0910-22 NY Times Crossword 10 Sep 22, Saturday

Constructed by: Kameron Austin Collins
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: Gave up after 60 minutes!

Bill’s errors: Lots of blank squares in the top of the grid!

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

13 One of many for Penelope in the “Odyssey” : SUITOR

According to Homer’s epic poem “Odyssey”, Penelope was the wife of Odysseus. Penelope found herself having to fend off a total of 108 suitors while Odysseus was away on his 20-year journey, but she remained loyal to her husband. In fact, when Odysseus returned, he disguised himself as a beggar in order to spy on his wife and determine if she had indeed been faithful to him.

14 Crammed : BONED UP

The phrasal verb “to bone up” means “to study”, and is student slang that dates back to the 1880s. The term probably comes from a series of books used by students back then called “Bohn’s Classical Library”.

15 One of five official languages of Ethiopia : SOMALI

Ethiopia is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation on the continent (after Nigeria) and, with 90 million inhabitants, the most populous landlocked country in the world. Most anthropologists believe that our Homo sapiens species evolved in the region now called Ethiopia, and from there set out to populate the planet.

Somalia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Sadly, the nation is noted today for a devastating civil war and for its use as a base for pirates who prey on ships passing through the Indian Ocean along the Somali coast.

17 Jukebox crooner with the 1965 hit “1-2-3” : LEN BARRY

Len Barry is a retired singer, and originally the front man for a group called the Dovells formed by friends in high school. After recording a number of hits with the Dovells, Barry had a successful solo career.

20 Calendar abbr. : MAR

March is the third month in our Gregorian calendar. It takes its name from the Latin “Martius”, which was the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. In turn, Martius was named for Mars, the Roman god of war.

23 Sports event that notably declines to drug-test its participants : X GAMES

The X Games are annual events, with a Summer X Games held every year as well as a Winter X Games. It’s very much a commercial venture, with all aspects controlled by the TV station ESPN. The games focus on extreme action sports, like skateboarding and freestyle motocross in the summer and various extreme snowboarding events in the winter.

28 Shield for Zeus : AEGIS

According to Homer’s “Iliad”, the aegis is either an animal skin or a shield that was carried by Athena and Zeus. The aegis is also described as bearing the head of Gorgon, a female creature with hair made of venomous snakes. The aegis provided some level of protection to the bearer, a concept that has been extended to our contemporary usage of “aegis”. Someone under the aegis of someone else is protected or sponsored by that person.

30 Tea brand with Wild Sweet Orange and Refresh Mint flavors : TAZO

The Tazo Tea Company was founded in 1994 in Portland, Oregon. Tazo was purchased in 1999 by Starbucks, and then by Unilever in 2017.

35 Blues singer ___ Monica Parker : SISTA

Sista Monica Parker is a singer from Gary, Indiana who is known as “the lioness of the blues”.

36 Espresso foam : CREMA

“Crema” is the name given to that brown foam that sits on the top of a freshly prepared cup of espresso. There’s no milk involved; just foamy coffee.

Espresso is made by forcing extremely hot water, under pressure, through finely ground coffee beans. The result is a thick and concentrated coffee drink that contains quite a lot of solids and a lot of foam. An espresso machine was first patented in 1884 in Italy, although it was a machine to make the beverage in bulk. The first patent for a machine that made individual measures was applied for in 1901, also in Italy.

47 Calendar abbr. : NOV

November is the eleventh month in our calendar. The name comes from the Latin “novem” meaning “nine”, as November was the ninth month in the ancient Roman calendar.

58 Lineup at a charging station : TESLAS

Tesla Motors was founded in 2003 as a manufacturer of electric vehicles based in Palo Alto, California. Tesla is noted for producing the first electric sports car, called the Tesla Roadster. The company followed the sports car with a luxury sedan, the Model S. The Model S was the world’s best selling plug-in electric vehicle of 2015. Tesla Motors shortened its name to Tesla in early 2017.

Down

3 Brio : VIM

“Brio” is borrowed from Italian, in which language the term means “vigor and vivacity”. “Con brio” is a musical direction often found on a score, instructing the musicians to play “with energy, vigor”.

5 Big sponsor of golf, sailing, tennis, motorsport and equestrian events : ROLEX

My most-prized possession is a beautiful stainless steel Rolex watch that my uncle bought while serving with the RAF in Canada during WWII. Rolex watches were made available to the Canadian servicemen at that time as they were shipping overseas. My uncle brought his Rolex home to Ireland after the war. He needed money one weekend and so sold the watch to my Dad, for five pounds. My Dad gave it to me just before he died, as he knew I loved the watch, and my brothers weren’t interested in it all. Not so long ago I had the watch appraised ($3,000), and my brothers suddenly took a liking to it! Still, it’s not something that will ever be sold, that’s for sure …

9 Comme ci, comme ça : MEH

The French phrase “comme ci, comme ça” translates literally as “like this, like that”. We use the phrase in English to mean “so-so, neither good nor bad”.

