0629-18 NY Times Crossword Answers 29 Jun 2018, Friday

Constructed by: David Steinberg
Edited by: Will Shortz

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Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 11m 57s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. “Voilà!” : BADA-BING, BADA-BOOM!

James Caan ad-libbed the phrase “bada-bing” when portraying Sonny in the classic 1972 film “The Godfather”. Years later, the writers of the TV mobster series “The Sopranos” used the name “Bada Bing!” for the fictional strip club in which Tony Soprano hangs out with his cronies.

“Voilà” means “there it is”, and “voici” means “here it is”. The terms come from “voi là” meaning “see there” and “voi ici” meaning “see here”.

18. Napoleon’s foe at Waterloo : DUKE OF WELLINGTON

Arthur Wellesley was nicknamed “the Iron Duke” and is best-known today as the 1st Duke of Wellington. It was Irish-born Wellesley who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Wellesley also served as Prime Minister of Britain for two terms.

Waterloo is a small municipality in Belgium. The name “Waterloo” originated with the Dutch and is probably an anglicization of a Dutch word meaning “wet clearing in a forest”. The town is famous for the Battle of Waterloo that took place nearby in 1815. Said battle was fought between the Imperial French army led by Emperor Napoleon, and an Anglo-Allied army led by Irish-born British Field Marshal, the Duke of Wellington. Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo led to his abdication and the restoration of King Louis XVIII to the throne of France. Bonaparte was exiled to the British-owned island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died in 1821. Such is the fame of the battle that the term “Waterloo” is used figuratively today for any decisive or crushing defeat.

19. “Telephone Line” band, informally : ELO

“Telephone Line” was released as a single in 1977 by the band ELO, and hit the top ten listings on both sides of the Atlantic. The initialism “ELO” stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. Their manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).

20. Knighted conductor : SOLTI

Sir Georg Solti was a great Hungarian-British conductor, who spent 22 years as music director of the Chicago Symphony, one of many prestigious positions he held in the world of classical music and opera. Solti was awarded 31 Grammy Awards, the most won by any individual in any genre of music. I think it’s kind of cool that Solti’s name comprises two notes in the solfa scale: sol-ti …

22. Head of Napoleon’s army? : TETE

The English word “head” translates into French as “tête”, and into German as “Kopf”.

24. They provide quarters for dollars : INNS

We use the term “quarters” for a place of abode, especially housing for military personnel. Back in the late 16th century, quarters were a portion (quarter) of a town reserved for a military force.

26. ___ leches cake : TRES

A tres leches cake is a type of sponge cake that has been soaked in three kinds of milk, in heavy cream, condensed milk and evaporated milk.

30. 2014-15 dance craze : NAE NAE

The Nae Nae is a hip hop dance that is named for the 2013 song “Drop that NaeNae” recorded by We Are Toon. The main move in the dance involves swaying with one hand in the air and one hand down, with both feet firmly planted on the dancefloor. Go on, do it. You know you want to …

33. “Yeah, yeah, little ___” (repeated line in a 1964 hit) : GTO

“Yeah, yeah, little GTO” are words appearing the song “G.T.O”, the debut recording for the surf rock group from the sixties known as Ronny & the Daytonas.

36. 7-Eleven treats : SLURPEES

The first precursor to the 7-Eleven store opened in Dallas, Texas in 1927. The stores were so named (much later, in 1946) because they were open longer than other stores, from 7am to 11pm.

38. Hannibal’s foe in the Second Punic War : SCIPIO

Scipio Africanus was a general and politician in the Roman Republic. Scipio’s most notable victory as a soldier was in the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage. Scipio was the Roman general who defeated Hannibal at Zama, in the final battle of the war.

The ancient kingdom of Phoenicia lay on the Mediterranean in the region making up much of modern-day Syria, Lebanon and Israel. The Latin for “Phoenicia” is “Poenus”, giving us the term “Punic”, as in “Punic Wars”.

