0407-22 NY Times Crossword 7 Apr 22, Thursday
Constructed by: Lucy Howard & Ross Trudeau
Edited by: Will Shortz
Not your puzzle? Try today’s …
… syndicated NY Times crossword
Today’s Reveal Answer: Turnkey
Themed answers are all in the down-direction, and each includes the letter string K-E-Y. That “KEY” has been TURNED into the across-direction in the grid:
– 48A Jailers … or a hint to “unlocking” four answers in this puzzle : TURNKEYS
– 3D Moonshine container : WHISKEY JUG
– 23A “Roger that” : OKEY DOKE
– 9D Jordan Peele’s production company, named for a classic horror short story : MONKEY PAW
– 21A One driving kids to a rink, say : HOCKEY MOM
– 36D 1981 video game that featured the first appearance of Mario : DONKEY KONG
– 48A Jailers … or a hint to “unlocking” four answers in this puzzle : TURNKEYS
– 40D Thanksgiving : TURKEY DAY
– 50A Vie to get : JOCKEY FOR
Read on, or jump to …
[… a complete list of answers](#all-clues)
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
[… leave a comment](#top_from_list)
Bill’s time: 12m 28s
Bill’s errors: 2
– YO HO … (Ho ho …)
– NYU (NHU)
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Beginner, in lingo : NEWB
“Noob” (sometimes “newb”) is a not-so-nice slang term for a “newbie”, and often refers to someone who is new to an online community.
Lingo is specialized vocabulary. Journalese and legalese would be good examples.
5 Beaten via a referee’s decision, for short : TKO’D
In boxing, a knockout (KO) is when one of the fighters can’t get up from the canvas within a specified time, usually 10 seconds. This can be due to fatigue, injury, or the participant may be truly “knocked out”. A referee, fighter or doctor may also decide to stop a fight without a physical knockout, especially if there is concern about a fighter’s safety. In this case the bout is said to end with a technical knockout (TKO).
9 Menial position : MCJOB
“McJob” is a slang term for a low-paying position that offers little chance for advancement. The term comes from front-line jobs at a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant.
14 Words sung twice before “A pirate’s life for me” : YO-HO
I think the “ho” was sung twice, not the “yo-ho”.
The fictional sea shanty called “Dead Man’s Chest” was introduced in Robert Louis Stevenson’s great novel, “Treasure Island”. In the book, Stevenson only describes the chorus, which goes:
Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest–
…Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest–
…Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
15 Pint-size : MINI
A US pint comprises 16 fluid ounces, and an imperial pint is 20 fluid ounces. The term “pint” comes into English via Old French, ultimately from the Latin “picta” meaning “painted”. The name arose from a line painted on the side of a beer glass that marked a full measure of ale.
16 Where the terminal dash in “Home Alone” takes place : O’HARE
“Home Alone” is a 1990 film starring Macaulay Culkin that has become a Christmas classic. Culkin was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for his performance, becoming the youngest actor ever to be so honored.
19 Mythical lion’s home : NEMEA
“The Twelve Labors of Hercules” is actually a Greek myth, although Hercules is the Roman name for the hero that the Greeks called “Heracles”. The first of these labors was to slay the Nemean lion, a monster that lived in a cave near Nemea. Hercules had a tough job as the lion’s golden fur was impenetrable to normal weapons. One version of the story is that Hercules killed the lion by shooting an arrow into its mouth. Another version says that Hercules stunned the monster with a club and then strangled him with his bare hands.
20 Apt name for a worrier : STU
“Stu” sounds like “stew”.
23 “Roger that” : OKEY DOKE
The term “roger”, meaning “yes” or “acknowledged”, comes from the world of radiotelephony. The British military used a phonetic alphabet in the fifties that included “Roger” to represent the letter “R”. As such, it became customary to say “Roger” when acknowledging a message, with R (Roger) standing for “received”.
26 Sticking points? : EPEES
The sword known as an épée has a three-sided blade. It is similar to a foil and saber, although the foil and saber have rectangular cross-sections.
27 Hindi for “reign” : 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”.
28 Honor student’s pride, for short : GPA
Grade point average (GPA)
30 Accustoms (to) : ENURES
“Enure” is a variant spelling of “inure”, which means “to harden oneself against the effects of, to accustom oneself to”.
33 Kind of lily : SEGO
The sego lily is the state flower of Utah, and is a perennial plant found throughout the Western United States.
34 Fuel for a mustang? : HAY
A mustang is a free-roaming horse, and a descendent of a once-domesticated animal. The English term comes from the Spanish “mesteño“ meaning “stray livestock animal”.
