0707-25 NY Times Crossword 7 Jul 25, Monday

Bill’s time: 6m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6A Redding who sang “The Dock of the Bay” : OTIS

“(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” is a song that Otis Redding started composing in 1967 while sitting on a houseboat in Sausalito, on San Francisco Bay. Redding finished the song soon after, with the help of co-writer Steve Cropper. “The Dock of the Bay” was released in January of 1968, just one month after Redding was killed in a plane crash. The song became the first posthumous single to reach number in the US charts. As an aside, Janis Joplin’s recording of “Me and Bobby McGee” achieved the same feat in 1971.

14A ___ Copland, the so-called “Dean of American Composers” : AARON

Aaron Copland was perhaps the most American of all classical composers. His most famous work has to be the “Fanfare for the Common Man”. The piece was written in 1942 and was intended to be uplifting in the gloomy years leading up to WWII. “Fanfare” is recognized not just for performances of the original, but also for the progressive rock version that was recorded by Emerson, Lake & Palmer in 1977.

15A Halloween cover-up : MASK

All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows’ Eve, better known by the Scottish term “Halloween”.

20A Like a wallflower : SHY

The wallflower is a genus of flowering plants that usually have the ability to cling to loose mortar in walls, hence the name. We use the term “wallflower” to describe a shy person, evoking the image of that person sitting shyly by the wall at a party.

22A Michelle __, women’s soccer star with 107 international goals : AKERS

Soccer star Michelle Akers is a two-time Women’s World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist for the US National Team, and was also named FIFA Female Player of the Century in 2002, sharing the honor with China’s Sun Wen. Remarkably, Akers suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome for most of her playing career. She also played in the 1999 World Cup final, with a dislocated shoulder!

23A “Ask Me Another” airer : NPR

“Ask Me Another” is a National Public Radio (NPR) show that features word games, puzzles and trivia. The show is recorded live in front of an audience In New York City, and is hosted by comedian Ophira Eisenberg.

24A Band for news radio? : AM STEREO

In telecommunications, a radio signal is transmitted using a sinusoidal carrier wave. Information is transmitted using this carrier wave in two main ways, by varying (modulating) the instantaneous amplitude (signal strength) of the carrier wave, and by modulating the instantaneous frequency of the carrier wave. The former is referred to as an AM signal (“amplitude modulation”), and the latter as an FM signal (“frequency modulation”).

27A One might read “FASTCAR” : VANITY PLATE

A vanity plate is a vehicle registration plate for which owners pay extra money in order to choose their own numbers or letters. There are almost 10 million vehicles with vanity plates in North America, with the highest percentage of vanity plates being in the US state of Virginia. The world’s most expensive personal number plate is the number “1” on a Dubai plate, which cost $14 million …

31A Kind of acid in proteins : AMINO

There are 20 different types of amino acids that make up proteins. However, only 11 of them can be synthesized by the human body, while the remaining nine essential amino acids must be obtained from food sources.

39A Rust-causing agent : OXIDANT

Rust is iron oxide. It forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

41A Mountain in Greece : OSSA

Mount Ossa in Greece is located between Mount Pelion in the south, and the famed Mount Olympus in the north. Mount Ossa is also known as Kissavos.

42A Archaeological site : RUIN

“Archaeology” is a word that looks like it’s British English, and one might be forgiven for using the spelling “archeology” in American English. Even though the latter spelling has been around for a couple of hundred years, the former is the standard spelling on both sides of the Atlantic.

44A Hot drink enjoyed by a campfire, perhaps : COCOA

The beverages hot cocoa and hot chocolate differ from each other in that the latter contains cocoa butter, whereas the former does not.

45A Long-running student quiz show : COLLEGE BOWL

“College Bowl” is an American student quiz show that has seen various iterations since its radio debut in 1953. I am more familiar with the British version that launched in 1962 called “University Challenge”, which is a show that I still watch today. It has been a staple of British television for decades, with a brief hiatus in the late 1980s, before being revived by the BBC in 1994. The original quizmaster of “University Challenge” was the very posh Bamber Gascoigne … what a name!

53A Japanese buckwheat noodles : SOBA

Despite the name, “buckwheat” is not related to wheat, and nor is it a grass. Instead, it is related to rhubarb. As the seeds are eaten, buckwheat is known as a “pseudocereal”. The name comes from “beech wheat”, a reference to the resemblance of buckwheat seeds to beech nuts from the “beech” tree, and the fact that buckwheat seeds are used like “wheat”.

