LA Times Crossword Answers 31 Mar 13, Sunday

CROSSWORD SETTER: Andrew J. Ries
THEME: Support Group … each of the themed answer is made up of two words, one ending with A and the other starting with A, giving us an AA meeting:

69A. Event where the number 12 is important, and a feature of 12 two-word answers in this puzzle AA MEETING

23A. Tibetan breed LHASA APSO
24A. Cinematographer’s concern CAMERA ANGLE
30A. First Bond girl URSULA ANDRESS
45A. Orange County seat SANTA ANA
47A. Max Ernst, for one DADA ARTIST
55A. Crimson Tide’s home TUSCALOOSA ALABAMA
80A. “The Voice” coach CHRISTINA AGUILERA
87A. Interactive website plug-in JAVA APPLET
91A. Unusual thing RARA AVIS
106A. Its largest hub is in Atlanta DELTA AIRLINES
113A. First Japanese car to be produced in the U.S. HONDA ACCORD
116A. Mozart highlight OPERA ARIA

COMPLETION TIME: 33m 07s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
15. Epps of “House” OMAR
Omar Epps is the actor who played Eric Foreman on the excellent television series “House”. Prior to playing Dr. Foreman, Epps had a recurring role playing Dr. Dennis Grant on “ER”. And, in another link to the world of medicine, Epps was born in Savannah, Georgia to single mom, Dr. Bonnie Epps.

23. Tibetan breed LHASA APSO
The Lhasa apso breed of dog originated in Tibet and is named after Lhasa (the capital city) and apso (a Tibetan word meaning “bearded”). The Lhasa apso has been around since 800 BC and is one of the oldest breeds in the world, one very closely related to the ancestral wolf.

26. Patriotic org. DAR
In order to be a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), an applicant has to prove that she is a descendant of someone closely associated with, and supportive of, the American Revolution.

30. First Bond girl URSULA ANDRESS
The actor Ursula Andress was quite the sex symbol in the sixties, famously playing Honey Ryder in the first James Bond movie “Dr. No”. Andress was born in Switzerland and is fluent in English, French, Italian, German and her native Swiss-German.

39. Rocker Young NEIL
Neil Young is a singer and songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. Young is known for his solo work, as well as his earlier recordings with Buffalo Springfield and as the fourth member of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Young is also a successful movie director, although he uses the pseudonym “Bernard Shakey” for his movie work. Included in his filmography are “Human Highway” and “Greendale”.

40. Real estate listing abbr. RMS
Rooms (rms.)

41. Palm tree nut ARECA
The betel nut is something that is chewed, especially in parts of Asia. “Betel nut” is a bit of misnomer, as the nut in question is actually an Areca nut from the Areca palm. For chewing, the Areca nut is wrapped in betel leaves and the whole thing is called a “betel nut”.

43. Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks, e.g. OWNER
Mark Cuban is a successful American businessman, and is the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. If you’ve seen the reality TV show “Shark Tank”, you’ll known Cuban as one of the investors putting up their money i.e. one of the “sharks”. If you’re a “Dancing with the Stars” fan, you might recall Cuban as a contestant on the 5th series of that show, partnered with Kym Johnson.

45. Orange County seat SANTA ANA
Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County, California and takes its name from the Santa Ana River that runs through the city. The Santa Ana winds are the very dry air currents that sweep offshore late in the year in Southern California. Because these air currents are so dry, they are noted for their influence over forest fires in the area, especially in the heat of the fall. The winds arise from a buildup of air pressure in the Great Basin that lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Under the right conditions, that air spills over the peaks of the Sierra Nevada and basically “falls” down the side of the Sierra range, heading for the ocean. As the air falls it becomes drier and heats up so that relative humidity can fall to below 10% by the time it hits the coast.

47. Max Ernst, for one DADA ARTIST
Dadaism thrived during and just after WWI, and was an anti-war, anti-bourgeois and anti-art culture. The movement began in Zurich, Switzerland started by a group of artists and writers who met to discuss art and put on performances in the Cabaret Voltaire, frequently expressing disgust at the war that was raging across Europe.

