0622-19 NY Times Crossword 22 Jun 19, Saturday

Constructed by: Joe Deeney
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 15m 02s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Impromptu places to conk out for the night : CRASHPADS

“Crashpad” is a slang term for temporary housing used by airline employees in particular. It is a place where they basically just rest and sleep, eat meals and clean up before returning to work.

10 Prime spot for a tat : PEC

“Pecs” is the familiar name for the chest muscle, which is more correctly known as the pectoralis major muscle. “Pectus” is a the Latin word for “breast, chest”.

13 Archenemy of the Fantastic Four : DOCTOR DOOM

Doctor Doom is a supervillain created in the Marvel Comics universe, and is an archenemy of the Fantastic Four.

15 Home to Matisse, Mondrian and Monet, informally : MOMA

The founding of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City was very much driven by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, the wife of John D. Rockefeller, son of the oil magnate. Working with two friends, Abby managed to get the museum opened in 1929, just nine days after the Wall Street Crash. The MoMA’s sculpture garden bears the name of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and has done so since 1949.

Henri Matisse was a French artist renowned for his contribution to modern art. In his early career, Matisse was classed as a “fauve”, one of the group of artists known as the “wild beasts” who emphasized strong color over realism in their works. He was a lifelong friend of Pablo Picasso, and the two were considered to be good-natured rivals so their works are often compared. One major difference between their individual portfolios is that Picasso tended to paint from his imagination, whereas Matisse tended to use nature as his inspiration.

Piet Mondrian was a painter from the Netherlands who also lived and worked in Paris, London and New York. Mondrian’s works ranged in style from Impressionism to Abstract.

Impressionist Claude Monet produced a series of paintings of Rouen Cathedral in the 1890s. Famously, Monet painted the same subject at varying times of the day and times of the year, with the intention of recording the changes in appearance with differing light. He produced over thirty such paintings of Rouen Cathedral over a two-year period, resulting in one of the artist’s most famous and prized series of works.

16 Addendum to a common pentad : SOMETIMES Y

The vowels are A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y.

17 Sierra Nevadas, e.g. : ALES

The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is powered almost exclusively by solar energy, and even has a charging station for electric vehicles at its brewery. The company also uses the cooking oil from its restaurant as biodiesel for its delivery trucks. Discarded yeast is used to make ethanol fuel, and spent grain is used as food for livestock. For its efforts to preserve the environment, Sierra Nevada won the EPA’s “Green Business of the Year” award for 2010.

19 Media big Zuckerman : MORT

Mort Zuckerman is a media mogul who owns the “New York Daily News” and “US News & World Report”.

20 Either constituent of table salt : ION

Sodium chloride (NaCl, common salt) is an ionic compound. It comprises a crystal lattice made up of large chloride (Cl) ions in a cubic structure, with smaller sodium (Na) ions in between the chlorides.

21 One of the Three Musketeers : ARAMIS

Alexandre Dumas’ “Three Musketeers” are Athos, Porthos and Aramis, although the hero of the novel is the trio’s young protégé D’Artagnan. A musketeer was an infantry soldier who was equipped with a musket. Funnily enough, the three “musketeers” really don’t use their muskets, and are better known for prowess with their swords.

23 Ceases production : WRAPS

When shooting of a film is concluded the movie is said to wrap, and everyone heads to the wrap party. There is one story that “wrap” is actually an acronym for “wind, reel and print”, a reference to the transition of the filming process into post-production. But, this explanation is disputed.

28 Spike Lee’s “___ Gotta Have It” : SHE’S

Film director Spike Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia but has very much made New York City his home and place of work. Most of Lee’s films are set in New York City, including his first feature film, 1986’s “She’s Gotta Have It”. That film was shot over two weeks with a budget of $175,000. “She’s Gotta Have It” grossed over $7 million at the US box office.

31 Brand owned by Kraft Foods : JELL-O

If you like Jell-O, then you might want to stop by LeRoy, New York where you can visit the only Jell-O museum in the world. While at the museum, you can walk along the Jell-O Brick Road …

32 What 100-proof alcohol has : KICK

Alcoholic proof is a measure of the alcoholic strength of a beverage. In the US, alcoholic proof is twice the alcohol by volume (ABV), and ABV is simply the volume of alcohol in a the beverage compared to its total volume, and expressed as a percentage. Therefore a liquor that is 50% ABV, is 100 proof. The concept of “proof” dates back to the days of British sailors being paid partly with rations of rum. A “proof spirit” was the most dilute spirit that would sustain combustion of gunpowder. Simply stated, if the rum that a sailor was given was so dilute that it doused burning gunpowder, then it was unacceptable to the sailor. The person providing the rum had to give “proof” that the rum would catch light, proving it was strong enough to be used as payment. It was found experimentally that rum of 57.15% ABV was the lowest concentration that could sustain a flame, so this was named as 100 degrees proof. But nowadays we round down to 50% ABV.

