LA Times Crossword 22 Jan 20, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Jared Tamarkin
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Code-Switching

Themed answers each include the letters “CODE”, but the order of those letters has been SWITCHED:

  • 58A Speaking Spanglish, say … or a hint to what’s hidden in 20-, 28- and 48-Across : CODE-SWITCHING
  • 20A Combat : ARMED CONFLICT
  • 28A Compel to land, as a plane : FORCE DOWN
  • 48A Red or white unit : BLOOD CELL

Bill’s time: 7m 08s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Bible book that chronicles the conversion of Paul : ACTS

The Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book of the Christian New Testament. It is believed that the author of the Gospel of Luke was the same person who wrote “Acts”.

According to the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Paul the Apostle was not one of the original Twelve Apostles, but an important teacher of the gospel after the death of Jesus. Paul was a Roman citizen who persecuted early followers of Jesus until he had a vision while traveling “The Road to Damascus” that led to his conversion to Christianity.

15 Soprano Fleming : RENEE

Renée Fleming is a marvelous soprano from Indiana, Pennsylvania. Famous for her appearances in opera houses and concert halls all over the world, Fleming is also noted for her willingness to bring her craft to the masses. She was a guest on “Sesame Street” singing “counting lyrics” to an aria from “Rigoletto”, and she has appeared a few times on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion”.

17 500 sheets of paper : REAM

A ream is 500 sheets of paper. As there were 24 sheets in a quire, and 20 quires made up a ream, there used to be 480 sheets in a ream. Ever since the standard was changed to 500, a 480-sheet packet of paper has been called a “short ream”. We also use the term “reams” to mean a great amount, evolving from the idea of a lot of printed material.

27 Art Deco icon : ERTE

“Erté” was the pseudonym of French (Russian-born) artist and designer Romain de Tirtoff. “Erté” is the French pronunciation of his initials “R.T.” Erté’s diverse portfolio of work included costumes and sets for the “Ziegfeld Follies” of 1923, productions of the Parisian cabaret show “Folies Bergère”, as well as the 1925 epic movie “Ben-Hur”. Erté’s most famous work by far is an image titled “Symphony in Black”. It depicts a tall and slender woman dressed in black, holding a black dog on a leash.

Art Deco is a style of design and architecture of the 1920s that actually had its roots in Belgium and then spread throughout Europe before arriving in North America. Celebrated examples of Art Deco architecture are the magnificent Chrysler Building in New York City completed in 1930, and the GE Building that sits in the middle of New York City’s Rockefeller Center with the address of “30 Rock”.

34 Penn. neighbor : DEL

The state of Delaware takes its name from Virginia’s first colonial governor, Englishman Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr. Delaware is known as “the First State” as it was the first to ratify the US Constitution, in 1787.

36 Lilly of pharmaceuticals : ELI

Eli Lilly is the largest corporation in the state of Indiana. Founder Eli Lilly was a veteran of the Union Army in the Civil War, and a failed Mississippi plantation owner. Later in life he returned to his first profession and opened a pharmaceutical operation to manufacture drugs and sell them wholesale. Under Lilly’s early guidance, the company was the first to create gelatin capsules to hold medicines and the first to use fruit flavoring in liquid medicines.

42 Texting format, for short : SMS

Short Message Service (SMS) is the name for the text messaging service that many of us still use on our cell phones to contact friends and family.

43 “Boogie Nights” actor Reynolds : BURT

Actor Burt Reynolds is famous for playing Bandit in “Smokey and the Bandit” and Lewis Medlock in “Deliverance”, but his critically acclaimed performance was as Jack Horner in the 1997 movie “Boogie Nights”. Off the screen, Reynolds was quite the man around town, and was romantically linked to the likes of Tammy Wynette, Lucie Arnaz (daughter of Lucille Ball), Sally Field, Dinah Shore and Chris Evert. He was married to Judy Carne, as well as Loni Anderson.

