LA Times Crossword 25 Nov 23, Saturday

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Constructed by: Kunal Nabar
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 15m 20s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Softens, in a way : DAMPS

Maybe damping an oscillation, like that of a pendulum or a spring.

10 Clock toggle : AM/PM

The 12-hour clock has been around a long time, and was even used in sundial format in ancient Egypt. Our use of AM and PM dates back to Roman times, with AM standing for Ante Meridiem (before noon) and PM standing for Post Meridiem (after noon). However, the Romans originally used the AM concept a little differently, by counting backwards from noon. So, 2AM to the Romans would be two hours before noon, or 10AM as we would call it today.

14 Big name in morning TV : RIPA

When Kelly Ripa secured the co-host spot on morning television with Regis Philbin, she was still acting in “All My Children” in a role she had been playing for over ten years. After a year of holding down two jobs, she eventually gave up the acting gig. Ripa has acted as spokeswoman for several brands over the years, including Electrolux and Rykä.

16 Missouri representative Bush : CORI

Cori Bush became a member of the US House of Representatives in 2021. A Democrat from St. Louis, Missouri, Bush joined the group of progressive lawmakers known as “The Squad”.

19 Like Oberlin since 1837 : COED

Oberlin College was established way back in 1833 as Oberlin Collegiate Institute. It was named for J. F. Oberlin, a pastor from Alsace in France who also loaned his name to the Ohio city of Oberlin that grew up around the college. Oberlin was the first school in the US to permanently open its doors to women, doing so in 1837.

22 Oregon city on the Deschutes River : BEND

The Oregon city of Bend is situated on the Deschutes River. It is named for a ranch called “Farewell Bend” that existed in the area when the town was founded. It was US Post Office bureaucrats that dropped the “Farewell” to give the shorter name “Bend”.

The Deschutes River in Oregon flows roughly northwards, from LIttle Lava Lake in the Cascade Range, and empties into the Columbia River at the Oregon- Washington border. It was named by French fur trappers “Rivière des Chutes” (River of the Falls’), which was anglicized to “Deschutes”.

31 Earring Magic __: collectible doll of 1993 : KEN

Earring Magic Ken is a very collectible Ken doll that was introduced in 1993. Designed to be a more contemporary version of Ken, the doll sports an earring in his left ear, a lavender mesh shirt, and necklace with a circular charm. Earring Magic Ken was popular with young girls, the target audience, but also became a huge hit in the gay community. Demand for the doll was so high that Earring Magic Ken is still the best-selling Ken model.

32 Colorful Victorian houses in San Francisco, e.g. : PAINTED LADIES

“Painted lady” is a term used to describe Victorian and Edwardian houses that have been repainted, using several different colors, in a way that emphasizes a building’s architectural style. Although the term applies to structures across the US, it originated in the Bay Area, in a book titled “Painted Ladies: San Francisco’s Resplendent Victorians”.

35 Tosses : JETTISONS

The original use of the verb “to jettison” was “to throw overboard”, and in particular applied to measures taken to lighten a ship that was in danger. “Jettison” is related to “jetsam’, the noun describing items thrown overboard, particularly to save a vessel. Jetsam differs from flotsam in that the latter noun describes goods floating on the ocean that have been lost overboard.

38 Island in the Cyclades : IOS

The Cyclades are a group of islands in the Aegean Sea lying southeast of the Greek mainland. There are about 200 islands in the group, almost all of which are the peaks of a submerged mountain range. Ios is one of the larger islands, and is 11 miles long and 6 miles wide.

39 Instruments that may have 21 strings : SITARS

The sitar has been around since the Middle Ages. It is a stringed instrument that is played by plucking, and is used most often in Hindustani classical music. In the West we have been exposed to the instrument largely through the performances of Ravi Shankar and some music by George Harrison of the Beatles, a onetime student of Shankar.

40 Creator of spine-tingling content? : ASMRTIST

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR ) is a tingling sensation that some people experience in response to certain stimuli, such as soft sounds, gentle whispering, or slow movements. It is often described as a feeling of relaxation and well-being. Although there is no consensus on what causes ASMR, one suggestion is that it may be related to the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure. There are a wide variety of ASMR videos available, including videos of people whispering, tapping on objects, or performing other gentle actions.

46 Jump-starts a training regimen? : SKIPS ROPE

Quite often, the terms “regime” and “regimen” seem to be used interchangeably. In contemporary usage, “regime” is applied more generally, and “regimen” more specifically. A “regimen” is a systematic approach that one might apply to something, to exercise or diet for example. The term “regime” can also be used in such contexts, but can have additional definitions, such as “government in power”. A form of government cannot be described as a “regimen”.

