LA Times Crossword 8 Oct 22, Saturday

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Constructed by: Malaika Handa
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 17m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 Trademarked sandwich : 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 …

12 Long, thin fish also called a grenadier : RATTAIL

Grenadiers (also “rattails”) are a large group of fish found at great depths in oceans all over the world. They have been spotted at depths of over 22,000 feet.

16 Fla-Vor-Ice rival : OTTER POP

Otter Pops are plastic tubes filled with frozen fruit juice. Well, Otter Pops are usually sold at room temperature and are frozen by the consumer before consumption.

20 “Mario Party” dinosaur : YOSHI

Yoshi is a dinosaur-like character in some Nintendo video games. Yoshi first appeared as a sidekick to Mario and Luigi in the 1991 game called “Super Mario World”.

23 “Duérmete __”: Spanish lullaby : NINO

“Duermete, mi niño” is a Spanish lullaby, the title of which translates to “Go to Sleep, My Little Boy”.

25 Destiny’s Child, e.g. : TRIO

Destiny’s Child was an R&B group active from 1990 to 2006. The trio’s lineup changed over the years, and probably the most famous former member of the group is Beyoncé Knowles.

26 Melancholy : SAD

Melancholy is a dejection, depression of spirits. Melancholia was one of the body’s four basic substances of medieval science, the so-called four humors. All diseases were caused by these four substances getting out of balance. The four humors were:

  • Black bile (melancholia)
  • Yellow bile (cholera)
  • Phlegm (phlegma)
  • Blood (sanguis)

28 “__ Morgen!” : GUTEN

“Guten Tag” is German for “hello, good day”. “Guten Morgen” means “good morning” and “guten Abend” means “good evening”.

32 High tied activity? : ROPES COURSE

A ropes course is akin to an obstacles course, but focused on the use of ropes and wires. These days, ropes courses are often used in team building exercises.

35 “The Magicians” novelist Grossman : LEV

Lev Grossman is a journalist and novelist. As a journalist, he is perhaps best known as a former book critic and technology writer for “Time” magazine. He quit that job after 14 years in order to pursue a full-time career as an author. His most famous works are probably the “The Magicians Trilogy”.

38 “Ars Amatoria” poet : OVID

“Ars amatoria” (“The Art of Love” in English) is a series of poems in three books by the Roman poet Ovid. Book one provides men with instruction on how to find a woman. Book two gives a man guidance on keeping that woman. Ovid turns the tables in book three and gives advice to women on how to find and keep a man.

40 Dove home : COTE

The Old English word “cote” was used for a small house. Our modern word “cottage” comes from “cote”. We now use “cote” to describe a small shelter on a farm for sheep or birds.

41 __ drop : MIC

A mic drop takes place when a performer has done particularly well and decides to celebrate by throwing or dropping the microphone to the floor. That doesn’t seem to happen at the performances I tend to frequent …

42 Speaks in Spanish : HABLA

“Habla español?” is Spanish for “Do you speak Spanish?” “Aquí se habla español” translates as “Spanish is spoken here”.

43 Temaki or futomaki : SUSHI

Temaki is a sushi dish comprising a cone made from nori (edible seaweed) filled with rice and sushi. The term “temaki” translates as “hand roll”.

Futomaki is a sushi dish comprising a thick cylinder of sushi ingredients wrapped in nori (edible seaweed). The term “futomaki” translates as “thick roll”.

44 Becky Sauerbrunn’s sport : SOCCER

Professional soccer player Becky Sauerbrunn played her first game for the senior US national team in 2008, and was named team captain in 2021.

46 Gossamer : ETHEREAL

Something described as “gossamer” is light, delicate or flimsy. The term arose in the 1400s when it described spider webs that had been spun in harvested fields in the late fall. It is suggested that “gossamer” comes from “gos” (goose) and “sumer” (summer), the idea being that the silky spider webs resemble goose down, and geese were more commonly seen in the summer. Sounds like a stretch to me …

49 Fish in stargazy pie : SARDINE

Sardines are oily fish related to herrings. Sardines are also known as pilchards, although in the UK “sardine” is a noun reserved for a young pilchard. Very confusing …

Stargazy pie is a Cornish fish pie with a unique appearance. The main ingredients are whole sardines, eggs and potatoes covered with a pie crust. What’s unusual is that the sardines are arranged so that heads stick out around the edge of the pie tin, looking out from under the crusts, “gazing at the stars”.

