LA Times Crossword 21 Dec 24, Saturday

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Constructed by: Stacey Yaruss McCullough & Matthew Stock
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 12m 02s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Bad Bunny genre : LATIN TRAP

Latin trap is an increasingly popular subgenre of Latin hip hop that emerged from Puerto Rico in the first decade of the 21st century.

Trap is a genre of hip hop music that originated in the early 21st century in the southern US. The name “trap” is a slang word used in Atlanta for a house used to sell drugs.

Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. He was the first non-English language act to top Spotify’s most-streamed artist list.

10 Maker of Cleansing Melts soap pads : OLAY

Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1952. When Oil of Olay was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.

19 Yurchenko double __: vault now called the Biles II : PIKE

Artistic gymnast Simone Biles holds many, many world and US records. In 2022, President Joe Biden presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, making her the youngest person ever to receive the award.

20 Stick in the water : POOL NOODLE

Pool noodles are foam flotation devices and swim-toys much-loved by kids.

24 CrossFit moves : BURPEES

Burpees are strength-training exercises. Each burpee involves a squat thrust followed by a straight stand. The exercise is named for its inventor, physiologist Royal Huddleston Burpee, Sr.

CrossFit is a trademarked fitness, strength and conditioning program that was introduced in 2000.

35 Yarns : TALES

The phrase “to spin a yarn”, meaning “to tell a tall tale”, originated in the early 1800s with seamen. The idea was that sailors would tell stories to each other while engaged in mindless work such as twisting yarn.

37 Bow wood : YEW

Yew is the wood of choice for the longbow, a valued weapon in the history of England. The longbow is constructed with a core of yew heartwood (as the heartwood resists compression) that has a sheath of yew sapwood (as the sapwood resists stretching). The yew was in such demand for longbows that for centuries yew trees were in short supply in Britain and the wood had to be imported from all over Europe.

38 Acts like a gobstopper : LASTS

Jawbreakers (also “gobstoppers”) are spherical, hard candy that usually consist of a number of layers that reveal themselves as the sweet dissolves in the mouth.

42 Grapefruit relative : POMELO

A pomelo is a very large, pear-shaped citrus fruit that is native to Southeast Asia.

The somewhat bitter fruit that we know as “grapefruit” originated in the island nation of Barbados in the Caribbean. It developed as a hybrid (possibly accidentally) of the Jamaican sweet orange and the Indonesian pomelo. Back in the mid-1700s, the new hybrid was referred to as “the forbidden fruit”, and later as the shaddock. Some believe that a “Captain Shaddock” brought Indonesian pomelo seeds to Barbados and was responsible for developing the hybrid. The contemporary name is perhaps an allusion to the fact that grapefruit grows in clusters like grapes.

53 Lao Gan Ma condiment : CHILI CRISP

Chili crisp is a hot sauce used originally in Chinese cuisine. The main ingredients are fried chili peppers infused in oil. The best-known brand of chili crisp is Lao Gan Ma, which is made in the province of Guizhou in Southwestern China.

56 One of three in the Girl Scouts logo : SILHOUETTE

A silhouette is an outline, usually of a person’s profile, which has been filled in with a solid color. One theory is that the term “silhouette” comes from the name of the French Minister of Finance in 1759, Étienne de Silhouette. Said minister made major cutbacks in spending to finance the Seven Years War, cutbacks that were not popular with the citizenry. His name came to be used for a cheap way of making someone’s likeness, a “silhouette”.

57 Bridesmaid’s accessory : POSY

“Poesy” was the name given to a line of verse engraved on the inner surface of a ring. The related word “posy”, for a bouquet of flowers, arose with the notion that giving a posy might be a message of love, just as a poesy inside a ring could have the same meaning.

Down

2 __ palm : ACAI

Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

3 School house? : TANK

“Aquarium” is a Latin word meaning “pertaining to water”, although in Latin the word only existed as a noun with the meaning “drinking place for cattle”. Before the use of the noun “aquarium” (plural “aquaria”) in the context of fish, a tank was sometimes referred to as a marine vivarium.

