LA Times Crossword 23 Jan 26, Friday

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Constructed by: Jeff Stillman

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Plan B

Themed answers all sound like common phrases, but with a B-sound added at the end:

• 20A Add to one’s ear piercings? : HIT A NEW LOBE (from “hit a new low”)
• 27A “There’s nothing like the feeling of posting a vlog!”? : I LOVE YOUTUBE (from “I love you too”)
• 46A Trio trying to sneak past the guard at a sauna? : THREE IN A ROBE (from “three in a row”)
• 55A “Get your own die, pal!”? : THAT’S MY CUBE! (from “that’s my cue”)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Bowlers, e.g. : HATS

The bowler hat is so called because it was originally designed, in 1849, by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler. The Bowlers created it as an alternative for the top hats then worn by gamekeepers. The gamekeepers needed a tight-fitting hat with a low and rounded crown so that it would stay on their heads as they rode by horseback through woodland with low-hanging branches.

17A Uneven do : SHAG

A shag cut is a layered hairstyle. Actress Meg Ryan famously sported a shag cut for many years, as did fellow actress Farrah Fawcett.

18A Mallet game : POLO

Polo rules dictate that all players hold the mallet in their right hand. This ensures all players approach the ball on the same “traffic” side, preventing high-speed, head-on collisions that could occur if a left-handed player approached the ball on the opposite line.

19A Rapinoe who won the Ballon d’Or Féminin in 2019 : MEGAN

Megan Rapinoe is a professional soccer player and a star on the US national team. One of Rapinoe’s many claims to fame is that she is the only player, male or female, to score a goal directly from a corner kick in an Olympic Games.

The Ballon d’Or Féminin (sometimes “Women’s Ballon d’Or”) honors the best female football player in the world. The prestigious Ballon d’Or men’s award has been handed out since 1956. It took 62 years, until 2018, to establish the women’s equivalent.

23A Onetime owner of Virgin Records : EMI

Virgin EMI Records is a label that formed in 2013 with the merger of Mercury Records UK and Virgin Records. The list of artists who recorded with Virgin EMI includes Justin Bieber, Elton John, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, U2, Willie Nelson and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

24A Michael of Monty Python : PALIN

Michael Palin is a marvelously talented comedian and actor, most famous as one of the “Monty Python” team. Palin is well known as a travel writer and has made some outstanding travel documentaries for television. He did one show called “Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days” in which he followed the route called out in the Jules Verne classic, without using airplanes. Palin also made “Pole to Pole”, a journey from the North to South Poles, along the 30 degree line of longitude. Currently, Michael Palin was the President of the Royal Geographical Society for several years.

27A “There’s nothing like the feeling of posting a vlog!”? : I LOVE YOUTUBE (from “I love you too”)

A video blog is perhaps what one might expect, i.e. a blog that is essentially a series of video posts. The phrase “video logging” is often shortened to “vlogging”.

33A Brew made from petals : ROSE TEA

Rose tea is a herbal tea made from either rose petals or rosehips, the fruit of the rose plant.

39A “The King and I” role : ANNA

“The King and I” is a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical based on a book by Margaret Landon called “Anna and the King of Siam” first published in 1944. Landon’s book is based on a true story, told in the memoirs of Anna Leonowens. Leonowens was the governess of the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the 1860s, and she also taught the king’s wives.

40A Uses a Brillo pad on : SCOURS

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”.

61A Home overhaul, informally : RENO

“Reno” is short for “renovation”.

62A Iranian money : RIAL

The rial is the currency of Iran (as well as Yemen, Oman and Tunisia). Generally, there are 1,000 baisa in one rial.

64A Small fastener : BRAD

A brad is a slender wire nail with a relatively small head that is typically used to tack pieces of wood together, i.e. to fasten either temporarily or with minimal damage to the wood. Nowadays, brads are commonly applied using a nail gun.

65A Utah home of Sugarloaf Mountain : ALTA

Alta ski resort actually lies within the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area. The first ski lift in the resort was opened way back in 1939. Today, Alta is one of only three ski resorts in the country that prohibits snowboarding (along with Deer Valley, Utah and Mad River Glen, Vermont). The ski resort of Snowbird, located next to Alta, has been in operation since 1971.

67A “Holy moly!” : YIPE!

The mild expletive “Holy moly!” is a euphemism for “Holy Moses!”

Down

3D Rodeo rope : RIATA

A riata is a lariat or a lasso. “Riata” comes from “reata”, the Spanish word for “lasso”.

8D Comics canine : SNOOPY

Snoopy is a central and much-loved character in the Charles M. Schulz comic strip “Peanuts”. He is Charlie Brown’s pet beagle, and first appeared in “Peanuts” just two days after the strip’s debut in 1950. He was identified as “Snoopy” a month later, and first “spoke” (in a thought balloon) in 1952. Initially depicted as a more traditionally dog-like figure, Schulz started to anthropomorphize Snoopy in 1952, first drawing him upright on his hind legs in 1952, while ice-skating on a frozen lake.

