0906-25 NY Times Crossword 6 Sep 25, Saturday

Bill’s time: 13m 53s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

17A Animal that’s born with a full set of teeth : SHARK

Up until the 1500s, sharks were referred to by seamen as “sea dogs”. And that’s how we got the name “dogfish” for the family of sharks.

18A Actress Dawson of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay” : STEF

Stef Dawson is an Australian actress from Canberra, Australia. She gained international recognition for her role as Annie Cresta in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay”.

“The Hunger Games” is a 2008 novel by Suzanne Collins, and the first in a series of titles that also includes “Catching Fire” (2009) and “Mockingjay” (2010). “The Hunger Games” was adapted into a very successful movie released in 2012, with the sequels following soon after. Amazon.com reports more sales of “The Hunger Games” series books than even the “Harry Potter” series.

25A Half of a rhyming game name : ALAI

Even though jai alai is often said to be the fastest sport in the world because of the speed of the ball, golf balls usually get going at a greater clip. Although, as a blog reader once pointed out to me, you don’t have to catch a golf ball …

29A A little husky? : PUPPY

The Siberian Husky is one of the oldest breeds of dog, and originated in northern Asia. Siberian Huskies were imported into Alaska in great numbers in the early 1900s for use as sled dogs during the gold rush.

32A 19th-century naturalist buried in Westminster Abbey : DARWIN

Englishman Charles Darwin studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland but neglected his studies largely due to his interest in nature and natural history. In the early 1830s, a friend put forward Darwin’s name as a candidate for the post of “collector” on the voyage of HMS Beagle. The Beagle was intending to spend two years at sea primarily charting the coast of South America. The voyage ended up taking five years, during which time Darwin sent back copious letters describing his findings. Back in Britain these letters were published as pamphlets by a friend and so when Darwin eventually returned home in 1836, he had already gained some celebrity in scientific circles. It was while on the Beagle that Darwin developed his initial ideas on the concept of natural selection. It wasn’t until over twenty years later that he formulated his theories into a scientific paper and in 1859 published his famous book “On the Origin of the Species”. This original publication never even mentioned the word “evolution” which was controversial even back then. It was in 1871 that Darwin addressed head-on the concept that man was an animal species, in his book “The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex”.

34A Delta hub, in brief : ATL

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is the world’s busiest airport, as measured by passenger traffic. Atlanta has had that distinction since 1998, and was the world’s busiest in terms of take-offs and landings from 2005 until 2013. Over 50% of Atlanta’s traffic comes from Delta Air Lines.

Delta Air Lines were the first airline to ban smoking on all flights, in 1995. They were also the first airline to board more than 100 million passengers in a year, doing so in 1997.

36A Inits. in a job posting : EEO

“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

37A Swellings in bodily tissues : EDEMAS

Both animals and plants can suffer from edema, which is a swelling caused by excessive accumulation of fluid.

41A Checkers, e.g. : DISCS

“Checkers” is yet another word that I had to learn moving across the Atlantic. In Ireland, the game is called “draughts”.

43A First Nations people : CREE

The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Americans on the continent. In the US, Montana is home to most of the Cree nation. They live on a reservation shared with the Ojibwe people. In Canada, most of the Cree live in Manitoba.

45A Jazz fest? : NBA GAME

The Utah Jazz professional basketball team moved to Salt Lake City in 1979. As one might guess from the name, the team originated in New Orleans, but only played there for five seasons. New Orleans was a tough place to be based because venues were hard to come by, and Mardi Gras forced the team to play on the road for a whole month.

48A Child support, in brief? : PTA

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

49A High-energy snack : GORP

“Gorp” is a name sometimes used for trail mix, particularly by hikers. It’s not really known for sure how this name came about, but some say it stands for “good old raisins and peanuts” or perhaps “gobs of raw protein”.

50A “People are wrong when they say ___ is not what it used to be. It is what it used to be. That is what’s wrong with it”: Noël Coward : OPERA

Noël Coward was the most flamboyant of personalities. A playwright, composer and actor, Coward worked in a remarkable range of genres. He wrote the wonderfully airy play “Blithe Spirit”, as well as the Oscar-winning WWII naval drama “In Which We Serve”. A couple of his more famous songs, many of which he performed himself in cabaret, are “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” and “London Pride”.

54A First science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship : OCTAVIA E BUTLER

Octavia E. Butler was an author of science fiction whose works were largely written from the perspective of a marginalized black woman. She claimed that her loyal audiences were black readers, feminists and sci-fi fans.

59A Many TV panelists : TALKING HEADS

“Talking head” is TV slang for a participant in a talk show. The term arises from the closeup shot of the person contributing to the discussion.

Down

2D Sea creature also known as a redfin ocean pan : OPAH

“Opah” is the more correct name for the fish also known as the sunfish, moonfish or Jerusalem haddock. I’ve seen one in the Monterey Aquarium. It is one huge fish …

3D Unseen wife on “Cheers” : VERA

On the sitcom “Cheers”, Vera was Norm Peterson’s unseen (and often complained-about) wife. Though her face was never shown, she did “appear” once, in a Thanksgiving episode where she was covered in pie. Her voice was heard on only one occasion, provided by Bernadette Birkett, who is the real-life wife of George Wendt (the actor who played Norm).

4D It keeps things going : INERTIA

Newton’s first law of motion states that a body that is moving maintains the same velocity unless it is acted upon by an external force. That resistance to changing velocity is known as inertia. Johann Kepler introduced the Latin word “inertia” to describe the physical phenomenon in the 17th century. The Latin term translates as “apathy, inactiveness”. We started using the Latin “inertia” in English to mean the same thing only in the 19th century, after the term had bopped around in science texts for a couple of centuries.

