0719-22 NY Times Crossword 19 Jul 22, Tuesday

Constructed by: Andy Kravis
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Use Your Body!

Themed answers are in the format “X THE Y”, where X is a body part:

  • 18A Pay for something expensive : FOOT THE BILL
  • 26A Confront unpleasant consequences : FACE THE MUSIC
  • 40A Take responsibility for a misdeed : SHOULDER THE BLAME
  • 49A Bet on every competitor but one : BACK THE FIELD
  • 62A Conforms to expectations : TOES THE LINE

Bill’s time: 5m 56s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Shrimp ___ (seafood dish made with garlic butter) : SCAMPI

The Italian dish known as “scampi” is a serving of shrimp in garlic butter and dry white wine.

7 Monomaniacal captain of fiction : AHAB

Captain Ahab is the obsessed and far from friendly captain of the Pequod in Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick”. The role of Captain Ahab was played by Gregory Peck in the 1956 John Huston film adaptation. Patrick Stewart played Ahab in a 1998 miniseries in which Peck made another appearance, as Father Mapple.

11 Taiwanese computer brand : 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 …

Prior to 1945, the island that we know today as Taiwan was called “Formosa”, the Portuguese word for “beautiful”. Portuguese sailors gave the island this name when they spotted it in 1544. The official name for the state of Taiwan is the “Republic of China”.

15 Many jukebox songs : OLDIES

Although coin-operated music players had been around for decades, the term “jukebox” wasn’t used until about 1940. “Jukebox” derives from a Gullah word, the language of African Americans living in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia. In Gullah, a “juke joint”, from “juke” or “joog” meaning “rowdy, wicked”, was an informal establishment where African Americans would gather and for some music, dancing, gambling and drinking. The coin-operated music players became known as “jukeboxes”.

16 Sets of points, in geometry : LOCI

“Locus” (plural “loci”) is Latin for “place”, and is used in English with the same meaning. The term can also be used to describe a center of power or activity. In mathematics, a locus is a set of points that satisfy some property. For example, a locus might be a straight line, part of a line, a surface, or perhaps a curve.

17 Skye of “Say Anything …” : IONE

Ione Skye is an American actress born in London, England. She is best known for portraying the character Diane Court in the 1989 high school romance movie “Say Anything…”, starring opposite John Cusack. Skye is the daughter of the Scottish folk singer Donovan.

“Say Anything…” is a much-respected 1989 film, a high-school romantic comedy/drama film starring John Cusack and Ione Skye.

18 Pay for something expensive : FOOT THE BILL

To foot the bill is to pay it, to pay the total at the “foot” of the bill.

20 Word after spring or summer on a menu : … ROLL

Spring rolls are so called as they were historically a seasonal food consumed in the spring. Those early pancakes were filled with freshly harvested spring vegetables.

21 1/640 of a square mile : ACRE

One acre is equivalent to 43,560 square feet.

22 Golfer’s pocketful : TEES

A tee is a small device on which, say, a golf ball is placed before striking it. The term “tee” comes from the Scottish “teaz”, which described little heaps of sand used to elevate a golf ball for the purpose of getting a clean hit with a club.

23 ___ Khan, Yuan Dynasty founder : KUBLAI

Kublai Khan was the leader of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294. Kublai Khan was a grandson of Genghis Khan. Kublai Khan had a summer garden at Kanadu, which famously was the subject of the 1797 poem “Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

25 Precursor to rocksteady and reggae : SKA

Ska originated in Jamaica in the late fifties and was the precursor to reggae music. No one has a really definitive etymology of the term “ska”, but it is likely to be imitative of a sound.

28 Ivan the Terrible, for one : TSAR

The Grand Prince of Moscow, and first Tsar of Russia, Ivan IV became known as “Ivan the Terrible”. The name “terrible” is a translation from Russian, and perhaps creates the wrong impression about the man. The Russian word is “Grozny”, which is more akin to “strict” and “powerful” rather than “cruel” or “abominable”.

30 One of three in “To be or not to be” : IAMB

An iamb is a metrical foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The lines in Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” use four sequential iambs, e.g. “Whose woods / these are / I think / I know”. With that sequence of four iambs, the poem’s structure is described as iambic tetrameter.

