0921-25 NY Times Crossword 21 Sep 25, Sunday

Bill’s time: 18m 18s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

17A. Locations in the game Clue : ROOMS

Clue is a board game that we knew under a different name growing up in Ireland. Outside of North America, Clue is marketed as “Cluedo”. Cluedo was the original name of the game, introduced in 1949 by the famous British board game manufacturer Waddingtons. There are cute differences between the US and UK versions. For example, the man who is murdered is called Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US), one of the suspects is the Reverend Green (Mr. Green in the US), and the suspect weapons include a dagger (a knife in the US), and a spanner (a wrench in the US). I think it’s a fabulous game, a must during the holidays …

19A. Grand duke of Luxembourg beginning in 2000 : HENRI

Luxembourg is a relatively small country in the middle of Europe that is just 1,000 square miles in area with a population of over half a million. The country is a representative democracy (just like the United Kingdom) and it has a constitutional monarch, namely Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. As such, Luxembourg is the only remaining sovereign Grand Duchy in the world.

23A. Traditional form of Japanese drama : KABUKI THEATER

Kabuki is a Japanese form of theater involving dance and drama. In the original Kabuki theater, both male and female parts were played by women. In contrast, the Noh dramas have the male and female parts played by men.

25A. Pro ___ : BONO

The Latin term “pro bono publico” means “for the public good”, and is usually shortened to “pro bono”. The term applies to professional work that is done for free or at a reduced fee as a service to the public.

30A. Far from conscious : IN A COMA

Our term “coma” comes from the Greek “koma” meaning “deep sleep”.

34A. 2012 Disney film set inside an arcade : WRECK-IT RALPH

“Wreck-It Ralph” is a 2012 animated movie from Disney. The title character is an arcade game villain who dreams of losing his bad guy image and becoming a hero.

38A. Lace protector : AGLET

An aglet is a plastic or metal sheath found on the end of a shoelace or perhaps a drawstring. The name “aglet” comes from the Old French word “aiguillette” meaning “needle”.

43A. The “me” of “Despicable Me” : GRU

The main protagonist in the “Despicable Me” movies is the supervillain Felonious Gru, usually referred to simply as “Gru”. Gru is voiced by Steve Carell.

52A. Longtime employer of Rachel Maddow : MSNBC

TV host and commentator Rachel Maddow hosted a radio version of “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Air America from 2005 until 2010. She started hosting a TV show of the same name on MSNBC in 2008, making her the first openly gay anchor to host a prime-time news program in the US. In 2018, Maddow was the co-creator of a “New York Times” crossword. And, I found it to be an excellent puzzle …

54A. Phases, to Taylor Swift : ERAS

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is a journey through her musical career, with each stage of the show representing a different “era” or album. Here’s the breakdown:

1. Lover
2. Fearless
3. Evermore
4. Reputation
5. Speak Now
6. Red
7. Folklore
8. 1989
9. Midnights

55A. Game with Indigenous origins : LACROSSE

Lacrosse is a game very much associated with the cultural tradition of the Iroquois people, and may have originated as early as the 12th century. The original games lasted all day long, and perhaps for two or three days, and were played as part of a ceremonial ritual. In the native language, the activity was referred to as “the Creator’s Game”. It was French Jesuit missionaries who coined the name “lacrosse”. In French, a “crosse” is a “stick with a curved end”.

58A. ___ Fighters (“Everlong” band) : FOO

Foo Fighters are described as an alternative rock band, one formed in 1994 by the drummer from Nirvana, Dave Grohl. The term “foo fighters” originally applied to unidentified flying objects reported by allied airmen during WWII. Spooky …

59A. Festive outdoor lighting options : TIKI TORCHES

A tiki torch is a bamboo torch that’s commonly used in Tiki culture. Tiki culture is a relatively modern invention dating from the 20th century, and is the experience created in Polynesian-style restaurants. The word “Tiki” is borrowed from Polynesia.

62A. Classic drinking “sport” : PONG

The game of beer pong is also known as “Beirut”. It apparently originated as a drinking game in the fraternities of Dartmouth College in the fifties, when it was played with paddles and a ping-pong net on a table. The origin of the “Beirut” name is less clear, but it probably was coined while the Lebanese Civil War was raging in the late seventies and eighties.

