LA Times Crossword Answers 8 Aug 13, Thursday

CROSSWORD SETTER: Nancy Salomon
THEME: Jeers from the Start … each of the themed answers open with a jeer that might be heard at a game:

17A. *Flashy theatricality RAZZMATAZZ (giving “razz”)
62A. *Folk music shindig HOOTENANNY (giving “hoot”)
11D. *Tantrums HISSY FITS (giving “hiss”)
34D. *Hidden hazard BOOBY TRAP (giving “boo”)

39A. Fans’ disapproval, and a hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues JEERS

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 10m 25s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Player with a record 14 100-RBI seasons A-ROD
Poor old Alex Rodriguez earned more nicknames than just A-Rod. He has been called “the Cooler” by some players as there is a perception that teams go cold when he joins them and hot when he leaves. He has also been called “A-Fraud” by teammates because of another perception, that he is over-demanding. Rodriguez is now seems to be in a world of hurt for using illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

5. Dancer’s rail BARRE
A “barre” is a handrail used by ballet dancers for warm-up exercises and to provide support when practicing certain moves.

15. “Love Story” co-star O’NEAL
Actor Ryan O’Neal got his big break in the sixties on television. He appeared in the prime-time soap opera “Peyton Place”, opposite fellow newcomer Mia Farrow. Then in 1970 he landed a starring role in the hit movie “Love Story”, which established him in Hollywood.

There’s no doubt that the 1970 movie “Love Story” is one of the great romantic dramas of all time, but I just think Ali MacGraw was hopelessly miscast and really took the shine off the film for me. I know I am in a small minority that holds that view, as she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance.

16. Hookah, e.g. PIPE
A hookah is a waterpipe, a device for smoking tobacco in which the smoke is passed through a water basin before it is inhaled.

17. *Flashy theatricality RAZZMATAZZ
Razzmatazz is a flashy maneuver designed to perhaps deceive or just bedazzle. “Razzmatazz” perhaps came from the similar term “razzle-dazzle”, and has been around since the end of the 19th century.

19. Soccer shower ESPN
ESPN is the Entertainment Sports Programming Network, a cable network that broadcasts sports programming 24 hours a day. ESPN was launched back in 1979.

20. Parting that’s bid ADIEU
“Adieu” is the French for “goodbye” or “farewell”, from “à Dieu” meaning “to God”.

21. Childlike sci-fi race ELOI
In the 1895 novel by H. G. Wells called “The Time Machine”, there are two races that the hero encounter in his travels into the future. The Eloi are the “beautiful people” who live on the planet’s surface. The Morlocks are a race of cannibals living underground who use the Eloi as food.

22. Abbr. before a date ESTD
Established (Estd.)

27. Medicinal shrubs SENNAS
Sennas are used as purgatives and laxatives.

32. Can opener TAB
The oldest method of opening a can with a device included in the can’s design is the pull-tab or ring pull, invented in Canada in 1956. The design was long-lived but it had its problems, so the world heaved a sigh of relief with the invention of the stay-on-tab in 1975. The new design led to less injuries and eliminated all those used pull-tabs that littered the streets.

36. Cereal usually served hot FARINA
Farina is semolina, or cream of wheat. It is made from wheat grain in which much of the nutritious ingredients are removed leaving a fine “flour”. The name “Farina” is the Latin word meaning “flour”.

42. Snorkeling spots ATOLLS
An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring and enclosing a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside internal to the circling coral reef.

Our word “snorkel” comes from German navy slang “Schnorchel” meaning “nose, snout”. The German slang was applied to an airshaft used for submarines, due to its resemblance to a nose, in that air passed through it and it made a “snoring” sound. “Schnorchel” comes from “Schnarchen”, the German for “snore”.

44. Boozehounds SOTS
Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning a fool. The word “sot” started to be associated with alcohol and not just foolery in the late 1500s.

46. Fr. religious figure STE
Sainte (Ste.)

48. Do like Vassar did in 1969 GO COED
Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York is now a coeducational school after over a century as a women’s college since its founding in 1861. The school was officially declared co-ed in 1969, although it had accepted a handful of male students on the GI Bill after WWII.

50. Co-Nobelist Arafat YASIR
Yasser (also Yasir) Arafat was born in Cairo in 1929, the son of two Palestinians and the second-youngest of seven children. Arafat was beaten by his father as a child and so did not have a good relationship with him. Arafat did not attend his father’s funeral, nor did he visit his grave. The beatings were apparently administered because the young Arafat was repeatedly attending religious services in the Jewish quarter of Cairo. Arafat’s explanation was that he wanted to “study the mentality” of the Jewish people.

