LA Times Crossword Answers 11 Feb 14, Tuesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Ed Sessa
THEME: Breaking Bad … today’s themed answers are each made of multiple words, with the letters B-A-D spanning spaces between those words, hence BREAKING BAD:

20A. They swim with the fishes SCUBA DIVERS
11D. Bookmarked link, say WEB ADDRESS
29D. Start of a rhyme featuring a butcher and baker RUB-A-DUB-DUB

57A. Vince Gilligan TV drama, and a hint to something happening in 20-Across and 11- and 29-Down BREAKING BAD

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 7m 07s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

14. Queens stadium named for a tennis legend ASHE
The Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York opened in 1997 and is the largest outdoor, tennis-only venue in the world. The stadium is sometimes criticized for not having a retractable dome to protect the playing surface from inclement weather.

15. Eastern honorific AGHA
“Aga” (also “agha”) is a title that was used by both civil and military officials in the Ottoman Empire.

17. Munich mister HERR
Munich is the capital of the German state of Bavaria, and is the third largest city in the country (after Berlin and Hamburg). The city is called “München” in German, a term that derives from the Old German word for “by the monks’ place”, which is a reference to the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city in 1158.

20. They swim with the fishes SCUBA DIVERS
The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was co-invented by celebrated French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

23. Gore and Smith ALS
Al Gore was born in Washington DC, the son of Al Gore, Sr., then a US Representative for the state of Tennessee. After deferring his military service in order to attend Harvard, the younger Gore became eligible for the draft on graduation. Many of his classmates found ways of avoiding the draft, but Gore decided to serve and even took the “tougher” option of joining the army as an enlisted man. Actor Tommy Lee Jones shared a house with Gore in college and says that his buddy told him that even if he could find a way around the draft, someone with less options than him would have to go in his place and that was just wrong.

Al Smith served as Governor of New York for four terms and was also the Democratic candidate for US president in 1928, losing out to Herbert Hoover. Smith was the first Catholic to be nominated for the presidency. He ran for his party’s nomination again four years later, but lost that race to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

25. Scottish pirate KIDD
William Kidd was a Scottish privateer who went by the name “Captain Kidd”. Although Kidd was a privateer, someone authorized by the government to attack foreign shipping, he was eventually arrested and executed for piracy. There is common opinion held today that the charges against Kidd were actually trumped up. Captain Kidd’s story was the basis of a 1945 film called “Captain Kidd” starring Charles Laughton in the title role. Laughton also appeared as Captain Kidd in 1952’s comic movie “Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd”.

27. Checkpoint Charlie city BERLIN
Checkpoint Charlie was the most famous crossing point in the Berlin Wall, between the East and West. Originally designated as “checkpoint C”, it was quickly termed “Checkpoint Charlie” from the C-designation in the NATO phonetic alphabet.

30. O’Brien of CNN SOLEDAD
Broadcast journalist Soledad O’Brien is most famous for her work with CNN, but also appears on HBO and Al Jazeera America.

33. __ Dhabi ABU
Abu Dhabi is one of the seven Emirates that make up the federation known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two largest members of the UAE (geographically) are Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the only two of the seven members that have veto power over UAE policy. Before 1971, the UAE was a British Protectorate, a collection of sheikdoms. The sheikdoms entered into a maritime truce with Britain in 1835, after which they became known as the Trucial States, derived from the word “truce”.

34. Chain store selling gates and crates PETCO
Petco is a chain of retail stores that sells live animals and pet supplies. The Petco logo includes the two company mascots, Red Ruff the dog and Blue Mews the cat.

37. Twilled suit fabric SERGE
Serge is a type of twill fabric with diagonal ridges on both sides. The name “serge” comes from the Greek word for “silken”.

43. African antelope ELAND
An eland is a large African antelope, in fact the largest on the continent.

45. Company targeting 40-Acrosses ORKIN
(40. Nocturnal scurrier ROACH)
Orkin is a pest-control company. If you want to learn more about insects, you might want to visit the O. Orkin Zoo, a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The exhibit has over 300 live insects, all displayed in their natural habitats.

48. Man Ray or Arp DADAIST
Dadaism thrived during and just after WWI, and was an anti-war, anti-bourgeois and anti-art culture. The movement began in Zurich, Switzerland started by a group of artists and writers who met to discuss art and put on performances in the Cabaret Voltaire, frequently expressing disgust at the war that was raging across Europe.

