0118-25 NY Times Crossword 18 Jan 25, Saturday

Constructed by: Scott McMahon
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 13m 53s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Famous palindrome starter : A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL …

The three most famous palindromes in English have to be:

  • Able was I ere I saw Elba
  • A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!
  • Madam, I’m Adam

One of my favorite terms is “Aibohphobia”, although it doesn’t appear in the dictionary and is a joke term. “Aibohphobia” is a great way to describe a fear of palindromes, by creating a palindrome out of the suffix “-phobia”.

17 It can be infectious after Thanksgiving : CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Thanksgiving Day was observed on different dates in different states for many years, until Abraham Lincoln fixed the date for the whole country in 1863. Lincoln’s presidential proclamation set that date as the last Thursday in November. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, arguing that the earlier date would give the economy a much-needed boost.

19 Female rapper with the 2008 hit “Paper Planes” : MIA

M.I.A. is the stage name of British rap artist Maya Arulpragasam.

22 Love interest of Peter in the “Spider-Man” universe : GWEN

Gwen Stacy is one of two romantic interests in the life of Spider-Man/Peter Parker. Gwen was Peter Parker’s first love, until he transferred his affections to Mary Jane Watson.

26 Fish with a shy-sounding name : KOI

Koi are fish that are also known as Japanese carp. Koi have been bred for decorative purposes and there are now some very brightly colored examples found in Japanese water gardens.

27 It’s the word : MUM

The phrase “mum’s the word” has been around since the early 1700s. “Mum” has been used to mean “silent” for centuries, the idea being that “mum” is the sound made when the lips are tightly sealed.

28 ___-Cat : SNO

The brand name “Sno-Cat” is owned by the Tucker company. All snowcats are tracked vehicles built to work in snow, and are famously used in expeditions to the polar regions. The modern Sno-Cat from Tucker differs from its competitors in that it has four independently-mounted tracks.

31 One of 12 for Katharine Hepburn : OSCAR NOMINATION

Katharine Hepburn has been nominated for a Best Actress Oscar 12 times, and holds the record for Best Actress wins at four. She won for her roles in:

  • “Morning Glory” in 1933
  • “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” in 1967
  • “The Lion in Winter” in 1968
  • “On Golden Pond” in 1981

37 Dish that’s different from its cousins by the inclusion of potatoes : SPANISH OMELETTE

What we refer to as a Spanish omelet is known as a “tortilla española” in Spanish cuisine. The basic version of the dish is made with eggs and potatoes, and possibly some onion.

40 Constellation with the star Regulus : LEO

Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation of Leo. It is a multiple star and what we see as one entity is actually made up of four stars rotating around a common center of mass. “Regulus” is Latin for “prince”.

41 Informal hookups : IVS

Intravenous (IV) drip

42 Half a candy bar? : KAT

I grew up eating Kit Kat bars as a kid. The Kit Kat hit the shelves on the other side of the pond in the 1930s, but didn’t make it into US stores until the 1970s. I’ve seen new varieties of Kit Kat bars over in Britain and Ireland, such as an orange-flavored version. I’ve been told that there are even more varieties available in Japan.

45 Initials for a 20th-century president (and his wife) : LBJ

President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) is one of only four people to have held all four elected federal offices, namely US Representative, US Senator, US Vice-President and US President. As President he is perhaps best remembered for escalating involvement in the Vietnam War, and for his “Great Society” legislation.

President Lyndon Johnson’s wife Claudia Alta Taylor was named after her mother’s brother Claud. Taylor’s more familiar name came from her childhood nurse Alice Tittle, who remarked that as a little baby Claudia was “purty as a ladybird”. A ladybird is what we call a ladybug on the other side of the Atlantic. So, the moniker “Lady Bird” stuck with the future First Lady throughout her life.

53 Hit 1976 album whose title track won the Grammy for Record of the Year : HOTEL CALIFORNIA

“Hotel California” is the title song from a 1976 album released by the Eagles. The song is allegorical in nature, and tells of a luxury hotel where one can check in, but never check out. The hotel is a symbol for the California music industry of the seventies that destroyed so many people who were trapped by it. There is an unrelated Hotel California in San Francisco, my favorite of the city’s “boutique” and reasonably-priced places to stay.

58 Yogi Berra or Joe DiMaggio, e.g. : ITALIAN AMERICAN

Yogi Berra is regarded by many as the greatest catcher ever to play in Major League Baseball, and has to be America’s most celebrated “author” of malapropisms. Here are some great “Yogi-isms”:

  • It ain’t over till it’s over.
  • 90% of the game is half mental.
  • Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.
  • When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
  • It’s déjà vu all over again.
  • Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t go to yours.
  • A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.

Joe DiMaggio was born not too far from here, in Martinez, California, the son of Italian immigrants. The family moved to San Francisco when Joltin’ Joe was just a baby. Joe’s Dad was a fisherman, and it was his hope that all his sons would follow him into his trade. But Joe always felt sick at the smell of fish, so fishing’s loss was baseball’s gain.

