LA Times Crossword 30 Nov 23, Thursday

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Constructed by: David Goldenberg & Matthew Goldenberg
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Formal Names

Themed answers are common phrases that use an apparent nickname, but that nickname has been “FORMALIZED”:

• 18A Formal name of a tech business? : DOROTHY-COM (from dot-com)
• 23A Formal name of a bun holder? : ROBERT PIN (from “bobby pin”)
• 37A Formal name of a free local periodical? : PENELOPE SAVER (from “pennysaver”)
• 51A Formal name of a twin-engine fighter jet? : THOMAS CAT (from “Tomcat”)
• 59A Formal name of a DNA collection? : EUGENE POOL (from “gene pool”)

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

Bill’s time: 6m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Blue-white heavenly body : B STAR

Stars are commonly classified by the color of the light that they emit. These classifications are, from hottest to coolest, O, B, A, F, G, K and M. One way to remember the order of these letters is to use the mnemonic “Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me”. The colors of these stars range from blue (class O) to red (class M). Our sun is class G, a yellow star. I think we all know that …

10 Dash dial : TACH

The tachometer takes its name from the Greek word “tachos” meaning “speed”. A tachometer in a car measures engine revolutions per minute (rpm).

14 Taboo : NO-NO

The word “taboo” was introduced into English by Captain Cook in his book “A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean”. Cook described “tabu” (likely imitative of a Tongan word that he had heard) as something that was both consecrated and forbidden.

15 Shrine on the San Antonio city flag : ALAMO

The San Antonio mission known as the Alamo may have been named for a grove of nearby cottonwood trees. “Álamo” is the Spanish name for the cottonwood.

The city of San Antonio, Texas was named by Spanish explorers. They came upon a Native American settlement in the area on 13 June 1631, the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua.

17 First queen of Carthage : DIDO

Dido was the founder of Carthage, and the city’s first queen. Some sources use the name “Elissa” for the same person.

21 __ Pueblo, New Mexico : TAOS

The town of Taos, New Mexico is named for the Native American village nearby called Taos Pueblo. Taos is famous for its art colony. Artists began settling in Taos in 1899, and the Taos Society of Artists was founded in 1915.

22 “The Bear” platform : HULU

“The Bear” is a comedy-drama TV show that started airing in 2022. It stars Jeremy Allen White (of “Shameless” fame) as a chef from a Michelin-star restaurant who heads home to Chicago to run his family’s sandwich shop after his brother dies. I haven’t seen this one, but I hear good things …

23 Formal name of a bun holder? : ROBERT PIN (from “bobby pin”)

A bobby pin is an unobtrusive hair clip. The clip became popular starting in 1899 with the introduction of the “bob cut”, hence the name “bobby pin”.

26 Heath shrub : GORSE

Gorse (also “furze”) can be a lovely plant to view, largely because of its showy yellow flower. However, gorse took over my front yard so I was glad to see the back of it when I relandscaped a while back, going instead with a drought-tolerant design.

30 Ham it up : OVERACT

The word “ham”, describing a performer who overacts, is a shortened form of “hamfatter” and dates back to the late 1800s. “Hamfatter” comes from a song in old minstrel shows called “The Ham-Fat Man”. It seems that a poorly performing actor was deemed to have the “acting” qualities of a minstrel made up in blackface.

37 Formal name of a free local periodical? : PENELOPE SAVER (from “pennysaver”)

Today, “pennysaver” is a generic term for a free periodical issued in a community, offering items and services for sale. The original “Pennysaver” was published in 1948 in Ohio by Horace Greeley and Ralph St. Denny.

41 “Argo” spy org. : CIA

“Argo” is a 2012 movie that is based on the true story of the rescue of six diplomats hiding out during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film was directed by and stars Ben Affleck and is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, the same pair who produced the excellent “Good Night, and Good Luck”. I highly recommend “Argo”, although I found the scenes of religious fervor to be very frightening …

42 Home of the WNBA’s Storm : SEATTLE

The Seattle Storm started competing in the WNBA at the beginning of the 2000 season. The team name “Storm” is a reference to the reputation that Seattle has as a rain-soaked city.

43 Chihuahua y Tabasco : ESTADOS

Chihuahua “y” (and) Tabasco are two of Mexico’s 32 “estados” (states).

51 Formal name of a twin-engine fighter jet? : THOMAS CAT (from “Tomcat”)

The F-14 Tomcat was the US Navy’s primary fighter from 1974 to 2006, and was the airplane that featured in the movie “Top Gun”.

57 Theater honor : OBIE

The Obies are the Off-Broadway Theater Awards. They have been presented annually since 1956. The recipients used to be chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper, but now are jointly administered with the American Theatre Wing.

59 Formal name of a DNA collection? : EUGENE POOL (from “gene pool”)

The set of all genes in a particular population is known as the “gene pool”, a term coined in Russian by geneticist Aleksandr Sergeevich Serebrovskii in the 1920s. In general, the larger the gene pool, the more diverse and robust the population.

62 April honoree? : FOOL

April Fools’ Day is celebrated on April 1st in the Western world. In the US (and Ireland) one can make practical jokes all day long if one wants, but in the UK there is a noon deadline. Anyone pranking after midday is called an “April Fool”.

63 Queens stadium namesake : ASHE

Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York opened in 1997, and is the largest outdoor, tennis-only venue in the world. The stadium was often criticized for not having a retractable dome to protect the playing surface from inclement weather. Well, that changed in 2016 when the stadium debuted its new retractable roof, a $150 million investment in the facility.

64 First name in cosmetics : ESTEE

Estée Lauder was a very successful businesswoman, and someone with a great reputation as a salesperson. Lauder introduced her own line of fragrances in 1953, a bath oil called “Youth Dew”. “Youth Dew” was marketed as a perfume, but it was added to bathwater. All of a sudden women were pouring whole bottles of Ms. Lauder’s “perfume” into their baths while using only a drop or two of French perfumes behind their ears. That’s quite a difference in sales “volume” …

67 “Doctor Who” role for Michelle Gomez : MISSY

Scottish actress Michelle Gomez is perhaps best known to sci-fi fans as Missy on the hit BBC show “Doctor Who”. On this side of the Atlantic she might also be recognized for playing the mysterious Miranda Croft. In 2000, Gomez married fellow actor Jack Davenport (who played Admiral James Norrington in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies).

68 Map publisher __ McNally : RAND

Rand McNally is a company long associated with the city of Chicago. Its roots go back to 1856 when William Rand opened a printing shop in the city. Two years later he hired an Irish immigrant named Andrew McNally and the pair turned to printing tickets and timetables for the railroad industry. They diversified into “railroad guides” in 1870, including the first Rand McNally map in the December 1872 edition. When automobile travel started to become significant, Rand and McNally turned their attention to roads and they published their first road map in 1904, a map of New York City. Rand and McNally popularized the use of highway numbers, and indeed erected many roadside highway signs themselves, long before the state and federal authorities adopted the idea.

Down

4 Dove sound : COO

Taxonomically, doves and pigeons are the only members of the order Columbidae. The terms “dove” and “pigeon” are often used interchangeably. Scientifically speaking, dove species tend to be smaller than pigeon species. Colloquially though, many refer to doves as the white or nearly white species in the family.

6 Single-master : SLOOP

Sloops and cutters are sailboats, and each has just one mast. One major difference between the two types of vessel is that the mast on a cutter is set much further aft than the mast on a sloop.

7 Anklebones : TARSI

The tarsals (also “tarsi”) are the ankle bones, and are equivalent to the carpals in the wrist.

8 “Yo te __” : AMO

In Spanish, one might say “yo te amo” (I love you) “con flores” (with flowers).

9 With 55-Across, nest egg options : ROTH …
55A See 9-Down : … IRAS

Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (Roth IRAs) were introduced in 1997 under a bill sponsored by Senator William Roth of Delaware, hence the name.

10 “Midnights” artist Swift : TAYLOR

“Midnights” is a 2022 album released by Taylor Swift. It became the best-selling album of the year, and produced ten top-ten singles (the most ever for any single album). Yeah, it did quite well …

12 Sulu player John : CHO

John Cho is an actor and musician who was born in Seoul, South Korea but has lived in the US since he was a young boy. Cho’s break in movies came in playing Harold Lee in the ”Harold & Kumar” films. He is now making a name for himself playing Mr. Sulu in the latest “Star Trek” movies.

24 Speedskater Jackson who won a gold medal at the 2022 Olympics : ERIN

Erin Jackson is a speed skater who won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in the 500-meter event. That win made her the first African American to medal in an individual Winter Olympic event.

31 Sleeveless outerwear : VEST

Here’s another word that often catches me out. What we call a vest here in the US is a waistcoat back in Ireland. And, the Irish use the word “vest” for an undershirt.

