LA Times Crossword 21 Feb 21, Sunday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Pam Amick Klawitter
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Seeing Progress

Themed answers each include the letter string “ING”. We can SEE those INGs PROGRESSING from left to right as we descend the grid:

  • 22 Fit : IN GOOD SHAPE
  • 29 Arrives like a brainstorm : SPRINGS TO MIND
  • 51 Start of a hopeful chant : RAIN RAIN GO AWAY …
  • 69 Absolutely zero : NOT A SINGLE ONE
  • 88 Ignore mistakes, say : LET THINGS SLIDE
  • 105 Disney theme park : ANIMAL KINGDOM
  • 119 Family film feature : HAPPY ENDING

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

Bill’s time: 14m 23s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Playground game with hoops : H-O-R-S-E

H-O-R-S-E is a simple game played with a basketball and a hoop. The idea is that one player makes a basket using a certain move and technique, and then subsequent players have to make a basket the same way. Anyone failing to make a basket is assigned a letter in the word H-O-R-S-E, and after five letters, you’re out. A quicker game is called P-I-G.

6 Blobby sci-fi villain : JABBA

Jabba the Hutt is the big blob of an alien that appears in the “Star Wars” movie “The Return of the Jedi”. Jabba’s claim to fame is that he enslaved Princess Leia and kitted her out in that celebrated metal bikini.

20 Fitness motto starter : USE IT …

Use it or lose it.

24 Brand with a Jumpman logo : AIR JORDAN

Air Jordan is a Nike brand of shoe (and other apparel) endorsed by NBA great Michael Jordan. The silhouette of a basketball player that features on Air Jordans is known as the “Jumpman” logo.

26 School near Windsor : ETON

Eton College near Windsor in the south of England was founded way back in 1440 by King Henry VI. Originally known as “The King’s College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor”, the school was intended to provide free education to poor boys. Free education today at Eton? Not so much …

Windsor Castle is located on the River Thames in Berkshire, just 20 miles outside London. It was built in the early 11th century by William the Conqueror after the Norman invasion of England. Queen Elizabeth II likes to spend her weekends at Windsor. She has lots of room to move around there, as it’s the largest inhabited castle in the world.

27 Stiles of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” : RYAN

Ryan Stiles is a Canadian-American actor and stand-up comedian who is perhaps best known for his work on the excellent improv show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Stiles also played Lewis Kiniski on “The Drew Carey Show”, and Herb Melnick on “Two and a Half Men”.

The American improv comedy TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway” is a spin-off of a very successful British show of the same name. The British TV show is itself a spin-off of a BBC radio show that I well remember. Lots of fun …

28 “Friends” friend : ROSS

Ross Geller is the character on “Friends” played by David Schwimmer. The role was actually written with Schwimmer in mind, and so Ross was the first of the “Friends” to be cast.

When the incredibly successful sitcom “Friends” was in development it was given the working title “Insomnia Cafe”. This was changed to “Friends Like Us”, before finally going to air as “Friends”.

34 A, to Beethoven : EINE

Famously, and tragically, composer Ludwig van Beethoven started to lose his hearing in his late 20s, and was basically deaf for the last ten years of his life. As a result of his deafness, Beethoven was forced to use conversation books in which others communicated to the composer, while he generally responded verbally. 136 of those books survive, and provide some detailed insight into Beethoven’s life.

39 Deer sir : STAG

A male deer is usually called a buck, and a female is a doe. However, the male red deer is usually referred to as a stag. The males of even larger species of deer are often called bulls, and females cows. In older English, male deer of over 5 years were called harts, and females of over 3 years were called hinds. The young of small species are known as fawns, and of larger species are called calves. All very confusing …

43 Droid from Naboo, familiarly : ARTOO

Artoo’s proper name is R2-D2 (also “Artoo-Detoo”). R2-D2 is the smaller of the two famous droids from the “Star Wars” movies. British actor Kenny Baker, who stood just 3 ft 8 ins tall, was the man inside the R2-D2 droid for the first six of the “Star Wars” movies.

