LA Times Crossword 16 Feb 23, Thursday

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Constructed by: Joe Deeney
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Change Purse

Themed answers each include the letter string “PURSE”, but with the order of the letters CHANGED:

  • 56A *Spot for coins, and what five letters in each answer to a starred clue do? : CHANGE PURSE
  • 16A *Research without direct application : PURE SCIENCE
  • 23A *Czechoslovakian movement of 1968 : PRAGUE SPRING
  • 34A *Helpline offering : CUSTOMER SUPPORT
  • 45A *Commerce imbalance : TRADE SURPLUS

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

Bill’s time: 8m 48s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Striped pet : TABBY

Tabbies aren’t a breed of cat, but rather are cats with particular markings regardless of breed. Tabbies have coats with stripes, dots and swirling patterns, and usually an “M” mark on the forehead.

6 “__ chic!” : TRES

“Très chic” is a French term meaning “very stylish”.

14 Bridge predecessor : WHIST

Whist is an English card game that involves the taking of tricks. Whist is a derivative of the earlier game of Trump or Ruff that was played in the 16th century. Back in Ireland, where I come from, whist tournaments are extremely popular and are known as “whist drives”.

18 Spending power, for short : CFO

Chief financial officer (CFO)

19 “No Ordinary Love” singer : SADE

“No Ordinary Love” is a 1992 song released by the band Sade from England. The accompanying music video features the band’s lead singer Sade Adu portraying a mermaid in a wedding dress searching for a sailor that she had kissed. That is no ordinary love …

23 *Czechoslovakian movement of 1968 : PRAGUE SPRING

The Prague Spring was a period of reform and unrest in Czechoslovakia in 1968 that followed the election of reformist Alexander Dubček as de facto leader of the country. The freedoms granted to Czech citizens by Dubček were not received well by the Soviet Union, which ordered Warsaw Pact troops and tanks into Czechoslovakia. After eight months of popular resistance, the vast majority of reforms were reversed, and Dubček was replaced.

27 Yuletide song : NOEL

Yule celebrations coincide with Christmas, and the words “Christmas” and “Yule” (often “Yuletide”) have become synonymous in much of the world. However, Yule was originally a pagan festival celebrated by Germanic peoples. The name “Yule” comes from the Old Norse word “jol” that was used to describe the festival.

30 Father of the Muses : ZEUS

In Greek mythology, the muses are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. The number of muses is a subject of debate at times, but the most popular view is that there are nine:

  • Calliope (epic poetry)
  • Clio (history)
  • Erato (lyric poetry)
  • Euterpe (music)
  • Melpomene (tragedy)
  • Polyhymnia (choral poetry)
  • Terpsichore (dance)
  • Thalia (comedy)
  • Urania (astronomy)

33 Score half : TEN

Our verb “to score” meaning “to tally”, comes from the Old Norse “skor”, which is a “mark, notch”. It is likely that items such as livestock were counted by placing a notch in a stick for each set of twenty, hence our use of the noun “score” to mean “twenty”.

39 Noodle nugget : IDEA

Slang terms for “head” include “bean”, “coconut”, “gourd”, “noodle” and “noggin”.

40 “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s __”: Caldecott Medal winner by Verna Aardema : EARS

The storyline in Verna Aardema’s 1975 children’s picture book “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears” is based on an African legend. The mosquito at the center of the tale kicks off a chain of unfortunate events by lying to an iguana. At the end of the book, the mosquito is constantly buzzing in the ears of humans, simply to find out if everyone is still mad at her for what she did.

44 “An Caighdeán Oifigiúil” language : ERSE

“An Caighdeán Oifigiúil” (“The Official Standard” in English) is a version of the Irish language that is taught in schools in Ireland, and that is used in official documents.

51 Becomes compost : ROTS

Composting is the process of decomposing organic matter to make the soil conditioner known as “compost”. The term “compost” ultimately comes from the Latin “com” (together) and “ponere” (to place). Compost is best made by “putting together” green waste that is rich in nitrogen, with brown waste that is rich in carbon, all in the presence of water and air.

59 Baseball great Ripken : CAL

Cal Ripken played his entire, 20-year professional baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles. Ripken was known as the “Iron Man” because he showed up for work every day, come rain or shine. He played 2,632 straight games, blowing past the previous 2,130-game record held by Lou Gehrig.

61 Isaac of “Moon Knight” : OSCAR

Oscar Isaac is an actor from Guatemala who was raised in Miami. Before acting, Isaac played lead guitar in his own band called the Blinking Underdogs. Isaac portrayed X-wing pilot Poe Dameron in several of the “Star Wars” movies.

