LA Times Crossword 11 Oct 26, Sunday

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Constructed by: Danny Ebbighausen

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Recipe for Disaster

Themed answers are common instructions found in a RECIPE, but reapplied to chaotic or DISASTROUS situations:

• 21A Arrive à la Cinderella? : ROLL INTO A BALL
• 33A Chef who plans to retire with the perfect tan? : COOK UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN
• 50A Dental advice from Lea & Perrins? : BRUSH WITH SAUCE
• 79A Dinner guest who refuses to use chopsticks and probably won’t show up? : FLAKE WITH A FORK
• 93A Mini-mart on the edge of the Gobi Desert? : STORE IN A COOL DRY PLACE
• 113A Spring roll or summer sausage? : SEASON TO TASTE

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

Bill’s time: 16m 17s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Glances in a pool hall : CAROMS

A carom is a ricochet, the bouncing of some projectile off a surface. “Carom” has come to describe the banking of a billiard ball, the bouncing of the ball off the side of the table.

7A Longtime Miami Heat star, familiarly : D-WADE

Dwyane Wade is a basketball player who started his NBA career with the Miami Heat in 2003. “D-Wade” was chosen as the “Sports Illustrated” Sportsman of the Year in 2006.

19A Italian sausage seasoning : FENNEL

Fennel is a hardy perennial plant species in the celery family that is used as a herb. It also goes by the name “sweet anise”. Personally, I can’t stand the stuff …

20A Cure-all : PANACEA

Panacea was the Greek goddess of healing. She lent her name to the term “panacea” that was used by alchemists to describe the beguiling remedy that could cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely.

21A Arrive à la Cinderella? : ROLL INTO A BALL

The folktale usually known as “Cinderella” was published by French author Charles Perrault in 1697, although it was later included by the Brothers Grimm in their famous 1812 collection. The storyline of the tale may date back as far as the days of ancient Greece. A common alternative title to the story is “The Little Glass Slipper”.

24A Focus of an outdoor museum in Las Vegas : NEON

The Neon Museum in Las Vegas opened in 1996 and features many old signs from the heyday of the Las Vegas Strip. Much of the museum is a “boneyard”, housing about 150 signs on 6 acres of land.

25A People of the Sioux Nation : OGLALA

The Oglala are a subtribe of the Lakota Native American people. The name “Oglala” translates from the Lakota language as “to scatter one’s own”.

32A Internet pioneer acquired by the tech conglomerate Bending Spoons in 2026 : AOL

Bending Spoons is an Italian technology company that was founded in 2013 in Copenhagen before relocating to Milan. It has grown into a multibillion-dollar software empire known for acquiring and restructuring prominent digital brands like Evernote, Meetup, Vimeo, and AOL. Bending Spoons takes its unusual name from a scene in the sci-fi film “The Matrix”, in which a young boy bends a spoon with his mind.

33A Chef who plans to retire with the perfect tan? : COOK UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN

Melanin is a natural pigment found in most organisms. In humans, melanin is the pigment in the skin, the production of which accelerates in response to UV radiation causing a “tan”. Melanin is also what is released as cephalopod ink, a defensive cloud squirted into the water by squids and octopodes.

43A R&B legend Redding : OTIS

Otis Redding is often referred to as the “King of Soul”, and what a voice he had. Like so many of the greats in the world of popular music it seems, Redding was killed in a plane crash, in 1967 when he was just 26 years old. Just three days earlier he had recorded what was to be his biggest hit, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”.

44A Spring bloom : PEONY

The flowering plant called a peony is named for Paean, the mythical physician to the Greek gods. Indiana adopted the peony as its state flower in 1957.

47A Purple shade : PUCE

The name of the purple shade known as “puce” has a strange derivation. “Puce” came into English from French, in which language “puce” means “flea”. Supposedly, puce is the color of a flea … or a bloodstain left after a flea is quashed!

48A Festival that bestows a Grand Prix : CANNES

Cannes is a city on the French Riviera that is noted as host of the Cannes Film Festival. The decision to host an annual film festival came just before WWII. However, the festival had to wait for the end of the war for its launch in 1946.

The Grand Prix is the second-most prestigious prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival, ranking just below the Palme d’Or. It was introduced in 1967 as the “Grand Prix Spécial du Jury”, and is determined by the festival’s pre-appointed international jury to highlight a standout feature film in the main competition.

