LA Times Crossword 4 Jun 25, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Joe Marangell
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: You Don’t Say?

Themed answers each include a gesture hidden within, one that YOU might use instead of SAYING something:

• 58A “Is that so?,” or a hint to the communication methods found in this puzzle’s circled letters : YOU DON’T SAY?

• 17A Credit card promotion for frequent fliers : BONUS MILES (giving “SMILE”)
• 24A Etsy purchase, perhaps : CUSTOM PRINT (giving “STOMP”)
• 34A Key partnership? : PIANO DUET (giving “NOD”)
• 50A Handwoven products at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar : TURKISH RUGS (giving “SHRUG”)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Tree with papery bark : BIRCH

The bark of birch trees (known as “birchbark”) is a useful material that has been used since prehistoric times as a building, crafting and writing material. Birchbark is readily cut, bent and sewn and resembles cardboard, although unlike cardboard, it is also water-resistant. Birchbark was a popular material with Native Americans, used for making canoes, wigwams, scrolls and maps.

6 Opera set in Memphis : AIDA

“Aida” is a celebrated opera by Giuseppe Verdi that is based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Mariette also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first staged in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radamès is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then complications arise!

Memphis was an ancient city on the River Nile. The ruins of Memphis are located just south of Cairo, Egypt. It was a magnificent city that eventually failed due to the economic success of the city of Alexandria, which was located further down the river and right on the Mediterranean coast.

10 Part of a Cape Cod, familiarly : CRAN

The Cape Codder (also”Cape Cod”) is a cocktail made with vodka and cranberry juice. The drink’s name refers to the Massachusetts peninsula of Cape Cod, where cranberries were first cultivated back in the early 1800s.

When early European settlers came across red berries growing in the bogs of the northern part of America, they felt that the plant’s flower and stem resembled the head and bill of a crane. As such, they called the plant “craneberry”, which evolved into “cranberry”.

14 Japanese lager brand : ASAHI

Asahi is a Japanese beer, and the name of the brewery that produces it. “Asahi” is Japanese for “morning sun”. Asahi introduced a “dry beer” in 1987, igniting a craze that rocketed the brewery to the number one spot in terms of beer production in Japan, with Sapporo close behind.

21 Blackjack card : ACE

The card game known as “twenty-one” was first referred to in print in a book by Cervantes, the author famous for writing “Don Quixote”. He called the game “veintiuna” (Spanish for “twenty-one”). Cervantes wrote his story just after the year 1600, so the game has been around at least since then. Twenty-one came to the US but it wasn’t all that popular so bonus payments were introduced to create more interest. One of the more attractive bonuses was a ten-to-one payout to a player who was dealt an ace of spades and a black jack. This bonus led to the game adopting the moniker “Blackjack”.

22 Elizabeth __ cosmetics : ARDEN

“Elizabeth Arden” was the business name used by Canadian-American Florence Nightingale Graham. Arden built a cosmetics empire that made her one of the wealthiest women in the world. Arden had a famous rivalry with fellow cosmetics entrepreneur Helena Rubinstein, and that rivalry even spawned a 2016 stage musical called “War Paint”.

23 Hor. map line : LAT

Lines of latitude are imaginary horizontal lines surrounding the planet. The most “important” lines of latitude are, from north to south:

• Arctic Circle
• Tropic of Cancer
• Equator
• Tropic of Capricorn
• Antarctic Circle

27 Latin catchall : ET ALII

“Et alii” (et al.) is the equivalent of “et cetera” (etc.), with “et cetera” being used in place of a list of objects, and “et alii” used for a list of names. In fact, “et al.” can stand for “et alii” (a group of males, or males and females), “et aliae” (a group of women) and “et alia” (a group of neuter nouns, or a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).

38 HS exams for coll. credit : APS

Advanced Placement (AP)

42 Athlete who may run four laps : MILER

The 4-minute barrier for the mile run was first broken in 1954 by Roger Bannister, when he finished in just over 3m 59s. If you plan on running a 4-minute mile, you should probably be warned that this means you have to run the whole race at an average speed of over 15 mph (do the math!).

49 Second-most populated city in Oregon : EUGENE

Eugene is the second-largest city in Oregon (after Portland). The city is named for its founder, Eugene Franklin Skinner. Skinner arrived in the area in 1846, after which the settlement he established was called Skinner’s Mudhole. The name was changed to Eugene City in 1852, which was shortened to Eugene in 1889.

50 Handwoven products at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar : TURKISH RUGS

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world. Construction started on what became the Grand Bazaar way back in the 1400s. Today, it is home to over 4,000 shops covering more than 7 acres, and receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each day.

55 U.K. constituent : ENG

The terms “United Kingdom”, “Great Britain” and “England” can sometimes be confused. The official use of “United Kingdom” originated in 1707 with the Acts of Union that declared the countries of England and Scotland as “United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain”. The name changed again with the Acts of Union 1800 that created the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” (much to the chagrin of most of the Irish population). This was partially reversed in 1927 when the current name was introduced, the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, in recognition of an independent Irish Free State in the south of the island of Ireland.

61 Actress Swenson : INGA

Inga Swenson was an American actress. Her best known role was “Gretchen Kraus”, the German cook, and later housekeeper, on the TV show “Benson”. Swenson also appeared in a couple of episodes of “Bonanza” playing the second wife of Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene), and mother of Hoss Cartwright (Dan Blocker). This was despite the fact that in real life, she was actually 4 years younger than Blocker!

63 “Dragon Ball” genre : ANIME

Dragon Ball is a globally popular anime series that comes from Japan. It follows the adventures of an eccentric, monkey-tailed boy named Son Goku from his childhood through adulthood as he masters martial arts and seeks out the powerful Dragon Balls, which can grant any wish.

