LA Times Crossword Answers 22 Jun 16, Wednesday




LA Times Crossword Solution 22 Jun 16







Constructed by: Ellen Leuschner & Mary Lou Guizzo

Edited by: Rich Norris

Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers

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Theme: Whitecap

Today’s themed answers comprise two parts. Each of those parts can be CAPPED by (start with) the word WHITE:

  • 40D…Bit of ocean chop … or, literally, what each part of 3-, 8-, 10-, 34- and 38-Down can have..WHITECAP
  • 3D…Privy..OUTHOUSE (“whiteout” & “White House”)
  • 8D…Home builder’s purchase..WALLBOARD (“whitewall” & “whiteboard”)
  • 10D…Equine-like fish..SEAHORSE (“White Sea” & “Whitehorse”)
  • 34D…Award for excellence in the field..GOLD GLOVE (“white gold” & “white-glove”)
  • 38D…Fritos snack..CORN CHIP (“white corn” & “white chip”)

Bill’s time: 6m 46s

Bill’s errors: 0




Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies

Across

5…Barbecue side..SLAW

The term “coleslaw” is an Anglicized version of the Dutch name “koolsla”, which in itself is a shortened form of “Koolsalade” meaning “cabbage salad”.

9…Run-of-the-mill..USUAL

Something described as “run-of-the-mill” is unspectacular, quite normal. The idea is that the regular production from say a sawmill isn’t perfect, but does the job. Imperfections in the wood can be expected, but the milled wood should get the job done. Going back a few years, similar expressions were quite common, such as “run-of-the-kiln” and “run-of-the-mine”.

14…Track tipster..TOUT

A “tout” (mainly in the British Isles) is someone who checks out racehorses and sells information gained to people placing bets.

18…Autobahn auto..OPEL

Adam Opel founded his company in 1863, first making sewing machines in a cowshed. Commercial success brought new premises and a new product line in 1886, namely penny-farthing bicycles. Adam Opel died in 1895, leaving his two sons with a company that made more penny-farthings and sewing machines than any other company in the world. In 1899 the two sons partnered with a locksmith and started to make cars, but not very successfully. Two years later, the locksmith was dropped in favor of a licensing arrangement with a French car company. By 1914, Opel was the largest manufacturer of automobiles in Germany. My Dad had an Opel in the seventies, a station wagon (we’d say “estate car” in Ireland) called an Opel Kadett.

19…British peers..EARLS

In the ranking of nobles, an earl comes above a viscount and below a marquess. The rank of earl is used in the British peerage system and is equivalent to the rank of count in other countries. Other British ranks have female forms (e.g. marquess and marchioness, viscount and viscountess), but there isn’t a female word for the rank of earl. A female given the same rank as an earl is known as a countess.

24…Brownstone entrances..STOOPS

A stoop is a raised platform at the door of a house. “Stoop” came into American and Canadian English in the mid-1700s from the Dutch “stoep” meaning “flight of steps”.

26…Hebrew : Ben :: Arabic : __..IBN

In Arabic names, “ibn” is a word meaning “son of”. The words “bin” and “ben” are also used for “son of”. The word “bint” means “daughter of”. Similarly, in Hebrew “ben” is used to mean “son of”, and “bat” is used to mean “daughter of”.

27…”… that golden key / That __ the palace of eternity”: Milton..OPES

English poet John Milton wrote a masque entitled “Camus” for a Michaelmas celebration at before the newly appointed Lord President of Wales in 1634. Masques were aristocratic entertainments that included pantomime, dancing and song, and were performed by courtiers and professional actors. “Camus” is a work focused on virtue of chastity.

Yet some there be that by due steps aspire
To lay their just hands on that golden key
That opes the Palace of Eternity.

29…Alias in a landmark case..ROE

Roe v. Wade was decided in a US District Court in Texas in 1970, and reached the Supreme Court on appeal. The basic decision by the Supreme Court was that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy applied to an abortion, but that this right had to be balanced with a state’s interest in protecting an unborn child and a mother’s health. The Court further defined that the state’s interest became stronger with each trimester of a pregnancy. So, in the first trimester the woman’s right to privacy outweighed any state interest. In the second trimester the state’s interest in maternal health was deemed to be strong enough to allow state regulation of abortion for the sake of the mother. In the third trimester the viability of the fetus dictated that the state’s interest in the unborn child came into play, so states could regulate or prohibit abortions, except in cases where the mother’s life was in danger. I’m no lawyer, but that’s my understanding of the initial Supreme Court decision …

31…Unlikely replies from sycophants..NOS

A sycophant is a selfish person, one who flatters. The term comes from the Greek “sykophantes” which originally meant “one who shows the fig”. This phrase described a vulgar gesture made with the thumb and two fingers.

