LA Times Crossword Answers 9 Mar 15, Monday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Carol Hacker
THEME: Not on the Level … each of today’s themed answers ends with a word that’s “not on the level”.

17A. Past one’s prime OVER THE HILL
25A. Perilous course to go down SLIPPERY SLOPE
43A. Achieves one’s goal MAKES THE GRADE
58A. Interest-paying institution SAVINGS BANK

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 07s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

6. Anheuser-__ Brewery BUSCH
Adolphus Busch was born in Mainz in Germany. He emigrated with three of his brothers from Germany, to St. Louis in 1857. Still a young man, he met a married Lilly Anheuser, whose father owned a local brewery. When Busch’s own father died, he received a sizable inheritance, which he used to buy a substantial share in his father-in-law’s brewery. When Lilly’s father died, the brewery was renamed to Anheuser Busch.

11. Solomon, for one JEW
According to the Bible, Solomon was the son of David and a king of Israel. Notably, Solomon is described as being very wise. In the story known as “the Judgment of Solomon”, Solomon was asked to decide who of two quarreling women was the mother of a baby. He suggested that they cut the baby in two with a sword, forcing one of the women to surrender the child rather than see it die. Solomon gave the child to the woman who showed compassion.

14. Valium drug company ROCHE
The giant pharmaceutical and medical diagnostics company Hoffmann-La Roche is based in Basel, Switzerland. The company was founded back in 1896 by Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, and initially produced vitamins.

The generic name for Valium is diazepam. The drug was developed by Dr. Leo Sternbach of Hoffman-La Roche, and approved for use in 1963. This was the second of Dr. Sternbach’s major developments, as he was responsible for the diazepam’s sister drug Librium, that went to market in 1960.

15. Snow-block home IGLOO
The Inuit word for “house” is “iglu”, which we usually write as “igloo”. The Greenlandic (yes, that’s a language) word for “house” is very similar, namely “igdlo”.

19. Doc for a kitty VET
“Vet” is an abbreviation for “veterinarian”, a professional who treat animals for disease and injury. The word “veterinary” comes from the Latin “veterinae” meaning “working animals, beasts of burden”.

23. Mauna __ LOA
Mauna Loa on the “big island” of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

24. Actress Zellweger RENEE
Renée Zellweger’s big break came in the 1996 movie “Jerry Maguire”. A few years later she followed that up with a string of successes in “Bridget Jones Diary” (2001), “Chicago” (2002) and “Cold Mountain” (2003). My wife and I love watching her play Bridget Jones, and as someone coming from the British Isles I have to say she does a remarkable job with the accent. She worked hard to perfect that accent, and of course she had a voice coach. She also went “undercover” and worked as a temp in an office for three weeks fine-tuning her skills.

30. Margarita condiment, in Mazatlán SAL
In Spanish, salt (sal) is a seasoning (condimento).

Mazatlán is a city in Mexico on the Pacific coast sitting right opposite the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.

32. Tiny amt. of time NSEC
“Nanosecond” is more correctly abbreviated to “ns”, and really is a tiny amount of time: one billionth of a second.

33. Ballet skirt TUTU
The word “tutu”, used for a ballet dancer’s skirt, is actually a somewhat “naughty” term. It came into English from French in the early 20th century. The French “tutu” is an alteration of the word “cucu”, a childish word for “cul” meaning the “bottom,” or “backside”.

36. Tom Collins liquor GIN
The cocktail known as a Tom Collins is a mixture of gin, lemon juice, sugar and club soda. The original recipe was supposedly invented by a head waiter called John Collins, in a London hotel in the early 1800s. Called a John Collins back then, the drink’s name was changed around 1869 when a popular recipe specifically called for Old Tom gin.

38. Red giant with a carbon-rich atmosphere C STAR
A carbon star (C star) is a star with an atmosphere rich in carbon, more carbon than oxygen. Such an atmosphere is very “sooty” and as such might appear very red in color when viewed through a telescope.

Red giants are very large stars with a relatively low mass. The atmosphere of a red giant is also very inflated and extends a long way into space so the surface of that atmosphere that we see is relatively cool, which gives it a red color.

40. Red-shirted bear POOH
Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne was an English author, best known for his delightful “Winnie-the-Pooh” series of books. He had only one son, Christopher Robin Milne, born in 1920. The young Milne was the inspiration for the Christopher Robin character in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Winnie-the-Pooh was named after Christopher Robin’s real teddy bear, one he called Winnie, who in turn was named after a Canadian black bear called Winnie that the Milnes would visit in London Zoo. The original Winnie teddy bear is on display at the main branch of the New York Public Library in New York.

42. Prefix with bar ISO-
An isobar is a line on a weather map connecting points of equal barometric pressure.

49. “Saw __”: second “Saw” sequel III
The “Saw” franchise of movies is gruesome in the extreme. I’ve only seen a few minutes of “Saw” footage (accidentally). The stories are about imprisoned victims who are faced with having to mutilate themselves to escape. Ugh …

50. Popeye’s adoptee SWEE’PEA
Originally Popeye used the nickname “Swee’pea” to address his girlfriend Olive Oyl. Then along comes a baby, found on Popeye’s doorstep. Popeye adopts the little guy and raises him, calling him “Swee’Pea”.

