LA Times Crossword 24 Aug 25, Sunday

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Constructed by: Zhouqin Burnikel

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Ship Building

Themed answers each include a part of a SHIP hidden within:

• 23A “Don’t wait to sign up!” : REGISTER NOW! (hiding “STERN”)
• 25A Rolling aid at a sushi bar : BAMBOO MAT (hiding “BOOM”)
• 36A Places to see turkeys : BOWLING ALLEYS (hiding “GALLEY”)
• 58A Tree blight spread by bark beetles : DUTCH ELM DISEASE (hiding “HELM”)
• 78A Christmas carol set to “Greensleeves” : WHAT CHILD IS THIS? (hiding “HATCH”)
• 95A “Mood Indigo” composer : DUKE ELLINGTON (hiding “KEEL”)
• 111A Boss at a hot spot : CLUB OWNER (hiding “BOW”)
• 113A Like a blanket fresh from the dryer : WARM AS TOAST (hiding “MAST”)

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

Bill’s time: 12m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Father of Rosemary’s baby : SATAN

“Rosemary’s Baby” is a novel by Ira Levin. It is a horror story, and was made into a very creepy 1968 film of the same name starring Mia Farrow. Levin published a sequel in 1997 titled “Son of Rosemary”, and dedicated that sequel to Mia Farrow.

6A State tree of Texas : PECAN

The pecan is the state tree (and state nut) of Texas, and also the state nut of Alabama, Arkansas, California and Louisiana. That’s not all: Oklahoma’s official state meal includes pecan pie!

11A Lhasa __ : APSO

The Lhasa apso breed of dog originated in Tibet and is named after “Lhasa” (the capital city) and “apso” (a Tibetan word meaning “bearded”). The Lhasa apso has been around since 800 BC and is one of the oldest breeds in the world, one very closely related to the ancestral wolf.

15A Mlle., in Mexico : SRTA

“Señorita” (Srta.) is Spanish, and “Mademoiselle” (Mlle.) is French, for “Miss”.

20A Red Velvet leader : IRENE

Red Velvet is a girl group from South Korea that formed in 2014. The original lineup comprised Irene, Seulgi, Wendy and Joy, with Yeri joining in 2015.

27A Beach on a film set : ADAM

Adam Beach is a Canadian actor who has portrayed a wide range of characters, including Victor Joseph in the coming-of-age comedy-drama “Smoke Signals” and US Marine Corporal Ira Hayes in the war drama “Flags of Our Fathers.” He also played the title character in Disney’s “Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale”. On a lighter note, Beach hosts the Canadian reality show “A Cut Above”, in which participants engage in a chainsaw carving competition.

31A Sussex strollers : PRAMS

Another word used in Britain and Ireland that’s rarely used over here is “pram”, which in my day was the most common term for what is called a baby carriage in the US. “Pram” is short for “perambulator”.

Sussex is a county in the southeast of England that lies right on the English Channel. The county of Sussex has about the same boundaries as the ancient Kingdom of Sussex, a Saxon colony that existed for about five hundred years until the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Hastings, a town on the Sussex coast, was the site of the first battle of the Norman Conquest of England.

34A Some breakdancers : B-GIRLS

B-boys and b-girls are male and female devotees of rap-music and breakdancing. Apparently the use of “b” in such a context comes from either “Bronx” or “break”.

36A Places to see turkeys : BOWLING ALLEYS (hiding “GALLEY”)

There is a suggestion that the use of the term “turkey” to describe three strikes in a row in bowling arose in the late 1700s. Playing conditions back then made it very difficult to bowl one strike, never mind three. Also, prizes awarded were often items of food. A valued prize, particularly around Thanksgiving, was a turkey, and it was awarded for bowling three strikes in a row.

40A “SNL” actor Wakim : EMIL

Emil Wakim joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a featured player for its 50th season, in 2024. Born in Chicago and raised in Indiana, he was the first Lebanese American cast member on the show, and the fourth with Middle Eastern heritage.

42A Miracle-__: garden brand : GRO

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company was founded in 1868 by one Orlando Scott, and initially sold seed to the agricultural industry. In the early 1900s, Scotts started to sell to homeowners, and mainly supplied lawn seed. The company merged with the gardening company Miracle-Gro in 1955, and then with TruGreen in 2016.

43A Store with hiking gear : REI

REI is a sporting goods store, with the initialism standing for Recreational Equipment Inc. REI was founded in Seattle by Lloyd and Mary Anderson in 1938 as a cooperative that supplies quality climbing gear to outdoor enthusiasts. The first full-time employee hired by the Andersons was Jim Whittaker, who was the first American to climb Mount Everest.

44A Sculling tool : OAR

A scull is a boat used for competitive rowing. The main hull of the boat is often referred to as a shell. Crew members who row the boat can be referred to as “oars”. And, a scull is also an oar mounted on the stern of a small boat. It’s all very confusing …

46A Sacred bird of the Nile : IBIS

The ibis is a wading bird that was revered in ancient Egypt. “Ibis” is an interesting word grammatically speaking. You can have one “ibis” or two “ibises”, and then again one has a flock of “ibis”. And if you want to go with the classical plural, instead of two “ibises” you would have two “ibides”!

53A Cosmopolitan place? : BAR

Like so many famous cocktails, the actual origins of the cosmopolitan are disputed. It is a very nice drink, in my humble opinion. One of the standard recipes is 4 parts citrus vodka, 1.5 parts Cointreau, 1.5 parts lime juice and 3 parts cranberry cocktail.

57A Shopping centers : MALLS

Surprisingly (to me!), our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to be a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.

58A Tree blight spread by bark beetles : DUTCH ELM DISEASE (hiding “HELM”)

Dutch elm disease is a fungus devastating to all species of elm trees that is transmitted by the elm bark beetle. The disease is thought to have originated in Asia and is now rampant in Europe and North America. Even though there is a hybrid of elm known as the Dutch elm, the disease isn’t named after the tree. Rather, the disease is called “Dutch” as it was identified in 1921 by a phytopathologist (plant pathologist) in the Netherlands.

63A Tapestry creature : UNICORN

“The Unicorn Tapestries” is a series of seven tapestries made in the Southern Netherlands around 1500 and now housed in The Cloisters museum in New York City. They were purchased by John D. Rockefeller Jr. from a noble family in France in 1922, for about a million dollars.

65A __ press: small appliance : PANINI

In Italy, a sandwich made from sliced bread is called a “tramezzino”, while sandwiches made from non-sliced breads are called “panini” (singular “panino”). We’ve imported the plural term “panini” into English, to describe a single pressed and toasted sandwich.

68A Shade-loving plants with broad leaves : HOSTAS

The Hosta genus of plant was once classified as a lily, but is now in a family of its own and is described as “lily-like”. The plant was given the name “Hosta” in honor of the Austrian botanist Nicholas Thomas Host.

72A Largest fog desert in the world : ATACAMA

Even deserts get rain at some point in the year, with very few exceptions. One of those exceptions is the Atacama Desert in South America, which receives no rain at all. The Atacama has such an otherworldly appearance that it has been used by TV and film studios, and NASA, to represent the surface of Mars.

A fog desert is a desert that receives the majority of its moisture from fog drip rather than rainfall. This unique environment leads to the formation of “fog oases”, known as lomas, which support a rich biodiversity of plant and animal species.

75A Links org. : LPGA

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) was founded in 1950 by a group of 13 lady golfers, and today it is the oldest ongoing women’s sports professional organization in the US.

78A Christmas carol set to “Greensleeves” : WHAT CHILD IS THIS? (hiding “HATCH”)

“What Child Is This?” is a popular Christmas carol, with lyrics written by English writer William Chatterton Dix in 1865, and set to the tune of “Greensleeves”.

87A Blog feed letters : RSS

Many websites and blogs publish content in a format known as Rich Site Summary (RSS). The “feed” can be read using an RSS reader. The advantage of using an RSS reader is that the user doesn’t have to check the website for new content. That new material is fed to the RSS reader as soon as it is published.

90A Drink in a growler : ALE

A growler is a vessel used to transport draft beer, and these days is usually sized at 64 fl oz. They have become common with the growth of the craft brewery industry. You might encounter a “howler” (slang for a “half growler”), which holds 32 fl oz. There is also a “crowler” (canned growler), which is essentially a 32 fl oz can of beer.

