LA Times Crossword 26 Jan 24, Friday

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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

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.