0908-24 NY Times Crossword 8 Sep 24, Sunday

Bill’s time: 16m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14 Tiki bar fruit : PAPAYA

The papaya (also “papaw”) tropical fruit is native to Mexico and South America. When cultivating papaya trees, only female plants are used. Female plants produce just one, high-quality fruit per tree. Male plants produce several fruit per tree, but they are very poor quality.

20 Painter Rousseau : HENRI

Henri Rousseau was a French Post-Impressionist painter. He was self-taught, only starting to paint seriously in his forties. He worked as a tax collector until he was 49 years old, when he retired to focus on his art. Rousseau’s most famous painting is “The Sleeping Gypsy”, a celebrated work that depicts a lion standing beside a sleeping woman in the moonlight. You can take a look at it in New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

22 Porcelain coating : ENAMEL

The ceramic known as “porcelain” can be referred to as “china” or “fine china”, as porcelain was developed in China.

27 Drive in Beverly Hills : RODEO

There’s a three-block stretch of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California that is known for expensive shopping, mainly in designer clothes stores. The surrounding business district is known as the Beverly Hills “Golden Triangle”, which extends from Wilshire to Santa Monica Boulevards. The triangle is a mecca for shoppers and tourists.

41 ___ al-Fitr (end of Ramadan) : EID

Eid al-Fitr is a religious holiday in the Muslim tradition that is known in English as the “Festival of Breaking the Fast”. It marks the end of Ramadan, a period of dawn-to-sunset fasting.

42 Actor Paul : DANO

Paul Dano is an actor and musician from New York City. I best know him for playing Brian Wilson in “Love & Mercy”, a fascinating film about the Beach Boys.

43 One of 13 in a standard game of “Jeopardy!” : CATEGORY

The TV show “Jeopardy!” first went on the air in 1964, and is another successful Merv Griffin creation. But, it took the introduction of Alex Trebek as host in order to bring the show into the big times. Trebek was host from 1984 until his sad passing in 2020.

44 Animal whose name is pronounced with a “y” sound by many Spanish speakers : LLAMA

The llama is a camelid mammal very much associated with the Andean cultures. Despite the association with South America, it is thought that the ancestors of the modern llama migrated south from the Great Plains of North America about 40 million years ago.

46 ___ Rabbit : BRER

Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox are characters in the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris. The “Uncle Remus” stories are adaptations of African American folktales that Harris collected across the Southern States. “Br’er” is an abbreviated form of “brother”.

47 Many an airport shuttle : VAN

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.

51 Rare bill : TWO

The US two-dollar bill features a portrait of Thomas Jefferson. The bill was introduced in 1862, and withdrawn in 1966. It was reintroduced in 1976, and is still legal tender. That said, there are relatively few two-dollar bills in circulation. Some people even hold that possession of a two-dollar bill is bad luck.

58 Chris of “Jurassic World” : PRATT

Chris Pratt is an actor who really got his big break playing the rather dopey Andy Dwyer on the sitcom “Parks and Recreation”. Pratt then played a pretty macho role as a SEAL team operator in “Zero Dark Thirty”, before taking leading heroic roles in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Jurassic World”. Pratt was married from 2009 until 2018 to Anna Faris, the comedic actress who plays Christy Plunkett on the sitcom “Mom”. In 2019, he married Katherine Schwarzenegger, daughter of fellow actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

60 Succulent source of syrup : AGAVE

Agave nectar (also “agave syrup”) is sweeter than honey, but is much more fluid. The nectar’s sweetness comes from its high fructose content. A lot of agave nectar comes from the blue agave, the same species that is used to make tequila.

62 Subj. of some training : CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has for decades involved the simultaneous compression of the chest to pump blood using the heart, and artificial respiration by blowing air into the lungs. I hear that nowadays, emergency services are placing more emphasis on heart compressions, and less on artificial respiration.

