0214-25 NY Times Crossword 14 Feb 25, Friday

Bill’s time: 14m 09s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9 Sleep ___: APNEA

Many people suffering from sleep apnea use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine while sleeping. The patient wears a mask that supplies air to the upper respiratory tract at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure. This positive pressure can prevent the collapse of the upper airway, which is the cause of obstructive sleep apnea.

14 Clean energy?: GOOD KARMA

Karma is a religious concept with its basis in Indian faiths. Karma embraces the notion of cause and effect. Good deeds have good consequences at some later point in one’s life, one’s future life, or one’s afterlife. And, bad deeds have bad consequences.

27 ___ Faire: REN

A Renaissance faire (Ren faire) is an outdoor public event in which many participants recreate historical settings by dressing in costume. Usually held in North America, many such fairs are set during the English Renaissance, and more particularly during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The definition of “Renaissance” is often stretched quite a bit, with fairs also set during the reign of Henry VIII, and maybe even during medieval times.

28 Mickey Mantle’s retired jersey: SEVEN

Mickey Mantle only played professional baseball for one team, spending 18 years with the New York Yankees. Mickey Mantle memorabilia is highly prized, especially since he retired from the game in 1969, and even more so since he died in 1995. The only other player memorabilia said to command a higher price is Babe Ruth’s. Mantle holds the record for the most career home runs by a switch hitter, as well as the most World Series home runs.

30 Classic Gustav Klimt painting made during his “Golden Period”: THE KISS

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter who primarily painted the female body, often producing works that were described as erotic. One of Klimt’s most famous paintings is “The Kiss”, which he completed in 1908.

35 Al ___: DENTE

The Italian expression “al dente” literally means “to the tooth” or “to the bite” and is used to describe not only pasta, but also vegetables that are cooked so that they are tender and yet still crisp.

39 “Ragtime” role for which Audra McDonald won a Tony: SARAH

Audra McDonald is an actress and singer best known for her work on the stage. She has won six competitive Tony Awards, which is more than any other actor. McDonald is also the only person to have won Tony Awards in all four categories: featured actress in a play, leading actress in a play, featured actress in a musical, and leading actress in a musical.

40 Body of Jewish law: TALMUD

The Talmud is a collection of writings by thousands of rabbis and is a central text in Rabbinic Judaism, second only to the Torah.

41 Classic ska song with the lyric “Let’s get together and feel all right”: ONE LOVE

“One Love” is a classic reggae song from 1977 recorded by Bob Marley and the Wailers. A ska version of “One Love” had been released by the Wailers as early as 1965, but it is the 1977 release that we all remember, I am sure.

43 Affaire de coeur: AMOUR

“Affaire de coeur” is French for “love affair”, literally “love of the heart”.

46 ___ lecithin (chocolate additive): SOY

Lecithins are a whole group of yellow-brown fatty compounds found in many different animal and plant tissues. It is widely used in everything from pharmacological products to food to paint. Much of the processed lecithin comes from soya beans.

47 Amazon, e.g.: WARRIOR

The Amazons of Greek mythology were a tribe of female warriors who were the daughters of Ares and Harmonia.

50 Fútbol stadium cry: GOL!

In Spanish, a “fútbol” (football, soccer) announcer might shout “gol!” (goal!).

61 “Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat” poet: ELIOT

“Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” is a 1939 collection of poems by T. S. Eliot (TSE). The collection of whimsical poetry was a favorite of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber when he was a child. Webber used Eliot’s poems as inspiration for his megahit musical “Cats”.

62 Second Commandment subject: FALSE IDOL

In the Christian tradition, the second commandment prohibits the worship of “any graven image”. Usually, this is taken to mean that graven images can be created but not worshipped.

64 Singer who wrote the Oscar-nominated song “May It Be” for “The Fellowship of the Ring”: ENYA

Irish singer Enya co-wrote and performed two songs for the 2001 film “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”. Her song “May It Be” was nominated to that season’s Best Original Song Academy Award. The second number, called “Aniron”, was sung in Tolkien’s Elvish language called Sindarin.

Down

5 Renaissance painter ___ van Eyck: JAN

The artist Jan van Eyck lived most of his life in Bruges, which has to be the most beautiful city in Belgium. One of his most famous works is “The Arnolfini Portrait”, which hangs in the National Gallery in London.

