LA Times Crossword 13 Oct 24, Sunday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Zhouqin Burnikel
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: EV Charging

Themed answers are common phrases “CHARGED” with “EV”, with “EV” inserted:

• 23A Televangelist’s weekly staff meeting? : BUSINESS REVIVAL (EV in “business rival”)
• 30A Gadget with all the bells and whistles? : LOADED DEVICE (EV in “loaded dice”)
• 51A Series of self-help books for really ambitious copy editors? : REVISE TO FAME (EV in “rise to fame”)
• 89A Rum drink served exclusively in Vegas casinos? : NEVADA COLADA (EV in “nada colada”)
• 100A Blossom on a pair of 501 jeans femme? : FLEUR-DE-LEVIS (EV in “fleur-de-lis”)
• 116A Formally promised that a tax rate was accurate? : LEVIED UNDER OATH (EV in “lied under oath”)
• 37D What winning lottery scratch tickets do? : REVEAL MONEY (EV in “real money”)
• 43D Complete overhaul of a diary passage? : ENTRY REVAMP (EV in “entry ramp”)

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

Bill’s time: 15m 29s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 Some briefs : BVDS

The men’s underwear known as BVDs are made by Bradley, Voorhees & Day. The company was started in 1876 to make bustles for women, and is named for its founders.

19 Tea party guest : ALICE

In Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, the Mad Hatter makes his first appearance in a chapter called “A Mad Tea-Party”. This event is usually described as “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party”, even though the Mad Hatter was just a guest. The host was the March Hare. In fact, the phrase “Mad Hatter” doesn’t appear anywhere in Lewis Carroll’s novel, although the character, the Hatter (and sometimes “Hatta”), is described as “mad”.

23 Televangelist’s weekly staff meeting? : BUSINESS REVIVAL (EV in “business rival”)

Televangelism is the use of radio and television for the promotion of religious beliefs, most notably Christian beliefs. A portmanteau of “television” and “evangelism”, televangelism began in the US, in the 1920s on radio.

28 “Borderlands” director Roth : ELI

Eli Roth is one of a group of directors of horror movies known quite graphically as “The Splat Pack”. I can’t stand “splat” movies and avoid them as best I can. Roth is also famous for playing Donny Donowitz in the Quentin Tarantino movie “Inglourious Basterds”.

“Borderlands” is a 2024 sci-fi action movie that is based on a series of video games of the same name. Despite the big names in the cast, including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Jamie Lee Curtis, this one bombed at the box office.

29 Martial art created by Morihei Ueshiba : AIKIDO

Aikido is a Japanese martial art that only dates back to the 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by Morihei Ueshiba, who is often referred to as “the Founder” or “Great Teacher”.

30 Gadget with all the bells and whistles? : LOADED DEVICE (EV in “loaded dice”)

A loaded dice is one that has been tampered with so that it lands on one specific side more often than the others. The next time you’re in a casino, you might notice that the dice used are transparent, except for the pips. Tampering with a transparent die is more difficult.

41 Flat fee? : RENT

“Flat”, describing an apartment or condominium, is a word more commonly used in Britain and Ireland than on this side of the pond. The term “flat” is Scottish in origin, in which language it used to mean “floor in a house”.

46 Skating jumps with 1½ air turns : AXELS

An axel is a forward take-off jump in figure skating. The maneuver was first performed by Norwegian Axel Paulsen at the 1882 World Figure Skating championships.

47 Only known warm-blooded fish : OPAH

“Opah” is the more correct name for the fish also known as the sunfish, moonfish or Jerusalem haddock. I’ve seen one in the Monterey Aquarium. It is one huge fish …

The opah is sometimes referred to as “warm-blooded”, the only fish described as such. This does not mean that the opah maintains the same temperature, regardless of its environment, but rather that the core of its body stays at about 5°C above the surrounding water temperature.

50 From scratch : ANEW

Apparently, the phrase “start from scratch” arose in the world of sports, probably in cricket or boxing. A line would be scratched into the ground to indicate a starting point.

56 Vessels on a frozen lake : ICEBOATS

Iceboats are craft that sail on ice, powered by the wind. Because the resistance to motion is so low on smooth ice, iceboats can reach very high speeds, sometimes over 60 mph.

