Constructed by: Alina Abidi & Matthew Stock
Edited by: Will Shortz
Not your puzzle? Try today’s …
… syndicated NY Times crossword
Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Animal-Gait
Themed answers each comprise an animal and a gait:
- 13A Corporate grind : RAT RACE
- 28A Aquatic migration sometimes aided by a fabricated ladder : SALMON RUN
- 43A Ballroom dance in 4/4 time : FOXTROT
- 45A Platform at the center of a fashion show : CATWALK
- 54A Core-building exercise that starts on all fours : BEAR CRAWL
Read on, or jump to …
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Bill’s time: 5m 49s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Frequent San Francisco weather phenomenon : FOG
Acceptable nicknames for the California city of San Francisco are “the City by the Bay” and “Fog City”. Locals usually just refer to it as “the City” and never, never “Frisco”.
4 Greek “S” : SIGMA
Sigma (Σ) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, and is the one used for an “ess” sound, equivalent to our letter S. Sigma is used in mathematics to represent a summation, the adding together of a sequence of numbers.
13 Corporate grind : RAT RACE
We use “rat race” figuratively to describe an endless, pointless pursuit. The term comes from the laboratory, where one might imagine rats racing around a maze in search of some cheese.
16 Univ. that retired Shaq’s #33 : LSU
The Tigers are the sports teams of Louisiana State University (LSU). They are officially known as the Fightin’ Tigers, and the school mascot is “Mike the Tiger”. The name comes from the days of the Civil War, when two Louisiana brigades earned the nickname the “Louisiana Tigers”. Given the French/Cajun history of Louisiana, the LSU fans use the cheer “Geaux Tigers” instead of “Go Tigers”.
18 Sticky part of a tree frog : TOE
The name “tree frog” applies to a number of frog species. As the name implies, these are frogs that spend very little time on the ground, and rather live in trees and high-growing vegetation. Tree frogs are usually very small in size, so that their weight can be borne by twigs and branches.
19 Cry in a checkers game : KING ME!
In the game of checkers, when a “man” reaches the other side of the board, it is promoted to “king”. The king is designated by placing a second piece on top of the first.
28 Aquatic migration sometimes aided by a fabricated ladder : SALMON RUN
A fish ladder is a structure built around a barrier in a river, a structure designed to allow fish to pass around that barrier. The focus is on fish that routinely swim upstream or downstream for spawning. The structure comprises a number of small steps that are easily navigated by the fish, hence the name “fish ladder”.
34 Internet pioneer with a purple logo : YAHOO!
Jerry Yang and David Filo called their company “Yahoo!” for two reasons. Firstly, a Yahoo is a rude unsophisticated brute from Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”. Secondly, Yahoo stands for “Yet another Hierarchical Officious Oracle”.
35 Handled the tunes at a party, say : DJ’ED
The world’s first radio disc jockey (DJ) was one Ray Newby of Stockton, California who made his debut broadcast in 1909, would you believe? When he was 16 years old and a student, Newby started to play his records on a primitive radio located in the Herrold College of Engineering and Wireless in San Jose. The records played back then were mostly recordings of Enrico Caruso.
41 Bit of udon or ramen : NOODLE
Udon noodles are made from wheat-flour and are very popular in Japanese cuisines such as tempura.
Ramen is a noodle dish composed of Chinese-style wheat noodles in a meat or fish broth flavored with soy or miso sauce. Ramen is usually topped with sliced pork and dried seaweed. The term “ramen” is also used for precooked, instant noodles that come in single-serving, solid blocks.
43 Ballroom dance in 4/4 time : FOXTROT
The foxtrot is smooth and flowing like a waltz, but in 4/4 time as opposed to 3/4. The dance is named for the vaudeville dancer Harry Fox, who popularized it in the early 1900s.
45 Platform at the center of a fashion show : CATWALK
In the world of fashion, the runway or catwalk is a platform used by models to show their clothes. The platform usually projects into the audience.
46 “Casual” workday: Abbr. : FRI
The practice of dressing down at work on “Casual Fridays” arose at the end of the 20th century. The custom is rooted in the tradition known as “Aloha Friday” that started in Hawaii in 1966. The official designation of Aloha Friday was the result of a successful lobbying campaign by the manufacturing association known as the Hawaiian Fashion Guild.
47 “Got milk?” and “I’m lovin’ it,” for two : SLOGANS
The “got milk?” advertising campaign was funded originally by the California Milk Processor Board and later by milk processors and dairy farmers. The “got milk?” ads encourage us to drink cow’s milk, and lots of it.
