LA Times Crossword Answers 5 Feb 13, Tuesday

CROSSWORD SETTER: C.C. Burnikel
THEME: Wonder at the Start … each of today’s themed answers ends with a word that often follows WONDER:

17A. Dine BREAK BREAD (“Wonder Bread”)
24A. Commonly controlled substance ILLEGAL DRUG (“wonder drug”)
35A. Roy Orbison classic OH, PRETTY WOMAN (“Wonder Woman”)
48A. 1967 Human Be-In attendee FLOWER CHILD (“wonder child”)

58A. Awe-inspiring place where you might find the ends of 17-, 24-, 35- and 48-Across? WONDERLAND

COMPLETION TIME: 05m 16s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Iraq’s main port BASRA
It’s quite a coincidence that the Iraqi city of Basra has a name that is an anagram of “Arabs”, isn’t it? Basra also features in the H. G. Wells science-fiction tale “The Shape of Things to Come”. Written in 1933, the storyline predicts a global conflict (WWII) that breaks out in 1940 lasting for ten years, after which chaos reigns as no victor emerges. Following worldwide plague, a benevolent dictatorship takes charge and the world moves towards a serene utopia. In time, the dictators are overthrown and peacefully retired, and the people of the Earth live happily ever after, all citizens of one global state with its capital in Basra in the Middle East.

10. Ukr. and Lith., once SSRS
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).

Ukraine is a large country in Eastern Europe, a Soviet Republic before the dissolution of the USSR. In English we often call the country “the” Ukraine, but I am told that we should just say “Ukraine”.

The nation of Lithuania is a former Soviet Socialist Republic sitting on the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe.

17. Dine BREAK BREAD (“Wonder Bread”)
Wonder Bread was introduced in 1921, a bread produced by the Taggart Baking company of Indianapolis. Back then Wonder Bread was unsliced, with the sliced version being introduced nationally in the 1930s.

19. Hathaway of “Les Misérables” ANNE
The young actress Anne Hathaway is a favorite of mine, I must say. She starred in “The Devil Wears Prada” in 2006 and in 2007’s “Becoming Jane”, a film I particularly enjoyed.

The 2012 movie adaption of the musical “Les Misérables” has an ensemble cast, although the two actors getting the most acclaim seem to be Hugh Jackman (as Jean Valjean) and Anne Hathaway (as Fantine). There’s a lot of buzz about the way the soundtrack was recorded. In the past few decades it is common for actors to lip-sync musical numbers to voices that are pre-recorded. In “Les Misérables” the actors instead sang while on set with a piano accompaniment playing in their ears. The orchestral accompaniment was added in post-production.

20. Afrikaans speaker BOER
“Boer” is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for “farmer”, a word that was used to describe the Dutch-speaking people who settled parts of South Africa during the 1700s.

21. Creator of Q and M IAN
James Bond was of course the creation of the writer Ian Fleming. Fleming “stole” the James Bond name from an American ornithologist. The number 007 was also “stolen”, from the real life English spy John Dee. Dee would sign his reports to Queen Elizabeth I with a stylized 007 to indicate that the reports were for “her eyes only”.

In military circles a quartermaster is an officer responsible for supplying equipment and supplies to troops. The term “quartermaster” comes from “quartier-maître”, a ship’s officer in the French navy who was responsible for stowing cargo and supplies in the hold. In the James Bond stories, the character called “Q” is named for “quartermaster”.

The character “M” in the James Bond stories is the head of Secret Intelligence Service, also called MI6. The name “M” is chosen as a nod to former head of MI5 Maxwell Knight who routinely signed his memos simply as “M”.

23. Back muscle, familiarly LAT
The muscles known as the “lats” are the latissimi dorsi, the broadest muscles in the back. “Latissimus” is the Latin for “broadest” and “dorsum” is Latin for “back”.

27. ’50s 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”.

29. His #4 was retired by the Giants in 1948 OTT
At 5′ 9″, Mel Ott weighed just 170 lb (I don’t think he took steroids!) and yet he was the first National League player to hit over 500 home runs. Sadly, Ott died in a car accident in New Orleans in 1958 when he was only 49 years old.

34. Pontiac muscle cars GTOS
GTO stands for Gran Turismo Omologato.

35. Roy Orbison classic OH, PRETTY WOMAN (“Wonder Woman”)
“Oh, Pretty Woman” is a wonderful song co-written and recorded by Roy Orbison in 1964. The title was inspired by Orbison’s wife Claudette. One day Claudette interrupted her husband as he was talking to co-writer Bill Dees. Orbison asked his wife is she had enough cash, at which point Dees remarked, “A pretty woman never needs any money”.

Wonder Woman first appeared in print in 1941, in a publication from DC Comics. As she was created during WWII, Wonder Woman’s first foes were the axis powers. In the less realistic world her biggest foe was and still is Ares, a “baddie” named for the Greek mythological figure.

40. Glasgow veto NAE
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and sits on the River Clyde. Back in the Victorian Era, Glasgow earned a reputation for excellence in shipbuilding and was known as “Second City of the British Empire”. Glasgow shipyards were the birthplaces of such famous vessels as the Lusitania, the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth.

