LA Times Crossword 11 Jul 21, Sunday

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Constructed by: Margaret Woodruff
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: It Takes Two

Themed answers are words that follow the single word in the clue, after it’s said TWO times:

  • 22A *Extra : … READ ALL ABOUT IT!
  • 32A *Bad : … LEROY BROWN
  • 40A *Liar : … PANTS ON FIRE!
  • 65A *Hail : … THE GANG’S ALL HERE!
  • 88A *Ladybird : … FLY AWAY HOME
  • 97A *Wait : … DON’T TELL ME!
  • 112A *Hush : … SWEET CHARLOTTE

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

Bill’s time: 15m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Daffy Duck feature : LISP

Daffy Duck first appeared on the screen in “Porky’s Duck Hunt” in 1937. In the original cartoon, Daffy was just meant to have a small role, but he was a big hit as he had so much sass. Even back then, Daffy was voiced by the ubiquitous Mel Blanc.

5 Throws, as the shot : PUTS

Shot put, or events like shot put, have been around for millennia, but the first events that truly resemble today’s track and field event had to come with the invention of the cannonball. Soldiers would “put” (throw) cannonballs as far as possible in attempts to outperform each other. Shot put has been in the modern Olympic Games since day-one, with American Robert Garrett winning the gold in the first games in 1896.

13 Second most populous city in the Dakotas : FARGO

Fargo, North Dakota is the biggest city in the state. The original name for the city was Centralia, when it was a stopping point for steamboats that traveled the Red River in the late 19th century. The town really grew with the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway, so the name “Fargo” was adopted in honor of one of the railroad company’s directors, William Fargo (of Wells Fargo Express fame).

19 Brand with a wasabi-flavored variety in China : OREO

Oreo cookies can be found with a savory-flavored filling in some parts of the world. In China, you can buy Hot Chicken Wing Oreos and Wasabi Oreos.

22 *Extra : … READ ALL ABOUT IT!

A newspaper extra is a special issue with content that arrived too late for the regular edition. Sale of a newspaper extra by street vendors, starting in the mid-1800s, was usually accompanied by the cry “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!”

27 Paint fight sounds : SPLATS

The “paint” in paintball isn’t actually paint, but rather a mix of gelatin and food coloring.

28 Corned beef concoction : REUBEN

There are conflicting stories about the origin of the Reuben sandwich. One such story is that it was invented around 1914 by Arnold Reuben, an immigrant from Germany who owned Reuben’s Deli in New York.

29 Latte maker : BARISTA

A barista is a person who serves coffee in a coffee shop. “Barista” is Italian for “bartender”.

30 31-Across prefix : TELE-
31 Cruise stopover : PORT

Teleportation is a favorite of authors of science fiction. The hypothetical process results in the transfer of matter from one point to another, with actually crossing the intervening space. Beam me up, Scotty!

32 *Bad : … LEROY BROWN

“Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” is a song written and first performed by Jim Croce. It was a number-one hit for him in 1973. The song was inspired by a real-life Leroy Brown, who was someone that Croce met while serving in the US Army.

36 Small 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”.

39 Make out, in Manchester : SNOG

“Snogging” is British slang of unknown origin that dates back to the end of WWII. The term is used for “kissing and cuddling”, what we call “making out” over here in the US.

Manchester is the second-most populous city in the UK, and is located in the northwest of England. Manchester grew in size dramatically during the Industrial Revolution. Home to a thriving textile industry, Manchester is often referred to as the world’s first industrialized city.

40 *Liar : … PANTS ON FIRE!

The full rhyme used by children to deride someone not telling the truth is:

Liar, liar, pants on fire,
Hang them up on the telephone wire.

The rhyme is the source of the title for the 1997 Jim Carrey comedy “Liar Liar”. “Liar Liar” is an amusing film about a lawyer who finds himself only able to tell the truth and cannot tell a lie, all because his son made a birthday wish.

47 In an absurd fashion : INANELY

Our word “inane” meaning “silly, lacking substance” comes from the Latin “inanitis” meaning “empty space”.

50 Squatters build them : QUADS

The quadriceps femoris is the muscle group at the front of the thigh. It is the strongest muscle in the human body, and is also the leanest. The “quads” are actually a group of four muscles in the upper leg, hence the use of the prefix “quad-”.

