LA Times Crossword Answers 31 Jan 15, Saturday

Share today’s solution with a friend:
FacebookTwitterGoogleEmail

Quicklink
Jump to a complete list of today’s clues and answers

CROSSWORD SETTER: Ned White
THEME: The Rules … we have a mini-theme today (as has been pointed out by a kind blog reader!). The two long answers are both RULES:

62A. Things to obey, like 36-Across and 8-Down THE RULES

36A. School hallway warning USE INDOOR VOICES
8D. Highway warning CLICK IT OR TICKET

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 14m 35s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Plant reproductive structure SPORE SAC
Spores are produced by many bacteria, fungi and non-flowering plants. A spore is a reproductive body encased in a protective shell that is highly resistant to damage, and resistant to heat in particular.

14. Lindbergh nickname LONE EAGLE
Charles Lindbergh was the American pilot who made the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of nearly 3,600 miles. He won the accolades of a whole country for that feat, and was awarded the Medal of Honor (for which Lindbergh was eligible, as an Army Reserve officer). His new-found fame brought tragedy to his door, however, when a kidnapper took his infant son from his home in East Amwell, New Jersey. A ransom was paid in part, but the child was never returned, and was found dead a few weeks later. It was as a result of this case that Congress made kidnapping a federal offence should there be any aspect of the crime that crosses a state line.

17. European travel pass INTERRAIL
An InterRail pass can be purchased for travel right across the nations of Europe. The InterRail pass is only available to European residents, and to residents of a handful of neighboring countries. Non-residents can purchase an equivalent Eurail pass.

18. “You Must Love Me” musical EVITA
“Evita” was the follow up musical to “Jesus Christ Superstar” for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Both of these works were originally released as album musicals, and very successful ones at that (I remember buying them when they first came out). “Evita” was made into a film in 1996, with Madonna playing the title role and Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce playing her husband Juan Perón.

19. NYC travel org. MTA
The MTA is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has public transportation responsibility in the state of New York (as well as part of Connecticut). The MTA abbreviation is also used for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is known as the Metro and sometimes the MTA.

20. Trig function ARCSEC
“Arcsec” is an abbreviation for “arcsecant”, the inverse function of “secant”. So, if the secant of 45-degrees equals the square root of two, then the arcsecant of the square root of two equals 45-degrees.

The secant (sec, for short) is the ratio of the hypotenuse of a triangle to its adjacent side, and is the reciprocal of the cosine, as we all remember from school …

23. Internal walls SEPTA
In the world of anatomy, a septum is a dividing wall within a chamber or other structure. For example, the interatrial septum separates the left and right atria of the heart, and the nasal septum separates the nostrils of the nose.

26. Lizard that can shed its tail SKINK
Skinks are lizards with relatively small legs and without a pronounced neck. Most skink species have long tails that they can shed if it is grabbed by a predator. The tail can then be regenerated.

30. Like 23 of Haydn’s symphonies IN D
Josef Haydn was an Austrian composer, often called the “Father of the Symphony” due to his prolific output of symphonies that helped define the form. This is one of the reasons that he was known, even in his own lifetime, as “Papa Haydn”. Haydn was also the father figure among “the big three” composers of the Classical Period: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Hayden was a good friend to Mozart, and a teacher of Beethoven.

31. Standing losses? LAPS
You’ve got to sit down to “create” a lap …

40. Anthologies ANAS
An ana (plural “anas”) is a collection, perhaps of literature, that represents the character of a particular place or a person. Ana can be used as a noun or as a suffix (e.g. Americana).

42. Number of single-syllable U.S. states ONE
Maine is the only one-syllable state name. I believe the greatest number of syllables in a state name is five, and there are five such states i.e. California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia.

43. Cosmo, for one MAG
“Cosmopolitan” magazine was first published way back in 1886! It started out life as a family magazine, then as a literary publication. “Cosmo” took its present form as a women’s magazine in the sixties.

