LA Times Crossword 9 Aug 25, Saturday

Advertisement

Constructed by: David Karp

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time:24m 09s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Rank denied to Anakin Skywalker : JEDI MASTER

In “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”, Anakin Skywalker is denied the rank of Jedi Master, despite being granted a seat on the Jedi Council. This denial was a pivotal moment in Anakin’s descent to the dark side. The rationale for the denial was primarily due to his youth and the Council’s mistrust of his close relationship with Chancellor Palpatine. This decision isolated Anakin further and fueled his belief that the Jedi did not trust him, pushing him closer to Palpatine’s manipulation and ultimately leading to his transformation into Darth Vader.

11A Pollutants phased out by the Montreal Protocol, for short : CFCS

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used to be widely used as propellants in aerosols, and as refrigerants in cooling systems. CFCs make their way up into the ozone layer and trigger a chain reaction that converts ozone (O₃) into regular oxygen (O₂). That conversion creates “holes” in the ozone layer. Regular O₂ is good stuff, but we need O₃ to absorb harmful UV radiation raining down on us. CFC is not good stuff …

The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to phase out production of chemicals that deplete the ozone layer of the atmosphere. The protocol is actually a great example of international cooperation actually achieving something. The ozone hole over Antarctica is recovering and the levels of ozone are expected to return to 1980 levels in fifty years or so.

16A Baseball dynasty name : ALOU

Felipe Alou is a former professional baseball player and manager. Alou managed the Montreal Expos from 1992 to 2001, and the San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2006. Alou was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and came to the US to play for the Giants in 1955. Felipe’s brothers Matty and Jesús followed him to the US, and into Major League baseball.

17A Game whose object is to get lots of hits : MUSIC BINGO

Music Bingo is a twist on the classic game of bingo where songs replace numbers on a bingo card. Instead of a caller drawing numbers, a host plays snippets of songs. Players listen to the music, and if they have that song (or its artist/lyrics) listed on their card, they mark it off. The concept of Music Bingo actually began as a TV game show in 1958.

18A Gamer who lacks game : NOOB

“Noob” (sometimes “newb” or “n00b”) is a not-so-nice, slang term for a “newbie”, and often refers to someone who is new to an online community.

19A 1971 cult classic : SHAFT

1971’s “Shaft” is a landmark film that came to define the blaxploitation genre. It starred Richard Roundtree as the private detective John Shaft, and was a major commercial success. The film is perhaps most famous for its Oscar-winning theme song, “Theme from Shaft”, composed and performed by Isaac Hayes.

“Blaxploitation” is a subgenre of the “exploitation” class of movies, films that make money by exploiting a genre of subject matter. Such films tend to be labelled “B movies”. “Blaxploitation” films were targeted at urban African American audiences, hence the name. One movie associated with the emergence of blaxploitation is the classic 1971 production “Shaft”.

22A Celeb gossip site : TMZ

TMZ.com is a celebrity gossip website launched in 2005 by producer Harvey Levin. “TMZ” stands for “thirty-mile zone”, a reference to the “studio zone” in Los Angeles. The studio zone is circular in shape with a 30-mile radius centered on the intersection of West Beverly Boulevard and North La Cienega Boulevard.

25A Story that may remain unfinished : ATTIC

An attic or loft is a room or space located below the roof of a building. The term “attic” is a shortened form of “attic story”, the uppermost story or level of a house. This term “attic story” originally applied to a low, decorative level built on top of the uppermost story behind a building’s decorative facade. This use of decoration at the top of buildings was common in ancient Greece, and was particularly important in the Attica style. That Attica style was so called because it originated in the historical region of Attica that encompassed the city of Athens. And that’s how our attics are linked to ancient Greece.

33A “___ Vep”: HBO miniseries : IRMA

“Irma Vep” is an HBO satirical drama that explores the challenges faced by women in the film industry. The title is a reference to a character played by French actress Musidora in a silent film serial from the early 20th century. Alicia Vikander plays Mira, a young Swedish actress who is hired to star in a remake of the French silent film “Les Vampires”.

34A Crispy kosher snack : EGG MATZOS

Matzo is an unleavened flatbread used in Jewish cuisine, and which plays a central role in the Seder ritual feast that marks the beginning of Passover.

36A Clouds of gas and dust : NEBULAE

In astronomical terms, a nebula is a cloud of dust and ionized gases (“nebula” is the Latin for “cloud”). Many nebulae form as gases collapse in on themselves under the influence of enormous gravitational forces. Ultimately these collapses can result in the creation of new stars.

