LA Times Crossword Answers 4 Apr 14, Friday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Biblical kingdom near the Dead Sea MOAB
In the Bible, Moab was the first son of Lot, and the founder of the Kingdom of Moab. Moab was located on a plateau above the Dead Sea.

8. Chew (out) REAM
I must admit that I find the slang term “to ream out”, with its meaning “to scold harshly”, to be quite distasteful. The usage of the word as a reprimand dates back to about 1950.

12. Old empire builder INCA
The Inca Empire was known as the Tawantinsuyu, which translates as “land of the four quarters”. The Inca Empire was a federal organization having a central government that sat above four “suyu” or “quarters”, four administrative regions.

16. Donald’s address, in comics UNCA’
Donald Duck’s nephews are identical triplets called Huey, Dewey and Louie, and they first appeared on the screen in 1938. Once in awhile due to errors in production, a fourth duck can be seen in the background. This little “mistake” is affectionately called “Phooey Duck” by folks in the industry.

17. Like a dotted note, in mus. STAC
Staccato is a musical direction signifying that notes should be played in a disconnected form. The opposite of staccato would be legato, long and continuous notes played very smoothly.

18. Bob preceder SIREE
Yes siree, Bob!

19. Tiny fraction of a min. NSEC
“Nanosecond” is more correctly abbreviated to “ns”, and really is a tiny amount of time … one billionth of a second.

24. Dander IRE
The phrases “to get one’s Irish up” and “to get one’s dander up” mean to get riled up, to get angry. I guess we are always picking on the poor Irish!

25. Some tech sch. grads EES
Electrical engineer (EE)

26. Soweto’s home: Abbr. RSA
Republic of South Africa (RSA)

Soweto is an urban area in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. The name comes from SOuth WEstern TOwnship, a black township that was set up the days of apartheid. The famous Soweto Uprising took place in 1976, triggered by government policy forcing education to be given in Afrikaans rather than in English.

28. Rain cloud NIMBUS
Nimbus clouds are rain clouds, with “nimbus” being the latin word for “cloud”. Some other types of cloud can take on the prefix nimbo- or suffix -nimbus, indicating that they are similar to that other cloud type but carry precipitation. So, a stratus cloud that has rain is called nimbostratus, and cumulus cloud with rain is called cumulonimbus.

32. Julius Caesar’s first name GAIUS
Gaius was a common Latin forename. The person most associated with the name was Gaius, the Roman Emperor better known as Caligula. Another famous Gaius was Gaius Julius Caesar.

34. Tandoori bread NAN
Naan (also “nan”) bread is very popular in Indian restaurants, as well as in other West, Central and South Asian cuisines. Indian Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.

39. Macduff and Macbeth THANES
Thanes were Scottish aristocrats. The most famous thanes have to be the Shakespearean characters Macbeth (the Thane of Glamis, later Thane of Cawdor) and MacDuff (the Thane of Fife). Other thanes in “Macbeth” are Ross, Lennox and Angus, as well as Menteith and Caithness.

41. Charity, e.g. DONEE
A “donee” is the recipient of a gift, like a charity perhaps.

46. Soccer star Freddy ADU
Freddy Adu is an American soccer player who grew up in Ghana. Adu signed for D.C. United in 2004 when he was only 14 years old. That made him the youngest athlete ever to sign a professional contract in the US.

47. __ Simbel, site of Ramses II temples ABU
Abu Simbel is a location in southern Egypt, the site of two temples carved out of a mountainside. The two rock temples had to be relocated to Abu Simbel in 1968 to save them from being submerged in the water above the Aswan High Dam that was being built across the Nile River.

48. Michaels et al. ALS
Al Michael is a sportscaster who worked with NBC Sports for nearly 30 years. Michaels is best known for his work on “Monday Night Football”.

49. Galoot APE
“Galoot” is an insulting term meaning an awkward or boorish man, an ape. “Galoot” comes from the nautical world, where it was originally what a sailor might call a soldier or marine.

