LA Times Crossword 21 Apr 23, Friday

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Constructed by: David P. Williams
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): A Middling Puzzle

Themed answers each sound like a common term, but with “ING” inserted in the middle. Themed clues are in Latin, and resemble taxonomic names of animals:
17A Feles inquisitae? : POLLING CATS (from “polecats”)
23A Apes ineptae? : BUMBLING BEES (from “bumblebees”)
37A Ursi dividi? : POLARIZING BEARS (from “polar bears”)
48A Cervi dominati? : REIGNING DEER (from “reindeer”)
61A Porci circumspecti? : HEDGING HOGS (from “hedgehogs”)

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

Bill’s time: 10m 21s

Bill’s errors: 3

HEDGING HOGS (redding hogs!)
HMS (RMS!!)
GIGLI (Gidli)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Taylor-Joy of “The Menu” : ANYA

Actress Anya Taylor-Joy had quite the international upbringing. She was born in Miami, and raised in Buenos Aires and then London. She is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the 2020 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma”, and the lead role in the Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit”.

“The Menu” is a 2022 comedy horror movie starring Ralph Fiennes as a celebrity chef with an exclusive restaurant. I’m afraid that I don’t do horror, not even comedy horror …

5 Unimpressed : BLASE

“Blasé”, meaning “nonchalant, bored from overindulgence” comes from French, in which language it can mean “satiated”.

15 Wee bits : IOTAS

Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet, and one that gave rise to our letters I and J. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small, as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

17 Feles inquisitae? : POLLING CATS (from “polecats”)

“Polecat” is a term used for several different animals, most of which are in the weasel family.

21 Radio host Shapiro who wrote “The Best Strangers in the World” : ARI

Ari Shapiro served very ably as White House correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) for several years. He then became a co-host of the network’s drive-time program “All Things Considered” in 2015. When he’s not working, Shapiro likes to sing. He appears regularly as a guest singer with the group Pink Martini, and has appeared on several of the band’s albums.

22 One side on “The Americans,” initially : USSR

“The Americans” is a very engaging drama series set during the Cold War that features two KGB spies living as a married couple just outside Washington, D.C. The show was created by Joe Weisberg, who is a novelist and former CIA officer. The lead roles in “The Americans” are played by real-life couple Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys.

23 Apes ineptae? : BUMBLING BEES (from “bumblebees”)

Bumblebees aren’t very aggressive, but they can sting if they deem it necessary. Unlike honey bees, bumblebees survive the stinging action as their stinger has no barb. There are a few misconceptions about bumblebees. One is that a bumblebee should be incapable of flight based on the laws of aerodynamics, but this isn’t true. Another misconception is that the bee’s buzzing sound is caused by the beating of its wings. In fact, the sound comes from the vibration of its flight muscles. The bee can decouple those muscles from its wings, and so can make a buzzing sound without the wings moving at all.

26 Taxi : CAB

A hansom cab is a very specific design of horse and buggy that was patented by Joseph Hansom in 1834 in England. The “cab” in the name is short for “cabriolet”, an earlier design of carriage on which the hansom was based. It’s from “hansom cab” that we get our modern term “cab”.

30 Guitar great Paul : LES

Les Paul was a guitarist, songwriter and inventor. When he was 33 years old, Paul was involved in a near-fatal car crash that left his right arm and elbow shattered. Surgeons offered him the choice of amputation or a rebuilding of the limb that would leave him unable to bend his elbow. He told them to set his arm at just under 90 degrees so that he could at least hold his guitar and perhaps play it.

31 “Welp,” quaintly : ALAS

“Welp” is a slang term used at the beginning of a sentence to indicate disappointment. “Welp” is used in the same way that we use the interjection “well”.

Well, that worked out.

Welp, that didn’t work out.

35 Ventricle’s outlet : AORTA

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

The heart has four chambers. The two upper chambers (the atria) accept deoxygenated blood from the body and oxygenated blood from the lungs. The atria squeeze those blood supplies into the two lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles), “priming” the pump, as it were. One ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs, and the other pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

37 Ursi dividi? : POLARIZING BEARS (from “polar bears”)

Polar bears are close cousins of brown bears, and are thought to have evolved from a population of brown bears that became isolated during a period of glaciation. Most polar bears live north of the Arctic Circle, and live mainly on seals that they capture near the edge of ice floes.

