LA Times Crossword 29 Sep 23, Friday

Constructed by: Robin Stears
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Leading Statements

Themed answers all sound like common phrases, but refer to regional LEADERS specified in the corresponding clues:

17A Official portraitist for a Mongolian leader? : KHAN ARTIST (sounds like “con artist”)
25A Condiment for an Ottoman leader? : SULTAN PEPPER (sound like “salt and pepper”)
42A Paltry stipend for a Middle Eastern leader? : EMIR PITTANCE (sounds like “a mere pittance”)
56A Humble abode for an Arab leader? : SHEIK SHACK (sounds like “Shake Shack”)

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Bill’s time: 7m 12s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Cicada predators : WASPS

Cicadas are insects that are found all over the world. Although they resemble locusts, cicadas are an unrelated family. The name “cicada” is Latin and translated as “tree cricket”. However, the name is imitative of the clicking sound the insect makes using parts of its exoskeleton known as “tymbals”.

17 Official portraitist for a Mongolian leader? : KHAN ARTIST (sounds like “con artist”)

Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire that was destined to be the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world. He first built his empire by uniting nomadic tribes of northeast Asia, but once Genghis Khan had consolidated his position, he initiated Mongol invasions throughout Eurasia. At its height, the Mongol Empire stretched from the River Danube to the Sea of Japan.

19 “Water for Elephants” novelist Gruen : SARA

“Water for Elephants” is a 2006 novel by Canadian author Sara Gruen. The book was adapted into a 2011 film with the same title starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Christoph Waltz.

20 Sinus infection woes : EARACHES

The suffix “-itis” is used to denote inflammation, as in laryngitis (inflammation of the larynx), otitis (inflammation of the ear), tendinitis (inflammation of a tendon), tonsillitis (inflammation of the tonsils) and sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses).

25 Condiment for an Ottoman leader? : SULTAN PEPPER (sound like “salt and pepper”)

The land ruled by a sultan is known as a sultanate. In the West, the feminine forms of “sultan” are “sultana” and “sultanah”. The adjectival form is “sultanic”.

31 __ curls : BICEP

The biceps muscle is made up of two bundles of muscle, both of which terminate at the same point near the elbow. The heads of the bundles terminate at different points on the scapula or shoulder blade. “Biceps” is Latin for “two-headed”.

36 R&B singer Redding : OTIS

Otis Redding is often referred to as the “King of Soul”, and what a voice he had. Like so many of the greats in the world of popular music it seems, Redding was killed in a plane crash, in 1967 when he was just 26 years old. Just three days earlier he had recorded what was to be his biggest hit, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”.

38 Cartoon girl who often says “Swiper, no swiping” to a masked fox : DORA

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Dora often spars with a thieving anthropomorphic fox named Swiper.

39 Web : NET

The Internet (uppercase letter I) is a system of interconnected networks that use the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to link devices around the world. In common usage, the word “internet” (lowercase letter I) is often used interchangeably with “World Wide Web”, although “the Web” is just one of many services and applications that uses the Internet.

In essence, the World Wide Web (WWW) is a vast collection of documents that is accessible using the Internet, with each document containing hyperlinks which point to other documents in the collection. So the “Web” is different from the Internet, although the terms are often used interchangeably. The Web is a collection of documents, and the Internet is a global network of computers on which the documents reside. The Web was effectively the invention of British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee. The key to Berner-Lee’s invention was bringing together two technologies that already existed: hypertext and the Internet. I, for one, am very grateful …

41 Creator of a cocky hare : AESOP

“The Tortoise and the Hare” is perhaps the most famous fable attributed to Aesop. The cocky hare takes a nap during a race against the tortoise, and the tortoise sneaks past the finish line for the win while his speedier friend is sleeping.

42 Paltry stipend for a Middle Eastern leader? : EMIR PITTANCE (sounds like “a mere pittance”)

An emir is a prince or chieftain, one most notably from the Middle East in Islamic countries. In English, “emir” can also be written variously as “emeer, amir, ameer” (watch out for those spellings in crosswords!).

56 Humble abode for an Arab leader? : SHEIK SHACK (sounds like “Shake Shack”)

Shake Shack is a chain of restaurants that started out as a simple hot dog cart doing business in Madison Square Park in New York City in 2001. By 2020, the chain operated in over 250 locations worldwide.

