0906-21 NY Times Crossword 6 Sep 21, Monday

Constructed by: Joshua Rosenblatt
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer In Vogue

Themed answers each start with a fashion brand, something that might be found in “Vogue” magazine:

  • 38A Fashionable … or where you might find the starts of the answers to the starred clues : IN VOGUE
  • 17A *Asian American who became only the second woman to win the Oscar for Best Director : CHLOE ZHAO
  • 24A *Runway model famous for her work as a Victoria’s Secret Angel : CHANEL IMAN
  • 50A *Longest resident performer at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace : CELINE DION
  • 61A *Atlanta rapper featured on Lizzo’s Grammy-nominated “Exactly How I Feel” : GUCCI MANE

Bill’s time: 8m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Combat sport on pay-per-view, in brief : MMA

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport in which competitors use a variety of techniques from a variety of traditional combat sports and martial arts.

13 ___ milk (nondairy choice) : OAT

Oat milk is one of the alternatives to cow’s milk, and is lactose free. I’m a big fan …

19 Shrek’s love : FIONA

Princess Fiona is the title character’s love interest in the “Shrek” series of films.

21 Penthouse or attic : TOP FLOOR

Originally, the term “penthouse” described a modest building attached to a main structure. In fact, in centuries past, the manger in which Jesus was born was often referred to as a penthouse. The modern, more luxurious connotation dates back to the early twenties.

An attic or loft is a room or space located below the roof of a building. The term “attic” is a shortened form of “attic story”, the uppermost story or level of a house. This term “attic story” originally applied to a low, decorative level built on top of the uppermost story behind a building’s decorative facade. This use of decoration at the top of buildings was common in ancient Greece, and was particularly important in the Attica style. That Attica style was so called because it originated in the historical region of Attica that encompassed the city of Athens. And that’s how our attics are linked to ancient Greece.

23 Rear end, to Brits : 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.

26 Agcy. dealing with workplace accidents : OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

29 Elvis’s wife : PRISCILLA

Elvis Presley was drafted into the US Army in 1958, as a private. Although he was only a couple of years into his recording career, he already had a fervent following. While in basic training, he was quite certain that his success would be short-lived, and maybe could not recover after his stint with the Army. He used his leave to record new tracks, keeping his name out there. Presley did basic training at Fort Hood, Texas and was then assigned to the 3rd Armored Division stationed in Friedberg, Germany. It was in Friedberg that he met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whom he would marry after courting her for 7 1/2 years. After two years in the Army, he came back home, to a career that was still soaring.

34 Jewish community center, for short : YMHA

The Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA) and Young Women’s Hebrew Association (YWHA) provide assistance for Jewish immigrants.

37 D.C. “Squad” member : AOC

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a politician who is often referred to by her initials “AOC”. A Democrat, she was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 2018, representing part of the Bronx, Queens and Rikers Island in New York City. When she took office in 2019 at the age of 29, AOC became the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress.

38 Fashionable … or where you might find the starts of the answers to the starred clues : IN VOGUE

“Vogue” magazine has been published for an awfully long time, with the first issue appearing in 1892. Over the decades the magazine has picked up a lot of criticism as well as its many fans. Famously, an assistant to the editor wrote a novel based on her experiences working with the magazine’s editor, and called it “The Devil Wears Prada”.

42 Like a basso’s voice : DEEP

The bass is the lowest male singing voice. A man with such a voice might be called a “basso” (plural “bassi”). In an opera, the villain of the piece is usually played by a basso.

44 Vegetables in traditional moussaka : EGGPLANTS

Moussaka is a delicious dish from the Balkans that uses eggplant or potato as a base. The dish often includes ground meat, particularly lamb.

50 *Longest resident performer at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace : CELINE DION

French-Canadian singer Céline Dion first came to international attention when she won the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, in which she represented Switzerland in the competition that was hosted in Dublin, Ireland. She is now the best-selling Canadian artist of all time.

