0903-22 NY Times Crossword 3 Sep 22, Saturday

Constructed by: David Distenfeld
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 11m 47s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Slalom path : S-SHAPE

“Slalom” is an anglicized version of the Norwegian word “slalam” that translates as “skiing race”. There is a longer version of the traditional slalom that is called giant slalom

14 J. Cole or Jay-Z : RAP STAR

“J. Cole” is the stage name of American rap artist Jermaine Cole. Cole was born in Germany, on the US Army base in Frankfurt.

Jay-Z, as well as being a successful and very rich rap artist, is married to singer Beyoncé. Jay-Z was born Shawn Corey Carter in Brooklyn, New York. As Carter was growing up, he was nicknamed “Jazzy”, a reference to his interest in music. “Jazzy” evolved into the stage name “Jay-Z”. Jay-Z and Beyoncé have a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter, and twins named Rumi and Sir Carter.

17 Civil Rights Memorial architect : LIN

Maya Lin is a Chinese-American artist and architect from Athens, Ohio. Her most famous work is the moving Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Lin was only 21-years-old when she won a public design competition in 1981 to create the memorial. Although her design is very fitting, sadly Lin was not a popular choice for the work given her Asian heritage. As she said herself, she probably would not have been picked had the competition been judged with the knowledge of who was behind each submission.

18 Somers in the hall of fame for infomercials : SUZANNE

Suzanne Somers is an actress whose big break came playing the ditzy Chrissy Snow on the sitcom “Three’s Company”. When contracts came up for renewal for the cast in the fifth season, the relationship between Somers and the producers soured rapidly. Somers went on a strike of sorts and for most of the fifth season made only token appearances in the show in scenes that were filmed without other members of the regular cast. The Chrissy Snow character was replaced in the sixth season.

23 Cartoon character known for bursting out of a drum : PORKY

Porky Pig was the first of the characters created by Warner Bros. to become a hit with audiences. Porky Pig is the guy with the line at the end of each cartoon, “Th-th-th-that’s all folks!” If you don’t mind a little adult language, there’s a very funny 11-second Porky Pig clip that the studio released on a blooper reel in 1938. Porky Pig stutters out “Son of g-g-gun”, only he doesn’t say “gun” …

24 Who says “I don’t have a family tree. But I have a pretty great file directory” : SIRI

Siri is a software application that works with Apple’s iOS operating system. “Siri” is an acronym standing for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface. Voice-over artist Susan Bennett revealed herself as the female American voice of Siri a few years ago. The British version of Siri is called Daniel, and the Australian version is called Karen. Also, “Siri” is a Norwegian name meaning “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”, and was the name the developer had chosen for his first child.

25 Yas and jas : YESES

“Ya” is slang for “yes”.

In German, one might answer “ja” (yes) or “nein” (no).

27 ___ pro nobis : ORA

“Ora pro nobis” translates from Latin as “pray for us”. It is a common phrase used in the Roman Catholic tradition and is often shortened to “OPN”.

32 Like mussels or some letters : STEAMED OPEN

Some argue that eating mussels grown in farms may be friendlier to the planet than following a vegan diet. Mussel farms use no land, no freshwater, no fertilizer, and even clean up the surrounding seawater.

36 Remove, as a corsage : UNPIN

“Corsage” is a word that we imported from French in the late 15th century. Back then it meant, believe it or not, “body size”. By the early 1800s, a corsage was a bodice, or the body of a woman’s dress. At the beginning of the 20th century, the French term “bouquet de corsage” was being used for a “bouquet worn on the bodice”, and this has been shortened simply to “corsage”.

39 First name in gin production? : 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.

45 Actor Reynolds : RYAN

Ryan Reynolds is an actor from Vancouver who is best known these days for playing the title character in the “Deadpool” superhero films. Named “People” magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2010, Ryan has had some high-profile relationships. He was engaged to singer Alanis Morissette for a couple of years, married to actress Scarlett Johansson (again for a couple of years), and is now married to actress Blake Lively whom he met on the set of “Green Lantern”.

46 One making calls from home : UMP

Back in the 15th century, “an umpire” was referred to as “a noumpere”, which was misheard and hence causing the dropping of the initial letter N. The term “noumpere” came from Old French “nonper” meaning “not even, odd number”. The idea was that the original umpire was a third person called on to arbitrate between two, providing that “odd number” needed to decide the dispute.

47 Young females on farms : HEIFERS

A calf is a young cow of either sex that is not more than a year old. A heifer is a young cow that has not calved, and the term “cow” can be used for a female of the species that has given birth.

