1019-23 NY Times Crossword 19 Oct 23, Thursday

Bill’s time: 11m 55s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4 Shelfmate of Chips Ahoy! and Oreo : NILLA

As one might expect, “Nilla” is a shortened form of “vanilla”. However, you won’t find any vanilla in Nilla brand cookies or wafers. They have always been flavored with vanillin, which is synthetic vanilla. Is nothing sacred …?

9 Actor Abe : VIGODA

Abe Vigoda played Detective Sergeant Phil Fish in television’s “Barney Miller” in the seventies, and even got his own spin-off show called “Fish”. On the big screen, Vigoda played Sal Tessio in “The Godfather” and Grandpa Ubriacco in “Look Who’s Talking”. When Vigoda was 60 years old, he was mistakenly reported as dead by “People” magazine. In response, Vigoda had a photo published in “Variety” showing him sitting up in a coffin, holding a copy of the offending issue of “People”.

15 Bolt at great speed? : USAIN

Usain Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter who won the 100m and 200m race gold medals in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. Back in Jamaica, Bolt was really into cricket, and probably would have been a very successful fast bowler had he not hit the track instead.

19 Hit film whose narrator humorously remarks “Thanks to [her], all problems of feminism and equal rights have been solved” : BARBIE

The 2023 fantasy comedy movie “Barbie” stars Margo Robbie in the title role and Ryan Gosling as Ken. It was directed by Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote the script with her partner Noah Baumbach. I highly recommend this one …

20 Did some metalworking on : ANNEALED

One anneals glass or metal by exposing to a very specific temperature profile, resulting in a tougher or less brittle product.

22 French automaker : CITROEN

André-Gustave Citroën was a Parisian industrialist who founded the Citroën automotive company in 1919, which became the fourth-largest manufacturer of automobiles by the 1930s. Citroën was also quite the gambler and his huge losses eventually led to his company going bankrupt and being taken over by Michelin, the enterprise that provided the tires for the Citroën cars.

23 Tent with smoke flaps, in an anglicized spelling : TEEPEE

A tepee (also written as “tipi” and “teepee”) is a cone-shaped tent traditionally made from animal hides that is used by the Great Plains Native Americans. A wigwam is a completely different structure and is often a misnomer for a tepee. A wigwam is a domed structure built by Native Americans in the West and Southwest, intended to be a more permanent dwelling. The wigwam can also be covered with hides but more often was covered with grass, reeds, brush or cloth.

24 Derbies, e.g. : RACES

Our use of the word “derby” to mean a race started in 1780 with the English Derby horse race, which was founded then by the 12th Earl of Derby. Ultimately, the term “derby” derives from the old English shire of “Deorby”, a word meaning “deer village”.

26 Longtime sneakers brand : KEDS

Keds is a brand of athletic shoe first introduced in 1916 by US Rubber. The shoe was originally marketed as a rubber-soled, canvas-topped sneaker. The company first opted for the brand name “Peds”, from the Latin “ped” meaning “foot”. That name was already taken by another product, and so a quick rebranding took place resulting in “Keds”. The brand celebrated its centennial with a “Ladies First Since 1916” campaign that focuses on female empowerment.

27 Column style : DORIC

The Doric was one of the three classical orders of architecture, the others being the Corinthian and the Ionic. The Doric was the earliest of the three orders, and the simplest.

29 Hasn’t been hoodwinked by : IS ONTO

“To hoodwink” has had the meaning “to deceive” since about 1600. Prior to that it meant simply “to blindfold”, and is simply a combination of the words “hood” and “wink”.

32 Food regimens : DIETS

Quite often, the terms “regime” and “regimen” seem to be used interchangeably. In contemporary usage, “regime” is applied more generally, and “regimen” more specifically. A “regimen” is a systematic approach that one might apply to something, to exercise or diet for example. The term “regime” can also be used in such contexts, but can have additional definitions, such as “government in power”. A form of government cannot be described as a “regimen”.

34 Counterfeit coins : SLUGS

A slug is a counterfeit coin that is used to trick a coin-operated machine. A slug might just be a metal blank, or another coin of lower value. I remember the Austrian Schilling trick that was used in the nineties in the UK. A counterfeiter simply glued two Austrian Schillings back-to-back, and these passed nicely as pound coins. Back then, that represented a 90% profit for the bad guy.

38 Senate majority leader during most of Obama’s presidency : REID

Democrat Harry Reid was the Senate Majority leader from 2007 until 2015. Reid had a big day in the Senate from a Democratic perspective with the successful passage of the so-called ObamaCare Bill. Coincidently, Harry Reid’s wife was in hospital at the time, having broken her back in a car accident. Reid took over as Senate Majority leader from Republican Bill Frist who retired from politics in 2007. Reid was replaced in 2015 by Republican Mitch McConnell.

40 Pyramid ___ : SCHEME

A pyramid scheme is a type of business that depends on the energetic recruitment of others into the scheme. New members typically make a payment of some sort to join, and are pressured to recruit their own circle of new paying recruits. Shares of the recruitment payment proceed up the chain so that those in the higher echelons can make a lot of money. The scheme breaks down as more and more members find themselves competing for fewer and fewer potential recruits.

