LA Times Crossword Answers 5 Jun 13, Wednesday

CROSSWORD SETTER: Gareth Bain
THEME: X Games … the circled letters in today’s grid spell out the names of sports. The circled letters are at the ends (extremes) of answers, and so might be termed EXTREME SPORTS:

17A. For example, to Juan POR EJEMPLO (giving POLO)
25A. Idol worshipped in Exodus GOLDEN CALF (giving GOLF)
35A. X Games activities, and, in a way, what can be found in this puzzle’s circles EXTREME SPORTS
49A. Casserole holder, perhaps SQUARE DISH (giving SQUASH)
58A. Armchair quarterback’s speed? SUPER SLO-MO (giving SUMO)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 09m 12s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
4. Zealous crusades JIHADS
In the Islamic tradition “jihad” is a duty, either an inner spiritual struggle to fulfill religious obligations or an outward physical struggle to defend the faith. Someone engaged in jihad is called a “mujahid” with the plural being “mujahideen”.

10. “Choosy __ choose Jif” MOMS
Jif is the leading brand of peanut butter in the US, and has been since 1981. Introduced in 1958, it is now produced by Smuckers.

14. Physician’s org. 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.

15. Leopardlike critter OCELOT
The ocelot is found mainly in South and Central America, although there have been sightings as far north as Arkansas. An ocelot doesn’t look too different from a domestic cat, and some have been kept as pets. Perhaps most famously, Salvador Dali had one that he carried around everywhere with him.

17. For example, to Juan POR EJEMPLO (giving POLO)
“Por ejemplo” is Spanish for “for example”.

The game of polo originated in Iran, possibly before the 5th century BC. Polo was used back them primarily as a training exercise for cavalry units.

20. Ersatz butter OLEO
Emperor Louis Napoleon III of France announced a competition to develop a substitute for butter, a substitute that would be more accessible to the lower classes and more practical for the armed forces. In 1869, a French chemist called Hippolyte Mege-Mouries came up with something that he called oleomargarine, which was eventually manufactured under the trade name “margarine”. The name “oleomargarine” also gives us our generic term “oleo”.

Something described as “ersatz” is a copy, and usually not a good one. “Ersatz” comes from the German verb “ersetzen” meaning “to replace”.

21. Gin maker Whitney ELI
The inventor Eli Whitney is a best known for inventing the cotton gin. Whitney also came up with the important concept of “interchangeable parts”. Parts that are interchangeable can be swapped out of equipment or perhaps used in related designs.

23. Books expert: Abbr. CPA
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

24. Web prog. code HTML
HTML is HyperText Markup Language, the language used to write most Internet web pages (including this one).

25. Idol worshipped in Exodus GOLDEN CALF (giving GOLF)
According to the Book of Exodus in the Bible, Aaron made a golden calf as an idol for the Israelites to worship while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. When Moses returned, he became angry on seeing the calf and destroyed it.

There’s an urban myth that the standard number of holes on a golf course is 18 because it takes 18 shots to polish off a fifth of scotch whisky. However, the truth is that the standard number of holes in the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland happened to settle down over time at 18, and that standard was adopted all around the world.

30. Acapulco gold ORO
The Mexican city of Acapulco is on the southwest coast of the country, in the state of Guerrero. The name “Acapulco” translates from the local language into “at the big reeds”.

31. Preakness horse’s age THREE
The Preakness Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race that’s run at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore in May of each year. The Preakness is the second most popular horse race in the US in terms of attendance, after the Kentucky Derby. The race was given its name by former Maryland Governor Oden Bowie in honor of the racehorse named Preakness. Preakness won the inaugural Dixie Stakes that was run at Pimlico in 1870.

32. Orbiter until 2001 MIR
The Russian Mir Space Station was a remarkably successful project, with the station still holding the record for the longest continuous manned presence in space, at just under ten years. Towards the end of the space station’s life however, the years began to take their toll. There was a dangerous fire, multiple system failures, and a collision with a resupply ship. The Russian commitment to the International Space Station drained funds for repairs, so Mir was allowed to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up in 2001.

33. Fox’s title BR’ER
Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox are characters in the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris. The Uncle Remus stories are adaptations of African American folktales that Harris collected across the Southern States. “Br’er” of course stands for “brother”.

