LA Times Crossword Answers 22 May 14, Thursday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Marti DuGuay-Carpenter
THEME: Closing Argument … each of today’s themed answers CLOSES with a word meaning ARGUMENT:

17A. “The Goodbye Girl” Oscar winner RICHARD DREYFUSS (giving “fuss”)
29A. Short-muzzled dog breed BULLMASTIFF (giving “tiff”)
46A. Futuristic car unveiled at the 1933 New York Auto Show SILVER ARROW (giving “row”)

62A. Court wrap-up … and what’s hidden in 17-, 29- and 46-Across? CLOSING ARGUMENT

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 9m 09s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Kazantzakis title hero ZORBA
“Zorba” the musical (and “Zorba the Greek” the film) were adaptations of the 1952 novel “Zorba the Greek” by Nikos Kazantzakis. The 1964 film version stars Anthony Quinn in the title role, and Alan Bates. The movie is set and was filmed on location on the island of Crete, the home of author Kazantzakis.

6. Singer James ETTA
Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.

10. Apple variety IMAC
The iMac is a desktop computer platform from Apple introduced in 1998. One of the main features of the iMac is an “all-in-one” design, with the computer console and monitor integrated. The iMac also came in a range of colors, that Apple marketed as “flavors”, such strawberry, blueberry and lime.

14. “Water is life” brand EVIAN
Évian-les-Bains (or simply Évian) is in the very east of France, on the shores of Lake Geneva directly across the lake from Lausanne, Switzerland. As you might imagine, Évian is the home of Évian mineral water, the most successful business in town. I can’t stand the taste of Évian water …

15. Bishop’s rte. DIAG
In a game of chess, the bishops move along diagonals.

16. Jet Propulsion Lab org. NASA
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is located in La Cañada Flintridge outside Los Angeles. JPL is responsible for several of NASA’s programs including the Mars Curiosity and Opportunity Rovers.

17. “The Goodbye Girl” Oscar winner RICHARD DREYFUSS
The actor Richard Dreyfuss is from New York City, although he grew up in Los Angeles. Dreyfuss got his big break with a lead role in 1973’s “American Graffiti” and then made a name for himself in two Steven Spielberg blockbusters: “Jaws” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. He won the 1978 Best Actor Oscar for his wonderful performance in “The Goodbye Girl”, making him the youngest actor to be so honored at that time (he was 30 years old).

“The Goodbye Girl” is a 1977 film with a screenplay by the great playwright Neil Simon. The movie is a romantic comedy-drama, with the leads played by Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason. “The Goodbye Girl” was adapted into a Broadway musical that opened in 1993 starring Martin Short and Bernadette Peters heading the cast.

20. Classical theaters ODEA
In Ancient Greece an odeon (also odeum) was like a small theater, with “odeon” literally meaning a “building for musical competition”. Odea were used in both Greece and Rome for entertainments such as musical shows and poetry readings.

23. Org. with an interlocking rings logo IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded in 1894, and has its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The symbol of the Olympic Games consists of five interlocking rings, with each ring representing one of the five continents involved in the Olympics. The five continents are Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and America (North and South combined). The symbol was designed in 1912, adopted in 1914, and introduced at the 1920 Games.

25. Journalist Tarbell et al. IDAS
Ida Tarbell was a teacher and what we would call today an “investigative journalist”, although back in her day she was known as a “muckraker”. Her most famous work is her 1904 book “The History of the Standard Oil Company”. This exposé is credited with hastening the breakup of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil in 1911.

29. Short-muzzled dog breed BULLMASTIFF
The bullmastiff is a magnificent-looking dog with a very solid build. The breed was developed in the 1800s by gamekeepers to assist them in guarding estates. This led to the bullmastiff becoming known as the “Gamekeeper’s Night Dog”. The breed was developed as a cross between the Old English Bulldog and the English Mastiff.

37. French 101 word ETRE
The French for “to be” is “être”.

38. West Coast natl. monument since 2012 FT ORD
Fort Ord was an army post on Monterey Bay in California named after a General Ord, established in 1917 and closed in 1994. The fort was in a spectacular location with miles of beachfront, and it also had that lovely California weather. The old fort’s land is now managed as the Fort Ord National Monument.

40. Disney doe ENA
The 1942 Disney classic “Bambi” is based on a book written by Felix Salten called “Bambi, A Life in the Woods”. There is a documented phenomenon known as the Bambi Effect, whereby people become more interested in animal rights after having watched the scene where Bambi’s mother is shot by hunters.

41. Times for action D-DAYS
The most famous D-Day in history was June 6, 1944, the date of the Normandy landings in WWII. The term “D-Day” is used by the military to designate the day on which a combat operations are to be launched, especially when the actual date has yet to be determined. What D stands for seems to have been lost in the mists of time although the tradition is that D just stands for “Day”. In fact, the French have a similar term, “Jour J” (Day J), with a similar meaning. We also use H-Hour to denote the hour the attack is to commence.

46. Futuristic car unveiled at the 1933 New York Auto Show SILVER ARROW
The Silver Arrow was a concept car of which five were built in three months by auto manufacturer Pierce-Arrow. The car had a very futuristic design and was was a big hit at the 1933 New York Auto Show.

49. “… good witch, __ bad witch?” OR A
Early in the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz”, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North asks Dorothy, “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?”

50. Part of Q.E.F. ERAT
“Quod erat faciendum” (QEF) is similar to the phrase “quod erat demonstrandum” (QED), both of which were used by Euclid in his theorems. “Quod erat faciendum” means “what was to have been done”, and is used at the end of a proposition that was not intended as a proof, but rather as a construction.

51. Tourney pass BYE
“Tourney” is another word for a tournament. The term comes from the Old French word for “contest of armed men”, with “tournoier” meaning “to joust, jilt”.

56. __ alai JAI
Even though jai alai is often said to be the fastest sport in the world because of the speed of the ball, in fact golf balls usually get going at a greater clip. Although, as a blog reader once pointed out to me, you don’t have to catch a golf ball …

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

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

65. Puma rival AVIA
The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

Puma is a German company that sells athletic shoes worldwide, but is most famous for producing soccer boots.

67. Two-masted craft KETCH
A ketch is a sailboat with two masts. The most forward mast is the mainmast, and is the taller of the two. The smaller mast is further aft, and is known as the mizzen mast.

68. Stores in a large building? MALL
Surprisingly, our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.

69. Till opener ROTO-
The rototiller (or rotary tiller) was invented by Arthur Clifford Howard in 1912, in Australia.

70. Iroquois foes ERIES
The Erie people lived on lands south of Lake Erie. The Erie were sometimes referred to as the Cat Nation, a reference to the mountain lions that were ever-present in the area that they lived. The name “Erie” is a shortened form of “Erielhonan” meaning “long tail”, possibly a further reference to the mountain lion or cat, which was possibly used as a totem. The Erie people gave their name to the Great Lake.

The Iroquois Confederacy was also known as the Five Nations and was comprised of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca nations.

Down
2. “Ars amatoria” poet OVID
The Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso is today known simply as Ovid. Ovid is usually listed alongside the two other great Roman poets: Horace and Virgil.

Ovid’s “Ars amatoria” (“The Art of Love” in English) is a series of poems in three books by the Roman poet Ovid. Book one provides men with instruction on how to find a woman. Book two gives a man guidance on keeping that woman. Ovid turns the tables in Book three and gives advice to women on how to find and keep a man.

3. It might be sticky or dirty RICE
“Sticky rice” is actually a type of rice, and not a means of preparation. Sticky rice is more usually called “glutinous rice”, even though it does not contain dietary gluten.

“Dirty rice” is a white rice made to look “dirty” by cooking it with chicken liver, green peppers, celery and onion, with cayenne and black pepper. Dirty rice is a traditional Cajun dish.

4. Religion founded in Persia BAHA’I
The Baha’i Faith is relatively new in the scheme of things, and was founded in Persia in the 1800s. One of the tenets of the religion is that messengers have come from God over time, including Abraham, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and most recently Bahá’u’lláh who founded the Baha’i Faith.

5. Actress Gasteyer ANA
Ana Gasteyer is an actress best known for being a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” from 1996 to 2002. Gasteyer was famous on SNL for playing Martha Stewart … topless!

7. Current influence TIDE
Tides of course are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the oceans. At neap tide, the smaller gravitational effect of the sun cancels out some of the moon’s effect. At spring tide, the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces act in concert causing more extreme movement of the oceans.

8. Current observer TAR
A Jack Tar, or just “tar”, was a seaman in the days of the British Empire. The term probably arose due to a sailor’s various uses of tar back then, including waterproofing his clothes and using tar in his hair to slick down his ponytail.

9. Things to do AGENDA
“Agenda”is a Latin word that translates as “things to be done”, coming from the verb “agere” meaning “to do”.

