LA Times Crossword 7 Jan 19, Monday

Bill’s time: 5m 43s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. “Forever” mail attachment : STAMP

The “forever stamp” for first-class postage was introduced in 2006 (and about time!). Now we have stamps that are good for first-class postage forever, no matter how often the rates change.

10. __ and chips : FISH

In the British Isles, the most common fish that is used in traditional “fish and chips” is Atlantic cod. Cod has been overfished all over the world, and is now considered to be an endangered species by many international bodies. Confrontations over fishing rights in the North Atlantic led to conflicts called “the Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK in the 1950s and the 1970s, with fishing fleets being protected by naval vessels and even shots being fired.

15. Drink with a polar bear mascot : ICEE

Slush Puppie and ICEE are brands of frozen, slushy drinks. Ostensibly competing brands, ICEE company now owns the Slush Puppie brand.

16. “The __ Ranger” : LONE

“The Lone Ranger” was both a radio and television show that dated back to its first radio performance in 1933 on a Detroit station. The line “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” was a device used in the storyline to signal that a riding sequence was starting; so cue the music!

17. Specialized vocab : LINGO

Lingo is a specialized vocabulary. “Journalese” and “legalese” would be good examples.

18. Workers with antennae : ANTS

Ants use their two antennas to detect chemicals, air currents and vibrations. Ants can also use their antennae to communicate between each other using a sense of touch.

20. Psych 101 subject : EGO

Sigmund Freud created a structural model of the human psyche, breaking it into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is that part of the psyche containing the basic instinctual drives. The ego seeks to please the id by causing realistic behavior that benefits the individual. The super-ego almost has a parental role, contradicting the id by introducing critical thinking and morals to behavioral choices.

21. Sommelier : WINE STEWARD

“Sommelier” is the French word for “wine steward”. If that steward is a female, then the French term used is “sommelière”.

25. ’60s pop singer __ Lee : BRENDA

Brenda Lee is a country and rockabilly singer who had 37 songs that made the charts in the sixties. Lee’s biggest hits are probably “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” from 1958, and “I’m Sorry” from 1960. Lee was only 13 years old when she recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”.

31. “The Gift of the Magi” author : O HENRY

“O. Henry” was the pen name of writer William Sydney Porter from Greensboro, North Carolina. O. Henry is famous for his witty short stories that have a clever twist in the tail.

O’Henry’s short story called “The Gift of the Magi” was first published in 1905. It tells of relatively poor, newly-married couple who want to buy each other a gift for Christmas. The wife’s pride and joy is her long blonde hair, while the husband’s most treasured possession is his grandfather’s gold pocket watch. The wife sells her hair to buy her gift, and the husband sells his watch to buy his gift for his spouse. The wife is given a set of combs, hair accessories that are useless now that her hair is short. The husband gets a platinum fob chain for the watch that he no longer owns.

38. Bavaria-based automaker : AUDI

The predecessor to today’s Audi company was called Auto Union. Auto Union was formed with the merger of four individual entities: Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer. The Audi logo comprises four intersecting rings, each representing one of the four companies that merged.

Bavaria in southeast Germany is the largest state in the country. The capital and largest city in Bavaria is Munich.

39. Adorns with Angel Soft, briefly : TPS

TP’ing (toilet papering) is a prank involving the covering of some object or location with rolls and rolls of toilet paper. If you live in Texas or Minnesota, that little “prank” is legal, but if you live here in California it is classed as mischief or vandalism.

The pulp and paper company Georgia-Pacific sells toilet paper using the brand names Angel Soft, Quilted Northern and Soft n’ Gentle.

40. Sandler of “Hotel Transylvania” films : ADAM

Adam Sandler’s big break was with “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). He then went on to make several successful movies and has his own movie and television production company. Personally, I am not a fan of Adam Sandler as a performer, nor of his movies …

“Hotel Transylvania” Is an animated film released in 2012. Hotel Transylvania of the title, is owned by Count Dracula and is used by the world’s monsters to get some time away from human civilization. Count Dracula is played by comedy actor Adam Sandler.