65A. “The Last Supper,” e.g. : MURAL

Leonardo da Vinci’s famous mural “The Last Supper” can be seen on an end wall of the dining hall in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. If you want to see the painting in person, you have to make a reservation ahead of time. And once you get there, you’re only allowed 15 minutes of viewing time. It’s very popular …

66A. Third-largest land animal : HIPPO

The name “hippopotamus” comes from the Greek for “river horse”. Hippos are the third-largest land mammals, after elephants and rhinos. The closest living relatives to hippos don’t even live on land. They are the whales and porpoises of the oceans.

68A. Pokémon enthusiast’s collection : CARDS

“Pokémon” is the second-biggest video game franchise in the world, second only to the “Mario” franchise. “Pokémon” is a contraction of “Pocket Monsters”.

69A. Puck’s king : OBERON

Oberon and Titania are the King and Queen of the Fairies in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

Puck (aka “Robin Goodfellow”) is a character in William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, one of the Fairies in the tale. One of Puck’s tasks in the storyline is to use love juice that is made from a flower that has been hit by cupid’s arrow. The magical juice is applied to the eyelids of someone sleeping, so that the person wakes and falls in love with the first living things he or she sees. Of course, Puck drops the love juice on the wrong character …

76A. Swanson on “Parks and Recreation” : RON

Ron Swanson is the boss, the director of the parks and recreation department on the NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation”. He is played by actor Nick Offerman.

77A. Game typically played in the dark : LASER TAG

The name “Laser Tag” is really a misnomer, as lasers are rarely used in the game. The “guns” actually send out infrared light, and not laser light, that is picked up by infrared detectors worn by the players.

80A. Muchas horas : DIAS

In Spanish, a “día” (day) comprises 24 “horas” (hours).

81A. “Was ___ blame?” : I TO

Nope …

82A. Bad spirit : GHOUL

Our word “ghoul” comes from the Arabic “ghul”, the name for an evil spirit that feeds on corpses.

84A. D.C. pro : NAT

If you attend a Washington Nationals baseball game, held in Nationals Park, you’ll see the Presidents Race in the middle of the fourth innings. Individuals dressed like seven former US presidents, each sporting a large and cartoonish head, have participated in the races over the years. Those runners are:

• George (Washington)
• Abe (Lincoln)
• Tom (Jefferson)
• Teddy (Roosevelt)
• Bill (Taft)
• Calvin (Coolidge)
• Herbie (Hoover)

87A. It gets bucks from Broncos : FORD

The Bronco is an SUV that was made by Ford from 1966 to 1996. O. J. Simpson was driving a white Ford Bronco in that famous low-speed chase by the LAPD that resulted in Simpson’s arrest.

90A. Reform Party founder : PEROT

Ross Perot graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1953, as president of his class. Perot served his 4-year commitment but then resigned his commission, apparently having become somewhat disillusioned with the navy. He was ranked number 101 on the Forbes 400 List of Richest Americans in 2012, and at that time was worth about $3.5 billion. Back in 1992, Perot ran as an independent candidate for US president. He founded the Reform Party in 1995, and ran as the Reform Party candidate for president in 1996.

95A. “The Silence of the Lambs” villain : LECTER

The top 5 movie villains in the American Film Institute’s list “100 Years … 100 Heroes & Villains” are:

1. Dr. Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs”
2. Norman Bates in “Psycho”
3. Darth Vader in “The Empire Strikes Back”
4. The Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz”
5. Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”

“The Silence of the Lambs” is a 1991 psychological drama based on a novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. Jodie Foster plays FBI trainee Clarice Starling, and Anthony Hopkins plays the creepy cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter. “The Silence of the Lambs” swept the Big Five Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay) for that year, being only the third movie ever to do so. The other two so honored were “It Happened One Night” (1934) and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975).

112A. Bite-size chocolate-covered wafers … or a hint to what’s found in five squares in this puzzle : KIT KAT MINIS

I grew up eating Kit Kat bars as a kid. The Kit Kat hit the shelves on the other side of the pond in the 1930s, but didn’t make it into US stores until the 1970s. I’ve seen new varieties of Kit Kat bars over in Britain and Ireland, such as an orange-flavored version. I’ve been told that there are even more varieties available in Japan.