56 Big Apple designer initials : DKNY

Donna Karan is an American fashion designer, creator of the Donna Karan New York (DKNY) clothing label. Karan was very much raised in the fashion industry, as her mother was a model and her stepfather a tailor.

62 Plot size : ACRE

One acre is equivalent to 43,560 square feet.

65 *Hail : … THE GANG’S ALL HERE!

“Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here” is a song that dates back to 1917. The tune was actually written by Arthur Sullivan, the longtime collaborator with W. S. Gilbert. Sullivan composed the piece for the 1879 Gilbert & Sullivan opera “The Pirates of Penzance”. Gilbert’s original lyrics are:

Come, friends, who plough the sea
Truce to navigation
Take another station
Let’s vary piracy
With a little burglary

The 1917 lyrics by American songwriter Theodora Morse are:

Hail, hail, the gang’s all here
What the heck do we care
What the heck do we care
Hail, hail, the gang’s all here
What the heck do we care now

68 Apollo and Artemis : ARCHERS

In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of the goddess Artemis. Among other things, Apollo was worshiped as a god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, archery, as well as healing and plague.

Artemis was an ancient Greek goddess, and the equivalent of the Roman goddess Diana. Artemis was also a daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. Among other things, she was the goddess of the hunt, and so often is depicted carrying a bow and arrows.

71 System developed at Bell Labs : UNIX

Unix is a computer operating system that was developed at Bell Labs in 1969. The initial name for the project was Uniplexed Information and Computing Service (Unics), and this evolved over time into “Unix”.

73 Banned pesticide : DDT

DDT is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (don’t forget now!). DDT was used with great success to control disease-carrying insects during WWII, and when made available for use after the war it became by far the most popular pesticide. And then Rachel Carson published her famous book “Silent Spring”, suggesting there was a link between DDT and diminishing populations of certain wildlife. It was the public outcry sparked by the book, and reports of links between DDT and cancer, that led to the ban on the use of the chemical in 1972. That ban is touted as the main reason that the bald eagle was rescued from near extinction.

76 Whizzes : MAVENS

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.

77 Waze option: Abbr. : RTE

Waze is a navigation app that is similar to Google Maps and Apple Maps. Waze was developed in Israel, and was acquired by Google in 2013.

79 Toon explorer with a talking purple backpack : DORA

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Dora’s constant companion is an anthropomorphic monkey named “Boots”, because he always wears red boots. She also hangs out with Isa, an iguana.

80 Like 20 Questions questions : YES/NO

The parlor game called Twenty Questions originated in the US and really took off in the late forties as it became a weekly quiz show on the radio. Am I the only one who thinks that there aren’t enough quiz shows on the radio these days? Apart from a couple of great shows on NPR, I have to resort to listening to the BBC game shows over the Internet …

88 *Ladybird : … FLY AWAY HOME

“Ladybird Ladybird” is a nursery rhyme that dates back in its English version to the 1700s:

Ladybird, ladybird fly away home,
Your house is on fire and your children are gone,
All except one, and her name is Ann,
And she hid under the baking pan.

90 Suit in a Spanish deck of cards : OROS

The four suits in a Spanish deck of cards are “Oros” (golds, gold coins), “Copas” (cups), “Espadas” (swords), and “Bastos” (clubs). These suits represent social classes in a feudal society, i.e. royalty, clergy, military and common folk.

94 Madre’s sister : TIA

In Spanish, the “hermana” (sister) of your “madre” (mother) is your “tia” (aunt).

95 Mois après avril : MAI

In French, the “mois après avril” (month after April) is “mai” (May).

96 “The Big __ Theory” : BANG

“The Big Bang Theory” is a very clever sitcom that first aired in 2007. “The Big Bang Theory” theme song was specially commissioned for the show, and was composed and sung by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies. The theme song was released in 2007 as a single and is featured on a Barenaked Ladies greatest hits album.

97 *Wait : … DON’T TELL ME!