32…Get dolled (up)..TOG

The verb “tog”, meaning to dress up, comes from the Latin “toga”, the garment worn in Ancient Rome. “Tog” can be use as an informal word for a coat or a cloak. Back in Ireland, togs are what we call swimming shorts.

35…Atlantic and Pacific, in Monopoly: Abbr…AVES

The street names in the US version of Monopoly are locations in or around Atlantic City, New Jersey, e.g. Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Avenue.

44…Biological building block..DNA

I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the DNA of living things is so very similar across different species. Human DNA is almost exactly the same for every individual (to the degree of 99.9%). However, those small differences are sufficient to distinguish one individual from another, and to determine whether or not individuals are close family relations.

45…”Veep” network..HBO

“Veep” is a political satire sitcom on HBO that is a remake of the British show “The Thick of It”. “Veep” is set in the office of a fictional Vice President of the United States played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

46…Henry VIII’s sixth wife Catherine..PARR

Henry VIII was the English King with the most wives. Well, something rubbed off on his last wife, Catherine Parr. She was to become the English Queen with the most husbands! By the time she married Henry she had been widowed twice, and after Henry died she married once again, racking up four husbands in all.

49…Public health org…CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC started out life during WWII as the Office of National Defense Malaria Control Activities. The CDC worries about much more than malaria these days …

54…NYC airport..LGA

Fiorello La Guardia was the Mayor of New York from 1934 to 1945, racking up three full terms in office. The famous airport that bears La Guardia’s name was built at his urging, stemming from an incident that took place while he was in office. He was taking a TWA flight to “New York” and was outraged when the plane landed at Newark Airport, in the state of New Jersey. The Mayor demanded that the flight take off again and land at a small airport in Brooklyn. A gaggle of press reporters joined him on the short hop and he gave them a story, urging New Yorkers to support the construction of a new commercial airport within the city’s limits. The new airport, in Queens, opened in 1939 as New York Municipal, often called “LaGuardia” as a nickname. The airport was officially relabeled as “LaGuardia” (LGA) in 1947.

55…Brahms’ Opus 18, for one..SEXTET

Johannes Brahms was a leading German composer during the Romantic period. Brahms is one of the “Three Bs”, often grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven.

56…Messenger bags..SATCHELS

A satchel is a soft-sided bag, usually with a strap that is often worn diagonally across the body. When we were kids in Ireland, we’d carry our books to and from school in a backpack satchel. All schoolchildren had a satchel.

58…Bend at a barre..PLIE

The French word for “bent” is “plié”. In the ballet move known as a plié, the knees are bent.

A “barre” is a handrail used by ballet dancers for warm-up exercises and to provide support when practicing certain moves.

59…Nobelist Root..ELIHU

Elihu Root was an American statesman, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1912 for his diplomatic work that brought “nations together through arbitration and cooperation”. Root served as Secretary of State under President Theodore Roosevelt.

60…Kentucky border river..OHIO

The Ohio river marks the boundaries of five states:

  • Ohio and West Virginia
  • Ohio and Kentucky
  • Indiana and Kentucky
  • Illinois and Kentucky

62…Publisher Adolph..OCHS

Adolph Ochs was a former owner of “The New York Times”. Ochs had purchased a controlling interest in “The Chattanooga Times” when he was only 19 years of age, and took control of “The New York Times” in 1896 when he was 38 years old. It was Ochs who moved the paper’s headquarters to a new building on Longacre Square in Manhattan, which the city later renamed to the famous “Times Square” after the newspaper. The Ochs-Sulzberger family has owned the paper ever since.

65…Samurai without a master..RONIN

In feudal Japan, a samurai who lost his master, perhaps through death or loss of favor, was known as a ronin. The term “ronin” is also used in contemporary Japan for a salaried worker between jobs.

66…Nix..VETO

“Veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The word was used by tribunes of Ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.

The use of “nix” as a verb, meaning “to shoot down”, dates back to the early 1900s. Before that “nix” was just a noun meaning “nothing”. “Nix” comes from the German “nichts”, which also means “nothing”.

