0425-18 NY Times Crossword Answers 25 Apr 2018, Wednesday

[ad_above_grid]

Constructed by: Adam G. Perl
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: Knows Every Angle

Today’s grid includes four groups of circled letters. Those letters spell out different types of angles, and the same letters are in arrangements that mimic said angles:

  • 36A. Is an expert on this puzzle’s theme? : KNOWS EVERY ANGLE
  • Those angles are OBTUSE, RIGHT, ACUTE and REFLEX.

    Bill’s time: 9m 22s

    Bill’s errors: 0

    Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

    Across

    1. As a result : ERGO

    “Ergo” is the Latin word for “hence, therefore”.

    5. Dr.’s order : MRI

    An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine uses powerful magnetic fields to generate images that can be used by medical professionals to diagnose injury and disease.

    8. Legal assistants, for short : PARAS

    A paralegal (sometimes just “para”) is a person who is trained sufficiently in legal matters to assist a lawyer. A paralegal cannot engage in the practice of law and must be supervised by a qualified lawyer.

    15. Glass component : SILICA

    Glass is made up of about 75% silica, another name for sand.

    19. ___ de toilette : EAU

    “Eau de toilette” (toilet water) is a diluted perfume. A French person when dressing is said to be attending to his or her “toilette”.

    23. Iota : SMIDGE

    Our word “smidgen” (sometimes shortened to “smidge”) is used to describe a small amount. The term might come from the Scots word “smitch” that means the same thing or “a small insignificant person”.

    26. “Mangia!” : EAT

    “Mangia!” is Italian for “Eat!” and is often used in the names of Italian restaurants or in brand names of Italian foods.

    27. Moscow’s home : IDAHO

    In its early days, the city of Moscow, Idaho was known as Paradise Valley, with the name change taking place in 1875. The choice of “Moscow” seems unexplained, but it is more likely related to Moscow, Pennsylvania than Moscow, Russia. Moscow is home to the University of Idaho.

    35. Holiday quaff : NOG

    It’s not really clear where the term “nog” (as in “eggnog”) comes from although it might derive from the word “noggin”, which was originally a small wooden cup that was long associated with alcoholic drinks.

    “Quaff” is both a verb and a noun. One “quaffs” (takes a hearty drink) of a “quaff” (a hearty drink).

    36. Is an expert on this puzzle’s theme? : KNOWS EVERY ANGLE

    In geometry, there are several classes of angles:

    • Acute (< 90 degrees) 
    • Right (= 90 degrees) 
    • Obtuse (> 90 degrees and < 180 degrees) 
    • Straight (180 degrees) 
    • Reflex (> 180 degrees)

    40. Christian inst. in Tulsa : ORU

    Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ORU was founded relatively recently, in 1963 by the late televangelist Oral Roberts. The campus includes a Prayer Tower at its center, a spectacular glass and steel structure designed by architect Frank Wallace. The tower includes an observation deck, and is a popular tourist attraction. The school’s sports teams are known as the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

    41. Sleep stage : REM

    “REM” is an acronym standing for rapid eye movement sleep. REM sleep takes up 20-25% of the sleeping hours and is the period associated with one’s most vivid dreams.

    42. Plaza girl in kid-lit : ELOISE

    Kay Thompson wrote the “Eloise” series of children’s books. Kay Thompson actually lived at the Plaza Hotel in New York, the setting she would choose for her “Eloise” stories. Eloise started out as a hit song for Thompson, a success that she parlayed into the book franchise.

    43. Amber, e.g. : RESIN

    Amber’s technical name is “resinite”, reflecting its composition and formation. Amber starts out life as soft sticky tree resin but then under high temperature and pressure from overlying layers of soil, it fossilizes. The sticky resin can trap organisms or other plant matter, and this material can sometimes remain virtually intact inside the amber fossil giving us a unique gift from the past.

    46. It’s a gift : GAB

    Blarney is a town in County Cork in the south of Ireland. Blarney is home to Blarney Castle, and inside the castle is the legendary Blarney Stone. “Kissing the Blarney Stone” is a ritual engaged in by many, many tourists (indeed, I’ve done it myself!), but it’s not a simple process. The stone is embedded in the wall of the castle, and in order to kiss it you have to sit on the edge of the parapet and lean way backwards so that your head is some two feet below your body. There is a staff member there to help you and make sure you don’t fall. The Blarney Stone has been labelled as the world’s most unhygienic tourist attraction! But once you’ve kissed it, supposedly you are endowed with the “gift of the gab”, the ability to talk eloquently and perhaps deceptively without offending. The term “blarney” has come to mean flattering and deceptive talk.

