0524-23 NY Times Crossword 24 May 23, Wednesday

Constructed by: Kavin Pawittranon & Nijah Morris
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: Pac-Man

Themed answers each start with an element from the video game Pac-Man:

  • 68A Where to find the starts of 17-, 28-, 45- and 58-Across? : PAC-MAN
  • 17A Feeding apparatus at a petting zoo : PELLET DISPENSER
  • 28A Slightest opportunity : GHOST OF A CHANCE
  • 45A Big name in underwear : FRUIT OF THE LOOM
  • 58A Rapper with the 2010 hit “No Hands” : WAKA FLOCKA FLAME

Bill’s time: 10m 15s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14 Area around a nipple : AREOLA

An areola (sometimes “areole”) in anatomy is a small ring of color, as in the areola surrounding the nipple, and the areola surrounding the pupil of the eye. “Areola” (plural “areolae”) comes from Latin, meaning “small open space”, and is a diminutive of the Latin word “area”, meaning “open space”.

21 Tiny hill-dweller : ANT

Anthills are actually underground nests. The ants in the colony excavate below ground, resulting in a pile of sand or soil above ground.

26 Rib structure : CAGE

In the human rib cage, the top seven sets of bones are known as true ribs as they are attached directly to the sternum or breastbone. The five sets below the true ribs are called false ribs as they don’t have this direct connection. The bottom two of the false ribs are also called floating ribs as they don’t connect to the sternum at all.

35 Future atty.’s exam : LSAT

Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

36 Word that can be a state abbreviation : ILL

The State of Illinois is known as “Land of Lincoln”, as well as “The Prairie State”.

38 “Sprechen ___ Deutsch?” : SIE

“Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” is German for “Do you speak German?”

41 Tina of “30 Rock” : FEY

Comic actress Tina Fey has a scar on her face a few inches long on her left cheek, which I was shocked to learn was caused by a childhood “slashing” incident. When she was just five years old and playing in the alley behind her house, someone just came up to her and slashed her with a knife. How sad!

“30 Rock” is a sitcom on NBC that was created by the show’s star Tina Fey. Fey plays an ex-performer and writer from “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) and uses her experiences on that show as a basis for the “30 Rock” storyline. Fey plays Liz Lemon, the head writer for the fictional sketch comedy series “TGS with Tracy Jordan”.

42 Ilhan in Congress : OMAR

Ilhan Omar has been representing Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in the US House since 2019. At that time, she became one of the first two Muslim women, as well as the first Somali American, to serve in the US Congress.

44 Country singer Underwood : CARRIE

Carrie Underwood is a country singer, and the winner of the fourth season of “American Idol”. Underwood is the most successful “Idol” winner to date, in terms of music sales.

55 “Whoops,” in a text : MYB

My bad (myb)

68 Where to find the starts of 17-, 28-, 45- and 58-Across? : PAC-MAN

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.

Down

2 You can open it with a twist : OREO

There is an “official” competition involving Oreo cookies, in case anyone is interested in participating. A competitor has to take several steps to finish an OREO Lick Race:

  1. Twist open the cookie.
  2. Lick each half clean of creme.
  3. Show the clean cookie halves to the fellow competitors.
  4. Dunk the cookie halves in a glass of milk.
  5. Eat the cookie halves.
  6. Drink the milk.
  7. Ready, set, go …

3 Peddle : SELL

In its purest sense, a peddler is someone who sells his or her wares on the street or from door to door. The term probably comes from the Latin “pedarius” meaning “one who goes on foot”.

5 Cheer for a matador : OLE!

The term “torero” is used to describe all bullfighters. The term “matador” is reserved for the bullfighter whose job is to make the final kill. Aptly enough, “matador” is Spanish for “killer”.

9 Toadstool topper : CAP

“Toadstool” is an alternative name for a mushroom, although these days the term tends to be reserved for mushrooms that are poisonous.

10 Product of solar steeping : SUN TEA

Sun tea is tea that is made simply by dropping tea into water and letting it “brew” in the sun for a few hours, and then adding ice. A blog reader has kindly pointed out that he was told by a doctor that sun tea has the potential to be dangerous. The sun-heated brew is warm enough and sits long enough to incubate any bacterial contamination that may be present. I think I’ll stick to my regular iced tea that is speedily brewed at high temperature …

11 Nook in a church : APSE

An apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally, apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

12 Academic acronym : STEM

The acronym “STEM” stands for the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. An alternative acronym with a similar meaning is MINT, standing for mathematics, information sciences, natural sciences and technology. The acronym STEAM adds (liberal) arts to the STEM curriculum.

