LA Times Crossword Answers 4 Jan 2018, Thursday

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Constructed by: Robert & Marlea Ellis
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Theme: Duffers

Each of today’s themed answers is a common phrase that has been reinterpreted with reference to a round of golf, and not a great round:

  • 17A. Duffer’s flaw from the tee? : RECKLESS DRIVING
  • 26A. Duffer’s impossible dream? : ACE IN THE HOLE
  • 48A. Duffer’s cry after botching a putt and settling for par? : BYE-BYE BIRDIE!
  • 63A. Duffer’s sad 18th-hole reply to “Bogey for you?” … and 19th-hole request to the bartender? : MAKE MINE A DOUBLE

Bill’s time: 5m 23s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Waldorf __ : SALAD

As one might expect, the Waldorf salad was first created at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City (now the Waldorf-Astoria), back in the 1890s. The classic version of the Waldorf salad is made from apples, celery and walnuts dressed in mayonnaise and served on a bed of lettuce. Anyone who is a fan of the BBC sitcom “Fawlty Towers” will remember how much trouble Basil Fawlty had coming up with a Waldorf salad for an American guest, as the kitchen was “out of Waldorfs” …

6. Crawford of the Timberwolves : JAMAL

Jamal Crawford is an NBA basketball player from Seattle. In 2017, he broke the record for the most number of four-point plays in a single season.

11. Rx watchdog : FDA

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has its roots in the Division of Chemistry (later “Bureau of Chemistry”) that was part of the US Department of Agriculture. President Theodore Roosevelt gave responsibility for examination of food and drugs to the Bureau of Chemistry with the signing of the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Bureau’s name was changed to the Food, Drug and Insecticide Organization in 1927, and to the Food and Drug Administration in 1930.

There seems to some uncertainty about the origin of the symbol “Rx” that’s used for a medical prescription. One explanation is that it comes from the astrological sign for Jupiter, a symbol put on prescriptions in days of old to invoke Jupiter’s blessing to help a patient recover.

17. Duffer’s flaw from the tee? : RECKLESS DRIVING

A “duffer” is a golfer, and not a very good one.

20. Wingless parasite : FLEA

Fleas are flightless insects, but they sure can jump. Their very specialized hind legs allow them to jump up to 50 times the length of their bodies.

21. “Cheers” actor Roger : REES

Roger Rees was a Welsh actor. Rees played the character Robin Colcord on “Cheers”, the posh love interest for Rebecca Howe played by Kirstie Alley. Rees also appeared periodically on “The West Wing” as the marvelously flamboyant and eccentric Lord John Marbury, the British Ambassador.

22. Approximately : CIRCA

“Circa” is a Latin word meaning “around, near, about the time of”. We use “circa” directly in English to mean “about the time of”, as well as in derivative words such as “circle” and “circus”.

23. Speech characteristic of Dustin on “Stranger Things” : LISP

“Stranger Things” is a sci-fi horror TV show made for Netflix that aired its first season in 2016. I don’t do horror so haven’t seen it …

25. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” newsman : BAXTER

Ted Knight was the actor best known for playing the slow-witted news anchor Ted Baxter on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. Knight’s most famous role on the big screen was Judge Elihu Smails in the 1980 comedy “Caddyshack”.

26. Duffer’s impossible dream? : ACE IN THE HOLE

One well-documented hole in one (ace) was during a round of the British Open in 1973. American golfer Gene Sarazen achieved the feat that day, at the age of 71. A less well-documented series of holes in one was reported by the North Korean press in a story about the Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The report was that Kim Jong-il scored 11 holes in one in his one and only round of golf.

31. Family dinner entrée : ROAST

“Entrée” means “entry” in French. An entrée can be something that helps one get “a way in”, an interview for example perhaps helped along by a recommendation letter. In Europe, even in English-speaking countries, the entrée is the name for the “entry” to the meal, the first course. I found it very confusing to order meals when I first came to America!

32. __ de guerre : NOM

“Nom de guerre” is a French term meaning “name of war”. It describes the practice of adopting a pseudonym when in a conflict, perhaps to protect family or to symbolize a separation between one’s life in the military and as a civilian. The term originates with the French Foreign Legion, in which recruits routinely adopted noms de guerre as they broke with their past lives and started afresh.

33. It may be sharp : NOTE

That would be a musical note.

37. Pageant VIPs : MCS

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism standing for Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

43. Bean used in Asian sauces : SOYA

What are known as soybeans here in the US are called “soya beans” in most other English-speaking countries. So, I drink soy milk here in America, but when I am over in Ireland I drink “soya milk”.

45. Classic auto : REO

The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom Eli Olds (hence the name REO). The company made cars, trucks and buses, and was in business from 1905 to 1975 in Lansing, Michigan. Among the company’s most famous models were the REO Royale and the REO Flying Cloud.

46. Cutting : ACERB

“Acerb” is a variant of “acerbic”, with both terms meaning “sour, bitter-tasting, acidic”.

48. Duffer’s cry after botching a putt and settling for par? : BYE-BYE BIRDIE!

The following terms are routinely used in golf for scores relative to par:

  • Bogey: one over par
  • Par
  • Birdie: one under par
  • Eagle: two under par
  • Albatross (also “double eagle”): three under par
  • Condor: four under par

No one has ever recorded a condor during a professional tournament.

52. Yelp piece : REVIEW

yelp.com is a website that provides a local business directory and reviews of services. The site is sort of like Yellow Pages on steroids, and the term “yelp” is derived from “yel-low p-ages”.

55. Move, in Realtor lingo : RELO

“Real estate agent” is a general, generic term. “Realtor” is the name given to a member of the trade association known as the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The NAR has gone so far as the trademark the term “Realtor” in the US.

56. They have pHs below 7 : ACIDS

As we all recall from chemistry class, a pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything less than 7 is an acid, and anything above 7 is a base.

57. “Let It Go” singer in “Frozen” : ELSA

“Let It Go” is an incredibly successful song from the Disney animated film “Frozen” released in 2013. It was performed in the movie by Idina Menzel, who also was the voice actor for the character Elsa. “Let It Go” is one of the very few Disney songs to make it into the Billboard Top Ten.

63. Duffer’s sad 18th-hole reply to “Bogey for you?” … and 19th-hole request to the bartender? : MAKE MINE A DOUBLE

That would a double bogey, two strokes over par.

The term “bogey” originated at the Great Yarmouth Golf Club in England in 1890, and was used to indicate a total round that was one-over-par (and not one-over-par on a particular hole, as it is today). The name “bogey” came from a music hall song of the time “Here Comes the Bogeyman”. In the following years it became popular for players trying to stay at par to be “playing against Colonel Bogey”. Then, during WWI, the marching tune “Colonel Bogey” was written and named after the golfing term. If you don’t recognize the name of the tune, it’s the one that’s whistled by the soldiers marching in the great movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai”.

69. ’60s activist gp. : SDS

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was an activist group in the sixties. The SDS organized the largest student strike in the history of the United States on 26 April 1968, with about a million students staying away from class that day. The “Students for a Democratic Society” name was revived in 2006 with the foundation of a new US-based student organization with left wing beliefs. Today’s SDS was founded by a pair of high school students from Greenwich Village, New York.

70. Help for the graveyard shift, maybe : NODOZ

NoDoz and Vivarin are brand names of caffeine pills.

In a three-shift working system, the shifts are known by various names:

  1. First shift, day shift
  2. Second shift, swing shift
  3. Third shift, night shift, graveyard shift

71. Slurpee insert : STRAW

Icee and Slurpee are brand names of slushy drinks. Ugh …

Down

1. Lowly worker : SERF

A serf was a member of the lowest feudal class, someone attached to land owned by a lord. “Serf” comes from the Latin “servus”, meaning “slave”.

2. Winter Olympics jump : AXEL

An axel is a forward take-off jump in figure skating. The maneuver was first performed by Norwegian Axel Paulsen at the 1882 World Figure Skating championships.

3. Wingless parasites : LICE

Lice (singular “louse”) are small wingless insects of which there are thousands of species, three of which are human disease agents. The three kinds of lice affecting humans are head lice, body lice and pubic lice. Most lice feed on dead skin found on the body of the host animal, although some feed on blood. Ick …

4. They have pHs above 7 : ALKALIS

The “opposite” of an acid is a base. Acids turn litmus paper red, and bases turn it blue. Acids and bases react with each other to form salts. An important subset of the chemicals called bases are the alkalis, the hydroxides of the alkali metals and of ammonium. The term “alkali” is sometimes used interchangeably with “base”, especially if that base is readily soluble in water.

5. Second-smallest U.S. state : DEL

The largest US states by land area are, in order:

  1. Alaska
  2. Texas
  3. California
  4. Montana
  5. New Mexico

The smallest US states are:

  1. Rhode Island
  2. Delaware
  3. Connecticut
  4. New Jersey
  5. New Hampshire

6. Nativity figure : JOSEPH

In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also “crèche”) is a display of representing the the scene of the birth of Jesus. Nativity scenes might be subjects for paintings, for example, although the term is usually used for seasonal displays associated with the Christmas season.

7. Church area : APSE

The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally, apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

10. Not of the cloth : LAICAL

Anything described as laic (or “laical, lay”) is related to the laity, those members of the church who are not clergy. The term “laic” ultimately comes from the Greek “laikos” meaning “of the people”.

