LA Times Crossword 10 Aug 25, Sunday

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Constructed by: Amanda Cook

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Exchange

Themed answers are common phrases with EX- either added or subtracted:

• 22A Student council leader with demanding bake sale goals? : EXACTING PRESIDENT (“acting president” + EX)
• 33A Drama at the salon? : HAIR TENSIONS (“hair extensions” – EX)
• 49A “Halt all Acela trains immediately!”? : STOP THE EXPRESSES (“stop the presses” + EX)
• 65A Wizard at converting spreadsheets to PDF? : EXPORT AUTHORITY (“port authority” + EX)
• 82A Spending one’s days reading philosophy and meditating? : PENSIVE LIFESTYLE (“expensive lifestyle” – EX)
• 98A Explosive article proving the conspiracy theory that birds aren’t real? : PIGEON EXPOSE (“pigeon pose” + EX)
• 111A Status of an unexpectedly viral research study? : CITED BEYOND BELIEF (“excited beyond belief” – EX)

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

Bill’s time:14m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7A Brightest star in the constellation Lyra : VEGA

Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra. Vega (along with Altair and Deneb from other constellations) is also part of the group of three stars that is called the Summer Triangle. Vega is the star at the right-angle of said triangle.

15A Bowler or boater : HAT

I think that a bowler hat is usually called a derby here in the US. The bowler was first produced in 1849 in London by hatmakers Thomas and William Bowler, hence the name. The alternative name of “derby” comes from the tradition of wearing bowler hats at the Derby horse race (a major race held annually in England).

A boater is a straw hat often associated with boating, hence the name.

18A Vegetable in some cakes : CARROT

Cooks started using carrots in cakes in medieval times, as carrots contain more sugar than any other vegetable other than sugar beet. Carrot cake really only became widely available in the US in the sixties, which I find surprising given how ubiquitous the confection is today …

20A __ dish : PETRI

Julius Richard Petri was a German bacteriologist and was the man after whom the Petri dish is named. The petri dish can have an agar gel on the bottom which acts as a nutrient source for the specimen being grown and studied, in which case the dish plus agar is referred to as an “agar plate”.

26A Wistful exhalation : SIGH

“Wistful” is a lovely word, I think, one that can mean “pensively sad, melancholy”.

28A Mauna __ : KEA

Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, the peak of which is the highest point in the whole state. Mauna Kea is in effect the tip of a gigantic volcano rising up from the seabed.

31A First name in cosmetics : ESTEE

Estée Lauder was a very successful businesswoman, and someone with a great reputation as a salesperson. Lauder introduced her own line of fragrances in 1953, a bath oil called “Youth Dew”. “Youth Dew” was marketed as a perfume, but it was added to bathwater. All of a sudden women were pouring whole bottles of Ms. Lauder’s “perfume” into their baths while using only a drop or two of French perfumes behind their ears. That’s quite a difference in sales “volume” …

33A Drama at the salon? : HAIR TENSIONS (“hair extensions” – EX)

Hair weaves are used to add length and body to hairstyles. Extensions, made from human or synthetic hair, are usually clipped, glued or sewn into natural hair to achieve the effect. Most of the human hair used in extensions comes from India and China, with a lot sourced from religious institutions. In some traditions, the believers shave their heads as an act of devotion, after which the temple sells the hair at auction.

40A Purple bloom : LILAC

The ornamental flowering plant known as lilac is native to the Balkans, and is a member of the olive family. The name “lilac” comes from the Persian word “lilaq,” which means “flower.”

43A Skater Harding : TONYA

Tonya Harding won the US Figure Skating Championships in 1991. Harding’s reputation was greatly tarnished in the run up to the 1994 Olympics, when her former husband and her bodyguard contracted someone to attack Harding’s main competitor, Nancy Kerrigan. During a practice session for the US Championship, a hired thug assaulted Kerrigan with a police baton, attempting to break her leg. Kerrigan was forced to withdraw, and Harding won the championship. Both Harding and Kerrigan were selected for the Olympic team, and despite attempts to get Harding removed, both skated at the Games in Lillehammer. Harding finished in eighth place, and Kerrigan won the silver medal. Harding admitted that she helped cover up the attack when she found out about it, and was stripped of her US Championship title.

49A “Halt all Acela trains immediately!”? : STOP THE EXPRESSES (“stop the presses” + EX)

The Acela Express is the fastest train running routinely in the US, as it gets up to 150 mph at times. The service runs between Boston and Washington D.C. via Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. Introduced in 2000, the brand name “Acela” was created to evoke “acceleration” and “excellence”.

56A Landmark Obama legislation, initially : ACA

The correct name for what has been dubbed “Obamacare” is the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ACA).

