0703-20 NY Times Crossword 3 Jul 20, Friday

Constructed by: Hal Moore
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 8m 56s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Abbr. in some job titles : ASST

Assistant (asst.)

9 Singles player in the 1950s : PHONO

“Phonograph” was an early name for what became known as a “gramophone” and later “record player”. Famously, the phonograph was invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison.

18 Ingredient in some Italian sauces : ROMA TOMATO

The Roma tomato isn’t considered an heirloom variety but it is very popular with home gardeners, especially those gardeners that don’t have a lot of space. It is a bush type (as opposed to vine type) and needs very little room to provide a lot of tomatoes.

22 Breakout console : ATARI

The kids today probably don’t realize that we had a video game console back in the seventies, and it wasn’t a Nintendo nor was it a PlayStation. The Atari 2600 game system introduced the idea of separating out computing hardware (the console) from the game code (a cartridge). The same concept persists to this day, although cartridges have been displaced by discs and downloads.

Breakout is an Atari arcade game that was released in 1976. Breakout is really like a more complex version of Pong, and involves destroying a layer of bricks in the top third of the screen using a “ball” that is “batted” against the brick wall. I wasted a few hours playing Breakout back in the day …

24 Element that burns with a green flame : BORON

Boron is the chemical element with the atomic number of 5 and symbol B. It lies over to the right in Group 13 of the Periodic Table of the Elements. Uncombined, elemental boron is not found naturally on Earth. The boron that is mined is found in oxide form, not as uncombined boron.

28 Hearst mag founded in 1886 : COSMO

“Cosmopolitan” magazine was first published way back in 1886! It started out life as a family magazine, then as a literary publication. “Cosmo” took its present form as a women’s magazine in the 1960s.

35 It doesn’t follow : NON SEQUITUR

We use the Latin term “non sequitur” to describe an illogical statement, usually irrelevant to what has immediately preceded. The literal translation of “non sequitur” is “it does not follow”.

37 Author/TV personality who wrote “Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park” : ANTHONY BOURDAIN

Anthony Bourdain was a chef, author and television personality from New York City. Bourdain’s celebrity came with the publication of his book “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly” in 2000. He moved on to host the television shows “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” and “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”. Bourdain was working on an episode of “Parts Unknown” when he committed suicide in 2018 in his Paris hotel room. Sad …

41 Pasta variety : PENNE

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”.

42 The world, to ambitious types : OYSTER

The oft-used idiom “the world is your oyster” suggests that you are in a position to take advantage of all that life has to offer. This is yet another phrase that was coined by playwright William Shakespeare, in “The Merry Wives of Windsor”.

Falstaff: I will not lend thee a penny.
Pistol: Why then the world’s mine oyster/Which I with sword will open.

44 Los ___, Calif. : GATOS

The town of Los Gatos is in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. The town’s name translates from Spanish to “the Cats” and comes from the old name for the area “Cat’s Corner”. That name is a reference to the cougars that roamed the foothills in which the town is located.

50 BP brand : AMOCO

“Amoco” is an abbreviation for “American Oil Company”, an oil company that merged with BP in 1998. Amoco was the first oil company to introduce gasoline tanker trucks and drive-through filling stations. I wonder if they know what they were starting …?

BP is an oil and gas company headquartered in London, UK. BP started out as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909 with the remit of exploiting oil discovered in Iran. The company name was changed to British Petroleum in 1954, and today the name used is simply “BP”.

52 Beatles hit about “a man who thought he was a loner” : GET BACK

The Beatles song “Get Back” was first released in 1969. It is the only Beatles song that gives credit to another artist on the label, naming the keyboard player Billy Preston. Yes, the label actually says “Get Back” by The Beatles and Billy Preston.

56 Present time, for short : B-DAY

Birthday (b-day)

57 Hustler’s game : MONTE

Three-card monte is a confidence trick in which someone is goaded into betting money on the assumption that he or she can find the “money card” (usually a queen) among three cards placed face down. The “mark” who is being duped has all sorts of ways to lose and there are usually several people in on the scam, including others playing who seem to be winning.

58 What Carnival precedes : LENT

The celebration of carnival comes right before the Lenten period in some Christian traditions. It is thought that carnival perhaps arose from the need to “eat and drink up” any excess food and drink before the beginning of Lent.

