LA Times Crossword 31 Jul 25, Thursday

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Constructed by: Daniel Hrynick

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Barbecue Skewer

Today’s grid has a BARBECUE SKEWER running down through food items hidden within some across-answers:

• 14D Stick on a grill, or what passes through this puzzle’s circled words? : BARBECUE SKEWER

• 16A Rating scale on a film review site : THE TOMATOMETER (skewered tomato)
• 27A Drink with zero calories and a blend of 23 flavors : DIET DR PEPPER (skewered pepper)
• 50A Wedding reception activity with flapping and clapping : CHICKEN DANCE (skewered chicken)
• 63A Devices that test internet security : WI-FI PINEAPPLES (skewered pineapple)

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

Bill’s time:6m 42s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

13A Hailed lift : TAXICAB

We call cabs “taxis”, a word derived from “taximeter cabs” that were introduced in London in 1907. A taximeter was an automated meter designed to record distance traveled and fare to be charged. The term “taximeter” evolved from “taxameter”, with “taxa” being Latin for “tax, charge”.

16A Rating scale on a film review site : THE TOMATOMETER

Rotten Tomatoes is a website that mainly provides reviews and ratings of movies, although it now covers TV shows as well. The site was launched in 1998 and takes its name from the practice of audience members throwing rotten tomatoes at an unappreciated performer on stage.

18A Biceps locale : ARM

The biceps muscle is made up of two bundles of muscle, both of which terminate at the same point near the elbow. The heads of the bundles terminate at different points on the scapula or shoulder blade. “Biceps” is Latin for “two-headed”.

21A Battleship piece : PEG

Battleship is a surprisingly fun guessing game that I used to play as a child. Back then, we would play it just using pencil and paper. These days, kids are more likely to play an electronic version of the game.

27A Drink with zero calories and a blend of 23 flavors : DIET DR PEPPER

Dr Pepper was introduced in 1885 in Waco, Texas, one year before the competing Coca-Cola was released to the market. I spent an entertaining few hours at the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco a few years ago. And, note the lack of a period after “Dr”.

32A Seven-layer dip layer, for short : GUAC

Here are seven ingredients used in a classic seven-layer dip recipe:

1. Refried Beans
2. Guacamole
3. Sour Cream
4. Salsa
5. Shredded Cheese
6. Sliced Black Olives
7. Chopped Green Onions or Tomatoes

33A Darth Vader’s first name : ANAKIN

Anakin “Ani” Skywalker is the principal character in the first six of the “Star Wars” movies. His progress chronologically through the series of films is:

• Episode I: Anakin is a 9-year-old slave boy who earns the promise of Jedi training by young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
• Episode II: Anakin is 18-years-old and goes on a murdering rampage to avenge the killing of his mother.
• Episode III: Anakin is 21-years-old and a Jedi knight, but he turns to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader. His wife Padme gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia Skywalker.
• Episode IV: Darth Vader, comes into conflict with his children, Luke Skywalker and the Princess Leia.
• Episode V: Darth Vader attempts to coax his son Luke over to the dark side, and reveals to Luke that he is his father.
• Episode VI: Luke learns that Leia is his sister, and takes on the task of bringing Darth Vader back from the Dark Side in order to save the Galaxy. Vader saves his son from the Emperor’s evil grip, dying in the process, but his spirit ends up alongside the spirits of Yoda and Obi-Wan. They all live happily ever after …

41A Burkina __: West African country : FASO

Burkina Faso is an inland country in western Africa. The country used to be called the Republic of Upper Volta and was renamed in 1984 to “Burkina Faso”, meaning “the land of upright people”.

43A “The Last of Us” protagonist : JOEL

“The Last of Us” is a post-apocalyptic drama TV show that is based on a video game of the same name. The apocalypse in the storyline is caused by mass fungal infection that developed into a pandemic. Those infected turn into zombie-like creatures. Ugh …

44A Certain Fender, casually : STRAT

The Stratocaster (often “Strat”) is an electric guitar that has been made by Fender since 1954. The company that made Fender electric guitars was founded in Fullerton, California in 1946 by Leo Fender.

45A Iroquois nation : SENECA

The Seneca Native American nation was a member of the Six Nations or Iroquois League, along with the Iroquois, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Tuscarora peoples. Historically, the Seneca lived south of Lake Ontario. The name “Seneca” translates as “Great Hill People”.

49A Pink Mr. Potato Head piece : EAR

Mr. Potato Head (now just “Potato Head”) is an enduring and popular toy that has been around since its invention by George Lerner in 1949. In its original form, the toy was a collection of eyes, ears, and other facial features that were designed to be stuck into a real potato. Mr. Potato Head also has the distinction of being the first toy ever to be advertised on television.

50A Wedding reception activity with flapping and clapping : CHICKEN DANCE

The Chicken Dance is performed to an oom-pah tune, usually called “The Birdie Song”, that was composed in Switzerland in the fifties. A version of “The Birdie Song” was released in 1981 by the Tweets as a novelty tune and it became a surprising chart hit, and everyone started doing the Chicken Dance at venues right across the country.

