1212-24 NY Times Crossword 12 Dec 24, Thursday

Bill’s time: 11m 19s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Word with slow or strawberry : … JAM

That would be a slow jam, a song with R&B and soul influences, I am told …

13 Can : JOHN

The use of “john” as a slang term for a toilet is peculiar to North America. “John” probably comes from the older slang term of “jack” or “jakes” that had been around since the 16th century. In Ireland, in less polite moments, we still refer to a toilet as “the jacks”.

15 Paella base : ARROZ

In Spanish, a dish might be served with “con arroz” (with rice).

Paella is sometimes referred to as the Spanish national dish, but not by Spaniards. In Spain, paella is regarded as a typical regional dish from Valencia. The name “paella” means “frying pan” in Valencian, and is a reference to the shallow vessel traditionally used to cook the dish over an open fire.

16 Domino pip, e.g. : SPOT

White masks with black spots were commonly seen in the old Venetian Carnival. The masks were known as “domini”. The domini loaned their name to the game of dominoes, due to the similarity in appearance between the mask and a domino tile.

21 Small nail : BRAD

A brad is a slender wire nail with a relatively small head that is typically used to tack pieces of wood together, i.e. to fasten either temporarily or with minimal damage to the wood. Nowadays, brads are commonly applied using a nail gun.

23 Saint, in Rio : SAO

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Year’s Day in 1502.

25 “A Beautiful Mind” director Howard : RON

Ron Howard sure has come a long way since playing Opie Taylor on “The Andy Griffith Show”. He has directed some fabulous movies including favorites of mine like “Apollo 13”, “The Da Vinci Code” and “A Beautiful Mind”, the latter earning Howard a Best Director Oscar.

The wonderful 2001 movie “A Beautiful Mind” was adapted from a very successful book of the same name written by Sylvia Nasar. Both book and film tell the life story of John Nash (played by Russell Crowe on the big screen). Nash was a mathematician and Nobel Laureate who struggled with paranoid schizophrenia. Sadly, Nash and his wife died in a car crash on the New Jersey Turnpike in 2015. They were on their way home from the airport, returning from Norway where Nash had been awarded the Nobel Prize.

32 ___ Swiatek, four-time French Open winner : IGA

Iga Swiatek is a professional tennis player, and the first from Poland to win a major singles title (the French Open in 2020).

36 Get serious hang time, as a skateboarder : CATCH AIR (from “CATCH 22”)

“Catch-22” is a novel by Joseph Heller set during WWII. The title refers to absurd bureaucratic constraints that soldiers had to suffer. Heller’s “Catch 22” was invoked by an army psychiatrist to explain that any pilot requesting to be evaluated for insanity, to avoid flying dangerous missions, had to be sane as only a sane man would try to get out of such missions. The term “catch-22” has entered the language and describes a paradoxical situation from which one can’t escape due to contradictory rules; one loses, no matter what choice one makes.

41 Boomer in a band : TUBA

The tuba is the lowest-pitched of all brass instruments, and one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra (usually there is just one tuba included in an orchestral line-up). “Tuba” is the Latin word for “trumpet, horn”. Oom-pah-pah …

42 It makes Max profits : HBO

The HBO Go offering was a “TV Everywhere” service, meaning that paid subscribers could stream content on a choice of platforms just by entering a username and password. HBO Go was superseded by the HBO Max service. Then, HBO Max was rebranded as simply “Max”.

43 Italian dynasty that produced four popes : MEDICI

The House of Medici was a dynasty from the Italian Republic of Florence. The Medici family went into the world of finance and built the largest bank in Europe in the 15th century. Significantly, the Medicis produced four Popes around this time, and then the family moved from the status of common citizens to become hereditary Dukes of Florence. By the middle of the 18th century the family ruled the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, but ended up fiscally bankrupt.

47 “Cleopatra With the ___” (Reni painting) : ASP

Guido Reni was an Italian painter from Bologna who was active in the first half of the 17th century. Reni’s most famous work is probably “Crucifixion of St. Peter”, an altarpiece commissioned in the early 1600s that is now on display in the Vatican.

52 Three-digit numbers in parentheses : AREA CODES (from “AREA 51”)

Area codes were introduced in the 1940s. Back then, the “clicks” one heard when dialing a number led to mechanical wear on various pieces of equipment. In order to minimize overall mechanical wear, areas with high call volumes were given the most efficient area codes (lowest number of clicks). That led to New York getting the area code 212, Los Angeles 213 and Chicago 312.

The famed Area 51 is a remote base in the USAF Nevada Test and Training Range. There’s no question that Area 51 is an unusual base in that frontline operational units are not deployed there. It seems that it is used for developing and testing new and classified weapons facilities for the US Military and other US agencies like the CIA. The government did not even acknowledge that Area 51 existed until 1995, and this official position fueled a theory that the base is home to UFOs that landed on Earth.

57 Low-key place for gnocchi : TRATTORIA

A trattoria is an Italian restaurant. In Italian, a “trattore” is the keeper of said eating house.

Gnocchi are small dumplings in Italian cuisine that can be made from various ingredients including potato, my personal favorite. The name “gnocchi” might be derived from the Italian “nocchio” meaning “knot in wood”.

58 Toon with a monkey named Boots : DORA

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Dora’s constant companion is an anthropomorphic monkey named “Boots”, because he always wears red boots. She also hangs out with Isa, an iguana.

60 Matcha ___ (tea-based beverage) : LATTE

Matcha is a powder made by grinding dried, green tea leaves. The selected tea bushes are heavily shaded for several weeks prior to harvest, which stimulates the production of chlorophyll resulting in darker green leaves. Matcha is used in East Asian cuisines to prepare tea for drinking, and also as an ingredient in dishes such as ice cream, cakes and sushi rolls.

61 Human thing to do : ERR

Alexander Pope’s 1709 poem “An Essay on Criticism” is the source of at least three well-known quotations:

• A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.
• To err is human, to forgive divine.
• For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

62 Waze figs. : ETAS

Waze is a navigation app that is similar to Google Maps and Apple Maps. Waze was developed in Israel, and was acquired by Google in 2013.

64 Hits up on Instagram, for short : DMS

Direct message (DM)

65 Meeting, informally : SESH

Session (abbreviated to “sess.” formally, and “sesh” informally)

Down

1 A family might have matching ones, for short : PJS

Our word “pajamas” (sometimes “PJs” or “jammies”) comes to us from the Indian subcontinent, where “pai jamahs” were loose fitting pants tied at the waist and worn at night by locals and ultimately by the Europeans living there. And “pajamas” is another of those words that I had to learn to spell differently when I came to America. On the other side of the Atlantic, the spelling is “pyjamas”.

5 Line below a swoosh : JUST DO IT

The Nike slogan “Just Do It” was created in an advertising meeting in 1988. Apparently the phrase was inspired by the last words of infamous criminal Gary Gilmore. Gilmore faced execution by the state of Utah in 1977, and when asked if he had any last words he simply replied, “Let’s do it”. A few minutes later, Gilmore was executed by a firing squad.

I remember seeing a lady named Carolyn Davidson on the television show “I’ve Got a Secret”. Davidson created the Nike “swoosh” back in 1971 when she was a design student at Portland State. She did it as freelance work for Blue Ribbon Sports, a local company introducing a new line of athletic footwear. The “swoosh” is taken from the wing of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike. Years later, BRS changed its name to Nike, so I suppose the company should be grateful to Carolyn for both the great design, and a great company name.

6 Pantry problem : ANTS

The word “pantry” dates back to 1300, when it came into English from the Old French “panetrie” meaning a “bread room”. Bread is “pain” in French, and “panis” in Latin.

7 “I Feel Pretty” singer in “West Side Story” : MARIA

In Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story”, the female lead character is Maria. Maria and her older friend Anita are in the group referred to as “the Shark Girls”.

Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story” is based on William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. The musical is set in New York City and features two rival gangs: the Sharks from Puerto Rico and the Jets with working-class, Caucasian roots. Tony from the Jets (played by Richard Beymer) falls in love with Maria (played by Natalie Wood) from the Sharks. All this parallels Romeo from the House of Montague falling for Juliet from the House of Capulet in the Italian city of Verona. The stage musical was adapted into a very successful 1961 movie with the same title.

8 Mind repeating that? : MANTRA

A mantra is a word that is used as a focus for the mind while meditating. The term is Sanskrit in origin, and is now used figuratively in English to describe any oft-repeated word or phrase.