92A Luau instrument, briefly : UKE

The ukulele (uke) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

95A “Mood Indigo” composer : DUKE ELLINGTON (hiding “KEEL”)

“Mood Indigo” is a 1930 jazz piece co-written by Duke Ellington as an instrumental specifically for a radio broadcast. Originally called “Dreamy Blues”, the radio audience responded so well that lyrics were added and it was renamed to “Mood Indigo”.

104A Labyrinthine puzzles : MAZES

Back around 1300, “maze” meant “delusion, bewilderment”, and came from the same root as our verb “to amaze”. It was almost two centuries later that a labyrinth, or baffling network of paths, came to be described as a “maze”. Mazes are amazing, bewildering.

107A Tom yum cuisine : THAI

Tom yum is a delicious spicy soup served in Thai restaurants. It is usually described as “hot and sour”, and I love it …

119A Monument Valley land formation : BUTTE

The spectacular Monument Valley, with its magnificent sandstone buttes and mesas, lies within the bounds of the Navajo Nation Reservation near the Four Corners region in the Southwest. The valley has served as a backdrop in many Hollywood movies. I always remember it as the location where Forrest Gump decided to stop running back and forth across the country.

120A “__ hates pushups”: message on a silly tee : T REX

The Tyrannosaurus rex was a dinosaur known for its powerful legs and disproportionately small arms. Hence the quip, “T. rex hates pushups”.

121A Garfield’s frenemy : ODIE

Odie is Garfield’s best friend, and is a slobbery beagle. Both are characters in Jim Davis’ comic strip named “Garfield”.

122A Baby bear? : TEDDY

The stuffed toy known as a teddy bear was introduced in the early 1900s and was named for President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. The toy was inspired by a political cartoon that was drawn in 1902 showing President Roosevelt on a bear hunt and refusing to kill a black bear cub. That event is celebrated annually on September 9th as National Teddy Bear Day.

Down

1D “Buona __!” : SERA

“Buona sera” is Italian for “good evening”.

6D Dumplings often served with sour cream : PIEROGI

Pirogi (also “pierogi”) are Eastern European pies or dumplings, made from unleavened dough, that can have a sweet or savory filling.

7D Printed slips : ERRATA

“Errata” is the past participle of the Latin word “errare” meaning “to err”. We use “errata” (singular “erratum”) to describe a list of errors that have been noted in some publication.

10D Crystal collector, maybe : NEW AGER

The New Age Movement is a western philosophy with roots that date back to the early 1800s. The movement focuses on achieving the highest human potential as an individual and embraces many traditionally eastern spiritual practices, but eschews all religious doctrines. New-Age music is composed with the intent of supporting this philosophy. It tends to be very minimalistic, very tonal and harmonic. It is often used as a backdrop for relaxation or meditation.

12D Tapioca unit : PEARL

The cassava plant is a woody shrub native to South America grown largely for its carbohydrate-rich tubers. In fact, cassava is the third largest food source of carbohydrates (for humans) in the world. Ordinarily, that carbohydrate is extracted from the plant and dried as flour, and is known as tapioca.

17D Phrase heard before un beso, at times : TE AMO

In Spanish, one might say “yo te amo” (I love you) before giving “un beso” (a kiss).

26D __-Free: contact lens solution : OPTI

OPTI-FREE is a line of contact lens solutions made by Alcon.

30D Handy letters : DIY

Back in Ireland, we don’t have “hardware stores” as such, but rather “DIY centres” (and that’s the spelling of “centres”). “DIY” is an initialism standing for “do-it-yourself”.

34D Sauvignon __ : BLANC

Sauvignon blanc is a variety of grape used in wine-making. It is an old grape variety, and is indigenous to South West France. The name “sauvignon” probably comes from the French word “sauvage” meaning “wild”, and probably refers to its origins as a grape growing wild. The term “Fumé Blanc” may be used in California for a sauvignon blanc wine, but that’s just marketing.

47D Shoot added to pho : BEAN SPROUT

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.

48D Rae of “Barbie” : ISSA

In the 2023 hit movie “Barbie”, actress Issa Rae plays President Barbie, the ruler of Barbieland.

