1015-24 NY Times Crossword 15 Oct 24, Tuesday - NYXCrossword.com (2024)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

13 Where soju is the national drink : KOREA

Soju is a Korean liquor traditionally made from rice, although other starches are also used these days. The name “sujo” translates literally as “burned liquor”.

15 Style of San Francisco’s Coit Tower, informally : DECO

Coit Tower is a renowned memorial in San Francisco that sits atop Telegraph Hill. The full name of the structure is the Lillian Coit Memorial Tower, recognizing a generous bequest to the city by wealthy socialite Lillie Hitchcock Coit. There is an urban myth in these parts that the tower was designed to resemble the nozzle of a fire hose, as Lillie used to like chasing fires and hanging out with firefighters.

16 Visa, for one : CREDIT CARD

VISA doesn’t actually issue any credit or debit cards. The company just sells the electronic systems and infrastructure to banks which then put the VISA logo on their own cards. Seeing the logo, both customer and merchant know to use the VISA system when making a transaction.

30 Favor precursor? : POR …

“Por favor” is Spanish for “please”.

31 Loudly laments : KEENS

To keen is to wail in lamentation. The word “keening” has its roots in Ireland, coming from the Irish word “caoinim” meaning “I weep, wail, lament”.

40 Pulitzer-winning writer James : AGEE

James Agee was a noted American film critic and screenwriter. Agee wrote an autobiographical novel “A Death in the Family” that won him his Pulitzer in 1958, albeit posthumously. He was also one of the screenwriters for the 1951 classic movie “The African Queen”.

41 Philanthropists : DONORS

Philanthropy is a concern for human welfare, and the act of donating to persons or groups who support such concerns. The term “philanthropy” derives from the Greek “phil-” meaning “loving”, and “anthropos” meaning “mankind”.

44 Dodge Charger, e.g. : SEDAN

The American sedan car is the equivalent of the British and Irish saloon car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in Britain and Ireland), although in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.

The first Dodge Chargers came off the production line in 1966. One of the more famous Chargers was the General Lee, a 1969 model that was painted orange and driven by the title characters in “The Dukes of Hazzard”.

48 Nile reptile : ASP

The Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) is also known as the asp. That said, the term “asp” can apply to several species of snake, including the Egyptian cobra. Legend has it that Cleopatra committed suicide by enticing an asp to bite her. If that’s true, then that asp was probably an Egyptian cobra.

51 Modern combat athlete, informally : MMA FIGHTER

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport in which competitors use a variety of techniques from a variety of traditional combat sports and martial arts.

56 Home of MoMA and M.S.G. : NYC

The founding of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City was very much driven by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, wife of John D. Rockefeller. Working with two friends, Abby managed to get the museum opened in 1929, just nine days after the Wall Street Crash. The MoMA’s sculpture garden bears the name of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and has done so since 1949.

Madison Square Garden (MSG) is an arena in New York City used for a variety of events. In the world of sports it is home to the New York Rangers of the NHL, as well as the New York Knicks of the NBA. “The Garden” is also the third busiest music venue in the world in terms of ticket sales. The current arena is the fourth structure to bear the name, a name taken from the Madison Square location in Manhattan. In turn, the square was named for James Madison, the fourth President of the US.

58 The Trojans of the N.C.A.A. : USC

The University of Southern California (USC) is a private school in Los Angeles. Apart from its excellent academic record, USC is known for the success of its athletic program. USC Trojans have won more Olympic medals than the students of any other university in the world. The USC marching band is very famous as well, and is known as the “Spirit of Troy”. The band has performed with many celebrities, and is the only college band to have two platinum records.

59 Shape for a child’s chicken nugget, informally : DINO

There is a suggestion that dinosaur-shaped nuggets owe their popularity to the very successful “Jurassic Park” series of films. That said, “dino” chicken nuggets were introduced by Perdue Farms in 1991, two years before the release of the first film.

60 Show interest on a dating app … or what 16-, 25-, 36- and 51-Across must do to be successful? : SWIPE RIGHT

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.

