LA Times Crossword July 27, Wednesday July 22 - LAXCrossword.com (2023)

Today's Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

About

5 Windex target: PANEL

Windex glass cleaner was introduced in 1933. The formulation, which was sold until the end of World War II, had to be packed in metal cans because it was so flammable.

9 Blackjack Stack: CHIPS

The deck known as "twenty-one" was first mentioned in a book by Cervantes, an author famous for writing "Don Quixote". He called the game "veintiuna" (Spanish for "twenty-one"). Cervantes wrote his story just after the year 1600, so the game has existed at least since that time. Twenty-one came to the US but weren't as popular, so bonus payouts were introduced to attract more interest. One of the most attractive bonuses was a ten-to-one payout for a player who was dealt an ace of spades and a blackjack. This bonus earned the game the nickname "Blackjack".

14 black card co. : AMEX

"Amex" is short for "American Express", the name of the financial services company best known for its credit card, store card and traveler's check businesses. The company name refers to the original business. American Express was founded in Buffalo, New York, in 1850 as an express courier service.

15 "No, Sailor!": AHOI!

"Oh!" is a nautical term used to signal a ship. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he suggested using "Ahoy" as the default greeting when answering a call. However, Thomas Edison came up with "hello" and we've been using it ever since.

16 Biggest City on the Red River: HANOI

Hanoi ("Hà Nội" in Vietnamese) was the capital of North Vietnam and Saigon was the capital of South Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, Hanoi became the capital of the reunified country. Saigon, the largest metropolitan area, was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Located on the Red River Delta, Hanoi is just over 80 km from the Gulf of Tonkin on the South China Sea.

17 *Hershey's Little Treats: CHOCOLATE KISSES

The Hershey Company makes over 80 million Chocolate Kisses every day and has been making them since 1907.

21 soup head? : SHELL

The type of soup known as "soup" may be named after the pot it was often cooked in, called "chaudière", a French term.

22 “Outlander” cable network: STARZ

The Starz premium cable channel is owned by Lionsgate, the same company that owns the Encore cable channel. Starz was launched in 1994 and primarily shows movies.

Outlander is based on a series of novels of the same name by Diana Gabaldon. The show stars Irish actress Caitríona Balfe and Scottish actor Sam Heugan. Balfe plays a military nurse who is transported back in time to mid-17th century Scotland, where she falls in love with a Highland warrior played by Heugan. Due to the success of the TV show, there are rumors that a prequel may be in the works.

34 Orecchiette-Form: OHR

Orecchiette are small dome-shaped pasta from southern Italy. Each piece resembles a small ear, hence the name. "Orecchietta" (the singular) comes from the Italian "orecchia" meaning "ear" and "-etta" meaning "small".

36 Henrik, whose last track was When We Dead Awaken: IBSEN

When We Dead Awaken is an 1899 play by Henrik Ibsen that would be his last. It's about a Norwegian sculptor who looks back on his life as an artist. It is generally accepted that the play is somewhat autobiographical, with Ibsen recalling his struggles and triumphs as a playwright.

37 Tetris Shape: ELL

Tetris is a highly addictive video game developed in the Soviet Union in 1984. The name Tetris comes from a merger of the prefix "Tetra-" (since all characters have four segments) and "Tennis" (a favorite sport of the developer). Since 2005, over 100 million copies of the game have been installed on mobile phones alone.

41 Mormons, originally LDS

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is colloquially known as the Mormon Church.

Prom Queen Top 42: TIARA

A prom is a formal dance performed after high school (we call it a 'formale' in Ireland). The term "baile" is short for "ride", the term for a type of dance or dance.

44 Standard Links: PAR

The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name "Links" comes from the Old English word "hlinc", which means "ascending ground". "Hlinc" was used to describe areas of coastal dunes or open parkland. As such, we use the term "links course" to describe a golf course situated on the coast, often in the midst of sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

49 Gear selection: GEAR

Here's yet another term that confused me while crossing the Atlantic. In the UK and Ireland, a car's gearbox is the entire powertrain. Here in America, the term "transmission" is more synonymous with "gearbox".

51 *Pedicabs : BIKE-TAXIS

A cycle rickshaw is also called a cycle rickshaw.

53 Equipe Sacramento: KINGS

Founded in 1923 as the Rochester Seagrams, the Sacramento Kings are one of the oldest surviving basketball franchises. The Kings moved to Sacramento from Kansas City, Missouri in 1985.

57 By the way: LIKE A

"Apropos", which means "relevant, opportune", comes directly from French to English, in which the language "à propos" means "for the purpose". Note that we use the term as one word (apropos), whereas the original French consists of two words (à propos).

64 string quartet: VIOLA

A classical string quartet consists of two violins, a viola and a cello. A string quintet consists of a standard string quartet with the addition of a fifth instrument, usually a second viola or cello.

66 Stale Italian Bread? : LIRE

In a "banca" (bank) in Italy, the preferred currency was the lira, now it's the euro.

67 Pussy Fests: SLAMS

A poetry slam is a competition in which poets (usually) read their own works, with winners chosen by the public. The first poetry slam is said to have taken place in Chicago in 1984. There is now an annual National Poetry Slam with representatives from the US, Canada and France.

68 General __ Frango: TSO

General Tso's chicken is an American creation and a dish often found on Chinese restaurant menus. The name General Tso could be a reference to General Zuo Zongtang of the Qing Dynasty, but there is no definite connection.

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1 question and answer quiz: FACTS

Curiosities are things of little importance. "Trivia" is the plural form of the Latin word "trivium", which means "a place where three roads meet". That's what I call a trivial fact...

