1014-24 NY Times Crossword 14 Oct 24, Monday

Bill’s time: 5m 34s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Guitarist Joe of the Eagles : WALSH

Joe Walsh is a musician who has been a member of several successful bands, including the Eagles and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

Eagles (and not “the Eagles”) is a rock band that formed in 1971, with the founding members being Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. Frey and Henley were hired as session musicians by Linda Ronstadt. The four then played live together backing Ronstadt in a gig at Disneyland in 1971, and recorded their debut album together in England the following year.

10 Summertime specification at Starbucks : ICED

Starbucks is a coffee company based in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest coffeehouse company in the world and has over 19,000 stores. In the 1990s, Starbucks was opening one new store every single day! Starbucks is named after the chief mate on the Pequod in Herman Melville’s book “Moby Dick”.

14 Sport with sculls : CREW

A scull is a boat used for competitive rowing. The main hull of the boat is often referred to as a shell. Crew members who row the boat can be referred to as “oars”. And, a scull is also an oar mounted on the stern of a small boat. It’s all very confusing …

15 Downward dog, e.g. : ASANA

The downward-facing dog pose in yoga is more properly known as “adho mukha svanasana”.

16 When repeated, a chant in “Animal House” : TOGA!

The very funny 1978 movie “Animal House” has the prefix “National Lampoon’s …” because the storyline came out of tales that had already appeared in “National Lampoon” magazine. “Animal House” was to become the first in a long line of successful “National Lampoon” films. The main pledges in the movie are Tom Hulce (Pinto), who later played a magnificent “Amadeus”, and Stephen Furst (Flounder), who later played a regular role on television’s “Babylon 5”.

35 Biblical perpetrator of fratricide : CAIN
51D Biblical victim of fratricide : ABEL

In the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis, Cain murders his brother Abel. Subsequently, God asks Cain, “Where is Abel thy brother?” Cain replies, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

37 What Facebook, Inc. was renamed in 2021 : META

Facebook, Inc. changed its name to Meta Platforms, Inc. in 2021 as part of a rebranding exercise.

39 Dorothy’s pet dog : TOTO

Toto is Dorothy’s dog in the film “The Wizard of Oz”, and in the original book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum. Toto was played in the movie by a dog called Terry, but Terry’s name was soon changed to Toto in real life due to the success of the film.

40 Princess in the Mario games : PEACH

Princess Peach is the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom in Nintendo’s “Mario” universe. She is also Mario’s love interest.

50 Establishment with kittens and cappuccinos : CAT CAFE

The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an order of Roman Catholic friars, an offshoot of the Franciscans. The order split from the Franciscans back in 1520, and were forced to go into hiding from church authorities. The new order was helped by the Camaldolese monks, and in recognition of their assistance, the breakaway monks adopted the Camaldolese hood, known as a capuccio. It is this “capuccio” that gave the order its name, and indeed ultimately gave the name to the Capuchin monkey. The cappuccino coffee is named for the coffee-and-white colored habits worn by Capuchin friars.

54 Statistical feat achieved four times in N.B.A. history … or what the answers to the starred clues contain, letter-wise : QUADRUPLE-DOUBLE

In the world of basketball, a “double” is the accumulation of double digits in either points, rebounds, assists, steals or blocked shots. A “double-double” is getting double digits in two of these five categories. A player can also earn a triple-double, quadruple-double or quintuple-double.

57 Raison d’___ : ETRE

“Raison d’être” is a French phrase meaning “reason for existence”.

58 Back half of a 45 : B-SIDE

The first vinyl records designed to play at 33⅓ rpm were introduced by RCA Victor in 1931, but were discontinued due to quality problems. The first long play (LP) 33⅓ rpm disc was introduced by Columbia Records many years later in 1948, with RCA Victor following up with a 45 rpm “single” the following year, in 1949.

62 Rocky Mountain grazers : ELKS

Wapiti, also known as elk, are one of the largest species of deer found in North America and East Asia. They are social animals and live in herds of up to 400 individuals. The herds are usually led by a dominant male, known as a bull, who defends his harem of females during the mating season.

North America’s Rocky Mountains stretch from the very north of British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico in the US. The length of the range is over 3,000 miles. The highest point is Mount Elbert in Colorado, which has an elevation of 14,440 feet.

Down

1 March Madness org. : NCAA

“March Madness” is the name given to the NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Championship (among others), that is held in the spring each year. Another name is “the Big Dance”.

2 Narrative trajectories : ARCS

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.