50 Place to share stories, for short : INSTA

Instagram (often abbreviated to “Insta”) is a photo-sharing application, one that is extremely popular. Instagram started in San Francisco in 2010. Facebook purchased Instagram two years later, paying $1 billion. The billion-dollar Instagram company had just 13 employees at the time of the sale …

Down

2 Baltic state with a maroon and white flag : LATVIA

Latvia is one of the former Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs). People from Latvia are called Letts.

The natives of modern day Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are sometimes referred to as Balts, a reference to the Baltic Sea on which the three countries lie. The term “Balt” is also used for someone who speaks one of the Baltic languages, a group of languages spoken by people mainly residing within the borders of Latvia and Lithuania, as well as in some immigrant communities around the world.

4 Legal brief writer? : STENO

Stenography is the process of writing in shorthand. The term comes from the Greek “steno” (narrow) and “graphe” (writing).

5 Links data : PARS

The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name “links” comes from the Old English word “hlinc” meaning “rising ground”. “Hlinc” was used to describe areas with coastal sand dunes or open parkland. As a result, we use the term “links course” to mean a golf course that is located at or on the coast, often amid sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

7 Letters for a research scientist : MD-PHD

Physician-scientists can earn a double doctoral degree known as a Doctorate of Medicine and of Philosophy (MD-PhD).

9 Ingredient that makes she-crab soup orange : ROE

She-crab soup is a specialty in coastal Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia. It is very rich, as it is made with cream and is similar to a bisque. The list of ingredients includes Atlantic blue crab, and crab roe. It is the use of the roe that gives the name “She-crab”, as that’s where the roe comes from!

11 Skullcaps : BEANIES

A beanie is a knitted, close-fitting hat with no brim. The name probably comes from the slang term “bean” meaning “head”.

15 Maker of the Corrale straightener : DYSON

The Dyson Corrale is a cordless hair straightener.

17 Popular item : POWER COUPLE

An unmarried couple known to be involved with each other might appear in the gossip columns. This appearance as “an item” in the papers, led to the use of “item” to refer to such a couple, but only since the very early seventies.

21 Blog with “The Food Lab” columns written by J. Kenji López-Alt : SERIOUS EATS

Serious Eats is a website created by New York-based food writer Ed Levine.

24 Historic Vegas hotel : SANDS

The famous Sands hotel and casino in Las Vegas once stood on the ground now occupied by the Venetian.

27 Series starring Emily Deschanel as a forensic anthropologist : BONES

Emily Deschanel plays the title role (Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan) on the TV show “Bones”. I saw her co-star Seeley Booth interviewed one time, and he shared that the relationship between the two lead characters on “Bones” is modeled on characters in Spencer Tracy/Katherine Hepburn movies. A good choice …

30 St. __: Caribbean island : BARTS

The correct name for the island we often call “St. Barts” is “Saint Barthélemy”. St. Barts is in the Caribbean and is one of the French West Indies.

31 Event where folks may be super dressed up? : COMIC CON

Comic convention (comic con)

32 Filling dish? : RAVIOLI

Ravioli (singular “raviolo”) are filled dumplings served in Italian cuisine.

33 Chinese take-out order? : NO MSG

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of a naturally-occurring,non-essential amino acid called glutamic acid. It is used widely as a flavor enhancer, particularly in many Asian cuisines. Whether or not it is harmful seems to be still under debate. I say that something produced in a test tube shouldn’t be in our food …

36 Colorless gas : ETHANE

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.

37 “The __ Virgin”: Strazza statue in Newfoundland : VEILED

The Veiled Virgin is a beautiful bust of the Virgin Mary carved by Italian sculptor Giovanni Strazza in the 1850s. A few years after it was completed, the statue was transported from Rome to Newfoundland. Today, it can be viewed by appointment in the Presentation Convent, Cathedral Square in the city of St. John’s.