59 Its anthem is “Amhrán na bhFiann” : EIRE

“Amhrán na bhFiann” is Irish for “The Soldiers’ Song”, and is the name of the Irish national anthem. I got this one pretty quickly …

60 Record component : PRIOR

A rap sheet is a criminal record. “Rap” is a slang term dating back to the 1700s that means “blame, responsibility” as in “to take the rap”, “bad rap” and “to beat the rap”. This usage morphed into “rap sheet” in the early 1900s.

62 They’re found in most clothes closets : RODS

In Old French a “clos” was an enclosure, with the diminutive form “closet” describing a small enclosure or private room. Over time this evolved into our modern usage of “closet”, describing a cabinet or cupboard.

Down

2 Satirist ___ Baron Cohen : SACHA

Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedian and comic actor from England. Baron Cohen is perhaps most famous for playing the characters Borat and Ali G on the small and large screens. I’m not a fan …

4 Aries : THE RAM

Aries the Ram is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, and is named after the constellation. Your birth sign is Aries if you were born between March 21 and April 20, but if you are an Aries you would know that! “Aries” is the Latin word for “ram”.

6 Soba alternative : UDON

Udon noodles are made from wheat-flour and are very popular in Japanese cuisines such as tempura.

7 Victim of a bark beetle attack : ELM

Bark beetles are so named because some species reproduce in the bark of trees. This can be a problem for the elm tree, as bark beetles are known to transmit the devastating Dutch elm disease. There is another species of bark beetle that is known as the coffee berry borer, and it is the major pest attacking coffee plants around the world.

9 Light-induced flow of electric charge : PHOTOCURRENT

Solar panels are arrays of solar cells that make use of what’s known as the photovoltaic effect. We are more likely to have learned about the photoelectric effect in school, in which electrons were ejected from the surface of some materials when it was exposed to light or other forms of radiation. The photovoltaic effect is related but different. Instead of being electrons ejected from the surface, in the photovoltaic effect electrons move around in the material creating a difference in voltage.

11 Poet Khayyám : OMAR

Omar Khayyam was a Persian with many talents. He was a poet as well as an important mathematician, astronomer and physician. A selection of his poems were translated by one Edward Fitzgerald in a collection called “Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam”. Here are some famous lines from that collection:

Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse — and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness —
And Wilderness is Paradise enow.

13 Top medalla : ORO

In Spanish, a “medalla” (medal) might be made from “oro” (gold).

19 Gravel alternative : TAR

The terms “tarmac” and “macadam” are short for “tarmacadam”. In the 1800s, Scotsman John Loudon McAdam developed a style of road known as “macadam”. Macadam had a top-layer of crushed stone and gravel laid over larger stones. The macadam also had a convex cross-section so that water tended to drain to the sides. In 1901, a significant improvement was made by English engineer Edgar Purnell Hooley who introduced tar into the macadam, improving the resistance to water damage and practically eliminating dust. The “tar-penetration macadam” is the basis of what we now call tarmac.

24 Some restaurant staffers : BUSBOYS

A busboy is a person who assists a waiter, mainly by clearing tables. The verb “to bus” arose in the early 1900s and is probably a reference to the wheeled cart that was used to carry dishes.

25 Classical theaters : ODEONS

In ancient Greece an odeon (also “odeum”) was like a small theater, with “odeon” literally meaning a “building for musical competition”. Odea were used in both Greece and Rome for entertainments such as musical shows and poetry readings.

30 “Studies in the Sierra” author : MUIR

John Muir was a famous American naturalist, although he was born in Scotland. Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892. He published “My First Summer in the Sierra” in 1911, which described one of Muir’s favorite places in the country, the Sierra Nevada range in California.

34 Where Ian Fleming spent much of the 1920s : ETON

The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders including David Cameron who was British prime minister from 2010 to 2016. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington and George Orwell. Author Ian Fleming was also and Eton alumnus, as was Fleming’s iconic character James Bond, although 007 was expelled by the school.

36 Division outcomes : QUOTIENTS

The quotient is the result one gets when dividing one number by another. The term “quotient” comes from the Latin “quotiens” meaning “how many times”.

47 Invention of Guglielmo Marconi : RADIO

Guglielmo Marconi was an inventor, famous for development of a radio telegraph design that was used across the world. Marconi did a lot of his early radio work in his native Italy, but moved to England as the British government was very interested in supporting his developments.

