LA Times Crossword Answers 5 Apr 2018, Thursday

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Constructed by: Winston Emmons
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Rephrase

Themed answers are common phrases with the letters RE added to the beginning:

  • 20A. Meal owed to President Clinton? : REPAST DUE BILL (from “past due bill”)
  • 28A. Employing echo in audio? : REVERB USAGE (from “verb usage”)
  • 48A. Rules for righting wrongs? : REDRESS CODE (from “dress code”)
  • 58A. Mail about system improvements? : REFORM LETTERS (from “form letters”)

Bill’s time: 8m 02s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14. Soon, quaintly : ANON

“Anon” originally meant “at once” and evolved into today’s meaning of “soon” apparently just because the word was misused over time.

15. Diamond corner : BASE

That would be a baseball diamond.

16. Busch Gardens city : TAMPA

The Florida city of Tampa has been known as “the Big Guava” since the seventies. The term is imitative of New York’s “Big Apple”, and refers to the unsuccessful search for the reported wild guava trees that were once hoped to be the basis of a new industry for the area. Tampa has also been called “Cigar City”, a reference to the cigar industry that fueled the area’s growth starting in the 1880s.

The Busch Gardens group of theme parks was originally envisioned as a vehicle for the promotion of Anheuser-Busch products, so free beer samples were made available to patrons (but no longer!). The Tampa location was the first of the parks to be opened, in 1959. The Tampa property has an African theme, whereas Williamsburg, Virginia property has a European theme. There are plans to open a third park in Dubai, although the project has been put on hold due to the current financial climate.

17. USAF plane for small runways : STOL

STOL is an abbreviation standing for “short take-off and landing”.

18. Word of proof? : ERAT

The initialism “QED” is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. QED stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

20. Meal owed to President Clinton? : REPAST DUE BILL (from “past due bill”)

Our word “repast”, meaning “meal”. came to us via French (in which language “repas” is “meal”). Ultimately the term comes from the Latin “repascere” meaning “to repeatedly graze”.

President Bill Clinton was born not as a Clinton, but as William Jefferson Blythe. Bill’s father was killed in a car accident just three months before he was born. His mother remarried a few years later, to Roger Clinton. Bill didn’t formally adopt the Clinton name until he was fourteen years old, although he used it as he was growing up.

25. PC-to-PC system : LAN

Local Area Network (LAN)

28. Employing echo in audio? : REVERB USAGE (from “verb usage”)

When audio mixing in the process of sound recording, the sound engineer might add some reverb, a slight reverberation.

32. River to the North Sea : ELBE

The River Elbe rises in the Czech Republic and travels over a thousand kilometers before emptying into the North Sea near the port of Hamburg in Germany.

36. “Blue Bloods” rank: Abbr. : DET

Detective (Det.)

“Blue Bloods” is a police drama series about a family of police officers led by Police Commissioner Frank Reagan, played by Tom Selleck. The show has been on the air since 2010.

38. Northeast gubernatorial family name : CUOMO

Mario Cuomo was Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994. I well remember Mario Cuomo’s keynote address to the 1984 Democratic National Convention soon after I moved to America. For a new immigrant it was an interesting glimpse into American politics. Here’s a little bit of trivia about Mario Cuomo: he was the first ever guest for Larry King on his CNN talk show “Larry King Live”, back in 1985. Cuomo passed away in January 2015 at the age of 82.

Andrew Cuomo won the gubernatorial election for the State of New York in 2010. Andrew is the son of former Governor of New York Mario Cuomo. Andrew was also married for 13 years to Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy.

40. Paris café brew : THE

In French, a “tasse” (cup) might contain perhaps “thé” (tea) or “café” (coffee).

42. African antelope : ELAND

An eland is a large African antelope, in fact the largest on the continent. Both male and female elands have horns, and those horns have a steady spiral ridge along their length.

45. “__ Believer”: Monkees hit : I’M A

“I’m a Believer” was a big hit for the Monkees in 1966. The Monkees recording of “I’m a Believer” is a cover version. The song was written and originally recorded by Neil Diamond.

