LA Times Crossword 24 Jan 26, Saturday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Rafael Musa & Geoffrey Schorkopf

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 9m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Emerge from the ashes, say : RISE AGAIN

A phoenix is a fabulous bird of Greek mythology, which can also be found in the mythologies of Persia, Egypt and China. The phoenix is a fire spirit, which lives from 500 to 1000 years. At the end of its lifespan, it builds a nest for itself (a pyre) and self-ignites, burning itself and the nest, creating a pile of ashes. A young phoenix arises from the ashes and the cycle starts all over again.

15A Mammal with a protective shell : ARMADILLO

The nine-banded armadillo is the most common species of armadillo found in the Americas. The “bands” are bits of armor that circle the body of the armadillo. The term “nine-banded” is a bit of a misnomer as there aren’t always nine bands, but there are usually seven to eleven.

16A Letizia, por ejemplo : REINA

Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano became Queen of Spain in 2014, when her husband ascended to the throne as King Felipe VI. Before entering royal life, she had a successful career as a journalist and TV news anchor, and reported from the front lines of the war in Iraq and from Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks.

17A Drafty places? : BEER HALLS
18A 17-Across option : LAGER

Lager is so called because of the tradition of cold-storing the beer during fermentation. “Lager” is the German word for “storage”.

19A “Winners Take All” author Giridharadas : ANAND

Anand Giridharadas is a journalist, author and political pundit. He turns up most often on MSNBC, as far as I can tell …

20A Wife of Osiris : ISIS

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld. He was the son of Geb the Earth god, and Nut the sky goddess. His wife Isis was also his sister. Osiris was killed and mutilated by Set, his own brother. Isis reassembled Osiris and revived him, just long enough that they could conceive their son Horus.

23A Sea dogs : TARS

A jack tar, or just “tar”, was a seaman in the service of the British Empire. The term probably arose due to a sailor’s various uses of tar back then, including waterproofing his clothes and using tar in his hair to slick down his ponytail.

24A Caterpillar counterparts : DEERES

John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”. The Deere company that John founded uses the slogan “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”, and has a leaping deer as its logo.

Back in the early 1900s, Benjamin Holt invented a steam tractor that was able to move over soggy land. The new vehicle crawled over the ground using wheels that drove tracks. Someone apparently noted that the tractor moved along like a caterpillar, and so the enterprise that was to be known as the Caterpillar Tractor Company was born.

29A End one’s Dry January, say : IMBIBE

Dry January is a public health campaign that encourages people to abstain from alcohol for the entire month of January. The campaign started on the other side of the pond, and “Dry January” is a registered trademark with the group Alcohol Change UK.

37A Danish fruit : PRUNE

A prune is a dried plum. The name “prune” comes from the Latin “prunum”, the word for “plum”.

The Danish pastry that we know so well over here in the US is indeed a Danish specialty, although the recipe was brought to Denmark by Austrian bakers. A “Danish” is called “Viennese bread” in Denmark.

38A They may trick or treat? : PLACEBOS

A placebo is a medical treatment that is ineffective, but that is deliberately formulated to deceive the patient into thinking it is real. Placebos can be given as control treatments in trials, and so the level of deception can be relatively low, as the patients are aware of the possibility of being given an ineffective treatment. The term “placebo” is the Latin word for “I shall please”. The idea is that the treatment is given more to please than to benefit the patient.

40A Excel at another company? : SHEETS

Google Sheets is the spreadsheet that is included in the “office” suite that comes free with Google Drive. I’m a big fan …

41A Guitar legend Paul : LES

Les Paul was a guitarist, songwriter and inventor. When he was 33 years old, Paul was involved in a near-fatal car crash that left his right arm and elbow shattered. Surgeons offered him the choice of amputation or a rebuilding of the limb that would leave him unable to bend his elbow. He told them to set his arm at just under 90 degrees so that he could at least hold his guitar and perhaps play it.

42A Tangy ramen toppers : SOY EGGS

Soy eggs are featured in several Asian cuisines. They are prepared by boiling and peeling the eggs, and then further cooking them in soy sauce mixed with sugar, water and various herbs and spices.

46A The “A” of NATO : ALFA

The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

52A First U.S. president to own a car : TAFT

William Howard Taft may have been the 27th President of the United States, but his lifelong ambition was to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The future president had served as dean and professor at the Cincinnati Law School. President Taft was able to realize that dream in 1921, eight years after losing his bid for re-election as president. As Chief Justice, this former US President swore in two new presidents: Calvin Coolidge (in 1925) and Herbert Hoover (in 1929). William Howard Taft is also remembered as the most obese president. In the last year of his presidency, he weighed about 340 pounds (he was 5 feet 11 inches tall). Twelve months after leaving the White House, President Taft had dropped 80 pounds and substantially lowered his blood pressure.