6D Many lab instructors, informally : TAS

Teaching Assistants (TAs)

Our term “laboratory”, often shortened to “lab”, comes from the Medieval Latin word “laboratorium” meaning “place for labor, work”. This in turn comes from the Latin verb “laborare” meaning “to work”.

7D Org. whose logo includes scales and an olive branch : IRS

The IRS symbol is often referred to as the IRS Eagle. It comprises three elements:

• The IRS Eagle itself (representing the United States)
• The scales of justice (symbolizing fairness and honesty)
• An olive branch (symbolizing peace and conciliation)

The IRS logo comprises the IRS symbol, with the letters “IRS” underneath.

9D “Roots” surname : KINTE

Not only did Alex Haley author the magnificent novel “Roots”, he was also the collaborator with Malcolm X on “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”. His 1976 novel “Roots” is based on Haley’s own family history, and he claimed to be a direct descendant of the real life Kunta Kinte, the slave who was kidnapped in the Gambia in 1767. If you remember the original television adaptation of “Roots”, you might recall that Kunta Kinte was played by LeVar Burton, who later went on to play another famous role, Geordi La Forge on “Star Trek: the Next Generation”.

11D Cry of relief : TGIF!

“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF)

12D It’s “wine-dark,” in Homer’s “Odyssey” : SEA

Homer was a famous poet of ancient Greece who is believed to be the author of the two classic epic poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey”. However, some scholars believe that Homer did not actually exist, but rather he is the personification of oral tradition that was passed down through the ages.

14D Pajamas : SLEEPWEAR

Our word “pajamas” (sometimes “PJs” or “jammies”) comes to us from the Indian subcontinent, where “pai jamahs” were loose fitting pants tied at the waist and worn at night by locals and ultimately by the Europeans living there. And “pajamas” is another of those words that I had to learn to spell differently when I came to America. On the other side of the Atlantic, the spelling is “pyjamas”.

20D Special delivery at a conference : KEYNOTE

The keynote is the lowest note in a musical scale, as one might imagine. The term started to be used to mean a leading idea in the late 1700s, and the expression “keynote address” dates back to 1905.

24D Subject of trade that gave rise to St. Louis and Detroit : FUR

The city of St. Louis, Missouri was settled by French explorers in 1763. Sitting on the Mississippi River, it grew into a very busy port. By the 1850s, it was the second busiest port in the country, with only New York moving more freight. St. Louis was named for Louis IX of France. Louis was canonized in 1297 by Pope Boniface VIII, and was the only French king to be declared a saint.

The city of Detroit was founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a French explorer. The original settlement was named for the Detroit River, which in turn takes its name from the French word “détroit” meaning “strait”. Detroit became inextricably linked with the automotive business from the very early 20th century when Henry Ford and others set up manufacturing in the area. This link to transportation led to Detroit’s nicknames “Motor City” and “Motown”. The city’s economic strength declined at the beginning of the 21st century, resulting in a 25% drop in population between 2000 and 2010. Detroit filed for the country’s largest municipal bankruptcy in history in 2013, facing a debt of $18.8 billion. The city exited bankruptcy at the end of 2014.

27D Ones with big blocks? : AMNESIACS

“Amnesia”, meaning “loss of memory”, is a Greek word that we imported into English in the 17th century. The Greek term comes from combining the prefixes “a-” meaning “not” and “mnesi-” meaning “remembering”.

32D Much “Real Housewives” doings : DRAMA

“The Real Housewives …” franchise of reality TV shows was launched in 2006 with “The Real Housewives of Orange County”. Spin-off shows include “real housewives” in New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Beverly Hills, Miami, Potomac, Dallas and Salt Lake City, and that’s just in the US. The list of international shows includes “real housewives” in Athens, Vancouver, Melbourne, Cheshire, Hungary, Johannesburg, Napoli and Bangkok. That’s a lot of “real housewives” …

39D Bread whose dough is rolled on a chakla : CHAPATI

Chapati is an unleavened flatbread that is associated with India. The name of the bread comes from the Hindi word “chapat” meaning “flat”.

40D British royal Rod of Equity and Mercy, e.g. : SCEPTRE

A scepter (“sceptre” in Britain and Ireland) is a ceremonial staff, one often held by a monarch.

51D Ancient home to many pre-Socratic philosophers : ELEA

Zeno of Elea was a Greek philosopher who lived in Elea, a Greek colony in Southern Italy. Zeno is famous for his paradoxes, a set of problems that really make you think! In the problem known as “Achilles and the Tortoise”, Zeno tells us that Achilles races a tortoise, giving the tortoise a head start (of say 100 meters). By the time Achilles reaches the starting point of the tortoise, the tortoise will have moved on, albeit only a small distance. Achilles then sets his sights on the tortoise’s new position and runs to it. Again the tortoise has moved ahead a little. Achilles keeps on moving to the tortoise’s new position but can never actually catch his slower rival. Or can he …?

52D Verb before lips and palms : READ

The practice of telling fortunes by studying palms is known as palmistry, palm reading, chiromancy or chirology. The term “chiromancy” comes from the Greek “kheir” (hand) and “mateia” (divination).

55D Small songbird : TIT

Chickadees are a group of birds in the tit family, with some species within the group called chickadees and some called tits. The name chickadee is imitative of the bird’s alarm call “chick-dee dee dee”.