50A Dental advice from Lea & Perrins? : BRUSH WITH SAUCE

Sauce producer Lea & Perrins was founded way back in 1837, in the city of Worcester, England. The company’s most famous product is Worcestershire sauce, which was named for the county in which the condiment was first produced.

61A Sunflower bit : SEED

The common sunflower is so called because it has a flower head that looks like the Sun. Famously, young sunflowers exhibit heliotropism, tilting during the day to face the sun. As the sunflowers mature and bloom, they generally face east and no longer track the movement of the Sun across the sky.

66A Mount Ka’ala’s island : OAHU

Mount Kaʻala is the highest peak on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. It is an eroded shield volcano with a plateau at the summit. That plateau is dominated by a golf-ball-shaped FAA radar dome used to track Pacific air traffic.

69A Some unofficial sequels, informally : FANFIC

Fan fiction (also “fanfic”) is fiction created by fans of an original work that uses characters from that original work.

74A Paramount channel : CBS

Paramount Pictures is one of the oldest surviving film studios, and is the last major studio that still has its headquarters in Hollywood. Paramount was founded in 1912 as the Famous Players Film Company by Adolph Zukor, with partners Daniel and Charles Frohman. Paramount is now owned by Viacom.

82A Half a zygote : EGG

“Zygote” is the name given to the cell formed when (in the case of humans) a sperm fertilizes an egg. It is the earliest stage in the development of an embryo. The term “zygote” comes from the Greek for “joined, yoked”.

83A Short program : APPLET

“Applet” is the name given to a small application that runs within a larger computer program.

88A Quote from Homer : D’OH

“The Simpsons” is one of the most successful programs produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer Simpson’s catchphrase is “D’oh!”, which became such a famous exclamation that it has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) since 2001. “D’oh!” can be translated as “I should have thought of that!”

89A Noir’s counterpart in roulette : ROUGE

In the game of roulette, players can bet on “rouge” (red) and “noir” (black).

The term “roulette” means “little wheel” in French, and the game as we know it today did in fact originate in Paris, in 1796. A roulette wheel bears the numbers 1-36, and sometimes 0 and 00. A French entrepreneur called François Blanc introduced the single-zero wheel, to attract players to his casino by reducing the house advantage. Legend has it that Blanc made a deal with the devil in order to unearth the secrets of roulette. The legend is supported by the fact that the numbers 1 through 36 add up to a total of “666”, which is the “Number of the Beast”. Spooky …

93A Mini-mart on the edge of the Gobi Desert? : STORE IN A COOL DRY PLACE

The Gobi Desert is known for its extreme temperatures, from freezing winters to scorching summers. Its most remarkable resident might be the Gobi bear, known locally as the Mazaalai. It is an endangered subspecies of brown bear that is found only in the Gobi Desert. It is considered the rarest bear in the world, with a population estimated to be fewer than 40 individuals.

97A Cold-water fish : COD

In Britain and Ireland, the most common fish that is used in traditional “fish and chips” is Atlantic cod. Cod has been overfished all over the world, and is now considered to be an endangered species by many international bodies. Confrontations over fishing rights in the North Atlantic led to conflicts called “the Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK in the 1950s and the 1970s, with fishing fleets being protected by naval vessels and even shots being fired.

98A Cold-water fish : SMELT

“Smelt” is the name given to several types of small silvery fish, with examples being Great Lake smelts and whitebait smelts.

99A Mex. neighbor : USA

The Mexico-US border is the most frequently-crossed border in the world, although it is only the tenth longest border in the world between two countries.

103A Web designer : SPIDER

The silk that makes up a web is a protein fiber that is “spun” by a spider. Spider silk is about one sixth of the density of steel, yet has a comparable tensile strength.

107A “The X-Files” topic : UFOS

“The X-Files” is a very successful science fiction show that originally aired on the Fox network from 1993 to 2002. The stars of the show are David Duchovny (playing Fox Mulder) and the very talented Gillian Anderson (playing Dana Scully). By the time the series ended, “The X-Files” was the longest running sci-fi show in US broadcast history. An “X-Files” reboot started airing in 2016 with Duchovny and Anderson reprising their starring roles.

113A Spring roll or summer sausage? : SEASON TO TASTE

Spring rolls are so called as they were historically a seasonal food consumed in the spring. Those early pancakes were filled with freshly harvested spring vegetables.

