0502-21 NY Times Crossword 2 May 21, Sunday

Constructed by: Dan Schoenholz
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Initial Impressions

Themed clues are common terms comprising a letter followed by a word. Themed answers comprise a word starting with the cited letter, followed by a synonym of the word cited in the clue:

  • 23A C-Span? : COVERED BRIDGE
  • 40A P-trap? : POTTYMOUTH
  • 44A G-force? : GERMAN ARMY
  • 65A G-flat? : GARDEN APARTMENT
  • 91A D-Con? : DIRTY TRICK
  • 94A E-bond? : ELMER’S GLUE
  • 113A C-sharp? : COMPASS NEEDLE

Bill’s time: 17m 34s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 Tony, e.g. : AWARD

The Tony Awards are more completely referred to as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Broadway Theatre. The awards are named for Mary Antoinette “Tony” Perry, who was a co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.

20 Cow : herd :: ___ : troop : BABOON

Baboons are ground-dwelling primates native to Africa that are found in open woodland and hills. A group of baboons is usually referred to as a “troop”.

Here are some colorful collective nouns:

  • A pride of lions
  • A shrewdness of apes
  • A cloud of bats
  • A bench of bishops
  • A clowder of cats
  • A waddling of ducks
  • An army of frogs
  • A knot of toads

22 One with a discerning palate : EPICURE

An epicure is a gourmet, one who appreciates fine food and drink in particular. The term is derived from the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus.

23 C-Span? : COVERED BRIDGE

C-SPAN is a privately-funded, nonprofit cable channel that broadcasts continuous coverage of government proceedings.

27 Earth goddess : GAIA

In ancient Greek religion, Gaia was the Earth goddess, the mother of everything. The Roman equivalent was the goddess Terra.

33 Actress Gershon : GINA

Gina Gershon is an American actress. Gershon has played a lesbian on screen a number of times and has become somewhat of a gay icon.

38 Champagne name : MOET

Moët & Chandon is a French winery, and one of the world’s largest producers of champagne. The company was founded by wine trader Claude Moët in 1743. The name was changed to Moët & Chandon in the 1830s when Pierre-Gabriel Chandon, an in-law to the Moët family, was given co-ownership. Moët & Chandon owns the famous Dom Pérignon brand name, honoring the Benedictine monk who did so much to improve the quality of champagne.

40 P-trap? : POTTYMOUTH

Most sinks in a home have a P-trap in the outlet pipe that empties into the sewer line. This P-trap has at its heart a U-bend that retains a small amount of water after the sink is emptied. This plug of water serves as a seal to prevent sewer gases entering into the home. By virtue of its design, the U-bend can also capture any heavy objects (like an item of jewelry) that might fall through the plughole. But the “trapping” of fallen objects is secondary to the P-trap’s main function of “trapping” sewer gases.

44 G-force? : GERMAN ARMY

The force of gravity (g-force) that we all feel is referred to as “one G”. As gravity is an accelerating force, acceleration is measured relative to that force of gravity. So, if we are sitting in a vehicle that accelerates at 3G, then we are experiencing a force that is three times that which we feel from the gravitational pull of the earth. Zero G is weightlessness that is experienced when in space, and outside the influence of the earth’s gravity.

48 Setting for C. S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” : NARNIA

Apparently, it’s not certain how C. S. Lewis came to choose Narnia as the name of the fantasy world featured in his series of children’s books, including “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. There was an ancient city in Umbria that the Romans called Narnia, but there is no evidence of a link.

49 NPR host Shapiro : ARI

Ari Shapiro served very ably as White House correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) for several years. He then became a co-host of the network’s drive-time program “All Things Considered” in 2015. When he’s not working, Shapiro likes to sing. He regularly appears as a guest singer with the group Pink Martini, and has appeared on several of the band’s albums.

51 Deliberate betrayal : PERFIDY

Perfidy is a deliberate breach of trust. The term originated with the Latin phrase “per fidem decipere”, meaning “to deceive through trustingness”.

