LA Times Crossword 16 Sep 21, Thursday

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Constructed by: Jeff Eddings
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Club Sandwich

Themed answers each include a kind of CLUB as a hidden word:

• 60A Order served with toothpicks … and what each of the other four longest answers is? : CLUB SANDWICH

• 17A Alternative medicine treatment : AROMATHERAPY (hiding “MATH”)
• 25A Publicity packages : PRESS KITS (hiding “SKI”)
• 36A “Night on Bald Mountain” inspiration : WITCHES’ SABBATH (hiding “CHESS”)
• 52A Perspicacious : EAGLE-EYED (hiding “GLEE”)

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

Bill’s time: 8m 02s

Bill’s errors: 2

• CYLON (Xylon)
• RUN-DMC (Run-DMX!!!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14 Principle : TENET

A tenet is an article of faith, something that is held to be true. “Tenet” is Latin for “he holds”.

16 Bars often scanned, for short : UPC

Universal Price Code or Universal Product Code (UPC)

19 Masters figure : PAR

Golf’s Masters Tournament is the first of the four major championships in the annual calendar, taking place in the first week of April each year. It is played at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, and has a number of traditions. One is that the winner is awarded the famous “green jacket”, but he only gets to keep it for a year and must return it to the club after twelve months.

21 Staple of African food : TARO

Taro is a root vegetable that is grown for its edible underground plant stems (corms). The English name “taro” is borrowed from the Maori language of New Zealand. The same plant is known as “gabi” in the Philippines, “arbi” in much of India, and “jimbi” in parts of Africa where Swahili is spoken.

22 Poet Gorman who read at President Biden’s inauguration : AMANDA

Amanda Gorman is a poet and activist who, in 2017, was the first person named as the National Youth Poet Laureate. Famously, Gorman recited her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration of President Biden in 2021.

31 Tijuana titles : SENORAS

The equivalent of “Mrs.” in French is “Mme.” (Madame), in Spanish is “Sra.” (Señora) and in Portuguese is also “Sra.” (Senhora).

Tijuana is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California, and lies just across the US-Mexico border from San Diego. Tijuana is also the most westerly of all Mexican cities. A lot of Tijuana’s growth took place in the twenties as tourists flocked south of the border during the days of prohibition in the US. One of the many casinos and hotels that flourished at that time was Hotel Caesar’s in the Avenida Revolución area. Hotel Caesar’s claims to be the birthplace of the now ubiquitous Caesar Salad.

32 FEMA supplies : COTS

Federal emergency management has been structured for over 200 years, but what we know today as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was created in 1979 in an Executive Order issued by President Jimmy Carter.

33 High-end Apple line : MAC PRO

The Mac Pro is the most powerful line of computers made by Apple. The level below the Mac Pro is the iMac, Apple’s all-in-one line of desktops that is most popular. The Mac Mini is Apple’s least powerful desktop, and the smallest. The Mini uses mainly laptop components.

36 “Night on Bald Mountain” inspiration : WITCHES’ SABBATH (hiding “CHESS”)

A Witches’ Sabbath is a nocturnal ritual involving the gathering of witches and those participating in witchcraft. The phrase “Witches’ Sabbath” really only gained traction in the early 1900s.

“Night on Bald Mountain” is a famous tone poem written by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. The original work wasn’t very popular. Five years after Mussorgsky died, fellow composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov rearranged the work, describing it as a “fantasy for orchestra”. It is the Rimsky-Korsakov version that we hear today.

43 Take in a heist : LOOT

“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”.

52 Perspicacious : EAGLE-EYED (hiding “GLEE”)

A glee club is a choir group, usually of males, that sings short songs known as “glees”. A glee is a song scored for three or more voices that is performed unaccompanied.

To be perspicacious is to be very discerning. The term “perspicacity” comes from the Latin “per” meaning “through” and “specere” meaning “to look at”.

57 Lengthy account : LITANY

We use the term “litany” in general speech to describe a sizable series of items. This meaning comes from the older religious use of the same term, to describe a series of prayers that usually involves a repeated response from the congregation.

59 “Washington Week” airer : PBS

“Washington Week” is a public affairs TV program that has been on the air since 1967. The show features a moderated panel discussion between 2-4 Washington-based journalists.

60 Order served with toothpicks … and what each of the other four longest answers is? : CLUB SANDWICH

The club sandwich is a double-decker affair with three layers of bread and two layers of filling. This style of sandwich has been around since the end of the 19th century, and some say it was invented at an exclusive gambling “club” in Saratoga Springs, New York.

67 Phillips 66 brand : CONOCO

The Conoco-branded gasoline stations have their roots in the Conoco petroleum company that was founded in 1875. “Conoco” stands for “Continental Oil and Transportation Company”.

