LA Times Crossword 22 Sep 26, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Zachary David Levy

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Raised in a Barn

Themed answers, collectively, suggest that someone might have been RAISED IN A BARN, by citing characteristics that cite farm animals:

• 53A Lacking all refinement, facetiously, or like the person described in 20-, 26-, 35-, and 44-Across? : RAISED IN A BARN

• 20A Exhibit A: That awful handwriting : CHICKEN SCRAWL
• 26A Exhibit B: That loud guffaw : HORSELAUGH
• 35A Exhibit C: That unruly hair : COWLICK
• 44A Exhibit D: That goofy stare : SHEEP’S EYES

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

Bill’s time: 6m 22s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6A Highest mountain in Japan : FUJI

Mount Fuji is Japan’s highest and most famous mountain. Located just west of Tokyo, it is an active volcano, although its last eruption took place in 1707/1708.

15A Guy known for his first-person perspective? : ADAM

According to the Bible, God created Adam from “the dust of the ground”. Eve was created as Adam’s companion, from Adam’s rib.

16A Abu Dhabi’s fed. : UAE

Abu Dhabi is an island city in the Persian Gulf that is capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “Abu Dhabi” translates literally from Arabic as “Father of Gazelle”, a name honoring the animal that reportedly led the Bani Yas tribe to a fresh water source on the island in 1761. The Bani Yas then established a fort and some housing in the area. That fort is now the oldest stone building in the city today.

17A Composer Shostakovich : DMITRI

Dmitri Shostakovich was a Russian composer, producing works in the Soviet period. He had a difficult relationship with the Communist Party and twice was officially denounced by the party.

18A Harlem Renaissance writer __ Neale Hurston : ZORA

Zora Neale Hurston was an American author who is most famous for her 1937 novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”.

“Harlem Renaissance” is the term used to describe a cultural movement in the 1920s that was known at the time as the “New Negro Movement”. The movement involved new cultural expression by African Americans that was centered mainly in urban areas in the northeast and midwest, and that was especially vibrant in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood.

19A Bikini top : BRA

The origin of the word “bikini”, describing a type of bathing suit, seems very uncertain. One story is that it is named after the Bikini Atoll, site of American A-bomb tests in the forties and fifties. The name “bikini” was chosen for the swim-wear because of the “explosive” effect it had on men who saw a woman wearing the garment …

23A “Little Bunny __” : FOO FOO

“Little Bunny Foo Foo” is a children’s poem that is sung to the tune of the French-Canadian children’s song “Alouette”.

24A Lit __: English major’s course : CRIT

Literary studies, also called literary criticism (lit crit), is the evaluation and interpretation of literature.

31A Belarus capital : MINSK

Minsk is the capital of Belarus, formerly known as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. One of Minsk’s more infamous residents was Lee Harvey Oswald, who lived there from 1960 to 1962.

34A “__ Doubtfire” : MRS

The 1993 comedy “Mrs. Doubtfire” is based on a 1987 novel called “Madame Doubtfire” by Anne Fine. The movie is set and was filmed in San Francisco. The title role is played by Robin Williams, who spent most of the movie dressed as the female Mrs. Doubtfire. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the movie won the Oscar for Best Makeup.

59A Dental exam image : X-RAY

X-rays were first studied comprehensively by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (also “Roentgen”), and it was he who gave the name “X-rays” to this particular type of radiation. Paradoxically, in Röntgen’s native language of German, X-rays are routinely referred to as “Röntgen rays”. In 1901, Röntgen’s work on X-rays won him the first Nobel Prize in Physics that was ever awarded.

64A Snub-nosed dogs : PUGS

The pug is a dog breed of Chinese origin. Our last family pet was a boxer/pug cross, and was a good-looking mutt!

Down

1D Netflix format, originally : DVD

Netflix was founded in Los Gatos, California in 1997 as a DVD rental company that sent out titles by mail. The company delivered its billionth DVD in 2007. I presume the renter wasn’t charged for that movie …

2D Sleep cycle letters : REM

“REM” is an acronym standing for “rapid eye movement”. REM sleep takes up 20-25% of the sleeping hours and is the period associated with one’s most vivid dreams.

3D Horned equines of mythology : UNICORNS

A unicorn is a mythical creature that resembles a horse with a horn projecting from its forehead. The term “unicorn” comes from the Latin “uni-” (one) and “cornu” (horn).

5D Typeface line : SERIF

Serifs are details on the ends of characters in some typefaces. Typefaces without serifs are known as sans-serif, using the French word “sans” meaning “without” and “serif” from the Dutch “schreef” meaning “line”. Some people say that serif fonts are easier to read on paper, whereas sans-serif fonts work better on a computer screen. I’m not so sure though …

7D Japanese noodle : UDON

Udon noodles are made from wheat flour and are very popular with Japanese dishes such as tempura.

