LA Times Crossword 27 Jul 23, Thursday

Constructed by: Jeffrey Wechsler
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: The Meaning of Life

Themed answers each can define THE MEANING OF “LIFE”:

55A Profound philosophical subject, as defined by the answers to 21-, 32-, and 42-Across? : THE MEANING OF LIFE

21A See 55-Across : HISTORIC MAGAZINE
32A See 55-Across : BREAKFAST CEREAL
42A See 55-Across : FAMILY BOARD GAME

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Bill’s time: 6m 32s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Electronic music duo __ Punk : DAFT

Daft Punk was an electronic music duo from Paris, France that formed in 1993, with members Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. The pair split up in 2021.

5 McEntire of country music (and old sitcoms) : REBA

Reba McEntire is a country music singer and television actress. McEntire starred in her own sitcom “Reba” that aired on the WB and the CW cable channels from 2001 to 2007. She is sometimes referred to as “The Queen of Country”.

14 Uzbekistan’s location : ASIA

The Republic of Uzbekistan is a former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). Uzbekistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, and is in fact surrounded by countries which are also landlocked. This means that to reach a coastline from Uzbekistan, you have to cross at least two international borders. There are only two “doubly landlocked” countries in the world: Uzbekistan in Central Asia, and Liechtenstein in Central Europe.

15 Yoked team : OXEN

A yoke is a wooden beam used between a pair of animals so that they are forced to work together.

16 BP merger partner : AMOCO

“Amoco” is an abbreviation for “American Oil Company”, an oil company that merged with BP in 1998. Amoco was the first oil company to introduce gasoline tanker trucks and drive-through filling stations. I wonder if they know what they were starting …?

BP is an oil and gas company headquartered in London, UK. BP started out as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909 with the remit of exploiting oil discovered in Iran. The company name was changed to British Petroleum in 1954, and today the name used is simply “BP”.

19 Noodle : BEAN

“Noodle” and “bean” are slang terms for the head.

21 See 55-Across : HISTORIC MAGAZINE
[55A Profound philosophical subject, as defined by the answers to 21-, 32-, and 42-Across? : THE MEANING OF LIFE]

“Life” magazine was founded way back in 1883, and was originally structured as a humorous publication. It changed hands in 1936, when it was repurposed as a magazine with an emphasis on photojournalism. I am a big fan of the latter format, and have quite a few favorite issues in my private collection …

25 Some Hollywood workers : AGENTS

The iconic HOLLYWOOD sign located in the hills overlooking the Los Angeles district of Hollywood was erected in 1923. The sign originally read “HOLLYWOODLAND” and was placed as an advertisement for a new housing development with that name. The plan was for the sign to stay in place for 18 months, but as it became associated with the growing film industry, it was left in place. The sign was refurbished in 1949 by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, with the stipulation that the “LAND” be dropped. A new version of the sign using more permanent materials was unveiled in 1978.

30 Move like molasses : OOZE

When sugar cane is processed to extract sugar, it is crushed and mashed to produce a juice. The juice is boiled to make a sugary concentrate called cane syrup, from which sugar crystals are extracted. A second boiling of the leftover syrup produces second molasses, from which more sugar crystals can be extracted. A third boiling results in what is called blackstrap molasses.

32 See 55-Across : BREAKFAST CEREAL
[55A Profound philosophical subject, as defined by the answers to 21-, 32-, and 42-Across? : THE MEANING OF LIFE]

Life breakfast cereal was introduced by Quaker Oats in 1961. Back then, Life contained just whole grain oats. Today’s recipe includes added sugar and flour.

38 iPad assistant : SIRI

Siri was originally developed as a standalone app by a startup company of the same name. Apple acquired the company in 2010 and integrated the technology into their operating system.

42 See 55-Across : FAMILY BOARD GAME
[55A Profound philosophical subject, as defined by the answers to 21-, 32-, and 42-Across? : THE MEANING OF LIFE]

The board game we call “The Game of Life” (also just “Life”) was created quite a few years ago, in 1869 by Milton Bradley. Back then it was called “The Checkered Game of Life” and was the first parlor game to become a popular hit. The modern version of the game was first released in 1960.

49 Plays, as a banjo : STRUMS

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

53 Silk Road desert : GOBI

The Gobi, the large desert in Asia, lies in northern China and southern Mongolia. It is growing at an alarming rate, particularly towards the south. This “desertification” is caused by increased human activity. The Chinese government is trying to halt the desert’s forward progress by planting great swaths of new forest, the so-called “Green Wall of China”. The name “Gobi” is Mongolian for “waterless place, semidesert”.

The Silk Road was a network of trading routes that crossed North Africa and Asia, connecting Europe to West Asia. The routes get the name from the lucrative trade in silk from China.

62 “Game of Thrones” actor Gillen : AIDAN

Irish actor Aidan Gillen is perhaps best known on this side of the Atlantic for playing Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish on the TV show “Game of Thrones”. He also played Aberama Gold on the show “Peaky Blinders”. On the big screen, he appeared in the excellent movie “Bohemian Rhapsody”, portraying Queen’s manager John Reid.

66 Vatican’s environs : ROME

Vatican City is a sovereign city-state that is walled off within the city of Rome. Vatican City is about 110 acres in area, and so is the smallest independent state in the world. With about 800 residents, it is also the smallest state in terms of population. Although the Holy See dates back to early Christianity, Vatican City only came into being in 1929. At that time, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini signed a treaty with the Holy See on behalf of the Kingdom of Italy that established the city-state.

68 Oscar winner Redmayne : EDDIE

English actor Eddie Redmayne played mainly supporting roles, such as Marius Pontmercy in 2012’s “Les Misérables”, until he wowed the world portraying Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything”. A few years later, Redmayne played Lili Elbe in “The Danish Girl”, and then Newt Scamander in the Harry Potter spinoff “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”.

Down

2 Italian city east of Turin : ASTI

Asti is a city in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.

Turin (“Torino” in Italian) is a major city in the north of Italy that sits on the Po River. Back in 1861, when the Kingdom of Italy was formed, Turin was chosen as the first capital of the country.

3 Verizon bundle : FIOS

FiOS is a service from Verizon that bundles Internet, telephone and television service. All three services are provided over fiber-optic lines, right to the door. I presume that the name FiOS comes from something like “Fiber-Optic Service” …

4 Like cranberry juice : TART

When early European settlers came across red berries growing in the bogs of the northern part of America, they felt that the plant’s flower and stem resembled the head and bill of a crane. As such, they called the plant “craneberry”, which evolved into “cranberry”.

5 Bird associated with spring : ROBIN

The American robin has a reddish-orange breast. This coloring gave the bird its name, due to the similarity to the European robin. The two species are not in fact related, with the American robin being a thrush, and its European cousin an Old World flycatcher. It is the American robin that famously lays light-blue eggs.

8 Swedish golf champion Nordqvist : ANNA

Anna Nordqvist is a professional golfer from Sweden who plays on the LPGA tour as well as the Ladies European Tour. Nordqvist won the LPGA Championship in 2009, and the Evian Championship in 2016.

11 Violinist’s aid : ROSIN

Rosin is a solid form of resin derived from plant sources. Rosin is formed into cakes that players of stringed instruments use to rub along the hairs of their bows to help improve sound quality. The rosin increases the degree of friction between the strings and the bow. That same friction-increasing property comes into play when baseball pitchers use rosin to get a better grip on the ball, or when dancers apply rosin to the soles of their shoes.

22 Certain sleigh’s parking spot : ROOF

The notion of Santa landing in his sleigh on the roofs of houses originated in the celebrated 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”.

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

26 “Pygmalion” writer’s monogram : GBS

George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion” was adapted by Lerner and Loewe to become the Broadway musical “My Fair Lady”. The musical spun off the wonderful 1964 film of the same name starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. To cockney Eliza Doolittle, Professor Henry Higgins was “‘Enry ‘Iggins”.