114A. Croft of video games : LARA

Lara Croft was introduced to the world in 1996 as the main character in a pretty cool video game (or so I thought, back then) called “Tomb Raider”. Lara Croft moved to the big screen in 2001 and 2003, in two pretty awful movie adaptations of the game’s storyline. Angelina Jolie played Croft, and she did a very energetic job.

115A. ___ homo : ECCE

According to the Gospel of John, when Pilate presented a scourged and beaten Jesus to the crowd he used the words “Ecce homo”, Latin for “Behold the man”.

118A. TV host Cohen : ANDY

TV personality Andy Cohen had a decade-long career in broadcast journalism before he became a fixture of pop culture and reality television. He started as an intern at CBS News and spent ten years there, eventually becoming a senior producer for “The Early Show” and also worked as a producer for “48 Hours” and “CBS This Morning”. Those of us who see in the New Year with CNN know that Cohen has a decades-long friendship with broadcast journalist Anderson Cooper. They met in the 1990s when friends set them up on a (failed) blind date.

120A. “No man is an island” writer : DONNE

John Donne was one of England’s most celebrated poets, and was active at the start of the 17th century. He spent much of his life in poverty and even spent a short time in prison for having married his wife without procuring the appropriate permissions. After his release, his wife bore him 12 children in 16 years, passing away a few days after the twelfth child was born.

John Donne wrote a piece of prose called “Devotions upon Emergent Occasions”. One passage contains two phrases that are oft-quoted: “No man is an island”, and “for whom the bell tolls”.

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

Down

1D. Holiest locales in synagogues, traditionally : ARKS

The Torah ark is found in a synagogue, and is the ornamental container in which the Torah scrolls are stored. The word “Torah” best translates as “teaching” or “law”. The Torah ark is referred to as the “Aron Kodesh” in Hebrew, meaning “Holy Ark”.

3D. Tik-Tok in the Oz books, for one : ROBOT

The Land of Oz is a fantasy world that was created by L. Frank Baum and introduced in 1900 in his children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. Such was the success of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, that Baum ended up writing a total of 14 novels in his “Land of Oz” series:

1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
2. The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)
3. Ozma of Oz (1907)
4. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908)
5. The Road to Oz (1909)
6. The Emerald City of Oz (1910)
7. The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913)
8. Tik-Tok of Oz (1914)
9. The Scarecrow of Oz (1915)
10. Rinkitink in Oz (1916)
11. The Lost Princess of Oz (1917)
12. The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918)
13. The Magic of Oz (1919)
14. Glinda of Oz (1920)

5D. 1995 Sandra Bullock cyberthriller : THE NET

“The Net” is a very entertaining thriller movie starring Sandra Bullock as a computer expert who gets involved with some cyberterrorists who steal her identity.

Actress Sandra Bullock is the daughter of a part-time voice coach (her father) and an opera singer and voice coach (her mother). Her father was an American soldier stationed in Nuremberg in Germany when he met his German wife. Sandra Bullock’s maternal grandfather was a rocket scientist working in Nuremberg.

6D. “V for Vendetta” actor Stephen : REA

Stephen Rea is an actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His most successful role was Fergus in 1992’s “The Crying Game”, for which performance he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. In “The Crying Game”, Fergus was a member of the IRA. In real life, Rea was married to IRA bomber and hunger striker Dolours Price at the time he made the movie.

“V for Vendetta” is a 2006 movie based on the political thriller graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. The film stars Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman and Stephen Rea. Two other Moore novels made it to the big screen: “From Hell” and “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”.

9D. Dubbed ones : SIRS

Kneel, and a monarch might “dub thee a knight” if you’re lucky. “Dub” is a specific term derived from Old English that was used to mean “make a knight”. As the knight was also given a knightly name at the same time, “dub” came to mean “give someone a name”.

13D. Programs hosted by SoundCloud : PODCASTS

Soundcloud is a German company that allows users to upload and share audio files online, with most of the distributed content being music. Based in Berlin, the website was launched in 2008 by two Swedish entrepreneurs.

