LA Times Crossword 26 Dec 19, Thursday

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Constructed by: Jeff Stillman
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Break-Dances

Several lines in the grid include a hidden DANCE that is BROKEN in two by a black square:

  • 38A Street moves since the ’70s … and what the black squares on rows 3, 5, 11 and 13 do : BREAK-DANCES
  • 17A Mosque bigwig : IMAM
  • 18A Daring move : BOLD STROKE (hiding “MAMBO”)
  • 23A KITT on “Knight Rider” : TRANS AM
  • 25A Hanging Gardens site : BABYLON (hiding “SAMBA”)
  • 50A Judicial self-disqualification : RECUSAL
  • 53A Zoe of “Avatar” : SALDANA (hiding “SALSA”)
  • 59A Three-flavor block : NEAPOLITAN
  • 62A Mount Olympus group : GODS (hiding “TANGO”)

Bill’s time: 6m 24s

Bill’s errors: 2

  • SALDANA (Sardana!)
  • ICARLY (I, Carry!!!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Mail often diverted to a separate folder : SPAM

The term “spam”, used for unwanted email, is taken from a “Monty Python” sketch. In the sketch (which I’ve seen) the dialog is taken over by the word Spam, a play on the glut of canned meat in the markets of Britain after WWII. So “spam” is used for the glut of emails that takes over online communication. I can just imagine nerdy Internet types (like me) adopting something from a “Monty Python” sketch to describe an online phenomenon …

14 Sainted pope called “the Great” : LEO I

The first pope named Leo is now known as Pope Saint Leo the Great. Leo I is famous for meeting with the feared Attila the Hun and persuading him to turn back his invading force that was threatening to overrun Western Europe.

15 Modern Persian : IRANI

Before 1935, the country we know today as Iran was referred to as Persia by the Western world. The official name of the country since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 is the “Islamic Republic of Iran”.

16 Celestial bear : URSA

The constellation Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called “the Big Dipper” because of its resemblance to a ladle or dipper. Ursa Major also resembles a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland, “the Plough”.

Ursa Minor (Latin for “Smaller Bear”) sits right beside the constellation Draco (Latin for “Dragon”). Ursa Minor used to be considered the wing of Draco, and so was once called “Dragon’s Wing”. The tail of the “Smaller Bear” might also be considered as the handle of a ladle, and so the constellation is often referred to as the Little Dipper.

17 Mosque bigwig : IMAM

An imam is a Muslim leader, and often the person in charge of a mosque or perhaps a Muslim community.

17 Mosque bigwig : IMAM
18 Daring move : BOLD STROKE (hiding “MAMBO”)

The form of music and dance known as “mambo” developed in Cuba. “Mambo” means “conversation with the gods” in Kikongo, a language spoken by slaves taken to Cuba from Central Africa.

21 Bath-loving Muppet : ERNIE

Ernie is one of the Muppets on the children’s TV show “Sesame Street”. Ernie is usually seen with his roommate Bert, whom he frequently annoys and frustrates. Ernie is known taking long baths with his rubber duckie. That “Rubber Duckie” is the title character in a hit song that Ernie (voiced by Jim Henson) released in 1970.

22 Priest’s robe : ALB

An alb is a white, neck-to-toe vestment worn by priests, usually with a rope cord around the waist. The term alb comes from “albus”, the Latin word for “white”.

23 KITT on “Knight Rider” : TRANS AM

The 1982 crime television show called “Knight Rider” famously starred David Hasselhoff as well a very cool, artificially intelligent car called KITT. KITT (which stands for Knight Industries Two Thousand) is a heavily modified Pontiac Trans Am.

23 KITT on “Knight Rider” : TRANS AM
25 Hanging Gardens site : BABYLON (hiding “SAMBA”)

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Unlike the other “Wonders”, the Hanging Gardens may only have existed in legend. The Gardens were supposedly constructed in Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar II for his wife Amytis. Amytis was from Media and she was homesick, so her husband created an elaborate garden in Babylon that was replete with plants from homeland.

The samba is a Brazilian dance that is very much symbolic of the festival of Carnival. Like so much culture around the world, the samba has its roots in Africa, as the dance is derived from dances performed by former slaves who migrated into urban Rio de Janeiro in the late 1800s. The exact roots of the name “samba” seem to have been lost in the mists of time. However, my favorite explanation is that it comes from an African Kikongo word “semba” which means “a blow struck with the belly button”. We don’t seem to have a need for such a word in English …

30 Inhabitants of a myrmecologist’s farm : ANTS

Myrmecology is the study of ants. The term derives from the Greek “myrmex” meaning “ant”.

33 Thompson of “Thor: Ragnarok” : TESSA

Tessa Thompson is an actress from Los Angeles who is known for playing the supporting role of Jackie Cook on the TV show “Veronica Mars”, and for playing student leader Diane Nash in the 2014 film “Selma”.

