LA Times Crossword 13 Jul 22, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Alexander Liebeskind & Jeff Chen
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: That’s an Order!

Themed answers are varying types of ORDER:

  • 54A “Do it now!,” and what can be said about the answers to the starred clues : THAT’S AN ORDER!
  • 20A *Fried fare traditionally wrapped in newspaper : FISH AND CHIPS
  • 31A *Missing nothing : FROM A TO Z
  • 37A *With 40-Across, defenders of the Holy Grail : KNIGHTS …
    40A See 37-Across : … TEMPLAR
  • 47A *Monkeys, e.g. : PRIMATES

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

Bill’s time: 5m 46s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 Move quickly, as clouds : SCUD

To scud is a move swiftly as if propelled forward. The term is often used with reference to clouds, scudding across the sky.

14 Jazz singer Vaughan known as “The Divine One” : SARAH

Sarah Vaughan was a jazz singer from Newark, New Jersey. The future winner of a Lifetime Achievement Grammy had a humble start to her career, singing and playing the piano at Newark Airport.

16 Lingerie trim : LACE

“Lingerie” is a French term. As used in France, it describes any underwear, worn by either males or females. In English we use “lingerie” to describe alluring underclothing worn by women. The term “lingerie” comes into English via the French word “linge” meaning “washables”, and ultimately from the Latin “linum”, meaning “linen”. We tend not to pronounce the word correctly in English, either here in the US or across the other side of the Atlantic. The French pronunciation is more like “lan-zher-ee”, as opposed to “lon-zher-ay” (American) and “lon-zher-ee” (British).

18 “C’est la vie” : ALAS

“C’est la vie” is French for “that’s life”.

19 Bronze, Iron, et al. : AGES

Ancient societies can be classified by the “three-age system”, which depends on the prevalence of materials used to make tools. The three ages are:

  • The Stone Age
  • The Bronze Age
  • The Iron Age

The actual dates defined by each age depend on the society, as the timing of the transition from the use of one material to another varied around the globe.

20 *Fried fare traditionally wrapped in newspaper : FISH AND CHIPS

In Britain and Ireland, the most common fish that is used in traditional “fish and chips” is Atlantic cod. Cod has been overfished all over the world, and is now considered to be an endangered species by many international bodies. Confrontations over fishing rights in the North Atlantic led to conflicts called “the Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK in the 1950s and the 1970s, with fishing fleets being protected by naval vessels and even shots being fired.

24 Pal : AMIGA

In Spanish, an “amigo” is a male friend, and an “amiga” is a female friend.

28 Rx : SCRIP

When used in a medical context, “scrip” is an abbreviation for “prescription”.

34 Colorful South Asian garments : SARIS

The item of clothing called a “sari” (also “saree”) is a strip of cloth, as one might imagine, unusual perhaps in that it is unstitched along the whole of its length. The strip of cloth can range from four to nine meters long (that’s a lot of material!). The sari is usually wrapped around the waist, then draped over the shoulder leaving the midriff bare. I must say, it can be a beautiful item of clothing.

35 Veer off course, as a rocket : YAW

The word “yaw” means to deviate from the line of a course and is used mainly at sea and in the air. “Yaw” is derived from the Old Norse word “jaege” which means “to drive, chase”. As such, “yaw” is etymologically related to our word “yacht”.

36 __ Dhabi : ABU

Abu Dhabi is one of the seven Emirates that make up the federation known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two largest members of the UAE (geographically) are Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the only two of the seven members that have veto power over UAE policy. Before 1971, the UAE was a British Protectorate, a collection of sheikdoms. The sheikdoms entered into a maritime truce with Britain in 1835, after which they became known as the Trucial States, derived from the word “truce”.

37 *With 40-Across, defenders of the Holy Grail : KNIGHTS …
40 See 37-Across : … TEMPLAR

“Knights Templar” is a familiar name used for the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, an organization that existed for centuries during the Middle Ages. During the Crusades, the Templar knights were very visible, both in their actions and in their dress. They wore distinctive white mantles with a red cross on the chest. The Knights Templar often get a mention in novels and movies, e.g. “Ivanhoe”, “The Da Vinci Code”, “National Treasure” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”.

