LA Times Crossword Answers 16 Mar 15, Monday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Amy Johnson
THEME: A Good Moody Start … each of today’s themed answers starts with a word describing someone in a good mood:

20A. McDonald’s freebies HAPPY MEAL TOYS27A. Multi-day event featuring rainbow flags GAY PRIDE WEEK43A. Ride with wooden horses MERRY-GO-ROUND51A. Fruit-flavored hard candies JOLLY RANCHERS

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 5m 49s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Ignore the teleprompter AD LIB
“Ad libitum” is a Latin phrase meaning “at one’s pleasure”. In common usage the phrase is usually shortened to “ad lib”. On the stage the concept of an “ad lib” is very familiar. For example, an actor may substitute his or her own words for forgotten lines using an ad lib, or a director may instruct an actor to use his or her own words at a particular point in a performance to promote a sense of spontaneity.

6. Take for a ride, so to speak SCAM
The slang term “scam” meaning a swindle may come from the British slang “scamp”.

10. Pyramid, to Tut TOMB
King Tut is a name commonly used for the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen. Tutankhamen may not have been the most significant of the pharaohs historically, but he is the most famous today largely because of the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter. Prior to this find, any Egyptian tombs uncovered by archaeologists had been ravaged by grave robbers. Tutankhamen’s magnificent burial mask is one of the most recognizable of all Egyptian artifacts.

14. Supermodel Klum HEIDI
German-born Heidi Klum is married to the successful English singer, Seal. Klum is a talented lady and has built a multi-faceted career based on her early success as a model. She is the force behind the Bravo reality show called “Project Runway” that has been on the air since 2004. Klum has been nominated 4-5 times for an Emmy for her association with the show. Klum was also signed up as the official ambassador for Barbie in 2009, the 50th anniversary of the Barbie Doll, and for her service that year a Heidi Klum Barbie was produced.

16. Old-time knife SNEE
“Snick or snee” is the name given to cut and thrust while fighting with a knife. The phrase is rooted in a pair of Dutch words and it gave its name to a “snee”, a light sword-like knife.

17. “Full House” star Bob SAGET
Bob Saget is a real enigma to me. He made a name for himself playing very sugary roles in TV shows like “Full House” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, and yet in the world of stand-up comedy he is known for very blue and raunchy routines.

18. Alphabetically first of the acting Baldwin brothers ALEC
Alec Baldwin is the oldest of the acting Baldwin brothers. I think Alec’s big break was playing Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan in “The Hunt for Red October”, but thank goodness that role was taken over by Harrison Ford for the subsequent Jack Ryan movies. Baldwin is making a name for himself these days playing Jack Donaghy on “30 Rock”, opposite Tina Fey.

The four acting Baldwin brothers are:

– Alec Baldwin (b. 1958)
– Daniel Baldwin (b. 1960)
– William “Billy” Baldwin (b. 1963)
– Stephen Baldwin (b. 1966)

19. Sedgwick of “The Closer” KYRA
“The Closer” is a crime drama aired on TNT, with Kyra Sedgwick in the lead role. Sedgwick is married to actor Kevin Bacon.

20. McDonald’s freebies HAPPY MEAL TOYS
The McDonald’s Happy Meal was introduced in 1977. The Happy Meal was inspired by a selection of food designed in a Guatemala McDonald’s to suit children that was called “Menu Ronald”.

25. Word ending for enzymes -ASE
Enzymes are basically catalysts, chemicals that act to increase the rate of a particular chemical reaction. For example, starches will break down into sugars over time, especially under the right conditions. However, in the presence of the enzyme amylase (found in saliva) this production of sugar happens very, very quickly.

27. Multi-day event featuring rainbow flags GAY PRIDE WEEK
The first gay pride parades were held all on the same weekend in 1970, in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

31. Alaskan native ALEUT
The Aleuts live on the Aleutian Islands of the North Pacific, and on the Commander Islands at the western end of the same island chain. The Aleutian Islands are part of the United States, and the Commander Islands are in Russia.

37. Willy with a chocolate factory WONKA
Willy Wonka is the lead character in the 1964 novel by Roald Dahl called “Charlie & the Chocolate Factory”. Willy Wonka has been portrayed on the big screen twice. Gene Wilder was a fabulous Wonka in the 1971 version titled “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”, and Johnny Depp played him in the Tim Burton movie from 2005 called “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. I’m not too fond of Tim Burton movies, so I haven’t seen that one …

39. Indian spiced tea CHAI
Chai is a drink made from spiced black tea, honey and milk, with “chai” being the Hindi word for “tea”. We often called tea “a cup of char” growing up in Ireland, with “char” being our slang word for tea, derived from “chai”.

40. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. SSR
The Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia is the world’s largest landlocked country. Kazakhstan was the last of the former Soviet Republics (SSRs) to declare itself independent from Russia.