42 Space chimp of 1961 : ENOS

Enos was a chimpanzee that was launched into Earth orbit in 1961 by NASA on a Mercury Atlas 4 rocket. Enos’s flight was a rehearsal for the first orbital flight made by an American, astronaut John Glenn. Enos returned from his mission safely, but died the following year from dysentery.

45 Britain’s historic Lady ___ : ASTOR

Nancy Astor (nee Langhorne) was born in the US, in Virginia. When Nancy was 26 years old she moved to England with her younger sister. In England she married an American living there, Waldorf Astor, and the couple lived a very comfortable life. Nancy Astor became very active in English politics, and eventually became the first woman elected to the British Parliament.

46 Broadway’s ___-Manuel Miranda : LIN

Lin-Manuel Miranda is a composer and playwright from New York City, and the creator and star of the hit Broadway musicals “Hamilton” and “In the Heights”. Miranda also co-wrote the songs for the 2016 Disney animated feature “Moana”. He started composing early, and wrote jingles as a child. One of those jingles was later used by Eliot Spitzer in his 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

47 Egyptian temple site : KARNAK

The Karnak Temple Complex is located near Luxor on the banks of the River Nile in Egypt. The most famous structure at Karnak is the Great Temple of Amun.

58 Certain volleyball players : SETTERS

In volleyball, each team can only touch the ball a maximum of three times before it returns to the other side of the net. The three contacts are often a “bump” (a preliminary pass) and a “set” (setting up the attacking shot) followed by a “spike” (a shot into the opposing court).

63 Modern-day sort of provocateur : TROLL

In Internet terms, a troll is someone who attempts to disrupt online group activities. The fishing term “troll” is used to describe such a person as he or she throws out off-topic remarks in an attempt to “lure” others into some emotional response. I must admit to feeling sorry for people who have such sad lives …

65 Golfer’s target : HOLE

There’s an urban myth that the standard number of holes on a golf course is 18 because it takes 18 shots to polish off a fifth of scotch whisky. However, the truth is that the standard number of holes in the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland happened to settle down over time at 18, and that standard was adopted all around the world.

67 What’s found in the center of a prune? : LONG U

The center letter of the word “prune” is a long letter U.

68 Prefix with -scopy : ENDO-

An endoscope is an instrument used to make a visual examination of the inside of an organ or cavity of the body.

69 High-end fashion house : HERMES

Hermes was the Greek god of transitions and boundaries, one who intercedes between mortals and the divine. The Roman equivalent to Hermes was the god Mercury.

70 End notes? : CODAS

In music, a coda is primarily a passage that brings a movement to a conclusion. “Coda” is Italian for “tail”.

Down

4 Cellular centers : NUCLEI

Our word “nucleus” is a Latin term meaning “kernel of a nut”. “Nucleus” is the diminutive form of “nux” meaning “nut”.

21 ___ Lingus : AER

Aer Lingus is my favorite airline! Well, the service isn’t that great, but when I get on board an Aer Lingus plane I feel like I am back in Ireland. Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland, with “Aer Lingus” being a phonetic spelling of the Irish “aer-loingeas” meaning “air fleet”. These days Aer Lingus can only lay claim to the title of Ireland’s oldest airline as it is no longer the biggest. That honor goes to the controversial budget airline Ryanair.

25 Hearst mag : COSMO

Hearst is a mass-media company that owns many newspapers, magazines and television entities including the “San Francisco Chronicle”, “Cosmopolitan” and a significant share of ESPN. The Hearst company was founded in 1987 by William Randolph Hearst, with several of the founder’s descendents still actively involved in the business.

28 Round items in square cases : CDS

A CD case is also known as a jewel box, and I am really not sure why. I’ve heard some explanations, but not one that I really buy …

30 Flamenco dancer’s cry : OLE!

Flamenco is a style of Spanish music and dance. The origin of the word “flamenco” isn’t clearly understood, but the explanation that seems most credible to me is that it comes from Flanders in Northern Europe. Given that “flamenco” is the Spanish word for “Flemish” and Flanders is home to the Flemish people it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

39 Territory divided into two states: Abbr. : DAK

The Dakota Territory was formed in 1861 and ceased to exist with the admission to the Union of the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. The territory was split into two states in 1889 largely due to lobbying by the Republican Party, which enjoyed a lot of support in the Dakota Territory. The admission of two states added to the political power of the party in the US Senate, by adding four safe Republican seats.

44 Top-floor spaces : GARRETS

A garret is a room on the top floor of a house, one under a gabled roof. “Garret” is a synonym of “attic”.

50 Greek god of the winds : AEOLUS

Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology, and he gave his name to the adjective “aeolian” (also “aeolic, eolic”) meaning “windblown”, something produced or carried by the wind. For example, an aeolian harp is a fascinating instrument; a box with a sounding board and strings that is “played” by the wind as it blows.

52 Basketball great Thomas : ISIAH

Isiah Thomas played his whole professional career with the Detroit Pistons. He retired from playing the game in 1994, and took up coaching in 2000, initially with the Indiana Pacers. When you’re out shopping for popcorn, keep an eye out for the Dale & Thomas brand, as it’s co-owned by Isiah Thomas.

59 Language akin to Manx : ERSE

There are 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).

61 Apparel competitor of Playtex : OLGA

Olga is a brand of lingerie that is produced by American clothing retailer Bare Necessities.