LA Times Crossword Answers 6 Sep 13, Friday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Steve Blais
THEME: Scientific Nouns to Verbs … today’s themed answers are scientific inventions named for their inventor, but the nouns in the inventions have been turned into verbs:

18A. Physicist got all wound up? TESLA COILED (from “Tesla coil”)
29A. Mathematician got ready for a shower? MOEBIUS STRIPPED (from “Mobius strip”)
36A. Seismologist rose to new heights? RICHTER SCALED (from “Richter scale”)
44A. Physicist made an opposing move? GEIGER COUNTERED (from “Geiger counter”)
61A. Microbiologist spread some gossip? PETRI DISHED (from “Petri dish”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 9m 57s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Sign of trouble SOS
The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are also mnemonics, introduced after the “SOS” signal was adopted.

10. San Joaquin Valley concern SMOG
The San Joaquin Valley is in the southern part of the Central Valley of California (the northern part is the Sacramento Valley). The San Joaquin Valley is plagued with smog due to the surrounding mountains holding in pollution generated by traffic in built-up areas. The smog is bad that the San Joaquin Valley is one of the three worst areas in the country for pollution, along with Los Angeles and Houston.

14. PC core CPU
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the main component on the “motherboard” of a computer. The CPU is the part of the computer that carries out most of the functions required by a program. Nowadays you can get CPUs in everything from cars to telephones.

16. Dance that tells a story HULA
“Hula” is the name of the Polynesian dance. The chant or song that the dance illustrates, that’s known as the “mele”.

18. Physicist got all wound up? TESLA COILED (from “Tesla coil”)
A Tesla coil is used to create the high voltages needed to ionize air in those pyrotechnic shows where sparks jump from globe to globe. The same technology was used up to the twenties in spark-gap radio transmitters which were central to wireless telegraphy back then.

20. Prefix with European INDO-
The Indo-European languages are a large group that includes most of the major languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau and South Asia. The Indo-European is the largest grouping of languages in the world.

26. “The Stepford Wives” author Levin IRA
As well as writing novels, Ira Levin was a dramatist and a songwriter. Levin’s first novel was “A Kiss Before Dying”, and his most famous work was “Rosemary’s Baby” which became a Hollywood hit. His best known play is “Deathtrap”, a production that is often seen in local theater (I’ve seen it a couple of times around here). “Deathtrap” was also was a successful movie, starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve. My favorite of Levin’s novels though are “The Boys from Brazil” and “The Stepford Wives”.

“The Stepford Wives” is a 1972 novel by Ira Levin about a Connecticut community in which the husbands replace their wives with docile robots. There have been two film adaptations of the book, the first released in 1975 and starring Katherine Ross (my favorite). The second movie adaption, released in 2004, isn’t as good in my opinion, although although Bette Midler plays a great supporting role.

29. Mathematician got ready for a shower? MOEBIUS STRIPPED (from “Mobius strip”)
A Möbius strip is a surface that has only one side. One is easily made by taking a strip of paper and joining the ends together, but with a twist so that it isn’t a regular “band”.

36. Seismologist rose to new heights? RICHTER SCALED (from “Richter scale”)
The Richter scale was developed in 1935, by Charles Richter at the California Institute of Technology. Maybe that’s why we still use it out here, while the rest of the world has moved to the “moment magnitude scale”. Reports of earthquake magnitude are usually given using the “moment magnitude scale”, but the media don’t bother to specify which scale is being quoted.

42. California’s __ Valley SIMI
Nowadays Simi Valley is perhaps best known as being home to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. If you ever get the chance to do so, the library is a great place to visit. There you can tour one of the retired Air Force One planes.

44. Physicist made an opposing move? GEIGER COUNTERED (from “Geiger counter”)
A Geiger counter is a particle detector that measures ionizing radiation, such as alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays. Often a Geiger counter is equipped with a speaker through which clicks are broadcast each time a particle is detected. We’ve all heard those terrifying clicks in the movies, I am sure …

52. Explosive letters TNT
TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

53. “I’ll meet thee on the __-rig”: Burns LEA
“I’ll Meet Thee On The Lea Rig” is a 1792 poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns.

