0204-25 NY Times Crossword 4 Feb 25, Tuesday

Constructed by: Adam Aaronson
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: Backflips

The BACK word of themed answers is the same as the first word, but with the final two letters FLIPPED:

  • 34A Gymnastic feats… or what the two halves of the answers to 17-, 25-, 49- and 58-Across do?: BACKFLIPS
  • 17A Noiseless?: QUITE QUIET
  • 25A View of Earth from heaven?: ANGEL ANGLE
  • 49A “There are ways to leave”?: EXITS EXIST
  • 58A Spite over an incomplete mobile payment?: VENMO VENOM

Bill’s time: 6m 42s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Wandering soul: NOMAD

A nomad is someone who roams about. The term “nomad” comes from the Latin “nomas” meaning “wandering shepherd”. In turn, “nomas” comes from the Greek “nomas” meaning “roaming (especially when looking for pasture)”.

10 Monster akin to a Japanese oni: OGRE

Oni are demons and ghosts in Japanese folklore. Children in Japan might play “oni gokko”, which is the same as the game of “tag” played in the Western world. The person who is “it” is referred to as the “oni”.

19 N.Y.C. home of Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans”: MOMA

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

Andy Warhol went through a period of painting iconic American products, including Coca-Cola bottles and Campbell’s tomato soup cans. In 1964 he participated in a gallery show called “The American Supermarket”. Along with other pop artists he contributed works including a painting of a can of Campbell’s tomato soup. He priced the painting at $1,500, and sold autographed cans of soup for $6 a piece.

23 The Crimson Tide: BAMA

The athletic teams of the University of Alabama (“Bama”) are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, which is a reference to the team colors of crimson and white.

33 Podcaster’s income stream: ADS

A podcast is an audio or video media file that is made available for download. The name comes from the acronym “POD” meaning “playable on demand”, and “cast” from “broadcasting”. So, basically a podcast is a broadcast that one can play on demand, simply by downloading and opening the podcast file.

41 Blue feeling: FUNK

Funk is ill humor. The term “funk” dates back to the mid-1700s, and probably came from Scottish and northern English.

42 Animal hidden in this clue, if you read it aloud: EWE

… if you read “you” aloud …

44 Warm drink served from a tokkuri: HOT SAKE

A sake set comprises the essential elements to serve sake, commonly called “Japanese rice wine”. The elements of the set are a “tokkuri”, usually a bulbous flask with a narrow neck, and several “ochoko”, serving cups.

53 Railroad station: DEPOT

Our term “depot”, meaning “station, warehouse”, comes from the French word “dépôt”. The French term translates into English as “deposit” or “place of deposit”.

54 Post-it, e.g.: NOTE

The Post-it note was invented at 3M following the accidental discovery of a low-tack, reusable adhesive. The actual intent of the development program was to produce a super-strong adhesive.

58 Spite over an incomplete mobile payment?: VENMO VENOM

Venmo is a smartphone payment app that is now owned by PayPal. The first version of the product was introduced in 2009 by two entrepreneurs who had met as freshman students at the University of Pennsylvania. They sold the company in 2012 for over $26 million, and then PayPal acquired it the following year for a whopping $800 million. I wonder if PayPal ever buys blogs …

62 Olympic equipment with body contact detection technology: EPEE

The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.

65 Teri of “After Hours”: GARR

Actress Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffered from multiple sclerosis, and was a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Down

1 Face covering with an opening around the eyes: NIQAB

Some Muslim women wear a hijab in the presence of males outside of their immediate family. It is a veil covering the head and chest. As part of the hijab, some also wear a niqab, which is a cloth that covers the face. Other Muslim women wear a burqa, which covers the whole body from the top of the head to the ground.

2 Eye-related: OCULAR

“Oculus” (plural “oculi”) is the Latin word for “eye”, and gives us our term “ocular” meaning “eye-related”.

3 Guys whose profession sounds redundant: MAILMEN

“Mailmen” sounds like “male men”.

4 “Making money is ___ and working is ___ and good business is the best ___”: Andy Warhol: ART

American artist Andy Warhol was a leader in the pop art movement that emerged in the mid-1950s. Many of his works became the most expensive paintings ever sold. A 1963 Warhol canvas titled “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” fetched over 100 million dollars in 2013.

