1102-21 NY Times Crossword 2 Nov 21, Tuesday

Constructed by: Vaibhav Srikaran & Matthew Stock
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer Double Rainbow

Circled letters in the grid are the first letters of colors. Together, those letters represent a DOUBLE RAINBOW spanning the grid:

  • 52A Rare sighting after a storm … or a hint to this puzzle’s circled letters : DOUBLE RAINBOW

Bill’s time: 7m 41s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Go or Go Fish : GAME

Go is a strategy board game that was invented in China over 5,500 years ago. Go’s name in Chinese translates as “encircling game”, which reflects the objective of surrounding the largest area on the board.

Go Fish is a very simple card game, one usually played by children:

Q. Do you have any queens?
A. No.
Q. Go fish!

15 Element below neon on the periodic table : ARGON

The chemical element argon has the symbol Ar. Argon is a noble gas, and so by definition is relatively nonreactive. The name “argon” comes from the Greek word for “lazy, inactive”. There’s a lot of argon around, as it is the third-most abundant gas in our atmosphere.

Neon was discovered in 1898 by two British chemists, Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers. They chilled a sample of air, turning it into a liquid. They then warmed that liquid and separated out the gases that boiled off. Along with nitrogen, oxygen and argon (already known), the pair of scientists discovered two new gases. The first they called “krypton” and the second “neon”. “Krypton” is Greek for “the hidden one” and “neon” is Greek for “new”.

16 Utopia : EDEN

The word “Utopia” was coined by Sir Thomas More in his book “Utopia” published in 1516 to describe an idyllic fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. More’s use of the name Utopia comes from the Greek “ou” meaning “not” and “topos” meaning “place”. By calling his perfect island “Not Place”, More was apparently making the point that he didn’t think that the ideal could actually exist.

19 Group promoting hwy. safety : MADD

Candace Lightner lost her 13-year-old child to a drink-driver in 1980. Soon after, Lightner formed the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

20 Org. with a canine registry : AKC

The American Kennel Club (AKC) is the organization that handles registration of purebred dogs The AKC also promotes dog shows around the country, including the famous Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

24 “Dios ___!” : MIO

“Dios mio!” translates from Spanish as “My god!”

31 Shinbones : TIBIAS

The tibia is the shinbone, and is the larger of the two bones right below the knee. It is the strongest weight-bearing bone in the human body. “Tibia” is the Roman name for a Greek flute and it is thought that the shinbone was given the same name because flutes were often fashioned out of the shinbones of animals.

32 Lead-in to vision or zone : EURO-

Eurovision is a TV network that was founded in 1954 in Geneva. The network encompasses dozens of broadcasting organizations, not only in Europe, but around the world. Eurovision was set up initially to facilitate the exchange of TV programming. Today, the Eurovision brand is mainly associated (to the public) with multinational competitions that are arranged with a host broadcaster. The best example of such an event is the Eurovision Song Contest that is held annually. Another Eurovision event that was huge in Europe from the sixties through the nineties was “Jeux Sans Frontières”, a multinational TV game show.

The eurozone (also “euro area”) is a monetary and economic union within the European Union that uses the euro as a shared legal tender and sole currency.

33 High-maintenance sorts : DIVAS

The term “diva” comes to us from Latin via Italian. “Diva” is the feminine form of “divus” meaning “divine one”. The word is used in Italy to mean “goddess” or “fine lady”, and especially is applied to the prima donna in an opera. We often use the term to describe a singer with a big ego.

35 Craft brewery offerings, in brief : IPAS

India pale ale (IPA) is a style of beer that originated in England. The beer was originally intended for transportation from England to India, hence the name.

37 Roles on “Grey’s Anatomy”: Abbr. : DRS

The very successful hospital drama “Grey’s Anatomy” has been on television since 2005. The title is a reference to the show’s central character, Meredith Grey (played by Ellen Pompeo), as well as a reference to the classic human anatomy textbook commonly called “Gray’s Anatomy”.

38 Islamic leaders claiming succession from Muhammad : CALIPHS

“Caliph” is an Arabic word meaning “successor”. In the Islamic tradition, a caliph is a leader who is deemed to be a successor of Muhammad.

40 Plumber’s pipe material, in brief : PVC

PVC is polyvinyl chloride, the third most widely produced plastic in the world (after polyethylene and polypropylene). PVC is resistant to corrosion from biological and chemical agents making it a favored choice these days for sewage lines, replacing the traditional metal materials. It is so chemically stable that it will be around a long, long time …

41 Environmental activist Thunberg : GRETA

Greta Thunberg is an environmental activist from Sweden who came to national attention in her homeland when she was just 15 years old. In 2018, she went on strike from school and paraded with placards in front of the Swedish parliament to pressure the government to take stronger action to address climate change. She then took part in demonstrations across Europe, and became a regular speaker at such events. She addressed the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit at the UN headquarters, opting to sail to New York from Sweden, rather than fly. When she was named “Time” Person of the Year in 2019 at 16 years old, Thunberg was the youngest person ever to be so honored.

