LA Times Crossword 6 Sep 25, Saturday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Rafael Musa & Geoffrey Schorkopf

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 9m 42s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10A Classic surface for the Indy 500 : BRICK

When the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was first constructed in 1909, its surface was a mix of gravel, limestone, taroid (tar and oil), and crushed stone. This original surface proved problematic during early races, developing ruts and chuckholes that even contributed to fatal accidents. After a particularly dangerous race day, the AAA (American Automobile Association) threatened to boycott future events unless significant improvements were made. In response, the owners of the facility decided to pave the track with bricks. Five Indiana manufacturers supplied 3.2 million 10-pound bricks, which were hand-laid over a cushion of sand and mortared together. It was during this extensive repaving project that locals began to nickname the track “The Brickyard”. Today, only three feet of the original bricks remain exposed at the start-finish line.

16A Art print, for short : LITHO

Lithography is a printing technique that was invented in 1796 as a cheap way to publish theatrical works. In the litho process the image is drawn on a metal plate, although originally it was drawn on a stone (hence the prefix “litho-“). The image is drawn in such a way that some regions of the plate repel ink, and then when paper is applied to the plate, those areas are ink-free. A “lithograph” is a print that is made using the technique, and is often a reproduction of a work of art.

17A Hero in a 2018 Thai rescue operation : CAVE DIVER

The 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue came about when twelve boys from a junior football team and their coach became trapped deep inside a flooded cave system in Thailand. The complex rescue operation involved an international team of experts and skilled cave divers. Tragically, one former Thai Navy SEAL died during the rescue operation while delivering air tanks. The boys and their coach were ultimately rescued after being sedated and then carefully extracted by divers through the submerged tunnels, a feat many considered nearly impossible. The story was later adapted into several films, including the 2022 Ron Howard film “Thirteen Lives”.

18A Photographer Adams : ANSEL

As an avid amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. Adams was famous for clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed primarily for black & white film, it can even apply to digital color images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final photograph with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

27A Symbol of statistical deviation : SIGMA

In the world of statistics, the standard deviation (std. dev.) is a measure of how closely data points are clustered around the mean value. A low standard deviation indicates a relatively tight distribution. A standard deviation is usually represented by the Greek letter sigma in lower case.

28A One who might run a Lab’s labs : VET

The Labrador (Lab) breed of dog has been around at least since 1814, and the chocolate Labrador appeared over a century later in the 1930s. The name “Labrador Retriever” is simply a reference to the breed’s origin and behavior. Labs originally “retrieved” from the “Labrador Sea”.

30A Host who fielded many, many questions : TREBEK

The TV show “Jeopardy!” first went on the air in 1964, and is another successful Merv Griffin creation. But, it took the introduction of Alex Trebek as host in order to bring the show into the big time. Trebek was host from 1984 until his sad passing in 2020.

39A Long-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 …

42A Primary ingredient in the Nigerian dish àmàlà : YAM

Àmàlà is a traditional dish from Nigeria. It can be made from cassava or unripe plantain flour, although the most common type, àmàlà isu, is yam-based.

46A Butler honor : NEBULA AWARD

The best works of science fiction and fantasy published each year are recognized annually by the Nebula Awards. The first Nebulas were awarded in 1966.

Octavia E. Butler was an author of science fiction whose works were largely written from the perspective of a marginalized black woman. She claimed that her loyal audiences were black readers, feminists and sci-fi fans.

50A Coin featuring Hagia Sophia : LIRA

Hagia Sophia is an incredibly beautiful church that was built as a Christian basilica, was converted to an imperial mosque, and then converted to a museum in Istanbul. It has a massive dome and was the largest cathedral in the world for almost a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520.

51A Interior designer’s deg. : BFA

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

57A Goddess of peace : IRENE

Eirene (also “Irene”) was the Greek goddess of peace, with “eirene” being the Greek word for “peace”. The Roman equivalent to Eirene was the goddess Pax.

59A Guy Fawkes Night structures : PYRES

When I was a kid living in England in the 1960s, we would make up an effigy of Guy Fawkes to parade around the streets in the runup to Guy Fawkes Day, November 5th. Guy Fawkes was the man who led the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the British king and Parliament on November 5, 1605. We kids would use the effigy to raise money from strangers by approaching them with the phrase “penny for the guy”. The money collected was used to buy fireworks that we’d shoot off on Bonfire Night, the name given to the evening of Guy Fawkes Day. The effigy known as “the guy” gave rise in the UK to the use of “guy” to describe a poorly-dressed man. By the mid-1800s, the term “guy” was adopted into American-English to mean simply “fellow”.

Down

2D Norwegian ruler known as Folkekongen, “the people’s king” : OLAV

Olav V was King of Norway from 1957 until 1991. Tremendously popular and down-to-earth, Olav V was known as “the People’s King” (“Folkekongen” in Norwegian). He was also a grandchild of Edward VII, who was on the British throne from 1901 to 1910.

3D “¡__ la fiesta!” : VIVA

The Spanish phrase “Viva la fiesta!” translates literally as “Long live the festival!” or “Long live the party!”. In English, the equivalent might be something like “Party on!”

6D Spacecraft of NASA’s Artemis program : ORION

NASA is developing a spacecraft for human exploration of asteroids and of Mars. The craft is known as the Orion MPCV (Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle).

