0620-25 NY Times Crossword 20 Jun 25, Friday

Bill’s time: 14m 01s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

16A Cultural attraction in London’s Covent Garden neighborhood : ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

The Royal Opera House is located in Covent Garden in the West End of London. The Opera House is home to both the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet, as well as the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The institution was founded in 1728 as the Theatre Royal, although the original building was destroyed by fire in 1808. The second Theater Royal opened on the site the following year, but it was also lost in a fire, in 1856. The current building opened in 1858, and was renamed to the Royal Opera House in 1892.

20A Queen Elizabeth II owned over 30 of them : CORGIS

The Welsh corgi is a herding dog that originated in Britain, with two recognized breeds: the Pembroke and Cardigan. Corgis aren’t fast enough to do their job by running around livestock like collies, and instead nip at the heels. “Corgi” is Welsh for “dwarf dog”.

24A Concave cooking items : WOKS

“Wok” is a Cantonese word, and is the name for the frying pan now used in many Asian cuisines.

27A ___ Jung-jae, Emmy-winning star of “Squid Game” : LEE

“Squid Game” is a brutal survival drama TV series made in South Korea for Netflix. The title refers to a Korean children’s game, and the show itself features a series of children’s games. The players are adults, all of whom are in debt. They play a deadly series of games in the hope of surviving, and winning a multimillion-dollar prize. As I said, brutal …

30A Sci-fi droid, familiarly : ARTOO

Artoo’s proper name is R2-D2 (also “Artoo-Detoo”). R2-D2 is the smaller of the two famous droids from the “Star Wars” movies. British actor Kenny Baker, who stood just 3 feet 8 inches tall, was the man inside the R2-D2 droid for the first six of the “Star Wars” movies.

36A Reddit rule enforcers : MODS

Moderator (mod)

39A Variety of violet : PANSY

The pansy is a garden flower that takes its name from the French word “pensée” meaning “thought”. This name was chosen as the flower was often used as a symbol of remembrance. The petals of pansies have dark blotches that often appear to form the outline of a face.

40A Jaden Smith, to Will Smith : SON

Actor Jaden Smith is the son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Jaden played the title character in the 2010 remake of 1984’s “The Karate Kid”. I must say, that is a very entertaining film and young Jaden did a great job. More recently, Jaden Smith has focused more on a career as a rap singer.

44A Like Greenland : DANISH

Greenland is the largest island on the planet. Geographically, it is part of the continent of North America, but culturally and politically is considered part of Europe. The island became a Danish colony in 1815, and joined the European Economic Community (EEC) with Denmark. Greenland withdrew from the EEC after a referendum in 1983. Since 2009, Greenland has been relatively autonomous, with the Danish government retaining control of foreign affairs, defense and the judicial system.

46A Part of many a car’s dashboard : CD SLOT

Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a “board” placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hooves of the horses. Quite interesting …

49A “You can no more win a ___ than you can win an earthquake”: Jeannette Rankin : WAR

Jeannette Rankin was a Montana politician and activist who was elected to the House of Representatives in 1916, making her the first woman to hold a US federal office. Ranking, a Republican, was a lifelong pacifist. Along with 49 of her House colleagues, she opposed the 1917 declaration of war against Germany. Decades later, Rankin was the sole member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Down

1D “___ jolie!” : TRES

“Très jolie” is French for “very pretty”.

5D Olympian Raisman : ALY

Aly Raisman is a retired gymnast. She captained the US gold-winning teams in the Olympics in 2012 (“The Fierce Five”) and in 2016 (“The Final Five”).

7D Mushroom-to-be : SPORE

Spores are produced by many bacteria, fungi and non-flowering plants. A spore is a reproductive body encased in a protective shell that is highly resistant to damage, and resistant to heat in particular.

10D Masked bandits? : RACCOONS

The raccoon is native to North America. In captivity, raccoons can live to over 20 years of age, but in the wild they only live two or three years. The main causes for the shorter lifespan are hunting and road traffic.

15D Model Holliday : TESS

Tess Holliday is a plus-size model and body-positive activist. She was born Ryann Hoven and changed her name to Tess Munster when she started modeling. That choice was purely because she was a fan of “The Munsters” TV show. In 2015, she adopted the family name of Nick Holliday, the father of her two children.

29D Its first sale was a flamingo-print zip pouch for $8 : ETSY

Etsy.com was founded in 2005 as a way for artists and craftspeople to sell their handmade goods online, and has since grown to include vintage items and crafting supplies as well. The company’s name is derived from the Italian word “etsi,” which means “oh, yes”? This was a nod to founder Rob Kalin’s love of Italy and his appreciation for the country’s history and artistry.

31D Caramel-filled sweet : ROLO

Rolo was a hugely popular chocolate candy in Ireland when I was growing up. It was introduced in the thirties in the UK, and is produced under license in the US by Hershey. I was a little disappointed when I had my first taste of the American version as the center is very hard and chewy. The recipe used on the other side of the Atlantic calls for a soft gooey center.

39D “I was reading a book about mazes … I got lost in it,” e.g. : PUN

Here are some of my favorite puns:

• A man died today when a pile of books fell on him. He only had his shelf to blame.
• I hate negative numbers and will stop at nothing to avoid them.
• I wasn’t going to get a brain transplant, but then I changed my mind.
• I should have been sad when my flashlight batteries died, but I was delighted.

42D Big name in bookstores : BARNES

Barnes & Noble (B&N) is the oldest retailer of books in the US. The company started out in the book-printing business in 1873 and opened its first true bookstore in 1917, in New York City.

44D Writer with a monument in Florence’s Piazza Santa Croce : DANTE

Florence’s Piazza Santa Croce is overlooked by the Basilica of Santa Croce, known as the “Temple of Italian Glories”. The church serves as the burial place for many of Italy’s most illustrious figures, including such luminaries as Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli.

45D Request by those under 21 : HIT ME

“Stand” and “hit me” are instructions to the dealer in the card game Blackjack. The instruction “stand” means “I don’t want any more cards, I’ll use these”. The instruction “hit me” means “please deal me another card”.

47D Actor Paul of “12 Years a Slave” : DANO

Paul Dano is an actor and musician from New York City. I best know him for playing Brian Wilson in “Love & Mercy”, a fascinating film about the Beach Boys.

“12 Years a Slave” is a powerful 2013 film adapted from the memoir “Twelve Years a Slave” by Solomon Northup. Northup was an African American who was born a free man in Upstate New York where he worked as a farmer and a violinist. He was lured to Washington, D.C. where slavery was legal, and there was kidnapped by slave traders. Northup spent twelve years as a slave in Louisiana before an intermediary made contact with friends and family who were able to obtain his release. The slave trader in Washington who committed the crime was arrested and tried, although he was acquitted, because D.C. law prohibited an African American from testifying against Caucasians.

49D “OMG!,” in a modern spelling : WOAH!

“Woah” has gradually become an acceptable spelling for the word “whoa”. Annoying …

53D Clock standard: Abbr. : GMT

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time at the Prime Meridian, the meridian that runs through Greenwich in London.

54D T-Mobile competitor, for short : ATT

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T, Ma Bell) was a subsidiary of the original Bell Telephone Company that was founded by Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. AT&T was forced to divest several subsidiaries in 1982 when the company lost an antitrust lawsuit. Those subsidiaries were known as Regional Bell Operating Systems, or “Baby Bells”.

T-Mobile is a German telecommunications company, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. Deutsche Telekom has used the “T” prefix for a number of its services, including T-Com, T-Online and T-Home.