0723-26 NY Times Crossword 23 Jul 26, Thursday

Bill’s time: 12m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

13A Fondita offerings : ENCHILADAS

“Enchilada” is the past participle of the Spanish word “enchilar” meaning “to add chili pepper to”. An enchilada is basically a corn tortilla rolled around some filling and then covered in chili pepper sauce. The term “big enchilada” is used in the same way as we would use “big cheese” i.e. to refer to the top dog. The phrase was popularized in the seventies when John Ehrlichman refers to Attorney General John Mitchell as “the big enchilada” on one of the Watergate Tapes. Similarly, the term “whole enchilada” emerged in the early sixties, used alongside such phrases as “whole nine yards”, “whole shebang” and “whole ball of wax”.

15A Three-time A.L. M.V.P. of the 2000s, familiarly : A-ROD

Baseball player Alex Rodriguez, nicknamed “A-Rod”, broke a lot of records in his career, albeit under a shroud of controversy due to his use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. When he signed a 10-year contract with the Texas Rangers for $252 million in 2000, it was the most lucrative contract in sports history. In 2007, Rodriguez signed an even more lucrative 10-year contract with the New York Yankees, worth $275 million. Rodriguez retired in 2016.

16A “The Devil’s radio” : IDLE GOSSIP

Our word “gossip” comes from the Old English “godsibb” meaning “godparent”. Back then, the term was used for female friends who attended a birth, and later for anyone engaging in idle talk.

17A Pollution portmanteau : SMOG

“Smog” is a portmanteau formed by melding “smoke” and “fog”. The term was first used to describe the air around London in the early 1900s. Several cities around the world have a reputation of being particularly smoggy. For example, the most smog-plagued city in Latin America is Mexico City, which is located in a highland “bowl” that traps industrial and vehicle pollution.

26A Former Toyota sports cars named for a Latin prefix : SUPRAS

The Supra is a sporty car made by Toyota from 1979 to 2002. It is, in effect, a longer and wider Celica.

27A Passover month : NISAN

Nisan is the first month in the Hebrew ecclesiastical calendar, the month in which Passover falls. Adar is the last month in the same calendar, and is the month that includes the holiday of Purim.

38A “Tyrone” singer Erykah : BADU

“Tyrone” is a song recorded by Erykah Badu in 1997. It was destined to become her signature song, even though it didn’t make it into the “Billboard” charts, never having been released commercially in the US.

43A Desert for which an African country is named : NAMIB

The Namib Desert is in Namibia, as one might expect, and also stretches into part of Angola. It is thought to be the oldest desert in the world, having been arid for over 55 million years.

The Republic of Namibia is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic coast. The Namibian War of Independence fought from 1966 to 1988 eventually resulted in independence for Namibia from South Africa, and a transition from white minority apartheid rule.

45A Like obsidian rock, once : MOLTEN

Obsidian is a volcanic glass, an igneous rock. Obsidian has many functional and decorative uses. I find the use of obsidian to make glass knives to be of particular interest. Well-made obsidian knives can have a cutting edge that is many times sharper than even the highest quality of steel.

46A Symbol of rebirth in ancient Egypt : SCARAB

Scarabs were amulets in ancient Egypt. They were modeled on the dung beetle, as it was viewed as a symbol of the cycle of life.

49A Last hurrah : SWAN SON[G]

The phrase “swan song” is used for a final gesture, a last performance. The expression derives from an ancient belief that swans are silent for most of their lives, but sing a beautiful song just before they die.

53A Wholly, but not holey or holy, e.g.: Abbr. : ADV

Adverb (adv.)

54A Helen of Troy’s mother : LEDA

In Greek mythology, Leda was the beautiful Queen of Sparta who was seduced by Zeus when he took the form of a swan. Leda produced two eggs from the union. One egg hatched into Clytemnestra and the beautiful Helen of Troy, over whom was fought the Trojan War. The other egg hatched into the twins Castor and Pollux. Castor and Pollux had different fathers according to the myth. Pollux was the son of Zeus and was immortal, while Castor was the son of Leda’s earthly husband, and so he was a mortal. In the world of the arts, William Butler Yeats wrote a famous sonnet called “Leda and the Swan” in 1924, and Peter Paul Rubens made a copy of a now-lost painting called “Leda and the Swan” by Michelangelo.

61A Tech product discontinued in 2022 : IPOD

Reportedly, when Apple was planning the launch of their new music player in 2001, someone came up with the idea of the “iPod” name from the 1968 movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”. The particular line that inspired the name is: “Open the pod bay doors, please, HAL”.

64A Pottery so named for its hardness : STONEWARE

In the history of ceramics, earthenware (also “terra cotta”) is a relatively old material. It is porous, and needs a ceramic glaze to make it impervious to liquids. Stoneware was developed later, and is impervious to liquids in its own right due to the higher firing temperature. Porcelain came later still, and is fired at even higher temperatures to produce a stronger, harder and finer material.

Down

1D Agnus ___ : DEI

“Agnus Dei” is Latin for “Lamb of God”. The expression is used in Christian traditions to describe Jesus Christ, hence symbolizing his role as a sacrificial offering (sacrificial lamb) to atone for the sins of man.

3D Knee stabilizer, in brief : ACL

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the stabilizing bands of tissue connecting the human thighbone to the shinbone. The term “cruciate” comes from the Latin “crux” meaning cross, which describes how the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments intersect to form an “X” shape inside the center of the knee joint.

6D Single-masted vessels : SLOOPS

Sloops and cutters are sailboats, and each has just one mast. One major difference between the two types of vessel is that the mast on a cutter is set much further aft than the mast on a sloop.

9D Frequent forecast in Seattle : RAIN

The Washington city of Seattle was founded on a site that had been occupied by Native Americans for over 4,000 years before the first Europeans arrived in the area. The name “Seattle” was chosen in honor of the Suquamish and Duwamish Chief Seattle, who had a reputation for welcoming white settlers.

11D Unleavened South Asian flatbread : POORI

Puri (also “poori”) is a deep-fried, unleavened bread from Indian cuisine.

12D Follower of double or gilt : EDGED

To gild is to coat with gold. The phrase “to gild the lily” means to add unnecessary ornamentation, to try to improve something that is already ideal.

14D Champion, as a cause : [E]SPOUSE

To espouse is to take in marriage. We have used the extended meaning of “to give one’s support to” since the 1600s.

20D Org. with a list of popular baby names : SSA

The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a list of the 1,000 most common baby names for the prior year annually, just before Mother’s Day. The list is compiled using applications for Social Security cards.

21D Minimum, in a way : QUOTA

A quota is an allotment. The term “quota” was used originally with reference to the number of soldiers or quantity of supplies required from a particular town or district.

24D Forensic facilities : DNA LABS

Something described as forensic is connected with a court of law, or with public discussion or debate. The term comes from the Latin “forensis” meaning “of a forum, of a place of assembly”. We mainly use the word today to mean “pertaining to legal trials” as in “forensic medicine” and “forensic science”.

33D Like granola : OATEN

The names “Granola” and “Granula” were trademarked back in the late 1800s for whole-grain foods that were crumbled and baked until crisp. Granula was created in Dansville, New York in 1863, and Granola was introduced a couple of decades later.

42D Lou Gehrig’s disease, for short : ALS

Baseball legend Lou Gehrig was known as a powerhouse. He was a big hitter and just kept on playing. Gehrig broke the record for the most consecutive number of games played, and held the record for the most career grand slams for decades. His durability earned him the nickname “The Iron Horse”. Sadly, he died in 1941 at 37 years old suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an illness we now call “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. The New York Yankees retired the number four on 4th of July 1939 in his honor, making Lou Gehrig the first baseball player to have his number retired.

50D Totally bizarre : WACKO

Something or someone described as wacky or wacko is crazy, eccentric. The term “wacky” probably comes from “whack”, the idea being that a wacky person might have been whacked on the head a little too often.

“Bizarre” is a French word, one with the same meaning in English. However, back in the 16th century, “bizarre” used to mean “handsome, brave” in French. I guess that’s what my wife means when she refers to me as “bizarre” or “bizarro” …

56D Original N.Y.C. subway line : IRT

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the original private operator of the New York Subway when it opened in 1904. The city took over ownership of the system in 1940, but the lines originally operated by the IRT are still known by the IRT moniker.

59D Cabinet dept. since 1889 : AGR

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) dates back to 1862, when it was established by then-president Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln referred to the USDA as the “people’s department” as our economy had such a vast agrarian base back then.