LA Times Crossword 16 Mar 22, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Darryl Gonzalez
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: What a Breeze!

Themed answers each comprise two words that often END a phrase starting with “WINTER”:

  • 50A What happens on March 20, 2022, at 11:33 a.m. … and what both parts of the answers to starred clues are : WINTER ENDS
  • 20A *Monday NFL contests, e.g. : NIGHT GAMES (“winter night” & “winter games”)
  • 11D *View from the Oval Office : ROSE GARDEN (“winter rose” & “winter garden”)
  • 12D *Granny Smith, e.g. : GREEN APPLE (“wintergreen” & “winter apple”)
  • 27D *Multi-field athletic venue : SPORTS PARK (“winter sports” & “Winter Park”)
  • 28D *Crunchy salad add-in : WHEAT BERRY (“winter wheat” & “winterberry”)

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

Bill’s time: 6m 34s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Semi-hard cheese : EDAM

Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

14 Block party item? : LEGO

Lego is manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1934 and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949. The blocks were originally sold under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks” but I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.

15 Memo abbr. : ASAP

As soon as possible (ASAP)

16 Atlanta campus : EMORY

Emory is a private school in Atlanta, Georgia with a focus on graduate research. The school was named after a Methodist Episcopal bishop called John Emory, who was very popular at the time of the school’s founding in 1836.

18 Baby Moses’ river : NILE

The term “ark”, when used with reference to Noah, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tebah”. The word “tebah” is also used in the Bible for the basket in which Moses was placed by his mother when she floated him down the Nile. It seems that the word “tebah” doesn’t mean “boat” and nor does it mean “basket”. Rather, a more appropriate translation is “life-preserver” or “life-saver”. So, Noah’s ark was Noah’s life-preserver during the flood.

24 Seemingly forever : EON

Geological time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

  • supereon
  • eon (also “aeon”)
  • era
  • period
  • epoch
  • age

25 Architect’s work : DESIGN

An architect is a person who designs buildings and consults during the construction. The term “architect”comes from the Greek “”arkhi-” (chief) and “tekton” (builder).

27 “12 Days” septet : SWANS

The gifts given in the Christmas song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” are:

  1. A partridge in a pear tree.
  2. Two turtle doves,
  3. Three French hens,
  4. Four calling birds
  5. Five gold rings
  6. Six geese a-laying
  7. Seven swans a-swimming
  8. Eight maids a-milking
  9. Nine ladies dancing
  10. Ten lords a-leaping
  11. Eleven pipers piping
  12. Twelve drummers drumming

30 Drink with formaggio : VINO

In Italian, one might serve “formaggio” (cheese) with “vino” (wine)

33 Garden pest : APHID

Aphids are called “greenfly” back in Britain and Ireland where I come from. The most effective way to control aphids, in my experience, is to make sure there are plenty of ladybugs in the garden (called “ladybirds” in Ireland!).

34 Keto and South Beach : DIETS

A ketogenic (also “keto”) diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. When a body consumes insufficient carbohydrates to meet the need for energy, then the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies in order to make up the energy deficit. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the bloodstream is known as “ketosis”, a term that gives rise to the name “ketogenic diet”. Medical professionals sometimes prescribe a ketogenic diet in order to control epilepsy in children. A condition of ketosis can reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures.

The fad diet known as the South Beach Diet was developed in the mid-nineties by Dr. Arthur Agatston as the Modified Carbohydrate Diet. Agatston later named it for the South Beach neighborhood in Miami Beach, which was close to his practice. The diet really took off after Agatston published his “The South Beach Diet” book in 2003.

35 Tech sch. near Albany, N.Y. : RPI

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is a private school in Troy, New York. The university is named after its founder Stephen Van Rensselaer who set up the school in 1824. The goal of RPI has always been the “application of science to the common purposes of life”, an objective set by the founder. Given that, the name for the school’s sports teams is quite apt: the Engineers.

