0528-26 NY Times Crossword 28 May 26, Thursday

Bill’s time: 8m 26s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Surname of two Indian prime ministers : GANDHI

Mohandas Gandhi was a political and spiritual leader in India in the first part of the 20th century, as the country sought independence from Britain. He was also referred to as “Mahatma”, meaning “great soul”. His remarkable philosophy of nonviolence and living a modest lifestyle was a great inspiration to the Indian people. India (and Pakistan) was granted independence in 1947. Tragically, Gandhi was assassinated the very next year.

Indira Gandhi’s father was Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India. Indira herself became prime minister in 1966. She was assassinated in 1984 by two of her own bodyguards as she was walking to meet Peter Ustinov, who was about to interview her for Irish television.

14A Drew Carey, Halle Berry or Guy Fieri, originally : OHIOAN

Drew Carey always strikes me as a stand-up guy who does stand-up comedy. Before turning to comedy, Carey served six years with the US Marine Corps.

Actress Halle Berry was the first African American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar, which she received for her performance in the 2001 movie “Monster’s Ball”. Berry also won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress in 2005 for playing the title role in “Catwoman”, and she very graciously accepted that award in person. Good for her!

Guy Fieri is a restaurant owner and television personality. He is known as “the face of the Food Network” as several of his television series on that channel are very popular. Born Guy Ferry, he legally changed his surname back to the original Italian “Fieri” in 1995 to honor his grandfather, Giuseppe, who had anglicized the name upon immigrating to the US.

15A Baroque instrument : VIOL

The viola da gamba (also called simply “viol”) is a bass instrument in what is known as the viol family, with a tonal range that about matches that of the modern-day cello. It is the second largest of all the viols, so it is played resting on the floor between the legs. In fact, “viola da gamba” is Italian translating into “viol for the leg”.

17A Walking-around money for Pavarotti? : TENOR TWENTY (ten or twenty)

Luciano Pavarotti was one of the most celebrated tenors of all time. He was able to appeal to audiences beyond the traditional fans of opera, helped by his performances with the Three Tenors: Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. Pavarotti made his final performance on stage at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, where he sang his famous rendition of the moving aria “Nessun dorma” and brought the house down. Pavarotti passed away from pancreatic cancer the following year, at the age of 71.

20A Whistling stickup man on “The Wire” : OMAR

The character Omar Little is played by Michael K. Williams on the HBO series “The Wire”.

22A McGwire’s rival in 1990s M.L.B. : SOSA

Both Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were named Sportsperson of the Year in 1998 by “Sports Illustrated” magazine.

23A Hajj destination : MECCA

Mecca is in the Makkah province of Saudi Arabia. It was the birthplace of Muhammad and is the holiest city in Islam. Every year, several million Muslims perform the Hajj, a holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

25A Baseball team formerly known as the Colt .45s : ASTROS

The Houston baseball team changed its name to the Astros (sometimes “’Stros”) from the Colt .45s in 1965 when they started playing in the Astrodome. The Astrodome was so called in recognition of the city’s long association with the US space program. The Astros moved from the National League to the American League starting in the 2013 season.

35A Icy passage to Antarctica’s McMurdo Station : ROSS SEA

The Ross Sea is a bay in the Southern Ocean of Antarctica. It was discovered by one James Ross in 1841. A more recent discovery, in the waters of the Ross Sea, was a 33 feet long giant squid that was captured in 2007.

The McMurdo Dry Valleys are located in Antarctica. They are remarkably free of ice and snow despite being surrounded by ice. The valleys form one of the most extreme deserts, and one of the driest places, on the planet. Scientists use the environment as an analog to the surface of Mars.

40A Billionaire Musk : ELON

Elon Musk is a successful businessman who has founded or led some very high-profile companies, namely PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX. Musk received a lot of publicity in early 2018 during a test launch by SpaceX of the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. A Tesla Roadster belonging to Musk was carried into space as a dummy payload.

50A Lawman who got out of Dodge : EARP

Wyatt Earp is famous as one of the participants in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Earp was a city policeman in Wichita, Kansas and also in Dodge City, Kansas. Earp was also deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona where the O.K. Corral gunfight took place. Years later, Earp joined the Alaska Gold Rush and with a partner built and operated the Dexter Saloon in Nome.

The phrase “get out of Dodge”, meaning “scram, flee”, is a reference to Dodge City, Kansas. The phrase became a cliché on TV westerns (mainly “Gunsmoke”, I think) and was then popularized by teenagers in the sixties and seventies.

54A 60 minuti : ORA

In Italian, an “ora” (hour) comprises “sessanta minuti” (sixty minutes).

60A Org. targeting Walter White on “Breaking Bad” : DEA

Walter White is the protagonist of the hit TV drama “Breaking Bad”. Played by Bryan Cranston, White is a high school chemistry teacher who resorts to manufacturing high-grade crystal meth in order to ensure his family’s security after his death.

Down

3D Totenberg of public radio : NINA

Nina Totenberg is a very able legal affairs correspondent who works for National Public Radio. Totenberg’s main focus is on the activities of the US Supreme Court. Famously, she was the journalist who uncovered the allegations of sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas made by Anita Hill.

8D Bit of a lark : WING

Larks are small songbirds that are found all over the world, although only the horned lark species is found here in North America. Despite their size, larks are sometimes considered game birds, and can be served up as food. It’s not uncommon to find a dish containing lark meat in southern Europe.

9D Lady-killer : LOTHARIO

There is a character named Lothario in “Don Quixote”, and in the “Fair Penitent”, a 1703 play by Nicholas Rowe. In both cases the Lothario in question exhibits less than wholesome behavior towards a woman, giving rise to the term “lothario” meaning “roue”.

10D Machiavellian, in a way : SLY

Niccolo Machiavelli’s political treatise entitled “The Prince”, and the philosophical opinions expressed therein, gave rise to the term “Machiavellian” meaning “cunning and devious”, especially at the level of state politics. Indeed, it is said that the reception of Machiavelli’s work was such that he lent his name “Niccolo” to the language as the derivation of the term “Old Nick”, meaning “the Devil”,

13D Oil, they say : TEXAS TEA

“Texas tea” is a familiar term for oil drilled from the earth.

18D Birthplace of Dr Pepper : WACO

Dr Pepper was introduced in 1885 in Waco, Texas, one year before the competing Coca-Cola was released to the market. I spent an entertaining few hours at the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco a few years ago. And, note the lack of a period after “Dr”.

24D México’s Tabasco, Jalisco and others : ESTADOS

Tabasco is one of Mexico’s 32 “estados” (states), and is located in the very southeast of the country.

26D Guardians of bushido tradition : SENSEIS

“Bushido” is a Japanese word meaning “the way of the warrior”. It describes a code of moral principles observed by the samurai, and is roughly equivalent to the western concept of chivalry.

“Sensei” is a Japanese form of address used for figures of authority, from lawyers to martial arts instructors.

27D National drink of Puerto Rico : PINA COLADA

“Piña colada” is a Spanish term that translates into “strained pineapple”. The piña colada cocktail was introduced in the Caribe Hilton San Juan in 1954, and since 1978 it has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico. The mocktail version of the drink is known as a nada colada.

28D Two, for many a putt-putt hole : PAR

The game of miniature golf emerged in the early 1900s. The name “putt-putt” is quite commonly used for the game today in the US. This name comes from the Putt-Putt Fun Center chain of courses that was founded in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1954. Putt-Putt courses are actually quite spartan compared to true miniature golf courses that are so often themed. Regardless, the names “putt-putt” and “miniature golf” have conflated over time.

29D It’s a zoo out there : MENAGERIE

A menagerie is a varied group, and particularly refers to a collection of wild or unusual animals. The term “menagerie“ comes from the French “ménagerie”, which described housing for domestic animals.

34D Resident of Rivendell, in Tolkien : ELF

Rivendell is a location occupied by Elves in Middle-earth, the fictional realm created by novelist J. R. R. Tolkien.

49D Where to look if you’re looking for LUV (i.e., Southwest Airlines) : NYSE

When Southwest Airlines started flying, the company operated out of Dallas Love Field. The company then chose a “love” theme, offering “love bites” (peanuts) and “love potions” (drinks) to passengers during flights. That’s why Southwest is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as “LUV”.

53D Affliction for many first responders, in brief : PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

55D “Spy vs. Spy” magazine : MAD

“Spy vs. Spy” is a comic strip that has run in “MAD” magazine continuously since 1961. It was drawn by Antonio Prohias, a refugee from Cuba, until his retirement. The early storyline was very fitting for the times, a statement about the futility of the arms race, detente and the Cold War.