0806-23 NY Times Crossword 6 Aug 23, Sunday

Constructed by: Lisa Senzel & Jeff Chen
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: What’s Hanging?

Themed answers each comprise three parts arranged in the grid like a DROP-LEAF TABLE. The answers are read up the down-answer (leaf) on the left, along the connecting across-answer (table), and down the down-answer on the right (leaf). Complex …

  • 105A Piece of furniture with parts that fold down, as depicted seven times in this puzzle : DROP-LEAF TABLE
  • 1D Feature of “Peter Pan” and “Black Beauty” : ALLITERATION
  • 1A Bookish intellectuals : LITERATI
  • 12D Slabs for making pizza or bread : BAKING STONES
  • 12A Capital in the Caribbean : KINGSTON
  • 33D Person on the high C’s? : OPERA SINGER
  • 33A Function of one end of a pencil : ERASING
  • 61D Dojo offerings : KARATE LESSONS
  • 61A Dieted, maybe : ATE LESS
  • 66D Part of E.P.A. : ENVIRONMENTAL
  • 66A Certain endurance athletes : IRONMEN
  • 117D Orange-colored fruit pastry : APRICOT TART
  • 117A Lasagna cheese : RICOTTA
  • 121D Sailors’ songs : SEA SHANTIES
  • 121A One-named vocalist with the hits “Foolish” and “Happy” : ASHANTI

Bill’s time: 23m 14s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Bookish intellectuals : LITERATI

Literati are men and women of letters, learned people. The Latin “literatus” means “lettered”.

9 ___ Thai : PAD

The delicious dish called pad Thai is a meld of stir-fried rice noodles with tamarind juice, red chili pepper plus a mix of vegetables and possibly tofu, meat or fish. It is usually topped with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime. The name “pad Thai” translates as “fried Thai-style”.

12 Capital in the Caribbean : KINGSTON

Kingston is the capital of Jamaica. Prior to an earthquake in 1692, Port Royal was the main settlement on the island. Survivors of the earthquake set up camp in the agricultural village of Kingston. Despite the hardship of thousands dying in the camp from mosquito-borne diseases, the camp developed into a permanent settlement, especially after a 1703 fire that further destroyed Port Royal.

27 She released “30” in ’21 : ADELE

“Adele” is the stage name of English singer Adele Adkins. Adele’s debut album is “19”, named after the age she was during the album’s production. Her second album was even more successful than the first. Called “21”, the second album was released three years after the first, when Adele was three years older. Her third studio album “25”, released in 2015, broke the first-week sales records in both the UK and the US. “30” followed in 2021.

30 San ___ (Bay Area city) : MATEO

San Mateo is a city located south of San Francisco, just across the other side of the Bay from where I live. San Mateo is Spanish for Saint Matthew.

35 Musician with a Nobel Prize in literature : DYLAN

The birth name of singer Bob Dylan was Robert Zimmerman. Zimmerman changed his name to “Dylan” partly because he was influenced by the poetry of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Famously, in 2016 Dylan became the first musician to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. In presenting the award, the Nobel Prize committee said that Dylan “created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.

39 “Eureka!” : AHA!

“Eureka” translates from Greek as “I have found it”. The word is usually associated with Archimedes, uttered as he stepped into his bath one day. His discovery was that the volume of water that was displaced was equal to that of the object (presumably his foot) that had been submerged. He used this fact to determine volume (and density) of a crown, something he needed in order to determine if it was made of pure gold or was a forgery.

40 Concord and sultana : GRAPES

Concord grapes are mostly used to make grape jelly, and are only occasionally used as table grapes or for making wine. The Concord cultivar was developed in the mid 1800s by Ephraim Wales Bull in Concord, Massachusetts, hence the name.

I believe that it’s more common in the US to refer to dried sultana grapes as “golden raisins”. When I was growing up in Ireland, “sultana” wasn’t only the name given to the seedless white grape itself, but also to the dried raisin that was derived from the grape.

