LA Times Crossword 15 Oct 26, Thursday

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Constructed by: Wyatt Johnston

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Picking a Fight

Themed answers are all common phrases reinterpreted as disputes between two parties cited in the corresponding clues:

• 17A Gas vs. electric? : OVEN BROIL
• 24A Kenwood vs. Sony? : RADIO STATIC
• 41A Old World vs. New World? : CONTINENTAL RIFT
• 51A Montagues vs. Capulets? : ITALIAN BEEF
• 66A Carnivore vs. vegetarian? : FOOD SCRAP

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

Bill’s time: 9m 26s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A __ bass : SLAP

Slap bass is a playing technique commonly used in funk, jazz, and rock music that involves hitting the strings with the thumb and popping or slapping them with the fingers to produce a percussive sound.

5A Support before a run, perhaps : 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.

9A One way to take the bull by the horns? : LASSO

Our English word “lasso” comes from the Spanish “lazo”, and ultimately from the Latin “laqueum” meaning “noose, snare”.

14A Gilded element in some religious art : HALO

The Greek word “halos” is the name given to the ring of light around the sun or moon, which gives us our word “halo” that is used for a radiant light depicted above the head of a saintly person.

15A “The Good Dinosaur” dinosaur : ARLO

“The Good Dinosaur” is a Pixar movie that premiered in Paris in November 2015 under the title “Le Voyage d’Arlo”.

20A Course selection for a student with senioritis, maybe : EASY A

“Senioritis” is the colloquial name given to the tendency of some senior students to lose motivation to study as they head towards the end of high school and college careers.

24A Kenwood vs. Sony? : RADIO STATIC

Kenwood is a brand of consumer electronics that was founded in 1946 as the Kasuga Radio Company, in Japan. The “Kenwood” name was chosen in recognition of the fact that Japanese electronics had a poor reputation in the West post-WWII. The “Ken” was selected as it evoked the already established “Kenmore” brand of appliances, and “wood” echoed the glamor of “Hollywood”.

Sony was founded by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The two partners met in the Japanese Navy during WWII.

27A Benders : SPREES

The terms “jag” and “bender” describe periods of unrestrained activity, particularly those involving alcohol. Both words have been in use since the 1800s.

31A Ruling to restart court proceedings : LET

That would be tennis.

32A Arctic Monkeys lead singer Turner : ALEX

Arctic Monkeys is a British rock band that formed in Sheffield, in the north of England, in 2002. They were one of the first bands to achieve massive fame primarily through Internet fan sharing. The grassroots hype led to their 2006 release “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” becoming the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history.

33A Denny’s rival : IHOP

The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) was founded back in 1958. The company officially popularized the acronym “IHOP” in 1973 as part of a marketing campaign. There was a brief rebrand in 2018 to “IHOb”, a stunt to promote a new line of burgers.

41A Old World vs. New World? : CONTINENTAL RIFT

In geological terms, a rift is a linear fracture in the outermost rocky shell (lithosphere) of a planet. Rifting can cause the breakup of continents (continental rifting) resulting in the formation of ocean basins.

The terms “Old World” and “New World” were originally used to distinguish the landmasses known to Europeans from the newly encountered Americas. Today, the terms are perhaps most often encountered in the worlds of zoology and winemaking. New World primates, for example, evolved prehensile tails for grasping branches, a physical trait completely absent in their Old World cousins. Traditional European vintages are described as Old World wines, identified by region. New World wines, from the Americas and Australia, are identified by grape variety.

44A Katana, e.g. : SWORD

A katana is a curved sword worn by the samurai of Japan. It is sometimes referred to as a “samurai sword”.

46A Home of the Taj Mahal : AGRA

Agra is a medieval city on the banks of the river Yamuna in India that was the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1658. The city is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

• The Taj Mahal: the famous mausoleum built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal.
• Agra Fort: the site where the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was seized.
• Fatehpur Sikri: a historic city that’s home to well-preserved Mughal architecture.

49A Country legend Willie : NELSON

Country singer, actor and activist Willie Nelson was born during the Great Depression in Abbott, Texas. He wrote his first song at the age of seven and joined his first band at the age of ten, and he is still going strong. Nelson has a ranch in Texas but now spends most of his time in Maui, where he lives in a largely self-sustaining community alongside neighbors such as Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson (and formerly the late Kris Kristofferson).

51A Montagues vs. Capulets? : ITALIAN BEEF

William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is all about the love between the two title characters, which is forbidden as the pair come from two families who are sworn enemies. Early in the play, Romeo (a Montague) sneaks into a masquerade ball being held by the Capulets in the hope of meeting a Capulet girl named Rosaline. Instead, he meets and falls for Juliet, also a Capulet. Tragedy ensues …

‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.

57A Sufi mystic who wrote the six-volume poem the Masnavi : RUMI

Rumi was a poet, theologian and mystic who lived and worked in the 13th century, towards the end of the Islamic Golden Age. His best known work is a six-volume poem titled “Spiritual Couplets” in English, which is sometimes referred to as “the Quran in Persian”.

68A Stanley’s “The Devil Wears Prada” role : NIGEL

“The Devil Wears Prada” is a 2003 novel by Lauren Weisberger that is set in the fashion industry. One of the main characters in the story is Miranda Priestly, the tyrannical editor-in-chief of the fictional fashion magazine “Runway”. It has been suggested that the Priestly character was inspired by Anna Wintour, the real life editor-in-chief of “Vogue”. Weisberger’s book was adapted into a very successful film with the same title that was released in 2006, with Meryl Streep playing Priestly.

