LA Times Crossword Answers 30 Oct 14, Thursday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Jerry Edelstein
THEME: Capital Letters … each of today’s themed answers ends with an anagram of a capital city i.e. a word made from CAPITAL LETTERS:

35A. With 37-Across, sentence openings, and what the ends of 16-, 23-, 47-, and 57-Across can be when rearranged CAPITAL
37A. See 35-Across LETTERS

16A. Postal service EXPRESS MAIL (giving “Lima”)
23A. Brigades, e.g. ARMY UNITS (giving “Tunis”)
47A. “You made your point” SAY NO MORE (giving “Rome”)
57A. Form small teams at school WORK IN PAIRS (giving “Paris”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 12m 54s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

5. Broadway show whose title woman can “coax the blues right out of the horn” MAME
The musical “Mame” opened on Broadway in 1966, with Angela Lansbury in the title role. The musical is based on the 1955 novel “Auntie Mame” written by Patrick Dennis.

9. Renege, with “out” COP
To renege on something is to back out of it. It’s a word commonly used in card games like bridge and whist. A renege is when a player doesn’t follow suit, even though there may be a card of the suit led in his/her hand.

12. Andalusian appetizer TAPA
“Tapa” is the Spanish word for “lid”, and there is no clear rationale for why this word came to be used for an appetizer. There are lots of explanations cited, all of which seem to involve the temporary covering of one’s glass of wine with a plate or item of food to either preserve the wine or give one extra space at the table.

Andalusia (Andalucia in Spanish) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities in the Kingdom of Spain, and is the most southerly. The capital of Andalusia is the old city of Seville. The name Andalusia comes from its Arabic name, Al-Andalus, reflecting the region’s history as the center of Muslim power in Iberia during medieval times.

13. Accord competitor ALTIMA
Nissan has been making the Altima since 1993. In 2007 the company started to produce a hybrid version, Nissan’s first foray into the hybrid market and a successful one by all accounts. Altima hybrids are even used as police cruisers by the New York Police Department.

Honda started manufacturing its Accord model in Marysville, Ohio in 1982, making the Accord the first Japanese car to be produced in the US. The Accord was the best-selling Japanese car in America from 1982 to 1997, and 1989 was the first import to become the best-selling car in the US.

16. Postal service EXPRESS MAIL (giving “Lima”)
Lima is the capital city of Peru. Lima was founded in 1535 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who named it “la Ciudad de los Reyes” (the City of Kings). He chose this name because the decision to found the city was made on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany that commemorates the visit of the three kings to Jesus in Bethlehem.

18. __-pitch SLO
Slo-pitch, or slow-pitch, is a type of softball.

19. Kanakaredes of “CSI: NY” MELINA
Stella Bonasera is a character on the TV show “CSI: NY”, portrayed by Melina Kanakaredes. Kanakaredes was not able to renew her contract for the final seasons of the show, so she was replaced by Sela Ward who played a new lead character called Jo Danville. Sela Ward really added to the quality of the show, in my humble opinion.

23. Brigades, e.g. ARMY UNITS (giving “Tunis”)
In an army, a brigade is made up of three to six battalions. Three or more brigades go to make up a division.

Tunisia is the most northerly country in Africa. The country takes its name from the capital city of Tunis.

25. The tar, in Spanish LA BREA
The La Brea Tar Pits are located right in the heart of the city of Los Angeles. At the site there is a constant flow of tar that seeps up to the surface from underground, a phenomenon that has been around for tens of thousands of years. What is significant is that much of the seeping tar is covered by water. Over many, many centuries animals came to the water to drink and became trapped in the tar as they entered the water to quench their thirsts. The tar then preserved the bones of the dead animals. Today a museum is located right by the Tar Pits, recovering bones and displaying specimens of the animals found there. It’s well worth a visit if you are in town …

27. Anonymous John DOE
Although the English court system does not use the term today, John Doe first appeared as the “name of a person unknown” in England in 1659, along with another unknown, Richard Roe. The female equivalent of John Doe is Jane Doe, with the equivalent to Richard Roe being Jane Roe (as in Roe v. Wade, for example).

28. “The Black Cat” author POE
“The Black Cat” is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is a dark tale about a man who murders his wife and is taunted by the couple’s black cat.

31. __ moss PEAT
When dead plant matter accumulates in marshy areas, it may not fully decay due to a lack of oxygen or acidic conditions. We are familiar with this in Ireland, because this decaying matter can form peat, and we have lots and lots of peat bogs.

32. Mountains dividing Europe and Asia URAL
The eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia is generally regarded as the natural divide between the continents of Europe and Asia.

