LA Times Crossword 16 Mar 23, Thursday

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Constructed by: Jeffrey Wechsler
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Opening Arguments

Themed answers are statements reinterpreted as an argument made by one professional to another:

• 17A Start of a tennis player’s argument with a line judge? : THIS ISN’T MY FAULT …
• 25A Start of an artist’s argument with a gallery owner? : I’M BEING FRAMED …
• 46A Start of a dress model’s argument with a tailor? : DON’T PIN IT ON ME …
• 60A Start of a geometry teacher’s argument with a student? : LETS SEE THE PROOF …

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

Bill’s time: 8m 31s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Diego Rivera creation : MURAL

Diego Rivera was a prominent Mexican painter and muralist who is best known for his large-scale murals that depict social and political issues of his time. He was married four times, including to the artist Frida Kahlo, who was his third wife. Rivera was an outspoken communist and a strong supporter of the Soviet Union. This led to some controversy in his home country of Mexico, as well as in the US, where his political beliefs were viewed with suspicion during the Cold War. In 1933, Rivera was commissioned to paint a mural in the Rockefeller Center in New York City, but it was later destroyed due to its controversial political themes.

10 Escalator part : STEP

Escalators have an advantage over elevators in that they can move larger numbers of people in the same time frame. They can also be placed in just about the same physical space that would be needed for a regular staircase. Patents for escalator-type devices were first filed in 1859, but the first working model wasn’t built until 1892 by one Jesse Reno. It was erected alongside a pier in Coney Island, New York, with the second escalator being placed at an entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. Soon after, the Otis elevator company purchased the necessary patents and went into the business.

16 Topiary piece : TREE

Topiary is the practice of training and clipping perennial plants into clearly defined shapes.

17 Start of a tennis player’s argument with a line judge? : THIS ISN’T MY FAULT …

Our modern sport of tennis evolved from the much older racquet sport known as real tennis. Originally just called “tennis”, the older game was labeled “real tennis” when the modern version began to hold sway. Real tennis is played in a closed court, with the ball frequently bounced off the walls.

20 Recipient of many lists : SANTA

Santa checks his list for those who are naughty and who are nice.

21 Poise : COOLNESS

Back in the early 1400s, “poise” meant “quality of being heavy”. We’ve been using the term to mean “steadiness, composure” since the mid-1600s, in the sense of being equally “weighted” on either side.

22 Life-saving pro : EMT

An emergency medical technician (EMT) might administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

32 Place to put down stakes?: Abbr. : OTB

Off-track betting (OTB) is the legal gambling that takes place on horse races outside of a race track. A betting parlor can be referred to as an OTB.

34 City in western Yemen : SANA’A

Sana (also “Sana’a”) is the capital city of Yemen. Sitting at an elevation of 7,380 feet, Sana is one of the highest capital cities in the world. Within the bounds of today’s metropolis is the old fortified city of Sana, where people have lived for over 2,500 years. The Old City is now a World Heritage Site. According to legend, Sana was founded by Shem, the son of Noah.

36 Kid-lit writer Margaret __ Brown : WISE

Margaret Wise Brown was a prolific American writer of children’s books, the most famous being “Goodnight Moon” (1947) and “The Runaway Bunny” (1942). Her books had such an impact that she was referred to as “the laureate of the nursery”. By the time she died in 1952, she had authored over 100 titles, and left behind over 70 unpublished manuscripts.

40 __ novel : DIME

The genre of literature called “dime novels” originated with books from the 1860s called the “Beadle’s Dime Novel” series. Some of those books cost a dime, but many went for 15 cents.

43 OB test : AMNIO

Amniocentesis (“amnio” for short) is the prenatal test which involves the removal of a small amount of the amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus using a hypodermic needle. The fluid naturally contains some fetal cells, the DNA of which can then be tested to determine the sex of the child and to check for the presence of genetic abnormalities.

45 British jazz element? : ZED

Two letters (elements) of the word “jazz” are letters Z (“zeds”, in Britain).

49 Good guess in Battleship : HIT

Battleship is a remarkably fun guessing game that I used to play as a child. Back then, we would play it just using pencil and paper. These days kids are more likely to play an electronic version of the game.

50 RR stop : STA

A station (“stn.” or “sta.”) is a railroad (RR) stop.

63 “Songversation” singer India.__ : ARIE

“Songversation” is a 2013 studio album released by singer/songwriter India.Arie. She also released an EP in 2017 titled SongVersation: Medicine.

64 NFLer since 2016 : LA RAM

The Los Angeles Rams are the only franchise to have won NFL championships in three different cities, i.e. Cleveland (1945), Los Angeles (1951 & 2021) and St. Louis (1999). The Rams were based in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945, in Los Angeles from 1946 to 1994, in St. Louis from 1995 to 2015, and returned to Los Angeles in 2016.

65 Medicine Hat’s prov. : ALTA

Medicine Hat is a city in Alberta that is known for its extensive natural gas fields. English writer Rudyard Kipling described that gas as “all hell for a basement”. The extent of the reserves result in Medicine Hat being known as “The Gas City”.

66 Brewer’s flowers : HOPS

The foodstuff that we call “hops” are actually the female flowers of the hop plant. The main use of hops is to add flavor to beer. The town in which I used to live here in California was once home to the largest hop farm in the world. Most of the harvested hops were exported all the way to the breweries of London, where they could fetch the best price.

67 Dessert choice, for short : FROYO

Frozen yogurt (“froyo” or “fro-yo”)

Down

2 Org. that makes workplace safety posters : OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

7 Uniformed college gp. : ROTC

The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is a training program for officers based in colleges all around the US. The ROTC program was established in 1862 when as a condition of receiving a land-grant to create colleges, the federal government required that military tactics be part of a new school’s curriculum.

8 Firing range purchase : AMMO

The word “munitions” describes materials and equipment used in war. The term derives from the Latin “munitionem” meaning “fortification, defensive wall”. Back in the 17th century, French soldiers referred to such materials as “la munition”, a Middle French term. This was misheard as “l’ammunition”, and as a result we ended up importing the word “ammunition” (often shortened to “ammo”), a term that we now use mainly to describe the material fired from a weapon.

11 “Indubitably” : TRUE

Something described as “indubitable” cannot be “doubted”.

12 Fish that may be hard to fillet : EELS

A fillet is a boneless cut of meat or fish. The term “fillet” comes from the Old French “filet” meaning “small thread, filament”. Apparently, we applied the term to food because the piece of fish or meat was tied up with string after it was boned. Here in the US, we tend to use the French spelling “filet”.

13 Loved ones who are blessed at the Feast of St. Francis : PETS

Francis of Assisi was a Catholic friar and preacher who founded the Franciscan order. Because he is honored for his love of animals and nature, many churches hold ceremonies to bless animals on the feast day of Saint Francis, October 4th, every year.

18 “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” quintet : IAMBS

An iamb is a metrical foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The lines in William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” use five sequential iambs, e.g. “Shall I / compare / thee to / a sum- / -mer’s day?” With that sequence of five iambs, the poem’s structure is described as iambic pentameter.

Here is the full text of William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130”:

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

19 Solar __ : FLARE

A solar flare is a sudden energy release from the surface of the Sun that can be perceived as a flash of brightness and an eruption of magnetic energy. That magnetic energy reaches the Earth about two days after the event, and can disrupt long-range radio communications on our planet. The location of solar flares has been strongly linked to sunspot groups, groups of dark spots on the Sun’s surface.

25 “Hedda Gabler” dramatist : IBSEN

“Hedda Gabler” is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen that was first published in 1890. The titular character is a woman who is trapped in a loveless marriage and struggling to find meaning in her life. The play was controversial when it was first produced due to its depiction of a strong-willed, independent woman who defies societal expectations and norms.

26 Like Inti Punku : INCAN

Inti Punku, which means “Sun Gate” in Quechua, is an ancient archaeological site located in Peru. It is a stone gateway that served as the main entrance to the famous Inca ruins of Machu Picchu.

27 “The Scholomance” trilogy writer Novik : NAOMI

“The Scholomance” trilogy is a series of fantasy novels written by Naomi Novik that follows the story of Galadriel “El” Higgins, a teenage girl who attends a magical school called the Scholomance. In Romanian folklore, the Scholomance is said to be a hidden school of black magic located in the depths of the Carpathian Mountains. In Novik’s books, the Scholomance is a magical school that is similarly hidden from the world, with its students constantly in danger from the malevolent creatures that lurk in its halls.

30 “A Series of Unfortunate Events” villain __ Squalor : ESME

Esmé Squalor is a fictional character from Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” book series. Her name is reminiscent of the JD Salinger short story “For Esmé—with Love and Squalor”, which has a title familiar to crossword solvers everywhere …

33 DVR pioneer : TIVO

TiVo is a digital video recorder (DVR) that revolutionized the way we watch television. The first TiVo devices were installed in homes in 1999, when they were the first consumer DVRs to hit the market. TiVo was originally marketed as a way to “pause live TV.” It quickly became known for its ability to record TV shows and movies, allowing viewers to watch them at their convenience.

39 Kia sedans : RIOS

South Korean automaker Kia has been making the subcompact model called the Rio since 2000.

47 The “se” of per se : ITSELF

“Per se” is a Latin phrase that translates as “by itself”. We use “per se” pretty literally, meaning “in itself, intrinsically”.

48 Colorful fabric : MADRAS

Madras is a lightweight fabric with a plaid design that is often used for summer clothing. The pattern is sometimes referred to as “Madrasi checks”. The textile takes its name from Madras, the former name of the city of Chennai in India.

52 Designer Saarinen : EERO

Eero Saarinen was a Finnish-American architect who was renowned in this country for his unique designs for public buildings such as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles International Airport Terminal, and the TWA building at JFK. The list of his lesser-known, but still impressive, works includes several buildings erected on academic campuses. For example, the Chapel and Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus, the Emma Hartman Noyes House at Vassar College, the Law School building at the University of Chicago, and Yale’s David S. Ingalls Rink.

53 Swab brand : Q-TIP

Cotton swabs were originally marketed under the name “Baby Gays”. This was changed in 1926 to “Q-Tips”, with the Q standing for “quality”.

55 Texas MLBer : ‘STRO

The Houston baseball team changed its name to the Astros (sometimes “’Stros”) from the Colt .45s in 1965 when they started playing in the Astrodome. The Astrodome was so called in recognition of the city’s long association with the US space program. The Astros moved from the National League to the American League starting in the 2013 season.

57 Tunneling rodent : MOLE

One of the more commonly known facts about my native Ireland is that there are no snakes in the country (outside of politics, that is). A lesser known fact is that there are no moles either. There are plenty of snakes and moles in Britain, just a few miles away. Over a pint we tend to give the credit to Saint Patrick, but the last ice age is more likely the responsible party …

58 Tiny amount : IOTA

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.

59 Nonstick brand : T-FAL

Tefal (also “T-Fal”) is a French manufacturer of cookware that is famous for its nonstick line. The name “Tefal” is a portmanteau of TEFlon and ALuminum, the key materials used in producing their pots and pans.