0607-21 NY Times Crossword 7 Jun 21, Monday

Constructed by: Erika Ettin
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer Roll with It

Themed answers each end WITH a kind of ROLL:

  • 57A Be willing to accept whatever … or a hint to the ends of 17-, 23-, 36- and 46-Across : ROLL WITH IT
  • 17A Sleuth for hire : PRIVATE EYE (giving “eye roll”)
  • 23A Perform an act of kindness, in a way : PAY IT FORWARD (giving it “forward roll”)
  • 36A 1977 #1 Eagles hit : HOTEL CALIFORNIA (giving “California roll”)
  • 46A It might catch a thief or a speeder : HIDDEN CAMERA (giving “camera roll”)

Bill’s time: 5m 44s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Lines at the cash register, for short? : UPCS

The initialism “UPC” stands for Universal Price Code or Universal Product Code. The first ever UPC-marked item to get scanned in a store was on June 26, 1974 at 08:01 a.m. at Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, Ohio. It was a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum.

14 ___ Day (September observance) : LABOR

Labor Day is a federal holiday observed every year on the first Monday in September. The tradition of honoring workers with a holiday started in Boston in 1878, when a day of observance was organized by the Central Labor Union, the major trade union at the time. There was a bloody dispute in 1894 between labor unions and the railroads called the Pullman Strike, which led to the death of some workers when the US Military and US Marshals were instructed to maintain order. President Grover Cleveland submitted a “Labor Day” bill to Congress which was signed into law just six days after the end of the strike. The introduction of a federal holiday to honor the worker was a move designed to promote reconciliation between management and unions after the bitter conflict.

15 Vizio or Panasonic product : HDTV

High-definition television (HDTV)

17 Sleuth for hire : PRIVATE EYE (giving “eye roll”)

A private eye is a private investigator, a PI, a private “I”.

The word “sleuth” came into English from Old Norse as far back as 1200 when it meant the “track or trail of a person”. In the mid-1800s, a sleuthhound described a keen investigator, a hound close on the trail of the suspect. Sleuthhound was shortened to “sleuth” and was used for a detective in general.

22 Entrance hall : FOYER

“Foyer”, meaning “lobby”, is a French word that we imported into English. In French, “foyer” is used for what we would call a “green room”, a place where actors can gather when not on stage or on set.

26 Kind of seeds on a bagel : SESAME

The bagel was invented in the Polish city of Kraków in the 16th century. Bagels were brought to this country by Jewish immigrants from Poland who mainly established homes in and around New York City.

29 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 (ISS), and in 2020, the first to send humans to the ISS. Apparently, SpaceX is the lowest-price player in the game.

30 Actor Wilson of “Wedding Crashers” : OWEN

Not only does the 2005 romantic comedy “Wedding Crashers” star Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughan, but if you rent it you’ll see cameos from Democratic pundit James Carville, and Republican Senator John McCain.

31 ___ Peninsula, area above Singapore : MALAY

The Malay Peninsula is a long, thin land mass that forms the southernmost part of the Asian mainland. On the peninsula are the countries of Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Singapore (an island nation off the southern tip of the peninsula). People of the Malay ethnic group are mainly found on the Malay peninsula.

The Asian city-state of Singapore takes its name from the Malay word “Singapura” which means “Lion City”. However, lions in the wild never made it to Singapore, so the city is probably misnamed and perhaps should have been called “Tiger City”.

33 Gorilla : APE

The tailless primates known as apes (also “hominoids”) are divided into two main branches: gibbons (lesser apes) and hominids (great apes). The hominids are the great apes, and belong to the family of primates called Hominidae. Extant genera that make up the family Hominidae are:

  • chimpanzees
  • gorillas
  • humans
  • orangutans

36 1977 #1 Eagles hit : HOTEL CALIFORNIA (giving “California roll”)

“Hotel California” is the title song from a 1976 album released by the Eagles. The song is allegorical in nature, and tells of a luxury hotel where one can check in, but never check out. The hotel is a symbol for the California music industry of the seventies that destroyed so many people who were trapped by it. There is an unrelated Hotel California in San Francisco, my favorite of the city’s “boutique” and reasonably-priced places to stay.

