LA Times Crossword Answers 30 May 14, Friday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Jeffrey Wechsler
THEME: Animal Catchers … today’s themed answers are references to a children’s song “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”. The grid then gives us a list of animals that the lady swallowed, each getting successively larger in an attempt to capture the previous animal:

29A. With 35- and 49-Across, start of a refrain whose ending words appear in sequence in the answers to starred clues THERE WAS AN
35A. See 29-Across OLD LADY WHO
49A. See 29-Across SWALLOWED A

6A. *See 29-Across FLY
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I dunno why she swallowed that fly,
Perhaps she’ll die.

17A. *See 29-Across SPIDER
There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly …

19A. *See 29-Across BIRD
There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd, to swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider …

20A. *See 29-Across CAT
There was an old lady who swallowed a cat.
Imagine that, she swallowed a cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird …

58A. *See 29-Across DOG
There was an old lady who swallowed a dog.
What a hog! To swallow a dog!
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat …

63A. *See 29-Across GOAT
There was an old lady who swallowed a goat.
Just opened her throat and swallowed a goat!
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog …

71A. *See 29-Across COW
There was an old lady who swallowed a cow.
I don’t know how she swallowed a cow!
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat…

72A. *See 29-Across HORSE
There was an old lady who swallowed a horse –
She’s dead, of course.

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 14m 26s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … AMRITA (anrita), EMPANEL (enpanel!!)

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Whimpers MEWLS
To mewl is to cry weakly, like a baby, with the word being somewhat imitative.

13. Hindu nectar AMRITA
“Amrita” is a Sanskrit word meaning “immortality”. “Amrita” is also translated as “nectar” as it is a name given to a drink that confers immortality on the gods.

15. Suitor BEAU
A beau is the boyfriend of a belle, a young lady.

16. Pierce player ALDA
Alan Alda had a great television career, especially of course on “M*A*S*H”. Alda won his first Emmy in 1972, for playing Hawkeye Pierce on “M*A*S*H”. He won his most recent Emmy in 2006 for his portrayal of Presidential candidate Arnold Vinick in “The West Wing”. When it comes to the big screen, my favorite of Alda’s movies is the 1978 romantic comedy “Same Time, Next Year” in which he starred opposite Ellen Burstyn.

18. Pool equipment RACK
The more correct name for the game of pool is pocket billiards. The name “pool” arose after pocket billiards became a common feature in “pool halls”, places where gamblers “pooled” their money to bet on horse races.

24. “Star Wars” saga nickname ANI
Anakin “Ani” Skywalker is the principal character in all six of the “Star Wars” movies. His progress chronologically through the series of films is:

– Episode I: Anakin is a 9-year-old slave boy who earns the promise of Jedi training by young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
– Episode II: Anakin is 18-years-old and goes on a murdering rampage to avenge the killing of his mother.
– Episode III: Anakin is 21-years-old and a Jedi knight, but he turns to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader. His wife Padme gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia Skywalker.
– Episode IV: Darth Vader, comes into conflict with his children, Luke Skywalker and the Princess Leia.
– Episode V: Darth Vader attempts to coax his son Luke over to the dark side, and reveals to Luke that he is his father.
– Episode VI: Luke learns that Leia is his sister, and takes on the task of bringing Darth Vader back from the Dark Side in order to save the Galaxy. Vader saves his son from the Emperor’s evil grip, dying in the process, but his spirit ends up alongside the spirits of Yoda and Obi-Wan. They all live happily ever after …

26. Quad Cities city MOLINE
Moline is a city in Illinois located on the border with Iowa. The biggest employer in town by far is John Deere, which has its headquarters there.

The Quad Cities are a group of five cities located on the Iowa-Illinois border and on either side of the Mississippi River. The Iowa cities are Davenport and Bettendorf, and the Illinois cities are Rock Island, Moline and East Moline. The grouping was originally just three cities (Davenport, Rock Island and Moline) and used the name “Tri-Cities”. This changed to “Quad Cities” as East Moline grew to a size comparable to the original three cities. With the growth of Bettendorf, the list of linked cities became five. There has been talk of changing the name to “Quint Cities”, but it doesn’t seem to be catching on.