67…Wailuku’s island..MAUI

Wailuku was the main tourist destination on Maui in the early 20th century. It lies on the north coast of the island. Most people stay at resort towns now though and there are very few hotels in Wailuku. Wailuku is also the county seat of Maui County.

69…Endor villager..EWOK

The Ewoks are creatures who live on the moon of Endor, first appearing in “Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”. They’re the cute and cuddly little guys that look like teddy bears.

Down

2…Fisher-Price product..TOY

The toy company Fisher-Price was founded in 1930 by Herman Fisher and Irving Price, along with Margaret Evans Price and Helen Schelle. The company’s first toy was introduced the following year, a pull-along duck named Dr. Doodle.

3…Privy..OUTHOUSE (“whiteout” & “White House”)

The White House in Washington, DC was designed by an Irishman, I am proud to say. James Hoban from County Kilkenny emigrated to the US in his twenties, and won the design competition for the White House in 1792.

4…Ore. skiing destination..MT HOOD

Mount Hood is a volcanic peak in northern Oregon. Mount Hood is the highest peak in the state, and is located about 50 miles southeast of Portland. There are six ski areas on the mountain, including a resort called Timberline that has North America’s only lift operating year-round for skiing.

5…Crocs, e.g…SHOES

Crocs are foam clogs that were originally designed as shoes to be worn at health spas.

6…Guff..LIP

The word “guff” has been around since the late 1800s and means “empty talk”. The term comes from the sense of a “puff of air”.

9…Salt Lake City team..UTES

The Runnin’ Utes are the basketball team of the University of Utah. The team was given the nickname the Runnin’ Redskins back when Jack Gardner was the head coach from 1953 to 1971. The “Runnin'” part of the name was chosen because Gardner was famous for playing quick offenses. The “Redskins” name was later dropped in favor of the less controversial “Utes”.

10…Equine-like fish..SEAHORSE (“White Sea” & “Whitehorse”)

Seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus. The genus name comes from the Greek “hippo” meaning “horse” and “kampos” meaning “sea monster”. It’s the male seahorse who carries the fertilized eggs, and not the females. The region of the brain known as the hippocampus, is so called because it resembles a seahorse in shape.

The White Sea is an inlet of the Barents Sea in Russia. The major port of Archangel (“Archangelsk”) is located on the White Sea. There are four seas named for colors in English: the Yellow Sea, the Black Sea, the Red Sea and the White Sea.

Whitehorse is the capital city of Canada’s Yukon Territory. It sits at the head of the Yukon River and its location made it an important supply center during the Klondike Gold Rush.

24…Holiday song ender..SYNE

The song “Auld Lang Syne” is a staple at New Year’s Eve (well, actually in the opening minutes of New Year’s Day). The words were written by Scottish poet Robbie Burns. The literal translation of “Auld Lang Syne” is “old long since”, but is better translated as “old times”. The sentiment of the song is “for old time’s sake”.

33…Ancient source of prophecy..ORACLE

In Ancient Greece and Rome, an oracle was someone believed inspired by the gods to give wise counsel. The word “oracle” derives from the Latin “orare” meaning “to speak”, which is the same root for our word “orator”.

34…Award for excellence in the field..GOLD GLOVE (“white gold” & “white-glove”)

The Gold Glove is an annual award given by Major League Baseball to the player judged to be the best in each fielding position in a season. The award was instituted in 1957 by the baseball glove manufacturer Rawlings.

“White gold” is an alloy, made from gold and a white metal. Typically, that white metal is nickel, manganese or palladium.

Something described as “white-glove” is very meticulous, as in “white-glove service”. The term can also mean “meticulously clean, spotless”.

38…Fritos snack..CORN CHIP (“white corn” & “white chip”)

The Frito Corporation was started in 1932 by Elmer Doolin, basically in his mother’s kitchen. Doolin paid $100 for a corn chip recipe from a local restaurant and started producing Fritos at the rate of 10 pounds per day.

In the world of gambling, white chips traditionally have the lowest value. On the other hand, blue chips are the most expensive, giving us our figurative adjective “blue-chip”, as in a “blue-chip stock”.

47…Land of Arthurian legend..AVALON

Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legends. The name Avalon probably comes from the word “afal”, the Welsh word for “apple”, reflecting the fact that the island was noted for its beautiful apples. Avalon is where King Arthur’s famous sword (Excalibur) was forged, and supposedly where Arthur was buried.