46. Kind of financing : APR

Annual percentage rate (APR)

47. Anastasia ___, woman in “Fifty Shades of Grey” : STEELE

“Fifty Shades of Grey” is an incredibly popular erotic novel by British writer E. L. James. “Fifty Shades of Grey” is the fastest-selling paperback of all time. There are two other titles to complete the trilogy: “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed”.

53. Romney’s 2012 running mate : RYAN

Paul Ryan was a nominee for Vice President in the 2012 election, and was on the Republican ticket with Mitt Romney. Ryan was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2015 after John Boehner resigned. At 45, Ryan then became the youngest Speaker since 1875.

Mitt Romney was born Willard Mitt Romney in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. Romney’s parents named him after J. Willard Marriott (the hotel magnate) who was the father’s best friend, and after Milton “Mitt” Romney who was the father’s cousin and quarterback for the Chicago Bears.

55. Lover of Aphrodite : ARES

The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

56. Contraction that’s also a past-tense verb : WE’RE

“We’re” and “were”.

57. Development phases : BETAS

In the world of software development, the first tested issue of a new program is usually called the alpha version. Expected to have a lot of bugs that need to be fixed, the alpha release is usually distributed to a small number of testers. After reported bugs have been eliminated, the refined version is called a beta and is released to a wider audience, but with the program clearly labeled as “beta”. The users generally check functionality and report further bugs that are encountered. The beta version feeds into a release candidate, the version that is tested just prior to the software being sold into the market, hopefully bug-free.

60. Golden ___ : RATIO

The golden ratio, sometimes called the “golden mean” and denoted by the Greek letter phi, is a mathematical constant that often turns up in the world of art. Phi is approximately equal to 1.61, and is represented by the two distances, a and b, where (a+b)/a = a/b. Somehow we perceive the ratio of 1.61 as “pleasing” so it appears in many works of art and in building design. For example, many aspects of the Parthenon in Athens have the ratio of 1.61 (width compared to height). Leonardo da Vinci’s famous drawing of the Vitruvian Man also illustrates the golden ratio in the proportions of the human body, where he shows that the distance from the foot to the navel, compared to the distance from the navel to the head, is 1.61.

63. Ink container : SAC

Octopodes and squid have the ability to release a dark pigment into the water as a means of escape. The dark pigment is called cephalopod ink (the squid and octopus belong to the class cephalopoda). The dark color is created by melanin, the same substance that acts as a pigment in human skin.

67. Athlete for whom Portugal’s Madeira Airport was renamed : CRISTIANO RONALDO

Cristiano Ronaldo is a professional soccer player from Portugal who is often referred to as the finest player in the world. Ronaldo spent five years playing in the UK with Manchester United, and then relocated to Spain to play for Real Madrid starting in 2009.

Madeira is a Portuguese-owned archipelago that lies to the southwest of mainland Portugal. Madeira is famous for its fortified wine, which is known as Madeira wine.

Down

1. Luxury bathroom features : BIDETS

“Bidet” is a French word that we imported into English. In French, the word “bidet” originally described a small horse or a pony. The bidet bathroom fixture was so called because one straddles it like a horse in order to use it.

2. Charm : AMULET

Amulets are items worn to ward off disease or to protect against harmful magical spells.

3. ___ Territory : DAKOTA

The Dakota Territory was formed in 1861 and ceased to exist with the admission to the Union of the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. The territory was split into two states in 1889 largely due to lobbying by the Republican Party, which enjoyed a lot of support in the Dakota Territory. The admission of two states added to the political power of the party in the US Senate, by adding four safe Republican seats.

5. Features on some jackets, in brief : BIOS

Those would be dust jackets on books.

6. Dope : INFO

Apparently, “to dope out” is a slang term meaning “to figure out, infer from available information”. Our use of the word “dope” to mean “inside information” probably comes from horse racing. The idea is that a bettor might have information about which horse has been drugged (doped) to influence its performance.

7. Where po’ boys are eaten : N’AWLINS

Apparently the “N’awlins” pronunciation of “New Orleans” is common, but is usually uttered by tourists. Locals are more likely to say “New Awlins”.

