LA Times Crossword Answers 4 Nov 12, Sunday

CROSSWORD SETTER: Robin Stears
THEME: All Fired Up …today’s theme answers are made up two words, each of which can follow the word “fire”:

23A. Extra-strength panic button? POWER ALARM (fire power & fire alarm)
29A. “No hitting below the belt” et al.? FIGHTER CODE (firefighter & fire code)
49A. Saltine special? CRACKER SALE (firecracker & fire sale)
71A. Subdivision at the mannequin factory? ARM DEPARTMENT (firearm & fire department)
95A. First critters on a farm? STARTER ANTS (fire starter & fire ants)
113A. Legion of ventriloquist dummies? WOOD BRIGADE (firewood & fire brigade)
124A. Sharon’s home? STONE PLACE (firestone & fireplace)
43D. Hard-to-read preliminary print? LIGHT PROOF (firelight & fireproof)
48D. Head judge on “Top Chef”? CHIEF EATER (fire chief & fire eater)

COMPLETION TIME: 25m 23s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. Crocodile’s greeting? G’DAY
“G’day” is a greeting in Australia, where you can find crocodiles.

22. Host at a communion WAFER
The Communion rite is the part of the Mass in the Roman Catholic tradition. The rite involves distribution of the Communion bread (the host, a wafer) to the faithful.

25. Lukas of “Witness” HAAS
Lukas Haas is an American actor best known for the role he played as an 8-year-old child in the excellent 1985 film “Witness”. In “Witness” Haas played a young Amish boy, alongside Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. Although Haas still acts today, he is also a musician and plays drums and piano for a band called The Rogues.

26. Photographer Adams ANSEL
As an amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. Adams was famous for clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed primarily for black & white film, it can even apply to digital color images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final photograph with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

27. Kevin’s “Footloose” role REN
Ren McCormack is the main character in the 1984 movie “Footloose”, a character played of course by Kevin Bacon.

The 1984 musical drama “Footloose” tells the story of a Chicago teen (played by Kevin Bacon) who moves to a small town in which dancing and rock music has been banned. The storyline is loosely based on real events in the Oklahoma City of Elmore. Dancing was banned in Elmore for almost 100 years, with the ban eventually being lifted in 1980.

31. St. Clare’s town ASSISI
Clare of Assisi was one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. Clare was the founder of the Order of Poor Ladies. The order still exists today and is known as “the Poor Clares” in her honor.

35. “Silent Spring” subj. DDT
DDT is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (don’t forget now!). DDT was used with great success to control disease-carrying insects during WWII, and when made available for use after the war it became by far the most popular pesticide. And then Rachel Carson published her famous book “Silent Spring”, suggesting there was a link between DDT and diminishing populations of certain wildlife. It was the public outcry sparked by the book, and reports of links between DDT and cancer, that led to the ban on the use of the chemical in 1972. That ban is touted as the main reason that the bald eagle was rescued from near extinction.

46. Acronymic candy company NECCO
Necco Wafers are the best known product line of the candy manufacturer called the New England Confectionery Company. The firm’s name is abbreviated to NECCO, an acronym that became synonymous with the wafers.

52. Grammar best-seller “Woe __” IS I
Patricia O’Connor has written five books about the English language, including “Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English”. What a great subject for a book! I need to buy it for my kids (and probably should take a peek myself) …

53. Filmmaker who alternates top billing with his brother ETHAN COEN
I think it’s great to see two brothers working together and being so successful. Joel and Ethan Coen are two movie producers and directors who both live in New York City. The Coen brothers do love the movie-making business and they even married industry “insiders”. Ethan’s wife is film editor Tricia Cooke, and Joel is married to one of my favorite actresses, the lovely Frances McDormand.

55. SeaWorld barker SEAL
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.

59. Savory gelatin ASPIC
“Aspic” is a French word for “jelly”.

61. Tap type SOFT-SHOE
“Soft-shoe” is a type of tap-dancing in which one wears shoes without metal taps on the heels and toes. Makes sense …

63. Schumann songs LIEDER
If you ever get the chance to see it, I highly recommend the 1947 movie “Song of Love”, a biopic about the lives of Robert Schumann and his extraordinary wife, Clara Wieck. Schumann is played by Paul Henreid (of “Casablanca” fame) and Clara is played wonderfully by Katharine Hepburn. Clara was a concert pianist and as Katherine Hepburn was an accomplished pianist, in the movie you see Hepburn actually playing some challenging pieces herself at the keyboard (although the soundtrack does feature a professional player).

