0721-24 NY Times Crossword 21 Jul 24, Sunday

Bill’s time: 19m 43s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Fills, as a moving van : LOADS UP

The vehicle we call a “van” takes its name from “caravan”, and so “van” is a shortened version of the older term. Back in the 1600s, a caravan was a covered cart. We still use the word “caravan” in Ireland to describe what we call a “mobile home” or “recreational vehicle” here in the US.

14 Country on the Gulf of Guinea : GABON

The nation of Gabon lies on the west coast of Central Africa. Since it became independent from France in 1960, Gabon has become one of the most prosperous countries on the continent, by making use of the abundant natural resources and willing foreign investment.

The Gulf of Guinea is a large gulf that forms part of the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Africa. One of the gulf’s claims to fame is that it is home to the intersecting point between zero degrees of latitude and zero degrees of longitude, i.e. where the Equator and Prime Meridian cross.

20 River through the Black Forest : DANUBE

The Danube is the second largest river in Europe (after the Volga). It flows through four European capitals (Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade and Bratislava).

The Black Forest (“Schwarzwald” in German) is a mountainous region in southwestern Germany that is so called because of its rich covering of trees. It is the source of the Danube, the second-longest river in Europe.

21 Corkscrew-shaped pasta : ROTINI

Rotini is a corkscrew-shaped pasta that is often used in pasta salads. Even though “rotini” sounds like it comes from a word meaning “twist, rotate”, the word “rotini” doesn’t exist in Italian other than as the name for the pasta.

22 All crossword fans love this puzzle; anyone who doesn’t love this puzzle can’t be a *real* crossword fan! : NO TRUE SCOTSMAN

The “no true Scotsman” logical fallacy is one in which one tries to rescue a failed argument by repeating the same argument using somewhat disparaging language. The classic example, which gives the fallacy its name, is:

Assertion: “No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.”
Rebuttal: “But my uncle Angus is a Scotsman and he puts sugar on his porridge.”
Reassertion: “But no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.”

26 Bygone auto inits. : REO

The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom Eli Olds (hence the name REO). The company made cars, trucks and buses, and was in business from 1905 to 1975 in Lansing, Michigan. Among the company’s most famous models were the REO Royale 8 and the REO Flying Cloud.

28 Mars, a star : BRUNO

Bruno Mars is a singer-songwriter from Honolulu who has been active in the music business since 2006. “Bruno Mars” is a stage name, as Mars was born “Peter Hernandez”.

30 Why was this chosen as today’s puzzle? Because it’s great! What makes it great? I mean, it was chosen for publication! : CIRCULAR REASONING

A circular reasoning fallacy is one in which the evidence supporting a claim is just the claim itself. A couple of examples would be:

• Smoking causes cancer, because cigarette smoke is a carcinogen.
• Everybody loves Raymond, because Raymond is so popular.

36 Plastic ___ Band : ONO

The Plastic Ono Band was a so-called “super-group”, brought together by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969. Members of the group included John and Yoko, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Keith Moon.

37 Sport with the rank yokozuna (“grand champion”) : SUMO

Sumo is a sport that is practiced professionally only in Japan, the country of its origin. There is an international federation of sumo wrestling now, and one of the organization’s aims is to have the sport accepted as an Olympic event.

38 Light beige : ECRU

Our word “beige” comes from the Old French “bege”, a term that applied to the natural color of wool and cotton that was not dyed.

44 What “you better not” do, in “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” : POUT

The Christmas song “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” was introduced to us in November of 1934 on Eddie Cantor’s radio show. The song was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie.

46 Nintendo avatar : MII

Nintendo introduced customizable avatars for the company’s video game consoles starting in 1997. The first customizable avatars for the Wii system were introduced in 2006, and were given the inventive name “Miis”.

47 I sent this crossword to 100 friends, and two of them really liked it! : CHERRY-PICKING

Cherry-picking is a tactic used to support an argument in which favorable individual cases are cited as representative of all cases. Cherry-picking attempts to bias an audience by focusing only on data that is supportive of an argument, while overlooking data that is non-supportive.

55 Make like a nomad : ROAM

A nomad is someone who roams about. The term “nomad” comes from the Latin “nomas” meaning “wandering shepherd”. In turn, “nomas” comes from the Greek “nomas” meaning “roaming (especially when looking for pasture)”.

56 Story ___ : ARC

A story arc is a continuing storyline in say a television show that runs through a number of episodes. Story arcs are also found in comics, books, video games, and other forms of media.