    49. Place to change at the beach : CABANA

    Our word “cabana” comes from the Spanish “cabaña”, the word for a small hut or a cabin. We often use the term to describe a tent-like structure beside a pool.

    51. Goddess of dawn : EOS

    In Greek mythology, Eos was the goddess of the dawn who lived at the edge of the ocean. Eos would wake each morning to welcome her brother Helios the sun. The Roman equivalent of Eos was Aurora.

    52. Decimal system : BASE-TEN

    Our base-10 numeral system is also known as the decimal (sometimes “denary”) numeral system. Another common numeral system is base-2, which is also known as the binary system.

    66. Galley item : OAR

    Galleys were large medieval ships mainly found in the Mediterranean. They were propelled by a combination of sails and oars.

    67. Periodic table fig. : AT NO

    The atomic number of an element is also called the proton number, and is the number of protons found in the nucleus of each atom of the element.

    Down

    1. European smoker : ETNA

    Mount Etna on the island of Sicily is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy, and indeed the largest of all active volcano in Europe. Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-gauge railway, and two ski resorts.

    2. Gen. ___ E. Lee : ROBT

    After leading the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, Robert E. Lee served as president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. The college’s name was changed to Washington and Lee University in 1870, soon after Lee’s death.

    4. Classic work originally in 10 vols. : OED

    Work started on what was to become the first “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) in 1857. Several interim versions of the dictionary were published in the coming years with the first full version appearing, in ten bound volumes, in 1928. The second edition of the OED appeared in 1989 and is made up of twenty volumes. The OED was first published in electronic form in 1988 and went online in 2000. Given the modern use of computers, the publishing house responsible feels that there will never be a third print version of the famous dictionary.

    5. Film-rating grp. : MPAA

    The Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) film-rating system (PG-13, R, etc.) is purely voluntary and is not backed by any law. Movie theaters agree to abide by the rules that come with the MPAA ratings in exchange for access to new movies.

    8. Ravioli relative : PIROGI

    Pirogi (also “pierogi”) are Eastern European pies or dumplings made from unleavened dough that can have a sweet or savory filling.

    10. Diana ___, 1969 Bond girl : RIGG

    Diana Rigg is a marvelous actress from England who is best known for playing Emma Peel on the hit sixties show “The Avengers”. Rigg also won an Emmy for her performance in a 1997 television adaptation of “Rebecca”. In my humble opinion, she was also the best-ever Bond girl (opposite George Lazenby, the worst-ever Bond guy), in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” …

    12. Concerns for many srs. : SATS

    Today, the standardized test for admission to colleges is known as the SAT Reasoning Test, but it used to be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, which led to the abbreviation “SAT”.

    14. Euripides tragedy : ORESTES

    Orestes is a character appearing in Greek mythology, and is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays. In a story by Homer, Orestes kills his mother Clytemnestra. He does so in revenge as Clytemnestra had killed Agamemnon, who was her husband and father to Orestes. Agamemnon was killed by his wife for sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia in order to get favorable winds on a sea voyage. Heavy stuff …

    Euripides was a celebrated playwright of Ancient Greece and someone renowned for his tragedies. Euripides was one of the three great writers of tragedy of classical Athens, alongside Aeschylus and Sophocles.

    15. Dirty Harry’s org. : SFPD

    The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the 11th largest police department in the country. The SFPD dates back to the days of the Gold Rush, being founded in 1849 as a force of 35 officers. SFPD has featured a lot in movies and on television. The most famous films are probably “Bullitt”, the “Dirty Harry” series and “48 Hrs.” On television there was “Ironside”, “The Streets of San Francisco” and “Monk”.

    “Dirty Harry” Callahan was the protagonist in a series of five movies starring Clint Eastwood:

    • “Dirty Harry” (1971)
    • “Magnum Force” (1973)
    • “The Enforcer” (1976)
    • “Sudden Impact” (1983)
    • “The Dead Pool” (1988)

    20. Instrument in “Norwegian Wood” : SITAR

    The sitar has been around since the Middle Ages. It is a stringed instrument that is played by plucking, and is used most often in Hindustani classical music. In the West we have been exposed to the instrument largely through the performances of Ravi Shankar and some music by George Harrison of the Beatles, a onetime student of Shankar.

