LA Times Crossword Answers 28 Nov 15, Saturday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Greg Johnson
THEME: None
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 12m 32s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Furniture support SOFA LEG
“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

15. Learned ERUDITE
“Erudite” is a lovely-sounding word meaning “learned, well-educated”. The term comes from the Latin verb “erudire” meaning “to educate”, or more literally “to bring out of the rough”.

19. __-Pak subcontinent: Asian region INDO
The Indian Subcontinent is sometimes referred to as the South Asian Subcontinent, South Asia or the Indo-Pak Subcontinent.

20. Homework initials? DIY
Back in Ireland we don’t have “hardware stores” as such, but rather DIY Centres (and that’s the spelling). DIY is an initialism standing for “Do It Yourself”.

34. Bird that will swim but not fly EMU
The large flightless birds called emus make sounds by manipulating inflatable necks sacs. The sac is about a foot long, has a thin wall and allows the bird to emit a booming sound. The type of sound emitted is the easiest way to differentiate between male and female emus.

35. Pound, e.g. UNIT
The unit of mass that we know today as a “pound” is descended from the old Roman unit of weight known as a “libra”. That “libra” connection is why we abbreviate “pound” to “lb”. The name “pound” though comes from the Latin “pondo” meaning “weight”. Our term “ounce” comes from the Latin “uncia”, which was 1/12 of a Roman “libra”.

37. Letters associated with z’s? REM
REM is an acronym standing for Rapid Eye Movement sleep. REM sleep takes up 20-25% of the sleeping hours and is the period associated with one’s most vivid dreams.

38. Tetanus symptom LOCKJAW
Tetanus is caused by a bacterial infection, generally contracted through an infected wound. As the infection spreads throughout the body, a toxin produced by the bacterium causes prolonged contraction of skeletal muscles. One muscle that is notably affected is in the jaw, giving the condition its common name, “lockjaw”.

40. Former “NFL Today” sportscaster Cross IRV
Irv Cross is a former professional footballer and a sportscaster. Cross was hired by CBS Sports in 1971 and became the first African American to work full-time as a sports analyst on network television.

41. Train for firefighting RAPPEL
What we call “rappelling” in this country is known as “abseiling” in the rest of the world (from the German “abseilen” meaning “to rope down”).

43. 2014 Wales summit host NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) hosted a meeting of the heads of government of all its members in 2014, in Newport, Wales.

44. Iowa campus COE
Coe College is a private school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that was founded in 1851. Coe is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church.

48. Literary legionnaire BEAU GESTE
“Beau Geste” is a 1924 novel by the British writer P. C. Wren. The hero of the piece is Michael “Beau” Geste, an upper-class Englishman who joins the French Foreign Legion and embarks on a life of adventure and intrigue.

50. Salinger heroine ESME
J. D. Salinger wrote a short story called “For Esme – with Love and Squalor”, originally published in “The New Yorker” in 1950. It is a story about a young English girl called Esme and an American soldier, and is set in WWII.

53. Golden ratio symbol PHI
The golden ratio, sometimes called the “golden mean” and denoted by the Greek letter phi, is a mathematical constant that often turns up in the world of art. Phi is approximately equal to 1.61, and is represented by the two distances, a and b, where (a+b)/a = a/b. Somehow we perceive the ratio of 1.61 as “pleasing” so it appears in many works of art and in building design. For example, many aspects of the Parthenon in Athens have the ratio of 1.61 (width compared to height). Leonardo da Vinci’s famous drawing of the Vitruvian Man also illustrates the golden ratio in the proportions of the human body, where he shows that the distance from the foot to the navel, compared to the distance from the navel to the head, is 1.61.

58. Spanish-style home decor TERRA-COTTA TILES
The name “terra cotta” comes to us from Latin via Italian and means “baked earth”. Terra cotta is a ceramic made from clay which is left unglazed. Maybe the most famous work in terra cotta is the Terracotta Army, the enormous collection of life-size figures that was buried with the Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of China around 210 BC. I had the privilege of seeing some of this collection when it toured the US a few years ago, and just the few pieces on display were so very impressive.

