0608-25 NY Times Crossword 8 Jun 25, Sunday

Bill’s time: 26m 13s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10A Singer Cruz known as the “Queen of Salsa” : CELIA

Celia Cruz was born and grew up in Cuba, but spent most of her working life in the United States, playing out her salsa singing career in New Jersey. Around the world, Cruz was known as the “Queen of Salsa”.

19A Break, slangily : BORK

The term “bork” originated in 1987 during the Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork. His nomination was fiercely opposed and ultimately rejected, leading to the coining of the verb “to bork” meaning “to obstruct or defeat a nominee through an organized campaign of defamation or vilification”. Since then, “borked” has evolved into meaning “not working properly, broken”.

20A Rafael Nadal has won a record 14 of these : FRENCH OPENS

Rafael Nadal is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, and he has some superstitions that help him focus on winning. For example, he has a unique pre-match ritual in which he arranges his water bottles in a very specific way. He always places them in a straight line with the labels facing the court, and he adjusts them so that they are perfectly aligned.

25A Belle boy? : BEAU

A beau (plural “beaux”) is the boyfriend of a belle, a young lady. “Beau” and “belle” are the masculine and feminine forms of the French word for “handsome, beautiful”.

26A It’s a cinch! : OBI

The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied at the back in what is called a butterfly knot. The term “obi” is also used for the thick cotton belts that are an essential part of the outfits worn by practitioners of many martial arts. The color of the martial arts obi signifies the wearer’s skill level.

27A “Everything in the world is about ___ except ___” (quote often attributed to Oscar Wilde) : SEX

Here is a quote often attributed to Oscar Wilde, although it’s not clear he ever made the statement: “Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.”

32A Some narrative homages, informally : FANFIC

Fan fiction (also “fanfic”) is fiction created by fans of an original work that uses characters from that original work.

34A National anthem contraction : O’ER

The words “o’er the land of the free” come from the US national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key.

35A Uncle ___ (nickname for comedian Berle) : MILTIE

Comedian Milton Berle was known as “Uncle Miltie” and “Mr. Television”, and was arguably the first real star of American television. Berle was hosting “Texaco Star Theater” back in 1948.

39A Yosemite’s ___ Adams Gallery : ANSEL

As an avid amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. Adams was famous for clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed primarily for black & white film, it can even apply to digital color images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final photograph with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

41A Gateway to the Amalfi Coast : SALERNO

Salerno is a port city on the southwest coast of Italy. In WWII, after the Italians negotiated a peace treaty with the Allies in 1943, the King of Italy relocated to Salerno from Rome. The new Italian government was set up in the city, and so for a few months, Salerno was the nation’s capital.

Amalfi, Italy is a coastal town on the Gulf of Salerno located about 30 miles southeast of Naples. The town gives its name to the popular tourist destination known as the Amalfi Coast.

48A Brand used for Taco Tuesday : ORTEGA

The Ortega food manufacturing company has been around for about 150 years. It was founded by Maria Concepcion Jacinta Dominguez Ortega, known affectionately as Mama Ortega within the company.

Taco Tuesday is a promotion run by many American restaurants, especially in Southern California. Participating establishments offer deals on tacos, and perhaps other Mexican dishes served in tortillas. Apparently, “Taco Tuesday” is a trademark owned by Wyoming-based fast-food restaurant Taco John’s.

54A Brittney of the W.N.B.A. : GRINER

WNBA player Brittney Griner played in the Russian Premier League during the off-season. She arrived in Moscow in 2022 where she was detained for having less than a gram of medicinal cannabis in her luggage, which is illegal in Russia. She underwent a trial, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to nine years in prison. She was released at the end of 2022 in a one-for-one prisoner swap, after almost ten months in detention.

61A Highest point : APOGEE

In the celestial world, an apsis is a point in an orbit when the orbiting body is at its greatest, or least, distance from its center of orbit. The farthest and closest points of orbit are known as the apogee and perigee, when talking about bodies orbiting the Earth. The farthest and closest points for bodies orbiting the sun are known as the aphelion and perihelion.

66A Last-one-standing fights : BATTLE ROYALES

A battle royal is a fight involving many combatants that is fought until one fighter emerges victorious. More recently, the term “battle royale” has become popular following the success of the Japanese film “Battle Royale” released in 2000. There are many, many video games that use the “battle royale” structure.

