0112-23 NY Times Crossword 12 Jan 23, Thursday

Constructed by: Grant Thackray
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Spoonering

Themed answers are spoonerisms, and all have two words in the format -ING -ER:

  • 16A Grocery store worker on the days leading up to Thanksgiving? : STUFFING STOCKER (from “stocking stuffer”)
  • 25A Pamphlets on how to use marinara? : SAUCING FLYERS (from “flying saucers”)
  • 45A Bookie? : BETTING GETTER (from “getting better”)
  • 60A Devices that help dentists monitor anesthesia? : NUMBING TRACKERS (from “tracking numbers”)

Bill’s time: 9m 00s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Royal Catherine : PARR

Henry VIII was the English King with the most wives. Well, something rubbed off on his last wife Catherine Parr. She was to become the English Queen with the most husbands! By the time she married Henry, she had been widowed twice. After Henry died, Parr married once again, racking up four husbands in all.

5 All-day, in a way : AM/PM

The 12-hour clock has been around a long time, and was even used in sundial format in ancient Egypt. Our use of AM and PM dates back to Roman times, with AM standing for Ante Meridiem (before noon) and PM standing for Post Meridiem (after noon). However, the Romans originally used the AM concept a little differently, by counting backwards from noon. So, 2AM to the Romans would be two hours before noon, or 10AM as we would call it today.

13 Agave lookalike : ALOE

The agave is a succulent plant found mainly in Mexico. Surprisingly (to me, anyway), the agave is unrelated to the cactus, and isn’t related to the aloe plant either. The blue agave is used in the production of tequila.

15 Fancy summer home : VILLA

“Villa” is a Latin word describing a country house owned by members of the upper class in ancient Rome. Such a person would live in a “domus” in the city, whereas the rest of the population would live in “insulae”, apartment buildings.

19 Dress (up) : TOG

The verb “to tog up”, meaning “to dress up”, comes from the Latin “toga” describing the garment worn in ancient Rome. “Tog” can also be used as an informal word for a coat or a cloak. Back in Ireland, togs are what we call swimming shorts.

20 Cheesemaking town : EDAM

Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

22 Incense residue : ASH

Incense is a material that produces a fragrant odor when burned. The term “incense” comes from the Latin verb “incendere” meaning “to set on fire”.

25 Pamphlets on how to use marinara? : SAUCING FLYERS (from “flying saucers”)

Italians use the term “marinara” not for a sauce, but in the name of a recipe that includes a tomato-based sauce. For example, “spaghetti alla marinara” would be a spaghetti dish, served “mariner’s style”. The tomato sauce that we call “marinara” is called “salsa di pomodoro” in Italy.

Disc-shaped flying objects have been reported in the sky since the Middle Ages. In the modern era, the event that launched the term “flying saucer” was a UFO sighting in 1947, which was covered widely in the media. Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine unidentified flying objects in formation near Mount Rainier in Washington. In describing the objects, he repeatedly used the words “saucer”, “disc” and “pie-plate”. Newspapers latched onto the terminology, and we’ve been seeing flying “saucers” ever since.

31 Lecherous sort : SATYR

The satyrs of Greek mythology came with a very high sex drive. They are the “rude” male subjects drawn on the side of old Greek vases. The nubile maidens known as nymphs were often an object of attention for the satyrs.

The word “lecher”, meaning “one who debauches”, came into English in the 12th century. The original word in Old French was “lecheor”, literally “licker”.

33 Beginning of time? : TEE

The beginning of the word “time” is a letter T (tee).

34 When doubled, mouse-bopping bunny in a children’s song : FOO

“Little Bunny Foo Foo” is a children’s poem that is sung to the tune of the French-Canadian children’s song “Alouette”.

35 Sporty Pontiac : TRANS AM

The Trans Am, produced from 1969 to 2002, was a specialty version of the Pontiac Firebird. My favorite Trans Am is KITT, the artificially intelligent car in the eighties TV show “Knight Rider” …

41 Oxygen makes up only one-fifth of this on the earth : AIR

Air is mainly composed of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%) and argon (1%). We hear a lot about carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It makes up (or should make up!) about 0.04%, but that’s an important 0.04%.

