0309-26 NY Times Crossword 9 Mar 26, Monday

Bill’s time: 5m 29s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Constellation word before Major or Minor : URSA

The constellation Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called “the Big Dipper” because of the resemblance of its main stars to a ladle or dipper. Those stars also resemble a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland the “Plough”.

Ursa Minor (Latin for “Smaller Bear”) sits right beside the constellation Draco (Latin for “Dragon”). Ursa Minor used to be considered the wing of Draco, and was once called “Dragon’s Wing”. The tail of the “Smaller Bear” might also be considered as the handle of a ladle, and so the constellation is often referred to as the Little Dipper.

13A Western defense grp. : NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded not long after WWII in 1949 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The first NATO Secretary General was Lord Ismay, Winston Churchill’s chief military assistant during WWII. Famously, Lord Ismay said the goal of NATO was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

14A “I ___ been a contender …” : COULDA

Here are the top five in the American Film Institute’s list titled “100 Years…100 Movie Quotes”, published in 2005:

1. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” (Gone with the Wind – 1939)
2. “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” (The Godfather – 1972)
3. “You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” (On the Waterfront – 1954)
4. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” (The Wizard of Oz – 1939)
5. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” (Casablanca – 1942)

15A Lead-in to natal or nuptial : PRE-

Our word “nuptial” is an adjective meaning “of marriage, of the wedding ceremony”. The term derives from “nuptiae”, the Latin for “wedding, marriage”.

16A *Outdoor sport with sticks (1979, 1984) : FIELD HOCKEY

The term “field” hockey is used primarily in North America, differentiating the sport from “ice” hockey. Elsewhere in the world, field hockey is known simply as “hockey”. By the way, field hockey is Pakistan’s national sport.

25A *Period for Fred, Wilma and Pebbles (2016, 2023) : STONE AGE

The famous animated children’s show “The Flintstones” is set in the fictional prehistoric town of Bedrock, which is the county seat of Cobblestone County. One of the local TV stations is ABC (Abbadabba Broadcasting Company), on which you can see “The Ed Sulleystone Show”. Graduates from Bedrock High School might move on to attend Princestone University or Shale University, both of which are schools in the Poison Ivy League.

31A Ernest Hemingway’s “To Have and Have ___” : NOT

Ernest Hemingway moved around a lot. He was born in Illinois, and after leaving school headed to the Italian front during WWI. There he served as an ambulance driver, an experience he used as inspiration for “A Farewell to Arms”. He returned to the US after being seriously wounded, but a few years later moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent. He covered the Spanish War as a journalist, from Spain, using this experience for “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. During the thirties and forties he had two permanent residences, one in Key West, Florida and one in Cuba. In the late fifties he moved to Ketchum, Idaho, where he committed suicide in 1961.

43A Double-decker, e.g. : BUS

The red double-decker bus has become a national symbol of England, and is particularly associated with the London transport system. I am proud to say that my godfather was a London bus driver for many years.

55A Zimbalist Jr. of “77 Sunset Strip” : EFREM

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was mainly known as a television actor, particularly for his starring roles in the classic shows “77 Sunset Strip” and “The FBI”. He had very famous parents: violinist and conductor Efrem Zimbalist Sr. and operatic soprano Alma Gluck. He also had a famous daughter: actress Stephanie Zimbalist. For several years, Zimbalist Jr. was closely associated with televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and served on the PTL ministry’s board.

I used to watch “77 Sunset Strip” as a lad growing up in Ireland. It is an American show that ran from 1958 to 1964. Two of the central characters are former government secret agents, now working as private detectives. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. plays Stu Bailey, and Roger Smith plays Jeff Spencer. And who can forget Kookie, played by Edd Byrnes? Years later, Byrnes played smooth-talking TV dance show host Vince Fontaine in the 1978 movie “Grease”.

56A Plastic Ono Band’s “Happy ___ (War Is Over)” : XMAS

The Plastic Ono Band was a so-called “super-group”, brought together by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969. Members of the group included John and Yoko, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Keith Moon.

58A Network for “The Wire” and “Euphoria” : HBO

I didn’t watch the HBO series called “The Wire” when it first aired. We ended up buying all five series on DVD and we watched the whole thing many years ago. It is a great drama series, and I thoroughly recommend it.

“Euphoria” is an HBO teen drama show that is loosely based on a miniseries of the same name from Israel. The lead actress in the show is Zendaya, who plays a recovering teenage drug addict.

59A Birthplace of the bossa nova, informally : RIO

Bossa nova is a style of music from Brazil that evolved from samba. The most famous piece of bossa nova is the song “The Girl from Ipanema”. The term “bossa nova” translates from Portuguese as “new trend”, or more colloquially as “new wave”.

65A Baltimore baseball pro : ORIOLE

The Baltimore Orioles (also the O’s, the Birds) are one of the eight charter teams of MLB’s American League, so the franchise dates back to 1901. Prior to 1901, the team had roots in the Minor League Milwaukee Brewers, and indeed entered the American League as the Brewers. In 1902 the Brewers moved to St. Louis and became the Browns. The team didn’t fare well in St. Louis, so when it finally relocated to Baltimore in the early fifties the team changed its name completely, to the Baltimore Orioles. The owners so badly wanted a fresh start that they traded 17 old Browns players with the New York Yankees. The trade didn’t help the team’s performance on the field in those early days, but it did help distance the new team from its past.

