0705-23 NY Times Crossword 5 Jul 23, Wednesday

Constructed by: Joe Deeney
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Lost in Translation

Themed answers are common phrases, and literal translations of the clues from the language and alphabet used:

  • 17A Кукла : RUSSIAN “DOLL”
  • 23A أرقام : ARABIC “NUMERALS”
  • 36A 跳棋 : CHINESE “CHECKERS”
  • 46A לאומי : HEBREW “NATIONAL”
  • 56A Γιαούρτι : GREEK “YOGURT”

Bill’s time: 6m 34s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15 Arm bones : ULNAS

The humerus (plural “humeri”) is the long bone in the upper arm. The bones in the forearm are the radius and ulna. “Ulna” is the Latin word for “elbow”, and “radius” is Latin for “ray”.

16 Messenger ___ : RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA. An added complication is that small changes in the sequence of amino acids specified by DNA sometimes takes place in a process known as RNA editing. This RNA editing occurs after the nucleotide sequence has been transcribed from DNA, but before it is translated into protein.

17 Кукла : RUSSIAN “DOLL”

Matryoshka dolls are those wooden nesting dolls that are on sale at every tourist trap across Russia. “Matryoshka” is Russian for “little matron”.

21 Plum used to flavor spirits : SLOE

The sloe is the fruit of the blackthorn bush, and the main flavoring ingredient in sloe gin. A sloe looks like a small plum, but is usually much more tart in taste.

23 أرقام : ARABIC “NUMERALS”

The numbers that we use in English and most other languages (0, 1, 2, 3 etc.) are Arabic numerals, also called Hindu-Arabic or Indo-Arabic numerals. The concept of positional numbers was developed by the Babylonians, and the first use of “zero” is attributed to mathematicians in the Indian subcontinent.

28 Security Council nix : VETO

The United Nations Security Council has 15 members, 5 of whom are permanent and who have veto power over any resolution. The 10 non-permanent members are elected into place, and hold their seats for two years. The UN charter requires that authorized representatives of the member nations are always present at UN headquarters so that the Security Council can meet at any time. The permanent members are:

  • China
  • France
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

30 Cartoon corporation that sells Rocket-Powered Roller Skates : ACME

The Acme Corporation is a fictional company used mainly by Looney Tunes, and within the Looney Tunes empire it appears mostly in “Road Runner” cartoons. Wile E. Coyote is always receiving a new piece of gear from Acme designed to finally capture the Road Runner, but the equipment always leads to his downfall.

33 Imbibe cautiously : TAKE A SIP

To imbibe is to drink or take in. The verb “to imbibe” ultimately comes from the Latin “in-” (into, in) and “bibere” (to drink).

36 跳棋 : CHINESE “CHECKERS”

The board game known as Chinese Checkers has nothing to do with checkers, nor anything to do with China. It was invented in Germany in 1892, under the name “Stern-Halma”. The Chinese Checkers moniker was the creation of the Pressman Company which purchased the rights to the game in the US in 1928.

42 House Beautiful subject : DECOR

“House Beautiful” is an interior decorating magazine that has been around for an awfully long time. It was first published in 1896.

43 Diwali dress : SARI

Diwali is a popular Hindu festival. It is a “festival of lights”, a celebration of the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. Diwali is observed annually over five days at the conclusion of the summer harvest, and when there is a new moon.

51 “___ fair in love and war” : ALL’S

The proverb “All is fair in love and war” has been attributed to English writer John Lyly, and is from his book “Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit”. “Euphues” is the source of our word “euphemism”.

53 Cinco menos tres : DOS

In Spanish, “cinco menos dos” (five minus two) is “tres” (three).

56 Γιαούρτι : GREEK “YOGURT”

Yogurt (also “yoghurt”) is produced by fermenting milk using bacteria known as yogurt cultures. The bacteria act on the sugars in the milk, producing lactic acid. The lactic acid acts on the proteins in the milk to give the characteristic texture and acidity of yogurt.

60 ___ Gardens, UNESCO World Heritage site in London : KEW

Kew Gardens is a beautiful location in southwest London that was formerly known as the Royal Botanic Gardens. Kew Gardens has the world’s largest collection of different living plants.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is better known by the acronym “UNESCO”. UNESCO’s mission is to help build peace in the world using programs focused on education, the sciences, culture, communication and information. The organization’s work is aimed in particular at Africa, and gender equalization. UNESCO also administers a World Heritage Site program that designates and helps conserve sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to humanity across the world.

62 Actress Swinton : TILDA

Tilda Swinton is an English actress, quite famous in her native land. Swinton made a big name for herself outside the UK when she played the “baddie” in the 2007 movie “Michael Clayton”, opposite the “goodie” played by George Clooney.

63 Inspiration for a noted Keats poem : URN

English Romantic poet John Keats wrote the famous “Ode on a Grecian Urn” in 1819, and published it anonymously in 1820. The most famous lines of the poem are the last two:

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know

64 Gnats and boll weevils : PESTS

Gnats have a relatively short lifespan, of about 7-10 days.

A weevil is a small beetle known for the damage that it can do to crops. The boll weevil damages cotton plants by laying eggs inside cotton bolls. The young weevils then eat their way out. Some weevils have snouts that are as long as their body.

65 Debaucherous deity : SATYR

The satyrs of Greek mythology came with a very high sex drive. They are the “rude” male subjects drawn on the side of old Greek vases. The nubile maidens known as nymphs were often an object of attention for the satyrs.

Down

1 Introduction to magic? : ABRA-

The incantation “abracadabra” has a long history. It was used as far back as the 2nd century AD in ancient Rome when the word was prescribed by a physician to be worn on an amulet to help his emperor recover from disease. “Abracadabra” is Aramaic, and roughly translates as “I will create as I speak”.

2 Cheese that’s often smoked : GOUDA

Gouda is a cheese that originated in the Dutch city of the same name, although today Gouda is produced all over the world and very little of it comes from the Netherlands. Gouda is often smoke-cured, which gives it a yellowish-brown outer skin and that characteristic smoky taste.

4 They’re not from around here, in brief : ETS

Extraterrestrial (ET)

6 Gas station with an arrow in its logo : SUNOCO

Back in the late 1800s, Sunoco was known as the Sun Oil Company, hence “Sun-o-co”.

10 Couture letters : YSL

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)

“Haute couture”, literally “high dressmaking” in French, is a name given to the creation of exclusive fashions. A couturier is someone who creates or sells such fashions.

11 Immersive gaming device, informally : VR HEADSET

Virtual reality (VR)

12 “Inside the N.B.A.” personality : O’NEAL

Retired basketball player Shaquille O’Neal now appears regularly as an analyst on the NBA TV show “Inside the NBA”. Shaq has quite a career in the entertainment world. His first rap album, called “Shaq Diesel”, went platinum. He also starred in two of his own reality shows: “Shaq’s Big Challenge” and “Shaq Vs.”

24 Thor and others : AVENGERS

The Avengers are a team of superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The original lineup, which dates back to 1963, consisted of Ant-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and the Wasp. Soon after their formation, the Avengers rescued Captain America trapped in ice, and thereafter he joined the team. There is a 2012 movie called “The Avengers” that features Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor.

25 Westernmost D-Day beach : UTAH

The Normandy landings on D-Day in 1944 took place along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. The worst fighting by far took place on Omaha Beach, a sector assigned to the US Army that was transported by elements of the US Navy and the Royal Navy.

27 Member of the C-suite : EXEC

The C-suite is the suite of offices assigned to senior management. The “C” reference is to the abbreviation for “Chief”, the word that starts the titles of many senior officers in a company, e.g. chief executive officer, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

30 “Oh!,” in Augsburg : ACH!

Augsburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. Augsburg was founded in 15 BC, making it the fourth-oldest city in the whole country (after Cologne, Trier and Neuss).

31 Actor John of “Star Trek” films : CHO

John Cho is an actor and musician who was born in Seoul, South Korea but has lived in the US since he was a young boy. Cho’s break in movies came in playing Harold Lee in the ”Harold & Kumar” films. He is now making a name for himself playing Mr. Sulu in the latest “Star Trek” movies.

33 The Horned Frogs of the Big 12 Conf. : TCU

The sports teams of Texas Christian University (TCU) are known as the Horned Frogs. The name is a reference to the Texas horned lizard, which is also known as the “horned frog”. The school mascot used to be called “Addy the All-American Frog, but in 1979 was renamed to “SuperFrog”.

34 Org. that was central to 1998’s Good Friday Agreement : IRA

After many, many years of conflict in Northern Ireland, the Provisional IRA (Irish Republican Army) declared a ceasefire in 1994. This step marked an end to most of the violence and was an important step along the road to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

35 Rapper with the 2014 hit “Hangover” : PSY

“PSY” is the stage name of South Korean rapper Park Jae-sang. PSY became an international star when his 2012 music video “Gangnam Style” went viral on YouTube. That video had over 1 billion views on YouTube in about six months, making it the most viewed YouTube video clip of all time. The title of the song refers to a lifestyle experienced in the Gangnam District of Seoul.

37 “Look!,” to Lucretius : ECCE!

Lucretius was a poet and philosopher in ancient Rome. We know very little about him, and only one of his works survives: the philosophical poem “De rerum natura” (On the Nature of Things). Despite this, Lucretius is credited with originating the concept of the three-age system of human prehistory, which was formalized much later, in the 19th century. That’s the system that divides prehistory into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age.

45 Many modern warehouse workers : ROBOTS

Karel Čapek was a Czech writer noted for his works of science fiction. Čapek’s 1921 play “R.U.R.” is remembered in part for introducing the world to the word “robot”. The words “automaton” and “android” were already in use, but Capek gave us “robot” from the original Czech “robota” meaning “forced labor”. The acronym “R.U.R.”, in the context of the play, stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots”.

46 “What Richard Wright wrote” could be the first line of one : HAIKU

A haiku is a very elegant form of Japanese verse. When writing a haiku in English we tend to impose the rule that the verse must contain 17 syllables. This restriction comes from the rule in Japanese that the verse must contain 17 sound units called “moras”, but moras and syllables aren’t the same thing. Sadly, the difference is not so clear to me. Here’s an example of a Haiku:

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator

47 Like one of two Roman Plinys : ELDER

Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger were important figures in Ancient Rome. Pliny the Elder was a scientist and historian, the author of “Naturalis Historia”, commonly referred to as “Pliny’s Natural History”. Pliny died in the year 79 AD in an attempt to rescue friends during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pliny the Younger was the nephew and adopted son of Pliny the Elder. Pliny the Younger was a noted Roman statesman, orator and writer.

57 U.S. 1, for one: Abbr. : RTE

US Route 1 runs from Fort Kent in Maine right down to Key West in Florida.

58 Canon camera : EOS

I’ve been using Canon EOS cameras for decades now, and have nothing but good things to say about both the cameras and the lenses. The EOS name stands for Electro-Optical System, and was chosen because it evokes the name of Eos, the Titan goddess of dawn from Greek mythology.

59 “___, mi dicon venal” (Puccini aria) : GIA

Unlike so many operas, Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” was a big hit right from day one, when it was first performed in 1900 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Currently, “Tosca” is the eighth-most performed opera in America.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Shoelace tip : AGLET
6 In need of rinsing, say : SOAPY
11 Wedding ___ : VOW
14 Diner seating option : BOOTH
15 Arm bones : ULNAS
16 Messenger ___ : RNA
17 Кукла : RUSSIAN “DOLL”
19 2020 Oscar winner for Best Original Song, “Fight for You” : HER
20 Drink suffix : -ADE
21 Plum used to flavor spirits : SLOE
22 Grin from ear to ear : BEAM
23 أرقام : ARABIC “NUMERALS”
28 Security Council nix : VETO
29 Under heavy demands : TAXED
30 Cartoon corporation that sells Rocket-Powered Roller Skates : ACME
33 Imbibe cautiously : TAKE A SIP
36 跳棋 : CHINESE “CHECKERS”
40 Best Supporting Actress nominee for “The Whale,” 2022 : HONG CHAU
41 “Don’t go!” : STAY!
42 House Beautiful subject : DECOR
43 Diwali dress : SARI
46 לאומי : HEBREW “NATIONAL”
51 “___ fair in love and war” : ALL’S
52 Attire : GARB
53 Cinco menos tres : DOS
55 Wedding 11-Across : I DO
56 Γιαούρτι : GREEK “YOGURT”
60 ___ Gardens, UNESCO World Heritage site in London : KEW
61 Square things : ATONE
62 Actress Swinton : TILDA
63 Inspiration for a noted Keats poem : URN
64 Gnats and boll weevils : PESTS
65 Debaucherous deity : SATYR

Down

1 Introduction to magic? : ABRA-
2 Cheese that’s often smoked : GOUDA
3 Also-ran : LOSER
4 They’re not from around here, in brief : ETS
5 Ill-fated lover of Pyramus : THISBE
6 Gas station with an arrow in its logo : SUNOCO
7 Of times past : OLDEN
8 Janeiro a dezembro : ANO
9 Chum : PAL
10 Couture letters : YSL
11 Immersive gaming device, informally : VR HEADSET
12 “Inside the N.B.A.” personality : O’NEAL
13 Prepares, as leftovers : WARMS
18 Came down : ALIT
22 Enters illegally : BREAKS IN
24 Thor and others : AVENGERS
25 Westernmost D-Day beach : UTAH
26 Fashion : MAKE
27 Member of the C-suite : EXEC
30 “Oh!,” in Augsburg : ACH!
31 Actor John of “Star Trek” films : CHO
32 “That. Is. Nuts.” : MIND BLOWN
33 The Horned Frogs of the Big 12 Conf. : TCU
34 Org. that was central to 1998’s Good Friday Agreement : IRA
35 Rapper with the 2014 hit “Hangover” : PSY
37 “Look!,” to Lucretius : ECCE!
38 What’s put on in a theater : SHOW
39 Rake in : EARN
43 Pointy bits of camping gear : STAKES
44 Well ventilated : AIRY
45 Many modern warehouse workers : ROBOTS
46 “What Richard Wright wrote” could be the first line of one : HAIKU
47 Like one of two Roman Plinys : ELDER
48 Worker in the insurance business : AGENT
49 Legal, in a way : ADULT
50 “Good golly!” : LORDY!
54 Unit for a review : STAR
56 Deficit in knowledge, e.g. : GAP
57 U.S. 1, for one: Abbr. : RTE
58 Canon camera : EOS
59 “___, mi dicon venal” (Puccini aria) : GIA

13 thoughts on “0705-23 NY Times Crossword 5 Jul 23, Wednesday”

  1. 11:54. Really cool theme. I did know RUSSIAN DOLL right away. The rest I just had to ID the language and it became easier, although I wanted to put ARABIan knights first.

    HONG CHAU and THISBE were totally new to me.

    BTW – The Russian word for doll is transliterated as “Kukla”…as in Kukla, Fran, and Ollie.

    Best –

  2. 13:23, no errors. My grade school class took a field trip to the NYT back in the 60’s. We got to see the massive printing presses in operation. These were the days of handset metal type. I can just imagine the choice words the typesetters would have for this puzzle.

  3. 20:23 thank goodness for “down” answers! Catching up on a week’s worth of puzzles, Jeff showing his age with the Kukla, Fran and Ollie reference, me showing my age by knowing exactly what he was talking about….

  4. Same as @nick, messed up CHO. had CHE.

    never saw the foreign words In my crossword. It was replaced with “written in a different language”.

    Never have seen a SUNOCO gas station. I checked their map. Not one within 300 miles. Probably driven by one and didn’t notice.

    1. you got me curious about Sunoco. I recall seeing Sunoco gas station but no more. Looks like Sunoco merged with Petro-Canada in 2010 and all their stations were converted to Petro-Can.

  5. 5:38, 1 error. Same Natick as the two above.

    As mentioned, the clues as stated by Bill got changed for syndication due to elements being used that wouldn’t work on any printing press versus the NYT printing press. They are:

    [Humanoid toy, written in a different language]
    [Mathematical characters, written in a different language]
    [Two-player board game, written in a different language]
    [Citizen of a country, written in a different language]
    [Dairy aisle food, written in a different language]

    While I get the conceit Deeney was going after reading Bill’s summary, I can’t say this had a very good look or made very much sense with the clues provided. If I were more vain and thought of this as a contest (and I don’t think of it that way), I couldn’t honestly claim victory because I do feel what we got in syndicated versus original was too dissimilar.

    1. i think @glenn is being too modest. I’m not so sure the syndicated version was necessarily easier, if that’s what you’re saying. You did not have to understand the foreign words to make a good guess at what language it was, which would give away 1/2 of each themed answer off the hop. Likewise, on the syndicated puzzle, we were clued in to roughly 1/2 the answer as well, the other half, while we were not clued into the language (“a different language”). In my case I would say only two of them helped much, Mathematical characters->numerals and Dairy aisle food->yogurt. All in all I’d say it was a wash, with maybe a slight advantage to the original version since the language was a giveaway while the noun part of the clue was in most cases not.

  6. As a teen in West Virginia, there was a Sunoco station a block south of our house on State Route
    2. In the summers, my brothers and I would be dispatched there with a one gallon gas can and a quarter to buy fuel for the lawn mower.

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