LA Times Crossword 18 Jul 26, Saturday

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Constructed by: Ricky J. Sirois

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 11m 17s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Doctrines : DOGMATA

A dogma is a set of beliefs. The plural of “dogma” is “dogmata” (or “dogmas”, if you’re not a pedant like me!)

8A Incomplete Wikipedia article : STUB

The Wikipedia community uses the term “stub” to denote an article considered too short. A stub is deemed inadequate in that it provides information about a subject that is insufficient for inclusion in an encyclopedia.

12A 1990s sketch comedy show : IN LIVING COLOR

“In Living Color” is a sketch comedy TV show that ran from 1990 to 1994. It starred and was created by actor and comedian Keenen Ivory Wayans. It was a groundbreaking program that challenged mainstream network television with a cast of comedians that were mainly African American. It provided breakout roles for future stars like Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx. The in-house dance troupe on the show were the “Fly Girls”, whose lineup included future judge on “Dancing with the Stars” Carrie Ann Inaba, and even future megastar Jennifer Lopez.

15A PBS series hosted by librarian Mychal Threets : READING RAINBOW

“Reading Rainbow” is an award-winning children’s television series that aired on Public Television from 1983 to 2006. The mission of the show was to encourage children to read. “Reading Rainbow” was hosted by the actor LeVar Burton (from “Roots” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation”). “Reading Rainbow” was revived in 2025, with librarian and media personality Mychal Threets taking over as host.

17A Lemon juice? : GAS

Long before we associated the term “lemon” with a defective car, it was used to describe defective items in general.

18A Javelin : SPEAR

A javelin is a light spear used as a long-range throwing weapon. That said, most of today’s javelins are designed for sporting use, in a competition to see who can throw the farthest.

25A Mother of Apollo and Artemis : LETO

In Greek mythology, the goddess Leto and her sister Asteria are daughters of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. Leto’s twin children Apollo and Artemis were fathered by Zeus, the king of the gods.

28A Tillamook’s state : OREGON

Tillamook is a coastal city in Oregon that takes its name from the indigenous Tillamook people who lived in the area until the early 1900s. One of the city’s most famous employers is the Tillamook County Creamery Association, a farmer-owned dairy cooperative that sells products under the “Tillamook” brand.

37A Gen __ : XER

The term “Generation X” originated in the UK where it was the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book detailed the results of a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By one definition, Gen Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.

38A __ États-Unis : LES

“Les États-Unis” is what French speakers call “the United States”.

45A Birds paraded on Saint Stephen’s Day in Ireland : WRENS

December 26th is known as Saint Stephen’s Day in Ireland. It is also called Wren Day (“Lá an Dreoilín”, “Day of the Wren” in Irish).

56A __ nerve : OPTIC

The optic nerve enters the eyeball at a location on the retina called the optic disc. Because there are no light-sensitive cells at the optic disc, there is a “hole” in our visual field that is called the blind spot. People with normal vision don’t usually notice this blind spot as the brain “fills in” the blind spot with information from the other eye.

63A “Do-Re-Mi” figure : DEER

The famous song that starts off with “Doe, a deer …” is a show tune from the 1959 musical “The Sound of Music”, by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The correct name of the song is “Do-Re-Mi”.

Down

1D Expression of grief : DIRGE

A dirge is a slow and mournful piece of music, like perhaps a funeral hymn.

2D Youngest Oscar winner : O’NEAL

Tatum O’Neal is the youngest actress to win a competitive Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1974 when she was just 10 years old, for her role as Addie in “Paper Moon”. The youngest person to win an honorary Academy Award was Shirley Temple, who was only 6 years old when she was presented with an Oscar in 1935.

5D Dollar alternative : AVIS

Avis has been around since 1946. It has the distinction of being the first car rental company to locate a branch at an airport.

6D Second-rate : TIN-POT

The term “tin-pot” first appeared in the 1830s to describe cheap, mass-produced metalware. The meaning was rooted in the fact that tin is less valuable and durable than heavy-duty iron or copper. “Tin-pot” evolved over time as an adjective describing anything considered inferior, shoddy, or second-rate. We are perhaps most familiar with “tin-pot dictator”, which is applied to a delusionally grandiose autocrat who rules a minor domain but lacks the actual influence and military wealth of a true global power.

7D Capellini : ANGEL HAIR

Capellini is a pasta that is like thin spaghetti. An even thinner version of the pasta is known as “capelli d’angelo”, which translates as “angel hair”.

