L.A. Times Crossword Wednesday, April 21, 2021 Matt Skoczen

Theme: REQUESTS.

This will be easier if we start with the unifier.

56. Tot's sassy demand ... or a hint to the start of the answers to starred clues: GIMME.  Slangy way of saying "Give me." and perhaps more of a demand than a request. So the theme answers are all things that can be requested.

Today's more or less appropriate theme song.

          

17. *Lamb Chop, e.g.: HAND PUPPET. Lamb Chop was Sherri Lewis's sheepish companion. [read more here] GIMME a HAND is a request for help.

31. *Start a number: BREAK INTO SONG.  Spontaneously start singing, possibly with no provocation.  GIMME a BREAK is an expression of exasperation, protest, or disbelief.

48. *Sheriff Woody's sidekick: BUZZ LIGHTYEAR.  Iconic characters from Disney's Toy Story universe.

Frenemies

GIMME a BUZZ is a request for a phone call.

64. *Spoken language, in semiotics: SIGN SYSTEM.  Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols.  I suppose this refers to a system like ASL, which uses hand signals to emulate the spoken word.  Somebody help me if I got this wrong.   GIMME a SIGN can be a prayerful request for guidance, or a more mundane request to another person for clarification.

Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here.  Not really feeling greedy today, so I'll just give you a tour of today's adventure.

Across:

1. Formal ties: ASCOTS.  Neck decorations, not connections.

7. Corp. homes: HQS.  Head Quarters

10. Govt. farming monitor: USDA.  U. S. Department of Agriculture.

14. Symphony type pioneered by Beethoven: CHORAL.  The 4th movement of his 9th and final symphony has a chorus join the orchestra.

 

This takes a half hour - you have been warned!

 15. Agreement that sounds like fun?: OUI.  Wheee - yes!

16. Clogging is one of its two st. dances: N.CAR.  North Carolina.  So - what is the other one?

19. Laura with an Oscar: DERN.  Laura Elizabeth Dern (b 1967) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and five Golden Globe Awards. Her parents are actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd.

20. Holiday aide: ELF.  Santa's helper

21. Back: AGO.  Some time in the past.

22. Decisiveness: SPINE.  Being resolute [or stubborn.]

24. Hunk: SLAB.  Chunk of something, not a buff guy in the buff.

26. DJIA listings: COS.  The 30 Companies listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  For anyone interested, I follow it on my blog every business day.  

29. Candy cup creator: REESE.   Chocolate and peanut butter - oh, my.

35. Forbes competitor: INC.  Business magazines.

36. Legal encumbrance: LIEN.  a right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged.

37. Holiday drink: NOG.

38. Lions and tigers and ... not bears: BIG CATS.  The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus Panthera, namely the lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard, as well as the non-pantherine cheetah and cougar.

42. Swap with, as in a player-for-player deal: TRADE TO.  Pro sports team do this.

44. Busy-bee link: AS A.  

45. "TrËs __": BIEN.  It's all good.

47. GPS info: RTE.  Your global positioning satellite system will give you a route. 

52. "Silas Marner" child: EPPIE.  A girl whom Silas Marner eventually adopts. Eppie is the biological child of Godfrey Cass and Molly Farren, Godfrey’s secret wife. Eppie is pretty and spirited, and loves Silas unquestioningly.   [source]

53. Plaza de toros cry: OLE.  An encouraing interjection.

54. Lily pad squatter: FROG.  [ribbit]

57. Sap: PATSY.  A person who is easily taken advantage of, especially by being cheated or blamed for something.

59. Erode, with "away": EAT.

62. Team's lack, in a clichÈ: AN I.  There are no me in team.

63. Scot's swimming spot: LOCH.  The Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Scots word for a lake or for a sea inlet. 

68. Tennis great who wrote "Days of Grace": ASHE.  Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. [1943-1993] was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He was the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open.

69. First lady not married to a president?: EVE.  Evidently, she was the apple of Adam's eye.

70. 1996 slasher film: SCREAM.

 

 

71. "To __ not ... ": BE OR.  Hamlet's dilemma.

72. Lunch bread: RYE.  For sandwiches.

73. Pasta unit: NOODLE.  For soup, maybe.

Down:

1. Workout aftermath: ACHES.  Don'r over do it.

2. Word of intent: SHALL.  

3. Chitchat: CONFAB.  An informal private conversation or discussion.

4. O'Hare, on tix: ORD.   Read about the airport here.

5. Chorizo snack: TAPA.   A tapa is a hot or cold appetizer or snack in Spanish cuisine.  It need not include chorizo.

6. Belt: SLUG.  A powerful punch.

7. Word with hip or bunny: HOP.  Contemporary music or an old-style line dance

8. Hernando's "Huh?": QUE.  Literal, kinda.

9. Has a capacity of, as a diner: SITS.  Seating capacity.

10. Briefs: UNDIES.  Small clothes, in Westeros.

11. 33-Down start, usually: SCENE ONE.  Beginning of the Second Act.

