LA Times Crossword 29 Dec 25, Monday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Keegan Edgar

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Something’s Fishy

Themed answers each include a type of FISH:

• 36A “This doesn’t seem right,” or what can be said about 17-, 23-, 46-, and 57-Across : SOMETHING’S FISHY

• 17A Hangout with ramps and rails for boarders and bladers : SKATE PARK
• 23A Exclamation of surprise : HOLY MACKEREL!
• 46A Diving stance with bent hips and straight legs : PIKE POSITION
• 57A A-OK : HUNKY-DORY

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

Bill’s time: 6m 11s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

16A Cockpit figure : PILOT

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the original “cockpit” was a “pit” used for fighting “cocks”. The term was then applied nautically, as the name for the compartment below decks used as living quarters by midshipmen. The cockpit of a boat today, usually on a smaller vessel, is a sunken area towards the stern in which sits the helmsman and others (who can fit!). The usage extended to aircraft in the 1910s and to cars in the 1930s.

17A Hangout with ramps and rails for boarders and bladers : SKATE PARK

Skates (formally “Rajidae”) are a family of fish in the superorder of rays (formally “batoidea”). Skates look very similar to stingrays, but they lack stinging spines.

20A Nine-digit ID : SSN

Social Security Number (SSN)

22A Gemstone with colored stripes : AGATE

Agate is a micro-crystalline form of quartz (and so is related to sand/silica). Some agate samples have deposited layers that give a striped appearance, and these are called “banded agate”.

23A Exclamation of surprise : HOLY MACKEREL!

The name “mackerel” is applied to over 30 different species of fish, most of which are in the family Scombridae. The term “mackerel” comes from the Old French name for the fish, “maquerel”, with the origins of the earlier name unclear.

26A British nobles with low ranking : BARONS

In Britain, there are five ranks of peers. They are duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron, in descending order.

31A __ pie: dish with corn chips : FRITO

The oldest known printed recipe for frito pie dates back to 1949, in a Texas publication. Most recipes include chile, cheese and corn chips (usually Fritos), but can also include salsa, refried beans, sour cream, onion, rice and/or jalapeños.

42A __-Ball: target game in arcades : SKEE

Skee-Ball is the arcade game in which the player rolls balls up a ramp trying to “bounce” it into rings for varying numbers of points. The game was first introduced in Philadelphia, in 1909.

46A Diving stance with bent hips and straight legs : PIKE POSITION

The pike family of fish are freshwater ambush predators with rows of backward-facing teeth from which prey cannot escape. They are often nicknamed “water wolves”, and they are notorious cannibals. When food is scarce, a significant portion of their diet consists of other pike. Yikes!

51A Actress Tatum : O’NEAL

Tatum O’Neal is the youngest actress to win a competitive Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1974 when she was just 10 years old, for her role as Addie in “Paper Moon”. The youngest person to win an honorary Academy Award was Shirley Temple, who was only 5 years old when she was presented with an Oscar in 1934.

52A Convent residents : NUNS

A convent is a community devoted to religious life, and especially a community of nuns. The term “convent” ultimately comes from the Latin “com” (with, together) and “venire” (to come).

57A A-OK : HUNKY-DORY

Surprisingly (to me), the term “hunky-dory” has been around a long time, and is documented back in the mid-1800s. Nobody’s really sure of its origin, but some say it is an Anglicization of “Honcho dori”, that back in the day was a street of ill repute in Yokohama, Japan.

Our term “A-OK” is supposedly an abbreviation for “A(ll systems are) OK”, and arose at NASA in the sixties during the space program.

Dories are a family of very thin marine fish. The most famous member of the group is the John Dory, also known as “St. Peter’s fish”. The holy nickname comes from the biblical story: “Miracle of the Coin in the Fish’s Mouth”. When tax collectors came calling, Jesus told Peter to catch a fish, promising he would find a shekel inside to pay the temple tax for both of them. Legend holds that the black spot on the John Dory’s side is Saint Peter’s thumbprint, burned into the scales when he gripped the fish to retrieve the coin.

59A Guiding principle : TENET

A tenet is an article of faith, something that is “held” to be true. “Tenet” is Latin for “he/she/it holds”.

61A Sunburn-soothing succulent : ALOE

Aloe vera is a succulent plant that grows in relatively dry climates. The plant’s leaves are full of biologically-active compounds that have been studied extensively. Aloe vera has been used for centuries in herbal medicine, mainly for topical treatment of wounds.

64A Archery items : BOWS

An archer is someone who shoots with a bow and arrow. The term “archer” comes from the Latin “arcus” meaning “bow, arc”.

