1119-24 NY Times Crossword 19 Nov 24, Tuesday

Bill’s time: 10m 35s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Auctioneer’s mallet : GAVEL

The small hammer that one raps on a table or desk to call a meeting to order, or perhaps to signify a sale at an auction, is called a gavel. The term “gavel” is actually American English, and is a word that emerged in the early 19th century.

6 Faucet fault : DRIP

The common “faucet” in an American house is almost always referred to as a “tap” on the other side of the pond.

15 Saga sage since 1980 : YODA

Yoda is one of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars universe, known for his wisdom and unique speech patterns. The character’s appearance and mannerisms were inspired by a real-life person: British motion picture make-up artist Stuart Freeborn. Freeborn designed Yoda’s facial features to be a caricature of his own, although the eye wrinkles resemble those of theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.

24 “The Walking Dead” channel : AMC

“The Walking Dead” is a horror television show made by AMC that is based on a comic book series of the same name. There are lots of flesh-eating zombies featured, so I won’t be caught “dead” watching it …

29 Helpful ads, in brief : PSAS

Public service announcement (PSA)

33 W.N.B.A. star Brittney : GRINER

WNBA player Brittney Griner played in the Russian Premier League during the off-season. She arrived in Moscow in 2022 where she was detained for having less than a gram of medicinal cannabis in her luggage, which is illegal in Russia. She underwent a trial, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to nine years in prison. She was released at the end of 2022 in a one-for-one prisoner swap, after almost ten months in detention.

42 Gymnast Biles : SIMONE

Artistic gymnast Simone Biles holds many, many world and US records. In 2022, President Joe Biden presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, making her the youngest person ever to receive the award.

43 Guitarist Santana : CARLOS

Carlos Santana is a Mexican-American rock guitar player. He is famous for heading the band called Santana who melded rock music with Latin and African themes.

50 Sci-fi author Butler : OCTAVIA

Octavia E. Butler was an author of science fiction whose works were largely written from the perspective of a marginalized black woman. She claimed that her loyal audiences were black readers, feminists and sci-fi fans.

56 C.F.O. or C.T.O. : EXEC

Chief financial officer (CFO)

Chief technology officer (CTO)

60 Gratis : FREE

Something provided gratis is supplied free of charge. “Gratis” is a Latin term, a contraction of “gratiis” meaning “for thanks”.

66 Neutral color : BEIGE

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.

67 ___ golf : DISC

Disc golf is also known as Frisbee golf, and sometimes even Frolf. Believe it or not, disc golf predates the introduction of the Frisbee. The first game was played at a school in Bladworth, Saskatchewan in 1926. The participating schoolkids threw tin lids into circles drawn on a course they created in the school grounds. They named the game “Tin Lid Golf”. By the way, I try to play disc golf at least three times a week. Lots of fun …

68 Phoenix franchise : SUNS

The Phoenix Suns NBA team are in the Pacific Division, and are the only team in that division not based in California.

Down

7 Counterparts of cones : RODS

The retina is the tissue that lines the inside of the eye, and is the tissue that is light-sensitive. There are (mainly) two types of cells in the retina that are sensitive to light, namely rods and cones. Rods are cells that best function in very dim light and only provide black-and-white vision. Cones on the other hand function in brighter light and can perceive color.

8 ID is required when sending a letter there : IDAHO

Idaho (ID) was admitted as the 43rd state of the union in 1890. The passage to statehood was not without difficulty. There had been plans in Washington to split what is now Idaho between the new states of Washington and Nevada.

9 Shelling out : PAYING

One is said to shell out money when disbursing funds. The use of “shell out” is figurative, from the notion of extracting nuts from a shell.

10 Moviemaking tech : CGI

Computer-generated imagery (CGI)

11 Rosh ___ : HASHANAH

Rosh Hashanah is loosely referred to as “Jewish New Year”. The literal translation from Hebrew is “head of the year”.

13 Houndstooth or herringbone : PATTERN

Houndstooth is a pattern found in some two-toned textiles that can be described as a “broken check”. The original houndstooth check was introduced in the Scottish Lowlands in woven woolen cloth. The jagged pattern might be said to resemble the teeth of a dog, hence the name.

Herringbone is a v-shape pattern found in some fabrics, particularly twill. Woolen fabrics with a herringbone pattern are often used to make suits and other outerwear.

22 First name in civil rights history : MARTIN

Martin Luther King, Jr’s father was born Michael King. On a trip to Germany in 1934, Michael came to admire Protestant leader Martin Luther and changed his name to Martin Luther King on his return to the United States. Famously, he passed on his new name to his son, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr (MLK).

28 Mournful songs : DIRGES

A dirge is a slow and mournful piece of music, like perhaps a funeral hymn.

30 “How ___ Got Her Groove Back” : STELLA

“How Stella Got Her Groove Back” is a 1998 romantic comedy based on a novel of the same title by Terry McMillan. The romantic leads are played by Angela Bassett and Taye Diggs.

47 Long sandwich : HOAGIE

“Hoagy” (sometimes “hoagie”) is another name for a submarine sandwich. The term “hoagy” originated in Philadelphia, and was apparently introduced by Italians working in the shipyards during WWI. The shipyards were located on Hog Island, and the sandwich was first called “the Hog Island”, which morphed into “hoagy”.

49 Half of a rhyming synonym of “haphazard” : HELTER

Our word “hap” means chance or fortune. It turns up combined in words like “haphazard” and even “happen”. “To happen” originally meant “to occur by hap, by chance”.

61 Key that’s missing an “ape” : ESC

ESCAPE – APE = ESC

63 Some band recordings, informally : EPS

An extended-play (EP) record, CD or download contains more music than a single, but less than a long-play (LP) record.