44 Confection popular in South Asia and the Mideast : HALVA

Halvas are sweet confections found in many parts of the world. Halvas are generally flour-based or based on nut-butter like sesame paste. Sounds delicious …

48 Anne played in film by Natalie Portman and Vanessa Redgrave : BOLEYN

Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII of England. Anne was found guilty of high treason after about a thousand days of marriage to Henry, accused of adultery and incest (probably trumped-up charges). She was executed, but perhaps her legacy lived on in her only child, as her daughter reigned for 45 very prosperous years as Queen Elizabeth I.

Actress Natalie Portman was born in Israel, in Jerusalem. She moved to the US with her family when she was just three years old.

English actress Vanessa Redgrave is a member of a predominant acting family. Her father was the great Michael Redgrave, and her sister the accomplished Lynn Redgrave. Vanessa’s daughter was Natasha Richardson, the actress and wife of Liam Neeson who died after a skiing accident in 2009.

49 Traditional name for a child born on December 25 : NOEL

“Noël” is the French word for the Christmas season, and ultimately comes from the Latin word for “birth” (natalis). “Noel” has come to be used as an alternative for “Christmas carol”.

51 Petulant cry : MEWL

To mewl is to cry weakly like a baby, with “mewl” being somewhat imitative.

52 Rare sighting after a storm … or a hint to this puzzle’s circled letters : DOUBLE RAINBOW

Sunlight reflected by airborne water droplets can produce rainbows. The water droplets act as little prisms, dispersing the white light into its constituent colors. Sometimes we see double rainbows. If we look carefully, we can see that the order of the colors in the first and second arcs is reversed.

57 Feeling that everyone’s having fun in your absence, for short : FOMO

Fear of missing out (FOMO)

59 Paleozoic and Mesozoic : ERAS

The Paleozoic Era (with “Paleozoic” meaning “ancient life”) was a geologic era from roughly 542 to 251 million years ago. Notably in the Paleozoic Era, fish populations thrived and vast forests of primitive plants covered the land. Those forests were the source material for the coal which we dig out of the ground now in Europe and the eastern parts of North America. The end of the Paleozoic Era was marked by the largest mass extinction in the history of the Earth, killing off 96% of all marine species and 70% of all terrestrial vertebrates. Causes of the extinction have been suggested, with one hypothesis being gradually accelerating climate change (scary!).

The Mesozoic Era is also known as “the Age of the Dinosaurs” and “the Age of Reptiles”. Most dinosaurs developed during that time and the era ended with the extinction of all dinosaurs (except the avian species, which developed into our modern birds). The Mesozoic Era started with another cataclysmic event, the so-called “Great Dying”, the largest mass extinction in the history of our planet. During the “Great Dying” over 90% of all marine species and 70% of all terrestrial vertebrate species died off.

61 Hawaiian feast : LUAU

The Hawaiian party or feast known as a “luau” really dates back to 1819, when King Kamehameha II removed religious laws that governed the eating of meals. These laws called for women and men to eat separately. At the same time as he changed the laws, the king initiated the luau tradition by symbolically eating with the women who moved in his circle.

62 Muchachos : NINOS

In Spanish a boy is a “niño” or a “muchacho”. One can also call an adult male a “muchacho”, as in “one of the boys”. Calling an adult male a “niño” would be an insult.

63 Light beige : ECRU

The color ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.

65 Commercial lead-in to Turf : ASTRO-

“AstroTurf” is the trademarked name of an artificial playing surface suitable for many ball sports. AstroTurf was invented in 1965 and originally went on the market as ChemGrass. The first really big application was in 1966 in the Houston Astrodome, so the name “AstroTurf” was applied and has remained ever since.

66 Central theme of “A Star Is Born” : FAME

“A Star Is Born” is a 1937 film starring Janet Gaynor as an upcoming Hollywood actress. “A Star Is Born” was remade three times, in 1954 with Judy Garland playing the lead, in 1976 with Barbra Streisand, and in 2018 with Lady Gaga.

Down

2 Cackling Australian bird : KOOKABURRA

The kookaburra is a bird, a large type of kingfisher, that is native to Australia and New Guinea. Kookaburras have a very distinctive call that is very similar to a human laugh, and their Aboriginal name is onomatopoeic of its call. The laughing kookaburra has a distinctive sound, and was originally known as the laughing jackass.

