LA Times Crossword 29 Apr 25, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Susan Gelfand
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Authors’ Go-To Places

Themed answers are common venues reinterpreted as PLACES that particular kinds of authors might GO TO when looking for inspiration:

• 20A Journalist’s go-to place for getting scoops? : ICE CREAM STAND
• 31A Novelist’s go-to place for spinning yarns? : CRAFT STORE
• 40A Screenwriter’s go-to place for envisioning stories? : SKYSCRAPER
• 52A Business writer’s go-to place for establishing accounts? : BROKERAGE FIRM

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

Bill’s time: 4m 54s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Scallion kin : LEEK

The leek is a vegetable closely related to the onion and the garlic. It is also a national emblem of Wales (along with the daffodil), although I don’t think we know for sure how this came to be. One story is that the Welsh were ordered to wear leeks in their helmets to identify themselves in a battle against the Saxons. Apparently, the battle took place in a field of leeks.

Scallions are edible plants with a mild onion flavor. They are also called green onions or spring onions.

9 Furniture in a cozy inn’s common room : SOFAS

“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

14 Tehran’s land : IRAN

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.

15 Colorful breakfast cereal : TRIX

Trix is a corn-based breakfast cereal that has been around since 1954, produced by General Mills. Ads for the cereal featured Trix Rabbit, who would try hard to get hold of bowls of the cereal. He would always get caught though, and be admonished with, “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!” With 46% sugar content, the rabbit probably wouldn’t have liked it anyway …

16 Lyric poem : EPODE

An epode is a lyric poem made up of couplets in which the first line is long, and the second line much shorter. The form was invented by the Greek poet Archilochus, and was most famously used by the Roman poet Horace.

17 Savory paste in Japanese cuisine : MISO

Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes miso soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

19 __ City, Iowa : SIOUX

Sioux City, Iowa has a history that is inextricably linked with the Missouri River. The city grew from a camp established by the Lewis and Clark expedition that traveled up the river in 1804. Today, Sioux City is the navigational head of the Missouri, the furthest point upstream that is accessible by general cargo ships.

23 Movies that aren’t silent : TALKIES

The Silent Era of filmmaking is generally said to have started in 1894 with the shooting of a very simple film by Auguste and Louis Lumière called “La Sortie de l’Usine Lumière à Lyon” (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon). The famous talkie “The Jazz Singer” was released in 1927, and it was a commercial success. However, the end of the Silent Era is often cited as 1929, when “talkies” really began to dominate in movie theaters.

24 Luxury watches such as Seamaster and Speedmaster : OMEGAS

The Seamaster is a line of watches that Omega has produced since 1948. The Seamaster name arose because the original design was based on watches made for the Royal Navy during WWII. On the silver screen, James Bond has been wearing an Omega Seamaster since 1995.

The manually wound Omega Speedmaster was the first watch worn by an astronaut on the surface of the moon. Neil Armstrong left his Speedmaster inside the Lunar Module, but Buzz Aldrin wore his as he ventured outside.

28 Burlap fiber : JUTE

Jute is a very popular vegetable fiber, second only to cotton in terms of the amount produced. Jute fiber is also called hessian, and fabric made from jute can be called hessian cloth. In the US, cloth made from jute can be called burlap.

Burlap, also called “hessian”, is a coarse woven fabric made from fibers taken from jute, sisal or hemp plants.

30 Nutritional fig. : RDA

Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) were introduced during WWII, and were replaced by Recommended Daily Intakes (RDIs) in 1997.

31 Novelist’s go-to place for spinning yarns? : CRAFT STORE

The phrase “to spin a yarn”, meaning “to tell a tall tale”, originated in the early 1800s with seamen. The idea was that sailors would tell stories to each other while engaged in mindless work such as twisting yarn.

37 Hankering : YEN

The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium.

39 Diamond experts : UMPS

Back in the 15th century, “an umpire” was referred to as “a noumpere”, which was misheard and hence causing the dropping of the initial letter N. The term “noumpere” came from Old French “nonper” meaning “not even, odd number”. The idea was that the original umpire was a third person called on to arbitrate between two, providing that “odd number” needed to decide the dispute.

40 Screenwriter’s go-to place for envisioning stories? : SKYSCRAPER

According to many, the world’s first skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois, which was built in 1885. It was 10 stories tall and stood at 42 meters (138 feet). What made the building unique, at the time, was the use of structural steel in the internal frame. That frame bore the weight of each floor, as well as the weight of the external masonry.

45 Pillbox, for one : HAT

A pillbox hat is so called because it looks somewhat like a larger version of a small, cylindrical box used to carry pills. It has a flat crown, upright sides and no brim. Famously, First Lady Jackie Kennedy was wearing a pink pillbox hat as she rode in the car beside her husband when he was assassinated.

48 Open-sided garden shelters : GAZEBOS

A gazebo is a roofed structure, often octagonal in shape, that is found mainly in public spaces. Gazebos can be quite small, or can be large enough to perhaps serve as a bandstand. The actual etymology of the term “gazebo” seems to be a bit of a mystery, and there are some misconceptions out there.

58 Theater box : LOGE

In most theaters and stadiums today, “loge” is the name given to the front rows of a mezzanine level. Loge can also be used for box seating.

59 Barista’s brew : LATTE

A barista is a person who serves coffee in a coffee shop. “Barista” is Italian for “bartender”.

