LA Times Crossword 10 Feb 23, Friday

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Constructed by: Sara Muchnick & Doug Peterson
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Capital Gain

Themed answers are state CAPITALS overlapping with brand names:

  • 57A Good news for investors, as seen literally in the answers to the starred clues : CAPITAL GAIN
  • 17A *Sailing-inspired sportswear brand based in Montana? : HELENAUTICA (Helena & Nautica)
  • 29A *Luxury watchmaker based in Washington? : OLYMPIAGET (Olympia & Piaget)
  • 34A *Athleisure company based in Hawaii? : HONOLULULEMON (Honolulu & LULULEMON)
  • 41A *High-fashion label based in Colorado? : DENVERSACE (Denver & Versace)

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

Bill’s time: 8m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Hullabaloo : TO-DO

Our word “hullabaloo”, meaning “commotion”, is a derivative of an older term “hollo-ballo”. “Hollo-ballo” was a word used for an uproar in the north of England and Scotland.

5 Regional spinoff starring LL Cool J : NCIS: LA

NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which investigates crimes in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The service gives its name to the CBS TV show “NCIS”, a spin-off drama from “JAG” in which the main “NCIS” characters were first introduced. The big star in “NCIS” is the actor Mark Harmon. “NCIS” is now a franchise, with spin-off shows “NCIS: Los Angeles” and “NCIS: New Orleans”.

Rap star LL Cool J was born James Todd Smith. Smith’s stage name stands for “Ladies Love Cool James”. When not rapping, LL Cool J plays Special Agent Sam Hanna on TV show “NCIS: Los Angeles”.

11 Detergent brand : FAB

Fab is a laundry detergent that was introduced by Colgate-Palmolive, but sold off to Phoenix Brands in 2005.

15 Led Zeppelin drummer John : BONHAM

John Bonham was the much-admired drummer of the English band Led Zeppelin. In 2011, Bonham was voted by readers of “Rolling Stone” magazine as the best drummer of all time. Bonham died in 1980 at the age of 32 after having choked on his own vomit. In the 24 hours prior to his death, the coroner determined that Bonham had consumed 40 shots of vodka.

Led Zeppelin was an English rock band founded in 1968. The band’s most famous release has to be the classic “Stairway to Heaven”. Led Zeppelin broke up right after drummer John Bonham was found dead in 1988.

17 *Sailing-inspired sportswear brand based in Montana? : HELENAUTICA (Helena & Nautica)

Helena is the capital of the state of Montana, and is known as the Queen City of the Rockies. Helena’s main street has a very colorful name, i.e. Last Chance Gulch.

Nautica is a brand of apparel that was co-founded in 1983 by designer David Chu.

19 LG rival : RCA

RCA was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America, and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric (GE). GE divested RCA in 1932, and then reacquired the company in 1986. Today, RCA is just a brand name owned by Sony Music.

LG is a very large South Korean manufacturer of electronics, chemicals and telecom products. The company used to be known as Lucky-Goldstar, whence the initialism “LG”.

21 Ballet move : PLIE

The French word for “bent” is “plié”. In the ballet move known as a plié, the knees are bent. A “demi-plié” is a similar move, but with less bending of the knees. A fondu is similar to a plié, except that only one leg remains on the ground.

22 __-Magnon : CRO

Remains of early man, dating back to 35,000 years ago, were found in Abri de Cro-Magnon in southwest France, giving the name to those early humans. Cro-Magnon remains are the oldest human relics that have been discovered in Europe.

28 Hoops long shot : TREY

A trey is a three in a deck of cards. The term “trey” can also be used for a domino with three pips, and even for a three-point play in basketball.

Basketball is truly a North American sport. It was created in 1891 by Canadian James Naismith at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. His goal was to create something active and interesting for his students in the gym. The first “hoops” were actually peach baskets, with the bottoms of the baskets intact. When a player got the ball into the “net”, someone had to clamber up and get the ball back out again in order to continue the game!

