0922-20 NY Times Crossword 22 Sep 20, Tuesday

Constructed by: Jeremy Newton
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: The Black Panther

Themed answers each relate to THE BLACK PANTHER superhero:

  • 40A Comic book character with the title role in a blockbuster 2018 film : THE BLACK PANTHER
  • 17A Source of 40-Across’s 63-Across : HEART-SHAPED HERB
  • 63A See 17-Across : SUPERHUMAN POWER
  • 7D Late portrayer of 40-Across : CHADWICK BOSEMAN
  • 24D Alter ego of 40-Across : T’CHALLA
  • 25D Home of 40-Across : WAKANDA

Bill’s time: 8m 44s

Bill’s errors: 3

  • LLOYD (Kloyi)
  • T’CHALLA (T’Chalka)
  • WAKANDA (Wakania)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Chocolate-and-coffee blend : MOCHA

Mocha is a port city in Yemen on the Red Sea and was once the principal port for the capital city of Sana’a. Mocha was the major marketplace in the world for coffee until the 1600s, and gave its name to the Mocha coffee bean, which in turn gave its name to the mocha brown color, and the flavor of coffee infused with chocolate.

10 Some G.I. wear, informally : CAMO

Our word “camouflage” (often abbreviated to “camo”) evolved directly from a Parisian slang term “camoufler” meaning “to disguise”. The term was first used in WWI, although the British navy at that time preferred the expression “dazzle-painting” as it applied to the pattern painted on the hulls of ships.

14 ___ gin fizz : SLOE

By definition, a cocktail known as a “fizz” includes lemon or lime juice and carbonated water. The most popular of the genre is the gin fizz, made from 3 parts gin, 2 parts lemon juice, 1 part sugar syrup and 5 parts soda water. There is also a variant known as a sloe gin fizz.

16 Actor Epps of “House” : OMAR

Omar Epps is the actor who played Eric Foreman on the excellent television series “House”. Prior to playing Dr. Foreman, Epps had a recurring role playing Dr. Dennis Gant on “ER”. And, in another link to the world of medicine, Epps was born in Savannah, Georgia to single mom, Dr. Bonnie Epps.

17 Source of 40-Across’s 63-Across : HEART-SHAPED HERB

Black Panther, the Marvel Comics superhero, gets his enhanced strength, speed, agility, and other powers by drinking the essence of a heart-shaped herb. The herb is poisonous to the common man, but someone in the royal bloodline is immune to its toxic side effects.

21 Takes too much, in brief : ODS

Overdose (OD)

22 Taboos : DON’TS

The word “taboo” was introduced into English by Captain Cook in his book “A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean”. Cook described “tabu” (likely imitative of a Tongan word that he had heard) as something that was both consecrated and forbidden.

25 Direction headed by a covered wagon : WEST

Horace Greeley was a newspaper editor and politician. In the media industry, Greeley founded and edited the “New York Tribune”, which was a very influential paper in the 1800s. In an 1865 editorial he wrote the famous words “Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.” As a politician, Greeley ran for US President in the 1872 election. He lost that election to Ulysses S. Grant in a landslide. Greeley died not long after the votes were cast, making him the only presidential candidate to have died prior to the counting of electoral college votes.

26 Kind of radio : AM/FM

Amplitude modulation/frequency modulation (AM/FM)

30 Fine dishes : CHINA

The ceramic known as “porcelain” can be referred to as “china” or “fine china”, as porcelain was developed in China.

35 Outcast : PARIAH

“Pariah” is an anglicized version of the Tamil word “Paraiyar”. The Paraiyar are a social group of about 9 million people found in some Indian states and in Sri Lanka. The term “pariah” came to be a general term for members of the lowest caste in society, outcasts.

39 “You’re oversharing” : TMI

Too much information (TMI)

40 Comic book character with the title role in a blockbuster 2018 film : THE BLACK PANTHER

Black Panther is a Marvel Comics character who was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in print in 1966. That made Black Panther the first superhero of African descent to appear in mainstream comic books in the US.

43 X amount : TEN

10 is written as “X” in Roman numerals.

45 Like some modern spirituality : NEW AGE

The New Age Movement is a western philosophy with roots that date back to the early 1800s. The movement focuses on achieving the highest human potential as an individual and embraces many traditionally eastern spiritual practices, but eschews all religious doctrines. New Age music is composed with the intent of supporting this philosophy. It tends to be very minimalistic, very tonal and harmonic. It is often used as a backdrop for relaxation or meditation.

46 Captors of Frodo Baggins : ORCS

According to Tolkien, Orcs are small humanoids that live in his fantasy world of Middle-earth (also called “Mordor”). They are very ugly and dirty, and are fond of eating human flesh.

Frodo Baggins is a principal character in J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”. Frodo is a Hobbit, and is charged with the quest of destroying Sauron’s Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Frodo is portrayed by American actor Elijah Wood in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of the novels.

