LA Times Crossword 30 May 25, Friday

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Constructed by: Joe Deeney
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): The Greatest Opening

Themed answers are common phrases that start with a synonym of “greatest”, and reinterpreted as DESIGNATIONS:

• 17A Designation for who or what, perhaps : LEADING QUESTION
• 23A Designation for tri-tip or flap steak, perhaps : TOP SIRLOIN
• 37A Designation for “Unforgiven” or “Tombstone,” perhaps : BEST WESTERN
• 49A Designation for mozzarella or cheddar, perhaps : GOAT CHEESE
• 57A Designation for Ticonderoga or Faber-Castell, perhaps : NUMBER ONE PENCIL

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

Bill’s time: 7m 01s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14 Branch of Islam : SHIA

Shiism, the second-largest branch of Islam, distinguishes itself from Sunni Islam primarily through its belief in the rightful succession of leadership after the Prophet Muhammad. Shia Muslims believe that leadership should have passed to Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali, and his descendants, known as Imams, whom they consider divinely appointed and infallible. In contrast, Sunni Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad did not explicitly designate a successor, and that leadership should be determined through consensus among the Muslim community.

20 Couple of dollars? : ELS

There are a couple of letters L (els) in the word “dollars”.

21 Chapel vow : I DO

Our word “chapel”, meaning “place of worship”, comes from the Latin word “capella” meaning “small cape”. The reference is to a relic of Saint Martin of Tours, part of his cloak. Tradition has it that when Martin was a soldier, he cut his military cloak in two so as to give half to a beggar in need. The remainder he retained as his “capella”. He did not know that the beggar was Christ in disguise. Martin then left the military to become a monk, then abbot and finally bishop. The cape came into the possession of the Frankish kings who brought the relic as they waged war, housing it in a tent called “the capella”. The priests who said mass in the “capella” each day were known as the “capellani” (the source of our word “chaplain”).

22 Cosmetics brand with a So Fierce! collection : REVLON

Revlon was founded in the depths of the Great Depression in 1932 by Charles and Joseph Revson. The “S” in the “Revson” name was replaced by the “L” from Charles “Lachman”, a chemist who partnered with the two brothers.

23 Designation for tri-tip or flap steak, perhaps : TOP SIRLOIN

The name of the cut of meat known as “sirloin” comes from the French “sur” (over) and “longe” (loin). There is a story dating back to the early 1600s that the “sur” changed to “sir” because the cut was a favorite of an English king and so he “knighted” it, dubbed it “Sir Loin”.

27 Reel Big Fish genre : SKA

Reel Big Fish is a ska punk band from Southern California that was founded in 1991.

28 Eye ailment : STYE

A stye is a bacterial infection of the sebaceous glands at the base of the eyelashes, and is also known as a hordeolum.

30 “Not all heroes wear __” : CAPES

The phrase “not all heroes wear capes” usually refers to someone who performs a selfless act. The idea is that one doesn’t have to be someone like Superman in order to be a hero. The phrase gained some traction on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was often used in praise of the marvelous healthcare and frontline workers who served our communities.

32 Yellow __ : LAB

The Labrador (Lab) breed of dog has been around at least since 1814. The breed comes in three registered colors: black, yellow and chocolate.

37 Designation for “Unforgiven” or “Tombstone,” perhaps : BEST WESTERN

Best Western is a very large hotel chain, with over 4,000 locations. The chain is a little unusual in that all of its properties are independently-owned franchises, with none being company-owned. Best Western was founded in 1946 and grew out of a small network of independent hotel operators who informally agreed to make referrals to each other’s properties.

“Unforgiven” is a 1992 film directed and produced by, and starring, Clint Eastwood. It’s a Western, with a storyline that goes deeper than the average “shoot-’em-up”. Eastwood has a great supporting cast that includes Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris. “Unforgiven” was only the third Western movie to win a Best Picture Oscar, after “Cimarron” in 1931 and “Dances with Wolves” in 1990. Eastwood stated that “Unforgiven” would be his last Western.