34. San Jose Earthquakes’ org. MLS
Major League Soccer (MLS)

The Earthquakes are the professional soccer team in San Jose, California. The team was formed in 1996 as the San Jose Clash.

41. Dough extruder? ATM
Automated teller machine (ATM)

44. It may follow T. REX
The Tyrannosaurus rex (usually written T. rex) was a spectacular looking dinosaur. “Tyrannosaurus” comes from the Greek words “tyrannos” (tyrant) and “sauros” (lizard), and the “rex” is of course Latin for “king”. They were big boys, measuring 42 feet long and 13 feet tall at the hips, and weighing 7.5 tons.

45. “Washington Week” moderator Gwen IFILL
Gwen Ifill is a television journalist, regularly seen on PBS’s “Newshour”. She is also the moderator on the weekly PBS show “Washington Week”. Ifill was also selected to moderate the US Vice Presidential debates in 2004 and 2008.

54. Actress Raymonde of “Lost” TANIA
Actress Tania Raymonde’s big break came with a recurring role in “Malcolm in the Middle”, playing Cynthia Sanders from 2000 to 2003. She is better known now for having played Alex Rousseau in the hit TV show “Lost”.

“Lost” is a science fiction drama that originally aired from 2004 to 2010. The show kicks off with a passenger airliner crashing a tropical island as it flies from Sydney bound for Los Angeles. I haven’t seen the show myself and hear that the intriguing plot didn’t really come to a satisfying conclusion. Others would disagree …

56. Matterhorn’s range ALPS
“Matterhorn” is the German name for the famous Alpine peak that lies on the border between Switzerland and Italy. The Italian name for the same mountain is Monte Cervino, and the French call it Mont Cervin. “Matterhorn” comes from the German words Matte and Horn meaning “meadow” and “peak”. Cervino and Cervin come from the Latin name for the mountain, Mons Silvius meaning “Forest Mountain”.

59. “Just me,” formally IT IS I
The much debated statement “it is I” is actually grammatically correct, and should not be “corrected” to “it is me”. Traditionally, pronouns following linking verbs, such as “is”, “appear” and “seem”, are written in the nominative case. Examples are:

– It is I (who called)
– It was he (who did it)
– It is we (who care)

60. Immature CALLOW
“Callow” means “immature”. The word derives from the Old English “calu”, meaning “bare” and “bald”. The usage relates to young birds that lack feathers.

62. Article in El Diario UNA
“El Diario” is a common name for a newspaper in Spanish-speaking countries. The name translates into English as “The Daily”.

65. Sign of fish PISCES
The astrological sign of the zodiac called Pisces is named for the Pisces constellation. “Pisces” is the Latin word for “fish”, in the plural (singular “piscis”).

67. Youngest Brontë ANNE
Anne was the youngest of the three sisters in the literary Brontë family. Her older sisters wrote novels that are more recognized, but Anne’s two novels do have a following. “Agnes Grey” is based on her own experiences working as a governess. Her other novel, “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” is written as a long letter from a young man describing the events leading up to his first meeting with his wife-to-be. Anne Brontë’s writing career was cut short in 1849, when she died of pulmonary tuberculosis, at only 29 years of age.

68. Chimps, e.g. APES
The Common Chimpanzee is a species of ape, a member of the Hominidae family (along with gorillas, humans and orangutans). The human and chimpanzee branches of the Hominidae family tree diverged 4-6 million years ago, making the chimp our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom.

70. Prepare scallops, in a way SEAR
A scallop is a marine mollusk that is served as seafood. Scallops are often served baked in milk and this method of preparation has become known as “scalloping”. So, scalloped potatoes are potatoes baked in milk.

Down
1. Cosmetic product MASCARA
“Mascara” is a Spanish word meaning “stain, mask”.

3. “On __”: Stephen King memoir WRITING
Stephen King is a remarkably successful author having sold over 350 million copies of his books, many of which have been made into hit movies. I’ve tried reading two or three, but never finished one. I really don’t do horror …

5. Subject of recent medical research STEM CELL
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can become specialized cells. Stem cells are found in embryos (embryonic stem cells), and are especially prevalent about 4-5 days of growth after fertilization. Stem cells are also found throughout the bodies of adults (somatic stem cells). Somatic stem cells are associated with a particular organ and have the potential to regenerate all the cell types of the organ from which they originate.

7. Like many doilies LACY
There was a draper in London in the seventeenth century called Doiley, and he gave his name to the lace fabric that he sold, which in turn gave its name to the ornamental mats we call doilies. I can’t stand doilies …

9. Roman slate TABULA
Tabula rasa (plural: tabulae rasae) is the idea that people are born with a “blank slate”, and that knowledge comes from experience and perception.

11. Major endocrine gland ADRENAL
The adrenal glands, as one might expect from the name, sit on top of the kidneys. Their main function is to secrete hormones that have a role to play in times of stress, the best-known of which is epinephrine (aka adrenaline).

22. “Rocky III” actor MR T
Mr. T’s real name is Laurence Tero Tureaud. Mr. T is famous for many things, including the wearing of excessive amounts of jewelry. He started this habit when he was working as a bouncer, wearing jewelry items that had been left behind by customers at a nightclub so that the items might be recognized and claimed. It was also as a bouncer that he adopted the name Mr. T. His catch phrase comes from the movie “Rocky III”. In the film, before he goes up against Rocky Balboa, Mr. T says, “No, I don’t hate Balboa, but I pity the fool”. He parlayed that line into quite a bit of success. He had a reality TV show called “I Pity the Fool”, and produced a motivational video called “Be Somebody … or Be Somebody’s Fool!”.

26. Call from a Persian MEOW
The Persian is that long-haired cat with a squashed muzzle. The breed takes its name from its place of origin, namely Persia (Iran).

28. Eastern “way” TAO
The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.

30. LAX listing ETD
Expected time of departure (ETD)

Los Angeles International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and the busiest here on the West Coast of the US. The airport was opened in 1930 as Mines Field and was renamed to Los Angeles Airport in 1941. On the airport property is the iconic white structure that resembles a flying saucer. This is called the Theme Building and I believe it is mainly used as a restaurant and observation deck for the public. The airport used to be identified by the letters “LA”, but when the aviation industry went to a three-letter standard for airport identification, this was changed to “LAX”. Apparently the “X” has no significant meaning.

31. Mr. Rogers on a horse ROY
Cowboy actor and singer Roy Rogers’ real name was Leonard Franklin Slye, and his nickname was “King of the Cowboys”. Roy Rogers married Dale Evans in 1947. Evans’ nickname was “Queen of the West”.

37. Kareem, formerly LEW
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s name at birth was Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor. Alcindor changed his name when he converted to Islam.

43. __ Islands: Guam locale MARIANA
The Mariana Islands are an archipelago lying south of Japan at the eastern limit of the Philippine Sea. The islands were colonized by the Spanish who named them after Queen Mariana of Austria (who was a Spaniard). The island in the Marianas with which we are most familiar in the US is Guam.

Guam is a US territory in the western Pacific Ocean, the largest of the Mariana Islands. Guam is also the first territory in the United States to see the sun rise on any particular day. As such, the territory has adopted the motto, “Where America’s day begins”. During WWII, the US territory of Guam was occupied by the Japanese for 31 months until it was liberated in the Battle of Guam in July 1944. Of the 18,000 Japanese men holding the island, only 485 surrendered, so almost all perished in the invasion. One Japanese sergeant hid out on the island for an incredible 28 years, finally surrendering in 1972!

46. Draft __ motor: gas furnace component INDUCER
In a gas furnace, a draft inducer motor activates a fan to blow air through the outside vent. About 30 seconds after it starts running, the flame is lit. The fan ensures that the combustion gases exit the house, rather than setting off carbon monoxide alarms inside the house, or worse.

48. “Kicked-up Sandwiches” author LAGASSE
Emeril Lagasse is an American chef, born in Massachusetts. Lagasse first achieved notoriety as executive chef in Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. Now famous for his television shows, his cuisine still showcases New Orleans ingredients and influences. Lagasse started using his famous “Bam!” catchphrase in order to keep his crew awake during repeated tapings of his show.

50. Bluegrass guitarist Flatt LESTER
Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt are the musicians who founded the bluegrass band called the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1948.