New York’s state capital of Albany was founded as a Dutch trading post called Fort Nassau in 1614. The English took over the settlement in 1664 and called it Albany, naming it after the future King of England James II, whose title at the time was the Duke of Albany. It became the capital of New York State in 1797.

36 Transvaal settler : BOER

“Boer” is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for “farmer”, a word that was used to describe the Dutch-speaking people who settled parts of South Africa during the 1700s.

37 Newspaper VIPs : EDS

Editor (ed.)

38 Econ. barometers : GDPS

A country’s Gross National Product (GNP) is the value of all services and products produced by its residents in a particular year. GNP includes all production wherever it is in the world, as long as the business is owned by residents of the country concerned. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is different, although related, and is the value of all services and goods produced within the borders of the country for that year.

39 Front-end car cover : BRA

A front-end bra is a vinyl cover attached to the front of a car to protect the paintwork from scratches. The design was the invention of Bill Colgan, an upholsterer in Burbank, California. He introduced the Original Car Bra in 1961.

A front-end bra is a vinyl cover attached to the front of a car to protect the paintwork from scratches. The design was the invention of Bill Colgan, an upholsterer in Burbank, California. He introduced the Original Car Bra in 1961.

43 ABA member : ATT

The American Bar Association (ABA) was founded back in 1878 and is a voluntary association for lawyers and law students. The ABA focuses on setting academic standards for law schools and setting ethical codes for the profession.

44 Quarterback-turned-analyst Tony : ROMO

Tony Romo is a former quarterback who spent his entire NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys. Romo is also an avid amateur golfer and has even tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to qualify for the US Open golf championship.

45 “A Gallery of Children” author : MILNE

“A Gallery of Children” is a 1925 collection of children’s stories by A. A. Milne. One year later, Milne came out with his first volume of incredibly successful “Winnie-the-Pooh” stories.

46 Food court pizza seller : SBARRO

The Sbarro chain of pizza restaurants was founded by Italian immigrants, Gennaro and Carmela Sbarro.

48 Grafton who wrote 25 “Alphabet Mystery” books : SUE

Sue Grafton wrote detective novels, and her “alphabet series” feature the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “’A’ Is for Alibi” in 1982 and worked her way up to “‘Y’ is for Yesterday” before she passed away in 2017.

49 WWI German vice admiral : SPEE

Maximilian Graf von Spee was actually born in Denmark, but of a noble German family. By the time WWI started, Spee had risen to the rank of Rear Admiral in the German Navy. He was killed in the Battle of the Falkland Islands (the original 1914 version!). He gave his name to the powerful pocket battleship, the Admiral Graf Spee, which was damaged in the Battle of the River Plate during WWII. The Graf Spee took refuge in the neutral port of Montevideo and when the boat was expelled by the government of Uruguay, the captain scuttled her rather than face the Allied flotilla waiting for her just outside the port.

50 What happens on March 20, 2022, at 11:33 a.m. … and what both parts of the answers to starred clues are : WINTER ENDS

On the other side of the Atlantic, daylight saving time (DST) is known as “summer time”. The idea behind summer/daylight-savings is to move clocks forward an hour in spring (“spring forward”), and backwards in the fall (“fall back”) so that afternoons have more daylight. Here in the US, DST starts on the second Sunday of March, and ends on the first Sunday of November.

56 Analyze in a grammar lesson : PARSE

The verb “to parse” means “to state the parts of speech in a sentence”. “Parse” comes from the Latin word “pars” meaning “part”.

58 Perth put-offs : NAES

Perth is a city in central Scotland that lies on the River Tay. It is sometimes referred to the Fair City after Sir Walter Scott published his novel “The Fair Maid of Perth”.