Max Ernst was a painter and sculptor, a pioneer in the Dada movement and Surrealism. Ernst was born near Cologne in Germany in 1891 and he was called up to fight in WWI, as were most young German men at that time. In his autobiography he writes “Max Ernst died the 1st of August, 1914” a statement about his experiences in the war. In reality, Ernst died in 1976 having lived to the ripe old age of 85.

54. Literally, “the tar” LA BREA
The La Brea Tar Pits are located right in the heart of the city of Los Angeles. “La Brea” is Spanish for “the tar”. At the site there is a constant flow of tar that seeps up to the surface from underground, a phenomenon that has been around for tens of thousands of years. What is significant is that much of the seeping tar is covered by water. Over many, many centuries animals came to the water to drink and became trapped in the tar as they entered the water to quench their thirsts. The tar then preserved the bones of the dead animals. Today a museum is located right by the Tar Pits, recovering bones and displaying specimens of the animals found there. It’s well worth a visit if you are in town …

55. Crimson Tide’s home TUSCALOOSA ALABAMA
The city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama was named in honor of Chief Tuskaloosa, head of a Muskogean-speaking tribe. The city was the capital of Alabama from 1826 to 1846.

The athletic teams of the University of Alabama (“Bama”) are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, a reference to the team colors: crimson and white.

61. Mao’s successor HUA
Hua Guofeng was man whom Mao Zedong designated as his successor as paramount leader of the People’s Republic of China and the Communist Party of China. Hua came to power in 1976 and within a few month’s brought Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution to an end. However, Hua was deemed to be moving too slowly with his reforms, and so he was forced into early retirement after just a few years in power and Deng Xiaoping took control.

64. Jobs offering of 2007 IPHONE
Steve Jobs certainly was a business icon in Silicon Valley. I don’t think it is too surprising to learn that the brilliant Jobs didn’t even finish his college education, dropping out of Reed College in Oregon after only one semester. Steve Jobs co-founded Apple in 1976, but in 1985 he was basically fired from his own company during the computer sales slump of the mid-eighties. Jobs then founded NeXT Computer, a company focused on supplying workstations to the higher education and business markets. Apple purchased NeXT in 1996, and that’s how Jobs found himself back with his original company.

65. Former Bears coach DITKA
Mike Ditka is a retired NFL player, and retired coach of Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only people to have won Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach, and as a head coach.

66. Full or half holds NELSONS
The full nelson and half nelson are wrestling holds in which one wrestler secures an opponent by encircling the opponent’s arms under the armpits and around the neck. Some say the hold is named after Admiral Nelson, who was renowned for using encircling tactics in battle.

69. Event where the number 12 is important, and a feature of 12 two-word answers in this puzzle AA MEETING
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was founded in 1935, by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio. As the organization grew, the guiding principles established by the founders were formatted into a 12-step program that was in place by the forties.

73. Texas Hold ’em variety NO-LIMIT
The official birthplace of the incredibly popular poker game of Texas Hold ‘Em is Robstown, Texas where the game dates back to the early 1900s. The game was introduced into Las Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texan enthusiasts including Doyle Brunson, a champion often seen playing on TV today. Doyle Brunson published a poker strategy guide in 1978, and this really helped increase the popularity of the game. But it was the inclusion of Texas Hold ‘Em in the television line-up that really gave the game its explosive surge in popularity, with the size of the prize money just skyrocketing.

79. Leveling initials TNT
TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

80. “The Voice” coach CHRISTINA AGUILERA
Christina Aguilera is a singer who got her start on television’s “Star Search”. From there she took a role on Disney’s “The Mickey Mouse Club”.

“The Voice” is yet another reality television show. “The Voice” is a singing competition in which the judges hear the contestants without seeing them in the first round. The judges then take on chosen contestants as coaches for the remaining rounds. “The Voice” is a highly successful worldwide franchise that originated in the Netherlands.

