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Constructed by: Katie Hale & Chandi Deitmer
Edited by: Patti Varol
Today’s Reveal Answer: Lentils
Themed answers come in pairs. One element has LENT “IL” to the other:
- 40A Staple legumes, or parsed differently, what 16- and 24-Across did for 51- and 63-Across : LENTILS or LENT “IL”S
- 16A “Alert: Yo-Yo’s here!”? : YOU’VE GOT MA (“You’ve got mail” – “il”)
- 51A Really hot person in the cockpit? : MELTING PILOT (“melting pot” + “il”)
- 24A Machines used on a peacock farm? : FEATHER PLOWS (“feather pillows” – “il”)
- 63A Wooden model of an Italian city? : STICK MILAN (“stick man” + “il”)
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 8m 07s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
5 Recipient of a half-hearted gift? : BFF
Best friend forever (BFF)
16 “Alert: Yo-Yo’s here!”? : YOU’VE GOT MA (“You’ve got mail” – “il”)
Yo-Yo Ma is a “ma-velous” American cellist who was born in Paris to Chinese parents. Ma started studying the violin when he was very young, working his way up (in size) to the viola and finally to the cello. He has said that he wanted to play the double bass, but it was just too big for his relatively small frame.
The iconic phrase “You’ve got mail” was first used by AOL in 1989. The greeting was recorded by voice actor Elwood Edwards. Edwards has parlayed his gig with AOL into some other work. He appears in an episode of “The Simpsons” as a doctor who says the line “You’ve got leprosy”. Edwards also worked as a weatherman for a while and got to use the line “You’ve got hail” …
19 Peak near Catania : ETNA
The Metropolitan City of Catania (“Province of Catania” prior to 2015) is not only home to the city of Catania, but is also home to Mount Etna, Europe’s largest volcano. It is the second largest city on the island of Sicily (after Palermo), and has a long and rich cultural history. Today, Catania is known as a center for technology industries, earning it the nickname “European Silicon Valley”.
24 Machines used on a peacock farm? : FEATHER PLOWS (“feather pillows” – “il”)
The male peafowl is known as a peacock, and the female a peahen. The peafowl’s young are sometimes called peachicks.
28 Caribbean island with the Pitons : ST LUCIA
There are only two sovereign nations named for women. The island country of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse. The island country of Ireland (“Éire” in Irish) was named the goddess Ériu from Irish mythology.
The Pitons are two spectacular volcanic spires located on the coast of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. The larger of the pair is Gros Piton, and the slightly smaller is Petit Piton.
31 Tylenol target : PAIN
Tylenol is a pain-relieving drug with the active ingredient acetaminophen (which is known as “paracetamol” outside of the US).
32 Piggy bank addition : COIN
The word “pig” can be used for earthenware, or an earthenware shard. From this usage there evolved the term “pig jar” that described an earthenware pot that could be filled with water for use as a bed-warmer. Crockery pots were also used to collect coins and these were also termed “pig jars”. By the 1700s, these pig jars had evolved into the first “piggy banks”.
33 __ bunny : DUST
What we call “dust bunnies” in American English, have similar inventive names in other languages. The Finns know them as sheep, the Germans wool mice, the Hungarians dust kittens, the Italians dust cats, and the Swedish dust rats.
36 Performed a saut de chat, e.g. : LEAPT
A pas de chat (also “saut de chat”) is a sideways jump in ballet. Notably, the Dance of the Cygnets in Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” features sixteen sequential pas de chat performed by four dancers in a row with their hands and arms intertwined.
39 Director Lee : ANG
Taiwanese director Ang Lee sure has directed a mixed bag of films, mixed in terms of genre but not in terms of quality. He was at the helm for such classics as “Sense & Sensibility” (my personal favorite), “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hulk”, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi”.
42 Like some larb : LAO
Larb is a traditional dish from Lao cuisine that is made with minced meat, fish sauce, lime juice, and various herbs and spices. It is often considered the national dish of Laos, although it is also popular in neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam. The word “larb” is derived from the Lao word “laap,” which means “to mince” or “to chop finely.”
