1222-24 NY Times Crossword 22 Dec 24, Sunday

Bill’s time:15m 06s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Reality show about the perils of crabbing in the Bering Sea : DEADLIEST CATCH

“Deadliest Catch” is yet another reality show, although this one is perhaps worth a look. It is produced for the Discovery Channel and deals with the exciting life on board fishing boats in the Bering Sea.

15 Apple cores, for short? : CPUS

The central processing unit (CPU) is the main component on the motherboard of a computer. The CPU is the part of the computer that carries out most of the functions required by a program. Nowadays you can get CPUs in everything from cars to telephones.

21 “___ No Sunshine” (1971 Bill Withers hit) : AIN’T

Bill Withers was working as an assembly operator while he was trying to make a name for himself in the music industry. Even as he found success with his glorious 1971 single “Ain’t No Sunshine”, he held onto his day job, worried that the music industry was unpredictable.

24 “O Rei do Futebol,” to Brazilians : PELE

“Pelé” was the nickname of Edson de Nascimento, a soccer player who used the name “Pelé” for most of his life. For my money, Pelé was the world’s greatest ever player of the game. He was the only person to have been a member of three World Cup winning squads (1958, 1962 and 1970), and was a national treasure in his native Brazil. One of Pele’s nicknames was “O Rei do Futebol” (the King of Football).

25 Sporty car roof options : T-TOPS

A T-top is a car roof that has removable panels on either side of a rigid bar that runs down the center of the vehicle above the driver.

27 Bioré product : PORE STRIP

Bioré is a skincare brand owned by the Kao Corporation of Tokyo.

31 Shanghai or Shenzhen : SEAPORT

Shanghai is a major city on the east coast of China that is home to the busiest container port in the world. The name “Shanghai” translates as “Upon-the-Sea”.

33 Vaquero’s ties : BOLOS

I’ve never worn a bolo tie, and was surprised to discover that it is a relatively recent invention. The first bolo tie was apparently produced in Wickenburg, Arizona in the late 1940s by a silversmith. The bolo takes its name from the boleadora, an Argentine lariat.

The Spanish suffix “-ero” can be added to a noun to describe someone who works with that “noun”. Examples would be a “vaquero” (a cowboy working with a “vaca”, a cow) and a “torero” (a bullfighter fighting a “toro”, a bull).

43 Rhyming toys with colored pegs : LITE-BRITES

The Lite-Brite toy was introduced in 1967. It is basically a light box with a grid of holes in which colored pegs can be placed to create designs. You can now get a Lite-Brite app for the iPad.

46 Online initialism of excitement : FTW

“FTW” is an initialism abbreviating “for the win”, a phrase meaning “being great, sure to succeed”.

49 Rhyme for “soul” in “Frosty the Snowman” : COAL

“Frosty the Snowman” is a song that was first recorded by Gene Autry, in 1950. The song was specifically written in the hope that it would become a follow-up hit to Autry’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” that topped the charts the previous year.

54 Doo-wop’s ___ Na Na : SHA

Do you remember the band “Johnny Casino & The Gamblers” in the movie “Grease”? That was actually the real-world group named Sha Na Na. Johnny Casino & the Gamblers sang “Those Magic Changes” at the high school dance, in between “Rock’N Roll Is Here to Stay” and “Hound Dog”. Sha Na Na got together in the sixties, hosted the variety show “Sha Na Na” from 1977 to 1981, and are still performing today.

55 Frozen yogurt chain with a fruity name : PINKBERRY

Pinkberry is a chain of frozen dessert outlets that is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Pinkberry’s desserts were originally marketed as frozen yogurt, but that description didn’t fit with criteria laid down by the State of California. After a hiatus of a few years, apparently the “yogurt” moniker is in use again.

60 Wrap sheets? : TORTILLAS

“Tortilla” translates literally from Spanish as “little cake”.

61 Many a Christmas tree : FIR

Firs are evergreen coniferous trees, with several species being popular as Christmas trees. The most commonly used species during the holidays are the Nordmann fir, noble fir, Fraser fir and balsam fir. We also see a lot of Douglas fir trees at Christmas, but they’re not actually true firs.

63 New Mexico’s ___ Pueblo : TAOS

The town of Taos, New Mexico is named for the Native American village nearby called Taos Pueblo. Taos is famous for its art colony. Artists began settling in Taos in 1899, and the Taos Society of Artists was founded in 1915.

71 Space station from 1986 to 2001 : MIR

Russia’s Mir space station was a remarkably successful project. It held the record for the longest continuous human presence in space at just under 10 years, until the International Space Station eclipsed that record in 2010. Towards the end of the space station’s life however, the years began to take their toll. There was a dangerous fire, multiple system failures, and a collision with a resupply ship. The Russian commitment to the International Space Station drained funds for repairs, so Mir was allowed to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up in 2001. “Mir” is a Russian word meaning “peace” or “world”.

