LA Times Crossword 20 Dec 19, Friday

Bill’s time: 6m 54s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Cylindrical granary : SILO

“Silo” is a Spanish word that we absorbed into English. The term ultimately derives from the Greek “siros”, which described a pit in which one kept corn.

9 City in Illinois’ Little Egypt region : CAIRO

The Illinois city of Cairo is the most southerly city in the state. It sits at the confluence of two mighty rivers, where the Mississippi joins the Ohio. Cairo is surrounded by a region known as Little Egypt. It is thought that “Little Egypt” is a reference to the similarity of the area’s fertile soil to that in Egypt’s Nile Delta. The city name “Cairo” is said to reflect that same etymology.

14 Blessing ender : AMEN

The word “amen” translates as “so be it”. “Amen” is said to be of Hebrew origin, but it is also likely to be influenced by Aramaic and Arabic.

15 Letter-shaped auto feature : T-TOP

A T-top is a car roof that has removable panels on either side of a rigid bar that runs down the center of the vehicle above the driver.

16 Stomach trouble : ULCER

Until fairly recently, a peptic ulcer was believed to be caused by undue amounts of stress in one’s life. It is now known that 70-90% of all peptic ulcers are in fact associated with a particular bacterium.

17 Words before snapping : SAY “CHEESE”

Photographers often instruct us to say “cheese” to elicit a smile-like expression. Even Japanese photographers use the word “cheese” to achieve the same effect. Bulgarians use the word “zele” meaning “cabbage”. The Chinese say “eggplant”, the Danish “orange”, the Iranians “apple” and the most Latin Americans say “whiskey”.

19 Chophouse choice : T-BONE

The T-bone and porterhouse are related cuts of meat, with the latter being a larger version of the former, and both being cut from the short loin.

20 Estonia, once: Abbr. : SSR

Estonia is one of the former Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs) and is located in Northern Europe on the Baltic Sea due south of Finland. Estonia has been overrun and ruled by various empires over the centuries. The country did enjoy a few years of freedom at the beginning of the 20th century after a war of independence against the Russian Empire. However, Estonia was occupied again during WWII, first by the Russians and then by the Germans, and then reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944. Estonia has flourished as an independent country again since the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

26 Performed eye surgery on, maybe : LASED

LASIK surgery uses a laser to reshape the cornea of the eye to improve vision. The LASIK acronym stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis”.

33 Troll’s cousin : OGRE

An ogre is a monster of mythology and folktales that has the appearance of a man, and which eats human beings. The term “ogre” comes to us via French from the name of the Etruscan god Orcus, who feasted on the flesh of humans.

“Troll” is a term that comes from Norse mythology. Trolls are less than helpful creatures that tend to live on isolated mountains, in caves and under bridges.

44 Antarctic explorer James : ROSS

James Clark Ross was a Royal Navy officer and polar explorer. He is particularly known for his 4-year exploration of the Antarctic, starting in 1839. Ross and his team spent much of that expedition exploring the deep bay of the Southern Ocean that now bears his name, i.e. the Ross Sea. Ross discovered the continent’s Transantarctic Mountains and the volcanoes now known as Erebus and Terror. The two warships that Ross used for his expedition were names HMS Erebus and HMS Terror.

45 Spiral pasta : ROTINI

Rotini is a corkscrew-shaped pasta that is often used in pasta salads. Even though “rotini” sounds like it comes from a word meaning “twist, rotate”, the word “rotini” doesn’t exist in Italian other than as the name for the pasta.

58 Sushi garnish : ROE

Sushi is a Japanese dish that has as its primary ingredient cooked, vinegared rice. The rice is usually topped with something, most often fish, and can be served in seaweed rolls. If we want raw fish by itself, then we have to order sashimi.

60 Permanent purveyor : HAIR SALON

“Perm” is the common name given to a permanent wave, a chemical or thermal treatment of hair to produce waves or curls.

64 Magazine with a pronoun for a title : ELLE

“Elle” magazine was founded in 1945 in France and today has the highest circulation of any fashion magazine in the world. “Elle” is the French word for “she”. “Elle” is published monthly worldwide, although you can pick up a weekly edition if you live in France.

65 Baseball team whose original full name is rarely used : METS

The New York Mets baseball team was founded in 1962 as a replacement for two teams that the city had lost, namely the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. For several years the Mets played very poorly, finishing no better than second-to-last in their division. Then along came the “Miracle Mets” (aka “Amazin’ Mets”) who beat the Baltimore Orioles in 1969 to claim the World Series in a huge upset.

