LA Times Crossword 10 Jun 21, Thursday

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Constructed by: Michael Paleos
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Wormholes

Themed answers come in pairs. Each pair gives the name of a fictional spaceship, but we have to jump through a “WORMHOLE” to connect the beginning and end of that name. Elsewhere in the grid, we find the captain’s of each vessel:

  • 38A Theoretical shortcuts … or what the four circles in this puzzle represent : WORMHOLES
  • 18A Classic sci-fi name : MILLENNI …
  • 62A – : … UM FALCON
  • 71A 18-Across captain : SOLO
  • 22A Classic sci-fi name : STARSHIP E …
  • 56A – : … NTERPRISE
  • 7A 22-Across captain : KIRK

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

Bill’s time: 10m 31s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “The Devil Wears Prada” co-star : STREEP

Meryl Streep has had more nominations for an Academy Award than any other actor, which is both a tribute to her talent and the respect she has earned in the industry. I am not a huge fan of her earlier works but some of her recent movies are now on my list of all-time favorites. I recommend “Mamma Mia!” (you’ll either love it or hate it!), “Julie & Julia”, “It’s Complicated” and ”Hope Springs”.

“The Devil Wears Prada” is a 2003 novel by Lauren Weisberger that is set in the fashion industry. One of the main characters in the story is Miranda Priestly, the tyrannical editor-in-chief of the fictional fashion magazine “Runway”. It has been suggested that the Priestly character was inspired by Anna Wintour, the real life editor-in-chief of “Vogue”. Weisberger’s book was adapted into a very successful film with the same title that was released in 2006, with Meryl Streep playing Priestly.

7 22-Across captain : KIRK
(22A Classic sci-fi name : STARSHIP E …
56A – : … NTERPRISE)

According to the storyline in “Star Trek”, Captain James Tiberius Kirk was born in Riverside, Iowa on March 22, 2233. The town of Riverside displays a plaque, noting Riverside as the “future birthplace of James T. Kirk.”

14 Pirouettes : TWIRLS

We took our word “pirouette” directly from French, in which language it has the same meaning, i.e. a rotation in dancing. “Pirouette” is also the French word for “spinning top”.

18 Classic sci-fi name : MILLENNI …
(62A – : … UM FALCON)

The Millennium Falcon is the starship owned by Han Solo (among others) in the “Star Wars” universe.

19 Zeno’s followers : STOICS

Zeno of Citium was a Greek philosopher famous for teaching at the Stoa Poikile, the “Painted Porch”, located on the north side of the Ancient Agora of Athens. Because of the location of his classes, his philosophy became known as stoicism (from “stoa”, the word for “porch”). We get our adjective “stoic”, meaning “indifferent to pleasure or pain”, from the same root.

21 Have a little lamb, say : YEAN

The term “yeaning” describes the birthing of young sheep or goats.

22 Classic sci-fi name : STARSHIP E …
(56A – : … NTERPRISE)

The USS Enterprise is a starship in the “Star Trek” universe (pun!). There have been several generations of starships with the name Enterprise, starting with the vessel numbered NCC-1701, which appeared in the original TV series. My favorite “Star Trek” series is “Next Generation”, which features USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D.

25 Andean grazer : LLAMA

Many female mammals lick off their newborn. That’s not an option for llamas as their tongues only reach out of their mouths about half an inch. Instead, llama dams nuzzle their young and hum to them.

28 Gumshoe : TEC

“Gumshoe” is a slang word used for a private detective or private investigator (P.I.). Apparently the term dates back to the early 1900s, and refers to the rubber-soled shoes popular with private detectives at that time.

32 “The Jungle” author Sinclair : UPTON

Upton Sinclair was a prolific American author, with almost 100 books to his name. Sinclair’s most famous work is probably “The Jungle”, a 1906 novel about the meatpacking industry. Revelations in “The Jungle” contributed to the Meat Inspection Act being passed by Congress a few months after the book was published. Sinclair also wrote “Oil”, published in 1927, which was the basis of the 2007 film “There Will Be Blood” that stars Daniel Day-Lewis.

35 Popular Halloween costume : SKELETON

All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows’ Eve, better known by the Scottish term “Halloween”.

