LA Times Crossword Answers 10 Dec 12, Monday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Jellystone Park bear : YOGI
Yogi Bear made his debut for Hanna-Barbera in 1958 on “The Huckleberry Hound Show” before he had own his own series. Do you remember that collar that Yogi wore around his neck? That was a little trick from the animators. By using the collar, for many frames all they had to do was redraw everything from the collar up, saving them lots and lots of time.

5. Mazda roadster : MIATA
I’ve always liked the looks of the Mazda Miata, probably because it reminds me so much of old British sports cars. The Miata is built in Hiroshima, Japan.

14. Mary Kay competitor : AVON
In 1886, a young man called David McConnell was selling books door-to-door. To enhance his sales numbers he was giving out free perfume to the ladies of the houses that he visited. Seeing as his perfume was more popular than his books, he founded the California Perfume Company in New York City and started manufacturing and selling across the country. The company name was changed to Avon in 1939, and the famous “Avon Calling” marketing campaign was launched in 1954.

16. Female WWII gp. : WAAC
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was formed in 1942, and the unit was converted to full status the following year to become the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Famously, General Douglas MacArthur referred to the WACs as his “best soldiers”, saying they worked harder, complained less and were better disciplined than men. The WACs were disbanded in 1978 and the serving members were integrated into the rest of the army.

17. __ ring : MOOD
Mood rings were invented relatively recently, in 1975, and became a bit of a fad for a few years. A mood ring is one containing a “stone” that changes color with temperature, although the color change is touted as being dependent on the wearer’s mood. The part of the ring that changes color is actually a liquid crystal that responds to temperature changes.

18. Cub-turned-radio co-host Ron : SANTO
Ron Santo was a professional baseball player most noted for his appearances as third baseman for the Chicago Cubs. Santo suffered diabetes, something he managed to keep to himself for most of his playing career. After he retired, the disease necessitated the amputation of both his legs and complications from diabetes eventually contributed to his death.

19. Thornfield Hall governess : EYRE
“Jane Eyre” is of course the novel written by Charlotte Brontë, under the pen name Currer Bell. Over the years, I’ve shared here on my blogs that the “Jane Eyre” story line is a little too dark and Gothic for my taste, but a very persuasive blog reader convinced me to look more at the romantic side of the story and give it a second chance. I watched a wonderful 4-hour television adaptation of the novel made by the BBC a while back and I have to say that because I was focused on the relationship between Jane and Rochester, I was able to push past the Gothic influences (that depress me) so I really enjoyed the story. I thoroughly recommend the 2006 BBC adaptation to fans of the novel.

23. Foil giant : ALCOA
The Aluminum Corporation of America (ALCOA) is the largest producer of aluminum in the United States. The company was founded in 1888 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where its headquarters are to this day.

25. Chi.-based flier : UAL
United Airlines used the tagline “Fly the Friendly Skies” in its marketing materials from 1965 to 1996. It was then replaced with “It’s time to fly”. United chose George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” as the company’s theme music in 1976, and paid the Gershwin estate a fee of $500,000 for the privilege.

26. Rebellious Turner : NAT
Nat Turner was a slave in Virginia who led a slave rebellion in 1831 that led to the deaths of over a hundred people. Half of the casualties were white,and half were black. The 55 white deaths took place on the day of the rebellion as a growing mob of slaves traveled from house-to-house freeing fellow slaves but also killing any white people they came across; men, women and children. The rebellion was suppressed within two days by a white militia. Slaves involved in the rebellion were tried for insurrection and related crimes, and a total of 56 blacks were executed on suspicion of involvement in the uprising. In the aftermath, life for slaves became even more difficult as any freedoms that they had earned were largely curtailed.

27. *Nervous Nellie : WORRY WART
The term “worry wart”, meaning one who dwells unnecessarily on troubles, comes from a cartoon strip. Worry Wart was a character introduced in 1956 in the strip “Out Our Way” that was drawn by American cartoonist J.R. Williams. The cartoon Worry Wart caused others to do the worrying, which is the opposite of the meaning we give the term today.

31. Wind-borne silt deposit : LOESS
Loess is a wind-blown accumulation of silt. The word is German in origin and was first used to describe silt along the Rhine Valley.

41. “__ little teapot …” : I’M A
The children’s song “I’m a Little Teapot” was written and published in 1939, composed by a married couple who ran a dance school for children. They needed a simple tune that young ones could use to learn a simple tap routine.

50. SoCal ball club, on scoreboards : LAA
The Los Angeles Angels baseball team was founded in 1961 by entertainer Gene Autry. Autry owned the team for 36 years.

53. Singer of the feelgood a cappella #1 hit whose title begins the answers to starred clues : BOBBY McFERRIN
The jazz and pop singer Bobby McFerrin has music in his blood. His mother was a singer, and his father was famed operatic baritone Robert McFerrin, the first African-American man to sing at the Met in New York. Bobby McFerrin had a huge number-one hit in 1988 with his song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”.

