LA Times Crossword 13 Sep 25, Saturday

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Constructed by: Jess Rucks

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 13m 53s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

16A Laptop brand : ACER

Acer is a Taiwanese company that I visited a couple of times when I was in the electronics business. I was very impressed back then with the company’s dedication to quality, although I have heard that things haven’t gone so well in recent years …

18A Lion-tailed macaque feature : MANE

Even though the lion-tailed macaque has a grey or silver mane surrounding its face, this does now give the species its name. Rather, it is named for its tail, which is long and thin, with a tuft of black fur at the tip, similar to a lion’s tail.

20A “I love the white stuff, baby / In the middle of an __”: “Weird Al” lyric : OREO

“The White Stuff” is a 1992 song released by Weird Al Yankovic that parodies “You Got It (The Right Stuff)”, a 1988 single from New Kids on the Block.

22A Some fountain drinks : MALTS

Walgreens claims to have introduced the malted milkshake, back in 1922.

24A Mocking bird : PARROT

Scientists tell us that parrots are some of the most intelligent species of birds. Many of those species are able to imitate the human voice. Such characteristics have led to parrots becoming popular house pets, and a resulting drop in populations of parrots living in the wild.

25A Ant-Man’s partner : THE WASP

The Wasp is a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Like Ant-Man, the Wasp has the ability to shrink in size, and so the two are often paired in storylines. The Wasp is the alter ego of Janet van Dyne, and she cofounded and led the Avengers, and gave the team of superheroes its name.

In the Marvel universe, Ant-Man has been the superhero persona of three different fictional characters: Hank Pym, Scott Lang and Eric O’Grady. In the 2015 film “Ant-Man”, Michael Douglas plays Hank Pym, and Paul Rudd plays Scott Lang.

29A Leadership : BRASS

High officials have been referred to as “the brass” since the end of the 19th century. The term is a reference to the metal used for military insignia.

33A 1975 thriller based on a Peter Benchley novel : JAWS

“Jaws” is a thrilling 1975 movie directed by Steven Spielberg that is based on a novel of the same name by Peter Benchley. The film has a powerful cast, led by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw. “Jaws” was perhaps the first summer blockbuster and had the highest box office take in history up to that time, which was a record that stood until “Star Wars” was released two years later.

34A Poet Jones who wrote the memoir “How We Fight for Our Lives” : SAEED

Saeed Jones is an award-winning poet and writer. He was also the founding LGBT editor for BuzzFeed.

35A Mousse kin : PATE

Pâté is a rich spreadable paste made from a mixture of ground meat and fat to which various vegetables, herbs and spices may be added. The most famous version of the paste is pâté de foie gras, which is made from the fattened livers of geese (“foie gras” means “fat liver” in French).

Our word “mousse” is an Old French term meaning “froth”.

36A Some Main lines on maps?: Abbr. : STS

The most common street name in the US is “Second Street”. “First Street” comes in only at number three, and this is because many cities and towns forgo the use of “First” and instead go with “Main” or something more historical in nature. The spooky “Elm Street” appears on the list at number fifteen.

37A “The Subtle Power of the Red Carpet __”: Vogue headline : DURAG

Hip-hoppers might wear do-rags (also “durags”) today, but they have been around for centuries. The etymology of “do-rag” is pretty evident, i.e. a piece of cloth (rag) to hold a hairstyle (do) in place.

“Vogue” magazine has been published for an awfully long time, with the first issue appearing in 1892. Over the decades the magazine has picked up a lot of criticism as well as its many fans. Famously, an assistant to the editor wrote a novel based on her experiences working with the magazine’s editor, and called it “The Devil Wears Prada”.

38A __ patootie : CUTIE

Back in the 1920s, the term “patootie” was used for a sweetheart, a very pretty girl. Somehow, the term has evolved into slang for the posterior, rear end.

51A Actress Daly : TYNE

Actress Tyne Daly really came into the public eye playing Detective Lacey in “Cagney and Lacey”. From 1999 to 2005, Daly played the mother of the title character in the TV show “Judging Amy”.

52A Piece of art that’s cut short : BONSAI TREE

The term “bonsai” is used more correctly to describe the Japanese art of growing carefully shaped trees in containers, although it has come to be used as the name for all miniature trees in pots. “Bonsai” translates literally as “tray planting”.

57A Mineral in some homemade soap : MICA

Mica is a silicate mineral. Thin sheets of mica are transparent and are used in place of glass in certain applications. This form of mica is called isinglass, and as it has a better thermal performance than glass it is a great choice for “peepholes” in boilers and lanterns. Mica is also used in the electronics industry, making use of its unique electrical and thermal insulating properties.

Down

2D Dressing acronym : EVOO

Virgin olive oil is oil produced from olives with no chemical treatment involved in the production process at all. To be labeled “virgin”, the oil must have an acidity level of less than 2% and must be judged to have “a good taste”. Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) comes from virgin oil production, and is the portion with acidity levels of less than 0.8% acidity that is judged to have “superior taste”.

3D “Vaya con __” : DIOS

“Vaya con Dios” is Spanish for “Go with God”.

5D Ottawa NHL pro : SEN

The Senators are the NHL hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada. The current team, founded in the 1992-93 season, is the second NHL team in the city to use the name “Senators”. The original team was founded in 1917, and had a very successful run until the league expanded into the US in the late twenties. The cost of operating in what became the smallest NHL city eventually drove the Senators to St. Louis where they played for a year as the Eagles before finally folding.

