LA Times Crossword 5 Jan 25, Sunday - LAXCrossword.com (2025)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Big name in shortening : CRISCO

The Crisco brand of shortening was the first to be made entirely from vegetable oil. Although that sounds like a good thing, it’s actually made by hydrogenating vegetable oil so that it has physical properties similar to the animal shortening it was designed to replace. This hydrogenation turns good fats into bad fats, so medical professionals suggest limited intake.

21 Neapolitan standard that provided the melody for Elvis’s “It’s Now or Never” : ‘O SOLE MIO

“‘O sole mio” is a famous Italian song from Naples, written in 1898. The song’s lyrics are usually sung in the original Neapolitan, as opposed to Italian. The title translates from Neapolitan into “My Sun” (and not into “’O, My Sun” as one might expect). It’s a love song, sung by a young man declaring that there is a sun brighter than that in the sky, the sun that is his lover’s face. Awww …

“It’s Now or Never” is a 1960 song released by Elvis Presley that was inspired by “There’s No Tomorrow”, a 1950 hit for Tony Martin. “There’s No Tomorrow” was written as an adaptation of the Italian standard “O Sole Mio”.

22 Birch of “Hocus Pocus” : THORA

Thora Birch is an actress from Los Angeles. Birch is probably best known for her breakthrough role in the 1999 movie “American Beauty” in which she was the insecure daughter of a married couple played by Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening.

“Hocus Pocus” is a 1993 comedy film about a teenage boy who resurrects a trio of witches, played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy. Although the movie bombed at the box office, it has legs, and has regular showings around Halloween every year. Despite failing at the box office, Disney made “Hocus Pocus 2”, and with the same leading cast.

23 HS podcast recording sites : AV LABS

Audio-visual (AV)

27 Oscar winner Guinness : ALEC

Sir Alec Guinness played many great roles over a long and distinguished career, but nowadays is best remembered (sadly, I think) for playing the original Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars”. He won his only Best Actor Oscar for playing Colonel Nicholson in the marvelous 1957 WWII movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai”. Guinness did himself serve during the Second World War, in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. He commanded a landing craft during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943.

31 __ of Skye : ISLE

The Isle of Skye is off the northwest coast of Scotland in the Inner Hebrides. It is the second largest island in the country, and has been linked to the mainland by a road bridge since 1995. I’ve never been there, but I hear the views are spectacular.

44 Twist a peg on a guitar, say : TUNE

Tuning pegs are used to tighten and loosen strings on many musical instruments in order to change their pitch.

45 __ tape : DUCT

What we tend to call “duct” tape today was originally known as “duck” tape. In its first form, duck tape was rubber-based adhesive applied to a duck cloth backing, hence the name. Cotton duck cloth is a canvas-like material, a plain woven cotton fabric. The name “duck” comes from the Dutch “doek” meaning “linen canvas”. Duck tape started to be known as “duct tape” in the fifties, as it was commonly used to wrap air ducts in the construction industry.

57 Brain activity tests, briefly : EEGS

An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a record of electrical activity caused by the firing of neurons within the brain. The EEG might be used to diagnose epilepsy, or perhaps to determine if a patient is “brain dead”.

59 Gem with fire and matrix varieties : OPAL

Fire opals are almost transparent, unlike other opals that are richly iridescent. Although almost transparent, fire opals usually have a warm yellow, orange or red color. The most famous fire opals are also called Mexican fire opals, and come from the state of Querétaro in north-central Mexico.

In matrix opals, the gemstone’s silica spheres form in a grid-like pattern, rather than the typical stacked layers, creating a play of color that’s different from other opals. The unique structure can create a pinfire or small dot pattern of spectral colors.

62 Animated film about a racing 61-Down : TURBO
[61D Garden creeper : SNAIL]

“Turbo” is a 2013 computer-animated sports comedy film about a garden snail (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) who dreams of becoming the greatest racer in the world. The snail is named Theo, although he prefers “Turbo”, a nickname he gave himself. Spoiler alert: Theo attains his dream by winning the Indy 500.

63 “Agatha All Along” star Kathryn : HAHN

Kathryn Hahn is an actress and comedian who is perhaps best known for playing grief counselor Lily Lebowski on the crime drama show “Crossing Jordan”. In 2002, Hahn married fellow actor Ethan Sandler who is known for playing Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Brandau on the same show.

“Agatha All Along” is a dark comedy miniseries set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It is a spin-off from “WandaVision” (about Scarlet Witch and Vision), delving deeper into the backstory of the witch Agatha Harkness, played by Kathryn Hahn. Following the events of “WandaVision,” Agatha finds herself stripped of her powers and trapped in a New Jersey town under a magical spell.

70 Tampa Bay team : RAYS

The Tampa Bay Rays MLB team is a relatively young franchise, having been formed in 1998. The initial name of the franchise was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. While known as the Devil Rays, the team finished last in the league almost every year. The name was changed to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, and I am told the Rays started into a streak of winning seasons soon after.

71 Pain relief brand : ALEVE

“Aleve” is a brand name used for the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug Naproxen sodium.

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74 Lummoxes : APES

The word “lummox” comes from Britain, from East Anglian slang, and describes an ungainly and often clueless person. The term is probably a contraction of “lumbering ox”.

77 KOA client : RV’ER

Kampgrounds of America (KOA) was founded in 1962 by Montana businessman Dave Drum, who opened up his first property along the Yellowstone River. His strategy was to offer a rich package of services including hot showers, restrooms and a store, which he hoped would attract people used to camping in the rough. The original campground was an immediate hit and Drum took on two partners and sold franchises all over the country. There are about 500 KOA sites today.

85 Classic theater name : RIALTO

New York’s original theater district was located around Union Square, which was called Rialto, after the famous commercial district in Venice, Italy. New York theaters relocated over time to the Broadway area. However, the term “rialto” continues to be used for the city’s theater district, and indeed for a theater district in many towns and cities.

87 Yard holder : MAST

Yards are the horizontal spars that are attached to a mast and used to support square sails on older sailing vessels. Each end of a yard is known as a yardarm.

90 Faith founded by Muhammad : ISLAM

Muhammad was the founder of Islam, and is considered the final prophet of God by most Muslims. He was born in about 570 CE in Mecca, which is now the holiest city in Islam.

97 Some family cars : SEDANS

The American sedan car is the equivalent of the British and Irish saloon car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in Britain and Ireland), although in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.

100 Gospel-singing sister of Aretha Franklin : ERMA

Erma Franklin was an R&B and gospel singer. She was the elder sister of Aretha Franklin. Erma toured with Aretha for a while, and even recorded backup vocals on her sister’s big hit “Respect”.

101 1980s game consoles : ATARIS

Kids today probably don’t realize that we had a video game console back in the seventies, and it wasn’t a Nintendo nor was it a PlayStation. The Atari 2600 game system introduced the idea of separating out computing hardware (the console) from the game code (a cartridge). The same concept persists to this day, although cartridges have been displaced by discs and downloads.

103 Kunis of “Bad Moms” : MILA

Mila Kunis is a Ukrainian-born, American actress who plays Jackie Burkhart on “That ’70s Show”. Fans of the cartoon series “Family Guy” might recognize her voicing the Meg Griffin character. In ”Black Swan”, Kunis plays a rival ballet dancer to the character played by Natalie Portman. In her personal life, Kunis dated Macaulay Culkin for 8 years, but married Ashton Kutcher, her co-star from “That 70s Show”, in 2015.

“Bad Moms” is a 2016 comedy movie about three stressed-out mothers who go on a fling, shirking their maternal responsibilities for a few days. Those “bad moms” are played by Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn.

105 Viral social media bit : MEME

A meme (from “mineme”) is a cultural practice or idea that is passed on verbally or by repetition from one person to another. The term lends itself very well to the online world where links, emails, files etc. are so easily propagated.

109 Discovered vin rosé? : REVISED “VERSION”

Rosé wines get their color from the skins of the grapes, although the intensity of the color is not sufficient to make them red wines. Of the varying type of rosé wines available, we are most familiar with sweet White Zinfandels. Personally, I am fond of the dry Provençal rosé wines …

116 Fistfighter’s fist : MEAT HOOK

In fistfighting, “meat hook” refers to a wide, swinging punch aimed at the side of an opponent’s head or jaw. It gets its name from the shape of the punch, resembling a butcher’s hook.

118 Range where tomatoes originated : ANDES

Tomatoes originated in the Andes Mountains of South America, where wild varieties still grow today. The name “tomato” comes from the Aztec word “xitomatl”, which described the local red varieties. Spanish explorers introduced the tomato to Europe in the 16th century.

119 Some smartphones : SAMSUNGS

Samsung is a huge multinational company based in Seoul, South Korea. We tend to think of Samsung as a supplier of consumer electronics perhaps, but the company is into so much more. Samsung Heavy Industries is the world’s second-biggest shipbuilder, and Samsung Techwin is a major manufacturer of aeronautic and weapons systems. The name “Samsung” means “three stars” in Korean.

Down

1 Kibitz : CHAT

To kibitz (or less commonly “to kibbitz”) is to look on and offer unwanted advice. The term comes into English from German via Yiddish. “Kibitz” developed in German from the name of the bird “Kiebitz”, which had the reputation as a meddler.

7 Norton Sound port city : NOME

The town of Nome lies on the northern edge of Norton Sound, an inlet of the Bering Sea in Alaska. The sound was named by Captain James Cook in 1778 in honor of Sir Fletcher Norton, who was Speaker of the British House of Commons at that time.

8 Sports org. that added a “P” to its initials in 2019 : USOC

The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has a federal charter but it doesn’t receive any funds from the US government. As such, it has to engage in fundraising just like any other charitable organization. The USOPC was founded in 1894 as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and is headquartered in Colorado Springs. The committee renamed itself to the USOPC in 2019.

9 Stylish, in the 1960s : MOD

“Mod” is short for “modernist”, and describes a subculture that originated in London in the late fifties. Young men who called themselves mods tended to wear tailored suits, listen to pop music and drive around on Italian motor scooters. Mods came into conflict with another subculture that emerged at the same time in the UK called the rockers. Rockers were into rock and roll music, and drove motorcycles I remember as a young kid in school having to declare myself as either a mod or a rocker. I don’t think our “gangs” back then were quite the same as they are today though …

10 First name in pharmaceuticals : ELI

Eli Lilly is the largest corporation in the state of Indiana. Founder Eli Lilly was a veteran of the Union Army in the Civil War, and a failed Mississippi plantation owner. Later in life he returned to his first profession and opened a pharmaceutical operation to manufacture drugs and sell them wholesale. Under Lilly’s early guidance, the company was the first to create gelatin capsules to hold medicines and the first to use fruit flavoring in liquid medicines.

12 Nitrogen compound : AMINE

The chemical compounds known as amines are derivatives of ammonia.

16 Found Crusoe? : CHANGED “COURSE”

“Robinson Crusoe” is a novel written by Daniel Defoe and published in 1719. It is widely considered to be the first English novel. Before “Robinson Crusoe”, most works of fiction were written in verse or drama, but Defoe’s novel was written in prose and followed a narrative structure that would become standard for the novel genre.

17 Flourless cake : TORTE

A torte is a type of cake made primarily with eggs, sugar and ground nuts (but no flour).

19 “If I Only Had the Nerve” singer Bert : LAHR

“If I Only Had the Nerve” is a song from the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz”. It is sung three times in the movie, each time with different lyrics. The first rendition is by the Scarecrow, then the Cowardly Lion and finally by the Tin Man. The other versions of the song are, “If I Only Had a Brain” and “If I Only Had a Heart”.

32 Actress Meryl : STREEP

Actress Meryl Streep won three Academy Awards over the course of her career:

1. Best Actress for “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979)
2. Best Actress for “Sophie’s Choice” (1982)
3. Best Actress for “The Iron Lady” (2011)

36 Daycation locations : SPAS

A day off work, especially one that includes activities usually associated with a vacation, might be called a daycation.

37 Victor of French literature : HUGO

Victor Hugo was a French writer who is known in his native country mainly for his poetry. Outside of France, Hugo is perhaps more closely associated with his novels such as “Les Misérables” and “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”.

38 Sporty Camaro : IROC

The IROC-Z is a model of Camaro that was introduced by Chevrolet in 1978. The IROC-Z takes its name from a famous stock car race, the International Race of Champions.

40 Seat of Garfield County, Oklahoma : ENID

Enid, Oklahoma takes its name from the old railroad station around which the city developed. Back in 1889, that train stop was called Skeleton Station. An official who didn’t like the name changed it to Enid Station, using a character from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”. Maybe if he hadn’t changed the name, the city of Enid would now be called Skeleton, Oklahoma! Enid has the nickname “Queen Wheat City” because it has a huge capacity for storing grain, the third largest grain storage capacity in the world.

44 Forum frocks : TOGAE

In ancient Rome, the classical attire known as a toga (plural “togae” or “togas”) was usually worn over a tunic. The tunic was made from linen, and the toga itself was a piece of cloth about twenty feet long made from wool. The toga could only be worn by men, and only if those men were Roman citizens. The female equivalent of the toga was called a “stola”.

The Latin “forum” (plural “fora”) translates as “marketplace, town square”. “The Roman Forum” is the most famous example of such a space. The Forum at the heart of the city of Rome is surrounded by the ruins of several ancient government buildings, and has been referred to as the most celebrated meeting place in the world.

46 “Star Trek” lieutenant : UHURA

Lt. Nyota Uhura is the communications officer on board the Starship Enterprise, and was played by Nichelle Nichols in the original “Star Trek” television series. The role was significant in that Uhura was one of the first African-American characters to figure front and center in US television. In a 1968 episode, Kirk (played by William Shatner) and Uhura kiss, the first interracial kiss to be broadcast in the US. Apparently the scene was meant to be shot twice, with and without the kiss, so that network executives could later decide which version to air. William Shatner claims that he deliberately ran long on the first take (with the kiss) and fluffed the hurried second take (without the kiss), so that the network would have no choice.

47 Cheese similar to cheddar : COLBY

Colby is a cheese that is similar to cheddar. It was developed in 1874 in a cheese factory near the Wisconsin village of Colby, hence the name.

51 Hong Kong transport : TRAM

Hong Kong became part of the British Empire after the First Opium War in 1842. In 1898, Britain signed a 99-year lease to retain control of Hong Kong. That control ended 99 years later in 1997 with a formal transfer of sovereignty back to China.

61 Garden creeper : SNAIL

Snails and slugs are referred to collectively as gastropods. There are many, many species of gastropods, found both on land and in the sea. Gastropods with shells are generally described as snails, and those species without shells are referred to as slugs.

63 __ pants: baggy trousers : HAREM

Harem pants are an item of female clothing that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. They are loose-fitting pants that gather at the ankle. For example, the pants worn by belly dancers would be called harem pants.

64 “__ & Katie”: Netflix sitcom : ALEXA

“Alexa & Katie” is a Netflix sitcom that ran for four seasons from 2018 to 2020. Starring Paris Berelc and Isabel May as the title characters, the show follows best friends Alexa, a teenager battling cancer, and Katie, who shaves her head in solidarity.

65 Tests by lifting : HEFTS

The heft of something is its weight, its heaviness. The term “heft” is derivative of the verb “to heave” meaning “to lift, raise”.

67 Ancient Persian king : XERXES

Xerxes was the eldest son of Darius I of Persia. He succeeded to the throne in 486 BC as Xerxes I, and was later to be known as Xerxes the Great. It was Xerxes who fought against the Spartans in the famous Battle of Thermopylae.

78 High follower : FIVE

The celebratory gesture that we call a “high five” is said to have been invented by former baseball players Dusty Baker and Glenn Burke when they were both playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the late 1970s.

79 Braddock’s opponent in “Cinderella Man” : BAER

Max Baer was an American Heavyweight Champion of the World in the thirties. Baer held the title for 364 days, and then went into the ring after hardly any training at all against the well-prepared James J. Braddock. Braddock was a huge underdog, and yet emerged victorious after 15 rounds (Braddock is the subject of the 2005 movie “Cinderella Man”). By the way, Baer’s son is Max Baer, Jr., the actor who played Jethro on “The Beverly Hillbillies”.

80 “The Lion King” lion : NALA

In “The Lion King”, Nala is a lioness and the childhood friend of Simba. By the end of the story, Nala and Simba become wedded. “The Lion King” is inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, with Simba representing the title character, and Nala representing Hamlet’s love interest Ophelia.

84 Puts on the tube : AIRS

Television (TV, teevee, the tube, the boob tube)

89 “Atlas” actress, familiarly : J.LO

Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez (aka “J. Lo”) has two children with her third husband, singer Marc Anthony. The twins Maximilian and Emme were born in 2008. Reportedly, “People” magazine paid Lopez and Anthony $6 million to introduce the children to the public, making the images taken by the magazine the most expensive celebrity photographs of all time.

In the 2024 sci-fi film “Atlas”, Jennifer Lopez stars as Atlas Shepherd, a counterterrorism analyst tasked with capturing a rogue AI terrorist. Although she has a deep distrust of artificial intelligence, Atlas finds that she has to employ AI to find and capture the fugitive. The critics did not like this film, although it did quite well on Netflix …

93 Pants measurements : WAISTS

The term “pants”, meaning “trousers”, is an abbreviated form of “pantaloons” and first appeared in the 1840s. Pantaloons were a kind of tights named for a silly old male character in Italian comedy named “Pantaloun” who always wore tight trousers over skinny legs.

102 Iris layer : UVEA

The uvea is the middle of the three layers that make up the eyeball. The outer layer is called the fibrous tunic, and the inner layer is the retina.

103 Synthesizer pioneer : MOOG

In the sixties, Robert Moog invented the Moog Synthesizer, an electronic device that he used to produce music. I used to own a few of his albums, including a Moog version of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”. What a great performance that is …

106 Environmentalist Brockovich : ERIN

Erin Brockovich is an environmental activist who is famous for the role she played in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric for contaminating drinking water. Her story was told in a 2000 film titled “Erin Brockovich” starring Julia Roberts in the title role. Brockovich herself actually appeared in the film, as she was given a cameo as a waitress in a restaurant scene.

110 Private exchanges, briefly : DMS

Direct message (DM)

111 Moo __ pork : SHU

Moo shu pork (also “mu shu pork”) is a traditional dish from northern China, with the main ingredients being shredded pork and scrambled egg. In North America, the dish is served with tortilla-like wrappers that are sometimes referred to as “moo shu pancakes”.