0531-23 NY Times Crossword 31 May 23, Wednesday
Constructed by: Brandon Koppy
Edited by: Will Shortz
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Today’s Reveal Answer: Beastie Boys
Themed answers are all “BOYS” with “BEASTIE” names:
- 37A Rap group with the classic 1986 album “Licensed to Ill” … or a description of 17-, 24-, 48- and 57-Across? : BEASTIE BOYS
- 17A Longtime host of CNN’s “The Situation Room” : WOLF BLITZER
- 24A 11-time P.G.A. Tour Player of the Year : TIGER WOODS
- 48A The man in “Man vs. Wild” : BEAR GRYLLS
- 57A Wild West showman who lent his name to an N.F.L. team : BUFFALO BILL
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Bill’s time: 7m 19s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 [Wait until you’re home to click this!] : NSFW
The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. It’s Internet slang used to describe online content that is best not viewed at work.
5 In which pictures of a bill + gates = a noted business executive : REBUS
A rebus is a puzzle that uses pictures to represent letters and groups of letters. For example, a picture of a “ewe” might represent the letter “U” or the pronoun “you”, a picture of an “oar” might represent the letter “R” or the conjunction “or”, and a picture of an “awl” might represent the word “all”.
17 Longtime host of CNN’s “The Situation Room” : WOLF BLITZER
Wolf Blitzer is the son of Jewish refugees from Poland. He was born in Augsburg in Germany and was given the name “Wolf” in honor of his maternal grandfather. Wolf came with his family to live in the US, and he was raised in Buffalo, New York.
20 ___ Janney, Oscar winner for “I, Tonya” : ALLISON
Allison Janney is a favorite actress of mine, and one who I first saw on “The West Wing” TV show. Janney went on to play one of the moms on the sitcom “Mom”.
23 What the “R” of AARP stands for: Abbr. : RET
AARP is the official name now for the interest group that used to be called “The American Association of Retired Persons”. The name change reflects the current focus of the group on all Americans aged 50 or over, as opposed to just people who have retired. The AARP was founded by Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus in 1958 and is a successor to the National Retired Teachers Association, also founded by Andrus over ten years earlier.
24 11-time P.G.A. Tour Player of the Year : TIGER WOODS
Golfer Tiger Woods’ real name is Eldrick Tont Woods. “Tont” is a traditional Thai name. Tiger’s father Earl Woods met his second wife Kultida Punsawad in 1966, while on a tour of duty with the US Army in Thailand.
31 Ephron who directed “Sleepless in Seattle” : NORA
Nora Ephron had many talents, including writing film scripts and novels. Many of the movies that she wrote, she also directed. These would include some of my favorite movies of all time like “Sleepless in Seattle”, “You’ve Got Mail” and most recently, the wonderful “Julie & Julia”. And, did you know that Nora Ephron’s second marriage was to journalist Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame? She wrote an autobiographical novel based on her life with Bernstein, which deals in particular with Bernstein’s affair with the daughter of British Prime Minister James Callaghan.
“Sleepless in Seattle” is a lovely romantic comedy directed and co-written by Nora Ephron, released in 1993. The film’s storyline is based on the excellent 1957 movie “An Affair to Remember”, and there are numerous direct references to the Cary Grant/Deborah Kerr classic throughout the “remake”. The lead roles in “Sleepless …” are played by Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
33 Highball clinkers : ICE
A highball is a mixed drink comprising a relatively small amount of alcoholic drink, mixed with a larger amount of non-alcoholic mixer. The origin of the term is disputed, but one suggestion is that it derives from the practice of serving “highballs” in “tall” glasses.
37 Rap group with the classic 1986 album “Licensed to Ill” … or a description of 17-, 24-, 48- and 57-Across? : BEASTIE BOYS
“Licensed to Ill” is a 1986 studio album released by the Beastie Boys. It was the first rap album to reach number-one in the Billboard charts. Beastie Boys are a hip hop band from New York that formed back in 1981.
39 Chamber member : SENATOR
The US Senate comprises 100 senators, with each of the fifty states being represented by two popularly elected senators. US senators were appointed by their state legislators from 1798 through 1913, until the Seventeenth Amendment called for popular elections.
40 Start of a rodeo cry : YEE-
Yee-haw!
42 Speedy horse breed : 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.
44 Critical times : D-DAYS
The most famous D-Day in history was June 6, 1944, the date of the Normandy landings in WWII. The term “D-Day” is used by the military to designate the day on which a combat operation is to be launched, especially when the actual date has yet to be determined. What D stands for seems to have been lost in the mists of time although the tradition is that D just stands for “Day”. In fact, the French have a similar term, “Jour J” (Day J), with a similar meaning. We also use H-Hour to denote the hour the attack is to commence.
