1230-22 NY Times Crossword 30 Dec 22, Friday

Constructed by: Brendan Emmett Quigley
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 15m 56s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Sleeper’s support : SOFA LEG

“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

The first patent for a folding bed (later “hide-a-bed”) was issued way back in 1899.

14 “The Spoonful of Milk” painter, 1912 : CHAGALL

Marc Chagall was a Russian-French artist, one of the most successful of the 20th century. Unlike so many painters, Chagall was able to achieve wealth and fame for his work during his own lifetime. It did help that Chagall lived to a ripe old age though. He passed away in 1985, when he was 97 years young. One of Chagall’s most famous works is the ceiling of the Paris Opera. The new ceiling for the beautiful 19th-century building was commissioned in 1963, and took Chagall a year to complete. Chagall was 77 years old when he worked on the Paris Opera project.

15 Whom The New York Times co-named athlete of the year, with Babe Ruth, in 1920 : MAN O’ WAR

Man o’ War is thought by many to be the greatest thoroughbred racehorse of all time, having won 20 of 21 races in his career just after WWI.

17 What a single is worth : ONE BASE

That would be baseball.

18 Toy inspector? : DOG SHOW JUDGE

The toy group of dogs is made up of the smallest breeds. The smallest of the small breeds are sometimes called teacup breeds.

20 Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris, once: Abbr. : SEN

Apparently, Hillary Rodham decided as young as nine years old that she was going to use her name “Rodham” if she were to marry. When Bill Clinton campaigned to become the Democratic candidate for Governor of Arkansas in 1978, his opponent made Rodham’s use of her “maiden” name an issue. The assertion was that Clinton was “married to an ardent feminist, Hillary Rodham, who will certainly be the first First Lady of Arkansas to keep her maiden name.” Clinton won the primary, and the gubernatorial election. When Clinton sought the same office in 1982, Hillary’s use of the Rodham name was still perceived as an issue. That’s when she decided to make a pragmatic choice and change her name to Hillary Rodham Clinton. By the time she decided to run for US president, she was using the name “Hillary Clinton”, and that’s how her name appeared on the primary ballot.

Kamala Harris was a US Senator for California starting in 2017, after serving for six years as the Attorney General of California. In early 2019, Harris announced her run for the Democratic nomination for US president in the 2020 election. Although she dropped out of the race, she was chosen by eventual nominee Joe Biden as his vice-presidential running mate. When the Biden-Harris ticket won the election, Harris became the highest-ranking female politician in the history of the US.

21 Missed-the-turn maneuver : UEY

Hang a “uey” or “uie”, make a u-turn, make a 180.

29 Some bands’ practice sessions : JAMS

The use of “jam”, meaning an improvised passage performed by a whole jazz band, dates back to the late twenties. This gave rise to “jam session”, a term used a few years later. The use of “jam” in this context probably stems from the meaning of “jam” as something sweet, something excellent.

32 Gymnast Raisman : ALY

Aly Raisman is a retired gymnast. She captained the US gold-winning teams in the Olympics in 2012 (“The Fierce Five”) and in 2016 (“The Final Five”).

39 M.L.B. great with a famous “unbreakable” streak, familiarly : JOE D

Joe DiMaggio was born not too far from here, in Martinez, California, the son of Italian immigrants. The family moved to San Francisco when Joltin’ Joe was just a baby. Joe’s Dad was a fisherman, and it was his hope that all his sons would follow him into his trade. But Joe always felt sick at the smell of fish, so fishing’s loss was baseball’s gain.

40 Ottoman authority : AGA

“Aga” (also “agha”) is a title that was used by both civil and military officials in the Ottoman Empire.

42 Antidiscrimination govt. agency : EEOC

“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

43 Nautical ropes : TYES

In the nautical world, a tye is a chain or rope that is used to hoist a spar up a mast.

46 Place to go, for short : 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.

54 One who is mean as the Dickens? : SCROOGE

The classic 1843 novella “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens has left us with a few famous phrases and words. Firstly, it led to popular use of the phrase “Merry Christmas”, and secondly it gave us the word “scrooge” to describe a miserly person. And thirdly, everyone knows that Ebenezer Scrooge uttered the words “Bah! Humbug!”.

Charles Dickens was an English novelist who achieved great success in his own time, and is still regarded as perhaps the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. Many of his novels explored the plight of the poor in Victorian society, perhaps driven by his own experiences as a child. Dickens had to leave school to work in a factory after his father was thrown into a debtor’s prison. As a result, Dickens had to educate himself. He is said to have pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, with his first success coming with the 1835 serial publication of “Pickwick Papers”. And, everyone’s favorite has to be his 1843 novella, “A Christmas Carol”.

58 “September 1, 1939” poet : WH AUDEN

Noted poet W. H. Auden was born and raised in England, but eventually became a US citizen. As well as hundreds of poems, Auden also wrote librettos for operas, including Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress”.