75 Medicare section that covers ambulance services : PART B

Medicare is divided into four parts:

• A: Hospital Insurance
• B: Medical Insurance
• C: Medicare Advantage Plans
• D: Prescription Drug Plans

77 Windows might be found on these : PCS

MS-DOS (short for “Microsoft Disk Operating System”) was the main operating system used by IBM-compatible PCs in the eighties and for much of the nineties. Microsoft introduced the Windows operating environment in 1985 to sit above MS-DOS as a graphical user interface (GUI). That move was made in response to the success of Apple’s GUI released with the Lisa and Macintosh platforms. A court case ensued, one that was eventually settled in court in favor of Microsoft.

78 ___ pan : CREPE

“Crêpe” is the French word for “pancake”.

82 Neighbor of Latvia : BELARUS

The Republic of Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located east of Poland and north of Ukraine. Belarus didn’t exist as an entity until the Russian Revolution when it was created as one of the Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs) that made up the USSR. The Republic of Belarus was formed soon after the USSR dissolved in 1990, but unlike many of the former Soviet Republics, Belarus has retained many of the old Soviet policies. Alexander Lukashenko is the country’s president and he believes in state ownership of the economy. Belarus and Russia have formal agreements in place that pledge cooperation.

89 Object of knightly quests : GRAIL

The Holy Grail is a theme found throughout Arthurian legend. The grail itself is some vessel, with the term “grail” coming from the Old French “graal” meaning “cup or bowl made of earth, wood or metal”. Over time, the legend of the Holy Grail became mingled with stories of the Holy Chalice of the Christian tradition, the cup used to serve wine at the Last Supper. Over time, the term “grail” came to be used for any desired or sought-after object.

91 Only African nation where Spanish is an official language : EQUATORIAL GUINEA

Equatorial Guinea is the only country on the African continent that has Spanish as her official language. The nation, located in the central west coast, was formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea and gained independence from Spain in 1968.

94 Author Silverstein : SHEL

Author Shel Silverstein had a varied career and did a lot more than write books. He was a poet, composer, cartoonist and screenwriter among other things. One of his successful children’s books is “A Light in the Attic”, a collection of poems that was first published in 1981. Some parents have tried to get the book banned from libraries. The collection includes the poem “How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes”, which encourages disobedience and making a mess. Scandalous …

96 One of four for F.D.R. : TERM

Since the days of President George Washington, there was an informal tradition that a US President could hold office for two terms, but would not run for a third. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only president to break with this tradition. Roosevelt was elected US president four times, and died a few months after starting his fourth term. It was President Roosevelt’s decision to ignore the term limit tradition that led to the adoption of the Twenty-Second Amendment of the Constitution, which provides that “no person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice”.

Down

2 English city in the county of Devon : EXETER

Exeter is a historic city in the county of Devon in the southwest of England. The city takes its name from the river on which it lies: the River Exe.

3 Garments with strings : APRONS

In Old French, a “naperon” was a “small table-cloth”. The term was absorbed into English as “napron”, describing a cloth used to cover the front of a person at work. Over time, “a napron” was heard as “an apron”, giving us our contemporary noun “apron”.

7 One-named singer of 2008’s “American Boy” : ESTELLE

Estelle is a singer-songwriter from London who hit the top of the charts with her song “American Boy” that featured Kanye West.

10 Whale constellation : CETUS

Cetus is a constellation named after a sea monster from Greek mythology. Today, Cetus is often referred to as the Whale.

12 It’s a bout done! : TKO

Technical knockout (TKO)

13 Despot’s undoing : COUP

A coup d’état (often just “coup”) is the sudden overthrow of a government, and comes from the French for “stroke of state”. The Swiss-German word “putsch” is sometimes used instead of “coup”, with “Putsch” translating literally as “sudden blow”. We also use the abbreviated “coup” to mean “sudden, brilliant and successful act”.

A despot is a ruler with absolute power, and often one who wields that power oppressively. “Despot” is an old French term from the 14th century that is ultimately derived from the Greek “despotes” meaning “master of a household, absolute ruler”.

14 Annual science fiction awards : HUGOS

The Hugo Awards are presented annually for excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing. The awards are named for Hugo Gernsback, founder of the sci-fi magazine “Amazing Stories”.

15 Tradition at the end of a graduation ceremony : CAP-TOSS

Tasseled mortarboards, or square academic caps, are associated with school graduations all over the world, although traditions do differ. For example in Ireland (where I come from), mortarboards are only worn by female graduates.

16 Second-smallest U.S. state capital by population, after Montpelier : PIERRE

Here’s an old chestnut of a trivia question for you … what’s the only state capital in the Union for which the name of the capital and the name of its state share no common letters? You guessed it: Pierre, South Dakota …

Montpelier is the capital of the state of Vermont, the smallest state in the Union in terms of population. The city was named for the French city of Montpelier in the days when there was great enthusiasm for things French after the aid received during the American Revolution.

17 Like new matches : UNLIT

A strike-anywhere match will ignite if struck against almost any dry, hard, rough surface. The match head comprises two chemicals that are necessary for ignition. In order to minimize the chances of accidental ignition of matches, the safety match was developed. The safety match is safer because the match head only includes one of the chemicals necessary for ignition. The second chemical is included in a special striking surface provided with the matches, usually along the side of a matchbox.

