0111-25 NY Times Crossword 11 Jan 25, Saturday

Bill’s time: 15m 51s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15 Georges ___, “Habanera” composer : BIZET

When Georges Bizet wrote his famous opera “Carmen”, he used the melody of what he thought was an old folk song as a theme in the lovely aria “Habanera”. Not long after he finished “Carmen”, he discovered that the folk song was in fact a piece that had been written by another composer, who had died just ten years before “Carmen” was published. Fittingly, Bizet added a note to the score, declaring the original source.

16 Jargon heard at Comic-Con or in a D&D game, humorously : NERDSPEAK

San Diego’s Comic-Con was founded in 1970 as the Golden State Comic Book Convention. Held over four days each summer, I hear it is the largest show in North America.

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D, DnD) is a complex role-playing game (RPG) introduced in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules Incorporated (TSR). Dungeons & Dragons was probably the first of the modern role-playing games to be developed, and the most successful. It is still played by lots of people today, including my youngest son …

19 Specially trained teams : CADRES

A cadre is most commonly a group of experienced personnel at the core of a larger organization that the small group trains or heavily influences. “Cadre” is a French word meaning “frame”. We use it in the sense that a cadre is a group that provides a “framework” for the larger organization.

22 Movement in “The Nutcracker” : PLIE

The French word for “bent” is “plié”. In the ballet move known as a plié, the knees are bent. A “demi-plié” is a similar move, but with less bending of the knees. A fondu is similar to a plié, except that only one leg remains on the ground.

Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” is one of the most popular ballets in the repertoire. It premiered in St. Petersburg in 1892, but its public appeal really only emerged in the late 1960s. It’s a “must-see ballet” during the Christmas holidays.

23 River featured in the Rig Veda : INDUS

The Rigveda is a collection of sacred hymns that is one of the four canonical texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas.

The Indus river rises in Tibet and flows through the length of Pakistan before emptying into the Arabian Sea, a part of the Indian Ocean lying to the west of the Indian subcontinent. The Indus gives its name to the country of India, as “India” used to be the name of the region along the eastern banks of the river. Paradoxically, the Indus lies entirely within the borders of what is now Pakistan.

26 Pride parade participant? : LION

Here are some colorful collective nouns:

• A pride of lions
• A shrewdness of apes
• A cloud of bats
• A bench of bishops
• A clowder of cats
• A waddling of ducks
• An army of frogs
• A knot of toads
• A memory of elephants
• A dazzle of zebra
• A tower of giraffe
• A crash of rhinos

29 Antarctic explorer for whom a sea is named : JAMES ROSS

The Ross Sea is a bay in the Southern Ocean of Antarctica. It was discovered by one James Ross in 1841. A more recent discovery, in the waters of the Ross Sea, was a 33 feet long giant squid that was captured in 2007.

36 Baby ___ : YODA

Grogu is a character in “The Mandalorian”, a TV series that’s part of the “Star Wars” franchise. Grogu is a very young member of the same alien species to which the celebrated character Yoda belongs. As Grogu has a strong resemblance to the Jedi Grandmaster, fans of the franchise often refer to him as “Baby Yoda”.

38 Television star who went on the “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour” in 2010 : CONAN

Before Conan O’Brien came to fame as a late night talk show host, he was a writer. He wrote for both “Saturday Night Live” and “The Simpsons”. While attending Harvard, O’Brien was president of “The Harvard Lampoon”.

41 Lothlórien in “The Lord of the Rings,” e.g. : FOREST

J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” is the second best-selling novel ever written, with only “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens having sold more copies around the world. Remarkably, I think, the third best-selling novel is “The Hobbit”, which was also written by Tolkien.

Down

1 #2s, e.g. : PENCILS

I grew up with the HB method of grading pencils, from “hardness” to “blackness”. Here in the US we sometimes use a numerical grading system, with #2 being the equivalent of HB. The numerical system was introduced in the US by one John Thoreau, father of famed author and hero of mine Henry David Thoreau.

2 Locale of Niue and the Pitcairn Islands : OCEANIA

The part of the Pacific Ocean known as “Oceania” is roughly equivalent to the area that includes the tropical islands of the South Pacific. Oceania can be divided into the regions of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.

3 Common format for an essay, informally : WORD DOC

Microsoft Word was introduced in 1981 as Multi-Tool Word for Xenix (Xenix is a discontinued version of the Unix operating system). I used to be a power user of Word, but now use Google Docs for all of my word processing needs.

