LA Times Crossword 24 Oct 24, Thursday

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Constructed by: Renee Thomason
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Dance moves

Themed answers all include the word “DANCE” hidden within, but with the order of the letters MOVED:

  • 56A Moonwalk, running man, floss, et al., and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues? : DANCE MOVES
  • 16A *Smack-dab in the middle : DEAD CENTER
  • 22A *Appetizer with lots of toppings : LOADED NACHOS
  • 35A *Solving the Sunday crossword, for one : WEEKEND ACTIVITY
  • 45A *Some design transfers : IRON-ON DECALS

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

Bill’s time: 4m 52s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Chunk of fairway : DIVOT

A divot is a chunk of grass and earth that is removed by a golf club immediately after striking the ball. “Divot” is derived from a Scottish word for a piece of turf or sod used as a roofing material.

6 All-__ pots and pans : CLAD

All-Clad is a premium cookware brand that was founded in 1971 by John Ulam, who was a metallurgist by profession. He was working in the aerospace industry in the sixties when he began experimenting with bonding different metals together to create a more efficient heat conductor. He applied this knowledge to cookware and developed a unique process of bonding multiple layers of metals, including stainless steel and aluminum, to create cookware that would heat evenly and retain heat for a long time.

13 “Parting is such sweet sorrow, mon ami” : ADIEU

“Adieu” is French for “goodbye, farewell”, from “à Dieu” meaning “to God” The plural of “adieu” is “adieux”.

“Parting is such sweet sorrow” is a quote from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet:

Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow

In the balcony scene, Juliet says this line, expressing her conflicting feelings about being apart from Romeo. She dreads the separation, but also knows that it will lead to stronger feelings of longing and anticipation.

15 Qatari ruler : EMIR

Qatar is a sovereign state in the Middle East occupying the Qatar Peninsula, itself located in the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar lies on the Persian Gulf and shares one land border, with Saudi Arabia to the south. The emirate has more oil and gas reserves per capita of population than any other country in the world. In 2010, Qatar had the fastest growing economy in the world, driven by the petrochemical industry.

18 Tree with needles and cones : PINE

There are many species of pine tree (well over 100). The smallest is probably the Siberian dwarf pine, which usually grows to less than 10-feet tall. The tallest is the ponderosa pine, which regularly grows to over 200-feet tall.

19 Continuing ed course : ESL

English as a Second Language (ESL)

20 Mixology verb : STIR

A mixologist is someone who is well versed in the mixing of cocktails, said he, reaching for the shaker …

21 Dukes : FISTS

“Dukes” is a slang term meaning “fists, hands”. The route taken by “dukes” to become fists seems very tortuous, but might just be true. The term “fork” was slang for “hand” for centuries (and gives rise to “fork out” meaning “hand over”). The slang term “fork” is expressed in Cockney rhyming slang as “Duke of York”, which is shortened to “duke”. As I said, tortuous …

22 *Appetizer with lots of toppings : LOADED NACHOS

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.

25 Birds with blue eggs : ROBINS

The American robin has a reddish-orange breast. This coloring gave the bird its name, due to the similarity to the European robin. The two species are not in fact related, with the American robin being a thrush, and its European cousin an Old World flycatcher. It is the American robin that famously lays light-blue eggs.

32 The “Gras” of “Mardi Gras” : FAT

“Mardi Gras” translates from French as “Fat Tuesday”, and the holiday gets its name from the practice of eating rich foods on the eve of the fasting season known as Lent. Lent starts on the next day, called Ash Wednesday.

35 *Solving the Sunday crossword, for one : WEEKEND ACTIVITY

Arthur Wynne is generally credited with the invention of what we now know as a crossword puzzle. Wynne was born in Liverpool, England and emigrated to the US when he was 19-years-old. He worked as a journalist and was living in Cedar Grove, New Jersey in 1913 when he introduced a “Word-Cross Puzzle” in his page of puzzles written for the “New York World”. The first book of crossword puzzles was published by Shuster & Shuster, in 1924. The collection of puzzles was a huge hit, and crosswords were elevated to the level of “a craze” in 1924 and 1925.

42 Cor anglais kin : OBOE

The English horn is also known by its French name “cor anglais” (and sometimes “alto oboe”). It is a double-reed, woodwind instrument.

45 *Some design transfers : IRON-ON DECALS

A decal is a decorative sticker. “Decal” is a shortening of “decalcomania”. The latter term is derived from the French “décalquer”, the practice of tracing a pattern from paper onto glass or perhaps porcelain.

