LA Times Crossword 29 Oct 24, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Doug Peterson
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Stretch Goal

Themed answers each include the letter pairings “GO” and “AL”. Those pairings “STRETCH”, move away from each other, as we descend the grid:

  • 59A Crowdfunding target, and what can be found in three of this puzzle’s answers : STRETCH GOAL
  • 17A Person announcing numbers in a hall : BINGO CALLER
  • 26A Grammy Award won twice by CeCe Winans : BEST GOSPEL ALBUM
  • 45A Notre-Dame de Paris, notably : GOTHIC CATHEDRAL

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

Bill’s time: 6m 06s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 “All __ Up”: Elvis hit : SHOOK

“All Shook Up” is a song composed by Otis Blackwell and recorded by Elvis Presley in 1957. It was the first Elvis recording to top the UK charts.

14 “¡Hasta __!” : LUEGO

“Hasta luego” translates literally from Spanish as “until later”, and is used to say “see you later”.

15 Satirical 2022 biopic about Al Yankovic : WEIRD

“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is a 2022 biographical parody TV movie co-written by Yankovich himself. It is structured as a musical biopic based on Weird Al’s own life, with Daniel Radcliffe playing Yankovic. It was very well received, and won that season’s Primetime Emmy for Outstanding TV Movie.

16 Pole worker : ELF

If you want to send a note to Santa from Canada, he has his own special postal code: “North Pole, HOH OHO”. The US Postal Service suggests that we send mail for Santa to zip code 99705, which directs it to the city of North Pole, Alaska.

17 Person announcing numbers in a hall : BINGO CALLER

Our game Bingo is a derivative of an Italian lottery game called “Il Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia” that became popular in the 16th-century.

19 “Houdini” singer Lipa : DUA

“Houdini” is a 2023 song co-written and recorded by Dua Lipa. It was the lead single from her 2024 studio album “Radical Optimism”.

20 Justice Dept. worker : ATT

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) was created in 1870 by the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant, although the office of the Attorney General (AG) had been operating since 1789. The DOJ Building in Washington, D.C. was completed in 1935, and was named the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in 2001.

24 Dot on a domino : PIP

A pip is a dot on a die or a domino, or a mark on a playing card.

White masks with black spots were commonly seen in the old Venetian Carnival. The masks were known as “domini”. The domini loaned their name to the game of dominoes, due to the similarity in appearance between the mask and a domino tile.

26 Grammy Award won twice by CeCe Winans : BEST GOSPEL ALBUM

CeCe Winans (real given name “Priscilla”) is a Gospel music singer. She is part of a duo with her brother, BeBe Winans (real name Benjamin).

35 __ protector : SURGE

A surge protector is an appliance that protects electrical devices from damaging voltage spikes. They often take the form of power strips.

36 Workplace protection agcy. : OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

39 Yogurt container : TUB

Yogurt (also “yoghurt”) is produced by fermenting milk using bacteria known as yogurt cultures. The bacteria act on the sugars in the milk, producing lactic acid. The lactic acid acts on the proteins in the milk to give the characteristic texture and acidity of yogurt.

40 Wallet bills : ONES

The nation’s first president, George Washington, is on the US one-dollar bills produced today. When the original one-dollar bill was issued in 1863, it featured a portrait of Salmon P. Chase, President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury.

45 Notre-Dame de Paris, notably : GOTHIC CATHEDRAL

Gothic architecture is a style that dates back to the mid and late medieval period, following on from the Romanesque style. Gothic architecture originated in France in the 12th century, and was prevalent until the 16th century, when it was largely superseded by the Renaissance style. Gothic buildings often feature pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses. The best known example of Gothic edifices are magnificent cathedrals and abbeys across Europe, many of which are still used today. Examples of the style can be seen in Notre-Dame de Paris in France, Westminster Abbey in England, and Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin.

Notre-Dame de Paris is the spectacular Gothic cathedral that sits on the Île de la Cité, one of the islands in the middle of the River Seine in Paris. Notre-Dame is home to many beautiful and significant artifacts, the most famous of which is the Crown of Thorns supposedly worn by Jesus Christ at his execution, placed in the cathedral in 1239. It’s also home to some magnificent gargoyles on the roof, and you can climb up to the roof and take a very close look at them. Well, you used to be able to, until the tragic fire of 2019.