71A “Ain’t ___ Sweet” : SHE

“Ain’t She Sweet” is a popular song first published in 1927, composed by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen. Ager wrote the song for his daughter, Shana. Shana grew up to become Shana Alexander, a political commentator on CBS’s “60 Minutes”. Famously, the Beatles recorded several versions of “Ain’t She Sweet”.

72A Hopper in the Hundred Acre Wood : ROO

Hundred Acre Wood is where Winnie-the-Pooh lives with his friends. According to a map illustrating the books by A. A. Milne, Hundred Acre Wood is part of a larger forest, with Owl’s house sitting right at the center. Piglet also lives in the Hundred Acre Wood, in a beech tree next to a sign that says “TRESPASSERS W”. Piglet says this is short for Trespassers William, which is his grandfather’s name.

78A “Star Trek: T.N.G.” empath : TROI

Deanna Troi is a character on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” who is played by the lovely Marina Sirtis. Sirtis is a naturalized American citizen and has what I would call a soft American accent on the show. However, she was born in the East End of London and has a natural accent off-stage that is more like that of a true Cockney.

83A Beefy, as gym bros : SWOLE

“Swole” is an informal term meaning “very muscular”. Yeah, I hear that word all the time …

85A Composer Vivaldi : ANTONIO

Antonio Vivaldi was one of the great composers of the Baroque period. He achieved fame and success within his own lifetime, although that celebrity faded soon after he died. Vivaldi’s music has reemerged in recent decades and I am sure everyone is familiar with at least part of his most famous composition, the violin concerto called “The Four Seasons”. Vivaldi was nicknamed “The Red Priest” because he was indeed a priest, and he had red hair.

88A Fancy diving flips : GAINERS

A gainer is a dive in which the diver leaves the board while facing forward, but makes a backward somersault, entering the water feet first.

90A Prefix with -caster : STRATO-

The Stratocaster (often “Strat”) is an electric guitar that has been made by Fender since 1954. The company that made Fender electric guitars was founded in Fullerton, California in 1946 by Leo Fender.

96A Something that often changes color before it falls : LEAF

Leaves are green because of the presence of the pigment chlorophyll. There is so much chlorophyll in a leaf during the growing season that it masks out the colors of any other pigments. The amount of chlorophyll falls off in the autumn so that other pigments, present all year, become evident. These pigments are carotenoids which are orange-yellow in color, and anthocyanins which are red-purple.

99A One-named pop star with releases on the Monkey Puzzle record label : SIA

“Sia” is the stage name of Australian singer Sia Furler from Adelaide. She is a cousin of Australian Christian Rock musician Peter Furler. Sia is a very private person, and even covers her face with a blond wig while performing.

100A Kids’ cries : MAAS

Male goats are bucks or billies, although castrated males are known as wethers. Female goats are does or nannies, and young goats are referred to as kids.

101A Guinness record holder for most words in a hit single (1,560 in six minutes) : EMINEM

“Rap God” is a song by American rapper Eminem, released in 2013. “Rap God” holds the Guinness World Record for the most words in a hit single. The song contains a total of 1,560 words in just over six minutes, which translates to an average of 4.28 words per second.

103A De Armas of “Blade Runner 2049” : ANA

Ana de Armas is an actress from Cuba. Having attended the National Theater School of Cuba, she moved to Spain at the age of 18. There, she made a name for herself in a Spanish TV series called “El Internado”. De Armas moved to Los Angeles in 2014, after which her performance opposite Ryan Gosling in 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049” earned her critical acclaim.

106A Fibonacci and Galileo, for two : PISANS

Leonardo of Pisa was a famous and respected Italian mathematician, also known as simply “Fibonacci”. He is remembered for writing about a number sequence (although he didn’t “discover” it) that later was given the name “Fibonacci sequence”. He wrote about the series of numbers in his book called “Liber Abaci”, a celebrated work that introduced Arabic numerals (i.e. 0-9) to the Western world.

