0105-25 NY Times Crossword 5 Jan 25, Sunday

Bill’s time: 27m 32s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 Protagonist of Arabian folk tales : ALI BABA

There is some controversy about the story “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” in that it has been suggested it was not part of the original collection of Arabic tales called “One Thousand and One Nights”. The suggestion is that the Ali Baba tale was added by one of the European translators of the collection.

21 Mustangs sometimes race with them : CAMAROS

1967 was a big year for American muscle cars. The Pontiac Firebird was introduced that year, as was the Chevrolet Camaro that shared the same platform as the Firebird. At the same time, Ford introduced the Mercury Cougar, which was built on the same platform as the Ford Mustang that went into production just three years earlier.

22 Many a Quentin Tarantino film role : CAMEO

Even in my day, a cameo role was more than just a short appearance in a movie (or other artistic piece). For the appearance to be a cameo, the actor had to play himself or herself, and be instantly recognizable. With this meaning it’s easy to see the etymology of the term, as a cameo brooch is one with the recognizable carving of the silhouette of a person. Nowadays, a cameo is any minor role played by a celebrity or famous actor, regardless of the character played.

23 Classic Chevys : IMPALAS

The Chevrolet Impala was introduced in 1957. “Impala” is the Zulu word for “gazelle”.

26 Donkey Kong, e.g. : APE

The first video game featuring the ape named Donkey Kong was created in 1981. That same game introduced the world to the character known as Mario, four years before the game Super Mario Bros became such a big hit.

27 Some chords : TRIADS

A triad is a group of three and, specifically in music, a chord made up of three notes.

39 Made less effective, in gamer slang : NERFED

In the world of game design, creators strive for game balance. This balance between difficulty and fairness is aimed at improving the user experience. Buffing is the practice of increasing the utility of items and elements available to the player. The opposite is nerfing, reducing utility.

41 Part of a fishing line to which a hook is attached : SNELL

A snell is a length of thin line that connects a fishhook to a heavier line. The knot that is typically used to fasten a hook to the snell is known as a snell knot.

43 Characters from Homer and Herodotus? : ETAS

Homer was a famous poet of ancient Greece who is believed to be the author of the two classic epic poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey”. However, some scholars believe that Homer did not actually exist, but rather he is the personification of oral tradition that was passed down through the ages.

Herodotus was a historian from ancient Greece. Roman orator Cicero referred to him as “the Father of History” as Herodotus was regarded as the first historian to work methodically and publish a well-constructed narrative. The only known work completed by Herodotus is “The Histories”.

47 Part of a modern assembly line : ROBOT ARM

Karel Čapek was a Czech writer noted for his works of science fiction. Čapek’s 1921 play “R.U.R.” is remembered in part for introducing the world to the word “robot”. The words “automaton” and “android” were already in use, but Capek gave us “robot” from the original Czech “robota” meaning “forced labor”. The acronym “R.U.R.”, in the context of the play, stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots”.

50 Some works of Pablo Neruda : ODES

“Pablo Neruda” was the pen name, and eventually the legal name, used by Chilean writer Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Basoalto chose the name as an homage to Czech poet Jan Neruda.

54 Landmark featured in “Roman Holiday” : TREVI FOUNTAIN

The Trevi Fountain (“Fontana di Trevi”) is a huge fountain in Rome, one that is the largest constructed in the Baroque style. The tradition is that if one throws a coin in the fountain then one is guaranteed a return visit to the city. Tourists throw in an amazing 3,000 euros (over $4,000) every day. The money is collected and is used to stock a supermarket for the needy of the city.

59 Biblical inspiration for Caleb, in Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” : CAIN

John Steinbeck considered his 1952 novel “East of Eden” to be his magnum opus. Most of the storyline takes place near Salinas, just south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Two of the characters in the story are brothers Cal and Aron Trask, representative of the biblical Cain and Abel.

61 Jason of “Aquaman” : MOMOA

Jason Momoa is a model and actor who is perhaps best known for playing superhero Aquaman in several DC Comics films. He also played warrior leader Khal Drogo in the HBO TV series “Game of Thrones”. In 2017, Momoa married actress Lisa Bonet, who played Denise Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”.

“Aquaman” is a 2018 superhero film starring Jason Momoa in the title role. Momoa had previously played the Aquaman character in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” in 2016, and in “Justice League” in 2017.

71 Like Sherlock Holmes’s “game” : AFOOT

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in writing the “Sherlock Holmes” stories, had his hero use the phrase “the game is afoot” on more than one occasion. Holmes first uttered the expression in “The Adventures of the Abbey Grange”. However, the phrase was used long before Conan Doyle put pen to paper. In William Shakespeare’s “King Henry IV Part I” there is the line “Before the game is afoot, thou let’st slip”.

