0618-21 NY Times Crossword 18 Jun 21, Friday

Constructed by: Daniel Larsen
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme None

Bill’s time: 12m 39s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Bill Bryson book subtitled “Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail” : A WALK IN THE WOODS

“A Walk in the Woods” is a 2015 film adaptation of a 1998 memoir by author Bill Bryson. The film stars Robert Redford as Bryson and Nick Nolte as a friend Bryson invites to hike the Appalachian Trail with him.

17 Show whose logo replaces an “o” with a diamond ring : THE BACHELORETTE

“The Bachelorette” is a reality television show about dating with the intent of marriage, and is a spin-off of “The Bachelor”. The marriage that resulted from the first season (2003) is still going strong, with the couple now the parents of two children.

18 Actress Rowlands : GENA

Gena Rowlands is an actress best known for the films made with her husband, actor and director John Cassavetes. Notably, Rowlands played a lead role opposite James Garner in the weepy, weepy 2004 film “The Notebook”. “The Notebook” was directed by her son Nick Cassavetes. Rowlands was nominated for Oscars for her performances in two films: “Gloria” (1980) and “A Woman Under the Influence” (1974).

20 Head for a cow, horse or lion? : SEA-

Manatees, also known as “sea cows”, are very large marine mammals that can grow to 12 feet in length. The manatee is believed to have evolved from four-legged land mammals and probably shares a common ancestor with the elephant.

Seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus. The genus name comes from the Greek “hippo” meaning “horse” and “kampos” meaning “sea monster”. It’s the male seahorse who carries the fertilized eggs, and not the females. The region of the brain known as the hippocampus, is so called because it resembles a seahorse in shape.

There are three families of seals. The first is the walrus family, the second the eared seals (like sea lions), and thirdly the earless seals (like elephant seals).

21 Book often stored horizontally : ATLAS

The famous Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator published his first collection of maps in 1578. Mercator’s collection contained a frontispiece with an image of Atlas the Titan from Greek mythology holding up the world on his shoulders. That image gave us our term “atlas” that is used for a book of maps.

24 Short jazz riff : LICK

A riff is a short rhythmic phrase in music, especially one improvised on a guitar.

25 Johnny with 10 World Series of Poker bracelets : CHAN

The World Series of Poker is an annual event held in Las Vegas. The winner of each event is given a much-coveted World Series of Poker bracelet.

29 Mother of the four winds, in myth : EOS

In Greek mythology, Eos is the mother of the four winds:

  • Boreas … north wind
  • Eurus … east wind
  • Notus … south wind
  • Zephyrus … west wind

32 High-risk game : RUSSIAN ROULETTE

The disturbing game of Russian roulette involves the placing of a single round in a revolver, spinning the cylinder and then a player firing the gun with the muzzle placed against his or her head. The “game” supposedly originated in Russia, and the name was first cited in a short story that dates back to 1937. Russian roulette was made famous by the 1978 movie “The Deerhunter” as it plays a central role in the film’s plot.

37 Many national anthems : WAR SONGS

The word “anthem” used to describe a sacred song, especially one with words taken from the Scriptures. The British national anthem (“God Save the Queen/King”) technically is a hymn, and so it came to be described as “the national hymn” and later “the national anthem”. The use of the word “anthem” extended from there to describe any patriotic song.

38 “Errare humanum ___” : EST

According to the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger, “Errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum”. This translates literally as “To err is human, to persist (in committing such errors) is of the devil”.

43 Hurdle for a future atty. : LSAT

Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

45 Seventh word of the Gettysburg Address : OUR

I admit to having profound respect and admiration for great speeches delivered by great men and women. Forgive me as I reproduce here the full text of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that “all men are created equal.”

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.

It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

46 Home to the Imam Ali Mosque, built in the seventh century : BASRA

Basra is Iraq’s main port, and is located in the southeast of the country, just 34 miles from the Persian Gulf. Access to the gulf is via the Shatt al-Arab waterway, a river that discharges into the gulf in the port city of Umm Qasr.