20 What a waltzer counts to : THREE

What we tend to think of as a waltz today is danced at about 90 beats per minute. The original waltz was much faster, and danced at about 180 beats per minute. To differentiate, we now call the faster dance a “Viennese Waltz”, and sometimes refer to the other as the “English Waltz” or “slow waltz”.

30 Any of the meats in a turducken, e.g. : FOWL

Turducken is a dish that is sometimes served at Thanksgiving. It is a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck stuffed into a deboned turkey. You can also try a gooducken, which is a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a goose.

35 Drink brand with lizards in its logo : SOBE

The brand name “SoBe” can be found on teas, juices and bottled waters. “SoBe” is an abbreviation for “South Beach”, the neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida.

38 Members of a publishing dynasty : HEARSTS

Hearst is a mass-media company that owns many newspapers, magazines and television entities including the “San Francisco Chronicle”, “Cosmopolitan” and a significant share of ESPN. The Hearst company was founded in 1887 by William Randolph Hearst, with several of the founder’s descendents still actively involved in the business.

39 “60 Minutes” journalist Lesley : STAHL

Television journalist Lesley Stahl first appeared on “60 Minutes” in 1991, after serving as moderator of “Face the Nation” for almost 8 years starting in 1983. Stahl is married to author and journalist Aaron Latham. One of Latham’s claims to fame is that he wrote the article that inspired the movie “Urban Cowboy”.

The marvelous news magazine program “60 Minutes” has been on the air since 1968. The show is unique among all other regularly-scheduled shows in that it has never used theme music. There is just the ticking of that Aristo stopwatch.

47 Textile with roots in the Scottish Highlands : TARTAN

“Tartan” is sometimes called “plaid” over here in the US, and is a word not used in the same sense outside of this country. In Scotland, a plaid is a blanket or a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder.

48 More sardonic : WRYER

Something described as sardonic is skeptically humorous. Believe it or not, there is a link between the term “sardonic” and the island of “Sardinia”. Apparently, Greeks believed that eating the “sardonion” (literally “plant from Sardinia”) resulted in facial convulsions resembling sardonic laughter, and then death. Quite interesting …

50 Most populous city in the European Union : BERLIN

Berlin is the capital of Germany. It is the nation’s largest city, and used to be the second-most populous city in the European Union, after London. Then, the UK left the EU …

51 Prominent feature of Rudolph : RED NOSE

We get the names for Santa’s reindeer from the famous 1823 poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, although we’ve modified a couple of the names over the years. The full list is:

• Dasher
• Dancer
• Prancer
• Vixen
• Comet
• Cupid
• Donder (originally “Dunder”, and now often “Donner”)
• Blitzen (originally “Blixem”)

Rudolph was added to the list by retailer Montgomery Ward, would you believe? The store commissioned Robert L. May to create a booklet that could be handed out to children around Christmas in 1939, and May introduced us to a new friend for Santa, namely Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

58 Party game in which participants try to identify a secret assassin : MAFIA

Mafia (also “Werewolf”) is a party game that came out of Russia in 1987. It is described as a social deduction game, and players are divided into two teams: the villagers and the mafiosi, with the teams working to eliminate each other. The game sounds quite complex to me (so I can’t explain the rules here), but it seems very intriguing …

70 Hula swayers : HIPS

The hula is a native dance of Hawaii that uses arm movements to relate a story. The hula can be performed while sitting (a noho dance) or while standing (a luna dance).

71 ___ X : MALCOLM

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska in 1925. He told his own life story in the incredibly successful book “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, on which he collaborated with author Alex Haley. Malcolm Little changed his name when he joined the Nation of Islam, choosing “X” to represent the African family name that he could never know.

75 Alloy containing tin : PEWTER

Pewter is a relatively soft alloy that is made up mostly of tin, with some copper, antimony, bismuth and lead.

76 Head-to-toe Islamic garment : BURQA

A burqa (also “burka”) is the garment worn by some women in the Islamic tradition to cover up their bodies when in public.

81 Spanish city where Picasso was born : MALAGA

Málaga is the capital city of the autonomous community of Andalusia in Spain. Located on the Mediterranean coast, it is considered the southernmost large city in Europe, and lies about 80 miles north of Africa. Included in the list of notable people born in Málaga are artist Pablo Picasso, and Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas. I spent a very pleasant week in Malaga’s old-town in 2022 …

83 Día de los Muertos prop : SKULL

A sugar skull (“calavera” in Spanish) is a representation of a human skull made mainly from cane sugar, mixed with water, honey and almond oil. They are candy treats used in Mexico to celebrate the “Dia de Muertos” (Day of the Dead), known as All Souls’ Day in the Christian tradition

85 Surrealist Kahlo : FRIDA

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter famous for her self-portraits. She was married to the equally famous artist Diego Rivera. Kahlo was portrayed by actress Salma Hayek in a film about her colorful life called “Frida” released in 2002.

92 Holiday in which bánh chung cakes are eaten : TET

Bánh chu’ng is a steamed cake mainly made from glutinous rice, mung bean and pork. The eating of bánh chu’ng is an important part of the Tet holiday in Vietnam.