43 Maestro Zubin : MEHTA
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music, from Mumbai. Mehta studied music in Vienna, where he made his conducting debut in 1958. In 1961 he was named assistant director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, creating a fuss with the music director designate of the orchestra, Georg Solti. Solti resigned as a protest, and Mehta took his job. In 1978 Mehta took over as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, eventually becoming the longest holder of that position. In 2019, the Los Angeles Philharmonic bestowed on Mehta the title of Conductor Emeritus.
51 Really hot person in the cockpit? : MELTING PILOT (“melting pot” + “il”)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the original “cockpit” was a “pit” used for fighting “cocks”. The term was then applied nautically, as the name for the compartment below decks used as living quarters by midshipmen. The cockpit of a boat today, usually on a smaller vessel, is a sunken area towards the stern in which sits the helmsman and others (who can fit!). The usage extended to aircraft in the 1910s and to cars in the 1930s.
56 Philip Marlowe genre : NOIR
Philip Marlowe is a character created by Raymond Chandler, who appears in the novels “The Big Sleep” and “The Long Goodbye”.
61 Ruckuses : DINS
The word “ruckus” is used to mean “commotion”, and has been around since the late 1800s. “Ruckus” is possibly a melding of the words “ruction” and “rumpus”.
63 Wooden model of an Italian city? : STICK MILAN (“stick man” + “il”)
Milan (“Milano” in Italian) is Italy’s second-largest city, second only to Rome. Milan is a European fashion capital, the headquarters for the big Italian fashion houses of Valentino, Gucci, Versace, Armani, Prada and others. Mario Prada was even born in Milan, and helped establish the city’s reputation in the world of fashion.
68 Ilsa __: “Casablanca” heroine : LUND
The movie “Casablanca” was released in January of 1943, timed to coincide with the Casablanca Conference, the high-level meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill. The film wasn’t a box-office hit, but gained critical acclaim, winning three Oscars including Best Picture. The signature song “As Time Goes By” was written many years earlier for a 1931 Broadway musical called “Everybody’s Welcome”, and was a hit in 1931 for Rudy Vallee. But today we all remember the Casablanca version, sung by Dooley Wilson (who played “Sam” in the film). Poor Dooley didn’t get to record it as a single, due to a musician’s strike in 1943. The 1931 Rudy Vallee version was re-released that year and became an even bigger hit second time round.
69 Arthur who authored “A Hard Road to Glory” : ASHE
“A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete” is a 1988 book by tennis star Arthur Ashe. Published in three volumes, Ashe researched for almost six years with a team to put the book together. Ashe stated publicly that he valued “A Hard Road to Glory” more than any of his tennis titles.
70 Dark side of a notable pair : YIN
The yin and yang can be illustrated using many different metaphors. In one, as the sun shines on a mountain, the side in the shade is the yin and the side in the light is the yang. The yin is also regarded as the feminine side, and the yang the masculine. The yin can also be associated with the moon, while the yang is associated with the sun.
71 Chocolate brand owned by Berkshire Hathaway : SEE’S
See’s is a candy manufacturer that was founded in Los Angeles in 1921 by Canadian Charles See and his mother Mary See. Many of us remember the chocolate factory episode of “I Love Lucy”. Well, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vancse spent time at the See’s facility in LA learning how to dip chocolates and work the production line prior to filming that show.
Berkshire Hathaway is the holding company that is controlled by Warren Buffett, the so-called “Oracle of Omaha”. Berkshire Hathaway is the eighth largest public company in the world.
Down
3 Poker variety : STUD
“Stud poker” is the name given to many variants of poker, all of which are characterized by the dealer giving each player a mix of cards face-down and face-up. The cards facing upwards are called “upcards”. The cards facing downwards are called “hole cards”, cards only visible to the individual who holds that particular hand. This gives rise to the phrase “ace in the hole”, a valuable holding that only the player with the ace is aware of.