6 Like donkeys and zebras: EQUINE

A female donkey/ass is known as a jenny and a male is known as a jack, or sometimes “jackass”. We started using the term “jackass” to mean “fool” in the 1820s.

The term “zebra” comes from an old Portuguese word “zevra” meaning “wild ass”. Studies of zebra embryos show that zebras are basically black in color, with white stripes that develop with growth. Before this finding, it was believed they were white, with black stripes.

9 Like the names of the track athletes Usain Bolt and Lisa Lightfoot: APT

Usain Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter who won the 100m and 200m race gold medals in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. Back in Jamaica, Bolt was really into cricket, and probably would have been a very successful fast bowler had he not hit the track instead.

11 Only U.S. state whose Wikipedia article has a “(U.S. state)” disambiguator: GEORGIA

What is now the US state of Georgia, was the last of the original Thirteen colonies to be established. It was named for King George II of Great Britain.

The former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) of Georgia is now an independent country. Supposedly, the Georgian people were given their name because they especially revered St. George. The flag of Georgia does indeed feature five St. George’s crosses.

18 Actor Ke Huy ___ of “Everything Everywhere All at Once”: QUAN

Ke Huy Quan is an actor who returned to our screens in 2021 after a 19-year hiatus that followed two notable appearances in movies. He played the young orphan named Short Round in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, and then the James Bond fanatic named Data in the 1985’s “The Goonies”.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is a 2022 comedy-drama movie starring Michelle Yeoh as a woman undergoing an IRS audit. That mundane storyline gets lost completely in a film full of science-fiction, fantasy, animation and martial arts. The screenplay was originally written for Jackie Chan, but it was reworked intentionally so that a female lead carried the plot.

24 Not much, as of mayonnaise: A DAB

Mayonnaise originated in the town of Mahon in Menorca, a Mediterranean island belonging to Spain. The Spanish called the sauce “salsa mahonesa” after the town, and this morphed into the French word “mayonnaise” that we use in English today.

27 Norse god capable of shape-shifting into animals: LOKI

Loki is a trickster god in Norse mythology known for continually creating chaos. He is the father of sons with his wife Sigyn. Because Loki is also a shape-shifter, he gave birth to children “himself” by assuming the shape of the opposite sex.

32 One hub for Delta and American Airlines, in brief: JFK

The Idlewild Golf Course was taken over by the city of New York in 1943 and construction started on a new airport to serve the metropolis and relieve congestion at LaGuardia. The Idlewild name still persists, even though the airport was named after Major General Alexander E. Anderson from the first days of the project. When the facility started operating in 1948 it was known as New York International Airport, Anderson Field. It was renamed to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in 1963, one month after the President was assassinated.

35 Common crudités veggie: CUKE

Apparently, scientists have shown that the inside of a cucumber (“cuke” for short) growing in a field can be up to twenty degrees cooler than the surrounding air. That’s something that was believed by farmers as early as the 1730s, at which time the phrase “cool as a cucumber” was coined.

Crudités are a French appetizer made up of sliced and whole raw vegetables that are dipped into a sauce. The French word “crudité” simply means “raw vegetable”, and derives from the Latin word “crudus” meaning “raw”.

36 Toy set that can be used to build roller coasters: K’NEX

The name of the construction toy called “K’Nex” is the phonetic spelling of the word “connects”. It was invented by Joel Glickman, who came up with the idea while playing with straws as he sat at a table after a wedding. He launched K’Nex in 1993, and it is still sold in stores.

38 Nickname for filmdom’s Jeffrey Lebowski: THE DUDE

“The Big Lebowski” is a 1998 comedy directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring Jeff Bridges in the title role. The film’s script is loosely based on the Raymond Chandler novel “The Big Sleep”. I thought “The Big Lebowski” was just “okay” though …

43 Start to fall?: EQUINOX

Astronomically speaking, the season of summer starts with the summer solstice and ends with the autumn equinox. In sociological terms, here in the US, summer starts with Memorial Day weekend, and ends on Labor Day.

