LA Times Crossword 24 Oct 18, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Tim Schenck
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answers: Mixed Drink

Themed answers each contain a string of circled letters. Those letters are anagrams of well-known drinks, names of DRINKS that have been MIXED:

  • 25D. With 38-Down, bar offering found in each set of circles : MIXED …
  • 38D. See 25-Down : … DRINK
  • 17A. Roadblocks : BARRICADES (hiding a mixed SIDECAR)
  • 65A. Gambles in a church basement, maybe : PLAYS BINGO (hiding a mixed GIBSON)
  • 10D. Wawa and 7-Eleven : MINIMARTS (hiding a mixed MARTINI)
  • 36D. Captivating : ARRESTING (hiding a mixed STINGER)

Bill’s time: 7m 10s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10. Vicki Lawrence sitcom role : MAMA

“Mama’s Family” is a sitcom that first ran from 1983 to 1984, and is a spin-off show from “The Family” series of sketches on “The Carol Burnett Show” and “Carol & Company”. Star of “Mama’s Family” Vicki Lawrence, who plays Thelma Harper a.k.a. “Mama”.

Vicki Lawrence is a actress and comedian who made a name for herself playing several iconic characters on “The Carol Burnett Show” in the sixties and seventies. Lawrence is also a singer, and she had a big hit in the charts in 1972 with “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”. Said song was written by Bobby Russell, who was her husband at the time.

14. Harley owner : BIKER

The Harley-Davidson motorcycle company was founded in the very early 1900s by two childhood friends, William Harley and Arthur Davidson, . Their first design was in effect an engine hooked up to a pedal bicycle, but the 116 cc cylinder capacity simply couldn’t generate enough power to get up the hills of their native city of Milwaukee. The pair came up with a redesigned model that had a cylinder capacity of 405 cc, which the partners built in a shed at the back of Davidson’s house. In 1906, the partners built their first factory, located where the company’s headquarters is to this day, on Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Famously, Harley motorcycles are nicknamed “hogs”.

16. Flower painted by van Gogh : IRIS

Van Gogh painted his “Irises” while he was in an asylum in the south of France the year before he committed suicide. The original owner was a French art critic and supporter of van Gogh who paid 300 francs to purchase the painting. “Irises” was bought for $53.9 million in 1987 making it the most expensive painting sold up to that point. But, the buyer didn’t actually have the necessary funds, so it had to be resold in 1990. It was picked up by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where you can see it today.

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who seems to have had a very tortured existence. Van Gogh only painted for the last ten years of his life, and enjoyed very little celebrity while alive. Today many of his works are easily recognized, and fetch staggering sums in auction houses. Van Gogh suffered from severe depression for many of his final years. When he was only 37, he walked into a field with a revolver and shot himself in the chest. He managed to drag himself back to the inn where he was staying but died there two days later.

17. Roadblocks : BARRICADES (hiding a mixed SIDECAR)

The sidecar is actually my favorite cocktail. It was invented around the end of WWI, possibly in the Ritz Hotel in Paris. It’s a simple drink to make, and contains brandy, cointreau or triple sec, and lemon or lime juice. It’s really the brandy version of a margarita (or vice versa).

24. Doc’s org. : AMA

The list of American Medical Association (AMA) past-presidents includes William James Mayo (1906-07) and Charles Horace Mayo (1917-18). William and Charles were brothers, and were two founders of the famous Mayo Clinic located in Rochester, Minnesota.

26. Good name for many a tree-lined street : ELM

The most common street name in the US is “Second Street”. “First Street” comes in only at number three, and this is because many cities and towns forego the use of “First” and instead go with “Main” or something more historical in nature. “Elm Street” appears on the list at number fifteen.

33. “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” co-creator Fey : TINA

Comedian and actress Tina Fey was born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. Fey is perhaps best known to television viewers as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” (1997-2006), and as the creator and star of the sitcom “30 Rock” (2006-2013).