“Moon Knight” is a TV miniseries featuring the Marvel Comics character of the same name, played by Oscar Isaac.

63 Response heard during a pool game : POLO

Marco Polo is a game of tag that is played in a swimming pool. Marco! Polo!

Down

1 Spigots : TAPS

Back in the 15th century, a spigot was specifically a plug to stop a hole in a cask. Somewhere along the way, a spigot had a valve added for variable control of flow.

2 Río flower : AGUA

In Spanish, “agua” (water) is found in a “río” (river), and around an “isla” (island).

3 __ of paradise : BIRD

Birds-of-paradise form a family of birds that are noted for the elaborate plumage of the males of most species. Most are found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia, and usually in dense rainforest habitats.

6 Org. with 27 member states : THE EU

The European Union (EU) was established in 1993 when twelve European nations brought into effect the Treaty on European Union, usually referred to as the Maastricht Treaty. Those original members of the EU were the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Irish Republic, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

8 Key to going back? : ESC

The escape key (Esc) was originally used just to control computer peripherals. It was a key that allowed the computer operator to stop what the peripheral was doing (cancel a print job, for example). Nowadays the escape key is used for all sorts of things, especially in gaming programs.

9 Grassy expanse : STEPPE

A steppe is a grassland that is devoid of trees, apart from those growing near rivers and lakes. The term “steppe” is Russian in origin, and is used to describe the geographical feature that extends across Eurasia. In South Africa, the same feature is called a “veld”, and in North America it is called a “prairie”.

10 Word on an Italian menu that means “hunter” : CACCIATORE

In Italian cuisine, a dish with the name “alla cacciatora” is prepared “hunter-style”. The ingredients in a cacciatore dish usually include onions, herbs, tomatoes, bell peppers and wine.

12 Classic Pontiac muscle car : GTO

The Pontiac GTO was produced by GM from 1964 to 1974, and again by a GM subsidiary in Australia from 2004 to 2006. The original GTO’s design is credited to Pontiac chief engineer at the time John DeLorean, who later founded the DeLorean Motor Company.

17 Anthracite or lignite : COAL

Anthracite is the variety of coal that has the highest carbon content. It is also the form of coal that generates the most heat when burned.

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 what can form then is peat. If the peat bogs get covered over with sedimentary matter, over time pressure and heat can dry out the peat forming a soft brown material called lignite. Given further heat and pressure, and time, lignite converts to coal. So, lignite is a material with characteristics between peat and coal, and is often called “brown coal”.

22 __ de Triomphe : ARC

L’Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile in Paris was built to honor those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. It is the second largest triumphal arch in the world, after the Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, North Korea. If you are visiting Paris, don’t just take a picture of the arch, be sure to go inside and see the marvelous chambers and carvings, and wander around on top of the arch so that you can enjoy the magnificent view.

24 Nevada city about 100 miles from Burning Man : RENO

The city of Reno’s economy took off when open gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931. Within a short time, a syndicate had built the Bank Club in Reno, which was the largest casino in the world at the time.

Burning Man is an annual festival that is held in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, although the first such gathering was held in 1986 on Baker Beach near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The name of the festival comes from the burning of a wooden effigy of “the man”.

25 The Aztecs of the NCAA’s Mountain West Conf. : SDSU

The Aztecs are the athletic teams of San Diego State university. The team mascot is the Aztec Warrior.

26 Bloke : GENT

“Bloke” is British slang for “fellow”. The etymology of “bloke” seems to have been lost in the mists of time.

27 Center of a 3-4 football defense : NOSE TACKLE

That would be (American) football.

29 Spanish dialect in the Big Apple : NUYORICAN

The word “Nuyorican” refers to the Puerto Rican diaspora and their descendants living in and around New York City. The term is a portmanteau of “New York” and “Puerto Rican”.

30 Character debuted by Zadie Smith? : ZED

The debut letter in the name “Zadie Smith” is a letter Z (zed).

Zadie Smith is an author from the UK whose first novel, “White Teeth”, became an immediate best-seller in 2000. Apparently, a partial manuscript of “White Teeth” was so well-received by insiders that a bidding war developed for the rights to publish.

32 Can. neighbor : USA

The US-Canada border is the longest international border in the world. The total length is 5,525 miles. Canada’s border with the lower 48 states is 3,987 miles long, and the border with Alaska extends 1,538 miles.

36 Home of many Quechua speakers : PERU

Quechua was the Native-American language adopted by the Incan Empire and favored over other dialects. Today, Quechua is one of the official languages in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, alongside Spanish.

