LA Times Crossword 30 Mar 24, Saturday

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Constructed by: Jacob McDermott
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 9m 48s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

8 Spanish language apps : TAPAS

“Tapa” is the Spanish word for “lid”. There is no clear rationale for why this word came to be used for an appetizer. There are lots of explanations cited, all of which seem to involve the temporary covering of one’s glass of wine with a plate or item of food to either preserve the wine or give one extra space at the table.

13 Casserole nugget : TATER TOT

Ore-Ida’s founders came up with the idea for Tater Tots when they were deciding what to do with residual cuts of potato. They chopped up the leftovers, added flour and seasoning, and extruded the mix through a large hole making a sausage that they cut into small cylinders. We eat 70 million pounds of this extruded potato every year!

20 Competed like Kobayashi : ATE

Takeru Kobayashi is a competitive eater from Japan. He won the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest for six years in a row, from 2001 to 2006. I guess that helped him earn the nickname “godfather of competitive eating”.

23 Colorful wrap : SERAPE

“Serape” is the English pronunciation and spelling of the Spanish word “zarape”. A zarape is like a Mexican poncho, a soft woolen blanket with a hole in the middle for the head. Most serapes have colorful designs that use traditional Mayan motifs.

26 “The Hurting Kind” poet Limón : ADA

Ada Limón was named US Poet Laureate in 2022. Here is her poem “Field Bling”, which comes from her 2015 collection “Bright Dead Things”:

Nights when it’s warm
and no one is watching,
I walk to the edge
of the road and stare
at all the fireflies.
I squint and pretend
they’re hallucinations,
bright made-up waves
of the brain.
I call them,
field bling.
I call them,
fancy creepies.
It’s been a long time
since I’ve wanted to die,
it makes me feel
like taking off
my skin suit
and seeing how
my light flies all
on its own, neon
and bouncy like a
wannabe star.

28 Couple of bucks : DEER
[1D Couple of bucks : STAGS]

A male deer is usually called a buck, and a female is a doe. However, the male red deer is usually referred to as a stag. The males of even larger species of deer are often called bulls, and the females called cows. In older English, male deer of over 5 years were called harts, and females of over 3 years were called hinds. The young of small species are known as fawns, and of larger species are called calves. All very confusing …

34 Texter’s “Success!” : FTW

“FTW” is an initialism abbreviating “for the win”, a phrase meaning “being great, sure to succeed”.

35 Pro certified in BLS : EMT

Basic life support (BLS)

36 Really bad situation : DIRE STRAITS

To be in dire straits is to be in a very difficult situation. The phrase “in dire straits” originated in the world of sail, and is a reference to a vessel navigating a dangerous channel of water, a dire strait.

39 Home of Fangorn Forest and the Misty Mountains : MIDDLE-EARTH

Middle-earth is the setting for J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” series.

40 “__ plaisir!” : AVEC

“Avec plaisir!” is French for “with pleasure!”.

41 First name in rational egoism : AYN

Author Ayn Rand espoused what she called “rational egoism”, her view that it is irrational and immoral to act against one’s self-interest. Rand laid out the concept in depth in her 1964 collection of essays and papers titled “The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism”.

49 Shakshouka ingredient : EGG

Shakshouka (also “shakshuka”) is a dish that originated in North Africa. It consists of eggs poached in a sauce made from tomatoes, chili peppers, garlic and several spices. I’m hungry …

54 Teen drama starring Zendaya : EUPHORIA

“Euphoria” is an HBO teen drama show that is loosely based on a miniseries of the same name from Israel. Lead actress in the show is Zendaya, who plays a recovering teenage drug addict.

Zendaya Coleman, known simply as “Zendaya” on stage, is an actress and singer. Her big break as an actress came with the role of Rocky Blue on the Disney sitcom “Shake It Up”. Zendaya gained further attention from TV audiences when in 2013, at 16 years of age, she became the youngest contestant up to that time on “Dancing with the Stars”. She did well, coming in second in the competition.

57 1977 Travolta role : MANERO

“Saturday Night Fever” was a phenomenal movie in its day, but to be honest, I don’t think it has aged well. I still love the soundtrack, which is the third-best selling movie soundtrack of all time (number one is “The Bodyguard” and number two is “Purple Rain”, would you believe?). “Saturday Night Fever” was the first film for which the soundtrack was launched before the movie itself, in a cross-marketing exercise designed to hype the movie before its release.

58 Home inspection concern : RADON GAS

The element radon (Rn) is a radioactive gas, and a byproduct produced when uranium decays naturally in the earth. Radon gas can collect and accumulate in buildings and rooms that are particularly well insulated with very little air exchange. The danger is very real, as radon is listed as the second most frequent cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoke.

60 “Feel me?” : CAPEESH?

“Capeesh?” is a slang term meaning “do you understand?” It comes from the Italian “capisce” meaning “understand”.

Down

2 “Ungodly Hour” R&B duo Chloe x __ : HALLE

Chloe x Halle is a musical duo comprising sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey. The sisters are also actors, and starred in the sitcom “Grown-ish” from 2018 to 2022.

4 Singer __ Marie : TEENA

Teena Marie was a very successful R&B singer who was born Mary Christine Brockert in Santa Monica, California. She had several good celebrity friends, and so was godmother to Maya Rudolph (daughter of Minnie Ripperton) and Nona Gaye (daughter of Marvin Gaye).