7D Jam band that holds the record for sold-out shows at Red Rocks Amphitheatre : WIDESPREAD PANIC

Widespread Panic is a rock band that formed in Athens, Georgia in 1986. They hold a couple of records: most sold-out performances at both Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado and State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

8D First name in folk : ARLO

Arlo Guthrie is the son of Woody Guthrie. Both father and son are renowned for singing protest songs about social injustice. Arlo is most famous for his epic “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, a song that lasts a full 18m 34s. In the song Guthrie tells how, after being drafted, he was rejected for service in the Vietnam War based on his criminal record. He had only one incident on his public record, a Thanksgiving Day arrest for littering and being a public nuisance when he was 18-years-old.

10D “Drag Race” matriarch, affectionately : MAMA RU

RuPaul is a famous drag queen who has developed a diverse career beyond performing on stage. He works as an actor, model, author and a recording artist. Famously, RuPaul doesn’t mind whether one addresses him as “he” or as “she” …

You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don’t care! Just as long as you call me.

He currently hosts his own reality TV show called “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, which is billed as a search for “America’s next drag superstar”.

12D Affliction similar to spring fever : SENIORITIS

“Senioritis” is the colloquial name given to the tendency of some senior students to lose motivation to study as they head towards the end of high school and college careers.

15D Scratch : MOOLA

Lettuce, cabbage, kale, dough, bread, scratch, cheddar, simoleons, clams and moola(h) are all slang terms for money.

21D Planet entirely inhabited by robots : MARS

There have been several rovers sent to Mars from Earth. The Soviet Union’s Mars 2 landed in 1971, and failed. Mars 3 landed the same year, and ceased operation just 20 seconds after landing. NASA’s Sojourner landed in 1997 (what a great day that was!) and operated from July through September. The British rover Beagle 2 was lost six days before its scheduled entry into the Martian atmosphere. NASA’s Spirit landed in 2004, and operated successfully for over six years before getting trapped in sand and eventually ceasing to communicate. NASA’s Opportunity also landed in 2004, and operated for over fourteen years. And then NASA’s Curiosity made a spectacular, hi-tech landing in 2012 and is continuing to explore the planet today. Based on the Curiosity design, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in 2021, along with the Mars helicopter named Ingenuity. The China National Space Administration landed its first rover, named Zhurong (“Rover” in English), five months after Perseverance started its mission on the planet.

24D EMDR target : PTSD

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy treatment originally designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories. 1 During EMDR therapy, the patient focuses on a specific memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation, such as side-to-side eye movements, taps, or tones. This process is believed to help the brain reprocess the traumatic memory, reducing its negative impact. It’s worth noting that EMDR is somewhat controversial, with some debate surrounding the exact mechanisms by which it works and its effectiveness compared to other therapies.

28D Jammies : PJS

“PJs” is the shortened form of “pajamas” (or “pyjamas” in British English). The word “pajama” itself comes to English from Hindi, derived from the Persian “pāē-jāma”, meaning “leg garment”.

30D Body of water said to be named for a king of Athens : AEGEAN SEA

The Aegean Sea is that part of the Mediterranean that lies between Greece and Turkey. Within the Aegean Sea are found the Aegean Islands, a group that includes Crete and Rhodes. The body of water is named for Aegeus, a mythical king of Athens and the father of the hero Theseus. After Theseus departed to slay the Minotaur, Aegeus instructed him to replace his ship’s black sails with white ones upon his safe return. Theseus forgot to change the sails, and Aegeus believed his son had been killed, As a result, he threw himself into the sea in despair.

34D Home team at PHX Arena : SUNS

The Phoenix Suns NBA team are in the Pacific Division, and are the only team in that division not based in California.

35D Looney Tunes toon : PUDDY TAT

Sylvester J. Pussycat is also known as Puddy Tat, and is a character who appeared in “Looney Tunes” and “Merrie Melodies” cartoons. Sylvester is the cat who is often trying to get the better of Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales and Hippety Hopper. Sylvester’s trademark line is the exclamation “Sufferin’ succotash!”, which emphasizes the character’s pronounced lisp.

37D Bamboo, for a panda : DIET

The giant panda is a bear, and so has the digestive system of a carnivore. However, the panda lives exclusively on bamboo, even though its gut is relatively poorly adapted to extract nutrients from plants per se. The panda relies on microbes in its gut to digest cellulose, and consumes 20-30 pounds of bamboo each day to gain enough nourishment.

38D Cedar Rapids college : COE

Coe College is a private school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that was founded in 1851. Coe is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. It was founded in 1851 as the School for Prophets. A farmer named Daniel Coe made a donation of $1,500 towards a campus in Cedar Rapid, but added the requirement that it be a co-educational institution. The school opened as the Cedar Rapids Collegiate Institute, and was renamed as Coe College Institute in 1875 in recognition of the original donation.

46D __ sci : POLI

Political science (poli-sci)

48D West Coast gas brand : ARCO

The company name “ARCO” is an acronym standing for “Atlantic Richfield Company”. One of ARCO’s claims to fame is that it is responsible for the nation’s largest Superfund site. Mining and smelting in the area around Butte, Montana polluted the region’s water and soil, and ARCO has agreed to pay $187 million to help clean up the area.

53D Tax org. : IRS

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was set up during the Civil War to raise money to cover war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, the government was funded by levies on trade and property.