LA Times Crossword Answers 7 Jun 2018, Thursday

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Constructed by: Mark McClain
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Reveal Answer: Around and Around

Today’s grid includes four groups of circled letters, themselves arranged in circles. Those groups of circled letters spell out things that go AROUND AND AROUND, i.e.

  • HULA HOOP
  • WINDMILL
  • THE EARTH
  • CAROUSEL
  • 40A. How the things in the circled letters go : AROUND AND AROUND

Bill’s time: 8m 47s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6. __ 180: skateboarding trick : OLLIE

An ollie is a skateboarding trick invented in 1976 by Alan “Ollie” Gelfand. Apparently it’s a way of lifting the board off the ground, while standing on it, without touching the board with one’s hands. Yeah, I could do that …

11. Piqued : IN A HUFF

Our term “pique” meaning a “fit of ill feeling” is a French word meaning a “prick, sting, irritation”.

16. Star name meaning “she-goat” in Latin : CAPELLA

Capella, the goat star, is the sixth-brightest in the night sky. With appropriate magnification, Capella reveals itself as four individual stars, and so is more correctly referred to as the Capella system. The name translates as “small, female goat”. In ancient times, the Capella depicted Amalthea, the foster-mother of Zeus who is sometimes represented as a goat.

17. Weather-changing currents : EL NINOS

When the surface temperature of much of the Pacific Ocean rises more that half a degree centigrade, then there is said to be an El Niño episode. That small temperature change in the Pacific has been associated with climatic changes that can stretch right across the globe. El Niño is Spanish for “the boy” and is a reference to the Christ child. The phenomenon was given this particular Spanish name because the warming is usually noticed near South America and around Christmas-time.

18. Footless creature : APOD

Something described as apodal has no feet. An example of an apodal animal would be a snake.

19. Snorkeling spots : ATOLLS

An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring and enclosing a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside internal to the circling coral reef.

Our word “snorkel” comes from German navy slang “Schnorchel” meaning “nose, snout”. The German slang was applied to an air-shaft used for submarines, due to its resemblance to a nose, in that air passed through it and it made a “snoring” sound. “Schnorchel” comes from “Schnarchen”, the German for “snore”.

21. Letters after Sen. Schumer’s name : D-NY

Democrat, New York (D-NY)

Chuck Schumer is the senior US Senator from New York, and a Democrat. Schumer was elected Senate minority leader in 2016 following the retirement of Harry Reid. Schumer is a second cousin, once removed of comedian and actress Amy Schumer.

22. Eponymous brewer Bernhard : STROH

Bernard Stroh was the son of a German brewer. Stroh immigrated to the US in 1848 and set up his own brewery in 1850 in Detroit. Years later, the Stroh Brewing Company introduced a European process called fire-brewing. This results in higher temperatures at a crucial stage in the brewing process, supposedly bringing out flavor. Apparently, Stroh’s is the only mainstream American beer that still uses this process.

26. Assurance on certain menus : NO MSG

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of a naturally-occurring,non-essential amino acid called glutamic acid. It is used widely as a flavor enhancer, particularly in many Asian cuisines. Whether or not it is harmful seems to be still under debate. I say that something produced in a test tube shouldn’t be in our food …

29. Uzbek neighbor : TAJIK

The Republic of Tajikistan is a former Soviet Socialist Republic that lies north of Afghanistan and east of China. Most of the country’s people speak Persian and belong to the Tajik ethnic group. Tajikistan is landlocked, with 90% of the country covered by mountains.

The Republic of Uzbekistan is a former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). Uzbekistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, and is in fact surrounded by countries which are also landlocked. This means that to reach a coastline from Uzbekistan, you have to cross at least two international borders. There are only two “doubly landlocked” countries in the world: Uzbekistan in Central Asia, and Liechtenstein in Central Europe.

33. Name prefix for “son of” : MAC-

“Mac” is a Gaelic word meaning “son” and “son of”, and is a common prefix in Irish and Scottish names.