55 How Lindbergh flew to Paris in 1927 : ALONE

Charles Lindbergh was the American pilot who made the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of nearly 3,600 miles. He won the accolades of a whole country for that feat, and was awarded the Medal of Honor (for which Lindbergh was eligible, as an Army Reserve officer). His new-found fame brought tragedy to his door, however, when a kidnapper took his infant son from his home in East Amwell, New Jersey. A ransom was paid in part, but the child was never returned, and was found dead a few weeks later. It was as a result of this case that Congress made kidnapping a federal offence should there be any aspect of the crime that crosses a state line.

67 Place to “remember” : ALAMO

The famous Alamo in San Antonio, Texas was originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero. The mission was founded in 1718 and was the first mission established in the city. The Battle of the Alamo took place in 1836, a thirteen-day siege by the Mexican Army led by President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Only two people defending the Alamo Mission survived the onslaught. One month later, the Texian army got its revenge by attacking and defeating the Mexican Army in the Battle of San Jacinto. During the surprise attack on Santa Anna’s camp, many of the Texian soldiers were heard to cry “Remember the Alamo!”.

68 Many a prom night rental : LIMO

The word “limousine” derives from the name of the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes …

70 Bluefins and others : TUNAS

Bluefin tuna is one of those species (actually there are three species of bluefin) that has been overfished, and is no longer found in some parts of the world.

71 The Avengers, e.g. : TEAM

The Avengers are a team of superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The original lineup, which dates back to 1963, consisted of Ant-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and the Wasp. Soon after their formation, the Avengers rescued Captain America trapped in ice, and thereafter he joined the team. There is a 2012 movie called “The Avengers” that features Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor.

Down

1 Worker protection org. : OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 during the Nixon administration. OSHA regulates workplaces in the private sector and regulates just one government agency, namely the US Postal Service.

3 “Mr.” in “The Wind in the Willows” : TOAD

Mr. Toad is one of the main characters in the children’s novel “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame. A. A. Milne (of “Winnie-the-Pooh” fame) wrote several plays based on “The Wind in the Willows”, the first of which is “Toad of Toad Hall”. And, Mr Toad’s Wild Ride was (it’s closed now!) one of the original rides at Disneyland when the park opened in 1955.

4 Sandwich that takes two hands to handle : HERO

A hero is a submarine sandwich. The hero originated in New York City in the 1800s among Italian immigrants who wanted an Italian sandwich that reminded them of home. The name “hero” was coined in the 1930s, supposedly by a food critic in the “New York Herald Tribune” when he wrote that “one had to be a hero” to finish the gigantic sandwich. Hero is a prevalent term to this day in New York City, reserved for a submarine sandwich with an Italian flavor.

5 Ed.’s inbox filler : MSS

An editor (ed.) might read or edit a manuscript (MS)

7 Late portrayer of 40-Across : CHADWICK BOSEMAN

Actor Chadwick Boseman’s big break came with the lead role in the excellent 2013 biopic “42”, in which he played baseball legend Jackie Robinson. He followed that playing singer James Brown in 2014’s “Get on Up” and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in 2017’s “Marshall”. Boseman’s career really took off when he started playing superhero Black Panther in 2016. Tragically, Boseman developed colon cancer in 2016, and he passed away in 2020.

12 Bazaar : MART

Our word “bazaar”, meaning “market”, comes from the Persian “bazar” that means the same thing.

19 Prez before J.F.K. : DDE

Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) was the 34th US president, but he wanted to be remembered as a soldier. He was a five-star general during WWII in charge of the Allied Forces in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). President Eisenhower died in 1969 at Walter Reed Army Hospital. He was buried in an $80 standard soldier’s casket in his army uniform in a chapel on the grounds of the beautiful Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas.

27 Bill with “New Rules” : MAHER

Bill Maher is a stand-up comedian and political commentator. Maher has an HBO television show called “Real Time with Bill Maher” which is essentially a follow-on from the very successful “Politically Incorrect” program that started out on Comedy Central.

28 Competition won 12 times by Rafael Nadal : FRENCH OPEN

Rafael “Rafa” Nadal is a Spanish tennis player. He is noted for his expertise on clay courts, which earned him the nickname “The King of Clay”.

29 Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones sci-fi hit, for short : MIB

“Men in black” (MIB) are said to have appeared in the past whenever there have been reports of UFO sightings. Supposedly, these men are government agents whose job it is to suppress reports of alien landings. The conspiracy theorists got their day in the movies with the release of a pretty good sci-fi comedy in 1997 called “Men in Black”, starring Will Smith (as Agent J) and Tommy Lee Jones (as Agent K).

33 ___-3 fatty acids : OMEGA

Fish oils are noted for containing omega-3 fatty acids, which have many health benefits including the reduction of inflammation. Like so many essential nutrients that we get from animals, the only reason the animal has them is that it feeds on plants. In this case, fish cannot manufacture omega-3 fatty acids, and instead absorb them from algae. Omega-3 fatty acids are also readily found in other plant oils such as flaxseed oil.

36 Calgary’s province: Abbr. : ALB

Calgary, the largest city in the Canadian province of Alberta, is named for Calgary on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. The Canadian Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.

