0907-22 NY Times Crossword 7 Sep 22, Wednesday

Constructed by: Ekua Ewool
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Mon-Fri Puzzle

Themed answers describe the possible reaction of a NEWBIE to the Monday through Friday crosswords:

  • 16A Newbie crossword solver’s thought on a Monday : I’VE GOT THIS
  • 23A Newbie crossword solver’s thought on a Tuesday : WISH ME LUCK
  • 35A Newbie crossword solver’s thought on a Wednesday : I’D LIKE SOME HINTS
  • 50A Newbie crossword solver’s thought on a Thursday : WHAT IN HELL!
  • 58A Newbie crossword solver’s thought on a Friday : GOOGLE TIME

Bill’s time: 10m 36s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4 User-edited websites : WIKIS

A wiki is a website on which users are allowed to create and edit content themselves. The term “wiki” comes from the name of the first such site, introduced in 1994 and called WikiWikiWeb. “Wiki” is a Hawaiian word for “quick”, and is used because comprehensive content is created very quickly, as there are so many collaborators contributing to the site.

13 N.Y.C. ave. between Park and Third : LEX

Lexington Avenue in New York City is famous for many things, but my favorite fact is that it was the site of the first ever arrest for speeding in the city. In 1899 a police officer on a bicycle caught up with a cab driver who was tearing down Lexington Avenue, at the breakneck speed of 12mph …

14 Cellular blueprint : GENOME

The genome is all the hereditary information needed to reproduce an organism, in other words, all of its chromosomes. When scientists unravel the human genome, it takes up an awful lot of computer storage space, and yet all of this information is in almost every cell in our bodies. Each and every cell “knows” how to make a whole human being.

15 “And Then There Were ___” : NONE

“Ten Little Indians” is a 1939 mystery novel by Agatha Christie. The story was adapted for the big screen several times, including a 1989 version that used the same title as the novel. An earlier 1974 version used the title “And Then There Were None”. Actor Herbert Lom appeared in both versions.

18 “Veep” actress Chlumsky : ANNA

Anna Chlumsky launched her career as a child actress playing the title role in the films “My Girl” (1991) and “My Girl 2” (1994). After taking time out to attend college, Chlumsky resumed her run of success with a regular role in the political satire show “Veep”.

“Veep” is a political satire sitcom on HBO that is a remake of the British show “The Thick of It” (Warning: strong language!). “Veep” is set in the office of fictional US Vice President Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

20 J.F.K. alternative : LGA

The three big airports serving New York City (NYC) are John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR).

Fiorello La Guardia was the Mayor of New York from 1934 to 1945, racking up three full terms in office. The famous airport that bears La Guardia’s name was built at his urging, stemming from an incident that took place while he was in office. He was taking a TWA flight to “New York” and was outraged when the plane landed at Newark Airport, in the state of New Jersey. The Mayor demanded that the flight take off again and land at a small airport in Brooklyn. A gaggle of press reporters joined him on the short hop and he gave them a story, urging New Yorkers to support the construction of a new commercial airport within the city’s limits. The new airport, in Queens, opened in 1939 as New York Municipal, often called “LaGuardia” as a nickname. The airport was officially relabeled as “LaGuardia” (LGA) in 1947.

22 “30 for 30” airer : ESPN

“30 for 30” is a series of ESPN documentary films that has aired since 2009. The series originated as a celebration of ESPN’s 30th birthday. To recognize that anniversary, the network commissioned 30 filmmakers to make 30 one-hour films covering the big stories in ESPN’s 30-year history. The series was so well received that ESPN continues to make similar documentaries using the “30 for 30” umbrella title.

28 Place people walk into for jokes? : BAR

Seeing as I’m one of three brothers, I have a favorite “So a guy walks into a bar” joke:

So a guy walks into a bar and orders three beers.