8 Accepts defeat, in slang: TAKES THE L

Just take the L, take the loss.

9 1980s TV title character: ALF

“ALF” is a sitcom that first aired in the late eighties. The title character is a hand-puppet, and supposedly an alien named Gordon Shumway from the planet Melmac. The alien crash-landed into the house of amateur radio enthusiast Willie Tanner. Tanner renamed the intruder “ALF”, standing for “alien life form”.

10 Desirable and profitable, as an assignment: PLUM

To describe something as plum is to say that it is especially desirable, e.g. a plum job, the plum choice. We’ve been using “plum” in this sense since the late 18th century, and it is probably a reference to the particularly sweet and enjoyable parts of a plum pudding.

11 Symbol of social status in ancient Mesopotamia: NOSE RING

Mesopotamia was the land that lay between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, that flow through modern-day Iraq. The name “Mesopotamia” means “between the rivers”.

12 They might involve a Snellen chart: EYE TESTS

The commonly used eye chart (that starts with the letters “E FP TOZ LPED”) is called a Snellen chart. The test is named after its developer Herman Snellen, who introduced it way back in 1862.

13 Google platform for website monetization: ADSENSE

Google has a program called AdSense in which they act like brokers, placing ads on websites (like this one). I give them space, and they fill that space with ads. When someone clicks on an ad, the advertiser pays Google a few pennies, and then Google pays me half. It covers the costs of keeping the blog going, I wish …

15 Protein-packed Purina product: KITTEN CHOW

Purina began business in 1894 as an operation for producing feed for farm animals. A few years later, in 1902, the Ralston name was introduced when Webster Edgerly joined the business. Edgerly was the founder of a controversial social movement called Ralstonism. Central to the movement was personal health, with RALSTON standing for Regime, Activity, Light, Strength, Temperation, Oxygen and Nature. Ralston Purina was acquired by Nestlé in 2001.

29 ___ signs: VITAL

There are four primary vital signs that are measured by health professionals:

1. Body temperature
2. Blood pressure
3. Pulse
4. Breathing rate

31 Martial art whose name means “sword way”: KENDO

Kendo is a Japanese martial art based on sword fighting. Participants wear protective armor, and use bamboo swords.

36 Neck: CANOODLE

To canoodle is to indulge in caresses and kisses.

38 “So-o-o-o funny!”: LMAO!

Laughing my a** off (LMAO)

44 Its national dish, matoke, is made from green bananas: UGANDA

Uganda is a landlocked county in East Africa lying just to the west of Kenya. It was ruled by the British as a protectorate from 1894 and gained independence in 1962. Uganda is very much associated with the tyrannical rule of Idi Amin in the 1970s.

48 Saoirse of 2019’s “Little Women”: RONAN

Saoirse Ronan is an Irish-American actress, having been born in the Bronx, New York and raised in Carlow and Dublin in Ireland. Ronan’s big break came when she was cast in the 2007 film “Atonement” at 12 years of age, a role for which she was nominated for that season’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar. “Saoirse” is the Irish word for “freedom”.

The 2019 big-screen adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Acanlen as the March sisters. Laura Dern plays their mother. The film was critically acclaimed and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Saoirse Ronan, and Best Supporting Actress for Florence Pugh.

49 Setting for the films “Life Is Beautiful” and “Call Me By Your Name”: ITALY

“Call Me by Your Name” is a 2007 coming-of-age novel by Italian-American author André Aciman. It was adapted into an Oscar-nominated 2017 film of the same name. In 2019, Aciman published a sequel titled “Find Me”.

51 One-eyed “Futurama” character: LEELA

“Futurama” is an animated sci-fi show that airs on Fox. It was co-created by cartoonist Matt Groening, who also created “The Simpsons”.

56 ___ Carson Levine, author of “Ella Enchanted”: GAIL

“Ella Enchanted” is a fantasy novel written by Gail Carson Levine, and published in 1997. It is a retelling of the story of Cinderella, with lots of mythical creatures added. A film adaptation was released in 2004 that features Anne Hathaway in the title role.

60 Grp. using biometric cameras: TSA

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)