1019-22 NY Times Crossword 19 Oct 22, Wednesday

Constructed by: Ryan Patrick Smith
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Said Swifty

Themed answers are each TOM SWIFTYS:

  • 17A “You cooked this? It’s *disgusting*!” said Tom ___ : IN VERY POOR TASTE
  • 26A “What do you mean there are no PlayStations left in stock?” asked Tom ___ : INCONSOLABLY
  • 48A “I’m worried I may have anemia,” said Tom ___ : UNIRONICALLY
  • 63A “You guys are supposed to be ‘Wise Men’ and *these* are the gifts you bring a newborn?!” asked Tom, ___ : FRANKLY INCENSED

A Tom Swifty is a phrase consisting of a made-up quotation followed by a punning adverb. Such devices were common in the “Tom Swift” series of adventure novels for juveniles, hence the name. Examples would be:

  • “I’ll have a martini,” said Tom, dryly.
  • “Hurry up and get to the back of the ship!” Tom said sternly.
  • “Careful with that chainsaw,” Tom said offhandedly.
  • “I have no flowers,” Tom said lackadaisically.
  • “I dropped my toothpaste,” Tom said, crestfallen.

Bill’s time: 7m 53s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Game pieces in Othello and Connect Four : DISCS

The game of Reversi is also sold as Othello. The name “Othello” was chosen as a nod to the play by William Shakespeare.

Connect Four is an interesting two-player game in which opponents drop colored discs into a vertical grid. The objective is to make straight lines of discs of one color, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Disappointingly, the player who goes first can always win the game by playing the right moves.

10 Q: What happens when the ___ clears over Los Angeles? A: UCLA! : SMOG

“Smog” is a portmanteau formed by melding “smoke” and “fog”. The term was first used to describe the air around London in the early 1900s. Several cities around the world have a reputation of being particularly smoggy. For example, the most smog-plagued city in Latin America is Mexico City, which is located in a highland “bowl” that traps industrial and vehicle pollution.

14 Beer brand whose name translates to “morning sun” : 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.

15 Looney Tunes bunny : LOLA

Bugs Bunny’s girlfriend is Lola Bunny. She first appeared in the 1996 movie “Space Jam”.

16 Cézanne or Gauguin : PAUL

Paul Cézanne was a post-impressionist artist who was born and worked in the beautiful city of Aix-en-Provence in the South of France. Cézanne has the reputation of being the artist who bridged the late 19th century Impressionist movement with the early 20th century Cubist movement. Both Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso are quoted as saying that Cézanne “is the father of us all”.

Paul Gauguin was a French artist in the Post-Impressionist period. Gauguin was a great friend of Vincent van Gogh, and indeed was staying with him in Arles when van Gogh famously cut off his own ear. Equally famously, Gauguin “fled” to Tahiti in 1891 to escape the conventions of European life. He painted some of his most famous works on the island. After ten years living in Tahiti, Gauguin relocated to the Marquesas Islands, where he passed away in 1903.

20 Gumbo, e.g. : STEW
67 Gumbo ingredient : OKRA

Gumbo is a type of stew or soup that originated in Louisiana. The primary ingredient can be meat or fish, but to be true gumbo it must include the “holy trinity” of vegetables, namely celery, bell peppers and onion. Okra used to be a requirement but this is no longer the case. Okra gave the dish its name as the vernacular word for the African vegetable is “okingumbo”, from the Bantu language spoken by many of the slaves brought to America.

21 One foot in “the grave,” poetically speaking : IAMB

An iamb is a metrical foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The lines in William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” use five sequential iambs, e.g. “Shall I / compare / thee to / a sum- / -mer’s day?” With that sequence of five iambs, the poem’s structure is described as iambic pentameter.