41 “Is That Black Enough for You?!?” documentarian Mitchell : ELVIS

“Is That Black Enough for You?!?” is a 2022 documentary written and directed by film critic Elvis Mitchell. It explores the evolution of African-American cinema. The title of the documentary is a famous line from the 1970 movie “Cotton Comes to Harlem”.

44 Drone regulator: Abbr. : FAA

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

45 Pt. of IRA : RET

According to the IRS, the initialism IRA stands for “Individual Retirement Arrangement”. However, most folks refer to IRAs as “Individual Retirement Accounts”.

48 Cervi dominati? : REIGNING DEER (from “reindeer”)

The reindeer species of deer is also known as “caribou” in North America.

54 Fencing event : EPEE

There are three fencing events in the modern Olympics, with each distinguished by the weapon used:

• Foil
• Épée
• Sabre

55 __ tai : MAI

The mai tai cocktail is strongly associated with the Polynesian islands, but the drink was supposedly invented in 1944 in Trader Vic’s restaurant in Oakland, California. One recipe is 6 parts white rum, 3 parts orange curaçao, 3 parts orgeat syrup, 1 part rock candy syrup, 2 parts fresh lime juice, all mixed with ice and then a float added of 6 parts dark rum. “Maita’i” is the Tahitian word for “good”.

60 Silly string? : LOL

Laugh out loud (LOL)

61 Porci circumspecti? : HEDGING HOGS (from “hedgehogs”)

Hedgehogs are spiny mammals that have adapted to a nocturnal life. Even though they have spines, hedgehogs are unrelated to porcupines. The term “hedgehog” arose in the 15th century. They are often found in hedgerows and have hog-like snouts, hence the name “hedgehog”.

65 Retreats in the desert : OASES

An isolated area of vegetation in a desert is called an oasis (plural “oases”). As water is needed for plant growth, an oasis might also include a spring, pond or small lake. We often use the term “oasis” more generally to describe a haven, a place of rest.

67 Gastropod for gastronomes : SNAIL

“Escargot” is the French word for “snail”. In order to eat snails, apparently they have to be “purged” before killing them. That means starving them or feeding them on something “wholesome” for several days before cooking them up. Ugh …

Gastronomy is the art or science of good eating. The term “gastronomie” was coined in 1801 by Frenchman Joseph de Berchoux as the title of a poem on good living.

Down

1 Chewy brand : ALPO

Alpo is a brand of dog food introduced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo dog food in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?

4 Off the cuff : AD-LIB

“Ad libitum” is a Latin phrase meaning “at one’s pleasure”. In common usage, the phrase is usually shortened to “ad-lib”. On the stage, the concept of an ad-lib is very familiar.

To speak off the cuff is to speak extemporaneously. The idea is that someone doing so would not be using learned lines, but rather is speaking with the use of a few notes that have been jotted on his cuffs or shirtsleeves.

7 Single-button joystick creator : ATARI

Atari was founded in 1972, and was one of the pioneers in the video game industry. One of the company’s early employees was Steve Jobs, who was hired to work on the game design for the arcade game “Breakout”. Jobs was tasked with reducing the number of chips needed for the game and he recruited his friend, Steve Wozniak, to help with the project. Wozniak designed a circuit board that used only 46 chips, a significant improvement over the original design that had over 100 chips.

In an airplane, a joystick is the control device that operates the elevators and the ailerons. The word “joystick” also describes any control stick capable of moving in two or more directions. The term originated as aviator slang in the early 1900s.

8 Pointe shoe material : SATIN

The material known as “satin” takes its name from “Zayton”, the medieval Arabic name for the Chinese port city of Quanzhou. Quanzhou was used for the export of large amounts of silk to Europe.

“En pointe” is ballet dancing on the tips of the toes, and is a French term. A ballerina wears pointe shoes (sometimes “toe shoes”) to perform this delightful-looking, albeit unhealthy, feat (pun!).

9 One of a Mississippi quartet : ESS

There is a quartet of letters S (ess) in the word “Mississippi”.

14 Head space? : SINUS

In anatomical terms, a sinus is a cavity in tissue. Sinuses are found all over the body, in the kidney and heart for example, but we most commonly think of the paranasal sinuses that surround the nose.