14D. Happy hour perch : STOOL

I personally think that Happy Hour is best enjoyed shaken, not stirred; and with a good crossword …

16D. Rabbi’s reading : TORAH

The Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, are traditionally believed to have been written by Moses. As such, they are sometimes referred to as the Law of Moses, or Mosaic Law. Those five books are:

• Bereshit/Genesis
• Shemot/Exodus
• Vayikra/Leviticus
• Bamidbar/Numbers
• Devarim/Deuteronomy

21D. Breaded, fried Japanese pork cutlet : TONKATSU

Tonkatsu is a dish from Japanese cuisine consisting of a breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet. It originated in the late 1800s, and is based on côtelette de veau, a veal cutlet coated in breadcrumbs and fried from French cuisine.

33D. Oscar-winning Ariana of “West Side Story” : DEBOSE

Actress Ariana DeBose’s breakthrough role was the lead in the jukebox musical “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical”, which opened on Broadway in 2018. She reached a wider audience playing Anita in the 2021 film adaptation of the musical “West Side Story”. That performance won her the season’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

“West Side Story” is a 2021 musical film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second big-screen adaptation of the original 1957 stage musical, following the hit 1961 film of the same name. Rita Mareno has a major supporting role (Valentina) in the 2021 film, and won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role (Anita) in the 1961 film.

39D. 1958 romantic comedy that won Best Picture : GIGI

“Gigi” is a very popular 1958 musical film starring Leslie Caron in the title role. The movie’s screenplay is based on a 1944 novella of the same name by French author Colette. Colette’s “Gigi” was also adapted into a 1951 stage play by Anita Loos, in which Audrey Hepburn played the title role in the original Broadway production.

47D. St. Andrews resident : SCOT

The modern game of golf originated in Scotland in the 15th century. The first written record of golf is actually a banning of the game, by King James II in 1457. King James IV was a fan of golf, and so lifted the ban in 1502. The venerated Old Course at St. Andrews dates back to 1574. The first golf club established in the US was in Yonkers, New York in 1888. That first club was also named St. Andrews.

49D. Esoteric knowledge : ARCANA

Arcana are deep secrets or mysteries. “Arcana” is from the Latin adjective “arcanum” meaning “secret, hidden”.

50D. Roald who wrote “Matilda” : DAHL

Roald Dahl’s name is Norwegian. Dahl’s parents were from Norway, although Dahl himself was Welsh. Dahl became one of the most successful authors of the twentieth century. Two of his most famous titles are “James and the Giant Peach” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.

“Matilda” is a children’s novel by Welsh author Roald Dahl. Hero of the piece is an extraordinary little girl called Matilda Wormwood.

52D. Members of the mongoose family : MEERKATS

The meerkat (also called “suricate”) is a mongoose-like mammal that is native to parts of Africa including the Kalahari and Namib Deserts

54D. Jazz composer Garner : ERROLL

Erroll Garner was a jazz pianist and composer. Garner’s most famous composition by far is 1954’s “Misty”, which is now a jazz standard.

57D. Go after, as mosquitoes : SWAT AT

“Mosquito” is Spanish for “little fly”. The female mosquito actually has to have a “blood meal” before she is able to lay her eggs. Mosquitoes are sometimes referred to as “skeeters”.

60D. Graham Greene’s “___ Man in Havana” : OUR

“Our Man in Havana” is a marvelously entertaining novel by Graham Greene, first published in 1958. It’s all about a British vacuum cleaner salesman who lives in Havana, Cuba. The salesman is recruited by the British secret service, and then sends fake information to London, just to get paid. The novel was adapted into a fabulous film of the same name in 1959, starring Alec Guinness.

64D. Public health agcy. : CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC started out life during WWII as the Office of National Defense Malaria Control Activities. The CDC worries about much more than malaria these days …

68D. Several CBS dramas : CSIS

You might be aware that the theme songs used by the three “CSI” television shows are numbers written and performed by the Who. The first choice for the “CSI: NY” theme was “Behind Blue Eyes”, but this was changed at the last minute to “Baba O’Riley”.

