LA Times Crossword 14 Jan 25, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Beth Rubin & Owen Bergstein
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Final Four

The FINAL word in each themed answer often comes in a group of FOUR:

  • 58A Round after the Elite Eight, and what the ends of 16-, 29-, 34-, and 45-Across are? : FINAL FOUR
  • 16A Surfaces for playing board games : TABLETOPS (Four Tops)
  • 29A Lateral handsprings : CARTWHEELS (four wheels)
  • 34A Collections of episodes overseen by showrunners : TV SEASONS (four seasons)
  • 45A Triangular snack chips from PepsiCo : POPCORNERS (four corners)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 04s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Taj Mahal city : AGRA

Agra is a medieval city on the banks of the river Yamuna in India that was the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1658. The city is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

  • The Taj Mahal: the famous mausoleum built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal.
  • Agra Fort: the site where the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was seized.
  • Fatehpur Sikri: a historic city that’s home to well-preserved Mughal architecture.

13 “The Reader” actress Lena : OLIN

Lena Olin is a Swedish actress, and someone who has acting in her blood. Her mother was the actress Britta Holmberg and her father the actor and director Stig Olin. Olin had a very successful career in Sweden, often working with the great Ingmar Bergman. Olin’s breakthrough international and English-speaking role was playing opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” released in 1988. Way back in 1974, Miss Olin was crowned Miss Scandinavia in a beauty pageant for Nordic women held in Helsinki, Finland. Olin’s most famous performance was in “Chocolat” released in 2000, and then she won an Emmy in 2003 for Best Supporting Actress in the TV show “Alias”.

“The Reader” is a 2008 film based on the 1995 German novel of the same name (“Der Vorleser” in German). The movie stars Kate Winslet as Hanna, a character who is illiterate. In the late fifties, Hanna seduces a 15-year-old boy named Michael and has him read to her from books that he is studying. Years later, the boy is a law student observing the trial of a group of women who are accused of Nazi war crimes. Hanna was a guard in a concentration camp, and it is revealed that she had prisoners read to her in the evenings. Hanna is sentenced to life in prison. Michael sends Hanna tapes of his voice as he reads books from the time of their affair. Hanna uses the tapes to learn how to read while she is behind bars..

15 Tuscan city : SIENA

Siena is a beautiful city in the Tuscany region of Italy. In the center of Siena is the magnificent medieval square called Piazza del Campo, a paved sloping open area made up of nine triangular sections. The square has to be seen to be believed. Twice a year, the famous bareback horse-race called the Palio di Siena is held in the Piazza.

16 Surfaces for playing board games : TABLETOPS (Four Tops)

The original lineup of the Four Tops agreed to form a vocal quartet when they were high school students together in Detroit. The group started out using the name “The Four Aims”, but changed it to Four Tops to avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers.

19 Actor Vigoda : ABE

Abe Vigoda played Detective Sergeant Phil Fish in television’s “Barney Miller” in the seventies, and even got his own spin-off show called “Fish”. On the big screen, Vigoda played Sal Tessio in “The Godfather” and Grandpa Ubriacco in “Look Who’s Talking”. When Vigoda was 60 years old, he was mistakenly reported as dead by “People” magazine. In response, Vigoda had a photo published in “Variety” showing him sitting up in a coffin, holding a copy of the offending issue of “People”.

21 Homeric journey : ODYSSEY

Homer was a famous poet of ancient Greece who is believed to be the author of the two classic epic poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey”. However, some scholars believe that Homer did not actually exist, but rather he is the personification of oral tradition that was passed down through the ages.

23 Zeroes out for container weight, say : TARES

Tare is the weight of a container that is deducted from the gross weight to determine the net weight, the weight of the container’s contents.

28 Big name in cinema : IMAX

The IMAX Corporation, which is behind the IMAX film format, is a Canadian company. The impetus for developing the system came after Expo ’67 in Montreal. Back then large format screenings were accomplished using multiple projectors with multiple screens, with images basically stitched together. The team behind the IMAX technology set out to simplify things, and developed a single-camera, single-projector system.

31 __ Alto, California : PALO

The city of Palo Alto, California takes its name from a specific redwood tree called El Palo Alto (Spanish for “the tall stick”) that is located within the bounds of the city. The tree is 110 feet tall and over a thousand years old.

