Constructed by: Grant Boroughs
Edited by: Will Shortz
Not your puzzle? Try today’s …
… syndicated NY Times crossword
Today’s Theme (according to Bill): The ending, that is “S”
Themed answers are words ending in -IES, but parsed as two words:
- 17A “It’s worth only 20 cents,” “It has Abe Lincoln on it” and others? : QUARTER LIES
- 26A Flute-playing Greek god makes an effort? : PAN TRIES
- 40A Terse summary of Alec d’Urberville’s fate? (spoiler alert!) : CAD DIES
- 53A Peel the apples, roll out the dough, turn the oven on, etc.? : PREP PIES
- 65A Neckwear reserved for fancy occasions? : SPECIAL TIES
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Bill’s time: 8m 38s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Florida city nicknamed the “Big Guava” : TAMPA
The Florida city of Tampa has been known as “the Big Guava” since the seventies. The term is imitative of New York’s “Big Apple”, and refers to the unsuccessful search for the reported wild guava trees that were once hoped to be the basis of a new industry for the area. Tampa has also been called “Cigar City”, a reference to the cigar industry that fueled the area’s growth starting in the 1880s.
6 Finnish telecom giant : NOKIA
I do enjoy classical guitar music, but there isn’t a huge choice on CD. There is one very special piece called “Gran Vals” by Francisco Tárrega, written in 1902. This piece has a unique reputation as it contains a phrase that was once the most listened-to piece of music in the whole world. Just a few bars into the work one can hear the celebrated Nokia ringtone!
11 Ruler divs. : CMS
Centimeter (cm.)
16 “You’ve got mail” co. : AOL
The iconic phrase “You’ve got mail” was first used by AOL in 1989. The greeting was recorded by voice actor Elwood Edwards. Edwards has parlayed his gig with AOL into some other work. He appears in an episode of “The Simpsons” as a doctor who says the line “You’ve got leprosy”. Edwards also worked as a weatherman for a while and got to use the line “You’ve got hail” …
17 “It’s worth only 20 cents,” “It has Abe Lincoln on it” and others? : QUARTER LIES
The American quarter is a little unusual in the world of decimal currency, if you think about it. Most currencies have a “20-cent” coin, which is easier to work with mathematically. The US went for the quarter in deference to the practice of dividing Spanish Milled Dollars into eight wedge-shaped “bits”. That’s also why the quarter is sometimes referred to as “two bits”. We’ve been using the adjective “two-bit” to mean “cheap, tawdry” at least since 1929. State quarters were introduced in 1999.
19 “___ bien” : MUY
In Spanish, something might be described as “muy bien” (very good).
21 Crime genre : NOIR
The expression “film noir” has French origins, but only in that it was coined by a French critic in describing a style of Hollywood film. The term, meaning “black film” in French, was first used by Nino Frank in 1946. Film noir often applies to a movie with a melodramatic plot and a private eye or detective at its center. Good examples would be “The Big Sleep” and “D.O.A”.
22 Actor Omar : EPPS
Actor Omar Epps was originally a rapper and was a member of a group called “Wolfpack” before he pursued acting full-time. Epps’ really big break came in the form of a recurring role on the popular medical drama series “ER”, followed by a recurring role in the TV series “House” as Dr. Eric Foreman.
24 Greasy spoon, e.g. : EATERY
“Greasy spoon” is a familiar term describing a restaurant, usually a diner, that is less than pristine and that serves cheap food.
26 Flute-playing Greek god makes an effort? : PAN TRIES
Pan flutes (also “panpipes”) are folk instruments that have been around a long time, and are believed to be the first mouth organs. The pan flute is named for the Greek god Pan, who was often depicted playing the instrument.
29 Combustible rock : COAL
Coal forms from peat that is subject to heat and pressure deep in the ground over millions of years. The peat is dead plant matter from former wetlands that we now refer to as “coal forests”.
32 Part of a coat of arms : CREST
Back in the mid-1300s, a coat of arms literally was a coat, a tunic embroidered with heraldic symbols that was often worn over armor. This usage also gave us the term “turncoat”, which described someone who turned his coat inside-out in order to hide his badge of loyalty.
39 “Rooster” that’s not a rooster : HEN
The term “rooster” dates back to the late 1700s, and is used to describe an adult male chicken, primarily here in the US. “Rooster” originated as an alternative to “cock”, as puritans objected to the association with the slang usage of the latter term.
