0509-26 NY Times Crossword 9 May 26, Saturday

Bill’s time: 17m 38s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Gold meddlers? : ALCHEMISTS

One of the main goals of the ancient practice of alchemy was to change base metals into gold, a process known as transmutation.

16A ___ paratha (potato-filled flatbread) : ALOO

Paratha is an unleavened flatbread from the Indian subcontinent that is made using a whole wheat dough. It is a thick, layered bread in which the individual folds of dough have been coated with ghee or oil.

18A Place for a post : BLOG

Many folks who visit this website regard it as just that, a website. That is true, but more specifically it is referred to as a blog, as I make regular posts (actually daily posts) that then occupy the “front page” of the site. The blog entries are in reverse chronological order, and one can just look back day-by-day, reading older and older posts. “Blog” is a contraction of the term “web log”.

19A Dr. J, for all of his N.B.A. career : SIXER

The Philadelphia 76ers basketball team is one of the oldest franchises in the NBA. The “Sixers” were formed in 1946 as the Syracuse Nationals. The team moved to Philadelphia in 1963, and the name 76er was chosen in a fan contest, a name that honors the men who fought for the country’s independence in 1776.

Julius Erving is a retired professional basketball player who is known as “Dr. J”, a nickname he picked up in high school. Dr. J was a trailblazer in many ways, being the first player associated with slam dunking and other moves above the rim.

21A Husky hellos? : ARFS!

The Siberian Husky is one of the oldest breeds of dog, and originated in northern Asia. Siberian Huskies were imported into Alaska in great numbers in the early 1900s for use as sled dogs during the gold rush.

24A Low-level clouds : STRATI

Stratus (plural “strati”) clouds are very common, and as they are wider than they are tall and flat along the bottom, we might just see them as haze in a featureless sky above us. Stratus clouds are basically the same as fog, but some distance above the ground. Indeed, many stratus clouds are formed when morning fog lifts into the air as the ground heats up.

26A Central Plains nation governed by the Nasharo Council : PAWNEE

The Pawnee people, now of Oklahoma, refer to themselves in the Pawnee language as “Chaticks si Chaticks” meaning “Men of Men”.

33A Black-and-white debut of 1912 : OREO

National Oreo Cookie Day is March 6th each year. There is an urban legend that the particular day was chosen as this was the day that the name “Oreo” was registered as a trademark. However, that’s not the case. The application was filed on March 14, 1912, and registration took place on August 12, 1913. The suggestion is that the first Oreos went on sale on March 6, 1912.

41A Fragrant compound released during fermentation : ESTER

Esters are very common chemicals. The smaller, low-molecular-weight esters are usually pleasant smelling and are often found in perfumes. At the other end of the scale, the higher-molecular-weight nitroglycerin is a nitrate ester and is very explosive, and polyester is a huge molecule and is a type of plastic. Fats and oils found in nature are fatty acid esters of glycerol known as glycerides.

42A Pomegranate morsel : ARIL

The casing surrounding many seeds is called the aril, and it may be quite fleshy. This fruit-like characteristic makes it desirable as a food and hence aids in the dispersion of the seeds.

The name of the fruit called a “pomegranate” comes from the Latin “pomum” meaning “apple” and “granatum” meaning “seeded”.

43A Certain razorback : BOAR

A feral pig is a wild pig that is descended from domesticated pigs that have escaped captivity. Here in North America, we often use the terms “razorback” and “wild hog” to describe both feral pigs and true wild boar.

49A ___ paratha (cheese-filled flatbread) : PANEER

Paneer is a South Asian cheese, most commonly encountered in Indian dishes here in North America. Paneer is a “fresh” cheese, one that is made just before it is consumed.

Paratha is an unleavened flatbread from the Indian subcontinent that is made using a whole wheat dough. It is a thick, layered bread in which the individual folds of dough have been coated with ghee or oil.

51A Great find in the candy aisle, by the sound of it : SKOR

The candy bar named “Skor” is produced by Hershey’s. “Skor” is Swedish for “shoes”, and the candy bar’s wrapping features a crown that is identical to that found in the Swedish national emblem. What shoes have to do with candy, I don’t know …

54A “I could be wrong, but …,” for short : IMHO…

In my humble opinion (IMHO)

56A Tropical ring : ATOLL

An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring that encloses a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically, an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside inside the circling coral reef.

62A 2000 parody of a 62-Across : SCARY MOVIE

“Scary Movie” is one of those parody movies, and is a film released in 2000 that pokes fun at famous horror films. It was advertised with the tagline “No mercy. No shame. No sequel”. The “no sequel” reference was a parody in itself, making fun of the fact that slasher movies in particular were made into strings of sequels. But there was to be a sequel to “Scary Movie”, in fact several. “Scary Movie 2” came out in 2001, with the tagline “We lied”.

Down

1D ___ Kitchen, brand of organic foods since 1987 : AMY’S

Amy’s Kitchen is a company making organic and easy-to-prepare frozen food, all of which is vegetarian. The company was founded in 1987 by Andy and Rachel Berliner, and Amy is their daughter.

