1120-24 NY Times Crossword 20 Nov 24, Wednesday

Bill’s time: 8m 54s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Sources of unwanted feedback, perhaps : AMPS

An electric guitar, for example, needs an amplifier (amp) to take the weak signal created by the vibration of the strings and turn it into a signal powerful enough for a loudspeaker.

17 Coloring implement since 1903 : CRAYOLA CRAYON

Crayola has made the decision to rename colors of crayons a few times, often with a nod to changing attitudes in society. Some examples are:

• “Flesh” to “Peach” (1962 … not all flesh is peach-colored)
• “Prussian Blue” to “Midnight Blue” (1958 … as the Cold War was raging)
• “Indian Red” to “Chestnut” (1999 … even though the name wasn’t a reference to “American Indian”)

19 China’s Zhou ___ : ENLAI

Zhou Enlai (also “Chou En-lai”) was the first government leader of the People’s Republic of China and held the office of Premier from 1949 until he died in 1976. Zhou Enlai ran the government for Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong, often striking a more conciliatory tone with the West than that of his boss. He was instrumental, for example, in setting up President Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972. Zhou Enlai died just a few months before Mao Zedong, with both deaths leading to unrest and a dramatic change in political direction for the country.

21 Flying mammals : BATS

Bats are the only mammals that are capable of sustained flight. There are many, many different kinds of bats, and indeed they make up about 20% of all mammalian species.

22 Make like South Sudan in 2011 : SECEDE

South Sudan is an African country that gained its independence in 2011, after a split with Sudan. Sadly, the new nation was ravaged by a civil war from 2013 through 2020.

23 Deep-fried Japanese fare : TEMPURA

Tempura is a style of Japanese cuisine that features seafood, meat and vegetables that have been deep-fried in batter. The use of batter in fried foods was introduced into Japan by the Portuguese in the late 1500s.

25 Comic strip with a collection titled “Shoes: Chocolate for the Feet” : CATHY

“Cathy” is a comic strip drawn by Cathy Guisewite. The strip was largely based on Guisewite’s own life experiences. For decades, cartoon Cathy was a single woman dealing with food, love, family and work. Cathy married her longtime boyfriend Irving in 2005, and the strip ended its run in 2010 with the revelation that Cathy was expecting a baby girl.

27 “You should open this on a personal device” heads-up : NSFW

The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. It’s Internet slang used to describe online content that is best not viewed at work.

32 Sine ___ non : QUA

“Sine qua non” is a Latin phrase that we use to mean “the essential element or condition”. The literal translation is “without which not”. One might say, for example, “a challenging crossword is the sine qua non of a good newspaper”. Well, crossword fans might say that …

37 Kind of computer port : USB

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard dealing with how computers and electronic devices connect and communicate, and dealing with electrical power through those connections.

40 Books with legends : ATLASES

The famous Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator published his first collection of maps in 1578. Mercator’s collection contained a frontispiece with an image of Atlas the Titan from Greek mythology holding up the world on his shoulders. That image gave us our term “atlas” that is used for a book of maps.

42 Jones (for) : YEN

The slang term “jones” is used to mean an intense addiction, a yen, and probably arose in the late sixties out of the prior use of “jones” for the drug heroin.

47 Totally bonkers : CRAY CRAY

“Cray” is a slang term meaning “insane”, and is a shortening of “crazy”.

The word “bonkers” meaning “crazy” originated in the fifties. The term might come from navy slang meaning “slightly drunk”, behaving as though one received a “bonk” on the head.

50 Big name in sunglasses : RAY-BAN

Ray-Ban sunglasses were introduced in 1937 for the US Army Air Corps. The Ray-Ban Aviator model of glasses became very popular with the pilots, and apparently with General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur was wearing a pair when he was photographed “returning” to the Philippines in WWII. The name “Ray-Ban” was chosen to “reflect” the ability of the sunglasses to stop (“ban”) the ingress of UV or IR “rays” of light.

61 Christmas tree decoration : CANE

Apparently, candy canes were created at the behest of the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral in Germany in 1672. The sweet sticks were basically used as bribes to keep children quiet during services. The choirmaster specified that the candy sticks should have a crook at the top so that they reminded the children of the three shepherds who visited the infant Jesus just after his birth.

