LA Times Crossword 30 Jul 26, Thursday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Jeffrey Wechsler

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Che-cking out the Alphabet

Themed answers start with CHE, with the next letter progressing from V through to Z as we descend the grid:

• 17A Car named for a California beach city : CHEVROLET MALIBU
• 23A Carefully considering something : CHEWING IT OVER
• 35A Cereal-based snack : CHEX MIX
• 46A Home of the Frontier Days rodeo : CHEYENNE, WYOMING
• 55A California restaurant opened by Alice Waters in 1971 : CHEZ PANISSE

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

Bill’s time: 5m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Thompson of “Creed” : TESSA

Tessa Thompson is an actress from Los Angeles who is known for playing the supporting role of Jackie Cook on the TV show “Veronica Mars”, and for playing student leader Diane Nash in the 2014 film “Selma”. She also portrays superheroine Valkyrie in movies based on Marvel Comics characters.

“Creed” is a 2015 boxing movie, the seventh in the “Rocky” franchise. Sylvester Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa, but this time as a trainer. Rocky trains Apollo Creed’s son Adonis. Stallone was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in the film. It was the first Academy Award nomination he had received since the first “Rocky” film, which was released almost forty years earlier.

6A One crunch, e.g. : REP

In 2024, sports medicine expert and entrepreneur Dr. Sirous Ahmadi embarked on a gruelling challenge to raise awareness and funds for the Australian Heart Foundation. He set the world record for the most abdominal crunches completed in a single five-hour session: an astounding 20,034 reps.

9A Accord, for one : SEDAN

The American sedan car is the equivalent of the British and Irish saloon car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in Britain and Ireland), and in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.

Honda started manufacturing the Accord model in Marysville, Ohio in 1982, making the Accord the first Japanese car to be produced in the US. The Accord was the best-selling Japanese car in America from 1982 to 1997, and in 1989 it became the first import to become the best-selling car in the US.

15A Big bird : EMU

Even though emu meat is classified as a red meat because of its color, it has a fat content that is comparable to other poultry.

16A Año Nuevo month : ENERO

In Spanish, in “enero” (January), one wishes someone “un prospero año nuevo” (a happy new year).

17A Car named for a California beach city : CHEVROLET MALIBU

The Chevrolet Malibu was named for the city of Malibu, California. It was produced by General Motors from 1964 to 1983, and was then reintroduced in 1997.

20A South American monkey : TITI

Titis are monkeys found in much of South America. They have tails that are a little bit longer than the length of their heads and bodies.

21A In and of itself : PER SE

“Per se” is a Latin phrase that translates as “by itself”. We use “per se” pretty literally, meaning “in itself, intrinsically”.

26A Alien-seeking field: Abbr. : SETI

“SETI” is the name given to a number of projects searching for extraterrestrial life. The acronym stands for “search for extraterrestrial intelligence”. One of the main SETI activities is the monitoring of electromagnetic radiation (such as radio waves) reaching the Earth in the hope of finding a transmission from a civilization in another world.

27A Pin number? : TEN

In ten-pin bowling, the pins are arranged in a triangular arrangement. The pin at the front is the 1-pin. The pins at the back are number 7 through 10, from left to right.

28A Loch with a legend : NESS

Scotland’s Loch Ness is famous for its fabled “monster”, referred to affectionately as “Nessie”. The loch is the second-largest lake in the country (Loch Lomond is the largest). Loch Ness takes its name from the River Ness that flows from the loch’s northern end.

29A Mach 1 breaker : SST

Supersonic transports (SSTs) like the Concorde broke Mach 1, the speed of sound. As a plane flies through the air, it creates pressure waves in front (and behind) rather like the bow and stern waves of a boat. These pressure waves travel at the speed of sound, so as an aircraft itself accelerates towards the speed of sound it catches up with the pressure waves until they cannot “get out of the way”. When the aircraft reaches the speed of sound, the compressed waves merge into one single shock wave, creating a sonic boom.