11. Irish revolutionary __ Gonne MacBride MAUD
Maud Gonne was a colorful participant in the Irish struggle for a national identity. Gonne was of English birth, and moved to Ireland as a young woman when her father was posted there as a British Army officer. A few years after moving to Ireland, Gonne met famed poet William Butler Yeats and the two fell in love. The relationship between Yeats and Gonne did not last, even though Yeats proposed marriage to her four times over ten years. Maud married Irish Republican Major John MacBride who was to be executed by the British after the 1916 East Rising. Maud and John had two children. 23 years later, a 52-year old Yeats went so far as to propose marriage to Iseult Gonne, Maud’s only daughter.

12. NCAA member?: Abbr. ASSN
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) dates back to the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. When his son broke his nose playing football at Harvard, President Roosevelt turned his attention to the number of serious injuries and even deaths occurring in college sports. He instigated meetings between the major educational institutions leading to the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) in 1906, which was given the remit of regulating college sports. The IAAUS became the NCAA in 1910.

24. O.T. book after Amos OBAD
The Book of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible, consisting of just one chapter, divided into 21 verses.

27. Lab dish inventor PETRI
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”.

28. Capital city on the Han River SEOUL
Seoul is the capital city of South Korea. The Seoul National Capital Area is home to over 25 million people and is the second largest metropolitan area in the world, second only to Tokyo, Japan.

31. Like some eclipses LUNAR
A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes into the shadow cast by the earth from the light of the sun, in other words when the earth is positioned directly between the sun and the moon. The more spectacular solar eclipse takes place when moon passes in front of the sun, so that the earth falls into the shadow cast by the moon.

32. Author Calvino ITALO
As well as being an author, Italo Calvino was a famous Italian journalist. He was a supporter of communism and so wasn’t very popular in the US nor in Britain.

33. Fritter maker FRYER
A “fritter” is a fried food usually consisting of batter or breading filled with something sweet or savory. The term “fritter” ultimately derives from the Latin “frigere” meaning “to fry”.

34. Pisa party FESTA
The city of Pisa is right on the Italian coast, sitting at the mouth of the River Arno, and is famous for its Leaning Tower. The tower is actually the campanile (bell tower) of the city’s cathedral, and it has been leaning since it was completed in 1173. Just shows you how important good foundations are …

41. Like early morning links DEWY
The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name “links” comes from the Old English word “hlinc” meaning “rising ground”. “Hlinc” was used to describe areas with coastal sand dunes or open parkland. As a result, we use the term “links course” to mean a golf course that is located at or on the coast, often amid sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

44. Pulitzer-winning Ferber novel SO BIG
Edna Ferber was a novelist and playwright from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ferber won a Pulitzer for her novel “So Big”, which was made into a film a few times, most famously in 1953 starring Jane Wyman.

47. “… harken __ die”: Tennyson ERE I
The following are lines from the 1829 poen “Oenone” by Alfred Lord Tennyson

O mother Ida, many-fountain’d Ida,
Dear mother Ida, harken ere I die.

Alfred Tennyson was the Poet Laureate during for much of the reign of Queen Victoria. There are many phrases we use today that were first penned by Tennyson, including:

– ‘Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all
– Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die

48. Portrayer of Wawa and Litella RADNER
Gilda Radner was a comedian and actress, one of the original cast members of the hit television show “Saturday Night Live”. Radner left her first husband to marry comedic actor Gene Wilder, whom she met while they were both filming the Sidney Poitier movie “Hanky Panky”.

Barbara Walters was originally quite upset at the caricature of her performed by Saturday Night Live star, Gilda Radner. She took offense at Radner exaggerating her speech impediment, which of course led to the name “Baba Wawa” being used for “Barbara Walters”. However, when she saw that her own daughter found the skit to be hilarious, Barbara decided that she needed to lighten up.

Emily Litella was a character regularly played by Gilda Radner on “Saturday Night Live”. Litella was a frumpy elderly woman who frequently misheard things about which she would then rant. Some of her more famous rants were against the deaf penalty (instead of the “death penalty”), endangered feces (species), violins on television (violence on television) and making Puerto Rico a steak (state).

52. Film composer Bernstein ELMER
The film composer Elmer Bernstein was not related to the famous classical composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, although the two were friends.

53. Phishing lure SCAM
Phishing is the online practice of stealing usernames, passwords and credit card details by creating a site that deceptively looks reliable and trustworthy. Phishers often send out safe-looking emails or instant messages that direct someone to an equally safe-looking website where the person might inadvertently enter sensitive information. “Phishing” is a variant of the word “fishing”, as in “fishing for passwords, PIN numbers etc.”

