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Constructed by: Luke K. Schreiber
Edited by: Patti Varol
Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Be Sure to Back Up
Themed answers are common phrases “instructing” us to read the single words in the corresponding clues in the reverse direction:
- 21A EMIT? : TURN BACK “TIME”
- 39A LOOP? : REFLECTING “POOL”
- 52A SPOT? : FLIP “TOPS”
- 63A RAW? : REVOLUTIONARY “WAR”
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 8m 25s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Moussaka ingredient : LAMB
Moussaka is a delicious dish from the Balkans that uses eggplant or potato as a base. The dish often includes ground meat, particularly lamb.
11 Parachute necessity : CORD
The term “parachute” was coined by Frenchman François Blanchard, from “para-” meaning “defense against” and “chute” meaning “a fall”.
15 Cookie with a Java Chip flavor : OREO
Java Chip Oreo cookies were released in 2021. The cookie sandwich is chocolate-flavored, and the creme is coffee-flavored with chocolate chip pieces.
16 Solitary sort : HERMIT
The Greek word for “uninhabited” is “eremos”, which is the root for “eremia” meaning both “desert” and “solitude”. The Greek word eremites then means “a person of the desert”. This was absorbed into Latin as “ermita”, meaning someone who lived in solitude or in an uninhabited area. We use “eremite” to mean the same thing, although the derivative term “hermit” is more common.
18 Wolverine, for one : X-MAN
In the Marvel Comics universe, Wolverine is a mutant with keen animal-like senses and an ability to regenerate body parts after injury. He usually appears as a member of the X-Men superhero team. On the big screen, Wolverine is regularly played by Australian actor Hugh Jackman.
19 Esoteric information : ARCANA
Arcana are deep secrets or mysteries. “Arcana” is from the Latin adjective “arcanum” meaning “secret, hidden”.
Something described as esoteric is meant only for a select few with special knowledge. The term “esoteric” comes from the Greek “esoterikos” meaning “belonging to an inner circle”.
26 Inventor who said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” : EDISON
Thomas Alva Edison (TAE) was a very successful inventor. He held over a thousand US patents in his name. Included in the list of Edison’s inventions is the phonograph, the movie camera and the long-lasting light bulb. He passed away in 1931. There is a test tube at the Henry Ford Museum that supposedly holds Edison’s last breath. Ford convinced Thomas’s son Charles to seal up a tube of air in the room just after the inventor died, as a memento.
29 Slugger Judge who was AP Athlete of the Year in 2022 : AARON
Aaron Judge is a baseball outfielder who was selected as 2017’s American League Rookie of the Year. Judge is a big guy. He weighs 282 pounds, and is 6 foot 7 inches tall.
34 Mouthwash brand : SCOPE
Scope is a brand of mouthwash made by Procter & Gamble. Scope has been marketed as the “better-tasting alternative” to Listerine.
35 Feudal estate : FIEF
In the days of feudalism, a “fief” was basically a “fee” (the words “fee” and “fief” have the same origins) paid by a Lord in exchange for some benefit to him, perhaps loyalty, or military service. The fief itself was often land granted by the Lord. We use the term “fiefdom” (and sometimes “fief) figuratively, to describe a sphere of operation controlled by one dominant person or entity.
36 Selena or Selena Gomez : LATINA
Singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, known professionally simply as “Selena”, was murdered in 1995 by the president of her own fan club at the height of her career. In a 1997 biopic about Selena’s life, Jennifer Lopez played the title role. Selena had often been referred to as the “Queen of Tejano” during her career.
Selena Gomez is an actress and singer from Grand Prairie, Texas. Gomez’s first television role was in the children’s show “Barney & Friends”. She then played the lead in the TV series “Wizards of Waverly Place”. Gomez’s fans often refer to themselves as “Selenators”. Offscreen, Gomez made a splash as the girlfriend of Canadian singer Justin Bieber for a couple of years.
