LA Times Crossword 9 Feb 26, Monday

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Constructed by: Dan Caprera

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Sounds Right to Me

Themed answers each end with a word that SOUNDS like “RIGHT”:

• 64A “I think that’s correct,” or what one may say about the ends of 17-, 28-, and 50-Across : SOUNDS RIGHT TO ME

• 17A “Don’t forget we want lots of letters!” : REMEMBER TO WRITE
• 28A Aviation pioneer who said, “It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill” : WILBUR WRIGHT
• 50A Exchange of wedding vows, e.g. : MARRIAGE RITE

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

Bill’s time: 5m 08s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Lobster’s pincer : CLAW

A male lobster is called a cock, and a female a hen. A lobster weighing less than a pound is called a chicken.

9A Trig subject : MATH

Trigonometry (trig) is a branch of mathematics dealing with triangles, and calculations based on the relationship between a triangle’s angles and the lengths of its sides.

14A Buenos __, Argentina : AIRES

Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina, and is located on the estuary of the Río de la Plata. As it is a port city, the people of Buenos Aires are known as porteños (“people of the port”). The name “Buenos Aires” can be translated from Spanish as “fair winds”.

20A PC connection port : USB

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard dealing with how computers and electronic devices connect and communicate, and dealing with electrical power through those connections.

21A __ of Skye : ISLE

The Isle of Skye is off the northwest coast of Scotland in the Inner Hebrides. It is the second largest island in the country, and has been linked to the mainland by a road bridge since 1995. I’ve never been there, but I hear the views are spectacular.

23A 10-min. NFL periods : OTS

Overtime (OT)

25A Buffoon : OAF

A buffoon is a clown or jester, although the word “buffoon” tends to be used more figuratively to describe someone foolish and ridiculous. The term comes from the Italian “buffa” meaning “joke”.

27A Sesame __ bun : SEED

The sesame is a flowering plant that is cultivated mainly for its edible seeds. The seeds are a source of oil, and indeed, the sesame is the oldest known oilseed crop.

28A Aviation pioneer who said, “It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill” : WILBUR WRIGHT

Wilbur was the older of the two Wright brothers, and he was born in 1867 in Millville, Indiana. By the time that Orville was born in 1871, the family was living in Dayton, Ohio. The Wrights spent a few years of their youth back in Richmond, Indiana, before settling in Dayton for the rest of their lives. The brothers both died in Dayton; Wilbur in 1912 and Orville in 1948.

38A “__ Misérables” : LES

Victor Hugo’s famous 1862 novel “Les Misérables” has been translated into English several times. However, the title is usually left in the original French as a successful translation of “les misérables” seems to be elusive. Some suggestions for an English title are “The Wretched”, “The Victims” and “The Dispossessed”. The novel follows the lives of several characters including an ex-convict Jean Valjean, a fanatic police inspector Javert, a beautiful prostitute Fantine, and Fantine’s illegitimate daughter Cosette.

41A Songwriter __-Manuel Miranda : LIN

Lin-Manuel Miranda is a composer and playwright from New York City, and the creator and star of the hit Broadway musicals “Hamilton” and “In the Heights”. Miranda also co-wrote the songs for the 2016 Disney animated feature “Moana”. He started composing early, and wrote jingles as a child. One of those jingles was later used by Eliot Spitzer in his 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

43A Convent resident : NUN

A convent is a community devoted to religious life, and especially a community of nuns. The term “convent” ultimately comes from the Latin “com” (with, together) and “venire” (to come).

44A The Dalai __ : LAMA

The Dalai Lama is a religious leader in the Gelug branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th to hold the office. He has indicated that the next Dalai Lama might be found outside of Tibet for the first time, and may even be female.

48A Replaceable turntable part : NEEDLE

We often refer to the “needle” on the end of a record player turntable tonearm. It is more correctly termed the “stylus”, and often tipped with a tiny, industrial-grade diamond. In the early days of gramophones, needles were made from steel, or even organic materials like bamboo and cactus spines to avoid damaging the records.

50A Exchange of wedding vows, e.g. : MARRIAGE RITE

There’s a phrase used in some traditional wedding vows that goes “… and thereto I plight thee my troth”. “I plight” is an obsolete way of saying “I pledge”. “Troth” is an old variant of the word truth, and meant “truth” but also “loyalty”. So, “I plight thee my troth” means, “I promise to be loyal to you”.

53A React to ear scritches, perhaps : MEOW

In common parlance, a scritch is a calming scratch given to a pet, to show affection and give pleasure to the animal.

55A U.K. part : ENG

The terms “United Kingdom”, “Great Britain” and “England” can sometimes be confused. The official use of “United Kingdom” originated in 1707 with the Acts of Union that declared the countries of England and Scotland as “United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain”. The name changed again with the Acts of Union 1800 that created the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” (much to the chagrin of most of the Irish population). This was partially reversed in 1927 when the current name was introduced, the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, in recognition of an independent Irish Free State in the south of the island of Ireland.

57A Hats for haute cuisine chefs : TOQUES

A toque was a brimless style of hat that was very fashionable in Europe in the 13th to 16th centuries. Nowadays we associate toques with chefs, as it is the name given to a chef’s hat (called a “toque blanche” in French, a “white hat”). A chef’s toque is quite interesting. Many toques have exactly 100 pleats, often said to signify the number of ways that an egg can be cooked.

“Haute cuisine”, literally “high cooking” in French, is the name given to skillfully and elegantly prepared food, especially if it is in the French style.