Chicago Public Radio produces one of my favorite radio shows, “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” It is indeed a fun game show, hosted by Peter Sagal. The “Morning Edition” newsreader Carl Kasell used to act as judge and scorekeeper, until he retired in 2014. There should be more game shows of that ilk on the radio, in my humble opinion …

102 Air 2 or Pro : IPAD

The iPad wasn’t Apple’s first foray into the world of tablet computing. Apple created great buzz by introducing the Newton MessagePad way back in 1993. This innovative machine was fraught with problems and really died a very slow death, finally being withdrawn from the market in 1998.

112 *Hush : … SWEET CHARLOTTE

“Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte” is a 1964 psychological thriller starring Bette Davis. The film was a commercial and critical success. It also features Hollywood legend in her last film role.

114 Fed settings : RATES

The Federal Reserve System is more usually known simply as “the Fed”, and is the central banking system of the US. It was introduced in 1913 in response to a number of financial panics at the beginning of the 20th century. The original role for the Fed was to act as a lender of last resort, in case there was a run on a bank. This can happen as most of the money that is deposited by customers in a bank is reinvested by that bank, so it has very little liquid cash available. If too many customers look for their money at one time, then the bank can be short of cash and this can start a “run”. The Fed’s responsibilities have broadened since those early days …

116 Olympian queen : HERA

In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of Zeus and the goddess of women, marriage, family and childbirth. She was noted for her jealous and vengeful nature, particularly against those who vied for the affections of her husband. The equivalent character to Hera in Roman mythology was Juno. Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea.

Mount Olympus is the highest peak in Greece. In Greek mythology, Mount Olympus was home to the gods, and in particular home to the principal gods known as the Twelve Olympians.

119 Language that gave us “plaid” : ERSE

“Tartan” is sometimes called “plaid” over here in the US, and is a word not used in the same sense outside of this country. In Scotland, a plaid is a blanket or a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder.

121 Villain in “The Lion King” : SCAR

Among the group of lions at the center of “The Lion King” story, young Simba is the heir apparent and the lion cub destined to take over as leader of the pride. His uncle is jealous of Simba, and plots with a trio of hyenas to kill Simba, so that he can take his position. The uncle was originally named Taka (according to books) but he was given the name Scar after being injured by a buffalo. The trio of hyenas are called Shenzi, Banzai and Ed.

Down

1 “Dancer in the Dark” Palme d’Or winner von Trier : LARS

Lars von Trier is a film director and screenwriter from Denmark. Even though there is a lot of demand for von Trier to work all over the world, the vast majority of his films are shot in Denmark or Sweden, even movies set in the US. That’s because von Trier has an intense fear of flying.

“Dancer in the Dark” is a musical drama film released in 2000 and starring Icelandic musician Björk. Directed by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier, “Dance in the Dark” won the Palme d’Or at that season’s Cannes Film Festival, and Björk won the Cannes Best Actress Award.

4 Item common to bikes and pianos : PEDAL

Most modern pianos have three pedals. The soft pedal (also “una corda”), sostenuto pedal, and sustaining pedal (also “damper pedal”).

5 D.C. bigwigs : POLS

A bigwig is someone important. The use of the term “bigwig” harks back to the days when men of authority and rank wore … big wigs.

6 Address without lat. or long. : URL

An Internet address (like NYXCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) is more correctly called a uniform resource locator (URL).

12 “__ Out”: 2017 Jordan Peele film : GET

“Get Out” is a 2017 horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele. I don’t do horror, but I do hear that this one is well made …

Jordan Peele is a former cast member of the sketch comedy show “Mad TV”. Peele created his own sketch comedy show “Key & Peele” with fellow-Mad TV alum Keegan-Michael Key. Peele started hosting and producing the revival of “The Twilight Zone” in 2019.

14 Biting, as wit : ACERB

“Acerb” is a variant of “acerbic”, with both terms meaning “sour, bitter-tasting, acidic”.

16 Actress Greer with the longest-ever Oscar acceptance speech : GARSON

Greer Garson was a British actress who made a name for herself in Hollywood films in the 1940s. One of Garson’s most famous roles was playing the title character in the 1942 film “Mrs. Miniver”, starring alongside Walter Pidgeon. Garson married a much younger man in 1943, actor Richard Ney who played her son in “Mrs. Miniver”. That role earned her an appearance in the “Guinness Book of World Records” for having given the longest Oscar speech ever, at 5½ minutes. After that speech, the producers of the Academy Awards instituted a time limit.

