LA Times Crossword 7 Dec 24, Saturday

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Constructed by: Rachel Fabi & Lewis Rothlein
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 20m 53s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 Subatomic particle in the world’s largest collider : HADRON

Quarks are elementary atomic particles that combine to make composite particles called “hadrons”. I’m really only familiar with the really stable hadrons i.e. protons and neutrons. There are six types of quarks (referred to as “flavors”). These flavors are up, down, strange, charm, bottom and top. The term “quark” was borrowed from James Joyce’s book “Finnegans Wake”, by physicist Murray Gell-Mann. However, the word coined by Joyce is pronounced “kwark”, and the particle’s name is pronounced “kwork”.

16 Beverage also called Silver Needle : WHITE TEA

Baihao Yinzhen is a white tea that also goes by the English name White Hair Silver Needle. White tea is a light-colored tea, made from immature leaves and buds, that is dried before oxidation (and darkening) can take place. Baihao Yinzhen is the most expensive variety of white tea.

17 Michael Jordan’s sch. : UNC

Michael Jordan is considered by some to be the greatest basketball player of all time. Not only is he a talented sportsman, but he is also very successful in the business world. He became the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets NBA team in 2010. Fans refer to Jordan as “His Airness”.

23 Certain guest permits : VISAS

A visa is usually a stamp in one’s passport, an indication that one is authorized to enter (and less often, to exit) a particular country. The word “visa” comes into English, via French, from the Latin expression “charta visa” meaning “paper that has been seen”, or “verified paper”.

25 Tweaks : AMENDS

The verb “to amend” means “to change for the better, put right, alter by adding”. The related verb “to emend” is used more rarely, and mainly in reference to the editing of professional writing. Both terms are derived from the Latin “emendare” meaning “to remove fault”.

31 Spy glasses? : ONE-WAY MIRRORS

A one-way mirror is a mirror that reflects when viewed from one-side, but is transparent when viewed from the other. In order for a one-way mirror to work properly, one side of the mirror must be brightly lit, while the other side is dark. One-way mirrors are also known as two-way mirrors. I tried to work out which is the “correct” name, and just gave myself a headache …

35 Best Play awards : ESPYS

The ESPY Awards, also known as the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, were first presented in a ceremony in 1993. They were created by ESPN as a response to the lack of sports coverage during the summer months. ESPN decided to create an awards show to help fill that gap.

37 Salsa, or a salsa move : DIP

The genre of music called salsa is a modern interpretation of various Cuban traditional music styles.

“Salsa” is simply Spanish for “sauce”.

39 “Open at your own risk” indicator : NSFW

The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. It’s Internet slang used to describe online content that is best not viewed at work.

43 Protected, in a way : ALEE

Alee is the direction away from the wind. If a sailor points into the wind, he or she is pointing aweather. The sheltered side of an island, for example, might be referred to as the “lee” side.

45 Like no films released to theaters in 2023 : RATED G

The Motion Picture Association’s (MPA) film-rating system (PG-13, R, etc.) is purely voluntary and is not backed by any law. Movie theaters agree to abide by the rules that come with the MPA ratings in exchange for access to new movies.

47 DeLaria of “Orange Is the New Black” : LEA

Lea DeLaria is a comedian and actor who is perhaps best known for portraying Carrie “Big Boo” Black on the hit comedy-drama “Orange is the New Black”. Another of DeLaria’s claims to fame is that she became the first openly gay comic to appear on a late-night talk show, doing so in 1993 on “The Arsenio Hall Show”.

“Orange Is the New Black” is a very entertaining comedy-drama series made by Netflix about an upper middle-class woman who goes to jail for a drug-related offense committed ten years earlier, in her youth. The series is based on a memoir by Piper Kerman called “Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison”.

48 Plague in a Poe tale : RED DEATH

“The Masque of the Red Death” is an 1842 short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The main character in the tale is Prince, who attempts to defy a deadly plague by secluding himself and other nobles within his abbey.

Down

1 Languor : ENNUI

“Ennui” is the French word for “boredom”, and is a term that we now use in English. It’s one of the few French words we’ve imported and haven’t anglicized, and actually pronounce “correctly”.