41 Low-___ : CAL

I wish we’d stop using the term “calorie”, because it is so confusing. In terms of physics, a calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree celsius (at one atmosphere of pressure). The so-called “food calorie” is one thousand times as large, as it is defined in terms of kilograms instead of grams. In attempts to differentiate between these two definitions, the former is sometimes referred to as the “small calorie” and is given the symbol “cal”. The latter is referred to as the “large calorie” and given the symbol “Cal”, with a capital C. If only we’d use the SI system of units, we’d be think in just joules, instead of large and small and food calories.

42 It stopped flying in 2001 : TWA

Back in 1930, when TWA was known as Transcontinental & Western Air (T&WA), the airline introduced one of the first passenger services between the east and west coasts of the US. Known as the Lindbergh Line, travel took about 36 hours and involved an overnight stay in Kansas City.

52 That thar ship : HER

“Thar she blows!” is a phrase that originated on whaling ships. A lookout spotting a whale surfacing to breathe might see the spray from the blowhole caused by the expulsion of carbon dioxide. Thar (there) she blows!

55 “Immediately!” : ASAP!

As soon as possible (ASAP)

56 Fancy-y-y : LUXE

“Luxe” is another word for “luxury”. The term came into English via French from the Latin “luxus” meaning “luxury”.

57 Streaming service with “The Handmaid’s Tale” : HULU

Hulu is a video-on-demand service. Although competing directly with Netflix and Amazon Prime, Hulu’s primary focus is the streaming of television shows rather than movies.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a remarkably well-received television adaptation of the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. The story is set in a future United State after the Second American Civil War. The “Handmaids” are the few remaining fertile women in the world, who are ritually raped and forced to bear children by their masters.

61 Disaster relief org. : FEMA

Federal emergency management has been structured for over 200 years, but what we know today as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was created in 1979 in an Executive Order issued by President Jimmy Carter.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Solemn affirmation : OATH
5 Chocolate-and-coffee blend : MOCHA
10 Some G.I. wear, informally : CAMO
14 ___ gin fizz : SLOE
15 “Sex-x-xy!” : SO HOT!
16 Actor Epps of “House” : OMAR
17 Source of 40-Across’s 63-Across : HEART-SHAPED HERB
20 “Same here” : AS DO I
21 Takes too much, in brief : ODS
22 Taboos : DON’TS
23 Squirrel away : STOW
25 Direction headed by a covered wagon : WEST
26 Kind of radio : AM/FM
30 Fine dishes : CHINA
32 Blow a whistle : TOOT
35 Outcast : PARIAH
37 Big order for a wedding reception : CAKE
39 “You’re oversharing” : TMI
40 Comic book character with the title role in a blockbuster 2018 film : THE BLACK PANTHER
43 X amount : TEN
44 Not keep a secret : BLAB
45 Like some modern spirituality : NEW AGE
46 Captors of Frodo Baggins : ORCS
48 U.S. women’s soccer star Carli : LLOYD
50 Just slightly : A TAD
51 Alternative to “lol” : HA HA
53 What kites do in the wind : SOAR
55 How Lindbergh flew to Paris in 1927 : ALONE
57 Edge of fashion : HEM
58 “Ta-ta!” : I’M OFF!
63 See 17-Across : SUPERHUMAN POWER
66 x and y, on a graph : AXES
67 Place to “remember” : ALAMO
68 Many a prom night rental : LIMO
69 Locked (up) : PENT
70 Bluefins and others : TUNAS
71 The Avengers, e.g. : TEAM

Down

1 Worker protection org. : OSHA
2 Some draft picks : ALES
3 “Mr.” in “The Wind in the Willows” : TOAD
4 Sandwich that takes two hands to handle : HERO
5 Ed.’s inbox filler : MSS
6 “Pick me! Pick me!” : OOH! OOH!
7 Late portrayer of 40-Across : CHADWICK BOSEMAN
8 Moves like a rabbit : HOPS
9 Broke a fast : ATE
10 Run with someone, as a show : COHOST
11 “You said it!” : AMEN TO THAT!
12 Bazaar : MART
13 Planets in the sky : ORBS
18 Quaint contraction : ‘TIS
19 Prez before J.F.K. : DDE
24 Alter ego of 40-Across : T’CHALLA
25 Home of 40-Across : WAKANDA
26 Probably gonna, more formally : APT TO
27 Bill with “New Rules” : MAHER
28 Competition won 12 times by Rafael Nadal : FRENCH OPEN
29 Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones sci-fi hit, for short : MIB
31 Quick time out? : NAP
33 ___-3 fatty acids : OMEGA
34 Pooped : TIRED
36 Calgary’s province: Abbr. : ALB
38 Opposite WSW : ENE
41 Low-___ : CAL
42 It stopped flying in 2001 : TWA
47 Most logical : SANEST
49 Playground joke intro : YO MAMA …
52 That thar ship : HER
54 Worrying sound when you bend over : RIP!
55 “Immediately!” : ASAP!
56 Fancy-y-y : LUXE
57 Streaming service with “The Handmaid’s Tale” : HULU
59 Shed : MOLT
60 Tot’s injury : OWIE
61 Disaster relief org. : FEMA
62 “Let’s take it ___ the top” : FROM
64 One may be tipped out of respect : HAT
65 Refusals : NOS