LA Times Crossword 18 Oct 23, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Josh Goodman
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Command Center

Themed answers each have a COMMAND that one might give to a dog, hidden right at the CENTER:

• 52A Heart of an operation, and a hidden feature of 20-, 26-, and 46-Across : COMMAND CENTER

• 20A “No one told me!” : HOW WAS I TO KNOW?! (“SIT” center)
• 26A Had a new proprietor : CHANGED OWNERSHIP (“DOWN” center)
• 46A Run errands during a bad storm, say : BRAVE THE ELEMENTS (“HEEL” center)

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

Bill’s time: 6m 40s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Galaxy body : STAR

Star systems are stars that orbit each other due, bound together by gravity. Larger groups of such stars are usually referred to as galaxies, or star clusters.

9 Mezcal base : AGAVE

Mezcal (also “mescal”) is a distilled spirit made from the agave plant. Technically, tequila is a type of mezcal that is distilled specifically from the blue agave.

15 Chicago airport : O’HARE

The IATA airport code for O’Hare International in Chicago is ORD, which comes from Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field (OR-D).

19 Third-stringers : C-TEAM

We’ve been using the phrases “first string” and “second string” in athletics since the mid-19th century. The expressions come from archery, in which a competitor would carry a second bowstring in case the first broke.

23 “Monsters, __” : INC

The animated feature “Monsters, Inc.” was released in 2001, and was Pixar’s fourth full-length movie. It’s about cute monsters, and that’s all I know other than that the voice cast included the likes of John Goodman, Billy Crystal and Steve Buscemi.

24 Like most of Nunavut’s population : INUIT

Nunavut is a Canadian territory that dates back to 1999, when it was separated from the Northwest Territories. That makes Nunavut the youngest of all Canada’s territories. It is also the nation’s largest territory, the least populous, as well as the furthest north. Even though it is the second-largest country subdivision in North America (after Greenland), Nunavut is home to just over 30,000 people, who are mostly Inuit.

38 Economist and social reformer Webb who coined the term “collective bargaining” : BEATRICE

Beatrice Webb was an English sociologist and economist, and one of the founders of the London School of Economics (LSE).

42 Bronze, e.g. : MEDAL

In the Ancient Olympic Games, the winner of an event was awarded an olive wreath. When the games were revived in 1896, the winners were originally given a silver medal and an olive branch, with runners-up receiving a bronze medal and a laurel branch. The tradition of giving gold, silver and bronze medals began at the 1904 Summer Olympic Games held in St. Louis, Missouri.

44 European capital west of Helsinki : OSLO

The Norwegian capital of Oslo is located at the northern end of a fjord known as Oslofjord. The fjord is home to 40 islands that lie within the city’s limits. Oslo also has 343 lakes.

Helsinki is the capital city of Finland, and is by far the country’s biggest urban area. In English we tend to stress the “-sink-” in “Helsinki”, whereas the Finns stress the “Hel-”.

51 “Arrested Development” narrator Howard : RON

“Arrested Development” is a sitcom that originally aired on Fox from 2003 to 2006. Ron Howard was heavily involved in the show behind the camera, serving as executive producer and also as the show’s narrator. Fifteen new episodes of “Arrested Development” were filmed specifically for release on Netflix in 2013, and there may even be a movie on the way.

63 Bryant of “Human Resources” : AIDY

Actor and comedian Aidy Bryant made her debut on “Saturday Night Live” in 2012. Bryant married fellow comedian Conner O’Malley in 2018.

69 Utopia : EDEN

The word “Utopia” was coined by Sir Thomas More in his book “Utopia” published in 1516 to describe an idyllic fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. More’s use of the name Utopia comes from the Greek “ou” meaning “not” and “topos” meaning “place”. By calling his perfect island “Not Place”, More was apparently making the point that he didn’t think that the ideal could actually exist.

Down

4 Pinot noir or merlot : RED WINE

The pinot noir wine grape variety takes its name from the French for “pine” and “black”. The grapes grow in tight clusters shaped like pine cones, and are very dark in color. The pinot noir grape is most closely associated with Burgundy wines in France, although in recent years the popularity (and price) of California pinot noir wine has soared after it featured so prominently in the wonderful 2004 movie “Sideways”. Grab a bottle of pinot, and go rent the movie …

Merlot is one of the main grapes used to make Bordeaux wines, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

5 Masala __: milky spiced tea : CHAI

Masala chai is an Indian drink made with black tea (the “chai) and mixed spices (the “masala”).

6 Male deer : HART

Nowadays, a hart is a male red deer over five years old. A hind is a female red deer.

