LA Times Crossword 14 Aug 26, Friday

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Constructed by: Katie Hale

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Solar Power

Themed answers are common phrases with the “POWER” of the “SUN” inserted:

• 56A Clean energy option, or a hint to what the answers to the starred clues have? : SOLAR POWER

• 18A *Action figure at the bottom of a pool? : SUNKEN DOLL (KEN DOLL with SUN)
• 23A *Naval officer’s very quiet “ahoy there”? : LITTLE BOSUN PEEP (LITTLE BO PEEP with SUN)
• 35A *Jokes about miscellaneous items? : SUNDRY HUMOR (DRY HUMOR with SUN)
• 48A *Essential for authors who work at the beach? : WRITER’S SUNBLOCK (WRITER’S BLOCK with SUN)

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

Bill’s time: 9m 51s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Oxygen co-creator : OPRAH

The Oxygen network was co-founded by Oprah Winfrey in 2000 as a progressive, female-focused lifestyle channel. NBCUniversal acquired Oxygen in 2007, completely rebranding it a decade later into a full-time true-crime network.

10A Mascaron image : FACE

Mascarons are an architectural feature consisting of a sculpted face designed to frighten away evil spirits so they cannot enter a building. To be most effective, they were placed over doorways and at the apex of arches.

17A Azaria of “Brockmire” : HANK

Hank Azaria is one of my favorite American actors, and is someone who I think can really expertly portray a vast array of characters. I can’t stand “The Simpsons” mind you, a show to which Azaria is inextricably linked, but if you look at his role in “The Birdcage” as a flamboyant gay houseboy, and his role in “Shattered Glass” as a stoic magazine editor, you’ll get a taste for Azaria’s extensive range.

“Brockmire” is a comedy series that ran on IFC from 2017 to 2020. The title character, played by the talented Hank Azaria, is an ex-MLB play-by-play announcer trying to resurrect his career by calling minor league games in a small town. I haven’t seen this one, but it’s on the list …

18A *Action figure at the bottom of a pool? : SUNKEN DOLL (KEN DOLL with SUN)

Barbie’s male counterpart doll is Ken, and Ken’s family name is Carson. Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. When Ken was introduced in 1961, it was as Barbie’s boyfriend. In 2004 it was announced that Ken and Barbie were splitting up, and needed to spend quality time apart. Soon after the split, Barbie “met” Blaine, a boogie boarder from Australia. Happily, Barbie and Ken reconciled and reunited on Valentine’s Day 2011.

21A Virtual citizenry : SIMS

SimCity was a very clever and unique computer game back in the day. Players build and grow cities and societies by creating the conditions necessary for people (the Sims) to move in and thrive. SimCity was launched in 1989, and it is still consistently ranked as one of the greatest computer games of all time.

23A *Naval officer’s very quiet “ahoy there”? : LITTLE BOSUN PEEP (LITTLE BO PEEP with SUN)

A boatswain works on the deck of a boat. He or she is unlicensed, and so is not involved in the navigation or handling of the vessel, and instead is in charge of the other unlicensed workers on the deck. “Boatswain” is pronounced “bosun” and this phonetic spelling is often used interchangeably with “boatswain”. The contraction “bo’s’n” is also very popular.

The lines that are most commonly quoted from the rhyme about “Little Bo Peep” are:

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And can’t tell where to find them;
Leave them alone, And they’ll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them.

But, there are actually four more verses, including this one:

It happened one day, as Bo-peep did stray
Into a meadow hard by,
There she espied their tails side by side,
All hung on a tree to dry.

30A TV controller? : FCC

Radio and TV broadcasting is monitored by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC has been around since 1934, when it replaced the Federal Radio Commission.

34A Mineralogist who created a scale : MOHS

The Mohs scale of mineral hardness was developed in 1812 by Friedrich Mohs. Basically Mohs took minerals and scratched them with other minerals. In this way he was able to determine which minerals were hardest (most scratch resistant) and which softest. On the scale, diamond is the hardest (and rated 10), while talc is the softest (and rated 1).

35A *Jokes about miscellaneous items? : SUNDRY HUMOR (DRY HUMOR with SUN)

Our terms “miscellany” and “miscellaneous” ultimately come from the Latin verb “miscere” meaning “to mix”.