31 Quarter barrels for a beer bash : PONY KEGS

A pony keg is a beer container holding about 7¾ gallons. It looks like a regular, full-sized keg, but is half the size.

37 Old nuclear agcy. : AEC

The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was set up right after WWII in 1946, with the aim of promoting the peaceful use of atomic energy. Establishing the AEC was a significant move made by President Truman, as it passed control of atomic energy from the military to the civilian sector. The AEC continued to operate until 1974 when its functions were divided up into two new agencies: the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Energy Research and Development Administration (NRDA). The NRDA was merged with the Federal Energy Administration in 1977 to form the Department of Energy.

40 Dicey spots? : PIPS

A pip is a dot on a die or a domino, or a mark on a playing card.

42 Not, quaintly : NARY

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

43 Explosive stuff : TNT

“TNT” is an abbreviation for “trinitrotoluene”. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

45 Gourmet mushroom : MOREL

The morel is that mushroom with the honeycomb-like structure on the cap. Morels are highly prized, especially in French cuisine. They should never be eaten raw as they are toxic, with the toxins being removed by thorough cooking.

46 Pipsqueak : SQUIRT

“Twerp” and “pipsqueak” are both terms used for someone who is insignificant and contemptible.

49 Seuss character who “speaks for the trees” : LORAX

“The Lorax” is a children’s book written by Dr. Seuss. It is an allegorical work questioning the problems created by industrialization, and in particular its impact on the environment. At one point in the story, the Lorax “speaks for the trees, for the trees have no tongues”. “The Lorax” was adapted into an animated film that was released in 2012, with Danny DeVito voicing the title character.

51 Alternative media namesake : UTNE

The “Utne Reader” is known for aggregation and republishing of articles on politics, culture and the environment from other sources in the media. It was founded in 1984 by Eric Utne, with management taken over by Eric’s wife Nina Rothschild Utne in 1990.

52 Perfectly fine : A-OK

Our term “A-OK” is supposedly an abbreviation for “A(ll systems are) OK”, and arose at NASA in the sixties during the space program.

53 __ Johnson, Anthony Anderson’s “Black-ish” role : DRE

Anthony Anderson is an actor and comedian who stars in the sitcom “black-ish”. He also turns up regularly as a judge on “Iron Chef America”.

“black-ish” is a sitcom starring Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross that premiered in 2014. The show is noted for tackling tough issues such as racism, police brutality, attitudes toward the LGBT community, and the 2016 US presidential election.

54 Pre-1991 Georgia, e.g.: Abbr. : SSR

The former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) of Georgia is now an independent country. Supposedly, the Georgian people were given their name because they especially revered St. George. The flag of Georgia does indeed feature five St. George’s crosses.

57 DOD intel arm : NSA

The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense (DoD) since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization’s nickname … “No Such Agency”.

59 Dramatic artist : THESPIAN

A thespian is an actor. The term “thespian” derives from the name of the Greek poet of the 6th century Thespis, who is known as the father of Greek tragedy.

62 Choreographer de Mille : AGNES

Agnes de Mille was a dancer and choreographer from New York City. She was the niece of famous director Cecil B. DeMille, and the daughter of William C. deMille who was also a Hollywood director. Agnes turned to dance after she was told that she was “not pretty enough” to pursue her first love, which was acting …

63 TV franchise with a Vegas spin-off : CSI

The “CSI” TV show franchise uses hits from the Who as theme music:

  • “Who Are You” … “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
  • “Baba O’Riley” … “CSI: New York”
  • “Won’t Get Fooled Again” … “CSI: Miami”
  • “I Can See for Miles” … “CSI: Cyber”

64 Digital conflict? : THUMB WAR

A thumb war (also “thumb wrestling”) is a kid’s game in which two players grasp each other’s hand, with thumbs pointing upwards. At the “go”, each competitor tries to pin his or her opponent’s thumb with their own.

67 Head of MI6? : LOO

In old sailing ships, the toilet area for the regular sailors was located in the forward part (the head) of the ship. As a result, the term “head” has been used since then for any toilet on board a boat.