37 Means to an end? : PASS RUSH

That would also be (American) football.

44 Conditional programming word : ELSE

In computer programming, an ELSE-IF conditional statement is used to create a chain of IF statements. The chain starts with an IF statement. When that IF statement is false, the ELSE-IF statement is evaluated. When that ELSE-IF statement is false, a second ELSE-IF statement can be used as a further option; and so on down the chain.

46 Mover’s rental : 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 about 15,000 U-Haul dealers across the country.

52 Largest member of the dolphin family : ORCA

The taxonomic name for the killer whale is “Orcinus orca”. The use of the name “orca”, rather than “killer whale”, is becoming more and more common. The Latin word “Orcinus” means “belonging to Orcus”, with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.

53 Leader in the Bulgarian Empire : TSAR

Bulgaria was at the center of two empires in medieval times. The First Bulgarian Empire lasted from the seventh to the eleventh century, and the second Bulgarian Empire lasted from the twelfth to the fourteenth century.

54 Feudal laborer : SERF

A serf was a member of the lowest feudal class, someone attached to land owned by a lord. “Serf” comes from the Latin “servus”, meaning “slave”.

57 “Last Week Tonight” network : HBO

“Last Week Tonight” is a satirical late-night talk show hosted by British comedian John Oliver. The HBO show shares a look and feel with Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”, of which Oliver is an alumnus.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Striped pet : TABBY
6 “__ chic!” : TRES
10 Gear tooth : COG
13 Sprightly : AGILE
14 Bridge predecessor : WHIST
15 Back on a ship : AFT
16 *Research without direct application : PURE SCIENCE
18 Spending power, for short : CFO
19 “No Ordinary Love” singer : SADE
20 Eleven digits? : ONES
21 Treadmill setting : PACE
23 *Czechoslovakian movement of 1968 : PRAGUE SPRING
27 Yuletide song : NOEL
28 33-Across years : DECADE
29 Paper or plastic : NOUN
30 Father of the Muses : ZEUS
33 Score half : TEN
34 *Helpline offering : CUSTOMER SUPPORT
38 “I see,” at sea : AYE
39 Noodle nugget : IDEA
40 “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s __”: Caldecott Medal winner by Verna Aardema : EARS
41 Policy of some restaurants : NO TIPS
44 “An Caighdeán Oifigiúil” language : ERSE
45 *Commerce imbalance : TRADE SURPLUS
49 Recycle bin, e.g. : ICON
50 Shades : HUES
51 Becomes compost : ROTS
55 “Gross!” : ICK!
56 *Spot for coins, and what five letters in each answer to a starred clue do? : CHANGE PURSE
59 Baseball great Ripken : CAL
60 Comes up against : ABUTS
61 Isaac of “Moon Knight” : OSCAR
62 U-turn from WSW : ENE
63 Response heard during a pool game : POLO
64 Pier : WHARF

Down

1 Spigots : TAPS
2 Río flower : AGUA
3 __ of paradise : BIRD
4 Cover up, in a way : BLEEP OUT
5 [Nod] : [YES]
6 Org. with 27 member states : THE EU
7 Salon procedure : RINSE
8 Key to going back? : ESC
9 Grassy expanse : STEPPE
10 Word on an Italian menu that means “hunter” : CACCIATORE
11 Those at fault : OFFENDERS
12 Classic Pontiac muscle car : GTO
14 Annex : WING
17 Anthracite or lignite : COAL
22 __ de Triomphe : ARC
24 Nevada city about 100 miles from Burning Man : RENO
25 The Aztecs of the NCAA’s Mountain West Conf. : SDSU
26 Bloke : GENT
27 Center of a 3-4 football defense : NOSE TACKLE
29 Spanish dialect in the Big Apple : NUYORICAN
30 Character debuted by Zadie Smith? : ZED
31 Poetic preposition : ERE
32 Can. neighbor : USA
34 “You __ be serious” : CAN’T
35 Leave out : MISS
36 Home of many Quechua speakers : PERU
37 Means to an end? : PASS RUSH
42 Final words of an engagement : I DO
43 Top removed before dashing off? : PEN CAP
44 Conditional programming word : ELSE
46 Mover’s rental : U-HAUL
47 Cost : RUN TO
48 Identifies (as) : PEGS
52 Largest member of the dolphin family : ORCA
53 Leader in the Bulgarian Empire : TSAR
54 Feudal laborer : SERF
55 Diamonds, in slang : ICE
57 “Last Week Tonight” network : HBO
58 “Bam!” kin : POW!