Down

1 City that’s the “heart of Africa’s art scene,” per National Geographic : ACCRA

Accra sits on Ghana’s coast and is a major seaport as well as the country’s capital city. The name “Accra” comes from a local word “Nkran” meaning “ants”, a name chosen because of the large number of anthills found in the area when the city was founded.

2 Capital and second-largest city of Minorca : MAHON

The island of Minorca in the Mediterranean takes its name from the larger neighboring island of Majorca. The names come from the Latin “Insula Minor” meaning “Minor Island” and “Insula Major” meaning “Major Island”. The island is known as “Minorca” in English, and “Menorca” in Spanish and Catalan.

Mayonnaise originated in the town of Mahon in Menorca, a Mediterranean island belonging to Spain. The Spanish called the sauce “salsa mahonesa” after the town, and this morphed into the French word “mayonnaise” that we use in English today.

4 How to turn down a Hamburger : NEIN

Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany (after Berlin), and the third largest port in Europe (after Rotterdam and Antwerp).

5 They share keys with 2’s : ATS

The “at symbol” (@) originated in the commercial world, as shorthand for “each at, per” and similar phrases. I suppose we see the symbol most commonly these days as part of email addresses.

8 ___ LeRoy Locke, “Father of the Harlem Renaissance” : ALAIN

Author and philosopher Alain LeRoy Locke was the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, and studied in Oxford and Berlin. Years later, Locke was the philosophical architect of what became known as the Harlem Renaissance, and indeed is often referred to as the Harlem Renaissance’s “Dean”.

“Harlem Renaissance” is the term used to describe a cultural movement in the 1920s that was known at the time as the “New Negro Movement”. The movement involved new cultural expression by African Americans that was centered mainly in urban areas in the northeast and midwest, and that was especially vibrant in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood.

10 Required safety feature on cars, in brief : ABS

The first anti-lock braking system (ABS) was developed for use on aircraft, in 1929. The system reduced braking distances for aircraft by 30% because pilots were able to apply a full braking force immediately on landing instead of applying gradual pressure to avoid skidding.

13 Kilo finder : NARC

“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).

22 Chest-beating sort : GORILLA

The gorilla is the largest primate still in existence, and is one of the nearest living species to humans. Molecular biology studies have shown that our nearest relatives are in fact the species in the genus Pan (the chimpanzee and the bonobo), which split from the human branch of the family 4-6 million years ago. Gorillas and humans diverged at a point about 7 million years ago. The term “gorilla” derives from the Greek “gorillai” meaning “tribe of hairy women”. Wow …!

23 Kate who won an Academy Award for “The Reader” : WINSLET

Kate Winslet is one of my favorite actresses, one known for taking both the big Hollywood roles while still finding the time to act in smaller independent films. Perhaps Winslet’s most famous part was opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in “Titanic”, although she won her Oscar for a more dramatic role in “The Reader”. But my favorite of her performances is in the romantic comedy “The Holiday” from 2006. I love that movie …

“The Reader” is a 2008 film based on the 1995 German novel of the same name (“Der Vorleser” in German). The movie stars Kate Winslet as Hanna, a character who is illiterate. In the late fifties, Hanna seduces a 15-year-old boy named Michael and has him read to her from books that he is studying. Years later, the boy is a law student observing the trial of a group of women who are accused of Nazi war crimes. Hanna was a guard in a concentration camp, and it is revealed that she had prisoners read to her in the evenings. Hanna is sentenced to life in prison. Michael sends Hanna tapes of his voice as he reads books from the time of their affair. Hanna uses the tapes to learn how to read while she is behind bars..

26 Memorable title role of a 1941 film : KANE

1941’s “Citizen Kane” was the first film made by Orson Welles, and is considered by many to be the finest movie ever made. It’s a remarkable achievement by Wells, as he played the lead and also produced and directed. Despite all the accolades for “Citizen Kane” over the decades, the movie was far from a commercial success in its early run and actually lost money at the box office.

28 Dark Lord of the ___ (“Star Wars” title) : SITH

Palpatine is the Dark Lord of the Sith in the “Star Wars” universe. He is also known as “Darth Sidious” and “the Emperor”. In most of the films in the series, Palpatine is played by Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid. In “The Empire Strikes Back”, he was actually played by a woman. Palpatine was portrayed physically by the wife of special makeup effects artist Rick Baker, and voiced by New Zealand actor Clive Revill.

30 Stack of Monopoly bills : ONES

The commercial game of Monopoly is supposedly a remake of “The Landlord’s Game” created in 1903 by a Quaker woman named Lizzie Phillips. Phillips used her game as a tool to explain the single tax theory of American economist Henry George. The Landlord’s Game was first produced commercially in 1924. The incredibly successful derivative game called Monopoly was introduced in 1933 by Charles Darrow, who became a very rich man when Parker Brothers bought the rights to the game just two years later in 1935.

31 Scapola o femore : OSSO

“Osso” is the Italian word for bone, as in the name of the dish “osso buco” (bone with a hole), which features braised veal shanks.

34 Largest tributary of the Mississippi : OHIO

The Ohio River forms in Pittsburgh where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet. It empties into the Mississippi near the city of Cairo, Illinois.