10D Forester carmaker : SUBARU

Subaru introduced the Forester for the 1998 model year. It is classified as a compact crossover vehicle.

11D Pincered insect : EARWIG

The insect known as the earwig may have gotten its name from the mistaken belief that it burrowed into the human brain via the ear canal in order to lay its eggs in the brain.

14D Canon competitor : RICOH

Ricoh is a Japanese company that started out in 1936 and by the year 2000 was the biggest manufacturer of copiers in the world. The company is also well known as a supplier of cameras. The most successful of Ricoh’s lines of cameras is the compact model called a Caplio.

21D “Kitchy-kitchy-__” : KOO

“Kitchy-kitchy-koo” is a taunt uttered while tickling someone.

28D __ generis: unique : SUI

“Sui generis” is a Latin expression meaning “of its own kind”. The term can be used in a number of fields, and in philosophy it refers to an idea which cannot be included in a wider concept, an idea of its own kind.

30D Norse god of mischief : LOKI

Loki is a trickster god in Norse mythology known for continually creating chaos. He is the father of sons with his wife Sigyn. Because Loki is also a shape-shifter, he gave birth to children “himself” by assuming the shape of the opposite sex.

32D Disposable coffee pod : K-CUP

A K-Cup is a single-portion cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate in which the beverage is prepared in situ. K-Cup packs are used with brewing machines made by Keurig, a manufacturer of coffee brewers based in Reading, Massachusetts. Personally, I use a Nespresso machine …

37D Golfer Michelle __ West : WIE

Michelle Wie is an American golfer on the LPGA Tour. She began playing golf at the age of four and was the youngest player ever to qualify for an LPGA tour event. Wie turned pro just before her 16th birthday. In 2019, she married Jonnie West, Director of Basketball Operations for the Golden State Warriors, and now uses the name Michelle Wie West.

43D Whiter with age : HOARIER

The Old English word “har” meant “gray, venerable, old”, and came into English as “hoar” (and later “hoary”) with the same meaning. The term “hoar-frost” dates back to the 13th century, and reflects the similarity of the white feathers of frost to the gray/white of an old man’s beard.

45D Sandwich also known as a grinder : HOAGIE

“Hoagy” (sometimes “hoagie”) is another name for a submarine sandwich. The term “hoagy” originated in Philadelphia, and was apparently introduced by Italians working in the shipyards during WWI. The shipyards were located on Hog Island, and the sandwich was first called “the Hog Island”, which morphed into “hoagy”.

The etymology of “grinder”, as a name for a sandwich, is unknown. That said, it is known that the term dates back to 1954. It is speculated that eating the large sandwich requires a lot of chewing, and hence the name “grinder”.

47D Childcare expert LeShan : EDA

Eda LeShan wrote several nonfiction books including “When Your Child Drives You Crazy” and “The Conspiracy Against Childhood”. LeShan was also host of the PBS television show “How Do Your Children Grow?”

52D Impressionist painter Édouard : MANET

Édouard Manet was a French painter whose works are mainly classified as Realist and Impressionist. Manet was friends with Impressionists masters like Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir and greatly influenced the Impressionist movement. The list of Manet’s marvelous paintings includes “Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe”, “Le Repos”, and “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère”.

54D Trade show : EXPO

The first World’s Fair was held in 1851, known back then as the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations. The fair was the idea of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. It was held in a magnificent glass and cast-iron structure called the Crystal Palace that was purpose-built for the occasion. The Great Exhibition spawned a tradition of what became known as World’s Fairs, expositions that feature national pavilions created by participating countries. The term “Expo” was coined for Expo 67, a 1967 World’s Fair held in Montreal. Since then, we’ve been using “expo” to describe any large exposition or trade show.

56D “Othello” villain : IAGO

Despite being portrayed as a villain in William Shakespeare’s “Othello”, Iago is one of the most complex characters in the play. He is known for his Machiavellian tactics, manipulating the other characters to achieve his selfish goals.

57D Nasdaq rival : NYSE

The roots of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) go back to 1792 when a group of 24 stock brokers set up the New York Stock & Exchange Board. They did so in an agreement signed under a buttonwood tree outside 68 Wall Street. That document became known as the Buttonwood Agreement. Today, the NYSE is located in a National Historic Landmark building with the address 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City.

61D Cambridge sch. : MIT

The Massachusetts city of Cambridge lies just across the Charles River from Boston. The area was settled in 1630, and named “Cambridge” in 1638 in honor of the English university. Cambridge is home to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as Lesley University and Hult International Business School.