LA Times Crossword Answers 15 Mar 2018, Thursday

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Constructed by: Bruce Haight
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Theme: Stockholders

Themed answers include “HERD” as a hidden word. Those answers are “STOCK HOLDERS”.

  • 61A. Certain investor … and, based on the word hidden in each, what 17-, 26-, 37- or 50-Across is? : STOCKHOLDER
  • 17A. Dual-purpose machine : WASHER/DRYER
  • 26A. End of the end of “Gone With the Wind” : … ANOTHER DAY
  • 37A. Lower : FURTHER DOWN
  • 50A. Place to order matzo ball soup : KOSHER DELI

Bill’s time: 9m 25s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Croquet surfaces : LAWNS

The very genteel game of croquet is played on lawns all over the world. It’s the game where mallets are used to hit wooden balls through hoops embedded in the grass. The name “croquet” is from French dialect and means “hockey stick”. The game originated in Brittany in France, and was popularized in Ireland in the 1830s.

11. Christopher A. Wray’s org. : FBI

Christopher A. Wray was working as a partner in a law firm when he was called on by President Donald Trump to replace fired FBI director James Comey. Wray had acted as personal attorney for then Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie during the infamous Bridgegate scandal. Prior to going into private practice, Wray had worked in the Justice Department. James Comey was his boss for while, when Comey was Deputy Attorney General.

14. Roundish : OVATE

Something described as ovate is shaped like an egg, with the term coming from “ovum”, the Latin for “egg”.

16. Neurotic cartoon dog : REN

“The Ren & Stimpy Show” is an animated television show created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi, and which ran on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1996. The title characters are Marland “Ren” Höek, a scrawny Chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a rotund Manx cat. Not my cup of tea …

21. “Later, dude” : PEACE

Our term “dude” arose as slang in New York City in the 1880s, when it was used to describe a fastidious man. In the early 1900s, the term was extended to mean “city slickers”, easterners who vacationed in the West. The first use of the term “dude ranch” was recorded in 1921.

24. One in the woods? : BABE

“Babes in the Wood” is a children’s tale, dating back to the late 1500s, that I think is quite morbid and scary. The basic story is that two children are abandoned in a wood, die, and are then covered in leaves by robins. It’s a morality tale, that does describe the downfall of the uncle who has the children taken to the woods. However, today we think more the “innocent babes”, as we describe someone who is naive as a “babe in the woods”.

26. End of the end of “Gone With the Wind” : … ANOTHER DAY!

The last lines in Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone With the Wind” are spoken by Scarlett O’Hara:

“Tara! Home. I’ll go home, and I’ll think of some way to get him back! After all, tomorrow is another day!”

28. Water filter brand : BRITA

Brita is a German company that specializes in water filtration products. Brita products do a great job of filtering tap water, but they don’t “purify” it, they don’t remove microbes. That job is usually done by a municipality before the water gets to the faucet.

30. Socialite adopted by the media : IT GIRL

Clara Bow was a fabulous star of silent film, with her most famous movie being “It” from 1927. Clara Bow’s performance was so celebrated in the movie that she was forever to be known as the “It girl”. The term “it” was a euphemism for “sex appeal”, and that is what Clara Bow was known to “exude”. Bow applied her red lipstick in the shape of a heart, and women who copied this style were said to put on a “Clara Bow”.

40. Court org. : ABA

American Bar Association (ABA)

46. “Tree of Smoke” novelist Johnson : DENIS

Denis Johnson’s 2007 novel “Tree of Smoke” is about a CIA official in charge of Psyops in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. It won the National Book Award for Fiction, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

50. Place to order matzo ball soup : KOSHER DELI

Matzo is an unleavened bread that is very brittle. The bread is crushed, creating Matzo meal that is then formed into balls using eggs and oil as a binder. The balls are usually served in a chicken stock.

55. Facebook entry : POST

If you’ve seen the movie “The Social Network”, you might remember that Facebook started off as “Facemash”, a site created by Mark Zuckerberg while he was attending Harvard. Facemash became “Thefacebook” and membership was opened to students beyond Harvard, initially including Ivy League schools and then most colleges across North America.

59. WWII battle site, for short : IWO

Iwo Jima is a volcanic island located south of Tokyo that today is uninhabited. The name is Japanese for “Sulfur Island”, referring to the sulfur mining on which Iwo Jima’s economy once depended. There were about a thousand Japanese civilians living on the island prior to WWII. In 1944, there was a massive influx of Japanese military personnel in anticipation of the inevitable US invasion. As the Japanese military moved in, the civilians were forced out and no one has lived there since. Control of the island was wrested from the Japanese in the five-week Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. Said battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific theater in WWII.