57 Beltway Series MLB team : NATS

The Beltway Series (also “The Battle of the Beltways”) is a series of games played by MLB rivals the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles. The series takes its name from the Baltimore and Capital Beltways (I-695 and I-495), two highways serving the Baltimore and Washington areas.

63 Some pop : COLAS

The first cola drink to become a commercial success was Coca-Cola, soon after it was invented by a druggist in 1886. The first sales were in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, where a glass of the new beverage sold for five cents. That original Coca-Cola was flavored mainly with kola nuts and vanilla. The formulation was based on an alcoholic drink called Coca Wine that had been on sale for over twenty years.

65 Secret rendezvous : TRYST

In the most general sense, a tryst is a meeting at an agreed time and place. More usually we consider a tryst to be a pre-arranged meeting between lovers. The term comes from the Old French “triste”, a waiting place designated when hunting. Further, a tryst taking place at lunchtime is sometimes referred to as a nooner.

72 Fallon of late-night : JIMMY

Jimmy Fallon was a cast member for a number of years on “Saturday Night Live” before getting his own talk show in 2009, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”. Fallon took over “The Tonight Show” from Jay Leno in 2014. I’m not a big Fallon fan …

75 Not mucho : POCO

In Spanish, if one doesn’t have “mucho” (much), one might have “poco” (little).

77 Defib expert : EMT

An emergency medical technician (EMT) might use an automated external defibrillator (AED).

80 Fried pastry filled with mashed potatoes : ALOO PIE

Aloo pie is a fast-food dish from Caribbean cuisine, one that possibly originated in Trinidad and Tobago. Resembling a large, distended samosa, it comprises seasoned mashed potatoes wrapped in pastry and then deep fried. “Aloo” is a Hindi word meaning “potato”.

82 Baba ghanoush bread : PITA

Baba ganoush (also “baba ghanouj” and “baba ghanoush”) is an Arab dish with the main ingredient of mashed eggplant. It is sometimes served as a (delicious) dip.

89 Rum drink served exclusively in Vegas casinos? : NEVADA COLADA (EV in “nada colada”)

A “nada colada” is a “pina colada” without alcohol.

92 At an impasse : STUCK

“Impasse” is a French word describing a blind alley or an impassable road, and we use the term to mean “stalemate”.

97 Ceramic stewpot : OLLA

An olla is a traditional clay pot used for the making of stews. “Olla” was the Latin word used in ancient Rome to describe a similar type of pot.

98 “¡Dios __!” : MIO

“Dios mio!” translates from Spanish as “My God!”

100 Blossom on a pair of 501 jeans femme? : FLEUR-DE-LEVIS (EV in “fleur-de-lis”)

“Lys” (sometimes “lis”) is the French word for “lily” as in “fleur-de-lys”, the heraldic symbol often associated with the French monarchy.

Levi Strauss was granted a patent in the 1870s for the use of copper rivets to reinforce points of strain on clothes made from denim. Patent protection expired in 1890, and at that point the company designated its rivet-reinforced overalls as “lot no. 501”. That number is still being used over a century later.

104 Ninja in a shell : TURTLE

The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” started out as a parody of comic book superheroes, first appearing in a self-published comic book in 1984. A couple of years later the characters were picked up by someone who built a whole line of toys around the characters, and then television and movies followed. Do you remember the names of all four of the Turtles? Their names were all taken from Renaissance artists:

• Leonardo
• Raphael
• Michelangelo
• Donatello

108 Kirigami or origami : ART

Origami is the traditional Japanese art form of paper folding. The best-known example of the craft is the paper crane (“orizuru“). The word “origami” is derived from “ori“ (folding) and “kami” (paper).

Kirigami is a variant of origami in which the paper used is cut as well as folded. The word “kirigami” was coined in the US, by British-American origami expert Florence Temko. Melding the Japanese “kiri” (cut) and “kami” (paper), Temko introduced the term in her 1962 book “Kirigami, the Creative Art of Paper Cutting”.

115 Pong Quest developer : ATARI

Pong Quest is a video game released by Atari in 2020. It is based on the classic paddle tennis game that Atari brought out in the 1970s, but is way, way more sophisticated than its predecessor.

116 Formally promised that a tax rate was accurate? : LEVIED UNDER OATH (EV in “lied under oath”)

A levy is a tax. The term “levy” comes from Old French in which “levée” means “raising”. So a levy is a tax that has been “raised” (in the sense of “collected”, and not “increased”).

