LA Times Crossword Answers 22 Mar 14, Saturday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Ed Sessa
THEME: None
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 13m 20s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. 1953 comeback hero? SHANE
The classic 1953 western movie called “Shane” was based on the novel of the same name by Jack Schaefer published in 1949. Alan Ladd had a rough end to his life. In 1962 he was found unconscious in a pool of blood with a bullet wound in his chest, an abortive suicide attempt. Two years later he was found dead, apparently having died from an accidental overdose of drugs and sedatives. He was 50 years old.

14. China from America LENOX
The Lenox Corporation is a manufacturer of tableware and collectibles in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1889 by Walter Scott Lenox, the company is the only producer of bone china in the US. Lenox has made tableware for six US presidents, from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush.

16. Historic act signed by Pres. Nixon OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 during the Nixon administration. OSHA regulates workplaces in the private sector and regulates just one government agency, namely the US Postal Service.

17. Gut feeling AGITA
Agita is another name for acid indigestion, and more generally can mean “agitation, anxiety”.

18. Gardner with plots ERLE
I must have read all of the Perry Mason books when I was in college. I think they kept me sane when I was facing the pressure of exams. Author Erle Stanley Gardner was himself a lawyer, although he didn’t get into the profession the easy way. Gardner went to law school, but got himself suspended after a month. So, he became a self-taught attorney and opened his own law office in Merced, California. Understandably, he gave up the law once his novels became successful.

19. Peterhof Palace resident TSAR
The Peterhof Palace is a magnificent set of palaces and gardens in St. Petersburg, Russia that is justifiably known as the “Russian Versailles”. Peterhof was laid out and constructed on the orders of Tsar Peter the Great. I had the privilege of touring Peterhof a number of years ago, and found the place to be breathtaking, especially the gardens and fountains …

24. Bearish? URSINE
The Latin word for a bear is “ursus”.

27. Woodworking tool ADZE
An adze (also adz) is similar to an axe, but different in that the blade of an adze is set at right angles to the tool’s shaft. An axe’s blade is set in line with the shaft.

29. “Solaris” author Stanislaw __ LEM
Stanislaw Lem was a writer, mainly of science fiction, from Poland. Lem’s most famous work is the novel “Solaris”, which has been adapted into a film three times.

37. A deadly sin ENVY
The cardinal sins of Christian ethics are also known as the seven deadly sins. The seven deadly sins are:

– wrath
– greed
– sloth
– pride
– lust
– envy
– gluttony

43. “King Kong” studio RKO
“King Kong” really is a classic movie. It stars Fay Wray as the young woman (Ann Darrow) with whom Kong falls in love. Wray was very interested in the role as she was told that she would be playing opposite the “tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood”. She thought it might be Clark Gable. At least that’s how the story goes …

44. “Symphonie espagnole” composer LALO
Édouard Lalo was a classical composer from France. Lalo’s most famous work is probably the complex opera “Le roi d’Ys”, which is based on a Breton legend.

46. Chocolate-covered candy KIT KAT
I grew up eating Kit Kat bars as a kid, as the chocolate confection has been around since the thirties. Kit Kats didn’t hit the shelves in the US until the seventies. I’ve seen new varieties of Kit Kat over in the UK, such as an orange-flavored version, but haven’t seen anything like that over here.

52. 1998 Coen brothers comedy THE BIG LEBOWSKI
“The Big Lebowski” is a 1998 comedy directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring Jeff Bridges in the title role. The film’s script is loosely based on the Raymond Chandler novel “The Big Sleep”. I thought “The Big Lebowski” was just “okay” though …

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. They do love the movie-making business and they even married “insiders”. Ethan’s wife is film editor Tricia Cooke, and Joel is married to one of my favorite actresses, the lovely Frances McDormand.

55. __ Southwest Grill: restaurant chain MOE’S
Moe’s Southwest Grill was actually founded in the southeast, in Atlanta Georgia in 2000. The chain of restaurants now has over 300 locations across the US.

56. “Movies You Grew Up With” channel FLIX
Flix is a cable television channel that screens feature films released from the 1970s to the present day. The network uses two slogans: “Movies You Grew Up With” and “Cool Classics for the Movie Generation”.

59. Topnotch A-ONE
Our term “A-one”, meaning first-class or excellent, was originally a classification of seagoing vessels in “The Lloyd’s Register of Shipping”. Those vessels deemed most seaworthy were given an A1 classification, and were deemed to be the least risky to insure.

60. Where to find Independence Hall? C-NOTE
Benjamin Franklin is featured on one side of the hundred-dollar bill, and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on the other side. There is a famous “error” in the image of Independence Hall. If you look closely at the clock face at the top of the building you can see that the “four” is written in Roman numerals as “IV” as perhaps one might expect. However, on the actual clock on Independence Hall, the “four” is denoted by “IIII”.