48 The man in “Man vs. Wild” : BEAR GRYLLS
“Man vs. Wild” is a British survival show hosted by the very erudite Bear Grylls. Grylls’ real name is Edward Grylls, and he had a very privileged upbringing. He was the son of a knighted politician and attended the prestigious Eton College outside London. He joined the British Army and made it into the UK Special Forces Reserve. He survived a parachuting accident in 1996 which crushed three vertebrae, resulting in him spending 18 months in rehabilitation. When he got well again, he climbed Mount Everest …
51 President pro ___ : TEM
“Pro tempore” can be abbreviated to “pro tem” or “p.t.” “Pro tempore” is a Latin phrase that best translates as “for the time being”. It is used to describe a person who is acting for another, usually a superior. The President pro tempore of the US Senate is the person who presides over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President of the US. It has been tradition since 1890 that the president pro tem is the most senior senator in the majority party. The president pro tem ranks highly in the line of succession to the presidency, falling third in line after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.
52 “Midnight Cowboy” nickname : 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.
56 Small thing to pluck : UKE
The ukulele (uke) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.
57 Wild West showman who lent his name to an N.F.L. team : BUFFALO BILL
Buffalo Bill Cody became a great showman after he retired from the US Army. While serving in the Army, Buffalo Bill was awarded the Medal of Honor. William Frederick Cody earned his “Buffalo Bill” nickname while supplying buffalo meat to the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Cody “hunted” and slaughtered over 4,000 American bison in an 18-month period to fulfill his contract with the railroad.
The Buffalo Bills NFL team, founded in 1959, was named after an earlier team with the same name that had merged with the Cleveland Browns back in 1950. The “Bills” name was obviously popular with fans, as the name was chosen in a public contest. The older team had been named for “Buffalo Bill” Cody. The team mascot is Billy Buffalo, and the cheerleaders are known as the Buffalo Jills.
61 Sherlock Holmes and Veronica Mars, for short : PIS
A private eye is a private investigator, a PI, a private “I”.
Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1887 novel, “A Study in Scarlet“. Amazingly, Conan Doyle wrote the novel in under three weeks, while working as a 27-year-old doctor. Mind you, he only got paid 25 pounds for all the rights to the story. I suppose it’s a good job that he only devoted a few weeks to it.
“Veronica Mars” is a TV show starring Kristen Bell in the title role. Mars is a student who also works as a private investigator.
64 Boom sticks : TNT
“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.
Down
1 Airport serving New York’s tristate area : NEWARK
Newark Liberty Airport (EWR) is the busiest of all the airports in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. It opened in 1928 and became the busiest commercial airport in the world through the 1930s. The airport’s name was changed to Newark Liberty in 2002 to honor the victims of 9/11.
4 Coffee shop freebie : WI-FI
“Wi-Fi” is nothing more than a trademark, a trademark registered by an association of manufacturers of equipment that use wireless LAN (Local Area Network) technology. A device labeled with “Wi-Fi” has to meet certain defined technical standards, basically meaning that the devices can talk to each other. The name “Wi-Fi” suggests “Wireless Fidelity”, although apparently the term was never intended to mean anything at all.
6 No. after a phone number : EXT
Extension (ext.)
7 Industry, briefly : BIZ
Business (biz)
10 Help for mom-and-pop shops, in brief : SBA LOANS
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a government agency with the mission of assisting small businesses. The SBA doesn’t give loans itself, but it does act as a guarantor under the right circumstances. The SBA was set up in 1953, and isn’t a favorite with fiscal conservatives.
12 Newspaper tycoon who inspired “Citizen Kane” : HEARST
William Randolph Hearst got into publishing when he took over “The San Francisco Examiner” from his father George Hearst. Beyond his work in the newspaper business, William Randolph Hearst was also a politician and represented a district of New York in the US House. His life was the inspiration for the lead role in the 1941 movie “Citizen Kane” with Orson Welles playing the Hearst-like character. If you’re ever driving along the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco, I’d recommend a stop at Hearst Castle, William Randolph’s magnificent estate located near San Simeon.
In the 1941 film “Citizen Kane”, the newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane builds himself an immense and opulent estate on the Florida coast called Xanadu. Xanadu boasts a Venetian-style canal, complete with gondolas, and a well-stocked zoo. There is also a championship golf course. The estate was inspired by the real-life Hearst Castle, a California mansion owned by William Randolph Hearst.
