0327-20 NY Times Crossword 27 Mar 20, Friday

Constructed by: Kyle Dolan
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 10m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 Brand with Prime Cuts : ALPO

Alpo is a brand of dog food introduced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?

10 “Deck the Halls” octet : LAS

The music for the Christmas song “Deck the Halls” is a traditional Welsh tune that dates back to the 16th century. The same tune was used by Mozart for a violin and piano duet. The lyrics with which we are familiar (other than the “f-la-la”) are American in origin, and were recorded in the 19th century.

“’Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la la la la la la la!”

13 Seller of Halloween costumes, perhaps : POP-UP STORE

A pop-up store is one that is temporary. The idea is that a pop-up store opens in empty retail space for a limited period of time, often to meet the needs of a particular season or holiday. Examples of the genre might be Halloween stores or Christmas stores.

15 Highland body : LOCH

“Loch” is the Scottish Gaelic word for “lake”. The Irish-Gaelic word is “lough”, and the Welsh word is “llyn”.

19 Cave ___ (beware the dog) : CANEM

“Cave canem” is Latin for “beware of the dog”.

20 Texas A&M athlete : AGGIE

Texas A&M is the seventh largest university in the country, and was the first public higher education institute in the state when it accepted its first students in 1876. The full name of the school was the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (hence “A&M”) and its primary mission used to be the education of males in the techniques of farming and military warfare. That’s quite a combination! Because of the agricultural connection, the college’s sports teams use the moniker “Aggies”. Texas A&M is also home to the George Bush Presidential Library.

21 Kind of wave : SINE

A sine wave is a mathematical function that describes a simple, smooth, repetitive oscillation. The sine wave is found right throughout the natural world. Ocean waves, light waves and sound waves all have a sine wave pattern.

22 Supersmall, futuristic medical device : NANOBOT

Nanorobots (also “nanobots”) are tiny devices that range from 0.1 to 10 micrometers in size. The technology of nanorobotics is in its infancy, but it is hoped that nanobots might be used (for example) in medicine one day. The oft-cited application is the use of nanobots inserted inside the body to identify and destroy cancer cells.

33 Abbreviated title without the second, third, fourth and sixth letters : SRTA

“Señorita” (Srta.) is Spanish, and “Mademoiselle” (Mlle.) is French, for “Miss”.

35 Oscar-nominated director of “Network” and “Dog Day Afternoon” : LUMET

As a movie director, Sidney Lumet had a great string of celebrated films to his name including “12 Angry Men”, “Dog Day Afternoon”, “Network” and “The Verdict”. Although nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for each of these films, he never won an individual Oscar. However, the Academy gave Lumet the recognition he deserved in 2004 by presenting him with an Honorary Award.

The movie “Network” was released in 1976. It was directed by Sidney Lumet and stars Peter Finch in his final role, for which he won a posthumous Academy Award. That Oscar for Peter Finch was remarkable in that it was the first time the Best Actor award had been won after the actor passed away, and it was also the first time it had been won by an Australian.

“Dog Day Afternoon” is a crime film released in 1975. The movie was inspired by a real life incident, a robbery at a bank in Brooklyn, New York by John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. Al Pacino and John Cazale played the robbers in the film, with the names changed to Sonny Wortzik and Sal Naturile.

36 Statues of mermaids, typically : NUDES

The mythological creatures named mermaids are usually depicted with the head and upper body of a human female, and with the tail of a fish. The term “mermaid” comes from the Old English “mere” meaning “sea, lake” and “maid” meaning “young woman”. The original mermaids were probably tail-less, with that “fishy” addition likely coming with comparison to classical sirens.

40 “Grant them ___ rest” (requiem opening) : ETERNAL

A requiem is a mass for the repose of the soul of the dead. “Requiem” is a Latin word meaning “rest after labor”.

42 Some R.S.V.P.s : YESES

“RSVP” stands for “répondez s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “answer, please”.

45 Big retailer in outdoor gear : REI

REI is a sporting goods store, with the initialism standing for Recreational Equipment Inc. REI was founded in Seattle by Lloyd and Mary Anderson in 1938 as a cooperative that supplies quality climbing gear to outdoor enthusiasts. The first full-time employee hired by the Andersons was Jim Whittaker, who was the first American to climb Mount Everest.

48 Daft : BATS

The expression “bats in the belfry” meaning “mad, crazy” conjures up images of bats flying around Gothic bell towers, but actually it’s a relatively recent addition to our vernacular. The term is American in origin, and dates back only to the early 1900s. The concept is that someone who is “crazy”, with wild ideas flying around his or her head, can be described as having bats (wild ideas) flying around the belfry (head). The terms “bats” and “batty” originated at the same time, and are clearly derivative.