Man Ray was an American modernist artist who spent most of his working life in Paris. Man Ray was born in South Philadelphia in 1890, and his real name was Emmanuel Radnitzky. His family adopted the name “Ray” in response to the anti-Semitic feeling that was prevalent at the time. Emmanuel was known as “Manny”, and he decided to assume the name Man Ray and use it for his work.

Hans Arp was a French artist renowned for his work with torn and pasted paper, although that wasn’t the only medium he used. Arp was the son of a French mother and German father and spoke both languages fluently. When he was speaking German he gave his name as Hans Arp, but when speaking French he called himself Jean Arp. Both “Hans” and “Jean” translate into English as “John”. In WWI Arp moved to Switzerland to avoid being called up to fight, taking advantage of Swiss neutrality. Eventually he was told to report to the German Consulate and fill out paperwork for the draft. In order to get out of fighting, Arp messed up the paperwork by writing the date in every blank space on the forms. Then he took off all of his clothes and walked with his papers over to the officials in charge. He was sent home …

52. Fruit that’s not cute UGLI
The ugli fruit is a hybrid of an orange and a tangerine, first discovered growing wild in Jamaica where most ugli fruit comes from today.

55. Priest’s garment ALB
The alb is the white, neck-to-toe vestment worn by priests, usually with a rope cord around the waist. The term alb comes from “albus”, the Latin word for “white”.

57. Vince Gilligan TV drama, and a hint to something happening in 20-Across and 11- and 29-Down BREAKING BAD
Vince Gilligan is a TV writer and producer, best known as the creator of the hit show “Breaking Bad”. Gilligan is working on a “Breaking Bad” spin-off called “Better Call Saul” that is based on the character Saul Goodman, the shady lawyer on the show.

I hadn’t seen the AMC drama “Breaking Bad” until recently when my wife borrowed the first and second seasons from our local library. It is a well-written show about a high school teacher stricken by lung cancer who turns to a life of crime to make money.

65. Meditative practice YOGA
In the West we tend to think of yoga as a physical discipline, a means of exercise that uses specific poses to stretch and strengthen muscles. While it is true that the ancient Indian practice of yoga does involve such physical discipline, the corporeal aspect of the practice plays a relatively small part in the whole philosophy. Other major components are meditation, ethical behavior, breathing and contemplation.

67. Where sheep sleep COTE
The Old English word “cote” was used for a small house. Our modern word “cottage” comes from “cote”. We now use “cote” to mean a small shelter on a farm for sheep or birds.

68. Creditor’s claim LIEN
A lien is the right that one has to retain or secure someone’s property until a debt is paid.

69. Wooden shoe SABOT
There is a story that disgruntled textile workers would kick their wooden shoes, called sabots, into the looms in order to disable them so that they didn’t have to work. This act of vandalism was named for the shoe, an act of … sabotage.

70. Power dept. ENER
The US Department of Energy (DOE) came into being largely as a result of the 1973 oil crisis. The DOE was founded in 1977 by the Carter administration. The DOE is responsible for regulating the production of nuclear power, and it is also responsible for the nation’s nuclear weapons.

71. Movie lioness ELSA
The life story of Elsa the lion was told by game warden Joy Adamson, who had a very close relationship with the lioness from when Elsa was orphaned as a young cub. Adamson wrote the book “Born Free” about Elsa, and then “Living Free” which tells the story of Elsa and her three lion cubs. In the 1966 film based on “Born Free”, Adamson is played by the talented actress Virginia McKenna.

Down
7. Hindu deity SHIVA
The Hindu Trinity is composed of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva (also Siva) the destroyer or transformer. Shiva is a Sanskrit word meaning “auspicious, kind, gracious”.

8. Of sound body HALE
“Hale” is an adjective meaning “healthy”. Both the words “hale” and “healthy” derive from the the Old English “hal” meaning healthy.

9. Oft-removed throat tissues TONSILS
The palatine tonsils are located at the back of the human throat. The exact role that tonsils play isn’t completely understood, but it is known that they are in the first line of defense in the body’s immune system. They provide some level of protection against pathogens that are ingested and inhaled.