18 Serious foe : NEMESIS

Nemesis was a Greek goddess, the goddess of retribution. Her role was to make pay those individuals who were either haughty or arrogant. In modern parlance, one’s nemesis (plural “nemeses”) is one’s sworn enemy, often someone who is the exact opposite in character but someone who still shares some important characteristics. A nemesis is often someone one cannot seem to beat in competition.

22 Took someone else’s wheels : UBERED

Transportation network company Uber was founded in 2009 as “UberCab”. The company name was changed to “Uber” in 2011. The name change was largely driven by complaints from taxi operators in San Francisco.

24 “Diamonds & Rust” folk singer Joan : BAEZ

“Diamonds & Rust” is a 1975 song written and recorded by Joan Baez. The song tells of an unexpected phone call from an old lover, and the memories evoked. Baez tells us that the call really happened, and that the lover was Bob Dylan.

27 The Body Shop additive : ALOE

The Body Shop is a L’Oréal company that started in England. The founder got the idea from a shop she visited in Berkeley, California that happened to be called the Body Shop. Years later, the founder bought the rights to the original Body Shop name. L’Oréal bought out the chain in 2006 for over 650 million pounds.

32 “Macho Man” Randy __ : SAVAGE

“Macho Man” Randy Savage, born Randy Mario Poffo, was an American professional wrestler. He won the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) World Heavyweight Championship twice, and the World Championship Wrestling (WCW World Heavyweight Championship four times.

36 “Acoustic Soul” artist India.__ : ARIE

“Acoustic Soul” is the 2001 debut studio album by singer-songwriter India Arie.

38 “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” director Johnson : RIAN

Filmmaker Rian Johnson wrote and directed quite a few major films, including “Looper” (2012), “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (2017) and “Knives Out” (2019).

46 Indie rock band Yo La __ : TENGO

Yo La Tengo is an indie rock band from Hoboken, New Jersey that formed in 1984 as the husband/wife duo Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley. The band’s name translates from Spanish as “I have it”, and was chosen with reference to a baseball anecdote. Elio Chacon was a baseball player from Venezuela, the seventh person to play in the Majors from that country. There’s a story that Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn was always running into Elio Chacon in the outfield, because he would call for the ball in English, and Chacon only understood Spanish. Ashburn started to call for the ball in Spanish “Yo la tengo!” (I’ve got it!), at which point he’d be run down by left fielder Frank Thomas who only understood English!

49 Lyric poem : EPODE

An epode is a lyric poem made up of couplets in which the first line is long, and the second line much shorter. The form was invented by the Greek poet Archilochus, and was most famously used by the Roman poet Horace.

51 Gymnast Comaneci : NADIA

Romanian Nadia Comaneci won three golds in the 1976 Summer Olympics and was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of ten in the gymnastics competition. Comaneci published a book called “Letters to a Young Gymnast” in 2003, and now lives in the United States.

52 2003 rom-com that won seven Razzie Awards : GIGLI

Everyone wanted to see the 2003 movie “Gigli” because it starred the couple of the day, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck (aka “Bennifer”). Everyone wanted to see it, but nobody did, it seems. Lots of folks have called it the worst film ever made. Apparently “Gigli” made only $6m after costing $54m to produce.

“Razzie” is the familiar name for the Golden Raspberry Award, an award presented annually for the worst in the world of film. The Razzies have been presented on the day before the Oscars since 1981.

61 Letters for the Queen Mary : HMS

HMS Queen Mary was a British battlecruiser that was sunk at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. She was the largest and most powerful ship in the British fleet at the time of her sinking. The wreck of the Queen Mary lies in the North Sea at a depth of 120 meters. It is a popular diving destination, and is protected as a war grave.

62 Pt. of Hawaii : ISL

The Hawaiian Islands are a chain of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, located about 2,400 miles southwest of North America. They were first settled by Polynesians sometime between 1000 and 1200 CE. The first settlers were likely from the Marquesas Islands, about 2,000 miles away. The first Europeans to arrive were members of an expedition led by British explorer James Cook in 1778. In the late 19th century, the Hawaiian Islands became a US territory, and were officially admitted to the Union as the 50th state in 1959.

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