0429-25 NY Times Crossword 29 Apr 25, Tuesday

Bill’s time: 8m 11s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, for three : GODS

The Hindu Trinity comprises Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva (also “Siva”) the destroyer or transformer.

5 Like cigars and some salmon : SMOKED

Smoking is used as a curing process, although smoking alone is insufficient for preserving food as the antimicrobial smoke compounds only adhere to the outside of the meat or fish. Smoking is usually combined with salt-curing or drying.

11 Spill the beans : BLAB

To spill the beans is to divulge a secret. The expression first appeared in American English, in the early 1900s. The phrase arose as an alternative to “spoil the beans” or “upset the applecart”. The similarly meaning phrase “spill the tea” is more prevalent on the other side of the Atlantic.

16 Gourmet garnish served with a mother-of-pearl spoon : CAVIAR

Caviar is the roe of a large fish that has been salted and seasoned, and especially the roe of a sturgeon. Beluga caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon, which is found primarily in the Caspian Sea. It is the most expensive type of caviar in the world. 8 ounces of US-farmed beluga caviar can be purchased through Amazon.com for just over $850, in case you’re feeling peckish …

17 Casino city near Lake Tahoe : RENO

The city of Reno’s economy took off when open gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931. Within a short time, a syndicate had built the Bank Club in Reno, which was the largest casino in the world at the time.

18 “Game of Thrones” co-star Headey : LENA

English actress Lena Headey is best known for playing Cersei Lannister on the fantasy series “Game of Thrones”. Headey was born in Bermuda, where her father was stationed as a police officer.

19 “The Gift of the Magi” writer : O.HENRY

O. Henry’s short story called “The Gift of the Magi” was first published in 1905. It tells of a relatively poor, newly-married couple who want to buy each other a gift for Christmas. The wife’s pride and joy is her long blonde hair, while the husband’s most treasured possession is his grandfather’s gold pocket watch. The wife sells her hair to buy her gift, and the husband sells his watch to buy his gift for his spouse. The wife is given a set of combs, hair accessories that are useless now that her hair is short. The husband gets a platinum fob chain for the watch that he no longer owns.

20 Gemstone whose name comes from the Greek for “claw” : ONYX

Onyx is a form of quartz that comes in many different shades, but most often it’s the black version that’s used for jewelry. The name “onyx” comes from the Greek word for “fingernail”, as onyx in the flesh color is said to resemble a fingernail.

25 Blues group, for short? : DNC

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) was set up way back in 1848 to govern the day-to-day affairs of the Democratic Party. Past chairpersons of the DNC include Howard Dean from Vermont, Chris Dodd from Connecticut and Tim Kaine from Virginia.

On political maps, red states are predominantly Republican and blue states predominantly Democrat. The designation of red and blue states is a very recent concept, only introduced in the 2000 presidential election by TV journalist, the late Tim Russert. In retrospect, the choice of colors is surprising, as in other democracies around the world red is usually used to describe left-leaning socialist parties (the reds under the bed!), and blue is used for conservative right-wing parties. In election cycles, swing/battleground states are often depicted in purple.

33 The “Lo” of “J.Lo” : LOPEZ

“J.Lo” is the nickname of singer and actress Jennifer Lopez. “J.Lo” is also the title of her second studio album, which was released in 2001.

37 Rating system used in chess : ELO

The Elo rating system is used to compare the skill levels of competing players in games like chess and Scrabble. The system is named for a Hungarian-born professor of physics called Arpad Elo, who was also a master-level chess player active in the US Chess Federation.

38 Proper-sounding spring flower? : PRIMROSE

The “primrose” name comes from an older term meaning “first rose”, reflecting the fact that the primrose is one of the first plants to flower in spring in Europe. That said, the primrose is not very closely related to true roses.

41 “House of the Dragon” airer : HBO

The “House of the Dragon” fantasy TV series serves as a prequel to the TV show “Game of Thrones”. Both shows are adaptations of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels by George R. R. Martin. Due to the success of “Game of Thrones”, expectations were high for “House of the Dragon”. The premiere episode of the latter was really well received by audiences, and so it took just five days for HBO to decide to renew “House of Dragons” for a second season.

