LA Times Crossword 14 Mar 22, Monday

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Constructed by:Zachary Levy
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Go-Between

Themed answers are common 3-word phrases that all use “GO” BETWEEN the first and last words:

  • 61A Intermediary … or a hint to 23-, 35-, 42- and 52-Across : GO-BETWEEN
  • 23A Ride with wooden horses : MERRY-GO-ROUND
  • 35A “Let’s change the subject” : DON’T GO THERE
  • 42A St. Patrick’s day shout : ERIN GO BRAGH!
  • 52A Without a care in the world : HAPPY-GO-LUCKY

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

Bill’s time: 5m 31s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 South America’s westernmost mainland point is in it : PERU

Punta Pariñas is the most westerly point on the South American mainland. It is located in the province of Talara in Peru, and is home to an active lighthouse.

9 James of “The Blacklist” : SPADER

Actor James Spader’s breakthrough role was the male lead in the 1989 film “Sex, Lies and Videotape”. After building a successful career on the big screen, Spader played some high-profile characters on the small screen in shows like “The Practice”, “Boston Legal” and “The Blacklist”. Spader worked as a yoga instructor while he was starting out his career, and indeed met his ex-wife while working at a yoga studio in the eighties.

“The Blacklist” is an entertaining, albeit a little formulaic, crime drama TV show starring James Spader and Megan Boone. Spader plays a successful criminal who surrenders to the FBI in order to help catch a “blacklist” of high-profile criminals.

17 Printing mistakes : ERRATA

“Errata” is the past participle of the Latin word “errare” meaning “to err”. We use “errata” (singular “erratum”) to describe a list of errors that have been noted in some publication.

22 Garnish for a margarita : RIM SALT

No one seems to know for sure who first created the margarita cocktail. The most plausible and oft-quoted is that it was invented in 1941 in Ensenada, Mexico. The barman mixed the drink for an important visitor, the daughter of the German ambassador. The daughter’s name was Margarita Henkel, and she lent her name to the new drink. The basic recipe for a margarita is a mixture of tequila, orange-flavored liqueur (like Cointreau) and lime juice.

23 Ride with wooden horses : MERRY-GO-ROUND

The merry-go-round amusement park ride can be a little confusing as one travels the world. In North America, we tend to use the term “carousel” for the ride, whereas it’s a “roundabout” in Britain and Ireland, and a “hurdy-gurdy” in Australia. Yet another difference is the direction of rotation. Carousels typically rotate counterclockwise in North America, and roundabouts rotate clockwise in Britain and Ireland.

28 Singer with numbered albums : ADELE

“Adele” is the stage name of English singer Adele Adkins. Adele’s debut album is “19”, named after the age she was during the album’s production. Her second album was even more successful than the first. Called “21”, the second album was released three years after the first, when Adele was three years older. Her third studio album “25”, released in 2015, broke the first-week sales records in both the UK and the US. “30” followed in 2021.

30 Check no. : ACCT

Checks and checking accounts caused me some language trouble when I first came to the US. Back in Ireland (and the UK) we write “cheques” using funds from our “current” accounts.

34 Drips started by RNs : IVS

A registered nurse (RN) might administer an intravenous drip (IV).

38 Network with science shows, familiarly : NAT GEO

The National Geographic Channel (Nat Geo) is jointly owned by Fox and the National Geographic Society, and was launched in 2001. Nat Geo has a sister channel known as National Geographic Wild (Nat Geo Wild) that focuses on programming about wildlife.

42 St. Patrick’s day shout : ERIN GO BRAGH!

“Erin go bragh!” is an anglicization of the Irish phrase “Éirinn go brách!”, which translates as “Ireland forever!”

The first Saint Patrick’s Day celebration in the US was held in 1600, in St. Augustine, Florida. There is some evidence that the first St. Paddy’s Day parade was held the following year, in the same locale. The annual parade in Boston dates back to 1737, in New York City dates back to 1762, and in Chicago dates back to 1843.

47 Clean-up hitter’s stat : RBI

Run batted in (RBI)

48 Walgreens product : DRUG

Walgreens is the largest chain of drugstores in the United States, with over 7,500 retail outlets. The company is named for the owner of the first store and founder of the chain, Charles R. Walgreen. Also, Walgreens claims to have introduced the malted milkshake, in 1922.

