LA Times Crossword Answers 30 Jul 14, Wednesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Gareth Bain
THEME: White Flag … each of today’s answer ends with something one might shout out while waving a WHITE FLAG:

17A. Stereotypical benefactor RICH UNCLE (“Uncle!”)
36A. Of age OLD ENOUGH (“Enough!”)
42A. “Understood” SAY NO MORE (“No More!”)

62A. Waved banner hinted at by the ends of 17-, 36- and 42-Across WHITE FLAG

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 55s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

14. Entrepreneur’s start IDEA
An “entrepreneur” is someone takes on most aspects of a business venture, from the original idea to the execution. The term is imported from French, with “entreprendre” meaning “to undertake”. The original usage in English dates back to the early 1800s, when it applied to a manager and promoter of a theatrical production.

17. Stereotypical benefactor RICH UNCLE (“Uncle!”)
To “say uncle” is an American expression meaning to submit or yield. Its usage dates back to the early 1900s, but nobody seems to know how “uncle!” came to mean “stop!”

19. Spherical dessert BOMBE
The dessert that we called “ bombe” in English, is a shortened version of the French “bombe glacée”. It is a layers of ice cream or sherbet frozen into a hemispherical shape, like half a delicious cannonball on the plate, hence the name.

20. Airport city east of Los Angeles ONTARIO
Ontario is a city located about 35 miles east of the center of Los Angeles. The city was founded and developed by George and William Chaffey in the 1880s, and they named after the Canadian province from whence they came.

23. Many a Prado painting GOYA
Francisco Goya was a Spanish painter, often called the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Two of Goya’s most famous works are “The Nude Maja” and “The Clothed Maja”.

The Museo del Prado is in Madrid, the capital of Spain, and has one of the finest art collections in the world. The gallery’s most famous work is “Las Meninas” By Velazquez.

25. Baseball card stat RBI
Runs batted in (RBI)

26. Oranges opposite? APPLES
They’re completely unlike, like apples and oranges.

30. “I’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee” speaker LEIA
In the 1980 movie “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back”, there is a famous exchange between Han Solo and Princess Leia:

Han Solo: Afraid I was gonna leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?
Princess Leia: I’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee.
Han Solo: I can arrange that. You could use a good kiss.

Princess Leia is Luke Skywalker’s sister in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and was played by Carrie Fisher. Carrie Fisher has stated that she hated the famous “cinnamon bun hairstyle” that she had to wear in the films, as she felt it made her face look too round. She also had to to sit for two hours every day just to get her hair styled. Two hours to get your hair done? It takes me just two seconds …

Wookiees are a biped race featured in “Star Wars”, the most notable being Chewbacca, the loyal friend and associate of Han Solo.

32. “__ Boys”: “Little Men” sequel JO’S
Louisa May Alcott’s “Jo’s Boys” is a sequel to her novel “Little Men”, which in turn is a sequel to “Little Women”. “Jo’s Boys” is the final book in the trilogy.

35. Cowboy’s neckwear BOLO
I’ve never worn a bolo tie, and was surprised to discover that it is a relatively recent invention. The first bolo tie was apparently produced in Wickenburg, Arizona in the late 1940s by a silversmith. The bolo takes its name from the boleadora, an Argentine lariat.

44. Opposite of alway NE’ER
In the world of poetry, “alway” is opposite of “ne’er”.

47. Saturated hydrocarbon ALKANE
The “smaller” alkanes are gases and are quite combustible. Methane (CH4) is the main component of natural gas with ethane (C2H6) being the second largest component. Propane (C3H8) is also found in natural gas and is heavy enough to be readily turned into a liquid by compression, for ease of transportation and storage. Butane (C4H10) is also easily liquefied under pressure and can be used as the fuel in cigarette lighters or as the propellant in aerosol sprays. The heavier alkanes are liquids and solids at room temperature.

Technically, a saturated hydrocarbon is an organic compound with no double or triple bonds between carbon atoms. Because it has no double or triple bonds it is “saturated” with hydrogen, has the maximum number of hydrogen atoms that each carbon atom can take. This is particularly important to us when talking about saturated fats (generally unhealthy, animal-sourced fats) and unsaturated fats (generally, healthy plant-sourced fats).

52. Emcees’ responsibilities LEAD-INS
The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an acronym standing for Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

56. Gum with a longtime eyepatch-wearing mascot BAZOOKA
The Bazooka brand of bubble gum was introduced by the Topps Company soon after the end of WWII. Bazooka have included comic strips in the wrappers for their gum since the early to mid-fifties. The hero of the strip if Bazooka Joe, a young man who wears an eyepatch.