12. Wouldn't dream of it: DARES NOT.

13. Valiant's son: ARN.  From the comic strip.

18. Indented blemish: POCK.  

23. Rotate so the palm faces down or backward: PRONATE.  As defined.

25. __-a-brac: BRIC.  Random non-valuable stuff.

27. Kind of lamp: OIL.  I'm not gas lighting you.

28. Tizzy: SNIT. Todo, when they're at it.

30. French Toaster Sticks brand: EGGO.  A Kellogg's brand of various kinds of frozen waffles, pancakes, french toast and more.

32. Provides with the means: ENABLES.  

33. Intermission follower, perhaps: ACT II. In a play of more than one act.

34. Towel material: TERRY.  A fabric woven with many protruding loops of thread which can absorb large amounts of water.

38. Ruth on a diamond: BABE.  George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935.

39. "Sure, probably": I SUPPOSE.  Tepid agreement.

40. Andalusian vegetable soup served cold: GAZPACHO.   A cold soup made of raw, blended vegetables.

41. Bell-shaped lily: SEGO.  Calochortus nuttallii — known as sego lily — is a bulbous perennial which is endemic to the Western United States. It is the state flower of Utah. 

43. Ignoring, with "to": DEAF.   Nope.  Not listening.

46. Org. with Jets and Flyers: NHL.  National Hockey League, not the USAF. 

49. Instrument laid flat during play: ZITHER.

50. Many a freshman: TEEN.  One between the ages of thirteen and nineteen.

51. Like 70-Across: R-RATED.  Restricted, Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian. This rating means the film contains adult material such as adult activity, harsh language, intense graphic violence, drug abuse and nudity.

55. "Paper Moon" Oscar winner: ONEAL.  Was it Tatum or her dad?

58. River of Flanders: YSER.  The Yser  is a river that rises in French Flanders (the north of France), enters the Belgian province of West Flanders and flows through the Ganzepoot and into the North Sea at the town of Nieuwpoort.

60. YWCA part: Abbr.: ASSN.

61. 1997 Mattel acquisition: TYCO.  You can read about their complicated history here.

63. Chem class part: LAB.  Laboratory, where you can make things that smell bad or go BOOM!

65. Climbing greenery: IVY.  Plant on the walls of college buildings.

66. "Wow!": GEE.  Good Golly!

67. Sellout letters: SRO. Standing Room Only.

So ends another Wednesday.  Hope you enjoyed it.

JzB over and out.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021 Jeff Stillman

Theme - today we have a broken word theme, with FALL getting fractured in three different ways,

16 A. *Second Commandment prohibition: FALSE IDOL.  "Thou shalt have no strange gods before me," is how I remember it.

22 A. *Old-fashioned parting words: FARE THEE WELL. Bye, now.

37 A. *"Cheese stands alone" kids' song title guy: FARMER IN THE DELL.  This children's song probably originated in Germany, and was brought to America by immigrants.  It is popular in many countries and languages.

49 A. *Metaphorical insect observer: FLY ON THE WALL.  Said of one who wishes to listen in on secret conversations.

60 A. Go to pieces, or what's literally hidden in the answers to starred clues: FALL APART. The word is divided in each theme entry and the presentation is elegant.  The first division is after the F, the next two bisect the word after the A, and the last one splits the two Ls.

Today's theme song --

 

Hi Gang,  JazzBumpa here to pull things together.  Let's get going.  We might have to solve this piecemeal.

Across:

 1. Go __: hit to right field batting right-handed, say, in baseball lingo: OPPO.  Is this in the sports language?  If so, I've missed it.  I've heard this in politics as doing research on your opponent.

5. Trying to block: ANTI.  Voting against.

9. Performs like Missy Elliott: RAPS.  I do not know her.

13. Ruckus: FRAY.  Ado

14. Eve's opposite: MORN.  No, not Adam.  Shortened evening and MORNING.

15. Sun: Pref.: HELIO. As our local HELIO-centric planetary system.

18. Heroic sagas: EPICS. Long stories about the great deeds of heroic figures.

19. "Awake and Sing!" dramatist: ODETS.  Clifford [1906-1963]  was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director. As a playwright he was extremely influential in the 1930's and 40's.

20. South Carolina state tree: PALMETTO.  It is native to the southern U.S., Cuba, and other Caribbean islands. 

25. See stars: REEL.  To REEL is to lose one's balance and violently lurch or stagger.  One sees stars from a low to the head.  This could also make one REEL, but that does not make them equivalent.

26. Widen, as pupils: DILATE.  To become wider or more open.  I've been putting off my eye exam for almost a year.

30. Fri. preceder: THU.  THURSDAY and Friday on the calendar.

33. "Oh dear!": ALAS.  Too bad.

36. Sherpa's home: NEPAL. A land-locked Asian country between India and Tibet.  It is mostly mountainous, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain.  

41. When some dinners are served: AT SIX.  We usually start a few minutes earlier.

42. Delhi wrap: SARI.  A garment consisting of a length of cotton or silk elaborately draped around the body, traditionally worn by women from South Asia.   Read about it here

43. "Narcos" org.: DEA.  Narcotics agents in the Drug Enforcement Agency.

44. Certain Tibetan: LHASAN.  One from Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, lies on the Lhasa River's north bank in a valley of the Himalayas.

46. Sounds of disgust: UGHS.  Along with eeew, and yuck.

55. "Yada, yada, yada": ET CETERA.  And so on and so forth

58. Old copy: MIMEO.  Short for MIMEOGRAPH, a machine that makes copies by forcing ink through a stencil.   From long ago in grade school I remember the pleasant fruity aroma of the ink.

.
59. Little pigs number: THREE.  

 

 63. Tally again: RE-ADD. You can count on it.

64. Skeleton prefix: ENDO-.  means "inside."   You have an ENDOskeleton.

65. Grandson of Eve: ENOS.  The first son of Seth, reckoned to be an ancestor of both Jesus and Mohammed.

66. Geologic spans: EONS.  Generally speaking, non-specific very long time-spans.  In geology, a billion years.

67. __ buco: OSSO.  Cross-cut veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine and broth.

68. "The Banana Boat Song" opener: DAYO.

 

  Down:

1. No longer using: OFF OF.  As a drug, I suppose

2. Designer bag brand: PRADA.  If you have more than  $1000 you don't need.

3. Not as bright: PALER. More pale is more in the language.

4. Raw bar mollusk: OYSTER.  The common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. 

5. "__ imagining things?": AM I.  Nope.  They really are oysters.

6. Doze: NOD.  Take a nap.

7. Figurative expression: TROPE.  As defined.

8. Eloper's acquisition: IN-LAW.  Member of the new spouse's family.

9. Drove back: REPELLED.  To beat back an attacker.

10. Came down: ALIT.  Landed

11. Early Briton: PICT.  People inhabiting northern Scotland in Roman times.

12. Just okay: SO-SO.  Mediocre, meh.

15. Fashion variable: HEM LINE.  The line formed by the lower edge of a garment.

Variable in time and location

17. Sunrise dirección: ESTE.  En español.

21. Was ahead: LED. 

23. Get wind of: HEAR.  Learn about.

24. MLB pitcher Dock profiled in the 2014 film "No No: A Dockumentary": ELLIS.  Dock Phillip Ellis Jr. (1945 – 2008) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1968 through 1979, most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

27. Parroted: APED.  Copied

28. One shared at a campfire: TALE.  A story that might or might not be true.

29. Jazz legend Fitzgerald: ELLA.

 

 30. Maker of nonstick cookware: T-FAL.

31. Doth possess: HATH. The owneth is upon him.

32. Constellation bear: URSA.  AKA Big or Little Dipper

34. Political commentator Navarro: ANA. Ana Violeta Navarro-Cárdenas [b 1971] is an American political strategist and commentator. She appears on various television programs and news outlets, including CNN, CNN en Español, ABC News, and Telemundo.

35. Walk with a swagger: STRUT.

38. Many printer jams: MIS-FEEDS.

39. Praised highly: EXALTED. Held in high regard and spoken of favorably.

40. Elevation word: HIGH.  Hight wold be more appropriate.

45. "Science Guy" Bill: NYE. William Sanford Nye, [b 1955] popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter.

47. Blood: Pref.: HEMA-.  Mediacal prefix derived from Greek

48. Ran through a reader: SWIPED.  As a credit or ID card.

50. Lover of Euridice, in a Monteverdi work: ORFEO.  An opera from 1607.

51. Tandoori breads: NAANS.  Contrived plural for an unleavened  bread traditionally baked on the outside of a clay oven.

52. Maytag rival: AMANA.  Makers of household appliances.

53. "Bad, Bad" Brown of song: LEROY.

54. Bear voiced by Ned Beatty in "Toy Story 3": LOTSO for short .  Lots o' Huggin' for long 

55. Basic French verb: ETRE.  "To be" in French.

56. "Sons of Anarchy" actor Rossi: THEO. John Theodore Rossi [b 1975] is an American actor and producer best known for his portrayal of Juan Carlos "Juice" Ortiz on the FX series Sons of Anarchy. 

57. Fruit drink prefix: CRAN-.  Because who would buy a drink called Crapple?

61. Mormons' gp.: LDS.  Latter Day Saints.

62. Bath bathroom: LOO.  British English.

That wraps up our legend of the FALL.  Hope you made it through unscathed.

Cool regards!

JzB