54 Father figures? : DAD BODS

A “dad bod” is a man’s body that is softly rounded. Well, that’s the description I like to use …

57 Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands: Abbr. : TERR

There are sixteen US territories in all, but only five of them are inhabited:

  • Puerto Rico
  • Guam
  • Northern Mariana Islands
  • US Virgin Islands
  • American Samoa

Examples of US territories with no permanent or native inhabitants are Wake Island and Midway Islands.

Guam is a US territory in the western Pacific Ocean, and is the largest of the Mariana Islands. Guam is also the first territory in the United States to see the sun rise on any particular day. As such, the territory has adopted the motto, “Where America’s day begins”. During WWII, the US territory of Guam was occupied by the Japanese for 31 months until it was liberated in the Battle of Guam in July 1944. Of the 18,000 Japanese men holding the island, only 485 surrendered, so almost all perished in the invasion. One Japanese sergeant hid out on the island for an incredible 28 years, finally surrendering in 1972!

The US Virgin Islands (USVI) are located in the Caribbean, and are part of the Virgin Islands archipelago. The three largest islands of the US territory are Saint Croix, Saint John and Saint Thomas. The island chain was named by Christopher Columbus in 1493 in honor of Saint Ursula and her virgin followers. The United States bought the islands from Denmark during WWI in a move designed to thwart plans by Germany to use them as a submarine base.

59 Surgeons’ professional org. : AMA

American Medical Association (AMA)

60 2012 Best Picture winner : ARGO

“Argo” is a 2012 movie that is based on the true story of the rescue of six diplomats hiding out during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film was directed by and stars Ben Affleck and is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, the same pair who produced the excellent “Good Night, and Good Luck”. I highly recommend “Argo”, although I found the scenes of religious fervor to be very frightening …

61 Anastasia ___, protagonist of “Fifty Shades of Grey” : STEELE

“Fifty Shades of Grey” is an incredibly popular erotic novel by British writer E. L. James. “Fifty Shades of Grey” is the fastest-selling paperback of all time. There are two other titles to complete the trilogy: “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed”.

63 Top supporter? : BRA

The word “brassière” is French in origin, but it isn’t the word that the French use for a “bra”. In France, what we call a bra is known as a “soutien-gorge”, translating to “held under the neck”. The word “brassière” is indeed used in France but there it describes a baby’s undershirt, a lifebelt or a harness. “Brassière” comes from the Old French word for an “arm protector” in a military uniform (“bras” is the French for “arm”). Later “brassière” came to mean “breastplate” and from there the word was used for a type of woman’s corset. The word jumped into English around 1900.

64 Susan who portrayed the youngest child on “The Brady Bunch” : OLSEN

Former child actress Susan Olsen played Cindy Brady on the sitcom “The Brady Bunch”. There’s an urban legend that Olsen became an adult film star in later life. While that’s not true at all, what is true is that she made spaceship sound effects for a porn movie one time, as a favor for a friend in the technical side of the business.

74 Like Crater Lake, compared to any other U.S. lake : DEEPER

Crater Lake is my favorite locale in the whole country. Crater lake sits in a volcanic crater giving it a near perfect circular shape. The water appears to have a deep, deep blue color and is extremely pure. There are no rivers running into the lake, so man hasn’t really had the chance to contaminate it with pollutants.

78 LeBron James in his N.B.A. debut, e.g. : TEEN

Basketball player LeBron James (nicknamed “King James”) seems to be in demand for the covers of magazines. James became the first African American man to adorn the front cover of “Vogue” in March 2008. That made him only the third male to make the “Vogue” cover, following Richard Gere and George Clooney.

79 Anheuser-Busch InBev’s stock ticker symbol : BUD

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) can give some quite descriptive ticker symbols to companies, for example:

  • Anheuser-Busch (BUD, for “Budweiser”)
  • Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP, as in “beer tap”)
  • Steinway Musical Instruments (LVB, for “Ludwig van Beethoven”)
  • Sotheby’s (BID, for the auction house)

80 Avocado pit, for one : SEED

The wonderful avocado comes from a tree that is native to Mexico and Central America. The avocado fruit is sometimes called an avocado pear, because of its shape, even though it is not related to the pear at all. The fruit might also be referred to as an alligator pear, due to the roughness of the green skin of some avocado cultivars.