A California roll is a kind of sushi roll that is made inside-out, with the seaweed inside and the rice on the outside. A California roll often includes rice, seaweed, cucumber and avocado. The dish originated in Los Angeles where a chef at the Tokyo Kaikan restaurant substituted avocado for fatty tuna (“toro”) in a traditional sushi recipe. The chef also put the seaweed on the inside, as his American customers preferred not to look directly at seaweed while they were eating it!

40 Gives the go-ahead : OKS

Back in the late 1830s, there were some slang abbreviations coined mainly in Boston. The craze called for two-letter abbreviations of deliberately misspelled phrases. For example “no use” became “KY” from “know yuse”, and “enough said” became “NC” from “‘nuff ced”. Fortunately (I say!), the practice was short-lived. But, one of those abbreviations persists to this day. “All correct” was misspelled to give “oll korrect”, abbreviated to “OK”.

41 Desi of “I Love Lucy” : ARNAZ

Desi Arnaz has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One was placed to mark his contribution to motion pictures, and the other for his work in television.

42 George Washington bills : ONES

The nation’s first president, George Washington, is on the US one-dollar bills produced today. When the original one-dollar bill was issued in 1863, it featured a portrait of Salmon P. Chase, President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury.

43 Popular berry : ACAI

Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

51 President after Washington : ADAMS

John Adams was the second President of the United States. I must admit that I learned much of what I know about President Adams in the excellent, excellent HBO series “John Adams”, which is based on David McCullough’s 2001 biography of the same name. Having said that, I have also visited the Adams home in Quincy, Massachusetts several times. He was clearly a great man with a great intellect …

52 Library item : BOOK

Our word “library” ultimately derives from the Latin “liber” meaning “book”.

53 Dance style for Bill Robinson or Gregory Hines : TAP

Bill Robinson was a tap dancer and actor who often went by the nickname “Bojangles”. It was Bojangles who often danced with child star Shirley Temple in a whole series of films from the 1930s. He also starred in 1943’s “Stormy Weather”, a movie that was loosely based on Robinson’s own life.

Maurice and Gregory Hines are a pair of brothers famous for starting out their show business careers as tap dancers. Maurice made one film appearance, in 1984’s “The Cotton Club”. The younger brother, Gregory, has been more visible in front of the camera. Gregory was one of the leads in the movie “The Cotton Club”, and hosted “The Gregory Hines Show” on television.

56 Jeans maker Strauss : LEVI

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.

61 Skating leap : AXEL

An axel is a forward take-off jump in figure skating. The maneuver was first performed by Norwegian Axel Paulsen at the 1882 World Figure Skating championships.

62 Crunchy, colorful commercial candies : NERDS

The Willy Wonka Candy Company brand is owned by Nestle, and operates using licensed materials from the Roald Dahl book “Charlie & the Chocolate Factory”. Nerds is a name on a whole line of candy produced within the brand’s portfolio.

Down

1 Brand for Rover : 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?

2 Cooking grease : LARD

Fat, when extracted from the carcass of an animal, is called suet. Untreated suet decomposes at room temperature quite easily so it has to be rendered, purified to make it stable. Rendered fat from pigs is what we call lard. Rendered beef or mutton fat is known as tallow.

3 Annual drama award : OBIE

The Obies are the Off-Broadway Theater Awards. The Obies have been presented annually since 1956. The recipients used to be chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper, but now are jointly administered with the American Theatre Wing.

4 Election mo. : NOV

Election day was chosen by Congress back in 1845. The month of November was selected as it suited an agricultural society, following the fall harvest and yet not too far into winter, which could make travel difficult. Tuesday was chosen so that people had time to travel to polling stations. Monday elections might have meant that some would have to start out on Sunday, and that could interfere with Christian services.

5 Kind of cracker needed for a proper s’more : GRAHAM

Graham crackers were conceived in 1829 as a part of the Graham Diet, a regimen touted by Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham. Graham’s diet was intended to suppress unhealthy carnal urges in young people. Like Dr. John Harvey Kellogg of corn flakes fame, Graham believed that a diet of bland foods helped curb sexual appetites.

S’mores are treats peculiar to North America that are usually eaten around a campfire. A s’more consists of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers. The earliest written reference to the recipe is in a 1927 publication called “Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts”. Girl Scouts always did corner the market on cookies and the like!

