1115-24 NY Times Crossword 15 Nov 24, Friday

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Base for crème fraîche and caviar : BLINI

A blintz (also “blintze” and “blin”, plural “blini”) is a thin pancake similar to a crêpe, although unlike a crêpe, a blintz may contain yeast.

The French term “crème fraîche” translates as “fresh cream”, although the cream itself isn’t really fresh as it is soured with a bacterial culture.

Caviar is the roe of a large fish that has been salted and seasoned, and especially the roe of a sturgeon. Beluga caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon, which is found primarily in the Caspian Sea. It is the most expensive type of caviar in the world. 8 ounces of US-farmed beluga caviar can be purchased through Amazon.com for just over $850, in case you’re feeling peckish …

9 Cheryl Strayed memoir subtitled “From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” : WILD

Author Cheryl Strayed has written several successful books, most notably her 2012 memoir “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail”. “Wild” was adapted into a 2014 film starring Reese Witherspoon as Strayed. I haven’t seen the film yet, but my wife has and really enjoyed it …

16 Activewear brand with a name inspired by flight : AVIA

The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

21 Where Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and “La Clemenza di Tito” debuted : PRAGUE

The beautiful city of Prague is today the capital of the Czech Republic. Prague’s prominence in Europe has come and gone over the centuries. For many years, it was the capital city of the Holy Roman Empire. Back in the 1800s, Bohemian mathematician Bernard Bolzano conducted a count of all the spires in Prague, resulting in the enduring nickname “City of a Hundred Spires”. Today, that count is closer to “Five Hundred”.

“Don Giovanni” is a comic opera by Mozart, with a libretto in Italian by Lorenzo Da Ponte. The opera follows the adventures of Don Giovanni, a young rakish nobleman who finally comes to a bad end.

“La Clemenza di Tito” (The Clemency of Titus) is an opera seria (serious opera, as opposed to comic opera) that Mozart completed not long before he died.

34 Actress Rooney of “Women Talking” : MARA

Actress Rooney Mara is noted for her role in the 2010 film “The Social Network” and for playing the title character in the 2011 hit movie “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. Mara has American football in her blood. Her mother’s family founded the Pittsburgh Steelers, and her father’s family founded the New York Giants.

“Women Talking” is a 2022 film based on a 2018 novel of the same name by Miriam Toews. In turn, the novel was inspired by true events that took place in the ultraconservative Mennonite community of Manitoba Colony in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia. The cast of the movie is excellent, and includes Rooney Mara, Claire Foy and Frances McDormand portraying three of the title characters. The title refers to the debate taking place among the women of an isolated Mennonite community who come to realize that they have been raped by the men while sedated with livestock tranquilizer.

35 “Cooties” : GERMS

“Cooties” is WWI British slang for “body lice”. Ugh …

36 Simple pajama top, casually : CAMI

A camisole (also “cami”) is a sleeveless undershirt worn by women that extends down to the waist. “Camisole” is a French word that we imported into English that ultimately derives from the Latin “camisia” meaning “shirt, nightgown”.

44 Pompom, for a stuffed bunny : TAIL

The French call a ball made of tufted wool a “pompon”, a word that we imported into English directly as “pompon”. We use “pompon” to describe perhaps bobbles on some hats, or the tufted balls that are shaken by cheerleaders at sports events. Over time, the spelling “pompom” has become common in English, probably due to mishearing. To confuse matters a little, we also use the word “pom-pom”, which is a nickname for a British autocannon used mainly as an anti-aircraft weapon, particularly during WWII.

50 Sitar, technically : 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”.

The sitar has been around since the Middle Ages. It is a stringed instrument that is played by plucking, and is used most often in Hindustani classical music. In the West we have been exposed to the instrument largely through the performances of Ravi Shankar and some music by George Harrison of the Beatles, a onetime student of Shankar.

57 Film script abbr. : EXT

Exterior (ext.)

58 Teacups and pirate ships : RIDES

Teacups is a carnival ride in which patrons spin around cup-shaped vehicles on a rotating floor. The most famous example of a teacups ride is the Mad Tea Party at Disneyland.

Down

2 Intermediate crocheting project : LACE

Crochet is a process of making a fabric using a hooked needle. “Crochet” is a French word meaning “hook”.