Summer sausage is a sausage that can be stored without refrigeration. It actually earned its name long before the invention of refrigeration, as it was one of the few meat products that could be safely kept on a shelf and eaten during the hot summer months. The secret to its stability lies in a traditional process of curing, smoking, and bacterial fermentation, which significantly lowers the meat’s pH to inhibit spoilage.

116A Pine, for one : CONIFER

The cones of conifers are the tree’s reproductive structures. There are both male and female cones. We are most familiar with woody cones, and these are the female structures that produce seeds. Male cones are softer and are not woody, and they produce pollen.

118A Dancer partner : DASHER

We get the names for Santa’s reindeer from the famous 1823 poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, although we’ve modified a couple of the names over the years. The full list is:

• Dasher
• Dancer
• Prancer
• Vixen
• Comet
• Cupid
• Donder (originally “Dunder”, and now often “Donner”)
• Blitzen (originally “Blixem”)

Rudolph was added to the list by retailer Montgomery Ward, would you believe? The store commissioned Robert L. May to create a booklet that could be handed out to children around Christmas in 1939, and May introduced us to a new friend for Santa, namely Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

120A Balance sheet item : ASSET

The balance sheet of a company is a snapshot (single-point-in-time) view of a company’s financial position. The balance sheet lists all the company’s liabilities, all of its assets, and all of its ownership equity. The assets of a company, less its liabilities equals the ownership equity. The term “balance” is used because assets always balance out with the sum of liabilities and shareholder equity.

Down

2D “East of Eden” brother based on Abel : ARON

John Steinbeck considered his 1952 novel “East of Eden” to be his magnum opus. Most of the storyline takes place near Salinas, just south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Two of the characters in the story are brothers Cal and Aron Trask, representative of the biblical Cain and Abel.

5D National repair chain that began as a muffler shop : MEINEKE

The Meineke chain of automotive repair shops started out in 1972 as Meineke Discount Muffler, founded by Sam Meineke in San Antonio, Texas.

8D A’ja Wilson’s org. : WNBA

Professional basketball player A’ja Wilson was the first pick in the 2018 WNBA draft, after which she signed for the Las Vegas Aces. She won Olympic Gold at the 2020 Olympics, and captained the Aces in 2022 when the team won their first league championship title.

10D FDR part : DELANO

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the only child of Sara Delano and James Roosevelt Sr. The Delano family history in America goes back to the pilgrim Philippe de Lannoy, an immigrant of Flemish descent who arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. The family name “de Lannoy” was anglicized here in the US, to “Delano”. Franklin was to marry Eleanor Roosevelt, and apparently the relationship between Sara and her daughter-in-law was very “strained”.

13D “SNL” alum Gasteyer : ANA

Ana Gasteyer is an actress best known for being a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) from 1996 to 2002. Gasteyer was famous on SNL for playing Martha Stewart … topless!

20D Membership platform for content creators : PATREON

Patreon is a digital membership platform used by content creators wanting or needing a subscription service. It allows creators to generate income beyond the traditional advertising model, giving an opportunity for “patrons” to sponsor a creator’s work.

22D Mickey or Minnie : TOON

Minnie and Mickey Mouse were both introduced to the world in 1928. Minnie was originally known as Minerva, and sometimes still is. Both Mickey and Minnie were originally voiced by Walt Disney himself.

31D Llama kin : ALPACA

Alpacas are like small llamas, but unlike llamas were never beasts of burden. They were bred specifically for the fleece. As such, there are no known wild alpacas these days, even in their native Peru.

33D Hooded snake : COBRA

“Cobra” is the name given to a group of snakes, some of which are in different families. The term is reserved for those snakes that can expand their neck ribs to create a hood. The name “cobra” is an abbreviated form of “cobra de capello” which translates from Portuguese as “snake with hood”.

37D Like poison ivy : ITCHY

Two of the plants that are most painful to humans are poison oak and poison ivy. Poison oak is mainly found west of the Rocky Mountains, and poison ivy to the east.

47D Kate Middleton’s sister : PIPPA

Pippa Middleton is the younger sister of Kate Middleton, aka Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Pippa has been chased by the media ever since she appeared as the maid of honor in her sister’s wedding to Prince William.

52D Threat in some fairy tales : WOLF

The Big Bad Wolf is a character in many folklore stories, including “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Three Little Pigs”. Walt Disney’s version of the Big Bad Wolf is called Zeke Wolf, and has a son called Li’l Bad Wolf, or just “Li’l Wolf” to his friends.

