LA Times Crossword 12 Aug 23, Saturday

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Constructed by: Rich Norris
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 23m 10s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Bentley of “Yellowstone” : WES

Wes Bentley is an actor who is perhaps best known for playing Ricky Fitts, the voyeuristic son of the homophobic Colonel Frank Fitts in the 1999 blockbuster film “American Beauty”. A 2009 documentary called “My Big Break” tells of Bentley’s career taking off after “American Beauty” was released, and his subsequent struggles with addiction to drugs and alcohol that led to financial ruin. Bentley is well on the road to recovery, and has been appearing regularly on the small and large screens since 2010.

“Yellowstone” is a pretty successful drama series starring Kevin Costner that premiered in 2018. Costner plays a rich and powerful rancher in Montana. Such is the success of the show that two spin-off shows were commissioned, with other spin-offs planned:

1. “1883” (premiered in 2021, starring Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill)
2. “1923” (starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford)

8 __ Canarias : ISLAS

The Canary Islands are located off the northwest coast of Africa. The islands aren’t named for the canary bird and in fact the bird is named for the islands. The name of the Canary Islands comes from the Latin “Canariae Insulae” which translates as “Island of the Dogs”. This was the original name for the third largest island, now called Gran Canaria. In the days of ancient Rome the island was noted as a home to a large number of very large dogs.

17 Texas Revolution figure : SANTA ANNA

Antonio López de Santa Anna (often just “Santa Anna”) Mexican soldier who also served as President of Mexico for several terms from 1833 to 1855. It was Santa Anna and his forces who laid siege to the Alamo Mission in 1836.

20 Like some accents : ACUTE

In French, accents over the letter E can be acute (é, “accent aigu”) or grave (è, “accent grave”).

22 Best Original Song Oscar winner for “No Time to Die” : EILISH

Billie Eilish is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. She has won several awards, and is the youngest person to have won all four major Grammy categories in the same year, i.e. Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year.

2021’s “No Time to Die” is the 25th in the “James Bond” series of films. It stars Daniel Craig as the MI6 agent in his last appearance in the role. Bond’s adversary in “No Time to Die” is Lyutsifer Safin, played by Rami Malek. The theme song was performed by Billie Eilish.

24 March honoree, familiarly : ST PAT

There is a fair amount known about Saint Patrick, some of which comes from two letters written in his own hand. St. Patrick lived in the fifth century, but was not born in Ireland. He was first brought to Ireland at about 16 years of age from his native Britain, by Irish raiders who made him a slave for six years. Patrick managed to escape and returned to his homeland where he studied and entered the Church. He went back to Ireland as a bishop and a missionary and there lived out the rest of his life. There seems to be good evidence that he died on March 17th (now celebrated annually as Saint Patrick’s Day), although the year is less clear. The stories about shamrock and snakes, I am afraid they are the stuff of legend.

27 21st century explorer : DORA

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Dora’s constant companion is an anthropomorphic monkey named “Boots”, because he always wears red boots. She also hangs out with Isa, an iguana.

28 Job listing ltrs. : EEO

“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

31 2002 AFI Life Achievement Award honoree : HANKS

Tom Hanks is such a great actor. He has played so many iconic roles in a relatively short career. Hanks is from California, and studied theater for a couple of years in Hayward, California not far from here. Tom’s son Colin Hanks is one of the stars of the TV comedy “Life in Pieces”. Hanks is married to the talented actress Rita Wilson.

32 Pandora or Spotify : APP

Pandora is a clever music-streaming site that runs what’s called the Music Genome Project. The idea behind the project is that particular pieces of music can be classified by specific characteristics (genes). The assumption is that given a person’s liking for the genome of a particular song, then a recommendation of another song with a similar genome will also be enjoyed by that person. I’ve used Pandora quite a lot, and it seems to work!

Spotify is a popular music-streaming service that was launched in Sweden in 2008.

33 Demolish : RAZE

To raze (“rase”, in UK English) is to level to the ground. I’ve always thought it a little quirky that “raise”, a homophone of “raze”, means “build up”.

34 Rest stop visitors : SEMIS

A “semi” is a “semi-trailer truck”. The vehicle is so called because it consists of a tractor and a half-trailer. The half-trailer is so called because it only has wheels on the back end, with the front supported by the tractor.

36 Snack brand since 1921 : UTZ

Utz is the largest privately-held producer of snack foods in the US. The company was founded in 1921 and is based in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

38 Olympian queen : HERA

In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of Zeus and the goddess of women, marriage, family and childbirth. She was noted for her jealous and vengeful nature, particularly against those who vied for the affections of her husband. The equivalent character to Hera in Roman mythology was Juno. Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea.

39 Org. honored with a commemorative stamp for its 50th anniversary in 1960 : BSA

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) organization was founded in 1910 by American businessman and philanthropist, William D. Boyce. Legend has it that Boyce was moved to do so after he was helped by a young British boy scout while lost in the fog in London. Inspired by the boy scout’s preparedness and helpfulness, Boyce brought the idea of scouting back to the United States and worked to establish the BSA.