87 First of ten? : TEE

The first letter in the word “ten” is a letter T (tee).

91 D-Con? : DIRTY TRICK

d-CON is a line of rodent control products that has been around for over 50 years. The name is an abbreviation for “decontamination”. The d-CON Company was founded in 1950 by Chicago businessman Lee Ratner, yes, “Ratner” …

94 E-bond? : ELMER’S GLUE

Elsie the Cow is the mascot of the Borden Company. Elsie first appeared at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, introduced to symbolize the perfect dairy product. She is so famous and respected that she has been awarded the degrees of Doctor of Bovinity, Doctor of Human Kindness and Doctor of Ecownomics. Elsie was also given a husband named Elmer the Bull. Elmer eventually moved over to the chemical division of Borden where he gave his name to Elmer’s Glue.

Series E Savings Bonds were introduced in 1941, just before the start of WWII, as “defense bonds”. After the attack on Pearl Harbor they became known as “war bonds”. The first Series E bond was sold to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

96 Conversely, in brief : OTOH

On the other hand (OTOH)

97 Worry for a Great Depression bank : RUN

The Great Depression (also “Depression Era) was a worldwide phenomenon in the decade or so that preceded World War II. The depression was sparked by a dramatic drop in stock prices in the US in September 1929, which eventually made the news around the world following the stock market crash of October 29th of that year, now known as Black Tuesday. US unemployment rose to 25% during the Great Depression, and in some countries unemployment was as high as 33%. Many economists believe that World War II played a large role in ending the depression, at least here in the US. Government spending on the war increased employment dramatically, although many of those jobs were in the front lines. During the war, unemployment fell back below 10%.

98 Ladybug, e.g. : BEETLE

The insect we know as a ladybug (also “ladybird”) has seven spots on its wing covers. These seven spots gave rise to the common name “ladybug”, as in the Middle Ages the insect was called the “beetle of Our Lady”. The spots were said to symbolize the Seven Joys and Seven Sorrows, events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary called out in the Roman Catholic tradition.

99 Cereal box abbr. : NT WT

Net weight (nt. wt.)

108 Son of Zeus : ARES

The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

109 Bird of legend : ROC

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.

110 Fast-food chain with Famous Star burgers : CARL’S JR

The Carl’s Jr. fast-food restaurant chain was founded in 1941 by Carl Karcher. Karcher’s first restaurant was a full-service establishment called Carl’s Drive-In Barbeque. He then built on his first success by opening a chain of smaller restaurants with a smaller menu and called them simply “Carl’s”, which was changed to Carl’s Jr. in 1954.

119 Things consumed for psychedelic trips : LSD TABS

The drug LSD is often sold impregnated into blotting paper. The paper blotter is usually divided into squares with ¼-inch sides, with each square referred to as a “tab”.

120 Men in black, say : GOTHS

The goth subculture developed from the gothic rock scene in the early eighties, and is a derivative of the punk music movement. It started in England and spread to many countries around the globe. The term “goth” comes from the Eastern Germanic tribe called the Goths.

121 Deck originally known as “carte da trionfi” (“cards of triumph”) : TAROT

Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future. The list of tarot cards includes the Wheel of Fortune, the Hanged Man and the Lovers.

Down

2 Classical poem form : EPODE

An epode is a lyric poem made up of couplets in which the first line is long, and the second line much shorter. The form was invented by the Greek poet Archilochus, and was most famously used by the Roman poet Horace.

5 Floral archway : PERGOLA

A pergola looks somewhat like a gazebo in structure, but it is an open walkway with vines trained up the sides and over the top. “Pergola” ultimately derives from the Latin “pergula”, the word for a covered eave.