“Boogie Nights” was released in 1997, and deals with the pornographic movie business. Burt Reynolds plays a director in the industry. It’s not exactly exalted subject matter, but the movie does have an impressive cast (including Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy and Philip Seymour Hoffman).

45 Night school subj. : ESL

English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

46 Fashion plate : FOP

A fashion plate is a fashionable person, someone who dresses in the latest fashions. The term “fashion plate” originally applied to illustrations (plates) that were used to disseminate fashionable styles in the 1800s and early 1900s.

48 Red or white unit : BLOOD CELL

Red blood cells are the most numerous of all blood cells, and are responsible for delivering oxygen to the body’s tissues from the lungs. They are also known as erythrocytes, with “erythros” being the Greek for “red”.

White blood cells protect the body against infection and are part of the immune system. They are formed in the bone marrow and are found mainly in the blood and lymphatic systems. White blood cells are also known as leukocytes, from the Greek “leuko-” meaning “white”.

54 Islamic denomination : SUNNI

The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favored the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.

55 Oregon city near the mouth of the Columbia : ASTORIA

The city of Astoria, Oregon developed around Fort Astoria, which was established in 1810. Fort Astoria was a fur-trading post built by John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company, hence the “Astoria” name.

58 Speaking Spanglish, say … or a hint to what’s hidden in 20-, 28- and 48-Across : CODE-SWITCHING

The linguistic term “code-switching” refers to the practice of a speaker switching between languages while in the same conversation.

64 Suck-up : TOADY

A toady is someone who is very servile, and somewhat of a parasite. Derived from “toad-eater” the term originally applied to the assistant of a quack, a seller of useless potions that had no actual benefit to health. The toady would eat an apparently poisonous toad in front of an audience, so that the charlatan could “cure” him or her with one of the potions for sale.

65 Afrikaans speaker : BOER

“Boer” is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for “farmer”, a word that was used to describe the Dutch-speaking people who settled parts of South Africa during the 1700s.

Afrikaans is a language spoken mainly in South Africa that was introduced there by Dutch settlers in the 18th century. The original settlers were mainly from South Holland, so Afrikaans evolved from the Dutch vernacular that they spoke.

66 Shiraz’s land : IRAN

The Iranian city of Shiraz has long been associated with wine, but there is no proven link between the city and the wine/grape we know today as “Shiraz” (also called “Syrah”). Having said that, some clay jars were found just outside of the city of Shiraz that contained wine; wine that was 7,000 years old!

68 Cupid’s wings : ALAE

In Latin, an “avis” (bird) has “alae” (wings).

Cupid was the god of love in Roman mythology. Cupid’s name comes from the Latin verb “cupere” meaning “to desire”. Cupid’s Latin name was Amor, and his Greek counterpart was Eros.

69 Anti-DUI org. : MADD

Candace Lightner lost her 13-year-old child to a drink-driver in 1980. Soon after, Lightner formed the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

In some states, there is no longer a legal difference between a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) and a DUI (Driving Under the Influence). Other states retain that difference, so that by definition a DUI is a lesser offence than a DWI.

70 Tango moves : STEPS

The dramatic dance called the tango originated in the late 1800s in the area along the border between Argentina and Uruguay. Dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires in particular traveled to Europe and beyond in the early twentieth century and brought the tango with them. The tango craze first struck Europe in Paris in the 1910s, and from there spread to London and Berlin, crossing the Atlantic to New York in 1913.

Down

2 Missouri River capital : PIERRE

Here’s an old chestnut of a trivia question for you … what’s the only state capital in the Union for which the name of the capital and the name of its state share no common letters? You guessed it: Pierre, South Dakota …

7 Quote book abbr. : ANON

Anonymous (anon.)

8 Ill-gotten gains : PELF

“Pelf” is money that has been gained by illegal means. The exact origin of the term is unclear, but it is probably related to the verb “to pilfer”.