35. X Games activities, and, in a way, what can be found in this puzzle’s circles EXTREME SPORTS
The X Games are annual events, with a Summer X Games held every year as well as a Winter X Games. It’s very much a commercial venture, with all aspects controlled by the TV station ESPN. The games focus on extreme action sports, like skateboarding and freestyle motocross in the summer and various extreme snowboarding events in the winter.

41. Drummer Ulrich LARS
Lars Ulrich is a drummer from Denmark, and one of the founding members of the American heavy metal band called Metallica. Lars is the son of former professional tennis player Torben Ulrich, the oldest Davis Cup player in history.

42. “The Chocolate __”: classic young-adult novel WAR
“The Chocolate War” is novel for young adults written by Robert Cormier. The novel deals with the ugly subject of mob rule in a fictional Catholic High School, and in that sense may be compared with William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”.

44. Stars, in Latin ASTRA
“Astra” is the Latin for “stars” as in “Ad Astra” (meaning “To the Stars”) , the motto of my alma mater, University College Dublin in Ireland.

47. Anti-pollution org. EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the Nixon administration and began operation at the end of 1970.

48. Krakow native POLE
Kraków is the second largest city in Poland, and was a capital for many centuries. The Archbishop of Kraków was Karol Wojtyla, one of the most famous people to have lived in the city. In 1978 Archbishop Wojtyla was installed as Pope John Paul II.

49. Casserole holder, perhaps SQUARE DISH (giving SQUASH)
Squash was one of the big sports in my hometown in Ireland, so I played a lot when I was younger. It is very similar to racquetball, with one huge difference; the ball used in squash has very little bounce and really “dies” in the corners of the court. Balls are made that have different degrees of bounce, and the amount of bounce (and speed) is indicated by a colored dot or dots marked on the surface.

54. ’70s extremist gp. SLA
The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was founded in 1973 by an escapee of the prison system, Donald DeFreeze. The group’s manifesto promoted the rights of African Americans although, in the 2-3 year life of the group, DeFreeze was the only black member. Famously, the SLA kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst in 1974.

55. Spare targets PINS
In bowling, the downing of all ten pins in two balls in the same frame is a “spare”, scoring ten points. The player gets a bonus, equal to the number of pins downed with the next ball, which could be up to ten. Hence, a spare can be worth up to 20 points.

56. Big bank CITI
During the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, the US government rescued Citibank by providing loan guarantees and two payments of $25 billion each. It turns out that the government made a tidy profit on that deal, as Citibank has since repaid the loans in full, along with interest.

58. Armchair quarterback’s speed? SUPER SLO-MO (giving SUMO)
Sumo is a sport that is practiced professionally only in Japan, the country of its origin. There is an international federation of sumo wrestling now, and one of the organization’s aims is to have the sport accepted as an Olympic event.

63. Philodendron’s plant family ARUM
Arum is a genus of flowering plant native to eastern North America. It’s a nasty plant though, and contains oxalic acid, a compound that can be very painful if ingested and even cause death if taken in sufficient quantities.

64. Lack of vitality ANEMIA
The term “anemia” (or “anaemia” as we write it back in Ireland) comes from a Greek word meaning “lack of blood”. Anemia is a lack of iron in the blood, or a low red blood cell count. Tiredness is a symptom of the condition.

65. “China Beach” setting NAM
“China Beach” is a drama TV series set during the Vietnam War that aired in the late eighties and early nineties. The show’s storyline revolves around the women who worked at an evacuation hospital. The name “China Beach” was a nickname given to a beach in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam by American soldiers during the conflict.

66. Team that moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn in 2012 NETS
The NBA’s Brooklyn Nets until relatively recently were the New Jersey Nets based in Newark. Prior to 1977, the team was known as the New York Nets and played in various locations on Long Island. Ten years earlier, the Nets were called the New Jersey Americans and were headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey.

68. One of RSA’s 11 official languages ENG
The Republic of South Africa (RSA) has eleven official languages, a number that is only exceeded by Bolivia (38) and India (22). Included in the list of official languages of South Africa are Afrikaans, English, Swazi and Zulu.

Down
3. “The Communist Manifesto” co-author KARL MARX
Karl Marx was a German philosopher and revolutionary who helped develop the principles of modern communism and socialism. Marx argued that feudal society created internal strife due to class inequalities which led to its destruction and replacement by capitalism. He further argued that the inequalities created in a capitalist society create tensions that will also lead to its self-destruction. His thesis was that the inevitable replacement of capitalism was a classless (and stateless) society, which he called pure communism.