40 Terse summary of Alec d’Urberville’s fate? (spoiler alert!) : CAD DIES
In Thomas Hardy’s novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, the heroine and title character is Tess Durbeyfield. Her father is an uneducated peasant and when he hears that his name is a corruption of the noble name of “D’Urberville”, the news goes to his head.
61 1990s “Weekend Update” host Macdonald : NORM
Norm Macdonald is a standup comedian from Quebec City who is perhaps best known as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” starting in 1993. He also had his own sitcom called “The Norm Show” that ran on ABC from 1999 to 2001.
“Weekend Update” is the longest-running of any recurring sketch on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). In fact, the segment made its debut on the very first show, back in 1975. The first “anchor” at the “Weekend Update” desk was Chevy Chase.
69 Half of a 1960s folk quartet : MAMAS
The folk group called the Magic Circle renamed itself to the Mamas and the Papas in the early sixties. Sadly, the Mamas and the Papas weren’t a happy bunch, always fighting over who was getting credit for songs and whose voice was getting mixed out of recordings, so they split up, twice. While they were together though, they wrote and recorded some great songs, songs which really do epitomize the sound of the sixties. “Monday, Monday” was written by John Phillips, one of “the Papas”, and it was to become the only number one hit for the group. Here’s a shocker … when it hit number one in 1966, it was the first time that a group made up of both sexes topped the American charts!
71 Nasdaq currency: Abbr. : USD
The dollar sign ($) was first used for the Spanish-American peso, in the late 18th century. The peso was also called the “Spanish dollar” (and “piece of eight”). The Spanish dollar was to become a model for the US dollar that was adopted in 1785, along with the dollar sign.
The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) no longer exists per se. Since 2007, its functions are carried out by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). These functions include regulation of trading in equities, bonds, futures and options. In 1971, the NASD set up a new computerized trading system called the NASD Automated Quotations stock market, a system we know better by the acronym NASDAQ.
73 Fall guy : PATSY
The etymology of the word “patsy” meaning “fall guy” isn’t really understood. One colorful theory suggests that the term comes from an 1890s vaudeville character named Patsy Bolivar. Patsy always got the blame when something went wrong.
Down
1 Headwear for a chef : TOQUE
A toque was a brimless style of hat that was very fashionable in Europe in the 13th to 16th centuries. Nowadays we associate toques with chefs, as it is the name given to a chef’s hat (called a “toque blanche” in French, a “white hat”). A chef’s toque is quite interesting. Many toques have exactly 100 pleats, often said to signify the number of ways that an egg can be cooked.
2 Honda’s luxury brand : ACURA
Acura is a luxury vehicle brand produced by the Japanese automaker Honda. Acura was the first Japanese luxury car brand to be introduced to the US, in 1986. The Acura Legend and Acura Integra were the first two models released.
4 Units of distance erroneously mentioned as units of time by Han Solo : PARSECS
A parsec is a measure of length or distance used in astronomy. One parsec is equal to about 19.2 trillion miles.
5 Aardvark’s prey : ANT
The aardvark is the oddest looking of creatures, and a nocturnal burrowing animal that is native to Africa. Even though it is sometimes called the African ant bear, the name “aardvark” is Afrikaans for “earth pig”. Aardvarks are noted, among other things, for their unique teeth. Their teeth have no enamel and wear away quite readily, but continuously regrow. The aardvark feeds mainly on ants and termites.
6 Infamous emperor : NERO
Nero was Emperor of Rome from 54 to 68 CE, and he had quite the family life. When he was just 16-years-old Nero married his step-sister Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.
7 Yellow primrose : OXLIP
The plant known as the oxlip is more properly called Primula elatior. The oxlip is often confused with its similar-looking cousin, the cowslip.
8 Actress Knightley : KEIRA
English actress Keira Knightley had her big break in the movies when she co-starred in 2002’s “Bend It Like Beckham”. Knightley played one of my favorite movie roles, Elizabeth Bennett in 2005’s “Pride and Prejudice”. Knightley won a Golden Globe for that performance, although that 2005 film isn’t the best adaptation of Austen’s novel in my humble opinion …
12 Classic board game inspired by Rube Goldberg machines : MOUSE TRAP
Mouse Trap is a board game that was introduced in 1963 by the Ideal Toy Company. The game is based on drawings created by Rube Goldberg.
Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist, engineer and inventor who became famous for designing overly-complicated gadgets to perform the simplest of tasks. Goldberg produced a famous series of cartoons depicting such designs. Such was the success of his work, the Merriam-Webster dictionary accepted the phrase “Rube Goldberg” as an adjective in 1931, an adjective meaning “accomplishing something simple through complex means”.