There has been centuries of debate about how one interprets Hamlet’s soliloquy that begins “To be or not to be …”. My favorite opinion is that Hamlet is weighing up the pros and cons of suicide (“to not be”).

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous fortune;
Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles …

31 Typeface akin to Helvetica : ARIAL

We tend to use the terms typeface and font interchangeably. Technically, a typeface and font are not the same thing. A complete set of characters with a common design is referred to as a typeface (common examples being Helvetica and Arial). That typeface consists of a whole collection of fonts, all varying in weight and size. One set of Helvetica fonts, for example, might be Helvetica 14 point or Helvetica 16 point, i.e. a specific size. Another set might be Helvetica bold, or Helvetica italic. The difference between fonts and typefaces mattered a great deal when printers had collections of individual letters to make up blocks of text. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that these days.

45 Protection : AEGIS

Someone is said to be under the aegis (also “egis”) of someone else if that other person provides protection, or perhaps sponsorship. The word “aegis” comes from the Greek word for a goat (“aigis”). The idea is that the goatskin shield or breastplate, worn by both Zeus and Athena, gave some measure of protection.

46 Many Scott Joplin compositions : RAGS

Ragtime music was at the height of its popularity in the early 1900s. It takes its name from its characteristic “ragged” rhythms. The most famous ragtime composer was Scott Joplin, who had a big hit with his “Maple Leaf Rag” when it was published in 1899. He followed that up with a string of hits, including the “Pine Apple Rag” (sic). Ragtime fell out of favor about 1917 when the public turned to jazz. It had a resurgence in the forties when jazz musicians started to include ragtime tunes in their repertoires. But it was the 1973 movie “The Sting” that brought the true revival, as the hit soundtrack included numerous ragtime tunes by Scott Joplin, including the celebrated “The Entertainer” originally published in 1902.

48 Bum around London? : 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.

55 Gridiron play callers, for short : QBS

We never used the word “gridiron” when I was growing up in Ireland (meaning a grill used for cooking food over an open fire). So, maybe I am excused for taking two decades living in the US to work out that a football field gridiron is so called because the layout of yard lines over the field looks like a gridiron used in cooking.

58 Iberian wine city : OPORTO

Portugal’s city of Oporto (“Porto” in Portuguese) gave its name to port wine in the late 1600s. Oporto was the seaport through which most of the region’s fortified red wine was exported.

The Iberian Peninsula in Europe is largely made up of Spain and Portugal. However, also included is the Principality of Andorra in the Pyrénées, a small part of the south of France, and the British Territory of Gibraltar. Iberia takes its name from the Ebro, the longest river in Spain, which the Romans named the “Iber”.

59 Aspiring J.D.’s exam : LSAT

Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

The law degree that is abbreviated to J.D. stands for “Juris Doctor” or “Doctor of Jurisprudence”.

60 Gasoline or kerosene : FUEL

The etymology of the term “gasoline”, meaning “fuel of automobiles”, is a little murky. The most common suggestion is that it comes from the trademark “Cazeline” used by English business entrepreneur John Cassell who marketed Patent Cazeline Oil in the early 1860s. Soon after, a Dublin shopkeeper sold a counterfeit version of “Cazeline” oil. When challenged by Cassell, the Irishman changed the name of his product to “Gazeline”. It’s thought that this “Gazeline” led to the introduction of the generic term “gasoline” in North America, starting in 1864.

Kerosene is a mixture of hydrocarbons that is used mainly as a fuel. Kerosene is volatile, but is less flammable than gasoline. Over in the UK and Ireland, we call the same fuel “paraffin”.

61 Peru’s capital : LIMA

Lima is the capital city of Peru. It was founded in 1535 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who named it “la Ciudad de los Reyes” (the City of Kings). He chose this name because the decision to found the city was made on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany that commemorates the visit of the three kings to Jesus in Bethlehem. Lima is home to the oldest university in all of the Americas, as San Marco University was founded in 1551 during the days of Spanish colonial rule.

