LA Times Crossword 3 Nov 26, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Kevin Shustack

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Four-Peats

All FOUR themed answers include the word “PEAT” hidden within:

• 52A Rare championship sequences, or what can be found in this puzzle’s circles : FOUR-PEATS

• 20A Marshy source of organic fuel : PEAT BOG
• 22A Attempt to hit : SWIPE AT
• 31A Budget-friendly fare : CHEAP EATS
• 41A Slip by unnoticed : ESCAPE ATTENTION

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

Bill’s time: 6m 05s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Saudi neighbor : OMANI

The Oman-Saudi Arabia border runs just over 400 miles. It extends from the tripoint shared with Yemen in the south to the tripoint shared with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the north.

10A Reasons to cry “April Fools!” : GAGS

April Fools’ Day is celebrated on April 1st in the Western world. In the US (and Ireland) one can make practical jokes all day long if one wants, but in the UK there is a noon deadline. Anyone pranking after midday is called an “April Fool”.

15A Former One Direction member Niall : HORAN

Niall Horan is an Irish singer and former member of the British boy band One Direction. He is from Mullingar, a town in the middle of the country from where my own ancestors hail. That’s really all that I know about him …

One Direction (1D) is a UK-based boy band. Each member of the band competed in the reality show “The X Factor”, and didn’t do very well. The five were then combined in a boy band at a later stage of the competition. They only finished in third place, but I don’t think they care. They’re doing very, very well for “losers” …

16A Actor Morales : ESAI

Esai Morales is not only a successful actor, he is also a trained martial artist, having studied the Korean martial art of taekwondo since he was a teenager.

18A “April Fools!” : GOT YA!

Don’t forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors on a regular basis. A public information campaign in Australia recommends doing so on April Fools’ Day every year. Not a bad idea …

19A Epistles: Abbr. : LTRS

By definition, an epistle is a writing sent by one person to a group of people, with the name “epistle” coming from the Greek word for “a letter”. The 21 epistles of the New Testament are letters from various of the Apostles to groups of Christians, with most of them being written by Paul.

20A Marshy source of organic fuel : PEAT BOG

When dead plant matter accumulates in marshy areas, it may not fully decay due to a lack of oxygen or acidic conditions. We are familiar with this in Ireland, because this decaying matter can form peat, and we have lots and lots of peat bogs around the country.

24A Touched down on a runway : LANDED

We’ve been using the term “runway” in the context of airports since 1923. Back in the 1830s, a runway was a track used customarily by animals. We have two runways, one on either side of our house, that are used daily by families of deer. We’re very lucky …

26A “Middlemarch” novelist George : ELIOT

“George Eliot” was the pen name of English novelist Mary Anne Evans. As one might think, Evans chose a male pen name in order that her work might be best appreciated in the Victorian era. Eliot wrote seven novels including “Adam Bede” (1859), “The Mill on the Floss” (1860), “Silas Marner” (1861) and “Middlemarch” (1871-72).

George Eliot’s novel “Middlemarch” was first published in installments in 1871-72. The storyline is set some fifty years earlier, in the fictional English Midlands town of Middlemarch.

34A __ tai: cocktail : MAI

The mai tai cocktail is strongly associated with the Polynesian islands, but the drink was supposedly invented in 1944 in Trader Vic’s restaurant in Oakland, California. One recipe is 6 parts white rum, 3 parts orange curaçao, 3 parts orgeat syrup, 1 part rock candy syrup, 2 parts fresh lime juice, all mixed with ice and then a float added of 6 parts dark rum. “Maita’i” is the Tahitian word for “good”. The mai tai was officially designated as the official cocktail of Oakland in 2024.

38A Show hosts, for short : MCS

Master or Mistress of Ceremonies (MC)

46A Eighth Greek letter : THETA

The letter theta is the eighth in the Greek alphabet, and the one that looks like the number zero with a horizontal line across the middle.

47A “Science Guy” Bill : NYE

That would be “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. In addition to his career as a science educator, Nye is also a comedian. He performed stand-up comedy during his early years as an engineer.

48A “Live at the Acropolis” musician : YANNI

“Yanni Live at the Acropolis” is an album and music video featuring Greek New Age musician Yanni. The album and video were recorded live in 1993 at a concert in the Herodes Atticus Theatre that was built in 161 AD on the southwest slope of the Acropolis in Athens. The event was billed as a fundraising project for PBS television and the video is still used to bring in cash for the TV network. “Yanni Live at the Acropolis” is the second best-selling music video of all time, behind “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.

56A Acid counterpart : BASE

The alkali metals form the first column of the periodic table of the elements, consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium and others. All are soft metals that are very reactive. Alkali metals are so reactive in air that they must be stored under oil.

66A Zero, in tennis : LOVE

In sports like tennis, the score of zero is designated as “love”. Some people believe that this usage originates from the French “l’oeuf” (meaning “the egg”). The idea is that the written character “0” looks like an egg.

68A Long shots, in hoops lingo : TREYS

A trey is a three in a deck of cards. The term “trey” can also be used for a domino with three pips, and even for a three-point shot in basketball.

69A Black-__ Susan : EYED

Black-eyed Susan is the name given to a number of herbs and garden flowers that are native to North America. All are members of the sunflower family and have flowers with yellow petals and a brown center.

Down

2D “Because you’re worth it” cosmetics brand : L’OREAL

L’Oréal is a French cosmetics company, the largest cosmetics and beauty company in the world. Here in the US, L’Oréal runs a “Women of Worth” program that honors women who volunteer in their communities. The phrase “Women of Worth” underlines the longstanding L’Oréal slogan “Because I’m worth it”, which evolved into “Because you’re worth it” and eventually “Because we’re worth it”.