52. GI’s work detail KP DUTY
KP is a US military slang term, and stands for either “kitchen police” or “kitchen patrol”.

55. They may be saturated FATS
Saturated fats differ from unsaturated fats chemically in that saturated fats have chains of fatty acids that are relatively straight, allowing individual molecules to pack closely together. This close packing largely explains why saturated fats are solid at room temperature. Unsaturated fatty acids on the other hand have “kinks” in the chains of their fatty acids, so that they cannot pack together closely. Unsaturated fats are generally liquid at room temperature. Food manufacturers have learned that humans get sick by consuming saturated fats (i.e. fats from animal sources). So, they market “healthy” vegetable fats (naturally unsaturated and liquid at room temperature) that they have magically transformed in solid fats (like vegetable spreads). All they did was saturate the healthy fats, so that now it solidifies at room temperature, and in your arteries. There should be a law …

61. Piece of farmland ACRE
At one time, an acre was defined as the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. This was more precisely defined as a strip of land one furlong long (660 feet) and one chain wide (66 feet). The word “furlong” is actually derived from the Old English words meaning “furrow long”, the length of the furrow plowed by the oxen.

62. *Folk music shindig HOOTENANNY
Our colloquial word “hootenanny” is now used for a party featuring folk music. The term came into English as a word similar to “thingamajig” or “whatsit”. Out current usage is more akin to its original meaning back in Scotland i.e. “celebration, party”.

64. Landlocked African country CHAD
The landlocked African country called Chad takes its name from the second largest wetland on the continent: Lake Chad.

65. Like cardinals AVIAN
“Avis” is the Latin word for a bird, giving rise to our adjective “avian” meaning “relating to birds”.

Cardinal red is a vivid shade that takes its name from the cassocks worn by Roman Catholic cardinals. The bird known as a cardinal takes its name from the color.

66. Belg.-based alliance NATO
NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO was founded not long after WWII in 1949 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The first NATO Secretary General was Lord Ismay, Winston Churchill’s chief military assistant during WWII. Famously, Lord Ismay said the goal of NATO was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

68. Pomme de __: French potato TERRE
“Pomme de terre” is French for “potato” and literally translates as “earth apple”.

69. Tax cheat chaser, briefly T-MAN
A T-man is a law-enforcement agent of the US Treasury (T is for Treasury).

Down
1. Incantation opener ABRA-
The incantation “abracadabra” has a long history. It was used as far back as the 2nd century AD in Ancient Rome when the word was prescribed by a physician to be worn on an amulet to help his emperor recover from disease. “Abracadabra” is Aramaic, and roughly translates as “I will create as I speak”.

3. David and Ricky’s dad OZZIE
“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” ran from 1952 to 1966, and it is has been running continuously in syndication ever since. It is the longest-running, non-animated sitcom in US television history.

4. By the __: in quantity DOZENS
Our word “dozen” is used for a group of twelve. We imported it into English from Old French. The modern French word for twelve is “douze”, and a dozen is “douzaine”.

8. Maugham’s “The __ Edge” RAZOR’S
“The Razor’s Edge” is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham that was first published in 1944. The book tells the story of a pilot who returns traumatized from his experiences in WWI. The most famous movie adaptation was released in 1946 starring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney.

W. Somerset Maugham was a playwright and novelist from the UK. Maugham was actually born in France, but on British soil in the British embassy in Paris. He became very successful as an author and was the highest paid writer of the 1930s.

9. Popeye creator Segar ELZIE
Elzie Segar was a cartoonist who went by the name E. C. Segar. Segar was the man who created the strip “Thimble Theater”, home of the character Popeye.

24. Dressed for dreamland, briefly IN PJS
Our word “pajamas” comes to us from the Indian subcontinent, where “pai jamahs” were loose fitting pants tied at the waist and worn at night by locals and ultimately by the Europeans living there. And “pajamas” is another of those words that I had to learn to spell differently when I came to America. In the British Isles the spelling is “pyjamas”.

28. “You __ Beautiful”: Joe Cocker hit ARE SO
“You Are So Beautiful” is a song written by Dennis Wilson and Billy Preston, first recorded by Preston in 1974. Later the same year, Joe Cocker recorded a slower version of the song that was to become more successful than the original.

Joe Cocker is an English rock and blues singer from Sheffield in the North of England (a city in which I attended school many moons ago). Cocker has had many hits, a lot of which are cover versions of songs. Included in the list is “With a Little Help from My Friends”, “Cry Me a River”, “You Are So Beautiful” and of course “Up Where We Belong”.

30. Threaded fastener T-NUT
A T-nut is so called because it has a t-shape when viewed from the side.

32. Abdicator of 1917 TSAR
The last ruler of Imperial Russia was Tsar Nicholas II (of the House of Romanov). Famously, the Tsar and his family were murdered in 1918 in the basement of a house in Yekaterinburg, Russia by members of the Bolshevik secret police. The Tsar’s youngest daughter was 16-year-old Anastasia and rumors of her escape have persisted for years. The rumors grew with the help of numerous women who claimed to be Anastasia. In 2009, DNA testing finally proved that the remains of all of the Tsar’s immediate family, including Anastasia, have been found and identified.