54A Like a flue : SOOTY

The flue in a chimney is a duct that conveys exhaust gases from a fire to the outdoors. An important feature of a flue is that its opening is adjustable. When starting a fire, the flue should be wide open, maximizing airflow to get help ignition.

Down

1D North African capital : RABAT

Rabat is the capital city of the Kingdom of Morocco. After WWII, the United States maintained a major Air Force Base in Rabat, part of Strategic Air Command (SAC). Responding to pressure from the Moroccan government of King Mohammed V, the USAF pulled out in 1963.

2D Polish humanitarian Sendler : IRENA

Irena Sendler was a Polish nurse who worked with the Polish Underground during WWII. She played a leading role in smuggling about 2,500 children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, saving them from the Holocaust. Sendler was discovered by the Nazis, tortured and sentenced to death. However, Sendler managed to escape, and survived the war.

5D Med. condition treated with Vyvanse : ADHD

Vyvanse is a brand name for the drug lisdexamfetamine, which is used to treat ADHD as well as binge-eating disorders. It is taken orally, and is a prodrug, meaning that it is inactive until it is metabolized in the body.

6D “The Last Showgirl” director Coppola : GIA

Gia Coppola is the latest director from a celebrated filmmaking dynasty, following in the footsteps of her grandfather Francis Ford Coppola and her aunt Sofia Coppola. Her father was Gian-Carlo Coppola, whom sadly, she never met. He died in a tragic boating accident while her mother was still pregnant with her.

14D Mario Bros. transports : WARP PIPES

Mario Bros. started out as an arcade game back in 1983, developed by Nintendo. The more famous of the two brothers, Mario, had already appeared in an earlier arcade game “Donkey Kong”. Mario was given a brother called Luigi, and the pair have been around ever since. In the game, Mario and Luigi are Italian American plumbers from New York City.

21D Ward in movies : SELA

Sela Ward is an Emmy-winning actress in shows like “Sisters” and “House”, Famously, in 1995, she was considered for the role of a Bond girl in “GoldenEye” but was reportedly told by the casting director, “What we really want is Sela, but Sela ten years ago”. Ironically, Pierce Brosnan, the new Bond, was older than Ward at the time. It’s a very sad business, in a very sad world …

24D Beats by __ : DRE

Beats by Dre is a brand of audio products made by Beats Electronics, a company that was co-founded by rapper Dr. Dre. Apple bought Beats for $3 billion in 2014, the largest acquisition by far in the company’s history.

25D Spirits of the air : SYLPHS

A sylph (also “sylphid”) is a mythological creature, an invisible and wispy being of the air. We also use the term “sylph” to describe a slender and graceful woman.

31D Competitive athletic state, colloquially : BEAST MODE

“To go beast mode” means “to unleash your inner beast”. It’s about tapping into a primal, aggressive energy to achieve a goal, usually in a competitive or challenging situation. The phrase is often used in sports and fitness, but it can apply to any situation where someone is giving it their all and dominating.

36D Focus of the 2024 miniseries “Dirty Pop” : BOY BANDS

The 2024 miniseries “Dirty Pop” investigates Lou Pearlman, the music manager who launched the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. Pearlman treated his groups less like artists and more like sodas, and famously viewed the Backstreet Boys as “Coke”, created *NSYNC specifically to be “Pepsi” so he could dominate the entire market himself. Before getting into pop music, Pearlman ran a blimp leasing company where the airships had a suspicious habit of crashing, possibly an early insurance scam to fund his empire. In the end, it was a massive Ponzi scheme that brought him down. He was convicted of conspiracy, money laundering, and making false statements during bankruptcy proceedings, receiving a 25-year sentence in 2008. He died in jail in 2016 following a heart infection.

47D Boxer Ali : LAILA

Laila Ali is the daughter of the great Muhammad Ali and is a very capable boxer in her own right. Laila’s professional record is an impressive 24 wins, including 21 knockouts. Now retired, she never lost a fight, and nor did she ever draw. One of those victories was against Jackie Frazier-Lyde, daughter of her father’s nemesis Joe Frazier. Laila is not a bad dancer either, coming in third place in the fourth season of “Dancing with the Stars”.

51D Academic acronym : STEM

The acronym “STEM” stands for the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. An alternative acronym with a similar meaning is MINT, standing for mathematics, information sciences, natural sciences and technology.

53D Toner target : PORE

A skin toner is a cosmetic used to cleanse the skin and to shrink pores.

57D Estádio do Maracanã cheer : OLE!

Maracanã Stadium is a soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro that opened in 1950, when it acted as host for that year’s FIFA World Cup. The facility was partially rebuilt in time for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It was also used during the 2016 Summer Olympics, most notably for the opening and closing ceremonies.