LA Times Crossword Answers 16 May 13, Thursday

CROSSWORD SETTER: Jeffrey Wechsler
THEME: CANDY … today’s themed answers are all comprised of two words, the first beginning with the letter C and the second with the letter Y:

18A. Where Cal Ripken’s consecutive game record was set CAMDEN YARDS
24A. Color named for a bird CANARY YELLOW
40A. “Calm down!” CONTROL YOURSELF!
50A. Taxing period, usually CALENDAR YEAR
62A. Immature 20-something, say CALLOW YOUTH
69A. Sweet, or, read another way, a hint to five long puzzle answers CANDY or C AND Y

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 12m 33s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
14. Beatnik’s dough BREAD
Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg were part of the Beat Generation, American writers who embraced the beat culture of the fifties. The term “Beat Generation” was coined by Kerouac back in 1948, describing the youth of the day who had been “beaten down” and who were refusing to conform to the social norms of the time. The “beatniks” of the fifties, were to morph into the hippies of the sixties.

18. Where Cal Ripken’s consecutive game record was set CAMDEN YARDS
Oriole Park is home to the Baltimore Orioles baseball team. The full name of the stadium is Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Cal Ripken played his entire, 20-year professional baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles. Ripken was known as the “Iron Man” because he showed up for work every day, come rain or shine. He played 2,632 straight games, blowing past the previous 2,130-game record held by Lou Gehrig.

20. Brief mea culpa I DID
Roman Catholics are very familiar with the Latin phrase “mea culpa” meaning “my fault”, as it is used in the Latin Mass. The additional term “mea maxima culpa” translates as “my most grievous fault”.

27. Showy lily SEGO
The Sego Lily is the state flower of Utah, and is a perennial plant found throughout the Western United States.

28. “Godmother of Punk” Smith PATTI
Patti Smith is a singer-songwriter who was a big player in the seventies punk rock movement in New York City. Smith’s most successful song is “Because the Night”, a song co-written with Bruce Springsteen and recorded by Smith in 1978. Her influence in the punk rock scene earned Smith the nickname “Godmother of Punk”.

39. Ray or Flay CHEF
Rachael Ray is a celebrity chef and host of several shows on the Food Network television channel. Ray comes from a family that owned and managed a number of restaurants in the northeast of the country. One of Ray’s TV shows is “$40 a Day”, in which she demonstrates how to visit various cities in North America and Europe and eat three meals and a snack on a daily budget of just $40.

Bobby Flay is a celebrity chef who has hosted several shows on the Food Network. Flay is also an Iron Chef on the show “Iron Chef America”, which also airs on the Food Network.

44. Pitch add-on -BLENDE
Pitchblende is made up of the mineral uraninite, and is found in black pitch-like deposits. Pitchblende is a major source of uranium and radium.

45. __ Khan: Rita Hayworth’s husband ALY
Aly Khan was a familiar name used by the media when referring to Prince Ali Solomone Aga Khan, the Pakistani ambassador to the UN from 1958 to 1960. Khan made it into the papers a lot as he was the third husband of actress Rita Hayworth.

60. Copy room supplies TONERS
The key features of a laser printer (or copier) are that it uses plain paper and produces quality text at high speed. Laser printers work by projecting a laser image of the printed page onto a rotating drum that is coated with photoconductors (material that becomes conductive when exposed to light). The areas of the drum exposed to the laser carry a different charge than the unexposed areas. Dry ink (toner) sticks to the unexposed areas due to electrostatic charge. The toner is then transferred to paper by contact and is fused into the paper by the application of heat. So, that explains why paper coming out of a laser printer is warm, and sometimes powdery …

61. Plucked strings, in Padua ARPA
“Arpa” is the Italian word for “harp”, and is a term sometimes used in musical scores.

Padua is a city in northern Italy, and was chosen by William Shakespeare as the setting for “The Taming of the Shrew”. The play is one of Shakespeare’s earliest romantic comedies.

62. Immature 20-something, say CALLOW YOUTH
“Callow” means “immature”. The word derives from the Old English “calu”, meaning “bare” and “bald”. The usage relates to young birds that lack feathers.

