LA Times Crossword 23 Jan 22, Sunday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Michael Schlossberg
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Nuts!

Themed answers are each a type of person referred to “punnily” in the clue as a “NUT”, an enthusiast. And, each clue appears to be a common type of NUT:

  • 23A Hex nut? : WITCH DOCTOR
  • 32A Palm nut? : FORTUNE TELLER
  • 50A Date nut? : HISTORY BUFF
  • 65A Wing nut? : STUNT PILOT
  • 71A Butternut? : PASTRY CHEF
  • 91A Doughnut? : BANK MANAGER
  • 104A Wheel nut? : RACE CAR DRIVER
  • 120A Chestnut? : BODYBUILDER

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

Bill’s time: 17m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Spanish for “prairie” : PAMPA

The pampas are fertile lowlands covering a large part of Argentina, Uruguay and some of Brazil. “Pampa” is a Quechua word meaning “plain”.

6 __ wind : SOLAR

The Sun’s upper atmosphere continually ejects a stream of the charged particles that have such high energy that they can escape the Sun’s gravity. This supersonic plasma consisting mainly of electrons, protons and alpha particles is referred to as the solar wind. The solar wind extends as far as the outer limits of our solar system, and is responsible for phenomena such as the Earth’s northern and southern lights, the geomagnetic storms that affect radio reception, and the plasma tails of comets.

11 “Carmina Burana” composer : ORFF

“Carmina Burana” is a cantata by Carl Orff based on a collection of medieval poems that go by the same name. The name translates as “Songs from Beuern”. The best known movement of the cantata by far is the dramatic “O Fortuna” used at the opening and closing of the piece. One study placed “O Fortuna” as the most often played piece of classical music in the UK over the past 75 years, largely due to its use in television commercials. Famously, the piece appeared in the US in ads for Gatorade and Old Spice aftershave.

19 Verdi creations : ARIAS

Giuseppe Verdi was an Italian composer, mainly of operas, who was active during the Romantic era. Equally as famous as Verdi’s operas, are arias and choruses from those operas such as “La donna è mobile” from “Rigoletto”, “The Drinking Song” from “La Traviata” and “The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from “Nabucco”. Verdi was a big fan of William Shakespeare and wrote three operas based on the Bard’s plays: “Macbeth”, “Otello” and “Falstaff”.

20 Milan fashion house : PRADA

Prada started out in 1913 as a leather-goods shop in Milan, one established by the two Prada brothers. One of the brothers, Mario Prada, prevented the female members of his family from participating in the running of the company as he didn’t believe women should be involved in business (!). When the sexist brother died, his son had no interest in the business so it was his daughter who took over and ran the company for about twenty years, handing it over to her own daughter. I’d say the devil loved that …

22 Hose color : ECRU

The color ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.

The word “hose” meaning “covering for the leg” has the same roots as the contemporary German word “Hose” meaning “trousers, pants”.

23 Hex nut? : WITCH DOCTOR

“Hexen” is a German word meaning “to practice witchcraft”. The use of the word “hex” in English started with the Pennsylvania Dutch in the early 1800s.

25 Paints the town red : LIVES IT UP

It’s possible that the phrase “to paint the town red”, meaning “to go on a raucous spree”, actually dates back to a particular event. It is well documented that in 1837, the Marquis of Waterford and a group of friends went wild one day in the town of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England. They actually painted a whole load of the town’s buildings red. Which came first though, the incident or the idiom? Well, that is the question …

27 Sinus-clearing aids : NETI POTS

A neti pot is a spouted vessel that is used for nasal irrigation. “Neti” is a Sanskrit word meaning “nasal cleansing”.

In anatomical terms, a sinus is a cavity in tissue. Sinuses are found all over the body, in the kidney and heart for example, but we most commonly think of the paranasal sinuses that surround the nose.

28 Boilermaker ingredient : BEER

A boilermaker is a beer cocktail, a serving of beer mixed with a shot of whiskey, or sometimes a shot of tequila or vodka. If the whiskey is still in a shot glass when it’s dropped into the beer, then it’s known as a depth charge.

32 Palm nut? : FORTUNE TELLER

The practice of telling fortunes by studying palms is known as palmistry, palm reading, chiromancy or chirology. The term “chiromancy” comes from the Greek “kheir” (hand) and “mateia” (divination).

37 “__ Bop”: Cyndi Lauper song : SHE

“She Bop” is a hit song released by Cyndi Lauper in 1984. The song was considered controversial because of the sexual nature of the lyrics. In fact, Lauper claims that she recorded the vocal track while she was naked.