9D French pronoun : TOI

In French, the pronouns “toi” and “vous” both mean “you”, with the former being used with family and friends, and children. “Vous” is more formal, and is also the plural form of “toi”.

11D Gravity-powered racer : BOBSLED

Bobsleds are so called because competitors in the sport originally would “bob” back and forth inside the sled to increase forward momentum on straightaways.

14D Copper alloy popularized by its use in Fabergé eggs : ROSE GOLD

Rose gold is also known as pink gold and red gold. Used in specialized jewelry, it is an alloy of gold and copper.

Fabergé eggs are beautiful jeweled eggs made by the House of Fabergé from 1885 to 1917. The tradition of fabricating the eggs started when Tsar Alexander III commissioned Fabergé to create a jeweled egg for his wife in 1885. After this, the House of Fabergé produced more and more elaborate designs, year after year.

22D Lens opening? : ELL

The opening letter of the word “lens” is a letter L (ell).

24D Sports reporter Holly : ROWE

Sports telecaster Holly Rowe mainly reports on college football and basketball games. She started working with ESPN in 1995.

31D Snacks for sea otters : ABALONES

The large edible sea snails that we call abalone are called “ormer” in Britain and Ireland, and are served as “awabi” at a sushi bar. The abalone shell resembles a human ear, giving rise to the alternative names “ear shell” and “sea ear”.

33D Leeway for a test-taker : EXTRA TIME

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.

34D Start of some “Jeopardy!” responses : WHO IS

The TV show “Jeopardy!” first went on the air in 1964, and is another successful Merv Griffin creation. But, it took the introduction of Alex Trebek as host in order to bring the show into the big time. Trebek was host from 1984 until his sad passing in 2020.

41D App gestures : SWIPES

Many apps on phones are now using “swipe right” and “swipe left” actions to indicate “like” and dislike”. I suppose that the Tinder dating app is the most famous “swipe right/swipe left” app in use today.

43D Setting not observed by most of Arizona: Abbr. : DST

Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states in the US that do not observe daylight saving time (DST), having opted out when the Uniform Time Act was passed by the US Congress in 1966. Some Native American nations in Arizona observe DST, and some don’t. As a result, times can change back and forth a few times while driving across Arizona during the summer.

49D Opportunity on Mars, e.g. : ROVER

There have been several rovers sent to Mars from Earth. The Soviet Union’s Mars 2 landed in 1971, and failed. Mars 3 landed the same year, and ceased operation just 20 seconds after landing. NASA’s Sojourner landed in 1997 (what a great day that was!) and operated from July through September. NASA’s Spirit landed in 2004, and operated successfully for over six years before getting trapped in sand and eventually ceasing to communicate. NASA’s Opportunity also landed in 2004, and operated for over fourteen years. And then NASA’s Curiosity made a spectacular, hi-tech landing in 2012 and is continuing to explore the planet today. Based on the Curiosity design, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in 2021, along with the Mars helicopter named Ingenuity. The China National Space Administration landed its first rover, named Zhurong (“Rover” in English), five months after Perseverance started its mission on the planet.

52D Word in many Polynesian languages : ALOHA

We tend to think of the word “aloha” as the standard greeting in Hawaii, meaning both “hello” and farewell”. However, it does have a deeper and spiritual significance, and can also translate as love, compassion, and profound sympathy. All Polynesian languages have a linguistic cognate to “aloha”, e.g. Māori “aroha” and Samoan “alofa”.

53D Los Angeles neighborhood where many Walter Mosley novels are set : WATTS

The Los Angeles neighborhood named Watts was once its own city, incorporated in 1907. It was swallowed up into the LA metropolis in 1926. One of the area’s main attractions is the Watts Towers, a series of sculptures also known as “Nuestro Pueblo” (Spanish for “Our Town”). The collection was created by Italian American artist Simon Rodia over a 33-year period, starting in 1921.

Walter Mosley is a novelist who is best known for his crime stories. His most famous works are a series of books featuring Los Angeles detective Easy Rawlins.

61D Duran Duran album with the hit “Hungry Like the Wolf” : RIO

1982’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” was the breakthrough hit internationally for the English new-wave band Duran Duran. The song’s success was largely due to the accompanying music video, which was shot on location in the dense jungles and crowded markets of Sri Lanka. MTV’s use of the “Hungry Like the Wolf” music video really helped launch the so-called “Second British Invasion” of the US.