3 Toy for a budding engineer : ERECTOR SET

Oh how I loved my erector set as a kid. The version we used growing up was referred to as a Meccano set, as “Meccano” was the brand name used for the toy sold as “Mechanics Made Easy”. The original erector set was developed by inventor Alfred Carlton Gilbert, and first produced in 1913. Back then it was sold as “The Erector/Structural Steel and Electro-Mechanical Builder”.

4 Private conversations on Twitter, for short : DMS

Direct message (DM)

5 Nickname for the Mandalorian’s charge : BABY YODA

Grogu is a character in “The Mandalorian”, a TV series that’s part of the “Star Wars” franchise. Grogu is a very young member of the same alien species to which the celebrated character Yoda belongs. As Grogu has a strong resemblance to the Jedi Grandmaster, fans of the franchise often refer to him as “Baby Yoda”.

6 Cleveland is on its shore : ERIE

Cleveland, Ohio was named after the man who led the team that surveyed the area prior to the founding of the city. General Moses Cleaveland did his work in 1796 and then left Ohio, never to return again.

7 Spur (on) : EGG

The verb “to edge” has been used to mean to incite, to urge on, from the 16th century. Somewhere along the way “edge” was mistakenly replaced with “egg”, giving us our term “to egg on” meaning “to goad”.

8 Went by mustang … or Mustang : RODE

A mustang is a free-roaming horse, and a descendent of a once-domesticated animal. The English term comes from the Spanish “mesteño“ meaning “stray livestock animal”.

The Ford Mustang car was introduced in 1964. Back then the Mustang wasn’t a brand new design, but was based on the Ford Falcon. The Mustang was the first of the “pony cars”, American models that are compact and affordable, as well as sporty in image and performance.

9 Hoity-toity : SNOBBISH

Believe it or not, the term “hoity-toity” has been in the English language since the 1660s, but back then it meant “riotous behavior”. It began to mean “haughty” in the late 1800s, simply because the “haughty” sounds similar to “hoity”.

10 There’s an official one for every month : GEM

Here is the “official” list of birthstones, by month, that we tend to use today:

  • January: Garnet
  • February: Amethyst
  • March: Bloodstone or Aquamarine
  • April: Diamond
  • May: Emerald
  • June: Pearl or Moonstone
  • July: Ruby
  • August: Sardonyx or Peridot
  • September: Sapphire or Lapis Lazuli
  • October: Opal or Pink Tourmaline
  • November: Topaz or Citrine
  • December: Turquoise or Zircon (also now, Tanzanite)

11 Lump in one’s throat : ADAM’S APPLE

The voice box or larynx is where pitch and volume of sound are manipulated when we talk. The structure called the Adam’s apple that protrudes from the human neck is formed by the thyroid cartilage that surrounds the larynx. The Adam’s apple of males tends to increase in size during puberty, so the feature tended to be associated more with males in days gone by, perhaps leading to the name “Adam’s” apple. A doctor specializing in treating the larynx is a laryngologist.

12 Like a public relations pro : MEDIA SAVVY

The term “savvy”, meaning “understanding”, comes from the French “savez-vous?”. The French phrase translates as “do you know?”

26 Dove’s cry : COO!

Taxonomically, doves and pigeons are the only members of the order Columbidae. The terms “dove” and “pigeon” are often used interchangeably. Scientifically speaking, dove species tend to be smaller than pigeon species. Colloquially though, many refer to doves as the white or nearly white species in the family.

30 Some museum paintings : OILS

The term “museum” comes from the ancient Greek word “mouseion” that denoted a temple dedicated to the “Muses”. The Muses were the patrons of the arts in Greek mythology.

32 Where the crispest brownies are found in a brownie pan : EDGE

Apparently, the first brownies were created for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. The recipe was developed by a pastry chef at the city’s Palmer House Hotel. The idea was to produce a cake-like dessert that was small enough and dainty enough to be eaten by ladies as part of a boxed lunch.

38 Cocoa alternative : CAROB

The carob is a tree or shrub in the pea family that is mainly grown for its seed pods. The carob seeds are dried or roasted, and when powdered or chipped make a good substitute for chocolate.

45 Like some hot dogs : ALL-BEEF

A hot dog is a sausage served in a split roll. The term “hot dog” dates back to the 19th-century and is thought to reflect a commonly-held opinion that the sausages contained dog meat.

50 Some jeans : LEVIS

Levi Strauss was the founder of the first company in the world to manufacture blue jeans. Levi Strauss & Co. opened in 1853 in San Francisco. Strauss and his business partner were awarded a patent in 1873 for the use of copper rivets to strengthen points of strain on working pants.

53 Country near the Strait of Hormuz : OMAN

Given the politics of oil, the Strait of Hormuz is a strategically important waterway in the Middle East. It is the link between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. On one side of the strait sits the UAE and Oman, and on the other Iran. 40% of the world’s oil shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

55 What’s black and white and a threat all over? : ORCA

The taxonomic name for the killer whale is “Orcinus orca”. The use of the name “orca”, rather than “killer whale”, is becoming more and more common. The Latin word “Orcinus” means “belonging to Orcus”, with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.

57 ___ vaccine : FLU

Influenza (the “flu”) is an ailment that is caused by a virus. The virus is readily inactivated by the use of soap, so washing hands and surfaces is especially helpful in containing flu outbreaks, and other virus pandemics …

A vaccine used to be a modified virus administered to an individual to stimulate the immune system into developing immunity, until RNA vaccines were introduced to combat COVID-19. British physician Edward Jenner came up with the first vaccine, injecting people with the cowpox virus in order to prevent smallpox. The term “vaccination” comes from the Latin “vaccinus” meaning “from cows”, with “vacca” translating as “cow”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Signed off on : OKED
5 The six packed in a six-pack : BEERS
10 Go or Go Fish : GAME
14 Societal standard : NORM
15 Element below neon on the periodic table : ARGON
16 Utopia : EDEN
17 “Just keeping you on your ___” : TOES
18 Gala, e.g. : BIG DO
19 Group promoting hwy. safety : MADD
20 Org. with a canine registry : AKC
21 Yes in the Senate : AYE
22 What tides do about twice a day : EBB
24 “Dios ___!” : MIO
25 Like teenage facial hair, often : PATCHY
27 Tension-based cutting tool : BOW SAW
29 “Cry me a river” : BOOHOO
31 Shinbones : TIBIAS
32 Lead-in to vision or zone : EURO-
33 High-maintenance sorts : DIVAS
35 Craft brewery offerings, in brief : IPAS
37 Roles on “Grey’s Anatomy”: Abbr. : DRS
38 Islamic leaders claiming succession from Muhammad : CALIPHS
40 Plumber’s pipe material, in brief : PVC
41 Environmental activist Thunberg : GRETA
43 Envision : SEE
44 Confection popular in South Asia and the Mideast : HALVA
46 Cafe, e.g. : EATERY
48 Anne played in film by Natalie Portman and Vanessa Redgrave : BOLEYN
49 Traditional name for a child born on December 25 : NOEL
51 Petulant cry : MEWL
52 Rare sighting after a storm … or a hint to this puzzle’s circled letters : DOUBLE RAINBOW
57 Feeling that everyone’s having fun in your absence, for short : FOMO
58 Campaign headquarters watch party, e.g. : EVENT
59 Paleozoic and Mesozoic : ERAS
61 Hawaiian feast : LUAU
62 Muchachos : NINOS
63 Light beige : ECRU
64 Coffee containers : URNS
65 Commercial lead-in to Turf : ASTRO-
66 Central theme of “A Star Is Born” : FAME

Down

1 Ready to go next : ON TAP
2 Cackling Australian bird : KOOKABURRA
3 Toy for a budding engineer : ERECTOR SET
4 Private conversations on Twitter, for short : DMS
5 Nickname for the Mandalorian’s charge : BABY YODA
6 Cleveland is on its shore : ERIE
7 Spur (on) : EGG
8 Went by mustang … or Mustang : RODE
9 Hoity-toity : SNOBBISH
10 There’s an official one for every month : GEM
11 Lump in one’s throat : ADAM’S APPLE
12 Like a public relations pro : MEDIA SAVVY
13 Provide funds for : ENDOW
21 “I get it now …” : AHH …
23 Move like a buoy : BOB
26 Dove’s cry : COO!
28 Platform for Super Mario Galaxy : WII
30 Some museum paintings : OILS
31 Court evidence that’s hard to refute : TAPE
32 Where the crispest brownies are found in a brownie pan : EDGE
34 Compete (for) : VIE
36 Peruse : SCAN
38 Cocoa alternative : CAROB
39 Displayed : SHOWN
42 Hanging by a thread : TENUOUS
45 Like some hot dogs : ALL-BEEF
47 ___ Belova a.k.a. Marvel’s Black Widow : YELENA
48 Words of agreement in Shakespeare : BE IT SO
50 Some jeans : LEVIS
51 Large estate : MANOR
52 Sullen : DOUR
53 Country near the Strait of Hormuz : OMAN
54 It’s usually due on the first of the month : RENT
55 What’s black and white and a threat all over? : ORCA
56 Take a liking (to) : WARM
57 ___ vaccine : FLU
60 ___ Bird, 12-time W.N.B.A. All-Star : SUE