LA Times Crossword Answers 16 Jun 15, Tuesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: C.C. Burnikel
THEME: AutoCorrect … We have a TYPO hidden in each of today’s themed answers:

58A. Smartphone texting feature, which usually detects and fixes the thing hidden in 17-, 24- and 47-Across AUTOCORRECT

17A. Wet blanket PARTY POOPER
24A. Poverty symbol EMPTY POCKETS
47A. Power line holders UTILITY POLES

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 00s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

6. Old French money FRANC
The French franc was made up of 100 centimes, before being replaced by the Euro.

14. Disney mermaid ARIEL
“The Little Mermaid” is a 1989 animated feature from Disney that is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. It tells the story of a mermaid princess called Ariel who falls in love with the human Prince Eric. Ariel’s father is chief merman King Triton.

15. “Star-cross’d” lover ROMEO
Two lovers who are “star-crossed” are ill-fated, thwarted by the stars. The term was coined by William Shakespeare in the prologue to his play “Romeo and Juliet”.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life

16. Genetic material RNA
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by what is called transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA.

22. Valley where Hercules slew a lion NEMEA
“The Twelve Labors of Hercules” is actually a Greek myth, although Hercules is the Roman name for the hero that the Greeks called Heracles. The first of these labors was to slay the Nemean Lion, a monster that lived in a cave near Nemea. Hercules had a tough job as the lion’s golden fur was impenetrable to normal weapons. One version of the story is that Hercules killed the lion by shooting an arrow into its mouth. Another version says that Hercules stunned the monster with a club and then strangled him with his bare hands.

31. Orchestral reeds OBOES
The oboe is perhaps my favorite of the reed instruments. The name “oboe” comes from the French “hautbois” which means “high wood”. When you hear an orchestra tuning before a performance you’ll note (pun intended!) that the oboe starts off the process by playing an “A”. The rest of the musicians in turn tune to that oboe’s “A”.

32. Five Norwegian kings OLAVS
Of the many kings of Norway named Olaf/Olav (and there have been five), Olaf II is perhaps the most celebrated as he was canonized and made patron saint of the country. Olaf II was king from 1015 to 1028 and was known as “Olaf the Big” (or Olaf the Fat) during his reign. Today he is more commonly referred to as “Olaf the Holy”. After Olaf died he was given the title of Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae, which is Latin for “Norway’s Eternal King”.

33. Periodic pork sandwich at the Golden Arches MCRIB
The McDonald’s McRib sandwich is based on a pork patty. There isn’t any pork rib in the patty though. It is primarily made up of pork shoulder meat reconstituted with tripe, heart and stomach tissue. Enjoy …

38. Canoeing site LAKE
The boat called a canoe takes its name from the Carib word “kenu” meaning “dugout”. It was Christopher Columbus who brought “kenu” into Spanish as “canoa”, which evolved into our English “canoe”.

40. Architect Saarinen EERO
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect, renowned in this country for his unique designs for public buildings such as Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles International Airport Terminal, and the TWA building at JFK. The list of his lesser-known, but still impressive, works includes several buildings erected on academic campuses. For example, the Chapel and Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus, the Emma Hartman Noyes House at Vassar College, the Law School building at the University of Chicago, and Yale’s David S. Ingalls Rink.

44. “Land __ alive!” SAKES
“Land sakes!” is a euphemism for “for the Lord’s sake!”

51. Fertilizer compound NITER
The chemical name for saltpeter (also called “niter”) is potassium nitrate. The exact origin of the name “saltpeter” isn’t clear, but it may have come from the Latin “sal petrae” meaning “stone salt”. The main use for potassium nitrate is as a fertilizer, as a source of potassium and nitrogen. As it is a powerful oxidizing agent, it is also used in amateur rocket propellants. Anyone who has ignited one of those “engines” would have noticed the lilac-colored flame, indicating the presence of potassium.

52. Otto I’s realm: Abbr. HRE
Otto I the Great, ruled the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) in the 10th century.

53. Has a mortgage, say OWES
Our word “mortgage” comes from the Old French “mort gaige” which translated as “dead pledge”. The idea was that a pledge to repay a loan dies when the debt is cleared.

57. Brylcreem amount DAB
The original Brylcreem product was a pomade introduced in England in 1928. When it first appeared in a television advertisement it was touted with a jingle that started out:

Bryl-creem, a little dab’ll do ya,
Use more, only if you dare,
But watch out,
The gals will all pursue ya,–
They’ll love to put their fingers through your hair.

62. “__ tu”: Verdi aria ERI
The aria “Eri tu” is from Verdi’s opera “Un ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball). The opera tells the story of the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden during a masked ball.

63. Delicate dishes CHINA
The ceramic known as “porcelain” can be referred to as “china” or “fine china”, as porcelain was developed in China.