39. U.N. chief after Boutros : KOFI

Kofi Annan is a diplomat from Ghana who served as General Secretary of the UN for ten years until the beginning of 2007. Annan was born into an aristocratic family, and had a twin sister named Efua Atta. Efua and Kofi shared the middle name “Atta”, which means “twin” in the Akan language of Ghana. Annan attended the MIT Sloan School of Management from 1971-72, and graduated with a Master of Science degree.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian diplomat, and the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Boutros-Ghali was nominated for a second term as Secretary-General in 1996, but the US used its right of veto to block the appointment. According to senior delegates, the US wasn’t too happy with his handling of the international crisis in Bosnia.

44. Actor Estevez : EMILIO

Emilio Estevez is one of the members of Hollywood’s famous “Brat Pack”, having appeared in “The Breakfast Club” and “St. Elmo’s Fire”. Estevez’s father (and can’t you tell it from looking at him?) is actor Martin Sheen. Estevez decided to keep his father’s real name, and not the stage name of “Sheen”. Charlie Sheen is Emilio’s brother, and Charlie’s real name is Carlos Estevez.

45. Hot __ : ROD

A hot rod is an American car that has been modified for speed by installing a larger than normal engine. A street rod is generally a more comfortable type of hot rod, with the emphasis less on the engine and more on custom paint jobs and interiors. By definition, a street rod must be based on an automobile design that originated prior to 1949.

50. Red pool ball : THREE

The more correct name for the game of pool is “pocket billiards”. The designation “pool” arose after pocket billiards became a common feature in “pool halls”, places where gamblers “pooled” their money to bet on horse races.

53. Bay of Naples isle : CAPRI

The island of Capri off the coast of Southern Italy has been a tourist resort since the days of ancient Rome. Capri is home to the famous Blue Grotto, a sea cave that is illuminated with sunlight that’s colored blue as it passes through the seawater into the cave.

The Gulf of Naples (also “Bay of Naples”) is on the southwest coast of Italy between the the city of Naples and the town of Sorrento. The gulf is a major destination for tourists seeking to visit iconic locales like Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius, the island of Capri as well as Naples itself.

60. Beer mug with a hinged lid : SEIDEL

A seidel is a large glass for beer that has thick walls and sturdy handle. Of German origin, seidlels often have dimpled sides, and perhaps a lid.

64. Device that builds six-packs? : AB TONER

The abdominal muscles (abs) are more correctly referred to as the rectus abdominis muscles. They might be referred to as a “six-pack” in a person who has developed the muscles and who has low body fat. In my case, more like a keg …

68. Like some sports contract clauses : NO-TRADE

No-trade clauses in sports contracts eliminate or limit the possibility of a player being traded to another team.

70. “Hop __”: Dr. Seuss book : ON POP

“Hop on Pop” is a Dr. Seuss book that was first published in 1963 with the subtitle “The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use”. “Hop on Pop” was listed by former First Lady Laura Bush as her favorite title, citing the memories evoked of family life with her young daughters.

71. Young salmon : SMOLT

When young salmon (born in freshwater) are at the smolt stage, they become adapted to saltwater and head for the sea. They return to freshwater to reproduce, often traveling long distances upstream.

Down

1. Flaky minerals : MICAS

Mica is a silicate mineral. Thin sheets of mica are transparent and are used in place of glass in certain applications. This form of mica is called isinglass, and as it has a better thermal performance than glass it is a great choice for “peepholes’ in boilers and lanterns. Mica is also used in the electronics industry, making use of its unique electrical and thermal insulating properties.

3. Quality that affects taste : SAPOR

“Sapor” is another word for “flavor, a quality that can be tasted”. “Sapor” is Latin for “taste, flavor”.

5. Brynner of “The Ten Commandments” : YUL

Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor. Brynner was well known for his great performances, but also for his shaved head and his deep rich voice. He first adopted the “hairstyle” while playing the King of Siam in the stage version of “The King and I”, and he stuck with it.

“The Ten Commandments” is an epic movie directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and released in 1956. The cast is as epic as the film, with Charlton Heston playing the lead role of Moses. Also appearing are Yul Brynner as Rameses, Edward G. Robinson as Dathan, Vincent Price as Baka and Anne Baxter as Nefretiri.

7. Full deck in old Rome? : LII

In Roman numerals, a full deck includes LII (52) cards.

10. Crafter’s website : ETSY

Etsy.com is an e-commerce website where you can buy and sell the kind of items that you might find at a craft fair.