“Thor: Ragnarok” is a 2017 superhero film in the “Thor” series. Not my cup of tea …

35 Getty and Rockefeller : OILMEN

J. Paul Getty was famous as an industrialist who made his fortune in the oil industry. Getty was also famous as a grandfather who had a grandson kidnapped for ransom. John Paul Getty III was 16 years old when he was taken in Rome in 1973. The ransom demand to his father was for $17 million, a sum that he had to ask from the child’s grandfather, as he was the one with all the money. Jean Paul Getty refused to pay and 4 months later an envelope was delivered to the family containing a lock of hair and an ear. The grandfather then entered into negotiations with the kidnappers, beat them down to $2 million, and the boy was released. Getty’s grandson never really recovered. He got into drugs, and an overdose left him speechless, blind and paralyzed. Sad story …

John D. Rockefeller was an American industrialist whose biggest success came with the Standard Oil Company that he founded and ran for over 25 years. Rockefeller became the richest man in the world, and America’s first billionaire.

42 Pertaining to the small intestine : ILEAC

The human ileum (plural “ilea”) is the lowest part of the small intestine, and is found below the jejunum and above the cecum of the large intestine.

50 Judicial self-disqualification : RECUSAL
53 Zoe of “Avatar” : SALDANA (hiding “SALSA”)

American actress Zoë Saldana played the Na’vi princess in “Avatar”, and Uhura in the 2009 movie “Star Trek” (and sequels). Saldana seems to pick the right movies, as she is the only actress to have three different films in the top twenty at the box office for three consecutive weeks (“Avatar”, “The Losers” and “Death at a Funeral”).

The genre of music called salsa is a modern interpretation of various Cuban traditional music styles.

55 Genetics lab material : RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA. An added complication is that small changes in the sequence of amino acids specified by DNA sometimes takes place in a process known as RNA editing. This RNA editing occurs after the nucleotide sequence has been transcribed from DNA, but before it is translated into protein.

58 Floral garland : LEI

“Lei” is a Hawaiian word meaning “garland, wreath”, although in more general terms a lei is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.

59 Three-flavor block : NEAPOLITAN

Neapolitan ice cream is made up of blocks of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Perhaps stating the obvious, Neapolitan ice cream is assumed to be of Italian origin, from the city of Naples …

59 Three-flavor block : NEAPOLITAN
62 Mount Olympus group : GODS (hiding “TANGO”)

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.

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.

63 “You Needed Me” singer Murray : ANNE

Anne Murray is a singer from Springhill, Nova Scotia. Murray’s 1978 hit “You Needed Me” went to number one in the US charts, marking the first time that a Canadian female artist achieved such a feat.

64 REO Speedwagon guitarist Dave : AMATO

Musician Dave Amato has been the lead guitarist of rock band REO Speedwagon since 1989, after the departure of Gary Richrath.

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band that formed in 1967, and is still going strong. The band’s biggest hits are “Keep On Loving You” (1980) and “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (1985). The founding members chose the name for the REO Speed Wagon flatbed truck. Note that the band’s name is one word “Speedwagon”, whereas the vehicle’s name uses two words “Speed Wagon”.

66 Site in a Steinbeck title : EDEN

According to the Bible’s Book of Genesis, after Cain murdered his brother Abel, he fled to the “Land of Nod” located “east of Eden” (from which John Steinbeck got the title for his celebrated novel “East of Eden”).

John Steinbeck considered “East of Eden” his magnum opus. Most of the storyline takes place near Salinas, just south of where I live here in the Bay Area. Two of the characters in the story are brothers Cal and Aron Trask, representative of the biblical Cain and Abel.

Down

2 Ride-hitching fish : REMORA

Remoras are also called “suckerfish”, which name is descriptive of one of the fish’s basic behaviors. One of the remoras dorsal fins is in the shape of a “sucker”, allowing it to take a firm hold on a larger marine animal, hitching a ride.

5 Scales aloft : LIBRA

The constellation of Libra is named for the scales held by the goddess of justice. Libra is the only sign of the zodiac that isn’t named for a living creature.

6 Facial apparatus in a Dumas novel : IRON MASK

“The Man in the Iron Mask” is the third part of a novel by Alexandre Dumas called “The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later”. The novel uses characters appearing in the earlier Dumas novel “The Three Musketeers”. In the plot, the musketeers are getting on in years and become involved in the mystery of “the man in the iron mask”, a prisoner locked up in French jails with his identity hidden behind a mask.

7 Neighbor of Mauritania : MALI

The Republic of Mali is a landlocked country in western Africa located south of Algeria. Formerly known as French Sudan, the nation’s most famous city is Timbuktu. Mali is the third-largest producer of gold on the continent, after South Africa and Ghana.