29 *Luxury watchmaker based in Washington? : OLYMPIAGET (Olympia & Piaget)

Olympia is the capital of Washington State and is located in the Puget Sound region. The city’s name was chosen in 1852, and is a reference to the view of the Olympic Mountains to the northwest.

Piaget is a Swiss manufacturer of high-end watches and jewelry items. The company was founded in 1874 by Georges Piaget to make pocket watches and high-precision clock movements.

32 Actress Edelstein : LISA

Lisa Edelstein is the actress who plays the character Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the excellent TV series “House”. I remember seeing her character do a difficult yoga pose on one of the “House” episodes. It turns out that in real life Edelstein is an avid practitioner of Mysore-style Ashtanga Yoga, an ancient practice.

33 T. rex and others : DINOS

The most popular dinosaurs depicted in the movies, especially the older ones, are the Tyrannosaurs and the Allosauruses. They look very similar, with the former being the really big guy. One difference between the two, is that they weren’t around at the same time. The allosaurus was around during the Jurassic period, but the T. rex didn’t appear on Earth for another 100 million years or so, during the Cretaceous period.

34 *Athleisure company based in Hawaii? : HONOLULULEMON (Honolulu & LULULEMON)

Honolulu is the largest city in Hawaii, and the state capital. Located on the island of Oahu, the name “Honolulu” translates from Hawaiian as “place of shelter, calm port, sheltered bay”.

Lululemon Athletica is a brand of athletic clothing that was founded by Chip Wilson in 1998 and is headquartered in Vancouver. The company’s name is very much associated with the activity of yoga in particular. Every Lululemon store offers a weekly complimentary yoga class.

39 Dwarf planet in the asteroid belt : CERES

Ceres is the smallest dwarf planet in our solar system. It was discovered in 1801 and is the largest body in the asteroid belt, and is the only asteroid that is classified as a dwarf planet. For fifty years, Ceres was classified as the eighth planet circling our sun. The Dawn space probe launched by NASA entered Ceres orbit in March 2015, and became the first mission to study a dwarf planet at close range.

The vast majority of asteroids in the Solar System are found in the main asteroid belt, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Four large asteroids (Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Hygeia) make up about half the mass of the asteroid belt and are 400-950 km in diameter. The total mass of the belt is just 4% of the mass of our Moon. The larger asteroids are also known as “planetoids”.

40 Rolled up unannounced? : TP’ED

TP’ing (toilet papering) is a prank involving the covering of some object or location with rolls and rolls of toilet paper. If you live in Texas or Minnesota, that little “prank” is legal, but if you live here in California it is classed as mischief or vandalism.

41 *High-fashion label based in Colorado? : DENVERSACE (Denver & Versace)

Denver, Colorado is nicknamed “Mile-High City” because its official elevation is listed as exactly one mile. Denver City was founded in 1858 as a mining town. The name was chosen in honor of the Kansas Territorial Governor at the time, James W. Denver.

Gianni Versace was an Italian fashion designer. Versace’s death was perhaps as famous as his life. He was murdered in 1997 outside his mansion in Miami Beach by one Andrew Cunanan. It is not certain that Cunanan knew who his victim was, as this was the last in a spree of five murders committed by him over a four month period. A few days after killing Versace, Cunanan used the same gun to commit suicide.

48 L’Oréal rival : CLAIROL

Clairol had been selling hair coloring products to salons since 1931, and then hit the big time with the introduction of a one-step hair coloring product for use at home. As famous as the product was the “does she … or doesn’t she” advertising campaign. Six years after the launch of the campaign, 70% of women in the US were coloring their hair.

L’Oréal is a French cosmetics company, the largest cosmetics and beauty company in the world. Here in the US, L’Oréal runs a “Women of Worth” program that honors women who volunteer in their communities. The phrase “Women of Worth” underlines the longstanding L’Oréal slogan “Because I’m worth it”, which evolved into “Because you’re worth it” and eventually “Because we’re worth it”.