54 Have ___ in one’s belfry : BATS

The expression “bats in the belfry” meaning “mad, crazy” conjures up images of bats flying around Gothic bell towers, but actually it’s a relatively recent addition to our vernacular. The term is American in origin, and dates back only to the early 1900s. The concept is that someone who is “crazy”, with wild ideas flying around his or her head, can be described as having bats (wild ideas) flying around the belfry (head). The terms “bats” and “batty” originated at the same time, and are clearly derivative.

64 Bishop’s hat : MITER

A miter (also “mitre”) is a traditional headdress worn by bishops in some Christian traditions. The term “miter” comes from a Greek word for “headband, turban”.

66 AOL, for one : ISP

AOL was a leading Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the 1980s and 1990s. The company does still provide dial-up access to the Internet for some subscribers, but most users now access AOL using faster, non-AOL ISPs.

67 Budweiser and Beck’s : BEERS

The American beer Budweiser (often shortened to “Bud”) is named for the Czech town of Budweis (“České Budějovice” in Czech). The name is the subject of a dispute as here is an original Czech beer with a similar name, Budweiser Budvar. American Budweiser is sold in most European countries as “Bud”.

Beck’s beer comes from Bremen in northern Germany. It is the fifth most successful brewery in the country, based on sales. The image you’ll see on the bottle, a key within a shield, is the mirror image of Bremen’s coat of arms.

68 Altoids containers : TINS

Altoids breath mints have been around since 1780, when they were introduced in Britain. The famous tin in which Altoids are sold is often reused for other purposes. The most famous use is as a container to hold a mini-survival kit.

69 Tennis court divider : NET

Our modern sport of tennis evolved from the much older racquet sport known as real tennis. Originally just called “tennis”, the older game was labeled “real tennis” when the modern version began to hold sway. Real tennis is played in a closed court, with the ball frequently bounced off the walls.

Down

1 Chocolate-flavored coffee : MOCHA

A caffè mocha is a caffè latte that has been flavored with chocolate. One might also regard a caffè mocha as hot chocolate with the addition of a shot of espresso.

2 HBO’s “Real Time With Bill ___” : MAHER

Bill Maher is a stand-up comedian and political commentator. Maher has an HBO television show called “Real Time with Bill Maher” which is essentially a follow-on from the very successful “Politically Incorrect” program that started out on Comedy Central.

3 Book of maps : 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.

5 Dispenser candy : PEZ

PEZ is an Austrian brand of candy sold in a mechanical dispenser. Famously, PEZ dispensers have molded “heads”, and have become very collectible over the years. The list of heads includes historical figures like Betsy Ross and Paul Revere, characters from “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”, and even British royalty like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (“William and Kate”). The name “PEZ” comes from the first, middle and last letters of “Pfefferminz”, the German word for “peppermint”.

7 Cowboy’s rope : RIATA

A riata is a lariat or a lasso. “Riata” comes from “reata”, the Spanish word for “lasso”.

11 Italian city where Columbus was born : GENOA

Genoa is a seaport in the very north of Italy, in the region known as Liguria. One of Genoa’s most famous sons was Christopher Columbus. Another was the violinist Niccolò Paganini.

Christopher Columbus made four voyages of discovery across the Atlantic Ocean. The fourth and final voyage started from the Spanish port of Cádiz in 1502, with Columbus in charge of four vessels, including his flagship the Santa Maria. Much of the journey was taken up exploring the eastern coast of Central America. The expedition remained stranded on the island of Jamaica for a full year, after all of the vessels sustained damage in a storm. Columbus finally returned to Spain in 1504.

18 Dunkable cookies : OREOS

There is an “official” competition involving Oreo cookies, in case anyone is interested in participating. A competitor has to take several steps to finish an OREO Lick Race:

  1. Twist open the cookie.
  2. Lick each half clean of creme.
  3. Show the clean cookie halves to the fellow competitors.
  4. Dunk the cookie halves in a glass of milk.
  5. Eat the cookie halves.
  6. Drink the milk.
  7. Ready, set, go …

24 Place for a goatee : CHIN

A goatee is a beard formed by hair on a man’s chin. The name probably comes from the tuft of hair seen on an adult goat.

