0204-23 NY Times Crossword 4 Feb 23, Saturday

Constructed by: Kate Hawkins
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 12m 57s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14 Grocery brand with an accent in its name : RAGU

Bolognese sauce is a meat-based sauce originating from Bologna in Italy, hence the name. The recipe is usually referred to as “ragù alla bolognese” in Italian, or simply “ragù”. Note that the Ragú brand of sauces introduced in North America in 1937 takes its name from the same source (pun … sauce!). However, the brand name uses the wrong accent (“Ragú” instead of “Ragù”), which drives a pedant like me crazy ..

15 Weight of the Liberty Bell, approximately : ONE TON

The Liberty Bell was commissioned in 1752 and installed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The bell bears the inscription “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof”, a quotation from the Book of Leviticus in the Bible. Famously, the bell cracked when it was first rung in Philadelphia after arriving from the foundry where it was made in London, England. The bell’s fame originated with a short story by George Lippard published in 1847 that gave a fictional account of an old bell-ringer ringing it on July 4, 1776 upon hearing that the Second Continental Congress had voted for independence. That ringing of the bell never actually happened, even though the account was constantly presented as fact in school texts around the country for generations.

16 Daily newspaper in Sacramento, Calif. : BEE

“The Sacramento Bee” was founded in 1857 under the name “The Daily Bee”. The front page features the Scoopy Bee mascot, a famous logo created for the paper by Walt Disney in 1943.

17 ___ May, Marvel Comics character : AUNT

Aunt May and Uncle Ben Parker are characters in the spider-Man universe created by Marvel Comics. The couple’s nephew is Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man.

22 Tupac’s “___ Gospel” : GHETTO

Rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur adopted the inventive stage name “2Pac”. He was a hard man, spending eleven months in prison for sexual assault. He was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at only 25 years of age.

34 Vous ___ (part of a French 101 conjugation) : ETES

“Vous êtes” is the French for “you are”.

37 Inebriate : BESOT

Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning “fool”. The word “sot” started to be associated with alcohol and not just foolery in the late 1500s. The derivative term “besotted” means “muddled with drunkenness”, or more figuratively “infatuated”.

Sobriety is the quality of being sober, not intoxicated. The opposite is insobriety, the quality of not being sober. To be inebriated is to be under the influence of alcohol, and the state of being intoxicated is ebriety. Sort those terms out after a glass or two of wine …

39 ___ Wojcicki, C.E.O. of YouTube since 2014 : SUSAN

YouTube is a video-sharing website that was launched in 2005 by three ex-PayPal employees. Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Yep, $1.65 billion, less than two years after it was founded …

41 Scout’s task : RECON

A reconnaissance (recon) is a preliminary survey carried out to gather information. The term “reconnaissance” came into English in the early 19th century from French, from which language it translates literally as “recognition”.

42 Title Mrs. played by Rachel Brosnahan : MAISEL

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is a comedy drama TV show set in the late fifties and early sixties. The title character, played by Rachel Brosnahan, is a New York housewife who opts for a career as a standup comedian.

Actress Rachel Brosnahan is best known for playing the title character in the comedy drama “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”. Prior to that success, she had a recurring role playing sex worker Rachel Posner in the political thriller “House of Cards”.

50 Language in which “Dia dhuit!” is “Hello!” : ERSE

There are actually three Erse languages: Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be “Gaeilge” (in Ireland), “Gaelg” (on the Isle of Man) and “Gaidhlig” (in Scotland).

51 Sanctuary for many couples : ARK

Genesis 6:19-20 states that Noah was instructed to take two animals of every kind into the ark. Later, in Genesis 7:2-3 Noah was instructed to take on board “every clean animal by sevens … male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth”. Apparently, “extras” (7 rather than 2) were needed for ritual sacrifice.

53 Pavlov with a Nobel Prize : IVAN

Ivan Pavlov was studying gastric function in dogs in the 1890s when he observed that his subject dogs started to salivate before he even presented food to them. This “psychic secretion”, as he called it, interested him so much that he changed the direction of his research and studied the reactions of dogs to various stimuli that were associated with the presentation of food. Famously, he discovered that a dog could be conditioned to respond as though he was about to be fed, just by sensing some stimulus that he had come to associate with food. This might be a bell ringing, an electric shock (poor dog!) or perhaps the waving of a hand. Nowadays we might describe someone as “Pavlov’s Dog” if that person responds just the way he/she has been conditioned to respond, rather than applying critical thinking.

54 ___ sauce : SOY

Soy sauce is made by fermenting soybeans with a mold in the presence of water and salt. Charming …

Down

1 “You cannot teach a ___ to walk straight”: Aristophanes : CRAB

Aristophanes was a comic playwright of Ancient Athens. He is known to have written at least forty plays, eleven of which have survived almost intact. Aristophanes was famous for writing plays that satirized life in the city, and was apparently much feared by public figures. Some say that the ridicule Aristophanes brought down on Socrates in his play “The Clouds” helped bring about his (Socrates’) trial and execution.

2 Booty : HAUL

“Booty”, meaning “plunder, profit”, is derived from the Old French word “butin” that has the same meaning.

4 Make a long story short : CUT TO THE CHASE

To cut to the chase is to get to the point. It is thought that the term was at least popularized, if not coined, by legendary film producer Hal Roach. In the days of silent movies, many films would climax in a chase scene. Producers who didn’t appreciate extra dialogue in films would demand that the “padding” be removed and that the story “cut to the chase (scene)”.

6 Fed the kitty : ANTED

The pot in a card game has been referred to as “the kitty” since the 1880s. It’s not certain how the name “kitty” evolved but possibly it comes from “kit”, the necessary equipment for the game.

7 One of a set in an accordion : REED

The accordion (“squeezebox”, colloquially) is a musical instrument related to the concertina. It is box-shaped and driven by a bellows that is compressed and expanded manually. The bellows forces air across metal strips (called “reed”) that vibrate to produce sounds. Notes are selected by using a piano-style keyboard (in a piano accordion) or by pressing down buttons (in a button accordion).

11 Give a bad hand? : ABET

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (literally “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

12 Booty : SEAT

“Booty” is a slang term for the buttocks.

13 Villain’s foil : HERO

A foil is someone who serves to enhance another by contrast. The term “foil” has been used in such a sense since the 16th century, and comes from the practice of placing metal foil at the beck of a gemstone to make it appear more brilliant.

24 Like umpires, sometimes : BOOED

Back in the 15th century, “an umpire” was referred to as “a noumpere”, which was misheard and hence causing the dropping of the initial letter N. The term “noumpere” came from Old French “nonper” meaning “not even, odd number”. The idea was that the original umpire was a third person called on to arbitrate between two, providing that “odd number” needed to decide the dispute.

25 Mario Kart contestant : RACER

“Mario Kart” is a go-kart racing video game series from Nintendo.

26 “Make Me Feel” singer Janelle : MONAE

Janelle Monáe is a singer and actress. I’m not familiar with her as a singer, but did see Monáe play NASA engineer Mary Jackson in the excellent 2016 film “Hidden Figures”.

28 Greek theater : ODEON

In ancient Greece, an odeon (also “odeum”) was like a small theater, with “odeon” literally meaning “building for musical competition”. Odea were used in both Greece and Rome for entertainments such as musical shows and poetry readings.

30 ___ ghanouj : BABA

Baba ganoush (also “baba ghanouj”) is an Arab dish with the main ingredient of mashed eggplant. It is sometimes served as a (delicious) dip.

43 Chocolate brand with the slogan “Irresistibubble” : AERO

I must admit to having a weakness for Aero chocolate bars. Aero was introduced by Rowntree’s in the North of England in 1935. The “aero” name is a reference to the chocolate’s “bubbly” texture.

46 Org. featured in “Dr. Strangelove” : USAF

“Dr. Strangelove” is a black comedy directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick, released in 1964. The big star in the film is the great Peter Sellers, who plays three key roles. The full name of the movie is “Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”.

49 ___ Goodman, longtime judge on “Dancing With the Stars” : LEN

Len Goodman is a professional ballroom dancer. Goodman was head judge on the US’s “Dancing with the Stars” until 2019, and was head judge on the original UK version of the show called “Strictly Come Dancing” until 2017.

When I was growing up in Ireland, there was a surprisingly popular BBC television show featuring professional ballroom dancing called “Come Dancing”. It ran almost every year from 1949 to 1998, and in 2004 the BBC resurrected it with a new twist, adding celebrities to dance with the professionals. The new show, called “Strictly Come Dancing”, is a huge success and has become a worldwide franchise. Over here we watch the American version called “Dancing with the Stars”. It really can be fun television …

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Smart : CHIC
5 Music genre : GARAGE
11 Color akin to steel : ASH
14 Grocery brand with an accent in its name : RAGU
15 Weight of the Liberty Bell, approximately : ONE TON
16 Daily newspaper in Sacramento, Calif. : BEE
17 ___ May, Marvel Comics character : AUNT
18 Keep away : STEER CLEAR
20 Spotted : BLOTCHED
22 Tupac’s “___ Gospel” : GHETTO
23 Unit at a bar : ROUND
24 Brief pause : BEAT
25 Kind of rocket : RETRO
26 Ambitious goal or innovation : MOON SHOT
30 Suffuse : BATHE
31 Parent’s command when something almost gets broken by roughhousing siblings : GO OUTSIDE!
32 Long : ACHE
33 Some jams : TUNES
34 Vous ___ (part of a French 101 conjugation) : ETES
35 Summer novel, typically : BEACH READ
37 Inebriate : BESOT
38 Fine film forum : ART HOUSE
39 ___ Wojcicki, C.E.O. of YouTube since 2014 : SUSAN
40 Floors : AWES
41 Scout’s task : RECON
42 Title Mrs. played by Rachel Brosnahan : MAISEL
45 Mood booster : PICK-ME-UP
48 Given to giving : BENEVOLENT
50 Language in which “Dia dhuit!” is “Hello!” : ERSE
51 Sanctuary for many couples : ARK
52 “Be that as it may …” : EVEN SO …
53 Pavlov with a Nobel Prize : IVAN
54 ___ sauce : SOY
55 Execute : RENDER
56 Displaying remarkable skill : DEFT

Down

1 “You cannot teach a ___ to walk straight”: Aristophanes : CRAB
2 Booty : HAUL
3 “Actually, never mind” : IGNORE THAT
4 Make a long story short : CUT TO THE CHASE
5 “I would never!” : GOSH NO!
6 Fed the kitty : ANTED
7 One of a set in an accordion : REED
8 Didn’t go fast? : ATE
9 Dazzling : GORGEOUS
10 Dazzle : ENCHANT
11 Give a bad hand? : ABET
12 Booty : SEAT
13 Villain’s foil : HERO
19 Line at the door of a bar : LETS SEE SOME ID
21 Salt or smoke : CURE
24 Like umpires, sometimes : BOOED
25 Mario Kart contestant : RACER
26 “Make Me Feel” singer Janelle : MONAE
27 Gets too personal with zingers, say : HITS A NERVE
28 Greek theater : ODEON
29 Screen, in a way : TEST
30 ___ ghanouj : BABA
31 Reckoning : GUESS
33 Unconditional condition? : TRUE LOVE
36 “Be that as it may …” : HOWEVER …
37 Resist : BUCK
39 Private or public division : SECTOR
41 Flush : RINSE
42 Many Chicago Booth grads : MBAS
43 Chocolate brand with the slogan “Irresistibubble” : AERO
44 Black as night : INKY
45 Hang in the balance : PEND
46 Org. featured in “Dr. Strangelove” : USAF
47 Bottled (up) : PENT
49 ___ Goodman, longtime judge on “Dancing With the Stars” : LEN

10 thoughts on “0204-23 NY Times Crossword 4 Feb 23, Saturday”

  1. 13:30. The NW took me a few minutes at the end even with CUT TO THE CHASE and AUNT filled in.

  2. 29:16. Only trouble spots were the left half of the puzzle and the right half of the puzzle. Tough one for me.

    A lot of good guessing like GHETTO and SUSAN just to name two helped me through it. As usual, the long answers saved the day.

    Best –

  3. 14:41 after fixing a final foul:a frustrating fat-fingering.

    So … if my mother’s memory was accurate, I have now been 80 for approximately two and one-half hours and I don’t feel all that different. So far, so good … 🙂.

  4. 41:30 including time to look up “Mrs. Maisel” where I had “Maisie”…hey, I don’t have cable and really don’t have much TV in any case.

    Happy Birthday, Dave Kennison!!!

  5. NE corner got me. REED, GARAGE, GHETTO all kept me from finishing without a lookup.

    Didn’t know some accordions have reeds?

    I watched several episodes of the Marvelous Mrs Maisel. I enjoyed them.

  6. completed with one wrong square 71:04 but I went away from it several times without stopping the clock and went back .

  7. One error in, you guessed it, a foreign word👎👎
    Stay safe😀
    Happy birthday Nonny😀😀
    Stay safe😀

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