LA Times Crossword 22 Sep 18, Saturday

Advertisement

Advertisement

Constructed by: Brian E. Paquin
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 9m 58s

Bill’s errors: 0

Advertisement

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10. Holy, in Le Havre : SACRE

Le Havre is a city on the mouth of the river Seine on the northwest coast of France. The city’s name translates as “The Haven”.

18. 2011 Atlantic hurricane : IRENE

Hurricane Irene caused extensive flooding in 2011 as it traveled through the Caribbean, up the East Coast of the United States and into the Atlantic seaboard of Canada. The hurricane was unusual in that it came so far up north. Fifty-five deaths were attributed to Irene.

19. Tied accessories : 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.

26. Like La Niña, e.g.: Abbr. : FEM

Feminine (fem.)

The ocean-atmosphere phenomenon known as “La Niña” (Spanish for “the girl”) is the opposite of the more familiar “El Niño”. During a period of La Niña, the surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern Central Pacific Ocean is lower than usual by 3-5 degrees centigrade. During a period of El Niño, that same temperature is higher than normal.

30. Poker pot items, maybe : IOUS

I owe you (IOU)

33. Luxury fashion giant : PRADA

Prada was started in 1913 as a leather-goods shop in Milan, by the two Prada brothers. One of the brothers, Mario Prada, prevented the female members of his family participating in the company as he didn’t believe women should be involved in business (!). When the sexist brother died, his son had no interest in the business so it was his daughter who took over and ran the company for about twenty years, handing it over to her own daughter. I’d say the devil loved that …

34. Backside : TUSH

“Tush”, a word for the backside, is an abbreviation of “tochus” that comes from the Yiddish “tokhes”.

41. Mouse target : ICON

The computer mouse was invented at the Stanford Research Institute in 1963, by one Douglas Engelbart. Sadly for him, his patent ran out before mice became standard equipment on computers, so he never made any money from his amazing invention.

42. Early number? : ETHER

A “number” is somethings that “numbs”.

Ethers are a whole class of organic compounds, but in the vernacular “ether” is specifically diethyl ether. Diethyl ether was once very popular as a general anesthetic.

43. TV heroine with a weapon called a chakram : XENA

A chakram is a throwing weapon from India. Essentially, it is a flattened metal ring with a sharpened outer edge. In popular culture, the chakram is the weapon of choice for the title character in the TV show “Xena: Warrior Princess”.

46. Tavern need: Abbr. : LIC

License (lic.)

49. Sign up, in Sussex : ENROL

“Enroll” in the US is “enrol” in the UK. I’ll never get the hang of American spelling. Or is it speling …?

Sussex is a county in the very southeast of England that lies right on the English Channel. The county of Sussex has about the same boundaries as the ancient Kingdom of Sussex, a Saxon colony that existed for about five hundred years until the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Hastings, a town on the Sussex coast, was the site of the first battle of the Norman Conquest of England.

51. Pax __ : ROMANA

“Pax Romana” is Latin for “Roman Peace”. The term literally described a period in Roman history for the 1st and 2nd centuries AD during which the Roman Empire was ruled by Caesar Augustus. Under his control, expansionist ideas by powerful generals were held in check, and the peoples of foreign lands ruled by the Romans were relatively calm. The peace enjoyed was considered uneasy as Rome governed its conquered territories with an iron fist, and insurrection was likely at all times. The expression “pax Romana” then came to be used in English to describe any situation in which there is an uneasy peace, a peace imposed by a powerful state on a weaker state.

59. Metaphorical self-help aid : BOOTSTRAP

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

Down

3. Heart part : ATRIUM

The heart has four chambers. The two upper chambers (the atria) accept deoxygenated blood from the body and oxygenated blood from the lungs. The atria squeeze the blood into the two lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles), “priming” the pump, as it were. One ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs, and the other pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

4. “__ Eyes”: 1969 Guess Who hit : THESE

The Guess Who is a rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Guess Who were particularly successful in the late sixties and early seventies, and I’d say their most famous hit is “American Woman”, released in 1970.

