0924-25 NY Times Crossword 24 Sep 25, Wednesday

Bill’s time: 10m 29s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Domino features : PIPS

White masks with black spots were commonly seen in the old Venetian Carnival. The masks were known as “domini”. The domini loaned their name to the game of dominoes, due to the similarity in appearance between the mask and a domino tile.

14A MacDowell of “Groundhog Day” : ANDIE

Andie MacDowell is an American actress who seems to turn up in quite a few British productions set in that part of the world. Most famously she was the love interest in the fabulous film “Four Weddings and a Funeral” starring opposite Hugh Grant. I also enjoyed another of her movies, “Groundhog Day”, which is a fun tale set back here in the US.

“Groundhog Day” is a 1993 comedy film that has already become a classic. The star of the movie is Bill Murray, with Andie MacDowell putting in a great supporting performance. “Groundhog Day” is set in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania although it was actually filmed in the town of Woodstock, Illinois.

17A Participate in a blindside on “Survivor,” say : VOTE

The reality show “Survivor” is based on a Swedish television series created in 1997 called “Expedition Robinson”. The American “Survivor” is widely considered as the leading reality TV show. It was the first highly-rated reality TV offering to become very profitable.

18A Dance craze named for a Southern city : CHARLESTON

The Charleston dance has its roots in Charleston, South Carolina. It almost certainly evolved from an African American dance called “The Walk Around”, that dates back to the early 1900s. The Charleston’s popularity exploded after it was included in a 1923 Broadway show “Runnin’ Wild”.

23A Cannonball Adderley’s musical instrument, informally : SAX

Cannonball Adderley was an alto-sax player whose heyday was in the fifties and sixties. Adderley picked up the nickname “Cannonball” in high school as apparently he was a big eater. Go figure …

27A “Odyssey” figure with many suitors : PENELOPE

According to Homer’s epic poem “Odyssey”, Penelope was the wife of Odysseus. Penelope found herself having to fend off a total of 108 suitors while Odysseus was away on his 20-year journey, but she remained loyal to her husband. In fact, when Odysseus returned, he disguised himself as a beggar in order to spy on his wife and determine if she had indeed been faithful to him.

36A Affectionate sign-off : XOX

In the sequence letter sequence “X-O-X”, the X represents a kiss, and the O a hug. “O-O-O” is a string of hugs, and “X-X-X” a string of kisses. Hugs and kisses …

38A What’s heard exactly twice in a lifetime? : LONG I

The two letters I in the word “lifetime” are long letters I.

40A The Emerald Isle : EIRE

Ireland is often referred to as “the Emerald Isle” (and described as “green”). There is a common misconception that the association with the color green is because of all that green grass that grows due to the seemingly non-stop rain. However, the use of green has more political overtones, as it is associated with many of the rebellions against British colonial rule over the centuries.

41A Tabs with psychedelic properties : LSD

The drug LSD is often sold impregnated into blotting paper. The paper blotter is usually divided into squares with ¼-inch sides, with each square referred to as a “tab”.

43A Soft volleyball hits : DINKS

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.

44A Jazz genre for Cannonball Adderley : BOP

“Bop” is a shortened form of “bebop”, the name of a jazz style that dates back to the early 1940s. “Bebop” probably came from “Arriba! Arriba!”, which were words of encouragement uttered by Latin-American bandleaders to their musicians.

48A James of “The Godfather” : CAAN

James Caan was an actor from the Bronx, New York City. He was noted for his appearances in some very big movies such as “The Godfather”, “Misery”, “A Bridge Too Far”, “Rollerball” and more recently “Elf”. Caan was quite the sportsman. He played golf with an 8 handicap, and was a 6-Dan Black Belt Master of Gosoku Karate.

50A Thailand, once : SIAM

“Siam” was the official name of Thailand up to 1939 (and again from 1945 to 1949).

51A A.L. West team, on scoreboards : LAA

The Anaheim Angels baseball team is today more correctly called the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (LAA). The “Angels” name dates back to 1961 when the team was founded in the “City of Angels”, Los Angeles. When the franchise moved to Anaheim in 1965 they were known as the California Angels, then the Anaheim Angels, and most recently the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels are also known as “the Halos”.

59A Taunt that may follow a failed gullibility test : MADE YA LOOK

A gull is someone easily cheated, a dupe. The term “gull” gave rise to the word “gullible”, which is in common use today. Did you know that the word “gullible” doesn’t appear in any reputable online dictionaries? Really! Go check!

62A ___ impasse : AT AN

“Impasse” is a French word describing a blind alley or an impassable road, and we use the term to mean “stalemate”.

63A Put off for now : TABLE

These “tabling” and “shelving” idioms drive me crazy, because they are often misused. If a topic is shelved, it is set aside. If a topic is tabled, it is brought “off the shelf” and put “on the table” for discussion. I know that language evolves, but I think that it should at least make sense …

Down

1D Viola of “The Woman King” : DAVIS

Actress Viola Davis is possibly best known on the small screen for playing the lead in the drama “How to Get Away with Murder”. On the big screen, I’d say that her most famous role is the starring role in the 2011 film “The Help”. Davis is one of the few EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) and is the only African-American to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (a competitive Oscar, Emmy and Tony).