5 Bobby in an iconic Stanley Cup Final photo : ORR

In the 1970 Stanley Cup final, Bobby Orr scored the winning goal, giving the Boston Bruins a victory over the St. Louis Blues. Orr was so excited that he leapt into the air towards his teammates, sliding into their embrace as he landed on the ice. A photographer caught Orr in full horizontal flight, resulting in one of the most famous sports photographs of all time.

6 Four Corners Native : UTE

The Four Corners region of the US surrounds the meeting point of the four states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. It is the only point in the US that is shared by four states.

7 Pilate’s wear : TOGA

Pontius Pilate was the judge at the trial of Jesus Christ and the man who authorized his crucifixion. Over the years, many scholars have suggested that Pilate was a mythical character. However, a block of limestone was found in 1961 in the modern-day city of Caesarea in Israel, and in the block was an inscription that included the name of Pontius Pilate, citing him as Prefect of Judea.

9 Famous name in cookies : AMOS

Wally Amos was a talent agent, one who was in the habit of taking home-baked cookies with him as an enticement to get celebrities to see him. He was urged by friends to open a cookie store (the cookies were that delicious, I guess) and this he did in Los Angeles in 1975 using the name “Famous Amos”. The store was a smash hit and he was able to build on the success by introducing his cookies into supermarkets. The brand was eventually purchased, making Wally a rich man, and Famous Amos cookies are still flying off the shelf. Wally Amos also became an energetic literacy advocate. He hosted 30 TV programs in 1987 entitled “Learn to Read” that provided reading instruction targeted at adults.

10 Models : PARADIGMS

We tend to use “paradigm” to mean the set of assumptions and practices that define some aspect of life. It can also simply mean something that serves as a model, pattern or example. “Paradigm” ultimately comes from the Greek word for “show side by side”.

21 Wikipedia tussle : EDIT WAR

Wikipedia edit wars are conflicts that arise when multiple editors disagree on the content of an article and repeatedly try to change it to reflect their own viewpoint. Disputes can sometimes be resolved through discussion and compromise, they can escalate into full-blown “edit wars” where editors engage in a back-and-forth battle to control the article. Wikipedia imposes the “three-revert rule” (3RR), which is a policy that limits the number of times an editor can revert a page to three times within a 24-hour period. The purpose of this rule is to prevent edit wars from getting out of hand and to encourage editors to engage in civil discussion.

25 Unit of time often used hyperbolically : EON

Hyperbole is the use of exaggerated speech. The term “hyperbole” is Greek, coming from “hyper-” meaning “beyond” and “bole” meaning “a throwing”. When using hyperbole, our choice of words is “thrown beyond” what is normally necessary to get our point across.

27 Pangolin snack : ANT

The pangolin is also known as the scaly anteater. It is the only mammal that has a layer of protective scales made from keratin that covers the skin. Pangolins are highly prized by hunters, for their meat and their armor. They are in danger of extinction, and yet there is no more highly-trafficked species on the planet.

30 T-Boz and Chilli bandmate : LEFT EYE

The girl band called TLC is from Atlanta, Georgia. The band’s name comes from the trio’s original members:

• Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins
• Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes
• Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas

31 “Faust” dramatist : GOETHE

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer (among many other things). Goethe’s most famous work is probably his play “Faust”. This epic work was published in parts, starting in 1808. The work was only published in toto after his death in 1832.

36 Source of cheap shots? : DIVE BAR

We’ve been using the word “dive” in American English for a run-down bar since the latter half of the 19th century. The term comes from the fact that disreputable taverns were usually located in basements, so one had to figuratively dive into them. I’m a big fan …

37 Irish __ : SEA

The Irish Sea is the stretch of water separating the island of Ireland from the island of Great Britain. More than 12 million ferry passengers cross the Irish Sea annually between Ireland and Great Britain. I’ve been one such passenger on more occasions than I can remember …

38 Wednesday’s cousin : ITT

In the television sitcom “The Addams Family”, the family has a frequent visitor named Cousin Itt. He is a short man with long hair that runs from his head to the floor. Itt was played by Italian actor Felix Silla.

Wednesday Addams is the daughter in the television sitcom “The Addams Family”. In the original cartoon strip, members of the Addams family had no given names. The names were introduced for the television show.

43 Rock cake kin : SCONE

Rock cakes are relatively small cakes, with a rough surface that is said to resemble the surface of a rock. Most recipes call for fewer eggs and less sugar than other cakes. As a result, rock cakes were promoted by the British Ministry of Food in the period of food rationing during and after WWII. I developed a taste for rock cakes as a young lad …

48 Transfusion fluids : SERA

Blood serum (plural “sera”) is the clear, yellowish part of blood i.e. that part which is neither a blood cell nor a clotting factor. Included in blood serum are antibodies, the proteins that are central to our immune system. Blood serum from animals that have immunity to a particular disease can be transferred to another individual, hence providing that second individual with some level of immunity. Blood serum used to pass on immunity can be called “antiserum”.

50 Avo dip : GUAC

Guacamole is one of my favorite dishes. It is prepared by mashing avocados and perhaps adding the likes of tomato, onion and lime juice. The guacamole recipe dates back as early as the 16th century, to the time of the Aztecs. “Guacamole” translates as “avocado sauce”.

53 “Bye, __”: farewell from a buffalo’s dad, in a classic joke : SON

“Bye, son” sounds like “bison”.

55 Shared intimacy, briefly : PDA

Public display of affection (PDA)

56 Brewer’s unit : HOP

The foodstuff that we call “hops” are actually the female flowers of the hop plant. The main use of hops is to add flavor to beer. The town in which I used to live here in California was once home to the largest hop farm in the world. Most of the harvested hops were exported all the way to the breweries of London, where they could fetch the best price.