LA Times Crossword 10 Oct 22, Monday

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Constructed by: Justin Werfel
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Getting the Sack

Themed answers each start with a synonym of “container”:

  • 20A Like passwords that likely won’t work if Caps Lock is on : CASE SENSITIVE
  • 36A Question from a store clerk : CAN I HELP YOU?
  • 43A “Star Wars” character from an underwater city : JAR JAR BINKS
  • 54A Film that doesn’t make much money : BOX-OFFICE FLOP

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

Bill’s time: 7m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Aid and __ : ABET

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (literally “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

10 Finish third : SHOW
63 Finish second : PLACE

When betting on a horse race, the first-place finisher is said to “win”. A horse finishing first or second is said to “place”. A horse finishing first, second or third is said to “show”.

14 White House no : VETO

The verb “veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The term was used by tribunes of ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.

15 Biblical prophet : HOSEA

Hosea was one of the Twelve Prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The Twelve Prophets are also known as the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible.

16 The “P” of IPA : PALE

India pale ale (IPA) is a style of beer that originated in England. The beer was originally intended for transportation from England to India, hence the name.

18 “Spider-Man” trilogy director Sam : RAIMI

Sam Raimi is a very successful director and producer. He was behind the “Spider-Man” series of films among others, and TV shows such as “Xena: Warrior Princess”. In 1993, Raimi married Gillian Green, the youngest daughter of actor Lorne Greene of “Bonanza” fame. Raimi and Greene named their eldest son Lorne, after his grandfather.

19 The “Y” of YSL : YVES

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) was an Algerian-born French fashion designer. Saint Laurent started off working as an assistant to Christian Dior at the age of 17. Dior died just four years later, and as a very young man Saint-Laurent was named head of the House of Dior. However, in 1950 Saint Laurent was conscripted into the French Army and ended up in a military hospital after suffering a mental breakdown from the hazing inflicted on him by his fellow soldiers. His treatment included electroshock therapy and administration of sedatives and psychoactive drugs. He was released from hospital, managed to pull his life back together and started his own fashion house. A remarkable story …

28 “The Lord of the Rings” beast : ORC

Orcs are mythical humanoid creatures that appear in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. Since Tolkien’s use of orcs, they have also been featured in other fantasy fiction as well as in fantasy video games.

35 Zion Church letters : AME

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) Church was formed in New York City. The church was established by African-American Christians who faced discrimination when attending other churches. Initially the African-American congregations were led by Caucasian Methodist ministers, with the first African American being ordained in 1820.

42 Jellystone Park bear : YOGI

Yogi Bear made his debut for Hanna-Barbera in 1958, on “The Huckleberry Hound Show” before he was given his own series. Do you remember that collar that Yogi wore around his neck? That was a little trick from the animators. By using the collar, for many frames all they had to do was redraw everything from the collar up, saving them lots and lots of time. Yogi and Boo-Boo lived in Jellystone Park, and made Ranger Smith’s life a misery.

43 “Star Wars” character from an underwater city : JAR JAR BINKS

Jar Jar Binks is a comedic character who appears in Episodes I-III of the “Star Wars” movies. Binks hails from the planet Naboo, which is eventually ruled by Queen Padmé Amidala (played by Natalie Portman). Apparently, the hardcore “Star Wars” fans aren’t big fans of Mr. Binks.

46 __ Mahal : TAJ

“Mahal” is the Urdu word for “palace”, as in “Taj Mahal” meaning “crown of palaces”. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum holding the body of Mumtaz Mahal, the third wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The name “Mumtaz Mahal” translates as “the chosen one of the palace”.

47 Negro Leagues legend Buck : O’NEIL

Buck O’Neil was a first baseman and manager with the Kansas City Monarchs, a team in the Negro American League. He was appointed as a coach with the Chicago Cubs in 1962, making him the first African-American coach in the major leagues.