85. Evelyn Waugh, but not George Eliot MAN
Evelyn Waugh was an English author, most famous for his fabulous 1945 novel “Brideshead Revisited”. Evelyn Waugh met and fell in love with Evelyn Gardner in 1927. Known to friends as “He-Evelyn” and “She-Evelyn”, the couple were married in 1929 (but divorced one year later).

George Eliot was the pen name of English novelist Mary Anne Evans. As one might think, Evans chose a male pen name in order that her work might be best appreciated in the Victorian era. Eliot wrote seven novels including “Adam Bede” (1859), “The Mill on the Floss” (1860), “Silas Marner” (1861) and “Middlemarch” (1871-72).

86. Pujols blasts: Abbr. HRS
Home runs (HRs)

Albert Pujols is a professional baseball player with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Pujols is a native of the Dominican Republic, and moved to the US in 1996.

87. Interactive website plug-in JAVA APPLET
Java is a programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. Java was originally designed for interactive television, but didn’t fit the needs at the time. Back then it was called Oak, named after an oak tree that stood outside the designer’s office. Later it was called Green and finally named Java, which was simply picked out of a list of random words.

91. Unusual thing RARA AVIS
A “rara avis” is anything that is very rare, and is Latin for “rare bird”.

100. __-de-France ILE
Île-de-France (literally “Island of France”) isn’t an island at all. It is the name given to the most populous of France’s 26 administrative regions. Île-de-France is roughly equivalent to the Paris metropolitan area.

101. Wolfe who tracks crooks NERO
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.

102. “Licensed to __”: Beastie Boys album ILL
Beastie Boys are a hip hop band from New York that formed back in 1981.

103. Sea-Tac posting ARR
Sea-Tac Airport is more fully known as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Sea-Tac is the main hub for Alaska Airlines.

106. Its largest hub is in Atlanta DELTA AIRLINES
Today, Delta is the world’s largest airline (after merging with Northwest Airlines in 2008) and is also the oldest airline still operating in the US. Delta’s roots go back to 1924 before the company’s planes started carrying passengers and was called Huff Daland Dusters, a crop dusting enterprise based in Macon, Georgia. The name Delta Air Service was introduced in 1928.

112. Ambulance VIP EMT
Emergency medical technician (EMT)

113. First Japanese car to be produced in the U.S. HONDA ACCORD
Honda started manufacturing its Accord model in Marysville, Ohio in 1982, making the Accord the first Japanese car to be produced in the US. The Accord was the best-selling Japanese car in America from 1982 to 1997, and 1989 was the first import to become the best-selling car in the US.

122. Ancient Andean INCA
Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro discovered the Incas in 1526, marking the beginning of the end for an ancient civilization that was to be ravaged by brutal Spanish colonists and by imported smallpox. The last leader of the Inca was Atahualpa. Pizarro staged a mock trial and then condemned Atahualpa to execution by burning. A Spanish friar intervened on behalf of the condemned man, as Atahualpa believed that if he was burned his soul would not move on to the afterlife. Pizarro, was kind enough to have Atahualpa garroted instead.

Down
1. “The Simpsons” real estate agent Gunderson GIL
The character Gil Gunderson is a real estate agent on the Fox animated show “The Simpsons”. Gunderson is also known as “Ol’ Gil” and is voice by Dan Castellaneta.

2. Hamburger beef? ACH
The German exclamation “ach!” is usually translated into English as “oh!”

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany (after Berlin), and the third largest port in Europe (after Rotterdam and Antwerp).

6. Men’s tennis org. ATP
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is an organization that looks after the interests of male tennis professionals. The equivalent organization for women is the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

7. Thing in court RES
“Res” is the Latin for “thing”. “Res” is used in a lot of phrases in the law.

9. Lambeau Field pro PACKER
When Curly Lambeau founded his small-town football team in Green Bay in 1919, he was working for the Indian Packing Company. Lambeau went to his employers looking for sponsorship and was given $250 provided that the team was named for the company. And so, the team  was originally referred to as the Green Bay Indians, but by the time they took to the field for their first game it had changed to the Packers and Lambeau was $250 richer.

