LA Times Crossword Answers 6 Jan 15, Tuesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Six-footer at a Super Bowl party? HERO
“Hero” is another name for a submarine sandwich. The hero originated in New York City in the 1800s among Italian immigrants who wanted an Italian sandwich that reminded them of home. The name “hero” was coined in the 1930s, supposedly by a food critic in the “New York Herald Tribune” when he wrote that “one had to be a hero” to finish the gigantic sandwich. Hero is a prevalent term to this day in New York City, reserved for a submarine sandwich with an Italian flavor.

9. Trojan War epic ILIAD
“Iliad” is an epic poem by the Greek poet Homer, which tells the story of the siege of Ilium (also known as Troy) during the Trojan war.

15. Oompah instrument TUBA
The tuba is the lowest pitched of all the brass instruments, and one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra (usually there is just one tuba included in an orchestral line-up). “Tuba” is the Latin word for “trumpet, horn”. Oom-pah-pah …

16. For the __: temporarily NONCE
The quaint phrase “for the nonce” means “for the present”, “for now”.

19. Ultrasound image, perhaps FETUS
The word “fetus”, used for an unborn young animal, comes from Latin as one might expect. “Fetus” is the Latin word for the act of hatching or bringing forth a young animal or child. The mistaken spelling “foetus” is seen quite a lot, but there’s no historical basis for adding that “o”.

A sonogram is an image made created using ultrasound. “Ultrasound” is the name given to sound energy that has frequencies above the audible range.

24. Old Mideast org. UAR
The United Arab Republic (UAR) was a union between Egypt and Syria made in 1958 and dissolved in 1961 when Syria pulled out of the arrangement.

25. “Papa __ a Rollin’ Stone” WAS
“Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” is a 1971 song that was originally released by a Motown act called the Undisputed Truth. The song was re-released the following year by the Temptations, and became a number-one hit. The Temptations version is an impressive twelve minutes in length, with an instrumental introduction that lasts almost four minutes.

33. Houston player, informally ‘STRO
The Houston baseball team changed its name to the Astros from the Colt .45s in 1965 when they started playing in the Astrodome. The Astrodome was so called in recognition of the city’s long association with the US space program.

40. Toward the tiller AFT
A rudder is usually a flat sheet of wood or metal located at the stern of a boat, under the waterline. The rudder is attached to a rudder post, which rotates to change the orientation of the rudder hence steering the boat. That rotation of the rudder post can be achieved by pulling or pushing a lever at the top of the post called a tiller.

42. “College GameDay” number STAT
There are several sports shows on ESPN called “College GameDay”, the oldest of which is the one covering college football.

46. __ mater ALMA
The literal translation for the Latin term “alma mater” is “nourishing mother”. “Alma mater” was used in Ancient Rome to refer to mother goddesses, and in Medieval Christianity the term was used to refer to the Virgin Mary. Nowadays, one’s alma mater is the school one attended, either high school or college, usually one’s last place of education.

49. “Little Women” woman AMY
“Little Women” is a novel written by American author Louisa May Alcott. The quartet of little women is Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March. Jo is a tomboy and the main character in the story, and is based on Alcott herself.

53. Kwik-E-Mart owner on “The Simpsons” APU
The fictional Kwik-E-Mart store is operated by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on “The Simpsons” TV show. Apu is married to Apu, and the couple have eight children. The convenience store owner doesn’t seem to be making much use of his Ph.D in computer science that he earned in the US. Apu’s undergraduate degree is from Caltech (the Calcutta Technical Institute), where he graduated top of his class of seven million students …

57. Ratio involving ht. and wt. BMI
The body mass index (BMI) is the ratio of a person’s height to his or her mass.

58. Box of Lego bricks, e.g., or a hint to the last words of 20-, 26- and 50-Across CONSTRUCTION SET
Lego is manufactured by Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1934 and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949. The blocks were originally sold under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks” but I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.