In the “Star Wars” universe, Padmé Amidala is the Queen of the planet Naboo. Played very ably by Natalie Portman, Padmé becomes the secret wife of Anakin Skywalker, later revealed to be Darth Vader. As such, Padmé is also the mother of Luke Skywalker and his sister, Princess Leia Organa.

46 Volume unit : SONE

In the world of acoustics, the sone was introduced in 1936 as a unit of perceived loudness.

51 Start of a hopeful chant : RAIN RAIN GO AWAY …

Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.

55 Tower engineer : EIFFEL

Gustave Eiffel was the French civil engineer who famously designed the Eiffel Tower.

The “Exposition Universelle” (World’s Fair) of 1889 was held in Paris, France. The 1900 fair is remembered for the magnificent entrance arch that was constructed for visitors. That entrance arch was to remain standing for only nine years, but the city decided to keep it and you can visit it today. Today we call that entrance arch the Eiffel Tower. The tower is sometimes referred to in French “La Dame de Fer”, meaning “the Iron Lady”.

57 Simone’s state : ETAT

In French, an “état” (state) is an “entité politique” (political entity).

58 Dagger of yore : SNEE

“Snick or snee” is the name given to cut and thrust while fighting with a knife. The phrase is rooted in a pair of Dutch words. The expression gave its name to “snickersnee” (sometimes just “snee”), a term describing a light sword-like knife.

59 Mosque official : IMAM

An imam is a Muslim leader, and often the person in charge of a mosque and/or perhaps a Muslim community.

62 “I, Claudius” role : NERO

Nero was Emperor of Rome from 54 to 68 CE, and towards the end of his reign participated in the Olympic Games in the year 67. The Roman leader raced in a ten-horse chariot, of which he lost control and nearly perished after being thrown from the vehicle. Acting and singing were Olympic events back then, and Nero also took part in those competitions. By all accounts, Nero performed badly in every event in which he vied, and yet somehow still managed to win Olympic crowns that he paraded around Rome on his return from Greece.

“I, Claudius” is a 1934 novel penned by Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of Emperor Claudius of Rome. Graves wrote a sequel in 1935 called “Claudius the God”. Both books were adapted by the BBC into a fabulous television series that went by the name of the first book “I, Claudius”.

68 Letters on a bathroom tube : ADA

The American Dental Association (ADA) is the largest and oldest national dental association in the world. Today the ADA is based in Chicago, but the association was founded in Niagara Falls, New York in 1859. The ADA started out as a group of 26 dentists, and it now has more than 152,000 members.

72 Dealer-busting org. : DEA

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

75 Meter starter : ALTI-

An altimeter is an instrument used to measure altitude, height above sea level. The word “altitude” arose in the late 14th century, and was originally an astronomical term that defined the elevation above the horizon of a star or planet. The term comes from the Latin “altus” meaning “high, grown tall”.

76 Compared with : VIS-A-VIS

We can use the French phrase “vis-à-vis” as a preposition meaning “compared with”. When used as an adverb or adjective, it means “face-to-face”, which is a more literal translation from French.

77 Places where quiet is often demanded : SETS

Quiet on the (film) set!

78 Cut of the loot : SHARE

“Loot” is the name given to anything taken by dishonesty or force, particularly during war. The term came into English from the Hindi “lut” meaning “goods taken from an enemy”.

81 River past Logroño : EBRO

The Ebro is the longest river in Spain. The river was known by the Romans as the Iber, and it is the “Iber” river that gives the “Iberian” Peninsula its name.

The city of Logroño in northern Spain is the capital of the province of La Rioja. The economy of Logroño is heavily dependent on the wine industry as the city is a center of the trade in the world-famous Rioja wine.

