0419-22 NY Times Crossword 19 Apr 22, Tuesday

Constructed by: Olivia Mitra Framke
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Strike Four

Themed answers each relate to a STRIKE referenced in the clue:

  • 16A What might be rolled for a strike : BOWLING BALL
  • 25A What a clock might strike : MIDNIGHT
  • 37A What might strike during a storm : LIGHTNING
  • 52A Who might go on strike : EMPLOYEE
  • 62A What might strike you while solving this puzzle : INSPIRATION

Bill’s time: 8m 36s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Home of the comics heroes Asterix and Obelix : GAUL

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.

“The Adventures of Asterix” is a series of comics originally published in French, starting in 1959. The French version was a very popular choice for us as kids when we were required to read some French “literature” at school.

9 Month with a so-called “hunter’s moon”: Abbr. : OCT

October is the tenth month in our calendar but was the eighth month in the old Roman calendar, hence the prefix “octo-”. Back then there were only ten months in the year. “Ianuarius” (January) and “Februarius” were then added as the eleventh and twelfth months of the year. Soon after, the year was reset and January and February became the first and second months.

A blood moon is also known as the hunter’s moon or sanguine moon. It is the first full moon after the harvest moon (the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox). The name comes from the tradition of hunting for food in the fall to stockpile food for the winter.

13 Actor Edward James ___ : OLMOS

Edward James Olmos is a Mexican-American actor. I mostly remember Olmos as the Lieutenant who was the boss of Crockett and Tubbs on television’s “Miami Vice”.

16 What might be rolled for a strike : BOWLING BALL

Bowling has been around for an awfully long time. The oldest known reference to the game is in Egypt, where pins and balls were found in an ancient tomb that is over 5,000 years old. The first form of the game to come to America was nine-pin bowling, which had been very popular in Europe for centuries. In 1841 in Connecticut, nine-pin bowling was banned due to its association with gambling. Supposedly, an additional pin was added to get around the ban, and ten-pin bowling was born.

20 Bud … or bait : CHUM

A chum is a friend. The term “chum” originated in the late 1600s as an alternative spelling for “cham”. In turn, “cham” was a shortened form of “chambermate”, a roommate at university.

The word “chum” meaning “fish bait”, is perhaps derived from the Scottish word “chum” meaning food.

23 Verse in a poem : STANZA

“Stanza” is an Italian word meaning “verse of a poem”.

28 ___ Fleming, British naval intelligence officer-turned-writer : IAN

The character James Bond was the creation of writer Ian Fleming. Fleming “stole” the James Bond name from an American ornithologist. The number “007” was “stolen” from the real-life, 16th-century English spy named John Dee. Dee would sign his reports to Queen Elizabeth I with a stylized “007” to indicate that the reports were for “her eyes only”. There’s an entertaining miniseries that aired on BBC America called “Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond” that details Ian Fleming’s military career, and draws some nice parallels between Fleming’s experiences and aspirations and those of his hero James Bond. Recommended …

33 Milky gem : OPAL

An opal is often described as having a milky iridescence known as opalescence.

37 What might strike during a storm : LIGHTNING

The word “thunder” precedes the word “lightning” in the phrase “thunder and lightning”. However, thunder comes after lighting in reality, at least to the observer. The observer sees the flash of lightning and then seconds later hears the crash of thunder. That’s because light travels faster than sound.

40 Mermaid’s home : SEA

The mythological creatures named mermaids are usually depicted with the head and upper body of a human female, and with the tail of a fish. The term “mermaid” comes from the Old English “mere” meaning “sea, lake” and “maid” meaning “young woman”. The original mermaids were probably tail-less, with that “fishy” addition likely coming with comparison to classical sirens. The male equivalent of a mermaid is “merman”.

50 Ctrl-___-Del : ALT

Ctrl-Alt-Delete is a keyboard command on IBM PC compatible systems used for a soft reboot, or more recently to bring up the task manager in the Windows operating system. Bill Gates tells us that the command was originally just a device to be used during development and was never meant to “go live”. He once said that “Ctrl+Alt+Delete” was a mistake, and that he would have preferred a dedicated key on the keyboard that carried out the same function.

