LA Times Crossword 8 Jan 26, Thursday

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Constructed by: Laura Dershewitz

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Third Space

Themed answers are all synonyms of “SPACE”, with SATELLITE LOCALE being the THIRD “SPACE” as we descend the grid:

• 56A Gathering place that’s neither work nor home, or an apt description of 36-Across in the series that includes 17-, 24-, and 46-Across : THIRD SPACE

• 17A Leeway : WIGGLE ROOM
• 24A Hard-to-find opening on street-sweeping days : PARKING SPOT
• 36A Low Earth orbit, for one : SATELLITE LOCALE
• 46A Period of quiet reflection : TIME TO THINK

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

Bill’s time: 8m 19s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Some pricey insulated mugs : YETIS

YETI is a manufacturer of coolers and related products that is based in Austin, Texas. There was a kerfuffle between YETI and the National Rifle Association in 2018, when YETI removed the NRA from its membership discount program. That kerfuffle got quite public when some NRA members published videos of themselves destroying their own YETI products in protest.

10A Keeps posted privately : BCCS

Blind carbon copy (bcc)

14A Buzz word? : APIAN

Something described as apian is related to bees. “Apis” is Latin for “bee”.

17A Leeway : WIGGLE ROOM

Our word “leeway” meaning “spare margin” is nautical in origin. A vessel’s leeway is the amount of drift motion away from her intended course that is caused by the action of the wind.

20A Possible title for a B-school grad : CEO

A B-school is a business school.

27A Tickling targets : ARMPITS

“Axilla” is the anatomical name for armpit; not to be confused with “maxilla”, the upper jawbone.

31A Part of WYSIWYG : SEE

Flip Wilson was a comedian who had his own show on television in the early seventies. Such was his level of success that in 1972, “Time” featured Wilson on the magazine’s cover and dubbed him “TV’s first black superstar”. Wilson’s birth name was Clerow, and he earned the nickname “Flip” while serving the US Air Force, as he was always “flipped out”. He often played a character called Geraldine on his show, who became known for using the expression “What you see is what you get”. Computer scientists adopted Geraldine’s catchphrase to describe a system in which onscreen content is the same as that printed on paper. The computer term is WYSIWYG, an acronym standing for “what you see is what you get”.

32A Graceful waterbird : SWAN

An adult male swan is a cob and an adult female is a pen. Young swans are swanlings or cygnets.

36A Low Earth orbit, for one : SATELLITE LOCALE

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is the region of space generally defined as occupying the zone between about 100 and 1,200 miles above the Earth’s surface. Gravity is still quite strong there, and so satellites must travel at roughly 17,500 mph to stay in orbit, circling the planet once every 90 minutes. The LEO is currently the most populated sector of space, home to the International Space Station, the Hubble Telescope, thousands of commercial satellites, and thousands of those nightsky-ruining SpaceX Starlink satellites.

42A Actress Berry : HALLE

Actress Halle Berry was the first African American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar, which she received for her performance in the 2001 movie “Monster’s Ball”. Berry also won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress in 2005 for playing the title role in “Catwoman”, and she very graciously accepted that award in person. Good for her!

43A __ Arbor, Michigan : ANN

Ann Arbor, Michigan was founded in 1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey. Supposedly, Allen and Rumsey originally used the name “Annsarbour” in recognition of stands of bur oak that were on the land they had purchased and in recognition of their wives, both of whom were called “Ann” (i.e. Anns’ Arbor)

51A Western treaty gp. : OAS

The Organization of American States (OAS) was founded in Bogotá, Colombia in 1948 to promote solidarity and cooperation among its member states. The charter was signed by 21 countries, including the United States.

56A Gathering place that’s neither work nor home, or an apt description of 36-Across in the series that includes 17-, 24-, and 46-Across : THIRD SPACE

Urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg introduced the concept of “Third Place” (sometimes “Third Space”) in 1989. Having labeled home as the “first place”, and work as the “second place”, he described neutral grounds such as cafes, libraries, and parks as Third Places. His argument was that such locales are essential for civil society because they foster informal interaction and level social status.

60A Melon covering : RIND

Melons are plants with edible, fleshy fruits that are usually sweet. The fruit of a melon is actually a berry.

61A __ bene : NOTA

“Nota bene” is Latin for “note well”, and is abbreviated to “NB”.

62A Wickerwork twig : OSIER

Most willows (trees and shrubs of the genus Salix) are called just that, “willows”. Some of the broad-leaved shrub varieties are called “sallow”, and the narrow-leaved shrubs are called “osier”. Osier is commonly used in basketry, as osier twigs are very flexible. The strong and flexible willow stems are sometimes referred to as withies.

The Wych elm is also known as the Scots elm. It is the most common species of elm found in Europe. The term “wych” comes from the Old English “wice” meaning “pliant, supple”. The word “wice” also gives rise to our word “wicker”.