42. Prankster’s favorite month APRIL
April Fool’s Day is celebrated on April 1st in the western world. In the US (and Ireland) one can make practical jokes all day long if one wants. But in the UK there is a noon deadline. Anyone pranking after midday is called an “April Fool”.

49. Dawn goddess EOS
In Greek mythology, Eos is the goddess of the dawn who lived at the edge of the ocean. Eos would wake each morning to welcome her brother Helios the sun. The Roman equivalent of Eos is Aurora.

50. Old AT&T rival GTE
GTE was a rival to AT&T, the largest of the independent competitors to the Bell System. GTE merged with Bell Atlantic in 2000 to form the company that we know today as Verizon.

The original AT&T Corporation was known as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

51. Fruit-flavored hard candies JOLLY RANCHERS
Jolly Ranchers are a brand of hard candies that has been produced since 1949. Founded in 1949 in Golden, Colorado, the Jolly Rancher name was chosen to present a friendly, western image.

55. Part of Q.E.D. ERAT
QED is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. The QED acronym stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

61. Luigi’s “Bye!” CIAO!
“Ciao” is the Italian for “‘bye”. “Arrivederci” is more formal, and translates as “goodbye”.

63. “Faster __ a speeding bullet …” THAN
Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…It’s Superman!

Down
2. Agcy. with narcs DEA
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

3. Astronomical distance LIGHT-YEAR
A light-year (lt. yr.) is a measure of distance, not time. It is the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year. The accepted abbreviation for a light-year is “ly”. A light-second is a lot shorter distance: about 186,282 miles.

5. Walk-on role BIT PART
A walk-on role in a performance is one in which the actor makes an appearance on stage or on set, but has no dialog. One line of dialog elevates the role to a “bit part”.

8. “Zip-__-Doo-Dah” A-DEE
“Song of the South” is a 1946 Disney film based on the Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The move features a mix of live actors and animated characters. The song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” is the big hit from the “Song of the South”, and won the Best Song Oscar in 1947.

9. ’90s Los del Río dance hit MACARENA
“Macarena” is a dance song in Spanish that was a huge hit worldwide for Los Del Río in 1995-1996.

12. Two-time Best Actress Oscar winner Streep MERYL
Meryl Streep has had more nominations for an Academy Award than any other actor, a tribute to her talent and the respect she has earned in the industry. I am not a huge fan of her earlier works but some of her recent movies are now on my list of all-time favorites. I recommend “Mamma Mia!” (you’ll either love it or hate it!), “Julie & Julia”, “It’s Complicated” and ”Hope Springs”.

13. Beauty’s beau BEAST
“Beauty and the Beast” is a fairy tale was that was written by novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Titled “La belle et la bête” in French, the story was first published in 1756.

21. Tire pressure abbr. PSI
Pounds per square inch (PSI) is a measure of pressure.

22. Popular jeans LEES
The Lee company famous for making jeans was formed in 1889, by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.

24. Black Friday deals SALES
In the world of retail, “Black Friday” is the day after Thanksgiving in the US. Black Friday is when many stores start the holiday shopping season, and so offer deep discounts to get ahead of the competition.

30. Chinese cookware WOK
“Wok” is a Cantonese word, the name for the frying pan now used in many Asian cuisines.

34. New Orleans footballer SAINT
The New Orleans Saints football team takes its name from the jazz song “When the Saints Go Marching In”, a tune that is very much associated with the city. The team was founded in 1967, on November 1, which is All Saints’ Day in the Roman Catholic tradition.

35. Oscar who quipped, “True friends stab you in the front” WILDE
If you didn’t know Oscar Wilde was Irish, you will when you see the name he was given at birth: Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde!

38. Bobby of hockey ORR
Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking …

39. Naval noncom: Abbr. CPO
A Chief Petty Officer (CPO) is a non-commissioned officer in the Navy and Coast Guard. The “Petty” is derived from the French word “petit” meaning “small”.

41. Actress Lamarr HEDY
Hedy Lamarr was an American actress, originally from Vienna in modern-day Austria. Not only was Lamarr a successful Hollywood performer, during WWII she was the co-inventor of the frequency-hopping spread-spectrum method of transmitting radio signals that is still used to this day in wireless communication. Impressive …

42. As, on the periodic table ARSENIC
The chemical symbol for the element arsenic is As.

Because of arsenic’s toxicity it was very commonly used in pesticides. These compounds are getting banned over time, but it seems there is a long way to go. Arsenic in aquifers continues to be a problem around the world, including here in the US. China has introduced limits to the amounts of arsenic permitted in food as well as water, mainly as the staple food of rice is particularly good at accumulating arsenic from groundwater.

