LA Times Crossword 20 Jul 24, Saturday

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Constructed by: Emily Biegas
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 14m 47s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14 Do-re-mi : SIMOLEONS

Lettuce, cabbage, kale, dough, bread, scratch, cheddar, simoleons, clams and moola(h) are all slang terms for money.

“Do-re-mi” is a slang term for cash. The term is American in origin and dates back to the 1920s. “Do-re-mi” is likely to be a pun on “dough”, another slang term for cash or money.

16 Beard dye in some cultures : HENNA

Henna has been used for centuries as a dye, for leather and wool as well as hair and skin. In modern days, henna is often used for temporary tattoos.

20 __ rock : YACHT

Yacht rock is a genre of soft rock music that originally went by the name “West Coast sound”. The genre covers music created from the mid-seventies to mid-eighties, but the moniker “yacht rock” was only coined in 2005. The term “yacht rock” is a reference to the sport of sailing, which is a popular pastime in Southern California.

21 Enduring style? : SLOW FASHION

The term “slow fashion” is used to describe a movement in the fashion industry that focuses on the use of sustainable materials, reuse of materials and clothing items, and lengthening the life of garments.

24 Shared surname in cinema : COEN

I think it’s great to see two brothers working together and being so successful. Joel and Ethan Coen are two movie producers and directors who both live in New York City. The Coen brothers do love the movie-making business and they even married industry “insiders”. Ethan’s wife is film editor Tricia Cooke, and Joel is married to one of my favorite actresses, the talented Frances McDormand.

26 Extended time off, briefly : LOA

Leave of absence (LOA)

28 Tony Gwynn’s “The __ of Hitting” : ART

Tony Gwynn was a Major League Baseball player who played the whole of his professional career with the San Diego Padres, and in fact earned the nickname “Mr. Padre”. Gwynn co-wrote the book “The Art of Hitting”, which was published in 1998.

29 “Mental Illness” Grammy winner : MANN

“Mental Illness” is a 2017 studio album released by Aimee Mann that won that season’s Grammy for Best Folk Album.

36 Coldwater breed that originated in Niigata, Japan : KOI

Koi are fish that are also known as Japanese carp. Koi have been bred for decorative purposes and there are now some very brightly colored examples found in Japanese water gardens.

37 Funds to supplement HDHPs : HSA

Health savings account (HSA)

High-deductible health plan (HDHP)

39 Sloth, for one : SIN

The cardinal sins of Christian ethics are also known as the seven deadly sins. The seven sins are:

• Wrath
• Greed
• Sloth
• Pride
• Lust
• Envy
• Gluttony

“Sloth”, meaning “indolence, sluggishness”, comes from the Middle English word “slowe”, which is also the root of our contemporary word “slow”. The animal, the sloth, is so named as it exhibits slow-moving behavior.

40 Oreo __ cake : DIRT

Dirt cake (sometimes “dirt pie, dirt pudding”) is a dessert usually made by breaking up Oreo cookies and scattering the pieces over chocolate pudding, and then adding gummy worms on top. Sounds delicious …

42 French Laundry offering : TASTING MENU

The French Laundry is a celebrated restaurant in Napa Valley. It was awarded a coveted three Michelin stars for the first time in 2006. The building was erected in 1896 as a saloon, and was converted to a French steam laundry in the 1920s, hence the restaurant’s name.

45 Tibetan singing __ : BOWLS

A singing bowl is a standing or resting bell that is played by rotating a wooden mallet (or “wand”) around the outside rim. Sometimes water is added to the bowl, in order to change the note played.

46 Over the line, in a way : OFFSIDES

In soccer, the offside rule prevents players from gaining an unfair advantage by standing in front of the opposing team’s goal and waiting for the ball to be passed to them. A player is in an offside position if they are in the opponent’s half of the field and closer to the opponent’s goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent.

51 Monk who won the 2017 Jerry West Award : MALIK

Malik Monk is a professional basketball player who was picked by the Charlotte Hornets in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft. Malik’s older brother Marcus Monk, a former professional basketball player (in Germany) who also played NFL football as a wide receiver.

52 Window on the house : FREE TRIAL

I guess a trial is a window of opportunity. If it’s a free trial, it’s on the house.

54 Seasonal salutation : DEAR SANTA …

If you want to send a note to Santa from Canada, he has his own special postal code: “North Pole, HOH OHO”. The US Postal Service suggests that we send mail for Santa to zip code 99705, which directs it to the city of North Pole, Alaska.

55 Elizabeth of “Love & Death” : OLSEN

Elizabeth Olsen is the younger sister of famous actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who rose to fame as child stars on the TV show Full House. Elizabeth didn’t start acting until later in life, and has starred in several critically acclaimed films. She is also known for her role as Scarlet Witch (aka Wanda Maximoff) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Love & Death” is a crime drama miniseries inspired by the true story of Candy Montgomery, a Texas housewife who was accused, and then acquitted, of murdering her lover’s wife. In the TV show, actress Elizabeth Olsen plays Montgomery.

Down

3 B-school entry req. : GMAT

If you want to get into a business school’s graduate program then you might have to take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), which will cost you about $250, I believe …

A B-school is a business school.

6 Part of many a linen blend : COTTON

The textile known as linen is made from flax fibers. The name “linen” probably comes from “linum”, which is Latin for both “flax” and “textile made from flax”.

