LA Times Crossword 30 May 23, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Amie Walker
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer(s): All the Small Things

Themed answers are ALL SMALL THINGS:

  • 34D With 36-Down and 38-Across, Blink-182 hit song, and a description of four long answers in this puzzle : ALL …
  • 36D See 34-Down : … THE …
  • 38A See 34-Down : … SMALL THINGS
  • 18A One in a snuggly pair : LITTLE SPOON
  • 23A Office fund for odds and ends : PETTY CASH
  • 53A Insignificant weakness : MINOR FLAW
  • 59A Without much warning, with “on” : … SHORT NOTICE

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

Bill’s time: 6m 37s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Fiat or Ferrari : CAR

Fiat is the largest car manufacturer in Italy, and is headquartered in Turin in the Piedmont region in the north of the country. Fiat was founded in 1899 by Giovanni Agnelli, when the company’s name was “Fabbrica Italiana di Automobili Torino” (FIAT). A few years ago, Fiat became the majority shareholder in Chrysler.

The Italian sports car company Ferrari was founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1939. Ferrari built the most expensive car ever sold: a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that exchanged hands for over $38 million in 2012.

4 Greek letter after alpha : BETA

The Greek alphabet starts off with the letters alpha, beta, gamma …

16 Focus of a historic New Orleans museum : VOODOO

If you visit the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, which opened in 1872, you can get a reading from the onsite voodoo priest.

17 Cold War gp. : KGB

The “Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti” (KGB) was the national security agency of the Soviet Union until 1991. The KGB was dissolved after the agency’s chairman led a failed attempt at a coup d’état designed to depose President Mikhail Gorbachev.

There is some debate about the timing of the start and end of the Cold War, the period of geopolitical tension between the US and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. One significant factor at the start of the Cold War was the Truman Doctrine, the foreign policy adopted by President Harry S. Truman that firmly ended America’s pre-WWII isolationism in favor of support for nations threatened by Soviet influence. A clear sign of the end of the Cold War was the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.

18 One in a snuggly pair : LITTLE SPOON

When two people are “spooning”, cuddling in bed perhaps, the person in the back is referred to as the “big spoon”, and the person in front is the “little spoon”.

23 Office fund for odds and ends : PETTY CASH

The word “petty”, meaning “small-minded”, comes from the French word for small, “petit”. When “petty” first came into English it wasn’t used disparagingly, and was used more literally giving us terms like “petty officer” and “petty cash”. The word “petty” evolved into a prefix “petti-” with the meaning of “small”, as in the word “petticoat”.

30 Grammy-winning Grande : ARIANA

Ariana Grande is a singer and actress from Boca Raton, Florida. Grande plays the role of Cat Valentine on the sitcom “Victorious” that aired for four seasons on Nickelodeon. Grande’s singing career took off with the release of the 2011 album “Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show”.

31 Soccer great Long or basketball great Quigley : ALLIE

Allie Long is a midfield player who has made many appearances for the US national soccer team. Although Long played most of her career with American clubs, she also played the 2011/2012 season with Paris Saint-Germain.

Allie Quigley is an American-born professional basketball player who spent several years playing in Europe, in Hungary in particular. In 2010, Quigley took out Hungarian citizenship and played for the Hungarian national team.

32 Military advisory gp. : NSC

The National Security Council (NSC) was created by President Harry S. Truman in 1947. It is chaired by the sitting president and meets in the White House Situation Room.

37 Duane __: NYC drugstore chain : READE

The chain of drug and convenience stores in New York City known as Duane Reade was founded in 1960 by three brothers. The first three stores were serviced by a warehouse in lower Manhattan located on Broadway between Duane and Reade streets, streets that gave the chain its name.

44 Caustic cleaners : LYES

What we call “lye” is usually sodium hydroxide (NaOH), although historically the term “lye” was used for potassium hydroxide. Lye has many uses, including to cure several foodstuffs. Lye can make olives less bitter, for example. The chemical is also found in canned mandarin oranges, pretzels and Japanese ramen noodles. More concentrated grades of lye are used to clear drains and clean ovens. Scary …

45 Loan application ID : SSN

Social Security number (SSN)

48 Clog-busting brand : DRANO

To clean out drains we might buy Crystal Drano, which is sodium hydroxide (lye) mixed with sodium nitrate, sodium chloride (table salt) and aluminum. The contents of Drano work in concert to clear the clog. The lye reacts with any fats creating soap which may be enough to break up the clog. Also, the finely-divided aluminum reacts with the lye generating hydrogen gas that churns the mixture. Any hair or fibers are cut by the sharp edges of the nitrate and chloride crystals. Having said all that, I find that boiling water poured down the drain quite often does the job …

49 Sheepish “Good point” : TOUCHE

“Touché” is a term from fencing, one acknowledging a successful “touch” in a duel. The usage has been extended to mean that a successful criticism or riposte has hit home in a conversation.

52 Picture book? : ALBUM

The Latin word “album” translates as “white”. Back in the 17th century, public notices and lists of names were written on a board painted white, or in a souvenir book with white pages known as an “albo” (from “album”). Over time, the term “album” came to be used in English for a blank book created to collect signatures or other mementos. By the end of the 19th century, albums were used to collect photographs. The term “album” was applied to long-playing gramophone records in the early 1950s, because the record sleeves resembled large photographic albums.

