LA Times Crossword 17 Sep 25, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Zachary David Levy

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Go Last

The LAST word in each of the themed answers is a synonym of “GO”:

• 73A Have the final turn, and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues? : GO LAST

• 17A *Ice cream sundae traditionally served in a boat : BANANA SPLIT
• 40A *Salt-free seasoning introduced in 1983 : MRS DASH
• 65A *Rehearsal : PRACTICE RUN
• 11D *Inflatable structure at a kids party : MOON BOUNCE
• 30D *Listing of all-time accomplishments : RECORD BOOK

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

Bill’s time: 6m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Premolar neighbor : CANINE

The canine teeth of a mammal are also called the eyeteeth or cuspids. The name “canine” is used because these particular teeth are very prominent in dogs. The prefix “eye-” is used because in humans the eyeteeth are located in the upper jaw, directly below the eyes.

7A Opposite of sans : AVEC

In French, “avec” (with) and “sans” (without) are opposites.

17A *Ice cream sundae traditionally served in a boat : BANANA SPLIT

The banana split was created in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1904. This particular sundae was the idea of David Stickler, a young apprentice pharmacist at the Tassel Pharmacy’s soda fountain.

21A Masks and gowns in the OR, e.g. : PPE

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

22A Game featuring matches and love : TENNIS

Our modern sport of tennis evolved from the much older racquet sport known as real tennis. Originally just called “tennis”, the older game was labeled “real tennis” when the modern version began to hold sway. Real tennis is played in a closed court, with the ball frequently bounced off the walls.

27A Money with a double-headed eagle : RUBLE

The ruble (also “rouble”) is the unit of currency in Russia, as well as in several other countries in the former Soviet Union. One ruble is divided into one hundred kopecks (also “kopeks”).

31A San Antonio landmark : ALAMO

The city of San Antonio, Texas was named by Spanish explorers. They came upon a Native American settlement in the area on 13 June 1631, the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua, hence the city’s name.

33A Fast Amtrak train : ACELA

Amtrak’s 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”.

40A *Salt-free seasoning introduced in 1983 : MRS DASH

Mrs. Dash was a brand name of seasoning mixes. Just before the product first went to market in 1981, brand owner B&G Foods also considered the name “Mrs. Pinch”. Finally getting with the times, the brand owners changed the product name in 2020 to just “Dash”.

47A Footnote abbr. : OP CIT

“Op. cit.” is short for “opus citatum”, Latin for “the work cited”. Op. cit. is used in footnotes to refer the reader to an earlier citation. It is similar to ibid, except that ibid refers the reader to the last citation, the one immediately above.

49A Riding event : RODEO

“Rodeo” is a Spanish word that is usually translated into English as “round up”.

53A “The Princess Bride” co-star __ the Giant : ANDRE

André the Giant was a professional wrestler from France whose real name was André René Roussimoff. He suffered from gigantism, overproduction of growth hormone, and reached the height of 6 feet 3 inches by the time he was 12-years-old. But, he used his size to develop a very successful career in the ring.

“The Princess Bride” is a novel by William Goldman written in 1973. Famously, the book was adapted into a 1987 film of the same name directed by Rob Reiner that has become a cult classic.

55A Leonard who wrote “Get Shorty” : ELMORE

“Get Shorty” is a 1995 crime-comedy with a great cast that includes John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo and Danny DeVito. That said, the storyline is a little too zany for me so I didn’t really enjoy it …

57A Jewish mystical doctrine : CABALA

“Cabala” refers to a Jewish mystical doctrine. The word has several spellings, including “Kabbalah”, “Qabalah” and “Cabalah”, which can correspond to different historical and theological traditions. The Hebrew root of the term means “to receive”, which is a reference to the oral tradition of receiving mystical knowledge.

64A GI show gp. : USO

The United Service Organization (USO) was founded in 1941 at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt “to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces”. A USO tour is undertaken by a troupe of entertainers, many of whom are big-name celebrities. A USO tour usually includes troop locations in combat zones.

69A Above the strike zone : HIGH

That might be baseball …

70A Nabe in lower Manhattan : NOLITA

NoLIta is a neighborhood in Manhattan in New York City. The name “NoLIta” is derived from “North of Little Italy”. One of NoLIta’s most famous sons is the director Martin Scorsese.

71A Antlered buglers : ELK

Male elks are called bulls, and females are known as cows. Bull elks are known for their very loud screaming, which is called bugling. Cow elks are attracted to bulls that bugle more often and most loudly.

72A Pi Day follower : IDES

There were three important days in each month of the old Roman calendar. These days originally depended on the cycles of the moon but were eventually “fixed” by law. “Kalendae” were the first days of each month, originally the days of the new moon. “Nonae” were originally the days of the half moon. And “idus” (the ides) was originally the day of the full moon, eventually fixed at the 15th day of a month. Actually, the ides were the 15th day of March, May, July and October. For all other months, the ides fell on the 13th. Go figure …

The first three digits of the mathematical constant pi are 3.14. Pi Day has been celebrated on March 14th (3/14) every year since 1988, when it was inaugurated at the San Francisco Exploratorium. In countries where the day is usually written before the month, Pi Day is July 22nd, reflecting the more accurate approximation of pi as 22/7. Interestingly, March 14th is also Albert Einstein’s birthday.

