LA Times Crossword 20 Dec 25, Saturday

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Constructed by: Rafael Musa

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 10m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Florentine political dynasty : MEDICI

The House of Medici was a dynasty from the Italian Republic of Florence. The Medici family went into the world of finance and built the largest bank in Europe in the 15th century. Significantly, the Medicis produced four Popes around this time, and then the family moved from the status of common citizens to become hereditary Dukes of Florence. By the middle of the 18th century the family ruled the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, but ended up fiscally bankrupt.

7A Posters that are usually ignored : SPAMBOTS

Spambots are nasty little computer programs that send out spam emails and messages, often from fake accounts. This blog gets about 500 spam comments a day that I have to delete, almost all of which are written by spambots.

16A Music genre that originated in 1930s Shanghai : MANDOPOP

Mandopop (also “Mandapop”) can be defined as pop music performed in Mandarin, and Cantopop as pop music performed in Cantonese. A more general term is “C-pop”, which describes music performed in a Chinese language.

20A Bajo opposite : ALTO

In Spanish, “bajo” (low) is the opposite of “alto” (high).

22A Federal holiday since 2021 : JUNETEENTH

“Juneteenth” is a holiday celebrated on June 19th every year, a commemoration of the emancipation of slaves throughout the Confederate South. President Abraham Lincoln’s executive order known as the Emancipation Proclamation came into effect on January 1st, 1863 but it only applied to Confederate states that were not in Union hands. The order freeing the last slaves in the US was issued at the end of the Civil War, on June 19th 1865. That order applied specifically to the State of Texas. Over a decade later, in 1980, Texas became the first state to declare June 19th (“Juneteenth”) a state holiday.

25A Secondary account, informally : FINSTA

“Finsta” is a slang term describing a fake Instagram account. Apparently, some Instagram users create a second account, a finsta, to post more candid and personal content that they would not want to share on their main account.

30A Stick around the TSA line : WAND

TSA officers often use hand-held metal detector wands, primarily for secondary screening. If a passenger triggers the walk-through detector, the officer can use the wand to pinpoint the exact location of the metal object on their body. The device works by emitting a small electromagnetic field that, if disrupted by nearby metal, causes the wand to beep or vibrate.

34A Cancel : NIX

The use of “to nix” as a verb, meaning “to shoot down”, dates back to the early 1900s. Before that, “nix” was just a noun meaning “nothing”. “Nix” comes from the German “nichts”, which also means “nothing”.

35A Vegan baking ingredient made with ground seeds : CHIA EGG

Chia egg is a vegan egg substitute used in baking, made by mixing ground chia seeds with water. When the ground seeds are combined with water, and left to sit for 5–10 minutes, the mixture develops a gelatinous consistency very similar to that of a raw, beaten egg. This “egg” won’t make a cake rise, but does act as an excellent binder, holding ingredients together in recipes like muffins and cookies.

37A __ Jayawardenepura Kotte: urban area near Colombo : SRI

Colombo is the largest city in Sri Lanka. It is also the commercial capital of the island nation, whereas the administrative capital is Kotte (or more formally, “Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte). Kotte is in fact a suburb of Colombo.

38A Scrub Daddy competitor : BRILLO

Brillo is a soapy, steel wool pad patented in 1913. The company claims that the name “Brillo” is derived from the Latin word for “bright”.

Scrub Daddy is a company founded in 2012 that is known for its Scrub Daddy sponges that are shaped like a smiley face. The founder, Aaron Krause, appeared on the show “Shark Tank”, looking for funding. He made a deal with one of the sharks, Lori Greiner, to hand over a 20% equity stake for $200,000. Since then, Scrub Daddy has had sales of over $500 million!

40A Greeting often followed by “Como vai?” : OLA

In Portuguese, someone who greets you with “Olá!” (Hello!), might follow up with “Como vai?” (How’s it going?).

