0923-22 NY Times Crossword 23 Sep 22, Friday

Constructed by: Erik Agard
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 15m 22s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Jargon : LINGO

Lingo is specialized vocabulary. Journalese and legalese would be good examples.

The noun “jargon” can describe nonsensical and meaningless talk, or the specialized language of a particular group, trade or profession. The term “jargon” is Old French, with the more usual meaning of “chattering”. How apt …

6 Symbol of Hawaii : HULA

The hula is a native dance of Hawaii that uses arm movements to relate a story. The hula can be performed while sitting (a noho dance) or while standing (a luna dance).

14 Setting for “Life of Pi” : OCEAN

The 2012 movie “Life of Pi” is based on a 2001 novel of the same name by Yann Martel. The “Pi” in the title is an Indian boy named Pi Patel who finds himself adrift for 227 days in a small boat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

17 Strength : FORTE

A person’s forte is his or her strength. The term “forte” came into English via French from the Latin “fortis” meaning strong. “Forte” (F) is also a musical direction meaning “loud”.

18 Ethnocentric lens critiqued by Toni Morrison : WHITE GAZE

Writer Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Amongst other things, Morrison is noted for coining the phrase “our first black President”, a reference to President Bill Clinton.

21 Some sculptures and sexts : NUDES

Sexting (a portmanteau of “sex” and “texting”) is the sending of explicit dialog and images between cell phones. The term “sexting” was coined by the UK’s “Sunday Telegraph Magazine” in a 2005 article.

27 Limbo prerequisite : POLE

The limbo dance originated on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. The name “limbo” is an alteration of our word “limber”, which isn’t surprising given what one has to do to get under that bar!

31 Something not to look after? : LEAP

Look before you leap.

33 Pisces, but not Aquarius : WATER SIGN

Each of the twelve astrological signs is associated with one of the classical elements:

  • Fire signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
  • Earth signs: Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo
  • Air signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini
  • Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

39 Rapper Megan Thee Stallion ___ Tina Snow : AKA

“Megan Thee Stallion” is the stage name of rapper Megan Pete. Pete’s mother Holly Thomas was also a rap performer, one using the stage name “Holly-Wood”. Thomas would bring Megan to recording sessions rather than put her in daycare, and so exposed her young daughter to the recording business at an early age.

42 British weight : STONE

We used pounds and stones in Ireland, for all my life there. However, such measures no longer have any “official” status in the country, as the Irish made the conversion to the metric system. Having said that, many folks still tend to measure body weight in stones and pounds. One stone is equal to fourteen pounds.

46 ___ Beer Hall (Tokyo landmark) : ASAHI

Asahi is a Japanese beer, and the name of the brewery that produces it. “Asahi” is Japanese for “morning sun”. Asahi introduced a “dry beer” in 1987, igniting a craze that rocketed the brewery to the number one spot in terms of beer production in Japan, with Sapporo close behind.

59 Tyne with six Emmys : DALY

Actress Tyne Daly really came into the public eye playing Detective Lacey in “Cagney and Lacey”. From 1999 to 2005, Daly played the mother of the title character in the TV show “Judging Amy”.

60 Book that becomes a synonym for “Finally!” when “t” is added to the end : ATLAS

An atlas, at last!

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.

Down

1 Like old-fashioned sound reproduction : LO-FI

Hi-fi systems were introduced in the late 1940s. They are pieces of audio equipment designed to give a much higher quality reproduction of sound than cheaper systems available up to that point. “Hi-fi” stands for “high fidelity”.

7 Granite State sch. : UNH

The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is the largest university in the state. UNH was founded as the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts in 1866 in Hanover. The college was moved to Durham in the early 1890s, which is where UNH’s main campus is located to this day. The school’s athletic teams are known as the Wildcats.

New Hampshire is called the Granite State, because it has lots of granite quarries and granite formations.

8 Symbol of Hawaii : LEI

“Lei” is a Hawaiian word meaning “garland, wreath”, although in more general terms a lei is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.

9 Graffiti, e.g. : ART

Graffiti is the plural of “graffito”, the Italian for “scribbling”. The word was first used to describe ancient inscriptions on the walls in the ruins of Pompeii.