35 Lucky hit for a Ping-Pong player : EDGE
Ping-Pong is called table tennis in the UK, where the sport originated in the 1880s. Table tennis started as an after-dinner activity among the elite, and was called “wiff-waff”. To play the game, books were stacked in the center of a table as a “net”, two more books served as “”rackets” and the ball used was actually a golf ball. The game evolved over time with the rackets being upgraded to the lids of cigar boxes and the ball becoming a champagne cork (how snooty is that?). Eventually the game was produced commercially, and the sound of the ball hitting the racket was deemed to be a “ping” and a “pong”, giving the sport its alternative name. The name “Ping-Pong” was trademarked in Britain in 1901, and eventually sold to Parker Brothers in the US.
45 The Heat, on scoreboards : MIA
The Miami Heat basketball team debuted in the NBA in the 1988-89 season. The franchise name was chosen in a competitive survey, with “Miami Heat” beating out “Miami Vice”.
47 Prefix with sexual : METRO-
I think it’s generally accepted that the term “metrosexual”, from “metropolitan heterosexual”, refers to a man who lives in an urban environment and puts a fair amount of money and energy into his appearance. That wouldn’t be me …
54 She played Billie Jean King in 2017’s “Battle of the Sexes” : EMMA STONE
Actress Emma Stone is from Scottsdale, Arizona. Stone really came to prominence with her performance in the 2010 high school movie called “Easy A”. She won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the 2016 movie “La La Land”. Now one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood, Stone values her privacy and works hard to maintain a low profile. Good for her, I say …
The 2017 film “Battle of the Sexes” is a fictional account of the famous 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. In the movie, King is portrayed by Emma Stone, and Riggs by Steve Carell. Stone and Carell had body doubles for the tennis scenes. Stone’s double was Kaitlyn Christian, and Carell’s double was Vince Spadea.
Bobby Riggs was a World No. 1 tennis player in the thirties and forties, both as an amatuer and a professional. However, Riggs is best remembered for playing “The Battle of the Sexes” match against Billie Jean King in 1973. Riggs was defeated by King in three straight sets.
58 Formal decrees : DICTA
“Dictum” (plural “dicta”) is a legal term describing a statement by a court as part of a judgment.
60 Biblical son of Seth : ENOS
Enos was the son of Seth, and therefore the grandson of Adam and Eve, and nephew of Cain and Abel. According to the ancient Jewish work called the Book of Jubilees, Enos married his own sister Noam.
61 Raring to go : ANTSY
The word “antsy” embodies the concept of “having ants in one’s pants”, meaning being nervous and fidgety. However, “antsy” has been used in English since the 1830s, whereas “ants in the pants” originated a century later.
62 Francis Drake and Ernest Shackleton, for two : SIRS
Sir Francis Drake was a Vice-Admiral in the Elizabethan navy, and second in command when the Royal Navy defeated the Spanish Armada. He was also a sanctioned pirate for the Queen and wreaked havoc on the Spanish merchant fleet. Drake’s most famous ship was the Golden Hind, in which he circumnavigated the world between 1577 and 1580.
63 Community served by Lambda Legal, in brief : LGBT
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
Down
1 Sch. with the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library : NYU
The main campus of the private New York University (NYU) is located right in Manhattan, in Washington Square in the heart of Greenwich Village. NYU has over 12,000 resident students, the largest number of residents in a private school in the whole country. NYU’s sports teams are known as the Violets, a reference to the violet and white colors that are worn in competition. Since the 1980s, the school’s mascot has been a bobcat. “Bobcat” had been the familiar name given to NYU’s Bobst Library computerized catalog.
3 Moonshine container : WHISKEY JUG
The illegal distilled spirits known as moonshine can also be referred to as white lightning, mountain dew and hooch.
4 Plunder : BOOTY
“Booty”, meaning “plunder, profit”, is derived from the Old French word “butin” that has the same meaning.
5 “You shoulda kept that to yourself” : TMI
Too much information (TMI)
6 Stuffed Jewish dish : KISHKA
Kishka (also “kishke” and “stuffed derma”) is a sausage or intestine stuffed with meat and meal. The dish comes from Eastern Europe and is popular in Jewish communities.
7 How some ballet is performed : ON TOE
The term “ballet” came into English via French from the Latin “ballare” meaning “to dance”.