55 Plush fabric : VELOUR

Velour (also “velure”) is a plush, knitted textile traditionally made from cotton. It has the feel of velvet combined with the stretchiness of a knit fabric.

57 Religious believer of a sort : DEIST

Deism (from the Latin “deus” meaning god) is the belief that a supreme being created the universe, a belief based on observation and reason and without the need for faith. Further, a deist does not accept divine intervention and rather believes that the supreme being, having created the universe, leaves the world to its own devices.

60 Site for buying and selling crafts : ETSY

Etsy.com is an e-commerce website where you can buy and sell the kind of items that you might find at a craft fair.

61 Letters on a Forever stamp : USA

The Forever stamp for first-class postage was introduced by the USPS in 2006 (and about time!). Now we have stamps that are good for first-class postage forever, no matter how often the rates change.

66 Place to leave one’s shoes, perhaps : FOYER

“Foyer”, meaning “lobby”, is a French word that we imported into English. In French, “foyer” is used for what we would call a “green room”, a place where actors can gather when not on stage or on set.

67 Disney heroine whose name means “ocean” : MOANA

“Moana” is a 2016 animated feature film and the 56th animated Disney movie. The title character is the daughter of a Polynesian chief who heads off in search of the demigod Maui, hoping that he can save her people.

Down

3 Prey-catching claw : TALON

A talon is a claw of a bird of prey. The term “talon” ultimately derives from “talus”, the Latin word for “ankle”.

4 Inventor Whitney : ELI

Inventor Eli Whitney is best known for inventing the cotton gin. Whitney also came up with the important concept of “interchangeable parts”. Parts that are interchangeable can be swapped out of equipment or perhaps used in related designs.

5 Painter Vincent van ___ : GOGH

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who seems to have had a very tortured existence. Van Gogh only painted for the last ten years of his life, and enjoyed very little celebrity while alive. Today many of his works are easily recognized, and fetch staggering sums in auction houses. Van Gogh suffered from severe depression for many of his final years. When he was only 37, he walked into a field with a revolver and shot himself in the chest. He managed to drag himself back to the inn where he was staying but died there two days later.

6 Lady Gaga’s “The Fame” or “Artpop” : ALBUM

“Lady Gaga” is the stage name of Stefani Germanotta. Germanotta is a big fan of the band Queen, and she took her stage name from the marvelous Queen song titled “Radio Ga Ga”.

7 It’s not sweet, sour, salty or bitter : UMAMI

Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. “Umami” is a Japanese word used to describe “a pleasant savory taste”. Umami was proposed as a basic taste in 1908, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the scientific community finally accepted it as such.

8 Response to a funny text (that usually isn’t literally true) : LOL

Laugh out loud (LOL)

11 Secret meetings : TRYSTS

In the most general sense, a tryst is a meeting at an agreed time and place. More usually we consider a tryst to be a pre-arranged meeting between lovers. The term comes from the Old French “triste”, a waiting place designated when hunting. Further, a tryst taking place at lunchtime is sometimes referred to as a nooner.

14 Sort of language generally found in Urban Dictionary : SLANG

Urban Dictionary is a website that was founded in 1999 by a computer science student at Cal Poly. The site contains definitions of mainly slang terms, and is maintained by the site’s members.

17 Final Four org. : NCAA

In the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship, the teams remaining at various stages of the tournament are known as:

  • The “Sweet Sixteen” (the regional semi-finalists)
  • The “Elite Eight” (the regional finalists)
  • The “Final Four” (the national semi-finalists)

22 Desert illusion : MIRAGE

A mirage occurs when light rays are bent by passing from cold air to warmer air. The most often cited mirage is a “lake” seen in a desert, which is actually the blue of the sky and not water at all. The word “mirage” comes to us via French from the Latin “mirare” meaning “to look at in wonder”. “Mirage” has the same root as our words “admire” and “mirror”.

