1103-26 NY Times Crossword 3 Nov 26, Tuesday

Bill’s time: 6m 36s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Component of many a science course : LAB

Our term “laboratory”, often shortened to “lab”, comes from the Medieval Latin word “laboratorium” meaning “place for labor, work”. This in turn comes from the Latin verb “laborare” meaning “to work”.

14A Good “Wheel of Fortune” purchase for “M_SS_SS_PP_” : AN I

Contestants have been spinning the “Wheel of Fortune” since the game show first aired in 1975.

15A Food Network host Brown : ALTON

Alton Brown is a celebrity chef who is behind the Food Network show “Good Eats”, and who is the host of “Iron Chef America”.

16A Maker of Instamatic cameras : KODAK

Kodak introduced its line of Instamatic cameras in 1963. Instamatics were so easy to use that the term is erroneously applied sometimes today to any point-and-shoot camera.

17A Sheepskin boot brand from Australia : UGG

Uggs are sheepskin boots that were first produced in Australia and New Zealand. The original Uggs have sheepskin fleece on the inside for comfort and insulation, with a tanned leather surface on the outside for durability. “Ugg” is a generic term Down Under, although it’s a brand name here in the US.

18A Michael Jordan and Anatole France? : COUNTRY BOYS

Michael Jordan is considered by some to be the greatest basketball player of all time. Not only is he a talented sportsman, but he is also very successful in the business world. He became the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets NBA team in 2010. Fans refer to Jordan as “His Airness”.

“Anatole France” was the pen name for French poet and novelist Jacques Anatole François Thibault. France won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1921.

The nation that we know as Jordan takes its name from the River Jordan that forms part of the country’s border with Israel and Palestine to the west. Jordan achieved independence in 1946 after the UN approved the end of the British Transjordan Mandate. The Kingdom of Transjordan changed its name to Jordan in 1949.

The Gauls were a Celtic race, with Gaul covering what is now known as France and Belgium. We use the term “Gallic” today, when we refer to something pertaining to France or the French.

23A Justice Kagan : ELENA

Elena Kagan has broken a few significant glass ceilings in her career. In 2003, she was named the first female dean of Harvard Law School, and in 2009 she became the nation’s first female Solicitor General. Kagan joined the US Supreme Court in 2010, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens.

24A Le Pew who could rightfully ask “Ain’t I a stinker?” : PEPE

Pepé Le Pew is a cartoon character from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. He is a French skunk, first introduced way back in 1945. He is always thinking of “l’amour” and chases the lady skunks, or a black cat with a white stripe accidentally painted down her back. As a child, I used to find Pepé Le Pew cartoons really funny. As an old man, all I can see is stalking and sexual assault …

28A Faith Hill and Sally Field? : LANDLADIES

Faith Hill is a country singer from Ridgeland, Mississippi. Hill is married to fellow country singer Tim McGraw.

Actress Sally Field first came to the public’s attention in the sixties with title roles in the TV shows “Gidget” and “The Flying Nun”. She has two Best Actress Oscars; one for “Norma Rae” (1979) and one for “Places in the Heart” (1984).

31A Heckle : JEER

Originally, the verb “to heckle” meant “to question severely”, and for many years was associated with the public questioning of parliamentary candidates in Scotland. In more recent times, the meaning has evolved into questioning that is less polite and that is directed at stand-up comics.

34A Jenny Slate and Emma Stone? : MATERIAL GIRLS

Actress Emma Stone is from Scottsdale, Arizona. She really came to prominence with her performance in the 2010 high school movie called “Easy A”, and won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the 2016 movie “La La Land”. Now one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood, Stone values her privacy and works hard to maintain a low profile. Good for her, I say …

38A Cyrus who played Hannah Montana : MILEY

Miley Cyrus became famous playing the Disney Channel character “Hannah Montana”. Miley is the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. When she was born, Billy Ray and his wife named their daughter “Destiny Hope”, but soon they themselves called her “Smiley” as she was always smiling as a baby, and this got shortened to Miley over time. Cute …

41A John Snow and Robert Frost? : WEATHERMEN

The wonderful poet Robert Frost was a native of San Francisco, but lived most of his life in New England. He also spent a few years in England, just before WWI. Frost was well recognized for his work during his lifetime, and received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He was also Vermont’s first Poet Laureate, a position that he held from 1961 until his death in 1963.

47A Pirates’ environs : SEAS

“Environ” is the French word for “round” or “round about”. We use “environ” as a verb in English, meaning to surround, form a circle around. The related plural noun “environs” is used to mean “surroundings, environment”.

48A Feudal lord : LIEGE

A liege was a feudal lord, one to whom service or allegiance was owed under feudal law. “Liege” was also the term used for one who owed allegiance or service to a lord. Apparently the term is influenced by the Latin verb “ligare” meaning “to tie, bind”. So, I guess both lord and servant were “bound” to each other.

