0604-19 NY Times Crossword 4 Jun 19, Tuesday

Constructed by: Jake Halperin
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answers: Pros (and) Cons

Themed answers each comprise two words starting with CON- and PRO-:

  • 68A Disadvantages found in this puzzle’s three longest Across answers … : CONS
  • 69A … and advantages found in them : PROS
  • 20A Need for targeted advertising : CONSUMER PROFILE
  • 39A Netflix or YouTube : CONTENT PROVIDER
  • 55A It settles a case : CONCLUSIVE PROOF

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 5m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Key of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7: Abbr. : A MAJ

If I had to name which of Beethoven’s symphonies I listen to most often, at the top of the list comes the 7th followed closely by the 9th, and then the 5th a little further down. But that four-note opening of the 5th; that is superb …

9 Ain’t I a stinker? : SKUNK

Skunks have anal scent glands that can be used as defensive weapons. The glands produce sulfur-containing chemicals that have a really awful smell and that can irritate the eyes and skin.

14 Energy field, in holistic medicine : AURA

A holistic approach to medicine emphasises not only physical symptoms but also social considerations and the environment.

17 Metal that rusts : IRON

Rust is iron oxide. Rust forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

18 Coup d’___ : ETAT

A coup d’état (often just “coup”) is the sudden overthrow of a government, and comes from the French for “stroke of state”. The Swiss-German word “putsch” is sometimes used instead of “coup”, with “Putsch” translating literally as “sudden blow”.

19 What a tabloid may be sued for : LIBEL

The word “libel” describes a published or written statement likely to harm a person’s reputation. It comes into English from the Latin “libellus”, the word for a small book. Back in the 1500s, libel was just a formal written statement, with the more damaging association arising in the 1600s. The related concept of slander is defamation in a transient form, such as speech, sign language or gestures.

“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs, Wellcome and Co,) for a “small tablet of medicine”, a name that goes back to 1884. The word “tabloid” had entered into general use to mean a compressed form of anything, and by the early 1900s was used in “tabloid journalism”, applied to newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

23 Medium for modern matchmaking : APP

Many apps on phones are now using “swipe right” and “swipe left” actions to indicate “like” and dislike”. I suppose Tinder is the most famous “swipe right/swipe left” app today. It’s a dating app, so I hear …

25 ’60s conflict site : NAM

By some definitions, the official involvement of Americans in the Vietnam War started in 1955. At that time, President Eisenhower deployed a Military Assistance Advisory Group to assist in the training of the South Vietnamese Army. American involvement in the conflict officially ended in 1973, with the signing of an agreement that came out of the Paris Peace Accords.

30 Ozs. and lbs. : WTS

The unit of mass that we know today as a pound is descended from the old Roman unit of weight known as a “libra”. That “libra” connection is why we abbreviate “pound” to “lb”. The name “pound” comes from the Latin “pondo” meaning “weight”. Our term “ounce” (abbreviated to “oz.”) comes from the Latin “uncia”, which was 1/12 of a Roman “libra”.

31 Danson of “The Good Place” : TED

Actor Ted Danson is noted for in particular for three successful roles that he has played on television. He played Sam Malone on the sitcom “Cheers”, the title role on the sitcom “Becker”, and eventually led the cast on the drama series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”. Danson has been married to actress Mary Steenburgen since 1995.

“The Good Place” is a fantasy-comedy TV show about a woman who wakes up in the afterlife. The woman is played by Kristen Bell, and the afterlife is a heaven-like utopia designed by Michael, an immortal architect portrayed by Ted Danson. I haven’t seen this one …

34 Birdlike : AVIAN

“Avis” is the Latin word for “bird”, giving rise to our adjective “avian” meaning “relating to birds”.

38 Neighbor of Pennsylvania : OHIO

The state of Ohio takes its name from the Ohio River, and in turn river takes its name from the Iroquois “ohi-yo”, which translates as “large creek”.

39 Netflix or YouTube : CONTENT PROVIDER

Netflix was founded in Los Gatos, California in 1997 as a DVD rental company that sent out titles by mail. Netflix no longer focuses on distribution by mail, and instead provides programming on demand. The company is now making a big play in the production of films and TV programs.