41. Shelley’s “To a Skylark,” e.g. ODE
The English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley had strong views on vegetarianism. He was dedicated to the cause of all sentient beings, believing that the slaughter of animals by humans for the use of food was a barbaric practice. He wrote a famous essay on the subject called “A Vindication of Natural Diet” in 1813.

48. 1967 Human Be-In attendee FLOWER CHILD (“wonder child”)
Just before 1967’s “Summer of Love” in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, a Human Be-In was held in the city’s Golden Gate Park. The Be-In is described as a “happening”, a gathering triggered by a new state law banning the use of LSD. The term “Human Be-In” is a play on “humanist sit-in”.

53. Gardner of the silver screen 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.

54. Country bordered by Niger and Nigeria BENIN
The Republic of Benin is a country in West Africa. Benin used to be a French colony, and was known as Dahomey. Dahomey gained independence in 1975, and took the name Benin after the Bight of Benin, the body of water on which the country lies.

56. WWII British gun STEN
The STEN gun was an iconic armament used by the British military forces. The name STEN is an acronym. The S and the T comes from the name of the gun’s designers, Shepherd and Turpin. The EN comes from the Enfield brand name, which in turn comes from the Enfield location where the guns were manufactured for the Royal Small Arms Factory, an enterprise owned by the British government.

58. Awe-inspiring place where you might find the ends of 17-, 24-, 35- and 48-Across? WONDERLAND
Lewis Carroll wrote “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” in 1865, and the sequel called “Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There” in 1871. Because in the second adventure Alice went through a looking glass, the themes were deliberately chosen to be mirror images of the themes in “Wonderland”. Whereas “Wonderland” begins indoors, is set in summer, and uses playing card imagery, “Looking Glass” begins out of doors, is set in winter and uses images from the game of chess.

61. “__ sow, so shall …” AS YE
The commonly quoted lines “As ye sow, so shall ye reap” is not actually a direct quote from the Bible, although the sentiment is expressed there at least twice. In the Book of Job is the line “They that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same”. In the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians is the line “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”.

62. Sword with a bell-shaped guard EPEE
The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.

63. Upper body TORSO
“Torso” (plural “torsi”) is an Italian word meaning the “trunk of a statue”, a word that we imported into English.

65. River down under? STYX
The River Styx in Greek mythology was the river that formed the boundary between the Earth and the Underworld (or Hades). The souls of the newly dead had to cross the River Styx in a ferry boat piloted by Charon. Traditionally, a coin would be placed in the mouths of the dead “to pay the ferryman”.

66. English Derby site EPSOM
The Surrey town of Epsom in England is most famous for its racecourse, at which is run the Epsom Derby. “The Derby” is one of the three races that make up the English Triple Crown. You might also have heard of Epsom salt. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, originally prepared by boiling down mineral waters. Epsom was indeed a spa town at one time.

Down
2. Like an American in Paris ABROAD
There’s a clever attempt in this clue to have us think the reference is to the Gershwin piece, and later movie, called “An American in Paris”.

“An American in Paris” is a wonderful symphonic tone poem composed by George Gershwin in 1928. Gershwin was inspired to write the piece after spending time in the French capital in the twenties. When it was first performed in Carnegie Hall the audience could really hear the sounds of the city, especially as the orchestra used real taxi horns that Gershwin had brought back from Paris.

5. First animal shelter ARK
Genesis 6:19-20 states that Noah was instructed to take two animals of every kind into the ark. Later, in Genesis 7:2-3 Noah was instructed to take on board “every clean animal by sevens … male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth”. Apparently “extras” (7 rather than 2) were needed for ritual sacrifice.

7. Goodnight girl of song IRENE
“Goodnight, Irene”, also known as “Irene, Goodnight”, is a lovely American folk song that was first recorded commercially back in 1932 by blues singer Lead Belly. The song made it to number one in the charts for the Weavers in 1950 and for Frank Sinatra in the same year.

13. Big hammers SLEDGES
A sledgehammer is a big hammer, used to apply a lot of force. The word “sledgehammer” comes from the Anglo Saxon “Slaegan” meaning “to strike violently”. “Slaegan” is also the root of the words “slag”, “slay” and “slog”.

18. Cartoonist Keane BIL
Bil Keane is a cartoonist most associated with his strip “The Family Circus”. Once Bil sketches out the text and idea for the cartoon, he sends it off to his son Jeff Keane who inks and colors the pictures so that the strip is ready for publication. In the storyline itself, the main characters are based on Bil’s own family. In fact, the son “Jeffy” in the story is based on Jeff, Bil’s son and production assistant.

22. Lunch menu letters BLT
The BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) is the second most popular sandwich in the US, after the plain old ham sandwich.

24. Robert of “The Sopranos” ILER
The actor Robert Iler’s most famous role was A.J., son of mob leader Tony Soprano in HBO’s “The Sopranos”. Apparently Iler’s screen persona has spilled over into his personal life, as he was arrested for armed robbery of two tourists in 2001 (and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge).

