LA Times Crossword 25 Apr 24, Thursday

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Constructed by: Sarah Sinclair & Kelsey Dixon
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Get Ready with Me

Themed answers each start with a step one takes when GETTING READY to attend a party:

• 55A Friend’s invitation before a party, or a TikTok genre that shows off the starts of 20-, 30-, and 41-Across : GET READY WITH ME

• 20A “Just decide!” : MAKE UP YOUR MIND!
• 30A Remedy known as “having a counter-beer” in German : HAIR OF THE DOG
• 41A In great shape : FIT AS A FIDDLE

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

Bill’s time: 8m 07s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 The hundred target, in Pilates : ABS

Pilates is a physical exercise system developed by, and named for, Joseph Pilates. Pilates introduced his system of exercises in 1883 in Germany.

4 Wander (about) : GAD

To gad about is to move around with little purpose. The word “gad” comes from the Middle English “gadden” meaning “to hurry”.

7 Bloke : LAD

“Bloke” is British slang for “fellow”. The etymology of “bloke” seems to have been lost in the mists of time.

10 “The Search for General __”: food documentary : TSO

“The Search for General Tso” is a 2014 documentary about the history of Chinese food in the US. Much of the film explores the life of Zuo Zontang, the Chinese military leader who gave his name to the very American dish known as General Tso’s chicken.

15 Tussle over a 58-Down entry : EDIT WAR
[58D Collaborative site : WIKI]

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.

17 Avenger in armor : IRON MAN

Iron Man is another comic book superhero, this one created by Stan Lee for Marvel Comics. The character is the alter ego of Tony Stark, and has become very famous in recent years since the appearance of the 2008 action movie “Iron Man” starring Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role. Iron Man’s love interest, Pepper Potts, is routinely played by Gwyneth Paltrow in the same series of films.

22 Stuck in one’s craw : ATE AT

“Craw” is another name for “crop”, a portion of the alimentary tract of some animals, including birds. The crop is used for the storage of food prior to digestion. It allows the animal to eat large amounts and then digest that food with efficiency over an extended period. The expression “to stick in one’s craw” is used when one cannot accept something, cannot “swallow” it.

23 Sales channel : HSN

The Home Shopping Network (HSN) was the first national shopping network, and was launched locally as the Home Shopping Club in Florida in 1982. Its first product was a can opener.

24 Pokémon that evolves into Kadabra : ABRA

In the “Pokémon” universe, the species known as “Abra” can evolve into “Kadabra”, and then into “Alakazam”.

“Pokémon” is the second-biggest video game franchise in the world, second only to the “Mario” franchise. “Pokémon” is a contraction of “Pocket Monsters”.

30 Remedy known as “having a counter-beer” in German : HAIR OF THE DOG

The hair of the dog is an alcoholic drink that is taken to lessen the symptoms of an existing hangover. The expression is written more completely as “the hair of the dog that bit you”. It originated with the belief that if a dog bit someone, placing some hairs of the dog into the wound would fend off the potential of rabies. The more contemporary practice is to treat a hangover with a glass of the same alcoholic drink that caused it in the first place.

35 Surfaces, e.g. : PCS

Microsoft Surface is a series of portable computing devices that includes a line of 2-in-1 detachables, which are crosses between tablets and laptops.

41 In great shape : FIT AS A FIDDLE

Someone who is as fit as a fiddle is very fit, very well. When the idiom “as fit as a fiddle” was coined around 1600, the phrase meant “suitable for purpose” as “fit” was more often used in that sense.

46 With 9-Down, traveling employee’s allowance : PER …
9D See 46-Across : … DIEM

“Per diem” is the Latin for “by the day”. We tend to use the term for a daily allowance for expenses when traveling for work.

47 Body part with cinco dedos : MANO

In Spanish, a “mano” (hand) has “cinco dedos” (five fingers).

52 Landmark civil rights law acronym : ADA

Well, I’d say that “ADA” in this context is an initialism rather than an acronym. But maybe that’s just pedantic me …

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)

54 Try to buy from Ebay : BID ON

There have been some notable things sold on eBay over the years. For example:

• Ad space on a guy’s forehead, in the form of a temporary tattoo – $37,375
• William Shatner’s kidney stone – $25,000
• A cornflake shaped like Illinois – $1,350
• A single corn flake – $1.63
• A box of 10 Twinkies – $59.99
• The original Hollywood sign – $450,400
• The meaning of life – $3.26

55 Friend’s invitation before a party, or a TikTok genre that shows off the starts of 20-, 30-, and 41-Across : GET READY WITH ME

There is a genre of YouTube video called “Get Ready With Me” (GRWM) in which YouTubers give advice on beauty routines. Those routines might focus on getting ready for work or school, preparing for a social event, or perhaps getting ready for bed.

59 Prep roses for “The Bachelor,” say : DETHORN

“The Bachelor” is an American dating and relationship reality show that debuted in 2002. Its success resulted in several spin-offs including “The Bachelorette”, “Bachelor Pad”, “Bachelor in Paradise”, as well as spawning many international editions of the original “The Bachelor” format.

61 Tums, e.g. : ANTACID

The main ingredient in Tums antacid, made by GlaxoSmithKline, is calcium carbonate. Tums have been on the market since 1930. If you want to save a few pennies, Target brand antacid is identical to Tums, or so I hear …

63 Like much omakase : RAW

When food is ordered “omakase” in a Japanese restaurant, the patron is asking the chef to choose what is served. The term “omakase” comes from the Japanese for “to entrust”.

64 Benefit that may be rolled over: Abbr. : PTO

Paid time off (PTO)

65 Peele’s partner : KEY

The Comedy Central sketch show “Key & Peele” stars comics Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. The duo also wrote an action comedy film called “Keanu” that was released in 2016. The title character is a cat belonging to the boss of a drug cartel. Haven’t seen it …

66 Sloth in “Ice Age” : SID

In the “Ice Age” series of animated feature films, the character named “Sid” is a ground sloth, and is voiced by actor John Leguizamo. Sid is a ground sloth who once lived in a tree with other sloths. But, Sid is dull-witted and accident-prone, and so the other sloths want to leave him behind.

Down

1 Cracker shape : ANIMAL

Animal crackers have been around in the US since the late 1800s, with the recipe/design being imported from England. The first really successful commercially-produced animal crackers were produced by Nabisco and marketed as “Barnum’s Animals”. Nabisco animal cracker cookies were first sold in the famous “circus wagon” box in 1902, as a Christmas promotion. Over 40 million packages are now sold every year.

4 Spectrum : GAMUT

In medieval times, the musical scale was denoted by the notes “ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la”. The term “gamma ut”, shortened to “gamut”, was used to describe the whole scale. By the 1620s, “gamut” was being used to mean the entire range of anything, the whole gamut.

6 Be Delicious perfume co. : DKNY

Donna Karan is an American fashion designer, creator of the Donna Karan New York (DKNY) clothing label. Karan was very much raised in the fashion industry, as her mother was a model and her stepfather a tailor.

11 “Killing Eve” star : SANDRA OH

Canadian actress Sandra Oh is very much associated with the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on “Grey’s Anatomy”, and more recently with the role of Eve Polastri on “Killing Eve” . However, my favorite of Oh’s performances are in the movies “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “Sideways”.

“Killing Eve” is a spy thriller series about an MI5 agent on the trail of a female assassin. The agent is played by Canadian actress Sandra Oh, and the assassin by English actress Jodie Comer. The storyline comes from a series of novellas titled “Codename Villanelle” by British author Luke Jennings.

16 Priority system : TRIAGE

Triage is the process of prioritizing patients for treatment, especially on the battlefield. The term “triage” is French and means “sorting”.