58 Hobby farm measure : ACRE

A hobby farm is a relatively small farm that is maintained and worked, but not as the owner’s main source of income.

60 Haitian friend : AMIE

The Republic of Haiti occupies the smaller, western portion of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. The rest of the island is taken up by the Dominican Republic. Haiti is one of only two nations in the Americas to have French as an official language, the other being Canada.

62 Jacket wool : TWEED

Tweed is a rough woolen fabric that is very much associated with Scotland in the UK, and with County Donegal in Ireland. The cloth was originally called “tweel”, the Scots word for “twill”. Apparently a London merchant misinterpreted some handwriting in the early 1800s and assumed the fabric was called “tweed”, a reference to the Scottish River Tweed, and the name stuck …

63 Coat with gold leaf : GILD

Gilding is the application of gold leaf or gold powder to a solid surface, perhaps wood or another metal. The method of application can vary, from the use of a brush to electroplating.

Down

2 Omar of Congress : ILHAN

Ilhan Omar has been representing Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in the US House since 2019. At that time, she became one of the first two Muslim women, as well as the first Somali American, to serve in the US Congress.

3 Civil War nurse Barton : CLARA

Clara Barton was deeply disturbed by her experiences caring for the wounded during the Civil War. She dedicated herself after the war towards American recognition of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The American Red Cross was formed in 1881, and Barton was installed as its first president.

4 Automatic transmission parts? : SYNAPSES

A synapse is a junction between a nerve cell and another cell over which an electrical or chemical signal can pass.

5 Pop art icon played by Bowie in “Basquiat” : WARHOL

“Basquiat” is a 1996 biopic about neo-expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Basquiat is portrayed by Jeffrey Wright, and David Bowie portrays Andy Warhol. In addition to the headliners, the films supporting cast is very impressive, and includes Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, Parker Posey, Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, Courtney Love, Tatum O’Neil and Benicio del Toro. Wow …!

11 Impossible Burger’s lack : MEAT

Heme (also “haem”) is an organic structure containing iron, and is a component of hemoglobin, the protein that transports primarily oxygen around the body. It is the “heme” in “hemoglobin” that binds the oxygen atoms. A plant-derived version of heme is the magic ingredient in the famous Impossible Burger that has become so popular on vegetarian menus.

23 “The Imitation Game” encryption machine : ENIGMA

An Enigma machine is a cipher device developed at the end of WWI by German engineer Arthur Scherbius. The machine was used by Nazi Germany in the run-up to and during WWII. The Enigma codes used by the Germans were first broken by three Polish mathematicians who subsequently designed mechanical devices for automated deciphering of Enigma-coded messages. Polish Military Intelligence handed over the decryption technology to the French and British just before the outbreak of war.

“The Imitation Game” is a superb 2014 film that tells the story of Alan Turing and the decrypting operations undertaken by the British government during WWII. Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Turing, and Keira Knightley portrays Joan Clarke, a cryptanalyst who played a crucial and underappreciated role in the code-breaking program. Clarke was briefly engaged to be married to Turing, despite Turing’s closeted life as a gay man. Famously, Turing was prosecuted for homesexual acts in 1952, agreed to chemical castration treatment, and committed suicide in 1954.

26 Creeds : TENETS

A tenet is an article of faith, something that is held to be true. “Tenet” is Latin for “holds”.

30 Use a scythe on : REAP

Sickles and scythes are similar tools that are used for reaping crops. A sickle has a short handle, forcing the user to stoop down. A scythe has a long handle, allowing it to be used while standing erect.

31 Hip hop’s __ Thugs-n-Harmony : BONE

Hip hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony formed in Cleveland in 1991 using the name “Band Aid Boys”. They changed their name to B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e, and finally to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. The band’s members are Layzie Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone.

33 Big name in credit cards : CITI

During the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, the US government rescued Citibank by providing loan guarantees and two payments of $25 billion each. It turns out that the government made a tidy profit on that deal, as Citibank has since repaid the loans in full, along with interest.

40 Numbered piece : OPUS

The Latin for “work” is “opus”, with the plural being “opera”. We sometimes use the plural “opuses” in English, but people do that just to annoy me …

48 Poet Day-Lewis who wrote the Nigel Strangeways detective novels as Nicholas Blake : CECIL

Cecil Day-Lewis was an Irish poet from County Laois who was appointed Poet Laureate of the UK in 1968. Most known as a poet, he also wrote mystery stories under the name “Nicholas Blake”. Cecil had a famous son, namely actor Daniel Day-Lewis.