3 Cantor de "Glassheart" Lewis: LEONA

Glassheart is a 2012 studio album by English singer Leona Lewis. This release initially took place in the UK and Ireland, and relatively poor sales led to the planned North American release being canceled.

8 lens cover: EYELIDS

The lens of the eye can change its shape and therefore its focal length. This shift allows the eye to focus on objects at different distances. The shape of the lens changes due to the action of the ciliary muscles of the eye.

12 The Baltimore Ravens mascot was named after a writer: POE

The name of the Baltimore Ravens football team has a literary derivation. Baltimore was the home of writer Edgar Allan Poe, so the staff took their nickname from his most famous poem, The Raven. The name was chosen in a fan contest. Baltimore's mascot is a raven named Poe. Prior to the 2008 season, Raven's had a trio of bird mascots: Edgar, Allan, and Poe.

18 Rice noodles: BARLEY

Orzo are noodles that have been formed into granular shapes similar to barley. In fact, “orzo” is the Italian word for “barley”. Orzo is also called "risoni", which means "big rice".

19 Green Hornet Kumpel: KATO

Kato was portrayed by Bruce Lee in the television series The Green Hornet. Kato's role has been credited as the driving force behind the growing popularity of martial arts in the United States during the 1960s.

24 Secret Service of the USSR: KGB

The "Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti" (KGB) was the Soviet Union's national security authority until 1991. The KGB was dissolved after the head of the agency led a failed coup attempt to overthrow President Mikhail Gorbachev.

25 trajectory? : HALL

During a flight, the path to your seat is called an aisle.

26 City near Manchester: LEEDS

I went to school near Leeds in West Yorkshire in the north of England for a while. Before the Industrial Revolution, Leeds was an important center of wool production and trade and then, with the onset of mechanisation, it became a natural center for textile manufacturing. Nowadays, Leeds is known as a shopping destination and has therefore been nicknamed the 'Knightsbridge of the North'.

Manchester is the second largest city in Great Britain and is located in the northwest of England. During the Industrial Revolution, Manchester grew dramatically in size. Home to a thriving textile industry, Manchester is often referred to as the world's first industrialized city.

27 Accounting Giant __ & Young: SERIOUSLY

Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young is one of the Big Four audit firms. Ernst & Young is headquartered in London. The company was formed in 1989 through the merger of Ernst & Whinney and Young & Co.

29 __ Sal: MAR

Lobbyists have done their job with the “sea salt” label. In the United States, sea salt doesn't even have to come from the sea. The argument is that all salt comes from the sea, if you look far back. Food policy; don't let me start...

31 Adjust a paragraph setting: RETAB

Like most functions on our computer keyboards, the Tab key is a holdover from the typewriter days. Using the typewriter, making entries in a table was very tedious, as you had to type a lot on the space and backspace keys. So a lever was added to typewriters that allowed the operator to "jump" across the page to positions that could be adjusted manually. This was later simplified to a tab key that can be pressed, causing the carriage to skip to the next tab stop, much like the modern tab key works on a computer.

32 line of defense? : ALIBI

"Alibi" is Latin for "elsewhere", as in "I claim I was 'elsewhere' when the crime was committed, I have an 'alibi'".

33 lab vessels: BOTTLE

Our term "laboratory", often shortened to "laboratory", comes from the Medieval Latin word "laboratory" and means "workplace, work". This, in turn, comes from the Latin verb "laborare", which means "to work".

35 Iron pumping unit: REP

repeat (repeat)

38 Some of Bach's creations: CANTATAS

A cantata is a sung piece of music, as opposed to a sonata, which is a piece played on an instrument, usually a piano. A sonata is actually a sonata, described as something lighter and shorter.

Johann Sebastian Bach died aged 65 in 1750. He was buried in the Alter Johannisfriedhof in Leipzig, and his grave remained unmarked until 1894. At that time, his coffin was found, removed and buried in a crypt inside the church. During World War II, the church was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid, so the remains had to be recovered after the war and taken to St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.

39 Puts on a glove, so to speak: TAGS

That could be baseball.

43 Food-Autor Drummond: REE

Ree Drummond is a food writer and blogger. Drummond's blog, The Pioneer Woman, chronicles her daily life on her family's working ranch outside Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

47 Cantor "Ring of Fire": CASH

The country classic Ring of Fire was written by Merle Kilgore and June Carter. The first recording of the song was made by June Carter's sister Anita in 1963. The second recording was slightly more successful. It was a recording of June Carter's husband... Johnny Cash.

52 Siouan speakers: IOWAS

Iowa Native Americans are a Siouan nation. The Iowa, along with the Missouria and Otoe tribes, speak the Chiwere language.

56 Eye disorders: STYES

A stye is a bacterial infection of the oil glands at the base of the eyelashes, also known as a stye.

58 AD Chr Veterans: POLS

Politician (Poland)

61 RV Stop: KOA

Kampgrounds of America (KOA) was founded in 1962 by Montana businessman Dave Drum, who opened his first property on the Yellowstone River. Its strategy was to offer a comprehensive package of services, including hot showers, restrooms and a shop, which it hoped would attract people used to camping outdoors. The original camp was an instant success, and Drum took on two partners and sold franchises across the country. Today there are approximately 500 KOA locations.

One who uses a recreational vehicle (RV) may be called an RVer.

62 Common name for a tree-lined street: ELM

The most common street name in the USA is "Second Street". "First Street" only appears at number three, and that's because many cities avoid using "First" and instead use "Main" or something more historic. The spooky "Elm Street" appears at number fifteen on the list.

63 City of Ipanema: RIO

Ipanema is a beach community in the south of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The name Ipanema is a local word that means 'bad water', that is, the coast is bad for fishing. The beach became world famous after the release of the song "Girl from Ipanema" in 1962.