24 Rigatoni relative : ZITI

Cylindrical pasta is known in general as “penne”, and there are many variants. For example, ziti is a particularly large and long tube with square-cut ends. “Penne” is the plural of “penna”, the Italian for “feather, quill”.

26 Surrealist Salvador : DALI

The famous surrealist Salvador Dalí was born in Figueres, Spain. I had the privilege of visiting the Dalí Museum in Figueres some years ago, just north of Barcelona. If you ever get the chance, it’s a “must see” as it really is a quite magnificent building with a fascinating collection of art.

29 Manhattan neighborhood containing some of N.Y.U. : NOHO

“NoHo” is short for “North of Houston (street)”, and is the equivalent area to SoHo, South of Houston, both of which are in New York City.

The main campus of the private New York University (NYU) is located right in Manhattan, in Washington Square in the heart of Greenwich Village. NYU has over 12,000 resident students, the largest number of residents in a private school in the whole country. NYU’s sports teams are known as the Violets, a reference to the violet and white colors that are worn in competition. Since the 1980s, the school’s mascot has been a bobcat. “Bobcat” had been the familiar name given to NYU’s Bobst Library computerized catalog.

34 Org. that provides chaperones for field trips : PTA

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

Traditionally, a chaperone (often “chaperon” in Britain and Ireland) was a woman accompanying a younger unmarried lady in public, with the term “chaperone” originating in France. The French word was used to mean “hood, cowl” going back to the 12th century, a diminutive of “chape” meaning “cape”. So, our word “chaperone” has the same roots as our word “cape” and indeed “cap”. The idea is that a chaperone is “covering” someone who is vulnerable socially.

35 Name on Woody’s shoe in “Toy Story” : ANDY

In the 1995 Pixar hit “Toy Story”, the toys are owned by a boy named Andy Davis. Andy’s neighbor is a not-so-nice boy named Sid Phillips. Sid gets a big kick out of destroying and torturing his own toys, and those owned by others.

39 Wall Street inits. since 1792 : NYSE

The roots of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) go back to 1792 when a group of 24 stock brokers set up the New York Stock & Exchange Board. They did so in an agreement signed under a buttonwood tree outside 68 Wall Street. That document became known as the Buttonwood Agreement. Today, the NYSE is located in a National Historic Landmark building with the address 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City.

41 Atone for : EXPIATE

To expiate is to make amends for something. The term “expiate” comes from the Latin verb “expiare”, which has the same meaning.

44 Mekong Valley resident : LAOTIAN

At over 2,700 miles in length, the Mekong is the twelfth longest river in the world. It rises in the Tibetan Plateau and empties into the South China Sea at the famed Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

46 Only mortal Gorgon in Greek myth : MEDUSA

In Greek mythology, Medusa was one of the monstrous female creatures known as Gorgons. According to one version of the Medusa myth, she was once a beautiful woman. She incurred the wrath of Athena who turned her lovely hair into serpents and made her face hideously ugly. Anyone who gazed directly at the transformed Medusa would turn into stone. She was eventually killed by the hero Perseus, who beheaded her. He carried Medusa’s head and used its powers as a weapon, before giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. One myth holds that as Perseus was flying over Egypt with Medusa’s severed head, drops of her blood fell to the ground and formed asps.

47 Recurring theme : MOTIF

A motif is a recurring element in an artistic work or design.

49 Penultimate word in a fairy tale : EVER

The stock phrase “Once upon a time …” has been used in various forms as the start of a narrative at least since 1380. The stock phrase at the end of stories such as folktales is often “and they all lived happily ever after”. The earlier version of this ending was “happily until their deaths”.

51 Attempting to, casually : TRYNA

“Tryna” (trying to)

53 G.P.A. booster : EASY A

Grade point average (GPA)

59 Pre-euro currency : LIRA

The word “lira” is used in a number of countries for currency. “Lira” comes from the Latin for “pound” and is derived from the British pound sterling, the value of a Troy pound of silver. For example, the lira (plural “lire”) was the official currency of Italy before the country changed over to the euro in 2002.

