0104-25 NY Times Crossword 4 Jan 25, Saturday

Bill’s time: 21m 23s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14 Second woman, after Kathryn Bigelow, to win a best director Oscar (2020) : CHLOE ZHAO

Chloé Zhao is a Chinese filmmaker who gained international recognition with the film “Nomadland” (2020), which she wrote, directed, edited, and produced.

15 ___ Huang, whose “Fresh Off the Boat” memoir was turned into an ABC sitcom : EDDIE

Celebrity chef Eddie Huang wrote the 2013 autobiography “Fresh Off the Boat”. It was adapted into a very successful sitcom of the same name. In fact, Huang served as narrator of the show in its first season.

18 Shopping meccas of old : AGORAE

In early Greece, an agora was a place of assembly. The assemblies held there were often quite formal, perhaps for the reading of a proclamation. Later in Greek history, things became less formal as the agora evolved into a marketplace. Our contemporary word “agoraphobia” comes from these agorae, in the sense that an agoraphobe has a fear of open spaces, a fear of “public meeting places”.

19 Sauce named after a steward to Louis XIV : BECHAMEL

Béchamel sauce is a roux made from butter and flour cooked in milk. It is sometimes known simply as white sauce. Béchamel is also considered the “mother sauce” in French cuisine as it is the base of other sauces. For example, Mornay sauce is béchamel with cheese.

21 Hit entertainment org. in Vegas? : UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the largest promoter in the world of mixed martial arts competitions. I think the idea is that competitors fight each other in various disciplines to see who is the “best of the best” …

22 Informal suggestions : RECS

Recommendation (rec.)

23 Historic founder of the Shakers : ANN LEE

Mother Ann Lee was the leader of the Shakers, members of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. Lee was born and raised in Manchester, England. It was there that she became prominent as a speaker declaring faith in the second coming of Christ. Lee took a band of her followers to America in 1774 and eventually settled just outside Albany, New York.

30 Head shop purchase, nowadays : VAPE

Paraphernalia used in the consumption of cannabis and tobacco are sold in retail outlets known as head shops.

31 Language spoken in northern New York : MOHAWK

The Mohawk Valley is a region in New York state located between the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains. Centered on the Mohawk river, the area includes the cities of Schenectady, Utica and Rome.

33 What goes around in the Pacific? : LEI

Leis are traditional Hawaiian garlands that are made from various types of flowers, leaves, and other materials. They were originally worn by ancient Hawaiians as a symbol of their social status and to signify important events such as weddings and funerals.

36 Recording inits. : VHS

The VHS video standard is more fully referred to as the Video Home System. VHS was one of many standards touted by various manufacturers in the seventies. The biggest rival to VHS was Betamax, but we all knew which of the two standards won the final round in that fight.

42 Development area : UTERUS

“Uterus” (plural “uteri”) is the Latin word for “womb”.

44 Un animal del zodíaco : TORO

Taurus is the birth sign for those born between April 21st and June 16th. “Taurus” is Latin for “bull”.

45 Hip-hop group with the 1990 hit “100 Miles and Runnin'” : NWA

N.W.A was a hip hop group from Compton, California. The original five group members included rappers who made a name for themselves as solo acts, including: Dr. Dre, Eazy-E and Ice Cube. The story of N.W.A is told in a 2015 film, also called “Straight Outta Compton”. I hear that the movie was well received, although hip hop is not my cup of tea. I’m just too old …

54 “Holy oleo!” speaker : ROBIN

Batman’s partner Robin is known for his very creative “Holy …!” exclamations. Here are few worth repeating from the original “Batman” TV show:

• “Holy Tintinnabulation!”
• “Holy Knit One, Purl Two!”
• “Holy Oleo!”
• “Holy Hole in a Doughnut!”

57 Vacuous : INANE

“Vacuous” and “inane” both mean “silly, empty-headed”. “Vacuous” comes from the Latin word “vacuus” meaning “empty”. “Inane” comes from the Latin “inanitis” meaning “empty space”.

58 Creature whose name means “forest person” : ORANGUTAN

Orangutans (also “orangs”) are arboreal creatures, the largest arboreal animals known to man. They are native to Indonesia and Malaysia, and live in rainforests. Like most species in rainforests these days, orangutans are endangered, with only two species surviving. The word “orangutan” is Malay, meaning “man of the forest”.

59 Simon of “Shaun of the Dead” : PEGG

Simon Pegg is an English actor and comedian who has hit the big time in Hollywood in the past few years. He played “Scotty” in a couple of “Star Trek” movies and tech wizard Benji Dunn in some of the “Mission: Impossible” films.

“Shaun of the Dead” is 2004 horror comedy movie starring English comic actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Written by Pegg and director Edgar Wright, “Shaun of the Dead” is the first in what’s known as their “Three Flavours Cornetto” trilogy of films, along with “Hot Fuzz” (2007) and “The World’s End” (2013).

Down

1 Holder of the longest winning streak in N.C.A.A. men’s basketball history (88 games) : UCLA

The Bruins are the athletic teams representing the University of California, Los Angeles. When the school was founded in 1919, as the Southern Branch of the University of California, the nickname “Cubs” was used by the football team. The “Cubs” name was chosen as the school was regarded as the younger partner of the California Bears in the existing University of California, Berkeley. That name was changed to “Grizzlies” in 1923, and finally to Bruins in 1926.

2 High-piled style : SHAG

A shag cut is a layered hairstyle. Actress Meg Ryan famously sported a shag cut for many years, as did fellow actress Farrah Fawcett.

3 Popular red Halloween costume : ELMO

The “Sesame Street” character named Elmo has a birthday every February 3rd, and on that birthday he always turns 3½ years old. The man behind/under Elmo on “Sesame Street” for many years was Kevin Clash. If you want to learn more about Elmo and Clash, you can watch the 2011 documentary “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey”.

8 Maker of the 900 in ’94 and the 9-3 in ’99 : SAAB

“SAAB” stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. Although we usually think of SAAB as an auto manufacturer, it is mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. The assets were acquired in 2012 by NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden), a new company that used the SAAB name on its vehicles for several years.

9 Join the team? : YOKE

A yoke is a wooden beam used between a pair of animals so that they are forced to work together.

10 Music stand : CD RACK

The compact disc (CD) was developed jointly by Philips and Sony as a medium for storing and playing sound recordings. When the first commercial CD was introduced back in 1982, a CD’s storage capacity was far greater than the amount of data that could be stored on the hard drive of personal computers available at that time.

11 David Stern’s successor as N.B.A. commissioner : ADAM SILVER

Adam Silver was appointed NBA commissioner in 2014. He had served in various posts with the league since 1992, and took over as commissioner on the retirement of David Stern.

13 Collapse, with “over” : KEEL …

To keel over is to capsize, to turn a boat over so that her keel lies up from the surface. We also use the phrase “keel over” figuratively to mean “collapse, faint”.

20 Kickstarter activity : CROWDFUNDING

Kickstarter.com is an increasingly popular crowdfunding website. Kickstarter is a contemporary version of the traditional model in which artists sought out patrons from among their audiences to fund their work. The website brings together individuals willing to fund projects, usually in exchange for some reward from the artist.

23 Portmanteau term for airplane fuel : AVGAS

Avgas is aviation fuel (a portmanteau of “aviation” and “gasoline”). The gasoline used in cars is called “mogas” (a portmanteau of “motor” and “gasoline”).

24 Traffic figure, in brief : NARCO

“Narc” and “narco” are slang terms describing a law enforcement officer who tracks down criminals associated with illegal drugs. Both words are short for “narcotics officer”. Narcs might work for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

26 Tiny swine : SHOAT

“Shoat” is a word describing a young hog after it has been weaned.

28 Writer of 1929’s “Letters From a Father to His Daughter” while imprisoned : NEHRU

Jawaharlal Nehru was the first prime minister of India, serving from 1947-64. Nehru was basically the heir to his mentor Mahatma Gandhi. Nehru’s only daughter Indira, also became prime minister (known as Indira Gandhi through marriage, though she was not related to Mahatma).

Indira Gandhi’s father was Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India. Indira herself became prime minister in 1966. She was assassinated in 1984 by two of her own bodyguards as she was walking to meet Peter Ustinov, who was about to interview her for Irish television.

49 Spelling seen in credits : TORI

Tori Spelling is an American actress who made a name for herself playing Donna Martin on television’s “Beverly Hills, 90210”. Tori is the daughter of film and television producer Aaron Spelling.

52 Cook’s offering with chips? : IMAC

Tim Cook was appointed as Apple’s CEO in 2011, when he succeeded Steve Jobs. Cook had joined the company back in 1998 as senior vice president in charge of worldwide operations. He came out as gay in October of 2014, making Cook the first openly gay CEO of a company on the Fortune 500 list.

56 Jokester : WAG

A very amusing person might be referred to as a card, stitch, wag or riot.