65. “Magic Hour” author Susan ISAACS
Susan Isaacs is a novelist from Brooklyn, New York. Isaacs has written a string of bestsellers including “Compromising Positions”, a book that she adapted into the screenplay for a 1985 movie of the same name starring Susan Sarandon and Raul Julia.

74. La Jolla winter hrs. PST
The name of the city of La Jolla is often said to be a corruption of the Spanish “La Joya” meaning “the jewel”, giving rise to the city’s nickname “Jewel City”.Scholars dispute this etymology, but it makes for good marketing.

79. World’s largest desert SAHARA
The name “Sahara” means “greatest desert” in Arabic, and it is just that, a great desert covering almost 4 million square miles of Northern Africa. That’s almost the size of the United States.

85. “Fiddler” meddler YENTE
Yenta (also “Yente”) is actually a female Yiddish name. In Yiddish theater “yenta” came to mean a busybody.

The enduring musical “Fiddler on the Roof” is based on a collection of stories by Sholem Aleichem about Tevye, a milkman in Tsarist Russia. The musical version of the tales first opened on Broadway in 1964. “Fiddler on the Roof” had such a long run that it became the first musical to reach 3,000 performances.

89. Yom Kippur War prime minister MEIR
Golda Meir was known as the “Iron Lady” when she was Prime Minister of Israel, long before the term came to be associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Golda Meir was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev (in modern-day Ukraine), and when she was a young girl she moved with her family to the United States and settled in Milwaukee. As a teenager she relocated to Denver where she met and married Morris Meyerson, at the age of 19. She and her husband joined a kibbutz in Palestine in 1921, when she was in her twenties. Meir had been active in politics in the US, and continued her political work in Palestine. She was very influential during WWII, and played a leading role in negotiations after the war leading to the setting up of the state of Israel. By the time she was called on to lead the country, Meir had already retired, citing exhaustion and ill health. But serve she did, and led Israel during turbulent times (e.g. the massacre at the Munich Olympics, and the Yom Kippur War). She eventually resigned in 1974, saying that was what the people wanted.

The Yom Kippur War started on October 6 in 1973 with a surprise move by Syria and Egypt into the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. The conflict quickly escalated into a confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union, as both superpowers rushed arms to the opposing states. Within a week, Israeli forces had regained the land that had been lost and two weeks later had advanced within striking range of both Cairo and Damascus. A UN brokered ceasefire brought the war to an end on October 25, after just 19 days of fighting.

94. “You __ My Sunshine” ARE
“You Are My Sunshine” is a song that was written back in 1933. It was first recorded in 1939, by the Pine Ridge Boys.

99. Upholstery jobs SOFAS
“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

100. Curiosity destination MARS
NASA’s Curiosity rover is the fourth in a series of unmanned surface rovers that NASA has sent to Mars. Previous rovers are the Sojourner rover (1997), Spirit rover (2004-2010) and Opportunity rover (2004-present). Curiosity rover was launched in November of 2011, and landed on Mars in August 2012 after having travelled 350 million miles. After that long journey, Curiosity landed just 1½ miles from its target touchdown spot.

102. Notable 1968 groom ONASSIS
Aristotle Onassis was born to a successful Greek shipping entrepreneur in Smyrna in modern-day Turkey. However, his family lost its fortune during WWI and so Aristotle worked with his father and built up a new business empire centered on the importation of tobacco. In 1957 Aristotle founded the Greek national airline, what is today called Olympic Air, and he also got into the business of shipping oil around the world. He married Athina Livanos in 1946, the daughter of a wealthy shipping magnate. They had two children, including the famous Christina Onassis. Livanos divorced Onassis on discovering him in bed with the opera singer Maria Callas. Onassis ended his affair with Callas in order to marry Jackie Kennedy in 1968.

105. Time’s 2006 Person of the Year YOU
“Time” magazine chose “You” as Person of the Year in 2006. The award was given to recognize the millions of people who provide helpful Internet content, on sites such as Wikipedia and YouTube.

107. Joint at the corner MITER
A miter saw is used to make precise crosscuts in a piece of wood, and to make miter cuts in particular. Back in the day, a piece of wood would be put in a miter box which guided the miter saw so that usually a precise 45-degree angle was cut.

