LA Times Crossword 5 Apr 25, Saturday

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Constructed by: Enrique Henestroza Anguiano & Erik Agard
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 15m 34s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Activist Lee known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” : OPAL

Opal Lee is a dedicated activist who spearheaded the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, earning her the moniker “Grandmother of Juneteenth”. She embarked on annual walking campaigns to raise awareness of the movement, most notably a symbolic 2.5-mile walk in various cities, representing the years it took for news of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas. In 2016, at 89 years of age, she began a walk from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C. to further her cause. In 2021, President Biden signed a bill making Juneteenth the nation’s eleventh federal holiday. Three years later, he awarded Lee the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“Juneteenth” is a holiday celebrated on June 19th every year, a commemoration of the emancipation of slaves throughout the Confederate South. President Abraham Lincoln’s executive order known as the Emancipation Proclamation came into effect on January 1st, 1863 but it only applied to Confederate states that were not in Union hands. The order freeing the last slaves in the US was issued at the end of the Civil War, on June 19th 1865. That order applied specifically to the State of Texas. Over a decade later, in 1980, Texas became the first state to declare June 19th (“Juneteenth”) a state holiday.

18 Pithier version of lorem ipsum text : TBA

To be advised/announced (TBA)

“Lorem ipsum” is placeholder text used in design and publishing. The dummy text was introduced in the 1960s, but its roots trace back to Cicero’s “De finibus bonorum et malorum” (On the Ends of Good and Evil), a philosophical treatise written in 45 BC. “Lorem ipsum” is a scrambled and slightly altered version of the original.

20 Sonic, notably : HEDGEHOG

Sonic the Hedgehog is a title character in a videogame and the mascot of Sega, the computer game developer. Sonic was set up as a rival to Nintendo’s mascot Mario.

22 Even a skosh : AT ALL

“Skosh” is a slang term meaning “a little bit”. It was originally military slang that came out of the Korean War. “Skosh” derives from the Japanese word “sukoshi” which translates as “few, little, some”.

23 Canadian conservative : TORY

Today’s Conservative Party of Canada was founded relatively recently, in 2003, with the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives. That said, the party’s roots go back to 1854, with the founding of the Liberal-Conservative Party by John A. McDonald and George-Étienne Cartier.

25 “__ queen!” : YAS

“Yas” is a slang term used in place of the interjection “yes!”, when it expresses pleasure and excitement. The exclamation often takes the form “Yas queen!”

29 Signs of safe traffic flow : STOPS

The first stop sign appeared in Detroit in 1915, though it looked quite different than today. It was a simple square with black letters on a white background. In 1923, the Mississippi Valley Association of State Highway Departments recommended the octagonal shape we know today. This helped drivers recognize it from a distance or even from behind. Reflective materials were added in 1935 for better nighttime visibility, and the red color with white lettering was standardized in 1954 to make it even more noticeable.

30 Oaxacan sauces that can have more than 30 ingredients : MOLES

Mole sauce, from Mexican cuisine, comes in various guises. “Mole negro” includes everyone’s favorite ingredient, namely chocolate.

31 Set available at thenounproject.com : ICONS

The Noun Project is a website that acts as a database of symbols and icons uploaded and used by graphic designers all around the world. The project was launched in 2010 with the goal of creating a visual language that could be understood by anyone, regardless of language or culture.

32 Two score : FORTY

Our verb “to score” meaning “to tally”, comes from the Old Norse “skor”, which is a “mark, notch”. It is likely that items such as livestock were counted by placing a notch in a stick for each set of twenty, hence our use of the noun “score” to mean “twenty”.

36 Ken’s job, in “Barbie” : BEACH

In the hit 2023 movie “Barbie”, there are many variations of Barbie and of Ken. Margot Robbie plays “Stereotypical Barbie”, and Ryan Gosling plays “Beach Ken”.

44 Deep-fried South Asian street food : PANIPURI

Panipuri is a street food found across the Indian subcontinent. The dish comprises breaded spheres filled with potato, onion or chickpea and deep-fried.

48 Ugly duckling anthem of 1975 : AT SEVENTEEN

Janice Ian wrote her lovely 1975 song “At Seventeen“ when she herself was 22, looking back at that earlier age with a little maturity. The lyrics were inspired by a newspaper article she read about a teenage debutante who had learned the hard way that her popularity at school was not the answer to life’s problems.

50 Unit of illuminance : LUX

The “lux” is the SI unit of illuminance, and is equal to one lumen per square meter.

51 Fierce competition : DRAG PAGEANT

In drag culture, the term “fierce” is used to describe someone or something that is very striking, very impressive.

52 Competition with a Golden Buzzer, to fans : AGT

NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” (AGT) is part of a global franchise based in the UK. The original show is called “Britain’s Got Talent”, and the whole franchise is owned by Simon Cowell. The first host of “America’s Got Talent” was Regis Philbin (2006), followed by Jerry Springer, Nick Cannon, Tyra Banks and Terry Crews.

