LA Times Crossword 10 Nov 22, Thursday

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Constructed by: David Taber & Laura Moll
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Trades

Themed answers are common phrases reinterpreted as trades between two professionals:

  • 17A Trade between a football coach and a candymaker? : PLAYS FOR A SUCKER
  • 22A Trade between a hairstylist and a computer retailer? : BOBS FOR APPLES
  • 37A Trade between a lingerie shop owner and a utility manager? : JOCKEYS FOR POWER
  • 45A Trade between an opinion writer and a bus driver? : TAKES FOR A RIDE
  • 56A Trade between a plastic surgeon and a game store owner? : A NOSE FOR TROUBLE

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

Bill’s time: 6m 44s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “The Absinthe Drinker” painter : MANET

“The Absinthe Drinker” is a painting by Édouard Manet that he created early in his career, c. 1859. In fact, it is thought to be Manet’s first original work. The subject of “The Absinthe Drinker” is a cloaked male. Almost the exact same figure turns up in a later work from 1862 called “The Old Musician”.

14 2012 winner of six Grammys : ADELE

“Adele” is the stage name of English singer Adele Adkins. Adele’s debut album is “19”, named after the age she was during the album’s production. Her second album was even more successful than the first. Called “21”, the second album was released three years after the first, when Adele was three years older. Her third studio album “25”, released in 2015, broke the first-week sales records in both the UK and the US. “30” followed in 2021.

15 Activewear retailer named for a South American region : PATAGONIA

Headquartered in Ventura, California, Patagonia is an outdoor clothing retailer that was founded in 1973 as Great Pacific Iron Works.

Patagonia is a very sparsely populated region at the very southern tip of South America that is divided administratively between Chile and Argentina. The area is named for the Patagons, a race of giant humans that were rumored to live there.

22 Trade between a hairstylist and a computer retailer? : BOBS FOR APPLES

A bob cut is a short hairstyle in which the hair is cut straight around the head, at about the line of the jaw. Back in the 1570s, “bob” was the name given to a horse’s tail that was cut short, and about a century later it was being used to describe short hair on humans. The style became very popular with women in the early 1900s (as worn by actress Clara Bow, for example), with the fashion dying out in the thirties. The style reemerged in the sixties around the time the Beatles introduced their “mop tops”, with Vidal Sassoon leading the way in styling women’s hair in a bob cut again. Personally, I like it …

37 Trade between a lingerie shop owner and a utility manager? : JOCKEYS FOR POWER

Jockey is a manufacturer of underwear and sleepwear that was founded in 1876 as a hosiery business in St. Joseph, Michigan called Coopers. In 1935, Coopers came out with the world’s first briefs for men, incorporating a Y-shaped overlapping fly. Touting the support offered by the briefs, they were branded with the name “Jockey”. Coopers adopted the Jockey name for the company in 1971.

41 “Smack That” rapper : AKON

Akon is a Senegalese American R&B and hip hop singer, who was born in St. Louis but lived much of his early life in Senegal. Akon is a stage name, and his real name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Bongo Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam. Got that?

43 Bout ender, briefly : TKO

In boxing, a knockout (KO) is when one of the fighters can’t get up from the canvas within a specified time, usually 10 seconds. This can be due to fatigue, injury, or the participant may be truly “knocked out”. A referee, fighter or doctor may also decide to stop a fight without a physical knockout, especially if there is concern about a fighter’s safety. In this case the bout is said to end with a technical knockout (TKO).

45 Trade between an opinion writer and a bus driver? : TAKES FOR A RIDE

An opinion on an issue might be described as a take on that issue.

We use the term “bus” for a mode of transportation as it is an abbreviated form of the original “omnibus”. We imported “omnibus” via French from Latin, in which language it means “for all”. The idea is that an omnibus is a carriage “for all”.

56 Trade between a plastic surgeon and a game store owner? : A NOSE FOR TROUBLE

The board game Trouble was introduced in the US in 1965, and is very similar to the competing game Sorry! that was already on the market. Both games are in turn based on the ancient game of Pachisi. The big selling feature of Trouble was the Pop-O-Matic dice container in the center of the board. I remember it well …

62 Birmingham baby buggy : PRAM

Another word used in Britain and Ireland that’s rarely used over here is “pram”, which in my day was the most common term for what is called a baby carriage in the US. “Pram” is short for “perambulator”.

Birmingham is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom, after the capital London. It is located in the West Midlands of England, and originated as a market town. Birmingham’s economy boomed during the Industrial Revolution, earning it the description “the first manufacturing town in the world”.

63 Canadian gas brand : ESSO

The Esso brand has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

Down

2 “Stick to the script!” elicitor : AD-LIB

“Ad libitum” is a Latin phrase meaning “at one’s pleasure”. In common usage, the phrase is usually shortened to “ad-lib”. On the stage, the concept of an ad lib is very familiar.

4 Nevada copper town : ELY

Ely is a city in eastern Nevada. The city was founded as a Pony Express stagecoach station, and then experienced a mining boom after copper was discovered locally in 1906. One of Ely’s former residents was First Lady Pat Nixon, who was born there in 1912.

