LA Times Crossword 24 May 24, Friday

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Constructed by: Margi Stevenson
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): P-p-p-prefix

Themed answers are common phrases beginning with a letter R, but with a letter P added at the start:

• 17A Stellar essay? : PROSE GOLD (P + rose gold)
• 22A Modest proposal? : PRUDE REMARK (P + rude remark)
• 35A Compliment a nice thatching job? : PRAISE THE ROOF (P + raise the roof)
• 49A June celebrant’s social media posts? : PRIDE SHARES (P + rideshares)
• 56A Comparison shop at BevMo? : PRICE WINE (P + rice wine)

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

Bill’s time: 8m 15s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Home of S.D. and the O.C. : SOCAL

The name of the California city of San Diego dates back to 1602, when Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno named the area after the Catholic Saint Didacus. Saint Didacus was more commonly referred to as San Diego de Alcalá.

California’s Orange County (OC) is home to famous destinations like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. It is also home to John Wayne Airport, also known as Orange County Airport, with the IATA code “SNA”. The “SNA” is a reference to the city of Santa Ana, which is the airport’s mailing address. The airport itself resides in an unincorporated area of the county.

6 Cardinals gp. : NFL

The Arizona Cardinals were founded in 1898 as the Chicago Cardinals. That makes the Cardinals the oldest, continuously-run, professional football team in the whole country.

9 Hall of Famer Piazza who caught the ceremonial last pitch at Shea Stadium : MIKE

Mike Piazza is a former MLB catcher who spent most of his playing career with the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Piazza retired from the game in 2007, but turned to the game again in 2019 when he took on management of the Italian National Baseball team.

13 __ myrtle : CRAPE

The beautifully colored crape myrtle is at its best during the summer and fall, when the flowers are in bloom. The crinkled flowers have a texture reminiscent of crêpe paper, hence the name.

15 Country with one of the highest life expectancies in the world : JAPAN

In 2021, the country/territory with the highest life expectancy in the world was Hong Kong (85.49 years). The US came in at no. 59 (76.33 years). I just had to check Ireland, which came in at no. 19 (82.1 years). I swear, it’s the Guinness …

16 Dried poblano : ANCHO

An ancho is a dried poblano pepper used in Mexican cuisine. The poblano is a mild chili.

17 Stellar essay? : PROSE GOLD (P + rose gold)

Rose gold is also known as pink gold and red gold. Used in specialized jewelry, it is an alloy of gold and copper.

35 Compliment a nice thatching job? : PRAISE THE ROOF (P + raise the roof)

Thatch is a dried vegetation used as a roofing material. The choice of vegetation depends on what is growing locally. Common thatching materials are straw, rushes, heather and palm branches.

39 Eldest Brady boy : GREG

The character Greg Brady is the oldest Brady son in the sitcom “The Brady Bunch”. Greg was played by Barry Williams in the TV show. It was revealed in spin-offs of the original sitcom that Greg married a nurse and became an obstetrician.

40 Sea salt : SAILOR

“Sea dog” and “old salt” are familiar terms describing a sailor, especially one that has lots of experience.

49 June celebrant’s social media posts? : PRIDE SHARES (P + rideshares)

The police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn on June 29th, 1969. That raid triggered a spate of violent demonstrations led by the LGBT community. Now known as the Stonewall riots, those demonstrations are viewed by many as a significant event leading to the modern-day fight for LGBT rights in the US. Since then, June has been chosen as LGBT Pride Month in recognition of the Stonewall riots.

53 Harangue : TIRADE

The term “tirade” describes a long and vehement speech, and is a word that came into English from French. “Tirade” can have the same meaning in French, but is also the word for “volley”. So, a tirade is a “volley” of words.

55 Singer-songwriter Billie : EILISH

Billie Eilish is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. She has won several awards, and is the youngest person to have won all four major Grammy categories in the same year, i.e. Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year.

56 Comparison shop at BevMo? : PRICE WINE (P + rice wine)

BevMo! Is a supplier of alcoholic drinks that was founded in 1994 in Concord, California as Beverages & More!