The McDonald’s brand slogan “i’m lovin’ it” was developed by an ad agency in Munich, and was launched in Germany in 2003 as “ich liebe es”.
52 Fair/foul caller : 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.
Down
1 Kind of music that may feature a mandolin : FOLK
A mandolin is a stringed instrument in the lute family. There is also a mandola, a similar instrument that is a little larger. In fact, “mandolin” comes from the Italian word for “little mandola”.
2 Rest spot for a camel : OASIS
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of a camel is the large deposit of fatty tissue on its back. The dromedary is the most common camel, and has one hump of fatty tissue on its back. The Bactrian camel has two humps, and makes up just 6% of the world’s camel population. Those fatty humps are useful if no food or water is available, as fat can be broken down into water and energy.
5 “___ a bird! ___ a plane! ___ Superman!” : IT’S
Here’s a famous line from the “Superman” television show from the fifties:
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. it’s Superman!
6 Future Ph.D.’s test : GRE
Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.
7 Goat’s bleat : MAA!
Male goats are bucks or billies, although castrated males are known as wethers. Female goats are does or nannies, and young goats are referred to as kids.
8 Org. supporting individual rights : ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has its roots in the First World War. It grew out of the National Civil Liberties Bureau (CLB) that was founded to provide legal advice and support to conscientious objectors. The ACLU’s motto is “Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself”. The ACLU also hosts a blog on the ACLU.org website called “Speak Freely”.
9 “Veni, vidi, vici” language : LATIN
The oft-quoted statement “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) is believed by many to have been written by Julius Caesar. The words date back to 47 BCE and refer to the short war between Rome and Pharnaces II of Pontus.
13 Afro-Cuban ballroom dance : RUMBA
The rumba (sometimes “rhumba”) is a Cuban dance, with influences brought by African slaves and Spanish colonists. The name “rumba” comes from “rumbo”, the Spanish word for “party, spree”.
14 College sports channel : ESPNU
ESPNU (short for “ESPN Universities”) is a sports channel focused on college athletics.
20 Psychologically manipulated, in a way : GASLIT
“Gaslight” is a 1944 film starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer that is a remake of the 1938 play called “Gas Light”. Boyer plays an evil husband who manipulates his wife, played by Bergman, into thinking that she is going insane. We’ve been using the verb “gaslighting” colloquially since the 1960’s to describe such manipulation. The verb comes from the title of the film.
24 Hybrid fighting sport, for short : MMA
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport in which competitors use a variety of techniques from a variety of traditional combat sports and martial arts.
26 Musician Yoko : ONO
Yoko Ono was born in 1933 in Tokyo into a prosperous Japanese family, and is actually a descendant of one of the emperors of Japan. Yoko’s father moved around the world for work, and she lived the first few years of her life in San Francisco. The family returned to Japan, before moving on to New York, Hanoi and back to Japan just before WWII, in time to live through the great firebombing of Tokyo in 1945. Immediately after the war the family was far from prosperous. While Yoko’s father was being held in a prison camp in Vietnam, her mother had to resort to begging and bartering to feed her children. When her father was repatriated, life started to return to normal and Yoko was able to attend university. She was the first woman to be accepted into the philosophy program of Gakushuin University.
29 Disinfectant spray brand : LYSOL
Lysol disinfectant takes its name from the words “lysosome” and “solvent”. Lysosomes are structures found within cells that have the job of breaking up waste material and cellular debris.
30 Investigative reporter Farrow : RONAN
Ronan Farrow is a former US government advisor in the Obama administration who hosted “Ronan Farrow Daily” on MSNBC from 2014 to 1025. He is the son of actress Mia Farrow and filmmaker Woody Allen. Ronan is estranged from his father, ever since Allen started a relationship with Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, who is now Allen’s wife.
31 Social blunder : GAFFE
Our word “gaffe”, meaning “social blunder”, comes from the French “gaffe” meaning “clumsy remark”, although it originally was a word describing a boat hook. The exact connection between a boat hook and a blunder seems to be unclear.
32 Soap that’s said to be “99 44/100% pure” : IVORY
Ivory soap is one of Procter & Gamble’s oldest products, introduced way back in 1879. Ivory soap is noted for its “purity” and also because of its property of floating in water. Despite urban myths to the contrary, the property of floating in water was developed deliberately by a chemist at the time Ivory was being formulated. The soap floats because the ingredients are mixed longer than necessary for homogenization, which introduces more air into the product.