49 Writer Mario Vargas __ : LLOSA

Mario Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian writer of renown, and one of the most significant authors from Latin America by all accounts. Llosa is also very active politically, and in 1990 ran unsuccessfully for the Peruvian presidency.

53 “Hamilton” Tony nominee Phillipa : SOO

Phillipa Soo is an actress and singer who is perhaps best known for portraying Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the title character’s wife in the original Broadway production of “Hamilton”.

54 Film that doesn’t make much money : BOX-OFFICE FLOP

The term “box office” may date back to Shakespearean times. In those days long past, patrons would deposit fees for seeing theater performances in boxes. The full boxes would be collected and placed in an office called, imaginatively enough, the “box office”.

61 Chicken cordon __ : BLEU

A “cordon bleu” dish is a meat dish, one prepared by wrapping the meat around cheese, covering it with breading and then pan-frying. Specifically, veal cordon bleu is made using veal that is pounded thin and wrapped around slices of ham and cheese. The term “cordon bleu” translated from French as “blue ribbon”.

69 Stockholm native : SWEDE

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the most populous city in the country. Over one fifth of all Swedish residents live in Stockholm.

Down

2 Phi __ Kappa : BETA

Phi Beta Kappa was the first collegiate Greek fraternity in the US, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary. The organization served as a model for future collegiate fraternities and sororities, although in the 19th century Phi Beta Kappa distanced itself from the fraternal focus and transformed into the honor society that it is today, recognizing academic excellence. The initials Phi Beta Kappa stand for “philosophia biou kybernētēs”, which translates into “philosophy is the guide of life”. The symbol of the Phi Beta Kappa Society is a golden key.

4 Ohio city west of Cleveland : TOLEDO

Toledo, Ohio lies in the northwest of the state, at the western end of Lake Erie. Toledo was founded as a result of the prosperity that hit the area when the Miami and Erie Canal was constructed in the 19th century connecting Cincinnati to the Great Lakes. Toledo is known as the Glass City as several glass companies originated there, including Owens Corning and Pilkington North America. There is a large exhibition of glass art at the Toledo Museum of Art.

6 Horse coat color : ROAN

A roan horse has an even mixture of white and colored hairs on the body with the head, lower legs, mane and tail having a more solid color.

7 OfferUp caveat : AS IS

OfferUp is a website on which one can buy and sell items and services, akin to the more famous Craigslist. OfferUp differs from its competitors by positioning itself as a mobile platform.

A caveat is a warning or a qualification. “Caveat” is the Latin for “let him beware”.

8 18-wheeler : SEMI

An 18-wheeler semi-trailer truck has eight wheels under the trailer, i.e. four on each of the two rear axles. There are 10 wheels under the tractor unit. Two of the ten wheels are on the front axle, and eight are on the rear two axles that sit under the front of the trailer.

9 French-speaking Caribbean country : HAITI

The Republic of Haiti occupies the smaller, western portion of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. The rest of the island is taken up by the Dominican Republic. Haiti is one of only two nations in the Americas to have French as an official language, the other being Canada.

10 Mad magazine cartoon featuring secret agents : SPY VS SPY

“Spy vs. Spy” is a comic strip that has run in “MAD” magazine continuously since 1961. It was drawn by Antonio Prohias, a refugee from Cuba, until his retirement. The early storyline was very fitting for the times, a statement about the futility of the arms race, detente and the Cold War.

13 Director Craven : WES

Wes Craven was a very successful film director and writer specializing in movies of the horror genre, which means that I don’t watch them! He was responsible for “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and the “Scream” films. Craven passed away in August 2015.

22 Lang. of Rome : ITAL

According to tradition, Rome was founded by the twin brothers Romulus and Remus. The pair had a heated argument about who should be allowed to name the city and Romulus hit Remus with a shovel, killing him. And so, “Rome” was born, perhaps instead of “Reme”!

25 Bluegrass strings : BANJO

The instrument that we know today as the banjo is a derivative of instruments that were used in Africa.

27 Big name in riding mowers : DEERE

John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”. The Deere company that John founded uses the slogan “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”, and has a leaping deer as its logo.

28 Yr. before A.D. started : ONE BC

The designations Anno Domini (AD, “year of Our Lord”) and Before Christ (BC) are found in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The dividing point between AD and BC is the year of the conception of Jesus, with AD 1 following 1 BC without a year “0” in between. The AD/BC scheme dates back to AD 525, and gained wide acceptance soon after AD 800. Nowadays a modified version has become popular, with CE (Common/Christian Era) used to replace AD, and BCE (Before the Common/Christian Era) used to replace BC.

32 Environmental protocol city in Japan : KYOTO

The Kyoto Protocol is designed to fight global warming and was adopted on 11 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. Almost 200 states have since signed the protocol and have committed to achieving the year 2012 targets laid down in the document. The most notable signature absent on the document is one representing the United States, as we are responsible for over one third of the greenhouse gases emitted across the world. The other significant polluters that have not ratified the agreement are China, India and Brazil.

33 Roman robes : TOGAS

In ancient Rome, the classical attire known as a toga (plural “togae” or “togas”) was usually worn over a tunic. The tunic was made from linen, and the toga itself was a piece of cloth about twenty feet long made from wool. The toga could only be worn by men, and only if those men were Roman citizens. The female equivalent of the toga was called a “stola”.

34 __ board: séance device : OUIJA

The Ouija board was introduced to America as a harmless parlor game at the end of the 19th century, although variations of the board date back to 1100 AD in China, where it was apparently used to “contact” the spirit world. The name “Ouija” is relatively recent, and is probably just a combination of the French and German words for “yes” … “oui” and “ja”.

Q. Why did the chicken go to the séance?

A. To get to the other side.

38 Great Plains grazer : ELK

The elk (also “wapiti”) is one of the largest species of deer in the world, with only the moose being bigger. Early European settlers were familiar with the smaller red deer back in their homelands, so when they saw the “huge” wapiti they assumed it was a moose, and incorrectly gave it the European name for a moose, namely “elk”. The more correct name for the beast is “wapiti”, which means “white rump” in Shawnee. It’s all very confusing …

The Great Plains lie between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains in North America. This vast grassland is known as “the Prairies” in Canada.

40 Smallest country on the Horn of Africa : DJIBOUTI

Djibouti is a country in the Horn of Africa that is located to the northwest of Somalia, with coasts on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Once known as French Somaliland, the country gained independence from France in 1977. The newly independent nation adopted the same name as Djibouti, the capital city.

The Horn of Africa is that horn-shaped peninsula at the easternmost tip of the continent, containing the countries Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia as well as Somalia. The Horn of Africa is also known as the Somali Peninsula.

44 Longtime “Jeopardy!” host Trebek : ALEX

Alex Trebek was the host of “Jeopardy!” from the launch of the syndicated version of the game show in 1984 until his passing in 2020. Trebek missed just one episode during that time, when he and host of “Wheel of Fortune” Pat Sajak swapped roles in 1997 as an April Fool’s joke. In 2014, Trebek picked up the Guinness World Record for hosting the most episodes of a game show.

45 __ gin fizz : SLOE

By definition, a cocktail known as a “fizz” includes lemon or lime juice and carbonated water. The most popular of the genre is the gin fizz, made from 3 parts gin, 2 parts lemon juice, 1 part sugar syrup and 5 parts soda water. There is also a variant known as a sloe gin fizz.

56 Kismet : FATE

“Kismet” is a Turkish word meaning “fate, fortune, lot”.

