LA Times Crossword 19 Sep 22, Monday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Katie Hale
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Stomp

Themed answers each start with “S” and run TO “MP” at the end:

  • 66A Walk heavily, or a three-word hint to the answers to the starred clues : STOMP or “STOMP
  • 17A *Park light recharged by the sun : SOLAR LAMP
  • 22A *Street feature that forces drivers to slow down : SPEED BUMP
  • 35A *Winter Olympics structure : SKI JUMP
  • 50A *Program for aspiring astronauts : SPACE CAMP
  • 55A *Cube added to tea : SUGAR LUMP

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

Bill’s time: 6m 08s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Roll for wrapping wounds : GAUZE

The surgical dressing called “gauze” is named for the thin fabric with a loose weave that bears the same name. The fabric’s name might possibly be derived from the Palestinian city of Gaza that has a history of gauze production.

6 Leopard marking : SPOT

The spots on spotted animals such as leopards and jaguars are arranged in groups. Those grouped spots are termed “rosettes”. The spotted patterns on such animals are unique to each individual.

The idiom “a leopard cannot change its spots” is often used to imply that a person who has done bad things in the past, will always be a bad person. The phrase comes from the Bible’s Book of Jeremiah “Can … the leopard [change] his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to evil.”

10 Pioneering TV brand : RCA

During WWI, the US government actively discouraged the loss of certain technologies to other countries, including allies. The developing wireless technologies were considered to be particularly important by the army and navy. The government prevented the General Electric Company from selling equipment to the British Marconi Company, and instead facilitated the purchase by GE of the American Marconi subsidiary. This purchase led to GE forming the Radio Corporation of America that we know today as RCA.

13 __ jar: preserves preserver : MASON

Mason jars were invented in 1858 in Philadelphia by a tinsmith, a tinsmith named John Landis Mason.

14 Novelist Calvino : ITALO

As well as being an author, Italo Calvino was a famous Italian journalist. He was a supporter of communism and so wasn’t very popular in the US nor in Britain.

15 Lip balm brand whose name is short for “evolution of smooth” : EOS

eos Products is a company that was founded in 2006 in New York City. eoS sells beauty products such as lotions and creams, and is most famous for its lip balm. The initials “eos” stand for “Evolution of Smooth”.

16 2000s teen drama set in California : THE OC

“The O.C.” is a teen drama that aired for four seasons on Fox finishing up in 2007. I never watched it, but I understand that it is set in Newport Beach in Southern California. And, “O.C.” stands for “Orange County”.

19 __ City: Detroit nickname : MOTOR

The city of Detroit was founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a French explorer. The original settlement was named for the Detroit River, which in turn takes its name from the French word “détroit” meaning “strait”. Detroit became inextricably linked with the automotive business from the very early 20th century when Henry Ford and others set up manufacturing in the area. This link to transportation led to Detroit’s nicknames “Motor City” and “Motown”. The city’s economic strength declined at the beginning of the 21st century, resulting in a 25% drop in population between 2000 and 2010. Detroit filed for the country’s largest municipal bankruptcy in history in 2013, facing a debt of $18.8 billion. The city exited bankruptcy at the end of 2014.

22 *Street feature that forces drivers to slow down : SPEED BUMP

The traffic calming device we call a “speed bump” over here in the US, is known by the colorful name “sleeping policeman” in the UK.

28 Rebuke from Caesar : ET TU?!

It was Shakespeare who popularized the words “Et tu, Brute?” (meaning “And you, Brutus?”). They appear in his play “Julius Caesar”, although the phrase had been around long before he penned his drama. It’s not known what Julius Caesar actually said in real life (if anything at all) as he was assassinated on the steps of the Senate in Rome.

30 “Vaya con __” : DIOS

“Vaya con Dios” is Spanish for “Go with God”.

31 Texas politician Beto : O’ROURKE

Texas politician Beto O’Rourke really came to the nation’s attention when he ran for the US Senate in 2018, and was narrowly beaten by the incumbent Ted Cruz. He followed up that close-run campaign with a run for the 2020 Democratic nomination for US president.

34 Defib expert : EMT

A defibrillator (defib) might be operated by an emergency medical technician (EMT).

35 *Winter Olympics structure : SKI JUMP

The winter sport of ski jumping originated in Norway. The first recorded, measured ski jump was by Norwegian-Danish military officer Olaf Rye. He launched himself a distance of 9.5 metres in front of fellow soldiers in 1809. There is now an offshoot of ski jumping known as ski flying, which involves the use of larger hills. Ski flyers have made jumps in excess of 250 meters.

43 Filmmaker Wachowski : LANA

Lana and Lilly Wachowski, referred to collectively as “the Wachowskis”, are a film and television directing team. Perhaps most famously, the Wachowskis wrote and directed the two sequels in “The Matrix” trilogy of movies. Both Wachoskis were born male; Lana was named Larry, and Lilly was Andy.

47 Piglike forest dweller : TAPIR

All four species of tapir are endangered. Even though the tapir looks much like a pig, it is more closely related to the horse and the rhinoceros.

50 *Program for aspiring astronauts : SPACE CAMP

The US Space Camp was founded in 1982 largely at the suggestion of Wernher von Braun. The original Space Camp was opened in Huntsville, Alabama and it still operates today. There followed Space Camp Florida and Space Camp California, but they’ve since closed their doors.

54 East Coast rte. : US ONE

US Route 1 runs from Fort Kent in Maine right down to Key West in Florida.

57 Odometer reading : MILES

An odometer measures distance traveled. “Odometer comes from the Greek “hodos” meaning “path” and “metron” meaning “measure”.

61 Flight safety org. : TSA

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

62 Little bits : IOTAS

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.

63 Verdi composition : OPERA

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”.

64 Hankering : YEN

The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium.

65 Hive insects : BEES

There are over 16,000 species of bees, with the best-known probably being the western honey bee, the most common of the honey bees worldwide. Bees feed on nectar and pollen, and in so doing play a crucial role in the pollination of many plants. That’s one of the main reasons there is great concern about diminishing populations of wild bees.

Down

1 Clock setting in Eng. : GMT

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time at the Prime Meridian, the meridian that runs through Greenwich in London.

4 Generation Z, colloquially : ZOOMERS

Definitions vary, but it seems that the term “Generation Z” is reserved for the children of “Generation X”, and for the generation that follows the “Millennials” (Generation Y). Gen-Zers are also known as “Zoomers”, a portmanteau of “Z” and “boomer” (as in “baby boomer”).

6 Hurricane, e.g. : STORM

Hurricanes are given names primarily to help the public keep track of dangerous systems. The names are decided ahead of the hurricane season, with the first system given a name beginning with A, the second, B etc. The names are alternated between male and female names throughout the season. Also, if the first storm of the season is male, then the following year a female name is chosen. For hurricanes in the North Atlantic, names are assigned for every letter, except Q, U, X, Y and Z. The most frequently used name is Arlene, which was used for ten different storms from 1959 to 2011.

8 German chancellor Scholz : OLAF

Olaf Scholz succeeded Angela Merkel as the chancellor of Germany in 2021. Prior to leading the country, Scholz had served as Merkel’s vice chancellor for almost four years. Scholz is the first Chancellor of Germany not to belong to a church, but was the second to take the oath of office without reference to God (after Gerhard Schröder in 1998).

9 Went wild on the dance floor : TORE IT UP

To cut a rug is to dance. The etymology of “cut a rug” isn’t clearcut (pun!), but the wear caused by repeatedly dancing on a rug seems to be the culprit in one form or another.

10 Aptly named novelist Charles : READE

Charles Reade was an English author who came to public attention with a two-act comedy play called “Masks and Faces”. Reade turned the play into a prose story in 1852 that he called “Peg Woffington”. Reade also wrote a historical novel called “The Cloister and the Hearth” about a married man who becomes a Dominican friar on hearing that his wife has died. Years later he discovers that his wife is in fact still living and a struggle develops between the man’s obligation to family and his obligation to the Roman Catholic Church.

12 Colorado snowboarding mecca : ASPEN

Aspen, Colorado used to be known as Ute City, with the name change taking place in 1880. Like many communities in the area, Aspen was a mining town, and in 1891 and 1892 it was at the center of the highest production of silver in the US. Nowadays, it’s all about skiing and movie stars.

18 Ring-tailed primate : LEMUR

Lemurs are unusual-looking creatures that are native to the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa. With their white fur and dark eyes that are very reflective at night, they have a “ghostly” appearance. Indeed, the animals take their name from Roman mythology in which “lemures” were spirits of the restless dead.

20 Conan’s former network : TBS

“Conan” was a late-night talk show on TBS that was hosted by Conan O’Brien and aired from 2010 to 2021. “Conan” came about as a result of the so-called “War for Late Night”, when Jay Leno ceded the chair of “The Tonight Show” to “O’Brien” only to launch “The Jay Leno Show” competing on the same network.

22 “The Sweetest Taboo” singer : SADE

Singer Sade’s real name is Helen Folasade Adu. Although born in Nigeria, Sade grew up and lives in the UK. She was the lead vocalist for the English group Sade, and adopted the name of the band. The band’s biggest hits were “Smooth Operator” (1984) and “The Sweetest Taboo” (1985).

23 Spruce oneself up : PRIMP

Our verb “to spruce up” means “to make trim or neat”. The term comes from the adjective “spruce”, meaning “smart, neat”. In turn, the adjective comes from “spruce leather”, which was a Prussian leather that was used in England in the 15th and 16th centuries to make a popular style of jerkin that was widely considered to look quite smart.

24 Ham it up on stage : EMOTE

The word “ham”, describing a performer who overacts, is a shortened form of “hamfatter” and dates back to the late 1800s. “Hamfatter” comes from a song in old minstrel shows called “The Ham-Fat Man”. It seems that a poorly performing actor was deemed to have the “acting” qualities of a minstrel made up in blackface.

25 Lima’s land : PERU

Lima is the capital city of Peru. It was founded in 1535 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who named it “la Ciudad de los Reyes” (the City of Kings). He chose this name because the decision to found the city was made on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany that commemorates the visit of the three kings to Jesus in Bethlehem. Lima is home to the oldest university in all of the Americas, as San Marco University was founded in 1551 during the days of Spanish colonial rule.

29 Actor Hanks : TOM

Tom Hanks is such a great actor. He has played so many iconic roles in a relatively short career. Hanks is from California, and studied theater for a couple of years in Hayward, California not far from here. Tom’s son Colin Hanks is one of the stars of the TV comedy “Life in Pieces”. Hanks is married to the talented actress Rita Wilson.

31 Tropicana products, for short : OJS

The Tropicana company is most famous for its orange juice. The company is headquartered in Chicago, where not many oranges are grown …

32 Fluffy-eared marsupial : KOALA

Marsupials are mammals that carry their young in a pouch. Better-known marsupials are kangaroos, koalas, wombats and Tasmanian devils. As you can probably tell from this list, most marsupials are native to the Southern Hemisphere.

33 Zimbalist Jr. of old TV : EFREM

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was mainly known as a television actor, particularly for his starring roles in the classic shows “77 Sunset Strip” and “The FBI”. He had very famous parents: violinist and conductor Efren Zimbalist Sr. and operatic soprano Alma Gluck. He also had a famous daughter: actress Stephanie Zimbalist. For several years, Zimbalist Jr. was closely associated with televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and served on the PTL ministry’s board.

35 Part of a pork rack : SPARE RIB

Spare ribs are so called because “spare” can indicate the absence of fat.

36 Barbie’s beau : KEN

Barbie’s male counterpart doll is Ken, and Ken’s family name is Carson. Barbie’s full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. When Ken was introduced in 1959, it was as Barbie’s boyfriend. In 2004 it was announced that Ken and Barbie were splitting up, and needed to spend quality time apart. Soon after the split, Barbie “met” Blaine, a boogie boarder from Australia. Happily, Barbie and Ken reconciled and reunited on Valentine’s Day 2011.

39 U. of Maryland player : TERP

The sports teams of the University of Maryland are called the Maryland Terrapins, or “Terps” for short. The name dates back to 1932 when it was coined by the university’s president at the time, Curley Byrd. He took the name from the diamondback terrapins that are native to the Chesapeake Bay.

41 “My Fair Lady” role : ELIZA

Eliza Doolittle is Professor Henry Higgins’ speech student in George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”. “Pygmalion” was adapted by Lerner and Loewe to become the Broadway musical “My Fair Lady”. The musical spun off the wonderful 1964 film of the same name starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. To cockney Eliza Doolittle, Professor Henry Higgins was “‘Enry ‘Iggins”.

46 Pays using an app : VENMOS

Venmo is a smartphone payment app that is now owned by PayPal. The first version of the product was introduced in 2009 by two entrepreneurs who had met as freshman students at the University of Pennsylvania. They sold the company in 2012 for over $26 million, and then PayPal acquired it the following year for a whopping $800 million. I wonder if PayPal ever buys blogs …

49 Solstice celebrator : PAGAN

A pagan is someone who holds religious beliefs that are different from the main religions of the world, and especially someone who believes in polytheism. In classical Latin, “paganus” means “villager, rustic”.

A solstice occurs twice in every year. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year (has the most daylight), and the winter solstice is the shortest.

51 Mountain lions : PUMAS

The mountain lion is found in much of the Americas from the Yukon in Canada right down to the southern Andes in South America. Because the mountain lion is found over such a vast area, it has many different names applied by local peoples, such as “cougar” and “puma”. In fact, the mountain lion holds the Guinness record for the animal with the most number of different names, with over 40 in English alone.

53 __ gin fizz : SLOE

By definition, a cocktail known as a “fizz” includes lemon or lime juice and carbonated water. The most popular of the genre is the gin fizz, made from 3 parts gin, 2 parts lemon juice, 1 part sugar syrup and 5 parts soda water. There is also a variant known as a sloe gin fizz.

56 SLC athlete : UTE

The Utah Utes are the athletic teams of the University of Utah.

Salt Lake City (SLC) was founded by Brigham Young, in 1847. The city takes its name from the Great Salt Lake on which it sits, and indeed was known as “Great Salt Lake City” up until 1868.

58 Sign before Virgo : LEO

In astronomical terms, the zodiac is a group of 13 constellations that together form a roughly circular pattern in the night sky. Most of these constellations are named for animals, which explains why the word “zodiac” comes from the Greek “zodiakos” meaning “circle of little animals”. We can’t see the whole Zodiac at any one time in the year, but one constellation does dominate the sky every four weeks. In astrological terms, there are only 12 signs of the zodiac. Astrologists skip the constellation Ophiuchus (visible November/December). Ophiuchus is the serpent bearer.

60 Tree gunk : SAP

The sap of a plant can be broadly divided into phloem sap and xylem sap. The phloem is the tissue that transports sugars made by photosynthesis from the leaves to the parts of the plant needing those sugars. The sugary solution flowing through the phloem is the phloem sap. The xylem is the tissue that transports water and other nutrients from the roots to the rest of the plant. The watery solution flowing through the xylem is the xylem sap.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Roll for wrapping wounds : GAUZE
6 Leopard marking : SPOT
10 Pioneering TV brand : RCA
13 __ jar: preserves preserver : MASON
14 Novelist Calvino : ITALO
15 Lip balm brand whose name is short for “evolution of smooth” : EOS
16 2000s teen drama set in California : THE OC
17 *Park light recharged by the sun : SOLAR LAMP
19 __ City: Detroit nickname : MOTOR
21 What “meow” may mean : FEED ME!
22 *Street feature that forces drivers to slow down : SPEED BUMP
26 Clarifying words : I MEAN
27 Contentious territory between airplane seats : ARMREST
28 Rebuke from Caesar : ET TU?!
30 “Vaya con __” : DIOS
31 Texas politician Beto : O’ROURKE
34 Defib expert : EMT
35 *Winter Olympics structure : SKI JUMP
38 Frequently, in verse : OFT
40 Eyes, in slang : PEEPERS
42 In short supply : RARE
43 Filmmaker Wachowski : LANA
44 Partygoer : REVELER
47 Piglike forest dweller : TAPIR
50 *Program for aspiring astronauts : SPACE CAMP
52 Wows : AMAZES
54 East Coast rte. : US ONE
55 *Cube added to tea : SUGAR LUMP
57 Odometer reading : MILES
61 Flight safety org. : TSA
62 Little bits : IOTAS
63 Verdi composition : OPERA
64 Hankering : YEN
65 Hive insects : BEES
66 Walk heavily, or a three-word hint to the answers to the starred clues : STOMP or “S” TO “MP”

Down

1 Clock setting in Eng. : GMT
2 Ooh and __ : AAH
3 Employ : USE
4 Generation Z, colloquially : ZOOMERS
5 Convert into cipher : ENCODE
6 Hurricane, e.g. : STORM
7 Friend : PAL
8 German chancellor Scholz : OLAF
9 Went wild on the dance floor : TORE IT UP
10 Aptly named novelist Charles : READE
11 Pause-causing punctuation : COMMA
12 Colorado snowboarding mecca : ASPEN
14 “The jury __” : IS OUT
18 Ring-tailed primate : LEMUR
20 Conan’s former network : TBS
22 “The Sweetest Taboo” singer : SADE
23 Spruce oneself up : PRIMP
24 Ham it up on stage : EMOTE
25 Lima’s land : PERU
29 Actor Hanks : TOM
31 Tropicana products, for short : OJS
32 Fluffy-eared marsupial : KOALA
33 Zimbalist Jr. of old TV : EFREM
35 Part of a pork rack : SPARE RIB
36 Barbie’s beau : KEN
37 Golden yrs. funds : IRAS
39 U. of Maryland player : TERP
41 “My Fair Lady” role : ELIZA
42 Proof of purchase : RECEIPT
44 Speaks hoarsely : RASPS
45 Green prefix : ECO-
46 Pays using an app : VENMOS
47 Scrumptious : TASTY
48 Cause to chuckle : AMUSE
49 Solstice celebrator : PAGAN
51 Mountain lions : PUMAS
53 __ gin fizz : SLOE
56 SLC athlete : UTE
58 Sign before Virgo : LEO
59 Verbal hesitation : ERM
60 Tree gunk : SAP

21 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 19 Sep 22, Monday”

    1. Agreed. See this frequently in closed captioning on streaming shows where English isn’t the original language for whatever reason. Don’t get it there, don’t get it here.

    1. It’s more British, to be sure, but in ol’ Blighty, “Erm” is quite common.

      IMO, the distinction is worth noting in the clue.

  1. No errors or Googles. Words I did not actually know but got from crosses:
    In sports -UTE, TERP;
    other- THE OC, ZOOMERS, TBS, LANA, VENMOS, ERM.

    Trying to find something to watch on tv other than a certain funeral. Did my 13 ancestors fight for nothing?

  2. 15:36 with one error resulting from being too lazy to review my answers.
    Getting old sucks🤪
    Stay safe 😀

  3. 4:20

    Fun, helpful theme.

    Always good to see BEES. If you have a garden, you can help bees by planting flowers native to your region. You can do more by doing less: don’t use pesticides, avoid disturbing the ground, and delay garden “cleanup” until spring. Xerces.org is a good resource.

  4. 7:30 with no errors, lookups, or false starts. I initially questioned ERM for 59D, but it had to be STOMP for 66A, so I guess it’s a thing.

    Except for ERM, nothing new in this one.

    “Sleeping policeman” for a speed bump sounds a little dark.

  5. Mostly easy Monday; took 37:30 with no peeks or errors, but I fell asleep about 1/3 way through for about a 1/2 hour 🙂 Hey, it was a long flight.

    Totally agree with all the points Pam in MA made. I have .5 million pets (+/- 10k) that endorse her points as well. Pleas avoid using RoundUp and Google “bee friendly plants.”

  6. No errors.
    FWIW, OED has er, but not erm.
    The Urban dictionary has several comments, suggesting Ireland and Merseyside.

Comments are closed.