86 Many surfers : AOLERS

Founded as Quantum Computer Services in 1983, the company changed its name in 1989 to America Online. As America Online went international, the acronym AOL was used in order to shake off the “America-centric” sound to the name. During the heady days of AOL’s success the company could not keep up with the growing number of subscribers, so people trying to connect often encountered busy signals. That’s when users referred to AOL as “Always Off-Line”.

92 Letters on a GI’s letters : APO

Army post office (APO)

96 Hale-Bopp, for one : COMET

Comet Hale-Bopp was an unusually bright comet that was observable in the night sky for 18 months in the late 1990s. The comet was discovered in 1995 by professional astronomer Alan Hale and amateur observer Thomas Bopp, hence the name. Famously, claims were made that there was an alien spaceship travelling behind Hale-Bopp. 39 members of a San Diego religious cult called Heaven’s Gate committed mass suicide in 1996 in order to reach the spacecraft.

97 Alphabetically first V8 ingredient : BEET

The beverage V8 is a mixture of eight different vegetable juices, hence the name. It was introduced in 1933 by the New England Products Company as “ege-min 8”. The eight vegetables are beets, celery, carrots, lettuce, parsley, watercress, spinach, and tomato.

101 Place to make a rial deal : OMAN

The rial is the currency of Oman (as well as Yemen, Iran and Tunisia). Generally, there are 1,000 baisa in a rial.

105 Disney theme park : ANIMAL KINGDOM

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a zoo-based theme park in the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Animal Kingdom covers 580 acres in total, making it the largest theme park in the world.

111 Part of many a plot : ACRE

At one time, an acre was defined as the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. Then, an acre was more precisely defined as a strip of land “one furrow long” (i.e. one furlong) and one chain wide. The length of one furlong was equal to 10 chains, or 40 rods. An area of one furlong times 10 rods was one rood.

113 Bristol bye-bye : TA-TA

Bristol is the most populous city in the southwest of England. Bristol is a port city, one that had a notorious role in the growth of slavery in America. Manufactured goods from the UK were shipped from Bristol to West Africa where they were traded for Africans who were forcibly transported across the Atlantic for trade in the Americas. The slave ships brought back plantation goods to Bristol.

116 That guy, to Guy : LUI

In French, you might want to talk to “lui” (him) and to “elle” (her).

117 Subject of many a watch : BLUE WHALE

The blue whale is an enormous mammal, one that can weigh about 190 tons at maturity. Not only is the blue whale the largest mammal on the planet, it is the largest animal that ever existed.

126 Spoofs : PARODIES

The word “spoof” came into the language in the 1880s with the meaning “hoax, deception”. The term was coined by British comedian Arthur Roberts, when it used it as the name for a card game he invented that involved trickery and nonsense. The verb “to spoof” came to mean “to satirize gently” starting in the 1920s.

127 Minibike kin : MOPED

The word “moped” was coined in 1952 by a Swedish journalist named Harald Nielsen. The term is a portmanteau of “motor” and “pedal”.

Down

1 Clues for DNA analysis : HAIRS

I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the DNA of living things is so very similar across different species. Human DNA is almost exactly the same for every individual (to the degree of 99.9%). However, those small differences are sufficient to distinguish one individual from another, and to determine whether or not individuals are close family relatives.

4 “No seats” sign : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

5 Job listing abbr. : EEO

“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

8 Bingo cousin : BEANO

The game called Beano is a precursor to Bingo. Beano was so called as dried beans were used to cover the called numbers on a card.

9 Marcel Marceau clown persona : BIP

Marcel Marceau was the most famous mime of all time, and a native of Strasbourg in France. He is perhaps most associated with the character Bip the Clown who he played onstage. Marceau made a cameo appearance in Mel Brooks’ “Silent Movie”, portraying himself. In the scene, Mel Brooks is asking Marceau to appear in his movie (a question asked silently of course, in subtitles), and Marceau turns to the camera and speaks the only word in the whole film, “Non!” (French for “No!”). The mime speaks! Brilliant …

11 Princess with cinnamon-bun locks : LEIA

Princess Leia is Luke Skywalker’s twin sister in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and was played by Carrie Fisher. Carrie Fisher has stated that she hated the famous “cinnamon bun hairstyle” that she had to wear in the films, as she felt it made her face look too round. She also had to sit for two hours every day just to get her hair styled. Two hours to get your hair done? It takes me just two seconds …

13 Asleep in Eng. class? : ADJ

“Asleep” is an adjective (adj.) one might encounter in English (Eng.) class.

