LA Times Crossword 10 Jan 24, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Rebecca Goldstein
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: That’s the Spirit!

Themed answers all start with a SPIRIT:

• 41A “Now you’re talking!,” and what can be said about the starts of 19-, 25-, 52-, and 63-Across : THAT’S THE SPIRIT!

• 19A “New Miserable Experience” pop band : GIN BLOSSOMS
• 25A Pepper named for its resemblance to a tam-o’-shanter : SCOTCH BONNET
• 52A Role for Jason Derulo in 2019’s “Cats” : RUM TUM TUGGER
• 63A British desserts similar to cannoli : BRANDY SNAPS

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

Bill’s time: 7m 06s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Range across eight European countries : ALPS

There are eight Alpine countries:

• Austria
• Slovenia
• France
• Switzerland
• Liechtenstein
• Germany
• Monaco
• Italy

5 Plays the kazoo, say : HUMS

The modern instrument we know today as the kazoo was invented by one Alabama Vest of Macon, Georgia in the 1800s. The kazoo first came to the public’s attention at the Georgia State Fair of 1852, when it was known as the “Down-South Submarine” (because of its shape, I would imagine …).

9 Pet also called a rainbow fish : GUPPY

The guppy is a very popular aquarium fish. It also goes by the names “millionfish” and “rainbow fish”..

19 “New Miserable Experience” pop band : GIN BLOSSOMS

The alternative rock band Gin Blossoms formed in 1987 in Arizona and were at the height of their popularity in the 1990s. The band’s name is a reference to Hollywood actor and comedian W. C. Fields. Fields suffered from the skin condition rosacea, resulting in red patches on his face. The band saw a photo of the comedian with the caption “W. C. Fields with gin blossoms”, referring to the rosy patches.

21 Yelp user, e.g. : RATER

yelp.com is a website that provides a local business directory and reviews of services. The site is sort of like Yellow Pages on steroids, and the term “yelp” is derived from “yel-low p-ages”.

23 Actor Hemsworth : LIAM

Liam Hemsworth is an Australian actor who is best known these days for playing Gale Hawthorne in “The Hunger Games” series of films. Hemsworth met Miley Cyrus while working on the movie “The Last Song”, and the two actors were engaged for a while. Liam is a younger brother of actor Chris Hemsworth, who plays the superhero “Thor” on the big screen.

24 “Pagoda Fruit” artist Jean : ARP

“Pagoda Fruit” is a bronze sculpture cast by Jean Arp in 1949 that the Tate Gallery in London purchased from the artist in 1951.

25 Pepper named for its resemblance to a tam-o’-shanter : SCOTCH BONNET

Scotch bonnet is a chili pepper commonly found in West Africa and Carribean. It is closely related to the habanero, and is named for its physical resemblance to a tam o’ shanter, a Scottish bonnet worn by males.

29 UPS alternative : DHL

Back in the sixties, Larry Hillblom was making pocket money as a Berkeley law student by doing courier runs between San Francisco and Los Angeles. After law school, Hillblom decided to parlay his experience into his own business and set up a courier service flying bills of lading ahead of freight from San Francisco to Honolulu. He brought in two buddies, Adrian Dalsey and Robert Lynn, as partners and the three were soon hopping on and off commercial flights and gradually making more and more money. And DHL was born … D (for Dalsey) H (for Hillblom) L (for Lynn). DHL was acquired by Germany’s Deutsche Post in 2002.

31 Bangs on the head? : HAIR

“Bangs” is another word that caught me out when I arrived in the US. “Bangs” back in Ireland are called “a fringe”. Apparently the US term is somehow derived from the name given to the hair on a horse’s head.

32 Annual awards : NOBELS

The Peace Prize is the most famous of the five prizes bequeathed by Alfred Nobel. The others are for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature. There is also a Nobel Prize in Economics that is awarded along with the original five, but it is funded separately and is awarded “in memory of Alfred Nobel”. Four of the prizes are awarded by Swedish organizations (Alfred Nobel was a Swede) and so the award ceremonies take place in Stockholm. The Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, and is presented in Oslo.