YouTube is a video-sharing website that was launched in 2005 by three ex-PayPal employees. Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Yep, $1.65 billion, less than two years after it was founded …

45 Sun or moon : ORB

Our sun is a sphere of hot plasma that forms the center of our solar system. The Sun’s mass has two main components, with almost three quarters made up by hydrogen, and a quarter by helium. The continual nuclear fusion reaction in the Sun’s core converts hydrogen into helium, and generates a lot of energy. We should all be pretty grateful to the Sun for generating that energy …

The Earth’s moon is the largest satellite in the Solar System, relative to the size of the planet it orbits. The Moon is believed to have formed after a huge collision between Gaia (the early Earth) and a planet-size object referred to as Theia.

46 UPS competitor : DHL

Back in the sixties, Larry Hillblom was making pocket money as a Berkeley law student by doing courier runs between San Francisco and Los Angeles. After law school, Hillblom decided to parlay his experience into his own business and set up a courier service flying bills of lading ahead of freight from San Francisco to Honolulu. He brought in two buddies, Adrian Dalsey and Robert Lynn, as partners and the three were soon hopping on and off commercial flights and gradually making more and more money. And DHL was born … D (for Dalsey) H (for Hillblom) L (for Lynn). DHL was acquired by Germany’s Deutsche Post in 2002.

47 The longer of the two Morse symbols : DAH

Samuel Morse came up with the forerunner to modern Morse code for use on the electric telegraph, of which he was the co-inventor. Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. The most common letters are assigned the simplest code elements e.g. E is represented by one dot, and T is represented by one dash. When words are spelled aloud in Morse code, a dot is pronounced as “dit”, and a dash is pronounced as “dah”.

50 Restaurateur Lagasse : EMERIL

Emeril Lagasse is an American chef who was born in Massachusetts. Lagasse first achieved celebrity as executive chef in Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. Now famous for his television shows, his cuisine still showcases New Orleans ingredients and influences. Lagasse started using his famous “Bam!” catchphrase in order to keep his crew awake during repeated tapings of his show.

62 Catcher of counterfeiters, in old lingo : T-MAN

A T-man is a law-enforcement agent of the US Treasury (T stands for “Treasury”).

65 [Same source as before] : IBID

Ibid. is short for the Latin word “ibidem” and is typically found in footnotes and bibliographies. Ibid. is used to refer the reader to the prior citation, instead of giving the same information all over again (title, author etc.).

66 Like drone bees : MALE

Drone bees and drone ants are fertile males of the species, whose sole role in life seems to be to mate with a queen.

67 Pizza size : LARGE

Pizza was invented in Naples, where it has a long tradition that goes back to ancient Rome. During an 1889 visit to Naples, Queen Margherita of Savoy was served a special pizza that was created with toppings designed to mimic the colors of the Italian flag. The ingredients of tomato (red), mozzarella (white) and basil (green) can still be found together on menus today, on a pie usually named Pizza Margherita after the queen. I do love basil on my pizza …

Down

1 Concerning the nonordained : LAIC

Anything described as laic (or “laical, lay”) is related to the laity, those members of the church who are not clergy. The term “laic” ultimately comes from the Greek “laikos” meaning “of the people”.

2 $ : dollar :: € : : EURO

The euro sign (€) looks like a letter C, but with two horizontal lines drawn across the middle. Inspiration for the design comes from the Greek letter epsilon.

The dollar sign ($) was first used for the Spanish American peso, in the late 18th century. The peso was also called the “Spanish dollar” (and “piece of eight”). The Spanish dollar was to become the model for the US dollar that was adopted in 1785, along with the dollar sign.

3 Disney sci-fi classic : TRON

Released in 1982, Disney’s “Tron” was one of the first mainstream films to make extensive use of computer graphics. The main role in the movie is played by Jeff Bridges. The original spawned a 2010 sequel called “Tron: Legacy”, as well as a 2012 TV show called “Tron: Uprising”.

5 “Resume normal speed,” in a score : A TEMPO

“A tempo” is a Italian for “in time”. The phrase is used on a musical score to instruct a performer to return to the main tempo of the piece, perhaps after slowing down or speeding up.

6 Each animal in Noah’s Ark had one : MATE

Genesis 6:19-20 states that Noah was instructed to take two animals of every kind into the ark. Later, in Genesis 7:2-3 Noah was instructed to take on board “every clean animal by sevens … male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth”. Apparently “extras” (7 rather than 2) were needed for ritual sacrifice.

