LA Times Crossword Answers 12 Mar 13, Tuesday

CROSSWORD SETTER: Bruce Venzke & Gail Grabowski
THEME: Starting High … each of today’s theme answers starts with a word that is associated with the “high” life:

17A. Prime hours for television broadcasters PEAK VIEWING TIME
23A. Down in the dumps CRESTFALLEN
37A. “Greetings, Paddy!” TOP O’ THE MORNIN’
53A. Moonshine, or a soda named for it MOUNTAIN DEW
61A. Conduct observed during international negotiations SUMMIT DIPLOMACY

COMPLETION TIME: 6m 40s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Zion National Park’s state UTAH
To me, the most spectacular feature of Zion National Park, in southwestern Utah, is the magnificent Zion Canyon. The canyon cuts through red Navajo sandstone and is a truly beautiful sight.

9. Low-prestige position MCJOB
“McJob” is a slang term for a low-paying position that offers little chance for advancement. The term of course comes from front-line jobs at a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant.

14. Actress Rogers MIMI
Mimi Rogers is a favorite actress of mine, although she hasn’t really had the starring roles in big movies. Off screen. Rogers is famous for her association with her second husband, Tom Cruise. It was Mimi who introduced Tom to Scientology. Mimi Rogers can also be seen playing a lot of so-called “celebrity poker”, and she is on the board of directors of the World Poker Tour.

16. River in Lyons SAONE
The Saône is a river in eastern France that joins up with the Rhône in Lyon.

The city of Lyon in France, is also known as Lyons in English.

27. Scrape together, with “out” EKE
To “eke out” means to “make something go further or last longer”. For example, you could eke out your income by cutting back on expenses. I always have a problem with the commonly cited definition of “eke out” as “barely get by”. Close but no cigar, I say …

28. Googler’s success HIT
Google is the most used search engine on the Internet. The Google site now receives over one billion queries every single day. Google.com is the most visited website on the Internet.

29. Skinny Olive OYL
“Thimble Theater” was the precursor comic strip to the famous “Popeye” drawn by E. C. Segar. Before Popeye came into the story, the brother and sister characters Castor Oyl and Olive Oyl were the main protagonists. And then along comes a sailor …

32. Small amount IOTA
Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

34. GM navigation system ONSTAR
The OnStar system started back in 1995, a joint venture between GM, EDS and Hughes. The product itself was launched in 1996. Today, OnStar is only available on GM cars, although it used to be offered on other makes of car through a licensing agreement. OnStar is a subscription service that packages vehicle security, telephone, satellite navigation and remote diagnostics. You’ve seen the ads, I am sure.

42. List of corrections ERRATA
Errata is the past participle of the Latin word “errare” meaning “to err”. We use “errata” to mean a list of errors that have been noted in some publication.

45. Jim of “Liar, Liar” CARREY
Jim Carrey is a comedian and actor from Newmarket, Ontario. Carrey’s big break in films came with the title role the first “Ace Ventura” film, in 1994. My favorite of his big screen performances is in the fascinating film “The Truman Show”, released in 1998.

The full rhyme used by children to deride someone not telling the truth is:

“Liar, liar, pants on fire,
Hang them up on the telephone wire.”

The rhyme is the source of the title for the 1997 Jim Carrey comedy “Liar Liar”. “Liar Liar” is an amusing film about a lawyer who finds himself only able to tell the truth and cannot tell a lie, all because his son made a birthday wish.

48. Dreamer’s acronym REM
REM is an acronym standing for Rapid Eye Movement sleep. REM sleep takes up 20-25% of the sleeping hours and is the period associated with one’s most vivid dreams.

52. Conquistador’s treasure ORO
“Conquistador” is the Spanish for “conqueror”.

53. Moonshine, or a soda named for it MOUNTAIN DEW
If you check the can, you’ll see that the soda once called “Mountain Dew” is now known as “Mtn Dew”.

59. Game with Skip and Reverse cards UNO
In my youth I remember being taught a great card game, by a German acquaintance of mine, called Mau Mau. Years later I discovered that Uno is basically the same game, but played with a purpose-printed deck instead of the regular deck of playing cards that’s used for Mau Mau. I hear that Mau Mau is derived from the game called Crazy Eights.

66. Delta rival, as it used to be called USAIR
From 1953, what today is US Airways was called Allegheny Airlines. In the seventies, customers became very dissatisfied with the company’s service levels as it struggled to manage a rapid expansion in its number of flights. These problems earned the airline the nickname “Agony Air”. Allegheny tried to leave the “agony” behind in 1979 and changed its name to USAir. In 1997, the name was again changed, to US Airways.

