LA Times Crossword Answers 5 Jul 2018, Thursday

Advertisement

[ad_above_grid]

Advertisement

Advertisement

Constructed by: Agnes Davidson & C.C. Burnikel
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Stockholder

Themed answers are each something that might HOLD STOCK:

  • 60A. Typical annual meeting attendee … or what 18-, 24- and 51-Across each can be, in a way : STOCKHOLDER
  • 18A. Target, for one : BIG-BOX STORE
  • 24A. Dairy producer : CATTLE FARM
  • 51A. Instant Pot function : SLOW COOKER

Bill’s time: 6m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0

Advertisement

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Cristal maker : BIC

Société Bic is a French company, based in Clichy in France. The first product the company produced, more than fifty years ago, was the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen that is still produced today. Bic also makes other disposable products such as lighters and razors.

8. English town worth its salt? : EPSOM

The Surrey town of Epsom in England is most famous for its racecourse (Epsom Downs), at which is run the Epsom Derby every year, one of the three races that make up the English Triple Crown. We also come across Epsom salt from time to time. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, originally prepared by boiling down mineral waters. Epsom was indeed a spa town at one time. The town is also home to Epsom College, an English “public school” (which actually means “private, and expensive”). One of Epsom’s “old boys” was the Hollywood actor Stewart Granger.

13. “Queen of the South” TV network : USA

“Queen of the South” is an English-language TV show that is an adaptation of the Spanish-language telenovela “La Reina del Sur”. Both shows are in turn based on the Spanish novel of the same name by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.

14. Moon of Uranus : ARIEL

All of the twenty-seven moons of the planet Uranus are named for characters from literature, with each being characters created by William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. The five major moons are so large that they would be considered planets in their own right if they were orbiting the sun directly. The names of these five moons are:

  • Miranda (from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”)
  • Ariel (from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock”)
  • Umbriel (from Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock”)
  • Titania (from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”)
  • Oberon (from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”)

16. Goat sound? : LONG O

The second letter of the word “goat” is a long letter O.

18. Target, for one : BIG-BOX STORE

A big-box store is a very large retail outlet, and one that is often part of a chain.

20. “Goodfellas” Oscar winner : PESCI

Joe Pesci got his big break in movies with a supporting role in “Raging Bull” starring Robert De Niro, earning Pesci an Oscar nomination early in his career. There followed a string of gangster roles played alongside De Niro, namely “Once Upon a Time in America”, “Goodfellas” and “Casino”. But I like Pesci’s comedic acting best of all. He was marvelous in the “Home Alone” films, the “Lethal Weapon” series, and my personal favorite, “My Cousin Vinny”. Pesci gets a mention in the stage musical “Jersey Boys”, which isn’t too surprising as he is one of the show’s producers.

The Martin Scorsese classic “Goodfellas” is a 1990 adaptation of a nonfiction book by Nicholas Pileggi called “Wiseguy”. The film tells the story of a mob family that succumbs to the FBI after one of their own becomes an informant.

28. “Cheers” spin-off : FRASIER

“Frasier” is a very successful sitcom that originally ran for eleven season from 1993 to 2004. Kelsey Grammer plays the title character, psychiatrist Frasier Crane. The show is a spinoff of the equally successful sitcom “Cheers” that ended its original run just a few months before “Frasier” premiered. By the time “Frasier” aired its last show, Grammer’s portrayal of Crane tied the record for the longest-running character on primetime TV. As an aside, that tie was with James Arness’ portrayal of Matt Dillon on “Gunsmoke”. As a further aside, the record was later broken by Richard Belzer’s portrayal of Detective John Munch on the shows “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Law & Order: SVU”.

34. Returning GI’s diagnosis : PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

38. Ad Council ad : PSA

Public service announcement (PSA)

The Ad Council is nonprofit that produces public service announcements (PSAs) for various groups, including agencies of the US government. Conceived in 1942, the council operated under the name “War Advertising Council” from 1943 to 1946. It was this organization that produced the famous wartime ads promoting military enlistment, conservation of war materials, and the purchase of war bonds. President Franklin D. Roosevelt made it clear that he wanted to the Ad Council to continue its work after the war, and he got his wish.