58. Madison Avenue award : CLIO
The Clio Awards are the Oscars of the advertising world and are named after Clio, the Greek Muse of History. Clio was also the recorder of great deeds, the proclaimer and celebrator of great accomplishments and a source of inspiration and genius. The Clio Awards were first presented in 1959.

59. Congo creature with notable stripes : OKAPI
The okapi is closely related to the giraffe, although it does have markings on its legs and haunches that resemble those of a zebra. The okapi’s tongue is long enough to reach back and wash its eyeballs, and can go back even further to clean its ears inside and out.

63. Vocal quartet member : ALTO
In choral music, an alto is the second-highest voice in a four-part chorus made up of soprano, contr(alto), tenor and bass. The word “alto” describes the vocal range, that of the deepest female singing-voice, whereas the term “contralto” describes more than just the alto range, but also its quality and timbre. An adult male’s voice (not a boy’s) with the same range as an alto is called a “countertenor”.

65. Sporty car roof : T-TOP
A T-top is a car roof that has removable panels on either side of a rigid bar that runs down the center of the vehicle, above the driver.

67. Like a Siberian Husky’s ears : ERECT
The Siberian Husky is one of the oldest breeds of dog, and originated in northern Asia. Siberian Huskies were imported into Alaska in great numbers in the early 1900s for use as sled dogs during the gold rush.

68. W-2 IDs : SSNS
Form W-2 is provided by US employers to their employees by January 31 each year. The form reports wages paid to the employees and taxes withheld from them.

Down
1. Thanksgiving veggie : YAM
Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the the world than they are in this country, and are especially found in Africa.

2. Lacto-__ vegetarian : -OVO
A lacto-ovo vegetarian is someone who does not consume meat or fish, but does eat eggs (ovo) and dairy (lacto) products.

7. OXY target : ACNE
Oxy-10 is a brand name for a medication with the active ingredient benzoyl peroxide. Benzoyl peroxide is used as an acne treatment, as well as for dyeing hair, for whitening teeth and in the preparation of flour.

22. Novelist Bret Easton __ : ELLIS
Bret Easton Ellis wrote a trio of novels that were made into very successful movies: “Less Than Zero” (1987, starring Andrew McCarthy), “American Psycho” (2000, starring Christian Bale) and “The Rules of Attraction” (2002, starring James van der Beek).

24. Hawaii’s Mauna __ : LOA
Mauna Loa on the “big island” of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

30. Aqua __: platinum dissolver : REGIA
Aqua regia is a mixture of concentrated nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. “Aqua regia” translates as “royal water”. The mixture was given this name as it can dissolve the “noble” metals, gold and platinum.

32. Great Lakes prov. : ONT
The Canadian province of Ontario takes its name from the Great Lake. In turn, Lake Ontario’s name is thought to be derived from “Ontari:io”, a Huron word meaning “great lake”. Ontario is home to the nation’s capital of Ottawa as well as Toronto, Canada’s most populous city (and capital of the province).

35. Spring tide counterpart : NEAP
Tides of course are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the oceans. At neap tide, the smaller gravitational effect of the sun cancels out some of the moon’s effect. At spring tide, the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces act in concert causing more extreme movement of the oceans.

36. Quilting party : BEE
Back in 18th-century America, when neighbors would gather to work for the benefit of one of their group, such a meeting was called a “bee”. The name “bee” was an allusion to the social nature of the insect. In modern parlance, a further element of entertainment and pleasure has been introduced, for example in a “quilting bee”, or even a “spelling bee”.

38. Plate cleaner, at times : UMP
An umpire cleans home plate from time to time.

39. Top-selling Toyota : COROLLA
More cars have been sold under the Toyota Corolla brand name than any other brand name in history, even outstripping sales of the VW Beetle. There has been an average of one Corolla manufactured every 40 seconds for the past 40 years. “Corolla” is Latin for “small crown”, part of a pattern used by Toyota in naming their cars (“Corona” is Latin for crown, and “Camry” sounds like the Japanese for crown).

40. Tolkien’s Shire dwellers : HOBBITS
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English author, best known by far for his fantasy novels “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”. Although Tolkien lived in England and was a professor at Oxford, he served for many years as an external examiner at my old school, University College Dublin, in Ireland.

42. Petrarchan works : SONNETS
Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) was an Italian scholar and poet who lived during the Renaissance. Petrarch gave up his vocation as a priest, and soon after spotted a woman named Laura in his church in Avignon in France. He was so taken by Laura that he wrote many poems dedicated to her. He later clarified that he could not approach Laura with his feelings, as she was a married woman.

43. “Good Will Hunting” director Van Sant : GUS
Gus Van Sant is a movie director (among other things) who has been nominated twice for an Oscar, for “Good Will Hunting” in 1997 and for “Milk” in 2008.

“Good Will Hunting” was the movie that gave both Matt Damon and Ben Affleck their big break in films, and deservedly so. Affleck and Damon are actually distant cousins who lived two blocks from each other in Cambridge, Massachusetts where the pair spent their teen years. The two friends wrote the film’s screenplay and of course took starring roles, alongside Robin Williams and Minnie Driver. Affleck and Damon won an Academy Award for the screenplay. What a great success story, eh?

