LA Times Crossword Answers 28 Dec 13, Saturday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. Track event GRAND PRIX
Even though the term is used in many competitions, I think we most associate “Grand Prix” with the series of Formula One motor races. These Formula One Grand Prix races trace their roots back to organized automobile road races from one French town to the next that date back to 1894. “Grand Prix” translates from French as “grand, big prize.”

17. Yellow-flowered medicinal plant SENNA
Sennas are used as purgatives and laxatives.

19. “__ Cheerleaders”: 1977 comedy-horror film SATAN’S
“Satan’s Cheerleaders” is a comedy-horror movie from 1977 about a high school cheerleading team that has a curse placed on their clothes. I won’t be putting this one on my list …

21. Campus not far from LAX USC
The University of Southern California (USC) is a private school in Los Angeles. Apart from its excellent academic record, USC is known the success of its athletic program. USC athletes have won more Olympic medals than the students of any other university in the world.

22. Camera that uses 70mm film IMAX
The IMAX Corporation, which is behind the IMAX film format, is a Canadian company. The impetus for developing the system came after Expo ’67 in Montreal. Back then large format screenings were accomplished using multiple projectors with multiple screens, with images basically stitched together. The team behind the IMAX technology set out to simplify things, and developed a single-camera, single-projector system.

26. Inedible orange OSAGE
The Osage orange is also known as the horse apple, and is a deciduous tree native to North America. The wood of the tree was prized by Native Americans, particularly the Osage nation, who used it to make bows.

29. “84, Charing Cross Road” novelist Hanff and others HELENES
Helene Hanff was a writer from Philadelphia who is best known for her epistolary memoir “84, Charing Cross Road”. “84, Charing Cross Road” was made into a stage play, and into very successful film starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins.

“84 Charing Cross Road” is a 1987 film based on a 1970 memoir of the same name written by Helene Hanff. The book is a compilation of letters between the American author herself and British bookseller Frank Doel. The film and book’s title is the address of the antiquarian bookstore where Doel works as the chief buyer. Hanff (played by Anne Bancroft) first got in contact with Doel (played by Anthony Hopkins) in 1949 when she was searching for some obscure British classics that weren’t available in New York City. The correspondence continued until 1968, when Doel passed away. Hanff did not visit Charing Cross Road until it was too late, in 1971, three years after Doel died and when the shop was vacant.

31. “Violator” band DEPECHE MODE
Depeche Mode is an electronic music band from England that formed in 1980. Apparently, Depeche Mode are the most successful electronic music band ever. The band’s name is the title of a French fashion magazine “Dépêche mode”, which translates as “Fashion Update”.

33. Deco designer ERTE
Erté was the pseudonym of French artist (Russian born) Romain de Tirtoff. Erté is the French pronunciation of his initials “R.T.”

35. Latin quarters? CASA
In Spanish, a family (una familia) might live in the house (la casa).

39. 1996 film with the tagline “YIKES! They’ve Landed!” MARS ATTACKS!
“Mars Attacks!” is a 1996 science fiction-comedy movie directed by Tim Burton.The film parodies sci-fi B movies and has an impressive ensemble cast that includes Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Short, Natalie Portman, Rod Steiger, Michael J. Fox and Tom Jones. The film is all about Martians invading Earth, and I watched it because of the cast. I hated it …

41. Arizona retirement community SUN CITY
Sun City is a retirement community in Arizona that was launched in 1960, built on the former ghost town of Marinette.

45. Black-footed albatrosses GOONEYS
Albatrosses used to be known as Goonie (also “gooney”) birds.

47. Savory, e.g. HERB
Summer savory is an annual herb that is used in some cuisines of the world in the same way that we tend to use sage here in the US. There is a related species called winter savory that is a little more bitter, and that is a perennial.

48. Tex.-based carrier SWA
Southwest Airlines is the world’s largest low-cost passenger airline. I’ve always admired the Southwest operation and found that the company knows to keep costs under control while maintaining a high level of customer service. One strategy the company used for decades was only to operate Boeing 737 aircraft, which kept maintenance and operating costs to a minimum.

52. Zen awakening SATORI
Satori is a Japanese term, used in the Zen Buddhist tradition. Satori does not refer to full enlightenment (nirvana) but rather is a step along the way, a flash of awareness.

54. Daily reading for many HOROSCOPE
A natal horoscope or natal chart is an astrological map that is built around the exact time and location of an individual’s birth. The chart shows the position of the astrologically relevant celestial bodies at that time.

57. Nitpick CAVIL
A cavil is a trivial objection, a nit.

59. Whence Icarus fled CRETE
Crete is the largest of the Greek Islands. Crete figures heavily in Greek mythology. Zeus was born in a cave at Mount Ida, the highest peak on the island. Crete was also home to the Labyrinth where the Minotaur was slain by Theseus. Icarus and Daedalus, after having crafted the Labyrinth, escaped from the island using wings that they crafted.

Daedalus was a master craftsman of Greek mythology who was tasked with creating the Labyrinth on the island of Crete that was to house the Minotaur. After the Labyrinth was completed, King Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus in a tower, so that he could not spread word of his work. Daedalus fabricated wings so that he and Icarus could escape by flying off the island. Despite being warned by his father, Icarus flew too close to the sun so that the wax holding the wings’ feathers in place melted. Icarus drowned in the sea, and Daedalus escaped.