27 “Deny thy father and refuse thy name, / __ thou wilt not, be but sworn my love”: Juliet : OR IF

In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, the lovers discuss the sad fact that they have been born into two feuding families in the famous balcony scene. Juliet says:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

A little later she utters the famous lines:

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

28 Blood fluids : SERA

Blood serum (plural “sera”) is the clear, yellowish part of blood i.e. that part which is neither a blood cell nor a clotting factor. Included in blood serum are antibodies, the proteins that are central to our immune system. Blood serum from animals that have immunity to a particular disease can be transferred to another individual, hence providing that second individual with some level of immunity. Blood serum used to pass on immunity can be called “antiserum”.

29 “Women in Music Pt. III” pop band : HAIM

“Women in Music Pt. III” is a 2020 studio album released by the Los Angeles-based band Haim. The group used social media to hype the album before its release, announcing the abbreviated title “WIMPIII”. They offered a free t-shirt to anyone guessing the full title.

30 Director Preminger : OTTO

Otto Preminger was noted for directing films that pushed the envelope in terms of subject matter, at least in the fifties and sixties. Great examples would be 1955’s “The Man with the Golden Arm” that dealt with drug addiction, 1959’s “Anatomy of a Murder” that dealt with rape, and 1962’s “Advise and Consent” that dealt with homosexuality. If you’ve seen these films, you’ll have noticed that the references are somewhat indirect and disguised, in order to get past the censors.

33 Organic frozen-food brand : AMY’S

Amy’s Kitchen is a company making organic and easy-to-prepare frozen food, all of which is vegetarian. The company was founded in 1987 by Andy and Rachel Berliner, and Amy is their daughter.

35 Waffle brand : EGGO

Eggo is a brand of frozen waffles that was introduced by Kellogg in 1953. The brand experienced a surge in popularity in the 1980s due to a successful ad campaign featuring a family sitting down to breakfast together and enjoying Eggo waffles. The tagline of the commercials, “Leggo my Eggo”, is still recognized today.

By definition, a waffle is made from dough or batter cooked between two patterned plates (a waffle iron). Modern-day waffles were preceded in the Middle Ages by communion wafers used in the Christian tradition. Such wafers usually had images of a crucified Jesus imprinted by the iron plates.

36 Rickman of “Love Actually” : ALAN

Alan Rickman was a marvelous English actor, one famous for playing bad guy Hans Gruber in the original “Die Hard” film, Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” series and (my personal favorite) Eamon de Valera in “Michael Collins”. Sadly, Rickman passed away in January 2016, after which fans created a memorial under the “Platform 9¾” sign in London’s Kings Cross Railway Station, from where the Hogwarts Express is said to depart in the “Harry Potter” universe.

“Love Actually” is a wonderful British romantic comedy, and a film we watch every Christmas. The movie has a great ensemble cast and was written and directed by Richard Curtis. Curtis was also the man behind “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “Notting Hill”. “Love Actually” is very much in the same style as those earlier films.

41 “The Princess and the Pea” prop : BED

“The Princess and the Pea” is a fairy tale from the pen of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The essence of the story is that a prince’s mother tests the royal blood of an apparent princess by placing a pea under a pile of mattresses on which the young girl sleeps. The girl complains of a restless night, demonstrating a physical sensitivity that can only be attributed to a princess. And they all lived happily ever after …

44 Simpson daughter : LISA

Lisa Simpson is Bart’s brainy younger sister on TV’s “The Simpsons”. Lisa is voiced by actress Yeardley Smith. In a 2008 episode of the show, Lisa enters a crossword tournament. Crossword celebrities Merl Reagle and Will Shortz make appearances in that episode, basically playing cartoon versions of themselves.

45 Part of RNA : RIBO-

Ribose is a so-called “simple sugar”, a monosaccharide. Ribose is the key component in RNA that differentiates it from DNA.

49 One of Mexico’s 31 : STATE

Mexico is a federal republic, and like the US is a collection of states and one federal district. The US has 50 states and the District of Columbia, whereas Mexico has 31 states and Mexico City. Our southern neighbor’s official name is the United Mexican States.

50 Show place? : THIRD

In a horse race, the first-place finisher is said to “win”. The second-place finisher “places” and the third-place finisher “shows”.

52 Fish sauce taste : UMAMI

Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. “Umami” is a Japanese word used to describe “a pleasant savory taste”. Umami was proposed as a basic taste in 1908, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the scientific community finally accepted it as such.