65 What’s more, one of those friends won the lottery right after solving it — coincidence? I think not! : POST HOC ERGO PROPTER HOC

The term “post hoc” is used to describe a conclusion made about an earlier event at the time of a later event. Post hoc reasoning is basically an argument made late in the day, an argument that the earlier event caused the later event. If you know what I mean …!

72 Piece worth approximately five pawns : ROOK

The corner piece in the game of chess is called a “rook”, a word coming from the Persian “rokh” meaning a “chariot”. The rook has also been called, perhaps incorrectly, the castle, tower, marquess and rector.

74 “Capeesh?” : Y’HEAR?

“Capeesh?” is a slang term meaning “do you understand?” It comes from the Italian “capisce” meaning “understand”.

76 Paintball impact sound : SPLAT!

The “paint” in paintball isn’t actually paint, but rather a mix of gelatin and food coloring.

79 Beetle juice? : GAS

“VW” stands for “Volkswagen”, which translates from German into “people’s car”. The original Volkswagen design was the Beetle and was built under a directive from Adolf Hitler, who wanted a cheap car built that ordinary people could afford to purchase. Hitler awarded the contract to engineer Ferdinand Porsche, whose name (paradoxically) would forever be associated with high performance, expensive cars. The Beetle was the official name of the VW model released in North America, but it was usually referred to as a “Bug” here in the US, and a “Beetle” elsewhere in the world.

80 Opposite of bien : MAL

In French, something might be “mal” (bad), or hopefully “bon” (good).

82 Lizard’s grippers : TOE PADS

The word “gecko” comes from an Indonesian/Javanese word “tokek”, which is imitative of the reptile’s chirping sound. In making such a sound, geckos are unique in the world of lizards. More interesting to me than a gecko’s chirping is its ability to cling to walls and other vertical surfaces. Their feet are specially adapted with “toes” that make extremely intimate, close contact to a surface. The toes have millions of hairs called setae that enable the clinging. It isn’t suction that supports them, but rather van der Waals forces (weak “gravitational” attractions). Fascinating stuff …

85 If you criticize this puzzle, where will it end? Before long, you’ll be criticizing your mother’s cooking! : SLIPPERY SLOPE

A slippery slope fallacy is one in which a claim is made, without evidence, that one position or decision will lead to a progression of unintended consequences.

92 Aberdeen denial : NAE

The Scottish city of Aberdeen is located amidst plentiful supplies of granite that were actively quarried until the 1970s. Many local buildings incorporate some of that granite in their structure. Aberdeen granite is especially prized for its high levels of mica, which can cause the stone to sparkle like silver. It’s no surprise then, that the list of Aberdeen’s nicknames includes “Granite City” and “Silver City”.

93 World capital or the name of its gulf : TUNIS

The North African nation of Tunisia takes its name from its capital city Tunis. Present-day Tunisia is roughly equivalent to the Roman province known as “Africa Proconsularis”, which gave its name to the whole continent.

94 Sled dog command : MUSH

Mushing is the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled. “Mush” is thought to come from the French “marche” meaning “go, run”.

98 Org. whose website has a “What Can I Bring?” section : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) loosened the ban on liquids, aerosols and gels in carry-on baggage in 2006, From that date onwards, passengers had to abide by the 3-1-1 rule, i.e. 3.4-ounce or less containers (3), in a one-quart ziploc bag (1), one bag per person (1).

101 Besides, The New York Times said it was good! : APPEAL TO AUTHORITY

An argument from authority is a logical fallacy in which a person cites an unqualified authority to justify a claim. Such arguments are commonly made in advertisements, for example, “This toothpaste is recommended by 9 out of 10 dentists”. Yeah, but who are those dentists?

106 Trisolarans in “The Three-Body Problem,” e.g., for short : ETS

French mathematician Henri Poincaré was also a physicist, and is often described as a polymath. Notably, he contributed to the “three-body problem” of classical mechanics. That phrase became familiar to the non-scientific community when Netflix started airing the TV series “3 Body Problem”.

109 Model material : 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”.

113 Home of Mount Doom in “The Lord of the Rings” : MORDOR

Mordor is a fictional land in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. It is a place of great danger, but also home to the volcano Mount Doom. Mount. Mount Doom is the only place where the One Ring can be destroyed, and so it is the destination of the Fellowship of the Ring in their quest to save Middle-earth.

