LA Times Crossword 21 May 25, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Prasanna Keshava
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Half Measure

Themed answers each include a hidden MEASURE that takes up HALF of the answer:

• 37A Paltry effort, or a literal description of the answer to each starred clue : HALF MEASURE

• 17A *Calling the shots : IN CHARGE (half INCH)
• 25A *Tear apart : RIP IN TWO (half PINT)
• 49A *In the soup : UP A CREEK (half ACRE)
• 61A *Request from a photographer : BIG SMILE (half MILE)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 01s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Book after the Gospels : ACTS

The Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book of the Christian New Testament. It is believed that the author of the Gospel of Luke was the same person who wrote “Acts”.

5 “__ the season … ” : ‘TIS

The music for the Christmas song “Deck the Halls” is a traditional Welsh tune that dates back to the 16th century. The same tune was used by Mozart for a violin and piano duet. The lyrics with which we are familiar (other than the “fa-la-la”) are American in origin, and were recorded in the 19th century.

“’Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la la la la la la la la!”

8 Lawyer Clarence who inspired a character in “Inherit the Wind” : DARROW

Clarence Darrow was a prominent American lawyer known for his sharp wit and passionate defense of civil liberties, particularly in high-profile cases. He often took on cases considered controversial, including defense of the teaching of evolution in the Scopes “Monkey Trial”. Darrow’s courtroom eloquence and his commitment to social justice made him a legendary figure, so much so that he served as the inspiration for the character of Henry Drummond in the play and film “Inherit the Wind”, which dramatized the Scopes Trial.

“Inherit the Wind” is a drama that fictionalizes the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial, which centered on a Tennessee teacher’s prosecution for teaching evolution. The story was first presented as a 1955 play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, and it was later adapted into the acclaimed 1960 film directed by Stanley Kramer. The film version stars Spencer Tracy as defense attorney Henry Drummond (based on Clarence Darrow) and Fredric March as prosecutor Matthew Harrison Brady (based on William Jennings Bryan).

16 Golden Crinkles maker : ORE-IDA

Ore-Ida frozen foods are all made using potatoes. The company is located in Oregon, just across the border from Idaho. “Ore-Ida” is a melding of the two state names.

17 *Calling the shots : IN CHARGE (half INCH)

An inch is 1/12 of a foot. The term “inch” comes from the Latin “uncia” meaning “twelfth”.

20 Start of a kids clothing line name : OSH-

OshKosh B’gosh is a company that produces and sells children’s clothes. The trademark OshKosh bib-overalls remind us of the company’s roots, as it was originally a manufacturer of adult work clothes based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

21 Actress Taylor-Joy of “The Queen’s Gambit” : ANYA

Actress Anya Taylor-Joy had quite the international upbringing. She was born in Miami, and raised in Buenos Aires and then London. She is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the 2020 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma”, and the lead role in the Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit”.

“The Queen’s Gambit” is a wonderful 2020 miniseries based on a 1983 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. Anya Taylor-Joy plays a young chess prodigy who has a tough upbringing in an orphanage, and who then struggles with alcohol and drug dependency. The series was so popular with viewers that it sparked a renewed interest in the game of chess, with sales of chess sets and chess books increasing dramatically.

22 Atty.’s group : ABA

American Bar Association (ABA)

23 Former Seattle team, familiarly : SONICS

The Seattle SuperSonics were the professional basketball team based in Seattle from 1967 to 2008, at which time the franchise moved to Oklahoma City (and became the Oklahoma City Thunder).

25 *Tear apart : RIP IN TWO (half PINT)

A US pint comprises 16 fluid ounces, and an imperial pint is 20 fluid ounces. The term “pint” comes into English via Old French, ultimately from the Latin “picta” meaning “painted”. The name arose from a line painted on the side of a beer glass that marked a full measure of ale.

30 Roping and riding contests : RODEOS

“Rodeo” is a Spanish word that is usually translated into English as “round up”.

32 Bag-checking org. : TSA

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

34 Spritelike : ELFISH

A sprite is an elfin or fairy-like creature of European myth. The term “sprite” comes from the Latin “spiritus” meaning “spirit”.

37 Paltry effort, or a literal description of the answer to each starred clue : HALF MEASURE

The contemporary adjective “paltry”, meaning “inferior, trashy”, comes from an older use of “paltry” as a noun meaning a “worthless thing”.

43 Mo. of “Madness” : MAR

“March Madness” is the name given to the NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Championship (among others), that is held in the spring each year. Another name is “the Big Dance”.

44 Ga. capital : ATL

The city of Atlanta, Georgia (A-Town) had its beginnings in the late 1830s when the location was chosen as the terminus for a new railroad to be built connecting Georgia with the Midwestern United States. The city’s name was chosen by the Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, apparently after the middle name of the daughter of Governor Wilson Lumpkin: “Atalanta”.

46 Shoelace tips : AGLETS

An aglet is a plastic or metal sheath found on the end of a shoelace or perhaps a drawstring. The name “aglet” comes from the Old French word “aiguillette” meaning “needle”.