49 Synagogue instrument : SHOFAR

A shofar is a musical instrument used in Jewish rituals. It is a relatively simple instrument, made from an animal’s (usually a ram) horn.

51 Some NPR stations : FMS

In telecommunications, a radio signal is transmitted using a sinusoidal carrier wave. Information is transmitted using this carrier wave in two main ways, by varying (modulating) the instantaneous amplitude (signal strength) of the carrier wave, and by modulating the instantaneous frequency of the carrier wave. The former is referred to as an AM signal (“amplitude modulation”), and the latter as an FM signal (“frequency modulation”).

National Public Radio (now just called “NPR”) was established in 1970 after President Johnson signed into law the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. The station’s first broadcast took place in April of 1971, coverage of the US Senate hearings on the Vietnam War. The intent of the act was to provide funding for radio and television broadcasting that wasn’t simply driven by profit. As a longtime fan of the state-funded BBC in the UK, I’d have to agree with that intent …

52 Reid of “American Pie” : TARA

Tara Reid is an actress known for roles she played on television and the big screen. My guess is that her best-known performances were in the “American Pie” series of movies in which she played Vicky. Sadly, Reid succumbed to the pressure to alter her looks with plastic surgery. In interviews, she has shared that her first experience under the knife “went wrong” leading to more surgeries in attempts to rectify the resulting deformity.

The first of the “American Pie” sex comedy films was released in 1999. The series now includes some “American Pie Presents” spin-off movies that were released direct-to-video.

55 Blood line : AORTA

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

56 Draft pick : 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.

57 Good news for investors, as seen literally in the answers to the starred clues : CAPITAL GAIN

In the world of economics, a capital gain is a profit realized when an asset is sold.

59 Sling liquor, maybe : GIN
47D Sling liquor, maybe : BRANDY

A sling is a cocktail made of brandy, whiskey or gin that is sweetened and flavored with lemon. The most famous version of the sling is the Singapore sling, which was invented by a bartender at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. I am proud to report that I once had a Singapore sling in Raffles Hotel, many moons ago …

60 Golden state : UTOPIA

The word “Utopia” was coined by Sir Thomas More in his book “Utopia” published in 1516 to describe an idyllic fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. More’s use of the name Utopia comes from the Greek “ou” meaning “not” and “topos” meaning “place”. By calling his perfect island “Not Place”, More was apparently making the point that he didn’t think that the ideal could actually exist.

61 Swedish soprano Jenny : LIND

Jenny Lind was a Swedish opera singer who was as popular off the stage as she was on. She had many suitors, including the great composers Mendelssohn and Chopin, as well as the author Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen wrote three fairy tales that were inspired by Lind, including one called “The Nightingale”, which ultimately led to Lind becoming known as “The Swedish Nightingale”.

Down

1 Concert souvenir : T-SHIRT

A souvenir is a memento, a token of remembrance. We imported “souvenir” from French, in which language it has the same meaning. The term comes from the Latin “subvenire” meaning “to come to mind”, or literally “to come up”.

5 Sports org. with 30 franchises : NBA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The NBA name was adopted in 1949 following a merger with the rival National Basketball League (NBL). Of the four major sports leagues in North America, the NBA has the highest average annual salary per player.

6 Clever stroke : COUP

A coup d’état (often just “coup”) is the sudden overthrow of a government, and comes from the French for “stroke of state”. The Swiss-German word “putsch” is sometimes used instead of “coup”, with “Putsch” translating literally as “sudden blow”. We also use the abbreviated “coup” to mean “sudden, brilliant and successful act”.

7 Like a global corp. : INTL

International (intl.)

8 Branch of Islam : SHIISM

The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favored the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.

9 Don, as a corset : LACE UP

A corset is a close-fitting undergarment that is stiffened with a material such as whalebone. Corsets are more usually worn by women, to shape the body. The word “corset” is a diminutive of the Old French “cors” meaning “body”.