“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is a Netflix-made sitcom that was created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock (who worked with Fey on “30 Rock”). The title character, played by Ellie Kemper, is a young woman adjusting to life in New York City after she was rescued from an underground bunker in Indiana where she had been held for 15 years. I tried a few episodes and found that it didn’t really hold my attention. But, I may give it another go one day, as I hear good things …

39. Prepare, as Romano : GRATE

“Romano” is actually an American term, and is used for a selection of hard and salty cheeses that are typically grated. One of these cheeses is the Italian Pecorino Romano, from which we get the more generic term “Romano”.

40. Womb-related : UTERINE

“Uterus” is the Latin word for “womb”.

44. Part of TNT : NITRO

“TNT” is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

45. Trace amount : DRIB

A drib is a negligible amount, as in “dribs and drabs”. The term “drib” arose in Scotland in the 18th century, and might possibly come from the verb “to dribble”.

48. Ledger column : ASSETS

A ledger is an account book. The term”ledger” comes from the Middle English “leggen” meaning “to lay”. The original ledger was a large book “laid” in one particular place permanently, an example being a breviary in a church.

50. Charlotte-to-Raleigh dir. : ENE

The city of Charlotte is the most populous in the state of North Carolina. It was named for the queen consort of King George III of Britain, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Raleigh is North Carolina’s second largest city (behind Charlotte), but it is the state’s capital. Chartered in 1792, the city is named for Sir Walter Raleigh, the Elizabethan explorer who founded the Lost Colony of Roanoke.

52. Calypso-influenced genre : SKA

Ska originated in Jamaica in the late fifties and was the precursor to reggae music. No one has a really definitive etymology of the term “ska”, but it is likely to be imitative of some sound.

The musical style known as calypso originated in Trinidad and Tobago, but there seems to be some debate about which influences were most important as the genre developed. It is generally agreed that the music was imported by African slaves from their homeland, but others emphasize influences of the medieval French troubadours. To me it sounds more African in nature. Calypso reached the masses when it was first recorded in 1912, and it spread around the world in the thirties and forties. It reached its pinnacle with the release of the famous “Banana Boat Song” by Harry Belafonte.

53. __ of March : IDES

In Act I of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” a soothsayer warns the doomed emperor to “beware the ides of March”. Caesar ignores the prophecy and is subsequently killed on the steps of the Capitol by a group of conspirators on that fateful day.

60. Baseball bat wood : ASH

Louisville Slugger is a brand of baseball bat manufactured by the Hillerich & Bradsby Company in Louisville, Kentucky. The famous bat is made of Northern White Ash grown on the New York/Pennsylvania border. These ash forests used by the company are threatened by the emerald ash borer which is moving closer and closer every year. There are already plans in place to replace the traditional wood used in the bat as the assumption is that the source of ash will succumb to infestation.

65. Gambles in a church basement, maybe : PLAYS BINGO (hiding a mixed GIBSON)

Our modern bingo is a derivative of an Italian lottery game called “Il Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia” that became popular in the 16th-century.

A Gibson is simply a regular martini (gin and vermouth) with the traditional olive garnish replaced with a pickled onion.

69. Winemaker with 1900 acres of vineyards in California : BOGLE

Bogle Vineyards was founded in 1979 in Clarksburg, California by Warren Bogle.

71. Short-horned bighorns : EWES

The male bighorn sheep of North America has horns that can weigh up to 30 pounds, which is about 10% of the animal’s body weight.

72. Lid inflammations : STYES

A stye is a bacterial infection of the sebaceous glands at the base of the eyelashes, and is also known as a hordeolum.

Down

1. Clerics in un monastère : ABBES

In French, “abbés” (abbots) might live in “un monastère” (a monastery).

2. “Outlander” novelist Gabaldon : DIANA

Author Diana Gabaldon is best known for her “Outlander” series of novels, which were adapted into a very successful (and entertaining) television drama. The “Outlander” books are set in Scotland, and involve time travel. Gabaldon tells us that she was inspired to write her first “Outlander” book after watching an episode of “Doctor Who”.

3. Gumbo pods : OKRAS

Gumbo is a type of stew or soup that originated in Louisiana. The primary ingredient can be meat or fish, but to be true gumbo it must include the “holy trinity” of vegetables, namely celery, bell peppers and onion. Okra used to be a requirement but this is no longer the case. Okra gave the dish its name as the vernacular word for the African vegetable is “okingumbo”, from the Bantu language spoken by many of the slaves brought to America.