61. Calculus pioneer EULER
Leonhard Euler was a brilliant Swiss mathematician and physicist, a pioneer in the fields of logarithms and graph theory.

62. Waved banner hinted at by the ends of 17-, 36- and 42-Across WHITE FLAG
The use of a white flag is recognized as a request for a ceasefire or negotiation. As it is usually the weaker party who wants to initiate negotiation, it is also seen as a sign of surrender.

68. Apiary dwellers BEES
An apiary is an area where bees are kept. The Latin word for “bee” is “apis”.

Down
1. Picasso contemporary MIRO
Joan Miró was a Spanish artist. Miro immersed himself in Surrealism, so much so that Andre Breton, the founder of the movement, said that Miro was “the most Surrealist of us all”.

The artist Pablo Picasso’s full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso, a name he was given right from birth. Got that?

2. Score after deuce AD IN
In tennis, if the score reaches “deuce” (i.e. when both players have scored three points), then the first player to win two points in a row wins the game. The player who wins the point immediately after deuce is said to have the “advantage”. If the player with the advantage wins the next point then that’s two in a row and that player wins the game. If the person with the advantage loses the next point, then advantage is lost and the players return to deuce and try again. If the one of the players is calling out the score then if he/she has the advantage then that player announces “ad in” or more formally “advantage in”. If the score announcer’s opponent has the advantage, then the announcement is “ad out” or “advantage out”. Follow all of that …?

3. Shakers, but not movers SECT
“Movers and shakers” are doers.

“Shakers” is a the more common name for the religious sect more properly called the United Society of Believer in Christ’s Second Appearing. The sect’s doctrine was based on the teachings of Ann Lee.

5. Prenatal procedures AMNIOS
Amniocentesis is the prenatal test which involves the removal of a small amount of the amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus using a hypodermic needle. The fluid naturally contains some fetal cells, the DNA of which can then be tested to determine the sex of the child and to check for the presence of genetic abnormalities.

7. “Runaway” singer Shannon DEL
Del Shannon was a rock and roll singer who was born Charles Westover in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Shannon’s big hit is the 1961 classic “Runaway”. Sadly, Shannon suffered depression in his later life, and turned his own rifle on himself in 1990.

8. “Don’t change that” STET
“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

9. Emulate Dillinger ROB A BANK
John Dillinger was a notorious bank robber during the Depression Era. Famously, Dillinger was killed by federal agents in an ambush at the Biograph Theater in Chicago, in 1934.

10. Gastroenteritis cause, perhaps E COLI
Escherichia coli (E. coli) are usually harmless bacteria found in the human gut, working away quite happily. However, there are some strains that can produce lethal toxins. These strains can make their way into the food chain from animal fecal matter that comes into contact with food designated for human consumption.

11. Pinnacle ACME
The “acme” is the highest point, coming from the Greek word “akme” which has the same meaning.

12. World Baseball Classic team CUBA
The World Baseball Classic is a periodic tournament that has been modelled on the FIFA World Cup of soccer. The tournament was founded, mainly in response to the 2005 decision by the International Olympic Committee to drop baseball as an Olympic sport. The first three World Baseball Classics were won by Japan (2006 & 2009) and the Dominican Republic (2013).

13. Nonkosher TREF
According to Jewish dietary law, “kosher” food is “fit” to eat, and food that is not kosher is called “treif” (or tref).

22. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s lake ERIE
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame can be visited on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was created in 1983 and started inducting artists in 1986. The Foundation didn’t get a home until the museum was dedicated in Cleveland in 1995. The building looks fabulous in photos (I’ve never visited), and was designed by famed architect I. M. Pei.

29. Fish-eating bird LOON
The great northern loon is the provincial bird of Ontario, and the state bird of Minnesota. The loon once appeared on Canadian $20 bills and also appears on the Canadian one dollar coin, giving the coin the nickname “the Loonie”.

32. Where Herod ruled JUDEA
Herod the Great was made King of the Roman province of Judea (now the southern part of Israel). Herod the Great’s son was Herod Antipas, the Herod who appears in the New Testament in the stories of the execution of Jesus of Nazareth and John the Baptist.

33. City near the Great Salt Lake OGDEN
Ogden, Utah was the first permanent settlement by people of European descent in what is now the state of Utah.

The Great Salt Lake in Utah is extremely shallow, and so the area of the lake fluctuates greatly with the changing volume of water. Back in 1963 the lake shrunk to 950 square miles, whereas in 1988 the area was measured at a whopping 3,300 square miles.

36. Plains people OTOS
The Otoe (also Oto) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestwards ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.

39. Like pink toys, stereotypically FOR GIRLS
The association of the colors pink with girls and blue with boys is a relatively new concept, one that started to be established in the 1940s. One reason for the “fixing” of color associations with genders at that time was the invention of chemical dyes that could survive hot washes. Prior to this, baby clothes were made in white so that they could be washed frequently without fading.