If you’ve ever heard Cyndi Lauper speaking, you’d know that she was from Queens, New York. She is the daughter of divorced parents, and strongly influenced by a supportive mother. Lauper was always a free spirit, and even as a young teen in the mid-sixties she dyed her hair different colors and wore outlandish fashions. She was a young woman who wanted to “find herself”, and to that end she once spent two weeks alone in the woods up in Canada, well, just with her dog.

39 Fiver : ABE

The US five-dollar bill is often called an “Abe”, as President Abraham Lincoln’s portrait is on the front. An Abe is also referred to as a “fin”, a term that has been used for a five-pound note in Britain since 1868.

40 “Curious George” co-author Margret : REY

Curious George is a character in a series of children’s books written by husband and wife Hans Augusto and Margret Rey. The couple wrote the original stories in Paris, taking the manuscripts with them as they fled from the city ahead of the Nazi invasion in 1940.

41 City on the Skunk : AMES

The city of Ames, Iowa is famous for holding the now-defunct Ames Straw Poll (also “Iowa Straw Poll) in advance of presidential elections. The poll in question was used to gauge the level of support for two or more Republican candidates, although non-Republicans were allowed to cast a vote. To vote one had to be an Iowa resident and had to buy a ticket to the fundraising dinner at which the vote was taken. The event got a lot of coverage, so it boosted the local economy as journalists hit the town. It was a very successful fundraiser for the Republican Party in Iowa as well, but the usefulness of the straw poll in predicting the eventual winner of the nomination was less clear. There were six straw polls from its inception in 1979, and just 2 out of the 6 times the poll winner went on to capture the party’s nomination. The Republican Party decided to pull the plug on the event in 2015.

The Skunk River in Iowa is a tributary of the Mississippi. The etymology of the river’s name is a little unclear, and is probably a mistranslation of the Sauk and Meskwaki name “Shecaqua”, which means “strong and obnoxious smell”. The headwaters of the Skunk River was known for its wild onions along the banks, hence the “odoriferous” reference. A better translation might have been “Onion River”.

42 Audrey of “The Da Vinci Code” : TAUTOU

French actress Audrey Tautou is perhaps most famous in North America for playing the title role in 2001’s “Amélie”, and the female lead in 2006’s “The Da Vinci Code”. In 2009, Tuatou replaced Nicole Kidman as spokesmodel for Chanel No. 5.

“The Da Vinci Code” is a 2006 thriller mystery film based on the bestselling 2003 novel of the same name by Dan Brown. It is the first in the “Robert Langdon” series of films, with Tom Hanks playing the lead. The film is pretty controversial, and was harshly criticized by the Roman Catholic Church. It was also banned in several countries, including Syria, Jordan, Iran, Egypt and Pakistan. Well, I enjoyed it …

45 Flavorful : SAPID

Something that is sapid is tasty, savory. The opposite to “sapid” is “insipid”, meaning “without taste, bland”.

50 Date nut? : HISTORY BUFF

A buff or nut is someone who is extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a subject. For example, one might be a movie buff, or perhaps a baseball nut.

52 Brewers’ gadgets : TEA BALLS

A tea ball or tea egg is a tea infuser. It is basically a ball, made of perforated metal or mesh, into which loose tea is placed. It has been superseded by the modern tea bag. I drink an awful lot of tea, and do have a tea ball here at the house. But, life is a lot easier using tea bags …

59 Bit : IOTA

Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet, and one that gave rise to our letters I and J. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small, as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

64 Old Bruins nickname : ESPO

Phil “Espo” Esposito is a former professional hockey player who played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. Espo scored 126 points in the 1969 season, hence becoming the first NHL player to score 100 points in a season.

The Boston Bruins professional ice hockey team goes way back, and has been in existence since 1924. The National Hockey League back then was a Canadian-only league, but was expanded to include the US in 1923. The Bruins were the first US-team in the expanded league.

74 Folksy Guthrie : ARLO

Singer Arlo Guthrie is known for his protest songs, just like his father Woody Guthrie. The younger Guthrie only ever had one song in the top 40: a cover version of “City of New Orleans”. He has lived for years in the town of Washington, just outside Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His 1976 song “Massachusetts” has been the official folk song of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 1981.

75 Abdominal scar, actually : NAVEL

The navel is basically the scar left behind when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby. One interesting use of the umbilicus (navel, belly button) is to differentiate between identical twins, especially when they are very young.

77 Earth goddess : GAIA

The Greek goddess personifying the earth was Gaea (also “Gaia”, and meaning “land” or “earth” in Greek). The Roman equivalent goddess was Terra Mater, “Mother Earth”.

