LA Times Crossword 1 Nov 23, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Catherine Lammersen
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Capitals-ish

Themed answers are US cities that share a name with a nation’s capital:

17A Capital of the Midwest? : ATHENS, OHIO

55A Capital of the South? : PARIS, TEXAS

10D Capital of the Northeast? : LISBON, MAINE

24D Capital of the Northwest? : MOSCOW, IDAHO

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

Bill’s time: 6m 26s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Roulette wheel action : SPIN

The term “roulette” means “little wheel” in French, and the game as we know it today did in fact originate in Paris, in 1796. A roulette wheel bears the numbers 1-36. A French entrepreneur called François Blanc introduced the number “0” on the wheel, to give the house an extra advantage. Legend has it that Blanc made a deal with the devil in order to unearth the secrets of roulette. The legend is supported by the fact that the numbers 1 through 36 add up to a total of “666”, which is the “Number of the Beast”. Spooky …

5 “Brokeback Mountain” actor Ledger : HEATH

Heath Ledger was a movie actor from Australia who died in 2008, at only 28 years old. He passed away due to an accidental overdose and abuse of prescribed medications. Ledger had just finished filming “The Dark Night”, in which he played the Joker. For that performance, Ledger was awarded posthumously that season’s Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

“Brokeback Mountain” is a 2005 movie about the romantic and sexual relationship between two cowboys, played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Matt Damon was asked to play one of the leads but declined. Damon gave the excuse, “I did a gay movie (The Talented Mr. Ripley), then a cowboy movie (All the Pretty Horses). I can’t follow it up with a gay-cowboy movie!”

10 Edelstein of “The Kominsky Method” : LISA

Lisa Edelstein is the actress who plays the character Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the excellent TV series “House”. I remember seeing her character do a difficult yoga pose on one of the “House” episodes. It turns out that in real life Edelstein is an avid practitioner of Mysore-style Ashtanga Yoga, an ancient practice.

“The Kominsky Method” is a TV series starring Michael Douglas as Sandy Kominksky, a former actor and revered Hollywood acting coach. Also starring in the show are Alan Arkin as Kominsky’s friend Norman Newlander, and Nancy Travis as Lisa, a newly divorced woman who starts taking acting lessons.

14 Gimlet flavor : LIME

A gimlet is a relatively simple cocktail that is traditionally made using just gin and lime juice. The trend in more recent times is to replace the gin with vodka.

15 Sister company of Enterprise : ALAMO

The third-largest car rental company in recent years is Alamo, which was founded in 1974. Alamo made inroads (pun!) into the market by popularizing the idea of “unlimited mileage”.

16 As above, in a footnote : IDEM

“Idem” is usually abbreviated as “id.” and is the Latin word for “the same”. In research papers, “idem” is used in a list of references, in place of citations “already mentioned above”.

17 Capital of the Midwest? : ATHENS, OHIO

Athens is a city in southeastern Ohio. Ohio became a US state in 1803, and Ohio University was chartered the following year, in 1804. Athens County was formed in 1805, and named for the Greek center of learning. Ohio University opened for students in 1809, and the village surrounding the school was incorporated as Athens village in 1811.

20 “Eternally nameless” concept : TAO

Taoism is a religion and philosophy that originated in ancient China. It has been connected to the development of martial arts. The Chinese martial arts are based on the idea of using the body’s natural movements to defend oneself. Taoist philosophy emphasizes the importance of being in tune with one’s body and mind, which is essential for martial arts training.

21 Hieroglyphic snakes : ASPS

The prefix “hiero-” comes from the Greek word “hieros” meaning sacred or holy. The classic use of the prefix is in the term “hieroglyph” (meaning “sacred carving”), the writing system that uses symbols and pictures.

22 Employee-owned supermarket chain based in Florida : PUBLIX

Publix is a supermarket chain that was founded in Florida in 1930. The chain’s stores are found all across the US’s Southeast. Publix is employee-owned, and is the largest employee-owned company in the nation.