10 Language from which we get “Manitoba” and “Saskatchewan” : CREE

Manitoba is the Canadian province that borders the US states of North Dakota and Minnesota. Even though Manitoba has an area of over 250,000 square miles, 60% of its population resides in the province’s capital city of Winnipeg.

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan (Sask.) takes its name from the Saskatchewan River. The river in turn takes its name from the Cree name, which translates as “swift flowing river”. The capital of Saskatchewan is Regina, although the biggest city in the province is Saskatoon.

23 Order to an attack dog : SIC ‘EM

“Sic ’em” is an attack order given to a dog, one instructing the animal to growl, bark or even bite. The term dates back to the 1830s, with “sic” being a variation of “seek”.

24 Plant used in xeriscaping because of its tolerance to drought : AGAVE

The agave is a succulent plant found mainly in Mexico. Surprisingly (to me, anyway), the agave is unrelated to the cactus, and isn’t related to the aloe plant either. The blue agave is used in the production of tequila.

A location described as “xeric” is extremely dry, arid. The Greek prefix “xero-” means “dry, withered”. The derivative “xeriscaping” is landscaping that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation, i.e. drought-tolerant landscaping.

26 Hogwarts exam after the O.W.L. : NEWT

In J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” universe, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded by the four most brilliant witches and wizards of their time: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Each of the founders lent their name to a House in the school, i.e. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

30 Novice gamers, informally : NEWBS

“Noob” (sometimes “newb” or “n00b”) is a not-so-nice, slang term for a “newbie”, and often refers to someone who is new to an online community.

31 Word after one fell? : … SWOOP

The phrase “at one fell swoop” may have been coined by William Shakespeare, or at the very least he popularized the use of the phrase. The character Macduff says in the 1605 play “Macbeth” (on hearing that his family and servants have all been killed):

All my pretty ones?
Did you say all? O hell-kite! All?
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam
At one fell swoop?

The “kite” reference is to the hunting bird, which “swoops” down to catch its prey.

37 Show with a “Cyber” spinoff : CSI

The “CSI” franchise of TV shows has been tremendously successful, and seems to really have legs. “CSI: Miami” (the “worst” of the franchise, I think) was canceled in 2012 after ten seasons. “CSI: NY” (the “best” of the franchise) was canceled in 2013 after nine seasons. The original “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” was set in Las Vegas, and hung in there until 2015 when it ended with a two-hour TV movie. Then there was “CSI: Cyber”. It lasted for two seasons, before being canceled in 2016. “CSI: Vegas”, a sequel to the original “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, launched in 2021.

38 Suns that shine? : NBA STARS

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

39 Roger B. ___, justice who infamously authored the Dred Scott decision (1857) : TANEY

Roger B. Taney was Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court from 1836 until 1864 (when he passed away). Taney’s most notable decision was in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, in which he delivered the majority opinion that African Americans could not be considered citizens of the US. Taney was the second-longest serving Chief Justice (Chief Justice John Marshall served for 34 years, from 1801 to 1835).

52 Kazakhstan’s ___ Sea : ARAL

The Aral Sea is a great example of how humankind can have a devastating effect on the environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …

54 Pioneering blues guitarist Baker : ETTA

Etta Baker was a blues guitarist and singer who was born in 1913 and passed away in 2006. She was relatively unknown outside of her hometown in North Carolina for most of her life. However, in the 1990s, she gained national attention after recording her first album at the age of 78. The album, called “One-Dime Blues,” was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1991.

56 ___ Tour, pop culture phenomenon of 2023-24 : ERAS

The Eras Tour by singer-songwriter Taylor Swift began on Saint Patrick’s Day 2023. Having not toured for her studio albums “Lover”, “Folklore”, and “Evermore” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift pulled together the Eras Tour in support of all of her albums.

57 Pampering, for short : TLC

Tender loving care (TLC)

59 Tree with so-called helicopter seeds : ASH

“Helicopter seed” and “whirlybird” are familiar names given to a type of fruit more correctly called a samara. A samara has a flattened wing or wings made of papery tissue from the ovary wall. These wings enable the wind to carry the seed farther from the parent tree. Samaras are produced by several species of tree and shrub, including elm and ash trees.