63 Alternative to the pill, in brief : IUD

It seems that it isn’t fully understood how the intrauterine device (IUD) works. The design that was most popular for decades was a T-shaped plastic frame on which was wound copper wire. It’s thought that the device is an irritant in the uterus causing the body to release chemicals that are hostile to sperm and eggs. This effect is enhanced by the presence of the copper.

“The Pill” is more correctly called “the combined oral contraceptive pill”. The formulation is a combination of an estrogen called estradiol and a progestogen called progestin.

74 Award-winning Janelle : MONAE

Janelle Monáe is a singer and actress. I’m not familiar with her as a singer, but did see Monáe play NASA engineer Mary Jackson in the excellent 2016 film “Hidden Figures”.

75 Laughing gas or quicklime : OXIDE

“Laughing gas” is a common name for nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is used as an anesthetic, particularly by dentists. It is also used in motor racing to increase the power output of engines. Laughing gas was first synthesized by the English chemist Joseph Priestley, but it was Humphry Davy who discovered its potential as an anesthetic. Once it was realized that the gas could give the patient a fit of the giggles, “laughing gas parties” became common among those who could afford them.

The name of the element calcium comes from the Latin “calcis” meaning “lime”. “Quicklime” and “burnt lime” are common names for calcium oxide.

76 “The Kite Runner” protagonist : AMIR

“The Kite Runner” was the first novel by Khaled Hosseini, published in 2003. The very successful book became an equally successful film released in 2007. “The Kite Runner” tells the story of a young boy named Amir growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan. Author Hosseini is a medical doctor, but after the success of “The Kite Runner” he gave up his practice and is now a full-time writer. His second book, “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, is also a great success.

81 Feature of the Pizza Hut logo : ROOF

Pizza Hut started out as a single location in Wichita, Kansas in 1958 and is now the world’s largest pizza franchise. Pizza Hut claims to be the world’s largest user of cheese, consuming 300 million pounds every year. The chain buys 3% of the cheese produced in the US, which means that 170,000 American cows are producing milk for Pizza Hut alone.

82 Prefix from the Latin for “needle” : ACU-

Acupressure and acupuncture are related alternative medical techniques. Both aim to clear blockages in the flow of life energy through the body’s meridians. The treatment is given by stimulating “acupoints” in the body, by applying pressure in the case of acupressure, and by applying needles in the case of acupuncture.

89 Dwelling with a circular frame : YURT

A yurt is a wood-framed dwelling that is used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. Although a yurt is a substantial structure, it is also extremely portable.

90 Vacation isle in the Ionian Sea : CORFU

Corfu is an island in the very northwest of Greece, and is located in the Ionian Sea. Corfu is a very, very popular vacation destination for European tourists, particularly those from the UK, Scandinavia and Germany.

91 Parts of vintage movie collections : VHS TAPES

The VHS video standard is more fully referred to as the Video Home System. VHS was one of many standards touted by various manufacturers in the seventies. The biggest rival to VHS was Betamax, but we all knew which of the two standards won the final round in that fight.

101 Any of the six in football’s “New Year’s Six” : BOWL GAME

The oldest of all the bowl games is the Rose Bowl and so has the nickname “The Granddaddy of Them All”. The first Rose Bowl game was played in 1902.

105 Director Kazan : ELIA

Elia Kazan won Oscars for best director in 1948 for “Gentleman’s Agreement” and in 1955 for “On The Waterfront”. He was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when he was given the 1998 Academy Honorary Award citing his lifetime achievement in the industry. Kazan also directed “East of Eden”, which introduced James Dean to movie audiences, and “Splendor in the Grass” that included Warren Beatty in his debut role.

106 Pirate’s haul : BOOTY

“Booty”, meaning “plunder, profit”, is derived from the Old French word “butin” that has the same meaning.