53D Smart __ : ALECK

Apparently, the original “smart Alec” (sometimes “Aleck”) was one Alec Hoag, a pimp, thief and confidence trickster who plied his trade in New York City in the 1840s.

63D Italian automaker : FIAT

Fiat is the largest car manufacturer in Italy, and is headquartered in Turin in the Piedmont region in the north of the country. Fiat was founded in 1899 by Giovanni Agnelli, when the company’s name was “Fabbrica Italiana di Automobili Torino” (FIAT). A few years ago, Fiat became the majority shareholder in Chrysler.

67D Jargon : ARGOT

“Argot” is a French term. It is the name given in the 17th century to “the jargon of the Paris underworld”. Nowadays argot is a set of idioms used by any particular group, the “lingo” of that group.

The noun “jargon” can describe nonsensical and meaningless talk, or the specialized language of a particular group, trade or profession. The term “jargon” is Old French, with the more usual meaning of “chattering”. How apt …

68D Like premium gasoline : HIGH-OCTANE

The difference between premium and regular gasoline is its octane rating. This is a measure of the resistance of the gasoline to auto-ignition i.e. its resistance to ignition just by virtue of being compressed in the cylinder. This auto-ignition is undesirable as multiple-cylinder engines are designed so that ignition within each cylinder takes place precisely when the plug sparks, and not before. If ignition occurs before the spark is created, the resulting phenomenon is called “knocking”. We sometimes use the adjective “high-octane” to mean “intense, dynamic, high-powered”

70D Contest between Giants and Titans, e.g. : NFL GAME

The New York Giants (NYG) football team plays home games in MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a stadium shared with the New York Jets (NYJ). The Giants are the only team remaining from a group of five that joined the league in 1925. For many years, the Giants shared team names with the New York Giants MLB team, before the baseball franchise moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season.

The Tennessee Titans football team is based in Nashville, having relocated to Nashville from Houston in 1997. The team was called the Tennessee Oilers for two seasons, before adopting the “Titans” moniker.

72D Pulitzer Prize, for one : AWARD

Pulitzer Prizes are awarded annually for achievements in journalism, literature and musical composition. The prize was established back in 1917 by the Hungarian-American newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer. Pulitzer left money in his will for the prize, and for its administration by Columbia University.

73D Number in the NATO alphabet : NINER

In the NATO phonetic alphabet, the number 9 is pronounced “niner”.

76D Largest of the Inner Hebrides : SKYE

The Isle of Skye is off the northwest coast of Scotland in the Inner Hebrides. It is the second largest island in the country, and has been linked to the mainland by a road bridge since 1995. I’ve never been there, but I hear the views are spectacular.

81D World Cup org. : FIFA

The International Federation of Association Football (“Fédération Internationale de Football Association” in French) is usually referred to by the acronym “FIFA”. FIFA is the governing body of the game of soccer (association football), and the organizer of the FIFA World Cup held every four years.

92D Mexican dish with fried tortillas : FLAUTAS

A “flauta”, also known as a “taquito”, is a rolled tortilla with some kind of filling that has been deep-fried until it is crispy.

95D “Full House” twins : OLSENS

I know very little about the Olsen twins, but I am told that many folks believe Mary-Kate and Ashley to be identical twins. They look very much alike, but are in fact fraternal twins. The sisters were cast as Michelle Tanner on the eighties sitcom “Full House”, taking turns playing the role.

96D Mongolian dwelling : YURT

A yurt is a wood-framed dwelling that is used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. Although a yurt is a substantial structure, it is also extremely portable.

102D Iowa college town : AMES

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

106D Sinus doc : ENT

Ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT)

108D Lickety-split : FAST

“Lickety-split” is the latest in a line of terms that come from the word “lick”, which was used in the sense of a “fast sprint in a race” back in the early 1800s. From “lick” there evolved “licketie”, “lickety-click”, “lickety-cut” and finally “lickety-split”, all just colorful ways to say “fast”.

109D Worker welfare org. : OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

110D “Ignore that suggested edit” : STET

“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

113D One-named “Chandelier” singer : SIA

“Chandelier” is a 2014 song by Australian singer Sia. I don’t know the song myself, but it sounds like it’s a bit of a downer, dealing with alcoholism, addiction and excessive hedonism.