123 Perez of “Birds of Prey” : ROSIE

Rosie Perez is an American actress of Puerto Rican descent born in New York City. As well as pursuing her acting career, Perez is an activist promoting Puerto Rican rights, and was arrested in 2000 at a rally to protest US Navy weapons-training off the coast of Puerto Rico.

“Birds of Prey” is a 2020 superhero movie based on the superhero team of the same name created for the DC Comics universe. The film centers on a band of female superheroes, and is a spinoff of the 2016 movie “Suicide Squad”.

126 Cereal in party mix : CHEX

Chex Mix is a party mix that includes Chex cereal as a major ingredient. The first recipe appeared on boxes of Chex cereal in 1952.

Down

1 Catches red-handed : NABS

To be caught red-handed is to be caught in the act. The expression originated in Scotland and dates back at least to the 1400s. The red in question is blood, as in being caught with blood on one’s hands after perhaps committing a murder or an act of poaching.

2 Many a school donor : ALUM

An alumnus (plural “alumni”) is a graduate or former student of a school or college. The female form is “alumna” (plural “alumnae”). The term comes into English from Latin, in which an alumnus is a foster-son or pupil. “Alum” is an informal term used for either an alumna or alumnus.

3 Soybean paste similar to doenjang : MISO

Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes miso soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

Doenjang is a fermented soybean paste used in Korean cuisine.

4 Vaper’s choice : E-CIG

An electronic cigarette (also called an “e-cigarette”) is a battery-powered device that resembles a real cigarette. The e-cigarette vaporizes a solution that contains nicotine, forming a vapor that resembles smoke. The vapor is inhaled in a process called “vaping”, delivering nicotine into the body. The assumption is that an e-cigarette is healthier than a regular cigarette as the inhaled vapor is less harmful than inhaled smoke. But, that may not be so …

6 Deep opera voice : BASSO

The bass is the lowest male singing voice. A man with such a voice might be called a “basso” (plural “bassi”). In an opera, the villain of the piece is usually played by a basso.

8 Arcade game featuring colorful floor arrows: Abbr. : DDR

Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) is a series of music video games that launched in 1998. It is usually found in arcades, as players have to stand on a special dance stage and hit arrows with their feet on cue.

11 Nice beach area : RIVIERA

“Riviera” is an Italian word meaning “coastline”. The term is often applied to a coastline that is sunny and popular with tourists. The term “the Riviera” is usually reserved for the French Riviera (the Mediterranean coastline in southeastern France), and the Italian Riviera (the Mediterranean coastline centered on Genoa).

13 Tierra __ Fuego: archipelago in South America : DEL

Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southern tip of South America and is the location of the famed Cape Horn. Tierra del Fuego was discovered by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. He saw native fires on land as he passed by and originally called the location “Land of Smoke” This was later changed to “Land of Fire”, or “Tierra del Fuego” in Spanish.

16 New York’s __ Field : CITI

Citi Field is a relatively new baseball stadium used by the New York Mets (NYM) that sits right next door to the site of Shea stadium, where the Mets had played for decades. The new facility’s name comes from corporate sponsor Citigroup.

25 Sanskrit scripture : VEDA

The Vedas are a body of ancient Indian texts, the oldest Hindu scriptures. The word “véda” is Sanskrit, and means “knowledge, wisdom”.

31 Part of CODA : DEAF

Child of deaf adult (CODA)

32 Actor Hawke : ETHAN

Ethan Hawke is a Hollywood actor who made his breakthrough in a supporting role in “Dead Poet’s Society”, playing opposite Robin Williams. Hawke used to be married to Uma Thurman, with whom he has two children.

33 __ Beach, Florida : VERO

Vero Beach, Florida was the home of spring training for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1948 to 2008 (after which the team moved spring training to Arizona).

35 County north of San Francisco : MARIN

When you leave the city of San Francisco via the famous Golden Gate Bridge (i.e. heading north), you cross into Marin County.

42 __ d’hôtel : MAITRE

The full title of a maître d’ is “maître d’hôtel”, which means “master of the hotel”.

44 Tourney rounds : SEMIS

“Tourney” is another word for “tournament”. “Tourney” comes from the Old French word “tornei” meaning “contest of armed men”, from “tornoier” meaning “to joust, jilt”.

