LA Times Crossword 24 Oct 25, Friday

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Constructed by: Katherine Baicker & Laura Dershewitz

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Take the Win

Themed answers are common phrases, but we’ve TAKEN away THE WIN (W):

• 60A Accept victory, however dubious, and a hint to 17-, 24-, 37-, and 52-Across : TAKE THE WIN

• 17A Replacement joint that’s even better than new? : MIRACLE HIP (“Miracle Whip” – W)
• 24A Linguistic battle between psychologists? : SHRINK RAP (“shrink-wrap” – W)
• 37A Jerks riding public transit? : HEELS ON THE BUS (“Wheels on the Bus” – W)
• 52A Donuts, bagels, et al.? : HOLE FOODS (“Whole Foods” – W)

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

Bill’s time: 8m 11s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Many Chi-town homes : APTS

The terms “condominium” and “apartment” tend to describe the same type of residential property, namely a private living space with facilities shared with others residing in the same building or complex. The difference is that a condominium is usually owned, and an apartment is rented. At least that’s how it is in the US. The word “condominium” comes from the Latin “com-” (together) and “dominum” (right of ownership).

The city of Chicago is sometimes referred to as “Chi-Town”.

15A 14th century Russian ruler : IVAN I

Ivan I was Prince of Moscow from 1325, succeeding his older brother Yuri III, who in turn succeeded their father Daniil Aleksandrovich. Daniil was the first Prince of Moscow, the first in a long line that culminated in Ivan the Terrible, who became the first Tsar of Russia.

17A Replacement joint that’s even better than new? : MIRACLE HIP (“Miracle Whip” – W)

Miracle Whip was introduced in 1933 at the Chicago World’s Fair, as a cheaper alternative to mayonnaise. It is classified as a dressing, as it does not contain enough vegetable oil to meet the FDA’s definition of mayonnaise.

19A __ Reader : UTNE

The “Utne Reader” is known for aggregation and republishing of articles on politics, culture and the environment from other sources in the media. It was founded in 1984 by Eric Utne, with management taken over by Eric’s wife Nina Rothschild Utne in 1990.

23A Journalist Lesley : STAHL

Television journalist Lesley Stahl first appeared on “60 Minutes” in 1991, after serving as moderator of “Face the Nation” for almost 8 years starting in 1983. Stahl is married to author and journalist Aaron Latham. One of Latham’s claims to fame is that he wrote the article that inspired the movie “Urban Cowboy”.

24A Linguistic battle between psychologists? : SHRINK RAP (“shrink-wrap” – W)

The use of the slang term “shrink” to describe a psychiatrist was first used in 1950. “Shrink” is diminutive of “headshrinker”.

29A Location of une bouche : TETE

In French, “la bouche” (the mouth) is found on the “tête” (head).

30A Actor Bridges : BEAU

Actor Beau Bridges is the son of actor Lloyd Bridges, and brother of actor Jeff Bridges. Beau’s best-known role is perhaps one of “The Fabulous Baker Boys” alongside brother Jeff.

31A Safe havens : ASYLA

Asylum (plural “asyla”) is a Latin word meaning “sanctuary”.

32A Color TV pioneer : RCA

RCA, or the Radio Corporation of America, played a significant role in the history of television as a pioneer in the industry. RCA developed and introduced the first electronic television system in 1939 at the New York World’s Fair. RCA also created the NTSC (National Television System Committee) broadcast standard, which was adopted in the United States in 1953 and is still used today for analog television broadcasting. Additionally, RCA produced the first color television sets in 1954.

34A Informed Delivery org. : USPS

Informed Delivery is a free service offered by the US Postal Service (USPS) that allows customers to preview incoming mail and packages in a daily email.

36A Ref. that added “horror show” in 2024 : OED

Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

37A Jerks riding public transit? : HEELS ON THE BUS (“Wheels on the Bus” – W)

“The Wheels on the Bus” is a popular children’s song that originated in the US, but is popular all around the English-speaking world. Reportedly, it was written by Verna Hills in Boston, and first published in 1939.