36 Soda brand that turned 125 in 2023 : PEPSI

The Pepsi-Cola formulation was developed by one Caleb Bradham who made the drink at home and sold it as Brad’s Drink. Bradham’s aim was to provide a drink that was pleasant to taste, that would aid digestion and boost energy. Included in the formula were pepsin (a digestive enzyme) and kola nuts. These two ingredients inspired the brand name Pepsi-Cola. That name was shortened to just “Pepsi” in 1961.

44 Boscs and Bartletts : PEARS

Bosc is a cultivar of the European pear that is grown mainly in the northwest of the United States. It is named for French horticulturist Louis Bosc. The cultivar originated in Belgium or France in the early 19th century. The Bosc is that pear with a skin the color of a potato, with a long neck.

The Bartlett is the most commonly grown pear outside of Asia, a cultivar of the European pear. Back in the UK, where the Bartlett originated, it is called a Williams Pear, or more completely a Williams’ Bon Chretien (Williams’ good Christian). Several Williams trees were imported to the US in 1799 and planted in Massachusetts. The land on which the trees were planted was eventually bought by one Enoch Bartlett, and he started to distribute the pears and basically introduced the variety to the US. He didn’t know that the pears were called Williams, so he named them after himself!

46 San Jose Earthquakes org. : MLS

The Earthquakes are a Major League Soccer (MLS) soccer team in San Jose, California. The team was formed in 1996 as the San Jose Clash.

47 Some mattresses : SERTAS

Serta was founded in 1931 when a group of 13 mattress manufacturers came together, essentially forming a cooperative. Today, the Serta company is owned by eight independent licensees in a similar arrangement. Serta advertisements feature the Serta Counting Sheep. Each numbered sheep has a different personality, such as:

• #1 The Leader of the Flock
• #½ The Tweener
• #13 Mr. Bad Luck
• #53 The Pessimist
• #86 Benedict Arnold

49 Pond organism : ALGA

Algae are similar to terrestrial plants in that they use photosynthesis to create sugars from light and carbon dioxide, but they differ in that they have simpler anatomies, and for example lack roots.

52 Role for Jason Derulo in 2019’s “Cats” : RUM TUM TUGGER

Rum Tum Tugger is one of the characters in T. S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”. Rum Tum Tugger also appears in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats”, the musical based on Eliot’s book. In the musical, Rum Tum Tugger’s persona was written as a homage to Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. So, the character tends to strut around the stage a lot.

62 Drum kit component : SNARE

Snare drums are so called because they have a set of wire strands (snares) stretching across the bottom surface of the drum. When the drum is struck, the snares vibrate against the bottom drumhead producing a unique sound.

63 British desserts similar to cannoli : BRANDY SNAPS

Brandy snaps were a favored dessert when I was growing up in Ireland. They look like cannoli, but the tubular shell is more brittle. There’s no brandy involved at all. They used to be called “brand-schnaps”, with “brand” implying that the dessert is “burnt, branded”.

67 Actress __ Rachel Wood : EVAN

Actress Evan Rachel Wood’s most famous role to date is perhaps one of the leads in the 2003 movie “Thirteen”. Wood’s private life draws a lot of attention, especially as she was romantically linked for some time with the “outrageous” musician Marilyn Manson.

68 Yogurt-based dip : RAITA

Raita is a condiment served in Indian restaurants that is made from yogurt flavored with coriander, cumin, mint and cayenne pepper.

69 Microwave feature : TIMER

The first microwave oven was invented in 1946 by Percy Spencer, an engineer at Raytheon. While he was standing beside an active radar unit, which used microwaves, he noticed that the candy bar in his pocket had melted. Spencer proceeded to expose various foods to microwaves in tests that would lead to the development of the first commercial microwave oven.

72 “Arrivederci!” : CIAO!

“Ciao” is Italian for “‘bye”. “Arrivederci” is more formal, and translates as “goodbye”.

Down

2 Purple hue : LILAC

The ornamental flowering plant known as lilac is native to the Balkans, and is a member of the olive family. The name “lilac” comes from the Persian word “lilaq,” which means “flower.”