72 Away from work, for short : OOO

Out of office (OOO)

73 Bit of plankton : ALGA

Plankton are organisms that float in water and are incapable of swimming against a current. Plankton can be classified into four broad groups:

• Phytoplankton: algae that live on the surface and use light for photosynthesis.
• Zooplankton: small animals that mainly feed on other plankton.
• Bacterioplankton: the bacterial component of plankton.
• Mycoplankton: the fungal component of plankton.

78 Band with the 2001 #1 hit “How You Remind Me” … or a hint to entering 54-Across : NICKELBACK

Nickelback is a rock band that formed in Hanna, Alberta in 1995 and is now based in Vancouver.

84 Long-running tour title for Taylor Swift : 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.

87 Washington airport, informally : SEA-TAC

Sea-Tac Airport (SEA) is more fully known as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Sea-Tac is the main hub for Alaska Airlines.

88 Smartphone precursors, for short : PDAS

Personal digital assistant (PDA)

92 European capital said to be the site of the first decorated Christmas tree : RIGA

Riga is the capital city of Latvia. The historical center of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of the city’s magnificent examples of Art Nouveau architecture. In fact, Riga has the largest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in the world, with over 750 buildings in the city center designed in the style.

93 Gin or djinn, e.g. : SPIRIT

The spirit known as gin gets its unique flavor mainly from juniper berries. The name “gin” comes into English from the translation of “juniper” from either French (“genièvre”), Dutch (“jenever”) or Italian (“ginepro”).

The “genie” in the bottle (or lamp) takes his or her name from “djinn”. “Djinns” were various spirits considered lesser than angels, with people exhibiting unsavory characteristics said to be possessed by djinn. When the book “The Thousand and One Nights” was translated into French, the word “djinn” was transformed into the existing word “génie”, because of the similarity in sound and the related spiritual meaning. This “génie” from the Arabian tale became confused with the Latin-derived “genius”, a guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at birth. Purely as a result of that mistranslation the word genie has come to mean the “djinn” that pops out of the bottle. A little hard to follow, I know, but still quite interesting …

96 Part of overalls : BIB

The word “bib” comes from the Latin “bibere” meaning “to drink”, as does our word “imbibe”. So, maybe a bib is less about spilling the food, and more about soaking up the booze …

101 Pivot without warning … or a hint to entering 19-Across : TURN ON A DIME

The term “dime”, used for a 10-cent coin, comes from the Old French word “disme” meaning “tenth part”.

105 Questionable gift, for short? : ESP

The so-called sixth sense is extrasensory perception (ESP). It is also referred to as second sight.

106 Musician once nicknamed “The Beale Street Blues Boy” : BB KING

“B.B. King” was the stage name of Riley B. King, the celebrated blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. Referred to as the King of the Blues, King truly was a dedicated performer. He was doing gigs for over 50 years, and made over 15,000 appearances on stage. King’s first hit was “3 O’Clock Blues”, recorded in 1952. He passed away in May of 2015.

108 One of 10 on each end of a beer pong table : CUP

The game of beer pong is also known as “Beirut”. It apparently originated as a drinking game in the fraternities of Dartmouth College in the fifties, when it was played with paddles and a ping-pong net on a table. The origin of the “Beirut” name is less clear, but it probably was coined while the Lebanese Civil War was raging in the late seventies and eighties.

111 Tough-guy title role : RAMBO

A rambo is a very violent and militant person. The term is a relatively recent one, coming from the character John Rambo played by Sylvester Stallone in the “Rambo” series of movies. The first Rambo film made was “First Blood” in 1982. The film in turn is based on the 1972 novel of the same name by David Morrell.

114 Harsh “reading” : RIOT ACT

The Riot Act was a British law that was in force from 1715 to 1967. According to the Riot Act, government entities could declare any gathering of twelve or more people “unlawful”. Our expression “read the Riot Act to” is derived from the requirement for the authorities to read out the Riot Act proclamation to an unlawful assembly before the Act could be enforced.

119 Some bank deposits : SILTS

Today, we mostly think of silt as a deposit of sediment in a river. Back in the mid-1400s, silt was sediment deposited by seawater. It is thought that the word “silt” is related to “salt”, as found in seawater.

120 Mentee : PROTEGE

We use the term “protégé” for someone whose career is helped along and guided by a more experienced person, a mentor. “Protégé” is French for “protected”.

A mentor is a trusted teacher or counselor. The term “mentor” comes from Homer’s “Odyssey” in which there is a character named Mentor. He is a friend of Odysseus, although he is a relatively ineffective old man. The goddess Athena takes on Mentor’s appearance in order to guide Odysseus’s young son Telemachus through difficult times.

Down

1 Like most Iraqis : SHIA

The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favored the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.

