0205-23 NY Times Crossword 5 Feb 23, Sunday

Constructed by: Jeremy Newton
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Hollywood Remakes

Themed answers each sound like the title of an OSCAR-WINNING movie:

  • 22A “That cult’s initiation ceremony is brutal!” [1983] : THEIR RITE’S TOUGH (“The Right Stuff”)
  • 32A Bronzed New York basketball player from Bangkok [1997] : THAI TAN KNICK (“Titanic”)
  • 49A Why the Devil was forced to pay “The Greatest” [1969] : HELL OWED ALI (“Hello, Dolly”)
  • 65A Cry after remembering to meet at noon [1984] : AH, MIDDAY. YES! (“Amadeus”)
  • 81A “You there, hoarding the Quattro razor! Scram!” [2002] : SCHICK HOG, GO! (“Chicago”)
  • 95A How one cannibal felt after devouring the other [2000] : GLAD HE ATE HER (“Gladiator”)
  • 110A Some optical illusions created with one’s fingers [1999] : THUMB-MADE TRICKS (“The Matrix”)
  • 30D What you get upon reading aloud the answers to the seven italicized clues : OSCAR WINNER
  • 46D Category for which every 30-Down in this puzzle was recognized, aptly : SOUND MIXING

Bill’s time: 21m 32s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 King, queen, etc. : CHESS SET

It is believed that the game of chess originated in northwest India. It evolved from a 6th-century game called “chaturanga”, a Sanskrit word meaning “four divisions”. These four (military) divisions were represented in the game:

  • Infantry (now “pawns”)
  • Cavalry (now “knights”)
  • Elephants (now “bishops”)
  • Chariots (now “rooks”)

13 Something in a cocoon : SILK

The textile known as silk is made from a natural protein fiber produced from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm. Ethical vegans tend to avoid silk as many, many silkworms die in order to produce a relatively small amount of fabric. Raw silk is obtained by boiling the silkworms alive inside the cocoons that yield the fibers.

19 Acclaimed rock-and-roll biopic of 2022 : ELVIS

“Elvis” is an excellent 2022 biopic about the life of Elvis Presley. Austin Butler landed the title role, and stars opposite Tom Hanks, who plays Presley’s manager “Colonel” Tom Parker. The movie was filmed in Australia. Famously, filming was put on hold in March 2020 when Hanks (and his wife Rita Wilson) tested positive for COVID-19. It was six months later that filming resumed.

21 Emerald or aquamarine : BERYL

The mineral beryl is a source of a number of different semi-precious stones, depending on the nature of the impurities present. Pure beryl is colorless; blue beryl is called aquamarine, and green beryl is emerald. Traces of iron cause the blue color, and traces of chromium give the green hue.

22 “That cult’s initiation ceremony is brutal!” [1983] : THEIR RITE’S TOUGH (“The Right Stuff”)

The 1983 movie “The Right Stuff” was adapted from a 1979 book of the same name by Tom Wolfe. It tells the story of the group of test pilots who were selected as the first astronauts, those who flew in space in the Project Mercury program.

24 Creator of the games Xybots and Klax : ATARI

Founded in 1972, electronics and video game manufacturer Atari was once the fastest-growing company in US history. However, Atari never really recovered from the video game industry crash of 1983.

25 Bit of memory, for short : MEG

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

26 It’s quite the stretch : EPOCH

Geologic time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

  • supereon
  • eon (also “aeon”)
  • era
  • period
  • epoch
  • age

32 Bronzed New York basketball player from Bangkok [1997] : THAI TAN KNICK (“Titanic”)

The New York Knickerbockers (“Knicks”) team is one of only two founding members of the original National Basketball Association that still plays in its original home city. The other is the Boston Celtics.

When James Cameron made his epic movie “Titanic”, released in 1997, it was the most expensive film ever made and cost about $200 million. It was a good investment for the studio as it became the highest-grossing film of all time, bringing in over $1.8 billion. “Titanic” remained the highest-grossing film until 2010, when Cameron eclipsed the prior record with “Avatar”.

35 Prominent features of Sphynx cats : EARS

A Sphynx is a breed of cat that has no fur. The lack of fur was introduced by selective breeding in the sixties. Although there is no fur, the Sphynx does have some fine hair on its body. The selective breeding has led to some health issues, though. The lack of fur leaves kittens susceptible to respiratory infections, and prolonged exposure to sunlight can cause skin cancer.

