LA Times Crossword 20 May 23, Saturday

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Constructed by: Kate Chin Park
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 17m 06s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

16 Gurira who plays Okoye in the MCU : DANAI

Danai Gurira is an actress known to TV audiences for playing Michonne on the horror series “The Walking Dead”, and to movie audiences for playing Okoye in the “Black Panther” superhero universe. She is a smart cookie, and speaks four languages: French, Shona, Xhosa, and English.

Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

17 Collective noun? : PHILATELY

Philately is the practice of collecting postage stamps. The term “philately” was coined (in French, as “philatélie) in 1864 by French collector Georges Herpin. He came up with it from the Greek “phil-” meaning “loving” and “ateleia” meaning “exemption from tax”. Apparently “exemption from tax” was the closest thing Herpin could find to “postage stamp”.

19 Hook, in journalism lingo : LEDE

The opening paragraph in any work of literature is often just called “the lead”. In the world of journalism, this is usually referred to as “the lede”. The derivative phrase “bury the lede” means to fail to stress the most important aspect of a story.

20 Quench : SATE

“Sate” is a variant of the older word “satiate”. Both terms can mean either to satisfy an appetite fully, or to eat to excess.

22 Deadly septet : SINS

The cardinal sins of Christian ethics are also known as the seven deadly sins. The seven sins are:

  • Wrath
  • Greed
  • Sloth
  • Pride
  • Lust
  • Envy
  • Gluttony

23 Chicane shape, on some racetracks : ESS

A chicane is a type of turn that is used in motorsports and on roads to slow down traffic. It is typically made up of a series of sharp turns that are close together. Chicanes are used to reduce the speed of vehicles and to make the course more challenging.

27 Violent figure of Egyptian mythology : SET

In ancient Egypt, Set (also “Seth”) was the god of deserts, storms and foreigners. Set was the brother of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys. In some accounts, Set murdered his brother Osiris, and married his sister Nephthys.

32 Birthplace and subject of writer Vu Trong Phung : HANOI

Vũ Trọng Phụng was an author and journalist from Vietnam. He was a prolific writer and left an impressive body of work when he died in 1939, at only 26 years of age.

33 “Mais oui” : BIEN SUR

A Frenchman might utter the affirmative “Bien sûr!” (Of course!) or “Oui!” (Yes!).

34 Seneca Falls Convention figure : STANTON

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the earliest leaders of the women’s rights and women’s suffrage movements in the United States. Notably, she opposed the extension of voting rights to African-American men (the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments), even though she was an outspoken abolitionist. She believed that increasing the number of male voters in the country would just make it harder for women to get the vote.

The National Women’s Hall of Fame is located in Seneca Falls, New York, which was home to the nation’s first women’s rights convention, in 1848. The Hall was established in 1969, when it was hosted by Eisenhower College, which is also in Seneca Falls. The current facility opened for visitors in 1979. I was lucky enough to spend a very uplifting afternoon there several years ago ….

36 Alpaca habitat : ANDES

The Andes range is the longest continuous chain of mountains in the world. It runs down the length of the west coast of South America for about 4,300 miles, from Venezuela in the north to Chile in the south. The highest peak in the Andes is Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina, at an elevation of 22,841 feet. Interestingly, the peak of Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest point on the Earth’s surface from the center of the planet. That’s because of the equatorial “bulge” around the Earth’s “waist”.

Alpacas are like small llamas, but unlike llamas were never beasts of burden. Alpacas were bred specifically for the fleece. As such, there are no known wild alpacas these days, even in their native Peru.

37 Tutsi or Hutu : RWANDAN

Rwanda is a sovereign nation in central Africa that is populated by three groups: the Hutu, Tutsi (aka “Watusi”) and Twa. The Tutsi are the second largest population of people in Rwanda, with the Hutu being the largest group. The bloody conflict that has existed between the Tutsi and Hutu peoples dates back to about 1880 when Catholic missionaries arrived in the region. The missionaries found that they had more success converting the Hutus than the Tutsi, and when the Germans occupied the area during WWI they confiscated Tutsi land and gave it to Hutu tribes in order to reward religious conversion. This injustice fuels fighting to this very day.

41 Chats privately, briefly : DMS

Direct message (DM)

43 FD employee : EMT

An emergency medical technician (EMT) often works for a fire department (FD).

46 “Fortunately, the Milk” writer Gaiman : NEIL

Neil Gaiman is an English author whose works include novels, comic books and graphic novels. He has a very noteworthy friendship with musician Tori Amos. Amos has included “Neil” in the lyrics of several of her songs. In turn, Gaiman included her as a character in his comic book “The Sandman”, and Amos penned the introduction to the comic “Death: The HIgh Cost of Living”, and features on the cover.

48 Permafrost concern : MELT

By definition, permafrost is soil that has been below the freezing point of water for two years or more. Usually permafrost is covered by a thin layer of soil that thaws during the warmer months and which can sustain life. Plants can grow in the active layer, but their roots cannot penetrate the permafrost below.