61 Bikini top : BRA

The origin of the word “bikini”, describing a type of bathing suit, seems very uncertain. One story is that it is named after the Bikini Atoll, site of American A-bomb tests in the forties and fifties. The name “bikini” was chosen for the swim-wear because of the “explosive” effect it had on men who saw a woman wearing the garment …

62 “When They See Us” actor Cariou : LEN

Len Cariou is a Canadian actor who is famous for his Broadway portrayal of “Sweeney Todd”. I most recognize Cariou from supporting roles in “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Thirteen Days”, two great movies.

“When They See Us” is a miniseries created by Ava DuVernay and first aired in 2019. It is a crime drama based on events surrounding the Central Park jogger case from 1989. The show explores the lives of the Central Park Five, the five Black males who were falsely accused and prosecuted on charges related to the rape of a White woman.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Aid and __ : ABET
5 Garbage : TRASH
10 Finish third : SHOW
14 White House no : VETO
15 Biblical prophet : HOSEA
16 The “P” of IPA : PALE
17 “Plus some other folks” abbr. : ET AL
18 “Spider-Man” trilogy director Sam : RAIMI
19 The “Y” of YSL : YVES
20 Like passwords that likely won’t work if Caps Lock is on : CASE SENSITIVE
23 Easter egg dip : DYE
24 “__ only a game” : IT’S
25 Try to buy, at an auction : BID ON
28 “The Lord of the Rings” beast : ORC
31 Invite for : ASK TO
35 Zion Church letters : AME
36 Question from a store clerk : CAN I HELP YOU?
39 Requirement : NEED
41 Fit for a monarch : REGAL
42 Jellystone Park bear : YOGI
43 “Star Wars” character from an underwater city : JAR JAR BINKS
46 __ Mahal : TAJ
47 Negro Leagues legend Buck : O’NEIL
48 Chicago summer hrs. : CDT
49 Writer Mario Vargas __ : LLOSA
51 Garden plot : BED
53 “Hamilton” Tony nominee Phillipa : SOO
54 Film that doesn’t make much money : BOX-OFFICE FLOP
61 Chicken cordon __ : BLEU
63 Finish second : PLACE
64 Bicycle wheel : TIRE
65 Payment to a landlord : RENT
66 Ingested : EATEN
67 “Did you __?!” : EVER
68 Voting no : ANTI
69 Stockholm native : SWEDE
70 Cubicle fixture : DESK

Down

1 French “with” : AVEC
2 Phi __ Kappa : BETA
3 Guesses from late guests, briefly : ETAS
4 Ohio city west of Cleveland : TOLEDO
5 Number of strikes in a strikeout : THREE
6 Horse coat color : ROAN
7 OfferUp caveat : AS IS
8 18-wheeler : SEMI
9 French-speaking Caribbean country : HAITI
10 Mad magazine cartoon featuring secret agents : SPY VS SPY
11 “What’ll ya __?” : HAVE
12 World Cup cheer : OLE!
13 Director Craven : WES
21 Lip-__: mouth the words : SYNC
22 Lang. of Rome : ITAL
25 Bluegrass strings : BANJO
26 “Know what __?” : I MEAN
27 Big name in riding mowers : DEERE
28 Yr. before A.D. started : ONE BC
29 Unyielding : RIGID
30 Repetitive shout : CHANT
32 Environmental protocol city in Japan : KYOTO
33 Roman robes : TOGAS
34 __ board: séance device : OUIJA
37 The “A” of 3-Down : ARR
38 Great Plains grazer : ELK
40 Smallest country on the Horn of Africa : DJIBOUTI
44 Longtime “Jeopardy!” host Trebek : ALEX
45 __ gin fizz : SLOE
50 Hit high in the air : LOFTED
52 Puzzles (out) : DOPES
53 Play division : SCENE
54 Crooked : BENT
55 Defect : FLAW
56 Kismet : FATE
57 Covered in frosting : ICED
58 “C’mon, __ a little!” : LIVE
59 Metal-yielding rocks : ORES
60 Cheer (up) : PERK
61 Bikini top : BRA
62 “When They See Us” actor Cariou : LEN