LA Times Crossword Answers 30 Mar 13, Saturday

CROSSWORD SETTER: Barry C. Silk
THEME: None
COMPLETION TIME: 14m 30s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Its goal is to include “all words in all languages” WIKTIONARY
Wiktionary is a sister project to Wikipedia. Wiktionary even includes a section called Wikisaurus.

11. Walker of the 1960s 76ers CHET
Chet Walker is a former basketball player who played with the Syracuse Nationals (which team became the Philadelphia 76ers) and the Chicago Bulls.

16. Bar mitzvah staple HORA
The hora (also “horah”) is a circle dance that originated in the Balkans. The hora was brought to Israel by Romanian settlers, and is often performed to traditional Israeli folk songs. The dance is a regular sight at Jewish weddings and at bar and bat mitzvahs. At such events, it is common for the honorees to be raised on chairs during the dance.

18. Without restraint AMOK
The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had good reason for that frenzy …

19. The Panthers of the Big East PITT
The University of Pittsburgh chose its nickname for its sporting teams in 1909, and claims that it was the first team in the country to adopt the name “Panthers”.

20. Bond first bought by FDR in 1941 SERIES E
Series E Savings Bonds were introduced in 1941, just before the start of WWII, as ‘defense bonds”. After the attack on Pearl Harbor they became known as “war bonds”.

22. Heavenly approach? STAIRWAY
Led Zeppelin was an English rock band that got together in 1968. The band’s most famous release has to be the classic “Stairway to Heaven”. Led Zeppelin broke up right after drummer John Bonham was found dead in 1988.

27. Open living rooms LANAIS
Named after the Hawaiian island, a lanai is a type of veranda.

28. Schools overseas ECOLES
French for school is “école”.

30. Spartan toiler HELOT
The helots were a population of poorly-treated slaves who served the citizens of Sparta.

31. Ambergris source SPERM WHALE
The massive sperm whale takes its name from “spermaceti”, a waxy liquid that is found in its digestive system. The liquid was originally mistaken for the whale’s sperm, hence the name.

37. Birds with colorful mates PEAHENS
The female peafowl, the peahen, has very dull plumage compared to the extravagant display on the tail of the peacock. The young of a peacock and peahen is known as a peachick (there’s a surprise!).

40. Tim of “WKRP in Cincinnati” REID
Tim Reid played the character Venus Flytrap on the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati”, one of the disc jockeys at the station.

The sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” was produced by MTM, the production company established by Mary Tyler Moore and her husband for the “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. “WKRP” was a successful enough show when it originally aired, but then became a blockbuster in syndication. It became MTM’s most-watched program, even outstripping the original “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”.

42. Relatives of penny dreadfuls DIME NOVELS
The genre of literature called “dime novels” originated with books from the 1860s called the “Beadle’s Dime Novel” series. Some of those books cost a dime, but many went for 15 cents.

“Penny dreadfuls” originally were cheap works of fiction published in the 1800s in Britain. The books’ price-points were originally a penny, which compared to the shilling that was charged for more mainstream works. Just like America’s dime novels, “penny dreadful” came to be a generic term for trash literature.

44. Dramatist Chekhov ANTON
Anton Chekhov was a Russian writer of short stories and a playwright, as well as a physician. Chekhov wrote four classic plays that are often performed all around the world, namely “The Seagull”, “Uncle Vanya”, “Three Sisters” and “The Cherry Orchard”. While Chekhov was advancing his writing career, he continued to practice medicine. He is quoted as saying “Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress.”

47. Ancient Mexican TOLTEC
The Aztec’s viewed the Toltec people as their cultural ancestors. In the “Aztec” language, the term “Toltec” came to mean “artisan”.

49. Fertile Crescent area NEAR EAST
The Fertile Crescent is a large swath of land in the Near East that includes the Nile Valley in the west and the land around the Tigris and Euphrates in the east.

53. Musical name that means “Love God” AMADEUS
The composer Mozart’s full name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The name “Wolfgang” translates literally as “wolf journey”. Amadeus translates as “Love God!”.

56. Actress Rowlands GENA
Gena Rowlands is an actress best known for the films made with her husband, actor and director John Cassavetes. More recently, Rowlands played a lead role opposite James Garner in the weepy, weepy 2004 film “The Notebook”. “The Notebook” was directed by her son, Nick Cassavetes.

57. Instigator of ’70s-’80s wars BURGER KING
The “Burger Wars” consisted of a series of comparative advertising campaigns engaged in by McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s and other fast food chains in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the more famous slogans to come out of the Burger Wars was “Where’s the beef?”, a question raised by Wendy’s.