66A Colorful body part … or a colorful flower : IRIS

The iris is the colored part of the eye. It has an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.

Iris is a genus of flowering plants that come in a wide variety of flower colors. The term “iris” is a Greek word meaning “rainbow”. Many species of irises are called “flags”. One suggestion is that the alternate name comes from the Middle English “flagge” meaning “reed”. This term was used because iris leaves look like reeds.

67A “___ gratia artis” (classic MGM motto) : ARS

It seems that the phrase “art for art’s sake” has its origins in France in the nineteenth century, where the slogan is expressed as “l’art pour l’art”. The Latin version “Ars gratia artis” came much later, in 1924. That’s when MGM’s publicist chose it for the studio’s logo, sitting under Leo the lion. Who’d a thunk it?

69A Heredity unit : GENE

A gene is a section of a chromosome that is responsible for a particular characteristic in an organism. For example, one gene may determine eye color and another balding pattern. We have two copies of each gene, one from each of our parents, with each copy known as an allele.

Down

2D ___ Bran : RAISIN

The name of the cereal “Raisin Bran” is not trademark protected. The Skinner Manufacturing Company introduced Raisin Bran in 1926, and did have trademark protection until 1944. At that time, an appeals court ruled that “Raisin-BRAN” should not be considered a trademark as it is merely a description of the cereal’s ingredients.

3D Bobby, Peter or Greg, to Carol Brady : STEPSON

In the TV show “The Brady Bunch”, the mom is Carol Brady, formerly Carol Martin, played by Florence Henderson. The dad is Mike Brady, played by Robert Reed.

6D Partner of nips : TUCKS

The phrase “nip and tuck” means “closely contested”, as in “it was nip and tuck until the final days of the campaign”. The phrase is also used to describe a skin-tightening cosmetic surgery procedure.

9D Ancient Central American pyramid builders : MAYANS

The Mayan civilization held sway in Central America and Mexico from about 350 AD, until the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s.

14D Grandfather clock sound : CHIME

There are several sizes of longcase clocks, tall and freestanding clocks driven by a pendulum swinging inside a tower below the clock face. A longcase clock over 6 feet tall is called a grandfather, and one below five feet is a granddaughter, one that falls between five and six feet is known as a grandmother. The name of the clock derives from an 1876 song called “My Grandfather’s Clock”.

17D Piquant triangular chip : DORITO

The product that was to become Doritos was a creation at the Casa de Fritos in Disneyland in the early sixties. A marketing executive from Frito-Lay noticed how well the snack was selling in the park, and made a deal to produce the chips under the name “Doritos”, starting in 1964. “Doritos” is a made-up brand name intended to sound like “little golden things”, or “doradito”.

Something that is piquant is pleasantly sharp in taste and zesty. “Piquant” is the French word for “prickly”.

26D Small castle tower : TURRET

A turret is a small tower, with the word “turret” coming to us from Latin via French. The French word is “tourette” meaning “small tower” (small “tour”).

27D Guest opinion column : OP-ED

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

29D Corkscrew-shaped pasta : ROTINI

Rotini is a corkscrew-shaped pasta that is often used in pasta salads. Even though “rotini” sounds like it comes from a word meaning “twist, rotate”, the word “rotini” doesn’t exist in Italian other than as the name for the pasta.

33D Opal or ruby : GEM

97% of the world’s opals come from Australia, so it’s no surprise perhaps that the opal is the national gemstone of the country. The state of South Australia provides the bulk of the world’s production, i.e. about 80%. White, gray and green opals are the most common varieties found, and black opals the rarest.

Ruby is a precious stone made from the mineral corundum, also called aluminum oxide. The corundum includes some of the element chromium, which results in the red or pink color.

37D Double-reed woodwind player : OBOIST

A double-reed instrument is one in which two pieces of cane vibrate against each other to produce sound. In a single-reed instrument, just one piece of cane vibrates the mouthpiece. The best-known examples of double-reed instruments are the oboe and the bassoon.

38D Biceps, boastfully : GUNS

The biceps muscle is made up of two bundles of muscle, both of which terminate at the same point near the elbow. The heads of the bundles terminate at different points on the scapula or shoulder blade. “Biceps” is Latin for “two-headed”.

39D Canadian province north of Montana : ALBERTA

Alberta (Alta.) is a big province, one about the size of Texas. It is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Princess Louise also donated her name to Lake Louise, the large glacial lake in the province, now within the bounds of Banff National Park.

41D Bugs Bunny’s supply : CARROTS

Bugs Bunny debuted in the 1940 animated short “A Wild Hare”. Since then, Bugs has appeared in more films than any other cartoon character.

54D Group assisting a sheriff : POSSE

Our word “posse” comes from an Anglo-Latin term from the early 15th century “posse comitatus” meaning “the force of the county”

62D Caesar of old comedy : SID

Sid Caesar achieved fame in the fifties on TV’s “Your Show of Shows”. To be honest, I know Sid Caesar mainly from the very entertaining film version of the musical “Grease”, in which he played Coach Calhoun.

63D 18-wheeler : RIG

An 18-wheeler semi-trailer truck has eight wheels under the trailer, i.e. four on each of the two rear axles. There are 10 wheels under the tractor unit. Two of the ten wheels are on the front axle, and eight are on the rear two axles that sit under the front of the trailer.