1102-26 NY Times Crossword 2 Nov 26, Monday

Bill’s time: 6m 19s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11A Org. that now offers merit badges in Kayaking and Nuclear Science : BSA

In May 2024, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced that it will officially change its name to Scouting America. The new name is intended to emphasize inclusivity and reflect the reality that girls were already a major part of its programs.

21A “Received and understood,” in radio lingo : ROGER

The term “roger”, meaning “yes” or “acknowledged”, comes from the world of radiotelephony. The British military used a phonetic alphabet in the forties that included “Roger” to represent the letter “R”. As such, it became customary to say “Roger” when acknowledging a message, with R (Roger) standing for “received”.

22A Hockey legend Bobby of the Boston Bruins : ORR

Bobby Orr is a Boston Bruins legend universally considered one of the greatest hockey players of all time. Famously, he is the only defenseman in NHL history to win the league scoring title.

29A Blackjack play : HIT

“Stand” and “hit me” are instructions to the dealer in the card game Blackjack. The instruction “stand” means “I don’t want any more cards, I’ll use these”. The instruction “hit me” means “please deal me another card”.

31A Lukewarm, as support : TEPID

The obsolete adjective “luke” meant “tepid, moderately warm”. Said adjective used to exist in words like “luke-hot” and “luke-hearted”, but now only survives in the word “luke-warm” (usually “lukewarm”). So, I guess “lukewarm” means “tepidly tepid” …

33A You cannot get them from frogs, contrary to popular myth : WARTS

The “warts” on the skin of a toad have no relation to the viral infection that can occur on human skin. A toad’s warts are colored bumps that are believed to help the animal blend more effectively into its environment.

36A Early bloomer? : TULIP BULB

We usually associate the cultivation of tulips with the Netherlands, but they were first grown commercially in the Ottoman Empire. The name “tulip” ultimately derives from the Ottoman Turkish word “tulbend” that means “muslin, gauze”.

39A “In ___ We Trust” : GOD

“In God we trust” was adopted as the official motto of the US in 1956. The phrase apparently originated in the national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner”, the words of which were written during the War of 1812. The actual wording in the anthem is “And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust’”. Over time, this lyric evolved to “In God we trust”.

47A Drug you can trip on : ACID

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)

49A Spike who directed “Do the Right Thing” : LEE

“Do the Right Thing” is a Spike Lee movie that was released in 1989. Much of the action in the film is centered on a local pizzeria called “Sal’s” owned by Italian-American Salvatore Frangione (played by Danny Aiello).

64A Muscle used in a dumbbell bench press, informally : PEC

A dumbbell is a short bar with weights on either end that is used for strength-training. There is a theory that such an apparatus was used to train church bell ringers. As there isn’t any bell, it was referred to as a dumbbell. Um, I’m not sure …

68A The “M” in RAM : MEMORY

Random-access memory (RAM) is a form of computer storage.

69A “Insecure” co-creator and star ___ Rae : ISSA

Issa Rae rose to prominence with her highly popular web series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl”, which premiered in 2011. This led to her co-creating and starring in the acclaimed HBO comedy series “Insecure”, which garnered her multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. She’s also expanded into film roles and has her own media company: Hoorae.

Down

1D Highest-caliber athlete, to fans : THE GOAT

Greatest of all time (GOAT)

4D Mountain cryptid whose name inspired a water-bottle brand : 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.

YETI is a manufacturer of coolers and related products that is based in Austin, Texas. There was a kerfuffle between YETI and the National Rifle Association in 2018, when YETI removed the NRA from its membership discount program. That kerfuffle got quite public when some NRA members published videos of themselves destroying their own YETI products in protest.

6D Capital of Vietnam : HANOI

Hanoi (“Hà Nội” in Vietnamese) was the capital of North Vietnam, and Saigon the capital of South Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, Hanoi was made capital of the reunified state. Saigon, the larger metropolis, was renamed to Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi is located in the delta of the Red River, and is just over 50 miles from the Gulf of Tonkin in the South China Sea.

7D Clean energy org. established by President Nixon : EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the Nixon administration and began operation at the end of 1970.

8D Code of the world’s busiest airport : ATL

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is the world’s busiest airport, as measured by passenger traffic. Atlanta has had that distinction almost every year since 1998, and was the world’s busiest in terms of take-offs and landings from 2005 until 2013. Over 50% of Atlanta’s traffic comes from Delta Air Lines.

