1218-25 NY Times Crossword 18 Dec 25, Thursday

Bill’s time: 9m 47s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6A Lengthy pitch : SPIEL

A spiel is a lengthy speech or argument designed to persuade, like a sales pitch. “Spiel” comes to us from German, either directly (“spiel” is the German for “play”) or via the Yiddish “shpil”.

11A Web access co. : ISP

Internet service provider (ISP)

14A Mushroom in ramen : ENOKI

Enokitake (also known as “enoki”) are long and thin white mushrooms often added to soups or salads.

15A Trunks : TORSI

“Torso” (plural “torsi”) is an Italian word meaning “trunk of a statue”, and is a term that we imported into English.

16A Platoon sgt., e.g. : NCO

In military terms, a platoon is a subdivision of a company-sized unit, and is usually divided into squads or sections. The term “platoon” arose in the 1630s from the French “peloton”. “Peloton” translates literally as “little ball”, and is used to this day to mean “agglomeration”. “Peloton” gives rise to our word “pellet”. Also, we use the Modern French “peloton” in English now to refer to the main body (agglomeration) of riders in a bicycle race.

19A “Platoon” setting, for short : ‘NAM

“Platoon” is a 1986 movie written and directed by Oliver Stone. The storyline comes out of Stone’s own experiences in Vietnam as an infantryman. It is gritty stuff, and is Stone’s response to the more “glamorous” movie “Green Berets” starring John Wayne. And that famous piece of classical music included the soundtrack, that is “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber.

22A Appropriate inappropriately : USURP

To usurp is to seize and hold by force. The term “usurp” comes to us from Latin via French, from “usus” (a use) and “rapere” (to seize).

24A Go off on : RAIL AT

To rail at or against something is to complain bitterly about it.

27A Bear with a message : SMOKEY

Smokey Bear is the mascot of the US Forest Service. He first appeared in 1944, in an advertising campaign directed towards preventing forest fires.

29A “Colorful” Atlantic Coast Conference team : SYRACUSE ORANGE

The current Syracuse mascot, Otto the Orange, was introduced unofficially in 1980, and gained official recognition by the University in 1995.

36A Reveal private data of, in modern lingo : DOX

Doxing (also “doxxing”) is the publishing of private information about someone on the Internet with the intention of doing harm or causing embarrassment. The term “doxing” is slang, and comes from “dox”, an accepted abbreviation for “documents”.

38A Jake’s love in “The Sun Also Rises” : BRETT

“The Sun Also Rises” was Ernest Hemingway’s first major novel, published in 1926. Hemingway originally titled the work “Fiesta”, and indeed it was originally published under this title outside of America. At the recommendation of the publisher, Scribner’s, the title was changed to “The Sun Also Rises”, taken from Ecclesiastes 1:5 “The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.”

48A Fluid for a lighter : BUTANE

Butane is a highly flammable organic gas, one that is used as a fuel for lighters, for example. Butane was discovered in 1849, and is closely related to butyric acid, a compound discovered in 1814 and from which the gas gets its name. In turn, butyric acid gets its name from “butyrum”, the Latin for butter. Butyric acid was first isolated from butter.

53A Volleyball team count : SIX

Indoor volleyball was invented in 1895 and was originally called “mintonette”, a reference to the related game of “badminton”. The variant called beach volleyball originated in 1915 on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, but was popularized on the beaches of Santa Monica starting in 1920.

56A Off-line, online : IRL

In real life (IRL)

63A He said “Every great film should seem new every time you see it” : EBERT

Roger Ebert co-hosted a succession of film review television programs for over 23 years, most famously with Gene Siskel until Siskel passed away in 1999. Siskel and Ebert famously gave their thumbs up or thumbs down to the movies they reviewed. Ebert died in 2013.

64A Smooth transition : SEGUE

A segue is a transition from one topic to the next. “Segue” is an Italian word that literally means “now follows”. It was first used in musical scores directing the performer to play into the next movement without a break. The oft-used term “segway” is given the same meaning, although the word “segway” doesn’t really exist. It is a misspelling of “segue” that has been popularized by its use as the name of the personal transporter known as a Segway.

Down

3D It comes from the heart : AORTA

The aorta is the largest artery in the human body. It carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Even though it is a single vessel, it is divided into four main sections: the ascending aorta, the aortic arch, the thoracic aorta, and the abdominal aorta.

4D Glide down a piste : SKI

“Piste” is a French word meaning “trail, track”. We use it in English to describe a ski run or a path used when skiing down a mountain. The related term “off piste” describes skiing outside of approved areas at a resort.

8D Agcy. that takes many forms : IRS

Form 1040, issued by the IRS, is the “US Individual Income Tax Return”. It was originally created just for tax returns from 1913, 1914 and 1915, but it’s a form that just keeps on giving, or should I say “taking” …?

