LA Times Crossword 21 Jul 23, Friday

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Constructed by: Jess Shulman & Shannon Rapp
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Company Outing

Themed answers are common phrases with “CO” taken OUT:

  • 57A Business retreat, and an apt title for this puzzle? : COMPANY OUTING
  • 20A Melt down in response to some trash talk? : PANIC AT THE DIS (from “Panic! at the Disco”)
  • 36A Talent for sliding into someone’s DMs? : PING SKILLS (from “coping skills”)
  • 43A Little cat with a beachy vibe? : CALI KITTEN (from “calico kitten”)

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

Bill’s time: 8m 55s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Dreamcast maker : SEGA

The Dreamcast is a video game console released by Sega in the late nineties. It was to become the company’s last game console. Since then, Sega has focused on producing video games as opposed to hardware.

14 “__, Brute?” : ET TU

The most famous man with the name “Brutus” in ancient Rome was Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger. It was this Brutus that Julius Caesar turned to when he was assassinated on the steps of the Senate. William Shakespeare immortalized Brutus by featuring him in his play, “Julius Caesar”, and giving his victim the line “Et tu, Brute?”

15 God attended by Valkyries : ODIN

In Norse mythology, the valkyries are beautiful female attendants of Odin who choose those who must die in battle and those who must live. Half of those who die go to Fólkvangr, the “army field” ruled over by the goddess Freyja. The other half of those who perish go to Valhalla, the hall of the slain that is ruled over by the god Odin. The etymology of “valkyrie” is Old Norse for “chooser of the slain”.

17 Instagram video : REEL

Instagram (often abbreviated to “Insta”, or “IG”) is a photo-sharing application, one that is extremely popular. Instagram started in San Francisco in 2010. Facebook purchased Instagram two years later, paying $1 billion. The billion-dollar Instagram company had just 13 employees at the time of the sale …

18 Compact __ : DISC

The compact disc (CD) was developed jointly by Philips and Sony as a medium for storing and playing sound recordings. When the first commercial CD was introduced back in 1982, a CD’s storage capacity was far greater than the amount of data that could be stored on the hard drive of personal computers available at that time.

19 Like some seals : EARED

There are three families of seals. The first is the walrus family, the second the eared seals (like sea lions), and thirdly the earless seals (like elephant seals).

20 Melt down in response to some trash talk? : PANIC AT THE DIS (from “Panic! at the Disco”)

“Dis” (also “diss”) is a slang term meaning “insult” that originated in the eighties. It is a shortened form of “disrespect” or “dismiss”.

Panic! at the Disco was formed as a pop rock band from Las Vegas in 2004. Two of the original four members left the group in 2009, to form their own band, and Panic! at the Disco was reinvented as a duo. One of the two remaining musicians also moved on, in 2015, leaving just the original lead vocalist Brendon Urie. Urie decided to continue performing as Panic! at the Disco, and treats it as a solo project.

24 Costa del __ : SOL

Spain’s Costa del Sol (“Coast of the Sun”) is in Andalusia in the South of Spain. It lies sandwiched between two other “costas”, the Costa de la Luz and the Costa Tropical. The city of Malaga is on the Costa del Sol, as well as the famous European tourist destinations of Torremolinos and Marbella. The Costa del Sol was made up of sleepy little fishing villages until the 1980s when the European sunseekers descended on the region. I wouldn’t recommend it for a holiday quite frankly …

25 AED pro : EMT

An emergency medical technician (EMT) might use an automated external defibrillator (AED).

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically analyzes the heart rhythm of a person who is experiencing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and, if necessary, delivers an electrical shock to the heart to restore a normal heart rhythm. AEDs are becoming more common sights, especially as most can now be used to help a patient, even if the operator has no training. On a recent trip to Britain and Ireland, I noticed that the iconic telephone boxes are being used to house AEDs rather than remove them as public phones become unnecessary.

30 Noisy bird : MAGPIE

The bird known as a “jay” is sometimes called a “magpie”, although the terms are not completely interchangeable.

33 Colorado’s __ Verde National Park : MESA

Mesa Verde National Park is in Colorado. Mesa Verde is home to ancient cliff dwellings built by the Puebloan people, also known as the Anasazi. The most spectacular of these dwellings is Cliff Palace, which is the largest cliff dwelling in North America.

36 Talent for sliding into someone’s DMs? : PING SKILLS (from “coping skills”)

In the world of computer science, a “ping” is a test message sent over a network between computers to check for a response and to measure the time of that response. We now use the verb “to ping” more generally, meaning to send someone a message, usually a reminder.

Direct message (DM)

39 Haim of “Licorice Pizza” : ALANA

Musician Alana Haim is a member of the pop rock band Haim, along with her two sisters Este and Danielle. Alana also took a lead role in the 2021 film “Licorice Pizza” opposite Cooper Hoffman, son of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. That performance earned her nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.

2021’s “Licorice Pizza” sounds like an interesting film. It stars two actors in their debut performances, Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. Haim is a very successful musician, and Cooper is the son of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. The inexperienced leads are supported by heavyweights Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Maya Rudolph and Bradley Cooper. “Licorice Pizza” bombed at the box office, but the critics loved it.

41 Zodiac lion : LEO

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

42 __-garde : AVANT

Someone or something described as avant-garde is especially innovative. “Avant-garde” is French for “advance guard”.

43 Little cat with a beachy vibe? : CALI KITTEN (from “calico kitten”)

California (Cali)

Domestic cats with a white coat and patches of brown and black are called calico cats in this country. Back in Ireland, and the rest of the world I think, such cats are called tortoiseshell-and-white. “Calico” is not a breed of cat, but rather a coloring.

48 “Star Wars” family name of Han and Ben : SOLO

Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.

Kylo Ren is the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa in the “Star Wars” universe. The character’s birth name was Ben Solo. He was trained as a Jedi knight by his uncle, Luke Skywalker. However, Ben came to embrace the Dark Side, and changed his name to Kylo Ren. Ren is played by actor Adam Driver.

50 Bentley of “Yellowstone” : WES

Wes Bentley is an actor who is perhaps best known for playing Ricky Fitts, the voyeuristic son of the homophobic Colonel Frank Fitts in the 1999 blockbuster film “American Beauty”. A 2009 documentary called “My Big Break” tells of Bentley’s career taking off after “American Beauty” was released, and his subsequent struggles with addiction to drugs and alcohol that led to financial ruin. Bentley is well on the road to recovery, and has been appearing regularly on the small and large screens since 2010.

“Yellowstone” is a pretty successful drama series starring Kevin Costner that premiered in 2018. Costner plays a rich and powerful rancher in Montana. Such is the success of the show that two spin-off shows were commissioned, with other spin-offs planned:

  1. “1883” (premiered in 2021, starring Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill)
  2. “1923” (starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford)

51 Substance that lacks refinement? : ORE

Metals are found in ore in the form of oxides. In order to get pure metal from the ore, the ore is heated and the metal oxides within are reduced (i.e. the oxygen is removed) in the chemical process known as smelting. The oxygen is extracted by adding a source of carbon or carbon monoxide which uses up the excess oxygen atoms to make carbon dioxide, a waste product of smelting (and, a greenhouse gas).

54 Benchmarks : NORMS

A benchmark is something that serves as a standard used to measure others. The original benchmark was a point of reference used by surveyors. Literally, a benchmark was an angle-iron driven into the ground as a support (or “bench”) for a leveling instrument.

62 Language of Iran : FARSI

“Farsi” is one of the local names used for the Persian language.

64 Exam with a max score of 180 : LSAT

Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

68 Mario __: game with a Rainbow Road : KART

“Mario Kart” is a go-kart racing video game series from Nintendo.

69 Captcha target : ROBOT

A CAPTCHA is a challenge-and-response test that is used to determine if a user is a human or some automated program. The acronym “CAPTCHA” stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”.

70 Itches : YENS

The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium.

71 Docs who insert tympanostomy tubes : ENTS

A tympanostomy tube (often referred to as a “grommet”) is a tiny tube that is inserted into the eardrum to ease an accumulation of fluid in the middle ear. Our youngest son had grommets inserted when he was very young, and his hearing improved dramatically within hours …

A tympanostomy tube (often referred to as a “grommet”) is a tiny tube that is inserted into the eardrum to ease an accumulation of fluid in the middle ear. Our youngest son had grommets inserted when he was very young, and his hearing improved dramatically within hours …

Down

1 BOLO target : PERP

Perpetrator (perp)

A BOLO is a police alert, with the acronym standing for “be on the look-out”. A BOLO can also be called an APB, an “all-points bulletin”.

3 Shorthand pro : STENO

Stenography is the process of writing in shorthand. The term comes from the Greek “steno” (narrow) and “graphe” (writing). A stenographer might be a court reporter, or a person provided captions accompanying a live television broadcast.

4 Dutch market craze of the late 1630s : TULIP MANIA

The world’s first ever speculative “bubble” in the financial markets took place in 1637, when the price of tulip bulbs skyrocketed out of control. The tulip had been introduced into Europe a few years earlier and demand for tulips was so high that single bulbs were selling for ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. The climb in prices was followed quickly by a collapse in the market that was so striking that the forces at play were given the term “tulip mania”. To this day, any large economic bubble may be referred to as “tulip mania”.

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”.

8 Dried poblano : ANCHO

An ancho is a dried poblano pepper used in Mexican cuisine. The poblano is a mild chili.

10 Milky spiced tea : CHAI

Chai is a drink made from spiced black tea, honey and milk, with “chai” being the Hindi word for “tea”. We often called tea “a cup of char” growing up in Ireland, with “char” being our slang word for tea, derived from “chai”.

11 Tomfoolery : HORSEPLAY

In Middle English, in the mid-14th century, a mentally deficient man might be referred to as a “Thom Foole”. We retain the old pejorative term in our contemporary word “tomfoolery” meaning “clowning around”.

12 La Liga cheer : OLE!

The premier division of Spanish club soccer is the “Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División”, or more usually “La Liga” (The League).

13 Ref. work that once employed J.R.R. Tolkien : OED

Author J. R. R. Tolkien is best known as the author of the fantasy novels “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of Rings”. After serving as an officer in the First World War, his first job as a civilian was researching the history and etymology of words for the Oxford English Dictionary. In fact, Tolkien was assigned the words from “waggle” through “warlock”.

21 Snooker stick : CUE

Snooker is a fabulous game. It is played on what looks like a large pool table, 12 x 6 feet in dimensions if full size. Snooker is a derivative of the older game of billiards, and is believed to have been developed by British Army officers who were stationed in India in the latter half of the 1800s. “Snooker” was a word used in the British military for a first-year cadet and for an inexperienced soldier. Somehow, that usage morphed into the name of the game.

22 Long-lived trees : ELMS

Elm trees have a unique ability to tolerate urban environments, making them a popular choice for city planners looking to add greenery to their landscapes. They have a high tolerance for air pollution, compacted soil, and other stresses commonly found in urban areas, which allows them to thrive in these environments where other tree species might struggle.

26 Eeyore creator : MILNE

Eeyore is the donkey character in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”. Eeyore is very lovable, but has a gloomy and pessimistic outlook on life.

31 Pseudonym indicator : AKA

Also known as (aka)

33 Noisy bird : MACAW

Macaws are beautifully-colored birds native to Central and South America that are actually a type of parrot. Most species of macaws are now endangered, with several having become extinct in recent decades. The main threats are deforestation and illegal trapping and trafficking of exotic birds.

35 Element of a margarita pedicure : SALT SCRUB

A margarita pedicure includes a salt scrub, a soaking of the feet in water “flavored” with fresh limes, and a foot massage using a lime-based oil. No tequila, apparently …

37 Aquarium scoop : NET

“Aquarium” is a Latin word meaning “pertaining to water”, although in Latin the word only existed as a noun with the meaning “drinking place for cattle”. Before the use of the noun “aquarium” (plural “aquaria”) in the context of fish, a tank was sometimes referred to as a marine vivarium.

38 “So It __ … “: song on Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” : GOES

“Reputation” is a 2017 studio album released by Taylor Swift. She followed up the album with the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018, which was destined to become the highest-grossing NOrth American tour of all time.

40 “For the love of all things dog” org. : AKC

The American Kennel Club (AKC) is the organization that handles registration of purebred dogs The AKC also promotes dog shows around the country, including the famous Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

44 Eatery with a “Happy Face” combo on the kids menu : IHOP

The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) was founded back in 1958. IHOP was originally intended to be called IHOE, the International House of Eggs, but that name didn’t do too well in marketing tests.

49 “Mambo No. 5” singer Bega : LOU

“Mambo No. 5” was originally recorded by the song’s composer Pérez Prado, back in 1949. German musician Lou Bega released an insanely successful cover version of “Mambo No. 5” in 1999.

55 “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” novelist Kundera : MILAN

“The Unbearable Lightness of Being” is a 1988 big screen adaptation of a 1984 novel of the same name by Milan Kundera. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Lena Olin, the film explores the complicated relationship of two couples living in Prague in 1968. That was the year of the Prague Spring, the brief period of political liberalization under Communist Party leader Alexander Dubček. It was also the year of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact countries in response to Dubček’s reforms.

58 Norse city name that can be translated as “meadow of the gods” : OSLO

Oslo, the capital of Norway, is an ancient city that was founded around 1048. The medieval city was destroyed by fire in 1624 and was rebuilt by the Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV and renamed to Christiania. In 1877 there was an official change of the spelling of the city’s name to “Kristiana”, and then more recently in 1925 the name was restored to the original Oslo. Things have almost gone full circle and now the center of Oslo, the area that would have been contained by the original medieval walls, has apparently been renamed to Christiania.

59 Fly catcher? : MITT

That would be baseball.

60 Crocheter’s supply : YARN

Crochet is a process of making a fabric using a hooked needle. “Crochet” is a French word meaning “hook”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 History : PAST
5 Dreamcast maker : SEGA
9 Blessing preceder : ACHOO!
14 “__, Brute?” : ET TU
15 God attended by Valkyries : ODIN
16 Intact : WHOLE
17 Instagram video : REEL
18 Compact __ : DISC
19 Like some seals : EARED
20 Melt down in response to some trash talk? : PANIC AT THE DIS (from “Panic! at the Disco”)
23 Refill : TOP UP
24 Costa del __ : SOL
25 AED pro : EMT
28 Copy cats? : MEOW
30 Noisy bird : MAGPIE
33 Colorado’s __ Verde National Park : MESA
36 Talent for sliding into someone’s DMs? : PING SKILLS (from “coping skills”)
39 Haim of “Licorice Pizza” : ALANA
41 Zodiac lion : LEO
42 __-garde : AVANT
43 Little cat with a beachy vibe? : CALI KITTEN (from “calico kitten”)
46 Peepers : EYES
47 Connect : ATTACH
48 “Star Wars” family name of Han and Ben : SOLO
50 Bentley of “Yellowstone” : WES
51 Substance that lacks refinement? : ORE
54 Benchmarks : NORMS
57 Business retreat, and an apt title for this puzzle? : COMPANY OUTING
62 Language of Iran : FARSI
64 Exam with a max score of 180 : LSAT
65 Sunburn salve : ALOE
66 __ beverage : ADULT
67 Entice : LURE
68 Mario __: game with a Rainbow Road : KART
69 Captcha target : ROBOT
70 Itches : YENS
71 Docs who insert tympanostomy tubes : ENTS

Down

1 BOLO target : PERP
2 Patronized, as a restaurant : ATE AT
3 Shorthand pro : STENO
4 Dutch market craze of the late 1630s : TULIP MANIA
5 Soft drink : SODA POP
6 Address plot holes, perhaps : EDIT
7 General ideas : GISTS
8 Dried poblano : ANCHO
9 Amazed : AWED
10 Milky spiced tea : CHAI
11 Tomfoolery : HORSEPLAY
12 La Liga cheer : OLE!
13 Ref. work that once employed J.R.R. Tolkien : OED
21 Snooker stick : CUE
22 Long-lived trees : ELMS
26 Eeyore creator : MILNE
27 Challenges : TESTS
29 Go limp : WILT
31 Pseudonym indicator : AKA
32 “Ish” : GIVE OR TAKE
33 Noisy bird : MACAW
34 Thrill : ELATE
35 Element of a margarita pedicure : SALT SCRUB
37 Aquarium scoop : NET
38 “So It __ … “: song on Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” : GOES
40 “For the love of all things dog” org. : AKC
44 Eatery with a “Happy Face” combo on the kids menu : IHOP
45 “Don’t change a thing” : NO NOTES
49 “Mambo No. 5” singer Bega : LOU
52 Comeback : RALLY
53 Follow : ENSUE
55 “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” novelist Kundera : MILAN
56 Stifled laugh : SNORT
58 Norse city name that can be translated as “meadow of the gods” : OSLO
59 Fly catcher? : MITT
60 Crocheter’s supply : YARN
61 Understands : GETS
62 Way off : FAR
63 Fuss : ADO