The bartender brings him the three beers, and the man proceeds to alternately sip one, then the other, then the third, until they’re gone. He then orders three more and the bartender says, “Sir, I know you like them cold, so you can start with one, and I’ll bring you a fresh one as soon as you’re low.” The man says, “You don’t understand. I have two brothers, one in Australia and one in Ireland. We made a vow to each other that every Saturday night, we’d still drink together. So right now, my brothers have three beers, too, and we’re drinking together.” The bartender thinks it’s a wonderful tradition, and every week he sets up the guy’s three beers. Then one week, the man comes in and orders only two. He drinks them and then orders two more. The bartender says sadly, “Knowing your tradition, I’d just like to just say that I’m sorry you’ve lost a brother.”

The man replies, “Oh, my brothers are fine — I just quit drinking.”

29 Lunar holiday : TET

The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

30 Holder of tent sales : REI

REI is a sporting goods store, with the initialism standing for Recreational Equipment Inc. REI was founded in Seattle by Lloyd and Mary Anderson in 1938 as a cooperative that supplies quality climbing gear to outdoor enthusiasts. The first full-time employee hired by the Andersons was Jim Whittaker, who was the first American to climb Mount Everest.

33 Mantra, often : CHANT

A mantra is a word that is used as a focus for the mind while meditating. The term is Sanskrit in origin, and is now used figuratively in English to describe any oft-repeated word or phrase.

42 Off-road transport, for short : ATV

All-terrain vehicle (ATV)

43 IGN’s #1 Video Game Console of All Time : NES

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was sold in North America from 1985 to 1995. It was the biggest selling gaming console of the era. Nintendo replaced the NES with Wii, which is also the biggest-selling game console in the world.

47 June honoree : DAD

Father’s Day was added as an official holiday in 1972, although bills to create the holiday had been with Congress since 1913. By rights, the holiday should be called “Fathers’ Day” (note the punctuation), but the bill that was introduced in 1913 used the “Father’s Day” spelling, and that’s the one that has stuck.

53 Scourge : BANE

Today, we tend to use the word “bane” to mean “anathema, a source of persistent annoyance”. A few centuries ago, a bane was a cause of harm or death, perhaps a deadly poison.

55 Na+, for one : ION

Sodium (Na) is a mineral that plays an essential role in the body, and has a major impact on blood volume and blood pressure. There seems to be a lot of evidence that the typical American diet includes levels of sodium that are above the maximum considered healthy by the medical community. Apparently, most of the sodium in the typical diet comes from processed food.

57 Mellow cheese : EDAM

Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

62 Fracases : MELEES

Our term “melee” comes from the French “mêlée”, and in both languages the word means “confused fight”.

“Fracas”, meaning “noisy quarrel”, is a French word that we absorbed into English. In turn, the French usage evolved from the Italian “fracasso” meaning “uproar, crash”.

65 Actress Amy of “Enchanted” : ADAMS

Amy Adams is an American actress, although she was actually born in Vicenza, Italy while her father was a US serviceman stationed on an Italian base. My favorite Amy Adams film so far is the outstanding “Julie & Julia” in which she acted alongside Meryl Streep. I highly recommend this truly delightful movie.

“Enchanted” is quite an entertaining 2007 Disney film. It tells the story of Princess Giselle, who is forced from her animated world to live in the real world of New York City.

Down

5 Bank statement abbr. : INT

A bank account (acct.) usually earns interest (int.)

6 Department store chain that began as a corner grocery : KOHL’S

Kohl’s is a department store chain with its headquarters in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The store takes its name from the founder, Maxwell Kohl.

8 Kind of oil in cooking : SESAME

Sesame oil is extracted from sesame seeds. It is one of the nutritionally “good” oils, in that it is high in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Unlike most “good” oils, sesame oil keeps at room temperature, due to the presence of naturally occurring preservatives.

10 Lempira spender : HONDURAN

Honduras is a country in Central America that used to be known as Spanish Honduras, in order to differentiate it from British Honduras that is now called Belize. “Honduras” is the Spanish word for “the depths”, which is probably a reference to deep coastal waters.