49 BBQ side : SLAW

The term “coleslaw” is an Anglicized version of the Dutch term “koolsla”, which in itself is a shortened form of “Koolsalade” meaning “cabbage salad”.

50 Scottish cattle : ANGUS

The full name of the cattle breed is Aberdeen Angus, which is also the name used around the world outside of North America. The breed was developed by crossbreeding cattle from the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland. The breed stands out in the US as Angus cattle don’t have horns.

52 Immeasurable regions of the universe : DEEP SPACE

Although definitions vary, deep space is that part of space well beyond Earth’s atmosphere, beyond the Earth-Moon system.

56 Hall addition : ENSHRINEE

The first Hall of Fame (HOF) established in the US was the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, an outdoor sculpture gallery located in the grounds of Bronx Community College in New York City. Completed in 1900, it is an open-air colonnade featuring the bronze busts of renowned Americans such as President George Washington, author Henry David Thoreau, musician John Philip Sousa and baseball legend Jackie Robinson. The Hall of Fame of Great Americans was inspired by the Ruhmeshalle (“Hall of Fame” in German) located in Munich, Germany that exhibits busts of important people from Bavaria.

Down

2 Clambake debris : ASHES

Clams can live up to about 500 years. The oldest recorded clam was a quahog clam found in Iceland, which lived to be 507 years old. To determine the clam’s age, the researchers opened it up. By doing so, they ended the life of the oldest living animal ever found …

5 Garten of earthly delights : INA

Ina Garten is an author as well as the host of a cooking show on the Food Network called “Barefoot Contessa”. She is a mentee of Martha Stewart, and indeed was touted as a potential “successor” to the TV celebrity when Stewart was incarcerated in 2004 after an insider trading scandal. Garten has no formal training as a chef, and indeed used to work as a nuclear policy analyst at the White House!

6 “She Said” paper, briefly : NYT

“She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement” is a book that chronicles the investigation into film producer Harvey Weinstein, and the resulting uncovering of his sexual misconduct against women. The book was penned by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the “New York Times” journalists who led the investigation. The book was adapted into a 2022 film “She Said” that stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as Twohey and Kantor.

8 Took off : UNLADED

The verb “to lade” meaning “to load” comes from an Old English word “hladan”. “Lade” also used to mean “draw water” and indeed gave us our word “ladle”. So “lade” and “ladle” are close cousins.

9 “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” star __ Elizabeth Lee : PEYTON

Actress Peyton Elizabeth Lee got her big break playing the title role in the Disney TV show “Andi Mack”. She also plays the title role in Disney’s “Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.”, a reboot fo the hit show “Doogie Howser, M.D.”

12 Evil Christmas figure such as Krampus : ANTI-SANTA

Krampus is a character in European Alpine folklore who appears during the run-up to Christmas. He is an assistant to Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas), and his job is to scare those children who have misbehaved during the year.

13 State cat in New England : MAINE COON

The Maine Coon breed of domestic cat is also called the American Longhair. It is native to the state of Maine, and is the official state cat.

14 “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” author : EINSTEIN

Albert Einstein published four papers in 1905, papers that were significant contributions to the founding of modern physics. They are collectively referred to as the “annus mirabilis papers”, with “annus mirabilis” translating from Latin as “miracle year”.

  1. An explanation of the photoelectric effect, and the only work cited in awarding Einstein the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921
  2. An explanation of Brownian motion, the random motion of particle in a medium
  3. An unveiling of Einstein’s theory of special relativity
  4. An introduction to the principle of mass-energy equivalence, and the equation E = mc²

21 Brian who said ambient music “must be as ignorable as it is interesting” : ENO

Brian Eno was one of the pioneers of the genre of ambient music. Eno composed an album in 1978 called “Ambient 1: Music for Airports”, which was the first in a series of four albums with an ambient theme. Eno named the tracks, somewhat inventively, 1/1, 1/2, 2/1 and 2/2.

25 Island with a state capital : OAHU

Honolulu is the largest city in Hawaii, and the state capital. Located on the island of Oahu, the name “Honolulu” translates from Hawaiian as “place of shelter, calm port, sheltered bay”.

26 Some fracking byproducts : ETHANES

Ethane is the second largest component of natural gas after methane. Ethane’s main use is in the production of ethylene, a compound that is widely used in the chemical industry.

“Fracking” is a familiar term describing “hydraulic fracturing”. Fracking involves the injection of chemicals and sand in water at high pressure into a wellbore. This creates cracks in layers of rock deep in the earth allowing perhaps oil or natural gas to flow more freely to the surface.

28 Summer material : LINEN

The textile known as linen is made from flax fibers. The name “linen” probably comes from “linum”, which is Latin for both “flax” and “textile made from flax”.

