LA Times Crossword 11 Sep 26, Friday

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Constructed by: Jeff Stillman

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Letter Heads

Themed answers start with a homophone of the clue’s first letter, and end with the clue’s synonym. Clever …

• 17A Copperhead? : SEA SERPENT (“C” serpent)
• 25A Timeout? : TEA BREAK (“T” break)
• 35A Immunologist? : EYE DOCTOR (“I” doctor)
• 49A Parkas? : PEA COATS (“P” coats)
• 58A Xylophonist? : EX-MUSICIAN (“X” musician)

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

Bill’s time: 8m 18s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel who said, “If a man can beat you, walk him” : PAIGE

Satchel Paige pitched baseball in the Negro League and then the majors, before retiring in 1965. When he moved to the Major League, Paige was 42 as he pitched his first game, making him the oldest ever “rookie” to play Major League Baseball. And when he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, Paige was the first person to be so honored from the Negro League.

10A Rope tow successor, at some ski resorts : T-BAR

A T-bar is a ski lift on which the skiers are pulled up the hill in pairs, with each pair standing (not sitting!) either side of a T-shaped metal bar. The bar is placed behind the thighs, pulling along the skiers as they remain standing on their skis (hopefully!). There’s also a J-bar, which is a similar device but with each J-shaped bar used by one skier at a time.

14A 007 foe : DR NO

“Dr. No” may have been the first film in the wildly successful James Bond franchise, but it was the sixth novel in the series of books penned by Ian Fleming. Fleming was inspired to write the story after reading the Fu Manchu tales by Sax Rohmer. If you’ve read the Rohmer books or seen the films, you’ll recognize the similarities between the characters Dr. Julius No and Fu Manchu. By the way, the author Ian Fleming tells us that Julius No attended medical school in Milwaukee.

15A Sleep clinic study : APNEA

Sleep apnea (“apnoea” in British English) can be caused by an obstruction in the airways, possibly due to obesity or enlarged tonsils.

17A Copperhead? : SEA SERPENT (“C” serpent)

“Moccasin” is a common name used for several varieties of snake in the genus Agkistrodon. All are pit vipers, and are venomous. Some moccasins also go by the names copperhead and cottonmouth.

19A Large amount : SCAD

The origin of the word “scads”, meaning “lots and lots”, is unclear. That said, “scads” was used to mean “dollars” back in the mid-1800s.

23A Potato-peeling GIs : KPS

The initialism “KP” is US military slang that stands for either “kitchen police” or “kitchen patrol”.

30A Green Day drummer __ Cool : TRE

“Tré Cool” is the stage name of Frank Wright, the drummer for the punk rock band Green Day.

31A Tolkien forest creatures : ENTS

Ents are tree-like creatures that live in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth in his series of books “The Lord of the Rings”. “Ent” is an Old English word for “giant”.

35A Immunologist? : EYE DOCTOR (“I” doctor)

Immunology is the branch of medicine dedicated to understanding how the body’s immune system identifies and neutralizes pathogens like viruses, bacteria, and parasites. The term “immunology” comes from the Latin “immunis”, meaning “exempt, free”. The Latin word originally referred to Roman citizens excused from public service or taxes, and then scientists applied it to disease resistance.

38A 1952 Winter Olympics site : OSLO

The 1952 Winter Olympic Games took place in Oslo, Norway. One of the firsts at the 1952 games was the first use of a purpose-built athletes’ village for a Winter Olympics. The 1952 Games also marked the return of Japan and Germany to the Olympic family after being excluded from the 1948 games following WWII.

41A Coral isle : CAY

A key (also “cay”) is a low offshore island, as in the Florida “Keys”. Our term in English comes from the Spanish “cayo” meaning “shoal, reef”.

49A Parkas? : PEACOATS (“P” coats)

A peacoat (also “pea jacket”) is a heavy woolen outer jacket originally associated with sailors. Nowadays anyone wears them (they’re very comfortable and warm). The female equivalent of a peacoat is often called a Jackie O jacket, after Jackie Onassis.

A parka is a hooded jacket that is often lined with fur, and that is worn in cold weather. The original parka was a pullover design, but nowadays it is usually zipped at the front. “Parka” is the Russian name for the garment, and it was absorbed into English in the late 1700s via the Aleut language.

54A Cap site : KNEE

The patella is the kneecap. The bone’s Latin name “patella” is a diminutive form of “patina”, the word for “pan”. The idea is that the kneecap is pan-shaped.

55A Tally mark : NOTCH

Back in the mid-1600s, a tally was a stick marked with notches that tracked how much one owed or paid. The term “tally” came from the Latin “talea” meaning “stick, rod”. The act of “scoring” the stick with notches gave rise to our word “score” for the number in a tally.

58A Xylophonist? : EX-MUSICIAN (“X” musician)

The glockenspiel and xylophone are similar instruments, the main difference being the material from which the keys are made. Xylophone keys are made from wood, and glockenspiel keys are made from metal.

61A Turkey bacon? : LIRA

The currency of Turkey is the Turkish lira, which is divided into 100 kuruş. In 1927, the Turkish lira replaced the Ottoman lira, which had been in use since 1844.

