LA Times Crossword 7 Mar 26, Saturday

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Constructed by: John Guzzetta

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 10m 07s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Diplomatic terms? : CODE WORDS

I guess the idea is that diplomats might use code words in communications, to avoid divulging secrets?

10A Lugosi of “Dracula” : BELA

Bela Lugosi was a Hungarian stage and screen actor who was perhaps best known for playing the title role in the 1931 film “Dracula” and for playing the same role on Broadway. Lugosi found himself typecast for the rest of his career and almost always played the role of the villain, often in horror movies. When he passed away in 1956, his wife had him buried in the costume he wore playing Count Dracula on Broadway.

The 1931 horror film “Dracula” is based on the 1924 stage play that was adapted from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. The film was originally meant to star Lon Chaney in the title role, but he passed away suddenly before filming started. Bela Lugosi eventually landed the part. Lugosi had garnered excellent reviews for his portrayal of Dracula in the stage play.

14A Health insurance marketplace legislation, familiarly : OBAMACARE

The correct name for what has been dubbed “Obamacare” is the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ACA).

16A Tea with a shot of espresso : DIRTY CHAI

Adding a single shot of espresso to a spiced masala chai latte creates a “dirty” chai. Adding a second shot of espresso turns it into a “filthy” chai.

21A Navigational hazard : SHOAL

A shoal is an underwater ridge or bank that is covered with a material such as sand or silt.

25A “Show Boat” pair : ACTS

“Show Boat” is a 1926 novel by Edna Ferber that tells the story of performers on a floating theater, a riverboat named Cotton Blossom. The novel was famously adapted into a stage musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein that premiered in 1927. “Show Boat”, the musical, gave us classic songs such as “Ol’ Man River” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”.

29A Stopper : CORK

Cork, as in the material used to make wine stoppers, comes from the bark of cork oak trees. The bark of a cork oak is very thick and rugged and can be harvested every 7-10 years, without harming the trees.

31A Squiggly diacritic : TILDE

The tilde diacritical mark (~) is very much associated with the Spanish language. We use the name “tilde” in English, taking that name from Spanish. Confusingly, the word “tilde” in Spanish is used more generally to mean “accent mark, diacritic”, of which a “~” is just one. What we call a “tilde” in English is usually referred to as a “virgulilla” or “tilde de la eñe” in Spanish.

34A Spectrum maker : PRISM

When light passes through a prism, it splits up (disperses) into differing wavelengths. It then becomes clear that white light is actually a mixture of different colors, which show up as a beautiful spectrum.

35A “Give Peace a Chance” collaborator : ONO

John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a very public honeymoon in a hotel in Amsterdam and then Montreal, when they staged their famous “bed-in” for peace. In answering questions from reporters Lennon found himself often repeating the words “give peace a chance”. While still in bed, he composed his famous song “Give Peace a Chance” and even made the original recording of the song in the Montreal hotel room, with reporters present, and with a whole bunch of friends. The song was released later in 1969 and became a smash hit. Writing credit was initially given to Lennon-McCartney, as was the agreement between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Later versions of the song were credited just to Lennon, even though Lennon stated that Yoko Ono actually wrote the song with him.

36A Sam who created the “Evil Dead” franchise : RAIMI

Sam Raimi is a very successful director and producer. He was behind the “Spider-Man” series of films among others, and TV shows such as “Xena: Warrior Princess”. In 1993, Raimi married Gillian Greene, the youngest daughter of actor Lorne Greene of “Bonanza” fame. Raimi and Greene named their eldest son Lorne, after his grandfather.

“The Evil Dead” is a horror movie franchise that includes video games and comic books, all derived from a series of three films: “The Evil Dead” (1981), “Evil Dead II” (1987) and “Army of Darkness” (1992). I don’t “do” horror, so I can’t tell you anything about them …

38A Actress Gadot : GAL

Before becoming a Hollywood star, Gal Gadot served two years of mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a combat fitness instructor. She has shared that her military training helped prepare her for the physical demands of her action roles. Gadot also won the Miss Israel pageant in 2004 and represented her country in the Miss Universe competition that same year.

41A Boggle pieces : DICE

Boggle is a word game in which one uses 16 lettered dice in a 4×4 tray to find words. There was even a “Boggle” game show that ran on the Family Channel for a few months in 1994.

46A Setting for Ernie’s “Rubber Duckie” song : BATHTUB

“Rubber Duckie” is a song performed by the muppet Ernie on “Sesame Street”. Rubber Duckie is also Ernie’s favorite toy, his rubber duck. The song was released as a single in 1970 and actually made it into the charts.

51A Metric prefix : CENTI-

In the International System of Units (SI), the prefix “centi-” denotes a factor of one hundredth. Conversely, the prefix “hecto-” denotes a factor of one hundred.

54A Big D pro : MAV

The Mavericks (also “Mavs”) are an NBA franchise in Dallas, Texas. The team was founded in 1980, and the Mavericks name was chosen by fan votes. The choice of “Mavericks” was prompted by the fact that the actor James Garner was a part-owner of the team, and Garner of course played the title role in the “Maverick” television series.

56A “Little Miss Sunshine” Oscar winner : ARKIN

Actor Alan Arkin won his only Oscar (Best Supporting Actor) for his role in “Little Miss Sunshine” from 2006 (a movie that I just did not understand!). More recently, Arkin appeared alongside Michael Douglas in the TV show “The Kominsky Method”. Arkin plays the character Norman Newlander. Arkin chose the name “Newlander” in honor of his wife Suzanne Newlander.