78 One in the alley’s back row : NINE-PIN

In tenpin bowling, the pins are arranged in a triangular arrangement. The pin at the front is the 1-pin. The pins at the back are number 7 through 10, from left to right.

81 Pueblo building material : ADOBE

The building material known as adobe has been around a long time, and has been used in dry climates all over the world. The original form of the word “adobe” dates back to Middle Egyptian times, about 2000 BC. The original spelling is “dj-b-t”, and translates as mud (sun-dried) brick.

A pueblo is a Native-American village found in the American Southwest. The buildings in a pueblo are usually made of stone and adobe mud.

84 Breakfast cereal magnate : CW POST

C. W. Post decided to get into the cereal business after visiting the Battle Creek Sanitarium operated by John Harvey Kellogg. Post was interested in the chemistry of digestion and was inspired by the dietary products offered by Kellogg at his sanitarium. The first breakfast cereal Post introduced was Grape-Nuts, way back in 1897.

89 Zigzagged, in a sport : SLALOMED

“Slalom” is an anglicized version of the Norwegian word “slalam” that translates as “skiing race”. There is a longer version of the traditional slalom that is called giant slalom

94 Drink with a painful homophone : ALE

“Ale” is a homophone of “ail”.

Homophones are words that are pronounced in the same way (e.g., ere, air, err and heir). Homonyms are a subset of homophones, and are words that have the same spelling and the same pronunciation but different meanings, for example, skate (a fish) and skate (worn on the foot).

102 New Haven collegian : ELI

The city of New Haven, Connecticut was founded in 1638 by Puritan immigrants from England. Famously, it is home to Yale University. The city also initiated the first public tree planting program in the country. The large elms included in the program led to New Haven being called “the Elm City”.

103 FDR had three of them : VEEPS

John Nance Garner was Speaker of the House when he ran against New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt for the Democratic nomination for the presidential race in 1932. When it was clear that Roosevelt was to win the nomination, Garner cut a deal with FDR and joined the ticket as candidate for vice president. When the two Democrats won, they were sworn into office on March 4, 1933. As he was still Speaker of the House at the time, Garner is the only person to have held the office of both Speaker and Vice President on the same day.

Politician Henry A. Wallace is best remembered as the second US vice president in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration (after John Nance Garner). Wallace served through much of World War II, and took on additional responsibilities to help the war effort, above and beyond the regular duties of vice president. As a result, many historians regard him as the first US vice president to work as the number two man in government.

Harry S. Truman became vice president under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January of 1945. He was in office for only 82 days when he was informed at the Whie House by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt that her husband had died in Warm Springs, Georgia. Truman was sworn in as US president, and served out the remainder of Roosevelt’s term without naming a replacement vice president. When Truman ran for president in his own right in 1948, he shared the ticket with Alben W. Barkley. Truman and Barkely won that election, and were in office until 1953.

110 Card game cry : GIN!

Gin rummy is a faster variant of standard rummy. It was introduced in 1909 by one Elwood Baker and his son.

111 “C’est magnifique!” : OOH LA LA!

“C’est magnifique!” is French for “It is magnificent!”

113 Punter’s metric : HANG TIME

That would be football.

118 Reggie Jackson nickname based on his postseason success : MR OCTOBER

Former baseball player Reggie Jackson is known as “Mr. October”, because of his memorable postseason performances.

123 “Game of Thrones,” for one : SAGA

“A Game of Thrones” is the first novel in the series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin titled “A Song of Ice and Fire”. That first novel’s title gives its name to “Game of Thrones”, the incredibly popular HBO television series that uses the storyline from the whole series of books.

125 Hawaiian veranda : LANAI

A lanai is a type of veranda, and a design that originated in Hawaii. A kind blog reader tells me that the etymology of “lanai” seems unclear, but that the island name of “Lana’i” is not related.

126 Squirrels’ haunts : OAKS

The nest of a tree squirrel or flying squirrel is known as a “drey” (sometimes “dray”). Squirrels usually build dreys where branches fork in large trees. Dreys can be hard to spot, until the leaves fall late in the year. They are roughly circular structures made from twigs, dry leaves and grass.

128 Bob who was the voice of Future Ted Mosby in “How I Met Your Mother” : SAGET

“How I Met Your Mother” is a sitcom that CBS has been airing since 2005. The main character is Ted Mosby, played by Josh Radnor. Mosby is also the narrator for the show looking back from the year 2030 (the live action is set in the present). As narrator, the older Mosby character is voiced by Bob Saget.

129 Muscular, in modern lingo : SWOLE

“Swole” is an informal term meaning “very muscular”. Yeah, I hear that word all the time …

Down

1 First to move, usually : PAWN

In the game of chess, the pawns are the weakest pieces on the board. A pawn that can make it to the opposite side of the board can be promoted to a piece of choice, usually a queen. Using promotion of pawns, it is possible for a player to have two or more queens on the board at one time. However, standard chess sets come with only one queen per side, so a captured rook is often used as the second queen by placing it on the board upside down.

2 Indy champ Luyendyk : ARIE

Arie Luyendyk is a racing driver from the Netherlands, winner of the Indianapolis 500 on two occasions. Luyendyk’s son, also called Arie, is following in his father’s footsteps and is also an auto racer. Arie Luyendyk Jr. also appeared on the reality shows “The Bachelorette” in 2012, and “The Bachelor” in 2018.

6 Allow as a handicap : SPOT

The noun “handicap”, an advantage or disadvantage in a competition, comes from the phrase “hand-in-cap”, which was the name of an Old English trading game. In the game, two players agree to trade two possessions. The players and a referee all put some forfeit money into a cap, forming a kitty that can be won. The referee determines the value of the items and declares any difference in worth, an amount that has to be added by the owner of the lower-valued item so that the trade is “equal”. The players then put their hands into their pockets and draw out a token coin(s) at the same time, signaling that they agree with the valuation given. If agreement is reached, the referee collects the forfeit as a “fee” and the items are exchanged. If neither player agrees with the valuation they withdraw empty hands from their pockets, then the referee collects the fee and no exchange is made. If only one player agrees to the exchange, then that player collects the forfeit, and again no exchange is made.

7 “LOTR” menaces : ORCS

Orcs are mythical humanoid creatures that appear in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. Since Tolkien’s use of orcs, they have also been featured in other fantasy fiction as well as in fantasy video games.

“Lord of the Rings” (LOTR)

8 Delt neighbor : LAT

The muscles known as the “lats” are the latissimi dorsi, and are the broadest muscles in the back. “Latissimus” is Latin for “broadest”, and “dorsum” is Latin for “back”.

9 Tangy Mexican sauce : ADOBO

In Spanish and Mexican cuisine, a dish prepared “adobo” style has been marinated in a mixture containing paprika, oregano, salt, garlic and vinegar. “Adobo” is Spanish for “marinade, seasoning”.

12 Triple Crown stat : RBI

In Major League baseball, a player can earn the Triple Crown when he is the leader in three specific statistics. The pitching Triple Crown includes wins, strikeouts and earned run average (ERA). The batting Triple Crown includes home runs, runs batted in (RBI) and batting average.

13 Packers QB before Rodgers : FAVRE

Brett Favre is best known as a former quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Favre retired in 2010 after playing with the Minnesota Vikings for a short time. Among the many NFL records held by Favre, he made the most consecutive starts.

Aaron Rodgers signed with the Green Bay Packers as quarterback in 2005. Aaron has a younger brother Jordan who played football with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

15 “Match Game” regular Charles Nelson __ : REILLY

Charles Nelson Reilly was an actor and comedian who was often seen on TV games shows in the seventies and eighties. Most notably, Reilly was a regular panelist on the game show “Match Game”.

“Match Game” is a television game show that had many incarnations. The original run was from 1962 until 1969, and it came back in varying formats several times after that. The best-known host of the show was Gene Rayburn. The most recent is Alec Baldwin, starting in 2016.

18 Word that’s its own synonym when a “b” is added to the end : SUPER

“Super” and “superb” are synonyms.

24 Family title? : DON

In the Mafia, a don is a head of a family, someone who might order a hit, a killing.

29 Due-in hr. : ETA

Estimated time of arrival (ETA)

32 Former embryo : FETUS

The word “fetus”, used for an unborn young animal, comes from Latin as one might expect. “Fetus” is the Latin word for the act of hatching or bringing forth a young animal or child. The mistaken spelling “foetus” is seen occasionally, but there’s no historical basis for adding that “o”.

33 Bourbon order : NEAT

Bourbon is a whiskey made here in North America, with the primary ingredient being corn. Production of the whiskey has for centuries been associated with Bourbon County in Kentucky, which gave its name to the drink.

35 Pianist Gilels : EMIL

Emil Gilels was a pianist from the Soviet Union who was born in Odessa (now part of Ukraine). Gilels was one of the first musicians allowed to perform concerts outside of the Eastern Bloc. His debut appearance in Philadelphia with Eugene Ormandy was a resounding success.

36 Arizona College of Nursing city : MESA

The city of Mesa, Arizona is in effect a suburb of Phoenix. The original settlement of non-Native Americans was founded by Daniel Webster Jones who led a Mormon group from St. George, Utah. The settlement was first called Jonesville, then Fort Utah and eventually Lehi. A second group of Mormons arrived and formed a settlement on top of a nearby mesa. It was this use of a mesa that eventually gave the city its current name.

38 Center of activity : HUB

We’ve been using “hub” to mean “solid center of a wheel” since the mid-17th century. The figurative meaning “center of activity” dates back to the mid-19th century.

42 Move en masse : TROOP

“En masse” is a French term, one that best translates as “as a group”

44 Aerial enigmas : UFOS

Unidentified flying object (UFO)

46 Old Spanish dough : PESETA

The peseta is a former currency of Spain and was also the de facto currency of Spain’s neighbor, the Principality of Andorra. The peseta was replaced by the euro in 2002.

53 Novelist Waugh : ALEC

Alec Waugh was an older brother of the more famous Evelyn Waugh. Both were successful novelists (Evelyn of “Brideshead Revisited” fame), but what I like about Alec is that he supposedly invented the cocktail party. He invited his friends around “for tea” in the twenties, and served them all rum swizzles instead!

56 Golf green insert : CUP

There’s an urban myth that the standard number of holes on a golf course is 18 because it takes 18 shots to polish off a fifth of scotch whisky. However, the truth is that the standard number of holes in the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland happened to settle down over time at 18, and that standard was adopted all around the world.

57 Mauna __ : KEA

Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, the peak of which is the highest point in the whole state. Mauna Kea is in effect the tip of a gigantic volcano rising up from the seabed.

60 Preserved, as sardines : TINNED

Sardines are oily fish related to herrings. Sardines are also known as pilchards, although in the UK “sardine” is a noun reserved for a young pilchard. Very confusing …

61 Like : A LA

The phrase “in the style of” can be translated as “alla” in Italian and “à la” in French.

63 Chinese sauce additive : MSG

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of a naturally-occurring,non-essential amino acid called glutamic acid. It is used widely as a flavor enhancer, particularly in many Asian cuisines. Whether or not it is harmful seems to be still under debate. I say that something produced in a test tube shouldn’t be in our food …

65 Prefix with belt, in slacks : SANSA-

Sansabelt is a brand of trousers for men. The pants are designed to be worn without (“sans”) a belt, hence the name. Quite clever …

The term “slacks” was introduced in the early 1800s with the meaning “loose trousers”. Those early slacks were part of a military uniform.

66 What a wavy line may mean in music : TRILL

In music a “trill” is the rapid alternation of two tones that are very close to each other to make a vibrato sound.

67 Long bones : ULNAE

The radius and ulna are bones in the forearm. If you hold the palm of your hand up in front of you, the radius is the bone on the “thumb-side” of the arm, and the ulna is the bone on the “pinky-side”.

68 Advent air : NOEL

“Noël” is the French word for the Christmas season, and ultimately comes from the Latin word for “birth” (natalis). “Noel” has come to be used as an alternative for “Christmas carol”.

In the Christian traditions, Advent is the season of expectation prior to the Christmas celebration of the birth of Jesus. The term “Advent” comes from the Latin “adventus” meaning “coming”.

69 Eggs in a lab : OVA

“Ovum” (plural “ova”) is Latin for “egg”.

70 “Chopped” host Allen : TED

Ted Allen is a TV personality who found fame as the food and wine expert on the Bravo show “Queer Eye”. He started as host of the cooking competition show “Chopped” in 2009.

72 Costa __ : RICAN

Costa Rica is a country in Central America that is bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the South. Costa Rica is remarkable in my opinion, a leader on the world stage in many areas. It has been referred to as the “greenest” country in the world, the “happiest” country in the world, and has a highly educated populace. In 1949, the country unilaterally abolished its own army … permanently!

76 Western wolf : LOBO

The timber wolf is also known as the gray wolf, tundra wolf or lobo.

79 Skunk cousin : POLECAT

“Polecat” is a term used for several different animals, most of which are in the weasel family.

83 Week add-on : -ENDER

One of my favorite scenes from the period drama “Downton Abbey” takes place around the dinner table. Matthew Crawley, a practicing lawyer being introduced to the aristocratic Grantham family says, “I will have plenty of time to do that over the weekend”. To which the Dowager Countess of Grantham (played brilliantly by Maggie Smith) remarks, “but what is a weekend?” Ah, the joys of the easy way of life …

88 A fourth of doce : TRES

In Spanish, “tres” (three) is 25% of “doce” (twelve).

92 Penn of the Harold & Kumar films : KAL

Indian-American actor Kal Penn made a name for himself in the “Harold & Kumar” series of comedy films. These so-called “stoner comedies” are not my cup of tea, but I enjoyed him playing his more mainstream roles on TV’s “House” and “24”. He left the world of acting when President Obama won the 2008 election to work as an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement (although he did leave the White House briefly to film the “Harold & Kumar” sequel).

93 Hosp. test in a tube : MRI

MRI scans can be daunting for many people as they usually involve the patient lying inside a tube with the imaging magnet surrounding the body. Additionally, the scan can take up to 40 minutes in some cases. There are some open MRI scanners available that help prevent a feeling of claustrophobia. However, the images produced by open scanners are of lower quality as they operate at lower magnetic fields.

96 MC Chris genre : NERD RAP

MC Chris is a rapper who is noted for a nerdy image crossed with the stereotypical “gangsta” image of many hip hop artists.

99 Big name in jam : WELCH’S

Welch’s is a beverage and food company that was founded in 1869 by Thomas Bramwell Welch and Lee Steger Welch in Vineland, New Jersey. The company’s first product was “Dr. Welch’s Unfermented Wine”, which was later rebranded as “Welch’s Grape Juice”.

101 Maracanã Stadium city : RIO

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Year’s Day in 1502.

Maracanã Stadium is a soccer stadium that opened in 1950, when it acted as host for that year’s FIFA World Cup. The facility was partially rebuilt in time for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It was also used during the 2016 Summer Olympics, most notably for the opening and closing ceremonies.

104 “Did my heart love till now?” speaker : ROMEO

Here are some passionate lines from William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” that are spoken by Romeo:

Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.

105 Main artery : AORTA

The aorta originates in the heart and extends down into the abdomen. It is the largest artery in the body.

107 Capital near Casablanca : RABAT

Rabat is the capital city of the Kingdom of Morocco. After WWII, the United States maintained a major Air Force Base in Rabat, part of Strategic Air Command (SAC). Responding to pressure from the Moroccan government of King Mohammed V, the USAF pulled out in 1963.

Casablanca is a major city in western Morocco that sits on the Atlantic coast in Northern Africa. It is the country’s largest city (although the capital is Rabat), and the country’s largest port.

108 Empaths pick them up : VIBES

“Sympathy” and “empathy” are related but different terms. A person exhibiting sympathy acknowledges another person’s emotional distress. A person exhibiting empathy also acknowledges distress, but understands the emotions felt as they have had a similar experience, or can at least put themselves in the shoes of the person affected.

109 __ Gay : ENOLA

The Enola Gay was the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb, the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in August 1945. Enola Gay was the name of the mother of pilot Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr.

110 Serengeti bovine : GNU

The gnu is also known as the wildebeest, and is an antelope native to Africa. “Wildebeest” is a Dutch meaning “wild beast”.

The Serengeti is a region in Africa located in northern Tanzania and southwest Kenya. The name “Serengeti” comes from the Maasai language and means “Endless Plains”.

113 London’s __ Park : HYDE

Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London. A famous element in Hyde Park is Speakers’ Corner, which is located in the northeast corner of the park. Speakers’ Corner was the site of the infamous Tyburn gallows that was used for public executions in centuries past. Today, Speakers’ Corner is a site for public speech and debate, and a center for public protest. Some say that the tradition of allowing free speech at the site dates back to the condemned man being allowed to say his final words prior to execution at the Tyburn gallows.

114 Help in a risky way : ABET

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (literally “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

115 Passport fig. : ID NO

Identity document (ID)

As a result of a League of Nations conference in 1920, passports are usually written in French and one other language. French was specified back then as it was deemed the language of diplomacy. US passports use French and English, given that English is the nation’s de facto national language. Spanish was added as a language for US passports in the late nineties, in recognition of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico.

117 One in a wet quintet : ERIE

A well-known mnemonic for remembering the names of the Great Lakes is HOMES, an acronym standing for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Spanish for “prairie” : PAMPA
6 __ wind : SOLAR
11 “Carmina Burana” composer : ORFF
15 Breaks down : ROTS
19 Verdi creations : ARIAS
20 Milan fashion house : PRADA
21 Letter-shaped support : I-BAR
22 Hose color : ECRU
23 Hex nut? : WITCH DOCTOR
25 Paints the town red : LIVES IT UP
27 Sinus-clearing aids : NETI POTS
28 Boilermaker ingredient : BEER
30 Go in for : REPLACE
31 Cool, in a way : FAN
32 Palm nut? : FORTUNE TELLER
34 Encircle : HEM IN
37 “__ Bop”: Cyndi Lauper song : SHE
39 Fiver : ABE
40 “Curious George” co-author Margret : REY
41 City on the Skunk : AMES
42 Audrey of “The Da Vinci Code” : TAUTOU
45 Flavorful : SAPID
47 It’s almost always fishy : SEA
50 Date nut? : HISTORY BUFF
52 Brewers’ gadgets : TEA BALLS
54 “Sorry, can’t do it” : ALAS, NO!
55 Customary : STOCK
58 Mischievous glance : SLY LOOK
59 Bit : IOTA
62 “Sorry not sorry” : SUE ME
64 Old Bruins nickname : ESPO
65 Wing nut? : STUNT PILOT
71 Butternut? : PASTRY CHEF
74 Folksy Guthrie : ARLO
75 Abdominal scar, actually : NAVEL
77 Earth goddess : GAIA
78 One in the alley’s back row : NINE-PIN
81 Pueblo building material : ADOBE
84 Breakfast cereal magnate : CW POST
89 Zigzagged, in a sport : SLALOMED
91 Doughnut? : BANK MANAGER
94 Drink with a painful homophone : ALE
95 Packed (with) : LADEN
97 “Phooey!” : OH DARN!
98 Family figure? : TREE
99 Kind of blanket or paint : WET
100 Bubbly prefix : AER
102 New Haven collegian : ELI
103 FDR had three of them : VEEPS
104 Wheel nut? : RACE CAR DRIVER
110 Card game cry : GIN!
111 “C’est magnifique!” : OOH LA LA!
112 “How ya __?” : DOIN’
113 Punter’s metric : HANG TIME
118 Reggie Jackson nickname based on his postseason success : MR OCTOBER
120 Chestnut? : BODYBUILDER
122 Impress : ETCH
123 “Game of Thrones,” for one : SAGA
124 Dodge : ELUDE
125 Hawaiian veranda : LANAI
126 Squirrels’ haunts : OAKS
127 Train station, e.g. : STOP
128 Bob who was the voice of Future Ted Mosby in “How I Met Your Mother” : SAGET
129 Muscular, in modern lingo : SWOLE

Down

1 First to move, usually : PAWN
2 Indy champ Luyendyk : ARIE
3 Glove : MITT
4 Protest group, perhaps : PACIFISTS
5 Sooty receptacle : ASH PAN
6 Allow as a handicap : SPOT
7 “LOTR” menaces : ORCS
8 Delt neighbor : LAT
9 Tangy Mexican sauce : ADOBO
10 More desirable to collectors : RARER
11 Massage parlor services : OIL RUBS
12 Triple Crown stat : RBI
13 Packers QB before Rodgers : FAVRE
14 Streaming service offer : FREE TRIAL
15 “Match Game” regular Charles Nelson __ : REILLY
16 In base eight : OCTAL
17 Fighters’ pact : TRUCE
18 Word that’s its own synonym when a “b” is added to the end : SUPER
24 Family title? : DON
26 Fly past : SPEED BY
29 Due-in hr. : ETA
32 Former embryo : FETUS
33 Bourbon order : NEAT
34 “Funny not funny” : HA HA
35 Pianist Gilels : EMIL
36 Arizona College of Nursing city : MESA
37 “Here’s a thought … ” : SAY …
38 Center of activity : HUB
42 Move en masse : TROOP
43 Many times o’er : OFT
44 Aerial enigmas : UFOS
46 Old Spanish dough : PESETA
47 Splash (through) : SLOSH
48 Split to come together : ELOPE
49 Request from : ASK OF
51 “Will do” : ON IT
53 Novelist Waugh : ALEC
56 Golf green insert : CUP
57 Mauna __ : KEA
60 Preserved, as sardines : TINNED
61 Like : A LA
63 Chinese sauce additive : MSG
65 Prefix with belt, in slacks : SANSA-
66 What a wavy line may mean in music : TRILL
67 Long bones : ULNAE
68 Advent air : NOEL
69 Eggs in a lab : OVA
70 “Chopped” host Allen : TED
72 Costa __ : RICAN
73 Sign of boredom : YAWN
76 Western wolf : LOBO
79 Skunk cousin : POLECAT
80 “Haven’t the foggiest” : I’M AT A LOSS!
82 “Phooey!” : BAH!
83 Week add-on : -ENDER
85 Inventor’s protection : PATENT LAW
86 Nasty sort : OGRE
87 Ooze : SEEP
88 A fourth of doce : TRES
90 Out of juice : DEAD
92 Penn of the Harold & Kumar films : KAL
93 Hosp. test in a tube : MRI
96 MC Chris genre : NERD RAP
99 Big name in jam : WELCH’S
101 Maracanã Stadium city : RIO
103 Watches : VIGILS
104 “Did my heart love till now?” speaker : ROMEO
105 Main artery : AORTA
106 As much as possible : CHOCK
107 Capital near Casablanca : RABAT
108 Empaths pick them up : VIBES
109 __ Gay : ENOLA
110 Serengeti bovine : GNU
113 London’s __ Park : HYDE
114 Help in a risky way : ABET
115 Passport fig. : ID NO
116 It may include several courses : MEAL
117 One in a wet quintet : ERIE
119 __ trip : EGO
121 Exposed, with “up” : DUG …

18 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 23 Jan 22, Sunday”

  1. Oh boy.. what a day.. got the theme ok but NERDRAP? SWOLE? ALASNO? REPLACE? (Go in for?)
    Throw in a spanish variant PAMPA? and wait for my TEABALLS to finish …

    Wow. The crosses were painfull for me.

  2. 1:26:00 and I had ASHCAN for ash pan and never heard of Netipots…VERY VERY DISCOURAGING 😒 😒 😒
    Stay safe😀

  3. Didn’t know Tautou or Gaia.
    Sapid and swole seemed vaguely familiar.
    I actually have a neti pot, but after reading about the awful things using it can cause, I’ve never used it again.

  4. If I was sure how to spell “adobo” and if netipots had one t rather than 2 t’s I would have had a clean run without any strike overs. Still finished without final error but my speiling (ha!) is atrocious at times.

  5. There are crosswords that are a plain joy to do, challenging, interesting, you wish you could keep going on once you finish and make you look forward to the next one.

    Then there are crosswords that are a complete slog, impossible to do for the poor and forced usage of the English language that makes you question whether the constructor and editor is illiterate, boring to tears, and you wish was finished 20 minutes ago, and makes you get to the point of quitting it and crosswords all together in a complete rage, never wishing to ever see a crossword puzzle again.

    This one (and the NYT) was the latter.

    1. I’m not trying to pick a fight, but … here’s my subjective assessment: Assuming that you’re talking about the NYT puzzle from two weeks ago, I can say that I spent more time than usual on both puzzles, but I finished with no errors and with little to no degradation of my outlook on life in general or on my particular choice of hobbies … 😜. Moreover, I saw no evidence of “poor” or “forced” usage of the English language. (I guess I am too old to fully understand how “Funny not funny” leads to “HAHA” and I never heard of “SANSAbelt” trousers – though I’m guessing a 4-letter French word is involved.) So, there you have it … 🤨.

      1. For the source I use, I see all NYT puzzles five weeks in the past, including Sunday. Yesterday’s was 1219. I posted on that one. And from what I saw, I don’t think you disagreed with me about it.

        To be fair, I did this one after the NYT one and a lot of effort/exertion so that probably was a factor but I did note a lot of language tortured to the point of screaming in this one too. Since I didn’t say before, 25:50, 2 errors (4 words) on this one.

        1. Ah, so! The 12/19 NYT. I agree that a lot of versions of it were messed up due to a printing error and I understand that would have made for a distressing solve. But “language tortured to the point of screaming” (a nice turn of phrase … 😜) in this one? Um, no … I don’t see that.

      2. If you say “haha” with sarcasm, then “Funny, but not funny” might make sense as the clue.

  6. Bit of a slosh for me. Had ashcan and didn’t
    revisit. Theme was good and it helped. No
    look ups,two errors.

    Sapid? Said nobody ever….

  7. 27:04 1 lookup for the singular PAMPA.

    The biggest fake-out was TEE->CUP.

    @stephaniesays,

    Thanks for the info on Kitkat flavors. My husband likes Kitkats, and says he’s often seen the matcha flavor at Hmart.

  8. Did a lot better than yesterday for me, but still didn’t finish without resorting to a “check-grid” at about 95% filled. Had most of my trouble in the top-NE section which I really should have done better at. I had the NE, it was just the section with ORFF – who I now know quite a bit about. I also knew FA*RE, but apparently not how to spell his name. And, partyITUP just did not work, although I did fix that.

    Theme helped quite a bit, except getting BAN*MANAGER…dumb. Well, the week went okay, except for Saturday and Sunday.

  9. 37:30 with no errors or lookups. Several revisions as I worked through intersecting answers. Nothing especially difficult; challenging, but not “tortured,” twisted, or goofy.

    Had not heard of SWOLE for “Muscular,” though. My usage has been like “After getting stung by a bee, his face swole up something fierce!”

    Getting the theme at 32A helped with all the others. Revisions included LAT>PEC>LAT, OGEE>IBAR, SON>DON, PAELLA>PESETA, ISAYNO>ALASNO, UNO> GIN.

Comments are closed.