38 Treaty that was dissolved in 2020 : NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a treaty between Canada, Mexico and the United States. When NAFTA came into force in 1994, it set up the largest free trade zone in the world. It was replaced by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020, an agreement that is often referred to as NAFTA 2.0 because it largely maintains the provisions in the original NAFTA treaty.

44 ___ Stavro Blofeld, enemy of 007 : ERNST

Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a villain in the James Bond universe. Blofeld has been played on the big screen several times by different actors. My favorite is Donald Pleasance in 1967’s “You Only Live Twice”. In the original Ian Fleming novels, Blofeld was born on 28 May 1908, which happens to be Fleming’s own birthday.

49 Why the Devil was forced to pay “The Greatest” [1969] : HELL OWED ALI (“Hello, Dolly”)

“Hello, Dolly!” is a Broadway musical that was first produced in 1964, and adapted into a hugely successful movie in 1969. The title role of Dolly Levi was played by Barbra Streisand in the film, with Gene Kelly directing and a leading part for a young Michael Crawford. The stage show was revived on Broadway in 2017, with Bette Midler in the title role.

54 Anise-flavored liqueur : PERNOD

The drink usually called just “Pernod” is a French beverage more correctly called “Pernod Anise”. The brand name was created by Henri-Louis Pernod in the late 1700s when he opened an absinthe distillery in Switzerland.

60 Bucatini, ziti and rigatoni, e.g. : TUBES

Bucatini (also “perciatelli”) are pieces of pasta that resemble spaghetti with a hole running through the middle. The term “bucatini” comes from the Italian “buco” meaning “hole”.

Cylindrical pasta is known in general as “penne”, and there are many variants. For example, ziti is a particularly large and long tube with square-cut ends. “Penne” is the plural of “penna”, the Italian for “feather, quill”.

Rigatoni is a tubular pasta that is relatively short, and with ridges along its length. The name “rigatoni” comes from the Italian “rigato” meaning “ridged, lined”.

62 High point of a trip to Europe? : ALP

There are eight Alpine countries:

  • Austria
  • Slovenia
  • France
  • Switzerland
  • Liechtenstein
  • Germany
  • Monaco
  • Italy

64 Do some making up : FIB

To fib is to tell a lie. The verb “to fib” likely comes from “fibble-fable” meaning “nonsense”, with “fibble-fable” coming from “fable”.

65 Cry after remembering to meet at noon [1984] : AH, MIDDAY. YES! (“Amadeus”)

The magnificent 1984 film “Amadeus” is an adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s 1979 stage play of the same name. Tom Hulce played Mozart, and F. Murray Abraham played Mozart’s rival, Antonio Salieri. Both Hulce and Abraham were nominated for that season’s Best Actor Oscar, with the award going to the latter. There hasn’t been a movie since “Amadeus” that garnered two Best Actor nominations.

69 English football powerhouse, to fans : MAN U

Manchester United (“Man U”) is one of the most successful football (soccer) clubs in England, having won more League titles than any other in the history of the game. The club is also famous for an airplane crash known as the 1958 Munich air disaster. The British European flight crashed during takeoff, resulting in the death of 23 passengers, including eight members of the Manchester United team.

71 Change for the better : AMEND

The verb “to amend” means “to change for the better, put right, alter by adding”. The related verb “to emend” is used more rarely, and mainly in reference to the editing of professional writing. Both terms are derived from the Latin “emendare” meaning “to remove fault”.

75 One way to cross a lake : CANOE

The boat known as a canoe takes its name from the Carib word “kenu” meaning “dugout”. It was Christopher Columbus who brought “kenu” into Spanish as “canoa”, which evolved into our English “canoe”.

80 Actress Davis : GEENA

As well as being a successful Hollywood actress, Geena Davis is an accomplished archer and came close to qualifying for the US archery team for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Davis is also a member of American Mensa. She is quite the lady …

81 “You there, hoarding the Quattro razor! Scram!” [2002] : SCHICK HOG, GO! (“Chicago”)

Quattro (Italian for “four”) is a series of four-bladed safety razors made by Wilkinson Sword under the brand name Schick.

The wonderful 1975 musical “Chicago” is based on a 1926 play of the same name written by a news reporter called Maurine Dallas Watkins. Watkins had been assigned to cover the murder trials of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner for the “Chicago Tribune”, and used the story that unfolded as the basis for her play. Annan became the character Roxie Hart, and Gaertner became Velma Kelly. I’ve only ever seen the movie version of “Chicago” and never a live performance …

85 Losing line in tic-tac-toe : X-O-O

When I was growing up in Ireland we played “noughts and crosses” … our name for the game tic-tac-toe.

89 Subject of SETI space scans : ALIEN LIFE

“SETI” is the name given to a number of projects searching for extraterrestrial life. The acronym stands for “search for extraterrestrial intelligence”. One of the main SETI activities is the monitoring of electromagnetic radiation (such as radio waves) reaching the Earth in the hope of finding a transmission from a civilization in another world.

91 Partner of Clark in American history : LEWIS

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were soldiers in the US Army. Lewis was a personal aide to President Thomas Jefferson, even residing in the Presidential Mansion. This exposure contributed to his selection as leader of the famous “Lewis and Clark Expedition”, which was known at the time as the Corps of Discovery Expedition. William Clark was actually Lewis’s boss for a while before Clark retired. Lewis asked Clark to come out of retirement to accompany him on his three-year exploration.

93 Stefani who sang the 1996 hit “Don’t Speak” : GWEN

Gwen Stefani is lead singer with the rock band No Doubt. She joined the band in 1986, focused on a solo career from 2004-2008, but is now back singing and working with No Doubt. She joined the reality show “The Voice” as a coach in 2014, replacing Christina Aguilera. A year later, Stefani announced a relationship with Blake Shelton, a fellow coach on “The Voice”.

95 How one cannibal felt after devouring the other [2000] : GLAD HE ATE HER (“Gladiator”)

“Gladiator” is an epic drama film released in 2000 starring Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott. Veteran British actor Oliver Reed played a supporting role, the final performance before his death. In fact, Reed died before all of his scenes had been shot, requiring the use of a CGI body double and changes in the script for completion of the film.

105 Neighbor of an Emirati : OMANI

Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula and is neighbored by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Oman is a monarchy, and the official name of the state is the Sultanate of Oman. All of the country’s legislative, executive and judiciary power resides with the hereditary sultan.

108 Anxiety condition, for short : OCD

Apparently, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed mental disorder, making it about as prevalent as asthma.

109 I.T. bigwig : ADMIN

A bigwig is someone important. The use of the term “bigwig” harks back to the days when men of authority and rank wore … big wigs.

110 Some optical illusions created with one’s fingers [1999] : THUMB-MADE TRICKS (“The Matrix”)

The 1999 movie sensation “The Matrix” was meant to be set in a nondescript urban environment. It was actually shot in Australia, as one of the co-producers of the film was the Australian company, Village Roadshow Pictures. You can pick up all sorts of clues about the location when watching the film, including a view of Sydney Harbour Bridge in a background shot. Also, traffic drives along on the left and there are signs for the “lift” instead of an “elevator”.

116 Rival of a ‘Vette : ‘STANG

The Ford Mustang car was introduced in 1964. Back then the Mustang wasn’t a brand new design, but was based on the Ford Falcon. The Mustang was the first of the “pony cars”, American models that are compact and affordable, as well as sporty in image and performance.

117 “Socrate” composer : SATIE

Erik Satie was a French composer best known for his beautiful composition, the three “Gymnopédies”. I have tried so hard to appreciate other works by Satie but I find them so very different from the minimalist simplicity of the lyrical “Gymnopédies”.

119 Part of H.K. : HONG …

Hong Kong became part of the British Empire after the First Opium War in 1842. In 1898, Britain signed a 99-year lease to retain control of Hong Kong. That control ended 99 years later in 1997 with a formal transfer of sovereignty back to China.

Down

1 Summer hrs. in Dallas : CDT

Central Daylight Time (CDT)

5 Turn into confetti : SHRED

The word “confetti” is related to “confection”. The original confetti were small candies thrown during carnivals in Italy. This custom migrated to England, and eventually evolved into the practice of tossing small pieces of paper instead of confections.

7 Classic record label : EMI

EMI was a British music company, with the initialism standing for Electric and Musical Industries.

10 Greeting that means, literally, “love” : ALOHA

The Hawaiian word “aloha” has many meanings in English: affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. More recently, “aloha” has come to mean “hello” and “goodbye”, but only since the mid-1800s.

11 Crime show spinoff, to fans : SVU

“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” is a spin-off from the TV crime drama “Law & Order”. “SVU” has been on the air since 1999, and is set in New York City. Interestingly (to me), there is a very successful Russian adaptation of the show that is set in Moscow.

12 Skedaddle, with “it” : HIGHTAIL …

“Skedaddle” is a slang term meaning “run away”, one that dates back to the Civil War.

13 ___ Hall, home of the N.C.A.A.’s Pirates : SETON

Seton Hall University is a private, Roman Catholic college in South Orange, New Jersey. The most famous of the school’s sports programs is men’s basketball, played by the Seton Hall Pirates.

14 Many a Zoroastrian : IRANI

Zoroastrianism is a religion founded by the prophet Zoroaster around 600 BCE, making it one of the oldest religions in the world. There are two main Zoroastrian communities today, both of whom migrated to the Indian subcontinent from Greater Iran. The Parsis migrated in the 8th to 10th centuries, and the Irani migrated in the 19th century.

15 Line at a karaoke bar : LYRIC

“Karate” is a Japanese word meaning “empty hand”, and the related word “karaoke” translates as “empty orchestra”.

16 “Hogan’s Heroes” colonel : KLINK

On the sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes”, Colonel Klink was the Camp Commandant, played by Werner Klemperer. Klemperer was born in Cologne in Germany, and fled the country with his family in 1935 due to Nazi persecution of Jews. Later, Klemperer joined the US Army and ended up using his show business talent to entertain the troops in the Pacific. Werner was the son of renowned conductor Otto Klemperer.

21 Cosmic comeuppance : BAD KARMA

Karma is a religious concept with its basis in Indian faiths. Karma embraces the notion of cause and effect. Good deeds have good consequences at some later point in one’s life, one’s future life, or one’s afterlife. And, bad deeds have bad consequences.

33 Historic builders of rope bridges : INCAS

The Incas built almost 25,000 miles of road, and much of that roadway system persists to this day. The most famous section is known as the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The backbone of the system is formed by two north-south routes, one running along the west coast of the continent, and the other running relatively parallel, further inland.

34 Recipe qty. : TBSP

Tablespoon (tbsp.)

36 Syst. of unspoken words : ASL

American Sign Language (ASL)

37 Diamond shapes : RHOMBI

“Rhomb” is an alternative name for a rhombus (plural “rhombi”), a 4-sided figure with sides of equal length and angles at the corners that aren’t right angles. So, that would make a rhombus a “diamond” shape.

41 Many a watch display, for short : LED

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a specialized form of semiconductor that when switched on releases photons (light). LEDs were used in early digital watches, and are getting more and more popular even though their use in electronic equipment is fading away. LEDs are used as replacements for the much less-efficient tungsten light bulbs. I replaced all of my tungsten Xmas lights many years ago and saved a lot on my electricity bill.

42 1983 #1 hit for David Bowie : LET’S DANCE

David Bowie’s great hit “Let’s Dance” was released in 1983, and was his only record to make it to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.

47 Its loss can cause baldness : TREAD

A retread tire is one that has been recycled, possibly more than once. The tread of the old tire is buffed away, and new rubber tread is applied to the “bare” tire using some special process that seems to work really well (except for truck tires, in my humble opinion!). Retreads are a lot cheaper, and are relatively friendly to the environment.

50 Ganja : WEED

“Ganja” is another name for the drug cannabis. Cannabis is known to have been used thousands of years ago by ancient Hindus in India, and “ganja” is the Sanskrit term for the drug.

53 Filling station brand : STP

STP is a brand name of automotive lubricants and additives. The name “STP” is an initialism standing for “Scientifically Treated Petroleum”.

61 One who makes calls : UMP

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.

62 Writer 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.

65 Grammy-winning DiFranco : ANI

Ani DiFranco is a folk-rock singer and songwriter. DiFranco has also been labeled a “feminist icon”, and in 2006 won the “Woman of Courage Award” from National Organization for Women.