49 Long-haired terriers : SKYES

The Skye terrier is a breed of dog that is actually under threat of extinction. A few years ago, there were only 30 Skye terriers born in the breed’s native land of the UK. The breed was named for the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

50 “De ___ y de Sombra” (Isabel Allende novel) : AMOR

Isabel Allende is a Chilean writer, apparently the world’s most widely-read, Spanish-language author. Isabel is related to Salvador Allende, the ex-President of Chile.

51 British car : MINI

The original mini was a fabulous car, one that I drove all over Ireland in my youth. It had a unique front-wheel-drive layout that took up very little space, allowing for a lot of room (relatively speaking) for passengers and baggage. One space-saving trick was to mount the engine transversely, so it sits rotated 90 degrees from the norm. That engine had a capacity of only 848cc. In 1961, a Mini Cooper model was introduced, which was a sporty version. The Mini Cooper was a phenomenal hit, especially after repeated wins in the Monte Carlo Rally. The Mini marque has been owned by BMW since 1994.

52 ___ therapy : GENE

Gene therapy is an experimental technology used to treat disease. The basic principle is to transplant genes into a patient’s cells in order to cure a disease caused by the absence of those genes.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Abbr. in some job titles : ASST
5 Sustain : FUEL
9 Singles player in the 1950s : PHONO
14 One might be drawn : BATH
15 ___ talk : IDLE
16 Indulge : HUMOR
17 Spread unit : ACRE
18 Ingredient in some Italian sauces : ROMA TOMATO
20 Fine-tune : SHARPEN
22 Breakout console : ATARI
23 Where Prince Kuhio Day is celebrated : HAWAII
24 Element that burns with a green flame : BORON
26 Pillage and plunder : MARAUD
28 Hearst mag founded in 1886 : COSMO
32 Heartache : WOE
35 It doesn’t follow : NON SEQUITUR
37 Author/TV personality who wrote “Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park” : ANTHONY BOURDAIN
39 Swear words? : SCOUT’S HONOR
40 Tech ___ : BRO
41 Pasta variety : PENNE
42 The world, to ambitious types : OYSTER
44 Los ___, Calif. : GATOS
46 Toughens : INURES
50 BP brand : AMOCO
52 Beatles hit about “a man who thought he was a loner” : GET BACK
53 “This is just wonderful!” : I’M IN HEAVEN
56 Present time, for short : B-DAY
57 Hustler’s game : MONTE
58 What Carnival precedes : LENT
59 Its anthem is “Amhrán na bhFiann” : EIRE
60 Record component : PRIOR
61 Lets go : AXES
62 They’re found in most clothes closets : RODS

Down

1 Put to shame : ABASH
2 Satirist ___ Baron Cohen : SACHA
3 One might be drawn : STRAW
4 Aries : THE RAM
5 Pokers, e.g. : FIRE IRONS
6 Soba alternative : UDON
7 Victim of a bark beetle attack : ELM
8 Open field : LEA
9 Light-induced flow of electric charge : PHOTOCURRENT
10 Like many sci-fi aliens : HUMANOID
11 Poet Khayyám : OMAR
12 “Me? Never!” : NOT I!
13 Top medalla : ORO
19 Gravel alternative : TAR
21 Coach for the bench players? : PIANO TEACHER
24 Some restaurant staffers : BUSBOYS
25 Classical theaters : ODEONS
27 “Moving right along …” : ANYHOO …
29 Shot in the dark : STAB
30 “Studies in the Sierra” author : MUIR
31 “Yes ___?” : OR NO
32 Marvel superhero with the power to shrink, with “the” : WASP
33 Almost never : ONCE
34 Where Ian Fleming spent much of the 1920s : ETON
36 Division outcomes : QUOTIENTS
38 Kept : HUNG ONTO
43 Pitcher’s push-off point : RUBBER
45 Corn spot : TOE
47 Invention of Guglielmo Marconi : RADIO
48 Modern party planning aid : E-CARD
49 Long-haired terriers : SKYES
50 “De ___ y de Sombra” (Isabel Allende novel) : AMOR
51 British car : MINI
52 ___ therapy : GENE
53 Little devil : IMP
54 Resembling : A LA
55 Needle or nettle : VEX