39. 18-time MLB All-Star Carew : ROD

Rod Carew is a former Major League Baseball player from Panama. Actually. Carew is a “Zonian”, meaning that he was born in the Panama Canal Zone, a political entity that existed for decades from 1903.

41. Crime scene letters : DNA

I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the DNA of living things is so very similar across different species. Human DNA is almost exactly the same for every individual (to the degree of 99.9%). However, those small differences are sufficient to distinguish one individual from another, and to determine whether or not individuals are close family relatives.

42. Bowen of “Modern Family” : JULIE

Actress Julie Bowen is probably best known today for playing Claire Dunphy on the excellent sitcom “Modern Family”.

“Modern Family” is a marvelous television show shown on ABC since 2009. The show’s format is that of a “mockumentary”, with the cast often addressing the camera directly. In that respect “Modern Family” resembles two other excellent shows: “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation”, both of which might also be described a “mockumentaries”.

44. Bunny slope lift : T-BAR

A T-bar is a ski lift on which the skiers are pulled up the hill in pairs, with each pair standing (not sitting!) either side of a T-shaped metal bar. The bar is placed behind the thighs, pulling along the skiers as they remain standing on their skis (hopefully!). There’s also a J-bar, a similar device, but with each J-shaped bar used by one skier at a time.

In North America, ski runs are given a standardized rating in terms of skiing difficulty. The ratings are:

  • Green circles: easy to ski, often termed “bunny slopes”.
  • Blue squares: medium difficulty
  • Black diamond: steep and challenging terrain
  • Double black diamond: experts only (I’ve never braved one!)

49. Baby bodysuits : ONESIES

A onesie is a baby’s one-piece bodysuit, and is a common gift at a baby shower.

51. Instant Pot function : SLOW COOKER

The Instant Pot is a brand of pressure cooker cum slow cooker. We’ve got one …

53. Player on three FIFA World Cup champion teams : PELE

“Pelé” is the nickname of Edson de Nascimento, a soccer player who has used the name “Pelé” for most of his life. Pelé is now retired, and for my money was the world’s greatest ever player of the game. He is the only person to have been a member of three World Cup winning squads (1958, 1962 and 1970), and is a national treasure in his native Brazil. One of Pele’s nicknames is “O Rei do Futebol” (the King of Football).

57. “Molly’s Game” actor Elba : IDRIS

The English actor Idris Elba is probably best known in North America for playing the drug lord Stringer Bell in the marvelous HBO drama series “The Wire”, and the title character in the 2013 film “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”. Off the screen, Elba occasionally appears as a disk jockey using the name DJ Big Driis.

“Molly’s Game” is a 2017 crime drama written and directed by the great Aaron Sorkin that is based on a memoir of the same name by Molly Bloom. Jessica Chastain plays Bloom, a former expert skier who runs underground poker games for the rich and famous. Great film …

68. Aster family member : TANSY

The tansy is a flowering plant of the aster family, native to Europe and Asia. It is found in other parts of the world, but there it is often considered to be invasive.

69. Scalawags : IMPS

The American word “scalawag” meaning “rogue” was used as a nickname for southern white people who supported reconstruction after the Civil War.

Down

3. String game : CAT’S CRADLE

Cat’s Cradle is likely to be one of the oldest games played by man, one that sprung up independently in all parts of the world. The game is played by two people and involves the making of a series of figures with a loop of string held by the fingers.

5. “Entourage” agent Gold : ARI

Ari Gold is a fictional character in the HBO series “Entourage”. “Entourage” tells the story of a rising film star, Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier), a native of New York but now learning to handle himself in Hollywood. Vincent’s Hollywood agent is Ari Gold, played by Jeremy Piven.

7. “A diamond is forever” sloganeer : DE BEERS

The hugely successful De Beers company is involved in all aspects of mining and trading of diamonds. The company was founded in 1888 in South Africa by Cecil Rhodes (after whom “Rhodesia” would be named). The name of the company comes from two brothers who owned a farm on which was discovered a particularly lucrative diamond mine. The De Beers brothers had absolutely nothing to do with the company, nor its operations.

