LA Times Crossword 14 May 26, Thursday

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Constructed by: Sam Brody

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Woodcut

Common types of WOOD are CUT into pieces and distributed across the black squares of four rows of the grid:

• Row 2: ETHIC/KOR/YANNI (giving HICKORY)
• Row 5: MOMA/HOG/ANYA (giving MAHOGANY)
• Row 11: AC-DC/HER/RYES (giving CHERRY)
• Row 14: DUTCH/EST/NUTRI (giving CHESTNUT)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6A Thurman of “Pretty Lethal” : UMA

Uma Thurman started her working career as a fashion model, at the age of 15. She appeared in her first movies at 17, with her most acclaimed early role being Cécile de Volanges in 1988’s “Dangerous Liaisons”. Thurman’s career really took off when she played the gangster’s moll Mia in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” in 1994. My favorite of all Thurman’s movies is “The Truth About Cats & Dogs”, a less acclaimed romcom released in 1996.

“Pretty Lethal” is a 2025 action film that pitches a ballet troupe against Hungarian gangsters. The big name in the cast is Uma Thurman, playing a retired prima ballerina turned innkeeper. I gotta see this one …

14A “M*A*S*H” setting, for short : KOR

“M*A*S*H” has only three stars (three asterisks, that is). These asterisks first appeared on the poster for the 1970 movie, but they were omitted in the opening titles. The TV series went on to use the asterisks from the poster.

15A “Butterfly Dance” artist : YANNI

Yanni is a remarkable Greek musician who is very successful in the world of New Age music. What I find so remarkable is that he is a self-taught musician. He was born Yiannis Chryssomallis in Kalamata, Greece and moved to the US in 1972 to attend the University of Minnesota.

19A College where Robert Frost taught English : AMHERST

The wonderful poet Robert Frost was a native of San Francisco, but lived most of life in New England. He also spent a few years in England, just before WWI. Frost was well recognized for his work during his lifetime, and received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He was also Vermont’s first Poet Laureate, a position that he held from 1961 until his death in 1963.

Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts is a private liberal arts school that opened its doors in 1821. It was established by local citizens in an attempt to “relocate” the nearby Williams College, looking to form a more accessible institution. President Calvin Coolidge was an alumnus of Amherst, and poet Robert Frost was a long-time faculty member.

22A NYC home of Matisse’s “Landscape at Collioure” : MOMA

“Landscape at Collioure” is a 1905 oil on canvas painting by Henri Matisse. It is one of the works that led to the artist being considered one of “les Fauves” (French for “the wild beasts”), a group of painters who used bold, vibrant, and unnatural colors along with energetic brushwork to express emotions. Collioure is a small town in the very south of France, on the Mediterranean coast. Today, “Landscape at Collioure” is part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

25A Taylor-Joy of “The Northman” : ANYA

Actress Anya Taylor-Joy had quite the international upbringing. She was born in Miami, and raised in Buenos Aires and then London. She is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the 2020 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma”, and the lead role in the Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit”.

“The Northman” is a 2022 historical action movie about the legend of Amleth from Norse mythology. Amleth was a Viking prince, and is played by Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård. This one was filmed in Ireland and Iceland.

34A “Downton Abbey” cook : DAISY

In the TV show “Downton Abbey”, Daisy Mason (her married name) is a scullery maid who works her way up to assistant cook. She is played by actress Sophie McShera. Daisy holds the distinction of being the very first character seen and heard in the Downton Abbey pilot, appearing at 6:00 AM to begin the soot-heavy duties of a scullery maid.

38A Here, in Honduras : ACA

Honduras is a country in Central America that used to be known as Spanish Honduras, in order to differentiate it from British Honduras, which is now called Belize. “Honduras” is the Spanish word for “the depths”, which is probably a reference to deep coastal waters.

39A Artistic printing method, and a feature of rows 2, 5, 11, and 14 in this puzzle : WOODCUT

Woodcut is the world’s oldest printing method, dating back to 9th-century China. It was used to produce the earliest dated printed book in history, Buddhism’s “Diamond Sutra”. Woodcut is a relief process that requires the artist to carve away the “white space” from a wooden block, leaving only the raised design to receive the ink.

41A Mod About You polish maker : OPI

Opi (originally “Odontorium Products Inc.”) is a manufacturer of nail polish based in North Hollywood, California. One of Opi’s marketing coups was the introduction of a line of Legally Blonde 2 polishes, which featured in the film. Opi also launched a collection of nail lacquers inspired by the hit Broadway musical “Wicked” in celebration of its 10th anniversary on Broadway.

