LA Times Crossword 28 Jun 22, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Taylor Johnson
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: DJ Mix

Themed answers each comprise two words, beginning with DJ or JD:

  • 40A Dance club compilation, and what the answers to the starred clues literally are : DJ MIX
  • 17A *”Let me enjoy my guilty pleasures!” : DON’T JUDGE!
  • 63A *”Feelin’ fine!” : JUST DANDY!
  • 11D *Fruity treat often dusted with powdered sugar : JELLY DONUT
  • 30D *Move that captures two checkers : DOUBLE JUMP

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

Bill’s time: 6m 37s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9 City in northwest Missouri, informally : ST JOE

The city of Saint Joseph (“St. Joe”) in Missouri was the westernmost point in the US that was accessible by rail after the Civil War. As such, it was a final stopping-off point as people headed out to the Wild West. The city takes its name from its founder, fur trader Joseph Robidoux. Robidoux apparently like things named after himself and his family, as eight of the main streets downtown were named after his children, and another was named for his second wife!

21 Director Craven : WES

Wes Craven was a very successful film director and writer specializing in movies of the horror genre, which means that I don’t watch them! He was responsible for “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and the “Scream” films. Craven passed away in August 2015.

23 Chemical in potent drain cleaners : LYE

What we call “lye” is usually sodium hydroxide (NaOH), although historically the term “lye” was used for potassium hydroxide. Lye has many uses, including to cure several foodstuffs. Lye can make olives less bitter, for example. The chemical is also found in canned mandarin oranges, pretzels and Japanese ramen noodles. More concentrated grades of lye are used to clear drains and clean ovens. Scary …

26 PlayStation maker : SONY

Sony introduced the PlayStation line of video game consoles in 1994.

36 Figure of speech : TROPE

A trope is a figure of speech. The term “trope” comes from the Greek word “tropos” that has the same meaning.

37 Ginger __ : ALE

The brand most closely associated with ginger ale is Canada Dry. “Canada Dry Pale Ginger Ale” was first formulated in 1904 by a Canadian chemist called John McLoughlin from Ontario. Prohibition in the United States helped sales of the drink as it was particularly effective in masking the taste of illegally-produced, homemade liquor.

38 Love who co-hosted “The Real” : LONI

Loni Love is a comedian and TV personality from Detroit. She was the runner-up in 2003 on the relaunched “Star Search” show. In 2013, Love became one of the hosts of the daytime talk show “The Real”.

39 Pixar film about a jazz pianist : SOUL

“Soul” is a 2020 animated film from Pixar about a jazz pianist whose soul separates from his body after an accident. Jamei Foxx voices the main character, and the supporting cast includes Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Richar Ayoade and Phylicia Rashad. Critics and audiences alike loved this one …

43 Idris of “The Wire” : ELBA

English actor Idris Elba plays the drug lord Stringer Bell in the marvelous HBO drama series “The Wire”, and played the title character in the 2013 film “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”. Off the screen, Elba occasionally appears as a disk jockey using the name “DJ Big Driis”.

44 “Insecure” star Issa : RAE

“Insecure” is a comedy-drama TV show that premiered in 2016. It is co-written by and stars Issa Rae, who also created the comedy web series “Awkward Black Girl” on which “Insecure” is based.

45 GPS suggestion : ROUTE

A global positioning system (GPS) might point out a route (rte.).

49 Website with tutorials : EHOW

eHow is a how-to website that was founded in 1999. eHow has an awful lot of content but doesn’t do a great job of assessing the value of that content. I wouldn’t recommend it …

52 JFK successor : LBJ

Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) was born in Stonewall, Texas to Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr. and Rebekah Baines.

54 Chicken __ king : A LA

A dish prepared “à la king” (usually chicken or turkey), is prepared in a cream sauce with mushrooms, pimentos, green peppers and sherry.

61 Minestrone and chowder : SOUPS

Minestrone is a hearty Italian soup with varying ingredients, but usually including lots of vegetables in a vegetable broth with added pasta or rice. The term “minestrone” comes from the Italian “minestrare” meaning “to serve”.

The type of soup known as “chowder” is possibly named for the pot in which it used to be cooked called a “chaudière”, a French term.

66 Italian bubbly : 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.

67 Apollo project destination : MOON

The Apollo program is very much associated with President Kennedy, as he gave NASA the challenge to land men on the moon by the end of the sixties. However, the Apollo program was conceived during the Eisenhower administration as a follow-up to Project Mercury that put the first Americans in space.

Down

1 Organic certifying gp. : USDA

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) dates back to 1862, when it was established by then-president Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln referred to the USDA as the “people’s department” as our economy had such a vast agrarian base back then.

2 Parka feature : HOOD

A parka is a hooded jacket that is often lined with fur, and that is worn in cold weather. The original parka was a pullover design, but nowadays it is usually zipped at the front. “Parka” is the Russian name for the garment, and it was absorbed into English in the late 1700s via the Aleut language.

4 URL intro : HTTP

“http” are the first letters in many Internet links. “http” stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. More secure and “safer” websites (like this one!) use links starting with “https”, which stands for “http secure”).

An Internet address (like NYXCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) is more correctly called a uniform resource locator (URL).

5 Bird on Froot Loops boxes : TOUCAN

Toucan Sam is the mascot of Kellogg’s Froot Loops breakfast cereal, and he can be seen on the front of every box. Froot Loops have been manufactured by Kellogg’s since 1963. The little loops come in different colors, originally red, orange and yellow, but now there are green, purple and blue loops as well. Notice I said “different colors” not “different flavors”. Each loop tastes the same, so I wonder where the color comes from …?

18 Foxx who voices the pianist in 39-Across : JAMIE
(39A Pixar film about a jazz pianist : SOUL)

Jamie Foxx is the professional name used by Eric Marlon Bishop, an actor from Terrell, Texas. Foxx is a very versatile entertainer. He is an Oscar-winning actor (for playing the title role in “Ray”), and a Grammy Award winning musician. He is also a stand-up comedian and a talk-radio host.

22 English county on the North Sea : ESSEX

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

The North Sea is an offshoot of the Atlantic Ocean that is located between Britain and Scandinavia.

27 Country singer Willie : NELSON

Country singer, actor and activist Willie Nelson was born during the Great Depression in Abbott, Texas. He wrote his first song at the age of seven and joined his first band at the age of ten, and he is still going strong. Nelson has a ranch in Texas but now spends most of his time in Maui, where he lives in a largely self-sustaining community alongside neighbors such as Kris Kristofferson, Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson.

30 *Move that captures two checkers : DOUBLE JUMP

“Checkers” is yet another word that I had to learn moving across the Atlantic. In Ireland, the game is called “draughts”.

33 “Always Be My Maybe” actress/writer Wong : ALI

Ali Wong is a stand-up comedian from San Francisco who is a protégé of Chris Rock. She made two very successful Netflix stand-up specials “Baby Cobra” and “Hard Knock Wife”. She also worked as a writer for the hit sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat”.

“Always Be My Maybe” is a 2019 romantic comedy film starring Ali Wong and Randall Park. The pair play two people who are reunited as adults after having experienced a romantic fling as teenagers that had ended badly. Keanu Reeves has an interesting supporting role in the movie, playing himself, and a love interest for the female lead.

35 Peter, the pickled-pepper picker : PIPER

The earliest written version of the “Peter Piper” nursery rhyme and tongue twister dates back to 1813 London:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

A peck is a unit of dry volume, equivalent to two gallons. Four pecks then make up a bushel.

48 Mayfield of R&B : CURTIS

Curtis Mayfield was a soul and R&B singer-songwriter from Chicago who was very influential during the Civil Rights Movement of the fifties and sixties. Mayfield’s most famous song is probably 1964’s “Keep on Pushing”, which he wrote and recorded while a member of the Impressions.

52 Future atty.’s exam : LSAT

Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

55 Slightly open : AJAR

Our word “ajar” is thought to come from Scottish dialect, in which “a char” means “slightly open”.

57 Sleeveless top, for short : CAMI

A camisole (also “cami”) is a sleeveless undergarment worn by women that extends down to the waist. “Camisole” is a French word that we imported into English that ultimately derives from the Latin “camisia” meaning “shirt, nightgown”.

58 Pretzel shape : KNOT

Pretzels originated in Europe and are especially popular in Southern Germany where a pretzel is known as “Brezel”. Pretzels were introduced into the US in the 1800s by immigrants from Germany and Switzerland who came to be known over here as the Pennsylvania Dutch.

60 Pt. of a B’way address : NY, NY

The city of New Amsterdam was taken over by the English from the Dutch in 1664. the city was promptly renamed to “New York” in honor of the Duke of York, who was destined to become King James II of England.

62 __ chart : PIE

A pie chart can also be referred to as a circle graph. It is often stated that Florence Nightingale invented the pie chart. While this is not in fact true, she is due credit for popularizing it, and for developing the pie chart variation known as the polar area diagram. The earliest known pie chart appears in a book published in 1801 by Scottish engineer William Playfair.

64 Mex. neighbor : USA

The Mexico-US border stretches almost 2,000 miles, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. It is the most frequently crossed international border in the whole world, with about 350 million legal crossings annually.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “Nope” : UH-UH
5 Pointers : TIPS
9 City in northwest Missouri, informally : ST JOE
14 Kind : SORT
15 Words after count or sleep : … ON IT
16 Sports complex : ARENA
17 *”Let me enjoy my guilty pleasures!” : DON’T JUDGE!
19 Shouts : YELLS
20 Website revenue source : AD SPACE
21 Director Craven : WES
23 Chemical in potent drain cleaners : LYE
24 Ankle-length skirt : MAXI
26 PlayStation maker : SONY
28 Contributes : ADDS IN
32 Ready to go trick-or-treating, say : MASKED UP
36 Figure of speech : TROPE
37 Ginger __ : ALE
38 Love who co-hosted “The Real” : LONI
39 Pixar film about a jazz pianist : SOUL
40 Dance club compilation, and what the answers to the starred clues literally are : DJ MIX
42 Little cut : SNIP
43 Idris of “The Wire” : ELBA
44 “Insecure” star Issa : RAE
45 GPS suggestion : ROUTE
46 Elite athletes : ALL-STARS
48 Moderate gallop : CANTER
49 Website with tutorials : EHOW
50 Overly confident : SMUG
52 JFK successor : LBJ
54 Chicken __ king : A LA
56 “Suppose so” : I RECKON
61 Minestrone and chowder : SOUPS
63 *”Feelin’ fine!” : JUST DANDY!
65 Allow to enter : ADMIT
66 Italian bubbly : ASTI
67 Apollo project destination : MOON
68 Uses a keyboard : TYPES
69 Sunbeams : RAYS
70 Humble reply to a compliment : I TRY

Down

1 Organic certifying gp. : USDA
2 Parka feature : HOOD
3 Footed vases : URNS
4 URL intro : HTTP
5 Bird on Froot Loops boxes : TOUCAN
6 Handy list in the back of a book : INDEX
7 Swine : PIG
8 Hearty bowlful : STEW
9 Gives permission : SAYS OK
10 Three, in Italian : TRE
11 *Fruity treat often dusted with powdered sugar : JELLY DONUT!
12 “This is __ a test” : ONLY
13 Loosen (up) : EASE
18 Foxx who voices the pianist in 39-Across : JAMIE
22 English county on the North Sea : ESSEX
25 11-Down eater’s dismayed cry : I’M A MESS
27 Country singer Willie : NELSON
28 Gone fishing, say : AT SEA
29 Dryly humorous : DROLL
30 *Move that captures two checkers : DOUBLE JUMP
31 Frolic in the pool : SPLASH
33 “Always Be My Maybe” actress/writer Wong : ALI
34 Bring together : UNITE
35 Peter, the pickled-pepper picker : PIPER
40 Feature of some Southern accents : DRAWL
41 Pickle container : JAR
45 Threw a tantrum : RAGED
47 Browns lightly : TOASTS
48 Mayfield of R&B : CURTIS
51 A bit foggy : MISTY
52 Future atty.’s exam : LSAT
53 __ language : BODY
55 Slightly open : AJAR
57 Sleeveless top, for short : CAMI
58 Pretzel shape : KNOT
59 Stench : ODOR
60 Pt. of a B’way address : NY, NY
62 __ chart : PIE
64 Mex. neighbor : USA