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Constructed by: Rebecca Goldstein
Edited by: Patti Varol
Today’s Reveal Answer: Green Goblin
Themed answers are common phrases, each starting with a synonym of “GREEN” and ending with a body part. Perhaps the makeup of the GREEN GOBLIN?
- 54A Marvel Comics supervillain, or a creature made up of 16-, 29-, 34-, and 40-Across? : GREEN GOBLIN
- 16A Injury sustained while making guacamole : AVOCADO HAND
- 29A Person aggressively opposed to progress : MOSSBACK
- 34A First track on Fleetwood Mac’s “Mystery to Me” album : EMERALD EYES
- 40A Nitwit : PEA BRAIN
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
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Bill’s time: 9m 03s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Poaching targets : EGGS
Our verb “to poach”, meaning “to cook in liquid”, comes from the Old French verb “pochier”, meaning “to put into a pocket”. The idea is that the yolk of a “poached” egg is “pocketed” in the egg white.
5 Afghanistan’s capital : KABUL
Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. The city has been the site of major conflict for much of the 3,500 years that it has been in existence. In the past, this conflict was mainly driven by the city’s strategic location on the major trade routes of south and central Asia.
13 Alpaca product : WOOL
Alpacas are like small llamas, but unlike llamas were never beasts of burden. Alpacas were bred specifically for the fleece. As such, there are no known wild alpacas these days, even in their native Peru.
14 One more song! : ENCORE!
“Encore” is French for “again, one more time”, and is a shout that an audience member will make here in North America to request perhaps another song. But, the term is not used this way in France. Rather, the audience will shout “Bis!”, which is the Italian for “twice!”
16 Injury sustained while making guacamole : AVOCADO HAND
Avocado hand is an injury sustained when using a knife to remove the pit of an avocado. If the avocado is held in the hand, and the knife slips, the result can be a serious injury. The lesson is: don’t cut an avocado while it is held in the hand.
19 John Fetterman’s title, briefly : SEN
John Fetterman was elected to the US Senate in 2022 to represent Pennsylvania. Prior to taking his post on Capitol Hill, Fetterman had served for four years as Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor.
20 Bat mitzvah, e.g. : RITE
A Jewish girl becomes a bat mitzvah at 12 years of age, the age at which she becomes responsible for her actions. Boys become bar mitzvahs at 13. The terms translate into English as daughter and son of the commandments.
21 Here’s the one-sentence version letters : TL;DR
Too long, didn’t read (TL;DR)
23 Makes urgent decisions? : TRIAGES
Triage is the process of prioritizing patients for treatment, especially on the battlefield. The term “triage” is French and means “sorting”.
28 Perfect is the __ of the good : ENEMY
The aphorism “Perfect is the enemy of good” can be restated as the Pareto principle, i.e. 80% of a task can be completed in 20% of the allotted time. Striving for perfection, completing the remaining 20% of the task, can take 80% of the effort expended.
29 Person aggressively opposed to progress : MOSSBACK
A mossback is someone who is very reactionary, who holds antiquated notions and eschews progress. The term “mossback” arose in the 1870s when it described someone from the Carolinas who went into hiding to avoid signing up with the Confederate Army. The idea is that such a person would hide out until “moss” grew on their “back”.
30 Violets or lilacs : FLOWERS
The common violet is a flowering plant that is native to Europe and Asia. It is a hardy perennial that is often found growing in the wild near the edges of forests and in clearing. The same species is also referred to as the wood violet, sweet violet and garden violet.The color violet is named for the plant, and not the other way round.
33 __ Tomé and Príncipe : SAO
The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe is an island nation off the west coast of Africa comprising mainly two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe. São Tomé and Príncipe is located in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of Gabon. It was colonized by Portugal after POrtuguese explorers discovered the islands in the 15th century. After gaining independence in 1975, São Tomé and Príncipe became the smallest Portuguese-speaking country in the world.
34 First track on Fleetwood Mac’s “Mystery to Me” album : EMERALD EYES
“Mystery to Me” is a 1973 studio album released by Fleetwood Mac. The album’s title is a phrase from the lyrics of the opening track: “Emerald Eyes”.
47 Pico de gallo pepper : SERRANO
The serrano chili pepper is native to the mountainous regions of the Mexican states of Puebla and Hidalgo. The name “serrano” comes from the Spanish “sierra” meaning “mountain”.
Pico de gallo is a Mexican condiment made from tomato, onion and chili peppers. “Pico de gallo” is Spanish for “beak of rooster”. Apparently this name was given as eating of the condiment with the thumb and forefinger resembled the pecking of a rooster. An alternative name for pico de gallo is “salsa fresca”, which translates literally as “fresh sauce”.