35 Wisecrack : MOT

“Bon mot” translates from French as “good word”. We use “bon mot” (and sometimes just “mot”) to mean “quip, witticism”.

36 Novelist Gerritsen : TESS

Tess Gerritsen is a novelist and retired physician. Her most famous novels are the “Rizzoli & Isles” series, featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. The Isles character also appears in the stand-alone crime thriller “The Bone Garden”, first published in 2007.

46 Pipe material : BRIAR

The wood of the plant known as tree heath is called briar root and is extremely heat-resistant. As a result, briar root is used to make smoking pipes.

51 Lingo : CANT

Cant is insincere language, or the language associated with a particular group. Back in the 1600s, the term described the whining of beggars.

57 ___ pro nobis : ORA

“Ora pro nobis” translates from Latin as “pray for us”. It is a common phrase used in the Roman Catholic tradition and is often shortened to “OPN”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Famous palindrome starter : A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL …
16 “Is there more?” : CARE TO ELABORATE?
17 It can be infectious after Thanksgiving : CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
18 Coloring sometimes confused with dun : ROAN
19 Female rapper with the 2008 hit “Paper Planes” : MIA
20 Makes a move : ACTS
21 Lead-in to day, way or more : ANY-
22 Love interest of Peter in the “Spider-Man” universe : GWEN
24 Informal preposition : ‘TIL
26 Fish with a shy-sounding name : KOI
27 It’s the word : MUM
28 ___-Cat : SNO
31 One of 12 for Katharine Hepburn : OSCAR NOMINATION
37 Dish that’s different from its cousins by the inclusion of potatoes : SPANISH OMELETTE
38 Catchers of waves : SATELLITE DISHES
39 Vein output : ORE
40 Constellation with the star Regulus : LEO
41 Informal hookups : IVS
42 Half a candy bar? : KAT
43 Reasonable : SANE
45 Initials for a 20th-century president (and his wife) : LBJ
48 Avian symbol of good fortune in Celtic culture : WREN
51 Throne : CAN
52 Uncover : BARE
53 Hit 1976 album whose title track won the Grammy for Record of the Year : HOTEL CALIFORNIA
58 Yogi Berra or Joe DiMaggio, e.g. : ITALIAN AMERICAN
59 Sent out feelers, so to speak : TESTED THE WATERS

Down

1 City that’s the “heart of Africa’s art scene,” per National Geographic : ACCRA
2 Capital and second-largest city of Minorca : MAHON
3 Range : ARRAY
4 How to turn down a Hamburger : NEIN
5 They share keys with 2’s : ATS
6 Nursery purchase : POT
7 “I can handle this!” : LEMME!
8 ___ LeRoy Locke, “Father of the Harlem Renaissance” : ALAIN
9 Org. with a climate research program : NASA
10 Required safety feature on cars, in brief : ABS
11 13-Down, e.g. : COP
12 It preceded Calibri as Microsoft’s default font : ARIAL
13 Kilo finder : NARC
14 Plugging away : AT IT
15 Some do-overs : LETS
22 Chest-beating sort : GORILLA
23 Kate who won an Academy Award for “The Reader” : WINSLET
24 On the right radio frequency : TUNED IN
25 Cry after a close shave : I’M ALIVE!
26 Memorable title role of a 1941 film : KANE
27 Handy person? : MIME
28 Dark Lord of the ___ (“Star Wars” title) : SITH
29 Pay attention to : NOTE
30 Stack of Monopoly bills : ONES
31 Scapola o femore : OSSO
32 Go a couple of rounds : SPAR
33 ___ Tiernan, author of the “Immortal Beloved” trilogy : CATE
34 Largest tributary of the Mississippi : OHIO
35 Wisecrack : MOT
36 Novelist Gerritsen : TESS
42 Showed respect or submission, in a way : KNELT
43 Arabic for “prayer” : SALAH
44 Netflix category : ANIME
45 Long weapon : LANCE
46 Pipe material : BRIAR
47 Jimmy Carter was the first president regularly seen in these : JEANS
48 Slightest amount : WHIT
49 ___ learning : ROTE
50 Some travelers’ concerns, in brief : ETAS
51 Lingo : CANT
52 Person partial to humour? : BRIT
54 Golfer’s concern : LIE
55 Scoundrel : CAD
56 Handful : FEW
57 ___ pro nobis : ORA

6 thoughts on “0118-25 NY Times Crossword 18 Jan 25, Saturday”

  1. 19:28, no errors. Easier than a first glance suggested.

    Determined, early on, that “ABLEWASIEREISAW” is fifteen letters long! (When I realized that the crosses weren’t working out and erased it, progress resumed … 🙂.)

    An impressive feat of cruciverbalism … 😜.

  2. 29:29 first pass yielded very little, mostly short down answers, got a couple of the long answers at the bottom and worked north from there

  3. Encountered a couple of minor roadblocks… No 15 word pile ups.😊 Finished the trip with one or two U-turns. All in all, a pleasant journey.

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