4. Salon jobs : PERMS

“Perm” is the common name given to a permanent wave, a chemical or thermal treatment of hair to produce waves or curls. I don’t worry about such things, as it’s a number-one all over for me …

5. Crosby, Stills & Nash, e.g. : TRIO

The supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) is made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. The band can grow to “CSNY” when the trio is joined by Neil Young. Fans have been known to call the act “C, S, N and sometimes Y”, a play on the expression that names all the vowels, “A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y”.

8. TV series with choreographed numbers : GLEE

The TV show called “Glee” has proven to be very popular. The storyline focuses on a high school glee club in Lima, Ohio called New Directions.

10. Wawa and 7-Eleven : MINIMARTS (hiding a mixed MARTINI)

Wawa is an East Coast chain of gas stations and convenience stores. Back in the late 1800s, Wawa was the name of a dairy farm operation that delivered milk to homes. When consumers started buying milk in grocery stores in the 1960s, the owners of Wawa shifted their focus and opened up the Wawa Food Market as an outlet for the milk from the dairy operation. Those early food markets developed into the chain of Wawa convenience stores.

The first precursor to the 7-Eleven store opened in Dallas, Texas in 1927. The stores were so named (much later, in 1946) because they were open longer than other stores, from 7am to 11pm.

The term “martini” probably takes it name from the “Martini & Rossi” brand of dry vermouth, although no one seems to be completely sure. What is clear is that despite the Martini name originating in Italy, the martini drink originated in the US. The original martini was made with gin and sweet vermouth, but someone specifying a “dry” martini was given gin and dry vermouth. Nowadays we use dry vermouth for all martinis and the term “dry” has become a reference to how little vermouth is included in the drink. Famously, Noël Coward liked his drink very dry and said that a perfect martini is made by “filling a glass with gin then waving it in the general direction of Italy”. The German-American journalist and satirist H. L. Mencken referred to the martini as “the only American invention as perfect as a sonnet”.

12. Attic pests : MICE

An attic or loft is a room or space located below the roof of a building. The term “attic” is a shortened form of “attic story”, the uppermost story or level of a house. This term “attic story” originally applied to a low, decorative level built on top of the uppermost story behind a building’s decorative facade. This use of decoration at the top of buildings was common in ancient Greece, and was particularly important in the Attica style. That Attica style was so called because it originated in the historical region of Attica that encompassed the city of Athens. And that’s how our attics are linked to ancient Greece.

27. Big name in small construction : LEGO

Lego produces some wonderful specialized sets with which you can build models of celebrated structures, including:

  • The Statue of Liberty (2,882 pieces)
  • The Sydney Opera House (2,989 pieces)
  • The Eiffel Tower (3,428 pieces)
  • Tower Bridge (4,295 pieces)
  • The Taj Mahal (5,922 pieces)

30. “Poker Face” Lady : GAGA

“Lady Gaga” is the stage name of Stefani Germanotta. Germanotta is a big fan of the band Queen, and she took her stage name from the marvelous Queen song titled “Radio Ga Ga”.

“Poker Face” is a 2008 song co-written and recorded by Lady Gaga. Having sold over 14 million copies, it is one of the best-selling singles ever released. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it …

31. Needle case : ETUI

An etui is an ornamental case used to hold small items, in particular sewing needles. We imported both the case design and the word “etui” from France. The French also have a modern usage of “etui”, using the term to depict a case for carrying CDs.

35. Brooklyn NBA team : NETS

The NBA’s Brooklyn Nets were the New Jersey Nets until 2012, and were based in Newark. Prior to 1977, the team was known as the New York Nets and played in various locations on Long Island. Ten years earlier, the Nets were called the New Jersey Americans and were headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey.

36. Captivating : ARRESTING (hiding a mixed STINGER)

Stingers are a class of cocktails made from a spirit mixed with crème de menthe. The classic stinger recipe calls for brandy and white crème de menthe, and dates back at least to 1917. The variation that calls for brandy mixed with green crème de menthe is known as green hornet.

