LA Times Crossword Answers 29 Jan 13, Tuesday

CROSSWORD SETTER: Gail Grabowski & Bruce Venzke
THEME: A Couple of Jobs to Do … each of the theme answers is a well-known term comprised of two chores that can stand alone, all indicating a cleanup:

57A. Designed for two functions, and a hint to the answers to starred clues DOUBLE DUTY

20A. *4-0 World Series win, e.g. CLEAN SWEEP
41A. *Broom alternative DUST MOP
11D. *Scouring aid SCRUB BRUSH
28D. *Graffiti maker’s medium SPRAY PAINT

COMPLETION TIME: 06m 28s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Bit of high jinks ANTIC
Our expression “high jinks”, meaning a prank or a frolic, was once the name of an 18th-century Scottish drinking game, would you believe? A bad score on a dice and you had to take a drink or do something undignified.

6. Eastern European SLAV
The Slavic peoples are in the majority in communities covering over half of Europe. This large ethnic group is traditionally broken down into three smaller groups:

– the West Slavic (including Czechs and Poles)
– the East Slavic (including Russians and Ukrainians)
– the South Slavic (including Bulgarians and Serbs)

15. Hang (around) in a hammock, say LAZE
Our word “hammock” comes via Spanish from Haiti, evolving from a word used there to describe a fishing net.

16. Dos cubed OCHO
In Spanish, two (dos) raised to the power of three is eight (ocho).

17. Second-largest Indian city DELHI
New Delhi is the capital city of India. New Delhi resides within the National Capital Territory of Delhi (otherwise known as the metropolis of Delhi). New Delhi and Delhi, therefore, are two different things.

24. Spy for Moses CALEB
According to the Bible, after fleeing Egypt the Hebrews were led by Moses to the promised land of Canaan. Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan (one from each of the Twelve Tribes) to report on what awaited them. Ten spies returned with exaggerated stories of giants who would kill the Hebrew army if it entered Canaan. Two spies, Caleb and Joshua, came back with valid reports, that the Hebrews could inhabit the area. As a result of the false reports from the ten spies, the Hebrews did not enter Canaan but instead wandered the desert for another forty years, before they finally took up residence in the promised land. At the end of the forty years, Caleb and Joshua were the only adults that survived the forty-year journey, a reward from God for their obedience.

29. Gardner of Hollywood AVA
Ava Gardner is noted for her association with some big movies, but also for her association with some big names when it came to the men in her life. In the world of film, she appeared in the likes of “Mogambo” (1953), “On the Beach” (1959), “The Night of the Iguana” (1964) and “Earthquake” (1974). The men in her life included husbands Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra. After her marriages had failed (and perhaps before!) she had long term relationships with Howard Hughes and bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin whom she met through her friend Ernest Hemingway.

35. “The Shield” force, briefly LAPD
The television drama called “The Shield” tells the story of an LAPD strike team that stops at nothing to beat crime and bring justice. The show is famous for attracting high profile actors to various episodes, including Glenn Close and Forest Whitaker.

39. “Norma __” RAE
“Norma Rae” is a 1979 movie starring Sally Field as Norma Rae Webster in a tale of union activities in a textile factory in Alabama. The film is based on the true story of Crystal Lee Sutton told in a 1975 book called “Crystal Lee, a Woman of Inheritance”.

42. www bookmark URL
Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

43. Org. with many specialists AMA
The American Medical Association (AMA) was founded in 1847 at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. The first female member was allowed to join the AMA in 1868, but the first African American members weren’t admitted until one hundred years later, in 1968.

44. Online newsgroup system USENET
Remember the good old days, when you read messages online in “newsgroups”? Well, that system of aggregating public messages is known as Usenet, and it’s still around today. Usenet started operating in 1980, some ten years before the World Wide Web was introduced (which system has displaced Usenet in terms of popularity). Usenet definitely played a significant part in the history of the Internet. For instance, the terms “FAQ” and “spam” were both born on Usenet.

45. Nora was his mistress ASTA
Asta is the wonderful little dog in the superb movie “The Thin Man” starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (as Nick and Nora Charles). In the original novel by Dashiell Hammett, Asta was a female Schnauzer, but on screen Asta was played by a wire-haired fox terrier called “Skippy”. Skippy was also the dog in the film “Bringing up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, the one who kept stealing the dinosaur bone. Skippy retired in 1939, so Asta was played by other dogs in the remainder of “The Thin Man” films.

46. Justin Timberlake’s former band ‘N SYNC
Justin Timberlake got his break by appearing on TV’s “Star Search” from which he was given a starring role in “The New Mickey Mouse Club”. It was on “The New Mickey Mouse Club” that he met his future girlfriend Britney Spears, as well JC Chasez who would join Timberlake in the lineup of the boy band ‘N Sync.

