LA Times Crossword 10 Oct 25, Friday

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Constructed by: Shannon Rapp & Will Eisenberg

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Diving Bird

Themed answers all start in the across-direction, and end with a BIRD that DIVES into the down-direction:

• 63A Avian that plunges for prey, or what can be found in 14-, 28-, 52-, and 60-Across : DIVING BIRD

• 14A “Frasier” brother : NILES CRANE
• 15D Hoisting device : CRANE

• 28A “All I Wanna Do” singer-songwriter : SHERYL CROW
• 30D Brag : CROW

• 52A Time’s Person of the Year in 2023 : TAYLOR SWIFT
• 55D Rapid : SWIFT

• 60A Pro skater of the Pro Skater video game franchise : TONY HAWK
• 62D Sell : HAWK

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

Bill’s time: 9m 52s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Nobel winner Niels : BOHR

Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who won his 1922 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics and atomic structure. Later in his life, Bohr was part of the team working on the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bomb. Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein had a series of public debates and disputes in the twenties and thirties. Although the two respected each other very highly, they held very different views on quantum theory, different views on the laws of physics at the atomic level. The passage of time has shown that Bohr was on the right side of those debates.

5A “Moon and Half Dome” photographer : ADAMS

“Moon and Half Dome” is a photograph taken by Ansel Adams in Yosemite National Park in California, at 4:14 PM on December 28, 1960. We know the date from Ansel Adams’ own notes. A team of astronomers from Texas State University noted the location the shot was taken, the position of the moon relative to Half Dome and the pattern of shadows in the image, hence deducing the exact time of day. Very cool …

10A Starbucks seasonal drink with pie flavors, for short : PSL

Starbucks introduced their celebrated Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) in 2003. For more than a decade, the drink contained no actual pumpkin. The pumpkin flavor was originally just a combination of spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In 2015, the recipe was updated to include real pumpkin puree.

14A “Frasier” brother : NILES CRANE

In the sitcom “Frasier”, Niles is the brother of the title character Frasier Crane. Frasier is played by Kelsey Grammer and Niles is played by David Hyde Pierce. Frasier was originally intended to be an only child in the show’s storyline, but the producers decided to add a brother when they noted the remarkable similarity in appearance between David Hyde Pierce and Kelsey Grammer.

18A Chain with Two Buck Chuck wine : TRADER JOE’S

Trader Joe’s is a grocery store chain based in Monrovia, California that was founded in 1979 by Joe Coulombe. Trader Joe’s is very popular where I live, even though it stocks less than 10% of the items found in a typical grocery store. 80% of the items on the shelves are sold under a Trader Joe’s brand name, and are obviously chosen well. One of the more successful items is Charles Shaw wine, known as “Two Buck Chuck” here in California as it sold for many years at a price of $1.99.

23A “Emmy in the Key of Code” author Lucido : AIMEE

Aimee Lucido is an author of children’s books who started her working life as a software engineer at several major tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Uber. She is also a prolific puzzle constructor, with her crosswords appearing in publications like “The New York Times”, “The New Yorker” and “Scientific American”. I rassled with many, many of Ms. Lucido’s puzzles over the years …

24A Airplane __ : MODE

When one switches a smartphone or similar device to airplane mode, all processes that cause the transmission of radio waves are disabled. As such, Bluetooth, telephony and Wi-Fi are shut down. Many airlines do allow the user to switch on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, while maintaining airplane mode. GPS may function in airplane mode, as it works without emitting radio signals.

26A Central parking facility : MAIN LOT

The “city lot” sense of “lot” is intertwined with the older practice of “casting lots”. Historically, land division was often determined by chance, particularly in early settlements or when distributing land among a group. “Lots” were physical objects, like stones or slips of paper, marked to represent different land parcels. These were drawn randomly, and the “lot” a person received corresponded to the specific piece of land assigned to that marker. This practice of “casting lots” directly led to the use of “lot” as a term for a defined piece of land, eventually giving us the modern usage in “city lot” and “parking lot.”

28A “All I Wanna Do” singer-songwriter : SHERYL CROW

“All I Wanna Do” is a 1994 song co-written and released by Sheryl Crow. The song’s lyrics are an adaptation of a 1987 poem “Fun” by poet Wyn Cooper.

31A Divisive feature of some racket sports? : NET

The instrument striking a tennis ball, here in America, is a “racket’. In Britain and Ireland, and other English-speaking nations, the spelling “racquet” is more common. Interestingly (to me, anyway!), the spelling “racket” dates back to the 14th century. “Racquet” appeared later, in the early 16th century.