5 Many early wines : ROSES

Rosé wines get their color from the skins of the grapes, although the intensity of the color is not sufficient to make them red wines. Of the varying type of rosé wines available, we are most familiar with sweet White Zinfandels. Personally, I am fond of the dry Provençal rosé wines …

7 Bit of “Sweeney Todd” fare : PIE

“Sweeney Todd” was originally a 1936 film, later a 1973 play, then a 1979 musical, and then a movie adaptation of the musical in 2007. After Sweeney Todd has killed his victims, his partner in crime Mrs. Lovett helped him dispose of the bodies by taking the flesh and baking it into meat pies that she sold in her pie shop. Ugh!

8 Recurring role for Kate McKinnon on “S.N.L.” : RBG

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) served on the US Supreme Court. Justice Ginsburg was the second woman to join the Court, and was nominated by President Bill Clinton. She was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999 and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. During that time she did not miss one day on the bench. In 2009 Justice Ginsburg had surgery for pancreatic cancer, and was back to work 12 days later. She had left-lung lobectomy to remove cancerous nodules in 2018, which forced Justice Ginsburg to miss oral argument in January 2019, for the first time since joining the court 25 years earlier. She finally succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2020. Much of Ginsburg’s life is recounted in the excellent 2018 movie “On the Basis of Sex”.

Comedian and impressionist Kate McKinnon’s career took off when she became a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in 2013. Famously, McKinnon portrayed Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. She also co-starred in the 2016 reboot of the movie “Ghostbusters”, playing Dr. Jillian Holtzmann.

10 Their petals are used to make a traditional Korean wine called “dugyeonju” : AZALEAS

Azaleas are very toxic to most animals. If you go to Korea, you might come across “Tug Yonju”, which is azalea wine made from the plant’s blossoms. Azaleas are usually grown as shrubs, but are also seen as small trees, and often indoors.

11 Turnpike feature : MEDIAN

Back in the 15th century, a turnpike (tpk., tpke.) was a defensive barrier across a road. By the 17th century the term was used for a barrier that stopped travelers until a toll was paid. By the 18th century a turnpike was the name given to a road with a toll.

24 Feature of the United States Capitol : DOMED ROOF

A capitol is a building in which a legislature meets. Such buildings are often constructed with an impressive dome. The term “capitol” is a reference to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, the most important temple in ancient Rome, and which sat on top of Capitoline Hill.

27 Simple house style with gables : CAPE COD

The Cape Cod architectural style is relatively simple. Cape Cod cottages often have a story and a half, with a steep roof and end gables. There is a distinctive single chimney at the center of the roof. The front door is also placed centrally in the wall.

31 Music genre for Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit : NU METAL

Limp Bizkit is described as a nu metal band, with “nu metal” being a subgenre of “heavy metal”. Limp Bizkit has been around since 1994, and that’s all I know …

33 “To the stars,” in Latin : AD ASTRA

“Ad Astra” translates from Latin as “To the Stars”, as in the title of the magazine published by the National Space Society, and as in the motto of my alma mater, University College Dublin …

36 Jester named in a Shakespeare soliloquy : YORICK

In Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, there is a scene when Prince Hamlet holds in his hand the skull of the deceased court jester Yorick. Hamlet starts into a famous monologue at this point:

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is …

The opening line is often misquoted as “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well.”

37 First of four emperors in the “Year of the Four Emperors” : GALBA

AD 69 was a year of civil war in ancient Rome. The unrest started with the death of emperor Nero in AD 68, after which followed the brief rule of Galba, of Otho, of Vitellius, and of Vespasian all in the same year. As a result, AD 69 became known as the Year of the Four Emperors.

43 Material for Robin Hood’s bow : YEW

Yew is the wood of choice for the longbow, a valued weapon in the history of England. The longbow is constructed with a core of yew heartwood (as the heartwood resists compression) that has a sheath of yew sapwood (as the sapwood resists stretching). The yew was in such demand for longbows that for centuries yew trees were in short supply in Britain and the wood had to be imported from all over Europe.

Robin Hood is a figure from English folklore who is celebrated in story and song. Some stories suggest that Robin Hood the outlaw was actually a real nobleman, the Earl of Huntingdon. Robin Hood’s famous companion was Maid Marian. Interestingly, the legend of Maid Marian (full name Lady Marian of Leaford) had been around for centuries before she became associated with Robin Hood starting in the 1700s.