LA Times Crossword 18 Jul 21, Sunday

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Constructed by: MaryEllen Uthlaut
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Flip-flops

Themed answers each comprise four words, with the first the same as the fourth and the second the same as the third:

  • 22A The drive-through diner scene that was cut became a __ : TAKEOUT OUTTAKE
  • 36A The girls who spent the night prioritized chat time at the __ : SLEEPOVER OVER SLEEP
  • 53A When the dog got loose, some house plants __ : ENDED UP UPENDED
  • 81A The casual quarterback made an __ : OFFHAND HANDOFF
  • 99A A navel ring is a piercing one may __ : WEAR UNDER UNDERWEAR
  • 120A The fast-learning police cadet had the __ : PAT-DOWN DOWN PAT

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

Bill’s time: 13m 58s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 Mount Rainier gateway : TACOMA

Tacoma is a city on Puget Sound in the state of Washington. The city took its name from Mount Rainier that is nearby, as the peak is also known as Tacoma (or “Tahoma”).

13 Hoops statistic : ASSIST

Basketball is truly a North American sport. It was created in 1891 by Canadian James Naismith at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. His goal was to create something active and interesting for his students in the gym. The first “hoops” were actually peach baskets, with the bottoms of the baskets intact. When a player got the ball into the “net”, someone had to clamber up and get the ball back out again in order to continue the game!

20 In favor of Mideast unity : PAN-ARAB

Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification of the Arab world. The Arab world comprises the 22 countries that are members of the Arab League. Thoise countries are located in Northern Western and Eastern Africa, and in Western Asia.

21 Arty : CHICHI

Someone or something described as chichi is showily trendy and pretentious. “Chichi” is a French noun meaning “airs, fuss”.

25 Fall garden? : EDEN

In the Christian tradition, the “fall of man” took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This went against the bidding of God, and was at the urging of the serpent. As a result, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden to prevent them from becoming immortal by eating from the tree of life. The first humans had transitioned from a state of innocent obedience to a state of guilty disobedience.

26 Riverbank residue : SILT

Today, we mostly think of silt as a deposit of sediment in a river. Back in the mid-1400s, silt was sediment deposited by seawater. It is thought that the word “silt” is related to “salt”, as found in seawater.

27 Parisian season : ETE

In French, “été” (summer) is “la saison chaude” (the warm season).

The French capital of Paris is named for the Parisii, a Celtic Iron-Age people that lived in the area on the banks of the River Seine.

29 What Jill has that Jack doesn’t? : DOT

A tittle is a small diacritical mark used in writing. Examples are the cedilla and tilde used in some languages, and the dot over the lowercase letters i and j in English.

32 1956 title film monster : RODAN

Rodan is a flying pterosaur appearing in a series of Japanese monster movies, created by the same studio that had earlier come up with Godzilla.

34 Smart : NATTY

A natty dresser is one who dresses smartly. The term “natty” may come from the Middle English “net” meaning “fine, elegant”, in which case it shares its etymology with the word “neat”.

41 LP’s 33 1/3 : RPM

The first vinyl records designed to play at 33⅓ rpm were introduced by RCA Victor in 1931, but were discontinued due to quality problems. The first long play (LP) 33⅓ rpm disc was introduced by Columbia Records many years later in 1948, with RCA Victor following up with a 45 rpm “single” the following year, in 1949.

46 Sugary ending : -OSE

Sugars are usually named using the “-ose” suffix e.g., glucose, fructose, sucrose.

50 Shot __: competitive event : PUT

Shot put, or events like shot put, have been around for millennia, but the first events that truly resemble today’s track and field event had to come with the invention of the cannonball. Soldiers would “put” (throw) cannonballs as far as possible in attempts to outperform each other. Shot put has been in the modern Olympic Games since day-one, with American Robert Garrett winning the gold in the first games in 1896.

57 False front : FACADE

Our word “facade” has been meaning “front of a building” since the mid-17th century. We started using the term figuratively, to mean “superficial appearance”, in the mid-19th century. “Façade” is the original French word with the same meaning, from which our English term derives.

64 What a stationary orrery part may represent : SUN

An orrery is an ingenious mechanical device that shows the relative motion and relative positions of the planets in our solar system. The first “modern” orrery was produced in 1704 and was presented to the Irish peer known as the Earl of Orrery, from whence the name “orrery” comes.