13. “Darn it!” NERTS
“Nerts” is a slang term, a corruption of “nuts!” and has the same meaning.

14. State with a panhandle IDAHO
Idaho has the nickname the Gem State, mainly because almost every known type of gemstone has been found there. Idaho is also sometimes called the Potato State as potatoes are such a popular crop in the state.

16. Oscar winner Anna MAGNANI
Anna Magnani was an Italian actress who won an Academy Award for Best Actress portraying a Sicilian widow in the 1955 film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play “The Rose Tattoo”. Williams actually wrote the play for Magnani, but she declined to perform in it as she believed her English to be too imperfect. When the play was adapted for the big screen, Magnani felt that she had mastered the language sufficiently and so took the lead role.

20. Bush advisor Rove KARL
Whatever your politics, you have to give Karl Rove credit for engineering both presidential election victories for President George W. Bush. Rove is a Christmas baby, born on December 25, 1950.

25. Like koalas ARBOREAL
The koala really does look like a little bear, but it’s not even closely related. The koala is an arboreal marsupial and a herbivore, native to the east and south coasts of Australia. Koalas aren’t primates, and are one of the few mammals other than primates who have fingerprints. In fact, it can be very difficult to tell human fingerprints from koala fingerprints, even under an electron microscope.

31. “Bloom” star Stephen REA
Stephen Rea is an Irish actor, whose most famous role was that of the “retired” IRA man in the brilliant 1992 film “The Crying Game”. He also starred in the chilling movie “Stuck”, a 2007 film that is based on a true story about a woman who commits a hit and run on a homeless man. The woman leaves the scene of the crime with the victim still “stuck” in her windshield. The woman leaves the man to die in her garage. Chilling, eh? But as I said, a true story …

“Bloom” is a film made in Ireland based on the James Joyce novel “Ulysses”. All of the action, in both the novel and film, takes place on 16 June 1904, a day now celebrated annually in Dublin as “Bloomsday”. In the movie, the title character of Leopold Bloom is played by Stephen Rea.

33. OB/GYN test AMNIO
Amniocentesis is the prenatal test which involves the removal of a small amount of the amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus using a hypodermic needle. The fluid naturally contains some fetal cells, the DNA of which can then be tested to determine the sex of the child and to check for the presence of genetic abnormalities.

34. Org. in the film “Sneakers” NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization’s nickname … “No Such Agency”.

“Sneakers” is a very entertaining 1992 film starring Robert Redford as the head of a team of security specialists that is used by the NSA for an undercover operation. Also in the cast are Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, River Phoenix and Sidney Poitier.

35. Italy’s La __ SCALA
The La Scala Opera House opened in 1778. It was built on the site of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which gave the theater its name, “Teatro alla Scala” in Italian.

38. Morsel ORT
Orts are small scraps of food left after a meal. “Ort” comes from Middle English, and originally described scraps left by animals.

44. 6-Down counterpart founded by Billie Jean King WTA
The former World No. 1 tennis player Billie Jean King founded the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and won the first ever WTA Tour Championship. King also won the famous “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match played in 1973 against Bobby Riggs.

46. Ireland’s __ Islands ARAN
The Aran Islands are a group of three islands located at the mouth of Galway Bay in the west of Ireland. They are beautiful and desolate places, and one of the few places in Ireland where the main language spoken is Irish, as opposed to English. If you’ve seen the television comedy “Father Ted”, you’ll be familiar with the landscape, as many of the external shots are from Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands.

49. Soldat’s weapon ARME
In French, a soldier (soldat) uses a weapon (arme).

52. One of Edison’s 1,000-plus PATENT
Thomas Alva Edison was nicknamed “The Wizard of Menlo Park” by a newspaper reporter, a name that stuck. He was indeed a wizard, in the sense that he was such a prolific inventor. The Menlo Park part of the moniker recognizes the location of his first research lab, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

56. B.J. or Justin of baseball UPTON
Justin and B.J. Upton are two brothers playing Major League Baseball. Justin plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and B. J. plays for the Tampa Bay Rays.

