LA Times Crossword 23 Jan 24, Tuesday

Constructed by: Noelle Griskey
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Change Direction

Themed answers contain a DIRECTION as a hidden word, but the order of the letters has been CHANGED:

37A Take a different route, and a hint to the circled letters : CHANGE DIRECTION

18A Wall Street fluctuation : MARKET SWING (change “WEST” inside)
23A Unpaved side of the road : SOFT SHOULDER (change “SOUTH” inside)
49A Boundary of a black hole : EVENT HORIZON (change “NORTH” inside)
56A Overly cute “So cute!” : TOTES ADORBS (change “EAST” inside)

Read on, or jump to …
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Bill’s time: 6m 32s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Mike and __: fruit-flavored candy : IKE

“Mike and Ike” is a brand of fruit-flavored candy made by Just Born starting in 1940. Just Born launched quite a unique marketing campaign in 2012 asserting that Mike and Ike had “split up due to creative differences”. The campaign involved production of two different boxes for the candy showing one or the other name scratched out. Clever …

4 Spanish small plates : TAPAS

“Tapa” is the Spanish word for “lid”. There is no clear rationale for why this word came to be used for an appetizer. There are lots of explanations cited, all of which seem to involve the temporary covering of one’s glass of wine with a plate or item of food to either preserve the wine or give one extra space at the table.

14 Supervillain Luthor : LEX

Lex Luthor is the nemesis of Superman in comics. Luthor has been portrayed in a number of guises in the comic world as well in movies and on the small screen. For example, he appeared as Atom Man in the 1950 film series “Atom Man vs. Superman”, and was played by actor Lyle Talbot, opposite Kirk Alyn’s Superman.

16 Fourth prime number : SEVEN

A prime number is a number greater than 1 that can only be divided evenly by 1 and itself. There are still some unanswered questions involving prime numbers, perhaps most notably Goldbach’s Conjecture. This conjecture dates back to the 1740s and is assumed to be true, but has never been proven. It states that every even integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers.

17 Fish-throwing Muppet __ Zealand : LEW

The muppet Lew Zealand gets its name from “New Zealand” and “Lew Grade”, the latter being the name of the media mogul who distributed “The Muppet Show”.

20 Sambuca flavor : ANISE

Sambuca is an Italian liqueur that is flavored with anise. Sambuca is often served straight up with three coffee beans floating on the surface. The beans are said to represent health, happiness and prosperity. A more “saucy” representation for the beans is the husband, wife and mistress.

22 Spanish grandmother : ABUELA

In Spanish, the mother of your “tia” (aunt) is your “abuela” (grandmother).

23 Unpaved side of the road : SOFT SHOULDER (change “SOUTH” inside)

Back in Ireland, the “pavement” is what we call the “sidewalk, footpath” (because the footpath is “paved”, often with “paving” stones!). It’s very confusing when you arrive in this country from Ireland, and a little dangerous when one has been taught from a young age to “walk on the pavement” …

27 Patella place : KNEE

The patella is the kneecap. The bone’s Latin name “patella” is a diminutive form of “patina”, the word for “pan”. The idea is that the kneecap is pan-shaped.

29 Food Network host Garten : INA

Ina Garten is an author as well as the host of a cooking show on the Food Network called “Barefoot Contessa”. She is a mentee of Martha Stewart, and indeed was touted as a potential “successor” to the TV celebrity when Stewart was incarcerated in 2004 after an insider trading scandal. Garten has no formal training as a chef, and indeed used to work as a nuclear policy analyst at the White House!

32 Jeans accent : RIVET

Levi Strauss was the founder of the first company in the world to manufacture blue jeans. Levi Strauss & Co. opened in 1853 in San Francisco. Strauss and his business partner were awarded a patent in 1873 for the use of copper rivets to strengthen points of strain on working pants.

34 Architect’s creation : DESIGN

An architect is responsible for designing buildings and providing advice during their construction. The term “architect” comes from the Greek “archi-” meaning “chief” and “tekton” meaning “builder, carpenter”.

42 Swamp reptile, for short : GATOR

There are two species of alligator in the world today: the Chinese alligator that is native to China, and the American alligator that is native to the southwest US. The term “alligator” likely comes from the Spanish “el lagarto” meaning “the lizard”. The Spanish used the name “el lagarto” for the American alligator when they were settling what is now Florida.

43 “lol oops” : SRY

Sorry (SRY)

49 Boundary of a black hole : EVENT HORIZON (change “NORTH” inside)

In a black hole, the event horizon is the point of no return, the point at which the pull of gravity is so strong that nothing can escape the hole, including light.

61 Country singer Gill or writer/producer Gilligan : VINCE

Vince Gill is a country music singer-songwriter. He has been honored with more Grammy Awards than any other male country singer. Gill likes his golf, and plates off a handicap of zero.

Vince Gilligan is a TV writer and producer who is best known as the creator of the hit show “Breaking Bad”. He also created the equally successful “Breaking Bad” spin-off called “Better Call Saul”. Earlier in his career, Gilligan wrote many episodes of “The X-Files”, and eventually became an executive producer for the show.

63 Meat in a Dr. Seuss title : HAM

Dr. Seuss’s famous children’s book “Green Eggs and Ham” was first published in 1960. “Green Eggs and Ham” now ranks twelfth in the list of top selling children’s books. By the way, “Harry Potter” books hold the top four slots in that list. The text of “Green Eggs and Ham” has a lot of “I am” going on. It starts with:

I am Sam
I am Sam
Sam I am

and ends with:

I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am

65 Les __-Unis : ETATS

“Les États-Unis” is what French speakers call “the United States”.

Down

7 Noah’s boat : ARK

According to the Bible’s Book of Genesis, Noah was instructed to build his ark 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. That’s about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.

12 Former MLB catcher Tony in the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame : PENA

Tony Peña is a former professional baseball catcher and manager. He managed the Kansas City Royals from 2002 to 2005.

13 “Star Trek” series, for short : TNG

When Gene Roddenberry first proposed the science fiction series that became “Star Trek”, he marketed it as “Wagon Train to the Stars”, a pioneer-style Western in outer space. In fact, his idea was to produce something more like “Gulliver’s Travels”, as he intended to write episodes that were adventure stories on one level, but morality tales on another. Personally, I think that he best achieved this model with the spin-off series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (TNG). If you watch individual episodes you will see thinly disguised treatments of moral issues such as racism, homosexuality, genocide etc. For my money, “The Next Generation” is the best of the whole franchise …

21 Fondue fuel : STERNO

Sterno is a jellied alcohol that usually comes in a can. The can is opened and the contents burn very easily and persistently. The brand name “Sterno” comes from the original manufacturer, S. Sternau & Co. of Brooklyn, New York.

Fondue is a traditional Swiss dish comprising melted cheese served in a pot over a tabletop stove, into which diners dip bread. The term “fondue”, which is French for “melted”, is now applied more widely to similar dishes served in a communal pot into which a food is dipped. Traditional fondue is delicious, so very delicious …

30 Private aid gp. : NGO

Non-governmental organization (NGO)

31 “I Hope You Dance” singer Lee __ Womack : ANN

“I Hope You Dance” is a country-pop song released by Lee Ann Womack with Sons of the Desert in 2000. It won the CMA award for Single of the Year at the 2001 ceremony. As an aside, brothers Drew and Tim Womack of Sons of the Desert are no relation to Lee Ann.

33 Tennis player Swiatek : IGA

Iga Swiatek is a professional tennis player, and the first from Poland to win a major singles title (the French Open in 2020).

34 Half a droid name : -DETOO

Artoo’s proper name is R2-D2 (also “Artoo-Detoo”). R2-D2 is the smaller of the two famous droids from the “Star Wars” movies. British actor Kenny Baker, who stood just 3 feet 8 inches tall, was the man inside the R2-D2 droid for the first six of the “Star Wars” movies.

36 Use a colander : STRAIN

A colander is a bowl-shaped utensil with holes in it that is used for draining liquid from food. The term “colander” comes from the Latin word “colum” meaning “sieve”.

37 “Ghosts” network : CBS

“Ghosts” is an American sitcom that is based on a British series of the same name. I enjoyed the British version (haven’t seen the US show), which starred Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe. The leads play a married couple who inherit a country mansion that is haunted by some pretty wild ghosts. Only the wife can see the ghosts, and hilarity ensues …

39 Minnesota senator Klobuchar : AMY

Amy Klobuchar was elected to the US Senate in 2006, and became the first elected female senator for Minnesota when she took her seat in the following January. Former Second Lady of the US Muriel Humphrey was Minnesota’s first female senator. Ms. Humphrey was appointed to serve out the balance of her husband’s term after Hubert Humphrey died.

40 Poison ivy reaction : RASH

Two of the plants that are most painful to humans are poison oak and poison ivy. Poison oak is mainly found west of the Rocky Mountains, and poison ivy to the east.

46 Prague residents : CZECHS

The beautiful city of Prague is today the capital of the Czech Republic. Prague’s prominence in Europe has come and gone over the centuries. For many years, it was the capital city of the Holy Roman Empire. Back in the 1800s, Bohemian mathematician Bernard Bolzano conducted a count of all the spires in Prague, resulting in the enduring nickname “City of a Hundred Spires”. Today, that count is closer to “Five Hundred”.

47 “The Island of Doctor __”: H.G. Wells novel : MOREAU

“The Island of Doctor Moreau” is an 1896 novel penned by H. G. Wells. The book tells the story of a shipwrecked man who ends up on the island of Doctor Moreau. Moreau engages in vivisection and creates new beasts (the “Beast Folk”) by combining different species. The novel was adapted into at least two films of the same name: in 1977 with Burt Lancaster and Michael York, and in 1996 with Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.

50 Bouquet holders : VASES

“Bouquet” comes from the French word for “bunch” in the sense of “bunch of flowers”. In French, the term is derived from an older word describing a little wood or small grove of trees. We started using “bouquet” to mean “perfume from a wine” in the early 1800s.

52 Reacts to yeast : RISES

Yeasts are unicellular microorganisms in the kingdom Fungi. The species of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used for centuries in the making of wine and beer, and in breadmaking. Saccharomyces cerevisiae converts carbohydrates into carbon dioxide and alcohol in the process of fermentation. When making beer and wine, the carbon dioxide and alcohol may be captured by the liquid. When making bread, the carbon dioxide and alcohol is driven off by heat.

54 One of four active volcanoes in Italy : ETNA

Italy is home to three active volcanoes:

Stromboli (in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily)
Vesuvius (overlooking Naples)
Etna (on the island of Sicily)

Sometimes the list can include Vulcano, a volcanic island located a few miles north of Sicily, which last erupted in the late 1880s.

58 Fjord kin : RIA

A drowned valley might be called a ria or a fjord, and both are formed as sea levels rise. A ria is a drowned valley created by river erosion, and a fjord is a drowned valley created by glaciation.

59 Simple sammie : BLT

“Sammie” is an informal term meaning “sandwich”.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Mike and __: fruit-flavored candy : IKE
4 Spanish small plates : TAPAS
9 Bungling : INEPT
14 Supervillain Luthor : LEX
15 On one’s toes : ALERT
16 Fourth prime number : SEVEN
17 Fish-throwing Muppet __ Zealand : LEW
18 Wall Street fluctuation : MARKET SWING (change “WEST” inside)
20 Sambuca flavor : ANISE
22 Spanish grandmother : ABUELA
23 Unpaved side of the road : SOFT SHOULDER (change “SOUTH” inside)
27 Patella place : KNEE
28 Common first section of a menu, familiarly : APPS
29 Food Network host Garten : INA
32 Jeans accent : RIVET
34 Architect’s creation : DESIGN
37 Take a different route, and a hint to the circled letters : CHANGE DIRECTION
41 Grumble over : BEMOAN
42 Swamp reptile, for short : GATOR
43 “lol oops” : SRY
44 Exceedingly : OH SO
45 Mountain climber’s goal : ACME
49 Boundary of a black hole : EVENT HORIZON (change “NORTH” inside)
53 See where one’s coming from : RELATE
55 Like a couch potato : INERT
56 Overly cute “So cute!” : TOTES ADORBS (change “EAST” inside)
60 Business VIP : CEO
61 Country singer Gill or writer/producer Gilligan : VINCE
62 Deceitfulness : GUILE
63 Meat in a Dr. Seuss title : HAM
64 Shutter strips : SLATS
65 Les __-Unis : ETATS
66 Player coming off the bench, for short : SUB

Down

1 “Let me find out” : I’LL ASK
2 Passionate about : KEEN ON
3 Post-divorce party : EX-WIFE
4 Brings under control : TAMES
5 Styled after : A LA
6 “As __ our agreement” : PER
7 Noah’s boat : ARK
8 Fantastic deals : STEALS
9 Debate topic : ISSUE
10 More contemporary : NEWER
11 Like a supervillain : EVIL
12 Former MLB catcher Tony in the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame : PENA
13 “Star Trek” series, for short : TNG
19 Not yet scheduled: Abbr. : TBD
21 Fondue fuel : STERNO
24 Safe space : HAVEN
25 Persuasive column : OP-ED
26 High-strung : UPTIGHT
29 Sundial three : III
30 Private aid gp. : NGO
31 “I Hope You Dance” singer Lee __ Womack : ANN
33 Tennis player Swiatek : IGA
34 Half a droid name : -DETOO
35 Prefix with system : ECO-
36 Use a colander : STRAIN
37 “Ghosts” network : CBS
38 Yonder lass : HER
39 Minnesota senator Klobuchar : AMY
40 Poison ivy reaction : RASH
44 High-strung : ON EDGE
46 Prague residents : CZECHS
47 “The Island of Doctor __”: H.G. Wells novel : MOREAU
48 Bury : ENTOMB
49 Put in power : ELECT
50 Bouquet holders : VASES
51 Pilot’s update, briefly : ETA
52 Reacts to yeast : RISES
53 Bubble and churn : ROIL
54 One of four active volcanoes in Italy : ETNA
56 Den sets : TVS
57 Not trendy : OUT
58 Fjord kin : RIA
59 Simple sammie : BLT

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