48 Czech Republic region : BOHEMIA
The region known as Bohemia covers most of the Czech Republic. Centuries ago, it was wrongly believed that gypsies came from Bohemia, giving rise to the term “Bohemian” meaning a “gypsy of society”.
50 Urban haze : SMOG
“Smog” is a portmanteau formed by melding “smoke” and “fog”. The term was first used to describe the air around London in the early 1900s. Several cities around the world have a reputation of being particularly smoggy. For example, the most smog-plagued city in Latin America is Mexico City, which is located in a highland “bowl” that traps industrial and vehicle pollution.
51 Deutschland city on the Rhein : KOLN
Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, and is known as “Köln” in German.
The country that we know in English as “Germany” is known as “Deutschland” in German. The name “Germany” comes from “Germania”, which is the Latin name that Julius Caesar gave to the peoples located east of the Rhine. The name “Deutschland” comes from an Old High German word meaning “land belonging to the people”.
The river running through Europe that we know in English as the Rhine, is called “Rhein” in German, “Rhin” in French and “Rijn” in Dutch.
53 Steamed bun in Asian cuisine : BAO
A baozi (also “bou, bao”) is a steamed, filled bun in Chinese cuisine.
54 Marvel Comics supervillain, or a creature made up of 16-, 29-, 34-, and 40-Across? : GREEN GOBLIN
The Green Goblin is a supervillain from Marvel Comics who generally is pitted against Spider-Man. He is the antagonist in the 2002 movie “Spider-Man”, and is played by Willem Dafoe.
58 BYOB part : OWN
Bring Your Own Beer/Bottle/Booze (BYOB)
59 Word on the California state seal : EUREKA
Several US states have single-word mottos:
- Eureka (I have found it) — California
- Dirigo (I lead) — Maine
- Excelsior (Ever upward) — New York
- Hope — Rhode Island
- Friendship — Texas
- Industry — Utah
- Forward — Wisconsin
Down
2 Do House work? : GOVERN
A member of the US House of Representatives serves for a two-year term, whereas a member of the US Senate serves for a six-year term.
3 Mouth, Chunk, or Data, in a 1985 film : GOONIE
“The Goonies” is a 1985 movie based on a story written by Steven Spielberg. It is an adventure film, with the title characters being a group of young treasure hunters from the fictional Goon Docks neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon (hence the movie’s title). I haven’t seen this one …
4 2002 Winter Games host, initially : SLC
The last Olympic Games held in the US was in Salt Lake City in 2002, a winter games. That made Utah the fifth US state to host the Olympics.
5 Pretzel shapes : KNOTS
Pretzels originated in Europe and are especially popular in Southern Germany where a pretzel is known as “Brezel”. Pretzels were introduced into the US in the 1800s by immigrants from Germany and Switzerland who came to be known over here as the Pennsylvania Dutch.
7 __ constrictor : BOA
Boa constrictors are members of the Boidae family of snakes, all of which are non-venomous. Interestingly, the female boa is always larger than the male.
9 Some Best Buy buys, briefly : LED TVS
Best Buy is a retailer specializing in the supply of consumer electronics. Best Buy services include the famous “Geek Squad”, a band of technical experts that will help solve your computer and other consumer electronic problems.
11 IN place? : AMERICA
The modern state of Indiana was part of the Northwest Territory defined in 1787. The Northwest Territory was divided into Ohio and Indiana Territory in 1800. The Indiana Territory successively reduced in size with the separation of the Michigan Territory in 1805, followed by the Illinois Territory in 1809. What remained of the Indiana Territory was admitted as the US state of Indiana in 1816.
12 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 …
14 Actress Falco : EDIE
Actress Edie Falco won three Emmy Awards for playing Carmela Soprano on HBO’s outstanding drama series called “The Sopranos”. Falco also won an Emmy in 2010 for playing the title role in “Nurse Jackie”, an excellent black comedy.
17 Knitting pattern : ARGYLE
The argyle pattern is based on the Campbell tartan. The Campbell clan is based in the Argyll region (note the spelling) in the west of Scotland, giving the Argyle pattern its name.
24 Radio switch letters : AM/FM
In telecommunications, a radio signal is transmitted using a sinusoidal carrier wave. Information is transmitted using this carrier wave in two main ways, by varying (modulating) the instantaneous amplitude (signal strength) of the carrier wave, and by modulating the instantaneous frequency of the carrier wave. The former is referred to as an AM signal (“amplitude modulation”), and the latter as an FM signal (“frequency modulation”).