62 Conforms to expectations : TOES THE LINE

The idiomatic expression “to toe the line” means “to obey”. The etymology of the phrase is disputed, although it is likely to come from the Royal Navy. Barefooted sailors were required to stand to attention for inspection lined up along the seams for the wooden deck, hence “toeing the line”.

65 Forbidden-sounding fragrance : TABU

Tabu is a whole line of cosmetics and perfumes produced by the House of Dana. The company’s brand names were purchased by a Florida company called Dana Classic Fragrances in 1999.

66 Old Testament twin : ESAU

Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins “the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)”. As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father’s wealth (it was his “birthright”). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a “mess of pottage” (a meal of lentils).

67 Hammed it up on stage : EMOTED

The word “ham”, describing a performer who overacts, is a shortened form of “hamfatter” and dates back to the late 1800s. “Hamfatter” comes from a song in old minstrel shows called “The Ham-Fat Man”. It seems that a poorly performing actor was deemed to have the “acting” qualities of a minstrel made up in blackface.

68 Little twerp : SNOT

“Twerp” and “pipsqueak” are both terms used for someone who is insignificant and contemptible.

70 Nuclear trials, for short : A-TESTS

Atomic test (A-test)

Down

1 Divans, e.g. : SOFAS

Divans are essentially couches without backs or arms. The design originated in the Middle East, where the couches were commonly found lining the walls of an office that was known as a “divan” or “diwan” meaning “government office”.

2 “What did the ___ do when it was still hungry? Went back four seconds!” (dad joke) : CLOCK

I tell dad jokes all the time, just to annoy the kids …

  • I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down!
  • If you see a robbery at an Apple Store, does that make you an iWitness?
  • A termite walks into a bar and asks, “Is the bar tender here?”
  • Two guys walk into a bar, the third one ducks.
  • What’s the best part about living in Switzerland? I don’t know, but the flag is a big plus.

4 Smidgen : MITE

Our word “smidgen” (sometimes shortened to “smidge”) is used to describe a small amount. The term might come from the Scots word “smitch” that means the same thing or “a small insignificant person”.

5 Word before peeve or project : PET …

The phrase “pet peeve”, meaning “thing that provokes one most”, seems to be somewhat ironic. A “peeve” is a source of irritation, and the adjective “pet” means “especially cherished”.

7 Edward who wrote “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” : ALBEE

Playwright Edward Albee’s most famous play is “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Albee won three Pulitzer Prizes for Drama:

  • 1967: “A Delicate Balance”
  • 1975: “Seascape”
  • 1994: “Three Tall Women”

Albee also won three Tony Awards:

  • 1963: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (Best Play)
  • 2002: “The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?”
  • 2005: Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” is an Edward Albee play that premiered on Broadway in 1962. The play won a Tony in 1963, and was adapted into a successful film in 1966 starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, George Segal and Sandy Dennis. The stage version is a lengthy production lasting over three hours.

8 “… ___ with his own petard”: Hamlet : HOIST

In days of old, a petard was a small bomb that was used to breach fortified gates and walls. The phrase “hoist with his own petard” comes from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, and is a reference to a petard detonating prematurely and blowing up (“hoisting”) the bomber.

9 Knee part, for short : ACL

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four major ligaments that support the knee.

10 “The Family Circus” cartoonist : BIL KEANE

“The Family Circus” comic strip is written by Bil Keane. Once Bil sketches out the text and idea for the cartoon he sends it off to his son Jeff, who inks and colors it so that it is ready for publication. In the storyline itself, the main characters are based on Bil’s own family. In fact, the character “Jeffy” is based on Jeff, Bil’s son and production assistant.

11 They may be released while scuba diving : AIR BUBBLES

“The bends” is a colloquial term used for decompression sickness, a condition that can arise when a diver comes to the surface too quickly. As a sometime SCUBA diver, it’s something I am very much aware of. When a diver is at depth he or she is breathing in air under pressure. At pressure, more nitrogen is dissolved in the blood than normal. As one surfaces, and pressure decreases, the excess nitrogen “bubbles” out of the blood. The body can cope with this bubbling if it takes place sufficiently slowly. If it occurs too quickly the nitrogen can build up in pockets in the body causing the acute pain referred to as the bends. Even when you come up slowly, you can “hear” tiny bubbles of nitrogen coming out of the blood near the ear, a crackling sound like popcorn popping.

