LA Times Crossword 20 Mar 26, Friday

Advertisement

Constructed by: John Liber

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: No Pain, No Gain

Themed clues need to have “PAIN” or “GAIN” removed, have NO PAIN and NO GAIN:

• 59A Fitness mantra, and a hint to making the starred clues match their answers : NO PAIN, NO GAIN

• 19A *One who’s overly concerned with control : MICROMANAGER
• 24A *Ground, to a general : BATTLEFIELD
• 39A *Capital recordkeeper : NATIONAL ARCHIVES
• 51A *Highly effective relievers : BULLPEN ACES

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

Bill’s time: 11m 12s!

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4A Dominated, in gaming : PWNED

“To pwn” is online gamer-speak for “to own, defeat easily”. It’s likely that “pwn” evolved from “own” as it is a common typo caused by the close proximity of the o- and p-keys on a computer keyboard. “Pwn” is pronounced like “pone”.

14A Copier tray abbr. : LTR

Our paper sizes here in North America don’t conform with the standards in the rest of the world. ISO standard sizes used elsewhere were chosen so that the ratio of width to length is usually one to the square root of two. This mathematical relationship means that when you cut a piece of paper in two each half preserves the aspect ratio of the original, which can be useful in making reduced or enlarged copies of documents. Our standard size of “letter” (ltr., 8.5 x 11 inches) was determined in 1981 by the Reagan administration to be the official paper size for the US government. Prior to this, the “government letter” size (8 x 10.5 inches) had been the standard since 1921.

18A Forever stamp letters : USA

The Forever stamp for first-class postage was introduced by the USPS in 2006 (and about time!). Now we have stamps that are good for first-class postage forever, no matter how often the rates change.

21A Cheesemaking need : RENNET

Rennet is an enzyme complex that is produced in the stomach of mammals. Rennet is used by young mammals like calves and lambs to digest a mother’s milk. It is also used to coagulate milk in cheese production.

23A Jerry Rice, notably : NINER

Retired footballer Jerry Rice scored a record 208 touchdowns in his career. Rice also won three Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers; in Super Bowl XXIII vs the Bengals, Super Bowl XXIV vs the Broncos and Super Bowl XXIX vs the Chargers.

37A Help in making things go smoothly for furniture movers : CASTERS

Small wheels on swivels that are attached to the bottom of furniture and machines, to facilitate moving, are called “casters”. The name comes from the old sense of the verb “to cast”, when it meant “to turn”.

39A *Capital recordkeeper : NATIONAL ARCHIVES

The National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. is the headquarters of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The building in the nation’s capital is known as Archives I, and isn’t NARA’s largest facility. That honor goes to Archives II, the National Archives at College Park, in College Park, Maryland.

43A Grungy clothing? : FLANNEL

Grunge fashion originated in the eighties in Seattle, along with the grunge music genre. The fashion style is associated with a “thrift-store look” and involves a lot of plaid.

44A Country music’s __ Brown Band : ZAC

The Zac Brown Band is a country music group from Atlanta, Georgia that formed in 2002.

47A Unfair accusation : BUM RAP

A rap sheet is a criminal record. “Rap” is a slang term dating back to the 1700s that means “blame, responsibility” as in “to take the rap”, “bad rap” and “to beat the rap”. This usage morphed into “rap sheet” in the early 1900s.

56A Sphinx location : CAIRO

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a huge limestone statue of a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human. It is the largest monolithic statue in the world. Famously, the Great Sphinx is missing its nose and beard.

58A Australian currency : DOLLAR

The Australian dollar went into circulation on “Decimal Day”, Valentine’s Day in 1966, replacing the Australian pound. In 1988, Australia issued the world’s first polymer banknotes, a revolutionary plastic technology designed to survive a spin in the washing machine and resist complex counterfeiting.

67A Coca-Cola HQ : ATL

The first cola drink to become a commercial success was Coca-Cola, soon after it was invented by a druggist in 1886. The first sales were in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, where a glass of the new beverage sold for five cents. That original Coca-Cola was flavored mainly with kola nuts and vanilla. The formulation was based on an alcoholic drink called Coca Wine that had been on sale for over twenty years.

69A Charley horse, e.g. : SPASM
37D Charley horse, e.g. : CRAMP

“Charley horse” is a very American phrase describing painful muscle spasms in the legs. The term possibly arose in the late 19th century, and may be named for baseball pitcher Charlie “Old Hoss” Radbourn who apparently suffered a lot from leg cramps.

Down

1D Message on a jacket : BLURB

The use of the word “blurb”, to describe a publicity notice on a book jacket, dates back to 1907 when it was used by American humorist Gelett Burgess. Burgess used a picture of a fictitious young woman named Miss Belinda Blurb on the dust jacket of a limited run of his 1906 book “Are You a Bromide?” That jacket proclaimed “YES, this is a ‘BLURB’!” The term persists to this day, without the young damsel.

3D 50s president? : GRANT

President Ulysses S. Grant appears on the obverse of the US fifty-dollar bill. There have been two unsuccessful attempts in recent years in Congress to have President Grant’s image replaced with that of President Ronald Reagan.

4D Big citrus : POMELO

A pomelo is a very large, pear-shaped citrus fruit that is native to Southeast Asia.

5D Riesling, for one : WHITE WINE

The riesling grape variety originated in the Rhine region of Germany, and is used to make wines that are often described as fruity and aromatic. The wine generally has a high level of acidity which makes it ideal for aging, with some examples being proclaimed as excellent at over a hundred-years-old.

6D Foreign policy gp. : NSC

The National Security Council (NSC) was created by President Harry S. Truman in 1947. It is chaired by the sitting president and meets in the White House Situation Room.

7D Port. locale : EUR

The continent of Europe was named for Europa, a Phoenician princess of Greek mythology.

10D Italian macaroons made with almonds : AMARETTI

A macaron is a meringue-based cookie associated with French cuisine, although the original confection hailed from Italy (amaretti). Macarons are often confused with macaroons, small cookies made from ground almonds, and often coconut.

11D SCOTUS justice who said, “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time” : RBG

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) served on the US Supreme Court. Justice Ginsburg was the second woman to join the Court, and was nominated by President Bill Clinton. She was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999 and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. During that time she did not miss one day on the bench. In 2009 Justice Ginsburg had surgery for pancreatic cancer, and was back to work 12 days later. She had left-lung lobectomy to remove cancerous nodules in 2018, which forced Justice Ginsburg to miss oral argument in January 2019, for the first time since joining the court 25 years earlier. She finally succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2020. Much of Ginsburg’s life is recounted in the excellent 2018 movie “On the Basis of Sex”.

12D Grand opening? : GEE

The opening letter of the word “grand” is a letter G (gee).

16D Russian pianist Gilels : EMIL

Emil Gilels was a pianist from the Soviet Union who was born in Odessa (now part of Ukraine). Gilels was one of the first musicians allowed to perform concerts outside of the Eastern Bloc. His debut appearance in Philadelphia with Eugene Ormandy was a resounding success.

26D Pastoral poem : IDYL

An idyll (also “idyl”) is a short poem with a pastoral theme, usually depicting the scene in romantic and idealized terms. The word “idyl” comes from the Greek “eidyllion”, which literally translates to “little picture” but was a word describing a short poem with a rustic theme.

28D Roman district with a famous fountain : TREVI

The Trevi Fountain (“Fontana di Trevi”) is a huge fountain in Rome, one that is the largest constructed in the Baroque style. The name “Trevi” is a perfect fit, as it derives from the Italian words “tre vie”, which translate literally to “three streets”. The fountain was built at the junction of three roads, marking the terminal point of the Acqua Vergine, one of the ancient Roman aqueducts that supplied water to the city.

30D Wonder Woman weapon : LASSO

Superhero Wonder Woman first appeared in print in 1941, in a publication from DC Comics. As she was created during WWII, Wonder Woman’s first foes were the axis powers. In the less realistic world her biggest foe was and still is Ares, a “baddie” named after the Greek mythological figure. Wonder Woman had several signature expressions, including “Merciful Minerva!”, “Suffering Sappho!” and “Great Hera!”. She also has several devices that she uses in her quest for justice, e.g. the Lasso of Truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets and a tiara that can be used as a deadly projectile. Wonder Woman uses the name “Diana Prince” when “out of uniform”.

34D “The Little Mermaid” star Bailey : HALLE

Singer and actress Halle Bailey started her singing career as a young girl on a YouTube channel with her sister, performing cover songs as “Chloe x Halle”. In 2019, Halle was given her first lead role as an actress, playing Ariel in the 2023 live-action remake of 1989’s “The Little Mermaid”.

40D Brickyard racers, casually : INDY CARS

When the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was first constructed in 1909, its surface was a mix of gravel, limestone, taroid (tar and oil), and crushed stone. This original surface proved problematic during early races, developing ruts and chuckholes that even contributed to fatal accidents. After a particularly dangerous race day, the AAA (American Automobile Association) threatened to boycott future events unless significant improvements were made. In response, the owners of the facility decided to pave the track with bricks. Five Indiana manufacturers supplied 3.2 million 10-pound bricks, which were hand-laid over a cushion of sand and mortared together. It was during this extensive repaving project that locals began to nickname the track “The Brickyard”. Today, only three feet of the original bricks remain exposed at the start-finish line.

42D Blue, in Peru : AZUL

The nation of Peru is remarkable in many ways, both in terms of history and geography. For example, it is home to one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World”, i.e. the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. It is also home to the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in the world, deeper than the Grand Canyon. Most importantly (to me), it was from Peru that the Spanish brought the potato to the rest of the world …

48D Banksy, for one : ANONYM

An anonym is a person whose name is not given, one who retains “anonymity”. The term “anonym” is also an alternative for “pseudonym, alias”.

Banksy is an English graffiti artist who is noted for his contempt of the British government for condemning his work as vandalism. Banksy’s work can fetch a pretty penny at auction. No one seems to know for sure who Banksy actually is …

54D “Pale Blue Dot” subject : EARTH

The famous “Pale Blue Dot” photograph was taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft from almost 4 billion miles from the Earth. In the photo, our planet appears as a tiny “pale blue dot”. NASA had Voyager 1 take the photograph, at the request of Carl Sagan.

55D “4 real?” : SRSLY?

“Srsly?” is text-speak for “seriously?”

57D Hill staffer : AIDE

The designer of Washington D.C., Pierre L’Enfant, chose the crest of a hill as the site for the future Congress House. He called the location “Jenkins Hill” and “Jenkins Heights”. Earlier records show the name as “New Troy”. Today, we call it “Capitol Hill”.

61D “The Cask of Amontillado” writer : POE

“The Cask of Amontillado” is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe that was published in 1846. The story tells of a vengeful man who lures his enemy into the catacombs, locks him in chains and then traps him in a niche by sealing it with a brick wall. Nice man …

62D Lacuna : GAP

A lacuna is a missing piece of text (or music) in a larger work. Usually the text has been lost due to damage of an older manuscript. Lacunae can be very controversial as experts vie with each other to suggest what words have been lost.

63D Legendary coach Parseghian : ARA

Ara Parseghian coached the Notre Dame football team from 1964 to 1974, a period known alliteratively as “The Era of Ara”.