57A Kodiak, for one : BEAR

Brown bears are found over much of northern Europe, Asia, and North America. They are sometimes referred to as bruins, which is a term that persists from Middle English. The biggest subspecies of brown bear is the Kodiak bear, which is the largest land-based predator in the world. Named for the Kodiak Archipelago in Alaska, the Kodiak bear grows to about the same size as the enormous polar bear.

58A Fruit soda created by Coca-Cola Deutschland : FANTA

The soft drink Fanta has quite an interesting history. As WWII approached, the Coca-Cola plant in Germany had trouble obtaining the ingredients it needed to continue production of the cola beverage, so the plant manager decided to create a new drink from what was available. The new beverage was built around whey (leftover from cheese production) and pomace (left over after juice has been extracted from fruit). The inventor asked his colleagues to use their “imagination” (“Fantasie” in German) and come up with a name for the drink, so they piped up “Fanta!”

61A Bonfire remnants : ASH

Back in the mid-1500s, a “bonfire” was a fire used for burning bones, a “bone fire”.

64A Shimmering threads : TINSEL

Back in the mid-1400s, the word “tinsel” applied to cloth into which was woven gold or silver thread. The term came from the Middle French word “estincelle” meaning “spark, spangle”, which ultimately derived from the Latin “scintilla” meaning “spark”. By the end of the 1500s, “tinsel” described thin strips of shiny metal. The word “Tinseltown” wasn’t applied to Hollywood until 1972.

74A “Harriet the __”: kid-lit classic : SPY

“Harriet the Spy” is a 1964 children’s novel by American writer and illustrator Louise Fitzhugh. Fitzhugh followed up “Harriet the Spy” with a 1965 sequel “The Long Secret”, and then a 1979 prequel “Sport”.

77A Himalayan country : NEPAL

Nepal lies to the northeast of India. Today, the state is known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. In 2008, the Communist Party of Nepal won the country’s general election. Soon after, the Assembly voted to change the form of government, moving away from a monarchy and creating a secular republic.

80A Item removed at a TSA checkpoint : SHOE

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

81A Raw bar bed : ICE

Almost all of the shellfish consumed at a raw bar is not only uncooked, it is also still alive.

101A Like sardines : BONED

Sardines are oily fish related to herrings. They are also known as pilchards, although in the UK “sardine” is a noun reserved for a young pilchard. Very confusing …

105A Croft of “Tomb Raider” : LARA

“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” is a 2001 action movie that is a spinoff of the very successful video game series “Tomb Raider”. Angelina Jolie plays the title character, and did most of her own stunts during filming. She underwent extensive training in martial arts, weapons handling, and rock climbing. Jolie injured herself during filming while performing a stunt that involved jumping off a balcony and landing on a chandelier. She hit her head on the floor and temporarily lost consciousness, but was able to continue filming after receiving medical attention. I really wanted to enjoy this film, but that didn’t happen …

106A Marcel Duchamp genre : DADA

Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose works are associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. One of his most celebrated “works” is simply what he called “readymade” art, a urinal which he titled “Fountain”. Even though this work is considered to be “a major landmark in 20th century art”, the original that was submitted for exhibition was never actually displayed and had been lost forever. Replicas were commissioned by Duchamp, and are on display in many museums around the world. I have no further comment …

123A Software issues : BUGS

Back in 1947, famed computer programmer Grace Hopper noticed some colleagues fixing a piece of equipment by removing a dead moth from a relay. She remarked that they were “debugging” the system, and so Hopper has been given credit for popularizing the term “bug” in the context of computing.

124A Cozy eatery : BISTRO

“Bistro” was originally a Parisian slang term describing a little wine shop or restaurant.

Down

7D Inkling : VAGUE IDEA

An inkling is a slight indication or vague notion. The term “inkling” apparently comes from the Middle English word “inclen” meaning “to hint”.

8D “First Take” network : ESPN

The initialism “ESPN” stands for Entertainment Sports Programming Network. ESPN is a cable network that broadcasts sports programming 24 hours a day, and was launched back in 1979. ESPN has a lot of ardent fans. Several parents have named their children Espn (usually pronounced “Espen”) in honor of the network.

9D Needle-nosed fish : GAR

“Gar” was originally the name given to a species of needlefish found in the North Atlantic. The term “gar” is now used to describe several species of fish with elongated bodies that inhabit North and Central America and the Caribbean. The gar is unusual in that it is often found in very brackish water. What I find interesting is that the gar’s swim bladders are vascularized so that they can actually function as lungs. Many species of gar can actually be seen coming to the surface and taking a gulp of air. This adaptation makes it possible for them to live in conditions highly unsuitable for other fish that rely on their gills to get oxygen out of the water. Indeed, quite interesting …

10D Donkey Kong, e.g. : APE

The first video game featuring the ape named Donkey Kong was created in 1981. That same game introduced the world to the character known as Mario, four years before the game Super Mario Bros became such a big hit.