38A 2025 WNBA champions : ACES

The Las Vegas Aces women’s basketball team was formed in Salt Lake City in 1997 as the Utah Starzz. The team became the San Antonio (Silver) Stars in 2003, before moving to Las Vegas as the Aces in 2018.

40A Solstice mo. : DEC

A solstice occurs twice in every year. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year (has the most daylight), and the winter solstice is the shortest.

42A “Starship Troopers” backdrop : WAR

Robert A. Heinlein’s military science fiction novel “Starship Troopers” was published in 1959. It deals with an interstellar war between the human-led Terran Federation and an alien species known as the Arachnids. The book was adapted into film in 1997, when it was relatively poorly received, but has since become a cult classic. Author Heinlein decided to take a break from writing “Stranger in a Strange Land”, which was to become his masterpiece, and hammered out “Starship Troopers” in just a few weeks.

53A Olympic swimmer Torres : DARA

Dara Torres is a US swimmer who has won twelve Olympic medals. Torres is also the only American swimmer to have competed in five Olympic Games, and is the oldest swimmer to have made it onto the Olympic team, at 41.

55A __ leaf: stew herb : BAY

The seasoning known as bay leaf is the aromatic leaf of the bay laurel tree or shrub. Fresh bay leaves aren’t very flavorful and need to be dried and aged a few weeks before use in the kitchen.

60A “Copacabana” bartender : TONY

The Copacabana of the 1978 Barry Manilow song is the Copacabana nightclub in New York City (which is also the subject of the Frank Sinatra song “Meet Me at the Copa”). The Copa opened in 1940 and is still going today, although it is struggling, and has operated in several locations in Manhattan.

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there
She would merengue and do the cha-cha
And while she tried to be a star
Tony always tended bar
Across the crowded floor, they worked from 8 ’til 4
They were young and they had each other
Who could ask for more?

61A Hugo or Edgar : AWARD

The Hugo Awards are presented annually for excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing. The awards are named for Hugo Gernsback, founder of the sci-fi magazine “Amazing Stories”.

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (“Edgars”) are presented annually by the Mystery Writers of America. There are several categories of awards. For example, the Ellery Queen Award honors “writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry”. The Raven Award is presented to non-writers, who contribute to the mystery genre.

62A Wayfair rival : IKEA

Wayfair is an online furniture store that was founded in 2002 as CSN Stores (from the initials of co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine).

63A Referendum side : PROS

A referendum (also called a “plebiscite” or “initiative”) is a direct vote by an entire electorate on a particular proposal. In a representative democracy such as the US, where most major decisions are made by our elected legislature, referenda and ballot initiatives are relatively rare.

Down

1D Networking assistance : IT HELP

Information technology (IT)

2D Grammy winner Twain : SHANIA

Shania Twain is a country and pop singer from Windsor, Ontario. Shania’s birth name is “Eilleen Edwards”, and this changed to “Eilleen Twain” when her mother remarried. Twain changed her name to Shania in the early 1990s, around the same time that her musical career started to take off.

3D “Is This Thing On?” star Will : ARNETT

Will Arnett is a Canadian actor who got his big break in the Fox show “Arrested Development”. Arnett’s father was the president and CEO of Molson Breweries, and Will was married to actress Penelope Ann Miller and actress/comedian Amy Poehler.

5D Activist/actor Davis : OSSIE

Ossie Davis was a prominent actor and civil rights activist. He married his wife, fellow actor Ruby Dee, in 1948. They remained together until his death in 2005, making their marriage one of the longest-lasting in Hollywood history. Davis was a prominent voice in the civil rights movement, and a close friend of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Davis delivered a powerful eulogy at the latter’s funeral in 1965.

6D Straight up : PLUMB

The term “plumb” describes a perfectly vertical reference line used in construction and carpentry. For millennia, builders have measured plumb lines using a plumb bob, a string pulled taut by a heavy weight at the bottom. “Plumb” comes from “plumbum”, the Latin word for “lead”, the specific metal originally used to cast the tool.

7D Classic laundry soap : RINSO

Rinso was a laundry detergent that was first manufactured in England in 1908 by a company called Hudson’s Soap. It was introduced into the US in 1918. In America, Rinso took to radio advertising and sponsorship in the days of “soap operas”. Their most famous program association was with “The Amos ‘n’ Andy Show” in the 1940s. One of the brand’s slogans was “Solium, the sunlight ingredient”. I have no idea what Solium is, but it certainly did sell a lot of soap!

