LA Times Crossword 1 Aug 25, Friday

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Constructed by: Kyle Beakley & David Levinson Wilk

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer(s): That’s Half the Battle

Themed answers refer to circled letters that make up HALF a BATTLE:

• 31A With 42-Across, encouraging words to someone making a good effort, and an apt description of this puzzle’s circled letters : THAT’S HALF …
• 42A See 31-Across : … THE BATTLE

• 17A Zooplankton eaten by whales : BUNKER HILL (half is “KRILL”)
• 25A Berets, bonnets, etc. : HASTINGS (half is “HATS”)
• 52A More than a few : NORMANDY (half is “MANY”)
• 59A Art museum named for an oil magnate : GETTYSBURG (half is “GETTY”)

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

Bill’s time:10m 41s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Pyramid city with the Great Sphinx : GIZA

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a huge limestone statue of a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human. It is the largest monolithic statue in the world. Famously, the Great Sphinx is missing its nose and beard.

13A Full house components, perhaps : ACES

In early versions of poker, straights and flushes had no value as the game was focused on two, three, four-of-a-kind etc. Two-of-a-kind and three-of-a-kind in the same hand was “special” in those days as it was the only hand in which all five cards were of value. This hand was therefore called a “full” hand, which eventually became a “full house”.

14A See-through dish : ASPIC

Aspic is a dish in which the main ingredients are served in a gelatin made from meat stock. “Aspic” is a French word meaning “jelly”.

17A Zooplankton eaten by whales : BUNKER HILL (half is “KRILL”)

The Battle of Bunker Hill was a victory for the British early in the American War of Independence, although the British losses were so large that it emboldened the inexperienced colonial militiamen who were up against regular army troops. The battle was named for nearby Bunker Hill located close to Charlestown, Massachusetts, although almost all of the combat took place on Breed’s Hill.

Krill are small, shrimp-like crustaceans that live in the oceans. Krill feed on plankton, and in turn, krill are the main part of the diet of larger animals such as whales, seals and penguins. There’s an awful lot of krill in the world, an estimated 500,000,000 tonnes of it. That’s about twice the biomass of humans on the planet!

Plankton are organisms that float in water and are incapable of swimming against a current. Plankton can be classified into four broad groups:

• Phytoplankton: algae that live on the surface and use light for photosynthesis.
• Zooplankton: small animals that mainly feed on other plankton.
• Bacterioplankton: the bacterial component of plankton.
• Mycoplankton: the fungal component of plankton.

21A Make a beeline for : DASH TO

To make a beeline for somewhere or something, one takes a direct route. The term derives from the excellent homing instinct of bees.

25A Berets, bonnets, etc. : HASTINGS (half is “HATS”)

The Battle of Hastings took place in the South East of England in 1066. It was fought between the native Anglo-Saxons led by King Harold Godwinson, and the Norman-French led by Duke William II of Normandy. William emerged victorious, earning him the moniker William the Conqueror, and the crown of England as William I. That victory launched the Norman conquest of England.

27A Belafonte song starter : DAY-O

“Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” is a traditional folk song from Jamaica. It is sung from the standpoint of dock workers unloading boats on the night shift, so daylight has come, and they want to go home. The most famous version of “Day-O” was recorded by Harry Belafonte, in 1956.

Singer and actor Harry Belafonte was of Caribbean descent, from Jamaica through his mother’s heritage and from Martinique through his father. Born in New York City, Belafonte came to be known as the “King of Calypso”. His most famous recording is 1956’s “The Banana Boat Song”, and I suspect that his most famous movie performance is in Otto Preminger’s “Carmen Jones”.

28A Educational ad : PSA

Public service announcement (PSA)

34A Banister post : NEWEL

A newel is a principal upright post that supports a handrail beside a staircase. Newels are found at the top and bottom of the banister, and sometimes in between. Newels are often adorned with decorative trim to set them apart from the other posts by the staircase.

36A Snack brand based in Hanover, Pennsylvania : UTZ

The UTZ snack food company began as a family-owned business in Hanover, Pennsylvania, in 1921. While it merged with a special-purpose acquisition company in 2020 to become a publicly traded entity, the founding families (the Rice and Lissette families) still retain a controlling stake, holding over 50% of the shares.

38A “Forrest Gump” role, for short : LT DAN

Actor Gary Sinise was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Lieutenant Dan Taylor in the 1994 film “Forrest Gump”. Sinise then played the lead in television’s “CSI: NY” starting in 2004. Sinise was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bush for his work helping Iraqi school children as well as his work with the USO.

The epic 1994 movie “Forrest Gump” is based on a 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. Groom said that he had envisioned John Goodman playing the title role, and not Tom Hanks.

