0607-25 NY Times Crossword 7 Jun 25, Saturday

Bill’s time: 18m 03s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9A Triangular bones that fuse in adulthood : SACRA

The sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine, formed by the fusion of typically five sacral vertebrae in adulthood. The term “sacrum” comes from the Latin “os sacrum”, meaning “sacred bone,” possibly because it was offered in sacrifices or believed to contain the soul.

18A ___-Assyrian Empire, once the world’s strongest military power : NEO

The Neo-Assyrian Empire (c.911–609 BCE) is often considered the first true empire due to its unprecedented geographic reach and highly effective military. At its peak in the 7th century BCE, it stretched from the Zagros Mountains in modern-day Iran to the Levant and much of Egypt in the west, encompassing all of Mesopotamia, parts of Anatolia, and even sections of Arabia.

23A First Muppet to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 : ERNIE

“Rubber Duckie” is a song performed by the muppet Ernie on “Sesame Street”. Rubber Duckie is also Ernie’s favorite toy, his rubber duck. The song was released as a single in 1970 and actually made it into the charts.

25A Package filler, often : FOAM

Styrofoam is an extruded polystyrene foam made by the Dow Chemical Company. Styrofoam has loads of applications, including home insulation and use as a buoyancy aid. It is also formed into “peanuts” used as a packaging filler.

27A Yahoo rival : MSN

I think that there’s an explanation mark missing from “Yahoo!”.
Jerry Yang and David Filo called their company “Yahoo!” for two reasons. Firstly, a Yahoo is a rude unsophisticated brute from Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”. Secondly, Yahoo stands for “Yet another Hierarchical Officious Oracle”.

29A Spiral-shelled mollusks : TRITONS

Tritons are large sea snails, sometimes referred to as “Triton’s trumpets”. Triton, the Greek god of the sea, is sometimes portrayed using a large seashell as a trumpet, hence the name.

31A Spanish city that’s home to the Alhambra : GRANADA

Alhambra is a magnificent fortress and palace in Granada, Andalusia in the south of Spain. The large complex was completed in the 14th century in the days when the Moors ruled Andalusia. Its name comes from the Arabic “al-Ḥamrā”, meaning “the red one”, likely due to the reddish hue of its walls.

35A Beef cut in Santa Maria-style barbecue : TRI-TIP

A tri-tip is a cut of meat that might also be called tip roast, round tip roast and sirloin tip roast. It is a cut of beef from the rear of the animal. Tri-tip is a triangular muscle, hence the name.

36A Likely lobby locale in D.C. : K STREET

K Street in Washington, D.C. gained its reputation as the center of lobbying and political influence during the post-World War II era. Its concentration of law firms, lobbying groups, and advocacy organizations is largely due to its proximity to the White House and Capitol Hill.

40A In-network grp. : HMO

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

43A Phisher’s collection, for short : SSNS

Phishing is the online practice of stealing usernames, passwords and credit card details by creating a site that deceptively looks reliable and trustworthy. Phishers often send out safe-looking emails or instant messages that direct someone to an equally safe-looking website where the person might inadvertently enter sensitive information. “Phishing” is a play on the word “fishing”, as in “fishing for passwords, PINs, etc.”

46A What one of the letters in the luxury conglomerate LVMH stands for : MOET

LVMH stands for Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. Moët is short for Moët & Chandon, the famous French champagne house founded in 1743. Moët & Chandon merged with Hennessy, a cognac producer, in 1971. There was a further merger, with Louis Vuitton in 1987, to form LVMH, one of the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerates.

48A Baseball’s “Master Melvin” : OTT

At 5′ 9″, baseball legend Mel Ott weighed just 170 lb (I don’t think he took steroids!) and yet he was the first National League player to hit over 500 home runs. Sadly, Ott died in a car accident in New Orleans in 1958 when he was only 49 years old. And, according to Wikipedia, “Ott’s name frequently appears in crossword puzzles, on account of its letter combination and brevity.” True that …

51A ___-ace (queer identity) : ARO

“Aro” is a common shorthand for “aromantic”. An aromantic person is someone who experiences little or no romantic attraction. It is distinct from asexual (“ace”), which refers to little or no sexual attraction, though some individuals identify as both aromantic and asexual.