6 Paris sweetheart : CHERI

“Chéri” is a form of familiar address in French, meaning “dear”. “Chéri” is the form used when talking to a male, and “chérie” when addressing a female.

9 Garden of Eden woman : EVE

According to the Bible, God created Adam from “the dust of the ground”. Eve was created as Adam’s companion, from Adam’s rib.

10 Train direction from Manhattan to the Bronx : UPTOWN

While there are many neighborhoods in New York City’s borough of Manhattan, there are some broader terms that are used to navigate one’s way around the island:

  • Uptown: above 59th Street
  • Midtown: between 59th Street and 14th Street (but sometimes 23rd Street or 34th Street)
  • Downtown: below 14th Street
  • Upper Manhattan: above 96th Street
  • Lower Manhattan: below Chambers Street
  • East Side: east of Fifth Avenue
  • West Side: west of Fifth Avenue

18 Actor Diggs : TAYE

Taye Diggs is an actor most associated with the Broadway show “Rent”, in which he played the nasty landlord Benny. He then co-starred on the television show “Private Practice”. Diggs’ given name is “Scott”, and the nickname “Taye” comes from saying the given name as “Scottay”.

22 Cold treat with a rhyming name : FROYO

Frozen yogurt (“froyo” or “fro-yo”)

24 “___ Navidad” : FELIZ

“Feliz Navidad” is Spanish for “Happy Christmas”.

25 Snowman in “Frozen” : OLAF

In the 2013 animated film “Frozen”, Olaf is a happy-go-lucky snowman who provides a lot of comic relief in the movie. Olaf is voiced by actor and comedian Josh Gad.

26 London theater district : SOHO

The area of London called Soho had a very poor reputation for most of the 20th century as it was home to the city’s red-light district. Soho went through a transformation in recent decades, and has been a very fashionable neighborhood since the 1980s.

27 Furry “Star Wars” creature : EWOK

The Ewoks are creatures that live on the moon of Endor in the “Star Wars” universe. First appearing in “Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”, they’re the cute and cuddly little guys that look like teddy bears.

28 6-1, 4-6 and 7-6, in tennis : SETS

Our modern sport of tennis evolved from the much older racquet sport known as real tennis. Originally just called “tennis”, the older game was labeled “real tennis” when the modern version began to hold sway. Real tennis is played in a closed court, with the ball frequently bounced off the walls.

32 Montgomery’s state: Abbr. : ALA

Montgomery is the capital of Alabama, and is the state’s second biggest city (after Birmingham). Montgomery is a port city, located on the Alabama River. The city is actually named for an Irishman. Richard Montgomery was an Irish-born soldier who served in the British Army and later in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

33 Hathaway of “The Devil Wears Prada” : ANNE

Actress Anne Hathaway is a favorite of mine, I must say. She starred in “The Devil Wears Prada” in 2006 and in 2007’s “Becoming Jane”, a film that I particularly enjoyed. And yes, baby Anne was named after Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare.

“The Devil Wears Prada” is a 2003 novel by Lauren Weisberger that is set in the fashion industry. One of the main characters in the story is Miranda Priestly, the tyrannical editor-in-chief of the fictional fashion magazine “Runway”. It has been suggested that the Priestly character was inspired by Anna Wintour, the real life editor-in-chief of “Vogue”. Weisberger’s book was adapted into a very successful film with the same title that was released in 2006, with Meryl Streep playing Priestly.

39 Parks of Montgomery : ROSA

Rosa Parks was one of a few brave women in days gone by who refused to give up their seats on a bus to white women. It was the stand taken by Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955 that sparked the Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott. President Clinton presented Ms. Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. When she died in 2005, Rosa Parks became the first ever woman to have her body lie in honor in the US Capitol Rotunda.

44 ___ Mix, brand for Whiskers : MEOW

We might know Meow Mix cat food because of its advertising jingle that was meowed out by a cat, with subtitles below.

46 Popular Berry : HALLE

Actress Halle Berry was the first African-American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar, which she received for her performance in the 2001 movie “Monster’s Ball”. Berry also won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress in 2005 for playing the title role in “Catwoman”, and she very graciously accepted that award in person. Good for her!

