LA Times Crossword 12 Apr 25, Saturday

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Constructed by: Hoang-Kim Vu
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 13m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Having the wrong profile, in a way : CATFISHING

Catfishing refers to the deceptive practice of creating a false online identity to trick someone into a romantic or other type of relationship. The term originated with the 2010 documentary “Catfish” that tells of a man becoming emotionally involved with a woman who turned out to be a fabricated persona. In the film, the term “catfishing” is used metaphorically, citing a possibly apocryphal story about catfish being introduced into tanks to keep cod active during transport. A deceptive person online can stir up a stagnant relationship and keep it “interesting”, albeit dishonestly.

11 Dark cloud : PALL

A pall is a cloth used to cover a casket at a funeral. Pallbearers actually carry the coffin, covered by the pall. The phrase “casting a pall over”, meaning to create a dark mood, is a metaphorical use of the “pall” over the casket.

17 Class of talking heads and pundits : CHATTERATI

“Chatterati”, a portmanteau of “chattering” and “literati”, is a term used to describe members of the “chattering classes”. This social group comprises pundits, intellectuals, and media personalities, who engage in frequent commentary on current events, culture, and politics. The term can be slightly pejorative, suggesting that their discourse can sometimes be superficial or detached from the experiences of the population at large.

18 A principal deity of Hinduism : SIVA

Shiva (also “Siva”) is one of the major deities of the Hindu tradition, and is known as the destroyer of evil and the transformer. Shiva is also part of the Hindu trinity known as the Trimurti, along with Brahma and Vishnu.

19 __ Lingus : AER

Aer Lingus is the flag carrier airline of Ireland. It was founded in 1936 by the Irish government to provide air service between Ireland and the United Kingdom. The airline’s name means “air fleet” in Irish. In the 1950s, Aer Lingus became the first airline in the world to introduce a duty-free shopping service on board its flights.

23 Ideal location for speakers : DAIS

A dais is a raised platform for a speaker. The term “dais” comes from the Latin “discus” meaning a “disk-shaped object”. I guess that the original daises had such a shape.

25 Word in a Samin Nosrat title : ACID
4D Word in a Samin Nosrat title : FAT

“Salt Fat Acid Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking” is a 2017 cookbook penned by chef and TV host Samin Nosrat. A best seller, it has been described as more of a reference book than a collection of recipes. Nosrat explains how to master flavor and texture using salt, fat, acid and heat, four elements that she calls the “cardinal directions” of cooking.

27 Hibachi part : GRATE

The traditional hibachi in Japan is a heating device, often a ceramic bowl or box that holds burning charcoal. This native type of hibachi isn’t used for cooking, but rather as a space heater (a brazier). Here in the US we use “hibachi” to refer to a charcoal grill used as a small cooking stove, which in Japanese would be called a “shichirin”. “Hibachi” is Japanese for “fire pot” coming from “hi” meaning “fire”, and “bachi” meaning “bowl, pot”.

28 Lucie who was an executive producer on the film “Being the Ricardos” : ARNAZ

Actress and singer Lucie Arnaz is the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Arnaz started acting at an early age, and turned up frequently on her mother’s television show “Here’s Lucy”. Lucie’s most famous appearance on the big screen was opposite Neil Diamond in 1980’s “The Jazz Singer”.

“Being the Ricardos” is a 2021 biopic about the lives of married couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Lucy and Desi are played by Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. The title comes from the show “I Love Lucy”, in which Ball and Arnaz played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. I haven’t seen this one, but it’s on my list as the film was written and directed by the great Aaron Sorkin …

32 Warded (off) : STAVED

The word “stave” was originally the plural of “staff”, a word describing a wooden rod. To “stave off” originated with the concept of holding off with a staff. In the world of barrel-making, a stave is a narrow strip of wood that forms part of a barrel’s side.

34 Spanish pronoun : ESA

In Spanish, the “otra” (other) is neither “esta” (this) nor “esa” (that).

36 Use a red pen, say : EDIT

The tradition is that an editor writes corrections to written copy using a blue pencil. The practice arose with the introduction of the “non-photo blue” pencil, which had a color that did not show up in some photographic reproduction processes. A red pencil was used for editing in some applications, as the red was not reproduced in a xerograph.

38 Kin kin : KITH

The word “kith” describes friends and acquaintances, and is used in the phrase “kith and kin” meaning “friends and family”. “Kith” comes from an Old English word meaning “native country, home”, as the expression “kith and kin” was used originally to mean “country and kinsmen”.