8 “Sweeney Agonistes” monogram : TSE

T.S. Eliot’s “Sweeney Agonistes” is an unfinished verse drama, a fragmented and experimental work that the author just couldn’t seem to complete. Despite being unfinished, Eliot published two scenes, in 1926 and 1927, before publishing them together as one work in 1932 under the title “Sweeney Agonistes: Fragments of an Aristophanic Melodrama”.

11 Whole food? : ENCHILADA

“Enchilada” is the past participle of the Spanish word “enchilar” meaning “to add chili pepper to”. An enchilada is basically a corn tortilla rolled around some filling and then covered in chili pepper sauce. The term “big enchilada” is used in the same way as we would use “big cheese” i.e. to refer to the top dog. The phrase was popularized in the sixties when John Ehrlichman refers to Attorney General John Mitchell as “the big enchilada” on one of the Watergate Tapes. Similarly, the term “whole enchilada” emerged in the early sixties, used alongside such phrases as “whole nine yards”, “whole shebang” and “whole ball of wax”.

12 Arnold Palmer ratio : ONE TO ONE

The drink named for golfer Arnold Palmer is made from lemonade and ice tea. The drink named for fellow golfer John Daly is also made from lemonade and ice tea, but with vodka added …

15 “__ in Chemistry”: Bonnie Garmus novel : LESSONS

“Lessons in Chemistry” is a 2022 debut novel by Bonnie Garmus. The antagonist in the story is research chemist Elizabeth Zott, who is expelled from her doctoral program after stabbing a colleague in the wrist while she was being sexually assaulted. While working as a lab technician, she starts using her kitchen for experiments, while using chemistry to produce some delicious meals. Reluctantly, as a single mother, she begins hosting a TV cooking show, using that as a vehicle to challenge traditional gender roles. The novel was adapted into an excellent miniseries of the same name, with Brie Larson playing Zott.

20 Crimean resort : YALTA

Yalta is a resort city on the Black Sea on the Crimean Peninsula. Crimea is very much in the news in recent years because of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Yalta was also in the news at the end of WWII, as it was the site of the 1945 Yalta Conference between the leaders of the three main Allies.

24 Eugene or Gary : CITY

Eugene is the second-largest city in Oregon (after Portland). The city is named for its founder, Eugene Franklin Skinner. Skinner arrived in the area in 1846, after which the settlement he established was called Skinner’s Mudhole. The name was changed to Eugene City in 1852, which was shortened to Eugene in 1889.

The city of Gary, Indiana is located just 25 miles from downtown Chicago and falls within the Chicago metropolitan area (also known as “Chicagoland”). Gary was founded by US Steel in 1906, as the company selected it as the site for a new steel plant. The name “Gary” was chosen in honor of Elbert H. Gary, who was the key player in setting up US Steel in 1901.

28 “Midsommar” filmmaker Aster : ARI

Ari Aster is a film director from New York City. He is into horror films, and I am not …

“Midsommar” … it’s a horror film.

32 Zoë who won a Pulitzer Prize for the 1935 play “The Old Maid” : AKINS

Zoë Akins was a playwright from Humansville, Missouri who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1935 for her adaptation of Edith Wharton’s “The Old Maid”. Her own play “The Greeks Had a Word for It” was adapted into the famous movie “How to Marry a Millionaire”, which rocketed Marilyn Monroe into stardom. Akins is the great-aunt of actress Laurie Metcalf.

39 __ tofu : SILKEN

Silken tofu is a type of tofu that has a delicate, smooth texture. It is made by coagulating soy milk without curdling it.

43 Jute binder : TWINE

Our word “twine”, meaning “light string”, has the same root as our word “twin”. The original Old English “twin” was a double thread.

Jute is a very popular vegetable fiber, second only to cotton in terms of the amount produced. Jute fiber is also called hessian, and fabric made from jute can be called hessian cloth. In the US, cloth made from jute can be called burlap.

44 Mushroom hunter’s prize : MOREL

A morel is a mushroom with a honeycomb-like structure on the cap. They are highly prized, especially in French cuisine. Morels should never be eaten raw as they are toxic, with the toxins being removed by thorough cooking.

47 1979 revolution site : IRAN

Before 1935, the country we know today as Iran was referred to as Persia by the Western world. The official name of the country since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 is the “Islamic Republic of Iran”.

49 Brunches, say : EATS

Our word “brunch” is a portmanteau of “breakfast” and “lunch”. The term was coined as student slang in Oxford, England in the late 1890s. However, “brunch” described a combined meal closer to the breakfast hour, and the term “blunch” was used for a meal closer to lunchtime.

51 Eponym of a tunic suit : MAO

What we call the Mao suit in the west is known as the Zhongshan suit in China. The style was introduced by Sun Yat-sen (also known as Sun Zhongshan) as the form of national dress after the founding of the Republic of China in 1912.

An eponym is a name for something derived from the name of a person, as in the food item we call a “sandwich”, named after the Earl of Sandwich.

52 Vax overseer : FDA

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has its roots in the Division of Chemistry (later “Bureau of Chemistry”) that was part of the US Department of Agriculture. President Theodore Roosevelt gave responsibility for examination of food and drugs to the Bureau of Chemistry with the signing of the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Bureau’s name was changed to the Food, Drug and Insecticide Organization in 1927, and to the Food and Drug Administration in 1930.