67. Actress Dickinson ANGIE
The actress Angie Dickinson is perhaps best known for playing the lead in the seventies TV crime show “Police Woman”. Dickinson was married to composer Burt Bacharach for 15 years.

70. Hyphenated IDs SSNS
A Social Security number (SSN) is divided into three parts i.e AAA-GG-SSSS, Originally, the Area Number (AAA) was the code for the office that issued the card. Since 1973, the Area Number reflects the ZIP code from which the application was made. The GG in the SSN is the Group Number, and the SSSS in the number is the Serial Number. However, this is all moot, as since 2011 SSn’s are assigned randomly.

Down
4. “EastEnders” airer BBC
“EastEnders” is a very, very successful soap opera produced and aired by the BBC since 1985. The term “EastEnder” is used for someone from the East End of London.

Historically, the East End of London is the wrong side of the tracks, and is still home to some of the worst poverty in the UK. My parents moved from Ireland to the East End of London in the fifties, and had all their children there before moving back to Ireland. I’m an Irishman who is proud of his roots that extend across the Irish Sea into EastEnders territory.

5. Sheikdom in a jazz standard ARABY
“The Sheik of Araby” is a song that dates back to 1921, when it was a Tin Pan Alley hit. It was soon absorbed into the jazz standard repertoire. The inspiration of the song was Rudolph Valentino’s performance in the 1921 movie “The Sheik”.

6. WWII Air Force general Curtis __ LEMAY
Curtis “Bombs Away” LeMay was a general in the US Air Force. LeMay also ran for US Vice President in 1968, on the American Independent Party ticket alongside George Wallace.

9. Blues-rocker Chris REA
Chris Rea is a singer-songwriter and respected blues guitar player from England.

10. Brief words? IN RE
The term “in re” is Latin, derived from “in” (in) and “res” (thing, matter). “In re” literally means “in the matter”, and is used to mean “in regard to”, or “in the matter of”.

11. Heart of a London puzzle? ZEDS
There are two letters Z in the word “puzzle”.

The letter named “zed” has been around since about 1400, and derives from the Greek letter zeta. The spelling and pronunciation of “zee” used in America today first popped up in the 1670s.

12. Joie de vivre ZEST
“Joie de vivre” means “joy of living” in French. We use the phrase to mean the happy, carefree enjoyment of life, like when we finish our crossword puzzles …

19. Lon of Cambodia NOL
Lon Nol was a soldier and politician in Cambodia, later serving twice as the country’s president. When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, Nol escaped the country to Indonesia. He eventually found a home in Fullerton, California, where he died in 1985.

21. NYC’s __ Hammarskjöld Plaza DAG
Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza is a park in Manhattan near the United Nations headquarters, named for the former UN secretary-general.

Dag Hammarskjold was the second secretary-general of the United Nations, right up until his death in a plane crash in Rhodesia in 1961. The crash was considered suspicious at the time as the bodyguards were found to have bullet wounds when they died, but this was put down to bullets exploding in the fire after the crash.

26. “My best soldiers”: MacArthur WACS
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.

29. Loge THEATER BOX
In most theaters today, the loge is the name given to the front rows of a mezzanine level. Loge can also be the name given to box seating.

32. Beneficial berry ACAI
Açaí is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

38. Chewed-over material CUD
Ruminants are animals that “chew the cud”. Ruminants eat vegetable matter but cannot extract any nutritional value from cellulose without the help of microbes in the gut. Ruminants collect roughage in the first part of the alimentary canal, allowing microbes to work on it. The partially digested material (the cud) is regurgitated into the mouth so that the ruminant can chew the food more completely exposing more surface area for microbes to do their work.

41. Soapstone, mostly TALC
The metamorphic rock known as soapstone or steatite has a myriad of uses, largely because it is relatively soft. It even feels quite soapy to the touch, hence the name “soapstone”. It’s used for making counter tops, or as a medium for artistic and decorative carving. It’s also used by tailors as a marking tool on cloth.

49. Handwoven rug RYA
A rya is a traditional Scandinavian rug, originally used as heavy covers by mariners as an alternative to furs. The name “rya” comes from a village in southwest Sweden.

52. Former member of the Irish band Clannad ENYA
Enya’s real name is Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin, which can translate from Irish into Enya Brennan. Her Donegal family (in the northwest of Ireland) formed a band called Clannad, which included Enya. In 1980 Enya launched her very successful solo career. She sure does turn up a lot in crosswords!

53. Old Dodge compacts NEONS
The Neon was made by Chrysler from 1994 to 2005. It was introduced to the rest of the world as the Chrysler Neon, but sold under the Dodge and Plymouth brands in the US.

55. Sean who played a hobbit ASTIN
Sean Astin is best known for playing the title role in the 1993 film “Rudy” and the character Samwise Gamgee in the “Lord of the Rings” movies. You might also have seen him playing Lynn McGill in the 5th season of “24”. Astin is the son of actress Patty Duke.

57. ELO relative? AC/DC
The Heavy Metal band known as AC/DC was formed by two brothers in Australia. The group is usually called “Acca Dacca” down under.

58. Paretsky who writes V.I. Warshawski detective novels SARA
Sara Paretsky is an American author of detective fiction. Paretsky’s most famous character is a female private investigator called V.I. Warshawski. Warshawski was played by Kathleen Turner in a big screen adaptation of one of her stories in 1991.

64. Blokes HES
“Bloke” is English slang for “fellow”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Big head EGO
4. Fancy dance BALL
8. Bad hair day feature FRIZZ
13. Hauler’s unit TON
14. Beatnik’s dough BREAD
16. French name meaning “born again” RENEE
17. Day off from sch. HOL
18. Where Cal Ripken’s consecutive game record was set CAMDEN YARDS
20. Brief mea culpa I DID
22. Candidate list BALLOT
23. Repair quote: Abbr. EST
24. Color named for a bird CANARY YELLOW
27. Showy lily SEGO
28. “Godmother of Punk” Smith PATTI
32. Back in time AGO
33. Bitter ACIDIC
39. Ray or Flay CHEF
40. “Calm down!” CONTROL YOURSELF!
43. Ristorante menu word ALLA
44. Pitch add-on -BLENDE
45. __ Khan: Rita Hayworth’s husband ALY
46. Peaceful scene IDYLL
48. Newspaper section ARTS
50. Taxing period, usually CALENDAR YEAR
57. Scary snake ASP
60. Copy room supplies TONERS
61. Plucked strings, in Padua ARPA
62. Immature 20-something, say CALLOW YOUTH
65. Vampire’s alter ego BAT
66. Sap DRAIN
67. Actress Dickinson ANGIE
68. Profitable rock ORE
69. Sweet, or, read another way, a hint to five long puzzle answers CANDY or C AND Y
70. Hyphenated IDs SSNS
71. Cadillac luxury sedan XTS

Down
1. Personal creed ETHIC
2. Reliable GOOD AS GOLD
3. Like many magazines, nowadays ONLINE ONLY
4. “EastEnders” airer BBC
5. Sheikdom in a jazz standard ARABY
6. WWII Air Force general Curtis __ LEMAY
7. Minestrone server LADLE
8. Grill on a stove FRY TOP
9. Blues-rocker Chris REA
10. Brief words? IN RE
11. Heart of a London puzzle? ZEDS
12. Joie de vivre ZEST
15. Wooded valley DELL
19. Lon of Cambodia NOL
21. NYC’s __ Hammarskjöld Plaza DAG
25. Guffaw ROAR
26. “My best soldiers”: MacArthur WACS
29. Loge THEATER BOX
30. Knows the difference between TELLS APART
31. Not reliable IFFY
32. Beneficial berry ACAI
34. Picnic discard COB
35. Peaked ILL
36. Turn blue, perhaps DYE
37. Physicist’s particle ION
38. Chewed-over material CUD
41. Soapstone, mostly TALC
42. Place for stragglers REAR
47. Rte. for many a red-eye LA TO NY
49. Handwoven rug RYA
51. Vile LOW
52. Former member of the Irish band Clannad ENYA
53. Old Dodge compacts NEONS
54. What dispensaries dispense DRUGS
55. Sean who played a hobbit ASTIN
56. Has status RATES
57. ELO relative? AC/DC
58. Paretsky who writes V.I. Warshawski detective novels SARA
59. Think ahead PLAN
63. Trunk cover LID
64. Blokes HES

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Posted by Bill Butler
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