49 Device found between gutters : BALL RETURN

Bowling has been around for an awfully long time. The oldest known reference to the game is in Egypt, where pins and balls were found in an ancient tomb that is over 5,000 years old. The first form of the game to come to America was nine-pin bowling, which had been very popular in Europe for centuries. In 1841 in Connecticut, nine-pin bowling was banned due to its association with gambling. Supposedly, an additional pin was added to get around the ban, and ten-pin bowling was born.

52 Record kept for travel reimbursement : MILEAGE LOG

The word “logbook” dates back to the days when the captain of a ship kept a daily record of the vessel’s speed, progress etc. using a “log”. A log was a wooden float on a knotted line that was dropped overboard to measure speed through the water.

53 Code for Australia’s busiest airport : SYD

Australia’s Sydney Airport (SYD) is located just five miles south of the city center, and next to Botany Bay. There have been plans dating back to the 1940s to build a second airport on the outskirts of the city.

54 Call it a day : WRAP

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.

55 Honkers : GEESE

A collection of geese is referred to as a “gaggle” when on the ground. When geese are in V-formation in flight, they are referred to collectively as a “skein”.

Down

2 Home of N.Y.C.’s Colonnade Row : NOHO

“NoHo” is short for North of Houston (street), and is the equivalent area to SoHo, South of Houston, both of which are in New York City.

3 Album holder : IPOD

The iPod is Apple’s signature line of portable media players. The iPod first hit the market in 2001 with a hard drive-based device, now known as the iPod Classic. Later models all use flash memory, allowing a smaller form factor. The smallest of the flash-based models is the iPod Shuffle, which was introduced in 2005.

4 Little pointer : PUP

The breed of dog known as a pointer is also known as an English pointer. There are other pointing breeds though, dogs that instinctively “point” by stopping and aiming their muzzles at game when hunting. The list of other pointing breeds includes the English setter and the Irish setter.

6 When “S.N.L.” ends on the East Coast : AT ONE

“Saturday Night Live” (SNL)

7 Seating request : LOGE

In most theaters and stadia today, “loge” is the name given to the front rows of a mezzanine level. Loge can also be used for box seating.

8 Senior moment? : PROM NIGHT

A prom is a formal dance held upon graduation from high school (we call them just “formals” over in Ireland). The term “prom” is short for promenade, the name given to a type of dance or ball.

9 Ref. work in which the verb “set” has a 60,000-word entry : OED

The “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) contains over 300,000 “main” entries and 59 million words in total. The longest entry for one word in the second edition of the OED is the verb “set”. When the third edition was published in 2007, the longest entry for a single word became the verb “put”. Perhaps not surprisingly, the most-quoted author in the OED is William Shakespeare, with his most quoted work being “Hamlet”. The most-quoted female author is George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans).

15 Africa’s largest city that’s not a national capital : LAGOS

Lagos is a port and the biggest city in Nigeria. Lagos used to be the country’s capital, until it was replaced in that role in 1991 by Abuja, a city built just for this purpose. Lagos is also the most populous city in the whole of Africa (followed by Cairo in Egypt).

20 Guitarist Summers of the Police : ANDY

The Police were a trio formed in London in 1977, with Sting being the most famous member and the lead singer. The band’s long list of hits includes “Roxanne” (1977), “Message in a Bottle” (1979), “Walking on the Moon” (1979) and “Every Breath You Take” (1983). The Police broke up in 1986, but their reunion tour of 2007/2008 made them the world’s highest-earning musicians for the year 2008.

23 Trojan War participant : ARES

The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

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 …

26 Like cars at Consumer Reports : ROAD TESTED

“Consumer Reports” is a monthly magazine that has been published by Consumers Union since 1936. Consumers Union was established as a non-profit organization with the mission to “test products, inform the public, and protect customers.”

29 Expensive coat material : CAMEL HAIR

Camel hair is a cloth that is actually made of real camel hair, or a blend of camel hair with another fiber.

39 Jazz great who took his name from Egyptian mythology : SUN RA

“Sun Ra” was the stage name of jazz composer and performer Herman Blount. Sun Ra was a bit “out there”, and claimed that he wasn’t from Earth, but rather was of the Angel Race from the planet Saturn.

