0331-23 NY Times Crossword 31 Mar 23, Friday

Constructed by: Rich Norris
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 32m 23s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Sister brand of Mazola : ARGO

Mazola is a brand of corn oil now owned by Associated British Foods.

14 Classic cars that rivaled the Ford Maverick and Plymouth Duster : CHEVY NOVAS

The Chevrolet Nova was produced by General Motors from 1962 to 1979, and from 1985 to 1988. I owned one of those 1985-1988 Novas many years ago. Those latter models were actually Toyota Sprinters that were assembled just down the road here in Fremont, California in a GM/Toyota joint venture.

18 Quite a blast? : GALE

A gale is a very strong wind, one defined by the Beaufort scale as having wind speeds from 50 to just over 100 kilometers per hour.

20 Fodder for some miners : DATA

The process of data mining is used to extract information from a database and present it in a form that facilitates further use.

25 Where an eye test may be given, in brief : DMV

In most states, the government agency responsible for vehicle registration and the issuing of driver’s licenses is called the DMV. This initialism usually stands for the Department of Motor Vehicles, but there are “variations on the theme”. For example, in Arizona the responsible agency is called the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD), and in Colorado the familiar abbreviation “DMV” stands for Division of Motor Vehicles.

32 Spicy, in a way : CAJUN

Cajun cuisine is named for the French-speaking Acadian people who were deported from Acadia in Canada to Louisiana in the 18th century.

34 Diacritic over the “r” in “Dvořák” : HACEK

A “háček” is a diacritic shaped like an inverted hat. Also called a “caron”, it is used particularly in Baltic and Slavic languages.

A diacritic mark is added to a letter to indicate that it has a special phonetic sound. Examples of diacritic marks are the tilde above the n in Spanish words like “jalapeño” and “niño “, and the cedilla under the c in French words like “façade”.

38 “That will be ___ the set of sun”: Shak. : ERE

“That will be ere the set of sun” is a line from William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. It is a line that is spoken by one of the three witches.

39 Heavens : ETHER

The Greek philosopher Empedocles proposed that there are four elements that made up the universe, namely earth, water, air and fire. Aristotle later proposed a fifth element which he called aether (also “ether”). Aether was the divine substance that made up the stars and planets. We’re still using the term “ether” with a similar meaning.

41 Twine fiber : SISAL

The sisal plant is an agave, the flesh of which is not generally used in making tequila. Sisal is grown instead for the fibers that run the length of its leaves. The fiber is used extensively for twine, rope, carpeting, wall coverings etc. My favorite application though, is in the construction of dartboards. Sisal takes its name from the port of Sisal in Yucatan, Mexico that was a major shipping point for sisal plants.

42 Light line : RAY

Our word “twine”, meaning “light string”, has the same root as our word “twin”. The original Old English “twin” was a double thread.

45 U.S. health org. : CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC started out life during WWII as the Office of National Defense Malaria Control Activities. The CDC worries about much more than malaria these days …

47 Big wheels : POO-BAHS

The term “pooh-bah” (also “poobah”), meaning an ostentatious official, comes from the world of opera. Pooh-Bah is a character in the wonderful Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera “The Mikado”. Famously, Pooh-Bah holds many, many offices, including that of “Lord High Everything Else”.

48 Its first scene is set near Memphis : AIDA

“Aida” is a celebrated opera by Giuseppe Verdi that is based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Mariette also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first staged in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radamès is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then complications arise!

Memphis was an ancient city on the River Nile. The ruins of Memphis are located just south of Cairo, Egypt. It was a magnificent city that eventually failed due to the economic success of the city of Alexandria, which was located further down the river and right on the Mediterranean coast.

56 Laura of “ER” : INNES

Laura Innes is an actress who is best known for playing Dr. Kerry Weaver on the long-running TV show “ER”. She also played the lead role of Sophia in the short-running TV drama “The Event” in 2010-2011.

57 Some arena illumination, for short : LEDS

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.

60 Sediment : LEES

The dregs in wine, the sediment that settles during fermentation (and sometimes in the bottle), are also called “lees”.

61 Show first performed during 1994’s Eurovision Song Contest : RIVERDANCE

The hugely successful Irish music and dance show “Riverdance” originated in 1994. In its first manifestation, the show was a relatively short entertainment created for the interval in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. A few months later, it was expanded into a full show that premiered in Dublin in early 1995. Since then, the show has traveled all over the world and has been seen by over 25 million people.

63 Sweet, lovable sort : TEDDY BEAR

The stuffed toy known as a teddy bear was introduced in the early 1900s and was named for President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. The toy was inspired by a political cartoon that was drawn in 1902 showing President Roosevelt on a bear hunt and refusing to kill a black bear cub.

Down

1 No first-stringer : SCRUB

We’ve been using the phrases “first string” and “second string” in athletics since the mid-19th century. The expressions come from archery, in which a competitor would carry a second bowstring in case the first broke.