33 Renée Zellweger’s role in “Chicago” : ROXIE
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 …
The 2002 musical film “Chicago” is based on the 1975 stage musical of the same name, which in turn is based on a 1926 play, also of the same name. 2002’s “Chicago” was a big hit, and was the first musical to win the Best Picture Oscar since “Oliver!” in 1968.
Renée Zellweger’s big break came with the 1996 movie “Jerry Maguire”. A few years later, Zellweger followed that up with a string of successes in “Bridget Jones’ Diary” (2001), “Chicago” (2002) and “Cold Mountain” (2003). My wife and I love watching her play Bridget Jones, and as someone coming from Britain and Ireland, I have to say that Zellweger does a remarkable job with the accent. She worked hard to perfect that accent, and of course she had a voice coach. She also went “undercover” and worked as a temp in an office for three weeks fine-tuning her skills.
36 Matchmaking site with a “Willing to Convert” profile option : JDATE
Spark Networks is a company that owns several special-interest dating sites online. The most famous is probably ChristianMingle.com, but there is also BlackSingles.com, LDSSingles.com, JDate.com and CatholicMingle.com.
37 Comic DeGeneres : ELLEN
Ellen DeGeneres is a very, very successful TV personality, having parlayed her career in stand-up comedy into lucrative gigs as an actress and talk show host. Back in 1997 DeGeneres chose the “Oprah Winfrey Show” to announce that she was a lesbian. Her character on “The Ellen Show” also came out as a lesbian in a scene with her therapist, who was played by Oprah Winfrey. Nice twist!
38 Faked out, in hockey : DEKED
A deke, also known as a dangle, is a technique used to get past an opponent in ice hockey. “Deke” is a colloquial shortening of the word “decoy”.
40 Jekyll and Pepper, for two: Abbr. : DRS
Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was published in 1886. There are many tales surrounding the writing of the story, including that the author wrote the basic tale in just three to six days, and spent a few weeks simply refining it. Allegedly, Stevenson’s use of cocaine stimulated his creative juices during those few days of writing.
Dr Pepper was introduced in 1885 in Waco, Texas, one year before the competing Coca-Cola was released to the market. I spent an entertaining few hours at the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco a few years ago. And, note the lack of a period after “Dr”.
42 Play periods after the buzzer, informally : OTS
Overtime (OT)
44 Many a Times Square visitor : TOURIST
Times Square in New York City isn’t a square at all, but rather a triangle. When the New York Times newspaper opened new headquarters in the area in 1904, the city agreed to the name “Times Square”, changing it from Longacre Square.
45 Kind of salad made with fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil : CAPRESE
A Caprese salad (“insalata caprese” in Italian) is a relatively simple, but delicious, salad comprising sliced mozzarella and tomatoes, with sweet basil and seasoned with salt and olive oil. It is thought the dish originated on the island of Capri, hence the name “Caprese”. I am a huge fan …
48 Detroit-based truck maker : GMC
GMC is a division of General Motors (GM) that was established in 1901 and started out as “GMC Truck”.
51 Arizona athlete, for short : D-BACK
The Arizona Diamondbacks (also “D-backs”) joined Major League Baseball’s National League in 1998. By winning the World Series in 2001, the Diamondbacks became the fastest expansion team to do so in Major League history.
57 “___ for All Seasons” : A MAN
“A Man for All Seasons” is a 1966 biographical drama movie that is based on a 1960 play of the same name by Robert Bolt. It tells the story of Sir Thomas More, a Lord Chancellor of England who fell foul of King Henry VIII when he refused to ask the Pope to annul the King’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He later refused to sign the Oath of Supremacy, declaring Henry VIII Supreme Head of the Church of England. As a result, More was beheaded. In the 1966 film, More is played by Paul Schofield, and King Henry VIII by Robert Shaw. The impressive supporting cast includes Leo McKern,. Orson Welles, Susannah York, Nigel Davenport, John Hurt and Vanessa Redgrave.
60 Gold, in Granada : ORO
Granada is a city and province in Andalusia in the south of Spain. Granada should not be confused with Grenada (note the different spelling), an island nation in the Caribbean that was invaded by the US in 1983.
63 On the ___ (fleeing) : LAM
To be on the lam is to be in flight, to have escaped from prison. “On the lam” is American slang that originated at the end of the 19th century. The word “lam” also means “beat” or “thrash”, as in “lambaste”. So “on the lam” might derive from the phrase “to beat it, scram”.