65 Garment worn by the Little Caesars mascot : TOGA

In ancient Rome, the classical attire known as a toga (plural “togae” or “togas”) was usually worn over a tunic. The tunic was made from linen, and the toga itself was a piece of cloth about twenty feet long made from wool. The toga could only be worn by men, and only if those men were Roman citizens. The female equivalent of the toga was called a “stola”.

69 Montana city nicknamed “The Richest Hill on Earth” : BUTTE

The city of Butte, Montana was founded as a mining town in the late 1800s. Although mining brought great growth to the area, it also brought environmental problems. Today, Butte is home to the country’s largest Superfund cleanup site.

Down

1 Match.com alternative : OKCUPID

Match.com is an online dating service. The company was started in 1993 and claims to have over 20 million members worldwide, in the ratio of male to female of 49:51.

2 Realtor’s sign : FOR SALE

“Real estate agent” is a general, generic term. “Realtor” is the name given to a member of the trade association known as the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The NAR has gone so far as to trademark the term “Realtor” in the US.

3 Airport amenity : FREE 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.

4 British ref. work : OED

Work started on what was to become the first “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) in 1857. Several interim versions of the dictionary were published in the coming years with the first full version appearing, in ten bound volumes, in 1928. The second edition of the OED appeared in 1989 and is made up of twenty volumes. The OED was first published in electronic form in 1988 and went online in 2000. Given the modern use of computers, the publishing house responsible feels that there will never be a third print version of the famous dictionary.

7 Anti-trafficking agcy. : DEA

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was set up in 1973 while President Nixon was in office.

11 Winning blackjack hand : ACE-TEN

Blackjack is one of the few casino games where the player has a decent chance to beat the house. This is because the house edge in blackjack is relatively low, around 1%. That edge can be reduced or overcome by “counting cards”, something that casinos really don’t like …

22 “Gotta catch ’em all!” game series : POKEMON

“Pokémon” is the second-biggest video game franchise in the world, second only to the “Mario” franchise. “Pokémon” is a contraction of “Pocket Monsters”.

27 Ray who helped globalize McDonald’s : KROC

The original McDonald’s restaurant was opened in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald as a barbecue restaurant. The brothers then moved into fast food hamburgers, eventually selling out to one of their franchise agents, Ray Kroc. It was Ray Kroc who really led the company to its worldwide success. He was played by Michael Keaton in the movie about Ray Kroc’s business life called “The Founder”.

29 Some bottled waters : DASANIS

Dasani is a Coca-Cola brand of bottled water. It is simply filtered tap water with some trace minerals added.

37 Actress Jeffries of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” : LEAH

“Percy Jackson & the Olympians” is a series of children’s adventure stories written by Rick Riordan. Two of the books have been adapted into movies: “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” (2010) and “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” (2013).

42 Comedic drum flourish : RIM SHOT

A rim shot is a sound made when a drummer hits the head of a drum and the rim at the same time. It’s a sound often used by comics to help punctuate a gag.

43 Bond film between “Skyfall” and “No Time to Die” : SPECTRE

The 2015 “James Bond” movie “Spectre” is the fourth to feature Daniel Craig as the famed MI6 agent. One of the Bond girls in the film is Lucia Sciarra, played by Italian actress and model Monica Bellucci. At the age of 50, Bellucci became the oldest Bond girl in the history of the franchise.

52 Medieval tales of daring adventure : GESTS

Our word “gest” meaning a great deed or an exploit has been around since about 1300, and comes from the Old French word “geste” meaning the same thing. These days “geste” can also mean “gesture”.

53 Bread choice for a Reuben : RYE

There are conflicting stories about the origin of the Reuben sandwich. One such story is that it was invented around 1914 by Arnold Reuben, an immigrant from Germany who owned Reuben’s Deli in New York.

62 Tennis champ Swiatek : IGA

Iga Swiatek is a professional tennis player, and the first from Poland to win a major singles title (the French Open in 2020).