50A St. with 14 HBCUs : ALA

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are a group of higher education institutions that were established, mainly after the Civil War, primarily to serve the African American community.

52A More than a few : NORMANDY (half is “MANY”)

The Allied Invasion of Normandy during WWII was given the codename “Operation Overlord”. The Normandy landings that kicked off the invasion on D-Day (6 June 1944) were given the codename “Operation Neptune”.

54A Full-bosomed : BUXOM

“Bosm” is an Old English word for “breast” that came into modern English as “bosom” meaning “breast, chest” without any association with either gender. It was only in the late fifties that the meaning narrowed to mean a woman’s breasts”. Terms like “bosom-friend” have been around since the late 16th century, and “bosom buddy” since the 1920s.

55A Sunflower shade : YELLOW

The common sunflower is so called because it has a flower head that looks like the Sun. Famously, young sunflowers exhibit heliotropism, tilting during the day to face the sun. As the sunflowers mature and bloom, they generally face east and no longer track the movement of the Sun across the sky.

58A Mexican coin : PESO

The peso is used in many Spanish-speaking countries around the world. The coin originated in Spain where the word “peso” means “weight”. The original peso was what we know in English as a “piece of eight”, a silver coin of a specific weight that had a nominal value of eight “reales”.

59A Art museum named for an oil magnate : GETTYSBURG (half is “GETTY”)

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is one of the most-visited museums in the country. Like many museums in developed countries these days, the Getty has been embroiled in disputes about ownership of artifacts. The curators of the Getty have gone so far as to repatriate some items in recent years, especially to Greece and Italy. The J. Paul Getty Museum has two locations. The Getty Center is the primary location, and houses art from the Middle Ages to the present. The associated (and beautiful) Getty Villa displays art from ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria.

The Gettysburg Campaign was a series of battles fought in June and July of 1863 during the American Civil War. The campaign started with Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia invading Maryland and Pennsylvania, and ended with Lee’s escape back to Virginia after being defeated by Union troops led by Major General George G. Meade at the Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg, fought between July 1st and July 3rd, is recognized by many historians as the turning point in the war.

63A Info in a bank : DATA

Our word “data” (singular “datum”) comes from the Latin “datum” meaning “given”. The idea is that data are “things given”.

64A City served by Incheon International Airport : SEOUL

Incheon International Airport (ICN) opened in 2001, and serves the South Korean capital of Seoul. The facility sits on reclaimed land between two islands: Yeongjong and Yongyu.

65A Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s lake : ERIE

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame can be visited on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was created in 1983 and started inducting artists in 1986. The Foundation didn’t get a home until the museum was dedicated in Cleveland in 1995. I had the great privilege of visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame some years ago and really enjoyed myself. The magnificent building was designed by famed architect I. M. Pei.

66A Three-time AL MVP in the 2000s : A-ROD

Professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez earned more nicknames than just “A-Rod”. He has been called “the Cooler” by some players as there was a perception that teams went cold when he joined them and hot when he left. He has also been called “A-Fraud” by teammates because of another perception, that he is over-demanding. Rodriguez was in a world of hurt not so long ago, for using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. He retired from baseball in 2016.

67A Fossil, perhaps : BONE

Originally, the term “fossil” described anything that was unearthed, dug up. We tend to define the term more narrowly today, reserving it for the geological remains of a plant or animal. “Fossil” comes from the Latin “fossilis” meaning “dug up”.

68A Comedian Foxx : REDD

“Redd Foxx” was the stage name of John Elroy Sanford, who was best known for starring in “Sanford and Son”. “Sanford and Son” was an American version of a celebrated hit BBC sitcom that I grew up with in Ireland called “Steptoe and Son”.

Down

3D “Dune” actress : ZENDAYA

Zendaya Coleman, known simply as “Zendaya” on stage, is an actress and singer. Her big break as an actress came with the role of Rocky Blue on the Disney sitcom “Shake It Up”. Zendaya gained further attention from TV audiences when in 2013, at 16 years of age, she became the youngest contestant up to that time on “Dancing with the Stars”. She did well, coming in second in the competition.

2021’s epic film “Dune” is the first of a two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name. The version of “Dune” did a lot better than the 1984 big-screen adaptation of the same novel, which really flopped at the box office. “Dune: Part Two” followed in 2024.

5D Planetary scientist Sagan : CARL

Carl Sagan was a brilliant astrophysicist, and a great communicator. He was famous for presenting obscure concepts about the cosmos in such a way that we mere mortals could appreciate. Sagan also wrote the novel “Contact” that was adapted into a fascinating 1997 film of the same name starring Jodie Foster.