41A Smith of “House of the Dragon” : MATT

English actor Matt Smith is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the BBC sci-fi phenomenon “Doctor Who” from 2010 to 2013. He also played a young Prince Philip on the Netflix show “The Crown” opposite Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II. More recently, he took on the lead role of Daemon Targaryen in the medieval fantasy TV show “House of the Dragon”.

The “House of the Dragon” fantasy TV series serves as a prequel to the TV show “Game of Thrones”. Both shows are adaptations of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels by George R. R. Martin. Due to the success of “Game of Thrones”, expectations were high for “House of the Dragon”. The premiere episode of the latter was really well received by audiences, and so it took just five days for HBO to decide to renew “House of Dragons” for a second season.

42A Flabbergast : ASTOUND

Apparently, there was a 1772 magazine article that described “flabbergasted” as a word that was in vogue at the time. That article also stated that the origin of the term was uncertain. Someone who is flabbergasted is utterly astonished. Like me, most of the time …

44A Tame __: “The Slow Rush” band : IMPALA

“Tame Impala” is described as a psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the studio, he operates as a one-man band, writing, performing, recording, and producing all the music himself. For live shows, Parker is joined by a full touring band, in order to recreate the complex, layered sound.

51A Workers’ residence : HIVE

A beehive is a structure specially built to house a colony of bees. A bee colony that houses itself naturally is found in a nest.

Worker bees produce beeswax, secreting it from glands in their abdomens. The same workers collect the wax and use it to make hexagonal cells in which honey is stored.

52A Crash site org. : NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is responsible for the investigation of major accidents involving transportation. Included in this broad definition is the transportation of fluids in pipelines. The organization is independent in that it has no ties to other government agencies or departments so that its investigations can be viewed as “impartial”. The NTSB also earns a little money for the US as it hires out its investigation teams to countries who don’t have the necessary resources available on their own soil.

59A Wading birds with powder down : HERONS

Herons have special “powder down” feathers that don’t molt but instead grow continuously and disintegrate at the tips into a fine, talc-like powder. The herons then spread this powder over their other feathers, using it as a natural waterproofing agent and to help clean off the oils from the fish they catch.

61A New money? : CRYPTO

A cryptocurrency is a digital asset that I simply do not understand. Apparently, an essential aspect of cryptocurrency is that it has no central administration. The first, and most famous, decentralized cryptocurrency is bitcoin.

Down

1D Sci-fi franchise starring Will Smith : MIB

“Men in black” (MIB) are said to have appeared in the past whenever there have been reports of UFO sightings. Supposedly, these men are government agents whose job it is to suppress reports of alien landings. The conspiracy theorists got their day in the movies with the release of a pretty good sci-fi comedy in 1997 called “Men in Black”, starring Will Smith (as Agent J) and Tommy Lee Jones (as Agent K).

2D Cherubic deity : EROS

A cherub (plural “cherubim”) is an angel. The term “cherub” ultimately comes from the Hebrew “kerubh” (plural “kerubhim”) meaning “winged angel”. In the Jewish tradition, cherubim play a key role in protecting the Garden of Eden, and in particular the Tree of Life.

3D “You’ll bring us bad luck!” : DON’T JINX IT!

A jinx is a charm or a spell. The word “jinx” comes from an older word “jyng” from the 17th-century. A “jyng” was a wryneck, a type of bird much used in witchcraft.

6D Stonewall __ : INN

The police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn on June 29th, 1969. That raid triggered a spate of violent demonstrations led by the LGBT community. Now known as the Stonewall riots, those demonstrations are viewed by many as a significant event leading to the modern-day fight for LGBT rights in the US. Since then, June has been chosen as LGBT Pride Month in recognition of the Stonewall riots.

7D Katy Perry album with the single “Cry About It Later” : SMILE

“Smile” is a 2020 album recorded by Katy Perry. It was released just two days after Perry gave birth to her first child, whom she named Daisy Dove Bloom. The album’s lead single is titled “Daisies”. Coincidence …?

