1220-25 NY Times Crossword 20 Dec 25, Saturday

Bill’s time: 12m 14s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Sampras rival during the 1990s : AGASSI

Retired tennis professional Andre Agassi has been married to fellow player Steffi Graf since 2001. Agassi wrote an autobiography called “Open”, published in 2009. An amazing revelation in the book is that Agassi’s famous head of hair was actually a wig for much of his playing career. Can you imagine how hard it must have been to play tennis at his level with a rug stuck on?

Pete Sampras is a retired Greek-American tennis professional. Sampras was rated number one in the world rankings for six years in a row in the nineties.

7A Get on board : EMBARK

In getting on and off a seagoing vessel, one embarks and disembarks (also “debarks”). The terms “embark” and “disembark” come from the name of the small ship known as a barque.

14A Perry Como or Bing Crosby : CROONER

Perry Como was my mother’s favorite singer. Como was born about 20 miles from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Famously, his first career was barbering. He learned the trade from a local hairdresser and soon had his own shop in a Greek coffee house, at the age of 14!

Bing Crosby has been described as the first multimedia star, having achieved incredible success in terms of record sales, radio ratings and ticket sales for his movies. There are also many interesting things about Crosby’s life out of the limelight. For example, his daughter Mary Crosby played Kristin Shepard on the TV’s “Dallas”, and so was the person “who shot J. R.” After his first wife Dixie Lee died, Bing Crosby dated and eventually proposed to actress and model Pat Sheehan. The proposal went nowhere, but Sheehan ended up marrying Bing Crosby’s son Dennis a few years later.

15A Frustrated and making poor decisions, informally : ON TILT

In a game of pinball, some players get an irresistible urge to “nudge” the machine . Such a nudge, a movement of the machine designed to influence the path taken by the ball, is called a “tilt”. Most pinball machines have sensors designed to detect a tilt, and when activated a “tilt” warning light comes on and the player’s controls are temporarily disabled. Over time, the term moved beyond pinball and was adopted by poker players. A player described as being “on tilt” is in a state of frustration or confusion, often after experiencing bad luck or a significant loss. The agitated state leads them to abandon sound strategy and make reckless or irrational decisions, much like someone angrily shaking a pinball machine and losing control of the game.

16A #1 on Wired magazine’s list of the 10 most influential video games of the 2010s : FORTNITE

Fortnite is a very, very popular online game that was released in 2017. There are several versions of the game, including the original Fortnite: Save the World.

17A “Aren’t we all hoity-toity?!” : WELL, LA-DI-DAH

Believe it or not, the term “hoity-toity” has been in the English language since the 1660s, but back then it meant “riotous behavior”. It began to mean “haughty” in the late 1800s, simply because the “haughty” sounds similar to “hoity”.

20A First name in hog riding : EVEL

Daredevil Evel Knievel contracted hepatitis C from the many blood transfusions that he needed after injuries incurred during stunts. He had to have a liver transplant as a result, but his health declined after that. Knievel eventually passed away in 2007.

29A Source of half the world’s sugar during the late 1800s : BEETS

The biggest producer of sugar beets in the world is Russia, with France and the US in second and third place.

43A Foe of the Iroquois during the Beaver Wars : ERIE

The Beaver Wars of the mid-1600s were the result of the Iroquois expanding their territory in the northeastern part of North America. The Iroquois were largely incited to take such steps by their trading partners, the Dutch and English, who profited from the gains in territory. On the losing side of the expansion were the Huron, Neutral, Erie and Susquehannock tribes.

44A Org. that’s gone to the dogs? : AKC

The American Kennel Club (AKC) is the organization that handles registration of purebred dogs The AKC also promotes dog shows around the country, including the famous Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

45A [womp, womp] : [SAD TROMBONE]

The so-called “sad trombone” sound is used a lot in game shows to indicate that a player is losing. It’s that plaintive “wah-wah” sound.

49A Delicatessen offering : REUBEN

There are conflicting stories about the origin of the Reuben sandwich. One such story is that it was invented around 1914 by Arnold Reuben, an immigrant from Germany who owned Reuben’s Deli in New York.

51A Where to follow local customs, it’s said : IN ROME

The proverb “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” probably dates back to the days of St. Augustine. St. Augustine wrote a letter around 390 AD in which he states:

When I go to Rome, I fast on Saturday, but here [Milan] I do not. Do you also follow the custom of whatever church you attend, if you do not want to give or receive scandal?