6. It may start with “I” : RTE

The US Interstate System is more correctly known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, a nod to President Eisenhower who championed the construction. The President had come to recognise the value of the German autobahn system in his experiences during WWII, and resolved to give the US a similar infrastructure. In real terms, the US Interstate construction project is said to have been the largest public works project since the Pyramids of Egypt.

9. Country singer Pickler : KELLIE

Kellie Pickler is a country singer, and an alumna of the reality TV show “American Idol”. Pickler appeared on another reality TV show in 2013, and emerged as the winner of the 16th season of “Dancing with the Stars”, alongside her professional dance Derek Hough.

10. __-reeve: early name for a sheriff : SHIRE

The word “shire” comes from the Old English “scir” meaning “administrative district”. The term was replaced with county as far back as the 14th century, but the usage persists to this day, largely because some counties retain the use of “-shire” as a suffix (Yorkshire, Lancashire etc.).

A reeve was a senior official in the days of Anglo-Saxon England, and might perhaps have been a chief magistrate of a town. Famously, a reeve appears in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”. “The Reeve’s Tale” is the third tale in the book.

11. Stringless strings? : AIR GUITAR

The concept of playing an imaginary electric guitar (“air guitar”) is so popular that there are several championship competitions held, including a world championship since 1996. Crazy …

13. Vegas rival : RENO

The city of Reno’s economy took off when open gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931. Within a short time, a syndicate had built the Bank Club in Reno, which was the largest casino in the world at the time.

14. Churchill successor : EDEN

Sir Anthony Eden served as Britain’s Foreign Secretary during WWII, and then as Prime Minister from 1955-57. I think it’s fair to say that Eden doesn’t have a great reputation as a statesman. He was proud of his stance in favor of peace over war, so his critics characterized him as an appeaser. His major stumble on the world stage occurred with the Suez Crisis in 1956. Egypt’s President Nasser unilaterally nationalized the Suez Canal causing war to be declared on Egypt by Britain, France and Israel. Within a few months political pressure from the US and the USSR caused the allies to withdraw, bolstering Egypt’s national reputation. Eden never recovered from the loss of face at home, and it is felt that the stress even affected his health. Eden resigned in January 1957.

21. Some window units : ACS

Air conditioner (AC)

23. Foam-based brand : NERF

Nerf is soft material used in a whole series of toys designed for “safe” play indoors. The Nerf product is used to make darts, balls and ammunition for toy guns. “NERF” is an acronym, standing for Non-Expanding Recreational Foam.

24. Way up : T-BAR

A T-bar is a ski lift on which the skiers are pulled up the hill in pairs, with each pair standing (not sitting!) either side of a T-shaped metal bar. The bar is placed behind the thighs, pulling along the skiers as they remain standing on their skis (hopefully!). There’s also a J-bar, a similar device, but with each J-shaped bar used by one skier at a time.

29. Segway PT inventor Dean : KAMEN

The Segway PT is self-balancing two-wheel electric vehicle introduced to the world in 2001 by American inventor Dean Kamen.

31. George Lucas’ alma mater: Abbr. : 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. The USC marching band is very famous as well, and is known as the “Spirit of Troy”. The band has performed with many celebrities, and is the only college band to have two platinum records.

The producer and director George Lucas has amassed an incredibly large fortune, primarily due to the phenomenal success of his movie franchises “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones”. Worth about $3 billion, Lucas has gone the way of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, agreeing to give half of his fortune to charity as part of “The Giving Pledge”.

36. It makes a rally irrelevant : ACE

An ace service in tennis, for example.

38. Normal: Abbr. : STD

Standard (std.)

