1210-22 NY Times Crossword 10 Dec 22, Saturday

Bill’s time: 16m 55s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Eye exam you need to pass? : IRIS SCAN

An iris scan is a method of biometric identification. It relies on the fact that the complex patterns in the irises are unique to an individual. Note that an iris scan differs from a retinal scan. The latter uses technology that scans the unique pattern of blood vessels in an individual’s retina.

13 Cricketer’s 100-run streaks : CENTURIES

Cricket is the national game of England. The term “cricket” apparently comes from the Old French word “criquet” meaning “goalpost, stick”.

15 Weapon with a point d’arrêt : EPEE

The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.

18 Flour ground in a chakki : ATTA

Atta is a whole-wheat flour used to make flatbreads in South Asian cuisine, such as chapati and naan. “Atta” is the Hindi or Urdu word for “dough”.

Chakki are grinding stones used to grind spices and grains for Indian cuisine.

24 Heads of staffs? : ORBS

A scepter (“sceptre” in Britain and Ireland) is a ceremonial staff, one often held by a monarch.

26 Stephen of the Field Day Theatre Company : REA

Stephen Rea is an Irish actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Rea’s most successful role was Fergus in 1992’s “The Crying Game”, for which performance he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. In “The Crying Game”, Fergus was a member of the IRA. In real life, Rea was married to IRA bomber and hunger striker Dolours Price at the time he made the movie.

28 G, in C : SOL

Solfège (also “sol-fa”) is a teaching method used in the world of music. The technique involves the use of the sol-fa syllables for each note, and associating each syllable with a specific pitch.

31 Passage in a cemetery : EPITAPH

Our word “epitaph” ultimately comes from the Greek “epitaphion”, which translates as “funeral oration”.

35 “___ dead, Jim” : HE’S

“He’s dead, Jim” is a line often spoken by medical officer “Bones” McCoy to Captain James T. Kirk on the original “Star Trek” TV show.

Actor DeForest Kelley is best known for playing Bones McCoy in the original “Star Trek” cast. The show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, originally offered Kelley the role of Spock, but Kelly refused it and so was given the part of the ship’s medical officer.

36 [See fine print] : [STAR]

The name of the typographical symbol “asterisk” comes from the Greek word “asteriskos” meaning “little star”. The original use of the asterisk was by printers of family trees in feudal times. Back then it was a symbol indicating the date of birth.

37 Mathematician Terence who won a Fields Medal at age 31 : TAO

The Fields Medal is a prize in mathematics that is awarded by the International Mathematical Union every four years. The official name of the award is the International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics. The unofficial name is in honor of Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields who founded the award.

38 Rock-forming mineral that makes up over half of the earth’s crust : FELDSPAR

The minerals known as feldspars are found in many types of rocks, and in fact make up about 60% of the earth’s crust. As a former ceramic engineer (for my sins), I can appreciate how important feldspars are in the manufacture of ceramics. Feldspars melt at relatively low temperatures and form essential glass phases in the final ceramic product.

43 Mug shot subject? : LATTE ART

“Latte art” is the name given to the designs that can be drawn on the surface of coffee drinks. Some of those designs can be quite intricate.

45 Like the habitat for camels : ARID

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of a camel is the large deposit of fatty tissue on its back. The dromedary is the most common camel, and has one hump of fatty tissue on its back. The Bactrian camel has two humps, and makes up just 6% of the world’s camel population. Those fatty humps are useful if no food or water is available, as fat can be broken down into water and energy.

46 Became smitten : FELL IN LOVE

“Smitten” is the past participle of “to smite”, meaning “to inflict a heavy blow”. We tend to use “smitten” to mean “affected by love, love-struck”.

48 Plain protuberance : MESA

“Mesa” is the Spanish for “table” and is how we get the term “mesa” that describes the geographic feature. A mesa is similar to a butte. Both are hills with flat tops, but a mesa has a top that is wider than it is tall. A butte is a much narrower formation, taller than it is wide.

Down

4 Preakness or Belmont : STAKES

The Preakness Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race that’s run at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore in May of each year. The Preakness is the second most popular horse race in the US in terms of attendance, after the Kentucky Derby. The race was given its name by former Maryland Governor Oden Bowie in honor of the racehorse named Preakness. Preakness won the inaugural Dixie Stakes that was run at Pimlico in 1870.

The Belmont Stakes is a horse race held in June each year, at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, New York. The Belmont Stakes is the last of the US Triple Crown races, following the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.

8 Website with adoptable virtual creatures : NEOPETS

Neopets.com is a website where one can own a virtual pet. I wouldn’t bother if I were you …

11 Its symbol is WOOF on Nasdaq : PETCO

Petco is a chain of retail stores that sells live animals and pet supplies. The Petco logo includes the two company mascots, Red Ruff the dog and Blue Mews the cat.

12 Geographical heptad : SEAS

The phrase “the seven seas” has been used for centuries by many different peoples. The actual definition of what constitutes the collection of seven has varied depending on the period and the culture. Nowadays we consider the seven largest bodies of water as the seven seas, namely:

• The North Pacific Ocean
• The South Pacific Ocean
• The North Atlantic Ocean
• The South Atlantic Ocean
• The Indian Ocean
• The Southern Ocean
• The Arctic Ocean

14 Flat bottoms : SOLES

Flats are shoes with a very thin heel, or no neel at all.

21 ___-faire : SAVOIR

“Savoir-faire” is a French term that literally means “to know (how) to do”. There’s a similar term in French that we haven’t absorbed into English, i.e. “savoir-vivre” meaning “to know how to live”. “Savoir-vivre” describes the ability to acquit oneself well in the world, in society.

23 Sunday parking spots? : PEWS

A pew is a church bench, usually one with a high back. The original pews were raised and sometimes enclosed seats in the church used by women and important men or families. “Pew” comes from the Old French “puie” meaning “balcony, elevation”.

27 Postpone : SHELVE

These “tabling” and “shelving” idioms drive me crazy, because they are often misused. If a topic is shelved, it is set aside. If a topic is tabled, it is brought “off the shelf” and put “on the table” for discussion. I know that language evolves, but I think that it should at least make sense …

31 Gate postings, briefly : ETAS

Estimated time of arrival (ETA)

33 Time to read the Haggadah : PASSOVER

The Haggadah is an ancient Jewish text that is traditionally read aloud at the Passover seder. The Haggadah (“telling” in Hebrew) acts as a guide to the seder ritual, which commemorates the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt.

38 Foot ___ : FETISH

At the beginning of the 19th century, fetishism was the worship of “fetishes”. Back then, a fetish was an object that was revered and considered to have mysterious powers. A few decades later, the usage of the term “fetish” was extended, probably by New England Transcendentalists such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, to describe an object of blind devotion. The concept of sexual fetishism arose at the end of the 19th century.

39 Whit : SHRED

Both “whit” and “fig” are used to describe a trivial amount, a mere trifle.

42 Part of an epic verse : CANTO

A canto is a section of a long poem. “Canto” is the Italian for “song”, and is a term first used by the Italian poet Dante.

43 Bhikkhu’s teacher : LAMA

In the Buddhist tradition, a bhikkhuni is a female monk. The male equivalent is a bhikkhu.

47 Head : LAV

Our word “lavatory” (sometimes “lav”) originally referred to a washbasin, and comes from the Latin “lavatorium”, a place for washing. In the 1600s, “lavatory” came to mean a washroom, and in the 1920s a toilet.

In old sailing ships, the toilet area for the regular sailors was located in the forward part (the head) of the ship. As a result, the term “head” has been used since then for any toilet on board a boat.