43 Golf hole meas. : YDS

There’s an urban myth that the standard number of holes on a golf course is 18 because it takes 18 shots to polish off a fifth of scotch whisky. However, the truth is that the standard number of holes in the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland happened to settle down over time at 18, and that standard was adopted all around the world.

47 *Monkeys, e.g. : PRIMATES

Apes and monkeys both belong to the order of primates. The most obvious way to distinguish apes from monkeys is by the presence or lack of a tail. Almost all apes have no tail, and almost all monkeys have tails.

50 Pfizer rival : MERCK

Merck & Co., Inc. is a US company, once a subsidiary of the German company known today as Merck KGaA. The US subsidiary of the German firm was confiscated in 1917 during WWI, and set up as an independent company that grew into the giant that it is today.

Pfizer is a pharmaceutical company based in New York City that was founded in 1849 by cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart. Pfizer has an impressive list of successful products that includes Lipitor (to lower cholesterol), Viagra (to help with erectile dysfunction) and Celebrex (an anti-inflammatory). Oh, and a very effective COVID-19 vaccine.

52 Grocery cart unit : ITEM

I say avoid any express checkout lane in a market that is labeled “10 items or less”. It should be “10 items or fewer”. I know, I know … I should calm down … and get a life …

61 __ carotene : BETA

Carotene is an orange pigment that plants use in the process of photosynthesis. Carotene gives carrots their orange color, and it is carrots that give the pigment its name. “Carota” is the Latin for “carrot”. Carotene is found in nature in two structural forms: alpha-carotene and the more common beta-carotene.

66 Depleted Asian lake : ARAL

The Aral Sea is a great example of how humankind can have a devastating effect on the environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …

70 __ cracker : SODA

F. L. Sommer & Company of St. Joseph, Missouri started to produce wafer thin soda crackers in 1876. The crackers were later marketed as “Saltines”, due to the baking salt that was a key ingredient. The company subsequently lost trademark protection of the term “saltine”.

Down

2 Italian port on the Adriatic : BARI

Bari is a major port city on the Adriatic coast of Italy. It has the unfortunate distinction of being the only city in Europe to experience chemical warfare during WWII. Allied stores of mustard gas were released during a German bombing raid on Bari in 1943. Fatalities caused by the chemical agent were reported as 69, although other reports list the number as maybe a thousand military personnel and a thousand civilians.

The Adriatic is the sea separating Italy from the Balkans.

3 Garments with hooks : BRAS

The word “brassière” is French in origin, but it isn’t the word that the French use for a “bra”. In France, what we call a bra is known as a “soutien-gorge”, translating to “held under the breast”. The word “brassière” is indeed used in France but there it describes a baby’s undershirt, a lifebelt or a harness. “Brassière” comes from the Old French word for an “arm protector” in a military uniform (“bras” is the French for “arm”). Later “brassière” came to mean “breastplate” and from there the word was used for a type of woman’s corset. The word jumped into English around 1900.

5 Community with barn raisings : THE AMISH

The Amish are members of a group of Christian churches, and a subgroup of the Mennonite churches. The Amish church originated in Switzerland and Alsace in 1693 when it was founded by Jakob Ammann. It was Ammann who gave the name to the Amish people. Many Amish people came to Pennsylvania in the 18th century.

6 Suitable for hosta : SHADY

The Hosta genus of plant was once classified as a lily, but is now in a family of its own and is described as “lily-like”. The plant was given the name “Hosta” in honor of the Austrian botanist Nicholas Thomas Host.

8 Four Corners state : UTAH

The Four Corners region of the US surrounds the meeting point of the four states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. The Four Corners is the only point in the US that is shared by four states.

9 Javier’s “Being the Ricardos” role : DESI

Spanish actor Javier Bardem is probably best known for playing the crazed assassin in 2007’s “No Country for Old Men”, and Bond villain Raoul Silva in 2012’ “Skyfall”. Bardem won the Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “No Country for Old Men”, making him the first Spaniard to win an Academy Award. Bardem wasn’t actually born on the Spanish mainland, but rather in Las Palmas in the Canary Island off the Moroccan coast. He married fellow-actor Penélope Cruz in 2010.