62. Medicare Advantage gps. HMOS
Medicare is divided into four parts:

A: Hospital Insurance
B: Medical Insurance
C: Medicare Advantage Plans
D: Prescription Drug Plans

63. Keats’ “The Eve of St. __” AGNES
“The Eve of St. Agnes” is poem by John Keats that was first published in 1820. This long work (42 stanzas) refers to the superstition that a girl could see her future husband in a dream on the eve of St. Agnes. St. Agnes is the patron saint of virgins.

Down
1. Converts into metallic waste SLAGS
The better lead ores are processed in a blast furnace, to extract the metal. The “waste” from this process is called “slag”. Slag does contain some lead and it can be processed further in a “slag furnace” to extract the residual metal. Slag furnaces also accept poorer lead ores as a raw material.

2. German idealism pioneer HEGEL
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the founders of the German idealism movement. “Idealism”, in the context of the movement, was the principle that objects did not have properties in themselves, but rather that an object’s properties depended on the person perceiving the object.

3. Baker with Grammys ANITA
Anita Baker is an R&B and soul singer who was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Baker’s most successful song is the Grammy-winning “Sweet Love” released in 1986.

4. “Pay attention,” in legal papers NOTA BENE
“Nota bene” is the Latin for “note well”

7. Pastry maker’s ingredient LARD
Fat, when extracted from the carcass of an animal, is called “suet”. Untreated suet decomposes at room temperature quite easily so it has to be “rendered” or purified to make it stable. Rendered fat from pigs is what we call “lard”. Rendered beef or mutton fat is known as “tallow”.

8. Munch Museum city OSLO
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian expressionist, most famous for his painting “The Scream”, painted in 1893. What a wonderful work that is, a true representation of expressionism. The Munch Museum in Oslo is dedicated to his work and life. In 2004, two of Munch’s paintings, “The Scream” and “Madonna”, were stolen from the Munch Museum by armed robbers who subdued the museum guards. The paintings were missing for two years, but recovered in 2006.

9. Gangsters’ foes, in old films THE FUZZ
The slang term “fuzz”, which meant “police”, was first used in the 1920s. “Fuzz” is a corruption of “force” as in “police force”.

10. Fourth-century Germanic invaders GOTHS
The East Germanic tribe called the Goths has two main branches, called the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths. The Visigoth capital was the city of Toulouse in France, whereas the Ostrogoth capital was the Italian city of Ravenna just inland of the Adriatic coast.

21. O’Neill’s daughter 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.

25. Woman-holding-an-atom statuettes EMMYS
The Emmy Awards are the television equivalent of the Oscars in the world of film, the Grammy Awards in music and the Tony Awards for the stage. Emmy Awards are presented throughout the year, depending on the sector of television being honored. The most famous of these ceremonies are the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Daytime Emmy Awards. The distinctive name of “Emmy” is a softened version of the word “immy”, the nickname given to the video camera tubes found in old television cameras. The Emmy statuette was designed by television engineer Louis McManus in 1948, and depicts a woman holding up an atom. McManus used his wife as a model for the woman.

27. Hersey bell town ADANO
“A Bell for Adano” is a novel written by John Hersey. Hersey’s story is about an Italian-American US Army officer, Major Joppolo, who found a replacement for a town’s bell stolen by fascists. “A Bell for Adano” was made into a film in 1945, the same year the novel won a Pulitzer.

28. Clive Cussler hero Pitt DIRK
Dirk Pitt is the adventurous protagonist in a series of novels by Clive Cussler. Cussler portrays Pitt as a man who is fascinated by and has a respect for the sea.

Clive Cussler is not only a novelist who specializes in writing stories about the sea, but is also an active marine archaeologist. Cussler founded and chairs the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) that has discovered many sunken ships including the Confederate States Navy submarine H. L Hunley.

30. Foon’s cousin SPORK
“Spork” is the more common name for the utensil that is a hybrid between a spoon and a fork. It is less commonly referred to as a “foon”.

37. White House theater location EAST WING
The East Wing of the White House is home to the 40-seat White House Family Theater that is regularly used for the screening of movies. The theater was converted from a long cloakroom in 1942 during the construction of the current East Wing building.

40. Queen born Dana Owens LATIFAH
Queen Latifah is the stage name of the multitalented Dana Owens. The name “Latifah” is Arabic in origin and translates as “delicate, very kind”. Owens found the name and was attracted to it when she was just eight years old.

41. Cowboy singer Wooley SHEB
As well as having his huge hit in 1958 called “The Purple People Eater”, Sheb Wooley played Ben Miller in the movie “High Noon” and co-starred in the TV’s “Rawhide”, playing the role of Pete Nolan. Wooley also wrote the theme song for the long-running television show “Hee Haw”.