10. Artist Yoko ONO
Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist. Ono actually met her future husband John Lennon for the first time while she was preparing her conceptual art exhibit called “Hammer a Nail”. Visitors were encouraged to hammer in a nail into a wooden board, creating the artwork. Lennon wanted to hammer in the first nail, but Ono stopped him as the exhibition had not yet opened. Apparently Ono relented when Lennon paid her an imaginary five shillings to hammer an imaginary nail into the wood.

13. 1974 CIA spoof S*P*Y*S
“S*P*Y*S” is a 1974 comedy starring Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland as two men mistaken as spies and targeted by the KGB. With all those asterisks in the film’s title, one has to assume the movie was intended to capitalize on the success of the 1970 Gould/Sutherland vehicle called “M*A*S*H”.

22. MGM rival RKO
The RKO Pictures studio was formed when RCA (RADIO Corporation of America) bought the KEITH-Albee-ORPHEUM theaters (and Joe Kennedy’s Film Booking Offices of America). The RKO acronym then comes from the words “Radio”, “Keith” and “Orpheum”.

28. African virus EBOLA
The Ebola virus causes a very nasty form of hemorrhagic fever. The name of the virus comes from the site of the first known outbreak, in a mission hospital in the Ebola River Valley in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

29. Start of a rhyme featuring a butcher and baker RUB-A-DUB-DUB
The nursery rhyme “Rub-a-Dub-Dub” dates back to at least 1798 when it was first published in London:

Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And how do you think they got there?
The butcher, the baker,
The candlestick-maker,
They all jumped out of a rotten potato,
‘Twas enough to make a man stare.

31. Texas A&M athlete AGGIE
Texas A&M is the seventh largest university in the country, and was the first public higher education institute in the state when it accepted its first students in 1876. The full name of the school was the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas and its primary mission used to be the education of males in the techniques of farming and military warfare. That’s quite a combination! Because of the agricultural connection, the college’s sports teams use the moniker “Aggies”.

32. Campus heads DEANS
Our use of “dean” to describe an administrative officer in an educational institution dates back to the 1570s. The term comes via the Old French “deien” from the Latin “decanus”, which was the name for the head of a group of ten monks in a monastery, and earlier still, the name for the commander of ten soldiers. So ultimately, “dean” comes from the Greek “deka” meaning “ten”.

41. Designer Tommy HILFIGER
Tommy Hilfiger is a fashion designer from Elmira, New York who is based in New York City.

44. Toon with an upturned tie DILBERT
“Dilbert” is a comic strip written by Scott Adams, a “neighbor” of mine here in the Bay Area, and the owner of a nice restaurant down the end of my street.

46. Gas in glass tubing NEON
The basic design of neon lighting was first demonstrated at the Paris Motor Show in 1910. Such lighting is made up of glass tubes containing a vacuum into which has been introduced a small amount of neon gas. When a voltage is applied between two electrodes inside the tube, the neon gas “glows” and gives off the familiar light.

49. “To __, With Love” SIR
“To Sir, with Love” is an excellent 1967 drama film starring Sidney Poitier. The film is about an inexperienced teacher in a tough school in the East End of London. If you see the movie keep a lookout for a couple of supporting actors. Lulu plays the student called Babs Pegg, and also sings the hit theme song from the movie. Patricia Routledge plays fellow teacher Clinty Clintridge, and later in her career played Hyacinth Bucket in the iconic BBC comedy series “Keeping Up Appearances”.

51. 30-Down pattern ARGYLE
The argyle pattern is based on the Campbell tartan. The Campbell clan is based in the Argyll region (note the spelling) in the west of Scotland, giving the Argyle pattern its name.

53. Slugger known as Hammerin’ Hank AARON
The great Hank Aaron (Hammerin’ Hank) has many claims to fame. One notable fact is that he is the last major league baseball player to have also played in the Negro League.

55. “Hamlet” fivesome ACTS
Shakespeare adopted the five-act structure for all of his plays, using the same format that was used by Seneca for his Roman tragedies. Given five acts, the plays tend to unfold as follows:

– Act I is used as an introduction
– Act II is used to complicate things
– Act III contains the climax of the tale
– Act IV is used to add some suspense
– Act V is the conclusion

56. Doctor Zhivago’s love LARA
The heroine of Boris Pasternak’s epic novel “Doctor Zhivago” is Lara. The Lara character was inspired by Pasternak’s mistress Olga Ivinskaya.