23 Bugle call at lights out : TAPS

“Taps” is played nightly by the US military to indicate “lights out”. It’s also known as “Butterfield’s Lullaby” as it is a variation of an older bugle called the “Scott Tattoo”, arranged during the Civil War by the Union Army’s Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield. The tune is called “Taps”, from the notion of drum taps, as it was originally played on a drum, and only later on a bugle. The whole tune comprises just 24 notes, with there only being four different notes within the 24, i.e. “low G”, C, E and “high G”. Minimalism at its best …

25 Support group associated with the Twelve Steps : AL-ANON

Al-Anon and Alateen are fellowships for relatives and friends of alcoholics. Alateen specifically supports teens who are affected by another’s drinking, whereas Al-Anon focuses on people of all ages.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio. As the organization grew, the guiding principles established by the founders were formatted into a 12-step program that was in place by the 1940s.

46 Pastry dough used in crullers and beignets : CHOUX

Crullers (also “twisters”) are fried pastries that have a twisted shape. The pastry’s name comes from the Dutch “kruller” meaning “to curl”. Crullers are a traditional dish served on Shrove Tuesday (the day before Lent) in some European countries, including Germany.

A beignet is a pastry made from choux dough that is deep fried, and usually served with powdered sugar on top. “Beignet” is a French word that translates as “bump”.

56 Specialty of clerics, druids and paladins, in Dungeons & Dragons : MAGIC

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a complex role-playing game (RPG) introduced in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules Incorporated (TSR). Dungeons & Dragons was probably the first of the modern role-playing games to be developed, and the most successful. It is still played by lots of people today, including my youngest son …

57 Flat, for short : TWO-D

The dimension of an object is defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify each point in the object. Therefore, a line is one-dimensional, as you only need an x-coordinate to specify a particular point on the line. A surface is two-dimensional, as you need both an x-coordinate and a y-coordinate to locate a point on the surface. The inside of a solid object is then three-dimensional, needing an x-, y- and z-coordinate to specify a point, say within a cube.

70 Hammer’s end : PEEN

The peen of a hammer is on the head, and is the side of the head that is opposite the striking surface. Often the peen is in the shape of a hemisphere (as in a ball-peen hammer), but usually it is shaped like a claw (mainly for removing nails).

Down

1 Spot for a speech : DAIS

A dais is a raised platform for a speaker. The term “dais” comes from the Latin “discus” meaning a “disk-shaped object”. I guess that the original daises had such a shape.

2 “Who ___?!” (“That’s true of everyone!”) : ISN’T

Me …

4 Target of a canine’s canines, maybe : CHEW TOY

The canine teeth of a mammal are also called the eyeteeth or cuspids. The name “canine” is used because these particular teeth are very prominent in dogs. The prefix “eye-” is used because in humans the eyeteeth are located in the upper jaw, directly below the eyes.

5 Ben Kingsley or Ian McKellen, e.g. : SIR

English actor Ben Kingsley won his Best Actor Oscar for playing the title role in the 1982 epic biographical film “Gandhi”. Kingsley was knighted in 2002, so if you meet him you should address him as “Sir Ben” …

Sir Ian McKellen is a marvelous English actor, one who is comfortable playing anything from Macbeth on stage to Magneto in an “X-Men” movie. On the big screen, McKellen is very famous for playing Gandalf in “The Lord of Rings”. In the UK, Sir Ian is noted for being at the forefront of the campaign for equal rights for gay people, a role he has enthusiastically embraced since the eighties.

6 “West Texas town” in a classic country song : EL PASO

Although there have been human settlements in the El Paso area for thousands of years, the first European settlement was founded in 1659 by the Spanish. That first community was on the south bank of the Rio Grande, and was called El Paso del Norte (the North Pass). Most of the urban development under Spanish rule took place on the south side of the river, with El Paso del Norte acting as the center of governance for the Spanish for the territory of New Mexico. The Rio Grande was chosen as the border between Mexico and the US in 1848, so most of the city of El Paso del Norte became part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua (and is now called Ciudad Juárez ). The area north of the river developed as a US military post, eventually becoming the modern city of El Paso, Texas.