9 Picnic snack that appears to have picnic invaders : ANTS ON A LOG
Ants on a log is a snack food prepared by spreading something like peanut butter or cream cheese on celery and placing raisins on top. If you leave out the raisins, the snack becomes “ants on vacation”.
14 Tahiti sweetie : AMIE
Tahiti is the most populous island in French Polynesia, which is located in the central Southern Pacific. Although Captain Cook landed in Tahiti in 1769, he wasn’t the first European to do so. However, Cook’s visit was the most significant in that it heralded a whole spate of European visitors, who brought with them prostitution, venereal disease and alcohol. Included among the subsequent visitors was the famous HMS Bounty under the charge of Captain Bligh.
18 Org. with sponsored Medicare plans : AARP
AARP is the official name now for the interest group that used to be called “The American Association of Retired Persons”. The name change reflects the current focus of the group on all Americans aged 50 or over, as opposed to just people who have retired. The AARP was founded by Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus in 1958 and is a successor to the National Retired Teachers Association, also founded by Andrus over ten years earlier.
22 Australian gems : OPALS
97% of the world’s opals come from Australia, so it’s no surprise perhaps that the opal is the national gemstone of the country. The state of South Australia provides the bulk of the world’s production, i.e. about 80%. White, gray and green opals are the most common varieties found, and black opals the rarest.
25 Many a “Veep” role : AIDE
“Veep” is a political satire sitcom on HBO that is a remake of the British show “The Thick of It” (Warning: strong, strong language!). “Veep” is set in the office of fictional US Vice President Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
35 Actress Hedren : TIPPI
Tippi Hedren is an actress from New Ulm, Minnesota who is best known for her starring roles in two Alfred Hitchcock classics: “The Birds” (1963) and “Marnie” (1964). Famously, Hedren claimed that Hitchcock destroyed her movie career because she would not succumb to his sexual advances, a charge that has been denied. Hedren’s daughter is actress Melanie Griffith.
40 Exempli gratia, e.g. : LATIN
The Latin “exempli gratia” means “for the sake of example”, and is a phrase we often use in English. “Exempli gratia” is almost always shortened to “e.g.”
44 Ore-Ida offering : TOT
Ore-Ida’s founders came up with the idea for Tater Tots when they were deciding what to do with residual cuts of potato. They chopped up the leftovers, added flour and seasoning, and extruded the mix through a large hole making a sausage that they cut into small cylinders. We eat 70 million pounds of this extruded potato every year!
48 Son of Seth : ENOS
Enos was the son of Seth, and therefore the grandson of Adam and Eve, and nephew of Cain and Abel. According to the ancient Jewish work called the Book of Jubilees, Enos married his own sister Noam.
50 Sch. with a Twin Cities campus : U OF M
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (the U of M) comprises two campuses located a few miles apart, one in Minneapolis, and one in Saint Paul. One of U of M’s graduates is Bob Dylan, the 2016 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
51 Marshall McLuhan focus : MEDIA
Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher who is noted for his work in the field of media theory. McLuhan’s work held most sway in the sixties, at which time he coined the expressions “the medium is the message” and “global village”. He also predicted the development of the World Wide Web almost 30 years before it became a reality.
52 Uses Photoshop : EDITS
Photoshop is a wonderful piece of software used for editing graphics. When I first bought a copy of Photoshop, it was really expensive (about $300 in 1995), but now there are cost-effective, stripped-down versions available. Also, the full version of Photoshop is now only available as a monthly subscription service.
53 Bhagavad-__ : GITA
The Bhagavad Gita (sometimes just “the Gita”) is a Hindu scripture written in Sanskrit, the title of which translates as “The Song of the Bhagavan”.
58 Word with blood or moon : BLUE …
The idiomatic phrase “blue blood” applies to someone of noble descent. It is a translation of the Spanish “sangre azul”, which was applied to the royal family in Spain. The notion is that someone of noble birth does not have to work outdoors in the fields, and so has untanned skin. The veins showing in the skin had “blue blood”, whereas those veins were masked by the darker skin of the peasant classes.