33. Violist’s clef ALTO
Clef is the French word for “key”. In music, a clef is used to indicate the pitch of the notes written on the stave.

36. Camera setting F-STOP
Varying the f-stop in a lens varies how big the lens opening (the aperture) is when a photograph is taken. Smaller apertures (higher f-stop values) admit less light, but result in sharper photographs.

43. Brigham Young’s gp. LDS
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often abbreviated to “LDS”, is known colloquially as the Mormon Church.

Brigham Young was the second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Young believed in and practiced polygamy, so he has a large family of descendants. One of his more famous great-great-great-grandsons is Steve Young, the retired quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.

45. Auto leasing choice SEDAN
The American “sedan” car is the equivalent of the British “saloon” car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in the UK), although in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.

49. Three-time NBA scoring champ Kevin DURANT
Kevin Durant is a professional basketball player with the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA. You might come across Durant on the big screen as well, as he starred in the children’s film “Thunderstruck” in 2012.

51. Mac messaging program ICHAT
iChat was introduced in 2002, and is still in use today. It is Apple’s “instant messaging” application that integrates with the Mac Operating System.

54. Busybody YENTA
Yenta (also “Yente”) is actually a female Yiddish name. In Yiddish theater “yenta” came to mean a busybody.

55. Trivia champ’s tidbit FACT
Trivia are things of little consequence. “Trivia” is the plural of the Latin word “trivium” which means “a place where three roads meet”. Now that’s what I call a trivial fact …

58. Roulette bet NOIR
The name “roulette” means “little wheel” in French, and the game as we know it today did in fact originate in Paris, in 1796.

60. City on the Rhône LYON
The city of Lyon in France, is also known as Lyons in English.

The Rhone river rises in Switzerland and flows through the southeast of France.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Player with a record 14 100-RBI seasons A-ROD
5. Dancer’s rail BARRE
10. Fake SHAM
14. Numbskull BOZO
15. “Love Story” co-star O’NEAL
16. Hookah, e.g. PIPE
17. *Flashy theatricality RAZZMATAZZ
19. Soccer shower ESPN
20. Parting that’s bid ADIEU
21. Childlike sci-fi race ELOI
22. Abbr. before a date ESTD
23. Remitted SENT IN
25. Good to go READY
27. Medicinal shrubs SENNAS
29. Hoists with difficulty HEFTS
32. Can opener TAB
35. Prepare for a bout SPAR
36. Cereal usually served hot FARINA
37. Hardly first-class fare SLOP
39. Fans’ disapproval, and a hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues JEERS
41. Bowl over STUN
42. Snorkeling spots ATOLLS
44. Boozehounds SOTS
46. Fr. religious figure STE
47. Dressed for choir ROBED
48. Do like Vassar did in 1969 GO COED
50. Co-Nobelist Arafat YASIR
52. GI’s work detail KP DUTY
55. They may be saturated FATS
57. Takes for a ride CONS
59. Unsteady on one’s feet AREEL
61. Piece of farmland ACRE
62. *Folk music shindig HOOTENANNY
64. Landlocked African country CHAD
65. Like cardinals AVIAN
66. Belg.-based alliance NATO
67. Copy editor’s find TYPO
68. Pomme de __: French potato TERRE
69. Tax cheat chaser, briefly T-MAN

Down
1. Incantation opener ABRA-
2. Places to find forks ROADS
3. David and Ricky’s dad OZZIE
4. By the __: in quantity DOZENS
5. Scary squeezer BOA
6. Insect’s pair ANTENNAE
7. Not fake REAL
8. Maugham’s “The __ Edge” RAZOR’S
9. Popeye creator Segar ELZIE
10. Ones ignoring limits SPEEDERS
11. *Tantrums HISSY FITS
12. Date with a Dr. APPT
13. Heal MEND
18. Makes an unsound decision about? MUTES
24. Dressed for dreamland, briefly IN PJS
26. “Bingo!” AHA!
28. “You __ Beautiful”: Joe Cocker hit ARE SO
30. Threaded fastener T-NUT
31. Right upstairs? SANE
32. Abdicator of 1917 TSAR
33. Violist’s clef ALTO
34. *Hidden hazard BOOBY TRAP
36. Camera setting F-STOP
38. “Sure, go ahead!” PLEASE DO!
40. Fan club focus ROCK STAR
43. Brigham Young’s gp. LDS
45. Auto leasing choice SEDAN
48. Furrow GROOVE
49. Three-time NBA scoring champ Kevin DURANT
51. Mac messaging program ICHAT
53. Early brunch hr. TEN AM
54. Busybody YENTA
55. Trivia champ’s tidbit FACT
56. In need of liniment ACHY
58. Roulette bet NOIR
60. City on the Rhône LYON
63. Pittsburgh-to-Boston dir. ENE

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