47 ___ Reactor (Iron Man’s power source) : ARC

Iron Man is another comic book superhero, this one created by Stan Lee for Marvel Comics. The character is the alter ego of Tony Stark, and has become very famous in recent years since the appearance of the 2008 action movie “Iron Man” starring Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role. Iron Man’s love interest, Pepper Potts, is routinely played by Gwyneth Paltrow in the same series of films.

50 “Je t’___” : AIME

“I love you” translates into “te amo” in Spanish, “Ich liebe dich” in German, and “je t’aime” in French.

Down

4 Claim to fame for Freeport, Me. : LLBEAN

L.L.Bean (note the lack of spaces in the company name) was founded back in 1912 in Freeport, Maine as a company selling its own line of waterproof boots. The founder, Leon Leonwood Bean, gave his name to the enterprise. Right from the start, L.L.Bean focused on mail-order and sold from a circular he distributed and then from a catalog. Defects in the initial design led to 90% of the first boots sold being returned, and the company made good on its guarantee to replace them or give back the money paid.

5 Zen riddles : KOANS

The concept of koan appears in the Zen Buddhist tradition. A koan is a story, question or perhaps a statement that is used as an aid to meditation. It often takes the form of a problem or riddle that has no logical solution and is intended to help the meditator break free of reason and develop intuition.

8 1960s spy series : THE MAN FROM UNCLE

In the television show “The Man from U.N.C.L.E”, the acronym in the title stands for United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. I know this because, when I was about 9-years-old, I wrote away for an identity card that showed I was a member of the spy organization!

10 Nobel Prize subj. : ECON

The Peace Prize is the most famous of the five prizes bequeathed by Alfred Nobel. The others are for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature. There is also a Nobel Prize in Economics that is awarded along with the original five, but it is funded separately and is awarded “in memory of Alfred Nobel”. Four of the prizes are awarded by Swedish organizations (Alfred Nobel was a Swede) and so the award ceremonies take place in Stockholm. The Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, and is presented in Oslo.

21 Big name in laptops : ACER

Acer is a Taiwanese company that I visited a couple of times when I was in the electronics business. I was very impressed back then with the company’s dedication to quality, although I have heard that things haven’t gone so well in recent years …

34 Mosaic tiles : TESSERAE

A tessera is an individual tile used in making a mosaic. Tesserae are usually formed in the shape of cubes.

In the Middle Ages, mosaics were often dedicated to the Muses. The term “mosaic” translates as “of the Muses”.

35 Romanov V.I.P. : TSAR

The House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, after the Rurik dynasty. The reign of the Romanovs ended when Emperor Nicholas II abdicated following the February Revolution of 1917. Famously, Nicholas II and his immediate family were murdered soon after he stepped down, and other members of the Romanov Dynasty were sent into exile by the Bolsheviks.

36 ___ Candy, best friend of Wonder Woman : ETTA

Etta Candy was introduced into Wonder Woman’s universe by DC Comics in 1942. She started out as an undernourished young woman who Wonder Woman encountered in a local hospital. The next time Etta appeared in the comics, she was a rather rotund woman who claims to have been rejuvenated by eating candy. That was 1942 …

39 Jason who played Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter films : ISAACS

Jason Isaacs is an English actor from Liverpool that is probably best known these days for portraying Lucius Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” series of films. TV viewers might also know him for playing the “bad guy” Michael on the Showtime series “Brotherhood”.

41 Trump is named in it : EUCHRE

Euchre is a card game that probably came to the US from Germany, introduced by German farmers who settled in Wisconsin. Euchre is a trick-taking game usually played by four people in two partnerships. Unlike bridge, Euchre is played with a stripped down deck of 24 or 32 cards. The verb “to euchre” is slang for “to cheat, swindle”, a term that presumably comes from the card game.