A po’ boy is a submarine sandwich from Louisiana. There are a lot of theories about where the name came from, and none sound too convincing to me. A po’ boy differs from a regular submarine sandwich in that it uses Louisiana French bread, which is soft in the middle and crusty on the outside.

8. ___ Green, historic eloping destination : GRETNA

Gretna Green is a village in Scotland that was the first stop across the border along the old coach route from London to Edinburgh. “Gretna” has a long history associated with runaway marriages. After the Marriage Act came into force in England and Wales in 1754, minors could not marry without the consent of their parents. As a result, young couple headed across the border into to take advantage of the more liberal marriage laws in Scotland. Even today, Gretna Green has the reputation of being the “Las Vegas of Britain”, due to the village’s romantic history.

10. Former workers’ or sports org. : AFL

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded in 1886, making it one of the first federations of unions in the country. Over time the AFL became dominated by craft unions, unions representing skilled workers of particular disciplines. In the early thirties, John L. Lewis led a movement within the AFL to organize workers by industry, believing this would be more effective for the members. But the craft unions refused to budge, so Lewis set up a rival federation of unions in 1932, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The two federations became bitter rivals for over two decades until finally merging in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO.

Arena Football is played indoors, on a smaller field than American (and Canadian) football. The sport was invented in 1981, and the Arena Football League (AFL) was around from 1987 till 2008. There’s a new AFL in business now, which started playing games in 2010.

15. Middle of a dash? : ODOMETER

An odometer measures distance traveled. “Odometer comes from the Greek “hodos” meaning “path” and “metron” meaning “measure”.

Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a board placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hoofs of the horses. Quite interesting …

16. Browser option : MSN

The Microsoft Network (MSN) used to be an Internet service provider (ISP). These days, MSN is mainly a web portal.

25. Show filmed in Studio 8H, for short : SNL

“Saturday Night Live” (SNL)

31. Parent company of Lamborghini : AUDI

Ferruccio Lamborghini was in the business of manufacturing tractors back in the late forties. Almost two decades later, he founded Automobili Lamborghini to produce high-end sports cars. That’s quite a shift in target market …

32. TV journalist Hill : ERICA

Erica Hill was the co-anchor of “CBS This Morning”, and before that she was co-anchor of CBS’s “The Early Show”. Hill moved in 2008 to NBC News and co-hosted the weekend edition of “Today”. She moved to CNN in 2016.

35. No longer important : MOOT

“To moot” is to bring up as a subject for discussion or debate. So, something that is moot is open to debate. Something that is no longer moot, is no longer worth debating. We don’t seem to be able get that right, which drives me crazy …

39. Cousin of a guinea pig : CAPYBARA

The capybara is the largest rodent in the world, a native of South America. This huge animal is related to the tiny little guinea pig, a remarkable relationship given that a fully grown adult capybara can be over four feet long, and weigh up to 140 pounds.

40. Knesset assembly : ISRAELIS

The Knesset is the legislative branch of the Israeli government, and does its business in the Givat Ram neighborhood of central Jerusalem.

44. Mouth-burning chili pepper : SERRANO

The serrano chili pepper is native to the mountainous regions of the Mexican states of Puebla and Hidalgo. The name “serrano” comes from the Spanish “sierra” meaning “mountain”.

50. List on eBay, say : RESELL

There have been some notable things sold on eBay over the years. For example:

  • Ad space on a guy’s forehead, in the form of a temporary tattoo – $37,375
  • William Shatner’s kidney stone – $25,000
  • A cornflake shaped like Illinois – $1,350
  • A single corn flake – $1.63
  • A box of 10 Twinkies – $59.99
  • The original Hollywood sign – $450,400
  • The meaning of life – $3.26

51. Starbucks order size : GRANDE

Starbucks introduced us to coffee drinks in a whole range of volumes:

  • Demi … 3 fl oz
  • Short … 8 fl oz
  • Tall … 12 fl oz
  • Grande … 16 fl oz (Italian for “large”)
  • Venti … 20 fl oz (Italian for “twenty”)
  • Trenta … 30 fl oz (Italian for “thirty”)

52. Badger : HECTOR

The verb “to hector” means “to bully, to dominate in a blustering way”. The term comes from the Trojan hero Hector, who encouraged his fellow Trojans to keep up the fight against the Greeks.I guess he must have bullied them …

61. Horror movie assistant : IGOR

In the world of movies, Igor has been the assistant to Dracula, Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein among others. Igor is almost invariably portrayed as a hunchback.

