LA Times Crossword 3 Jan 22, Monday

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Constructed by: Bruce Venzke
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Split the Atom

    Themed answers each include THE word “ATOM”, SPLIT up throughout:

  • 51A Nuclear fission phrase, and a hint to each set of circles : SPLIT THE ATOM
  • 20A Addictive : HABIT-FORMING
  • 28A Arguing with a cat, say : BIG WASTE OF TIME
  • 43A Lists of principles for political groups : PARTY PLATFORMS

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

Bill’s time: 5m 02s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Negative attention from the press, briefly : BAD PR

Public relations (PR)

10 Police dept. alerts : APBS

An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

14 Pear variety : ANJOU

The Anjou pear is a cultivar of the European Pear. The Anjou is thought to have originated in Belgium or France (Anjou is a province in the Loire Valley of western France).

16 Loughlin of “Full House” : LORI

Lori Loughlin played Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis on the sitcom “Full House”. She later appeared in a spin-off of the TV show “Beverly Hills, 90210” titled, inventively enough, “90210”. Loughlin spent two months in prison in 2020 for the part that she played in the nationwide college entrance exam cheating scandal of 2019.

17 Boxer “Iron Mike” : TYSON

Boxer Mike Tyson, nicknamed “Iron Mike”, has said some pretty graphic things about his opponents. For example:

  • About Lennox Lewis: “My main objective is to be professional but to kill him.”
  • To Razor Ruddock: “I’m gonna make you my girlfriend.”
  • About Tyrell Biggs: “He was screaming like my wife.”

18 Inventory methodology acronym : LIFO

In the world of accounting, inventory might be managed on a FIFO or LIFO basis. FIFO stands for “first-in, first-out”. LIFO stands for “last-in, first-out”.

19 Thick Japanese noodle : UDON

Udon noodles are made from wheat-flour and are very popular in Japanese cuisines such as tempura.

26 U.S. Election Day: Abbr. : TUE

Election day was chosen by Congress back in 1845. The month of November was selected as it suited an agricultural society, following the fall harvest and yet not too far into winter, which could make travel difficult. Tuesday was chosen so that people had time to travel to polling stations. Monday elections might have meant that some would have to start out on Sunday, and that could interfere with Christian services.

32 Intermittent pork offer from Mickey D’s : MCRIB

The McDonald’s McRib sandwich is based on a pork patty. There isn’t any pork rib in the patty though. It is primarily made up of pork shoulder meat reconstituted with tripe, heart and stomach tissue. Enjoy …

33 Soothing cream additive : ALOE

Aloe vera is a succulent plant that grows in relatively dry climates. The plant’s leaves are full of biologically-active compounds that have been studied extensively. Aloe vera has been used for centuries in herbal medicine, mainly for topical treatment of wounds.

35 Cop show shocker : TASER

Victor Appleton wrote a novel for young adults called “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle”. The company that developed the TASER electroshock weapon partly named its product as a homage to the novel. The acronym “TASER” stands for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle”.

37 Wolfgang Puck, e.g. : CHEF

Wolfgang Puck is a celebrity chef from Austria. Puck is the man behind the famous pair of restaurants in Southern California called “Spago”.

41 Bottom of a loafer : SOLE

The loafer slip-on shoe dates back to 1939. “Loafer” was originally a brand name introduced by Fortnum and Mason’s store in London. The derivative term “penny loafer” arose in the late fifties or early sixties, although the exact etymology seems unclear.

42 Chicago hub : O’HARE

The IATA airport code for O’Hare International in Chicago is ORD, which comes from Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field (OR-D).

49 Hamburger holder : BUN

The dish we know today as a hamburger was referred to as a “hamburger sandwich” prior to 1939. “Hamburger” comes from “hamburg steak”, which was named for the German city starting in 1880.

50 How poker players may stand : PAT

To stand pat is to resist change. The term comes from the game of poker, in which one stands pat if one keeps one’s hand as is, not drawing any extra cards.

