LA Times Crossword 9 Feb 23, Thursday - LAXCrossword.com (2023)

Today's Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Over

1 Salinger Honoree Who Says "I Prefer Stories About Misery" : ESME

J.D. Salinger wrote a short story entitled "For Esmé - with Love and Squalor" which was originally published in The New Yorker in 1950. It is a story about a young English girl named Esme and an American soldier and is set in World War II.

9 Las Vegas WNBA-Team: Asse

The Las Vegas Aces women's basketball team was founded in Salt Lake City in 1997 as the Utah Starzz. The team became the San Antonio (Silver) Stars in 2002 before moving to Las Vegas in 2018 as the Aces.

14 French endearment meaning “cabbage”: CHOU

'Mon petit chou' is a French term of endearment meaning 'darling, darling', literally translated as 'my little cabbage'.

15 Banging on the sidewalk? : STOMP

Back in Ireland, the 'pavement' is what we call the 'sidewalk, footpath' (because the footpath is 'paved', often with 'pavement' stones!). It's very confusing coming to this country from Ireland and a little dangerous when you've been taught from a young age to 'walk the pavement'...

19 __ Pueblo, New Mexico: TAOS

The city of Taos, New Mexico, is named for the nearby Native American village of Taos Pueblo. Taos is famous for its art colony. Artists began settling in Taos in 1899 and the Taos Society of Artists was formed in 1915.

20 PowerPoint unit: SLIDE

Given that PowerPoint is a Microsoft product, it's perhaps a bit of a paradox that the original application that became PowerPoint was designed for the Macintosh computer. This first release was called "Presenter". The company that developed Presenter was bought by Microsoft in 1987.

21 Favorite Brewery: IPA

India Pale Ale (IPA) is a type of beer that originated in England. The beer was originally intended for transport from England to India, hence the name.

28 Dice Game: CRAPS

Looking at earlier versions of craps, the game has been around for a very long time, probably dating back to the Crusades. It may derive from an old English game called 'Hazard', also played with two dice and mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century Canterbury Tales. The American version of the game came here courtesy of the French and first took root in New Orleans, where it was given the name "Crapaud," a French word meaning "toad."

29 Tech-Journalist Swisher: KARA

Kara Swisher is a respected technology and business journalist known for covering Silicon Valley-related issues. Swisher was married to former United States Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith for about a decade.

30 Gemüse in Aloo Matar: HEAD

Aloo mutter (also "all matar") is a very tasty dish from Indian cuisine consisting of potatoes and peas in a spicy, creamy tomato-based sauce. The name of the dish means "potatoes and peas".

33 *Camera attachment for a panorama: WIDE-ANGLE LENS

Panoramic paintings have been around for centuries, but the word "panorama" was coined around 1790 to describe an invention by artist Robert Barker. He created an apparatus for displaying images on the inside of a cylindrical surface, allowing the viewer to stand in the center and have a 360-degree view. The term comes from the Greek "pan-" meaning "everything" and "horama" meaning "sight, spectacle".

38 acne treatment brand: OXY

OXY 10 is a brand name for a drug containing the active ingredient benzoyl peroxide. Benzoyl peroxide is used to treat acne, as well as to dye hair, whiten teeth, and make flour.

40 Indie-Rocks __ Kiley: RILO

The indie rock band Rilo Kiley formed in Los Angeles in 1998 and disbanded in 2013. Lead guitarist Blake Sennett suggested the band's name after having a steam in which he was chased by a sports almanac. In the dream he found an Australian football player listed as Rilo Kiley.

42 Registration Mark: STAMP

A visa is usually a stamp in your passport, an indication that you are authorized to enter (and more rarely exit) a particular country. The word "visa" comes from the French, from the Latin "charta visa", which means "seen paper" or "checked paper".

47 *Convertible part: HIDEAWAY BED

A tucked bed is one that "hides" when not in use as a bed. It transforms into another piece of furniture, often a shelf or desk.

53 Wilde Parties: RAVES

As you can imagine, I've never been to a rave, nor do I have any upcoming ones on my schedule. Since raves often start at 2am, I'll probably never see one. A rave is generally a night-long party featuring loud, electronically synthesized music, typically performed by a DJ, as opposed to a live band.

54 "__ you baby" : I HAVE

"I Got You Babe" is a duet released in 1965 by Sonny & Cher. The lyrics and music for the song were written by Sonny Bono himself. In 1993, Sonny and Cher did a version of the song featuring cartoon characters Beavis and Butt-head. One has to ask: "Why...?"

60 "Hamilton" Tony winner Renée __ Goldsberry: ELISE

Renée Elise Goldsberry is an actress and singer best known for playing attorney Geneva Pine on the TV show The Good Wife. Goldsberry also originated the role of Angelica Schuyler Church in the hit Broadway musical Hamilton.

63 Cambodian currency: RIEL

The Cambodian riel was introduced in 1953 and phased out by the Khmer Rouge in 1975, when they abolished the money entirely when they took control of the country. After the Vietnamese invasion of 1978, money was reintroduced and the Cambodian people still use the "second" riel. The original riel was subdivided into 100 centimes, but was changed to 100 "sen" in 1959.

64 picks up a beetle, let's say: TOWS

"VW" stands for "Volkswagen", which translated from German means "people's car". The original Volkswagen design was the Beetle and it was built on the orders of Adolf Hitler who wanted to build a cheap car that ordinary people could afford. Hitler gave the job to engineer Ferdinand Porsche, whose name would (paradoxically) forever be associated with high-performance, expensive cars. The Beetle was the official name of the VW model released in North America, but it was usually referred to as "Beetle" here in the US and "Beetle" elsewhere in the world.

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2 Lefty: SÜDPFote

A southpaw is someone who is left-handed. The term "southpaw" originated as baseball slang in the mid-1880s to describe a left-handed pitcher. Back then, baseball diamonds were often laid out with home plate facing west. So a pitcher's left hand would be on his "south side" when facing the batter.

3 Spy played by Greta Garbo: EYES OF THE DAY

"Mata Hari" was the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, who was born in the Netherlands in 1876. After an unsuccessful and somewhat tragic marriage, Zella moved to Paris in 1903, where she struggled to make a living. By 1905 she was working as an exotic dancer, using the name Mata Hari. She was a successful courtesan and moved in particular in various circles of high-ranking military officers. She apparently worked as a double agent, both for the French and for the Germans. When Mata Hari was accused by the French of leaking information to the enemy, she was tried in 1917 at the height of World War I, found guilty and executed by firing squad.

Mata Hari is a 1931 film starring Greta Garbo. "Mata Hari" was a big hit for MGM and for Garbo. It is usually credited with popularizing the legendary tales surrounding the exotic dancer and WWI spy.

Greta Garbo famously lived a reclusive life in New York City after retiring from the entertainment business. Commentators often linked her need for privacy to a line she uttered in the great 1932 film Grand Hotel. Her character Grusinskaya, the Russian ballerina, said: "I want to be alone (...) I just want to be alone".

4 Big gasoline seller: ESSO

The Esso brand has its roots in the old Standard Oil company, as it uses the initials of "Standard" and "Oil" (ESS-O). The Esso brand has been replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

5 Med. Condition Treatable with Paxil: OCD

Apparently, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed mental disorder, about as common as asthma.

The most commonly prescribed antidepressants in the US (at least in 2010) are:

• Zoloft (sertraline)
• Celexa (Citalopram)
• Prozac (Fluoxetin)
• Lexapro (Escitalopram)
• Desyrel (Trazodon)
• Cymbalta (Duloxetine)
• Paxil (Paroxetine)

6 Batman villain Lorelei Circe's alter ego: THE SIREN

In the TV show Batman, the villain known as The Siren was played by actress Joan Collins.

7 Explorers Amundsen: ROALD

Roald Amundsen was a polar explorer from Norway. Perhaps most notable was that he was the leader of the first team to reach the South Pole in 1911. Amundsen was also one of the first people to reach the North Pole. He did this in 1926 with a team of 15 in an airship. Amundsen disappeared while taking part in the attempted rescue of the crew of another airship exploring the North Pole. His remains were never recovered.

8 Saul Bellow's "The Adventures of __. March“ : AUGIE

The Adventures of Augie March is a novel by Saul Bellow, first published in 1953. The story tells of a young man growing up during the Great Depression.

10 Crumbly Mexican Cheese : COTIJA

Cotija is a salty and milky cheese named after the Mexican town of Cotija from which it originates.

15 Labeling Help: TEMPLATES

A stencil is a sheet of impermeable material with perforations in the shape of letters or a design. The stencil is placed over a surface to be printed and then the print medium is applied so that the medium adheres to the surface only below the perforations.

17 Webzugriff cos. : ISPS

An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is exactly what the name suggests, a company that provides its customers with access to the Internet. One of the ways that ISPs differ is how end users connect to the ISP's network. So there are cable ISPs, DSL ISPs, dial-up ISPs, and satellite ISPs.

18 Wyo. Neighbor: IDA

Idaho borders six states and one Canadian province:

• Montana
• Wyoming
• Nevada
• Utah
• Washington
• Oregon
• British Columbia

27 Semi-circular antenna housing: RADOM

A radome is a weatherproof enclosure that encloses a microwave antenna. Such a housing is constructed of materials that do not interfere with electromagnetic signals. "Radome" is a made-up word from "radar" and "dome".