The Mach number of a moving object (like say an airplane) is its speed relative to the speed of sound. A plane traveling at Mach 2, for example, is moving at twice the speed of sound. The term “Mach” takes its name from the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach who published a groundbreaking paper in 1887 that even predicted the “sonic boom”.

31A Author Rand : AYN

Russian-born American author Ayn Rand considered 1957’s “Atlas Shrugged” her magnum opus. It is a dystopian novel set in a US without a Congress or president, and instead a National Legislature and Head of State.

32A Catch a few winks : NAP

Back in the early 1800s, folks took “nine winks” when getting a few minutes of sleep during the day. Dr. William Kitchiner extended this concept in his 1821 self-help book “The Art of Invigorating and Prolonging Life”. He suggested “A Forty Winks Nap”, which we seem to have been taking ever since. Mind you, I’m up to about eighty winks most days …

35A Cereal-based snack : CHEX MIX

Chex Mix is a party mix that includes Chex cereal as a major ingredient. The first recipe appeared on boxes of Chex cereal in 1952.

39A With 59-Down, “Tommy” band : THE …
59D See 39-Across : … WHO

The Who were an English rock band formed in 1964, bringing together famed musicians Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. According to “Rolling Stone” magazine, the Who were the third arm of the holy trinity of British rock, alongside the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

“Tommy” is the fourth album recorded by the British band called the Who. “Tommy” was the original rock opera and was adapted for both the stage and screen, with both adaptations becoming huge successes. The title character has an uncanny ability to play pinball, giving rise to the hit song “Pinball Wizard”.

46A Home of the Frontier Days rodeo : CHEYENNE, WYOMING

Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city in Wyoming. The city was settled in the 1860s when it was chosen as the point at which the Union Pacific Railroad would cross the Crow Creek river. The city name was taken from the Native-American Cheyenne nation that is indigenous to the Great Plains.

Cheyenne Frontier Days is a rodeo held annually in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It is often called the “Daddy of ’em All” and is the world’s largest outdoor rodeo. The city held its first Frontier Days event in 1897.

50A Nav. rank : ENS

Ensign is (usually) the most junior rank of commissioned officer in the armed forces. The name comes from the tradition that the junior officer would be given the task of carrying the ensign flag.

51A __-nez : PINCE

Pince-nez are eyeglasses clipped to the bridge of the nose. “Pince-nez” is French, and translates as “pinch the nose”.

52A West Texas city : ODESSA

The city of Odessa (also “Odesa”) in Ukraine was founded relatively recently, in 1794 by Catherine the Great. The city was originally meant to be called Odessos after an ancient Greek city believed to have been located nearby. Catherine liked the way the locals pronounced the name as “Odessa” and so went with the less Greek-sounding name.

54A Having raised surfaces, as teeth : CUSPED

A cusp is a point, a pointed end of some structure. For example, the top of a cone is a cusp, as are the two pointed ends of a crescent.

In a human tooth, cusps are the raised points on the crowns. Canine teeth have only one cusp each, and so are known as cuspids. Premolars have two cusps, and are usually referred to as bicuspids.

55A California restaurant opened by Alice Waters in 1971 : CHEZ PANISSE

Alice Waters is a chef and author who opened the Berkeley, California restaurant Chez Panisse in 1971. Arguably, Waters and Chez Panisse popularized the farm-to-table movement, which advocates the serving of local foods in restaurants and schools, local foods sourced from the producer (a farm or winery, for example).

62A Pet food brand : IAMS

Iams dog food was introduced by animal nutritionist Paul Iams. He felt that household pets were suffering somewhat by being fed a diet of table scraps, so he developed dry dog food that he felt was more nutritious and suitable for pet dogs. He founded the Iams company in 1946.

