0627-25 NY Times Crossword 27 Jun 25, Friday

Bill’s time: 9m 42s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10A Title akin to Mme. : SRA

The equivalent of “Mrs.” in French is “Mme.” (Madame), in Spanish is “Sra.” (Señora) and in Portuguese is also “Sra.” (Senhora).

15A Lee with 50+ cameos : STAN

Stan Lee did just about everything at Marvel Comics over the years, from writing to being president and chairman of the board. If you like superhero movies based on the characters from Marvel Comics, then you could spend a few hours trying to spot Stan Lee in those films as he had a penchant for making cameo appearances. Lee can be spotted in “X-Men” (2000), “Spider-Man” (2002), “Hulk” (2003), “Fantastic Four” (2005), “Iron Man” (2008) and many other films.

18A One making the first move? : PAWN

In the game of chess, the pawns are the weakest pieces on the board. A pawn that can make it to the opposite side of the board can be promoted to a piece of choice, usually a queen. Using promotion of pawns, it is possible for a player to have two or more queens on the board at one time. However, standard chess sets come with only one queen per side, so a captured rook is often used as the second queen by placing it on the board upside down.

19A Motto of the United Farm Workers of America : SI, SE PUEDE

Dolores Huerta is a prominent American labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW) with Cesar Chavez. She is also known for her powerful organizing skills and her famous rallying cry, “Sí, se puede” (“Yes, we can”).

20A Language mutually intelligible with Hindi : URDU

Urdu is one of the two official languages of Pakistan (the other being English), and is one of the 22 scheduled languages in India. Urdu partly developed from Persian and is written from right to left.

21A Big 12 athlete : UTE

The Utah Utes are the athletic teams of the University of Utah.

22A A real piece of work? : OPUS

The Latin for “work” is “opus”, with the plural being “opera”. We sometimes use the plural “opuses” in English, but that’s just to annoy me …

23A Rooibos, by another name : RED TEA

Red tea is made from the leaves of the South African rooibos plant. The name “rooibos” translates as “red bush”.

25A Patterns for criminologists, in brief : MOS

“Modus operandi” (plural “modi operandi”) is the Latin for “mode of operating”, a term we’ve been using since the mid-1600s. It’s often used by the police when referring to the methods typically employed by a particular perpetrator of a crime, and is usually abbreviated to “M.O.”

26A Big ___ : SUR

Big Sur is a lovely part of the California Coast located south of Monterey and Carmel. The name “Big Sur” comes from the original Spanish description of the area as “el sur grande” meaning “the big south”.

27A Hypocorism for Harold : HAL

A hypocorism is a pet name or a diminutive form of a word or name. It’s often used informally or as a term of endearment. For example, “Bill” is a hypocorism for “William”, and “Hal” is a hypocorism for “Harold”. The word “hypocorism” comes from the Greek “hypokorisma” meaning “to use child’s talk”.

34A What had a real boom in development in the early 20th century? : TNT

“TNT” is an abbreviation for “trinitrotoluene”. It was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

35A Warren or Warnock: Abbr. : SEN

Elizabeth Warren is the senior US Senator from Massachusetts, and the first female to hold that office for her state. She is a prominent Democratic and is a favorite of the progressive wing of the party. In 2020, Warren ran for president of the United States. She was a leading contender for the Democratic nomination, but ultimately finished third behind Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

Raphael Warnock is the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, a position previously held by Martin Luther King Sr. and Martin Luther King Jr. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in a special election in 2021, becoming the first Black senator from Georgia.

39A R&B star with a hyphen in his name : NE-YO

“Ne-Yo” is the stage name of R&B singer Shaffer Chimere Smith. He began his career as a songwriter, penning hits for artists such as Mario, Rihanna, and Beyoncé. In 2006, he released his debut album “In My Own Words”, which launched Ne-Yo’s career as a solo artist.

41A ___ caterpillar, southern U.S. insect known for its toxic sting : ASP

The asp caterpillar is the larva of the southern flannel moth. Despite its soft and furry appearance, it has venomous spines hidden beneath its hair-like setae. Contact with these spines can cause severe pain, often described as similar to a broken bone or blunt-force trauma. The reaction can include burning, swelling, nausea, headache, and even chest pain or difficulty breathing. If stung, the spines might be removed with cellophane tape.