38 Katniss Everdeen portrayer, to fans : J LAW
Jennifer Lawrence (sometimes “J.Law” in the press) is an actress from Louisville, Kentucky who really hit the big time when she was cast as Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist in the “Hunger Games” series of films.
43 Midwestern Native : SAUK
The Sac (also “Sauk”) are a group of Native Americans who probably originated in the northeast along the St. Lawrence River. Over time, they migrated south and west, and after a turbulent journey ended up on reservations in Oklahoma. The Meskwaki tribe is also known as the Fox, and had similar origins as the Sacs, and similar migrations. The two tribes eventually merged into the Sac and Fox Nation.
44 Five-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer Ian : THORPE
Ian Thorpe is a retired competitive swimmer from Australia. Thorpe won five Olympic gold medals, and earned himself the nickname “The Thorpedo”. Analysts have suggested that Thorpe’s success as a swimmer is partially due to his physique. He relies on his legs more than most to get propulsion in the water. And, he has size-17 feet.
47 Comes down hard? : SLEETS
Apparently, “sleet” is a term used to describe two different weather conditions. One is a shower of ice pellets that are smaller than hail, and the second is a mixture of rain and snow, with the snow melting as it falls.
51 “Just a Geek” memoirist Wheaton : WIL
Actor Wil Wheaton authored a blog titled “Just a Geek” for several years. He then wrote a 2004 book of memoirs, many from the blog, also titled “Just Geek”. He followed up with a 2022 book called “Still Just a Geek” that includes the original text, with annotations by an author who was 18 years older.
57 Tate Modern filler : ART
The museum known as “the Tate” comprises four separate galleries in England. The original Tate gallery was founded by Sir Henry Tate as the National Gallery of British Art. It is located on Millbank in London, on the site of the old Millbank Prison, and is now called Tate Britain. There is also the Tate Liverpool in the north of England that is located in an old warehouse, and the Tate St. Ives in the west country located in an old gas works. My favorite of the Tate galleries is the Tate Modern which lies on the banks of the Thames in London. It’s a beautiful building, a converted power station that you have to see to believe. As of 2018, the Tate Modern was the most visited art museum in the UK.
58 Verdi aria that translates to “It was you” : ERI TU
Every crossword constructor’s favorite aria “Eri tu” is from Verdi’s opera “Un ballo in maschera” (“A Masked Ball”). The opera tells the story of the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden during a masked ball.
60 Lisa Halaby’s royal name : NOOR
Queen Noor is the widow of King Hussein of Jordan. She was born Lisa Halaby in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Najeeb Halaby. Her father was appointed by President Kennedy as the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, and later became the CEO of Pan Am. Lisa Halaby met King Hussein in 1977, while working on the design of Jordan’s Queen Alia Airport. The airport was named after King Hussein’s third wife who had been killed that year in a helicopter crash. Halaby and the King were married the next year, in 1978.
67 Some green sauces : PESTOS
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 …
68 Senate position : PAGE
US Senate Pages are 16- and 17-year-old high-school juniors who get to watch the political action up close in Washington, while doing the “gofer” jobs needed by the Senators and permanent staff. There are 30 Pages during the school year, 16 appointed by the majority party, and 14 by the minority. The list of former Senate Pages includes Amy Carter (daughter of the President), Chris Dodd (who became a Senator) and Spiro Agnew (who made it to the Vice President’s Office).
69 Divisions in an outdated atlas: Abbr. : SSRS
Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR)
71 Exxon constituents? : EXES
The word “Exxon” includes a pair of letters X (exes).
Down
1 Bagel topping : LOX
Lox is a brine-cured salmon filet that is finely sliced. The term “lox” comes into English via Yiddish, and derives from the German word for salmon, namely “Lachs”.
6 Cilantro, e.g. : HERB
What we know here in North America as cilantro is called coriander in my home nation of Ireland and in other parts of the world. “Cilantro” is the Spanish name for the herb.