63 Christmastime concoction : NOG

It’s not really clear where the term “nog” (as in “eggnog”) comes from although it might derive from the word “noggin”, which was originally a small wooden cup that was long associated with alcoholic drinks.

To decoct is to extract the flavor of a liquid by boiling down and increasing the concentration. A related term is “to concoct”, meaning “to boil together”. We use the verb “to concoct” in a figurative sense to mean to contrive, devise.

64 Doctors’ org. : AMA

American Medical Association (AMA)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Get in the game? : ANTE
5 Home of the comics heroes Asterix and Obelix : GAUL
9 Month with a so-called “hunter’s moon”: Abbr. : OCT
12 “Let’s Make ___” : A DEAL
13 Actor Edward James ___ : OLMOS
15 “It’s cold in here!” : BRR!
16 What might be rolled for a strike : BOWLING BALL
18 Put (down) : LAY
19 ___ no good (misbehaving) : UP TO
20 Bud … or bait : CHUM
21 Slightly off : AMISS
23 Verse in a poem : STANZA
25 What a clock might strike : MIDNIGHT
27 [A spider!] : [EEK!]
28 ___ Fleming, British naval intelligence officer-turned-writer : IAN
30 Is on the same page : AGREES
31 Dexterous : DEFT
33 Milky gem : OPAL
36 Put two and two together, say : ADD
37 What might strike during a storm : LIGHTNING
40 Mermaid’s home : SEA
42 Place for a fork … or a jackknife? : ROAD
43 Cry of pain : YELP
46 Popular Nissan model : MAXIMA
48 “For sure!” : YES!
50 Ctrl-___-Del : ALT
52 Who might go on strike : EMPLOYEE
55 Plush fabric : VELOUR
57 Religious believer of a sort : DEIST
58 Rod between wheels : AXLE
60 Site for buying and selling crafts : ETSY
61 Letters on a Forever stamp : USA
62 What might strike you while solving this puzzle : INSPIRATION
65 6-3 in tennis, e.g. : SET
66 Place to leave one’s shoes, perhaps : FOYER
67 Disney heroine whose name means “ocean” : MOANA
68 Firefighter’s tool : AXE
69 Many a big charity event : GALA
70 “Bird by Bird” writer Lamott : ANNE

Down

1 Took home a “furever friend,” say : ADOPTED
2 Fresh spin on a familiar concept : NEW TAKE
3 Prey-catching claw : TALON
4 Inventor Whitney : ELI
5 Painter Vincent van ___ : GOGH
6 Lady Gaga’s “The Fame” or “Artpop” : ALBUM
7 It’s not sweet, sour, salty or bitter : UMAMI
8 Response to a funny text (that usually isn’t literally true) : LOL
9 Beholden (to) : OBLIGED
10 Suddenly stopped working, as a computer : CRASHED
11 Secret meetings : TRYSTS
12 Mistreat : ABUSE
14 Sort of language generally found in Urban Dictionary : SLANG
17 Final Four org. : NCAA
22 Desert illusion : MIRAGE
24 Rigatoni relative : ZITI
26 Surrealist Salvador : DALI
29 Manhattan neighborhood containing some of N.Y.U. : NOHO
32 Thrashes about : FLAILS
34 Org. that provides chaperones for field trips : PTA
35 Name on Woody’s shoe in “Toy Story” : ANDY
38 Overcast : GRAY
39 Wall Street inits. since 1792 : NYSE
40 Like some couples : SAME SEX
41 Atone for : EXPIATE
44 Mekong Valley resident : LAOTIAN
45 Wedding guest’s partner, say : PLUS ONE
46 Only mortal Gorgon in Greek myth : MEDUSA
47 Recurring theme : MOTIF
49 Penultimate word in a fairy tale : EVER
51 Attempting to, casually : TRYNA
53 G.P.A. booster : EASY A
54 Kick out : EXPEL
56 Divulge : LET ON
59 Pre-euro currency : LIRA
63 Christmastime concoction : NOG
64 Doctors’ org. : AMA