33A Woven poncho : SERAPE

“Serape” is the English pronunciation and spelling of the Spanish word “zarape”. A zarape is like a Mexican poncho, a soft woolen blanket with a hole in the middle for the head. Most serapes have colorful designs that use traditional Mayan motifs.

A poncho is a typical South American outer garment that has been used by Native American peoples since pre-Hispanic times. One of the iconic uses of a poncho was by Clint Eastwood in spaghetti westerns.

40A Sun Devils sch. : ASU

Arizona State University (ASU) has a long history, and was founded as the Tempe Normal School for the Arizona Territory in 1885. The athletic teams of ASU used to be known as the Normals, then the Bulldogs, and since 1946 they’ve been called the Sun Devils.

41A Use crayons : COLOR

We use the word “crayon” for a stick of colored wax used for drawing. The term was imported in the 16th century from French, in which language it means “pencil”.

43A Cold-weather cryptid : YETI

The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology, and a cryptid is a creature or plant that isn’t recognized by the scientific community, but the existence of which has been suggested.

52A Time’s Person of the Year in 2023 : TAYLOR SWIFT

“Time” magazine named Taylor Swift its 2023 Person of the Year, making her the first individual from the arts to receive the honor for her success as an entertainer. While other artists have been named in the past (like Bono in 2005), it was for their humanitarian work.

56A Audio brand : AIWA

Aiwa was a Japanese company that produced consumer electronics, mainly audio and video equipment. Sony bought Aiwa in 2002 and eventually discontinued the brand in 2006. The Aiwa trademark was acquired by a Chicago-based consumer electronics company in 2015.

57A Former “Top Chef” host Lakshmi : PADMA

Padma Lakshmi is a model from India. She is very much into cooking and has published an award-winning cookbook. Lakshmi hosted the American TV show “Top Chef” from 2006 until 2023.

60A Pro skater of the Pro Skater video game franchise : TONY HAWK

Tony Hawk is a former professional skateboarder from Carlsbad, California. He is probably the most famous skateboarder in the world. I think I am too old to name another one …

66A __ fresca : AGUA

An agua fresca is a blended drink made with sugar and water flavored with fruit, cereal, flowers or seeds. Traditional aguas frescas are sold by street vendors, especially in Mexico and the American Southwest. Common flavorings are hibiscus and tamarind.

67A Singer DiFranco : ANI

Ani DiFranco is a folk-rock singer and songwriter. DiFranco has also been labeled a feminist icon, and in 2006 won the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women.

69A Part of a plushie-stocked arcade game : CLAW

The arcade claw machine dates back to the 1890s. Amazingly (to me), the original machines were designed to resemble the massive steam shovels used to dig the Panama Canal. The first patented claw machine was called the Erie Digger. It was introduced in 1926, and named for a different waterway: the Erie Canal. These early machines were filled with candy, nuts, or other small trinkets, instead of the plush toys that are common today.

70A WashU’s city : STL

Washington University (WashU) in St. Louis is a private school that was founded in 1853, and named for President George Washington in 1854. The “in St. Louis” was added to the university’s name in 1976, in an attempt to avoid confusion over the school’s location.

71A Abalone eater : OTTER

The large edible sea snails that we call abalone are called ormer in Britain and Ireland, and are served as “awabi” at a sushi bar. The abalone shell resembles a human ear, giving rise to the alternative names “ear shell” and “sea ear”.

Down

1D Simpson who says “Eat my shorts!” : BART

Bart Simpson is the main character in television’s “The Simpsons”. His name was chosen by the writers as it is an anagram of “brat”. Bart is voiced by actress and comedian Nancy Cartwright.

4D Blue of “Jurassic World,” for one : RAPTOR

“Jurassic World” is a 2015 installment in the “Jurassic Park” series of films. The title refers to a new dinosaur theme park that opens about twenty years after the disaster that was Jurassic Park.

5D Leafcutter __: insect whose colony grows a fungus garden : ANT

The term “leafcutter ant” is used to describe several species of leaf-chewing ants. They get their name from their habit of cutting leaves from plants and carrying them back to their nests. The leaves are used to grow a fungus that is the main food source. Leafcutter colonies comprise a large central mound with smaller mounds radiating out. Such colonies can contain millions of individual ants.