6 Skating gold medalist Ohno : APOLO

Speed-skater Apolo Ohno has won more Winter Olympics medals than any other American. Ohno also did a great job winning the 2007 season of television’s “Dancing with the Stars”.

8 Sked info : ETA

Something not yet on the schedule (“sked” or “sched.”) is to be advised/announced (TBA).

9 Court figs. : DAS

District attorney (DA)

12 Physics Nobelist Bohr : NIELS

Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who won his 1922 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics and atomic structure. Later in his life, Bohr was part of the team working on the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bomb. Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein had a series of public debates and disputes in the twenties and thirties. Although the two respected each other very highly, they held very different views on quantum theory, different views on the laws of physics at the atomic level. The passage of time has shown that Bohr won out in those debates.

13 Disney souvenir feature : EARS

The Mickey Mouse Ears hat was introduced in the 1950s on the Mickey Mouse Club. The Mouseketeers would wear them in each episode. Years later, the hats were offered to sale to the public, and today are the most popular item purchased at Disney resorts.

16 Fishbowl fish : GUPPY

The guppy is a very popular aquarium fish. It also goes by the names “millionfish” and “rainbow fish”..

18 Wind similar to a piccolo : FIFE

A fife is a small flute that is often used in military and marching bands. The name “fife” comes from the German “Pfeife” meaning “pipe”.

The piccolo is a woodwind instrument that looks like a small flute. Piccolos play one octave higher than flutes, and so the instrument is known by Italian musicians as an “ottavino”, Italian for “little octave”. “Piccolo” is Italian for “small”.

23 Chap : BLOKE

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

“Chap” is an informal term meaning “lad, fellow” that is used especially in England. The term derives from “chapman”, an obsolete word meaning “purchaser” or “trader”.

24 Birthplace of LeBron James and Steph Curry : AKRON

For much of the 1800s, the Ohio city of Akron was the fastest-growing city in the country, feeding off the industrial boom of that era. The city was founded in 1825 and its location, along the Ohio and Erie canal connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio River, helped to fuel Akron’s growth. Akron sits at the highest point of the canal and the name “Akron” comes from the Greek word meaning “summit”. Indeed, Akron is the county seat of Summit County. The city earned the moniker “Rubber Capital of the World” for most of the 20th century, as it was home to four major tire companies: Goodrich, Goodyear, Firestone and General Tire.

Basketball player LeBron James (nicknamed “King James”) seems to be in demand for the covers of magazines. James became the first African American man to adorn the front cover of “Vogue” in March 2008. That made him only the third male to make the “Vogue” cover, following Richard Gere and George Clooney.

Stephen “Steph” Curry is a professional basketball player who was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the 2009 draft. Steph’s father is former NBA player Dell Curry, and his younger brother is current player Seth Curry. Steph Curry is noted for accuracy in shooting. Curry set the record for three-pointers made in a regular season in 2013, broke that record in 2015, and broke it yet again in 2016. Then, in 2021, he broke the record for career three-pointers.

28 Attire for a Zoom game night, maybe : PJS

Our word “pajamas” (sometimes “PJs” or “jammies”) comes to us from the Indian subcontinent, where “pai jamahs” were loose fitting pants tied at the waist and worn at night by locals and ultimately by the Europeans living there. And “pajamas” is another of those words that I had to learn to spell differently when I came to America. On the other side of the Atlantic, the spelling is “pyjamas”.

29 Note from one who’s shy? : IOU

To be shy is to be short, lacking. This use of “shy” originated as gambling slang meaning “owe money to the pot”.

30 Blockbuster player? : VCR

Blockbuster was an international chain of home video rental stores founded in Dallas in 1985. In 2014, then owned by Dish Networks, Blockbuster shut down operations. However, one franchised store remains open to this day, in Bend, Oregon. The Bend Blockbuster has become a tourist attraction, and the store sells merchandise using the Blockbuster name. It has been the subject of a recent documentary, has hosted sleepovers via Airbnb, and even has a craft beer that uses its name.

32 Airborne mystery : UFO

In 1952, the USAF revived its studies of reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in a program called Project Blue Book. Project Blue Book ran from 1952 until it was shut down in 1969 with the conclusion that there was no threat to national security and that there were no sightings that could not be explained within the bounds of modern scientific knowledge.

33 Welsh dog : CORGI

The Welsh corgi is a herding dog that originated in Britain, with two recognized breeds: the Pembroke and Cardigan. Corgis aren’t fast enough to do their job by running around livestock like collies, and instead nip at the heels. “Corgi” is Welsh for “dwarf dog”.

35 Summer sign : LEO

Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.

36 “__ Dalloway” : MRS

“Mrs. Dalloway” is a novel by Virginia Woolf that was first published in 1925. The story tells of a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a day in which she is preparing for a party that she is hosting. The novel has been compared to “Ulysses” by James Joyce, a story about a day in the life of Leopold Bloom.

43 Words to live by : TENET

A tenet is an article of faith, something that is held to be true. “Tenet” is Latin for “holds”.

44 Jaromír who scored the second-most points in NHL history : JAGR

Jaromír Jágr is an NHL hockey player from the Czech Republic. When Jágr made his debut in the NHL in 1990 at age 18, he was the youngest player in the league.

45 Barbershop part : TENOR

Barbershop music is played in the a cappella style, meaning that it is unaccompanied vocal music. Barbershop music originated in African-American communities in the South, as gospel quartets often gathered in neighborhood barber shops to sing together.

47 Casey who voiced Shaggy on “Scooby-Doo” : KASEM

Not only was Casey Kasem closely associated with the radio show “American Top 40”, but he was also well known for playing the voice of Shaggy Rogers on the “Scooby-Doo” animated series.

49 “Midnight Cowboy” hustler : RATSO

Enrico Salvatore “Ratso” Rizzo is one of the characters in the groundbreaking 1969 movie “Midnight Cowboy”. Rizzo is a down-and-out con man played by Dustin Hoffman.

The 1969 movie “Midnight Cowboy” is a Hollywood adaptation of a novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It’s a pretty depressing story about a young Texan named Joe Buck (played by Jon Voight) who heads to New York City to make money as a hustler, hiring himself out to women for sex. Pretty soon the young man ends up selling his body for sex with males as well. Prior to release the MPAA gave the movie an R-rating, but the United Artists studio took advice and decided to release it with an X-rating. When “Midnight Cowboy” won the Best Picture Academy Award in 1969, it became the only X-rated film to be so honored.

51 Kemper of “The Office” : ELLIE

Actress Ellie Kemper’s big break came with the role of Erin Hannon, a receptionist on the sitcom “The Office”. More recently, Kemper played the title role in the Netflix comedy series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”.

58 Mantra syllables : OMS

“Om” is a sacred mystic word from the Hindu tradition. “Om” is sometimes used as a mantra, a focus for the mind in meditation.

59 Card game with a Moo! version for preschoolers : UNO

The classic card game Uno now comes in several versions. Uno ColorAdd allows people with color blindness to play, and there is also a Braille version that allows blind and sighted friends to play together.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “The Absinthe Drinker” painter : MANET
6 Parodied : APED
10 Highway division : LANE
14 2012 winner of six Grammys : ADELE
15 Activewear retailer named for a South American region : PATAGONIA
17 Trade between a football coach and a candymaker? : PLAYS FOR A SUCKER
19 Go unused : SIT
20 Roofing choice : TILE
21 Grows tiresome : PALLS
22 Trade between a hairstylist and a computer retailer? : BOBS FOR APPLES
26 Twist facts : LIE
27 Exciting escape room discovery : KEY
28 Turn on an axis : PIVOT
31 Mystical glow : AURA
33 Tranquil : CALM
37 Trade between a lingerie shop owner and a utility manager? : JOCKEYS FOR POWER
40 Certain : SURE
41 “Smack That” rapper : AKON
42 Twist-top snacks : OREOS
43 Bout ender, briefly : TKO
44 Moderate running pace : JOG
45 Trade between an opinion writer and a bus driver? : TAKES FOR A RIDE
52 Showed again : RERAN
53 Pranks : GAGS
54 Sprite : ELF
56 Trade between a plastic surgeon and a game store owner? : A NOSE FOR TROUBLE
60 On occasion : SOMETIMES
61 Set free : UNTIE
62 Birmingham baby buggy : PRAM
63 Canadian gas brand : ESSO
64 Sheds : LOSES

Down

1 Places for legends? : MAPS
2 “Stick to the script!” elicitor : AD-LIB
3 “How cool!” : NEATO!
4 Nevada copper town : ELY
5 Proving ground : TEST SITE
6 Skating gold medalist Ohno : APOLO
7 Kitchen accessory : PARER
8 Sked info : ETA
9 Court figs. : DAS
10 Tourist helper : LOCAL
11 Bracelet place : ANKLE
12 Physics Nobelist Bohr : NIELS
13 Disney souvenir feature : EARS
16 Fishbowl fish : GUPPY
18 Wind similar to a piccolo : FIFE
23 Chap : BLOKE
24 Birthplace of LeBron James and Steph Curry : AKRON
25 Nectar flavor : PEAR
28 Attire for a Zoom game night, maybe : PJS
29 Note from one who’s shy? : IOU
30 Blockbuster player? : VCR
31 Want from : ASK OF
32 Airborne mystery : UFO
33 Welsh dog : CORGI
34 Transfix : AWE
35 Summer sign : LEO
36 “__ Dalloway” : MRS
38 Jabbers : YAKS
39 Sympathetic case : POOR SOUL
43 Words to live by : TENET
44 Jaromír who scored the second-most points in NHL history : JAGR
45 Barbershop part : TENOR
46 Scent : AROMA
47 Casey who voiced Shaggy on “Scooby-Doo” : KASEM
48 Folklore beasts : OGRES
49 “Midnight Cowboy” hustler : RATSO
50 Financial obligations : DEBTS
51 Kemper of “The Office” : ELLIE
52 Talk hoarsely : RASP
55 They may be flat : FEES
57 “Phooey!” of yore : FIE!
58 Mantra syllables : OMS
59 Card game with a Moo! version for preschoolers : UNO