Race in place crossword clue Archives - LAXCrossword.com (2024)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Person in a toque : CHEF

A toque was a brimless style of hat that was very fashionable in Europe in the 13th to 16th centuries. Nowadays we associate toques with chefs, as it is the name given to a chef’s hat (called a “toque blanche” in French, a “white hat”). A chef’s toque is quite interesting. Many toques have exactly 100 pleats, often said to signify the number of ways that an egg can be cooked.

9 Explicit content warning letters : NSFW

The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. It’s Internet slang used to describe online content that is best not viewed at work.

14 Short video on Instagram : REEL

Reels is a facility introduced by Instagram in 2020. Essentially, it is a feature that competes with TikTok.

15 “Cloud Atlas” star Berry : HALLE

Actress Halle Berry was the first African-American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar, which she received for her performance in the 2001 movie “Monster’s Ball”. Berry also won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress in 2005 for playing the title role in “Catwoman”, and she very graciously accepted that award in person. Good for her!

“Cloud Atlas” is a 2012 sci-fi movie adaptation of a 2004 novel by English author David Mitchell. It is a film epic, described variously as an epic success and as an epic fail. Not for me …

18 Instruments with bell-shaped bottoms : OBOES

If you want to read a fun book (almost an “exposé”) about life playing the oboe, you might try “Mozart in the Jungle” by oboist Blair Tindall. Amazon Studios adapted the book into a TV comedy-drama series that first aired in 2014.

28 Fed a friend’s iguana, say : PET-SAT

An iguana is a lizard, and as such is cold-blooded. There are times when pet iguanas need heat from an IR lamp to maintain body temperature. They can also be very large lizards, sometimes growing to a length of six feet.

29 Heckles a performance : BOOS

Originally, the verb “to heckle” meant “to question severely”, and for many years was associated with the public questioning of parliamentary candidates in Scotland. In more recent times, the meaning has evolved into questioning that is less polite and that is directed at stand-up comics.

30 Cranberry farm : BOG

When early European settlers came across red berries growing in the bogs of the northern part of America, they felt that the plant’s flower and stem resembled the head and bill of a crane. As such, they called the plant “craneberry”, which evolved into “cranberry”.

35 Microwave aluminum foil, say : ERR

Before thin sheets of aluminum metal were available as aluminum foil, thin sheets of tin were used in various applications. Tin foil isn’t a great choice for wrapping food though, as it imparts a tinny taste. On the other side of the pond, aluminum foil has a different name. No, it’s not just the different spelling of aluminum (“aluminium”). We still call it “tin foil”. You see, we live in the past …

42 __-Alt-Del : CTRL

Ctrl-Alt-Delete is a keyboard command on IBM PC compatible systems used for a soft reboot, or more recently to bring up the task manager in the Windows operating system. Bill Gates tells us that the command was originally just a device to be used during development and was never meant to “go live”. He once said that “Ctrl+Alt+Delete” was a mistake, and that he would have preferred a dedicated key on the keyboard that carried out the same function.

45 Weight : HEFT

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

48 Khan Academy founder Khan : SAL

“Khan Academy” is a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide a “free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere”. Founded by educator Sal Khan in 2006, the academy mainly teaches mathematics and science through the medium of YouTube videos. Check out some of the videos. They are really excellent …

49 Election Day mo. : NOV

Election day was chosen by Congress back in 1845. The month of November was selected as it suited an agricultural society, following the fall harvest and yet not too far into winter, which could make travel difficult. Tuesday was chosen so that people had time to travel to polling stations. Monday elections might have meant that some would have to start out on Sunday, and that could interfere with Christian services.

50 Jockey item with straps? : BRA

Jockey is a manufacturer of underwear and sleepwear that was founded in 1876 as a hosiery business in St. Joseph, Michigan called Coopers. In 1935, Coopers came out with the world’s first briefs for men, incorporating a Y-shaped overlapping fly. Touting the support offered by the briefs, they were branded with the name “Jockey”. Coopers adopted the Jockey name for the company in 1971.

51 Prophets : ORACLES

In ancient Greece and Rome, an oracle was someone believed to be inspired by the gods to give wise counsel. The word “oracle” derives from the Latin “orare” meaning “to speak”, which is the same root for our word “orator”. One of the most important oracles of ancient Greece was Pythia, the high priestess to Apollo at Delphi.

55 Cravalho who voices Moana : AULI’I

Auliʻi Cravalho is an actress who made her debut voicing the title character in the 2016 animated feature “Moana”. She is a native of Hawaii, and reprised her role as Moana in a Hawaiian-language dubbed version of the film.

60 Actor Bana : ERIC

Eric Bana is an Australian actor who enjoyed a successful career in his home country before breaking into Hollywood playing an American Delta Force sergeant in “Black Hawk Down”. A couple of years later he played the lead in Ang Lee’s 2003 movie “Hulk”, the role of Dr Bruce Banner. More recently he played the Romulan villain Nero, in the 2009 “Star Trek” movie.

62 Jazz legend James : ETTA

“Etta James” was the stage name of celebrated R&B and jazz singer Jamesetta Hawkins. James was an acquaintance of civil rights activist Malcom X. For ten years, she was a member of the Nation of Islam, and used the name “Jamesetta X”.