Galileo Galilei may be the most famous son of the city of Pisa in Italy and was considered by many to have been the father of modern science. In the world of physics, Galileo postulated that objects of different masses would fall at the same rate provided they did so in a vacuum (so there was no air resistance). There is a story that he dropped two balls of different masses from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to demonstrate this, but this probably never happened. Centuries later, Astronaut David Scott performed Galileo’s proposed experiment when he dropped a hammer and feather on the moon during the Apollo 15 mission and we all saw the objects hit the moon surface, at exactly the same time.

111A Dance in celebration : DO A JIG

The jig is a dance most associated with Ireland and Scotland. In traditional Irish dancing, the jig is second in popularity only to the reel. The most famous Irish jig is probably “The Irish Washerwoman”. I may not dance a jig, but I sure do know the tune of “The Irish Washerwoman” …

114A Single-use binders : ZIP TIES

Cable ties (also “zip ties”) are fasteners, usually made from nylon, that are used to hold items together, e.g. electrical cables and wires. Cable ties were invented in 1958, under the brand name “Ty-Rap”, for use in airplane wiring harnesses.

119A Reddit endorsement : UPVOTE

Upvoting and downvoting is a feature of many online platforms, particularly those centered around user-generated content and discussions. It’s a simple mechanism that allows users to express their positive or negative sentiment towards a post or comment. By upvoting or downvoting, users contribute to the relative visibility of the content, moving it up or down the page.

120A Fat substitute : OLESTRA

Olestra is a fat substitute. Naturally-occurring fats are made of a glycerol molecule holding together three fatty acids. Olestra is instead made of several fatty acid chains held together by a sucrose molecule. Olestra has a similar taste and consistency as natural fat, but has zero caloric impact as it is too large a molecule to pass through the intestinal wall and passes right out of the body. Personally, I would steer clear of it. Olestra is banned in Britain and Canada due to concerns about side effects, but I guess someone knows the right palms to grease (pun intended!) here in the US, and so it’s in our food.

Down

1D What Jason Momoa has, notably : ABS OF STEEL (EEL)

Jason Momoa is a model and actor who is perhaps best known for playing superhero Aquaman in several DC Comics films. He also played warrior leader Khal Drogo in the HBO TV series “Game of Thrones”. In 2017, Momoa married actress Lisa Bonet, who played Denise Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”.

2D Potassium ___ (preservative) : SORBATE

Potassium sorbate is a common food preservative widely used in the food and beverage industry to inhibit the growth of molds, yeasts, and fungi. It’s often found in cheese, wine, yogurt, dried meats, and baked goods, extending their shelf life. Hmm …

6D It’s for kids, not silly rabbits : TRIX

Trix is a corn-based breakfast cereal that has been around since 1954, produced by General Mills. Ads for the cereal featured Trix Rabbit, who would try hard to get hold of bowls of the cereal. He would always get caught though, and be admonished with, “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!” With 46% sugar content, the rabbit probably wouldn’t have liked it anyway …

7D “Toy Story” dino : REX

In the excellent Pixar film “Toy Story”, Rex is a tyrannosaurus, and a pretty clumsy one at that. He is voiced by actor Wallace Shawn, whose name is perhaps less familiar than his face. Shawn played the neighbor on “The Cosby Show” as well as many, many other supporting characters on TV and the big screen.

9D Jason Statham or Sylvester Stallone : ACTION STAR (RAT)

Jason Statham is an actor from England best known for playing tough characters on screen. Before becoming an action star, he was a competitive diver, representing England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

If ever there was a movie that defined a career breakthrough for an actor, it would have to be “Rocky” for Sylvester Stallone. Stallone was a struggling actor in 1975 when a Muhammad Ali fight inspired Stallone to write a screenplay for a boxing movie, which he did in just three days. His efforts to sell the script went well but for the fact that the interested studios wanted a big name for the lead role, and Stallone was determined to be the star himself. Stallone persevered and “Rocky” was eventually made with him playing the title role of Rocky Balboa. The movie won three Oscars, and “Sly” Stallone had arrived …

11D Actor Omar : EPPS

Actor Omar Epps was originally a rapper and was a member of a group called “Wolfpack” before he pursued acting full-time. His really big break came in the form of a recurring role on the popular medical drama series “ER”, followed by a recurring role in the TV series “House” as Dr. Eric Foreman.

13D Part of M.I.T.: Abbr. : INST

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was founded in 1861 and first offered classes in 1865, in the Mercantile building in Boston. Today’s magnificent campus on the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge opened in 1916.

