LA Times Crossword Answers 22 May 13, Wednesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
7. Barrier along a bank DIKE
A dike is an embankment usually made of earth and rock that is used to prevent floods.

15. “Happy Days” actress Moran ERIN
Erin Moran is the lovely actress most famous for playing Joanie Cunningham on “Happy Days” and the resulting (short-lived) spin-off sitcom called “Joanie Loves Chachi”. Long before she got her big break in “Happy Days”, Moran played Jenny Jones on the children’s drama “Daktari” from the late sixties.

16. Skater Midori ITO
Midori Ito is a Japanese figure skater. Ito was the first woman to land a triple/triple jump and a triple axel in competition. In fact she landed her first triple jump in training, when she was only 8 years old …

17. *Tiny time unit MI(LLISECO)ND
A millisecond is one thousandth of a second, and is often abbreviated to “msec”. However, the more correct abbreviation for millisecond is “ms”.

19. “Brave __ World” NEW
In Aldous Huxley’s 1931 masterpiece, “Brave New World”, the members of his future society are encouraged to partake of the drug called soma. The soma provides hangover-free escapes referred to as “holidays”.

20. Blues legend James ETTA
Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.

22. Four Tops tune, e.g. OLDIE
The original lineup of the Four Tops agreed to form a vocal quartet when they were high school students together in Detroit. The group started out using the name “The Four Aims”, but changed it to Four Tops to avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers.

27. “Sesame Street” music teacher since the show’s inception BOB
Bob McGrath is the singer and actor who appears as one of the main human characters on “Sesame Street”. McGrath has been a regular on the show for over four decades, from its first episode in 1969.

34. Grifter’s game CON
A grifter is a confidence trickster, although the term has been used for non-violent criminals in general.

39. *Prop for an emcee MI(CROPHONE STA)ND
“Emcee” come from “MC”, an abbreviation for the Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

43. “Times of Your Life” singer Paul ANKA
Canadian-born Paul Anka’s big hit was in 1957, the song entitled “Diana”. Anka was the subject of a much-lauded documentary film in 1962 called “Lonely Boy”.

44. Popular Calif. destination LAX
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.

45. Buzzy instrument KAZOO
The modern instrument we know today as the kazoo was invented by one Alabama Vest of Macon, Georgia in the 1800s. The kazoo first came to the public’s attention at the Georgia State Fair of 1852, when it was known as the “Down-South Submarine” (because of it’s shape, I would imagine).

48. Tiki bar accessory LEI
The world’s first tiki bar was called “Don the Beachcomber”, and was opened in L.A. in 1933 by Ernest Gantt (also known as “Donn Beach”). The bar became famous for its exotic rum cocktails. Gantt was called to serve in WWII, and the business expanded dramatically under his ex-wife’s management so that there was a 160-restaurant chain waiting for Gantt when he returned stateside.

50. Capital of Saskatchewan? ESS
The capital letter in “Saskatchewan” is S (ess).

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan takes its name from the Saskatchewan River. The river in turn takes its name from the Cree name, which translates as “swift flowing river”. The capital of Saskatchewan is Regina, although the biggest city in the province is Saskatoon.

58. Director Kazan ELIA
Elia Kazan won Oscars for best director in 1948 for “Gentleman’s Agreement” and in 1955 for “On The Waterfront”. In 1999 Kazan was given an Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also directed “East of Eden”, which introduced James Dean to movie audiences, and “Splendor in the Grass” that included Warren Beatty in his debut role.

68. “The Wrestler” star Mickey ROURKE
“The Wrestler” is a really hard and gritty movie from 2008, a comeback film for actor Mickey Rourke. Rourke stars as an over-the-hill professional wrestler, with Marisa Tomei playing a faded stripper, the love interest. The film received really strong reviews, but I found it to be a tough movie to sit through.

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

Down
4. Muhammad Ali’s faith ISLAM
Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. was born in 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali when he converted to Islam in 1964. Who can forget Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic flame for the 1996 games in Atlanta? Ali was presented with a gold medal during those ’96 Games, a replacement for the medal he won at the 1960 Olympics. He had thrown the original into the Ohio River as a gesture of disgust after being refused service at a “whites only” restaurant.

7. Transferrable image DECAL
A decal is a decorative sticker, short for “decalcomania”. The term is derived from the French “décalquer”, the practice of tracing a pattern from paper onto glass or perhaps porcelain.

10. “Bewitched” mother ENDORA
In the television sitcom “Bewitched”, Endora was Samantha’s mother, with both mother, daughter and indeed granddaughter having the magical powers accorded to witches. Endora was played flamboyantly by Agnes Moorehead.

11. Many a Mumbai man HINDU
The government of India has been changing the names of cities since the end of British rule in 1947. Bombay was renamed to Mumbai in 1995 and Madras became Chennai a year later.

23. Nabokov title girl LOLITA
Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Lolita” has a famously controversial storyline, dealing with a middle-aged man’s obsession and sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl. Although “Lolita” is considered a classic today, after Nabokov finished it in 1953 the edgy subject matter made it impossible for him to find a publisher in the US (where Nabokov lived). In 1955, he resorted to publishing it in English at a printing house in Paris. Publication was followed by bans and seizures all over Europe. A US printing house finally took on the project in 1958, by which time the title had such a reputation that it sold exceptionally quickly. “Lolita” became the first book since “Gone with the Wind” to sell over 100,000 copies in its first three weeks in stores.

25. A gumshoe often pays for it INFO
Gumshoe is a slang term for a private detective or private investigator (P.I.). Apparently the term “gumshoe” dates back to the early 1900s, and refers to the rubber-soled shoes popular with private detectives at that time.