44. Colorful little lizards GECKOS
The word “gecko” comes from an Indonesian/Javanese word “tokek”, which is imitative of the reptile’s chirping sound. In making such a sound, geckos are unique in the world of lizards. More interesting to me than a gecko’s chirping is its ability to cling to walls and to other vertical surfaces. Their feet are specially adapted with “toes” that make extremely intimate, close contact to a surface. The toes have millions of hairs called setae that enable the clinging. It isn’t suction that supports them, but rather van der Waals forces (weak interactive forces between molecules). Fascinating stuff …

47. “Little Broken Hearts” singer Jones NORAH
The beguiling Norah Jones is the daughter of famous sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, and is one of my favorite singers. If you haven’t heard Jones sing her song “Come Away with Me”, you just haven’t lived …

48. Civil War nurse Barton CLARA
Clara Barton was deeply disturbed by her experiences caring for the wounded during the Civil War. She dedicated herself after the war towards American recognition of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The American Red Cross was inevitably formed, in 1881, and Barton was installed as its first president.

52. Parisian gal pal AMIE
A male friend in France is “un ami”, and a female friend is “une amie”.

53. Linguist Chomsky NOAM
Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics at MIT. Chomsky is known as one of the fathers of modern linguistics.

54. Gossip columnist Barrett RONA
Rona Barrett is a gossip columnist originally from New York City but who plies her trade in Southern California. Barrett started out as with a gossip column that was syndicated in newspapers but then made a successful transition to television. She made regular appearances in news broadcasts and on her entertainment shows in the sixties and seventies.

58. Michelle Obama __ Robinson NEE
Michelle Obama nee Robinson grew up on the South Side of Chicago and is sister to Craig Robinson, the coach of men’s basketball at Oregon State University. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Michelle Robinson worked as an associate at the Chicago office of the Sidley Austin law firm. Barack Obama joined the firm as a summer associate and Michelle Robinson was assigned to mentor him, and as they say, one thing led to another …

59. EMTs’ destinations ERS
An emergency medical technician (EMT) often heads to the emergency room (ER).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Ignore the teleprompter AD LIB
6. Take for a ride, so to speak SCAM
10. Pyramid, to Tut TOMB
14. Supermodel Klum HEIDI
15. “Look what I did!” TADA!
16. Old-time knife SNEE
17. “Full House” star Bob SAGET
18. Alphabetically first of the acting Baldwin brothers ALEC
19. Sedgwick of “The Closer” KYRA
20. McDonald’s freebies HAPPY MEAL TOYS
23. Contractor’s approx. EST
25. Word ending for enzymes -ASE
26. Outcome RESULT
27. Multi-day event featuring rainbow flags GAY PRIDE WEEK
31. Alaskan native ALEUT
32. Forever and a day EONS
33. Opposite of NNE SSW
36. Campus official DEAN
37. Willy with a chocolate factory WONKA
39. Indian spiced tea CHAI
40. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. SSR
41. For the lady HERS
42. Prankster’s favorite month APRIL
43. Ride with wooden horses MERRY-GO-ROUND
46. Scramble, as a secret message ENCODE
49. Dawn goddess EOS
50. Old AT&T rival GTE
51. Fruit-flavored hard candies JOLLY RANCHERS
55. Part of Q.E.D. ERAT
56. “You hurt?” reply, hopefully I’M OK
57. Really bad turnout NO ONE
60. Feel concern CARE
61. Luigi’s “Bye!” CIAO!
62. Conclude INFER
63. “Faster __ a speeding bullet …” THAN
64. Tailor’s sewn folds HEMS
65. Sidewalk eateries CAFES

Down
1. Sighs of satisfaction AHS
2. Agcy. with narcs DEA
3. Astronomical distance LIGHT-YEAR
4. “I had no __!” IDEA
5. Walk-on role BIT PART
6. Hung around STAYED
7. Not windy CALM
8. “Zip-__-Doo-Dah” A-DEE
9. ’90s Los del Río dance hit MACARENA
10. “For shame!” TSK TSK!
11. “Shame __!” ON YOU
12. Two-time Best Actress Oscar winner Streep MERYL
13. Beauty’s beau BEAST
21. Tire pressure abbr. PSI
22. Popular jeans LEES
23. “Jeepers!” EGADS!
24. Black Friday deals SALES
28. Many a punch line PUN
29. __-weensy EENSY
30. Chinese cookware WOK
33. Doesn’t lose sleep over SHRUGS OFF
34. New Orleans footballer SAINT
35. Oscar who quipped, “True friends stab you in the front” WILDE
37. Lottery winners’ cry WE’RE RICH!
38. Bobby of hockey ORR
39. Naval noncom: Abbr. CPO
41. Actress Lamarr HEDY
42. As, on the periodic table ARSENIC
43. Like lava MOLTEN
44. Colorful little lizards GECKOS
45. “Impressive!” OOH!
46. Cockpit panic button EJECT
47. “Little Broken Hearts” singer Jones NORAH
48. Civil War nurse Barton CLARA
52. Parisian gal pal AMIE
53. Linguist Chomsky NOAM
54. Gossip columnist Barrett RONA
58. Michelle Obama __ Robinson NEE
59. EMTs’ destinations ERS

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