Feudalism was a legal and military system that flourished in medieval Europe. Central to the system were the concepts of lords, vassals and fiefs. Lords would grant fiefs (land or rights) to vassals in exchange for allegiance and service.

51A X-ray machines, e.g. : IMAGERS

X-rays were first studied comprehensively by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (also “Roentgen”), and it was he who gave the name “X-rays” to this particular type of radiation. Paradoxically, in Röntgen’s native language of German, X-rays are routinely referred to as “Röntgen rays”. In 1901, Röntgen’s work on X-rays won him the first Nobel Prize in Physics that was ever awarded.

53A Sabrina Carpenter and Anita Baker? : CAREER WOMEN

Singer and actress Sabrina Carpenter first garnered attention as a young actress, playing one of the main characters on the Disney comedy TV show “Girl Meets World”. She is the niece of actress Nancy Cartwright, who voices Bart Simpson on “The Simpsons”.

Anita Baker is an R&B and soul singer who was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Baker’s most successful song is the Grammy-winning “Sweet Love” that was released in 1986.

56A Vietnamese New Year : TET

The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

61A Homo, for humans : GENUS

The literal translation of “Homo sapiens” from Latin is “wise or knowing man”. The Homo genus includes the species Homo sapiens (modern humans), and we’re the only species left in that genus. The last known species related to humans was Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man) that died off about 24,000 years ago. However, another species was discovered in Indonesia in 2003 that has been dubbed Homo floresiensis (Flores Man … sometimes called “hobbit”), and it may possibly have lived as recently as 12,000 years ago.

62A Bag checkers, in brief : TSA

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

Down

1D Classical victory wreath : LAUREL

To be “laureate” is to be “crowned with laurels”. In ancient Greece, poets and heroes were honored with a crown or wreath made from laurels.

2D Oscar’s deskmate on “The Office” : ANGELA

Actress Angela Kinsey is best known for playing accountant Angela Martin on “The Office”. Although Kinsey was born in Louisiana, she grew up in Indonesia, and occasionally speaks Indonesian.

3D London toller : BIG BEN

“Big Ben” is the name commonly used for the large bell in the Clock Tower (“Elizabeth Tower”, since 2012) of the Palace of Westminster (aka “Houses of Parliament”). Big Ben’s official name is the Great Bell, and there is some debate about the origins of the nickname. It may be named after Sir Benjamin Hall who supervised the bell’s installation, or perhaps the English heavyweight champion of the day Benjamin Caunt. Big Ben fell silent in 2017 to make way for five years of maintenance and repair work to the clock’s mechanism and the tower.

6D Lego brick protrusion : STUD

Lego is manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter named Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1932 and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949. The blocks were originally sold under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks” but I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.

7D “Short” or “long” unit : TON

Here in the US, a ton is equivalent to 2,000 pounds. In the UK, a ton is 2,240 pounds. The UK unit is sometimes referred to as an Imperial ton, long ton or gross ton. Folks over there refer to the US ton then as a short ton. To further complicate matters, there is also a metric ton or tonne, which is equivalent to 2,204 pounds. Personally, I wish we’d just stick to kilograms …

8D Main thing to order : ENTREE

“Entrée” means “entry” in French. An entrée can be something that helps one get “a way in”, an interview for example perhaps helped along by a recommendation letter. In Europe, even in English-speaking countries, the entrée is the name for the “entry” to the meal, the first course. I found the ordering of meals to be very confusing when I first came to America!

9D Popularizer of videotelephony : SKYPE

The main feature of the Skype application, when introduced, was that it allowed voice communication to take place over the Internet (aka VoIP). Skype had other features such as video conferencing and instant messaging, but the application made its name from voice communication. The app was created by two Scandinavian entrepreneurs and the software necessary was developed by a team of engineers in Estonia. The development project was originally called “Sky peer-to-peer” so the first commercial name for the application was “Skyper”. This had to be shortened to “Skype” because the skyper.com domain name was already in use.

10D Piece of mind? : LOBE

The four main lobes of the brain are:

• Frontal lobe: Located at the front of the brain, it is responsible for higher cognitive functions such as planning, decision-making, and personality.
• Parietal lobe: Situated behind the frontal lobe, it processes sensory information like touch, temperature, and pain.
• Temporal lobe: Located on the sides of the brain, it plays a role in auditory processing, memory, and emotion.
• Occipital lobe: Found at the back of the brain, it is primarily responsible for visual processing.

11D Comedian Rosie : O’DONNELL

We don’t get to see Rosie O’Donnell on the screen very much these days. She had a very successful chat show that ran from 1996 to 2002. My favorite performance of hers on the big screen is in a supporting role to Meg Ryan in the 1993 movie “Sleepless in Seattle”.

12D Word before Day, Queen or I? : MAY

What’s known as “May Day” around the world is also called “Lei Day” in Hawaii. Lei Day started in the twenties and is a celebration of native Hawaiian culture.

