LA Times Crossword Answers 28 Oct 14, Tuesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Gail Grabowski & Bruce Venzke
THEME: Mark My Words … each of today’s themed answers comprises two parts, both of which are types of MARK:

16A. *Tailor’s fabric marker CHALK PENCIL (“chalk mark” & “pencil mark”)
23A. *Like a job that doesn’t cause ulcers LOW-STRESS (“low mark” & “stress mark”)
34A. *Anna Sewell novel narrated by a horse BLACK BEAUTY (“black mark” & “beauty mark”)
49A. *Icon in bill-paying software CHECKBOOK (“check mark” & “bookmark”)

59A. “Remember what I said!” … and a hint to what can follow each part of the answers to starred clues MARK MY WORDS!

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 52s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Plant owner: Abbr. MFR
Manufacturer (mfr.)

10. Novelist Clancy TOM
Tom Clancy was an incredibly successful novelist who was noted for his technically-detailed military and espionage thrillers. Clancy’s first novel was “The Hunt for Red October”, published in 1984. Although “Red October” was to be his most successful work, I personally preferred his second book “Red Storm Rising”, published in 1986. Clancy passed away in 2013.

18. Fortysomething, e.g. XER
The term Generation X originated in the UK where it was the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book detailed the results of a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By the latest accepted definition, Gen-Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.

19. Parts of stairs RISERS
The “riser” is the vertical part of a step in a flight of stairs.

21. “Suits” actress Torres GINA
The actress Gina Torres plays the formidable Jessica Pearson on the USA Network show “Suits”. In real life, Gina is married to the actor Laurence Fishburne. Torres and Fishburne appeared together on the horror TV show “Hannibal”, playing a married couple.

“Suits” is an entertaining show about two lawyers that has aired on the USA Network since 2011. I started watching the show on Amazon Prime recently at the gym, and I must say that I am enjoying it …

23. *Like a job that doesn’t cause ulcers LOW-STRESS (“low mark” & “stress mark”)
Until fairly recently, a peptic ulcer was believed to be caused by undue amounts of stress in one’s life. It is now known that 70-90% of all peptic ulcers are in fact associated with a particular bacterium.

25. Nonstick kitchen brand PAM
PAM cooking oil was introduced in 1961 by Leon Rubin and Arthur Meyerhoff. The name “PAM” is an acronym … standing for “Product of Arthur Meyerhoff”. Who’d a thunk it …?

26. Pro offering IRA advice CPA
Certified public accountant (CPA)

Individual retirement account (IRA)

28. Netherworld HADES
Hades was the god of the underworld to the ancient Greeks. Over time, Hades gave his name to the underworld itself, the place where the dead reside. The term “Hades” was also adopted into the Christian tradition, as an alternative name for hell. But, the concept of hell in Christianity is more akin to the Greek “Tartarus”, which is a dark and gloomy dungeon located in Hades, a place of suffering and torment.

29. Uppity one SNOB
Back in the 1780s, a “snob” was a shoemaker or a shoemaker’s apprentice. By the end of the 18th century the word was being used by students at Cambridge University in England to refer to all local merchants and people of the town. The term evolved to mean one who copies those who are his or her social superior (and not in a good way). From there it wasn’t a big leap for “snob” to include anyone who emphasized their superior social standing and not just those who aspired to rank. Nowadays a snob is anyone who looks down on those considered to be of inferior standing.

34. *Anna Sewell novel narrated by a horse BLACK BEAUTY (“black mark” & “beauty mark”)
English novelist Anna Sewell wrote only one book in her life, the immensely popular “Black Beauty” first published in 1877. The book was written at the tail end of Sewell’s life, over a period of six years while her health was declining. “Black Beauty” was an immediate success, and is supposedly the sixth best-selling title in the English language. Sewell died just five months after the book was published, but she did get to see its initial success.

43. “NCIS” actor Joe SPANO
Actor Joe Spano’s most famous role was perhaps Lt. Henry Goldblume on “Hill Street Blues”. In the movie “Apollo 13”, Spano played an unnamed NASA director. On NCIS he plays FBI agent Tobias Fornell.

NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which investigates crimes in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The service gives its name to the CBS TV show “NCIS”, a spin-off drama from “JAG” in which the main “NCIS” characters were first introduced. The big star in “NCIS” is the actor Mark Harmon.

48. Extinct emu-like bird MOA
Moas were flightless birds native to New Zealand that are now extinct. The fate of the Moa is a great example of the detrimental effect that humans can have on animal populations. The Maoris arrived in New Zealand about 1300 AD, upsetting the balance of the ecosystem. The Moa were hunted to extinction within 200 years, which had the knock-on effect of killing off the Haast’s Eagle, the Moa’s only predator prior to the arrival of man.

53. Top-selling Toyota CAMRY
The Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota has been using crown-like model names for some time. “Corolla” is Latin for “small crown”, “Corona” is Latin for “crown”, and “Camry” sounds like the Japanese word for “crown”.

55. __ Hashanah ROSH
Rosh Hashanah is loosely referred to as “Jewish New Year”. The literal translation from Hebrew is “head of the year”.

56. “Bambi” doe ENA
Ena is Bambi’s aunt in the 1942 Disney film “Bambi”. The movie is based on the novel “Bambi, A Life in the Woods” written by Austrian author Felix Salten and first published in 1923. 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.

61. Jazz genre BOP
“Bop” is a shortened form of “bebop”, a jazz style that dates back to the early 1940s.

62. Layered rock GNEISS
Gneiss is a metamorphic rock containing bands of different colors and compositions.

63. Pull up stakes, to Realtors RELO
Some helpful blog readers have educated me on the term “Realtor” and have pointed out why the word is capitalized. “Real estate agent” is a general, generic term. “Realtor” is the name given to a member of the trade association known as the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The NAR has gone so far as the trademark the term “Realtor” in the US.

64. USCG rank ENS
Ensign is (usually) the most junior rank of commissioned officer in the armed forces. The name comes from the tradition that the junior officer would be given the task of carrying the ensign flag.

The US Coast Guard (USCG) has the distinction of being the country’s oldest continuous seagoing service. The USCG was founded as the Revenue Cutter Service by Alexander Hamilton in 1790.

66. Dreyer’s partner in ice cream EDY
Dreyers’ ice cream sells its products under the name Dreyers in the Western United States, and Edy’s in the Eastern states. The company’s founders were William Dryer and Joseph Edy.

Down
1. Tribesman in a Cooper title MOHICAN
James Fenimore Cooper’s most famous works are the romantic novel “The Last of the Mohicans” and the collection of historical novels known as the “Leatherstocking Tales” featuring the hero Natty Bumppo. James Fenimore was the son of William Cooper, a US Congressman. The Cooper family lived in Cooperstown, New York, a community actually founded by James’s father William Cooper.

2. Spontaneous public gathering FLASH MOB
A flash mob is a group of people who gather to perform a sudden, brief act in a public location and then quickly disperse. Flash mobs originated in Manhattan in 2003, as a social experiment by an editor of “Harper’s Magazine” called Bill Wasik. Wasik’s first attempt to form a flash mob was unsuccessful, but the second attempt worked. The first successful flash mob was relatively tame by today’s elaborate standards, and consisted of about 130 people gathered on the 9th floor of Macy’s department store pretending to be shopping en masse for a “love rug”.

3. Logger’s contest ROLEO
Roleo is the name given to a log-rolling competition that is traditionally engaged in by lumberjacks.

6. Slowly, to Mozart LENTO
A lento passage is a piece of music that has a slow tempo.

The composer Mozart’s full name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The name “Wolfgang” translates literally as “wolf journey”. Amadeus translates as “love god”!

7. Colorful parrot MACAW
Macaws are beautifully colored birds of native to Central and South America, and are actually a type of parrot. Most species of macaw are now endangered, with several having become extinct in recent decades. The main threats are deforestation and illegal trapping and trafficking of exotic birds.

8. Mideast leaders EMIRS
An emir is a prince or chieftain, most notably in the Middle East. In English, “emir” can also be written as “amir” and “ameer” (watch out for those spellings in crosswords!).

9. High-speed www connection DSL
The acronym “DSL” originally stood for Digital Subscriber Loop, but is now accepted to mean (Asymmetric) Digital Subscriber Line. DSL is the technology that allows Internet service be delivered down the same telephone line as voice service, by separating the two into different frequency signals.

The World Wide Web (WWW) was effectively the invention of British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee. The key to Berner-Lee’s invention was bringing together two technologies that already existed: hypertext and the Internet. I for one am very grateful …

11. Danish birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen ODENSE
Odense is a city in Denmark, named after the Norse god Odin. One of the most famous sons of Odense was Hans Christian Anderson, the author of children’s stories.

The wonderful storyteller Hans Christian Andersen became very successful in his own lifetime. In 1847 he visited England for the summer and made a triumphal tour of English society’s most fashionable drawing rooms. There Andersen met with the equally successful Charles Dickens, and the two seemed to hit it off. Ten years later Andersen returned to England and stayed for five weeks in Dickens’ home as his guest. Dickens published “David Copperfield” soon after, and supposedly the less than lovable character Uriah Heep was based on Dickens’ house guest Hans Christian Andersen. That wasn’t very nice!

17. McDonald’s founder Ray KROC
The original McDonald’s restaurant was opened in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald as a barbecue restaurant. The brothers then moved into fast food hamburgers, eventually selling out to one of their franchise agents, Ray Kroc. It was Ray Kroc who really led the company to its worldwide success.

27. Push-up targets, briefly PECS
“Pecs” is the familiar term for the chest muscle, more correctly known as the pectoralis major muscle. “Pectus” is a the Latin word for “breast, chest”.

30. Boil briefly, as asparagus BLANCH
In cooking, “to blanch” a food substance is to plunge it into boiling water for a short time and then plunge it into iced water to stop the cooking process. The literal meaning of “blanch” is “whiten” (from French), but the procedure does not necessarily result in a color change. The desired outcome is usually a softening of texture or a reduction in a strong taste.

32. Honest __ ABE
There are several stories told about how President Abraham Lincoln earned the nickname “Honest Abe”. One story dates back to early in his career as a lawyer. Lincoln accidentally overcharged a client and then walked miles in order to right the wrong as soon as possible.

35. Out of control AMOK
The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had good reason for that frenzy …

36. Composer Satie ERIK
Erik Satie was a French composer most famous for his beautiful composition, the three “Gymnopédies”. I have tried so hard to appreciate other works by Satie but I find them so very different from the minimalist simplicity of the lyrical “Gymnopédies”.

41. Urbane WORLDLY
We use “urbane” today to mean something courteous or refined. Back in the 1500s the term was used in the same way that we now use “urban”. Those townsfolk thought they were more sophisticated than the countryfolk, and so the usage evolved.

44. Particle of light PHOTON
In the field of electromagnetic radiation, a photon is the basic unit of light, an elementary particle. The photon is believed to have no mass, but this fact does seem to create some theoretical inconsistencies … which I just don’t understand!

45. __ Fables AESOP’S
Aesop is remembered today for his famous fables. Aesop lived in Ancient Greece, probably around the sixth century BC. Supposedly he was born a slave, somehow became a free man, but then met with a sorry end. Aesop was sent to the city of Delphi on a diplomatic mission but instead insulted the Delphians. He was tried on a trumped-up charge of stealing from a temple, sentenced to death and was thrown off a cliff.

47. Garbage vessel SCOW
A scow is a flat-bottomed boat with squared-off ends that’s often used for transportation, usually pushed or pulled by a barge. Often a scow can be seen carrying junk or garbage.

50. Bingo relative BEANO
The game called Beano is a precursor to Bingo. Beano was so called as dried beans were used to cover the numbers on a card that had been called.

51. No right __: road sign ON RED
If you’re sitting behind a car that doesn’t make a right on red, it may just be a rental car driven by someone from Europe. Speaking as someone who learned to drive over there, I must admit I held up a few people at red lights when I first visited this country. That’s because in Europe we aren’t allowed to make any move past a red light, unless there is an accompanying green arrow. So, if you’re driving overseas, take care …

52. Jack of “The Texas Rangers” OAKIE
Jack Oakie was the stage name of actor Lewis Offield, who was originally from Missouri. Offield was raised in Oklahoma, and for this reason picked up the nickname “Oakie”. The “Jack” in his stage name came from the first character that he portrayed in a play. Oakie played Benzino Napaloni in Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator”, a character that was very much based on Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

“The Texas Rangers” is a 1936 Western starring Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie as two out-of-luck Texas Rangers faced with arresting an old friend.

57. Computer game title island MYST
In the days when I played the occasional video game, the best of the bunch was undoubtedly “Myst”. It is a game full of puzzles with the player wandering through a beautifully-designed (for its day) interactive world.

59. Studio with a lion mascot MGM
There has been a lion in the logo of the MGM studio since 1924. The original was an Irishman (!), a lion named Slats who was born in Dublin Zoo in 1919. However, it wasn’t until Jackie took over from Slats in 1928 that the roar was heard, as the era of silent movies was coming to an end. The current lion is called Leo, and he has been around since 1957.

60. Submissions to an ed. MSS
An editor has to wade his or her way through a manuscript (MS) that has been submitted.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Plant owner: Abbr. MFR
4. Quieted (down) CALMED
10. Novelist Clancy TOM
13. Go it alone SOLO
14. Starting squads A-TEAMS
15. Commotion ADO
16. *Tailor’s fabric marker CHALK PENCIL (“chalk mark” & “pencil mark”)
18. Fortysomething, e.g. XER
19. Parts of stairs RISERS
20. Paving supply TAR
21. “Suits” actress Torres GINA
22. Oft-blessed outburst ACHOO!
23. *Like a job that doesn’t cause ulcers LOW-STRESS (“low mark” & “stress mark”)
25. Nonstick kitchen brand PAM
26. Pro offering IRA advice CPA
28. Netherworld HADES
29. Uppity one SNOB
31. Chapter in a geology text, maybe ERA
33. Finished first WON
34. *Anna Sewell novel narrated by a horse BLACK BEAUTY (“black mark” & “beauty mark”)
38. Early hrs. AMS
39. Misspell or misspeak ERR
40. Woodshop tools SAWS
43. “NCIS” actor Joe SPANO
46. Personal connections INS
48. Extinct emu-like bird MOA
49. *Icon in bill-paying software CHECKBOOK (“check mark” & “bookmark”)
53. Top-selling Toyota CAMRY
55. __ Hashanah ROSH
56. “Bambi” doe ENA
57. Runway figures MODELS
58. “What was __ do?” I TO
59. “Remember what I said!” … and a hint to what can follow each part of the answers to starred clues MARK MY WORDS!
61. Jazz genre BOP
62. Layered rock GNEISS
63. Pull up stakes, to Realtors RELO
64. USCG rank ENS
65. Hardly boastful MODEST
66. Dreyer’s partner in ice cream EDY

Down
1. Tribesman in a Cooper title MOHICAN
2. Spontaneous public gathering FLASH MOB
3. Logger’s contest ROLEO
4. Spending limits CAPS
5. Completed the course? ATE
6. Slowly, to Mozart LENTO
7. Colorful parrot MACAW
8. Mideast leaders EMIRS
9. High-speed www connection DSL
10. Rolled up to the jetway TAXIED
11. Danish birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen ODENSE
12. Marshy tract MORASS
13. Torn-off paper pieces SCRAPS
17. McDonald’s founder Ray KROC
21. Research funding sources GRANTS
23. Carefree diversion LARK
24. “__ shalt not …” THOU
27. Push-up targets, briefly PECS
30. Boil briefly, as asparagus BLANCH
32. Honest __ ABE
33. Tip off WARN
35. Out of control AMOK
36. Composer Satie ERIK
37. Whined YAMMERED
41. Urbane WORLDLY
42. States as fact SAYS SO
43. Book copier of yore SCRIBE
44. Particle of light PHOTON
45. __ Fables AESOP’S
47. Garbage vessel SCOW
50. Bingo relative BEANO
51. No right __: road sign ON RED
52. Jack of “The Texas Rangers” OAKIE
54. Really love ADORE
57. Computer game title island MYST
59. Studio with a lion mascot MGM
60. Submissions to an ed. MSS

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