48 Tennis’s ___ Cup : DAVIS

The Davis Cup is referred to as the “World Cup of Tennis” as teams from competing countries play in a knock-out format. Although there are now over 120 nations competing, it all started in 1900 with an event featuring teams for just the US and Great Britain. That first competition came about when four members of the Harvard University tennis team wanted to challenge the British. One of the Harvard players was Dwight D. Davis. Davis designed the format for the tournament, and bought a sterling silver trophy using his own money. The event was called the International Lawn Tennis Challenge at first, but this evolved into the Davis Cup, taking the name of the trophy awarded to the winning nation.

55 Possible condition for a war vet, for short : PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

58 Kitchen utensil brand : OXO

The OXO line of kitchen utensils and housewares is designed to be ergonomically superior to the average household tools. The intended user of OXO products is someone who doesn’t have the normal range of motion or strength in the hands e.g. someone suffering from arthritis.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Come ___ with (accompany) : ALONG
6 Cover for a smartphone : CASE
10 Lines at the cash register, for short? : UPCS
14 ___ Day (September observance) : LABOR
15 Vizio or Panasonic product : HDTV
16 Snow clearer : PLOW
17 Sleuth for hire : PRIVATE EYE (giving “eye roll”)
19 ___ chips (Hawaiian snack) : TARO
20 Poem of praise : ODE
21 Angel’s instrument : HARP
22 Entrance hall : FOYER
23 Perform an act of kindness, in a way : PAY IT FORWARD (giving it “forward roll”)
26 Kind of seeds on a bagel : SESAME
29 Musk of SpaceX : ELON
30 Actor Wilson of “Wedding Crashers” : OWEN
31 ___ Peninsula, area above Singapore : MALAY
33 Gorilla : APE
36 1977 #1 Eagles hit : HOTEL CALIFORNIA (giving “California roll”)
40 Gives the go-ahead : OKS
41 Desi of “I Love Lucy” : ARNAZ
42 George Washington bills : ONES
43 Popular berry : ACAI
44 What loves company, in a saying : MISERY
46 It might catch a thief or a speeder : HIDDEN CAMERA (giving “camera roll”)
51 President after Washington : ADAMS
52 Library item : BOOK
53 Dance style for Bill Robinson or Gregory Hines : TAP
56 Jeans maker Strauss : LEVI
57 Be willing to accept whatever … or a hint to the ends of 17-, 23-, 36- and 46-Across : ROLL WITH IT
60 Bear’s retreat : LAIR
61 Skating leap : AXEL
62 Crunchy, colorful commercial candies : NERDS
63 Otherwise : ELSE
64 Bloody : GORY
65 Stuck (to) : GLUED

Down

1 Brand for Rover : ALPO
2 Cooking grease : LARD
3 Annual drama award : OBIE
4 Election mo. : NOV
5 Kind of cracker needed for a proper s’more : GRAHAM
6 Paris sweetheart : CHERI
7 Thoroughly proficient : ADEPT
8 Mudhole : STY
9 Garden of Eden woman : EVE
10 Train direction from Manhattan to the Bronx : UPTOWN
11 Spanish beach : PLAYA
12 Tool for preparing apples : CORER
13 Weapon in a scabbard : SWORD
18 Actor Diggs : TAYE
22 Cold treat with a rhyming name : FROYO
23 Window square : PANE
24 “___ Navidad” : FELIZ
25 Snowman in “Frozen” : OLAF
26 London theater district : SOHO
27 Furry “Star Wars” creature : EWOK
28 6-1, 4-6 and 7-6, in tennis : SETS
31 Frenzied : MANIC
32 Montgomery’s state: Abbr. : ALA
33 Hathaway of “The Devil Wears Prada” : ANNE
34 Where boats tie up : PIER
35 “Piece of cake!” : EASY!
37 Shoestrings : LACES
38 Commercial lead-in to Apple : CRAN-
39 Parks of Montgomery : ROSA
43 Idolize, say : ADMIRE
44 ___ Mix, brand for Whiskers : MEOW
45 Bothering : IRKING
46 Popular Berry : HALLE
47 Perfect : IDEAL
48 Tennis’s ___ Cup : DAVIS
49 More up to the task : ABLER
50 “Good Golly, Miss ___” : MOLLY
53 Kind of traffic, familiarly : THRU
54 Helper : AIDE
55 Possible condition for a war vet, for short : PTSD
57 Cloth for cleaning : RAG
58 Kitchen utensil brand : OXO
59 Abbr. on a business card : TEL