42 2011 animated film set in Brazil : RIO

“Rio” is a 2011 animated movie about a male blue macaw (Blu) that is brought to mate with a female blue macaw (Jewel) in Rio de Janeiro, hence the movie’s title. Fans can also see “Rio 2”, which was released in 2014.

45 Muffin pan, essentially : MOLD

In North America, a muffin is a sweet, cupcake-like sweetbread. In Great Britain and Ireland, a muffin is a part-raised flatbread that is usually leavened with yeast. The latter is referred to as an “English muffin” here in North America.

47 Green day, familiarly? : ST PAT’S

The first Saint Patrick’s Day celebration in the US was held in 1600, in St. Augustine, Florida. There is some evidence that the first St. Paddy’s Day parade was held the following year, in the same locale. The annual parade in Boston dates back to 1737, in New York City dates back to 1762, and in Chicago dates back to 1843.

53 Figures that are straight approximations of curves, in geometry : TANGENT LINES

Remember doing calculus at school, and all those derivatives and integrals? Well, you probably also remember that an integral calculates the area under a curve (for example), and a derivative calculates the slope of a tangent at a particular point on a curve.

56 Pageant prize : SCEPTER

A scepter (“sceptre” in Britain and Ireland) is a ceremonial staff, one often held by a monarch.

58 Without forethought, say : ON A WHIM

“Whim”, meaning “sudden fancy”, is such a lovely word, and one that we’ve been using in English since the 1640s. “Whim” is actually a shortened form of “whimwham”, which has a similar meaning and has been around since the early 1500s.

65 Midwest tribe : IOWA

The Iowa Native-American people are a Siouan nation. The Iowa speak the Chiwere language, along with the Missouria and Otoe tribes.

66 What some may find off-putting about Limburger cheese : ODOR

Limburger is a delicious, strong-smelling cheese from Germany. It originated in the Duchy of Limburg which was located partly in the modern-day Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

68 Neo-___ (film genre) : NOIR

A neo-noir film is a contemporary film that incorporates elements of the film noir style of the forties and fifties.

70 Aquarium resident : FISH

“Aquarium” is a Latin word meaning “pertaining to water”, although in Latin the word only existed as a noun with the meaning “drinking place for cattle”. Before the use of the noun “aquarium” (plural “aquaria”) in the context of fish, a tank was sometimes referred to as a marine vivarium.

Down

6 When doubled, ingredient in a seafood taco : MAHI

“Mahi-mahi” (meaning “very strong”) is the Hawaiian name for the dolphinfish, which is also known as the dorado. The mahi-mahi is an ugly looking creature if ever I saw one …

7 Womb, in an idiom : OVEN

There might be a bun in the oven, a baby in the womb.

8 Double-decker checker : KING

In the game of checkers, when a “man” reaches the other side of the board, it is promoted to “king”. The king is designated by placing a second piece on top of the first.

9 Wyatt of the Wild West : EARP

Wyatt Earp is famous as one of the participants in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Earp was a city policeman in Wichita, Kansas and also in Dodge City, Kansas. Earp was also deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona where the O.K. Corral gunfight took place. Years later, Earp joined the Alaska Gold Rush and with a partner built and operated the Dexter Saloon in Nome.

10 Forest nymph in Greek mythology : DRYAD

In Greek mythology, dryads are tree nymphs. The term comes from the Greek “drys” meaning an oak tree, but “dryad” tends to be used for the nymphs of all trees and not just the oak variety.

11 Bucking horse in a rodeo : BRONCO

A bronco (also “bronc”) is a horse that is untamed. In Mexican Spanish “bronco” is a word for “horse”, and in the original Spanish “bronco” means “rough, rude”.

12 Part of a camera : LENS

The Latin name for the lentil plant is “lens”. Because the first lenses were double-convex shaped like a lentil, the glass structures were given the name “lens”.

23 Estuary : INLET

An estuary is a body of water that is connected directly to the open sea as well as to one or more rivers. As such, the water in an estuary is “brackish”, less saline than seawater but more saline than freshwater. The list of significant estuaries in North America includes Chesapeake Bay, Delaware bay, the East River and Long Island Sound.