Languor, lassitude, lethargy and listlessness are such lovely words. All are L-words describing a lack of physical energy.

2 Some in a cel block : TOONS

In the world of animation, a cel is a transparent sheet on which objects and characters are drawn. In the first half of the 20th century the sheet was actually made of celluloid, giving the “cel” its name.

3 Dating convenience : CIRCA

“Circa” is a Latin word meaning “around, near, about the time of”. We use “circa” directly in English to mean “about the time of”, as well as in derivative words such as “circle” and “circus”.

4 Percussive genre, for short : EDM

Electronic dance music (EDM)

6 Día de los Muertos skulls : CALAVERAS

A sugar skull (“calavera” in Spanish) is a representation of a human skull made mainly from cane sugar, mixed with water, honey and almond oil. They are candy treats used in Mexico to celebrate the “Dia de Muertos” (Day of the Dead), known as All Souls’ Day in the Christian tradition

The “Día de Muertos” (also “Dia de los Muertos”, both meaning “Day of the Dead”) is a holiday that originated in Mexico, and is now celebrated around the world. It is traditionally celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, and involves family and friends gathering to remember those who have died. Despite the somber nature, the Day of the Dead usually has a joyful tone, as family remembers the happier events and anecdotes associated with the departed.

8 __ text : ALT

Alt text, short for “alternative text,” is a description of an image that is used to provide information to people who cannot see the image, either because they are visually impaired or because the image cannot be loaded for some reason.

14 Large birds of the pampas : RHEAS

The rhea is a flightless bird that is native to South America. It takes its name from the Greek Titan Rhea. That’s an apt name for a flightless bird as “rhea” comes from the Greek word meaning “ground”.

The pampas are fertile lowlands covering a large part of Argentina, Uruguay and some of Brazil. “Pampa” is a Quechua word meaning “plain”.

16 Some molars : WISDOM TEETH

Wisdom teeth are an extra set of molars in the back of the jaws. There are usually four wisdom teeth, and they only occur in about 65% of the population.

Molars are grinding teeth. The term “molar” comes from the Latin “mola” meaning “millstone”.

27 Ice mass unit : CARAT

The carat is a unit of mass equal to 200 mg (0.2 grams). It is used in sizing gemstones.

28 Element element : PROTON

A proton is a subatomic particle, with at least one found in the nucleus of every atom. A proton is not a “fundamental particle”, as it itself is made up of three quarks; two up quarks and one down quark.

30 Triceps exercise : PRESS-DOWN

The triceps brachii muscle is found at the back of the upper arm. The muscle’s name translates from Latin to “three-headed arm muscle”, fitting as it is actually made up of three bundles of muscles.

31 In a cell block? : ON SILENT

What we mostly call a “cell phone” here in North America is more usually referred to as a “mobile phone” in Britain and Ireland. My favorite term for the device is used in Germany, where it is called a “Handy”.

32 Nobel laureate Joliot-Curie : IRENE

Along with her husband Frederick, Irene Joliot-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. Irene was the daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie, who also won Nobel Prizes. Irene died when she was 58 years old, suffering from leukemia brought on by her exposure to high doses of radiation. Her mother, Marie, died from aplastic anemia, also caused by high exposure to radiation. To this day, Marie’s personal papers are kept preserved in lead-lined boxes as they are highly radioactive, even her personal cookbook.

33 “Santaland Diaries” humorist : SEDARIS

“Santaland Diaries” is a 1992 essay penned by the great David Sedaris. Central to the tale is the author’s real-life experiences working as a Christmas elf in Macy’s department store.

36 Ticket : SLATE

In an election, a slate is a group of candidates running on a common platform.

38 Rough stuff? : GRASS

That would be golf.

40 Satisfy, as curiosity : SLAKE

To slake is to satisfy a craving, as in “slaking one’s thirst”.

44 Plot with a shameless beginning : EDEN

The third plant named in the Bible, after the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, is the fig tree. Adam and Eve used leaves from the fig tree to sew garments when they realized that they were naked.

46 Shelf-stable butter : GHEE

Ghee is clarified butter used in South Asian cuisines. “Ghee” comes from Sanskrit, and translates as “sprinkled”.