4 Diarist Anaïs : NIN

Anaïs Nin was a French author who was famous for the journals that she wrote for over sixty years from the age of 11 right up to her death. Nin also wrote highly regarded erotica and cited D. H. Lawrence as someone from whom she drew inspiration. Nin was married to banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in 1923. Decades later in 1955, Nin married former actor Rupert Pole, even though she was still married to Guiler. Nin and Pole had their marriage annulled in 1966, but just for legal reasons, and they continued to live together as husband and wife until Nin passed away in 1977.

6 You might use it to walk the dog : YO-YO

A common yo-yo trick is to “walk the dog”. It involves spinning the yo-yo at the end of its string, and then letting the yo-yo touch the ground. The spin then causes the yo-yo to “walk” along the ground beside you, as if you are walking a dog.

8 Minuscule quantities : SOUPCONS

“Soupçon” translates from French into English as “suspicion”, and can be used in the sense that a “suspicion” of something is just a hint, a crumb.

9 Condiment served with rolls : 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 …

11 Operating system with a penguin mascot named Tux : LINUX

The Linux operating system uses as its mascot a penguin named “Tux”.

15 French connections? : TETE-A-TETES

A “tête-à-tête” is a one-on-one meeting, and a term that translates from French as “head-to-head”.

25 Gospel singer Franklin : ERMA

Erma Franklin was an R&B and gospel singer. She was the elder sister of Aretha Franklin. Erma toured with Aretha for a while, and even recorded backup vocals on her sister’s big hit “Respect”.

26 Chop choice : VEAL

Veal is the meat from calves, whereas beef is the meat from mature cattle. Most veal comes from male calves, as the females can be more valuable as producers of cow’s milk. Historically, veal production has been one of the most controversial practices in animal farming. Some farmers restricted the movement of veal calves by confining them in crates for the whole of their short lives in order to produce paler and more tender meat.

32 ___ Vellani, portrayer of Ms. Marvel on film and TV : IMAN

Iman Vellani is a Pakistani-born Canadian actress who is best known for playing the title character (aka Kamala Khan) in the superhero miniseries “Ms. Marvel”.

33 Online notification sound : PING

In the world of computer science, a ping is a test message sent over a network between computers to check for a response and to measure the time of that response. We now use the verb “to ping” more generally, meaning to send someone a message, usually a reminder.

35 Mother of Hamlet : GERTRUDE

In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”, King Hamlet dies. His brother Claudius hastily marries the king’s widow Queen Gertrude, and succeeds to the throne. The former king’s son, Prince Hamlet of Denmark, is not happy and admonishes his mother for taking his uncle as her husband:

O throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half.
Good night, but go not to mine Uncle’s bed,
Assume a virtue, if you have it not. Refrain to night
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence. Once more goodnight,
And when you are desirous to be blessed,
I’ll blessing beg of you.

36 With 39-Across, scientist for whom a Cornell research institute is named : CARL …
39A See 36-Down : … SAGAN

Carl Sagan was a brilliant astrophysicist, and a great communicator. He was famous for presenting obscure concepts about the cosmos in such a way that we mere mortals could appreciate. Sagan also wrote the novel “Contact” that was adapted into a fascinating 1997 film of the same name starring Jodie Foster.

38 Henry who co-founded Time magazine : LUCE

Henry Luce was a publisher, mainly of magazines. He was responsible for launching such iconic publications as “Time”, “Life”, “Fortune” and “Sports Illustrated”.

39 Tech journalist Kara : SWISHER

Kara Swisher is a much-respected technology and business journalist known for covering topics related to Silicon Valley. Swisher was married for about a decade to former Chief Technology Officer of the United States Megan Smith.

42 Donna who wrote “The Secret History” : TARTT

“The Secret History” is a 1992 novel, her first, by author Donna Tartt. It is described as an inverted detective story, meaning that a murder happens in the opening pages, with the rest of the novel describing events that led to the crime.

48 Accompaniment for a tequila shot : LIME

Tequila is a spirit made from the blue agave. The drink takes its name from the city of Tequila, located about 40 miles northwest of Guadalajara.

49 Oh-so : TRES

In French, one might be “très” (very) glad to finish the crossword.

53 Fan of the Bulldogs : ELI

The Yale Bulldogs are the athletic teams of Yale University. The Yale school mascot is “Handsome Dan”, the Yale bulldog. The Bulldogs’ logo features a bulldog in front of a letter Y.