12D Le Tour de France saison : ETE

Back in the late 1800s, long-distance cycle races were used as promotional events, traditionally to help boost sales of newspapers. These races usually took place around tracks, but in 1902 the backers of the struggling sports publication “L’Auto” decided to stage a race that would take the competitors all around France. That first Tour de France took place in 1903, starting in Paris and passing through Lyon, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes and then back to Paris.

13D Sea eagle : ERN

The ern (sometimes “erne”) is also known as the white-tailed eagle or the sea eagle.

14D Cell division process : MITOSIS

Mitosis is the process by which the complement of chromosomes in a cell nucleus replicates and then divides into two identical sets of new chromosomes. Mitosis is followed by division of the cell itself, resulting in two identical cells. Meiosis is a special type of cell division that results in reproductive cells that have half the full complement of chromosomes. The reproductive cells join together, with one cell coming from each parent, to form a new cell with a full complement of chromosomes. That new cell develops into offspring that have characteristics of both parents.

15D Ball Park Franks holders : HOT DOG BUNS

The Ball Park Franks brand of hot dogs was introduced in the 1950s, with popularity of the product in the early days very much associated with the Detroit Tigers baseball team. The management of Tigers Stadium were unhappy with the supplier of hot dogs in the stadium in 1958, and so held a competition to find a new supplier. A meat packer called Hygrade came up with a new recipe for the contest, and was awarded the contract. Hygrade held a competition within the company to come up with a name for the new product, which resulted in the brand name “Ball Park Franks”.

16D Stitch, for one : ALIEN

“Lilo & Stitch” was released by Disney in 2002. Compared to other Disney feature-length cartoons, “Lilo & Stitch” was relatively cheaply produced, using the voices of lesser-known actors. One interesting change had to take place in the storyline during production, when Lilo was meant to fly a Jumbo Jet through downtown Honolulu in one sequence. This was replaced with a sequence using a spaceship instead, as the producers were sensitive to public sentiment after the September 11 attacks.

20D Jetties : PIERS

A jetty is a pier that juts out into a body of water. “Jetty” derives from the French verb “jeter” meaning “to throw”, the idea being that a jetty is a structure that is “thrown” out past the edge of the land surrounding the body of water.

23D “The Great British Bake Off” co-host Fielding : NOEL

Noel Fielding is a comedian, actor, musician and artist from London, England who is perhaps best known to North American audiences these days as a host of “The Great British Baking Show”.

“The Great British Bake Off” (GBBO) is a television baking competition introduced by the BBC in the UK in 2010. The show was a phenomenal and perhaps surprising success almost immediately. GBBO is rebroadcast in the US as “The Great British Baking Show”, because Pillsbury have trademarked the term “Bake-Off”. There was great controversy in the UK in 2016 when the BBC couldn’t find the fund to pay the producers for the show, and so it moved to a new channel, with a new set of hosts. The BBC hosts decided not to move with the show, saying they weren’t interested in the extra “dough” offered (their pun!).

30D “The Legend of Zelda” protagonist : LINK

“The Legend of Zelda” is a whole series of video games. First released in 1986, I hear that it is very successful …

33D Concerto instrument : HARP

Mozart only wrote one piece of music featuring the harp: his Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C major. This is probably the most popular and most-often performed work featuring a harp. It was commissioned by a flutist duke and his harpist daughter. Apparently, Mozart thought the daughter was a “thoroughly inept” student, and the duke never paid him for the work! Maybe that’s why the great composer never wrote another piece for the harp …

36D Secrecy docs : NDAS

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

37D Words before and after “hi, I’m the problem” in Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” : IT’S ME

“Anti-Hero” is a 2022 song co-written and recorded by Taylor Swift as the lead single from her album “Midnights”. The lyrics have been described as autobiographical, and explore the singer’s flaws as she perceives them.

38D Brake disc : ROTOR

The drum brake was invented in 1902 by Louis Renault (founder of Renault, the automobile company). In a drum brake, there is a set of brake shoes that usually press on the inner surface of the drum to slow down rotation. Nowadays, the disc brake system is more popular, a design which uses brake pads instead of brake shoes.

53D Puerto Rican rescue mutt : SATO

The term “sato” is a Puerto Rican slang for a street dog or mutt.

61D Skating jump : AXEL

An axel is a forward take-off jump in figure skating. The maneuver was first performed by Norwegian Axel Paulsen at the 1882 World Figure Skating championships.