65 Clarifying Latin words : ID EST

“Id est” is Latin for “that is”, and is often abbreviated to “i.e.” when used in English.

68 Sweetens, as yams : CANDIES

Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the world than they are in this country, and are especially common in Africa.

70 Iraqi currency : DINAR

The dinar is the official currency in many countries, such as Iraq, Tunisia and Serbia. The gold dinar dates back to the early days of Islam, with the name deriving from the Roman currency called “denarius” meaning “ten times” (as it was originally a coin worth ten asses).

72 Modified for the better : AMENDED

The verb “to amend” means “to change for the better, put right, alter by adding”. The related verb “to emend” is used more rarely, and mainly in reference to the editing of professional writing. Both terms are derived from the Latin “emendare” meaning “to remove fault”.

77 Stroke that makes a rally irrelevant : ACE

That might be tennis, for example.

78 Surrealist German-French painter : ARP

Jean Arp was a French artist renowned for his work with torn and pasted paper, although that wasn’t the only medium he used. Arp was the son of a French mother and German father and spoke both languages fluently. When he was speaking German he gave his name as Hans Arp, but when speaking French he called himself Jean Arp. Both “Hans” and “Jean” translate into English as “John”. In WWI Arp moved to Switzerland to avoid being called up to fight, taking advantage of Swiss neutrality. Eventually he was told to report to the German Consulate and fill out paperwork for the draft. In order to get out of fighting, Arp messed up the paperwork by writing the date in every blank space on the forms. Then he took off all of his clothes and walked with his papers over to the officials in charge. Arp was sent home …

88 Bossy utterance : MOO

“Bossy” is a common name used for a cow, just like a cat might be called “Kitty”. “Bossy” comes from the Latin word “bos” meaning “ox, cow”.

89 African capital on the 30th parallel : CAIRO

Cairo is the capital city of Egypt. It is nicknamed “The City of a Thousand Minarets” because of its impressive skyline replete with Islamic architecture. The name “Cairo” is a European corruption of the city’s original name in Arabic, “Al-Qahira”.

90 “It is a __ told by an idiot”: Macbeth : TALE

In William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”, the title character utters some famous words on hearing that his wife has died:

She should have died hereafter.
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time.
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

96 Mrs., in Madrid : SRA

Madrid is the most populous city in Spain, and is the nation’s capital. It is located very close to the geographical center of the country. Madrid is the second-largest city in the European Union by population, after Berlin. People from Madrid called themselves Madrileños.

105 It has pipes and keys : ORGAN

A stop is a component of a pipe organ that admits a flow of air to a specific set of organ pipes. The organ player can allow air to flow, or can “stop” it (hence the name “stop”). Stops are classified according to the group of pipes that are controlled, with stops often being named for the sounds imitated by those pipes. So, for example, there are flute stops, string stops and reed stops.

107 Apple operating system : IOS

iOS is what Apple now calls its mobile operating system. Previously, it was known as iPhone OS.

108 Hadrian’s defense : WALL

The Roman Emperor Hadrian is best remembered today for building Hadrian’s Wall, a barrier marking the northern limit of Roman Britain. Construction of the stone wall started in AD 122, and the end result was the most fortified border in the whole of the Roman Empire. Much of Hadrian’s Wall can still be seen today, and I’ve had the privilege of walking along part of it when visiting Northern England.

115 Memorable first name in soccer : MIA

Mia Hamm is a retired American soccer player. She played as a forward on the US national team that won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991. Hamm scored 158 international goals, which was more than any other player in the world, male or female, until the record was broken in 2013. Amazingly, Hamm was born with a clubfoot, and so had to wear corrective shoes when she was growing up.

118 Indicating stress : ITALIC

Italic type leans to the right, and is often used to provide emphasis in text. The style is known as “italic” because the stylized calligraphic form of writing originated in Italy, probably in the Vatican.

125 Red-skinned root : RADISH

Radishes are edible root vegetables that are commonly grown for use in salads. Gardeners also use radishes as companion plants as the odor given off can deter pests such as aphids, ants and cucumber beetles.

