LA Times Crossword 31 Oct 23, Tuesday

Constructed by: Hoang-Kim Vu & Jessica Zetzman
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Haunted House

Happy Halloween, everyone! Themed answers are all potential parts of a HAUNTED HOUSE:

48A Halloween attraction, or what 19-, 27-/32-, and 42-Across all might be a part of? : HAUNTED HOUSE

19A Restaurant that operates within another restaurant : GHOST KITCHEN
27A With 32-Across, embarrassing secret : SKELETON …
32A See 27-Across : … IN THE CLOSET
42A Emmy-nominated TV series based on a Hilary Mantel novel : WOLF HALL

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Bill’s time: 7m 43s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Hip-hop duo __ & Rakim : ERIC B

Eric B. & Rakim are a hip hop duo comprising DJ Eric B. and rapper Rakim. The pair started performing together in 1986, but split up in the early 1990s following a legal dispute. The duo reunited and started touring together in 2017.

6 Landlocked West African nation : MALI

The Republic of Mali is a landlocked country in western Africa located south of Algeria. Formerly known as French Sudan, the nation’s most famous city is Timbuktu. Mali is the third-largest producer of gold on the continent, after South Africa and Ghana.

13 Gambling hub near Hong Kong : MACAU

Macau (also “Macao”) is an autonomous territory of China located on the Pearl River estuary about 40 miles west of Hong Kong. It was a Portuguese colony from the mid-1500s until 1999. Macau was in fact the first European colony in China, and the last, having been handed back to the Chinese in 1999, two years after Hong Kong was returned by the British. Macau’s economy is driven by tourism and gambling. The territory’s gaming revenue is the highest for any gambling center in the world.

15 Cloverleaf feature : LOOP

Cloverleaf interchanges allow two highways to cross without the need for stopping traffic. They are so called as when viewed overheard they look like the leaves of a four-leaf clover.

17 Gem from Australia or Ethiopia : OPAL

The largest opal ever found, and the most valuable, is the Olympic Australis. It was discovered in South Australia in 1956. That same year, the Summer Olympics were being held in Melbourne so the newly discovered stone was given the name “Olympic Australis”.

18 Eclectic online digest : UTNE

The “Utne Reader” is known for aggregation and republishing of articles on politics, culture and the environment from other sources in the media. It was founded in 1984 by Eric Utne, with management taken over by Eric’s wife Nina Rothschild Utne in 1990.

22 Large cupboard : ARMOIRE

“Armoire” is the French word for “wardrobe”, and is used in English for a standing closet that stores clothes.

25 Black belt discipline : KARATE

Practitioners of judo and karate proceed through a series of proficiency grades known as the kyu-dan system. At each progression, a different colored belt is awarded.

36 GI grub : MRE

The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) comes in a lightweight package that’s easy to tote around. The MRE replaced the more cumbersome Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) in 1981, a meal-in-a-can. In turn, the MCI had replaced the C-ration in 1958, a less sophisticated meal-in-a-can with a more limited choice.

42 Emmy-nominated TV series based on a Hilary Mantel novel : WOLF HALL

“Wolf Hall” is a 2009 historical novel by Hilary Mantel that provides a fictional account of the life of Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII. The novel was adapted by the BBC into a very successful TV series of the same name. “Wolf Hall” is the first part of a trilogy of books by Mantel, followed by “Bring Up the Bodies” (2012) and “The Mirror and the Light” (2020).

45 Texas border city : EL PASO

Although there have been human settlements in the El Paso area for thousands of years, the first European settlement was founded in 1659 by the Spanish. That first community was on the south bank of the Rio Grande, and was called El Paso del Norte (the North Pass). Most of the urban development under Spanish rule took place on the south side of the river, with El Paso del Norte acting as the center of governance for the Spanish for the territory of New Mexico. The Rio Grande was chosen as the border between Mexico and the US in 1848, so most of the city of El Paso del Norte became part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua (and is now called Ciudad Juárez ). The area north of the river developed as a US military post, eventually becoming the modern city of El Paso, Texas.

46 Glass raiser’s opening : A TOAST …

The tradition of toasting someone probably dates back to the reign of Charles II, when the practice was to drink a glass of wine to the health of a beautiful or favored woman. In those days, spiced toast was added to beverages to add flavor, so the use of the word “toast” was an indicator that the lady’s beauty would enhance the wine. Very charming, I must say …

47 Brother of Ophelia : LAERTES

In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”, Laertes is the son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. It is Laertes who kills Hamlet using a poisoned sword..

52 Christian of fashion : DIOR

Christian Dior was a highly influential fashion designer who is widely credited with revolutionizing women’s fashion in the post-World War II era. Before he became a fashion designer, Dior worked as an art dealer, and he even ran his own art gallery for a time. There, he and a friend sold works by Pablo Picasso and others.