39. “Moonstruck” star : CHER

“Cher” is the stage name used by Cherilyn Sarkisian. Formerly one half of husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher, she is often referred to as the Goddess of Pop. In her acting career, Cher was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar of 1984 for her performance in “Silkwood”. She went further in 1988 and won the Best Actress Oscar for playing Loretta Castorini in “Moonstruck”.

“Moonstruck” is a 1987 movie, a romantic comedy starring Cher and Nicolas Cage. There’s a bit of a love triangle in the storyline, with Danny Aiello playing the man who loses the girl. “Moonstruck” won three Oscars and was a huge success, and somehow, I’ve never seen it …

45. Excuses : ALIBIS

“Alibi” is the Latin word for “elsewhere” as in, “I claim that I was ‘elsewhere’ when the crime was committed … I have an ‘alibi’”.

48. Deceased toon? : CASPER

Casper the Friendly Ghost features in a whole series of cartoon shorts made by Famous Studios. Casper made the big time in 1995 when he appeared in his own “Casper” movie, alongside Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman and Eric Idle.

52. Some game winners : MATES

In the game of chess, when the king is under immediate threat of capture it is said to be “in check”. If the king cannot escape from check, then the game ends in “checkmate” and the player in check loses. In the original Sanskrit game of chess, the king could actually be captured. Then a rule was introduced requiring that a warning be given if capture was imminent (today we announce “check!”) so that an accidental and early ending to the game doesn’t occur.

54. Classic accusation : 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.

55. Brief court plea : NOLO

“Nolo contendere” (sometimes shortened to “nolo”) is a legal term that translates from Latin as “I do not wish to contend”. It’s the plea of no contest, and is an alternative to guilty and not guilty, meaning that one doesn’t admit guilt but nor does one dispute the charge.

56. Neil Young’s “Heart of __” : GOLD

“Heart of Gold” is a song written and recorded by Neil Young in 1971. It reached the number-one spot in the American charts the following year, and was to be Young’s only chart topper in the US. “Heart of Gold” features backup vocals by James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt.

Neil Young is a singer and songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. Young is known for his solo work, as well as his earlier recordings with Buffalo Springfield and as the fourth member of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Young is also a successful movie director, although he uses the pseudonym “Bernard Shakey” for his movie work. Included in his filmography are “Human Highway” and “Greendale”.

60. Longtime Coke product : TAB

Tab was the first diet cola introduced by the Coca-Cola company, in 1963. It was produced as a competitor to the very successful Diet Rite cola that was made by RC Cola. The name “Tab” was used as the beverage was aimed at people who wanted “to keep tabs” on their weight.

61. Beatles’ bassist before Paul : STU

Stu Sutcliffe was one of the original four members of The Silver Beatles (as The Beatles were known in their early days), along with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Sutcliffe apparently came up with name “Beatles” along with John Lennon, as a homage to their hero Buddy Holly who was backed by the “Crickets”. By all reports, Sutcliffe wasn’t a very talented musician and was more interested in painting. He went with the group to Hamburg, more than once, but he eventually left the Beatles and went back to art school, actually studying for a while at the Hamburg College of Art. In 1962 in Hamburg, Sutcliffe collapsed with blinding headaches. He died in the ambulance on the way to hospital, his death attributed to cerebral paralysis.