30 ___ v. Wade : ROE

Roe v. Wade was decided in a US District Court in Texas in 1970, and reached the Supreme Court on appeal. The basic decision by the Supreme Court was that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy applied to an abortion, but that this right had to be balanced with a state’s interest in protecting an unborn child and a mother’s health. The Court further defined that the state’s interest became stronger with each trimester of a pregnancy. So, in the first trimester the woman’s right to privacy outweighed any state interest. In the second trimester the state’s interest in maternal health was deemed to be strong enough to allow state regulation of abortion for the sake of the mother. In the third trimester the viability of the fetus dictated that the state’s interest in the unborn child came into play, so states could regulate or prohibit abortions, except in cases where the mother’s life was in danger. I’m no lawyer, but that’s my understanding of the initial Supreme Court decision …

31 Cold drink with caffeine : ICED LATTE

The term “latte” is an abbreviation of the Italian “caffelatte” meaning “coffee (and) milk”. Note that in the correct spelling of “latte”, the Italian word for milk; there is no accent over the “e”. An accent is often added by mistake when we use the word in English, perhaps meaning to suggest that the word is French.

Caffeine is a naturally occurring stimulant that is found in several plants. The chemical serves as a natural pesticide by paralyzing and killing certain insects that would otherwise feed on the plant. Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug that is consumed by humans across the world.

36 Mornings, informally : AMS

The 12-hour clock has been around a long time, and was even used in sundial format in ancient Egypt. Our use of AM and PM dates back to Roman times, with AM standing for Ante Meridiem (before noon) and PM standing for Post Meridiem (after noon). However, the Romans originally used the AM concept a little differently, by counting backwards from noon. So, 2AM to the Romans would be two hours before noon, or 10AM as we would call it today.

39 “Once ___ a time” : UPON

The stock phrase “Once upon a time …” has been used in various forms as the start of a narrative at least since 1380. The stock phrase at the end of stories such as folktales is often “and they all lived happily ever after”. The earlier version of this ending was “happily until their deaths”.

40 Inventor Whitney : ELI

Inventor Eli Whitney is best known for inventing the cotton gin. Whitney also came up with the important concept of “interchangeable parts”. Parts that are interchangeable can be swapped out of equipment or perhaps used in related designs.

48 One of ancient China’s Three Kingdoms : WEI

There were two Wei dynasties in Chinese history. The Cao Wei (220-265) existed during the Three Kingdoms period, and the Northern Wei (386-534) that existed during the Southern and Northern dynasties period.

51 Start of a playground rhyme : EENIE

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch the tiger/monkey/baby by the toe.
If it hollers/screams let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you are it!

52 Kennel occupants : DOGS

Our word “kennel” meaning “doghouse” comes from the Vulgar Latin word “canile” meaning the same thing. A sheep (“ovus”) was kept in an “ovile”, a horse (“equus”) in an “equile”, and a dog (“canis”) in a “canile”.

53 Arctic dweller : INUIT

The Inuit people live in the Arctic, in parts of the US, Russia, Greenland and Canada.

59 Candy item in foil : KISS

The Hershey Company produces over 80 million chocolate Kisses each day, and has been making them since 1907.

62 Some movie f/x : CGI

Computer-generated imagery (CGI)

“FX” (sometimes “f/x”) is an abbreviation for “effects”, as in “special effects”.

63 MSNBC competitor : CNN

CNN (Cable News Network) was launched in 1980 by the Turner Broadcasting System, and was the first television channel in the world to provide news coverage 24 hours a day.

