LA Times Crossword Answers 1 Aug 14, Friday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Bottom application TALC
Talc is a mineral, actually hydrated magnesium silicate. Talcum powder is composed of loose talc, although these days “baby powder” is also made from cornstarch.

10. Hemingway sobriquet PAPA
Apparently, the author Ernest Hemingway picked up the moniker “Papa” on the birth of his first child (as one might expect!). Hemingway seemed to the like the nickname, and welcomed its use outside of the family, and his admirers obliged.

A sobriquet is an affectionate nickname. “Sobriquet” is the French term for “nickname”.

16. Claire’s younger daughter on “Modern Family” ALEX
Alex Dunphy is the youngest daughter of Claire and Phil on the sitcom “Modern Family”. Alex is played by the very talented young actress Ariel Winter.

“Modern Family” is a marvelous television show shown on ABC since 2009. The show’s format is that of a “mockumentary”, with the cast often addressing the camera directly. In that respect “Modern Family” resembles two other excellent shows: “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation”, both of which might also be described a “mockumentaries”.

17. First name at Woodstock ARLO
Arlo Guthrie is the son of Woody Guthrie. Both father and son are renowned for their singing of protest songs about social injustice. Arlo is most famous for his epic “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, a song that lasts a full 18m 34s. In the song Guthrie tells how, after being drafted, he was rejected for service in the Vietnam War based on his criminal record. He had only one incident on his public record, a Thanksgiving Day arrest for littering and being a public nuisance when he was 18-years-old.

1969’s Woodstock Music & Art Fair was held on a dairy farm located 43 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York. 400,000 young people attended, and saw 32 bands and singers perform over three days.

18. Harold’s film partner KUMAR
John Cho is an actor and musician who was born in Seoul, South Korea but who has lived in the US since he was a young boy. Cho’s break in movies came in playing Harold Lee in the ”Harold & Kumar” films. He is now making a name for himself playing Mr. Sulu in the latest “Star Trek” movies.

Indian-American actor Kal Penn made a name for himself in the “Harold & Kumar” series of comedy films. These so called “stoner comedies” are not my cup of tea, but I dis enjoy watching Penn play his more mainstream roles on TV’s “House” and “24”. He left the world of acting when President Obama won the 2008 election and now works as an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement (although he did leave the White House briefly to film the “Harold & Kumar” sequel).

25. Narrow inlet RIA
A drowned valley might be called a ria or a fjord, both formed as sea level rises. A ria is a drowned valley created by river erosion, and a fjord is a drowned valley created by glaciation.

26. 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champ WIE
Michelle Wie is an American golfer on the LPGA Tour. Wie began playing golf at the age of four and was the youngest player ever to qualify for an LPGA tour event. She turned pro just before her 16th birthday …

36. Premier __: wine designation CRU
“Cru” is a term used in the French wine industry that means “growth place”. So, “cru” is the name of the location where the grapes are grown, as opposed to the name of a specific vineyard. The terms “premier cru” and “grand cru” are also used, but the usage depends on the specific wine region. Generally it is a classification awarded to specific vineyards denoting their potential for producing great wines. “Grand cru” is reserved for the very best vineyards, with “premier cru” the level just below.

37. Patek Philippe competitor OMEGA
Omega is a manufacturer of high-end watches based in Switzerland. An Omega watch was the first portable timepiece to make it to the moon.

Patek Philippe is a manufacturer of luxury watches in Switzerland. The company was founded in Geneva in 1851, by Polish watchmaker Antoni Patek and French watchmaker Adrien Philippe. Patek Philippe watches routinely sell at auction at prices in excess of a million dollars.

45. Getting-off pt. STN
Station (stn.)

46. Some hosps. VAS
The US Department of Veterans Affairs is responsible for providing benefits to military veterans and their families. The agency was formed in 1930, and was elevated to cabinet rank in 1989. However, benefits have been paid to military personnel since the days of the Continental Congress, and the first medical facility for veterans was opened in 1834 in Philadelphia.

49. Privia digital pianos, e.g. CASIOS
Privia is a line of digital pianos made by Casio that was launched in 2003. Competing against instruments made by Yamaha, Roland and Kawai, the Privia line is designed for the masses,and is sold at affordable prices.

59. Sport with touches EPEE
The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.

60. Boxer’s reward BONE
The boxer breed of dog (one of my favorites!) originated in Germany. My first dog was a boxer/Labrador mix, a beautiful animal. Our current family dog is a boxer/pug mix, another gorgeous creature.