As there is a full moon once every four weeks, approximately monthly, there are usually twelve full moons in any given year. However, every 2-3 years, depending on the phase of the moon at the beginning of the calendar year, there may be a thirteenth full moon. The “extra” full moon is called a “blue moon”, although no one seems to really know why the term “blue” is used, as far as I can tell. Which of the thirteen full moons that is designated as the blue moon varies depending on tradition. My favorite definition is from the Farmer’s Almanac. It states that as each of the seasons normally has three full moons (one for each calendar month), then the season with four full moons is designated as “special”, then the third (and not the fourth) full moon in that “special” season is the blue moon. Complicated, huh?
64 Flat-iron brand : CHI
CHI is a manufacturer of hair products based in Houston. It was founded in 1986 by hairdresser Farouk Shami.
Hair irons can generally be grouped into three families:
- Curling irons … make the hair curly
- Flat irons … make the hair straight
- Crimping irons … crimp the hair into a sawtooth configuration
65 2023 role for Ryan, Simu, Kingsley, and others : KEN
The 2023 fantasy comedy movie “Barbie” stars Margo Robbie in the title role and Ryan Gosling as Ken. It was directed by Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote the script with her partner Noah Baumbach. I highly recommend this one …
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Soft side? : MASH
5 Recipient of a half-hearted gift? : BFF
8 “I’m all __” : EARS
12 Encouraging start : ATTA …
13 Square footage : AREA
15 Understood : KNEW
16 “Alert: Yo-Yo’s here!”? : YOU’VE GOT MA (“You’ve got mail” – “il”)
19 Peak near Catania : ETNA
20 Book end, perhaps : INDEX
21 Breezy goodbye : CIAO
23 Game, __, match : SET
24 Machines used on a peacock farm? : FEATHER PLOWS (“feather pillows” – “il”)
28 Caribbean island with the Pitons : ST LUCIA
31 Tylenol target : PAIN
32 Piggy bank addition : COIN
33 __ bunny : DUST
36 Performed a saut de chat, e.g. : LEAPT
39 Director Lee : ANG
40 Staple legumes, or parsed differently, what 16- and 24-Across did for 51- and 63-Across : LENTILS or LENT “IL”S
42 Like some larb : LAO
43 Maestro Zubin : MEHTA
45 Tit for tat, maybe : TYPO
46 Ages and ages : EONS
47 Reusable 5-Down : TOTE
49 Goes deep : PLUNGES
51 Really hot person in the cockpit? : MELTING PILOT (“melting pot” + “il”)
55 Prof’s email ender : EDU
56 Philip Marlowe genre : NOIR
57 Story with a lesson : FABLE
61 Ruckuses : DINS
63 Wooden model of an Italian city? : STICK MILAN (“stick man” + “il”)
66 Uncomfortable sensation : ITCH
67 Uncomfortable sensation : ACHE
68 Ilsa __: “Casablanca” heroine : LUND
69 Arthur who authored “A Hard Road to Glory” : ASHE
70 Dark side of a notable pair : YIN
71 Chocolate brand owned by Berkshire Hathaway : SEE’S
Down
1 Question of permission : MAY I?
2 So much : A TON
3 Poker variety : STUD
4 “Live it up!” : HAVE FUN!
