LA Times Crossword Answers 21 Nov 12, Wednesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
14. Org. concerned with privacy laws ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has its roots in the First World War when it was founded to provide legal advice and support to conscientious objectors.

15. Pasta product suffix -A-RONI
Rice-a-Roni was introduced in 1958 by the Golden Grain Macaroni Company of San Francisco. The company was run by an Italian immigrant and his four sons. The wife of one of the sons served a pilaf dish at a family diner that was a big hit, so her brother-in-law created a commercial version by blending dry chicken soup mix with rice and macaroni. Sounds like “a San Francisco treat” to me …

19. H-hour relative D-DAY
The most famous D-Day in history was June 6, 1944, the date of the Normandy landings in WWII. The term “D-Day” is used by the military to designate the day on which a combat operations are to be launched, especially when the actual date has yet to be determined. What D stands for seems to have been lost in the mists of time although the tradition is that D just stands for “Day”. In fact, the French have a similar term, “Jour J” (Day J), with a similar meaning. We also use H-Hour to denote the hour the attack is to commence.

20. Cartoon quitting-time shout YABBA DAB(BA D)OO!
“Yabba dabba doo!” is one of Fred Flintstone’s catchphrases.

I once had the privilege of spending an afternoon in the room (Bill Hanna’s den) where Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera came up with the idea of “The Flintstones” …

27. “__ Misérables” LES
The 1980 musical “Les Misérables” is an adaptation of the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The show opened in London in 1985, and is the longest running musical in the history of London’s West End. My wife and I saw “Les Miz” in the Queen’s Theatre in London quite a few years ago, but were only able to get tickets in the very back row. The theater seating is very steep, so the back row of the balcony is extremely high over the stage. One of the big events in the storyline is the building of a street barricade over which the rebels fight. At the height we were seated we could see the stagehands behind the barricade, sitting drinking Coke, even smoking cigarettes. On cue, the stagehands would get up and catch a dropped rifle, or an actor that had been shot. It was pretty comical. I didn’t really enjoy the show that much, to be honest. Some great songs, but the musical version of the storyline just didn’t seem to hang together for me.

30. J. Geils Band record label EMI
EMI is a British music company, with the acronym originally standing for Electric and Musical Industries.

The J. Geils Band is a rock group from Worcester, Massachusetts founded in 1967. After a few quiet years, the J. Geils Band is still going today.

35. Fins wearer SCU(BA D)IVER
The SCUBA tank was of course invented by the underwater adventurer Jacques Cousteau.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau started off his career in the French Navy, aiming for a working life in aviation. Because of a car accident, Cousteau had to abandon his first career choice and instead went to sea. Famously, he invented the Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA), also called the aqualung.

38. Three-time A.L. batting champ Tony OLIVA
Tony Oliva is a former Major League baseball player who played his whole career for the Minnesota Twins.

41. Cardiologist’s insertion STENT
In the world of medicine and surgery, a stent is an artificial tube inserted inside a vessel in the body, say an artery, so that it reduces the effects of a local restriction in the body’s conduit.

45. Soup can painter Warhol ANDY
Andy Warhol went through a period of painting iconic American products, including Coca-Cola bottles and Campbell’s tomato soup cans. In 1964 he participated in a gallery show called “The American Supermarket”. Along with other pop artists he contributed works including a painting of a can of Campbell’s tomato soup. He priced the painting at $1,500, and sold autographed cans of soup for $6 a piece.

46. Schubert’s “The __ King” ERL
“Der Erlkönig” (“The Erl King”) is a poem by the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The poem tells of the death of child attacked by the Erl King, a supernatural being. The Austrian composer Franz Schubert made a musical adaptation of Goethe’s poem, using the same title.

47. Gaming cube DIE
As we all know, the numbers 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. Now, 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 …

48. Four-song discs, briefly EPS
An extended play record (EP) contains more music than a single, but less than an LP.

50. Sound system STEREO
Monophonic sound (“mono”) is sound reproduced using just one audio channel, which is usually played out of just one speaker. Stereophonic sound is reproduced using two audio channels, with the sound from each channel played out of two different speakers. The pair of stereo speakers are usually positioned apart from each other so that sound appears to come from between the two. Quadraphonic sound (4.0 surround sound) uses four audio channels with the sound played back through four speakers often positioned at the corners of the room in which one is listening.

52. Venetian marketplace RIALTO
The Rialto is the financial and commercial center of Venice, and has been so for centuries. One of the most famous features of the area is the Rialto Bridge that spans the Grand Canal.