Stanley Tucci is a UK-based American actor. Of his many fine performances, my favorite is in 2009’s “Julie & Julia”, a film in which he plays the husband of celebrity chef Julia Child. Tucci is quite the cook himself in real life and released “The Tucci Cookbook” in 2012. He was also a co-owner of the Finch Tavern restaurant in Croton Falls, New York.

Down

1D Card dispenser : SHOE

These days, a dealer in a casino usually deals cards from a shoe. The shoe has only been around since 1961 when it was invented by magician John Scarne. The dealing device is so called because early versions resembled a woman’s high-heel shoe.

2D Heavy-duty soap made by WD-40 : LAVA

Lava is a brand of soap that was introduced as a heavy-duty cleanser in 1893. Unlike soaps that are marketed using a “soft” image, Lava touts the inclusion of ground pumice that is intended to abrade grime off the skin. Pumice is found in certain types of lava ejected from a volcano, hence the name of the soap.

WD-40 is an aerosol spray that is primarily used to displace moisture, to protect from rust and corrosion. In fact, the “WD” in the name stands for “water displacement”.

8D Birling contest : ROLEO

The log-rolling competition traditionally engaged in by lumberjacks is referred to as “roleo”.

Birling is the name given to the log-rolling event at a lumberjack competition. “Birl” is a Scottish word meaning to spin or twirl.

12D __ Arabia : SAUDI

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab country in the Middle East, one of the world’s largest oil producers, and home to some of the world’s largest oil reserves. The Saudi dynasty started in central Arabia in 1744 when the secular leader Muhammad ibn Saud joined forces with the Islamic scholar and Imam, Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab. At the time, Saud was a ruler of a town near Riyadh and he was determined to bring “true” Islam to the Arabian peninsula. Since 1744 the fortunes of the Saud family have risen and fallen, but it is that same family who rules what we know today as Saudi Arabia.

13D Early Mesoamerican civilization : OLMEC

The Olmecs were an ancient civilization that lived in the lowlands of south-central Mexico from about 1500 BC to about 400 BC.

Mesoamerica is a region extending from Central Mexico, south to Costa Rica. It is known as an area where societies flourished prior to the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries.

22D Runway letters : YSL

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)

29D Silver State city : RENO

The official nickname of Nevada is the Silver State, a reference to the importance of silver ore in the state’s growth and economy. An unofficial nickname is the Battle Born State. “Battle Born” is a reference to Nevada being awarded statehood during the American Civil War.

35D Common Scrabble tile value : ONE

The game of Scrabble has been produced in many international versions, and each of these editions has its own tile distribution to suit the local language. For example, in English we have two tiles worth ten points: one “Q” and one “Z”. If you play the game in French then there are five tiles worth ten points: one “K”, one “W”, one “X”, one “Y” and one “Z”.

39D Curly coif : AFRO

A coif is a hairdo. The term “coif” comes from an old French term “coife” describing a skull-cap that was worn under a helmet back in the late 13th century.

40D Superfan : STAN

“Stan” is a song by rapper Eminem (featuring Dido) that was recorded in 2000. The title refers to a fictional Eminem fan named “Stan” who becomes obsessed with the rapper, and who grows irate when his letters to his idol go unanswered. Stan’s final act is to make a voice recording as he drives into a river, with his pregnant girlfriend locked in the trunk. One of the legacies of the song is that “stan” is now used as a slang term for an obsessed and maniacal fan.

42D Asian rice cake : IDLI

Idli (also “idly”) are savory rice cakes in the cuisine from the Indian subcontinent. The cakes are made from de-husked, fermented black lentils incorporated into a batter and then steamed.

43D Green Gables girl : ANNE

“Anne of Green Gables” is a 1908 novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery that she set in the fictional Prince Edward Island community of Avonlea. Montgomery wrote several sequels to “Anne”, with most of them being set on Prince Edward Island (PEI), from where the author hailed.

52D Spring bloom : TULIP

We usually associate the cultivation of tulips with the Netherlands, but they were first grown commercially in the Ottoman Empire. The name “tulip” ultimately derives from the Ottoman Turkish word “tulbend” that means “muslin, gauze”.

53D Latina friend : AMIGA

In Spanish, an “amigo” is a male friend, and an “amiga” a female friend.

55D Yankees manager Aaron : BOONE

Aaron Boone is a former MLB infielder who retired as a player in 2009, a few months after undergoing open-heart surgery to have a heart valve replaced. He then pursued a successful career in sports broadcasting, primarily with ESPN. In late 2017, Boone was hired as manager of the New York Yankees.

56D Street corn often topped with cotija : ELOTE

Corn in a cup (“elote en vaso”, or simply “elote”) is a Mexican street food. It is made with fresh corn kernels mixed with mayonnaise, cheese, lime and chile.

Cotija is a salty and milky cheese named for the Mexican town of Cotija from where it originated.

60D Cartoon supplier of instant roads : ACME

The Acme Corporation is a fictional company used mainly by Looney Tunes, and within the Looney Tunes empire it appears mostly in “Road Runner” cartoons. Wile E. Coyote is always receiving a new piece of gear from Acme designed to finally capture the Road Runner, but the equipment always leads to his downfall.