LA Times Crossword 19 Jun 24, Wednesday - LAXCrossword.com (2024)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Like a bad Goodyear : BALD

The Goodyear tire company was founded in 1898. The company was named for Charles Goodyear, the man who invented vulcanized rubber in 1839. Despite the Goodyear name, Charles Goodyear himself had no connection with the company. Sadly, he never really reaped a financial reward for his inventions.

5 Media network based in Ontario : THE CBC

“CBC” stands for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada’s national public radio and television broadcaster. In terms of financing and structure, the CBC is akin to the BBC in Britain. As commercial advertising is permitted, it is perhaps more akin to RTE, the national broadcasting company in my homeland of Ireland.

11 Tanqueray liquor : GIN

Tanqueray is a popular brand of gin here in the US, although it is less popular over in the UK, where it originated. It was first produced in the 1830s by Charles Tanqueray, hence the name. The list of added botanicals in Tanqueray includes juniper (necessary to be called “gin”), coriander, angelica root and liquorice.

15 Nickelodeon toon tyke : RUGRAT

“Rugrats” is an animated TV series created for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently—Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil. “Rugrats” was the longest-running Nickelodeon animated series until that record was surpassed by “SpongeBob SquarePants” in 2012.

16 Blackjack card : ACE

In the card game blackjack, an ace has the point value of one or eleven. When one of the two cards dealt to a player is an ace, the hand is called “soft”. This means that the player cannot go bust by taking another card, as the ace can be revalued at “one” if necessary in order to stay under 21.

17 Wrapped movie snack for a Rowan Atkinson comedy? : “BEAN” BURRITO

“Bean” is a 1997 comedy movie that is a spinoff of the “Mr. Bean” sitcom starring Rowan Atkinson in the title role. In the film, Mr. Bean is working as a security guard at London’s National Gallery. He is sent to represent the gallery at an unveiling ceremony in Los Angeles, after an art gallery purchases “Whistler’s Mother” from the Musée d’Orsay. The painting has a rough time in the presence of Mr. Bean …

23 Spicy movie snack for a Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze fantasy romance? : “GHOST” PEPPERS

The fabulous film “Ghost” was the highest-grossing movie at the box office in 1990, bringing in over $500 million, despite only costing $21 million to make. Stars of the film are Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. You might get a chance to check out the stage musical adaptation “Ghost The Musical”, which debuted in 2011 and toured the UK and US.

The ghost pepper is also known as the “bhüt jolokia” or Bhutanese pepper. The term “bhüt” somehow morphed into the similar-sounding “ghost”, hence the English name. Guinness World Records declared the ghost pepper the world’s hottest chili pepper in 2007, although the Carolina reaper was given that honor in 2017.

29 Christian name? : 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.

30 __ Lanka : SRI

The island nation of Sri Lanka lies off the southeast coast of India. The name “Sri Lanka” translates from Sanskrit into English as “venerable island”. Before 1970, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, a name given to the country during British rule.

35 Shasta and Fanta : SODAS

The soft drink company Shasta Beverages started off bottling mineral water from Shasta Springs in Northern California back in 1889. The water was originally shipped in railroad cars that were lined with glass. Costly transportation, I’d say …

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!”

38 Roasted movie snack for a Leslie Nielsen disaster comedy? : “AIRPLANE!” PEANUTS

The 1980 movie “Airplane!” has to be one of the zaniest comedies ever made. The lead roles were Ted Striker (played by Robert Hays) and Elaine Dickinson (played by Julie Hagerty). But it was Leslie Nielsen who stole the show, playing Dr. Barry Rumack. That’s my own humble opinion of course …

Leslie Nielsen was a Canadian actor, one famous for playing the zany Sergeant Frank Drebin in “The Naked Gun”. Nielsen’s big break in films came in the innovative comedy “Airplane!”

42 __ dish: lab container : PETRI

Julius Richard Petri was a German bacteriologist and was the man after whom the Petri dish is named. The petri dish can have an agar gel on the bottom which acts as a nutrient source for the specimen being grown and studied, in which case the dish plus agar is referred to as an “agar plate”.

45 LP player : HI-FI

Hi-fi systems were introduced in the late 1940s. They are pieces of audio equipment designed to give a much higher quality reproduction of sound than cheaper systems available up to that point. “Hi-fi” stands for “high fidelity”.

50 Cold movie snack for a Disney princess musical? : “FROZEN” YOGURT

“Frozen” is a 2013 animated feature from Walt Disney Studios that is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Snow Queen”. The film is all about the exploits of Princess Anna, the younger sister of Elsa, Snow Queen of Arendelle. Spoiler alert: Prince Hans of the Southern Isles seems to be a good guy for most of the film, but turns out to be a baddie in the end. And, a snowman named Olaf provides some comic relief.

56 Mower brand : TORO

Toro is a manufacturer of lawn mowers and snow removal equipment that is based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The company was founded in 1914 to build tractor engines.

62 Sweet movie snack for an Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy? : “JUNIOR” MINTS

The 1994 comedy movie “Junior” stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito and Emma Thompson. Arnie plays a scientist who undergoes a male pregnancy.

Down

1 “And __ your uncle”: Brit’s “Voilà!” : BOB’S

“Bob’s your uncle” is an expression meaning “there you have it”. It is mainly used in the UK, and countries influenced by British culture.

The French word “voilà” means “there it is”, and “voici” means “here it is”. The terms come from “voi là” meaning “see there” and “voi ici” meaning “see here”.

5 Hilton brand : TRU

Tru by Hilton is a brand of hotels that was introduced in 2016, primarily to compete against the La Quinta and Comfort Inn chains.

7 Wading bird found in salt- and freshwater marshes : EGRET

Egrets are a group of several species of white herons. Many egret species were faced with extinction in the 1800s and early 1900s due to plume hunting, a practice driven by the demand for egret plumes that could be incorporated into hats.

10 Engineering exec at a startup, e.g. : CTO

Chief technology officer (CTO)

18 Thai currency : BAHT

The baht is the currency of Thailand. One baht is subdivided into 100 satang.

25 Tuscan tower town : PISA

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, which is caused by an unstable foundation. The tower was built in the 12th century and began to lean during construction. The lean worsened over time, and by the 1990s, the tower was at risk of collapse with a lean of 5½ degrees. A major stabilization project was undertaken in the 1990s, which reduced the lean to 3.97 degrees.

Tuscany is a beautiful region in central Italy, the capital of which is the city of Florence. Tuscany is considered to be the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, which was centered around Florence. It was home to great artistic icons such as Dante, Botticelli, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Galileo and Puccini.

27 “The Marvels” star Larson : BRIE

I mainly recognize actress Brie Larson from playing the daughter of Toni Collete’’s character on the excellent TV show “United States of Tara”. Larson is from Sacramento, and trained at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where she was the youngest person ever admitted.

“The Marvels” is a 2023 superhero film, and a sequel to 2019’s “Captain Marvel”. Brie Larson reprises the role of Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers. Unusually for superhero movies, this one didn’t do too well at the box office and actually lost money after its run in theaters.

32 The NHL’s Ducks, on sports tickers : ANA

The Walt Disney Company founded the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hockey team in 1993, with the franchise’s name being a nod to the 1992 Disney movie called “The Mighty Ducks”. The name was changed to the Anaheim Ducks when Disney sold the team before the 2006-2007 season.

33 Bad spell : HEX

“Hexen” is a German word meaning “to practice witchcraft”. The use of the word “hex” in English started with the Pennsylvania Dutch in the early 1800s.

34 Large primate : APE

The tailless primates known as apes (also “hominoids”) are divided into two main branches: gibbons (lesser apes) and hominids (great apes). The hominids are the great apes, and belong to the family of primates called Hominidae. Extant genera that make up the family Hominidae are:

• chimpanzees
• gorillas
• humans
• orangutans

37 Old fleet fleet : SSTS

The most famous supersonic transport (SST) is the retired Concorde. Concorde was developed and produced under an Anglo-French treaty by France’s Aérospatiale and the UK’s British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Concordes were mainly operated by Air France and British Airways, with both companies buying the planes with substantial subsidies from the French and British governments. The final Concorde flight was a British Airways plane that landed in the UK on 26 November 2003.

40 Word with hack or coach : LIFE …

A life hack is a technique that makes a routine task easier or more efficient. The term “life hack” was coined in 2004 by journalist Danny O’Brien when describing less-than-elegant shortcuts used by IT professionals.

48 Gothic horror novelist Stoker : BRAM

Bram Stoker was an Irish writer best known for the 1897 novel “Dracula”. Stoker’s fame as an author came after his death. During his lifetime he was better known as the personal assistant of renowned English actor Henry Irving. It is believed that Stoker used Irving as his inspiration for the title character in “Dracula”.

49 Rooms that often have little room : ATTICS

An attic or loft is a room or space located below the roof of a building. The term “attic” is a shortened form of “attic story”, the uppermost story or level of a house. This term “attic story” originally applied to a low, decorative level built on top of the uppermost story behind a building’s decorative facade. This use of decoration at the top of buildings was common in ancient Greece, and was particularly important in the Attica style. That Attica style was so called because it originated in the historical region of Attica that encompassed the city of Athens. And that’s how our attics are linked to ancient Greece.

52 Part of the Queen Bey song “Partition” : YONCE

“Partition” is a 2013 song co-written and recorded by Beyoncé. The song comprises two separate parts, “Yoncé” and “Partition”.

Beyoncé Knowles established herself in the entertainment industry as the lead singer with the R&B group Destiny’s Child. She launched her solo singing career in 2002, after making her first appearance as an actor. In 2006 she played the lead in the very successful movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls”. Beyoncé is married to rap star Jay-Z. She is also referred to affectionately as “Queen Bey”, a play on the phrase “the queen bee”. Her fan base goes by the name “Beyhive”.

53 Hunter in the night sky : ORION

According to Greek mythology, Orion was a giant hunter who was placed in the night sky by Zeus, the king of the gods. Orion is very recognizable as a constellation, especially with the three bright stars known as “Orion’s Belt”. The brightest star in the sky, Sirius, is said to be Orion’s hunting dog, and this star sits at Orion’s “foot”.

59 Volcano on Sicily’s east coast : ETNA

In the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, the “boot” is the mainland of Italy, and the “ball” being kicked by the boot is the island of Sicily.

60 Q __ Quebec : AS IN

In the NATO phonetic alphabet, the letter Q is represented by the word “Quebec”.

62 East Coast NFLer : JET

Just like the New York Giants, the New York Jets are based in New Jersey, headquartered in Florham Park. The Jets and the Giants have a unique arrangement in the NFL in that the two teams share Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Jets were an AFL charter team, formed in 1959 as the Titans of New York. The Titans changed their name to the Jets in 1963.

63 Daisy Ridley’s “Star Wars” role : REY

British actress Daisy Ridley hit the big time when she landed the role of Rey in the movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, a role that she reprised in several subsequent “Star Wars” films. Some might recognize the family name “Ridley”. Daisy’s great-uncle was Arnold Ridley, who played Private Godfrey in the hit Britcom “Dad’s Army”.