14 Cause of sticker shock at the florist? : THORN

Believe it or not, roses don’t have any thorns. Thorns are derived from shoots, spines are derived from leaves, and prickles are derived from the epidermis. The rose’s defensive barbs are in fact prickles.

16 “CSI” actor George : EADS

George Eads is an actor from Fort Worth, Texas. He is best known for playing the investigator Nick Stokes on the CBS show “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, and more recently for playing Jack Dalton on the show “MacGyver”.

17 Old food label figs. : RDAS

Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) were introduced during WWII, and were replaced by Recommended Daily Intakes (RDIs) in 1997.

18 I-9 ID : SSN

Social Security number (SSN)

Form I-9 is used by the federal government to verify the identity of an employee and confirm that the person has authorization to work in the US.

23 MIT offerings : DEGS

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was founded in 1861 and first offered classes in 1865, in the Mercantile building in Boston. Today’s magnificent campus on the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge opened in 1916.

27 Boxing div. : RND

Round (rnd.)

31 Jordanian queen dowager : NOOR

Queen Noor is the widow of King Hussein of Jordan. She was born Lisa Halaby in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Najeeb Halaby. Her father was appointed by President Kennedy as the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, and later became the CEO of Pan Am. Lisa Halaby met King Hussein in 1977, while working on the design of Jordan’s Queen Alia Airport. The airport was named after King Hussein’s third wife who had been killed that year in a helicopter crash. Halaby and the King were married the next year, in 1978.

Originally, a dowry was money that was set aside by a man for his wife and children, to be used in the event that he passed away. A widow who received said money was known as a dowager. Over time, “dowry” became a term used for the money, goods or estate that a woman brought into a marriage, and “dowager” came to mean an elderly woman with an elevated social position.

38 Multi-lingual Irish singer : ENYA

Irish singer Enya co-wrote and performed two songs for the 2001 film “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”. Her song “May It Be” was nominated to that season’s Best Original Song Academy Award. The second number, called “Aniron”, was sung in Tolkien’s Elvish language called Sindarin.

40 First golfing U.S. president : TAFT

The first US president to openly play golf while in office was President William Howard Taft. It is widely suspected that Taft’s predecessor President Theodore Roosevelt also played golf while in office. However, Roosevelt’s confidantes kept his golfing out of the newspapers as golf was considered a game for the only the rich in those days, and the concern was that the president would alienate potential voters.

41 Pulitzer-winning author 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”.

46 1983 Indy 500 champ Tom : SNEVA

Tom Sneva is a retired race car driver from Spokane, Washington who won the 1983 Indy 500. Before taking up racing as a career, Sneva was a math teacher. He also drove a school bus for a while.

47 Fancy moldings : OGEES

An ogee is a type of S-curve. Specifically, it is a figure consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite directions (like an S) but both ends of the curve end up parallel to each other (which is not necessarily true for an S).

49 Throw very hard : RIFLE

To rifle a ball is to throw it with great force or speed.

52 Berkshire racecourse : ASCOT

Ascot Racecourse is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and is located in the town of Ascot, Berkshire in England. The course is located just six miles from Windsor Castle, and is often visited by members of the royal family. Royal Ascot is the name given to the most famous race meeting in the year, at which members of the royal family attend each day, arriving in horse-drawn carriages amidst great ceremony.

Berkshire is a county in England that is referred to as one of the “home counties”. The home counties are those that surround the city of London, outside of London itself. “Home county” is not an official designation but has been in popular use since the 1800s. The list of home counties usually comprises Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex.

