LA Times Crossword Answers 14 Feb 13, Thursday

CROSSWORD SETTER: Dave Eckert
THEME: Stout Clues … The clue “Stout” is used for all of today’s themed answers:

20A. Stout TEAPOT ADJECTIVE
37A. Stout WOLFE CREATOR “REX”
52A. Stout GUINNESS PRODUCT

COMPLETION TIME: 9m 15s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
15. Palm product TREO
The Treo is a smartphone that was originally developed by a company called Handspring. Handspring was bought by Palm Inc.

16. Classic cream-filled snack HO HO
Ho Hos snack cakes were first produced in San Francisco in 1967; not the best thing to come out of the sixties I’d say …

17. For the birds? AVIAN
“Avis” is the Latin word for a bird.

18. Agile deer ROES
Roe deer are found mainly in Europe. They would be the deer shown on television and in movies when Robin Hood was out hunting in Sherwood Forest.

19. Actor Ken OLIN
Ken Olin was one of the stars on the hit television series “Thirtysomething”, playing Michael Steadman. After “Thirtysomething”, Olin moved behind the camera and is now a producer and director.

20. Stout TEAPOT ADJECTIVE
The children’s song “I’m a Little Teapot” was written and published in 1939, composed by a married couple who ran a dance school for children. They needed a simple tune that young ones could use to learn a simple tap routine, and came up with this:

I’m a little teapot,
Short and stout,
Here is my handle,
Here is my spout,
When I get all steamed up,
Hear me shout,
Tip me over and pour me out!

23. Seaside raptor ERN
The ern (also erne) is also called the white-tailed eagle, and the sea-eagle.

“Raptor” is a generic term for a bird of prey, one that has talons to grip its victims.

26. Belgrade native SERB
Serbs are an ethnic group native to the Balkans in southeastern Europe. Although Serbs exist as a minority group in many countries in the region, they are the majority ethnic group in Serbia, in Montenegro and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Belgrade is the capital city of Serbia. The name Belgrade translates into “White City”.

29. Nova Scotia hrs. AST
Atlantic Standard Time (AST) is four hours behind Greenwich Mean Time and one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time. The list of locations that use AST includes Puerto Rico and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The Canadian province of Nova Scotia lies on the east coast of the country and is a peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. The area was settled by Scots starting in 1621, and Nova Scotia is Latin for “New Scotland”.

37. Stout WOLFE CREATOR “REX”
Rex Stout was an author who is mainly known for his detective fiction featuring his hero Nero Wolfe. One of Stout’s friends was the British author P. G. Wodehouse who wrote the “Jeeves” series of books.

Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective and the hero of many stories published by author Rex Stout. There are 33 Nero Wolfe novels for us to read, and 39 short stories. There are also movie adaptations of two of the novels: ” Meet Nero Wolfe” (1936) which features a young Rita Hayworth, and “The League of Frightened Men” (1937). One of Wolfe’s endearing traits is his love of good food and beer, so he is a pretty rotund character.

40. Gremlin and Pacer AMCS
When Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company came together in 1954, it was the largest US corporate merger to date. The new company was called American Motors Corporation (AMC), and was of a size that could compete with the “Big Three” automakers. A few months after the merger, George W. Romney was given the top job at AMC. George was father of presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

42. Cole Porter’s “__ Clown” BE A
The Cole Porter song “Be a Clown” was first performed by Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in the 1948 movie “The Pirate”.

43. Bond, for one SPY
James Bond was of course the creation of the writer Ian Fleming. Fleming “stole” the James Bond name from an American ornithologist. The number 007 was also “stolen”, from the real life English spy John Dee. Dee would sign his reports to Queen Elizabeth I with a stylized 007 to indicate that the reports were for “her eyes only”.

52. Stout GUINNESS PRODUCT
Guinness is the most popular beer sold in Ireland. The beer is a stout and has that famous creamy white head, a result of mixing the beer with nitrogen as it is poured. You can also buy Guinness that has no nitrogen, which is sold under the name Guinness Export. This carbonated version of the beer has a very different taste, and is my personal favorite.

60. Sax immortal Getz STAN
Stan Getz was a jazz saxophonist. Getz’s playing style earned him the nickname “The Sound”.

61. Politico Bayh EVAN
Evan Bayh is the son of Birch Bayh, and like his father was US Senator for the state of Indiana. Prior to serving in the Senate, Evan Bayh was State Governor.

