LA Times Crossword 9 Jan 25, Thursday

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Constructed by: Jem Burch
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Sh-A to Sh-U

Themed answers each start with SH-, followed by a vowel-sounding progression as we descend the grid:

• 16A Old New York ball field : SHEA STADIUM
• 23A Hit that one critic called “the original ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’ song” : SHE LOVES YOU
• 38A Recoil (from) : SHY AWAY
• 50A Class presentation : SHOW-AND-TELL
• 59A Some Dr. Scholl’s products : SHOE INSERTS

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

Bill’s time: 5m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Shoots the breeze : CHATS

To shoot the breeze is to participate in casual inconsequential conversation. The idiom “shoot the breeze” arose in the US in the early- to mid-20th century. The phrase probably evolved from the use of “breeze” as a slang term meaning “rumor”.

6 Forest denizen : DEER

Nowadays we use “denizen” to mean simply “resident”, but historically a denizen was an immigrant to whom certain rights had been granted, somewhat like today’s resident alien.

10 Disc golf target : PAR

Disc golf is also known as Frisbee golf, and sometimes even Frolf. Believe it or not, disc golf predates the introduction of the Frisbee. The first game was played at a school in Bladworth, Saskatchewan in 1926. The participating schoolkids threw tin lids into circles drawn on a course they created in the school grounds. They named the game “Tin Lid Golf”. By the way, I try to play disc golf at least three times a week. Lots of fun …

13 Metropolis in north central India : DELHI

New Delhi is the capital city of India. The city resides within the National Capital Territory of Delhi (otherwise known as the metropolis of Delhi). New Delhi and Delhi, therefore, are two different things.

14 Spanish diacritic : TILDE

A diacritic mark is added to a letter to indicate that it has a special phonetic sound. Examples of diacritic marks are the tilde above the letter N in Spanish words like “jalapeño” and “niño “, and the cedilla under the letter C in French words like “façade”.

15 Historic name of Tokyo : EDO

“Edo” is the former name of the Japanese city of Tokyo. Edo was the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal regime that ruled from 1603 until 1868. The shogun lived in the magnificent Edo Castle. Some parts of the original castle remain and today’s Tokyo Imperial Palace, the residence of the Emperor of Japan, was built on its grounds.

16 Old New York ball field : SHEA STADIUM

Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York was named after William A. Shea, the man credited with bringing National League baseball back to the city in the form of the New York Mets. Shea Stadium was dismantled in 2008-2009, and the site now provides additional parking for the new stadium nearby called Citi Field.

18 Orinoco, por ejemplo : RIO

The Orinoco is a major river in South America that flows over 1,320 miles through Venezuela and Colombia, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.

19 Boston hrs. : EST

The city of Boston, Massachusetts was founded in 1630 by Puritan colonists from England. The area was eventually named for the city of Boston in Lincolnshire, England from where several of the colonists hailed.

23 Hit that one critic called “the original ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’ song” : SHE LOVES YOU

The Beatles song “She Loves You” was released in 1963. It was one of five songs that together achieved an amazing feat in the US charts. At one point that year, those five songs were in the top five positions. The top five songs were:

1. “Can’t Buy Me Love”
2. “Twist and Shout”
3. “She Loves You”
4. “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
5. “Please Please Me”

Further down the charts, and still in the top 100, were seven more Beatles songs.

27 Guinea primate : BABOON

Baboons are ground-dwelling primates native to Africa that are found in open woodland and hills. A group of baboons is usually referred to as a “troop”.

Primates are mammals, many of whom are omnivorous and make good use of their hands. They also have larger brains relative to their body size, compared to other animals. The order Primates includes apes, lemurs, baboons, and humans.

37 Chili __ carne : CON

Chili con queso (sometimes just “queso”) is a creamy dipping sauce made from blended melted cheeses, cream and chili peppers. Originating in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, it is a popular dish served in American Tex-Mex restaurants.

41 “Eternals” actress McHugh : LIA

Lia McHugh is a relatively young actress who started her career mainly with appearances in TV and film projects in the horror genre. In 2021, she had a major role in the Marvel film “Eternals”, portraying the child-like superhero Sprite.

