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Constructed by: Andrew Walker
Edited by: Patti Varol
Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Shoes that Fit
Themed answers are common phrases reinterpreted as SHOES chosen for a particular purpose:
- 17A Shoes for emptying the kiddie pool? : DRAIN CLOGS
- 27A Shoes that prevent slipping in the shower? : WATER MOCCASINS
- 45A Shoes for attending a gala? : PARTY PLATFORMS
- 59A Shoes that coordinate with a bright green ensemble? : LIME WEDGES
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 6m 34s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Tea in masala chai, perhaps : ASSAM
Assam is a state in the far northeast of India, and just south of the Himalayas. It is noted for its tea, as well as its silk.
“Masala” is a Hindi word meaning “mixture”, and describes a mixture of spices. A dish named “masala” uses the spices incorporated into a sauce that includes garlic, ginger, onions and chili paste. Who doesn’t love Indian cuisine? Yum …
14 Stockpile : CACHE
A cache is a secret supply. We imported the term “cache” into English from French-Canadian trappers in the 17th century. Back then, “cache” was slang for “hiding place for stores”, derived from the French verb “cacher” meaning “to hide”.
15 Mischief-making Norse god : LOKI
Loki is a trickster god in Norse mythology known for continually creating chaos. Loki is the father of sons with his wife Sigyn. Because Loki is also a shape-shifter, he gave birth to children “himself” by assuming the shape of the opposite sex.
20 Avis rental : CAR
Avis has been around since 1946, and is the second largest car rental agency after Hertz. Avis has the distinction of being the first car rental company to locate a branch at an airport.
21 ” … hallowed be __ name” : THY
“Hallowed be thy name” is a phrase from the Lord’s Prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer is a central prayer in Christian religions, and is found in two places in the New Testament. In the version in the Gospel of Matthew, the last line of the prayer is “deliver us from evil”. In the Gospel of Luke, the last line is “lead us not into temptation”. The last words of the prayer most often used today are:
For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever,
Amen
24 __ urchin : SEA
Sea urchins are globular, spiny creatures found just about everywhere in the ocean. The “roe” of a sea urchin is eaten as a delicacy in several cuisines around the world. In a sushi restaurant, the sea urchin roe is called “uni”. The term “roe” normally means “fish eggs”, but in the case of the sea urchin it refers to the gonads of both the male and female.
25 Ring-tailed mammal : COATI
A coati is a member of the raccoon family and is also known as the Brazilian aardvark, or the snookum bear. The coati is native to Central and South America, but can also be found in the southwest of the United States.
27 Shoes that prevent slipping in the shower? : WATER MOCCASINS
“Cottonmouth” is one of the common names of a venomous pit viper that is native to the southeastern US. The cottonmouth is a strong swimmer and is usually found in or near water. Another common name for the species is “water moccasin”.
34 Cheri who played Judge Judy on “SNL” : OTERI
Cheri Oteri is an actress and comedian who is best known for her work on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). Before she became a famous comedian, she worked as a cocktail waitress at the comedy club The Improv, where she was inspired to pursue a career in comedy.
Judge Judy of television fame is Judith Sheindlin, a retired family court judge from New York. Sheindlin reportedly earns $47 million per year for “Judge Judy”. That’s a tad more than she was earning on the “real” bench, I think, and it makes her the highest-earning personality on television by a long shot.
35 __ de los Muertos : DIA
The “Día de Muertos” (also “Dia de los Muertos”, both meaning “Day of the Dead”) is a holiday that originated in Mexico, and is now celebrated around the world. It is traditionally celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, and involves family and friends gathering to remember those who have died. Despite the somber nature, the Day of the Dead usually has a joyful tone, as family remembers the happier events and anecdotes associated with the departed.
49 Aquamarine, for one : BERYL
The mineral beryl is a source of a number of different semi-precious stones, depending on the nature of the impurities present. Pure beryl is colorless; blue beryl is called aquamarine, and green beryl is emerald. Traces of iron cause the blue color, and traces of chromium give the green hue.
50 Lucy of “Elementary” : LIU
Lucy Liu is an actress from Queens, New York. Liu’s big break came when she was chosen to play the Ling Woo character in “Ally McBeal”. I liked her in the 2000 film “Charlie’s Angels” but as I am no fan of Quentin Tarantino, I did not enjoy the movie “Kill Bill”. I do enjoy one of Liu’s more recent projects in which she plays Joan Watson, one of the two lead characters in the TV crime drama “Elementary”.