49 *In the soup : UP A CREEK (half ACRE)

At one time, an acre was defined as the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. Then, an acre was more precisely defined as a strip of land “one furrow long” (i.e. one furlong) and one chain wide. The length of one furlong was equal to 10 chains, or 40 rods. An area of one furlong times 10 rods was one rood.

52 Umpire’s cry : HE’S OUT!

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.

54 Reddit tell-all sesh : AMA

Ask me anything (AMA)

58 Extemporizes : AD-LIBS

“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.

61 *Request from a photographer : BIG SMILE (half MILE)

The length of the mile has varied historically, but the statute mile, commonly used in the US and the UK, is standardized at 5,280 feet, and was standardized at exactly 1609.344 meters in 1959. The word “mile” comes from the Latin phrase “mille passus,” meaning “a thousand paces”. A Roman mile was based on 1,000 Roman strides (a stride being two paces).

63 We Are Toonz dance style : NAE NAE

The Nae Nae is a hip hop dance that is named for the 2013 song “Drop that NaeNae” recorded by We Are Toon. The main move in the dance involves swaying with one hand in the air and one hand down, with both feet firmly planted on the dancefloor. Go on, do it. You know you want to …

We Are Toonz is an hip hop group from Stone Mountain, Georgia that gained prominence for their viral dance single “Drop That #NaeNae”. Formed in 2013, the group’s music became popular due to the accompanying dance’s spread on social media platforms. The #NaeNae dance was inspired by the character Sheneneh Jenkins, played by Martin Lawrence, from the sitcom “Martin”.

64 Computing pioneer Lovelace : ADA

Ada Lovelace’s real name and title was Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace. She was the only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the poet. Lovelace was fascinated by mathematics and wrote about the work done by Charles Babbage in building his groundbreaking mechanical computer. In some of her notes, she proposed an algorithm for Babbage’s machine to compute Bernoulli numbers. This algorithm is recognized by many as the world’s first computer program and so Lovelace is sometimes called the first “computer programmer”. There is a computer language called “Ada” that was named in her honor. The Ada language was developed from 1977 to 1983 for the US Department of Defense.

66 Oasis site : DESERT

An isolated area of vegetation in a desert is called an oasis (plural “oases”). As water is needed for plant growth, an oasis might also include a spring, pond or small lake. We often use the term “oasis” more generally to describe a haven, a place of rest.

68 “The Studio” creator/star Rogen : SETH

Seth Rogen is a Canadian comedian who got a lot of credit for his supporting role in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”. That led to him being cast as the lead in the 2007 film “Knocked Up”. Rogen also co-directed and co-starred in “The Interview”, a movie that created a huge ruckus in the North Korean regime.

“The Studio” is a 2025 satirical comedy TV series created by Seth Rogen and others. The show delves into the inner workings of a floundering Hollywood movie studio, Continental Studios. Seth Rogen himself stars as Matt Remick, the newly appointed studio head. I haven’t seen the show, but it sounds interesting, with many actors making cameo appearances …

Down

1 “Sayonara!” : ADIOS!

The term “adiós” is Spanish for “goodbye”. “Adiós” comes from the phrase “a Dios vos acomiendo” meaning “I commend you to God”.

“Sayonara” means “farewell” in Japanese.

2 One who refuses to take an oath? : CENSOR

The original “censor” was an officer in ancient Rome who had responsibility for taking the “census”, as well as supervising public morality.

3 Music genre related to trance : TECHNO

Techno is a type of electronic dance music that originated in Detroit in the eighties. Techno involves a heavy beat in common time, and what seems to be a lot of repetition. Not for me …

Trance music, a kind of electronic dance music, emerged in the late 1980s, mainly in Germany and the UK. It prioritizes instrumental tracks to create hypnotic and emotional soundscapes, with the intent of providing an immersive dancefloor experience.

4 Texter’s “What a mess” : SMH

Shaking my head (SMH)

6 “The End of an Era” artist Azalea : IGGY

“Iggy Azalea” is the stage name of Australian rapper Amethyst Kelly. I haven’t heard of her outside of crosswords, I must admit …

“The End of an Era,” released in 2021, became Iggy Azalea’s final studio album. She subsequently announced her decision to step away from making music to focus on other creative projects and motherhood, hence the title “The End of an Era”.

9 Saudi __ : ARABIA

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab country in the Middle East and is the world’s largest oil producer, home to the world’s largest oil reserves. The Saudi dynasty started in central Arabia in 1744 when the secular leader Muhammad ibn Saud joined forces with the Islamic scholar and Imam, Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab. At the time, Saud was a ruler of a town near Riyadh and he was determined to bring “true” Islam to the Arabian peninsula. Since 1744 the fortunes of the Saud family have risen and fallen, but it is that same family who rules what we know today as Saudi Arabia.

