LA Times Crossword Answers 2 Aug 2018, Thursday

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Constructed by: Ed Sessa
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Hard-Working Perps

Themed answers are crimes, and are clued with reference to an occupation:

  • 53A. Blacksmith, miner, marathoner or barber, in this puzzle : PERP
  • 20A. The blacksmith was busted for __ : FORGING CHECKS
  • 26A. The miner was busted for __ : PICKING POCKETS
  • 42A. The marathoner was busted for __ : RUNNING NUMBERS
  • 50A. The barber was busted for __ : SHAVING POINTS

Bill’s time: 7m 03s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10. Asian holidays : TETS

The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

14. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are last seen in “Hamlet” : ACT IV

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a pair of courtiers in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. They also appear in the most famous play by British playwright Tom Stoppard, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” (which I saw years ago, and slept through!).

15. Super-large film format : IMAX

The IMAX Corporation, which is behind the IMAX film format, is a Canadian company. The impetus for developing the system came after Expo ’67 in Montreal. Back then large format screenings were accomplished using multiple projectors with multiple screens, with images basically stitched together. The team behind the IMAX technology set out to simplify things, and developed a single-camera, single-projector system.

19. Filmmaker Wertmüller : LINA

Lina Wertmüller was an Italian movie director of Swiss descent. Wertmüller was the first woman ever to receive an Academy Award nomination for directing. She won for her 1975 film “Seven Beauties”.

20. The blacksmith was busted for __ : FORGING CHECKS

A blacksmith is someone who forges and shapes iron, perhaps to make horseshoes. A farrier is someone who fits horseshoes onto the hooves of horses. The term “blacksmith” is sometimes used for one who shoes horses, especially as many blacksmiths make horseshoes and fit them as well.

22. Chow line? : ARF!

The chow chow is a breed of dog that originated in China. The Chinese name for the breed is “Songshi Quan”, which translates as “puffy-lion dog”, a rather apt name given its appearance …

25. Pistons great Thomas : ISIAH

Isiah Thomas played his whole professional career with the Detroit Pistons, and he is now the head coach with the Florida International University Golden Panthers. When you’re out shopping for popcorn, keep an eye out for the Dale & Thomas brand, as it’s co-owned by Isiah Thomas.

31. Pattern for some school uniforms : PLAID

Tartan is sometimes called “plaid” over here in the US, and is a word not used in the same sense outside of this country. In Scotland a “plaid” is a blanket or a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder.

32. French peak : ALPE

There are eight Alpine countries:

  • Austria
  • Slovenia
  • France
  • Switzerland
  • Liechtenstein
  • Germany
  • Monaco
  • Italy

34. Dogpatch name : ABNER

The cartoonist Al Capp set his classic comic strip “Li’l Abner” in the fictional community of “Dogpatch”. According to one of the “Li’l Abner” strips, Dogpatch is located somewhere in the state of Kentucky.

41. Jane Curtin title role : ALLIE

The sitcom “Kate & Allie” ran from 1984 to 1989, starring Susan Saint James as Kate, and Jane Curtin as Allie. Jane Curtin won two Emmy awards for her work on the series, while Susan Saint James … did not.

Comedian and actress Jane Curtin was an original cast member of “Saturday Night Live”. She also had leading roles in the hit comedy series “Kate & Allie” and “3rd Rock from the Sun”, as well as the 1993 movie “Coneheads”.

50. The barber was busted for __ : SHAVING POINTS

Point shaving is a way to fix the result of a game in a player or players ensure that their team’s win (or sometimes loss) is by a margin small enough to favor someone who has placed a large bet.

55. “I hate the Moor” speaker : IAGO

Iago is the schemer in Shakespeare’s “Othello”. He is a soldier who fought alongside Othello and feels hard done by, missing out on promotion. Iago hatches a plot designed to discredit his rival Cassio by insinuating that Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona, Othello’s wife.

The most famous Moor in literature has to be Othello, the title character in William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello, the Moor of Venice”. The word “Moor” describes various peoples of North Africa, usually of the Muslim faith. At the height of their geographic influence the Moors occupied much of the Iberian peninsula, calling it Al Andalus (from which modern Andalusia gets its name).

