LA Times Crossword Answers 11 Jun 14, Wednesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Gail Grabowski
THEME: Traffic Jam … we have some elements of a TRAFFIC JAM hidden in today’s themed answers:

17A. *Big name in veggie patties BOCA BURGER (hiding “CAB”)
40A. *Certain surfer WEB USER (hiding “BUS”)
11D. *Passé reception aid TV ANTENNA (hiding “VAN”)
35D. *Steamy gallery display EROTIC ART (hiding “CAR”)

64A. Rush-hour headache, components of which are hidden in the answers to starred clues TRAFFIC JAM

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 5m 36s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

10. City southwest of Bayeux ST LO
Saint-Lô is a town in Normandy that was occupied by Germany in 1940. Saint-Lo stood at a strategic crossroads and so there was intense fighting there during the Normandy invasion of 1944. After a prolonged bombardment, very little of the town was left standing.

The French town of Bayeux in Normandy is famous as the home of the Bayeux Tapestry.

The famous Bayeux Tapestry isn’t a tapestry at all, but rather an embroidered cloth. The “tapestry” is 230 feet long and depicts events leading up to the Norman conquest of England, including the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

14. Actor Ladd ALAN
The last few years of Alan Ladd’s life were pretty rough. In 1962 he was found unconscious in a pool of blood with a bullet wound in his chest, an abortive suicide attempt. Two years later he was found dead, apparently having succumbed to an accidental overdose of drugs and sedatives. He was 50 years old.

17. *Big name in veggie patties BOCA BURGER (hiding “CAB”)
I love Boca Burgers, the vegan ones anyway, made from soy protein. The Boca Foods company takes its name from Boca Raton, the city where it started doing business, in 1979.

19. Great __ DANE
The Great Dane dog of isn’t actually from Denmark, and rather is a German breed.

22. “Fire” bugs ANTS
Fire ants are stinging ants, many species of which are called red ants. Most stinging ants bite their prey and then spray acid on the wound. The fire ant however, bites to hold on and then injects an alkaloid venom from its abdomen, creating a burning sensation in humans that have been nipped.

27. Letter flourish SERIF
Serifs are details on the ends of characters in some typefaces. Typefaces without serifs are known as sans-serif (using the French word “sans” meaning “without”). Some people say that serif fonts are easier to read on paper, whereas sans-serif fonts work better on a computer screen. I’m not so sure though …

33. Borscht base BEET
Borscht is a beetroot soup that originated from Ukraine. Borscht can be served both hot and cold.

36. Sch. with 110 NCAA titles UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) gets more applications from students than any other university in the country. UCLA also has more students enrolled than any other university in the state.

38. Snorer’s problem, perhaps APNEA
Sleep apnea (“apnoea” in British English) can be caused by an obstruction in the airways, possibly due to obesity or enlarged tonsils.

39. “__ Town” OUR
“Our Town” is a play by Thornton Wilder, first performed in 1938. Wilder won a Pulitzer for the work. “Our Town” was actually banned by the Soviet authorities in East Berlin in 1946. Their reasoning was that “the drama was too depressing and could inspire a German suicide wave”.

40. *Certain surfer WEB USER (hiding “BUS”)
We use the term “bus” for a mode of transportation, an abbreviated form of the original “omnibus”. We imported “omnibus” via French from Latin, in which language it means “for all”. The idea is that an omnibus is a “carriage for all”.

43. Pledge of fidelity TROTH
There’s a phrase used in some traditional wedding vows that goes “… and thereto I plight thee my troth”. “I plight” is an obsolete way of saying “I pledge”. “Troth” is an old variant of the word truth, and meant “truth” but also “loyalty”. So, “I plight thee my troth” means, “I promise to be loyal to you”. I am sure all of us who uttered those words knew what we were saying …

59. Spot for a 42-Across SOFA
(42A. Time out? NAP)
“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

63. Berry promoted as a superfood ACAI
Açaí is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

67. Actress Lenya LOTTE
Lotte Lenya was an Austrian singer and actress. She was married to composer Kurt Weill, and was noted for her performances of his works. Late in her career she played Rosa Klebb, one of the main villains in the 1963 Bond movie “From Russia With Love”. Klebb was the character who had the knife that popped out from the toe of her shoe.

68. “La Dolce Vita” setting ROME
The title of the celebrated 1960 Federico Fellini film “La Dolce Vita” translates from Italian as “The Good Life”, or more literally as “The Sweet Life”. There is a character in the film called Paparazzo who is a news photographer. It is this character who gives us our word “Paparazzi”, a term used for photographers who make careers out of taking candid shots of celebrities.

Down
1. Elephant in picture books BABAR
“Babar the Elephant” originated in France, a creation of Jean de Brunhoff in 1931. The first book was “Histoire de Babar”, a book so successful it was translated into English two years later for publication in Britain and the US. Jean de Brunhoff wrote six more Babar stories before he died in 1937, and then his son Laurent continued his father’s work.

5. Sigma follower TAU
The letter tau follows the letter sigma in the Greek alphabet.

6. Business opening? AGRI-
Agribusiness

8. Solemn ring KNELL
The word “knell” is used for a solemn ring from a bell, often associated with death or a funeral. “Knell” comes the Old English “cnell” and is probably imitative in origin, sounding like a peal from a large bell.

10. Picnic drink SODA POP
Our term “picnic” comes from the French word that now has the same meaning, namely “pique-nique”. The original “pique-nique” was a fashionable pot-luck affair, and not necessarily held outdoors.

28. Long-range weapon, for short ICBM
An Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with the range necessary to cross between continents. Being ballistic (as opposed to a cruise missile) an ICBM is guided during the initial launch phase, but later in flight just relies on thrust and gravity to arrive at its target. It is defined as intercontinental as it has a range greater than 3,500 miles. ICBMs are really only used for delivering nuclear warheads. Scary stuff …

31. Paraphernalia GEAR
Back in the 17th century, “paraphernalia” was a woman’s property, above and beyond that which was classified as her dowry. Nowadays we tend to use the word to mean just “personal belongings”.

34. Continental cash EURO
The European Union (EU) today stands at a membership of 27 states. The Euro is the official currency of only 16 of the 27. The list of states in the EU that don’t use the Euro includes the UK, Denmark and Sweden.

37. Piedmont wine area ASTI
Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.

41. LAX data ETDS
Estimated time of departure (ETD)

Los Angeles International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and the busiest here on the West Coast of the US. The airport was opened in 1930 as Mines Field and was renamed to Los Angeles Airport in 1941. On the airport property is the iconic white structure that resembles a flying saucer. This is called the Theme Building and I believe it is mainly used as a restaurant and observation deck for the public. The airport used to be identified by the letters “LA”, but when the aviation industry went to a three-letter standard for airport identification, this was changed to “LAX”. Apparently the “X” has no significant meaning.

44. Beachwear portmanteau TANKINI
A “tankini” is a two-piece bathing suit comprising a tank top and a bikini bottom.

“Tank top” is another one of those terms that always catches me out, as it has a different meaning on each side of the Atlantic. In the US a tank top is a sleeveless shirt, something we would call a “vest” back in Ireland (and the US “vest” is what we call a “waist coat”). A tank top in Ireland is a sleeveless sweater, which further adds to the confusion. The name “tank top” is derived from “tank suit”, an old name for a woman’s one-piece bathing suit. The use of “tank” for the bathing suit came from “swimming tank”, an obsolete term used in the 1920s for a swimming pool.

The origin of the name “bikini”, a type of bathing suit, seems very uncertain. My favorite story is that it is named after the Bikini Atoll, site of American A-bomb tests in the forties and fifties. The name “bikini” was chosen for the swim-wear because of the “explosive” effect it had on men who saw a woman wearing the garment!

52. Pamplona runners TOROS
Pamplona, Spain is famous for its San Fermin festival held in July every year, the highlight of which is the Running of the Bulls. Every year, 200-300 people are injured in the bull run, and 15 people have been killed since 1910. If you get to Pamplona two days before the Running of the Bulls, you can see the animal-rights protest event known as the Running of the Nudes. The protesters are as naked as the bulls …

55. Andean hauler LLAMA
The wool from a llama is much softer than that from a sheep, and it is also free from lanolin.

56. Wabbit hunter ELMER
Elmer Fudd is one of the most famous of all the Looney Tunes cartoon characters, the hapless nemesis of Bugs Bunny. If you have never seen it, check out Elmer and Bugs in the marvelous “Rabbit of Seville”, a short cartoon that parodies Rossini’s “Barber of Seville”. Wonderful stuff …

60. They may be saturated FATS
Saturated fats differ from unsaturated fats chemically in that saturated fats have chains of fatty acids that are relatively straight, allowing individual molecules to pack closely together. This close packing largely explains why saturated fats are solid at room temperature. Unsaturated fatty acids on the other hand have “kinks” in the chains of their fatty acids, so that they cannot pack together closely. Unsaturated fats are generally liquid at room temperature. Food manufacturers have learned that humans get sick by consuming saturated fats (i.e. fats from animal sources). So, they market “healthy” vegetable fats (naturally unsaturated and liquid at room temperature) that they have magically transformed in solid fats (like vegetable spreads). All they did was saturate the healthy fats, so that now they solidify at room temperature, and in our arteries. There should be a law …

61. Colgate-Palmolive shaving lotion AFTA
Afta is an aftershave in the Mennen range of products that is owned by Colgate-Palmolive.

65. Baldwin’s “30 Rock” co-star FEY
“30 Rock” is a sitcom on NBC that was created by the show’s star Tina Fey. Fey is an ex-performer and writer from “Saturday Night Live” and uses her experiences on that show as a basis for the “30 Rock” storyline. “30 Rock” aired its last episode in early 2013.

Alec is the oldest of the acting Baldwin brothers. I think Alec’s big break was playing Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan in “The Hunt for Red October”, but thank goodness that role was taken over by Harrison Ford for the subsequent Jack Ryan movies. Baldwin made a name for himself in recent times playing Jack Donaghy on “30 Rock”, opposite Tina Fey. He has also hosted the sketch show “Saturday Night Live” on more occasions than anyone else (16 times).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Finch or falcon BIRD
5. Heart-to-hearts TALKS
10. City southwest of Bayeux ST LO
14. Actor Ladd ALAN
15. Intermediary AGENT
16. It bakes the cake OVEN
17. *Big name in veggie patties BOCA BURGER (hiding “CAB”)
19. Great __ DANE
20. Invite for ASK TO
21. Land in the ocean ISLE
22. “Fire” bugs ANTS
23. Get one’s back up about RESENT
25. Went for a rebound, say LEAPT
27. Letter flourish SERIF
30. Like some omelets TWO-EGG
33. Borscht base BEET
36. Sch. with 110 NCAA titles UCLA
38. Snorer’s problem, perhaps APNEA
39. “__ Town” OUR
40. *Certain surfer WEB USER (hiding “BUS”)
42. Time out? NAP
43. Pledge of fidelity TROTH
45. Chef’s protection MITT
46. Take the risk DARE
47. Blowhard’s output HOT AIR
49. Playground comeback DID SO!
51. Feedback INPUT
53. Unattached SINGLE
57. Clock sound TICK
59. Spot for a 42-Across SOFA
62. “Even so …” STILL
63. Berry promoted as a superfood ACAI
64. Rush-hour headache, components of which are hidden in the answers to starred clues TRAFFIC JAM
66. In a dilemma TORN
67. Actress Lenya LOTTE
68. “La Dolce Vita” setting ROME
69. One opposed ANTI
70. College paper ESSAY
71. Timeline component YEAR

Down
1. Elephant in picture books BABAR
2. “Guess you beat me” I LOSE
3. Clothing store fixtures RACKS
4. Paternity suit procedure DNA TEST
5. Sigma follower TAU
6. Business opening? AGRI-
7. Chair parts LEGS
8. Solemn ring KNELL
9. Main drag, e.g. STREET
10. Picnic drink SODA POP
11. *Passé reception aid TV ANTENNA (hiding “VAN”)
12. Advanced LENT
13. Tip jar fillers ONES
18. Dog biscuit shape BONE
24. “I can’t deny that” TRUE
26. Wage __ of words A WAR
28. Long-range weapon, for short ICBM
29. Gin or tonic FLUID
31. Paraphernalia GEAR
32. Hang open GAPE
33. The pair BOTH
34. Continental cash EURO
35. *Steamy gallery display EROTIC ART (hiding “CAR”)
37. Piedmont wine area ASTI
40. Prepare quickly, with “up” WHIP
41. LAX data ETDS
44. Beachwear portmanteau TANKINI
46. Comforting words DON’T CRY
48. Prepare quickly, with “up” RUSTLE
50. Emphatic Spanish assent SI SI
52. Pamplona runners TOROS
54. WWII enlistee GI JOE
55. Andean hauler LLAMA
56. Wabbit hunter ELMER
57. “Toodle-oo!” TATA!
58. Screen image ICON
60. They may be saturated FATS
61. Colgate-Palmolive shaving lotion AFTA
65. Baldwin’s “30 Rock” co-star FEY

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