61. Word from the flock AMEN
The word “amen” is translated as “so be it”. “Amen” is said to be of Hebrew origin, but it is likely to be also influenced by Aramaic and Arabic.

63. “Today” anchor Hill ERICA
Erica Hill was the co-anchor of “CBS This Morning”, and before that she was co-anchor of CBS’s “The Early Show”. Hill recently moved to NBC News and now co-hosts the weekend edition of “Today”.

65. Barber’s nape sprinkle TALC
Talc is a mineral, actually hydrated magnesium silicate. Talcum powder is composed of loose talc, although these days “baby powder” can also be cornstarch.

69. “__ Dream”: “Lohengrin” aria ELSA’S
“Lohengrin” is a very popular opera by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. Many arias from “Lohengrin” are staples on “Opera’s Greatest Hits” collections.

We’ve often heard the “Bridal Chorus” from Richard Wagner’s opera “Lohengrin”. It’s the tune to “Here comes the bride …” played regularly at the start of wedding ceremonies as the bride walks down the aisle. In the opera the “Bridal Chorus” is sung not at the start of the ceremony but afterwards, by the women of the wedding party as they accompany Elsa to the bridal chamber.

Down
5. Table tennis tools PADDLES
Ping-pong is called table tennis in the UK, where the sport originated in the 1880s. Table tennis started off as an after-dinner activity among the elite, and was called “wiff-waff”. To play, books were stacked in the center of a table as a “net”, two more books served as “”rackets”, and the ball used was actually a golf ball. The game evolved over time with the rackets being upgraded to the lids of cigar boxes and the ball becoming a champagne cork (how snooty is that?). Eventually the game was produced commercially, and the sound of the ball hitting the racket was deemed to be a “ping” and a “pong”, giving the sport its alternative name.

9. “My Way” singer SINATRA
Frank Sinatra was the only child of Italian immigrants living in Hoboken, New Jersey. Like so many of our heroes, Sinatra had a rough upbringing. His mother was arrested several times and convicted of running an illegal abortion business in the family home. Sinatra never finished high school, being expelled for rowdy conduct, and he was arrested on a morals charge as a youth for carrying on with a married woman, which was an offence back then. But he straightened himself out by the time he was twenty, and started singing professionally.

10. Dramatic no-show GODOT
An Irishman I may be, but I have sat through so many Samuel Beckett plays (the Irish dramatist) and I have yet to come away feeling satisfied that I spent my time well. Of course I am in the minority, as his play “Waiting for Godot” was once voted the most significant English language plays of the 20th century. Maybe I will try again one day …

11. Roulette bet choice ODD OR EVEN
The name “roulette” means “little wheel” in French, and the game as we know it today did in fact originate in Paris, in 1796.

12. 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”.

31. Pitney’s partner BOWES
Pitney Bowes is an American company business services company specializing in mailing, packaging and shipping. Arthur Pitney founded a company in 1912 that produced postage stamping machines. Walter Bowes founded a company in 1908 that made machines that cancelled postage. In 1920 the two companies merged and formed the Pitney Bowes Meter Company. My Dad worked for Pitney Bowes in Ireland many moons ago …

34. Señora Perón EVA
Nowadays, President Juan Perón of Argentina is perhaps less well-known than his second wife, Eva Perón of “Evita” fame. Juan and Eva Perón were overthrown in a military coup in 1955, although Juan Perón was returned to power in 1973 when he served for only nine months before he passed away. Juan was succeeded in office by his third wife, Isabel Perón.

36. Hawaiian strings UKE
The ukulele originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

49. [Not my typo] SIC
“Sic” indicates that a quotation is written as originally found, perhaps including a typo. “Sic” is Latin for “thus, like this”.

51. Italian alternative RANCH
Ranch dressing has been the best selling salad dressing in the country since 1992. The recipe was developed in Alaska by Steve Henson, who introduced it in the fifties to the guests on his dude ranch, Hidden Valley Ranch in Northern California. His ranch dressing was so popular he opened a factory to produce packets of ranch seasoning that could be mixed with mayonnaise and buttermilk. Henson sold the brand for $8 million in 1972.

53. Mr. T’s group A-TEAM
“The A-Team” is an action television series that originally ran in the eighties. The A-Team was a group of ex-US special forces personnel who became mercenaries. Star of the show was Hollywood actor George Peppard, ably assisted by Mr. T and Robert Vaughan.

