LA Times Crossword 7 Mar 23, Tuesday

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Constructed by: David P. Williams
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: A Hop, Skip and a Jump

Themed answers each start with a word that is often paired with HOP, SKIP or JUMP:

  • 67A Trivial distance, or what can be paired, in order, with the starts of the answers to the starred clues : A HOP, SKIP AND A JUMP
  • 18A *Whisky with ice, say : SCOTCH ON THE ROCKS (giving “hopscotch”)
  • 28A *Course for a first-year student, maybe : INTRO CLASS (giving “skip intro”)
  • 52A *Decathlete who throws a metal ball : SHOT-PUTTER (giving “jump shot”)
  • Read on, or jump to …
    … a complete list of answers

    Bill’s time: 4m 57s

    Bill’s errors: 0

    Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

    Across

    1 Eucalyptus eater : KOALA

    The koala bear really does look like a little bear, but it’s not even closely related. The koala is an arboreal marsupial and a herbivore, native to the east and south coasts of Australia. Koalas aren’t primates, and are one of the few mammals other than primates who have fingerprints. In fact, it can be very difficult to tell human fingerprints from koala fingerprints, even under an electron microscope. Male koalas are called “bucks”, females are “does”, and young koalas are “joeys”. I’m a little jealous of the koala, as it sleeps up to 20 hours a day …

    Eucalyptus (plural “eucalypti”) is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs that is particularly widespread in Australia. The species known as mountain ash or swamp gum is the tallest flowering plant in the world, with the tallest example located in Tasmania and standing at over 325 feet tall.

    11 Chutzpah : GALL

    Our word “chutzpah” meaning “nerve, gall, impudence” is derived from the Yiddish “khutspe”, which has the same meaning.

    15 Baltimore’s __ Harbor : INNER

    Baltimore’s Inner Harbor was once a major gateway for immigrants to the US, second only to New York City. In recent decades, the Inner Harbor has been transformed from an industrial area full of dilapidated warehouses into a major tourist destination and commercial district, with some very expensive real estate.

    17 Off-Broadway award : OBIE

    The Obies are the Off-Broadway Theater Awards. They have been presented annually since 1956. The recipients used to be chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper, but now are jointly administered with the American Theatre Wing.

    18 *Whisky with ice, say : SCOTCH ON THE ROCKS (giving “hopscotch”)

    I remember the children’s game called “hopscotch” being a favorite of mine as a young kid. Also known as “potsy” (mainly in New York City), it involves tossing a stone into a pattern of rectangles drawn in chalk on the ground. After tossing the stone into the correct square, the player hops through the rectangular pattern, pausing to retrieve the stone.

    23 Wild West search parties : POSSES

    Our word “posse” comes from an Anglo-Latin term from the early 15th century “posse comitatus” meaning “the force of the county”

    24 Ballpark fig. : EST

    A ballpark figure is an estimated quantity. The original “ballpark figure” was an estimate of the number of people attending a baseball game, the size of the crowd in the “ballpark”.

    26 Rubella spot, familiarly : MEASLE

    German measles is a disease caused by the rubella virus, with the name “rubella” coming from the Latin for “little red” (a reference to the red rash symptom). The disease is known as “German” measles because it was first described by physicians in Germany in the mid-1900s. Rubella is most serious for pregnant women as it can cause spontaneous abortion or cause the baby to be born with life-threatening organ disorders. When I was growing up in Ireland, I remember catching German measles along with my brother, and then having young girls from the neighborhood paraded through the house. The hope was that they would catch the disease and acquire the resulting immunity before they entered their childbearing years. Most children in North America receive a German measles vaccine as part of the MMR vaccine.

    28 *Course for a first-year student, maybe : INTRO CLASS (giving “skip intro”)

    So many TV shows these days have a “skip intro” option, now that smart TVs are so common. I love the “skip intro” command …

    36 Monopoly cube : DIE

    The commercial game of Monopoly is supposedly a remake of “The Landlord’s Game” created in 1903 by a Quaker woman named Lizzie Phillips. Phillips used her game as a tool to explain the single tax theory of American economist Henry George. The Landlord’s Game was first produced commercially in 1924. The incredibly successful derivative game called Monopoly was introduced in 1933 by Charles Darrow, who became a very rich man when Parker Brothers bought the rights to the game just two years later in 1935.