6 Pop group with a dedicated museum in Stockholm : ABBA

ABBA The Museum is an exhibition in Stockholm that opened in 2013. One of the exhibits featured in the “museum” is a self-playing piano that is linked to a piano in Benny Andersson’s own home. So, the museum’s piano reproduces whatever Benny is playing, in real time. That’s kind of cool …

7 “___ is mainly a catalog of blunders”: Churchill : WAR

Soon after Winston Churchill took over as Prime Minister of the UK in 1940, he delivered some stirring speeches that rallied the country in the face of German victories right across Europe. The first of these was his “Blood, toil, tears, and sweat” speech as he reported the formation of a new coalition government designed to unite the country in time of war. The second was his “We shall fight on the beaches” speech, as he reported the successful evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk. The third speech concluded with, “This was their finest hour”, words delivered to Parliament just as France fell, and Churchill pledged that the British Commonwealth would fight on, alone if necessary. The last lines of this third speech, from this magnificent orator, were:

… But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour’.

9 “The Burghers of Calais” sculptor : RODIN

Auguste Rodin was a French sculptor who was known for realistic representations of the human form. Two of Rodin’s most famous works started out as details from a larger work called “The Gates of Hell”. One of these details is “The Thinker”, and the other “The Kiss”.

10 Cruella de Vil, for one : DOGNAPPER

Cruella de Vil is the villain in the 1956 novel “The Hundred and One Dalmatians” written by Dodie Smith. Most famously perhaps, Cruella was played so ably by Glenn Close in the Disney movie adaption “101 Dalmatians”, released in 1996.

15 Pitch-correcting devices : AUTO-TUNERS

Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio process that is primarily used to alter pitch in a recorded track. One of the main uses of Auto-Tune is to correct voice tracks that are slightly off-pitch, which probably explains why even professional singers tend to sound better on a recording than they do live. More extreme levels of Auto-Tune adjustment are now quite common, creating a sound effect that distorts vocals. Such sound effects really took off with the release of Cher’s 1998 hit song “Believe”, in which you can really notice the vocal distortion.

16 Tribe of southern Montana : CROW

The Crow Nation historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. Most of the Crow people today live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana.

17 Range of knowledge : KEN

“Ken” is a noun meaning “understanding, perception”. One might say, for example, “half the clues in Saturday’s crossword are beyond my ken, beyond my understanding”.

32 ___ card : SIM

Most cell phones have SIM cards these days. SIM cards hold the personal information of the subscriber, with the acronym being short for “Subscriber Identity Module”.

33 Ruby, e.g. : GEMSTONE

Ruby is a precious stone made from the mineral corundum, also called aluminium oxide. The corundum includes some of the element chromium, which results in the red or pink color.

35 Carter who portrayed Wonder Woman : LYNDA

Lynda Carter is perhaps best known for playing the title role in the TV show “Wonder Woman” that originally aired in the 1970s. Prior to landing the part, Carter had won the Miss World USA beauty pageant in 1972, representing her home state of Arizona.

44 Gallivants (about) : GADS

“Gallivant” is such a lovely word, and is probably a derivative of “gallant”. To gallivant is to gad about, to flirt, wander in search of pleasure or amusement. My mother was always accusing me of gallivanting when I was a youth …

45 Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT

The initialism “QED” is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. QED stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

46 Ralph who founded the American Museum of Tort Law : NADER

Ralph Nader has run as a third-party candidate for the office of President of the United States four times now, in every election from 1996 to 2008. Nader’s name was first first linked with the presidential race in 1971, when the famous Dr. Benjamin Spock offered to stand aside as candidate in the 1972 race if Nader would agree to run, but he declined.

52 Mosque leader : IMAM

An imam is a Muslim leader, and often the person in charge of a mosque and/or perhaps a Muslim community.

56 Product once advertised with the line “The splendor of your skin” : OLAY

Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1949. When Oil of Olay was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.

