LA Times Crossword 10 Aug 26, Monday

Advertisement

Constructed by: David Ding

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Let’s Get Rolling

Themed answers all end with something that can GET ROLLING:

• 59A Call for action, or what one might say before using the ends of 20-, 33-, and 43-Across : LET’S GET ROLLING

• 20A Formal event attended in costume : MASQUERADE BALL
• 33A Last film starring Daniel Craig as James Bond : NO TIME TO DIE
• 43A Official record on a ship : CAPTAIN’S LOG

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

Bill’s time: 7m 16s

Bill’s errors: 2

• ATP (ATC)
• PAPI (Capi)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14A “Beloved” novelist Morrison : TONI

“Beloved” is a 1987 novel by Toni Morrison about a haunted family home in Cincinnati. The disturbing storyline was inspired by real events, and a real person. Margaret Garner was a former slave who escaped from Kentucky to Ohio. US marshals tried to capture her in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Act, and found her with her dead two-year-old daughter, and attempting to kill her remaining two children and herself. Garner committed those acts rather than see herself and her family returned to slavery. The title character in the novel is supposed to be the spirit of the daughter of a former slave killed by her mother to avoid returning to a life in slavery.

17A Bygone GM division : OLDS

Oldsmobile was an automobile brand founded by Ransom E. Olds (REO) in 1897. The brand was finally phased out by General Motors in 2004.

18A “Understood” : ROGER

The term “roger”, meaning “yes” or “acknowledged”, comes from the world of radiotelephony. The British military used a phonetic alphabet in the fifties that included “Roger” to represent the letter “R”. As such, it became customary to say “Roger” when acknowledging a message, with R (Roger) standing for “received”.

19A Prize grabber in an arcade game : CLAW

The arcade claw machine dates back to the 1890s. Amazingly (to me), the original machines were designed to resemble the massive steam shovels used to dig the Panama Canal. The first patented claw machine was called the Erie Digger. It was introduced in 1926, and named for a different waterway: the Erie Canal. These early machines were filled with candy, nuts, or other small trinkets, instead of the plush toys that are common today.

24A “Man of Steel” director Zack : SNYDER

Zack Snyder is a film director very much associated with the comic book and superhero genre. Before working on movies, he directed several high-end TV ads, and music videos for big names like ZZ Top and Rod Stewart.

“Man of Steel” is a 2013 reboot of the “Superman” series of films, starring Henry Cavill in the title role and Amy Adams as Lois Lane.

25A Geological span : EON

Geologic time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

• supereon
• eon (also “aeon”)
• era
• period
• epoch
• age

30A Wimbledon org. : ATP

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is an organization that looks out for the interests of male tennis professionals. The equivalent organization for women is the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

The Wimbledon Championships of tennis are held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club located in Wimbledon, a district of London. The tournament started in 1877, and has been played on grass since day one.

33A Last film starring Daniel Craig as James Bond : NO TIME TO DIE

2021’s “No Time to Die” is the 25th in the “James Bond” series of films. It stars Daniel Craig as the MI6 agent in his last appearance in the role. Bond’s adversary in “No Time to Die” is Lyutsifer Safin, played by Rami Malek. The theme song was performed by Billie Eilish.

39A Cardamom-infused tea : CHAI

The spice known as cardamom comes from the seeds of several plants that are native to India. Those plants were introduced to Guatemala in the early 20th century, and now Guatemala produces and exports more cardamom than any other country in the world, even India. Cardamom is the third-priciest spice on the market today by weight, after vanilla and saffron.

43A Official record on a ship : CAPTAIN’S LOG

The word “logbook” dates back to the days when the captain of a ship kept a daily record of the vessel’s speed, progress etc. using a “log”. A log was a wooden float on a knotted line that was dropped overboard to measure speed through the water.

48A Baby goat : KID

Male goats are bucks or billies, although castrated males are known as wethers. Female goats are does or nannies, and young goats are referred to as kids.

55A Walkie-talkie, e.g. : RADIO

The more formal name for a walkie-talkie is “handheld transceiver”. It is a handheld, two-way radio, and a device first developed for military use during WWII by Motorola (although others developed similar designs soon after). The first walkie-talkie was portable, but large. It was back-mounted and was carried around the battlefield by a radio officer.

63A Garden pest : APHID

Aphids are called “greenfly” back in Britain and Ireland where I come from. The most effective way to control aphids, in my experience, is to make sure there are plenty of ladybugs in the garden (called “ladybirds” in Ireland!).

65A Bilingual cartoon explorer : DORA

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Her constant companion is an anthropomorphic monkey named “Boots”, because he always wears red boots. Dora, full name “Dora Márquez”, also hangs out with Isa, an iguana.