55 President Hoover : HERBERT

President Herbert Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa, and is the only president to have been born in that state. His birthplace is now a National Landmark, and he and his wife were buried in the grounds of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch. President Hoover died at the age of 90 years old in 1964, outliving his nemesis Franklin Delano Roosevelt by almost 20 years.

59 Company that’s “calling” : AVON

In 1886, a young man called David McConnell was selling books door-to-door. To enhance his sales numbers he was giving out free perfume to the ladies of the houses that he visited. Seeing as his perfume was more popular than his books, he founded the California Perfume Company in New York City and started manufacturing and selling across the country. The company name was changed to Avon in 1939, and the famous “Avon Calling” marketing campaign was launched in 1954.

60 Picture next to a username : AVATAR

The Sanskrit word “avatar” describes the concept of a deity descending into earthly life and taking on a persona. It’s easy to see how in the world of online presences one might use the word avatar to describe one’s online identity.

66 Poet Pablo with a Nobel Prize : NERUDA

“Pablo Neruda” was the pen name, and eventually the legal name, used by Chilean writer Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Basoalto chose the name as an homage to Czech poet Jan Neruda.

71 Oxen connector : YOKE

A yoke is a wooden beam used between a pair of animals so that they are forced to work together.

Down

2 Moody genre : EMO

“Emo” is short for “emotional hardcore”.

3 Carnival city : RIO

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Year’s Day in 1502.

5 Former LPGA #1 golfer Yani __ : TSENG

Yani Tseng is a professional golfer from Taiwan. She was ranked number one in the Women’s World Golf Rankings from 2011 to 2013, and is the youngest player (male or female) to win five majors.

6 Jabba the Hutt foe : HAN SOLO

Jabba the Hutt is the big blob of an alien that appears in the “Star Wars” movie “The Return of the Jedi”. Jabba’s claim to fame is that he enslaved Princess Leia and kitted her out in that celebrated metal bikini.

10 High school corsage wearer : PROM DATE

A prom is a formal dance held upon graduation from high school (we call them “formals” over in Ireland). The term “prom” is short for “promenade”, the name given to a type of dance or ball.

“Corsage” is a word that we imported from French in the late 15th century. Back then it meant, believe it or not, “body size”. By the early 1800s, a corsage was a bodice, or the body of a woman’s dress. At the beginning of the 20th century, the French term “bouquet de corsage” was being used for a “bouquet worn on the bodice”, and this has been shortened simply to “corsage”.

11 Greek war god : ARES

The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

12 Facts and figures : DATA

Our word “data” (singular “datum”) comes from the Latin “datum” meaning “given”. The idea is that data are “things given”.

13 List-ending abbr. : ET AL

“Et alii” (et al.) is the equivalent of “et cetera” (etc.), with “et cetera” being used in place of a list of objects, and “et alii” used for a list of names.

19 Boots brand : FRYE

The Frye Company is a manufacturer of leather goods, primarily shoes and boots. Founded in 1863 by John A. Frye, it claims to be the oldest continuously operating shoe company in the US.

23 Stephen King’s home state : MAINE

Author Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine and graduated from the University of Maine. He now lives in Bangor, Maine and many of King’s stories are set in the state of Maine.

24 “The Scream” artist Munch : EDVARD

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian expressionist, and most famous for his painting “The Scream”, painted in 1893. What a wonderful work that is, a true representation of expressionism. The Munch Museum in Oslo is dedicated to his work and life. In 2004, two of Munch’s paintings, “The Scream” and “Madonna”, were stolen from the Munch Museum by armed robbers who subdued the museum guards. The paintings were missing for two years, but recovered in 2006.

26 Harry’s pal Weasley : RON

Former child actor Rupert Grint is famous for playing Ron Weasley, one of the three lead characters in the “Harry Potter” series of films. Grint is the oldest of the trio of “Harry Potter” leads, and was 11 years old when he was cast in the role. I really enjoyed the 2017 black-comedy series “Sick Note” in which Grint starred with Nick Frost.

