LA Times Crossword 8 Mar 25, Saturday

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Constructed by: Erica Hsiung Wojcik & Matthew Stock
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 13m 13s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Lorry driver, often: BRIT

On the other side of the Atlantic, a truck is called a “lorry”, a term that probably comes from the English dialectal verb “to lurry” meaning “to drag, tug”.

14 Shaded colonnade: PERGOLA

A pergola looks somewhat like a gazebo in structure, but it is an open walkway with vines trained up the sides and over the top. “Pergola” ultimately derives from the Latin “pergula”, the word for a covered eave.

A colonnade is a long sequence of columns that are equally spaced, and often support some type of roof. A colonnade surrounding a porch at an entranceway is known as a portico. A colonnade surrounding a courtyard or the perimeter of a building is known as a peristyle.

15 “Star Trek” empath Troi: DEANNA

Deanna Troi is a character on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” who is played by the lovely Marina Sirtis. Sirtis is a naturalized American citizen and has what I would call a soft American accent on the show. However, she was born in the East End of London and has a natural accent off-stage that is more like that of a true Cockney.

16 A lot for parents to manage?: STROLLER PARKING

The baby carriages that we know as “strollers” over here in North America are more usually referred to as “pushchairs” or “buggies” in Britain and Ireland.

19 One responsible for many of Starbuck’s orders: AHAB

The most famous whale-hunting ship in fiction has to be Herman Melville’s Pequod, which is featured in his novel “Moby-Dick”. It is skippered by the maniacal Captain Ahab, and the young chief mate is the thoughtful and intellectual Starbuck. Starbuck’s name was lifted and used by the Seattle-based coffee company.

21 Super Monkey Ball maker: SEGA

Sega is a Japanese video game company headquartered in Tokyo. Sega actually started out in 1940 as Standard Games and was located in Honolulu, which at that time was a city in the US Territory of Hawaii. The owners moved the operation to Tokyo in 1951 and renamed the company to Service Games. The name “Sega” is a combination of the first two letters of the words “Se-rvice” and “Ga-mes”.

27 Familiar pattern?: TARTAN

“Tartan” is sometimes called “plaid” over here in the US, and is a word not used in the same sense outside of this country. In Scotland, a plaid is a blanket or a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder.

31 Salt: TAR

A jack tar, or just “tar”, was a seaman in the service of the British Empire. The term probably arose due to a sailor’s various uses of tar back then, including waterproofing his clothes and using tar in his hair to slick down his ponytail.

32 Duolingo students, e.g.: USERS

Duolingo is a language-learning app that can be used for free, or with no ads for a premium price. The app was launched to the public in 2012, and 2013 was chosen by Apple as its iPhone App of the Year. Duolingo has a mascot, a green cartoon owl named “Duo”.

34 Ackbar’s oft-quoted “Return of the Jedi” line: IT’S A TRAP!

Admiral Ackbar is a character in the Star Wars universe, one best known for his role in “Return of the Jedi.” He is an amphibious humanoid, a Mon Calamari, with distinctive fish-like features and a booming voice. Ackbar’s most memorable moment comes during the Battle of Endor, where he famously declares, “It’s a trap!” upon realizing the Rebel fleet is walking into an ambush.

38 Communications service with an AI assistant named Gemini: GMAIL

Gmail is a free webmail service provided by Google, and my favorite of the free email services. Gmail made a big splash when it was introduced because it offered a whopping 1GB of storage whereas other services offered a measly 2-4MB on average.

A large language model (LLM), is a type of artificial intelligence that’s trained on massive amounts of text data. This training allows the LLM to understand and generate human-like text, and answer questions in an informative way. I think of it as a really advanced version of predictive text. Instead of predicting the next word, an LLM predicts entire sentences, paragraphs, or even articles. Two examples of large language models are ChatGBT and Gemini.

43 “Attack!”: SIC ‘EM!

“Sic ’em” is an attack order given to a dog, one instructing the animal to growl, bark or even bite. The term dates back to the 1830s, with “sic” being a variation of “seek”.

48 Mother of Apollo and Artemis: LETO

In Greek mythology, the goddess Leto and her sister Asteria are daughters of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. Leto’s twin children Apollo and Artemis were fathered by Zeus, the king of the gods.

51 Israeli airline: EL AL

El Al Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of Israel. The term “el al” translates from Hebrew as “to the skies”. The company started operations in 1948, with a flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv. Famously, El Al only operates six days a week, not flying on the Sabbath.

54 Danced to “Last Dance,” perhaps: DISCOED

“Last Dance”, released in 1978, is a disco anthem by Donna Summer. It is a little unusual for the genre, as it starts out as a soulful ballad before bursting into an energetic disco groove. “Summer sang “Last Dance” in the movie “Thank God It’s Friday”, and it won that season’s Oscar for Best Original Song. And, Summer won a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Great tune …

57 Freshwater salamander native to Mexico’s Lake Xochimilco: AXOLOTL

An axolotl is a salamander that is native to Central Mexico. The name “axolotl” translates as “water monster”, It’s an ugly little creature …

60 “Rhythm of the Night” R&B group: DEBARGE

DeBarge was an American family music group that rose to fame in the 1980s. From Grand Rapids, Michigan, their biggest hit was 1985’s “Rhythm of the Night”.