28. “Pardon the Interruption” channel ESPN
“Pardon the Interruption” is a sports show airing on ESPN that follows the format that was used for the show “Siskel and Ebert”. The show’s 10th anniversary episode included a congratulatory message from President Obama.

34. FBI guys G-MEN
The nickname “G-men” is short for “Government Men” and refers to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

37. After-shower powder 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.

45. Volga region natives TATARS
Tatars are an ethnic group of people, mainly residing in Russia (a population of about 5 1/2 million). Actor Charles Bronson had a Tatar heritage. Bronson’s real name was Charles Buchinsky.

The Volga is the longest river in Europe, and is considered the national river of Russia.

49. __ Post, first pilot to fly solo around the world WILEY
Wiley Post was a famous aviator from Grand Saline, Texas. Post flew around the world in 1930 with just a navigator as a companion, a journey that the pair completed in the record time of 8 days and almost 16 hours. This beat the existing record of 21 days set by the Graf Zeppelin in the prior year. Post repeated the trip in 1933, this time flying alone and using an autopilot. The circumnavigation took just under 7 days and 19 hours, and was the first time anyone flew solo around the world. Post died just two years later, piloting an aircraft that crashed in Alaska. The famous cowboy and actor Will Rogers, a friend of Post, also perished in the crash.

52. “Life of Pi” director Ang LEE
Taiwanese director Ang Lee sure has directed a mixed bag of films, mixed in terms of genre but not in terms of quality. He was at the helm for such classics as “Sense & Sensibility” (my personal favorite), “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hulk”, and “Brokeback Mountain”.

The 2012 movie “Life of Pi” is based on a 2001 novel of the same name by Yann Martel. The “Pi” in the title is an Indian boy called Pi Patel who finds himself adrift for 227 days in small boat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Iraq’s main port BASRA
6. Nonspecific feeling VIBE
10. Ukr. and Lith., once SSRS
14. Find repulsive ABHOR
15. Waffle maker IRON
16. Be on the mend HEAL
17. Dine BREAK BREAD (“Wonder Bread”)
19. Hathaway of “Les Misérables” ANNE
20. Afrikaans speaker BOER
21. Creator of Q and M IAN
22. Chicks together BROOD
23. Back muscle, familiarly LAT
24. Commonly controlled substance ILLEGAL DRUG (“wonder drug”)
27. ’50s flop EDSEL
29. His #4 was retired by the Giants in 1948 OTT
30. Social suffix -ITE
31. Sink below the horizon SET
33. Public hanging ART
34. Pontiac muscle cars GTOS
35. Roy Orbison classic OH, PRETTY WOMAN (“Wonder Woman”)
39. __ even keel ON AN
40. Glasgow veto NAE
41. Shelley’s “To a Skylark,” e.g. ODE
42. Reunion gp. FAM
43. D.C. figure POL
44. Inviting door sign ENTER
48. 1967 Human Be-In attendee FLOWER CHILD (“wonder child”)
53. Gardner of the silver screen AVA
54. Country bordered by Niger and Nigeria BENIN
55. Binary digit ONE
56. WWII British gun STEN
57. __ Grey tea EARL
58. Awe-inspiring place where you might find the ends of 17-, 24-, 35- and 48-Across? WONDERLAND
61. “__ sow, so shall …” AS YE
62. Sword with a bell-shaped guard EPEE
63. Upper body TORSO
64. “So __ say” THEY
65. River down under? STYX
66. English Derby site EPSOM

Down
1. Go on and on BABBLE
2. Like an American in Paris ABROAD
3. Some linens SHEETS
4. Howl with laughter ROAR
5. First animal shelter ARK
6. Like super-popular YouTube clips VIRAL
7. Goodnight girl of song IRENE
8. Fluffy wrap BOA
9. Terminate END
10. Broken piece SHARD
11. Title for Miss Mexico? SENORITA
12. Deserted RAN OUT ON
13. Big hammers SLEDGES
18. Cartoonist Keane BIL
22. Lunch menu letters BLT
24. Robert of “The Sopranos” ILER
25. Like many gangster movies GORY
26. When tots become terrible? AT TWO
28. “Pardon the Interruption” channel ESPN
32. Opera hero, often TENOR
33. Gobbled up ATE
34. FBI guys G-MEN
35. Being walked, say ON A LEASH
36. Deli order HAM ON RYE
37. After-shower powder TALC
38. Pigged out (on) ODED
39. Quirky OFFBEAT
43. Ink holder PEN
45. Volga region natives TATARS
46. “Yeah, but …” EVEN SO
47. Hit-or-miss RANDOM
49. __ Post, first pilot to fly solo around the world WILEY
50. Sweetie pie HONEY
51. Book end? INDEX
52. “Life of Pi” director Ang LEE
56. Sow’s supper SLOP
58. Four-time All-Pro Patriots receiver Welker WES
59. Choose (to) OPT
60. Numbered hwy. RTE

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