62 What a coxswain notably doesn’t do : ROW

The coxswain of a boat is one in charge of steering and navigation. The word “coxswain” is shortened to “cox”, particularly when used for the person steering and calling out the stroke in a competition rowing boat.

63 Worked on a trireme, e.g. : OARED

Triremes were galleys used in the Mediterranean by a number of cultures, including the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The trireme was so called because there were three rows of oars on each side of the vessel. The term “trireme” comes from the Latin “tres remi” meaning “three-oar”. There was also a less ambitious version of the trireme that had only two banks of oars, and that was known as a bireme.

66 Lewis Carroll, for Charles Dodgson : ALIAS

Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He was born in 1832 in the village of Daresbury near Warrington in the county of Cheshire, in the northwest of England. And, let’s not forget one of Carroll’s most beloved characters, the Cheshire Cat.

67 Bentley or Benz, e.g. : AUTO

The Bentley is a luxury car that is built in the UK. Bentley Motors was founded in 1919 by W. O. Bentley, and taken over by Rolls Royce in 1931. The company has been owned by Volkswagen since 1998.

It is generally accepted that Karl Benz invented the internal combustion engine, although others were doing similar work around the same time. He certainly was awarded the first patent for an automobile, in 1886. His first automobile, the Patent-Motorwagen, couldn’t get up hills unaided so his wife Bertha Benz suggested the introduction of gears. Sure enough, the next model had two gears. Behind every successful man …

68 Asian soup : MISO

Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes miso soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

70 Cyclops, for one : X-MAN

Cyclops is a superhero, and one of the original X-Men. He has the ability to emit powerful energy beams from his eyes, and must control these “optic blasts” by closing his eyes or shielding them with special eyewear. Cyclops first appeared in print in 1963, and has been portrayed on the big screen by actors James Marsden and Tye Sheridan.

71 Annual presidential speech, in brief : SOTU

The US President’s State of the Union (SOTU) address is a requirement called out in Article II of the Constitution. George Washington gave the first address before a joint session of Congress in 1790. Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice of making a personal address by sending Congress a written document that was then read out by a clerk. In 1913, Woodrow Wilson re-established the custom of delivering the message personally, there have been occasions since then when a written address has had to suffice, the last occasion being in 1981 when Jimmy Carter was in office.

Down

1 Dapper sartorial choices : ASCOTS

An ascot is a wide tie that narrows at the neck, which these days is only really worn at weddings or part of a dress uniform. The tie takes its name from the Royal Ascot horse race at which punters still turn up in formal wear at Ascot Racecourse in England.

A man described as a Dapper Dan is one who is dressed very nattily. There have been a few people who have used the Dapper Dan moniker over the years, including a gangster in the twenties nicknamed Dapper Dan Hogan and a baseball player who was active around the same time nicknamed Dapper Dan Howley.

2 Reef predator with extendable pharyngeal jaws : MORAY EEL

Morays are a large group of about 200 species of eels found across the world’s oceans. They are carnivorous and look pretty scary but they’re quite shy when confronted and present no threat to humans. One interesting thing about morays is that they will sometimes work in cooperation with the grouper fish found in reefs, the two helping each other hunt for food.

4 Show on which Julia Louis-Dreyfus got her big break, in brief : SNL

Actress and comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus is an alum of the sketch show “Saturday Night Live”, in which she appeared from 1982 to 1985. Her really big break came when she was chosen to play Elaine Benes on “Seinfeld”. More recently, Louis-Dreyfus can be seen playing Vice President Selina Meyer on the HBO comedy show “Veep”.

5 Hammerstein of Rodgers and Hammerstein : OSCAR

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were extremely successful writers of Broadway musicals in the forties and fifties. Rodgers composed the music and Hammerstein wrote the lyrics for hit shows such as “Oklahoma!”, “Carousel”, “South Pacific”, “The King and I” and “The Sound of Music”.

8 B.Y.O.B. part : OWN

Bring Your Own Beer/Bottle/Booze (BYOB, and sometimes just “BYO”)

13 Pennsylvania home of minor-league baseball’s SeaWolves : ERIE

Erie is a port city in the very north of Pennsylvania, sitting on the southern shore of Lake Erie. The city takes its name from the Erie Native American tribe that resided in the area. Erie is nicknamed the Gem City, a reference to the “sparkling” water of Lake Erie.

18 ___ Dhabi : ABU

Abu Dhabi is one of the seven Emirates that make up the federation known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two largest members of the UAE (geographically) are Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the only two of the seven members that have veto power over UAE policy. Before 1971, the UAE was a British Protectorate, a collection of sheikdoms. The sheikdoms entered into a maritime truce with Britain in 1835, after which they became known as the Trucial States, derived from the word “truce”.

24 A.S.A.P. : PDQ

Pretty darn quick (PDQ)

25 Corporate $$$ overseers : CFOS

Chief financial officer (CFO)

28 Abuses the listserv, say : SPAMS

A list server (also “listserv”) is an automated email list management system that allows for easy distribution of messages to a group of subscribers. It’s like a virtual mailing list where members can send messages to the entire group simultaneously, rather than individually emailing each person.

30 “For a quart of ___ is a dish for a king”: Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” : ALE

“The Winter’s Tale” is a 1623 play by William Shakespeare. It is often categorized as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays” in that it does not readily fall into the category of drama or romance. The first three acts are quite dramatic, while the last two acts are very humorous and provide us with a happy ending.

31 W-9 info : SSN

IRS form W-9 is a Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. The W-9 is filled out by employees and used by employers for payroll purposes. The form is not submitted to the IRS.

33 Land on the Gulf of Oman, for short : UAE

The Gulf of Oman isn’t actually a gulf, and rather is a strait. It connects the Arabian Sea to the Strait of Hormuz and hence to the Persian Gulf.

36 Air marshal’s org. : TSA

The US air marshal program was created by President Kennedy in 1963, with the initial force of only six marshals assigned to flights that were considered at high risk for a hijacking. Just before 9/11, the number of marshals had increased to 33. The exact number of marshals employed today is classified information, but it is thought to be thousands.

37 Sch. that’s home to the Warner Bros. Archives : USC

The Warner Bros. film studio was founded by four Warner brothers, although their original family name was Wonskolaser. The brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack emigrated from Poland as children with their parents, and changed their name when they landed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1889.

49 Athens’s rival in the Peloponnesian War : SPARTA

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece that was famous for her military might. Spartan children had a tough upbringing, and newborn babies were bathed in wine to see if the child was strong enough to survive. Every child was presented to a council of elders that decided if the baby was suitable for rearing. Those children deemed too puny were executed by tossing them into a chasm. We’ve been using the term “spartan” to describe something self-disciplined or austere since the 1600s.

The Peloponnesian War was fought from 431 to 404 BC between the Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Prior to the war, Athens was the strongest city-state in Greece. After the victory by the Peloponnesian League, Sparta emerged as the leading power.

51 Spanish Harlem, e.g. : BARRIO

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

The Manhattan district of Harlem is sometimes divided into Central Harlem, West Harlem and East Harlem. East Harlem is also known as “Spanish Harlem”.

52 Wedding reception cry : A TOAST!

The tradition of toasting someone probably dates back to the reign of Charles II, when the practice was to drink a glass of wine to the health of a beautiful or favored woman. In those days, spiced toast was added to beverages to add flavor, so the use of the word “toast” was an indicator that the lady’s beauty would enhance the wine. Very charming, I must say …

58 ___ Deighton, British spy novelist : LEN

I used to walk my dog right past author Len Deighton’s house years ago, as we lived in the same seaside village in Ireland (probably my only claim to “fame”). Deighton wrote the excellent espionage thriller “The IPCRESS File”, which was made into a 1965 movie starring Michael Caine.

59 Declining industry of Appalachia : COAL

Appalachia is the name of a region that encompasses the central and southern portions of the Appalachian Mountains. Major cities included in the region include Pittsburgh, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Birmingham and Asheville.

61 Shark bait : CHUM

The word “chum” meaning “fish bait”, is perhaps derived from the Scottish word “chum” meaning food.

64 Jazz instrument : SAX

Saxophones are made of brass, but they also have some features in common with woodwind instruments, such as the use of a reed to create sound. Because of that reed, the “sax” is classified not as a brass instrument, but as a woodwind.