40 Assessment for many jrs. : PSAT

Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)

43 Only defenseman to lead the NHL in points : ORR

Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking. While still 31 years old, in 1979, Orr became the youngest person inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Prior to that, in 1967, Orr became the youngest person named the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.

53 Sauna amenity : TOWEL

As my Finnish-American wife will tell you, “sauna” is a Finnish word. It is pronounced more correctly as “sow-nah” (“sow”, as in the female pig).

54 Just so cute : TWEE

In the UK, something “twee” is cutesy or overly nice. “Twee” came from “tweet”, which is the cutesy, baby-talk way of saying “sweet”.

57 Ma Rainey’s “Louisiana __ Blues” : HOODOO

Hoodoo is a traditional African-American folk magic and spirituality that has West-African, Native-American and European roots. Hoodoo is sometimes confused with Voodoo, especially as they both have West African connections. However, the two practices are very different.

Ma Rainey was a blues singer, in fact the earliest-known professional blues singer in North America. Born Gertrude Pridgett in 1886, she adopted the stage name Ma Rainey after marrying Will Rainey in 1904.

59 Place for multiple outlets : MALL

Surprisingly (to me!), our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to be a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.

61 Stage name of South Korean rapper Park Jae-sang : PSY

“PSY” is the stage name of South Korean rapper Park Jae-sang. PSY became an international star when his 2012 music video “Gangnam Style” went viral on YouTube. That video had over 1 billion views on YouTube in about six months, making it the most viewed YouTube video clip of all time. The title of the song refers to a lifestyle experienced in the Gangnam District of Seoul.

62 Staple of southern cuisine : OKRA

The plant known as okra is mainly grown for its edible green pods. The pods are said to resemble “ladies’ fingers”, which is an alternative name for the plant. Okra is known as “ngombo” in Bantu, a name that might give us the word “gumbo”, the name for the name of the southern Louisiana stew that includes okra as a key ingredient.

63 Feature of some Gothic facades? : PIERCED LIP

The goth subculture developed from the gothic rock scene in the early eighties, and is a derivative of the punk music movement. It started in England and spread to many countries around the globe. The term “goth” comes from the Eastern Germanic tribe called the Goths.

66 “__ we forget” : LEST

“Lest we forget” is an oft-quoted phrase, one that comes from a poem by Rudyard Kipling called “Recessional”. Kipling wrote the piece on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897 and used it to express sadness at the waning of the British Empire. The phrase “lest we forget” is used in this context, a warning that the empire will decline. Ever since WWI we’ve been using the words on memorials as a plea not to forget the sacrifices made by others in the past.

67 First mates? : ADAM AND EVE

Eve is named as the wife of Adam in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. However, Adam’s wife is not specifically named in the Qur’an.

68 Art Deco designer : ERTE

“Erté” was the pseudonym of French (Russian-born) artist and designer Romain de Tirtoff. “Erté” is the French pronunciation of his initials “R.T.” Erté’s diverse portfolio of work included costumes and sets for the “Ziegfeld Follies” of 1923, productions of the Parisian cabaret show “Folies Bergère”, as well as the 1925 epic movie “Ben-Hur”. Erté’s most famous work by far is an image titled “Symphony in Black”. It depicts a tall and slender woman dressed in black, holding a black dog on a leash.

Down

1 Insects whose broods emerge at regular 13- or 17-year intervals : CICADAS

There is a genus of cicada known as the periodic cicada that spends most of its life underground feeding on the roots of trees. They are described as periodic because mature cicada nymphs emerge from the ground in great numbers every 13 or 17 years and are active for just 4-6 weeks. While above ground, the males chirp away to attract mates and fertilized females lay eggs. When the reproductive cycle is complete, the adult cicadas “disappear” for another 13 or 17 years.

3 Catherine the Great, e.g. : TSARINA

Catherine the Great (aka Catherine II) was Empress of Russia for 34 years, up to her death in 1796. Her long reign is considered by many to have been Russia’s Golden Age.

6 Cartoondom’s “Princess of Power” : SHE-RA

“She-Ra: Princess of Power” is an animated television show, and a spinoff of the very successful “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe”. Both shows are aimed at young people, with “He-Man” targeted at boys and “She-Ra” at girls.

7 “Carmen Saeculare” poet : HORACE

Horace’s “Carmen Saeculare” was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 17 BC to celebrate the “Ludi Saeculares” (Secular Games). The hymn was sung by a chorus of boys and girls during the games as part of a religious ceremony designed to purify and renew the Roman state. The Latin term “saeculum” roughly translates to “age, generation, century”, particularly in the sense of a long, cyclical period of time. Consequently, the title “Carmen Saeculare” is rendered in English as both “Song of the Ages” and “Secular Hymn”.

