LA Times Crossword 16 Jul 22, Saturday

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Constructed by: Malaika Handa
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 14m 44s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 “4X2=8” rapper from Korea : PSY

“4×2=8” is a 2017 studio album released by South Korean singer and rapper Psy. The title is somewhat cryptic, and needs explaining. In Korean, “4” is “sa” and “2” is “i”. Together, 4 and 2 give “sai”, which is “Psy” written in the Korean alphabet Hangul. The number “8” is a reference to this being Psy’s eighth album.

13 Got credit, in a way? : OPENED A TAB

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

16 Simple cocktail : GIN AND TONIC

The original tonic water was a fairly strong solution of the drug quinine dissolved in carbonated water. It was used in tropical areas in South Asia and Africa where malaria is rampant. The quinine has a prophylactic effect against the disease, and was formulated as “tonic water” so that it could be easily distributed. In British colonial India, the colonial types got into the habit of mixing gin with the tonic water to make it more palatable by hiding the bitter taste of quinine. Nowadays, the level of quinine in tonic water has dropped, and sugar has been added.

18 Agcy. whose logo is an eagle holding a scale : IRS

The IRS symbol is often referred to as the IRS Eagle. It comprises three elements:

• The IRS Eagle itself (representing the United States)
• The scales of justice (symbolizing fairness and honesty)
• An olive branch (symbolizing peace and conciliation)

The IRS logo comprises the IRS symbol, with the letters “IRS” underneath.

19 Freelancer’s info : SPECS

The term “free lance” was coined by Sir Walter Scott in his 1820 novel “Ivanhoe”, when he used it to describe a medieval mercenary warrior. Forty years later, a “freelancer” was a journalist who did work for more than one publication without a long-term commitment.

20 Event that might be called “morp” : GAY PROM

Situations can arise when high school students feel the need to hold an “anti-prom” as an alternative celebration. Some anti-proms are staged as a form of protest, whereas others are held to perhaps provide a more personal get-together, or perhaps a cheaper event. Anti-prom is sometimes referred to as “morp”, which is “prom” spelled backwards.

22 Two dry gallons : PECK

A peck is a dry measure equal to a quarter of a bushel. The term can be used figuratively to mean a considerable quantity in general, as in the phrase “a peck of trouble”.

23 “__ Mañanitas”: Mexican birthday song : LAS

“Las Mañanitas” is a traditional birthday song that is very popular in Mexico, as well as some parts of the US. The song’s title translates from Spanish as “The Little Mornings”.

26 Artisan at Kells : SCRIBE

The Book of Kells is an illuminated Gospel book that dates back to about 800 AD, and was created by scribes in one or more Columban monasteries in Britain and/or Ireland. The manuscript gets its common name from the Irish Abbey of Kells, where it resided for centuries. The Book of Kells was presented to Trinity College in 1661, and it can be seen there in the school’s library to this day.

27 De Armas of “No Time to Die” : ANA

Ana de Armas is an actress from Cuba. Having attended the National Theater School of Cuba, she moved to Spain at the age of 18. Thre, she made a name for herself in a Spanish TV series called “El Internado”. De Armas moved to Los Angeles in 2014, after which her performance opposite Ryan Gosling in 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049” earned her critical acclaim.

2021’s “No Time to Die” is the 25th in the “James Bond” series of films. It stars Daniel Craig as the MI6 agent in his last appearance in the role. Bond’s adversary in “No Time to Die” is Lyutsifer Safin, played by Rami Malek. The theme song was performed by Billie Eilish.

28 Semisolid dessert : JELL-O

If you like Jell-O, then you might want to stop by LeRoy, New York where you can visit the only Jell-O museum in the world. While at the museum, you can walk along the Jell-O Brick Road …

30 Flax fabric : LINEN

The textile known as linen is made from flax fibers. The name “linen” probably comes from “linum”, which is Latin for both “flax” and “textile made from flax”.

31 Fast tracks? : PUMP-UP SONGS

Pump-up songs are used to “pump up”, to create excitement and enthusiasm.

33 Element of 1990s fashion : HAMMER PANTS

Hammer pants are baggy pants that taper at the ankles. They are designed to facilitate hip-hop dancing, and are named for rap performer MC Hammer.

34 Sticks in windows : BARBER POLES

Barbers originally offered a wide range of services, including surgery. Back in the Middle Ages, one of the primary services offered was bloodletting. The red and white sign outside a barber’s place of business represented bloody bandages wrapped around a pole. Henry VIII restricted barbers to just haircutting … and dentistry. Our term “barber” comes to us via Anglo-French from the Latin “barba” meaning “beard”.

35 Stand in a painting class : EASEL

The word “easel” comes from an old Dutch word meaning “donkey”, would you believe? The idea is that an easel carries its load (an oil painting, say) just as a donkey would be made to carry a load.

37 Handheld or holding hands, for short : PDA

Personal digital assistant (PDA)

Public display of affection (PDA)

42 __ Moines : DES

The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.