42A Layered sandwich : OREO

National Oreo Cookie Day is March 6th each year. There is an urban legend that the particular day was chosen as this was the day that the name “Oreo” was registered as a trademark. However, that’s not the case. The application was filed on March 14, 1912 and registration took place on August 12, 1913. The suggestion is that the first Oreos went on sale on March 6, 1912.

43A Actor Chaney : LON

Lon Chaney, Sr. played a lot of crazed-looking characters in the days of silent movies. He did much of his own make-up work, developing the grotesque appearances that became his trademark, and earning himself the nickname “the man of a thousand faces”. Most famous were his portrayals of the title characters in the films “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925).

44A Blacksmith garb : APRON

In Old French, a “naperon” was a “small table-cloth”. The term was absorbed into English as “napron”, describing a cloth used to cover the front of a person at work. Over time, “a napron” was heard as “an apron”, giving us our contemporary noun “apron”.

A blacksmith is someone who forges and shapes iron, perhaps to make horseshoes. A farrier is someone who fits horseshoes onto the hooves of horses. The term “blacksmith” is sometimes used for one who shoes horses, especially as many blacksmiths make horseshoes and fit them as well.

45A “Paul Bunyan” librettist : AUDEN

Noted poet W. H. Auden was born and raised in England, but eventually became a US citizen. As well as hundreds of poems, Auden also wrote librettos for operas, including Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress”.

“Paul Bunyan” is an operetta by English composer Benjamin Britten, for which W.H. Auden wrote the libretto. It premiered in New York City in 1941, and despite its American subject, the operetta initially received mixed reviews and was largely forgotten for decades. It wasn’t until a successful BBC radio broadcast in 1976, that “Paul Bunyan” began to gain wider appreciation.

46A __ coffee : IRISH

Despite rumors to the contrary, I choose to believe that the Irish coffee cocktail was invented in my homeland, and specifically in Foynes flying-boat station in the west of Ireland. The terminal at Foynes was one of the busiest in Europe back in the late 1930s and early 1940s, in the days when airlines such as Pan Am were using flying-boats for transatlantic crossings. Joe Sheridan, chef at the terminal’s restaurant, started to serve coffee laced with whiskey to warm the incoming passengers, especially those who landed on a wet and blustery west of Ireland day. Sheridan, it is said, coined the term “Irish coffee” for the drink.

53A One of the three R’s : 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

55A Duck out early : BAIL

The phrase “to bail out” (sometimes just “to bail”) means to leave suddenly. We’ve been using the term since the early thirties, when it originated with airline pilots. To bail out is to make a parachute jump.

61A “Balladz” poet Sharon : OLDS

Pulitzer-winning poet Sharon Olds released her collection of poems “Balladz” in 2022. The book explores themes such as love, family, and the COVID-19 pandemic, with many poems structured as ballads, hence the title.

Down

1D Actor Parsons : JIM

Jim Parsons is an actor from Houston, Texas who is best known for playing Sheldon Cooper on the television sitcom “The Big Bang Theory”. He tells us that he struggled a lot in his early acting career, estimating that he auditioned for up to 30 television pilots. Sometimes he was cast in a role, but then the show failed to be purchased by a network.

2D Evian, e.g. : EAU

Évian-les-Bains (or simply “Évian”) is in the very east of France, on the shores of Lake Geneva directly across the lake from Lausanne, Switzerland. As one might imagine, Évian is the home of Évian mineral water, the most successful business in town. Personally, I can’t stand the distinctive taste of Évian water …

3D Private convos : DMS

Direct message (DM)

4D Mother of Horus : ISIS

Isis was the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, as well as the protector of the dead and the goddess of children. She was the personification of the pharaoh’s power. The name “Isis” translates as “throne”, and she is usually depicted with a headdress shaped like a throne.

Horus was one of the oldest gods in ancient Egyptian religion. Usually, Horus was depicted as a falcon or a man with a falcon head. The Eye of Horus was a common symbol used in ancient Egypt, a symbol of protection and royal power.

5D Drinks made from two kinds of beans : MOCHAS

A caffè mocha is a caffè latte that has been flavored with chocolate. One might also regard a caffè mocha as hot chocolate with the addition of a shot of espresso.

6D Rockie start? : AT-BAT

The Colorado Rockies are the Major League Baseball team in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies joined the league in 1993 as an expansion team, and have played at Coors Field since 1995.

8D Part of a nomad’s lifestyle, perhaps : TENTING

A nomad is someone who roams about. The term “nomad” comes from the Latin “nomas” meaning “wandering shepherd”. In turn, “nomas” comes from the Greek “nomas” meaning “roaming (especially when looking for pasture)”.

9D Work unit : ERG

An erg is a unit of mechanical work or energy. It is a small unit, with one joule comprising 10 million ergs. It has been suggested that an erg is about the amount of energy required for a mosquito to take off. The term comes from “ergon”, the Greek word for work.

10D Some classic cars : REOS

The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom Eli Olds (hence the name REO). The company made cars, trucks and buses, and was in business from 1905 to 1975 in Lansing, Michigan. Among the company’s most famous models were the REO Royale 8 and the REO Flying Cloud.

11D __ Journey: annual event for Pacific Northwest Indigenous peoples : CANOE

The Intertribal Canoe Journey is a significant annual event for the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. It is a gathering of canoe cultures from Indigenous Nations along the coasts of Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington to celebrate traditional travel upon ancestral waters. The first modern Canoe Journey, dubbed the “Paddle to Seattle”, took place in 1989 as part of Washington’s Centennial celebration.

21D “The Hunger Games” boy : PEETA

[Spoiler alert!] Suzanne Collins’s novel “The Hunger Games” culminates in a revolutionary act by its protagonists, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen. After they are the sole survivors of the 74th Hunger Games, the pair defy the Capitol’s command. Instead of fighting each other, Katniss proposes they both consume poisonous Nightlock berries in a joint suicide, effectively denying the Capitol their singular victor. This act of defiance forces the Gamemakers to declare them both winners, but it is later understood by President Snow as a direct act of rebellion against the Capitol’s authority, laying the groundwork for the future conflict in the series.

24D Hockey fan’s intermission experience, perhaps : ZAMBONI RIDE

The first ice resurfacing machine was developed in 1949 by one Frank Zamboni. The eponymous Zamboni machine works by simultaneously executing a number of tasks. First, the surface of the ice is scraped off by a sharp blade. Next the ice is “washed” with water sprayed from the front of the Zamboni, and that wash water is vacuumed back up and filtered to remove impurities. Water is then reapplied to the scraped ice by a wet towel dragging behind the machine, forming a new skating surface.

34D Tombstone name : EARP

The famous Earp brothers of the Wild West were Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan. All three brothers participated in what has to be the most famous gunfight in the history of the Old West, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Strangely enough, the fight didn’t happen at the O.K. Corral, but took place six doors down the street in a vacant lot next to a photography studio.

The Arizona town of Tombstone built up around a mine that was owned by one Ed Schieffelin. Schieffelin had been told by US soldiers stationed in the area that the only stone (ore sample) he would find in the area was his tombstone. Regardless, he did file a claim, and it was centered on the grave site of one of his men who had been killed by Apaches. Schieffelin filed papers under the name “the Tombstone claim”.

35D Dynasty before the Qin : ZHOU

The Zhou dynasty was the longest lasting dynasty in the history of China. It is divided into two distinct periods, with the Western Zhou (1046 to 771 BCE) preceding the Eastern Zhou (771 to 256 BCE).

37D __ Law: human rights measure named for the third-longest-serving U.S. senator : LEAHY

The Leahy Laws are human rights laws that prohibit the Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to foreign security force units credibly implicated in gross human rights violations. The laws are named for their principal sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and were introduced in 1997.

Patrick Leahy served as a US Senator for Vermont from 1975 until his retirement in 2023. Leahy is a big fan of the Grateful Dead. He once presented Republican colleague Orrin Hatch with a tie designed by the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia. Hatch responded by presenting Democrat Leahy with a Rush Limbaugh tie. A little “reaching across the aisle” …

43D Capital city in Província da Estremadura : LISBOA

Lisbon is the capital of Portugal. It is the westernmost capital city in Europe, and indeed is the westernmost large city on the continent. Lisbon is also the oldest city in Western Europe, and was founded hundreds of years before London, Paris and Rome.

45D One of 3,234 for Sue Bird : ASSIST

WNBA player Sue Bird is one of only two basketball players, male or female, to have won five Olympic gold medals. The other is fellow WNBA star Diana Taurasi. Bird became engaged to US soccer phenom Megan Rapinoe in 2020.

47D Verde or roja topping : SALSA

The main difference between red and green salsa is the primary ingredient. Red salsa (salsa roja) is made with tomatoes as its base. Green salsa (salsa verde) has tomatillos as its main ingredient.

49D Boston university : TUFTS

Tufts University is a private school based in the city of Medford, near Boston. The school was built in 1852 on land donated by Charles Tuft, a local businessman. One of the early benefactors of the school was P. T. Barnum who funded the Barnum Museum of Natural History located on the college grounds. This museum is home to the stuffed hide of Jumbo, the famous elephant. Jumbo is also the school’s mascot.

57D Density symbol, in physics : RHO

Rho is the symbol used for density, i.e. mass/volume.