66 Out of control : AMOK

The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had a good reason for that frenzy …

69 Aerial threat during the Cold War : MIG

The Russian fighter jets that we know as “MiGs” are so called because they were designed by the Mikoyan-and-Gurevich Design Bureau, and MiG is an acronym for “Mikoyan-and-Gurevich” in Russian.

72 Classic Disney film that opens at Flynn’s arcade : TRON

Released in 1982, Disney’s “Tron” was one of the first mainstream films to make extensive use of computer graphics. The main role in the movie is played by Jeff Bridges. The original spawned a 2010 sequel called “Tron: Legacy”, as well as a 2012 TV show called “Tron: Uprising”.

79 Things pandas have 20 of : TOES

Taxonomic classification of the giant panda has been a subject of great debate for years, the main question being whether it belongs to the bear or raccoon family. The accepted opinion these days, based on molecular studies, seems to be that the panda is in fact a true bear.

82 Chew the fat : CHITCHAT

Back in the day, a wealthy person would “bring home the bacon”, and sit around with guests “chewing the fat”.

87 Alternative to Levi’s : LEES

The Lee company that is famous for making jeans was formed in 1889 by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.

90 End of a flight, in two senses : LANDING

A landing is the area at the top and bottom of a staircase. Apparently, we called the steps between the landings a “flight” of stairs, because one “flies” between landings! Can that be true?

98 Contacting on Twitter, for short : DM’ING

Direct message (DM)

100 Journalist in a field : EMBED

Although journalists have been directly reporting from the front lines in military conflicts for some time, the term “embedded journalism” only came into fashion during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. A formal arrangement was made between the US Military and hundreds of reporters allowing journalists to travel with military units and, under pre-ordained conditions, report directly from those units. Some say that the arrangement was mutually beneficial. On the one hand the journalists had relatively little to worry about in terms of transportation and travel through combat zones. On the other hand, the military had better control over what did and did not get reported.

102 Ball game? : LOTTO

Originally, lotto was a type of card game, with “lotto” being the Italian for “a lot”. We’ve used “lotto” to mean a gambling game since the late 1700s.

106 Rapper behind the “King’s Disease” trilogy : NAS

Rapper Nas used to go by an earlier stage name “Nasty Nas”, and before that by his real name “Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones”. Nas released his first album “Illmatic” in 1994, and inventively titled his fifth studio album “Stillmatic”, released in 2001.

111 Great Basin people : UTE

The Great Basin is a large region of the US covering most of Nevada, much of Utah and some parts of Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and California. The 200,000 square mile area drains internally, with all precipitation sinking underground or flowing into lakes. Most of the lakes in the Great Basin are saline, including the Great Salt Lake, Pyramid Lake and the Humboldt Sink.

112 D.D.E.’s W.W. II battleground : ETO

Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) was the 34th US president, but he wanted to be remembered as a soldier. He was a five-star general during WWII in charge of the Allied Forces in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). President Eisenhower died in 1969 at Walter Reed Army Hospital. He was buried in an $80 standard soldier’s casket in his army uniform in a chapel on the grounds of the beautiful Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas.

113 Sci-fi film staple, for short : CGI

Computer-generated imagery (CGI)

114 White wine aperitif : KIR

Kir is a French cocktail made by adding a teaspoon or so of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) to a glass, and then topping it off with white wine. The drink is named after Felix Kir, the Mayor of Dijon in Burgundy, who used to offer the drink to his guests. My wife is particularly fond of a variant called a kir royale, in which the white wine is replaced with champagne.