56 Cobra pose, e.g. : ASANA

Yoga’s “cobra pose” is also called “bhujangasana”. The Sanskrit word for snake or serpent is “bhujanga”.

64 Game console with a Mii Parade : WII

Nintendo introduced customizable avatars for the company’s video game consoles starting in 1997. The first customizable avatars for the Wii system were introduced in 2006, and were given the inventive name “Miis”.

65 Culture of cuteness, in Japan : KAWAII

“Kawaii” is a Japanese word that means “cute” or “adorable.” It is a cultural phenomenon that has permeated many aspects of Japanese life, from fashion and food to pop culture. Some of the most common examples include cute animals such as kittens and puppies, and cute characters such as Hello Kitty and Pikachu.

70 Prom gp. : SRS

A prom is a formal dance held upon graduation from high school (we call them “formals” over in Ireland). The term “prom” is short for “promenade”, the name given to a type of dance or ball.

Down

2 Some folks who fish : ANGLERS

We use the verb “to angle” to mean “to fish” because “angel” is an Old English word meaning “hook”.

4 Anne who was the mother of Elizabeth I : BOLEYN

Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII of England. She was found guilty of high treason after about a thousand days of marriage to Henry, accused of adultery and incest (probably trumped-up charges). Boleyn was executed, but perhaps her legacy lived on in her only child, as her daughter reigned for 45 very prosperous years as Queen Elizabeth I.

5 Prefix with gram : EPI-

An epigram is a short and clever statement, poem or discourse.

6 Aquarium fish : TETRA

The neon tetra is a freshwater fish that is native to parts of South America. The tetra is a very popular aquarium fish and millions are imported into the US every year. Almost all of the imported tetras are farm-raised in Asia and very few come from their native continent.

8 “Sans” opposite : AVEC

In French, “avec” (with) and “sans” (without) are opposites.

12 “Hamilton” Tony nominee Phillipa : SOO

Phillipa Soo is an actress and singer who is perhaps best known for portraying Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the title character’s wife in the original Broadway production of “Hamilton”.

21 Sch. group : PTA

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

26 Cassini of couture : OLEG

French-born American fashion designer Oleg Cassini developed a reputation for designing costumes for films, and dressing numerous film stars. He had two big names particularly associated with his designs. In the sixties he produced the state wardrobe for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. He was also the exclusive designer for Hollywood’s Gene Tierney, who was Cassini’s second wife.

34 With 36-Down and 38-Across, Blink-182 hit song, and a description of four long answers in this puzzle : ALL …
36 See 34-Down : … THE …
38A See 34-Down : … SMALL THINGS

The rock band Blink-182 formed in 1992 in Poway, a suburb of San Diego, California. The group performed under several names before adopting “Blink”. They eventually added the random number “182” on hearing that there was already an Irish band with the name “Blink”.

42 Suggested intake, on some labels : RDA

Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) were introduced during WWII, and were replaced by Recommended Daily Intakes (RDIs) in 1997.

43 Clickable link : URL

An Internet address (like NYXCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) is more correctly called a uniform resource locator (URL).

47 Musical with the songs “Carrying the Banner” and “The World Will Know” : NEWSIES

50 “Animal Farm” writer George : ORWELL

“Newsies” is a 1992 musical drama film that is based on the Newsboys Strike of 1899. Starring in the film are Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret. Back in the late 1800s, “newsies” were young homeless children selling newspapers as a living. The boys organized themselves and went on strike for two weeks in protest against the money they were paid. The strike was successful and the rates were raised.

51 Blurry craft in tabloid pics : UFO

Disc-shaped flying objects have been reported in the sky since the Middle Ages. In the modern era, the event that launched the term “flying saucer” was a UFO sighting in 1947, which was covered widely in the media. Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine unidentified flying objects in formation near Mount Rainier in Washington. In describing the objects, he repeatedly used the words “saucer”, “disc” and “pie-plate”. Newspapers latched onto the terminology, and we’ve been seeing flying “saucers” ever since.

53 Eponym of a Chinese tunic suit : MAO

What we call the Mao suit in the west is known as the Zhongshan suit in China. The style was introduced by Sun Yat-sen (also known as Sun Zhongshan) as the form of national dress after the founding of the Republic of China in 1912.

60 __ Solo of “The Force Awakens” : HAN

Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.

62 Singer Carly __ Jepsen : RAE

Carly Rae Jepsen is a singer/songwriter from Mission, British Columbia. She got her start on TV’s “Canadian Idol” when she placed third in the show’s fifth season. In addition to her music career, Jepsen has also dabbled in acting. She made her Broadway debut in 2014 playing the title in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Cinderella.”

63 Hush-hush org. : CIA

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the successor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed during WWII. The CIA was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947. The organization is often referred to familiarly as “the Company”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Fiat or Ferrari : CAR
4 Greek letter after alpha : BETA
8 Horrified : AGHAST
14 “Should I take that as __?” : A NO
15 Lead off : OPEN
16 Focus of a historic New Orleans museum : VOODOO
17 Cold War gp. : KGB
18 One in a snuggly pair : LITTLE SPOON
20 Marry in secret : ELOPE
22 Arrive at : REACH
23 Office fund for odds and ends : PETTY CASH
25 Ties up at a pier : DOCKS
30 Grammy-winning Grande : ARIANA
31 Soccer great Long or basketball great Quigley : ALLIE
32 Military advisory gp. : NSC
33 Ultimate : LAST
37 Duane __: NYC drugstore chain : READE
38 See 34-Down : … SMALL THINGS
42 Sovereign : RULER
44 Caustic cleaners : LYES
45 Loan application ID : SSN
48 Clog-busting brand : DRANO
49 Sheepish “Good point” : TOUCHE
52 Picture book? : ALBUM
53 Insignificant weakness : MINOR FLAW
56 Cobra pose, e.g. : ASANA
58 Area with trees : WOODS
59 Without much warning, with “on” : … SHORT NOTICE
64 Game console with a Mii Parade : WII
65 Culture of cuteness, in Japan : KAWAII
66 Bad to the bone : EVIL
67 French word that indicates a name change : NEE
68 Bug : INSECT
69 Legit : REAL
70 Prom gp. : SRS

Down

1 Piece of bakeware : CAKE PAN
2 Some folks who fish : ANGLERS
3 Place where engineers can do some machine learning? : ROBOTICS LAB
4 Anne who was the mother of Elizabeth I : BOLEYN
5 Prefix with gram : EPI-
6 Aquarium fish : TETRA
7 Initial bets : ANTES
8 “Sans” opposite : AVEC
9 Dad-blasted : GOSH DARN
10 Move like a bunny : HOP
11 Hubbub : ADO
12 “Hamilton” Tony nominee Phillipa : SOO
13 Load : TON
19 “Well, __-di-dah!” : LAH
21 Sch. group : PTA
24 Summon : CALL
26 Cassini of couture : OLEG
27 Some attention-seeking students : CLASS CLOWNS
28 Tease : KID
29 “Understand?” : SEE?
34 With 36-Down and 38-Across, Blink-182 hit song, and a description of four long answers in this puzzle : ALL …
35 Farm pen : STY
36 See 34-Down : … THE …
39 List of options : MENU
40 Fragrant : AROMATIC
41 Analogy words : IS TO
42 Suggested intake, on some labels : RDA
43 Clickable link : URL
46 Less reputable : SHADIER
47 Musical with the songs “Carrying the Banner” and “The World Will Know” : NEWSIES
50 “Animal Farm” writer George : ORWELL
51 Blurry craft in tabloid pics : UFO
53 Eponym of a Chinese tunic suit : MAO
54 Bury : INTER
55 Easily duped : NAIVE
57 Sour mood : SNIT
59 Winter runner : SKI
60 __ Solo of “The Force Awakens” : HAN
61 Cries of pain : OWS
62 Singer Carly __ Jepsen : RAE
63 Hush-hush org. : CIA

15 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 30 May 23, Tuesday”

  1. Missed KAWAII. had KAHAII and OHS for 61D.

    Don’t know Blink182 , didn’t know song. Waited for crosses to help. Didn’t look for the 4 long answers.

  2. Nope, don’t like clues that refer you to other clues and then to another. Those are NOT clues but annoying runarounds.
    Struggles galore with this one. Finally gave up and cheated.

  3. 9:21 – no errors or lookups. False starts: BOELYN>BOLEYN.

    New: VOODOO museum, ALLIE Long and Quigley, Duane READE, KAWAII.

    A little complexity to the theme, and clever to symmetrically intersect all the words to the Blink-182 song, which I don’t recall knowing.

  4. No real difficulty. Did seem like more of a Thursday level of difficulty than a Tuesday. It’s a funny (odd) thing about the Japanese word kawaii in that if you say kawaiisou it means “poor” or “pitiful” thing rather than cute.

  5. 7 minutes, 2 seconds and no errors. A few real “word salad” clues, though. 53 Down and the unforgivably convoluted main theme clue(s) really knit the brow, and not in a good way.

  6. Now wait just a gosh darn minute here. I thought Mondays were supposed to be easy peasy. This was anything but, and worthy of a Thursday or maybe even a Friday. Finished with no errors or lookups but a real chore. Thanks for a good ‘un.

  7. Ooops. Once again the dreaded senior moment raises its ugly head. Today is Tuesday. Today is Tuesday. Today is Tuesday. Today is Tuesday.

  8. Quick one for me today did not know Ariana or Allie …but they filled and I left them accidental right answers…have a June “gloom” day… the sun will show around four!!! Good week to all..

  9. One wrong square: GOSHDAmN / mEADE. I started with hOt-DAmN (!~!), then forgot to revise when I got DARN. It made LITTLEtP??? hard to find.

  10. A bit tricky for a Tuesday; took 12:42 with no peeks or errors, but with a lucky guess and some dancing around. Didn’t know ALLIE, READE, KAWAII and although I know of Blink-182, I don’t know any of their songs. Still, the theme helped and I learned a bit.

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