33 Island in NW Greece : CORFU

Corfu is an island in the very northwest of Greece, and is located in the Ionian Sea. Corfu is a very, very popular vacation destination for European tourists, particularly those from the UK, Scandinavia and Germany.

36 Paris is found in it : ILIAD

“The Iliad” is an epic poem by the Greek poet Homer that tells the story of the ten-year siege of Ilium (also known as “Troy”) during the Trojan war. “The Odyssey”, also attributed to Homer, is sometimes described as a sequel to “The Iliad”.

In Greek legend, Paris was the son of the king of Troy. Paris eloped with Helen, Queen of Sparta, and this act was a major trigger for the Trojan War. Also, it was Paris who fatally wounded Achilles by shooting him in the heel with an arrow.

45 Grp. that Ronald Reagan once supported : SAG

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was formed back in 1933, at a time when Hollywood stars were really being exploited by the big movie studios, especially the younger and less inexperienced performers. Early supporters of the Guild included famous names like Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney (you could imagine them in a negotiation!). Past presidents of SAG were also big names, such as Eddie Cantor, James Cagney, Ronald Reagan, Howard Keel, Charlton Heston, Ed Asner and Melissa Gilbert. SAG merged with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) in 2012 to create SAG-AFTRA.

46 Grp. that Ronald Reagan once supported : NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded not long after WWII in 1949 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The first NATO Secretary General was Lord Ismay, Winston Churchill’s chief military assistant during WWII. Famously, Lord Ismay said the goal of NATO was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

47 Congressman who served the most consecutive years as speaker of the House (1977-87) : TIP O’NEILL

Tip O’Neill was Speaker of the House from 1977 until he retired in 1987. He was the only Speaker to serve five complete consecutive Congresses, and the longest-serving in terms of continuous tenure. However, he was only the third longest-serving Speaker in history, after Sam Rayburn and Henry Clay, who served multiple, non-consecutive terms.

59 Sabermetrics whiz, e.g. : STATS GEEK

“Sabermetrics” is the name given to the statistical analysis of the sport of baseball. The term comes from the acronym SABR, standing for the Society for American Baseball Research.

Down

1 Stack at a music store : CDS

The compact disc (CD) was developed jointly by Philips and Sony as a medium for storing and playing sound recordings. When the first commercial CD was introduced back in 1982, a CD’s storage capacity was far greater than the amount of data that could be stored on the hard drive of personal computers available at that time.

2 They’re all over Down Under, informally : ROOS

In Australia, male kangaroos are known by several names including bucks, boomers, jacks or old men. Females are called does, flyers, or jills. There seems to be just the one name for young kangaroos, i.e. joeys. A group of kangaroos might be called a mob, troop or court.

3 Top : ACME

The acme is the highest point. The term comes from the Greek word “akme” that has the same meaning.

4 Leave in : STET

“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

5 Tout’s offering : HOT TIP

A tout (mainly in Britain and Ireland) is someone who checks out racehorses and sells information gained to people placing bets.

6 Brand that treats acid reflux : PRILOSEC

“Prilosec” is a brand name for the drug omeprazole. It is a proton-pump inhibitor, meaning that is reduces the production of gastric acid.

10 Object seen in the Ralph Lauren logo : POLO MALLET

Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer, born Ralph Liftshitz in the Bronx, New York. Lauren started off working as a salesman for Brooks Brothers after spending two years in the US Army. He then opened a necktie store, featuring his own tie designs. The ties were sold under the name “Polo”, which became Lauren’s most famous brand. Other Lauren brands are Purple Label and Black Label.

11 Old Food Network show with the catchword “Bam!” : EMERIL LIVE

Emeril Lagasse is an American chef who was born in Massachusetts. Lagasse first achieved celebrity as executive chef in Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. Now famous for his television shows, his cuisine still showcases New Orleans ingredients and influences. Lagasse started using his famous “Bam!” catchphrase in order to keep his crew awake during repeated tapings of his show.

14 Natural mimics : MYNAS

Some species of myna (also “mynah”) bird are known for their ability to imitate sounds.

22 Rule that Gandhi opposed : RAJ

The period of colonial rule by the British in South Asia from 1858 to 1947 is referred to as the British Raj. Prior to 1858, the area was ruled by a private enterprise, the British East India Company. “Raj” is the Hindi word for “reign”.

