LA Times Crossword Answers 16 Jan 2018, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Roger & Kathy Wienberg
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Theme: Swipe Right

The last (RIGHT) part of themed answers are synonyms of SWIPE:

  • 60A. Indicate willingness to date someone, on Tinder … and an apt hint to the last part of 17-, 23-, 38- and 48-Across : SWIPE RIGHT
  • 17A. Delayed show of surprise : DOUBLE TAKE
  • 23A. “Frumious” beast in “Jabberwocky” : BANDERSNATCH
  • 38A. Cosmetic surgery that removes bags : EYE LIFT
  • 48A. Eight-ball call : CORNER POCKET

Bill’s time: 5m 42s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6. Wile E. Coyote’s supplier of iron bird seed : ACME

The Acme Corporation is a fictional company used mainly by Looney Tunes, and within the Looney Tunes empire it was used mostly in the “Road Runner” cartoons. Wile E. Coyote was always receiving a new piece of gear from Acme designed to finally capture the Road Runner, but the equipment always led to his downfall instead.

10. Car ad no. : MSRP

Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP)

15. Stick in one’s __: cause resentment : CRAW

“Craw” is another name for the “crop”, a portion of the alimentary tract of some animals, including birds. The crop is used for the storage of food prior to digestion. It allows the animal to eat large amounts and then digest that food with efficiency over an extended period. The expression “to stick in one’s craw” is used one when one cannot accept something, cannot “swallow” it.

16. Home furnishings giant : 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.

20. “Happy Motoring” company : ESSO

The brand name Esso has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

21. Philosopher Descartes : RENE

The great French philosopher Rene Descartes made the famous statement in Latin, “Cogito ergo sum”. This translates into French as “Je pense, donc je suis” and into English as “I think, therefore I am”.

22. “Hamlet” courtier : OSRIC

In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”, Osric is the courtier that Claudius dispatches to invite Hamlet to participate in a duel.

23. “Frumious” beast in “Jabberwocky” : BANDERSNATCH

Here are the first two verses of “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll, probably the one poem that we all just loved learning to recite at school

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!

26. Suave : URBANE

We use “urbane” today to mean something courteous or refined. Back in the 1500s, the term was used in the same way that we now use “urban”. Those townsfolk thought they were more sophisticated than the countryfolk, and so the usage evolved.

30. “Rock-a-bye Baby” tree limb : BOUGH

“Rock-a-Bye Baby” is a lullaby, the history of which is much debated. Some say it originated in England, and others claim that it was the first poem that was written on American soil.

Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop,
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

31. “From the __ of Montezuma … ” : HALLS

The “Marines’ Hymn” is the official hymn of the US Marine Corp, and the oldest official song of any of the US armed forces. The famous line “To the shores of Tripoli” is a reference to the Battle of Derne in 1805, an action in the First Barbary War. In said battle, US Marines led a recruited mercenary army to victory against a much larger enemy force. Another famous line “The Halls of Montezuma”, is a reference to the Battle of Chapultepec of 1847, during the Mexican-American War. The latter battle involved a successful storming of Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City that stood atop a 200-foot hill.

34. Q’s neighbor, on most keyboards : TAB

Like most features on our computer keyboards, the tab key is a hangover from the days of typewriters. When using a typewriter, making entries into a table was very tedious, involving lots of tapping on the spacebar and backspace key. So, a lever was added to typewriters that allowed the operator to “jump” across the page to positions that could be set by hand. Later this was simplified to a tab key which could be depressed, causing the carriage to jump to the next tab stop in much the same way that the modern tab key works on a computer.

37. Tolkien creature : ELF

J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel) Tolkien was an English author, best known by far for his fantasy novels “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”. Although Tolkien lived in England and was a professor at Oxford, he served for many years as an external examiner at my old school, University College Dublin in Ireland.

40. Program file ending : EXE

In the Windows Operating System, a file with the extension .exe is an “executable” file.