50 RBI or ERA : STAT

That would be baseball.

53 Russo who plays Frigga in Marvel’s “Thor” films : RENE

The talented actress Rene Russo is a native of Burbank, California. Russo went to high school (with actor/director Ron Howard), but dropped out in tenth grade. At seventeen, she was given the opportunity to train as a model and within a very short time appeared on the cover of “Vogue”. As her modeling jobs slowed down in her early thirties, Russo made a career change and studied theater and acting. Her breakout role was in the 1989 film “Major League.”

The 2011 movie “Thor” is yet another film based on a comic book hero. Even though I won’t be seeing it (I don’t do comics), I must admit it does have an impressive cast. Chris Hemsworth plays Thor, supported by Natalie Portman, Rene Russo, Idris Elba and Anthony Hopkins. And to crown it all, Kenneth Branagh is the director.

54 Dún Laoghaire’s land : EIRE

Dún Laoghaire (pronounced locally as “Dunleary”) is a major port town located south of Ireland’s capital city Dublin.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Some twitches : TICS
5 Cicada predators : WASPS
10 Challenges for nannies : IMPS
14 Compatriot : ALLY
15 Bracelet spot : ANKLE
16 “Smashing!” : NEAT
17 Official portraitist for a Mongolian leader? : KHAN ARTIST (sounds like “con artist”)
19 “Water for Elephants” novelist Gruen : SARA
20 Sinus infection woes : EARACHES
21 Sheer : UTTER
22 Suddenly become alert : SNAP TO
23 Tone down : EASE
25 Condiment for an Ottoman leader? : SULTAN PEPPER (sound like “salt and pepper”)
31 __ curls : BICEP
34 Tends to a draft : EDITS
35 Paris street : RUE
36 R&B singer Redding : OTIS
37 Hitches : SNAGS
38 Cartoon girl who often says “Swiper, no swiping” to a masked fox : DORA
39 Web : NET
40 Afternoon hr. : ONE PM
41 Creator of a cocky hare : AESOP
42 Paltry stipend for a Middle Eastern leader? : EMIR PITTANCE (sounds like “a mere pittance”)
45 Scoreboard count : OUTS
46 Effect : IMPACT
50 Thrones : SEATS
53 Alcoves : RECESSES
55 Stretched to the max : TAUT
56 Humble abode for an Arab leader? : SHEIK SHACK (sounds like “Shake Shack”)
58 Hobby farm measure : ACRE
59 Horror or mystery : GENRE
60 Haitian friend : AMIE
61 Comparison word : THAN
62 Jacket wool : TWEED
63 Coat with gold leaf : GILD

Down

1 Points of view : TAKES
2 Omar of Congress : ILHAN
3 Civil War nurse Barton : CLARA
4 Automatic transmission parts? : SYNAPSES
5 Pop art icon played by Bowie in “Basquiat” : WARHOL
6 Chip in a new pot : ANTE
7 Goes downhill fast : SKIS
8 “__ fix thx!” : PLS
9 Complete group : SET
10 Keeping up (with) : IN STEP
11 Impossible Burger’s lack : MEAT
12 Peel : PARE
13 Lead : STAR
18 Cause trouble : ACT UP
21 Exploits : USES
23 “The Imitation Game” encryption machine : ENIGMA
24 Some 2BR listings : APTS
26 Creeds : TENETS
27 Go with the flow : ADAPT
28 Aces : PROS
29 Italian bread? : EURO
30 Use a scythe on : REAP
31 Hip hop’s __ Thugs-n-Harmony : BONE
32 Thing : ITEM
33 Big name in credit cards : CITI
37 Huffy state : SNIT
38 High-pile carpet style : DEEP SHAG
40 Numbered piece : OPUS
41 High spots : ACMES
43 Raising a stink? : ROTTEN
44 Barely cut : NICKED
47 “Ditto,” more formally : AS AM I
48 Poet Day-Lewis who wrote the Nigel Strangeways detective novels as Nicholas Blake : CECIL
49 Expressed disapproval : TSKED
50 RBI or ERA : STAT
51 A pop : EACH
52 Vibe picked up by a psychic, supposedly : AURA
53 Russo who plays Frigga in Marvel’s “Thor” films : RENE
54 Dún Laoghaire’s land : EIRE
56 Rank above cpl. : SGT
57 Fell : HEW

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