3D Italian fashion house : ARMANI

Giorgio “Gio” Armani was an Italian fashion designer and founder of the company that has borne his name since 1975. Although Armani was famous for his menswear, the company makes everything from jewelry to perfume.

4D Scholar pursuing an advanced deg. : POSTDOC

A postdoc is someone carrying out research or study after receipt of a doctorate.

6D Big name in synthesizers : MOOG

In the sixties, Robert Moog invented the Moog Synthesizer, an electronic device that he used to produce music. I used to own a Moog version of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” that was recorded by Japanese electronic musician Isao Tomita. What a great performance that is …

7D Museum display : ART

The term “museum” comes from the ancient Greek word “mouseion” that denoted a temple dedicated to the “Muses”. The Muses were the patrons of the arts in Greek mythology.

10D Felt-tip alternatives : GEL PENS

Gel pens use a water-based gel ink that is thicker than traditional ballpoint ink, resulting in bolder lines and a more fluid feel. They were first produced by the Japanese company Sakura Color Products in the 1980s. The first model sold by Sakura in the US was called the Gelly Roll. Cute …

21D Word in many temple names : BETH

Beth is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and can be used to mean “house of”. In Jewish tradition, it is used as the opening word in the names of many synagogues and temples, such as Beth El (“House of God”) and Beth Shalom (“House of Peace”). The same Hebrew root forms famous biblical place names like Bethlehem (“House of Bread”) and Bethesda (“House of Mercy”).

27D Kitchen wrap brand : SARAN

What’s known as plastic wrap in America, we call cling-film in Ireland. The brand name “Saran” is often used generically in the US, while “Glad” wrap is common down under. Plastic wrap was one of those unintended inventions, a byproduct of a development program to create a dry-cleaning product.

29D Al __: pasta specification : DENTE

The Italian expression “al dente” literally means “to the tooth” or “to the bite” and is used to describe not only pasta, but also vegetables that are cooked so that they are tender and yet still crisp.

32D Female sheep : EWE

An adult male sheep is a ram, although a castrated ram is known as a wether. An adult female is a ewe, and a young sheep is a lamb.

34D Queens baseball players : METS

The New York Mets (NYM) baseball team was founded in 1962 as a replacement for two teams that the city had lost, namely the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. For several years the Mets played very poorly, finishing no better than second-to-last in the National League. Then along came the “Miracle Mets” (aka “Amazin’ Mets”) who beat the Baltimore Orioles in 1969 to claim the World Series in a huge upset.

35D Queens tennis stadium namesake : ASHE

Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York opened in 1997, and is the largest outdoor, tennis-only venue in the world. The stadium was often criticized for not having a retractable dome to protect the playing surface from inclement weather. Well, that changed in 2016 when the stadium debuted its new retractable roof, a $150 million investment in the facility.

39D NCAA div. : CONF

Conference (conf.)

43D El __, Texas : PASO

Although there have been human settlements in the El Paso area for thousands of years, the first European settlement was founded in 1659 by the Spanish. That first community was on the south bank of the Rio Grande, and was called El Paso del Norte (the North Pass). Most of the urban development under Spanish rule took place on the south side of the river, with El Paso del Norte acting as the center of governance for the Spanish for the territory of New Mexico. The Rio Grande was chosen as the border between Mexico and the US in 1848, so most of the city of El Paso del Norte became part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua (and is now called Ciudad Juárez). The area north of the river developed as a US military post, eventually becoming the modern city of El Paso, Texas.

45D Neighborhood event with good deals : TAG SALE

A tag sale is a sale of household belongings, so called because the prices are usually marked on tags attached to the items for sale.

55D “Inside Out 2” emotion voiced by Ayo Edebiri : ENVY

Actor, comedian and television writer Ayo Edebiri gained prominence for her role as Sydney Adamu, the young sous-chef in the very successful Hulu series “The Bear”.

“Inside Out 2” is the 2024 sequel to the 2015 animated film “Inside Out”. The original follows a young girl named Riley, looking inside her mind as she deals with five personified emotions: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. The sequel introduces four new emotions that Riley, now 13 years old, has to deal with: Anxiety, Envy, Ennui, and Embarrassment. I haven’t seen either of these films, and they do sound intriguing …

57D Tooth care org. : ADA

American Dental Association (ADA)

58D __ as a fox : SLY

Foxes are often described as cunning or sly. This is a reference to their reputation for eluding hunters.

61D “Inside Out 2” emotion voiced by Amy Poehler : JOY

“Inside Out” is a 2015 Pixar animated feature film. It’s all about a young girl who relocates with her family from Minnesota to San Francisco. The movie’s action is actually set inside the girl’s head, as five personified emotions deal with the changes she has to face. Those emotions are voiced by:

• Amy Poehler (Joy)
• Phyllis Smith (Sadness)
• Lewis Black (Anger)
• Bill Hader (Fear)
• Mindy Kaling (Disgust)

62D “__ Maria” : AVE

“Ave Maria” (“Hail Mary” in English) is the prayer at the core of the Roman Catholic Rosary, which itself is a set of prayers asking for the assistance of the Virgin Mary. Much of the text of the “Hail Mary” comes from the Gospel of Luke. The words in Latin are:

AVE MARIA, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

The prayer has been adapted as a hymn. The two most famous musical versions of “Ave Maria” are by Charles Gounod (based on a piece by Bach) and by Franz Schubert.

63D Like Clifford of kid lit : RED

“Clifford the Big Red Dog” is a series of children’s books by Norman Bridwell. The title character is the pet dog of an 8-year-old girl Emily Elizabeth, who Bridwell named for his daughter. The books are published by Scholastic Corporation, which adopted Clifford as its mascot after the books’ success.