64. Steel plow pioneer 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”.

65. Joplin’s “Maple Leaf __” RAG
Scott Joplin was a great American composer and pianist, the “King of Ragtime”. Joplin was born poor, into a laboring family in Texas. He learned his music from local teachers and started out his career as an itinerant musician, traveling around the American South. He found fame with the release of his 1899 composition “Maple Leaf Rag”, regarded as the foundation stone on which ragtime music was built. Joplin’s music, and ragtime in general, was rediscovered by the populous in the early seventies when it was used in the very successful movie “The Sting”.

66. Annual sports awards ESPYS
The ESPY Awards are a creation of the ESPN sports television network. One difference with similarly named awards in the entertainment industry is that ESPY winners are chosen solely based on viewer votes.

Down
1. Generational disconnects GAPS
The phrase “generation gap” was first used in the sixties, describing the gap between the values and customs of the Baby Boomers and those of the prior generations.

2. Shrunken Asian 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 …

3. Voice of the iPhone SIRI
Siri is software application that works with Apple’s iOS operating system. “Siri” is an acronym standing for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface. You’ve probably seen the ads on television, with folks talking to their iPhones asking for information and responding with a voice. I hear that Google is a little scared by Siri, as Siri is non-visual. There’s no need to touch a screen or a keyboard to work with Siri, no opportunity to click on one of Google’s ads! By the way, voice-over artist Susan Bennett recently revealed herself as the female American voice of Siri. The British version of Siri is called Daniel, and the Australian version is called Karen. Also, “Siri” is a Norwegian name meaning “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”, and was the name the developer had chosen for his first child.

4. Personal source of annoyance PET PEEVE
The phrase “pet peeve”, meaning “thing that provokes one most”, seems to be somewhat ironic. A “peeve” is a source of irritation, and the adjective “pet” means “especially cherished”.

8. Piece of music festival gear AMP
An electric guitar, for example, needs an amplifier (amp) to take the weak signal created by the vibration of the strings and turn it into a signal powerful enough for a loudspeaker.

9. Maiden name preceder NEE
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.

13. Barcelona bar bites TAPAS
“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.

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain, after the capital Madrid. Barcelona is the largest European city that sits on the Mediterranean coast. It is also the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia.

18. Spots on a die PIPS
The pips on dice are arranged so that the opposite faces add up to seven. Given this arrangement, the numbers 1, 2 and 3 all meet at a common vertex. There are two ways of arranging the 1, 2 and 3 around the common vertex, a so called right-handed die (clockwise 1-2-3) or a left-handed die (counterclockwise 1-2-3). Traditionally, dice used in Western cultures are right-handed, whereas Chinese dice are left-handed. Quite interesting …

25. “__ Doubtfire” MRS
The 1993 comedy “Mrs. Doubtfire” is based on a 1987 novel called “Madame Doubtfire” by Anne Fine. The movie is set and was filmed in San Francisco. The title role is played by Robin Williams who spent most of the movie dressed as the female Mrs. Doubtfire. Perhaps not surprisingly, the movie won the Oscar for Best Makeup.

27. Japanese sashes OBIS
The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied in what is called a butterfly knot.

29. Fresh Effects skin care brand OLAY
Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1949. When Oil of Olay was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.

33. Rapper Elliott MISSY
Melissa “Missy” Elliott is a rap artist who was childhood friends of fellow rapper Timbaland.

34. Tax law expert: Abbr. CPA
Certified public accountant (CPA)

39. Pound or Pope POET
Ezra Pound was an American poet who spent much of his life wandering the world, spending years in London, Paris, and Italy. In Italy, Pound’s work and sympathies for Mussolini’s regime led to his arrest at the end of the war. His major work was the epic, albeit incomplete, “The Cantos”. This epic poem is divided into 120 sections, each known as a canto.

Alexander Pope was an English poet, famous for his own compositions as well as for a translation of Homer’s works. One of Pope’s most notable poems is “Ode on Solitude” that opens with:

Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.

Pope wrote that when he was just twelve years old!

42. Slalom, e.g. SKI RACE
Slalom is an anglicized version of the Norwegian word “slalam” that translates as “skiing race”. There is a longer version of the traditional slalom that is called giant slalom.

43. Byron’s “__ Walks in Beauty” SHE
“She Walks in Beauty” is one of the most famous poems written by Lord Byron. The poem is very descriptive of an elegant and beautiful woman. He wrote it the day after seeing his cousin, who was in mourning, walking by in a black dress set with spangles. The opening lines are:

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies

46. Egyptian queen played by Liz CLEO
The 1963 movie “Cleopatra” really was an epic work. It was the highest grossing film of the year, taking in $26 million dollars at the box office, yet it still lost money. The original budget for the film was just $2 million, but so many things went wrong the final cost swelled to a staggering $44 million dollars, making it the second most expensive movie ever made (taking into account inflation). Elizabeth Taylor was supposed to earn a record amount of $1 million for the film, and ended up earned seven times that amount due to delays. But she paid dearly, as she became seriously ill during shooting and had to have an emergency tracheotomy to save her life. The scar in her throat can actually be seen in some of the shots in the film.