27. The Crimson Tide BAMA
The athletic teams of the University of Alabama (“Bama”) are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, a reference to the team colors: crimson and white.

28. Swedish actress Lena OLIN
The lovely Lena Olin is a Swedish actress, clearly someone who had acting in her blood. Her mother was the actress Britta Holmberg and her father the actor and director Stig Olin. Olin had a very successful career in Sweden, often working with the great Ingmar Bergman. Olin’s breakthrough international and English-speaking role was playing opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” released in 1988. Way back in 1974, the lovely Miss Olin was crowned Miss Scandinavia in a beauty pageant for Nordic women held in Helsinki, Finland.

29. Strong lager BOCK
A bock is a strong lager from Germany, first brewed in the town of Einbeck. The famous brewers of Munich adopted the style of beer, calling it Einbeck after the town of its origin. However, with the Bavarian accent “Einbeck” came out as “ein Bock”, the German for “a billy goat”. The name “bock” stuck, and so you’ll very often see a billy goat on the labels of bock beers.

33. Mythical source of wisdom ORACLE
In Ancient Greece and Rome, an oracle was someone believed 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”.

34. Longtime Aniston co-star COX
Courteney Cox played Monica Geller on the incredibly successful sitcom “Friends”. Before “Friends” she played the girlfriend of Michael J. Fox’s character on “Family Ties” for a couple of years in the late eighties. Her role in “Friends” was her biggest success, no question, when she and her fellow female costars became the highest paid TV actresses ever, earning a million dollars per episode.

Jennifer Aniston won a 2002 Emmy for playing Rachel on the great sitcom “Friends”. Jennifer’s parents are both actors, and her godfather is the actor Telly Savalas.

37. Grandson of Eve ENOS
Enos was the son of Seth and the grandson of Adam and Eve.

38. Kerfuffles ADOS
“Kerfuffle” comes from the Scottish “curfuffle”, with both words meaning “disruption”.

49. Writer Welty EUDORA
Eudora Welty was an author from Jackson, Mississippi who wrote short stories and novels about the American South. Welty won a Pulitzer in 1973 for her novel “The Optimist’s Daughter”. She was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1980.

53. Peruvian grazer LLAMA
Many female mammals lick off their newborn. That’s not an option for llamas as their tongues only reach out of their mouths about half an inch. Instead llama dams nuzzle their young and hum to them.

64. “Norma __” RAE
“Norma Rae” is a 1979 movie starring Sally Field as Norma Rae Webster in a tale of union activities in a textile factory in Alabama. The film is based on the true story of Crystal Lee Sutton told in a 1975 book called “Crystal Lee, a Woman of Inheritance”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Short sermon HOMILY
7. Barrier along a bank DIKE
11. Breakfast meat HAM
14. Easy-entry baby outfit ONESIE
15. “Happy Days” actress Moran ERIN
16. Skater Midori ITO
17. *Tiny time unit MI(LLISECO)ND
19. “Brave __ World” NEW
20. Blues legend James ETTA
21. Words with instant and hour IN AN
22. Four Tops tune, e.g. OLDIE
24. *Compromising position MI(DDLE GROU)ND
27. “Sesame Street” music teacher since the show’s inception BOB
30. Negative replies NOS
31. Start a bridge hand DEAL
32. Standoffish ALOOF
34. Grifter’s game CON
35. It’s all in your head IDEA
39. *Prop for an emcee MI(CROPHONE STA)ND
43. “Times of Your Life” singer Paul ANKA
44. Popular Calif. destination LAX
45. Buzzy instrument KAZOO
46. Clump of dirt CLOD
48. Tiki bar accessory LEI
50. Capital of Saskatchewan? ESS
51. *Loitered MI(LLED AROU)ND
56. Coastal recess INLET
57. Show willingness to compromise BEND
58. Director Kazan ELIA
62. Steeped brew TEA
63. Mood, and a literal feature of the answer to each starred clue FRAME OF MIND
66. Turntable letters RPM
67. Musical syllables LA LA
68. “The Wrestler” star Mickey ROURKE
69. Seventh Greek letter ETA
70. Bark excitedly YELP
71. Orderly arrangements ARRAYS

Down
1. Spot for an office HOME
2. Handling the job ON IT
3. Hot sandwich MELT
4. Muhammad Ali’s faith ISLAM
5. XXVI doubled LII
6. Unequivocal agreement YES, I DO
7. Transferrable image DECAL
8. Like a 7-Down, perhaps IRONED ON
9. Many holiday guests KIN
10. “Bewitched” mother ENDORA
11. Many a Mumbai man HINDU
12. Picked up pizza, say ATE IN
13. Tended the turf MOWED
18. Phases out ENDS
23. Nabokov title girl LOLITA
25. A gumshoe often pays for it INFO
26. Trait transmitter GENE
27. The Crimson Tide BAMA
28. Swedish actress Lena OLIN
29. Strong lager BOCK
33. Mythical source of wisdom ORACLE
34. Longtime Aniston co-star COX
36. Throw for a loop DAZE
37. Grandson of Eve ENOS
38. Kerfuffles ADOS
40. Walk heavily PLOD
41. Really enjoyed oneself HAD A BALL
42. Shallot covering SKIN
47. Threw LET FLY
48. Unique LONE
49. Writer Welty EUDORA
51. British bishop’s topper MITRE
52. Hardly handy INEPT
53. Peruvian grazer LLAMA
54. Update to reflect new roads, say REMAP
55. Voice an objection DEMUR
59. Pre-euro currency LIRA
60. Dark and murky INKY
61. Sugary drinks ADES
64. “Norma __” RAE
65. On behalf of FOR

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