42 Gossip, slangily : TEA

To spill the beans is to divulge a secret. The expression first appeared in American English, in the early 1900s. The phrase arose as an alternative to “spoil the beans” or “upset the applecart”. The similarly meaning phrase “spill the tea” is more prevalent on the other side of the Atlantic.

44 Part of some musical keys : EBONY

The traditional materials used for the manufacture of piano keys were ebony (black) and ivory (white). Ebony is still used, but now for both white and black keys. The white keys are made by covering ebony with white plastic.

50 Card game shout : UNO!

UNO is a card game that was developed in the early seventies and that has been sold by Mattel since 1992. It falls into the shedding family of card games, meaning that the goal is to get rid of all your cards while preventing opponents from doing the same.

51 Winners of a 1932 Australian “war” : EMUS

The emu has had a tough time in Australia since man settled there. There was even an “Emu War” in Western Australia in 1932 when migrating emus competed with livestock for water and food. Soldiers were sent in and used machine guns in an unsuccessful attempt to drive off the “invading force”. The emus were clever, breaking their usual formations and adopting guerrilla tactics, operating as smaller units. After 50 days of “war”, the military withdrew. Subsequent requests for military help for the farmers were ignored. The emus had emerged victorious …

52 Org. using millimeter wave scanners : TSA

A millimeter wave (mmw) scanner is an imaging device typically used to screen whole bodies. The full body scanners that we encounter at airports are often millimeter wave scanners. These devices use non-ionizing radiation in the microwave range. The range of wavelengths falls between 1 mm and 10 mm, hence the name “millimeter wave”.

55 Inedible jelly on a buffet table : STERNO

Sterno is a jellied alcohol that usually comes in a can. The can is opened and the contents burn very easily and persistently. The brand name “Sterno” comes from the original manufacturer, S. Sternau & Co. of Brooklyn, New York.

58 49-Down’s city, familiarly : NOLA
[49D Prestigious university in 58-Across : TULANE]

The city of New Orleans, Louisiana has the nickname “The Big Easy”. This name might come from the early 1900s when musicians found it relatively “easy” to find work there. The city is also known by the acronym NOLA, standing for New Orleans (NO), Louisiana (LA).

59 Shubert of Broadway’s Shubert Theatre : LEE

Broadway’s Shubert Theatre opened in 1913. Built by brothers Lee and J.J. Shubert of Syracuse, New York, the theater was named for their brother Sam S. Shubert who had died a few years earlier in a railroad accident.

63 En pointe : ON TOE

“En pointe” is ballet dancing on the tips of the toes, and is a French term. A ballerina wears pointe shoes (sometimes “toe shoes”) to perform this delightful-looking, albeit unhealthy, feat (pun!).

64 Its flag has “Allahu Akbar” written 22 times : IRAN

The Arabic phrase “Allahu akbar” is usually translated as “God is greatest”. The phrase can be seen written in Arabic letters at the center of the flag of Iraq, and written 22 times across the flag of Iran.

66 Common catch : BASS

The freshwater and marine species of fish called bass resemble perch. The word “bass” comes from the Middle English “bars” meaning “perch”.

68 Pronto : ASAP

The Spanish and Italian (and now English) word “pronto” is derived from the Latin “promptus” meaning “ready, quick”.

Down

2 Chorus section : ALTOS

In choral music, an alto (plural “alti”) is the second-highest voice in a four-part chorus made up of soprano, contr(alto), tenor and bass. The word “alto” describes the vocal range, that of the deepest female singing-voice, whereas the term “contralto” describes more than just the alto range, but also its quality and timbre. An adult male’s voice (not a boy’s) with the same range as an alto is called a “countertenor”.