51 Nuclear fission phrase, and a hint to each set of circles : SPLIT THE ATOM

By some definitions, New Zealand-born physicist and chemist Ernest Rutherford was the first person to “split the atom”. Rutherford bombarded nitrogen with alpha particles and thereby forced neutrons out of the nucleus of the nitrogen atom. The first intentional nuclear “fission” came decades later in the 1930s, with experiments in which larger nuclei were split into smaller nuclei.

55 Rounded hammer part : PEEN

The peen of a hammer is on the head, and is the side of the head that is opposite the striking surface. Often the peen is in the shape of a hemisphere (as in a ball-peen hammer), but usually it is shaped like a claw (mainly for removing nails).

61 Two-toned cookie : OREO

Nabisco offers customized packets of Oreo cookies through its OREOiD website. Users of the stie can choose filling colors and decorations, and can add a photo or a message to the cookie itself.

63 Fancy watch brand : SEIKO

Watch manufacturer Seiko was founded as a watch and jewelry shop in Tokyo in 1881. The store was opened by one Kintaro Hattori, who started to produce clocks under the name Seikosha, which can be translated as “House of Exquisite Workmanship”. The first Seiko watches went on sale in 1924, and today the company suggests that the name “Seiko” is Japanese for “exquisite” and “success”.

64 Recipe amts. : TSPS

Teaspoon (tsp.)

Down

3 Wedding reception VIPs : DJS

Disc jockey (DJ, deejay)

4 Christopher Robin’s friend : POOH

Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne was an English author who is best known for his delightful “Winnie-the-Pooh” series of books. He had only one son, Christopher Robin Milne, born in 1920. The young Milne was the inspiration for the Christopher Robin character in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Winnie-the-Pooh was named after Christopher Robin’s real teddy bear, one he called Winnie, who in turn was named after a Canadian black bear called Winnie that the Milnes would visit in London Zoo. The original Winnie teddy bear is on display at the main branch of the New York Public Library in New York.

5 Drink now, pay later : RUN A TAB

When we run a “tab” at a bar, we are running a “tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.

6 Prison city near Chicago : JOLIET

Joliet is the fastest-growing city in the state of Illinois. It is located only 40 miles southwest of Chicago. The original village of “Juliet” was established in 1834, and this name was like a corruption of “Jolliet”, after the French Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet. Juliet was renamed to Joliet in 1845.

7 Part of CPU : UNIT

The central processing unit (CPU) is the main component on the motherboard of a computer. The CPU is the part of the computer that carries out most of the functions required by a program. Nowadays you can get CPUs in everything from cars to telephones.

10 Grads : ALUMNI

An alumnus (plural “alumni”) is a graduate or former student of a school or college. The female form is “alumna” (plural “alumnae”). The term comes into English from Latin, in which an alumnus is a foster-son or pupil. “Alum” is an informal term used for either an alumna or alumnus.

11 Speaker’s place : PODIUM

“Podium” (plural “podia”) is the Latin word for “raised platform”.

12 Eyre’s creator : BRONTE

“Jane Eyre” is a celebrated novel written by Charlotte Brontë, under the pen name Currer Bell. The love story is perhaps represented by the oft-quoted opening lines of the last chapter, “Reader, I married him”. There is a wonderful 4-hour television adaptation made by the BBC that I highly recommend to fans of the novel …

21 Commuter’s ride : BUS

Our verb “to commute”, meaning “to go back and forth to work”, ultimately derives from the Latin “commutare”, meaning “to often change”. Back in the late 1800s, a “commutation ticket” was a season pass, so named because it allowed one to “change” one kind of payment into another. Quite interesting …

23 Pioneering PCs : IBMS

The original IBM Personal Computer is model number 5150, which was introduced to the world on August 12, 1981. The term “personal computer” was already in use, but the success of the IBM 5150 led to the term “PC” being used for all computer products compatible with the IBM platform.

24 Vegas cubes : DICE

The numbers on dice are arranged so that the opposite faces add up to seven. Given this arrangement, the numbers 1, 2 and 3 all meet at a common vertex. There are two ways of arranging the 1, 2 and 3 around the common vertex, a so-called right-handed die (clockwise 1-2-3) or a left-handed die (counterclockwise 1-2-3). Traditionally, dice used in Western cultures are right-handed, whereas Chinese dice are left-handed. Quite interesting …

25 Shrek, for one : OGRE

In the 2001 animated feature “Shrek”, the title character is voiced by Mike Myers. Eddie Murphy voices Shrek’s sidekick Donkey, and Princess Fiona is voiced by Cameron Diaz.

30 Art studio stand : EASEL

The word “easel” comes from an old Dutch word meaning “donkey”, would you believe? The idea is that an easel carries its load (an oil painting, say) just as a donkey would be made to carry a load.

31 Grand __ Opry : OLE

The Grand Ole Opry started out as a radio show in 1925 originally called the WSM “Barn Dance”. In 1927, the “Barn Dance” radio show was broadcast in a slot after an NBC production called “Musical Appreciation Hour”, a collection of classical works including Grand Opera. In a December show, the host of “Barn Dance” announced, “For the past hour, we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opera. From now on we will present the ‘Grand Ole Opry'”. That name was used for the radio show from then on.

36 Matterhorn, e.g. : ALP

“Matterhorn” is the German name for the famous Alpine peak that lies on the border between Switzerland and Italy. The Italian name for the same mountain is “Monte Cervino”, and the French call it “Mont Cervin”. “Matterhorn” comes from the German words Matte and Horn meaning “meadow” and “peak”. “Cervino” and “Cervin” come from the Latin name for the mountain, i.e. “Mons Silvius”, meaning “Forest Mountain”.

37 Comic Margaret : CHO

Margaret Cho is a very successful stand-up comedian, and also a fashion designer with her own line of clothing. Cho acts as well, and you might have seen her in the John Travolta/Nicolas Cage movie “Face/Off” in which she played John Travolta’s FBI colleague.

38 Heavenly strings : HARP

Generally speaking, the term “harpist” is reserved for someone who plates a pedal harp. The term “harper” tends to be used for someone who plays a folk-harp.

39 Bombeck of humor : ERMA

Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years. She produced more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns under the title “At Wit’s End”, with all describing her home life in suburbia.

40 Word with gab or Oktober : -FEST

Oktoberfest is a 16-day beer festival in Munich that actually starts in September. About six million people attend every year, making it the largest fair in the world. I’ve attended twice, and it really is a remarkable party …

41 Cancel, as an edit : STET

“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

43 Border guard’s demand : PAPERS

Identity document (ID)

45 Safari herbivores : RHINOS

There are five types of rhinoceros that survive today, with the smaller Javan Rhino being the most rare. The rhinoceros is probably the rarest large mammal on the planet, thanks to poaching. Hunters mainly prize the horn of the rhino as it is used in powdered form in traditional Chinese medicine.

47 Legendary boy king : TUT

“King Tut” is a name commonly used for the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun may not have been the most significant of the pharaohs historically, but he is the most famous today largely because of the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter. Prior to this find, any Egyptian tombs uncovered by archaeologists had been ravaged by grave robbers. Tutankhamun’s magnificent burial mask is one of the most recognizable of all Egyptian artifacts.

48 100 smackers : C-SPOT

“C-note” and “C-spot” are slang terms for “$100 bill”.

“Smacker” is American slang for “money”, with “smackers” often being used to mean ”dollars”. It is suggested that the term might come from “smacking” a banknote into one’s hand.

52 Hippie musical : HAIR

The full name of the famed show from the sixties is “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical”, although the 1979 film adaptation was simply titled “Hair”. This controversial work outraged many when it was first performed in the sixties, as it attacked many aspects of life at the time. For example, the song “Air” is a satirical look at pollution, sung by a character who comes onto the stage wearing a gas mask. The opening lines are “Welcome, sulfur dioxide. Hello carbon monoxide. The air … is everywhere”. How things have changed over the past few decades said he … satirically …

The term “hip” is a slang term that was used in the 1930s and 1940s to mean “cool, informed about the latest ideas and styles”. By the end of the 1940s, “hipsters” were “hip” people, jazz aficionados, and people who adopted the perceived lifestyle of jazz musicians of the day. In the 1960s, the term “hippie” developed from “hipster”, to describe a member of the youth counterculture that emerged in the US.

53 “At Last” singer James : ETTA

The 1942 song “At Last” was written for the 1941 musical film “Sun Valley Serenade” in which it is performed by Glenn Miller and his orchestra. Etta James recorded a version of “At Last” in 1960, after which it became her signature song.

54 “A horse is a horse” horse : MR ED

The opening lines of the theme song to the sitcom “Mister Ed” are:

A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mister Ed.

58 Musician’s booking : GIG

Musicians use “gig” to describe a job, a performance. The term originated in the early 1900s in the world of jazz. The derivative phrase “gig economy” applies to a relatively recent phenomenon where workers find themselves jumping from temporary job to temporary job, from gig to gig.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Negative attention from the press, briefly : BAD PR
6 Protrudes : JUTS
10 Police dept. alerts : APBS
14 Pear variety : ANJOU
15 “I’ll take care of that, boss” : ON IT
16 Loughlin of “Full House” : LORI
17 Boxer “Iron Mike” : TYSON
18 Inventory methodology acronym : LIFO
19 Thick Japanese noodle : UDON
20 Addictive : HABIT-FORMING
23 Altar promise : I DO
26 U.S. Election Day: Abbr. : TUE
27 Dunkable treats : DONUTS
28 Arguing with a cat, say : BIG WASTE OF TIME
32 Intermittent pork offer from Mickey D’s : MCRIB
33 Soothing cream additive : ALOE
34 Treated, as a patient : SEEN
35 Cop show shocker : TASER
37 Wolfgang Puck, e.g. : CHEF
41 Bottom of a loafer : SOLE
42 Chicago hub : O’HARE
43 Lists of principles for political groups : PARTY PLATFORMS
48 Gets money for chips after the game, with “in” : CASHES …
49 Hamburger holder : BUN
50 How poker players may stand : PAT
51 Nuclear fission phrase, and a hint to each set of circles : SPLIT THE ATOM
55 Rounded hammer part : PEEN
56 Horse’s morsels : OATS
57 Encourages : URGES
61 Two-toned cookie : OREO
62 Solemn ceremony : RITE
63 Fancy watch brand : SEIKO
64 Recipe amts. : TSPS
65 Distinctive periods : ERAS
66 Narrowly defeated : EDGED

Down

1 Lumber, in baseball : BAT
2 “__ port in a storm” : ANY
3 Wedding reception VIPs : DJS
4 Christopher Robin’s friend : POOH
5 Drink now, pay later : RUN A TAB
6 Prison city near Chicago : JOLIET
7 Part of CPU : UNIT
8 Brief quarrel : TIFF
9 Represented : STOOD FOR
10 Grads : ALUMNI
11 Speaker’s place : PODIUM
12 Eyre’s creator : BRONTE
13 Tells the cops everything : SINGS
21 Commuter’s ride : BUS
22 By __: from memory : ROTE
23 Pioneering PCs : IBMS
24 Vegas cubes : DICE
25 Shrek, for one : OGRE
29 Take the title : WIN
30 Art studio stand : EASEL
31 Grand __ Opry : OLE
35 Kid’s favorite shopping site : TOY STORE
36 Matterhorn, e.g. : ALP
37 Comic Margaret : CHO
38 Heavenly strings : HARP
39 Bombeck of humor : ERMA
40 Word with gab or Oktober : -FEST
41 Cancel, as an edit : STET
42 Pointless : OF NO USE
43 Border guard’s demand : PAPERS
44 Out for the night : ASLEEP
45 Safari herbivores : RHINOS
46 Humiliates : ABASES
47 Legendary boy king : TUT
48 100 smackers : C-SPOT
52 Hippie musical : HAIR
53 “At Last” singer James : ETTA
54 “A horse is a horse” horse : MR ED
58 Musician’s booking : GIG
59 __ out: just manage : EKE
60 Grass in a roll : SOD