53 Deadlocked : IN A TIE

A deadlock is a standstill, a stalemate. The suggestion is that the term “deadlock” was coined in the 1779 play called “The Critic”, from the pen of Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

54 Alleged creation of Buffalo’s Anchor Bar : WINGS

There are a few stories about how Buffalo wings were first developed, most of them related to the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. If you’re looking for Buffalo wings on a menu in Buffalo, you’ll note that in and around the city they’re just referred to as “wings”.

56 Wray of “King Kong” : FAY

Fay Wray was a Canadian-American actress who is best known for her starring role in the classic 1933 film “King Kong”. When Wray passed away at the age of 96 in 2004, the lights of the Empire State Building were extinguished for 15 minutes. That fine gesture was a nod to the celebrated Empire State Building scene in “King Kong”.

“King Kong” really is a classic movie. It stars Fay Wray as the young woman (Ann Darrow) with whom Kong falls in love. Wray was very interested in the role as she was told that she would be playing opposite the “tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood”. She thought it might be Clark Gable. At least that’s how the story goes …

64 Golfer’s gouge : DIVOT

A divot is a chunk of grass and earth that is removed by a golf club immediately after striking the ball. “Divot” is derived from a Scottish word for a piece of turf or sod used as a roofing material.

65 Pasta restaurant closing? : -INI

As in macaroni, linguini, etc.

67 RPI and NIH : INSTS

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is a private school in Troy, New York. The university is named after its founder Stephen Van Rensselaer who set up the school in 1824. The goal of RPI has always been the “application of science to the common purposes of life”, an objective set by the founder. Given that, the name for the school’s sports teams is quite apt: the Engineers.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) organization is made up of 27 different institutes that coordinate their research and services. Examples of member institutes are the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging.

69 Cards, for short : NLERS

The St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball team plays at Busch Stadium. Busch Stadium is the third stadium in the history of St. Louis to have the Busch name. The first two were named for Gussie Busch, the brewing magnate and former Cardinals team owner. The current stadium is named for the brewery though, and not Gussie per se.

70 Tiberius’ tongue : LATIN

The Latins were a race who migrated into the Italian peninsula during the Bronze Age, settling in a triangular region on the west coast that became known as Latium. It was the Latins who founded the city of Rome in Latium. The language that developed among the people of Latium is what we now know as “Latin”.

Tiberius was the second Emperor of Rome and succeeded Augustus. Tiberius spent much of his later life away from Rome, not really wanting the responsibilities of emperor, but refusing to give up his power. Instead, he exiled himself from Rome leaving administrative control of the Empire to unscrupulous aides. Tiberius himself led a quiet life on the island of Capri. His death at the age of 77 was apparently hastened by a pillow placed over his face, an act ordered by his successor Caligula.

72 Casual Friday fabric : DENIM

Denim fabric originated in Nimes in France. The French phrase “de Nimes” (meaning “from Nimes”) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (meaning “blue of Genoa”) gives us our word “jeans”.

The practice of dressing down at work on “Casual Fridays” arose at the end of the 20th century. The custom is rooted in the tradition known as “Aloha Friday” that started in Hawaii in 1966. The official designation of Aloha Friday was the result of a successful lobbying campaign by the manufacturing association known as the Hawaiian Fashion Guild.

73 Musical workout, at times : ETUDE

An étude is a short instrumental composition that is usually quite hard to play and is intended to help the performer master a particular technique. “Étude” is the French word for “study”. Études are commonly performed on the piano.

77 “Ciao” : SO LONG

“Ciao” is Italian for “‘bye”. “Arrivederci” is more formal, and translates as “goodbye”.

78 Swedish auto : SAAB

“SAAB” stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. Although we usually think of SAAB as an auto manufacturer, it is mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. A Chinese consortium purchased the assets of SAAB Automotive in 2012, and so SAAB vehicles are in production again. The new vehicles are using the SAAB name, but cannot use the SAAB griffin logo, the rights to which have been retained by the mother company.