5 Hardly basic : ACIDIC

The “opposite” of an acid is a base. Acids turn litmus paper red, and bases turn it blue. Acids and bases react with each other to form salts. An important subset of the chemicals called bases are alkalis, hydroxides of the alkali metals and of ammonium. The term “alkali” is sometimes used interchangeably with “base”, especially if that base is readily soluble in water.

6 Personal friend in France : MON AMI

“Mon ami” is French for “my friend”, when referring to a male. The phrase “mon amie” is used for a female.

7 Something cephalopods control for camouflage : PIGMENT

Melanin is a natural pigment found in most organisms. In humans, melanin is the pigment in the skin, the production of which accelerates in response to UV radiation causing a “tan”. Melanin is also what is released as cephalopod ink, a defensive cloud squirted into the water by squids and octopodes.

Cephalopods are a class of molluscs with arms or tentacles, a prominent head and a body with bilateral symmetry. Most cephalopods have the ability to squirt ink as a defensive mechanism. Examples of the class are the octopus, squid and cuttlefish. The name “cephalopod” comes from the Greek for “head-feet”.

10 ___-Seltzer : ALKA

Alka-Seltzer is a brand of fizzy antacid that has been marketed since 1931. In terms of ingredients, it is a mix of sodium bicarbonate, aspirin and anhydrous citric acid.

11 Campbell with the 1975 #1 hit “Rhinestone Cowboy” : GLEN

I went to a Glen Campbell concert in Reno many, many years ago, and I was surprised by how many hits the man had over the years. He really was one of the original crossover artists between country and popular music, as evidenced by his winning Grammy Awards in both categories in 1967. That year he won the country award for “Gentle on My Mind” and the pop award for “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”.

“Galveston” was composed by Jimmy Webb and recorded by Glen Campbell in 1969. Webb actually wrote it as an anti-war song while the Vietnam War was raging. It tells of a soldier whose hometown is Galveston, Texas, and who is getting ready to head off to fight.

12 2003 outbreak : SARS

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral disease in humans that went pandemic in 2002/2003. There were over 8,000 confirmed cases, and 12 deaths from the disease during that outbreak. There have been no known cases since 2003, although the disease has not yet been declared as “eradicated”.

17 Pelvis/patella connectors : FEMURS

The thigh bone, the femur, is the longest and strongest bone in the human body.

26 Author Rand : AYN

Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist born “Alisa Rosenbaum”. Her two best known works are her novels “The Fountainhead” published in 1943 and “Atlas Shrugged” from 1957. Back in 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City. Soon after, she gathered a group of admirers around her with whom she discussed philosophy and shared drafts of her magnum opus, “Atlas Shrugged”. This group called itself “The Collective”, and one of the founding members was none other than future Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan. Rand described herself as “right-wing” politically, and both she and her novel “Atlas Shrugged” have become inspirations for the American conservatives, and the Tea Party in particular.

29 Speckled : ROAN

A roan horse has an even mixture of white and colored hairs on the body with the head, lower legs, mane and tail having a more solid color.

30 Maker of the first portable music player : SONY

Walkman is a brand of portable audio and video products manufactured by Sony. The first Walkman was introduced in 1979 and popularized the practice of carrying music around and listening through lightweight headphones.

32 Grammy winner India.___ : ARIE

India.Arie is an American soul and R&B singer who was born India Arie Simpson in Denver, Colorado.

36 When both hands are up : AT NOON

Our word “noon”, meaning “midday”, comes from the Latin “nona hora” that translates as “ninth hour”. Back in ancient Rome, the “ninth hour” was three in the afternoon. Over the centuries, traditions such as church prayers and “midday” meals shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and so “noon” became understood as 12 noon.

37 Unit of RAM : MEG

In the world of computing, 1,000,000 bytes is a megabyte (meg, MB).

40 Shinzo ___, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister : ABE

Shinzo Abe first became Prime Minister of Japan in 2006, at which time he was the youngest person to hold the post since WWII and was the first PM born after the war. Abe was in office for less than a year, but was voted in again in 2012. At the end of 2019, Abe became the longest-serving Prime Minister in the history of Japan. He resigned from office in 2020, citing medical issues. In 2022, Abe was assassinated by a killer using a homemade firearm.