118. Texas attraction ALAMO
The famous Alamo in San Antonio, Texas was originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero. The mission was founded in 1718 and was the first mission established in the city. The Battle of the Alamo took place in 1836, a thirteen-day siege by the Mexican Army led by President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Only two people defending the Alamo Mission survived the onslaught. One month later, the Texian army got its revenge by attacking and defeating the Mexican Army in the Battle of San Jacinto. During the surprise attack on Santa Anna’s camp, many of the Texian soldiers were heard to cry “Remember the Alamo!”.

121. __ kwon do TAE
Taekwondo is the national sport of Korea. “Tae” means “to strike or break with foot”; “kwon” means “to strike or break with fist”; “do” means “way” or “art”. Along with judo, taekwondo is one of only two martial arts included in the Olympic Games.

122. Product suffix suggesting noodles -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 …

123. Theater level LOGE
In most theaters today, the loge is the name given to the front rows of a mezzanine level. Loge can also be the name given to box seating.

124. Sharon’s home? STONE PLACE (firestone & fireplace)
Actress Sharon Stone’s big success came with her appearance in the erotic thriller “Basic Instinct” released in 1992. Stone really hasn’t landed huge roles in big movies since then, other than the role of Ginger in “Casino”, for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. Personally I enjoyed her performance in 1994’s “The Specialist”, an entertaining action film in which she played opposite Sylvester Stallone and James Woods.

126. Zellweger of “Chicago” RENEE
Renée Zellweger’s big break came in the 1996 movie “Jerry Maguire”. A few years later she followed that up with a string of successes in “Bridget Jones Diary” (2001), “Chicago” (2002) and “Cold Mountain” (2003). My wife and I love watching her play Bridget Jones, and as someone coming from the British Isles I have to say she does a remarkable job with the accent. She worked hard to perfect that accent, and of course she had a voice coach. She also went “undercover” and worked as a temp in an office for three weeks fine-tuning her skills.

127. The Auld Sod ERIN
‘Tis true, so it is …

132. Silk Road locale ASIA
The Silk Road was a network of trading routes that crossed North Africa and Asia, connecting Europe to West Asia. The routes get the name from the lucrative trade in silk from China.

133. “NYPD Blue” actor SMITS
Jimmy Smits’ most noted acting roles were probably Victor Sifuentes on “L.A. Law” and President Matt Santos on “The West Wing”. Smits is very fond of playing jai alai in a local league in his hometown of Los Angeles.

Down
1. “Lost Horizon” director CAPRA
I can’t tell you how many of Frank Capra’s movies are on my list of all-time favorites. He directed such classics as “It Happened One Night”, “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town”, “Lost Horizon”, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, “Meet John Doe”, “Arsenic and Old Lace” and the holiday favorite “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Capra also did his bit during WWII, enlisting just a few days after Pearl Harbor was attacked. Given his great talent, and the fact that he enlisted at the relatively advanced age of 44, the US Army put him to work directing 11 documentary war films in the “Why We Fight” series, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

2. Bright-toned winds 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”. Oh, and if you want to read a fun book (almost an “exposé”) about life playing the oboe, you might try “Mozart in the Jungle” by oboist Blair Tindall. I heard recently that the folks at HBO are working towards a pilot based on the book, and I can’t wait to see it!

3. Little men PAWNS
It is believed that the game of chess originated in northwest India, evolving from a 6th-century game called “chaturanga”, a Sanskrit word meaning “four divisions”. These four (military) divisions were represented in the game:

– Infantry (now “pawns”)
– Cavalry (now “knights”)
– Elephants (now “bishops”)
– Chariots (now “rooks”)

4. When Nancy bakes? ETE
One might spend the summer (été) under the sun (le soleil) in France.

Nancy is a city in the northeast of France.

10. Paris was too much for him ACHILLES
In Greek legend, Paris was the son of the king of Troy. Paris eloped with Helen, the Queen of Sparta, and this act was a major trigger for the Trojan War. Also it was Paris who fatally wounded Achilles by shooting him in the heel with an arrow.

14. Cy Young, e.g. AWARD
Cy Young was a pitcher in the major leagues from 1890-1911. Young is remembered for pitching the first perfect game of baseball’s modern era. Soon after he died in 1955, the Cy Young Award was created and is presented to the best pitcher in each baseball season.

15. Safe places SANCTA
“Sancta” is the plural of “sanctum”, a private place where one can hide away without fear of intrusion. I love my sanctum …

18. Della’s creator ERLE
Della Street was Perry Mason’s very capable secretary in the Erle Stanley Gardner novels. Della was played in the TV show by the lovely Barbara Hale.