12 Samosa veggie : PEA

A samosa is quite the tasty appetizer. It is usually a triangular-shaped savory that often has a vegetarian filling. The word “samosa” is primarily used on Indian menus, and the name comes from “sanbosag”, the name for the dish in Persia.

17 Beefeater, for one : GIN

Beefeater Gin is a brand of spirit from the UK, with a Yeoman Warder (beefeater) on the label.

In one use of the word, a “yeoman” is a lower level official or attendant in a royal household. A famous group of yeomen are the Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London. The role is ceremonial these days, theoretically safeguarding the crown jewels and guarding any prisoners in the Tower. More correctly, the Yeoman Warders are called Beefeaters, and nobody’s really sure why! If you get over to London, the Yeoman Warders will be your tour guides around the Tower of London … a great day out!

26 Baby foxes : KITS

Male foxes are usually called dogs, and sometimes tods or reynards. Females are vixens, and young foxes are cubs, pups or kits.

28 Item of wear named after an island : BIKINI

The origin of the word “bikini”, describing a type of bathing suit, seems very uncertain. One story is that it is named after the Bikini Atoll, site of American A-bomb tests in the forties and fifties. The name “bikini” was chosen for the swim-wear because of the “explosive” effect it had on men who saw a woman wearing the garment …

The name of Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands comes from the Marshallese name “Pikinni”, meaning “coconut place”. Famously, Bikini Atoll was the site of 23 nuclear detonations by the US from 1946 to 1958.

31 Grand Canyon viewpoint : RIM

The Grand Canyon is in Arizona. The canyon continues to be carved out of layers of rock by the Colorado River. It is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and over a mile deep.

35 Part of Caesar’s boast : … I SAW …

The oft-quoted statement “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) is believed by many to have been written by Julius Caesar. The words date back to 47 BCE and refer to the short war between Rome and Pharnaces II of Pontus.

36 Longtime soda slogan : DO THE DEW

If you check the can, you’ll see that “Mountain Dew” is now marketed as “Mtn Dew”.

37 Chocolate confection that melts before you eat it : LAVA CAKE

Molten chocolate cake is chocolate cake with a warm and liquid chocolate center. A dessert often called “lava cake”, it was invented by French chef Michel Bras, and dates back to 1981. It was popularized in the US by French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, initially in his New York restaurant Jean-Georges.

39 Like Thanos in the Marvel universe : EVIL

Thanos is a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. He was portrayed by Damion Poitier in the 2012 movie “The Avengers”, and by Josh Brolin in several subsequent movies including 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”.

44 Very secretive sort : ENIGMA

Our term “enigma” meaning “puzzle, riddle” comes from the Greek “ainigma”, which means the same thing.

47 Like Legos, originally : DANISH

Lego is manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1934 and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949. The blocks were originally sold under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks” but I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.

48 Cause of fatigue : ANEMIA

The term “anemia” (or “anaemia”, as we write it back in Ireland) comes from a Greek word meaning “lack of blood”. Anemia is a lack of iron in the blood, or a low red blood cell count. Tiredness is a symptom of the condition, and so we use the term “anemic” figuratively to mean “lacking in vitality or substance”.

49 Bedouin’s home : DESERT

Bedouin tribes are Arab ethnic groups that predominantly live in the Middle East, in desert areas. Bedouin tribes tend to be nomadic, not settling permanently in one location.

51 Encyclopedia volumes, e.g. : TOMES

“Tome” first came into English from the Latin “tomus” which means “section of a book”. The original usage in English was for a single volume in a multi-volume work. By the late 16th century, “tome” had come to mean “large book”.

52 ___ Holmes, sleuth in young-adult fiction : ENOLA

“The Enola Holmes Mysteries” is a series of detective novels for young adults by American author Nancy Springer. The title character is the 14-year-old sister of 34-year-old Sherlock Holmes, the detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Springer’s novels were adapted into a 2020 film “Enola Holmes” that Netflix picked up at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I saw this one, and enjoyed it …

56 Director Craven : WES

Wes Craven was a very successful film director and writer specializing in movies of the horror genre, which means that I don’t watch them! He was responsible for “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and the “Scream” films. Craven passed away in August 2015.