13 ___ and the Family Stone (pioneering funk band) : SLY
Sly and the Family Stone are a rock, funk and soul band from San Francisco that’s still performing today, although their heyday was from 1966 to 1983. They were one of the first rock bands to have a racially-integrated lineup, as well as representatives of both sexes.
18 “Orinoco Flow” singer : ENYA
“Orinoco Flow” is a song by Irish singer Enya that she released in 1988. It’s the one that goes “sail away, sail away, sail away …”
25 Org. for college cadets : ROTC
The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is a training program for officers based in colleges all around the US. The ROTC program was established in 1862 when as a condition of receiving a land-grant to create colleges, the federal government required that military tactics be part of a new school’s curriculum.
27 Greek goddess of victory : NIKE
Nike was the Greek goddess of victory, and was often referred to as “the Winged Goddess of Victory”. The athletic shoe company Nike uses the “Nike swoosh” as its logo, a logo that is inspired by the goddess’ wing.
30 Mined find : LODE
A lode is a metal ore deposit that’s found between two layers of rock or in a fissure. The mother lode is the principal deposit in a mine, usually of gold or silver. “Mother lode” is probably a translation of “veta madre”, an expression used in mining in Mexico.
32 Eat like Pac-Man : CHOMP
The Pac-Man arcade game was released first in Japan in 1980, and is as popular today as it ever was. The game features characters that are maneuvered around the screen to eat up dots and earn points, while being pursued by ghosts named Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. The name of the game comes from the Japanese folk hero “Paku”, who is known for his voracious appetite. The spin-off game called Ms. Pac-Man was released in 1981.
36 Activist ___ B. Wells : IDA
Ida B. Wells was an African-American journalist and leader of the civil rights movement. She published a pamphlet in 1892 called “Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases”, which publicized the horrors of lynching of African Americans by white mobs in the South.
42 Word with song or dive : SWAN …
The phrase “swan song” is used for a final gesture, a last performance. The expression derives from an ancient belief that swans are silent for most of their lives, but sing a beautiful song just before they die.
A swan dive is one in which the diver holds the arms outspread until just before hitting the water. Over on the other side of the Atlantic, the same dive is often called a swallow dive. Sometimes we use the verb “to swan-dive” to describe something that plummets, suddenly decreases. The stock markets swan-dives every so often …
45 Equinox mo. : SEPT
An equinox is a phenomenon dictated by the tilt of the earth’s axis. Twice every year, that tilt “evens out” and the sun is equidistant from points at the same latitude both north and south of the equator. It is as if the earth has no tilt relative to the sun. The term “equinox” comes from the Latin for “equal night”, inferring that night and day are equally long, as the effect of the earth’s “tilt” is nullified. Equinoxes occur each year around March 21st (the vernal equinox) and September 23rd (the autumnal equinox).
48 Tendency to stay at rest : INERTIA
Newton’s first law of motion states that a body that is moving maintains the same velocity unless it is acted upon by an external force. That resistance to changing velocity is known as inertia. Johann Kepler introduced the Latin word “inertia” to describe the physical phenomenon in the 17th century. The Latin term translates as “apathy, inactiveness”. We started using the Latin “inertia” in English to mean the same thing only in the 19th century, after the term had bopped around in science texts for a couple of centuries.
54 “No ___ is worse than bad advice”: Sophocles : ENEMY
Sophocles was one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived. The first of these was Aeschylus, the second Sophocles, and the third Euripides. Sophocles is believed to have written 123 plays, the most famous of which are “Antigone” and “Oedipus the King”.
55 L.A. region : SOCAL
Southern California (SoCal)
57 Plot point in the “The Thomas Crown Affair” : HEIST
“The Thomas Crown Affair” is an excellent 1998 remake of the 1969 film of the same name that starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. The remake stars Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, with Faye Dunaway making a cameo appearance as Thomas Crown’s psychiatrist.
58 Some German cars : OPELS
Adam Opel founded his company in 1863, first making sewing machines in a cowshed. Commercial success brought new premises and a new product line in 1886, namely penny-farthing bicycles. Adam Opel died in 1895, leaving his two sons with a company that made more penny-farthings and sewing machines than any other company in the world. In 1899 the two sons partnered with a locksmith and started to make cars, but not very successfully. Two years later, the locksmith was dropped in favor of a licensing arrangement with a French car company. By 1914, Opel was the largest manufacturer of automobiles in Germany. My Dad had an Opel in the seventies, a station wagon (we’d say “estate car” in Ireland) called an Opel Kadett.