“September 1, 1939” is a poem by W. H. Auden, first published in October of 1939. The poem was “inspired” by the outbreak of WWII, which started on September 1, 1939 with the German invasion of Poland.

World War II started on September 1, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, falsely claiming that Poland had invaded German territory. Two days later, France and the UK declared war on Germany as a reprisal. The former British dominions of Australia, India and New Zealand followed suit within hours.

Down

1 Great deal : SCAD

The origin of the word “scads”, meaning “lots and lots”, is unclear. That said, “scads” was used to mean “dollars” back in the mid-1800s.

4 Tennis great nicknamed “The Punisher” : AGASSI

Retired tennis professional Andre Agassi has been married to fellow player Steffi Graf since 2001. Agassi wrote an autobiography called “Open”, published in 2009. An amazing revelation in the book is that Agassi’s famous head of hair was actually a wig for much of his playing career. Can you imagine how hard it must have been to play tennis at his level with a rug stuck on?

6 His “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” was the first album to debut at #1 on Billboard : ELTON JOHN

“Elton John” is the stage name of English singer and pianist Reginald Dwight. John is an avid football (soccer) supporter, and is especially enthusiastic about Watford Football Club, which was his local team growing up. After he achieved financial success, John was able to purchase Watford FC, and owned the club from 1976 to 1987, and again from 1997 until 2002.

8 It may go on sale on November 1 : CANDY

All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows’ Eve, better known by the Scottish term “Halloween”.

9 Uncommon blood type, for short : A-NEG

Here is an approximate distribution of blood types across the US population:

  • O-positive: 38 percent
  • O-negative: 7 percent
  • A-positive: 34 percent
  • A-negative: 6 percent
  • B-positive: 9 percent
  • B-negative: 2 percent
  • AB-positive: 3 percent
  • AB-negative: 1 percent

11 Group that had the first hardcore rap album to reach #1 on Billboard : NWA

NWA was a hip hop group from Compton, California. The original five group members included rappers who have made a name for themselves as solo acts, including: Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. The story of NWA is told in a 2015 film, also called “Straight Outta Compton”. I hear that the movie was well received, although hip hop is not my cup of tea. I’m just too old …

12 Power couple? : AAS

Those would be batteries.

15 Pouts : MOUES

The term “moue” comes from French, and means “small grimace, pout”.

19 UPS fleet : JUMBO JETS

The first jet to be called a “Jumbo” was Boeing’s 747, as it was the first wide-body airliner. A wide-body passenger aircraft has seating laid out with two aisles running the length of the plane. The 747 also has three decks for part of its length, with the lower deck being used for cargo and galley space, and the upper deck for extra passenger seating. The Airbus A380 is called a “Superjumbo” as it has two full decks of passengers.

United Parcel Service (UPS) is based in Sandy Springs, Georgia and has its own airline that operates out of Louisville, Kentucky. UPS often goes by the nickname “Brown”, because of its brown delivery trucks and brown uniforms.

26 Red or green condiments : SALSAS

“Salsa” is simply Spanish for “sauce”.

27 Fictional girl who says “I go to all the weddings in the White and Gold room and I usually stay for the reception” : ELOISE

Kay Thompson wrote the “Eloise” series of children’s books. Kay Thompson actually lived at the Plaza Hotel in New York, the setting she would choose for her “Eloise” stories. Eloise started out as a hit song for Thompson, a success that she parlayed into the book franchise.

28 What LASIK treats : MYOPIA

A myope is someone suffering from myopia, short-sightedness. Far-sightedness or long-sightedness is known as hypermetropia or hyperopia .

LASIK surgery uses a laser to reshape the cornea of the eye to improve vision. The LASIK acronym stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis”.

30 Metric unit equal to 100 square meters : ARE

The hectare is a non-SI unit of area that is mainly used to measure land. One hectare is equal to 10,000 square meters (100 meters x 100 meters), and equivalent to 2.47 acres. And, coincidentally, “hectare” is an anagram of “the acre”. And further, 100 square meters is equal to one “are”.

34 Popular TNT drama that starred Kyra Sedgwick : THE CLOSER

Actress Kyra Sedgwick is perhaps best known for playing Deputy Chief Johnson, the lead character on the crime drama show “The Closer”. Sedgwick married fellow actor Kevin Bacon in 1988. Sedgwick appeared on a family history show, and discovered that she and her husband are cousins, albeit tenth cousins once removed. I bet that was a surprise …

36 World capital whose name means “elephant trunk” in Arabic : KHARTOUM

Khartoum is the capital city of Sudan, and is located at the point where the Blue Nile and White Nile meet.

42 Polished off : EATEN

To polish off is to dispose of completely or rapidly. The verb “to polish off” originated as boxing slang in the 1820s, when it described the act of defeating an opponent quickly and easily. The slang usage was probably a reference to finishing a piece of furniture with a coat of polish.