51. Him, to Henri LUI
In French, “lui” is the word for “him” and “elle” is the word for “her”.

52. Low-lying locales DALES
Dales are open valleys, especially in the Lowlands of Scotland and in the North of England. In the same locales, it is common to find dales flanked by “fells”, which are the mountains or hills flanking the valley.

53. The whole shebang ALL
The word “shebang” is probably a derivative of “shebeen”, an Irish word for a “speakeasy”, where liquor was drunk and sold illegally. In English “shebang” was originally a “hut” or a “shed”. Just how this evolved into the expression “the whole shebang”, meaning “everything”, is unclear.

57. Boston __ POPS
The marvelous Boston Pops orchestra specializes in playing light classical and popular music. The Boston Pops was founded in 1885, four years after its sister orchestra, the Boston Symphony (BSO). Many of the musicians from the BSO were also regular members of the Boston Pops.

60. Mob boss CAPO
More properly called a “caporegime”, a “capo” is high-ranking member of the Mafia (Cosa Nostra).

64. Female in WWII WAC
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was formed in 1942, and the unit was converted to full status the following year to become the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Famously, General Douglas MacArthur referred to the WACs as his “best soldiers”, saying they worked harder, complained less and were better disciplined than men. The WACs were disbanded in 1978 and the serving members were integrated into the rest of the army.

66. “No more seats” sign SRO
Standing room only (SRO)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Whimpers MEWLS
6. *See 29-Across FLY
9. Cooperative group TEAM
13. Hindu nectar AMRITA
15. Suitor BEAU
16. Pierce player ALDA
17. *See 29-Across SPIDER
18. Pool equipment RACK
19. *See 29-Across BIRD
20. *See 29-Across CAT
21. High-tech card contents MEMORY
23. Toned down MUTED
24. “Star Wars” saga nickname ANI
25. Web store icon CART
26. Quad Cities city MOLINE
27. French income RENTE
29. With 35- and 49-Across, start of a refrain whose ending words appear in sequence in the answers to starred clues THERE WAS AN
32. __ bloom: pond buildup ALGAL
33. Additionally TOO
34. San Jose Earthquakes’ org. MLS
35. See 29-Across OLD LADY WHO
41. Dough extruder? ATM
44. It may follow T. REX
45. “Washington Week” moderator Gwen IFILL
49. See 29-Across SWALLOWED A
54. Actress Raymonde of “Lost” TANIA
55. Withstood the ordeal BORE UP
56. Matterhorn’s range ALPS
58. *See 29-Across DOG
59. “Just me,” formally IT IS I
60. Immature CALLOW
62. Article in El Diario UNA
63. *See 29-Across GOAT
64. Decline WANE
65. Sign of fish PISCES
67. Youngest Brontë ANNE
68. Chimps, e.g. APES
69. Make a point of STRESS
70. Prepare scallops, in a way SEAR
71. *See 29-Across COW
72. *See 29-Across HORSE

Down
1. Cosmetic product MASCARA
2. Put on a jury EMPANEL
3. “On __”: Stephen King memoir WRITING
4. Cover LID
5. Subject of recent medical research STEM CELL
6. Dread FEAR
7. Like many doilies LACY
8. Guffaw YUK
9. Roman slate TABULA
10. Upper-class rule ELITISM
11. Major endocrine gland ADRENAL
12. Really ticks off MADDENS
14. Field AREA
15. Stew basis BROTH
22. “Rocky III” actor MR T
23. Do some yard work MOW
26. Call from a Persian MEOW
28. Eastern “way” TAO
30. LAX listing ETD
31. Mr. Rogers on a horse ROY
36. Let go DROP
37. Kareem, formerly LEW
38. Let go AXE
39. Gives suddenly, as bad news HITS WITH
40. Son-gun connection OF A
41. Comparable to, sizewise AS BIG AS
42. Like some sporty shoes TWO-TONE
43. __ Islands: Guam locale MARIANA
46. Draft __ motor: gas furnace component INDUCER
47. Hunting 20-Across LIONESS
48. “Kicked-up Sandwiches” author LAGASSE
50. Bluegrass guitarist Flatt LESTER
51. Him, to Henri LUI
52. Low-lying locales DALES
53. The whole shebang ALL
57. Boston __ POPS
60. Mob boss CAPO
61. From the top ANEW
64. Female in WWII WAC
66. “No more seats” sign SRO

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