0710-23 NY Times Crossword 10 Jul 23, Monday

Constructed by: Brad Wiegmann
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Act the Animal

Themed answers are all actions being carried out on animals:

  • 17A Antagonize a powerful figure : POKE THE BEAR
  • 27A Become absurdly outlandish, as a TV show : JUMP THE SHARK
  • 43A Chat idly : SHOOT THE BULL
  • 58A Gesture rudely, in a way : FLIP THE BIRD

Bill’s time: 5m 57s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 After-dinner coffee order : DECAF

The first successful process for removing caffeine from coffee involved steaming the beans in salt water, and then extracting the caffeine using benzene (a potent carcinogen) as a solvent. Coffee processed this way was sold as Sanka here in the US. There are other processes used these days, and let’s hope they are safer …

11 Glob of chewing gum : WAD

Chicle is a natural gum or latex that can be extracted from the Manilkara chicle tree that is native to Mexico and Central America. Companies like Wrigley were major users of chicle prior to the sixties as the product was used as the base ingredient in chewing gum. Today chewing gum manufacturers generally use a synthetic rubber that is cheap to manufacture as a replacement for natural chicle. I am so happy I don’t chew gum!

14 Virus in 2014 news : EBOLA

The Ebola virus causes a very nasty form of hemorrhagic fever. The name of the virus comes from the site of the first known outbreak, in a mission hospital in the Ebola River Valley in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as Zaire). The disease is transmitted from human to human by exposure to bodily fluids. In nature, the main carrier of Ebola is the fruit bat.

15 San Diego ballplayer : PADRE

The San Diego Padres baseball team was founded in 1969, and immediately joined the ranks of Major League Baseball as an expansion team. The Padres took their name from a Minor League team that had been in the city since 1936. The name is Spanish for “fathers” and is a reference to the Franciscan Friars from Spain who founded San Diego in 1769.

19 Longtime electronics co. : RCA

During WWI, the US government actively discouraged the loss of certain technologies to other countries, including allies. The developing wireless technologies were considered to be particularly important by the army and navy. The government prevented the General Electric Company from selling equipment to the British Marconi Company, and instead facilitated the purchase by GE of the American Marconi subsidiary. This purchase led to GE forming the Radio Corporation of America that we know today as RCA.

20 Coveted March Madness slot : ONE-SEED

A seeded player or team in a tournament is one given a preliminary ranking that is used in the initial draw. The intention is that the better competitors are less likely to meet each other in the early rounds.

“March Madness” is the name given to the NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Championship (among others), that is held in the spring each year. Another name is “the Big Dance”.

23 Expressions of gratitude, in texts : TYS

Thank you (TY)

24 Winter bugs : FLUS

Influenza (the “flu”) is an ailment that is caused by a virus. The virus is readily inactivated by the use of soap, so washing hands and surfaces is especially helpful in containing flu outbreaks, and other virus pandemics …

27 Become absurdly outlandish, as a TV show : JUMP THE SHARK

The phrase “jumping the shark” has been used since 1977 to describe the moment in the life of a TV show when it starts to decline in popularity. The expression comes from a scene in the hit sitcom “Happy Days” when the character Fonzie gets on water skis and is seen literally jumping over a shark. “Happy Days” never recovered.

34 “The Fault in ___ Stars” (2012 best seller) : OUR

“The Fault in Our Stars” is a 2014 film based on a novel of the same by John Green. Both film and novel are about two teenage cancer patients who fall in love with each other. The leads are played by Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. The title is a rewording of lines spoken by Cassius in the play “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare:

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

35 ___ vera gel : ALOE

Aloe vera is a succulent plant that grows in relatively dry climates. The plant’s leaves are full of biologically-active compounds that have been studied extensively. Aloe vera has been used for centuries in herbal medicine, mainly for topical treatment of wounds.

37 Young sheep : LAMBS

An adult male sheep is a ram, although a castrated ram is known as a wether. An adult female is a ewe, and a young sheep is a lamb.

39 Word with bean or blue : NAVY …

A navy bean is a white bean, and is the bean commonly found in the dish known as “baked beans”. It can also be called a haricot bean. The term “navy bean” is used because haricot beans were a staple for sailors in the 19th-century US Navy.

Navy blue is a dark blue shade that was named for the color of uniforms worn by officers in the British Royal Navy as early as 1748. When the color’s name first took on the association with uniforms in the early 1800s, it was known as “marine blue”, but soon changed to “navy blue”.

40 Campus military org. : ROTC

The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is a training program for officers based in colleges all around the US. The ROTC program was established in 1862 when as a condition of receiving a land-grant to create colleges, the federal government required that military tactics be part of a new school’s curriculum.

41 “I just knew it” feeling, in brief : ESP

The so-called sixth sense is extrasensory perception (ESP). It is also referred to as second sight.

43 Chat idly : SHOOT THE BULL

The phrase “bull session” was popularized by American college students in the 1920s. The term refers to a discussion, particularly between male friends. The phrase “to shoot the bull”, meaning to talk freely and pretentiously about something one knows very little, is derivative of “bull session”.

47 ___ scale (measure of hardness) : MOHS

The Mohs scale of mineral hardness was developed in 1812 by Friedrich Mohs. Basically Mohs took minerals and scratched them with other minerals. In this way he was able to determine which minerals were hardest (most scratch resistant) and which softest. On the scale, diamond is the hardest (and rated 10), while talc is the softest (and rated 1).

48 What might be arranged after one swipes right : DATE

Many apps on phones are now using “swipe right” and “swipe left” actions to indicate “like” and dislike”. I suppose that the Tinder dating app is the most famous “swipe right/swipe left” app in use today.

55 “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” band : RAMONES

The Ramones were an American punk rock band. The group formed in Forest Hills, New York in the mid-seventies. The band members took on the stage names Dee Dee, Joey, and Johnny Ramone, even though they were not related. The “Ramone” name was imitative of the pseudonym used by Paul McCartney when he booked into hotels anonymously, namely “Paul Ramon”. Arguably, the Ramones were the first punk rock group, defining the genre. Something else that’s not my cup of tea …

60 Body part with a drum : EAR

The eardrum lies at the intersection of the outer ear and middle ear. Also called the tympanic membrane, the eardrum picks up vibrations in air caused by sound waves, and transmits these vibrations to three tiny bones called “ossicles”. These ossicles (hammer, anvil and stirrup) are in the middle ear, and transmit the vibration to an oval window. The oval window is the membrane-covered opening lying at the intersection of the middle ear and the inner ear. The vibrations are transmitted into fluid in the inner ear, and converted into nerve impulses in the cochlea that are transmitted to the brain.

62 The “N” of TNT : -NITRO-

“TNT” is an abbreviation for “trinitrotoluene”. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

64 Asparagus unit : SPEAR

Asparagus is a perennial flowering plant that is grown mainly for its edible shoots (or “spears”). The shoots must be harvested when they are very young, as they become woody very quickly.

Down

1 Train stop : 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”.

2 Jet black : EBONY

Ebony is another word for the color black (and is often shortened to “ebon” in poetry). The color is named for the dark black wood called ebony that is very dense, one of the few types of wood that sinks in water. Ebony has been in high demand so the species of trees yielding the wood are now considered threatened. It is in such short supply that unscrupulous vendors have been known to darken lighter woods with shoe polish to look like ebony, so be warned …

The color jet black takes its name from the minor gemstone jet. The gemstone and the material it is made of takes its English name from the French name “jaiet”.

3 Alternatives to Pepsis : COKES

The first cola drink to become a commercial success was Coca-Cola, soon after it was invented by a druggist in 1886. The first sales were in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, where a glass of the new beverage sold for five cents. That original Coca-Cola was flavored mainly with kola nuts and vanilla. The formulation was based on an alcoholic drink called Coca Wine that had been on sale for over twenty years.

4 Pub brews : ALES

The many, many different styles of beer can generally be sorted into two groups: ales and lagers. Ales are fermented at relatively warm temperatures for relatively short periods of time, and use top-fermenting yeasts, i.e. yeasts that float on top of the beer as it ferments. Lagers ferment at relatively low temperatures and for relatively long periods of time. Lagers use bottom-fermenting yeasts, i.e. yeasts that fall to the bottom of the beer as it ferments.

7 Bar bill : TAB

When we run a “tab” at a bar, we are running a “tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.

12 West Coast gas brand : ARCO

The company name “ARCO” is an acronym standing for “Atlantic Richfield Company”. One of ARCO’s claims to fame is that it is responsible for the nation’s largest Superfund site. Mining and smelting in the area around Butte, Montana polluted the region’s water and soil, and ARCO has agreed to pay $187 million to help clean up the area.

13 University official : DEAN

Our use of “dean” to describe an administrative officer in an educational institution dates back to the 1570s. The term comes via the Old French “deien” from the Latin “decanus”, which was the name for the head of a group of ten monks in a monastery, and earlier still, the name for the commander of ten soldiers. So ultimately, “dean” comes from the Greek “deka” meaning “ten”.

18 Captain’s place : HELM

In its broadest sense, the term “helm” describes the whole of a ship’s steering mechanism, including the rudder and tiller. In a more specific sense, the helm is the handle, tiller or wheel that is used to control the steering gear.

22 Gasoline additive : ETHANOL

Ethyl alcohol is more usually known as ethanol. It is the alcohol found in intoxicating beverages, and nowadays is also used as a fuel for cars. Ethanol is also found in medical wipes and hand sanitizer, in which it acts as an antiseptic.

27 Snoopy’s alter ego in sunglasses : JOE COOL

When cartoon beagle Snoopy adopts his “Joe Cool” alias, he puts on sunglasses and just leans against a wall doing nothing.

30 Locksmith’s supply : KEYS

A metalsmith (often just “smith”) is a metalworker, someone who fashions useful items out of various metals. The term “metalsmith” is often used to describe someone adept at working with many different metals. Other smiths tend to specialize, e.g. a blacksmith works mainly with iron and steel, a coppersmith works mainly with copper, a gunsmith builds and repairs firearms, and a locksmith works with locks.

31 Camera types, for short : SLRS

Single-lens reflex (SLR) camera

32 Winnie-the-___ : POOH

Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne was an English author who is best known for his delightful “Winnie-the-Pooh” series of books. He had only one son, Christopher Robin Milne, born in 1920. The young Milne was the inspiration for the Christopher Robin character in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Winnie-the-Pooh was named after Christopher Robin’s real teddy bear, one he called Winnie, who in turn was named after a Canadian black bear called Winnie that the Milnes would visit in London Zoo. The original Winnie teddy bear is on display at the main branch of the New York Public Library in New York.

33 Field of vision? : OPTOMETRY

Starting in the mid-1700s, a device known as an optometer was used for measuring prescriptions for eyeglasses. Over time, a professional using an optometer came to be known as an optometrist.

38 Incense residue : ASH

Incense is a material that produces a fragrant odor when burned. The term “incense” comes from the Latin verb “incendere” meaning “to set on fire”.

42 Samuel Langhorne ___ (Mark Twain’s real name) : CLEMENS

“Samuel Langhorne Clemens” was the real name of the author Mark Twain. Twain wasn’t the only pen name used by Clemens. Early in his career he signed some sketches as “Josh”, and signed some humorous letters that he wrote under the name “Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass”. The name of Mark Twain came from the days when Clemens was working on riverboats on the Mississippi. A riverboatman would call out “by the mark twain” when measuring the depth of water. This meant that on the sounding line, according to the “mark” on the line, the depth was two (“twain”) fathoms, and so it was safe for the riverboat to proceed.

46 Home of Brigham Young University : UTAH

Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah has about 34.000 students on campus making it the largest religious university in the country. The school was founded in 1875 by Brigham Young, then President of the Church of Latter-day Saints.

49 Singer Baker : ANITA

Anita Baker is an R&B and soul singer who was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Baker’s most successful song is the Grammy-winning “Sweet Love” that was released in 1986.

50 Cloth for a sweatband : TERRY

Terry cloth is a fabric designed to absorb lots of liquid. The fabric has relatively large loops of thread that improve the absorption properties. The larger the loop, the more thread, the better the absorption.

