LA Times Crossword Answers 12 Apr 2018, Thursday

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Constructed by: Bruce Haight
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Reveal Answer: Doubled Ate

Themed answers each include two instances of the letter string “ATE”:

  • 58A. It consists of a couple of couples … and, when divided differently, a hint to something hidden in 17-, 24-, 38- and 47-Across : DOUBLE DATE (and “DOUBLED ATE”)
  • 17A. Carnivores : MEAT EATERS
  • 24A. Appliance needed for a hot bath : WATER HEATER
  • 38A. Latvia and Lithuania, once : SATELLITE STATES
  • 47A. 2015 NFL controversy involving air pressure : DEFLATEGATE

Bill’s time: 7m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Jay-Z output : RAP CD

Jay-Z, as well as being a successful and very rich rap artist, is married to singer Beyoncé. Jay-Z was born Shawn Corey Carter in Brooklyn, New York. As Carter was growing up, he was nicknamed “Jazzy”, a reference to his interest in music. “Jazzy” evolved into the stage name “Jay-Z”. Jay-Z and Beyoncé have a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter, and twins named Rumi and Sir Carter.

14. White house? : IGLOO

The Inuit word for “house” is “iglu”, which we usually write as “igloo”. The Greenlandic (yes, that’s a language) word for “house” is very similar, namely “igdlo”. The walls of igloos are tremendous insulators, due to the air pockets in the blocks of snow.

16. Bear in the heavens : URSA

The constellation named Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called the Big Dipper because of its resemblance to a ladle or dipper. Ursa Major also resembles a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland, the “plough”.

Ursa Minor (Latin for “Smaller Bear”) sits right beside the constellation Draco (Latin for “dragon”). Ursa Minor used to be considered the wing of Draco, and so was once called “Dragon’s Wing”. The tail of the “Smaller Bear” might also be considered as the handle of a ladle, and so the constellation is often referred to as the Little Dipper.

19. Invite abbr. : BYOB

Bring Your Own Beer/Bottle/Booze (BYOB)

20. Job application fig. : SSN

Social Security number (SSN)

22. “National Velvet” sister : EDWINA

“National Velvet” is a novel by Enid Bagnold that was first published in 1935. The story centers on Velvet Brown, a 14-year-old girl who rides her own horse to victory in the most celebrated of English horse races, the Grand National steeplechase. A famous film adaptation of the story was released in 1944 starring a young Mickey Rooney and 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor in the title role. After filming was completed, Taylor was given the horse that she rode as a gift for her birthday.

31. “60 Minutes” regular : STAHL

Lesley Stahl first appeared on “60 Minutes” in 1991. She is married to author “Aaron Latham”. As a journalist, it was Latham who wrote the article that inspired the movie “Urban Cowboy”.

The marvelous news magazine program “60 Minutes” has been on the air since 1968. The show is unique among all other regularly-scheduled shows in that it has never used theme music. There is just the ticking of that Aristo stopwatch.

32. Improvised jazz part : VAMP

To vamp is to improvise musically, usually on a piano. A vamp is often an accompaniment to a solo.

34. Element Prometheus stole from Olympus : FIRE

In Greek mythology, Prometheus was one of the Titans. He was said to have created man from clay as well as giving fire to humanity, and hence allowing the human race to prosper.

38. Latvia and Lithuania, once : SATELLITE STATES

Latvia is one of the former Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs). People from Latvia are called Letts.

The nation of Lithuania is a former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) sitting on the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. The capital of Lithuania is Vilnius, and 16 miles north of Vilnius is a point that is officially recognized as the Geographic Center of Europe.

41. Harbinger of spring : THAW

A harbinger is a person or a thing that indicates what is to come. The word comes from the Middle English “herbenger”, a person sent ahead to arrange lodgings.

42. “Beetle Bailey” dog : OTTO

Sgt. Snorkel (“Sarge”) is Beetle Bailey’s nemesis in the cartoon strip that bears his name. Snorkel has a dog called Otto that he dresses up to look just like himself. Otto started off as a regular dog, but artist Mort Walker decide to draw him more like his owner, and soon Otto became a big hit.

43. 1990s-2000s skating champ Slutskaya : IRINA

Irina Slutskaya is a retired Russian figure skater. Slutskaya won the World Figure Skating Championships twice, in 2002 and 2005.

44. Davenport’s place : IOWA

Davenport, Iowa sits on the Mississippi River. The city was founded in 1836 by landowner and businessman Antoine LeClaire, with the assistance of a group of investors. The investors resisted the use of LeClaire’s name for the new settlement as LeClaire was of mixed race, had a French name and was a Catholic. Instead, it was named for George Davenport, one of the other investors.

46. 1974 hit with Spanish lyrics : ERES TU

We have a big event across Europe every year called the Eurovision Song Contest. Each nation enters one song in competition with each other, and then voters across the whole continent decide on the winner. That’s how ABBA got their big break when they won in 1974 with “Waterloo”. In 1973, Spain’s entry was “Eres tú” (the Spanish for “You Are”) sung by the band Mocedades. “Eres tú” came second in the competition, but should have won in my humble opinion.

47. 2015 NFL controversy involving air pressure : DEFLATEGATE

Deflategate is the name given to accusations that someone associated with the New England Patriots supplied under-inflated balls for NFL games to give Patriots an advantage in the 2014/2015 NFL playoffs. The NFL suspended Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for four games for his involvement, and fined the Patriots $1 million.

52. Italy’s __ Coast : AMALFI

Amalfi, Italy is a coastal town on the Gulf of Salerno located about 30 miles southeast of Naples. The town gives its name to the popular tourist destination known as the Amalfi Coast.

54. Hallucinogenic letters : LSD

LSD (known colloquially as “acid”) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …

61. Writer Shere : HITE

Shere Hite is a German sex educator, although she was born in the US. She married German concert pianist Friedrich Höricke in 1985 and renounced her US citizenship in favor of German nationality in the mid-nineties. Hite’s work focuses on sexual experience and what meaning it holds for an individual.

62. Avant-garde : EDGY

Someone or something described as avant-garde is especially innovative. “Avant-garde” is French for “advance guard”.

63. Font 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” and “serif” from the Dutch “schreef” meaning “line”. 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 …

Down

1. What “nothin’ but net” shots don’t touch : RIMS

“Nothing but net” is a phrase used in basketball to describe a “clean basket”. A clean basket is a score in which the ball doesn’t touch the backboard or even the rim, and touches only the net.

8. Car ad abbr. : APR

Annual percentage rate (APR)

9. Botanical source of vitamin C : ROSE HIPS

The fruit of the rose plant is known as the rose hip or rose haw. I remember drinking rose hip syrup when I was a kid …

13. Kiddie lit elephant : 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.

18. Somewhat : A TAD

Back in the 1800s, “tad” was used to describe a young child, and this extended into our usage of “small amount” in the early 1900s. The original use of “tad” for a child is very likely a shortened version of “tadpole”.

23. __ Taco : DEL

The Del Taco chain of fast food restaurants opened for business in 1964, with the first restaurant called “Casa Del Taco” located in Yermo, California. Del Taco serves American-style Mexican cuisine as well as the typical collection of hamburgers, fries and shakes.

25. Lover of Shakespeare? : ROMEO

William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is all about the love between the two title characters, which is forbidden as the pair come from two families who are sworn enemies. Early in the play, Romeo (a Montague) sneaks into a masquerade ball being held by the Capulets in the hope of meeting a Capulet girl named Rosaline. Instead, he meets and falls for Juliet, also a Capulet. Tragedy ensues …

26. Sibilant “Yo!” : PSST!

“Sibilant” is a lovely word that describes a sound of speech, the sound of an “s” or “z”, a hissing sound. The word “sissies”, for example, has three sibilant sounds.

27. Its motto is “Industry” : UTAH

When Mormon pioneers were settling what is today the state of Utah, they referred to the area as Deseret, a word that means “beehive” according to the Book of Mormon. Today Utah is known as the Beehive State and there is a beehive symbol on the Utah state flag. In 1959, “Industry” was even chosen as the state motto, for the term’s association with the beehive.

29. Jittery condition : THE WILLIES

A fit of the willies is a spell of nervousness. The expression is probably a derivative of “the woollies”, a colloquial expression meaning “nervous” that is likely to be a reference to itchiness caused by wool garments.

32. Curriculum __: résumé : VITAE

A curriculum vitae (CV) is a listing of someone’s work experience and qualifications, and is used mainly in making a job application. The term “curriculum vitae” can be translated from Latin as “course of life”.

A résumé is a summary of a person’s job experience and education and is used as a tool by a job seeker. In many countries, a résumé is equivalent to a curriculum vitae. “Résumé” is the French word for “summary”.

33. Brief writer, briefly : ATT

Attorney (att.)

35. Words before and after “what” : IT IS

It is what it is.

36. Dollars for quarters : RENT

The American quarter is a little unusual in the world of decimal currency, if you think about it. Most currencies have a “20-cent” coin, which is easier to work with mathematically. The US went for the quarter in deference to the practice of dividing Spanish Milled Dollars into eight wedge-shaped “bits”. That’s also why the quarter is sometimes referred to as “two bits”. State quarters were introduced in 1999, but prior to that the quarter had an eagle on its reverse.

37. Biblical twin : ESAU

Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins “the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)”. As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father’s wealth (it was his “birthright”). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a “mess of pottage” (a meal of lentils).

45. Lummox : OAF

The word “lummox” comes from East Anglian slang (northeast of London), and describes an ungainly and often clueless person. The term is probably a contraction of “lumbering ox”.

46. Lat. shortener : ET AL

Et alii (et al.) is the equivalent of et cetera (etc.), with et cetera being used in place of a list of objects, and et alii used for a list of names. In fact “et al.” can stand for et alii (for a group of males, or males and females), aliae (for a group of women) and et alia (for a group of neuter nouns, or for a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).