“Tombstone” is a 1993 Western movie that has a storyline centered on the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and its aftermath. The cast includes Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday, and Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp. “Tombstone” was released six months before the ostensibly competing movie “Wyatt Earp” starring Kevin Costner. If there was a competition between the two films, then “Tombstone” won, both in terms of ticket sales and critical response.

40 “Big” and “Bang Bang” singer Rita : ORA

The 2021 song “Big” is very much a collaboration. It was performed by British singer Rita Ora, French disc jockey David Guetta and Kazakh disc jockey Imanbeck. Also, the song was written by seven fellow artists, including Ed Sheeran.

The 2021 song “Bang Bang” is performed by English singer Rita Ora and Kazakh disk jockey Imanbrek. It was released to promote the pair’s collaborative EP called “Bang”.

42 Actress Zadora : PIA

Pia Zadora is an American actress and singer. Zadora’s most famous role was in the 1982 film “Butterfly” in which she worked with Orson Welles and Stacey Keach. The film was based on the novel “The Butterfly” by James M. Cain and deals with the difficult subject of father-daughter incest.

49 Designation for mozzarella or cheddar, perhaps : GOAT CHEESE

Greatest of all time (GOAT)

Mozzarella is an Italian cheese that is prepared using a spinning and cutting technique. It is the cutting that gives the cheese its name, as “mozzare” means “to cut” in Italian.

Cheddar cheese takes its name from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset. Over 50% of the cheese sold in the UK is cheddar. Here in the US, cheddar is the second-most popular cheese sold, behind mozzarella.

52 Principal dancer in a ballet company : ETOILE

In the world of ballet, the étoile is the leading dancer in a company (male or female). “Étoile” is the French word for “star”.

55 Hundred Acre Wood hopper : ROO

Hundred Acre Wood is where Winnie-the-Pooh lives with his friends. According to a map illustrating the books by A. A. Milne, Hundred Acre Wood is part of a larger forest, with Owl’s house sitting right at the center. Piglet also lives in the Hundred Acre Wood, in a beech tree next to a sign that says “TRESPASSERS W”. Piglet says this is short for Trespassers William, which is his grandfather’s name.

56 Beach bottle no. : SPF

In theory, the sun protection factor (SPF) is a calibrated measure of the effectiveness of a sunscreen in protecting the skin from harmful UV rays. The idea is that if you wear a lotion with say SPF 20, then it takes 20 times as much UV radiation to cause the skin to burn than it would take without protection. I say just stay out of the sun …

57 Designation for Ticonderoga or Faber-Castell, perhaps : NUMBER ONE PENCIL

I grew up with the HB method of grading pencils, from “hardness” to “blackness”. Here in the US we sometimes use a numerical grading system, with #2 being the equivalent of HB. The numerical system was introduced in the US by one John Thoreau, father of famed author and hero of mine Henry David Thoreau.

63 Second-most traded currency in the world : EURO

The euro is the official currency of most of the states in the European Union, but not all. The list of EU states not using the euro includes Denmark and Sweden.

65 Basic sammies : BLTS

“Sammie” is an informal term meaning “sandwich”.

66 Frosh, probably : TEEN

“Frosh” is a slang term for a college freshperson. We call such an individual a “fresher” back in Ireland …

Down

2 Whole kit and caboodle : THE LOT

In the idiomatic expression “the whole kit and caboodle”, “caboodle” (sometimes spelled “kaboodle”) is an informal term describing a bunch of people, or sometimes “the whole lot”.

5 Shore leave, informally : R AND R

Rest and relaxation/recuperation/recreation (R&R, R‘n’R)

6 Second-largest Portuguese-speaking country : ANGOLA

Angola is a country in south-central Africa on the west coast. It is the fourth largest diamond exporter in Africa, after Botswana, the Congo and South Africa. Such a valuable export hasn’t really helped the living standard of the country’s citizens as life expectancy and infant mortality rates are among the poorest on the continent.