13 ___ d’oeuvres : HORS

An hors d’oeuvre is a first course in a meal. “Hors d’oeuvre” translates from French as “apart from the work”, which really means “not the main course”.

18 “The Banana Boat Song” : DAY-O

“Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” is a traditional folk song from Jamaica. It is sung from the standpoint of dock workers unloading boats on the night shift, so daylight has come, and they want to go home. The most famous version of “Day-O” was recorded by Harry Belafonte, in 1956.

19 Last thing to go in a pocket, one hopes : EIGHT BALL

Eight-ball and nine-ball are arguably the most popular variants of pool played in North America. In eight-ball, one player sinks the striped balls and the other the solid balls. The first to sink all his or her balls and then the black 8-ball, without fouling, wins the game. In nine-ball, each player must hit the lowest numbered ball on the table first with the cue ball. The first player to sink the 9-ball wins. Sinking the nine ball can happen when first hitting the lowest bowl on the table, or possibly when balls numbered 1-8 have been sunk.

23 Big name in speakers : BOSE

Bose Corporation specializes in audio equipment, including headphones, speakers, and sound systems. The company was founded in 1964 by Dr. Amar G. Bose, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Bose Corp. started as a research project in psychoacoustics, the study of how humans perceive sound.

24 Plastic grass : ASTROTURF

“AstroTurf” is the trademarked name of an artificial playing surface suitable for many ball sports. AstroTurf was invented in 1965 and originally went on the market as ChemGrass. The first really big application was in 1966 in the Houston Astrodome, so the name “AstroTurf” was applied and has remained ever since.

25 Group whose “Butter” video was the fastest to reach 100 million views on YouTube (2021) : BTS

BTS is a boy band from South Korea with seven members. The initialism “BTS” stands for the phrase “Bangtan Sonyeondan”, which translates literally as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”. BTS is the best-selling musical act in the history of South Korea.

27 Obama health legislation, for short : ACA

The correct name for what has been dubbed “Obamacare” is the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ACA).

30 Bat an eye, say : FLIRT

At least as far back as the 1800s, the term “batting” was used in falconry to describe the fluttering of a hawk’s wings while on a perch or a fist, as if the bird intended to fly away. The usage of “batting” extended to the fluttering of a human’s eyelids, giving us the expressions “batting an eye” and “batting an eyelid”.

31 Certain explosive, informally : NITRO

Nitroglycerin (also known as “nitro”) is a very unstable, oily, colorless liquid. It is usually used as the explosive ingredient in a stabilized product like dynamite or cordite. Nitroglycerin is also used medically, as a vasodilator. Right after it hits the bloodstream, nitroglycerin causes the blood vessels to dilate so that the heart has less work to do. I had occasion to take it a couple of times, and boy, what a speedy and fundamental effect it has …

34 Funky bit of noodling : RIFF

A riff is a short rhythmic phrase in music, especially one improvised on a guitar.

40 Greek god of love : EROS

The name of Eros, the Greek god of love, gives rise to our word “erotic” meaning “arousing sexual desire”. Eros was referred to in Latin as both “Amor” (meaning “love”) and “Cupid” (meaning “desire”).

43 Word with angry or flash : … MOB

A flash mob is a group of people who gather to perform a sudden, brief act in a public location and then quickly disperse. Flash mobs originated in Manhattan in 2003, as a social experiment by an editor of “Harper’s Magazine” called Bill Wasik. Wasik’s first attempt to form a flash mob was unsuccessful, but the second attempt worked. The first successful flash mob was relatively tame by today’s elaborate standards, and consisted of about 130 people gathered on the 9th floor of Macy’s department store pretending to be shopping en masse for a “love rug”.

44 Cartoon frame : CEL

Animation cels are transparent sheets made of celluloid acetate that were used in traditional hand-drawn animation to create animated films. They were first introduced in the 1930s and were widely used in animation production until the late 1990s, when digital animation techniques began to dominate the industry.

47 Bit of hair : HANK

In terms of textiles, a hank is a unit of yarn that is coiled or looped and usually contains a defined length (in yards). The related unit known as a skein is usually ⅙ of a hank. Both units are nonstandard, but often a hank is 300 yards and a skein just over 8 yards.

51 County north of San Francisco : NAPA

The history of winemaking in Napa Valley dates back to the mid-19th century, when European settlers first began planting vineyards in the region. However, the industry did not become widely popular until the 1960s and 1970s, when a group of winemakers began producing high-quality wines that gained international recognition.

54 Beverage brand whose mascot is a polar bear in a sweater : ICEE

Slush Puppie and ICEE are brands of frozen, slushy drinks. Ostensibly competing brands, ICEE now owns the Slush Puppie brand.

56 Community pool org. : YMCA

The YMCA (the Y) is a worldwide movement that has its roots in London, England. There, in 1844, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was founded with the intent of promoting Christian principles through the development of “a healthy spirit, mind and body”. The founder, George Williams, saw the need to create YMCA facilities for young men who were flocking to the cities as the Industrial Revolution flourished. He saw that these men were frequenting taverns and brothels, and wanted to offer a more wholesome alternative.

59 Dweller on the Mekong River : LAO

At over 2,700 miles in length, the Mekong is the twelfth longest river in the world. It rises in the Tibetan Plateau and empties into the South China Sea at the famed Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

61 Sky safety org. : FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was set up in 1958 (as the Federal Aviation Agency). The agency was established at that particular time largely in response to an increasing number of midair collisions. The worst of these disasters had taken place two years earlier over the Grand Canyon, a crash between two commercial passenger airplanes that resulted in 128 fatalities.

62 Inc. cousin : LLC

A limited liability company (LLC) has a structure that limits the liability of the owner or owners. It is a hybrid structure in the sense that it can be taxed as would an individual or partnership, while also maintaining the liability protection afforded to a corporation.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “Take it easy” : GO SLOW
7 Letters above 2 on a phone : ABC
10 Bit of regalia : SASH
14 Area around a nipple : AREOLA
15 Word with level or legs : SEA …
16 No later than : UP TO
17 Feeding apparatus at a petting zoo : PELLET DISPENSER
20 Sun, in Spanish : SOL
21 Tiny hill-dweller : ANT
22 Bits of news : ITEMS
23 One who is one, e.g. : BABY
26 Rib structure : CAGE
28 Slightest opportunity : GHOST OF A CHANCE
34 Cooks in the oven, maybe : ROASTS
35 Future atty.’s exam : LSAT
36 Word that can be a state abbreviation : ILL
37 Not outer : INNER
38 “Sprechen ___ Deutsch?” : SIE
39 Second-brightest stars : BETAS
41 Tina of “30 Rock” : FEY
42 Ilhan in Congress : OMAR
44 Country singer Underwood : CARRIE
45 Big name in underwear : FRUIT OF THE LOOM
48 Raise to the third power : CUBE
49 “___ I’m saying is …” : ALL’S
50 Dirty look : SNEER
53 Victory : WIN
55 “Whoops,” in a text : MYB
58 Rapper with the 2010 hit “No Hands” : WAKA FLOCKA FLAME
63 High point : APEX
64 “___ we there yet?” : ARE
65 Spiteful feeling : MALICE
66 Headquarters : BASE
67 Dedicated poem : ODE
68 Where to find the starts of 17-, 28-, 45- and 58-Across? : PAC-MAN

Down

1 Parts of some smiles : GAPS
2 You can open it with a twist : OREO
3 Peddle : SELL
4 “Haha” : LOL
5 Cheer for a matador : OLE!
6 Khmer temple : WAT
7 Phrase of clarification : AS IN
8 Ideal scenario : BEST CASE
9 Toadstool topper : CAP
10 Product of solar steeping : SUN TEA
11 Nook in a church : APSE
12 Academic acronym : STEM
13 ___ d’oeuvres : HORS
18 “The Banana Boat Song” : DAY-O
19 Last thing to go in a pocket, one hopes : EIGHT BALL
23 Big name in speakers : BOSE
24 Plastic grass : ASTROTURF
25 Group whose “Butter” video was the fastest to reach 100 million views on YouTube (2021) : BTS
27 Obama health legislation, for short : ACA
28 Dead duck : GONER
29 Yuzuru ___, first skater to successfully land a quadruple loop in competition : HANYU
30 Bat an eye, say : FLIRT
31 Certain explosive, informally : NITRO
32 Assert : CLAIM
33 Otherwise : ELSE
34 Funky bit of noodling : RIFF
38 Something agreed upon by consenting sexual partners : SAFE WORD
40 Greek god of love : EROS
43 Word with angry or flash : … MOB
44 Cartoon frame : CEL
46 Alpine climber’s tool : ICE AXE
47 Bit of hair : HANK
50 Home test kit component : SWAB
51 County north of San Francisco : NAPA
52 Just gets (by) : EKES
54 Beverage brand whose mascot is a polar bear in a sweater : ICEE
55 Mangle, e.g. : MAIM
56 Community pool org. : YMCA
57 “I’ve ___ thinking …” : BEEN
59 Dweller on the Mekong River : LAO
60 Bass booster : AMP
61 Sky safety org. : FAA
62 Inc. cousin : LLC