12. Southernmost of the 48 sts. : FLA

What we know as the US state of Florida, was named by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, who led the first Europeans to the area in 1513. The actual name he used was “La Florida”, Spanish for “the Flowery (Land)”.

14. Editorial mark : DELE

“Dele” is the editorial instruction to delete something from a document, and is often written in red.

15. First name in scat : ELLA

Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Song”, had a hard and tough upbringing. She was raised by her mother alone in Yonkers, New York. Her mother died while Ella was still a schoolgirl, and around that time the young girl became less interested in her education. She fell in with a bad crowd, even working as a lookout for a bordello and as a Mafia numbers runner. She ended up in reform school, from which she escaped, and found herself homeless and living on the streets for a while. Somehow Fitzgerald managed to get herself a spot singing in the Apollo Theater in Harlem. From there her career took off and as they say, the rest is history.

Scat singing is a vocal improvisation found in the world of jazz. There aren’t any words as such in scat singing, just random nonsense syllables made up on the spot.

25. Powerful shark : MAKO

The shortfin mako shark can appear on restaurant menus, and as a result the species is dying out in some parts of the world. The mako gets its own back sometimes though, as attacks on humans are not unknown. It is the fastest-swimming shark that we know, and has been clocked at speeds of over 40 miles/hour. And the shark in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”, that’s a mako. “Mako” is the Maori word for “shark” or “shark tooth”.

27. Ancient Persian : MEDE

The Medes were an ancient people that lived in what is now northwestern Iran. The Medes held sway in the region only for about 60 years, until Cyrus the Great came along and defeated Astyages, the king of Media (not to be confused with Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed “King of All Media”!).

28. Email folder : SPAM

The term “spam”, used for unwanted email, is taken from a “Monty Python” sketch. In the sketch (which I’ve seen) the dialog is taken over by the word Spam, a play on the glut of canned meat in the markets of Britain after WWII. So “spam” is used for the glut of emails that takes over online communication. I can just imagine nerdy Internet types (like me) adopting something from a “Monty Python” sketch to describe an online phenomenon …

30. Day in Dijon : JOUR

Dijon is a city in eastern France in the Burgundy region. Dijon is famous for its mustard, a particularly strong variation of the condiment. The European Union doesn’t protect the name “Dijon” so anyone can use it on a label. That seems fair enough to me, given that 90% of the mustard made in and around Dijon is produced using mustard seed imported from Canada!

31. “__ One Will Listen”: Kelly Clarkson song : IF NO

Apparently singer Kelly Clarkson was the first winner of “American Idol”. That’s all I know …

32. Captain hanged for piracy : KIDD

William Kidd was a Scottish privateer who went by the name “Captain Kidd”. Although Kidd was a privateer, someone authorized by the government to attack foreign shipping, he was eventually arrested and executed for piracy. There is common opinion held today that the charges against Kidd were actually trumped up. Captain Kidd’s story was the basis of a 1945 film called “Captain Kidd” starring Charles Laughton in the title role. Laughton also appeared as Captain Kidd in 1952’s comic movie “Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd”.

33. Bryn __ College : MAWR

Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania is a women’s liberal arts school that was founded in 1885. Bryn Mawr was the first women’s university in the nation to offer graduate education through to a PhD. While the undergraduate program is open only to females, the school opened up the postgraduate program to males in 1931.

34. Vicinity : AREA

A vicinity is an area surrounding a place. The term “vicinity” ultimately comes from the Latin “vicus” meaning “group of houses, village”.

38. Stand during a lecture : DAIS

A dais is a raised platform for a speaker. The term “dais” comes from the Latin “discus” meaning a “disk-shaped object”. I guess that the original daises had such a shape.

42. Campus mil. group : ROTC

The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is a training program for officers based in colleges all around the US. The ROTC program was established in 1862 when as a condition of receiving a land-grant to create colleges, the federal government required that military tactics be part of a new school’s curriculum.

49. Bone at the base of the spine : SACRUM

As children, we have five “extra” vertebrae at the base of our spine. Those vertebrae will have fused into one bone called the sacrum by the time we hit our late twenties.