60. “Love Song” singer Bareilles : SARA

Sara Bareilles achieved success with her 2007 “Love Song” with the help of the iTunes online store. In one week in June of that year, iTunes offered the song as “free single of the week” and it quickly became the most downloaded song in the store, and from there climbed to the number spot in the charts.

61. China’s Zhou __ : ENLAI

Zhou Enlai (also “Chou En-Lai”) was the first government leader of the People’s Republic of China and held the office of Premier from 1949 until he died in 1976. Zhou Enlai ran the government for Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong, often striking a more conciliatory tone with the West than that of his boss. He was instrumental, for example, in setting up President Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972. Zhou Enlai died just a few months before Mao Zedong, with both deaths leading to unrest and a dramatic change in political direction for the country.

63. Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl airer : ESPN

The Boca Raton Bowl is an NCAA football bowl game that has been played annually since 2014.

Down

1. “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that” speaker : HAL

In the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Dr. David Bowman (“Dave”) goes up against the spacecraft computer known as “HAL”.

4. Watch-when-you-want gadget : TIVO

TiVo was introduced in 1999 and was the world’s first commercially successful Digital Video Recorder (DVR).

6. Taxpayer’s chore : FILING

April 15th wasn’t always Tax Day in the US. The deadline for returns was March 1st from 1913-18, when it was moved to March 15th. Tax Day has been April 15th since 1955.

10. “The Voyeur’s Motel” writer Gay : TALESE

Journalist Gay Talese wrote a 2016 article in the “The New Yorker” revealing that the owner of the Manor House Hotel in Aurora, Colorado was routinely spying on hotel guests through grilles that he had installed in the ceilings of the rooms. Hotel owner Gerald Foos plied his trade as a voyeur for about 30 years. Netflix produced a documentary titled “Voyeur” that explores Foos’ life, and his relationship with Talese.

12. Some small trucks : TONKAS

The toy manufacturer today known as Tonka started out as a manufacturer of garden implements in Mound, Minnesota in 1946. By 1955, toys had become the main product line for the company. At that time the owners decided to change the company name and opted for “Tonka”, a Dakota Sioux word meaning “great, big”.

27. Soul supplier : KIA

The Kia Soul is a compact car produced in South Korea, although it was designed by Kia here in the US, in Irvine, California. Yep, the Kia Soul is made in Seoul …

28. Pampers maker, for short : P AND G

Procter & Gamble was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. Procter was a candlemaker, an immigrant from England. Gamble was a soapmaker, an immigrant from Ireland. The pair had settled in Cincinnati and married two sisters. Their father-in-law persuaded the two to set up in business together, and rest is history.

Pampers is a Procter & Gamble brand of disposable diaper for babies and toddlers that was introduced in 1961.

29. World Cup cheer : OLE!

The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious tournament in the sport of soccer. The competition has been held every four years (excluding the WWII years) since the inaugural event held in Uruguay in 1930. The World Cup is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, even outranking the Olympic Games.

30. EMT’s skill : CPR

An emergency medical technician (EMT) might administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

34. MSNBC journalist Melber : ARI

Ari Melber is a television journalist and chief legal correspondent for MSNBC. He has hosted his own daily show called “The Beat with Ari Melber” since 2017.

36. Clerical vestment : ALB

An alb is a white, neck-to-toe vestment worn by priests, usually with a rope cord around the waist. The term alb comes from “albus”, the Latin word for “white”.

38. Joyce’s land : EIRE

“Éire”, is the Irish word for “Ireland”. The related “Erin” is an anglicized version of “Éire” and actually corresponds to “Éirinn”, the dative case of “Éire”.

Regular readers will know that I am unashamedly supportive of my native Irish culture, but I have to tell you that I can’t stand many of the works of James Joyce. I have spent many a fine day traipsing around Ireland learning about him, but I find myself more absorbed by Joyce’s life than by his writing. Having said that, “Ulysses” is an interesting novel in that it chronicles just one ordinary day in the life of a Dubliner named Leopold Bloom. There’s a huge celebration of “Ulysses” in Dublin every year on June 16th, called Bloomsday. The festivities vary from readings and performances of the storyline, to good old pub crawls. “Ulysses” was made into a film of the same name in 1967 starring Milo O’Shea.