62 Supporter of Roosevelt’s agenda : NEW DEALER

The New Deal was the series of economic programs championed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression. The New Deal was focused on three objectives, the “3 Rs”:

  1. Relief for the unemployed and poor
  2. Recovery of the economy to normal levels
  3. Reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression

63 Actor whose breakout role came as a shirtless cowboy in “Thelma & Louise” : BRAD PITT

Brad Pitt’s first major role was the cowboy hitchhiker in the 1991’s “Thelma and Louise”. Pitt’s life offscreen garners as much attention as his work onscreen, it seems. The tabloids revel in the series of high-profile relationships in which he has been involved. He was engaged to Gwyneth Paltrow for a while, married to Jennifer Aniston and then to Angelina Jolie.

67 Hoppy request at happy hour : ALE

The foodstuff that we call “hops” are actually the female flowers of the hop plant. The main use of hops is to add flavor to beer. The town in which I live here in California used to be home to the largest hop farm in the whole world. Most of the harvested hops were exported all the way to the breweries of London, where they could fetch the best price.

68 Enlighten : EDIFY

To edify is to provide instruction in order to improve spiritually, morally or intellectually. The intent is to “build up” someone’s faith or morality, and so “edify” comes from the Latin “aedificare” meaning “to build, construct”. This Latin root also gives us our word “edifice”, meaning “massive building”.

69 Wine barrel strip : STAVE

The word “stave” was originally the plural of “staff”, a word describing a wooden rod. To “stave off” originated with the concept of holding off with a staff. In the world of barrel-making, a stave is a narrow strip of wood that forms part of a barrel’s side.

80 Lorelei’s lure : SIREN SONG

In Greek mythology, the Sirens were seductive bird-women who lured men to their deaths with their song. When Odysseus sailed closed to the island home of the Sirens he wanted to hear their voices, but in safety. He had his men plug their ears with beeswax and then ordered them to tie him to the mast and not to free him until they were safe. On hearing their song Odysseus begged to be let loose, but the sailors just tightened his bonds and the whole crew sailed away unharmed. We sometimes use the term “siren” today to describe a seductively charming woman.

Lorelei is the name of a legendary mermaid or nymph who lured fishermen by singing a beautiful song. Lorelei’s aim was to have the fishermen steer their boats onto rocks lurking beneath the water’s surface.

81 May honorees : MOTHERS

Note the official punctuation in “Mother’s Day”, even though one might think it should be “Mothers’ Day”. President Wilson and Anna Jarvis, who created the tradition, specifically wanted Mother’s Day to honor the mothers within each family and not just “mothers” in general, so they went with the “Mother’s Day” punctuation.

84 ___ Hill (’90s R&B group) : DRU

Dru Hill is an R&B singing group from Baltimore, Maryland. Dru Hill was formed in 1992, and is still going strong today. The name “Dru Hill” comes from Druid Hill Park which is found on the west side of Baltimore.

100 Lento or allegro : TEMPO

The tempo (plural “tempi”) of a piece of music is usually designated with an Italian word on the score. For example, “grave” is slow and solemn, “andante” is at a walking pace, “scherzo” is fast and light-hearted, and “allegro” is fast, quickly and bright.

103 Loggers’ competition : ROLEO

The log-rolling competition traditionally engaged in by lumberjacks is referred to as “roleo”.

110 The Rockies, on scoreboards : COL

The Colorado Rockies are the Major League Baseball team in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies joined the league in 1993 as an expansion team, and have played at Coors Field since 1995.

112 Sail fixed to a bowsprit : JIB

A jib is a triangular sail that is set at the bow of a sailboat.

A bowsprit is a spar that sticks out at the bow of a boat. It extends the vessel’s length and hence moves the stays for the foremast as far forward as possible.

114 “Darn!,” in Dortmund : ACH!

Dortmund is a city in the western part of Germany. Historically, the city was very industrial, with many steel mills and coal mines. Dortmund has changed its image in recent decades, and is noted for devoting a lot of space to waterways, woodlands, parks and other green spaces.