5 George Halas Trophy org. : NFC

The George Halas Trophy is awarded to the winner of the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game each season. The winner then moves on to the Super Bowl.

9 Some brimless hats : PILLBOXES

A pillbox hat is so called because it looks somewhat like a larger version of a small, cylindrical box used to carry pills. It has a flat crown, upright sides and no brim. Famously, First Lady Jackie Kennedy was wearing a pink pillbox hat as she rode in the car beside her husband when he was assassinated.

10 Deep-ocean mollusks : OCTOPI

The term “octopus” comes from the Greek for “eight-footed”. The most common plural used is “octopuses”, although the Greek plural form “octopodes” is also quite correct. The plural “octopi” isn’t really correct as the inference is that “octopus” is like a second-declension Latin noun, which it isn’t. That said, dictionaries are now citing “octopi” as an acceptable plural. Language does evolve, even though that drives me crazy …

11 Funny bones? : 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.

Dice were originally made from “knucklebones”, bones found in the ankles of a sheep. As a result, dice are often referred to as “bones”.

15 Grants for researchers? : TENURES

A job in a university that is described as “tenure-track” is one that can lead to a tenured position. A tenured position is a “job for life”. A person with tenure can only be dismissed for cause.

21 Contact juggler’s props : ORBS

Contact juggling is a form of object manipulation where the juggler maintains continuous contact with a prop, usually an acrylic ball. The illusion created is that the ball is floating or effortlessly dancing around the juggler’s body.

23 __ Vegas Raiders : LAS

The Las Vegas Raiders football team was founded in 1960, and was originally intended to play in Minnesota. Instead, the team played in Oakland from 1960 to 1981 and then spent 12 years in Los Angeles before returning to Oakland in 1995. In 2017, the Raiders announced their plan to relocate to Las Vegas starting in 2020.

27 Air busses? : BLOWS A KISS

To buss is to kiss.

28 Soda shop treats : MALTS

Walgreens claims to have introduced the malted milkshake, back in 1922.

33 Gp. with a compass rose emblem on its flag : NATO

The NATO logo is a symbol of the organization’s mission, and features a white compass rose on a dark blue background. The blue represents the Atlantic Ocean, while the compass rose symbolizes the shared goal of member nations to navigate towards peace and stability.

35 Southwest expanses? : TARMACS

The terms “tarmac” and “macadam” are short for “tarmacadam”. In the 1800s, Scotsman John Loudon McAdam developed a style of road known as “macadam”. Macadam had a top-layer of crushed stone and gravel laid over larger stones. The macadam also had a convex cross-section so that water tended to drain to the sides. In 1901, a significant improvement was made by English engineer Edgar Purnell Hooley who introduced tar into the macadam, improving the resistance to water damage and practically eliminating dust. The “tar-penetration macadam” is the basis of what we now call “tarmac”.

When Southwest Airlines started flying, the company operated out of Dallas Love Field. The company then chose a “love” theme, offering “love bites” (peanuts) and “love potions” (drinks) to passengers during flights. That’s why Southwest is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as “LUV”.

36 Many “What We Do in the Shadows” characters : VAMPIRES

“What We Do in the Shadows” is a comedy horror TV show that debuted in 2019, and is based on a 2014 New Zealand mockumentary of the same name. The small-screen version is about four vampires who are roommates on Staten Island. I really don’t do horror, not even comedy horror …

38 First unsigned artist to record a Billboard No. 1 hit : LOEB

Singer Lisa Loeb was discovered by actor Ethan Hawke, who lived just across the street from her in New York City. Hawke took a demo of her song “Stay (I Missed You)” and gave it to director Ben Stiller, who in turn used it over the ending credits of his 1994 movie “Reality Bites”. The movie was a hit, the song went to number one, and Loeb became the first artist ever to hit that number one spot without having signed up with a record label. Good for her!

45 Territory nearly surrounded by Haryana : DELHI

Haryana is a state in northern India that was formed in 1966. It shares its capital, Chandigarh, with the neighboring state of Punjab. Haryana also borders Delhi, the nation’s capital, surrounding it on three sides.