LA Times Crossword 11 Jun 24, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Jay Silverman
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Four-H Club

Themed answers each include exactly FOUR letters H:

• 57A Youth organization that 18-, 23-, 37-/39-, and 48-Across could be members of? : FOUR-H CLUB

• 18A Like some boots : THIGH–HIGH
• 23A Jewish New Year : ROSH HASHANAH

• 37A With 39-Across, considered carefully : THOUGHT …
• 39A See 37-Across : … THROUGH

• 48A “How do you tell them apart?” : WHICH IS WHICH?

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

Bill’s time: 5m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

13 “Arrested Development” actress Portia de __ : ROSSI

Portia de Rossi is an actress from Australia who played Nelle Porter on “Ally McBeal” and Lindsay Bluth/Fünke on “Arrested Development”. Off the screen, de Rossi is famous as the wife of Ellen DeGeneres, whom she married in 2008.

“Arrested Development” is a sitcom that originally aired on Fox from 2003 to 2006. Ron Howard was heavily involved in the show behind the camera, serving as executive producer and also as the show’s narrator. Fifteen new episodes of “Arrested Development” were filmed specifically for release on Netflix in 2013, and there may even be a movie on the way.

15 Vietnam’s continent : ASIA

Vietnam is the country with the 13th-largest population in the word. It covers all of the eastern coast of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia.

16 Jewish wedding dance : HORA

The hora is a circle dance that originated in the Balkans. It was brought to Israel by Romanian settlers, and is often performed to traditional, Israeli folk songs. The hora (also “horah”) is a regular sight at Jewish weddings. Sometimes the honoree at an event is raised on a chair during the dance.

22 Continental coins : EUROS

The reverse side of euro coins feature a common design, a design that includes the 12 stars featured on the Flag of Europe. The number of stars is not related to the number of states in the European Union, nor has it ever been. The number of stars in the design was the subject of much debate prior to its adoption in 1955 by the Council of Europe. Twelve was a deliberate choice, as at that time there was no political connotation, and twelve was considered to be a symbol of unity.

23 Jewish New Year : ROSH HASHANAH

Rosh Hashanah is loosely referred to as “Jewish New Year”. The literal translation from Hebrew is “head of the year”.

28 PDQ kin : ASAP

Pretty darn quick (PDQ)

29 Pekoe, e.g. : TEA

A pekoe (or more commonly “orange pekoe”) is a medium-grade black tea. There is no orange flavor in an orange pekoe tea. The “orange” name most likely derived from the name of the trading company that brought the tea to Europe from Asia.

41 Word before crawl or cycle : NEWS …

A news ticker, or “crawler”, is a text-based graphic that runs across the bottom of a TV screen providing perhaps news headlines or continuous stock quotes.

45 Orthodontist’s org. : ADA

American Dental Association (ADA)

Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry dealing with the straightening of teeth. The name comes from the Greek “orthos” meaning “straight” and “dontia” meaning “teeth”.

47 CT summer hrs. : EDT

The official nickname of Connecticut (CT) is the “Constitution State”, but can also be referred to as the Nutmeg State, the Provisions State, and the Land of Steady Habits.

53 Skylit courtyards : ATRIA

In modern architecture, an atrium (plural “atria” or “atriums”) is a large open space usually in the center of a building and extending upwards to the roof. The original atrium was an open court in the center of an Ancient Roman house. One could access most of the enclosed rooms of the house from the atrium.

57 Youth organization that 18-, 23-, 37-/39-, and 48-Across could be members of? : FOUR-H CLUB

4-H is a youth organization in the US. The first 4-H clubs were set up at the start of the 20th century and were focused on agricultural communities. Although 4-H no longer has the rural focus, because of the organization’s history it is administered with the Department of Agriculture. The four Hs are Head, Heart, Hands and Health.

61 Lowest point : NADIR

The nadir is the direction pointing immediately below a particular location (through to the other side of the Earth for example). The opposite direction, that pointing immediately above, is called the zenith. We use the terms “nadir” and “zenith” figuratively to mean the low and high points in a person’s fortunes.

63 Teller’s partner in magic : PENN

Penn Jillette is one half of the duo of magicians known as Penn & Teller (Penn is the one who talks). Penn teamed up with Teller on stage in 1981, having met him through a friend back in 1974. As well as being talkative onstage, Penn is very vocal offstage when it comes to his causes and beliefs. He is a devout atheist, a libertarian and a supporter of free-market capitalism.

The illusionist Teller, of Penn & Teller, was born Raymond Teller in Philadelphia, although he legally changed his name to simply “Teller”. Teller decided not to speak during his performances way back in his youth. He was doing magic at college fraternity parties and discovered that by remaining silent, the potentially rowdy audience focused on his act and refrained from throwing beer at him!

64 Pulverize, as peppercorns : GRIND

To pulverize is to reduce to very small particles. The term “pulverize” comes from the Late Latin verb “pulverizare” meaning “reduce to powder/dust”, which in turn derives from the Latin “pulvis” meaning “dust, powder”.

Down

2 Many a retirement unit : CONDO

The terms “condominium” and “apartment” tend to describe the same type of residential property, namely a private living space with facilities shared with others residing in the same building or complex. The difference is that a condominium is usually owned, and an apartment is rented. At least that’s how it is in the US. The word “condominium” comes from the Latin “com-” (together) and “dominum” (right of ownership).