10D Jilt : SPURN

To jilt someone with whom you have a relationship is to drop them suddenly or callously. “Jilt” is an obsolete noun that used to mean “harlot, loose woman”.

11D Brussels is its capital : BELGIUM

The Belgian capital Brussels is famous for its food and drink. The list of goodies includes the city’s special waffles, chocolate, French fries and beer.

13D Sigourney Weaver, but not Dennis Weaver : ACTRESS

Actress Sigourney Weaver was born Susan Weaver in New York City. She chose the stage name “Sigourney” from Mrs. Sigourney Howard, a minor character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby”. After playing a few minor roles in major films, Weaver’s big break came with the lead in the 1979 blockbuster “Alien”.

18D “Monsters, ___” : INC

The animated feature “Monsters, Inc.” was released in 2001, and was Pixar’s fourth full-length movie. It’s about cute monsters, and that’s all I know other than that the voice cast included the likes of John Goodman, Billy Crystal and Steve Buscemi.

26D “___ Brute?” (Caesar’s query) : ET TU

It was Shakespeare who popularized the words “Et tu, Brute?” (meaning “And you, Brutus?”). They appear in his play “Julius Caesar”, although the phrase had been around long before he penned his drama. It’s not known what Julius Caesar actually said in real life (if anything at all) as he was assassinated after a meeting of the Senate in Rome.

34D Capital of Utah, in brief : SLC

Salt Lake City (SLC) was founded by Brigham Young, in 1847. The city takes its name from the Great Salt Lake on which it sits, and indeed was known as “Great Salt Lake City” up until 1868.

37D Lead-in to “lemon,” in a high-end athleisure brand : LULU

Lululemon Athletica is a brand of athletic clothing that was founded by Chip Wilson in 1998 and is headquartered in Vancouver. The company’s name is very much associated with the activity of yoga in particular. Every Lululemon store offers a weekly complimentary yoga class.

38D Word before dog or Bunny : BAD

Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. He was the first non-English language act to top Spotify’s most-streamed artist list, doing so in 2020. He stormed past that record that year, and in the following years, becoming Spotify’s most-streamed artist in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2025 (losing out to Taylor Swift in 2023 and 2024). In 2026, Bad Bunny headlined the Super Bowl halftime show.

39D Home installation providing propane to a grill or fireplace : GAS PIPE

Propane is a gas with the formula C3H8. It is an abundant byproduct of the refining of petroleum and is used as a fuel. The gas liquefies readily under pressure, and is usually transported in pressurized containers.

40D A professional singer can usually cover more than one of these : OCTAVES

In western music, an octave is composed of twelve notes, twelve semitones.

41D Patois or Cajun : DIALECT

“Patois” is a word that we imported from French, in which language it also means “native or local speech”.

44D Sanctuaries : REFUGES

A sanctuary is a sacred or holy place, with “sanctuary” coming from the Latin “sanctus” meaning “holy”. Some Christian traditions use the term “sanctuary” to describe the area in a church that houses the main altar. Some medieval Church law granted immunity to fugitives and debtors who took refuge in some churches, and so “sanctuary” took on the meaning “immunity from punishment”.

46D Nine-time Grammy winner Frank : SINATRA

Frank Sinatra was the only child of Italian immigrants living in Hoboken, New Jersey. Like so many of our heroes, Sinatra had a rough upbringing. His mother was arrested several times and convicted of running an illegal abortion business in the family home. Sinatra never finished high school, as he was expelled for rowdy conduct. He was later arrested as a youth on a morals charge for “carrying on” with a married woman, which was an offense back then. But Sinatra straightened himself out by the time he was twenty and started singing professionally.

48D These can be made with turmeric or saffron : DYES

Turmeric is a plant in the ginger family that is native to southeast India. The rhizomes, modified underground stems, of turmeric are often boiled, dried and ground into the orange-yellow spice called turmeric. Turmeric is a common ingredient in curries, and also in mustard to which it imparts a yellow color.

Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice by weight. It is derived from the saffron crocus. The spice itself is the dried stigma found in the flower of the plant.

53D Upper regions of the sky, poetically : ETHER

The Greek philosopher Empedocles proposed that there are four elements that made up the universe, namely earth, water, air and fire. Aristotle later proposed a fifth element which he called aether (also “ether”). Aether was the divine substance that made up the stars and planets. We’re still using the term “ether” with a similar meaning, and the extended term “ethereal” to mean “lacking material substance” and “marked by unusual delicacy”.