54. Fur piece STOLE
A stole is a lady’s accessory, a narrow shawl. It can be made of quite light decorative material, or it can be heavier especially if made of fur.

55. Socrates, for one ATHENIAN
The classical Greek Athenian philosopher Socrates fell out of favor with the political leaders in Athens who put him on trial on trumped-up charges. He was found guilty of corrupting the youth of the city-state and of not believing in the gods of the state. The sentence levied was death by drinking hemlock.

61. Microbiologist spread some gossip? PETRI DISHED (from “Petri dish”)
Julius Richard Petri was a German bacteriologist and was the man after whom the Petri dish is named. The petri dish can have an agar gel on the bottom which acts a nutrient source for the specimen being grown and studied, in which case the dish plus agar is referred to as an “agar plate”.

65. On the lower side, in a heeling vessel ALEE
“Alee” is the direction away from the wind. If a sailor points into the wind, he or she is pointing “aweather”.

66. Twitterpated IN LOVE
To be “twitterpated” is to be “in love”. a term that apparently originates from the Walt Disney movie “Bambi”. Friend Owl says to Thumper:

Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime. For example: You’re walking along, minding your own business. You’re looking neither to the left, nor to the right, when all of a sudden you run smack into a pretty face. Woo-woo! You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head’s in a whirl. And then you feel light as a feather, and before you know it, you’re walking on air. And then you know what? You’re knocked for a loop, and you completely lose your head!

Then Thumper replies:

Gosh, that’s awful.

67. Half of nine? ENS
Half of the letters in the word “nine” are letters N (ens).

69. Conical shelter TEEPEE
A tepee (also written as “tipi” and “teepee”) is a cone-shaped tent traditionally made from animal hides that is used by the Great Plains Native Americans. A wigwam is a completely different structure and is often a misnomer for a tepee. A wigwam is a domed structure built by Native Americans in the West and Southwest, intended to be a more permanent dwelling. The wigwam can also be covered with hides but more often was covered with grass, reeds, brush or cloth.

Down
1. Religious split SCHISM
A schism is a split or a division, especially in a religion.

3. Cherry-topped treat SUNDAE
There’s a lot of speculation about how the dessert called a sundae got its name, but there seems to be agreement that it is an alteration of the word “Sunday”.

4. Former flier SST
The most famous supersonic transport (SST) is the retired Concorde. Concorde was developed and produced under an Anglo-French treaty by France’s Aérospatiale and the UK’s British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).

5. Makes haste HIES
“To hie” is to move quickly, to bolt.

6. In the past, in the past ERST
Erstwhile means “in the past” or “once upon a time”.

7. He sang between Melanie and Joan at Woodstock ARLO
Arlo Guthrie is the son of Woody Guthrie. Both father and son are renowned for their singing of protest songs about social injustice. Arlo is most famous for his epic “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, a song that lasts a full 18m 34s. In the song Guthrie tells how, after being drafted, he was rejected for service in the Vietnam War based on his criminal record. He had only one incident on his public record, a Thanksgiving Day arrest for littering and being a public nuisance when he was 18-years-old.

Melanie Safka is singer-songwriter from the Astoria neighborhood in Queens, New York. Safka used the stage name of just “Melanie”. Melanie’s most famous release is probably “Brand New Key” from 1971.

Joan Baez is an American folk singer and a prominent activist in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights and environmental protection. Baez has dated some high-profile figures in her life including Bob Dylan, Steve Jobs (of Apple) and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead.

9. Victim of Achilles HECTOR
As described in Homer’s “Iliad”, Hector was a Trojan prince and a great fighter. During the war with the Greeks, in order avoid a bloody battle, Hector challenged any one of the Greek warriors to a duel. Ajax was chosen by the Greeks, and the two fought for an entire day before they declared a stalemate.