60. Alphabet finale ZEE
The letter named “zed” has been around since about 1400, and derives from the Greek letter zeta. The spelling and pronunciation of “zee” used in America today first popped up in the 1670s.

61. Where embryos develop UTERI
The Latin “uterus” (plural “uteri”) translates as both “womb” and “belly”. The Latin word was derived from the Greek “hystera” also meaning womb, which gives us the words “hysterectomy”, and “hysterical”.

64. Heat-resistant glassware PYREX
Pyrex glassware is brand name owned by Corning. As well as being used in bakeware and laboratory glassware, Pyrex is often the material of choice for optics in large telescopes used in astronomy.

65. Writer/director Allen with four Oscars WOODY
Woody Allen’s real name is Allan Stewart Konigsberg. He has been nominated for an Academy Award an incredible 21 times in many different categories, and has won on four occasions. He has more Oscar nominations as a screenwriter than any other writer, but he spurns the Awards ceremony and only attended it once in all his years in the movie business. He broke tradition by turning up at the 2002 ceremony, unannounced, to beg producers to continue filming in his beloved New York City despite the fears created by the 9/11 attacks.

Down
1. McDonald’s founder Ray KROC
The McDonald’s chain of restaurants was founded in 1940 by the McDonald brothers, Richard and Maurice. The brothers introduced the famous McDonald’s production line system for making their hamburgers in 1948. There were 8 McDonald’s restaurants by 1955, when Ray Kroc opened the ninth restaurant, as a franchise. This first franchise led to the founding of the McDonald’s corporation (by the McDonald’s brothers) that we know today. Kroc worked as a franchise operator for a few years and then bought out the McDonald’s brothers in 1961 as they were not interested in further expansion. It was Kroc who led the company to its worldwide success.

2. __ Scotia NOVA
The Canadian province of Nova Scotia lies on the east coast of the country and is a peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. The area was settled by Scots starting in 1621, and Nova Scotia is Latin for “New Scotland”.

3. Atlantic republic at the edge of the Arctic Cir. ICEL
Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in the whole of Europe, with two-thirds of the nation’s population residing in and around the capital city of Reykjavik. Iceland was settled by the Norse people in AD 874, and was ruled for centuries by Norway and then Denmark. Iceland became independent in 1918, and has been republic since 1944.

6. Oktoberfest quaff BIER
“Bier” is the German word for “beer”.

Oktoberfest is a 16-day beer festival in Munich that actually starts in September. About six million people attend every year, making it the largest fair in the world. I’ve been there twice, and it really is a great party …

“Quaff” is both a verb and a noun. One quaffs (takes a hearty drink) of a quaff (a hearty drink).

10. Watson’s associate HOLMES
According to author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, his Sherlock Holmes character was based on a Dr. Joseph Bell for whom Doyle worked in Edinburgh. That said, Bell actually wrote a letter to Doyle in which he said “you are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it”.

In the marvelous Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes’ sidekick Dr. Watson is referred to only by his family name, except for two occasions when it is revealed that his first name is John. However, in a third and final mention, Dr. Watson is called “James” by his wife, apparently a lapse in memory on the part of the author.

11. Perked pot contents JAVA
Back in 1850, the name “java” was given to a type of coffee grown on the island of Java, and the usage of the term spread from there.

22. Furrier’s hides PELTS
The “pelt” is the skin of a furry animal.

24. Cookbook contents RECIPES
The Latin “recipere” means “to take”, and the imperative form “recipe” was written at the top of medical prescriptions as an instruction, i.e. Take (the following). This use of “recipe” evolved into the instruction for preparing a dish of food in the mid-1700s.

28. School support gps. PTAS
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

29. Peseta replacement EURO
The peseta is the former currency of Spain, replaced by the euro in 2002.

31. Thomas __ Edison ALVA
Thomas Alva Edison was nicknamed “The Wizard of Menlo Park” by a newspaper reporter, a name that stuck. He was indeed a wizard, in the sense that he was such a prolific inventor. The Menlo Park part of the moniker recognizes the location of his first research lab, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

35. __ suzette: dessert pancake CREPE
Crêpe Suzette has to be my favorite dessert, although I haven’t dared to eat it in a long time. If you haven’t tried it before, you just have to indulge yourself when you get the chance. It is a pancake served with a sauce of caramelized sugar and butter, as well as orange juice and Grand Marnier. The dish is brought to your table with the alcohol flaming spectacularly.

37. Christmas quaff NOG
It’s not really clear where the term “nog” (as in “eggnog”) comes from although it might derive from the word “noggin”, which was originally a small wooden cup that was long associated with alcoholic drinks.