61. Tool in Excel MACRO
A “macroinstruction” (usually shortened to “macro”) is a set of instructions in a computer program that are abbreviated to one simple command.

64. Church reading PSALM
The Greek word “psalmoi” originally meant “songs sung to a harp”, and gave us the word “psalms”.

Down
1. Natterjacks TOADS
The natterjack toad is native to Europe. The toad gets its name from its loud and raspy mating call, one that is amplified by a vocal sac under the chin of the male.

4. Montenegro neighbor CROATIA
The Republic of Croatia is a Balkan country. The Croats declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Montenegro is a country in Southeastern Europe that once was part of Yugoslavia. “Montenegro” is a historical Italianate translation of “black mountain”.

6. Israeli statesman Barak EHUD
Ehud Barak served as Prime Minister of Israel from 1999 to 2001. Barak left office after he called a special election for Prime Minister and lost the vote to Ariel Sharon. Barak resigned from the Knesset and took an advisory job with the US company Electronic Data Systems (EDS), and did some security-related work with a private equity company. In 2007, Barak took over leadership of Israel’s Labor Party and is now the country’s Minister of Defense.

7. __ disease: tick-transmitted affliction LYME
Lyme disease is an infectious disease that is becoming more and more common. The condition takes its name from the town of Lyme, Connecticut where several cases were diagnosed in 1975. Humans catch the disease when bitten by infected ticks. If caught early enough, the disease is usually successfully treated with antibiotics.

Old Lyme is a town in Connecticut that is named for the English town of Lyme Regis. The towns of Old Lyme and its neighbor Lyme gave their name to Lyme disease, as a number of cases of the disease were identified there in 1975.

8. Word with meat or sugar LOAF
Up until the late 1800s, refined sugar was produced and sold as a tall cone with a rounded top called a sugarloaf. Pieces of sugar were then broken off in pieces using a tool called “sugar nips”.

13. Big name in men’s grooming AXE
Axe is a brand of male grooming products. Axe is sold under the name Lynx in some parts of the world.

28. Goad EGG ON
The verb “edge” has been used to mean to incite, to urge on, from the 16th century. Somewhere along the way “edge” was mistakenly replaced with “egg”, giving us our term “egg on”.

30. Lickable candy since 1931 TOOTSIE POP
Tootsie Pops were developed as a derivative product from the popular Tootsie Roll candy. How popular, I hear you say? About 60 million Tootsie Rolls and 20 million Tootsie Pops are produced every day!

31. “The Addams Family” adjective OOKY

They’re creepy and they’re kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They’re altogether ooky,
The Addams Family.

32. Clichéd OLD
“Cliché” is a word that comes from the world of printing. In the days when type was added as individual letters into a printing plate, for efficiency some oft-used phrases and words were created as one single slug of metal. The word “cliché” was used for such a grouping of letters. It’s easy to see how the same word would become a term to describe any overused phrase. Supposedly, “cliché” comes from French, from the verb “clicher” meaning “to click”. The idea is that when a matrix of letters was dropped in molten metal to make a cliché, it made a clicking sound.

34. Chuck Hagel’s gp. DOD
The largest government department in cabinet is the Department of Defense (DOD), with a permanent staff of over 600 thousand. The smallest department, by far, is the Department of Education, with a mere four or five thousand employees.

Chuck Hagel has served as Secretary of Defense since February 2013. Prior to joining President Obama’s cabinet, Hagel served as US Senator for the state of Nebraska from 1997 to 2009, as a member of the Republican Party. The lighter side of Senator Chuck Hagel came out on Halloween each year when he famously came to work in the Senate dressed like one of his colleagues or other political figures. Hagen mimicked Joe Biden, John McCain, Colin Powell and Pat Roberts among others.

35. Enervate SAP
“To enervate” is to have someone feel drained of energy. “Enervare” is the Latin for “to weaken”.

36. Browns, on scoreboards CLE
The Cleveland Browns football team was a charter member of the All-American Football Conference, formed in 1946. Cleveland is the only NFL city that has never hosted nor sent a team to the Super Bowl.

40. Mining target DATA SET
The process of data mining is used to extract information from a database and present it in a form that facilitates further use.

41. “The most private of private schools”: Hugh Laurie ETON
The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders including David Cameron who took power in the last UK general election. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington, George Orwell, and the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming (as well as 007 himself as described in the Fleming novels).