57. ’20s tennis great Lacoste RENE
René Lacoste was a French tennis player known for being very tenacious on court. This tenacity earned him the nickname “the Crocodile”. When he went into the clothing business, specializing in tennis apparel, his Lacoste brand became famous for its green crocodile logo.

58. Designer Saarinen EERO
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect, renowned in this country for his unique designs for public buildings such as Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles International Airport Terminal, and the TWA building at JFK.

60. Leftover bits ORTS
Orts are small scraps of food left after a meal. “Ort” comes from Middle English, and originally described scraps left by animals.

61. 40th st. S DAK
The state of South Dakota is bisected north to south by the Missouri River. One half of the state is known as East River and the other West River, and each has a contrasting history and geography. Most of the state’s residents live east of the river, having settled in that part of South Dakota known for its fertile soil. As a result, East river’s economy has historically been associated with agriculture, and the farming of corn and wheat. West River’s economy has been dependent on ranching and mining.

Down
2. Windsor resident ONTARIAN
Windsor is the city across the US-Canadian border from Detroit, Michigan. Located in southwestern Ontario, Windsor is the most southerly city in Canada.

5. Fine cotton threads LISLES
Lisle is a cotton fabric that has been through an extra process at the end of its manufacture that burns off lint and the ends of fibers leaving the fabric very smooth and with a clean edge.

6. Awards named for a location OBIES
The Obies are the “Off-Broadway Theater Awards”. The Obies are presented annually and the recipients are chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper.

8. With 22-Across, what red hair often does, aptly RUNS (RUNS in the FAM-ILY)
About 2% of the world’s population has red hair. The highest percentage of redheads are Scottish (13%), with the Irish coming in second (10%).

10. Amtrak speedsters ACELAS
The Acela Express is the fastest train routinely running in the US, getting up to 150 mph at times. The service runs between Boston and Washington D.C. via Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. The brand name “Acela” was created to evoke “acceleration” and “excellence”.

Amtrak is the name used commercially by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. “Amtrak” comes from a melding of the words “America” and “track”.

11. Store with a star MACY’S
The original Macy’s store was opened by Rowland Hussey Macy in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1851. This store, and several others that Macy opened, all failed. Macy picked himself up though, and started over again in New York City. Those early New York stores all focused on the sale of dry goods, but added departments quickly as the clientele grew. The Macy’s “star” logo has been around since the company was first established. Macy chose the star because it mimicked the star tattoo that he got as a teenager when he was working on a whaling ship out of Nantucket.

21. Roman god DEUS
“Deus” is Latin for “god”.

29. Squeeze plays involve them BUNTS
In baseball, a squeeze play is one in which a batter bunts the ball expecting to be thrown out at first, but gives a runner at third base a chance to score. In a safety squeeze the runner at third waits to see where the bunt is going before heading for home. In a suicide squeeze, the runner heads home as soon as the pitcher throws the ball.

31. Pelé’s first name EDSON
Pelé is the nickname of Edson de Nascimento, a soccer player who has used the name Pelé for most of his life. Pelé is now retired, and for my money was the world’s greatest ever player of the game. He is the only person to have been part of three World Cup winning squads, and is a national treasure in his native Brazil.

33. Jackson follower VAN BUREN
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the US, and also served as Vice President and Secretary of State under President Andrew Jackson. Although Van Buren was the first president who was born a US citizen, he was the only president whose first language wasn’t English, having grown up speaking Dutch.

35. 1995 Will Smith/Martin Lawrence film BAD BOYS
“Bad Boys” is a comedy drama movie released in 1995 starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith as two narcotics detectives in Miami.

42. Seer’s challenge EYE TEST
The commonly used eye chart (that starts with the letters “E FP TOZ LPED”) is called a Snellen chart. The test is named after its developer Herman Snellen, who introduced it way back in 1862.

44. Dawn goddess AURORA
Aurora was the goddess of the dawn in Ancient Roman mythology. Aurora had two siblings: Sol (the god of the sun) and Luna (the goddess of the moon). The Greek equivalent of Aurora was Eos.