47. Collectible marbles AGATES
A playing marble made from agate, or a glass imitation, is called an agate.

49. “Chasing Pavements” singer ADELE
The English singer Adele Adkins goes by the stage name “Adele”. Adele describes her musical style as “heartbroken soul”. Not too long ago, Adele wrote and performed the theme song for the latest James Bond film, “Skyfall”.

51. “__ With Me”: hymn ABIDE
“Abide with Me” is a famous hymn in the Christian tradition with words from a poem by Scotsman Henry Francis Lyle that dates back to 1847. Lyle wrote the poem on his deathbed, suffering from tuberculosis. He passed away just three weeks after its completion.

53. Capital of Belgium EURO
The European Union (EU) today stands at a membership of 27 states. The Euro is the official currency of only 16 of the 27. The list of states in the EU that don’t use the Euro includes the UK, Denmark and Sweden.

58. Little of this, little of that OLIO
Olio is a term meaning a hodgepodge or a mixture, coming from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used for cooking.

59. Auto pioneer Benz KARL
It is generally accepted that Karl Benz invented the internal combustion engine, although others were doing similar work around the same time. He certainly was awarded the first patent for an automobile, in 1886. His first automobile, the Patent-Motorwagen, couldn’t get up hills unaided so his wife, Bertha Benz, suggested the introduction of gears. Sure enough, the next model had two gears. Behind every successful man …

60. Like fine port AGED
The city of Oporto in Portugal gave its name to port wine in the late 1600s, as it was the seaport through which most of the region’s fortified wine was exported.

63. Go in haste HIE
“To hie” is to move quickly, to bolt.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Prepare, in a way, as sweet potatoes MASH
5. Says further ADDS
9. Run away, say REACT
14. Entrepreneur’s start IDEA
15. Come together MEET
16. Come to pass OCCUR
17. Stereotypical benefactor RICH UNCLE
19. Spherical dessert BOMBE
20. Airport city east of Los Angeles ONTARIO
21. One brewing in a cup TEA LEAF
23. Many a Prado painting GOYA
25. Baseball card stat RBI
26. Oranges opposite? APPLES
30. “I’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee” speaker LEIA
32. “__ Boys”: “Little Men” sequel JO’S
35. Cowboy’s neckwear BOLO
36. Of age OLD ENOUGH
38. Standoffish ALOOF
40. Pull TUG
41. Friendly address KIDDO
42. “Understood” SAY NO MORE
44. Opposite of alway NE’ER
45. Appt. book divisions HRS
46. Went up ROSE
47. Saturated hydrocarbon ALKANE
49. Had-at link A GO
50. Trilogy, often SAGA
52. Emcees’ responsibilities LEAD-INS
56. Gum with a longtime eyepatch-wearing mascot BAZOOKA
61. Calculus pioneer EULER
62. Waved banner hinted at by the ends of 17-, 36- and 42-Across WHITE FLAG
64. Ruffle FRILL
65. Right hand AIDE
66. Ax FIRE
67. Pledge drive bags TOTES
68. Apiary dwellers BEES
69. Convinced SOLD

Down
1. Picasso contemporary MIRO
2. Score after deuce AD IN
3. Shakers, but not movers SECT
4. “The joke’s on you” HA HA
5. Prenatal procedures AMNIOS
6. Deceptive military tactic DECOY
7. “Runaway” singer Shannon DEL
8. “Don’t change that” STET
9. Emulate Dillinger ROB A BANK
10. Gastroenteritis cause, perhaps E COLI
11. Pinnacle ACME
12. World Baseball Classic team CUBA
13. Nonkosher TREF
18. Strong desire URGE
22. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s lake ERIE
24. Tempts ALLURES
26. Make red-faced ABASH
27. Opposite POLAR
28. Artful stratagems PLOYS
29. Fish-eating bird LOON
31. What a slight favorite has EDGE
32. Where Herod ruled JUDEA
33. City near the Great Salt Lake OGDEN
34. Vacation location SHORE
36. Plains people OTOS
37. Farm grunt OINK
39. Like pink toys, stereotypically FOR GIRLS
43. Word after new or full MOON
47. Collectible marbles AGATES
48. Kick back LAZE
49. “Chasing Pavements” singer ADELE
51. “__ With Me”: hymn ABIDE
52. Took off LEFT
53. Capital of Belgium EURO
54. Landed ALIT
55. DNA lab item SWAB
57. Rubs out OFFS
58. Little of this, little of that OLIO
59. Auto pioneer Benz KARL
60. Like fine port AGED
63. Go in haste HIE

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