LA Times Crossword 26 Nov 20, Thursday

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Constructed by: Joe Deeney
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Dream Sequence

Themed answers each include the letter SEQUENCE “DREAM”, but with the order varied:

  • 53A Storytelling technique … or what is altered in this puzzle’s circles : DREAM SEQUENCE
  • 19A 1936 anti-drug movie originally titled “Tell Your Children” : REEFER MADNESS
  • 27A Anthropomorphic holiday cookies : GINGERBREAD MEN
  • 33A Scan used to diagnose migraines : HEAD MRI
  • 38A Cold War military force : RED ARMY
  • 42A It restricts peacetime quartering of soldiers in private homes : THIRD AMENDMENT

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 8m 16s

Bill’s errors: 2

  • CHI (phi)
  • CHIENG (Phieng!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Antepenultimate Greek letter : CHI

The Greek letter chi is the one that looks like our letter X.

The term “ultimate” means “last. “Penultimate” means “second-to-last”, and “antepenultimate” means “third-to-last”.

8 “Love Story” author : SEGAL

Erich Segal wrote two hit screenplays, namely “Yellow Submarine” (the Beatles’ animated movie) and “Love Story” (starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw). He wrote the novel “Love Story” after the screenplay. As the novel was published before the film was released, there is a popular misconception that the movie is based on the book.

14 W competitor : OMNI

Omni Hotels & Resorts is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has properties in the US, Canada and Mexico.

The W chain of hotels is a luxury brand owned by Starwood. Aimed at a younger market, the W properties feature modern, minimalist decor. There’s also a “trendy” use of the letter W throughout the hotels. For example, the pool is called “the Wet”, the laundry bag in each is “the Wash” and the concierge goes by the name “Whatever Whenever”.

19 1936 anti-drug movie originally titled “Tell Your Children” : REEFER MADNESS

“Reefer Madness” is a 1936 movie intended as a warning against the use of illegal drugs. The original version of the film (titled “Tell Your Children”) was produced by a church group and targeted parents. A few years later, the footage was recut as an exploitation movie and released nationwide.

22 Ski jump’s approach ramp : INRUN

The winter sport of ski jumping originated in Norway. The first recorded, measured ski jump was by Norwegian-Danish military officer Olaf Rye. He launched himself a distance of 9.5 metres in front of fellow soldiers in 1809. There is now an offshoot of ski jumping known as ski flying, which involves the use of larger hills. Ski flyers have made jumps in excess of 250 meters.

24 Actress Graynor : ARI

Ari Graynor is an American actress who first came to national attention playing the character Caitlin Rucker in a few episodes of the HBO series “The Sopranos”. Caitlin Rucker is Meadow Soprano’s roommate at Columbia University.

27 Anthropomorphic holiday cookies : GINGERBREAD MEN

To anthropomorphize is to put into human form something that is not human. The noun “anthropomorphism” comes from the Greek “anthropos” meaning “human and “morphe” meaning “form”. The term only dates back to the mid-1700s, when it applied to the then heretic offense of applying human form to the God of Christianity. The concept of anthropomorphism dates back to ancient times, with examples being characters in Aesop’s fables such as the Hare and Tortoise.

31 “The Last Jedi” heroine : REY

Rey is a central character in the “Star Wars” universe, who first appeared in 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. Rey is played by British actress Daisy Ridley.

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is a 2017 movie from the “Star Wars” film franchise, and the second installment of the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy. The title character is Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill. Ah, but is Luke in fact the “last Jedi”?

33 Scan used to diagnose migraines : HEAD MRI

The name of the searing headache called a “migraine” comes from the Greek words “hemi” meaning “half”, and “kranion” meaning “skull”.

38 Cold War military force : RED ARMY

During the Cold War, the term “Red Army” applied to the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army of the Soviet Union, and the Chinese Workers and Peasants’ Red Army.

The association of the color red with communism dates back to the French Revolution. A red flag was chosen as a symbol by the revolutionaries, with the color representing the blood of workers who had died in the fight against capitalism.

40 Big name in metal : ALCOA

The Aluminum Corporation of America (ALCOA) is the largest producer of aluminum in the United States. The company was founded in 1888 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where its headquarters are to this day.

42 It restricts peacetime quartering of soldiers in private homes : THIRD AMENDMENT

The US Constitution’s Third Amendment restricts the quartering of soldiers in private homes during peacetime. It was conceived as a response to the British practice of forcing residents to accept soldiers into their houses in the runup to the American Revolutionary War. Given the state of the nation today, the Third Amendment is perhaps the only element in the constitution that has never figured in a Supreme Court case to date, and let’s hope that it never comes up in the future …

49 Vicious on stage : SID

Sid Vicious was a famous English musician and the best-known member of the seventies punk rock group called the Sex Pistols. In 1978, Vicious woke up out of a drugged stupor in his hotel room in New York, to find his girlfriend stabbed to death in the bathroom. Vicious was charged with the murder, and ten days later sliced his wrist in a suicide attempt. Vicious made bail a few months later and at a celebratory party his own mother supplied him with heroin on which Vicious overdosed and died, at the age of 21.