54. Menlo Park middle name ALVA
Thomas Alva Edison was nicknamed “The Wizard of Menlo Park” by a newspaper reporter, a name that stuck. He was indeed a wizard, in the sense that he was such a prolific inventor. The Menlo Park part of the moniker recognizes the location of his first research lab, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

55. Slinky, e.g. COIL
The marvelous Slinky toy was invented in the early forties by a naval engineer called Richard James. James was developing springs for the navy that could stabilize sensitive instruments in rough seas. One day he accidentally knocked one of his experimental coils off a shelf and watched it “step” onto a stack of books, then onto a table and from there onto the floor where it recoiled itself very neatly. The Slinky was born …

56. Lawn game projectile JART
“Jarts” is a brand name of lawn darts.

57. River under the Ponte Vecchio ARNO
The Ponte Vecchio is a famous bridge that spans the Arno River in Florence, Italy. The bridge dates back to medieval times, and indeed the name “Ponte Vecchio” translates as “Old Bridge”.

59. Mountain legend YETI
A yeti is a beast of legend, also called an abominable snowman. “Yeti” is a Tibetan term, and the beast is fabled to live in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. Our equivalent legend in North America is that of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology.

60. Grimm start ONCE
Once up a time …

The Brothers Grimm (Jacob and Wilhelm) were two German academics noted for collecting and publishing folk tales. Among the tales in their marvelous collection are “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella”.

63. Agcy. concerned with the federal fiscal outlook GAO
The Government Accounting Office, established as a branch of the US Congress in 1921, was renamed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2004. A much better name, I think …

64. Island strings UKE
The ukulele (“uke”) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Kazantzakis title hero ZORBA
6. Singer James ETTA
10. Apple variety IMAC
14. “Water is life” brand EVIAN
15. Bishop’s rte. DIAG
16. Jet Propulsion Lab org. NASA
17. “The Goodbye Girl” Oscar winner RICHARD DREYFUSS
20. Classical theaters ODEA
21. Private __ EYE
22. Has no obligation to NEEDN’T
23. Org. with an interlocking rings logo IOC
25. Journalist Tarbell et al. IDAS
26. CD precursors LPS
29. Short-muzzled dog breed BULLMASTIFF
35. Shoe box letters EEE
36. Devoured ATE UP
37. French 101 word ETRE
38. West Coast natl. monument since 2012 FT ORD
40. Disney doe ENA
41. Times for action D-DAYS
42. Honorable TRUE
43. Rear RAISE
45. Disappoint, with “down” LET
46. Futuristic car unveiled at the 1933 New York Auto Show SILVER ARROW
49. “… good witch, __ bad witch?” OR A
50. Part of Q.E.F. ERAT
51. Tourney pass BYE
53. Hallowed SACRED
56. __ alai JAI
58. City on the Rhône LYON
62. Court wrap-up … and what’s hidden in 17-, 29- and 46-Across? CLOSING ARGUMENT
65. Puma rival AVIA
66. Pull down EARN
67. Two-masted craft KETCH
68. Stores in a large building? MALL
69. Till opener ROTO-
70. Iroquois foes ERIES

Down
1. Shutout score feature ZERO
2. “Ars amatoria” poet OVID
3. It might be sticky or dirty RICE
4. Religion founded in Persia BAHA’I
5. Actress Gasteyer ANA
6. Current event EDDY
7. Current influence TIDE
8. Current observer TAR
9. Things to do AGENDA
10. Pest-ridden INFESTED
11. Irish revolutionary __ Gonne MacBride MAUD
12. NCAA member?: Abbr. ASSN
13. Play group CAST
18. Saw again RECUT
19. Words said in passing? YEAS
24. O.T. book after Amos OBAD
25. Damage IMPAIR
26. Some jabs LEFTS
27. Lab dish inventor PETRI
28. Capital city on the Han River SEOUL
30. Ogle LEER AT
31. Like some eclipses LUNAR
32. Author Calvino ITALO
33. Fritter maker FRYER
34. Pisa party FESTA
39. About-face REVERSAL
41. Like early morning links DEWY
44. Pulitzer-winning Ferber novel SO BIG
47. “… harken __ die”: Tennyson ERE I
48. Portrayer of Wawa and Litella RADNER
52. Film composer Bernstein ELMER
53. Phishing lure SCAM
54. Menlo Park middle name ALVA
55. Slinky, e.g. COIL
56. Lawn game projectile JART
57. River under the Ponte Vecchio ARNO
59. Mountain legend YETI
60. Grimm start ONCE
61. Unspecified degrees NTHS
63. Agcy. concerned with the federal fiscal outlook GAO
64. Island strings UKE

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