0707-18 NY Times Crossword Answers 7 Jul 2018, Saturday

Constructed by: Ryan McCarty
Edited by: Will Shortz

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Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 21m 34s

Bill’s errors: 2

  • DANK MEMES (dann memes)
  • THAT’S SO NOT OK (that’s so not on!!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15. Some petroleum : SHALE OIL

Shale oil can be extracted from oil shale (!), although the extraction process is more expensive than that used to produce crude oil.

18. Pioneer in steam engines : JAMES WATT

James Watt was a Scottish inventor. He figured prominently in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, largely due to the improvements he made to the fledgling steam engine. The SI unit of power is called the watt, and was named in his honor.

21. Early people who used a base-20 numerical system : MAYAS

The Maya civilization held sway in Central America and Mexico from about 350 AD, until the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s.

23. Rapper ___ Rhymes : BUSTA

“Busta Rhymes” is the stage name of rap artist Trevor Smith from Brooklyn, New York. Busta’s stage name was chosen in honor of professional footballer Buster Rhymes.

32. ___ Tech (former for-profit school) : ITT

ITT Technical Institute was a private educational establishment with over 130 campuses all over the US. Founded in 1969, ITT closed down in 2016 after it was basically exposed as a scam. ITT students can now apply to the US Department of Education to avoid repaying their student loans.

34. “Children of the Albatross” author : NIN

“Children of the Albatross” is one in a series of five books written as one volume by Anaïs Nin. The author first published the books herself, in 1959.

35. Vietnamese soup : PHO

Pho is a noodle soup from Vietnam that is a popular street food.

40. Billies : HE-GOATS

Male goats are called “bucks” or “billies”, although castrated males are known as “wethers”. Female goats are called “does” or “nannies”, and young goats are referred to as “kids”.

41. Packing ___ : HEAT

“Packing” and “packing heat” are underworld slang for “carrying a gun”.

45. Playbill bit : BIO

I get quite a kick out of reading the bios in “Playbill” as some of them can be really goofy and entertaining. “Playbill” started off in 1884 in New York as an in-house publication for just one theater on 21st St. You can’t see any decent-sized production these days anywhere in the United States without being handed a copy of “Playbill”.

46. Police line? : PERPS

When a crime suspect in the custody of the police is walked through a public place, often to and from a courthouse, it is known as a “perp walk”.

54. Martial arts holds that are hard to escape : ARMLOCKS

Martial arts are various fighting traditions and systems used in combat or simply to promote physical well-being. The term ultimately derives from Latin and means “Arts of Mars”, a reference to Mars, the Roman god of war.

55. President Bartlet on “The West Wing” : JOSIAH

In the excellent television show “The West Wing”, President Jed Bartlet is played by Martin Sheen.

56. One waiting for the captain? : MESS BOY

“Mess” first came into English about 1300, when it described the list of food needed for a meal. The term comes from the Old French word “mes” meaning a portion of food or a course at a meal. This usage in English evolved into “mess” meaning a jumbled mass of anything, from the concept of “mixed food”. The original usage, in the sense of a food for a meal, surfaced again in the military in the 1500s when a “mess” was a communal eating place.

Down

1. ___-Bakr, longtime adviser to Muhammad : ABU

The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favoured the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.

3. Close friend of Hamilton, in “Hamilton” : LAFAYETTE

The Marquis de Lafayette was a French military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, as well as having a notable career back in France. But, his links to America were strong, so that when he died in 1834 he was buried in Paris under soil transported from the Revolutionary War battlefield at Bunker Hill.

4. Fighter of Ferocious Flea in 1960s cartoons : ATOM ANT

Atom Ant is a cartoon character introduced by Hanna-Barbera in 1965. He is a tiny superhero who fights villains such as Ferocious Flea and a mad scientist named Professor Von Gimmick.

5. Hamilton and 3-Down, in “Hamilton” : ROLES

“Hamilton” is a 2015 musical based on the life or US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as described in the 2004 biography by Ron Chernow. The show opened off-Broadway in February 2015, and transferred to Broadway in August of the same year. Advance ticket sales for the Broadway production were unprecedented, and reportedly amounted to $30 million. The representations of the main characters is decidedly ground-breaking. The show is rooted in hip-hop and the main roles such as Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are all played by African-American and Hispanic actors.

12. Calculus calculation : LIMIT

The Latin word “calculus” was originally used for a reckoning or an account, and originally applied to a pebble that was used to maintain a count. The Latin word came from the Greek for a pebble, “khalix”.

21. Zayn formerly of One Direction : MALIK

Zayn Malik is singer from Yorkshire in the north of England who found fame with the boy band One Direction. Malik quit the band in 2015 to launch a solo career. A year later, Malik became the first male artist to hit the number-one spot in both the UK and US charts with both a debut single (“Pillowtalk”) and a debut album (“Mind of Mine”).

23. “___ chance!” : BONNE

“Bonne chance” is French for “good luck”.

25. Bud inducted into Cooperstown in 2017 : SELIG

Bud Selig was the Commissioner of Baseball for Major League Baseball from 1998 to 2015. Selig became acting commissioner in 1992 after the resignation of Fay Vincent. The team owners searched for a new commissioner for six years, and finally gave the permanent job to Selig in 1998.

26. Belts : SWIGS

A belt is a swift swig of hard liquor.