Phillips 66 is a Houston-based oil and gas company. The Phillips Petroleum Company was founded in 1917, and “Phillips 66” gasoline was introduced in 1927. Apparently, the “66” was chosen for several reasons. The gasoline’s specific gravity was about 66, the car testing the fuel traveled at 66 mph, and the road test took place on US Route 66.

68 Former first daughter : MALIA

Malia Obama is the eldest of Barack and Michelle Obama’s two daughters. She graduated from the private Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., the same school that Chelsea Clinton attended. Malia took a gap year after leaving high school, and spent the 2016 summer as an intern in the US Embassy in Madrid, before heading off to Harvard in 2017.

69 Exobiology subj. : ETS

Exobiology is the study of life in the universe, and central to the work of exobiologists is the search for life beyond earth. A fascinating field, I would imagine …

71 “Battlestar Galactica” enemy : CYLON

Cylons are a race of robots that show up as antagonists in the “Battlestar Galactica” sci-fi franchise. The robotic race was the creation of a reptilian race also known as “Cylons”. The original Cylons were overcome by the robots that they themselves created.

Down

3 Tokyo’s Yoko : ONO

Yoko Ono was born in 1933 in Tokyo into a prosperous Japanese family, and is actually a descendant of one of the emperors of Japan. Yoko’s father moved around the world for work, and she lived the first few years of her life in San Francisco. The family returned to Japan, before moving on to New York, Hanoi and back to Japan just before WWII, in time to live through the great firebombing of Tokyo in 1945. Immediately after the war the family was far from prosperous. While Yoko’s father was being held in a prison camp in Vietnam, her mother had to resort to begging and bartering to feed her children. When her father was repatriated, life started to return to normal and Yoko was able to attend university. She was the first woman to be accepted into the philosophy program of Gakushuin University.

4 Like “The Handmaid’s Tale,” to many critics (but not to the author) : FEMINIST

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a 1985 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It is a set in a dystopian New England of the near future, after the overthrow of the US government. The central character is named Offred, who is a “handmaid” forced to bear children for the male ruling class. The novel was adapted into a highly successful TV series of the same name, starring Elizabeth Moss as Offred.

6 Squirt : TWERP

“Twerp” and “pipsqueak” are both terms used for someone who is insignificant and contemptible.

8 Thurman of “Batman & Robin” : UMA

Uma Thurman started her working career as a fashion model, at the age of 15. She appeared in her first movies at 17, with her most acclaimed early role being Cécile de Volanges in 1988’s “Dangerous Liaisons”. Thurman’s career really took off when she played the gangster’s moll Mia in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” in 1994. My favorite of all Thurman’s movies is “The Truth About Cats & Dogs”, a less acclaimed romcom released in 1996. She took a few years off from acting from 1998 until 2002 following the birth of her first child. It was Tarantino who relaunched her career, giving her the lead in the “Kill Bill” films.

“Batman & Robin” is a 1997 superhero movie, with George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell in the title roles. Helping out the good guys in the film is Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone). The villains of the piece are Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman). I think it’s fair to say that “Batman & Robin” bombed at the box office …

10 Word with glass or ware : SPY-

Spyware is software that is installed on a computer to gather information without the owner’s knowledge. Nasty stuff …

11 Worker with a host family : AU PAIR

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.

12 Helen’s homeland : SPARTA

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece that was famous for her military might. Spartan children had a tough upbringing, and newborn babies were bathed in wine to see if the child was strong enough to survive. Every child was presented to a council of elders that decided if the baby was suitable for rearing. Those children deemed too puny were executed by tossing them into a chasm. We’ve been using the term “spartan” to describe something self-disciplined or austere since the 1600s.

According to Greek mythology, Helen (later “Helen of Troy”) was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. When Helen reached the age of marriage, she had many suitors as she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Menelaus was chosen as her husband, and he took her back to his home of Sparta. Paris, a Trojan prince, seduced Helen, as she eloped with him and travelled to Troy. This event sparked the Trojan War that waged between the city of Troy and Greece. Because of this war, Helen was said to have “the face that launched a thousand ships”. And because of this phrase, it has been suggested, probably by author Isaac Asimov, that the amount of beauty needed to launch a single ship is one “millihelen”.

15 Pop duo __ & Him : SHE

She & Him is a musical duo comprising guitarist M. Ward and vocalist Zooey Deschanel, the noted actress. Ward and Deschanel met on the film set for “The Go-Getter” in 2007, and got together to sing over the film’s end credits.

21 Ring ref’s decision : TKO

Technical knockout (TKO)

23 “Where’s my Fancy Feast?” : MEOW!

Fancy Feast is a brand of cat food that was introduced by the Carnation Company in 1982.

24 Bubbly brand : ASTI

Asti is a sparkling white wine from the Piedmont region of Italy that is named for the town of Asti around which the wine is produced. The wine used to be called Asti Spumante, and it had a very bad reputation as a “poor man’s champagne”. The “Spumante” was dropped in a marketing attempt at rebranding associated with a reduction in the amount of residual sugar in the wine.

