0328-24 NY Times Crossword 28 Mar 24, Thursday

Constructed by: Dominic Grillo
Edited by: Joel Fagliano

Today’s Reveal Answer(s): Potato Head

Circled letters in the grid spell out and symbolize INTERCHANGEABLE accessories that come with a POTATO HEAD toy. The shaded ovoid shape in the middle of the grid represents the toy’s POTATO body.

  • 1D With 58-Down, classic toy that dropped gendered titles in 2021 : POTATO …
  • 58D See 1-Down : … HEAD
  • 59A Like the parts of this puzzle’s toy, as depicted throughout the grid : INTERCHANGEABLE
  • 46A Shaped like this puzzle’s subject : OVOID

The accessories are:

  • SMILE
  • NOSE
  • HAT
  • EAR
  • EYES
  • HAND

Bill’s time: 11m 29s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

12 A famous one begins “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” : ODE

Here’s the first verse from John Keats’ ode “To Autumn” …

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

13 Dustin’s sweetheart on “Stranger Things” : SUZIE

“Stranger Things” is a sci-fi horror TV show made for Netflix that aired its first season in 2016. I don’t do horror, and so haven’t seen it …

16 Queen consort starting in 2022 : CAMILLA

Camilla Parker Bowles became the Duchess of Cornwall when she married Charles, Prince of Wales in 2005. The Duchess of Cornwall title came from Duke of Cornwall, one of Charles’ secondary designations. The use of the primary title Princess of Wales wasn’t considered a good idea as it was closely associated with Lady Diana Spencer, Charles’ first wife. However, once Prince Charles ascended to the British throne in 2023, Camilla was crowned queen consort, receiving the title Queen Camilla.

21 Not widely known : ARCANE

Something that is arcane is understood by only a few, is something that might be described as mysterious.

23 Part of a furniture joint : TENON

One simple type of joint used in carpentry is a mortise and tenon. It is basically a projection carved at the end of one piece of wood that fits into a hole cut into the end of another. In the related dovetail joint, the projecting tenon is not rectangular but is cut at a bias, so that when the dovetails are joined they resist being pulled apart. You’ll see dovetail joints in drawers around the house.

24 Specialist in family medicine, in brief : PCP

Primary care physician (PCP)

27 Shade-tolerant perennial : HOSTA

The Hosta genus of plant was once classified as a lily, but is now in a family of its own and is described as “lily-like”. The plant was given the name “Hosta” in honor of the Austrian botanist Nicholas Thomas Host.

34 National park that’s home to the Narrows : ZION

To me, the most spectacular feature of southwestern Utah’s Zion National Park is the magnificent Zion Canyon. The canyon cuts through red Navajo sandstone and truly is a beautiful sight.

38 Taiwanese president ___ Ing-wen : TSAI

Tsai Ing-wen was elected as Taiwan’s first female president in 2016. Tsai was also the nation’s first unmarried president.

42 Skinny : INFO

The use of the word “skinny”, meaning “information”, comes from WWII military slang for “the truth”. The term is probably a derivative of the expression “the naked truth”, which is evocative of “skinny-dipping”.

43 Bishop’s topper, to Brits : MITRE

A miter (also “mitre”) is a traditional headdress worn by bishops in some Christian traditions. The term “miter” comes from a Greek word for “headband, turban”.

45 “Be mindful when clicking,” in brief : NSFW

The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. It’s Internet slang used to describe online content that is best not viewed at work.

47 Queer community inits. : LGBT

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)

48 Currency once pegged to the U.S. dollar : CHINESE YUAN

Even though we generally refer to the currency of China as the “yuan”, the yuan is actually the basic unit of the “renminbi”. This is analogous to “sterling” being the official currency of the UK, with the “pound” being the basic unit of sterling.

57 “The Story of ___” (1975 film by François Truffaut) : ADELE H

“L’Histoire d’Adèle H.” (The Story of Adele H) is a French film released in 1975. It tells the story of Adèle Hugo, the daughter of writer Victor Hugo. The film was directed by an icon of French cinema, François Truffaut.

65 Iberian greeting : OLA!

The Iberian Peninsula in Europe is largely made up of Spain and Portugal. However, also included is the Principality of Andorra in the Pyrénées, a small part of the south of France, and the British Territory of Gibraltar. Iberia takes its name from the Ebro, the longest river in Spain, which the Romans named the “Iber”.

67 It flows from the Alps to the Mediterranean : RHONE

The Rhône river rises in Switzerland, passes through Lake Geneva, flows through the southeast of France, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea near Arles.

Down

1 With 58-Down, classic toy that dropped gendered titles in 2021 : POTATO …
58 See 1-Down : … HEAD

Mr. Potato Head (now just “Potato Head”) is an enduring and popular toy that has been around since its invention by George Lerner in 1949. In its original form, the toy was a collection of eyes, ears, and other facial features that were designed to be stuck into a real potato. Mr. Potato Head also has the distinction of being the first toy ever to be advertised on television.

6 Rap’s Lil ___ Vert : UZI

“Lil Uzi Vert” is the stage name of rapper Symere Woods from Philadelphia.

8 Ward of Hollywood : SELA

Sela Ward is an American actress who won Emmys for her role on the TV show “Sisters” in 1994 and for her role on “Once and Again” in 2000. She is a published author and released her autobiography “Homesick: A Memoir” in 2012.

9 — : EM DASH

In typography, there are em dashes and en dashes. The em dash is about the width of an “m” character, and an en dash about half that, the width of an “n’ character. An en dash is used, for example, to separate numbers designating a range, as in 5-10 years. The em dash seems to be going out of style, and indeed the application I am using to write this paragraph won’t let me show you one!

10 Kind of shoe for a ballerina : POINTE

“En pointe” is ballet dancing on the tips of the toes, and is a French term. A ballerina wears pointe shoes (sometimes “toe shoes”) to perform this delightful-looking, albeit unhealthy, feat (pun!).

16 Equipment for an Olympic slalom or sprint : CANOE

Canoe racing has been featured as a competition sport in the Summer Olympic Games since the 1936 Games in Berlin There are two disciplines of canoeing in competition: slalom and sprint. Slalom is an event in which competitors navigate a course of gates that are placed in a river. Sprint is an event in which competitors race over a fixed distance on a calm body of water.

17 Nirvana achiever : ARHAT

“Arhat” is a Sanskrit word, the exact translation of which is somewhat disputed, with the various Buddhist traditions assuming different meanings. Translations vary from “worthy one” to “vanquisher of enemies”. In Theravada Buddhism, an arhat is someone who is fully enlightened, has achieved nirvana.

22 The Outer Banks or the Jersey Shore, e.g. : COASTAL AREA

The Outer Banks are a 200-mile long chain of barrier islands lying just off the coast of North Carolina (and a small section of Virginia). The seas of the Outer Banks have a reputation as being very treacherous and so are nicknamed the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

“Jersey Shore” is the name given to the coastal region of the state of New Jersey. The most northerly stretch of “the Shore” is in Perth Amboy, a New Jersey city that falls within the New York metropolitan area. The most southerly part of the Shore is Cape May Point, which is also the southernmost point in New Jersey.

24 Winner of 10 World Series of Poker bracelets : PHIL IVEY

Phil Ivey is a World Poker Tour title winner considered by many to be the best all-around poker player in the world. Ivey has a couple of nicknames, one of which is “the Tiger Woods of Poker”.

34 Certain red, for short : ZIN

Zinfandel is one of my favorite red wine varietals. It amazes me that the rich and heavy red Zinfandel comes from the same grape as does the sweet White Zinfandel.

40 Bishop’s vestment : ALB

An alb is a white, neck-to-toe vestment worn by priests, usually with a rope cord around the waist. The term alb comes from “albus”, the Latin word for “white”.

55 Songwriter Barry who once had six consecutive #1 hits : GIBB

Barry Gibb was the oldest of the trio of brothers who made up the Bee Gees. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the second-most successful songwriter in history, after Paul McCartney.

57 Pulitzer-winning author whose name is found in nonconsecutive letters of “page turner” : AGEE

James Agee was a noted American film critic and screenwriter. Agee wrote an autobiographical novel “A Death in the Family” that won him his Pulitzer in 1958, albeit posthumously. He was also one of the screenwriters for the 1951 classic movie “The African Queen”.

60 Former title for 16-Across: Abbr. : HRH
[16A Queen consort starting in 2022 : CAMILLA]

His/Her Royal Highness (HRH)

62 Diarist Anaïs : NIN

Anaïs Nin was a French author who was famous for the journals that she wrote for over sixty years from the age of 11 right up to her death. Nin also wrote highly regarded erotica and cited D. H. Lawrence as someone from whom she drew inspiration. Nin was married to banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in 1923. Decades later in 1955, Nin married former actor Rupert Pole, even though she was still married to Guiler. Nin and Pole had their marriage annulled in 1966, but just for legal reasons, and they continued to live together as husband and wife until Nin passed away in 1977.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Enhance, in a way : PAD
4 Is against : ABUTS
9 Lead-in to -genesis : EPI-
12 A famous one begins “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” : ODE
13 Dustin’s sweetheart on “Stranger Things” : SUZIE
14 Palindromic family member : MOM
15 O-O-O part : -TAC-
16 Queen consort starting in 2022 : CAMILLA
18 Imitated : DID
19 What might come between May and December? : AGE GAP
21 Not widely known : ARCANE
23 Part of a furniture joint : TENON
24 Specialist in family medicine, in brief : PCP
27 Shade-tolerant perennial : HOSTA
28 Bone-related prefix : OSTEO-
29 “Woo-___!” : HOO
30 Made a contented sound : AAHED
31 Bank deposits? : SEDIMENTS
34 National park that’s home to the Narrows : ZION
37 Synonym found after deleting half the letters of EXHILARATE : ELATE
38 Taiwanese president ___ Ing-wen : TSAI
42 Skinny : INFO
43 Bishop’s topper, to Brits : MITRE
44 Feels bad : AILS
45 “Be mindful when clicking,” in brief : NSFW
46 Shaped like this puzzle’s subject : OVOID
47 Queer community inits. : LGBT
48 Currency once pegged to the U.S. dollar : CHINESE YUAN
51 Enthusiastic : KEEN
52 “Good answer!” : YES!
53 Colorless : DRAB
55 Apple Music heading : GENRES
57 “The Story of ___” (1975 film by François Truffaut) : ADELE H
59 Like the parts of this puzzle’s toy, as depicted throughout the grid : INTERCHANGEABLE
63 “Later!” : BYE!
64 Later : TARDIER
65 Iberian greeting : OLA!
66 Where tabs are kept : BAR
67 It flows from the Alps to the Mediterranean : RHONE
68 Made one’s mark? : XED

Down

1 With 58-Down, classic toy that dropped gendered titles in 2021 : POTATO …
2 “Better late than never” and “Better safe than sorry” : ADAGES
3 Dressed, say : DECENT
4 Urgent letters : ASAP
5 Bring down, with “out” : BUM …
6 Rap’s Lil ___ Vert : UZI
7 Dusk-dawn connector : TIL
8 Ward of Hollywood : SELA
9 — : EM DASH
10 Kind of shoe for a ballerina : POINTE
11 Cry from a goner : I’M DEAD!
16 Equipment for an Olympic slalom or sprint : CANOE
17 Nirvana achiever : ARHAT
20 Makes little progress : GOES NOWHERE
22 The Outer Banks or the Jersey Shore, e.g. : COASTAL AREA
24 Winner of 10 World Series of Poker bracelets : PHIL IVEY
25 Deeply asleep, hyperbolically : COMATOSE
26 They can be epic or lyric : POETRIES
32 Exceptionally driven sort : DEMON
33 Wanting : NEEDY
34 Certain red, for short : ZIN
35 Line-skipping assets : INS
36 Slightly misaligned : OFF-CENTER
39 Building that maintains train operations : SIGNAL BOX
40 Bishop’s vestment : ALB
41 Natural finish? : -IST
49 Not quick to react : INERT
50 Source of milk : UDDER
51 Olympic marathon powerhouse : KENYA
54 Detroit’s ___ Isle Park : BELLE
55 Songwriter Barry who once had six consecutive #1 hits : GIBB
56 Leave a mark : SCAR
57 Pulitzer-winning author whose name is found in nonconsecutive letters of “page turner” : AGEE
58 See 1-Down : … HEAD
60 Former title for 16-Across: Abbr. : HRH
61 Bother : ADO
62 Diarist Anaïs : NIN