LAXCrossword.com

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Constructed by: Matt Revis & Katie Hale

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Cell Division

Themed answers are TECH items DISRUPTED by inserting a word in the middle:

• 123A Silicon Valley game changers, or an alternate title for this puzzle : TECH DISRUPTIONS

• 22A Part of the hiring process for stenographers? : TOUCH-TYPE SCREEN (“touch screen” disrupted by “type”)
• 36A Stage production about the lives of autoworkers? : CARMAKER’S PLAY (“CarPlay” disrupted by “makers”)
• 47A Need for the queen of hearts to get past security? : FACE CARD ID (“face ID” disrupted by “card”)
• 68A Picture-perfect brioche? : CAMERA-READY ROLL (“camera roll” disrupted by “ready”)
• 94A Escape capsules for rent? : AIRBNB PODS (“AirPods” disrupted by “BnB”)
• 102A Investigation into how E.T. got away? : PHONE HOME CASE (“phone case” disrupted by “home”)

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 17m 23s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Plant with edible sprouts : ALFALFA

The forage crop known as alfalfa may take its name from the Arabic “al-fisfisa” meaning “fresh fodder”.

8A Bouldering spot : CLIFF

Bouldering and free solo climbing involve climbing without ropes or harnesses, but differ significantly in scale and risk. Bouldering focuses on short, intense “problems” near the ground, where falls are cushioned by crash pads. Free solo climbing involves climbing tall cliffs or mountains without any protective equipment, making free soloing exponentially more dangerous, as a fall at any point is likely to be fatal.

13A Kemper of “The Office” : ELLIE

Actress Ellie Kemper’s big break came with the role of Erin Hannon, a receptionist on the sitcom “The Office”. More recently, Kemper played the title role in the Netflix comedy series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”.

18A Pointed beards : GOATEES

A goatee is a beard formed by hair on a man’s chin. The name probably comes from the tuft of hair seen on an adult goat.

19A Homes for the higher-ups? : AERIES

An aerie (sometimes “eyrie”) is an eagle’s nest. The term “aerie” can also more generally describe any bird’s nest that is located on a cliff or a mountaintop.

22A Part of the hiring process for stenographers? : TOUCH-TYPE SCREEN (“touch screen” disrupted by “type”)

Stenography is the process of writing in shorthand. The term comes from the Greek “steno” (narrow) and “graphe” (writing).

24A Take illegally : USURP

To usurp is to seize and hold by force. The term “usurp” comes to us from Latin via French, from “usus” (a use) and “rapere” (to seize).

30A Supermodel Beckford : TYSON

Tyson Beckford was the first Black male supermodel to achieve mainstream stardom, largely thanks to a 1993 Ralph Lauren contract. He also co-hosted the reality TV show “Make Me a Supermodel”.

36A Stage production about the lives of autoworkers? : CARMAKER’S PLAY (“CarPlay” disrupted by “makers”)

CarPlay is an Apple feature that mirrors an iPhone’s familiar icons directly onto a vehicle’s dashboard display. This allows the use of favorite navigation and music apps safely via the car’s buttons or Siri voice commands.

40A Wire service co. : UPI

Founded in 1958, United Press International (UPI) used to be one of the biggest news agencies in the world, sending out news by wire to the major newspapers. UPI ran into trouble with the change in media formats at the end of the twentieth century and lost many of its clients as the afternoon newspapers shut down due to the advent of television news. UPI, which once employed thousands, still exists today but with just a fraction of that workforce.

46A Kitchen set : DINETTE

Since the 1930s, a dinette has been a small dining space usually located off a kitchen, or the table and seating filling that space. Before the thirties, “dinette” was a term meaning “lunch, preliminary dinner”.

52A Candy from a novelty dispenser : PEZ

PEZ is an Austrian brand of candy sold in a mechanical dispenser. Famously, PEZ dispensers have molded “heads”, and have become very collectible over the years. The list of heads includes historical figures like Betsy Ross and Paul Revere, characters from “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”, and even British royalty like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (“William and Kate”). The name “PEZ” comes from the first, middle and last letters of “Pfefferminz”, the German word for “peppermint”.

54A Waxy compound : STEROL

Sterols occur in nature in both plants and animals. The most famous of the animal sterols is cholesterol, which is found in all animals as a vital component of cell membranes. Cholesterol is made within the body, so it isn’t a necessary part of the diet.

55A “Aida,” for one : OPERA

“Aida” is a celebrated opera by Giuseppe Verdi that is based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Mariette also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first staged in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radamès is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then complications arise!

56A Sherbet serving : SCOOP

Sherbet, the frozen dessert, is very similar to sorbet, the difference being that sherbet contains a small amount of milkfat.