26 Land bordering los Pirineos : ESPANA

In Spanish, “los Pirineos” (the Pyrenees) is a mountain range straddling the border between “Francia” (France) and “España” (Spain).

The Pyrenees is a mountain range that runs along the border between Spain and France. Nestled between the two countries, high in the mountains, is the lovely country of Andorra, an old haunt of my family during skiing season …

27 Belgrade native : SERB

Serbia is a landlocked country in southeast Europe. After WWII, Serbia became one of several states making up the nation called Yugoslavia. Serbia became independent again in 2006 as Yugoslavia broke up after the declaration of independence by Montenegro.

Belgrade is the capital city of Serbia. The name “Belgrade” translates into “White City”.

28 Classist type : SNOB

Back in the 1780s, a snob was a shoemaker or a shoemaker’s apprentice. By the end of the 18th century the word “snob” was being used by students at Cambridge University in England to refer to all local merchants and people of the town. The term evolved to mean one who copies those who are his or her social superior (and not in a good way). From there it wasn’t a big leap for “snob” to include anyone who emphasized their superior social standing and not just those who aspired to rank. Nowadays a snob is anyone who looks down on those considered to be of inferior standing.

34 Silent speech syst. : ASL

It’s really quite unfortunate that American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) are very different, and someone who has learned to sign in one cannot understand someone signing in the other.

35 CBS series with multiple spin-offs : CSI

I quite enjoy the “CSI” franchise of television shows, all except “CSI: Miami”. I find the character played by David Caruso to be extremely annoying. “CSI: Miami” was cancelled in 2012. No loss …

37 First Nations tribe : CREE

The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Americans on the continent. In the US, Montana is home to most of the Cree nation. They live on a reservation shared with the Ojibwe people. In Canada, most of the Cree live in Manitoba.

“First Nations” is a term used in Canada describing the ethnicity of Native Americans who are neither Inuit nor Métis people.

39 Common dumpster spot : ALLEYWAY

“Dumpster” is one of those words that we use generically, even though it is actually a brand name. The original “Dumpster” was patented by the Dempster Brothers of Knoxville, Tennessee. “Dumpster” is derived from “dump” and “Dempster”.

44 Airport safety org. : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.

46 Peter or Jessica : RABBIT

Beatrix Potter was an English author famous for the children’s books she wrote and illustrated. The most famous character in her stories was Peter Rabbit, whose sisters were Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail. Potter put her talent as an artist to good use in the scientific world as well. She recorded many images of lichens and fungi as seen through her microscope. As a result of her work, she was respected as an expert mycologist.

“Who Framed Roger Rabbit” is a clever 1988 film featuring cartoon characters that interact directly with human beings. The most memorable cartoon characters have to be goofy Roger Rabbit, and vampish Jessica Rabbit. The film is based on a novel written by Gary K. Wolf called “Who Censored Roger Rabbit?” There is a prequel floating around that has never been produced, which is titled “Who Discovered Roger Rabbit”.

51 ’80s hip-hop pioneers : RUN-DMC

Run-DMC was a hip hop group from Queens, New York. The trio took its name from two of the group’s members: Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels.

53 Macaroni type : ELBOW

In many cases, the name given to a type of pasta comes from its shape. However, the name macaroni comes from the type of dough used to make the noodles. Here in the US, macaroni is usually elbow-shaped, but it doesn’t have to be.

54 Brake parts : DISCS

The drum brake was invented in 1902 by Louis Renault (founder of Renault, the automobile company). In a drum brake, there is a set of brake shoes that usually press on the inner surface of the drum to slow down rotation. Nowadays, the disc brake system is more popular, a design which uses brake pads instead of brake shoes.

58 Yin/yang principle : TAO

The name of the Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Taoism signifies the true nature of the world.

The yin and yang can be illustrated using many different metaphors. In one, as the sun shines on a mountain, the side in the shade is the yin and the side in the light is the yang. The yin is also regarded as the feminine side, and the yang the masculine. The yin can also be associated with the moon, while the yang is associated with the sun.

60 Loops in, briefly : CCS

I wonder if the kids of today know that “cc” stands for carbon copy, and do they have any idea what a carbon copy was? Do you remember how messy carbon paper was to handle? A kind blog reader pointed out to me a while back that the abbreviation has evolved and taken on the meaning “courtesy copy” in our modern world.

61 Texter’s chuckle : LOL

Laugh out loud (LOL)

64 AFL partner : CIO

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded in 1886, making it one of the first federations of unions in the country. Over time the AFL became dominated by craft unions, unions representing skilled workers of particular disciplines. In the early thirties, John L. Lewis led a movement within the AFL to organize workers by industry, believing this would be more effective for the members. But the craft unions refused to budge, so Lewis set up a rival federation of unions in 1932, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The two federations became bitter rivals for over two decades until finally merging in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO.

65 Solo of “Star Wars” : HAN

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.