67. Southernmost Great Lake ERIE
Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, something for which nearby residents must be quite grateful. Being relatively shallow, Erie freezes over part way through most winters putting an end to the lake effect snow that falls in the snow belt extending from the lake’s edge.

68. Top draft status ONE-A
The US government maintains information on all males who are potentially subject to military conscription, using what is called the Selective Service System(SS). In the event that a draft was held, men registered would be classified into groups to determine eligibility for service. Class 1-A registrants are those available for unrestricted military service. Other classes are 1-A-O (conscientious objector available for noncombatant service), 4-A (registrant who has completed military service) and 4-D (Minister of religion).

69. Debussy’s “slow” LENTE
“Lente” is the French word for “slow”.

Claude Debussy is one of my favorite composers, one who epitomises the Romantic Era and Impressionist Movement in music. One of my favorite CDs is a collection of some “lighter” Debussy pieces called “Debussy for Daydreaming”, and what an evocative collection it is. Included are “Syrinx”, “Maid with the Flaxen Hair”, “Rêverie” and everyone’s favorite, “Clair de Lune”.

Down
2. Accessory with a Windsor knot TIE
A necktie can be tied using a Windsor knot, which results in a wide but symmetrical triangular knot. The knot was popularized by British King Edward VIII, who was known as the Duke of Windsor after he abdicated.

3. Liqueur sometimes used in amandine sauce AMARETTO
Amaretto is an Italian liqueur with a sweet almond flavor. Even though the drink is sweet, it has a bitterness lent to it by the bitter almonds that are often used as a flavoring. The name “amaretto” is a diminutive of the Italian word “amaro” meaning “bitter”.

A dish prepared in the “amandine” style is usually cooked in butter and seasonings, and then sprinkled with toasted almonds. Note the correct spelling “amandine”. You might notice the misspelling “almondine” on a menu, but don’t say anything. Just sit there with a smug look on your face …

6. Forty-niner’s pay dirt ORE
The California gold rush actually started in 1848. The first to exploit the find were those people already in California. By 1849 the word had spread and gold-seekers started to arrive from all over the world. The “out-of-towners” who arrived in 1849 became known as forty-niners.

9. Flavor-enhancing additive MSG
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of a naturally-occurring, non-essential amino acid called glutamic acid. MSG is used widely as a flavor enhancer, particularly in many Asian cuisines. Whether or not it is harmful seems to be still under debate. I say that something produced in a test tube shouldn’t be in our food …

10. Maine Coon and Manx CATS
The Maine Coon breed of domestic cat is also called the American Longhair. The Maine Coon is native to the state of Maine, and is the official state cat.

I’ve seen Manx cats by the dozen on their native island. They’re found all over the Isle of Man (hence the name “Manx”) located in the middle of the Irish Sea. Manx cats have no tails, they really don’t …

18. Legislative turndown VETO
“Veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The word was used by tribunes of Ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.

23. Ill. metropolis CHI
The city of Chicago takes its name from the Native American word “shikaakwa”, which translates as “wild onion” or “wild garlic”.

25. Wahine’s greeting ALOHA
“Wahine” is the word for “woman”, in both Hawaiian and Maori.

31. Coastal divers ERNS
The ern (also erne) is also called the white-tailed eagle, and the sea-eagle.

35. Hoops dangler NET
Basketball is truly an American sport. It was created in 1891 by a James Naismith at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. His goal was to create something active and interesting for his students in the gym. The first “hoops” were actually peach baskets, with the bottoms of the baskets intact. When a player got the ball into the “net”, someone had to clamber up and get the ball back out again in order to continue the game!

38. City near Provo OREM
Orem, Utah was originally known as “Sharon” (a Biblical name), then “Provo Bench”, and in 1914 it was given the family name of a local railroad operator called “Orem”. Orem gave itself the nickname “Family City USA” and sure enough in 2010, “Forbes” rated Orem the 5th best place in the country to raise a family.

Provo, Utah is a city located just over 40 miles south of South Lake City. Provo is home to Brigham Young University. The city was originally called Fort Utah, and the name was changed to Provo in 1850 in honor of Étienne Provost. Provost was a French-Canadian fur trader who is thought to have been the first man of European descent to see the Great Salt Lake.

39. Beta-test TRY-OUT
In the world of software development, the first tested issue of a new program is usually called the “alpha” version. Expected to have a lot of bugs that need to be fixed, the alpha release is usually distributed to a small number of testers. After reported bugs have been eliminated, the refined version is called a “beta” and is released to a wider audience, but with the program clearly labeled as “beta”. The users generally check functionality and report further bugs that are encountered. The beta version feeds into a release candidate, the version that is tested just prior to the software being sold into the market, bug-free. Yeah, right …

40. Little music player IPOD NANO
The iPod Nano is the successor to the iPod Mini and was introduced to the market at the end of 2005. There have been five versions of the Nano to date and the current Nano as well as playing tunes is an FM player, records voice memos, and even has a pedometer!