Down

1 Low voices : BASSI

The bass is the lowest male singing voice. A man with such a voice might be called a “basso” (plural “bassi”). In an opera, the villain of the piece is usually played by a basso.

4 Letter abbr. : ENC

An envelope (env.) might include an enclosure (enc.).

5 Man cave setup : STEREO

“Man cave” is a slang term for a male sanctuary within a home. That sanctuary is often a spare bedroom (as it is in our house) or a converted garage.

7 __ Altos, California : LOS

Los Altos is a wealthy city located not far from here, and is a largely residential community serving Silicon Valley and San Francisco. “Los Altos” is Spanish for “the heights”.

10 Planetary reflected-light ratio : ALBEDO

Albedo is the reflective power of a surface. The concept is particularly important in the sciences of climatology and astronomy, and often refers to the proportion of incident light that is reflected back by the surface of a planet or moon. The term “albedo” is Latin for “whiteness”.

18 Breakfast theater offering? : HAMLET AND EGGS (from “ham and eggs”)

The full title of William Shakespeare’s play that we tend to call “Hamlet” is “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”. It is the most performed of all Shakespeare’s plays and it is also his longest, the only one of his works comprising over 4,000 lines. That’s about a 4-hour sitting in a theater …

23 Actor Morales : ESAI

Actor Esai Morales is best known in the world of film for the 1987 movie “La Bamba”, which depicted the life of Ritchie Valens and his half-brother Bob Morales (played by Esai). On the small screen, Morales plays Lt. Tony Rodriguez on “NYPD Blue” and Joseph Adama on “Caprica”.

25 Bagels and donuts, shapewise : TORI

A torus (plural “tori”) is a shape resembling a doughnut.

30 Hollywood’s latest canine discovery? : DOG STARLET (from “Dog Star”)

When you look up at the night sky, the brightest star you can see is Sirius. Sirius appears so bright to us because it is relatively close to the Earth. Sirius is commonly known as the “Dog Star” because it can be seen in the constellation Canis Major, the “Big Dog”.

35 Group dance with hand-holding : HORA

The hora is a circle dance that originated in the Balkans. It was brought to Israel by Romanian settlers, and is often performed to traditional, Israeli folk songs. The hora (also horah) is a regular sight at Jewish weddings. Sometimes the honoree at an event is raised on a chair during the hora.

37 Nasser’s org. : UAR

The United Arab Republic (UAR) was a union between Egypt and Syria established in 1958. The UAR dissolved in 1961 when Syria pulled out of the arrangement.

Gamal Abdel Nasser was the second president of Egypt, and was in office from 1956 until he died in 1970. He stood alongside Muhammad Naguib, Egypt’s first president, during the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 that overthrew the ruling monarchy of Egypt and Sudan. Nasser was an advocate of Pan-Arabism, an ideology promoting unification of Arab peoples and countries. President Nasser went so far as forming the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union between Egypt and Syria that started in 1958 but fell apart in 1961 when Syria withdrew.

40 Happy __ : HOUR

I personally think that Happy Hour is best enjoyed shaken, not stirred; and with a good crossword …

48 Poet’s honor : LAUREL

A poet laureate is a poet who is officially pointed by some institution to compose works for special occasions. The US Poet Laureate is more correctly known as the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. To be “laureate” is to be “crowned with laurels”. In ancient Greece, poets and heroes were honored with a crown or wreath made from laurels.

54 Lettuce type : BIBB

Bibb is a variety of lettuce in the cultivar known as butterhead. All butterhead varieties have loose-leafed heads and a buttery texture.

56 Computer images, briefly : GIFS

A bitmap is an image file format used to store digital images. Basically, each pixel in a bitmap file is stored as a “bit” of information, hence the name “bitmap”. In 1987, CompuServe introduced a new type of image file called the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). A GIF image takes the same information as a bitmap and then compresses it, resulting in a smaller file size. However, during compression the image may lose some resolution. The GIF format also handles short video clips, usually animations.

62 Athos, vis-à-vis Aramis : AMI

A male friend in France is “un ami”, and a female friend is “une amie”.

Alexandre Dumas’ “Three Musketeers” are Athos, Porthos and Aramis, although the hero of the novel is the trio’s young protégé D’Artagnan. A musketeer was an infantry soldier who was equipped with a musket. Funnily enough, the three “musketeers” really don’t use their muskets, and are better known for prowess with their swords.