LA Times Crossword 1 Jun 23, Thursday

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Constructed by: Ed Sessa
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Choice Pasta

Themed answers are PASTA CHOICES appropriate to professionals cited in the clue, in a punny sort of way:

  • 18A Dentist’s pasta choice? : CAPELLINI
  • 24A Jeweler’s pasta choice? : GEMELLI
  • 31A Lawyer’s pasta choice? : TORTELLI
  • 46A Trucker’s pasta choice? : RIGATONI
  • 51A Electrician’s pasta choice? : FUSILLI
  • 58A Nail technician’s pasta choice? : MANICOTTI

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

Bill’s time: 7m 04s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 Place for a marshmallow roast : CAMP

Marshmallow was originally made from a paste from the root of the mallow plant. The mallow plant grows near salt marshes, and is sometimes called the “marsh mallow”. Hence the name of the confection. Interesting, but unexpected …

15 Bow-toting deity : AMOR

Cupid was the god of love in Roman mythology. Cupid’s name comes from the Latin verb “cupere” meaning “to desire”. Cupid’s Latin name was “Amor”, and his Greek counterpart was Eros.

16 Eclectic assortment : OLIO

“Olio” is a term meaning “hodgepodge, mixture” that comes from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used for cooking.

17 Main artery : AORTA

The aorta originates in the heart and extends down into the abdomen. It is the largest artery in the body.

18 Dentist’s pasta choice? : CAPELLINI

Capellini is a pasta that is like thin spaghetti. An even thinner version of the pasta is known as “capelli d’angelo”, which translates as “angel hair”.

20 Intel-gathering gp. : NSA

The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense (DoD) since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization’s nickname … “No Such Agency”.

21 Malarkey : ROT

It’s not really known how the word “malarkey” came to mean “lies and exaggeration”. What is known is that “Malarkey” is also used as a family name.

23 Tater : SPUD

The word “spud”, used as a slang term for “potato”, was first recorded in the mid-1800s, in New Zealand would you believe?

24 Jeweler’s pasta choice? : GEMELLI

Gemelli is pasta that has a spiral shape. The pieces look like two separate strands twisted around each other. The term “gemellli” comes from the Italian for “twins”.

26 Cheesy bagel choice : ASIAGO

Asiago is a cheese that is named for the region in northeastern Italy from where it originates. It comes in varying textures depending on its age. Fresh Asiago is very smooth, while aged Asiago can be very crumbly.

30 Picked out, in a way : ID’ED

Identity document (ID)

31 Lawyer’s pasta choice? : TORTELLI

Tortelli is a type of filled pasta. It can be found in several shapes, including square, semi-circular, or twisted into a rounded, hat-like form. The word “tortelli” comes from the Italian word “torta” meaning “cake”.

33 Advice for the easily distracted : FOCUS

A focus (plural “foci”) is a point of convergence, or a center of activity. “Focus” is a Latin word meaning “hearth, fireplace”. I guess the idea is that the hearth is usually the focus of a room.

35 Smoke, say : CURE

Salt is used to “cure” meats. Curing is a preservation process. The salt kills and inhibits the growth of microorganisms by sucking the water out of the microbe’s cells in the process of osmosis. Smoking is also cited as a curing process, although smoking alone is insufficient for preserving food as the antimicrobial smoke compounds only adhere to the outside of the meat or fish. Smoking is usually combined with salt-curing or drying.

36 Kal __ pet food : KAN

Kal Kan is a brand of pet food that has been marketed since 1936, but is now sold exclusively in Walmart stores.

37 Go on the __ : LAM

To be on the lam is to be in flight, to have escaped from prison. “On the lam” is American slang that originated at the end of the 19th century. The word “lam” also means “beat” or “thrash”, as in “lambaste”. So “on the lam” might derive from the phrase “to beat it, scram”.

38 Devices that coat roads during snowstorms : SALTERS

Halite is the mineral form of sodium chloride, and is also known as “rock salt”. Halite is used to melt ice, as salt water has a lower freezing point than pure water. Adding salt to icy sidewalks can therefore cause any ice to melt (as long as the ambient temperature isn’t too low). A mixture of halite and ice can also be used to cool things below the freezing point of water, perhaps to make ice cream.

41 Genesis craft : ARK

Genesis 6:19-20 states that Noah was instructed to take two animals of every kind into the ark. Later, in Genesis 7:2-3 Noah was instructed to take on board “every clean animal by sevens … male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth”. Apparently, “extras” (7 rather than 2) were needed for ritual sacrifice.