46. Shot put competitor, e.g. HEAVER
Events similar to shot put have been around for millennia. The first sport that truly resembles today’s track and field event came with the invention of the cannonball. Soldiers would “putt”, or throw, cannonballs as far as possible in attempts to outperform each other. Shot put has been in the modern Olympic Games since day one. In fact, American Robert Garrett won gold in the at first Olympics, in 1896.

47. Devil, in Durango DIABLO
Durango is one of the 31 states of Mexico. Durango is landlocked, and is located in the northwest of the country.

52. __ out a living: barely got by EKED
To “eke out” means to “make something go further or last longer”. For example, you could eke out your income by cutting back on expenses. I always have a problem with the commonly cited definition of “eke out” as “barely get by”.

53. Windows alternative UNIX
Unix is a computer operating system that was developed at Bell Labs in 1969.

54. Bueno’s opposite MALO
In Spanish, something might be good (bueno) or bad (malo).

55. City near Tulsa ENID
Enid, Oklahoma takes its name from the old railroad station around which the city developed. Back in 1889, that train stop was called Skeleton Station. An official who didn’t like the name changed it to Enid Station, using a character from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”. Maybe if he hadn’t changed the name, the city of Enid would now be called Skeleton, Oklahoma! Enid has the nickname “Queen Wheat City” because is has a huge capacity for storing grain, the third largest grain storage capacity in the world.

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma (after Oklahoma City). Tulsa started out as a settlement established by the Loachapoka and Creek Native American tribes in 1836. These early settlers called their new home “Tallasi” meaning “old town”, and this name morphed into “Tulsa” that we use today.

56. Big Apple fashion initials DKNY
Donna Karan is an American fashion designer, creator of the Donna Karan New York (DKNY) clothing label. Karan was very much raised in the fashion industry, as her mother was a model and her stepfather a tailor.

Apparently the first published use of the term “Big Apple” to describe New York City dates back to 1909. Edward Martin wrote the following in his book “The Wayfarer in New York”:

Kansas is apt to see in New York a greedy city. . . . It inclines to think that the big apple gets a disproportionate share of the national sap.

Over ten years later, the term “big apple” was used as a nickname for racetracks in and around New York City. However, the concerted effort to “brand” the city as the Big Apple had to wait until the seventies and was the work of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Works with yarn KNITS
6. Anheuser-__ Brewery BUSCH
11. Solomon, for one JEW
14. Valium drug company ROCHE
15. Snow-block home IGLOO
16. Logger’s tool AXE
17. Past one’s prime OVER THE HILL
19. Doc for a kitty VET
20. Thickness-measuring instrument CALIPER
21. Hiker’s tool COMPASS
23. Mauna __ LOA
24. Actress Zellweger RENEE
25. Perilous course to go down SLIPPERY SLOPE
30. Margarita condiment, in Mazatlán SAL
32. Tiny amt. of time NSEC
33. Ballet skirt TUTU
34. Vote in ELECT
36. Tom Collins liquor GIN
38. Red giant with a carbon-rich atmosphere C STAR
39. Say with assurance AVER
40. Red-shirted bear POOH
42. Prefix with bar ISO-
43. Achieves one’s goal MAKES THE GRADE
48. Skin openings PORES
49. “Saw __”: second “Saw” sequel III
50. Popeye’s adoptee SWEE’PEA
53. Lacking a handle? UNNAMED
57. Bother a lot IRK
58. Interest-paying institution SAVINGS BANK
60. Alphabet finale ZEE
61. Where embryos develop UTERI
62. Do-or-die poker bet ALL IN
63. Finale END
64. Heat-resistant glassware PYREX
65. Writer/director Allen with four Oscars WOODY

Down
1. McDonald’s founder Ray KROC
2. __ Scotia NOVA
3. Atlantic republic at the edge of the Arctic Cir. ICEL
4. Roller-coaster ride feeling THRILL
5. Climactic tennis match situation SET POINT
6. Oktoberfest quaff BIER
7. “That turns my stomach” UGH!
8. Deli machine SLICER
9. Ant complex COLONY
10. Watson’s associate HOLMES
11. Perked pot contents JAVA
12. Couple that’s split EXES
13. Dampens WETS
18. Piles HEAPS
22. Furrier’s hides PELTS
24. Cookbook contents RECIPES
25. Streamlined SLEEK
26. Take down a __: humble PEG
27. Navel variety OUTIE
28. School support gps. PTAS
29. Peseta replacement EURO
30. Tailor’s line SEAM
31. Thomas __ Edison ALVA
35. __ suzette: dessert pancake CREPE
37. Christmas quaff NOG
38. Logger’s tool CHAIN-SAW
41. Round gasket O-RING
44. Cleans with a paper towel, as a spill SOPS UP
45. War-ending pact TREATY
46. Shot put competitor, e.g. HEAVER
47. Devil, in Durango DIABLO
50. Small or medium SIZE
51. Small songbird WREN
52. __ out a living: barely got by EKED
53. Windows alternative UNIX
54. Bueno’s opposite MALO
55. City near Tulsa ENID
56. Big Apple fashion initials DKNY
59. Anger IRE

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