46 Award bestowed by King Charles, in brief : OBE

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry in the UK that was established in 1917 by King George V. There are five classes within the order, which are in descending seniority:

  • Knight Grand Cross (GBE)
  • Knight Commander (KBE)
  • Commander (CBE)
  • Officer (OBE)
  • Member (MBE)

47 Subatomic particle with no electric charge : NEUTRINO

Neutrinos are small subatomic particles that do not carry an electric charge. The term “neutrino” is Italian for “small neutral one”, and was coined by physicist Enrico Fermi in 1932. There are three types of neutrino: electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos.

59 Advil alternative : ALEVE

“Aleve” is a brand name used for the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug Naproxen sodium.

65 West Point student : CADET

West Point is a military reservation in New York State, located north of New York City. West Point was first occupied by the Continental Army way back in 1778, making it the longest, continually-occupied military post in the country. Cadet training has taken place at the garrison since 1794, although Congress funding for a US Military Academy (USMA) didn’t start until 1802. The first female cadets were admitted to West Point in 1976, and as of 2018, about 15% of all new cadets were women.

66 Certain endurance athletes : IRONMEN

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.

73 Chutzpah : NERVE

Our word “chutzpah” meaning “nerve, gall, impudence” is derived from the Yiddish “khutspe”, which has the same meaning.

78 Time magazine once named him “Actor of the Century” : BRANDO

Actor Marlon Brando really hit the big time with his Oscar-winning performance in the 1951 movie “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Brando went on to win another Best Actor Oscar for his performance in 1972’s “The Godfather”, which gave him the platform to establish himself as a political activist. He turned down the award and didn’t attend the ceremony. Instead he sent a Native American rights activist called Sacheen Littlefeather who made a speech protesting the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood movies. Brando wasn’t the first person to refuse an Oscar. George C. Scott did the same thing when he won for playing the title role in 1970’s “Patton”. Scott just didn’t like the whole idea of “competing” with other actors.

80 Govt. employer of cryptologists : NSA

The National Security Agency (NSA) runs an annual Codebreaker Challenge that is aimed mainly at the student population. As best I can tell, the focus of the challenge is reverse software engineering. Checking out the Codebreaker Challenge website suggests that the NSA runs this program in order to identify and attract potential new employees.

81 Mustafa ___ Atatürk, founding father of Turkey : KEMAL

Mustafa Kemal was a Turkish army officer who led the Turkish National Movement following the defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of WWI. He then led the Turkish military in resisting Allied forces occupying modern-day Turkey, in what is now referred to as the Turkish War of Independence. Kemal founded the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and became the new nation’s first president. The Turkish Parliament granted him the name Atatürk in 1934, and name that translates as “Father of the Turks”.

84 Gaelic tongue : ERSE

There are actually three Erse languages: Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be “Gaeilge” (in Ireland), “Gaelg” (on the Isle of Man) and “Gaidhlig” (in Scotland).

85 Pelican pal of Nemo in “Finding Nemo” : NIGEL

“Finding Nemo” is a 2003 animated blockbuster from Pixar. The film was the winner of the Oscar that year for Best Animated Feature. Believe it or not, “Finding Nemo” is the best-selling DVD of all time and, until 2010’s “Toy Story 3”, it was the highest-grossing, G-rated movie at the box office.

91 It might come packaged with a flavor packet : RAMEN

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.

92 President between Tyler and Taylor : POLK

James Knox Polk was the 11th US President. Polk is known as a president who delivered on promises that he made during his election campaign. He left office after serving only one term, as he had promised the voters, and then contracted cholera on a goodwill tour of the South. Polk died at only 53 years of age, the youngest age for any president to die in retirement. He also enjoyed the shortest retirement of any president, at only 103 days.

95 One in a black suit : SPADE

Spades is one of the four suits in a standard deck of cards. The spade symbol represents the pike, a medieval weapon.