64 Radiologist’s scan, for short : MRI
An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine uses powerful magnetic fields to generate images that can be used by medical professionals to diagnose injury and disease.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Frequent San Francisco weather phenomenon : FOG
4 Greek “S” : SIGMA
9 “Buckle up! It’s the ___” : LAW
12 Rower’s implement : OAR
13 Corporate grind : RAT RACE
15 Drink hidden in “tea leaves” : ALE
16 Univ. that retired Shaq’s #33 : LSU
17 Opens, as an awards show envelope : UNSEALS
18 Sticky part of a tree frog : TOE
19 Cry in a checkers game : KING ME!
21 Against the direction of a gust : UPWIND
23 Shot in the dark : STAB
24 Cow’s sound : MOO!
27 This clue’s number divided by three : NINE
28 Aquatic migration sometimes aided by a fabricated ladder : SALMON RUN
31 “The ___ on the Train” (2015 best-selling novel) : GIRL
34 Internet pioneer with a purple logo : YAHOO!
35 Handled the tunes at a party, say : DJ’ED
39 Shirks : AVOIDS
41 Bit of udon or ramen : NOODLE
43 Ballroom dance in 4/4 time : FOXTROT
45 Platform at the center of a fashion show : CATWALK
46 “Casual” workday: Abbr. : FRI
47 “Got milk?” and “I’m lovin’ it,” for two : SLOGANS
49 Crew-necked shirt, informally : TEE
50 Got a good look at : EYED
52 Fair/foul caller : UMP
53 Command that may be accompanied by a “whoosh” sound : SEND
54 Core-building exercise that starts on all fours : BEAR CRAWL
59 “Same here” : SO HAVE I
62 “Shoot over a message sometime” : EMAIL ME
66 Food purveyors : GROCERS
67 Sculptures made at the beach, say : SAND ART
68 Bun worn high on the head : TOPKNOT
69 Native (to) : ENDEMIC
Down
1 Kind of music that may feature a mandolin : FOLK
2 Rest spot for a camel : OASIS
3 Pig’s sound : GRUNT
4 Clearheaded : SANE
5 “___ a bird! ___ a plane! ___ Superman!” : IT’S
6 Future Ph.D.’s test : GRE
7 Goat’s bleat : MAA!
8 Org. supporting individual rights : ACLU
9 “Veni, vidi, vici” language : LATIN
10 Without company : ALONE
11 Unwanted plant in a garden : WEED
13 Afro-Cuban ballroom dance : RUMBA
14 College sports channel : ESPNU
20 Psychologically manipulated, in a way : GASLIT
22 Skylight, e.g. : WINDOW
24 Hybrid fighting sport, for short : MMA
25 “I’m intrigued!” : OOH!
26 Musician Yoko : ONO
29 Disinfectant spray brand : LYSOL
30 Investigative reporter Farrow : RONAN
31 Social blunder : GAFFE
32 Soap that’s said to be “99 44/100% pure” : IVORY
33 Renée Zellweger’s role in “Chicago” : ROXIE
36 Matchmaking site with a “Willing to Convert” profile option : JDATE
37 Comic DeGeneres : ELLEN
38 Faked out, in hockey : DEKED
40 Jekyll and Pepper, for two: Abbr. : DRS
42 Play periods after the buzzer, informally : OTS
44 Many a Times Square visitor : TOURIST
45 Kind of salad made with fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil : CAPRESE
48 Detroit-based truck maker : GMC
51 Arizona athlete, for short : D-BACK
53 Slip and ___ : SLIDE
55 Balanced : EVEN
56 Prefix with dynamic : AERO-
57 “___ for All Seasons” : A MAN
58 Magician’s stick : WAND
59 Lowish mil. rank : SGT
60 Gold, in Granada : ORO
61 Little jump : HOP
63 On the ___ (fleeing) : LAM
64 Radiologist’s scan, for short : MRI
65 And so on: Abbr. : ETC
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3 thoughts on “0501-23 NY Times Crossword 1 May 23, Monday”
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10:34, no errors. A little slow for a Monday. Bogged down trying to make DEVIL work in 51D, before finally getting DBACK.
8:38, no errors. Slow for me, too.
7:02. A little late today. Seems like I’ve taken almost 2 days to find time to do a Monday puzzle.
FWIW I spent 35 minutes doing David Steinberg’s puzzle on Saturday and 46 minutes doing the Sunday puzzle yesterday. Clever theme in that one.
Best –