8 Like 747s : JET-POWERED

Boeing’s 747 was the first jet to be called a “Jumbo”, as it was the first wide-body airliner. This means that the 747 was the first to have seating laid out with two aisles running the length of the plane. The plane also has three decks for part of its length, with the lower deck being used for cargo and galley space, and the upper deck for extra passenger seating. The Airbus A380 is called a “Superjumbo” as it has two full decks of passengers.

11 “Occasion” celebrated 364 times a year in Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass” : UNBIRTHDAY

In Lewis Carroll’s novel “Through the Looking-Glass”, Humpty Dumpty wears a cravat that the White King and Queen gave to him as an “unbirthday present”. The concept of an unbirthday, a celebration of any day that is not one’s birthday, spilled over into the Disney version of “Alice in Wonderland”, even though it is not mentioned in the original book. Alice receives an unbirthday cake from the Mad Hatter in the movie, and the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse sing “The Unbirthday Song”.

12 “The First ___” (carol) : NOEL

The First Noel the angel did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields as they lay, keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter’s night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

13 “South Park” boy : KYLE

“South Park” is an adult-oriented cartoon series on Comedy Central. I don’t do “South Park” …

22 ___ Rizzo, hustler in “Midnight Cowboy” : RATSO

Enrico Salvatore “Ratso” Rizzo is one of the characters in the groundbreaking 1969 movie “Midnight Cowboy”. Rizzo is a down-and-out con man played by Dustin Hoffman.

The 1969 movie “Midnight Cowboy” is a Hollywood adaptation of a novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It’s a pretty depressing story about a young Texan named Joe Buck (played by Jon Voight) who heads to New York City to make money as a hustler, hiring himself out to women for sex. Pretty soon the young man ends up selling his body for sex with males as well. Prior to release the MPAA gave the movie an R-rating, but the United Artists studio took advice and decided to release it with an X-rating. When “Midnight Cowboy” won the Best Picture Academy Award in 1969, it became the only X-rated film to be so honored.

25 Cheesy snack : NACHO

The dish known as “nachos” was supposedly created by the maître d’ at a restaurant called the Victory Club in the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. The maître d’’s name was Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya.

32 Mi-mi-re-re-do, in a children’s song : E-I-E-I-O

There was an old American version of the English children’s song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (E-I-E-I-O) that was around in the days of WWI. The first line of the older US version goes “Old MacDougal had a farm, in Ohio-i-o”.

33 College accommodations : DORMS

“Dormitory” is a very apt anagram of “dirty room”. Well, sometimes it’s apt …

37 How a smartphone knows where it is, for short : GPS

Global positioning system (GPS)

40 So-called “architect of India” : NEHRU

Jawaharlal Nehru was the very first prime minister of India, serving from 1947-64. Nehru was basically the heir to his mentor Mahatma Gandhi. Nehru’s only daughter Indira, also became prime minister (known as Indira Gandhi through marriage, though she was no relation to Mahatma).

41 TV programming filter : V-CHIP

All television sets produced for the US market since the year 2000 are required by law to include a component called a V-chip. A V-chip allows a TV to be configured so that programming of specific “ratings” can be blocked from viewing. The “V” in V-chip stands for “viewer control”. It sounds like a great idea, but a lot of kids these days quickly do a search online and work out how to reset the password.

46 Option with a trash can icon : DELETE

Microsoft introduced its “Recycle Bin” feature in Windows 95. Modeled on Apples “Wastebasket” and “Trash”, the Recycle Bin is temporary storage for files deleted by the computer user. These files can be recovered if necessary (undeleted), up until the time that the user “empties” the Recycle Bin, thereby deleting the files permanently.

51 Host’s task, informally : MC’ING

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

52 Something to bend over backward for : LIMBO

The limbo dance originated on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. The name “limbo” is an alteration of our word “limber”, which isn’t surprising given what one has to do to get under that bar!

55 West Virginia resource : COAL

The vast coalfields of West Virginia were used to fuel, literally, the Industrial Revolution in the United States. West Virginia’s official state rock is bituminous coal.