47 Quattro x due : OTTO

In Italian, “quattro x due (four x two) is “otto” (eight).

53 Coconut vendor’s tool : MACHETE

A machete is a large knife, one usually 13-18 inches long. The term “machete” is the diminutive of “macho” meaning “male, strong”.

67 Chews the scenery : EMOTES

To chew the scenery is to overact, to ham it up.

71 Brown-skinned pear : BOSC

Bosc is a cultivar of the European pear that is grown mainly in the northwest of the United States. It is named for French horticulturist Louis Bosc. The cultivar originated in Belgium or France in the early 19th century. The Bosc is that pear with a skin the color of a potato, with a long neck.

72 Lowest face cards : JACKS

The kings, queens and jacks in a deck of cards are known as face cards. In many card games, face cards are given a value of ten.

73 Rugby star Maher : ILONA

Ilona Maher is an American rugby player who started playing for the US national team in 2018. She also played for the national rugby sevens team at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and won a bronze medal.

81 Oxford part : INSOLE

An oxford is a type of lace-up shoe that originated not in Oxford, but actually in Scotland and/or Ireland.

86 “RRR” actress Bhatt : ALIA

Alia Bhatt is an Indian-British actress who is a member of a notable Hindi film family. She is the daughter of film director Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan. Alia Bhatt appears mostly in Bollywood movies.

“RRR” is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language period action film. It is set in the 1920s and is based on the lives of two real-life freedom fighters, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem. The film is a fictional retelling of their fight against the British Raj and the Nizam of Hyderabad. “RRR” had a massive budget of over $60 million USD, making it one of the most expensive films ever made in Indian cinema.

88 Shipmate of McCoy, Spock, and Kirk : SULU

Mr. Hikaru Sulu was played by George Takei in the original “Star Trek” series. Takei has played lots of roles over the years, and is still very active in television. Did you know that he appeared in the 1963 film, “Pt-109”? He played the helmsman steering the Japanese destroyer that ran down John F. Kennedy’s motor torpedo boat. From destroyer helmsman to starship helmsman …

93 Group of travelers : CARAVAN

A camel train carrying passengers or goods across a desert can be referred to as a caravan. “Caravan” derives from the Persian “karwan”, which has the same meaning. Over in Britain, “caravan” is the name given to travel trailers.

99 East, in Ecuador : ESTE

“Ecuador” is the Spanish word for “equator”, which gives the country its name.

102 Vaughn of “Bad Monkey” : VINCE

Just like me and my brothers, Vince Vaughn was born to parents who had a thing about giving names to their kids all starting with the same letter. Vince has two siblings, older sisters called Victoria and Valeri.

“Bad Monkey” is a comedic crime-drama TV series based on a 2013 novel of the same name by Carl Hiaasen. The show stars Vince Vaughn as a police detective who is given the degrading job of inspecting restaurants.

105 Snowbasin’s state : UTAH

Snowbasin is a ski resort located just over 30 miles to the northeast of Salt Lake City. The facility opened way back in 1939, and hosted several alpine skiing events during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

107 China fir, e.g. : TREE

The China fir is a tree that is native to China, Vietnam and Laos. It is indeed an evergreen conifer, but it’s not a fir. Its wood has a very pleasant scent, and it is often used in the manufacture of coffins and in the construction of temples.

111 Ginseng, e.g. : ROOT

The word “ginseng” comes from a Chinese term meaning “man root”. The term is used as the root of ginseng is forked and is said to resemble the legs of a man.

116 Psychedelic drug first synthesized in 1938 : LSD

LSD (known colloquially as “acid”) is lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist named Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …

118 Grumpy friend : DOC

In the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale called “Snow White”, the seven dwarfs were not given any names. The names were added for the 1937 classic Disney film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. The seven dwarfs are:

• Doc (the leader of the group)
• Grumpy (that would be me, according to my wife …)
• Happy
• Sleepy
• Bashful
• Sneezy
• Dopey

119 Granite State sch. : UNH

The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is the largest university in the state. UNH was founded as the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts in 1866 in Hanover. The college was moved to Durham in the early 1890s, which is where UNH’s main campus is located to this day. The school’s athletic teams are known as the Wildcats.

New Hampshire is called the Granite State, because it has lots of granite quarries and granite formations.