24D Candy wrappers? : PINATAS

Piñatas originated in Mexico, probably among the Aztecs or Mayans. Today’s piñatas are usually made from cardboard that is brightly decorated with papier-mâché. Traditionally a piñata was made out of a clay pot, adorned with feathers and ribbons and filled with small treasures. During religious ceremonies the clay pots would be suspended and broken open so that the contents would spill out onto the ground at the feet of a god as an offering.

26D Congers and morays : EELS

Conger eels can grow to be very, very large, perhaps up to 10 feet in length.

Morays are a large group of about 200 species of eels found across the world’s oceans. They are carnivorous and look pretty scary but they’re quite shy when confronted and present no threat to humans. One interesting thing about morays is that they will sometimes work in cooperation with the grouper fish found in reefs, the two helping each other hunt for food.

30D Opus ___ : DEI

Opus Dei is a Roman Catholic institution that was founded in Spain in 1928, and officially approved by the church in 1950. In 2010, Opus Dei had over 90,000 members, mostly lay people. The institution’s mission is to promote certain aspects of Roman Catholic doctrine. Opus Dei was portrayed as a sinister organization by Dan Brown in his novel “The Da Vinci Code”.

31D Set up as MacGyver might : JURY-RIG

To jury-rig (sometimes “jerry-rig”) is to execute a makeshift repair or to manufacture a temporary contrivance. The term comes from sailing ships in which a jury rig is an improvised mast and yards that are erected as a replacement when the original mast is damaged or lost.

To “MacGyver” is to repair or jury-rig a device using only mundane, everyday items available to hand, maybe a paperclip, chewing gum, or a roll of duct tape. The verb originated as a reference to the 1985 action TV series “MacGyver”. The show starred Richard Dean Anderson as an extremely resourceful secret agent who applied practical science to escape life-or-death situations.

34D Smidgen : MITE

Our word “smidgen” (sometimes shortened to “smidge”) is used to describe a small amount. The term might come from the Scots word “smitch” that means the same thing or “a small insignificant person”.

35D Individually, in a way : A LA CARTE

On a restaurant menu, items that are “à la carte” are priced and ordered separately. A menu marked “table d’hôte” (also called “prix fixe”) is a fixed-price menu with limited choice. “Table d’hôte” translates from French as “table of the host”.

38D Information kiosk handout : MAP

Our word “kiosk” came to us via French and Turkish from the Persian “kushk” meaning “palace, portico”.

42D Pincered bug : EARWIG

The insect known as the earwig may have gotten its name from the mistaken belief that it burrowed into the human brain via the ear canal in order to lay its eggs in the brain.

43D Use as a rendezvous point : MEET AT

A rendezvous is a meeting. The noun used in English comes from the French phrase “rendez vous” meaning “present yourselves”.

44D Wetland waders : EGRETS

Egrets are a group of several species of white herons. Many egret species were faced with extinction in the 1800s and early 1900s due to plume hunting, a practice driven by the demand for egret plumes that could be incorporated into hats.

45D Lipton rival : NESTEA

Nestea is a brand of iced tea made by Nestlé. The name is a portmanteau of “Nestlé” and “tea”.

Sir Thomas Lipton was a grocer in Glasgow, Scotland. He founded a tea packing company in North America in 1893, in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was very successful, primarily due to his blends of tea becoming popular in the US.

51D Marvel actress Vellani : IMAN

Iman Vellani is a Pakistani-born Canadian actress who is best known for playing the title character (aka Kamala Khan) in the superhero miniseries “Ms. Marvel”. She reprised the role in the 2023 film “The Marvels”.

52D A modern one might be viewable via a QR code : MENU

A QR Code (for “Quick Response Code”) is a two-dimensional barcode that is favored over UPC barcodes as it can read more quickly and can store much more information. The QR Code comprises black squares within a square grid on a white background.

53D Iowa college : COE

Coe College is a private school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that was founded in 1851. Coe is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. It was founded in 1851 as the School for Prophets. A farmer named Daniel Coe made a donation of $1,500 towards a campus in Cedar Rapids, but added the requirement that it be a co-educational institution. The school opened as the Cedar Rapids Collegiate Institute, and was renamed as Coe Collegiate Institute in 1875 in recognition of the original donation.

54D Operator in Boolean logic : AND

Boolean logic is a logic system used in computers. The system takes its name from the man who devised it in 1854, George Boole. Boolean logic is used by many Internet search engines. Using Boolean logic in a search you can combine words into one search term “like this” by using quotation marks. You can also search for pages that contain “term one” but not “term two” by searching for “term one” – “term two”.

55D Number of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that still exist : ONE

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and yet it is the only one of the Wonders that is basically intact today. Egyptologists believe that the structure took ten to twenty years to complete, and that it dates back to around 2560 BC. The Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest man-made structure in the world for nearly 3,900 years, until it was surpassed by Lincoln Cathedral in England in 1311 AD.

The full list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is:

• the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt
• the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece
• the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
• the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
• the Colossus of Rhodes
• the Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt