0806-19 NY Times Crossword 6 Aug 19, Tuesday

Constructed by: Jon Olsen
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: Blue on Blue

Themed answers each comprise two words, both of which are a type of BLUE:

  • 61A 1963 Bobby Vinton hit … or a hint to both halves of 18-, 23-, 37- and 54-Across : BLUE ON BLUE
  • 18A Bottom coat? : BABY POWDER (“baby blue” & “powder blue”)
  • 23A Habitat for a walrus : ARCTIC OCEAN (“arctic blue” & “ocean blue”)
  • 37A Its motto, translated from Latin, is “If you wish for peace, prepare for war” : ROYAL NAVY (“royal blue” & “navy blue”)
  • 54A Drill bit alloy : COBALT STEEL (“cobalt blue” & “steel blue”)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 21s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Means of surveillance, for short : CCTV

Closed-circuit television (CCTV)

5 Co-conspirator with Brutus and Cassius : CASCA

Julius Caesar was assassinated on the 15th (the ides) of March, 44 BC. He was attacked by a group of sixty people in the Roman Senate, and was stabbed 23 times. The first to strike a blow was Servilius Casca, who attacked Caesar from behind and stabbed him in the neck. In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, Casca utters the words “Speak, hands, for me!” just before making the fatal blow. The following line, uttered by Caesar, is more famous though: “Et tu, Brute?”

16 ___ breve : ALLA

The musical term “alla breve”, meaning “at the breve (i.e. the note)”, denotes a meter equivalent to 2/2. This implies quite a fast tempo, often found in military marches. 2/2 is also known as “cut time”.

20 Slammer : PEN

The cooler, the pen, the joint, the slammer, the can … prison.

21 Word before and after “à” : VIS

We can use the French phrase “vis-à-vis” as a preposition meaning “compared with”. When used as an adverb or adjective, it means “face-to-face”, which is a more literal translation from French.

23 Habitat for a walrus : ARCTIC OCEAN (“arctic blue” & “ocean blue”)

The Arctic Ocean is in the north polar region, and is almost completely covered by sea ice in the winter. I think it’s common knowledge that the amount of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean during the summer has been dropping in recent times, as a consequence of climate change.

Walruses are large marine mammals with very prominent tusks that are found in and around the northern hemisphere’s Arctic Ocean.

28 Actor Dennis or Randy : QUAID

Actor Dennis Quaid is the younger brother of fellow actor Randy Quaid. Dennis dropped out of college when he saw how successful his brother was and moved to LA to pursue his own career in acting. He has had some noted performances, including a portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in 1989’s “Great Balls of Fire”. And, Dennis is one of Hollywood’s best golfers, playing off scratch.

Actor Randy Quaid is perhaps best known for his performances in the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” movies, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Independence Day”. Quaid also had the title role in the 1987 TV movie “LBJ: The Early Years”, for which he won a Golden Globe. Randy is the older brother of fellow actor Dennis Quaid, and is also a first cousin, twice removed of actor and singer Gene Autry.

29 Sports org. that plays in the winter : NHL

The National Hockey League (NHL) was formed in 1917 in Montreal as a successor to the defunct National Hockey Association (NHA) that had been founded in 1909.

30 Co-workers of TV’s Don Draper : ADMEN

Jon Hamm lived the life of a struggling actor for quite some time before he hit gold with a starring role in the AMC drama “Mad Men”. He plays the main character, advertising executive and man about town Don Draper.

34 Locale of the anvil and stirrup : EAR

The middle ear is the portion of the ear immediately behind the eardrum. The middle ear contains three small bones called the ossicles, the three smallest bones in the human body. The ossicles’ job is to transmit sound from the outer ear to the inner ear. The shape of the bones gives rise to their names: the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus) and stirrup (stapes).

36 Cincinnati sluggers : REDS

The Red Scare (i.e. anti-communist sentiment) following WWII had such an effect on the populace that it even caused the Cincinnati baseball team to change its name from the Reds. The team was called the Cincinnati Redlegs from 1953-1958, as the management was fearful of losing money due to public distrust of any association with “Reds”.