27 Cheerios bit : OAT

Cheerios breakfast cereal has the distinction of being the first oat-based cereal introduced into the market, hitting the grocery store shelves in 1941. Back then, Cheerios were known as CheeriOats.

31 Michael of “SNL” : CHE

Michael Che is a standup comedian from New York City. Che had worked as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), and then started to appear in front of SNL cameras in September 2014. One of his roles was co-anchor for the “Weekend Update” segment of the show.

32 __ the Entertainer : CEDRIC

“Cedric the Entertainer” is the stage name of actor and comedian Cedric Kyles from Jefferson City, MIssouri. Cedric is known as a co-star of “The Steve Harvey Show” sitcom and as a comedian showcased in the Spike Lee film “The Original Kings of Comedy” released in 2000.

33 Beloved “Jeopardy!” host : TREBEK

After the sad passing of host Alex Trebek in 2020, producers announced that the game show “Jeopardy!” would be fronted by a series of interim guest hosts. The list included “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings, TV news anchor Katie Couric, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and “The Big Bang Theory” actress Mayim Bialik.

35 __-wop music : DOO

Doo-wop developed in the 1940s and can be described as a vocal-based R&B music. Even though the style has been around since the forties, the name doo-wop wasn’t introduced until the early sixties.

37 Enlighten : EDIFY

To edify is to provide instruction in order to improve spiritually, morally or intellectually. The intent is to “build up” someone’s faith or morality, and so “edify” comes from the Latin “aedificare” meaning “to build, construct”. This Latin root also gives us our word “edifice”, meaning “massive building”.

39 Wildebeest : GNU

The gnu is also known as the wildebeest, and is an antelope native to Africa. “Wildebeest” is a Dutch meaning “wild beast”.

40 Brainiacs : EGGHEADS

Back at the start of the 20th century, the term “egghead” just described someone who was bald. By 1920, the usage had extended to describe someone deemed an intellectual. Adlai Stephenson was labeled an egghead in the 1950s due to the nature of his presidential campaign. When asked what he thought about being labeled the rare intellectual in politics, Adlai replied in Latin, “Via ovicapitum dura est”. That translates as “The way of the egghead is hard”. Clever …

43 Protestant denom. : BAPT

One of the defining characteristics of a Baptist denomination within the Christian tradition is the “believer’s baptism”, the baptism of an individual who professes faith. This compares with “infant baptism”, which is the practice of baptizing infants soon after they are born.

44 Dem.’s foe : REP

The Republican Party has had the nickname Grand Old Party (GOP) since 1875. That said, the phrase was coined in the “Congressional Record” as “this gallant old party”. The moniker was changed to “grand old party” in 1876 in an article in the “Cincinnati Commercial”. The Republican Party’s elephant mascot dates back to an 1874 cartoon drawn by Thomas Nast for “Harper’s Weekly”. The Democrat’s donkey was already an established symbol. Nast drew a donkey clothed in a lion’s skin scaring away the other animals. One of the scared animals was an elephant, which Nast labeled “The Republican Vote”.

51 Model’s sashaying path : RUNWAY

To sashay is to strut along in a showy manner. “Sashay” is an Anglicized form of the French word “chassé”, a sliding step used in square dancing.

54 Appliances that may be Dutch : OVENS

A Dutch oven is a cooking pot with a tight lid, usually made from cast-iron. Back in Ireland we call them casserole dishes.

58 A/C units : BTUS

In the world of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), the power of a heating or cooling unit can be measured using the British Thermal Unit (BTU). This dated unit is the amount of energy required to heat a pound of water so that the water’s temperature increases by one degree Fahrenheit.

61 3.0, e.g.: Abbr. : GPA

Grade point average (GPA)

63 Prefix with skeleton : EXO-

An animal with an endoskeleton has a supporting skeleton inside its body. So, we humans have an endoskeleton. A turtle, on the other hand, has both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton, its outer shell.

64 Deer in a lodge logo : ELK

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) was founded in 1868, and is a social club that has about a million members today. It started out as a group of men getting together in a “club” in order to get around the legal opening hours of taverns in New York City. The club took on a new role as it started to look out for poor families of members who passed away. The club now accepts African Americans as members (since the seventies) and women (since the nineties), but atheists still aren’t welcome. The list of US presidents that have been members of the BPOE includes Presidents Eisenhower, Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Ford.