29 Chilling episode? : R AND R

Rest and relaxation/recuperation/recreation (R&R, R‘n’R)

35 They may be fake : TANS

The most effective fake tans available today are not dyes or stains. Instead, they are sprays with the active ingredient dihydroxyacetone (DHA). DHA reacts chemically with amino acids in the dead layer of skin on the surface of the body. Sounds a little risky to me …

37 Chile __: stuffed dish : RELLENO

The Mexican dish called “queso relleno” comes from the state of Yucatan. The name of the dish translates simply as “stuffed cheese” and it consists of a ball of Edam cheese that is hollowed out and stuffed with ground meat, raisins, capers and olives. The “queso relleno” is braised in chicken stock and served in slices in a sauce made from the stock.

39 Bucharest’s nat. : ROM

Romania sits just east of Hungary and north of Bulgaria in Europe. It was formed from the union of two principalities in 1859, Moldavia and Wallachia. The Kingdom of Romania grew larger in size after WWI with the addition of three new regions, including the “vampirish” Transylvania.

The city of Bucharest has been the capital of Romania since 1862. A native of the city is known as a “Bucharester”.

43 Runner in ancient African cave art : ELAND

The eland (plural “eland, elands”) is a large African antelope, in fact the largest antelope on the planet. Both male and female eland have horns, and those horns have a steady spiral ridge along their length.

44 Funk saxophonist Parker : MACEO

Maceo Parker is a jazz saxophonist who performed with the best, including James Brown in the 1960s and Prince in the 200s. He was portrayed by actor Craig Robinson in 2014’s “Get on Up”, a James Brown biopic.

47 2021 Pixar film that premiered at the Aquarium of Genoa : LUCA

“Luca” is a 2021 Pixar animated film. The title character is a sea monster boy who can take the form of a human while on land.

49 Rotisserie part : SPIT

We use the term “rotisserie” to describe a cooking device used to roast meat. The French word “rôtisserie” describes a shop selling cooked meats (“rôti” is French for “roasted”). We first absorbed the French term into English in the 1800s, when “rotisserie” described a similar establishment. It was only in the 1950s that we started to describe the home-cooking apparatus as a rotisserie.

53 Degree of difficulty? : PHD

“Ph.D.” is an abbreviation for “philosophiae doctor”, Latin for “teacher of philosophy”. Often, candidates for a PhD already hold a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, so a PhD might be considered a “third degree”.

54 B’way sign : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Staying safe, in a way : MASKING UP
10 Best effort : A-GAME
15 Request for multifactor authentication? : ASK ANYONE
16 Gurira who plays Okoye in the MCU : DANAI
17 Collective noun? : PHILATELY
18 Choose to join : OPT IN
19 Hook, in journalism lingo : LEDE
20 Quench : SATE
22 Deadly septet : SINS
23 Chicane shape, on some racetracks : ESS
24 “Well played” : GOOD ONE
27 Violent figure of Egyptian mythology : SET
28 Explorer’s code, hopefully : LEAVE NO TRACE
30 Twisted : WRITHED
32 Birthplace and subject of writer Vu Trong Phung : HANOI
33 “Mais oui” : BIEN SUR
34 Seneca Falls Convention figure : STANTON
36 Alpaca habitat : ANDES
37 Tutsi or Hutu : RWANDAN
38 Childish taunt : NEENER NEENER!
41 Chats privately, briefly : DMS
42 Like some yoga socks : TOELESS
43 FD employee : EMT
46 “Fortunately, the Milk” writer Gaiman : NEIL
48 Permafrost concern : MELT
49 BBQ side : SLAW
50 Scottish cattle : ANGUS
52 Immeasurable regions of the universe : DEEP SPACE
55 Nosh : MUNCH
56 Hall addition : ENSHRINEE
57 Composition : ESSAY
58 Waiting periods? : DOT DOT DOT

Down

1 Tall, sappy type : MAPLE
2 Clambake debris : ASHES
3 Starts to slip : SKIDS
4 Curly cruciferous commodity : KALE
5 Garten of earthly delights : INA
6 “She Said” paper, briefly : NYT
7 Runs past : GOES OVER
8 Took off : UNLADED
9 “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” star __ Elizabeth Lee : PEYTON
10 Stir : ADO
11 Breaks : GAPS
12 Evil Christmas figure such as Krampus : ANTI-SANTA
13 State cat in New England : MAINE COON
14 “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” author : EINSTEIN
21 Brian who said ambient music “must be as ignorable as it is interesting” : ENO
24 Prepares : GETS SET
25 Island with a state capital : OAHU
26 Some fracking byproducts : ETHANES
28 Summer material : LINEN
29 Chilling episode? : R AND R
30 Vintage collections : WINE MENUS
31 Logo overhauls, e.g. : REDESIGNS
33 Label for some musicians? : BAND NAME
34 Most satisfying, as a victory : SWEETEST
35 They may be fake : TANS
37 Chile __: stuffed dish : RELLENO
39 Bucharest’s nat. : ROM
40 Cried out for : NEEDED
43 Runner in ancient African cave art : ELAND
44 Funk saxophonist Parker : MACEO
45 Chirp : TWEET
47 2021 Pixar film that premiered at the Aquarium of Genoa : LUCA
49 Rotisserie part : SPIT
51 Protected by an icy exterior, perhaps : SHY
53 Degree of difficulty? : PHD
54 B’way sign : SRO