12D “The King and I” setting : SIAM

“Siam” was the official name of Thailand up to 1939 (and again from 1945 to 1949).

13D “Knives Out” actress Collette : TONI

Toni Collette is a marvelous actress from Australia who really started to garner the public’s attention playing the title role in the 1994 film “Muriel’s Wedding”. She went on to take major roles in films like “Emma” (1996), “The Sixth Sense” (1999), “About a Boy” (2002), all of which are favorites of mine. Collette also played the lead in the excellent Showtime comedy-drama “United States of Tara”.

“Knives Out” is an intriguing murder mystery film released in 2019. There’s a great cast including Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette and Christopher Plummer. I really enjoyed this one, partly because it’s a clever, contemporary take on a classic whodunit movie …

21D The Aswan High Dam’s river : NILE

The Aswan Dam on the River Nile is actually two dams. The Low Dam was first built in 1902 (and modified later). The High Dam was completed in 1970.

26D Seafood dish that turns from blue to orange during preparation : STEAMED CRAB

A live blue crab gets its color from pigments in the shell, which predominantly result in a blue color. When a crab is cooked, all the pigments break down except for astaxanthin, a red pigment, which is why a crab turns up at the dinner table looking very red.

28D Two-finger sign : VEE

One has to be careful making that V-sign depending where you are in the world. Where I came from, the V-for-victory (or peace) sign has to be made with the palm facing outwards. If the sign is made with the palm facing inwards, it can be interpreted as a very obscene gesture. Apparently, the latter originated from a gesture used by English archers in the Battle of Agincourt.

29D Gut course : EASY A

The slang term “gut course” refers to a college class that requires minimal effort to pass, one where you can rely on your “gut instincts” rather than actual studying.

30D Arm bone : ULNA

The ulna is the forearm bone on the pinky side, and its name is the Latin word for “elbow”. The top of the ulna forms the sharp, bony point of the elbow called the olecranon.

36D Winter hrs. in Halifax : AST

Atlantic Standard Time (AST) is four hours behind Greenwich Mean Time and one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time. The list of locations that use AST includes Puerto Rico, Bermuda and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

Halifax is the capital of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The original Canadian Town of Halifax was established in 1749 and was named for the British Earl of Halifax. The Earl of Halifax peerage was named for the town in West Yorkshire in the North of England.

41D Surname of two directors in the “Ghostbusters” franchise : REITMAN

Ivan Reitman was a film producer and director born in Slovakia, but who lived in Canada from when he was a small boy. Reitman is best known for producing and directing comedy movies. His long list of hits includes “Stripes”, “Ghostbusters”, “Kindergarten Cop” and “Dave”. Ivan’s son Jason Reitman is also a successful director, and was at the helm for the films “Juno”, “Thank You for Smoking” and “Up in the Air”.

42D Enemy of the Jedi : SITH

The Sith are characters in the “Star Wars” universe who use the “dark side” of “the Force”, and as such are the antithesis of the Jedi Knights. Members of the Sith use the title “Darth” before their name, as in “Darth Vader”. The last made of the six “Star Wars” movies is called “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”.

45D “About __”: Hugh Grant film based on a Nick Hornby novel : A BOY

“About a Boy” is a 2002 film adaptation of a 1988 novel of the same name by Nick Hornby (who also wrote “High Fidelity” and “Fever Pitch”, which were also turned into successful movies). “About a Boy” stars Hugh Grant and Toni Collette, with Nicholas Hoult playing the title character. Hornby’s novel has now been adapted for the small screen, and a TV series of the same name premiered on NBC in 2014.

52D Automaker that declared bankruptcy in 2011 : SAAB

“SAAB” stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. Although we usually think of SAAB as an auto manufacturer, it is mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. The assets were acquired in 2012 by NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden), a new company that used the SAAB name on its vehicles for several years.

56D Actress Hatcher : TERI

Teri Hatcher’s most famous role is the Susan Mayer character on the TV comedy-drama “Desperate Housewives”. I’ve never seen more than a few minutes of “Housewives” but I do know Teri Hatcher as a Bond girl, as she appeared in “Tomorrow Never Dies”. More recently, she portrayed Lois Lane on the show “Lois & Clark”.

58D Joie de vivre : ELAN

“Joie de vivre” means “joy of living” in French. We use the phrase to mean the happy, carefree enjoyment of life, like when we finish our crossword puzzles …

60D Ergonomic brand : OXO

The OXO line of kitchen utensils and housewares is designed to be ergonomically superior to the average household tools. The intended user of OXO products is someone who doesn’t have the normal range of motion or strength in the hands e.g. someone suffering from arthritis.