0815-26 NY Times Crossword 15 Aug 26, Saturday

Bill’s time: 18m 25s

Bill’s errors: 2

• HOLLA (hollo!)
• SCYLLA (Scyllo)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

17A One from “Japan’s kitchen” : OSAKAN

The Japanese city of Osaka used to be called Naniwa, with the name changing to Osaka sometime before 1500. “Osaka” can be translated either as “large hill” or “large slope”. Osaka is sometimes referred to as “the Chicago of Japan” as it is a major center of commerce and industry. The city has also been named the “nation’s kitchen”, and was a center for Japan’s rice trade for centuries.

22A 7/ : JUL

Our month of July used to be called “Quintilis” in ancient Rome. “Quintilis” is Latin for “fifth”, and it was the fifth month of the year back then. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, the Roman Senate renamed Quintilis to Julius, in his honor, which evolved into our “July”. The month of August, originally called “Sextilis” in Latin, was renamed in honor of Augustus.

23A “Lovely” and “wonderful” food, per Monty Python : SPAM

The term “spam”, used for unwanted email, is taken from a “Monty Python” sketch. In the sketch (which I’ve seen) the dialog is taken over by the word Spam, a play on the glut of canned meat in the markets of Britain after WWII. So “spam” is used for the glut of emails that takes over online communication. I can just imagine nerdy Internet types (like me) adopting something from a “Monty Python” sketch to describe an online phenomenon …

25A Rose Bowl Stadium athlete : BRUIN

The Bruins are the athletic teams representing the University of California, Los Angeles. When the school was founded in 1919, as the Southern Branch of the University of California, the nickname “Cubs” was used by the football team. The “Cubs” name was chosen as the school was regarded as the younger partner of the California Bears in the existing University of California, Berkeley. That name was changed to “Grizzlies” in 1923, and finally to Bruins in 1926.

27A Patient privacy law, in brief : HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a piece of legislation dating back to 1996. At its heart, HIPAA is designed to ensure that your doctor and medical insurance company protect your data, your Protected Health Information (PHI).

29A World Cup team nicknamed “The Three Lions”: Abbr. : ENG

The Royal Arms of England is the coat of arms that is used as a symbol for the country and for the English monarchy. The design of the coat of arms features three golden lions in a column on a red shield. The first use of the three-lions symbol on a shield goes back to King Richard I, who was also known as Richard the Lionheart.

39A Long-___ squid : ARMED

Squids are cephalopods with large eyes, two tentacles and eight arms. They can move very rapidly through the water, using jet propulsion. Very commonly, squid is served as a food under the name “calamari”.

42A “Wayne’s World” exclamation : NOT!

“Wayne’s World” was originally a “Saturday Night Live” sketch starring Mike Myers (as Wayne Campbell) and Dana Carvey as Garth Algar. The sketch was so successful that it was parlayed into two hit movies, released in 1992 and 1993. Not my cup of tea, though …

43A Christina of “Buffalo ’66” : RICCI

Christina Ricci is an American actress who found fame on the big screen at an early age. She played the very young Wednesday Addams in the 1991 movie version of “The Addams Family”.

49A “Got it?” : CAPISCE?

“Capeesh?” is a slang term meaning “do you understand?” It comes from the Italian “capisce” meaning “understand”.

54A Classical figure in an 1898 Gustav Klimt oil : ATHENA

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter who primarily painted the female body, often producing works that were described as erotic. One of Klimt’s most famous paintings is “The Kiss”, which he completed in 1908.

56A Some back-and-forth : REPARTEE

Repartee is conversation that includes witty remarks. “Repartee” comes from the French “repartie” meaning “answering thrust”, originally a fencing term.

57A Big name in fashion : LAUREN

Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer, born Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx, New York. Lauren started off working as a salesman for Brooks Brothers after spending two years in the US Army. He then opened a necktie store, featuring his own tie designs. The ties were sold under the name “Polo”, which became Lauren’s most famous brand. Other Lauren brands are Purple Label and Black Label.

Down

2D Fabulous collection : AESOPICA

Aesop is remembered today as a fabulist, a writer of fables. Aesop lived in ancient Greece, probably around the sixth century BC. Supposedly he was born a slave, somehow became a free man, but then met with a sorry end. Aesop was sent to the city of Delphi on a diplomatic mission but instead insulted the Delphians. He was tried on a trumped-up charge of stealing from a temple, sentenced to death and was thrown off a cliff.

A “fabulist” is a writer of “fables”.

4D No-good ending? : NIK

The suffix “-nik” is of Slavic origin. It is somewhat like the suffix “-er” in English. By adding “-nik” to a noun, the new word describes a person related to what that noun describes. Examples of the use of “-nik” in mainstream English are “beatnik” and ”refusenik”. Examples of more casual “-nik” terms are “neatnik” and “peacenik”.

5D Diamond figs. : ERAS

Earned run average (ERA)

6D Leftmost star of the Summer Triangle : DENEB

Deneb is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. The name “Deneb” comes from the Arabic word “dhaneb” meaning “tail”, as it lies at the tail of the swan.

The Summer Triangle is the name given to a pattern of stars seen in the northern hemisphere. It is so named as it sits almost directly overhead at midnight in most northern latitudes. The points of the triangle are the bright stars Altair, Deneb and Vega.

7D Classic 1926 novel often published with a bull and matador on its cover : THE SUN ALSO RISES

“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.”

8D Dressing group : VINAIGRETTES

A vinaigrette is a mixture of oil with an acid such as vinegar or lemon juice. A traditional mixture of 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar forms a stable emulsion that is commonly used as a salad dressing. The term “vinaigrette” is a diminutive form of the French word “vinaigre” (meaning “vinegar”). Back in the 1800s, such a mixture was referred to as “French dressing”, a term that has evolved to describe a creamy dressing in contemporary American cuisine.

9D Gamgee player in “Lord of the Rings” : ASTIN

Sean Astin is best known for playing the title role in the 1993 film “Rudy” and the character Samwise Gamgee in “The Lord of the Rings” movies. You might also have seen him playing Lynn McGill in the 5th season of “24”. Astin is the son of actress Patty Duke, and the adopted son of actor John Astin (of “The Addams Family” fame).

10D ___-C : CTRL

The Control (CTRL) key on a PC keyboard is used to modify the function of other keys. For example, pressing CTRL+C copies a selection to the clipboard, and CTRL+V pastes the contents of the clipboard to a location defined by the cursor. Control keys were introduced on teletypewriters to generate “control characters”, which are non-printing characters that instruct a computer to do something like print a page, ring a bell etc.

11D The second one on the Statue of Liberty is longer than its first one : TOE

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France to the United States. It was designed by sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and constructed in France by civil engineer Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame). The statue was disassembled, shipped to the US, and reassembled on its pedestal on Bedloe’s Island (now “Liberty Island”). A ceremony of dedication was held in 1886. If you take a boat ride down the Seine in Paris you will probably see a one-third replica of Lady Liberty standing on a small island in the river, looking quite magnificent. That copy was given to the people of Paris by the city’s American community in 1889.

12D Toothache care option : ORAJEL

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

13D Communion, e.g. : RITUAL

The Communion rite is part of the Mass in the Roman Catholic tradition. The rite involves distribution of the Communion bread (the host, a wafer) to the faithful.

14D Charybdis’ man-eating opposite, in myth : SCYLLA

Charybdis was a beautiful naiad, a water nymph of Greek mythology. Zeus became enraged with Charybdis and turned her into a sea monster. In Greek myth, the monstrous form of Charybdis lay at one side of a narrow channel of water, with another sea monster named Scylla lying at the other. Sailors found it impossible to navigate the channel as getting to a safe distance from one monster left them in the clutches of the other. From this tale arose the expression “between Scylla and Charybdis” meaning having two choices, neither of which is a good one.

24D Sea cow : MANATEE

Manatees, types of “sea cows”, are very large marine mammals that can grow to 12 feet in length. The manatee is believed to have evolved from four-legged land mammals and probably shares a common ancestor with the elephant.

28D Challenged on X, say : ATTED

The “at symbol” (@) originated in the commercial world, as shorthand for “each at, per” and similar phrases. I suppose we see the symbol most commonly these days as part of email addresses.

32D Bad spell : HEX

“Hexen” is a German word meaning “to practice witchcraft”. The use of the word “hex” in English started with the Pennsylvania Dutch in the early 1800s.

33D Partner of pitch and roll : YAW

The word “yaw” means to deviate from the line of a course and is used mainly at sea and in the air. “Yaw” is derived from the Old Norse word “jaege” which means “to drive, chase”. As such, “yaw” is etymologically related to our word “yacht”.

37D Crime writer Mickey who created the Mike Hammer stories : SPILLANE

Mike Hammer is the protagonist in a series of private detective novels by Mickey Spillane. The novels have been adapted for radio, television and the big screen. The actor most associated with Mike Hammer is Stacy Keach, who played the role in the TV series “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” from 1984 to 1987.

39D Prince of Monaco beginning in 2005 : ALBERT

Albert II became the sovereign prince of Monaco in 2005 upon the death of his father Rainier III (and husband of actress Grace Kelly). The prince is quite the athlete. He is a judo black belt and competed in the bobsleigh events in five Winter Olympics.

45D Some bow ties : PASTA

Farfalle is commonly referred to as bow-tie pasta because of its shape. The name comes from the Italian “farfalla” meaning “butterfly”.