53. Proofs of age, for short : IDS

Identity document (ID)

58. Harriet’s TV hubby : OZZIE

“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” originally ran from 1952 to 1966, and has been running continuously in syndication ever since. It still holds the record for the longest-running, non-animated sitcom ever seen on US television.

61. Dark movie genre : NOIR

The expression “film noir” has French origins, but only in that it was coined by a French critic in describing a style of Hollywood film. The term, meaning “black film” in French, was first used by Nino Frank in 1946. Film noir often applies to a movie with a melodramatic plot and a private eye or detective at its center. Good examples would be “The Big Sleep” and “D.O.A”.

62. Africa’s Sierra __ : LEONE

The Republic of Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa that lies on the Atlantic Coast. The capital city of Freetown was originally set up as a colony to house the “Black Poor” of London, England. These people were mainly freed British slaves of Caribbean descent who were living a miserable life in the run-down parts of London. Perhaps to help the impoverished souls, perhaps to rid the streets of “a problem”, three ships were chartered in 1787 to transport a group of blacks, with some whites, to a piece of land purchased in Sierra Leone. Those who made the voyage were granted British citizenship and protection. The descendants of these immigrants, and others who made the journey over the next 60 years, make up the ethnic group that’s today called the Sierra Leone Creole.

Down

1. Fish served “amandine” : SOLE

The group of flatfish known as soles take their name from “solea”, the Latin word for “sandal”. And, they kind of have that shape.

A dish prepared in the amandine style is usually cooked in butter and seasonings, and then sprinkled with toasted almonds. Note the correct spelling “amandine”. You might notice the misspelling “almondine” on a menu, but don’t say anything. Just sit there with a smug look on your face …

3. Part of A.D. : ANNO

The designations Anno Domini (AD, “year of Our Lord”) and Before Christ (BC) are found in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The dividing point between AD and BC is the year of the conception of Jesus, with AD 1 following 1 BC without a year “0” in between. The AD/BC scheme dates back to AD 525, and gained wide acceptance soon after AD 800. Nowadays a modified version has become popular, with CE (Common/Christian Era) used to replace AD, and BCE (Before the Common/Christian Era) used to replace BC.

4. “Little Women” woman : MEG

“Little Women” is a novel written by American author Louisa May Alcott. The quartet of little women is Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March. Jo is a tomboy and the main character in the story, and is based on Alcott herself.

6. Upright and grand : PIANOS

A grand piano is one with the frame supported horizontally on three legs. An upright piano has the frame and strings running vertically. Grand pianos come in many sizes. For example, the length of a concert grand is about 9 feet, a parlor grand is about 7 feet, and a baby grand is about 5 feet.

7. Clearasil target : ACNE

Clearasil acne medication was developed in 1940 by Ivan Combe and Kedzie Teller. Combe promoted the product by sponsoring the television show “American Bandstand” for many years.

11. Hawkeye State resident : IOWAN

Iowa is nicknamed the Hawkeye State in honor of Chief Black Hawk, a leader of the Sauk people during the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War.

12. McCarthy’s friend Mortimer : SNERD

Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s most famous character was Charlie McCarthy, but Bergen also worked with Mortimer Snerd.

13. Ibsen’s “__ Gabler” : HEDDA

“Hedda Gabler” is a play by the great Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen that was first published in 1890. Considered one of the greatest theater roles, the title character of Hedda Gabler is sometimes referred to as the female Hamlet.

23. Sea eagles : ERNS

The ern (sometimes “erne”) is also called the white-tailed eagle or the sea eagle.

24. “Worst Cooks in America” judge Burrell : ANNE

Anne Burrell is co-host of the show “Worst Cooks in America” that airs on the Food Network. Yet another celebrity chef …

“Worst Cooks in America” is a reality show on the Food Network. it’s all about taking some really bad cooks and training them up in a few weeks to the level they can make a restaurant-quality meal.