41 Cocktail with bourbon and sugar over crushed ice : JULEP

A mint julep is a bourbon-based cocktail that is associated with the American South, and with the Kentucky Derby in particular. If you’d like to make yourself a mint julep, one recipe is:

  • 3 oz of Bourbon
  • 4-6 sprigs of mint
  • granulated sugar to taste

46 Freudian concept : EROS

“Libido” is a term popularized by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s usage was more general than is understood today, as he used “libido” to describe all instinctive energy that arose in the subconscious. He believed that we humans are driven by two desires, the desire for life (the libido, or Eros) and the desire for death (Thanatos).

47 Writer nicknamed the “Playwright of the Midwest” : INGE

Playwright William Inge had a run of success on Broadway in the early fifties. Inge’s most celebrated work of that time is the play “Picnic”, for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The original 1953 cast of “Picnic” included a young male actor making his debut on Broadway. His name was Paul Newman. Many of Inge’s works are set in the American heartland and so he became known as the “Playwright of the Midwest”.

49 “The Ultimate Driving Machine” sloganeer : BMW

The initialism “BMW” stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, which translates into Bavarian Motor Works. BMW was making aircraft engines during WWI, but had to cease that activity according to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The company then started making motorcycles, and moved into automobile production starting in 1928. BMW moved back into aircraft engine manufacturing during the build-up of the Luftwaffe prior to WWII.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Saucy ones : SNIPS
6 Brand with Prime Cuts : ALPO
10 “Deck the Halls” octet : LAS
13 Seller of Halloween costumes, perhaps : POP-UP STORE
15 Highland body : LOCH
16 “Fingers and toes crossed …” : I HOPE TO GOD …
17 Need to play, say : ANTE
18 Show tiredness : NOD
19 Cave ___ (beware the dog) : CANEM
20 Texas A&M athlete : AGGIE
21 Kind of wave : SINE
22 Supersmall, futuristic medical device : NANOBOT
24 Series of tweets : THREAD
27 Series of tweets : BIRDSONG
28 Humanitarian Wallenberg : RAOUL
29 Skilled at dodging : CAGEY
30 Afflict : AIL
31 Like zero : OVAL
32 Lines on a park map : PATHS
33 Abbreviated title without the second, third, fourth and sixth letters : SRTA
34 Conducted : LED
35 Oscar-nominated director of “Network” and “Dog Day Afternoon” : LUMET
36 Statues of mermaids, typically : NUDES
37 Didn’t use the can? : LITTERED
39 Great shakes : SEISMS
40 “Grant them ___ rest” (requiem opening) : ETERNAL
41 Barely : JUST
42 Some R.S.V.P.s : YESES
43 Favorite bar, say : HAUNT
45 Big retailer in outdoor gear : REI
48 Daft : BATS
49 Device found between gutters : BALL RETURN
51 Applies : USES
52 Record kept for travel reimbursement : MILEAGE LOG
53 Code for Australia’s busiest airport : SYD
54 Call it a day : WRAP
55 Honkers : GEESE

Down

1 Take a turn : SPIN
2 Home of N.Y.C.’s Colonnade Row : NOHO
3 Album holder : IPOD
4 Little pointer : PUP
5 Off-menu offering : SPECIAL
6 When “S.N.L.” ends on the East Coast : AT ONE
7 Seating request : LOGE
8 Senior moment? : PROM NIGHT
9 Ref. work in which the verb “set” has a 60,000-word entry : OED
10 Four-wheeled transports that developed out of surf culture : LONGBOARDS
11 One of the top things on a to-do list : ACTION ITEM
12 What a pane! : SHEET GLASS
14 Word after “take a” or “take the” : STAND
15 Africa’s largest city that’s not a national capital : LAGOS
20 Guitarist Summers of the Police : ANDY
21 Alone, to Alain : SEUL
23 Trojan War participant : ARES
24 Transportation option in Philadelphia and Seattle : TROLLEYBUS
25 Not experience the same difficulties as others : HAVE IT EASY
26 Like cars at Consumer Reports : ROAD TESTED
27 Held in suspense : BATED
29 Expensive coat material : CAMEL HAIR
32 Aqua ___ : PURA
33 Befit : SUIT
35 It helps you focus : LENS
36 Little something put away for later : NEST EGG
38 Lock : TRESS
39 Jazz great who took his name from Egyptian mythology : SUN RA
41 Cocktail with bourbon and sugar over crushed ice : JULEP
44 “It was ___ dream” : ALL A
45 Be awesome : RULE
46 Freudian concept : EROS
47 Writer nicknamed the “Playwright of the Midwest” : INGE
49 “The Ultimate Driving Machine” sloganeer : BMW
50 Aid in driving : TEE