42. Play that inspired Puccini LA TOSCA
“La Tosca” is a play written by Frenchman Victorien Sardou. We rarely get a chance to see the play these days, but the musical adaptation by Puccini called “Tosca” is one of the most frequently performed operas in the contemporary repertoire.

47. Nurse Ratched creator KESEY
Ken Kesey wrote the novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. Kesey was one of a group of friends who called themselves the “Merry Pranksters”, a bunch of guys who were associated with the likes of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary, all icons of the Beat Generation.

Nurse Ratched was the control-freak of a nurse who ran the ward in the Ken Kesey novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. In the 1975 movie of the same name, Ratched was played by actress Louise Fletcher. Fletcher won an Oscar for that performance.

49. __ Martin ASTON
Aston Martin is a British car manufacturer, founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin. The Aston part of the company name comes from Aston Hill, a famous site for hill-climbing cars that is nearby the original factory. Aston Martin cars are much loved by the British entertainment industry. Of course James Bond was given one in “Goldfinger”, and Michael Caine drove one in the 1969 version of “The Italian Job”. Roger Moore’s character drove a yellow Aston Martin in the seventies television show “The Persuaders!”.

53. Latch (onto) GLOM
“Glom” is a slang term meaning “steal”, although it can also be used to mean “latch onto” when used as “glom onto”. The term probably comes from the Scots word “glam” meaning “to snatch at”.

54. Start to type? LINO-
Linotype printing was the main technology used in the publication of newspapers and magazines for most of the 20th century, up until the 1970s when it was gradually replaced by offset printing and computer typesetting. Linotype printing was so called as a complete “line of type” was produced at one time.

55. 2006 Verizon acquisition MCI
MCI was a giant telecom company that suffered a similar fate to Enron, and around about the same time. MCI’s stock price fell in 2000 and in maneuvers designed to protect the price, the company committed illegal acts. The larger-than-life CEO back then, Bernie Ebbers, is now serving a 25-year sentence in Louisiana.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. 1953 comeback hero? SHANE
6. Blood __ CLOT
10. Stare GAWP
14. China from America LENOX
15. Mishmash HASH
16. Historic act signed by Pres. Nixon OSHA
17. Gut feeling AGITA
18. Gardner with plots ERLE
19. Peterhof Palace resident TSAR
20. Whistle-accompanying words GET A LOAD OF THAT!
23. Marble counter feature SLAB TOP
24. Bearish? URSINE
26. Yet, poetically E’EN
27. Woodworking tool ADZE
29. “Solaris” author Stanislaw __ LEM
30. Create norms for STANDARDIZE
34. Strengthen, in a way ARM
35. Window component PANE
36. It’s at eye level EAR
37. A deadly sin ENVY
38. Tedious OLD
39. They’re undeveloped BLANK SLATES
43. “King Kong” studio RKO
44. “Symphonie espagnole” composer LALO
45. Experiences HAS
46. Chocolate-covered candy KIT KAT
48. Assigned work SET TASK
52. 1998 Coen brothers comedy THE BIG LEBOWSKI
55. __ Southwest Grill: restaurant chain MOE’S
56. “Movies You Grew Up With” channel FLIX
57. Get behind, as a desk SIT AT
58. Fix CURE
59. Topnotch A-ONE
60. Where to find Independence Hall? C-NOTE
61. Wee ITSY
62. Medicare Advantage gps. HMOS
63. Keats’ “The Eve of St. __” AGNES

Down
1. Converts into metallic waste SLAGS
2. German idealism pioneer HEGEL
3. Baker with Grammys ANITA
4. “Pay attention,” in legal papers NOTA BENE
5. Lofty EXALTED
6. For peanuts CHEAP
7. Pastry maker’s ingredient LARD
8. Munch Museum city OSLO
9. Gangsters’ foes, in old films THE FUZZ
10. Fourth-century Germanic invaders GOTHS
11. Cop’s quarry ASSAILANT
12. “Of all the gall!” WHAT NERVE!
13. Course number PAR
21. O’Neill’s daughter OONA
22. One leaving in spring? TREE
25. Woman-holding-an-atom statuettes EMMYS
27. Hersey bell town ADANO
28. Clive Cussler hero Pitt DIRK
30. Foon’s cousin SPORK
31. Chat to settle a spat TALK IT OUT
32. Inclusive phrase AND OTHERS
33. Utter REAL
37. White House theater location EAST WING
39. Yak BLAB
40. Queen born Dana Owens LATIFAH
41. Cowboy singer Wooley SHEB
42. Play that inspired Puccini LA TOSCA
47. Nurse Ratched creator KESEY
48. Classifies, as kittens SEXES
49. __ Martin ASTON
50. Blade holder, maybe SKATE
51. Wingless fliers KITES
53. Latch (onto) GLOM
54. Start to type? LINO-
55. 2006 Verizon acquisition MCI

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