    37 P-like Greek letter : RHO

    Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”, although it is equivalent to the Roman letter R. It is the 17th letter in the Greek alphabet.

    38 Sunblock letters : SPF

    In theory, the sun protection factor (SPF) is a calibrated measure of the effectiveness of a sunscreen in protecting the skin from harmful UV rays. The idea is that if you wear a lotion with say SPF 20, then it takes 20 times as much UV radiation to cause the skin to burn than it would take without protection. I say just stay out of the sun …

    40 The Bee __: “Saturday Night Fever” group : GEES

    The Brothers Gibb (hence, the name “Bee Gees”) were born in England but grew up and started their musical careers in Australia. They moved back to Manchester in the north of England as youths, and there hit the big time.

    “Saturday Night Fever” was a phenomenal movie in its day, but to be honest, I don’t think it has aged well. I still love the soundtrack, which is the third-best selling movie soundtrack of all time (number one is “The Bodyguard” and number two is “Purple Rain”, would you believe?). “Saturday Night Fever” was the first film for which the soundtrack was launched before the movie itself, in a cross-marketing exercise designed to hype the movie before its release.

    45 Pixar clownfish : NEMO

    “Finding Nemo” is a 2003 animated blockbuster from Pixar. The film was the winner of the Oscar that year for Best Animated Feature. Believe it or not, “Finding Nemo” is the best-selling DVD of all time and, until 2010’s “Toy Story 3”, it was the highest-grossing, G-rated movie at the box office.

    Clownfish are very colorful, attractive-looking fish. They are orange and often have broad strips of white and black on their bodies depending on species. Clownfish spend their lives in a symbiotic relationship with sea anemones.

    50 Tiling job supply : GROUT

    Grout is a thin mortar used to fill the joints between ceramic tiles. The name “grout” comes from the Old English word “gruta”, the word for a “coarse porridge” (due to the similarity in appearance of the two). Interestingly, the word “grits” comes from the same root. Grout … grits … makes sense …

    52 *Decathlete who throws a metal ball : SHOT-PUTTER (giving “jump shot”)

    Shot put, or events like shot put, have been around for millennia, but the first events that truly resemble today’s track and field event had to come with the invention of the cannonball. Soldiers would “put” (throw) cannonballs as far as possible in attempts to outperform each other. Shot put has been in the modern Olympic Games since day-one, with American Robert Garrett winning the gold in the first games in 1896.

    The decathlon event is a track and field competition, with the name “decathlon” coming from the Greek “deka” (ten) and “athlos” (contest). The ten events in the men’s decathlon are:

    • 100 meters
    • Long jump
    • Shot put
    • High jump
    • 400 meters
    • 110 meters hurdles
    • Discus throw
    • Pole vault
    • Javelin throw
    • 1500 meters

    57 Tire inflation abbr. : PSI

    Pounds per square inch (PSI) is a measure of pressure.

    58 Vietnamese sandwich : BANH MI

    The French introduced the baguette into Vietnam in the days the country was a French colony. Today, a single-serving baguette is known in Vietnam as “bánh mì” (meaning “wheat bread”). The term has been extended, particularly here in the US, to describe a Vietnamese sandwich.

    61 Donburi grain : RICE

    Donburi is a popular Japanese dish that consists of a bowl of rice topped with various ingredients, typically meat or fish, and vegetables. It was originally a meal for peasants in the late 1800s, as it was a cheap and convenient meal that could be made with leftover ingredients.

    63 Black-eyed __ : PEAS

    Black-eyed peas (also called “black-eyed beans”) are a type of cowpea. Black-eyed peas are especially popular in soul food and other southern cuisine.

