LA Times Crossword 7 May 26, Thursday

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Constructed by: Zachary David Levy

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Sounds Like a Plan

Themed answers each include a set of circled letters that, when SOUNDED out, give a synonym of “PLAN”:

• 37A “Let’s do this thing!,” or what can be said about each set of circles in this puzzle : SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN!

• 17A Some tissue in the central nervous system : GRAY MATTER (“AYM” sounds like “AIM”)
• 23A Quantum mechanics phenomenon : SUPERPOSITION (“PERPOS” sounds like “PURPOSE”)
• 47A Sweet and tart fruit drink : MANGO LEMONADE (“GOL” sounds like “GOAL”)
• 58A Therapeutic canopy for some respiratory ailments : OXYGEN TENT (“ENTENT” sounds like “INTENT”)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 04s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Hajj destination : MECCA

“Haji” (also “Hajji” and “Hadji”) is the term used for someone who has made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and it is sometimes also used as a form of address for such a person. The journey itself goes by the name “haj”, “hajj” or “hadj”.

6A Foxtrot follower : GOLF

In the NATO phonetic alphabet, the letter F is represented by the word “Foxtrot”, and the letter G by the word “Golf”.

14A Brilliance : ECLAT

“Éclat” can describe a brilliant show of success, as well as the applause or accolade that one receives for that success. The word “éclat” derives from the French “éclater” meaning “to splinter, burst out”.

15A Actress Taylor-Joy : ANYA

Actress Anya Taylor-Joy had quite the international upbringing. She was born in Miami, and raised in Buenos Aires and then London. She is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the 2020 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma”, and the lead role in the Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit”.

17A Some tissue in the central nervous system : GRAY MATTER

Gray matter and white matter are the two components of the central nervous system. Gray matter is mainly made up of neurons, and white matter is largely made of axons, the projections of the neurons that form nerve fibers.

20A Not to be trusted, in slang : SUS

The slang term “sus” is a shortened form of “suspicious” or “suspect”.

21A Condo gp. : HOA

Homeowners’ association (HOA)

22A Elusive picture book character : WALDO

The series of children’s illustrated books called “Where’s Waldo?” was originally titled “Where’s Wally?” in Britain, where the books originated. Each book contains page after page of illustrations with crowds of people surrounding famous landmarks from around the world. The challenge is to find Waldo/Wally, who is hidden in the crowd.

23A Quantum mechanics phenomenon : SUPERPOSITION

Superposition is the quantum principle where a particle exists in every possible state simultaneously, until it is observed. Erwin Schrödinger famously mocked this “both/and” logic in 1935 with a hypothetical cat that was simultaneously alive and dead, while it was unobserved.

34A Sanskrit title of respect : SRI

“Sri” is a title of respect for a male in India.

41A Mont Blanc, e.g. : ALP

Mont Blanc is the highest peak in the Alps. The name “Mont Blanc” translates from French into “white mountain”. The mountain lies on the border between France and Italy, and it has been generally accepted for decades that the summit lies within French territory. However, there have been official claims that the summit does in fact fall within the borders of Italy.

42A Mystery writer Buchanan : EDNA

Edna Buchanan is an author, mainly of crime mystery novels. She also worked as a crime journalist for “The Miami Herald”.

43A Lego unit : BRICK

Lego House is a huge visitor center in Billund, Denmark that is located near the Lego Group headquarters. It is home to several experience zones and exhibitions, as well as the Lego Museum. Inside the building, there are about 25 million Lego bricks!

47A Sweet and tart fruit drink : MANGO LEMONADE

The delicious mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan and the Philippines. Almost half of the world’s supply of mangoes comes from India.

54A Uno y uno : DOS

In Spanish, “dos” (two) is “uno y uno” (one plus one).

57A __ diagram : VENN

Englishman John Venn was an expert in the field of logic, and introduced the Venn diagram in his book “Symbolic Logic” in 1881. Venn diagrams are used in set theory, to illustrate the logical relationships between sets of variables.

63A McEntire of country : REBA

Reba McEntire is a country music singer and television actress. McEntire starred in her own sitcom “Reba” that aired on the WB and the CW channels from 2001 to 2007. She is sometimes referred to as “The Queen of Country”.

64A Italian bowling game : BOCCE

The Italian bowling game of bocce (often anglicized as “bocci” or “boccie”) is based on a game played in ancient Rome. “Bocce” is the plural of the Italian word “boccia” meaning “bowl”.

65A __ a soul : NARY

The adjective “nary” means “not one”, as in “nary a soul” or even “nary a one”.

66A Tree of Knowledge location : EDEN

In the Christian tradition, the “fall of man” took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This went against the bidding of God, and was at the urging of the serpent. As a result, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden to prevent them from becoming immortal by eating from the tree of life. The first humans had transitioned from a state of innocent obedience to a state of guilty disobedience.