50 2016 prequel to the highest-grossing movie of 1977 : ROGUE ONE

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is a 2016 movie that serves as a prequel to the original 1977 film “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”. “Rogue One” is the improvised military call sign used by rebel soldiers who go on a mission to steal plans for the Death Star.

52 Possible response to “Where’s the beef?” : I ATE IT

“Where’s the beef?” was a slogan used by the Wendy’s fast food chain in 1984. The actress most associated with the phrase was Clara Peller, who appeared in 1984 Wendy’s advertising campaign when she was 81 years of age. Famously, the phrase “Where’s the beef?” was picked up by presidential candidate Walter Mondale during the 1984 presidential campaign when he used it to argue that his rival Gary Hart had policies that lacked substance.

55 Wear it in good health : AMULET

Amulets are items worn to ward off disease or to protect against harmful magic spells.

56 Men of La Mancha : SENORS

La Mancha is a region in Spain, a plateau lying south of Madrid. The area became especially famous after the publication of the novel “Don Quixote de La Mancha” by Miguel de Cervantes.

Down

5 Hail Mary, for one : PASS

A Hail Mary pass (also called “the long bomb”) is a desperation move in American football in which a long pass is thrown with very little chance of success, right at the end of a game or at the end of a half. The term dates back to the thirties, and was probably first used at Notre Dame. The “Hail Mary” is a prayer in the Christian tradition that is of particular significance in Roman Catholicism.

7 “___ Deever,” Rudyard Kipling poem : DANNY

Rudyard Kipling was a British poet and writer famous for his tales of the British Raj, the rule of the British Empire in India. Kipling was actually born in Bombay, but returned with his family to England when he was very young. After being educated in England, he returned to India and from there traveled the world. Kipling’s most famous works are the stories “The Jungle Book”, “Just So Stories”, “The Man Who Would Be King”, and the poems “Mandalay”, “Gunga Din” and “If-”.

8 Early role for Ron Howard : OPIE

Opie Taylor is the character played by Ron Howard on “The Andy Griffith Show”. Opie lives with widowed father Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) and his great-aunt Beatrice “Aunt Bee” Taylor (played by Frances Bavier). Ron Howard first played the role in 1960 in the pilot show, when he was just 5 years old. Howard sure has come a long way since playing Opie Taylor. He has directed some fabulous movies including favorites of mine like “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind” and “The Da Vinci Code”.

9 Subj. of a Zener card experiment : ESP

Zener cards were developed in the early thirties by psychologist Karl Zener for use in experiments related to extrasensory perception (ESP) that he conducted with his colleague J. B. Rhine. These five simple and distinctive cards replaced the standard deck of cards that had been used in trials up to that point. The five symbols used on the cards are a circle, a cross, three wavy lines, a square and a star.

11 Low points : NADIRS

The nadir is the direction pointing immediately below a particular location (through to the other side of the Earth for example). The opposite direction, that pointing immediately above, is called the zenith. We use the terms “nadir” and “zenith” figuratively to mean the low and high points in a person’s fortunes.

14 Ordinary members : RANK AND FILE

At the end of the 16th century, a group of soldiers marching in formation were divided into ranks and files. The ranks in the formation were the “horizontal” lines, and the files the “vertical” lines. The phrase “rank and file” was then used for “common soldiers”, and eventually “common people”.

24 Cocktail named for a motorcycle attachment : SIDECAR

The sidecar is one of my very favorite cocktails. It was invented around the end of WWI, possibly in the Ritz Hotel in Paris. It’s a simple drink to make, and contains brandy, cointreau or triple sec, and lemon or lime juice. It’s really the brandy version of a margarita (or vice versa).

28 Brief copy? : REPRO

“Repro” is short for “reproduction proof”, which is one of the final stages in the non-digital printing process. A repro is a fine quality proof of text and images, of high enough quality to be photographed for the making of a printing plate.

30 Sometimes-purple tuber : YAM

Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the world than they are in this country, and are especially common in Africa.

51 Game in which the object is to be the first player to score 500 points : UNO

UNO is a card game that was developed in the early seventies and that has been sold by Mattel since 1992. It falls into the shedding family of card games, meaning that the goal is to get rid of all your cards while preventing opponents from doing the same.