6D Stuff in a vacuum : DIRT

The first practical portable vacuum cleaner was invented by James Spangler in 1907. Spangler sold the patent for the design to his cousin’s husband, William Henry Hoover. Hoover then made his fortune from manufacturing and selling vacuum cleaners. Hoover was so successful in my part of the world that back in Ireland we don’t use the verb “to vacuum” and instead say “to hoover”. Also, “hoover” is what we call a vacuum cleaner, regardless of who makes it.

11D Word with rock and music : SHEET …

Drywall (also “sheet rock”) is a panel made primarily from gypsum sandwiched between sheets of paper. The use of drywall sheets is a labor-saving alternative to applying wet plaster on laths to construct internal walls in a building.

19D Leaves painfully : JILTS

To jilt someone with whom you have a relationship is to drop them suddenly or callously. “Jilt” is an obsolete noun that used to mean “harlot, loose woman”.

25D Spider-Man foe who was struck by lightning : ELECTRO

“Electro” is the supervillain alter ego of Maxwell Dillon, and an adversary of Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe. Dillon is an electrical engineer who had a freak lightning accident while repairing a power line. That led to him mutating into a living electrical capacitor. On the big screen. Electro has been portrayed by Jamie Foxx.

27D Subject of Newton’s first law : INERTIA

Newton’s first law of motion states that a body that is moving maintains the same velocity unless it is acted upon by an external force. That resistance to changing velocity is known as inertia. Johann Kepler introduced the Latin word “inertia” to describe the physical phenomenon in the 17th century. The Latin term translates as “apathy, inactiveness”. We started using the Latin “inertia” in English to mean the same thing only in the 19th century, after the term had bopped around in science texts for a couple of centuries.

34D Tavern quaff : ALE

“Quaff” is both a verb and a noun. One “quaffs” (takes a hearty drink) of a “quaff” (a hearty drink).

35D Cinquain, e.g. : POEM

A cinquain is a poem with a 5-line format. The American Cinquain was inspired by the Japanese haiku, and began to emerge in the early 20th century, pioneered by New York poet Adelaide Crapsey. The most famous example of the form is probably her poem “Snow”:

Look up…
From bleakening hills
Blows down the light, first breath
Of wintry wind…look up, and scent
The snow!

39D Chess grand master Corke : ANYA

Chess Grandmaster Anya Corke was the Hong Kong National Champion for several years, before moving to the UK in 2009. She was 13 years old when she won the first championship, making her one of the youngest ever national champions.

44D “Don’t overlook this news” letters : ICYMI

In case you missed it (ICYMI)

53D Ibuprofen brand : ADVIL

The anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen is sold under the brand names Advil and Motrin.

54D Captcha target : ROBOT

Karel Čapek was a Czech writer noted for his works of science fiction. Čapek’s 1921 play “R.U.R.” is remembered in part for introducing the world to the word “robot”. The words “automaton” and “android” were already in use, but Capek gave us “robot” from the original Czech “robota” meaning “forced labor”. The acronym “R.U.R.”, in the context of the play, stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots”.

A CAPTCHA is a challenge-and-response test that is used to determine if a user is a human or some automated program. The acronym “CAPTCHA” stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”. The Turing Test is a test of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. CAPTCHAs are essentially simple Turing Tests designed to protect websites from bots.

57D Shared intimacies, briefly : PDAS

Public display of affection (PDA)

59D City on a lake with the same name : ERIE

Erie is a port city in the very north of Pennsylvania, sitting on the southern shore of Lake Erie. The city takes its name from the Erie Native American tribe that resided in the area. Erie is nicknamed the Gem City, a reference to the “sparkling” water of Lake Erie.

61D Dough used for bao? : YUAN

Even though we generally refer to the currency of China as the “yuan”, the yuan is actually the basic unit of the “renminbi”. This is analogous to “sterling” being the official currency of the UK, with the “pound” being the basic unit of sterling.

A baozi (also “bou, bao”) is a steamed, filled bun in Chinese cuisine.

62D Sell : HAWK

The verb “to hawk” has a Germanic origin, and comes from the Low German word “hoken” meaning “to peddle”. A hawker is actually slightly different from a peddler by definition, as a hawker is a peddler that uses a horse and cart, or a van nowadays perhaps, to sell his or her wares.

64D __ Worm: 1980s bedtime toy : GLO

The Glo Worm is a kids’ stuffed toy produced by Hasbro, starting in 1982. It is a worm-like, plush toy wearing pyjamas. When squeezed, a battery-powered device inside the Glo Worm switched on a soft light within the head.