25 Best Picture winner set in Iran : ARGO

“Argo” is a 2012 movie that is based on the true story of the rescue of six diplomats hiding out during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film was directed by and stars Ben Affleck and is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, the same pair who produced the excellent “Good Night, and Good Luck”. I highly recommend “Argo”, although I found the scenes of religious fervor to be very frightening …

27 Torres of “9-1-1: Lone Star” : GINA

Actress Gina Torres plays the formidable Jessica Pearson on the USA Network show “Suits”. In real life, Gina is married to the actor Laurence Fishburne. Torres and Fishburne appeared together on the horror TV show “Hannibal”, in which they played a married couple.

“9-1-1: Lone Star” is a procedural drama show that is a spin-off of “9-1-1 “. The Texas (Lone Star State) version features Rob Lowe as a firefighter from New York City who relocates from Manhattan to Austin.

32 Taper : FADE

I used to think that the word “taper” was used for a slender candle because said candle was “tapered” in shape, but it’s exactly the opposite. It turns out that our word “tapered” comes from the candle. “Taper” and “tapur” are Old English words meaning “candle”. From these nouns arose the verb “to taper” meaning “shoot up like flame”. This meaning evolved into “become slender” from the idea that a candle’s flame has such a shape.

33 “In short” initialism : TL;DR

Too long, didn’t read (TL;DR)

34 “2001” supercomputer : HAL

In Arthur C. Clarke’s “Space Odyssey” (famously adapted for the big screen as “2001: A Space Odyssey”) the computer system that went rogue was called HAL 9000, or simply “HAL”. HAL stands for “Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer”. Even though Clarke denied it, there’s a good argument that can be made that the acronym HAL is a veiled reference to IBM, the big player in the world of computing at the time of the novel’s publication (1968). The acronym HAL is just a one-letter shift from the initials “IBM”.

37 120mm Louboutin feature : STILETTO

The stiletto knife was developed in Italy, and is a knife intended for thrusting and stabbing as opposed to slashing and cutting. The term “stiletto” comes from the Latin “stilus”, which was a thin pointed writing instrument used in ancient Rome to engrave wax or clay tablets. And, there are also stiletto heels on some women’s shoes, heels that are long and thin.

Christian Louboutin is a fashion designer from Paris who is known for creating stiletto shoes with trademark, red-lacquered soles. His biggest individual client is American author Danielle Steel, who is said to own more that 6,000 pairs of Louboutin shoes!

42 “Queen of Soul” Franklin : ARETHA

I think that Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul”, had a tough life. Franklin had her first son when she was just 13-years-old, and her second at 15. In 2008, “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked Franklin as number one on its list of the greatest singers of all time.

50 Punch recipe? : ONE-TWO

That would be boxing, and a one-two punch, or should it be punches?

53 Hunky-dory : DANDY

Surprisingly (to me), the term “hunky-dory” has been around a long time, and is documented back in the mid-1800s. Nobody’s really sure of its origin, but some say it is an Anglicization of “Honcho dori”, that back in the day was a street of ill repute in Yokohama, Japan.

57 First name in haute couture : YVES

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)

“Haute couture”, literally “high dressmaking” in French, is a name given to the creation of exclusive fashions. A couturier is someone who creates or sells such fashions.

58 Collaborative site : WIKI

A wiki is a website on which users are allowed to create and edit content themselves. The term “wiki” comes from the name of the first such site, introduced in 1994 and called WikiWikiWeb. “Wiki” is a Hawaiian word for “quick”, and is used because comprehensive content is created very quickly, as there are so many collaborators contributing to the site.

59 “The Sacred Art of Giving __”: Ta-Nehisi Coates essay about a friendly greeting : DAP

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a journalist and author from Baltimore, Maryland. His 2015 book “Between the World and Me” won that year’s National Book Award for Nonfiction. Coates also made a name for himself in the world of comic books, and is the writer of a “Black Panther” series for Marvel Comics.