115 Baseball’s dead-ball ___ (around 1900-20) : ERA

Before 1919, when Babe Ruth started to hit home runs like they were going out of style, baseball was more of a strategy-driven sport. There was less emphasis on power hitting, and more emphasis on playing “small ball”, with a focus on stolen bases and hit-and-run plays. In addition, the ball used was relatively “dead” and unresponsive to the bat. As a result, the period before 1919 is referred to as baseball’s “dead-ball era”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Advantage : LEG UP
6 Tony, e.g. : AWARD
11 Plunder : RANSACK
18 Weighed in : OPINED
20 Cow : herd :: ___ : troop : BABOON
22 One with a discerning palate : EPICURE
23 C-Span? : COVERED BRIDGE
25 Start brawling : GET IT ON
26 Drink name suffix : -ADE
27 Earth goddess : GAIA
28 Going from point A to point B : LINEAR
30 Miss piggy? : SOW
31 Class acts? : LESSONS
33 Actress Gershon : GINA
34 Put back on the market, as real estate : RELIST
37 Feel bad : AIL
38 Champagne name : MOET
40 P-trap? : POTTYMOUTH
44 G-force? : GERMAN ARMY
47 Union concern : PAY
48 Setting for C. S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” : NARNIA
49 NPR host Shapiro : ARI
50 Words said in passing? : AYES
51 Deliberate betrayal : PERFIDY
53 Butt : END
54 Father figures? : DAD BODS
57 Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands: Abbr. : TERR
59 Surgeons’ professional org. : AMA
60 2012 Best Picture winner : ARGO
61 Anastasia ___, protagonist of “Fifty Shades of Grey” : STEELE
62 Make mention of : NOTE
63 Top supporter? : BRA
64 Susan who portrayed the youngest child on “The Brady Bunch” : OLSEN
65 G-flat? : GARDEN APARTMENT
69 Deodorant type : SPRAY
72 Be short : OWE
73 Make music : PLAY
74 Like Crater Lake, compared to any other U.S. lake : DEEPER
78 LeBron James in his N.B.A. debut, e.g. : TEEN
79 Anheuser-Busch InBev’s stock ticker symbol : BUD
80 Avocado pit, for one : SEED
81 Cause for revolution, perhaps : MISRULE
82 Escort’s offering : ARM
83 “Yep, that happened!” : SURE DID!
85 [And like magic … it’s gone!] : [POOF!]
87 First of ten? : TEE
88 Compete in pursuit of : VIE FOR
90 Abbr. on a flight board : ARR
91 D-Con? : DIRTY TRICK
94 E-bond? : ELMER’S GLUE
96 Conversely, in brief : OTOH
97 Worry for a Great Depression bank : RUN
98 Ladybug, e.g. : BEETLE
99 Cereal box abbr. : NT WT
101 Strike-out specialists? : EDITORS
105 See 106-Across : BED
106 Out of 105-Across : ARISEN
108 Son of Zeus : ARES
109 Bird of legend : ROC
110 Fast-food chain with Famous Star burgers : CARL’S JR
113 C-sharp? : COMPASS NEEDLE
116 Black-and-white dessert : OREO PIE
117 Take care of some personal baggage : UNPACK
118 Word after green or smoke : … SCREEN
119 Things consumed for psychedelic trips : LSD TABS
120 Men in black, say : GOTHS
121 Deck originally known as “carte da trionfi” (“cards of triumph”) : TAROT

