LA Times Crossword Answers 2 Apr 14, Wednesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Doug Peterson & Patti Varol
THEME: Double Meanings … today’s themed answers are all made from two words, the first being IN. Also, the IN can combine with the second word to make a third word.

17A. How poets write? IN VERSES (from “inverses”)
21A. How moonshine is made? IN STILLS (from “instills”)
33A. How parts of a whole can be written? IN FRACTIONS (from “infractions”)
44A. How a priest preaches? IN VESTMENTS (from “investments”)
57A. How kangaroos travel? IN BOUNDS (from “inbounds”)
62A. How some paper is packaged? IN QUIRES (from “inquires”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 8m 48s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

4. City whose tower’s construction began in 1173 PISA
The city of Pisa is right on the Italian coast, sitting at the mouth of the River Arno, and is famous for its Leaning Tower. The tower is actually the campanile (bell tower) of the city’s cathedral, and it has been leaning since it was completed in 1173. Just shows you how important good foundations are …

14. Seoul-based automaker KIA
Kia Motors is the second largest manufacturer of cars in South Korea, behind Hyundai (and Hyundai is a part owner in Kia now). In recent years, Kia has focused on sales into Europe, and has been remarkably successful.

15. Bulky boats ARKS
The term “ark”, when used with reference to Noah, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tebah”. The word “tebah” is also used in the Bible for the basket in which Moses was placed by his mother when she floated him down the Nile. It seems that the word “tebah” doesn’t mean “boat” and nor does it mean “basket”. Rather, a more appropriate translation is “life-preserver” or “life-saver”. So, Noah’s ark was Noah’s life-preserver during the flood.

20. Tree of Knowledge locale EDEN
In the Christian tradition, the “fall of man” took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, against the bidding of God. As a result, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden to prevent them becoming immortal by eating from the tree of life. The first humans had transitioned from a state of innocent obedience to a state of guilty disobedience.

27. Actress Thurman UMA
Robert Thurman was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter “Uma” as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name “Dbuma”. Uma’s big break in movies came with her starring role in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 hit “Pulp Fiction”. My favorite Uma Thurman film is the wonderful 1996 romantic comedy “The Truth About Cats and Dogs”.

28. Bath bathroom LOO
It has been suggested that the British term “loo”, meaning “toilet, water-closet) comes from Waterloo (water-closet … water-loo), but no one seems to know for sure. Another suggestion is that the term comes from the card game of “lanterloo” in which the pot was called the loo!

39. “Doctor Who” actress Gillan KAREN
The Scottish actress Karen Gillan is most famous for playing Amy Pond in the “Doctor Who” sci-fi show made by the BBC. Amy Pond was the companion to the eleventh doctor, played by Matt Smith.

40. Taylor of fashion ANN
There was no such woman as “Ann Taylor” associated with the Ann Taylor line of clothes. The name was chosen by the marketing professionals because “Ann” was considered to be “very New England” back in 1954 when the stores first opened, and “Taylor” suggested that clothes were carefully “tailored”.

47. Electrically flexible AC/DC
If you have a laptop with an external power supply then that big “block” in the power cord 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.

51. World power until 1991: 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).

53. Spirits brand with a Peppar variety ABSOLUT
I must admit, if I ever do order a vodka drink by name, I will order the Absolut brand. I must also admit that I do so from the perspective of an amateur photographer. I’ve been swayed by the Absolut marketing campaign that features such outstanding photographic images. I’m sure you’ve come across examples …

57. How kangaroos travel? IN BOUNDS (from “inbounds”)
The name “kangaroo” comes from the Australian Aborigine term for the animal. There’s an oft-quoted story that James Cook (later Captain Cook) asked a local native the name of this remarkable looking animal, and the native responded with “kangaroo”. The story is that the native was actually saying “I don’t understand you”, but as cute as that tale is, it’s just an urban myth.