62. Hydrocarbon endings -ENES
An alkene is an organic compound made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. It differs from an alkane in that it has at least one C=C double bond. The simplest alkene is the gas ethylene, a major raw material used in the manufacture of plastics (like polyethylene).

63. Sign of a bad waiter IMPATIENCE
Someone impatient just won’t wait.

64. British side MASH
I guess “mash” is a term mainly used in Britain for mashed potatoes. I didn’t know that we didn’t used the same term over here in North America …

Down
1. They may be found in board examinations WARPS
Examination of a wooden board might reveal warps.

3. Kinte in “Roots” KUNTA
Not only did Alex Haley author the magnificent novel “Roots”, but he was also the collaborator with Malcolm X on “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”. His 1976 novel “Roots” is based on Haley’s own family history, and he claimed to be a direct descendant of the real life Kunta Kinte, the slave who was kidnapped in the The Gambia in 1767. If you remember the fabulous television adaptation of “Roots”, you might recall that Kunta Kinte was played by LeVar Burton, who later went on to play another famous role, Geordi La Forge on “Star Trek: the Next Generation”.

5. E-file org. IRS
E-file: that’s what I do with my tax returns each year. I saved myself a fortune by saying a polite “goodbye” to my tax accountant 5-6 years ago and trusting Turbotax instead.

6. Nasdaq predecessor OTC
The computerized stock trading system known as the NASDAQ was created in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers. NASDAQ stands for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations. NASDAQ was the successor to the over-the-counter (OTC) trading system that was common at the time. OTC trading is done directly between two parties without being facilitated by an exchange.

7. PBS benefactor NEA
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an agency funded by the federal government that offers support and financing for artistic projects. The NEA was created by an Act of Congress in 1965. Between 1965 and 2008, the NEA awarded over $4 billion to the arts, with Congress authorizing around $170 million annually through the eighties and much of the nineties. That funding was cut to less than $100 million in the late nineties due to pressure from conservatives concerned about the use of funds, but it is now back over the $150 million mark. I wonder how long that will last though …

The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) was founded in 1970, and is my favorite of the broadcast networks. I love PBS’s drama and science shows in particular, and always watch the election results coming in with the NewsHour team. PBS’s Big Bird from “Sesame Street” made a bit of a splash in the last election cycle …

8. LAX datum ARR
Los Angeles International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and the busiest here on the West Coast of the US. The airport was opened in 1930 as Mines Field and was renamed to Los Angeles Airport in 1941. On the airport property is the iconic white structure that resembles a flying saucer. This is called the Theme Building and I believe it is mainly used as a restaurant and observation deck for the public. The airport used to be identified by the letters “LA”, but when the aviation industry went to a three-letter standard for airport identification, this was changed to “LAX”. Apparently the “X” has no significant meaning.

9. They usually involve turns: Abbr. RTES
Route (rte.).

12. Film in which Marv says, “He’s only a kid, Harry. We can take him.” HOME ALONE
“Home Alone” is a 1990 film starring Macaulay Culkin that has become a Christmas classic. Culkin was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for his performance, the youngest actor ever to be so honored.

23. Ottawa-based enforcement gp. RCMP
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the Mounties; RCMP) is an unusual police force in that it provides all policing for the whole country. The RCMP works on the national level, and right down to the municipal level. The force’s distinctive uniform of red serge tunic, blue pants with a yellow stripe, stetson hat etc. is known internally as “Review Order”. The red uniform dates back to the days of the North-West Mounted Police, which was one of the existing forces that were merged in 1920 to form the RCMP.

25. Ron Reagan’s first secretary of state AL HAIG
Alexander Haig was Secretary of State under President Reagan, and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Nixon and Ford.

34. Octa- plus one ENNEA-
Ennead is the Greek word for “the nine”.

38. Liszt’s “Harmonies du __” SOIR
Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer and a fabulous pianist. Particularly towards the end of his life, Liszt gained a tremendous reputation as a teacher. While he was in his sixties, his teaching jobs caused him to commute regularly between the cities of Rome, Weimar and Budapest. It is quite remarkable that a man of such advanced age, and in the 1870s, could do so much annual travel. It is estimated that Liszt journeyed at least 4,000 miles every year!

41. A, to Morse DOT DASH
Samuel Morse was a very accomplished and reputable painter (he was engaged to paint a portrait of President John Adams, for example). In 1825 Morse was in Washington working on a commissioned painting when he received a one-line letter by horse messenger telling him that his wife was ill. He left immediately for his home in New Haven, Connecticut but by the time that Morse arrived his wife had already died and had been buried. This single event spurred him to move from painting to the development of a rapid means of long distance communication, leading to the single-wire telegraph and Morse code.