59 Joint malady : GOUT

Gout is caused by an elevation of the levels of uric acid in the blood. As a result of the high concentrations, the uric acid can crystallize out in tissue causing extreme discomfort. What we tend to call gout occurs when the crystals are deposited in the big toe. Gout is sometimes referred to as “the disease of kings” or “the rich man’s disease”, as it is associated with a traditionally opulent diet.

61 Snake River jumper Knievel : EVEL

Daredevil Evel Knievel contracted hepatitis C from the many blood transfusions that he needed after injuries incurred during stunts. He had to have a liver transplant as a result, but his health declined after that. Knievel eventually passed away in 2007.

The Snake River in the US northwest is the largest tributary of the Columbia River. The Snake River carved out the magnificent Hells Canyon, which is North America’s deepest river gorge.

63 Video call option : SKYPE

The main feature of the Skype application, when introduced, was that it allows voice communication to take place over the Internet (aka VoIP). Skype has other features such as video conferencing and instant messaging, but the application made its name from voice communication. Skype was founded by two Scandinavian entrepreneurs and the software necessary was developed by a team of engineers in Estonia. The development project was originally called “Sky peer-to-peer” so the first commercial name for the application was “Skyper”. This had to be shortened to “Skype” because the skyper.com domain name was already in use.

64 “Hey” assistant : SIRI

Siri is a software application that works with Apple’s iOS operating system. “Siri” is an acronym standing for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface. Voice-over artist Susan Bennett revealed herself as the female American voice of Siri a few years ago. The British version of Siri is called Daniel, and the Australian version is called Karen. Also, “Siri” is a Norwegian name meaning “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”, and was the name the developer had chosen for his first child.

65 53-Down’s firstborn : SHEM
(53D Biblical builder : NOAH)

According to the Book of Genesis, Noah lived to a ripe old age. Noah fathered his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth when he was 500 years old, and the Great Flood took place when he was 600.

Down

2 Sub contractor? : DELI

The word “delicatessen” (or “deli” for short) came into English from the German “Delikatessen”. The Germans borrowed the word from French, in which language “délicatesse” means “delicious things (to eat)”. The term’s ultimate root is “delicatus”, the Latin for “giving pleasure, delightful”.

4 Light-loving flier : MOTH

It isn’t really understood why moths are attracted to artificial lights. There is one theory that sounds plausible to me though. It is suggested that moths navigate at night by maintaining the moon (the brightest celestial object) at a fixed angle. When a moth finds a brighter light source, like an artificial light, it gets confused.

5 Dances like the one seen in “Evita” : TANGOS

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.

6 Thai or Laotian : ASIAN

Siam was the official name of Thailand up to 1939 (and again from 1945 to 1949).

The present-day nation of Laos can trace its roots back to the historic Lao kingdom of Lan Xang that existed from 1354 to 1707. The full name of the kingdom was “Lan Xang Hom Khao”, which translates as “The Land of a Million Elephants and the White Parasol”.

9 Bit of RAM : MEG

Random-access memory (RAM) is a form of computer storage.

10 Face with tears of joy, for one : EMOJI

An emoji is a character found on many cell phones that is much like an emoticon, but is more elaborate. The use of emojis originated in 1997 on mobile phones in Japan, and within a few years spread around the world. “Emoji” is a Japanese word meaning “picture word”.

11 *View from the Oval Office : ROSE GARDEN (“winter rose” & “winter garden”)

The White House Rose Garden was the 1913 creation of Ellen Axson Wilson, the first wife of President Woodrow Wilson. Prior to the planting of the famous roses, the area was taken up by a colonial garden designed by First Lady Edith Roosevelt in 1902.

The list of flowering plants known as hellebores also go by the names winter rose, Christmas rose and Lenten rose. The names are inaccurate in that hellebores aren’t roses at all, but accurate in that they are prized because they bloom in winter and early spring.

12 *Granny Smith, e.g. : GREEN APPLE (“wintergreen” & “winter apple”)

The Granny Smith apple originated in Australia, a chance propagation by Maria Ann Smith in 1868. Ms. Smith was in her late sixties at the time, so the new cultivar of apple was called a Granny Smith. We’ve only been eating Granny Smiths in the US since 1972.

