LA Times Crossword 24 Dec 25, Wednesday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Leslie Young

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): 4x4x4

Themed answers are WHERE TO FIND various 4x4s:

• 19A Where to find a sturdy 4×4 : THE HOME DEPOT
• 26A Where to find a caloric 4×4 : IN-N-OUT BURGER
• 42A Where to find an adventurous 4×4 : OFF-ROAD TRAIL
• 51A Where to find an athletic 4×4 : RUNNING TRACK

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

Bill’s time: 7m 11s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Sound in “The Addams Family” theme song : SNAP

Charles Addams was a cartoonist who signed his work “Chas Addams”. He didn’t draw a cartoon strip but rather individual cartoons, although many of his cartoons did feature regular characters. The most famous of these were the members of the Addams Family, who were published in single-panel cartoons between 1938 and 1988 in “The New Yorker”. The Addams Family moved onto the small and big screens starting in 1964.

They’re creepy and they’re kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They’re altogether ooky,
The Addams Family.

14A Award presented at the World Science Fiction Convention : HUGO

The World Science Fiction Convention (also “Worldcon”) is an annual international gathering of the science fiction community that has been held since 1939. Its most famous function is administering and presenting the Hugo Awards, which honor excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing.

15A Origami bird : CRANE

Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She was exposed to the radiation and developed leukemia ten years later. While she was in the hospital, she began folding origami cranes. A Japanese folktale says that if a person folds 1,000 cranes (“senbazuru”), they will be granted a wish. Sadako hoped that by folding the cranes, she would be cured of her leukemia. She folded over 1,000 cranes before she died in 1955 at the age of 12.

16A Fortnite’s company : EPIC GAMES

Fortnite is a very, very popular online game that was released in 2017. There are several versions of the game, including the original Fortnite: Save the World.

19A Where to find a sturdy 4×4 : THE HOME DEPOT

The Home Depot is the largest home improvement retail chain in the US, ahead of Lowe’s. Home Depot opened their first two stores in 1979. The average store size is just over 100,000 square feet. The largest Home Depot outlet is in Union, New Jersey, and it is 225,000 square feet in size. That’s a lot of nuts and bolts …

22A Tug-of-__ : WAR

Tug-of-war is a strength competition between two teams who pull on opposite ends of a rope, vying to pull the opponents over a marked line. The sport was an event in the Summer Olympic Games from 1900 until 1920. The USA teams won all three medals for the tug-of-war at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis.

26A Where to find a caloric 4×4 : IN-N-OUT BURGER

The “4×4” is a “not-so-secret menu” item at In-N-Out Burger, consisting of a single hamburger with four beef patties and four slices of cheese.

34A Brew that may be hazy : IPA

Hazy IPAs tend to be unfiltered, and so retain some yeast sediment. These days, I am almost forced to drink IPAs (what else is available?!), and usually opt for a hazy IPA. Please, please, brewers, bring back hefeweizens …

35A Lines that are often blue : URLS

An Internet address (like NYXCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) is more correctly called a uniform resource locator (URL).

42A Where to find an adventurous 4×4 : OFF-ROAD TRAIL

A 4×4 vehicle has a four-wheel drive system where the engine can send power to all four of its wheels simultaneously. In contrast, a standard 4×2 vehicle also has four wheels, but the engine only powers two of them, either the front or the rear.

46A Drummer twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame : STARR

Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Known for his unique drumming style and genial personality, he also had a successful solo career after the band’s breakup, with hits like “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Photograph”. I was lucky enough to see Ringo live, with his All-Starr Band, and what a great concert that was …

47A Subj. for an aspiring polyglot : ESL

English as a Second Language (ESL)

A “polyglot” is a person who has mastered several languages. The term derives from the Greek “polyglottos”, meaning “speaking many languages”. The prefix “poly-” denotes “many”, and “glotta” is a variant of the Greek “glossa” meaning “language, tongue”.

48A Faux __ : PAS

The term “faux pas” is French in origin, and translates literally as “false step” (or “false steps”, as the plural has the same spelling in French).

Down

2D Omega opposite : ALPHA

The Greek alphabet starts with the letter “alpha”, and ends with the letter “omega”.

5D Spiritual healer : SHAMAN

A shaman is a supposed intermediary between the human world and the spirit world.

6D Dos, por ejemplo : NUMERO

In Spanish, “dos” (two) is a low “número” (number).