NASA’s Artemis program is an initiative aimed at returning humans to the Moon, with the long-term goal of establishing a sustainable lunar presence and paving the way for future human exploration of Mars.

7D Things pushed by trailers : MOVIES

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.

9D Snap decision, for short? : SLR

The initialism “SLR” stands for “single lens reflex”. Usually, cameras with changeable lenses are the SLR type. The main feature of an SLR is that a mirror reflects the image seen through the lens out through the viewfinder, so that the photographer sees exactly what the lens sees. The mirror moves out of the way as the picture is taken, and the image that comes through the lens falls onto unexposed film, or nowadays onto a digital sensor.

10D Bahía __: city whose name means “White Bay” : BLANCA

Bahía Blanca is a port city in Argentina, In the Buenos Aires province. The name translates to “White Bay” from Spanish, and is a reference to the color of the salt covering the local soil along the shores of the bay (Blanca Bay).

11D Dishwasher setting : RINSE

The first mechanical dishwasher to be described as practical and reliable was invented by Josephine Cochrane of Ohio. Cochrane didn’t wash dishes herself, as she had servants for that task, so the main purpose of her invention was not to save effort. Rather, she wanted a device that washed dishes without chipping them, something her household help was liable to do.

12D Field for one with their head in the cloud? : IT SERVICES

“On the cloud” or “in the cloud”: that is the question. While working for years within the cloud computing industry, I was only exposed to the phrase “in the cloud”. However, I learned later that the phrase “on the cloud” is out there too.

14D City on the Rhein : KOLN

Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, and is known as “Köln” in German. It is situated on the Rhine, and has a rich history stretching back to Roman times. Its most iconic landmark is the magnificent medieval Cologne Cathedral, which was the world’s tallest building from 1880 to 1890. The cathedral, though damaged, remarkably survived the bombings of WWII that destroyed 80% of the city center.

24D No longer dangerous : AT BAY

Our use of the phrase “at bay”, to mean “in check”, derives from the older expression “at abai” used to describe a hunted animal “unable to escape”. The “bay” here refers to the barking or howling of the hounds surrounding the animal.

25D Nondrinking age? : DRY JANUARY

Dry January is a public health campaign that encourages people to abstain from alcohol for the entire month of January. The campaign started on the other side of the pond, and “Dry January” is a registered trademark with the group Alcohol Change UK.

31D Pelvic exercises : KEGELS

Kegel exercises can help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles: the ones that support the bladder, bowel, and uterus. They’re named after Dr. Arnold Kegel, the American gynecologist who first described these exercises in the 1940s.

33D Jejune : VAPID

We use the adjective “vapid” today to describe something that is dull, that lacks liveliness. Back in the 1600s, the term was used to describe drinks that were flat. “Vapid” comes from the Latin “vapidus”, which translates literally as “that has exhaled its vapor”.

The adjective “jejune” means “dull in the mind”. The term comes from the Latin “ieiunus” meaning “dry, barren”.

37D Advice column with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame : DEAR ABBY

The advice column “Dear Abby” first appeared in 1956. Pauline Phillips was Abby back then, but now the column is written by Jeanne Phillips, her daughter. The full name of the “Abby” pen name is Abigail Van Buren, which Pauline Phillips came up with by combining “Abigail” from the biblical Book of Samuel, and “Van Buren” after the former US president. “Dear Abby” was also a radio show in the sixties and seventies.

Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles is home to the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, comprising over 2,500 stars embedded in the sidewalk. The thoroughfare was named Prospect Boulevard until 1920, when the town of Hollywood was annexed by the city of Los Angeles.

40D Cask beer in traditional British pubs : REAL ALE

“Real ale” is a relatively contemporary term. It has been used in the UK since 1973 to refer to beer that has been brewed traditionally, and that does not use extraneous carbonation. I am a huge, huge fan …

47D Geoffrey of fashion : BEENE

Geoffrey Beene was an American fashion designer. He had an impressive list of clients that included First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon and Nancy Reagan. He had a very successful line of clothing called “Beene Bag”.

49D Stalactite origin : DRIP

A stalactite is a mineral deposit that hangs from the roof of a cave, formed by continuous dripping of mineral-rich water. “Stalactite” comes from the Greek word “stalasso” meaning “to drip”. A stalagmite is a rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave as a result of mineral deposits dissolved in water dripping from the ceiling.

51D Main squeeze : BEAU

A beau (plural “beaux”) is the boyfriend of a belle, a young lady. “Beau” and “belle” are the masculine and feminine forms of the French word for “handsome, beautiful”.

52D Scottish comedian Brady : FERN

Fern Brady is a Scottish comedian, podcaster, and writer who should be very familiar to viewers of British panel shows, like “8 Out of 10 Cats” and “Taskmaster”. In 2021, Brady was diagnosed as autistic, and she has since become an active voice in autism education. She wrote about her autism in a 2023 memoir “Strong Female Character”.

53D Does the math : ADDS

Here’s another term that catches me out all the time, having done my schooling on the other side of the Atlantic. The term “mathematics” is shortened to “math” in the US, but to “maths” in Britain and Ireland.

55D Mac spec : RAM

Random-access memory (RAM) is a form of computer storage.