LA Times Crossword 13 Dec 22, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Rebecca Goldstein
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Holding Patterns

Themed answers are each HOLDING a PATTERN spelled out by the circled letters:

  • 36A Flight paths above busy airports, and what the sets of circled letters literally are? : HOLDING PATTERNS
  • 16A Burlesque act : STRIPTEASE (holding “STRIPE”)
  • 22A Truck seen during a power outage, maybe : CHERRY PICKER (holding “CHECKER”)
  • 47A Ricotta-filled pancake often served on Shavuot : CHEESE BLINTZ (holding “CHINTZ”)
  • 57A Serves as matchmaker : PLAYS CUPID (holding “PLAID”)

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

Bill’s time: 8m 18s

Bill’s errors: 2

  • BTS (TTS)
  • BLOB (blot!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Game played with a bouncing ball : JACKS

Knucklebones (also “jacks, jackstones”) is a game in which small objects are tossed in the air, while others are picked up, and the tossed objects caught. There are many variations of the game.

14 Cooking initialism popularized by Rachael Ray : EVOO

Virgin olive oil is oil produced from olives with no chemical treatment involved in the production process at all. To be labeled “virgin”, the oil must have an acidity level of less than 2% and must be judged to have “a good taste”. Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) comes from virgin oil production, and is the portion with acidity levels of less than 0.8% acidity that is judged to have “superior taste”.

Rachael Ray is a celebrity chef and host of several shows on the Food Network television channel. Ray comes from a family that owned and managed a number of restaurants in the northeast of the country. One of Ray’s TV shows is “$40 a Day”, in which she demonstrates how to visit various cities in North America and Europe and eat three meals and a snack on a daily budget of just $40.

16 Burlesque act : STRIPTEASE (holding “STRIPE”)

The word “burlesque” came into English from French, although the word is rooted in the Italian “burla”, the word for a joke, or mockery. A burlesque is a work of literature, drama or music that is intended to amuse and cause laughter. Burlesques in the US took on a variety show format and were popular in the US from the 1860s. Over time, the variety acts started to include female striptease, and the term “burlesque” has come to be mainly associated with such entertainment. The derivative verb “to burlesque” means “to imitate mockingly”.

21 Four-door car, usually : SEDAN

The American sedan car is the equivalent of the British and Irish saloon car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in Britain and Ireland), although in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.

22 Truck seen during a power outage, maybe : CHERRY PICKER (holding “CHECKER”)

A cherry picker is a mobile crane in which the operator stands at the end of the boom. It is also known as a bucket truck, or more formally, an aerial work platform. Believe it or not, cherry pickers were actually invented to make the process of picking cherries more efficient.

28 GI show gp. : USO

The United Service Organization (USO) was founded in 1941 at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt “to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces”. A USO tour is undertaken by a troupe of entertainers, many of whom are big-name celebrities. A USO tour usually includes troop locations in combat zones.

The initialism “GI” stands for “Government Issue”, and not “General Infantry” as is widely believed. “GI” was first used in the military to denote equipment made from Galvanized Iron and during WWI, incoming German shells were nicknamed “GI cans”. Soon after, the term GI came to be associated with “Government Issue” and eventually became an adjective to describe anything associated with the Army.

29 Roast hosts, briefly : MCS

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

35 Energizer size : AAA

We are all fairly familiar with the Energizer Bunny, I am guessing. The “Bunny” was introduced in 1989 to promote Energizer batteries, by parodying the Duracell Bunny that had been introduced in 1973.

36 Flight paths above busy airports, and what the sets of circled letters literally are? : HOLDING PATTERNS

A holding pattern is usually a racetrack, oval pattern that is flown by aircraft while waiting for clearance to land at an airport. Holding patterns are used if an airport gets congested and cannot handle the required number of landings.

41 After-bath powder : TALC

Talc is a mineral, hydrated magnesium silicate. Talcum powder is composed of loose talc, although these days “baby powder” is also made from cornstarch.

42 Sushi bar beverages : SAKES

We refer to the Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice as “sake”. We’ve gotten things a bit mixed up in the West. “Sake” is actually the word that the Japanese use for all alcoholic drinks. What we know as sake, we sometimes refer to as rice wine. Also, the starch in the rice is first converted to sugars that are then fermented into alcohol. This is more akin to a beer-brewing process than wine production, so the end product is really a rice “beer” rather than a rice “wine”.

43 Payroll service co. : ADP

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) is an enterprise based in Roseland, New Jersey that provides business services to companies. The company was founded back in 1949 by Henry Taub as Automatic Payrolls, Inc.

44 Cell service initials : LTE

In the world of telecommunications, the initialism LTE stands for Long-Term Evolution, and is wireless broadband communication standard. In general terms, LTE improves broadband speeds. As I understand it, LTE technology allows a 3G network to perform almost as well as a true 4G network, and so LTE is sometimes marketed as 4G LTE, even though it’s really “3G plus”.