30. Spot in the third balcony, say : CHEAP SEAT

You’ll find me there …

31. Trespassing and defamation : TORTS

The word “tort” is a French word meaning “mischief, injury or wrong”. In common law, a tort is a civil wrong that results in the injured party suffering loss or harm, and the injuring party having a legal liability. Tort law differs from criminal law in that torts may result from negligence and not just intentional actions. Also, tort lawsuits may be decided on a preponderance of evidence, without the need of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

37. Chemical compounds in so-called hospital smell : PHENOLS

Phenol is also known as carbolic acid. Phenol can be used as an embalming fluid, although more usually bodies are embalmed using formaldehyde. Injections of phenol were used extensively by the Nazis during the WWII particularly in concentration camps, as a means of execution.

39. 1994 Jim Carrey comedy : THE MASK

Jim Carrey is a comedian and actor from Newmarket, Ontario. Carrey’s big break in films came with the title role the first “Ace Ventura” film, in 1994. My favorite of his big screen performances is in the fascinating film “The Truman Show”, released in 1998.

42. 2007 #1 Alicia Keys album : AS I AM

“Alicia Keys” is the stage name of Alicia Cook, an R&B and soul singer from Hell’s Kitchen in New York City.

46. Mexican bread : PESOS

The coin called a “peso” is used in many Spanish-speaking countries around the world. The coin originated in Spain where the word “peso” means “weight”. The original peso was what we know in English as a “piece of eight”, a silver coin of a specific weight that had a nominal value of eight “reales”.

48. Art ___ : DECO

Art deco is a style of design and architecture of the 1920s that actually had its roots in Belgium and then spread throughout Europe before arriving in North America. Celebrated examples of art deco architecture are the magnificent Chrysler Building in New York City completed in 1930, and the GE Building that sits in the middle of Rockefeller Center also in New York City, with the address of “30 Rock”.

49. Goya subject : MAJA

Francisco Goya was a Spanish painter, who was often called the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Two of Goya’s most famous works are “The Nude Maja” and “The Clothed Maja”.

51. Alley-oop starter : LOB

An alley-oop is a play in basketball in which one player lobs the ball close to the basket for a teammate who usually scores with a slam dunk.

53. Tennyson’s “You Ask Me, Why, ___ Ill at Ease” : THO’

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was the Poet Laureate during for much of the reign of Queen Victoria. There are many phrases we use today that were first penned by Tennyson, including:

  • – ‘Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all
  • – Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Loud, as a radio : ABLARE
7. What stars do : TWINKLE
14. Repeatedly hit : BEAT ON
15. Some petroleum : SHALE OIL
16. Play out, as events : UNFOLD
17. “I wanna hear everything” : TALK TO ME
18. Pioneer in steam engines : JAMES WATT
20. Complete coverage? : SKIN
21. Early people who used a base-20 numerical system : MAYAS
22. Sorrowful cries : AYS
23. Rapper ___ Rhymes : BUSTA
24. What closes on Sundays? : AMEN
25. Cut : SCISSOR
27. Fun bit of trivia : LITTLE-KNOWN FACT
32. ___ Tech (former for-profit school) : ITT
33. Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Raisman : ALY
34. “Children of the Albatross” author : NIN
35. Vietnamese soup : PHO
36. Doesn’t snap : KEEPS IT TOGETHER
40. Billies : HE-GOATS
41. Packing ___ : HEAT
42. They may have stained-glass windows : APSES
45. Playbill bit : BIO
46. Police line? : PERPS
47. Cut : SAWN
48. Internet in-jokes that have gone viral, in modern lingo : DANK MEMES
50. Individual’s unique use of language : IDIOLECT
52. How dishes are usually sold : AS A SET
54. Martial arts holds that are hard to escape : ARMLOCKS
55. President Bartlet on “The West Wing” : JOSIAH
56. One waiting for the captain? : MESS BOY
57. Invites out for : ASKS TO

Down

1. ___-Bakr, longtime adviser to Muhammad : ABU
2. Any member of Saul’s tribe, in the Bible : BENJAMITE
3. Close friend of Hamilton, in “Hamilton” : LAFAYETTE
4. Fighter of Ferocious Flea in 1960s cartoons : ATOM ANT
5. Hamilton and 3-Down, in “Hamilton” : ROLES
6. Quashes : ENDS
7. “Absolutely unacceptable!” : THAT’S SO NOT OK!
8. Cartoonist Kelly : WALT
9. Breed : ILK
10. Travel from site to site? : NET-SURF
11. Screwballs : KOOKS
12. Calculus calculation : LIMIT
13. Multi-time W.N.B.A. All-Star ___ Delle Donne : ELENA
15. Be a homebody : STAY IN
19. Mary Jane : WACKY TOBACKY
21. Zayn formerly of One Direction : MALIK
23. “___ chance!” : BONNE
25. Bud inducted into Cooperstown in 2017 : SELIG
26. Belts : SWIGS
28. Performs some light surgery? : LASES
29. Loss of a sound at the start of a word, as “opossum” to “possum” : APHERESIS
30. Spot in the third balcony, say : CHEAP SEAT
31. Trespassing and defamation : TORTS
37. Chemical compounds in so-called hospital smell : PHENOLS
38. Poisons : TAINTS
39. 1994 Jim Carrey comedy : THE MASK
42. 2007 #1 Alicia Keys album : AS I AM
43. Man of the cloth : PADRE
44. Moves at a crawl? : SWIMS
46. Mexican bread : PESOS
48. Art ___ : DECO
49. Goya subject : MAJA
51. Alley-oop starter : LOB
53. Tennyson’s “You Ask Me, Why, ___ Ill at Ease” : THO’