2 Pack (down) : TAMP

To tamp is to pack down tightly by tapping. “Tamp” was originally used specifically to describe the action of packing down sand or dirt around an explosive prior to detonation.

3 Perfect for a salad, say : RIPE

Our word “salad” comes from the Latin “salare” meaning “to salt”. The Latin “herba salata” translates as “salted vegetables”, which I guess could be a salad …

4 Something often rolled over, for short : IRA

A rollover IRA is a subtype of traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA). The funds for a rollover IRA come from another qualified plan such as a 401(k) or 403(b) account.

7 Passed with flying colors : ACED

The phrase “to pass with flying colors” is a reference to the flying of the flag of a regiment or ship, i.e. “the colors”.

8 Agonizing occurrences in online games : LAGS

In Internet terms, lag is a delay in response caused by network latency. We might notice lag when streaming a video, for example.

9 Bit of text pontification : IMO

In my opinion (IMO)

To pontificate is to issue dogmatic decrees with a pompous air. Back in 1818, the verb “to pontificate” had the more literal meaning, “to act as a pontiff, pope”.

13 Potentially lethal snake : ASP

The asp is a small to medium-sized snake, typically growing to between 18 and 30 inches in length. It has a distinctive triangular head and a dark, zigzag pattern along its back.

14 Some multi-masted ships : SCHOONERS

By definition, a schooner is a sailing vessel with two or more masts, but one on which the foremast is shorter than the rear mast(s).

16 Current measure : AMPERE

The unit of electric current is the ampere, which is abbreviated correctly to “A” rather than “amp”. It is named after French physicist André-Marie Ampère, one of the main scientists responsible for the discovery of electromagnetism.

28 Last word of the New Testament : AMEN

The Christian Bible is divided into the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT).

30 Second strings : B-TEAMS

We’ve been using the phrases “first string” and “second string” in athletics since the mid-19th century. The expressions come from archery, in which a competitor would carry a second bowstring in case the first broke.

33 2024 Shakira single “(___ Paréntesis)” : ENTRE

Shakira is a hugely successful singer from Colombia. She used to appear regularly on TV as one of the coaches on the reality show “The Voice”.

36 Quintet of experts on “Queer Eye,” familiarly : FAB FIVE

“Queer Eye” is a reality TV show that was launched in 2003 as “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”. Each episode features a panel of gay professional experts in the fields of fashion and design giving a makeover to a straight man. The show was given a new life in 2018 when it was launched on Netflix as “Queer Eye” with a new “Fab Five” cast.

37 Late actress Garr : TERI

Actress Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffered from multiple sclerosis, and was a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

42 Chaney of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” : LON

Lon Chaney, Sr. played a lot of crazed-looking characters in the days of silent movies. He did much of his own make-up work, developing the grotesque appearances that became his trademark, and earning himself the nickname “the man of a thousand faces”. Most famous were his portrayals of the title characters in the films “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925).

43 Pointy part on a husky : EAR

The Siberian Husky is one of the oldest breeds of dog, and originated in northern Asia. Siberian Huskies were imported into Alaska in great numbers in the early 1900s for use as sled dogs during the gold rush.

46 Insta alternative : SNAP

Snapchat is a messaging system that allows users to send photos and video clips to a limited list of recipients. The photos and clips, called “snaps”, can be viewed for only a few seconds before they are deleted from the recipient’s device, and from the Snapchat servers.

48 Prominent instrument in Seal’s “Kiss From a Rose” and Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe” : OBOE

Seal’s song “Kiss From a Rose” was originally released in 1994, and re-released in 1995 when it was included in the soundtrack of the movie “Batman Forever”.

“I Got You Babe” is a duet that was released in 1965 by Sonny & Cher. The lyrics and music for the song were written by Sonny Bono himself. In 1993, Sonny and Cher did a version of the song with the animated characters Beavis and Butt-head. One has to ask, “Why …?”

52 North Carolina campus town : ELON

Elon is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina located close to the city of Burlington. Elon University is a private liberal arts school founded in 1889.

56 One of the Wilsons of Heart : ANN

Heart is a rock band from Seattle, Washington that was founded in the seventies and is still going strong. The band has had a changing lineup, except for sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson.

62 ___ Modern (London attraction) : TATE

The museum known as “the Tate” comprises four separate galleries in England. The original Tate gallery was founded by Sir Henry Tate as the National Gallery of British Art. It is located on Millbank in London, on the site of the old Millbank Prison, and is now called Tate Britain. There is also the Tate Liverpool in the north of England that is located in an old warehouse, and the Tate St. Ives in the west country located in an old gas works. My favorite of the Tate galleries is the Tate Modern which lies on the banks of the Thames in London. It’s a beautiful building, a converted power station that you have to see to believe. As of 2018, the Tate Modern was the most visited art museum in the UK.