64A Aquafina competitor : EVIAN

Évian-les-Bains (or simply “Évian”) is in the very east of France, on the shores of Lake Geneva directly across the lake from Lausanne, Switzerland. As one might imagine, Évian is the home of Évian mineral water, the most successful business in town. Personally, I can’t stand the distinctive taste of Évian water …

Aquafina is a Pepsico brand of bottled water. It is just plain old municipal water that has been purified.

66A Convention center event : EXPO

The first World’s Fair was held in 1851, known back then as the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations. The fair was the idea of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. It was held in a magnificent glass and cast-iron structure called the Crystal Palace that was purpose-built for the occasion. The Great Exhibition spawned a tradition of what became known as World’s Fairs, expositions that feature national pavilions created by participating countries. The term “Expo” was coined for Expo 67, a 1967 World’s Fair held in Montreal. Since then, we’ve been using “expo” to describe any large exposition or trade show.

Down

4D “___ he’s a jolly good fellow …” : FOR

“For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” is the second-most popular song in the English language according to the “Guinness Book of World Records”. Top of the list is “Happy Birthday to You”, and third comes “Auld Lang Syne”.

7D Weekend event often held in a garage or on a front lawn : TAG SALE

A tag sale is a sale of household belongings, so called because the prices are usually marked on tags attached to the items for sale.

8D Spectrum or Verizon Fios, in brief : ISP

“Spectrum” is the trade name used by Charter Communications, one of the largest cable providers in the United States. It offers internet access, cable television, and mobile phone services.

FiOS is a service from Verizon that bundles Internet, telephone and television service. All three services are provided over fiber-optic lines, right to the door. I presume that the name FiOS comes from something like “Fiber-Optic Service” …

9D Go down a bunny hill, e.g. : SKI

In North America, ski runs are given a standardized rating in terms of skiing difficulty. The ratings are:

• Green circles: easy to ski, often termed “bunny slopes”.
• Blue squares: medium difficulty
• Black diamond: steep and challenging terrain
• Double black diamond: experts only (I’ve never braved one!)

10D Philosopher John who wrote “Two Treatises of Government” : LOCKE

John Locke’s “Two Treatises of Government” is a foundational text of liberalism that heavily influenced the American Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. Locke initially published the work anonymously, in 1689, because its ideas were considered dangerous at the time. They included the radical notion that governments derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed and can be overthrown if they rule without that consent. Locke never acknowledged his authorship during his lifetime.

11D Heavens : ETHER

The Greek philosopher Empedocles proposed that there are four elements that made up the universe, namely earth, water, air and fire. Aristotle later proposed a fifth element which he called aether (also “ether”). Aether was the divine substance that made up the stars and planets. We’re still using the term “ether” with a similar meaning, and the extended term “ethereal” to mean “lacking material substance” and “marked by unusual delicacy”.

12D “___ Jacques” (nursery song) : FRERE

“Frère Jacques” is a children’s song from France. The French lyrics are:

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous ? Dormez-vous ?
Sonnez les matines ! Sonnez les matines !
Ding, daing, dong. Ding, daing, dong.

The lyrics are usually translated into English as:

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Brother John? Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

19D London art gallery : TATE

Sir Henry Tate was a 19th-century English sugar magnate who revolutionized the sugar industry by introducing sugar cubes to the masses. A generous philanthropist, Tate is best known for his founding of the Tate Gallery in London in 1897. The Tate Gallery, now known as Tate Britain, has since expanded to become a network of four major art museums.

23D Stealthy Japanese warrior : NINJA

The ninjas were around in Japan at the time of the samurai, but were a very different type of warrior. The ninjas were covert operatives, specializing in the use of stealth to accomplish their missions. As they were a secretive cadre they took on a mystical reputation with the public, who believed they had the ability to become invisible or perhaps walk on water. We now use the term “ninja” figuratively, to describe anyone highly-skilled in a specific field.

25D Karl or Moses of basketball : MALONE

Karl Malone is a retired professional basketball player who was nicknamed “the Mailman”. Malone played most of his career with the Utah Jazz, from 1985 to 2004.

Moses Malone played in both the ABA and NBA. When he retired in 1995, he was the last former player from the defunct ABA who was still playing professional basketball.