45 Zero, in scoring slang : BAGEL

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

47 “___ there yet?” : ARE WE

Almost …

49 Morning host Kotb : HODA

Hoda Kotb is an Egyptian-American television journalist who is perhaps best known as a co-host of the NBC morning show “Today”. She is also the author of the bestselling autobiography “Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee”.

51 Pizza chain, informally : UNO’S

The chain of pizza parlors known today as Uno Chicago Grill used to be called Pizzeria Uno, or just “Uno’s”. Apparently, Uno’s created the world’s first deep-dish pizza.

53 Milk sources for pecorino Romano : EWES

Pecorino is a family of hard cheeses from Italy, with the name coming from the Italian “pecora” meaning “sheep”. The most famous variety here in North America is Pecorino Romano, which we often refer to simply as “Romano”.

54 Personal ad abbr. : SWM

Single white male (SWM) is a term used in personal ads.

55 Cuppa from China : CHA

“Cha” is a Chinese word meaning “tea”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Sleeper’s support : SOFA LEG
8 Quick refresher : CATNAP
14 “The Spoonful of Milk” painter, 1912 : CHAGALL
15 Whom The New York Times co-named athlete of the year, with Babe Ruth, in 1920 : MAN O’ WAR
16 Peppery orange-red condiment : ANNATTO
17 What a single is worth : ONE BASE
18 Toy inspector? : DOG SHOW JUDGE
20 Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris, once: Abbr. : SEN
21 Missed-the-turn maneuver : UEY
22 Not doing anything : FREE
26 What comes before a final : SEMI
29 Some bands’ practice sessions : JAMS
31 Place to get a platza treatment : SAUNA
32 Gymnast Raisman : ALY
33 Simplest choice : A OR B
34 State of ___ : THINGS
35 Condone an action tacitly : LOOK THE OTHER WAY
38 Secretly pass gas? : SIPHON
39 M.L.B. great with a famous “unbreakable” streak, familiarly : JOE D
40 Ottoman authority : AGA
41 ___ fusion : ASIAN
42 Antidiscrimination govt. agency : EEOC
43 Nautical ropes : TYES
44 Do some branding? : SEAR
45 Mexican free-tailed ___ (world’s fastest horizontal flier) : BAT
46 Place to go, for short : LAV
48 “Damn right!” : THAT’S FOR SURE!
54 One who is mean as the Dickens? : SCROOGE
57 “Ohhh …” : I SEE NOW …
58 “September 1, 1939” poet : WH AUDEN
59 “Never heard that before” : NEW TO ME
60 45-Across, for one : MAMMAL
61 Bridesmaids’ expenses : DRESSES

Down

1 Great deal : SCAD
2 “This CAN’T be happening” : OH NO
3 Biter : FANG
4 Tennis great nicknamed “The Punisher” : AGASSI
5 Tool that you turn on : LATHE
6 His “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” was the first album to debut at #1 on Billboard : ELTON JOHN
7 What the “angler” on a deep-sea anglerfish can do : GLOW
8 It may go on sale on November 1 : CANDY
9 Uncommon blood type, for short : A-NEG
10 “Admittedly …” : TO BE FAIR …
11 Group that had the first hardcore rap album to reach #1 on Billboard : NWA
12 Power couple? : AAS
13 Intro to cognition : PRE-
15 Pouts : MOUES
19 UPS fleet : JUMBO JETS
23 Place for a working model : RUNWAY
24 Get involved : ENGAGE
25 They’re chosen for their high-grade potential : EASY AS
26 Red or green condiments : SALSAS
27 Fictional girl who says “I go to all the weddings in the White and Gold room and I usually stay for the reception” : ELOISE
28 What LASIK treats : MYOPIA
30 Metric unit equal to 100 square meters : ARE
31 Take off, as a layer : SHED
33 Lots and lots : A TON
34 Popular TNT drama that starred Kyra Sedgwick : THE CLOSER
36 World capital whose name means “elephant trunk” in Arabic : KHARTOUM
37 As well : TOO
42 Polished off : EATEN
43 Objects thrown out hotel windows, in a rock ‘n’ roll cliché : TV SETS
45 Zero, in scoring slang : BAGEL
47 “___ there yet?” : ARE WE
49 Morning host Kotb : HODA
50 Discover : FIND
51 Pizza chain, informally : UNO’S
52 1990 World Cup final city : ROME
53 Milk sources for pecorino Romano : EWES
54 Personal ad abbr. : SWM
55 Cuppa from China : CHA
56 Hit head-on : RAM

4 thoughts on “1230-22 NY Times Crossword 30 Dec 22, Friday”

  1. 25:03, no errors. The cross CHA/W H AUDEN was going to require an alphabet countdown. Fortunately, the first letter guessed was A.

  2. 15:06, no errors. Kinda nice being able to get into a place where I can post again, but definitely kind of lonely around here lately.

  3. @glen- good to hear from you.

    No errors. Didn’t know ANNATTO WHAUDEN. Got them through crosses.

    I only know UNOs though these crosswords.

Comments are closed.