2 It ends near Venice : THE PO

The Po flows right across northern Italy, and is the longest river in the country. The largest city on the Po is Turin.

The city of Venice (“Venezia” in Italian) in northeast Italy is built in a saltwater lagoon on the Adriatic Coast, on 117 small islands. The classic transportation along the waterways is the gondola, but this is really only used for tourists these days, as well as on ceremonial occasions. The locals rely on motorized water-buses.

3 Some consequences for defaulting : REPOS

Repossession (repo)

5 ___ Square, rhyming attraction in the city center of Galway, Ireland : EYRE

Galway is a city on the west coast of Ireland. It is the fourth most populous city in the country (after Dublin, Cork and Limerick).

6 Boomer, for short? : TNT

“TNT” is an abbreviation for “trinitrotoluene”. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

8 Footwear brand : AVIA

The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

10 Camus’s birthplace : ALGERIA

Albert Camus was a French author, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. Sadly, Camus died in a car accident just two years after he received the prize, at only 46 years of age.

11 Grand Prix competitor, e.g. : ROAD RACER

Even though the term is used in many competitions, I think that we most associate “Grand Prix” with the series of Formula One motor races. These Formula One Grand Prix races trace their roots back to organized automobile road races from one French town to the next that date back to 1894. “Grand Prix” translates from French as “grand, big prize.”

15 Company for a king or queen : SEALY

The Sealy Corporation makes mattresses. The company name comes from the city where it started out in 1881, namely Sealy, Texas. Sealy Corporation is now headquartered in Trinity, North Carolina.

26 Joel who once played Wyatt Earp in film : MCCREA

The legendary Western gunfighter and lawman Wyatt Earp has been portrayed on the big and small screen many, many times. Kevin Costner played the title role in 1994’s “Wyatt Earp”, and Val Kilmer played Earp in 2012’s “The First Ride of Wyatt Earp”. Joel McCrea had the part in 1955’s “Wichita”, and Kurt Russell was Earp in 1993’s “Tombstone”. James Garner played Earp twice, in 1967’s “Hour of the Gun” and 1988’s “Sunset”.

27 France’s ___ de Loire : VAL

The Loire is the longest river in France. It is so long that it drains one-fifth of the nation’s land mass. The Loire rises in the southeast, in the Cevennes mountain range, then heads north then due west, emptying into the Bay of Biscay at the city of Nantes. The Loire Valley is home to some of France’s most famous wine production, and includes the wine regions of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and Muscadet. It is also home to some of the nation’s most spectacular châteaux. There are over 300 castles along the river, built by French kings and their courtiers.

28 African capital on its own gulf : TUNIS

Tunis is the capital of Tunisia, and gives the country her name. Tunis is on the Mediterranean coast, and is located just a few miles from the site of ancient Carthage.

31 Iconic 28-Across player : SCHROEDER
[28A Plastic keys? : TOY PIANO]

Schroeder is a favorite character of mine in the comic strip “Peanuts”. He is a young boy who constantly plays a toy piano, especially pieces by Beethoven. Schroeder is also the subject of an extreme infatuation by young Lucy van Pelt, who often leans on his piano and looks at him adoringly as he plays.

37 Part of X-X-X : TAC

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

40 Row house? : EMBASSY

Most of the embassies and diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C. are located in a section of Massachusetts Avenue. As a result, that section of the thoroughfare earned the nickname “Embassy Row”. Some embassies and diplomatic buildings occupy buildings in nearby streets, and so the term “Embassy Row” can be extended to include a whole neighborhood.

44 Senator, e.g., in brief : NHL’ER

The Senators are the NHL hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada. The current team, founded in the 1992-93 season, is the second NHL team in the city to use the name “Senators”. The original team was founded in 1917, and had a very successful run until the league expanded into the US in the late twenties. The cost of operating in what became the smallest NHL city eventually drove the Senators to St. Louis where they played for a year as the Eagles before finally folding.

46 Harvard or Cambridge grad : CANTAB

The term “Cantabrigian” is used for things pertaining to the city of Cambridge. Often, the term is narrowed to refer to things associated with Cambridge University in particular. “Cantabrigian” comes from the Latin “Cantabrigia”, the medieval name for the city, from the Anglo-Saxon name “Cantebrigge”. The term is frequently shortened to “Cantab”.

49 Laughable : INANE

Our word “inane” meaning “silly, lacking substance” comes from the Latin “inanitis” meaning “empty space”.

50 Classic music label whose name consists entirely of musical notes : DECCA

Decca Records started out in 1929 as a British record label. The US branch of Decca was opened up in 1934, but the UK and US entities went their separate ways starting in WWII. Famously, Decca turned down a chance to record the Beatles in 1962 taking the position “Guitar groups are on the way out”. That said, Decca did sign the Rolling Stones.