8D Old name of a gp. that now has two members : PAC-TEN

The college athletic conference known as the “new Pac-12” was founded in 1915 as the Pacific Coast Conference. Over time, as it grew, the conference went by the names Big Five, Big Six, Pacific-8, Pacific-10 and became the Pacific-12 in 2011. Following a massive realignment in 2024, ten schools departed the league.The remaining two universities operate as the “new Pac-12”, until a planned relaunch in 2026.

12D Gem for a Libra : OPAL

Here is the “official” list of birthstones, by month, that we tend to use today:

• January: Garnet
• February: Amethyst
• March: Bloodstone or Aquamarine
• April: Diamond
• May: Emerald
• June: Pearl or Moonstone
• July: Ruby
• August: Sardonyx or Peridot
• September: Sapphire or Lapis Lazuli
• October: Opal or Pink Tourmaline
• November: Topaz or Citrine
• December: Turquoise or Zircon (also now, Tanzanite)

13D Sushi bar cut : TORO

In a sushi restaurant, the dish called “toro” is the fatty tissue from the belly of the bluefin tuna.

20D Game company that released a 50th anniversary bundle in 2022 : ATARI

Atari was founded in 1972, and was one of the pioneers in the video game industry. One of the company’s early employees was Steve Jobs, who was hired to work on the game design for the arcade game “Breakout”. Jobs was tasked with reducing the number of chips needed for the game and he recruited his friend, Steve Wozniak, to help with the project. Wozniak designed a circuit board that used only 46 chips, a significant improvement over the original design that had over 100 chips.

23D Classic movie line uttered while pointing out the window : ET, PHONE HOME

1982’s classic science fiction movie “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” was directed by Steven Spielberg. The idea behind the film came from Spielberg himself, and the character E.T. was based on an imaginary friend that he conjured up as a child after his parents divorced in 1960.

25D The Big E et al. : FAIRS

“The Big E” (Eastern States Exposition) is a massive, 17-day annual fair held in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Billed as “New England’s Great State Fair”, it is perhaps most famous for its “Avenue of States,” a walkway featuring life-size replicas of the six original New England statehouses.

28D Left ventricle outlet : AORTA

The heart has four chambers. The two upper chambers (the atria) accept deoxygenated blood from the body and oxygenated blood from the lungs. The atria squeeze those blood supplies into the two lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles), “priming” the pump, as it were. One ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs, and the other pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

30D Dream realm? : WNBA

The Atlanta Dream is a WNBA team that joined the league for the 2008 season. After moving around a little, the Dreams settled into the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia starting with the 2021 season.

32D Former Rocket Ming : YAO

Yao Ming is a retired professional basketball player from Shanghai who played for the Houston Rockets. At 7’6″, Yao was the tallest man playing in the NBA. He has a cute nickname: “the Ming Dynasty”.

35D Fingerprint, maybe : CLUE

Fingerprint patterns are classified into three different patterns: loops, whorls and arches.

43D Tackling groups, for short : D-LINES

Defensive line (D-line)

45D Saag __: spinach dish with cheese : PANEER

Palak paneer is a dish from Indian cuisine. It consists mainly of paneer (a freshly-made cheese) in a puréed spinach paste. Saag paneer is a more generic form of the dish, one in which other leafy vegetables can be used to make the paste, e.g. mustard greens, collard greens or broccoli.

47D Stave off : AVERT

The word “stave” was originally the plural of “staff”, a word describing a wooden rod. To “stave off” originated with the concept of holding off with a staff. In the world of barrel-making, a stave is a narrow strip of wood that forms part of a barrel’s side.

53D Dog-eared, say : BENT

The folded-down corner of the page of a book, a temporary placeholder, is known as a “dog-ear”. I suppose that’s because it looks like the ear of a dog …

56D Compound in some edibles : THC

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive in cannabis.