8 ___ golf : DISC
Disc golf is also known as Frisbee golf, and sometimes even Frolf. Believe it or not, disc golf predates the introduction of the Frisbee. The first game was played at a school in Bladworth, Saskatchewan in 1926. The participating schoolkids threw tin lids into circles drawn on a course they created in the school grounds. They named the game “Tin Lid Golf”. By the way, I try to play disc golf at least three times a week. Lots of fun …
9 Jordan Peele’s production company, named for a classic horror short story : MONKEY PAW
Jordan Peele is a former cast member of the sketch comedy show “Mad TV”. Peele created his own sketch comedy show “Key & Peele” with fellow-Mad TV alum Keegan-Michael Key. Peele started hosting and producing the revival of “The Twilight Zone” in 2019.
W. W. Jacobs was an English author who mainly wrote humorous pieces, although his best known work is a collection of horror stories published under the name of “The Monkey’s Paw”.
10 Natives of the Great Plains : CHEYENNES
The Great Plains lie between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains in North America. This vast grassland is known as “the Prairies” in Canada.
12 Their name has the “re” of “cream” and the two o’s from “chocolate” : OREOS
How the Oreo cookie came to get its name seems to have been lost in the mists of time. One theory is that it comes from the French “or” meaning “gold”, a reference to the gold color of the original packing. Another suggestion is that the name is the Greek word “oreo” meaning “beautiful, nice, well-done”.
22 Certain high-fat, low-carb diet, informally : KETO
A ketogenic (also “keto”) diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. When a body consumes insufficient carbohydrates to meet the need for energy, then the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies in order to make up the energy deficit. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the bloodstream is known as “ketosis”, a term that gives rise to the name “ketogenic diet”. Medical professionals sometimes prescribe a ketogenic diet in order to control epilepsy in children. A condition of ketosis can reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures.
24 Bob ___, co-creator of Batman : KANE
The DC Comics superhero Batman was created in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.
31 Purchases for a high-tech hobby : ROBOT KITS
Karel Čapek was a Czech writer noted for his works of science fiction. Čapek’s 1921 play “R.U.R.” is remembered in part for introducing the world to the word “robot”. The words “automaton” and “android” were already in use, but Capek gave us “robot” from the original Czech “robota” meaning “forced labor”. The acronym “R.U.R.”, in the context of the play, stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots”.
36 1981 video game that featured the first appearance of Mario : DONKEY KONG
The first video game featuring the ape called Donkey Kong was created in 1981. That same game introduced the world to the character known as Mario, four years before the game Super Mario Bros became such a big hit.
40 Thanksgiving : TURKEY DAY
Thanksgiving Day was observed on different dates in different states for many years, until Abraham Lincoln fixed the date for the whole country in 1863. Lincoln’s presidential proclamation set that date as the last Thursday in November. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, arguing that the earlier date would give the economy a much-needed boost.
41 Gen-Z style with emo and anime influences : EBOY
Definitions vary, but it seems that the term “Generation Z” is reserved for the children of “Generation X”, and for the generation that follows the “Millennials” (Generation Y).
43 Bugaboos : BANES
“Bugaboo” is another term for “bogeyman”, an imaginary and scary creature used to frighten children.
44 Boil down : DECOCT
To decoct is to extract the flavor of a liquid by boiling down and increasing the concentration. A related term is “to concoct”, meaning “to boil together”. We use the verb “to concoct” in a figurative sense to mean to contrive, devise.
47 “___ On Up” (“The Jeffersons” theme) : MOVIN’
“Movin’ On Up” is the theme song for “The Jeffersons”, a sitcom that originally aired in the seventies and eighties.
The very popular sitcom called “The Jeffersons” ran from 1975 until it came to an abrupt end in 1985. CBS canceled the show without even allowing a series finale that “wrapped things up”. In fact, lead actor Sherman Hemsley learned of the show’s cancellation in the newspaper.
48 Marisa of “My Cousin Vinny” : TOMEI
Marisa Tomei’s first screen role was in the daytime soap “As the World Turns”, but her break came with a recurring role in “The Cosby Show” spin-off “A Different World”. Tomei won an Oscar for her delightful performance in “My Cousin Vinny” in 1992.
“My Cousin Vinny” is a really fun film from 1992 starring Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei. In 2008, the American Bar Association rated “My Cousin Vinny” as the #3 greatest legal movie of all time, after “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “12 Angry Men”!
49 ___ One (vodka brand) : KETEL
Ketel One is a brand of vodka from the Netherlands. The vodka is distilled from wheat in copper pot stills, and “ketel” is Dutch for “pot still, kettle”.