46 Powerful engines : TURBOS

In a turbojet engine, it’s the expanding exhaust gases expelled from the rear of the engine that provide thrust. In a turboprop engine, on the other hand, the energy from the turbine energy is used to drive a propeller via a gearbox.

47 Feature of many a belly : INNIE

The navel is essentially the scar left behind when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby. One interesting use of the umbilicus (navel, belly button) is to differentiate between identical twins, especially when they are very young.

49 Prestigious university in 58-Across : TULANE
[58A 49-Down’s city, familiarly : NOLA]

Tulane University is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tulane was founded in 1834 as the Medical College of Louisiana. The university was privatized with the aid of an endowment from philanthropist Paul Tulane in 1884, and as a result the school’s name was changed to Tulane University. The school’s sports teams use the name Tulane Green Wave, and the team mascot is Riptide the Pelican.

53 Company whose mascots are sheep with numbers painted on them : SERTA

Serta was founded in 1931 when a group of 13 mattress manufacturers came together, essentially forming a cooperative. Today, the Serta company is owned by eight independent licensees in a similar arrangement. Serta advertisements feature the Serta Counting Sheep. Each numbered sheep has a different personality, such as:

  • #1 The Leader of the Flock
  • #½ The Tweener
  • #13 Mr. Bad Luck
  • #53 The Pessimist
  • #86 Benedict Arnold

54 Author whose titles often feature two animals : AESOP

Aesop is remembered today as a fabulist, a writer of fables. Aesop lived in ancient Greece, probably around the sixth century BC. Supposedly he was born a slave, somehow became a free man, but then met with a sorry end. Aesop was sent to the city of Delphi on a diplomatic mission but instead insulted the Delphians. He was tried on a trumped-up charge of stealing from a temple, sentenced to death and was thrown off a cliff.

55 One with an upturned nose, so to speak : SNOB

Back in the 1780s, a snob was a shoemaker or a shoemaker’s apprentice. By the end of the 18th century the word “snob” was being used by students at Cambridge University in England to refer to all local merchants and people of the town. The term evolved to mean one who copies those who are his or her social superior (and not in a good way). From there it wasn’t a big leap for “snob” to include anyone who emphasized their superior social standing and not just those who aspired to rank. Nowadays a snob is anyone who looks down on those considered to be of inferior standing.

56 Common catch : TUNA

There are 15 species of tuna, the size of which varies greatly. The smallest is the bullet tuna, which can grow to about 4 pounds in weight and just over 1½ feet in length. The Atlantic bluefin tuna can weigh over 1,500 pounds, and reach about 15 feet in length. That’s a lot of tuna …

57 CPR specialists : EMTS

An emergency medical technician (EMT) might administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