Mr. T’s real name is Laurence Tureaud. Mr. T is famous for many things, including the wearing of excessive amounts of jewelry. He started this habit when he was working as a bouncer, wearing jewelry items that had been left behind by customers at a nightclub so that the items might be recognized and claimed. It was also as a bouncer that he adopted the name Mr. T. His catch phrase comes from the movie “Rocky III”. In the film, before he goes up against Rocky Balboa, Mr. T says, “No, I don’t hate Balboa, but I pity the fool”. He parlayed that line into quite a bit of success. He had a reality TV show called “I Pity the Fool”, and produced a motivational video called “Be Somebody … or Be Somebody’s Fool!”.

54. Jungle vine LIANA
Liana is the name give to vines that generally grow in moist areas such as rain forests. They grow using the trees in the forest as structural support. My bet is that Tarzan swung from tree to tree on liana vines …

55. Basis of civil lawsuits TORTS
The word “tort” is a French word meaning “mischief, injury or wrong”. Tort law is generally about negligence, when the action of one party causes injury to another but that action falls outside of the scope of criminal law.

59. Lofgren of the E Street Band NILS
The musician Nils Lofgren was a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band for over 25 years.

The E Street Band is the backing group for Bruce Springsteen. The band came together in 1972 but didn’t take a formal name until two years later. The keyboard player in the original line up was David Sancious, and his mother allowed the group to rehearse at her home. That home was on E Street in Belmar, New Jersey, and that’s where the band got their name.

60. March Madness org. NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) dates back to the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. When his son broke his nose playing football at Harvard, President Roosevelt turned his attention to the number of serious injuries and even deaths occurring in college sports. He instigated meetings between the major educational institutions leading to the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) in 1906, which was given the remit of regulating college sports. The IAAUS became the NCAA in 1910.

March Madness is the name given to (among others) the NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Championship, held in spring each year.

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Unit price word EACH
5. Gets ready to travel PACKS
10. Game where 3-Down are used GOLF
14. Org. concerned with privacy laws ACLU
15. Pasta product suffix -A-RONI
16. Aroma ODOR
17. Ticket remnant STUB
18. Speed __ DEMON
19. H-hour relative D-DAY
20. Cartoon quitting-time shout YABBA DAB(BA D)OO!
23. Lay into ASSAIL
24. Group of four TETRAD
27. “__ Misérables” LES
29. “Odds __ …” ARE
30. J. Geils Band record label EMI
31. Swaddling clothes wearer BABE
35. Fins wearer SCU(BA D)IVER
38. Three-time A.L. batting champ Tony OLIVA
40. Letters before a pen name AKA
41. Cardiologist’s insertion STENT
42. Bookmarked link, say WE(B AD)DRESS
45. Soup can painter Warhol ANDY
46. Schubert’s “The __ King” ERL
47. Gaming cube DIE
48. Four-song discs, briefly EPS
50. Sound system STEREO
52. Venetian marketplace RIALTO
57. Phone line difficulty … and what literally appears four times in 20-, 35- and 42-Across BAD CONNECTION
61. Word from the flock AMEN
63. “Today” anchor Hill ERICA
64. Good listeners EARS
65. Barber’s nape sprinkle TALC
66. Starter course SALAD
67. Stake in a pot ANTE
68. It’s not a true story MYTH
69. “__ Dream”: “Lohengrin” aria ELSA’S
70. Harbor skyline feature MAST

Down
1. Class that requires little effort EASY A
2. Play the role of ACT AS
3. Certain pro’s selections CLUBS
4. When repeated, an enthusiastic shout HUBBA
5. Table tennis tools PADDLES
6. Field AREA
7. Brush partner COMB
8. Gearshift topper KNOB
9. “My Way” singer SINATRA
10. Dramatic no-show GODOT
11. Roulette bet choice ODD OR EVEN
12. Mauna __ LOA
13. Cook in oil FRY
21. Be unwell AIL
22. Good ones don’t go unpunished, so they say DEEDS
25. Change for the better AMEND
26. Below the belt DIRTY
28. “Eek!” inducer SCARE
29. Take down a peg ABASE
31. Pitney’s partner BOWES
32. Colorful warning, often ALERT
33. Evangelical hot spot BIBLE BELT
34. Señora Perón EVA
36. Hawaiian strings UKE
37. “Make __ good one!” IT A
39. Put two and two together ADDED
43. Bishop’s jurisdiction DIOCESE
44. Goes viral, say SPREADS
49. [Not my typo] SIC
51. Italian alternative RANCH
53. Mr. T’s group A-TEAM
54. Jungle vine LIANA
55. Basis of civil lawsuits TORTS
56. First sign ONSET
58. Like much family history ORAL
59. Lofgren of the E Street Band NILS
60. March Madness org. NCAA
61. Brief bread source? ATM
62. Possibly will MAY

Return to top of page