47 Amanda of “Brockmire” : PEET

Actress Amanda Peet studied acting with the celebrated Uta Hagen at Columbia University. Peet has appeared in a number of successful films including “The Whole Nine Yards” and “Syriana”. I remember her best from what I thought was a great TV show (but no one seemed to agree!) called “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”.

“Brockmire” is a comedy series that ran on IFC from 2017 to 2020. The title character, played by the talented Hank Azaria, is an ex-MLB play-by-play announcer trying to resurrect his career by calling minor league games in a small town. I haven’t seen this one, but it’s on the list …

50 “Contact” org. : SETI

“SETI” is the name given to a number of projects searching for extraterrestrial life. The acronym stands for “search for extraterrestrial intelligence”. One of the main SETI activities is the monitoring of electromagnetic radiation (such as radio waves) reaching the Earth in the hope of finding a transmission from a civilization in another world.

“Contact” is a sci-fi novel by Carl Sagan that was first published in 1985. Sagan had written “Contact” originally as a screenplay in 1979, but when plans for the film stalled, Sagan decided to go ahead and create the novel. An excellent film did eventually hit the theaters in 1997, and starred Jodie Foster.

51 One of the racing Andrettis : MARCO

Race car driver Marco Andretti is part of the celebrated Andretti racing family. He is a grandson of Mario Andretti, who was so successful in the 1970s and 1980s.

52 Board sticker : DART

Darts is a game that’s often played in English and Irish pubs, even over here in America. The scoring in a traditional game of darts is difficult to describe in a sentence or two, but the game of darts called “Round the Clock” is simply hitting the numbers 1 through 20 on the dartboard in sequence.

53 Tennis legend who wrote a history of African-American athletes : ASHE

Arthur Ashe was a professional tennis player from Richmond, Virginia. In his youth, Ashe found himself having to travel great distances to play against Caucasian opponents due to the segregation that still existed in his home state. He was rewarded for his dedication by being selected for the 1963 US Davis Cup team, the first African-American player to be so honored. Ashe continued to run into trouble because of his ethnicity though, and in 1968 was denied entry into South Africa to play in the South African Open. In 1979, Ashe suffered a heart attack and had bypass surgery, with follow-up surgery four years later during which he contracted HIV from blood transfusions. Ashe passed away in 1993 due to complications from AIDS. Shortly afterwards, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.

54 Orem resident : UTAHN

Orem, Utah was originally known as “Sharon” (a Biblical name), then “Provo Bench”, and in 1914 it was given the family name of a local railroad operator called “Orem”. Orem gave itself the nickname “Family City USA” and sure enough in 2010, “Forbes” rated Orem the 5th best place in the country to raise a family.

Down

1 Taco topper that may be infused with lime : CREMA

“Crema” is the Spanish word for “cream”.

4 Street food also known as golgappa : PANIPURI

Panipuri is a street food found across the Indian subcontinent. The dish comprises breaded spheres filled with potato, onion or chickpea and deep-fried.

6 Savvy : AWARE

The term “savvy”, meaning “understanding”, comes from the French “savez-vous?”. The French phrase translates as “do you know?”

7 Clipper parts : MASTS

A clipper was a three-masted sailing ship commonly crossing the seas in the 19th century. Clippers were built for speed, so were narrow and had less room for carrying freight than many vessels used in trade. They were developed largely due to the demand for speedy delivery of fresh tea from China to Europe. The name comes from the term “to clip” meaning to move swiftly (as in “at a clip”). Perhaps the most famous clipper ship is the Cutty Sark built in 1869, the last clipper to be built as a merchant vessel. The Cutty Sark owes her fame to the fact that she is on display as a museum ship in a dry dock in Greenwich in London.

8 Places to retire? : PITS

That would be a pitstop in an auto race to change tires, to retire.

11 Lunar New Year treats : MOONCAKES

A mooncake is a pastry from Chinese cuisine. The confection is associated with the Mid-Autumn or Moon Festival, hence the name.

21 Need in some preservation efforts : MASON JARS

Mason jars were invented in 1858 in Philadelphia by a tinsmith, a tinsmith named John Landis Mason.

24 Cartoon girl who popularized “meh” : LISA SIMPSON

Lisa Simpson is Bart’s brainy younger sister on TV’s “The Simpsons”. Lisa is voiced by actress Yeardley Smith. In a 2008 episode of the show, Lisa enters a crossword tournament. Crossword celebrities Merl Reagle and Will Shortz make appearances in that episode, basically playing cartoon versions of themselves.