14 Dumbbell figs. : LBS
A dumbbell is a short bar with weights on either end that is used for strength-training. There is a theory that such an apparatus was used to train church bell ringers. As there isn’t any bell, it was referred to as a dumbbell. Um, I’m not sure …
18 Biblical figure with an unnamed wife : LOT
Lot was a nephew of Abraham, with his story appearing in the Book of Genesis. At one point Lot had to flee the doomed city of Sodom with his wife. God gave instructions that the couple should not look back as they left the city, but Lot’s wife disobeyed and she was turned into a pillar of salt.
22 Came in just over par : BOGEYED
The golfing term “bogey” originated at the Great Yarmouth Golf Club in England in 1890, and was used to indicate a total round that was one-over-par (and not one-over-par on a particular hole, as it is today). The name “bogey” came from a music hall song of the time “Here Comes the Bogeyman”. In the following years it became popular for players trying to stay at par to be “playing against Colonel Bogey”. Then, during WWI, the marching tune “Colonel Bogey” was written and named after the golfing term. If you don’t recognize the name of the tune, it’s the one that’s whistled by the soldiers marching in the great movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai”.
26 Spooky-sounding lake : ERIE
Lake Erie is the fourth-largest of the five Great Lakes by area (Lake Ontario is the smallest). The lake takes its name from the Erie tribe of Native Americans that used to live along its southern shore. Erie is the smallest of the Great Lakes by volume and the shallowest, something for which nearby residents must be quite grateful. Being relatively shallow, much of Erie freezes over part way through most winters putting an end to most of the lake-effect snow that falls in the snow belt extending from the lake’s edge.
29 They’re roasted at a roast : WIENERS
What we call a wiener in this country is known as a Vienna sausage in Germany. It was first produced by a butcher from Frankfurt who was living in Vienna, hence the name “Wiener”, which is German for “of Vienna”. Paradoxically, the same sausage is called a Frankfurter in Vienna, as it was created by someone from Frankfurt. It’s all very confusing …
30 Final Four inits. : NCAA
In the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship, the teams remaining at various stages of the tournament are known as:
- The “Sweet Sixteen” (the regional semi-finalists)
- The “Elite Eight” (the regional finalists)
- The “Final Four” (the national semi-finalists)
34 Spanish 101 infinitive : ESTAR
The Spanish verb “estar” translates as “to be”.
37 Check for bugs : BETA-TEST
In the world of software development, the first tested issue of a new program is usually called the alpha version. Expected to have a lot of bugs that need to be fixed, the alpha release is usually distributed to a small number of testers. After reported bugs have been eliminated, the refined version is called a beta and is released to a wider audience, but with the program clearly labeled as “beta”. The users generally check functionality and report further bugs that are encountered. The beta version feeds into a release candidate, the version that is tested just prior to the software being sold into the market, hopefully bug-free.
Back in 1947, famed computer programmer Grace Hopper noticed some colleagues fixing a piece of equipment by removing a dead moth from a relay. She remarked that they were “debugging” the system, and so Hopper has been given credit for popularizing the term “bug” in the context of computing.
38 Conservative : TORY
“Tory” comes from the Irish word “tóraí” meaning “outlaw, robber”. The term “tory” was originally used for an Irish outlaw and later became a term of abuse for Irish rebels. At the end of the reign of King Charles II in Britain, there was a political divide with one side being called “Whigs” and the other “Tories”. Historically, the term “Tory” evolved to basically mean a supporter of the British monarchy, and indeed was used to describe those who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution. Today, “Tory” is used for a member of the British Conservative Party.
39 Return after curfew, say : SNEAK IN
Our word “curfew” comes from an Old French word meaning “cover fire”. In medieval days a bell would ring in the evenings as a signal to bank the hearths in preparation for sleeping. The intent was to prevent uncontrolled fires starting from fireplaces that were not tended during the night.
41 Brusque : ABRUPT
Someone described as “brusque” is “gruff, abrupt and curt in manner”. The term comes into English from French, in which language it means “lively, fierce”.
45 Fifth-century conqueror : ATTILA
In his day, Attila the Hun was the most feared enemy of the Roman Empire, until he died in 453 AD. Attila was the leader of the Hunnic Empire of central Europe and was famous for invading much of the continent. However, he never directly attacked Rome.
47 Gets the lead out? : SMELTS
Metals are found in ore in the form of oxides. In order to get pure metal from the ore, the ore is heated and the metal oxides within are reduced (i.e. the oxygen is removed) in the chemical process known as smelting. The oxygen is extracted by adding a source of carbon or carbon monoxide which uses up the excess oxygen atoms to make carbon dioxide, a waste product of smelting (and, a greenhouse gas).