15D Literary fairy queen : MAB

In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Mercutio refers to the fairy known as Queen Mab. It seems that Queen Mab was Shakespeare’s creation, although she became popular in subsequent works of literature. For example, she is referred to in Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”, in Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility”, and Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a large poetic work called “Queen Mab: A Philosophical Poem”.

16D Spider-Man’s lightning-wielding foe : ELECTRO

“Electro” is the supervillain alter ego of Maxwell Dillon, and an adversary of Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe. Dillon is an electrical engineer who had a freak lightning accident while repairing a power line. That led to him mutating into a living electrical capacitor. On the big screen. Electro has been portrayed by Jamie Foxx.

21D Gregory of Hollywood : HINES

Maurice and Gregory Hines are a pair of brothers famous for starting out their show business careers as tap dancers. Maurice made one film appearance, in 1984’s “The Cotton Club”. The younger brother, Gregory, has been more visible in front of the camera. Gregory was one of the leads in the movie “The Cotton Club”, and hosted “The Gregory Hines Show” on television.

40D Cagney’s partner on classic TV : LACEY

“Cagney & Lacey” is a police drama that originally aired in the 1980s. The title characters are two NYPD detectives with very different lives off the force. Christine Cagney, portrayed for six seasons by Sharon Gless, is a career-focused single woman. Mary Beth Lacy, portrayed by Tyne Daly, is a working mother. As an aside, Sharon Gless ended up marrying one of the show’s producers in 1991.

41D La petite Thérèse, e.g.: Abbr. : STE

Saint Thérèse de Lisieux is also known as Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Back in Ireland we call her “The Little Flower of Jesus”.

44D Hebrew honorific : REB

The honorific “reb”, often used in Orthodox Jewish communities, is an abbreviated form of “rebbe”, a Yiddish term meaning “teacher” or “master.”

52D Lesser deities in Greek mythology : DAEMONS

The daemons of Greek mythology were benevolent spirits, forces of nature. We use the derivative term “demon” today in a malignant sense, but back then the opposite was true.

53D Computer addresses, for short : IPS

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical label assigned to every device on a computer network. The device that you’re using to read this blog post on has been assigned a unique IP address, as has the computer that I’m using to make this post …

58D Ground cover plant with trailing vines and five-petaled flowers : PERIWINKLE (ELK)

Vinca is a plant genus with six species all native to Europe, Africa and Asia. Vincas are vine-like in their growing behavior, which explains the name “vinca” as “vincire” is Latin for “to bind”. Vinca is often referred to as “periwinkle” in English.

62D Lose it : GO BANANAS

The expression “to go bananas”, meaning “to become excited or angry”, is one that I would have imagined had a clear etymology but that doesn’t seem to be the case. A further surprise is that we’ve only been “going bananas” since the sixties, the days of flower power. One apt theory about the hippy roots of the phrase is that there was an unfounded belief that ingesting roasted banana peels had a similar hallucinogenic effect as magic mushrooms.

63D Part of a retirement title : EMERITUS

“Emeritus” (female form “emerita”, and plural “emeriti”) is a term in the title of some retired professionals, particularly those from academia. Originally an emeritus was a veteran soldier who had served his time. The term comes from the Latin verb “emerere” meaning to complete one’s service.

64D Chinese restaurant order : EGG FOO YUNG (GNU)

Egg foo yung is a dish served in Chinese restaurants. It is basically an omelet, and probably takes its name from a flower called the Fu Yung.

67D Yonder, to a pirate : THAR

“Thar she blows!” is a phrase that originated on whaling ships. A lookout spotting a whale surfacing to breathe might see the spray from the blowhole caused by the expulsion of carbon dioxide. Thar (there) she blows!

68D Dr. Zhivago’s beloved : LARA

The heroine of Boris Pasternak’s epic novel “Doctor Zhivago” is Lara Antipova. The Lara character was inspired by Pasternak’s mistress Olga Ivinskaya.

76D Syst. of unspoken words : ASL

American Sign Language (ASL)

79D Addams Family cousin : ITT

In the television sitcom “The Addams Family”, the family has a frequent visitor named Cousin Itt. He is a short man with long hair that runs from his head to the floor. Itt was played by Italian actor Felix Silla.