65 Hillary Clinton, __ Rodham : NEE

Apparently, Hillary Rodham decided as young as nine years old that she was going to use her name “Rodham” if she were to marry. When Bill Clinton campaigned to become the Democratic candidate for Governor of Arkansas in 1978, his opponent made Rodham’s use of her “maiden” name an issue. The assertion was that Clinton was “married to an ardent feminist, Hillary Rodham, who will certainly be the first First Lady of Arkansas to keep her maiden name.” Clinton won the primary, and the gubernatorial election. When Clinton sought the same office in 1982, Hillary’s use of the Rodham name was still perceived as an issue. That’s when she decided to make a pragmatic choice and change her name to Hillary Rodham Clinton. By the time she decided to run for US president, she was using the name “Hillary Clinton”, and that’s how her name appeared on the primary ballot.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 South America’s westernmost mainland point is in it : PERU
5 Not that : THIS
9 James of “The Blacklist” : SPADER
15 “Sign me up!” : I’M IN!
16 Call at third base : SAFE!
17 Printing mistakes : ERRATA
18 Remark that may elicit “None taken” : NO OFFENSE
20 Line dance step : TOE-TAP
21 Coffee dispensers : URNS
22 Garnish for a margarita : RIM SALT
23 Ride with wooden horses : MERRY-GO-ROUND
28 Singer with numbered albums : ADELE
29 Advance to repay : LOAN
30 Check no. : ACCT
34 Drips started by RNs : IVS
35 “Let’s change the subject” : DON’T GO THERE
38 Network with science shows, familiarly : NAT GEO
41 Listened to, as advice : HEEDED
42 St. Patrick’s day shout : ERIN GO BRAGH!
47 Clean-up hitter’s stat : RBI
48 Walgreens product : DRUG
49 Gaseous: Pref. : AERI-
50 Short : BRIEF
52 Without a care in the world : HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
55 President Hoover : HERBERT
59 Company that’s “calling” : AVON
60 Picture next to a username : AVATAR
61 Intermediary … or a hint to 23-, 35-, 42- and 52-Across : GO-BETWEEN
66 Poet Pablo with a Nobel Prize : NERUDA
67 Real hassle : PAIN
68 Wheel shaft : AXLE
69 Formal, as an affair : DRESSY
70 Crafts partner : ARTS
71 Oxen connector : YOKE

Down

1 Wrestling win : PIN
2 Moody genre : EMO
3 Carnival city : RIO
4 Roll out, as a flag : UNFURL
5 Former LPGA #1 golfer Yani __ : TSENG
6 Jabba the Hutt foe : HAN SOLO
7 Conditions : IFS
8 “Understand?” : SEE?
9 Take effect : SET IN
10 High school corsage wearer : PROM DATE
11 Greek war god : ARES
12 Facts and figures : DATA
13 List-ending abbr. : ET AL
14 Unable to look away : RAPT
19 Boots brand : FRYE
22 Ladder step : RUNG
23 Stephen King’s home state : MAINE
24 “The Scream” artist Munch : EDVARD
25 Mix again : RESTIR
26 Harry’s pal Weasley : RON
27 Cheerios bit : OAT
31 Michael of “SNL” : CHE
32 __ the Entertainer : CEDRIC
33 Beloved “Jeopardy!” host : TREBEK
35 __-wop music : DOO
36 “I get it now” : OHH
37 Enlighten : EDIFY
39 Wildebeest : GNU
40 Brainiacs : EGGHEADS
43 Protestant denom. : BAPT
44 Dem.’s foe : REP
45 Suffix with custom : -ARY
46 Data transfer measure : GIGABIT
50 Inky stain : BLOT
51 Model’s sashaying path : RUNWAY
53 Wide assortment : ARRAY
54 Appliances that may be Dutch : OVENS
55 “Give me a __”: “Help!” : HAND
56 At any time : EVER
57 Like many collectibles : RARE
58 A/C units : BTUS
61 3.0, e.g.: Abbr. : GPA
62 Rowing tool : OAR
63 Prefix with skeleton : EXO-
64 Deer in a lodge logo : ELK
65 Hillary Clinton, __ Rodham : NEE