45A First nation to restore its independence from the Soviet Union : LITHUANIA

The nation of Lithuania is a former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) sitting on the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. The capital of Lithuania is Vilnius, and 16 miles north of Vilnius is a point that is officially recognized as the geographic center of Europe.

47A Places to bear witness? : ZOOS

The world’s first zoo opened in Britain in 1820. Now known as “London Zoo”, the facility was referred to back then as the “Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society of London”. The term “zoo” is a shortening of “zoological”.

49A Electronics giant listed on Taiwan’s stock exchange : ASUS

Asus is a Taiwanese manufacturer of computing and networking hardware. The company name was chosen as the last four letters of “Pegasus”, the winged horse of Greek mythology.

51A Many A.E.D. users : EMTS

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically analyzes the heart rhythm of a person who is experiencing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and, if necessary, delivers an electrical shock to the heart to restore a normal heart rhythm. AEDs are becoming more common sights, especially as most can now be used to help a patient, even if the operator has no training. On a recent trip to Britain and Ireland, I noticed that the iconic telephone boxes are being used to house AEDs rather than remove them as public phones become unnecessary.

53A Seaside divers : TERNS

Terns are seabirds that are found all over the world. The Arctic Tern makes a very long-distance migration. One Arctic Tern that was tagged as a chick in Great Britain in the summer of 1982, was spotted in Melbourne, Australia just three months later. The bird had traveled over 14,000 miles in over those three months, an average of about 150 miles a day. Remarkable …

Down

1D Chicken ___ (breaded Japanese entree) : KATSU

“Katsu” refers to a Japanese cooking technique where a cutlet of meat (most commonly pork or chicken) is breaded with panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) and deep-fried until golden brown and crispy. While often associated with chicken or pork, the “katsu” preparation can also be applied to other ingredients like beef, ham, or even vegetables.

4D Teenage Salinger heroine : ESME

J. D. Salinger wrote a short story called “For Esmé – with Love and Squalor” that was originally published in “The New Yorker” in 1950. It is a story about a young English girl called Esme and an American soldier, and is set in WWII.

6D One of seven farewells in “So Long, Farewell” : ADIEU

“So Long, Farewell” is a song from the stage musical “The Sound of Music”.

7D Ribbed pants, informally : CORDS

There’s a myth that the name of the textile known as “corduroy” comes from the French “corde du roi” (the cord of the king). It’s more likely that “corduroy” comes from a melding of “cord” and “duroy” (a coarse fabric that used to be made in England).

8D Lake that’s home to South Bass Island : ERIE

South Bass Island is a popular summer resort destination in Lake Erie, often called the “Key West of Lake Erie”. The island is home to the village of Put-in-Bay, a major tourist spot during the summer. It also features Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, which commemorates the Battle of Lake Erie from the War of 1812.

9D It’s not observed in Hawaii: Abbr. : DST

Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states in the US that do not observe daylight saving time (DST), having opted out when the Uniform Time Act was passed by the US Congress in 1966. Some Native American nations in Arizona observe DST, and some don’t. As a result, times can change back and forth a few times while driving across Arizona during the summer.

15D Food with eyes, informally : SPUD

The word “spud”, used as a slang term for “potato”, was first recorded in the mid-1800s, in New Zealand would you believe?

24D Kind of zone : EROGENOUS

An erogenous zone is an area of the human body that has heightened sensitivity, and when stimulated, can produce sexual arousal. The term “erogenous” comes from the Greek words “eros” meaning “love, desire,” and “genes” meaning “producing, born of”.

25D Scientist whose “number” is a dimensionless ratio : MACH

The Mach number of a moving object (like say an airplane) is its speed relative to the speed of sound. A plane traveling at Mach 2, for example, is moving at twice the speed of sound. The term “Mach” takes its name from the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach who published a groundbreaking paper in 1877 that even predicted the “sonic boom”.