69D. United Way and UNICEF, in brief : ORGS

The United Nations Children’s Fund is known by the acronym UNICEF because the organization’s original name when it was founded in 1946 was the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. The original focus of the fund was to provide relief to children in countries that had been devastated by WWII. UNICEF is supported by contributions from governments, but also by individual donors. One of the more successful programs for collecting private donations is the Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box that has been a tradition here in North America since 1950.

70D. ___-chic (dressing style) : BOHO

Boho-chic is a style of fashion that grew out of the bohemian and hippie looks.

71D. It incited a famous 18th-century “party” : TEA ACT

The famous destruction of tea in Boston Harbor to protest against the Tea Act took place on December 16, 1773. The action was referred to as the “destruction of the tea” for decades, and it wasn’t until 1834 that the term “Boston Tea Party” first appeared in print.

74D. To be, in Nice : ETRE

The French city of Nice is on the Mediterranean coast in the southeast of the country. Although Nice is only the fifth most populous city in France, it is home to the busiest airport outside of Paris. That’s because of all the tourists flocking to the French Riviera. Something described as “à la niçoise” is “of Nice”.

79D. Neighbor of Lux. : GER

The country that we know in English as “Germany” is known as “Deutschland” in German. The name “Germany” comes from “Germania”, which is the Latin name that Julius Caesar gave to the peoples located east of the Rhine. The name “Deutschland” comes from an Old High German word meaning “land belonging to the people”.

83D. Gannett-owned newspaper : USA TODAY

The title of the widest circulation of any American newspaper is an honor competed for by “The Wall Street Journal”, “The New York Times” and “USA Today”, with each paper selling between 2 and 11 million copies each day (including online subscribers). “USA Today” was launched in 1982.

91D. Jeans : DENIMS

Denim fabric originated in Nîmes in France. The French phrase “de Nîmes” (meaning “from Nîmes”) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (meaning “blue of Genoa”) gives us our word “jeans”.

93D. ___ Talks : TED

The acronym “TED” stands for “Technology, Entertainment and Design”. TED is a set of conferences held around the world by a non-profit group called the Sapling Foundation. The conference subjects are varied, and the meetings are often led by big names such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates and Jane Goodall. The Sapling Foundation then makes recordings of the conferences available for free online with the intent of disseminating the ideas globally. These conferences are known as “TED Talks”. There are also TEDx events, which are locally-run talks presented under license from TED.

96D. Music protector, of a sort : CD CASE

It seems that the derivation of the term “jewel case” (CD box) is unclear. One suggestion is that initial prototypes weren’t very successful, so when a workable design was found it was dubbed the “jewel” case.

99D. What the “dalai” of “Dalai Lama” translates to : OCEAN

The Dalai Lama is a religious leader in the Gelug branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th to hold the office. He has indicated that the next Dalai Lama might be found outside of Tibet for the first time, and may even be female.

101D. Insurer with a green mascot : GEICO

Gecko is the “spokes-lizard” for GEICO. When Gecko was introduced in 1999, he was voiced by actor Kelsey Grammer of “Cheers” and “Frasier” fame. Since then, Gecko has been voiced by British radio presenter Dave Kelly and most recently by actor Jake Wood, who plays Max Branning on the British soap opera “EastEnders”.

102D. Justice Sotomayor : SONIA

Sonia Sotomayor was the first Hispanic justice appointed to the US Supreme Court, and the third female justice. Sotomayor was nominated by President Barack Obama to replace the retiring Justice David Souter in 2009. She is the subject of a picture book in the series “Ordinary People Change the World” by Brad Meltzer. “I Am Sonia Sotomayor” was published in 2018.

113D. Barbie’s beau : KEN

Barbie’s male counterpart doll is Ken, and Ken’s family name is Carson. Barbie’s full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. When Ken was introduced in 1959, it was as Barbie’s boyfriend. In 2004 it was announced that Ken and Barbie were splitting up, and needed to spend quality time apart. Soon after the split, Barbie “met” Blaine, a boogie boarder from Australia. Happily, Barbie and Ken reconciled and reunited on Valentine’s Day 2011.