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Constructed by: Kristian House
Edited by: Patti Varol
Today’s Theme: None
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Bill’s time: Did not finish ☹️
Bill’s errors: Several answers missing in the top left/middle
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Band that contributes to knee flexion, for short : ACL
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four major ligaments that support the knee. It is located in the center of the knee and connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone).
4 Hot breakfast cereal : FARINA
Farina is semolina or cream of wheat. It is made from wheat grain in which much of the nutritious ingredients are removed leaving a fine “flour”. The name “Farina” is a Latin word meaning “flour”.
10 Beaker’s syllable : MEEP!
The Muppet character named Dr. Bunsen Honeydew is a scientist in a lab coat. His given name comes from the Bunsen burner piece of lab equipment, and the family name is a reference to the character’s head, which is shaped like a honeydew melon. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s assistant is Beaker, who is also named for a piece of lab equipment.
14 Ice cream novelties discontinued in 2022 : CHOCO TACOS
A Choco Taco is an elaborate ice cream dessert that was created in the eighties by the Jack and Jill Ice Cream Company in Philadelphia.
19 Tarantula legs, e.g. : OCTAD
Tarantulas are spider-like arachnids that are usually quite hairy. The original tarantula was a type of wolf spider found in Europe, found near the southern Italian town called Taranto, hence the name.
20 Meadows on TV : TIM
Actor and comedian Tim Meadows appeared for tenseasons as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). He also played a character named John Glascott on the sitcom “Schooled”, and the same character on “The Goldbergs”.
22 Second-largest branch of Islam : SHI’ISM
The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favored the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.
26 Mens __ : REA
“Mens rea” is Latin for “guilty mind” and is a central concept in criminal law. The concept is expanded to “actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea” meaning “the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind be also guilty”. In other words, someone should not be deemed guilty of an act, unless he or she had a “guilty mind”, intended to do wrong.
28 Landry who was the first coach of the Cowboys : TOM
Although Tom Landry was a football player, he was best known as the head coach for the Dallas Cowboys. As coach he had a run of 20 consecutive winning seasons, a record that has yet to be broken. Landry had an impressive record during WWII as well. He completed a tour of 30 missions as co-pilot in a B-17 Flying Fortress in Europe, and survived a crash landing in Belgium. In his days with the Dallas Cowboys, Landry was noted for wearing a fedora hat, and there is even an image of that famous hat on his tombstone in Texas State Cemetery. He passed away in the year 2000.
30 “La Dolce Vita” star : EKBERG
Anita Ekberg is a Swedish model and actress, famous for her role on the big screen in the 1960 Fellini film “La Dolce Vita”. You might remember Ekberg cavorting in the Trevi Fountain in Rome in one famous scene, with the male lead Marcello Mastroianni.
The title of the celebrated 1960 Federico Fellini film “La Dolce Vita” translates from Italian as “The Good Life”. There is a character in the film called Paparazzo who is a news photographer. It is this character who gives us our word “Paparazzi”, a term used for photographers who make careers out of taking candid shots of celebrities.
32 Capitol gains? : SENATE SEATS
The designer of Washington D.C., Pierre L’Enfant, chose the crest of a hill as the site for the future Congress House. He called the location “Jenkins Hill” and “Jenkins Heights”. Earlier records show the name as “New Troy”. Today, we call it “Capitol Hill”.
36 Reeling feeling : SHAME SPIRAL
A “shame spiral” is a sequence of self-blame shame events. The term was coined by clinical psychologist Gershen Kaufman.
38 Department of the Interior head Haaland : DEB
Deb Haaland became US Secretary of the Interior in 2021, making her the first Native-American Cabinet secretary. However, she was not the first Native American to serve in the Cabinet. That honor went to Charles Curtis, US Vice President under Herbert Hoover.
39 “The Simpsons” character once voiced by Hank Azaria : APU
“The Problem with Apu” is a 2017 documentary that explores the use of racial stereotypes by focusing on the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon from the animated sitcom “The Simpsons”. The film was written by and stars American stand-up comedian Hari Kondabolu.
42 Many a Monet : OIL
French artist Claude Monet was one of the founders of the Impressionist movement, and indeed the term “Impressionism” comes from the title of his 1872 painting “Impression, Sunrise”. That work depicts the port of Le Havre, which was Monet’s hometown. Later in his life, Monet purchased a house in Giverny, and famously installed lily ponds and a Japanese bridge in the property’s extensive gardens. He spent two decades painting the water lily ponds, producing his most famous works. I was fortunate enough to visit Monet’s house and gardens in Giverny a few years ago. A beautiful place …
46 Johnson who won the 2020 Masters Tournament : DUSTIN
Dustin Johnson is a professional golfer who plays on the PGA circuit. Johnson won the US Open, his first major, in 2016. Johnson’s partner is Paulina Gretzky, the eldest child of NHL star Wayne Gretzky.
56 “Coming Home” singer Bridges : LEON
Leon Bridges is an R&B singer from Fort Worth, Texas who is best known for his 2015 hit single “Coming Home”. Bridges’ debut album, also titled “Coming Home,” was released in 2015 and peaked at number six on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was praised for its authenticity and vintage sound, which Bridges achieved by recording with analog equipment and using techniques from the 1960s.
58 AAA and BBB : ORGS
The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on lobbying, provision of automobile servicing, and selling of automobile insurance. The AAA was founded in 1902 in Chicago and published the first of its celebrated hotel guides back in 1917.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a private concern (nope, it is not a government agency) that was founded in 1912. It operates like a franchise, with local BBB’s managed independently while operating to a “corporate” set of guidelines.
Down
2 Three-step process? : CHA-CHA
The cha-cha-cha (often simplified to “cha-cha”) is a Latin dance with origins in Cuba, where it was introduced by composer Enrique Jorrin in 1953.
4 Some Hamilton Beach appliances : FOOD STEAMERS
Hamilton Beach is a manufacturer of home appliances that was founded in 1910. Founder Frederick J. Osius chose the name for his company from two of his first hires. He paid Louis Hamilton and Chester Beach a thousand dollars for the privilege of using their family names.
5 Org. for traffic cops? : ATF
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) today is part of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The ATF has its roots in the Department of Treasury dating back to 1886 when it was known as the Bureau of Prohibition. “Explosives” was added to the ATF’s name when the bureau was moved under the Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of the reorganization called for in the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
6 Host : RAFT
A “raft” is a large amount, coming from the Middle English “raf” meaning the same thing.
8 Kamali who uses silk parachutes in many of her designs : NORMA
Norma Kamali is a fashion designer from New York City. One of the more famous of Kamali’s designs is a reddish-orange swimsuit worn by Farrah Fawcett in a 1976 poster. That poster has sold over 12 million copies, making it the best-selling poster in history. That Kamali-designed bathing suit was donated to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in 2011.
9 Burro : ASS
The wild donkey that we know as a burro was introduced into the Grand Canyon in the late 1800s, where they used the animal to help pack out mined copper, asbestos and lead. When the miners moved on, they left the burros to roam free. Feral burros essentially overran the Grand Canyon in subsequent years, leading to the forced removal of 500 of them in the early eighties by the National Park Service. Burros wreak havoc on the canyon’s ecosystem, and in particular compete with native bighorn sheep. The bighorn sheep population has rebounded since the number of wild donkeys has dropped.
10 Umami-rich paste : MISO
Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. “Umami” is a Japanese word used to describe “a pleasant savory taste”. Umami was proposed as a basic taste in 1908, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the scientific community finally accepted it as such.
15 Cardamom-infused brew : CHAI
The spice known as cardamom comes from the seeds of several plants that are native to India. Those plants were introduced to Guatemala in the early 20th century, and now Guatemala produces and exports more cardamom than any other country in the world, even India. Cardamom is the third-priciest spice on the market today by weight, after vanilla and saffron.