41. One changing a bill : AMENDER

The verb “to amend” means “to change for the better, put right, alter by adding”. The related verb “to emend” is used more rarely and mainly in reference to the editing of professional writing. Both terms are derived from the Latin “emendare” meaning “to remove fault”.

44. Dissenting ballot : NO-VOTE

Today, a ballot is a piece of paper used to cast a vote. Back in the 1500s, a “ballot” was a small “ball” used in the process of voting.

45. Presidential speechwriter Peggy : NOONAN

Peggy Noonan is an author and columnist, and was once a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan. Noonan was responsible for one of President Reagan’s most-remembered speeches, when he addressed the nation after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. She also came up with some famous phrases used by President George H. W. Bush, such as “a kinder, gentler nation”, “a thousand points of light” and “read my lips; no new taxes”.

46. “Mila 18” novelist : URIS

“Mila 18” is a novel by American author Leon Uris that is set during WWII in Warsaw, Poland after the occupation by Germany. The book’s title refers to the bunker that served as headquarters of the Jewish resistance group in the Warsaw Ghetto. The bunker was located at “Ulica Mila 18” (“18 Pleasant Street” in English).

47. Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” was one : B-SIDE

Gloria Gaynor is a singer who had most success during the disco era, most notably with “I Will Survive” in 1979. Gaynor released “I Will Survive” as a B-side to “Substitute”, a cover version to a Righteous Brothers song. “Substitute” made it to #107 in the charts in December 1978. “I Will Survive” hit the #1 spot three months later.

52. Students’ stats : GPAS

Grade point average (GPA)

53. Blacksmith, miner, marathoner or barber, in this puzzle : PERP

Perpetrator (perp)

54. “Beloved” author Morrison : TONI

The writer Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Amongst other things, Morrison is noted for coining the phrase “our first black President”, a reference to President Bill Clinton.

“Beloved” is a 1998 movie based on the Pulitzer-winning novel by Toni Morrison. Oprah, who produced the film, stars opposite Danny Glover.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Lacks options : HAS TO
6. Passion : FIRE
10. Asian holidays : TETS
14. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are last seen in “Hamlet” : ACT IV
15. Super-large film format : IMAX
16. Tons : A LOT
17. Give some space : LEAVE ALONE
19. Filmmaker Wertmüller : LINA
20. The blacksmith was busted for __ : FORGING CHECKS
22. Chow line? : ARF!
24. Clamor : DIN
25. Pistons great Thomas : ISIAH
26. The miner was busted for __ : PICKING POCKETS
31. Pattern for some school uniforms : PLAID
32. French peak : ALPE
33. Toxin fighters : SERA
34. Dogpatch name : ABNER
36. Some : A FEW
40. Desertlike : ARID
41. Jane Curtin title role : ALLIE
42. The marathoner was busted for __ : RUNNING NUMBERS
47. Confuse with booze : BESOT
48. Vein find : ORE
49. Word with bar or suit : WET …
50. The barber was busted for __ : SHAVING POINTS
55. “I hate the Moor” speaker : IAGO
56. Creates opportunities : OPENS DOORS
59. Piano piece for four hands : DUET
60. “Love Song” singer Bareilles : SARA
61. China’s Zhou __ : ENLAI
62. Alternatively : ELSE
63. Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl airer : ESPN
64. Real cards : RIOTS