Down

3 Accumulated charges : RAN A TAB

When we run a “tab” at a bar, we are running a “tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.

4 Buddy : CHUM

A chum is a friend. The term “chum” originated in the late 1600s as an alternative spelling for “cham”. In turn, “cham” was a shortened form of “chambermate”, a roommate at university.

6 Nike competitor : ASICS

ASICS is a Japanese company based in Kobe that produces athletic gear, including running shoes. The company name comes from the first letters of the Latin phrase “anima sana in corpore sano”, which translates to “a healthy soul in a healthy body”.

10 Manhattan garnish : CHERRY

The cocktail called a manhattan is made from whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters. I favor my own version of a brandy manhattan, using brandy, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.

12 Premier League club known as the Gunners : ARSENAL

Arsenal Football Club (nicknamed “the Gunners”) is an English soccer team based in the Holloway district of London. The club was founded in 1886 as Dial Square by workers at the Royal Arsenal munitions factory. Dial Square was the name given to the workshops at the center of the Royal Arsenal complex. After just a few weeks in existence, the club changed its name to Royal Arsenal, which was eventually shortened to just Arsenal.

18 Home of Haleakala National Park : MAUI

If you visit the island of Maui, a trip to the Haleakala National Park is a must. One section of the park features the spectacular Haleakala Crater, where you would swear you are on the moon. The second part of the park is the Kipahulu section, which features the very picturesque pools accessed along the Hana Highway. When we visited (quite a few years ago), “The Road to Hana” was a tad undeveloped and rental car companies would not allow you to drive their cars there. Funnily enough, the only cars you’d meet on the Road to Hana were rental cars …

24 __ Field: home of the Mets : CITI

Citi Field is a relatively new baseball stadium used by the New York Mets (NYM) that sits right next door to the site of Shea stadium, where the Mets had played for decades. The new facility’s name comes from corporate sponsor Citigroup.

25 Sides of a paper? : OP-EDS

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

31 Kosher deli snack : KNISH

A knish is a snack food from Germany and Eastern Europe that was made popular in the US by Jewish immigrants. A knish has a filling, often made of mashed potato and ground meat, covered by a dough that is baked or fried.

32 Greek goddess of the dawn : EOS

In Greek mythology, Eos is the goddess of the dawn who lives at the edge of the ocean. Eos wakes each morning to welcome her brother Helios the Sun. The Roman equivalent of Eos is Aurora. Rather delightfully, Homer referred to Eos as “rosy-fingered dawn” in both “Iliad” and “Odyssey”.

35 City near the geographic center of Iowa : AMES

The Iowa city of Ames was founded as a stop on the Cedar Rapids and Missouri Railroad in 1864. It was named for US Congressman Oakes Ames from the state of Massachusetts in honor of the role that Ames played in the building of the transcontinental railroad.

36 Big birds : EMUS

Even though emu meat is classified as a red meat because of its color, it has a fat content that is comparable to other poultry.

37 Comedian Notaro : TIG

Tig Notaro is a stand-up comedian known for her deadpan delivery. More recently, she has turned to acting and has a recurring role as Chief Engineer Jett Reno on “Star Trek: Discovery”.

38 NASA moon exploration program since 2017 : ARTEMIS

NASA’s Artemis program is an initiative aimed at returning humans to the Moon, with the long-term goal of establishing a sustainable lunar presence and paving the way for future human exploration of Mars.

39 Dish with fries and gravy : POUTINE

Poutine is a dish that originated in rural Quebec in the late fifties. It is made with french fries covered in a brown gravy sauce, all topped with cheese curds.

44 Checkmate phase : ENDGAME

In the game of chess, when the king is under immediate threat of capture it is said to be “in check”. If the king cannot escape from check, then the game ends in “checkmate” and the player in check loses. In the original Sanskrit game of chess, the king could actually be captured. Then a rule was introduced requiring that a warning be given if capture was imminent (today we announce “check!”) so that an accidental and early ending to the game doesn’t occur.

45 Flights that may serve dinner and breakfast : RED-EYES

A red-eye flight is one departing late at night and arriving early the next morning. The term “red-eye” is a reference to tired passengers disembarking with red eyes.

47 Japanese dogs : AKITAS

The Akita breed of dog is named for its point of origin, Akita Prefecture in Japan. When Helen Keller visited Japan in 1937, she asked for and was given an Akita breed of dog, with the name of Kamikaze-go. Sadly, the dog died within a year from distemper. The following year the Japanese government officially presented Keller with a replacement dog. Supposedly Keller’s dogs were the first members of the breed to be introduced into the US.

48 Shorthand for sharing a new realization : ‘TIL

The crossword looked easy … ‘til I came across this clue!

49 Waffle choice : EGGO

Eggo is a brand of frozen waffles that was introduced by Kellogg in 1953. The brand experienced a surge in popularity in the 1980s due to a successful ad campaign featuring a family sitting down to breakfast together and enjoying Eggo waffles. The tagline of the commercials, “Leggo my Eggo”, is still recognized today.

Waffle irons have been around since the 1300s, in the Low Countries. The original version comprised two iron plates connected by a hinge, and two wooden handles. The plates were often cast with a pattern that left an image on the waffle. The waffles were baked in the iron over a fire in a hearth.

51 Second word in an ecological mantra : REUSE

The so-called “waste hierarchy” can be restated as the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The preferences are in order:

1. Reduce consumption
2. Reuse manufactured products
3. Recycle raw materials

59 Flamenco cheer : OLE!

Flamenco is a style of Spanish music and dance. The origin of the word “flamenco” isn’t clearly understood, but the explanation that seems most credible to me is that it comes from Flanders in Northern Europe. Given that “flamenco” is the Spanish word for “Flemish” and Flanders is home to the Flemish people it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?