29. Columbo portrayer FALK
“Columbo” is a police drama that aired from 1971-78, with some more episodes made as recently as 2003. Columbo was of course played by Peter Falk, although the character of Columbo was first played by Bert Freed in 1960 in an episode of “The Chevy Mystery Show”. That first appearance was so successful that the episode was adapted for the stage in 1962, with Thomas Mitchell taking on the role. Then the same episode was stretched into a TV movie in 1968, with Peter Falk playing Lt. Columbo for the first time.

30. Biographer Leon EDEL
Leon Edel wrote a highly respected biography of author Henry James, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize.

34. Common Market inits. EEC
The European Economic Community (also called “the Common Market”) was a NAFTA-like structure that was eventually absorbed into today’s European Union.

37. Some PX patrons NCOS
A PX is a Post Exchange, a retail store operating on a US Army Base. The equivalent store on an Air Force Base is called a Base Exchange (BX). At a Navy installation it’s a Navy Exchange (NEX), at a Marine Corps installation it’s a Marine Corps Exchange (MCX) and at a Coast Guard Installation it’s a CGX.

40. Antidrug commercials, e.g., briefly PSAS
Public service announcement (PSA).

41. Seven-veil dancer SALOME
In the New Testament, Salome was a dancer and a seductress. She was the stepdaughter of Herod and, when she danced for him on his birthday, her mother demanded as a reward the execution of John the Baptist. Salome is not actually named in the account in the gospels and so historians rely on other sources to determine that this dancer was indeed “Salome”.

44. Golfer Aoki ISAO
Isao Aoki is one of Japan’s greatest golfers, now playing on the senior circuit. Aoki’s best finish in a major tournament was runner-up to Jack Nicklaus in the 1980 US Open.

46. Harper Lee’s first name NELLE
Nelle Harper Lee is an author from Monroeville, Alabama. Lee wrote only one novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, and yet that contribution to the world of literature was enough to earn her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Harper Lee was a close friend of fellow author Truman Capote who was the inspiration for the character named “Dill” in her novel.

48. Head judge on “Top Chef”? CHIEF EATER (fire chief & fire eater)
“Top Chef” is a reality television show on the Bravo channel. It’s basically a cooking competition.

50. Ouzo flavorings ANISES
Ouzo is an aperitif from Greece that is colorless and flavored with anise. Ouzo is similar to pastis from France and also has a flavor like sambuca from Italy.

54. “Sex and the City” role CARRIE
The HBO show “Sex and the City” is based on a book of the same name by Candace Bushnell. Bushnell created the book by compiling columns that she wrote for the “New York Observer”. The lead character called Carrie Bradshaw is really Bushnell’s alter ego (note that the initials CB apply to author and character).

57. Adm.’s milieu USN
An admiral might be in the US Navy.

60. Bit of bullring gear CAPA
“Capa” is the Spanish for “cloak, cape”.

64. “At the __ Core”: Burroughs novel EARTH’S
Edgar Rice Burroughs is best known for authoring the “Tarzan” series of books. Burroughs was living in Hawaii at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and wanting to help with the war effort he applied for permission to be a war correspondent. Permission was granted, despite the fact that Burroughs was in his sixties, and so he became one of the oldest American correspondents during WWII.

67. Supercomputer name CRAY
Seymour Cray founded his own company in 1972, a company that manufactured supercomputers. A supercomputer is basically a computer that operates at or near the highest operational speed that’s possible given the technology of the day.

72. Broadway’s first Oakley MERMAN
Ethel Merman was an actress and singer, one noted for having a very powerful voice. Merman was married and divorced four times, the last time to the actor Ernest Borgnine albeit for only 32 days in 1964.

73. “The Luncheon on the Grass” and “Olympia,” e.g. MANETS
The French painter Édouard Manet is responsible for many great works including “Le déjeuner sur l’herbe” (The Luncheon on the Grass”) , a work you can see in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

75. Alabama march city SELMA
The Bloody Sunday march took place between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama on 7 March 1965. The 600 marchers involved were protesting the intimidation of African-Americans registering to vote. When the marchers reached Dallas County, Alabama they encountered a line of state troopers reinforced by white males who had been deputized that morning to help keep the peace. Violence broke out with 17 marchers ending up in hospital, one nearly dying. Because the disturbance was widely covered by television cameras, the civil rights movement picked up a lot of support that day.