61 Gino’s competitor: UNO’S

The chain of pizza parlors known today as Uno Chicago Grill used to be called Pizzeria Uno, or just “Uno’s”. Apparently, Uno’s created the world’s first deep-dish pizza.

Gino’s East is a chain of pizza restaurants that was founded in Chicago in 1966. A long-standing tradition at Gino’s East is the practice of customers writing on the walls, covering them with graffiti, messages, and signatures.

Down

1 Cheese from the Puglia region of Italy: BURRATA

Burrata is an Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The Italian term “burrata” translates as “buttered”.

Apulia (“Puglia” in Italian) is a region of Southern Italy, one that covers the whole of the heel of the “boot”, and further north along the Adriatic coast. The region’s capital is the city of Bari.

2 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who founded Guatemala’s first Indigenous political party: RIGOBERTA MENCHU

Rigoberta Menchú Tum is a K’iche’ Indigenous rights activist from Guatemala. She rose to prominence in the 1980s for her advocacy against human rights violations committed during the Guatemalan Civil War, during which her family was persecuted and killed. Menchú was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.

6 Stage whisper?: BREAK A LEG

There are many, many colorful theories for the origins of the expression “break a leg” that’s used in the world of theater to mean “good luck”. Regardless of the origin, what is clear is that using the phrase “good” luck is considered to be very “bad” luck.

7 Ingredient in the Japanese confection yokan: AGAR

“Yokan” is a jelly dessert made from bean paste, agar and sugar, and often flavored with nuts, figs or sweet potato. Now a typical Japanese confection, the recipe is based on a Chinese dessert made from the gelatin derived from boiling sheep. Ugh …

11 Matt’s “House of the Dragon” role: DAEMON

English actor Matt Smith is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the BBC sci-fi phenomenon “Doctor Who” from 2010 to 2013. He also played a young Prince Philip on the Netflix show “The Crown” opposite Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II. More recently, he took on the lead role of Daemon Targaryen in the medieval fantasy TV show “House of the Dragon”.

The “House of the Dragon” fantasy TV series serves as a prequel to the TV show “Game of Thrones”. Both shows are adaptations of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels by George R. R. Martin. Due to the success of “Game of Thrones”, expectations were high for “House of the Dragon”. The premiere episode of the latter was really well received by audiences, and so it took just five days for HBO to decide to renew “House of Dragons” for a second season.

14 Exam for jrs.: PSAT

Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)

17 Pro wrestler Flair: RIC

Wrestler Ric Flair’s real name is Richard Fliehr. Perhaps following the lead of his compatriot Jesse Ventura, Flair explored the possibility of running for governor of the state of North Carolina.

35 Minutiae: TRIVIA

Trivia are things of little consequence. “Trivia” is the plural of the Latin word “trivium” which means “a place where three roads meet”. I guess the idea was that folks would meet at road junctions and chat, exchanging (trivial) snippets of news. Now that’s what I call a trivial fact …

37 USWNT great Krieger: ALI

Ali Krieger was a member of the 2015 Women’s World Cup-winning US soccer team. Krieger lived for five years in Germany, playing for FFC Frankfurt.

The US women’s national team (USWNT) is the most successful in international women’s soccer. The team has won multiple World Cups, and multiple Olympic Golds. “Sports Illustrated” named the whole team as the 1999 Sportswomen of the Year.

42 Larb, for one: SALAD

Larb is a traditional salad dish from Lao cuisine that is made with minced meat, fish sauce, lime juice, and various herbs and spices. It is often considered the national dish of Laos, although it is also popular in neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam. The word “larb” is derived from the Lao word “laap,” which means “to mince” or “to chop finely.”

44 __ Crüe: MOTLEY

Mötley Crüe is an American rock band from Los Angeles. They’ve been around since 1981, co-founded by the famous drummer Tommy Lee. Tommy Lee is also known for his two celebrated marriages, the first with Heather Locklear and the second with Pamela Anderson. The name “Mötley Crüe” was chosen as someone once described the band members as a “motley looking crew”. The spelling was made to look a little more exotic, with the umlauts added over the “o” and “u” one day, as the band were drinking bottles of “Löwenbräu” beer!

50 Dora or Daffy: TOON

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Her constant companion is an anthropomorphic monkey named “Boots”, because he always wears red boots. Dora, full name “Dora Márquez”, also hangs out with Isa, an iguana.

Daffy Duck first appeared on the screen in “Porky’s Duck Hunt” in 1937. In the original cartoon, Daffy was just meant to have a small role, but he was a big hit as he had so much sass. Even back then, Daffy was voiced by the ubiquitous Mel Blanc.

52 University of New Mexico athlete: LOBO

The University of New Mexico (UNM) is a school in Albuquerque that was founded in 1889. The UNM sports teams are called the Lobos, and there are two mascots who work the crowds named Lobo Louie and Lobo Lucy.

55 All Time Low genre: EMO

All Time Low is an American pop-punk band that formed in 2003 while the members were still in high school in Towson, Maryland. The band’s name is taken from lyrics in the song “Head on Collision” by New Found Glory, a band they admired.

56 __ Moines: DES

The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.