45 Navigates bunny slopes : SKIS

In North America, ski runs are given a standardized rating in terms of skiing difficulty. The ratings are:

  • Green circles: easy to ski, often termed “bunny slopes”.
  • Blue squares: medium difficulty
  • Black diamond: steep and challenging terrain
  • Double black diamond: experts only (I’ve never braved one!)

47 Ricotta-filled pancake often served on Shavuot : CHEESE BLINTZ (holding “CHINTZ”)

A blintz (also “blintze” and “blin”, plural “blini”) is a thin pancake similar to a crêpe, although unlike a crêpe, a blintz may contain yeast.

Shavuot is a holiday in the Jewish tradition that is also known as the “Feast of Weeks”. The name “Shavuot” translates from Hebrew as “Weeks”).

56 Organ with lobes : LUNG

The lungs are the two main organs in the human respiratory system. It is in the lungs that oxygen is extracted from the air and transferred into the bloodstream. At the same time, carbon dioxide is removed from the bloodstream and released into the atmosphere.

57 Serves as matchmaker : PLAYS CUPID (holding “PLAID”)

In the myth of Cupid and Psyche, the two title characters must overcome many obstacles to fulfill their love for each other. Overcome them they do, and the pair marry and enjoy immortal love.

“Tartan” is sometimes called “plaid” over here in the US, and is a word not used in the same sense outside of this country. In Scotland, a plaid is a blanket or a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder.

62 __ Matthews Band : DAVE

The Dave Matthews Band (sometimes just “DMB”) is a rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia that formed in 1991. DMB hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2004 when their driver decided to dump about 800 pounds of liquid waste from the tour bus into the Chicago River. He pumped the waste through a grate on a bridge, and onto the passengers on a sightseeing boat that was passing below.

64 “Dynamite” K-pop group : BTS

BTS is a boy band from South Korea with seven members. The initialism “BTS” stands for the phrase “Bangtan Sonyeondan”, which translates literally as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”. BTS is the best-selling musical act in the history of South Korea.

“Dynamite” is a 2020 song released by the boy band BTS from South Korea. It was a huge success internationally and hit number-one in the US charts. “Dynamite” was the first song that BTS fully recorded in English.

65 Used a hatchet on : AXED

A hatchet is short-handled axe. The name of the axe comes from the Old French “hachete” meaning “small combat-axe”, with “hachete” being the diminutive of “hache” meaning “axe”.

Down

2 Italian sparkling wine : 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.

3 PC key combo for “copy” : CTRL+C

The Control (CTRL) key on a PC keyboard is used to modify the function of other keys. For example, pressing CTRL+C copies a selection to the clipboard, and CTRL+V pastes the contents of the clipboard to a location defined by the cursor. Control keys were introduced on teletypewriters to generate “control characters”, which are non-printing characters that instruct a computer to do something like print a page, ring a bell etc.

4 Colorful pond fish : KOI

Koi are fish that are also known as Japanese carp. Koi have been bred for decorative purposes and there are now some very brightly colored examples found in Japanese water gardens.

7 Fallopian tube neighbor : OVARY

The Fallopian tubes leading from the ovaries of female mammals in the uterus. The tubes are named for the 16th-century Italian anatomist Gabriello Fallopio, who was the first to describe them.

9 Writer for whom the Edgar Award is named : POE

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (“Edgars”) are presented annually by the Mystery Writers of America. There are several categories of awards. For example, the Ellery Queen Award honors “writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry”. The Raven Award is presented to non-writers, who contribute to the mystery genre.

11 Sucrose-rich stalk : SUGARCANE

The sugar we consume as “table sugar” is mainly sucrose that is extracted from sugarcane and sugar beet. We also consume lactose, naturally occurring in milk, and fructose, naturally occurring in fruit. But most of the sugar we eat or drink tends to be prepared commercially, the most famous being high-fructose corn syrup, which is glucose that is industrially processed into a glucose/fructose mix. Don’t get me started on the politics of food …

17 Lawn care brand : TORO

Toro is a manufacturer of lawn mowers and snow removal equipment that is based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The company was founded in 1914 to build tractor engines.

21 Makes room on a pew, say : SCOOTS IN

A pew is a church bench, usually one with a high back. The original pews were raised and sometimes enclosed seats in the church used by women and important men or families. “Pew” comes from the Old French “puie” meaning “balcony, elevation”.

25 Mountain cat : PUMA

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.

31 Branch of Islam : SHIA

The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favored the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.

33 Mammals with tusks and trunks : ELEPHANTS

There are only three species of elephant living today, with all others being extinct. These are the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant (or “Indian elephant”). As is well known, the African elephant is distinguished from the Asian/Indian elephant by its much larger ears. The African bush elephant is the largest living land animal.

34 Scannable bars on mdse. : UPC

The initialism “UPC” stands for Universal Price Code or Universal Product Code. The first ever UPC-marked item to get scanned in a store was on June 26, 1974 at 08:01 a.m. at Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, Ohio. It was a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum.

37 D.C. MLB team : NATS

If you attend a Washington Nationals baseball game, held in Nationals Park, you’ll see the Presidents Race in the middle of the fourth innings. Individuals dressed like six former US presidents, each sporting a large and cartoonish head, participate in the race. The runners in the footrace are:

  • George (Washington)
  • Abe (Lincoln)
  • Tom (Jefferson)
  • Teddy (Roosevelt)
  • Bill (Taft)
  • Calvin (Coolidge)
  • Herbie (Hoover)

46 Baby goats : KIDS

Male goats are bucks or billies, although castrated males are known as wethers. Female goats are does or nannies, and young goats are referred to as kids.

48 Thus : ERGO

“Ergo” is a Latin word meaning “hence, therefore”, and one that we absorbed directly into English.

54 Include in a bibliography : CITE

Back in the 17th century, the term “bibliography” meant “the writing of books”, from the Greek “biblion” meaning “book” and “graphos” meaning “written”. The contemporary usage, describing a list of books related to a particular subject, emerged in the early 19th century.

55 Sherbet brand : EDY’S

Sherbet, the frozen dessert, is very similar to sorbet, the difference being that sherbet contains a small amount of milkfat.

57 Kissing on the subway, e.g. : PDA

Public display of affection (PDA)

60 Game with Skip and Reverse cards : UNO

UNO is a card game that was developed in the early seventies and that has been sold by Mattel since 1992. It falls into the shedding family of card games, meaning that the goal is to get rid of all your cards while preventing opponents from doing the same.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Game played with a bouncing ball : JACKS
6 Cavort : ROMP
10 “For shame!” : TSK!
13 “We feel the same way” : US TOO
14 Cooking initialism popularized by Rachael Ray : EVOO
15 “Good point” : TRUE
16 Burlesque act : STRIPTEASE (holding “STRIPE”)
18 Wrath : RAGE
19 “__ we meet again” : ‘TIL
20 Rower’s blade : OAR
21 Four-door car, usually : SEDAN
22 Truck seen during a power outage, maybe : CHERRY PICKER (holding “CHECKER”)
27 Part of, as a private joke : IN ON
28 GI show gp. : USO
29 Roast hosts, briefly : MCS
31 Like 11-Down : SWEET
34 “Yeah, don’t think so” : UM, NO
35 Energizer size : AAA
36 Flight paths above busy airports, and what the sets of circled letters literally are? : HOLDING PATTERNS
40 Wrath : IRE
41 After-bath powder : TALC
42 Sushi bar beverages : SAKES
43 Payroll service co. : ADP
44 Cell service initials : LTE
45 Navigates bunny slopes : SKIS
47 Ricotta-filled pancake often served on Shavuot : CHEESE BLINTZ (holding “CHINTZ”)
51 Surfer’s plank : BOARD
52 “Way cool!” : RAD!
53 Freezer buildup : ICE
56 Organ with lobes : LUNG
57 Serves as matchmaker : PLAYS CUPID (holding “PLAID”)
61 Not fooled by : ONTO
62 __ Matthews Band : DAVE
63 Like-mindedness : UNITY
64 “Dynamite” K-pop group : BTS
65 Used a hatchet on : AXED
66 Reusable grocery bags : TOTES

Down

1 Equitable : JUST
2 Italian sparkling wine : ASTI
3 PC key combo for “copy” : CTRL+C
4 Colorful pond fish : KOI
5 Soak (up), as sauce : SOP
6 Gain back : RE-EARN
7 Fallopian tube neighbor : OVARY
8 Wks. and wks. : MOS
9 Writer for whom the Edgar Award is named : POE
10 Corporate symbol : TRADEMARK
11 Sucrose-rich stalk : SUGARCANE
12 Eager (to) : KEEN
15 Difficult journey : TREK
17 Lawn care brand : TORO
21 Makes room on a pew, say : SCOOTS IN
23 Made haste, quaintly : HIED
24 Having the right (to) : ENTITLED
25 Mountain cat : PUMA
26 “This __ about you” : ISN’T
30 Back talk : SASS
31 Branch of Islam : SHIA
32 Requirement for some school essays : WORD COUNT
33 Mammals with tusks and trunks : ELEPHANTS
34 Scannable bars on mdse. : UPC
37 D.C. MLB team : NATS
38 Utter joy : GLEE
39 Opposite of west : EAST
45 Crushed it in a drag show : SLAYED
46 Baby goats : KIDS
48 Thus : ERGO
49 Courageous : BRAVE
50 “Quiet!” : ZIP IT!
51 Splotch : BLOB
54 Include in a bibliography : CITE
55 Sherbet brand : EDY’S
57 Kissing on the subway, e.g. : PDA
58 Permissive : LAX
59 Use scissors on : CUT
60 Game with Skip and Reverse cards : UNO