    70 Fiery volcanic output : LAVA

    Lava is a phenomenon that results from the eruption of magma from a volcano. Depending on the type of lava and the volcano it comes from, lava can reach temperatures of up to 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,200 degrees Celsius). That’s hot enough to melt steel …

    72 Educator Montessori : MARIA

    The Montessori approach to education was developed by the Italian educator Maria Montessori in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Montessori system arrived in the US in 1911, but most classes were shut down by 1914 due to unfavorable criticism from the established education system. There was a revival in interest in the US starting in 1960 and now there are thousands of schools using the Montessori approach all over the country.

    73 Caesar’s “vidi” : I SAW

    The oft-quoted statement “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) is believed by many to have been written by Julius Caesar. The words date back to 47 BCE and refer to the short war between Rome and Pharnaces II of Pontus.

    74 Sport with clay targets : SKEET

    There are three types of competitive shotgun target shooting sports:

    • Skeet shooting
    • Trap shooting
    • Sporting clays

    Down

    1 Foil-wrapped Hershey’s chocolate : KISS

    The Hershey Company produces over 80 million chocolate Kisses each day, and has been making them since 1907.

    3 Mystery writer, briefly? : ANON

    Anonymous (anon.)

    7 California wine valley : SONOMA

    Did you know that there are far more wine grapes produced in Sonoma than Napa? Within Sonoma County some of the more well-known appellations are Chalk Hill, Anderson Valley and Russian River Valley. Personally, when I want to visit the wine country, I head for the Russian River Valley as it’s far less crowded and much more fun than Napa Valley.

    11 Slangy zero : GOOSE EGG

    The use of the phrase “goose egg” to mean “zero” is baseball slang that dates back to the 1860s. The etymology is as expected: the numeral zero and a goose egg are both large and round.

    12 Pre-K basics : ABCS

    Pre-kindergarten (pre-K)

    19 Actress Teri : HATCHER

    Teri Hatcher’s most famous role is the Susan Mayer character on the TV comedy-drama “Desperate Housewives”. I’ve never seen more than a few minutes of “Housewives” but I do know Teri Hatcher as a Bond girl, as she appeared in “Tomorrow Never Dies”. More recently, she portrayed Lois Lane on the show “Lois & Clark”.

    29 Bay Area NFLer : NINER

    The 49ers football team in San Francisco takes its name from the gold prospectors who flooded into Northern California around 1849 during the California Gold Rush. These “1849 prospectors” became known as the “49ers”.

    34 Wish-granter in Aladdin’s lamp : GENIE

    The “genie” in the bottle takes his or her name from “djinn”. “Djinns” were various spirits considered lesser than angels, with people exhibiting unsavory characteristics said to be possessed by djinn. When the book “The Thousand and One Nights” was translated into French, the word “djinn” was transformed into the existing word “génie”, because of the similarity in sound and the related spiritual meaning. This “génie” from the Arabian tale became confused with the Latin-derived “genius”, a guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at birth. Purely as a result of that mistranslation the word genie has come to mean the “djinn” that pops out of the bottle. A little hard to follow, I know, but still quite interesting …

    “Aladdin” is a famous tale in “Arabian Nights”, also called “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights”. However, there is no evidence at all that the story was in the original collection. It is generally believed that one Antoine Galland introduced the tale when he translated “Arabian Nights” into French in the early 1700s.

    35 Perfume compound : ESTER

    Esters are very common chemicals. The smaller, low-molecular weight esters are usually pleasant smelling and are often found in perfumes. At the other end of the scale, the higher-molecular weight nitroglycerin is a nitrate ester and is very explosive, and polyester is a huge molecule and is a type of plastic. Fats and oils found in nature are fatty acid esters of glycerol known as glycerides.

    42 Lefty : SOUTHPAW

    A southpaw is someone who is left-handed. The term “southpaw” arose as baseball slang in the mid-1880s to describe a left-handed pitcher. Back then, baseball diamonds were often laid out with home plate to the west. So, a pitcher’s left hand would be on his “south” side as he faced the batter.

