Constructed by: Alan Arbesfeld
Edited by: Joel Fagliano
Not your puzzle? Try today’s …
… syndicated NY Times crossword
Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Up for April Fools’ Day?
Happy April Fools’ Day, everyone! Themed answers need to be read in the up-direction, and also need some words added to justify that directional shift:
- 3D Start behaving more responsibly, literally? : (TURN OVER) A NEW LEAF
- 7D Malfunctioning, literally? : ACTING (UP)
- 9D Lunar omen in a 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival hit, literally? : BAD MOON (RISING)
- 38D Alpinist’s activity, literally? : MOUNTAIN (CLIMBING)
- 41D Make a rude gesture with one’s finger, literally? : (FLIP) THE BIRD
- 48D Former N.S.C. staffer at the center of the Iran-Contra affair, literally? : OLIVER (NORTH)
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
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Bill’s time: 7m 42s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
6 ___ Grand (Vegas casino) : MGM
MGM Resorts International is the name given to a chain of hotel resorts and casinos, including the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The MGM Grand Las Vegas was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in 1993.
14 Obsessive to a fault : ANAL
The use of the word “anal” to mean “stiffly conventional” is an abbreviated form of “anal-retentive”, a term derived from Freudian psychology. Regardless, I’m not a big fan of the term …
17 Farm equipment company with an antlered logo : DEERE
John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”. The Deere company that John founded uses the slogan “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”, and has a leaping deer as its logo.
22 Deep-fried Indian pastry : SAMOSA
A samosa is quite the tasty appetizer. It is usually a triangular-shaped savory that often has a vegetarian filling. The word “samosa” is primarily used on Indian menus, and the name comes from “sanbosag”, the name for the dish in Persia.
25 Matthew Perry’s role on “Friends” : CHANDLER
Chandler Bing is one of the most beloved characters in the sitcom “The Friends”. Played by Matthew Perry, Bing famously married Monica Geller (played by Courteny Cox), the sister of his friend Ross Geller (played by David Schwimmer).
27 Nabisco cookie : OREO
If you take a close look at the embossed design on the front and back of an Oreo cookie, you’ll spot the main elements of the Nabisco logo. Those elements are an oval with a cross on top, a cross with two bars. Usually the company name “Nabisco” is inside the oval, but for the cookie it’s the brand name “Oreo”. The current embossed design was introduced in 1952.
The National Biscuit Company was formed in 1898 with the merger of three existing bakery businesses. The company name today is “Nabisco”, an abbreviated form of “National Biscuit Company”.
28 Italian goodbye : CIAO
“Ciao” is Italian for “‘bye”. “Arrivederci” is more formal, and translates as “goodbye”.
33 U.K. news source, with “the” : … BEEB
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is also known as “the Beeb”, a name given to the network by the great Peter Sellers on the classic British radio comedy called “The Goon Show”. The BBC was founded in 1922, and was the world’s first national broadcasting organization.
36 “Give us this day ___ daily bread” : OUR
“Give us this day our daily bread” is a phrase taken from the Lord’s Prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer is a central prayer in Christian religions, and is found in two places in the New Testament. In the version in the Gospel of Matthew, the last line of the prayer is “deliver us from evil”. In the Gospel of Luke, the last line is “lead us not into temptation”. The last words of the prayer most often used today are:
For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever,
Amen
37 Lingerie purchase : BRA
“Lingerie” is a French term. As used in France, it describes any underwear, worn by either males or females. In English we use “lingerie” to describe alluring underclothing worn by women. The term “lingerie” comes into English via the French word “linge” meaning “washables”, and ultimately from the Latin “linum”, meaning “linen”. We tend not to pronounce the word correctly in English, either here in the US or across the other side of the Atlantic. The French pronunciation is more like “lan-zher-ee”, as opposed to “lon-zher-ay” (American) and “lon-zher-ee” (British).
42 Capital of Michigan : LANSING
Lansing, Michigan is unique among US state capitals in that it is not a county seat, even though it is located in Ingham County. Ingham County’s seat is Mason, Michigan.
47 Greek god of war : ARES
The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. He united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.
54 Alex of “Jeopardy!” fame : TREBEK
Alex Trebek was the host of “Jeopardy!” from the launch of the syndicated version of the game show in 1984 until his passing in 2020. Trebek missed just one episode during that time, when he and host of “Wheel of Fortune” Pat Sajak swapped roles in 1997 as an April Fool’s joke. In 2014, Trebek picked up the Guinness World Record for hosting the most episodes of a game show.
55 Asset of a successful entrepreneur : VISION
An entrepreneur is someone who takes on most aspects of a business venture, from the original idea to the execution. The term is imported from French, with “entreprendre” meaning “to undertake”. The original usage in English dates back to the early 1800s, when it applied to a manager and promoter of a theatrical production.
62 Late-night host Meyers : SETH
Seth Meyers is an actor and comedian who is perhaps best-known today for hosting his own late night talk show on NBC. Meyers might be described as a poker shark. He won the third season of Celebrity Poker Showdown in 2004.
63 Missile housing : SILO
“Silo” is a Spanish word that we absorbed into English. The term ultimately derives from the Greek “siros”, which described a pit in which one kept corn.
65 Quaint lead-in to while : ERST-
“Erst” is an archaic way of saying “formerly, before the present time”. The term is mostly seen as part of the word “erstwhile”, an adjective meaning “of times past”.
Down
5 Iron/carbon alloy : STEEL
An alloy is a mixture of metals, or a mixture of metal with some other element, that behaves like a metal. Alloys are produced as perhaps cheaper alternatives to pure metals, or as alternatives that have enhanced metallurgical properties. Common examples of alloys are steel, solder, brass, pewter and bronze.
8 Homo sapiens : MAN
The literal translation of “Homo sapiens” from Latin is “wise or knowing man”. The Homo genus includes the species Homo sapiens (modern humans), but we’re the only species left in that genus. The last known species related to humans was Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man) which died off about 24,000 years ago. However, another species was discovered in Indonesia in 2003 that has been dubbed Homo floresiensis (Flores Man … sometimes called “hobbit”), and it may possibly have lived as recently as 12,000 years ago. Watch this space …
9 Lunar omen in a 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival hit, literally? : BAD MOON (RISING)
“Bad Moon Rising” is a song recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Written by band member John Fogerty, the song was inspired by the composer watching the hurricane scene in the movie “The Devil and Daniel Webster”.
10 Actor Schwarzenegger : ARNOLD
Body-builder, actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Graz in Austria, the son of the local police chief. Schwarzenegger’s family name translates into the more prosaic “black plowman”. In his bodybuilding days, he was often referred to as the Austrian Oak. When he was Governor of California he was called “the Governator”, a play on his role in the “The Terminator” series of movies.
11 Queasy feeling : NAUSEA
Nausea is a sick feeling in the stomach. The term “nausea” derives from the Greek “naus” meaning “ship”. Originally, nausea was associated only with seasickness.
15 Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona ___” : LISA
Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece that we know in English as the “Mona Lisa” is called “La Gioconda” in Italian, the language of the artist. It’s also known as “La Joconde” by the Government of France which owns the painting and displays it in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The title comes from the name of the subject, almost certainly Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Giocondo was a wealthy silk merchant in Florence who commissioned the painting for the couple’s new home to celebrate the birth of their second son.
19 Reminiscent of work by the 14th-century author of “Inferno” : DANTEAN
Dante Alighieri (usually just “Dante”) was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His “Divine Comedy” is widely considered to be the greatest literary work ever written in the Italian language. Dante actually gave his masterpiece the title “Comedy” (“Commedia” in Italian). Written in the early 1300s, none of Dante’s original “Comedy” manuscripts survive. Three copies made by author and poet Giovanni Boccaccio in the 1360s do survive. Boccaccio changed the title to “Divine Comedy” (“Divina Commedia”), and that title persists to this day.
29 Jennifer Lopez #1 hit with the lyric “What you get is what you see” : I’M REAL
Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez (aka “J. Lo”) has two children with her third husband, singer Marc Anthony. The twins Maximilian and Emme were born in 2008. Reportedly, “People” magazine paid Lopez and Anthony $6 million to introduce the children to the public, making the images taken by the magazine the most expensive celebrity photographs of all time.
39 Oscar winner Hathaway : ANNE
Actress Anne Hathaway is a favorite of mine, I must say. She starred in “The Devil Wears Prada” in 2006 and in 2007’s “Becoming Jane”, a film that I particularly enjoyed. And yes, baby Anne was named after Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare.
40 Dairy aisle dozen : EGGS
Our word “dozen” is used for a group of twelve. We imported it into English from Old French. The modern French word for “twelve” is “douze”, and for “dozen” is “douzaine”.
44 Like an angle between 90° and 180° : OBTUSE
In geometry, there are several classes of angles:
- Acute (< 90 degrees)
- Right (= 90 degrees)
- Obtuse (> 90 degrees and < 180 degrees)
- Straight (180 degrees)
- Reflex (> 180 degrees)
48 Former N.S.C. staffer at the center of the Iran-Contra affair, literally? : OLIVER (NORTH)
The Iran-Contra affair (also called “Irangate”) came to light in 1986. The “Iran” part of the scandal was the sale of arms to Iran by the Reagan administration, initially to facilitate the release of US hostages. This was done in secret largely because there was ostensibly a US arms embargo in place against Iran. The “Contra” part of the scandal arose when the man in charge of the operation, Oliver North, took funds from the arms sales and funneled the cash to the Contra militants who were fighting to topple the government in Nicaragua.
53 Bette Midler’s “Divine” nickname : MISS M
One of my favorite singers, and indeed all-round entertainers, is Bette Midler. If you’ve ever seen her live show you’ll know that “camp” is a good word to describe it, as her humor is definitely “out there” and quite bawdy. Early in her career, Midler spent years singing in the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in New York City. There she became very close friends with her piano accompanist, Barry Manilow. While singing in the bathhouse, Bette only wore a white towel, just like the members of her audience. It was in those days that she created her famous character “the Divine Miss M” and also earned herself the nickname “Bathhouse Betty”.
60 Liquor in a mai tai : RUM
The mai tai cocktail is strongly associated with the Polynesian islands, but the drink was supposedly invented in 1944 in Trader Vic’s restaurant in Oakland, California. One recipe is 6 parts white rum, 3 parts orange curaçao, 3 parts orgeat syrup, 1 part rock candy syrup, 2 parts fresh lime juice, all mixed with ice and then a float added of 6 parts dark rum. “Maita’i” is the Tahitian word for “good”.
Read on, or …
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Floats like a scent on the breeze : WAFTS
6 ___ Grand (Vegas casino) : MGM
9 Grandmother, affectionately : NANA
13 Look forward to : AWAIT
14 Obsessive to a fault : ANAL
16 Spoken : ORAL
17 Farm equipment company with an antlered logo : DEERE
18 Bite-size treat with a hole : MINI DONUT
20 Ogle rudely : LEER AT
22 Deep-fried Indian pastry : SAMOSA
23 Waste time : DAWDLE
25 Matthew Perry’s role on “Friends” : CHANDLER
27 Nabisco cookie : OREO
28 Italian goodbye : CIAO
30 Triumphant cries at a magic show : TADAS
31 Fled : RAN FROM
33 U.K. news source, with “the” : … BEEB
35 Deg. for a suit : MBA
36 “Give us this day ___ daily bread” : OUR
37 Lingerie purchase : BRA
38 Scot’s denial : NAE
41 Super-cool, in slang : DOPE
42 Capital of Michigan : LANSING
44 Ones in a financial hole : OWERS
47 Greek god of war : ARES
49 Zesty flavor : TANG
50 Speak dismissively of : BELITTLE
52 Behaves theatrically : EMOTES
54 Alex of “Jeopardy!” fame : TREBEK
55 Asset of a successful entrepreneur : VISION
57 Up in the air : UNCERTAIN
59 Cowboy boot attachments : SPURS
62 Late-night host Meyers : SETH
63 Missile housing : SILO
64 Portly : STOUT
65 Quaint lead-in to while : ERST-
66 Put on, as clothing : DON
67 Mother, affectionately : MOMMY
Down
1 Thick stack of cash : WAD
2 Blown-away feeling : AWE
3 Start behaving more responsibly, literally? : (TURN OVER) A NEW LEAF
4 Bored with : TIRED OF
5 Iron/carbon alloy : STEEL
6 Who “said there’ll be days like this,” in a 1961 hit : MAMA
7 Malfunctioning, literally? : ACTING (UP)
8 Homo sapiens : MAN
9 Lunar omen in a 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival hit, literally? : BAD MOON (RISING)
10 Actor Schwarzenegger : ARNOLD
11 Queasy feeling : NAUSEA
12 Places to exchange wedding vows : ALTARS
15 Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona ___” : LISA
19 Reminiscent of work by the 14th-century author of “Inferno” : DANTEAN
21 Win back, as losses : RECOUP
23 Campus residence : DORM
24 United ___ Emirates : ARAB
26 Walk with difficulty : HOBBLE
29 Jennifer Lopez #1 hit with the lyric “What you get is what you see” : I’M REAL
32 Cock-a-doodle-dooer : ROOSTER
34 Wipes clean : ERASES
38 Alpinist’s activity, literally? : MOUNTAIN (CLIMBING)
39 Oscar winner Hathaway : ANNE
40 Dairy aisle dozen : EGGS
41 Make a rude gesture with one’s finger, literally? : (FLIP) THE BIRD
43 Go as low as : STOOP TO
44 Like an angle between 90° and 180° : OBTUSE
45 Film director Herzog : WERNER
46 Votes into office : ELECTS
48 Former N.S.C. staffer at the center of the Iran-Contra affair, literally? : OLIVER (NORTH)
51 Broadway purchases: Abbr. : TKTS
53 Bette Midler’s “Divine” nickname : MISS M
56 Privy to : IN ON
58 Financial support : AID
60 Liquor in a mai tai : RUM
61 Pig’s spot to wallow : STY
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11 thoughts on “0401-24 NY Times Crossword 1 Apr 24, Monday”
Comments are closed.
9:10, no errors.
9:50, no errors. Took about half the puzzle to realize that there was a gimmick.
10:44. I was upside down on this one.
@Dianne (wrt your question from yesterday) …
I think it’s British slang. “Stupid git” there means (or, perhaps, used to mean) the same as our “dumb a__”. (And I also think it is/was the sort of thing parents didn’t want to hear from their children … 🙂.)
—-
I have made repeated attempts to post this and each one, so far, has been rejected. Others have recently had similar problems. What’s up with the blog?
And … that one posted! I sent it as “Anonymous” and I blanked out a portion of one word (but I don’t know if that’s why previous attempts failed). Weird.
I also don’t know if this explains the problems others have been having.
Any comments, Bill?
Typical easy Monday.
Caught on to most of the literals.
Finished no errors anyway.
No errors.
Now this was fun!!!
I’ve got a new leaf on crosswords and no bad moon rising!
Had my ups and downs but no errors.
Stay safe😀
Go Orioles⚾️
To repeat myself – I never suspect the themes because of the dates my
paper runs the puzzles. Happy May 6th everyone.
Hated the stupid backwards answers.
I give the constructor the answer to 41down