2D Name of a pope and a Roman emperor whose terms of leadership overlapped : LEO I

The first pope named Leo is now known as Pope Saint Leo the Great. Leo I is famous for meeting with the feared Attila the Hun and persuading him to turn back his invading force that was threatening to overrun Western Europe.

3D Central point : CRUX

“Crux” is the Latin word for “cross”. The term came into English meaning “a central difficulty” in the early 1700s.

6D One of the Three Stooges : MOE

“Moe Howard” was the stage name of Moses Harry Horwitz. Howard was one of the Three Stooges. In 1925, he married Helen Schonberger, who was a cousin of Harry Houdini.

11D Weighty subject of some children’s books : BABAR

“Babar the Elephant” originated in France, a creation of Jean de Brunhoff in 1931. The first book was “Histoire de Babar”, a book so successful it was translated into English two years later for publication in Britain and the US. Jean de Brunhoff wrote six more Babar stories before he died in 1937, and then his son Laurent continued his father’s work.

25D Kings of Los Angeles, e.g. : TEAM

The Los Angeles Kings hockey team was founded in 1967 and joined the NHL as an expansion team. The Kings played their home games at the start of the first season not in Los Angeles, but rather in neighboring Long Beach, at the Long Beach Arena. Team owner Jack Kent Cooke built his own arena for the Kings called the Forum, which opened for business later in the season. The Kings called the Forum home for thirty-two years, until they moved to the Staples Center at the start of the 1999-2000 season.

27D Radio journalist with the 2023 memoir “The Best Strangers in the World: Stories From a Life Spent Listening” : ARI SHAPIRO

Ari Shapiro served very ably as White House correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) for several years. He then became a co-host of the network’s drive-time program “All Things Considered” in 2015. When he’s not working, Shapiro likes to sing. He appears regularly as a guest singer with the group Pink Martini, and has appeared on several of the band’s albums. He also turned up as host of the seventh season of the reality game show “The Mole”.

31D Legendary Himalayan climber : YETI

The yeti, also known as the abominable snowman, is a beast of legend. “Yeti” is a Tibetan term, and the beast is fabled to live in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. Our equivalent legend in North America is that of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. The study of animals whose existence has not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology, and a cryptid is a creature or plant that isn’t recognized by the scientific community, but the existence of which has been suggested.

The magnificent Himalaya range of mountains in Asia takes its name from the Sanskrit for “abode of snow”. Geographically, the Himalaya separates the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau to the north.

37D Clemson’s ___ Swinney (winningest head football coach in A.C.C. history) : DABO

Clemson University was founded in 1889. The school takes its name from the town in which it is located: Clemson, South Carolina. The athletic teams of Clemson University have been called the Tigers since 1896 when football coach Walter Riggs arrived from Auburn University. Riggs was an admirer of the Princeton Tigers, so he gave his new school the tiger mascot.

39D Bath seat? : ARSE

Well, the word “arse” would never make it into a crossword on the other side of the pond, as it would be considered too rude. I have a similar reaction to the word “shag” as in “The Spy Who Shagged Me”. The film would never have been released with that title in the UK (where it was released as “Austin Powers 2”).

Bath is a beautiful city in South West England of which I have very fond memories. It is an old Roman spa town, and the city’s name comes from the Roman baths that have been excavated and restored.

46D Color separators : PRISMS

When light passes through a prism, it splits up (disperses) into differing wavelengths. It then becomes clear that white light is actually a mixture of different colors, which show up as a beautiful spectrum.

48D What may slow the pace of some legs in a marathon : CRAMPS

“Charley horse” is a very American phrase describing painful muscle spasms in the legs. The term possibly arose in the late 19th century, and may be named for baseball pitcher Charlie “Old Hoss” Radbourn who apparently suffered a lot from leg cramps.

50D Perfume with an accent on its fourth letter : ESTEE

“Estée” is the signature fragrance from the Estée Lauder Company. “Estée” was the second fragrance developed by Estée Lauder herself, and was introduced in 1968. Lauder’s first fragrance was “Youth Dew”, introduced in 1953.

52D Won land : KOREA

The Korean won, Chinese yuan, and Japanese yen (all of which are Asian currencies) take their names from the Chinese written character that represents “round shape”.

55D What some bio majors do prep work for : MCAT

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)

57D Garment that once indicated citizenship : TOGA

In ancient Rome, the classical attire known as a toga (plural “togae” or “togas”) was usually worn over a tunic. The tunic was made from linen, and the toga itself was a piece of cloth about twenty feet long made from wool. The toga could only be worn by men, and only if those men were Roman citizens. The female equivalent of the toga was called a “stola”.

59D Kilo follower : … LIMA

The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

60D Certification program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, in brief : LEED

LEED is a green building certification program. The acronym stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

63D New ___ University of Knuckleheads (fictional institution where Leslie Nielsen lectured about the Three Stooges) : YUK

Leslie Nielsen was a Canadian actor, one famous for playing the zany Sergeant Frank Drebin in “The Naked Gun”. Nielsen’s big break in films came in the innovative comedy “Airplane!”