60A PC maker : DELL

Computer manufacturer Dell is named for the company’s founder Michael Dell. Dell started his company in his dorm room at college, shipping personal computers that were customized to the specific needs of his customers. He dropped out of school in order to focus on his growing business, a decision that I doubt he regrets. Michael Dell is now one of the richest people in the world.

61A Glossy fabrics : SATINS

The material known as “satin” takes its name from “Zayton”, the medieval Arabic name for the Chinese port city of Quanzhou. Quanzhou was used for the export of large amounts of silk to Europe.

63A Antihistamine target, perhaps : WELT

Histamines are chemical messengers that trigger allergy symptoms while simultaneously keeping the brain awake and regulating stomach acid. This dual role explains why early antihistamines, designed to stop itchy eyes, often left users feeling drowsy by accidentally blocking the “wakefulness” signals in the brain.

65A Fair-hiring org. : EEOC

“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

68A Picture-perfect brioche? : CAMERA-READY ROLL (“camera roll” disrupted by “ready”)

“Brioche” is a French bread that has been enriched with lots of egg and butter, to the extent that it is also considered a pastry.

84A King of cinema : KONG

When RKO released the 1933 movie “King Kong”, the promotional material listed the ape’s height as 50 feet. During filming, a bust was created for a 40-foot ape, as well as a full-size hand that went with a 70-foot Kong.

89A Heavenly food : MANNA

According to the Book of Exodus, manna was a food eaten by the Israelites as they traveled out of Egypt. The manna “fell” to Earth during the night, six days a week, and was gathered in the morning before it had time to melt.

94A Escape capsules for rent? : AIRBNB PODS (“AirPods” disrupted by “BnB”)

Airbnb is a website-based service that matches people wanting to rent out short-term living quarters to people seeking accommodation. The company was founded in 2008 as AirBed & Breakfast. The original concept was renting out an “air bed” and providing “breakfast” to someone looking for cheap, temporary accommodation. That’s right; the “Air” in “Airbnb” has nothing to do with “air” travel …

98A Clairvoyance, e.g. : ESP

We’ve been using the term “clairvoyant” to describe a psychic since the nineteenth century. Prior to that, a clairvoyant was a clear-sighted person. The term comes from French, with “clair” meaning “clear” and “voyant” meaning “seeing”.

101A Spam sender : BOT

Spambots are nasty little computer programs that send out spam emails and messages, often from fake accounts. This blog gets about 500 spam comments a day that I have to delete, almost all of which are written by spambots.

102A Investigation into how E.T. got away? : PHONE HOME CASE (“phone case” disrupted by “home”)

1982’s classic science fiction movie “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” was directed by Steven Spielberg. The idea behind the film came from Spielberg himself, and the character E.T. was based on an imaginary friend whom he conjured up as a child after his parents divorced in 1966.

109A English noble title : BARONET

The British title of baronet has been awarded since the 14th century. The present-day hereditary baronets date back to 1611 when James I basically sold the title, awarding it to gentlemen of good birth who were willing to pay for the upkeep of thirty soldiers for three years.

112A Poetic feet : IAMBI

An iamb is a metrical foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The lines in Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” use four sequential iambs, e.g. “Whose woods / these are / I think / I know”. With that sequence of four iambs, the poem’s structure is described as iambic tetrameter.

121A Eagle’s claw : TALON

A talon is a claw of a bird of prey. The term “talon” ultimately derives from “talus”, the Latin word for “ankle”.

123A Silicon Valley game changers, or an alternate title for this puzzle : TECH DISRUPTIONS

The term “disruptive technology” was famously coined by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen in 1995 to describe how smaller companies with fewer resources can successfully unseat established industry giants. He later rebranded the concept to “disruptive innovation” after realizing that a new gadget itself rarely causes the collapse. Rather, it is the business model, like Netflix’s subscription versus Blockbuster’s late fees, that delivers the killing blow.

130A Razz : TEASE

Not so much here in America, but over in Britain and Ireland “blowing a raspberry” is a way of insulting someone (I think that it’s usually called “a Bronx cheer” in the US). The verb “to razz” comes from a shortened form of “raspberry”.

Down

2D Name of many French kings : LOUIS

Eighteen official kings of France shared the name Louis. Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” holds the world record for the longest reign of any monarch, at over 72 years. At the other extreme, Louis XIX technically reigned for only 20 minutes, in 1830 before signing his abdication papers.

4D Greek goddess of 118-Across : ATHENA
[118A Armed conflict : WAR]

As well as being the Greek goddess Athena, she also served as the Greek goddess of strategic warfare. She represented the tactical and disciplined side of battle compared to the chaotic violence of Ares, the other deity linked to war.

6D Tina of “Only Murders in the Building” : FEY

Comic actress Tina Fey has a scar on her face a few inches long on her left cheek, which I was shocked to learn was caused by a childhood “slashing” incident. When she was just five years old and playing in the alley behind her house, someone just came up to her and slashed her with a knife. How despicable!