56 Gymnast Korbut : OLGA

Olga Korbut is from modern-day Belarus, but was born during the days of the Soviet Union. Korbut competed for the USSR team in the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. She was 17 when she appeared in the 1972 Munich Games, and had been training in a sports school since she was 8-years-old. The world fell in love with her as she was a very emotional young lady, readily expressing joy and disappointment, something that we weren’t used to seeing in athletes from behind the Iron Curtain. Korbut immigrated to the US in 1991 and now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

58 Actor Sharif : OMAR

Omar Sharif was a great Hollywood actor from Egypt, someone who played major roles in memorable movies such as “Doctor Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia”. But to me, he was my bridge hero (the card game). In his heyday, Sharif was one of the best bridge players in the world.

59 Scandinavian capital founded in the mid-11th century : OSLO

Oslo, the capital of Norway, is an ancient city that was founded around 1048. The medieval city was destroyed by fire in 1624 and was rebuilt by the Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV and renamed to Christiana. In 1877 there was an official change of the spelling of the city’s name to “Kristiana”, and then more recently in 1925 the name was restored to the original Oslo. Things have almost gone full circle and now the center of Oslo, the area that would have been contained by the original medieval walls, has apparently been renamed to Christiana.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “We should totally do that!” : LET’S!
5 Key of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7: Abbr. : A MAJ
9 Ain’t I a stinker? : SKUNK
14 Energy field, in holistic medicine : AURA
15 Made-up story : TALE
16 Rub the wrong way : ANNOY
17 Metal that rusts : IRON
18 Coup d’___ : ETAT
19 What a tabloid may be sued for : LIBEL
20 Need for targeted advertising : CONSUMER PROFILE
23 Medium for modern matchmaking : APP
24 Ghost in a haunted house, e.g. : MOANER
25 ’60s conflict site : NAM
28 “That sounds painful” : OOF!
30 Ozs. and lbs. : WTS
31 Danson of “The Good Place” : TED
34 Birdlike : AVIAN
36 A very long time : AGES
38 Neighbor of Pennsylvania : OHIO
39 Netflix or YouTube : CONTENT PROVIDER
42 Online option that turns into “show” when clicked : HIDE
43 Absence of complication : EASE
44 Profess : CLAIM
45 Sun or moon : ORB
46 UPS competitor : DHL
47 The longer of the two Morse symbols : DAH
49 “Hey” alternatives : YOS
50 Restaurateur Lagasse : EMERIL
53 Part of a headset : MIC
55 It settles a case : CONCLUSIVE PROOF
61 Classic hit : OLDIE
62 Catcher of counterfeiters, in old lingo : T-MAN
63 Retort to “Are not!” : AM SO!
64 Investigator : AGENT
65 [Same source as before] : IBID
66 Like drone bees : MALE
67 Pizza size : LARGE
68 Disadvantages found in this puzzle’s three longest Across answers … : CONS
69 … and advantages found in them : PROS

Down

1 Concerning the nonordained : LAIC
2 $ : dollar :: € : : EURO
3 Disney sci-fi classic : TRON
4 Eldest Stark daughter on “Game of Thrones” : SANSA
5 “Resume normal speed,” in a score : A TEMPO
6 Each animal in Noah’s Ark had one : MATE
7 First thing in the morning? : ALARM
8 Like 747s : JET-POWERED
9 Beauty parlors : SALONS
10 Butter spreader : KNIFE
11 “Occasion” celebrated 364 times a year in Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass” : UNBIRTHDAY
12 “The First ___” (carol) : NOEL
13 “South Park” boy : KYLE
21 Leading by a single point : UP ONE
22 ___ Rizzo, hustler in “Midnight Cowboy” : RATSO
25 Cheesy snack : NACHO
26 French “to have” : AVOIR
27 Tough puzzle : MINDBENDER
29 Accepting destiny : FATALISTIC
32 Mi-mi-re-re-do, in a children’s song : E-I-E-I-O
33 College accommodations : DORMS
35 Got full, say : ATE
37 How a smartphone knows where it is, for short : GPS
38 De-squeak : OIL
40 So-called “architect of India” : NEHRU
41 TV programming filter : V-CHIP
46 Option with a trash can icon : DELETE
48 Making ___ : AMENDS
51 Host’s task, informally : MC’ING
52 Something to bend over backward for : LIMBO
54 Athlete’s leg problem : CRAMP
55 West Virginia resource : COAL
56 Gymnast Korbut : OLGA
57 Bigheaded : VAIN
58 Actor Sharif : OMAR
59 Scandinavian capital founded in the mid-11th century : OSLO
60 Enemies : FOES