12 Many a poem by Shelley : ODE

Percy Bysshe Shelley was an English Romantic poet. Shelley had strong views on vegetarianism. He was dedicated to the cause of all sentient beings, believing that the slaughter of animals by humans for the use of food was a barbaric practice. He wrote a famous essay on the subject called “A Vindication of Natural Diet” in 1813.

13 Tolstoy’s “__ and Peace” : WAR

I have to confess that I have tried to read Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” twice in my life, and failed both times (it is l-o-n-g; 1,225 pages in the first published edition). Even though the 1956 movie adaptation runs for 3 1/2 hours, it’s still the easy way out! The film version stars Audrey Hepburn as Natasha Rostova and Henry Fonda as Count Pierre Bezukhov.

26 Home of Cornell : ITHACA

Ezra Cornell was an associate of Samuel Morse and made his money in the telegraph business. After he retired he co-founded Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He provided a generous endowment and donated his farm as a site for the school, and was then rewarded by having the institute named after him.

The city of Ithaca sits right at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake in New York State. Named for the Greek island, Ithaca is famous as home to Cornell University, which is located just south of the city.

27 Person of the Year magazine : TIME

“Time” magazine started naming a “Man of the Year” in 1927, only changing the concept to “Person of the Year” in 1999. Prior to 1999, the magazine did recognize four females as “Woman of the Year”: Wallis Simpson (1936), Soong May-ling a.k.a. Madame Chiang Kai-shek (1937), Queen Elizabeth II (1952) and Corazon Aquino (1986). “Time” named Albert Einstein as Person of the Century in 1999, with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi as runners-up.

29 Artist Yoko : ONO

Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist. She met her future husband John Lennon for the first time while she was preparing her conceptual art exhibit called “Hammer a Nail”. Visitors were encouraged to hammer in a nail into a wooden board, creating the artwork. Lennon wanted to hammer in the first nail, but Ono stopped him as the exhibition had not yet opened. Apparently Ono relented when Lennon paid her an imaginary five shillings to hammer an imaginary nail into the wood.

35 __ urchin : SEA

Sea urchins are globular, spiny creatures found just about everywhere in the ocean. The “roe” of a sea urchin is eaten as a delicacy in several cuisines around the world. In a sushi restaurant, the sea urchin roe is called “uni”. The term “roe” normally means “fish eggs”, but in the case of the sea urchin it refers to the gonads of both the male and female.

36 Yens : URGES

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.

37 Mother of Hephaestus : HERA

In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of Zeus and the goddess of women, marriage, family and childbirth. She was noted for her jealous and vengeful nature, particularly against those who vied for the affections of her husband. The equivalent character to Hera in Roman mythology was Juno. Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea.

In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was the god of blacksmiths, sculptors, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes. The Roman equivalent of Hephaestus was Vulcan. Given his spheres of influence, it is perhaps not surprising that Hephaestus made all of the weapons for the gods of Olympus.

38 Common element of vaudeville : SIGHT GAG

The Vire is a river that flows through Normandy in France. The poets of the Vire valley were known as the “Vau de Vire”, a term that some say gave rise to our word “vaudeville”.

40 Flightless Down Under bird : EMU

The emu has had a tough time in Australia since man settled there. There was even an “Emu War” in Western Australia in 1932 when migrating emus competed with livestock for water and food. Soldiers were sent in and used machine guns in an unsuccessful attempt to drive off the “invading force”. The emus were clever, breaking their usual formations and adopting guerrilla tactics, operating as smaller units. After 50 days of “war”, the military withdrew. Subsequent requests for military help for the farmers were ignored. The emus had emerged victorious …

44 Cross pin, in martial arts : ARMBAR

Martial arts are various fighting traditions and systems used in combat or simply to promote physical well-being. The term “martial” ultimately derives from Latin and means “Arts of Mars”, a reference to Mars, the Roman god of war.

50 “The Cider House Rules” Oscar winner Michael : CAINE

There have been only two actors who have been nominated for an Academy Award in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s. One is Jack Nicholson, and the other is Michael Caine. Caine is now known as Sir Michael Caine, as he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the year 2000.

“The Cider House Rules” is a 1999 big-screen adaptation of a 1985 novel of the same name by John Irving. Irving wrote the screenplay himself, earning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film also earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Michael Caine.

51 Shish __ : KEBAB

The term “kebab” (also “kabob”) covers a wide variety of meat dishes that originated in Persia. In the West, we usually use “kebab” when talking about shish kebab, which is meat (often lamb) served on a skewer. “Shish” comes from the Turkish word for “skewer”.

59 Daniel __ Kim of “Lost” : DAE

Daniel Dae Kim is an American actor who is famous for playing Jin-Soo Kwon on “Lost”. Kim moved on to play one of the leads on the CBS remake of “Hawaii Five-O”, portraying the character Chin Ho Kelly.

“Lost” is a science fiction drama that originally aired from 2004 to 2010. The show kicks off with a passenger airliner crashing a tropical island as it flies from Sydney bound for Los Angeles. I haven’t seen the show myself and I hear that the intriguing plot didn’t really come to a satisfying conclusion. Others may disagree …