52 Poet T.S. : ELIOT

T. S. Eliot (TSE) was born in New England but grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. Much of Eliot’s college education was at Oxford, and clearly he became comfortable with life in England. In 1927 he became a British citizen and lived the rest of life in the UK.

55 No. 1 pal : BFF

Best friend forever (BFF)

58 Apple’s mobile platform : IOS

iOS is what Apple now calls its mobile operating system. Previously, it was known as iPhone OS.

59 Crowdfunding target, and what can be found in three of this puzzle’s answers : STRETCH GOAL

Crowdsourcing is mainly an online phenomenon, and is the solicitation of perhaps services, ideas or content from a large group of people. “Crowdsourcing” is a portmanteau of “crowd” and “outsourcing”. An example of crowdsourcing is crowdfunding, where an individual solicits many small contributions from a large number of people to fund a project.

Kickstarter.com is an increasingly popular crowdfunding website. Kickstarter is a contemporary version of the traditional model in which artists sought out patrons from among their audiences to fund their work. The website brings together individuals willing to fund projects, usually in exchange for some reward from the artist.

62 Luau gift : LEI

The anglicized name of the Hawaiian feast “luau” comes from the Hawaiian word “lu’au”, which translates literally as “young taro tops”. Taro leaves and corms are often served at luaus.

63 Ram, in the zodiac : ARIES

Aries the Ram is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, and is named after the constellation. Your birth sign is Aries if you were born between March 21 and April 20, but if you are an Aries you would know that! “Aries” is the Latin word for “ram”.

65 “Not Dead Yet” TV network : ABC

“Not Dead Yet” is an American sitcom that is based on the novel “Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up” by English author Alexandra Potter.

66 Undersized : DINKY

Here’s a word that has practically the opposite meaning back in Ireland, where I come from. In the US, something that is dinky is insignificant. In Ireland something dinky is neat and dainty.

67 Upscale watch brand : ROLEX

My most-prized possession is a beautiful stainless steel Rolex watch that my uncle bought while serving with the RAF in Canada during WWII. Rolex watches were made available to the Canadian servicemen at that time as they were shipping overseas. My uncle brought his Rolex home to Ireland after the war. He needed money one weekend and so sold the watch to my Dad, for five pounds. My Dad gave it to me just before he died, as he knew I loved the watch, and my brothers weren’t interested in it all. Not so long ago I had the watch appraised ($3,000), and my brothers suddenly took a liking to it! Still, it’s not something that will ever be sold, that’s for sure …

Down

1 Actress and entrepreneur Jessica : ALBA

Actress Jessica Alba got her big break when she was cast in the Fox science fiction show “Dark Angel”. Alba had a tough life growing up as she spent a lot of time in hospital and so found it difficult to develop friendships. As a youngster she twice had a collapsed lung, frequently caught pneumonia, suffered from asthma, had a ruptured appendix and a tonsillar cyst. On top of all that, Alba acknowledges that she suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child.

6 White lake bird : SWAN

An adult male swan is a cob and an adult female is a pen. Young swans are swanlings or cygnets.

8 Paints on palettes : OILS

A palette is a board on which an artist holds and mixes paints. A classical palette is oval in shape, and has a thumbhole and an insert for brushes. Not every artist uses a classical palette. For example, Picasso used a sheet of newspaper.

10 Subtitled TV show from Seoul, e.g. : K-DRAMA

TV dramas made in South Korea in the Korean language are known these days as K-dramas. They have become extremely popular around the world in recent years, with one notable example being the hit show “Squid Game” distributed by Netflix.

11 Chain known for Cheddar Bay Biscuits : RED LOBSTER

The first restaurant in the Red Lobster chain was opened in 1968 in Lakeland, Florida. Red Lobster offered its second “endless snow crab” promotion in 2003, which turned out to be a bit of a financial disaster. The wholesale price of crab legs was at a high, and the management team underestimated the appetite the customers had for crab. As a result, Red Lobster’s parent company had to book a $3 million dollar charge to earnings, and the president of the restaurant chain had to submit her resignation. In 2023, the chain introduced yet another disastrous promotion, offering “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” as a permanent item on the menu. That resulted in a loss of $11 million in one quarter.