“Little Miss Sunshine” is a much-respected 2006 comedy film about a family’s road trip in a VW bus. I tried watching this one a couple of times and just couldn’t take it at all despite a great cast that includes Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Alan Arkin.

61A Thornfield governess : EYRE

Thornfield Hall is the home of Mr. Rochester, and where much of the action takes place in Charlotte Brontë’s novel “Jane Eyre”. Ultimately, Thornfield is destroyed by fire, a fire in which Mr. Rochester loses a hand and his eyesight. At the end of the story, Rochester and Jane get married and live together in an old house in the woods called Ferndean Manor.

Down

1D Yellowstone National Park gateway city : CODY

The city of Cody, Wyoming takes its name from one of the city’s founders Colonel William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill.

3D Sith title : DARTH

The Sith are characters in the “Star Wars” universe who use the “dark side” of “the Force”, and as such are the antithesis of the Jedi Knights. Members of the Sith use the title “Darth” before their name, as in “Darth Vader”. The sixth “Star Wars” movie is titled “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”.

4D Expert who wears a Star of Life emblem: Abbr. : EMT

The Star of Life is a symbol used in many regions of the world to identify emergency medical services. The emblem was designed in 1963 by the American Medical Association (AMA), and modified in 1973. It now comprises a blue, six-pointed star with a Rod of Asclepius in the middle. The six branches of the star are used to represent the six principal tasks executed by rescuers in an emergency:

1. Detection
2. Reporting
3. Response
4. On-scene care
5. Care in transit
6. Transfer to definitive care

5D Internet Archive initiative : WAYBACK MACHINE

The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web launched in 2001 by the nonprofit digital library called Internet Archive. Its name is a homage to the WABAC Machine, the time-traveling device used by the genius beagle Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman in the 1960s cartoon “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show”.

6D Section in some alternative bookstores : OCCULT

The adjective “occult” means “secret, beyond the realm of human comprehension”. The term derives from the Latin “occultus” meaning “hidden, concealed”.

7D Spanish golfer Jon : RAHM

Jon Rahm is a professional golfer from Spain who has been consistently ranked among the top players in the world. In 2021, Rahm tested positive for COVID-19 while leading the Memorial Tournament by six strokes after the third round. He was forced to withdraw from the tournament, but later returned to win the U.S. Open just two weeks later.

10D Minor parish official : BEADLE

At one time, a “beadle” was a parish constable in the Anglican Church in England. One of the most famous beadles, albeit a fictional character, is Mr. Bumble from the novel “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens. Mr. Bumble oversees the parish workhouse in which Oliver resides.

28D Half of dodici : SEI

In Italian, half of “dodici” (twelve) is “sei” (six).

29D Common juice blend fruit : CRANBERRY

When early European settlers came across red berries growing in the bogs of the northern part of America, they felt that the plant’s flower and stem resembled the head and bill of a crane. As such, they called the plant “craneberry”, which evolved into “cranberry”.

30D Shell ship by the seashore : OIL TANKER

The company previously known as Royal Dutch Shell was formed in 1907 when the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and the UK’s Shell Transport and Trading Company merged to compete with John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. Although it was headquartered in the Hague for over a century, the company restructured in 2022, officially becoming Shell plc and moving its headquarters to London, England. Its major US-based subsidiary is headquartered in Houston, and is known as Shell USA, Inc.

34D Tour gp. : PGA

The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) was founded in 1916 and today has its headquarters (unsurprisingly) in Florida, where so many golfers live. Back in 1916, the PGA was based in New York City.

37D “__ No Sunshine”: Bill Withers hit : AIN’T

1971’s “Ain’t No Sunshine” was the breakout hit for Bill Withers, who was famously still working as an assembly technician when the song was recorded. Withers was cautious about his music career and so refused to quit his job installing toilets on airplanes until he received a gold record in the mail. The song includes a celebrated repetition of the phrase “I know” 26 times, and was originally a placeholder until Withers could write more lyrics. Producer Booker T. Jones insisted the rhythmic mantra remain. Good advice …

47D Intrepid : BRAVE

The adjective “intrepid” describes someone who is fearless, with resolute fortitude. The term comes from the Latin “in-” meaning “not” and “trepidus” meaning “alarmed”.

50D Armistead Maupin’s “__ of the City” : TALES

“Tales of the City” is a series of novels by Armistead Maupin. The first four books originated as a series in the “San Francisco Chronicle”, starting in 1976, and the fifth was a series in the “San Francisco Examiner”. The storyline focuses on a group of friends in the city, many of whom identify as LGBTQ+. The stories spawned TV adaptions, radio adaptions, and even a musical adaptation.

51D Garçon’s employer : CAFE

The term “garçon” is still sometimes used in French to describe a waiter, as it is an abbreviated form of the more complete “garçon de café” (meaning “café boy”). My sense is that older Francophones might still use the term, but it has fallen out of favor for obvious reasons. It is considered extremely rude to attempt to attract the attention of a male waiter by shouting out “Garçon!” A polite “S’il vous plait, monsieur!” is much more appropriate.

58D Whitman who voices Tinker Bell : MAE

Actress Mae Whitman played “the daughter” in some successful movies early in her career. She was Meg Ryan’s daughter in “When a Man Loves a Woman”, George Clooney’s daughter in “One Fine Day” and Bill Pullman’s daughter in “Independence Day”. More recently, she voiced the title character in Disney’s “Tinker Bell” series of animated films.