1122-25 NY Times Crossword 22 Nov 25, Saturday

Bill’s time: 13m 34s

Bill’s errors: 2

• MARLO (Marla)
• DOERR (Daerr)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A One of 843 in New York’s 50-Across : ACRE
50A See 1-Across : CENTRAL PARK

The man most associated with the decision to develop Central Park in New York City was William Cullen Bryant, the editor of what today is the “New York Post”. He argued that the growing city needed a large, public open space, along the lines of Hyde Park in London and the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. Most of the park’s construction took place between 1860 and 1873. Much of the clearing work was accomplished using gunpowder, and it is often noted that more gunpowder was used in Central Park than in the Battle of Gettysburg.

10A Sister’s commitments : VOWS

Nuns are women who have taken religious vows to live a life of prayer, celibacy, and service to their community. The word “nun” comes from the Latin word “nonna,” which means “mother” or “grandmother”. Nuns have been a part of many different religious traditions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.

14A Foreign exchange? : QUID PRO QUO

“Quid pro quo” is Latin for “something for something”, i.e. a swap.

16A Essayist who wrote “If you wrest my words beyond their fair construction, it is you, and not I, that are the April Fool” : ELIA

The “Essays of Elia” began appearing in “London Magazine” in 1820, and were immediate hits with the public. The author was Charles Lamb, and “Elia” was actually a clerk with whom Lamb worked. The most famous of the essays in the collection are probably “Dream-Children” and “Old China”.

18A Howard who wrote “A People’s History of the United States” : ZINN

“A People’s History of the United States” is a 1980 bestselling non-fiction book by historian Howard Zinn. Zinn emphasises exploitation and manipulation of the majority in his account of US history. Zinn updated “A People’s History” several times, with the most recent edition covering the period through 2005.

19A Eagle pose, for one : ASANA

“Asana” is a Sanskrit word that translates as “sitting down”. The asanas are the poses that a practitioner of yoga assumes. The most famous is the lotus position, the cross-legged pose called “padmasana”.

26A Eponym of a renamed N.Y.C. bridge : RFK

The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in New York City is often referred to as the “Triboro”, recognition of the structure’s original name “The Triborough Bridge”. This name was given as the Triboro is actually a complex of three bridges that connects the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and The Bronx. Built in 1936, the official name was changed to the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in 2008.

29A Number of Academy Award nominations for Best Actor received by Laurence Olivier : NINE

Laurence Olivier had to be one of the most respected actors to come out of England in the 20th century. He had tremendous impact on stage and screen, and was never short of work on either side of the Atlantic. While working in the British film industry just before WWII, Olivier met actress Vivien Leigh. The two were already married, but started an affair. Olivier travelled to Hollywood as he was cast as Heathcliff in “Wuthering Heights”, which gave him his big break in Hollywood. Leigh followed Olivier and found herself cast as Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind”. The couple took Hollywood by storm, and eventually unraveled their prior marriages so that they could wed in 1940.

34A Chris formerly of “S.N.L” : REDD

Actor and stand-up comedian Chris Redd joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in 2017, after a stint with the Second City Touring Company based in Chicago.

36A Actress Kelly of Netflix’s “3 Body Problem” : MARLO

French mathematician Henri Poincaré was also a physicist, and is often described as a polymath. Notably, he contributed to the “three-body problem” of classical mechanics. That phrase became familiar to the non-scientific community when Netflix started airing the TV series “3 Body Problem”.

37A Many Haitians : CREOLES

“Creole” is the term used in Haiti to describe all of the native people, as well as the music, food and culture of the country. 80% of the Haitian Creole people are so-called black creoles, descendants of the original Africans brought to the island as slaves during the French colonial days.

41A Transit option since 2000 : ACELA

The Acela is the fastest train in the Americas, and can reach a top speed of 160 miles per hour, However, it only does so for about 40 miles of its 457-mile route between D.C. and Boston. Due to the curvy nature of the Northeast Corridor tracks, the train’s average speed over the entire journey, including stops, is closer to 70 mph.

