LA Times Crossword 20 Feb 25, Thursday

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Constructed by: Amie Walker & Geoffrey Schorkopf
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Make Concessions

Themed answers each start with a kind of CONCESSION:

• 62A Compromise, or what solvers do when filling in the first words of 17-, 23-, 40-, and 51-Across?: MAKE CONCESSIONS

• 17A Menu icon that resembles a patty in a bun: HAMBURGER BUTTON
• 23A Red-and-white pattern: CANDY STRIPE
• 40A Textured features that help soundproof spaces: POPCORN CEILINGS
• 51A Intricate inversion on some roller coasters: PRETZEL LOOP

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

Bill’s time: 6m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Food safety concern: E COLI

Escherichia coli (E. coli) are usually harmless bacteria found in the human gut, working away quite happily. However, there are some strains that can produce lethal toxins. These strains can make their way into the food chain from animal fecal matter that comes into contact with food designated for human consumption.

6 Calif. airport with yoga rooms: SFO

San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

13 Like a dance marathon: TIRING

Dance marathons became popular in the US during the Great Depression. They are endurance events, at which spectators often pay to watch the competitors on the dance floor. By all accounts, dance marathons were pretty abusive affairs, effectively “reality TV” for the 1920s. Famously, a dance marathon provides the setting for the 1969 film “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”

16 Wraparound dress: SARI

The item of clothing called a “sari” (also “saree”) is a strip of cloth, as one might imagine, unusual perhaps in that it is unstitched along the whole of its length. The strip of cloth can range from four to nine meters long (that’s a lot of material!). The sari is usually wrapped around the waist, then draped over the shoulder leaving the midriff bare. I must say, it can be a beautiful item of clothing.

17 Menu icon that resembles a patty in a bun: HAMBURGER BUTTON

The hamburger button (☰) is a an icon used in graphical user interfaces, typically to represent a menu. It gets its name from its resemblance to a hamburger, with the three horizontal lines suggesting the bun and patty.

23 Red-and-white pattern: CANDY STRIPE

Hospital volunteers used to be referred to as candy stripers. The term “candy striper” came from the pinafores worn by female volunteers starting in the 1940s. Those pinafores were made from a red-and-white striped fabric called “candy stripe”, due to the resemblance to the stripes on a candy cane. Candy stripers weren’t the only volunteers. Those sponsored by the Red Cross wore blue-and-white striped pinafores and were known collectively as the Blue Teens. Older female volunteers in the same group were known as the Grey Ladies, due to their light grey uniforms.

29 “30 for 30” airer: ESPN

“30 for 30” is a series of ESPN documentary films that has aired since 2009. The series originated as a celebration of ESPN’s 30th birthday. To recognize that anniversary, the network commissioned 30 filmmakers to make 30 one-hour films covering the big stories in ESPN’s 30-year history. The series was so well received that ESPN continues to make similar documentaries using the “30 for 30” umbrella title.

43 Tennis great Sampras: PETE

Pete Sampras is a retired Greek-American tennis professional. Sampras was rated number one in the world rankings for six years in a row in the nineties.

45 Luxury watch: OMEGA

Omega is a manufacturer of high-end watches based in Switzerland. An Omega watch was the first portable timepiece to make it to the moon, Perhaps even more (!) impressive is the fact that James Bond has been wearing an Omega watch in the movies since 1995.

46 Rae of “Barbie”: ISSA

In the 2023 hit movie “Barbie”, actress Issa Rae plays President Barbie, the ruler of Barbieland.

48 Style manual org.: MLA

The Modern Language Association (MLA) was founded in the US in 1883 as a professional association for scholars of literature and modern languages. The group publishes the “MLA Handbook”, a style guide for academic writing that is used widely in high schools and universities.

49 Latin I verb: AMO

“Amo, amas, amat” translates from Latin as “I love, you love, he/she/it loves”.

58 “Divine Comedy” poet: DANTE

Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” is an epic poem dating back to the 14th century. The first part of that epic is “Inferno”, which is the Italian word for “Hell”. In the poem, Dante is led on a journey by the poet Virgil, starting at the gates of Hell on which are written the famous words “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”.

61 Badminton team, e.g.: DUO

The game of badminton was developed in the mid-1700s by British military officers in India. There was already an old game called battledore and shuttlecock, so the creation of badminton was essentially the addition of a net and boundary lines for play. The game was launched officially as a sport in 1873 at Badminton House in Gloucestershire in England, hence the name that we now use.

70 ACLU focus: RTS

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) fights for civil rights (rts.).

Down

1 Moral tenet: ETHIC

A tenet is an article of faith, something that is held to be true. “Tenet” is Latin for “he/she/it holds”.

2 “1, 2 Step” singer: CIARA

Ciara is a singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas. She used to date rapper Bow Wow, but married Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in 2016.

3 “Women & Money” podcast host Suze: ORMAN

Suze Orman is a financial advisor who has gotten her message out on television, in books and on the speaking circuit. She often appears on PBS, and indeed is the most successful fundraiser public television has ever had.

4 Ad-__: LIB

“Ad libitum” is a Latin phrase meaning “at one’s pleasure”. In common usage, the phrase is usually shortened to “ad-lib”. On the stage, the concept of an ad-lib is very familiar.

5 Shiba __: INU

The Shiba Inu is a Japanese breed of dog that was developed for hunting. Although the exact etymology of “Shibu” is unclear, the term translates as “brushwood”. “Inu” is Japanese for “dog”.