MSNBC was founded in 1996 as a partnership between Microsoft (“MS”) and GE’s “NBC” broadcasting operation. Microsoft only owns a minority share in MSNBC today, but is still an equal partner in the separate company that runs msnbc.com.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Combat sport on pay-per-view, in brief : MMA
4 On the ___ of the moment : SPUR
8 Like oversize clothes : BAGGY
13 ___ milk (nondairy choice) : OAT
14 On the up-and-up : LEGIT
16 Match in opinion : AGREE
17 *Asian American who became only the second woman to win the Oscar for Best Director : CHLOE ZHAO
19 Shrek’s love : FIONA
20 Listened to : HEARD
21 Penthouse or attic : TOP FLOOR
23 Rear end, to Brits : ARSE
24 *Runway model famous for her work as a Victoria’s Secret Angel : CHANEL IMAN
26 Agcy. dealing with workplace accidents : OSHA
28 Animals around the house : PETS
29 Elvis’s wife : PRISCILLA
34 Jewish community center, for short : YMHA
37 D.C. “Squad” member : AOC
38 Fashionable … or where you might find the starts of the answers to the starred clues : IN VOGUE
41 Command between “ready” and “fire” : AIM
42 Like a basso’s voice : DEEP
44 Vegetables in traditional moussaka : EGGPLANTS
46 Did a sketch : DREW
49 Disturb, as sediment : ROIL
50 *Longest resident performer at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace : CELINE DION
54 Have ___ in one’s belfry : BATS
58 Response to a stimulus : REACTION
59 Baked pudding of potatoes or noodles in Jewish cooking : KUGEL
60 Loosen, as laces : UNTIE
61 *Atlanta rapper featured on Lizzo’s Grammy-nominated “Exactly How I Feel” : GUCCI MANE
64 Bishop’s hat : MITER
65 Stop and Yield : SIGNS
66 AOL, for one : ISP
67 Budweiser and Beck’s : BEERS
68 Altoids containers : TINS
69 Tennis court divider : NET

Down

1 Chocolate-flavored coffee : MOCHA
2 HBO’s “Real Time With Bill ___” : MAHER
3 Book of maps : ATLAS
4 Transport down a winter hill : SLED
5 Dispenser candy : PEZ
6 “That tastes bad!” : UGH!
7 Cowboy’s rope : RIATA
8 Perplex : BAFFLE
9 Nimbleness : AGILITY
10 Bachelor party attendee : GROOMSMAN
11 Italian city where Columbus was born : GENOA
12 Ache (for) : YEARN
15 Saturday morning TV character : TOON
18 Dunkable cookies : OREOS
22 Vitality : PEP
24 Place for a goatee : CHIN
25 Split in two : HALVE
27 Biol. or chem. : SCI
29 Increase unnecessarily, as an expense report : PAD
30 ___ v. Wade : ROE
31 Cold drink with caffeine : ICED LATTE
32 Something to throw on a fire : LOG
33 Belligerent, in London : AGGRO
35 Runaway success : HIT
36 Mornings, informally : AMS
39 “Once ___ a time” : UPON
40 Inventor Whitney : ELI
43 More costly : PRICIER
45 Collection of songs : ALBUM
47 Goes in : ENTERS
48 One of ancient China’s Three Kingdoms : WEI
50 Bit of bread : CRUMB
51 Start of a playground rhyme : EENIE
52 Kennel occupants : DOGS
53 Arctic dweller : INUIT
55 Once more : AGAIN
56 All wound up : TENSE
57 Got some shut-eye : SLEPT
59 Candy item in foil : KISS
62 Some movie f/x : CGI
63 MSNBC competitor : CNN

10 thoughts on “0906-21 NY Times Crossword 6 Sep 21, Monday”

  1. 6:11 Not too up on fashion so 3 of the 4 entries were unknown to me. My first thought for the Victoria Secret model was Heidi Klum – showing how dated I am – but not the right # of letters. Was also thinking of Wayne Newton as the Vegas performer – but again wrong number of letters. At least I am familiar with Celine Dion.

  2. Ugh! 10:50 after correcting several fat fingers in the SE corner. Sometimes the online app causes me a headache.

  3. 6:42 after correcting a couple of fat-fingerings. And I also was familiar only with Celine Dion.

  4. 7:21, completed on a break from mowing my lawn. Only initial error was “a bat” instead of “bats”.

  5. 4:50. Happy Labor Day to all you women having children today…or something like that.

    Didn’t know any theme answers so was a themeless for me.

    Ages ago I ordered a Budweiser at a bar in London and was given the Czech version of it. The whole thing needed to be explained to me. I might be a little more careful how I order it these days.

    Best –

  6. No idea who the themed people are or were.. just solved the crosses and let the theme fill in…. except Celine Dion.. I saw that after I finished and went “oh, I know her”..

    Likewise for the Brit slang words. ARSE and AGGRO??

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