25 Sue Bird’s jersey number : TEN

WNBA player Sue Bird is one of only two basketball players, male or female, to have won five Olympic gold medals. The other is fellow WNBA star Diana Taurasi. Bird became engaged to US soccer phenom Megan Rapinoe in 2020.

28 Part of a vampire costume : FAKE TEETH

Legends about vampires were particularly common in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans in particular. The superstition was that vampires could be killed using a wooden stake, with the preferred type of wood varying from place to place. Superstition also defines where the body should be pierced. Most often, the stake was driven through the heart, but Russians and northern Germans went for the mouth, and northeastern Serbs for the stomach.

29 French crown : TETE

In French, one might set “une couronne” (a crown) on one’s “tête” (head).

30 Rachel Carson subj. : DDT

DDT is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (don’t forget now!). DDT was used with great success to control disease-carrying insects during WWII, and when made available for use after the war it became by far the most popular pesticide. And then Rachel Carson published her famous book “Silent Spring”, suggesting there was a link between DDT and diminishing populations of certain wildlife. It was the public outcry sparked by the book, and reports of links between DDT and cancer, that led to the ban on the use of the chemical in 1972. That ban is touted as the main reason that the bald eagle was rescued from near extinction.

32 Low points : PERIGEES

In the celestial world, an apsis is a point in an orbit when the orbiting body is at its greatest, or least, distance from its center of orbit. The farthest and closest points of orbit are known as the apogee and perigee, when talking about bodies orbiting the Earth. The farthest and closest points for bodies orbiting the sun are known as the aphelion and perihelion.

34 Some indie releases : EPS

An extended-play (EP) record, CD or download contains more music than a single, but less than an LP.

37 “Wonderful Tonight” memoirist Boyd : PATTIE

Pattie Boyd was working as a model when she was cast as a schoolgirl in the Beatles movie “A Hard Day’s Night”, although she was 20-years-old at the time. While filming, she met George Harrison, and the pair were married in 1966. They separated in 1974, largely due to Harrison’s infidelities, which included an affair with Ringo Starr’s wife. Boyd met Eric Clapton in the late sixties when he and Harrison started working together. Clapton became smitten with Boyd, and wrote the hit song “Layla” as a proclamation of his love for her in 1970. Boyd and Clapton eventually married in 1979, but the pair divorced five years later.

“Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me” is a 2008 memoir by Pattie Boyd. She describes her role as Harrison’s muse and wife in the sixties, and Clapton’s muse and wife in the seventies. The memoir’s title is the name of the beautiful ballad that Clapton wrote about Boyd in 1977.

40 Director Kurosawa : AKIRA

Akira Kurosawa was an Oscar-winning Japanese film director. His most famous movie to us in the West has to be “The Seven Samurai”, the inspiration for “The Magnificent Seven” starring Yul Brynner, and indeed a basis for “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.

41 “What’s the __?”: Kim Possible catchphrase : SITCH

“Kim Possible” is an animated Disney TV series for kids that originally ran from 2002 until 2007. The title character is a teenage crimefighter, with a partner named Ron Stoppable.

42 “Iliad” characters : IOTAS

“Iliad” is an epic poem by the Greek poet Homer that tells the story of the ten-year siege of “Ilium” (i.e. “Troy”) during the Trojan war. “The Odyssey”, also attributed to Homer, is sometimes described as a sequel to “Iliad”.

43 VP between Hubert and Gerald : SPIRO

Spiro Agnew served as Vice-President under Richard Nixon, before becoming the only VP in American history to resign because of criminal charges (there was a bribery scandal). Agnew was also the first Greek-American to serve as US Vice President as he was the son of a Greek immigrant who had shortened the family name from Anagnostopoulos.

Hubert Humphrey was the running mate of President Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential campaign. Humphrey was sworn in as Vice President in 1965, becoming the 38th person to hold the office. Humphrey was the Democratic candidate for president in the 1968 election, but lost to Richard Nixon.

Gerald Ford was the only person to have served as both Vice President and President of the US, without having been elected to those positions. Ford was nominated by President Richard Nixon to replace Vice President Spiro Agnew after he resigned in 1973. Vice President Ford assumed the presidency the following year after President Nixon resigned.

46 Pallet piece : SLAT

There is a difference between a wooden pallet and a wooden skid, both of which are used for shipping. A pallet has boards on top and bottom, whereas a skid only has boards on top.

47 Free spot : PSA

Public service announcement (PSA)

48 Big D campus : SMU

Southern Methodist University (SMU) is located in University Park, Texas (part of Dallas) and was founded in 1911. The school’s athletic teams are known as the Mustangs. Also, SMU is home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library.