97 World of Warcraft creatures : ORCS

World of Warcraft is an online role-playing game (RPG). My son informs me that the game is not that great. Like I would know …

99 Unpopular bill : TWO

The US two-dollar bill features a portrait of Thomas Jefferson. The bill was introduced in 1862, and withdrawn in 1966. It was reintroduced in 1976, and is still legal tender. That said, there are relatively few two-dollar bills in circulation. Some people even hold that possession of a two-dollar bill is bad luck.

104 Director Lee : ANG

Ang Lee made history at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002 when he won the Best Director award for “Brokeback Mountain.” He became the first Asian person to win the award and the first non-white person to win in the category.

111 Activity behind police tape, for short : CSI

Crime scene investigation (CSI)

114 One of many “residents” of San Francisco’s Pier 39 : SEA LION

Fisherman’s Wharf is the name given to what is now a tourist mecca at the northern limits of San Francisco, right on San Francisco Bay. Historically it is where the city’s fishing fleet was moored and so the neighborhood became associated with the fishing community that was mainly made up of Italian immigrants. Pier 39 of Fisherman’s Wharf is also noted as the home to a colony of sea lions that took up residence in 1989. The sea lions now occupy wooden docks that were originally intended for boats.

115 Michigan’s ___ Royale National Park : ISLE

Isle Royale in Michigan is the largest island in Lake Superior. The main island, along with over 400 smaller surrounding islands, is now part of Isle Royale National Park.

117 Lasagna cheese : RICOTTA

Ricotta is an Italian cheese made from the milk of a sheep or a cow. It is produced from the whey of the milk, the liquid left after the curds have been separated out (curds are used to make “traditional” cheese). The whey is heated again so that the remaining protein precipitates out, producing ricotta cheese. The word “ricotta” literally means “recooked”, which makes sense to me now …

“Lasagna” was originally the name of a cooking pot, but the term came to mean a dish that was cooked in it. “Lasagna” also became the name of the flat noodle used in the dish. If you order lasagna on the other side of the Atlantic, you’ll notice the “lasagne” spelling, the plural of “lasagna”. The plural is used as there is more than one layer of pasta in the dish.

120 “Star Wars” droid, familiarly : ARTOO

Artoo’s proper name is R2-D2 (also “Artoo-Detoo”). R2-D2 is the smaller of the two famous droids from the “Star Wars” movies. British actor Kenny Baker, who stood just 3 feet 8 inches tall, was the man inside the R2-D2 droid for the first six of the “Star Wars” movies.

121 One-named vocalist with the hits “Foolish” and “Happy” : ASHANTI

Ashanti Douglas is an American R&B singer who uses just “Ashanti” as her stage name.

126 Relative of a bookcase : ETAGERE

An “étagère” is a piece of furniture with open shelves that are often used to display small ornaments. The name is French, coming from “étage” meaning “shelf”. I can’t stand étagères …

129 Wine from the Rhone Valley : SYRAH

The Iranian city of Shiraz has long been associated with wine, but there is no proven link between the city and the wine/grape we know today as “Shiraz” (also called “Syrah”). Having said that, some clay jars were found just outside of the city of Shiraz that contained wine; wine that was 7,000 years old!

130 Nine digits on an I-9 : SSN

A Social Security number (SSN) is divided into three parts, i.e AAA-GG-SSSS. Originally, the Area Number (AAA) was the code for the office that issued the card. Starting in 1973, the Area Number reflected the ZIP code from which the application was made. The GG in the SSN was the Group Number, and the SSSS number the Serial Number. This is all moot today. Since 2011, SSNs have been assigned randomly. Some random numbers, however, have been excluded from use, i.e. Area Numbers 000, 666 (!) and 900-999.

Form I-9 is used by the federal government to verify the identity of an employee and confirm that the person has authorization to work in the US.

131 “You just broke my toe, ___” (biology pun) : SIS

Mitosis is the process by which the complement of chromosomes in a cell nucleus replicates and then divides into two identical sets of new chromosomes. Mitosis is followed by division of the cell itself, resulting in two identical cells. Meiosis is a special type of cell division that results in reproductive cells that have half the full complement of chromosomes. The reproductive cells join together, with one cell coming from each parent, to form a new cell with a full complement of chromosomes. That new cell develops into offspring that have characteristics of both parents.

Down

1 Feature of “Peter Pan” and “Black Beauty” : ALLITERATION

Alliteration is a literary device in which the same sounds are repeated in a phrase. An extreme form of alliteration is a tongue twister, for example:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

J.M. Barrie’s stage play “Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” premiered in London in 1904. Barrie adapted the play into a 1911 novel titled “Peter and Wendy”. The character Peter Pan actually predated the play, having been introduced by Barrie as a baby in his 1902 adult novel called “The Little White Bird”.

English novelist Anna Sewell only wrote one book in her life, which was the immensely popular “Black Beauty” first published in 1877. The book was written at the tail end of Sewell’s life, over a period of six years while her health was declining. “Black Beauty” was an immediate success, and is supposedly the sixth best selling title in the English language. Sewell died just five months after the book was published, but she did get to see its immediate success.

2 Mil. roadside hazard : IED

Improvised explosive device (IED)

3 Skosh : TAD

“Skosh” is a slang term meaning “a little bit”, and was originally military slang that came out of the Korean War. “Skosh” derives from the Japanese word “sukoshi” which translates as “few, little, some”.

9 Rare bears : PANDAS

The giant panda is a bear, and so has the digestive system of a carnivore. However, the panda lives exclusively on bamboo, even though its gut is relatively poorly adapted to extract nutrients from plants per se. The panda relies on microbes in its gut to digest cellulose, and consumes 20-30 pounds of bamboo each day to gain enough nourishment.

11 National flower of Mexico : DAHLIA

The dahlia is a flowering plant native to Mexico and Central America. It was named the national flower of Mexico relatively recently, in 1963. The plant was given the name “dahlia” in 1791, in honor of Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.

13 Poem about country living : IDYL

An idyll (also “idyl”) is a short poem with a pastoral theme, usually depicting the scene in romantic and idealized terms. The word “idyl” comes from the Greek “eidyllion”, which literally translates to “little picture” but was a word describing a short poem with a rustic theme.

15 Master keys? : GRAND PIANO

A grand piano is one with the frame supported horizontally on three legs. An upright piano has the frame and strings running vertically. Grand pianos come in many sizes. For example, the length of a concert grand is about 9 feet, a parlor grand is about 7 feet, and a baby grand is about 5 feet.

17 “American Dad!” airer : TBS

“American Dad!” is an adult-oriented animated sitcom. Famously, one of the show’s creators is Seth MacFarlane, who also created “Family Guy”. Personally, I cannot stand either show …

28 Part of the U.K.: Abbr. : ENG

The terms “United Kingdom”, “Great Britain” and “England” can sometimes be confused. The official use of “United Kingdom” originated in 1707 with the Acts of Union that declared the countries of England and Scotland as “United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain”. The name changed again with the Acts of Union 1800 that created the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” (much to the chagrin of most of the Irish population). This was partially reversed in 1927 when the current name was introduced, the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, in recognition of an independent Irish Free State in the south of the island of Ireland.

30 Spa treatment, for short : MANI

Manicure (mani)

38 Sun, for a sunflower : NEED

The common sunflower is so called because it has a flower head that looks like the Sun. Famously, young sunflowers exhibit heliotropism, tilting during the day to face the sun. As the sunflowers mature and bloom, they generally face east and no longer track the movement of the Sun across the sky.

42 Main bug in “A Bug’s Life” : ANT

“A Bug’s Life” is a 1998 animated feature film from Pixar. The storyline is based on the film “The Seven Samurai” and the fable of “The Ant and the Grasshopper”.

44 They’re not vets yet : GIS

The initialism “GI” stands for “Government Issue”, and not “General Infantry” as is widely believed. “GI” was first used in the military to denote equipment made from Galvanized Iron and during WWI, incoming German shells were nicknamed “GI cans”. Soon after, the term GI came to be associated with “Government Issue” and eventually became an adjective to describe anything associated with the Army.

48 Menu bar option in Microsoft Excel : TOOLS

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program included in the Microsoft Office suite of applications. Microsoft’s first spreadsheet program was introduced back in 1982 and called Multiplan. Multiplan’s popularity waned due to the success of the competing product Lotus 1-2-3. Microsoft then introduced Excel, initially just for the Macintosh. When Excel was extended to Windows, Lotus was slow to respond and Microsoft took over the market.

50 World’s tallest flying bird : CRANE

The magnificent birds known as cranes have long legs and long necks. The species called the Sarus Crane is the world’s tallest flying bird.

53 One way to take some courses : A LA CARTE

“Carte” is a word sometimes used in French for a menu. Menu items that are “à la carte” are priced and ordered separately, as opposed to “table d’hôte” which is a fixed price menu with limited choice.

54 One who calls Homer Simpson “neighborino” : NED

Ned Flanders lives next door to Homer Simpson on TV’s “The Simpsons”. Ned was married to Maude, with whom he had two children Rod and Todd. Maude died in an accident involving a T-shirt cannon. Ned is voiced by actor Harry Shearer, and has been around since the very first episode aired in 1989.

61 Dojo offerings : KARATE LESSONS

The Japanese word “dojo” translates literally as “place of the way”. Originally the term applied to training halls that were found in or beside temples. The teaching in a dojo was not limited to the martial arts, but in the Western world we use the dojo as the name for a training facility for judo, karate and the like.

63 Concerned with roots : ETYMOLOGICAL

The etymology of a word is the derivation of that word.

66 Part of E.P.A. : ENVIRONMENTAL

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

67 Christmas displays : MANGER SCENES

A manger is an open box in which feed is placed for livestock. The term “manger” comes from the French verb “manger” meaning “to eat”.

72 Joint ventures? : POT SHOPS

The term “joint” has a long history in the drug world. The word originally came from French in which it is the past participle of the word for “to join”. It became an Anglo-Irish term for a side-room “joined” onto a main room in the early 1800s. Towards the end of the 19th century it was US slang for a small, shady establishment, such as an opium den. By the 1930s a joint was a hypodermic needle used to inject heroin, and soon after became the term for a marijuana cigarette.

74 “___ Vibration” (Bob Marley album) : RASTAMAN

Bob Marley was the most widely-known reggae performer, with big hits such as “I Shot the Sheriff”, “No Woman, No Cry” and “One Love”. A little sadly perhaps, Marley’s best-selling album was released three years after he died. That album would be the “legendary” album called “Legend”.

77 Camera type, for short : SLR

Single-lens reflex (SLR) camera

86 Texter’s qualifier : IMO

In my opinion (IMO)

88 Who said “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance” : SOCRATES

In ancient Greece, Socrates was a respected thinker of his day. One of Socrates’ most clever students was Plato, who spent much of life espousing the work and thinking of his mentor and teacher. In later life, Plato himself had a student who built on the work of both Socrates and Plato. That second-generation student was Aristotle. Socrates fell out of favor with the political leaders in Athens who put him on trial on trumped-up charges. He was found guilty of corrupting the youth of the city-state and of not believing in the gods of the state. The sentence levied was death by drinking hemlock.

92 Grp. that might organize a walkathon : PTA

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

94 Comedian Margaret : CHO

Margaret Cho is a Korean-American comedian and actress who was born in San Francisco in 1968. As well as performing as a comedian, Cho has also had a successful acting career, appearing in films such as “Face/Off,” “Bam Bam and Celeste,” and “All About Steve,” as well as TV shows such as “Drop Dead Diva” and “30 Rock.”

96 Nebraska senator Fischer : DEB

Deb Fischer is a US Senator from Nebraska who has been serving since 2013. She is a member of the Republican Party.

98 Part of STEM: Abbr. : SCI

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.

100 “Swan Lake” heroine : ODETTE

“Swan Lake” is such a delightfully light and enjoyable ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by a sorcerer. The ballet also features Odile, Odette’s “evil twin”. Odile is disguised to look like Odette with the goal of tricking the prince to fall in love with her. In the ballet, the roles of Odette and Odile are played by the same ballerina. Odette’s love interest is Prince Siegfried, the only character in the ballet to appear in all four acts.

102 Parenting author Eda or meditation author Lawrence : LESHAN

Eda LeShan wrote several nonfiction books including “When Your Child Drives You Crazy” and “The Conspiracy Against Childhood”. LeShan was also host of the PBS television show “How Do Your Children Grow?”

109 Big Apple? : FIONA

Fiona Apple is a singer-songwriter and pianist from New York City. “Fiona Apple” is the artist’s real name, although “Apple” is a given name. She was born Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart.

116 Hitch on Twitch, say : LAG

Twitch is a live-streaming platform used primarily by gamers. Folks playing games can broadcast their game play live to an audience.

117 Orange-colored fruit pastry : APRICOT TART

Although the apricot originated in Central Asia and China, the fruit is commonly associated with Armenia, where it has been cultivated for centuries. For that reason, the most common cultivar has the Latin name “Prunus armeniaca”.

121 Sailors’ songs : SEA SHANTIES

A sea shanty (also “chantey”) is a song sung by sailors, often when they are working away on some repetitive task.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Bookish intellectuals : LITERATI
9 ___ Thai : PAD
12 Capital in the Caribbean : KINGSTON
20 Lets handle : LEAVES TO
21 Romance author Huang : ANA
22 “Aww!”-inspiring : ADORABLE
23 Basic math subject : ADDITION
24 Ultimate degree : NTH
25 Goes around : BYPASSES
26 Sting operation, basically : TRAP
27 She released “30” in ’21 : ADELE
29 Microscope part : LENS
30 San ___ (Bay Area city) : MATEO
33 Function of one end of a pencil : ERASING
35 Musician with a Nobel Prize in literature : DYLAN
39 “Eureka!” : AHA!
40 Concord and sultana : GRAPES
43 Significant feature of a May-December romance : AGE GAP
46 Award bestowed by King Charles, in brief : OBE
47 Subatomic particle with no electric charge : NEUTRINO
49 Mockery : RIDICULE
51 Words said with a gulp : I’M TOAST!
52 Gathering of experts : PANEL
57 Stung : SMARTED
58 Work on something you like? : ODE
59 Advil alternative : ALEVE
60 Follower of Christ? : -INA
61 Dieted, maybe : ATE LESS
65 West Point student : CADET
66 Certain endurance athletes : IRONMEN
70 Turns, in a sense : ROTS
71 Essay assignment : TOPIC
73 Chutzpah : NERVE
75 Appropriate answer for this place in the grid : EAST
76 Even one : ANY
77 “Why, you little stinkin’ …” : SON OF A …
78 Time magazine once named him “Actor of the Century” : BRANDO
80 Govt. employer of cryptologists : NSA
81 Mustafa ___ Atatürk, founding father of Turkey : KEMAL
83 Tend to the sauce, say : STIR
84 Gaelic tongue : ERSE
85 Pelican pal of Nemo in “Finding Nemo” : NIGEL
87 Options, metaphorically : DOORS
89 Complete collection : SET
90 Crested ___ (bird) : TIT
91 It might come packaged with a flavor packet : RAMEN
92 President between Tyler and Taylor : POLK
93 Earthy color : OCHRE
95 One in a black suit : SPADE
97 World of Warcraft creatures : ORCS
99 Unpopular bill : TWO
100 Number of legs on un escorpión : OCHO
101 ___ program (college offering) : MEAL
103 Brief moment : SEC
104 Director Lee : ANG
105 Piece of furniture with parts that fold down, as depicted seven times in this puzzle : DROP-LEAF TABLE
111 Activity behind police tape, for short : CSI
112 Light bulb, in comics : IDEA
114 One of many “residents” of San Francisco’s Pier 39 : SEA LION
115 Michigan’s ___ Royale National Park : ISLE
117 Lasagna cheese : RICOTTA
120 “Star Wars” droid, familiarly : ARTOO
121 One-named vocalist with the hits “Foolish” and “Happy” : ASHANTI
124 Something that turns on a turntable : PLATTER
125 Nursery purchase : PLANT
126 Relative of a bookcase : ETAGERE
127 100% : ALL
128 Superlative suffix : -EST
129 Wine from the Rhone Valley : SYRAH
130 Nine digits on an I-9 : SSN
131 “You just broke my toe, ___” (biology pun) : SIS