60. Former Cubs slugger SOSA
Sammy Sosa was right in the public eye in 1998 when he and Mark McGwire were vying to be the first to surpass the home run record held by Roger Maris. McGwire fell out of public favor due to stories of steroid abuse (stories which he later admitted were true) while Sosa fell out of favor when he was found to be using a corked bat in a 2003 game.

62. How some paper is packaged? IN QUIRES (from “inquires”)
A “quire” is a measure of paper quantity. There are usually 25 sheets in a quire, and 20 quires (500 sheets) in a ream. However, a quire sometimes only contains 15, 18 or 20 sheets, depending on the type of paper.

65. Land on two continents RUSSIA
The eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia is generally regarded as the natural divide between the continents of Europe and Asia.

66. Squeaker in Stuttgart MAUS
In Germany a Katze (cat) might catch a Maus (mouse).

Stuttgart is the sixth-largest city in Germany, and is located in southern Germany. The city is sometimes called “the cradle of the automobile” as Karl Benz made his first cars and motorcycles there, as were the first VW Beetle prototypes. Mercedes-Benz and Porsche cars are still manufactured in Stuttgart and the surrounding area.

68. 1987 Beatty flop ISHTAR
I guess “Ishtar” did bomb and was a indeed a disaster, because I’ve never come across it outside of crosswords. The film stars Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as lounge singers working in Morocco! There’s a Cold War plot and, thank goodness, it’s a comedy. It’s so bad apparently, that it never even made it to DVD.

Actor Warren Beatty is the younger brother of actress Shirley MacLaine. Beatty has been married to actress Annette Bening since 1992.

69. Freelancer’s detail SPEC
The term “free lance” was coined by Sir Walter Scott in his 1820 novel “Ivanhoe”, using it to describe a medieval mercenary warrior. Forty years later, a freelancer was a journalist who did work for more than one publication without a long-term commitment.

Down
2. __ Kush mountains HINDU
The HIndu Kush is a range of mountains stretching from Afghanistan into northern Pakistan. The range marks the dividing line between Central and South Asia. The highest point in the range is Tirich Mir in Pakistan, at an elevation of nearly 25,300 feet.

7. Part of LPGA: Abbr. ASSN
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) was founded in 1950 by a group of 13 lady golfers, and today it is the oldest ongoing women’s sports professional organization in the US.

9. She performed between Creedence and Sly at Woodstock JANIS
The singer Janis Joplin was from Port Arthur, Texas. A loose version of Joplin’s wild life is told in the 1979 film “The Rose”, with Bette Midler playing the lead. Famously, Joplin died in 1970 at 27 years of age from an overdose of heroin.

12. Napa vessels TUNS
The first commercial winery in Napa Valley, California was established way back in 1858. However, premium wine production only dates back to the 1960s, with the region really hitting the big time after its success at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. The story of that famous blind wine tasting is told in the entertaining 2008 film “Bottle Shock”.

22. Needs a fainting couch SWOONS
Fainting couches were quite common furnishings in the 1800s in well-to-do homes, with some of them being located in designated fainting rooms. The couches were similar to chaises longues, but had a higher back on one end. There is speculation that fainting couches were actually needed, because of fainting was relatively common in women who wore tight corsets.

24. Saudi neighbor OMANI
Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula and is neighbored by the OAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The capital city of Muscat has a strategic location on the Gulf of Oman and has a history of invasion and unrest. Centuries of occupation by the Persians ended in 1507 when the Portuguese took the city in a bloody attack. The Portuguese held Muscat for much of the next one hundred years until finally being ousted by local Omani forces in 1648. A Yemeni tribe invaded the area in 1741 and set up a monarchy that has been in place in Oman ever since.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab country in the Middle East and is the world’s largest oil producer, home to the world’s largest oil reserves. The Saudi dynasty started in central Arabia in 1744 when the secular leader Muhammad ibn Saud joined forces with the Islamic scholar and Imam, Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab. At the time, Saud was a ruler of a town near Riyadh and he was determined to bring “true” Islam to the Arabian peninsula. Since 1744 the fortunes of the Saudi family have risen and fallen, but it is that same family who rules what we know today as Saudi Arabia.