Down

1D Windy City team : CUBS

It seems that the derivation of Chicago’s nickname “Windy City” isn’t as obvious as I would have thought. There are two viable theories. Firstly, that the weather can be breezy with wind blowing in off Lake Michigan. The effect of the wind is exaggerated by the grid-layout adopted by city planners after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The second theory is that “windy” means “being full of bluster”. Sportswriters from the rival city of Cincinnati were fond of calling Chicago supporters “windy” in the 1860s and 1870s, meaning that they were full of hot air in their claims that the Chicago White Stockings were superior to the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

3D “99 Luftballons” singer : NENA

Nena is a German singer (“Nena” became the name of her band as well) who had a big hit in 1984 with one of my favorite songs of the eighties “99 Luftballons”. The English translation of the German title (“99 Red Balloons”) isn’t literal, with the color “red” added just so that the title had the right number of syllables for the tune. “Luftballon” is the name given to a child’s toy balloon in German.

5D Convent member : NUN

A convent is a community devoted to religious life, and especially a community of nuns. The term “convent” ultimately comes from the Latin “com” (with, together) and “venire” (to come).

8D Up/down arrows on a remote: Abbr. : VOL

The first television remote control was introduced by Zenith Radio Corporation, in 1950. That remote was hard-wired to the TV, and was marketed as “Lazy Bones”. Personally, my first “remote” was a broomstick that I used by pushing in large mechanical buttons that selected one of the three channels that were available back then on the east coast of Ireland …

10D Peter of Chicago : CETERA

The musician Peter Cetera was one of the original members of the rock band Chicago. After his days with Chicago, Cetera built a successful solo career for himself.

11D *Inflatable structure at a kids party : MOON BOUNCE

The first inflatable structure was invented in 1959 by a mechanical engineer named John Scurlock, who was developing inflatable covers for tennis courts. He noticed his employees loved to jump on them and so he came up with the “Space Walk”, a large bag for kids to jump on. Today, we refer to them as bouncy castles, bounce houses, or perhaps moonwalks.

12D Middle ear bone : ANVIL

The middle ear is the portion of the ear immediately behind the eardrum. It contains three small bones called the ossicles, the three smallest bones in the human body. The ossicles’ job is to transmit sound from the outer ear to the inner ear. The shape of the bones gives rise to their names: the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus) and stirrup (stapes).

18D Adidas offering : SPORT SHOE

The Adidas brand dates back to when Adolf “Adi” Dassler started making his own sports shoes in his mother’s laundry room in Bavaria after returning from WWI. With his brother, Adi founded Dassler shoes. The company’s big break came in 1936 at the Berlin Olympics, when Adi persuaded American sprinter Jesse Owens to use his shoes, and with the success of Jesse Owens came success for the fledgling shoe company. After WWII the brothers split, acrimoniously. Adi’s brother, Ru-dolf Da-ssler, formed “Ruda” shoes (later to become Puma), and Adi Das-sler formed “Adidas”.

25D Thailand, once : SIAM

“Siam” was the official name of Thailand up to 1939 (and again from 1945 to 1949).

26D Flooring in a ryokan : TATAMI MAT

A tatami is a traditional mat used on floors in Japan. The term “tatami” comes from the Japanese word “tatamu” meaning “to fold”, reflecting the fact that the mat is designed to be folded up for storage.

A “ryokan” is a Japanese inn that provides a very traditional experience. Examples of that experience are tatami mats on the floors and sliding doors, communal baths and public areas where residents can relax while wearing traditional Japanese clothing.

35D “__ of Girls’ Things”: poem by Sharon Olds : ODE

Poet Sharon Olds won a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2013. She was also the first American woman to win the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry.

37D Café addition : LAIT

In French, you might pour “lait” (milk) “dans votre café” (in your coffee).

38D Fat-heavy diet : KETO

A ketogenic (also “keto”) diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. When a body consumes insufficient carbohydrates to meet the need for energy, then the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies in order to make up the energy deficit. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the bloodstream is known as “ketosis”, a term that gives rise to the name “ketogenic diet”. Medical professionals sometimes prescribe a ketogenic diet in order to control epilepsy in children. A condition of ketosis can reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures.

45D Cartoon explorer : DORA

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Her constant companion is an anthropomorphic monkey named “Boots”, because he always wears red boots. Dora, full name “Dora Márquez”, also hangs out with Isa, an iguana.

50D Oracle site : DELPHI

In ancient Greece and Rome, an oracle was someone believed to be inspired by the gods to give wise counsel. The word “oracle” derives from the Latin “orare” meaning “to speak”, which is the same root for our word “orator”. One of the most important oracles of ancient Greece was Pythia, the high priestess to Apollo at Delphi.

53D Between zero and 90 degrees : ACUTE

In geometry, there are several classes of angles:

• Acute (< 90 degrees) 
• Right (= 90 degrees) 
• Obtuse (> 90 degrees and < 180 degrees) 
• Straight (180 degrees) 
• Reflex (> 180 degrees)

56D Scottish bodies of water : LOCHS

“Loch” is the Scottish-Gaelic word for “lake”. The Irish-Gaelic word is “lough”, and the Welsh word is “llyn”.

61D Solo at the Met : ARIA

The Metropolitan Opera (often simply “the Met”) of New York City is the largest classical music organization in the country, presenting about 220 performances each and every year. Founded in 1880, the Met is renowned for using technology to expand its audiences. Performances have been broadcast live on radio since 1931, and on television since 1977. And since 2006 you can go see a live performance from New York in high definition on the big screen, at a movie theater near you …

63D Buzzer in a cloud : GNAT

Gnats have a relatively short lifespan, of about 7-10 days.