24 Marathon unit : MILE

The marathon commemorates the legendary messenger-run by Pheidippides from the site of the Battle of Marathon back to Athens, and is run over 26 miles and 385 yards. The first modern Olympic marathon races were run over a distance that approximated the length of the modern-day Marathon-Athens highway, although the actual length of the race varied from games to games. For the 1908 Olympics in London, a course starting at Windsor Castle and ending in front of the Royal Box at White City Stadium was defined. That course was 26 miles and 385 yards, the standard length now used at all Olympic Games. Organizers of subsequent games continued to vary the length of the race, until a decision was made in 1921 to adopt the distance used in London in 1908.

32 Quran chapter part : VERSE

The Koran is also known as the “Qur’an” and “Quran” in English. “Qur’an” a transliteration of the Arabic name for the holy text of the Muslim faith. The literal translation of “Koran” is “the recitation”.

34 Not worth discussing : MOOT

A moot court is a simulated court proceeding engaged in by law students. A moot court is similar to a mock trial, with the former simulating an appellate court or arbitral case, and the latter simulating a jury trial or bench trial. In Anglo-Saxon times, a “moot” was a gathering of prominent men to discuss matters of local importance.

38 German automaker : AUDI

The Audi name has an interesting history. The Horch company was founded by August Horch in 1909. Early in the life of the new company, Horch was forced out of his own business. He set up a new enterprise and continued to use his own name as a brand. The old company sued him for using the Horch name so a meeting was held to choose something new. Horch’s young son was studying Latin in the room where the meeting was taking place. He pointed out that “horch” was German for “hear” and he suggested “Audi” as a replacement, the Latin for “listen”.

39 Padres slugger Juan : SOTO

Juan Soto is a professional baseball player from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. He made his MLB debut with the Washington Nationals in 2018, and in so doing became the youngest player in the majors (at 19).

40 Düsseldorf dwelling : HAUS

Düsseldorf lies in the west of Germany, fairly close to the border with France. The city is located on the River Rhine.

45 Antilles landmass : ISLE

The Antilles islands are divided into two main groups, the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. The Greater Antilles includes the islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. The Lesser Antilles are made up of the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands and the Leeward Antilles, and lie just north of Venezuela.

46 Richard of “Chicago” : GERE

Richard Gere is an American actor who is a practicing Buddhist and has been a student of the Dalai Lama for many years. He has been married three times, including his first marriage to supermodel Cindy Crawford. They were married from 1991 to 1995.

The wonderful 1975 musical “Chicago” is based on a 1926 play of the same name written by a news reporter called Maurine Dallas Watkins. Watkins had been assigned to cover the murder trials of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner for the “Chicago Tribune”, and used the story that unfolded as the basis for her play. Annan became the character Roxie Hart, and Gaertner became Velma Kelly. I’ve only ever seen the movie version of “Chicago” and never a live performance …

47 Actress Hawn : GOLDIE

I remember watching the ditsy character played by Goldie Hawn on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”. Hawn used to give great performances on the show, convincing everyone that she was the stereotypical dumb blonde. Well, what a great career she was to carve out for herself!

51 Cy Young stat : ERA

Cy Young was a pitcher in the major leagues from 1890-1911. Young is remembered for pitching the first perfect game of baseball’s modern era. Soon after he died in 1955, the Cy Young Award was created and is presented to the best pitcher in each baseball season.

55 Capital of the South? : PARIS, TEXAS

The city of Paris, Texas is in the northeast corner of the state. Residents like to call the city the “Second Largest Paris in the World”. Cute …

59 Zinc __: sunblock ingredient : OXIDE

Zinc oxide is a popular ingredient in sunscreens as it blocks both UVA and UVB components of ultraviolet light.

63 Largest active volcano in Italy : ETNA

Italy is home to three active volcanoes:

• Stromboli (in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily)
• Vesuvius (overlooking Naples)
• Etna (on the island of Sicily)

Down

1 Picket fence piece : SLAT

Back in the late 17th century, a picket was a pointed stake used militarily to defend against attacking forces, and charging cavalry in particular. Ultimately, the term “picket” comes from the French verb “piquer” meaning “to pierce”. The term “pickets” then became the name for troops posted in the front lines, watching for the enemy. A picket line is a unit of soldiers lined up as a team of lookouts. The first use of “picket line” in the sense of labor disputes appeared just after the end of WWII. Our use of “picket fence” evolved from the original lines of pointed stakes used to defend positions held by early colonists.