68 Senator Klobuchar : AMY

Amy Klobuchar was elected to the US Senate in 2006, and became the first elected female senator for Minnesota when she took her seat in the following January. Former Second Lady of the US Muriel Humphrey was Minnesota’s first female senator. Ms. Humphrey was appointed to serve out the balance of her husband’s term after Hubert Humphrey died.

69 Issa of “Insecure” : RAE

“Insecure” is a comedy-drama TV show that premiered in 2016. It is co-written by and stars Issa Rae, who also created the comedy web series “Awkward Black Girl” on which “Insecure” is based.

70 Papers in a job recruiter’s office, briefly : CVS

A curriculum vitae (“CV” or “vita”) is a listing of someone’s work experience and qualifications, and is used mainly in making a job application. The term “curriculum vitae” can be translated from Latin as “course of life”.

73 Bird last seen in 1662 : DODO

The dodo was a direct relative of the pigeon and dove, although the fully-grown dodo was usually three feet tall. One of the reasons the dodo comes to mind when we think of extinction of a species, is that it disappeared not too long ago (last recorded alive in 1662) and humans were the reason for its demise. The dodo lived exclusively on the island of Mauritius and when man arrived, we cut back the forests that were its home. We also introduced domestic animals, such as dogs and pigs, that ransacked the dodo’s nests. The dodo was deemed to be an awkward flightless bird and so the term “dodo” has come to mean a dull-witted person.

74 Apothecary’s weight : DRAM

I think that the dram is a confusing unit of measurement. It has one value as an ancient unit of mass, and two different values as a modern unit of mass, another value as a unit of fluid volume, and yet another varying value as a measure of Scotch whisky!

Nowadays, we would call an apothecary a pharmacist. “Apotecaire” is an Old French word from the 13th century meaning simply “storekeeper”.

82 “__ body meet … ” : IF A

Here are some lines from J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye”, lines that give some insight into the novel’s title:

“You know that song ‘If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye’? I’d like–”
“It’s ‘If a body meet a body coming through the rye’!” old Phoebe said. “It’s a poem. By Robert Burns.”

“Comin’ Thro’ the Rye” is a 1782 poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns. The words are used in a traditional children’s song, which uses a variant of the tune for “Auld Lang Syne”. Here’s the chorus:

Comin thro’ the rye, poor body,
Comin thro’ the rye,
She draigl’t a’ her petticoatie,
Comin thro’ the rye!

85 The Temptations’ first #1 single : MY GIRL

“My Girl” is a 1964 hit song recorded by Motown vocal group the Temptations. It was co-written by band member Smokey Robinson, with the title referring to Robinson’s wife Claudette Rogers Robinson.

91 Perseverance and Curiosity : ROVERS

There have been several rovers sent to Mars from Earth. The Soviet Union’s Mars 2 landed in 1971, and failed. Mars 3 landed the same year, and ceased operation just 20 seconds after landing. NASA’s Sojourner landed in 1997 (what a great day that was!) and operated from July through September. The British rover Beagle 2 was lost six days before its scheduled entry into the Martian atmosphere. NASA’s Spirit landed in 2004, and operated successfully for over six years before getting trapped in sand and eventually ceasing to communicate. NASA’s Opportunity also landed in 2004, and operated for over fourteen years. And then NASA’s Curiosity made a spectacular, hi-tech landing in 2012 and is continuing to explore the planet today. Based on the Curiosity design, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in 2021, along with the Mars helicopter named Ingenuity. The China National Space Administration landed it’s first rover, named Zhurong (“Rover” in English), five months after Perseverance started its mission on the planet.

92 Track’s 400 meters : ONE LAP

The distance around a newer running track is 400 meters, as measured in the inside lane. Tracks used to be 440 yards around, so that four laps added up to an even mile (1,760 yards). As race distances changed to meters, the mile race was dropped in favor of the “metric mile”, 1600 meters, which is equivalent to 1,750 yards or 0.994 miles.

95 Free-for-alls : MELEES

Our term “melee” comes from the French “mêlée”, and in both languages the word means “confused fight”.

98 Where a tot might come from? : TATER

Ore-Ida’s founders came up with the idea for Tater Tots when they were deciding what to do with residual cuts of potato. They chopped up the leftovers, added flour and seasoning, and extruded the mix through a large hole making a sausage that they cut into small cylinders. We eat 70 million pounds of this extruded potato every year!