64. Dress uniform adornment EPAULET
An “epaulette” (also “epaulet”) is an ornamental shoulder piece sometimes worn on a uniform. The term comes from French, and literally means “little shoulder”.

65. Reuse productively, as trash UPCYCLE
The term “upcycle” means to recycle in such a way that the new usage of a material is actually better than the original usage.

66. Dish from the Italian for “foam” SPUMONI
Spumoni is an Italian dessert, one made with a mixture of three ice cream flavors and containing candied fruit and nuts.

Down
1. Trailer leader SEMI
A “semi” is a “semi-trailer truck”. The vehicle is so called because it consists of a tractor and a half-trailer. The half-trailer is so called because it only has wheels on the back end, with the front supported by the tractor.

3. Hunter with a distinctive laugh FUDD
Elmer Fudd is one of the most famous of all the Looney Tunes cartoon characters, the hapless nemesis of Bugs Bunny. If you have never seen it, check out Elmer and Bugs in the marvelous “Rabbit of Seville”, a short cartoon that parodies Rossini’s “Barber of Seville”. Wonderful stuff …

5. Small in a small way LIL’
Lil’ is a short form of the word “little”.

6. Juillet’s time ETE
One might spend the summer (été) under the sun (le soleil) in France, and “juillet” is French for July (note that the name of months aren’t capitalized in French).

7. Like the Spaceship Earth sphere GEODESIC
The term geodesic applied originally to the shortest route between any two points on the Earth’s surface. In this sense, a geodesic is an arc, a segment of a great circle that goes around the whole of the Earth. A geodesic dome is a structure that gets its strength from an interlocking network of triangular elements. The sides of those triangles are geodesics, arced segments of great circles that encompass the dome.

Spaceship Earth is perhaps the structure that comes to mind when we think of Epcot in the Walt Disney World Resort. It is the large white, 18-story geodesic sphere.

8. Panasonic subsidiary SANYO
Sanyo is a Japanese electronics manufacturer based near Osaka and founded in 1947. The company name means “three oceans” reflecting the company’s original aim to sell its products all around the world (across three oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian).

Not so long ago, Panasonic was called Matsushita Electronics, the name it took from its founder when the company started in 1918. The products manufactured back then were lamp sockets, and in 1927 the company introduced a bicycle lamp. Even after the company became famous for producing electrical and electronic goods, Matsushita had a very successful line of Panasonic bicycles, as the founder was raised in a family with a bicycle shop and he was passionate about cycling.

10. “Dismal” tree in Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus” YEW
“Titus Andronicus” is one of Shakespeare’s tragedies, perhaps even the first that he wrote. I’ve never seen the play and apparently it is very gory, perhaps the reason why it was quite popular in Shakespeare’s own lifetime. Over the decades, sensibilities have changed and a result “Titus Andronicus” is performed less often today than his other works.

11. Partnership CAHOOTS
To be “in cahoots” with someone is to in partnership with that person. The exact etymology is unclear, but one suggestion is that it comes from the French “cohorte”, which was used in the US to mean “companion, confederate”.

13. Standup comic Maron MARC
Stand-up comedian Marc Maron has been hosting the podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” since 2009. The online show features interviews with comedians and celebrities. The list of interviewees is pretty impressive, and includes Conan O’Brien, Robin Williams and even President Barack Obama.

18. 1995 film in which Sean Connery played King Arthur FIRST KNIGHT
“First Knight” is a not-so-great 1995 film based on the legend of King Arthur. There is a great cast, including Sean Connery as Arthur, Julia Ormond as Guinevere and Richard Gere as Lancelot.

Sean Connery is most famous for playing the original James Bond in the successful series of movies. Back in his native Scotland, Connery is very active in politics and is a member of the Scottish Nationalist Party. He actively campaigns for Scottish independence from Britain and has stated that he believes Scotland will achieve that goal within his own lifetime. That seems less likely now, given the result of the 2014 Scottish referendum on independence.

23. Lute family member UKULELE
The ukulele (“uke”) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

24. Company that merged with Konica MINOLTA
Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras and related products. Minolta was founded in 1928 to make cameras using imported German technology. One of the company’s most memorable products was the world’s first integrated autofocus 35mm SLR camera. Minolta merged with Konica in 2003, forming Konica Minolta.