25. WWII female WAC
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was formed in 1942, and the unit was converted to full status the following year to become the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Famously, General Douglas MacArthur referred to the WACs as his “best soldiers”, saying they worked harder, complained less and were better disciplined than men. The WACs were disbanded in 1978 and the serving members were integrated into the rest of the army.

28. Hard-hit ball LINER
Line drives (liners) can be hit in baseball.

32. Florida __ KEYS
The Florida Keys are a chain of low islands that stretch from the tip of the Florida peninsula about 15 miles south of Miami to Key West (inhabited) and further to Dry Tortugas (uninhabited). Most of the inhabited islands are connected by US Highway 1, which traverses several impressive bridges.

33. Blue-and-yellow megastore IKEA
The IKEA furniture stores use the colors blue and yellow for brand recognition. Blue and yellow are the national colors of Sweden, where IKEA was founded and is headquartered.

34. Stash finder NARC
“Narc” is a slang term for a law enforcement officer who tracks down criminals associated illegal drugs.

35. Willard of “Best in Show” FRED
Fred Willard is an actor and comedian noted in recent years for his performances in the “Best in Show” and the “Anchorman” series of films. On television, Willard plays Phil Dunphy’s father on “Modern Family”.

42. Speaker between Hastert and Boehner PELOSI
Nancy Pelosi is a former Speaker of the House, the 60th person to hold that position. Ms. Pelosi represents a district not far from here, which covers most of San Francisco. She is the first Californian, the first Italian-American and the first woman to be Speaker of the House. As Speaker, she was also second in line, after the Vice President, to take over if President Obama could not finish his term. That made Nancy Pelosi the highest-ranking female politician in US history.

Dennis Hastert served as Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007, making him the longest-serving Republican in history to hold the office. Hastert resigned his seat in 2007 and now works as a lobbyist.

John Boehner has been Leader of the House of Representatives since 2011, and was the House Minority Leader from 2007 to 2011. Boehner is from Reading, Ohio and grew up in modest circumstances in a two-bedroom house with eleven siblings. After Boehner graduated from university in 1977, he joined a small packaging and plastics business. By the time he resigned to serve in Congress, Boehner had risen to become president of the company.

46. Pickup at a 36-Down TAB
When we “run a tab” at a bar say, we are “running a tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.

48. Picasso, for one CUBIST
In the art movement known as Cubism, objects which are the subject of a painting are broken up and reassembled in an abstract form. The pioneers of the Cubist movement were Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

52. Justice Sotomayor SONIA
Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic justice on the US Supreme Court, and the third female justice. Sotomayor was nominated by President Barack Obama to replace the retiring Justice David Souter.

54. Fictional Doone LORNA
The novel “Lorna Doone” was written by Richard Doddridge Blackmore. R. D. Blackmore was an English novelist, very celebrated and in demand in his day (the late 1800s). His romantic story “Lorna Doone” was by no means a personal favorite of his, and yet it is the only one of his works still in print.

58. Small bite NOSH
Our word “nosh” has been around since the late fifties, when it was imported from the Yiddish word “nashn” meaning “to nibble”.

61. X-ray kin MRI
A CT (or “CAT”) scan produces (via computer manipulation) a three dimensional image of the inside of an object, usually the human body. It does so by taking a series of two dimensional x-ray images while rotating the camera around the patient. The issue with CT scans is that they use x-rays, and high doses of radiation can be harmful causing damage that is cumulative over time. An MRI on the other hand (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), uses powerful magnetic fields to generate its images so there is no exposure to ionizing radiation (such as X-rays). We used MRI equipment in our chemistry labs at school, way back in the days when the technology was still called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI). Apparently the marketing folks didn’t like the term “nuclear” because of its association with atomic bombs, so now it’s just called MRI.