64. Tokyo-born artist : ONO

Yoko Ono was born in 1933 in Tokyo into a prosperous Japanese family, and is actually a descendant of one of the emperors of Japan. Yoko’s father moved around the world for work, and she lived the first few years of her life in San Francisco. The family returned to Japan, before moving on to New York, Hanoi and back to Japan just before WWII, in time to live through the great firebombing of Tokyo in 1945. Immediately after the war the family was far from prosperous. While Yoko’s father was being held in a prison camp in Vietnam, her mother had to resort to begging and bartering to feed her children. When her father was repatriated, life started to return to normal and Yoko was able to attend university. She was the first woman to be accepted into the philosophy program of Gakushuin University.

65. Jazz pianist Chick : COREA

Chick Corea is an American jazz pianist. Corea is noted for his work in the area of jazz fusion, as well as for his promotion of Scientology.

67. Word with cell or cent : RED

Red blood cells are the most numerous of all blood cells, and are responsible for delivering oxygen to the body’s tissues from the lungs. They are also known as erythrocytes, with “erythros” being the Greek for “red”.

Something that is “not worth a red cent” has very little value. The “red” reference is to the color of a copper penny.

68. Vacuum attachments : HOSES

The first practical portable vacuum cleaner was invented by James Spangler in 1907. Spangler sold the patent for the design to his cousin’s husband, William Henry Hoover. Hoover then made his fortune from manufacturing and selling vacuum cleaners. Hoover was so successful in my part of the world that back in Ireland we don’t use the verb “to vacuum” and instead say “to hoover”. Also, a hoover is what we call a vacuum cleaner, regardless of who makes it.

69. Like R.L. Stine stories : SCARY

Author R. L. Stine is sometimes referred to as the Stephen King of children’s literature as he writes horror stories for young people.

Down

2. Personification : AVATAR

The Sanskrit word “avatar” describes the concept of a deity descending into earthly life and taking on a persona. It’s easy to see how in the world of “online presences” one might use the word avatar to describe one’s online identity.

3. Pungent condiment : WASABI

Sometimes called Japanese horseradish, wasabi is a root used as a condiment in Japanese cooking. The taste of wasabi is more like mustard than a hot pepper in that the vapors that create the “hotness” stimulate the nasal passages rather than the tongue. Personally, I love the stuff …

6. Four-door ride, usually : SEDAN

The American sedan car is the equivalent of the British saloon car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in the UK), although in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.

7. Call in a pool game : MARCO

Marco Polo is a game of tag that is played in a swimming pool.

9. Manhattan liquor : RYE

The cocktail called a Manhattan is made from whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters. I make my own version of a brandy Manhattan, using brandy, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.

10. Walmart rival : TARGET

Target Corporation was founded by George Draper Dayton in 1902 in Minneapolis, Minnesota as Dayton Dry Goods Company. Dayton developed into a department store, and the company opened up a discount store chain in 1962, calling it Target. Today, Target is the second-largest discount retailer in the country, after Walmart.

11. Like some revealing slips? : FREUDIAN

A Freudian slip is a error that is interpreted as being due to an unconscious wish for the same outcome. Named for psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the “slip” is also called a parapraxis.

12. Name associated with alpine rescues : BERNARD

The St. Bernard dog originated in the Italian and Swiss alps, and was indeed specially bred for rescue. The breed dates back at least to the early 1700s when the dogs worked from the traveler’s hospice at the St. Bernard Pass in the Alps between Italy and Switzerland. The breed took its name from this famously treacherous route through the mountains.

13. Fashion magazine : INSTYLE

“InStyle” is a monthly fashion magazine aimed at women. I think that a good title for a magazine aimed at the likes of me would be “NoStyle” …

18. Actor Stephen : REA

Stephen Rea is an Irish actor from Belfast. Rea’s most successful role was Fergus in 1992’s “The Crying Game”, for which performance he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. In “The Crying Game”, Fergus was a member of the IRA. In real life, Rea was married to IRA bomber and hunger striker Dolours Price at the time he made the movie.

23. Tango land: Abbr. : ARG

Argentina is the second largest country in South America (after Brazil), and the world’s largest Spanish-speaking nation. The name “Argentina” comes from the Latin “argentum”, the word for “silver”. It is thought that the name was given by the early Spanish and Portuguese conquerors who also named the Rio de la Plata (the “Silver River”). Those early explorers got hold of lots of silver objects that they found among the native population.

The dramatic dance called the tango originated in the late 1800s in the area along the border between Argentina and Uruguay. Dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires in particular traveled to Europe and beyond in the early twentieth century and brought the tango with them. The tango craze first struck Europe in Paris in the 1910s, and from there spread to London and Berlin, crossing the Atlantic to New York in 1913.

25. Words to a traitor : ET TU

It was Shakespeare who popularized the words “Et tu, Brute?” (meaning “And you, Brutus?”). They appear in his play “Julius Caesar”, although the phrase had been around long before he penned his drama. It’s not known what Julius Caesar actually said in real life (if anything at all) as he was assassinated on on the steps of the Senate in Rome.

27. Vishnu worshiper : HINDU

Vishnu is one of the main deities in the Hindu tradition, and is one of the Trimurti (trinity) along with Brahma and Shiva. Vishnu is usually depicted as having four arms and pale blue skin.

35. Bus. card address : URL

Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

37. Baal : FALSE GOD

The name “Baal” was used for several gods and sometimes human officials by ancient Semitic peoples. In the Hebrew Bible, Baal is notably cited as a false god. As a result, we sometimes use the term “baal” today to mean a false god or an idol.

38. Like 2017 : ODD

… very odd.

44. Sushi fish : AHI

Yellowfin and bigeye tuna are usually marketed as “ahi”, the Hawaiian name. They are both big fish, with yellowfish tuna often weighing over 300 pounds, and bigeye tuna getting up to 400 pounds.

45. Decent sort : MENSCH

“Mensch” is yet another word that comes to us via Yiddish, ultimately derived from the German “mensch” meaning “human being”. We use the term to mean someone of integrity and honor.

51. Some designer gowns : DIORS

Christian Dior was a French fashion designer. As WWII approached, Dior was called up by the French military, drawing a temporary halt to his career in fashion. He left the army in 1942 and for the duration of the war designed clothes for wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. After the war his designs became so popular that he helped re-establish Paris as the fashion center of the world.

52. Award show VIP : EMCEE

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism standing for Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

53. Haas of “Witness” : LUKAS

Lukas Haas is an American actor best known for the role he played as an 8-year-old child in the excellent 1985 film “Witness”. In “Witness”, Haas plays a young Amish boy, alongside Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. Although Haas still acts today, he is also a musician and plays drums and piano for a band called The Rogues.

58. Outfits : TOGS

The verb “tog up”, meaning to dress up, comes from the Latin “toga”, the garment worn in Ancient Rome. “Tog” can be also be used as an informal word for a coat or a cloak. Back in Ireland, togs are what we call swimming shorts.

63. Business letters : LLC

A limited liability company (LLC) is a company structure that limits the liability of the owner or owners. It is a hybrid structure in the sense that it can be taxed as would an individual or partnership, while also maintaining the liability protection afforded to a corporation.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Croquet surfaces : LAWNS
6. Chic : SMART
11. Christopher A. Wray’s org. : FBI
14. Roundish : OVATE
15. Course without much challenge : EASY A
16. Neurotic cartoon dog : REN
17. Dual-purpose machine : WASHER/DRYER
19. Trauma ctrs. : ERS
20. Airport limo driver’s concern, briefly : ETA
21. “Later, dude” : PEACE
22. Scrawny : GAUNT
24. One in the woods? : BABE
26. End of the end of “Gone With the Wind” : … ANOTHER DAY!
28. Water filter brand : BRITA
30. Socialite adopted by the media : IT GIRL
31. In-house trial : TEST RUN
36. Cool drink : ADE
37. Lower : FURTHER DOWN
40. Court org. : ABA
42. Shut the door on : EXCLUDE
43. “How pathetic!” : SO LAME!
46. “Tree of Smoke” novelist Johnson : DENIS
50. Place to order matzo ball soup : KOSHER DELI
55. Facebook entry : POST
56. Yarn coil : SKEIN
57. Words of urgency : I MUST
59. WWII battle site, for short : IWO
60. Rock concert effect : FOG
61. Certain investor … and, based on the word hidden in each, what 17-, 26-, 37- or 50-Across is? : STOCKHOLDER
64. Tokyo-born artist : ONO
65. Jazz pianist Chick : COREA
66. Flash of light : GLEAM
67. Word with cell or cent : RED
68. Vacuum attachments : HOSES
69. Like R.L. Stine stories : SCARY

Down

1. Serious state of decline : LOW EBB
2. Personification : AVATAR
3. Pungent condiment : WASABI
4. __ degree : NTH
5. Flow slowly : SEEP
6. Four-door ride, usually : SEDAN
7. Call in a pool game : MARCO
8. Until now : AS YET
9. Manhattan liquor : RYE
10. Walmart rival : TARGET
11. Like some revealing slips? : FREUDIAN
12. Name associated with alpine rescues : BERNARD
13. Fashion magazine : INSTYLE
18. Actor Stephen : REA
23. Tango land: Abbr. : ARG
25. Words to a traitor : ET TU
27. Vishnu worshiper : HINDU
29. Fizzy prefix : AER-
32. Take the wheel : STEER
33. Appreciative text : THX
34. __ hall : REC
35. Bus. card address : URL
37. Baal : FALSE GOD
38. Like 2017 : ODD
39. Lose it, in a way : WEEP
40. Requests : ASKS FOR
41. Trilogy starter : BOOK ONE
44. Sushi fish : AHI
45. Decent sort : MENSCH
47. “Darned if I know” : NO IDEA
48. “Cross my heart!” : I SWEAR
49. Tempestuous : STORMY
51. Some designer gowns : DIORS
52. Award show VIP : EMCEE
53. Haas of “Witness” : LUKAS
54. Suffix suggesting resemblance : -ISH
58. Outfits : TOGS
62. And : TOO
63. Business letters : LLC

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