Down

2D Acorn droppers : OAKS

These days, we don’t usually consider acorns (the fruit of the oak tree) as a foodstuff. But in days past, many cultures around the world have used acorns as food. Usually, bitter tannins that occur in acorns need to be leached out in water. Acorn meal can be a substitute for grain flour, which can then be used to make bread. Acorns have also been used as a substitute for coffee, especially when coffee was rationed. Notably, acorn coffee was brewed up by Confederates during the American Civil War, and by Germans during World War II.

3D “Thunderbolts*” actor Sebastian __ : STAN

Actor Sebastian Stan was born in Constanța, Romania and moved to Vienna, at the age of eight with his mother after the Revolutions of 1989 that led to the Fall of Communism. He was named by his mother, a pianist, after the renowned composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

“Thunderbolts*” is a 2025 movie about a team of superheroes from the Marvel Comics Universe. The mysterious asterisk in the title was a subject of intense speculation before release, and is explained in the film’s closing moments. The somewhat ragtag team was officially rebranded as the “New Avengers”, and the film title was even changed during the end credits. There’s gonna be a sequel …

7D SoCal NFL player : LA RAM

The Los Angeles Rams are the only franchise to have won NFL championships in three different cities, i.e. Cleveland (1945), Los Angeles (1951 & 2021) and St. Louis (1999). The Rams were based in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945, in Los Angeles from 1946 to 1994, in St. Louis from 1995 to 2015, and returned to Los Angeles in 2016.

8D Large deer in the Rockies : ELK

Wapiti, also known as elk, are one of the largest species of deer found in North America and East Asia. They are social animals and live in herds of up to 400 individuals. The herds are usually led by a dominant male, known as a bull, who defends his harem of females during the mating season.

12D Rich layer cake : TORTE

A torte is a type of cake made primarily with eggs, sugar and ground nuts (but no flour). A favorite of mine …

18D Historic British school : ETON

Eton is an English town located on the River Thames, just opposite Windsor. Eton was chosen in 1440 by King Henry VI as the site of the prestigious Eton College.

26D Acid counterpart : BASE

The “opposite” of an acid is a base. Acids turn litmus paper red, and bases turn it blue. Acids and bases react with each other to form salts. An important subset of the chemicals called bases are alkalis, hydroxides of the alkali metals and of ammonium. The term “alkali” is sometimes used interchangeably with “base”, especially if that base is readily soluble in water.

28D San __, Italy : REMO

The Italian city of San Remo sits on the Mediterranean, right on the border with France. In Italian, the city is named “Sanremo”, just one word. That said, the spelling “San Remo” dates back to ancient times.

31D “Little __ Everywhere”: Celeste Ng novel : FIRES

“Little Fires Everywhere” is a 2017 novel by Celeste Ng that became especially popular in 2020, when a miniseries adaptation was released by Hulu. Both the novel and TV show are about a “picture-perfect” suburban family whose lives are turned upside down when they rent a nearby house to mother and daughter.

32D Genetic messenger molecule : RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA. An added complication is that small changes in the sequence of amino acids specified by DNA sometimes takes place in a process known as RNA editing. This RNA editing occurs after the nucleotide sequence has been transcribed from DNA, but before it is translated into protein.

34D NBA player Holmgren : CHET

Chet Holmgren is a basketball professional who is described as an NBA “unicorn”, a player who combines height with exceptional ball handling and agility. He was picked up by the Oklahoma Thunder as the second pick in the 2022 draft, but then missed his first season due to injury. Regardless, he won All-Rookie honors in his first playing season.

48D Actor Reeves who plays John Wick : KEANU

Keanu Reeves is a Canadian actor whose most celebrated roles were a metalhead in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (1989), a cop in “Speed” (1994) and the protagonist Neo in “The Matrix” series of films. Although Reeves is a Canadian national, he was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Reeves has some Hawaiian descent, and the name “Keanu” is Hawaiian for “the coolness” or “cool breeze”.

“John Wick” is a 2014 action movie starring Keanu Reeves in the title role. Reeves plays a retired hitman who goes on a killing spree to avenge the murder of his dog. There’s quite a body count …

49D Become accustomed (to) : INURE

To inure is to harden oneself against the effects of, to accustom oneself to.

53D Brand of red plastic cups : SOLO

The Solo Cup was introduced in 1930, and was the creation of a former employee of the Dixie Company. The first Solo Cup was a paper cone that founder Leo Hulseman made at home and sold to companies that distributed bottled water. Apparently, Solo’s red plastic cups sell very well, and are used by college students playing beer pong.