109 ___ Picchu : MACHU

Machu Picchu is known as “The Lost City of the Incas”, and it can be visited on a mountain ridge in Peru, 50 miles northwest of the city of Cuzco in the southeast of the country. The name Machu Picchu means “old peak”. The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu originates about 50 miles from Cusco on the Urubamba River in Peru. It can take travelers about 5 days to trek the full length of the trail, passing through many Incan ruins before reaching the Sun Gate on Machu Picchu mountain. The trail was becoming greatly overused, forcing the Peruvian government to limit the number of people on the trail each day to 500. Book early …

110 Age 100 : CENTENNIAL STATE

The Territory of Colorado became a US state in 1876, just 28 days after the nation’s centennial celebration. As a result, Colorado is nicknamed “the Centennial State”.

Down

1 Worrywart’s words : WHAT IF …

The term “worrywart”, meaning one who dwells unnecessarily on troubles, comes from a cartoon strip. Worry Wart was a character introduced in 1956 in the strip “Out Our Way” that was drawn by American cartoonist J.R. Williams. Worry Wart the character caused others to do the worrying, which is the opposite of the meaning we give the term “worrywart” today.

2 Pertaining to the pursuit of pleasure : HEDONIC

A hedonist is someone who seeks to maximize the amount of pleasure in his or her life. “Hedone” is the Greek word for “pleasure”.

3 Country that counts the French president as a co-prince : ANDORRA

Andorra is a small principality nestled in the Pyrénées between France and Spain. It is a very prosperous country, mainly due to its status as a tax haven and thriving tourist industry. We used to help out the tourist industry there in the winters, enjoying a couple of skiing vacations there. Happy memories …

6 Letters aptly found in “Obamacare” : ACA

The correct name for what has been dubbed “Obamacare” is the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ACA).

7 ___ Pérignon : DOM

Dom Pérignon is a prestige label of champagne from Moët et Chandon, the French winery. The label’s name honors the Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon, who helped to improve the quality and production of champagne in the early 18th century. Although Dom Pérignon made major contributions to champagne production, many of the stories in which he figures are just myths. He did not “invent” champagne, nor sparkling wine in general. Nor did he say the famous words, “Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!”. That lovely line first appeared in a print advertisement in the late 1800s!

9 Singer Jackson who wasn’t a part of the Jackson 5 : LA TOYA

La Toya Jackson is the fifth child of the Jackson family. Despite her success as a singer and TV personality, it seems that she has led a troubled life and had to overcome many challenges.

10 Pundit’s writing : OP-ED

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

A pundit is a learned person to whom one might turn for an opinion. “Pundit” is derived from the Hindi word “payndit” meaning “learned man”.

12 Travel lead-in to “méxico” : AERO-

Aeroméxico is the flag carrier airline of Mexico. The company started out in 1934 as Aeronaves de México.

13 “Hip Hop Is Dead” rapper : NAS

“Hip Hop is Dead” is a 2006 recording by rap singer Nas. The song as recorded was highly censored, removing a lot of profanity and gun references.

15 Diplomat Kofi : ANNAN

Kofi Annan was a diplomat from Ghana who served as secretary-general of the UN for ten years until the beginning of 2007. Annan was born into an aristocratic family, and had a twin sister named Efua Atta. Efua and Kofi shared the middle name “Atta”, which means “twin” in the Akan language of Ghana. Annan attended the MIT Sloan School of Management from 1971-72, and graduated with a Master of Science degree. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, winning jointly with the United Nations organization itself.

17 Opposite of un adversaire : AMI

In French, an “ami” (friend) is the opposite of an “adversaire” (adversary).

19 Neighbor of Niger: Abbr. : ALG

Algeria is a huge country, the largest in Africa, and the largest on the Mediterranean. The capital of Algeria is Algiers, and the country takes its name from the city.

The Republic of Niger is a landlocked country in Western Africa that gets its name from the Niger River. 80% of the country lies within the bounds of the Sahara Desert.

25 “Assumption of the Virgin” painter : TITIAN

Titian was an Italian painter and a founding member of the Venetian School of the 16th century. His most famous work is probably “Assumption of the Virgin”, which was commissioned for the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice and which can be seen there on the high altar to this very day.

32 “Proud Mary” band, for short : CCR

“Proud Mary” is a song written by John Fogerty and recorded in 1968 by Creedence Clearwater Revival with Fogarty singing lead vocals. The song was famously covered by Ike and Tina Turner in 1970. The “Proud Mary” in the title is a riverboat, with a “big wheel” that keeps on turnin’.

34 Leechlike : PARASITIC

We are most familiar with medicinal leeches, which feed on the blood of mainly vertebrate animals. However, most leeches are predatory and swallow other invertebrates for food.

36 Major or May, politically : TORY

Sir John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher as Conservative Party leader in 1990 and was Prime Minister of Britain until 1997. 1997 was the year that Tony Blair swept to power as leader of the Labour Party.

Theresa May won a leadership election to become UK prime minister in 2016, following the resignation of David Cameron immediately after the nation decided to withdraw from the EU (“Brexit”). As such, May became only the second female prime minister in the UK, after Margaret Thatcher.

39 Nice Nikon, for short : SLR

The Japanese company Nikon was founded in 1917 with the merger of three manufacturers of various optical devices. After the merger, Nikon’s main output was lenses (including the first lenses for Canon cameras, before Canon made its own). During the war, Nikon sales grew rapidly as the company focused on (pun!) equipment for the military including periscopes and bomb sights.

45 Janine’s boss on “Abbott Elementary” : AVA

“Abbott Elementary” is a sitcom in the mockumentary genre. The show was created by and stars Quinta Brunson as a cup-half-full second-grade teacher in a Philadelphia public school. The premise of “Abbott Elementary” is that a film crew is making a documentary about the lives of teachers working in underfunded schools.

48 “Whip It” band : DEVO

Devo is a band from Akron, Ohio formed back in 1973. The band’s biggest hit is “Whip It” released in 1980. Devo have a gimmick: the wearing of red, terraced plastic hats that are referred to as “energy domes”. Why? I have no idea …

50 Word with ship or shorts : CARGO …

Cargo is freight carried by some vehicle. The term “cargo” comes into English via Spanish, ultimately deriving from the Latin “carricare” meaning “to load on a cart”.

55 John who explored the Northwest Passage : RAE

John Rae was a Scottish explorer who took on the task of searching for the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1845. The Franklin Expedition was itself searching for the elusive Northwest Passage through the Arctic Ocean connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific. John Rae stirred up much controversy back in England when he reported evidence of cannibalism among the ill-fated Franklin explorers.

61 Tree along Central Park’s Literary Walk : ELM

The man most associated with the decision to develop Central Park in New York City was William Cullen Bryant, the editor of what today is the “New York Post”. He argued that the growing city needed a large, public open space, along the lines of Hyde Park in London and the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. Most of the park’s construction took place between 1860 and 1873. Much of the clearing work was accomplished using gunpowder, and it is often noted that more gunpowder was used in Central Park than in the Battle of Gettysburg.

62 Head of staff? : CLEF

“Clef” is the French word for “key”. In music, a clef is used to indicate the pitch of the notes written on a stave. The bass clef is also known as the F-clef, the alto clef is the C-clef, and the treble clef is the G-clef.

The set of five horizontal lines and four spaces used in Western musical notation can be called a staff or stave. Either way, the plural form is “staves”.

69 About whom Lennon wrote “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” : ONO

John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a very public honeymoon in a hotel in Amsterdam and then Montreal, when they staged their famous “bed-in” for peace. In answering questions from reporters Lennon found himself often repeating the words “give peace a chance”. While still in bed, he composed his famous song “Give Peace a Chance” and even made the original recording of the song in the Montreal hotel room, with reporters present, and with a whole bunch of friends. The song was released later in 1969 and became a smash hit. Writing credit was initially given to Lennon-McCartney, as was the agreement between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Later versions of the song were credited just to Lennon, even though Lennon stated that Yoko Ono actually wrote the song with him.