32 author who wrote on Friday? : DEFOE

Daniel Defoe is best known today as the author of the novels "Robinson Crusoe" and "Moll Flanders". He was also a trader... and a spy for King William III!

In Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe, the shipwrecked man meets a companion whom Crusoe calls "Friday" because that was the day the two first met. Friday soon becomes his willing servant. From this character came our terms "Man/Guy Friday" and "Girl/Gal Friday", which are used to describe a particularly competent and loyal assistant.

34 Unilateral, in court proceedings: EX PARTE

"Ex parte" is a Latin term used in the law, which can be translated as "for a party". A fundamental rule of US law states that both parties must be present to hear arguments before a judge. An “ex parte” decision by a judge benefits only one party and can be made without the other party being present.

35 Meaty Moroccan dish : LAMB STEW

The country of Morocco is located in North Africa but is only 9 miles south of Spain. Spain and Morocco, and therefore Europe and Africa, are separated by these 9 miles across the Mediterranean known as the Strait of Gibraltar.

36 Much of the atmosphere: NITROGEN

The chemical element nitrogen (atomic number 7) was first isolated and discovered in 1772 by Scottish physician and chemist Daniel Rutherford. Rutherford did not identify nitrogen as an element, but isolated it as a gaseous component of air that did not support combustion, and so he called "harmful air".

Air consists mainly of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%) and argon (1%). We hear a lot about carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It accounts for about 0.04% (or it should!), but that's an important 0.04%.

37 Dig something: SLEUTHED

The word 'sleuth' came into English from Old Norse as early as 1200, when it meant the 'track or trail of a person'. In the mid-19th century, a sniffer dog described a zealous investigator, a hound, hot on the suspect's trail. Sleuthhound was shortened to "Sleuth" and was commonly used for a detective.

41 Torontos Prov. :ONT

Beautiful Toronto, Ontario is the largest city in Canada and the fourth largest city in North America (after Mexico City, New York and Los Angeles).

43 Copenhagen's __ Gardens : TIVOLI

Tivoli Gardens is a traditional amusement park in Copenhagen that opened in 1843. This makes it the second oldest amusement park in the world. The Danes must be enjoying themselves because the oldest park is Dyrehavsbakken, also in Denmark.

Copenhagen is the largest city and the capital of Denmark. I haven't had the privilege of visiting Copenhagen but I've heard it's a wonderful metropolis with a wonderful quality of life. The city is also very environmentally friendly, with more than a third of the population commuting to work by bike.

44 Antarctic penguin: ADELIE

The Adelie penguin is found along the Antarctic coast and is named after the Antarctic territory claimed by France called Adelie Land. Adelie Land was discovered by French explorer Jules Dumont D'Urville in 1840 and he named the area after his wife Adele.

46 Prefix with -pathic : IDIO-

Something called idiopathic arises spontaneously or is caused by something unknown. The term is usually applied to a medical condition.

49 Nautical "Halt!" : AVAST!

"Avast" is a nautical term used to tell someone to stop or desist from what they are doing. The word comes from the Dutch "hou vast" and means "to hold on".

50 BTS hit "__ Come": STILL TO

"Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)" is a 2022 song by South Korean boy band BTS. The original song was recorded in Korean, but there is an English-language version recorded by South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai as part of a marketing campaign for FIFA Football World Cup 2022 was commissioned.

BTS is a seven member boy band from South Korea. The initialism "BTS" stands for the phrase "Bangtan Sonyeondan", which literally means "Bulletproof Boy Scouts". BTS is the best-selling music act in South Korean history.

55 Ashram-Berater: GURU

"Guru" is a Hindi word meaning "teacher" or "priest".

"Ashram" is a term used in the Hindu tradition to describe a place of spiritual retreat, typically located in a secluded location conducive to spiritual instruction and meditation.

57 broadband letters : DSL

The initialism "DSL" originally stood for Digital Subscriber Loop, but is now accepted as (Asymmetric) Digital Subscriber Line. It is a technology that allows internet services to be provided over the same phone line as voice services by separating the two into different frequency signals.

In Internet terms, the word broadband is used to describe Internet access that is faster than dial-up. In broader (pun!) telecom terms, "broadband" is used to describe a "bandwidth" data transmission that is "wide" enough to carry multiple signals and different types of traffic simultaneously.

58 Einige PCs: HPS

Multinational HP (originally “Hewlett-Packard”) was founded in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard with a $538 investment in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California. The company name would have been Packard-Hewlett if Dave Packard had won a coin toss!

59 Referee Decision: TKO

Technical KO (TKO)