42A Mexican sandwich : TORTA

“Torta” is the Italian and Spanish word for “cake”. It can also mean “sandwich” in Mexican Spanish.

50A Electrically adaptable : AC/DC

Anyone with a laptop with an external power supply has an AC/DC converter, that big “block” in the power cord. It converts the AC current from a wall socket into the DC current that is used by the laptop.

55A Sazerac options : RYES

The classic New Orleans cocktail known as a Sazerac is a mixture of rye, absinthe, bitters and sugar. The use of rye is a little incongruous, given that the cocktail is named for the Sazerac de Forge et Fils brand of Cognac that was originally the base spirit.

58A Abu Dhabi, e.g. : EMIRATE

Abu Dhabi is one of the seven Emirates that make up the federation known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two largest members of the UAE (geographically) are Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the only two of the seven members that have veto power over UAE policy. Before 1971, the UAE was a British Protectorate, a collection of sheikdoms. The sheikdoms entered into a maritime truce with Britain in 1835, after which they became known as the Trucial States, derived from the word “truce”.

61A Expanse crossed by Odysseus : IONIAN SEA

The Ionian Sea is that part of the Mediterranean lying between Greece and the southern part of Italy (under the sole of the “boot”). It is one of the most seismically active regions on the planet.

“Odysseus”, the hero of Greek mythology, is also known by his Latin name “Ulysses”.

65A Like van Gogh and Vermeer : DUTCH

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who seems to have had a very tortured existence. Van Gogh only painted for the last ten years of his life, and enjoyed very little celebrity while alive. Today many of his works are easily recognized, and fetch staggering sums in auction houses. Van Gogh suffered from severe depression for many of his final years. When he was only 37, he walked into a field with a revolver and shot himself in the chest. He managed to drag himself back to the inn where he was staying but died there two days later.

Johannes (also “Jan”) Vermeer was born in the city of Delft in 1632, and died there some 43 years later. The name “Vermeer” is a contraction of “van der meer”, which translates as “from the sea/lake”. I just love Vermeer’s paintings, and his wonderful use of light. A great example of such a work is his “Girl with a Pearl Earring”. If you haven’t seen it, I thoroughly recommend the 2003 movie “Girl with a Pearl Earring” starring Scarlett Johansson as the girl in the painting, and Colin Firth as Vermeer. The movie is based on a novel of the same name by Tracy Chevalier, so it’s all just a great story as opposed to a documentary. The way the movie is shot really reflects the qualities of a Vermeer work of art.

67A __-Grain : NUTRI

The Nutri-Grain brand of breakfast foods is made by Kellogg. The brand was actually introduced first in Australia, in 1981.

68A Breyers rival : EDY’S

Breyers ice cream was introduced by William A. Breyer in 1866, in Philadelphia. Always known for using all-natural ingredients, Breyers products made in recent years contain more and more food additives in an attempt to cut costs in a competitive market. In fact, most Breyers products can’t even be labeled “ice cream” anymore as they don’t contain enough milk and cream and so are labeled “frozen dairy dessert” instead.

70A Blades for some Olympians : EPEES

Among the three Olympic fencing disciplines, épée is generally considered the slowest. This is primarily because it lacks “right-of-way” rules, meaning both fencers can score if they hit simultaneously, which encourages a more cautious and defensive style. Additionally, the entire body is a valid target area in épée, requiring fencers to be more strategic and wait for clear openings rather than engaging in rapid, aggressive exchanges.

Down

1D Super Mario Bros. console : NES

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.

2D Jazzy James : ETTA

Etta James had a tough upbringing and faced many challenges. She was born to an unmarried teenage mother and never knew her father. She experienced abuse and hardship, and even dealt with heroin addiction. Despite all this, she rose to become one of the most iconic and influential singers of all time, known for her powerful voice and soulful performances.

3D Guitar accessory that may create vibrato : WHAMMY BAR

You know that lever that electric guitar players “wiggle” to produce a vibrating sound? Well, it’s called a “whammy bar”. Movement of the bar changes the tension of the strings, resulting in a change of pitch that the player can use to create a number of different effects.

4D Knights’ neighbors : BISHOPS

In the game of chess, the piece known in English as the “bishop” can have other names when translated from other languages. For example:

1. Elephant: Chinese and Russian
2. Jester: French
3. Runner: German
4. Camel: Hindi
5. Standard-bearer: Italian

5D Blueprint : SCHEMA

A schema is an outline or a model. The plural of “schema” is “schemata” and the adjectival form is “schematic”.

Blueprints are reproductions of technical or architectural drawings that are contact prints made on light-sensitive sheets. They were introduced in the 1800s and the technology available dictated that the drawings were reproduced with white lines on a blue background, hence the name “blue-print”.