    “Norwegian Wood” is a Beatles song from 1965. It is a somewhat groundbreaking number in that George Harrison is playing a sitar, marking the first time the sitar was used by a rock band on a record. And, if you like to waltz around the dance floor, this is one of the few Beatles records that is in triple time.

    22. Office-inappropriate, briefly : NSFW

    The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. It’s Internet slang used to describe online content that is best not viewed at work.

    24. Family guy? : MADE MAN

    In the Mafia, a “made man” is a fully initiated member. A made man might also be called a goodfella or a wiseguy.

    28. Online aid for finding a contractor : ANGIE’S LIST

    Angie’s List is a website used by consumers to rate and research local businesses. The “list” was founded in 1995, originally as a call-in service and publication with reviews, by William S. Oesterle and the eponymous Angie Hicks. Angie’s List moved to the Internet in 1996, and by 2013 had 70,000 subscribers.

    29. Gustav who composed “The Planets” : HOLST

    Despite the Scandinavian-sounding name, Gustav Holst was born in Britain and was the most English of classical composers. His most famous work is the orchestral suite known as ‘The Planets”. The suite has seven movements, one for each of the planets known at the time (1914-1916) except Earth. Pluto was discovered during Holst’s lifetime, but decades after he had completed his masterpiece. Anyway, Pluto was relegated from the league of planets …

    30. Curved molding : OGEE

    An ogee is a type of S-curve. Specifically it is a figure consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite directions (like an S) but both ends of the curve end up parallel to each other (which is not necessarily true for an S). An ogee arch is composed of two ogees, with one being the mirror of the other and meeting at the arch’s apex.

    31. Toffee candy bar : SKOR

    Skor is a candy bar produced by Hershey’s. “Skor” is Swedish for “shoes”, and the candy bar’s wrapping features a crown that is identical to that found in the Swedish national emblem. What shoes have to do with candy, I don’t know …

    34. Indigo, e.g. : DYE

    The name of the color “indigo” ultimately comes from the Greek “indikon” meaning “blue dye from India”.

    37. One unlikely to order ham and eggs : VEGAN

    A vegan is someone who stays away from animal products. A dietary vegan eats no animal foods, not even eggs and dairy which are usually eaten by vegetarians. Ethical vegans take things one step further by following a vegan diet and also avoiding animal products in other areas of their lives e.g. items made from leather or silk.

    38. Heir, legally : ALIENEE

    An alienee is one to whom ownership of property is transferred, alienated.

    45. Swimming : NATANT

    Something described as “natant” is floating or swimming, from the Latin “natare” meaning “to swim”.

    47. One of a bunch : BANANA

    The banana is actually a berry, botanically speaking. And, they don’t really grow on trees. The “trunk” of the banana plant is in fact a pseudostem. The pseudostem is a false stem comprising rolled bases of leaves, and it can grow to 2 or 3 meters tall.

    50. Gershwin heroine : BESS

    “Porgy and Bess” is an opera with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and libretto by DuBose Heyward. The storyline of the opera is based on the novel “Porgy” written by DuBose Heyward and and wife Dorothy. “Porgy and Bess” was first performed in 1935, in New York City, but really wasn’t accepted as legitimate opera until 1976 after a landmark production by the Houston Grand Opera. The most famous song from the piece is probably the wonderful aria “Summertime”.

    52. Streisand, familiarly : BABS

    Barbra Streisand has recorded 31 top-ten albums since 1963, more than any other female recording artist. In fact, she has had an album in the top ten for the last five decades, a rare achievement in itself.

    54. Eyelid ailment : STYE

    A stye is a bacterial infection of the sebaceous glands at the base of the eyelashes, and is also known as a hordeolum.

    56. Red letters? : USSR

    The association of the color red with communism dates back to the French Revolution. A red flag was chosen as a symbol by the revolutionaries, with the color representing the blood of workers who had died in the fight against capitalism.

    58. Musk of SpaceX : ELON

    SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) is a space transportation company that was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, veteran of PayPal and Tesla Motors. In 2012, SpaceX became the first private concern to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station. Apparently, SpaceX is the lowest-price player in the game.