101 Anne of “Psycho” (1998) : HECHE

My favorite movie starring the actress Anne Heche is “Six Days Seven Nights”, a romantic comedy in which she plays opposite Harrison Ford. Heche is noted for her difficult private life. She wrote that her father had molested her as a child and gave her a sexually transmitted disease (he later revealed that he was homosexual, and died of AIDS). Heche dated comedian Steve Martin for two years, and then lived with comedian Ellen DeGeneres for three. Soon after breaking up with DeGeneres, she started exhibiting eccentric behavior for a while, claiming that she was the daughter of God, and that she would take everyone back to heaven in her spaceship. Happily, I think things have calmed down for her in recent years.

The original “Psycho” film from 1960 was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starred Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh. “Psycho” was remade in 1998. The remake was directed by Gus Van Sant and starred Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche.

104 Bertha was locked in one in “Jane Eyre” : ATTIC

Bertha Mason is the first wife of Edward Rochester in Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel “Jane Eyre”. Bertha goes insane and becomes violent, resulting in her husband confining her to the third floor of their home Thornfield Hall.

105 Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl XX winning coach : DITKA

Mike Ditka is a retired NFL player, and retired coach of the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only people to have won Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach, and as a head coach.

108 Denzel’s role in “The Little Things” (2021) : DEKE

“The Little Things” is a 2021 crime thriller movie. It stars Denzel Washington and Rami Malek as two detectives in 1990 Los Angeles. Jared Leto plays someone that the detectives suspect is a serial killer.

Denzel Washington is an actor from Mount Vernon, just outside New York City. Washington’s big break came with a TV role, playing Dr. Philip Chandler on “St. Elsewhere” from 1982 to 1988.

112 Dir. the Kings travel to play the Lakers : SSE

The Sacramento Kings are one of the oldest basketball franchises still operating, having been founded way back in 1923 as the Rochester Seagrams. The Kings moved to Sacramento in 1985 from Kansas City, Missouri.

The Los Angeles Lakers basketball team started out in 1947 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The team chose the Lakers name in honor of the nickname of Minnesota, “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. The Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960.

113 Tango’s co-birthplace: Abbr. : ARG

The dramatic dance called the tango originated in the late 1800s in the area along the border between Argentina and Uruguay. Dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires in particular traveled to Europe and beyond in the early twentieth century and brought the tango with them. The tango craze first struck Europe in Paris in the 1910s, and from there spread to London and Berlin, crossing the Atlantic to New York in 1913.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Daffy Duck feature : LISP
5 Throws, as the shot : PUTS
9 Real grind : SLOG
13 Second most populous city in the Dakotas : FARGO
18 Chip in a chip : ANTE
19 Brand with a wasabi-flavored variety in China : OREO
20 Necklace-fastening site : NAPE
21 Most of the Earth’s surface : OCEAN
22 *Extra : … READ ALL ABOUT IT!
25 Brought up : REARED
27 Paint fight sounds : SPLATS
28 Corned beef concoction : REUBEN
29 Latte maker : BARISTA
30 31-Across prefix : TELE-
31 Cruise stopover : PORT
32 *Bad : … LEROY BROWN
34 Since : AS OF
36 Small island : CAY
38 Afore : ERE
39 Make out, in Manchester : SNOG
40 *Liar : … PANTS ON FIRE!
45 Attends to : MINDS
47 In an absurd fashion : INANELY
48 Popular roller coaster name : CYCLONE
50 Squatters build them : QUADS
55 Saucy : PERT
56 Big Apple designer initials : DKNY
58 Choice words? : ORS
59 Some campus coaches : TUTORS
60 Messy room metaphor : STY
61 Bakery output : PIES
62 Plot size : ACRE
64 Intellectual : THINKER
65 *Hail : … THE GANG’S ALL HERE!
68 Apollo and Artemis : ARCHERS
71 System developed at Bell Labs : UNIX
72 Get rid of : OUST
73 Banned pesticide : DDT
76 Whizzes : MAVENS
77 Waze option: Abbr. : RTE
78 Ostentation : POMP
79 Toon explorer with a talking purple backpack : DORA
80 Like 20 Questions questions : YES/NO
81 More irritable : FUSSIER
84 Like a probability distribution with two peaks : BIMODAL
86 Say “I do,” maybe : MARRY
88 *Ladybird : … FLY AWAY HOME
90 Suit in a Spanish deck of cards : OROS
94 Madre’s sister : TIA
95 Mois après avril : MAI
96 “The Big __ Theory” : BANG
97 *Wait : … DON’T TELL ME!
100 Burn slightly : CHAR
102 Air 2 or Pro : IPAD
106 In general : OVERALL
107 They’re sometimes goodies : OLDIES
109 Expert advice : PRO TIP
111 Sympathize : RELATE
112 *Hush : … SWEET CHARLOTTE
114 Fed settings : RATES
115 Second half of a children’s game : SEEK
116 Olympian queen : HERA
117 __ mad: to the max : LIKE
118 Practices in a ring : SPARS
119 Language that gave us “plaid” : ERSE
120 Boundary-pushing : EDGY
121 Villain in “The Lion King” : SCAR