10 PV = nRT : IDEAL GAS LAW

Ah yes, the Ideal Gas Law! I remember this from my chemistry classes. One of the basic conclusions one can draw from the law is that under ideal conditions, all gases have the same volume at the same temperature and pressure. The idea is that the individual molecules in a gas are so far away from each other that the actual components of the molecule has negligible influence on the physical properties of the gas. A gas molecule is just a gas molecule. Well, sort of …

16 Recommended labor practice : LAMAZE CLASS

The Lamaze technique for childbirth was developed by a French obstetrician called Fernand Lamaze. He introduced the technique in the west after observing similar practices in the Soviet Union during a visit there in 1951.

22 Vehicle models Velar and Evoque, e.g. : RANGE ROVERS

The Range Rover is the luxury version of the celebrated Land Rover made in England. The first Range Rover was produced in 1970.

24 Cause of some belly-aching : CELIAC

Our word “celiac” is used for things related to the abdomen. The term is derived from the Greek “koiliakous” meaning “pertaining to the bowels”.

26 Attendant in a noble household : YEOMAN

In one use of the word, a “yeoman” is a lower level official or attendant in a royal household. A famous group of yeomen are the Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London. The role is ceremonial these days, theoretically safeguarding the crown jewels and guarding any prisoners in the Tower. More correctly, the Yeoman Warders are called Beefeaters, and nobody’s really sure why! If you get over to London, the Yeoman Warders will be your tour guides around the Tower of London … a great day out!

38 Hostess offering : SNO BALL

The Hostess cakes called Sno Balls are usually pink in color, although in its original form each packet of two cakes contained one white and one pink. Around Halloween you can buy Sno Balls in the form of Scary Cakes and Glo Balls that are colored orange and green. and on St. Paddy’s Day there’s a green one available. Yoo hoo!

44 Carpentry supply : BRADS

A brad is a slender wire nail with a relatively small head that is typically used to tack pieces of wood together, i.e. to fasten either temporarily or with minimal damage to the wood. Nowadays, brads are commonly applied using a nail gun.

48 Tropical fruta : PINA

“Piña colada” is a Spanish term that translates into “strained pineapple”. The piña colada cocktail was introduced in the Caribe Hilton San Juan in 1954, and since 1978 it has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico. The mocktail version of the drink is known as a nada colada.

49 Affectionate sign-off : X-O-X-O

In the sequence letter sequence “X-O-X”, the X represents a kiss, and the O a hug. “O-O-O” is a string of hugs, and “X-X-X” a string of kisses. Hugs and kisses …

51 Home of the Golden Bears, informally : CAL

The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams of the University of California, Berkeley. The University of California, Berkeley (Cal) is the most difficult public university to get into in the world. It opened in 1869 and is named for Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley.

54 Settings for some TV dramas, in brief : ERS

Emergency room (ER)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Now or never : ADVERB
7 Does like : MIMICS
13 One of many for Penelope in the “Odyssey” : SUITOR
14 Crammed : BONED UP
15 One of five official languages of Ethiopia : SOMALI
16 “Now wait one dang second …” : LOOK HERE …
17 Jukebox crooner with the 1965 hit “1-2-3” : LEN BARRY
19 Absolutely loved, with “up” : ATE …
20 Calendar abbr. : MAR
23 Sports event that notably declines to drug-test its participants : X GAMES
24 Covered : CLAD
25 Qualified “yes” : I MAY
27 Home by : IN AT
28 Shield for Zeus : AEGIS
29 Bottommost check box, perhaps : NONE
30 Tea brand with Wild Sweet Orange and Refresh Mint flavors : TAZO
31 Bad thing to draw when you’re taking a test : BLANK
32 Yank slightly : TUG ON
34 Acquire : NET
35 Blues singer ___ Monica Parker : SISTA
36 Espresso foam : CREMA
37 Primo : ACES
39 Settled (on) : ALIT
40 Co-host of the 1970s program “People Are Talking” : OPRAH
41 “What’s the ___?” : PLAN
42 Inherited, with “into” : CAME …
43 Smooth, in a way : IRON
44 Be relevant to : BEAR ON
46 ___ Studi, first Native American man to receive an Oscar (2019) : WES
47 Calendar abbr. : NOV
48 Writer’s block? : PRESS BOX
50 They’re not usually offered : SPECIALS
52 Like idols : ADORED
56 Taken care of business? : ERRANDS
57 High-end : LUXURY
58 Lineup at a charging station : TESLAS
59 In descending order: Mount Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, ___ : LHOTSE