40. Hop follower SKIP
The track and field sport sometimes called the “hop, skip and jump” is more correctly termed the triple jump. The triple jump dates back as an event to the ancient Olympic Games. When the modern Olympics were introduced in 1896, the triple jump consisted of two hops on the same foot followed by a jump. Today’s triple jump consists of a hop, a bound and then a jump.

42. NASCAR __ DAD
“NASCAR dad” is one of those phrases that is used to broadly describe a perceived demographic, the “typical” person who enjoys watching NASCAR. It is often used to describe a block of voters, and is akin to “soccer mom”.

47. “You made your point” SAY NO MORE (giving “Rome”)
According to tradition, Rome was founded by the twin brothers Romulus and Remus. The pair had a heated argument about who should be allowed to name the city and Romulus hit Remus with a shovel, killing him. And so, “Rome” was born!

50. “… if you want to __ man’s character, give him power”: Lincoln TEST A
Abraham Lincoln stated, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

55. Eats pretzels, say NOSHES
Our word “nosh” has been around since the late fifties, when it was imported from the Yiddish word “nashn” meaning “to nibble”.

Pretzels originated in Europe and are especially popular in Southern Germany where a pretzel is known as “Brezel”. Pretzels were introduced into the US in the 1800s by immigrants from Germany and Switzerland who came to be known over here as the Pennsylvania Dutch.

56. Google hit URL
(54A. Part of 56-Across LOCATOR)
Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com ) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

57. Form small teams at school WORK IN PAIRS (giving “Paris”)
The French capital of Paris is named for the Parisii, a Celtic Iron Age people that lived in the area on the banks of the River Seine.

60. What “I” may indicate RTE
I think that “I” here stands for “interstate”, and an interstate is a route (rte.).

63. June honorees PAS
Father’s Day was added as an official holiday in 1972, although bills to create the holiday had been with Congress since 1913. By rights, the holiday should be called “Fathers’ Day” (note the punctuation), but the Bill that was introduced in 1913 used the “Father’s Day” spelling, and that’s the one that has stuck.

65. Breyers competitor EDY’S
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.

Breyers ice cream was introduced by William A. Breyer in 1866, in Philadelphia. Always known for using all-natural ingredients, Breyers products made in recent years contain more and more food additives in an attempt to cut costs in a competitive market. In fact, most Breyers products can’t even be labeled “ice cream” anymore as they don’t contain enough milk and cream and so are labeled “frozen dairy dessert” instead.

Down
2. Like Madame Tussauds figures WAXEN
Marie Tussaud was a wax sculptor from France. Some of her early work was very gruesome as she lived through the French Revolution. She would take the decapitated heads of executed citizens and use them to make death masks which were then paraded through the streets. She eventually moved to London, taking with her a vast collection of wax models made by her and her father. She opened a museum to display the works, and the Madame Tussauds wax museum is a major attraction in the city to this day.

4. “Manhattan” Oscar nominee Hemingway MARIEL
The actress Mariel Hemingway is a granddaughter of the famed author Ernest Hemingway. She was given the name “Mariel” because her father and grandfather used to fish together from the Cuban village of Mariel.

5. Galaxy gp. MLS
The LA Galaxy is one of the ten charter clubs of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team is known for signing some high-profile players from more established leagues. England star David Beckham played for the Galaxy from 2007 to 2012, and Ireland’s captain Robbie Keane is currently the Galaxy’s captain.

7. Harmful gas MIASMA
The word miasma was first used for the poisonous atmosphere thought to arise from swamps and rotting matter, and which could cause disease. Nowadays, a miasma is just a thick cloud of gas or smoke.

8. One of the Brontës EMILY
The Brontë family lived in the lovely village of Haworth in Yorkshire, England. The three daughters all became recognised authors. The first to achieve success was Charlotte Brontë when she published “Jane Eyre”. Then came Emily with “Wuthering Heights” and Anne with “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall”.

9. Dishonorably dismissed CASHIERED
The verb “to cashier” and the noun “cashier” have two different roots. “To cashier” is to dismiss someone from the military in disgrace, coming from the French “casser” meaning “to discharge”. A “cashier” is someone who is in charge of money or cash. This term derives from the French “caisse” meaning “money box”.

13. Fit __ fiddle AS A
Someone who is “as fit as a fiddle” is very fit, very well. When the idiom was coined around 1600, the phrase meant “suitable for purpose” as “fit” was more often used in that sense.

17. Mesmerized ENRAPT
Franz Mesmer was a German physician, the person who coined the phrase “animal magnetism”. Back then the term described a purported magnetic field that resided in the bodies of animate beings. Mesmer also lent his name to our term “mesmerize”.