‘N Sync was a boy band from Orlando, Florida that was formed in 1995. The name of the group came from a comment by the mother of band member Justin Timberlake, who said the boys voices sounded “in sync”. But, it’s also true that the letters of the name ‘N Sync are the last letters of the given names of the five band members:

– Justin Timberlake
– Chris Kirkpatrick
– Joey Fatone
– Lance “Lansten” Bass
– JC Chasez

49. Bok __: cabbage CHOY
Bok choy is a variety of Chinese cabbage. “Bok choy” translates as “white vegetable”.

53. Corrosive stuff LYE
Today when we purchase what is labelled as “lye”, it is caustic soda (sodium hydroxide). To clean out drains we might buy Crystal Drano which is sodium hydroxide (lye) mixed with sodium nitrate, sodium chloride (table salt) and aluminum. The contents of Drano work in concert to clear the clog. The lye reacts with any fats creating soap which may be enough to break up the clog. Also, the finely divided aluminum reacts with water creating tremendous heat so that that mixture boils and churns, then any hair or fibers are cut by the sharp edges of the nitrate and chloride crystals. Having said all that, I find that boiling water poured down the drain almost always does the job …

63. Buffalo’s lake ERIE
Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, something for which nearby residents must be quite grateful. Being relatively shallow, Erie freezes over part way through most winters putting an end to the lake effect snow that falls in the snow belt extending from the lake’s edge.

Buffalo is the second most-populous city in the state of New York. The city takes its name from Buffalo Creek that runs through the metropolis (although the waterway is called Buffalo River within the city). The source of the name Buffalo Creek is the subject of much speculation, but one thing is clear, there were never any bison in the area.

68. Great enthusiasm GUSTO
“Gusto” is an Italian word meaning “taste”. We use it in the sense of “with gusto”, with great enjoyment.

70. Riga resident LETT
Riga is the capital city of Latvia. The historical center of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of the city’s magnificent examples of Art Nouveau architecture.

Latvia is one of the former Soviet Socialist Republics. People from Latvia are called Letts.

Down
1. Adapter letters AC/DC
If you have a laptop with an external power supply then that big “block” is an AC/DC converter. It converts the AC current you get from a wall socket into the DC current that is used by the laptop.

2. Carolers’ offering NOEL
“Noël” is the French word for the Christmas season, ultimately coming from the Latin word for “birth” (natalis). Noel has come to be used as an alternative name for a Christmas carol.

The word “carol” came into English via the Old French word “carole”, which was a “dance in a ring”. When “carol” made it into English, about 1300 AD, the term was used to describe a dance as well as a joyful song. Around 1500 AD, carols that were sung came to be associated with Christmas.

3. Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s __” TALE
“The Winter’s Tale” is one of William Shakespeare’s plays. One of the unusual things about “The Winter’s Tale” is that the fourth act of the play is set sixteen years after the third, a time lapse that Shakespeare used in no other work.

4. Sleepy Hollow schoolteacher Crane ICHABOD
Ichabod Crane is the protagonist in Washington Irving’s short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. It’s thought that Irving “stole” the name from someone he actually knew, a captain in the army called Ichabod B. Crane.

6. Side with a sandwich 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”.

8. Ancient Mexican AZTEC
The Aztec people of Central America dominated the region in the 14th-16th centuries. Two traits of the Aztec people are oft cited today. They built some magnificent pyramids, and they also engaged in human sacrifice. The two traits were linked in a way. For the consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan, 84,400 prisoners were sacrificed over a period of four days.

9. Italian scooter VESPA
Vespa is a brand of motor scooter originally made in Italy (and now all over the world) by Piaggio. “Vespa” is Italian for “wasp”.

10. David Letterman list TOP TEN
David Letterman first introduced his Top Ten List in 1985 “The top ten things that almost rhyme with peas!” The segment started off as a parody on “People” magazine’s top ten and worst ten lists.

12. Genghis __ KHAN
Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire, destined to be the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world. He first built his empire by uniting nomadic tribes of northeast Asia, but once Genghis Khan had consolidated his position, he initiated Mongol invasions throughout Eurasia. At it’s height, the Mongol Empire stretched from the River Danube to the Sea of Japan.

13. Tofu source SOYA
Tofu is another name for bean curd, and is a Japanese word meaning just that … bean that has “curdled”. Tofu is produced by coagulating soy milk, using either salt or something acidic. Once the protein has coagulated, the curds are pressed into the familiar blocks. Personally I love tofu, but my wife, she hates it …

21. Bureaucratic bungles SNAFUS
SNAFU is an acronym standing for Situation Normal: All Fouled Up (well, that’s the “polite” version!). As you might imagine, the term developed in the US Army, during WWII.

26. Highway to Fairbanks ALCAN
The Alaska Highway is also known as the Alaska-Canadian Highway or ALCAN Highway. A highway connecting the contiguous United States to Alaska was proposed in the twenties, but the Canadian authorities didn’t believe the project had much merit as the road would be used by very few of its citizens. The perceived importance of the route increased during WWII and President Roosevelt deemed the road a strategic necessity so he made a deal with Canada. The cost of construction would be born by the US, but the road and related facilities were to be handed over to Canada at the end of the war. The project was accelerated when the Japanese invaded and occupied Kiska and Attu Islands in the Aleutians. The road of course has been improved and is still in use today. The ALCAN Highway forms part of what is popularly known as the Pan-American Highway, which runs from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to the south of Argentina or Chile depending on how the route is defined.