5 Groceries carrier : BAG
6 To, the contrary : FRO
7 “Go get it,” to a dog : FETCH
8 Just scrape (out) : EKE
9 Picnic snack that appears to have picnic invaders : ANTS ON A LOG
10 Not allow to expire : RENEW
11 Goes after a fly : SWATS
14 Tahiti sweetie : AMIE
17 Board VIP : EXEC
18 Org. with sponsored Medicare plans : AARP
22 Australian gems : OPALS
25 Many a “Veep” role : AIDE
26 Say “neener neener,” say : TAUNT
27 Deception : LIE
28 Deception : SCAM
29 Vocal quality : TONE
30 Small salad and half a sandwich, say : LIGHT LUNCH
34 Pig pad : STY
35 Actress Hedren : TIPPI
37 Window section : PANE
38 Lob : TOSS
40 Exempli gratia, e.g. : LATIN
41 Relax : LOLL
44 Ore-Ida offering : TOT
46 Requires : ENTAILS
48 Son of Seth : ENOS
50 Sch. with a Twin Cities campus : U OF M
51 Marshall McLuhan focus : MEDIA
52 Uses Photoshop : EDITS
53 Bhagavad-__ : GITA
54 A bit steep : PRICY
58 Word with blood or moon : BLUE …
59 Rural road : LANE
60 Finishes : ENDS
62 Pronoun option : SHE
64 Flat-iron brand : CHI
65 2023 role for Ryan, Simu, Kingsley, and others : KEN
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12 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 20 Oct 23, Friday”
Comments are closed.
Messed up 70A with YEN instead of YIN. in my head I had YEN and YANG. so I also messed up CHI with CHE.
Once I got the theme, it went much easier. The key for me was getting YOUVE GOT MA… I started in the middle then went to the bottom and that didnt help. So i went to the top where i dont like to start and voila! Payday!
Never heard of SEES chocolate??
@Anon Mike..you must not be on the West Coast. That’s the stomping ground for See’s though with online ordering, it’s everywhere!
Didn’t really get the theme, just answered the clues, tho I got stuck on STICK Milan. Since I didn’t know GITA or CHI, I finally looked them up.
Not too bad for a Friday.
A bit of mulling on the SE corner. Mostly due to inking in Stick Turin. After I finally got entails for 46 Down I figured out Milan and the puzzle was complete without final error. Another “theme” I completely missed until I came here for Bill’s explanation. I am lousy at themes, no doubt!
23:21 – didn’t know GITA.
For me on a Friday I’m OK with this.
Didn’t really enjoy the puzzle … didn’t get that “good” feeling when done.
Be Well.
I really don’t care for these “cute” puzzles. Yo-yo’s and You’ve Got Mail?? I don’t get the connection. Maybe there’s none? Oh well.
Enjoy the weekend! 😊
Bill explained this. The punny clue is “Alert: Yo-Yo’s here!” and the answer is “You’ve got Ma”. Think Yo-Yo Ma, the cellist … 🙂.
14:15 – no errors or lookups. False starts: EASE>LOAF>LOLL, HALF>BLUE.
New or forgotten: “Catania,” “island Pitons,” “saut de chat,” “larb,” CHI hair product.
A clever theme. Had to read all of the 40A clue to get it. Just “staple legumes” doesn’t tell the whole story. MELTINGPILOT and YOUVEGOTMA did it for me.
Duplicate cluing with “uncomfortable sensation” and “deception.”
14 mins 36 seconds and DNF, with 4 left unfilled in bottom center.
Another two-author pile of poo. Clues “crafted” to cause maximum confusion. References to people, places and things that maybe 1% know of (ex., 42A). An inane stretch of a “theme.” Complete lack of editor supervision to rein in the “cleverer-than-thou” impulses of the authors. All told, a TRAIN WRECK.
It seems the crossword puzzle makers use more and more “bizarre” themes. Also I don’t like the proliferation of phrases to which you are expected to reply. What ever happened to “word” in crossword?
Very difficult Friday for me; took a tortuous 57:27 with 6 errors on 2 squares, that just would not come to me. Tried my best to ignore the theme, after getting a headache from doing the Thursday WSJ, which I almost solved successfully. Couldn’t get the A?TA and the YOUVEGOTM? squares with 6 tries.
The theme reveal helped with 51 and 63 across and I just solved 24 across with the given clue but 16 across was just a bridge to far, and ATTA/ATON, I’ll just excuse with my WSJ headache.
Just wasn’t in the mood for a stupid gimmick today…
13:13, no errors. I’ll disagree with some of the posters here & say that this was a fun theme.
Very helpful website. Thank you!