53 Fairy tale figure : GNOME

In English folklore, the fairy’s anti-hero is the diminutive gnome, an evil ugly character. Although the charastics of gnomes vary in folklore, typically they are described as diminutive humanoids who live underground. Over the centuries, the gnome has become more lovable. We now have garden gnomes, and even the Travelocity Gnome.

56 Romance writer Roberts : NORA

Nora Roberts is a very successful author who has written over 165 romance novels. Roberts is published under a number of pen names, i.e. J.D. Robb, Jill March and Sarah Hardesty.

59 World’s largest furniture retailer : IKEA

The IKEA furniture chain was founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943, when he was just 17-years-old. IKEA is an acronym standing for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd (don’t forget now!). Elmtaryd was the name of the farm where Ingvar Kamprad grew up, and Agunnaryd is his home parish in Sweden.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Electronic music duo __ Punk : DAFT
5 McEntire of country music (and old sitcoms) : REBA
9 Wetlands area : MARSH
14 Uzbekistan’s location : ASIA
15 Yoked team : OXEN
16 BP merger partner : AMOCO
17 “A likely __!” : STORY
19 Noodle : BEAN
20 Twangy : NASAL
21 See 55-Across : HISTORIC MAGAZINE
24 Physics particles : IONS
25 Some Hollywood workers : AGENTS
26 “Don’t make me laugh!” : GOSH NO!
30 Move like molasses : OOZE
32 See 55-Across : BREAKFAST CEREAL
38 iPad assistant : SIRI
39 Pound mix : MUTT
40 Superficially fluent : GLIB
42 See 55-Across : FAMILY BOARD GAME
47 Pine for : MISS
48 Smoothed (out) : IRONED
49 Plays, as a banjo : STRUMS
53 Silk Road desert : GOBI
55 Profound philosophical subject, as defined by the answers to 21-, 32-, and 42-Across? : THE MEANING OF LIFE
62 “Game of Thrones” actor Gillen : AIDAN
63 Nose wrinkler : ODOR
64 Subway need, once : TOKEN
65 Reduces slightly : TRIMS
66 Vatican’s environs : ROME
67 Shared one’s poetry, say : READ
68 Oscar winner Redmayne : EDDIE
69 Some half pints : ALES
70 Grub : EATS

Down

1 Short run : DASH
2 Italian city east of Turin : ASTI
3 Verizon bundle : FIOS
4 Like cranberry juice : TART
5 Bird associated with spring : ROBIN
6 Suits : EXECS
7 Roofing timber : BEAM
8 Swedish golf champion Nordqvist : ANNA
9 Supervisor : MANAGER
10 Wow : AMAZE
11 Violinist’s aid : ROSIN
12 Meager : SCANT
13 Boring outcomes? : HOLES
18 “Taking this!” : YOINK!
22 Certain sleigh’s parking spot : ROOF
23 Wondering look : GAZE
26 “Pygmalion” writer’s monogram : GBS
27 “Deny thy father and refuse thy name, / __ thou wilt not, be but sworn my love”: Juliet : OR IF
28 Blood fluids : SERA
29 “Women in Music Pt. III” pop band : HAIM
30 Director Preminger : OTTO
31 Four times bi- : OCTA-
33 Organic frozen-food brand : AMY’S
34 Some sandwiches : SUBS
35 Waffle brand : EGGO
36 Rickman of “Love Actually” : ALAN
37 Citrus fruit : LIME
41 “The Princess and the Pea” prop : BED
43 Vast : IMMENSE
44 Simpson daughter : LISA
45 Part of RNA : RIBO-
46 Go with the flow : DRIFT
49 One of Mexico’s 31 : STATE
50 Show place? : THIRD
51 Overhauled : REDID
52 Fish sauce taste : UMAMI
53 Fairy tale figure : GNOME
54 Fairy tale figures : OGRES
56 Romance writer Roberts : NORA
57 Revered one : IDOL
58 Ancestral knowledge : LORE
59 World’s largest furniture retailer : IKEA
60 Heroic deed : FEAT
61 Aims : ENDS

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