10 Guacamole ingredient : AVOCADO

The wonderful avocado comes from a tree that is native to Mexico and Central America. The avocado fruit is sometimes called an avocado pear, because of its shape, even though it is not related to the pear at all. The fruit might also be referred to as an alligator pear, due to the roughness of the green skin of some avocado cultivars.

Guacamole is one of my favorite dishes. It is prepared by mashing avocados and perhaps adding the likes of tomato, onion and lime juice. The guacamole recipe dates back as early as the 16th century, to the time of the Aztecs. “Guacamole” translates as “avocado sauce”.

12 Roman three : TRE

“One, two, three” in Italian is “uno, due, tre”.

13 Many a crossword clue: Abbr. : SYN

Synonym (syn.)

26 Tonsillitis-treating MDs : ENTS

The branch of medicine known as “ear, nose and throat” (ENT) is more correctly called “otolaryngology”.

The suffix “-itis” is used to denote inflammation, as in laryngitis (inflammation of the larynx), otitis (inflammation of the ear), tendinitis (inflammation of a tendon), tonsillitis (inflammation of the tonsils) and sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses).

The palatine tonsils are located at the back of the human throat. The exact role that tonsils play isn’t completely understood, but it is known that they are in the first line of defense in the body’s immune system. They provide some level of protection against pathogens that are ingested and inhaled.

29 Former “Entertainment Tonight” co-anchor Nancy : O’DELL

Nancy O’Dell has been the co-anchor of the TV show “Entertainment Tonight” since 2011, replacing Mary Hart. Nancy O’Dell was the woman to whom Donald Trump referred in the infamous recorded conversation with Billy Bush from 2005.

31 Sheet music symbol : CLEF

“Clef” is the French word for “key”. In music, a clef is used to indicate the pitch of the notes written on a stave. The bass clef is also known as the F-clef, the alto clef is the C-clef, and the treble clef is the G-clef.

33 Actor Baldwin : ALEC

Alec Baldwin is the oldest of the acting Baldwin brothers. I think Alec’s big break was playing Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan in “The Hunt for Red October”, but thank goodness that role was taken over by Harrison Ford for the subsequent Jack Ryan movies. Baldwin also made a name for himself playing Jack Donaghy on “30 Rock”, opposite Tina Fey. More recently, he is known for impersonating President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live”.

37 Humdinger : LULU

We call a remarkable thing or a person a lulu. The term “lulu” was coined in honor of Lulu Hurst, the Georgia Wonder, who was a stage magician active in the 1880s.

A humdinger or a pip is someone or something outstanding. “Humdinger” is American slang dating back to the early 1900s, and was originally used to describe a particularly attractive woman.

41 Start of civilization? : SOFT C

The starting letter in the word “civilization” is a soft letter C (cee).

47 Bureaucratic bigwig : POOH-BAH

The term “pooh-bah” (also “poobah”), meaning an ostentatious official, comes from the world of opera. Pooh-Bah is a character in the wonderful Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera “The Mikado”. Famously, Pooh-Bah holds many, many offices, including that of “Lord High Everything Else”.

52 Camden Yards player : ORIOLE

Oriole Park is home to the Baltimore Orioles baseball team. The full name of the stadium is Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The name “Camden Yards” is used because the ballpark is built on land that was once used as the rail yard for B&O Railroad’s Camden Station.

53 One-dimensional : LINEAR

The dimension of an object is defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify each point in the object. Therefore, a line is one-dimensional, as you only need an x-coordinate to specify a particular point on the line. A surface is two-dimensional, as you need both an x-coordinate and a y-coordinate to locate a point on the surface. The inside of a solid object is then three-dimensional, needing an x-, y- and z-coordinate to specify a point, say within a cube.

56 Eye annoyances : STYES

A stye is a bacterial infection of the sebaceous glands at the base of the eyelashes, and is also known as a hordeolum.