3D Wrinkle smoother : BOTOX

Here’s a little bit of trivia: the “Botox capital of the world” is the town of Westport in the west of Ireland. Almost all of the Botox used worldwide is manufactured in the Allergan facility located there.

4D Part of a flight : STEP

A landing is the area at the top and bottom of a staircase. Apparently, we call the steps between the landings a “flight” of stairs, because one “flies” between landings! Can that be true?

7D Smooching on a park bench, e.g., for short : PDA

Public display of affection (PDA)

8D One who’s given many instructions nowadays : SIRI

Siri was originally developed as a standalone app by a startup company of the same name. Apple acquired the company in 2010 and integrated the technology into their operating system.

19D 2011 Peace Nobelist ___ Johnson Sirleaf : ELLEN

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected President of Liberia in 2005, and re-elected in 2011. She was the first elected female head of state in the continent of Africa. Sirleaf was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work to protect women and women’s rights.

21D Word aptly hidden in “unspoiled enclave” : EDEN

An enclave is a portion of a country, or sometimes a whole country, that is completely surrounded by another. Examples are Vatican City and San Marino, both enclaved by Italy, and Lesotho enclaved by South Africa.

25D Lightheaded sorts? : BLONDES

I speak a little French (very badly) so have trouble with the usage of “blond” and “blonde” in English. Both are French words, with the “blonde” spelling applying to all feminine usages in that language. In American English, we only use the “blonde” spelling when using the term as a noun, when referring to a female with light-colored hair. We use the “blond” spelling for all adjectives and in compound verbs, e.g. “blond women”, “women deciding to go blond”.

29D Least-populous Canadian province: Abbr. : PEI

Prince Edward Island (PEI) is a maritime Canadian province. The island at the center of the province was named for Prince Edward, the fourth son of King George III and the father of Queen Victoria. PEI is the smallest Canadian province, both in terms of land area and population.

31D Ones paying or receiving alimony : EXES

Alimony is a payment made by one spouse to another for support after a legal separation. The term “alimony” derives from the Latin “alimonia”, meaning “nourishment, food, support”.

32D Future amaryllis, e.g. : BULB

Daffodils are more properly called narcissus plants, and are a whole genus in the Amaryllis family. Ancient Greeks believe that after the god Narcissus died (while obsessed with his reflection in a pool), his remains were turned into the Narcissus flower, hence the name. Back in Britain and Ireland, the daffodil is most famous as the national flower of Wales. It is also remembered for its appearance in Wordsworth’s poem:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

34D Colorful ring-tailed mammals of Asia : RED PANDAS

The red panda is a relatively small mammal with reddish-brown fur and white fur highlighting features on his head. A native of the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, it is not closely related to the giant panda, and instead is related to the raccoon, weasel and skunk.

38D Spy novelist Deighton : LEN

I used to walk my dog right past author Len Deighton’s house years ago, as we lived in the same seaside village in Ireland (probably my only claim to “fame”). Deighton wrote the excellent espionage thriller “The IPCRESS File”, which was made into a 1965 movie starring Michael Caine.

39D Most-populous Canadian province: Abbr. : ONT

The Canadian province of Ontario takes its name from the Great Lake. In turn, Lake Ontario’s name is thought to be derived from “Ontari:io”, a Huron word meaning “great lake”. Ontario is home to the nation’s capital of Ottawa as well as Toronto, Canada’s most populous city (and the capital of the province).

40D Festival at the end of Ramadan, informally : EID

Eid al-Fitr is a religious holiday in the Muslim tradition that is known in English as the “Festival of Breaking the Fast”. It marks the end of Ramadan, a period of dawn-to-sunset fasting.

46D Swiss cough drop brand : RICOLA

Ricola is a Swiss brand of cough drops and breath mints.

47D Squealed: Var. : NARKED

Back in the 1800s, “to nark” was “to act as a police informer”. The spelling of the term has started to evolve into “to narc”, due to the influence of the noun “narc”, slang for a narcotics officer. The ”nark” spelling is still used on the other side of the Atlantic.

51D Hurdles for future J.D.s : LSATS

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

52D Nestlé bars filled with tiny bubbles : AEROS

I must admit to having a weakness for Aero chocolate bars. Aero was introduced by Rowntree’s in the North of England in 1935. The “aero” name is a reference to the chocolate’s “bubbly” texture.

60D U.K. award : OBE

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry in the UK that was established in 1917 by King George V. There are five classes within the order, which are in descending seniority:

• Knight Grand Cross (GBE)
• Knight Commander (KBE)
• Commander (CBE)
• Officer (OBE)
• Member (MBE)