Friedrich Engels was a German political theorist who worked closely with Karl Marx to develop what became known as Marxist Theory. Along with Marx, he also co-authored “The Communist Manifesto” in 1848, and later he supported Marx as he worked to publish “Das Kapital”.

4. Mojo __: “Powerpuff Girls” villain JOJO
“The Powerpuff Girls” is a children’s animated television show that airs on the Cartoon Network.

7. Jungfrau, e.g. ALP
The Jungfrau is a peak in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. “Jungfrau” translates from German as “maiden” or “virgin”.

12. Christie heroine MARPLE
Miss Jane Marple is a much-loved character in detective stories penned by Agatha Christie. Miss Marple has been played by a number of excellent actresses on the large and small screens, but my favorite has to be Margaret Rutherford. Rutherford starred in very light comedic “Miss Marple” films that were very popular, although Christie herself didn’t care for them at all.

13. Attack from the air STRAFE
We’ve been using “strafe” to mean an attack on a ground position from low-flying aircraft since WWII. Prior to that, the word was used by British soldiers to mean any form of attack. It was picked up from the German word for “punish” as it was used in “Gott strafe England” meaning, “May God punish England”.

24. Amateur radio operator HAM
Amateur radio enthusiasts were originally called ham operators by professional telegraph operators, and the term was intended to be insulting. It came from the similar term “ham actor”, describing a person who is less than effective on the stage. But amateur operators eventually embraced the moniker and so it stuck.

25. Wounded by a warthog, say GORED
A warthog is a wild animal from the pig family found in Sub-Saharan Africa. The animal takes its name from four wart-like protrusions on its head that serve as a means of defense as well as reserves of fat.

26. Utah County city OREM
Orem, Utah was originally known as “Sharon” (a Biblical name), then “Provo Bench”, and in 1914 it was given the family name of a local railroad operator called “Orem”. Orem gave itself the nickname “Family City USA” and sure enough in 2010, “Forbes” rated Orem the 5th best place in the country to raise a family.

27. Rhine siren LORELEI
Lorelei is the name of a legendary mermaid who lured fishermen by singing a beautiful song so that they steered their boats onto rocks lurking beneath the water’s surface.

28. Chastity’s mother CHER
Cher’s real name is Cherilyn Sarkisian, born in 1946. In her acting career, Cher was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar of 1984 for her performance in “Silkwood”. She went further in 1998 and won the Best Actress Oscar for playing Loretta Castorini in “Moonstruck”.

Chaz Bono is the only child of the singers Sonny and Cher (although they both have children from other marriages). Chaz was named Chastity Sun Bono at birth and told her parents at the age of 18 that she was a lesbian. More recently Bono underwent gender reassignment surgery, and Chastity has legally changed his name to Chaz.

34. Host who had a “Favorite Things” segment on her show OPRAH
What can you say about Oprah Winfrey? Born into poverty to a single mother and with a harrowing childhood, Oprah is now the greatest African American philanthropist the world has ever known. Oprah’s name was originally meant to be “Orpah” after the Biblical character in the Book of Ruth, and that’s how it appears on her birth certificate. Apparently folks had trouble pronouncing “Orpah”, so she’s now “Oprah”.

There was a segment on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that appeared once a year called “Oprah’s Favorite Things”. When Oprah named something as a favorite, such was her influence that sometimes manufacturers of the product were immediately overwhelmed with orders, and often product websites crashed due to the number of visitors.

36. Estate near Twelve Oaks TARA
Rhett Butler hung out with Scarlett O’Hara at the Tara plantation in Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”. Tara was founded by Scarlett’s father, Irish immigrant Gerald O’Hara. Gerald named his new abode after the Hill of Tara back in his home country, the ancient seat of the High King of Ireland.

43. Checkers side RED
“Checkers” is yet another word that I had to learn moving across the Atlantic. In Ireland the game is called draughts.

45. Future knight SQUIRE
A squire can be an escort, say one attending to a woman. A squire is also a young nobleman who attended a knight in days of yore. A fun example would be Sancho Panza who accompanied the deluded Don Quixote.