21. Porcine sniffer SNOUT
“Porcine” means “of a pig”, coming into English via French from the Latin “porcus” meaning “pig”.

23. Kazakhstan border sea ARAL
The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet Union irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …

The Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia is the world’s largest landlocked country. Kazakhstan was the last of the former Soviet Republics to declare itself independent from Russia.

24. Collecting Soc. Sec. RET
The Social Security Administration (SSA) was set up as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The first person to receive a monthly retirement benefit was Ida May Fuller of Vermont who received her first check for the sum of $22.54 after having contributed for three years through payroll taxes. The New Deal turned out to be a good deal for Ms. Fuller, as she lived to 100 years of age and received a total benefit of almost $23,000, whereas her three years of contributions added up to just $24.75.

26. Arthur who won a Tony for 5-Across BEA
(5A. Broadway show whose title woman can “coax the blues right out of the horn” MAME)
Actress Bea Arthur’s most famous roles were on television, as the lead in the “All in the Family” spin-off “Maude” and as Dorothy Zbornak in “The Golden Girls”. Arthur also won a Tony for playing Vera Charles on stage in the original cast of “Mame” in 1966, two years after she played Yente the matchmaker in the original cast of “Fiddler on the Roof”.

28. IBM 5150s, e.g. PCS
The original IBM Personal Computer is model number 5150, which was introduced to the world on August 12, 1981. The term “personal computer” was already in use, but the success of the IBM 5150 led to the term “PC” being used for all computer products compatible with the IBM platform.

30. Inner circles, in astronomy models EPICYCLES
In older astronomy models, planets, moons and the sun were assumed to move in two paths concurrently. Firstly, each celestial body revolved around its own central point in an orbital motion known as an epicycle. These bodies, all revolved around different points in the heavens, but the points around which each revolved all themselves revolved around one central point in the universe. This larger orbit was known as deferent motion. I could have explained that better …

33. Coach Parseghian ARA
Ara Parseghian coached the Notre Dame football team from 1964 to 1974, a period known as “The Era of Ara”.

34. ’60s hallucinogen LSD
LSD (colloquially known as “acid”) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …

36. Old Bristol-Myers toothpaste IPANA
Ipana toothpaste was introduced in 1915 and was at the height of its popularity in the forties and fifties. Sales declined in the sixties and the product was withdrawn from the US market in the seventies. Bucky the Beaver was the “spokesman” for Ipana. Bucky the Beaver’s slogan was “Brusha… Brusha… Brusha. Get the New Ipana – it’s dandy for your teeth!”

38. College email ending EDU
The .edu domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

– .com (commercial enterprise)
– .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
– .mil (US military)
– .org (not-for-profit organization)
– .gov (US federal government entity)
– .edu (college-level educational institution)

41. Former space station MIR
The Russian Mir Space Station was a remarkably successful project, with the station still holding the record for the longest continuous manned presence in space, at just under ten years. Towards the end of the space station’s life however, the years began to take their toll. There was a dangerous fire, multiple system failures, and a collision with a resupply ship. The Russian commitment to the International Space Station drained funds for repairs, so Mir was allowed to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up in 2001.

45. Reddish-brown horse SORREL
The sorrel color of horse is a copper-red, although the term is often used these days to describe any horse with chestnut coloring.

46. Bagel choice SESAME
The bagel was invented in the Polish city of Kraków in the 16th century. Bagels were brought to this country by Jewish immigrants from Poland who mainly established homes in and around New York City.

48. Main artery AORTA
The aorta originates in the heart and extends down into the abdomen. It is the largest artery in the body.

49. Mars pair MOONS
Mars has two moons, the larger of which is Phobos and the smaller is Deimos. “Phobos” is the Greek word for “fear”, and “Deimos” is Greek for “dread”.

52. NFL analyst Bradshaw TERRY
Terry Bradshaw is a former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback who has been co-hosting the TV show “NFL Sunday” since 1994. Bradshaw has also done a lot of acting, albei small parts. As a result, he is the only former NFL player to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

58. Place to see RVs KOA
Kampgrounds of America (KOA) was founded in 1962 by Montana businessman Dave Drum, who opened up his first property along the Yellowstone River. His strategy was to offer a rich package of services including hot showers, restrooms and a store, which he hoped would attract people used to camping in the rough. The original campground was an immediate hit and Drum took on two partners and sold franchises all over the country. There are about 500 KOA sites today.

Recreational vehicle (RV)

59. NFL mistake INT
Interception (Int.)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Crawled, perhaps SWAM
5. Broadway show whose title woman can “coax the blues right out of the horn” MAME
9. Renege, with “out” COP
12. Andalusian appetizer TAPA
13. Accord competitor ALTIMA
15. Hole starter AWL
16. Postal service EXPRESS MAIL (giving “Lima”)
18. __-pitch SLO
19. Kanakaredes of “CSI: NY” MELINA
20. Plastered SLOSHED
22. Curled-lip look SNEER
23. Brigades, e.g. ARMY UNITS (giving “Tunis”)
25. The tar, in Spanish LA BREA
27. Anonymous John DOE
28. “The Black Cat” author POE
31. __ moss PEAT
32. Mountains dividing Europe and Asia URAL
35. With 37-Across, sentence openings, and what the ends of 16-, 23-, 47-, and 57-Across can be when rearranged CAPITAL
37. See 35-Across LETTERS
40. Hop follower SKIP
41. Modest dress MIDI
42. NASCAR __ DAD
43. Lion or tiger CAT
45. Exercises begun in a supine position SIT-UPS
47. “You made your point” SAY NO MORE (giving “Rome”)
50. “… if you want to __ man’s character, give him power”: Lincoln TEST A
54. Part of 56-Across LOCATOR
55. Eats pretzels, say NOSHES
56. Google hit URL
57. Form small teams at school WORK IN PAIRS (giving “Paris”)
60. What “I” may indicate RTE
61. Common soccer score ONE-ONE
62. Only MERE
63. June honorees PAS
64. Blind component SLAT
65. Breyers competitor EDY’S

Down
1. Restrains STEMS
2. Like Madame Tussauds figures WAXEN
3. Traditional temptation APPLE
4. “Manhattan” Oscar nominee Hemingway MARIEL
5. Galaxy gp. MLS
6. Source of 20s, briefly ATM
7. Harmful gas MIASMA
8. One of the Brontës EMILY
9. Dishonorably dismissed CASHIERED
10. Bird that’s probably not wise and certainly not old OWLET
11. Trudges PLODS
13. Fit __ fiddle AS A
14. One way to think ALOUD
17. Mesmerized ENRAPT
21. Porcine sniffer SNOUT
23. Kazakhstan border sea ARAL
24. Collecting Soc. Sec. RET
26. Arthur who won a Tony for 5-Across BEA
28. IBM 5150s, e.g. PCS
29. Furniture wood OAK
30. Inner circles, in astronomy models EPICYCLES
33. Coach Parseghian ARA
34. ’60s hallucinogen LSD
36. Old Bristol-Myers toothpaste IPANA
37. Beer choice LITE
38. College email ending EDU
39. Extreme summit TIPTOP
41. Former space station MIR
44. “Solve __ decimal places” TO TWO
45. Reddish-brown horse SORREL
46. Bagel choice SESAME
47. Eat loudly SLURP
48. Main artery AORTA
49. Mars pair MOONS
51. Drew back SHIED
52. NFL analyst Bradshaw TERRY
53. Beasts of burden ASSES
55. St. Louis-to-Chicago dir. NNE
58. Place to see RVs KOA
59. NFL mistake INT

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5 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 30 Oct 14, Thursday”

  1. 63 Across (June Honorees) got me. I fixated on Flag Day (June 14th) and put in "pat" which in my mind was short for patriot. Instead they wanted "pa's" for Father's Day. Doh! I knew that having a "t" on the end of 30 Down was idiotic…and yet I put it there none the less. I'll look forward to redemption tomorrow! Ha.

    I look forward to seeing you all back here mañana.

  2. Hello all –

    A tough but solvable puzzle. Like it.

    I got bogged down in the upper right. OPT out instead of COP out got me for a while.

    The triple jump is an amazing thing to see. The world record is around 60 ft…20 feet per jump!

    As an Olympic aside, the modern Olympics were the first to introduce amateurism into the Olympics. In ancient Greece the athletes were paid handsomely for winning. So anyone who says they like the idea of professionals competing at the Olympics are really the traditionalists..

    Best –

  3. Fit as a fiddle can mean more than just being in shape. The song Fit as a Fiddle (and Ready for Love) was published in 1932 and got the most attention when it was used in the classic film Singing in the Rain. Gene Kelley and Donald O'Connor did the number. You can see it on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAlNsDYuQck

  4. This theme is really a stretch. C'mon, now.

    Thanks for the 'splanation on 9D; never heard that use before. And what is a "NASCAR Dad?" Of course SAYNOMORE is today's Monty Python reference from the Nudge Nudge skit in the 1st season.

  5. Hello all,

    end of a long gruelling day.

    The puzzle was a challenge and I was not upto it. I was irrevocably stuck on the lower left hand corner.

    Oh well.

    Have a good night and a better day manyana.

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