Mohandas Gandhi was a political and spiritual leader in India in the first part of the 20th century, as the country sought independence from Britain. He was also referred to as “Mahatma”, meaning “great soul”. His remarkable philosophy of nonviolence and living a modest lifestyle was a great inspiration to the Indian people. India (and Pakistan) was granted independence in 1947. Tragically, Gandhi was assassinated the very next year.

27 Letter before Lima and after Foxtrot when spelling 27-Down : ALFA

Using the NATO alphabet, “alfa” is spelled out as “alfa – lima – foxtrot – alfa”.

34 Graffiti and such : URBAN ART

“Graffiti” is the plural of “graffito”, and is the Italian for “scribbling”. The word was first used to describe ancient inscriptions on the walls in the ruins of Pompeii.

43 Old boosted rocket stages : AGENAS

The RM-81 Agena was an upper-stage rocket designed and built by Lockheed, and first used in 1959. After 365 launches, it was retired in 1987.

48 “Central Park in the Dark” composer : IVES

Charles Ives was one of the great classical composers, and probably the first American to be so recognized. Sadly, his work largely went unsung (pun intended!) during his lifetime, and was really only accepted into the performed repertoire after his death in 1954.

49 Little noodge : PEST

“Noodge” is a slang term meaning “to nag”, or as a noun meaning “nag”. It comes into English from the Yiddish word “nudyen” meaning “to bore, be tedious”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Impromptu places to conk out for the night : CRASHPADS
10 Prime spot for a tat : PEC
13 Archenemy of the Fantastic Four : DOCTOR DOOM
15 Home to Matisse, Mondrian and Monet, informally : MOMA
16 Addendum to a common pentad : SOMETIMES Y
17 Sierra Nevadas, e.g. : ALES
18 Finally chooses : SETTLES ON
19 Media big Zuckerman : MORT
20 Either constituent of table salt : ION
21 One of the Three Musketeers : ARAMIS
23 Ceases production : WRAPS
26 Enjoys oneself immensely : HAS A BALL
28 Spike Lee’s “___ Gotta Have It” : SHE’S
29 With 53-Across, one whom you might blame for something bad that you did : EVIL …
31 Brand owned by Kraft Foods : JELL-O
32 What 100-proof alcohol has : KICK
33 Island in NW Greece : CORFU
35 Touched the ground : ALIT
36 Paris is found in it : ILIAD
38 Race : TEAR
39 Fires (up) : REVS
40 Handles with care? : PET NAMES
42 Perform a Thanksgiving cooking task : BASTE
44 “Thumbs down from me” : I SAY NO
45 Grp. that Ronald Reagan once supported : SAG
46 Grp. that Ronald Reagan once supported : NATO
47 Congressman who served the most consecutive years as speaker of the House (1977-87) : TIP O’NEILL
53 See 29-Across : … TWIN
54 Radio sign-off : OVER AND OUT
56 Go on and on about something : RAVE
57 Seatbelts, e.g. : RESTRAINTS
58 “Listen!”: Sp. : OYE!
59 Sabermetrics whiz, e.g. : STATS GEEK

Down

1 Stack at a music store : CDS
2 They’re all over Down Under, informally : ROOS
3 Top : ACME
4 Leave in : STET
5 Tout’s offering : HOT TIP
6 Brand that treats acid reflux : PRILOSEC
7 They might work on something for 60 seconds : ADMEN
8 Pulls off : DOES
9 Meh : SO-SO
10 Object seen in the Ralph Lauren logo : POLO MALLET
11 Old Food Network show with the catchword “Bam!” : EMERIL LIVE
12 Practices cleromancy : CASTS LOTS
14 Natural mimics : MYNAS
15 Cubs’ supporters : MAMA BEARS
22 Rule that Gandhi opposed : RAJ
23 Passes idly : WHILES AWAY
24 Operatic song-speech : RECITATIVE
25 “Come on! It’s common knowledge!” : ASK ANYONE!
26 Crystal clear, as an image : HI-RES
27 Letter before Lima and after Foxtrot when spelling 27-Down : ALFA
28 Clickable message at the start of an online TV show : SKIP INTRO
30 Democracy in action : VOTE
34 Graffiti and such : URBAN ART
37 Sci-fi author Simmons with the 1989 Hugo-winning novel “Hyperion” : DAN
41 ___ skill : MOTOR
43 Old boosted rocket stages : AGENAS
45 “Ish” : SORTA
48 “Central Park in the Dark” composer : IVES
49 Little noodge : PEST
50 “Gotcha” : I DIG
51 Unaccompanied : LONE
52 Caravaggio’s “The ___ Player” : LUTE
55 Oral admonishment : TSK