LA Times Crossword Answers 25 Mar 14, Tuesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Dave Sarpola
THEME: Chips Ahoy! … today’s themed answers are things associated with CHIPS:

17A. Place for a Hold ’em game POKER ROOM (“poker chips”)
62A. Nabisco cookies … and what you might cry upon solving this puzzle’s three other longest answers? CHIPS AHOY!
11D. Officer Frank Poncherello portrayer of ’70s-’80s TV ERIK ESTRADA (“CHiPs” TV show)
24D. Slogan seen on computer stickers INTEL INSIDE (“computer chips”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 7m 18s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Ancient Egyptian pictograph, e.g. GLYPH
A “glyph” is a writing element, perhaps an individual letter. A “pictograph” is a graphic symbol that can be used as an element in writing.

14. Tiny South Pacific nation NAURU
Nauru is the world’s smallest island nation, located in the South Pacific 300 km to the east of Kiribati. The island was taken as a colony by Germany in the late 1800s, and came under the administration of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom after WWI. The Japanese invaded during WWII, but Nauru was one of the islands that was bypassed in the US advance across the Pacific towards Japan. Nauru achieved independence in 1968.

15. High-tech film effects, for short CGI
Computer-generated imagery (CGI)

17. Place for a Hold ’em game POKER ROOM (“poker chips”)
The official birthplace of the incredibly popular poker game of Texas Hold ‘Em is Robstown, Texas where the game dates back to the early 1900s. The game was introduced into Las Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texan enthusiasts including Doyle Brunson, a champion often seen playing on TV today. Doyle Brunson published a poker strategy guide in 1978, and this really helped increase the popularity of the game. But it was the inclusion of Texas Hold ‘Em in the television line-up that really gave the game its explosive surge in popularity, with the size of the prize money just skyrocketing.

20. Missouri tributary PLATTE
The Platte River used to be called the Nebrakier, which is an Oto word meaning “flat river”. Indeed, the state of Nebraska takes its name from “Nebrakier”. For a while it was also called the River Plate as “plate” is the French word “flat”. Later this became “Platte”, the phonetic spelling of the French “plate”.

27. Hindu royal RANI
A ranee (also spelled “rani”) is the female equivalent of a raja in India, and is the equivalent of a western queen or princess.

30. Lith. and Ukr. were part of it USSR
The former Soviet Union (USSR) was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the Tsar. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire, and was comprised of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs).

41. Arctic wastelands TUNDRAS
Tundra is an ecosystem that is treeless, or very nearly so. There are three types of tundra. Arctic and Antarctic tundra can’t support the growth of trees as the ground is pretty much frozen. Alpine tundra cannot support tree-growth due to high altitude.

46. Veterans Day tradition PARADE
Veterans Day used to be known as Armistice Day, and is observed on November 11th each year. This particular date was chosen as the Armistice that ended WWI was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

51. Garden locale EDEN
According to the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve lived in a garden “in” Eden, with Eden being geographically located by reference to four rivers including the Tigris and the Euphrates. Some scholars hypothesize that Eden was located in Mesopotamia, which encompasses much of modern-day Iraq.

52. __ de plume NOM
“Nom de plume” translates from French simply as “pen name”.

56. DUI-fighting gp. SADD
Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) was founded in Massachusetts in 1981. SADD’s aim is to prevent road traffic accidents by urging students to avoid potentially destructive decisions (such as driving under the influence of alcohol).

In some states, there is no longer a legal difference between a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) and a DUI (Driving Under the Influence). Other states retain that difference, so that by definition a DUI is a lesser offence than a DWI.

57. Social division CASTE
Many creatures organize themselves into a social structure, a phenomenon known as “eusociality”. Examples of such creatures would be ants, bees and wasps, where there are queens, workers and soldiers. The groups within such a hierarchical structure are known as castes. The word “caste” was borrowed from the class divisions in Indian society (although the word “caste” and hierarchical concept was actually introduced by the Portuguese).

59. Trojan War hero AENEAS
Aeneas was a Trojan who traveled to Italy and became the ancestor of all Romans. Aeneas’s story is told in Virgil’s epic poem “The Aeneid”.

62. Nabisco cookies … and what you might cry upon solving this puzzle’s three other longest answers? CHIPS AHOY!
Chips Ahoy! is a Nabisco brand of chocolate chip cookies.

66. Long-extinct birds DODOS
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 relatively recently, in the mid-1600s, and humans were the reason for its demise. The dodo lived exclusively on the island of Mauritius, and when man arrived he cut back the forest that was its home. He also introduced domestic animals, such as dogs and pigs, that ransacked the dodo’s nests.

71. Bedbugs, e.g. PESTS
Bed bugs are parasites that feed on human blood, and their preferred habitat is the mattresses on which people sleep. Bed bugs have been around for thousands of years and were almost eradicated in the 1940s. However, infestations have been increasing since then. Dogs have been trained to detect bed bugs and are used by some pest control specialists.

Down
1. Treasury Dept. variable GNP
A country’s Gross National Product (GNP) is the value of all services and products produced by its residents in a particular year. GNP includes all production wherever it is in the world, as long as the business is owned by residents of the country concerned. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is different, and is the value of all services and goods produced within the borders of the country for that year.

2. Mekong River language LAO
Lao, the language of Laos, does not use spaces between words (or periods!), although this is apparently changing. Spaces are used between sentences and clauses.

3. Relative of har YUK
Har-har … yuk-yuk!

4. Dressed more like an Exeter student PREPPIER
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private college prepatory school in Exter, New Hampshire that is usually referred to simply as “Exeter”. The list of Exeter former students includes US President Franklin Pierce, writers Gore Vidal, Dan Brown and John Irving, and businessman Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fame.