51D Queen with a frosty touch : ELSA

“Frozen” is a 2013 animated feature from Walt Disney Studios that is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Snow Queen”. The film is all about the exploits of Princess Anna, the younger sister of Elsa, Snow Queen of Arendelle. Elsa was originally intended to be a villain, a malicious and power-hungry character. By the final version of the film, Elsa had transformed from a one-dimensional villain into a fully fleshed-out protagonist.

54D “Aladdin” prince : ALI

In Disney’s version of the “Aladdin” story, released in 1992, the street urchin Aladdin uses one of three wishes to become a prince so that he can approach Princess Jasmine, with whom he has become besotted. With the genie’s help, Aladdin takes on the persona of “Prince Ali of Ababwa”.

58D Gurira of “Black Panther” : DANAI

Danai Gurira is an actress known to TV audiences for playing Michonne on the horror series “The Walking Dead”, and to movie audiences for playing Okoye in the “Black Panther” superhero universe. She is a smart cookie, and speaks four languages: French, Shona, Xhosa, and English.

“Black Panther” is a 2018 superhero film starring Chadwick Boseman in the title role. Black Panther is a Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. When not a superhero, Black Panther is the king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, and goes by the name “T’Challa”.

69D __ gobi: vegetarian curry dish : ALOO

Aloo gobi is a very tasty vegetarian dish in Indian cuisine made from potatoes and cauliflower, flavored with traditional Indian spices. “Aloo” translates to “potato” and “gobi” to “cauliflower”.

73D Orthodontist’s org. : ADA

American Dental Association (ADA)

Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry dealing with the straightening of teeth. The name comes from the Greek “orthos” meaning “straight” and “dontia” meaning “teeth”.

76D Lizard with sticky toe pads : GECKO

The word “gecko” comes from an Indonesian/Javanese word “tokek”, which is imitative of the reptile’s chirping sound. In making such a sound, geckos are unique in the world of lizards. More interesting to me than a gecko’s chirping is its ability to cling to walls and other vertical surfaces. Their feet are specially adapted with “toes” that make extremely intimate, close contact to a surface. The toes have millions of hairs called setae that enable the clinging. It isn’t suction that supports them, but rather van der Waals forces (weak “gravitational” attractions). Fascinating stuff …

94D Petro-Canada rival : ESSO

Petro-Canada started out as a government-owned corporation in 1976. “Petro-Canada” is now a brand name of Suncor Energy.

100D Shade of blue : AZURE

The term “azure” came into English from Persian via Old French. The French word “l’azur” was taken from the Persian name for a place in northeastern Afghanistan called “Lazhward” which was the main source of the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli. The stone has a vivid blue color, and “azure” has been describing this color since the 14th century.

102D Darling, in Dijon : CHERI

Dijon is a city in eastern France in the Burgundy region. Dijon is famous for its mustard, a particularly strong variation of the condiment. The European Union doesn’t protect the name “Dijon” so anyone can use it on a label. That seems fair enough to me, given that 90% of the mustard made in and around Dijon is produced using mustard seed imported from Canada!

104D Aspiring doc’s exam : MCAT

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)

109D Hammett dog : ASTA

Asta is the wonderful little dog in the superb “The Thin Man” series of films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (as Nick and Nora Charles). In the original story by Dashiell Hammett, Asta was a female Schnauzer, but on screen Asta was played by a wire-haired fox terrier called “Skippy”. Skippy was also the dog in “Bringing Up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, the one who kept stealing the dinosaur bone. Skippy retired in 1939, so Asta was played by other dogs in the remainder of “The Thin Man” films.

Dashiell Hammett was an American author known for his detective fiction. Hammett was the creator of such enduring characters as Sam Spade from “The Maltese Falcon” as well as Nick and Nora Charles from “The Thin Man”. Outside of writing, Hammett was also politically active and served as the president of a group the Civil Rights Congress (CRC) after WWII. The CRC was deemed to be a Communist front group and was listed as a subversive organization by the US government. At one point, he even served time in jail for contempt of court, after refusing to answer some questions in a trial in which the CRC was involved.

115D Conan’s former network : TBS

“Conan” was a late-night talk show on TBS that was hosted by Conan O’Brien and aired from 2010 to 2021. “Conan” came about as a result of the so-called “War for Late Night”, when Jay Leno ceded the chair of “The Tonight Show” to “O’Brien” only to launch “The Jay Leno Show” competing on the same network.