51 Tomato paste tomato : ROMA

The Roma tomato isn’t considered an heirloom variety but it is very popular with home gardeners, especially those gardeners that don’t have a lot of space. It is a bush type (as opposed to vine type) and needs very little room to provide a lot of tomatoes.

52 Bird that can weigh more than a baby hippo : EMU

Emu eggs are very large, with a thick shell that is dark-green in color. One emu egg weighs about the same as a dozen chicken eggs. It is the male emu that incubates the eggs. The incubation period lasts about 8 weeks, during which time the male neither eats nor drinks, just lapping up any morning dew that is nearby. While incubating a clutch of eggs, male emus lose about a third of their weight.

55 Rae of “Insecure” : ISSA

“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.

56 Moonwalk, running man, floss, et al., and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues? : DANCE MOVES

The backslide dance move that we know as the moonwalk has been around at least since the 1930s. Back then, it was used by the great Cab Calloway, who dubbed the move “the Buzz”. It was Michael Jackson who popularized the backslide in the 1980s, and gave it the name “moonwalk”.

The running man is a street dance move that has been around since the 1980s. In the move, the dance is stationary, but makes a running motion with the legs while pushing and pulling their fists horizontally in front of them.

The floss is a dance move that arose about 2014, gaining popularity as it was shared on social media. The move involves swinging of the arms from behind the body to the front, with fists loosely clenched. The move looks as though the dancer is using an oversize length of dental floss between the legs, hence the name.

59 Mushroom part : STEM

A mushroom isn’t a complete living organism per se but rather is one part of a fungus, and is the fruiting body that is responsible for distributing reproductive spores. The mushroom generally has three main components: the stipe (or “stem”), the pileus (or “cap”) and the lamellae (or “gills”) under the cap which distribute the spores.

61 Amazon option : PRIME

Prime is a paid subscription service offered by Amazon since 2005. Prime members have access to premium services such as expedited delivery, streaming music and streaming video. Amazon also holds an annual Prime Day, during which Prime members are offered deals on goods that are only available to subscribers.

62 FDR successor : HST

Harry S. Truman became vice president under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January of 1945. He was in office for only 82 days when he was informed at the Whie House by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt that her husband had died in Warm Springs, Georgia. Truman was sworn in as US president, and served out the remainder of Roosevelt’s term without naming a replacement vice president. When Truman ran for president in his own right in 1948, he shared the ticket with Alben W. Barkley. Truman and Barkely won that election, and were in office until 1953.

64 Tennis star Monica : SELES

Monica Seles has a Hungarian name as she was born to Hungarian parents in former Yugoslavia. Seles was the World No. 1 professional tennis player in 1991 and 1992 before being forced from the sport when she was stabbed by a spectator at a match in 1993. She did return to the game two years later, but never achieved the same level of success.

Down

1 Miami-__ County : DADE

The residents of Florida’s Dade County voted to change its name to Miami-Dade County in 1997. The change was made in recognition of its most populous and famous city.

2 Midmonth day : IDES

There were three important days in each month of the old Roman calendar. These days originally depended on the cycles of the moon but were eventually “fixed” by law. “Kalendae” were the first days of each month, originally the days of the new moon. “Nonae” were originally the days of the half moon. And “idus” (the ides) was originally the day of the full moon, eventually fixed at the 15th day of a month. Actually, the ides were the 15th day of March, May, July and October. For all other months, the ides fell on the 13th. Go figure …

3 Bottle in a lab : VIAL

A vial is a small vessel, usually closed or closable, used to hold liquids. The term “vial” is derivative of the older “phial” that has the same meaning and is still used.

4 20-vol. lexicon : OED

Work started on what was to become the first “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) in 1857. Several interim versions of the dictionary were published in the coming years with the first full version appearing, in ten bound volumes, in 1928. The second edition of the OED appeared in 1989 and is made up of twenty volumes. The OED was first published in electronic form in 1988 and went online in 2000. Given the modern use of computers, the publishing house responsible feels that there will never be a third print version of the famous dictionary.

A lexicon was originally just a dictionary, but we tend nowadays to use the term “lexicon” more often to describe a vocabulary that relates to some specific area of activity.

