LA Times Crossword 25 Jan 23, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Emma Lawson
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Rock the Boat

Themed answers each contain a BOAT as a hidden word, a BOAT that’s ROCKY/anagrammed:

  • 61A Make waves, and a hint to this puzzle’s circles : ROCK THE BOAT
  • 17A Charitable undertaking that deserves support : WORTHY CAUSE (hiding a rocky “YACHT”)
  • 31A Bit of false modesty : HUMBLEBRAG (hiding a rocky “BARGE”)
  • 42A “Ugh, shut up already” : NO ONE CARES (hiding a rocky “CANOE”)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 46s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 __ Sutra : KAMA

The “Kama Sutra” is renowned for its descriptions of positions that can be used for sexual intercourse, but the sutra includes many other texts that deal with various matters of a sexual nature, including how to woo a woman, the conduct of a “chief wife”, the conduct of “other wives”, how to make money as a courtesan, and much more.

5 Charlatans : FRAUDS

A charlatan is someone who makes false claims of skill or knowledge. “Charlatan” is a word we imported from French, although the original derivation is the Italian “ciarlatano”, a term meaning “quack”.

11 Smidgen : TAD

In cooking, the terms “dash”, “pinch” and “smidgen” can all be used for a very small measure, one that is often undefined. However, you can in fact buy some measuring spoons that define these amounts as follows:

  • a dash is 1/8 teaspoon
  • a pinch is 1/16 teaspoon
  • a smidgen is 1/32 teaspoon

14 Classic Camaro : IROC

The IROC-Z is a model of Camaro that was introduced by Chevrolet in 1978. The IROC-Z takes its name from a famous stock car race, the International Race of Champions.

19 Right Guard alternative : BAN

Ban was the first roll-on deodorant, introduced in 1952. The formulation for Ban is the same as the brand called Mum, the first commercial deodorant, which dates back to the late 1800s.

Right Guard was the first aerosol antiperspirant, and was introduced in the early sixties.

21 Bullfighters : MATADORS

The term “torero” is used to describe all bullfighters. The term “matador” is reserved for the bullfighter whose job is to make the final kill. Aptly enough, “matador” is Spanish for “killer”.

23 “Go for the Goal” memoirist Mia : HAMM

Mia Hamm is a retired American soccer player. She played as a forward on the US national team that won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991. Hamm scored 158 international goals, which was more than any other player in the world, male or female, until the record was broken in 2013. Amazingly, Hamm was born with a clubfoot, and so had to wear corrective shoes when she was growing up.

25 Tried to avoid the catcher’s tag : SLID HOME

That would be baseball.

29 “Weetzie Bat” series writer Francesca __ Block : LIA

Francesca Lia Block is an author of fiction for young adults. Her most famous work is the “Dangerous Angels” series of novels, the first of which is “Weetzie Bat” published in 1989. The novels are set in a somewhat surreal version of Los Angeles that goes by the name “Shangri-L.A.”

31 Bit of false modesty : HUMBLEBRAG (hiding a rocky “BARGE”)

The term “humblebrag”, meaning “self-deprecating boast”, was coined by Harris Wittels, a writer for the sitcom “Parks and Recreation”.

41 Tuscan city whose university was founded in 1240 : SIENA

Siena is a beautiful city in the Tuscany region of Italy. In the center of Siena is the magnificent medieval square called Piazza del Campo, a paved sloping open area made up of nine triangular sections. The square has to be seen to be believed. Twice a year, the famous bareback horse-race called the Palio di Siena is held in the Piazza.

42 “Ugh, shut up already” : NO ONE CARES (hiding a rocky “CANOE”)

The boat known as a canoe takes its name from the Carib word “kenu” meaning “dugout”. It was Christopher Columbus who brought “kenu” into Spanish as “canoa”, which evolved into our English “canoe”.

45 2016 Super Bowl MVP __ Miller : VON

American footballer Von Miller started his professional career with the Denver Broncos in 2011. A year later, Miller founded the Von’s Vision foundation that provides free eye exams and glasses for children living in the Denver area.

50 Temporada con nieve : INVIERNO

In Spanish, “invierno” (winter) is a “temporada con nieve” (snowy season).

56 Jazz trumpeter Wynton : MARSALIS

Wynton Marsalis is a trumpeter and composer. He holds the position of Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. In 1997, Marsalis became the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

64 Tech exec : CIO

Chief information officer (CIO)

65 Much of North Africa : SAHARA

The name “Sahara” means “greatest desert” in Arabic. The Sahara is just that, a great desert covering almost 4 million square miles of Northern Africa. That’s almost the size of the United States.

66 Memo phrase : IN RE

The term “in re” is Latin, and is derived from “in” (in) and “res” (thing, matter). “In re” literally means “in the matter”, and is used to mean “in regard to” or “in the matter of”.

67 “Grace and Frankie” actor Waterston : SAM

Actor Sam Waterston is perhaps best known for his roles on television. He played District Attorney Jack McCoy on “Law & Order” for several years, and more recently was cast alongside Martin Sheen, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the Netflix original “Grace and Frankie”.

“Grace and Frankie” is a Netflix original comedy series starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the title roles, alongside Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston. Grace & Frankie are two ex-wives who decide to live together after their longtime husbands announce that they are in love and intend to get married.

Down

1 New Zealand bird : KIWI

The kiwi is an unusual bird in that it has a highly developed sense of smell and is the only one of our feathered friends with nostrils located at the tip of its long beak.

2 “East of Eden” brother based on Abel : ARON

John Steinbeck considered his 1952 novel “East of Eden” to be his magnum opus. Most of the storyline takes place near Salinas, just south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Two of the characters in the story are brothers Cal and Aron Trask, representative of the biblical Cain and Abel.

According to the Bible’s Book of Genesis, after Cain murdered his brother Abel, he fled to the “Land of Nod”. Nod was located “east of Eden” (from which John Steinbeck got the title for his celebrated novel “East of Eden”).

5 Tina with a recurring role on “Only Murders in the Building” : FEY

Comedian and actress Tina Fey was born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. Fey is perhaps best known to television viewers as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” (1997-2006), and as the creator and star of the sitcom “30 Rock” (2006-2013).

“Only Murders in the Building” is a comedy-mystery TV show starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as a trio of true-crime podcasters who band together to solve a murder in their apartment building. Steve Martin co-created the series. I’ve got to see it one day …

6 GOP org. : RNC

National leadership of the Republican Party is provided by the Republican National Committee (RNC). Only one former chairperson of the RNC has been elected to the office of US president, and that was George H. W. Bush.

The Republican Party has had the nickname Grand Old Party (GOP) since 1875. That said, the phrase was coined in the “Congressional Record” as “this gallant old party”. The moniker was changed to “grand old party” in 1876 in an article in the “Cincinnati Commercial”. The Republican Party’s elephant mascot dates back to an 1874 cartoon drawn by Thomas Nast for “Harper’s Weekly”. The Democrat’s donkey was already an established symbol. Nast drew a donkey clothed in a lion’s skin scaring away the other animals. One of the scared animals was an elephant, which Nast labeled “The Republican Vote”.

7 “Run to You” singer Bryan : ADAMS

Bryan Adams is a Canadian singer-songwriter. He is also a very accomplished photographer, and his images have been published quite widely.

18 Webmaster’s code : HTML

The initialism “HTML” stands for HyperText Markup Language. HTML is the language used to write most Internet web pages (including this one).

22 Abu __ : DHABI

Abu Dhabi is one of the seven Emirates that make up the federation known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two largest members of the UAE (geographically) are Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the only two of the seven members that have veto power over UAE policy. Before 1971, the UAE was a British Protectorate, a collection of sheikdoms. The sheikdoms entered into a maritime truce with Britain in 1835, after which they became known as the Trucial States, derived from the word “truce”.

26 Ugly duckling’s true self : SWAN

Hans Christian Andersen’s tale “The Ugly Duckling” has to be one of the most endearing ever written. Unlike so many fairy tales, “The Ugly Duckling” isn’t based on any folklore and is simply a product of Andersen’s imagination. It is speculated that Andersen was the illegitimate son of the Crown Prince of Denmark, and that he wrote the story of the ugly duckling that turned into a beautiful swan as a metaphor for the secret royal lineage that was within Andersen himself.

27 Approximately 2.2 lbs. : KILO

Today, the gram is defined as one thousandth of a kilogram, with the kilogram being equal to the mass of a physical sample preserved by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (well, up until 2019, when it became more hi-tech than I can explain!). Prior to 1960, the gram was defined as the weight of a cubic centimeter of pure water (at the temperature of melting ice).

28 Fish in a negitoro roll : TUNA

In Japanese cuisine, “negitoro” is the fatty parts of tuna that are not usually used for other dishes. Negitoro is often served with green onion.

32 Mo. after Leap Day : MAR

Leap day is February 29th in a leap year, which is usually a year that is divisible by 4. My baby brother was born on February 29th, in 1968. A woman in Utah gave birth on February 29th in 2004, on February 29th in 2008, and once more on February 29th, 2012. That’s in the Guinness Book of World Records …

33 Orchard pollinators : BEES

The waggle dance is a behavior exhibited by bees that informs other members of the hive about the direction and distance to a supply of nectar. Apparently the meaning of the dance “moves” are fairly well understood. The direction of the dance relative to the sun indicates the direction to the nectar source. The length of time spent “waggling” in one direction indicates how far away the source is.

35 Quote book abbr. : ANON

Anonymous (anon.)

38 Diarist Nin : ANAIS

Anaïs Nin was a French author who was famous for the journals that she wrote for over sixty years from the age of 11 right up to her death. Nin also wrote highly regarded erotica and cited D. H. Lawrence as someone from whom she drew inspiration. Nin was married to banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in 1923. Decades later in 1955, Nin married former actor Rupert Pole, even though she was still married to Guiler. Nin and Pole had their marriage annulled in 1966, but just for legal reasons, and they continued to live together as husband and wife until Nin passed away in 1977.

49 Croatia neighbor : SERBIA

Serbia is a landlocked country in southeast Europe. After WWII, Serbia became one of several states making up the nation called Yugoslavia. Serbia became independent again in 2006 as Yugoslavia broke up after the declaration of independence by Montenegro.

51 Gymnast Comaneci : NADIA

Romanian Nadia Comaneci won three golds in the 1976 Summer Olympics and was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of ten in the gymnastics competition. Comaneci published a book called “Letters to a Young Gymnast” in 2003, and now lives in the United States.

54 Liam’s “Schindler’s List” role : OSKAR

Oskar Schindler is the protagonist in the Steven Spielberg movie “Schindler’s List”. Schindler was a real person who survived WWII. During the Holocaust, Schindler managed to save almost 1,200 Jews from perishing by employing them in his factories. After the war, Schindler and his wife were left penniless having used his assets to protect and feed his workers. For years the couple survived on the charity of Jewish groups. Schindler tried to make a go of it in business again but never had any real success. He died a pauper in 1974 in Hildesheim, not far from Hanover. His last wish was to be buried in Jerusalem. Schindler was the only former member of the Nazi Party to be buried on Mount Zion.

Irish actor Liam Neeson got his big break when he played Oskar Schindler in the Spielberg epic, “Schindler’s List”. Neeson was in the news some years later when he lost his wife, actress Natasha Richardson, in a tragic skiing accident in 2009. Earlier in his life, in the 1980s, Neeson lived for several years with Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren.

58 “Where Am I Now?” memoirist Wilson : MARA

Mara Wilson started her acting career as a child actress, appearing in “Mrs. Doubtfire”, the 1994 version of “Miracle on 34th Street”, and the title character in “Matilda”.

59 Pedometer unit : STEP

A pedometer is an instrument worn by a runner or walker that measures the number of steps taken. The name of the device comes from “pes”, the Latin for “foot”.

63 Luck, to Shakespeare : HAP

One’s “hap” is one’s luck. So, to be “hapless” is to be out of luck, unfortunate.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 __ Sutra : KAMA
5 Charlatans : FRAUDS
11 Smidgen : TAD
14 Classic Camaro : IROC
15 Breaks things off : ENDS IT
16 Tankard filler : ALE
17 Charitable undertaking that deserves support : WORTHY CAUSE (hiding a rocky “YACHT”)
19 Right Guard alternative : BAN
20 Feedback : INPUT
21 Bullfighters : MATADORS
23 “Go for the Goal” memoirist Mia : HAMM
25 Tried to avoid the catcher’s tag : SLID HOME
26 Pan : SKILLET
29 “Weetzie Bat” series writer Francesca __ Block : LIA
30 Break the tape : WIN
31 Bit of false modesty : HUMBLEBRAG (hiding a rocky “BARGE”)
37 Religious platform : ALTAR
40 Scottish refusal : NAE
41 Tuscan city whose university was founded in 1240 : SIENA
42 “Ugh, shut up already” : NO ONE CARES (hiding a rocky “CANOE”)
45 2016 Super Bowl MVP __ Miller : VON
46 “I’ve got it!” : AHA!
47 Talking back to : SASSING
50 Temporada con nieve : INVIERNO
55 Connections : TIES
56 Jazz trumpeter Wynton : MARSALIS
57 Cuts : TRIMS
60 Big fuss : ADO
61 Make waves, and a hint to this puzzle’s circles : ROCK THE BOAT
64 Tech exec : CIO
65 Much of North Africa : SAHARA
66 Memo phrase : IN RE
67 “Grace and Frankie” actor Waterston : SAM
68 Lure into wrongdoing : ENTRAP
69 “On the double!” abbr. : ASAP!

Down

1 New Zealand bird : KIWI
2 “East of Eden” brother based on Abel : ARON
3 Completely become : MORPH INTO
4 Real : ACTUAL
5 Tina with a recurring role on “Only Murders in the Building” : FEY
6 GOP org. : RNC
7 “Run to You” singer Bryan : ADAMS
8 Typical : USUAL
9 Purify, in a way : DISTILL
10 Makes less wobbly : STEADIES
11 Simply not done : TABOO
12 Wake-up call? : ALARM
13 Pretty thick : DENSE
18 Webmaster’s code : HTML
22 Abu __ : DHABI
24 Just okay : MEH
26 Ugly duckling’s true self : SWAN
27 Approximately 2.2 lbs. : KILO
28 Fish in a negitoro roll : TUNA
32 Mo. after Leap Day : MAR
33 Orchard pollinators : BEES
34 Subsequent drafts : REVISIONS
35 Quote book abbr. : ANON
36 Crew : GANG
38 Diarist Nin : ANAIS
39 Prepare for a show : REHEARSE
43 Assistance in getting a ride? : CAR LOAN
44 Plopped down in a chair : SAT
48 Location : SITE
49 Croatia neighbor : SERBIA
50 Apple desktops : IMACS
51 Gymnast Comaneci : NADIA
52 Revving sound : VROOM!
53 Not, in German : NICHT
54 Liam’s “Schindler’s List” role : OSKAR
58 “Where Am I Now?” memoirist Wilson : MARA
59 Pedometer unit : STEP
62 La-la lead-in : TRA-
63 Luck, to Shakespeare : HAP

13 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 25 Jan 23, Wednesday”

  1. I’d say Emma rocked the boat with INVIERNO. wow, quite the new word of the day.

    Took me longer than usual. About 15 minutes

  2. Couldn’t figure out the theme. Once I saw OCEAN in the 3rd set of circles, I was screwed.

  3. 21:58 no errors…I guess that unless you speak 5 foreign languages you will never be an elite crossword solver.
    Stay safe😀

    1. I agree Jack! I don’t understand why they put obscure foreign words in the crossword. “Temporada con nieve”. Really, who knew this?

  4. 8:56, no errors. Didn’t use the theme. Spent the most time on 57A, the Cuts clue, as I had TRI_S and I resorted to the alphabet game.

  5. 10:00 – no errors or lookups. False starts: CTO>CIO, CARAVAN>CARLOAN.

    New: “Weetzie Bat,” Francesca LIA Block, SIENA, ,Run to You,” Bryan ADAMS, “negitoro roll,” MARA Wilson, “Where Am I Now?”. I recognized answers of BAN, INVIERNO, and HAP once I got them filled in, but couldn’t come up with them right off.

    Got the theme before filling in the circles, and so that helped with those answers.

    Seemed to be a decent Wednesday difficulty.

  6. 8 mins 42 sec, no errors. Not especially easy, a lot of flitting about on this one, and it eventually fell into place.

  7. No look ups, no errors. I liked the theme
    today….

    @ Dirk
    One last thought on the W.German team,
    I’m glad they won it in 1990 (3 WC Finals in
    a row!) even though Schumacher didn’t
    make the team. Littbarski was still there.
    Just before German reunification too!
    Bayern is just too tough, they have a
    monopoly on the Bundesliga…..

  8. Mostly easy Wednesday for me; took 10:24 with no peeks or errors. A bit of dancing around and waiting for crosses but no real difficulties. Knew HAMM and NICHT right away, so that helped. Didn’t really use the theme. And, BEES!! *always a good sign* 🙂

    @Saul – Yeah, that was sweet…And, outside of Bavaria, nobody roots for Bayern. And, they look a little mortal this year, but will probably still win it again.

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