5 Condiment often faked with green dye in sushi restaurants : WASABI

Sometimes called Japanese horseradish, wasabi is a root used as a condiment in Japanese cooking. The taste of wasabi is more like mustard than a hot pepper in that the vapors that create the “hotness” stimulate the nasal passages rather than the tongue. Personally, I love the stuff …

7 Southeast Asian language : LAO

Lao is the official language of Laos. It is also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, but there the language is known as Isan.

8 Sketch show with celebrity hosts, for short : SNL

The youngest person to host “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) was Drew Barrymore, at age 7 in 1982. The oldest host was Betty White, at 88 in 2010.

10 Formal confession : IT WAS I

The much debated statement “it is I” is grammatically correct, and should not be “corrected” to “it is me”. Traditionally, pronouns following linking verbs, such as “is”, “appear” and “seem”, are written in the nominative case. Examples are:

• It is I … who called
• It was he … who did it
• It is we … who care

12 Showbiz awards foursome : EGOT

Emmy, Grammy, Oscar & Tony Awards (EGOT)

13 Parents known for bad puns : DADS

Here are a few dad jokes that I use to annoy my kids:

• When does a joke become a “dad joke”? When it becomes apparent.
• I had a happy childhood. My dad used to put me in tires and roll me down hills. Those were Goodyears.
• It’s a shame that the Beatles didn’t make the submarine in that song green. That would’ve been sublime.
• I told your mom she needs to start embracing her mistakes. So she hugged me
• When your mom is depressed, I let her color in my tattoos. She just needs a shoulder to crayon.

24 Colorful parrot : MACAW

Macaws are beautifully-colored birds native to Central and South America that are actually a type of parrot. Most species of macaws are now endangered, with several having become extinct in recent decades. The main threats are deforestation and illegal trapping and trafficking of exotic birds.

30 Retailer that offers dog grooming : PETCO

Petco is a chain of retail stores that sells live animals and pet supplies. The Petco logo includes the two company mascots, Red Ruff the dog and Blue Mews the cat.

31 State that contains a sliver of Yellowstone National Park : IDAHO

Yellowstone was the first National Park to be established in the world when it was designated as such by President Grant in 1872. What a great tradition it started! The American National Parks are truly a treasure …

37 Charming first encounter in a rom-com : MEET-CUTE

“Meet-cute” is a term used since the 1930s or 1940s for a scene in a film or TV show in which a future couple have an amusing first encounter.

39 London subway, familiarly : THE TUBE

The official name of the London “Underground” rail network is a little deceptive, as over half of the track system-wide is actually “over ground”, with the underground sections reserved for the central areas. It is the oldest subway system in the world, having opened in 1863. It was also the first system to use electric rolling stock, in 1890. “The Tube”, as it is known by Londoners, isn’t the longest subway system in the world though. That honor belongs to the Shanghai Metro. My personal favorite part of the Tube is the Tube map! It is a marvel of design …

40 Basil-based sauce : PESTO

Pesto sauce is more completely called “pesto alla genovese”, i.e. pesto from Genoa. A traditional recipe calls for crushed garlic, pine nuts, salt, basil leaves, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Yum …

42 Lunar craft : LANDER

We always seem to remember the phrase “The Eagle has landed”, historic words spoken by Neil Armstrong when he put down Apollo 11’s Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) on the surface of the moon. Looking back I have to say that the words preceding “The Eagle has landed” seem to have even more impact. During the descent to the moon’s surface Armstrong used the call sign “Eagle”, indicating that he was communicating from the LEM. After he killed the engines on touching down, Armstrong’s first words home to Earth were “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Hearing that switch of call sign from “Eagle” to “Tranquility Base” always sends shivers down my spine …

47 Barred from a competition, informally : DQ’ED

Disqualified (DQ’ed)

49 Happening once in a blue moon : RARE

As there is a full moon once every four weeks, approximately monthly, there are usually twelve full moons in any given year. However, every 2-3 years, depending on the phase of the moon at the beginning of the calendar year, there may be a thirteenth full moon. The “extra” full moon is called a “blue” moon, although no one seems to really know why the term “blue” is used, as far as I can tell. Which of the thirteen full moons that is designated as the blue moon varies depending on tradition. My favorite definition is from the Farmer’s Almanac. It states that as each of the seasons normally has three full moons (one for each calendar month), then the season with four full moons is designated as “special”, then the third (and not the fourth) full moon in that “special” season is the blue moon. Complicated, huh?

52 Criticism : FLAK

“Flak” was originally an acronym standing for the German term for an aircraft defense cannon (FLiegerAbwehrKanone). “Flak” then became used in English as a general term for antiaircraft fire and ultimately a term for verbal criticism, as in “to take flak”.

55 Anti-vaping ad, e.g., for short : PSA

Public service announcement (PSA)