62. Blue hue AZURE
The word “azure” came into English from Persian via Old French. The French word “l’azur” was taken from the Persian name for a place in northeastern Afghanistan called “Lazhward” which was the main source of the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli. The stone has a vivid blue color, and “azure” has been describing this color since the 14th century.

Down
1. Talk and talk PRATE
“To prate” is to talk idly and at length, a word that comes to us from the Middle Dutch “praten”, meaning to talk or chatter.

2. Casanova LOVER
Giacomo Casanova was an 18th century adventurer from Venice. We know so much about him, and his reputation as a womanizer, because he left us his autobiography “Histoire de ma vie” (Story of My Life). A guy recounting stories of his love life and conquests … all true, I am sure!

3. For the bees APIAN
“Apis” is the Latin for “bee”.

4. Tide type NEAP
Tides of course are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the oceans. At neap tide, the smaller gravitational effect of the sun cancels out some of the moon’s effect. At spring tide, the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces act in concert causing more extreme movement of the oceans.

5. Cubemaster Rubik ERNO
What was originally called the “Magic Cube” became better known as Rubik’s Cube, named for its inventor Ernő Rubik. Rubik’s Cube is the world’s biggest selling puzzle game, with over 350 million sold in just over 30 years.

8. Cobb of “12 Angry Men” LEE J
Lee J. Cobb’s most famous film roles were in “12 Angry Men” released in 1957, and “On the Waterfront” released in 1954. Cobb found himself caught up in the net cast by the dreadful House Un-American Activities Committee and was blacklisted for two years as he refused to testify. Finding himself penniless and with five children to support, he eventually did appear in front of the committee and named twenty former members of the Communist Party USA, just to survive.

10. Flickr image PHOTO
Flickr is a photo-sharing website owned by Yahoo!

12. Knife in “West Side Story” SHIV
“Shiv” is a slang term for a weapon crudely fashioned to resemble a knife. Mostly we hear of shivs that have been fashioned by prison inmates to do harm to others.

Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story” is of course based on William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. The musical is set in New York City and features two rival gangs: the Sharks from Puerto Rico and the Jets with working-class, Caucasian roots. Tony from the Jets falls in love with Maria from the Sharks. All this parallels Romeo from the House of Montague falling for Juliet from the House of Capulet in the Italian city of Verona.

22. New England catch COD
In the British Isles, the most common fish that is used in traditional “fish and chips” is Atlantic cod. Cod has been overfished all over the world, and is now considered to be an endangered species by many international bodies.

26. Nos. for beachgoers SPFS
In theory, the sun protection factor (SPF) is a calibrated measure of the effectiveness of a sunscreen in protecting the skin from harmful UV rays. The idea is that if you wear a lotion with say SPF 20, then it takes 20 times as much UV radiation to cause the skin to burn than it would take without protection. I say just stay out of the sun …

27. Chemical suffix -ENE
An alkene is an organic compound made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. It differs from an alkane in that it has at least one C=C double bond. The simplest alkene is the gas ethylene, a major raw material used in the manufacture of plastics (like polyethylene).

28. Cryptozoologist’s quarry SEA SERPENT
The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology.

30. Name meaning “young warrior” in Old Norse SVEN
Sven is a Scandinavian name. “Sven” is derived from the Old Norse word for “young man” or “young warrior”.

32. Work on a deck SWAB
“Swabbie” (also “swab, swabber”) is a slang term for a sailor, which we’ve been using since the late 1700s. A “swab” was originally a member of the crew assigned to the swabbing of the ship’s decks.

34. Yosemite attraction EL CAPITAN
El Capitan is a stunning vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park in California. The top of El Capitan has been used as the take-off point for many BASE jumps, parachute jumps made by diving off the top of the rock face. The National Park Service put a stop to the practise in 1999. Soon after, a BASE jumper made an illegal jump to protest the ban. She died …

38. Rival of Rory TIGER
By now, everyone must know everything there is to know about Tiger Woods. But did you know that Tiger’s real name is Eldrick Tont Woods? “Tont” is a traditional Thai name.

Rory McIlroy is an incredibly successful golfer from Northern Ireland. McIlroy is a relatively young man and currently the world number one on the circuit, so folks can’t help but compare him to Tiger Woods.

39. Greeting in Rio OLA
“Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Years Day in 1502.

43. When doubled, a breath freshener SEN
Sen-Sen is a breath freshener that has been available for purchase since the late 1800s.

48. Liam Neeson voiced him in “The Chronicles of Narnia” films ASLAN
In the C. S. Lewis books, Aslan is the name of the lion character (as in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”). “Aslan” is actually the Turkish word for lion. Anyone who has read the books will recognize the the remarkable similarity between the story of Aslan and the story of Christ, including a sacrifice and resurrection.

