LA Times Crossword 7 Sep 18, Friday

Bill’s time: 15m 56s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. “__ Told Me (Not to Come)”: 1970 #1 hit : MAMA

“Mama Told Me Not to Come” is a song written by Randy Newman and most famously recorded by Three Dog Night in 1970. Tom Jones also had a hit with the song, recording a version with the Stereophonics in 2000.

14. River to the Caspian : URAL

The Ural River rises in the Ural Mountains in Russia and flows for half its length through Russian territory until it crosses the border into Kazakhstan, finally emptying into the Caspian Sea. It is the third-longest river in Europe, after the Volga and Danube.

21. Mont Blanc, e.g. : ALP

Mont Blanc is the highest peak in the Alps. The name “Mont Blanc” translates from French into “white mountain”. The mountain lies on the border between France and Italy, and it has been generally accepted for decades that the summit lies within French territory. However, there have been official claims that the summit does in fact fall within the borders of Italy.

23. Storied engineer Jones : CASEY

Casey Jones was a famous railroad engineer who is remembered in the traditional song “The Ballad of Casey Jones”. The song tells us the story of Jones trying to stop his speeding train as it races towards another locomotive on the same line.

24. Ballet performance on skis? : SLAT DANCE (from “slam dance”)

Moshing (also “slam dancing”) is the pushing and shoving that takes place in the audience at a concert (usually a punk or heavy metal concert). The area directly in front of the stage is known as the mosh pit. When a performer does a “stage dive” it is into (or I suppose “onto”) the mosh pit. It doesn’t sound like fun to me. Injuries are commonplace in the mosh pit, and deaths are not unknown.

26. Extinct bird : DODO

The dodo was a direct relative of the pigeon and dove, although the fully-grown dodo was usually three feet tall. One of the reasons the dodo comes to mind when we think of extinction of a species, is that it disappeared not too long ago (last recorded alive in 1681) and humans were the reason for its demise. The dodo lived exclusively on the island of Mauritius and when man arrived, we cut back the forests that were its home. We also introduced domestic animals, such as dogs and pigs, that ransacked the dodo’s nests. The dodo was deemed to be an awkward flightless bird and so the term “dodo” has come to mean a dull-witted person.

34. Tea variety : PEKOE

A pekoe (or more commonly “orange pekoe”) is a medium-grade black tea. There is no orange flavor in an orange pekoe tea. The “orange” name most likely derived from the name of the trading company that brought the tea to Europe from Asia.

43. “Glee” cheerleading coach : SUE

In the TV show “Glee”, actress Jane Lynch plays the school cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester. Well, Sylvester is the cheerleading coach for the first four seasons. She gets promoted to high school principal for the last two seasons.

54. Kitchen light : PILOT

A pilot light is a small gas flame, one using a relatively small amount of fuel, that remains lit as an ignition source for larger gas burners.

58. UPS Store supply : TAPE

The franchised UPS Stores make up the world’s largest network of retail shipping, printing and business service centers. The first such outlets were branded and owned by Mail Boxes Etc., starting in 1980. UPS acquired Mail Boxes Etc. in 2001, and introduced the UPS Store brand in 2003. I’m a big fan …

61. Six-pack components : ABS

The abdominal muscles (abs) are more correctly referred to as the rectus abdominis muscles. They might be referred to as a “six-pack” in a person who has developed the muscles and who has low body fat. In my case, more like a keg …

64. Beluga yield : ROE

Caviar is the roe of a large fish that has been salted and seasoned, and especially the roe of a sturgeon. Beluga caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon, found primarily in the Caspian Sea. It is the most expensive type of caviar in the world. 8 ounces of US-farmed beluga caviar can be purchased through Amazon.com for just over $850, in case you’re feeling peckish …

65. Serious attacks : SIEGES

Our word “siege” comes from a 13th century word for a “seat”. The military usage derives from the concept of a besieging force “sitting down” outside a fortress until it falls.

68. Marine group that’s well-armed? : OCTOPI

The name “octopus” comes from the Greek for “eight-footed”. The most common plural used is “octopuses”, although the Greek plural form “octopodes” is also quite correct. The plural “octopi” isn’t really correct as the inference is that “octopus” is like a second-declension Latin noun, which it isn’t. That said, dictionaries are now citing “octopi” as an acceptable plural. Language does evolve, even though it drives me crazy …

Down

1. Clara Schumann works, e.g. : MUSIC

Clara Schumann was a famous concert pianist, and the wife of composer Robert Schumann. Clara is known not only for her talent on the piano, but also for premiering works by Johannes Brahms, who was a dear friend of the Schumanns.