Down

1. “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that” speaker : HAL
2. Big heart? : ACE
3. Military wheels : STAFF CAR
4. Watch-when-you-want gadget : TIVO
5. Went too far with : OVERDID
6. Taxpayer’s chore : FILING
7. “That’s my cue!” : I’M ON!
8. Gave a buzz : RANG
9. Office VIP : EXEC
10. “The Voyeur’s Motel” writer Gay : TALESE
11. Evoke : ELICIT
12. Some small trucks : TONKAS
13. Secret store : STASH
18. Not fer : AGIN
21. Walk in the woods : HIKE
22. iPhone downloads : APPS
23. Agitate : RILE
27. Soul supplier : KIA
28. Pampers maker, for short : P AND G
29. World Cup cheer : OLE!
30. EMT’s skill : CPR
34. MSNBC journalist Melber : ARI
35. Compost holder : BIN
36. Clerical vestment : ALB
37. Had no co-pilot : FLEW SOLO
38. Joyce’s land : EIRE
39. Old place? : WEST
40. Not for : ANTI
41. One changing a bill : AMENDER
42. Move again, as lumber : REHAUL
43. Linguist’s concerns : USAGES
44. Dissenting ballot : NO-VOTE
45. Presidential speechwriter Peggy : NOONAN
46. “Mila 18” novelist : URIS
47. Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” was one : B-SIDE
51. Odor detector : NOSE
52. Students’ stats : GPAS
53. Blacksmith, miner, marathoner or barber, in this puzzle : PERP
54. “Beloved” author Morrison : TONI
57. Squeal : RAT
58. Part of the fam : SIS

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17 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 2 Aug 2018, Thursday”

  1. In what way is forging checks a pun?
    I am really trying to figure this one out, it doesn’t make sense to me unless there is another definition of checks that someone could forge as ironwork… a checkered pattern? seems unlikely.

    All the other theme clues are puns. “running numbers” is something a marathoner actually does with the number on their bib.

    It drove me nuts since none of the others in my group of crossword solvers seemed to see the problem with it and said i was just reading too much in to it! THATS HOW PUNS WORK!

    1. Actually the gimmick only relates to the first word, which is a word common to the occupation. Dr. Sessa then takes that word and finds phrases related to crimes to use those words with for his theme answers. Bill’s explanation falls a little short, at the very least he should just be bolding the first words instead of the whole thing.

    2. Possibly, like my kids, you don’t see many paper checks. In the old days, if someone took one of your checks out of your checkbook, and wrote the check out and signed your name to it, that was called forging a check. Of course signing someone else’s name to a legal instrument is illegal.
      Blacksmiths forge metal, criminals forge checks.
      All of the theme answers are criminal activities being done by respectable citizens.

  2. LAT: 8:06, no errors. WSJ: 27:20, written, 1 error (missed one of the theme answers so I guessed where I shouldn’t have). BEQ: 22:21, written, 3 errors. Lots of guesses on things I didn’t know (a drummer and not to mention a Natick between a director and a rapper). Similar gimmicks on the last two, but both were pretty well done.

    An interesting thing I figured out is that I get transfer from news print when I hand write those things. I’ve been playing with doing puzzles at my computer desk and using the stopwatch I have on my computer to test something I read. When I did a batch of NYT puzzles (in pencil), I ended up with perfect impressions of my writing on my desk. Nearest I can figure is maybe it’s having a carbon paper effect or a bleedthrough of the paper like with using markers, but it’s odd that I’m not just getting smudges instead of perfect letters like I had on my desk. Regardless, I was able to clean it up with Windex and a paper towel, but I never thought about newspaper puzzles being that dirty…

  3. My wife and I each gave it an hour and just didn’t know enough to solve it.
    I like puns, but missed two of them. Didn’t know a lot of the words and some
    of the ones we got just didn’t make sense. Got 84% with our method of calculation. Don’t usually hold out a lot of hope afterTuesday, but we have been successful at times. Kind of a flameout.

  4. 20 min. And no errors.
    How refreshing after wasting 2 hrs. On a Jeff Chen “for the elite only” puzzle.

  5. “Asian holidays” is irrational. “Asia” technically covers everything from Turkey in the west to Japan in the east.

  6. LAT: 8:48, no errors. Newsday: 10:11 (online, last night, because, initially, the website gave me the wrong PDF), 5:52 (on paper, this morning 😜), no errors. WSJ: 15:43, no errors.

    BEQ: 26:52, no errors. About ten minutes of my time was spent in trying to grok the weird nature of three entries. (I finally decided to write in the final letter and then let the puzzle sit for another ten minutes, after which, upon returning to it, the lights came on and I went ahead and checked my answers.) A very clever puzzle.