39 Youngest girl in the Shazam Family : DARLA

“Shazam” is a word that was coined in the “Captain Marvel” comics in 1940. Billy Batson is a boy who can transform himself into the superhero Captain Marvel (aka “Shazam”) by speaking the magic word “Shazam”. “Shazam” is actually an acronym standing for “Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury”.

40 Poutine topper : CURDS

“Poutine” is a dish that originated in rural Quebec in the late fifties. It is made with french fries covered in a brown gravy sauce, all topped with cheese curds.

42 Qualifying race : HEAT

The term “heat”, meaning “qualifying race”, dates back to the 1660s. Originally, a heat was a run given to a horse to prepare it for a race, to “heat” it up.

43 “Buona __!” : SERA

“Buona sera” is Italian for “good evening”.

45 Paramount+ network : CBS

CBS used to be known as the Columbia Broadcasting System. CBS introduced its “eye” logo in 1951. That logo is based on a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Closing pieces : CLASPS
7 Trademarked sandwich : MCRIB
12 Long, thin fish also called a grenadier : RATTAIL
14 Worth giving up on : DOOMED
16 Fla-Vor-Ice rival : OTTER POP
18 Settle early : PREPAY
19 Hot items at a bakery : OVENS
20 “Mario Party” dinosaur : YOSHI
22 Slip-__ : ONS
23 “Duérmete __”: Spanish lullaby : NINO
24 Cut : SAWED
25 Destiny’s Child, e.g. : TRIO
26 Melancholy : SAD
27 One making a bundle on a farm : BALER
28 “__ Morgen!” : GUTEN
29 Adds : CONTRIBUTES
31 Easy to swallow : CANDY-COATED
32 High tied activity? : ROPES COURSE
33 Charlie and Lola : NAMES
34 Passionate : LUSTY
35 “The Magicians” novelist Grossman : LEV
38 “Ars Amatoria” poet : OVID
39 Fools : DUPES
40 Dove home : COTE
41 __ drop : MIC
42 Speaks in Spanish : HABLA
43 Temaki or futomaki : SUSHI
44 Becky Sauerbrunn’s sport : SOCCER
46 Gossamer : ETHEREAL
48 Far-reaching : GLOBAL
49 Fish in stargazy pie : SARDINE
50 Place to share stories, for short : INSTA
51 Had : TASTED

Down

1 Sings a lullaby, say : CROONS
2 Baltic state with a maroon and white flag : LATVIA
3 Go : ATTEND
4 Legal brief writer? : STENO
5 Links data : PARS
6 Bit of a draft? : SIP
7 Letters for a research scientist : MD-PHD
8 Bush who is part of “The Squad” in Congress : CORI
9 Ingredient that makes she-crab soup orange : ROE
10 Brought in : IMPORTED
11 Skullcaps : BEANIES
13 Program that rewards super users : LOYALTY CLUB
15 Maker of the Corrale straightener : DYSON
17 Popular item : POWER COUPLE
21 Blog with “The Food Lab” columns written by J. Kenji López-Alt : SERIOUS EATS
24 Historic Vegas hotel : SANDS
25 Private pupil : TUTEE
27 Series starring Emily Deschanel as a forensic anthropologist : BONES
28 Daring : GUTSY
29 Like some 31-Down attendees : CAPED
30 St. __: Caribbean island : BARTS
31 Event where folks may be super dressed up? : COMIC CON
32 Filling dish? : RAVIOLI
33 Chinese take-out order? : NO MSG
35 Finally crack : LOSE IT
36 Colorless gas : ETHANE
37 “The __ Virgin”: Strazza statue in Newfoundland : VEILED
39 Youngest girl in the Shazam Family : DARLA
40 Poutine topper : CURDS
42 Qualifying race : HEAT
43 “Buona __!” : SERA
45 Paramount+ network : CBS
47 Feature of some uniforms : HAT