Down

1 Feature of “Peter Pan” and “Black Beauty” : ALLITERATION
2 Mil. roadside hazard : IED
3 Skosh : TAD
4 Paperless Post product : E-VITE
5 Moving backward : RETROGRADE
6 Section of an atlas : ASIA
7 Sporty car roof : T-TOP
8 — : ION
9 Rare bears : PANDAS
10 Pays to play : ANTES
11 National flower of Mexico : DAHLIA
12 Slabs for making pizza or bread : BAKING STONES
13 Poem about country living : IDYL
14 “Ain’t gonna happen” : NOPE
15 Master keys? : GRAND PIANO
16 Distinctively stylish : SASSY
17 “American Dad!” airer : TBS
18 Stadium cheer : OLE!
19 — : NES
27 “Chances ___ …” : ARE
28 Part of the U.K.: Abbr. : ENG
30 Spa treatment, for short : MANI
31 “I’m literally right here …” : AHEM …
32 Full of tension : TAUT
33 Person on the high C’s? : OPERA SINGER
34 — : GER
36 That guy who spills beer all over you, maybe : LOUT
37 Partner of willing : ABLE
38 Sun, for a sunflower : NEED
41 Meets, as a challenge : RISES TO
42 Main bug in “A Bug’s Life” : ANT
44 They’re not vets yet : GIS
45 Held up high : ADMIRED
48 Menu bar option in Microsoft Excel : TOOLS
50 World’s tallest flying bird : CRANE
52 A kid is a sucker for it : PACIFIER
53 One way to take some courses : A LA CARTE
54 One who calls Homer Simpson “neighborino” : NED
55 50/50 propositions : EVEN BETS
56 “Go for it!” : LET ‘ER RIP!
61 Dojo offerings : KARATE LESSONS
62 Mellow : TONE DOWN
63 Concerned with roots : ETYMOLOGICAL
64 — : SONS
66 Part of E.P.A. : ENVIRONMENTAL
67 Christmas displays : MANGER SCENES
68 Cores : ESSENCES
69 — : NTAL
72 Joint ventures? : POT SHOPS
74 “___ Vibration” (Bob Marley album) : RASTAMAN
77 Camera type, for short : SLR
79 ___ mission : ON A
82 “Everything is peachy!” : A-OK!
86 Texter’s qualifier : IMO
88 Who said “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance” : SOCRATES
91 People who see things as they are : REALISTS
92 Grp. that might organize a walkathon : PTA
94 Comedian Margaret : CHO
96 Nebraska senator Fischer : DEB
98 Part of STEM: Abbr. : SCI
100 “Swan Lake” heroine : ODETTE
102 Parenting author Eda or meditation author Lawrence : LESHAN
106 Bounds : LEAPS
107 Word with bird or retirement : EARLY …
108 Place to give someone a ring : ALTAR
109 Big Apple? : FIONA
110 You might lose a loose one : TOOTH
113 One eye in a winking emoticon : DOT
116 Hitch on Twitch, say : LAG
117 Orange-colored fruit pastry : APRICOT TART
118 Bedridden, say : ILL
119 — : ART
121 Sailors’ songs : SEA SHANTIES
122 One more than bi- : TRI-
123 — : IES

14 thoughts on “0806-23 NY Times Crossword 6 Aug 23, Sunday”

  1. The puzzle felt like a goofy construct. It had the right difficulty for a Sunday, but warping words always seem forced.

    …notice the alliteration there?

  2. 49:30, 4 errors: RASTA(F)AN; (F)EA(T); (T)ESH(E)N; ET(E)GERE. Agree with Willie, a goofy theme construction, but impressive, nonetheless.

    121D: Difficult clue for me to accept. I have always differentiated SHANTIES (poorly constructed huts) from CHANTIES (sailors’ songs). Whatever works, I guess.

    52D: Fell into the trap. LOLLIPOP fits.

    78A: Considering that Time magazine was founded in 1923, I’ll be waiting with bated breath until 2123 to find out who the second “Actor of the Century” will be.

  3. 36:23, no errors. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t understand the gimmick at the end; I was pretty sure that the entries for the “drop leaves” were correct (because of crossing entries) and that they made sense somehow, but I didn’t grok the “how” until a minute or two after I filled in the last square and got the “success” message. Oh, well … I’ll probably survive … 🙂.

  4. 1:27:44, never got the gimmick until reading Bill’s blog, and even then I had to read it twice.

  5. This is my first time posting on the site. I am Sunday puzzle person, certainly not in the class of many of you here — I am typically about a 2 hour solver and generally I do finish the puzzle. I, like one of the others didn’t get this theme, even after I see it, I don’t get it. I think Lisa and Jeff tried to be too clever by a half! I brute-forced it. Obviously I got drop-leaf table and I was looking for some verticality but I just didn’t get it. The clues that really stumped me were “-” signs — even when I saw the words I just didn’t get it — can someone explain?

    1. I think Bill’s description is excellent, but … I’ll try. The answer to 1-Down is “ALLITERATION”, but it doesn’t fit. What to do? If you start putting in the letters at the end of 1-Down, go up, continue from left to right across 1-Across, and finish by going down at 8-Down, it all fits, and it’s in the shape of a drop-leaf tabletop. What to do about the clue for 8-Down? Well, ION is actually a word, but using a dash alerts the solver to the fact that the entire “drop-leaf” is clued elsewhere.

      The other theme answers are treated similarly.

      I hope this helps … 🙂.

  6. One square, LESHIN/ETIGER, and happy to get all but that. I really didn’t catch the theme until I was nearly done when I got my “aha” moment with the reveal and APRICOTTART. Impressive grid and “Sunday worthy.”

  7. I am continually amazed by the clever themes we are treated to in crossword puzzles! It’s incredible to me how they come up with them. I think they make puzzle-solving so enjoyable. (I occasionally rant about people who apparently want only definitions, ad nauseam.) On another note, I love Bob Dylan, but was so disappointed in him for not accepting the Nobel prize in person.

    1. On your last point, it reminds me of a favourite musician and writer of mine who not only skipped the awards ceremony but outright refused honours. Stompin Tom Connors refused Juno awards (Canadian version of Grammies) and Jean-Paul Sartre respectfully declined the Nobel prize for literature. Personally, it doesn’t make a bit of difference to me, but I respect your view if that’s how you feel about it.

  8. Got the theme and all but one measly square. Mea_ program at 101 across. Never heard of it. Yes, I went to college. You never learn enough.

  9. 64:27, 1 squerror. Final almost 20 min. on lower right corner til finally cluing in to étagère and lag but bet on AshantE.

    The usual plural form “ies” would have made more sense but I figured shantee could just a bastardized French word, i.e. chanter’, or something. Actually shanty is derived from that I’m guessing.

  10. 27:30, 1 error. Absurdly dumb theme. If it was something like names or kinds of tables in the “drop-leaf” parts, it might be a bit more redeemable but as it is now, all it does is comes off contrived and highly forced instead of anything clever and enjoyable. Nails on a chalkboard…

  11. Regards to Dylan not accepting his nobel in person. Actually, he eventually went and accepted in a private ceremony. Otherwise he was given 6 months to accept or lose it.

    On a another “I don’t want my award”, Brando was in puzzle and as Mr Butler points out, didn’t accept his Oscar award.

    For this puzzle, no errors. It took me a long time to figure out the gimmick. Once I did then things just fell into place. Spent the most time in that BRANDO NERVE ERSE TIT section. This was where I finally figured out the gimmick.
    WHEW!!!!

Comments are closed.