37 Its motto, translated from Latin, is “If you wish for peace, prepare for war” : ROYAL NAVY (“royal blue” & “navy blue”)

The motto of the Royal Navy is “Si vis pacem, para bellum”, which translates as “If you want peace, prepare for war”.

43 A.M.A. members : DRS

American Medical Association (AMA)

50 Early nuclear org. : AEC

The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was set up right after WWII in 1946, with the aim of promoting the peaceful use of atomic energy. Establishing the AEC was a significant move made by President Truman, as it passed control of atomic energy from the military to the civilian sector. The AEC continued to operate until 1974 when its functions were divided up into two new agencies: the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Energy Research and Development Administration (NRDA). The NRDA was merged with the Federal Energy Administration in 1977 to form the Department of Energy.

52 Esther of “Good Times” : ROLLE

Esther Rolle was an actress best known for playing the character Florida Evans on the sitcom “Maude” and on the show’s spinoff “Good Times”.

53 TV show set in Westeros, for short : GOT

“Game of Thrones” (GOT)

57 Untouched, as an artifact : IN SITU

“In situ” is a Latin phrase meaning “in the place”, and we use the term to mean “in the original position”.

61 1963 Bobby Vinton hit … or a hint to both halves of 18-, 23-, 37- and 54-Across : BLUE ON BLUE

“Blue on Blue” is a song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David that was released by Bobby Vinton in 1963.

67 Ballet leap : JETE

A jeté is a leap in ballet, with the term “jeté” coming from the French word “jeter” meaning “to throw”. A “jeté en avant” is a “leap to the front”, towards the audience. A “grand jeté” is a long horizontal jump, a split in the air, leaping from one foot to the other.

68 Whence the Three Wise Men, with “the” : EAST

“Magi” is the plural of the Latin word “magus”, a term applied to someone who was able to read the stars. Hence, “magi” is commonly used with reference to the “wise men from the East” who followed the star and visited Jesus soon after he was born. In Western Christianity, the three Biblical Magi are:

  • Melchior: a scholar from Persia
  • Caspar: a scholar from India
  • Balthazar: a scholar from Arabia

Down

1 Pioneering personal computers : COMPAQS

These days, the Compaq brand of computers are sold by Hewlett-Packard, as the two companies merged in 2002. The original Compaq company was founded in 1982, with the name coming from COMP-atibility A-nd Q-uality.

3 Limousine : TOWN CAR

The word “limousine” derives from the name of the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes …

4 Bygone kind of tape : VHS

The VHS video standard is more fully referred to as the Video Home System. VHS was one of many standards touted by various manufacturers in the seventies. The biggest rival to VHS was Betamax, but we all knew which of the two standards won the final round in that fight.

7 Periscope site : SUB

The prefix “peri-” is Greek in origin and means “around”. An example of its use is “periscope”, a device on a submarine for looking “around”.

8 Low island : CAY

A key (also “cay”) is a low offshore island, as in the Florida Keys. Our term in English comes from the Spanish “cayo” meaning “shoal, reef”.

9 Leader of Athens? : ALPHA

Athens is the capital city of Greece and is one of the world’s oldest cities, with a history that goes back around 3,400 years. In its heyday, Classical Athens was a remarkable center for the arts and philosophical debate, and was home to Plato and Aristotle. Athens is often called “the cradle of Western civilization” and “the birthplace of democracy”. The city was named for the Greek goddess Athena.

10 Thriller set around Amity Island : JAWS

“Jaws” is a thrilling 1975 movie directed by Steven Spielberg that is based on a novel of the same name by Peter Benchley. The film has a powerful cast, led by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw. “Jaws” was perhaps the first “summer blockbuster” with the highest box office take in history up to that time, which was a record that stood until “Star Wars” was released two years later.