52. Cork locale : EIRE

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland. Cork has been a major port for many years, and was the last port of call for many, many Irish emigrants to America. When these Irish people reached the US it was common for them to give their point of origin as “Cork”, whereas they may have come from almost anywhere in Ireland. It’s because of this that many descendants of Irish immigrants who had been told they were from a Cork family often find out they were under a misapprehension as their ancestors just sailed from Cork.

56. Often-abbreviated Latin phrase : ID EST

“Id est” is Latin for “that is”, and is often abbreviated to “i.e.” when used in English.

57. When repeated including “a,” fighting term : MANO

“Mano a mano” is Spanish for “hand-to-hand”, and is used in English to mean “face-to-face”.

59. URL intro : HTTP

“http” are the first letters in most Internet links. “http” stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. More secure and “safer” websites (like this one!) use links starting with “https”, which stands for “http secure”).

62. Paris article : LES

The definite article in French can be “le” (with masculine nouns), “la” (with feminine nouns), and “les” (with plural nouns of either gender).

65. Top medalla : ORO

In Spanish, a “medalla” (medal) might be made from “oro” (gold).

67. Ltr. addenda : PSS

One adds a PS (post scriptum, or simply “postscript”) at the end of a letter (ltr.). A second postscript is a post post scriptum, a PPS.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Disheveled : MUSSY
6. __ 180: skateboarding trick : OLLIE
11. Piqued : IN A HUFF
14. Maximally moist : DEWIEST
16. Star name meaning “she-goat” in Latin : CAPELLA
17. Weather-changing currents : EL NINOS
18. Footless creature : APOD
19. Snorkeling spots : ATOLLS
21. Letters after Sen. Schumer’s name : D-NY
22. Eponymous brewer Bernhard : STROH
24. Adjust one’s sights : RE-AIM
26. Assurance on certain menus : NO MSG
29. Uzbek neighbor : TAJIK
33. Name prefix for “son of” : MAC-
36. Settled : REPAID
39. U.N. chief after Boutros : KOFI
40. How the things in the circled letters go : AROUND AND AROUND
43. Withdraw gradually : WEAN
44. Actor Estevez : EMILIO
45. Hot __ : ROD
46. Numerical relationship : RATIO
48. Citrus cuttings : ZESTS
50. Red pool ball : THREE
53. Bay of Naples isle : CAPRI
57. [Shrug] : MEH
60. Beer mug with a hinged lid : SEIDEL
63. Believability, briefly : CRED
64. Device that builds six-packs? : AB TONER
66. Admonish : REPROVE
68. Like some sports contract clauses : NO-TRADE
69. Jumps to conclusions : ASSUMES
70. “Hop __”: Dr. Seuss book : ON POP
71. Young salmon : SMOLT

Down

1. Flaky minerals : MICAS
2. Not suitable : UNAPT
3. Quality that affects taste : SAPOR
4. Sprinkle with hair, cat-style : SHED ON
5. Brynner of “The Ten Commandments” : YUL
6. Takes full responsibility : OWNS IT
7. Full deck in old Rome? : LII
8. Allow to use : LEND
9. Airs : IS ON
10. Crafter’s website : ETSY
12. Southernmost of the 48 sts. : FLA
13. Butter or lard : FAT
14. Editorial mark : DELE
15. First name in scat : ELLA
20. Put in order : ORGANIZED
23. It may be heard on the street : HORN
25. Powerful shark : MAKO
27. Ancient Persian : MEDE
28. Email folder : SPAM
30. Day in Dijon : JOUR
31. “__ One Will Listen”: Kelly Clarkson song : IF NO
32. Captain hanged for piracy : KIDD
33. Bryn __ College : MAWR
34. Vicinity : AREA
35. Nail polish layer : COAT
37. Not engaged : IDLE
38. Stand during a lecture : DAIS
41. Army outfit : UNIT
42. Campus mil. group : ROTC
47. “Sick burn!” : OH SNAP!
49. Bone at the base of the spine : SACRUM
51. Pond plant : REED
52. Cork locale : EIRE
54. Teaser : PROMO
55. Glory (in) : REVEL
56. Often-abbreviated Latin phrase : ID EST
57. When repeated including “a,” fighting term : MANO
58. Black, in verse : EBON
59. URL intro : HTTP
61. Notable time : ERA
62. Paris article : LES
65. Top medalla : ORO
67. Ltr. addenda : PSS

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