Down

4D Racy : RISQUE

“Risqué” is a French word, the past participle of the verb meaning “to risk”. So in English we use “risqué” to mean “racy”, but in French it means “risky”.

7D Church instrument with pipes : ORGAN

The organ that we often see in churches, synagogues and concert halls is a pipe organ. Sound is produced by pressurized air driven through particular pipes selected by keys on a keyboard.

8D Like the sound of an oboe : REEDY

A double-reed instrument is one in which two pieces of cane vibrate against each other to produce sound. In a single-reed instrument, just one piece of cane vibrates the mouthpiece. The best-known examples of double-reed instruments are the oboe and the bassoon.

13D Source of some flexible wood : YEW

Yew is the wood of choice for the longbow, a valued weapon in the history of England. The longbow is constructed with a core of yew heartwood (as the heartwood resists compression) that has a sheath of yew sapwood (as the sapwood resists stretching). The yew was in such demand for longbows that for centuries yew trees were in short supply in Britain and the wood had to be imported from all over Europe.

26D Sushi wrapper : NORI

Nori is an edible seaweed that we used to know as “laver” when we were living in Wales. Nori is usually dried into thin sheets. Here in the US, we are most familiar with nori as the seaweed used as a wrap for sushi.

29D Ice cream purchase : PINT

A US pint comprises 16 fluid ounces, and an imperial pint is 20 fluid ounces. The term “pint” comes into English via Old French, ultimately from the Latin “picta” meaning “painted”. The name arose from a line painted on the side of a beer glass that marked a full measure of ale.

30D UNC’s athletic gp. : ACC

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)

University of North Carolina (UNC)

32D Big __: David Ortiz nickname : PAPI

The Dominican-American baseball player David Ortiz has the nickname “Big Papi”. After each home run that Ortiz scores, he looks upwards and points to the sky in a tribute to his mother who died in a car crash in 2002 when she was only 46 years old.

34D Perfect score in diving, or half a score : TEN

Our verb “to score” meaning “to tally”, comes from the Old Norse “skor”, which is a “mark, notch”. It is likely that items such as livestock were counted by placing a notch in a stick for each set of twenty, hence our use of the noun “score” to mean “twenty”.

36D EGOT-winning Brooks : MEL

Mel Brooks’ birth name is Melvin Kaminsky. He is one of relatively few entertainers to win the “Showbiz Award Grand Slam” i.e. an Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Emmy (EGOT). He is in good company, as the list also includes the likes of Richard Rodgers, Sir John Gielgud, Marvin Hamlisch and Audrey Hepburn. Brooks was married to actress Anne Bancroft for 40 years, until her passing in 2005.

37D Furry “Star Wars” creature : EWOK

The Ewoks are creatures that live on the moon of Endor in the “Star Wars” universe. First appearing in “Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”, they’re the cute and cuddly little guys that look like teddy bears.

44D Emer. alerts : APBS

An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

49D Texas city known as “Big D” : DALLAS

It’s not really certain how the Texas city of Dallas got its name. One theory suggests that it is named for US Vice President George M. Dallas, who served under President James K. Polk. Another theory suggests that it was named for the Scottish village of Dallas, in the north-east of the country.

52D Vintage photo tone : SEPIA

Sepia is that rich, brown-gray color so common in old photographs. “Sepia” is the Latinized version of the Greek word for cuttlefish, as sepia pigment is derived from the ink sac of the cuttlefish. Sepia ink was commonly used for writing and drawing as far back as ancient Rome and ancient Greece. The “sepia tone” of old photographs is not the result of deterioration over time. Rather, it is the result of a deliberate preservation process which converts the metallic silver in the photographic image to a more stable silver sulfide. Prints that have been sepia-toned can last in excess of 150 years.

53D Early anesthetic : ETHER

Ethers are a whole class of organic compounds, but in the vernacular “ether” is specifically diethyl ether. Diethyl ether was once very popular as a general anesthetic.

56D Taurasi who holds the WNBA record for career points : DIANA

WNBA player Diana Taurasi was the first pick in the 2004 draft, and signed up with the Phoenix Mercury. That first season, she won the league’s Rookie of the Year Award, the first of many, many awards in her career, including five Olympic gold medals.

57D Monogram pts. : INITS

A monogram is a design with two or more letters intertwined or combined in some way to make a single symbol. The term “monogram” comes from the Greek “mono” meaning “single” and “gramma” meaning “letter”.

62D QB stats : TDS

In American football, one “goal” of a quarterback (QB) is to score touchdowns (TDs).

ght=”1100″ class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-25420″ />