59 Martini’s vermouth partner : ROSSI

The company that is today known as Martini & Rossi was started in the mid-1800s in Italy, by Alessandro Martini and Luigi Rossi (and a third partner who sold out years later). From day one it was focused on bottling the fortified wine known as vermouth. Nowadays, the company is also famous for its sparkling wines, and its sponsorship of Grand Prix racing teams. And yes, the famous cocktail is probably named for Mr. Martini.

61 Pre-Sierra Mac platform : OS X

Apple introduced the OS X Operating System in 2000. Each version of this operating system has had a code name, and that code name until recently has been a type of big cat. The versions and code names are:

• 10.0: Cheetah
• 10.1: Puma
• 10.2: Jaguar
• 10.3: Panther
• 10.4: Tiger
• 10.5: Leopard
• 10.6: Snow Leopard
• 10.7: Lion
• 10.8: Mountain Lion
• 10.9: Mavericks
• 10.10: Yosemite
• 10.11: El Capitan
• 10.12: macOS Sierra
• 10.13: macOS High Sierra

Down

1 Rapscallions : SCAMPS

We might call a little imp a “rapscallion”, an evolution from “rascallion” that in turn comes from “rascal”.

2 Like Scrooge : ORNERY

Back in the early 1800s, the word “ornery” was an informal contraction for the word “ordinary”, and meant commonplace, but with a sense of “poor quality, coarse, ugly” as opposed to “special”. Towards the end of the century, the usage “ornery” had evolved into describing someone who was mean or cantankerous.

Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in the novella “A Christmas Carol” By Charles Dickens. Through the course of the story, Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, who show him the consequences of his miserly behavior. His name “Scrooge” has become a part of the English language as a term to describe someone who is stingy and mean with money.

3 Flora that’s tricky to transplant : CACTUS

Ouch …

4 Garden pest eaten by hoverfly larva : APHID

Aphids are called “greenfly” back in Britain and Ireland where I come from. The most effective way to control aphids, in my experience, is to make sure there are plenty of ladybugs in the garden (called “ladybirds” in Ireland!).

Most species of hoverfly feed on nectar and pollen. As the name suggests, they are often seen hovering over flowers. Unlike hummingbirds, hoverflies do not feed as they hover. Rather, they first hover to locate food, and then land to feed.

5 2022 World Cup Golden Ball winner : LEO MESSI

Lionel “Leo” Messi is a soccer player from Argentina. Messi has been awarded FIFA’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) award more times than any other player. The Ballon d’Or is presented to the player who is considered the best in the world in the prior year.’

7 Rome landmark : FORUM

The Latin “forum” (plural “fora”) translates as “marketplace, town square”. “The Roman Forum” is the most famous example of such a space. The Forum at the heart of the city of Rome is surrounded by the ruins of several ancient government buildings, and has been referred to as the most celebrated meeting place in the world.

8 Writer Mario Vargas __ : LLOSA

Mario Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian writer of renown, and one of the most significant authors from Latin America by all accounts. Llosa is also very active politically, and in 1990 ran unsuccessfully for the Peruvian presidency.

9 Christmas trio : MAGI

“Magi” is the plural of the Latin word “magus”, a term applied to someone who was able to read the stars. Hence, “magi” is commonly used with reference to the “wise men from the East” who followed the star and visited Jesus soon after he was born. In Western Christianity, the three Biblical Magi are:

• Melchior: a scholar from Persia
• Caspar (also “Gaspar”): a scholar from India
• Balthazar: a scholar from Arabia

10 Big little tech release of 2005 : IPOD NANO

The iPod Nano was the successor to the iPod Mini and was introduced to the market at the end of 2005. There were seven versions of the Nano, until it was discontinued in 2017.

11 Actor Penn : KAL

Indian-American actor Kal Penn made a name for himself in the “Harold & Kumar” series of comedy films. These so-called “stoner comedies” are not my cup of tea, but I enjoyed him playing his more mainstream roles on TV’s “House” and “24”. He left the world of acting when President Obama won the 2008 election to work as an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement (although he did leave the White House briefly to film the “Harold & Kumar” sequel).