51 “‘And hast thou __ the Jabberwock?'”: Carroll : SLAIN

Here is a verse from “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll, probably the one poem that we all just loved learning to recite at school:

And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

60 Soda selection : COKE

The first cola drink to become a commercial success was Coca-Cola, soon after it was invented by a druggist in 1886. The first sales were in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, where a glass of the new beverage sold for five cents. That original Coca-Cola was flavored mainly with kola nuts and vanilla. The formulation was based on an alcoholic drink called Coca Wine that had been on sale for over twenty years.

62 Emphatic Acapulco assent : SI SI!

The Mexican city of Acapulco is on the southwest coast of the country, in the state of Guerrero. The name “Acapulco” translates from the local language into “at the big reeds”.

Down

1 “The Daily Show” correspondent Ronny : CHIENG

Ronny Chieng is a comedian and actor from Malaysia who is perhaps best known in the US for his appearances on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central.

2 Upper arm bones : HUMERI

The humerus (plural “humeri”) is the long bone in the upper arm. The bones in the forearm are the radius and ulna. “Ulna” is the Latin word for “elbow”, and “radius” is Latin for “ray”.

7 App with much swiping : TINDER

Tinder is a matchmaking app that uses Facebook profiles. Users “swipe” photos of potential matches, either to the right (“like”) or to the left (“not interested”). Users who “match” each other can then chat within the app.

8 Melatonin, for one : SLEEP AID

I once had to deal with jet lag almost monthly and swear by the diet supplement melatonin, which you can buy over the counter here in the US. But, I am no doctor so don’t listen to anything I say …

10 Delicate fabric : GOSSAMER

Something described as “gossamer” is light, delicate or flimsy. The term arose in the 1400s when it described spider webs that had been spun in harvested fields in the late fall. It is suggested that “gossamer” comes from “gos” (goose) and “sumer” (summer), the idea being that the silky spider webs resemble goose down, and geese were more commonly seen in the summer. Sounds like a stretch to me …

11 “The Simpsons” character with an 18-letter last name : APU

“The Problem with Apu” is a 2017 documentary that explores the use of racial stereotypes by focusing on the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon from the animated sitcom “The Simpsons”. The film was written by and stars American stand-up comedian Hari Kondabolu.

12 Caustic chemical : LYE

What we call “lye” is usually sodium hydroxide, although historically the term “lye” was used for potassium hydroxide. Lye has many uses, including to cure several foodstuffs. Lye can make olives less bitter, for example. The chemical is also found in canned mandarin oranges, pretzels and Japanese ramen noodles. More concentrated grades of lye are used to clear drains and clean ovens. Scary …

13 Delhi dress : SARI

The item of clothing called a “sari” (also “saree”) is a strip of cloth, as one might imagine, unusual perhaps in that it is unstitched along the whole of its length. The strip of cloth can range from four to nine meters long (that’s a lot of material!). The sari is usually wrapped around the waist, then draped over the shoulder leaving the midriff bare. I must say, it can be a beautiful item of clothing.

New Delhi is the capital city of India. New Delhi resides within the National Capital Territory of Delhi (otherwise known as the metropolis of Delhi). New Delhi and Delhi, therefore, are two different things.

20 Lang. of Belize : ENG

Belize was formerly known as British Honduras, which explains why English is the country’s official language. Belize is located on the northeastern coast of Central America, and borders Mexico and Guatemala.

21 Used to be called : NEE

“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”. The term “née” is mainly used in English when referring to a married woman’s birth name, assuming that she has adopted her husband’s name, e.g. Michelle Obama née Robinson, and Melania Trump née Knavs.

25 Paper package : 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.

30 Letters before a trade name : DBA

Doing business as (DBA)

33 Kepi and kufi : HATS

A kepi is a circular cap with a visor, one that’s particularly associated with the French military.

34 K-12, in brief : ELHI

“Elhi” is an informal word used to describe anything related to schooling from kindergarten through grade 12, i.e. elementary through high school.

36 Palme __: film award : D’OR

The “Palme d’Or” (or “Golden Palm” in English) is the highest award given at the Cannes Film Festival. The Palme d’Or goes to the director of the film that is selected as the best shown at the festival that year. The palm was selected as an emblem for the award as there is a palm featured on the coat of arms of the Commune of Cannes.

38 Biographer Chernow : RON

Author and journalist Ron Chernow is perhaps best known as a biographer. Chernow wrote about the lives of two US presidents, namely Ulysses S. Grant and George Washington. His biography of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton was adapted into the incredibly successful stage musical “Hamilton” by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

43 Reddit interview, briefly : AMA

Ask me anything (AMA)

Reddit.com is a networking and news website that started up in 2005. It is essentially a bulletin board system with posts that are voted up and down by users, which determines the ranking of posts. The name “Reddit” is a play on “read it”, as in “I read it on Reddit”. One popular feature of the Reddit site is an online forum that is similar to a press conference. Known as an AMA (for “ask me anything”), participants have included the likes of President Barack Obama, Madonna, Bill Gates, Stephen Colbert and Gordon Ramsay. President Obama’s AMA was so popular that the high level of traffic brought down many parts of the Reddit site.