5 Arizona city nicknamed “The Old Pueblo” : TUCSON

Tucson is the second largest city in Arizona (after Phoenix). The founding father of the city was Hugh O’Conor, yet another Irishman, but one who was raised in Spain. O’Conor was a mercenary working for Spain when he authorized the construction of a military fort called Presidio San Augustín del Tucsón in 1775, which eventually grew into the city that we know today. The Spanish name “Tucsón” comes from the local name “Cuk Ṣon”, which translates as “(at the) base of the black (hill)”.

6 Cat : felid :: dog : __ : CANID

A canid is a carnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, which includes foxes, wolves, dogs, jackals and coyotes.

7 Bath water volume : LITRE

On the other side of the Atlantic, we use the French spelling for measurements that originated in French, so “metre” for “meter” and “litre” for “liter”.

Bath is a beautiful city in South West England of which I have very fond memories. It is an old Roman spa town, and the city’s name comes from the Roman baths that have been excavated and restored.

9 German article : DER

The definite article in German is der, die or das, for masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. The indefinite article is ein, eine or ein, again depending on the gender of the noun. A further complication, relative to English, is that the masculine form (and only the masculine form) of the article changes when used in the accusative case, when used with the object of a sentence. The accusative forms are “den” and “einen”.

10 Community known for barn raisings : AMISH

The Amish are members of a group of Christian churches, and a subgroup of the Mennonite churches. The Amish church originated in Switzerland and Alsace in 1693 when it was founded by Jakob Ammann. It was Ammann who gave the name to the Amish people. Many Amish people came to Pennsylvania in the 18th century.

11 Skewbald horse : PINTO

A piebald (or pied) horse is one with dark patches on a white background. A skewbald horse on the other hand is dark with white patches.

21 Language of Iran : FARSI

Farsi (also known as Persian) is a language spoken by about 62 million people as a first language, and another 50 million or more as a second language. It is the official language of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

22 Common sight on Safari : LINK

Safari is Apple’s flagship Internet browser, one that is used on its Mac line of computers. A mobile version of Safari is included with all iPhones.

23 Prepare for a winter flight : DEICE

Deicing is the process of removing snow and ice from a surface. Deicing is particularly important for aircraft operating in freezing conditions. Ice on the surface of a plane can change its aerodynamics, and dislodged ice can cause damage to engines.

24 Political cartoonist Thomas : NAST

Thomas Nast was an American caricaturist and cartoonist. He was the creator of the Republican Party elephant, the Democratic Party donkey, Uncle Sam and the image of the plump and jocular Santa Claus that we use today.

27 Crucial pollinators : BEES

There are over 16,000 species of bees, with the best-known probably being the western honey bee, the most common of the honey bees worldwide. Bees feed on nectar and pollen, and in so doing play a crucial role in the pollination of many plants. That’s one of the main reasons there is great concern about diminishing populations of wild bees.

31 Short periodical? : MAG

The word “magazine” was originally used to denote a place for storing goods, particularly military arms and ammunition, back in the late 1500s. This usage was extended to include packs of ammunition attached to automatic weapons. The first use of “magazine” in the sense of a periodical or journal dates back to 1731, with the publication of “Gentleman’s Magazine”. “Magazine” had come to mean a printed list of military stores, and the idea was that the new periodical was to be a “storehouse” of information.

32 Hoka rival : FILA

Fila was originally an Italian company, founded in 1911 and now based in South Korea. It was started in Piedmont by the Fila brothers, primarily to make underwear that they sold to people living in the Italian Alps. The company started to focus on sportswear in the seventies, using tennis-great Bjorn Borg as their major endorser.

Hoke One One (also just “HOKA”) is a sportswear company that is best known for its athletic shoes. The company was founded in 2009, and the first product was a shoe designed for faster speeds when running downhill. The term “hoka” can be translated from the Maori language as “to fly over the earth”.

34 Blood category : TYPE

How common a particular blood type in a population varies quite a bit depending on ethnicity. In general, the rarest blood type is AB-negative. The most common blood type is O-positive.

36 Pasta salad pasta shape : ELBOW

In many cases, the name given to a type of pasta comes from its shape. However, the name macaroni comes from the type of dough used to make the noodles. Here in the US, macaroni is usually elbow-shaped, but it doesn’t have to be.

37 Colorless gas that makes colorful signs : NEON

Neon (Ne) was discovered in 1898 by two British chemists, Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers. They chilled a sample of air, turning it into a liquid. They then warmed that liquid and separated out the gases that boiled off. Along with nitrogen, oxygen and argon (already known), the pair of scientists discovered two new gases. The first they called “krypton” and the second “neon”. “Krypton” is Greek for “the hidden one” and “neon” is Greek for “new”.