23 Lil Nas X album with the hit “Industry Baby” : MONTERO
“Lil Nas X” is the stage name of rapper Montero Lamar Hill. He was born and raised just outside of Atlanta. His first hit was “Old Town Road”, which is classified as country rap.
29 Safari runners : MACS
Safari is Apple’s flagship Internet browser, one that is used on its Mac line of computers. A mobile version of Safari is included with all iPhones.
31 Canaanite idol : BAAL
The name “Baal” was used for several gods and sometimes human officials by ancient Semitic peoples. In the Hebrew Bible, Baal is notably cited as a false god. As a result, we sometimes use the term “baal” today to mean a false god or an idol.
The ancient region in the Middle East known as Canaan corresponds roughly to modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel. The term “Canaanite” is used in the Bible to describe various indigenous populations in the region. In fact, “Canaanite” is an ethnic term used more frequently in the Bible than any other.
32 “Killing Eve” actress Fiona : SHAW
One of Irish actress Fiona Shaw’s better known film roles is Petunia Dursley, Harry’s maternal aunt, in the “Harry Potter” series of films. On TV, she plays Carlyn Martens, the head of MI6’s Russia Section, on the spy thriller show “Killing Eve”.
34 Oklahoma city : ENID
Enid, Oklahoma takes its name from the old railroad station around which the city developed. Back in 1889, that train stop was called Skeleton Station. An official who didn’t like the name changed it to Enid Station, using a character from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”. Maybe if he hadn’t changed the name, the city of Enid would now be called Skeleton, Oklahoma! Enid has the nickname “Queen Wheat City” because it has a huge capacity for storing grain, the third largest grain storage capacity in the world.
39 __ the Hun : ATTILA
In his day, Attila the Hun was the most feared enemy of the Roman Empire, until he died in 453 AD. Attila was the leader of the Hunnic Empire of central Europe and was famous for invading much of the continent. However, he never directly attacked Rome.
40 Cobbler pan : PIE TIN
The dessert called “cobbler” originated in colonial America when settlers invented it as a substitute for suet pudding as they didn’t have the necessary ingredients to make the more traditional dish. Instead, they stewed fruit and covered it with a layer of uncooked scones or biscuits, creating a surface that resembled a “cobbled” street, hence the name.
44 __ rhythm: brain waves pattern : THETA
When electrical signals from the brain are recorded in an electroencephalogram (EEG), a strong oscillating pattern is observed that is referred to as the theta rhythm. It isn’t really clear what function the theta rhythm plays.
45 Actress Spacek : SISSY
Actress Sissy Spacek got her big break in the movies when she played the title role in the 1976 horror movie “Carrie”, which is based on a Stephen King novel. Her most acclaimed role is the lead in the 1980 biopic about Loretta Lynn called “Coal MIner’s Daughter”, for which she won a Best Actress Oscar. Spacek’s first cousin was the actor Rip Torn.
47 YouTube star JoJo : SIWA
Joelle Joanie “JoJo” Siwa is a dancer and YouTube star. I move in the wrong circles, and so haven’t heard of her. I guess that’s my bad, because she made it into “Time” magazine’s 2020 list of the 100 most influential people in the world …
51 Biblical twin of Jacob : ESAU
Esau was the grandson of Abraham and the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When Esau was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the event was described with “Now the first came forth, red all over like a hairy garment”. Esau is portrayed later in life as being very different from his brother Jacob, as a hunter and someone who loves the outdoor life.
55 Half the characters in “Kill Bill”? : ELS
Half of the characters in the title “Kill Bill” are letters L (els).
“Kill Bill” is a 3-part Quentin Tarantino movie (I haven’t seen it, as I really don’t “do” Tarantino). “Kill Bill” started off as one film, but as the running time was over four hours, it was split into two “volumes”, released several months apart in 2003 and 2004. There has been a lot of talk about making “Kill Bill: Volume 3”.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Band that contributes to knee flexion, for short : ACL
4 Hot breakfast cereal : FARINA
10 Beaker’s syllable : MEEP!
14 Ice cream novelties discontinued in 2022 : CHOCO TACOS
16 Concerning : IN RE
17 House money, at times : CASH OFFERS
18 “Now!” : STAT!