54 Actress Campbell : NEVE

Neve Campbell is a Canadian actress whose big break in the movies came with the “Scream” horror film series, in which she had a leading role. I don’t do horror films, so I haven’t seen any of the “Scream” movies. Nor have I seen the TV series “Party of Five” that launched the acting careers of both Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt in the nineties.

56 Memorial Day weekend event, familiarly : INDY

The Indianapolis 500 race is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race is run around a 2.5 mile oval, hence requiring 200 laps for completion. The first Indy 500 race was held on Memorial Day in 1911. The winner that day was one Ray Harroun. Harroun had seen someone using a rear view mirror on a horse-drawn vehicle, and decided to fit one on his Marmon “Wasp” motor car. Supposedly, that was the first ever use of a rear-view mirror on a motor vehicle.

59 Airport at one end of the Kennedy Expwy. : ORD

The IATA airport code for O’Hare International in Chicago is ORD, which comes from Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field (OR-D).

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Something to help you see where you’re going : STREET MAP
10 Sister brand of Mazola : ARGO
14 Classic cars that rivaled the Ford Maverick and Plymouth Duster : CHEVY NOVAS
16 Attention-getting cry : LOOK!
17 Bag of tricks : REPERTOIRE
18 Quite a blast? : GALE
19 Slightly leading : UP ONE
20 Fodder for some miners : DATA
21 Current event? : EDDY
22 ___-Einstein condensate, the so-called “fifth state of matter” : BOSE
23 Was hard to understand, in a way : SLURRED
25 Where an eye test may be given, in brief : DMV
28 Plastic keys? : TOY PIANO
29 Lead-in to card or credit : DIS-
32 Spicy, in a way : CAJUN
34 Diacritic over the “r” in “Dvořák” : HACEK
35 Apple ___ : INC
36 Wouldn’t release : CLUNG TO
38 “That will be ___ the set of sun”: Shak. : ERE
39 Heavens : ETHER
41 Twine fiber : SISAL
42 Light line : RAY
43 Plagues : TORMENTS
45 U.S. health org. : CDC
47 Big wheels : POO-BAHS
48 Its first scene is set near Memphis : AIDA
52 Something to think about : IDEA
53 Name hidden in “call an audible” : LANA
56 Laura of “ER” : INNES
57 Some arena illumination, for short : LEDS
58 Something that good speakers make with audiences : EYE CONTACT
60 Sediment : LEES
61 Show first performed during 1994’s Eurovision Song Contest : RIVERDANCE
62 Getting around easily : SPRY
63 Sweet, lovable sort : TEDDY BEAR

Down

1 No first-stringer : SCRUB
2 It ends near Venice : THE PO
3 Some consequences for defaulting : REPOS
4 Made fair : EVENED
5 ___ Square, rhyming attraction in the city center of Galway, Ireland : EYRE
6 Boomer, for short? : TNT
7 Climate : MOOD
8 Footwear brand : AVIA
9 Blended numbers : PART SONGS
10 Camus’s birthplace : ALGERIA
11 Grand Prix competitor, e.g. : ROAD RACER
12 Prosperous period : GOLDEN ERA
13 “You got it!” : OKEY DOKEY!
15 Company for a king or queen : SEALY
24 Confirm : UPHOLD
26 Joel who once played Wyatt Earp in film : MCCREA
27 France’s ___ de Loire : VAL
28 African capital on its own gulf : TUNIS
29 Products touted in some email scams : DIET PILLS
30 No longer able to get out : IN TOO DEEP
31 Iconic 28-Across player : SCHROEDER
33 “C’mon, tell us!” : JUST SAY IT!
37 Part of X-X-X : TAC
40 Row house? : EMBASSY
44 Senator, e.g., in brief : NHL’ER
46 Harvard or Cambridge grad : CANTAB
49 Laughable : INANE
50 Classic music label whose name consists entirely of musical notes : DECCA
51 New York ___ (purple bloom) : ASTER
54 Actress Campbell : NEVE
55 Crushed : ACED
56 Memorial Day weekend event, familiarly : INDY
59 Airport at one end of the Kennedy Expwy. : ORD

21 thoughts on “0331-23 NY Times Crossword 31 Mar 23, Friday”

  1. 1:01:46, no errors. Simply finishing today felt like a triumph. Spent about 20 minutes pounding my head on a mostly empty SW corner. Once DIET PILLS became apparent, the rest came quickly.
    I’ve always considered ‘Classic Cars’ to be more valuable today than when new. I wouldn’t categorize NOVAS, Dusters and Mavericks as classic.

    1. I used to think like this, but found different. As defined, a “Classic” car is a function of age than it is of perceived value. The market generally bounces all over the place anyway depending on the state of the economy. Besides, you never know what people get interested in, too. The named cars in the clues and answers actually do have a fair amount of interest.