Down

1 “Dancer in the Dark” Palme d’Or winner von Trier : LARS
2 Clumsy : INEPT
3 Hardly new : STALE
4 Item common to bikes and pianos : PEDAL
5 D.C. bigwigs : POLS
6 Address without lat. or long. : URL
7 Detachable strip : TEAR OFF
8 Serious : SOBER
9 Ignore pointedly : SNUB
10 In recent history : LATELY
11 Offer a view : OPINE
12 “__ Out”: 2017 Jordan Peele film : GET
13 Made inroads : FORAYED
14 Biting, as wit : ACERB
15 Shows over : RE-AIRS
16 Actress Greer with the longest-ever Oscar acceptance speech : GARSON
17 Kind of punch : ONE-TWO
23 Order to relax : AT EASE!
24 Verbal protest : OUTCRY
26 Freaking : DANG
29 Carried : BORNE
31 Quarter barrels for a beer bash : PONY KEGS
33 Controlling power : REINS
35 Perseveres, with “on” : SOLDIERS …
37 Old nuclear agcy. : AEC
40 Dicey spots? : PIPS
41 Working without __ : A NET
42 Not, quaintly : NARY
43 Explosive stuff : TNT
44 Like some roads and receptions : ICY
45 Gourmet mushroom : MOREL
46 Pipsqueak : SQUIRT
49 Seuss character who “speaks for the trees” : LORAX
51 Alternative media namesake : UTNE
52 Perfectly fine : A-OK
53 __ Johnson, Anthony Anderson’s “Black-ish” role : DRE
54 Pre-1991 Georgia, e.g.: Abbr. : SSR
57 DOD intel arm : NSA
59 Dramatic artist : THESPIAN
61 Whiz kid : PHENOM
62 Choreographer de Mille : AGNES
63 TV franchise with a Vegas spin-off : CSI
64 Digital conflict? : THUMB WAR
65 Before … or after : THEN
66 Wacko : NUTSY
67 Head of MI6? : LOO
68 Senator Klobuchar : AMY
69 Issa of “Insecure” : RAE
70 Papers in a job recruiter’s office, briefly : CVS
73 Bird last seen in 1662 : DODO
74 Apothecary’s weight : DRAM
75 Story : TALE
77 Urban opposite : RURAL
78 Nose (into) : PRY
79 “I’m so dense!” : D’OH!
81 Purely decorative detail : FRILL
82 “__ body meet … ” : IF A
83 Bring forth : ELICIT
85 The Temptations’ first #1 single : MY GIRL
87 Dieted : ATE LESS
89 Embarrassed : ABASHED
90 Reason for shoe inserts : ODOR
91 Perseverance and Curiosity : ROVERS
92 Track’s 400 meters : ONE LAP
93 Layers : STRATA
95 Free-for-alls : MELEES
98 Where a tot might come from? : TATER
99 Grass accessory : MOWER
101 Anne of “Psycho” (1998) : HECHE
103 Aquatic arenas : POOLS
104 Bertha was locked in one in “Jane Eyre” : ATTIC
105 Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl XX winning coach : DITKA
108 Denzel’s role in “The Little Things” (2021) : DEKE
109 Beseech : PRAY
110 __ pressure : PEER
112 Dir. the Kings travel to play the Lakers : SSE
113 Tango’s co-birthplace: Abbr. : ARG