LA Times Crossword 11 Jan 25, Saturday

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Constructed by: Kareem Ayas
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 17m 40s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Coin star : SACAGAWEA

Sacagawea was the Shoshone guide who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition. She was hired as a guide along with her husband, a French-Canadian trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau. When the expedition set out, Sacagawea was pregnant and had her child on the journey, in early 1805. Three years after the journey ended, Charbonneau and his family settled in St. Louis, Missouri where Sacagawea died in 1812. Sacagawea’s image is found on a US dollar coin first minted in 2000. The coin has a copper core clad with manganese brass, so it has a golden color.

10 Puccini heroine : TOSCA

Unlike so many operas, Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” was a big hit right from day one, when it was first performed in 1900 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Currently, “Tosca” is the eighth-most performed opera in America.

15 Reaction that may cause redness : OXIDATION

Rust is iron oxide. It forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

16 Count de la Fère in Dumas novels : ATHOS

Alexandre Dumas’ “Three Musketeers” are Athos, Porthos and Aramis, although the hero of the novel is the trio’s young protégé D’Artagnan. A musketeer was an infantry soldier who was equipped with a musket. Funnily enough, the three “musketeers” really don’t use their muskets, and are better known for prowess with their swords.

17 Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius : FIRE SIGNS

Each of the twelve astrological signs is associated with one of the classical elements:

• Fire signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
• Earth signs: Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo
• Air signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini
• Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

18 One concerned with baby weight? : STORK

In German and Dutch society, storks resting on the roof of a house were considered a sign of good luck. This tradition led to nursery stories that babies were brought to families by storks.

20 What sitcoms always begin and end with? : ESSES

The beginning and ending of the word “sitcoms” are letters S (esses).

23 Bra part : CLASP

The first modern bra was invented by a New York socialite named Mary Phelps Jacob in 1913. Jacob was looking for a more comfortable and fashionable alternative to the corsets that were then commonly worn, and she fashioned a bra using two handkerchiefs and some ribbon. She later patented her invention, which she called the “Backless Brassiere.”

28 Run-__ : DMC

Run-DMC was a hip hop group from Queens, New York. The trio took its name from two of the group’s members: Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels.

30 NYU’s __ School of the Arts : TISCH

New York University (NYU) comprises fifteen schools, one of which is the Tisch School of the Arts. The Tisch is famous for its acting program, with notable alumni such as Debra Messing, Christopher Guest and Josh Radnor.

34 Browser action : RELOAD

A web browser is a piece of software used to access the World Wide Web. The first web browser was called “WorldWideWeb” and was invented in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web. The browser known as Mosaic came out in 1993, and it was this browser that drove so much interest in the World Wide Web, and indeed in the Internet in general. Marc Andreessen led the team that created Mosaic, and he then set up his own company called Netscape. Netscape created the Netscape Navigator browser that further popularized the use of the Web starting in 1994. Microsoft responded by introducing Internet Explorer in 1995, which sparked the so-called “browser war”, a war that Microsoft clearly won. As Netscape floundered, the company launched the open-source Mozilla project which eventually led to the Firefox browser. Apple then came out with its own Safari browser in 2003. Google’s Chrome browser, introduced in 2008, is by far the most popular way to view the Web today.

39 Chophouse array : SIRLOIN STEAKS

The name of the cut of meat known as “sirloin” comes from the French “sur” (over) and “longe” (loin). There is a story dating back to the early 1600s that the “sur” changed to “sir” because the cut was a favorite of an English king and so he “knighted” it, dubbed it “Sir Loin”.

45 Dutch cheeses : EDAMS

Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

55 Stock option? : DOW

Charles Dow was a journalist who moved to New York City (from Providence, Rhode Island) in 1880 as he was developing an interest in reporting financial and business news. He teamed up with statistician Edward David Jones, and in 1882, the pair formed the Dow, Jones & Company news agency. The following year, the fledgling company started to publish the “Customers’ Afternoon Letter”, a two-page summary of the day’s financial news. Included in the newsletter was the now celebrated Dow Jones stock average. The two-page “Customers’ Afternoon Letter” evolved into the newspaper that we now call “The Wall Street Journal”, which first appeared in 1889.

56 Wolf voiced by Giancarlo Esposito in “The Jungle Book” : AKELA

Akela is the wolf in “The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling. The wolf gave his name to a cubmaster in the scouting movement, who is now known as “Akela”.

“The Jungle Book” is a 2016, live-action Disney film based on Rudyard Kipling’s collection of stories with the same title. The impressive voice cast includes Bill Murray as Baloo, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Scarlett Johnsson as Kaa, and Christopher Walkenb as King Louis. The film was a big success, and for a while held the record for the most successful remake of all time (it was a remake of the 1967 animated feature “The Jungle Book”).

Actor Giancarlo Esposito was born in Copenhagen, but moved to Manhattan with his family when he was just six years old. He is perhaps best known for playing narcotics distributor Gus Fring in the drama shows “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul”.

58 Sharp infusion in some fish marinades : WASABIOLI

Wasabioli is a condiment that combines the creamy texture of aioli with the sharp kick of wasabi. It is typically made with mayonnaise, wasabi paste, and often includes other ingredients like garlic, lemon juice, or soy sauce.