7 Language of Tehran: FARSI

Farsi (also known as Persian) is a language spoken by about 62 million people as a first language, and another 50 million or more as a second language. It is the official language of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

Tehran is the capital of Iran and is the largest city in the Middle East, with a population of about 8.5 million. Iran has been around a really long time and Tehran is actually the country’s 31st national capital.

10 Quick deposition of a king?: MATE IN ONE

In a game of chess, if one player says “mate in one” after making a move, then he or she is claiming they will be able to checkmate on the next move, regardless of the move made by his or her opponent.

11 City near Salt Lake City: PROVO

Provo, Utah is a city located just over 40 miles south of South Lake City. It is home to Brigham Young University. The city was originally called Fort Utah, and the name was changed to Provo in 1850 in honor of Étienne Provost. Provost was a French-Canadian fur trader who was perhaps the first man of European descent to see the Great Salt Lake.

18 Setting for Big Ben, for short: GMT

Well, Big Ben is indeed set to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), except when it is set to British Summer Time (BST) from the last Sunday of March through the last Sunday of October.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time at the Prime Meridian, the meridian that runs through Greenwich in London.

“Big Ben” is the name commonly used for the large bell in the Clock Tower (“Elizabeth Tower”, since 2012) of the Palace of Westminster (aka “Houses of Parliament”). Big Ben’s official name is the Great Bell, and there is some debate about the origins of the nickname. It may be named after Sir Benjamin Hall who supervised the bell’s installation, or perhaps the English heavyweight champion of the day Benjamin Caunt. Big Ben fell silent in 2017 to make way for four years of maintenance and repair work to the clock’s mechanism and the tower.

24 Court ties: DEUCES

The exact origins of the scoring system used for a game in tennis seems to be a tad murky. One suggestion is that clock faces were once used to keep score, with a hand pointing to 15, 30, 45 and 60. When the rules were changed to ensure games were won with more than a one-point difference in the score, the concept of “deuce” was introduced. The hand on the clock was then moved back to 40 (for deuce), and 50 was used for “advantage”, with 60 continuing to represent “game”. This resulted in the scores 15, 30, 40 and game.

25 “Carpe diem” hashtag: YOLO

You only live once (YOLO)

“Carpe diem” is a quotation from Horace, one of ancient Rome’s leading lyric poets. “Carpe diem” translates from Latin as “seize the day” or “enjoy the day”. The satirical motto of a procrastinator is “carpe mañana”, “translating” as “seize tomorrow”.

34 “Erin Burnett OutFront” channel: CNN

Erin Burnett is a television journalist and the host of her own show on CNN called “Erin Burnett OutFront”. Apparently Burnett also used to show up occasionally as advisor to Donald Trump on “The Celebrity Apprentice”.

36 __ Speedwagon: REO

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band that formed in 1967, and is still going strong. The band’s biggest hits are “Keep On Loving You” (1980) and “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (1985). The founding members chose the name for the REO Speed Wagon flatbed truck. Note that the band’s name is one word “Speedwagon”, whereas the vehicle’s name uses two words “Speed Wagon”.

38 Comfy shoe brand: UGG

Uggs are sheepskin boots that were first produced in Australia and New Zealand. The original Uggs have sheepskin fleece on the inside for comfort and insulation, with a tanned leather surface on the outside for durability. “Ugg” is a generic term Down Under, although it’s a brand name here in the US.

39 Wand-waving org.: TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.

47 Architect’s detail, briefly: SPEC

An architect is responsible for designing buildings and providing advice during their construction. The term “architect” comes from the Greek “archi-” meaning “chief” and “tekton” meaning “builder, carpenter”.

48 Soccer superstar Lionel: MESSI

Lionel “Leo” Messi is a soccer player from Argentina. Messi has been awarded FIFA’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) award more times than any other player. The Ballon d’Or is presented to the player who is considered the best in the world in the prior year.

50 Collision repair franchise: MAACO

MAACO Collision Repair & Auto Painting was founded by Anthony A. Martino ten years after he launched AAMCO Transmissions. The names of both companies were derived from the first letters of his name, i.e. “AAM”.

52 Accounting giant __ & Young: ERNST

Ernst & Young is one of the Big Four accountancy firms, alongside Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ernst & Young is headquartered in London. The company was founded in 1989 with the merger of Ernst & Whinney with Young & Co.

54 Calzone center?: ZEE

The center of the word “calzone” is a letter Z (zee).

55 Big name in near beer: O’DOUL

I once did a blind taste test on all of the big-selling non-alcoholic beers with a friend of mine. O’Doul’s Amber won the day pretty decisively, which surprised us as it was the cheapest! But, the best non-alcoholic beer by far, by miles, is Guinness Zero …

56 Cup part: OUNCE

There are six teaspoons (tsps.) in an ounce (oz.), and eight ounces (oz.) in a cup.

64 Lorne Michaels’s show, familiarly: SNL

Lorne Michaels is a television producer who is perhaps best known as the creator of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). We can get some insight into Michaels’ character and demeanor by watching the show “30 Rock”. The character Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin, is inspired by Michaels.

65 Response to “Who wants to go to Disneyland?”: I DO

Walt Disney came up with the idea of building Disneyland after visiting other theme parks with his daughters in the thirties and forties. He started building the park at Anaheim, California in 1954, and the facility opened just one year and one day later. The total cost of construction was $17 million. Opening day did not go smoothly, largely because over 28,000 people visited the park compared to the 11,000 people expected at the invitation-only event. The opening day went so badly that for years Disney executives referred to it as “Black Sunday”.