If you’ve seen the American television show “Elementary”, you will know that it is an adaptation of the classic tales by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that are set in the present day. “Elementary” is similar in look and feel to the excellent BBC series “Sherlock”, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern-day Holmes. We can pick up “Sherlock” in some parts of the country as part of “Masterpiece Mystery” on PBS.
51 “Deadwood” territory : DAKOTA
The Dakota Territory was formed in 1861 and ceased to exist with the admission to the Union of the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. The territory was split into two states in 1889 largely due to lobbying by the Republican Party, which enjoyed a lot of support in the Dakota Territory. The admission of two states added to the political power of the party in the US Senate, by adding four safe Republican seats.
“Deadwood” is a very enjoyable western series that aired on HBO from 2004 to 2006. The show is set in Deadwood, South Dakota in the 1870s. At that time, Deadwood was transitioning from an illegal settlement on Native American land thriving on the discovery of gold, into a fully-fledged frontier town. Some famous and colorful characters appear in the storyline, including Seth Bullock, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Recommended viewing …
54 South Asian stew : DAL
I love dal dishes, which are prepared from various peas or beans (often lentils) that have been stripped of their outer skins and split. Dal is an important part of Indian cuisines. I suppose in Indian terms, split pea soup (another of my favorites) would be called a dal.
55 “The Greatest” memoirist : ALI
“The Greatest: My Own Story” is a 1975 memoir penned by boxer Muhammad Ali in collaboration with Richard Durham.The book’s editor was the Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison.
64 “Family Guy” mom : LOIS
“Family Guy” is a very successful animated television show. It was created by Seth MacFarlane, the same guy who came up with “American Dad!”. My kids love them both. Me? I can’t stand ‘em …
66 Google Play downloads : APPS
Google Play is Google’s distribution service for digital media content. The service was launched in 2008 as Android Market. Android Market was combined with Google Music, Google Movies and Google eBookstore in 2012 to form Google Play.
Down
1 Current letters : AC/DC
There are two types of electric current. The 120V supply that is distributed throughout our homes provides us with alternating current (AC). The AC current moves back and forth every 1/60 second, in two different directions. AC is great for transmission around the country, and that’s the main reason that AC is piped into our homes. However, all of our electronic devices need direct current (DC), current that flows in one direction. That’s why those devices have adapters at the end of a power cable. The 120V AC supply is converted by the adapter into the DC supply used by the device.
2 Actress Gilbert : SARA
Actress Sara Gilbert grew up playing Darlene on the sitcom “Roseanne” from 1988 to 1997. Today Gilbert appears fairly often on another hit sitcom, namely “The Big Bang Theory”. You can also see her on the daytime talk show called “The Talk”, a show that she herself created. And, she made a comeback as Darlene in 2018 in the “Roseanne” reboot(s).
5 Plato, to Socrates : MENTEE
A mentor is a trusted teacher or counselor. The term “mentor” comes from Homer’s “Odyssey” in which there is a character named Mentor. He is a friend of Odysseus, although he is a relatively ineffective old man. The goddess Athena takes on Mentor’s appearance in order to guide Odysseus’s young son Telemachus through difficult times.
Plato was a Greek philosopher and mathematician. He was a student of the equally famous and respected Socrates, and Plato in turn was the teacher and mentor of the celebrated Aristotle.
7 Egg __ yung : FOO
Egg foo yung is a dish served in Chinese restaurants. It is basically an omelet, and probably takes its name from a flower called the Fu Yung.
8 Heart chart, briefly : EKG
An EKG measures the electrical activity in the heart. Back in my homeland of Ireland, an EKG is known as an ECG (for electrocardiogram). We use the German name in the US, Elektrokardiogramm, giving us EKG. Apparently the abbreviation EKG is preferred, as ECG might be confused (if poorly handwritten, I guess) with EEG, the abbreviation for an electroencephalogram.
9 Know-it-all : WISEACRE
The word “wiseacre” dates back to the late 1500s, when it was a botched translation of the Middle Dutch word “wijsegger” meaning “soothsayer”. Originally, there was no derogatory connotation to the word, but over time a wiseacre had become a know-it-all.