Achilles is a Greek mythological figure, the main protagonist of Homer’s “Iliad”. Supposedly when Achilles was born his mother attempted to make him immortal by dipping him into the River Styx. As he was held by the heel as he was immersed, this became the only vulnerable point on his body. Years later he was killed when a poisoned arrow struck him in the heel, shot by Paris.

10. LaBeouf of “Transformers” films SHIA
Shia LaBeouf is an actor who started out in the Disney television series “Even Stevens”. Adult audiences might be more familiar with his leading role in the 2003 film “Holes”.

12. Cry for a matador OLE
“Matador” is a Spanish word used in English for a bullfighter, although the term isn’t used in the same way in Spanish. The equivalent in Spanish is “torero”. “Matador” translates aptly enough as “killer”.

13. Wander GAD
“To gad about” is to move around with little purpose. The word “gad” comes from the Middle English “gadden” meaning “to hurry”.

21. Saturn, for one ORB
Saturn is easily visible from Earth with the unaided eye, but we need some help to see the planet’s famous rings. Galileo was the first person to see Saturn’s rings, when he turned his primitive telescope towards the night sky in 1610. However, he misinterpreted what he was observing and assumed that the rings were in fact two smaller planets located at either side of the larger Saturn.

24. Mrs. Addams, to Gomez TISH
Gomez and Morticia (“Tish”) Addams were the parents in “The Addams Family”, a creation of the cartoonist Charles Addams. In the sixties television show, Gomez was played by John Astin and Morticia was played by Carolyn Jones.

27. Interpret, as X-rays READ
X-rays were first studied comprehensively by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (also “Roentgen”), and it was he who gave the name “X-rays” to this particular type of radiation. Paradoxically, in Röntgen’s native language of German, X-rays are routinely referred to as “Röntgen rays”. In 1901 Röntgen won the first Nobel Prize in Physics that was ever awarded, recognition for his work on X-rays.

31. Mystery writer Grafton SUE
Sue Grafton writes detective novels, and her “alphabet series” features the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “A Is for Alibi” in 1982 and is working her way through the alphabet, most recently publishing “U Is for Undertow” in 2009. What a clever naming system!

32. __-Croatian SERBO
The language known as Serbo-Croatian is a primary language spoken in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.

36. Nothing, in Nice RIEN
The city of Nice lies on the Mediterranean coast of France, not far from the Italian border. Although it is only the fifth most populous city, Nice has the second busiest airport in the country (after Paris) thanks to the vast number of jet-setting tourists that flock to the French Riviera.

39. Almost worthless amount SOU
A sou is an old French coin.

42. Pepper or Snorkel: Abbr. SGT
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band was the alter-ego of the Beatles and was the title of a famous studio album released in 1967.

Sgt. Snorkel (“Sarge”) is Beetle Bailey’s nemesis in the cartoon strip that bears his name. Snorkel has a dog called Otto that he dresses up to look just like himself. Otto started off as a regular dog, but artist Mort Walker decide to draw him more like his owner, and soon Otto became a big hit.

45. K thru 12 ELHI
“Elhi” is an informal word used to describe anything related to schooling from grades 1 through 12, i.e. elementary through high school.

47. Fang CANINE
The canine teeth of a mammal are also called the eye teeth. The name “canine” is used because these particular teeth are very prominent in dogs. The name “eye” is used because in humans the eye teeth are located in the upper jaw, directly below the eyes.

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

49. Much more than edged ROUTED
With the help of a friendly blog reader (below), I now see that in sports one can edge someone out of a win, or better still one may rout the opposition.

50. Periodic weather disruption EL NINO
When the surface temperature of much of the Pacific Ocean rises more that half a degree centigrade, then there is said to be an El Niño episode. That small temperature change in the Pacific has been associated with climatic changes that can stretch right across the globe. El Niño is Spanish for “the boy” and is a reference to the Christ child. The phenomenon was given this particular Spanish name because the warming is usually noticed near South America and around Christmas-time.