83 Picnic invitation abbr. : BYOB

Bring Your Own Beer/Bottle/Booze (BYOB)

Our term “picnic” comes from the French word that now has the same meaning, namely “pique-nique”. The original “pique-nique” was a fashionable potluck affair, and not necessarily held outdoors.

84 Thermostat setting : AUTO

The suffix “-stat” comes from the Greek “statos” meaning “standing, stationary”. It was first used in the mid-1700s in the term “heliostat”, which described an instrument that made the sun appear stationary. We still use “-stat” in the name of devices that stabilize or regulate. For example, a thermostat controls temperature and a rheostat uses resistance to control current flow in an electrical circuit.

85 Val Kilmer’s “Top Gun” role : ICEMAN

Here are some of the more notable characters in the 1986 movie “Top Gun”:

• Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise)
• Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (Kelly McGillis)
• Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards)
• Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer)
• Mike “Viper” Metcalf (Tom Skerritt)
• Rick “Jester” Heatherly (Michael Ironside)

91 Flowing movement between yoga poses : VINYASA

In some forms of yoga, it is important to make smooth transitions between the asana (poses). Such a transition is known as a vinyasa.

92 QVC alternative : HSN

The Home Shopping Network (HSN) was the first national shopping network, and was launched locally as the Home Shopping Club in Florida in 1982. Its first product was a can opener.

94 Like red card recipients : EJECTED

A series of colored penalty cards is used by referees and umpires in several sports, most notably in soccer. The cards were first used in the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, after language difficulties created confusion during the prior competition in 1966. The main cards used are a yellow card indicating a caution, and a red card indicating expulsion from the game.

95 Deceptive argument : SOPHISM

A sophist is someone who engages in devious argument. Originally, “sophist” described a wise or learned person, but over time it has become a term of contempt. Our word “sophisticate” comes from the same Greek root.

100 French kisser? : BOUCHE

In French, “le nez” (the nose) is found between “la bouche” (the mouth) and “les yeux” (the eyes).

106 School with the mascot Big Al, for short : BAMA

The athletic teams of the University of Alabama (“Bama”) are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, which is a reference to the team colors of crimson and white.

107 Oscar-nominated Lena : OLIN

Lena Olin is a Swedish actress, and someone who has acting in her blood. Her mother was the actress Britta Holmberg and her father the actor and director Stig Olin. Olin had a very successful career in Sweden, often working with the great Ingmar Bergman. Olin’s breakthrough international and English-speaking role was playing opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” released in 1988. Way back in 1974, Miss Olin was crowned Miss Scandinavia in a beauty pageant for Nordic women held in Helsinki, Finland. Olin’s most famous performance was in “Chocolat” released in 2000, and then she won an Emmy in 2003 for Best Supporting Actress in the TV show “Alias”.

108 World capital with the most appearances in the New York Times crossword : OSLO

Oslo is the capital of Norway. The city burns trash to fuel half of its buildings, including all of its schools. The problem faced by the city is that it doesn’t generate enough trash. So, Oslo imports trash from Sweden, England and Ireland, and is now looking to import some American trash too.

109 Non-Egyptian people who used hieroglyphics : MAYA

The Mayan civilization held sway in Central America and Mexico from about 350 AD, until the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s.

110 “___: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World” (1997 nonfiction best seller) : COD

In Britain and Ireland, the most common fish that is used in traditional “fish and chips” is Atlantic cod. Cod has been overfished all over the world, and is now considered to be an endangered species by many international bodies. Confrontations over fishing rights in the North Atlantic led to conflicts called “the Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK in the 1950s and the 1970s, with fishing fleets being protected by naval vessels and even shots being fired.

113 AOL was an early one, in brief : ISP

AOL was a leading Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the 1980s and 1990s. The company does still provide dial-up access to the Internet for some subscribers, but most users now access AOL using faster, non-AOL ISPs.