12 Sits on a sill, as a pie : COOLS

“Sill plate”, or simply “sill”, is an architectural term describing a bottom horizontal member to which vertical members are attached. Window sills and door sills are specific sill plates found at the bottoms of windows and door openings.

13 Former Chinese premier Zhou ___ : ENLAI

Zhou Enlai (also “Chou En-lai”) was the first government leader of the People’s Republic of China and held the office of Premier from 1949 until he died in 1976. Zhou Enlai ran the government for Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong, often striking a more conciliatory tone with the West than that of his boss. He was instrumental, for example, in setting up President Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972. Zhou Enlai died just a few months before Mao Zedong, with both deaths leading to unrest and a dramatic change in political direction for the country.

14 Archaeologist’s find : RELIC

A relic is something that has survived from the past, reminding us of that past.

“Archaeology” is a word that looks like it’s British English, and one might be forgiven for using the spelling “archeology” in American English. Even though the latter spelling has been around for a couple of hundred years, the former is the standard spelling on both sides of the Atlantic.

19 Common Market inits. : EEC

The European Economic Community (EEC) was also known as the Common Market. The EEC was a NAFTA-like structure that was eventually absorbed into today’s European Union (EU).

26 Autumn : FALL

Here in the US, we tend to refer to the season following summer as “fall”. This name is short for “fall of the leaf”, referring to the loss of leaves by deciduous trees. The term “autumn” is a more common name used in Britain and Ireland instead of “fall”. However, back before the mid-1600s the term “fall” was in common use on the other side of the pond.

29 Ingredient in a Reuben : SAUERKRAUT

“Sauerkraut” translates from German as “sour herb” or “sour cabbage”. During WWI, sauerkraut producers changed its name in order to distance their product from the “enemy”. They called it “Liberty cabbage”.

There are conflicting stories about the origin of the Reuben sandwich. One such story is that it was invented around 1914 by Arnold Reuben, an immigrant from Germany who owned Reuben’s Deli in New York.

32 Letter after pi : RHO

Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”, although it is equivalent to the Roman letter R. It is the 17th letter in the Greek alphabet.

35 “The Addams Family” cousin : ITT

In the television sitcom “The Addams Family”, the family had a frequent visitor named Cousin Itt. Itt is a short man with long hair that runs from his head to the floor. He was played by Italian actor Felix Silla.

They’re creepy and they’re kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They’re altogether ooky,
The Addams Family.

42 Shakespeare, e.g. : BARD

William Shakespeare is referred to as the Bard of Avon, as he was born and raised in the lovely town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the English Midlands.

47 Football stat: Abbr. : ATT

In football, a quarterback’s (QB’s) performance can be measured by attempts (ATT), a statistic (stat).

48 Tennis Hall-of-Famer Gibson : ALTHEA

Althea Gibson was known as “the Jackie Robinson of tennis” as she broke the “color barrier” and became the first African-American woman to win a Grand Slam title, in France in 1956. She was quite the athlete and was a great golfer as well as a great tennis player. She was the first African-American woman to play in the Ladies PGA tour, although she never had a win. Outside of sport, she sang a little and recorded an album, and even appeared in a movie (“The Horse Soldiers”) with John Wayne and William Holden. Sadly, towards the end of her life she ended up destitute and on welfare. When her plight was made known in a tennis magazine, well-wishers from all over the world sent her gifts of money, a total of nearly one million dollars. Quite a story …

52 “Performers” in a tiny circus : FLEAS

Fleas are flightless insects, but they sure can jump. Their very specialized hind legs allow them to jump up to 50 times the length of their bodies.

56 Writer Stephen Vincent ___ : BENET

Stephen Vincent Benét was an author best known for his lengthy narrative poem “John Brown’s Body” that was first published in 1928, and for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. Benét also wrote the story “The Sobbin’ Women” which was later adapted into the musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”.