The term “wintergreen” is used for a group of aromatic plants. Some wintergreens contain methyl salicylate, which has a taste reminiscent of mint. “Wintergreen” used to describe any plants that remain green through the winter, but that usage has been displaced by “evergreen”.

The winter apple is a flowering plant that is native to parts of Australia. It can be used as ground cover as it creeps along the ground as it grows.

26 Palindromic 33-Down hit : SOS

The palindromic band ABBA recorded the palindromic song “SOS”. Crazy …

27 *Multi-field athletic venue : SPORTS PARK (“winter sports” & “Winter Park”)

Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida. It was founded in 1881, and was very much a planned community with strict architectural styles and standards. It is home to the (expensive) private liberal arts school Rollins College, which was founded in 1885.

28 *Crunchy salad add-in : WHEAT BERRY (“winter wheat” & “winterberry”)

Wheat berries are whole wheat kernels with the husk removed. They are a common addition to salads and breads, imparting a crunchy texture.

“Winterberry” is a common name given to a species of holly found across most of North America. Other names used are, Canada holly, Michigan holly, as well as the botanical name Ilex verticillata.

29 __ guitar : AIR

The concept of playing an imaginary electric guitar ( an “air guitar”) is so popular that there are several championship competitions held. There has even been a world championship since 1996. Crazy …

30 Vintage MTV staple : VIDEO

The first video played at the launch of MTV the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” (I love that song), followed by Pat Benatar singing “You Better Run”.

33 26-Down group : ABBA
(26D Palindromic 33-Down hit : SOS)

ABBA The Museum is an exhibition in Stockholm that opened in 2013. One of the exhibits featured in the “museum” is a self-playing piano that is linked to a piano in Benny Andersson’s own home. So, the museum’s piano reproduces whatever Benny is playing, in real time. That’s kind of cool …

34 State capital on its own river : DES MOINES

The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.

40 The Boston Bruins retired his #4 in 1979 : ORR

Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking. While still 31 years old, in 1979, Orr became the youngest person inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Prior to that, in 1967, Orr became the youngest person named the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.

The Boston Bruins professional ice hockey team goes way back, and has been in existence since 1924. The National Hockey League back then was a Canadian-only league, but was expanded to include the US in 1923. The Bruins were the first US-team in the expanded league.

41 Swed. neighbor : NORW

Norway has been ranked as the country in the world with the highest standard of living almost every year since 2001. It is rich in natural resources and has a relatively low population. The people benefit from a comprehensive social security system, subsidized higher education for all citizens and universal health care. And Norway is famous for her success at the Winter Olympic Games, having won more gold medals than any other nation in the world.

45 Granola relative : MUESLI

“Muesli” is a Swiss-German term describing a breakfast serving of oats, nuts, fruit and milk. “Muesli” is a diminutive of the German word “Mues” meaning “puree”. Delicious …

The names “Granola” and “Granula” were trademarked back in the late 1800s for whole-grain foods that were crumbled and baked until crisp. Granola was created in Dansville, New York in 1894.

47 “Zeus and the Tortoise” storyteller : AESOP

In Aesop’s fable “Zeus and the Tortoise”, Zeus invited all the animals on the Earth to his wedding. The tortoise didn’t turn up , using her excuse that she would rather not leave her home. As a result, Zeus condemned the tortoise to carry her house around with her forever. It was this fable that led to our idiomatic phrase “There’s no place like home”.

48 Texas ranger? : STEER

A steer is a male bovine that was castrated when young and is then raised for beef. The term “steer” comes from the Old English “steor” meaning “bullock”.