Down

1 Kind of news often aired at 6 and 11 p.m. : LOCAL
2 Classical poem form : EPODE
3 Drives home, say : GIVES A RIDE
4 French article : UNE
5 Floral archway : PERGOLA
6 Pop group with a dedicated museum in Stockholm : ABBA
7 “___ is mainly a catalog of blunders”: Churchill : WAR
8 Means : ABILITY
9 “The Burghers of Calais” sculptor : RODIN
10 Cruella de Vil, for one : DOGNAPPER
11 Beat oneself up over, say : REGRET
12 Mimic : APE
13 Little beef : NIT
14 ___ kicks (ab exercise) : SCISSOR
15 Pitch-correcting devices : AUTO-TUNERS
16 Tribe of southern Montana : CROW
17 Range of knowledge : KEN
19 School administrator : DEAN
21 French for “born” : NEE
24 Appalls : DISMAYS
29 Aesthetically pretentious, informally : ARTY-FARTY
32 ___ card : SIM
33 Ruby, e.g. : GEMSTONE
35 Carter who portrayed Wonder Woman : LYNDA
36 Noncommittal response to “You coming?” : I MAY
39 Load off one’s mine? : ORE
41 Homonym of 39-Down : OAR
42 Trace of color : TINGE
43 Wore : HAD ON
44 Gallivants (about) : GADS
45 Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT
46 Ralph who founded the American Museum of Tort Law : NADER
51 Got ready (for) : PREPPED
52 Mosque leader : IMAM
55 Launched : BEGAN
56 Product once advertised with the line “The splendor of your skin” : OLAY
58 Datum for a chauffeur, for short : ETA
60 Take in, maybe : ALTER
62 Supporter of Roosevelt’s agenda : NEW DEALER
63 Actor whose breakout role came as a shirtless cowboy in “Thelma & Louise” : BRAD PITT
64 Singles : ONES
66 Hardly cheery : DOUR
67 Hoppy request at happy hour : ALE
68 Enlighten : EDIFY
69 Wine barrel strip : STAVE
70 Climate change, e.g. : PERIL
71 Looked back on : REMEMBERED
75 Alphabetized, say : PUT IN ORDER
76 Wind farm output: Abbr. : ELEC
77 Stink : REEK
79 Split open : BURST
80 Lorelei’s lure : SIREN SONG
81 May honorees : MOTHERS
83 Mad (at) : SORE
84 ___ Hill (’90s R&B group) : DRU
86 Decoration at el Palacio Real de Madrid : ORO
89 Where livestock eat : FEEDLOT
91 Mastered : DOWN PAT
92 Divide into three parts : TRISECT
93 Pattern that’s hard to break : RUT
95 Nasty looks : GLARES
100 Lento or allegro : TEMPO
102 Retreats : DENS
103 Loggers’ competition : ROLEO
104 Track : SCENT
105 Rap lyrics, in slang : BARS
107 Post-O.R. destination, often : ICU
108 Doesn’t just assume : ASKS
110 The Rockies, on scoreboards : COL
111 Day ___ : SPA
112 Sail fixed to a bowsprit : JIB
114 “Darn!,” in Dortmund : ACH!
115 Baseball’s dead-ball ___ (around 1900-20) : ERA

11 thoughts on “0502-21 NY Times Crossword 2 May 21, Sunday”

  1. 32:57 I had a lot of fat fingers, causing me to be stumped in various areas, especially in the left half. I was halfway done in about 12 minutes, and then came the struggles – DADBODS, e.g. In reviewing the puzzle, it should not have caused me so much difficulty.

  2. 37:08. Seems about normal for my Sunday efforts. Considering that I never used to finish these, I’m satisfied.

  3. 27:36. The theme helped me out a lot. I leaned in it heavily. Otherwise a pretty methodical solve.

    Churchill did indeed have a way with words. I can’t think of anyone in 2021 who is comparable. Too much relying on Twitter quips to be eloquent anymore, I suppose.

    If it accomplished nothing else, this puzzle reminded me that Mother(‘s’??) Day is coming up. Soon. Is it really May already?

    Best –

  4. 37:30 I’m happy with anything under an hour on Sunday.

    Jeff, it is May already, in spite of us Western New Yorkers waking up to an inch of snow Saturday morning… That said, I did get to mow my lawn today.

  5. Star burger also sold at Hardees. We have those in the South, not Carl’s Jr.

  6. 58:30 no errors..Anything under an hour and no errors on a Sunday NYT is a win for me😀
    Stay safe😀

  7. 1 dumb error. Not even going to list it. Let’s say it was a PERFIDY??? (what the heck)…

    Got a bit of a beef with 29D.. ARTY FARTY?? really? I thought it was ARTSY FARTSY?? I guess it’s a variant??

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