49 It’s packed for a quick getaway : GO-BAG
A bug-out bag (also “go-bag”) is a portable collection of items that one would grab when evacuating from a disaster. One well-accepted guideline is that a bug-out bag contains all that would be needed to survive for 72 hours. A related kit is a get-home bag that might be kept in one’s car or place of work. A get-home bag contains the items needed to get back home in the absence of public transportation. My wife and I put together bug-out bags recently, having moved into an area that is at high risk for wildfires …
50 Tina Fey was its first female head writer, in brief : SNL
Comedian and actress Tina Fey was born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. Fey is perhaps best known to television viewers as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” (1997-2006), and as the creator and star of the sitcom “30 Rock” (2006-2013).
55 Sacred bird of ancient Egypt : IBIS
The ibis is a wading bird that was revered in ancient Egypt. “Ibis” is an interesting word grammatically speaking. You can have one “ibis” or two “ibises”, and then again one has a flock of “ibis”. And if you want to go with the classical plural, instead of two “ibises” you would have two “ibides”!
59 Post-it note abbr. : FYI
For your information (FYI)
The Post-it note was invented at 3M following the accidental discovery of a low-tack, reusable adhesive. The actual intent of the development program was to produce a super-strong adhesive.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 [Wait until you’re home to click this!] : NSFW
5 In which pictures of a bill + gates = a noted business executive : REBUS
10 “Quiet!” : SHH!
13 Shopify specialty : E-TAIL
15 Simply be : EXIST
16 Sweetheart : BAE
17 Longtime host of CNN’s “The Situation Room” : WOLF BLITZER
19 One ___ time : AT A
20 ___ Janney, Oscar winner for “I, Tonya” : ALLISON
21 More up to the task : ABLER
23 What the “R” of AARP stands for: Abbr. : RET
24 11-time P.G.A. Tour Player of the Year : TIGER WOODS
28 Widely recognized : KNOWN
31 Ephron who directed “Sleepless in Seattle” : NORA
32 Walk or trot : GAIT
33 Highball clinkers : ICE
35 Grammy-winning singer St. ___ : VINCENT
37 Rap group with the classic 1986 album “Licensed to Ill” … or a description of 17-, 24-, 48- and 57-Across? : BEASTIE BOYS
39 Chamber member : SENATOR
40 Start of a rodeo cry : YEE-
41 Toss in a chip, say : ANTE
42 Speedy horse breed : ARAB
44 Critical times : D-DAYS
48 The man in “Man vs. Wild” : BEAR GRYLLS
51 President pro ___ : TEM
52 “Midnight Cowboy” nickname : RATSO
53 Give the right : ENTITLE
56 Small thing to pluck : UKE
57 Wild West showman who lent his name to an N.F.L. team : BUFFALO BILL
61 Sherlock Holmes and Veronica Mars, for short : PIS
62 Up to now : AS YET
63 Series opener : PILOT
64 Boom sticks : TNT
65 Acquires : GAINS
66 Tools with teeth : SAWS
Down
1 Airport serving New York’s tristate area : NEWARK
2 Pinched : STOLEN
3 Be defeated by : FALL TO
4 Coffee shop freebie : WI-FI
5 Bring under control : REIN IN
6 No. after a phone number : EXT
7 Industry, briefly : BIZ
8 Single-___ plastics (environmental concern) : USE
9 This sucks! : STRAW
10 Help for mom-and-pop shops, in brief : SBA LOANS
11 Terse one-star review : HATED IT
12 Newspaper tycoon who inspired “Citizen Kane” : HEARST
14 Dumbbell figs. : LBS
18 Biblical figure with an unnamed wife : LOT
22 Came in just over par : BOGEYED
25 Explode on the internet : GO VIRAL
26 Spooky-sounding lake : ERIE
27 Shared with for feedback : RAN BY
29 They’re roasted at a roast : WIENERS
30 Final Four inits. : NCAA
34 Spanish 101 infinitive : ESTAR
36 Like most rec leagues : COED
37 Check for bugs : BETA-TEST
38 Conservative : TORY
39 Return after curfew, say : SNEAK IN
41 Brusque : ABRUPT
43 Calls from a pasture : BLEATS
45 Fifth-century conqueror : ATTILA
46 Like lemons, but not oranges : YELLOW
47 Gets the lead out? : SMELTS
49 It’s packed for a quick getaway : GO-BAG
50 Tina Fey was its first female head writer, in brief : SNL
54 One-up : TOP
55 Sacred bird of ancient Egypt : IBIS
58 Winningest team in the Women’s World Cup : USA
59 Post-it note abbr. : FYI
60 Bog : FEN
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