19 Tarantula legs, e.g. : OCTAD
20 Meadows on TV : TIM
21 Like the air in a greenhouse : MOIST
22 Second-largest branch of Islam : SHI’ISM
24 Zip : NADA
26 Mens __ : REA
27 Ink spot? : TAT
28 Landry who was the first coach of the Cowboys : TOM
30 “La Dolce Vita” star : EKBERG
32 Capitol gains? : SENATE SEATS
35 Modest reply to a compliment : WHAT CAN I SAY?
36 Reeling feeling : SHAME SPIRAL
37 Stare daggers (at) : GLOWER
38 Department of the Interior head Haaland : DEB
39 “The Simpsons” character once voiced by Hank Azaria : APU
42 Many a Monet : OIL
43 Doesn’t keep : ROTS
46 Johnson who won the 2020 Masters Tournament : DUSTIN
48 Simmers : STEWS
50 Shake a leg, quaintly : HIE
52 Dark times, informally : NITES
53 “Small world” : OH, HI
54 Teased : MESSED WITH
56 “Coming Home” singer Bridges : LEON
57 “No one’s being straight with me!” : IT’S ALL A LIE!
58 AAA and BBB : ORGS
59 Like some park passes : DAY-USE
60 Inclusive word : AND
Down
1 Confront : ACCOST
2 Three-step process? : CHA-CHA
3 Flipped : LOST IT
4 Some Hamilton Beach appliances : FOOD STEAMERS
5 Org. for traffic cops? : ATF
6 Host : RAFT
7 Trap during February, maybe : ICE IN
8 Kamali who uses silk parachutes in many of her designs : NORMA
9 Burro : ASS
10 Umami-rich paste : MISO
11 Aggregate : ENTIRETY
12 Things that get bad marks : ERASERS
13 Collar attachment : PET TAG
15 Cardamom-infused brew : CHAI
21 Rakes it in : MAKES A BUNDLE
23 Lil Nas X album with the hit “Industry Baby” : MONTERO
25 Sought-after : DESIRED
29 Safari runners : MACS
31 Canaanite idol : BAAL
32 “Killing Eve” actress Fiona : SHAW
33 Bug : TAP
34 Oklahoma city : ENID
35 Completely : WHOLE HOG
36 Act like a snake : SLITHER
37 Strike out? : GO SOLO
39 __ the Hun : ATTILA
40 Cobbler pan : PIE TIN
41 Held back, as tears : UNSHED
44 __ rhythm: brain waves pattern : THETA
45 Actress Spacek : SISSY
47 YouTube star JoJo : SIWA
49 Lands : WINS
51 Biblical twin of Jacob : ESAU
54 Central : MID
55 Half the characters in “Kill Bill”? : ELS
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17 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 2 Dec 23, Saturday”
Comments are closed.
What a slog. About an hour and a half. I didn’t want give up. NO ERRORS!!!
I knew 10A was that guy from the Muppets but I didn’t get MEEP right away.
Every corner of this grid had a twist. Once I tried FOOD STEAMERS for 4D, did things start to make sense except what hot food cereal starts wth an F? I left it and worked my way around the grid. WHOLE HOG but i Had to consider changing 37A from GLARES to GLOWER? Then change 58A to ORGS?
Then I had no idea on MONTERO. That’s just came up.
Then there was the BAAL and EKBERG thing. I felt pretty good about BAAL but I wasn’t sure about EKBERG but when I hit on PET TAG, that was it for me. Then when MEEP came up, I left it but I was trying to sing it in my head.
Then there was SIWA. No idea what that was.
Tough grid
I did not like this one at all!