57 “For __ jolly … ” : HE’S A

“For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” is the second-most popular song in the English language according to the “Guinness Book of World Records”. Top of the list is “Happy Birthday to You”, and third comes “Auld Lang Syne”.

59 Like more than 4 billion people : ASIAN

Most of the world’s population lives in Asia (60%), and Asia is the largest continent in terms of landmass (30% of the world). Asia also has the highest population density (246 people per square mile), and the most populous city on the continent is Shanghai, China.

62 “Oppenheimer” director Christopher : NOLAN

British director Christopher Nolan is best known for “rescuing” the floundering Batman movie franchise. In that series, Nolan directed “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”. He was also at the helm of a couple of sci-fi movies that I really enjoyed, namely “Inception” (2010) and “Interstellar” (2014). And then, along came “Oppenheimer” …

“Oppenheimer” is an epic 2023 film starring Cillian Murphy in the title role. The movie follows J. Robert Oppenheimer, “the father of the atomic bomb”, from his student days right through World War II and beyond. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film has an amazing ensemble cast that includes:

Matt Damon (General Leslie Groves)
Robert Downey Jr. (Lewis Strauss)
Josh Hartnett (Ernest Lawrence)
Kenneth Branagh (Niels Bohr)
Tom Conti (Albert Einstein)
Gary Oldman (Harry S. Truman)

Down

1 Ambulance gp. : EMS

Our word “ambulance” originated from the French term “hôpital ambulant” meaning “field hospital” (literally “walking hospital”). In the 1850s, the term started to be used for a vehicle transporting the wounded from the battlefield, leading to our “ambulance”.

4 Moving day rental : CARGO VAN

Cargo is freight carried by some vehicle. The term “cargo” comes into English via Spanish, ultimately deriving from the Latin “carricare” meaning “to load on a cart”.

8 Plumbing problem : LEAK

“Plumbum” is Latin for “lead”, explaining why the symbol of the element in the Periodic Table is “Pb”. It also explains why the original lead weight on the end of a line used to check vertical was called a “plumb line”. And, as pipes were originally made of lead, it also explains why we would call in a “plumber” if one of those pipes were leaking.

12 Allowing for modification, as a mortgage : OPEN-END

Our word “mortgage” comes from the Old French “mort gaige” which translated as “dead pledge”. Such an arrangement was so called because the “pledge” to repay “dies” when the debt is cleared.

15 Loot : LUCRE

Our word “lucre” meaning “money, profits” comes from the Latin “lucrum” that means the same thing.

21 “She’s So High” singer Bachman : TAL

Tal Bachman is a singer-songwriter from Canada who is perhaps best known musically for his 1999 song “She’s So High”. Tal is the son of Randy Bachman, of Bachman-Turner Overdrive fame.

23 __ Speedwagon : REO

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band that formed in 1967, and is still going strong. The band’s biggest hits are “Keep On Loving You” (1980) and “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (1985). The founding members chose the name for the REO Speed Wagon flatbed truck. Note that the band’s name is one word “Speedwagon”, whereas the vehicle’s name uses two words “Speed Wagon”.

24 Duchess of Parma who was Napoleon’s second wife : MARIE LOUISE

Marie Louise was the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon divorced his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, because she did not bear him a son. Marie Louise did give birth to a son, a son who was destined to become the disputed Emperor of the French as Napoleon II, albeit for only a few weeks in 1815.

30 Big name in crossword puzzle magazines : DELL

Dell Publishing was founded in 1921 in New York City to publish pulp magazines, the first being a biweekly titled “I Confess”. Dell Publishing no longer exists, although “Dell” persists in some titles that use the “Dell Magazines” name. The first issue of “Dell Crossword Puzzles” hit the shelves in 1931.

34 Arthur Miller’s “Death of a __” : SALESMAN

“Death of a Salesman” is a famous play by Arthur Miller that was first produced in 1949. “Death of a Salesman” won a Pulitzer and several Tony Awards over the years. The “Salesman” is the famous character Willy Loman. The play originally opened up on Broadway and ran for 724 performances. It was directed by Elia Kazan, and the lead role was played by veteran actor Lee J. Cobb.

35 Strong coffee in a tiny cup : ESPRESSO

Espresso is made by forcing extremely hot water, under pressure, through finely ground coffee beans. The result is a thick and concentrated coffee drink that contains quite a lot of solids and a lot of foam. An espresso machine was first patented in 1884 in Italy, although it was a machine to make the beverage in bulk. The first patent for a machine that made individual measures was applied for in 1901, also in Italy.

43 Fruit soda brand : FANTA

The soft drink Fanta has quite an interesting history. As WWII approached, the Coca-Cola plant in Germany had trouble obtaining the ingredients it needed to continue production of the cola beverage, so the plant manager decided to create a new drink from what was available. The new beverage was built around whey (leftover from cheese production) and pomace (left over after juice has been extracted from fruit). The inventor asked his colleagues to use their “imagination” (“Fantasie” in German) and come up with a name for the drink, so they piped up “Fanta!”

44 Pres. after FDR : HST

Harry Truman wanted to go to West Point having served with the Missouri Army National Guard on active duty in WWI, but he couldn’t get in because of his poor eyesight. Young Truman didn’t have the money to pay for college anywhere else. He did manage to study for two years towards a law degree at the Kansas City Law School in the twenties, but he never finished his schooling. So, Harry S. Truman was the last US President (out of a list of ten) who did not have a college degree.

45 __ de toilette : EAU

“Eau de toilette” (toilet water) is a diluted perfume. A French person when dressing is said to be attending to his or her “toilette”.

47 Some Parliament members : LORDS

The UK Parliament is divided into two houses, with the upper house known as the House of Lords and the lower house as the House of Commons. The members of the House of Commons (MPs) are elected, but most new members of the House of Lords are appointed. Historically, a large proportion of the membership of the upper house were hereditary peers, but recent legislative changes are reducing the numbers who can sit in the House of Lords by virtue of birthright.

/p>

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Hip-hop duo __ & Rakim : ERIC B
6 Landlocked West African nation : MALI
10 Product prefix that evokes winter : SNO-
13 Gambling hub near Hong Kong : MACAU
14 Opinion piece : OP-ED
15 Cloverleaf feature : LOOP
16 Eggs (on) : SPURS
17 Gem from Australia or Ethiopia : OPAL
18 Eclectic online digest : UTNE
19 Restaurant that operates within another restaurant : GHOST KITCHEN
22 Large cupboard : ARMOIRE
25 Black belt discipline : KARATE
26 Tosses : HEAVES
27 With 32-Across, embarrassing secret : SKELETON …
29 Circle dances : HORAS
30 “Finish the job!” : DO IT!
31 Grass in a roll : SOD
32 See 27-Across : … IN THE CLOSET
36 GI grub : MRE
38 Flair : ELAN
39 Campfire residue : ASHES
42 Emmy-nominated TV series based on a Hilary Mantel novel : WOLF HALL
45 Texas border city : EL PASO
46 Glass raiser’s opening : A TOAST …
47 Brother of Ophelia : LAERTES
48 Halloween attraction, or what 19-, 27-/32-, and 42-Across all might be a part of? : HAUNTED HOUSE
51 Fighting : AT IT
52 Christian of fashion : DIOR
53 TV channel with election night coverage : MSNBC
57 “For __ jolly … ” : HE’S A
58 Not new : USED
59 Like more than 4 billion people : ASIAN
60 Fruit juice suffix : -ADE
61 Degs. for many profs : PHDS
62 “Oppenheimer” director Christopher : NOLAN

Down

1 Ambulance gp. : EMS
2 Knock sharply : RAP
3 Hosp. recovery area : ICU
4 Moving day rental : CARGO VAN
5 Most overgrown, say : BUSHIEST
6 __ Tracks ice cream : MOOSE
7 Spot on a sked : APPT
8 Plumbing problem : LEAK
9 “That sounds tempting” : I’D LIKE TO
10 Phrase of finality : SO THAT’S THAT
11 Far from : NONE TOO
12 Allowing for modification, as a mortgage : OPEN-END
15 Loot : LUCRE
20 Surgery ctrs. : ORS
21 “She’s So High” singer Bachman : TAL
22 Sound at a spa : AHH
23 __ Speedwagon : REO
24 Duchess of Parma who was Napoleon’s second wife : MARIE LOUISE
27 L.A.’s region : SOCAL
28 Pottery oven : KILN
30 Big name in crossword puzzle magazines : DELL
33 Warmed, as leftovers : HEATED UP
34 Arthur Miller’s “Death of a __” : SALESMAN
35 Strong coffee in a tiny cup : ESPRESSO
36 Evil laugh : MWAHAHA!
37 Went round and round : ROTATED
40 WNW’s opposite : ESE
41 Emergency letters : SOS
43 Fruit soda brand : FANTA
44 Pres. after FDR : HST
45 __ de toilette : EAU
47 Some Parliament members : LORDS
49 Dinner plate : DISH
50 Did a garden chore : HOED
54 Zero, in soccer : NIL
55 Sheep call : BAA!
56 TV channel with election night coverage : CNN

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