The wheels on the bus go round and round
Round and round
Round and round
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All ‘round the town

We use the term “bus” for a mode of transportation as it is an abbreviated form of the original “omnibus”. We imported “omnibus” via French from Latin, in which language it means “for all”. The idea is that an omnibus is a carriage “for all”.

44A Marshmallow spread : FLUFF

Marshmallow was originally made from a paste from the root of the mallow plant. The mallow plant grows near salt marshes, and is sometimes called the “marsh mallow”. Hence the name of the confection. Interesting, but unexpected …

48A Howard, for one: Abbr. : HBCU

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are a group of higher education institutions that were established, mainly after the Civil War, primarily to serve the African American community.

Howard University is a private school in Washington, D.C. Howard was founded soon after the Civil War with a focus on the education of African American students, although it was open to all races, both sexes and was non-sectarian.

52A Donuts, bagels, et al.? : HOLE FOODS (“Whole Foods” – W)

The first Whole Foods Market was opened in 1980 by John Mackey and partners in Austin, Texas. For the two years prior to the Whole Foods launch, Mackay was operating his natural foods store that he called “Saferway”, as opposed to “Safeway”. Clever name …

54A “Oppenheimer” director : NOLAN

British director Christopher Nolan was best known for some time for “rescuing” the floundering Batman movie franchise. In that series, Nolan directed “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”. He was also at the helm of a couple of sci-fi movies that I really enjoyed, namely “Inception” (2010) and “Interstellar” (2014). And then, along came “Oppenheimer” …

“Oppenheimer” is an epic 2023 film starring Cillian Murphy in the title role. The movie follows J. Robert Oppenheimer, “the father of the atomic bomb”, from his student days right through World War II and beyond. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film has an amazing ensemble cast that includes:

• Matt Damon (General Leslie Groves)
• Robert Downey Jr. (Lewis Strauss)
• Josh Hartnett (Ernest Lawrence)
• Kenneth Branagh (Niels Bohr)
• Tom Conti (Albert Einstein)
• Gary Oldman (Harry S. Truman)

63A “La Brea” actress Skye : IONE

Ione Skye is an American actress born in London, England. She is best known for portraying the character Diane Court in the 1989 high school romance movie “Say Anything…”, starring opposite John Cusack. Skye is the daughter of the Scottish folk singer Donovan.

The TV show “La Brea” is a sci-fi series that premiered in 2021. It is set in present-day Los Angeles and follows a family who are separated when an earthquake opens a gigantic sinkhole that transports them through a portal to the Ice Age. The sinkhole is located at the La Brea Tar Pits, hence the show’s title.

65A Tech company that owns the Chinese microblogging app Weibo : SINA

Sina Corporation is a Shanghai-based tech company that was founded in 1998 in Beijing. The enterprise’s main business is Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website that has over 500 million users active every month.

66A Fantasy franchise letters : LOTR

“Lord of the Rings” (LOTR)

68A Firebird roof option : T-TOP

The Pontiac Firebird was made by General Motors (GM) from 1967 to 2002. GM introduced the Firebird to compete with the Ford Mustang.

Down

2D Ballet class : POINTE

“En pointe” is ballet dancing on the tips of the toes, and is a French term. A ballerina wears pointe shoes (sometimes “toe shoes”) to perform this delightful-looking, albeit unhealthy, feat (pun!).

5D Actress Kunis : MILA

Mila Kunis is a Ukrainian-born, American actress who plays Jackie Burkhart on “That ’70s Show”. Fans of the cartoon series “Family Guy” might recognize her voicing the Meg Griffin character. In ”Black Swan”, Kunis plays a rival ballet dancer to the character played by Natalie Portman. In her personal life, Kunis dated Macaulay Culkin for 8 years, but married Ashton Kutcher, her co-star from “That 70s Show”, in 2015.

7D Mark longer than a dit : DAH

Samuel Morse came up with the forerunner to modern Morse code for use on the electric telegraph, of which he was the co-inventor. Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. The most common letters are assigned the simplest code elements e.g. E is represented by one dot, and T is represented by one dash. When words are spelled aloud in Morse code, a dot is pronounced as “dit”, and a dash is pronounced as “dah”.