Down

3 “North and South” trilogy author John __ : JAKES

“North and South” is a series of three novels by John Jakes set before, during and after the Civil War. The titles of the individual novels are:

  1. “North and South” (1982)
  2. “Love and War” (1984)
  3. “Heaven and Hell” (1987)

5 Bill’s partner : COO

When birds bill and coo together they touch beaks and make noises to each other. The term “bill and coo” is also used when two lovers talk quietly to each other, and kiss.

12 Prez on a penny : ABE

The US one-cent coin has borne the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of Lincoln’s birth. Fifty years later, a representation of the Lincoln Memorial was added to the reverse side.

17 NBA’s Steph Curry, frequently : SHOOTER

Stephen Curry is a professional basketball player who was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the 2009 draft. Steph’s father is former NBA player Dell Curry, and his younger brother is current player Seth Curry. Steph Curry is noted for accuracy in shooting. Curry set the record for three-pointers made in a regular season in 2013, broke that record in 2015, and broke it yet again in 2016.

18 Early photograph : TINTYPE

Tintypes are photographs made on a thin sheet of metal, rather than the traditional paper. Tintypes were popular at fairs and carnivals in the 1860s and 1870s, as they did not need the long drying time that was required for images printed on paper. There is actually no tin involved in the process, and the thin metal substrate is made from iron. As such, tintypes are also known as ferrotypes.

20 Sea anemone, e.g. : POLYP

Polyps are tiny sea creatures that are found attached to underwater structures or to other polyps. Polyps have a mouth at one end of a cylindrical “body” that is surrounded by tentacles. Some polyps cluster into groups called stony corals, with stony corals being the building blocks of coral reefs. The structure of the reef comprises calcium carbonate exoskeletons secreted by the coral polyps.

The name “anemone” means “daughter of the wind” in Greek, and at one time it was believed that the wind was what actually caused the flower to bloom. The sea anemone is named for the terrestrial plant even though the sea anemone isn’t a plant at all. The sea anemone is a predatory animal found on the ocean floor.

28 “__ of robins …”: Kilmer : A NEST

American journalist and poet Joyce Kilmer is primarily known for his 1913 poem titled “Trees”. The original text of the poem is:

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Kilmer died a few years after writing “Trees”. He was a casualty of the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at the age of 31.

35 The Eiger, for one : ALP

The Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It is a noted peak for mountain climbing, with its treacherous north face being the most famous approach to the summit. Over sixty climbers have died since 1935 on that north face.

38 “Get __”: James Brown biopic : ON UP

“Get on Up” is a 2014 film about the life of soul singer James Brown, who is portrayed by Chadwick Boseman. Mick Jagger is one of the movie’s producers, and appears as a character on screen (played by Nick Eversman).

Singer James Brown was often referred to as “The Godfather of Soul” and sometimes “Mr. Dynamite”. Brown was born in Barnwell, South Carolina and had a rough and impoverished upbringing. He lived for some years in his aunt’s house which she ran as a brothel, and when he was sixteen he was convicted of armed robbery and was sent to reform school. While in reform school, Brown was noticed by the R&B star Bobby Byrd, who took him under his wing. Byrd helped secure the young man an early release, and thereafter Brown turned his energies to music.

43 Singer/actress known as the “Queen of Pop” : MADONNA

Madonna’s full name is Madonna Louise Ciccone. Born in Bay City, Michigan, Madonna was destined to become the top-selling female recording artist of all time, earning her the nickname
Queen of Pop”.

50 Mae West’s “I used to be Snow White, but I drifted,” e.g. : PUN

Comic actress Mae West can be quoted so easily, as she had so many great lines delivered so well. Here are a few:

  • When I’m good, I’m very good. When I’m bad, I’m better.
  • When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I’ve never tried before.
  • I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.
  • Marriage is a great institution, but I’m not ready for an institution yet.
  • I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
  • Why don’t you come on up and see me sometime — when I’ve got nothin’ on but the radio.
  • It’s better to be looked over than overlooked.
  • To err is human, but it feels divine.
  • I like my clothes to be tight enough to show I’m a woman, but loose enough to show I’m a lady.
  • I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.
  • Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

51 Icelandic literary work : EDDA

“Poetic Edda” and “Prose Edda” are two ancient works that are the source for much of Norse mythology. Both Eddas were written in the 13th century in Iceland.