Advertisement

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Pickup artist? : NEAT FREAK
10. Holy, in Le Havre : SACRE
15. Like one with greasy palms? : ON THE TAKE
16. Added on : HIRED
17. Thrill seeker : DAREDEVIL
18. 2011 Atlantic hurricane : IRENE
19. Tied accessories : OBIS
20. Speak further about : ENLARGE ON
22. Spoken with ease : FLUENT
25. Become unusable, as airplane wings : ICE UP
26. Like La Niña, e.g.: Abbr. : FEM
27. Motor-assisted two-wheelers : E-BIKES
30. Poker pot items, maybe : IOUS
33. Luxury fashion giant : PRADA
34. Backside : TUSH
35. Like a home-cooked meal : MADE FROM SCRATCH
41. Mouse target : ICON
42. Early number? : ETHER
43. TV heroine with a weapon called a chakram : XENA
44. Checked at the airport : WANDED
46. Tavern need: Abbr. : LIC
49. Sign up, in Sussex : ENROL
51. Pax __ : ROMANA
53. Getting burned, in a way : REDDENING
57. Basics : ABCS
58. Had a home-cooked meal : ATE IN
59. Metaphorical self-help aid : BOOTSTRAP
62. Position to take : STAND
63. Jumpy : ILL AT EASE
64. Unwieldy ships : HULKS
65. Plow, e.g. : SOD BUSTER

Down

1. Catch a few z’s : NOD OFF
2. Facilitate : ENABLE
3. Heart part : ATRIUM
4. “__ Eyes”: 1969 Guess Who hit : THESE
5. Sustained : FED
6. It may start with “I” : RTE
7. Roof edge : EAVE
8. Cut from the same cloth : AKIN
9. Country singer Pickler : KELLIE
10. __-reeve: early name for a sheriff : SHIRE
11. Stringless strings? : AIR GUITAR
12. Make very afraid : CREEP OUT
13. Vegas rival : RENO
14. Churchill successor : EDEN
21. Some window units : ACS
23. Foam-based brand : NERF
24. Way up : T-BAR
28. Enthusiastic response : I DO!
29. Segway PT inventor Dean : KAMEN
31. George Lucas’ alma mater: Abbr. : USC
32. Library order : SHH!
33. Artist’s drawing choice : PEN AND INK
35. Stir : MIX
36. It makes a rally irrelevant : ACE
37. There’s no going back on it : DONE DEAL
38. Normal: Abbr. : STD
39. “Moonstruck” star : CHER
40. Second effort : REDO
44. Became the champ : WON
45. Excuses : ALIBIS
46. Maze runner : LAB RAT
47. As a backup : IN CASE
48. Deceased toon? : CASPER
50. Tears : RENDS
52. Some game winners : MATES
53. Foolhardy : RASH
54. Classic accusation : ET TU
55. Brief court plea : NOLO
56. Neil Young’s “Heart of __” : GOLD
60. Longtime Coke product : TAB
61. Beatles’ bassist before Paul : STU

Advertisement

18 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 22 Sep 18, Saturday”

    1. Good puzzle, for a Saturday. didn’t have much trouble. Took me over an hour though, but it was fun. Someone asked about explanations, 1 across and 1 down. Don’t get that at all.

  1. I thought I knew 6 words on my first and only pass; didn’t even run it
    by my wife.

    Got 4 correct, missed 24 Down and 51 Across. Hope to see you guys on
    Monday, have a nice weekend. Rainy here in Louisiana. We are on CST,
    so I don’t see many comments yet. Good luck!

  2. LAT: 14:14, no errors. WSJ: 23:27, no errors; a bit less tedious than the usual Saturday WSJ. Newsday’s “Saturday Stumper”: 34:36, no errors; not too difficult, but the upper left held me up for a bit.

    @Thelma and @Cathy … Bill’s is a labor of love. He picks and chooses which entries to discuss. That sometimes means that he omits an entry I would like to have seen discussed but, in general, it keeps the blog shorter and livelier, with fewer entries that I have to skip over to get to the ones of interest to me. And, once on a while, I have to use Google to research something he didn’t cover … IMHO, a small price to pay … 😜

    1. Just curious Dave; but how long have you been doing LAT and NYT puzzles? I’ve started doing both not too long ago and find it a fascinating and challenging experience. I learn something every day and enjoy your comments.

      Mark

      1. @Mark …

        I think I began doing the NYT every day, and the LAT on Sunday, sometime in 1970. Four or five years ago, I added the LAT weekday puzzles and then, one by one, selected crosswords from online sites (mostly recommended by Glenn). The ones I enjoy most are created by a fellow named Tim Croce – they can be very difficult, but are also very rewarding.