42 “Criminal Minds” actress : AJ COOK

Canadian actress A. J. Cook is perhaps best known for playing Special Agent JJ Jareau on the crime drama TV show “Criminal Minds”. Cook’s two sons also had recurring roles on “Criminal Minds”, playing her character’s children.

45 Runners at the corners, say : TWO ON

That would be baseball.

53 TV series that teamed a conspiracy theorist with a doctor : THE X-FILES

“The X-Files” is a very successful science fiction show that originally aired on the Fox network from 1993 to 2002. The stars of the show are David Duchovny (playing Fox Mulder) and the very talented Gillian Anderson (playing Dana Scully). By the time the series ended, “The X-Files” was the longest running sci-fi show in US broadcast history. An “X-Files” reboot started airing in 2016 with Duchovny and Anderson reprising their starring roles.

54 Poet whose work helped establish modern Italian : DANTE

Dante Alighieri (usually just “Dante”) was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His “Divine Comedy” is widely considered to be the greatest literary work ever written in the Italian language. Dante actually gave his masterpiece the title “Comedy” (“Commedia” in Italian). Written in the early 1300s, none of Dante’s original “Comedy” manuscripts survive. Three copies made by author and poet Giovanni Boccaccio in the 1360s do survive. Boccaccio changed the title to “Divine Comedy” (“Divina Commedia”), and that title persists to this day.

55 Critters with discs on their extremities : TREE FROGS

The name “tree frog” applies to a number of frog species. As the name implies, these are frogs that spend very little time on the ground, and rather live in trees and high-growing vegetation. Tree frogs are usually very small in size, so that their weight can be borne by twigs and branches.

57 Kennel sound : YAP

Our word “kennel” meaning “doghouse” comes from the Vulgar Latin word “canile” meaning the same thing. A sheep (“ovus”) was kept in an “ovile”, a horse (“equus”) in an “equile”, and a dog (“canis”) in a “canile”.

58 “Fuller House” actress Ashley : LIAO

Ashley Liao is an actress who started out as a child actress in the sitcom “Fuller House”, playing Lola Wong.

“Fuller House” is a Netflix original series that first aired in 2016. It is a sequel to the hit sitcom “Full House” that aired on network television in the eighties and nineties. Both shows were created by Jeff Franklin. Many of the original cast appear in the sequel, with the notable exception of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The now-famous Olsen twins played young Michelle Tanner on “Full House”.

Down

1 __ buco : OSSO

Osso buco is a traditional Italian dish that is typically made with veal shanks that are braised with vegetables and herbs. The name “osso buco” means “bone with a hole” in Italian, which refers to the marrow-filled bone in the center of the veal shank. The marrow is considered a delicacy and is often scooped out and served with the dish.

2 Capital of Shaanxi Province : XI’AN

Xi’an, the capital of the Shaanxi province of China, is one of the oldest cities in the country, with history going back over 3,000 years. It is home to the Terracotta Army, a huge collection of terracotta sculptures that date back to the 2nd century BCE, and that were discovered buried in the ground around Xi’an. Today, in contemporary China, Xi’an is figuring at the forefront of the country’s participation in the modern world. China’s second aerospace center is being built in Xi’an, for example, and the city is also home to the world’s largest Internet Cafe/Bar, a facility with over 3,000 computers.

3 “The Incredibles” designer Mode : EDNA

“Incredibles 2” is a 2018 movie that is a sequel to 2004’s “The Incredibles”. Both films were written and directed by Brad Bird. Bird was also a cast member for “Incredibles 2” as he voiced Edna Mode, a fashion designer for superheroes.

4 Loser to Explorer in the first browser war : NETSCAPE

Netscape’s flagship product was its browser, which eventually came to be known as Netscape Navigator. Navigator had a huge impact on computing, basically bringing the Net to the masses by offering an intuitive, user-friendly interface. So popular was the product, that when the company had its IPO, the initial stock price set at $14 a share had to be doubled to $28 at the last minute. At the end of the first day’s trading, the stock closed at $75, and there were a lot of very rich people as a result (at least on paper!).

A web browser is a piece of software used to access the World Wide Web. The first web browser was called “WorldWideWeb” and was invented in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web. The browser known as Mosaic came out in 1993, and it was this browser that drove so much interest in the World Wide Web, and indeed in the Internet in general. Marc Andreessen led the team that created Mosaic, and he then set up his own company called Netscape. Netscape created the Netscape Navigator browser that further popularized the use of the Web starting in 1994. Microsoft responded by introducing Internet Explorer in 1995, which sparked the so-called “browser war”, a war that Microsoft clearly won. As Netscape floundered, the company launched the open-source Mozilla project which eventually led to the Firefox browser. Apple then came out with its own Safari browser in 2003. Google’s Chrome browser, introduced in 2008, is by far the most popular way to view the Web today.

5 __ Country : WINE

“Wine Country” is a name used to describe the wine-growing region of Northern California located north of the San Francisco Bay area. Although the term “Wine Country” is informal, it generally equated to the combined counties of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, and Solano. The area is home to over 1700 wineries.