7 Golden Fleece ship : ARGO

The Golden Fleece was the fleece of a winged ram made from pure gold that was held by King Aeëtes in Colchis, a kingdom on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. The fleece is central to the tale of Jason and the Argonauts, who set out on a quest to steal the fleece by order of King Pelias.

9 Way for a high schooler to build credit? : AP COURSE

Advanced Placement (AP)

11 “We __ the Champions” : ARE

“We Are the Champions” is a wonderful rock anthem written by Freddie Mercury and recorded by Queen in 1977. According to some scientific researchers in 2011, “We Are the Champions” is the catchiest song in the history of pop music.

13 Stately tree : ELM

The Ulmus laevis deciduous tree that is native to Europe is commonly referred to as the European white elm, spreading elm and stately elm.

21 “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” director Lee : ANG

Ang Lee made history at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002 when he won the Best Director award for “Brokeback Mountain.” He became the first Asian person to win the award and the first non-white person to win in the category.

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is a martial arts movie released in 2000. Despite the film’s Mandarin dialogue, it still became a huge international hit. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” grossed well over $100 million in the US alone, and is still the highest-grossing foreign-language film in American history.

25 Charlize of “Mad Max: Fury Road” : THERON

Charlize Theron is an actress from South Africa who has played leading roles in Hollywood films such as “The Devil’s Advocate”, “The Cider House Rules” and my personal favorite “The Italian Job”. More recently, Theron portrayed broadcast journalist Megyn Kelly in “Bombshell”, to much acclaim. Although Theron is obviously fluent in English, her first language is actually Afrikaans.

”Mad Max: Fury Road” is a 2015 film in the “Mad Max” series, one that was released a full thirty years after the third installment, “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”. The title character was played by Mel Gibson in the first three movies, with Tom Hardy taking over for the fourth film. I must admit, I’m not a “Mad Max” fan …

29 Classic film noir about a man investigating his own murder : DOA

Both the original 1950 film “D.O.A.” starring Edmond O’Brien and Pamela Britton, and its 1988 remake starring Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, are excellent movies in my opinion. The basic storyline is that the lead character discovers he has been poisoned, and uses the limited time he has to live in order to discover who “murdered” him.

30 Pirouetting, say : ON TOE

We took our word “pirouette” directly from French, in which language it has the same meaning, i.e. a rotation in dancing. “Pirouette” is also the French word for “spinning top”.

38 Used dynamite on, as a safe : BLEW OPEN

The explosive called dynamite contains nitroglycerin as its active component. Dynamite also contains diatomaceous earth and sodium carbonate that absorb the nitroglycerin. The absorbed nitroglycerin is far less sensitive to mechanical shock, making it easier to transport and to handle. Famously, dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel, the man who used his fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes.

43 Green topper for toast : AVOCADO

Avocado toast is trendy, but delicious. My homemade version includes a generous sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper, and a splash of hot sauce. Yum …

47 Three-time NBA Finals MVP Duncan : TIM

Tim Duncan is a professional basketball player from La Croix in the US Virgin Islands. Duncan was a natural swimmer, with his eyes on the 1992 Olympic Games. He was forced to turn his attention to basketball when Hurricane Hugo destroyed St. Croix’s only Olympic-sized pool in 1989.

49 Tavern owner on “The Simpsons” : MOE

Moe Szyslak is the surly bartender and owner of Moe’s Tavern in “The Simpsons” animated TV show. I don’t really care for “The Simpsons”, but Hank Azaria who supplies the voice for the Moe character … him I like …

53 Greeting on deck : AHOY!

“Ahoy!” is a nautical term used to signal a vessel. When the telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell, he suggested that “ahoy” be used as a standard greeting when answering a call. However, Thomas Edison came up with “hello”, and we’ve been using that ever since.

54 Staff member? : NOTE

The set of five horizontal lines and four spaces used in Western musical notation can be called a staff or stave. Either way, the plural form is “staves”.

58 Actor Gosling : RYAN

Ryan Gosling is a Canadian actor who is one of a string of entertainers to graduate from the Mickey Mouse Club on the Disney Channel. His career really took off when he played the male lead in the 2004 movie “The Notebook” (the best ever “weepie”, according to my wife). Gosling is quite the musician, and is one half of a rock duo called Dead Man’s Bones.

60 Video game figure not controlled by a human: Abbr. : NPC

Non-player character (NPC)

61 Calico or tuxedo : CAT

Domestic cats with a white coat and patches of brown and black are called calico cats in this country. Back in Ireland, and the rest of the world I think, such cats are called tortoiseshell-and-white. “Calico” is not a breed of cat, but rather a coloring.

A tuxedo cat is one with a white and black coat. Specifically, the coloring is a solid black coat with white fur on the paws, belly chest, throat and sometimes the chin.

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