53A Steel on library racks : DANIELLE

Danielle Steel is a remarkably popular author, and one who is very prolific. She has sold over 800 million copies of more than 200 books. Steel lives part-time in San Francisco, in a 55-room mansion built for sugar tycoon Adolph B. Spreckels.

57A Former NHL goalie Kölzig : OLAF

Olaf Kölzig is a South African-born, German hockey player who grew up in Canada. He is a goaltender, and is known as “Olie the Goalie”. He had his jersey number 37 retired by the Washington Capitals, the team he played for during most of his NHL career. He also represented Germany in the Winter Olympics in 1998 and again in 2006.

63A Devices that test internet security : WI-FI PINEAPPLES

Wi-Fi pineapples are small devices that can pretend to be a public Wi-Fi network. By mimicking legitimate Wi-Fi networks, user devices can be tricked into connecting to a Wi-Fi pineapple instead of the intended network. Once a device is connected, a bad actor can intercept, monitor, and manipulate the data passing through it.

69A Skynet in “The Terminator,” e.g. : ROGUE AI

In the “Terminator” film series, Skynet is an artificial intelligence (AI) that becomes self-aware and views humanity as a threat, leading it to initiate a nuclear attack known as Judgment Day.

71A George’s “Gravity” co-star : SANDRA

Actress Sandra Bullock is the daughter of a part-time voice coach (her father) and an opera singer and voice coach (her mother). Her father was an American soldier stationed in Nuremberg in Germany when he met his German wife. Sandra Bullock’s maternal grandfather was a rocket scientist working in Nuremberg.

Actor George Clooney’s breakthrough role was playing Dr. Doug Ross on TV’s “ER”, although before that he had a fairly regular role on the sitcom “Roseanne”. George’s aunt was the singer and actress Rosemary Clooney.

“Gravity” is a 2013 sci-fi action film starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The film is an impressive British production, one that won more Oscars than any other film at the 86th Academy Awards. “Gravity” is full of special effects and has some amazing cinematography. It’s all about two astronauts getting stranded in space and their attempts to get back to Earth.

Down

1D Chapati flour : ATTA

Chapati is an unleavened flatbread that is associated with India. The name of the bread comes from the Hindi word “chapat” meaning “flat”.

2D Bert of “The Wizard of Oz” : LAHR

Bert Lahr’s most famous role was the cowardly lion in “The Wizard of Oz”. Lahr had a long career in burlesque, vaudeville and on Broadway. Lahr also starred in the first US production of Samuel Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot”, alongside Tom Ewell.

6D Risk or Trouble : GAME

Risk is a fabulous board game that was introduced in France in 1957. It was invented by a very successful French director of short films called Albert Lamorisse. Lamorisse called his new game “La Conquête du Monde”, which translates into English as “The Conquest of the World”. A game of Risk is a must during the holidays in our house …

The board game Trouble was introduced in the US in 1965, and is very similar to the competing game Sorry! that was already on the market. Both games are in turn based on the ancient game of Pachisi. The big selling feature of Trouble was the Pop-O-Matic dice container in the center of the board. I remember it well …

8D JFK’s party : DEM

The modern-day Democratic Party was founded in 1828, when supporters of Andrew Jackson broke away from the former Democratic-Republican Party during the presidency of John Quincy Adams. That date makes the Democratic Party the oldest voter-based political party in the world. Andrew Jackson became the first Democratic US president, in 1829.

12D __ throat : STREP

Streptococcus bacteria multiply and divide along a single axis so that they form linked chains. That behavior gives the genus of bacteria its name, as “streptos” is Greek for “easily twisted, like a chain”. I had to battle with streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat) twice in the past few years and it was not at all pleasant, I must say. Another species of streptococcus is responsible for that terrible “flesh-eating” infection that makes the news from time to time.

17D Atlanta hip-hop genre : TRAP

Trap is a genre of hip hop music that originated in the early 21st century in the southern US. The name “trap” is a slang word used in Atlanta for a house used to sell drugs.

23D “Despicable Me” role for Steve Carell : GRU

Actor Steve Carell has achieved great success on both television and in movies. On the small screen, Carell came to prominence on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and then as the lead in the US version of “The Office”. On the big screen, he starred in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”, “Evan Almighty”. My personal favorite Carell movie is 2007’s ”Dan in Real Life”, in which he stars opposite the wonderful Juliette Binoche.

The main protagonist in the “Despicable Me” movies is the supervillain Felonious Gru, usually referred to simply as “Gru”. Gru is voiced by Steve Carell.

26D Jeong of “Community” : KEN

Ken Jeong is an actor from Detroit who is perhaps best known for playing the gangster Leslie Chow in the “The Hangover” series of films. Jeong isn’t only an actor; he has an M.D. degree and is a licensed physician in California.