    Friday’s Newsday: 13:53, with no errors that I know of; the PDF that I got when I tried to download Thursday’s puzzle was for Friday instead. (Curiously, about half of the puzzles I tried to download yesterday were messed up in some way, including the latest batch of Miyamoto kenkens.)

    @Glenn … I have often seen that carbon-paper effect from doing a newspaper puzzle on my desk or table or another piece of paper. Of course, you’ll see it more if there’s more ink on the back side of the newspaper (like a large ad). Printer’s ink is, IMHO, nasty stuff; I used to get it all over my fingers and then transfer it to other things (like the refrigerator door). The ink from my printer is a lot friendlier (once it’s dry); of course, I pay a lot more for it, too … 😜

  7. I’m happy one goof-up #7 across, I put fare instead of fire
    I think that qualifies me to walk and chew gum simultaneously
    by most standards.
    Two hours

  8. Easy, no Googling. Had “At sea” before ACTIV and never heard of Bareilles. Must be young.

    Some of my favorite people mentioned – ARI Melber, LEon URIS, Gay TALESE. Thanx, Sessa. A sort of mini theme on Shakespeare, also.

  9. 15:05. Another good one from Ed Sessa. His cluing always seems to make me stand on my head. I got HAL via crosses, but I can’t believe I didn’t recognize that right away as being from 2001.

    Best –

  10. Jeff: I dedicatedly read your comment yesterday.

    “I hate to needlessly use split infinitives !”
    Your callous run or exploitation of the supposed ungrammatical speech (?) is much appreciated ….
    I will never consciously forget that lesson again. Thank you.
    When you determindly use an error, it sticks in your neurons, never to be erased… Btw, I find no problem with split infinitives – but then I am no writer, anyway.

    I had a good time with this puzzle, despite my deep fear of this particular constructor. I did it in good time. The concept of forging checks …. and the fact that it might not be an appropriate pun, did not bother me … I guess I’m naive, in that sense.
    I was just so excited I actually discovered the key trick to the long answers.

    Talking about forging and uttering is interesting. Forging is making a document with an intent to defraud …. uttering is handing it over to the sap.(?) If you prepare a ‘worthless’ check, to a store, ii is forgery. Once you handed it over, it is uttering. They are two different offences, and if convicted, sentences runs consecutively not concurrently …..
    Best to put a blank check, on the counter, and let the clerk use the store computer to print out its own figures ? So, you have not ‘written’ it, or handed it over – the clerk just picked it up ? Criminal behavior philosophy ?

    Note to Bill: The movie Beloved, though based on a book by Toni Morrison, and acted with Oprah, is a horror movie …. not your genre … plus it was a colossal flop …. according to Wikipedia.

    As for the plural Tets, I did not know there was more than one Tet …. I mean, how many New Years can you have in one year – especially in one culture or method of ephemeris? I mean, the clue was easy, but can it or does it exist ?

    Have a nice day, all.

  11. Hmm, no paper in the bin, so checked the other bin, and they just had yesterday’s paper…so time to do my puzzles on-line today. First the Jumble, then the LA daily Sudoku, then the slightly harder than usual KenKen puzzle and finally the LA crossword. I shrink the browser down to the size of the grid so the annoying ads aren’t even visible.

    Pretty easy Thursday for me; took 16:49 according to the timer. No errors, by definition, since you can’t finish until you finish.

  12. Aloha meine freunden!! 🙃
    No errors on a fun Thursday. I also enjoyed the variety of references, and the theme was cute.
    Re: I Will Survive: it’s interesting when the B-side becomes the hit. I googled out of curiosity: “B-SIDE hits” — the beautiful Beach Boys’ song “God Only Knows” was a B-side, as was the Beatles’ brilliant “I Am the Walrus.”

    Be well~~🥀🌻🌺

  13. Some of the most ambiguous and basically incorrect Clues in a long time what marathoner gets busted for shaving points makes no sense just one example maybe I’m from a different planet I guess

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