48. Dr. made popular by 34-Down PHIL
Dr. Phil (McGraw) met Oprah Winfrey when he was hired to work with her as a legal consultant during the Amarillo Texas beef trial (when the industry sued Oprah for libel over “Mad Cow Disease” statements). Oprah was impressed with Dr. Phil and invited him onto her show, and we haven’t stopped seeing him since …

50. “__ Dream”: Wagner aria ELSA’S
“Elsa’s Dream” is an aria from Richard Wagner’s opera “Lohengrin”.

51. Cow DAUNT
The verb “to cow” means to intimidate, to scare. The exact etymology of the term seems unclear.

55. H.S. junior’s exam PSAT
I think the acronym PSAT stands for Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. The PSAT is divided into three sections: Math, Critical Reading, and Writing Skills.

57. AOL chats IMS
Even though instant messaging (sending IMs) has been around since the 1960s, it was AOL who popularized the term “instant message” in the eighties and nineties.

59. __ capita PER
“Per capita” is a Latin term used to mean “per person, per unit of population”. The literal translation of the term is “by heads”.

60. Brit. record co. EMI
EMI is a British music company, with the acronym originally standing for Electric and Musical Industries.

61. Guitarist Ocasek RIC
Ric Ocasek is an American musician of Czech heritage, and was the lead vocalist of the rock band known as the Cars.

62. Texter’s “Holy moly!” OMG!
OMG is text-speak for Oh My Gosh! Oh My Goodness! or any other G words you might think of …

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “Naughty!” TSK!
4. Zealous crusades JIHADS
10. “Choosy __ choose Jif” MOMS
14. Physician’s org. AMA
15. Leopardlike critter OCELOT
16. Subj. for a vet ANAT
17. For example, to Juan POR EJEMPLO
19. Okla., on old maps TERR
20. Ersatz butter OLEO
21. Gin maker Whitney ELI
23. Books expert: Abbr. CPA
24. Web prog. code HTML
25. Idol worshipped in Exodus GOLDEN CALF
29. Reactions to revelations AHAS
30. Acapulco gold ORO
31. Preakness horse’s age THREE
32. Orbiter until 2001 MIR
33. Fox’s title BR’ER
34. Seam-y stuff? ORE
35. X Games activities, and, in a way, what can be found in this puzzle’s circles EXTREME SPORTS
40. Help out AID
41. Drummer Ulrich LARS
42. “The Chocolate __”: classic young-adult novel WAR
44. Stars, in Latin ASTRA
47. Anti-pollution org. EPA
48. Krakow native POLE
49. Casserole holder, perhaps SQUARE DISH
52. Did garden work HOED
53. Crude abode HUT
54. ’70s extremist gp. SLA
55. Spare targets PINS
56. Big bank CITI
58. Armchair quarterback’s speed? SUPER SLO-MO
63. Philodendron’s plant family ARUM
64. Lack of vitality ANEMIA
65. “China Beach” setting NAM
66. Team that moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn in 2012 NETS
67. Uncompromising STRICT
68. One of RSA’s 11 official languages ENG

Down
1. Faucet TAP
2. Blended beverage SMOOTHIE
3. “The Communist Manifesto” co-author KARL MARX
4. Mojo __: “Powerpuff Girls” villain JOJO
5. Arctic abundance ICE
6. Skirt border HEM
7. Jungfrau, e.g. ALP
8. Handed (out) sparingly DOLED
9. Made off with STOLE
10. Bath accessory MAT
11. Like some garages ONE-CAR
12. Christie heroine MARPLE
13. Attack from the air STRAFE
18. Sinuous fish EELS
22. Openings INTROS
24. Amateur radio operator HAM
25. Wounded by a warthog, say GORED
26. Utah County city OREM
27. Rhine siren LORELEI
28. Chastity’s mother CHER
33. Prickly plants BRIARS
34. Host who had a “Favorite Things” segment on her show OPRAH
36. Estate near Twelve Oaks TARA
37. Suckers SAPS
38. Fast break advantage, in basketball TWO ON ONE
39. Pro pitcher? SALESMAN
43. Checkers side RED
44. Garbage collector ASHCAN
45. Future knight SQUIRE
46. “Naughty!” TUT-TUT!
48. Dr. made popular by 34-Down PHIL
50. “__ Dream”: Wagner aria ELSA’S
51. Cow DAUNT
55. H.S. junior’s exam PSAT
57. AOL chats IMS
59. __ capita PER
60. Brit. record co. EMI
61. Guitarist Ocasek RIC
62. Texter’s “Holy moly!” OMG!

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