“Only Murders in the Building” is a hit comedy-mystery series, co-created by Steve Martin. It stars Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as three residents of an affluent Upper West Side apartment building in New York City. The trio bonds over their obsession with true-crime podcasts and decide to start their own to investigate murders in their building. The guest cast is essentially a rolodex of Steve Martin and Martin Short’s real-life best friends and colleagues. The show feels like it is a group of famous actors playing in their New York backyard. I love this show …

8D House in “Encanto” : CASITA

“Casita” is the diminutive form of “casa”, the Spanish word for “house”, and might be translated as “cottage”.

“Encanto” is a 2021 animated Disney film. It is about a Colombian family, named the Madrigals, who have magical powers that provide assistance to the people in their community (Encanto).

9D Ferrari Formula One driver Charles : LECLERC

Charles Leclerc is a Formula One driver from Monte Carlo (and so is “Monégasque”). Off the track, he is a self-taught classical pianist who has released his own compositions.

10D Bargain basket items, for short : IRRS

Irregular (“irr.” or “irreg.”)

13D Flightless Australian bird : EMU

The emu has had a tough time in Australia since man settled there. There was even an “Emu War” in Western Australia in 1932 when migrating emus competed with livestock for water and food. Soldiers were sent in and used machine guns in an unsuccessful attempt to drive off the “invading force”. The emus were clever, breaking their usual formations and adopting guerrilla tactics, operating as smaller units. After 50 days of “war”, the military withdrew. Subsequent requests for military help for the farmers were ignored. The emus had emerged victorious …

15D Bay leaf source : LAUREL TREE

The seasoning known as bay leaf is the aromatic leaf of the bay laurel tree or shrub. Fresh bay leaves aren’t very flavorful and need to be dried and aged a few weeks before use in the kitchen.

17D Best Championship Performance, e.g. : ESPY

The ESPY Awards are a creation of the ESPN sports television network. One difference with similarly named awards in the entertainment industry is that ESPY winners are chosen solely based on viewer votes. The acronym “ESPY” stands for “Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly”.

28D Potpourri ingredient : ORRIS ROOT

Orris root is a basic ingredient in many perfumes, one providing a so-called “base note”. It is also an ingredient in some brands of gin.

The French term “pot pourri” translates literally to “rotten pot”, but in France it used to mean “stew”. Over time, the term “potpourri” evolved in English usage to mean a “medley”, and eventually a mixture of dried flowers and spices.

31D House of Lords members : PEERS

A peer of the realm is a member of the British nobility who historically held the right to sit and vote in the House of Lords. These individuals (ranked as Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, or Baron) were traditionally considered the monarch’s only social equals. The transition from “hereditary peers” to “life peers” in 1958 changed the chamber’s makeup, allowing individuals to be appointed for their professional expertise rather than their bloodline. There are moves afoot to remove all remaining hereditary peers. Makes sense to me …

35D College app datum : GPA

Grade point average (GPA)

38D Coral island : ATOLL

An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring that encloses a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically, an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside inside the circling coral reef.

42D “Law & Order: SVU” co-star : ICE-T

Rapper Ice-T must be tired of having his name come up as an answer in crossword puzzles (I know I am!). Born Tracy Marrow, Ice-T has been interested in acting for decades and made his film debut in the 1984 movie about breakdancing called “Breakin’”. He has also played Detective Fin Tutuola in the TV show “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” starting the year 2000.

44D Atlanta-based govt. agency : CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC started out life during WWII as the Office of National Defense Malaria Control Activities. The CDC worries about much more than malaria these days …

48D 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.

49D Lock setting : CANAL

A lock is a structure that is used to raise and lower watercraft between stretches of a canal that are at different water levels. Locks are included in canals so that the waterway can cross land that is not level.

50D Sioux City state : IOWA

Sioux City, Iowa has a history that is inextricably linked with the Missouri River. The city grew from a camp established by the Lewis and Clark expedition that traveled up the river in 1804. Today, Sioux City is the navigational head of the Missouri, the furthest point upstream that is accessible by general cargo ships.

53D Rapper of “KPop Demon Hunters” : ZOEY

KPop Demon Hunters is a 2025 animated musical film. The plot centers on a chart-topping K-pop girl group named HUNTR/X who lead a secret double life. By day, they are global superstars, but by night, they are elite demon slayers. Their main antagonists are a rival K-pop boy band, the Saja Boys, whose members are secretly demons trying to weaken the barrier between the human and demon worlds. Yikes …

64D Bay on Florida’s west coast : TAMPA

Tampa Bay is a massive natural harbor on the Gulf of Mexico that is home to three big three cities: Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. Traveling between Tampa and St. Petersburg was really awkward, because of the bay. This led to the world’s first scheduled commercial airline flight, the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line, just to bridge the cities during the 1914 tourist season. The two cities were then connected by the first roadway bridge over Tampa Bay: the Gandy Bridge that opened in 1924.