26D River of Hades : STYX

The River Styx of Greek mythology was the river that formed the boundary between the Earth and the Underworld (or “Hades”). The souls of the newly dead had to cross the River Styx in a ferry boat piloted by Charon. Traditionally, a coin would be placed in the mouths of the dead “to pay the ferryman”.

27D Japanese computer brand : VAIO

VAIO is a line of computers manufactured by Sony. The name was originally an acronym of Video Audio Integrated Operation, but this was changed to Visual Audio Intelligent Organizer on the occasion of the brand’s 10th anniversary in 2008.

28D Singer Tori : AMOS

Tori Amos is an American pianist and singer. She started playing the piano at two years old, and was composing piano pieces by age five. Amos was playing in piano bars (chaperoned by her father) when she was 14. I’m going to have to find some of her music …

29D Penpoints : NIBS

“Nib” is a Scottish variant of the Old English word “neb”, with both meaning “beak of a bird”. This usage of “nib” as a beak dates back to the 14th century, with “nib” describing the tip of a pen or quill coming a little later, in the early 1600s.

30D Singer Clark with the 1965 #1 hit “Downtown” : PETULA

Petula Clark’s “Downtown” was a massive international hit in 1965, making her the first UK female artist to have a No. 1 hit in the US during the rock era. Despite its British roots, English composer Tony Hatch was inspired to write the song while on his first visit to New York City. The term “downtown” is very American. British and Irish people tend to use phrases like “city centre” and “in town” to convey the same meaning.

33D Pueblo material : ADOBE

A pueblo is a Native-American village found in the American Southwest. The buildings in a pueblo are usually made of stone and adobe mud.

34D Flamenco guitarist ___ de Lucía : PACO

Flamenco is a style of Spanish music and dance. The origin of the word “flamenco” isn’t clearly understood, but the explanation that seems most credible to me is that it comes from Flanders in Northern Europe. Given that “flamenco” is the Spanish word for “Flemish” and Flanders is home to the Flemish people it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

38D Cousin of an alligator, informally : CROC

Crocodiles and alligators do indeed bear a resemblance to each other, although they belong to distinct biological families. One of the main ways used to distinguish them is by their teeth and jaws. Both the upper and lower sets of teeth of a crocodile are visible when its mouth is closed, whereas only the upper teeth of an alligator are visible with the mouth shut.

46D Kaplan of “Welcome Back, Kotter” : GABE

“Welcome Back, Kotter” is a sitcom from the late seventies. The title character is a teacher at Buchanan High, one Gabe Kotter who himself had attended the school as a student. Kotter teaches a remedial class of students who call themselves the Sweathogs. In fact, Kotter had himself been a founder of the Sweathogs, when he was a student in the same class. Kotter was played by Gabe Kaplan. One of the prominent students in his class Vinnie Barbarino played by a young John Travolta, a role that launched his film career. In recent years you might have seen Gabe Kaplan as co-host of the popular show “High Stakes Poker” on GSN.

47D Three-legged support : EASEL

The term “easel” comes from an old Dutch word meaning “donkey”, would you believe? The idea is that an easel carries its load (an oil painting, say) just as a donkey would be made to carry a load.

49D “To ___ own self be true” : THINE

Polonius is an important character in William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. Polonius is eventually killed by Hamlet, albeit in a case of mistaken identity. Polonius has several memorable lines in the play that are oft-quoted today, including “To thine own self be true”, “Brevity is the soul of wit”, and “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”.

50D Found a text hilarious : LOLED

Laugh out loud (LOL)

55D Wading bird : IBIS

The ibis is a wading bird that was revered in ancient Egypt. “Ibis” is an interesting word grammatically speaking. You can have one “ibis” or two “ibises”, and then again one has a flock of “ibis”. And if you want to go with the classical plural, instead of two “ibises” you would have two “ibides”!

60D Veto : NIX

The verb “veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The term was used by tribunes of ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.

61D N.Y.C.’s Madison ___ : AVE

Madison Avenue became the center of advertising in the US in the twenties, and serves as the backdrop to the great TV drama “Mad Men”. There aren’t many advertising agencies left on Madison Avenue these days though, as most have moved to other parts of New York City. The street takes its name from Madison Square, which is bounded on one side by Madison Avenue. The square in turn takes its name from James Madison, the fourth President of the United States.