12 Whodunit game : CLUE

Clue is a board game that we knew under a different name growing up in Ireland. Outside of North America, Clue is marketed as “Cluedo”. Cluedo was the original name of the game, introduced in 1949 by the famous British board game manufacturer Waddingtons. There are cute differences between the US and UK versions. For example, the man who is murdered is called Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US), one of the suspects is the Reverend Green (Mr. Green in the US), and the suspect weapons include a dagger (a knife in the US), and a spanner (a wrench in the US). I think it’s a fabulous game, a must during the holidays …

18 Guitar clamps : CAPOS

A capo is a clamp-like device that is placed around the neck of a guitar or other stringed instrument to shorten the strings, and hence raise the pitch. The full name, rarely used these days, is “capo tasto”, which is Italian for “head tie”.

23 Scandinavian capital : OSLO

Oslo, the capital of Norway, is an ancient city that was founded around 1048. The medieval city was destroyed by fire in 1624 and was rebuilt by the Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV and renamed to Christiania. In 1877 there was an official change of the spelling of the city’s name to “Kristiana”, and then more recently in 1925 the name was restored to the original Oslo. Things have almost gone full circle and now the center of Oslo, the area that would have been contained by the original medieval walls, has apparently been renamed to Christiania.

24 Compensated break from work: Abbr. : PTO

Paid time off (PTO)

25 Tavern beverage : ALE

Our lovely word “tavern” comes into English via Old French from the Latin “taberna”, the word for a “shop, inn, alehouse”.

29 Poison __ : SUMAC

Poison sumac is a nasty plant (from a human perspective). Also known as thunderwood, it produces the resin urushiol that irritates human skin. Inhaling the smoke from burning poison sumac can irritate the lining of the lungs causing pain, and maybe even death.

30 Designer bag name : PRADA

Prada started out in 1913 as a leather-goods shop in Milan, one established by the two Prada brothers. One of the brothers, Mario Prada, prevented the female members of his family from participating in the running of the company as he didn’t believe women should be involved in business (!). When the sexist brother died, his son had no interest in the business so it was his daughter who took over and ran the company for about twenty years, handing it over to her own daughter. I’d say the devil loved that …

31 White marsh bird : EGRET

Egrets are a group of several species of white herons. Many egret species were faced with extinction in the 1800s and early 1900s due to plume hunting, a practice driven by the demand for egret plumes that could be incorporated into hats.

32 Communications officer on the Enterprise : UHURA

Lt. Nyota Uhura is the communications officer on board the Starship Enterprise, and was played by Nichelle Nichols in the original “Star Trek” television series. The role was significant in that Uhura was one of the first African-American characters to figure front and center in US television. In a 1968 episode, Kirk (played by William Shatner) and Uhura kiss, the first interracial kiss to be broadcast in the US. Apparently the scene was meant to be shot twice, with and without the kiss, so that network executives could later decide which version to air. William Shatner claims that he deliberately ran long on the first take (with the kiss) and fluffed the hurried second take (without the kiss), so that the network would have no choice.

33 Selena’s “Only Murders in the Building” role : MABEL

“Only Murders in the Building” is a comedy-mystery TV show starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as a trio of true-crime podcasters who band together to solve murders in their apartment building. Steve Martin co-created the series. Highly recommended …

Selena Gomez is an actress and singer from Grand Prairie, Texas. Gomez’s first television role was in the children’s show “Barney & Friends”. She then played the lead in the TV series “Wizards of Waverly Place”. Gomez’s fans often refer to themselves as “Selenators”. Offscreen, Gomez made a splash as the girlfriend of Canadian singer Justin Bieber for a couple of years.

43 2000s teen series set in Newport Beach : THE OC

“The O.C.” is a teen drama that aired for four seasons on Fox finishing up in 2007. I never watched it, but I understand that it is set in Newport Beach in Southern California. And, “O.C.” stands for “Orange County”.

47 Old Testament queen : ESTHER

Esther was a Jewish queen, wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus and the heroine of the Book of Esther in the Bible. By the way, Esther is the only book in the Bible that doesn’t mention the word “God”.

50 Arizona county or river : GILA

The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado that flows through New Mexico and Arizona. From 1848 to 1853, the Gila marked part of the border between the US and Mexico.