48…Eye part with rods and cones..RETINA

The retina is the tissue that lines the inside of the eye, the tissue that is light-sensitive. There are (mainly) two types of cell in the retina that are sensitive to light, called rods and cones. Rods are cells that best function in very dim light and only provide black-and-white vision. Cones on the other hand function in brighter light and can perceive color.

50…Kidney-shaped nut..CASHEW

The cashew is the seed of the cashew tree. The pulp of the cashew tree’s fruit (the cashew apple) is also consumed, usually processed into a fruit drink or distilled as a liquor.

55…Hobgoblin..SPOOK

A hobgoblin is a mischievous spirit of folk lore. Perhaps the most famous character labeled as a hobgoblin is Puck in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

57…Followers of Attila..HUNS

The Huns were a nomadic people who originated in Eastern Europe in the 4th century. Under the command of Attila the Hun they developed a unified empire that stretched from modern-day Germany across to the steppes of Central Asia. The whole of the Hunnic Empire collapsed within a year of Attila’s death in 453 AD.

61…Skater Midori..ITO

Midori Ito is a Japanese figure skater. Ito was the first woman to land a triple/triple jump and a triple axel in competition. In fact she landed her first triple jump in training when she was only 8 years old!

64…Incite to go after, with “on”..SIC

“Sic ’em” is an attack order given to a dog, instructing the animal to growl, bark or even bite. The term dates back to the 1830s, with “sic” being a variation of “seek”.

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Complete List of Clues and Answers

Across

1…Physics building block..ATOM

5…Barbecue side..SLAW

9…Run-of-the-mill..USUAL

14…Track tipster..TOUT

15…”How’s it goin’?”..HIYA

16…Grammar topic..TENSE

17…Folk story..MYTH

18…Autobahn auto..OPEL

19…British peers..EARLS

20…It may be coiled in the grass..HOSE

22…Frozen drinks..SLUSHIES

24…Brownstone entrances..STOOPS

26…Hebrew : Ben :: Arabic : __..IBN

27…”… that golden key / That __ the palace of eternity”: Milton..OPES

28…”For real?”..YOU DO?

29…Alias in a landmark case..ROE

30…Auctioned wheels..REPO

31…Unlikely replies from sycophants..NOS

32…Get dolled (up)..TOG

35…Atlantic and Pacific, in Monopoly: Abbr…AVES

37…Prefix with magnetic..ELECTRO-

39…Subscriber’s order..RENEWAL

43…Like some coffee tables..OVAL

44…Biological building block..DNA

45…”Veep” network..HBO

46…Henry VIII’s sixth wife Catherine..PARR

49…Public health org…CDC

51…Sends..MAILS

53…Chef’s chamber..OVEN

54…NYC airport..LGA

55…Brahms’ Opus 18, for one..SEXTET

56…Messenger bags..SATCHELS

58…Bend at a barre..PLIE

59…Nobelist Root..ELIHU

60…Kentucky border river..OHIO

62…Publisher Adolph..OCHS

65…Samurai without a master..RONIN

66…Nix..VETO

67…Wailuku’s island..MAUI

68…Speaks harshly..SNAPS

69…Endor villager..EWOK

70…Design detail, for short..SPEC

Down

1…All-hrs. cash source..ATM

2…Fisher-Price product..TOY

3…Privy..OUTHOUSE (“whiteout” & “White House”)

4…Ore. skiing destination..MT HOOD

5…Crocs, e.g…SHOES

6…Guff..LIP

7…”Yes, cap’n!”..AYE, SIR!

8…Home builder’s purchase..WALLBOARD (“whitewall” & “whiteboard”)

9…Salt Lake City team..UTES

10…Equine-like fish..SEAHORSE (“White Sea” & “Whitehorse”)

11…Not ready for harvesting..UNRIPE

12…Catching some z’s..ASLEEP

13…To a smaller degree..LESS SO

21…Commercials on the tube, in adspeak..SPOT TV

23…In need of leveling..UNEVEN

24…Holiday song ender..SYNE

25…Level, e.g…TOOL

33…Ancient source of prophecy..ORACLE

34…Award for excellence in the field..GOLD GLOVE (“white gold” & “white-glove”)

36…Nail polish..ENAMEL

38…Fritos snack..CORN CHIP (“white corn” & “white chip”)

40…Bit of ocean chop … or, literally, what each part of 3-, 8-, 10-, 34- and 38-Down can have..WHITECAP

41…Up to it..ABLE

42…Too far off the trail..LOST

46…Tough questions..POSERS

47…Land of Arthurian legend..AVALON

48…Eye part with rods and cones..RETINA

50…Kidney-shaped nut..CASHEW

52…Geometry rules..AXIOMS

55…Hobgoblin..SPOOK

57…Followers of Attila..HUNS

61…Skater Midori..ITO

63…Palette shade..HUE

64…Incite to go after, with “on”..SIC




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6 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 22 Jun 16, Wednesday”

  1. LAT: 20:13 (computer), 2 letters off. Pretty typical Wednesday in general.
    WSJ: DNF. Just too much on the left that I didn’t know.