44 Defib pros : EMTS

A defibrillator (defib) might be operated by an emergency medical technician (EMT).

47 “Otello,” for one : OPERA

Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Otello” was first performed in 1887 at La Scala Theater in Milan. The opera is based on Shakespeare’s play “Othello” and is considered by many to be Verdi’s greatest work.

49 Greek life inductee : PLEDGE

Phi Beta Kappa was the first collegiate Greek fraternity in the US, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary. The organization served as a model for future collegiate fraternities and sororities, although in the 19th century Phi Beta Kappa distanced itself from the fraternal focus and transformed into the honor society that it is today, recognizing academic excellence. The initials Phi Beta Kappa stand for “philosophia biou kybernētēs”, which translates into “philosophy is the guide of life”. The symbol of the Phi Beta Kappa Society is a golden key.

53 Mazda model : MIATA

The Mazda MX-5 is sold as the Miata in North America, and as the Roadster in Japan. I’ve always liked the looks of the Mazda Miata, probably because it reminds me so much of old British sports cars. The Miata is built in Hiroshima, Japan. The name “Miata” comes from an Old High German word meaning “reward”.

54 P-like Greek letter : RHO

Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”, although it is equivalent to the Roman letter R. It is the 17th letter in the Greek alphabet.

55 Chicken __ : POX

Chicken pox is a viral infection, and a classic disease of childhood most commonly caught by 4-10 year olds. There is a complication that can arise later in life if the virus reactivates to cause shingles.

59 Some Dr. Scholl’s products : SHOE INSERTS

William Scholl worked part time as a cobbler and then in a shoe retailer in Chicago. Noting that many people had similar foot problems he went to night school and qualified as a podiatrist in 1904. Soon after he started his own company making footcare products, giving us the brand name Dr. Scholl’s.

65 Salad tossers : TONGS

A pair of tongs is a tool with a scissor-like hinge used to pick up things, like meat cooking on a barbecue grill or ice from an ice bucket. The verb “to tong” means “to handle with tongs”.

66 Like some gases : INERT

An inert gas can be different from a noble gas. Both are relatively non-reactive, but a noble gas is an element. An inert gas might be a compound, i.e. made up of more than one element.

69 Test for purity : ASSAY

One might assay an ore to determine its composition, its makeup.

Down

1 Some credit union accts. : CDS

A certificate of deposit (CD) is like a less-flexible and higher-paying savings account. Instead of depositing money into a savings account and earning interest periodically, one can open a CD. With a CD one deposits a minimum amount of money but must leave it there for a specified length of time. In return for committing the funds for a fixed period, one is given a higher interest rate than a savings account and can redeem that interest and the initial deposit when the term has expired. CDs are relatively low-risk investments as they are FDIC insured, just like savings accounts.

A credit union is a member-owned financial cooperative that focuses on providing credit to those members. One comparison of credit unions to regular banks is that credit unions had a five-times lower failure rate during the global financial crisis of 2007-2008.

7 Yale grad : ELI

“Eli” is the nickname for a graduate of Yale University, and a term used in honor of the Yale benefactor Elihu Yale.

11 “Toodle-oo” : ADIEU

“Adieu” is French for “goodbye, farewell”, from “à Dieu” meaning “to God” The plural of “adieu” is “adieux”.

22 “Don’t be nosy!” shorthand : MYOB!

Mind your own business (MYOB)

26 James of jazz : ETTA

“Etta James” was the stage name of celebrated blues and soul singer Jamesetta Hawkins. James’ most famous recording was her 1960 hit “At Last”, which made it into the pop charts. James performed “At Last” at the age of 71 in 2009 on the reality show “Dancing with the Stars”, which was to be her final television appearance. She passed away in 2012.

29 Places to play a card game? : BINGO HALLS

Our game Bingo is a derivative of an Italian lottery game called “Il Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia” that became popular in the 16th-century.