60 “___ Diaboliques,” 1955 Simone Signoret film : LES

Simone Signoret was a very sultry and beautiful French actress. She was the first French person to win an Oscar, an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1959 film “Room at the Top”. Signoret’s second marriage was to the famous French actor, Yves Montand.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Before, poetically : ERE
4 User-edited websites : WIKIS
9 Where many hands may be at work : SHIP
13 N.Y.C. ave. between Park and Third : LEX
14 Cellular blueprint : GENOME
15 “And Then There Were ___” : NONE
16 Newbie crossword solver’s thought on a Monday : I’VE GOT THIS
18 “Veep” actress Chlumsky : ANNA
19 Lacking temerity : TIMID
20 J.F.K. alternative : LGA
21 Start of a courtroom oath : I DO …
22 “30 for 30” airer : ESPN
23 Newbie crossword solver’s thought on a Tuesday : WISH ME LUCK
27 Where the action happens : SET
28 Place people walk into for jokes? : BAR
29 Lunar holiday : TET
30 Holder of tent sales : REI
31 Winter sights at New York’s Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park : RINKS
33 Mantra, often : CHANT
35 Newbie crossword solver’s thought on a Wednesday : I’D LIKE SOME HINTS
40 “Likewise” : SO AM I
41 Said “hello” from a distance : WAVED
42 Off-road transport, for short : ATV
43 IGN’s #1 Video Game Console of All Time : NES
46 Top of a can : LID
47 June honoree : DAD
50 Newbie crossword solver’s thought on a Thursday : WHAT IN HELL!
53 Scourge : BANE
54 Green prefix : ECO-
55 Na+, for one : ION
56 Potables in kiddush and the Eucharist : WINES
57 Mellow cheese : EDAM
58 Newbie crossword solver’s thought on a Friday : GOOGLE TIME
61 Actress Palmer of “Nope” : KEKE
62 Fracases : MELEES
63 “My dear fellow” : SIR
64 Some flock members : EWES
65 Actress Amy of “Enchanted” : ADAMS
66 Something you should hold onto, in an expression : HAT

Down

1 Division I players, say : ELITES
2 Alter : REVISE
3 Not included : EXEMPT
4 Like canvases, when being painted : WET
5 Bank statement abbr. : INT
6 Department store chain that began as a corner grocery : KOHL’S
7 “Potentially” : I MIGHT
8 Kind of oil in cooking : SESAME
9 “What did the ___ say when it was riding on the back of a turtle? Wheeeee!” : SNAIL
10 Lempira spender : HONDURAN
11 Like a newborn babe : INNOCENT
12 Samosa veggie : PEA
14 “___ knows” : GOD
17 Beefeater, for one : GIN
23 Diminish : WANE
24 Rubs the wrong way : IRKS
25 Scratched the surface? : ETCHED
26 Baby foxes : KITS
28 Item of wear named after an island : BIKINI
31 Grand Canyon viewpoint : RIM
32 Scatter, as seed : SOW
34 Prepared for a surprise party, in a way : HID
35 Part of Caesar’s boast : … I SAW …
36 Longtime soda slogan : DO THE DEW
37 Chocolate confection that melts before you eat it : LAVA CAKE
38 D.C. tourist spot : MALL
39 Like Thanos in the Marvel universe : EVIL
44 Very secretive sort : ENIGMA
45 Sent away, as a pest : SHOOED
47 Like Legos, originally : DANISH
48 Cause of fatigue : ANEMIA
49 Bedouin’s home : DESERT
51 Encyclopedia volumes, e.g. : TOMES
52 ___ Holmes, sleuth in young-adult fiction : ENOLA
53 Part of a bridle : BIT
56 Director Craven : WES
57 Barely manage, with “out” : EKE …
59 Real beauty : GEM
60 “___ Diaboliques,” 1955 Simone Signoret film : LES