42 NCAA football powerhouse : OSU

Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus was founded back in 1870 as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The athletic teams of OSU are called the Buckeyes, named after the state tree of Ohio. In turn the buckeye tree gets its name from the appearance of its fruit, a dark nut with a light patch thought to resemble a “buck’s eye”. The school’s athletic mascot was introduced in 1965, and is an anthropomorphic buckeye nut named Brutus Buckeye.

44 Folk artist Grandma __ : MOSES

“Grandma” Moses was the nickname of American folk artist Anna Moses. Anna’s moniker is perhaps particularly apt as she really only took up art as a career when she was 78 years old.

46 Trucker’s pasta choice? : RIGATONI

Rigatoni is a tubular pasta that is relatively short, and with ridges along its length. The name “rigatoni” comes from the Italian “rigato” meaning “ridged, lined”.

49 Blue ox of folklore : BABE

Paul Bunyan is a character of American myth. He is a skilled lumberjack, and has a sidekick called Babe the Blue Ox. Both Bunyan and Babe are gigantic in size.

51 Electrician’s pasta choice? : FUSILLI

Fusilli is a corkscrew-shaped pasta. The term “fusilli” comes from the Italian word “fuso” meaning “spindle”.

54 Target of a new czar in New York City : RATS

In 2001, New York City created a permanent agency to attack the rat infestation problem in the metropolis. In 2023, the mayor appointed the city’s first director of rodent mitigation, referred to in the media as “the rat czar”.

56 Flue residue : ASH

The flue in a chimney is a duct that conveys exhaust gases from a fire to the outdoors. An important feature of a flue is that its opening is adjustable. When starting a fire, the flue should be wide open, maximizing airflow to get help ignition.

57 Point value of “five” in Scrabble : TEN

The four tiles that make up the word “FIVE” in Scrabble add up to ten points.

58 Nail technician’s pasta choice? : MANICOTTI

Similar to Italian cannelloni, manicotti are relatively large pasta tubes used in Italian-American cuisine. The tubes are large as they are generally stuffed with a cheesy filling and baked. The name of the pasta comes from the Italian word “manica” meaning “sleeve”, with “manicotti” translating as “little sleeves”.

64 Actor Idris : ELBA

Idris Elba is a British actor and DJ. He was born in London to a Sierra Leonean father and a Ghanaian mother. Elba’s breakthrough role came in 2002, when he was cast as Stringer Bell in the HBO series “The Wire”.

66 Shard : PIECE

A shard is a small piece, especially a fragment of broken ceramic or glass.

68 Nashville’s Grand Ole __ : OPRY

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.

69 Wrap brand : SARAN

What’s known as plastic wrap in America, we call cling-film in Ireland. The brand name “Saran” is often used generically in the US, while “Glad” wrap is common down under. Plastic wrap was one of those unintended inventions, a byproduct of a development program to create a hard plastic cover for cars.

Down

1 Classic Ford, familiarly : ‘STANG

The Ford Mustang car was introduced in 1964. Back then the Mustang wasn’t a brand new design, but was based on the Ford Falcon. The Mustang was the first of the “pony cars”, American models that are compact and affordable, as well as sporty in image and performance.

3 Coffee drinker’s collection, perhaps : CERAMIC MUGS

A ceramic is a hard, heat- and corrosion-resistant material that is strong in compression but has a low tensile strength. Most ceramics are inorganic, non-metallic chemicals. As an aside, I have a degree in ceramics, believe it or not, after writing a thesis on the material used to make refrigerator magnets. Sad, really …

4 Actress Dennings : KAT

Kat Dennings is the stage name of actress Katherine Litwack, who is noted today for her co-starring role on CBS’s sitcom “2 Broke Girls”. Dennings is an avid blogger, and you can check out her video blog on YouTube.

6 Nopales, in Mexican cooking : CACTI

Nopales are the edible pads of the prickly pear cactus. They are a common ingredient in Mexican cuisine and are used in a variety of dishes, including salads, tacos, and soups. They have a slightly tart flavor, and a crunchy texture.

7 Revealing session on Reddit, for short : AMA

Reddit.com is a networking and news website that started up in 2005. It is essentially a bulletin board system with posts that are voted up and down by users, which determines the ranking of posts. The name “Reddit” is a play on “read it”, as in “I read it on Reddit”. One popular feature of the Reddit site is an online forum that is similar to a press conference. Known as an AMA (for “ask me anything”), participants have included the likes of President Barack Obama, Madonna, Bill Gates, Stephen Colbert and Gordon Ramsay. President Obama’s AMA was so popular that the high level of traffic brought down many parts of the Reddit site.

10 Actress Hawn : GOLDIE

I remember watching the ditsy character played by Goldie Hawn on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”. Hawn used to give great performances on the show, convincing everyone that she was the stereotypical dumb blonde. Well, what a great career she was to carve out for herself!

11 “Aladdin” prince : ALI

In Disney’s version of the “Aladdin” story, released in 1992, the street urchin Aladdin uses one of three wishes to become a prince so that he can approach Princess Jasmine, with whom he has become besotted. With the genie’s help, Aladdin takes on the persona of “Prince Ali of Ababwa”.

13 Hawaiian dish with a yogurtlike consistency : POI

I am a big fan of starch (being an Irishman I love potatoes). That said, I think that poi tastes horrible! Poi is made from the bulbous tubers (corm) of the taro plant by cooking the corm in water and mashing it until the desired consistency is achieved.

19 One of the deadly 12-Downs : LUST
[12D Transgression : SIN]

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

25 Student’s email suffix : EDU

The .edu domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

  • .com (commercial enterprise)
  • .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
  • .mil (US military)
  • .org (not-for-profit organization)
  • .gov (US federal government entity)
  • .edu (college-level educational institution)

27 Brand with a “spicy meatball” commercial : ALKA-SELTZER

The antacid known as Alka-Seltzer used an animated character called Speedy in its adverts from 1951 to 1964. Speedy had an Alka-Seltzer tablet as a body and another as a hat, and sang a jingle with the words “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz”. Speedy’s job was to get out the message that Alka-Seltzer provided speedy relief.

31 Rwandan people : TUTSI

The Tutsi are the second-largest population in Rwanda, with the Hutu being the largest. 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.

32 Loads in lodes : ORES

A lode is a metal ore deposit that’s found between two layers of rock or in a fissure. The mother lode is the principal deposit in a mine, usually of gold or silver. “Mother lode” is probably a translation of “veta madre”, an expression used in mining in Mexico.

33 Growing things : FLORA

The fauna (plural “faunae”) is the animal life of a particular region, and the flora (plural “florae”) is that region’s plant life. The term “fauna” comes from the Roman goddess of earth and fertility who was called Fauna. Flora was the Roman goddess of plants, flowers and fertility.

34 “Champagne Supernova” band : OASIS

“Champagne Supernova” is a song written by Noel Gallagher of Oasis, and released by the band in 1996. It’s a “long” song, with the radio edit lasting over 5 minutes, and the album version just under 7½ minutes.

45 __-Wan Kenobi : OBI

Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the more beloved of the “Star Wars” characters. Kenobi was portrayed by two fabulous actors in the series of films. As a young man he is played by Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, and as an older man he is played by Alec Guinness.

47 Old reception aid : AERIAL

We tend to use the term “aerial” and “antenna” interchangeably. Strictly speaking, the aerial is the top part of an antenna. The lead-in is the lower part of the antenna, the part providing the electrical connection between the aerial and the instrument, radio or TV.

48 __ II razor : TRAC

Gillette introduced the Trac II in 1971. The Trac II was the world’s first twin-blade razor.

49 Freedom Riders transport : BUS

The Freedom Riders were a group of civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern US in the sixties to challenge the non-enforcement of the Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce them. The Freedom Riders were met with violence and arrests throughout their journey. In Anniston, Alabama, a mob of white supremacists firebombed a bus carrying Freedom Riders. In Birmingham, Alabama, police arrested Freedom Riders who refused to give up their seats to white passengers. In Jackson, Mississippi, Freedom Riders were held in jail for weeks without bail.

52 German camera : LEICA

Leica is a German optics company that is famous for production of lenses and cameras. The 1913 Leica was the first practical camera that could use 35mm film, a size chosen because it was already the standard for film used in motion pictures.

55 Each cha in cha-cha-cha : STEP

The cha-cha-cha (often simplified to “cha-cha”) is a Latin dance with origins in Cuba, where it was introduced by composer Enrique Jorrin in 1953.

59 Strong beer : ALE

The many, many different styles of beer can generally be sorted into two groups: ales and lagers. Ales are fermented at relatively warm temperatures for relatively short periods of time, and use top-fermenting yeasts, i.e. yeasts that float on top of the beer as it ferments. Lagers ferment at relatively low temperatures and for relatively long periods of time. Lagers use bottom-fermenting yeasts, i.e. yeasts that fall to the bottom of the beer as it ferments.

60 Org. with Cavs and Mavs : NBA

The Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavs joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1970.