34 Collections of episodes overseen by showrunners : TV SEASONS (four seasons)

Looking back a thousand years or so, it was common for people to think of just two seasons: summer and winter. The concept of four seasons really only gained popularity in the 1600s. The terms “summer” and “winter” have persisted for many centuries, whereas the seasons we now call “spring” and “fall” have had varying names. Spring replaced “Lent” and “prime-temps”, and “fall” replaced “harvest” and “autumn”. The use of “spring” and “fall” comes from the notion of leaves “springing into existence” and “falling to the ground”.

40 Rap battle VIPs : MCS

Battle rapping (also “rap battling”) is a contest in which two or more rappers “fight it out” using opposing, improvised lyrics. I’d be annihilated …

41 Collection of Norse poems : EDDA

“Poetic Edda” and “Prose Edda” are two ancient works that are the source for much of Norse mythology. Both Eddas were written in 13th-century Iceland.

45 Triangular snack chips from PepsiCo : POPCORNERS (four corners)

PopCorners are a snack food made by air-popping corn kernels. The brand featured in a popular Super Bowl ad in 2023 that spoofed “Breaking Bad”, and featured stars from the show.

50 Crystal-lined rock : GEODE

A geode is a rock in which there is a cavity that is lined or filled with crystal formations. The crystals inside a geode form when mineral-rich water seeps into a cavity in a rock, leaving behind dissolved minerals that gradually build up over time. Some of the largest geodes ever discovered have been as big as a room and can take millions of years to form.

58 Round after the Elite Eight, and what the ends of 16-, 29-, 34-, and 45-Across are? : FINAL FOUR

In the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship, the teams remaining at various stages of the tournament are known as:

  • The “Sweet Sixteen” (the regional semi-finalists)
  • The “Elite Eight” (the regional finalists)
  • The “Final Four” (the national semi-finalists)

61 Bull on glue bottles : ELMER

Elsie the Cow is the mascot of the Borden Company. Elsie first appeared at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, introduced to symbolize the perfect dairy product. She is so famous and respected that she has been awarded the degrees of Doctor of Bovinity, Doctor of Human Kindness and Doctor of Ecownomics. Elsie was also given a husband named Elmer the Bull. Elmer eventually moved over to the chemical division of Borden where he gave his name to Elmer’s Glue.

64 Spinal column element : DISK

Our intervertebral discs are composed mainly of cartilage. They perform the crucial functions of separating the vertebrae while allowing slight movement, and also absorbing shock. A “slipped disc” isn’t really a disc that has “slipped”, but rather a disc that “bulges”. If that bulge causes pressure on the sciatic nerve then the painful condition known as sciatica can result.

Down

2 The Crimson Tide of the NCAA : ALABAMA

The athletic teams of the University of Alabama (“Bama”) are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, which is a reference to the team colors of crimson and white.

4 NBC skit show, for short : SNL

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) was named “NBC’s Saturday Night” during its first season. This was to differentiate it from the ABC show airing at that time, called “Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell”. Chevy Chase uttered the famous line “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night” in the very first SNL episode on October 11, 1975. That careful wording has persisted, even though the NBC show’s name was changed to “Saturday Night Live” after Cosell’s show went off the air in 1976.

9 Gladys Knight & the __ : PIPS

Gladys Knight & the Pips performed together from 1953 to 1989. The Pips were founded around Gladys Knight, originally featuring her brother, sister and two cousins. The group took its name from yet another cousin, a cousin named “Pip”.

12 Mythical forest folk : SATYRS

The satyrs of Greek mythology came with a very high sex drive. They are the “rude” male subjects drawn on the side of old Greek vases. The nubile maidens known as nymphs were often an object of attention for the satyrs.

24 Otherworldly : EXOTIC

The word “exotic” means “belonging to another country”, and is derived from the Greek “exo-” meaning “outside”. Exotica are things that are excitingly strange, often from foreign parts.

29 Lead-in to gender : CIS-

The term “cisgender” is used as the opposite of “transgender”. Cisgender people have a gender identity that matches the sex they were assigned at birth. A transgender person is someone with a gender identity that is different from that assigned at birth.