8. Golfer known as “The Big Easy” : ELS

Ernie Els is a South African golfer. Els a big guy but he has an easy fluid golf swing that has earned him the nickname “The Big Easy”. He is a former World No. 1 and has won four majors: the US Open (1994 & 1997) and the British Open (2002 & 2012).

9. Foggy Bottom river : POTOMAC

The Potomac River on the mid-Atlantic coast flows from the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia into the Chesapeake Bay. Given its location in such a historical area, the Potomac has the nickname “the Nation’s River”.

Foggy Bottom is a historic neighborhood in Washington, D.C. that is home to the US State Department and George Washington University. Situated beside the Potomac River, the area is said to have gotten its name as the low-lying location is susceptible to concentrations of fog.

12. Springfield hangout : MOE’S

The regulars on “The Simpsons” hang out at Moe’s Tavern, which is named for and run by Moe Szyslak. The most popular beer at Moe’s is Duff Beer. The name “Duff” is a reference to the real-life Duffy’s Tavern that used to be East 13th Street in Eugene, Oregon. “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening used to frequent Duffy’s regularly, and Moe’s looks very much like Duffy’s in terms of decor and floor plan.

19. Body image, perhaps : X-RAY

X-rays were first studied comprehensively by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (also “Roentgen”), and it was he who gave the name “X-rays” to this particular type of radiation. Paradoxically, in Röntgen’s native language of German, X-rays are routinely referred to as “Röntgen rays”. In 1901, Röntgen’s work on X-rays won him the first Nobel Prize in Physics that was ever awarded.

21. Scott of “Hawaii Five-0” : CAAN

Danny Williams is a character on the TV show “Hawaii Five-O”, both in the original version that first aired in 1968 and in the remake that was first broadcast in 2010. The original “Danno” is played by James McArthur. In the remake, Danno is played by Scott Caan, son of Hollywood actor James Caan. Book him, Danno!

30. Distracting literary device : RED HERRING

The exact origin of the term “red herring”, meaning “something that misleads”, isn’t known. The most common explanation for the use of the phrase is that kippers (strong-smelling smoked herrings) were used to by fugitives to distract bloodhounds who were on their trail. Kippers become red-colored during the smoking process, and are no longer “white herrings”.

31. Best-dressed goal? : NINES

The term “to the nines” means “to perfection”. The first person to use the term in literature was Robbie Burns. Apparently the idea behind the use of “nines” is figurative (pun!), with the number nine considered “ideal” as it is arrived at by multiplying three by three.

32. “American Dad!” dad : STAN

“American Dad!” is an adult-oriented animated sitcom. Famously, one of the show’s creators is Seth MacFarlane, who also created “Family Guy”. Personally, I cannot stand either show …

33. Karate studio : DOJO

The Japanese word “dojo” literally means “place of the way”. Originally the term applied to training halls that were found in or beside temples. The teaching in a dojo was not limited to the martial arts, but in the Western world we use the dojo as the name for a training facility for judo, karate and the like.

“Karate” is a Japanese word meaning “empty hand”, and the related word “karaoke” translates as “empty orchestra”.

35. Pipe cleaner : DRANO

To clean out drains we might buy Crystal Drano, which is sodium hydroxide (lye) mixed with sodium nitrate, sodium chloride (table salt) and aluminum. The contents of Drano work in concert to clear the clog. The lye reacts with any fats creating soap which may be enough to break up the clog. Also, the finely-divided aluminum reacts with water creating tremendous heat so that that mixture boils and churns, then any hair or fibers are cut by the sharp edges of the nitrate and chloride crystals. Having said all that, I find that boiling water poured down the drain quite often does the job …

40. Nabisco nibble : OREO

The Oreo cookie was introduced in 1912. The Oreo was intended to be a competitor to the very similar Hydrox cookie which had debuted four years earlier. The Oreo won the resulting battle on the grocery store shelves …

43. About 80% of the world’s species, according to the Smithsonian : INSECTS

There are a lot of insects in the world, an awful lot. There are about 900,000 known species, which equates to about 80% of the known species on the planet. However, conservative estimates indicate that there are well over 2 million more insect species extant that have not yet been identified. As I said, that’s a lot of insects …

45. Italian tenor Andrea : BOCELLI

Andrea Bocelli is a classically-trained tenor from Italy who sings popular music, and hence is a so-called cross-over artist. Bocelli was born with poor eyesight and then became totally blind at the age of 12 when he had an accident playing soccer.

48. Type of IRA : ROTH

Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (Roth IRAs) were introduced in 1997 under a bill sponsored by Senator William Roth of Delaware, hence the name.

54. Vocalist James : ETTA

Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.

55. Balance sheet liability : LOAN

The balance sheet of a company is a snapshot (single point in time) view of a company’s financial position. The balance sheet lists all the company’s liabilities, all of its assets, and all of its ownership equity. The assets of a company, less its liabilities equals the ownership equity. The term “balance” is used because assets always balance out with the sum of liabilities and shareholder equity.

63. Paranormal claim : ESP

Extrasensory perception (ESP)

Advertisement

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Cristal maker : BIC
4. Challenging : HARD
8. English town worth its salt? : EPSOM
13. “Queen of the South” TV network : USA
14. Moon of Uranus : ARIEL
16. Goat sound? : LONG O
17. Got together : MET
18. Target, for one : BIG-BOX STORE
20. “Goodfellas” Oscar winner : PESCI
22. What a muff may protect : EAR
23. Has debts : OWES
24. Dairy producer : CATTLE FARM
28. “Cheers” spin-off : FRASIER
29. Hungers : YEARNS
33. Campus official : DEAN
34. Returning GI’s diagnosis : PTSD
36. Crush a test : ACE IT
37. A bit off : ODD
38. Ad Council ad : PSA
39. 18-time MLB All-Star Carew : ROD
41. Crime scene letters : DNA
42. Bowen of “Modern Family” : JULIE
44. Bunny slope lift : T-BAR
46. After that : THEN
47. Act that warms up the crowd : OPENER
49. Baby bodysuits : ONESIES
51. Instant Pot function : SLOW COOKER
53. Player on three FIFA World Cup champion teams : PELE
56. Ballet shoe part : TOE
57. “Molly’s Game” actor Elba : IDRIS
60. Typical annual meeting attendee … or what 18-, 24- and 51-Across each can be, in a way : STOCKHOLDER
64. Words of assent : I DO
65. Nation : STATE
66. Cluster of small stars? : D-LIST
67. Fresh : NEW
68. Aster family member : TANSY
69. Scalawags : IMPS
70. Pump output : GAS

Down

1. Road warning sign : BUMP
2. “It’s clear now” : I SEE
3. String game : CAT’S CRADLE
4. Patterns that repeat : HABITS
5. “Entourage” agent Gold : ARI
6. Fix : RIG
7. “A diamond is forever” sloganeer : DE BEERS
8. Golfer known as “The Big Easy” : ELS
9. Foggy Bottom river : POTOMAC
10. Winter coat : SNOW
11. Tyrant : OGRE
12. Springfield hangout : MOE’S
15. Sit around : LOAF
19. Body image, perhaps : X-RAY
21. Scott of “Hawaii Five-0” : CAAN
25. What waiters wait for : TIPS
26. Set on : LET AT
27. Audition (for) : READ
28. Out of patience : FED UP
30. Distracting literary device : RED HERRING
31. Best-dressed goal? : NINES
32. “American Dad!” dad : STAN
33. Karate studio : DOJO
35. Pipe cleaner : DRANO
38. Rind : PEEL
40. Nabisco nibble : OREO
43. About 80% of the world’s species, according to the Smithsonian : INSECTS
45. Italian tenor Andrea : BOCELLI
46. Like games needing extra innings : TIED
48. Type of IRA : ROTH
50. Goes around : SKIRTS
52. Mahogany or oak : WOOD
53. Covert “Over here!” : PSST!
54. Vocalist James : ETTA
55. Balance sheet liability : LOAN
58. Creative thought : IDEA
59. Scatters, as seed : SOWS
61. Major : KEY
62. Low-lit : DIM
63. Paranormal claim : ESP

Advertisement