51 “Avatar” race : NA’VI

In James Cameron’s epic “Avatar”, the “blue people” are the Na’vi, the indigenous species that lives on the lush moon called Pandora. The main Na’vi character featured in the film is the female Neytiri. According to Cameron, Neytiri was inspired by the character played by Raquel Welch in the movie “Fantastic Voyage” and the comic book character Vampirella.

53 Biblical builder : NOAH

According to the Bible’s Book of Genesis, Noah was instructed to build his ark 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. That’s about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.

54 Hornswoggle : DUPE

To hornswoggle is to cheat, to deceive, to bamboozle.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Semi-hard cheese : EDAM
5 Windows navigation aids : TABS
9 Come together : MERGE
14 Block party item? : LEGO
15 Memo abbr. : ASAP
16 Atlanta campus : EMORY
17 Heaps : A LOT
18 Baby Moses’ river : NILE
19 “Check it out!” : GO SEE!
20 *Monday NFL contests, e.g. : NIGHT GAMES (“winter night” & “winter games”)
23 Boo : JEER
24 Seemingly forever : EON
25 Architect’s work : DESIGN
27 “12 Days” septet : SWANS
30 Drink with formaggio : VINO
31 Spa sound : AAH!
33 Garden pest : APHID
34 Keto and South Beach : DIETS
35 Tech sch. near Albany, N.Y. : RPI
36 Transvaal settler : BOER
37 Newspaper VIPs : EDS
38 Econ. barometers : GDPS
39 Front-end car cover : BRA
40 First stage : ONSET
42 Skins : PEELS
43 ABA member : ATT
44 Quarterback-turned-analyst Tony : ROMO
45 “A Gallery of Children” author : MILNE
46 Food court pizza seller : SBARRO
48 Grafton who wrote 25 “Alphabet Mystery” books : SUE
49 WWI German vice admiral : SPEE
50 What happens on March 20, 2022, at 11:33 a.m. … and what both parts of the answers to starred clues are : WINTER ENDS
56 Analyze in a grammar lesson : PARSE
58 Perth put-offs : NAES
59 Joint malady : GOUT
60 Symbol for turning traffic : ARROW
61 Snake River jumper Knievel : EVEL
62 Stare in wonder : GAPE
63 Video call option : SKYPE
64 “Hey” assistant : SIRI
65 53-Down’s firstborn : SHEM

Down

1 Verve : ELAN
2 Sub contractor? : DELI
3 Visibly awed : AGOG
4 Light-loving flier : MOTH
5 Dances like the one seen in “Evita” : TANGOS
6 Thai or Laotian : ASIAN
7 Pain soother : BALM
8 Like a sprint winner : SPEEDIEST
9 Bit of RAM : MEG
10 Face with tears of joy, for one : EMOJI
11 *View from the Oval Office : ROSE GARDEN (“winter rose” & “winter garden”)
12 *Granny Smith, e.g. : GREEN APPLE (“wintergreen” & “winter apple”)
13 Observer : EYER
21 Mind : TEND
22 Email tab : SENT
26 Palindromic 33-Down hit : SOS
27 *Multi-field athletic venue : SPORTS PARK (“winter sports” & “Winter Park”)
28 *Crunchy salad add-in : WHEAT BERRY (“winter wheat” & “winterberry”)
29 __ guitar : AIR
30 Vintage MTV staple : VIDEO
32 Villain’s welcome : HISS
33 26-Down group : ABBA
34 State capital on its own river : DES MOINES
38 Toothpaste choice : GEL
40 The Boston Bruins retired his #4 in 1979 : ORR
41 Swed. neighbor : NORW
42 Berth place : PIER
45 Granola relative : MUESLI
47 “Zeus and the Tortoise” storyteller : AESOP
48 Texas ranger? : STEER
49 Massage spots : SPAS
51 “Avatar” race : NA’VI
52 Breakfast items : EGGS
53 Biblical builder : NOAH
54 Hornswoggle : DUPE
55 Originate (from) : STEM
57 Lea grazer : EWE