38 Theoretical shortcuts … or what the four circles in this puzzle represent : WORMHOLES

A wormhole is a theoretical shortcut that connects two points in the space-time continuum. Got that …?

44 Commercial mascot with an honorary Doctor of Bovinity degree : ELSIE

Elsie the Cow is the mascot of the Borden Company. Elsie first appeared at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, introduced to symbolize the perfect dairy product. She is so famous and respected that she has been awarded the degrees of Doctor of Bovinity, Doctor of Human Kindness and Doctor of Ecownomics. Elsie was also given a husband named Elmer the Bull. Elmer eventually moved over to the chemical division of Borden where he gave his name to Elmer’s Glue.

53 Blueprint info : SPECS

Blueprints are reproductions of technical or architectural drawings that are contact prints made on light-sensitive sheets. Blueprints were introduced in the 1800s and the technology available dictated that the drawings were reproduced with white lines on a blue background, hence the name “blue-print”.

66 Scrabble coups : BINGOS

In the North American version of Scrabble, laying all seven tiles in one turn earns a 50-point bonus, and is called a “bingo”.

68 Spice that gives yellow curry its color : TURMERIC

Turmeric is a plant in the ginger family that is native to southeast India. The rhizomes, modified underground stems, of turmeric are often boiled, dried and ground into the orange-yellow spice called turmeric. Turmeric is a common ingredient in curries, and also in mustard to which it imparts a yellow color.

69 Balinese, e.g. : ASIANS

Bali is both an island and a province in Indonesia. It is a popular tourist spot, although the number of visitors dropped for a few years as a result of terrorist bombings in 2002 and 2005 that killed mainly tourists. Bali became more popular starting in 2008 due to a significant and favorable change in the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Indonesian rupiah.

70 Eponymous ice cream maker : EDY

Dreyer’s ice cream sells its products under the name Dreyer’s in the Western United States, and Edy’s in the Eastern states. The company’s founders were William Dreyer and Joseph Edy.

71 18-Across captain : SOLO
(18 Classic sci-fi name : MILLENNI …
62 – : … UM FALCON)

Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.

72 One exchanging dollars for quarters? : RENTER

We use the term “quarters” for a place of abode, especially housing for military personnel. Back in the late 16th century, quarters were a portion (quarter) of a town reserved for a military force.

Down

1 Big racing sponsor : STP

STP is a brand name of automotive lubricants and additives. The name “STP” is an initialism standing for “Scientifically Treated Petroleum”.

3 Cautionary reading? : RIOT ACT

The Riot Act was a British law that was in force from 1715 to 1967. According to the Riot Act, government entities could declare any gathering of twelve or more people “unlawful”. Our expression “read the Riot Act to” is derived from the requirement for the authorities to read out the Riot Act proclamation to an unlawful assembly before the Act could be enforced.

4 “404 Not Found,” e.g. : ERROR

An HTTP 404 error is one of the common errors encountered when browsing the World Wide Web. The error is returned when a user accesses a site successfully, but cannot find the page that is requested. Usually, this 404 Not Found error is encountered when clicking on a broken or dead link. As an aside, I’d appreciate it if any reader could contact me or leave a comment if a broken link is encountered on this web site. Thank you!

5 New York Harbor’s __ Island : ELLIS

Ellis Island is an exclave of New York City that is geographically located within the bounds of Jersey City, New Jersey. The name comes from Samuel Ellis, who owned the island around the time of the American Revolution. Ellis Island was the nation’s main immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954.

7 Dutch carrier : KLM

The initialism “KLM” stands for “Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij”, which translates from Dutch as “Royal Aviation Company”. KLM is the flag carrier for the Netherlands, and is the oldest airline in the world still operating with its original name. It was founded in 1919. KLM merged with Air France in 2004.

10 Superman, on Krypton : KAL-EL

Jor-El was a scientist on the planet Krypton who was married to Lara. Jor-El and Lara had an infant son named Kal-El who they were able to launch into space towards Earth just before Krypton was destroyed. Kal-El became Superman. In the 1978 movie “Superman”, Jor-El was played by Marlon Brando, Lara was played by Susannah York, and Kal-El/Superman was played by Christopher Reeve.

11 Baseball championship emblem : PENNANT

The last few weeks of the baseball season are known as the pennant race. Before 1969, the term “pennant race” was perhaps more apt, as the pennant winner (league champion) would be the team with the best win-loss record at the end of the season. Starting in 1969, when both the National and American Leagues formally split into East and West divisions, the pennant has been awarded to the winner of a best-of-five series of games played by the division winners each October. The pennant winners then go on to the best-of-seven World Series, also played in October.

13 ’80s missile prog. : SDI

One of the positive outcomes of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), aka “Star Wars”, was a change in US defense strategy. The new approach was to use missiles to destroy incoming hostile weapons, rather than using missiles to destroy the nation attacking the country. The former doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction went by the apt acronym of MAD …

23 Most elegant : POSHEST

No one really knows the etymology of the word “posh”. The popular myth that “posh” is actually an acronym standing for “port out, starboard home” is completely untrue, and is a story that can actually be traced back to the 1968 movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. The myth is that wealthy British passengers travelling to and from India would book cabins on the port side for the outward journey and the starboard side for the home journey. This trick was supposedly designed to keep their cabins out of the direct sunlight.

24 Marc of fashion : ECKO

Marc Ecko is a fashion designer from New Jersey. Marc was born Marc Milecofsky. In college, he became a fan of graffiti and used the name “Ecko” to tag his drawings.

26 Red Guard leader : MAO

Red Guards were young paramilitaries who were mobilized by Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution in China in the mid-sixties.

27 Objectivist Rand : AYN

Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist born “Alisa Rosenbaum”. Her two best known works are her novels “The Fountainhead” published in 1943 and “Atlas Shrugged” from 1957. Back in 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City. Soon after, she gathered a group of admirers around her with whom she discussed philosophy and shared drafts of her magnum opus, “Atlas Shrugged”. This group called itself “The Collective”, and one of the founding members was none other than future Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan. Rand described herself as “right-wing” politically, and both she and her novel “Atlas Shrugged” have become inspirations for the American conservatives, and the Tea Party in particular.

30 Kenan’s one-time comedy partner : KEL

“Kenan & Kel” is a sitcom that aired on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2000. It starred Kenan Thompson (now of “Saturday Night Live”), and Kel Mitchell.

33 Run a tab, say : OWE

When we run a “tab” at a bar, we are running a “tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.

36 Big name in denim : LEE

The Lee company that is famous for making jeans was formed in 1889 by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.

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”.

37 Au pair’s 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).

An au pair is a domestic assistant from a foreign country working and living as part of a host family. The term “au pair” is French, and means “on a par”, indicating that an au pair is treated as an equal in the host family.

40 Big name in shoes : MCAN

Thom McAn footwear was introduced in 1922 by the Melville Corporation (now CVS Caremark). The brand was named after a Scottish golfer called Thomas McCann. The Thom McAn line is epitomized by the comfortable leather casual and dress shoe, so sales have really been hurt in recent decades by the growing popularity of sneakers.

41 Lambda followers : MUS

The Greek letter mu is the forerunner to our Roman letter M.

42 Nile menace : ASP

The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.

43 Prepare, as tempura : DEEP-FRY

Tempura is a style of Japanese cuisine that features seafood, meat and vegetables that have been deep-fried in batter. The use of batter in fried foods was introduced into Japan by the Portuguese in the late 1500s.

47 Sheep that sounds like a pronoun : EWE

“Ewe” sounds like “you”.

50 London hot spot? : TEA

I guess the reference here is to the oft-quoted British phrase “a spot of tea”. Mind you, I’ve only ever heard that said in jest …

55 Monica of tennis : SELES

Monica Seles has a Hungarian name as she was born to Hungarian parents in former Yugoslavia. Seles was the World No. 1 professional tennis player in 1991 and 1992 before being forced from the sport when she was stabbed by a spectator at a match in 1993. She did return to the game two years later, but never achieved the same level of success.

57 Grace under fire : POISE

Back in the early 1400s, “poise” meant “quality of being heavy”. We’ve been using the term to mean “steadiness, composure” since the mid-1600s, in the sense of being equally “weighted” on either side.

60 Start to bat? : ACRO-

An acrobat is someone who performs gymnastic feats. The term “acrobat“ comes into English via French from the Greek “akrobatos” meaning “going on tip-toe, climbing up high”.