12. Hula or hora : DANCE

The hula is a native dance of Hawaii that uses arm movements to relate a story. The hula can be performed while sitting (a noho dance) or while standing (a luna dance).

The hora is a circle dance that originated in the Balkans. It was brought to Israel by Romanian settlers, and is often performed to traditional, Israeli folk songs. The hora (also horah) is a regular sight at Jewish weddings. Sometimes the honoree at an event is raised on a chair during the hora.

13. __ score: neonatal measure : APGAR

The Apgar scale is used to assess the health of newborn babies. The newborn is evaluated in five categories that are given by the acronym APGAR, namely:

  • Appearance
  • Pulse
  • Grimace
  • Activity
  • Respiration

The acronym is actually a “backronym”, as the test is named for Dr. Virginia Apgar who devised it in 1952.

18. Once, quaintly : ERST

“Erst” is an archaic way of saying “formerly, before the present time”. The term is mostly seen as part of the word “erstwhile”, an adjective meaning “of times past”.

19. Kit’s mom : VIXEN

Male foxes are usually called dogs, and sometimes tods or reynards. Females are vixens, and young foxes are cubs, pups or kits.

Kits are the young of several mammalian species, including the ferret and the fox. “Kit” is probably a shortened form of “kitten”.

27. 2017 Pixar film set in Mexico : COCO

“Coco” is a 2017 Pixar movie about a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who ends up in the land of the dead by accident. There, he seeks out the help of the great-great-grandfather to get back to his family in the land of the living.

28. Like Sunday morning, in a Commodores title : EASY

“Easy” is a 1977 song by the Commodores that was composed by band member Lionel Richie. The lyrics tell of a man’s feeling after a breakup. Rather than being depressed, he is “easy like Sunday morning”.

The Commodores were very big in the seventies and eighties. The group’s original members first got together as freshmen while attending what is now Tuskegee University, and got their big break opening for the Jackson 5 on tour. The most famous ex-member of the Commodores is Lionel Richie.

34. Newspaper page : OP-ED

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

35. Actress Garr : TERI

The lovely Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffers from multiple sclerosis. She is a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

36. Kathryn of “Law & Order: C.I.” : ERBE

The actress Kathryn Erbe is best known for playing Det. Alexandra Eames on the TV show “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. Paradoxically perhaps, Erbe’s other noted role is as Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series “Oz”, in which she plays a death row inmate.

40. Society newcomer : DEB

“Deb” is short for “debutante”, which translates from French as “female beginner”.

47. Alice had to play it with flamingos as mallets : CROQUET

The very genteel game of croquet is played on lawns all over the world. It’s the game where mallets are used to hit wooden balls through hoops embedded in the grass. The name “croquet” is from French dialect and means “hockey stick”. The game originated in Brittany in France, and was popularized in Ireland in the 1830s.

In “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll, Alice plays a game of croquet with the Queen of Hearts and some of her subjects. The unusual version of the sport that’s played in Wonderland involves the use of live flamingos as mallets and hedgehogs as balls.

49. Sycophant : YES-MAN

A sycophant is a selfish person, one who flatters. The term comes from the Greek “sykophantes” which originally meant “one who shows the fig”. This phrase described a vulgar gesture made with the thumb and two fingers.

50. Not authentic : ERSATZ

Something described as ersatz is a copy, and usually not a good one. “Ersatz” comes from the German verb “ersetzen” meaning “to replace”.

51. Rosary unit : BEAD

The Rosary is a set of prayer beads used in the Roman Catholic tradition. The name “Rosary” comes from the Latin “rosarium”, the word for a “rose garden” or a “garland of roses”. The term is used figuratively, in the sense of a “garden of prayers”.

52. “Parenthood” actress Sarah : RAMOS

The actress Sarah Ramos is best known for playing Patty Pryor on television’s “American Dreams”, and Haddie Braverman on the show “Parenthood”. I haven’t seen either …

“Parenthood” is a TV series that originally aired from 2010 until 2015, and is loosely based on the 1989 film of the same name starring Steve Martin. Ron Howard directed the film, and served as executive producer for the TV show.

54. Twin Cities team, familiarly : VIKES

The Minnesota Vikings joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960. Founded in Minnesota, the team’s name reflects the location’s reputation as a center of Scandinavian American culture.

57. Oklahoma city : ENID

Enid, Oklahoma takes its name from the old railroad station around which the city developed. Back in 1889, that train stop was called Skeleton Station. An official who didn’t like the name changed it to Enid Station, using a character from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”. Maybe if he hadn’t changed the name, the city of Enid would now be called Skeleton, Oklahoma! Enid has the nickname “Queen Wheat City” because is has a huge capacity for storing grain, the third largest grain storage capacity in the world.