53 Supremely miffed : SOREST

To miff is to put out, to tee off. “To miff” is a verb that has been around since the early 1600s. In 1824, Sir Walter Scott described the word “miffed” as “a women’s phrase”. That should get him a slap, I’d say …

54 “i cant w/ u” : LMAO

Laughing my a** off (LMAO)

“i cant w/ u” is abbreviated text-speak that expands to “I can’t with you”, i.e. “dealing with you right now is too much!” I guess that it can be used to express frustration, or even amusement. But, not used by an old codger like me …

Down

2 Seed in some 30-Across : PEPITA

Pumpkin seeds are also known as “pepitas”, from the Mexican Spanish term “pepita de calabaza” meaning “little seed of squash”.

3 Where to see the stars : ARENAS

Our term “arena” comes from the Latin “harena”, describing a place of combat. Originally “harena” was used for sand or a sandy place. Those Ancient Roman places of combat were covered with sand to soak up blood.

4 1980s US Open three-peater : LENDL

Ivan Lendl is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. He appeared in eight consecutive US Open finals in the eighties, a record that stands to this day. After retiring from tennis, Lendl took up golf, and eventually became a scratch player. Three of Lendl’s five daughters followed their father into golf, all playing for their college golf teams.

6 Formicarium dweller : ANT

“Formicary” is another name for “ant nest”, and comes from the Latin “formica” meaning “ant”. The phrase “ant colony” describes the ants living in an ant nest. A formicarium is similar to an aquarium, and used to house an ant colony perhaps for study. The phrase “ant farm” is usually reserved for ant nests built by an ant colony in a formicarium.

7 Uhura player : NICHOLS

Lt. Nyota Uhura is the communications officer on board the Starship Enterprise, and was played by Nichelle Nichols in the original “Star Trek” television series. The role was significant in that Uhura was one of the first African-American characters to figure front and center in US television. In a 1968 episode, Kirk (played by William Shatner) and Uhura kiss, the first interracial kiss to be broadcast in the US. Apparently the scene was meant to be shot twice, with and without the kiss, so that network executives could later decide which version to air. William Shatner claims that he deliberately ran long on the first take (with the kiss) and fluffed the hurried second take (without the kiss), so that the network would have no choice.

12 What highly motivated people may have zero goals for? : INBOXES

“Inbox zero” is a rigorous approach to handling emails that was developed by productivity expert Merlin Mann. Mann touts his approach to inbox management as “how to reclaim your email, your attention, and your life”.

15 Zoology class figures : SKELETONS

When we are born, our skeleton comprises more than 270 bones. Many of these bones fuse as we grow, leaving an adult with 206 bones in all.

27 Nunito sans, for one : FONT

We tend to use the terms typeface and font interchangeably. Technically, a typeface and font are not the same thing. A complete set of characters with a common design is referred to as a typeface (common examples being Helvetica and Arial). That typeface consists of a whole collection of fonts, all varying in weight and size. One set of Helvetica fonts, for example, might be Helvetica 14 point or Helvetica 16 point, i.e. a specific size. Another set might be Helvetica bold, or Helvetica italic. The difference between fonts and typefaces mattered a great deal when printers had collections of individual letters to make up blocks of text. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that these days.

28 Lyrical story of unrequited love : TORCH SONG

A sentimental love song can be referred to as a “torch song”. The term derives from the expression “to carry a torch for someone” meaning to keep aflame the light of love, despite the feeling not being returned by the other party.

30 Class offered by MITx, e.g. : MOOC

Massive open online course (MOOC)

35 Animal also known as a rooibok : IMPALA

“Impala” is the Zulu word for “gazelle”. When running at a sustained speed, gazelles can move along at 30 miles per hour. If needed, they can accelerate for bursts up to 60 miles per hour.

36 Brown bread specialist : BURSAR

A bursar is an administrative officer, typically in a school or college, who is responsible for the management of financial affairs. “Bursar” comes from the Latin “bursa”, meaning “purse,bag”.

Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island is one of the eight Ivy League schools. Brown has been around a long time, founded in 1764, years before America declared independence from England. The university took the name of Brown in 1804 after one Nicholas Brown, Jr. gave a substantial gift to the school. The school’s athletic teams are known as the Brown Bears, and their mascot is Bruno.

38 Angela Bassett’s “9-1-1” role : ATHENA

“9-1-1” is a TV series that features the lives of first responders in Los Angeles. Star of the show is Angela Bassett, who plays patrol sergeant Athena Grant.

Angela Bassett is an actress from New York whose breakthrough role was playing Tina Turner in the 1993 film about the pop icon’s life “What’s Love Got to Do with It”. Bassett married fellow actor Courtney B. Vance in 1997, having first met him while both were studying at Yale School of Drama.

41 Album ender : OUTRO

In the world of pop music, an outro is the opposite to an intro. An outro might perhaps be the concluding track of an album, for example.

45 Some legal places to make records : PADS

Our paper sizes here in North America don’t conform with the standards in the rest of the world. ISO standard sizes used elsewhere were chosen so that the ratio of width to length is usually one to the square root of two. This mathematical relationship means that when you cut a piece of paper in two each half preserves the aspect ratio of the original, which can be useful in making reduced or enlarged copies of documents. Our standard size of “letter” (ltr., 8.5 x 11 inches) was determined in 1980 by the Reagan administration to be the official paper size for the US government. Prior to this, the “legal” size (8.5 x 14 inches) had been the standard, since 1921.