44 Many a Mugler garment : CATSUIT

The Mugler fashion house was launched in the seventies by French designer Thierry Mugler. One of Thierry Mugler’s most famous designs was the black dress worn by Demi Moore in the 1993 film “Indecent Proposal”.

47 Reddit Q&A : AMA

Reddit.com is a networking and news website that started up in 2005. It is essentially a bulletin board system with posts that are voted up and down by users, which determines the ranking of posts. The name “Reddit” is a play on “read it”, as in “I read it on Reddit”. One popular feature of the Reddit site is an online forum that is similar to a press conference. Known as an AMA (for “ask me anything”), participants have included the likes of President Barack Obama, Madonna, Bill Gates, Stephen Colbert and Gordon Ramsay. President Obama’s AMA was so popular that the high level of traffic brought down many parts of the Reddit site.

48 Celebration where many are out on the streets? : PRIDE PARADE

The first gay pride parades were held all on the same weekend in 1970, in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Back in the 1950s, to come “out of the closet” was to admit to being an alcoholic. By the seventies, the phrase mainly referred to gay people shrugging off secrecy about their sexual orientation.

54 Class for some immigrants: Abbr. : ESL

English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

Down

2 Camp nurse’s item : EPIPEN

EpiPen is a brand of epinephrine auto-injector. An EpiPen delivers a measured dose of epinephrine, which is a common treatment for an extreme allergic reaction.

3 Great Hill People : SENECA

The Seneca Native-American nation was a member of the Six Nations or Iroquois League, along with the Iroquois, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Tuscarora peoples. Historically, the Seneca lived south of Lake Ontario. The name “Seneca” translates as “Great Hill People”.

6 Tally : ADD

Back in the mid-1600s, a tally was a stick marked with notches that tracked how much one owed or paid. The term “tally” came from the Latin “talea” meaning “stick, rod”. The act of “scoring” the stick with notches gave rise to our word “score” for the number in a tally.

7 Pilates roll : MAT

Pilates is a physical exercise system developed by, and named for, Joseph Pilates. Pilates introduced his system of exercises in 1883 in Germany.

8 Employee’s perk: Abbr. : PTO

Paid time off (PTO)

11 Flashers in a club : STROBES

A strobe light is a device that produces regular flashes, like the light on top of a police car. The term derives from the Greek “strobos” meaning “twisting, whirling”.

12 Sycophants : YES-MEN

A sycophant is a selfish person, and one who flatters. The term comes from the Greek “sykophantes” which originally meant “one who shows the fig”. This phrase described a vulgar gesture made with the thumb and two fingers.

14 __-variance tradeoff : BIAS

“Bias-variance” is a term used in statistics. I don’t understand it …

17 Brooklyn MiLB team : CYCLONES

The Brooklyn Cyclones are a minor league team affiliated with the New York Mets. In 2000, a “name-the-team” contest resulted in the adoption of “Cyclones”. The name was chosen in honor of a famous roller coaster in the Astroland amusement park on Coney Island, which is close to where the Cyclones play.

Minor League Baseball (MiLB)

24 Herb honored with a National Medal of Arts in 2013 : ALPERT

Herb Alpert still plays the trumpet today, but he is also a talented painter and sculptor. His works are seen regularly in exhibitions all around the world.

31 Paired symbols, for short : PARENS

Parentheses (parens.)

34 Nation in the Lucayan Archipelago : BAHAMAS

The Bahamas is a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean lying in the same island chain as Cuba and Hispaniola. The Bahamas was a British colony for many years but became independent in 1973, although it retains membership in the British Commonwealth.

The Lucayan (also “Bahama”) Archipelago is part of the West Indies, and is located in the western North Atlantic Ocean. There are two territories in the archipelago, namely the Bahamas and the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

37 Latke ingredient : POTATO

A latke is a delicious potato pancake (I’m Irish, so anything made with potatoes is delicious, to be fair).

38 “Dexter’s Laboratory” older sister : DEE DEE

“Dexter’s Laboratory” is an animated TV show about a boy-genius who has a secret laboratory hidden in his bedroom. The boy’s name is Dexter, and his older sister is Dee Dee. Dee Dee is always ruining Dexter’s experiments by mistake. The series premiered in 1996.

39 One of three snake species native to Britain : ADDERS

The adder, a snake in the viper family, is the only venomous snake found on the island of Great Britain. Adders are also found in Norway and Sweden, north of the Arctic Circle.

41 Assistant who can control HomeKit accessories : SIRI

Amazon, Google and Apple all provide users with software frameworks that manage various smart devices around the home. Amazon’s product is Alexa, Google’s is Home, and Apple’s is HomeKit.

45 Sturdy tan work boots, slangily : TIMS

The Timberland Company was founded in 1957 by Nathan Swartz, a shoemaker from Boston. The business’s first successful product was the waterproof boot called the Timberland. It was so successful that the company adopted Timberland for its name.

49 Auerbach of the Black Keys : DAN

The Black Keys are a rock band, a duo from Akron, Ohio. Dan Auerbach on guitar, along with Patrick Carney on drums, formed the Black Keys in 2001.