0703-25 NY Times Crossword 3 Jul 25, Thursday

Bill’s time: 11m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

8A “Buffalo soldier, dreadlock ___” (Bob Marley lyric) : RASTA

Bob Marley’s song “Buffalo Soldier” was written in 1978 but wasn’t released until 1983, two years after his death. The song’s title and lyrics refer to the African American cavalry regiments, known as “Buffalo Soldiers” who fought in the Native American Wars after 1866. Marley used their struggle as a symbol of black resistance and a fight for survival.

15A Toronto N.B.A. player : RAPTOR

The Raptors are an NBA basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario. The franchise was founded, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, when the NBA expanded into Canada in 1995. However, the Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001, leaving the Raptors as the only Canadian member of the league. The selection of the name “Raptors” in 1995 was strongly influenced by the popularity of the movie “Jurassic Park in the mid-nineties.

16A Played a bar game? / [Yawn] : LIMBOED / I’M BORED

The limbo dance originated on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. The name “limbo” is an alteration of our word “limber”, which isn’t surprising given what one has to do to get under that bar!

22A Swerve, as an airplane : YAW

In the world of flight dynamics, three critical angles of rotation are known as pitch, roll and yaw. “Pitch” describes the lift and descent of the nose and tail. “Roll” describes motion around the axis that runs along the length of the airplane. “Yaw” describes rotation of the aircraft around the vertical axis.

25A Friend or family member / Clichéd : LOVED ONE / OVERDONE

“Cliché” is a word that comes from the world of printing. In the days when type was added as individual letters into a printing plate, for efficiency some oft-used phrases and words were created as one single slug of metal. The word “cliché” was used for such a grouping of letters. It’s easy to see how the same word would become a term to describe any overused phrase. Supposedly, “cliché” comes from French, from the verb “clicher” meaning “to click”. The idea is that when a matrix of letters was dropped in molten metal to make a cliché, it made a clicking sound.

27A Emcee’s lines : INTROS

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

31A City where the Dalai Lama was enthroned : LHASA

Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet, with the name “Lhasa” translating as “place of the gods”. However, Lhasa used to be called Rasa, a name that translates into the less auspicious “goat’s place”. Lhasa was also once called the “Forbidden City” due to its inaccessible location high in the Himalayas and a traditional hostility exhibited by residents to outsiders. The “forbidden” nature of the city has been reinforced since the Chinese took over Tibet in the early 1950s as it has been difficult for foreigners to get permission to visit Lhasa.

The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet was the residence of the Dalai Lama until he fled the former country in 1959 during the Tibetan Uprising. The building is divided into the White Palace and the Red Palace. The White Palace made up the Dalai Lama’s private living quarters. The larger Red Palace comprised halls, chapels and libraries devoted to religious study.

34A Actor Sebastian ___ of Marvel Studios films : STAN

Actor Sebastian Stan was born in Constanța, Romania and moved to Vienna, at the age of eight with his mother after the Revolutions of 1989 that led to the Fall of Communism. He was named by his mother, a pianist, after the renowned composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

35A Formal dress code / What may “burn” in a drag race : BLACK TIE / BACK TIRE

Back in the 18th century, “drag” was slang for a wagon or buggy, as it was “dragged” along by a horse or horses. In the 1930s, the underworld adopted “drag” as slang for an automobile. This sense of the word was imported into automobile racing in the 1940s, giving the name to “drag racing”. A drag race is basically a competition between two cars to determine which can accelerate faster from a standstill.

38A Member of the South Asian diaspora : DESI

People from the Indian subcontinent might refer to themselves as “desi”.

“Diaspora” is a Greek word meaning “a scattering of seeds”. I guess I’m one of the Irish seeds …

45A Holy Roman ___, title for Maria Theresa : EMPRESS

Maria Theresa was the last ruler of the House of Habsburg, also known as the House of Austria. She was also the House’s only female ruler. Maria Theresa was married to Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. The couple had sixteen children together, including Queen Marie Antoinette of France.

48A Gymnast Biles : SIMONE

Simone Biles holds the record for the most gold medals won by an American gymnast in a single Olympic Games. She achieved the feat at the 2016 games held in Rio. Biles has also won more World medals than any other gymnast in history. She was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022, by President Joe Biden.

53A Like a Venti at Starbucks : LARGE

“Venti” is the Italian word for “twenty.” It’s most commonly known in English-speaking countries today as a size option for beverages at Starbucks. A venti-sized drink at Starbucks typically holds 20 fluid ounces.

55A Biblical Promised Land : CANAAN

The ancient region in the Middle East known as Canaan corresponds roughly to modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel. The term “Canaanite” is used in the Bible to describe various indigenous populations in the region. In fact, “Canaanite” is an ethnic term used more frequently in the Bible than any other.

According to the Bible, after fleeing Egypt the Hebrews were led by Moses to the promised land of Canaan. Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan (one from each of the Twelve Tribes) to report on what awaited them. Ten spies returned with exaggerated stories of giants who would kill the Hebrew army if it entered Canaan. Two spies, Caleb and Joshua, came back with valid reports that the Hebrews could inhabit the area. As a result of the false reports from the ten spies, the Hebrews did not enter Canaan but instead wandered the desert for another forty years, before they finally took up residence in the promised land. At the end of the forty years, Caleb and Joshua were the only adults that survived the forty-year journey, a reward from God for their obedience.

57A Losing roll in a casino : CRAP

To crap out is to make a losing roll on the first throw in a game of craps. A losing roll (aka “a crap”) is a roll of 2, 3 or 12. The slang usage of “to crap out” describes the failing to carry out an obligation.

58A It connects to the tailbone : SACRUM

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.