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in North Africa, on the Atlantic coast. The country is named after the old Roman province of Mauretania, although the ancient province was located further north in what is now Morocco and part of Algeria.

13 Novelist Rita __ Brown : MAE

Rita Mae Brown is an American author who is best known for her 1973 novel “Rubyfruit Jungle”. Brown was the domestic partner of tennis champion Martina Navratilova in the late seventies and early eighties.

24 Explosion maker, briefly : NITRO

Nitroglycerin (also known as “nitro”) is a very unstable, oily, colorless liquid. It is usually used as the explosive ingredient in a stabilized product like dynamite or cordite. Nitroglycerin is also used medically, as a vasodilator. Right after it hits the bloodstream, nitroglycerin causes the blood vessels to dilate so that the heart has less work to do. I had occasion to take it a couple of times, and boy, what a speedy and fundamental effect it has …

28 A Bobbsey twin : NAN

The “Bobbsey Twins” series of children’s novels was first written by Edward Stratemeyer in 1904. Stratemeyer used the pseudonym Laura Lee Hope, as did subsequent authors who wrote 72 books in the series between 1904 and 1979. The title characters are two sets of fraternal twins, one called Bert and Nan (who are 12) and the other called Flossie and Freddie (who are 6).

31 Rock bottom : NADIR

The nadir is the direction pointing immediately below a particular location (through to the other side of the Earth for example). The opposite direction, that pointing immediately above, is called the zenith. We use the terms “nadir” and “zenith” figuratively to mean the low and high points in a person’s fortunes.

34 “Rizzoli & Isles” actress Alexander : SASHA

“Sasha Alexander” is the stage name of Suzana Drobnjaković, a Serbian-Amercan actress. Alexander is perhaps best known to television audiences for playing Dr. Maura Isles on the detective drama “Rizzoli & Isles”, and for playing Professor Helene Runyon on the US-version of the excellent comedy-drama “Shameless”. Alexander married Edoardo Ponti in 2017. Ponti is the son of actress Sophia Loren and producer Carlo Ponti.

36 Nickelodeon sitcom starring Miranda Cosgrove : ICARLY

“iCarly” is a sitcom for teens that has been airing on Nickelodeon since 2007. The show is all about a girl called Carly Shay who makes a regular web broadcast with her friends titled “iCarly”.

Actress and singer Miranda Cosgrove was listed in the “Guinness World Records” book as the highest-paid child actress in 2012, while she appeared in the lead role of the Nickelodeon sitcom “iCarly”.

37 Massenet opera about a Spanish hero : LE CID

“Le Cid” is an opera by Jules Massenet that premiered at the Paris Opéra in 1885. The opera is adapted from a play of the same name by Pierre Corneille. Both works are based on the legends surrounding Spanish military leader El Cid.

Jules Massenet was a French composer in the Romantic era. He wrote over 30 operas, including “Manon” (1884), “Le Cid” (1884), “Werther” (1892) and “Thaïs”.

Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar was known as El Cid Campeador, which translates as “The Champion” or perhaps “The Lord, Master of Military Arts”. El Cid was a soldier who fought under the rule of King Alfonso VI of Spain (among others). However, he was sent into exile by the King in 1080, after acting beyond his authorization in battle. El Cid then offered his services to his former foes, the Moorish kings, After a number of years building a reputation with the Moors, he was recalled from exile by Alfonso. By this time El Cid was very much his own man. Nominally under the orders of Alfonso, he led a combined army of Spanish and Moorish troops and took the city of Valencia on the Mediterranean coast in 1094, making it his headquarters and home. He died in Valencia, quite peacefully, in 1099.

38 “Hogan’s Heroes” star : BOB CRANE

Actor Bob Crane is best remembered, career-wise, for playing the title character on the sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes” that originally ran from 1965 until 1971. In 1978, Crane was found dead in his apartment, having been bludgeoned to death by person or persons unknown. Crane’s murder remains unsolved. Crane’s friend John Carpenter was charged with the crime, but was acquitted in a 1994 trial. Carpenter supplied Crane with equipment that the actor used to videotape his many sexual encounters. The 2002 film “Auto Focus” explores Crane’s life as a sex addict, and his violent death.

“Hogan’s Heroes” is a sitcom that ran in the late sixties and early seventies. The show starred Bob Crane as the ranking prisoner in a German POW camp during WWII. The four major German roles were played by actors who all were Jewish, and who all fled from the Nazis during the war. The French-American actor Robert Clary, who played Corporal Lebeau, spent three in concentration camps before being liberated from Buchenwald in 1945.

39 Auto insurance giant : ALLSTATE

Allstate is the second-largest provider of personal insurance in the US, after State Farm. Allstate started doing business in 1931 as part of Sears Roebuck, and indeed I can remember when Allstate offices were located in Sears stores. Sears spun off Allstate in 1993.

45 In the prior month : ULTIMO

“Ultimo” is the Italian for “last” and is used in English to mean “in the last month”.

47 In great numbers : GALORE

Our word “galore”, meaning “in great numbers”, comes from the Irish phrase “go leór” that translates as “sufficiently, enough”.

52 __ Tomé and Príncipe : SAO

The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe is an island nation off the west coast of Africa comprising mainly two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe. São Tomé and Príncipe is located in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of Gabon. It was colonized by Portugal after POrtuguese explorers discovered the islands in the 15th century. After gaining independence in 1975, São Tomé and Príncipe became the smallest Portuguese-speaking country in the world.

54 Chem. class data : AT NOS

The atomic number (at. no.) of an element is also called the proton number, and is the number of protons found in the nucleus of each atom of the element.

59 Rob Roy’s refusal : NAE

Rob Roy was a folk hero in Scotland from the 18th century. He was a sort of Scottish Robin Hood, an outlaw who had the support of the populace. Rob Roy’s full name was Robert Roy MacGregor, itself an anglicization of the Scottish Raibeart Ruadh. He gave his name to a famous cocktail called a Rob Roy, a relative of the Manhattan that is made with Scotch instead of bourbon.

61 PC-to-PC hookup : LAN

Local area network (LAN)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 [This is so frustrating!] : [ARGH!]
5 Ceiling : LIMIT
10 Mail often diverted to a separate folder : SPAM
14 Sainted pope called “the Great” : LEO I
15 Modern Persian : IRANI
16 Celestial bear : URSA
17 Mosque bigwig : IMAM
18 Daring move : BOLD STROKE (hiding “MAMBO”)
20 Barnyard mom : SOW
21 Bath-loving Muppet : ERNIE
22 Priest’s robe : ALB
23 KITT on “Knight Rider” : TRANS AM
25 Hanging Gardens site : BABYLON (hiding “SAMBA”)
29 “You can tell me” : SAY IT
30 Inhabitants of a myrmecologist’s farm : ANTS
32 Big time : ERA
33 Thompson of “Thor: Ragnarok” : TESSA
35 Getty and Rockefeller : OILMEN
38 Street moves since the ’70s … and what the black squares on rows 3, 5, 11 and 13 do : BREAK-DANCES
40 Unfolds : BLOOMS
42 Pertaining to the small intestine : ILEAC
43 Chest bone : RIB
44 Fling : HURL
46 Hardship : RIGOR
50 Judicial self-disqualification : RECUSAL
53 Zoe of “Avatar” : SALDANA (hiding “SALSA”)
55 Genetics lab material : RNA
56 Ragged : TATTY
58 Floral garland : LEI
59 Three-flavor block : NEAPOLITAN
62 Mount Olympus group : GODS (hiding “TANGO”)
63 “You Needed Me” singer Murray : ANNE
64 REO Speedwagon guitarist Dave : AMATO
65 One is often hard to resist : URGE
66 Site in a Steinbeck title : EDEN
67 Network points : NODES
68 Financial aid criterion : NEED

Down

1 Top celebrity groupings : A-LISTS
2 Ride-hitching fish : REMORA
3 “Scram!” : GO AWAY!
4 Word for a guy : HIM
5 Scales aloft : LIBRA
6 Facial apparatus in a Dumas novel : IRON MASK
7 Neighbor of Mauritania : MALI
8 Behind on bills : IN DEBT
9 Poetic contraction : ‘TIS
10 Like a sourpuss : SURLY
11 Math test parts : PROBLEMS
12 Inquire or require : ASK
13 Novelist Rita __ Brown : MAE
19 File folder feature : TAB
21 Prize : ESTEEM
24 Explosion maker, briefly : NITRO
26 Not separately : AS ONE
27 Mine find : ORE
28 A Bobbsey twin : NAN
31 Rock bottom : NADIR
34 “Rizzoli & Isles” actress Alexander : SASHA
36 Nickelodeon sitcom starring Miranda Cosgrove : ICARLY
37 Massenet opera about a Spanish hero : LE CID
38 “Hogan’s Heroes” star : BOB CRANE
39 Auto insurance giant : ALLSTATE
40 Cold call? : BRR!
41 Fabrication : LIE
45 In the prior month : ULTIMO
47 In great numbers : GALORE
48 Stressed out : ON EDGE
49 Elevated : RAISED
51 Let loose, as hogs : UNPEN
52 __ Tomé and Príncipe : SAO
54 Chem. class data : AT NOS
57 Not very much : A TAD
59 Rob Roy’s refusal : NAE
60 Boundary : END
61 PC-to-PC hookup : LAN
62 Rev : GUN