66A Part of an Instagram feed : REEL

Reels is a facility introduced by Instagram in 2020. Essentially, it is a feature that competes with TikTok.

Down

4D Puts forward : POSITS

To “posit” is to assume as fact, to lay down as a “position”.

6D Android download : APP

Android is an operating system for mobile devices that was developed by Google. Android is mainly used on touch-screen devices like smartphones and tablets, although versions have been developed for cars (Android Auto), for televisions (Android TV) and for wrist watches (Android Wear). Android is the most successful operating system today, having the most extensive installed base.

8D Disney character who is blue most of the time? : GENIE

The Disney animated feature “Aladdin” was released in 1992. It is one of the best movies to come out of the studio, in my opinion, largely due to the great performance by Robin Williams who voiced the Genie. “Aladdin” was the most successful film of 1992, earning over $500 million worldwide, an unusual feat for an animated movie.

10D Protected IDs : TMS

Trademarks (TMs)

11D “Waiting for Godot” playwright : BECKETT

“Waiting for Godot” is a play by novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett that premiered in 1953. Irishman Beckett actually wrote the piece in French, under the title “En attendant Godot”. He later translated the play into English himself.

12D Great Plains people : ARAPAHO

The Arapaho people lived on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They traditionally wintered in small camps in the foothills of the Rockies, and then relocated to plains in the spring where they hunted the buffalo that were gathering to give birth to their young.

13D Morning omen for sailors : RED SKY

We often see red in the sky at sunrise and sunset. This is because at those times of day, sunlight travels through the thickest part of the atmosphere and only the red wavelengths of light make it through. Dust and moisture particles in the atmosphere tend to scatter the other wavelengths. These scattering particles are most concentrated in high pressure weather systems, and high pressure is associated with stable air. Weather systems tend to move from west to east, because of westerly trade winds. So, if we see a red sky illuminated by the sun rising in the east, then the red is caused by a high-pressure system to the east i.e. a period of stable air that has passed. If we see a red sky lit by a setting sun in the west, it is likely that the sunlight is coming through a high-pressure system that is on its way. So the old adage has some truth to it:

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning

18D Danish footwear brand : ECCO

I have to say, after owning several pairs, that ECCO shoes are the most comfortable in the world. The company is headquartered in Denmark.

22D Video-on-demand service phased out in 2020 : HBO GO

The HBO Go offering was a “TV Everywhere” service, meaning that paid subscribers could stream content on a choice of platforms just by entering a username and password. HBO Go was superseded by the HBO Max service. Then, HBO Max was rebranded as simply “Max”.

38D Paltry poker holding : ONE PAIR

The contemporary adjective “paltry”, meaning “inferior, trashy”, comes from an older use of “paltry” as a noun meaning a “worthless thing”.

42D Song written by Queen Lili’uokalani : ALOHA OE

“Aloha ‘Oe,” a famous Hawaiian song, was composed by Liliuokalani, who holds the distinction of being Hawaii’s last monarch and its only reigning queen. The song’s title translates as “Farewell to Thee.”

43D Desire : YEN

The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium.

44D Twin of Artemis : APOLLO

Artemis was an ancient Greek goddess, and the equivalent of the Roman goddess Diana. She was also a daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. Among other things, Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, and so often is depicted carrying a bow and arrows.

45D Bakery-cafe chain with Salad Stuffers : PANERA

Panera Bread is a chain of bakery/coffeehouses. A Panera restaurant is a good place to get online while having a cup of coffee. Back in 2006 and 2007, Panera was the largest provider of free Wi-Fi access in the whole of the US.

47D “Star Trek: TNG” counselor Deanna : TROI

Deanna Troi is a character on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” who is played by the lovely Marina Sirtis. Sirtis is a naturalized American citizen and has what I would call a soft American accent on the show. However, she was born in the East End of London and has a natural accent off-stage that is more like that of a true Cockney.

48D Chop shop wheels : HOT CAR

After a car is stolen it might be delivered to a “chop shop”, a workshop that can break up the vehicle so that it can be sold for parts.

50D State that joined the union in 1845 : TEXAS

The first European flag to fly over the area that we now call Texas was the flag of Spain. The French had a colony there as well, albeit for a short length of time. Mexico controlled the territory for a long time, until Texas became independent in 1836. Texas joined the Union in 1845 (as the 28th state). During the Civil War Texas sided with the Confederate States of America, and then after the war, the Stars and Stripes flew again. That does make “Six Flags over Texas”.

51D Rounds in tourneys : SEMIS

“Tourney” is another word for “tournament”. The term comes from the Old French word “tornei” meaning “contest of armed men”, which itself is from “tornoier” meaning “to joust, tilt”.

60D Commanders’ org. : NFL

The Washington Commanders NFL team was founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves. The name was changed to the Boston Redskins in 1933, which was followed by a move to Washington, DC in 1937. The racially insensitive name persisted for decades, until “Redskins” was dropped in 2020. The “Washington Football Team” played for the following two seasons, becoming the Commanders in 2022.