I hope the setter feels really good about this trip down ego lane👎👎👎
What a piece of crap👎👎
Stay safe😀
For those of us that do have snowy weather, we refer it as being “iced in”, not ‘ice in’.
Didn’t finish, didn’t care, have a life.
Look at it this way: Trap=ice in. Trapped=iced in.
26:54, no errors. A difficult one, particularly in the upper left triangle. I was ready to give up at one point, but CHOCO TACOS (a thing I became aware of only recently) came to my rescue. FARINA is one of those awful things that I may have tasted once and have tried to forget ever since, but it finally came to mind. I’d also never heard of this particular NORMA or this particular TIM, but I muddled through that part on crosses and guesses.
(I’d reveal where I saw CHOCO TACOS, but then Glenn would get on my case for having the temerity to learn something from a puzzle, so I guess I’ll just have to hold my tongue … 🙂.)
I’m not going to say a word if you share your personal observations. The issue I have is you riding on other people that don’t share your views. They have as much right to share as you do.
I hope Ms. House feels good about herself.
35 minutes, needed lookups
40:59 – two lookups for NORMA Kamali and TIM Meadows. False starts: DEA>ATF, CHOCOOREOS>CHOCOTACOS, ASAP>STAT, HUMID>MOIST, IRK>TAP.
New or forgotten: FARINA, TIM Meadows, Mens REA, SHAME SPIRAL, LEON Bridges, NORMA Kamali, MONTERO, “Industry Baby,” Fiona SHAW, JoJoa SIWA.
Quite a lot to work through on this one! The top-middle section was my bane today. Two unknown names, an unfamiliar cereal name, a different take on “house money,” and not my first thoughts on “host” or illegal trafficking. But, after filling in NORMA and TIM, things started to fall into place with: ICEIN, OFFERS, then ATF and TACOS (have seen or heard of chocotacos only doing LAT puzzles), and the other meaning of “host” for the R in RAFT to finish up.
I guess I am aging out of the LA Times crossword audience. Jojo Siwa, Lil Nas X, Meep, ChocoTacos – Shame Spiral – just not that interesting to me lately.
Since when is the ChaCha a process?
21:10, and … nope, no way to even get a foothold into this. What the hell kind of clue is, “Beaker’s Syllable”? Or “Ice cream novelties discontinued in 2022”? I’m FROM Philadelphia and I had no clue (bad pun, I know) on that one.
This puzzle was joyless…
The fact that Bill Butler had a Did-Not-Finish says it all.
If interested, check out crosswordcorner.blogspot.com to read what those folks thought of today’s puzzle. They didn’t pull any punches, either.
Too tough for me today; took 49:07 with most of the NW and N unfilled, along with a square here or there elsewhere. I had about 10 wrong when I did my first check-grid and needed about 10 additional check-grids to get to the finish.
I do remember CHOCO TACOS from a puzzle awhile back, although I didn’t get it this time either. Was able to get RAFT and then FARINA on my own 🙂 EKBERG was a gimme for me. Got REA, NORMA and TIM on crosses and guesses.
Had issues with the middle top.
I know what farina is and what hot cereal is, but the connection was too obscure for me, even if ‘hot’ was intended to mean ‘the current fad’.
Never heard of choco tacos, let alone that they had been and when they were discontinued.
Norma Kamali who makes things from parachute silk. Oh yeah, good old Norma K. Everybody knows her.
DEA would have been a reasonable answer for the clue to 5D since they deal with drug trafficking. ATF is not correct even by a stretch–but then this puzzlemaker didn’t seem overly concerned with such details.
I’ve said it before–it doesn’t take any skill at all to come up with super obscure clues.
If puzzlemakers are going to use super obscure/super vague clues, or clues that aren’t really correct at all like the ATF error in this puzzle, then they need to make sure they have some crosses that don’t fall into one of those categories to make the puzzle reasonable. The upper middle part of this puzzle is a classic example of what happens when a puzzlemaker doesn’t bother to think about things like that.