28. *Graffiti maker’s medium SPRAY PAINT
“Graffiti” is the plural of “graffito”, the Italian for “a scribbling”. The word was first used to describe ancient inscriptions on the walls in the ruins of Pompeii.

31. MetLife competitor AETNA
When the health care management company known as Aetna was founded, the name was chosen to evoke images of Mt. Etna, the European volcano.

37. Carlsbad Caverns locale: Abbr. N MEX
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in New Mexico. The “Big Room” chamber that is part of the network of caves, is the third largest underground chamber in the country. The Big Room is almost 4,000 feet long and over 600 feet wide.

51. Four-wheeled flop EDSEL
It was Henry Ford’s son Edsel who gave his name to the Edsel brand of automobile, a name that has become synonymous with “failure”.

52. Dry Italian wine SOAVE
Soave is a dry white wine produced in the area around the city of Verona in northeast Italy.

54. Safecrackers YEGGS
“Yegg” is a slang word for a burglar and often for a safe-cracker. The origin of the term appears to be unknown.

55. Ward of “CSI: NY” SELA
The actress Sela Ward turns up in crosswords a lot. Ward played Teddy Reed in the TV show “Sisters” in the nineties, and was in “Once and Again” from 1999-2002. I don’t know either show, but I do know Ward from the medical drama “House” in which she played the hospital’s lawyer and Greg House’s ex-partner. That was a fun role, I thought. More recently Ward has been playing a lead role on “CSI: NY” and is a very welcome and much-needed addition to the cast …

60. Cold War country: Abbr. USSR
The former Soviet Union (USSR) was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the Tsar. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire and was comprised of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs).

61. Mal de __: Henri’s headache TETE
“Mal de tête” is French for “headache”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Bit of high jinks ANTIC
6. Eastern European SLAV
10. Sounds of disapproval TSKS
14. Team leader COACH
15. Hang (around) in a hammock, say LAZE
16. Dos cubed OCHO
17. Second-largest Indian city DELHI
18. Play parts ACTS
19. Say grace, say PRAY
20. *4-0 World Series win, e.g. CLEAN SWEEP
22. Salad fish TUNA
23. Make illegal BAN
24. Spy for Moses CALEB
26. Bit of schoolyard disagreement AM SO!
29. Gardner of Hollywood AVA
32. Under the covers IN BED
35. “The Shield” force, briefly LAPD
36. Diabolical sorts FIENDS
39. “Norma __” RAE
40. Pooling vehicle CAR
41. *Broom alternative DUST MOP
42. www bookmark URL
43. Org. with many specialists AMA
44. Online newsgroup system USENET
45. Nora was his mistress ASTA
46. Justin Timberlake’s former band ‘N SYNC
48. Fir feller AXE
49. Bok __: cabbage CHOY
50. Nudges POKES
53. Corrosive stuff LYE
55. Cashless deal SWAP
57. Designed for two functions, and a hint to the answers to starred clues DOUBLE DUTY
63. Buffalo’s lake ERIE
64. Not nuts SANE
65. Run to the window GO SEE
66. Gave for a while LENT
67. Malevolent EVIL
68. Great enthusiasm GUSTO
69. Colony critters ANTS
70. Riga resident LETT
71. Scatter about STREW

Down
1. Adapter letters AC/DC
2. Carolers’ offering NOEL
3. Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s __” TALE
4. Sleepy Hollow schoolteacher Crane ICHABOD
5. Plates for company CHINA
6. Side with a sandwich SLAW
7. Bridal gown trim LACE
8. Ancient Mexican AZTEC
9. Italian scooter VESPA
10. David Letterman list TOP TEN
11. *Scouring aid SCRUB BRUSH
12. Genghis __ KHAN
13. Tofu source SOYA
21. Bureaucratic bungles SNAFUS
25. Speech therapist’s concern LISP
26. Highway to Fairbanks ALCAN
27. Sirs’ counterparts MA’AMS
28. *Graffiti maker’s medium SPRAY PAINT
30. Clamping device VISE
31. MetLife competitor AETNA
33. Turn a deaf __ EAR TO
34. Airport annoyance DELAY
37. Carlsbad Caverns locale: Abbr. N MEX
38. “I’m listening!” DO TELL!
41. “Watch your head!” DUCK
45. Prevailed against, slangily ACED OUT
47. Common rental restriction NO PETS
51. Four-wheeled flop EDSEL
52. Dry Italian wine SOAVE
54. Safecrackers YEGGS
55. Ward of “CSI: NY” SELA
56. Small songbird WREN
58. Army division UNIT
59. Shot at the bar BELT
60. Cold War country: Abbr. USSR
61. Mal de __: Henri’s headache TETE
62. “That hurts!” YEOW!

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