    44 Kangaroo Island birds : EMUS

    Kangaroo Island is a beautiful island off the coast of South Australia, located about 70 miles southwest of Adelaide. It is the nation’s third largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. Kangaroo Island is known as the “Galapagos of Australia” because of its unique flora and fauna. Many species on the island are found nowhere else in the world.

    47 Marker brand : SHARPIE

    Sharpie is a brand of marker pen that has been on sale since 1964. When introduced, it was the world’s first permanent marker styled as a pen.

    51 Scottish hats : TAMS

    A tam o’shanter is a man’s cap worn traditionally by Scotsmen. “Tams” were originally all blue (and called “blue bonnets”) but as more dyes became readily available they became more colorful. The name of the cap comes from the title character of the Robert Burns poem “Tam o’ Shanter”. A pom-pom adorning a tam is known as a toorie.

    53 Morphine, for one : OPIATE

    The opium poppy is the source of the narcotic alkaloids known as opiates. To produce opiates, the latex sap of the opium poppy is collected and processed. The naturally-occurring drugs of morphine and codeine can both be extracted from the sap. Some synthesis is required to make derivative drugs like heroin and oxycodone.

    56 Colorado’s __ Peak : PIKES

    Zebulon Pike was an American Army officer and explorer. On his first expedition for the military he discovered a mountain in the Rockies that had been dubbed El Capitan by Spanish settlers. It was later renamed to Pike’s Peaks (now “Pikes Peak”) in honor of the explorer.

    58 Indonesian island : BALI

    Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is known as the “Island of the Gods” due to its rich and unique culture, which is steeped in religious and spiritual beliefs.

    60 __ Scotia : NOVA

    The Canadian province of Nova Scotia (NS) lies on the east coast of the country and is a peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. The area was settled by Scots starting in 1621, and Nova Scotia is Latin for “New Scotland”.

    62 Tech news site : C|NET

    c|net is an excellent technology website. It started out in 1994 as a television network specializing in technology news. The host of “American Idol”, Ryan Seacrest, started off his career as host of a c|net show.

    64 Continental currency : EURO

    The euro sign (€) looks like a letter C, but with two horizontal lines drawn across the middle. Inspiration for the design comes from the Greek letter epsilon.

    66 Mani-pedi spots : SPAS

    Manicure & pedicure (mani-pedi)

    69 Band’s sound booster : AMP

    An electric guitar, for example, needs an amplifier (amp) to take the weak signal created by the vibration of the strings and turn it into a signal powerful enough for a loudspeaker.

    Complete List of Clues/Answers

    Across

    1 Eucalyptus eater : KOALA
    6 “Oh, come on!” : PSHAW!
    11 Chutzpah : GALL
    15 Baltimore’s __ Harbor : INNER
    16 Like baggy pants : LOOSE
    17 Off-Broadway award : OBIE
    18 *Whisky with ice, say : SCOTCH ON THE ROCKS (giving “hopscotch”)
    21 Mailed : SENT
    22 Molecule part : ATOM
    23 Wild West search parties : POSSES
    24 Ballpark fig. : EST
    26 Rubella spot, familiarly : MEASLE
    28 *Course for a first-year student, maybe : INTRO CLASS (giving “skip intro”)
    32 Sunny spot for a potted plant : LEDGE
    36 Monopoly cube : DIE
    37 P-like Greek letter : RHO
    38 Sunblock letters : SPF
    40 The Bee __: “Saturday Night Fever” group : GEES
    41 Fretting : IN A STEW
    43 Tastefully stylish : ELEGANT
    45 Pixar clownfish : NEMO
    46 Hi-__ monitor : RES
    48 Dot or rom follower : -COM
    49 Untruth : LIE
    50 Tiling job supply : GROUT
    52 *Decathlete who throws a metal ball : SHOT-PUTTER (giving “jump shot”)
    55 [Is this microphone working?] : [TAP TAP]
    57 Tire inflation abbr. : PSI
    58 Vietnamese sandwich : BANH MI
    61 Donburi grain : RICE
    63 Black-eyed __ : PEAS
    67 Trivial distance, or what can be paired, in order, with the starts of the answers to the starred clues : A HOP, SKIP AND A JUMP
    70 Fiery volcanic output : LAVA
    71 Top-tier : ELITE
    72 Educator Montessori : MARIA
    73 Caesar’s “vidi” : I SAW
    74 Sport with clay targets : SKEET
    75 Nudges : PRODS

    Down

    1 Foil-wrapped Hershey’s chocolate : KISS
    2 __ and for all : ONCE
    3 Mystery writer, briefly? : ANON
    4 Pen pal product : LETTER
    5 Curved shape : ARC
    6 “The __ thickens!” : PLOT
    7 California wine valley : SONOMA
    8 Chaotic yet appealing person : HOT MESS
    9 Blonde shade : ASH
    10 Cries : WEEPS
    11 Slangy zero : GOOSE EGG
    12 Pre-K basics : ABCS
    13 Take a shine to : LIKE
    14 __ is more : LESS
    19 Actress Teri : HATCHER
    20 Breadbasket item : ROLL
    25 Arrange by color, say : SORT
    27 Characteristic : ASPECT
    28 Naming names, briefly : ID’ING
    29 Bay Area NFLer : NINER
    30 Spanish “I love you” : TE AMO
    31 Most shameful : LOWEST
    33 Gave out, as cards : DEALT
    34 Wish-granter in Aladdin’s lamp : GENIE
    35 Perfume compound : ESTER
    39 Went belly-up : FLOPPED
    42 Lefty : SOUTHPAW
    44 Kangaroo Island birds : EMUS
    47 Marker brand : SHARPIE
    51 Scottish hats : TAMS
    53 Morphine, for one : OPIATE
    54 Container near a cash register : TIP JAR
    56 Colorado’s __ Peak : PIKES
    58 Indonesian island : BALI
    59 “I got it!” cries : AHAS
    60 __ Scotia : NOVA
    62 Tech news site : C|NET
    64 Continental currency : EURO
    65 Surrounded by : AMID
    66 Mani-pedi spots : SPAS
    68 Category : ILK
    69 Band’s sound booster : AMP

    13 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 7 Mar 23, Tuesday”

    1. No errors or Googles. However, the use of Asian dishes is a problem for me. In Upstate NY, there are only 2 Asian restaurants in Oneida County and one in Herkimer County. In NYC, there are prolly one on every block. I need a handbook, or a trip. I had three Naticks because of that yesterday.

    2. 8:25, no errors. A goood Tuesday puzzle.
      I got the theme but didn’t use it. I spent a bit of time before I figured out the CLASS part of INTROCLASS. That said, the last square to be filled in was the W at INASTEW/LOWEST

    3. Either this puzzle is easier than most or I’m getting better (probably the former) but got through this fairly easily. Got a little lucky with BALI ‘cuz I didn’t know BANHMI and wasn’t sure if the island was “B” or “M” but chose B. Don’t quite get the “skip intro” answer but got it anyway, thanks to the crosses. Yay, me!

    4. A rubella “spot” is a rash. Measles is part of the common name of the disease German Measles. There is a spot that occurs first in the mouth called Kopic spots. They occur before the rash.

    5. 9:14 – no errors, lookups, or false starts.

      New: INNER Harbor, BANHMI, “donburi,” MARIA Montessori, “Kangaroo Island.

      An okay theme, but not needed for solving.

    6. 6 mins, 19 sec and no errors. Thought I’d skated through … until I saw Bill’s time!!

    7. Mostly easy Tuesday for me; took 8:26 with no peeks or errors. Had to backtrack and fix RHO (phi) and finish ID?NG to get the banner.

      Besides KOALAs, my bees are really particular to Eucalyptus trees as well. They produce a ton of pollen and nectar, and the honey comes out with a bit of butterscotch like flavor…simply fabulous.

    8. Skip intro – I got it but it doesn’t jibe for me like the other two theme words. Seems a little off

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