9 Curling spot : RINK
I think curling is such a cool (pun!) game. It’s somewhat like bowls, but played on a sheet of ice. The sport was supposedly invented in medieval Scotland, and is called curling because of the action of the granite stone as it moves across the ice. A player can make the stone take a curved path (“curl”) by causing it to slowly rotate as it slides.
10 Washington, but not Washington, D.C. : STATE
The people from what today is Washington state first petitioned the US Congress for statehood in 1852. At that time the proposal was to name the new state Columbia, but this was rejected as it was felt that a state called Columbia might be confused with the District of Columbia. Somewhat bizarrely, the alternative name of Washington was accepted. Certainly, the name Washington honors the first President, but there’s still potential confusion with the nation’s capital. I hate to admit my ignorance, but as a young man in Ireland, whenever I heard talk of Washington (state), I assumed the discussion was about Washington, D.C. …
The District of Columbia (DC) was established by the Residence Act in 1790. Article One, Section 8 of the US constitution provides for the establishment of a district outside of the states, over which the federal government has authority. The constitution also specifies that the district cannot exceed an area of ten miles square. On the same day in 1791, the federal district was formally named Columbia, and the city within was named Washington in honor of the nation’s first president.
11 Life itself, to a crepehanger : COSMIC JOKE
A crepehanger is a pessimist, a killjoy.
12 Recital piece for a double-reed woodwind : OBOE SOLO
A double-reed instrument is one in which two pieces of cane vibrate against each other to produce sound. In a single-reed instrument, just one piece of cane vibrates the mouthpiece. The best-known examples of double-reed instruments are the oboe and the bassoon.
13 “Collapse Into Now” band : REM
“Collapse into Now” is a 2011 studio album released by R.E.M. By the time the band recorded this album, the members had already agreed that they should call it a day and break up. The album was released in March, and the band dissolved in September.
22 Kylo __: “The Last Jedi” villain : REN
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is a 2017 movie from the “Star Wars” film franchise, and the second installment of the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy. The title character is Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill. Ah, but is Luke in fact the “last Jedi”?
24 Lummox : OAF
The word “lummox” comes from East Anglian slang , and describes an ungainly and often clueless person. The term is probably a contraction of “lumbering ox”.
27 Iridescent gem : OPAL
An iridescent surface appears to change color gradually with a change in the angle of view, or a change in the angle that the light is hitting that surface.
30 Spice cookie spice : MACE
The fruit of the nutmeg tree yields two very different spices. What we call “nutmeg” comes from the seed of the tree. “Mace” is the dried covering of the seed.
31 QB stat : ATT
In football, one statistic (stat) used to track the performance of a quarterback (QB) is attempts (ATT).
41 Radio wave-emitting star : PULSAR
A pulsar is a rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. As the beam is not emitted in all directions, it is only seen from Earth when at particular rotations, hence creating a cycle of pulsed gamma rays known as the lighthouse effect.
44 Dances provocatively : TWERKS
Twerking is a dancing move in which someone (usually a woman) shakes her hips up and down causing a lot of “wobbling”. It’s possible that “twerk” is a portmanteau of “twist” and “jerk”. The term may have been coined back in the early 2000s with the song “Whistle While You Twurk” released by the Ying Yang Twins. Twerking became a real phenomenon in 2013 when Miley Cyrus posted a video of herself twerking in a unicorn suit to the 2011 song “Wop” by J. Dash. That video went viral on YouTube, amassing over 4 million views in no time at all.
46 “Last Week Tonight” host John : OLIVER
John Oliver is a British comedian and satirist who has been hosting the late-night talk show “Last Week Tonight” since 2014. He moved to the United States in 2008 to host “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, after having worked as the show’s Senior British Correspondent since 2006. Back in his native land, Oliver was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire), but he declined the honor citing his discomfort with the words “British Empire”. Good for him …
48 Swab target : EARWAX
“Cerumen” is the medical term for earwax. I’ve just been reading about some of the historical uses for earwax. However, I can’t bring myself to record them here, as each is more disgusting than the next …
49 Emergency priority system : TRIAGE
Triage is the process of prioritizing patients for treatment, especially on the battlefield. The term “triage” is French and means “sorting”.