52A Colorful knit top with Scottish origins : FAIR ISLE SWEATER

Fair Isle is a small island in the north of Scotland, one of the Shetlands. The island gives its name to a knitting technique that produces a geometrical pattern using several colored yarns. I’m very fond of Fair Isle sweaters, I must say …

55A Board game variant used as a last-resort tiebreaker : ARMAGEDDON CHESS

Armageddon chess is a variant designed to produce a decisive result and avoid a draw. White typically has more time on the clock (e.g., five minutes) but must win, while Black has less time (e.g., four minutes) but wins the game if it’s a draw.

Down

4D ___Believes Cup, annual women’s soccer tournament : SHE

The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women’s soccer tournament held annually. It was launched in 2016 by US Soccer as part of the SheBelieves initiative, which aims to inspire and empower women and girls through sport.

10D N.L. East rival of NYM : ATL

The Atlanta Braves are the only team to have won baseball’s World Series in three different home cities. They won as the Boston Braves in 1914, the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and the Atlanta Braves in 1995.

11D Like Junior Mints and Raisinets : CHOCOLATE-COATED

Junior Mints, first introduced in 1949, are named after a popular Broadway show “Junior Miss”. “Junior Miss” was a hit play that opened in 1941 and ran for over 700 performances, later adapted into a film and a radio series. The candy’s manufacturer, James O. Welch Company, chose the name to capitalize on the play’s popularity.

Raisinets are chocolate-covered raisins produced by Nestlé. They are often sold in boxes in movie theaters.

13D One side in ancient Greece’s Battle of the 300 Champions : ARGOS

Argos is one of the oldest cities in Greece, and indeed in Europe, having been continuously inhabited for over 7,000 years. In ancient times, Argos was a rival city-state to the powerful Sparta.

16D “Euphoria” synonym that, like “Euphoria,” is also the name of a hit TV show : GLEE

The TV show “Glee” has proven to be very popular. The storyline focuses on a high school glee club in Lima, Ohio called New Directions.

“Euphoria” is an HBO teen drama show that is loosely based on a miniseries of the same name from Israel. The lead actress in the show is Zendaya, who plays a recovering teenage drug addict.

28D Medicare component : PART D

Medicare is divided into four parts:

• A: Hospital Insurance
• B: Medical Insurance
• C: Medicare Advantage Plans
• D: Prescription Drug Plans

29D Oft-repeated bit of onomatopoeia : TSK

Onomatopoeia is the naming of something by vocally imitating the sound associated with it. Examples of onomatopoeia are “chirp”, “clash”, “click” and “hiccups”.

32D Pike, for instance: Abbr. : RTE

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.

33D Longtime animated TV character who hasn’t had a speaking role since 2017 : APU

“The Problem with Apu” is a 2017 documentary that explores the use of racial stereotypes by focusing on the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon from the animated sitcom “The Simpsons”. The film was written by and stars American stand-up comedian Hari Kondabolu.

44D “Better sound through research” brand : BOSE

Bose Corporation specializes in audio equipment, including headphones, speakers, and sound systems. The company was founded in 1964 by Dr. Amar G. Bose, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Bose Corp. started as a research project in psychoacoustics, the study of how humans perceive sound.

45D Gown go-with : TOWN

The phrase “gown and town” refers to the traditional distinction between an academic community (“gown”) and the non-academic residents and businesses of the surrounding municipality (“town”).

49D Freaks (out) : WIGS

The idea behind the expression “to wig out”, meaning “to go crazy”, is that there is so much going on in your brain that it might “lift your hair/wig”.