47. Former NBAer Dennis RODMAN
Retired professional basketball player Dennis Rodman was quite the character on the court, and made a big splash off the court too (and still is!). Famously, Rodman had an affair with the singer Madonna, was married for a while to Carmen Electra, and turned out in a wedding dress to promote his autobiography!

50. Surrealist Joan MIRO
Joan Miro was a Spanish artist. Miro immersed himself in Surrealism, so much so that Andre Breton, the founder of the movement, said that Miro was “the most Surrealist of us all”. Miro painted “The Tilled Field” in 1923-24, a work that is regarded as Miro’s first Surrealist masterpiece.

55. Bête __ NOIRE
“Bête noire” translates from French as “the black beast” and is used in English for something or someone that is disliked.

56. “Star Trek” co-star of Shatner NIMOY
Leonard Nimoy played the logical Mr. Spock in the original “Star Trek” television series. Spock has to be the most popular character on the show, and he keeps popping up in “Star Trek” spin offs to this day. Nimoy first worked alongside William Shatner (Captain Kirk) in an episode of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (I loved that show!), with Nimoy playing a bad guy and Shatner playing an U.N.C.L.E. recruit.

64. Toon collectible CEL
In the world of animation, a cel is a transparent sheet on which objects and characters are drawn. In the first half of the 20th century the sheet was actually made of celluloid, giving the “cel” its name.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Zion National Park’s state UTAH
5. “Liquid diet” drinkers SOTS
9. Low-prestige position MCJOB
14. Actress Rogers MIMI
15. Front of the boat PROW
16. River in Lyons SAONE
17. Prime hours for television broadcasters PEAK VIEWING TIME
20. Snorkeling spot REEF
21. Quaint “before” ERE
22. Scissors sound SNIP
23. Down in the dumps CRESTFALLEN
27. Scrape together, with “out” EKE
28. Googler’s success HIT
29. Skinny Olive OYL
30. Transferred, as property DEEDED
32. Small amount IOTA
34. GM navigation system ONSTAR
37. “Greetings, Paddy!” TOP O’ THE MORNIN’
42. List of corrections ERRATA
43. Created, as a web SPUN
45. Jim of “Liar, Liar” CARREY
48. Dreamer’s acronym REM
51. Dedicated lines? ODE
52. Conquistador’s treasure ORO
53. Moonshine, or a soda named for it MOUNTAIN DEW
57. Connecting point NODE
59. Game with Skip and Reverse cards UNO
60. Show one’s pearly whites GRIN
61. Conduct observed during international negotiations SUMMIT DIPLOMACY
66. Delta rival, as it used to be called USAIR
67. Southernmost Great Lake ERIE
68. Top draft status ONE-A
69. Debussy’s “slow” LENTE
70. Studio payment RENT
71. More-caloric egg part YOLK

Down
1. “Steee-rike!” caller UMP
2. Accessory with a Windsor knot TIE
3. Liqueur sometimes used in amandine sauce AMARETTO
4. Backpackers’ outings HIKES
5. All gussied up SPIFFY
6. Forty-niner’s pay dirt ORE
7. Beach bring-along TOWEL
8. Marble cake pattern SWIRL
9. Flavor-enhancing additive MSG
10. Maine Coon and Manx CATS
11. Signed up for JOINED
12. Ready for recording ON MIKE
13. Alerted, in a way BEEPED
18. Legislative turndown VETO
19. Must NEED TO
23. Ill. metropolis CHI
24. Laugh-a-minute type RIOT
25. Wahine’s greeting ALOHA
26. In the vicinity NEAR
31. Coastal divers ERNS
33. Mimic APER
35. Hoops dangler NET
36. Shrewd SMART
38. City near Provo OREM
39. Beta-test TRY-OUT
40. Little music player IPOD NANO
41. Not decent, so to speak NUDE
44. Still in the package NEW
45. Government official working overseas CONSUL
46. Inspire, as curiosity AROUSE
47. Former NBAer Dennis RODMAN
49. Predatory hatchling EAGLET
50. Surrealist Joan MIRO
54. Less than UNDER
55. Bête __ NOIRE
56. “Star Trek” co-star of Shatner NIMOY
58. Radiate EMIT
62. Anger IRE
63. Tailor’s fastener PIN
64. Toon collectible CEL
65. Talk and talk YAK

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