45. Lynx family member : BOBCAT
A lynx is a wild cat, of which there are four species. These are:

– The Eurasian Lynx: the biggest of the four species.
– The Canada Lynx: well-adapted to life in cold environments.
– The Iberian Lynx: a native of the Iberian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and the most endangered cat species in the world.
– The Bobcat: our North American wildcat, the smallest of the four species.

51. Dean Martin’s “That’s __” : AMORE
“That’s Amore” is a pop standard written by Harry Warren and Jack Brooks in 1952. “That’s Amore” became the signature song for Dean Martin after he sang it (with some help from Jerry Lewis) in the 1953 comedy film “The Caddy”.

56. Homer’s “Iliad,” for one : EPIC
The Iliad is an epic poem by the Greek poet Homer, which tells the story of the siege of Ilium (also known as Troy) during the Trojan war.

57. “Hud” director Martin : RITT
Martin Ritt is best remembered as a television and movie director. During the bad old days of the “Red Scare”, Ritt was working in television until he found himself on a blacklist for supposed support of Communist causes. He turned to the theater for work until the Red Scare had run its course, and them moved into the world of film. Some of his best known movies are “The Great White Hope” and “Norma Rae”.

I don’t like many westerns, to be honest, but the 1963 movie “Hud” is a classic. It stars Paul Newman and Patricia Neal and is an adaptation of a novel by Larry McMurtry called “Horseman, Pass By”. Patricia Neal’s role in the film was relatively small, yet her performance was enough to earn her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Jellystone Park bear : YOGI
5. Mazda roadster : MIATA
10. Pre-K basics : ABCS
14. Mary Kay competitor : AVON
15. Crop up : OCCUR
16. Female WWII gp. : WAAC
17. __ ring : MOOD
18. Cub-turned-radio co-host Ron : SANTO
19. Thornfield Hall governess : EYRE
20. *“I’m counting on you!” : DON’T LET ME DOWN!
23. Foil giant : ALCOA
25. Chi.-based flier : UAL
26. Rebellious Turner : NAT
27. *Nervous Nellie : WORRY WART
31. Wind-borne silt deposit : LOESS
33. Set (down) : LAY
34. Suffix with hero : -INE
35. Last inning, usually : NINTH
36. *“By all means!” : BE MY GUEST!
39. Miserly : CHEAP
41. “__ little teapot …” : I’M A
42. Rank above cpl. : SGT
45. Unhappy spectator : BOOER
46. *Bar’s business booster, in theory : HAPPY HOUR
49. Saturn, for one : ORB
50. SoCal ball club, on scoreboards : LAA
52. Teeny-tiny : EENSY
53. Singer of the feelgood a cappella #1 hit whose title begins the answers to starred clues : BOBBY McFERRIN
58. Madison Avenue award : CLIO
59. Congo creature with notable stripes : OKAPI
60. Look (like) : SEEM
63. Vocal quartet member : ALTO
64. Send payment : REMIT
65. Sporty car roof : T-TOP
66. Piece of work : TASK
67. Like a Siberian Husky’s ears : ERECT
68. W-2 IDs : SSNS

Down
1. Thanksgiving veggie : YAM
2. Lacto-__ vegetarian : -OVO
3. One way to relieve pent-up emotion : GOOD CRY
4. Like some pools : INDOOR
5. Majority : MOST
6. Suffix with myth : -ICAL
7. OXY target : ACNE
8. “Shame on you!” : TUT TUT!
9. Bakery lure : AROMA
10. Spellbound : AWED
11. Civil War weapon : BAYONET
12. School fundraiser : CAR WASH
13. Hunting dogs pick them up : SCENTS
21. Aye’s opposite : NAY
22. Novelist Bret Easton __ : ELLIS
23. Shoemaker’s holemaker : AWL
24. Hawaii’s Mauna __ : LOA
28. Chicken : WIMP
29. Whichever : ANY
30. Aqua __: platinum dissolver : REGIA
32. Great Lakes prov. : ONT
35. Spring tide counterpart : NEAP
36. Quilting party : BEE
37. Ahead of schedule : EARLY
38. Plate cleaner, at times : UMP
39. Top-selling Toyota : COROLLA
40. Tolkien’s Shire dwellers : HOBBITS
42. Petrarchan works : SONNETS
43. “Good Will Hunting” director Van Sant : GUS
44. Test, as one’s patience : TRY
45. Lynx family member : BOBCAT
46. Unauthorized user? : HACKER
47. “__ out!” : YER
48. Stickups : HEISTS
51. Dean Martin’s “That’s __” : AMORE
54. Reserve : BOOK
55. Starlet’s goal : FAME
56. Homer’s “Iliad,” for one : EPIC
57. “Hud” director Martin : RITT
61. Forever and a day : EON
62. AWOLs avoid them : MPS

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