10 Seth Rogen’s “Kung Fu Panda” voice role : MANTIS
“Kung Fu Panda” is a 2008 animated film from DreamWorks. It’s all about a panda who is an expert in kung fu, as one might guess …
Seth Rogen is a Canadian comedian who got a lot of credit for his supporting role in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”. That led to him being cast as the lead in the 2007 film “Knocked Up”. Rogen also co-directed and co-starred in “The Interview”, a movie that created a huge ruckus in the North Korean regime.
26 Wildcat native to the Americas : OCELOT
The ocelot is a wild cat found mainly in South and Central America, although there have been sightings as far north as Arkansas. An ocelot doesn’t look too different from a domestic cat, and some have been kept as pets. Perhaps most famously, Salvador Dali had one that he carried around everywhere with him.
27 Fictional chocolatier : WONKA
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is a 1964 novel for children penned by British author Roald Dahl. The two main character’s in the story are young schoolboy Charlie Bucket, and chocolate manufacturer Willy Wonka. Dahl was inspired to write the novel by his exposure to the rivalry between Britain’s two major chocolatiers: Cadbury and Rowntree’s.
31 TV’s younger Dr. Crane : NILES
In the sitcom “Frasier”, Niles is the brother of the title character Frasier Crane. Frasier is played by Kelsey Grammer and Niles is played by David Hyde Pierce. Frasier was originally intended to be an only child in the show’s storyline, but the producers decided to add a brother when they noted the remarkable similarity in appearance between David Hyde Pierce and Kelsey Grammer.
43 “¿Qué __?”: Spanish greeting : TAL
In Spanish, one might greet someone with the words “Qué tal?” (How are you?).
48 Edmonton NHL team : OILERS
The National Hockey League’s Edmonton Oilers are so called because they are located in Alberta, Canada … oil country.
Edmonton is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. The city was founded as Fort Edmonton in 1795, with the name taken from the area in London called Edmonton. Edmonton, London was the home of pioneer John Peter Pruden who suggested the name. London’s Edmonton was also home for deputy governor Sir James Winter Lake of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
51 “The Lost City of Gold” explorer : DORA
“Dora and the Lost City of Gold” is a 2019 live-action film based on the animated TV show “Dora the Explorer”. Isabela Merced (now “Isabela Merced”) plays the title character. I find it a little satisfying that “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” was actually filmed in and around the city of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia …
53 Iodine-rich seaweed : KELP
Kelps are large seaweeds that grow in kelp forests underwater. Kelps can grow to over 250 feet in length, and do so very quickly. Some kelps can grow at the rate of 1-2 feet per day.
The chemical element iodine is a halogen (as are fluorine, chlorine and bromine) and has the symbol “I”. At room temperature, iodine is a purple-black solid. With heat, it melts into violet liquid, and at high temperatures a violet gas. The name “iodine” comes from the Greek “ioeides” meaning “violet-colored”.
55 Taj Mahal site : AGRA
The Taj Mahal in Agra, India is a magnificent marble mausoleum. It was built in the mid-17th century by the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to her 14th child in 1631. When Shah Jahan himself died in 1666, he was buried in the Taj Mahal, alongside his wife.
57 Many a Caribbean country : ISLE
The Caribbean Sea takes its name from the Island Carib people. The Island Caribs are an American Indian people that live in the Lesser Antilles islands, part of the West Indies.
61 ASMRtist’s need : MIC
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR ) is a tingling sensation that some people experience in response to certain stimuli, such as soft sounds, gentle whispering, or slow movements. It is often described as a feeling of relaxation and well-being. Although there is no consensus on what causes ASMR, one suggestion is that it may be related to the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure. There are a wide variety of ASMR videos available, including videos of people whispering, tapping on objects, or performing other gentle actions.
Read on, or …
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Tea in masala chai, perhaps : ASSAM
6 Indeterminate but small amount : A FEW
10 Partner : MATE
14 Stockpile : CACHE
15 Mischief-making Norse god : LOKI
16 “Stat!” letters : ASAP!