“Doctor Zhivago” is an epic novel by Boris Pasternak, first published in 1957. I haven’t tried to read it the book, 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.

61. Funny Carvey DANA
Dana Carvey, along with the likes of Phil Hartman and Kevin Nealon, was part of the new breed of “Saturday Night Live” comedians credited with resurrecting the show in the late eighties. One of Carvey’s most popular characters was the Church Lady, and he became so associated with her that among fellow cast members Carvey was often referred to simply as “the Lady”. Carvey had open-heart surgery in 1997 to clear a blocked artery, but the surgical team operated on the wrong blood vessel. To recover, he had to have five more procedures. He ended up suing for medical malpractice and donated his $7.5 million compensation payment to charity.

63. Former automaker with a globe in its logo GEO
Geos were small vehicles manufactured by General Motors mainly in the nineties. Geos were designed to compete head-to-head with the small imports that were gaining market share at the time in the US. Some Geo models that you might remember are the Metro, the Prizm and the Storm. The cars were actually built as joint-ventures with Japanese manufacturers. The Prizm was a GM/Toyota project, the Metro was GM/Suzuki, and the Storm was GM/Isuzu.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Financial “soaking” BATH
5. Open wound GASH
9. Dots on maps TOWNS
14. Queens stadium named for a tennis legend ASHE
15. Eastern honorific AGHA
16. Outmaneuver ONE-UP
17. Munich mister HERR
18. Track section RAIL
19. In a gallant manner NOBLY
20. They swim with the fishes SCUBA DIVERS
23. Gore and Smith ALS
24. Wrestling venue ARENA
25. Scottish pirate KIDD
27. Checkpoint Charlie city BERLIN
30. O’Brien of CNN SOLEDAD
33. __ Dhabi ABU
34. Chain store selling gates and crates PETCO
37. Twilled suit fabric SERGE
38. Gently tosses LOBS
40. Nocturnal scurrier ROACH
42. Big intro? MEGA-
43. African antelope ELAND
45. Company targeting 40-Acrosses ORKIN
47. Transgression SIN
48. Man Ray or Arp DADAIST
50. Some 36-Down deals LEASES
52. Fruit that’s not cute UGLI
53. With regard to AS FOR
55. Priest’s garment ALB
57. Vince Gilligan TV drama, and a hint to something happening in 20-Across and 11- and 29-Down BREAKING BAD
62. Freeload CADGE
64. Billy goat’s bluff CRAG
65. Meditative practice YOGA
66. Less likely to betray TRUER
67. Where sheep sleep COTE
68. Creditor’s claim LIEN
69. Wooden shoe SABOT
70. Power dept. ENER
71. Movie lioness ELSA

Down
1. Grumpy cries BAHS
2. “Got __?”: “Can we talk?” A SEC
3. Informal street sign word THRU
4. Like some folk remedies HERBAL
5. One with growing concerns? GARDENER
6. “Here we go __!” AGAIN
7. Hindu deity SHIVA
8. Of sound body HALE
9. Oft-removed throat tissues TONSILS
10. Artist Yoko ONO
11. Bookmarked link, say WEB ADDRESS
12. __ and void NULL
13. 1974 CIA spoof S*P*Y*S
21. “What __!”: “I’ve been had!” A RIP
22. MGM rival RKO
26. Judge DEEM
27. Bundled, as cotton BALED
28. African virus EBOLA
29. Start of a rhyme featuring a butcher and baker RUB-A-DUB-DUB
30. Foot warmer SOCK
31. Texas A&M athlete AGGIE
32. Campus heads DEANS
35. Tugboat blast TOOT
36. Hybrid, perhaps CAR
39. Setback SNAG
41. Designer Tommy HILFIGER
44. Toon with an upturned tie DILBERT
46. Gas in glass tubing NEON
49. “To __, With Love” SIR
51. 30-Down pattern ARGYLE
53. Slugger known as Hammerin’ Hank AARON
54. Use a rink SKATE
55. “Hamlet” fivesome ACTS
56. Doctor Zhivago’s love LARA
58. Caesar’s “Behold!” ECCE!
59. Recipe instruction BOIL
60. Years and years AGES
61. Funny Carvey DANA
63. Former automaker with a globe in its logo GEO

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