10 Revealing Reddit session, 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.

11 “The Incredible Hulk” star : FERRIGNO

In the seventies and eighties TV show “The Incredible Hulk”, Lou Ferrigno played Hulk. Hulk’s alter ego in the comics was Bruce Banner, but in the show he was called David Banner, and played by Bill Bixby.

13 Emmy-winning Arthur : BEA

Actress Bea Arthur’s most famous roles were on television, as the lead in the “All in the Family” spin-off “Maude” and as Dorothy Zbornak in “The Golden Girls”. Arthur also won a Tony for playing Vera Charles on stage in the original cast of “Mame” in 1966, two years after she played Yente the matchmaker in the original cast of “Fiddler on the Roof”.

18 Abbr. in blood types : NEG

The most important grouping of blood types is the ABO system. Blood is classified as either A, B, AB or O, depending on the type of antigens on the surface of the red blood cells. A secondary designation of blood is the Rh factor, in which other antigens are labeled as either positive or negative. When a patient receives a blood transfusion, ideally the donor blood should be the same type as that of the recipient, as incompatible blood cells can be rejected. However, blood type O-neg can be accepted by recipients with all blood types, A, B, AB or O, and positive or negative. Hence someone with O-neg blood type is called a universal donor.

24 Terrarium foundation : SOIL

A terrarium (plural “terraria”) is a contained environment used to house land animals. The term “terrarium“ comes from the equivalent “aquarium”, a tank for holding mainly fish. In general, a contained environment for keeping live animals or plants is known as a “vivarium”

27 Some CGI creations : ETS

Extraterrestrial (ET)

Computer-generated imagery (CGI)

30 Joe Burrow’s alma mater: Abbr. : LSU

LSU’s full name is Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, and is located in Baton Rouge. LSU was founded in 1860 as a military academy, with then-Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman as superintendent.

Quarterback Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy in 2019 while playing for LSU. In 2020, he was first overall pick in the NFL draft, and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.

31 Resort city on the Black Sea : YALTA

Yalta is a resort city on the Black Sea on the Crimean Peninsula. Crimea is very much in the news in recent years as ownership of the territory is in dispute between Russia and the Ukraine. Yalta was also in the news at the end of WWII, as it was the site of the 1945 Yalta Conference between the leaders of the three main Allies.

There are four seas named in English for colors:

  • the Yellow Sea
  • the Black Sea
  • the Red Sea
  • the White Sea.

35 Fir ball : ORNAMENT

The custom of decorating trees at Christmas seems to have originated in Renaissance Germany. Those first trees were placed in guildhalls and were decorated with sweets and candy for the apprentices and children. After the Protestant Reformation, the Christmas tree became an alternative in Protestant homes for the Roman Catholic Christmas cribs. The Christmas tree tradition was imported into Britain by the royal family because of its German heritage. That tradition spread from Britain into North America.

36 St. Kitts neighbor : NEVIS

Saint Kitts is the more familiar name for Saint Christopher Island in the West Indies. Saint Kitts, along with the neighboring island of Nevis, is part of the country known as the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Saint Kitts has had a troubled history, with the Spanish, British and French all vying for control of the island. Most of the population today is descended from slaves brought onto Saint Kitts to farm tobacco and then sugarcane. Most of the slaves were from Africa, although Irish and Scottish slaves were also used.

37 Scanned bars, briefly : UPC

The initialism “UPC” stands for Universal Price Code or Universal Product Code. The first ever UPC-marked item to get scanned in a store was on June 26, 1974 at 08:01 a.m. at Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, Ohio. It was a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum.

38 Levis alternative : LEES

The Lee company that is famous for making jeans was formed in 1889 by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.

39 Atlanta-based health agcy. : CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC started out life during WWII as the Office of National Defense Malaria Control Activities. The CDC worries about much more than malaria these days …

44 Website that regularly features Doodles : GOOGLE

Google Doodles are temporary alterations to the standard logo on the Google homepage that are used to commemorate a special day or event. There are also Doodle 4 Google competitions in which school students create their own Google Doodles, with the winner’s entry going live on the Google homepage for 24 hours.