6. Nova __ SCOTIA
The Canadian province of Nova Scotia lies on the east coast of the country and is a peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. The area was settled by Scots starting in 1621, and Nova Scotia is Latin for “New Scotland”.

10. Surroundings MILIEU
We use the French word “milieu” to mean an environment, surroundings. In French, “milieu” is the word for “middle”.

11. Officer Frank Poncherello portrayer of ’70s-’80s TV ERIK ESTRADA (“CHiPs” TV show)
Erik Estrada got his big break in the movie “Airport 1975”, before playing motorcycle police officer Poncherello on the television show “CHiPs” from 1977-81.

12. Congregation area NAVE
In large Christian churches, the nave is the main approach to the altar, where most of the faithful are seated.

18. U.K. flying squad RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the oldest independent air force in the world (i.e. the first air force to become independent of army or navy forces). The RAF was formed during WWI on 1 April 1918, a composite of two earlier forces, the Royal Flying Corps (part of the Army) and the Royal Naval Air Service. The RAF’s “finest hour” has to be the Battle of Britain when the vastly outnumbered British fighters fought off the might of the Luftwaffe causing Hitler to delay his plan to cross the English Channel. This outcome prompted Winston Churchill to utter the memorable words:
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

22. Like Parmesan, commonly GRATED
Genuine Parmesan cheese is made in and around the Province of Parma in Northern Italy, which gives the cheese its name.

23. Newsman Dan RATHER
Journalist and former news anchor Dan Rather is from Texas, and began his career as a reporter for Associated Press in Huntsville, Texas. Rather was the man chosen to replace Walter Cronkite as anchor and Managing Editor of “CBS Evening News” when Cronkite retired in 1981.

24. Slogan seen on computer stickers INTEL INSIDE (“computer chip”)
Intel is the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor chips. The company was founded in 1968, and the name “Intel” is a derived from the term “int(egrated) el(ectronics)”. Recognition of the Intel brand has been greatly helped by the success of the “Intel Inside” campaign that started back in 1991.

34. Wall Street watchdog org. SEC
The US Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) enforces federal securities laws and regulates the securities industry. The SEC was created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The first Chairman of the SEC was Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., the father of future President Kennedy.

37. Genetic info transmitter RNA
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by what is called transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA.

40. Dapper pins TIE TACKS
I used to wear a tie pin (or “tie tack, tie tac”) in place of a tie clip many moons ago, but it just left little holes in my expensive silk ties!

42. Equestrian competition DRESSAGE
The equestrian sport of dressage involves demonstration of how well as horse responds to training. “Dressage” is a French word meaning “training”.

58. Nervous system transmitter AXON
A nerve cell is more correctly called a neuron, and the long nerve fiber that is part of a neuron is called the axon.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Ancient Egyptian pictograph, e.g. GLYPH
6. Game, __, match SET
9. Signs OMENS
14. Tiny South Pacific nation NAURU
15. High-tech film effects, for short CGI
16. Spreading like wildfire, as online videos VIRAL
17. Place for a Hold ’em game POKER ROOM (“poker chips”)
19. Breathing ALIVE
20. Missouri tributary PLATTE
21. Approved of, on Facebook LIKED
22. Golf club part GRIP
25. Some evergreens FIRS
26. Visualize SEE
27. Hindu royal RANI
28. Feels poorly AILS
30. Lith. and Ukr. were part of it USSR
33. Swear (to) ATTEST
36. See 38-Across POOR
38. With 36-Across, needy people THE
39. Located in that place, in legalese THEREAT
41. Arctic wastelands TUNDRAS
43. Slippery fish EEL
44. Baby bed CRIB
46. Veterans Day tradition PARADE
47. Trace amount DRIB
49. Afternoon socials TEAS
51. Garden locale EDEN
52. __ de plume NOM
54. Onetime Russian monarch TSAR
56. DUI-fighting gp. SADD
57. Social division CASTE
59. Trojan War hero AENEAS
61. Some highway ramps EXITS
62. Nabisco cookies … and what you might cry upon solving this puzzle’s three other longest answers? CHIPS AHOY!
66. Long-extinct birds DODOS
67. Assembly aid KIT
68. Open-mouthed AGAPE
69. Opposition ENEMY
70. Sloppy farm area STY
71. Bedbugs, e.g. PESTS

Down
1. Treasury Dept. variable GNP
2. Mekong River language LAO
3. Relative of har YUK
4. Dressed more like an Exeter student PREPPIER
5. Fling HURL
6. Nova __ SCOTIA
7. Self-serving activity EGO TRIP
8. Broadcaster’s scheduling unit TIME SLOT
9. Racetracks OVALS
10. Surroundings MILIEU
11. Officer Frank Poncherello portrayer of ’70s-’80s TV ERIK ESTRADA (“CHiPs” TV show)
12. Congregation area NAVE
13. Snowy day toy SLED
18. U.K. flying squad RAF
22. Like Parmesan, commonly GRATED
23. Newsman Dan RATHER
24. Slogan seen on computer stickers INTEL INSIDE (“computer chip”)
29. Salad go-with SOUP
31. Treelined SHADED
32. Email again RESEND
34. Wall Street watchdog org. SEC
35. Tangy TART
37. Genetic info transmitter RNA
40. Dapper pins TIE TACKS
42. Equestrian competition DRESSAGE
45. Single or double, say BASE HIT
48. Deepest part BOTTOM
50. Rational state SANITY
53. Complicated, as a breakup MESSY
55. Sales staff member REP
57. Give up, as territory CEDE
58. Nervous system transmitter AXON
60. With all haste, in memos ASAP
63. Owns HAS
64. Get off the fence OPT
65. Hoped-for answer to a certain proposal YES

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