25 House of __ : LORDS
The UK Parliament is divided into two houses, with the upper house known as the House of Lords and the lower house as the House of Commons. The members of the House of Commons (MPs) are elected, but most new members of the House of Lords are appointed. Historically, a large proportion of the membership of the upper house were hereditary peers, but recent legislative changes are reducing the numbers who can sit in the House of Lords by virtue of birthright.
27 MMA decision : TKO
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport in which competitors use a variety of techniques from a variety of traditional combat sports and martial arts.
29 Honeydew, e.g. : MELON
What we call honeydew melons are also known as white antibes, especially in France and Algeria where the cultivar has been grown for many years. Antibes is a commune in southeastern France, located between Nice and Cannes.
31 Instrument with pipes : ORGAN
The organ that we often see in churches, synagogues and concert halls is a pipe organ. Sound is produced by pressurized air driven through particular pipes selected by keys on a keyboard.
32 Nintendo antagonist with a “W” on his cap : WARIO
Wario is a character in the “Mario” video game universe. He is a rival of Mario, and indeed the name “Wario” is a portmanteau of the Japanese word “warui” (meaning “bad”) and “Mario”. Bad Mario …
34 Get Who Gets You dating site : EHARMONY
eHarmony is a high-profile online dating service based in Pasadena, California.
36 Canal with a museum in Syracuse : ERIE
The Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, New York opened in 1962. Although the museum houses many artifacts and displays that celebrate the history of the Erie Canal, perhaps the most interesting “exhibit” is the museum building itself. The museum’s collections are housed in the Syracuse Weighlock Building, which was built about 1850, when tolls were charged to barges using the canal. A weighlock is a specialty canal lock that determines the weight of barges by supporting the vessels on a cradle as water is emptied from the lock.
37 High-level HS courses : APS
Advanced Placement (AP)
38 Vacillates : SEESAWS
To vacillate is to be indecisive, to waver. The verb “to vacillate” comes from the Latin “vacillare” meaning “to sway to and fro”.
49 Gymnast Korbut : OLGA
Olga Korbut is from modern-day Belarus, but was born during the days of the Soviet Union. Korbut competed for the USSR team in the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. She was 17 when she appeared in the 1972 Munich Games, and had been training in a sports school since she was 8-years-old. The world fell in love with her as she was a very emotional young lady, readily expressing joy and disappointment, something that we weren’t used to seeing in athletes from behind the Iron Curtain. Korbut immigrated to the US in 1991 and now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Poaching targets : EGGS
5 Afghanistan’s capital : KABUL
10 Rumor __ it … : HAS
13 Alpaca product : WOOL
14 One more song! : ENCORE!
15 One in a concert lineup : AMP
16 Injury sustained while making guacamole : AVOCADO HAND
18 NFL arbiter : REF
19 John Fetterman’s title, briefly : SEN
20 Bat mitzvah, e.g. : RITE
21 Here’s the one-sentence version letters : TL;DR
23 Makes urgent decisions? : TRIAGES
25 Dangerous pool in a video game : LAVA PIT
28 Perfect is the __ of the good : ENEMY
29 Person aggressively opposed to progress : MOSSBACK
30 Violets or lilacs : FLOWERS
33 __ Tomé and Príncipe : SAO
34 First track on Fleetwood Mac’s “Mystery to Me” album : EMERALD EYES
37 Wood-burning stove buildup : ASH
39 More icky : GROSSER
40 Nitwit : PEA BRAIN
43 Theater walkway : AISLE
47 Pico de gallo pepper : SERRANO
48 Czech Republic region : BOHEMIA
50 Urban haze : SMOG
51 Deutschland city on the Rhein : KOLN
52 Corn unit : EAR
53 Steamed bun in Asian cuisine : BAO
54 Marvel Comics supervillain, or a creature made up of 16-, 29-, 34-, and 40-Across? : GREEN GOBLIN
58 BYOB part : OWN
59 Word on the California state seal : EUREKA
60 What __ is new? : ELSE
61 Social science subj. : PSY
62 Faculty positions : DEANS
63 Turned red? : DYED
Down
1 Discarded Apples, e.g. : E-WASTE
2 Do House work? : GOVERN
3 Mouth, Chunk, or Data, in a 1985 film : GOONIE
4 2002 Winter Games host, initially : SLC
5 Pretzel shapes : KNOTS
6 Throb : ACHE
7 __ constrictor : BOA
8 Caterer’s coffee container : URN
9 Some Best Buy buys, briefly : LED TVS
10 Absolutely not : HARD PASS
11 IN place? : AMERICA
12 Sunblock letters : SPF
14 Actress Falco : EDIE
17 Knitting pattern : ARGYLE
22 Research site : LAB
24 Radio switch letters : AM/FM
25 House of __ : LORDS
26 Donkeys : ASSES
27 MMA decision : TKO
29 Honeydew, e.g. : MELON
31 Instrument with pipes : ORGAN
32 Nintendo antagonist with a “W” on his cap : WARIO
34 Get Who Gets You dating site : EHARMONY
35 Don’t think so : YEAH, NO
36 Canal with a museum in Syracuse : ERIE
37 High-level HS courses : APS
38 Vacillates : SEESAWS
41 Dude : BRO
42 Worn out : RAGGED
44 Hardly fresh : SMELLY
45 Connect (with) : LIAISE
46 Worked for : EARNED
48 Knocks on the head : BONKS
49 Gymnast Korbut : OLGA
51 Eager : KEEN
53 Knock on the head : BOP
55 Have buyer’s remorse, say : RUE
56 Significant period : ERA
57 Vegetable plot : BED
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14 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 20 Sep 23, Wednesday”
Comments are closed.