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.

45 __ setter : IRISH

An Irish setter is a breed of dog …
… or maybe someone from Dublin who sets crosswords …

48 Surrealist Max : ERNST

Max Ernst was a painter and sculptor, and a pioneer in the Dada movement and Surrealism. Ernst was born near Cologne in Germany in 1891 and he was called up to fight in WWI, as were most young German men at that time. In his autobiography he writes “Max Ernst died the 1st of August, 1914”, which was a statement about his experiences in the war. In reality, Ernst died in 1976 having lived to the ripe old age of 85.

49 Marshmallow-topped drink : COCOA

The beverages hot cocoa and hot chocolate differ from each other in that the latter contains cocoa butter, whereas the former does not.

Marshmallow was originally made from a paste from the root of the mallow plant. The mallow plant grows near salt marshes, and is sometimes called the “marsh mallow”. Hence the name of the confection. Interesting, but unexpected …

53 Social media share : MEME

A meme (from “mineme”) is a cultural practice or idea that is passed on verbally or by repetition from one person to another. The term lends itself very well to the online world where links, emails, files etc. are so easily propagated.

56 Skosh : DAB

“Skosh” is a slang term meaning “a little bit”. It was originally military slang that came out of the Korean War. “Skosh” derives from the Japanese word “sukoshi” which translates as “few, little, some”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Chunk of fairway : DIVOT
6 All-__ pots and pans : CLAD
10 Exactly suitable : APT
13 “Parting is such sweet sorrow, mon ami” : ADIEU
14 Classroom helper : AIDE
15 Qatari ruler : EMIR
16 *Smack-dab in the middle : DEAD CENTER
18 Tree with needles and cones : PINE
19 Continuing ed course : ESL
20 Mixology verb : STIR
21 Dukes : FISTS
22 *Appetizer with lots of toppings : LOADED NACHOS
25 Birds with blue eggs : ROBINS
28 “I’m all __!” : EARS
29 Casserole appliance : OVEN
30 Off : AMISS
32 The “Gras” of “Mardi Gras” : FAT
35 *Solving the Sunday crossword, for one : WEEKEND ACTIVITY
39 Soon-to-be alumni: Abbr. : SRS
40 Window part : LEDGE
41 Sound imitated by hitting coconut halves together : CLOP
42 Cor anglais kin : OBOE
43 Abrasion : SCRAPE
45 *Some design transfers : IRON-ON DECALS
50 Update, as a library card : RENEW
51 Tomato paste tomato : ROMA
52 Bird that can weigh more than a baby hippo : EMU
55 Rae of “Insecure” : ISSA
56 Moonwalk, running man, floss, et al., and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues? : DANCE MOVES
59 Mushroom part : STEM
60 As well : ALSO
61 Amazon option : PRIME
62 FDR successor : HST
63 Prerelease software version : BETA
64 Tennis star Monica : SELES

Down

1 Miami-__ County : DADE
2 Midmonth day : IDES
3 Bottle in a lab : VIAL
4 20-vol. lexicon : OED
5 Arizona city nicknamed “The Old Pueblo” : TUCSON
6 Cat : felid :: dog : __ : CANID
7 Bath water volume : LITRE
8 Citrusy suffix : -ADE
9 German article : DER
10 Community known for barn raisings : AMISH
11 Skewbald horse : PINTO
12 Lock of hair : TRESS
15 Sweeping accounts : EPICS
17 Airport sked details : ETAS
21 Language of Iran : FARSI
22 Common sight on Safari : LINK
23 Prepare for a winter flight : DEICE
24 Political cartoonist Thomas : NAST
25 Takes the oars : ROWS
26 No longer hung up on : OVER
27 Crucial pollinators : BEES
30 Included more : ADDED
31 Short periodical? : MAG
32 Hoka rival : FILA
33 Sitting upon : ATOP
34 Blood category : TYPE
36 Pasta salad pasta shape : ELBOW
37 Colorless gas that makes colorful signs : NEON
38 Old tape players : VCRS
42 Last-call hr., sometimes : ONE AM
43 Equal : SAME
44 Workshop grippers : CLAMPS
45 __ setter : IRISH
46 Recuperates, say : RESTS
47 Get-go : ONSET
48 Surrealist Max : ERNST
49 Marshmallow-topped drink : COCOA
52 Really rotten : EVIL
53 Social media share : MEME
54 Applications : USES
56 Skosh : DAB
57 Taproom brew : ALE
58 Mine find : ORE