3. Fountain creations : MALTS

Walgreens claims to have introduced the malted milkshake, back in 1922.

4. “Great” ninth-century English monarch : ALFRED

Alfred the Great was the King of Wessex in the latter part of the ninth century, and the dominant ruler in the whole of England. Wessex was the familiar name of the Kingdom of the West Saxons in the southwest of Britain.

6. Pentagon org. : DOD

Department of Defense (DOD)

The incredible building known as the Pentagon was built during WWII, and dedicated on January 15, 1943. It is the largest office building in the world (by floor space) covering an area of about 6.5 million square feet. As it was built during the war years, a major requirement was that it use a minimum amount of steel. That steel shortage dictated that the building be no more than four stories in height, and hence cover an awful lot of real estate.

10. Urge : YEN

The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium.

11. Paper named for a vegetable : ONIONSKIN

Onionskin, although not made from onions, is a translucent, light-weight paper. It was used in days gone by when the weight and bulk of the paper was important. And so, onionskin was a good choice for use with carbon paper when making copies using a typewriter. It also was a good choice for airmail.

12. Chaos : HAVOC

Havoc is a great damage or destruction. The term comes from the Anglo-French phrase “crier havok”, which was an order given in the late 1500s to soldiers, instructing them to seize plunder.

18. BLT basic : MAYO

Mayonnaise originated in the town of Mahon in Menorca, a Mediterranean island belonging to Spain. The Spanish called the sauce “salsa mahonesa” after the town, and this morphed into the French word “mayonnaise” that we use in English today.

24. Waiting room piece : SOFA

“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

25. Figure (out) : DOPE

Apparently, “to dope out” is a slang term meaning “to figure out, infer from available information”. Our use of the word “dope” to mean “inside information” probably comes from horse racing. The idea is that a better might have information about which horse has been drugged (doped) to influence its performance.

33. Balaam’s mount : ASS

The ass or donkey is mentioned several times in the Bible. One of the most-quoted biblical stories involving an ass is the story of Balaam. Balaam was a diviner who appears in the Book of Numbers in. In one account, Balaam is held to task by an angel for particularly cruel treatment of an ass.

35. Paris agreement : OUI

In French, a response on “un questionnaire” (a questionnaire) might be “oui” (yes) or “non” (no).

The French capital of Paris is named for the Parisii, a Celtic Iron Age people that lived in the area on the banks of the River Seine.

36. Health care worker, briefly : EMT

Emergency medical technician (EMT)

39. Farmer’s habitat? : DELL

“The Farmer in the Dell” is a nursery rhyme and singing game that probably originated in Germany.

The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer in the dell

40. Elephant tooth : TUSK

The hard, white material called ivory has mainly been sourced from the tusks of elephants, although it can also be collected from the walrus, hippopotamus, killer whale, wart hog and others. The word “ivory” comes into English via Latin from the Ancient Egyptian word for “elephant”.

46. __ power : ATOMIC

A common nuclear fuel is uranium dioxide (UO2). The UO2 comes in powder form and is compacted into pellets that are fired at high temperature producing ceramic pellets. The pellets are ground into a near-perfect cylindrical shape and are then stacked inside tubes made of zirconium alloy. These tubes are what we usually refer to as nuclear fuel rods.

50. “2 Broke Girls,” for one : SITCOM

“2 Broke Girls” is a sitcom about two young ladies sharing an apartment in Brooklyn, and their attempts to launch a cupcake business. The title characters are played by Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs.

51. Garbo and Gable, e.g. : STARS

Famously, Greta Garbo lived a life of seclusion in New York City after she retired from the entertainment business. Commentators often associated her need for privacy with a line she uttered in the great 1932 movie “Grand Hotel”. Her character Grusinskaya the Russian ballerina said, “I want to be alone (…) I just want to be alone”.

Actor Clark Gable was one of the most consistent earners for Hollywood studios, but won just one Best Actor Oscar (for the excellent “It Happened One Night”). He was married five times in all, including a three-year stint with actress Carole Lombard. Gable also had an affair with actress Loretta Young during the filming of “The Call of the Wild” in 1935. The result was a daughter born in 1935, after Young had a very secret pregnancy that was covered up by the film studio.

52. Like certain subjects in certain company : TABOO

The word “taboo” was introduced into English by Captain Cook in his book “A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean”. Cook described “tabu” (likely imitative of a Tongan word that he had heard) as something that was both consecrated and forbidden.

60. He played Ricky in early TV : DESI

In the hit television show “I Love Lucy”, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz play Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The Ricardos’ best friends are also their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The Mertz’s are played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance.