0704-24 NY Times Crossword 4 Jul 24, Thursday

Bill’s time: 12m 26s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 *One of 32 in London : BOROUGH (“-OUGH” sounds like “O!”)

London, England has been a major settlement for over 2,000 years and was founded as a town by the Romans who named it Londinium. The name “Londinium” may have existed prior to the arrival of the Romans, and no one seems too sure of its origins. Famously, the City of London is a one-square-mile area at the center of the metropolis, the area that marked old medieval London. “The City”, as it is commonly called, has its own Mayor of the City of London (the Mayor of London is someone else), and its own City of London Police Force (the London Metropolitan Police are the police usually seen on the streets, a different force).

14 Like the architecture of the Alhambra : MOORISH

Alhambra is a magnificent fortress and palace in Granada, Andalusia in the south of Spain. The large complex was completed in the 14th century in the days when the Moors ruled Andalusia.

16 Stuck waiting : IN LIMBO

In the Roman Catholic tradition, “Limbo” is a place where souls can remain who cannot enter heaven. For example, infants who have not been baptized are said to reside in Limbo. Limbo is said to be located on the border of Hell. The name was chosen during the Middle Ages from the Latin “limbo” meaning “ornamental border to a fringe”. We use the phrase “in limbo” in contemporary English to mean “in a state of uncertainty”.

19 *Teacher in a dojo : SENSEI (“-SEI” sounds like “SAY”)

“Sensei” is a Japanese form of address used for figures of authority, from lawyers to martial arts instructors.

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.

24 Start of a children’s rhyme with the line “Have you any wool?” : BAA …

The old English nursery rhyme “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” is usually sung as:

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

The tune that accompanies the rhyme is a variant of the French melody “Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman”, which we know best in English as the tune for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.

29 Staple of Thursday night CBS programming during the 2000s : CSI

The “CSI” TV show franchise uses hits from the Who as theme music:

• “Who Are You” … “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
• “Baba O’Riley” … “CSI: New York”
• “Won’t Get Fooled Again” … “CSI: Miami”
• “I Can See for Miles” … “CSI: Cyber”

31 Six Flags coaster with a Spanish name : EL TORO

The Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an operator of amusement parks that is headquartered in Grand Prairie, Texas. Six Flags owns more amusement parks than any other company in the world. The first of these properties to open was Six Flags Over Texas. The park’s name was chosen as a homage to the flags of the six nations that have governed Texas, namely Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America.

39 *Home to Gonzaga University : SPOKANE (“-KANE” sounds like “CAN”)

Spokane, Washington is named for the Spokan people who lived in the eastern portion of Washington and northern Idaho. Back in 1974, Spokane was the smallest city ever to host a World’s Fair. The theme of the fare was “the environment”, which I suppose was ahead of its time. Notably, Expo ’74 was the first American-hosted World’s Fair attended by the Soviet Union after WWII.

Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington was founded by Jesuits in 1887 to serve the local Native American community. The school is named for the Jesuit saint Aloysius Gonzaga.

40 Clandestine meetups : TRYSTS

In the most general sense, a tryst is a meeting at an agreed time and place. More usually we consider a tryst to be a pre-arranged meeting between lovers. The term comes from the Old French “triste”, a waiting place designated when hunting. Further, a tryst taking place at lunchtime is sometimes referred to as a nooner.

42 Like some skillets : CAST IRON

Cast iron is an alloy of iron and carbon, with a carbon content that is greater than 1.8%. Iron-carbon alloys containing less carbon are known as steel.

43 ___ Speedwagon : REO

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band that formed in 1967, and is still going strong. The band’s biggest hits are “Keep On Loving You” (1980) and “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (1985). The founding members chose the name for the REO Speed Wagon flatbed truck. Note that the band’s name is one word “Speedwagon”, whereas the vehicle’s name uses two words “Speed Wagon”.

51 Belgian town known for its restorative mineral springs : SPA

The word “spa” migrated into English from Belgium, as “Spa” is the name of a municipality in the east of the country that is famous for its healing hot springs. The name “Spa” comes from the Walloon word “espa” meaning “spring, fountain”.

55 *Environs : MILIEU (“-IEU” sounds like “YOU”)

We use the French term “milieu” (plural “milieux”) to mean “environment, surroundings”. In French, “milieu” is the word for “middle”.

“Environ” is the French word for “round” or “round about”. We use “environ” as a verb in English, meaning to surround, form a circle around. The related plural noun “environs” is used to mean “surroundings, environment”.

58 Get in a corpse pose : LIE

In yoga, shavasana is a pose (asana) that is often used at the end of the session for relaxation. It is known as corpse pose in English.

62 Superlative for a quiche or frittata : EGGIEST

The classic dish called quiche is made with eggs (“oeufs” in French). Even though the quiche is inextricably linked to French cuisine, the name “quiche” comes from “Kuchen”, the German word for “cake”. The variant called “quiche lorraine” includes bits of smoked bacon as an ingredient.

A frittata is an omelet dish from Italy. The word “frittata” is Italian, and comes from “fritto” meaning “fried”.

67 *Drawn-out story of travel woes? : ODYSSEY (“-SSEY” sounds like “SEE”)

“Odyssey” is one of two epic poems from ancient Greece that are attributed to Homer. It is largely a sequel to Homer’s other epic “Iliad”. “Odyssey” centers on the heroic figure Odysseus, and his adventures on his journey home to Greece following the fall of Troy. We now use the term “odyssey” to describe any long series of adventures.

Down

1 Like megaphones : CONICAL

A megaphone is also known as a loudhailer or bullhorn. It was probably Thomas Edison who coined, or at least popularized, the term “megaphone” in 1878. He created a megaphone that was intended to benefit those who were hard of hearing. Edison’s device was relatively clumsy, and far from portable. However, it allowed a person speaking in a normal voice to be heard about two miles away!

2 “Get ready!” … or what to do upon hearing the ends of the answers to the starred clues? : HOLD ONTO YOUR HAT!

3 Red-haired Disney princess : ARIEL

The lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” were written first as a poem by Francis Scott Key. Key’s inspiration was the bombardment by the British of the American forces at Fort McHenry that he witnessed during the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814. The words were then set to the tune of a popular British drinking song penned by John Stafford Smith called “The Anacreontic Song”, with the Anacreontic Society being a men’s club in London.

5 Some PC ports : USBS

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard dealing with how computers and electronic devices connect and communicate, and dealing with electrical power through those connections.

7 Wood used in some surfboards : BALSA

Balsa is a very fast-growing tree that is native to parts of South America. Even though balsa wood is very soft, it is actually classified as a hardwood, the softest of all the hardwoods (go figure!). Balsa is light and strong, so is commonly used in making model airplanes. In WWII, a full-size British plane, the de Havilland Mosquito, was built largely from balsa and plywood. No wonder they called it “The Wooden Wonder” and “The Timber Terror”.

9 Sitarist Shankar : RAVI

Ravi Shankar was perhaps the most famous virtuoso (to us Westerners) from the world of Indian classical music, and was noted for his sitar playing. Shankar was the father of the pop singer Norah Jones.

10 Potential product of asteroid mining : ORE

The vast majority of asteroids in the Solar System are found in the main asteroid belt, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Four large asteroids (Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Hygeia) make up about half the mass of the asteroid belt and are 400-950 km in diameter. The total mass of the belt is just 4% of the mass of our Moon. The larger asteroids are also known as “planetoids”.

12 Highlight of a rock collection : GEODE

A geode is a rock in which there is a cavity that is lined or filled with crystal formations. The crystals inside a geode form when mineral-rich water seeps into a cavity in a rock, leaving behind dissolved minerals that gradually build up over time. Some of the largest geodes ever discovered have been as big as a room and can take millions of years to form.

13 University of Delaware’s Fightin’ Blue ___ : HENS

The Delaware Blue Hen has been the state bird of Delaware since 1939. As a result, the athletic teams of the University of Delaware are known as the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens.

23 Snack brand whose Japanese flavors include tuna mayonnaise and clam chowder : DORITOS

The product that was to become Doritos was a creation at the Casa de Fritos in Disneyland in the early sixties. A marketing executive from Frito-Lay noticed how well the snack was selling in the park, and made a deal to produce the chips under the name “Doritos”, starting in 1964. “Doritos” translates from Spanish as “little bits of gold”.

25 Two out of 10 : PINKIES

The use of “pinkie” or “pinky” for the little finger or toe comes into English from “pinkje”, the Dutch word for the same digit. Who knew …?

34 Helpful FYI : PSA

Public service announcement (PSA)

36 Ambient musician whose name is found in “white noise” : ENO

Brian Eno was one of the pioneers of the genre of ambient music. He composed an album in 1978 called “Ambient 1: Music for Airports”, which was the first in a series of four albums with an ambient theme. Eno named the tracks, somewhat inventively, 1/1, 1/2, 2/1 and 2/2.

37 Hibernation spot : DEN

When animals hibernate, they are minimally active, have low body temperatures, relatively slow breathing and a low metabolic rate overall. HIbernation can last days and even months, and is most closely associated with the winter season. The term “hibernation” comes from the Latin “hibernare” meaning “to pass the winter, occupy winter quarters”.

48 Like Red Delicious apples : MEALY

The Red Delicious apple was developed in an Iowa orchard in 1880. The variety was eventually given the name “Hawkeye”, and then “Stark Delicious”. After the Golden Delicious became established in 1914, the relatively unrelated Stark Delicious apple was renamed to “Red Delicious”.

50 Painter Velázquez : DIEGO

Diego Velázquez was a Spanish painter during the Baroque period. He was a member of the court of King Philip IV in the first half of the 17th century, and as such was commissioned to paint many portraits and scenes of historical importance.

55 Mediterranean appetizer : MEZE

Meze is a platter of small dishes served as appetizers in several Mediterranean locales.

56 “Great Scott!” : EGAD!

No one seems to know for sure who the “Scott” is in the exclamation “great Scott!”. One theory is that the reference is to the commander-in-chief of the US Army during the Civil War, General Winfield Scott. Scott weighed in at 300 pounds later in his life, and was so obese that he could not ride a horse.

63 Certain network IDs : IPS

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical label assigned to every device on a computer network. The device that you’re using to read this blog post on has been assigned a unique IP address, as has the computer that I’m using to make this post …