Down

1 Something you might haul : ASS
2 Lead-in to decimal : DUO-
3 Brio : VIM
4 Among others : ET AL
5 Big sponsor of golf, sailing, tennis, motorsport and equestrian events : ROLEX
6 “You’re on!” : BRING IT!
7 Makes fast : MOORS
8 Jet : INKY
9 Comme ci, comme ça : MEH
10 PV = nRT : IDEAL GAS LAW
11 When one might start to make a scene : CURTAIN TIME
12 Sporting blades : SPEED SKATES
14 Interest not at all : BORE TO TEARS
16 Recommended labor practice : LAMAZE CLASS
18 Yellow slippers? : BANANA PEELS
20 Case made for significant change? : MINT COIN SET
21 Self-esteem, from the French : AMOUR PROPRE
22 Vehicle models Velar and Evoque, e.g. : RANGE ROVERS
24 Cause of some belly-aching : CELIAC
26 Attendant in a noble household : YEOMAN
28 Midsection, in brief : ABS
33 “Pass” : NAH
38 Hostess offering : SNO BALL
44 Carpentry supply : BRADS
45 “Oh, you think?!” : NO DUH!
48 Tropical fruta : PINA
49 Affectionate sign-off : X-O-X-O
51 Home of the Golden Bears, informally : CAL
53 Groove : RUT
54 Settings for some TV dramas, in brief : ERS
55 What gray is usually not : DYE

15 thoughts on “0910-22 NY Times Crossword 10 Sep 22, Saturday”

  1. 14:49. Despite a pretty good Saturday time, I found this hard. I remembered the IDEAL GAS LAW (“pivnert” as we called it) from high school and college, which helped immensely with the NE. And vaguely remembering “The Odyssey” got me SUITOR to open up the NW, which flowed down through the middle and SE. The SW took longest. I knew CREMA and guessed on OPRAH after having NAH for 33D, and finally that opened my eyes to the COIN part of 20D. A lot of fairly obscure-ish answers in this puzzle.

    I thought ET AL as the answer to 4D was not properly clued, since ET AL is an abbreviation, and thus the clue should be. And I thought 24D also was questionably clued, since I’ve never heard CELIAC used without “disease” appended to it. But fair game for a Saturday I guess.

  2. Well, I’m with Bill except that I did finish (remarkably, with no errors and no cheating), but it took me 50 minutes and 40 seconds to do it. The lower left was where I spent the bulk of my time, what with UM NO before I MAY, TUG AT before TUG ON, FROTH before CREMA, and absolutely no clue about OPRAH’s activities in the 70’s. It was the long Down entries that finally came to my rescue!

    So … a good tussle! … 😜

  3. 24:47 with 2 cheats. I can only guess how much time those two cheats saved me (they weren’t big words), and I can really only guess if I’d have finished at all without them. But that’s what happened. Call it what you will.

    I had CReam before CREMA which caused a lot of issues. Lower left was my biggest problem area. I knew the IDEAL GAS LAW instantly which obviously helped that whole area.

    OPRAH has been bloviating on tv since the 70’s? Didn’t realize it had been that long.

    Best –

  4. I’m with Bill (and a thousand other Saturday fans). Irritated throughout. I though t the whole puzzle was needlessly abstruse, recondite, and show-offy.

  5. 58:25, no errors. For some reason, BANANA PEELS popped into my head immediately, and I recalled LAMAZE … from experience with three kids.

  6. I don’t like how you explain easy clues like the ones for March and November but ignore all the hard ones in this puzzle like lhotse or tell us what People Are Talking is

  7. 1:08:40 with enough lookups to qualify as a DNF. Amourprope? Even if I had gotten the across answers I would not have believed that was the answer. Happy with myself for getting the rest completed, but the west just did me in, and this is after staring at it over three days.

  8. I was doing great til I hit the long down answers on the left side. I even had the bottom three… if I take too long staring at it, I cave. 2 lookups and I finished.
    Still DNF but I felt good about what I did get.
    YAHTZEE!!! I mean LHOTSE!!!!!

  9. DNF…20,21 and 22D were all “never heard of” together and 20 and 47A each had a possible 19 answers each…7 days and 12 months so that’s that. TYPICAL SATURDAY NYT GARBAGE.
    Stay safe😀

  10. Well it took 3 sessions but the east finally fell and I finished without one mistake! This is probably the hardest puzzle I have successfully completed. Some of you folks have deeper issues than may be apparent. Blaming the constructor is a cop out. If something doesn’t create joy in your life, do something else!

    1. I agree with you. Although this was a DNF for me because of most of the SW, I have to give the constructor props for his cluing.

  11. Like picking flys**t out of pepper. Like trying to crack a coconut with a Q tip. Like a baby trying to eat a Brazil nut.
    Hard as it was I did like. I’ll be on the lookout for this constructor.

Comments are closed.