19 Actress Chaplin of 53-Across : OONA
(53A TV show set in Westeros, for short : GOT)

Oona Chaplin is an actress from Madrid in Spain. Chaplin is getting a lot of airtime these days as she plays Talisa Maegyr on HBO’s hit fantasy series “Game of Thrones”. Oona is the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, and is named for her maternal grandmother Oona O’Neill, the daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill.

21 YouTube upload : VIDEO

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 …

25 Posh neighborhood of London or New York : CHELSEA

Chelsea is an area of central London located just north of the River Thames that is famous for its high property prices. Chelsea is also home to many expat Americans, who make up almost 7% of all the area’s residents.

Chelsea is a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York. The neighborhood is named for a house and estate called Chelsea that used to be located in the area, a house owned by a retired British major from 1750. At one point, this same house was owned by Clement Clarke Moore, the man who is said to have written the famous Christmas poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”.

26 Spirit : ELAN

Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours, i.e “style, flair”.

31 Problem in an old wooden building : DRY ROT

Dry rot is a fungal infection that causes wood to decay as the fungus digest those parts of the wood giving it strength and structure. Despite the name, dry rot does indeed require the presence of some moisture to thrive. Wet rot is a similar condition, but one requiring a higher moisture content.

33 Guitarist Barrett : SYD

Syd Barrett was the lead singer and a founding member of the English rock band Pink Floyd. Barrett was only active as a musician for just over ten years. He retired from the music scene in 1975 and spent the next 30 years living off Pink Floyd royalties until he passed away in 2006.

35 British rule over India, once : RAJ

The period of colonial rule by the British in South Asia from 1858 to 1947 is referred to as the British Raj. Prior to 1858, the area was ruled by a private enterprise, the British East India Company. “Raj” is the Hindi word for “reign”.

38 Spirited steed : ARAB

The Arab (also “Arabian”) breed of horse takes its name from its original home, the Arabian Peninsula. Like any animal that humans have over-bred, the horse falls prey to genetic diseases, some of which are fatal and some of which require the horse to be euthanized.

41 Home of Anne of Green Gables : AVONLEA

“Anne of Green Gables” is a 1908 novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery that she set in the fictional Prince Edward Island community of Avonlea. Montgomery wrote several sequels to “Anne”, with them all being set on Prince Edward Island (PEI), from where the author hailed.

42 Old Nissan autos : DATSUNS

Japanese automaker Nissan introduced the Datsun brand in 1931, and then retired it in 1986. The Datsun brand was reintroduced in 2013, applied to low-cost models sold in emerging markets.

45 Something that may be used before a blessing : KLEENEX

Even though “Kleenex” is sometimes used today as a generic term for a tissue, “Kleenex” is a brand name owned by Kimberly-Clark. Kleenex facial tissues came about after WW1. The material used in the tissue had been developed as a replacement for cotton that was in high demand as surgical tissue during the war. The material developed was called “Cellucotton” and was used in gas mask filters. It was first sold as a facial tissue under the name “Kleenex” in 1924.

55 Unit of measure with the same Latin origin as “inch” : OUNCE

Our term “ounce” comes from the Latin “uncia”, which was 1/12 of a “libra”, the Roman “pound”. “Uncia” is also the derivation of our word “inch”, 1/12 of a foot.

56 Jacket material : TWEED

Tweed is a rough woolen fabric that is very much associated with Scotland in the UK, and with County Donegal in Ireland. The cloth was originally called “tweel”, the Scots word for “twill”. Apparently a London merchant misinterpreted some handwriting in the early 1800s and assumed the fabric was called “tweed”, a reference to the Scottish River Tweed, and the name stuck …

63 Big galoot : LUG

“Galoot” is an insulting term describing an awkward or boorish man, an ape. “Galoot” comes from the nautical world, where it was originally what a sailor might call a soldier or marine.

64 Best-selling Steely Dan album : AJA

Steely Dan’s heyday was in the seventies when they toured for a couple of years, although the group mainly focused on studio work. The band was formed in 1972 and broke up in 1981. The core of the band reunited in 1993, and is still performing today despite the passing of founding member Walter Becker in 2017. Steely Dan’s best-selling album is “Aja” (pronounced like “Asia”), which was released in 1977.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Means of surveillance, for short : CCTV
5 Co-conspirator with Brutus and Cassius : CASCA
10 Banter jokingly : JOSH
14 “I got it! I got it!” : OH! OH!
15 What’s standard, with “the” : … USUAL
16 ___ breve : ALLA
17 Litter noises : MEWS
18 Bottom coat? : BABY POWDER (“baby blue” & “powder blue”)
20 Slammer : PEN
21 Word before and after “à” : VIS
22 Had people over for dinner, say : HOSTED
23 Habitat for a walrus : ARCTIC OCEAN (“arctic blue” & “ocean blue”)
27 “___ seen worse” : I’VE
28 Actor Dennis or Randy : QUAID
29 Sports org. that plays in the winter : NHL
30 Co-workers of TV’s Don Draper : ADMEN
32 Spending jags : SPREES
34 Locale of the anvil and stirrup : EAR
36 Cincinnati sluggers : REDS
37 Its motto, translated from Latin, is “If you wish for peace, prepare for war” : ROYAL NAVY (“royal blue” & “navy blue”)
40 Fill with cargo : LADE
43 A.M.A. members : DRS
44 Messed with, with “around” : JERKED
48 Avoid the clutches of : EVADE
50 Early nuclear org. : AEC
52 Esther of “Good Times” : ROLLE
53 TV show set in Westeros, for short : GOT
54 Drill bit alloy : COBALT STEEL (“cobalt blue” & “steel blue”)
57 Untouched, as an artifact : IN SITU
59 Slack-jawed emotion : AWE
60 Good name for a girl born on December 24? : EVE
61 1963 Bobby Vinton hit … or a hint to both halves of 18-, 23-, 37- and 54-Across : BLUE ON BLUE
64 Surgeons’ subj. : ANAT
65 Focusing aid : LENS
66 Something to believe in : CAUSE
67 Ballet leap : JETE
68 Whence the Three Wise Men, with “the” : EAST
69 Defeated by a hair : EDGED
70 Fired : AXED

Down

1 Pioneering personal computers : COMPAQS
2 “Come on, things aren’t so bad” : CHEER UP
3 Limousine : TOWN CAR
4 Bygone kind of tape : VHS
5 Like the numbers 8, 27 and 64 : CUBIC
6 How one’s much-loved nephew might be treated : AS A SON
7 Periscope site : SUB
8 Low island : CAY
9 Leader of Athens? : ALPHA
10 Thriller set around Amity Island : JAWS
11 Quaint : OLD-TIME
12 Like LPs and some dresses : SLEEVED
13 Coagulates : HARDENS
19 Actress Chaplin of 53-Across : OONA
21 YouTube upload : VIDEO
24 Like wedding cakes, typically : TIERED
25 Posh neighborhood of London or New York : CHELSEA
26 Spirit : ELAN
31 Problem in an old wooden building : DRY ROT
33 Guitarist Barrett : SYD
35 British rule over India, once : RAJ
38 Spirited steed : ARAB
39 Part of a biblical citation : VERSE
40 Unlike most physicians’ handwriting, stereotypically : LEGIBLE
41 Home of Anne of Green Gables : AVONLEA
42 Old Nissan autos : DATSUNS
45 Something that may be used before a blessing : KLEENEX
46 Put on a pedestal : ELEVATE
47 Struck out : DELETED
49 Outside: Prefix : ECTO-
51 A dependent one might start with “that” : CLAUSE
55 Unit of measure with the same Latin origin as “inch” : OUNCE
56 Jacket material : TWEED
58 Superlative ending with grass or glass : -IEST
62 Reprimand to a dog : BAD!
63 Big galoot : LUG
64 Best-selling Steely Dan album : AJA