LA Times Crossword 5 Jan 26, Monday

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Constructed by: Morton J. Mendelson

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: After School

Themed answers are common phrases reinterpreted, each starting with the name of a SCHOOL:

• 39A Time for extracurricular activities, or where the ends of 17-, 26-, 52-, and 62-Across literally are : AFTER SCHOOL

• 17A Sweetener used on a Providence campus? : BROWN SUGAR
• 26A Horse that’s saddled up for a tour of a Philadelphia campus? : TEMPLE MOUNT
• 52A Quad found on a Portland campus? : REED SECTION
• 62A Kitchen appliance used at a Houston campus? : RICE COOKER

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

Bill’s time: 4m 57s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Insurance company with a gecko mascot : GEICO

GEICO was founded in 1936 with a very specific mission, to provide auto insurance for employees of the federal government and their families, hence the name Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO). GEICO is a private company, despite the word “government” in its name. The founders’ idea was to focus on government employees as they believed such a group represented a lower risk profile than the rest of the population. Nowadays any qualifying person can take out a policy with GEICO.

15A WhatsApp’s parent company : META

Facebook, Inc. changed its name to Meta Platforms, Inc. in 2021 as part of a rebranding exercise.

WhatsApp is a popular messaging service used on smartphones that sends messages and other files from one mobile phone number to another. Launched in 2011, WhatsApp is incredibly popular, and indeed the most popular messaging service used today. Facebook (now Meta) acquired WhatsApp in 2014, paying over $19 billion.

16A Gumbo pod : OKRA

Gumbo is a type of stew or soup that originated in Louisiana. The primary ingredient can be meat or fish, but to be true gumbo it must include the “holy trinity” of vegetables, namely celery, bell peppers and onion. Okra used to be a requirement but this is no longer the case. Okra gave the dish its name as the vernacular word for the African vegetable is “okingumbo”, from the Bantu language spoken by many of the slaves brought to America.

17A Sweetener used on a Providence campus? : BROWN SUGAR

Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island is one of the eight Ivy League schools. Brown has been around a long time, founded in 1764, years before America declared independence from England. The university took the name of Brown in 1804 after one Nicholas Brown, Jr. gave a substantial gift to the school. The school’s athletic teams are known as the Brown Bears, and their mascot is Bruno.

20A Restroom, to a Brit : LAV

Our word “lavatory” (sometimes “lav”) originally referred to a washbasin, and comes from the Latin “lavatorium”, a place for washing. In the 1600s, “lavatory” came to mean a washroom, and in the 1920s a toilet.

21A Forearm bones : ULNAE

The ulna is one of the two long bones in the forearm, located on the side of the pinkie finger. Its name is the Latin word for “elbow”.

26A Horse that’s saddled up for a tour of a Philadelphia campus? : TEMPLE MOUNT

Temple University in Philadelphia was founded in 1888, and started out as a night school offering classes to people of limited means who had to hold down jobs during the day. These students earned themselves the nickname of “night owls”, leading to the use of “Owls” for Temple’s athletic teams.

31A Hybrid orange fruit : TANGELO

The fruit called a tangelo is a hybrid between a tangerine and either a grapefruit or a pomelo (which gives it the name). A pomelo is a very large, pear-shaped citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia. The Jamaican form of tangelo is known as the ugli fruit.

34A Oft-grilled fish, on menus : MAHI

“Mahi-mahi” (meaning “very strong”) is the Hawaiian name for the dolphinfish, which is also known as the dorado. The mahi-mahi is an ugly looking creature if ever I saw one …

38A Adventure novelist Cussler : CLIVE

Clive Cussler is not only a novelist who specializes in writing stories about the sea, but is also an active marine archaeologist. Cussler founded and chairs the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) that has discovered many sunken ships including the Confederate States Navy submarine H. L Hunley.

42A Basil-based sauce : PESTO

Pesto sauce is more completely called “pesto alla genovese”, i.e. pesto from Genoa. A traditional recipe calls for crushed garlic, pine nuts, salt, basil leaves, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Yum …

44A Author Wiesel : ELIE

Elie Wiesel was a holocaust survivor, and is best known for his book “Night” that tells of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was also the first recipient of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Award, which was later renamed the Elie Wiesel Award in his honor.

45A Hot spot service : WI-FI

A Wi-Fi hotspot is a “spot” where one can connect wirelessly with a Wi-Fi connection to a router at the center of the hotspot. From there, one can access the Internet via a modem connected to that router.

52A Quad found on a Portland campus? : REED SECTION

Reed College in Portland is known for many things, including ownership of the world’s only nuclear reactor that is primarily run by students!

56A Australian marsupial : KOALA

Koalas are not bears, but are marsupials, which means they carry their young in a pouch.They are known for their diet of eucalyptus leaves, which are toxic to most other animals. To cope with this, koalas have a special digestive system that allows them to break down the toxins and extract the nutrients from the leaves. Koalas are one of the sleepiest animals in the world, sleeping up to 20 hours a day. This is because eucalyptus leaves provide very little energy.

