0714-18 NY Times Crossword Answers 14 Jul 2018, Saturday

Constructed by: Kameron Austin Collins
Edited by: Will Shortz

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Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 16m 37s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

13. Greasers’ loves : HOT RODS

A hot rod is an American car that has been modified for speed by installing a larger than normal engine. A street rod is generally a more comfortable type of hot rod, with the emphasis less on the engine and more on custom paint jobs and interiors. By definition, a street rod must be based on an automobile design that originated prior to 1949.

“Greaser” is an informal term describing an engine mechanic.

18. Banana Republic’s parent company : THE GAP

The Gap is a San Francisco-based clothing retailer founded in 1969. The name “the Gap” was a homage to the popular sixties term “the generation gap”.

19. Either of two extremes in an orbit : APSIS

In the celestial world, an apsis is a point in an orbit when the orbiting body is at its greatest, or least, distance from it’s center of orbit. The farthest and closest points of orbit are known as the apogee and perigee, when talking about bodies orbiting the Earth. The farthest and closest points for bodies orbiting the sun are known as the aphelion and perihelion.

20. CD follower : -ROM

“CD-ROM” stands for “compact disc read only memory”. The name indicates that you can read information from the disc (like a standard music CD for example), but you cannot write to it. You can also buy a CD-RW, which stands for “compact disc – rewritable”, with which you can read data and also write over it multiple times using a suitable CD drive.

26. First pope to be called “the Great” : LEO I

The first pope named Leo is now known as Pope Saint Leo the Great. Leo I is famous for meeting with the feared Attila the Hun and persuading him to turn back his invading force that was threatening to overrun Western Europe.

36. Stock letters : OTC

Over-the-counter (OTC) trading of stocks is a way of trading directly between two parties, as opposed to exchange trading in which trading occurs in an exchange.

39. Ancient city rediscovered in 1870 : TROY

The ancient city of Troy was located on the west coast of modern-day Turkey. The Trojan War of Greek mythology was precipitated by the elopement of Helen, the wife of the king of Sparta, with Paris of Troy. The war itself largely consisted of a nine-year siege of Troy by the Greeks. We know most about the final year of that siege, as it is described extensively in Homer’s “Iliad”. The city eventually fell when the Greeks hid soldiers inside the Trojan Horse, which the Trojans brought inside the city’s walls. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts …

40. Blackballs : SHUNS

There is a traditional type of secret ballot in which a voter selects a white wall to indicate support and a black ball indicates opposition. This voting method led to the use of the term “blackball” to mean to shun or to vote against.

41. Royal Catherine : PARR

Henry VIII was the English King with the most wives. Well, something rubbed off on his last wife, Catherine Parr. She was to become the English Queen with the most husbands! By the time she married Henry she had been widowed twice, and after Henry died she married once again, racking up four husbands in all.

44. Its business is booming : TNT

“TNT” is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

45. Nerve : MOXIE

Back as far as 1876, Moxie was a brand name of a “medicine” peddled with the claim that it “built up your nerve”. In 1924, Moxie was registered as a trademark for a bitter, non-alcoholic beverage (no more claims of nerve-building). And we’ve used the term “moxie” to mean “nerve” ever since …

48. Term of respect in old westerns : KEMOSABE

“Kemosabe” is a term used by the Tonto character in the iconic radio and television program “The Lone Ranger”. “Kemosabe” doesn’t really mean anything outside of the show, and in fact was written as “ke-mo sah-bee” in the original radio show scripts. The term was created by longtime director of “The Lone Ranger”, Jim Jewell. To come up with the term, Jewell used the name of a boy’s camp that his father-in-law established called Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee.

53. Piano trio? : PEDALS

On a piano with three pedals, the middle pedal is a called a sostenuto pedal. This pedal “sustains” the sound of the notes that are being held down on the keyboard when it is pressed. The instruction to use the sostenuto pedal can be written as “sost. ped.” on a musical score. The sostenuto pedal differs from the sustain pedal in that the latter undamps all the strings at the same time.

Down

2. Onetime Ebert partner : ROEPER

Richard Roeper is columnist and film critic for “The Chicago Sun-Times”, and came to national attentions when he replaced Gene Siskel as co-host with Roger Ebert on the famous film review TV show. Roeper started work with Ebert in 2000, after Siskel died in 1999. Roeper stayed with the show right through 2008, even though Ebert had to bow out in 2006 as he recovered from cancer surgery.

3. Sources of some tremors : N-TESTS

Nuclear test (N-test)

4. “Mrs. ___ Goes to Paris” (Paul Gallico novel) : ‘ARRIS

“Mrs ‘Arris Goes to Paris” is novel by Paul Gallico that was first published in 1958. The novel evolved into a 4-book series of “Mrs ‘Arris” stories, all about the adventures of a London charwoman.