6D Luau instruments : UKES

The anglicized name of the Hawaiian feast “luau” comes from the Hawaiian word “lu’au”, which translates literally as “young taro tops”. Taro leaves and corms are often served at luaus.

7D May, say : MONTH

The month of May was named for Maia, the Greek goddess of fertility.

9D Prehistoric supercontinent : PANGAEA

Pangaea (also “Pangea”) was a supercontinent that existed during the age of the dinosaurs, the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. Pangaea broke apart due to movement of tectonic plates in the Earth’s crust. All of today’s continents were once part of Pangaea.

11D Moriarty, to Holmes : ENEMY

Professor James Moriarty is the main villain who crosses swords with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes”. Moriarty is always cropping up in Sherlock Holmes television and radio plays and in movies, but if you go back to the original stories he isn’t around very much. He only turns up directly in two of the narratives, and was primarily introduced by Conan Doyle in order to “kill off” Sherlock Holmes in a brawl at the top of the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. Both Holmes and Moriarty fell to their deaths. Well … public pressure on the author caused Conan Doyle to resurrect Holmes in the 1903 story “The Adventure of the Empty House”.

18D Latvian capital : RIGA

Riga is the capital city of Latvia. The historical center of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of the city’s magnificent examples of Art Nouveau architecture. In fact, Riga has the largest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in the world, with over 750 buildings in the city center designed in the style.

27D Part of P.R. : RICO

Puerto Rico (PR) is located in the northeastern Caribbean (in the Atlantic Ocean), east of the Dominican Republic. The name “Puerto Rico” is Spanish for “rich port”. The locals often call their island Borinquen, the Spanish form of “Boriken”, the original name used by the natives.

30D S.F. summer hrs. : PDT

Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)

33D Leak prevention measure, briefly : NDA

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

35D Home of the Cyclones : IOWA STATE

Iowa State University of Science and Technology (ISU) is located in Ames, Iowa. Among many other notable milestones, ISU created the country’s first school of veterinary medicine, in 1879. The sports teams of ISU are known as the Cyclones.

36D Hormel product : SPAM

The Hormel food processing company was founded in 1891 by George Hormel as a meat packing operation. Personally, when I hear “Hormel”, I think of Spam …

39D Biblical rider of a red horse : WAR

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are introduced in the Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible. Each of the four represents woe for man, in the form of pestilence, war, famine and death. The four horsemen ride on a white, red, black and pale horse respectively.

40D Development sites : UTERI

“Uterus” (plural “uteri”) is the Latin word for “womb”.

43D Elements of a strategy : TACTICS

The terms “strategy” and “tactic” are often confused. In the original frame of reference, namely war, strategy is decided prior to battle. Tactics are implemented during the battle, and are consistent with the strategy.

47D Steve who co-founded YouTube : CHEN

YouTube is a video-sharing website where users can watch, upload, and share videos. It was founded in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. The first video on YouTube was uploaded by Karim and shows him feeding elephants at the San Diego Zoo. It is the second most popular website in the world. Google is the most popular …

49D Power of classic films : TYRONE

Tyrone Power was a Hollywood actor from Cincinnati, Ohio. Power tended to play the romantic lead, as well as the swashbuckler that was so popular in the thirties. His career was interrupted during WWII when he volunteered to serve with the Marine Corps as a pilot. Power served with distinction and resumed his career after the war. He died on set, suffering a massive heart attack while filming a sword duel with his friend George Sanders. Power was only 44 years of age.

51D Easy part of a sky in a jigsaw puzzle, maybe : CLOUD

John Spilsbury was an English cartographer who is best remembered for inventing jigsaw puzzles. Spilsbury’s puzzles were maps affixed to wood, and carved out country by country. They were intended for educational purposes.

52D __ Moore: canned stew brand : DINTY

Dinty Moore beef stew first hit grocery shelves in 1935 as one of Hormel’s first major canned convenience meals. There is a suggestion that the brand name was “borrowed” from the comic strip “Bringing Up Father” by George McManus, in which James “Dinty” Moore is a tavern owner.

54D Oscar winner Witherspoon : REESE

“Reese” is not actually actress Witherspoon’s given name. She started out life as Laura Jeanne Witherspoon. “Reese” is her mother’s maiden name.

60D Brontë orphan : EYRE

“Jane Eyre” is a celebrated novel written by Charlotte Brontë, under the pen name Currer Bell. The love story is perhaps represented by the oft-quoted opening lines of the last chapter, “Reader, I married him”. There is a wonderful 4-hour television adaptation made by the BBC that I highly recommend to fans of the novel …