62 Beehive State athlete : UTE

The Utah Utes are the athletic teams of the University of Utah.

When Mormon pioneers were settling what is today the state of Utah, they referred to the area as Deseret, a word that means “beehive” according to the Book of Mormon. Today Utah is known as the Beehive State and there is a beehive symbol on the Utah state flag. In 1959, “Industry” was even chosen as the state motto, for the term’s association with the beehive.

65 Sgt., for one : NCO

A non-commissioned officer (NCO) might be a sergeant (sgt.) or a corporal (cpl.).

67 Abbr. on a pre-1991 map : SSR

When the former Soviet Union (USSR) dissolved in 1991, it was largely replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The formation of the CIS underscored the new reality, that the former Soviet Republics (SSRs) were now independent states. Most of the 15 former SSRs joined the CIS. Notably, the three Baltic SSRs (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) opted not to join the new commonwealth, and in 2004 joined NATO and the EU.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “The Devil Wears Prada” co-star : STREEP
7 22-Across captain : KIRK
11 Some notebooks : PCS
14 Pirouettes : TWIRLS
15 Be in store : LIE AHEAD
17 Not in a good way : POORLY
18 Classic sci-fi name : MILLENNI …
19 Zeno’s followers : STOICS
21 Have a little lamb, say : YEAN
22 Classic sci-fi name : STARSHIP E …
25 Andean grazer : LLAMA
28 Gumshoe : TEC
29 Keep in inventory : STOCK
31 Vote of dissent : NAY
32 “The Jungle” author Sinclair : UPTON
35 Popular Halloween costume : SKELETON
38 Theoretical shortcuts … or what the four circles in this puzzle represent : WORMHOLES
41 Was superficially polite : MADE NICE
44 Commercial mascot with an honorary Doctor of Bovinity degree : ELSIE
48 Function : USE
49 It’s often eaten with a fork and spoon : PASTA
52 292.5 deg., on a compass : WNW
53 Blueprint info : SPECS
56 – : … NTERPRISE
59 Entreaty : PLEA
61 Boatload, say : AMOUNT
62 – : … UM FALCON
66 Scrabble coups : BINGOS
68 Spice that gives yellow curry its color : TURMERIC
69 Balinese, e.g. : ASIANS
70 Eponymous ice cream maker : EDY
71 18-Across captain : SOLO
72 One exchanging dollars for quarters? : RENTER

Down

1 Big racing sponsor : STP
2 Texas dance : TWO-STEP
3 Cautionary reading? : RIOT ACT
4 “404 Not Found,” e.g. : ERROR
5 New York Harbor’s __ Island : ELLIS
6 Inspires, with “up” : PSYCHS …
7 Dutch carrier : KLM
8 Sundial marking : III
9 Depend : RELY
10 Superman, on Krypton : KAL-EL
11 Baseball championship emblem : PENNANT
12 Preserve, in a way : CAN
13 ’80s missile prog. : SDI
16 Get better : HEAL
20 Obedience school command : SIT!
22 R-V man’s name? : STU
23 Most elegant : POSHEST
24 Marc of fashion : ECKO
26 Red Guard leader : MAO
27 Objectivist Rand : AYN
30 Kenan’s one-time comedy partner : KEL
33 Run a tab, say : OWE
34 Fiction opening? : NON-
36 Big name in denim : LEE
37 Au pair’s subj. : ESL
39 Criticize : RIP
40 Big name in shoes : MCAN
41 Lambda followers : MUS
42 Nile menace : ASP
43 Prepare, as tempura : DEEP-FRY
45 Attempt to hit : SWING AT
46 Permanently : IN STONE
47 Sheep that sounds like a pronoun : EWE
50 London hot spot? : TEA
51 Hand-to-hand combat maneuver : ARM BAR
54 Half-shell serving : CLAM
55 Monica of tennis : SELES
57 Grace under fire : POISE
58 Quarrel : RUN-IN
60 Start to bat? : ACRO-
62 Beehive State athlete : UTE
63 Word with wrestling or pie : MUD …
64 Artist’s medium : OIL
65 Sgt., for one : NCO
67 Abbr. on a pre-1991 map : SSR