57 Mushers’ vehicles : SLEDS

Mushing is the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled. “Mush” is thought to come from the French “marche” meaning “go, run”.

60 Big chip off the old block? : FLOE

An ice floe is a sheet of ice that has separated from an ice field and is floating freely on the surface of the ocean.

64 One trained in CPR : EMT

An emergency medical technician (EMT) might administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Shrimp ___ (seafood dish made with garlic butter) : SCAMPI
7 Monomaniacal captain of fiction : AHAB
11 Taiwanese computer brand : ACER
15 Many jukebox songs : OLDIES
16 Sets of points, in geometry : LOCI
17 Skye of “Say Anything …” : IONE
18 Pay for something expensive : FOOT THE BILL
20 Word after spring or summer on a menu : … ROLL
21 1/640 of a square mile : ACRE
22 Golfer’s pocketful : TEES
23 ___ Khan, Yuan Dynasty founder : KUBLAI
25 Precursor to rocksteady and reggae : SKA
26 Confront unpleasant consequences : FACE THE MUSIC
28 Ivan the Terrible, for one : TSAR
30 One of three in “To be or not to be” : IAMB
31 Typeface akin to Helvetica : ARIAL
33 Wear the crown : REIGN
36 Donkey sound : BRAY
40 Take responsibility for a misdeed : SHOULDER THE BLAME
43 Sharpen, as a knife : HONE
44 Boots from office : OUSTS
45 Protection : AEGIS
46 Many Scott Joplin compositions : RAGS
48 Bum around London? : ARSE
49 Bet on every competitor but one : BACK THE FIELD
55 Gridiron play callers, for short : QBS
58 Iberian wine city : OPORTO
59 Aspiring J.D.’s exam : LSAT
60 Gasoline or kerosene : FUEL
61 Peru’s capital : LIMA
62 Conforms to expectations : TOES THE LINE
65 Forbidden-sounding fragrance : TABU
66 Old Testament twin : ESAU
67 Hammed it up on stage : EMOTED
68 Little twerp : SNOT
69 Misplace : LOSE
70 Nuclear trials, for short : A-TESTS

Down

1 Divans, e.g. : SOFAS
2 “What did the ___ do when it was still hungry? Went back four seconds!” (dad joke) : CLOCK
3 Worshipful love : ADORATION
4 Smidgen : MITE
5 Word before peeve or project : PET …
6 ___ Gate, marvel of Babylonian architecture : ISHTAR
7 Edward who wrote “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” : ALBEE
8 “… ___ with his own petard”: Hamlet : HOIST
9 Knee part, for short : ACL
10 “The Family Circus” cartoonist : BIL KEANE
11 They may be released while scuba diving : AIR BUBBLES
12 Sits on a sill, as a pie : COOLS
13 Former Chinese premier Zhou ___ : ENLAI
14 Archaeologist’s find : RELIC
19 Common Market inits. : EEC
24 “Let me think …” : UMM …
26 Autumn : FALL
27 Some temperature extremes : HIGHS
29 Ingredient in a Reuben : SAUERKRAUT
31 Shade of gray : ASH
32 Letter after pi : RHO
33 Get more mileage out of : REUSE
34 Sounds of hesitation : ERS
35 “The Addams Family” cousin : ITT
37 Angrily stops playing a game, in modern parlance : RAGE-QUITS
38 “Who, me?” : AM I?
39 Triumphant shout : YES!
41 Upscale boarding kennel : DOG HOTEL
42 Shakespeare, e.g. : BARD
47 Football stat: Abbr. : ATT
48 Tennis Hall-of-Famer Gibson : ALTHEA
49 Leaves in a hurry : BOLTS
50 Beelike : APIAN
51 Small musical group : COMBO
52 “Performers” in a tiny circus : FLEAS
53 Topic for debate : ISSUE
54 Have a meal : EAT
56 Writer Stephen Vincent ___ : BENET
57 Mushers’ vehicles : SLEDS
60 Big chip off the old block? : FLOE
63 Bear, in Spanish : OSO
64 One trained in CPR : EMT