6 Volcano where Zeus trapped Typhon, in some myths : ETNA

Typhon was known as the “father of all monsters” in Greek mythology, and he was married to the “mother of all monsters”, Echidna. Typhon had a huge human torso with a hundred dragon heads. His lower body was made up of gigantic viper coils. Although all the gods feared Typhon, Zeus finally defeated him and trapped him underneath Mount Etna.

8 Chevys retired in 2020 : IMPALAS

The Chevrolet Impala was introduced in 1957. “Impala” is the Zulu word for “gazelle”.

9 Sans __: carefree : SOUCI

“Sans souci” is a French term that translates literally as “without worry”, so we use it to mean “carefree”.

10 Odyssey dreamer : LOTUS-EATER

The lotus-eaters were a race of people who featured in Greek mythology. The lotus flowers and fruits that were consumed were supposedly narcotic and addictive, and so the lotus-eaters enjoyed a life largely asleep in peaceful apathy.

12 Brake __ : SHOE

The drum brake was invented in 1902 by Louis Renault (founder of Renault, the automobile company). In a drum brake, there is a set of brake shoes that usually press on the inner surface of the drum to slow down rotation. Nowadays, the disc brake system is more popular, a design which uses brake pads instead of brake shoes.

25 Closing words : THAT’S A WRAP

When shooting of a film is concluded the movie is said to wrap, and everyone heads to the wrap party. There is one story that “wrap” is actually an acronym for “wind, reel and print”, a reference to the transition of the filming process into post-production. But, this explanation is disputed.

26 Pie seller, casually : PIZZA JOINT

Pizza was invented in Naples, where it has a long tradition that goes back to ancient Rome. During an 1889 visit to Naples, Queen Margherita of Savoy was served a special pizza that was created with toppings designed to mimic the colors of the Italian flag. The ingredients of tomato (red), mozzarella (white) and basil (green) can still be found together on menus today, on a pie usually named Pizza Margherita after the queen. I do love basil on my pizza …

29 Media mogul born in Mississippi : OPRAH

What can you say about Oprah Winfrey that hasn’t been said already? Born into poverty to a single mother and with a harrowing childhood, Oprah is now the greatest African-American philanthropist the world has ever known. Oprah’s name was originally meant to be “Orpah” after the Biblical character in the Book of Ruth, and that’s how it appears on her birth certificate. Apparently folks had trouble pronouncing “Orpah”, so she’s now “Oprah”.

34 Minute Maid Park player, to fans : ‘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.

35 Meg Ryan’s screen name in “You’ve Got Mail” : SHOPGIRL

“You’ve Got Mail” is a 1998 romantic comedy film starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and directed by Nora Ephron. The film is an adaptation of the Miklos Laszlo play “Parfumerie”. The storyline of “Parfumerie” was also used for the movies “The Shop Around the Corner” (from 1940 starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan) and “In the Good Old Summertime” (from 1949 starring Van Johnson and Judy Garland).

Meg Ryan is the stage name of the actress Margaret Mary Hyra. Ryan’s big break came with the excellent 1989 movie “When Harry Met Sally …”, from which she went on to star in some of the most popular romantic comedies ever made.

41 Mezzo-soprano Beverly : WOLFF

Beverly Wolff was a mezzo-soprano from Atlanta who was active as a performer from the fifties to the eighties. She started her professional musical career with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as a teenager, playing the trumpet.

43 Italian noble title below marchese : CONTE

“Conte” is Italian for “count”, with “contessa” translating as “countess”.

A marchesa is an Italian noblewoman who ranks below a princess and above a countess, and who is the wife of a marchese. “Marchese” and “marchesa” translate into English as “marquis” and “marchioness”.

47 Drag org. : NHRA

The sport of drag racing is administered by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).

Back in the 18th century, “drag” was slang for a wagon or buggy, as it was “dragged” along by a horse or horses. In the 1930s, the underworld adopted “drag” as slang for an automobile. This sense of the word was imported into automobile racing in the 1940s, giving the name to “drag racing”. A drag race is basically a competition between two cars to determine which can accelerate faster from a standstill.

49 H.G. Wells race : ELOI

In the 1895 novella by H. G. Wells called “The Time Machine”, there are two races that the hero encounters in his travels into the future. The Eloi are the “beautiful people” who live on the planet’s surface. The Morlocks are a domineering race living underground who use the Eloi as food.

50 Colossal : MEGA

A colossus (plural “colossi”) is an exceptionally large statue, the most famous of which was the Colossus of Rhodes. This was a statue of the god Helios that stood over 100 feet tall, on the Greek island of Rhodes. New York’s Statue of Liberty was designed to have similar dimensions. The Emma Lazarus poem that is inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty is in fact titled “The New Colossus”. We get our adjective “colossal”, meaning “of exceptional size”, from “colossus”.

51 Petrol brand : ESSO

The Esso brand has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

“Petrol” is the chiefly British-English term used for gasoline. “Petrol” comes via French from the Latin “petroleum”, itself derived from “petra” meaning “rock” and “oleum” meaning “oil”.