62. Prefix for vintners : OENO-

In Greek mythology, Oeno was the goddess of wine, giving us “oeno-” as a prefix meaning “wine”. For example, oenology is the study of wine and an oenophile is a wine-lover.

64. Channel for cinephiles : TCM

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is one of my favorite television channels, delivering just what its name promises: classic movies.

66. French ailment : MAL

Here are some French terms for some unpleasant conditions:

  • Mal de tête (headache)
  • Mal de mer (seasickness)
  • Mal de pays (homesickness)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. “Voilà!” : BADA-BING, BADA-BOOM!
17. Invisible social group : IMAGINARY FRIENDS
18. Napoleon’s foe at Waterloo : DUKE OF WELLINGTON
19. “Telephone Line” band, informally : ELO
20. Knighted conductor : SOLTI
21. Reserve squad : B-TEAM
22. Head of Napoleon’s army? : TETE
24. They provide quarters for dollars : INNS
26. ___ leches cake : TRES
28. Some bucks : STAGS
30. 2014-15 dance craze : NAE NAE
33. “Yeah, yeah, little ___” (repeated line in a 1964 hit) : GTO
34. Underground crop : YAMS
36. 7-Eleven treats : SLURPEES
38. Hannibal’s foe in the Second Punic War : SCIPIO
41. Package of Linux software, informally : DISTRO
42. Decide randomly : CAST LOTS
45. Amusingly ironic : RICH
46. Kind of financing : APR
47. Anastasia ___, woman in “Fifty Shades of Grey” : STEELE
49. “This is killing me!” : AARGH!
53. Romney’s 2012 running mate : RYAN
55. Lover of Aphrodite : ARES
56. Contraction that’s also a past-tense verb : WE’RE
57. Development phases : BETAS
60. Golden ___ : RATIO
63. Ink container : SAC
64. Field for a Hollywood agency : TALENT MANAGEMENT
67. Athlete for whom Portugal’s Madeira Airport was renamed : CRISTIANO RONALDO
68. Overseer of all other systems : MASTER CONTROLLER

Down

1. Luxury bathroom features : BIDETS
2. Charm : AMULET
3. ___ Territory : DAKOTA
4. 122 is a record one : AGE
5. Features on some jackets, in brief : BIOS
6. Dope : INFO
7. Where po’ boys are eaten : N’AWLINS
8. ___ Green, historic eloping destination : GRETNA
9. Journalists’ credits : BYLINES
10. Former workers’ or sports org. : AFL
11. Tiny bit : DRIB
12. “___ It Fun” (2014 Best Rock Song Grammy winner) : AIN’T
13. Sire : BEGET
14. Accurate : ON TARGET
15. Middle of a dash? : ODOMETER
16. Browser option : MSN
23. Land known in the Bible as Mizraim : EGYPT
25. Show filmed in Studio 8H, for short : SNL
27. Just fine : SO-SO
29. Wind catchers : SAILS
31. Parent company of Lamborghini : AUDI
32. TV journalist Hill : ERICA
35. No longer important : MOOT
37. “Phooey!” : PSHAW!
38. Memorable line? : SCAR
39. Cousin of a guinea pig : CAPYBARA
40. Knesset assembly : ISRAELIS
43. Sweet ___ : TEA
44. Mouth-burning chili pepper : SERRANO
45. Shutdown alternative : RESTART
48. Get support from : LEAN ON
50. List on eBay, say : RESELL
51. Starbucks order size : GRANDE
52. Badger : HECTOR
54. Much-criticized trial, briefly : N-TEST
58. Pot grower? : ANTE
59. Rouse : STIR
61. Horror movie assistant : IGOR
62. Prefix for vintners : OENO-
64. Channel for cinephiles : TCM
65. Buddy : MAC
66. French ailment : MAL