115 Show with a “What’s Up With That?” segment, for short : SNL

“Saturday Night Live” (SNL)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 King, queen, etc. : CHESS SET
9 Overly impulsive : RASH
13 Something in a cocoon : SILK
17 It may produce both a cringe and a laugh : DARK HUMOR
19 Acclaimed rock-and-roll biopic of 2022 : ELVIS
21 Emerald or aquamarine : BERYL
22 “That cult’s initiation ceremony is brutal!” [1983] : THEIR RITE’S TOUGH (“The Right Stuff”)
24 Creator of the games Xybots and Klax : ATARI
25 Bit of memory, for short : MEG
26 It’s quite the stretch : EPOCH
27 Not stay outside, informally : HEAD ON IN
29 Spurred into action : GOADED
32 Bronzed New York basketball player from Bangkok [1997] : THAI TAN KNICK (“Titanic”)
34 Junk : TOSS
35 Prominent features of Sphynx cats : EARS
38 Treaty that was dissolved in 2020 : NAFTA
39 Neighbor of a return key : BACKSLASH
42 Places : LOCI
44 ___ Stavro Blofeld, enemy of 007 : ERNST
48 Therein lies the rubbed : SPA
49 Why the Devil was forced to pay “The Greatest” [1969] : HELL OWED ALI (“Hello, Dolly”)
52 Parks at a pier : MOORS
54 Anise-flavored liqueur : PERNOD
56 Passes (out) : METES
57 Not play by oneself, perhaps : DO A DUET
59 “Remarkable!” : WOW!
60 Bucatini, ziti and rigatoni, e.g. : TUBES
62 High point of a trip to Europe? : ALP
63 Total breeze : SNAP
64 Do some making up : FIB
65 Cry after remembering to meet at noon [1984] : AH, MIDDAY. YES! (“Amadeus”)
68 Somewhat off : ODD
69 English football powerhouse, to fans : MAN U
70 Time out in pre-K? : NAP
71 Change for the better : AMEND
72 Belly, cutesily : TUM
73 “You didn’t fool me!” : I KNEW IT!
75 One way to cross a lake : CANOE
77 One in the oil business? : ARTIST
80 Actress Davis : GEENA
81 “You there, hoarding the Quattro razor! Scram!” [2002] : SCHICK HOG, GO! (“Chicago”)
85 Losing line in tic-tac-toe : X-O-O
86 Wryly comical : DROLL
88 Word with pie, pot or port : -HOLE
89 Subject of SETI space scans : ALIEN LIFE
91 Partner of Clark in American history : LEWIS
93 Stefani who sang the 1996 hit “Don’t Speak” : GWEN
94 Six-foot runners? : ANTS
95 How one cannibal felt after devouring the other [2000] : GLAD HE ATE HER (“Gladiator”)
101 Like “threads,” for clothing : SLANGY
104 Latest releases, of sorts : NEW MUSIC
105 Neighbor of an Emirati : OMANI
108 Anxiety condition, for short : OCD
109 I.T. bigwig : ADMIN
110 Some optical illusions created with one’s fingers [1999] : THUMB-MADE TRICKS (“The Matrix”)
116 Rival of a ‘Vette : ‘STANG
117 “Socrate” composer : SATIE
118 Auditing a class, maybe : SITTING IN
119 Part of H.K. : HONG …
120 Miffed, with “off” : TEED …
121 Compliment to Daisy during a game of fetch : GOOD GIRL!

Down

1 Summer hrs. in Dallas : CDT
2 “Nice joke!” : HAH!
3 Previously, poetically : ERE
4 Bit of apparel that covers the face : SKI MASK
5 Turn into confetti : SHRED
6 Big change in price or power : SURGE
7 Classic record label : EMI
8 Lug around : TOTE
9 [Yuck!] : [RETCH!]
10 Greeting that means, literally, “love” : ALOHA
11 Crime show spinoff, to fans : SVU
12 Skedaddle, with “it” : HIGHTAIL …
13 ___ Hall, home of the N.C.A.A.’s Pirates : SETON
14 Many a Zoroastrian : IRANI
15 Line at a karaoke bar : LYRIC
16 “Hogan’s Heroes” colonel : KLINK
18 Ambassador, in brief : REP
20 Pile of papers : SHEAF
21 Cosmic comeuppance : BAD KARMA
23 Big drinkers : SOTS
28 Pay (up) : ANTE
29 Freak : GO APE
30 What you get upon reading aloud the answers to the seven italicized clues : OSCAR WINNER
31 “Works for me!” : DEAL!
33 Historic builders of rope bridges : INCAS
34 Recipe qty. : TBSP
36 Syst. of unspoken words : ASL
37 Diamond shapes : RHOMBI
40 Make an appearance : SHOW
41 Many a watch display, for short : LED
42 1983 #1 hit for David Bowie : LET’S DANCE
43 Work of appreciation : ODE
45 Dozes after a dose, say : NODS OUT
46 Category for which every 30-Down in this puzzle was recognized, aptly : SOUND MIXING
47 Its loss can cause baldness : TREAD
50 Ganja : WEED
51 Didn’t go anywhere : IDLED
53 Filling station brand : STP
55 “Not good, amigo” : NO BUENO
58 Missions, in brief : OPS
60 “___ OK!” : THAT’S
61 One who makes calls : UMP
62 Writer Rand : AYN
64 Like the death of 19-Across, some claim : FAKED
65 Grammy-winning DiFranco : ANI
66 Out of control : AMOK
67 Cowboy’s cry of excitement : YEEHAW!
69 Aerial threat during the Cold War : MIG
72 Classic Disney film that opens at Flynn’s arcade : TRON
74 On display, as a painting : WALL-HUNG
75 Tapped : CHOSE
76 Feel bad : AIL
77 Travel through time? : AGE
78 Easily persuaded sort : SOFTY
79 Things pandas have 20 of : TOES
82 Chew the fat : CHITCHAT
83 Jubilant cheer : OLE!
84 Options for “bee’s knees” cocktails : GINS
87 Alternative to Levi’s : LEES
90 End of a flight, in two senses : LANDING
92 Serves, with “on” : WAITS …
93 Nickname for mom’s mom : GRAM
95 Grind : GNASH
96 Brought about : LED TO
97 “Well, shucks!” : AW, MAN!
98 Contacting on Twitter, for short : DM’ING
99 Compadre : HOMIE
100 Journalist in a field : EMBED
102 Ball game? : LOTTO
103 Like the smell of burnt rubber : ACRID
106 Rapper behind the “King’s Disease” trilogy : NAS
107 “Copy,” to a cat : I DIG
111 Great Basin people : UTE
112 D.D.E.’s W.W. II battleground : ETO
113 Sci-fi film staple, for short : CGI
114 White wine aperitif : KIR
115 Show with a “What’s Up With That?” segment, for short : SNL