“Being the Ricardos” is a 2021 biopic about the lives of married couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Lucy and Desi are played by Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. The title comes from the show “I Love Lucy”, in which Ball and Arnaz played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. I haven’t seen this one, but it’s on my list as the film was written and directed by the great Aaron Sorkin …

10 Flat panel TV type : PLASMA

Plasma televisions are so called because the screen is made up of tiny cells containing electrically charged ionized gases (plasmas). Each of the cells is effectively a tiny fluorescent lamp.

12 Card worth four points in evaluating a bridge hand : ACE

The most common way of evaluating a bridge hand is counting high card points. This method assigns 4 points to an ace, 3 points to a king, 2 points to a queen, and 1 point to a jack.

22 Cooking spray : PAM

PAM cooking spray was introduced in 1961 by Leon Rubin and Arthur Meyerhoff. The name “PAM” is an acronym … standing for “Product of Arthur Meyerhoff”. Who’d a thunk it …?

25 Slanted, as some writing : ITALIC

Italic type leans to the right, and is often used to provide emphasis in text. The style is known as “italic” because the stylized calligraphic form of writing originated in Italy, probably in the Vatican.

27 Sky blue : AZURE

The term “azure” came into English from Persian via Old French. The French word “l’azur” was taken from the Persian name for a place in northeastern Afghanistan called “Lazhward” which was the main source of the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli. The stone has a vivid blue color, and “azure” has been describing this color since the 14th century.

28 Oh of “Killing Eve” : SANDRA

Canadian actress Sandra Oh is very much associated with the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on “Grey’s Anatomy”, and more recently with the role of Eve Polastri on “Killing Eve” . However, my favorite of Oh’s performances are in the movies “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “Sideways”.

“Killing Eve” is a spy thriller series about an MI5 agent on the trail of a female assassin. The agent is played by Canadian actress Sandra Oh, and the assassin by English actress Jodie Comer. The storyline comes from a series of novellas titled “Codename Villanelle” by British author Luke Jennings.

34 Zoom alternative : 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.

38 Tit for __ : TAT

The phrase “tit for tat”, meaning some sort of retaliation, has been around for an awfully long time, since the mid-1500s. It might be derived from “tip for tap”, meaning “blow for blow”.

39 __ shed : SHE

A “she shed” is the equivalent of a “man cave”. It is somewhere that “she” can use as her own space within a home.

41 “Super heroes must eat oats” for the Great Lakes, e.g. : MNEMONIC

A well-known mnemonic for remembering the names of the Great Lakes is HOMES, an acronym standing for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. Another mnemonic serving the same purpose is “super heroes must eat oats”.

42 __ favor : POR

“Por favor” is Spanish for “please”.

48 Bronze, iron, et al. : METALS

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Compare this with bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. Brass and bronze are often mistaken for each other.

The Latin word for “iron” is “ferrum”, which gives us “Fe” as the metal’s chemical symbol.

50 Chaps : MEN

“Chap” is an informal term meaning “lad, fellow” that is used especially in England. The term derives from “chapman”, an obsolete word meaning “purchaser” or “trader”.

53 Super Bowl LV city : TAMPA

Super Bowl LV was played in Tampa, Florida at the end of the 2020 NFL season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers emerged victorious over the Kansas City Chiefs, with a game score of 31-9. Notably, Tom Brady played quarterback for the Buccaneers, in his first season after leaving the New England Patriots. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Super Bowl LV was the least attended Super Bowl in the history of the game. I guess that’s because 30,000 of the “fans” were cardboard cutouts …

56 Fatty tuna, at a sushi bar : TORO

In a sushi restaurant, the dish called “toro” is the fatty tissue from the belly of the bluefin tuna.

57 Personnel list : ROTA

“Rota”, meaning “roster of names”, isn’t a word that I hear much in the US. We use it all the time back in Ireland.