80 Lotion additive : ALOE

Aloe vera has a number of alternate names that are descriptive of its efficacy as a medicine. ancient Egyptians knew it as the plant of immortality, and Native Americans called it the wand of heaven.

87 Juice with a lizard logo : SOBE

The brand name “SoBe” can be found on teas, juices and bottled waters. SoBe is an abbreviation for South Beach, the neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida.

89 Picard’s counselor : TROI

Deanna Troi is a character on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” who is played by the lovely Marina Sirtis. Sirtis is a naturalized American citizen and has what I would call a soft American accent on the show. However, she was born in the East End of London and has a natural accent off-stage that is more like that of a true Cockney.

When Gene Roddenberry was creating the “Star Trek” spin-off series “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, I think he chose a quite magnificent name for the new starship captain. “Jean-Luc Picard” is imitative of one or both of the twin-brother Swiss scientists Auguste and Jean Felix Piccard. The role of Picard was played by the wonderful Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart.

90 Jon of “Mad Men” : HAMM

Jon Hamm lived the life of a struggling actor for quite some time before he hit gold with a starring role in the AMC drama “Mad Men”. He plays the main character, advertising executive and man about town Don Draper.

“Mad Men” was the flagship show on the AMC television channel for several seasons. Set in the sixties, it’s all about an advertising agency located on Madison Avenue in New York (hence the title). “Mad Men” became the first show created by a basic cable channel to win an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.

91 Checkout action : SCAN

The initialism “UPC” stands for Universal Price Code or Universal Product Code. The first ever UPC-marked item to get scanned in a store was on June 26, 1974 at 08:01 a.m. at Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, Ohio. It was a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum.

98 Figure with a cape : TORERO

The term “torero” is used to describe all bullfighters. The term “matador” is reserved for the bullfighter whose job is to make the final kill. Aptly enough, “matador” is Spanish for “killer”.

100 __ kit: Ancestry.com item : DNA

Ancestry.com is the largest commercial genealogy company in the world. It operates out of Provo, Utah.

101 Signed off on : OKAYED

Back in the late 1830s, there were some slang abbreviations coined mainly in Boston. The craze called for two-letter abbreviations of deliberately misspelled phrases. For example “no use” became “KY” from “know yuse”, and “enough said” became “NC” from “‘nuff ced”. Fortunately (I say!), the practice was short-lived. But, one of those abbreviations persists to this day. “All correct” was misspelled to give “oll korrect”, abbreviated to “OK”.

108 Pass-rushing group, briefly : D-LINE

Defensive line (D-line) … that would be football.

109 Prevention amount : OUNCE

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the saying goes …

111 Inventing middle name : ALVA

Thomas Alva Edison (TAE) was a very successful inventor. He held over a thousand US patents in his name. Included in the list of Edison’s inventions is the phonograph, the movie camera and the long-lasting light bulb. He passed away in 1931. There is a test tube at the Henry Ford Museum that supposedly holds Edison’s last breath. Ford convinced Thomas’s son Charles to seal up a tube of air in the room just after the inventor died, as a memento.

117 Jazzy genre : BOP

“Bop” is a shortened form of “bebop”, a jazz style that dates back to the early 1940s.

118 Yokohama yes : HAI

Yokohama is the second-most populous city in Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, and is just a 40-minute drive from the nation’s capital.

120 70-Down trio opener : AMO …
(70D Tiberius’ tongue : LATIN)

“Amo, amas, amat” translates from Latin as “I love, you love, he/she/it loves”.

121 Bright students’ org. : NHS

The National Honor Society (NHS) is a recognition program open to students who have demonstrated excellence in grades 10-12.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Playground game with hoops : H-O-R-S-E
6 Blobby sci-fi villain : JABBA
11 Biker’s protective wear : LEATHERS
19 In the know : AWARE
20 Fitness motto starter : USE IT …
21 Removes faded flowers from : DEADHEADS
22 Fit : IN GOOD SHAPE
24 Brand with a Jumpman logo : AIR JORDAN
25 Regret : RUE
26 School near Windsor : ETON
27 Stiles of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” : RYAN
28 “Friends” friend : ROSS
29 Arrives like a brainstorm : SPRINGS TO MIND
34 A, to Beethoven : EINE
36 Fair : SO-SO
37 Formal talk : ADDRESS
39 Deer sir : STAG
43 Droid from Naboo, familiarly : ARTOO
46 Volume unit : SONE
48 Go inside : ENTER
50 Long, long tail? : … AGO
51 Start of a hopeful chant : RAIN RAIN GO AWAY …
55 Tower engineer : EIFFEL
57 Simone’s state : ETAT
58 Dagger of yore : SNEE
59 Mosque official : IMAM
61 Bound to be : FATED
62 “I, Claudius” role : NERO
63 Collapsed : CAVED IN
66 Like some fried food : OILY
68 Letters on a bathroom tube : ADA
69 Absolutely zero : NOT A SINGLE ONE
72 Dealer-busting org. : DEA
75 Meter starter : ALTI-
76 Compared with : VIS-A-VIS
77 Places where quiet is often demanded : SETS
78 Cut of the loot : SHARE
81 River past Logroño : EBRO
84 It’s raised at a circus : TENT
85 Obligation : ONUS
86 Many surfers : AOLERS
88 Ignore mistakes, say : LET THINGS SLIDE
92 Letters on a GI’s letters : APO
93 Absorb, as a spill : SOP UP
95 Twitter rampage : RANT
96 Hale-Bopp, for one : COMET
97 Alphabetically first V8 ingredient : BEET
99 Yawning cause : BOREDOM
101 Place to make a rial deal : OMAN
103 Some tributes : ODES
105 Disney theme park : ANIMAL KINGDOM
111 Part of many a plot : ACRE
113 Bristol bye-bye : TA-TA
115 Bit of politeness from a hat-tipper : MA’AM
116 That guy, to Guy : LUI
117 Subject of many a watch : BLUE WHALE
119 Family film feature : HAPPY ENDING
123 Enthusiastic to a fault : OVEREAGER
124 Elicit a chuckle : AMUSE
125 A detective may act on one : HUNCH
126 Spoofs : PARODIES
127 Minibike kin : MOPED
128 __ music : SHEET