41. Greek letter : IOTA

Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet, and one that gave rise to our letters I and J. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small, as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

56. Astringent plumlike fruits : SLOES

The sloe is the fruit of the blackthorn bush, and the main flavoring ingredient in sloe gin. A sloe looks like a small plum, but is usually much more tart in taste.

An astringent is a chemical compound that tends to shrink or constrict body tissues.

59. Neural transmitter : AXON

A nerve cell is more correctly called a neuron. The branched projections that receive electrochemical signals from other neurons are known as dendrites. The long nerve fiber that conducts signals away from the neuron is known as the axon. A neuron that has no definite axon is referred to as “apolar” or “nonpolar”. In apolar neurons the nerve impulses radiate in all directions.

66. “Amen!” : YES!

The word “amen” translates as “so be it”. “Amen” is said to be of Hebrew origin, but it is also likely to be influenced by Aramaic and Arabic.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Vote to accept : ADOPT
6. Sincerely asks for : BEGS
10. Vicki Lawrence sitcom role : MAMA
14. Harley owner : BIKER
15. “This is __ a test” : ONLY
16. Flower painted by van Gogh : IRIS
17. Roadblocks : BARRICADES (hiding a mixed SIDECAR)
19. Friendly : NICE
20. Win the affections of : ENAMOR
21. “__ lost!” : GET
22. Mental flash : IDEA
23. Be rude to : SASS
24. Doc’s org. : AMA
26. Good name for many a tree-lined street : ELM
28. Energy : VIM
29. Barely sufficient : MEAGER
33. “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” co-creator Fey : TINA
37. Crossed (out) : EXED
39. Prepare, as Romano : GRATE
40. Womb-related : UTERINE
42. Crowd control weapon : RIOT GUN
44. Part of TNT : NITRO
45. Trace amount : DRIB
47. Not tacit : SAID
48. Ledger column : ASSETS
50. Charlotte-to-Raleigh dir. : ENE
51. Did nothing : SAT
52. Calypso-influenced genre : SKA
53. __ of March : IDES
57. Minor argument : SPAT
60. Baseball bat wood : ASH
62. In the center : MEDIAL
64. Airport idler : TAXI
65. Gambles in a church basement, maybe : PLAYS BINGO (hiding a mixed GIBSON)
67. Golfer’s selection : IRON
68. Easy gait : LOPE
69. Winemaker with 1900 acres of vineyards in California : BOGLE
70. __ a bell: sounded familiar : RANG
71. Short-horned bighorns : EWES
72. Lid inflammations : STYES

Down

1. Clerics in un monastère : ABBES
2. “Outlander” novelist Gabaldon : DIANA
3. Gumbo pods : OKRAS
4. Salon jobs : PERMS
5. Crosby, Stills & Nash, e.g. : TRIO
6. Fancy neckwear : BOA
7. Final stage of a chess match : ENDGAME
8. TV series with choreographed numbers : GLEE
9. Word with metric or merit : … SYSTEM
10. Wawa and 7-Eleven : MINIMARTS (hiding a mixed MARTINI)
11. Bone-dry : ARID
12. Attic pests : MICE
13. Topside, perhaps : ASEA
18. Cowardly : CRAVEN
25. With 38-Down, bar offering found in each set of circles : MIXED …
27. Big name in small construction : LEGO
30. “Poker Face” Lady : GAGA
31. Needle case : ETUI
32. Tear to bits : REND
33. Sushi option : TUNA
34. “For real?” : IT IS?
35. Brooklyn NBA team : NETS
36. Captivating : ARRESTING (hiding a mixed STINGER)
38. See 25-Down : … DRINK
41. Greek letter : IOTA
43. Support group? : I-BEAMS
46. Mold into a new form : RESHAPE
49. Paper clip alternative : STAPLE
53. Senseless sort : IDIOT
54. Shabby : DINGY
55. Sharp-eyed hunter : EAGLE
56. Astringent plumlike fruits : SLOES
57. Prepare, as a 25-/38-Down : STIR
58. Prefix with graph : PARA-
59. Neural transmitter : AXON
61. Hoping for more customers : SLOW
63. Drops off : EBBS
66. “Amen!” : YES!

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