        I still do an occasional kenken, too, though I’ve had to scale that way back, as it became a four-and-a-half year obsession that kind of took over my life after I retired. My objective, of course, is to keep a few brain cells working as I grow older (although, actually, research suggests that, for that purpose, one is better off challenging oneself with new things, rather than focusing on old familiar things, so it may be that I’m taking the wrong approach).

        So … TMI, probably (but you did ask … 😜).

      2. One more comment: Recently, I’ve been doing crosswords created by a young fellow (just out of high school and on his way to college) named Paolo Pasco. His puzzles are highly variable (some easy, some hard – I just spent two hours on one of them), but very creative and, because he is so young, they occasionally give me a peek into a world of slang terms that I would otherwise not be exposed to. (This sometimes gives me a real FOMO – “Feeling Of Missing Out” – a gratuitous example from the puzzle I just finished).

  3. 24 mins 14 sec, and 2 errors, (E)THER/KAM(E)N.

    A really tough beat to lose a perfect grid on a cross of a proper name and a pronunciation trap. Pretty cynical.

    Still, I had been going back and forth across this puzzle and despaired at ever finishing it. Good old fashioned squinting of the eyes, and repeating the clues over and over again was the key to filling in some of these devilish fills.

  4. I can’t believe that I even finished this today! But it was a struggle. Couldn’t figure out “early number” or “checked at airport” until the very end. And like Allen (above) had to repeat & repeat the clues and add one letter at a time to get completed.

  5. 22:57. Interesting that so many people (myself included) had such a hard time with this puzzle at first glance but then were able to fill it out with relative ease after staring at it for a few minutes. Perhaps we all had to get used to the setter’s sense of humor. Some very clever cluing in this one.

    I’d seen “number” used the same way in other puzzles. Several other good ones too.

    Best –

  6. The heart anatomy is not quite accurate. The right atria accepts deoxygenated blood and pumps it into the stronger right ventricle, and the blood is pumped into the lungs. The left atria receives oxygenated blood and pumps it into the stronger left ventricle, and is then pumped to the body through the aorta. Details!!!

  7. Clever Saturday puzzle; took me almost 2 hrs, but finished without any errors. Guessed right on (E)THER/KAM(E)N and didn’t get the clue until I got here.

    Loved the “Deceased toon?”, “Stringless strings?” and “Early number?” – since I got it – clues.

    Didn’t realize that Randy Bachman (of BTO) was an early member of The Guess Who and writer/co-writer of their biggest hits. He apparently left to form BTO due to his Mormon background…and then wrote “Smoking in the Boy’s Room”(?)

    Great backstory to “No Sugar Tonight”, is that Backman was walking in Berkeley when he noticed a trio of biker types were walking towards him. As he started to cross the street a car screeched to a halt and a biker chick started an argument with one of the biker types, about leaving her with the baby alone. When she finished and headed back to the car, she turned and said “…and no sugar tonight!!” He crossed the street, and wrote the song that evening….ha ha!!

  8. Aloha meine freunden!!🙃

    No errors!! Yay!! I love finishing a Saturday…fortunately, I kept getting sidetracked, which meant I did the “walk away ” thing several times. That helped — a few things clicked into place each time I looked again at the puzzle. 😀

    I remembered “number” from previous puzzles…but there was a lot here I didn’t know.

    Poor STU Sutcliffe. He and John Lennon were like brothers back then, which is why John wanted him in the group– not for his musical skills. (!) They were both art-school kids.

    Be well~~🥂

  9. Just got this one from my pile yesterday. Slowly finished with no errors. Guessed on that KAMEN/ETHER square and got lucky. Later realized it was a numb-er. Speaking further on things is usually expanding on it – who ever heard someone say – let me enlarge on that matter.

Comments are closed.