A few false starts, with House of CARDS/LORDS slowing me the most.
Didn’t know: Green Goblin or Wario but the crosses solved them.
Theme helped get Avocado Hand, which benefited that upper left corner I was being a pea brain on.
Interesting, fun puzzle
Didn’t know much about the green goblin. But 0 errors on the grid.
Don’t recall WARIO when the kids were playing Mario.
And how about AMERICA idiana. Is the clue referring to the United States or the unincorporated town of America Indiana?
Maybe both.
“Yeah, no” This replacement for “no” has become more common in recent years, and “yeah, yes” I HATE it! It’s obnoxious.
As I am sure that the Sun appears to rise in the East and that night follow day, or vice versa, I won’t be the only victim of the House of Lords instead of what I had inked in for the longest time with House of Cards. Man that had me spinning in circles without traction for way, way, way too long. When I finally groked my error and got Lords inked in the grid came together and I was done.
9:31 – no errors or lookups. False start: BANGS>BONKS. Three consecutive days under 10 minutes.
New or forgotten: AVOCADO HAND, EMERALD EYES, “Mystery to Me,” KOLN, “Mouth, Chunk, Data,” WARIO.
An interesting theme construction, but not needed in solving the puzzle.
The SW corner and middle bottom sections were the last to be solved. The two “I” squares in LIAISE finally came to me, and then I figured out that EUREgA was EUREKA, and that fixed BaNgS which made KOLN, which seemed better than KALN for a German city name.
8:30, 2 errors – I left the SERRANO/RAGGED cross blank. And thus blew a rare chance to beat Bill’s time. Arrrggggghhhh.
No errors…me too with Lords. Cards.
Stay safe😀
18:45 – never heard of HARDPASS, LAVAPIT, AMERICA IN, AVACADOHAND, WARIO but got most thru crosses. 4 square cheats.
Thought the misdirect of House of LORDS was pretty neat, almost everyone initially fell for it (including me) and it made for some interesting problem solving.
In spite of the above, I enjoyed the puzzle … a fair Wednesday challenge.
Be Well
11 mins 53 seconds and DNF: there were a series of complete naticks in the NE corner. LEDTVS is just a *bad fill*, and MOSSBACK??? What the hell is THAT???
All told, this puzzle’s just a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitle too “cute”. As in, “Yeahhhh-NO.”
13:09, no errors. CARDS -> LORDS (sigh). Took awhile to figure it out.
Somehow, I’ve avoided prior exposure to “yeah, no”. Like Jim, I’m not a fan (but I suppose I’ll have to tuck it away in the recesses of my skull for possible future reference … 😳).
@Dave
Lucky you. It’s just so smug.
When I see, on cooking shows, someone holding an avocado in one hand and whacking the pit with a knife – I think, how stupid can you be? Of course, this is coming from someone who grabbed the handle of a pan that had just come out of the oven. Four hours later, I was back home from the emergency room. So, what do I know?
A little tricky, but very fun Wednesday; took 18:13 with 1 peek and 2 errors. I got stuck on GOONIE, LAVA and MOSS, but really shouldn’t have. Nice to see KOLN, my favorite German city.
So, tomorrow at my Farmers Market, I’m going to share my booth with Bumble (not eHarmony), since they want to collaborate with me for the day. It’s going to be interesting!!
OED has several meanings for MOSSBACK. I like “farmer and settler in the backwoods”, 1874. If it does refer to a confederate army avoider, why doesn’t show up in the 1860’s?