82D Constellation on Alaska’s flag : URSA MAJOR

The Ursa Major constellation, commonly known as the Big Dipper, is featured on the Alaskan flag. The flag was designed in 1927 by then-13-year-old Benny Benson, a Native Alaskan orphan, as part of a territorial contest.

83D Big Fifth Avenue retailer : SAKS

Saks Fifth Avenue is a high-end specialty store that competes with the likes of Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus. The original Saks & Company business was founded by Andrew Saks in 1867. The first Saks Fifth Avenue store was opened on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1924. There are now Saks Fifth Avenue stores in many major cities in the US, as well in several locations worldwide.

84D Subject of the Liberi painting “The Birth of Love” : EROS

Pietro Liberi was a prominent 17th-century Italian painter, active primarily in Venice, who often depicted mythological and religious subjects. He was nicknamed “il Libertino” (the libertine) due to his frequent choice of salacious themes.

86D Offal : ORGAN MEAT

The internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal are referred to collectively as “offal”. Examples of dishes that make use of offal would be sausages, foie gras, sweetbreads and haggis. The term is a melding of the words “off” and “fall”, and dates back to the 14th century. The idea is that offal is what “falls off” a butcher’s block.

88D Tall, chic woman : GLAMAZON

The term “glamazon” is a portmanteau of “glamorous” and “amazon”, and is used to describe a tall, striking, and confident woman. It implies a powerful and impressive presence, much like the mythical Amazons, but with an added element of style and allure.

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

94D Bottleful for un bébé : LAIT

In French, “un bébé” (a baby) needs “lait” (milk).

102D African country whose name is found in another country’s name : NIGER

The Republic of Niger is a landlocked country in Western Africa that gets its name from the Niger River. 80% of the country lies within the bounds of the Sahara Desert.

Nigeria is in West Africa, and it takes its name from the Niger River that flows through the country. Nigeria is the most populous country on the continent, with over 180 million inhabitants. It is also the most populous member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

104D Washington team, to fans : NATS

The Washington Nationals (“Nats”) started out life as the Montreal Expos in 1969, and were the first Major League Baseball team in Canada. The Expos moved to Washington in 2005 becoming the Nats.

105D State of unease : AGITA

“Agita” is another name for “acid indigestion”, and more generally for “agitation, anxiety”.

107D “Thong Song” singer, 2000 : SISQO

Sisqó’s “Thong Song”, released in 2000, quickly became a significant hit, largely due to its catchy melody and memorable music video. A notable behind-the-scenes detail is that the song’s producers cautioned Sisqó against including the interpolation of “Livin’ La Vida Loca” at the close of each of the song’s three verses. Ultimately, the choice to include these lyrics led to “Livin’ la Vida Loca” songwriter Desmond Child receiving a substantial writing credit and a majority share of the publishing rights for “Thong Song”.

109D Stitch’s film friend : LILO

“Lilo & Stitch” was released by Disney in 2002. Compared to other Disney feature-length cartoons, “Lilo & Stitch” was relatively cheaply produced, using the voices of lesser-known actors. One interesting change had to take place in the storyline during production, when Lilo was meant to fly a Jumbo Jet through downtown Honolulu in one sequence. This was replaced with a sequence using a spaceship instead, as the producers were sensitive to public sentiment after the September 11 attacks.

113D Director DuVernay : AVA

Ava DuVernay is a filmmaker who became the first African-American woman to win the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, a feat she achieved in 2012 for her feature film “Middle of Nowhere”. “Middle of Nowhere” tells the story of a woman who drops out of medical school to focus on her husband when he is sentenced to 8 years in prison. DuVernay also directed the 2014 film “Selma” about the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

117D Soccer analyst Holden : STU

Before becoming a well-known soccer analyst, Stu Holden was a professional midfielder who played for clubs like Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland. Having grown up in Sugar land, Texas, he also represented the US in the men’s national team, notably playing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

118D Bowler or boater : HAT

The bowler hat is so called because it was originally designed, in 1849, by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler. The Bowlers created it as an alternative for the top hats then worn by gamekeepers. The gamekeepers needed a tight-fitting hat with a low and rounded crown so that it would stay on their heads as they rode by horseback through woodland with low-hanging branches.

A boater is a straw hat often associated with boating, hence the name.