42A Kind of butter used in lotions : SHEA

Shea butter is a common moisturizer and lotion used as a cosmetic. It is a fat that is extracted from the nut of the African shea tree. There is evidence that shea butter was used back in Cleopatra’s Egypt.

44A Many a sports bet : OVER

An over-under bet is a wager that a number will be over or under a particular value. A common over-under bet is made on the combined points scored by two teams in a game.

45A Lead role in 1978’s “La Cage aux Folles” : RENATO

The musical “La Cage aux Folles” opened on Broadway in 1985. It is an adaptation of the French play of the same name by Jean Poiret that was first staged in 1973. I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing the stage play nor the musical, but I love the wonderful movie adaptation called “The Birdcage”, which was released in 1996. The film has a very strong cast that includes Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman and Hank Azaria.

47A With 10-Down, again, in Acapulco : OTRA
10D See 47-Across : VEZ

The Mexican city of Acapulco is on the southwest coast of the country, in the state of Guerrero. The name “Acapulco” translates from the local language into “at the big reeds”.

54A Ruthless Records co-founder : EAZY-E

“Eazy-E” was the stage name of rapper Eric Lynn Wright. Eazy-E had a pretty liberal lifestyle, fathering seven children with six different women. In 1995, he died due to complications from AIDS when he was only 32 years old.

59A Only player with two numbers retired by the L.A. Lakers : KOBE

Kobe Bryant played basketball for the LA Lakers. Bryant got his given name from a menu, would you believe? His parents were in a Japanese restaurant and liked the name of “Kobe” beef, the beef from around the city of Kobe on the island of Honshu in Japan. Very sadly, Bryant and his daughter Gianna, along with seven others, were killed in a helicopter crash in 2020.

63A They cut bouts short, for short : TKOS

Technical knockout (TKO)

65A Heat transfer? : SEXT

Sexting (a portmanteau of “sex” and “texting”) is the sending of explicit dialog and images between cell phones. The term “sexting” was coined by the UK’s “Sunday Telegraph Magazine” in a 2005 article.

66A Red Square presence since 1924 : LENIN

Lenin’s Tomb is a mausoleum in which lie the embalmed remains of Vladimir Lenin. The tomb lies just outside the walls of the Kremlin in Red Square. Lenin died in 1924, after which his body was housed in a wooden structure in Red Square for viewing by mourners. The current marble and granite structure was completed in 1930. The body has rested there on display ever since, except for the years of WWII when there was a perceived danger of Moscow falling to the Germans. The body was evacuated to Tyumen in Siberia for the war years.

Moscow’s Red Square is surrounded by several significant buildings, for example:

• Lenin’s Mausoleum that is the final resting place for the embalmed body of Vladimir Lenin
• The Moscow Kremlin that serves as the official residence of the President of Russia
• GUM (for “Main Universal Store”), which is the main department store in the capital
• Saint Basil’s Cathedral, which now operates as a museum.

Down

2D One of four tarot suits : CUPS

A deck of tarot cards is based on a traditional Italian pack, and so includes four suits: batons, coins, cups and swords.

3D Half of “Live With Kelly and Mark” : RIPA

When Kelly Ripa secured the co-host spot on morning television with Regis Philbin, she was still acting in “All My Children” in a role she had been playing for over ten years. After a year of holding down two jobs, she eventually gave up the acting gig. Ripa has acted as spokeswoman for several brands over the years, including Electrolux and Rykä.

5D “Gimme a sec” : BRB

Be right back (brb)

8D Like most of Mauritania and Malaysia, religiously : SUNNI

The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favored the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.

11D Outdoor setting for Plato’s Academy : OLIVE GROVE

An academy is a place of education, especially higher education. The original Academy was the public garden in which Greek philosopher Plato taught his students. That garden was the Grove of Academus, named for a hero of Greek mythology.

15D Decapod with three pairs of claws : PRAWN

Decapods are an order of crustaceans that includes crayfish, crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimp. Even though decapods can have perhaps over 30 appendages, only ten of these are considered legs, hence the name “decapod”.

21D Sea foam : SPUME

Our word “spume”, which we use for “froth”, comes from the Latin “spuma” meaning “foam”.