34 “Whither thou __ … ” : GOEST

The Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament tells the story of Ruth. Ruth was one of two women who married the two sons of Elimelech and Naomi. Father and sons died, leaving the three widows to fend for themselves. Naomi decided that it was best to go to Bethlehem. Orpah was Naomi’s second daughter-in-law, and she decided to return to her home. Ruth decided to stick with her mother-in-law, using the words “Whither thou goest, I will go”.

35 Craft brew with a high ABV : IPA

Alcoholic proof is a measure of the alcoholic strength of a beverage. In the US, alcoholic proof is twice the alcohol by volume (ABV), and ABV is simply the volume of alcohol in a the beverage compared to its total volume, and expressed as a percentage. Therefore a liquor that is 50% ABV, is 100 proof. The concept of “proof” dates back to the days of British sailors being paid partly with rations of rum. A “proof spirit” was the most dilute spirit that would sustain combustion of gunpowder. Simply stated, if the rum that a sailor was given was so dilute that it doused burning gunpowder, then it was unacceptable to the sailor. The person providing the rum had to give “proof” that the rum would catch light, proving it was strong enough to be used as payment. It was found experimentally that rum of 57.15% ABV was the lowest concentration that could sustain a flame, so this was named as 100 degrees proof. But nowadays we round down to 50% ABV.

37 Italian city known for a campanile : PISA

The city of Pisa sits right on the Italian coast, at the mouth of the River Arno. The city is perhaps most famous for its Leaning Tower. The tower is the campanile (bell tower) of the city’s cathedral, and it has been leaning since it was completed in 1173. Just shows you how important good foundations are …

40 Victory signs : VEES

One has to be careful making that V-sign depending where you are in the world. Where I came from, the V-for-victory (or peace) sign has to be made with the palm facing outwards. If the sign is made with the palm facing inwards, it can be interpreted as a very obscene gesture.

41 Cartoon still : CEL

Animation cels are transparent sheets made of celluloid acetate that were used in traditional hand-drawn animation to create animated films. They were first introduced in the 1930s and were widely used in animation production until the late 1990s, when digital animation techniques began to dominate the industry.

45 Norris of “Breaking Bad” : DEAN

Hank Schrader is a DEA agent in the hit TV show “Breaking Bad”. Portrayed by actor Dean Norris, Schrader is the brother-in-law of Walter White, the protagonist in the story. The twist is that Hank is chasing down a notorious meth “cook”, and he doesn’t realize that his quarry is his own brother-in-law Walter.

47 Soda since 1905 : RC COLA

Claude A. Hatcher ran a grocery store in Columbus, Georgia. He decided to develop his own soft drink formula when he balked at the price his store was being charged for Coca-Cola syrup. Hatcher launched the Union Bottling Works in his own grocery store, and introduced Royal Crown Ginger Ale in 1905. The Union Bottling Works was renamed to Chero-Cola in 1910, the Nehi Corporation in 1925, and Royal Crown Company in the mid-fifties. The first RC Cola hit the market in 1934.

48 Dark red : MAROON

“Marron” is the French word for “chestnut”, which gives us our word “maroon” meaning chestnut-colored, dark brownish-red.

53 Winds orchestras tune to : OBOES

When the members of a full orchestra tune their instruments, they almost always tune to an “A” played by an oboe. A wind ensemble usually tunes to a B-flat, as this is an “open” note on many instruments, one in which all valves are open on trumpet for example, or the slider on a trombone is in home position.

54 “Younger Now” singer Cyrus : MILEY

“Younger Now” is a 2017 album released by Miley Cyrus. One of the tracks (“Rainbowland”) is a duet with Dolly Parton, who is Cyrus’ godmother.

59 Orecchiette shape : EAR

Orecchiette are small dome-shaped pasta from Southern Italy. Each piece resembles a small ear, hence the name. “Orecchietta” (the singular) comes from the Italian “orecchia” meaning “ear” and “-etta” meaning “small”.

60 G7 member : USA

The G6 was a group of six industrialized nations that formed in 1975 and whose governments met on a periodic basis. The founding members were France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. The membership expanded in 1976 with the addition of Canada, forming the G7. Russia was given representation in the group in 1997, forming the G8. Russia’s membership was suspended in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea.

61 Omega preceder : PSI

Psi is the 23rd and penultimate letter of the Greek alphabet, and the one that looks a bit like a trident or a pitchfork.