43. Central Florida city : OCALA

The city of Ocala, Florida was founded near a historic village with the same name. In the local Timucua language “Ocala” means “Big Hammock”. Back in the 1890s, Ocala was famous for its oranges, with over one third of that fruit shipped from Florida coming from the city. Also, thoroughbred horse farming in Florida started in Ocala, back in 1943. Some folks today call Ocala the “Horse Capital of the World”, but I bet that’s disputed by others …

48. Eight-ball call : CORNER POCKET

Eight-ball and nine-ball are arguably the most popular variants of pool played in North America. In eight-ball, one player sinks the striped balls and the other the solid balls. The first to sink all his or her balls and then the black 8-ball, without fouling, wins the game. In nine-ball, each player must hit the lowest numbered ball on the table first with the cue ball. The first player to sink the 9-ball wins. Sinking the nine ball can happen when first hitting the lowest bowl on the table, or possibly when balls numbered 1-8 have been sunk.

54. Big name in skin care : OLAY

Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1949. When Oil of Olay was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.

55. Playbill listings : BIOS

I get quite a kick out of reading the bios in “Playbill” as some of them can be really goofy and entertaining. “Playbill” started off in 1884 in New York as an in-house publication for just one theater on 21st St. You can’t see any decent-sized production these days anywhere in the United States without being handed a copy of “Playbill”.

60. Indicate willingness to date someone, on Tinder … and an apt hint to the last part of 17-, 23-, 38- and 48-Across : SWIPE RIGHT

Many apps on phones are now using “swipe right” and “swipe left” actions to indicate “like” and dislike”. I suppose Tinder is the most famous “swipe right/swipe left” app today. It’s a dating app, or so I hear …

63. Actress Campbell : NEVE

Neve Campbell is a Canadian actress whose big break in movies came with the “Scream” horror film series, in which she had a leading role. I don’t do horror films, so I haven’t seen any of the “Scream” movies. Nor have I seen the TV series “Party of Five” which launched the acting careers of both Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt in the nineties.

64. Word before and after “de la” : CREME

The “crème de la crème” are the elite, the best of the best. The term is French and translates as “cream of the cream”.

67. Madison Ave. pro : AD REP

Madison Avenue became the center of advertising in the US in the twenties, and serves as the backdrop to the great TV drama “Mad Men”. There aren’t many advertising agencies left on Madison Avenue these days though, as most have moved to other parts of New York City. The street takes its name from Madison Square, which is bounded on one side by Madison Avenue. The square in turn takes its name from James Madison, the fourth President of the United States.

Down

2. “Famous” cookie man : AMOS

Wally Amos was a talent agent, one who was in the habit of taking home-baked cookies with him as an enticement to get celebrities to see him. He was urged by friends to open a cookie store (the cookies were that delicious, I guess) and this he did in Los Angeles in 1975 using the name “Famous Amos”. The store was a smash hit and he was able build on the success by introducing his cookies into supermarkets. The brand was eventually bought up making Wally a rich man, and Famous Amos cookies are still flying off the shelf. Wally Amos also became an energetic literacy advocate. He hosted 30 TV programs in 1987 entitled “Learn to Read” that provided reading instruction targeted at adults.

4. Large, bindle-shaped purse : HOBO BAG

A hobo bag is rather unstructured-looking, a crescent-shaped bag with a long strap and soft sides that tends to slump when set down. It’s called a hobo bag because the shape resembles that of the bundle carried by archetypal hobos on the ends of sticks resting on their shoulders.

“Bindle” is the name given to that bag or sack that the stereotypical hobo carried on a stick over his shoulder. “Bindle” is possibly a corruption of “bundle”.

5. Abbr. on a Cardinal’s cap : STL

The St. Louis Cardinals were originally called the “Brown Stockings”, changing their name to the “Perfectos” in 1899. That obviously didn’t go down well with the locals, as the owners changed it one year later to the Cardinals.

7. “Whooping” marsh bird : CRANE

The whooping crane is one of only two crane species that is native to North America. Hunting and loss of habitat led to there being only 21 whooping cranes being left on the continent in 1941. Numbers have increased since then, but the species is still endangered. That’s a shame, because the whooping crane is the tallest of all North American birds.

10. Mass book : MISSAL

Missals came into being in medieval times and were used primarily by priests and ministers. A missal is a book containing all the texts necessary for the celebration of Mass through the liturgical year. Nowadays missals are used by the congregation and not just by the celebrants. The term “missal” comes from the Latin for “Mass book”.

18. Fish-eating bird : ERNE

The ern (sometimes “erne”) is also called the white-tailed eagle or the sea-eagle.

22. Brit’s 14-pound equivalent : ONE STONE

We’ve used pounds and stones in Ireland, for all my life there. However, they no longer have any “official” status in the country, as we’ve made the conversion to the metric system. Having said that, many folks still tend to measure body weight in stones and pounds. One stone is equal to fourteen pounds.

24. Busch partner in beer : ANHEUSER

Adolphus Busch was born in Mainz in Germany. He emigrated with three of his brothers from Germany, to St. Louis in 1857. Still a young man, he met a married Lilly Anheuser, whose father owned a local brewery. When Busch’s own father died, he received a sizable inheritance, which he used to buy a substantial share in his father-in-law’s brewery. When Lilly’s father died, the brewery was renamed to Anheuser Busch.

26. Lyft competitor : UBER

Uber is a ridesharing service that was founded in 2009 and is based in San Francisco. The service is somewhat controversial and has been described as an illegal taxicab operation. Central to Uber’s service is the company’s mobile app, which can use the client’s GPS location to help find the nearest available ride. Uber’s main competitor is Lyft.

32. First state, alphabetically: Abbr. : ALA

The first four US states in an alphabetical list all start with the letter A: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas. The last four states in an alphabetical list all start with the letter W: Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

39. River of Flanders : YSER

The Yser river flows into the North Sea at Nieuwpoort in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium.

Belgium is one of the six founding members of the European Economic Community (EEC) that evolved into today’s European Union (EU). Belgium also acts as host of several international organizations, including NATO. There are two large regions in the country. Flanders in the north is predominantly Dutch-speaking, and Wallonia in the south is predominantly French-speaking. The capital city of Brussels is officially bilingual, although from personal experience I can attest that it is mainly French-speaking even though it is located in the Flemish part of the country.

44. __ seat: advantageous spot : CATBIRD

The idiomatic phrase “the catbird seat” is used to describe an enviable position in which one has the upper hand. The first documented use of the expression is in a 1942 story by James Thurber called “The Catbird Seat”.

46. High-and-mighty : SNOOTY

“Snoot” is a variant of “snout” and is a word that originated in Scotland. The idea is that someone who is snooty, or “snouty”, tends to look down his or her nose at the rest of the world.

47. Breed of terrier : SKYE

The Skye terrier is a breed of dog that is actually under threat of extinction. A few years ago there were only 30 Skye terriers born in the breed’s native land of the UK.

49. Wild West film : OATER

The term “oater” that is used for a Western movie comes from the number of horses seen, as horses love oats!

51. Fruit that’s black when fully ripe : OLIVE

The olive tree developed in and around the Mediterranean Basin, but has been cultivated in many locations around the world for thousands of years. The fruit of the olive tree is prized as a foodstuff, as well as a source of olive oil. Our word “oil” ultimately derives from the Greek “elaia” meaning “olive”.

56. Disney CEO Robert : IGER

Robert Iger took over from Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005. Iger worked for ABC when it was taken over by Disney in 1996, and in 1999 he was named president of Walt Disney International. Iger is doing okay for himself; he earned more than $29 million in 2009.

58. Part of a recovery program : STEP

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was founded in 1935, by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio. As the organization grew, the guiding principles established by the founders were formatted into a 12-step program that was in place by the forties.

60. __-Caps: candy : SNO

Sno-Caps are a brand of candy usually only available in movie theaters. Sno-caps have been around since the 1920s, would you believe?

61. Color TV pioneer : RCA

Early television programming was broadcast in monochrome, i.e. black-and-white or greyscale. The introduction of color television built on the technology behind monochrome TV in the sense that color television images are a combination of three monochrome images. The colors of these three monochrome signals are red, green and blue (RGB).