46 G, PG, or R : RATING

The Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) film-rating system (PG-13, R, etc.) is purely voluntary and is not backed by any law. Movie theaters agree to abide by the rules that come with the MPAA ratings in exchange for access to new movies.

50 Country singer Ketchum : HAL

Hal Ketchum was a country music singer who was active from 1986 to 2019. In 1998, he was diagnosed with spinal column disorder that left him without the use of the left side of his body. As a result, he had to relearn how to walk, and how to play the guitar.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Hullabaloo : TO-DO
5 Regional spinoff starring LL Cool J : NCIS: LA
11 Detergent brand : FAB
14 Take a turn : SPIN
15 Led Zeppelin drummer John : BONHAM
16 Sheepish sort : EWE
17 *Sailing-inspired sportswear brand based in Montana? : HELENAUTICA (Helena & Nautica)
19 LG rival : RCA
20 Dazzled : IN AWE
21 Ballet move : PLIE
22 __-Magnon : CRO
23 Marks with a sale price, say : RETAGS
25 Magnificent : SUBLIME
28 Hoops long shot : TREY
29 *Luxury watchmaker based in Washington? : OLYMPIAGET (Olympia & Piaget)
32 Actress Edelstein : LISA
33 T. rex and others : DINOS
34 *Athleisure company based in Hawaii? : HONOLULULEMON (Honolulu & LULULEMON)
39 Dwarf planet in the asteroid belt : CERES
40 Rolled up unannounced? : TP’ED
41 *High-fashion label based in Colorado? : DENVERSACE (Denver & Versace)
44 Threads : GARB
48 L’Oréal rival : CLAIROL
49 Synagogue instrument : SHOFAR
51 Some NPR stations : FMS
52 Reid of “American Pie” : TARA
55 Blood line : AORTA
56 Draft pick : ALE
57 Good news for investors, as seen literally in the answers to the starred clues : CAPITAL GAIN
59 Sling liquor, maybe : GIN
60 Golden state : UTOPIA
61 Swedish soprano Jenny : LIND
62 Choose : OPT
63 Past, present, and future : TENSES
64 Provocative : EDGY

Down

1 Concert souvenir : T-SHIRT
2 Top remover : OPENER
3 Grow wider : DILATE
4 Words inside an arrow : ONE WAY
5 Sports org. with 30 franchises : NBA
6 Clever stroke : COUP
7 Like a global corp. : INTL
8 Branch of Islam : SHIISM
9 Don, as a corset : LACE UP
10 Revealing Reddit session, for short : AMA
11 “The Incredible Hulk” star : FERRIGNO
12 “You’ve gotta be kidding!” : AW, COME ON!
13 Emmy-winning Arthur : BEA
18 Abbr. in blood types : NEG
22 Adjuster’s case : CLAIM
24 Terrarium foundation : SOIL
26 __ one’s time : BIDED
27 Some CGI creations : ETS
30 Joe Burrow’s alma mater: Abbr. : LSU
31 Resort city on the Black Sea : YALTA
32 Runner-up : LOSER
34 Skateboarding leap : HEELFLIP
35 Fir ball : ORNAMENT
36 St. Kitts neighbor : NEVIS
37 Scanned bars, briefly : UPC
38 Levis alternative : LEES
39 Atlanta-based health agcy. : CDC
42 Make the rounds? : ROTATE
43 Apply carelessly : SLAP ON
44 Website that regularly features Doodles : GOOGLE
45 Ready to run, perhaps : AFRAID
46 G, PG, or R : RATING
47 Sling liquor, maybe : BRANDY
50 Country singer Ketchum : HAL
53 Material flaws : RIPS
54 End in __ : A TIE
56 In days past : AGO
57 Share : CUT
58 Small cells : AAS