      To wit, the last 2 vehicles I’ve owned (counting the one I’m in) would be considered “classic cars” by definition simply because of age, and the one I’m in has so little mileage/age it’s considered hot in the market (I get offers every time I set foot in a dealership – usually I just reply that they can’t offer one with my favorite feature: “I don’t have to make any payments!”). And I was definitely surprised that there is enough interest in these that there are car clubs around devoted to them.

      You never know what is valuable until you dig deeper. (Last shock of mine in that regard being that people will pay good money for old shoes in decent/new condition.)

  2. 26:11, no errors. Quite the tussle, all the way, punctuated by break-through moments (like suddenly remembering “hacek”, which gave me a welcome boost in that corner). A memorable puzzle! … 🤪.

  3. 36:52. A couple of errors GALa/OKaYDOKEY instead of GALE/OKEYDOKEY. Sorta works my way…A Gala is a blast, e.g.

    Liked how they worked TOY PIANO and SCHROEDER together. That was a big layup for me.

    BOSE Einstein – the fifth state of matter – occurs at or near absolute zero when matter can be described by a wave function as it becomes a single quantum entity. It’s a lot more complicated than that, but that’s it in a nutshell. It’s confusing to me because it’s as if fermions become bosons – that’s how I see it – but that’s not actually what happens.

    Best –

  4. My print copy of NYT had the clue for 34 Across as:

    Diacritic over a letter that looks like an upside-down “v”

    a HACEK does not look like that!

    1. Same here! I was so confused because I had thought the answer was “caret”, which fit and had two correct letters for the fill. Really threw the top right corner off for me.

  5. And the Seattle Times version had “Slavic diacritic”….

    26:32, no errors for those that really want to know. Heard about this one coming and was looking forward to it for five weeks, and I have to say it’s one of the rare times I haven’t been disappointed by a crossword when I’ve gotten “up” for doing one.

  6. Time: 103:46
    Square errs: 1
    I went with TOC instead of TIC. Almost guessed TIC, but I was not sure if it was SISOL or SISIL.

    The lower right section was a bitch. Much of the time elapsed was tacked onto the end wresting with that bastard. I said the hell with, started from scratch and entered my most likely right answer,Spry, then Idea, then, after an aha moment with IN TOO DEEP, and the rest of the corner fell.

    1. lower left. I don’t know which way is up or down after busting bones in my head on that puzzle; scuse the mixed metaphors time to shut up and hit the sack.

  7. Like others, lower left was what held me up.

    I felt at times I was way out of my league on this one but little by little “things” started to come to me.
    I still had a few errors but I felt good overall. Missed BOSE and THEPO by one letter. Had BASE and THEPA. I see Jeff gave an explanation for BOSE theory. But I’m not sure what THEPO is?

    Then I missed HACEK and ALGERIA. Had ALTERIO and HOCEK.

    I got CANTAB but who or what is that?? Looks like a very regional thing.

    Without MCCREA clue, I would have been sunk on that left side. It was completely blank for a long time. Just kept pecking away. MAC to INC. DREG to LEES.
    I enjoyed it.

  8. Rereading the post I rattled off past my bedtime, in the light of day I see I confused TAC with TOC. It did register that X-X-X referred to TIC-TAC-TOE but I confused it with TIC-TOC and answered TOC.

    Dave said this was memorable one. I can say that’s true for me. Still got it on the brain the next day. I thought I was toast with less than 1/2 done. Personally for my skill level even at over 100 minutes and one square in error it was an adrenaline rush LOL.

    1. I sometimes resort to brute force i.e. zeroing in on one square and cycling through the alphabet.

      I make it sound like an ordeal it’s all in good fun.

  9. @Anon Mike-

    2D refers to the river Po and reflects one of my biggest crossword bugaboos. Answer should have THE, AN or A as part of the fill.

  10. I’ll break from the crowd and admit to troubles in the north east.
    No errors, but went from RAGU to EGGO and, finally, to ARGO which
    cleaned up the mess.

  11. P.S. I had a ’73 Nova and, no, I don’t wish I had it back. What a piece of…….

  12. Agree with Jim — quite the opposite, in fact. Not that I knew either hacek or caron.

  13. 34 across — the clue reads “…looks like an upside -down v.” A hacek does not look like an upside-down v. It definitely looks like a right-side-up v. On the other hand, a circumflex does, in fact, look like an upside-down v.

  14. This puzzle was much too tough for me. Lots of bad guesses in the north east.
    Also…
    CANTAB – sounds absurd!
    Never heard of it.
    However, LIVERPUDLIAN
    is delightful. 😁

  15. No First Stringer? The most appropriate answer for this space is B-Team. In my book a scrub is someone who didn’t make the team but became the waterboy.

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