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Soaking spots : BATHS
6. Wile E. Coyote’s supplier of iron bird seed : ACME
10. Car ad no. : MSRP
14. Cry during a winning streak : I’M HOT!
15. Stick in one’s __: cause resentment : CRAW
16. Home furnishings giant : IKEA
17. Delayed show of surprise : DOUBLE TAKE
19. River sediment : SILT
20. “Happy Motoring” company : ESSO
21. Philosopher Descartes : RENE
22. “Hamlet” courtier : OSRIC
23. “Frumious” beast in “Jabberwocky” : BANDERSNATCH
26. Suave : URBANE
29. Long, wriggly swimmers : EELS
30. “Rock-a-bye Baby” tree limb : BOUGH
31. “From the __ of Montezuma … ” : HALLS
34. Q’s neighbor, on most keyboards : TAB
37. Tolkien creature : ELF
38. Cosmetic surgery that removes bags : EYE LIFT
40. Program file ending : EXE
41. NFL official : REF
42. Graphic showing 50 sts. : US MAP
43. Central Florida city : OCALA
45. To be, to Caesar : ESSE
47. Wound like S-curves : SNAKED
48. Eight-ball call : CORNER POCKET
53. Stubble remover : RAZOR
54. Big name in skin care : OLAY
55. Playbill listings : BIOS
59. “Am __ early?” : I TOO
60. Indicate willingness to date someone, on Tinder … and an apt hint to the last part of 17-, 23-, 38- and 48-Across : SWIPE RIGHT
62. Transmitted : SENT
63. Actress Campbell : NEVE
64. Word before and after “de la” : CREME
65. Quarry : PREY
66. Tram loads : ORES
67. Madison Ave. pro : AD REP

Down

1. __ one’s time: wait : BIDE
2. “Famous” cookie man : AMOS
3. Therefore : THUS
4. Large, bindle-shaped purse : HOBO BAG
5. Abbr. on a Cardinal’s cap : STL
6. Performed on stage : ACTED
7. “Whooping” marsh bird : CRANE
8. Manufacturer : MAKER
9. Flock female : EWE
10. Mass book : MISSAL
11. Beef often used in stir-fry : SKIRT STEAK
12. Thing of the past : RELIC
13. Pothole repair : PATCH
18. Fish-eating bird : ERNE
22. Brit’s 14-pound equivalent : ONE STONE
24. Busch partner in beer : ANHEUSER
25. Starter starter : SELF-
26. Lyft competitor : UBER
27. Playbill listing : ROLE
28. Minimal-conflict area : BUFFER ZONE
31. Garment border : HEM
32. First state, alphabetically: Abbr. : ALA
33. Impudence : LIP
35. Rod between wheels : AXLE
36. Necklace sphere : BEAD
39. River of Flanders : YSER
44. __ seat: advantageous spot : CATBIRD
46. High-and-mighty : SNOOTY
47. Breed of terrier : SKYE
48. Fruity dessert : CRISP
49. Wild West film : OATER
50. Remote button : POWER
51. Fruit that’s black when fully ripe : OLIVE
52. Lighthouse locales : CAPES
56. Disney CEO Robert : IGER
57. “Good heavens!” : OH ME!
58. Part of a recovery program : STEP
60. __-Caps: candy : SNO
61. Color TV pioneer : RCA

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11 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 16 Jan 2018, Tuesday”

  1. LAT: 8:04, no errors. About reminiscent of last week. WSJ: 6:10, no errors. Nothing particularly surprising. Jones: 11:50, no errors. A little tough, but pretty much what to expect out of him. Newsday: 6:19, no errors (written). Newsday (Sunday): 19:11, no errors (written).

  2. 13:29 and then 3:00, no errors. (Some explanation may be needed … ?!) Just for grins, I decided to try this one using the Washington Post website on my iMac … and I did it in a little over six minutes … but I got the silent treatment … so I checked everything … and I checked everything again … and I checked everything a third time … and then I did a “reveal” … which turned the “O” of IMHOT red. What?!? Turns out that I had typed a zero, which, in the font being used, looked exactly like an “O” (a mistake that would be difficult to make on my iPad). Again, I think my subconscious hates me … ?. So I repeated the whole puzzle on my iPad and did it in 3:00 flat … and, IMHO, I deserve it … ???.