27. Breakfast chain : IHOP

The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) was founded back in 1958. IHOP was originally intended to be called IHOE, the International House of Eggs, but that name didn’t do too well in marketing tests!

28. Thomas Hardy heroine : TESS

In Thomas Hardy’s novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, the heroine and title character is Tess Durbeyfield. Her father is an uneducated peasant and when he hears that his name is a corruption of the noble name of “D’Urberville”, the news goes to his head.

Thomas Hardy was a novelist and poet from Dorset in England. Hardy thought of himself mainly as a poet, but he is best remembered for some very fine novels, such as “Far from the Madding Crowd”, “The Mayor of Casterbridge”, “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” and “Jude the Obscure”.

29. Disreputable : SEAMY

We’ve used “seamy” to mean “the least pleasant, the worst” since the 1600s. The idea comes from the seamed side of a sewn garment being the less attractive.

33. City bond, informally : MUNI

A municipal bond (“muni”) is one that is issued by a city or local government, or some similar agency. Munis have an advantage over other investments in that any interest earned on the bond is usually exempt from state and federal income taxes.

34. Garden locale in a Sistine Chapel mural : EDEN

The Sistine Chapel, in the Pope’s residence in Rome, takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV who was responsible for restoring the old Capella Magna in the 15th century. It was about a century later (1508-1512) that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel under the patronage of Pope Julius II.

35. Like animals in the Serengeti : WILD

The Serengeti is a region in Africa, located in northern Tanzania and southwest Kenya. The name “Serengeti” comes from the Maasai language and means “Endless Plains”.

38. Torah holders : ARKS

The Torah ark is found in a synagogue, and is the ornamental container in which are stored the Torah scrolls. The word “Torah” best translates as “teaching” or “law”, I am told.

45. Comic book artists : INKERS

The traditional process for drawing a comic book involves a team of specialist artists. The penciller creates the initial drawing, the inker adds depth and shading to the drawing, the letterer adds text, and the colorist adds color.

46. Spy plane acronym : AWACS

When the British developed radar in WWII, they also came up with an airborne system that they actually deployed during the war. In 1944 the US Navy commissioned a similar system, and so launched the first American Airborne Early Warning (AEW) system, also before the war was over. The more modern term for the technology is “Airborne Warning and Control System”, or “AWACS” for short.

47. Construct haphazardly : RIG UP

Our word “hap” means chance or fortune. It turns up combined in words like “haphazard” and even “happen”. “Happen” originally meant to “occur by hap, by chance”.

48. Govt. security : T-NOTE

A Treasury note (T-note) is a government debt that matures in 1-10 years. A T-note has a coupon (interest) payment made every six months. The T-note is purchased at a discount to face value, and at the date of maturity can be redeemed at that face value. A T-bill is a similar financial vehicle, but it matures in one year or less, and a T-bond matures in 20-30 years.

51. Suffix with sock : -EROO

“Sockeroo” is a slang term meaning “smash hit”.

52. Not fer : AGIN

If you’re not “fer” (for), then you could be “agin” (against).

53. Longtime seller of Lacoste shirts : IZOD

Jack Izod was a tailor of some repute over in England, producing shirts for King George V as well as other members of the Royal Family. As Izod was about to retire, he was approached for the use of his name by an American clothing manufacturer based in New York. The brand Izod of London was introduced to America in 1938.

René Lacoste was a French tennis player who went into the clothing business, and came up with a more comfortable shirt that players could use. This became known as a “tennis shirt”. When it was adopted for use in the sport of polo, the shirts also became known as “polo shirts”. The “golf shirt” is basically the same thing.

54. “The Flintstones” pet : DINO

In the Hanna-Barbera cartoon “The Flintstones”, Dino the pet dinosaur was voiced by the famous Mel Blanc, until Blanc passed away in 1989.

59. Middle of Arizona? : ZEE

The middle letter of the word “Arizona” is a letter Z (zee).