14 thoughts on “0205-23 NY Times Crossword 5 Feb 23, Sunday”

  1. 19:47. Fill seemed hard. It’s also a little difficult to turn off my reading brain and turn on my listening brain to figure out the theme clues.

  2. 46:07. Really struggled through this one, but I just got off of a red eye flight so I have a good excuse.

    Very punny theme clues/answers, but I will admit I thought they were pretty clever.

    Appreciated the Hogan’s Heroes reference.

    Best –

  3. Welcome back home!
    Today’s puzzle had too many overly contrived groaner puns for my taste …

  4. I print the crossword puzzle (on paper) from the NYTimes.com Web site, and then solve the puzzle in pencil. (I have paid access.)
    Clues/movie names were italicized ONLY if the clue/movie name was a spoken quote!
    The “New York Times” RARELY make an error this obvious and unforced!

    1. @EDW … I just (02/18/2023) printed two versions of this puzzle from the NYT site. In the first of them, nothing is italicized, but in the so-called “Newspaper version”, all seven of the theme clues are italicized, including those that are “spoken quotes” and those that are not. So, either I don’t understand your comment or the error you describe has been fixed.

    2. I print the puzzle from the Denver Post. In its clues, the italicized movie titles were just surrounded with the html tags for italics. The tags didn’t actually get processed, though, to cause the text to be italicized. I guess in a sense the tags still did their job of differentiating the seven clues.

  5. 47:27, no errors. I did not just get off a red eye, so I have no excuse…
    116A entered TBIRD before STANG. Both cars were sad examples of how design by corporate committee can destroy initially great ideas.

  6. Yikes! For some reason this one caused me a lot of pain. I persevered and got the jingle at 50:33. Bonus…no fat fingers today.

  7. This puzzle is Exhibit A as to why I don’t do the Times crossword much any more.

    This grid, and its “theme answers” are so full of sh*t that it’s seeping out of the constructor’s ears. Stretched and forced don’t even begin to cover it. And permissive Will Shortz just continues to encourage this sort of outrage. Just bloody AWFUL.

    1. @Allen … As far as I can tell, you have been trumpeting opinions like this for at least ten years. Statistics that I have seen lead me to believe that yours is very much a minority viewpoint. The puzzles that you so love to hate would not continue to be available if there were not an awful lot of people who, like me, very much appreciate them. But, if you consider it worth the time and energy to continue your pointless crusade, have at it … 😳.

  8. Missed 98D, had IMING. so I couldn’t figure out 95A. Ended up with GHAI HEATER. just couldn’t “hear” gladiator on that one.

Comments are closed.