58. Carson’s successor : LENO

“The Tonight Show” has had six permanent hosts so far:

  • Steve Allen (1954-57)
  • Jack Paar (1957-62)
  • Johnny Carson (1962–92)
  • Jay Leno (1992–2009, 2010–14)
  • Conan O’Brien (2009–10)
  • Jimmy Fallon (2014–present)

60. Taxi alternative : UBER

Uber is a ridesharing service that was founded in 2009 and is based in San Francisco. The service is somewhat controversial and has been described as an illegal taxicab operation. Central to Uber’s service is the company’s mobile app, which can use the client’s GPS location to help find the nearest available ride. Uber’s main competitor is Lyft.

61. Utah ski resort : ALTA

Alta ski resort actually lies within the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area. The first ski lift in the resort was opened way back in 1939. Today, Alta is one of only three ski resorts in the country that prohibits snowboarding (along with Deer Valley, Utah and Mad River Glen, Vermont. The ski resort of Snowbird located next to Alta has been in operation since 1971.

64. Texting qualifier : IMO

In my opinion (IMO)

65. CIA predecessor : OSS

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was formed during WWII in order to carry out espionage behind enemy lines. A few years after the end of the war the OSS functions were taken up by a new group, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Waldorf __ : SALAD
6. Crawford of the Timberwolves : JAMAL
11. Rx watchdog : FDA
14. Cast out : EXILE
15. Where glasses may be raised? : OPERA
16. Standee’s lack : LAP
17. Duffer’s flaw from the tee? : RECKLESS DRIVING
20. Wingless parasite : FLEA
21. “Cheers” actor Roger : REES
22. Approximately : CIRCA
23. Speech characteristic of Dustin on “Stranger Things” : LISP
25. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” newsman : BAXTER
26. Duffer’s impossible dream? : ACE IN THE HOLE
31. Family dinner entrée : ROAST
32. __ de guerre : NOM
33. It may be sharp : NOTE
37. Pageant VIPs : MCS
38. Handyman’s tasks : ODD JOBS
42. Each : PER
43. Bean used in Asian sauces : SOYA
45. Classic auto : REO
46. Cutting : ACERB
48. Duffer’s cry after botching a putt and settling for par? : BYE-BYE BIRDIE!
52. Yelp piece : REVIEW
55. Move, in Realtor lingo : RELO
56. They have pHs below 7 : ACIDS
57. “Let It Go” singer in “Frozen” : ELSA
59. Landing : QUAY
63. Duffer’s sad 18th-hole reply to “Bogey for you?” … and 19th-hole request to the bartender? : MAKE MINE A DOUBLE
66. Miner concern : ORE
67. Make __: rake it in : A MINT
68. Deal with : SEE TO
69. ’60s activist gp. : SDS
70. Help for the graveyard shift, maybe : NODOZ
71. Slurpee insert : STRAW

Down

1. Lowly worker : SERF
2. Winter Olympics jump : AXEL
3. Wingless parasites : LICE
4. They have pHs above 7 : ALKALIS
5. Second-smallest U.S. state : DEL
6. Nativity figure : JOSEPH
7. Church area : APSE
8. Rx specifications : MEDS
9. Itinerary abbr. : ARR
10. Not of the cloth : LAICAL
11. Toy (with) : FLIRT
12. Hula or hora : DANCE
13. __ score: neonatal measure : APGAR
18. Once, quaintly : ERST
19. Kit’s mom : VIXEN
24. Absorbed by : INTO
25. Fall flat : BOMB
26. Readies for battle : ARMS
27. 2017 Pixar film set in Mexico : COCO
28. Like Sunday morning, in a Commodores title : EASY
29. “Have a nice time!” : ENJOY!
30. “Woo-__!” : HOO
34. Newspaper page : OP-ED
35. Actress Garr : TERI
36. Kathryn of “Law & Order: C.I.” : ERBE
39. Used charcoal pencils, say : DREW
40. Society newcomer : DEB
41. Glide (through) : SAIL
44. Bear : ABIDE
47. Alice had to play it with flamingos as mallets : CROQUET
49. Sycophant : YES-MAN
50. Not authentic : ERSATZ
51. Rosary unit : BEAD
52. “Parenthood” actress Sarah : RAMOS
53. Digital greeting : E-CARD
54. Twin Cities team, familiarly : VIKES
57. Oklahoma city : ENID
58. Carson’s successor : LENO
60. Taxi alternative : UBER
61. Utah ski resort : ALTA
62. “Ouch!” : YEOW!
64. Texting qualifier : IMO
65. CIA predecessor : OSS

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