57. “Lost” setting ISLE
“Lost” is a television drama that ran for six seasons, finishing up in 2010. The show followed the adventures of survivors of a plane crash who get stranded on what seem to be a deserted tropical island. Things then get a bit weird, I hear. I didn’t watch “Lost”, but it seems to be one of those shows that folks really love or really hate …

59. Campbell of “Scream” NEVE
Neve Campbell is a Canadian actress whose big break came with the “Scream” horror film series, in which she had a leading role. I don’t do horror films, so I haven’t seen any of the “Scream” movies …

61. Birdie plus one PAR
Apparently the term “birdie” originated in 1899 at the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, New Jersey. A golfer hit his second shot on a par four that stopped inches from the cup after hitting a bird in flight. The golfer tapped the ball in for one-under-par, and his golfing buddies labeled the second shot a “bird”. The golfers started to call one-under-par a birdie, and the term spread through the club, and from there around the world …

62. “Hostel” director Roth ELI
Eli Roth is one of a group of directors of horror movies known quite graphically as “The Splat Pack”. I can’t stand “splat” movies and avoid them as best I can. Roth is also famous for playing Donny Donowitz in the Quentin Tarantino movie “Inglourious Basterds”, a good film I thought, if you close your eyes during the gruesome bits.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Sign of trouble SOS
4. Sword holder SHEATH
10. San Joaquin Valley concern SMOG
14. PC core CPU
15. Yes or no follower SIRREE
16. Dance that tells a story HULA
17. Farm girl HEN
18. Physicist got all wound up? TESLA COILED (from “Tesla coil”)
20. Prefix with European INDO-
22. “Enough!” STOP THAT!
23. Race line START
25. Fireworks reaction OOH!
26. “The Stepford Wives” author Levin IRA
29. Mathematician got ready for a shower? MOEBIUS STRIPPED (from “Mobius strip”)
34. Swing around on an axis SLUE
35. Sigh of sorrow ALAS
36. Seismologist rose to new heights? RICHTER SCALED (from “Richter scale”)
42. California’s __ Valley SIMI
43. Unrefined type BOOR
44. Physicist made an opposing move? GEIGER COUNTERED (from “Geiger counter”)
52. Explosive letters TNT
53. “I’ll meet thee on the __-rig”: Burns LEA
54. Fur piece STOLE
55. Socrates, for one ATHENIAN
60. Selma or Patty, to Bart Simpson AUNT
61. Microbiologist spread some gossip? PETRI DISHED (from “Petri dish”)
64. Even up TIE
65. On the lower side, in a heeling vessel ALEE
66. Twitterpated IN LOVE
67. Half of nine? ENS
68. Insurance deals with it RISK
69. Conical shelter TEEPEE
70. Web address component DOT

Down
1. Religious split SCHISM
2. Not against entertaining OPEN TO
3. Cherry-topped treat SUNDAE
4. Former flier SST
5. Makes haste HIES
6. In the past, in the past ERST
7. He sang between Melanie and Joan at Woodstock ARLO
8. Where to get a brew TEAPOT
9. Victim of Achilles HECTOR
10. LaBeouf of “Transformers” films SHIA
11. Six, nine or twelve, for three MULTIPLE
12. Cry for a matador OLE
13. Wander GAD
19. Greeting to an unexpected visitor OH HI!
21. Saturn, for one ORB
24. Mrs. Addams, to Gomez TISH
27. Interpret, as X-rays READ
28. They may be classified ADS
30. Final: Abbr. ULT
31. Mystery writer Grafton SUE
32. __-Croatian SERBO
33. Amigo PAL
36. Nothing, in Nice RIEN
37. Knocks off IMITATES
38. One might be bummed, briefly CIG
39. Almost worthless amount SOU
40. Put one over on CON
41. Fine things ARTS
42. Pepper or Snorkel: Abbr. SGT
45. K thru 12 ELHI
46. Make more changes to RE-EDIT
47. Fang CANINE
48. Greek vowel ETA
49. Much more than edged ROUTED
50. Periodic weather disruption EL NINO
51. Not fancy at all DETEST
56. Long migration, say TREK
57. “Lost” setting ISLE
58. One bounce, on the diamond A HOP
59. Campbell of “Scream” NEVE
61. Birdie plus one PAR
62. “Hostel” director Roth ELI
63. Low grade DEE

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11 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 6 Sep 13, Friday”

  1. Bill – great Balls of fire – I actually completed a Friday !!!

    The beginning of this new Jewish year is indeed very auspicious for me !!