59A With 27-Down, “The Substance” Oscar nominee : DEMI …
27D See 59-Across : … MOORE

Demi Moore was born Demetria Guynes and took the name Demi Moore when she married her first husband, Freddy Moore. Moore’s second husband was Bruce Willis. She changed her name to Demi Guynes Kutcher a few years after marrying her third husband, Ashton Kutcher. However, Kutcher and Moore split in 2013.

“The Substance” is a horror movie (so I haven’t seen it). It stars Demi Moore and Dennis Quaid, the former portraying an aging film star, and the latter portraying the producer who fires her for being too old. The actress takes “The Substance” a black market drug that creates a younger version of herself. But, there are unintended, and horrifying consequences.

62A Kitchen appliance used at a Houston campus? : RICE COOKER

Rice University is a private school in Houston, Texas. William Marsh Rice had made a will endowing the funds for the establishment of the school at the time of his death. When he was found dead one morning in his bed, his lawyer announced that his will had been changed, with the bulk of Rice’s estate actually going to the lawyer making the announcement. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the lawyer had paid Rice’s valet to murder his employer using chloroform and a fake will was written. Eventually, the original will was deemed valid and the funds were disbursed so that the school could be built.

68A Genesis grandson : ENOS

Enos was the son of Seth, and therefore the grandson of Adam and Eve, and nephew of Cain and Abel. According to the ancient Jewish work called the Book of Jubilees, Enos married his own sister Noam.

72A Sacred carving : TOTEM

“Totem” is a word used to describe any entity that watches over a group of people. As such, totems are usually the subjects of worship. Totem poles are really misnamed, as they are not intended to represent figures to be worshiped, but rather are heraldic in nature, and often celebrating the legends or notable events in the history of a tribe.

Down

3D “Seems to me” shorthand : IMO

In my opinion (IMO)

4D Monastic hood : COWL

A cowl is a long garment with a hood that is primarily worn by monks in the Christian tradition. The term “cowl” can also describe the hood itself.

9D Brought home, as a salary : EARNED

It has been suggested that our term “salary” comes from the Latin “sal” meaning “salt”. The idea is that a Roman soldier’s “salarium” might have been an allowance to purchase salt.

10D Performer in bull riding competitions : RODEO CLOWN

The job of a rodeo clown emerged in the early 1900s, as a performer who provided comic relief and who acted as a bullfighter to distract the bull and protect an injured rider. Today, the safety role is usually handled by specialized bullfighters. The comic role is often taken on by a “barrelman”, who uses a reinforced barrel as a prop, and a vital refuge. Scary stuff …

11D Letters between names : AKA

Also known as (aka)

12D With 19-Across, salt-free seasoning brand : MRS …
19A See 12-Down : … DASH

Mrs. Dash was a brand name of seasoning mixes. Just before the product first went to market in 1981, brand owner B&G Foods also considered the name “Mrs. Pinch”. Finally getting with the times, the brand owners changed the product name in 2020 to just “Dash”.

18D Gracefully slim : SVELTE

“Svelte” comes into English from Latin, via the Italian “svelto” meaning “stretched out”. Something or someone described as svelte would be slender and graceful.

22D Gas brand with a torch logo : AMOCO

“Amoco” is an abbreviation for “American Oil Company”, an oil company that merged with BP in 1998. Amoco was the first oil company to introduce gasoline tanker trucks and drive-through filling stations. I wonder if they know what they were starting …?

24D Barnyard bleat : MAA

“Maa” is the call of a goat.

29D Thanksgiving mo. : NOV

Thanksgiving Day was observed on different dates in different states for many years, until Abraham Lincoln fixed the date for the whole country in 1863. Lincoln’s presidential proclamation set that date as the last Thursday in November. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, arguing that the earlier date would give the economy a much-needed boost.

36D French fashion monogram : YSL

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)

40D Upper body : TORSO

“Torso” (plural “torsi”) is an Italian word meaning “trunk of a statue”. We imported this term into English to describe the main part of the human body, or a figure lacking its appendages.

47D Docs with DOBs, often : IDS

Date of birth (DOB)

53D Country singer Patsy : CLINE

Patsy Cline was a country music singer who managed to cross over into the world of pop music where she enjoyed great success. Cline is one of a long list of musical legends who died in plane crashes. Cline was 30 years old when she was killed in 1963 in a Piper Comanche plane piloted by her manager, Randy Hughes. Hughes and Cline decided to make that last flight despite warnings of inclement weather, and it was a severe storm that brought down the plane in a forest outside Camden, Tennessee.

61D Actress Ryan : MEG

“Meg Ryan” is the stage name of actress Margaret Mary Hyra. Ryan’s big break came with the excellent 1989 movie “When Harry Met Sally …”, from which she went on to star in some of the most popular romantic comedies ever made.

63D Ballpark fig. : EST

The phrase “in the ballpark” means “within an acceptable range of approximation”. The term was coined in the mid-fifties as jargon used by scientists developing atomic weapons. The first “ballpark” in this sense was the broad area within which a missile was forecast to return to earth.

64D Baby beaver : KIT

Beavers are monogamous and mate for life. The offspring of a beaver couple are called kits.