51 Windows forerunner : MS-DOS

MS-DOS (short for “Microsoft Disk Operating System”) was the main operating system used by IBM-compatible PCs in the eighties and for much of the nineties. Microsoft introduced the Windows operating environment in 1985 to sit above MS-DOS as a graphical user interface (GUI). That move was made in response to the success of Apple’s GUI released with the Lisa and Macintosh platforms. A court case ensued, one that was eventually settled in court in favor of Microsoft.

52 Help in crime : ABET

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (literally “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

54 Trig function : SINE

Trigonometry (trig) is a branch of mathematics dealing with triangles, and calculations based on the relationship between a triangle’s angles and the lengths of its sides.

56 In memoriam piece, informally : OBIT

Our word “obituary” comes from the Latin “obituaris”. The Latin term was used for “record of the death of a person”, although the literal meaning is “pertaining to death”.

“In memoriam” is a Latin phrase that we use in English to mean “in memory of” when referring to a person that is deceased.

59 ___ Tour : PGA

The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) was founded in 1916 and today has its headquarters (unsurprisingly) in Florida, where so many golfers live. Back in 1916, the PGA was based in New York City.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 After-dinner coffee order : DECAF
6 Puts in an overhead bin, say : STOWS
11 Glob of chewing gum : WAD
14 Virus in 2014 news : EBOLA
15 San Diego ballplayer : PADRE
16 Prospector’s find : ORE
17 Antagonize a powerful figure : POKE THE BEAR
19 Longtime electronics co. : RCA
20 Coveted March Madness slot : ONE-SEED
21 Secretly observed : SPIED ON
23 Expressions of gratitude, in texts : TYS
24 Winter bugs : FLUS
26 Belly rub recipients, often : PETS
27 Become absurdly outlandish, as a TV show : JUMP THE SHARK
31 It gets all wound up : SPOOL
34 “The Fault in ___ Stars” (2012 best seller) : OUR
35 ___ vera gel : ALOE
36 Run easily : LOPE
37 Young sheep : LAMBS
39 Word with bean or blue : NAVY …
40 Campus military org. : ROTC
41 “I just knew it” feeling, in brief : ESP
42 Message concealers : CODES
43 Chat idly : SHOOT THE BULL
47 ___ scale (measure of hardness) : MOHS
48 What might be arranged after one swipes right : DATE
49 Cash dispenser, in brief : ATM
52 Eternal : AGELESS
55 “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” band : RAMONES
57 Put money (on) : BET
58 Gesture rudely, in a way : FLIP THE BIRD
60 Body part with a drum : EAR
61 Touch of color : TINGE
62 The “N” of TNT : -NITRO-
63 Give it the old college ___ : TRY
64 Asparagus unit : SPEAR
65 Sticks around : STAYS

Down

1 Train stop : DEPOT
2 Jet black : EBONY
3 Alternatives to Pepsis : COKES
4 Pub brews : ALES
5 Momentous : FATEFUL
6 Stepped on it : SPED UP
7 Bar bill : TAB
8 Poetic tributes : ODES
9 Disposable parts of grocery purchases : WRAPPERS
10 It might have multiple seasons : SERIES
11 Speech jumble : WORD SALAD
12 West Coast gas brand : ARCO
13 University official : DEAN
18 Captain’s place : HELM
22 Gasoline additive : ETHANOL
25 Walked angrily : STOMPED
27 Snoopy’s alter ego in sunglasses : JOE COOL
28 Place with many airline connections : HUB
29 Wander around : ROVE
30 Locksmith’s supply : KEYS
31 Camera types, for short : SLRS
32 Winnie-the-___ : POOH
33 Field of vision? : OPTOMETRY
37 Reveals inadvertently : LETS SLIP
38 Incense residue : ASH
42 Samuel Langhorne ___ (Mark Twain’s real name) : CLEMENS
44 Robberies : THEFTS
45 Trade without money : BARTER
46 Home of Brigham Young University : UTAH
49 Singer Baker : ANITA
50 Cloth for a sweatband : TERRY
51 Windows forerunner : MS-DOS
52 Help in crime : ABET
53 Bike part with teeth : GEAR
54 Trig function : SINE
56 In memoriam piece, informally : OBIT
59 ___ Tour : PGA