24D Green land : EIRE

Ireland is often referred to as “the Emerald Isle” (and described as “green”). There is a common misconception that the association with the color green is because of all that green grass that grows due to the seemingly non-stop rain. However, the use of green has more political overtones, as it is associated with many of the rebellions against British colonial rule over the centuries.

25D It borders Canada for 45 miles : IDAHO

Idaho borders six states, and one Canadian province:

• Montana
• Wyoming
• Nevada
• Utah
• Washington
• Oregon
• British Columbia

26D Certain miniature vehicle, informally : RC CAR

Radio-controlled (RC)

27D Telekinetic intimidation tactic used in the “Star Wars” universe : FORCE CHOKE

The Force is a metaphysical power much cited in all of the “Star Wars” movies. We may even hear someone in real life say “May the Force be with you”. Fans of the movie franchise even celebrate May 4th every year as Star Wars Day, using the pun “May the 4th be with you”!

28D Offering to a teary person : KLEENEX BOX

Even though “Kleenex” is sometimes used today as a generic term for a tissue, it is a brand name owned by Kimberly-Clark. Kleenex facial tissues came about after WW1. The material used in the tissue had been developed as a replacement for cotton that was in high demand as surgical tissue during the war. The material developed was called “Cellucotton” and was used in gas mask filters. It was first sold as a facial tissue under the name “Kleenex” in 1924.

31D Anthony ___, author of 2021’s “Cloud Cuckoo Land” : DOERR

“Cloud Cuckoo Land” is a 2021 novel by author Anthony Doerr. The storyline focuses on five characters who exist in three different time periods, all connected by an ancient Greek tale about a man seeking a utopian city in the sky. The title of the novel comes from a comic play by ancient Greek playwright Aistophanes titled “The Birds”, which features a city named Nephelokokkygia (literally “cloud cuckoo land”).

35D Beverage that Ray Charles once touted as “The right one, baby” : DIET PEPSI

Diet Pepsi Max was introduced to the soft drink market in 2007. The “Diet” was dropped from the name in 2009. In 2015, the name was further changed to “Pepsi Zero Sugar”.

Ray Charles came up with his stage name by dropping the family name from his real moniker “Ray Charles Robinson”. His life was a wild ride, and was well-represented in the excellent 2004 biopic called “Ray” starring Jamie Foxx in the title role. Ray Charles was married twice and fathered 12 children with nine different women. As I said, a wild ride …

38D Medium for some ephemeral art : LATTE

“Latte art” is the name given to the designs that can be drawn on the surface of coffee drinks. Some of those designs can be quite intricate.

“Ephemera” was originally a medical term used to describe a fever that only lasted a day. The use of the term was expanded in the 17th century to include insects that were short-lived. By the end of the 18th century, ephemera were any items of transitory existence.

46D Toothache medication : ORAJEL

Orajel is a brand name for benzocaine, a local anesthetic.

51D Sky shade : AZURE

The term “azure” came into English from Persian via Old French. The French word “l’azur” was taken from the Persian name for a place in northeastern Afghanistan called “Lazhward” which was the main source of the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli. The stone has a vivid blue color, and “azure” has been describing this color since the 14th century.

52D Yogurt-braised Indian entree : KORMA

Korma is a mild, creamy dish from the Indian subcontinent. It typically consists of meat or vegetables braised in a rich sauce made from yogurt, cream, or a paste of nuts and seeds.

53D Booth in Times Sq. : TKTS

The TKTS booths sell discount theater tickets, notably in Times Square in New York and in the West End of London.

56D Dutch soccer club that shares its name with a cleaning brand : AJAX

Ajax cleanser has been around since 1947, and it’s “stronger than dirt!” That was the most famous slogan over here in the US. On my side of the pond, the celebrated slogan was “it cleans like a white tornado”.

62D Peat source : FEN

When dead plant matter accumulates in marshy areas, it may not fully decay due to a lack of oxygen or acidic conditions. We are familiar with this in Ireland, because this decaying matter can form peat, and we have lots and lots of peat bogs around the country.