35 Kristen of “Palm Royale” : WIIG

Kristen Wiig is a comic actress who appears on “Saturday Night Live”. She also made an appearance on the first season of Spike TV’s quirky “The Joe Schmo Show”, playing “Dr. Pat”. More recently, she co-wrote and starred in the 2011 hit film “Bridesmaids”, and co-starred in the 2016 reboot of “Ghostbusters”.

“Palm Royale” is a comedy-drama TV show set in the exclusive world of 1969 Palm Beach, Florida. Based on the novel “Mr. & Mrs. American Pie” by Juliet McDaniel, the show stars Kristen Wiig as Maxine Simmons, an ambitious woman determined to climb the social ladder and secure her place among the elite. Included in the supporting cast are father and daughter actors Bruce and Laura Dern, who play father and daughter in the show. The show marks the first time that Bruce and Laura ever appeared together in the same film or show.

36 Bowler’s assignment : LANE

Bowling has been around for an awfully long time. The oldest known reference to the game is in Egypt, where pins and balls were found in an ancient tomb that is over 5,000 years old. The first form of the game to come to America was nine-pin bowling, which had been very popular in Europe for centuries. In 1841 in Connecticut, nine-pin bowling was banned due to its association with gambling. Supposedly, an additional pin was added to get around the ban, and ten-pin bowling was born.

39 Greek goddess of childbirth : HERA

In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of Zeus and the goddess of women, marriage, family and childbirth. She was noted for her jealous and vengeful nature, particularly against those who vied for the affections of her husband. The equivalent character to Hera in Roman mythology was Juno. Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea.

43 Watch out for at the gym, maybe : SPOT

People at the gym who are doing weight-training will often “spot” for each other. This means that the person who is “spotting” assists in the lift, allowing the lifter to work with more weight than usual.

46 Coloring book options : GEL PENS

Gel pens use a water-based gel ink that is thicker than traditional ballpoint ink, resulting in bolder lines and a more fluid feel. They were first produced by the Japanese company Sakura Color Products in the 1980s. The first model sold by Sakura in the US was called the Gelly Roll. Cute …

49 Laborer : PEON

A peon is a lowly worker who has no real control over his/her working conditions. The word “peon” comes into English from Spanish, in which language it has the same meaning.

51 Bottom of the barrel : DREGS

The dregs in wine, the sediment that settles during fermentation (and sometimes in the bottle), are also called “lees”.

52 Taylor Swift’s “__ Is Me Trying” : THIS

“This Is Me Trying” is an introspective song from Taylor Swift’s 2020 album “Folklore”. Swift was a co-writer of the track, which delves into themes of regret, self-sabotage, and the struggle to overcome past mistakes. “This Is Me Trying” was used in a promotional video for the 2020 Summer Olympics focused on Simon Biles return to competition after withdrawing from several earlier events at the games.

53 Marathon unit : MILE

The marathon commemorates the legendary messenger-run by Pheidippides from the site of the Battle of Marathon back to Athens, and is run over 26 miles and 385 yards. The first modern Olympic marathon races were run over a distance that approximated the length of the modern-day Marathon-Athens highway, although the actual length of the race varied from games to games. For the 1908 Olympics in London, a course starting at Windsor Castle and ending in front of the Royal Box at White City Stadium was defined. That course was 26 miles and 385 yards, the standard length now used at all Olympic Games. Organizers of subsequent games continued to vary the length of the race, until a decision was made in 1921 to adopt the distance used in London in 1908.

61 Small bill : ONE

The nation’s first president, George Washington, is on the US one-dollar bills produced today. When the original one-dollar bill was issued in 1863, it featured a portrait of Salmon P. Chase, President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury.

62 Australian singer featured on the hit “Titanium” : SIA

“Sia” is the stage name of Australian singer Sia Furler from Adelaide. She is a cousin of Australian Christian Rock musician Peter Furler. Sia is a very private person, and even covers her face with a blond wig while performing.

“Titanium” is a 2011 dance-pop song by French DJ and producer David Guetta, featuring the vocals of Australian singer Sia. Originally intended for another artist, Sia wrote the lyrics and recorded demo vocals that ultimately made it onto the final version, which became a global hit.