118 Corpulent : ROTUND

Our word “corpulent”, meaning “having a large body”, comes from Latin. “Corpus” means “body”, and “-ulentus” means “full of”. Very descriptive …

121 Zoom alternative : SKYPE

The main feature of the Skype application, when introduced, was that it allows voice communication to take place over the Internet (aka VoIP). Skype has other features such as video conferencing and instant messaging, but the application made its name from voice communication. Skype was founded by two Scandinavian entrepreneurs and the software necessary was developed by a team of engineers in Estonia. The development project was originally called “Sky peer-to-peer” so the first commercial name for the application was “Skyper”. This had to be shortened to “Skype” because the skyper.com domain name was already in use.

122 What fingerprints and mountains have : RIDGES

Fingerprint patterns are classified into three different patterns: loops, whorls and arches.

Down

1 Hot ___ (breakfast side) : LINKS

Link sausages are so called as they can come in chains, with each sausage being a link in that chain.

2 Global protection : OZONE

Ozone gets its name from the Greek word “ozein” meaning “to smell”. It was given this name as ozone’s formation during lightning storms was detected by the gas’s distinctive smell. Famously, there is a relatively high concentration of the gas in the “ozone layer” in the Earth’s stratosphere. This ozone layer provides a vital function for animal life on the planet as it absorbs most of the sun’s UV radiation. A molecule of ozone is made up of three oxygen atoms (O3), whereas a “normal” oxygen (O2) has just two atoms.

3 Onetime pyramid builder : AZTEC

The Aztec people of Central America dominated the region in the 14th – 16th centuries. Two traits of the Aztec people are oft cited today. They built some magnificent pyramids, and they also engaged in human sacrifice. The two traits were linked in a way … for the consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan, 84,400 prisoners were sacrificed over a period of four days.

5 Bassist Cook of Creedence Clearwater Revival : STU

Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) was a rock band from San Francisco that played in a Southern rock style, with hits such as “Proud Mary”, “Bad Moon Rising”, “Down on the Corner” and “Who’ll Stop the Rain”.

10 Commercial lead-in to cart : INSTA-

Instacart is a grocery delivery service that was founded in San Francisco in 2012. Customers use an app to select groceries from a specific outlet, and then a personal shopper picks the items from the shelves and delivers them to the customer’s home.

11 Region of ancient Mesopotamia : SUMER

Iraq is often called the “Cradle of Civilization” as it was home to Sumer, which was the earliest known civilization on the planet. By 5000 BC the Sumerian people were practicing year-round agriculture and had a specialized labor force. For the first time, a whole race was able to settle in one place by storing food, instead of having to migrate in a pattern dictated by crops and grazing land.

14 Camera that comes with a head strap : GOPRO

GoPro is a company that makes high-definition video cameras that have a rugged design. Famously, GoPro cameras are used in extreme conditions. For example, they are often mounted on moving vehicles or used by people playing sports. Two astronauts on the International Space Station inserted a GoPro camera inside a floating ball of water, and then showed the view from inside the ball of water. Amazing footage …

16 Certain cyborgs : BIONIC MEN

“Cyborg” is an abbreviation for “cybernetic organism”, a being that is made up of both organic and synthetic parts.

23 Pixar movie with the song “Un Poco Loco” : COCO

“Coco” is a 2017 Pixar movie about a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who ends up in the land of the dead by accident. There, he seeks out the help of the great-great-grandfather to get back to his family in the land of the living.

30 Singer with #1 hits in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s : CHER

“Cher” is the stage name used by singer and actress Cherilyn Sarkisian. Formerly one half of husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher, she is often referred to as the Goddess of Pop. In her acting career, Cher was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar of 1984 for her performance in “Silkwood”. She went further in 1988 and won the season’s Best Actress Oscar for playing Loretta Castorini in “Moonstruck”.

31 Insensitive, in a way : UN-PC

To be un-PC is to be politically incorrect, not politically correct (PC).

33 Old Testament book : AMOS

Amos is one of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. The Old Testament’s Book of Amos is attributed to him.

35 Treatment whose name suggests its long-lasting effects : PERM

“Perm” is the common name given to a permanent wave, a chemical or thermal treatment of hair to produce waves or curls.

41 Stationery stacks : REAMS

A ream is 500 sheets of paper. As there were 24 sheets in a quire, and 20 quires made up a ream, there used to be 480 sheets in a ream. Ever since the standard was changed to 500, a 480-sheet packet of paper has been called a “short ream”. We also use the term “reams” to mean a great amount, evolving from the idea of a lot of printed material.

“Stationery” is a noun describing writing materials and office supplies, items that are sold by a stationer. Centuries ago, a stationer was someone who sold goods from a shop or a “station”, from a fixed, “stationary” stall.

43 Where Barbie is originally from, according to her creators : WISCONSIN

The famous Barbie doll was created by businesswoman Ruth Handler and first appeared on store shelves in 1959. Barbie was based on a German fashion doll called Bild Lilli that was introduced in 1955. Lilli had been a German cartoon character before taking on a three-dimensional form. Prior to the introduction of Bild Lilli and Barbie, children’s dolls were primarily representations of infants.

51 Semimonthly tide : NEAP

Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the oceans. At neap tide, the smaller gravitational effect of the sun cancels out some of the moon’s effect. At spring tide, the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces act in concert causing more extreme movement of the oceans.

61 Last sips : DREGS

The dregs in wine, the sediment that settles during fermentation (and sometimes in the bottle), are also called “lees”.

63 Weapon for Achilles : SPEAR

Achilles is the protagonist in Homer’s “Iliad”. When Achilles was born, his mother attempted to make him immortal by dipping him into the River Styx. As he was held by the heel while under the water, this became the only vulnerable point on his body (his Achilles’ heel”). Years later he was killed when a poisoned arrow struck him in the heel. That arrow was shot by Paris.

70 Mammal endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo : OKAPI

The okapi is closely related to the giraffe, although it does have markings on its legs and haunches that resemble those of a zebra. The okapi’s tongue is long enough to reach back and wash its eyeballs, and can go back even further to clean its ears inside and out.

The Republic of the Congo is an African nation located on the western coast of the continent, straddling the equator. The Congo made up most of the French Congo starting in 1882, and became fully independent from France in 1960.

76 Leaf opening : STOMA

Stomata (the usual plural of “stoma”, and not “stomas”) are pores found under almost every leaf, clearly visible under a simple microscope. The stomata take in air rich in carbon dioxide. Through the process of photosynthesis, the plants generate oxygen, which is released back into the air though the same stomata.

87 MXN, on a currency chart : PESO

The peso is used in many Spanish-speaking countries around the world. The coin originated in Spain where the word “peso” means “weight”. The original peso was what we know in English as a “piece of eight”, a silver coin of a specific weight that had a nominal value of eight “reales”.

97 Enlightened state in Zen Buddhism : SATORI

“Satori” is a Japanese term that is used in the Zen Buddhist tradition. Satori does not refer to full enlightenment (nirvana) but rather is a step along the way, a flash of awareness.

99 Asia’s ___ Sea : ARAL

The Aral Sea is a great example of how humankind can have a devastating effect on the environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …

100 13,000+-foot peak in Yosemite : MT DANA

President Abraham Lincoln passed a bill in 1864 creating the Yosemite Grant, which was the first piece of federal legislature that set aside park land for preservation and public use. The Yosemite Grant paved the way for the creation of Yellowstone as the nation’s first national park in 1872. Yosemite was made a national park in 1890.

107 “Don’t play,” on a music score : TACET

“Tacet” is a musical direction meaning “be silent”. It is typically written on a score to instruct a particular voice or instrument to remain silent for a whole movement. “Tacet” is Latin for “it is silent”.

108 “Funny Girl” composer Jule : STYNE

Jule Styne was an English songwriter who made a name for himself in America with a series of popular musicals. Styne wrote a number of famous songs including “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from “Funny Girl”, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” from “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” from “Gypsy”.

112 Eastern European : SLAV

The Slavic peoples are in the majority in communities covering over half of Europe. This large ethnic group is traditionally broken down into three smaller groups:

• the West Slavic (including Czechs and Poles)
• the East Slavic (including Russians and Ukrainians)
• the South Slavic (including Bulgarians, Croats and Serbs)

113 Title awarded after a match? : MRS

“Mr.” is an abbreviation for “mister”, and “Mrs.” an abbreviation for “mistress”.

115 Iowa college : COE

Coe College is a private school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that was founded in 1851. Coe is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. It was founded in 1851 as the School for Prophets. A farmer named Daniel Coe made a donation of $1,500 towards a campus in Cedar Rapid, but added the requirement that it be a co-educational institution. The school opened as the Cedar Rapids Collegiate Institute, and was renamed as Coe College Institute in 1875 in recognition of the original donation.