59A Gas sealed in glass : NEON

The basic design of neon lighting was first demonstrated at the Paris Motor Show in 1910. Such lighting is made up of glass tubes containing a vacuum into which has been introduced a small amount of neon gas. When a voltage is applied between two electrodes inside the tube, the neon gas “glows” and gives off the familiar light.

61A Rizzo the Muppet, for one : RAT

The Muppet “Rizzo the Rat” is named for Ratso Rizzo, a character in the movie “Midnight Cowboy”, played by Dustin Hoffman.

68A Pitcher Ryan who holds the MLB record for career strikeouts : NOLAN

Nolan Ryan is famous for having more career strikeouts than any other baseball pitcher. However, he also holds the record for the most career walks. Another record that Ryan holds is the most no-hitters, a total of seven over his career.

70A Ice Spice songs : RAPS

“Ice Spice” is the stage name of Isis Naija Gaston, a rapper born and raised in the Bronx, New York City.

72A Fight enders, briefly : TKOS

In boxing, a knockout (KO) is when one of the fighters can’t get up from the canvas within a specified time, usually 10 seconds. This can be due to fatigue, injury, or the participant may be truly “knocked out”. A referee, fighter or doctor may also decide to stop a fight without a physical knockout, especially if there is concern about a fighter’s safety. In this case the bout is said to end with a technical knockout (TKO).

Down

1D Cuzco’s country : PERU

Cusco (also “Cuzco”) is a city in the southeast of Peru. Historically, Cusco was the historic capital of the Inca Empire, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

5D Fleet that may display local ads : CABS

A hansom cab is a very specific design of horse and buggy that was patented by Joseph Hansom in 1834 in England. The “cab” in the name is short for “cabriolet”, an earlier design of carriage on which the hansom was based. It’s from “hansom cab” that we get our modern term “cab”.

6D Stay out of the limelight : LIE LOW

Limelight was an early form of stage lighting that was also known as Drummond Light. The illumination came from the burning of quicklime (calcium oxide), hence the name. Although limelights are a thing of the past, the term “in the limelight” is still used when describing someone in the public eye.

7D Unpaid and overdue debts : ARREARS

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”.

15D Tempeh base : SOY

Tempeh is a soy product that originated in Indonesia. It is made from soybeans that have been partly cooked and fermented. I’ve had quite a bit of tempeh used as a meat substitute in vegetarian dishes. It doesn’t have an appealing texture to me, so I’m not a fan …

24D “More deets soon” : TBD

To be determined (TBD)

28D “Elf” star Ferrell : WILL

Will Ferrell is a comedian and comic actor from Irvine, California who got his big break as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in the mid-nineties. While appearing on SNL, Ferrell was noted for several impersonations, including President George W. Bush, Neil Diamond, James Lipton, Ted Kennedy and Janet Reno.

“Elf” is a comedy movie that was released for the 2003 Christmas season. It was directed by Jon Favreau and stars Will Ferrell in the title role, with James Caan supporting and Ed Asner playing Santa Claus. It’s all about one of Santa’s elves who finds out he is human and goes to meet his father in New York City. The film was adapted into a stage musical that premiered on Broadway during the Christmas season of 2010.

30D Coxswain follower : ROWER

The coxswain of a boat is one in charge of steering and navigation. The word “coxswain” is shortened to “cox”, particularly when used for the person steering and calling out the stroke in a competition rowing boat.

35D The Smiths genre : INDIE ROCK

The Smiths were an alternative rock band from Manchester in the north of England. Active from 1982 to 1987, the band’s lead singer was the vocalist Morrissey. Morrissey chose the band’s name, and later revealed that “it was the most ordinary name and I thought it was time that the ordinary folk of the world showed their faces”.

36D __ of personality : CULT

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev popularized the term “cult of personality” in his so-called “Secret Speech” in 1956 to denounce the god-like hero worship surrounding Joseph Stalin. It describes the feeling of a charismatic leader becoming an icon, where followers prioritize personal devotion over actual laws or policies. Hmm …

37D Reflex test target : KNEE

The foot naturally kicks forward when the tendon/muscle at the front of the leg is tapped just below the knee. The kick takes place due to a reflex reaction, an impulse sent along nerves from the site of the tap to the spine and back to the leg muscle, without direct involvement of the brain.

40D Suffix with spy or ransom : -WARE

Spyware is software that is installed on a computer to gather information without the owner’s knowledge. Nasty stuff …

Ransomware is a piece of software used to extort money from computer users ranging from individuals to complete enterprises. The ransomware usually encrypts the victim’s data, and presents a message demanding a payment in exchange for the key needed to decrypt the data. One famous example is the WannaCry ransomware attack that was launched in May of 2017. Almost a quarter of a million computers were affected in over 150 countries. Actual ransom payments made by victims (to bitcoin accounts) amounted to over $130,000. The attackers have never been brought to justice.

53D Bucks : MOOLA

“Buck” is a slang word meaning “dollar”. The term has been around at least since 1856, and is thought to derive from the tradition of using buckskin as a unit of trade with Native Americans during the frontier days.

62D Nerf darts, e.g. : AMMO

Nerf is a soft material used in a whole series of toys designed for “safe” play indoors. The Nerf product is used to make darts, balls and ammunition for toy guns. By the way, “Non-Expanding Recreational Foam” is a popular backronym (an acronym created to fit an existing word) for “NERF”.