7D Tech sch. in upstate New York : RPI

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is a private school in Troy, New York. The university is named after its founder Stephen Van Rensselaer who set up the school in 1824. The goal of RPI has always been the “application of science to the common purposes of life”, an objective set by the founder. Given that, the name for the school’s sports teams is quite apt: the Engineers.

8D Oscar winner Swinton : TILDA

Tilda Swinton is an English actress who is quite famous in her native land. She made a big name for herself outside the UK when she played the “baddie” in the 2007 movie “Michael Clayton”, opposite the “goodie” played by George Clooney. That performance earned Swinton a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

9D Writer who studied under William Strunk Jr. at Cornell : EB WHITE

E. B. (Elwyn Brooks) White was an American writer. His most famous creations were the children’s stories “Charlotte’s Web” and “Stuart Little”, but he also co-authored the writing guide “The Elements of Style” (usually referred to as “Strunk & White”).

18D Great Plains grazer : ELK

The Great Plains lie between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains in North America. This vast grassland is known as “the Prairies” in Canada.

22D Poem part : STANZA

“Stanza” is an Italian word meaning “verse of a poem”.

25D Actor Holbrook : HAL

Hal Holbrook was an actor from Cleveland, Ohio. Although Holbrook was well known for many roles on the big and small screens, he is best known for a series of plays that he developed called “Mark Twain Tonight!”. Holbrook depicted Twain on stage giving recitations from several of Twain’s writings, varying the script for each performance. “Mark Twain Tonight!” was first performed in 1959, and Holbrook last portrayed Twain in the work in 2017, just before he retired at the age of 92. With well over 2,000 appearances in 58 years, Holbrook portrayed Twain longer than Samuel Langhorne Clemens himself.

26D Mo. town : STL

The city of St. Louis, Missouri was settled by French explorers in 1763. Sitting on the Mississippi River, it grew into a very busy port. By the 1850s, it was the second busiest port in the country, with only New York moving more freight. St. Louis was named for Louis IX of France. Louis was canonized in 1297 by Pope Boniface VIII, and was the only French king to be declared a saint.

28D Vietnamese soup : PHO

Pho (pronounced “fuh”) is a noodle soup from Vietnam that is a popular street food. It is often ordered with a side of hanh dam, pickled white onions.

29D Pretzel topping : SALT

Pretzels originated in Europe and are especially popular in Southern Germany where a pretzel is known as “Brezel”. Pretzels were introduced into the US in the 1800s by immigrants from Germany and Switzerland who came to be known over here as the Pennsylvania Dutch.

32D Birkenstock product : SANDAL

Birkenstock is a shoe manufacturer based in Germany.

44D 9-Down’s “Is Sex Necessary?” collaborator James : THURBER

James Thurber was a cartoonist, author and humorist who was noted for his wit. One of Thurber’s most famous works is the 1939 short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”.

“Is Sex Necessary? Or, Why You Feel the Way You Do” is a humorous book by James Thurber and E.B. White. Published in 1929, it’s considered one of the earliest humor books from “The New Yorker” magazine, to which both authors were prominent contributors. The book satirizes the popular Freudian psychology and sex manuals of the era.

46D Papal name chosen by Robert Prevost : LEO

Robert Francis Prevost became the first pope from the US, in 2025, taking the name Leo XIV. He chose the name Leo in part to honor Pope Leo XIII, who was known for his social teachings which addressed workers’ rights and capitalism. The choice of name suggests a continuation of the emphasis placed by Pope Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, on social justice and reform.

49D Southampton smooches : SNOGS

“Snogging” is British slang of unknown origin that dates back to the end of WWII. The term is used for “kissing and cuddling”, what we call “making out” over here in the US.

Southampton is a major port city on the south coast of England. Today, that port is home to some of the largest luxury cruise ships in the world. Historically, the port is known as the departure point for the RMS Titanic, and as one of the departure points for the D-Day landings of WWII.

53D Nerdy type : DWEEB

“Dweeb” is relatively recent American slang that came out of college life in the late sixties. Dweeb, squarepants, nerd; they’re all not-nice terms that mean the same thing, i.e. someone excessively studious and socially inept.

54D City vehicle : BUS

We use the term “bus” for a mode of transportation as it is an abbreviated form of the original “omnibus”. We imported “omnibus” via French from Latin, in which language it means “for all”. The idea is that an omnibus is a carriage “for all”.

57D Gomer of 1960s TV : PYLE

Jim Nabors was discovered by Andy Griffith and brought onto “The Andy Griffith Show” as Gomer Pyle, the gas station attendant. Famously, Nabors then got his own show called “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”

58D Smooching at the movies, say : PDA

Public display of affection (PDA)

62D HS equivalency test : GED

The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a battery of four tests designed to demonstrate that a student has the academic skills of someone who has graduated from an American or Canadian high school.