Our word “roster”, meaning “list, register”, actually comes from the same root as our word “roast”, would you believe. “Roster” came into English from the Dutch “rooster”, meaning “table, list”. An alternative use of the Dutch “rooster” was “gridiron”, from the “roosten” meaning “to roast”. The connection is that a roster of names is often listed on a sheet of paper that has grid lines resembling the marks left by a gridiron on roasted meat. Quite interesting …

58 Spine component : DISK

Our intervertebral discs are composed mainly of cartilage. They perform the crucial functions of separating the vertebrae while allowing slight movement, and also absorbing shock. A “slipped disc” isn’t really a disc that has “slipped”, but rather a disc that “bulges”. If that bulge causes pressure on the sciatic nerve then the painful condition known as sciatica can result.

59 “Twilight” vampire Cullen : ESME

“The Twilight Saga” is a series of films based on the “Twilight” series of books by Stephenie Meyer. They’re all about vampires. I don’t do vampires …

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Monastery figure : ABBOT
6 Move quickly, as clouds : SCUD
10 Speak up? : PRAY
14 Jazz singer Vaughan known as “The Divine One” : SARAH
15 Despise : HATE
16 Lingerie trim : LACE
17 Speak from a lectern : ORATE
18 “C’est la vie” : ALAS
19 Bronze, Iron, et al. : AGES
20 *Fried fare traditionally wrapped in newspaper : FISH AND CHIPS
23 “Allow me” : MAY I?
24 Pal : AMIGA
28 Rx : SCRIP
31 *Missing nothing : FROM A TO Z
34 Colorful South Asian garments : SARIS
35 Veer off course, as a rocket : YAW
36 __ Dhabi : ABU
37 *With 40-Across, defenders of the Holy Grail : KNIGHTS …
40 See 37-Across : … TEMPLAR
43 Golf hole meas. : YDS
44 “Bingo!” : AHA!
46 Straight up : NO ICE
47 *Monkeys, e.g. : PRIMATES
50 Pfizer rival : MERCK
51 Lightens up : EASES
52 Grocery cart unit : ITEM
54 “Do it now!,” and what can be said about the answers to the starred clues : THAT’S AN ORDER!
61 __ carotene : BETA
64 Travel aimlessly : ROAM
65 Clamor : NOISE
66 Depleted Asian lake : ARAL
67 Journey : TRIP
68 Familiar “Who’s there?” reply : IT’S ME
69 Jokes : GAGS
70 __ cracker : SODA
71 Like dry mud on cleats : CAKED

Down

1 Starting from : AS OF
2 Italian port on the Adriatic : BARI
3 Garments with hooks : BRAS
4 Part of a swearing-in ceremony : OATH
5 Community with barn raisings : THE AMISH
6 Suitable for hosta : SHADY
7 Turn to stone : CALCIFY
8 Four Corners state : UTAH
9 Javier’s “Being the Ricardos” role : DESI
10 Flat panel TV type : PLASMA
11 Ride (on) : RAG
12 Card worth four points in evaluating a bridge hand : ACE
13 “Bingo!” : YES!
21 Snooze : NAP
22 Cooking spray : PAM
25 Slanted, as some writing : ITALIC
26 “Retreat!!” : GO BACK!!
27 Sky blue : AZURE
28 Oh of “Killing Eve” : SANDRA
29 Urgent event : CRISIS
30 Fix badly? : RIG
32 Tell (on) : RAT
33 Be in debt : OWE
34 Zoom alternative : SKYPE
38 Tit for __ : TAT
39 __ shed : SHE
41 “Super heroes must eat oats” for the Great Lakes, e.g. : MNEMONIC
42 __ favor : POR
45 “Let me repeat … ” : AS I SAID …
48 Bronze, iron, et al. : METALS
49 Fire pit residue : ASH
50 Chaps : MEN
53 Super Bowl LV city : TAMPA
55 The “A” in many degrees : ARTS
56 Fatty tuna, at a sushi bar : TORO
57 Personnel list : ROTA
58 Spine component : DISK
59 “Twilight” vampire Cullen : ESME
60 Wetlands plant : REED
61 Sack : BAG
62 “It’s the end of an __” : ERA
63 Label : TAG