“Community” is a sitcom created that ran for 110 episodes over six seasons, from 2009 to 2015. The title refers to Greendale Community College, a school located in the fictional town of Greendale, Colorado. “Community” was canceled by NBC after five seasons, and then Yahoo! picked it up to stream the final sixth season.

27D Burned items : DISCS

“Ripping” refers to the process of extracting audio or video files from a CD or DVD and converting them into a digital format that can be stored on a computer or other device. Conversely, “burning” is the act of writing digital data, such as music or videos, onto a blank CD or DVD.

30D El __, Texas : PASO

Although there have been human settlements in the El Paso area for thousands of years, the first European settlement was founded in 1659 by the Spanish. That first community was on the south bank of the Rio Grande, and was called El Paso del Norte (the North Pass). Most of the urban development under Spanish rule took place on the south side of the river, with El Paso del Norte acting as the center of governance for the Spanish for the territory of New Mexico. The Rio Grande was chosen as the border between Mexico and the US in 1848, so most of the city of El Paso del Norte became part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua (and is now called Ciudad Juárez ). The area north of the river developed as a US military post, eventually becoming the modern city of El Paso, Texas.

34D Actress Gillan : KAREN

Scottish actress Karen Gillan is perhaps most famous to TV viewers for playing Amy Pond in the “Doctor Who” sci-fi show made by the BBC. She was the companion to the eleventh doctor, played by Matt Smith. Gillan broke into Hollywood, eventually playing Nebula in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series of films.

35D Novelist Asimov : ISAAC

Isaac Asimov was a wonderful science fiction writer, and a professor of biochemistry. He was a favorite author as I was growing up and I must admit that some hero worship on my part led me to study and work as a biochemist for a short while early in my career. My favorite of his works is the collection of short stories called “I, Robot”, although Asimov’s most famous work is probably his “Foundation” trilogy of novels. Asimov wrote three autobiographies, the last of which was called “I, Asimov”, which was published in 1994, two years after his death.

36D “The Hunchback of __-Dame” : NOTRE

The title character in Victor Hugo’s novel “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” is Quasimodo, the hunch-backed bell-ringer. Quasimodo falls for the beautiful Roma girl Esmeralda, and eventually rescues her just before she is due to be hanged. He carries Esmeralda into Notre-Dame crying out “Sanctuary!” There is some recent evidence that a hunchbacked stone carver, working at Notre-Dame at the same time Hugo was alive, may have been the inspiration for Quasimodo the bell-ringer.

40D Gin infusion fruit : SLOE

The sloe is the fruit of the blackthorn bush, and the main flavoring ingredient in sloe gin. A sloe looks like a small plum, but is usually much more tart in taste.

43D Monopoly corner : JAIL

In the game of Monopoly, there are three ways that a player can end up in jail:

1. Landing directly on the “Go to Jail” space
2. Throwing three consecutive doubles in one turn
3. Drawing a “Go (Directly) to Jail” card from Chance or Community Chest

46D “Weekend Update” co-host : CHE

Michael Che is a standup comedian from New York City. Che had worked as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), and then started to appear in front of SNL cameras in September 2014. He became co-anchor for the “Weekend Update” segment of the show, alongside Colin Jost. They make such a great team …

48D “Weekend Update” program : SNL

“Weekend Update” is the longest-running of any recurring sketch on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). In fact, the segment made its debut on the very first show, back in 1975. The first “anchor” at the “Weekend Update” desk was Chevy Chase.

53D Wooden pin : DOWEL

A dowel is a rod made from plastic, wood or metal. In its complete form, it is referred to as a “dowel rod”. We are perhaps more used to the rod cut into short lengths known as “dowel pins”.

55D International pact until 2020 : NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a treaty between Canada, Mexico and the United States. When NAFTA came into force in 1994, it set up the largest free trade zone in the world. It was replaced by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020, an agreement that is often referred to as NAFTA 2.0 because it largely maintains the provisions in the original NAFTA treaty.

59D China neighbor : LAOS

The present-day nation of Laos can trace its roots back to the historic Lao kingdom of Lan Xang that existed from 1354 to 1707. The full name of the kingdom was “Lan Xang Hom Khao”, which translates as “The Land of a Million Elephants and the White Parasol”.

65D NASA research facility in orbit : ISS

The International Space Station (ISS) is a modular facility that comprises components launched into space by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and by American Space Shuttles. The station has been occupied by astronauts and scientists continually since November, 2000.

66D Links gp. : PGA

The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name “links” comes from the Old English word “hlinc” meaning “rising ground”. “Hlinc” was used to describe areas with coastal sand dunes or open parkland. As a result, we use the term “links course” to mean a golf course that is located at or on the coast, often amid sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

67D Many a one-liner : PUN

Here are some of my favorite puns:

• What do you call a snowman with a six-pack? An abdominal snowman.
• Parallel lines have so much in common. It’s a shame they’ll never meet.
• I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised.
• What do you call a parade of rabbits hopping backwards? A receding hare-line.