    Newsday (on paper!): 5:34, no errors. WSJ (on paper!): 6:53, no errors.

    1. Matt Jones: 10:18, with a (one-square) error that shouldn’t have happened: I was concentrating on a Natick (that I got right) and forgot to go back and look at something else I wasn’t sure of.

      I did another post-mortem examination of my LAT fiasco and figured out how I managed to type a zero: I got most of “I’M HOT” by touch-typing crossing entries, but the “O” was missing. Later, when I realized that “HOBO BAG” had to be a thing, I filled in the “O” by itself, as a one-finger event, and got the zero instead. (TMI, I know, but I feel better about it now … ?.)

      What the on-line apps need is direct mind-controlled fill that doesn’t involve clumsy fingers … is there a chip implant for that? … ?.

      In any case, the WP app on my iMac merits further experiments …

    2. Tim Croce puzzle: ~3 hours? (with breaks), no errors. Not too bad, really, but with the usual assortment of misleading clues, two references to a group I’ve heard of (maybe) two or three times in my life, and a reference to a medication completely unknown to me.

  3. 13:29 (No, Dave, I’m not kidding) – including a minute or two trying to fix the MISSAL, BANDERSNATCH, OSRIC nexus which would have been easier if I were paying attention to the theme (SNiTCH rather than SNATCH). NYT tripped me up a couple of times too today. Tough puzzle day for a Tuesday.

    At least the STL Cardinals and their long time (but now ex) owners ANHEUSER Busch were mentioned.. Even though the brewery no longer owns the team, the stadium still bears the name – Busch Stadium III as their previous 2 stadiums also had that moniker.

    Best –

    1. @Jeff …

      Re “13:29”: Perhaps the universe is trying to send us a message. Numbers to bet on, maybe? You’re the one with a Vegas connection, so I’ll leave it up to you to follow up on that. (I will gladly share in any winnings that result … ?.)

      Recently, on a hike, I came across an empty bottle of Jägermeister Liqueur, which I’ve been aware of all my life, but never tried, so I did a very uncharacteristic thing: I bought a tiny bottle of it and tried a couple of sips. And … all I can say is … my kids will probably find it after I’m gone and wonder whatever possessed the old man to go out and buy that … ?

  4. I had a little tough time with the puzzle, plus I had a trio of guests / clients which disturbed my concentration. Never the less, I had an enjoyable time.

    I was not familiar with the dating service Tinder. If one can indeed, date someone just by swiping right, I am tempted …
    On the other hand, …
    Then, Tinder reality set in. The Shocking truth about Tinder dating.

    This has been my learning moment of the day. lol.

    Have a nice day, all, folks.

  5. I guess it was just my paper, but, 6 questions were cut off – 66, 67 across; 45, 49, 60, 61, were cut off. This left a chunk of the SE messed up

  6. Hi y’all! ?
    13:29!!! …. Okay, in reality I didn’t time myself; just wanted to be part of the Jeff and Dave Club — and the time is probably pretty close anyway​. ? Easy puzzle; no errors.
    So many baseball parks have corporate names now! I miss the folksy old names. So, I tried to remember the previous name of Busch Stadium and couldn’t!! Had to Google. Of course it turns out it’s basically been Busch Stadium since 1953! At least that means I hadn’t forgotten some fine old name. ?
    Vidwan, it’s funny — upon clicking the Tinder article link, I only noticed the errors in grammar and spelling! That’s the writer in me! ? Huffington Post generally is a reputable site, but their standards aren’t too high when it comes to bloggers. Anyhoo– I do think Tinder is suited more to 20-somethings. I installed it once, on a dare. It’s improved since its inception, but I didn’t meet anyone — didn’t want to. It’s​ always fun ​to see what the kids are up to these days….HEY! THAT COULD BE THE OPENING LINE OF MY TINDER PROFILE!!!…. or not…?
    Be well~~™?

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