65. Designer Nina RICCI
The Nina Ricci fashion house was founded by Italian-born Maria “Nina” Ricci, in Paris in 1932.

67. “Do __ others …” UNTO
The Golden Rule is also known as the ethic of reciprocity, and is a basis for the concept of human rights. A version of the rule used in the Christian tradition is attributed to Jesus:
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

68. Sunni’s faith ISLAM
The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family.

70. Falafel holder PITA
Pita is a lovely bread in Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. Pita is usually round, and has a “pocket” in the center. The pocket is created by steam that puffs up the dough during cooking leaving a void when the bread cools. The pockets were a big hit in the seventies when someone came up with the idea of using them for fillings hence creating pita sandwiches or “pita pockets”.

Falafel is a fried ball of ground chickpeas or fava beans served in pita bread. I love chickpeas, but falafel just seems too dry to me.

71. Mower handle? 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”.

72. Mates for bucks DOES
A male deer is usually called a “buck”, and a female a “doe”.

Down
1. Hinged fastener HASP
The “hasp” of a lock might refer to more than one thing. The u-shape loop protruding from a padlock is often called a “lock hasp”, for example.

9. Hot spot for Dante INFERNO
Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” is an epic poem dating back to the 14th century. The first part of that epic is “Inferno”, which is the Italian word for “Hell”. In the poem, Dante is led on a journey by the poet Virgil, starting at the gates of Hell on which are written the famous words “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”.

10. Big name in movie theaters LOEW
Marcus Loew was a New Yorker, born into a poor Jewish family. He started out in a penny arcade business and used its profits to buy into a nickelodeon. He built a whole chain of movie theaters, and then moved into the production of films so that he could guarantee supply of features that he could show in his theaters. Eventually he pulled together the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film production company, and sadly passed away just three years after he inked the deal.

12. Legend automaker ACURA
Acura is a division of the Honda Motor Company, their luxury brand. As an aside, Infiniti is the equivalent luxury brand for the Nissan Motor Company, and Lexus is the more luxurious version of Toyota’s models.

26. Vacation island south of Borneo BALI
Bali is the most important tourist destination in Indonesia and is an island lying east of Java. In recent years, Bali’s tourist industry has been badly hit in the aftermath of two terrorist bombings. The first one, in 2002, killed 202 people, mainly foreign tourists in a nightclub.

29. Fund for the golden yrs. IRA
Individual Retirement Account (IRA)

31. Navig. aid GPS
GPS stands for Global Positioning System. The modern GPS system that we use today was built by the US military who received the massive funding needed because of fears during the Cold War of the use of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. We civilians all round the world owe a lot to President Ronald Reagan because he directed the military to make GPS technology available to the public for the common good. President Reagan was moved to do so after the Soviet Union shot down KAL flight 007 carrying 269 people, just because the plane strayed accidentally into Soviet airspace.

35. Catchall abbr. ET AL
Et alii (et al.) is the equivalent of et cetera (etc.), with et cetera being used in place of a list of objects, and et alii used for a list of names. In fact “et al.” can stand for et alii (for a group of males, or males and females), aliae (for a group of women) and et alia (for a group of neuter nouns, or for a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).

37. Mythological underworld boundary river STYX
The River Styx of Greek mythology was the river that formed the boundary between the Earth and the Underworld (or Hades). The souls of the newly dead had to cross the River Styx in a ferry boat piloted by Charon. Traditionally, a coin would be placed in the mouths of the dead “to pay the ferryman”.

41. Treatment for a broken heart, briefly TLC
Tender loving care (TLC)

48. Gun filler AMMO
The word “munitions” describes materials and equipment used in war. The term derives from the Latin “munitionem” meaning “fortification, defensive wall”. Back in the 17th century, French soldiers referred to such materials as “la munition”, a Middle French term. This was misheard as “l’ammunition”, and as a result, we ended up importing the word “ammunition” into English, a term that we now use mainly to describe the material fired from a weapon.

