LA Times Crossword 22 Oct 25, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Emma Oxford

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Decked Out

Themed answers each end with an action performed with a deck of cards:

• 18A 1977 Top 20 single by Boz Scaggs : LIDO SHUFFLE
• 23A “Love your work!” : I’M A HUGE FAN!
• 38A Engagement ring option : PRINCESS CUT
• 54A Aspiring musician’s goal : RECORD DEAL
• 59A Dramatic presentation often staged during Lent : PASSION PLAY

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

Bill’s time: 5m 54s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Civil War POTUS : ABE

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the US, elected in 1860 as the first president from the Republican Party. Lincoln’s electoral support came almost exclusively from the north and west of the country, winning only 2 out of 996 counties in the Southern slave states. Lincoln led the country through the Civil War, and then was assassinated in 1865 just a few days after Robert E. Lee surrendered his army of Northern Virginia. President Lincoln was succeeded in office by Vice President Andrew Johnson.

4A Anklebones : TARSI

The tarsals (also “tarsi”) are the ankle bones, and are equivalent to the carpals in the wrist.

9A Lawn ornament in a hat : GNOME

In English folklore, the fairy’s anti-hero is the diminutive gnome, an evil ugly character. Although the characteristics of gnomes vary in folklore, typically they are described as diminutive humanoids who live underground. Over the centuries, the gnome has become more lovable. We now have garden gnomes, and even the Travelocity Gnome.

14A Bagel topping : LOX

Lox is a brine-cured salmon filet that is finely sliced. The term “lox” comes into English via Yiddish, and derives from the German word for salmon, namely “Lachs”.

17A Hill worker? : ANT

Anthills are actually underground nests. The ants in the colony excavate below ground, resulting in a pile of sand or soil above ground.

18A 1977 Top 20 single by Boz Scaggs : LIDO SHUFFLE

“Lido Shuffle” is a song by Boz Scaggs, co-written with David Paich of Toto fame. Released in 1977 from Scaggs’ album Silk Degrees, it became a chart-topping hit. The song’s title is a nod to the atmosphere found at a beachside lido.

22A 44th first family : OBAMAS

When Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the US in January 2009, the ceremony was attended by more people than had ever attended any event in the nation’s capital. Famously, President-Elect Obama strayed slightly from the required wording of the oath of office, and so he had to be sworn in again the next day.

30A Polite assent in Seville : SI, SENOR

The city of Seville (“Sevilla” in Spanish) is the capital of Andalusia in southern Spain. Seville is a favored setting for many operas including “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini, “Fidelio” by Beethoven and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and “The Marriage of Figaro”.

34A “The Mystery of __ Drood” : EDWIN

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. The story itself is centered not on the title character, but on Edwin Drood’s uncle, a choirmaster named John Jasper.

36A Face With Tears of Joy, for one : EMOJI

An emoji is a character much like an emoticon, but more elaborate. The use of emojis originated in 1997 on mobile phones in Japan, and within a few years spread around the world. “Emoji” is a Japanese word meaning “picture word”.

38A Engagement ring option : PRINCESS CUT

Diamonds can be cut in various shapes. The most common cuts are:

• Princess
• Cushion
• Heart
• Pear
• Marquise
• Radiant
• Asscher
• Emerald
• Oval

44A Zeus, e.g. : GOD

In Greek mythology, Zeus served as the king of the Olympic gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He was the child of Titans Cronus and Rhea, and was married to Hera. Zeus was the equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter, who had similar realms of influence.

52A Highlander of ancient Peru : INCA

The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. The Incas developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Túpac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.

56A Zeus’s daughter : ATHENA

According to myth, the goddess Athena competed with Poseidon for the privilege of being the patron of the city we now call Athens. Poseidon gave the city a salt water spring, and Athena offered an olive tree. As the olive tree was a source of wood, oil and food, Athena won the competition, and the city was named “Athens” in her honor.

59A Dramatic presentation often staged during Lent : PASSION PLAY

A Passion Play is a dramatic performance depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ, the events of the final week of his life. The world’s most famous Passion Play is performed in the town of Oberammergau, Germany, originating from a vow made by villagers in 1633. They promised to perform a play depicting the story of Christ’s suffering and death every ten years if God would spare them from the bubonic plague then ravaging the region. The tradition continues to this day.

65A The Ivies, e.g. : OCTET

The term “Ivy League” originally defined an athletic conference, but now it is used to describe a group of schools of higher education that are associated with both a long tradition and academic excellence. The eight Ivy League Schools are: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.

66A Leader of the girl group Red Velvet : IRENE

South Korean actress and singer Bae Joo-hyun is best known by her stage name “Irene”, and as a member of the K-pop girl group Red Velvet. She is also known for her many endorsement deals, and so is referred to as a “CF Queen” in her homeland. “CF” stands for “commercial film”, the term used in South Korea for TV advertisement.

70A Australian airport code : SYD

Australia’s Sydney Airport (SYD) is located just five miles south of the city center, and next to Botany Bay. There have been plans dating back to the 1940s to build a second airport on the outskirts of the city.