English actor and comedian Hugh Laurie was half of a comedy double act with Stephen Fry called simply “Fry and Laurie”. Fry and Laurie met in Cambridge University through their mutual friend, the actress Emma Thompson. Over in North America, Laurie is best known for playing the title role in the medical drama “House”.

43. Bacon units RASHERS
What we tend to call “Canadian bacon” in the US, we know as “rashers” on the other side of the Atlantic. One of my uncles worked in the meat trade in Dublin, and his nickname was “Rasher”.

50. 3M sponge brand O-CEL-O
The company that is now called 3M was founded as a mining venture in 1902, and used to be known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (hence “3M”).

51. Sport with shotguns SKEET
There are three types of competitive shotgun target shooting sports:

– Skeet shooting
– Trap shooting
– Sporting clays

54. “Livin’ La Vida __”: Ricky Martin hit LOCA
“Livin’ La Vida Loca” is a single recorded by Ricky Martin, the title of which translates as “living the crazy life”.

Ricky Martin’s real name is Enrique Martin Morales, a native of Puerto Rico. Martin first achieved fame with the boy band Menudo before going solo in 1991.

55. Well-manored individual? EARL
In the ranking of nobles, an earl comes above a viscount and below a marquess. The rank of earl is used in the British peerage system and is equivalent to the rank of count in other countries. Other British ranks have female forms (e.g. marquess and marchioness, viscount and viscountess), but there isn’t a female word for the rank of earl. A female given the same rank as an earl is known simply as a countess.

56. Chip flavor BBQ
It is believed that our word “barbecue” comes from the Taíno people of the Caribbean in whose language “barbacoa” means “sacred fire pit”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Bottom application TALC
5. Crystallizes JELLS
10. Hemingway sobriquet PAPA
14. New car feature ODOR
15. “Stop kidding around!” OH YOU!
16. Claire’s younger daughter on “Modern Family” ALEX
17. First name at Woodstock ARLO
18. Harold’s film partner KUMAR
19. “Eek!” YIPE!
20. Consequence of a late flight? DELAYED EFFECT
23. Outpourings SPATES
24. Day __ SPA
25. Narrow inlet RIA
26. 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champ WIE
29. Immature retort IS TOO!
33. Where to learn how to be on time for a flight? BOARDING SCHOOL
36. Premier __: wine designation CRU
37. Patek Philippe competitor OMEGA
38. Ratified OK’D
39. Luggage on a recently-arrived flight? LANDED PROPERTY
44. Stop by END AT
45. Getting-off pt. STN
46. Some hosps. VAS
47. Talking-__ (lectures) TOS
49. Privia digital pianos, e.g. CASIOS
52. Mark showing the status of a stormy-day flight? CANCELED CHECK
56. Media concern BIAS
58. Bellowing AROAR
59. Sport with touches EPEE
60. Boxer’s reward BONE
61. Tool in Excel MACRO
62. It’s played on Broadway ROLE
63. Stop QUIT
64. Church reading PSALM
65. Hit the __ SPOT

Down
1. Natterjacks TOADS
2. Pitcher? AD REP
3. Hang out LOLL AROUND
4. Montenegro neighbor CROATIA
5. Routine elements JOKES
6. Israeli statesman Barak EHUD
7. __ disease: tick-transmitted affliction LYME
8. Word with meat or sugar LOAF
9. Sees the sites SURFS
10. Exchange notes PAY CASH
11. Disembarked ALIT
12. Zip or drive PEP
13. Big name in men’s grooming AXE
21. Wine datum YEAR
22. Expansive EPIC
26. Chickens WIMPS
27. Nonreactive INERT
28. Goad EGG ON
30. Lickable candy since 1931 TOOTSIE POP
31. “The Addams Family” adjective OOKY
32. Clichéd OLD
33. Cereal box word BRAN
34. Chuck Hagel’s gp. DOD
35. Enervate SAP
36. Browns, on scoreboards CLE
40. Mining target DATA SET
41. “The most private of private schools”: Hugh Laurie ETON
42. Copter rescue, perhaps EVAC
43. Bacon units RASHERS
48. Rogue SCAMP
49. Storage medium CD-ROM
50. 3M sponge brand O-CEL-O
51. Sport with shotguns SKEET
52. “Is it allowed?” CAN I?
53. Chunks of history ERAS
54. “Livin’ La Vida __”: Ricky Martin hit LOCA
55. Well-manored individual? EARL
56. Chip flavor BBQ
57. Slip for chips, maybe IOU

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