43 Delilah player in 1949’s “Samson and Delilah” : LAMARR

Hedy Lamarr was an American actress who was actually born in Vienna in modern-day Austria. Not only was Lamarr a successful Hollywood performer, during WWII she was the co-inventor of a frequency-hopping, spread-spectrum method of transmitting radio signals that is still used to this day in wireless communication. Impressive …

“Samson and Delilah” is an epic film produced and directed by Cecil B. Demille and released in 1949. The title roles are played by Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr.

45 Large bay window projecting from a wall : ORIEL

An oriel window is a bay window that projects from a wall, but does not reach all the way to the ground.

49 Great Plains people : OTOE

The Otoe (also “Oto”) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestward, ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.

50 Police dept. alerts : APBS

An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

54 Org. that administers the G.R.E. : ETS

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) was founded in 1947, and produces standardized tests for students from kindergarten through college. Perhaps most famously, ETS operates the SAT testing process.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Bill Bryson book subtitled “Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail” : A WALK IN THE WOODS
16 Give a scolding : CALL ON THE CARPET
17 Show whose logo replaces an “o” with a diamond ring : THE BACHELORETTE
18 Actress Rowlands : GENA
19 Look after : MIND
20 Head for a cow, horse or lion? : SEA-
21 Book often stored horizontally : ATLAS
23 Put a strain on : TAX
24 Short jazz riff : LICK
25 Johnny with 10 World Series of Poker bracelets : CHAN
26 Reading area : DEN
27 Spoils : TAINTS
29 Mother of the four winds, in myth : EOS
30 Cut off the back : BEEF LOIN
32 High-risk game : RUSSIAN ROULETTE
37 Many national anthems : WAR SONGS
38 “Errare humanum ___” : EST
39 “Whatever works” : I’M EASY
42 Indifferent remark : MEH
43 Hurdle for a future atty. : LSAT
44 Something you’re not likely to fork out? : SOUP
45 Seventh word of the Gettysburg Address : OUR
46 Home to the Imam Ali Mosque, built in the seventh century : BASRA
47 ___ Reactor (Iron Man’s power source) : ARC
48 Weathered, say : WORN
50 “Je t’___” : AIME
51 Products of Under Armour and Nike : ATHLETIC APPAREL
56 “Could you give more detail?” : CARE TO ELABORATE?
57 Certain summer attire : SLEEVELESS DRESS

Down

1 Enter the picture? : ACT
2 Muted trumpet sound : WAH
3 Pub container : ALE GLASS
4 Claim to fame for Freeport, Me. : LLBEAN
5 Zen riddles : KOANS
6 People who built the Qhapaq Ñan, or “Royal Road,” which stretched roughly 3,700 miles : INCA
7 High degree : NTH
8 1960s spy series : THE MAN FROM UNCLE
9 Path an electron may take moving in a constant magnetic field : HELIX
10 Nobel Prize subj. : ECON
11 City section : WARD
12 Lucky strike : ORE
13 Gets on a mailing list, say : OPTS IN
14 Pick up : DETECT
15 Hearty dinner entrees : STEAKS
21 Big name in laptops : ACER
22 Grand : THOU
23 Much of Gen Alpha, now : TEENS
24 Train route : LINE
26 Hon : DEARY
27 Unsparing response to a complaint : TOUGH
28 Isn’t 100% : AILS
30 Slant : BIAS
31 Not a company person? : LONER
33 Substitute : SWAP
34 Mosaic tiles : TESSERAE
35 Romanov V.I.P. : TSAR
36 ___ Candy, best friend of Wonder Woman : ETTA
39 Jason who played Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter films : ISAACS
40 Plaything for a Greek god : MORTAL
41 Trump is named in it : EUCHRE
43 Delilah player in 1949’s “Samson and Delilah” : LAMARR
45 Large bay window projecting from a wall : ORIEL
46 Two-legged stand : BIPOD
48 Cable channel owned by AMC Networks : WE TV
49 Great Plains people : OTOE
50 Police dept. alerts : APBS
52 Rebecca ___ Crumpler, first African-American female physician in the U.S. : LEE
53 Small cells : AAS
54 Org. that administers the G.R.E. : ETS
55 French article : LES