51 “Feel What U Feel” Grammy winner Lisa : LOEB

“Feel What U Feel” is an album released by musician Lisa Loeb. It is a collection of children’s songs, and won the Grammy for the Best Children’s Album in 2018.

52 Olympic speedskater Jackson : ERIN

Erin Jackson is a speed skater who won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in the 500-meter event. That win made her the first African American to medal in an individual Winter Olympic event.

53 Onion kin : LEEK

The leek is a vegetable closely related to the onion and the garlic. It is also a national emblem of Wales (along with the daffodil), although I don’t think we know for sure how this came to be. One story is that the Welsh were ordered to wear leeks in their helmets to identify themselves in a battle against the Saxons. Apparently, the battle took place in a field of leeks.

61 Day-__ colors : GLO

“Day-Glo” is a registered trademark used for an ink or paint that glows when exposed to a black light in a darkened room. When Day-Glo paint is viewed in daylight, the colors can look particularly vivid because they respond to UV light present in sunlight.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Useful quality : ASSET
6 “All __ Up”: Elvis hit : SHOOK
11 LED TV brand : RCA
14 “¡Hasta __!” : LUEGO
15 Satirical 2022 biopic about Al Yankovic : WEIRD
16 Pole worker : ELF
17 Person announcing numbers in a hall : BINGO CALLER
19 “Houdini” singer Lipa : DUA
20 Justice Dept. worker : ATT
21 Rock groups : BANDS
22 Many an early email user : AOLER
24 Dot on a domino : PIP
25 Childish comeback : AM SO!
26 Grammy Award won twice by CeCe Winans : BEST GOSPEL ALBUM
34 Canyon sound : ECHO
35 __ protector : SURGE
36 Workplace protection agcy. : OSHA
37 Opponent : FOE
38 Scuff up : MAR
39 Yogurt container : TUB
40 Wallet bills : ONES
42 Military trainee : CADET
44 __ moments ago : MERE
45 Notre-Dame de Paris, notably : GOTHIC CATHEDRAL
48 Floor protectors : MATS
49 Bendy letter : ESS
50 Watercooler gurgles : GLUGS
52 Poet T.S. : ELIOT
55 No. 1 pal : BFF
58 Apple’s mobile platform : IOS
59 Crowdfunding target, and what can be found in three of this puzzle’s answers : STRETCH GOAL
62 Luau gift : LEI
63 Ram, in the zodiac : ARIES
64 Privileged group : ELITE
65 “Not Dead Yet” TV network : ABC
66 Undersized : DINKY
67 Upscale watch brand : ROLEX

Down

1 Actress and entrepreneur Jessica : ALBA
2 Court filing : SUIT
3 Shipped off : SENT
4 Pancake batter ingredient : EGG
5 Oversized : TOO BIG
6 White lake bird : SWAN
7 Grasped : HELD
8 Paints on palettes : OILS
9 Extracted resource : ORE
10 Subtitled TV show from Seoul, e.g. : K-DRAMA
11 Chain known for Cheddar Bay Biscuits : RED LOBSTER
12 Whodunit game : CLUE
13 Hardly close : AFAR
18 Guitar clamps : CAPOS
23 Scandinavian capital : OSLO
24 Compensated break from work: Abbr. : PTO
25 Tavern beverage : ALE
26 Enshroud in mist : BEFOG
27 Thrifty, in brand names : ECONO
28 Pianist’s reference pages : SHEET MUSIC
29 Poison __ : SUMAC
30 Designer bag name : PRADA
31 White marsh bird : EGRET
32 Communications officer on the Enterprise : UHURA
33 Selena’s “Only Murders in the Building” role : MABEL
41 Thick carpet : SHAG
42 Loops in via email : CCS
43 2000s teen series set in Newport Beach : THE OC
44 Surgeons’ degs. : MDS
46 “How tragic” : IT’S SAD
47 Old Testament queen : ESTHER
50 Arizona county or river : GILA
51 “Feel What U Feel” Grammy winner Lisa : LOEB
52 Olympic speedskater Jackson : ERIN
53 Onion kin : LEEK
54 Teeny : ITSY
55 Bubble, as water : BOIL
56 Destiny : FATE
57 Show off, in slang : FLEX
60 Bi- plus one : TRI-
61 Day-__ colors : GLO