83. Zhivago’s love LARA
“Doctor Zhivago” is of course the epic novel by Boris Pasternak, first published in 1957. I haven’t tried to read it but the 1965 film version is a must-see, directed by David Lean and starring Omar Sharif in the title role. The story centers on Yuri Zhivago, a doctor and poet, and how he is affected by the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War.

Olga Ivinskaya was the mistress of the writer Boris Pasternak. As such, she was the inspiration for the famous Lara character in Pasternak’s epic novel “Doctor Zhivago”.

86. Put a charge into? TASE
Victor Appleton wrote a novel for young adults called “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle”. The company that developed the TASER electroshock weapon named its product as a homage to the novel. The acronym TASER stands for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle”. Interesting, eh?

98. Polymer ending -ASE
Polymerase is an enzyme found in the body. It has the task of making new RNA and DNA.

101. Bondi Beach city SYDNEY
Bondi Beach is a popular beach and a suburb of Sydney, Australia. On a day in 1939 now known as Black Sunday, a series of large waves overwhelmed visitors to the beach. Five people drowned and over 250 people had to be resuscitated or rescued.

106. Stage prizes OBIES
The Obies are the “Off-Broadway Theater Awards”. The Obies are presented annually and the recipients are chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper.

110. Asteroids creator ATARI
At one point Atari was the fastest growing company in US history, but it never really recovered from the video game industry crash of 1983.

111. “Don’t play,” on a score TACET
“Tacet” is a musical direction meaning “be silent”. It is typically written on a score to instruct a particular voice or instrument to remain silent for a whole movement. “Tacet” is Latin for “it is silent”.

114. Hershiser of ESPN OREL
Orel Hershiser is big into poker now that he has retired from Major League Baseball. Hershiser lives in Las Vegas and when he isn’t working for ESPN, apparently he is at the poker tables.

115. Chaplin’s fourth wife OONA
Oona O’Neill dated J. D. Salinger and Orson Welles in her teens, but ended up marrying Charlie Chaplin. Oona was still pretty young when she married Chaplin, much to the dismay of her famous father, the playwright Eugene O’Neill. After the marriage Eugene disowned Oona as he was pretty upset about 54-year-old Chaplin marrying his 18-year-old daughter.

120. “My Way” lyricist ANKA
Canadian-born Paul Anka’s big hit was in 1957, the song entitled “Diana”. Anka was the subject of a much-lauded documentary film in 1962 called “Lonely Boy”.

125. Hasty escape LAM
To be “on the lam” is to be in flight, to have escaped from prison. “On the lam” is American slang that originated at the end of the 19th century. The word “lam” also means to “beat” or “thrash”, as in “lambaste”. So “on the lam” might derive from the phrase “to beat it, to scram”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Weathered the storm COPED
6. Crocodile’s greeting? G’DAY
10. Turquoise relative AQUA
14. Comment to the audience ASIDE
19. Fade away ABATE
20. Dramatic solo, often ARIA
21. Abridges CUTS
22. Host at a communion WAFER
23. Extra-strength panic button? POWER ALARM (fire power & fire alarm)
25. Lukas of “Witness” HAAS
26. Photographer Adams ANSEL
27. Kevin’s “Footloose” role REN
28. Spin doctor’s concern IMAGE
29. “No hitting below the belt” et al.? FIGHTER CODE (firefighter & fire code)
31. St. Clare’s town ASSISI
33. Kingdom REALM
35. “Silent Spring” subj. DDT
36. “I __ mean it” DIDN’T
39. Orbital shape ELLIPSE
42. Detrained, say ALIT
46. Acronymic candy company NECCO
49. Saltine special? CRACKER SALE (firecracker & fire sale)
52. Grammar best-seller “Woe __” IS I
53. Filmmaker who alternates top billing with his brother ETHAN COEN
55. SeaWorld barker SEAL
56. Babydoll SUGAR
58. Hidden retreat LAIR
59. Savory gelatin ASPIC
61. Tap type SOFT-SHOE
63. Schumann songs LIEDER
65. “Magic Hour” author Susan ISAACS
69. Destined MEANT
70. Mischievous sort ELF
71. Subdivision at the mannequin factory? ARM DEPARTMENT (firearm & fire department)
74. La Jolla winter hrs. PST
77. Willies-inducing EERIE
79. World’s largest desert SAHARA
80. More beloved DEARER
82. Pots-and-pans noises CLATTERS
85. “Fiddler” meddler YENTE
87. Oak trunk BOLE
88. Gate fastener LATCH
89. Yom Kippur War prime minister MEIR
92. Ho-hum WEARISOME
94. “You __ My Sunshine” ARE
95. First critters on a farm? STARTER ANTS (fire starter & fire ants)
99. Upholstery jobs SOFAS
100. Curiosity destination MARS
102. Notable 1968 groom ONASSIS
103. Hombre’s title SENOR
105. Time’s 2006 Person of the Year YOU
107. Joint at the corner MITER
109. Turns to swing AT BATS
113. Legion of ventriloquist dummies? WOOD BRIGADE (firewood & fire brigade)
118. Texas attraction ALAMO
121. __ kwon do TAE
122. Product suffix suggesting noodles -A-RONI
123. Theater level LOGE
124. Sharon’s home? STONE PLACE (firestone & fireplace)
126. Zellweger of “Chicago” RENEE
127. The Auld Sod ERIN
128. “Shucks” HECK
129. Flop or lop follower -EARED
130. Gets in the game PLAYS
131. Faction SECT
132. Silk Road locale ASIA
133. “NYPD Blue” actor SMITS