50 Actress ___ Pinkett Smith : JADA
Jada Pinkett Smith is an actress from Baltimore, Maryland. Pinkett Smith’s most famous role is the human rebel Niobe in “The Matrix” series of movies. Back in 1990, she auditioned for the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, to play the girlfriend of the character played by Will Smith. She didn’t get the role but did get Will Smith, as the couple were married in 1997.
56 Head, slangily : NOB
The slang term “nob” has been used for “head” for over 300 years, and is a variant of “knob”.
57 The “e” of i.e. : EST
“Id est” is Latin for “that is”, and is often abbreviated to “i.e.” when used in English.
Read on, or …
[… return to top of page](#grid)
Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Beginner, in lingo : NEWB
5 Beaten via a referee’s decision, for short : TKO’D
9 Menial position : MCJOB
14 Words sung twice before “A pirate’s life for me” : YO-HO
15 Pint-size : MINI
16 Where the terminal dash in “Home Alone” takes place : O’HARE
17 Organized workers : UNIONISTS
19 Mythical lion’s home : NEMEA
20 Apt name for a worrier : STU
21 One driving kids to a rink, say : HOCKEY MOM
23 “Roger that” : OKEY DOKE
26 Sticking points? : EPEES
27 Hindi for “reign” : RAJ
28 Honor student’s pride, for short : GPA
29 Put up with : STAND
30 Accustoms (to) : ENURES
32 Like planes and flags : FLOWN
33 Kind of lily : SEGO
34 Fuel for a mustang? : HAY
35 Lucky hit for a Ping-Pong player : EDGE
39 Non-starters : B-TEAM
42 Successfully study : ABSORB
44 Impostor syndrome feeling : DOUBT
45 The Heat, on scoreboards : MIA
46 Catch : NAB
47 Prefix with sexual : METRO-
48 Jailers … or a hint to “unlocking” four answers in this puzzle : TURNKEYS
50 Vie to get : JOCKEY FOR
52 Sound of a mouse pointer? : EEK!
53 Skirt : AVOID
54 She played Billie Jean King in 2017’s “Battle of the Sexes” : EMMA STONE
58 Formal decrees : DICTA
59 “___ Creator Omnium” (ancient hymn) : DEUS
60 Biblical son of Seth : ENOS
61 Raring to go : ANTSY
62 Francis Drake and Ernest Shackleton, for two : SIRS
63 Community served by Lambda Legal, in brief : LGBT
Down
1 Sch. with the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library : NYU
2 Seemingly for-ev-er : EON
3 Moonshine container : WHISKEY JUG
4 Plunder : BOOTY
5 “You shoulda kept that to yourself” : TMI
6 Stuffed Jewish dish : KISHKA
7 How some ballet is performed : ON TOE
8 ___ golf : DISC
9 Jordan Peele’s production company, named for a classic horror short story : MONKEY PAW
10 Natives of the Great Plains : CHEYENNES
11 Like some signals and traffic : JAMMED
12 Their name has the “re” of “cream” and the two o’s from “chocolate” : OREOS
13 Big smile : BEAM
18 “Psst!” alternative : NUDGE
22 Certain high-fat, low-carb diet, informally : KETO
23 Treasures buried in the hills : ORES
24 Bob ___, co-creator of Batman : KANE
25 Photo ___ : OPS
29 Calculating : SLY
31 Purchases for a high-tech hobby : ROBOT KITS
32 Peeps, so to speak : FAM
34 Solution to a bad hair day, maybe : HAT
36 1981 video game that featured the first appearance of Mario : DONKEY KONG
37 Age, in a way : GRAY
38 Moves out to sea : EBBS
40 Thanksgiving : TURKEY DAY
41 Gen-Z style with emo and anime influences : EBOY
42 Go public with : AIR
43 Bugaboos : BANES
44 Boil down : DECOCT
45 Soothing sound : MURMUR
47 “___ On Up” (“The Jeffersons” theme) : MOVIN’
48 Marisa of “My Cousin Vinny” : TOMEI
49 ___ One (vodka brand) : KETEL
50 Actress ___ Pinkett Smith : JADA
51 Gangbusters : FEDS
55 Word with bad or smart : … ASS
56 Head, slangily : NOB
57 The “e” of i.e. : EST
Leave a comment (below), or …
[… return to top of page](#grid)
Leave a Reply [Cancel reply](/2022/04/0407-22-ny-times-crossword-7-apr-22-thursday.html#respond)
[Cancel reply]