X-rays were first studied comprehensively by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (also “Roentgen”), and it was he who gave the name “X-rays” to this particular type of radiation. Paradoxically, in Röntgen’s native language of German, X-rays are routinely referred to as “Röntgen rays”. In 1901 Röntgen won the first Nobel Prize in Physics that was ever awarded, recognition for his work on X-rays.

63. Ont. neighbor QUE
Québec is the largest province in Canada, and the only one with French as its sole official language. The name “Québec” comes from an Algonquin word “kebec” meaning “where the river narrows”. This refers to the area around Quebec City where the St. Lawrence River narrows as it flows through a gap lined by steep cliffs.

64. L.A. campus USC
The University of Southern California (USC) is a private school in Los Angeles. Apart from its excellent academic record, USC is known the success of its athletic program. USC athletes have won more Olympic medals than the students of any other university in the world.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “That’s enough from you!” SHH!
4. City whose tower’s construction began in 1173 PISA
8. Pops out of the cockpit EJECTS
14. Seoul-based automaker KIA
15. Bulky boats ARKS
16. Hit one’s limit, in slang MAX OUT
17. How poets write? IN VERSES (from “inverses”)
19. Like a classic French soup ONIONY
20. Tree of Knowledge locale EDEN
21. How moonshine is made? IN STILLS (from “instills”)
23. Quick summary RUNDOWN
26. Learned WISE
27. Actress Thurman UMA
28. Bath bathroom LOO
29. Go to the bottom SINK
33. How parts of a whole can be written? IN FRACTIONS (from “infractions”)
38. Middling grade CEE
39. “Doctor Who” actress Gillan KAREN
40. Taylor of fashion ANN
41. Strong glue EPOXY
43. Lyrical preposition ERE
44. How a priest preaches? IN VESTMENTS (from “investments”)
47. Electrically flexible AC/DC
49. Lyrical preposition O’ER
50. Feel crummy AIL
51. World power until 1991: Abbr. USSR
53. Spirits brand with a Peppar variety ABSOLUT
57. How kangaroos travel? IN BOUNDS (from “inbounds”)
60. Former Cubs slugger SOSA
61. Meadow lows MOOING
62. How some paper is packaged? IN QUIRES (from “inquires”)
65. Land on two continents RUSSIA
66. Squeaker in Stuttgart MAUS
67. Big fan NUT
68. 1987 Beatty flop ISHTAR
69. Freelancer’s detail SPEC
70. Big primate APE

Down
1. One going downhill fast SKIER
2. __ Kush mountains HINDU
3. Port in a storm, so to speak HAVEN
4. Score to shoot for PAR
5. Taxing initials IRS
6. Knitter’s coil SKEIN
7. Part of LPGA: Abbr. ASSN
8. What the cold-blooded don’t feel EMOTION
9. She performed between Creedence and Sly at Woodstock JANIS
10. Sends away EXILES
11. Aloof COOL
12. Napa vessels TUNS
13. Piggery STY
18. Last ENDURE
22. Needs a fainting couch SWOONS
24. Saudi neighbor OMANI
25. WWII female WAC
28. Hard-hit ball LINER
30. Clickable image ICON
31. Coming up NEXT
32. Florida __ KEYS
33. Blue-and-yellow megastore IKEA
34. Stash finder NARC
35. Willard of “Best in Show” FRED
36. Brewpub TAVERN
37. Pre-final rounds SEMIS
42. Speaker between Hastert and Boehner PELOSI
45. Coffee order NO SUGAR
46. Pickup at a 36-Down TAB
48. Picasso, for one CUBIST
52. Justice Sotomayor SONIA
53. “Easy-peasy!” A SNAP!
54. Fictional Doone LORNA
55. Go through entirely USE UP
56. Small bite TASTE
57. Short notes? IOUS
58. Small bite NOSH
59. Lowers, as lights DIMS
61. X-ray kin MRI
63. Ont. neighbor QUE
64. L.A. campus USC

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