53 King ___ : TUT

“King Tut” is a name commonly used for the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun may not have been the most significant of the pharaohs historically, but he is the most famous today largely because of the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter. Prior to this find, any Egyptian tombs uncovered by archaeologists had been ravaged by grave robbers. Tutankhamun’s magnificent burial mask is one of the most recognizable of all Egyptian artifacts.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Slalom path : S-SHAPE
7 “___ matter!” : DOESN’T
13 Prime time : HEYDAY
14 J. Cole or Jay-Z : RAP STAR
15 Unmask : EXPOSE
16 Digital filing service? : MANI-PEDI
17 Civil Rights Memorial architect : LIN
18 Somers in the hall of fame for infomercials : SUZANNE
20 Snaps : PIX
21 Allied group : BLOC
23 Cartoon character known for bursting out of a drum : PORKY
24 Who says “I don’t have a family tree. But I have a pretty great file directory” : SIRI
25 Yas and jas : YESES
27 ___ pro nobis : ORA
28 Step before “repeat” : RINSE
29 Giving a sexual interpretation to almost any statement, say : DIRTY-MINDED
32 Like mussels or some letters : STEAMED OPEN
34 U.S. group with six branches : ARMED FORCES
36 Remove, as a corsage : UNPIN
39 First name in gin production? : ELI
40 Swear words, in two ways : OATHS
42 Any day now : SOON
43 Leaning : ATILT
45 Actor Reynolds : RYAN
46 One making calls from home : UMP
47 Young females on farms : HEIFERS
49 Courtroom promise : I DO
50 2016 prequel to the highest-grossing movie of 1977 : ROGUE ONE
52 Possible response to “Where’s the beef?” : I ATE IT
54 Job for a landscaper : PRUNING
55 Wear it in good health : AMULET
56 Men of La Mancha : SENORS
57 Put on the line, say : LET DRY

Down

1 Carroll ___, Matt Damon’s role in 2019’s “Ford v Ferrari” : SHELBY
2 Temporarily banished from a dorm room, in a way : SEXILED
3 Suggestible state : HYPNOSIS
4 Fuss : ADO
5 Hail Mary, for one : PASS
6 Give a once-over : EYE UP
7 “___ Deever,” Rudyard Kipling poem : DANNY
8 Early role for Ron Howard : OPIE
9 Subj. of a Zener card experiment : ESP
10 Sub : STEP IN
11 Low points : NADIRS
12 Drag queen Mattel : TRIXIE
14 Ordinary members : RANK AND FILE
16 Couple years? : MARRIED LIFE
19 It can start with a screen test : ZOOM MEETING
22 Guaranteed : CERTAIN
24 Cocktail named for a motorcycle attachment : SIDECAR
26 Unyielding : STERN
28 Brief copy? : REPRO
30 Sometimes-purple tuber : YAM
31 Lead-in to hickey : DOO-
33 Return on an investment : NET YIELD
35 Less reputable : SHADIER
36 Commandeers : USURPS
37 “Enough already!” : NO MORE!
38 Cork launcher : POP GUN
41 Stuck-up : SNOTTY
43 Time immemorial : AEONS
44 Where some cases go to : TRIAL
47 Junior, perhaps : HEIR
48 “___ difference” : SAME
51 Game in which the object is to be the first player to score 500 points : UNO
53 King ___ : TUT

10 thoughts on “0903-22 NY Times Crossword 3 Sep 22, Saturday”

  1. 10:37. The Star Wars franchise has put out a lot of mediocre content since the original three movies, but ROGUE ONE is really fantastic. Probably my favorite Star Wars movie after “The Empire Strikes Back”

  2. 18:28. Decent Saturday for this old brain. 52A made me laugh. Tom, ROGUE ONE was indeed excellent.

  3. 19:53. Relatively easy weekend of puzzles. Maybe they’re just taking it easy on us over Labor Day.

    I saw the very first Star Wars movie when it first came out one time. I never saw it again, nor did I ever see another Star Wars movie. I’d be a lot better at these things if I had. I need to read Harry Potter and a couple of other crossword staples as well.

    Best –

  4. 16:35, no errors. What looked, initially, like a DNF turned out to be my best Saturday time since starting the NYT app on this cranky old tablet.

  5. 8:29, no errors. I mean. Really. Come on.

    I decided to catch up on a lot of the newer material. Rogue One is indeed worth the time. Think “war movie” with the Star Wars motif and you pretty much got that one – basically you get to see how the Rebels got the intel on the Death Star and ends roughly where Episode IV began. “Solo” is a little bit fun but is mainly just an idea to pull out some of the dialogue between Han and Lando into some scenes and show it. You aren’t missing anything with Episodes VII-IX. In fact, those efforts made the prequel trilogy (Episode II still stands out as a stink bomb) and a lot of the original three look a lot better by comparison.

    1. I should add they run a lot of new Star Wars content on Disney+. The most notable thing out of that was Baby Yoda. But can’t say I remotely have even the mildest interest in any of it.

  6. Did my usual quick review, started writing and didn’t stop. Doesn’t
    happen very often. I agree that the weekend offerings were a bit less challenging than usual.

  7. 27:42 no errors which for me could be my best time ever for a Saturday NYT…hence all the remarks about the ease of this one.
    Stay safe😀

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