66A Revise, as prose : EMEND

The verb “to amend” means “to change for the better, put right, alter by adding”. The related verb “to emend” is used more rarely, and mainly in reference to the editing of professional writing. Both terms are derived from the Latin “emendare” meaning “to remove fault”.

67A Gumbo vegetable : OKRA

Gumbo is a type of stew or soup that originated in Louisiana. The primary ingredient can be meat or fish, but to be true gumbo it must include the “holy trinity” of vegetables, namely celery, bell peppers and onion. Okra used to be a requirement but this is no longer the case. Okra gave the dish its name as the vernacular word for the African vegetable is “ki ngombo”, from the Bantu language spoken by many of the slaves brought to America.

68A Shoppe adjective : OLDE

The word “olde” wasn’t actually used much earlier than the 1920s. “Olde” was introduced to give a quaint antique feel to brand names, shop names etc. as in “Ye Olde Shoppe”.

69A “Mighty” batter who strikes out in a classic poem : CASEY

“Casey at the Bat” is a poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer, first published in the San Francisco Examiner. The poem became very popular due to repeated live performances in vaudeville by DeWolf Hopper. Casey played for the Mudville Nine, and the last line of the poem is “But there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey has struck out.”

70A Tiny amt. of time : NSEC

“Nanosecond” is more correctly abbreviated to “ns” (as opposed to “nsec”) and really is a tiny amount of time: one billionth of a second.

Down

4D Sputnik launchers : SOVIETS

The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite towards the end of 1957. The first in a series of space missions, the satellite was just a 23-inch diameter “ball” trailing four antennas. Sputnik 2 was launched just a month later, and carried the first living passenger into orbit, namely a dog named Laika. The word “sputnik” means “co-traveler” in Russian.

5D Chad’s continent: Abbr. : AFR

The landlocked African country called Chad takes its name from the second largest wetland on the continent, which is known as Lake Chad.

9D Zooplankton habitat : SEA

Plankton are organisms that float in water and are incapable of swimming against a current. They can be classified into four broad groups:

• Phytoplankton: algae that live on the surface and use light for photosynthesis.
• Zooplankton: small animals that mainly feed on other plankton.
• Bacterioplankton: the bacterial component of plankton.
• Mycoplankton: the fungal component of plankton.

13D Gin or tonic : NOUN

The original tonic water was a fairly strong solution of the drug quinine dissolved in carbonated water. It was used in tropical areas in South Asia and Africa where malaria is rampant. The quinine has a prophylactic effect against the disease, and was formulated as “tonic water” so that it could be easily distributed. In British colonial India, the colonial types got into the habit of mixing gin with the tonic water to make it more palatable by hiding the bitter taste of quinine. Nowadays, the level of quinine in tonic water has dropped, and sugar has been added.

18D Nail polish brand : OPI

Opi (originally “Odontorium Products Inc.”) is a manufacturer of nail polish based in North Hollywood, California. One of Opi’s marketing coups was the introduction of a line of Legally Blonde 2 polishes, which featured in the film. Opi also launched a collection of nail lacquers inspired by the hit Broadway musical “Wicked” in celebration of its 10th anniversary on Broadway.

24D Cheesehead’s st. : WISC

The state of Wisconsin is a leading producer of dairy products, and is particularly known for its cheese. It is sometimes referred to as the Dairy State, and the state’s license plates have borne the motto “America’s Dairyland” since 1940.

25D Semiprecious stone with black-and-white bands : ONYX

Onyx is a form of quartz that comes in many different shades, but most often it’s the black version that’s used for jewelry. The name “onyx” comes from the Greek word for “fingernail”, as onyx in the flesh color is said to resemble a fingernail.

32D __ cheese : NACHO

The dish known as “nachos” was supposedly created by the maître d’ at a restaurant called the Victory Club in the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. The name of the maître d’ was Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya.