60A Directional signals that flash on and off, as suggested by the circles in this puzzle : BLINKERS

I wish all drivers would use their turn signals. Back in Ireland, we don’t call them “turn signals”, but rather “indicators”.

63A Home to Florida Atlantic Univ. : BOCA

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Florida was established on the site of a former World War II Army Airfield. The airbase, built partly on land acquired from Japanese American farmers through eminent domain, served as the Army Air Corps’ radar training facility during the war. The university opened in 1964, offering post-graduate studies, with its first undergraduate students admitted in 1984. The first degree awarded by FAU was an honorary doctorate given to President Lyndon B. Johnson at the university’s dedication ceremony.

66A Pac-Man ghost with the shortest name : INKY

The Pac-Man arcade game was released first in Japan in 1980, and is as popular today as it ever was. The game features characters that are maneuvered around the screen to eat up dots and earn points, while being pursued by ghosts named Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. The name of the game comes from the Japanese folk hero “Paku”, who is known for his voracious appetite. The spin-off game called Ms. Pac-Man was released in 1981.

Down

1D Southwestern neckwear / Baby’s foot warmer : BOLO TIE / BOOTIE

I’ve never worn a bolo tie, and was surprised to discover that it is a relatively recent invention. The first bolo tie was apparently produced in Wickenburg, Arizona in the late 1940s by a silversmith. The bolo takes its name from the boleadora, an Argentine lariat.

2D “Baby Cobra” comedian : ALI WONG

Ali Wong is a stand-up comedian from San Francisco who is a protégé of Chris Rock. She made two very successful Netflix stand-up specials “Baby Cobra” and “Hard Knock Wife”, and also worked as a writer for the hit sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat”.

4D Co.’s $$$ watcher : CFO

Chief financial officer (CFO)

7D Actor Pascal of “The Mandalorian” : PEDRO

Chilean American actor Pedro Pascal’s break came with a role on “Game of Thrones”, playing Oberyn Martell (aka “The Red Viper”). He then portrayed DEA agent Javier Peña on the biographic crime show “Narcos”. A third prominent role came with an offer to play the title character in the “Star Wars” spinoff “The Mandalorian”.

“The Mandalorian” is a TV series in the “Star Wars” universe that is set five years after the events in the 1983 film “Return of the Jedi”. The show was created by actor and filmmaker Jon Favreau, and has been well received. The title character is Din Djarin (played by Pedro Pascal), a bounty hunter with a ward named Grogu. Grogu is an infant of the same species as Yoda, and so is referred to by viewers as “Baby Yoda”.

11D State park in the Santa Monica Mountains : TOPANGA

Topanga is a neighborhood in California located in the Santa Monica mountains. The name “Topanga” is a Tongva language word meaning either “where the mountain meets the sea” or “a place above”. The list of former residents of Topanga includes Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, singer Neil Young, as well as the infamous Manson Family.

15D City on the Seine : ROUEN

Rouen is a major French city in Normandy. During the days of Norman Britain, Rouen was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties. It was also where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431.

17D Animal whose Greek name is the etymology of the word “arctic” : BEAR

Our word “arctic” ultimately derives from the Greek “arktikos” meaning “of the bear”, a reference to the northerly constellation Ursa Major (the Bear).

35D National Audubon Society subject : BIRD

The National Audubon Society is an environmental organization that was formed in 1905. The society is named for John James Audubon, an ornithologist who compiled his famous book “Birds of America” between 1827 and 1838.

38D “Clair de Lune” composer : DEBUSSY

“Clair de lune” is the beautiful third movement from Claude Debussy’s piano work called the “Suite bergamasque”. “Clair de lune” is French for “moonlight”.

40D Does some genetic manipulation on / Some aromatics : SPLICES / SPICES

Recombinant DNA is DNA made under laboratory conditions. The recombination technique (sometimes referred to as “gene splicing”) brings together genetic material from multiple sources. The sources of that genetic material might be from a different part of the same gene, or even from the gene of a different organism. The end result is a new, man-made, genetic combination.

43D Them’s fighting words! : EN GARDE!

“En garde” is a French term that has been absorbed into the sport of fencing. Originally a warning (“on guard!”), the phrase is used at the start of an encounter to warn the fencers to take a defensive position.

44D Anglerfish locale : DEEP SEA

Anglerfish are fascinating inhabitants of the deep sea, known for their bioluminescent “lure” that extends from their heads. This “esca”, as it’s called, is filled with light-producing bacteria and is used to attract prey in the blackness of their habitat. Some species of anglerfish have a very unique method of reproduction. The much smaller male permanently fuses with the female, becoming a parasitic attachment that provides sperm to her as needed.

46D Portuguese currency before the euro : ESCUDO

The Portuguese escudo was the national currency prior to the introduction of the euro in 1999. “Escudo” is Portuguese for “shield”, a reference to the design on one side of the escudo coin.

49D ___ truck : MACK

Mack Trucks was founded by John Mack in the early 1900s, after he had spent some years working in companies that made carriages and electric motor cars. Along with his two brothers, Mack started their company to focus on building heavy-duty trucks and engines.

51D Religious leader / Actress Jacobson : RABBI / ABBI

Abbi Jacobson is a comedian and actress who is perhaps best known as the co-creator, along with Ilana Glazer, of the Comedy Central sitcom “Broad City”. She also appeared in, wrote for and co-created the 2022 TV series “A League of Their Own”, which is based on the 1992 film of the same name.

59D ___ Faire : REN

A Renaissance faire (Ren faire) is an outdoor public event in which many participants recreate historical settings by dressing in costume. Usually held in North America, many such fairs are set during the English Renaissance, and more particularly during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The definition of “Renaissance” is often stretched quite a bit, with fairs also set during the reign of Henry VIII, and maybe even during medieval times.