 Big gobbler : TOM
42 “Adam Ruins Everything” airer : TRUTV
43 Like idols : ADORED
45 Grab hold of : NAB
47 Big meanie : OGRE
48 Drink originally called “blanc-cassis” : KIR
49 Completely retire from boating? : FOREVER MOOR (from “forevermore”)
52 Victor who wrote “Odes et Ballades” : HUGO
53 Having no application : MOOT
54 When Tatum O’Neal won her Oscar : AT TEN
57 Second staff in many an orchestral score : OBOES
60 Org. concerned with air bags? : TSA
63 Boaters, collectively? : QUAY DEMOGRAPHIC (from “key demographic”)
66 Meanspirited : UGLY
67 Look upon with disgust : ABHOR
68 Galactic conquerors of film : SITH
69 Deployed, as a sailor : ASEA
70 Spoiling one’s attendance record, say : TARDY
71 Verbal equivalent to a nod of the head : I SEE

Down

1 Fashion accessories that shed : BOAS
2 Boss of a bo’s’n : CAP’N
3 Minor performer? : CHILD ACTOR
4 Sic legal on : SUE
5 “Who we are” page : ABOUT US
6 Spring time : LENT
7 Beginning of the Constitution: Abbr. : ART I
8 “You saved me!” : MY HERO!
9 Flamenco shout : OLE!
10 “A snail can sleep for up to three years” and others : FACTS
11 Rapper with a hyphenated name : ICE-T
12 All there : SANE
13 Category : TIER
18 Wins undeservedly over : ROBS
19 Power point? : SOCKET
24 Upper atmosphere, with “the” : ETHER
26 Paxil may alleviate it, in brief : OCD
27 Exact : WREAK
28 Language written in the Devanagari script : HINDI
29 Hardest part of a date : PIT
30 Futuristic delivery device : DRONE
31 Encouraging words : YOU GOT THIS
32 Dino : the Flintstones :: ___ : the Jetsons : ASTRO
33 Cut off : SEVER
37 Bit of publicity : PROMO
39 The customer’s right, at times : REFUND
41 Dallas N.B.A. player, in brief : MAV
44 A pup is a young one : DOG
46 Enjoy oneself festively : BE MERRY
50 iRobot product : ROOMBA
51 ___ Klebb, Bond villain in “From Russia With Love” : ROSA
52 2003 #1 Outkast hit : HEY YA
54 Watery shade : AQUA
55 Barge haulers : TUGS
56 That’s some story : TALE
58 Physics Nobelist who developed an early model of the atom : BOHR
59 Psalm starter : O GOD …
61 Wikipedia, e.g. : SITE
62 Belly trouble : ACHE
64 Take in : EAT
65 Inflation fig. : PSI