Down

1 Clues for DNA analysis : HAIRS
2 Accept the blame : OWN UP
3 Wild party : RAGER
4 “No seats” sign : SRO
5 Job listing abbr. : EEO
6 “Precisely like this” : JUST SO
7 “Take __ at it” : A SHOT
8 Bingo cousin : BEANO
9 Marcel Marceau clown persona : BIP
10 Snacked : ATE
11 Princess with cinnamon-bun locks : LEIA
12 Not kidding : EARNEST
13 Asleep in Eng. class? : ADJ
14 Cause of sticker shock at the florist? : THORN
15 They may be unsung : HEROES
16 “CSI” actor George : EADS
17 Old food label figs. : RDAS
18 I-9 ID : SSN
21 Thoughts of the beach while in class, e.g. : DAYDREAM
23 MIT offerings : DEGS
27 Boxing div. : RND
30 Suspects : IS ONTO
31 Jordanian queen dowager : NOOR
32 José’s hand : MANO
33 A light bulb may symbolize one : IDEA
35 “It’s clear now” : I SEE
38 Multi-lingual Irish singer : ENYA
40 First golfing U.S. president : TAFT
41 Pulitzer-winning author James : AGEE
42 __ standard : GOLD
43 Bowl, say : ARENA
44 Was highly regarded : RATED
45 Formal wear item : TIARA
46 1983 Indy 500 champ Tom : SNEVA
47 Fancy moldings : OGEES
49 Throw very hard : RIFLE
52 Berkshire racecourse : ASCOT
53 Deadlocked : IN A TIE
54 Alleged creation of Buffalo’s Anchor Bar : WINGS
56 Wray of “King Kong” : FAY
60 Herd mentality output? : MOOING
64 Golfer’s gouge : DIVOT
65 Pasta restaurant closing? : -INI
67 RPI and NIH : INSTS
69 Cards, for short : NLERS
70 Tiberius’ tongue : LATIN
71 Blessed __ : EVENT
72 Casual Friday fabric : DENIM
73 Musical workout, at times : ETUDE
74 Singer’s perfect pitch, say : ASSET
75 “… chips-down” link : ARE
77 “Ciao” : SO LONG
78 Swedish auto : SAAB
79 Bit of optimism : HOPE
80 Lotion additive : ALOE
82 Fuzzy memory : BLUR
83 One taking a class over : REPEATER
87 Juice with a lizard logo : SOBE
89 Picard’s counselor : TROI
90 Jon of “Mad Men” : HAMM
91 Checkout action : SCAN
94 Stamps : POSTAGE
98 Figure with a cape : TORERO
100 __ kit: Ancestry.com item : DNA
101 Signed off on : OKAYED
102 Speechless player : MIME
104 Like morning fields : DEWED
106 Stimulate : AMP UP
107 Memory miscue : LAPSE
108 Pass-rushing group, briefly : D-LINE
109 Prevention amount : OUNCE
110 Strength : MIGHT
111 Inventing middle name : ALVA
112 Card holder, maybe : CUER
114 Pub mugfuls : ALES
117 Jazzy genre : BOP
118 Yokohama yes : HAI
119 Omelet filler : HAM
120 70-Down trio opener : AMO …
121 Bright students’ org. : NHS
122 “How obvious” : DUH

21 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 21 Feb 21, Sunday”

  1. 49:20 no errors…as I was “progressing” through this puzzle I was pretty sure that it was a Jeff Chen and partner puzzle but I was obviously wrong.
    My paper does not identify the setter on the LAT crosswords for some reason.
    RND &NHS were arrived at via crosses.
    Stay safe😀

  2. I want to be able to print the l.a.times Sunday crossword each week but not the completed version. Is there a website that allows me to print only the puzzle for the day I request?

  3. Great job, as always….thank you.

    But one small slip: no explanation for 21- across’ answer–DEADHEADS ?????

    1. Yeah, that was **another** really annoying fill, seemingly divorced from the clue. Deadhead is a NOUN, not a verb (as suggested by the clue).

  4. 23 mins 41 sec, and needed Check help to clean up 8 fills. Not that hard a grid, but I found that too many of the clues were just cynical, and craftily phrased, in an effort to mislead. Examples are “Deer Sir” and “Bit of politeness from a hat-tipper” (the tipping of the hat is the ‘bit of politeness’, and “MA’AM” is not a “bit”; it’s a word or an utterance). I don’t like feeling like I’m being “had” the whole time I’m working a puzzle; “challenged” is fine, but not deceived.

    1. The point is that a hat-tipper is likely to be saying something like, “Good mornin’, ma’am!” (or just “Ma’am!”) as he tips his hat.

  5. Re:50A–found “tail” misleading. Thought it should have used “tale” instead. Any thoughts?

    1. The word “ago” is the ending, or “tail,” of a line in a song – Long, long ago
      Tell me the tales that to me were so dear
      Long, long ago, long, long ago
      Sing me the songs I delighted to hear
      Long, long ago, long ago

  6. Fun, modestly challenging Sunday for me; took 40:01 with no errors or peeks. A lot of waiting for crosses and educated guessing – from doing these puzzles – to get to the finish line. Ignored/Forgot to use the theme, which would have sped things up a bit as I struggled with in the middle theme answer in the end.

  7. 54 down – Wings WERE invented at the Anchor Bar, *not* ‘allegedly’!! As a native Buffalonian, I take great offense at the chutzpah of suggesting otherwise.

    Not for nothing the world refers to them as ‘Buffalo Wings’

    Allegedly… harumph!

Comments are closed.