1227-24 NY Times Crossword 27 Dec 24, Friday

Bill’s time:11m 19s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Grandma Moses, for one : FOLK ARTIST

“Grandma” Moses was the nickname of American folk artist Anna Moses. Anna’s moniker is perhaps particularly apt as she really only took up art as a career when she was 78 years old.

15 Accessory named for a British school : ETON COLLAR

An Eton collar is a wide, stiff, buttoned collar that is still part of the formal school uniform at Eton College near Windsor in England.

16 Actress Kunis : MILA

Mila Kunis is a Ukrainian-born, American actress who plays Jackie Burkhart on “That ’70s Show”. Fans of the cartoon series “Family Guy” might recognize her voicing the Meg Griffin character. In ”Black Swan”, Kunis plays a rival ballet dancer to the character played by Natalie Portman. In her personal life, Kunis dated Macaulay Culkin for 8 years, but married Ashton Kutcher, her co-star from “That 70s Show”, in 2015.

18 Like cricket fields : OVAL

Cricket is the national game of England. The term “cricket” apparently comes from the Old French word “criquet” meaning “goalpost, stick”.

32 Emperor from 54 to 68 : NERO

Nero was Emperor of Rome from 54 to 68 CE, and towards the end of his reign participated in the Olympic Games in the year 67. The Roman leader raced in a ten-horse chariot, of which he lost control and nearly perished after being thrown from the vehicle. Acting and singing were Olympic events back then, and Nero also took part in those competitions. By all accounts, Nero performed badly in every event in which he vied, and yet somehow still managed to win Olympic crowns that he paraded around Rome on his return from Greece. Just before he died, Nero reportedly declared, “What an artist the world is losing in me!”

34 Drawer with knobs? : ETCH A SKETCH

Etch A Sketch was introduced in 1960. The toy was developed in France by inventor André Cassagnes, who initially named it “L’Écran Magique” (The Magic Screen).

38 Letters of relief : TGIF

“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF)

45 Resident of the Mojo Dojo Casa House : KEN

Barbie’s male counterpart doll is Ken, and Ken’s family name is Carson. Barbie’s full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. When Ken was introduced in 1959, it was as Barbie’s boyfriend. In 2004 it was announced that Ken and Barbie were splitting up, and needed to spend quality time apart. Soon after the split, Barbie “met” Blaine, a boogie boarder from Australia. Happily, Barbie and Ken reconciled and reunited on Valentine’s Day 2011.

46 Peter or Paul, e.g. : TSAR

Peter the Great (aka “Peter I”) was perhaps the most successful of the Romanov tsars, and was famous for modernizing Russia and expanding the country’s sphere of influence, creating the Russian Empire. He ruled from 1682 until his death in 1725.

Paul I was Tsar of Russia, and the only son of Peter III and Catherine the Great. Paul was on the throne for only five years, before being assassinated in a conspiracy that brought his son Alexander I to power.

47 Certain baseball positions: Abbr. : RFS

Right fielder (RF)

50 Reception problem : STATIC

The background sound produced by an untuned radio can be referred to as white noise. It is also called “static”, because it is caused by the discharge of “static electricity”, with those discharges mainly taking place in the upper atmosphere.

52 Destination for the van that Kevin fails to board in “Home Alone” : O’HARE

“Home Alone” is a 1990 film starring Macaulay Culkin that has become a Christmas classic. Culkin was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for his performance, becoming the youngest actor ever to be so honored. And, there are four “Home Alone” sequels.

54 V.P. candidate name in ’16 and ’24 : TIM

That would be Tim Kaine and Tim Walz.

65 Uber- alternative : MEGA-

“Über” is the German word for “over, across, above”. We have absorbed “uber-” into English as a prefix meaning “very”.

66 Famous British rock group : STONEHENGE

The magnificent Stonehenge monument in the south of England was built from 3000 to 2000 BC. “Stonehenge” has given its name to “henges”, a whole class of earthwork monuments that are circular in form with an internal ditch surrounded by a bank. Paradoxically, Stonehenge doesn’t qualify as a henge by this contemporary definition, as its earthen bank is surrounded by an external ditch.

68 Zeus, in Greek mythology : THUNDER GOD

In Greek mythology, Zeus served as the king of the Olympic gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He was the child of Titans Cronus and Rhea, and was married to Hera. Zeus was the equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter, who had similar realms of influence.

Down

2 Texter’s hedge : OTOH

On the other hand (OTOH)

7 Spa offering, in brief : TLC

Tender loving care (TLC)

13 David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, for one : GLAM ROCKER

I remember the days of glam rock so well, as it was a hugely popular genre of music in Britain and Ireland during the early seventies. Artistes wore the wildest of clothes, big hair, shiny outfits and really high platform boots. Names associated with glam rock are T. Rex, David Bowie, Roxy Music and the infamous Gary Glitter.

“Ziggy Stardust” is a 1972 song written and recorded by David Bowie for the album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”. Despite the key role that the song plays in the concept album/rock opera, “Ziggy Stardust” wasn’t released as a single. The most successful single from the album was “Star Man”.

21 Hot weather wear : TANK

“Tank top” is another one of those terms that always catches me out, as it has a different meaning on each side of the Atlantic. In the US, a tank top is a sleeveless shirt, something we would call a “vest” back in Ireland (and the US “vest” is what we call a “waistcoat”). A tank top in Ireland is a sleeveless sweater, which further adds to the confusion. The name “tank top” is derived from “tank suit”, an old name for a woman’s one-piece bathing suit. The use of “tank” for the bathing suit came from “swimming tank”, an obsolete term used in the 1920s for a swimming pool.

24 Be a pest to : HECTOR

The verb “to hector” means “to bully, to dominate in a blustering way”. The term comes from the Trojan hero Hector, who encouraged his fellow Trojans to keep up the fight against the Greeks. I guess he must have bullied them …

27 Antoine Caliste Domino Jr., familiarly : FATS

Antoine “Fats” Domino was born and raised in New Orleans, with Creole as his first language. He made it into the big time in 1949 when he recorded an early rock and roll record called “The Fat Man”. That record sold over a million copies, the first rock and roll record to achieve that milestone.

28 Antiburglary device : LIGHT TIMER

The crime of burglary is the breaking into and entering of a building with the intent to steal. The actual theft itself is a separate crime.

35 Like palomino horses : TAN

A palomino is a horse with a gold coat and a white mane and tail. The color was prized by TV and film producers in the golden age of the Western. Two of the most famous palominos were Trigger ridden by Roy Rogers, and Mister Ed who had his own TV show.

36 Utah airport inits. : SLC

Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) is a joint civil and military facility. The Roland R. Wright National Air Guard Base is located on 135 acres of land that is leased from the airport.

49 Nay sayer : VETOER

The verb “veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The term was used by tribunes of ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.

51 Put a hex on à la Shakespeare : CURST

“Hexen” is a German word meaning “to practice witchcraft”. The use of the word “hex” in English started with the Pennsylvania Dutch in the early 1800s.

56 Veronica who wrote the “Divergent” series : ROTH

The “Divergent” series of movies is based on the “Divergent” novels written by Veronica Roth. The movies and novels are set in a post-apocalyptic version of Chicago called the Divergent Universe. The story is about a citizenry that is divided into five different factions based on personality traits. The critics weren’t crazy about the first movie in the series, but I really enjoyed it …

63 Author Patchett : ANN

Ann Patchett is an author who lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Her most famous work is probably her novel “Bel Canto”, published in 2001. In 2012, “Time” included Patchett in the magazine’s list of 100 most influential people in the world.

64 “Ideas change everything” org. : TED

The acronym “TED” stands for “Technology, Entertainment and Design”. TED is a set of conferences held around the world by a non-profit group called the Sapling Foundation. The conference subjects are varied, and the meetings are often led by big names such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates and Jane Goodall. The Sapling Foundation then makes recordings of the conferences available for free online with the intent of disseminating the ideas globally. These conferences are known as “TED Talks”. There are also TEDx events, which are locally-run talks presented under license from TED.