59 Actress Parker : POSEY
Parker Posey is an American actress who has earned the nickname “Queen of the Indies” due to her success in several indie movies. She did miss out on one mainstream role though, as she was edged out by Jennifer Aniston to play Rachel on “Friends”.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Florida city nicknamed the “Big Guava” : TAMPA
6 Finnish telecom giant : NOKIA
11 Ruler divs. : CMS
14 Terrain of which less than 10% has been mapped : OCEAN
15 Corner office types : EXECS
16 “You’ve got mail” co. : AOL
17 “It’s worth only 20 cents,” “It has Abe Lincoln on it” and others? : QUARTER LIES
19 “___ bien” : MUY
20 Decorative vases : URNS
21 Crime genre : NOIR
22 Actor Omar : EPPS
24 Greasy spoon, e.g. : EATERY
26 Flute-playing Greek god makes an effort? : PAN TRIES
29 Combustible rock : COAL
31 Sees through : IS ONTO
32 Part of a coat of arms : CREST
35 Sound from a sty : OINK!
38 Some skin-care products : SERA
39 “Rooster” that’s not a rooster : HEN
40 Terse summary of Alec d’Urberville’s fate? (spoiler alert!) : CAD DIES
43 One who’s easily fooled : SAP
44 Decides : OPTS
46 Substance, so to speak : MEAT
47 Like thin clouds : WISPY
49 To a greater degree : MORE SO
51 Digitize, as a document : SCAN
53 Peel the apples, roll out the dough, turn the oven on, etc.? : PREP PIES
56 Like some grounders in baseball : ONE-HOP
60 “Toodle-oo!” : TA-TA!
61 1990s “Weekend Update” host Macdonald : NORM
63 Seized vehicle, for short : REPO
64 So far : YET
65 Neckwear reserved for fancy occasions? : SPECIAL TIES
68 Mined find : ORE
69 Half of a 1960s folk quartet : MAMAS
70 Preferred seat assignment, to many : AISLE
71 Nasdaq currency: Abbr. : USD
72 Genre : STYLE
73 Fall guy : PATSY
Down
1 Headwear for a chef : TOQUE
2 Honda’s luxury brand : ACURA
3 Stood for : MEANT
4 Units of distance erroneously mentioned as units of time by Han Solo : PARSECS
5 Aardvark’s prey : ANT
6 Infamous emperor : NERO
7 Yellow primrose : OXLIP
8 Actress Knightley : KEIRA
9 Drink cooler : ICE
10 Net worth components : ASSETS
11 Characteristic of John Waters movies : CAMPINESS
12 Classic board game inspired by Rube Goldberg machines : MOUSE TRAP
13 ___ and the Family Stone (pioneering funk band) : SLY
18 “Orinoco Flow” singer : ENYA
23 Big-leaguers : PROS
25 Org. for college cadets : ROTC
27 Greek goddess of victory : NIKE
28 Lathered up : SOAPY
30 Mined find : LODE
32 Eat like Pac-Man : CHOMP
33 Press conference attendees : REPORTERS
34 Beseeched : ENTREATED
36 Activist ___ B. Wells : IDA
37 Trivial criticisms : NITS
41 Mine, in France : A MOI
42 Word with song or dive : SWAN …
45 Equinox mo. : SEPT
48 Tendency to stay at rest : INERTIA
50 Twitches : SPASMS
52 Unconscious state : COMA
54 “No ___ is worse than bad advice”: Sophocles : ENEMY
55 L.A. region : SOCAL
57 Plot point in the “The Thomas Crown Affair” : HEIST
58 Some German cars : OPELS
59 Actress Parker : POSEY
62 Climb : RISE
64 Pronoun that sounds like its last letter : YOU
66 ___ on the back : PAT
67 Once around the track : LAP
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6 thoughts on “0425-23 NY Times Crossword 25 Apr 23, Tuesday”
Comments are closed.
11:46, no errors. Anyone who was around in the late 70’s can’t help but think about ‘Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute’.
13:29, no errors. @BruceB, Zamfir will always be associated with the haunting rendition of The Lonely Shepherd for me.
9:55. I was amused by the theme – particularly QUARTER LIES. Evidently I’m easily amused.
Sophocles wrote “Antigone”. Couldn’t he have just called it “Here”??
Best –
14:28 You don’t want to know what I had for 54D before I corrected it to “enemy”, although I think my answer was accurate….
15:31 2 letters wrong.
A Tuesday puzzle with 11& 19A & 11D all intersecting. TYPICAL