34D Prepare for later broadcast : PRERECORD

A podcast is an audio or video media file that is made available for download. The term “podcast” is a portmanteau of “iPod” and “broadcast”. Basically, a podcast is a broadcast that one can play on demand, simply by downloading and opening the podcast file.

36D Coastal raptor : ERNE

The ern (sometimes “erne”) is also known as the white-tailed eagle or the sea eagle.

“Raptor” is a generic term for a bird of prey, one that has talons to grip its victims.

37D Marvel Comics mutants : X-MEN

In the Marvel Comics universe, mutants are beings with an X-gene. Such mutants are humans who naturally develop superhuman powers. The most celebrated of these mutants are known as the X-Men.

39D Cult classic of 1990s TV : TWIN PEAKS

“Twin Peaks” is an ABC TV drama about an FBI murder investigation in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington. The show originally ran for just two seasons, from 1990 to 1991. There followed a 1992 feature film called “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me”, and Showtime came up with “Twin Peaks: The Return” that started airing in 2017. I haven’t seen any incarnations of the show, but I hear good things …

41D “O, turn thy __ sword another way; / Strike those that hurt, and hurt not those that help”: “Henry VI, Part 1” : EDGED

The experts tell us that William Shakespeare’s “Henry VI, Part 1” was likely written as a prequel, capitalizing on the Elizabethan box-office success of the already-completed plays now designated “Part 2” and “Part 3”. These scholars also suggest that the Bard did not write the script alone, instead co-authoring with contemporaries like Thomas Nashe and Christopher Marlowe. One notable element of “Part 1” is the fictional “Temple Garden” scene, in which rival nobles plucked red and white roses to display their loyalty to either the House of Lancaster or the House of York. Sir Walter Scott, 250 years later, used Shakespeare’s symbolism to label the subsequent conflict the “Wars of the Roses”. Up until then, and during the fighting, it was known as the “Civil Wars”.

53D Pyramid builders of Mexico : AZTEC

The Aztec people of Central America dominated the region in the 14th – 16th centuries. Two traits of the Aztec people are oft cited today. They built some magnificent pyramids, and they also engaged in human sacrifice. The two traits were linked in a way … for the consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan, 84,400 prisoners were sacrificed over a period of four days.

54D Supermodel Crawford : CINDY

Supermodel Cindy Crawford graduated high school as co-valedictorian, and earned herself a competitive academic scholarship to study chemical engineering at Northwestern University. Prior to college, she had been successful as a model, and so dropped out of university after only one quarter in order to take up modeling full time. I doubt that she regrets that decision …

56D Big cat : PUMA

The mountain lion is found in much of the Americas from the Yukon in Canada right down to the southern Andes in South America. Because the mountain lion is found over such a vast area, it has many different names applied by local peoples, such as “cougar” and “puma”. In fact, the mountain lion holds the Guinness record for the animal with the most number of different names, with over 40 in English alone.

58D Zip : NONE

The use of the words “zip” and “zippo” to mean “nothing” dates back to the early 1900s, when it was student slang for being graded zero on a test.

60D Shakespearean prince : HAL

“Prince Hal” is a term used for Prince Henry, the son of the title character in Shakespeare’s plays “Henry IV, Part 1” and “Henry IV, Part 2”. Prince Hal then becomes king in Shakespeare’s “Henry V”.

63D Army fare, briefly : MRE

The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) comes in a lightweight package that’s easy to tote around. The MRE replaced the more cumbersome Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) in 1981, a meal-in-a-can. In turn, the MCI had replaced the C-ration in 1958, a less sophisticated meal-in-a-can with a more limited choice.

64D Cul-de-__ : SAC

Even though “cul-de-sac” can indeed mean “bottom-of-the-bag” in French, this term is of English origin. It was introduced in aristocratic circles at a time when it was considered very fashionable to speak French. Dead-end streets in France are usually signposted with just a symbol and no accompanying words, but if words are included they are “voie sans issue”, meaning “way without exit”.