17 Shoes for emptying the kiddie pool? : DRAIN CLOGS
19 Upscale : NICE
20 Avis rental : CAR
21 ” … hallowed be __ name” : THY
22 Matter of will? : ESTATE
24 __ urchin : SEA
25 Ring-tailed mammal : COATI
27 Shoes that prevent slipping in the shower? : WATER MOCCASINS
33 Place to kick back : SOFA
34 Cheri who played Judge Judy on “SNL” : OTERI
35 __ de los Muertos : DIA
36 Catches with a lure : ENTRAPS
39 Main ingredient of 54-Across : LENTILS
41 Barely scrape (out) : EKE
42 Minor squabble : SET-TO
44 Plot devices? : HOES
45 Shoes for attending a gala? : PARTY PLATFORMS
49 Aquamarine, for one : BERYL
50 Lucy of “Elementary” : LIU
51 “Deadwood” territory : DAKOTA
54 South Asian stew : DAL
55 “The Greatest” memoirist : ALI
58 Not protected by defenders : OPEN
59 Shoes that coordinate with a bright green ensemble? : LIME WEDGES
63 Audition goal : ROLE
64 “Family Guy” mom : LOIS
65 Like farm country : RURAL
66 Google Play downloads : APPS
67 “Nasty!” : YUCK!
68 Lamp topper : SHADE
Down
1 Current letters : AC/DC
2 Actress Gilbert : SARA
3 Rumble remnant : SCAR
4 Bigeye or yellowfin tuna : AHI
5 Plato, to Socrates : MENTEE
6 Partner : ALLY
7 Egg __ yung : FOO
8 Heart chart, briefly : EKG
9 Know-it-all : WISEACRE
10 Seth Rogen’s “Kung Fu Panda” voice role : MANTIS
11 Much of an atlas : ASIA
12 Social sensitivity : TACT
13 Fencing tool : EPEE
18 Leave on the grill too long, maybe : CHAR
23 Spot on a shirt, say : STAIN
24 The sun, for one : STAR
25 Foldout bed : COT
26 Wildcat native to the Americas : OCELOT
27 Fictional chocolatier : WONKA
28 Part of a makeover photo spread : AFTER
29 By and large : MOSTLY
30 Cool beans or warm fuzzies : IDIOM
31 TV’s younger Dr. Crane : NILES
32 Lip : SASS
33 Leak slowly : SEEP
37 Until now : AS YET
38 Spirited gathering? : PEP RALLY
40 Drive-__ car wash : THRU
43 “¿Qué __?”: Spanish greeting : TAL
46 Steakhouse options : T-BONES
47 Blemish : FLAW
48 Edmonton NHL team : OILERS
51 “The Lost City of Gold” explorer : DORA
52 Per item : A POP
53 Iodine-rich seaweed : KELP
54 Home office need : DESK
55 Taj Mahal site : AGRA
56 Head up : LEAD
57 Many a Caribbean country : ISLE
60 “Payment forthcoming” note : IOU
61 ASMRtist’s need : MIC
62 “Like I didn’t know!” : DUH!
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8 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 1 May 24, Wednesday”
Comments are closed.
14 min. No errors.
BERYL held me up. Had to wait for crosses.
I had a lot of struggles with this one.
Didn’t know COATI, OTERI, MANTIS, BERYL, SETTO or LOIS. As there were crosses, that little center section was a pain.
QUE TAL? Never ever heard that one.
It seems that watching cartoons is a big past time for crossword makers.
9:17–que tal was a new one for me, too.
9:00 – no errors or lookups. False start: MENTOR>MENTEE.
New or forgotten: DAL, LOIS ala “Family Guy,” MANTIS ala “Kung FU Panda.”
An easy enough theme; nothing especially tricky.
9 mins, 2 seconds and two errors: just didn’t know the last letter of COATI.
Beryl hung me up big time. And the crosses didn’t help: mostly and tal. It was smooth sailing until I hit this roadblock. I was happy I finally got pep rally as I was thinking of ghosts and then booze as spirits. Overall, not too bad for a Wednesday.
Mostly easy Wednesday for me, done several days late; took 10:50 with no peeks or errors. Just had trouble with Lemur -> Civet -> COATI, DAL, LOIS, MENTor -> MENTEE, MANTIS, NILES and TAL. I would’ve included MIC, but crosses had already solved it.
Fun theme and it helped a bit to get the bottom two theme clues, along with some of their crosses.