44 Midmorning drink : MIMOSA

Where I come from, the cocktail known in North America as a mimosa is called a buck’s fizz, with the latter named for Buck’s Club in London where it was introduced in 1921. The mimosa came along a few years later, apparently first being served in the Paris Ritz. If you want to make a mimosa, it’s a 50-50 mix of champagne and orange juice, and it is very tasty …

45 The NCAA’s Spartans : MSU

Michigan State University’s sports teams used to be called the Aggies, as the school was founded as the State Agricultural College of Michigan. The team name was changed to the Spartans in 1925, reflecting the school’s shift in focus beyond agriculture-centered education. The school mascot Sparty hit the scene in 1989.

47 Title Inuit in a 1922 film : NANOOK

Nanook is a character from Inuit mythology, the master of the bears. The name “Nanook” came into the general consciousness of the public with the release of the silent documentary film “Nanook of the North” in 1922.

54 Level : RAZE

To raze (“rase”, in UK English) is to level to the ground. I’ve always thought it a little quirky that “raise”, a homophone of “raze”, means “build up”.

55 Standard Oil brand : ESSO

The Esso brand has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

56 Personal hygiene aid : Q-TIP

Cotton swabs were originally marketed under the name “Baby Gays”. This was changed in 1926 to “Q-Tips”, with the Q standing for “quality”.

57 Robin Roberts’ network : ABC

Robin Roberts has been the anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America” since 2005, prior to which she was a sportscaster on ESPN for 15 years.

58 Joey in the Hundred Acre Wood : ROO

In A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh” collection of stories, Pooh has many friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. Besides Christopher Robin, who doesn’t actually live in the woods, the list includes Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Tigger and Owl.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Antepenultimate Greek letter : CHI
4 Gone by : PAST
8 “Love Story” author : SEGAL
13 17-Across opposite : SHUT
14 W competitor : OMNI
15 Out of it : LOOPY
16 Targets : AIMS
17 13-Across opposite : OPEN
18 Come after : ENSUE
19 1936 anti-drug movie originally titled “Tell Your Children” : REEFER MADNESS
22 Ski jump’s approach ramp : INRUN
23 Not turn : KEEP
24 Actress Graynor : ARI
27 Anthropomorphic holiday cookies : GINGERBREAD MEN
31 “The Last Jedi” heroine : REY
32 Pronoun-shaped girder : I-BEAM
33 Scan used to diagnose migraines : HEAD MRI
38 Cold War military force : RED ARMY
40 Big name in metal : ALCOA
41 Bid the most : WON
42 It restricts peacetime quartering of soldiers in private homes : THIRD AMENDMENT
49 Vicious on stage : SID
50 Give off : EMIT
51 “‘And hast thou __ the Jabberwock?'”: Carroll : SLAIN
53 Storytelling technique … or what is altered in this puzzle’s circles : DREAM SEQUENCE
57 Assemblage : ARRAY
59 Get rid of : OUST
60 Soda selection : COKE
61 Spirits : BOOZE
62 Emphatic Acapulco assent : SI SI!
63 Didn’t conceal : TOLD
64 Deals with things : COPES
65 Perched upon : ATOP
66 __ blue : SKY

Down

1 “The Daily Show” correspondent Ronny : CHIENG
2 Upper arm bones : HUMERI
3 Carnival ride cry : IT’S FUN!
4 Like a grade of D : POOR
5 Alarm clock toggle : AM/PM
6 Quietly evade : SNEAK BY
7 App with much swiping : TINDER
8 Melatonin, for one : SLEEP AID
9 Long periods : EONS
10 Delicate fabric : GOSSAMER
11 “The Simpsons” character with an 18-letter last name : APU
12 Caustic chemical : LYE
13 Delhi dress : SARI
20 Lang. of Belize : ENG
21 Used to be called : NEE
25 Paper package : REAM
26 “__ Life”: Beatles : IN MY
28 Throw wildly, say : ERR
29 Portuguese king : REI
30 Letters before a trade name : DBA
33 Kepi and kufi : HATS
34 K-12, in brief : ELHI
35 Candy made with sour sugar : ACID DROP
36 Palme __: film award : D’OR
37 Flirted with, with “at” : MADE EYES …
38 Biographer Chernow : RON
39 Get done with : END
41 Diver’s attire : WETSUIT
43 Reddit interview, briefly : AMA
44 Midmorning drink : MIMOSA
45 The NCAA’s Spartans : MSU
46 Votes in : ELECTS
47 Title Inuit in a 1922 film : NANOOK
48 Sensitive, as a subject : TICKLY
52 One in Maslow’s hierarchy : NEED
54 Level : RAZE
55 Standard Oil brand : ESSO
56 Personal hygiene aid : Q-TIP
57 Robin Roberts’ network : ABC
58 Joey in the Hundred Acre Wood : ROO