L.A. Times Crossword Wednesday, August 16, 2023 MaryEllen Luthlaut

Theme: Right on time.  In the language phrases are repurposed to describe arrivals in a way that relates to the thing that is arriving.   Let's have a look.

20 A. The ice cream truck arrived __: LICKETY SPLIT.  This phrase is of uncertain origin, but its meaning is clear - to achieve something very rapidly.  I'm guessing the relevant ice cream treat is a banana SPLIT. I would more likely LICK a cone, but OK.

33 A. The food truck arrived __: IN SHORT ORDER.  Another phrase that means to do something quickly. In a culinary sense, a SHORT ORDER is a dish which can be prepared and served quickly. So it fits.

42 A. The newspaper delivery van arrived __: WITH DISPATCH.  This phrase means quickly and efficiently.  A DISPATCH is a news report sent by a correspondent, often from a foreign land.  So the connection is perfect.

58 A. The race car arrived __: STRAIGHT AWAY.  This phrase means immediately.  A STRAIGHTAWAY is a straight section of a road or race track.  Another solid connection.

Hi, Gang, JazzBumpa here to register all these timely arrivals.  The levels of meaning here are impressive. Let's see what it takes to arrive at the end of this puzzle.

Across:

1. Pub hardware: TAPS.  A device to control the flow of liquid from a container.

5. Rotisserie rods: SPITS.  Thin pointed rods for holding meat over a fire. 

10. Peace and quiet: CALM.  A placid state, not showing anxiety or strong emotion.

14. Gaelic tongue: ERSE.  The Scottish or Irish Gaelic language.

15. Forearm bones: ULNAE.   The thinner and longer of the two bones in the human forearm, on the side opposite to the thumb.

16. Little of this, little of that: OLIO.   A miscellaneous collection of things.

17. Eyelid affliction: STYE.   An inflamed swelling on the edge of an eyelid, caused by bacterial infection of the gland at the base of an eyelash.

18. Former first lady Bush: LAURA.  Laura Lane Bush [b. 1946] is the wife of former President George W. Bush and was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as the first lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. She is also the daughter-in-law of former president George H. W. Bush.

19. Voice above tenor: ALTO.  In typical 4 voice harmony, the alto is the voice pitched below soprano, and above tenor and bass

23. Firepit residue: ASH. The solid residue left when combustible material is thoroughly burned 

24. Stop on the way home?: BASE.  In the game of baseball, a run is scored by progression from home plate, though 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base, and back to home late again.  I love this clever clue.

25. State strongly: ASSERT. State a fact or belief confidently and forcefully.  See my previous sentence.

29. Squish: STEP ON.  Specifically on something soft and -- well - squishy, so as to make a soft, squelching sound.

31. Echidna snack: ANT.   Echidnas, sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae. The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the only surviving members of the order Monotremata. The diet of some species consists of ants and termites, but they are not closely related to the true anteaters of the Americas, which (along with sloths and armadillos) are xenarthrans. Echidnas live in Australia and New Guinea.

32. Cultural org. with annual Jazz Master Fellowships: NEA.  The National Education Association is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers.

37. Not ajar: SHUT.   Closed tight, as a door.

40. Chest-beating beast: APE.  Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.  Unlike. monkeys, Apes do not have tails due to a mutation of the TBXT gene. 

41. Meat inspector's org.: USDA.   The United States Department of Agriculture is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food

47. Part of IPA: ALE.   Ale is a type of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative.

48. Baseball official: UMP.  Short for umpire.

49. Listening aid: EAR BUD.   A very small headphone, worn inside the ear.

53. Girl with a missing flock: BO PEEP.   The original story is about a little shepherdess who loses her sheep. Her name may have come from a 16th-century children's peek-a-boo game in England known as “Bo-Peep.” 

55. Alternative to fries: TOTS.  Potato products. 

57. Make a mistake: ERR.  Be mistaken or incorrect; make a mistake.  Hey - it's only human.

61. Seats for the congregation: PEWS.   A long bench with a back, placed in rows in the main part of some churches to seat the congregation.

64. Get around: EVADE.  Escape or avoid, especially by cleverness or trickery.

65. Round of applause: HAND.  Informal usage of the word.

66. Diva's solo: ARIA.   A self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompaniment, normally part of a larger work. 

67. More resentful: SORER.  Angrier.  A clumsy word that you're unlikely to encounter in conversation.

68. Lakefront city between Cleveland and Buffalo: ERIE.  Erie [population ca. 94000] is a city in Pennsylvania, on Lake Erie. Presque Isle State Park, a peninsula with beaches and trails, curves around Presque Isle Bay. Nearby, Waldameer Park & Water World has roller coasters and waterslides. The Erie Maritime Museum traces the history of Lake Erie and is the home port of the US Brig Niagara, an updated 19th-century ship. 

69. Oodles: MANY.  A whole big bunch.

70. Slim-necked swimmers: SWANS.   Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. 

Wikipedia

71. Cruel: MEAN.  Unkind, spiteful or aggressive in behavior.

Down:

1. Some electric cars: TESLAS.   Tesla, Inc. is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles, stationary battery energy storage devices from home to grid-scale, solar panels and solar roof tiles, and related products and services.

2. Skillful one: ARTIST.   A person skilled at a particular task or occupation.

3. Maiden loved by Cupid: PSYCHE.   the Greek goddess of the soul and often represented as a beautiful woman with butterfly wings. The name Psyche means "soul" in Greek.   She was born a mortal woman eventually granted immortality, with beauty that rivaled even Aphrodite, goddess of love.

4. Aim (to): SEEK.   Attempt or desire to obtain or achieve something.

5. Ottoman rulers: SULTANS.   A position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun sulṭah, meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty (i.e., not having dependence on any higher ruler) without claiming the overall caliphate, or to refer to a powerful governor of a province within the caliphate.

6. Stage performances: PLAYS.   Examples of a type of literary work that is designed for performance in a theater in front of an audience. A play is composed of dialogue between various characters and divided into acts and scenes to increase the dramatic effect. 

7. Not vacant: IN USE.  As, for example, a public rest room.

8. Weatherproof canvas: TARP.    A large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene.

9. Weatherproofing application: SEALANT.  Sealant is a substance used to block the passage of fluids through openings in materials, a type of mechanical seal. In building construction sealant is sometimes synonymous with caulk and also serve the purposes of blocking dust, sound and heat transmission. 

10. Layers: COATS.  Plies or applications of material to cover an object.

11. 100%: ALL.  Completely.

12. On: LIT.   Powered, as a light bulb.

13. Cow sound: MOO.  The deep vocal utterance of a bovine.

21. Jet, in poems: EBON.  Deep black.

22. Analogy phrase: IS TO.  A way of indicating a relational comparison.   A is to B as X is to Y 

26. Halts: ENDS.  Comes to a conclusion.

27. Marsh plant: REED.  Any of the tall, grass-like plants of wet places. They occur in reed beds. Reeds are many polyphyletic species, which have all adapted to this wet habitat by convergent evolution. It is a "form" name, not a technical botanical term.

28. Voice actress Strong: TARA.  Tara Lyn Strong [b. 1973] is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games.

30. __ helmet: safari accessory: PITH.  A lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of sholapith. The pith helmet originates from the Spanish military adaptation of the native salakot headgear of the Philippines.  Sholapith is dried milky-white spongey plant matter from Aeschynomene species.

31. Sphere: AREA.  An area of activity, interest, or expertise; a section of society or an aspect of life distinguished and unified by a particular characteristic.

34. Trunk hardware: HASP.  A slotted hinged metal plate that forms part of a fastening for a door or lid and is fitted over a metal loop and secured by a pin or padlock.

35. Like up and down: Abbr.: OPP.  Opposites.  

36. German mining region: RUHR.   A polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km² and a population of over 5 million, it is the largest urban area in Germany.

37. Forensic evidence collector: SWAB.   An absorbent pad or piece of material, often on a stick or rod, used in surgery and medicine for cleaning wounds and skin, applying medication, or taking specimens.

38. Largest city on Hawaii's largest island: HILO.  Hilo is on the Island of Hawaii.  The devastating wild fires on on the Island of Maui, to the north-west.   [Map]

39. Sch. near the Rio Grande: UTEP.   University of Texas at El Paso.

43. Composition for two: DUET.  A piece of music performed by two singers or instrumentalists.

44. Dazzle: IMPRESS.  Baffle them with your awesomeness.  

45. Ties in place: TETHERS.  Physically connects something to something. 

46. Slight coloring: CAST.   Tint, hue.

50. Ides of March word: BEWARE.   A cautionary admonition.  From an old PLAY.
  
51. Muse of astronomy: URANIA.   Meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven," she was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy and astrology. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, her attributes being the globe and compass.

52. England's first poet laureate: DRYDEN.  John Dryden [1631 - 1700] was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.

54. Composition: ESSAY.   An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. 

55. Headpiece worn by kid-lit's Fancy Nancy: TIARA.  Fancy Nancy is a 2005 children's picture book series written by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. Its first book entry spent nearly 100 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, resulting in the launch of a series that now spawns over 100 titles, with sales of more than 50 million volumes.   A tiara (from Latin: tiara, from Ancient Greek: τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women at formal occasions. 

Wikipedia

56. City near the Great Salt Lake: OGDEN.   Ogden [population 87000] is a city north of Salt Lake City, in Utah. It’s a gateway to ski resorts like Snowbasin, Powder Mountain and Nordic Valley. George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park features life-size models and a paleontology lab. Historic 25th Street, once home to Prohibition-era speakeasies, is now a shopping and dining hub. 

59. Admit frankly: AVOW.   Assert, declare, affirm, protest, avow mean to state positively usually in anticipation of denial or objection

60. "Can I get a word in?": AHEM.  Used to represent the noise made when clearing the throat, typically to attract attention or express disapproval or embarrassment.  "Ahem, excuse me . . ."

61. "The Office" role for Jenna: PAM.   Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer [b. 1974] is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Pam Beesly on the NBC sitcom The Office, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2007. She was also a producer for the show's final season.

62. Notable period: ERA.  A long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic.

63. Finish first: WIN.   Be victorious at the end of a contest or campaign.

OK, Gang.  We made to the end.  Hope you all got a win.  Happy Wednesday.

Cool regards!

JzB