8D “Jeepers!” : ACK!

“Jeepers” is slang dating back at least to 1929, and a euphemism for “Jesus”.

12D Pasadena research univ. : CALTECH

Caltech is more properly known as the California Institute of Technology, and is a private research-oriented school in Pasadena. One of Caltech’s responsibilities is the management and operation of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. If you watch “The Big Bang Theory” on television like me, you might know that the four lead characters all work at Caltech.

13D Pre-naturalization test course, for short : ESL

English as a Second Language (ESL)

19D Meemaw alternative : NANA

“Nana” and “Meemaw” are familiar terms meaning “grandma”.

21D “McSorley’s Bar” painter : SLOAN

John French Sloan was an artist who did much of his work in New York City in the early 1900s. Sloan was a founder of the Ashcan School, a movement that focused on portrayals of daily life in New York. One of my favorite Sloan paintings is “McSorley’s Bar”, a 1912 work that depicts the inside of the celebrated East Village ale house the artist used to visit quite regularly.

A few years ago, I accompanied my wife and sister-in-law into McSorley’s bar in New York City. I was foolish enough to ask what kind of wine they had for the ladies. The gruff answer was “McSorley’s Light or McSorley’s Dark” (both of which are beers).

24D “__ Andronicus” : TITUS

“Titus Andronicus” is one of Shakespeare’s tragedies, perhaps even the first that he wrote. I’ve never seen the play and apparently it is very gory, perhaps the reason why it was quite popular in Shakespeare’s own lifetime. Over the decades, sensibilities have changed and as a result, “Titus Andronicus” is performed less often today than his other works.

26D Rental after closing, maybe : U-HAUL

The U-Haul company was started by married couple Leonard Shoen and Anna Mary Carty in Ridgefield, Washington in 1945. The Shoens used $5,000 of seed money to build trailers in their garage, and then cleverly recruited gas station owners as franchisees with whom they would split the rental revenue. There are now well over 20,000 U-Haul dealers across the country.

27D Hardware for Xbox : PCS

Microsoft’s original gaming console was specifically engineered using standard personal computer (PC) hardware. Rather than developing custom silicon from scratch like their competitors, the Microsoft team essentially crammed an Intel Pentium III processor and a standard desktop hard drive into a bulky black chassis. This reliance on off-the-shelf PC components made it incredibly easy for developers to transfer their existing Windows games directly to the “Xbox” when it launched in 2001.

33D US Open locale : NYC

The origins of the US Open tennis tournament date back to the Newport Casino grass courts in Newport, Rhode Island. The complex was used for a competition open to all male, and eventually female, members of the US National Lawn Tennis Association, from 1881 through 1914. The Newport Casino is now home to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The national tournament moved to the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, in New York City in 1915. The Open Era began in 1968, allowing professionals to compete at WestSide. The Open moved to the newly constructed USTA National Tennis Center hardcourts in Flushing Meadows, Queens in 1978.

37D Peach __ : MELBA

Peach Melba is a dessert comprising peaches and raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream. The dish was the creation of chef Auguste Escoffier, who introduced it at the Savoy Hotel in London in the 1890s in honor of Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba. Escoffier later developed Melba toast, also in honor of the singer.

39D Side mirror spot : CAR DOOR

I’ve lived in America for most of my life, for over four decades, and yet I still discover myself using terms that mean little or nothing on this side of the pond. Today I found out I should be referring to my car’s “wing” mirror as its “side” or “side-view” mirror. Dearie, dearie me …

46D Region with many Nats fans, briefly : DC AREA

The Washington Nationals (“Nats”) started out life as the Montreal Expos in 1969, and were the first Major League Baseball team in Canada. The Expos moved to Washington in 2005, becoming the Nats.

47D Overview producer? : SKYCAM

“Skycam” is a brand name that now tends to be used generically. “Skycam” refers to that TV camera mounted on cables over say a football field that allows for some very cool shots as the camera seems to swoop down to the play and follow the action, almost like it’s part of a video game.

56D Auto care brand : STP

STP is a brand name of automotive lubricants and additives. The name “STP” is an initialism standing for “Scientifically Treated Petroleum”.

57D Actress Grier : PAM

Pam Grier is an actress whose most acclaimed performance was in the 1997 Quentin Tarantino film “Jackie Brown”, in which she played the title role.