59 Share-a-ride pickup hrs. : ETAS

Estimated time of arrival (ETA)

60 Microsoft Excel command : SORT

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program included in the Microsoft Office suite of applications. Microsoft’s first spreadsheet program was introduced back in 1982 and called Multiplan. Multiplan’s popularity waned due to the success of the competing product Lotus 1-2-3. Microsoft then introduced Excel, initially just for the Macintosh. When Excel was extended to Windows, Lotus was slow to respond and Microsoft took over the market.

63 Maidenform garment : BRA

Maidenform is a manufacturer of underwear for women that was founded in 1922. The three co-founders were driven to defy the norms of the day that dictated a flat-chested look for women. They produced items that fit the female body, hence the name “Maidenform”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Construction guideline : SPEC
5 Pitfalls : TRAPS
10 Bible book that chronicles the conversion of Paul : ACTS
14 Rake prong : TINE
15 Soprano Fleming : RENEE
16 Fluctuate : VARY
17 500 sheets of paper : REAM
18 “I’m on __!” : A ROLL
19 Access, as a computer program : OPEN
20 Combat : ARMED CONFLICT
23 Characterized by : PRONE TO
24 Provide parenting for : RAISE
27 Art Deco icon : ERTE
28 Compel to land, as a plane : FORCE DOWN
32 Massage therapist’s employer : SPA
34 Penn. neighbor : DEL
35 Handling the situation : ON IT
36 Lilly of pharmaceuticals : ELI
39 Coffee cup insulators : SLEEVES
42 Texting format, for short : SMS
43 “Boogie Nights” actor Reynolds : BURT
45 Night school subj. : ESL
46 Fashion plate : FOP
48 Red or white unit : BLOOD CELL
51 Put one over on : FOOL
54 Islamic denomination : SUNNI
55 Oregon city near the mouth of the Columbia : ASTORIA
58 Speaking Spanglish, say … or a hint to what’s hidden in 20-, 28- and 48-Across : CODE-SWITCHING
62 Competent : ABLE
64 Suck-up : TOADY
65 Afrikaans speaker : BOER
66 Shiraz’s land : IRAN
67 Make one’s case : ARGUE
68 Cupid’s wings : ALAE
69 Anti-DUI org. : MADD
70 Tango moves : STEPS
71 “This is for you” : HERE

Down

1 Guitar support : STRAP
2 Missouri River capital : PIERRE
3 Fill with affection : ENAMOR
4 Fixes in place : CEMENTS
5 Activist’s handout : TRACT
6 Install new shingles on : REROOF
7 Quote book abbr. : ANON
8 Ill-gotten gains : PELF
9 Move for money : SELL
10 Guacamole ingredient : AVOCADO
11 Underwriting? : CAPTIONS
12 Roman three : TRE
13 Many a crossword clue: Abbr. : SYN
21 Ocean trenches : DEEPS
22 Fury : IRE
25 Enjoy the pool : SWIM
26 Tonsillitis-treating MDs : ENTS
29 Former “Entertainment Tonight” co-anchor Nancy : O’DELL
30 Make growl, as an engine : REV
31 Sheet music symbol : CLEF
33 Actor Baldwin : ALEC
36 Goes back out : EBBS
37 Humdinger : LULU
38 Like a rock-solid contract : IRONCLAD
40 Language suffix : -ESE
41 Start of civilization? : SOFT C
44 Constantly : TO NO END
47 Bureaucratic bigwig : POOH-BAH
49 Impersonated : DID
50 On the injured list : LAID UP
52 Camden Yards player : ORIOLE
53 One-dimensional : LINEAR
56 Eye annoyances : STYES
57 Be on the same page : AGREE
59 Share-a-ride pickup hrs. : ETAS
60 Microsoft Excel command : SORT
61 Compensation : WAGE
62 Crossbow wielder’s asset : AIM
63 Maidenform garment : BRA