35 Many a YouTuber : VLOGGER

A video blog is perhaps what one might expect, i.e. a blog that is essentially a series of video posts. The phrase “video logging” is often shortened to “vlogging”.

37 CIA predecessor : OSS

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was formed during WWII in order to carry out espionage behind enemy lines. A few years after the end of the war the OSS functions were taken up by a new group, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947.

38 Italian tenor Andrea : BOCELLI

Andrea Bocelli is a classically-trained tenor from Italy who sings popular music, and hence is a so-called cross-over artist. Bocelli was born with poor eyesight and then became totally blind at the age of 12 when he had an accident playing soccer.

39 HS tests taken for college credit : AP EXAMS

Advanced Placement (AP)

45 Made unwanted sounds, as an engine : PINGED

Pinging is also known as “engine knocking”. It is a metallic sound, created when not all of the fuel-air mixture is detonated by the spark plug, with some of it detonated late in the cycle. The late detonation causes the knocking/pinging sound. Additives (anti-knock agents) in gasoline can help reduce the chances of pinging.

46 Food Network host Drummond : REE

Ree Drummond is a food writer and blogger. Drummond’s blog “The Pioneer Woman” recounts her daily life on her family’s working ranch outside of Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

47 Like some yogurt : NONFAT

Yogurt (also “yoghurt”) is produced by fermenting milk using bacteria known as yogurt cultures. The bacteria act on the sugars in the milk, producing lactic acid. The lactic acid acts on the proteins in the milk to give the characteristic texture and acidity of yogurt.

55 Rabbit’s feet : PAWS

Rabbits can jump up to three feet high and over nine feet long, thanks to their powerful hind legs. Those legs are also used to make powerful thumps on the ground in the presence of a threat, to warn other rabbits in the warren.

59 Food Network host Garten : INA

Ina Garten is an author as well as the host of a cooking show on the Food Network called “Barefoot Contessa”. She is a mentee of Martha Stewart, and indeed was touted as a potential “successor” to the TV celebrity when Stewart was incarcerated in 2004 after an insider trading scandal. Garten has no formal training as a chef, and indeed used to work as a nuclear policy analyst at the White House!

60 Neopronoun sometimes spelled “fey” : FAE

“Fae/faer” is a neopronoun, i.e. a relatively new pronoun beyond the traditional he/him/his and she/her/hers. People who use fae/faer pronouns often identify as non-binary.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Misses : GALS
5 Taj Mahal city : AGRA
9 In addition : PLUS
13 “The Reader” actress Lena : OLIN
14 Pedicure targets : TOES
15 Tuscan city : SIENA
16 Surfaces for playing board games : TABLETOPS (Four Tops)
18 Disconnected : APART
19 Actor Vigoda : ABE
20 “Super cool” : RAD
21 Homeric journey : ODYSSEY
23 Zeroes out for container weight, say : TARES
25 One that might get turned into stone? : SCREW
27 That girl : HER
28 Big name in cinema : IMAX
29 Lateral handsprings : CARTWHEELS (four wheels)
31 __ Alto, California : PALO
32 “__ seen worse” : I’VE
33 Finishes up : ENDS
34 Collections of episodes overseen by showrunners : TV SEASONS (four seasons)
38 Help (out) : BAIL
40 Rap battle VIPs : MCS
41 Collection of Norse poems : EDDA
45 Triangular snack chips from PepsiCo : POPCORNERS (four corners)
48 Greek god of war : ARES
49 Freezer cubes : ICE
50 Crystal-lined rock : GEODE
51 Material : CLOTH
52 Like futuristic tech : NEXT-GEN
54 Govt. org. employing ecologists : EPA
56 Poker prize : POT
57 Harsh light : GLARE
58 Round after the Elite Eight, and what the ends of 16-, 29-, 34-, and 45-Across are? : FINAL FOUR
61 Bull on glue bottles : ELMER
62 Once more : ANEW
63 Energy field read by a psychic : AURA
64 Spinal column element : DISK
65 Little bits : TADS
66 Marketplace with personalized gifts : ETSY