Irish actor Liam Neeson got his big break when he played Oskar Schindler in the Spielberg epic “Schindler’s List”. Neeson was in the news a few years ago when he lost his wife, actress Natasha Richardson, in a tragic skiing accident in 2009.

50. One in a Lincoln quartet? SCORE
I visited Gettysburg for the first time in 2010, and goodness me what a moving place that is. As I discovered on my visit, there are five known copies of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address and all of them differ in some way or another, so I suppose the exact words spoken will never be known. Martin Luther King Jr. evoked Abraham Lincoln’s words in another of America’s iconic addresses, his “I Have a Dream” speech. Lincoln’s speech began with “Four score and seven years ago …”, and King’s speech began with “Five score years ago …” as a nod to the Gettysburg Address.

53. “Do __ …” UNTO
The Golden Rule is also known as the ethic of reciprocity, and is a basis for the concept of human rights. A version of the rule used in the Christian tradition is attributed to Jesus: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

55. Barbra’s “Funny Girl” co-star OMAR
Omar Sharif is the great Hollywood actor from Egypt, an actor who played major roles in memorable movies such as “Doctor Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia”. But to me he is my bridge hero (the card game). In his heyday Sharif was one of the best bridge players in the world.

The movie “Funny Girl” stars Barbra Streisand in the title role of Fanny Brice. The real Fanny Brice was a theater and film actress, and “Funny Girl” is very loosely based on her life story. Fanny Brice was born into a Hungarian Jewish family in New York City, with the real name of Fania Borach.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Geometry subject PLANE
6. Vend SELL
10. “Don’t let anyone else hear this” PSST
14. Cowboy, at times ROPER
15. Palm product TREO
16. Classic cream-filled snack HO HO
17. For the birds? AVIAN
18. Agile deer ROES
19. Actor Ken OLIN
20. Stout TEAPOT ADJECTIVE
23. Seaside raptor ERN
24. Have to thank for, with “to” OWE
25. Horn sound TOOT
26. Belgrade native SERB
28. Lawn option SOD
29. Nova Scotia hrs. AST
32. Relative via remarriage STEP-NIECE
36. Shell out GIVE
37. Stout WOLFE CREATOR “REX”
40. Gremlin and Pacer AMCS
41. Able to come back RESILIENT
42. Cole Porter’s “__ Clown” BE A
43. Bond, for one SPY
45. “Heavens to Betsy!” EGAD!
46. Place to tie up PIER
48. “__ we having fun yet?” ARE
49. Intractable beast ASS
52. Stout GUINNESS PRODUCT
57. Dead set against ANTI
58. Ram, e.g. MALE
59. Significant MAJOR
60. Sax immortal Getz STAN
61. Politico Bayh EVAN
62. Blue hue AZURE
63. Reaction to being cut off HONK
64. Not a good mark DENT
65. Hem again RESEW

Down
1. Talk and talk PRATE
2. Casanova LOVER
3. For the bees APIAN
4. Tide type NEAP
5. Cubemaster Rubik ERNO
6. Milkshake choice STRAWBERRY
7. Gradually vanish ERODE
8. Cobb of “12 Angry Men” LEE J
9. Not get the better of LOSE TO
10. Flickr image PHOTO
11. Ring insert SOLITAIRE
12. Knife in “West Side Story” SHIV
13. Shape (up) TONE
21. Tire-shaped TORIC
22. New England catch COD
26. Nos. for beachgoers SPFS
27. Chemical suffix -ENE
28. Cryptozoologist’s quarry SEA SERPENT
30. Name meaning “young warrior” in Old Norse SVEN
31. Short communication TEXT
32. Work on a deck SWAB
33. Large volume TOME
34. Yosemite attraction EL CAPITAN
35. Not a good mark CEE
36. Crossword component GRID
38. Rival of Rory TIGER
39. Greeting in Rio OLA
43. When doubled, a breath freshener SEN
44. Specialized undergrad course PRE-MED
47. Permanently IN INK
48. Liam Neeson voiced him in “The Chronicles of Narnia” films ASLAN
49. Like many a prime rib serving AU JUS
50. One in a Lincoln quartet? SCORE
51. Scatter STREW
52. Reason for stitches GASH
53. “Do __ …” UNTO
54. Late-inning achievement SAVE
55. Barbra’s “Funny Girl” co-star OMAR
56. Flabbergast DAZE

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