60 Bearers of gold, frankincense, and myrrh : MAGI

“Magi” is the plural of the Latin word “magus”, a term applied to someone who was able to read the stars. Hence, “magi” is commonly used with reference to the “wise men from the East” who followed the star and visited Jesus soon after he was born. In Western Christianity, the three Biblical Magi are:

• Melchior: a scholar from Persia
• Caspar (also “Gaspar”): a scholar from India
• Balthazar: a scholar from Arabia

Frankincense and myrrh are both tree resins that are exuded when certain species of tree are damaged. The harvested resins are used to make essential oils for perfumes, and are also burned to give off a pleasant fragrance.

61 Human rights lawyer Clooney : AMAL

Amal Alamuddin married celebrated Hollywood actor George Clooney in 2014. Alamuddin was born in Beirut, Lebanon and moved with her family to London when she was a toddler. She is a lawyer specializing in international law, with one of her more renowned clients being the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange.

62 Performed an optical procedure, perhaps : LASED

LASIK surgery uses a laser to reshape the cornea of the eye to improve vision. The LASIK acronym stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis”.

Down

2 CNN journalist Hill : ERICA

Erica Hill was the co-anchor of “CBS This Morning”, and before that she was co-anchor of CBS’s “The Early Show”. Hill moved in 2008 to NBC News and co-hosted the weekend edition of “Today”. She moved to CNN in 2016.

3 Painter’s canvas holder : EASEL

The term “easel” comes from an old Dutch word meaning “donkey”, would you believe? The idea is that an easel carries its load (an oil painting, say) just as a donkey would be made to carry a load.

5 U2’s “Where the __ Have No Name” : STREETS

U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” music video is a masterclass in impactful visuals. Filmed on the rooftop of a Los Angeles liquor store, it shows the band performing to a growing crowd of fans who have just learned of the impromptu concert. What truly sets the video apart is the tension created by the arrival of the LAPD. The video interweaves the band’s performance with shots of police officers attempting to shut down the event, creating an aura of rebellion and communal energy.

9 Bagel variety : SESAME

The bagel was invented in the Polish city of Kraków in the 16th century. Bagels were brought to this country by Jewish immigrants from Poland who mainly established homes in and around New York City.

11 Dairy or grains : FOOD GROUP

The first food guide pyramid was issued in 1974, in Sweden. The food pyramid that we’re most familiar with in this country is the one published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1992, which was replaced in 2011. Instead of a pyramid, we now have a guide called MyPlate (available on the website ChooseMyPlate.gov). MyPlate urges us to eat about 30% grains, 30% vegetables, 20% fruits, 20% proteins on our plates, accompanied by a small serving of dairy.

12 Garage converted to rental space, e.g., for short : ADU

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are secondary housing units built on a single-family residential lot. They can be attached to the main house, detached in the backyard, or created by converting existing spaces like garages. ADUs can provide space for family members, be used as rental units, or just increase the value of a property going up for sale.

25 Photoshop company : ADOBE

Adobe Systems is a San Jose-based enterprise that is best known for developing Photoshop image editing software and the Portable Document Format (PDF). The company was founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke, in Warnock’s garage. The Adobe Creek ran behind that garage, and the founders borrowed the name of the waterway for the company’s moniker.

28 Baby kangaroos : JOEYS

In Australia, male kangaroos are known by several names including bucks, boomers, jacks or old men. Females are called does, flyers, or jills. There seems to be just one name for young kangaroos, i.e. joeys. A group of kangaroos might be called a mob, troop or court.

32 Quick-cooking noodles : RAMEN

Ramen is a noodle dish composed of Chinese-style wheat noodles in a meat or fish broth flavored with soy or miso sauce. Ramen is usually topped with sliced pork and dried seaweed. The term “ramen” is also used for precooked, instant noodles that come in single-serving, solid blocks.

33 Collections of letters : ALPHABETS

The word “alphabet” originates from the Greek “alphabetos” , a combination of “alpha” and “beta”, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. This naming convention is similar to referring to “the ABCs” in the English alphabet. Both Greek letters, in turn, come from the Phoenician letters “aleph” and “beth”.

34 Youngster : TYKE

“Tyke” has been used playfully to describe a young child since at least 1902 For centuries before that, a tyke was a cur or mongrel, or perhaps a lazy or lower-class man.

42 Bulldoze : RAZE

To raze (“rase”, in British English) is to level to the ground. I’ve always thought it a little quirky that “raise”, a homophone of “raze”, means “build up”.

The largest bulldozer ever manufactured is the Acco Super Bulldozer, built in Italy. It weighs in at 183 tonnes, and has a dozer blade that is 7 meters wide and 2.7 meters high. Only one of these bulldozers was ever built, and it was intended for shipment to Libya in the early eighties. The machine never left Italy, as sanctions were placed on the Libyan regime run by Colonel Gaddafi.

49 Ecological community : BIOME

I tend to think of “biome” as another word for “ecosystem”.

50 Church pipes : ORGAN

The organ that we often see in churches, synagogues and concert halls is a pipe organ. Sound is produced by pressurized air driven through particular pipes selected by keys on a keyboard.

51 Silvery fish : SMELT

“Smelt” is the name given to several types of small silvery fish, with examples being Great Lake smelts and whitebait smelts.

53 Name in a Salinger title : ESME

J. D. Salinger wrote a short story called “For Esmé – with Love and Squalor” that was originally published in “The New Yorker” in 1950. It is a story about a young English girl called Esme and an American soldier, and is set in WWII.