Down
4. Skipjack, perhaps TUNA
Skipjack tuna would be called medium-sized, growing to about three feet long. Albacore tuna is a little larger.

5. Tinny STANNIC
The Latin word for tin is “stannum”, and so tin’s atomic symbol is “Sn”.

7. Follies REVUE
“Revue” is the French word for “review” …

9. Traffic blocker? NARC
“Narc” is a slang term for a law enforcement officer who tracks down criminals associated illegal drugs.

14. Darius I’s successor XERXES
Xerxes was the eldest son of Darius I of Persia. He succeeded to the throne in 486 BC as Xerxes I, and was later to be known as Xerxes the Great. It was Xerxes who fought against the Spartans in the famous Battle of Thermopylae.

36. Best kind of full house ACES OVER
Any full houses in the game of poker, in which the three matching cards are aces, is called “aces over” (“over” whatever value the remaining pair has).

40. Caldwell’s “__ Road” TOBACCO
“Tobacco Road” is a 1932 novel penned by Erskine Caldwell. The novel was adapted into an extremely successful stage play that opened in 1933 on Broadway. The play ran for over 3,000 performances, a record in its day. “Tobacco Road” is still the second longest-running non-musical ever to be produced on Broadway (eventually being beaten out by “Life with Father” in the sixties).

41. Most popular baby girl’s name of 2011 and 2012 SOPHIA
The given name “Sophia” come from the Greek word for “wisdom”.

44. Prairie predator COYOTE
The coyote is a canine found in most of Central and North America. The name “coyote” is Mexican Spanish, in which language it means “trickster”. Coyotes can sometimes mate with domestic dogs, creating hybrid animals known as “coydogs”. Coyotes can also mate with wolves, creating a “coywolf”.

50. Large amount SCAD
The origin of the word “scads”, meaning “lots and lots”, is unclear, although back in the mid-1800s “scads” was used to mean “dollars”.

53. Frank Kennedy saved it from foreclosure TARA
Rhett Butler hung out with Scarlett O’Hara at the Tara plantation in Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”. Tara was founded by Scarlett’s father, Irish immigrant Gerald O’Hara. Gerald named his new abode after the Hill of Tara back in his home country, the ancient seat of the High King of Ireland.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. There may be tears in them DUCTS
6. Track event GRAND PRIX
15. Like some office boxes IN/OUT
16. Track event RELAY RACE
17. Yellow-flowered medicinal plant SENNA
18. Champing at the bit, and then some OVEREAGER
19. “__ Cheerleaders”: 1977 comedy-horror film SATAN’S
21. Campus not far from LAX USC
22. Camera that uses 70mm film IMAX
23. Exploit USE
24. Casual evening? NITE
26. Inedible orange OSAGE
27. Aspire to greatness AIM HIGH
29. “84, Charing Cross Road” novelist Hanff and others HELENES
31. “Violator” band DEPECHE MODE
33. Deco designer ERTE
34. Agreeing words SO AM I
35. Latin quarters? CASA
39. 1996 film with the tagline “YIKES! They’ve Landed!” MARS ATTACKS!
41. Arizona retirement community SUN CITY
45. Black-footed albatrosses GOONEYS
46. Ring material ONION
47. Savory, e.g. HERB
48. Tex.-based carrier SWA
49. “Such a shame” PITY
50. It’s a mess STY
52. Zen awakening SATORI
54. Daily reading for many HOROSCOPE
57. Nitpick CAVIL
58. New members INITIATES
59. Whence Icarus fled CRETE
60. Ones on the way up ASCENDERS
61. Had a row OARED

Down
1. Convince otherwise DISSUADE
2. More disturbed UNEASIER
3. Disdain CONTEMPT
4. Skipjack, perhaps TUNA
5. Tinny STANNIC
6. Nursery product word GRO
7. Follies REVUE
8. Draft picks ALES
9. Traffic blocker? NARC
10. Shade provider? DYE
11. Extol PRAISE
12. Dealer in old clothing RAGMAN
13. Way more than a cold snap ICE AGE
14. Darius I’s successor XERXES
20. Reacts to with an eye roll, perhaps SIGHS AT
25. Something to test THEORY
26. Cry of approval OLE!
28. Laugh line? HEE
29. Respect HOMAGE
30. Corrections staff? EDITORS
32. Humanities degs. MAS
35. Soup holder CAN
36. Best kind of full house ACES OVER
37. Use lofty words? SKYWRITE
38. Pounced on ASSAILED
39. Short time? MIN
40. Caldwell’s “__ Road” TOBACCO
41. Most popular baby girl’s name of 2011 and 2012 SOPHIA
42. They may be civil UNIONS
43. __ acid NITRIC
44. Prairie predator COYOTE
47. Bouncing off the walls HYPER
50. Large amount SCAD
51. Haul TOTE
53. Frank Kennedy saved it from foreclosure TARA
55. Moral lapse SIN
56. Twisty character ESS

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