15 Dried meat snack : JERKY

Jerky is meat that has been trimmed of fat and dried. The term “jerky” comes into English via Spanish from the Incan Quechua “ch’arki” meaning “dried flesh”.

18 Balkan native : SERB

Serbs are an ethnic group native to the Balkans in southeastern Europe. Although Serbs exist as a minority group in many countries in the region, they are the majority ethnic group in Serbia, in Montenegro and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe is usually referred to as “the Balkans”. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains located in present-day Bulgaria and Serbia. “Balkan” is Bulgarian for “mountain”.

20 Native Ohioans : ERIES

The Erie people lived on lands south of Lake Erie, in parts of the modern-day US states of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The Erie were sometimes referred to as the Cat Nation, a reference to the mountain lions that were ever-present in the area that they lived. The name “Erie” is a shortened form of “Erielhonan” meaning “long tail”, possibly a further reference to the mountain lion or cat, which was possibly used as a totem. The Erie people gave their name to the Great Lake.

23 L’escrime equipment : EPEES

In French, one might engage in “l’escrime” (fencing) using an “épée” (sword).

30 “__ Things”: Oscar-winning Lanthimos film : POOR

“Poor Things” is a 2023 big-screen adaptation of a 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray. It is set in Victorian London, with Emma Stone playing the lead, Bella Baxter. Baxter has the body of an adult woman, but the mind of a fetus whose brain was transplanted into the adult woman. This one sounds very, very trippy …

Yorgos Lanthimos is a filmmaker from Greece who probably came to the attention of English-speaking audiences with the release of the 2015 black comedy “The Lobster”, which he co-wrote and directed. He follow that up with a series of three collaborations with actress Emma Stone, i.e. “The Favourite” (2018), “Bleat” (2022) and “Poor Things” (2023).

31 Who Othello declares “is most honest” : IAGO

In William Shakespeare’s “Othello”, Iago is the villain of the piece. At one point he readily admits this, saying “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse”. Here he is claiming to make money out of making fools of others. In this case, he takes money from Roderigo, who believes that Iago will help him bed Othello’s wife Desdemona.

37 Name in a Beethoven title : ELISE

“Für Elise” is a beautiful piece of solo piano music by Beethoven that is also known as “Bagatelle in A Minor”. “Für Elise” simply means “For Elise”, but sadly no one knows for sure the identity of the mysterious dedicatee.

38 Untaxed investment options : ROTH IRAS

Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (Roth IRAs) were introduced in 1997 under a bill sponsored by Senator William Roth of Delaware, hence the name.

39 Hurdle for M.A. hopefuls : GRE

Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.

42 __-ski : APRES

“Après-ski” is a French term meaning “after skiing”. It refers to the good times to be had after coming off the slopes.

45 Label founded by Clive Davis : ARISTA

Arista Records was set up as part of Columbia Pictures by one Clive Davis. He chose “Arista” as it was the name of the New York City Honor Society to which Davis belonged.

50 Kick to the curb, for one : IDIOM

“Curb” is another of those words that I had to learn when I came to the US. We park by the “kerb” on the other side of the Atlantic. Oh, and the “pavement”, that’s what we call the “footpath” (because the footpath is “paved”!). It’s very confusing when you arrive in this country from Ireland, and a little dangerous, when one has been taught to “walk on the pavement” …

56 Deg. held by Wilson, but no other U.S. president : PHD

Woodrow Wilson was a professor at Princeton from 1890 to 1902 at which time he was promoted to president of the university. Professor Wilson had earned his PhD. at Johns Hopkins University in 1886, so that when he was elected 28th President of the United States in 1912, he became the only US President to hold a PhD.

57 Tuna tartare topper : ROE

Steak tartare was first served in French restaurants in the early 1900s. Back then, the dish went by the name “steak à l’Americaine”, would you believe? It was basically raw, seasoned beef mixed with egg yolk. A later version of l’Americaine, without the egg yolk and with tartar sauce served on the side, was dubbed “steak tartare”. Over time the two versions became one, and the steak tartare moniker won out. By the way, if you order steak tartare in Switzerland, I believe you are served horse meat. There are now similar “tartare” dishes made with raw salmon, or raw tuna.