The Monkees pop group was assembled in 1966 specifically for a planned television series called “The Monkees”. The show aired from 1966 to 1968, and the band continued to perform in concerts until 1970. 20 years after the band was formed, there was a revival in interest for both the show and the band’s music, so the Monkees got together for several reunion tours. The lead singer of the group was Englishman Davy Jones, who passed away in February 2012.

51. WWII general : DDE

Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) was the 34th US president, but he wanted to be remembered as a soldier. He was a five-star general during WWII in charge of the Allied Forces in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). President Eisenhower died in 1969 at Walter Reed Army Hospital. He was buried in an $80 standard soldier’s casket in his army uniform in a chapel on the grounds of the beautiful Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas.

52. Map abbr. : RTE

Route (rte.)

62. Like gymnasts : AGILE

Our word “gymnasium” comes from the Greek “gymnasion” meaning “public place where exercise is taken”. The Greek term comes from “gymnos” meaning “naked”, as that physical training was usually done unclothed in ancient Greece.

65. Every which way : AMOK

The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had good reason for that frenzy …

67. One-named supermodel : EMME

Emme is the highest-paid plus-size model in the world. Emme’s real name is Melissa Aronson, and she was born in New York City and raised in Saudi Arabia.

68. Nutrition bar with a crescent moon in its logo : LUNA

The LUNA Bar is a nutrition bar introduced in 1999 that is aimed at women. Apparently, the bar was created by a group of female employees at the Clif Bar company to address nutritional needs specific to women.

69. Like pet hamsters : CAGED

The rodents known as hamsters are commonly kept as house pets. Male hamsters are called bucks, females are called does, and baby hamsters are known as pups.

70. Conciliatory gestures : SOPS

Cerberus is a dog with three heads that appears in both Greek and Roman mythology. Cerberus had the job of guarding the gates of Hades and preventing those who had crossed the River Styx from ever escaping. A sop is a piece of food that has been dipped in some liquid, as one might sop a piece of bread in soup. There is an idiomatic expression, “to give a sop to Cerberus”, which means to give someone a bribe, or pay someone off. The idea is that if one could bribe Cerberus, give him a sop to eat, then he would let you pass and escape from Hades.

71. North Sea feeder : YSER

The Yser river flows into the North Sea at Nieuwpoort in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium.

The North Sea is an offshoot of the Atlantic Ocean that is located between Britain and Scandinavia.

Down

1. Southeastern Iraqi port : BASRA

Basra is a Iraq’s main port, and is located in the south of the country, 34 miles from the Persian Gulf. Access to the gulf is via the Shatt al-Arab waterway, a river that discharges into the gulf in the port city of Umm Qasr.

4. Zhou of China : ENLAI

Zhou Enlai (also “Chou En-Lai”) was the first government leader of the People’s Republic of China and held the office of Premier from 1949 until he died in 1976. Zhou Enlai ran the government for Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong, often striking a more conciliatory tone with the West than that of his boss. He was instrumental, for example, in setting up President Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972. Zhou Enlai died just a few months before Mao Zedong, with both deaths leading to unrest and a dramatic change in political direction for the country.

5. Helped in a job, perhaps : ABETTED

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (it literally means “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

7. Biblical brother : 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).

8. Comet fragment, perhaps : METEOR

A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic body travelling through space. Once in the atmosphere, the meteoroid is referred to as a “meteor” or “shooting star”. Almost all meteoroids burn up, but if one is large enough to survive and reach the ground then we call it a meteorite. The word “meteor” comes from the Greek “meteōros” meaning “high in the air”.

Comets and asteroids are similar, both being relatively small celestial bodies orbiting the sun. Comets differ from asteroids in that they have a coma or tail, especially when they are close enough to the sun. The coma and tail are temporary fuzzy atmospheres that develop due to the presence of solar radiation. Comets are sometimes referred to as “dirty snowballs”, a reference to their composition: rock, dust, water ice and frozen gases.