53 __ Miami CF : INTER
The professional soccer club Inter Miami CF joined the MLS league as an expansion franchise in 2020, having been established in 2018. The club’s president and co-owner is former soccer star David Beckham. One of Inter Miami’s big signings is Lionel Messi, who joined in 2023.
64 Lines at the register? : UPC
The initialism “UPC” stands for Universal Price Code or Universal Product Code. The first ever UPC-marked item to get scanned in a store was on June 26, 1974 at 08:01 a.m. at Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, Ohio. It was a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum.
Read on, or …
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Moussaka ingredient : LAMB
5 Harmonious church groups : CHOIRS
11 Parachute necessity : CORD
15 Cookie with a Java Chip flavor : OREO
16 Solitary sort : HERMIT
17 Mind : OBEY
18 Wolverine, for one : X-MAN
19 Esoteric information : ARCANA
20 A few : SOME
21 EMIT? : TURN BACK “TIME”
24 Not quite aligned : OFFSET
26 Inventor who said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” : EDISON
29 Slugger Judge who was AP Athlete of the Year in 2022 : AARON
30 Ankle-length attire : MAXI
34 Mouthwash brand : SCOPE
35 Feudal estate : FIEF
36 Selena or Selena Gomez : LATINA
38 Katniss Everdeen portrayer, to fans : J LAW
39 LOOP? : REFLECTING “POOL”
42 Overhang : EAVE
43 Midwestern Native : SAUK
44 Five-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer Ian : THORPE
47 Comes down hard? : SLEETS
51 “Just a Geek” memoirist Wheaton : WIL
52 SPOT? : FLIP “TOPS”
57 Tate Modern filler : ART
58 Verdi aria that translates to “It was you” : ERI TU
60 Lisa Halaby’s royal name : NOOR
61 Sunlit lobbies : ATRIA
63 RAW? : REVOLUTIONARY “WAR”
66 Intense : KEEN
67 Some green sauces : PESTOS
68 Senate position : PAGE
69 Divisions in an outdated atlas: Abbr. : SSRS
70 Plumes : CRESTS
71 Exxon constituents? : EXES
Down
1 Bagel topping : LOX
2 Branch : ARM
3 Vegetarian : MEAT FREE
4 Pot sweetener : BONUS OFFER
5 Root words? : CHANT
6 Cilantro, e.g. : HERB
7 Wolf of the sea : ORCA
8 Apple since 1998 : IMAC
9 Curling spot : RINK
10 Washington, but not Washington, D.C. : STATE
11 Life itself, to a crepehanger : COSMIC JOKE
12 Recital piece for a double-reed woodwind : OBOE SOLO
13 “Collapse Into Now” band : REM
14 Go green, perhaps : DYE
22 Kylo __: “The Last Jedi” villain : REN
23 Picks out, for short : IDS
24 Lummox : OAF
25 Just : FAIR
27 Iridescent gem : OPAL
28 Not old : NEW
30 Spice cookie spice : MACE
31 QB stat : ATT
32 Roman dozen : XII
33 Accommodating places : INNS
36 Flatten : LEVEL
37 Shocked : AGASP
40 Squiggly baby, to a sitter : LAPFUL
41 Radio wave-emitting star : PULSAR
44 Dances provocatively : TWERKS
45 New faces in the staff lounge : HIREES
46 “Last Week Tonight” host John : OLIVER
48 Swab target : EARWAX
49 Emergency priority system : TRIAGE
50 Unblinking looks : STARES
53 __ Miami CF : INTER
54 Self-composure : POISE
55 Friendly horn sounds : TOOTS
56 ” … but I could be wrong” : … OR NOT
59 Heavy weights : TONS
62 Variety : TYPE
64 Lines at the register? : UPC
65 Donkey : ASS
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14 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 26 Jan 24, Friday”
Comments are closed.