American novelist Paul Gallico had many of his works adapted into screenplays for the big screen. The most famous adaptation is probably “The Poseidon Adventure”, but there is also “Pride of the Yankees” and “The Snow Goose”.

5. A bushelful : TONS

In the imperial system of weights and measures, a bushel is a unit of dry volume made up of 4 pecks. In the US system, a bushel is a dry volume of 8 gallons. We have used the term “bushel” to mean “large quantity” since the 14th century.

6. See 7-Down : EDU

7. With 6-Down, what may follow Indiana or Illinois : DOT

The .edu domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

  • .com (commercial enterprise)
  • .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
  • .mil (US military)
  • .org (not-for-profit organization)
  • .gov (US federal government entity)
  • .edu (college-level educational institution)

11. Like valentines : AMATORY

Saint Valentine’s Day was introduced by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD to honor various martyrs with the name Valentine. However, the saint’s’ day was dropped by the Roman Catholic church in 1969, by Pope Paul VI. Try telling that to Hallmark though …

14. Party flasher : STROBE LIGHT

A strobe light is a device that produces regular flashes, like the light on top of a police car. The term derives from the Greek “strobos” meaning “twisting, whirling”.

24. Ova, e.g. : GAMETES

A gamete is a reproductive cell that has half the full complement of genes needed to make a normal cell. In sexual reproduction, it takes two gametes, one from each parent, to fuse into one cell which then develops into a new organism. The female gamete is the ovum, and the male the sperm.

28. Speleologist : CAVER

“Speleology” is the scientific study of caves, coming from “spelaeum”, the Latin for “cave”.

33. Material : GERMANE

Something that is germane is relevant. “Germane” originally meant “having the same parents”, but the term was used more figuratively to mean “on topic” by William Shakespeare in “Hamlet”. That’s the way we’ve been using the word since “Hamlet” was first performed in the 1600s.

36. Home to the ancient Zapotec civilization : OAXACA

Oaxaca is a state in the southern part of Mexico on the Pacific coast. The state takes the name of Oaxaca, its largest city.

37. Like opposing groups on “Survivor” : TRIBAL

The reality show “Survivor” is based on a Swedish television series created in 1997 called “Expedition Robinson”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Really busy : ORNATE
7. Ban from argument : DISBAR
13. Greasers’ loves : HOT RODS
15. According to schedule : ON TIME
16. Bar bowlful : BEER NUTS
18. Banana Republic’s parent company : THE GAP
19. Either of two extremes in an orbit : APSIS
20. CD follower : -ROM
22. Symbol of change, in math : DELTA
23. Picks : BETS
24. Pick : GO FOR
26. First pope to be called “the Great” : LEO I
27. Jr. and sr. : YRS
28. City license once needed to work in an establishment serving alcohol : CABARET CARD
30. Photogenic, informally : CAMERA-READY
31. Get all twisted up : RAVEL
32. Itches : LONGS
33. Part of what makes you you : GENETIC CODE
35. Decline : SEND REGRETS
36. Stock letters : OTC
39. Ancient city rediscovered in 1870 : TROY
40. Blackballs : SHUNS
41. Royal Catherine : PARR
42. “Duck ___” (classic Warner Bros. short) : AMUCK
44. Its business is booming : TNT
45. Nerve : MOXIE
46. Expired : RAN OUT
48. Term of respect in old westerns : KEMOSABE
50. Wrap up : ENCASE
51. Loan specification : RATE CAP
52. Boil : SEETHE
53. Piano trio? : PEDALS

Down

1. “Hummina hummina!” : OH, BABY!
2. Onetime Ebert partner : ROEPER
3. Sources of some tremors : N-TESTS
4. “Mrs. ___ Goes to Paris” (Paul Gallico novel) : ‘ARRIS
5. A bushelful : TONS
6. See 7-Down : EDU
7. With 6-Down, what may follow Indiana or Illinois : DOT
8. Like the best streams? : IN HD
9. Protection from a shark, maybe : STEEL CAGE
10. Bad things to blow : BIG LEADS
11. Like valentines : AMATORY
12. Settled : REPAID
14. Party flasher : STROBE LIGHT
17. Up to this point : SO FAR
21. Source of guiding principles : MORAL CENTER
24. Ova, e.g. : GAMETES
25. Becomes settled in a new environment : REROOTS
28. Speleologist : CAVER
29. Minds : TENDS
30. Make more palatable : CANDY-COAT
31. Give up : RENOUNCE
33. Material : GERMANE
34. Style of Southern hip-hop : CRUNK
35. Things drawn by eccentric people : STARES
36. Home to the ancient Zapotec civilization : OAXACA
37. Like opposing groups on “Survivor” : TRIBAL
38. Inches : CREEPS
41. Not natural : POSED
43. Strain of potent marijuana : KUSH
45. Speck : MOTE
47. Plain white ___ : TEE
49. Plan out : MAP