27. Gymnast Strug KERRI
Kerri Strug is that plucky little gymnast who made an outstanding final vault in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics despite having an injured ankle. I think we all remember her being carried off after her vault in the arms of the US team coach Bela Karolyi.

29. Collection areas SUMPS
A “sump” has been a “pit to collect water” since the middle of the 17th century. Prior to that, a sump was a marsh or a morass.

31. Firenze friends AMICI
Florence is the capital city of the Tuscany region in Italy. Something from or related to Florence is described as “Florentine”. The city is known as “Firenze” in Italian.

32. Typically 78-card deck TAROT
Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future. The list of tarot cards includes the Wheel of Fortune, the Hanged Man and the Lovers.

33. Exasperated cry OY VEY!
“Oy vey” is a Yiddish expression of dismay that literally translates as “oh, pain”. The more usual translation is “woe is me”.

39. Burmese gems JADEITES
Jade is actually the name given to two different mineral rocks, both of which are used to make gemstones. The first is nephrite, a mineral with a varying degree of iron content, the more iron the greener the color. The second is jadeite, a sodium and aluminum-rich pyroxene. As well as being used for gemstones, both jade minerals can be carved into decorative pieces.

50. Incredulous accusation 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.

52. Richie’s mom, to Fonzie MRS C
In the great sitcom “Happy Days”, the Fonz liked to address Richie Cunningham’s mother as “Mrs. C”. In turn, Mrs. Marion Cunningham addressed the Fonz as “Arthur”.

The fabulous sitcom “Happy Days” originally ran for 11 seasons, from 1974 to 1984. That makes it the second longest-running sitcom in the history of ABC (behind “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”). “Happy Days’ spawned several spin-off shows, two of which became very successful. Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams played two characters who later featured in “Laverne and Shirley”, and Robin Williams first played Mork from Ork on a “Happy Days” episode, which led to “Mork & Mindy”.

55. Téléphone greeting ALLO
The French use “Allo!” as a greeting when answering the phone. I used to watch a very entertaining British sitcom as a young man called “‘Allo ‘Allo!” that was about the resistance movement in WWII France.

57. Product of white Muscat grapes ASTI
Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.

The muscat grape is used to make wine, and is also grown for raisins and table grapes. Muscat is used a lot in Chilean table wines, and relatively rarely in Italian or Californian table wines. However, muscat is used extensively in fortified wines in all wine-growing regions of the world. The sweet dessert wine made from muscat in Spain is called muscatel.

60. “East of Eden” son CAL
John Steinbeck considered “East of Eden” his magnus opus. Most of the storyline takes place near Salinas, just south of where I live here in the Bay Area. Two of the characters in the story are brothers Cal and Aron, representative of the biblical Cain and Abel.

61. Galaxy download APP
The Galaxy is a series of mobile computing devices made by Samsung that was introduced in 2009.

62. Two before 53-Across TAU
(53A. Golden ratio symbol PHI)
Tau is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, the letter which gave rise to our Roman “T”. Both the letters tau (T) and chi (X) have long been symbolically associated with the cross.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Furniture support SOFA LEG
8. Hard-to-find hardware? SPY CAMS
15. Learned ERUDITE
16. Side trip guide AREA MAP
17. Remote setting MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
19. __-Pak subcontinent: Asian region INDO
20. Homework initials? DIY
21. Like some backup files ON CD
22. Top dog NUMERO UNO
27. Cutesy plea for affection KISS KISS
30. Eye site POTATO
34. Bird that will swim but not fly EMU
35. Pound, e.g. UNIT
36. Upset state DISMAY
37. Letters associated with z’s? REM
38. Tetanus symptom LOCKJAW
40. Former “NFL Today” sportscaster Cross IRV
41. Train for firefighting RAPPEL
43. 2014 Wales summit host NATO
44. Iowa campus COE
45. Refusal of hospitality, often INSULT
46. Thief’s target IDENTITY
48. Literary legionnaire BEAU GESTE
50. Salinger heroine ESME
53. Golden ratio symbol PHI
54. It may be crunched DATA
58. Spanish-style home decor TERRA-COTTA TILES
63. Treaty topic TEST BAN
64. Dress uniform adornment EPAULET
65. Reuse productively, as trash UPCYCLE
66. Dish from the Italian for “foam” SPUMONI