45. Prefix with carbon FLUORO-
Fluorocarbons are compounds containing only carbon and fluorine atoms. Chlorofluorocarbons are notorious for depleting the ozone layer.

46. Gallic girlfriends AMIES
A male friend in France is “un ami”, and a female friend is “une amie”.

48. Running back Haynes, first AFL player of the year ABNER
Abner Haynes is a former professional football player. Haynes was playing with the Dallas Texans when he was chosen as the AFL’s first Player of the Year, in 1960.

56. Equinox mo. SEP
An equinox is a phenomenon dictated by the tilt of the earth’s axis. Twice every year, that tilt “evens out” and the sun is equidistant from points at the same latitude both north and south of the equator. It is as if the earth has no tilt relative to the sun. The name equinox comes from the Latin for “equal night”, inferring that night and day are equally long, as the effect of the earth’s “tilt” is nullified.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Biblical kingdom near the Dead Sea MOAB
5. Blue LOW
8. Chew (out) REAM
12. Old empire builder INCA
13. Construction materials -IBARS
16. Donald’s address, in comics UNCA’
17. Like a dotted note, in mus. STAC
18. Bob preceder SIREE
19. Tiny fraction of a min. NSEC
20. See 4-Down SADKDLE (SAD-DLE)
22. See 8-Down FAMSILY (FAM-ILY)
24. Dander IRE
25. Some tech sch. grads EES
26. Soweto’s home: Abbr. RSA
27. Great time, in slang GAS
28. Rain cloud NIMBUS
30. Fair ones MAIDENS
32. Julius Caesar’s first name GAIUS
33. Said VOICED
34. Tandoori bread NAN
35. See 30-Down BANNK (BA-NK)
36. Grilling sound SSS
39. Macduff and Macbeth THANES
41. Charity, e.g. DONEE
43. Slipped past EASED BY
45. Sunday best FINERY
46. Soccer star Freddy ADU
47. __ Simbel, site of Ramses II temples ABU
48. Michaels et al. ALS
49. Galoot APE
50. See 51-Down MIRLROR (MIR-ROR)
52. See 53-Down BUCDKET (BUC-KET)
54. “Was __ loud?” I TOO
55. Having no room for hedging YES/NO
57. ’20s tennis great Lacoste RENE
58. Designer Saarinen EERO
59. Cynical response SNEER
60. Leftover bits ORTS
61. 40th st. S DAK
62. Whiz PRO
63. “Over here!” PSST!

Down
1. Not where it’s expected to be MISSING
2. Windsor resident ONTARIAN
3. Scholarly milieu ACADEMIA
4. With 20-Across, working again, aptly BACK (BACK in the SAD-DLE)
5. Fine cotton threads LISLES
6. Awards named for a location OBIES
7. Kids’ card game WAR
8. With 22-Across, what red hair often does, aptly RUNS (RUNS in the FAM-ILY)
9. Banner ENSIGN
10. Amtrak speedsters ACELAS
11. Store with a star MACY’S
14. Choruses REFRAINS
15. Queasy near the quay SEASICK
21. Roman god DEUS
23. Earned MADE
29. Squeeze plays involve them BUNTS
30. With 35-Across, a financially sure thing, aptly MONEY (MONEY in the BA-NK)
31. Pelé’s first name EDSON
33. Jackson follower VAN BUREN
35. 1995 Will Smith/Martin Lawrence film BAD BOYS
37. Running pair SNEAKERS
38. Malicious types SERPENTS
40. Try, as a case HEAR
41. Record DISC
42. Seer’s challenge EYE TEST
43. Corrected, in a way EDITED
44. Dawn goddess AURORA
45. Prefix with carbon FLUORO-
46. Gallic girlfriends AMIES
48. Running back Haynes, first AFL player of the year ABNER
51. With 50-Across, do some self-examination, aptly LOOK (LOOK in the MIR-ROR)
53. With 52-Across, trivial amount, aptly DROP (DROP in the BUC-KET)
56. Equinox mo. SEP

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