16 Joy that might come from being aligned in one’s body : GENDER EUPHORIA

“Euphoria” is a Greek word meaning “power of enduring easily”. In the 18th century, the term was imported into English medical jargon to describe a sick person’s condition when feeling healthy and comfortable. Today, “euphoria” is used more generally to describe any feeling of well-being or elation.

20 Recipe abbr. : TSP

Teaspoon (tsp.)

28 V : FIVE

In Roman numerals, the first ten integers are I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X.

29 Characteristics that rarely change in cartoons : AGES

The word “cartoon” was originally used for a “drawing on strong paper”, a durable drawing used as a model for a work of art. The term comes from the French word “carton” meaning “heavy paper, pasteboard”. Cartoons have been around a long time, with some of the most famous having been drawn by Leonardo da Vinci.

34 Movie whose sequel was subtitled “Back in the Habit” : SISTER ACT

The 1992 comedy “Sister Act” stars Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer from Reno who hides out in a San Francisco convent disguised as a nun. It’s a funny, funny film.

35 Aid in getting a job in marketing, in brief : MBA

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

44 Like the Navajo language : TONAL

There are more speakers of the Navajo (also “Navaho”) language than any other Native American language north of the US-Mexico border. Famously, the Navajo language was used by the “code talkers” in the Pacific Theater during WWII to send secure communications by radio. These Navajo “coded” messages were used in fast tactical communications, with one bilingual Navajo speaker talking over the radio to another speaker, and the two acting as translators at either end of the conversation. The Navajo code was never broken by the Japanese.

45 Ancient Hindu text : SUTRA

The word “sutra” is used in Hinduism for a learned text, one usually meant to be studied by students.

46 ___ climbing a tree (Sichuan noodle dish) : ANTS

Sichuan (also “Szechuan”) is a province in southwest China. It is noted for its cuisine, which is hot and spicy as it uses plenty of garlic, chili peppers and the Sichuan peppercorn. A famous Szechuan dish in the US is Kung Pao chicken or shrimp.

47 N.Y.C. neighborhood near Little Italy : SOHO

The Manhattan neighborhood known today as SoHo was very fashionable in the early 1900s, but as the well-heeled started to move uptown the area became very run down and poorly maintained. Noted for the number of fires that erupted in derelict buildings, SoHo earned the nickname “Hell’s Hundred Acres”. The area was then zoned for manufacturing and became home to many sweatshops. In the mid-1900s artists started to move into open loft spaces and renovating old buildings as the lofts were ideal locations in which an artist could both live and work. In 1968, artists and others organized themselves so that they could legalize their residential use of an area zoned for manufacturing. The group they formed took its name from the name given to the area by the city’s Planning Commission i.e “South of Houston”. This was shortened from So-uth of Ho-uston to SoHo as in “SoHo Artists Association”, and the name stuck.

48 Multinational hardware and electronics 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 …

52 Prefix with week or wife : MID-

A midwife is someone trained to assist women in childbirth. The term comes from Middle English “mid wif” meaning “with woman”.

53 “When are you getting here?” : ETA?

Estimated time of arrival (ETA)

54 Bagel : NIL

“Bagel” is a slang term for “zero”, because a bagel has the shape of the number 0.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Jargon : LINGO
6 Symbol of Hawaii : HULA
10 Cry from a doll : MAMA!
14 Setting for “Life of Pi” : OCEAN
15 What makes juice expensive? : ENERGY TAX
17 Strength : FORTE
18 Ethnocentric lens critiqued by Toni Morrison : WHITE GAZE
19 Makes plans for the future? : INVESTS
21 Some sculptures and sexts : NUDES
22 Breakaway groups : SECTS
23 Not to be trusted : SHADY
26 Agent, informally : REP
27 Limbo prerequisite : POLE
28 Neopronoun with a nod to folklore : FAE
31 Something not to look after? : LEAP
33 Pisces, but not Aquarius : WATER SIGN
35 “Gotcha” : MESSAGE RECEIVED
37 Washer dryer? : BATH TOWEL
38 Capitalizes on : USES
39 Rapper Megan Thee Stallion ___ Tina Snow : AKA
40 It’s often drawn with three ellipses : ATOM
41 Overcome decision fatigue : OPT
42 British weight : STONE
43 Gives an edge : WHETS
46 ___ Beer Hall (Tokyo landmark) : ASAHI
49 Question to an indecisive pet : IN OR OUT?
51 Record skip? : NO COMMENT
55 Sought help from during a crisis : RAN TO
56 “Knew that was coming” : THERE IT IS
57 Sympathetic assurance : I CARE
58 Alphabetize, e.g. : SORT
59 Tyne with six Emmys : DALY
60 Book that becomes a synonym for “Finally!” when “t” is added to the end : ATLAS