Not my finest hour…cause after an hour, I started looking the PPPs up. And while I got 21A quickly despite not understanding the relationship to the clue, I putzed on the rest. TGIF
Lost track of time.
No errors. Nothing fancy.
Never heard JLAW before.
Didn’t know THORPE had size 17 feet???
Egads!
Instead of maxi for 30 Across “Ankle length attire” I (for no discernible reason other than having a senior moment) inked in midi. And that ruined a, what was up to then, a smooth and effortless solve of this Friday grid. D’oh!
10:45, no errors
Started off like a Monday, turned into a Saturday and finished like a Wednesday.
@DJ – now that’s funny (and true)!
@glen or @davek..
Just finished the New Yorker done by Olivia. There was a reference to AVCX in a thread I was reading. You folks know anything about AVCX?
@Anon Mike …
I had not heard of AVCX until now. Googling led me to “avxwords.com”. I then clicked on “Menu” and went to “About Us”. A lot of the names of the people described there are very familiar to me. It appears that they want paying subscribers to sign up for six puzzles a week, delivered by email (and they would probably be of the highest quality).
Interesting … but I’m now old enough to think I need to be scaling back my involvement with puzzles in favor of getting my affairs in order for my inevitable departure … 🙂.
Dave pretty much described what it is in general. It’s an indie subscription service. I’ve signed up for a trial in the past and can’t say I was very impressed by it. I’d compare what I saw there to a minor league ball team. Basically they could play baseball, but there’s just enough there that you see (can’t hit a curve ball or make errors way too regularly for example) that makes you know you’re not watching Major League teams. I’m sure people have motivations to pay for the service enough to make it worth their while to do since it lasts as long as it has, but personally if I’m going to pay for puzzles, I want a lot better quality than what I saw in that trial – and saw better quality out of places like the LAX and NYT.
Not to mention, I have more than enough puzzles to do as it is without adding more for me at this point. Not to mention other stuff like digitizing Buranelli, Hartswick, and Petherbridge stuff, writing, along with trying to figure out how to make crosswords myself.
24:30 – couple letter gets. Didn’t know JLAW, INTER/NOOR cross.
Theme (if you could call it that) helped zilch (as usual). This was really a stretch.
I’m OK with my time for a Friday – there was a time maybe a year ago when I would DNF half way thru.
Be Well.
This theme makes NO sense! How are you supposed to figure that out from the all-caps “clues”?
13 mins 58 seconds, and needed Check Grid to uncover about 10 errors.
A total slog. I have a new name to enter on my list of constructors to not even bother with in the future.
10:48 – no errors, lookups, or false starts.
New or forgotten: “Moussaka,” SAUK, “Just a Geek,” ERITU (although I know the pop song “Eres tu” by Mocedades), “Collapse Into Now.”
Figured out the theme after “EMIT?” and “LOOP?”. That helped to solve the other two more quickly than otherwise.
Seemed to be a little easier Friday than usual.
38:21. A couple of grid checks and a struggle with 63A. Solving it brought me the banner. The theme was very helpful and I figured it out on EMIT,. Don’t ask. Just a hunch.
I agree with DJ’s description above; took 22:29 with no peeks or errors. Finished the top 2/3 with no troubles at all and then had to poke around for awhile. Finally got things moving and finished fairly quickly, with the help of the theme, if you can call it that.
Didn’t know the same things as Ray C, except for the easy WIL (Star Trek Wesley Crusher) and I vaguely knew ERI TU from crosswords. Guessing REM was pretty much a given, since it was 3 letters.
Interesting explanation for the, to me, exotic crepehanger. I was thinking the food and couldn’t reconcile that with clue’s answer. It sure makes a lot more sense when it’s the black crinkly paper.