10 Crimp or pinch, in bouldering : GRIP

Bouldering and free solo climbing involve climbing without ropes or harnesses, but differ significantly in scale and risk. Bouldering focuses on short, intense “problems” near the ground, where falls are cushioned by crash pads. Free solo climbing involves climbing tall cliffs or mountains without any protective equipment, making free soloing exponentially more dangerous, as a fall at any point is likely to be fatal.

12 Chinese e-commerce giant : ALIBABA

Alibaba.com is the largest online business-to-business trading website for small businesses. Basically, Alibaba facilitates the buying and selling of goods between manufacturers and retailers.

22 Key ingredient in pastel de nata : EGG

Pastel de nata is a Portuguese egg custard tart with a flaky pastry crust and a creamy custard filling. The pastel de nata’s history is closely tied to the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, Lisbon. In the 18th century, monks within the monastery used egg whites to starch their clothing, resulting in a surplus of egg yolks. To utilize these yolks, they created the pastel de nata, which they then sold to generate income. Waste not, want not …

29 Feature of the London Zoo : ZED

The world’s first zoo opened in Britain in 1820. Now known as “London Zoo”, the facility was referred to back then as the “Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society of London”. The term “zoo” is a shortening of “zoological”.

31 Debugging agent? : RAID

Raid insecticide has been killing bugs since 1956.

33 Designer Christian : DIOR

Christian Dior was a highly influential fashion designer who is widely credited with revolutionizing women’s fashion in the post-World War II era. Before he became a fashion designer, Dior worked as an art dealer, and he even ran his own art gallery for a time. There, he and a friend sold works by Pablo Picasso and others.

37 Equestrian gait : TROT

Something described as equestrian is related to horses or horsemanship. The term “equestrian” comes from the Latin “equus” meaning “horse”.

40 Cause of some misalignment : POTHOLE

Back in the early 1800s, the term “pothole” only applied to relatively small cylindrical cavities in rock and glaciers. We extended the usage to holes in roads at the start of the 20th century.

41 Hoodwink : SNOOKER

The use of the word “snooker” to mean “to cheat” has been used since the early 1900s. The term probably took on that connotation as it’s relatively easy to trick someone who is new to the game of snooker.

“To hoodwink” has had the meaning “to deceive” since about 1600. Prior to that it meant simply “to blindfold”, and is simply a combination of the words “hood” and “wink”.

44 Hot pot fodder : RAW MEAT

“Fodder”, meaning “animal feed”, is an Old English word for “food”. We also use the term figuratively to describe material or information that serves as a source for a particular purpose, often with a connotation of being raw, unprocessed, or of lesser quality.

50 Jeff Lynne’s gp. : ELO

Jeff Lynne is a singer-songwriter who is best known as the leader of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). Lynne went on to form the Traveling Wilburys supergroup, along with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.

55 “Free Solo” locale, familiarly : EL CAP

El Capitan is a stunning vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park in California. The top of El Capitan has been used as the take-off point for many BASE jumps, parachute jumps made by diving off the top of the rock face. The National Park Service put a stop to the practice in 1999. Soon afterwards, a BASE jumper made an illegal jump to protest the ban. She died …

“Free Solo” is an excellent, albeit frightening (to me) 2018 documentary about Alex Honnold’s record-setting free-solo ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. The film won that season’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, as well it should …

58 Pearlescent shade : OPAL

Pearlescence is the quality of having a pearl-like appearance. An item might appear pearlescent because structures below the surface reflect white light back to the viewer, giving the item a pearl-like luster.

60 Writer/producer Waithe : LENA

Lena Waithe’s break as an actress came with a supporting role in the comedy-drama show “Master of None” starting in 2015. The same show brought her significant success as a writer, winning a Primetime Emmy for co-writing the “Thanksgiving” episode with the show’s creator Aziz Ansari. Waithe also serves as executive producer for the horror-drama anthology series “Them”.

64 Journalist Tarbell : IDA

Ida Tarbell was a teacher and what we would call today an “investigative journalist”, although back in her day she was known as a “muckraker”. Her most famous work is her 1904 book “The History of the Standard Oil Company”. It is an exposé that is credited with hastening the breakup of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil in 1911. She also wrote several books about President Abraham Lincoln.

65 Canine care deg. : DDS

Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS)