LA Times Crossword 10 Jan 26, Saturday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Amanda Cook

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 13m 06s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10A Wrapped in terry cloth : ROBED

Terry cloth is a fabric designed to absorb lots of liquid. It has relatively large loops of thread that improve the absorption properties. The larger the loop, the more thread, the better the absorption.

18A Game with blocking fouls? : JENGA

Jenga is a relatively simple but entertaining game, one in which one stacks wooden blocks as high as possible until the resulting tower collapses. “Jenga” is the Swahili word for “to build”

19A Suffix in many Icelandic surnames : -SON

Iceland has a rather unique naming system for individuals. A child is given a last name that is the father’s first name plus a gender-specific suffix: “-son” for males and “-dóttir” for females. This results in parents and children having different surnames within the same household. Because last names change every generation, the country’s phone books are actually listed alphabetically by first name.

23A Like Parmesan cheese : AGED

Genuine Parmesan cheese is made in and around the province of Parma in northern Italy, which province gives the cheese its name.

26A Part partner : PARCEL

We use the term “part and parcel” today to describe an essential component of a larger whole, but the phrase originated in 16th-century real estate law. It was a specific legal term establishing that a “parcel” of land was inextricably bound to the main estate (the “part”) and could not be severed or sold separately. I suppose that a good example would be: “misdirection is part and parcel of a cryptic crossword clue” …

34A Cedar Point’s lake : ERIE

Cedar Point is an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio and is the second-oldest such park in the country that is still operating (the oldest is Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut, which opened in 1846). Cedar Point is located on a peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, and specializes in roller coasters.

36A Primary instrument of English Renaissance composer John Dowland : LUTE

John Dowland was lutenist and composer of the English Renaissance. He spent almost a decade serving in the court of King Christian IV of Denmark, and was widely suspected of acting as a spy for the English government. One of his modern-day fans is the musician Sting, who recorded an album of Dowland’s music in 2006 titled “Songs from the Labyrinth”.

37A Score 11 points in pickleball, perhaps : WIN

Pickleball is a sport invented in the 1960s that combines elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton. Originally marketed as a game for children to play in backyards, pickleball is now played on purpose-built courts by many, many adults, but mainly in North and South America.

38A Broncos and Mustangs : AUTOS

The Bronco is an SUV that was made by Ford from 1966 to 1996. O. J. Simpson was driving a white Ford Bronco in that famous low-speed chase by the LAPD that resulted in Simpson’s arrest.

The Ford Mustang car was introduced in 1964. Back then the Mustang wasn’t a brand new design, but was based on the Ford Falcon. The Mustang was the first of the “pony cars”, American models that are compact and affordable, as well as sporty in image and performance.

40A International travel need, often : ADAPTER

There are really two classes of travel adapter. One converts the mains voltage available in “the wall” to the voltage needed by an electrical device. The second class of adapter accepts the plug configuration on a device while providing the configuration of prongs needed by the wall socket.

42A Smashing pumpkins fan? : VANDAL

A vandal is someone who destroys something beautiful or valuable. The term “vandal” comes from the Germanic tribe called the Vandals who sacked Rome in the year 455. Our contemporary term “vandalism” was coined by Henri Grégoire in 1794, when he was describing the destruction of artwork during the French Revolution.

43A Relief medium : PLASTER

In the world of art, relief (or bas-relief) is a sculpture technique where the image projects just a little above a background, rather than standing freely. Plaster has historically been the primary medium for creating such elements for friezes and moldings on walls and ceilings.

44A Kite, for one : BIRD

Kites are birds of prey that feed mainly on carrion.

46A Oatmeal-based brews : STOUTS

Oatmeal stout is a dark, rich beer known for its creamy texture due to the addition of oats during the brewing process. It often has a slightly higher alcohol by volume (ABV) than traditional stouts.

51A “Blackfish” mammals : ORCAS

“Blackfish” is a 2013 documentary film that examines the dangers of keeping orca in captivity. ”Star” of the movie is a killer whale (orca) named Tilikum who was responsible in whole or in part for the deaths of three people. Tilikum was captured in 1983 and has been a “guest” of SeaWorld since 1992. Most recently, Tilikum killed a 40-year old trainer named Dawn Brancheau in 2010.

53A One of 17,974 in Passau’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral : ORGAN PIPE

The organ at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Passau, Germany, holds the title of the largest cathedral organ in the world. It is huge,with 17,974 pipes and 233 registers. It is actually composed of five separate organs distributed throughout the church, which can all be played simultaneously from a single central console.

56A Counted : TALLIED UP

Back in the mid-1600s, a tally was a stick marked with notches that tracked how much one owed or paid. The term “tally” came from the Latin “talea” meaning “stick, rod”. The act of “scoring” the stick with notches gave rise to our word “score” for the number in a tally.

57A Rebecca Solnit piece : ESSAY

Rebecca Solnit’s 2008 essay “Men Explain Things to Me” is said to have inspired the term “mansplaining”. The essay opens with an anecdote about a man at a party condescendingly explaining a “very important book” to her, while her friend repeatedly tried to tell him that Solnit was actually the author of the very same book. Sometimes, I wish I wasn’t a man …

Down

1D Blunt cuts : BOBS

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 …

2D Snack that had a Space Dunk version : OREO

The 2024 “Space Dunk” Oreo featured blue and pink marshmallow creme that had popping candy incorporated within to create a “supernova” sensation. There was an accompanying sweepstakes offering a “supernova” prize: a six-hour journey to the edge of space in a pressurized capsule operated by the company Space Perspective (which is partially funded by Richard Branson).

3D Ragnarok warrior : ODIN

“Ragnarök” is the name given to a set of events in Norse mythology that resulted in the deaths of many famous gods, including Odin and Thor.

8D Vaccine container : VIAL

A vial is a small vessel, usually closed or closable, used to hold liquids. The term “vial” is derivative of the older “phial” that has the same meaning and is still used.

10D “The Big Bang Theory” role : RAJ

Raj Koothrappali is a character on the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” who is played by British-Indian actor Kunal Nayyar. Nayyar is married to Neha Kapur, a former Miss India.

11D Verdi opera with Desdemona : OTELLO

Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Otello” was first performed in 1887 at La Scala Theater in Milan. The opera is based on Shakespeare’s play “Othello” and is considered by many to be Verdi’s greatest work.

13D Twinings product : ENGLISH TEA

Twinings is a distributor of tea that was founded in England in 1706. That’s a long time ago! The Twinings logo is the oldest continuously-used logo in the world.

21D Princess who first appeared in Super Mario Land : DAISY

“Super Mario Land” is often considered the odd one out of the “Mario” franchise, because it takes place in Sarasaland rather than the usual Mushroom Kingdom. The setting features enemies and backdrops modeled after real-world locations like ancient Egypt and Easter Island.

23D Lot unit : ACRE

The “city lot” sense of “lot” is intertwined with the older practice of “casting lots”. Historically, land division was often determined by chance, particularly in early settlements or when distributing land among a group. “Lots” were physical objects, like stones or slips of paper, marked to represent different land parcels. These were drawn randomly, and the “lot” a person received corresponded to the specific piece of land assigned to that marker. This practice of “casting lots” directly led to the use of “lot” as a term for a defined piece of land, eventually giving us the modern usage in “city lot” and “parking lot.”

27D Silks and trapeze, e.g. : AERIAL ARTS

When using aerial silks, acrobats perform acrobatics while hanging from two long strips of fabric, relying solely on wrapping techniques to hold their position. Despite the name, the fabric is rarely actual silk, which is too slippery to grip and too fragile for high-impact drops. Instead, performers use a specialized polyester lycra.

The circus act known as the “trapeze” is so called because the shape defined by the crossbar, ropes and ceiling of the tent is a “trapezium”.

28D Hopi ceremonies : RAIN DANCES

The Hopi people are a Native American tribe primarily residing on three mesas in northeastern Arizona. They are renowned for their cultural traditions, which predate European contact by centuries, including intricate kachina dolls, ceremonial dances, and a history of peaceful agriculture in an arid environment.

31D Hot-dish topping : TATER TOTS

Ore-Ida’s founders came up with the idea for Tater Tots when they were deciding what to do with residual cuts of potato. They chopped up the leftovers, added flour and seasoning, and extruded the mix through a large hole making a sausage that they cut into small cylinders. We eat 70 million pounds of this extruded potato every year!

35D Trumpet accessories : MUTES

We get our word “trumpet”, describing the brass instrument, from the Old French word “trompe”. A “trompe” was a long, tube-like instrument, and a “trompette” was a smaller version.

39D Root vegetable : PARSNIP

The parsnip is a root vegetable that is usually left in the ground through winter frosts in order to increase the root’s sugar content. Parsnips can be so sweet that they were commonly used as sweeteners before sugar beets and sugarcane became readily available. Parsnip juices were collected and evaporated to produce a brown residue that resembled honey.

41D Kazakhstan capital : ASTANA

Astana became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997, replacing Almaty. In 2019, the city was renamed Nur-Sultan in honor of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, but the name was officially changed back to Astana in September 2022. The word “Astana” literally translates to “Capital” in Kazakh.

42D Sportscaster who coined “dipsy-doo dunkaroo” : VITALE

The basketball sportscaster Dick Vitale is also known as “Dickie V”. Vitale is famous for coining some colorful and descriptive terms, such as “diaper dandy” for an outstanding freshman player.

44D Military brass? : BUGLE

A bugle is a simple brass instrument, one that usually has no valves with which a player can alter the pitch. The altering of pitch is achieved by changing the ebay that the lips interface with the mouthpiece. Bugles evolved from wind instruments made from animal horns. “Bugle” is an abbreviation for “buglehorn”, an earlier name for the same instrument. Indeed, the term “bugle” comes from the Latin “buculus” meaning “young ox, heifer”.

49D Kindle file format : EPUB

EPUB is a standard format used in the publishing of e-books. Books in the EPUB file format have the extension “.epub”.

54D Disposable sock : PED

Peds are thin, disposable or reusable foot coverings you’ll often find in shoe stores. Their purpose is purely hygienic, providing a barrier between a person’s bare foot and the inside of a shoe that many other people have tried on.