55. Cry of concession 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!”

60. “So long,” on the Lido CIAO
“Ciao” is the Italian for “‘bye”. “Arrivederci” is more formal, and translates better as “goodbye”.

The Lido di Venezia is a famous sandbar, about 11 km long, in Venice, Italy. It may be a sandbar, but it is home to about 20,000 residents, as well as the Venice Film Festival that takes place there every September. The Lido is also the setting for Thomas Mann’s famous novel “Death in Venice”. The name “lido” has become a term for any fashionable beach resort.

63. “__, Brute?” ET TU
It was Shakespeare who popularized the words “Et tu, Brute?” (And you, Brutus?), in his play “Julius Caesar”, although the phrase had been around long before he penned his drama. It’s not known what Julius Caesar actually said in real life just before he was assassinated on the steps of the Senate in Rome.

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Six-footer at a Super Bowl party? HERO
5. Leveling wedge SHIM
9. Trojan War epic ILIAD
14. Sailed through ACED
15. Oompah instrument TUBA
16. For the __: temporarily NONCE
17. Storage structure SHED
18. Requiring a two-day trip, say AFAR
19. Ultrasound image, perhaps FETUS
20. Guideline for standard operating procedures POLICY FRAMEWORK
23. Go one better than TOP
24. Old Mideast org. UAR
25. “Papa __ a Rollin’ Stone” WAS
26. Weightlifter’s practice BODYBUILDING
32. Log-splitting tool AXE
33. Houston player, informally ‘STRO
34. Common rental restriction NO PETS
38. Plumbing problem LEAK
40. Toward the tiller AFT
42. “College GameDay” number STAT
43. Still making payments IN DEBT
46. __ mater ALMA
49. “Little Women” woman AMY
50. Frequent feeling of culpability GUILT COMPLEX
53. Kwik-E-Mart owner on “The Simpsons” APU
56. Assenting vote YEA
57. Ratio involving ht. and wt. BMI
58. Box of Lego bricks, e.g., or a hint to the last words of 20-, 26- and 50-Across CONSTRUCTION SET
65. Designer Nina RICCI
66. Retro phone feature DIAL
67. “Do __ others …” UNTO
68. Sunni’s faith ISLAM
69. Simplify EASE
70. Falafel holder PITA
71. Mower handle? DEERE
72. Mates for bucks DOES
73. Small earring STUD

Down
1. Hinged fastener HASP
2. Sound on the rebound ECHO
3. Rod attachment REEL
4. Quirk ODDITY
5. “Don’t budge!” STAY PUT!
6. Peeved mood HUFF
7. Letter-shaped support piece I-BAR
8. Plunder MARAUD
9. Hot spot for Dante INFERNO
10. Big name in movie theaters LOEW
11. On its way to the body shop IN TOW
12. Legend automaker ACURA
13. Newsroom furniture DESKS
21. Corn cores COBS
22. Most important MAIN
26. Vacation island south of Borneo BALI
27. Farm team OXEN
28. Word before tired or heat DEAD
29. Fund for the golden yrs. IRA
30. Lite LO-FAT
31. Navig. aid GPS
35. Catchall abbr. ET AL
36. Domesticate TAME
37. Mythological underworld boundary river STYX
39. Tapped vessel KEG
41. Treatment for a broken heart, briefly TLC
44. Postpone the inevitable BUY TIME
45. Stadium section TIER
47. Delicately balanced sculptures MOBILES
48. Gun filler AMMO
51. Praised LAUDED
52. Man cave hangings PINUPS
53. Bitterly pungent ACRID
54. Self-assurance POISE
55. Cry of concession UNCLE
59. Surgery reminder SCAR
60. “So long,” on the Lido CIAO
61. Shock, in a way TASE
62. Peeved mood SNIT
63. “__, Brute?” ET TU
64. Warty hopper TOAD

Return to top of page