Down

2D Fond of fine food and drink : EPICUREAN

An epicure is a gourmet, one who appreciates fine food and drink in particular. The term is derived from the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus.

3D Insect with striped wings : TIGER MOTH

Tiger moths are moths in the family Arctiidae with brightly-colored, striped wings that loosely resemble the markings on a tiger, hence the name. The young tiger moth is a very hairy caterpillar known as a woolly bear or a woolly worm.

4D Othello’s betrayer : IAGO

In William Shakespeare’s play “Othello”, Iago utters the words “The Moor already changes with my poison.” Iago is celebrating the fact that Othello’s mind has already become infected with Iago’s devious suggestions.

5D “Weekend Update” show, for short : SNL

“Weekend Update” is the longest-running of any recurring sketch on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). In fact, the segment made its debut on the very first show, back in 1975. The first “anchor” at the “Weekend Update” desk was Chevy Chase.

8D Bathroom, in Bath : LOO

Bath is a beautiful city in South West England of which I have very fond memories. It is an old Roman spa town, and the city’s name comes from the Roman baths that have been excavated and restored.

9D Fluffy pup : POM

The Pomeranian is a small breed of dog named for the Pomerania region of Europe (part of eastern Germany and northern Poland). The breed was much loved by the royalty of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria owned a particularly small Pomeranian. Due to the notoriety of the monarch’s pet, the Pomeranian was bred for small size, so that during the Queen’s admittedly long reign, the size of the average “pom” was reduced by 50% …

18D Latin 101 verb : ERAT

“Esse” is the Latin for “to be”. “Sum” means “I am”, “est” means “he, she is”, and “erat” means “he, she was”.

22D What applesauce may replace in vegan baking : EGG

Applesauce serves as a popular substitute for eggs in vegan baking because it replicates two of the egg’s primary functions: providing moisture and binding. Apples contain pectin, a natural carbohydrate that acts as a binder that holds ingredients together.

23D Tehran tongue : FARSI

Farsi (also known as Persian) is a language spoken by about 62 million people as a first language, and another 50 million or more as a second language. It is the official language of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

25D Frozen treat served with a stroon : ICEE

The plastic “spoon straw” (sometimes “stroon”, a portmaneau) was invented in 1968 specifically to handle the thick consistency of slushy drinks. It started appearing everywhere after 7-Eleven offered it with the Slurpee. A 7-Eleven Slurpee straw is now part of New York’s Museum of Modern Art’s collection.

26D Yuletide : NOEL

Yule celebrations coincide with Christmas, and the words “Christmas” and “Yule” (often “Yuletide”) have become synonymous in much of the world. However, Yule was originally a pagan festival celebrated by Germanic peoples. The name “Yule” comes from the Old Norse word “jol” that was used to describe the festival.

28D Like a calico cat : PIED

Domestic cats with a white coat and patches of brown and black are called calico cats in this country. Back in Ireland, and the rest of the world I think, such cats are called tortoiseshell-and-white. “Calico” is not a breed of cat, but rather a coloring.

37D TV host Jay : LENO

Jay Leno was born James Leno in New Rochelle, New York. Jay’s father was the son of Italian immigrants, and his mother was from Scotland. Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts and actually dropped out of school on the advice of a high school guidance counselor. However, years later he went to Emerson College and earned a Bachelor’s degree in speech therapy. Leno also started a comedy club at Emerson in 1973. Today Jay Leno is a car nut and owns over 300 vehicles of various types. You can check them out on his website: www.jaylenosgarage.com.

44D “The Prophet” author Kahlil : GIBRAN

Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese author who emigrated to the US in 1895 as a young man. Apparently, he is the third-best selling poet of all time, after William Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu. Gibran owes his place in that ranking almost exclusively due to sales of “The Prophet”, a collection of twenty-six prose poems that was published in 1923.

46D Colorful aquarium fish : TETRA

The neon tetra is a freshwater fish that is native to parts of South America. The tetra is a very popular aquarium fish and millions are imported into the US every year. Almost all of the imported tetras are farm-raised in Asia and very few come from their native continent.

49D Piano student’s assignment : ETUDE

An étude is a short instrumental composition that is usually quite hard to play and is intended to help the performer master a particular technique. “Étude” is the French word for “study”. Études are commonly performed on the piano.

50D Creole-speaking nation : HAITI

“Creole” is the term used in Haiti to describe all of the native people, as well as the music, food and culture of the country. 80% of the Haitian Creole people are so-called black creoles, descendants of the original Africans brought to the island as slaves during the French colonial days.

54D __ facto : IPSO

“Ipso facto” is Latin, a phrase meaning “by the fact itself”. It describes something that is a direct consequence of a particular act, as opposed to something that is the result of some subsequent event. For example, my father was born in Dublin and was an Irish citizen, ipso facto. My son was born in California and is an Irish citizen by virtue of being the son of an Irish citizen (i.e. “not” ipso facto).