0810-24 NY Times Crossword 10 Aug 24, Saturday

Bill’s time: 15m 00s

Bill’s errors: 2

• RAMS (rats!)
• MAKE (take!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

17 Sport that has generated noise complaints across the country in recent years : PICKLEBALL

Pickleball is a sport invented in the 1960s that combines elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton. Originally marketed as a game for children to play in backyards, pickleball is now played on purpose-built courts by many, many adults, but mainly in North and South America.

22 Sellout sign : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

25 Circus venue : BIG TOP

The Circus Maximus was an ancient stadium used for chariot racing in Rome. It was the first such stadium built by the Romans, and was the largest ever to be built in the whole of the Roman Empire. The Circus Maximus was over 2,000 feet long and just under 400 feet wide, and could house about 15,000 spectators. There is very little of the original structure remaining and the site is now used as a major park. It was the Circus Maximus and similar “circa” that gave rise to our contemporary word “circus” describing an arena used by clowns, acrobats, etc.

29 Regular joes? : COFFEES

It seems that no one really knows why we refer to coffee as “joe”, but we’ve been doing so since early in WWII.

32 Ferocious, as winds : GALE FORCE

A gale is a very strong wind, one defined by the Beaufort scale as having wind speeds from 50 to just over 100 kilometers per hour.

37 Out : OPENLY GAY

Back in the 1950s, to come “out of the closet” was to admit to being an alcoholic. By the seventies, the phrase mainly referred to gay people shrugging off secrecy about their sexual orientation.

41 Any of the Apennines : MONTE

The Apennines are the chain of mountains running the length of the Italian peninsula. The highest peak of the range is in the central Apennines and is the Corno Grande, which rises to over 9,500 feet.

42 Open, waist-length jacket : BOLERO

A bolero jacket is a very short tailored jacket that probably takes its name from the Spanish dance. Male bolero dancers often wear such a jacket. A less formal version of a bolero jacket is called a “shrug”. A shrug is usually knitted and resembles a cardigan.

43 ___ suit : ZOOT

A zoot suit has pants that are fairly loose fitting, except around the cuff at the bottom of the leg. The pants also have a high waist. The jacket of the suit has wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. Zoot suits were popular in the US in the thirties and forties, and were often associated with the African American, Latino American and Italian American ethnic groups. Over in the UK, the zoot suit was worn by the “Teddy boys” of the fifties and sixties. “Zoot” is probably just a slang iteration of the word “suit”.

44 Inits. on a food assistance card : EBT

Electronic benefit transfer (EBT)

48 Animals from which shofars can be made : RAMS

A shofar is a musical instrument used in Jewish rituals. It is a relatively simple instrument, made from an animal’s (usually a ram) horn.

57 She’s so full of herself! : MATRYOSHKA

Matryoshka dolls are those wooden nesting dolls that are on sale at every tourist trap across Russia. “Matryoshka” is Russian for “little matron”.

Down

1 AC units? : AMPS

The unit of electric current is the ampere, which is abbreviated correctly to “A” rather than “amp”. It is named after French physicist André-Marie Ampère, one of the main scientists responsible for the discovery of electromagnetism.

There are two types of electric current. The 120V supply that is distributed throughout our homes provides us with alternating current (AC). The AC current moves back and forth every 1/60 second, in two different directions. AC is great for transmission around the country, and that’s the main reason that AC is piped into our homes. However, all of our electronic devices need direct current (DC), current that flows in one direction. That’s why those devices have adapters at the end of a power cable. The 120V AC supply is converted by the adapter into the DC supply used by the device.

4 Noted 21st-century movement? : TIKTOK DANCE

TikTok is a video-sharing service that is based in China, and is very popular with the younger set (I am told). The TikTok mobile app provides tools facilitating production of sophisticated selfie videos that use special effects.

5 Knee part, for short : ACL

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four major ligaments that support the knee. It is located in the center of the knee and connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone).

6 Don’t mention it! : TABOO

The word “taboo” was introduced into English by Captain Cook in his book “A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean”. Cook described “tabu” (likely imitative of a Tongan word that he had heard) as something that was both consecrated and forbidden.

8 Grand opening? : KILO-

One K, one grand, one thousand dollars.

10 People hold complicated positions on it : TWISTER MAT

Twister is a game requiring a lot of physical dexterity and flexibility. It involves players placing specific hands and feet onto colored pads on a mat, as directed by a spinning arrow on a board. Sales of the game got a great boost in 1966, when Eva Gabor played Twister with Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show”.

14 Some animal products : PELTS

A pelt is the skin of a furry animal.

24 Switch’s ancestor, for short : NES

The Nintendo Switch is a gaming console released in 2017. I guess the name “Switch” is used because users can “switch” between portable and home console modes. The device is a table that can be used as a personal gaming unit, or can be docked for use as a home console.

26 To whom one might say “Not everything revolves around you!” : GEOCENTRIST

Heliocentrism is the astronomical model that has the Earth and other planets revolving around the Sun at the center of the Solar System. The geocentric model holds that the Earth is the center of the Universe.

29 Barrio makeup : CASAS

“Barrio” is the name given to an urban district in Spanish-speaking countries.

30 Cosmetics giant : OLAY

Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1952. When Oil of Olay was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.

31 Steamed bun of Chinese cuisine : BAO

A baozi (also “bou, bao”) is a steamed, filled bun in Chinese cuisine.

38 Turkey’s currency : LIRA

The word “lira” is used in a number of countries for currency. “Lira” comes from the Latin for “pound” and is derived from the British pound sterling, the value of a Troy pound of silver. For example, the lira (plural “lire”) was the official currency of Italy before the country changed over to the euro in 2002.

41 Walk leisurely : MOSEY

“Mosey” is American slang for “amble”, and is of unknown origin.

42 Gas relief brand : BEANO

Beano is a dietary supplement that is used to reduce gas in the digestive tract. It contains an enzyme that breaks down complex sugars found in many vegetables. This makes the food more digestible and apparently cuts down on gas.

43 Animal whose pattern allows it to camouflage into grassland : ZEBRA

The term “zebra” comes from an old Portuguese word “zevra” meaning “wild ass”. Studies of zebra embryos show that zebras are basically black in color, with white stripes that develop with growth. Before this finding, it was believed they were white, with black stripes.

46 Best ever, informally : GOAT

Greatest of all time (GOAT)

47 Chordophone popular in medieval times : LUTE

The lute is a stringed instrument with a long neck and usually a pear-shaped body. It is held and played like a guitar, and was popular from the Middle Ages right through to the late Baroque era. A person who plays the lute can be referred to as a “lutenist”.

Musical instruments that produce sounds through the vibration of strings can be described collectively as “chordophones”. Examples are violins, violas, guitars and pianos.

53 The “long” version of it is 12% heavier : TON

Here in the US, a ton is equivalent to 2,000 pounds. In the UK, a ton is 2,240 pounds. The UK unit is sometimes referred to as an Imperial ton, long ton or gross ton. Folks over there refer to the US ton then as a short ton. To further complicate matters, there is also a metric ton or tonne, which is equivalent to 2,204 pounds. Personally, I wish we’d just stick to kilograms …