Down
1. “Lost Horizon” director CAPRA
2. Bright-toned winds OBOES
3. Little men PAWNS
4. When Nancy bakes? ETE
5. Mockery DERISION
6. Jamboree GALA
7. Big snooze DRAG
8. ABC or BET, e.g. AIRER
9. Versatile veggie YAM
10. Paris was too much for him ACHILLES
11. Serious predicament QUAGMIRE
12. Its motto is “Industry” UTAH
13. Busy ed.’s request ASST
14. Cy Young, e.g. AWARD
15. Safe places SANCTA
16. In that case IF SO
17. Transfer document DEED
18. Della’s creator ERLE
24. In the center of AMID
29. Columbo portrayer FALK
30. Biographer Leon EDEL
32. Wallet item ID CARD
34. Common Market inits. EEC
37. Some PX patrons NCOS
38. Apprehensive TREPID
40. Antidrug commercials, e.g., briefly PSAS
41. Seven-veil dancer SALOME
43. Hard-to-read preliminary print? LIGHT PROOF (firelight & fireproof)
44. Golfer Aoki ISAO
45. Freeway roller TIRE
46. Harper Lee’s first name NELLE
47. Online commerce E-TAIL
48. Head judge on “Top Chef”? CHIEF EATER (fire chief & fire eater)
50. Ouzo flavorings ANISES
51. Big spread ESTATE
54. “Sex and the City” role CARRIE
57. Adm.’s milieu USN
60. Bit of bullring gear CAPA
62. Dent site FENDER
64. “At the __ Core”: Burroughs novel EARTH’S
66. Reclining chair user’s sigh AAH
67. Supercomputer name CRAY
68. Scattered STREWN
72. Broadway’s first Oakley MERMAN
73. “The Luncheon on the Grass” and “Olympia,” e.g. MANETS
75. Alabama march city SELMA
76. Maple and pine TREES
78. Inclusive abbr. ETC
81. Soak up ABSORB
82. Chowder tidbit CLAM
83. Zhivago’s love LARA
84. Antitoxin sources SERA
86. Put a charge into? TASE
90. “I can’t explain how I did that” IT’S MAGIC
91. Junk mail addressee RESIDENT
93. Chemical variants ISOTOPES
96. __ de force TOUR
97. Baptism, for one RITE
98. Polymer ending -ASE
101. Bondi Beach city SYDNEY
104. 32-Down datum NAME
106. Stage prizes OBIES
108. Motel posting RATES
110. Asteroids creator ATARI
111. “Don’t play,” on a score TACET
112. Origins SEEDS
113. Bend WARP
114. Hershiser of ESPN OREL
115. Chaplin’s fourth wife OONA
116. French cruise stops ILES
117. Bush fighter GORE
119. Centers of activity LOCI
120. “My Way” lyricist ANKA
124. ’50s song syllable SHA
125. Hasty escape LAM

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2 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 4 Nov 12, Sunday”

  1. Well spotted. Maybe there was a bit of confusion between "iso-mer" and "iso-tope" when the clue was being written.

    I should have picked that one up, seeing as I have a degree in chemistry. Embarrassing …

    Thanks for pointing it out.

Comments are closed.