8D Padmé’s beloved : ANI

Anakin “Ani” Skywalker is the principal character in the first six of the “Star Wars” movies. His progress chronologically through the series of films is:

• Episode I: Anakin is a 9-year-old slave boy who earns the promise of Jedi training by young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
• Episode II: Anakin is 18-years-old and goes on a murdering rampage to avenge the killing of his mother.
• Episode III: Anakin is 21-years-old and a Jedi knight, but he turns to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader. His wife Padme gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia Skywalker.
• Episode IV: Darth Vader, comes into conflict with his children, Luke Skywalker and the Princess Leia.
• Episode V: Darth Vader attempts to coax his son Luke over to the dark side, and reveals to Luke that he is his father.
• Episode VI: Luke learns that Leia is his sister, and takes on the task of bringing Darth Vader back from the Dark Side in order to save the Galaxy. Vader saves his son from the Emperor’s evil grip, dying in the process, but his spirit ends up alongside the spirits of Yoda and Obi-Wan. They all live happily ever after …

9D Hedren of “The Birds” : TIPPI

Tippi Hedren is an actress from New Ulm, Minnesota who is best known for her starring roles in two Alfred Hitchcock classics: “The Birds” (1963) and “Marnie” (1964). Famously, Hedren claimed that Hitchcock destroyed her movie career because she would not succumb to his sexual advances, a charge that has been denied. Hedren’s daughter is actress Melanie Griffith.

“The Birds” is a 1963 film made by Alfred Hitchcock based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier. I’ve read the story and seen the film and find them both strangely disturbing (it’s probably just me!). I can’t stand the ending of either version, as nothing resolves itself!

10D Doesn’t let anything fall through the cracks? : CAULKS

The term “caulk” comes from old Norman French “cauquer”, and described the action of filling gaps with lime. “Caulk” has the same root as our word “chalk”.

13D Start to check? : PRE-

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operates its precheck program known as “TSA Pre✓” (or “TSA PreCheck”). Members of the program receive expedited screening at most airports. In order to become a member, a traveler must apply online, appear in person at a designated office for a background check and fingerprinting, and pay a fee for a 5-year membership.

18D Goofy frame : CEL

Disney’s Goofy first appeared as Dippy Dawg in 1932. Goofy became famous for his “How to …” series of cartoons in the 1940s which dealt with everything from snow skiing to sleeping, and from football to riding a horse. Goofy’s last theatrical appearance was in a 2007 work called “How to Hook Up Your Home Theater”.

26D Sign of aging : RUST

Rust is iron oxide. It forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

30D Striped __ : BASS

The striped bass (also called “striper”) is found along the Atlantic coast of North America, but also in inland waterways where it has been introduced for sport fishing. It is the state fish of Rhode Island, South Carolina and Maryland.

35D Alpine skier Mahre who won 27 World Cup races : PHIL

Phil Mahre is one of the great alpine ski racers, and is a native of Yakima, Washington. Phil’s twin brother Steve was also a skier on the World Cup circuit.

39D Glom __ : ONTO

“Glom” is a slang term meaning “steal”, although it can also be used to mean “latch onto” when used as “glom onto”. The term probably comes from the Scots word “glam” meaning “to snatch at”.

41D Skip the daily commute, for short : WFH

“WFH” is an initialism that stands for “Work From Home,” a term that became significantly more prevalent and common during the COVID-19 pandemic.

50D Sin City attraction : CASINO

The Las Vegas nickname “Sin City” is not a modern marketing invention. It dates back to the early 1930s, when the construction of the nearby Hoover Dam brought a massive influx of male workers to the area. The combination of legalized gambling and the establishment of red-light districts quickly earned the city its enduring moniker.

53D Marine scamp : OTTER

Sea otters actually hold hands while sleeping on their backs so that they don’t drift apart. When sea otter pups are too small to lock hands, they clamber up onto their mother’s belly and nap there.

59D Kanga’s kid : ROO

Kanga is a friend of A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”, and is a kangaroo. She is the mother of Roo, who appears more frequently in the storyline.

62D Currency of Laos : KIP

The kip has been the unit of currency in Laos since 1952. One kip is divided into 100 att.