44. One Direction singer Zayn __ MALIK
One Direction is a UK-based boy band. Each member of the band competed in the reality show “The X Factor”, and didn’t do very well. The five were then combined in a boy band at a later stage of the competition. They only finished in third place, but I don’t think they care. They’re doing very, very well for “losers” …

46. Kirkuk native IRAQI
Kirkuk is a city in northern Iraq, in the Kurdish region of the country.

50. “Every Moment Counts” gp. USO
“Every Moment Counts” is a program launched in 2013 by the USO in order to thank the troops and their families for the sacrifices made in serving their country.

The United Service Organization (USO) was founded in 1941 at the request of FDR “to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces”. A USO tour is undertaken by a troupe of entertainers, many of whom are big-name celebrities. A USO tour usually includes troop locations in combat zones.

51. 1965 Nobel Peace Prize recipient UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund is known by the acronym UNICEF because the organization’s original name when it was founded in 1946 was the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. The original focus of the fund was to provide relief to children in countries that had been devastated by WWII. UNICEF is supported by contributions from governments, but also by individual donors. One of the more successful programs for collecting private donations is the Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box that has been a tradition here in North America since 1950.

56. A carve turn may be taught in one SKI LESSON
A skier executes a carve turn by rotating the downhill ski on its edge so that the natural shape of the ski carves a turn as it cuts into the snow.

60. S-shaped sofa TETE-A-TETE
An S-shaped sofa, on which two people can sit and almost face each other, is known as a “tête-à-tête” or a “vis-à-vis”. These French terms translate respectively as “head-to-head” and “face-to-face”.

61. Company with antlers in its logo DEERE
John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”. The company registered its famous leaping deer trademark back in 1876.

Down
2. Bridge overseas PONTE
“Ponte” is the Italian word for “bridge”.

3. Slated ON TAP
An item that has “been slated” has been put on the agenda, scheduled. The term comes from the notion of writing something down on a slate board.

4. R&B artist Des’__ REE
Des’ree is an R&B singer from London, England. One of Des’ree’s biggest hits is the song “Kissing You”, which was used in the 1996 film adaption of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

5. “As wicked dew as __ my mother brush’d”: “The Tempest” E’ER
At one point in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, Caliban curses Prospero using the words:

As wicked dew as e’er my mother brush’d
With raven’s feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both! A south-west blow on ye,
And blister you all o’er!

William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” tells the story of Prospero, who was removed from the throne of Milan and banished to a deserted island along with his daughter Miranda. The island is home to a devilish character called Caliban, who is forced into slavery on the arrival of the exiles. Prospero learns sorcery while cast away, and eventually conjures up a tempest that drives those who usurped his throne onto the island’s shores (in particular his own brother, Antonio). On the island, Prospero is eventually successful in revealing Antonio’s lowly nature.

6. 1979-’80 Fleetwood Mac hit SARA
“Sara” is a lovely song written by Stevie Nicks and released by Fleetwood Mac on the 1979 album “Tusk”. Nicks tells us that if she’d ever had a daughter of her own, she would have named her Sara. But, Nicks also tells us that she consciously chose not to have children of her own, due to her demanding career.

Fleetwood Mac was founded in 1967 in London. The band was started by Peter Green, and he chose the name from two friends in former bands (named Fleetwood and McVie). This is despite the fact the drummer’s name happens to be Mick Fleetwood.

7. Food stabilizers AGARS
Agar (also “agar-agar”) is a jelly extracted from seaweed that has many uses. Agar is found in Japanese desserts, and can also be used as a food thickener or even as a laxative. In the world of science it is the most common medium used for growing bacteria in Petri dishes.

8. Highway warning CLICK IT OR TICKET
The national “Click It or Ticket” campaign started at the state level in 1993, when it was introduced in North Carolina. New York was the first state to introduce a mandatory seat belt use law, back in 1984.

10. Highway lane, for short HOV
In some parts of the country one sees high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV lanes), but out here in California, we call them carpool lanes.

