1012-23 NY Times Crossword 12 Oct 23, Thursday

Bill’s time: 15m 21s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “She Bee Stingin'” athlete : LAILA ALI

Laila Ali is the daughter of the great Muhammad Ali and is a very capable boxer in her own right. Laila’s professional record is an impressive 24 wins, including 21 knockouts. Now retired, she never lost a fight, and nor did she ever draw. One of those victories was against Jackie Frazier-Lyde, daughter of her father’s nemesis Joe Frazier. Laila is not a bad dancer either, coming in third place in the fourth season of “Dancing with the Stars”.

14 H.S. course taken for College-Kredit : AP GERMAN

The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers college-level courses to kids who are still in high school (HS). After being tested at the end of an AP course, successful students receive credits that count towards a college degree.

16 Scholar’s mug collection? : YEARBOOK

The verb “to mug” means “to make an exaggerated facial expression”. The term comes from mugs used to drink beer (called Toby mugs) that are made in the shape of heads with grotesque expressions. “Mug” can also be a noun meaning “face”.

19 Sugar apple, by another name : SWEETSOP

The custard apple or sugar apple is the fruit of a small deciduous tree native to the New World. It is also called a “sweetsop” in some parts of the world. The soursop, the fruit of an evergreen tree that’s related to the paw-paw, has a more sour taste.

24 ___ Schwarz : FAO

FAO Schwarz was perhaps the most famous, and certainly the oldest, toy store in the United States. The FAO Schwarz outlet on Fifth Avenue in New York City closed in 2015. This store was famously used in several Hollywood movies. For example, it was home to the Walking Piano that Tom Hanks played in the movie “Big”.

25 Angle symbol, in trigonometry : THETA

The Greek letter theta is commonly used in geometry to represent the angle between two lines (say at a corner of a triangle).

28 What a cryptid might be : HOAX

The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology, and a cryptid is a creature or plant that isn’t recognized by the scientific community, but the existence of which has been suggested.

29 Ones doing some heavy lifting before retirement? : JACKS

“Retirement” … changing a tire on a car.

32 Spinning speed: Abbr. : RPS

In recent years, indoor cycling on stationary bicycles has come to be known as “spinning”. “Spinning” is actually a brand name of indoor bicycle that was launched in 1993 by Mad Dogg Athletics. Mad Dogg is trying to defend the use of the term “spinning” as a trademark, but it’s an uphill climb (pun!).

33 1974 John Wayne movie : MCQ

“McQ” is a 1974 crime thriller set in Seattle, Washington. The title role was somewhat of a consolation prize for the star John Wayne, as a few years earlier he was passed over for the title role in “Dirty Harry”. That role went to Clint Eastwood.

34 Gentlemen of Verona, in England : SIGNORS

“Signor” (Sig.) is “Mister” in Italian.

Verona is a city in northern Italy. Famously, William Shakespeare set three of his plays in Verona: “Romeo and Juliet”, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” and “The Taming of the Shrew”.

43 “Succession” airer : HBO

“Succession” is a very popular dark comedy-drama series that premiered in 2018. It’s about a family-owned, global media company. The “succession” in question is who will get to run the empire after the passing of the ailing family patriarch. The marvelous Scottish actor Brian Cox plays the head of the company Logan Roy. Great stuff, albeit quite depressing and terrifying …

46 Lamar who played for the 59-Across : ODOM
[59A N.B.A. team with a 1980s “Showtime” era : LA LAKERS]

Lamar Odom is a basketball forward in the NBA. Apparently Odom loves candy, and that’s how he earned his nickname, “The Candy Man”. Odom was married to Khloé Kardashian, and the couple’s wedding featured on an episode of the reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”. Not a show that I have ever seen …

52 Brief British P.M. ___ Truss : LIZ

Liz Truss took over as Prime Minister of the UK from Boris Johnson in September 2022. She was the fifteenth and final British PM to serve under Queen Elizabeth II, who died just two days after appointing Truss to the office. Truss resigned on her fiftieth day in Downing Street, after a chaotic six-week spell leading the country. She was succeeded by fellow Conservative Rishi Sunak.

53 Donna ___, “The Goldfinch” author : TARTT

Novelist Donna Tartt won a Pulitzer for her 2013 novel “The Goldfinch”. That same novel was adapted into a 2019 film, which bombed at the box office.

54 Unrestricted audition : OPEN CALL

A trial performance to appraise the merits of an entertainer is known as an audition. When a group of entertainers is involved, the informal term “cattle call” might be used instead of “audition”. The idea is that those auditioning are often corralled into a single, large room (like “cattle”) prior to performing.

57 MX-5 roadsters, e.g. : MIATAS

The Mazda MX-5 is sold as the Miata in North America, and as the Roadster in Japan. I’ve always liked the looks of the Mazda Miata, probably because it reminds me so much of old British sports cars. The Miata is built in Hiroshima, Japan. The name “Miata” comes from an Old High German word meaning “reward”.

65 Covert missions … or what’s covert in eight of this puzzle’s answers : BLACK OPS

Black ops are covert operations, activities that are usually outside of standard military protocol and may even be against the law. Funding for black ops is usually provided by a secret “black budget”.

67 China and environs : EAST ASIA

In geographical terms there are three “Easts”. “Near East” and “Middle East” are terms that are often considered synonymous, although “Near East” tends to be used when discussing ancient history and “Middle East” when referring to the present day. The Near/Middle East encompasses most of Western Asia and Egypt. The term “Far East” describes East Asia (including the Russian Far East), Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Down

3 Tennis champion Swiatek : IGA

Iga Swiatek is a professional tennis player, and the first from Poland to win a major singles title (the French Open in 2020).

4 Gaston who wrote “The Phantom of the Opera” : LEROUX

Gaston Leroux was a French author and journalist best known for writing “The Phantom of the Opera”, first published in 1910. As a journalist, Leroux was involved in an investigation into the Paris Opera. The basement of the opera house contained a cell that was used to hold prisoners in 1871, something that Leroux featured in his most famous novel.

5 Restaurant chain named after its founders, the Raffel brothers : ARBY’S

The Arby’s chain of fast food restaurants was founded in 1964 by two brothers, Forrest and Leroy Raffel. The name “Arby’s” is a homonym of “RB’s”, standing for “Raffel Brothers”. There is a rumor out there that the initials “RB” were chosen for “roast beef”, but that’s not true.

6 “Famous” cookie guy : AMOS

Wally Amos was a talent agent, one who was in the habit of taking home-baked cookies with him as an enticement to get celebrities to see him. He was urged by friends to open a cookie store (the cookies were that delicious, I guess) and this he did in Los Angeles in 1975 using the name “Famous Amos”. The store was a smash hit and he was able to build on the success by introducing his cookies into supermarkets. The brand was eventually purchased, making Wally a rich man, and Famous Amos cookies are still flying off the shelf. Wally Amos also became an energetic literacy advocate. He hosted 30 TV programs in 1987 entitled “Learn to Read” that provided reading instruction targeted at adults.

8 Key part of a cephalopod’s defense mechanism : INK SAC

Octopodes and squid have the ability to release a dark pigment into the water as a means of escape. The dark pigment is called cephalopod ink (the squid and octopus belong to the class cephalopoda) and is stored in an ink sac. The dark color is created by melanin, the same substance that acts as a pigment in human skin.

9 15th-century headgear for a knight : ARMET

The armet is a relatively lightweight helmet used in the 15th century. It was considered innovative in that it was the first helmet design to completely enclose the head, hence providing added protection.

11 Sorority chaperone : HOUSEMOTHER

Traditionally, a chaperone (often “chaperon” in Britain and Ireland) was a woman accompanying a younger unmarried lady in public, with the term “chaperone” originating in France. The French word was used to mean “hood, cowl” going back to the 12th century, a diminutive of “chape” meaning “cape”. So, our word “chaperone” has the same roots as our word “cape” and indeed “cap”. The idea is that a chaperone is “covering” someone who is vulnerable socially.

12 Captcha test affirmation : I’M NOT A ROBOT

A CAPTCHA is a challenge-and-response test that is used to determine if a user is a human or some automated program. The acronym “CAPTCHA” stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”.

20 Pans that sound like strolls : WOKS

“Wok” is a Cantonese word, and is the name for the frying pan now used in many Asian cuisines.

21 X and Y : CHROMOSOMES

In most mammalian species, including man, females have two identical sex chromosomes (XX) and males two distinct sex chromosomes (XY). As a result it is the males who determine the sex of the offspring. However, in birds the opposite is true and so females determine the sex of the chicks.

24 Doc to consult when confused : FAQ

Most websites have a page listing answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Even this blog has one!

29 Retail apparel giant : J.CREW

J.Crew is a clothing and accessory retailer. Never been there, but I’ve seen the name turn up on credit card statements somehow …

30 Begat : SIRED

Despite the fact that the term “beget” appears in the English translation of the Bible, the use of “beget” in the sense of procreation only dates back to about 1200 AD. Prior to that, “beget” meant “to acquire, seize”.

42 Candy dispensed with a “nod” of the head : PEZ

PEZ is an Austrian brand of candy sold in a mechanical dispenser. Famously, PEZ dispensers have molded “heads”, and have become very collectible over the years. The list of heads includes historical figures like Betsy Ross and Paul Revere, characters from “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”, and even British royalty like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (“William and Kate”). The name “PEZ” comes from the first, middle and last letters of “Pfefferminz”, the German word for “peppermint”.

48 Words repeated in the title of a Doris Day hit : WILL BE

The 1956 song “Que Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” was first performed by Doris Day in the Hitchcock film “The Man Who Knew Too Much”. Day later used the same tune as the theme song for the sitcom “The Doris Day Show” that aired in the late sixties and early seventies.

49 Pre-euro currency of Finland : MARKKA

The markka was the currency of Finland that was used until it was replaced by the euro in 2002. The markka was introduced by the Finns in 1860 to replace the Russian ruble.

56 Panama’s Gulf of San ___ : BLAS

The nation that we now know as Panama sits on an isthmus that formed about 3 million years ago. The isthmus was the result of a land bridge forming between North and South America as two tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust slowly collided. Man first attempted to create a waterway across the Isthmus of Panama in 1881, but the 48-mile long Panama Canal only opened for business in 1914.

60 Mobile home: Abbr. : ALA

Mobile, Alabama was founded in 1702, and was the first capital of French Colonial Louisiana. The city takes its name from the Mobilian tribe of Native Americans who lived in that area.

61 Morning glory goddess : EOS

In Greek mythology, Eos was the goddess of the dawn who lived at the edge of the ocean. Eos would wake each morning to welcome her brother Helios the sun. The Roman equivalent of Eos was Aurora. Rather delightfully, Homer referred to Eos as “rosy-fingered dawn” in both “Iliad” and “Odyssey”.

62 Campus in Troy, N.Y. : RPI

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is a private school in Troy, New York. The university is named after its founder Stephen Van Rensselaer who set up the school in 1824. The goal of RPI has always been the “application of science to the common purposes of life”, an objective set by the founder. Given that, the name for the school’s sports teams is quite apt: the Engineers.