7D Like black vinegar : AGED

Black vinegar is a staple in Chinese cuisine made by fermenting grains for months, or even years, often in clay pots. The long aging process gives the vinegar a dark color and savory (umami) flavor.

8D Billy Porter series about 1980s ball culture : POSE

“Pose” is a drama series that originally ran from 2018 to 2021. It is set in the 1980s and 90s, and explores New York City’s underground LGBTQ “ball culture”. The show starred Billy Porter as ball emcee Pray Tell, and was groundbreaking for featuring the largest cast of transgender actors in regular roles in TV history.

Actor Billy Porter really garnered public attention when he originated the role of “Lola” in the musical “Kinky Boots” on Broadway in 2013. He also won an Emmy in 2019 for his work on the TV show “Pose”. His first TV appearance was on the talent show “Star Search”. Porter appeared in the same episode as aspiring singer Britney Spears.

10D Cordon bleu meat : HAM

A “cordon bleu” dish is a meat dish, one prepared by wrapping the meat around cheese, covering it with breading and then pan-frying. Specifically, veal cordon bleu is made using veal that is pounded thin and wrapped around slices of ham and cheese. The term “cordon bleu” translated from French as “blue ribbon”.

15D Early spring bloomer : CROCUS

The crocus (plural “croci”) is a plant genus in the iris family. The term “crocus” ultimately derives from the Sanskrit word for “saffron”. Saffron spice comes from Crocus sativus, the “saffron crocus”.

17D Met Gala garb : GOWNS

The Costume Institute Gala is an annual fundraising event that benefits the Anna Wintour Costume Center in New York City’s Museum of Modern Art. The fundraiser is commonly referred to as the “Met Gala” or “Met Ball”, and was established in 1948.

20D NOLA sandwich : PO’ BOY

A po’boy is a submarine sandwich from Louisiana. The name of the sandwich apparently dates back to 1929. It was a sandwich given away free to streetcar workers in New Orleans during a strike, i.e. to “poor boys” not earning a wage. A po’boy differs from a regular submarine sandwich in that it uses Louisiana French bread, which is soft in the middle and crusty on the outside.

25D Annapurna’s country : NEPAL

Annapurna, a mountain in Nepal in the Himalayas, is the tenth-highest peak in the world. It is named for Annapurna, the Hindu goddess of food and nourishment.

26D W-2 org. : IRS

Form W-2 is provided by US employers to their employees by January 31 each year. The form reports wages paid to the employees, as well as taxes withheld.

29D Merino males : RAMS

The merino breed of sheep is prized for the soft quality of its wool.

30D Japan’s national 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.

31D Tenured employees, for short : PROFS

A job in a university that is described as “tenure-track” is one that can lead to a tenured position. A tenured position is a “job for life”. A person with tenure can only be dismissed for cause.

40D Subreddits, e.g. : FORUMS

The website Reddit is often called “the front page of the internet”. It is a social news aggregator comprising a vast collection of user-created forums known as “subreddits”. Content is ranked by user “upvotes” and “downvotes,” which determines the visibility of posts and comments.

43D Triple play, for one : RARITY

That would be baseball.

45D Realm in Norse cosmology : ASGARD

Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds of Norse religions. It is where the Norse gods live, and is also home to Valhalla, the enormous hall ruled over by the god Odin.

48D “Love, Loss, and What We Ate” memoirist Lakshmi : PADMA

“Love, Loss, and What We Ate” is a 2016 memoir by Padma Lakshmi that traces her life from her grandmother’s kitchen in India to her career as a model and Top Chef host in New York.

54D “Finding Nemo” setting : REEF

“Finding Nemo” is a 2003 animated blockbuster from Pixar. The film was the winner of the Oscar that year for Best Animated Feature. Believe it or not, “Finding Nemo” is the best-selling DVD of all time and, until 2010’s “Toy Story 3”, it was the highest-grossing, G-rated movie at the box office.

55D Network with an eye on television : CBS

CBS used to be known as the Columbia Broadcasting System. CBS introduced its “eye” logo in 1951. That logo is based on a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign.

56D F1 unit : LAP

In motor racing, the designation “formula” is a set of rules that all participants and cars must abide by. The definition of “Formula One” was agreed back in 1946, with the “one” designating that it is the most advanced of the “formulae”, and the most competitive.