27 T.S. ___, winner of the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature : ELIOT

T. S. Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948, largely because of his “Four Quartets”, a set of four poems that Eliot himself considered to be his life’s masterpiece. He also won a Tony Award in 1950 for Best Play, for “The Cocktail Party”, as well as two posthumous Tony Awards in 1983 for his poems that are used in the musical “Cats”.

29 Go berserk : HIT THE ROOF

Our word “berserk” meaning “deranged” comes from the “Berserkers”, Norse warriors described in Old Norse literature. Berserkers were renowned for going into battle in a fury, and some believe that they consumed drugged food to get themselves worked up for the fighting ahead.

31 Way off course : ERRANT

Someone described as errant is roving around, especially in search of adventure, as in “knight-errant”.The term “errant” has come to mean “behaving wrongly” and “straying outside the bounds”.

35 Buddy __, Jed Clampett portrayer on “The Beverly Hillbillies” : EBSEN

Actor Buddy Ebsen was best known for playing Jed Clampett in television’s “The Beverly Hillbillies”. Ebsen had been cast in the role of the Tin Man in the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz”, but he developed an allergy to the aluminum dust that was used in the makeup. He ended up in hospital and had to walk away from the part. Ebsen blamed “The Wizard of Oz” on persistent problems that he had with his lungs in subsequent years. But Ebsen lived 16 years longer than any of the other major cast members of the film, so maybe he got the last laugh!

36 Verb that has largely replaced “Skypes” : ZOOMS

Zoom is a videoconferencing app that became remarkably popular in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The market deemed Zoom to be the easiest to use of the free videoconferencing apps. I’ve been using it, but really prefer Google’s Meet offering …

The main feature of the Skype application, when introduced, was that it allows voice communication to take place over the Internet (aka VoIP). Skype has other features such as video conferencing and instant messaging, but the application made its name from voice communication. The app was created by two Scandinavian entrepreneurs and the software necessary was developed by a team of engineers in Estonia. The development project was originally called “Sky peer-to-peer” so the first commercial name for the application was “Skyper”. This had to be shortened to “Skype” because the skyper.com domain name was already in use.

39 Children’s author Asquith : ROS

Ros Asquith writes the “Teenage Worrier” books aimed at teens, as well as cartoons for “The Guardian” newspaper in the UK.

46 Curtains : DRAPERY

When I was growing up on the other side of the pond, a drapery was a shop where one could buy cloth for making clothes or curtains. It was only when I came to America that I heard the term “drapes” used for curtains.

48 Dessert drink made with frozen grapes : ICE WINE

Ice wine is a sweet dessert wine that is produced using grapes that have frozen on the vine. The grapes must be harvested very quickly and pressed in a cold environment while still frozen. Because it is only the water in the grapes that freezes, the juice from the pressing is more highly concentrated, containing more sugar and other dissolved solids. Most of the world supply of ice wine comes from Canada and Germany.

55 Mexican poet Juana ___ de la Cruz : INES

Juana Inés de la Cruz was a poet in the Baroque period, She was also a nun, and lived in Mexico City.

60 Actress Rooney of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” : MARA

Actress Rooney Mara is noted for her role in the 2010 film “The Social Network” and for playing the title character in the 2011 hit movie “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. Mara has American football in her blood. Her mother’s family founded the Pittsburgh Steelers, and her father’s family founded the New York Giants.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a 2011 film based on the hit novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson. Rooney Mara plays the title character, a computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander. Daniel Craig also stars, playing journalist Mikael Blomkvist. The 2011 movie wasn’t the first big screen adaptation of the novel. A Swedish film with the same name was released in 2009.

63 Cost-of-living stat. : CPI

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures changes in the price of services and goods purchased by households. The United States CPI fell in 2009, for the first time since 1955. That’s how bad the 2009 recession was …

64 Fleur-de- __ : LIS

“Lys” (sometimes “lis”) is the French word for “lily” as in “fleur-de-lys”, the heraldic symbol often associated with the French monarchy.