7 Page to check before contacting customer service : FAQ

Most websites have a page listing answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Even this blog has one!

8 Historically Black school in Houston, briefly : TSU

Texas Southern University (TSU) is a school in Houston. TSU was founded as the Houston Colored Junior College in 1927.

10 When Miranda says, “O, brave new world / That has such people in ‘t!” : ACT V

There is a speech by Miranda in “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare that is the source for the title of the dystopian novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley:

O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t.

13 Dyes used for some body art : HENNAS

Henna has been used for centuries as a dye, for leather and wool as well as hair and skin. In modern days, henna is often used for temporary tattoos.

18 XXX divided by X : III

In Roman numerals, “III” (3) is “XXX” (30) divided by “X” (10).

25 One of the two women in “Hamlet” : OPHELIA

In William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, Ophelia is courted by Hamlet, the man himself. She is the daughter of nobleman Polonius. Ophelia dies …

30 “Strong Enough” diva : CHER

“Strong Enough” is a song released by Cher in 1998 that has been described as reminiscent of disco anthems from the 1970s. The storyline in the accompanying music video sounds pretty unique, with Cher playing a computer virus.

34 AC meas. : BTU

In the world of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), the power of a heating or cooling unit can be measured using the British Thermal Unit (BTU). This dated unit is the amount of energy required to heat a pound of water so that the water’s temperature increases by one degree Fahrenheit.

36 Classic Pontiac : GTO

The initialism “GTO” was used on several touring cars (including a famous Pontiac) and stands for “Gran Turismo Omologato”. Italian car manufacturers started the tradition of calling their luxury performance cars “Gran Turismo”, and calling those cars they approved for racing “Gran Turismo Omologato”. The phrase “gran turismo omologato” translates as “grand touring homologated”, “homologated” being a technical term signifying official approval.

37 Alter ego of DC’s Kate Kane : BATWOMAN

Kate Kane, also known as Batwoman, deeply admires Batman as a symbol of justice in Gotham City. She is a highly skilled martial artist and operates as a vigilante, driven by a sense of duty to protect the innocent. Like Bruce Wayne, Kate Kane hails from a wealthy background and utilizes her considerable financial resources to fund her crime-fighting activities, equipping herself with advanced technology and weaponry.

38 D.C. daily : WAPO

“The Washington Post” (WaPo) is the oldest paper still being published in the DC area, having been founded in 1877. Famously, “The Post” reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led the media’s investigation into what we now called the Watergate scandal. “The Washington Post” was purchased in 2013 by Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

47 Nonstick coating : TEFLON

Teflon is a brand name for the polymer called PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). Teflon is used as a coating for nonstick pans, a lubricant in machinery and as a graft material in surgery. Dupont discovered PTFE in 1938, and registered Teflon as a trademark in 1945.

49 Cologne’s land: Abbr. : GER

Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, and is known as “Köln” in German. It is situated on the Rhine, and has a rich history stretching back to Roman times. Its most iconic landmark is the magnificent medieval Cologne Cathedral, which was the world’s tallest building from 1880 to 1890. The cathedral, though damaged, remarkably survived the bombings of WWII that destroyed 80% of the city center.

53 As above, in a footnote: Abbr. : IBID

Ibid. is short for the Latin word “ibidem” and is typically found in footnotes and bibliographies. Ibid. is used to refer the reader to the prior citation, instead of giving the same information all over again (title, author etc.).

59 Love of another sport? : NIL

In sports like tennis, the score of zero is designated as “love”. Some people believe that this usage originates from the French “l’oeuf” (meaning “the egg”). The idea is that the written character “0” looks like an egg.

60 Basket part : NET

Basketball is truly a North American sport. It was created in 1891 by Canadian James Naismith at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. His goal was to create something active and interesting for his students in the gym. The first “hoops” were actually peach baskets, with the bottoms of the baskets intact. When a player got the ball into the “net”, someone had to clamber up and get the ball back out again in order to continue the game!