Down

2 Brazilian singer-songwriter Ramalho : ELBA

Elba Ramalho is a singer-songwriter from Brazil. She is sometimes referred to as the Queen of Forró, with “forró” being a musical genre very much associated with the Northeast Region of Brazil.

3 Story connectors : ELEVATORS

Elevators (simple hoists) have been around for a long time. What Elisha Otis did was come up with the “safety elevator”, a design that he showcased at the 1853 World’s Fair in New York. At the Fair, Otis would stand on an elevated platform in front of onlookers and order his assistant to cut the single rope holding up the platform. His safety system kicked in when the platform had only fallen a few inches, amazing the crowd. After this demonstration, the orders came rolling in.

5 First Nations people : CREE

“First Nations” is a term used in Canada describing the ethnicity of Native Americans who are neither Inuit nor Métis people.

6 Bison bunch : HERD

There are two species of bison left (four species are extinct). We are most familiar with the American bison (commonly called the American buffalo), but there is also a European bison, which is sometimes called a “wisent”.

7 Neuro letters : EEG

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”.

8 Cauliflower cut : FLORET

Cauliflower is a vegetable that is closely related to cabbage. The name “cauliflower” can be translated as “cabbage flower”. Yum …

12 “__ Coast best coast” : WEST

Well, here’s a controversial phrase, if ever I’ve seen one: “West Coast, best coast; East Coast, least coast”. I believe that it mainly comes up in conversation about sports …

15 Freeway section marked with diamonds : HOV LANE

In some parts of the country, one sees high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. Out here in California we refer to them as carpool lanes.

17 “More info soon” : TBD

To be determined (TBD)

21 Studio supports : EASELS

The term “easel” comes from an old Dutch word meaning “donkey”, would you believe? The idea is that an easel carries its load (an oil painting, say) just as a donkey would be made to carry a load.

26 Cain’s brother : ABEL

The story of Cain and Abel not only appears in the Christian and Hebrew Bibles, it also features in the Qur’an. In the Muslim account the brothers are named Qabil and Habil.

28 Perspective, for short : POV

Point of view (POV)

33 Make less powerful, in gamer slang : NERF

In the world of game design, creators strive for game balance. This balance between difficulty and fairness is aimed at improving the user experience. Buffing is the practice of increasing the utility of items and elements available to the player. The opposite is nerfing, reducing utility.

34 Coins in a game of dreidel : GELT

“Gelt” is the Yiddish word for “money”.

A dreidel is a spinning top with four sides that is often associated with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Each of the four sides on a dreidel bears a letter from the Hebrew alphabet (nun, gimel, hei and shin). The four letters are the initials of the Hebrew phrase “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham” meaning “a great miracle happened there”. According to tradition, children would be taught Torah while hiding in caves away from the Greeks. When Greek soldiers approached, the children would hide their torah scrolls and play with their dreidels instead.

37 Code for the busiest airport in Massachusetts : BOS

Boston’s Logan Airport (BOS) is named for General Edward Lawrence Logan, a military officer from South Boston who fought in the Spanish-American War.

40 Black __ : SEA

The Black Sea is in southeastern Europe just south of Ukraine. In the north of the Black Sea is the Crimean Peninsula.

42 Does a fast-paced Latin dance : CHA-CHAS

The cha-cha-cha (often simplified to “cha-cha”) is a Latin dance with origins in Cuba, where it was introduced by composer Enrique Jorrin in 1953.

44 Colorful stones at the bottom of an aquarium : GRAVEL

Gravel is a loose mixture of rock fragments. It is classified by the size of those fragments. For example, pea gravel comprises pea-size, rounded stones.

46 Pickleball venue : COURT

Pickleball is a sport invented in the 1960s that combines elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton. Originally marketed as a game for children to play in backyards, pickleball is now played on purpose-built courts by many, many adults, but mainly in North and South America.

47 Airstream stopover, for short : RV LOT

Airstream is a brand of very recognizable travel trailers. All Airstream trailers have highly polished aluminum coachwork and very rounded corners. The design is based on a trailer built by Hawley Bowlus introduced in 1936. Bowlus supervised the construction of the Spirit of St. Louis aircraft used by Charles Lindbergh to complete the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight.

48 Cul-de-__ : SAC

Even though “cul-de-sac” can indeed mean “bottom-of-the-bag” in French, the term “cul-de-sac” is of English origin. The term was introduced in aristocratic circles at a time when it was considered very fashionable to speak French. Dead-end streets in France are usually signposted with just a symbol and no accompanying words, but if words are included they are “voie sans issue”, meaning “way without exit”.

51 Notice in passing? : OBIT

Our word “obituary” comes from the Latin “obituaris”. The Latin term was used for “record of the death of a person”, although the literal meaning is “pertaining to death”.

52 Suggestions, for short : RECS

Recommendation (rec.)

56 Cookbook writer Garten : INA

Ina Garten is an author as well as the host of a cooking show on the Food Network called “Barefoot Contessa”. She is a mentee of Martha Stewart, and indeed was touted as a potential “successor” to the TV celebrity when Stewart was incarcerated in 2004 after an insider trading scandal. Garten has no formal training as a chef, and indeed used to work as a nuclear policy analyst at the White House!