70D Novelist Jaffe : RONA

Rona Jaffe was an American novelist perhaps most famous for two of her books, “The Best of Everything” and “Mazes and Monsters”. “The Best of Everything” was published in 1958 and has been compared with the HBO television series “Sex and the City” as it depicts women in the working world. “Mazes and Monsters” was published in 1981 and explores a role-playing game similar to Dungeons & Dragons and the impact it has on players.

75D Mushroom that can be a burger : PORTOBELLO

The common mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) goes by a number of names. When immature and white in color, the names “common mushroom” and “button mushroom” might be used. When immature and brown in color, they are called “cremini mushrooms” and “chestnut mushrooms”. When mature, they are marketed as “portobello/portabella mushrooms”.

79D Snooty one : SNOB

Back in the 1780s, a snob was a shoemaker or a shoemaker’s apprentice. By the end of the 18th century the word “snob” was being used by students at Cambridge University in England to refer to all local merchants and people of the town. The term evolved to mean one who copies those who are his or her social superior (and not in a good way). From there it wasn’t a big leap for “snob” to include anyone who emphasized their superior social standing and not just those who aspired to rank. Nowadays a snob is anyone who looks down on those considered to be of inferior standing.

81D Erstwhile : PAST

“Erst” is an archaic way of saying “formerly, before the present time”. The term is mostly seen as part of the word “erstwhile”, an adjective meaning “of times past”.

83D Twisters : TORNADOES

Although a tornado (plural “tornadoes, tornados”) can be encountered in many locations around the world, it is most likely to be experienced in North America, and particularly in “Tornado Alley” in the central US. The Canadian Tornado Alley in southern Canada is where one is second most likely in the world to encounter a tornado.

88D Car in a Beach Boys song : T-BIRD

“Fun, Fun, Fun” is a 1964 song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the Beach Boys. The English rock band Status Quo released a great cover version of “Fun, Fun, Fun” in 1996, which featured the Beach Boys on backup vocals.

91D Oracle : SEER

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.

93D F1 neighbor : ESC

On many computer keyboards, the escape key (Esc) is located beside the first function key (F1).

95D Org. with Bulls and Bucks : NBA

The Chicago Bulls have won six NBA championships in the life of the franchise, all of them in the nineties. They won in the 1991, 1992 and 1993 seasons (a so-called “three-peat”), and then again in 1996, 1997 and 1998 (a second “three-peat”).

The Bucks are the NBA team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin who joined the league as an expansion team in 1968. There was a fan contest held to choose the team’s name, and the winning entry was “Robins”, in honor of Wisconsin’s state bird. However, the judges opted for “Bucks”, the second-most popular choice and a reference to the state’s official wild animal, the white-tailed deer.

97D Beethoven composition : SONATA

Beethoven wrote 32 piano sonatas in all, and they are sometimes referred to as the New Testament of music. This complements Bach’s sets of preludes and fugues known as “The Well-Tempered Clavier”, or the Old Testament of music.

99D St. Patrick’s Day events : PARADES

The first Saint Patrick’s Day celebration in the US was held in 1600, in St. Augustine, Florida. There is some evidence that the first St. Paddy’s Day parade was held the following year, in the same locale. The annual parade in Boston dates back to 1737, in New York City dates back to 1762, and in Chicago dates back to 1843.

108D Wiley of “The Handmaid’s Tale” : SAMIRA

Actress Samira Wiley’s breakout role was Poussey Washington in the comedy-drama TV show “Orange Is the New Black”. She followed this success with an Emmy-winning performance as Moira in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. In 2017, Wiley married Lauren Morelli, a writer for “Orange Is the New Black”, with whom she has a daughter.

117D Nativity headgear : HALO

In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also “crèche”) is a display representing the scene of the birth of Jesus. Nativity scenes might be subjects for paintings, for example, although the term is usually used for seasonal displays associated with the Christmas season.

119D Seed in some healthy smoothies : CHIA

Chia is a flowering plant in the mint family. Chia seeds are an excellent food source and are often added to breakfast cereals and energy bars. There is also the famous Chia Pet, an invention of a San Francisco company. Chia Pets are terra-cotta figurines to which moistened chia seeds are applied. The seeds sprout and the seedlings become the “fur” of the Chia Pet.

124D Michael of “SNL” : CHE

Michael Che is a standup comedian from New York City. Che had worked as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), and then started to appear in front of SNL cameras in September 2014. He became co-anchor for the “Weekend Update” segment of the show, alongside Colin Jost. They make such a great team …