    @Carrie
    I think I figured out what I’ve been doing, today. We’ll see whether it makes things better or not next week.

  2. IMHO a very good Wednesday puzzle. My time approached my normal Thursday time so (for Carrie) I’ll call this another tweener puzzle. Surprisingly tricky considering the cluing was pretty straightforward – i.e. not many puns or misdirections.

    It’s amazing how enourmous Russia is. The White Sea isn’t far from St. Petersburg. The distance from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok is longer than that of St. Petersburg to Montreal, Canada.

    Lots of interesting and new stuff in the blog. I never knew “privy” was another word for OUTHOUSE. I started to do the math on these write ups. I don’t know when in 2009 Bill started these, but assuming it was roughly mid-year as it is now, he’s written up over 5100 of these posts between the LAT and NYT. So Bill – a belated congratulation/thanks on your 5000th write up – even though I guess it happened sometime a few months ago.

    Just for fun I counted today’s entries (45) and used it as an average. That makes over a quarter of a MILLION separate entries over the last 7 years. I don’t care about cut and pastes, that’s a LOT of entries.

    Apparently I’ll do anything to keep myself from getting back to work. Bill – if these totals don’t make you trash this blog, nothing will.

    Best –

  3. The LAT’s grid went really quick, at least by my usual “pokey” solve speed. The only bobble was at first putting in “septet” for 55 Across before I saw that it needed to be “sextet” and that was that.

    I had to think and rethink about the NW corner of the WSJ. Finally I had an epiphany about 1 Down and Across which made that final corner come together. And I was so close to giving up and going to the WEB to find the answers. Perseverance pays off every once in awhile!

    Have a great Hump Day all.

  4. Well, since it’s 113º in the shade right now, I could use a SLUSHIE, or MAUI, or Mt. HOOD, or anything cooler than this.

    Decent grid, just a shade over :10. I agree with Jeff that there were some newer entries that broke up the usual dreck, so nicely done to this team of constructors.

  5. I had a very nice time with this puzzle – hence I enjoyed it very much. And lots of fun to read Bill’s entries. Thank you Bill, I wish I could have helped with some of the drudgery. Thats an awful lot of entires … and a true labor of love.

    Regarding ‘privy’ …. I don’t know if I should mention such a sensitive subject …. but in ten days we are going to be visiting some relatives in a mountain state and they live deep in the woods, where they have a septic tank. The lady-of-the-house just emailed me this morning that because of the above, they would like to warn us that ‘used’ toilet paper is not to be flushed down, but apparently there is an alternate form of disposal…

    I had sonnet before sextet.
    Henry the 8th had 6 wives …. divorced, beheaded, died & divorced, beheaded, survived. Antonia Fraser, a brilliant and engaging British history author taught me that. Do, do, do, read her books especially the mistresses of Louis the 14th. ( BTW, he was very nice to them and treated them like queens.)

    One of my friends suffers from chronic eosinophilia – which is very high
    white blood cells, ( only eosinophils !) but it is not leukemia (!). The CDC apparently did not have any samples for their records, so they offered him $200 for a pint of his blood. It is somewhat common in the tropics, but is very rare in the US. Generally, it is some form of autoimmune allergy and causes some form of asthma, which can be properly treated.

    Have a nice day, all.

  6. Solid puzzle, and well done. Yes, a bit of a tweener….?
    I agree: not too much PUN-ishment, except for “award for someone outstanding in the field,” for which I had GOLD MEDAL, then GOLD GLOBE (!) before it clicked.
    @Glenn — interesting! Keep us posted!
    I’ll say a word about purses in the hopes nobody hangs up on me: a messenger bag is NOT a satchel! Bill’s description for SATCHEL is right, but a messenger bag is more structured (like a laptop case but bigger.) These have a special name: they are called MESSENGER BAGS.
    Anyhoo —
    Night Watch signing off–
    Be well~~?

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