61 Money minted in Quezon City : PESOS

The writing on bank notes in the Philippines used to be in English, so the national currency was recorded as the “peso”. Since 1967 the language on the notes has been Filipino, and now the name of the currency is written as “piso”.

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is the most densely populated city proper (discounting metro areas) in the whole world. Metro Manila includes the neighboring Quezon City, which is the most populous city in the country. Quezon City was founded in 1939 and replaced Manila as the nation’s capital in 1949. However, the decision to change the capital was reversed in 1976.

62 Storage unit : ZIPLOC BAG

Ziploc resealable storage bags came on the market in 1968.

Down

1 Start to celebrate? : SOFT C

The word “celebrate” starts with a soft letter C.

2 Like some symmetry : AXIAL

An object exhibits axial symmetry, also known as line symmetry or reflection symmetry, if it can be divided into two identical halves by a line. This line, the axis of symmetry, acts like a mirror, with each half of the shape being a reflection of the other.

3 Around : 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”.

5 Part of LNG : GAS

Liquified natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been cooled down to a liquid state at about -260F. This process reduces its volume by approximately 600 times, making it much easier and more economical to transport and store. It is transported via specialized tankers and then regasified at its destination for use.

7 Freaks (out) : WIGS

The idea behind the expression “to wig out”, meaning “to go crazy”, is that there is so much going on in your brain that it might “lift your hair/wig”.

9 First name in landscape photography : ANSEL

As an avid amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. Adams was famous for clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed primarily for black & white film, it can even apply to digital color images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final photograph with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

10 Prof helpers : TAS

Teaching Assistants (TAs)

11 Miranda of “Homeland” : OTTO

Miranda Otto is an actress from Brisbane, Australia. Perhaps most notably, she played Éowyn in “The Lord of the Rings” series of films. I remember her playing the wife of the Tom Cruise character in the 2005 film “War of the Worlds”. She also played a pivotal role in several episodes of the excellent espionage thriller TV series “Homeland”, portraying the chief of the CIA’s Berlin Station (and double agent … spoiler!).

“Homeland” is a psychological drama on Showtime about a CIA officer who is convinced that a certain US Marine is a threat to the security of the United States. The show is based on a series from Israeli television called “Hatufim” (Prisoners of War”). I highly recommend it …

13 Where the walls have ears? : CORN MAZE

A corn maze is simply a maze cut into a cornfield. On the other side of the pond, the same attraction is known as a maize maze … cute!

21 Colorful wraps : SERAPES

“Serape” is the English pronunciation and spelling of the Spanish word “zarape”. A zarape is like a Mexican poncho, a soft woolen blanket with a hole in the middle for the head. Most serapes have colorful designs that use traditional Mayan motifs.

32 Gemma of “Crazy Rich Asians” : CHAN

Gemma Chan is a British actress who gained widespread recognition for portraying Astrid Leong-Teo in the critically acclaimed film “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018). She has been in relationships with some household names in the UK. Her partner was standup comedian Jack Whitehall from 2011 to 2017, and fellow actor Dominic Cooper starting in 2018.

37 Sp. miss : SRTA

“Señorita” (Srta.) is Spanish, and “Mademoiselle” (Mlle.) is French, for “Miss”.

38 Upright part : PIANO KEY

What was remarkable about the piano when it was invented, compared to other keyboard instruments, was that notes could be played with varying degrees of loudness. This is accomplished by pressing the keys lightly or firmly. Because of this quality, the new instrument was called a “pianoforte”, with “piano” and “forte” meaning “soft” and “loud” in Italian. We tend to shorten the name these days to just “piano”.

A grand piano is one with the frame supported horizontally on three legs. An upright piano has the frame and strings running vertically. Grand pianos come in many sizes. For example, the length of a concert grand is about 9 feet, a parlor grand is about 7 feet, and a baby grand is about 5 feet.

46 InDesign company : ADOBE

Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing and typesetting software application produced by Adobe since 1999. It’s used to create a wide variety of digital and printed materials, such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, presentations, and books.

47 Meat grinder? : MOLAR

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

50 Boba tea option : ALOE

Bubble tea, sometimes called “boba tea”, is a tea-based drink from Taiwan. The “bubbles” are chewy tapioca balls that are usually added to the drink.

52 Pluviometer measure : RAIN

A pluviometer is a rain gauge. The Latin adjective “pluvius” means “rainy”.

53 Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, for one : ESPY

“Jimmy V” was the nickname of basketball player, coach and broadcaster Jim Valvano. Valvano made a memorable speech at the first ESPY awards ceremony in 1993 that included the words:

To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.

Jimmy V passed away from bone cancer less than two months later.

54 Abundance in Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni : SALT

The Salar de Uyuni, located in the Andes Mountains of southwest Bolivia, is the world’s largest salt flat, stretching over 4,000 square miles. For comparison, Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats cover a mere 46 square miles.

56 “Be on the lookout” msg. : APB

An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

57 Crèche figure : ASS

In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also “crèche”) is a display representing the scene of the birth of Jesus. Nativity scenes might be subjects for paintings, for example, although the term is usually used for seasonal displays associated with the Christmas season.

59 Tree hugger? : BOA

Boa constrictors are members of the Boidae family of snakes, all of which are non-venomous. Interestingly, the female boa is always larger than the male.