56 Beethoven’s __ : NINTH

Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” is his wonderful “Choral” symphony. When it was composed in 1824 it was the first time that a major composer had used voices in a symphony. By the time of the Ninth’s premier, Beethoven was essentially deaf. He insisted on sharing the stage with the musical director (who was conducting), and was visibly counting out time but was off by quite a few measures. When the last notes were played there was enthusiastic applause, although Beethoven was still conducting. The lead contralto had to walk over to Beethoven, stop him, and turn him to the audience to receive his adulation.

60 Google operating system : ANDROID

Android is an operating system for mobile devices that was developed by Google. Android is mainly used on touchscreen devices like smartphones and tablets, although versions have been developed for cars (Android Auto), for televisions (Android TV) and for wrist watches (Android Wear). Android is the most successful operating system today, having the most extensive installed base.

62 Announcer Hall : EDD

Edd Hall is most famous as the former announcer for Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show”. Hall replaced Ed McMahon when Johnny Carson retired from the show.

66 Gauge on the dash : TACH

The tachometer takes its name from the Greek word “tachos” meaning “speed”. A tachometer in a car measures engine revolutions per minute (rpm).

68 Opposite of trans : CIS

The term “cisgender” is now used as the opposite of “transgender”. Cisgender people have a gender identity that matches the sex they were assigned at birth.

76 Often “old” eccentric : CODGER

“Geezer”, “codger” and “coot” are all not-so-nice terms meaning “old man”.

84 Final Four org. : NCAA

In the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship, the teams remaining at various stages of the tournament are known as:

  • The “Sweet Sixteen” (the regional semi-finalists)
  • The “Elite Eight” (the regional finalists)
  • The “Final Four” (the national semi-finalists)

85 Moriarty, to Holmes : FOE

Professor James Moriarty is the main villain who crosses swords with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes”. Moriarty is always cropping up in Sherlock Holmes television and radio plays and in movies, but if you go back to the original stories he isn’t around very much. He only turns up directly in two of the narratives, and was primarily introduced by Conan Doyle in order to “kill off” Sherlock Holmes in a brawl at the top of the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. Both Holmes and Moriarty fell to their deaths. Well … public pressure on the author caused Conan Doyle to resurrect Holmes in “The Hound of the Baskervilles”.

87 __ longlegs : DADDY

“Daddy longlegs” is a common term used to describe several species of insect, including harvestmen, cellar spiders and crane flies.

92 Slowpoke : LAGGARD

A “laggard” is someone or something that lags behind.

Back in the early 1800s, a “poke” was a device attached to domestic animals such as pigs or sheep to keep them from escaping their enclosures. The poke was like a yoke with a pole, and slowed the animal down, hence the term “slowpoke”.

96 Excalibur, e.g. : SWORD

Excalibur is the legendary sword of the legendary King Arthur of Great Britain. In some accounts, Arthur was given the sword by the Lady of the Lake. There is sometimes confusion about the origin of Excalibur, as Arthur famously is said to have pulled a sword from a stone, hence proving him to be a true king. The Sword in the Stone is a different sword, and not Excalibur.

101 Pecorino __ cheese : ROMANO

Pecorino is a family of hard cheeses from Italy, with the name coming from the Italian “pecora” meaning “sheep”. The most famous variety here in North America is Pecorino Romano, which we often refer to simply as “Romano”.

102 __ Kingdom : UNITED

The terms “United Kingdom”, “Great Britain” and “England” can sometimes be confused. The official use of “United Kingdom” originated in 1707 with the Acts of Union that declared the countries of England and Scotland as “United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain”. The name changed again with the Acts of Union 1800 that created the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” (much to the chagrin of most of the Irish population). This was partially reversed in 1927 when the current name was introduced, the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, in recognition of an independent Irish Free State in the south of the island of Ireland.

103 Laughing : RIANT

“Riant” is such a lovely word, I think, “meaning cheerful, laughing and full of mirth”. “Riant” comes into English directly from French, and is the past participle of “rire” meaning “to laugh”.

104 Its capital is Kigali : RWANDA

Kigali is the capital of the African nation of Rwanda, and is located in the center of the country. That location led to the city being picked as the capital in 1962, over the traditional capital of Nyanza. The choice was made on the occasion of Rwanda’s independence from Belgium. Kigali was the center of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, in which half a million to one million Rwandans were killed. That was perhaps 20% of the country’s total population wiped out in the space of four months.