3 Herbaceous sauce : PESTO

Pesto sauce is more completely called “pesto alla genovese”, i.e. pesto from Genoa. A traditional recipe calls for crushed garlic, pine nuts, salt, basil leaves, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Yum …

5 Biker’s ride : HOG

The Harley-Davidson motorcycle company was founded in the very early 1900s by two childhood friends, William Harley and Arthur Davidson, . Their first design was in effect an engine hooked up to a pedal bicycle, but the 116 cc cylinder capacity simply couldn’t generate enough power to get up the hills of their native city of Milwaukee. The pair came up with a redesigned model that had a cylinder capacity of 405 cc, which the partners built in a shed at the back of Davidson’s house. In 1906, the partners built their first factory, located where the company’s headquarters is to this day, on Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Famously, Harley motorcycles are nicknamed “hogs”.

7 __ Park, California : MENLO

Menlo Park is a town in the San Francisco Bay Area. The town was built around land previously owned by two Irish immigrants. The pair called their property “Menlo Park”, naming it for Menlo in County Galway, which is where the Irishmen came from.

10 Major in astronomy? : URSA

The constellation Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called “the Big Dipper” because of its resemblance to a ladle or dipper. Ursa Major also resembles a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland, “the Plough”.

12 Printed handouts : PAMPHLETS

The original pamphlet was an unbound treatise, back in the late 1500s. The term “pamphlet” came from “Pamphilus, seu de Amore” (“Pamphilus, or about Love”), which was a Latin love poem that was very popular and widely copied in the Middle Ages. The term “pamphilus” comes from the Greek for “loved by all”.

22 Classic TV brand : RCA

RCA, or the Radio Corporation of America, played a significant role in the history of television as a pioneer in the industry. RCA developed and introduced the first electronic television system in 1939 at the New York World’s Fair. RCA also created the NTSC (National Television System Committee) broadcast standard, which was adopted in the United States in 1953 and is still used today for analog television broadcasting. Additionally, RCA produced the first color television sets in 1954.

26 Hula Hoop movers : HIPS

Hula hoops were a big craze in the 1950s, but they have been around in various forms at least since the year 500 BCE.

27 “Ted Lasso” actor Goldstein : BRETT

English actor and comedian Brett Goldstein is perhaps best known for portraying the grouchy midfielder and captain Roy Kent on the excellent sitcom “Ted Lasso”. Goldstein was originally hired as a writer for the show, but was then given the additional job of playing Kent.

28 Pop singer Amos : TORI

Tori Amos is an American pianist and singer. She started playing the piano at two years old, and was composing piano pieces by age five. Amos was playing in piano bars (chaperoned by her father) when she was 14. I’m going to have to find some of her music …

30 Psychopharmacology initials : LSD

LSD (known colloquially as “acid”) is lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist named Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …

35 Nickname given to Nemo by the Tank Gang : SHARK BAIT

In the movie “Finding Nemo”, the title character finds himself in a fish tank in the office of a dentist in Australia. The collection of fish that he encounters in the aquarium is known as the Tank Gang.

37 __ Beta Kappa : PHI

Phi Beta Kappa was the first collegiate Greek fraternity in the US, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary. The organization served as a model for future collegiate fraternities and sororities, although in the 19th century Phi Beta Kappa distanced itself from the fraternal focus and transformed into the honor society that it is today, recognizing academic excellence. The initials Phi Beta Kappa stand for “philosophia biou kybernētēs”, which translates into “philosophy is the guide of life”. The symbol of the Phi Beta Kappa Society is a golden key.

44 Inflation letters : PSI

Pounds per square inch (PSI) is a measure of pressure.

48 __ Sheep: Peppa Pig’s best friend : SUZY

“Peppa Pig” is a children’s animated show that is produced in the UK and airs all over the world. There’s even a Peppa Pig World theme park located in Hampshire, England.

50 Gloomy guy : GUS

The original Gloomy Gus was a pessimistic character in newspaper comics in the early 1900s, who was introduced to the public by illustrator Frederick Burr.

54 Elixir : TONIC

An elixir is a solution of alcohol and water that is used to deliver a medicine. The term “elixir” can also be used to mean a medicine that has the power to cure all ills.

55 Savory flavor : UMAMI

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.

56 Judge’s hammer : GAVEL

The small hammer that one raps on a table or desk to call a meeting to order, or perhaps to signify a sale at an auction, is called a gavel. The term “gavel” is actually American English, and is a word that emerged in the early 19th century.

65 Wasabi-coated snack : PEA

Wasabi peas are peas that have been fried and then coated with wasabi powder mixed with sugar, salt and oil. They make for a crunchy snack, and are a favorite of mine …

66 Sellout letters : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)