Down

1D “Ironic” singer Morissette : ALANIS

“Ironic” is a 1996 song co-written and recorded by Alanis Morissette. A couple of lines in the song are:

It’s meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife

For an awards ceremony in 2004, Morissette changed these lyrics to demonstrate support for same-sex marriage:

It’s meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful husband

2D Brand of scouring powder : BON AMI

Bon Ami cleanser was introduced just a few years after Bon Ami soap went to market in 1886. The cleanser was marketed by emphasizing its “non-scratch” properties. The label showed a chick coming out of an egg, the idea being that a newly hatched chick hasn’t yet scratched the ground looking for worms and insects.

5D Alex and __ jewelry : ANI

The jewelry retailer Alex and Ani was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Cranston, Rhode Island. The founder Carolyn Rafaelian named her business for her two daughters: Alex and Ani.

6D “Tubular!” : RAD!

“Tubular” is a slang from the 1980s meaning “awesome, excellent”. Apparently, the term has its roots in surfers using “tube” as slang for a hollow and curling wave considered best for surfing.

7D “Spaceballs,” for one : SPOOF

“Spaceballs” is a 1987 spoof of sci-fi films that mainly pokes fun at the “Star Wars” franchise. It was co-written, directed by, and indeed stars, Mel Brooks.

10D Skim, in the dairy aisle : NO-FAT

The fatty component of milk is known as butterfat (sometimes “milkfat”). To be labeled whole milk, the butterfat content must be at least 3.25%. Low-fat milk is defined as milk containing 0.5-2% fat, with levels of 1% and 2% commonly found on grocery store shelves. Skim milk must contain less than 0.5% fat, and typically contains 0.1%.

12D The NHL’s Canadiens, on a scoreboard : MTL

The Montreal Canadiens hockey team is known by the nickname “Habs”, which is short for “Les Habitants”. “Les habitants” were the original French settlers in Quebec.

19D “Pitch Perfect” actress __ Mae Lee : HANA

Actress Hana Mae Lee is best known for playing Lilly Onakuramara in the “Pitch Perfect” movies.

“Pitch Perfect” is an entertaining musical comedy film released in 2012. It’s all about an all-female college a cappella group competing to win a national competition.

26D Actor Stoltz : ERIC

Eric Stoltz is an actor from Whittier, California who is best known for playing the disfigured Rocky Dennis in the 1985 movie “Mask”. In 1984, Stolz spent weeks playing Marty McFly for the film “Back to the Future” before producers concluded that he was miscast and gave the role to Michael J. Fox.

28D “The Big Bang Theory” character : RAJ

Raj Koothrappali is a character on the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” who is played by British-Indian actor Kunal Nayyar. Nayyar is married to Neha Kapur, a former Miss India.

29D New England sch. : URI

The University of Rhode Island (URI) was chartered as an agricultural school back in 1888. Rhody the Ram was chosen as the school’s mascot in 1923, a nod to URI’s agricultural past. As a result, the school’s sports teams are known as the Rams. URI’s main campus today is located in the village of Kingston, with smaller campuses in Providence, Narragansett and West Greenwich.

35D Teacher’s org. : NEA

Founded in 1857, the National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the country, and mainly represents public school teachers.

38D Downloads before a long road trip, perhaps : PODCASTS

A podcast is an audio or video media file that is made available for download. The name comes from the acronym “POD” meaning “playable on demand”, and “cast” from “broadcasting”. So, basically a podcast is a broadcast that one can play on demand, simply by downloading and opening the podcast file.

39D Japanese sport : SUMO

Sumo is a sport that is practiced professionally only in Japan, the country of its origin. There is an international federation of sumo wrestling now, and one of the organization’s aims is to have the sport accepted as an Olympic event.

41D Much of the F/X in the MCU : CGI

Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

47D “Mystic River” novelist Lehane : DENNIS

Author Dennis Lehane has had several of his novels adapted into movies of the same name, including “Mystic River” (2003), “Shutter Island” (2010), “Gone Baby Gone” (2007) and “Live by Night” (2016).

“Mystic River” is a 2003 drama film based on a novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. The movie was directed by Clint Eastwood and stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon. The film has quite a dark storyline and deals with the difficult subject of pedophilia.

50D Diner or bistro : EATERY

“Bistro” was originally a Parisian slang term describing a little wine shop or restaurant.

55D Island off Naples : CAPRI

The island of Capri off the coast of Southern Italy has been a tourist resort since the days of ancient Rome. Capri is home to the famous Blue Grotto, a sea cave that is illuminated with sunlight that’s colored blue as it passes through the seawater into the cave.

57D Battleship successes : HITS

Battleship is a surprisingly fun guessing game that I used to play as a child. Back then, we would play it just using pencil and paper. These days, kids are more likely to play an electronic version of the game.

59D Juice brand with distinctive bottles : POM

POM Wonderful is a privately-held company that has been making fruit juice drinks since 2002. The main product line is pomegranate juice, hence the company name.

62D “The Baby-Sitters Club” writer __ M. Martin : ANN

Ann M. Martin is an author of children’s fiction who is perhaps best known for penning “The Baby-Sitters Club” (BSC) series of novels. Martin wrote the first 36 of the BSC books, and retired into a quieter life leaving ghostwriters to continue the series since 2000.