2 Baba ghanouj bread : PITA

Baba ganoush (also “baba ghanouj”) is an Arab dish with the main ingredient of mashed eggplant. It is sometimes served as a (delicious) dip.

9 Cager : HOOPSTER

In the early days of basketball, when a ball went out of bounds possession was awarded to the player who first retrieved the ball. This led to mad scuffles off the court, often involving spectators. As the game became more organized, courts were routinely “caged”, largely because of this out of bounds rule, to limit interaction with the crowd. It’s because of these cages that basketball players are sometimes referred to today as “cagers”.

10 Capital of the Northeast? : LISBON, MAINE

The Maine town of Lisbon was named for the capital of Portugal back in 1802. Prior to that date, the town went by the somewhat unwieldy “Thompsonborough”.

13 Green card co. : AMEX

“Amex” is short for “American Express”, the name of the financial services company that is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler’s check businesses. The company name is indicative of its original business. American Express was founded in 1850 in Buffalo, New York as an express mail service.

24 Capital of the Northwest? : MOSCOW, IDAHO

In its early days, the city of Moscow, Idaho was known as Paradise Valley, with the name change taking place in 1875. The choice of “Moscow” seems unexplained, but it is more likely related to Moscow, Pennsylvania than Moscow, Russia. Moscow is home to the University of Idaho.

26 Sister company of Budget : AVIS

Avis has been around since 1946, and is the second largest car rental agency after Hertz. Avis has the distinction of being the first car rental company to locate a branch at an airport.

30 Two-door vehicle : COUPE

The type of car known as a “coupe” or “coupé” is a closed automobile with two doors. The name comes from the French word “couper” meaning “to cut”. In most parts of the English-speaking world the pronunciation adheres to the original French, but here in most of North America we go with “coop”. The original coupé was a horse-drawn carriage that was cut (coupé) to eliminate the rear-facing passenger seats. That left just a driver and two front-facing passengers. If the driver was left without a roof and out in the open, then the carriage was known as a “coupé de-ville”.

35 Spruce (up) : TIDY

Our verb “to spruce up” means “to make trim or neat”. The term comes from the adjective “spruce”, meaning “smart, neat”. In turn, the adjective comes from “spruce leather”, which was a Prussian leather that was used in England in the 15th and 16th centuries to make a popular style of jerkin that was widely considered to look quite smart.

43 Means-tested govt. assistance program : SSI

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal program that provides financial relief to persons with low incomes who are 65 or older, or who are blind or disabled. The SSI program is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) even though the Social Security trust fund is not used for SSI payments. SSI payments come out of general tax revenue.

44 __ Antilles: Caribbean cluster : LESSER

The Caribbean Sea takes its name from the Island Carib people. The Island Caribs are an American Indian people that live in the Lesser Antilles islands, part of the West Indies.

47 Apple choice : GALA

Gala is the second-most popular apple cultivar in the US, after red delicious. The gala apple tree originated in New Zealand in 1930, and is a cross between a golden delicious and a Kidd’s orange red.

49 “__ we forget” : LEST

“Lest we forget” is an oft-quoted phrase, one that comes from a poem by Rudyard Kipling called “Recessional”. Kipling wrote the piece on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897 and used it to express sadness at the waning of the British Empire. The phrase “lest we forget” is used in this context, a warning that the empire will decline. Ever since WWI we’ve been using the words on memorials as a plea not to forget the sacrifices made by others in the past.

50 One who may keep a spare tyre in a boot : BRIT

The British spelling of “tyre”, for what we call a “tire” here in North America, was indeed the original spelling. The English started to use “tire” spelling in the 17th century, and then shifted back to the current “tyre” in the 19th century.

In North America we use the word “trunk” for the storage space in the back of a vehicle as that space is reminiscent of the large traveling chest called a “trunk”. Such trunks used to be lashed onto the back of automobiles before storage was integrated. On the other side of the Atlantic, a trunk is known as a “boot”. The original boot was a built-in storage compartment on a horse-drawn carriage on which a coachman would sit.

53 Bhutan’s continent : ASIA

Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is located high up in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and India to the south, east and west. Bhutan has been a constitutional monarchy since 2008, and has been ranked by “Businessweek” as the “happiest” country in Asia.

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