Down

2D City, lake or canton de Suisse : GENÈVE

Genève (“Geneva” in English) is the largest city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. I’ve been to Geneva only once, and sadly what I remember most is how expensive it is. It is in fact the fourth or fifth most expensive city in the world.

3D Tip on quite a few bucks? : ANTLER

The antlers on a deer come to points. The higher the number of points, the more prized the head of the deer as a trophy, so I am told …

5D Act bearishly : SELL

The terms “bull market” and “bear market” come from the way in which each animal attacks. A bull thrusts his horns upwards (an “up” market), whereas a bear swipes with his paws downward (a “down” market).

8D Io or luna : MOTH

The Io moth is a colorful moth that is native to North America. It has a large spot on either wing that resembles an eye. The “eyes” work as a disguise, as the moth can look like the face of a mammal, and hence ward off potential moth predators.

The lime-green luna moth is one of the largest moths found in North America, growing to a wingspan of up to 4½ inches.

10D Shamans, typically : ANIMISTS

“Animism” comes from the Latin word “anima” meaning “soul, life”. The word “animism” has two related but distinct meanings. In one sense, animism is the belief in souls, and in another sense it is the belief that souls exist for other entities that are not human. I think it is a relatively commonly held belief that animals may have souls (and that one can meet up with one’s pet or cat or in heaven!), but it is less commonly believed that plants and even rocks can have souls too.

A shaman is a supposed intermediary between the human world and the spirit world.

12D Mardi Gras parading societies : KREWES

“Krewe” is the name given to an organization responsible for putting on parades and balls during Carnival celebrations. The most famous is the krewe that pulls together Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

16D Bills first introduced in 1861 : FIVES

The US five-dollar bill is often called an “Abe”, as President Abraham Lincoln’s portrait is on the front. An Abe is also referred to as a “fin”, a term that has been used for a five-pound note in Britain since 1868.

18D Currency of Serbia : DINAR

The dinar is the official currency in many countries, such as Iraq, Tunisia, Bahrain and Serbia. The gold dinar dates back to the early days of Islam, with the name deriving from the Roman currency called “denarius” meaning “ten times” (as it was originally a coin worth ten asses).

Serbia is a landlocked country in southeast Europe. After WWII, Serbia became one of several states making up the nation called Yugoslavia. Serbia became independent again in 2006 as Yugoslavia broke up after the declaration of independence by Montenegro.

24D Van Gogh retreat in southern France : ARLES

Quite a few years ago now, I had the privilege of living just a short car-ride from the beautiful city of Arles in the South of France. Although Arles has a long and colorful history, the Romans had a prevailing influence over the city’s design. Arles has a spectacular Roman amphitheater, arch, circus as well as old walls that surround the center of the city. In more modern times, it was a place Vincent van Gogh often visited, and was where he painted many of his most famous works, including “Cafe Terrace at Night” and “Bedroom in Arles”.

35D Clown locale : RODEO

The job of a rodeo clown emerged in the early 1900s, as a performer who provided comic relief and who acted as a bullfighter to distract the bull and protect an injured rider. Today, the safety role is usually handled by specialized bullfighters. The comic role is often taken on by a “barrelman”, who uses a reinforced barrel as a prop, and a vital refuge. Scary stuff …

37D Futuristic sci-fi classic with tales set in 2021 and 2029 : I, ROBOT

Science fiction author Isaac Asimov wrote a marvelous collection of short stories titled “I, Robot” that were first published together in 1950. In the stories, he makes repeated reference to the Three Laws of Robotics, which he introduced in the story “Runaround”, first published in 1942. The three laws are:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

38D Field of the annual César Awards : CINÉMA

The César Award is the national film award of France. The first César was awarded in 1975, named after the French sculptor César Baldaccini. The awards themselves are reproductions of an actual Baldaccini sculpture.

39D One of the Wayans brothers : KEENEN

Keenen Ivory Wayans is a member of the Wayans family who are very successful in the world of entertainment. Keenen is perhaps best known for the sketch comedy show “In Living Color” that ran from 1990 to 1994. Keenen created, wrote and starred in the show with his brother Damon Wayans. Keenen also directed the horror comedy film “Scary Movie”, which was co-written by two other brothers, Shawn and Marlon Wayans.

42D Day at the movies : DORIS

Actress and singer Doris Day was born Doris Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Ohio. Day made more than 650 recordings as a singer with Columbia Records, and also appeared in 39 movies. Outside the world of entertainment, she was an ardent supporter of animal rights. She lived in retirement in Carmel-by-the-Sea in California, along with her many pets and stray animals that she adopted over the years.