    59. Prefix with phobia : XENO-

    The Greek combining form “xeno-” means “strange, foreign” as in “xenophobia”, a fear of foreigners.

    61. A.F.L.-___ : CIO

    The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded in 1886, making it one of the first federations of unions in the country. Over time the AFL became dominated by craft unions, unions representing skilled workers of particular disciplines. In the early thirties, John L. Lewis led a movement within the AFL to organize workers by industry, believing this would be more effective for the members. But the craft unions refused to budge, so Lewis set up a rival federation of unions in 1932, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The two federations became bitter rivals for over two decades until finally merging in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO.

    62. “Towering” regulatory grp.? : FAA

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was set up in 1958 (as the Federal Aviation Agency). The agency was established at that particular time largely in response to an increasing number of midair collisions. The worst of these disasters had taken place two years earlier over the Grand Canyon, a crash between two commercial passenger airplanes that resulted in 128 fatalities.

    And, those would control towers at airports.

    Complete List of Clues/Answers

    Across

    1. As a result : ERGO
    5. Dr.’s order : MRI
    8. Legal assistants, for short : PARAS
    13. Ripped the wrapping off : TORE OPEN
    15. Glass component : SILICA
    16. Kings’ guards may be taken in it : NBA DRAFT
    17. Haunted house feeling : FRIGHT
    18. QB’s stat: Abbr. : ATT
    19. ___ de toilette : EAU
    20. Moochers : SPONGES
    21. Young ___ : ‘UNS
    23. Iota : SMIDGE
    25. Essence : GIST
    26. “Mangia!” : EAT
    27. Moscow’s home : IDAHO
    31. Flat rate : SET FEE
    33. Pops : DAD
    35. Holiday quaff : NOG
    36. Is an expert on this puzzle’s theme? : KNOWS EVERY ANGLE
    40. Christian inst. in Tulsa : ORU
    41. Sleep stage : REM
    42. Plaza girl in kid-lit : ELOISE
    43. Amber, e.g. : RESIN
    46. It’s a gift : GAB
    48. “___ that a lot” : I GET
    49. Place to change at the beach : CABANA
    51. Goddess of dawn : EOS
    52. Decimal system : BASE-TEN
    55. Novice, perhaps : NUN
    57. Big Apple subway line, for short : LEX
    60. Fills in for : ACTS AS
    61. Set of documents on a legal matter : CASE FILE
    63. Amounts paid to join poker games : BUY-INS
    64. Like peaches around summer and early fall : IN SEASON
    65. Totally wiped : SPENT
    66. Galley item : OAR
    67. Periodic table fig. : AT NO

    Down

    1. European smoker : ETNA
    2. Gen. ___ E. Lee : ROBT
    3. Provided but not asked for : GRATUITOUS
    4. Classic work originally in 10 vols. : OED
    5. Film-rating grp. : MPAA
    6. Decline : REFUSE
    7. QB’s stat: Abbr. : INT
    8. Ravioli relative : PIROGI
    9. Trued up : ALINED
    10. Diana ___, 1969 Bond girl : RIGG
    11. Long : ACHE
    12. Concerns for many srs. : SATS
    14. Euripides tragedy : ORESTES
    15. Dirty Harry’s org. : SFPD
    20. Instrument in “Norwegian Wood” : SITAR
    22. Office-inappropriate, briefly : NSFW
    24. Family guy? : MADE MAN
    25. Category : GENRE
    28. Online aid for finding a contractor : ANGIE’S LIST
    29. Gustav who composed “The Planets” : HOLST
    30. Curved molding : OGEE
    31. Toffee candy bar : SKOR
    32. Ending with auction : -EER
    34. Indigo, e.g. : DYE
    37. One unlikely to order ham and eggs : VEGAN
    38. Heir, legally : ALIENEE
    39. Scrubbed : NO-GO
    44. Strands at a ski chalet, say : ICES IN
    45. Swimming : NATANT
    47. One of a bunch : BANANA
    50. Gershwin heroine : BESS
    52. Streisand, familiarly : BABS
    53. Small bra size : A-CUP
    54. Eyelid ailment : STYE
    56. Red letters? : USSR
    58. Musk of SpaceX : ELON
    59. Prefix with phobia : XENO-
    61. A.F.L.-___ : CIO
    62. “Towering” regulatory grp.? : FAA