47. Russian country house : DACHA

Dachas are usually second homes in Russia and the former Soviet Union that are located outside the city limits in rural areas. Residents/tenants of dachas are often called “dachniks”.

49. Crush rival : FANTA

The soft drink named “Fanta” has quite an interesting history. As WWII approached, the Coca-Cola plant in Germany had trouble obtaining the ingredients it needed to continue production of the cola beverage, so the plant manager decided to create a new drink from what was available. The new beverage was built around whey (left over from cheese production) and pomace (left over after juice has been extracted from fruit). The inventor asked his colleagues to use their imagination (“Fantasie” in German) and come up with a name for the drink, so they piped up “Fanta!”

The Crush brand of soft drinks was formulated in 1916. The first product was an orange-flavored beverage sold as Ward’s Orange Crush.

51. Chain known for roast beef : ARBY’S

The Arby’s chain of fast food restaurants was founded in 1964 by two brothers, Forrest and Leroy Raffel. The name “Arby’s” is a homonym of “RB’s”, standing for “Raffel Brothers”.

54. Actress __ Flynn Boyle : LARA

The actress Lara Flynn Boyle played Donna Hayward on “Twin Peaks”, and Helen Gamble on “The Practice”.

60. Usual Hanukkah mo. : DEC

The term “Hanukkah” derives from the Hebrew for “to dedicate”. Hanukkah is a holiday lasting eight days that commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem after successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucids in the 2nd-century BCE. The story of Hanukkah includes the miracle of the one-day supply of oil that kept the menorah alight for eight days. In the Gregorian calendar, Hanukkah can start as early as November 28th, or as late as December 27th.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Jay-Z output : RAP CD
6. Reach great heights : SOAR
10. Attempt : STAB
14. White house? : IGLOO
15. Fair : EXPO
16. Bear in the heavens : URSA
17. Carnivores : MEAT EATERS
19. Invite abbr. : BYOB
20. Job application fig. : SSN
21. Hang around : STAY
22. “National Velvet” sister : EDWINA
24. Appliance needed for a hot bath : WATER HEATER
26. Got the ball rolling? : PUTTED
30. Smooth-talking : OILY
31. “60 Minutes” regular : STAHL
32. Improvised jazz part : VAMP
34. Element Prometheus stole from Olympus : FIRE
38. Latvia and Lithuania, once : SATELLITE STATES
41. Harbinger of spring : THAW
42. “Beetle Bailey” dog : OTTO
43. 1990s-2000s skating champ Slutskaya : IRINA
44. Davenport’s place : IOWA
46. 1974 hit with Spanish lyrics : ERES TU
47. 2015 NFL controversy involving air pressure : DEFLATEGATE
52. Italy’s __ Coast : AMALFI
53. Like arf and meow : ORAL
54. Hallucinogenic letters : LSD
57. “Pleeease?” : CAN I?
58. It consists of a couple of couples … and, when divided differently, a hint to something hidden in 17-, 24-, 38- and 47-Across : DOUBLE DATE (and “DOUBLED ATE”)
61. Writer Shere : HITE
62. Avant-garde : EDGY
63. Font flourish : SERIF
64. “Regrettably … ” : ALAS …
65. Grasps : SEES
66. Like horror films : SCARY

Down

1. What “nothin’ but net” shots don’t touch : RIMS
2. Periods : AGES
3. Not leave things to chance : PLAN
4. Foldable bed : COT
5. Succeeds : DOES WELL
6. Tuned to : SET AT
7. Daisy variety : OXEYE
8. Car ad abbr. : APR
9. Botanical source of vitamin C : ROSE HIPS
10. Commuter’s cost : SUBWAY FARE
11. “Have a taste” : TRY IT
12. In harmony : AS ONE
13. Kiddie lit elephant : BABAR
18. Somewhat : A TAD
23. __ Taco : DEL
25. Lover of Shakespeare? : ROMEO
26. Sibilant “Yo!” : PSST!
27. Its motto is “Industry” : UTAH
28. “Cheerio!” : TA-TA!
29. Jittery condition : THE WILLIES
32. Curriculum __: résumé : VITAE
33. Brief writer, briefly : ATT
35. Words before and after “what” : IT IS
36. Dollars for quarters : RENT
37. Biblical twin : ESAU
39. Good times for beachcombing : LOW TIDES
40. Indefatigable : TIRELESS
45. Lummox : OAF
46. Lat. shortener : ET AL
47. Russian country house : DACHA
48. Online message : EMAIL
49. Crush rival : FANTA
50. Overcharge but good : GOUGE
51. Chain known for roast beef : ARBY’S
54. Actress __ Flynn Boyle : LARA
55. Show signs of life : STIR
56. Stand up to : DEFY
59. Laudatory poem : ODE
60. Usual Hanukkah mo. : DEC

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