Down
1. Trailer leader SEMI
2. “Out __?” OR IN
3. Hunter with a distinctive laugh FUDD
4. Supplements ADD-ONS
5. Small in a small way LIL’
6. Juillet’s time ETE
7. Like the Spaceship Earth sphere GEODESIC
8. Panasonic subsidiary SANYO
9. Supporting PRO
10. “Dismal” tree in Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus” YEW
11. Partnership CAHOOTS
12. “You said it!” AMEN!
13. Standup comic Maron MARC
14. Earned a citation? SPED
18. 1995 film in which Sean Connery played King Arthur FIRST KNIGHT
23. Lute family member UKULELE
24. Company that merged with Konica MINOLTA
25. Screen alert subjects UPDATES
26. Firm denial NO I WON’T
27. Gymnast Strug KERRI
28. “Let me explain …” I MEAN …
29. Collection areas SUMPS
31. Firenze friends AMICI
32. Typically 78-card deck TAROT
33. Exasperated cry OY VEY!
39. Burmese gems JADEITES
42. Time for significant changes PUBERTY
47. Yawn inducer TEDIUM
49. Barely ahead UP ONE
50. Incredulous accusation ET TU
51. Flow slowly SEEP
52. Richie’s mom, to Fonzie MRS C
55. Téléphone greeting ALLO
56. Mock election voter TEEN
57. Product of white Muscat grapes ASTI
59. Easy as __ ABC
60. “East of Eden” son CAL
61. Galaxy download APP
62. Two before 53-Across TAU

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5 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 28 Nov 15, Saturday”

  1. Well I see I'm first actual "on subject" comment maker this morning – and I'm not even trying to sell you anything (or whatever the heck that comment is trying to do?) with some of the most incomprehensible English gibberish I've ever been privy to. What is Mr. Mim Akter saying?

    This was slow going for me. How Bill took only 12 minutes and change to get this grid is beyond my ken, but I did solve it…finally! One of my main problems was cause by putting in "socket" for 30 Across in answer to "Eye site." And of course that's not even addressing my use of "Number One" as the answer to the 22 Across clue of "Top Dog" and which had me going around and around in circles until finally hitting on "Numero Uno" which then let me see Sanyo for the answer to 8 Down.

    Hope you all have a lovely Saturday. I'll try to get back here on Sunday in a more timely fashion so we can see how the "Big Grid" works out tomorrow.

  2. Crosswords! Evil things. I sailed through Monday-Friday grids, but today brought me back down to earth. But I love puzzles that really challenge me even if I lose.

    I think I spent as much time on this puzzle as I did on Mon-Fri's combined and I still needed a few lookups to finish it. Part of my problem was not knowing how to spell OYVEY. I also had DUMPS instead of SUMPS which gave me KIDS KISS (??) which doesn't make any less sense than KISS KISS to me.

    @Tony
    Yes – that's the same spammer from yesterday. I've seen that type of language before. It's what you get when you plug a message in another language through a translation program. The results can be unintelligible….like these posts.

    The amazing thing is how with all of the power of today's technology, language of all things is way too complex for it still – particularly translating from one language to another. It's the most complex thing our brains do. Perhaps that is part of the appeal of crosswords in the first place?

    Best –

  3. Thanks, Bill. I had no idea what the golden ratio was. I'll have to reread your explanation…4 more times. ^0^ Not because of you, but me.
    I had the long answers, but threw in the towel in the entire middle. Tough puzzle.
    Wish "Mark Time" or "Time marker" would go away.
    With an avatar like that, who would even read his post?

  4. Pretty normal grid once you get a foothold. Getting the foothold was the hard part for me.

    And please don't let me see another turkey until next year. It's cold here in NoCal…

  5. Yay! DNF, but did really well, by my Saturday standards, and I feel ever so smug. Nice puzzle with only a coupla irritating fill-ins like KISSKISS and NUMERO UNO.
    Happy Sunday, y'all! 😀

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