50. SeaWorld swimmers ORCAS
SeaWorld was started in San Diego in 1964. The original plan was build an underwater restaurant with a marine life show. Eventually the founders dropped the idea of the eating establishment and just went with a theme park. SeaWorld has been mired in controversy since the 2013 release of the documentary “Blackfish”, which tells of the involvement of a particular orca (killer whale) in the death of two SeaWorld employees and one SeaWorld visitor.

54. The Beatles’ “Eight Days a __” WEEK
The Lennon/McCartney song “Eight Days a Week” was recorded by the Beatles in 1964. The title came from a conversation that Paul McCartney had with one of two people (the facts seem to have gotten confused over time). One day, McCartney asked either a chauffeur who was driving him or Ringo Starr “How’ve you been?” The answer was “Oh, working hard, working eight days a week”.

55. Neutral hue ECRU
The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.

61. Old vitamin bottle no. RDA
Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) were introduced during WWII and are a set of recommendations for the standard daily allowances of specific nutrients. RDAs were effectively absorbed into a broader set of dietary guidelines in 1997 called Recommended Daily Intakes (RDIs). RDIs are used to determine the Daily Values (DV) of foods that are printed on nutrition fact labels on most food that we purchase.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Sounds of disbelief GASPS
6. Old French money FRANC
11. Snip CUT
14. Disney mermaid ARIEL
15. “Star-cross’d” lover ROMEO
16. Genetic material RNA
17. Wet blanket PARTY POOPER
19. Devilish child IMP
20. Tongue trouble? SLIP
21. Philosophy suffix -ISM
22. Valley where Hercules slew a lion NEMEA
24. Poverty symbol EMPTY POCKETS
28. Over-the-fence blasts HOMERS
31. Orchestral reeds OBOES
32. Five Norwegian kings OLAVS
33. Periodic pork sandwich at the Golden Arches MCRIB
35. Beer holder CAN
38. Canoeing site LAKE
39. Organ features PIPES
40. Architect Saarinen EERO
41. Easter egg coloring DYE
42. “What a pity!” SO SAD!
43. Brings into harmony SYNCS
44. “Land __ alive!” SAKES
46. Taco topping CHEESE
47. Power line holders UTILITY POLES
51. Fertilizer compound NITER
52. Otto I’s realm: Abbr. HRE
53. Has a mortgage, say OWES
57. Brylcreem amount DAB
58. Smartphone texting feature, which usually detects and fixes the thing hidden in 17-, 24- and 47-Across AUTOCORRECT
62. “__ tu”: Verdi aria ERI
63. Delicate dishes CHINA
64. Steel plow pioneer DEERE
65. Joplin’s “Maple Leaf __” RAG
66. Annual sports awards ESPYS
67. Invite from the balcony ASK UP

Down
1. Generational disconnects GAPS
2. Shrunken Asian sea ARAL
3. Voice of the iPhone SIRI
4. Personal source of annoyance PET PEEVE
5. Like a fox SLY
6. Cold-morning pumpkin coating FROST
7. Spacious ROOMY
8. Piece of music festival gear AMP
9. Maiden name preceder NEE
10. Barbecue discard CORN COB
11. Area where evidence is gathered CRIME SCENE
12. Yet to be realized UNMET
13. Barcelona bar bites TAPAS
18. Spots on a die PIPS
23. Scratch (out), as a living EKE
25. “__ Doubtfire” MRS
26. Read carefully PORED
27. Japanese sashes OBIS
28. Hang on to HOLD
29. Fresh Effects skin care brand OLAY
30. Succeeds and then some MAKES IT BIG
33. Rapper Elliott MISSY
34. Tax law expert: Abbr. CPA
36. Curved paths ARCS
37. Battery-free smoke detector? NOSE
39. Pound or Pope POET
40. Condemned buildings, say EYESORES
42. Slalom, e.g. SKI RACE
43. Byron’s “__ Walks in Beauty” SHE
45. Dark or pale brew ALE
46. Egyptian queen played by Liz CLEO
47. Sedated UNDER
48. Pageant accessory TIARA
49. Counterfeit PHONY
50. SeaWorld swimmers ORCAS
54. The Beatles’ “Eight Days a __” WEEK
55. Neutral hue ECRU
56. Prefix in combined families STEP-
59. Sounds of hesitation UHS
60. Piece of advice TIP
61. Old vitamin bottle no. RDA

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