11. Four-time Emmy-winning actress EDIE FALCO
The actress Edie Falco won three Emmy Awards for playing Carmela Soprano on HBO’s outstanding drama series called “The Sopranos”. Falco also won an Emmy in 2010 for playing the title role in “Nurse Jackie”.

12. Four-stranded DNA structure TETRAPLEX
Famously, James Watson and Francis Crick worked out that the structure of DNA is a double helix. Well, it turns out that some strands of DNA can twist into different shapes. For example, the DNA at the ends of our chromosomes can form a rectangular structure called a triplex or quadruplex.

15. Where “Hamlet” opens ELSINORE
Elsinore is the castle that William Shakespeare used as the setting for his play “Hamlet”. Elsinore is based on the actual Kronborg castle in the Danish city of Helsingør (hence “Elsinore”).

29. __ Bannon, Paul Newman role HUD
The modern-day, western movie called “Hud” was released in 1963 and has become a classic. “Hud” stars Paul Newman (in the title role) and Patricia Neal and is an adaptation of a novel by Larry McMurtry called “Horseman, Pass By”. Patricia Neal’s role in the film was relatively small, yet her performance was enough to earn her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Paul Newman was an actor from Shaker Heights, Ohio. Newman won his only Best Actor Oscar for his role in “The Color of Money”, a Martin Scorsese film. Off screen Newman was a very successful racing driver and won several national championships. He also founded a food company called Newman’s Own which donates its profits to charity, an amount that now exceeds $300 million.

31. Jerry who wrote lyrics for many Presley songs LEIBER
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were a songwriting partnership, with Leiber writing lyrics and Stoller writing music. The list of Leiber and Stoller hits is impressive, including “Hound Dog”, “Poison Ivy”, “Stand By Me”, “Jailhouse Rock” and “Spanish Harlem”.

33. Rabble-rouser DEMAGOGUE
A demagogue is a political leader who seeks to achieve power by appealing to the emotions and prejudices of the masses. A favored tactic of demagogues is to accuse moderate and thoughtful opponents of weakness, advocating instead immediate and often violent action. The term “demagogue” ultimately derives from Greek and can be translated as “people’s manipulator”.

34. Champion of the common man POPULIST
Populism is a political doctrine that appeals to the masses, usually playing off the interests of the elite.

35. Successor to Anwar HOSNI
Hosni Mubarak was the fourth President of Egypt, taking over after Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981. Mubarak resigned in 2011 in the early months of the Arab Spring after 18 days of public demonstrations. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012, a sentence which was overturned in 2013. Mubarak is still in jail though, serving three years for embezzlement.

Anwar Sadat was the third President of Egypt right up to the time of his assassination in 1981. Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 along with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin for the role played in crafting the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1978 at Camp David. It was this agreement that largely led to Sadat’s assassination three years later.

37. Brandy designation VSO
Cognac is a famous variety of brandy named after the town of Cognac in the very west of France. To be called cognac, the brandy must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in very specific French oak barrels. It is the length of this aging that defines the various grades of cognac (and other brandies):

– VS: Very Special … at least 2 years storage
– VSOP: Very Special (or Superior) Old Pale … at least 4 years storage
– XO: Extra Old … at least 6 years
– VSO: Very Superior Old … 12-17 years

41. 31-day mo. JAN
Janus is a Roman god, usually depicted with two heads, one looking to the past and the other to the future. As such, as a god Janus is often associated with time. The Romans named the month of Ianuarius (our “January”) after Janus.

44. Beaux-arts venue MUSEE
In French, one might find fine arts (beaux-arts) at a museum (musée).

45. Sports commentator Olbermann KEITH
Keith Olbermann is a sports and political commentator. Olbermann was exclusively a sports journalist for the first twenty years of his career, and spent several years presenting shows on ESPN. He left ESPN in 1997 to host his own prime-time, news-driven show on MSNBC.

47. Adams who shot El Capitan ANSEL
As an amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. Adams was famous for clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed primarily for black & white film, it can even apply to digital color images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final photograph with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

El Capitan is a stunning vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park in California. The top of El Capitan has been used as the take-off point for many BASE jumps, parachute jumps made by diving off the top of the rock face. The National Park Service put a stop to the practise in 1999. Soon after, a BASE jumper made an illegal jump to protest the ban. She died …

49. Novelist Hammond __ INNES
Hammond Innes was an English author who mainly wrote thrillers, several of which have been made into films. The most famous of his novels is probably “The Wreck of the Mary Deare”, first published in 1956. It was made into a successful movie of the same name in 1959, starring Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston.

55. Big name in bar code scanners NCR
NCR is an American company that has been in business since 1884, originally called the National Cash Register Company. The company has done well in a market where new technologies seem to be constantly disrupting the status quo.

58. Tommy Pickles’ dad in “Rugrats” STU
“Rugrats” is a cartoon show that aired on Nickelodeon.

Share today’s solution with a friend:
FacebookTwitterGoogleEmail

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Plant reproductive structure SPORE SAC
9. Sharpens WHETS
14. Lindbergh nickname LONE EAGLE
16. Goat __: chaotic situation, in slang RODEO
17. European travel pass INTERRAIL
18. “You Must Love Me” musical EVITA
19. NYC travel org. MTA
20. Trig function ARCSEC
22. West end? -ERN
23. Internal walls SEPTA
26. Lizard that can shed its tail SKINK
27. Passing event? FAD
28. Book ending -ISH
30. Like 23 of Haydn’s symphonies IN D
31. Standing losses? LAPS
32. Signifies ADDS UP TO
35. “What have we here?!” HELLO!
36. School hallway warning USE INDOOR VOICES
38. Fingers NAMES
39. Media section PRESS BOX
40. Anthologies ANAS
41. Project JUT
42. Number of single-syllable U.S. states ONE
43. Cosmo, for one MAG
44. One Direction singer Zayn __ MALIK
46. Kirkuk native IRAQI
50. “Every Moment Counts” gp. USO
51. 1965 Nobel Peace Prize recipient UNICEF
53. Vow taker NUN
54. 8-Down and others SIGNS
56. A carve turn may be taught in one SKI LESSON
59. Bring forth EDUCE
60. S-shaped sofa TETE-A-TETE
61. Company with antlers in its logo DEERE
62. Things to obey, like 36-Across and 8-Down THE RULES

Down
1. Diets, with “down” SLIMS
2. Bridge overseas PONTE
3. Slated ON TAP
4. R&B artist Des’__ REE
5. “As wicked dew as __ my mother brush’d”: “The Tempest” E’ER
6. 1979-’80 Fleetwood Mac hit SARA
7. Food stabilizers AGARS
8. Highway warning CLICK IT OR TICKET
9. Highway closer, perhaps WRECK
10. Highway lane, for short HOV
11. Four-time Emmy-winning actress EDIE FALCO
12. Four-stranded DNA structure TETRAPLEX
13. Scoundrels SO-AND-SOS
15. Where “Hamlet” opens ELSINORE
21. Object END
24. Spruces (up) TIDIES
25. Like-minded orgs. ASSNS
29. __ Bannon, Paul Newman role HUD
31. Jerry who wrote lyrics for many Presley songs LEIBER
32. How a stage line might be spoken AS AN ASIDE
33. Rabble-rouser DEMAGOGUE
34. Champion of the common man POPULIST
35. Successor to Anwar HOSNI
36. Not laughing UNAMUSED
37. Brandy designation VSO
41. 31-day mo. JAN
44. Beaux-arts venue MUSEE
45. Sports commentator Olbermann KEITH
47. Adams who shot El Capitan ANSEL
48. Repeat exactly QUOTE
49. Novelist Hammond __ INNES
52. Run FLEE
55. Big name in bar code scanners NCR
57. Tin __ EAR
58. Tommy Pickles’ dad in “Rugrats” STU

Return to top of page