26D Word meaning “since” in a seasonal song : SYNE

The song “Auld Lang Syne” is a staple at New Year’s Eve (well, actually in the opening minutes of New Year’s Day). The words were written by Scottish poet Robbie Burns. The literal translation of “Auld Lang Syne” is “old long since”, but is better translated as “old times”. The sentiment of the song is “for old time’s sake”.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For days of auld lang syne

29D Mass reply? : AMEN

The word “amen” translates as “so be it”. “Amen” is said to be of Hebrew origin, but it is also likely to be influenced by Aramaic and Arabic.

30D Feature of many a deluxe Swiss Army knife : SAW

Swiss Army knives are multi-tools made by the Swiss company Victorinox. The device was first produced in 1891 when Victorinox’s predecessor company was awarded the contract to supply the knife to the Swiss Army. The name “Swiss Army knife” was actually an American invention as it was the term used by American GIs during and after WWII as an alternative to pronouncing the more difficult German “Schweizer Offiziersmesser” (Swiss Officer Knife).

32D Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, for one : MONGOOSE

The mongoose has no relationship with the “goose” as such, as “mongoose” is derived from “mangus”, an Indian name for the beast. The mongoose does indeed eat snakes as part of its diet, along with other small creatures. However, it usually avoids the dangerous cobra, although humans have used the mongoose to fight cobras for sport and entertainment. The mongoose fares well against poisonous snakes because it is agile and wily, and has a thick skin, literally.

“The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling was originally published in 1894, and is a collection of adventure stories or fables featuring the animals of the jungle and a young boy named Mowgli. Baloo is a sloth bear that teaches the cubs of a wolf pack the Law of the Jungle. Baloo’s most challenging pupil however is no lupine, but rather the man-cub Mowgli.

33D “America the Beautiful” has four of them : STANZAS

“Stanza” is an Italian word meaning “verse of a poem”.

When she was 33 years old, Katharine Lee Bates took a train ride from Massachusetts to Colorado Springs. She was so inspired by many of the beautiful sights she saw on her journey that she wrote a poem she called “Pikes Peak”. Upon publication the poem became quite a hit, and several musical works were adapted to the words of the poem, the most popular being a hymn tune composed by Samuel Ward. Bates’s poem and Ward’s tune were published together for the first time in 1910, and given the title “America the Beautiful”.

40D Actor Hawke of “Boyhood” : ETHAN

Ethan Hawke is a Hollywood actor who made his breakthrough in a supporting role in “Dead Poet’s Society”, playing opposite Robin Williams. Hawke used to be married to Uma Thurman, with whom he has two children.

“Boyhood” sounds like an interesting 2014 film. It’s about the coming-of-age of a young boy and his older sister. The film was actually shot over an 11-year period, so that the actors were seen to be growing up at the same time as the characters that they were playing. The critics loved this movie.

41D Half of a Jungian syzygy : ANIMA

The concepts of anima and animus are found in the Carl Jung school of analytical psychology. The idea is that within each male there resides a feminine inner personality called the anima, and within each female there is a male inner personality known as the animus.

The term “syzygy” in Jungian psychology refers to the integration of opposing forces within the psyche, most commonly the anima (the unconscious feminine aspect in men) and the animus (the unconscious masculine aspect in women). Beyond psychology, “syzygy” is also an astronomical term for the nearly straight-line configuration of three celestial bodies, like the Sun, Moon, and Earth during an eclipse.

43D Bel ___ (Italian cheese) : PAESE

Bel Paese is a mild Italian cheese that was developed in 1906. The name “bel paese” means beautiful country in Italian, and is taken from the title of a book written by Antonio Stoppani.

45D Sitar, e.g. : LUTE

The sitar has been around since the Middle Ages. It is a stringed instrument that is played by plucking, and is used most often in Hindustani classical music. A key feature of the sitar is its set of sympathetic strings, which are not plucked but resonate in response to the main strings, contributing to its rich, shimmering sound. In the West we have been exposed to the instrument largely through the performances of Ravi Shankar and some music by George Harrison of the Beatles, a onetime student of Shankar.

46D Smart guy? : ALEC

Apparently, the original “smart Alec” (sometimes “Aleck”) was one Alec Hoag, a pimp, thief and confidence trickster who plied his trade in New York City in the 1840s.