9D Title for a J.D. : ESQ

The title “esquire” is of British origin and is used differently today depending on whether one is in the US or the UK. Here in America the term is usually reserved for those practicing the law (both male and female). In the UK, “esquire” is a term of gentle respect reserved for a male who has no other title that one can use. So, a mere commoner like me might receive a letter from the bank, say, addressed to W. E. Butler Esq.

The law degree that is abbreviated to “J.D.” stands for “Juris Doctor” or “Doctor of Jurisprudence”.

11D “That’s what she said” and others : INNUENDOS

Here in North America, we tend to use the phrase “That’s what she said!” as a punch line after an unintended double entendre. On the other side of the Atlantic, the equivalent phrase is “… said the actress to the bishop”.

25D Rae of “Insecure” : ISSA

“Insecure” is a comedy-drama TV show that premiered in 2016. It is co-written by and stars Issa Rae, who also created the comedy web series “Awkward Black Girl” on which “Insecure” is based.

26D NaOH : LYE

Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic salt, with the chemical formula NaOH. Often referred to as “lye”, sodium hydroxide is also known as “caustic soda” because of its caustic properties.

27D About 35,000 for the Taj Mahal: Abbr. : SQ FT

The Taj Mahal in Agra, India is a magnificent marble mausoleum. It was built in the mid-17th century by the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to her 14th child in 1631. When Shah Jahan himself died in 1666, he was buried in the Taj Mahal, alongside his wife.

28D No longer relevant : MOOT

To moot is to bring up as a subject for discussion or debate. So, something that is moot is open to debate. Something that is no longer moot, is no longer worth debating. We don’t seem to be able to get that right, which drives me crazy …

30D ___ Nation (activist organization since 1990) : QUEER

Queer Nation is an activist organization that operated from 1990 until the middle of the decade. It was viewed as a relatively radical group in that it was formed in response to perceived complacency in the mainstream gay rights movement. Examples of some notable slogans used by Queer Nation are:

• “Two, Four, Six, Eight! How Do You Know Your Kids Are Straight?”
• “Out of the Closets and Into the Streets”
• “We’re Here! We’re Queer! Get used to it!”

32D T.H. White’s “The ___ and Future King” : ONCE

“The Once and Future King” is a 1958 Arthurian novel by English author T. H. White. White’s work is based on Sir Thomas Mallory’s 1485 work “Le Morte d’Arthur” (The Death of Arthur), which itself is a reworking of existing tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

33D Knockoff version of a bejeweled Imperial egg, e.g. : FAUXBERGE

Fabergé eggs are beautiful jeweled eggs made by the House of Fabergé from 1885 to 1917. The tradition of fabricating the eggs started when Tsar Alexander III commissioned Fabergé to create a jeweled egg for his wife in 1885. After this, the House of Fabergé produced more and more elaborate designs, year after year.

38D ___ Mawr : BRYN

Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania is a women’s liberal arts school that was founded in 1885. Bryn Mawr was the first women’s university in the nation to offer graduate education through to a PhD. While the undergraduate program is open only to females, the school opened up the postgraduate program to males in 1931.

40D Greeting from Kermit : HI-HO

Kermit has to be the most readily recognized puppet character created by the late great Jim Henson. Henson came up with Kermit way back in 1955 when he appeared on a puppet show called “Sam and Friends” that aired in Washington, D.C. Kermit is loved so much that he even has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

50D Eel, at a sushi bar : UNAGI

“Unagi” is the Japanese term for” freshwater eel”, and “anago” is the term for “saltwater eel”.

51D “Ratatouille” topper : TOQUE

A toque was a brimless style of hat that was very fashionable in Europe in the 13th to 16th centuries. Nowadays we associate toques with chefs, as it is the name given to a chef’s hat (called a “toque blanche” in French, a “white hat”). A chef’s toque is quite interesting. Many toques have exactly 100 pleats, often said to signify the number of ways that an egg can be cooked.

“Ratatouille” is a 2007 animated film produced by Pixar. The hero of the piece is Remy, a rat whose ambition is to become a chef. Remy was voiced by stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt. The veteran actor Peter O’Toole voiced the character Anton Ego, a restaurant critic.

55D Barred from competing, for short : DQ’ED

Disqualified (DQ’ed)

58D Trail Blazers’ grp. : NBA

The Trail Blazers are the NBA franchise in Portland, Oregon. The Blazers joined the league as an expansion team in 1970. A contest used to pick a team name came up with “Pioneers”, but this was dropped as it was already in use at Lewis & Clark College. Team management therefore opted for the fans’ second choice “Trail Blazers”.

59D “Severance” actress Tullock : JEN

“Severance” is a fascinating TV show about employees at a company who undergo a surgical procedure that completely separates their memories between their work lives and their personal lives. The show stars Adama Scott, and is executive-produced and mainly directed by Hollywood actor Ben Stiller.

60D Microdosing drug : LSD

Psychedelic microdosing is the practice of taking extremely low doses of psychedelic drugs in order to promote creativity and well-being. Drugs commonly used are lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin (found in “magic mushrooms”). Hmm …