12. Prefix with center : EPI-

The epicenter is that point on the surface of the earth that is directly above the focus of an earthquake.

13. “The Joy Luck Club” novelist : TAN

Amy Tan lives not too far from here, in Sausalito just north of San Francisco. Tan is an American writer of Chinese descent whose most successful work is “The Joy Luck Club”. “The Joy Luck Club” was made into a movie produced by Oliver Stone in 1993. The novel and movie tell of four Chinese-American immigrant families in San Francisco who start the Joy Luck Club, a group playing Mahjong for money and eating delicious food.

21. Georgia, once: Abbr. : SSR

The former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) of Georgia is now an independent country. Supposedly, the Georgian people were given their name because they especially revered St. George. The flag of Georgia does indeed feature five St. George’s crosses.

22. Syrup-soaked cake : BABA

Rum baba (also “baba au rhum” in French) is a small yeast cake saturated in rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream. Rum baba is derived from the recipe for the tall “babka” yeast cake that was introduced to the world by the Polish communities. The Polish words “baba” and “babka” mean “old woman” or “grandmother” in English. I guess someone must have thought that all grandmothers were saturated in rum!

27. Dweebish : NERDY

“Dweeb” is relatively recent American slang that came out of college life in the late sixties. Dweeb, squarepants, nerd; they’re all not-nice terms that mean the same thing, i.e. someone excessively studious and socially inept.

29. Pro with a tabletop scale : VET

“Vet” is an abbreviation for “veterinarian”, a professional who treat animals for disease and injury. The word “veterinary” comes from the Latin “veterinae” meaning “working animals, beasts of burden”.

31. Most piano sonatas : SOLI

“Soli” (the plural of “solo”) are pieces of music performed by one artist, whereas “tutti” are pieces performed by all of the artists.

A cantata is a piece of music that is sung, as opposed to a sonata, which is a piece that is played on some instrument, often a piano. A sonatina is in effect a sonata that has been labelled as something lighter and shorter.

32. Bluemountain.com product : E-CARD

Blue Mountain Arts is an online greeting card service that was founded in 1996 by poet Susan Polis Schutz and her husband Stephen Schutz. The couple sold the website BlueMountain.com in 1999 for a staggering $780 million. I think that Mr. and Ms. Schutz lucked out, because the website was resold just two years later for a mere $35 million.

35. Mideast potentate : EMIR

An emir is a prince or chieftain, most notably in the Middle East. In English, “emir” can also be written variously as “emeer, amir, ameer” (watch out for those spellings in crosswords!).

41. My Chemical Romance genre : EMO

My Chemical Romance was an alternative rock band from Jersey City that was active from 2001 to 2013.

44. __ perpetua: Idaho motto : ESTO

“Esto perpetua” is the Latin phrase meaning, “Let it be perpetual”. It is used as the motto of a number of groups, as well as the state of Idaho. The words are attributed to the theologian Paolo Sarpi (Fra Paolo), his last words, a wish for his native Venice, “let it be perpetual”.

49. Worsted fabrics : SERGES

Serge is a type of twill fabric with diagonal ridges on both sides. The name “serge” comes from the Greek word for “silken”.

Worsted is a high-quality, smooth yarn made from relatively long wool fibers. The name “worsted” comes from the traditional manufacturing center for the yarn in England, i.e. the village of Worstead in the county of Norfolk.

54. Amalfi Coast country : ITALY

Amalfi 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.

55. Romulus’ twin : REMUS

According to tradition, Rome was founded by the twin brothers Romulus and Remus. The pair had a heated argument about who should be allowed to name the city and Romulus hit Remus with a shovel, killing him. And so, “Rome” was born, perhaps instead of “Reme”!

57. Heroic Schindler : OSKAR

Oskar Schindler is the protagonist in the Steven Spielberg movie “Schindler’s List”. Schindler was a real person who survived WWII. During the Holocaust, Schindler managed to save almost 1,200 Jews from perishing by employing them in his factories. After the war, Schindler and his wife were left penniless having used his assets to protect and feed his workers. For years the couple survived on the charity of Jewish groups. Schindler tried to make a go of it in business again but never had any real success. He died a pauper in 1974 in Hildesheim, not far from Hanover. His last wish was to be buried in Jerusalem. Schindler was the only former member of the Nazi Party to be buried on Mount Zion.