50. Dress with a flare A-LINE
An A-line skirt is one that fits snugly at the hips and flares toward the hem.

52. Clemson player TIGER
Clemson University was founded in 1889. The school takes its name from the town in which it is located: Clemson, South Carolina. The athletic teams of Clemson University have been called the Tigers since 1896 when a new football coach, Walter Riggs, arrived from Auburn University. Riggs was an admirer of the Princeton Tigers, so he gave his new school the tiger mascot.

54. Sport for heavyweights SUMO
Sumo is a sport that is practiced professionally only in Japan, the country of its origin. There is an international federation of sumo wrestling now, and one of the organization’s aims is to have the sport accepted as an Olympic event.

58. Dash letters RPM
Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a “board” placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hoofs of the horses. Quite interesting …

59. Pinup highlight GAM
The American slang term “gams” is used for a woman’s legs, but the term goes back to the 18th century “gamb” meaning the leg of an animal on a coat of arms.

60. Frat vowel ETA
Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”.

61. Film dog’s first name? RIN
The original Rin Tin Tin was an actual dog, a puppy discovered by a GI in a bombed-out kennel in France during WWI. The soldier named the pup Rin Tin Tin, the same name as a puppet given to American soldiers for luck. On returning to the US, “Rinty” was trained by his owner and was spotted doing tricks by a film producer. Rinty featured in some films, eventually getting his first starring role in 1923 in the silent movie “Where the North Begins”. Legend has it that this first Rin Tin Tin died in the arms of actress Jean Harlow. Not a bad way to go …

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Its goal is to include “all words in all languages” WIKTIONARY
11. Walker of the 1960s 76ers CHET
15. Approaching the hour A QUARTER TO
16. Bar mitzvah staple HORA
17. Retreats RUNS SCARED
18. Without restraint AMOK
19. The Panthers of the Big East PITT
20. Bond first bought by FDR in 1941 SERIES E
22. Heavenly approach? STAIRWAY
27. Open living rooms LANAIS
28. Schools overseas ECOLES
30. Spartan toiler HELOT
31. Ambergris source SPERM WHALE
35. Wiped out, with “in” DONE
36. Texting nicety THX
37. Birds with colorful mates PEAHENS
39. Little break NAP
40. Tim of “WKRP in Cincinnati” REID
42. Relatives of penny dreadfuls DIME NOVELS
44. Dramatist Chekhov ANTON
46. Caved GAVE IN
47. Ancient Mexican TOLTEC
49. Fertile Crescent area NEAR EAST
53. Musical name that means “Love God” AMADEUS
55. Mid-second-century date CLII
56. Actress Rowlands GENA
57. Instigator of ’70s-’80s wars BURGER KING
62. Hydrocarbon endings -ENES
63. Sign of a bad waiter IMPATIENCE
64. British side MASH
65. Take over COMMANDEER

Down
1. They may be found in board examinations WARPS
2. Resigning words I QUIT
3. Kinte in “Roots” KUNTA
4. More palatable TASTIER
5. E-file org. IRS
6. Nasdaq predecessor OTC
7. PBS benefactor NEA
8. LAX datum ARR
9. They usually involve turns: Abbr. RTES
10. Singing cowboy’s refrain YODEL
11. Bound, in a way CHAINED
12. Film in which Marv says, “He’s only a kid, Harry. We can take him.” HOME ALONE
13. Caused by weathering EROSIONAL
14. Act TAKE STEPS
21. Fan sound RAH
23. Ottawa-based enforcement gp. RCMP
24. Amazed WOWED
25. Ron Reagan’s first secretary of state AL HAIG
26. Cat’s assent YEAH, MAN
29. Record holder SLEEVE
31. Gambit STRATAGEM
32. Events PHENOMENA
33. Turnoffs EXIT LANES
34. Octa- plus one ENNEA-
38. Liszt’s “Harmonies du __” SOIR
41. A, to Morse DOT DASH
43. Unlike crews V-NECKED
45. Formerly NEE
48. __ yard CUBIC
50. Dress with a flare A-LINE
51. Subsequently SINCE
52. Clemson player TIGER
54. Sport for heavyweights SUMO
58. Dash letters RPM
59. Pinup highlight GAM
60. Frat vowel ETA
61. Film dog’s first name? RIN


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2 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 30 Mar 13, Saturday”

  1. Bill, 14 1/2 minutes for a Barry Silk
    Saturday. I'm impressed. I thought this was easier than his norm, but still took me 45 minutes. Yet, I just enjoy doing them with a cup of coffee or two.

  2. I almost wish I hadn't learned to solve the puzzles more speedily. I kind of miss those two cups of coffee …

    That said, there are folks who solve the Saturday puzzles in about 5 minutes, so I suppose I should look on the bright side 🙂

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