62 Car once advertised with the slogan “The power to surprise” : KIA

Kia Motors is the second-largest manufacturer of cars in South Korea, behind Hyundai (and Hyundai is a part owner in Kia now). Kia was founded in 1944 as a manufacturer of bicycle parts, and did indeed produce Korea’s first domestic bicycle. The company’s original name was Kyungsung Precision Industry, with the Kia name introduced in 1952.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Royal Catherine : PARR
5 All-day, in a way : AM/PM
9 Rides : NAGS
13 Agave lookalike : ALOE
14 Spring, for one : COIL
15 Fancy summer home : VILLA
16 Grocery store worker on the days leading up to Thanksgiving? : STUFFING STOCKER (from “stocking stuffer”)
19 Dress (up) : TOG
20 Cheesemaking town : EDAM
21 Salty expanses : OCEANS
22 Incense residue : ASH
23 One who’s acting out? : MIME
24 Some trimmings : FAT
25 Pamphlets on how to use marinara? : SAUCING FLYERS (from “flying saucers”)
31 Lecherous sort : SATYR
33 Beginning of time? : TEE
34 When doubled, mouse-bopping bunny in a children’s song : FOO
35 Sporty Pontiac : TRANS AM
38 One with a tattoo of a band’s name, say : MEGAFAN
41 Oxygen makes up only one-fifth of this on the earth : AIR
42 Gossip, slangily : TEA
44 Part of some musical keys : EBONY
45 Bookie? : BETTING GETTER (from “getting better”)
50 Card game shout : UNO!
51 Winners of a 1932 Australian “war” : EMUS
52 Org. using millimeter wave scanners : TSA
55 Inedible jelly on a buffet table : STERNO
58 49-Down’s city, familiarly : NOLA
59 Shubert of Broadway’s Shubert Theatre : LEE
60 Devices that help dentists monitor anesthesia? : NUMBING TRACKERS (from “tracking numbers”)
63 En pointe : ON TOE
64 Its flag has “Allahu Akbar” written 22 times : IRAN
65 Repeated words in an analogy : IS TO
66 Common catch : BASS
67 Hunt and peck, say : TYPE
68 Pronto : ASAP

Down

1 It gets into hot water : PASTA
2 Chorus section : ALTOS
3 Inauspicious beginning : ROUGH START
4 Certain whistle-blower : REF
5 Hardly basic : ACIDIC
6 Personal friend in France : MON AMI
7 Something cephalopods control for camouflage : PIGMENT
8 Units on a graduated cylinder: Abbr. : MLS
9 Fine point : NICETY
10 ___-Seltzer : ALKA
11 Campbell with the 1975 #1 hit “Rhinestone Cowboy” : GLEN
12 2003 outbreak : SARS
15 Outspoken : VOCAL
17 Pelvis/patella connectors : FEMURS
18 Sticky ___ pudding : TOFFEE
26 Author Rand : AYN
27 It’s set in a ring : GEM
28 Easy-peasy : EFFORTLESS
29 Speckled : ROAN
30 Maker of the first portable music player : SONY
31 Guess : STAB
32 Grammy winner India.___ : ARIE
36 When both hands are up : AT NOON
37 Unit of RAM : MEG
39 Passes, but not with flying colors : GETS A C
40 Shinzo ___, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister : ABE
43 Representative’s work : AGENTRY
46 Powerful engines : TURBOS
47 Feature of many a belly : INNIE
48 Angsty hip-hop subgenre : EMO RAP
49 Prestigious university in 58-Across : TULANE
53 Company whose mascots are sheep with numbers painted on them : SERTA
54 Author whose titles often feature two animals : AESOP
55 One with an upturned nose, so to speak : SNOB
56 Common catch : TUNA
57 CPR specialists : EMTS
61 “Scram!” : GIT!
62 Car once advertised with the slogan “The power to surprise” : KIA

7 thoughts on “0112-23 NY Times Crossword 12 Jan 23, Thursday”

  1. 15:46, no errors. Recognized the first 3 theme entries quickly, but had difficulty with NUMBING TRACKERS > TRACKING NUMBERS. Didn’t help that I guessed GETS BY in 39D, before GETS A C.

  2. 13:17, no errors. My solve went better once I understood the word play involved. For a bit, I got hung up on trying to swap just the first letters of the words involved. Most of the spoonerisms I recall work that way (e.g., “dear old queen” to “queer old dean”).

    A possible counterexample: “Excuse me, but you’re occupewing the wrong pie. Come with me and I will sew you to another sheet.” Of course, a lot of the spoonerisms credited to Reverend Spooner were fabricated by others; maybe the fabricators allowed themselves more “artistic license” … 😜.

  3. 14:06. Could cut and paste Bruce’s comments and use them as my own.

    Interesting coincidence that today’s setter is the same one as today’s syndicated setter. Wow that means….not much.

    Best –

  4. I think Alaska Steve has just coined another version of the 80/20 rule. “80% of the puzzle gets done in 20% of time.” Seems about right to me.

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