62D La Brea attraction : TAR PIT

The La Brea Tar Pits are located right in the heart of the city of Los Angeles. At the site there is a constant flow of tar that seeps up to the surface from underground, a phenomenon that has been around for tens of thousands of years. What is significant is that much of the seeping tar is covered by water. Over many, many centuries animals came to the water to drink and became trapped in the tar as they entered the water to quench their thirst. The tar then preserved the bones of the dead animals. Today a museum is located right by the Tar Pits, recovering bones and displaying specimens of the animals found there. It’s well worth a visit if you are in town …

64D IMDb search result : TITLE

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) website was launched in 1990, and is now owned by Amazon.com. It’s a great site for answering questions one has about movies and actors.

65D Pitching stat : ERA

Earned run average (ERA)

67D Doctoral regalia : TAMS

Graduation tams are headwear often seen as a traditional part of academic dress, worn in the US by those being awarded a master’s or doctoral degree. It is a relatively modern invention, gaining popularity in the early 20th century as a more comfortable and distinctive alternative to the traditional mortarboard.

68D Utah’s Capitol __ National Park : REEF

Capitol Reef National Park in south-central Utah was designated as a National Monument in 1937, and given National Park status in 1971. The name is a reference to the park’s white Navajo Sandstone cliffs, many having a dome shape reminiscent of white domes often seen on capitol buildings.

71D Donizetti devotees : OPERAGOERS

Gaetano Donizetti was a composer from the Lombardy region of Italy. He is best known for his operas, of which he wrote almost seventy. The most famous of these is probably “Lucia di Lammermoor” (1835).

75D Tops that might have popped collars : POLOS

The collar of a shirt might be “popped”, turned upwards so it stands around the neck rather than lying flat.

79D The Go-Go’s and the Bangles : GIRL BANDS

The Go-Go’s were an all-female rock band that was formed in Los Angeles back in 1978. The band’s biggest hit is “We Got the Beat”, which was released in 1982. The best-known member of the Go-Go’s is probably Belinda Carlisle.

The Bangles are a band that formed in Los Angeles in 1980, a trio of female musicians. The group went through a few names before settling on the Bangles, namely the Colours, the Supersonic Bangs and the Bangs. The Bangles’ biggest hits are “Manic Monday” (1986), “Walk Like an Egyptian” (1986) and “Eternal Flame” (1989).

82D Hammer end : PEEN

The peen of a hammer is on the head, and is the side of the head that is opposite the striking surface. Often the peen is in the shape of a hemisphere (as in a ball-peen hammer), but usually it is shaped like a claw (mainly for removing nails).

84D Raison d’__ : ETRE

“Raison d’être” is a French phrase meaning “reason for existence”.

85D Fragrant neckwear : LEI

Leis are traditional Hawaiian garlands that are made from various types of flowers, leaves, and other materials. They were originally worn by ancient Hawaiians as a symbol of their social status and to signify important events such as weddings and funerals.

89D Tiny track racer : SLOT CAR

Slot cars are those motorized toy cars that run around on tracks picking up power from a slot in the racing surface. The first slot cars were made in 1912 by the Lionel company, the manufacturer of toy train sets.

93D Connoisseur : EXPERT

A connoisseur is an expert, or someone who appreciates something with discrimination. The term “connoisseur” is French in origin, and stems from the Latin “com” (with) and “gnoscere” (to recognize).

98D Film trailer, e.g. : PROMO

The term “trailer” is used in the film industry to describe advertisements for upcoming features. These trailers were originally shown at the end of a movie being screened, hence the name. This practice quickly fell out of favor as theater patrons usually left at the end of the movie without paying much attention to the trailers. So, the trailers were moved to the beginning of the show, but the term “trailer” persisted.

99D Sioux City citizen : IOWAN

Sioux City, Iowa has a history that is inextricably linked with the Missouri River. The city grew from a camp established by the Lewis and Clark expedition that traveled up the river in 1804. Today, Sioux City is the navigational head of the Missouri, the furthest point upstream that is accessible by general cargo ships.

102D Bigwig : NABOB

A “nawab” (also “nabob”) was a deputy governor in the Mogul empire in India. The term is also used as an Muslim honorific title in India and Pakistan. We use “nabob” in English for a person of wealth and prominence.

109D Prefix with futurism : AFRO-

Afrofuturism is a broad cultural movement that incorporates science-fiction and futuristic elements with the history and identity of the African diaspora. The term “Afrofuturism” was coined in 1994 by author and cultural critic Mark Dery.

115D Both Y’s in IYKYK : YOU

The Internet acronym “IYKYK” stands for “If you know, you know”.

116D Prefix with Pen : EPI-

EpiPen is a brand of epinephrine auto-injector. An EpiPen delivers a measured dose of epinephrine, which is a common treatment for an extreme allergic reaction.