0420-22 NY Times Crossword 20 Apr 22, Wednesday

Bill’s time: 10m 02s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 Div. of the Treasury Department : IRS

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was set up during the Civil War to raise money to cover war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, the government was funded by levies on trade and property.

9 “Murder Mystery” or “Roaring ‘Twenties,” for a party : THEME

The 1920s are often called the Roaring Twenties, a period of dynamic change across all aspects of life. Things were finally returning to normal after WWI, jazz became popular, some women “broke the mold” by becoming “flappers”, and Art Deco flourished. The whole decade came to a tragic end with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, followed by the Great Depression.

14 “Todo Sobre Mi ___” (1999 Almodóvar film) : MADRE

Pedro Almodóvar is a very successful Spanish film director, born in a small town in the region of La Mancha (made famous by Don Quixote). I’m afraid I don’t recognize any of Almodovar’s films.

17 Aptly named Olympic sprinter : USAIN BOLT

Usain Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter who won the 100m and 200m race gold medals in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. Back in Jamaica, Bolt was really into cricket, and probably would have been a very successful fast bowler had he not hit the track instead.

19 Epic poem written in dactylic hexameter : ILIAD

Ilion (or in Latin “Ileum”), was the ancient name for the city of Troy. It’s this name for Troy that gives rise to the title of Homer’s epic poem “Iliad”.

Most modern poetry uses the rhythm (metrical line) known as iambic pentameter. The standard rhythm of classical Greek and Latin poetry is hexameter.

22 “___ no sin to cheat the devil”: Daniel Defoe : ‘TIS

Daniel Defoe is most famous today as the author of the novels “Robinson Crusoe” and “Moll Flanders”. He was also a trader … and a spy for King William III!

23 The Cowardly Lion, back in Kansas : ZEKE

Zeke is the farmworker played by Bert Lahr in 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz”. Zeke is the character who morphed into the Cowardly Lion in Dorothy’s dream.

34 Actor Elgort of “Baby Driver” : ANSEL

Ansel Elgort is a relatively young actor, and someone who has had a remarkable string of successful roles. He played Tommy Ross in 2013’s “Carrie”, Caleb Prior in “The Divergent Series” movies, Augustus Waters in 2014’s “The Fault in Our Stars”, and the title character in 2017’s “Baby Driver”.

36 “___ queen!” : 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!”

40 Mushrooms found in ramen : ENOKIS

Enokitake (also known as “enoki”) are long and thin white mushrooms often added to soups or salads.

Ramen is a noodle dish composed of Chinese-style wheat noodles in a meat or fish broth flavored with soy or miso sauce. Ramen is usually topped with sliced pork and dried seaweed. The term “ramen” is also used for precooked, instant noodles that come in single-serving, solid blocks.

44 Aptly named tennis great : MARGARET COURT

Margaret Court is a retired Australian tennis player. Court holds the record for Grand Slam titles, including 24 singles, 19 women’s doubles and 19 mixed doubles.

47 Behind, in England : 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.

48 Football carriers: Abbr. : RBS

Running back (RB)

57 Writer Nin : ANAIS

Anaïs Nin was a French author who was famous for the journals that she wrote for over sixty years from the age of 11 right up to her death. Nin also wrote highly regarded erotica and cited D. H. Lawrence as someone from whom she drew inspiration. Nin was married to banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in 1923. Decades later in 1955, Nin married former actor Rupert Pole, even though she was still married to Guiler. Nin and Pole had their marriage annulled in 1966, but just for legal reasons, and they continued to live together as husband and wife until Nin passed away in 1977.

58 Aptly named N.B.A. M.V.P., in a manner of speaking : TIM DUNCAN

Tim Duncan is a professional basketball player from La Croix in the US Virgin Islands. Duncan was a natural swimmer, with his eyes on the 1992 Olympic Games. He was forced to turn his attention to basketball when Hurricane Hugo destroyed St. Croix’s only Olympic-sized pool in 1989.

60 Plastic ___ Band : ONO

The Plastic Ono Band was a so-called “super-group”, brought together by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969. Members of the group included John and Yoko, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Keith Moon.

64 Legally prohibit : ESTOP

The term “estop” means to block or stop by using some legal device. “Estop” comes from Old French, in which “estopper” means “to stop up” or “to impede”.

Down

2 Use a beam on, as for cutting : LASE

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”.

3 Apple consumer with an unhappy story to tell? : ADAM

In the Christian tradition, the “fall of man” took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This went against the bidding of God, and was at the urging of the serpent. As a result, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden to prevent them from becoming immortal by eating from the tree of life. The first humans had transitioned from a state of innocent obedience to a state of guilty disobedience.

4 Mint : PRISTINE

Something described as pristine has its original purity, is uncorrupted.

6 Tiny floppy disk, for “Save” : ICON

I don’t think my kids really know what a floppy disk is. A floppy disk is made up of a thin and flexible magnetic material that can store data, enclosed in a protective case. I’ve used 8-inch floppies in my time, and many 5.25-inch floppy disks. Until fairly recently, I had a desktop that would take 3.5-inch disks, although I think the last 3.5-inch floppy disappeared from the house several years ago …

10 Angelic, in a way : HALOED

The Greek word “halos” is the name given to the ring of light around the sun or moon, which gives us our word “halo” that is used for a radiant light depicted above the head of a saintly person.

18 Painter of “The Garden of Earthly Delights” : BOSCH

Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch painter who worked late 15th and early 16th centuries. Perhaps his most recognized work is his triptych titled “The Garden of Earthly Delights”.

21 “Be as you wish to ___”: Socrates : SEEM

In ancient Greece, Socrates was a respected thinker of his day. One of Socrates’ most clever students was Plato, who spent much of life espousing the work and thinking of his mentor and teacher. In later life, Plato himself had a student who built on the work of both Socrates and Plato. That second-generation student was Aristotle. Socrates fell out of favor with the political leaders in Athens who put him on trial on trumped-up charges. He was found guilty of corrupting the youth of the city-state and of not believing in the gods of the state. The sentence levied was death by drinking hemlock.

24 Bygone airline with a logo nicknamed the “Blue Meatball” : PAN AM

Pan American World Airways (usually just “Pan Am”) started out as a mail and passenger service between Key West, Florida and Havana, Cuba in 1927. From very early in the company’s life it was the de facto representative air carrier of the United States. For many years, Pan Am’s fleet was built around the Boeing 314 Clipper, a long-range flying boat that was one of the largest aircraft around at the time. Pan Am adopted the Clipper as part of its image, even using “clipper” as the call sign for its flights.

25 One who may use the pronoun “I and I” (meaning God-in-me) : RASTA

I must admit that I don’t really know much about Rastafarianism. I do know that a “Rasta”, such as Bob Marley, is a follower of the movement. Some say that Rastafarianism is a religion, some not. I also know that it involves the worship of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.

26 Children’s character who says “It’s not much of a tail, but I’m sort of attached to it” : EEYORE

Eeyore is the donkey character in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”. Eeyore is very lovable, but has a gloomy and pessimistic outlook on life.

41 Org. behind the Artemis program : NASA

NASA’s Artemis program has the goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. Artemis is viewed as a step along the road to sending humans to Mars in the 2030s.

42 New England seafood staple : SCROD

Scrod is the name given to fish that has been “scrawed” i.e. split open, dried and then broiled.

46 More than right : OBTUSE

In geometry, there are several classes of angles:

• Acute (< 90 degrees) 
• Right (= 90 degrees) 
• Obtuse (> 90 degrees and < 180 degrees) 
• Straight (180 degrees) 
• Reflex (> 180 degrees)

52 Pop star whose name is stylized with an exclamation point in place of its second letter : PINK

“P!nk” is the stage name of American singer Alecia Beth Moore. I know so little about “modern” music, but I do like the P!nk song “Just Give Me a Reason” …

53 Insurance grps. : HMOS

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

54 “O.G. Original Gangster” rapper : ICE-T

Rapper Ice-T must be tired 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.

“O.G. Original Gangster” is a 1991 song by rap artist Ice-T. Anyone interested in the exploits of Ice-T might want to listen to this one, as it deals with his life before he started rapping.

55 Word before “… wanna go home,” in calypso : DAY-O

“Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” is a traditional folk song from Jamaica. It is sung from the standpoint of dock workers unloading boats on the night shift, so daylight has come, and they want to go home. The most famous version of “Day-O” was recorded by Harry Belafonte, in 1956.