The Mavericks (also “Mavs”) are an NBA franchise in Dallas, Texas. The team was founded in 1980, and the Mavericks name was chosen by fan votes. The choice of “Mavericks” was prompted by the fact that the actor James Garner was a part-owner of the team, and Garner of course played the title role in the “Maverick” television series.

61 Road gunk : TAR

The terms “tarmac” and “macadam” are short for “tarmacadam”. In the 1800s, Scotsman John Loudon McAdam developed a style of road known as “macadam”. Macadam had a top-layer of crushed stone and gravel laid over larger stones. The macadam also had a convex cross-section so that water tended to drain to the sides. In 1901, a significant improvement was made by English engineer Edgar Purnell Hooley who introduced tar into the macadam, improving the resistance to water damage and practically eliminating dust. The “tar-penetration macadam” is the basis of what we now call “tarmac”.

63 Long of “The Best Man” : NIA

Nia Long is an actress who is probably best known for playing Will Smith’s sometime girlfriend and fiancee Lisa Wilkes on the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”.

“The Best Man” is a 1999 American comedy-drama film directed by Malcolm D. Lee, cousin of celebrated filmmaker Spike Lee. It stars Taye Diggs and Nia Long, and follows a group of college friends who reunite for the wedding of one of their own. The movie’s success led to a 2013 sequel titled “The Best Man Holiday”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Basic bags : SACKS
6 Place for a marshmallow roast : CAMP
10 Response to a shock : GASP
14 Pay for : TREAT
15 Bow-toting deity : AMOR
16 Eclectic assortment : OLIO
17 Main artery : AORTA
18 Dentist’s pasta choice? : CAPELLINI
20 Intel-gathering gp. : NSA
21 Malarkey : ROT
23 Tater : SPUD
24 Jeweler’s pasta choice? : GEMELLI
26 Cheesy bagel choice : ASIAGO
30 Picked out, in a way : ID’ED
31 Lawyer’s pasta choice? : TORTELLI
33 Advice for the easily distracted : FOCUS
35 Smoke, say : CURE
36 Kal __ pet food : KAN
37 Go on the __ : LAM
38 Devices that coat roads during snowstorms : SALTERS
41 Genesis craft : ARK
42 NCAA football powerhouse : OSU
43 Girl : LASS
44 Folk artist Grandma __ : MOSES
46 Trucker’s pasta choice? : RIGATONI
49 Blue ox of folklore : BABE
50 Maintain : ASSERT
51 Electrician’s pasta choice? : FUSILLI
54 Target of a new czar in New York City : RATS
56 Flue residue : ASH
57 Point value of “five” in Scrabble : TEN
58 Nail technician’s pasta choice? : MANICOTTI
62 Open, as a computer file : UNZIP
64 Actor Idris : ELBA
65 Precious : DEAR
66 Shard : PIECE
67 Get well : HEAL
68 Nashville’s Grand Ole __ : OPRY
69 Wrap brand : SARAN

Down

1 Classic Ford, familiarly : ‘STANG
2 Came up : AROSE
3 Coffee drinker’s collection, perhaps : CERAMIC MUGS
4 Actress Dennings : KAT
5 Like a cloudy night : STARLESS
6 Nopales, in Mexican cooking : CACTI
7 Revealing session on Reddit, for short : AMA
8 Swabbing tools : MOPS
9 Tax form expert : PREPARER
10 Actress Hawn : GOLDIE
11 “Aladdin” prince : ALI
12 Transgression : SIN
13 Hawaiian dish with a yogurtlike consistency : POI
19 One of the deadly 12-Downs : LUST
22 On in years : OLD
25 Student’s email suffix : EDU
27 Brand with a “spicy meatball” commercial : ALKA-SELTZER
28 Harsh light : GLARE
29 Pig sounds : OINKS
31 Rwandan people : TUTSI
32 Loads in lodes : ORES
33 Growing things : FLORA
34 “Champagne Supernova” band : OASIS
35 Close-knit group : CLAN
39 Tons on one’s plate : A LOT TO DO
40 Bad collisions : SMASHUPS
45 __-Wan Kenobi : OBI
47 Old reception aid : AERIAL
48 __ II razor : TRAC
49 Freedom Riders transport : BUS
51 Wand wielder : FAIRY
52 German camera : LEICA
53 Hard to erase : IN PEN
55 Each cha in cha-cha-cha : STEP
58 Tepid response : MEH
59 Strong beer : ALE
60 Org. with Cavs and Mavs : NBA
61 Road gunk : TAR
63 Long of “The Best Man” : NIA