46 Molecule that shares its formula with another: ISOMER

In the world of chemistry, isomers are two compounds with the same chemical formula (i.e. the same atomic constituents), but with a slightly different arrangement of the atoms relative to each other. The differing arrangement of atoms often leads to different chemical properties.

59 Org. that regulates “forever chemicals”: EPA

The term “forever chemicals” has been used to describe PFAs: per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These are man-made chemicals used widely in consumer goods, and which are extremely toxic at very low concentrations. The chemical structure of PFAs makes them difficult to break down, both in our bodies and in the environment, hence the moniker “forever chemicals”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Wandering soul: NOMAD
6 “Dónde ___ la biblioteca?”: ESTA
10 Monster akin to a Japanese oni: OGRE
14 “Your concerns matter to me”: I CARE
15 Little crack: QUIP
16 Cook the surface of: SEAR
17 Noiseless?: QUITE QUIET
19 N.Y.C. home of Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans”: MOMA
20 What one size might fit: ALL
21 Completely wreck: RUIN
22 Rock and roll, but not rhythm and blues: VERBS
23 The Crimson Tide: BAMA
25 View of Earth from heaven?: ANGEL ANGLE
28 Newly decorated: REDONE
30 First-rate: TOP TIER
31 Grandma: NAN
32 Guy’s name that’s old slang for “OK”: JAKE
33 Podcaster’s income stream: ADS
34 Gymnastic feats… or what the two halves of the answers to 17-, 25-, 49- and 58-Across do?: BACKFLIPS
38 TNT’s sister channel: TBS
41 Blue feeling: FUNK
42 Animal hidden in this clue, if you read it aloud: EWE
44 Warm drink served from a tokkuri: HOT SAKE
46 Hyundai electric cars: IONIQS
49 “There are ways to leave”?: EXITS EXIST
51 Dog that’s not a purebred: MUTT
53 Railroad station: DEPOT
54 Post-it, e.g.: NOTE
56 Good name for a long-term investor?: IRA
57 ___ fees: USER
58 Spite over an incomplete mobile payment?: VENMO VENOM
61 Eat in style: DINE
62 Olympic equipment with body contact detection technology: EPEE
63 Dwindle, as support: ERODE
64 Oft-unwanted bread pieces: ENDS
65 Teri of “After Hours”: GARR
66 One section of a big band, informally: SAXES

Down

1 Face covering with an opening around the eyes: NIQAB
2 Eye-related: OCULAR
3 Guys whose profession sounds redundant: MAILMEN
4 “Making money is ___ and working is ___ and good business is the best ___”: Andy Warhol: ART
5 State animal of Illinois: DEER
6 Like donkeys and zebras: EQUINE
7 Taking action against: SUING
8 Cause for overtime: TIE
9 Like the names of the track athletes Usain Bolt and Lisa Lightfoot: APT
10 Actress Emily of “Hannah Montana”: OSMENT
11 Only U.S. state whose Wikipedia article has a “(U.S. state)” disambiguator: GEORGIA
12 Went on and on: RAMBLED
13 Writers’ blocks?: ERASERS
18 Actor Ke Huy ___ of “Everything Everywhere All at Once”: QUAN
22 Puff piece?: VAPE PEN
24 Not much, as of mayonnaise: A DAB
26 Abbr. that might go after a list of authors: ET AL
27 Norse god capable of shape-shifting into animals: LOKI
29 Not eating anything: ON A FAST
32 One hub for Delta and American Airlines, in brief: JFK
35 Common crudités veggie: CUKE
36 Toy set that can be used to build roller coasters: K’NEX
37 Do some strokes: SWIM
38 Nickname for filmdom’s Jeffrey Lebowski: THE DUDE
39 Pens: BOXES IN
40 Fixed regular allowance: STIPEND
43 Start to fall?: EQUINOX
45 Mall units: STORES
46 Molecule that shares its formula with another: ISOMER
47 Palindromic Italian number: OTTO
48 Walked purposefully: STRODE
50 Word with tube or circle: INNER …
52 Tones down: TAMES
55 Holidays that aren’t typically federal holidays: EVES
58 Chillax: VEG
59 Org. that regulates “forever chemicals”: EPA
60 Historic stretch: ERA