64 Coffee named for the district it’s grown in : KONA

Kona coffee is cultivated on the Big Island of Hawaii, on the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualalai, two of the five volcanoes on the island. Coffee plants were brought to Kona in 1828 and late in the 19th century, coffee became a viable and worthwhile crop. Today Kona is one of the most expensive and popular coffees in the world.

67 Weird Al Yankovic’s parody of the song “Lola” : YODA

“Weird Al” Yankovic is a singer-songwriter who is noted for writing and performing parodies of popular songs. Of the 150 or so such songs, the best known are probably “Eat It” (parodying “Beat It” by Michael Jackson) and “Like a Surgeon” (parodying “Like a Virgin” by Madonna).

69 Antlered animal : ELK

Wapiti, also known as elk, are one of the largest species of deer found in North America and East Asia. They are social animals and live in herds of up to 400 individuals. The herds are usually led by a dominant male, known as a bull, who defends his harem of females during the mating season.

75 Gordimer who wrote “The Conservationist” : NADINE

Nadine Gordimer is an author and political activist from South Africa. Gordimer’s writing was recognized in 1991 when she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. One of the main focuses of her works is the apartheid that was once part of South African culture and law.

76 Non ___ (unwelcome) : GRATA

A persona non grata (plural “personae non gratae”) is someone who is not welcome. The phrase is Latin for “an unacceptable person”. The opposite phrase is “persona grata”, meaning “acceptable person”.

77 Major K-pop septet : BTS

BTS is a boy band from South Korea with seven members. The initialism “BTS” stands for the phrase “Bangtan Sonyeondan”, which translates literally as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”. It is the best-selling musical act in the history of South Korea.

80 The Flash’s civilian identity ___ Allen : BARRY

The Flash is a DC Comics superhero who is nicknamed “the Scarlet Speedster” or “the Crimson Comet”. The Flash’s superpower is his ability to move extremely quickly, with speed that defies the laws of physics.

83 1980s Chrysler debut : K-CAR

Chrysler introduced K-cars in the early 1980s at a time when demand for large cars with V8 engines was plummeting. Post-oil crisis consumers were seeking low-cost, fuel-efficient vehicles, which brought Chrysler to the brink of bankruptcy. It was the economical 4-cylinder, front-wheel drive platform that singlehandedly delivered the company into profitability within a couple of years. K-cars were designed to carry 6 passengers, on two bench seats. Remember taking a corner a little too fast on those seats, in the days when no one wore seat belts?

88 Oxygen atoms have eight of them : PROTONS

The element oxygen has an atomic number of 8, and has eight electrons within each atom. The name “oxygen” was coined (“oxygène” in French) by Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, from the Greek “oxys” meaning “acid” and the French “-gène” meaning “producer”. It was originally believed that oxygen was needed to make all acids.

90 Queen’s realm : ROCK

Queen is an English rock band that formed back in 1970. With the help of lead singer Freddie Mercury (now deceased), Queen has a long list of great hits, including “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”. “Bohemian Rhapsody” spent a total of nine weeks at number one in the UK. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is also the title of an outstanding 2018 biographical film about the band.

91 One working the knight shift? : SQUIRE

A squire can be an escort, say one attending to a woman. A squire is also a young nobleman who attended a knight in days of yore. A fun example would be Sancho Panza who accompanied the deluded Don Quixote.

93 Mena of the “American Pie” films : SUVARI

Mena Suvari’s most famous role to date is probably “the beauty” in the 1999 movie “American Beauty”. She played the teenage girl with whom the Kevin Spacey character becomes infatuated. Suvari also plays Heather in the “American Pie” films.

96 Parisian eatery : BISTRO

“Bistro” was originally a Parisian slang term describing a little wine shop or restaurant.

100 Vice president with a Nobel Peace Prize : AL GORE

Former Vice President Al Gore was a joint recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 in recognition for his work in climate change activism. He also won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for his book on climate change called “An Inconvenient Truth”. The documentary of the same name that was spawned by the book won an Academy Award. In addition, Gore won an Emmy as co-owner of Current TV, an independent news network.

106 Head shop purchase : BONG

A bong is a smaller and more portable version of a hookah, with both being filtration devices for smoking especially tobacco and cannabis. The term “bong” comes from the Thai word “baung” that is used for a wooden pope cut from bamboo.

109 Sch. with the Daily Bruin newspaper : 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.

110 Vet’s concern : PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

112 TikTok, for one : APP

TikTok is a video-sharing service based in China that is very popular with the younger set (I am told). The original and equivalent service in China is known as Douyin, which went live in 2016. TikTok was launched the following year as the global version of Douyin.

113 “Busy” one : BEE

A simile is a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two things that are unalike. For example, a person might be described as “cute as a kitten” or as “busy as a bee”.