Down

1 “Care to share your expertise?” : GOT A TIP?
2 The Crimson Tide of the NCAA : ALABAMA
3 Generous : LIBERAL
4 NBC skit show, for short : SNL
5 “__ baby!”: “Way to go!” : ATTA
6 “Talked your way out of trouble there!” : GOOD SAVE!
7 Gym unit : REP
8 Arrange by category : ASSORT
9 Gladys Knight & the __ : PIPS
10 Like a dog in a crowded park, ideally : LEASHED
11 Lets out, as a fishing line : UNREELS
12 Mythical forest folk : SATYRS
15 Drink pourer’s words : SAY WHEN
17 Hectic hosp. areas : ERS
22 Morning drops : DEW
24 Otherworldly : EXOTIC
26 __ spinach : CREAMED
29 Lead-in to gender : CIS-
30 Ratify with a stamp, quaintly : ENSEAL
35 Many a YouTuber : VLOGGER
36 Sifted through, as candidates : SCREENED
37 CIA predecessor : OSS
38 Italian tenor Andrea : BOCELLI
39 HS tests taken for college credit : AP EXAMS
42 Quit school : DROP OUT
43 Roundabout routes : DETOURS
44 Container in a smoking lounge : ASHTRAY
45 Made unwanted sounds, as an engine : PINGED
46 Food Network host Drummond : REE
47 Like some yogurt : NONFAT
51 Nev. neighbor : CAL
53 Lengthy hike : TREK
55 Rabbit’s feet : PAWS
59 Food Network host Garten : INA
60 Neopronoun sometimes spelled “fey” : FAE

14 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 14 Jan 25, Tuesday”

  1. 14 min no errors

    Never heard of or seen POPCORNERS?

    I looked them up. They look like they are trying to copy doritos?

    Then I watched the commercial with the spoof on breaking. It was hilarious! But I don’t remember the product. Funny commercial but a no-go on the product.

  2. 16 min.
    Same for me. POPCORNERS, no clue. But the down answers (and the theme) made it easy to solve.

  3. Add me to having no knowledge of POPCORNERS. Hope that they found an audience with someone.
    Like yesterday, seemed harder than expected for an early week puzzle. Maybe it was the Food Network stars, unknown snack and my inability to correctly spell.
    I expect someone Anonymous to complain about the gender clues

  4. 25 across? I can see “shrew,” but “screw” still doesn’t make sense?? I guess they are talking about turning a screw (with a screwdriver) into a block of concrete (stone)? Hmmm…?

    1. There are screws made for concrete. A pilot hole is made then one uses a hammer drill to screw them in. Definitely couldn’t do it with a screwdriver.

  5. Another stupid error…blogger for vlogger.
    In a previous puzzle 46D was Dee Drummond and today it’s Ree. I guess it’s whatever it takes.
    2 constructors for a Tuesday…that’s kinda sad.
    Stay safe😀
    Go Ravens🏈

  6. I love Popcorners! Have had them around here for several years but did not know they were a PepsiCo product which threw me off.

  7. 10 mins, 34 seconds and DNF. Too much natick stuffed into one area. GEODE wouldn’t occur to me, don’t know from POPCORNERS or REE, so no way home.

  8. DNF for me which should never happen on Tuesday.
    Never heard of pop corners, vlogger,Ree or fae (got that one on crosses) . Would not give up on low fat yogurt maybe b/c I don’t eat the stuff.
    Shameful!!

  9. 11:20 – no errors or lookups. False starts: ALSO>PLUS, DJS>MCS, LOWFAT>NONFAT.

    New or forgotten: “The Reader,” “showrunners,” POPCORNERS, REE Drummond, FAE, “neopronoun” (but I figured out what it meant).

    Got the theme, but not needed for solving.

  10. My Houston Chronicle runs this stupid ad at the top of the puzzle answers and it’s hell to get off. Relatively new problem…… I don’t want anyone or anything messing with my puzzle!!!

  11. Kinda tough Tuesday for me; took 14:02 with no peeks or errors but plenty of waiting for crosses and a couple of lucky guesses. Never heard of POP CORNERS, REE and FAE. Also didn’t understand the context of SCREW, NEXT GEN and had false starts on ELsie/ELMER, lOw/NON and guessed right on VLOGGER/BAIL after a while.

    Didn’t really work with the theme.

  12. If this is the obscure nonsense you serve up on a Tuesday, I will pass on the rest of the week. Will you ever revert to using actual words, as suggested by “Crosswords”? Neopronouns??? Lead-in to gender???

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