Down

2D Earth tone : ECRU

The color ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”, and has the same roots as our word “crude”.

4D Sandy island : CAY

A key (also “cay”) is a low offshore island, as in the Florida “Keys”. Our term in English comes from the Spanish “cayo” meaning “shoal, reef”.

8D NaOH, more familiarly : LYE

What we call “lye” is usually sodium hydroxide (NaOH), although historically the term “lye” was used for potassium hydroxide. Lye has many uses, including to cure several foodstuffs. Lye can make olives less bitter, for example. The chemical is also found in canned mandarin oranges, pretzels and Japanese ramen noodles. More concentrated grades of lye are used to clear drains and clean ovens. Scary …

10D Canadian brewery : LABATT

The Labatt Brewing Company is the largest brewery in Canada. The company was founded by John K. Labatt in London, Ontario in 1847.

11D Cause of some food poisoning : E COLI

Escherichia coli (E. coli) are usually harmless bacteria found in the human gut, working away quite happily. However, there are some strains that can produce lethal toxins. These strains can make their way into the food chain from animal fecal matter that comes into contact with food designated for human consumption.

12D Baggins of the Shire : FRODO

Frodo Baggins is a principal character in J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”. He is a Hobbit, and is charged with the quest of destroying Sauron’s Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Frodo is portrayed by American actor Elijah Wood in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of the novels.

13D “Grand” peak visible from eastern Idaho : TETON

Grand Teton National Park (NP) is located just south of Yellowstone NP, and a must-see if you are visiting the latter. The park is named after the tallest peak in the magnificent Teton Range known as Grand Teton. The origins of the name “Teton” are not very clear, although one story is that it was named by French trappers, as the word “tetons” in French is a slang term meaning “breasts”.

22D Mario Kart platform : WII

“Mario Kart” is a go-kart racing video game series from Nintendo.

24D Soba alternative : UDON

Udon noodles are made from wheat-flour and are very popular in Japanese cuisines such as tempura.

25D No longer in arrears : PAID

To be in arrears is to have an unpaid obligation or debt. The term “arrears” came into English from the Old French “ariere” meaning “behind”.

26D Port city east of Kobe : OSAKA

The Japanese city of Osaka used to be called Naniwa, with the name changing to Osaka sometime before 1500. “Osaka” can be translated either as “large hill” or “large slope”. Osaka is sometimes referred to as “the Chicago of Japan” as it is a major center of commerce and industry. The city has also been named the “nation’s kitchen”, and was a center for Japan’s rice trade for centuries.

27D __ terrier : SKYE

The Skye terrier is a breed of dog that is under threat of extinction. Some years ago, there were only 30 Skye terriers born in the breed’s native land of the UK. The breed was named for the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

28D Actress Rae : ISSA

Issa Rae rose to prominence with her highly popular web series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl”, which premiered in 2011. This led to her co-creating and starring in the acclaimed HBO comedy series “Insecure”, which garnered her multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. She’s also expanded into film roles and has her own media company, Hoorae.

34D PowerPoint file, essentially : SLIDE DECK

Given that PowerPoint is a Microsoft product, it is perhaps a bit of a paradox that the original application that was to become PowerPoint was designed for the Macintosh computer. This first release was called “Presenter”. The company that designed Presenter was purchased by Microsoft in 1987.

38D Animal that goes with the floe? : SEAL

An ice floe is a sheet of ice that has separated from an ice field and is floating freely on the surface of the ocean.

39D “Fernando” band : ABBA

“Fernando” was a 1976 hit for ABBA. The song was originally released as a solo single in Swedish by one of the ABBA band members: Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

47D Whiz : MAVEN

I’ve always loved the term “maven”, which is another word for “expert”. Maven comes into English from the Yiddish “meyvn” describing someone who appreciates and is a connoisseur.

48D Wrestler Bliss known as “Five Feet of Fury” : ALEXA

“Alexa Bliss” is the ring name of professional wrestler Alexis Cabrera. Bliss married musician Ryan Cabrera in 2022. Kenny Abdo wrote the biography “Alexa Bliss: Five Feet of Fury” in 2019.

49D West Coast NFLer : NINER

The 49ers football team in San Francisco takes its name from the gold prospectors who flooded into Northern California around 1849 during the California gold rush. These “1849 prospectors” became known as the “49ers”.

51D Church fixture : ORGAN

The organ that we often see in churches, synagogues and concert halls is a pipe organ. Sound is produced by pressurized air driven through particular pipes selected by keys on a keyboard.

60D Org. for Jazz quintets? : NBA

The Utah Jazz professional basketball team moved to Salt Lake City in 1979. As one might guess from the name, the team originated in New Orleans, but only played there for five seasons. New Orleans was a tough place to be based because venues were hard to come by, and Mardi Gras forced the team to play on the road for a whole month.