    Thank you, thank you, thank you Steve Blais, for your kindness !! Loved the puzzle….

    Thank you Bill, for explaining all in your delectable blog. I feel like I'm on top of the world. My third Friday completion, ever !

    I was massively assisted by the science friendly theme. I got the answers in a trice. Have seen Tesla coils, and read copiously about him, have used a Petri dish ( didn't we have that recently ? ). Have used a Geiger counter to check on my smoke detector – which I understand has Cesium, a radioactive element… To detect the ionization of smoke particles, in the air ….

    . Have made a Moebius strip and possess a Moebius bottle (one surface, continuous -).

    Have 'felt' a Richter scale earthquake – As you know, that's a Logarithmic scale so a 2 is ten times more powerful than a 'One'. ….. And so on. Hope to never experience that feeling again….

    Have a great weekend, have got to go, for work …. Thanks a lot, again.

  2. Hi Bill, Thanks so much for your explanations! Today there were several I've never heard of (ELHI, LEA, SOU, HIES and GAD). I only missed one square on this Friday puzzle, the L in ELHI/LEA, I guessed ESHI/SEA.

    Regarding 49 Down: "Much more than edged" = ROUTED, I got the same answer using a different definition: Much more than edged out a victory = completely ROUTED the other team?

    I have to agree with Barry G about 51D, it seems as though DETESTABLE would be "not fancy at all", but I only found DETEST because all the other clues worked.

    Thanks again for your puzzle explanations!

  3. Bil, I have to agree with Don Sanshu,and of course, Barry Gold, as above….

    Detest – is to abhor, but that is a verb. If we need an adjective, that is, to 'not fancy at all' , the adjective would have to be detestable.

    A router, a wood working tool used in carpentry, gives an edge, either a round or curved profile, or as is used in cabinetry, to give a smooth, curved, and oftentimes, a recessed finish – because if a projecting minor, or mini bit on the main drill. So, a router, would infact be giving a 'softer' , smoother, gentler edge. I don't think that satisfies the requirement of thee clue.

    The alternate explanation, given by Don, above, was the one I used – routing, as in completely defeating a foe, as opposed to merely edging him at the finish.

    The Möebius bottle, which follows the same concept as the Möebius strip, …. is actually called the Klein Bottle ….. It is 3 dimensional, but has only one planar surface.

    According to topologists – who make it their business, to keep informed -and make up rules about such matters ….. The bottle can be "fully described" only in the fourth dimension.

    However, we can still 'see' it online …. ( will miracles never cease ? )

    Link Klein Bottle

  4. Hi there, Don.

    My lack of sports knowledge shines through yet again 🙂

    Now that you point it out, it seems so obvious, but late last night …

    I will change it right now. Thanks for the much needed help!

  5. Hi there, Barry.

    Thanks for jumping in. In one sense you are right, if we are using "fancy" as an adjective. But, we can also use "fancy" as a verb. So, slightly rewriting the clue and answer:

    "To not fancy at all" = "TO DETEST"

    Of course, as you can see from the above comments, I have been wrong!!

  6. Easiest Fri. puzzle for me in a while.
    No hangups even with the names.
    I too was thinking sports with Edge/Routed.
    I suppose tomorrow will be a different story.

  7. Hi there, Vidwan.

    Heartiest congrats on the Friday finish. You've got to befeeling good about Saturday 🙂

    Have experienced a few earthquakes in my time, including the 6.9 Loma Prieta Quake when furniture came toppling down all around me. The stangest one was on the 21st floor of an apartment block in Manila. Gentle oscillation at that height, instead of violent thumps.

    I had never heard of a Moebius Bottle, so that made for interesting reading!

  8. Hi there.

    I hope that my explanation (above) solved the mystery of the ENS:

    67. Half of nine? ENS
    Half of the letters in the word “nine” are letters N (ens).

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