109 Gelatin garnish : ASPIC

Aspic is a dish in which the main ingredients are served in a gelatin made from meat stock. “Aspic” is a French word meaning “jelly”.

114 Book after John : 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”.

116 Nine-time U.S. skating champ Michelle : KWAN

Michelle Kwan is perhaps the most successful American figure skater in history. As well as being an Olympic medalist twice, World champion five times, Kwan was US champion a record nine times.

119 Gift with an aloha : LEI

The Hawaiian word “aloha” has many meanings in English: affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. More recently, “aloha” has come to mean “hello” and “goodbye”, but only since the mid-1800s.

120 Brief afterthoughts : PSS

One adds a PS (post scriptum, or simply “postscript”) at the end of a letter (ltr.). A second postscript is a post post scriptum, a PPS.

122 Become more intense, as the moon : WAX

The verbs “to wax” and “to wane” come from Old English. To wax is to increase gradually in size, strength, intensity or number. To wane is to decrease gradually.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Wretched : ABJECT
7 Mount Rainier gateway : TACOMA
13 Hoops statistic : ASSIST
19 Taste : FLAVOR
20 In favor of Mideast unity : PAN-ARAB
21 Arty : CHICHI
22 The drive-through diner scene that was cut became a __ : TAKEOUT OUTTAKE
24 Right after this : HEREON
25 Fall garden? : EDEN
26 Riverbank residue : SILT
27 Parisian season : ETE
28 Vote of support : AYE
29 What Jill has that Jack doesn’t? : DOT
30 Break : REST
31 Stab : TRY
32 1956 title film monster : RODAN
34 Smart : NATTY
36 The girls who spent the night prioritized chat time at the __ : SLEEPOVER OVER SLEEP
41 LP’s 33 1/3 : RPM
44 Browsing annoyances : ADS
45 Wordless agreement : NOD
46 Sugary ending : -OSE
47 Reduce : PARE
48 Long : YEARN
50 Shot __: competitive event : PUT
51 Privileged people : ELITE
53 When the dog got loose, some house plants __ : ENDED UP UPENDED
57 False front : FACADE
63 Get into : DON
64 What a stationary orrery part may represent : SUN
65 Clarifying Latin words : ID EST
67 Grew dimmer : WANED
68 Sweetens, as yams : CANDIES
70 Iraqi currency : DINAR
72 Modified for the better : AMENDED
74 Private : INNER
75 Barely sufficient : SCANT
77 Stroke that makes a rally irrelevant : ACE
78 Surrealist German-French painter : ARP
79 Gazes fixedly : STARES
81 The casual quarterback made an __ : OFFHAND HANDOFF
86 Expand : ADD TO
88 Bossy utterance : MOO
89 African capital on the 30th parallel : CAIRO
90 “It is a __ told by an idiot”: Macbeth : TALE
94 What chatty tongues do? : WAG
95 Poke fun at : KID
96 Mrs., in Madrid : SRA
98 Apply a new hue to : DYE
99 A navel ring is a piercing one may __ : WEAR UNDER UNDERWEAR
105 It has pipes and keys : ORGAN
106 Source of some overhead footage : DRONE
107 Apple operating system : IOS
108 Hadrian’s defense : WALL
112 Follow (along) closely : TAG
113 “It totally happened!” : WAY!
115 Memorable first name in soccer : MIA
116 Small racer : KART
117 Sailing : ASEA
118 Indicating stress : ITALIC
120 The fast-learning police cadet had the __ : PAT-DOWN DOWN PAT
123 Most trifling : MEREST
124 Fail to take seriously : SNEER AT
125 Red-skinned root : RADISH
126 Current events? : EDDIES
127 Soaked through : SODDEN
128 Demands and gets : EXACTS

Down

1 Following : AFTER
2 Business end of an ax : BLADE
3 “North and South” trilogy author John __ : JAKES
4 Track contests : EVENTS
5 Bill’s partner : COO
6 Confided in : TRUSTED
7 Showing strain : TAUT
8 One lining up for food? : ANT
9 Took care of the food : CATERED
10 Strong speaker : ORATOR
11 Be resourceful : MAKE DO
12 Prez on a penny : ABE
13 Feeling it after a workout : ACHY
14 Lusters : SHEENS
15 Honorary title : SIR
16 Picnic pitcherful : ICED TEA
17 NBA’s Steph Curry, frequently : SHOOTER
18 Early photograph : TINTYPE
20 Sea anemone, e.g. : POLYP
23 Gives out : TIRES
28 “__ of robins …”: Kilmer : A NEST
33 Refrains from : AVOIDS
35 The Eiger, for one : ALP
37 Secure, as a job or a role : LAND
38 “Get __”: James Brown biopic : ON UP
39 Choose at the polls : VOTE
40 Shipping hazard : REEF
41 Bread-making grain : RYE
42 Locket, for one : PENDANT
43 Singer/actress known as the “Queen of Pop” : MADONNA
49 Cause to become : RENDER
50 Mae West’s “I used to be Snow White, but I drifted,” e.g. : PUN
51 Icelandic literary work : EDDA
52 Sidelong glance : LEER
54 Consume : USE
55 Kitty : PUSS
56 Beethoven’s __ : NINTH
58 Response to the sublime : AWE
59 Largest English-speaking country : CANADA
60 Google operating system : ANDROID
61 Cook, as much county fair fare : DEEP-FRY
62 Announcer Hall : EDD
66 Gauge on the dash : TACH
68 Opposite of trans : CIS
69 Hot temper : IRE
70 Inane : DAFT
71 Lowdown : INFO
73 “Give __ minute” : ME A
76 Often “old” eccentric : CODGER
77 Big deal : ADO
80 Like fireplace logs : SAWN
82 Within : AMID
83 Plant stem joint : NODE
84 Final Four org. : NCAA
85 Moriarty, to Holmes : FOE
87 __ longlegs : DADDY
90 Cheat on one’s sweet, say : TWO-TIME
91 Freshened up, in a way : AERATED
92 Slowpoke : LAGGARD
93 Often titled stretch : ERA
95 Massaged : KNEADED
96 Excalibur, e.g. : SWORD
97 Put back as it was : RESTORE
100 Not sensible : UNWISE
101 Pecorino __ cheese : ROMANO
102 __ Kingdom : UNITED
103 Laughing : RIANT
104 Its capital is Kigali : RWANDA
109 Gelatin garnish : ASPIC
110 “Not in the __” : LEAST
111 Framework strips : LATHS
114 Book after John : ACTS
116 Nine-time U.S. skating champ Michelle : KWAN
119 Gift with an aloha : LEI
120 Brief afterthoughts : PSS
121 Metal source : ORE
122 Become more intense, as the moon : WAX

9 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 18 Jul 21, Sunday”

  1. No errors but several words/clues I did not understand. Got them all through crosses… I was more confused with the clue than I was with the answer.

    The theme fell quick and that helped in connecting the elusive dots…

    PANARAB. RIANT WAG CHICHI

  2. Slow but steady. Never heard of riant, but I like it.
    I put pro Arab instead of pan Arab and never caught it until I was all filled in but not done.
    A fun puzzle.

  3. Just under an hour with no errors…I corrected several mistakes in a review which I sometimes lack the discipline to do but should.
    Stay safe😀

  4. 29:39 1 error

    Fun theme that helped quite a bit.

    RIANT is indeed a cool word.

  5. 21 minutes, 48 seconds, no errors, but needed Check Grid to “proofread” a few outliers. A rare puzzle where it helped to understand the theme device while working the grid.

  6. Yes, fun puzzle today. No errors or lookups, but had to change
    a couple of words as the crosses became known i.e. “herein”
    to “hereon” and “emended” to “amended..”

    Certainly not as fast as Bill’s time, but pretty quickly for a
    Sunday puzzle. The theme helped a lot once it became evident.

  7. A nice Sunday puzzle – 31:58 with one letter error: WAn/EnACTS, which I should have caught if I had re-evaluated and probably would have come up with “wax and wane” for the moon. Not sure why I was satisfied with “wan” and “enacts”.

    Points of difficulty were: PRO vs PANARAB; lesser-known proper names like ARP and JAKES; Bill and “COO” (an outdated phrase if ever there was one).

    I also thought the theme was kind of fun. It certainly helped with the overall solving, overall. New words were RIANT, ORRERY.

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