LA Times Crossword Answers 3 Mar 2018, Saturday

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Constructed by: Gail Grabowski
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 18m 24s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Steve McQueen’s co-star in “The Getaway” : ALI MACGRAW

Ali MacGraw’s most famous role was the female lead in the 1970 film “Love Story”. MacGraw became romantically involved with Steve McQueen as they filmed “The Getaway” in 1972. The pair eventually wed after they managed to unwind their first marriages. They divorced in 1978.

“The Getaway” is a 1972 action movie starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. The film is an adaptation of the a 1958 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. Not a great movie, in my humble opinion …

15. It doesn’t include overtime : BASE SALARY

It has been suggested that out term “salary” comes from the Latin “sal” meaning “salt”. The idea is that a Roman soldier’s “salarium” might have been an allowance to purchase salt.

19. Organic soy milk brand : EDEN

Eden Foods is the largest supplier of organic dry grocery items in the United States, but is perhaps best known for Edensoy organic soy milk. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Eden was founded in 1969 as a co-op grocery store.

20. Org. hacked during the 2016 presidential campaign : DNC

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) was set up way back in 1848, and governs the day-to-day affairs of the Democratic Party. Past chairpersons of the DNC include Howard Dean from Vermont and Chris Dodd from Connecticut.

27. Texas-Louisiana border river : SABINE

The Sabine River passes through Louisiana and Texas, and forms part of the border between the two states. There are a lot of cypress trees growing along the river’s banks as it approaches the Gulf of Mexico. These trees give the river its name, as “sabinas” is Spanish for “cypress trees”.

37. “On the Road” narrator : SAL

Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel “On the Road” is largely autobiographical, telling the story of Sal Paradise (Jack K.) and the road trips that he and his friends took across the country in the fifties.

38. Company with back-to-school buys : BIC

Société Bic is a French company, based in Clichy in France. The first product the company produced, more than fifty years ago, was the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen that is still produced today. Bic also makes other disposable products such as lighters and razors.

40. Crock-Pot and Cuisinart: Abbr. : TMS

Trademark (TM)

We often use the term “crockpot” as an alternative for “slow cooker”. The generic term comes from the trademark “Crock-Pot”, now owned by Sunbeam products.

The Cuisinart line of home appliances was introduced by Carl and Shirley Sontheimer in 1973. The debut product in the line was America’s first food processor. Sales of the machine were very slow for a couple of years, until celebrity chefs like Julia Child and Jacques Pepin started to endorse the product.

41. News gp. : UPI

Founded in 1958, United Press International (UPI) used to be one of the biggest news agencies in the world, sending out news by wire to the major newspapers. UPI ran into trouble with the change in media formats at the end of the twentieth century and lost many of its clients as the afternoon newspapers shut down due to the advent of television news. UPI, which once employed thousands, still exists today but with just a handful of employees.

42. 1940s mil. zone : ETO

General Dwight D. Eisenhower (“Ike”) was in command of the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during WWII. If you’re a WWII buff like me, then I recommend you take a look at a great, made-for-TV movie starring Tom Selleck as Eisenhower called “Ike: Countdown to D-Day” that came out in 2004.

44. Wilde forte : EPIGRAM

An epigram is a short and clever statement, poem or discourse.

Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer who led a very public life in his adopted home of London. Although he was a prolific writer of many forms of literature, Wilde penned only one novel, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. He was perhaps more renowned in his own time as a dramatist. Several of his plays are performed regularly today, including “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, “An Ideal Husband” and “The Importance of Being Earnest”. Wilde’s last work was a poem titled “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”, which recounted his time in prison after being convicted of homosexual offences in 1895 and sentenced to two years’ hard labor. Oscar Wilde died in 1900 at the age of 46 in Paris, destitute.

49. Joan of Arc’s crime : HERESY

Joan of Arc (also “Jeanne d’Arc”, her birth name) led the French Army successfully into battle a number of times during the Hundred Years War with England. When she was eventually captured, Joan was tried in Rouen, the seat of the occupying English government in France at that time. There she was burned at the stake having been found guilty of heresy. In fact, after the fire died down, the executioner raked the coals to display the charred body, proving Joan had died, and then burned the corpse again, twice, so that relics could not be collected. The remaining ashes were then cast into the Seine River. Joan of Arc was canonized some 600 years later, in 1920, and is now one of the patron saints of France.

53. Where Excalibur was forged : AVALON

Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legends. The name Avalon probably comes from the word “afal”, the Welsh word for “apple”, reflecting the fact that the island was noted for its beautiful apples. Avalon is where King Arthur’s famous sword “Excalibur” was forged, and supposedly where Arthur was buried.

Excalibur is the legendary sword of the legendary King Arthur of Great Britain. In some accounts, Arthur was given the sword by the Lady of the Lake. There is sometimes confusion about the origin of Excalibur, as Arthur famously is said to have pulled a sword from a stone, hence proving him to be a true king. The Sword in the Stone is a different sword, and not Excalibur.

57. Bering Sea port : NOME

Nome, Alaska has over 3,500 residents, the majority of whom are Native American. The next largest ethnic group in Nome is the white population. The origin of the name “Nome” isn’t well understood, it seems. One theory is that was a misunderstanding of the local Inupiaq word meaning “Where at?”

The Bering Sea in the very north of the Pacific Ocean is named for the Danish navigator Vitus Bering who was the first European to systematically explore the area in 1728. Many believe that the first humans arrived in the Americas from Asia when the waters of the Bering Sea were lower during the last ice age, over what is known as the Bering land bridge.

61. Amy’s “Sisters” co-star : TINA

“Sisters” is a 2015 comedy movie starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in the title roles. “The film wasn’t really well received, even though the performances by Fey and Poehler received good reviews.

65. Bands in the East : OBIS

The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied at the back in what is called a butterfly knot. The term “obi” is also used for the thick cotton belts that are an essential part of the outfits worn by practitioners of many martial arts. The color of the martial arts obi signifies the wearer’s skill level.

Down

1. Calais cleric : ABBE

“Abbé” is the French word for “abbot”.

Calais is a major ferry port in northern France that overlooks the Strait of Dover, which is the narrowest point in the English Channel. The strait is just over 20 miles wide, making Calais the nearest French town to England.

2. Hog product : 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.

9. Craft for couples : ARK

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.

10. “The Swiss Family Robinson” author : WYSS

“The Swiss Family Robinson” is an adventure novel by Johann David Wyss that was first published in 1812. Wyss was a pastor and wrote the novel as a series of episodes or lessons designed to teach his four sons good family values and the virtue of having a good relationship with the natural world. “Robinson” is not a Swiss name, and Wyss chose it in honor of Robinson Crusoe.

11. Parish priests : VICARS

A vicar is a member of the clergy in several Christian traditions. In more general terms, the we can use the word “vicar” for a person who acts in the place of another, i.e. a deputy. It was the latter usage of the term that gave rise to the religious usage, as a vicar in a church was considered a person acting for God.

12. Portmanteau for workout clothing worn socially : ATHLEISURE

The wearing of clothing designed for athletic activity in casual, non-athletic environments is termed “athleisure”, which is a portmanteau of “athletic” and “leisure”.

14. Defib specialists : EMTS

A defibrillator (defib) might be operated by an emergency medical technician (EMT).

25. End of a ristorante request : DENTE

The Italian expression “al dente” literally means “to the tooth” or “to the bite” and is used to describe not only pasta, but also vegetables that are cooked so that they are tender and yet still crisp.

28. One of the original Pointer Sisters : ANITA

The Pointer Sisters started out in 1969 as a duo, June and Bonnie Pointer. They grew to a quartet when sisters Anita and Ruth joined the lineup. Bonnie left the group to go solo, and the Pointer Sisters achieved their greatest success as a trio. June Pointer passed away in 2006.

29. Passion caused by strips : BACON MANIA

“Bacon” is an Old French word that we imported into English. The term ultimately comes from the Proto-Germanic “bakkon” meaning “back meat”.

32. Cantina fare : TAPAS

“Tapa” is the Spanish word for “lid”, and there is no clear rationale for why this word came to be used for an appetizer. There are lots of explanations cited, all of which seem to involve the temporary covering of one’s glass of wine with a plate or item of food to either preserve the wine or give one extra space at the table.

35. Cabaret offering : REVUE

“Revue” is the French word for “review”.

45. Hurled weapon : GRENADE

Our word “grenade”, used for a small explosive missile, came via French from the word for the pomegranate fruit. The name reflects the similarity between the seed-filled fruit and the powder-filled, fragmentation bomb.

53. Splitting target : ATOM

By some definitions, New Zealand-born physicist and chemist Ernest Rutherford was the first person to “split the atom”. Rutherford bombarded nitrogen with alpha particles and thereby forced neutrons out of the nucleus of the nitrogen atom. The first intentional nuclear “fission” came decades later in the 1930s, with experiments in which larger nuclei were split into smaller nuclei.

55. Tweed’s caricaturist : NAST

William Magear Tweed was known as “Boss” Tweed. He was a 19th-century, American politician who led the Democratic Party machine in New York, headquartered in Tammany Hall. He was one of the most successful of the corrupt politicians of the day, siphoning from taxpayers (in today’s money) billions of dollars. In 1871 he was arrested, and served time in jail. He was then rearrested on civil charges and served time in debtor’s prison. He managed to escape to Spain, but was arrested once more and extradited to the United States. He died in jail in 1878.

Thomas Nast was an American caricaturist and cartoonist. Nast was the creator of the Republican Party elephant, the Democratic Party donkey, Uncle Sam and the image of the plump and jocular Santa Claus that we use today. Thomas Nast drew some famous cartoons in which he depicted the Tammany Society as a vicious tiger that was killing democracy. Nast’s use of the tiger symbology caught on and was used by other cartoonists to harp at the society.

58. GM line until 2004 : OLDS

Oldsmobile was an automobile brand founded by Ransom E. Olds (REO) in 1897. The brand was finally phased out by General Motors in 2004.

63. Hagen of the stage : UTA

Uta Hagen was a German-born American actress. Hagen married Jose Ferrer in 1938, but they were divorced ten years later after it was revealed that she was having a long-running affair with Paul Robeson. Her association with Robeson, a prominent civil rights activist, earned her a spot on the Hollywood Blacklist during the McCarthy Era. This forced her away from film, but towards a successful stage career in New York City.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Steve McQueen’s co-star in “The Getaway” : ALI MACGRAW
11. Hollow : VALE
15. It doesn’t include overtime : BASE SALARY
16. Can of corn at the market, say : ITEM
17. Defect : BREAK RANKS
18. Online shopping option : CHAT
19. Organic soy milk brand : EDEN
20. Org. hacked during the 2016 presidential campaign : DNC
21. Some edible plant parts : STALKS
23. Morally base : SORDID
26. Vein contents : ORE
27. Texas-Louisiana border river : SABINE
30. Vein contents : DEPOSITS
34. Red-hot : ON A TEAR
36. Superfan : NUT
37. “On the Road” narrator : SAL
38. Company with back-to-school buys : BIC
39. Flowery lines : ODE
40. Crock-Pot and Cuisinart: Abbr. : TMS
41. News gp. : UPI
42. 1940s mil. zone : ETO
43. Excite, with “up” : REV
44. Wilde forte : EPIGRAM
46. Sounded right : RANG TRUE
49. Joan of Arc’s crime : HERESY
50. Shorten a yard to mere inches? : MOW
51. Crate up : ENCASE
53. Where Excalibur was forged : AVALON
56. Buff end : -OON
57. Bering Sea port : NOME
61. Amy’s “Sisters” co-star : TINA
62. One with a lot of wheels : AUTO DEALER
65. Bands in the East : OBIS
66. It helps you get up : STEPLADDER
67. Substantial content : MEAT
68. Commercial challenges : TASTE TESTS

Down

1. Calais cleric : ABBE
2. Hog product : LARD
3. Understanding answer : I SEE
4. Is not to be taken lightly : MEANS IT
5. What it doesn’t hurt to do : ASK
6. Checkout counter device : CARD READER
7. Sweat __ : GLAND
8. Like bad butter : RANCID
9. Craft for couples : ARK
10. “The Swiss Family Robinson” author : WYSS
11. Parish priests : VICARS
12. Portmanteau for workout clothing worn socially : ATHLEISURE
13. News source, perhaps : LEAK
14. Defib specialists : EMTS
22. Places for piggies? : TOOTSIES
24. Very few : ONE OR TWO
25. End of a ristorante request : DENTE
27. Unlit? : SOBER
28. One of the original Pointer Sisters : ANITA
29. Passion caused by strips : BACON MANIA
31. Fueling device with an automatic shut-off feature : PUMP HANDLE
32. Cantina fare : TAPAS
33. Disreputable : SLIMY
35. Cabaret offering : REVUE
45. Hurled weapon : GRENADE
47. Bring up the rear : GO LAST
48. Online reminders : E-NOTES
52. Appropriate : CO-OPT
53. Splitting target : ATOM
54. Hard-to-describe feeling : VIBE
55. Tweed’s caricaturist : NAST
58. GM line until 2004 : OLDS
59. Fulfill : MEET
60. Throws wildly, say : ERRS
63. Hagen of the stage : UTA
64. Down : EAT

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