Down

1 Like old-fashioned sound reproduction : LO-FI
2 Legends : ICONS
3 Cheek or backbone : NERVE
4 Pretend to know the host, say : GATE-CRASH
5 Not in bounds? : ONE STEP AT A TIME
6 Chops : HEWS
7 Granite State sch. : UNH
8 Symbol of Hawaii : LEI
9 Graffiti, e.g. : ART
10 “Bro!” : MY GUY!
11 Ever so slightly : A TAD
12 Robotics club challenge : MAZE
13 Chops : AXES
16 Joy that might come from being aligned in one’s body : GENDER EUPHORIA
20 Recipe abbr. : TSP
23 “Please, can you just not” : SPARE ME
24 Place that distributes things in tiny bottles : HOTEL
25 ___ Hardison, Aldis Hodge’s character on “Leverage” : ALEC
28 V : FIVE
29 Characteristics that rarely change in cartoons : AGES
30 Wind up : END
31 Bit of whistle-blowing, maybe : LEAK
32 “___ bien” : ESTA
33 Champions’ cry : WE WON!
34 Movie whose sequel was subtitled “Back in the Habit” : SISTER ACT
35 Aid in getting a job in marketing, in brief : MBA
36 Attend : GO TO
41 Be accountable for : OWN
42 Current issue? : SHORT
44 Like the Navajo language : TONAL
45 Ancient Hindu text : SUTRA
46 ___ climbing a tree (Sichuan noodle dish) : ANTS
47 N.Y.C. neighborhood near Little Italy : SOHO
48 Multinational hardware and electronics brand : ACER
49 Really teeny : ITSY
50 They’re separated at some salons : TOES
52 Prefix with week or wife : MID-
53 “When are you getting here?” : ETA?
54 Bagel : NIL

9 thoughts on “0923-22 NY Times Crossword 23 Sep 22, Friday”

  1. 18:33. Nothing came easily for me on this one. “Not in bounds?” for ONE STEP AT A TIME was clever (but hard) cluing. That and GATE CRASH took me a while.

  2. 36:10, no errors. Simply accepted the phrase “ONE STEP AT A TIME”, without making the connection. Wasn’t until I started typing this comment that it dawned on me the setter was referring to moving ahead in leaps and bounds.
    Also got off on the wrong foot entering MONO before LOFI.
    Outside of reading the daily horoscope with my wife for laughs, no interest in astrology. Can someone explain why the scorpion, a creature which exists primarily deserts, is a WATER SIGN; but Aquarius ‘the water bearer’ is not?

  3. 20:51. Getting to this a couple of weeks late. Still getting to all the puzzles I missed while out of town. Agree with all of the above. Tough cluing and some I’d call borderline cluing.

    ONE STEP AT A TIME – ie not bounding anymore – takes the cake today.

    What’s the old Rodney Dangerfield line? I was an earth sign; my wife was a water sign. Together we made mud…

    I’ll reluctantly admit I rather enjoyed this one…and yet I’m still angry with it. Go figure.

  4. I went from “no shot” to no errors after a long struggle. Early on I made the mistake of looking at the constructor’s name which didn’t help at all.

  5. 55:04 and I had gate for gaze in 18A . I had no idea what the clue meant and still don’t but it is an Agard puzzle so that’s that👎👎
    Stay safe😀

    1. Wikipedia has a useful entry under “Gaze” that explains a number of variations. The term “gaze” is often used in dialectic discourse (formal criticism, such as published essays, among formal critics) to point out and discuss different perspectives (contexts) that may otherwise go unseen by those who hold them.

  6. Didn’t know it was an Erik Agard (my favorite constructor) until I was finished. Two wrong letters, one dumb, one I can live with.
    I definitely admire the quick solvers. I’m mostly attempting to complete the grid without any lookups.

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