61. “__ Unto My Feet”: longtime CBS religious program : LAMP

“Lamp Unto My Feet” was a religious program broadcast on sunday mornings by CBS from 1948 to 1979. The show focused on the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish traditions.

63. Italian actress Scala : GIA

Gia Scala’s most famous role was the mute resistance fighter in “The Guns of Navarone”. Scala was born in Liverpool, England to an Irish mother and Italian father. She lived some years in Italy before moving to New York City. It’s probably good that she played a mute character in “The Guns of Navarone”, as who knows what her accent was like!

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Farm unit : BALE
5. “Uh, don’t forget about me … ” : AHEM …
9. Selling point : ASSET
14. Soon, quaintly : ANON
15. Diamond corner : BASE
16. Busch Gardens city : TAMPA
17. USAF plane for small runways : STOL
18. Word of proof? : ERAT
19. Video game based on a film, e.g. : TIE-IN
20. Meal owed to President Clinton? : REPAST DUE BILL (from “past due bill”)
23. Help : ASSIST
24. __ bran : OAT
25. PC-to-PC system : LAN
28. Employing echo in audio? : REVERB USAGE (from “verb usage”)
32. River to the North Sea : ELBE
36. “Blue Bloods” rank: Abbr. : DET
37. Devotee : ADORER
38. Northeast gubernatorial family name : CUOMO
40. Paris café brew : THE
42. African antelope : ELAND
43. Get in : ARRIVE
45. “__ Believer”: Monkees hit : I’M A
47. __-bitty : ITTY
48. Rules for righting wrongs? : REDRESS CODE (from “dress code”)
51. WWII general : DDE
52. Map abbr. : RTE
53. Bun, for one : HAIRDO
58. Mail about system improvements? : REFORM LETTERS (from “form letters”)
62. Like gymnasts : AGILE
64. Camping stuff : GEAR
65. Every which way : AMOK
66. Wash cycle : RINSE
67. One-named supermodel : EMME
68. Nutrition bar with a crescent moon in its logo : LUNA
69. Like pet hamsters : CAGED
70. Conciliatory gestures : SOPS
71. North Sea feeder : YSER

Down

1. Southeastern Iraqi port : BASRA
2. Dealer’s requests : ANTES
3. Circuitous routes : LOOPS
4. Zhou of China : ENLAI
5. Helped in a job, perhaps : ABETTED
6. Difficult : HARD
7. Biblical brother : ESAU
8. Comet fragment, perhaps : METEOR
9. State of mind : ATTITUDE
10. Proceed easily (through) : SAIL
11. Sense something’s amiss : SMELL A RAT
12. Prefix with center : EPI-
13. “The Joy Luck Club” novelist : TAN
21. Georgia, once: Abbr. : SSR
22. Syrup-soaked cake : BABA
26. Ticket __ : AGENT
27. Dweebish : NERDY
29. Pro with a tabletop scale : VET
30. System of moral values : ETHIC
31. Most piano sonatas : SOLI
32. Bluemountain.com product : E-CARD
33. Drew : LURED
34. Adjacent to : BORDERING
35. Mideast potentate : EMIR
39. Stuff at mealtime : OVERFEED
41. My Chemical Romance genre : EMO
44. __ perpetua: Idaho motto : ESTO
46. Sticks : ADHERES
49. Worsted fabrics : SERGES
50. Consume : EAT
54. Amalfi Coast country : ITALY
55. Romulus’ twin : REMUS
56. Source of some overhead footage : DRONE
57. Heroic Schindler : OSKAR
59. “What __ could it be?” : ELSE
60. Brief reminder : MEMO
61. “__ Unto My Feet”: longtime CBS religious program : LAMP
62. Circle part : ARC
63. Italian actress Scala : GIA

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