9 Common word in pirate-speak : YAR

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19th every year, a “holiday” that was created in 1995. The event started out as an inside joke between John Baur and Mark Summers of Albany, Oregon, but when they shared the notion with columnist Dave Barry, he promoted the idea and it took off.

10 Outings devoted to relaxation and self-care : SPA DAYS

The word “spa” migrated into English from Belgium, as “Spa” is the name of a municipality in the east of the country that is famous for its healing hot springs. The name “Spa” comes from the Walloon word “espa” meaning “spring, fountain”.

12 Musical bit that slowly fades : OUTRO

In the world of pop music, an outro is the opposite to an intro. An outro might perhaps be the concluding track of an album, for example.

13 Close in many close-ups : GLENN

Glenn Close is a wonderful actress who has played many varied roles, but is well known for her portrayals of less than wholesome characters. She played the crazy Alex Forrest in “Fatal Attraction”, and Cruella de Vil in “101 Dalmatians”. More recently, Close had a regular role on a TV show called “Damages”. Glenn Close is an avid fan of the New York Mets and regularly sings the national anthem before games. As of 2021, Close is tied with Peter O’Toole for the record for the most Oscar acting nominations without a win (that would be eight).

18 Coyote calls : YIPS

The coyote is a canine found in most of Central and North America. The name “coyote” is Mexican Spanish, in which language it means “trickster”. Coyotes can sometimes mate with domestic dogs, creating hybrid animals known as “coydogs”. Coyotes can also mate with wolves, creating a “coywolf”. South Dakota named the coyote its state animal in 1949.

24 Particularly particular : ANAL

The use of the word “anal” to mean “stiffly conventional” is an abbreviated form of “anal-retentive”, a term derived from Freudian psychology. Regardless, I’m not a big fan of the term …

26 Goddess with a reduplicative name : ISIS

Isis was the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, as well as the protector of the dead and the goddess of children. She was the personification of the pharaoh’s power. The name “Isis” translates as “throne”, and she is usually depicted with a headdress shaped like a throne.

27 Bird with a reduplicative name : NENE

The nene is a bird that is native to Hawaii, and is also known as the Hawaiian goose. The name “nene” is an imitation of its call. When Captain Cook landed on the islands in 1778, there were 25,000 nene living there. By 1950, the number was reduced by hunting to just 30 birds. Conservation efforts in recent years have been somewhat successful. The nene was named State Bird of Hawaii in 1957.

28 John of “The Suicide Squad” : CENA

John Cena is a professional wrestler turned rapper and actor. Although wrestling, rapping and “Cena-style” movies wouldn’t be my cup of tea, I have to admire Cena’s philanthropic record. He holds the title for the most wishes granted by a single individual for the Make-A-Wish Foundation that benefits children with life-threatening medical conditions.

“Suicide Squad” is superhero film released in 2016, although the title characters are a team of DC Comics “antiheroes”. I haven’t seen the film (I don’t really do superhero movies) but the plot reminds me of 1967’s “The Dirty Dozen”. A government agency puts together a team of supervillains to carry out a dangerous mission in exchange for reduced prison sentences.

30 TV E.T. : ALF

“ALF” is a sitcom that aired in the late eighties. The title character is a hand-puppet, and supposedly an alien named Gordon Shumway from the planet Melmac. The alien crash-landed into the house of amateur radio enthusiast Willie Tanner. Tanner renamed the intruder “ALF”, standing for “alien life form”.

34 Nowhere to be found, say : AWOL

MPs (military police officers) often track down personnel who go AWOL (absent without leave).

35 Genre for Luther Vandross : SOUL

Luther Vandross was an R&B and soul singer, from the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The last album that Vandross released before he died was “Dance with My Father”, dedicated to his Dad. It turned out to be Vandross’s most successful album.

36 “___ and I Know It” (2012 #1 hit for 52-Down) : SEXY
52 Electronic dance music duo that performed at the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show : LMFAO

LMFAO was an electronic dance music duo who were active from 2006 until 2012. The duo’s stage names were Redfoo and SkyBlu, with the former being the uncle of the latter. Never heard of ‘em …

40 Sailor, in slang : TAR

A jack tar, or just “tar”, was a seaman in the service of the British Empire. The term probably arose due to a sailor’s various uses of tar back then, including waterproofing his clothes and using tar in his hair to slick down his ponytail.

49 Prominent part of an apatosaurus : NECK

The brontosaurus was a gigantic dinosaur with a long neck, small head, and long tail. It was closely related to the similar-looking apatosaurus. Both creatures were herbivores. The term “brontosaurus” comes from Greek for “thunder lizard”, and “apatosaurus” from the Greek for “deceptive lizard”.

50 Pulitzer-winning columnist Peggy : NOONAN

Peggy Noonan is an author and columnist, and was once a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan. Noonan was responsible for one of President Reagan’s most-remembered speeches, when he addressed the nation after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. She also came up with some famous phrases used by President George H. W. Bush, such as “a kinder, gentler nation”, “a thousand points of light” and “read my lips; no new taxes”.

51 Visiting the Natl. Museum of African American History and Culture, say : IN DC

The District of Columbia (DC) was established by the Residence Act in 1790. Article One, Section 8 of the US constitution provides for the establishment of a district outside of the states, over which the federal government has authority. The constitution also specifies that the district cannot exceed an area of ten miles square. On the same day in 1791, the federal district was formally named Columbia, and the city within was named Washington in honor of the nation’s first president.

57 Rug rat : TYKE

“Tyke” has been used playfully to describe a young child since at least 1902 For centuries before that, a tyke was a cur or mongrel, or perhaps a lazy or lower-class man.

60 Man, for one : ISLE

The Isle of Man is a large island located in the middle of the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. I used to spend a lot of time there in my youth, and find it a very interesting place indeed. The Isle of Man is classed as a British Crown Dependency and isn’t part of the United Kingdom at all. It is self-governing and has its own parliament called the Tynwald. The Tynwald was created in AD 979 and is arguably the oldest continuously-running parliament in the world. The inhabitants of the island speak English, although they do have their own language called Manx, which is very similar to Irish Gaeilge and Scottish Gaelic. And then there are those Manx cats, the ones without any tails. I’ve seen lots of them, and can attest that they are indeed found all over the island.

65 Before, to Byron : ERE

George Gordon Byron, known simply as “Lord Byron”, was an English poet active in the early 1800s. Byron was equally as famous for his poetry as he was for the wild excesses in his personal life. Byron lived much of that life outside of England, and fought for revolutionaries in both Italy and Greece. He died from a fever contracted while fighting for the Greeks against the Ottomans.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Game pieces in Othello and Connect Four : DISCS
6 Provocative … like this answer’s position in the grid? : EDGY
10 Q: What happens when the ___ clears over Los Angeles? A: UCLA! : SMOG
14 Beer brand whose name translates to “morning sun” : ASAHI
15 Looney Tunes bunny : LOLA
16 Cézanne or Gauguin : PAUL
17 “You cooked this? It’s *disgusting*!” said Tom ___ : IN VERY POOR TASTE
20 Gumbo, e.g. : STEW
21 One foot in “the grave,” poetically speaking : IAMB
22 Festoon : ADORN
23 Bugle call at lights out : TAPS
25 Support group associated with the Twelve Steps : AL-ANON
26 “What do you mean there are no PlayStations left in stock?” asked Tom ___ : INCONSOLABLY
31 “Peace out” : SEE YA
32 “Well, ___ be!” : I’LL
33 Lip : SASS
37 Spot for a sojourn : INN
38 Charge for tardiness : LATE FEE
42 Grief-stricken state : WOE
43 Scorch on a stovetop : SEAR
45 Brewery vessel : VAT
46 Pastry dough used in crullers and beignets : CHOUX
48 “I’m worried I may have anemia,” said Tom ___ : UNIRONICALLY
52 Had an inclination : LEANED
55 Kind of column : ONES
56 Specialty of clerics, druids and paladins, in Dungeons & Dragons : MAGIC
57 Flat, for short : TWO-D
59 Assistant : AIDE
63 “You guys are supposed to be ‘Wise Men’ and *these* are the gifts you bring a newborn?!” asked Tom, ___ : FRANKLY INCENSED
66 With 54-Down, back to fighting : AT IT
67 Gumbo ingredient : OKRA
68 Het (up) : RILED
69 “That’s terrible!” : OH NO!
70 Hammer’s end : PEEN
71 ___ of the state : ENEMY

Down

1 Spot for a speech : DAIS
2 “Who ___?!” (“That’s true of everyone!”) : ISN’T
3 Relief pitcher’s success : SAVE
4 Target of a canine’s canines, maybe : CHEW TOY
5 Ben Kingsley or Ian McKellen, e.g. : SIR
6 “West Texas town” in a classic country song : EL PASO
7 Gloom’s partner : DOOM
8 Formless mass : GLOB
9 Common word in pirate-speak : YAR
10 Outings devoted to relaxation and self-care : SPA DAYS
11 Employee at a brick-and-mortar business : MASON
12 Musical bit that slowly fades : OUTRO
13 Close in many close-ups : GLENN
18 Coyote calls : YIPS
19 Seven-foot, say : TALL
24 Particularly particular : ANAL
25 Competent : ABLE
26 Goddess with a reduplicative name : ISIS
27 Bird with a reduplicative name : NENE
28 John of “The Suicide Squad” : CENA
29 Not be straight with : LIE TO
30 TV E.T. : ALF
34 Nowhere to be found, say : AWOL
35 Genre for Luther Vandross : SOUL
36 “___ and I Know It” (2012 #1 hit for 52-Down) : SEXY
39 Fervent : AVID
40 Sailor, in slang : TAR
41 Behold: Lat. : ECCE
44 Encounter unexpectedly : RUN INTO
47 Is connected : HAS AN IN
49 Prominent part of an apatosaurus : NECK
50 Pulitzer-winning columnist Peggy : NOONAN
51 Visiting the Natl. Museum of African American History and Culture, say : IN DC
52 Electronic dance music duo that performed at the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show : LMFAO
53 Home to over seven billion people : EARTH
54 See 66-Across : AGAIN
57 Rug rat : TYKE
58 ___ transfer : WIRE
60 Man, for one : ISLE
61 Consider : DEEM
62 Swirl in a stream : EDDY
64 Hack (off) : LOP
65 Before, to Byron : ERE

12 thoughts on “1019-22 NY Times Crossword 19 Oct 22, Wednesday”

  1. 17:27, no errors. Breezed through fairly easily, but just could not correct ONE (D)/HA(D) AN IN.

  2. 22:43 I’d be lying if I said immediately entered “Lola” in for 15A. That mistake just bugs me….

  3. 10:05. Had a tough time with this one. I didn’t remember the Tom Swiftys until I came here to the blog. My crossword lizard brain remembered a similar theme from crosswords past.

    Had LOLo/YoR. I never knew Bugs Bunny had a girlfriend, but I hope they’re doing well. I originally had YOH before YOR so the O remained, I suppose.

    At first I didn’t get UCLA until I realized it was “You see LA”. Ouch.

    Off to Cabo for a week. I’ll check in when/if I get a chance.

    Best –

  4. I don’t know how but I finished this with no errors said Jack puzzlingly 🤪
    Stay safe and happy turkey day😀

  5. 25 minutes with one error. 55 across was a little bit too obscure, at least for me. Otherwise, I enjoyed the clever theme of the puzzle

    1. You have to go back to first grade math – the ONES column, tens column, hundreds column, etc. when you’re first learning how to add up numbers…

  6. I always thought “be careful with that chain saw” should be said disarmingly. The hand is smaller than the arm and thus should be paired with “be careful with that table saw”.

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