3 Windows predecessor : MS-DOS

MS-DOS (short for “Microsoft Disk Operating System”) was the main operating system used by IBM-compatible PCs in the eighties and for much of the nineties. Microsoft introduced the Windows operating environment in 1985 to sit above MS-DOS as a graphical user interface (GUI). That move was made in response to the success of Apple’s GUI released with the Lisa and Macintosh platforms. A court case ensued, one that was eventually settled in court in favor of Microsoft.

4 Part of the digestive system : ESOPHAGUS

The esophagus is the gullet, the “pipe” that carries food from the mouth down into the stomach. The term comes from the Greek “oisophagos” that can be translated as “to carry to eat”.

12 Stadium cheers : RAHS

The Greek word “stadion” was a measure of length, about 600 feet. The name “stadion” then came to be used for a running track of that length. That “running track” meaning led to our contemporary term “stadium” (plural “stadia”).

19 Jalopy : HEAP

The origins of our word “jalopy”, meaning “dilapidated, old motor car”, seem to have been lost in time, but the word has been around since the 1920s. One credible suggestion is that it comes from Xalapa, Mexico as the Xalapa scrap yards were the destination for many discarded American automobiles.

24 Actor Holbrook : HAL

Hal Holbrook was an actor from Cleveland, Ohio. Although Holbrook was well known for many roles on the big and small screens, he is best known for a series of plays that he developed called “Mark Twain Tonight!”. Holbrook depicted Twain on stage giving recitations from several of Twain’s writings, varying the script for each performance. “Mark Twain Tonight!” was first performed in 1959, and Holbrook last portrayed Twain in the work in 2017, just before he retired at the age of 92. With well over 2,000 appearances in 58 years, Holbrook portrayed Twain longer than Samuel Langhorne Clemens himself.

26 Two-time NBA MVP Steve : NASH

Steve Nash is a former professional basketball player who spent most of his playing career with the Phoenix Suns. Nash is from Canada, although he was actually born in South Africa. He became the first NBA player to carry the Olympic torch and light the Olympic cauldron, which he did at the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada.

34 Sioux City state : IOWA

Sioux City, Iowa has a history that is inextricably linked with the Missouri River. The city grew from a camp established by the Lewis and Clark expedition that traveled up the river in 1804. Today, Sioux City is the navigational head of the Missouri, the furthest point upstream that is accessible by general cargo ships.

38 Pueblo people : HOPI

Many members of the Hopi nation live on a reservation that is actually located within the much larger Navajo reservation in Arizona.

40 Motor City NHL player : RED WING

The Detroit Red Wings play in the National Hockey League (NHL). They have won the Stanley Cup more times than any other US-based NHL team.

The city of Detroit was founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a French explorer. The original settlement was named for the Detroit River, which in turn takes its name from the French word “détroit” meaning “strait”. Detroit became inextricably linked with the automotive business from the very early 20th century when Henry Ford and others set up manufacturing in the area. This link to transportation led to Detroit’s nicknames “Motor City” and “Motown”. The city’s economic strength declined at the beginning of the 21st century, resulting in a 25% drop in population between 2000 and 2010. Detroit filed for the country’s largest municipal bankruptcy in history in 2013, facing a debt of $18.8 billion. The city exited bankruptcy at the end of 2014.

46 Former Iranian ruler : SHAH

The last Shah of Iran was Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. The post-revolution government sought the extradition of the Shah back to Iran while he was in the United States seeking medical care (he had cancer). His prolonged stay in the United States, recovering from surgery, caused some unrest back in Iran and resentment towards the United States. Some say that this resentment precipitated the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran and the resulting hostage crisis.

48 Jittery from too much caffeine : WIRED

Caffeine is a naturally occurring stimulant that is found in several plants. The chemical serves as a natural pesticide by paralyzing and killing certain insects that would otherwise feed on the plant. Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug that is consumed by humans across the world.

49 IDs on copyright pages : ISBNS

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) was invented by one Gordon Foster who was a professor at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. The code was originally developed for booksellers, so that they had a unique number (and now a barcode) for each publication. ISBNs are ten digits long if assigned before 2007. Since the start of 2007, ISBNs have been thirteen digits long.

The term “copyright” really derives from the concept of giving another party the “right to copy”. Usually “copyright” gives the holder the power to financially benefit from any copies made. Copyright was invented in essence soon after the development of the printing press, with the first legal statutes put in place in Britain in the early 18th century.

50 Mumbai’s nation : INDIA

Mumbai is the most populous city in India, and the second-most populous city in the world (after Shanghai). The name of the city was changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995. It is the financial capital of India and is home to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the oldest stock exchange in Asia.

52 Roaming buffalo, e.g. : HERDS

There are two species of bison left (four species are extinct). We are most familiar with the American bison (commonly called the American buffalo), but there is also a European bison, which is sometimes called a “wisent”.

59 Luthor of “Smallville” : LEX

Lex Luthor is the nemesis of Superman in comics. He has been portrayed in a number of guises in the comic world as well in movies and on the small screen. For example, he appeared as Atom Man in the 1950 film series “Atom Man vs. Superman”, and was played by actor Lyle Talbot, opposite Kirk Alyn’s Superman.

“Smallville” is a superhero TV show set in the fictional Kansas town of Smallville, where Clark Kent grew up before becoming Superman. The show originally ran from 2001 to 2011, and starred Tom Welling as Clark Kent, and Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang.