L.A. Times Crossword Wednesday August 21, 2024 Brian Callahan and Will Eisenberg

Theme: Confused Dog Days of August.   The circled letters in each theme fill are a jumble of a type of terrier dog.  

Fortunately, not like this.

18 A. *Skeptical response to an ultimatum: OR ELSE WHAT.  Wadda ya gonna do about it?   The mixed up dog here is a WELSH terrier.

24 A. *Swashbuckling feline voiced by Antonio Banderas: PUSS IN BOOTS.  The original story is a European fairy tale about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand in marriage of a princess for his penniless and low-born master.  Now, this cat has gone to the dogs.  Or at least to a BOSTON terrier.

50 A. *Common side with chiles rellenos: SPANISH RICE.  A Mexican side dish made from white rice, tomato, garlic, onion, and perhaps other ingredients.   Under the table, hoping for scraps, is an IRISH terrier.

39 A. *"Absitively posolutely!": HECKYES.  Slangy and jumbled, but enthusiastic agreement.  And who could say no to a SKYE terrier?

And the unifier -- 59 A. Hybrid dog breed, literal examples of which can be found in the answers to the starred clues: TERRIER MIX.  A terrier mix is a dog that is a combination of a terrier-type dog and another breed. They can vary in size, color, and personality, and can make good companions for many lifestyles.  What kind of dogged determination did it take to find the fill for this puzzle?

Hi, Gang.  JazzBumpa here to walk us through this doggone fine puzzle, and not bark up any wrong trees along the way.  Nothing arf-way about it.  I've never had a dog, but every family in our next generation has has had a parade of them over the decades - mostly rescues.

Across:

1. Forecaster's tool?: ESP.  Extra Sensory Perception - a paranormal ability to perceive information outside of the five senses, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, or precognition.  Here, this is not a weather forecaster, as you might suspect, but somebody predicting the future

4. Sow's opposite: REAP.   Planting and harvesting.

8. Forecaster's tool: RADAR.  This clecho does refer to the weather.

13. Wong of "Beef": ALI.  Alexandra Dawn "Ali" Wong [b. 1982] is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer and director. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials Baby Cobra, Hard Knock Wife, and Don Wong.

14. Seal predator: ORCA.  The orca, or killer whale, is a toothed whale that is the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. It is the only extant species in the genus Orcinus. Orcas are recognizable by their black-and-white patterned body.  They are the only predator feared by the great white shark.  All they want from the shark is it's liver.   

15. Lady Liberty's land, familiarly: US OF A.  United States of America.

16. Bay Area industry: TECH.   Computers, chips, software, and related items.

20. Unwilling to be swayed from: SET ON.  Bound and determined, as my mother used to say.

22. Driver's "Star Wars" role: REN.   The son of Han Solo and Princess Leia, Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, is a dark warrior strong with the Force. He commands First Order missions with a temper as fiery as his unconventional lightsaber. As a leader of the First Order and a student of Supreme Leader Snoke, he seeks to destroy the New Republic, the Resistance and the legacy of the Jedi.  If anyone is interested, here is my review of a movie he was in.

23. "Were your __ burning?": EARS.  'Cuz I was dissing you to your friends.

28. Retired Bing assistant: CORTANA.  Not Mr. Crosby's former butler, Cortana was a virtual assistant developed by Microsoft that used the Bing search engine to perform tasks such as setting reminders and answering questions for users. 

29. Shout to a diva: BRAVA.  A shout of approval, the female equivalent of "bravo."

32. Days before: EVES.  Especially of holidays or important events.

33. Vocal quality after a long speech, perhaps: RASP.   A rough, unpleasant sound due to vocal irritation.
  
36. Giving a good look: EYING.  Looking at or watching closely or with interest.  Ogling, perhaps.

38. Flanders who lives on Evergreen Terrace: NED.   Homer Simpson's neighbor.

41. Change one's tone?: DYE.  Tone here meaning color, as of hair or clothing.  Clever.

42. Innate characteristic: TRAIT.  A distinguishing quality or genetically determined characteristic.

44. Role: PART.   As in a stage or screen performance.

45. Nintendo rival: SEGA.   Video game consoles.

46. Electronic instrument, for short: SYNTHesizer -- An electronic machine for producing different sounds. Synthesizers are used as musical instruments, especially for copying the sounds of other instruments, and for copying speech sounds..

48. National Park vacation package, perhaps: ECOTOUR.  Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education

53. Burn treatment: ALOE.  Ointment made from the juice of Aloe vera -- a succulent plant species of the genus Aloe. It is widely distributed, and is considered an invasive species in many world regions. An evergreen perennial, it originates from the Arabian Peninsula, but also grows wild in tropical, semi-tropical, and arid climates around the world

56. Bushwacker liquor: RUM.   This does not refer to woodsmen skilled at surviving in the wilderness, nor to confederate guerrillas.  Instead, the bushwhacker is a complex cocktail with several and varied ingrediants, which might or might not include rum.

57. Skyscraper abundance: GLASS.    Because they often have a cladding system that covers the building's exterior by combining large windows and opaque panels to create the look of an uninterrupted glass surface. 

63. "Frozen" sister: ELSA.   When their kingdom becomes trapped in perpetual winter, fearless Anna (Kristen Bell) joins forces with mountaineer Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer sidekick to find Anna's sister, Snow Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel), and break her icy spell.   One might argue which of these female siblings is the main character and which is the "sister."

64. Runs into: MEETS.  This refers to a chance encounter, rather than a planned meeting or a collision.

65. Click a floppy disk icon: SAVE.  The act of preserving data at a storage location, such the hard drive or a portable device.

66. Stocking stuffer?: LEG.  Usually this phrase refers to Christmas presents stuck in a decorated cloth tube hanging from the mantle.  But here it's a body part put into an article of clothing.

67. Tiny bit: SKOSH.   The word skosh comes from the Japanese word sukoshi, which is pronounced "skoh shee" and means "a tiny bit" or "a small amount." The Japanese word was shortened by U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan after World War II. 

68. "Grand" ice cream: EDYS.  A brand of ice cream from the American company Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc., which was founded in 1928 by William Dreyer and Joseph Edy. The brand is named after its founders and is sold in the Eastern and Midwestern United States under the Edy's name, and in the Western United States and Texas under the Dreyer's name.

69. U.S. ID issuer: SSA.  Social Security Administration.

Down:

1. Puts away: EATS.   Downs, ingests, devours.

2. Some tween parties: SLEEPOVERS.  An event involving an overnight stay at another's house.  

3. When school is full of posers?: PICTURE DAY.  The day when school pictures are taken.  Of course, the students all pose.  Clever.

4. Aussie hopper: ROO.  A kangaroo.   

Hop over here to learn more

5. Go astray: ERR.   Goof up.  In the New Testament the Greek word for sin is a term from archery that means "missing the mark."

6. Biting: ACERB.  Dry, sour or bitter.  I always want an -ic at the end.

7. Diet that avoids processed foods: PALEO.   An eating plan based on foods humans might have eaten during the Paleolithic Era. The Paleolithic Era dates from around 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago. A modern paleo diet includes fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds.

8. Regret: RUE.   Bitterly regret what one had done.   Did the apprentice chef rue spoiling the roux?   

9. In a manner of speaking: AS WE SAY.  In a manner of speaking.

10. City whose name comes from the Arabic for "roundness": DOHA.   Doha is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the country's population.   It does have a sort of semi-circular layout.

11. Nowhere near: AFAR.  At a distance.

12. "Dagnabbit!": RATS.  Oh, phooey!

17. Slews: HOSTS.  Large quantities.

19. Craft beer aficionado, perhaps: SNOB.  A person who believes that their tastes in a particular area are superior to those of other people.  I, for one, prefer Bell's Oberon to Budweiser.

21. Unit with a classified no. of employees: NSA.   The National Security Agency/Central Security Service, a US Department of Defense agency that is part of the US Intelligence Community. The NSA's mission is to protect US national security systems and information by collecting, processing, and sharing foreign electronic signals intelligence. They also work to prevent foreign adversaries from accessing classified national security information. 

25. Memo header: IN RE.   In re is a Latin phrase meaning “in the matter of.” The term “In re” is used in legal documents to refer to a case, particularly a case without an opposing party. 

26. Image Awards gp.: NAACP.  NAACP stands for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It is the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the United States, founded in 1909 by Black and white activists in New York City. The NAACP was created in response to the violence against Black Americans at the time.

27. Very, in Vichy: TRES.  

28. Minor change?: CENT.  Ha, ha.  One penny, rather than some slight modification.

30. What Zoomers are up to these days?: VIDEO CALLS.   Zoom is a proprietary videotelephony software program developed by Zoom Video Communications. The free plan allows up to 100 concurrent participants, with a 40-minute time restriction. 

31. "Who thinks they know the answer?": ANY GUESSES.  I had a few solving this puzzle.

34. Reel Big Fish genre: SKA.   A music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California. The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold-certified album Turn the Radio Off.

35. Funeral piles: PYRES.   Heaps of wood for burning a dead body.

37. Camper's bagful: GEAR.   Equipment that is used for a particular purpose.

39. Address letters: HTTP.   For web addresses

40. __ A Sketch: ETCH.  A mechanical drawing toy operated by two knobs moving an enclosed stylus horizontally and vertically.  It always amazed me when someone could actuallly draw something with one.

43. Some orthotic devices: INSERTS.  Custom-made, removable, prescription medical devices that are worn inside shoes to help relieve pain and correct foot problems.   Not all shoe inserts are orthotics.

45. Subway spinner: STILE.  Short for turnstile, a post having arms which turn around that is set in an entrance or exit so that persons can pass through only on foot one by one.

47. Fabled braggart: HARE.  In his hubris, he lost the race with the tortoise. "The Tortoise and the Hare" is one of Aesop's Fables and is numbered 226 in the Perry Index. The account of a race between unequal partners has attracted conflicting interpretations. The fable itself is a variant of a common folktale theme in which ingenuity and trickery are employed to overcome a stronger opponent.

49. Assn.: ORG.  Association, organization.

51. Breastfeed: NURSE.  literal.

52. "So cheesed off!": I'M MAD.  An expression of anger.

53. Note givers: ATMS.  Automatic Teller Machines, notes in this case being paper currency.

54. Shallot relative: LEEK.  Both of these plants form edible bulbs that are used in cooking.  They are related to onoins.

55. McCafé frappé flavor: OREO.   A sweet, frozen coffee drink from McDonald's that blends vanilla Frappé base, ice, Oreo cookie pieces, and Cookies 'N Cream flavored syrup, and tops it with whipped cream and more Oreos

58. Overdrawn account?: SAGA.  Not related to bank overdrafts.  Instead, this clue isa pejorative descriptor of a long story.  

60. Thereabouts: -ISH.  A suffix that makes the modified noun less exact.

61. Wrigley Field plant: IVY.   Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises.  Wrigley Field's features include its ivy-covered brick outfield wall, distinctive wind patterns off Lake Michigan, the red marquee over the main entrance, and the hand-turned scoreboard. 

62. Marks (out): XES.   Draws an X or a series of X's through something to indicate that it is incorrect or no longer wanted.

 That's it for this Wednesday.  See you in September.

Cool regards,

JzB