0412-23 NY Times Crossword 12 Apr 23, Wednesday

Constructed by: Olivia Mitra Framke & Brooke Husic
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: Re the Anagrams

Themed answers each comprise three parts that are anagrams of each other:

  • 17A “Ignoring what my assistant said …”? : AIDES IDEAS ASIDE …
  • 27A What might be found outside a hipster cafeteria? : STRAY ARTSY TRAYS
  • 47A Wetsuit vis-à-vis a team triathlon? : EARLY RELAY LAYER
  • 63A Engravings, e.g.? : NOTES SET ON STONE

Bill’s time: 8m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9 Sword-wielding fighter of feudal Japan : NINJA

The ninjas were around in Japan at the time of the samurai, but were a very different type of warrior. The ninjas were covert operatives, specializing in the use of stealth to accomplish their missions. As they were a secretive cadre they took on a mystical reputation with the public, who believed they had the ability to become invisible or perhaps walk on water. We now use the term “ninja” figuratively, to describe anyone highly-skilled in a specific field.

14 “The Bluest Eye” author Morrison : TONI

“The Bluest Eye” is a 1970 novel by Toni Morrison, her first to be published. The book addresses directly some difficult subjects including incest, child molestation and racism. As a result, “The Bluest Eye” is often a target of book-banning movements.

15 Mister, in Münster : HERR

Münster is a city in the northwestern part of Germany, in the Westphalia region. Münster is noted for being the most bicycle-friendly city in the country with almost 40% of all traffic in the city being cyclists.

21 Use a tandoor, say : BAKE

A tandoor is a cylindrical clay or metal oven used in cuisines from several Asian locales, including India.

22 Soccer star Morgan : ALEX

Alex Morgan is a professional soccer player and co-captain of the US national team from 2018 to 2020. Off the pitch, Morgan is a children’s author who has written books for middle-schoolers. Her 2013 “Saving the Team” debuted at number seven on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children’s Middle Grade. Her books have been adapted into a TV show called “The Kicks”.

23 1971 documentary about Ravi Shankar : RAGA

Ravi Shankar was perhaps the most famous virtuoso (to us Westerners) from the world of Indian classical music, and was noted for his sitar playing. Shankar was the father of the pop singer Norah Jones.

27 What might be found outside a hipster cafeteria? : STRAY ARTSY TRAYS

The term “hip” is a slang term that was used in the 1930s and 1940s to mean “cool, informed about the latest ideas and styles”. By the end of the 1940s, “hipsters” were “hip” people, jazz aficionados, and people who adopted the perceived lifestyle of jazz musicians of the day. In the 1960s, the term “hippie” developed from “hipster”, to describe a member of the youth counterculture that emerged in the US.

35 Place to go in England : LOO

It has been suggested that the British term “loo”, meaning “toilet”, comes from “Waterloo” (water closet … water-loo), but no one seems to know for sure. Another suggestion is that the term comes from the card game of “lanterloo”, in which the pot was called the loo!

36 Kind of reader : TAROT

Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future. The list of tarot cards includes the Wheel of Fortune, the Hanged Man and the Lovers.

37 One of three in “To be or not to be” : IAMB

An iamb is a metrical foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The lines in William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” use five sequential iambs, e.g. “Shall I / compare / thee to / a sum- / -mer’s day?” With that sequence of five iambs, the poem’s structure is described as iambic pentameter.

There has been centuries of debate about how one interprets Hamlet’s soliloquy that begins “To be or not to be …”. My favorite opinion is that Hamlet is weighing up the pros and cons of suicide (“to not be”).

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous fortune;
Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles …

43 Sing like Nat King Cole : CROON

Nat King Cole’s real name was Nathaniel Adams Coles. Cole made television history in 1956 when his own show debuted on NBC, a first for an African-American. Cole couldn’t pick up a national sponsor, so in order to save money and possibly save the show, many guest artists worked for no fee at all – the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte and Peggy Lee. The show survived for a year, but eventually Nat King Cole had to pull the plug on it himself.

47 Wetsuit vis-à-vis a team triathlon? : EARLY RELAY LAYER

An Ironman Triathlon is a race involving a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a marathon run of just over 26 miles. The idea for the race came out of a debate between some runners in the 1977 Oahu Perimeter Relay. They were questioning whether runners, swimmers or bikers were the most fit athletes. The debaters decided to combine three local events to determine the answer, inviting athletes from all three disciplines. The events that were mimicked in the first triathlon were the Waikiki Roughwater swim (2.4 miles), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 miles) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles). The idea was that whoever finishes first would be called “the Iron Man”. The first triathlon was run in 1978, with fifteen starters and only twelve finishers. The race format is used all over the world now, but the Hawaiian Ironman is the event that everyone wants to win.

52 Animal in the Hartford’s logo : STAG

Exactly when the Hartford Stag (or Elk, or Hart) logo first appeared isn’t precisely known. The oldest extant representation of the Hartford Stag is found on a policy that the company issued to Abraham Lincoln in 1861.

The Hartford investment and insurance company was founded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1810. The company was started by a group of local merchants as a Fire Insurance Company with an initial cash injection of $15,000. The Hartford had an annual revenue of over $26 billion in 2012.

53 Pinot ___ : NOIR

The pinot noir wine grape variety takes its name from the French for “pine” and “black”. The grapes grow in tight clusters shaped like pine cones, and are very dark in color. The pinot noir grape is most closely associated with Burgundy wines in France, although in recent years the popularity (and price) of California pinot noir wine has soared after it featured so prominently in the wonderful 2004 movie “Sideways”. Grab a bottle of pinot, and go rent the movie …

54 Rebounds, e.g., informally : STAT

In basketball, a rebound (REB) is retrieval of the ball after it “rebounds” (usually off the backboard) following a missed field goal or free throw. If the offensive side recovers the ball, it’s known as an offensive rebound. If the defensive side recovers it, it is a defensive rebound.

57 Crossword puzzle component : GRID

Arthur Wynne is generally credited with the invention of what we now know as a crossword puzzle. Wynne was born in Liverpool, England and emigrated to the US when he was 19-years-old. He worked as a journalist and was living in Cedar Grove, New Jersey in 1913 when he introduced a “Word-Cross Puzzle” in his page of puzzles written for the “New York World”. The first book of crossword puzzles was published by Shuster & Shuster, in 1924. The collection of puzzles was a huge hit, and crosswords were elevated to the level of “a craze” in 1924 and 1925.

66 Musical ending of many a YouTube video : OUTRO

In the world of pop music, an outro is the opposite to an intro. An outro might perhaps be the concluding track of an album, for example.

67 Tempeh relative : TOFU

Tempeh is a soy product that originated in Indonesia. It is made from soybeans that have been partly cooked and fermented. I’ve had quite a bit of tempeh used as a meat substitute in vegetarian dishes. It doesn’t have an appealing texture to me, so I’m not a fan …

69 Orchestra section : BRASS

Not all brass instruments are made from brass, but all produce sound with the vibration of the lips. Alphorns and didgeridoos are classified as brass instruments, but are made from wood. On the other hand, saxophones are classified as woodwinds, and are made from brass.

Down

1 Some book fair organizers, for short : PTAS

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

5 Life energy : CHI

In Chinese culture, “qi” or “chi” is the life force in any living thing.

6 Snoopy’s imaginary antagonist : RED BARON

Snoopy, the famous beagle in the “Peanuts” comic strip, has a number of alter-egos and is sometimes depicted as a World War I flying ace. Snoopy’s arch-enemy in the air is Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, and Snoopy can often be seen shaking his fist and crying out, “Curse you, Red Baron!”

11 Author Gaiman : NEIL

Neil Gaiman is an English author whose works include novels, comic books and graphic novels. He has a very noteworthy friendship with musician Tori Amos. Amos has included “Neil” in the lyrics of several of her songs. In turn, Gaiman included her as a character in his comic book “The Sandman”, and Amos penned the introduction to the comic “Death: The HIgh Cost of Living”, and features on the cover.

12 Precious material frequently buried with the dead in ancient China : JADE

“Jade” is actually the name given to two different mineral rocks, both of which are used to make gemstones. The first is nephrite, a mineral with a varying degree of iron content, the more iron the greener the color. The second is jadeite, a sodium and aluminum-rich pyroxene. As well as being used for gemstones, both jade minerals can be carved into decorative pieces.

13 Visa alternative, for short : AMEX

“Amex” is short for “American Express”, the name of the financial services company that is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler’s check businesses. The company name is indicative of its original business. American Express was founded in 1850 in Buffalo, New York as an express mail service.

24 Fancy-sounding apple cultivar : GALA

Gala is the second-most popular apple cultivar in the US, after red delicious. The gala apple tree originated in New Zealand in 1930, and is a cross between a golden delicious and a Kidd’s orange red.

26 “Cousin ___ Visits the Addams Family” (1965 TV episode title) : ITT

In the television sitcom “The Addams Family”, the family had a frequent visitor named Cousin Itt. Itt is a short man with long hair that runs from his head to the floor. He was played by Italian actor Felix Silla.

They’re creepy and they’re kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They’re altogether ooky,
The Addams Family.

28 Wonder Woman accessory : TIARA

Superhero Wonder Woman first appeared in print in 1941, in a publication from DC Comics. As she was created during WWII, Wonder Woman’s first foes were the axis powers. In the less realistic world her biggest foe was and still is Ares, a “baddie” named after the Greek mythological figure. Wonder Woman had several signature expressions, including “Merciful Minerva!”, “Suffering Sappho!” and “Great Hera!”. She also has several devices that she uses in her quest for justice, e.g. the Lasso of Truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets and a tiara that can be used as a deadly projectile. Wonder Woman uses the name “Diana Prince” when “out of uniform”.

29 Tabloid tidbit : RUMOR

“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs Wellcome) for a “small tablet of medicine”, a name that goes back to 1884. The word “tabloid” had entered into general use to mean a compressed form of anything, and by the early 1900s was used in “tabloid journalism”, which described newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

30 Like the Mandarin and Punjabi languages : TONAL

In tonal languages, words that are spelled the same can be imparted with different meanings by use of inflection. The most widely spoken tonal language is Mandarin Chinese.

32 “___ Got Mail” (1998 rom-com) : YOU’VE

“You’ve Got Mail” is a 1998 romantic comedy film starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and directed by Nora Ephron. The film is an adaptation of the Miklos Laszlo play “Parfumerie”. The storyline of “Parfumerie” was also used for the movies “The Shop Around the Corner” (from 1940 starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan) and “In the Good Old Summertime” (from 1949 starring Van Johnson and Judy Garland).

38 Supportive pillows in a yoga class : BOLSTERS

Back in Ireland I often slept in beds that had a bolster as well as pillows. The bolster was usually a long, bed-wide, stuffed cushion, harder than a pillow. It served the purpose of raising the pillows, perhaps as an aid for sitting up in bed. Our modern usage of the verb “bolster”, meaning to give a metaphoric shot in the arm, derives from this “bolster” that we used to sit up against.

41 It’s used to walk the dog : YO-YO

A common yo-yo trick is to “walk the dog”. It involves spinning the yo-yo at the end of its string, and then letting the yo-yo touch the ground. The spin then causes the yo-yo to “walk” along the ground beside you, as if you are walking a dog.

49 Wetland waders : EGRETS

Egrets are a group of several species of white herons. Many egret species were faced with extinction in the 1800s and early 1900s due to plume hunting, a practice driven by the demand for egret plumes that could be incorporated into hats.

51 “The Queen of Soul” : ARETHA

Aretha Franklin was a legendary American singer, songwriter, and pianist known as the “Queen of Soul”. She had a long string of hit songs including “Respect,” “Chain of Fools,” “Think,” and “I Say a Little Prayer”. In 1987, Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

54 One unlikely to enjoy a dive bar : SNOB

We’ve been using the word “dive” in American English for a run-down bar since the latter half of the 19th century. The term comes from the fact that disreputable taverns were usually located in basements, so one had to figuratively dive into them. I’m a big fan …

56 Palindromic flour : ATTA

Atta is a whole-wheat flour used to make flatbreads in South Asian cuisine, such as chapati and naan. “Atta” is the Hindi or Urdu word for “dough”.

58 “___, am America” (Langston Hughes line of poetry) : I TOO

Langston Hughes was a poet active in the Harlem Renaissance, and someone who helped develop the literary form known as “jazz poetry”. His poem “I, Too, Sing America” was published in 1925.

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–

I, too, am America.

61 Snake eyes : ONES

“Snake eyes” is a slang term describing a roll of two dice in which one pip turns up on each die.

64 Help line? : SOS

The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots). That said, in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so “SOS” is really only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are back-formations that were introduced after the SOS signal was adopted.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “Furthermore …” : PLUS …
5 Crustacean whose species range in size from .2 inches to 12 feet : CRAB
9 Sword-wielding fighter of feudal Japan : NINJA
14 “The Bluest Eye” author Morrison : TONI
15 Mister, in Münster : HERR
16 Nonstarters? : B-TEAM
17 “Ignoring what my assistant said …”? : AIDES IDEAS ASIDE ….
20 Sound of suppressed laughter : SNORT
21 Use a tandoor, say : BAKE
22 Soccer star Morgan : ALEX
23 1971 documentary about Ravi Shankar : RAGA
25 Leave the stage : EXIT
27 What might be found outside a hipster cafeteria? : STRAY ARTSY TRAYS
34 Fourth-most-common family name in China : LIU
35 Place to go in England : LOO
36 Kind of reader : TAROT
37 One of three in “To be or not to be” : IAMB
39 Needle : ANNOY
42 Celebrity chef ___ Leith : PRUE
43 Sing like Nat King Cole : CROON
45 Year, in Portuguese : ANO
46 Old Roman word of greeting or parting : AVE
47 Wetsuit vis-à-vis a team triathlon? : EARLY RELAY LAYER
52 Animal in the Hartford’s logo : STAG
53 Pinot ___ : NOIR
54 Rebounds, e.g., informally : STAT
57 Crossword puzzle component : GRID
59 Stager’s concern : DECOR
63 Engravings, e.g.? : NOTES SET ON STONE
66 Musical ending of many a YouTube video : OUTRO
67 Tempeh relative : TOFU
68 Take to heart : HEED
69 Orchestra section : BRASS
70 Like forgiving lighting in photography : SOFT
71 “Furthermore …” : ALSO …

Down

1 Some book fair organizers, for short : PTAS
2 Body part that becomes an animal when its vowels are swapped : LOIN
3 Ctrl+Z, on a PC : UNDO
4 Mountain range, in Spanish : SIERRA
5 Life energy : CHI
6 Snoopy’s imaginary antagonist : RED BARON
7 Domain : AREA
8 Things you can hit or pump : BRAKES
9 Org. with a Sixth Man of the Year Award : NBA
10 “Don’t trust them!” : IT’S A TRAP!
11 Author Gaiman : NEIL
12 Precious material frequently buried with the dead in ancient China : JADE
13 Visa alternative, for short : AMEX
18 Collar insert : STAY
19 Slinky, say : SEXY
24 Fancy-sounding apple cultivar : GALA
26 “Cousin ___ Visits the Addams Family” (1965 TV episode title) : ITT
27 Pizza parlor purchase : SLICE
28 Wonder Woman accessory : TIARA
29 Tabloid tidbit : RUMOR
30 Like the Mandarin and Punjabi languages : TONAL
31 Wide variety : ARRAY
32 “___ Got Mail” (1998 rom-com) : YOU’VE
33 Use a wheelchair’s push rims, for instance : STEER
38 Supportive pillows in a yoga class : BOLSTERS
40 Irregularly : ON AND OFF
41 It’s used to walk the dog : YO-YO
44 Co. behind the podcast “First Person” : NYT
48 Former T-shirts, perhaps : RAGS
49 Wetland waders : EGRETS
50 Over-the-top sorts? : LIDS
51 “The Queen of Soul” : ARETHA
54 One unlikely to enjoy a dive bar : SNOB
55 Trip with many stops : TOUR
56 Palindromic flour : ATTA
58 “___, am America” (Langston Hughes line of poetry) : I TOO
60 Screenwriter/actress Michaela : COEL
61 Snake eyes : ONES
62 Ctrl+Y, on a PC : REDO
64 Help line? : SOS
65 Superfan : NUT

9 thoughts on “0412-23 NY Times Crossword 12 Apr 23, Wednesday”

  1. 15:00. Took me way too long to realize what was happening with the theme. Clever construction, I’ll admit.

    I always found GALA apples too sweet for me. I prefer jazz apples, but they’re hard to find during parts of the year – particularly late summer. They have a little tang to them that livens them up.

    Off to my home town of St. Louis for a few days.

    Best –

  2. 20:52, no errors. Had the most difficulty in the SE and SW corners. First time hearing the name COEL.

  3. 20:01, no errors. I struggled with this a bit today. Now it’s time to pack up from my 2 months in Hawaii and head back to the Snow country. Brrr…

  4. Got the theme… but how about some of those crosses.
    COEL? PRUE? NEIL? ALEX?

    gotta get those 4 letter unknowns in there somewhere!!!

  5. 26:18 no errors.
    Soccer player, Alex who? No clue but for the crosses.

    Cmon. Enough said.

    1. She co-captained the United States women’s national soccer team with Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe from 2018 to 2020.

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