58. Mozart’s “__ fan tutte” COSI
Mozart’s comic opera “Così fan tutte” is also known in English as “The School for Lovers”. The literal translation of the opera’s title is “Thus do all (women)”, or “Women are like that”.

59. Seraglio room ODA
“Oda” is the Turkish word for “room”, and is the name used for a room within a harem in the days of the Ottoman Empire. We use the derivative word “odalisque” for “a concubine” or “a chamber girl”.

“Seraglio” was the name given to the living quarters use by wives and concubines in some Ottoman households. It might also be referred to as a harem.

60. J.Lo, for one LATINA
J.Lo is the nickname of singer and actress Jennifer Lopez. “J.Lo” is also the title of her second studio album, released in 2001.

61. Mezzo Marilyn HORNE
Marilyn Horne is a mezzo-soprano opera singer from Bradford, Pennsylvania. Her first major engagement was to dub the female lead voice in the 1954 film “Carmen Jones”.

62. Racing great Bobby UNSER
The Unser family seems to have racing cars in its blood. Al Unser, Sr. won the Indy 500 on four occasions. Al’s brother Jerry was the first of the Unsers to compete at Indianapolis. Al’s other brother Bobby, won the Indy three times. Al’s son, Al Junior, won the Indy twice. Al Junior’s son is also a racing driver who competes at the Indy Speedway.

63. Stars at the Forum? ASTRA
“Astra” is the Latin for “stars” as in “Ad Astra”, the motto of my alma mater, University College Dublin in Ireland.

The Roman forum was the public space in the middle of a city, taking it’s name from the Latin word “forum” meaning “marketplace, town square”.

69. Aweigh ATRIP
When an anchor is “aweigh” or “atrip”, it is just clear of the bottom, having just been lifted.

70. US Open champ between John and Mats IVAN
Ivan Lendl is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. Lendl appeared in eight consecutive US Open finals in the eighties, a record that stands to this day.

71. Grant-providing gp. NEA
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an agency funded by the federal government that offers support and financing for artistic projects. The NEA was created by an Act of Congress in 1965. Between 1965 and 2008, the NEA awarded over $4 billion to the arts, with Congress authorizing around $170 million annually through the eighties and much of the nineties. That funding was cut to less than $100 million in the late nineties due to pressure from conservatives concerned about the use of funds, but it is now back over the $150 million mark. I wonder how long that will last though …

74. ’60s defense secretary MCNAMARA
Robert McNamara was the Secretary of Defense in both the Kennedy and the Johnson administrations. McNamara served as Secretary of Defense longer than any other individual, taking office in 1961 and leaving in 1968. McNamara also played a crucial role in escalating US involvement in the Vietnam War, a role not appreciated by everyone. In 1972, a passenger on the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard recognized him and tried to physically throw him overboard, afterwards citing a need to confront McNamara on Vietnam.

75. Chain with stacks IHOP
The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) was founded back in 1958. IHOP was originally intended to be called IHOE, the International House of Eggs, but that name didn’t do too well in marketing tests …

78. Crossword-solving Simpson LISA
Lisa Simpson is Bart’s brainy younger sister on TV’s “The Simpsons”. Lisa is voiced by actress Yeardley Smith.

81. At a Lakers home game, e.g. IN LA
The Los Angeles Lakers basketball team started out in 1947 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The team chose the Lakers name in honor of the nickname of Minnesota, “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. The Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960.

83. ’90s U.N. secretary-general Boutros-__ GHALI
Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian diplomat, 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.

84. River past Berne AAR
The Aar (also called the “Aare” in German) is the longest river entirely in Switzerland. A famous spot along the Aar is the Reichenbach Falls in the center of the country, actually a series of waterfalls near the city of Meiringen. These falls are renowned in the world of literature as it was here that Sherlock Holmes fell to his supposed doom with his nemesis Professor Moriarty (in “The Adventure of the Final Problem”).

Bern (or Berne) is the capital city of Switzerland. The official language of the city is German, but the language most spoken in Bern is a dialect known as Bernese German.

87. Start of a rhyming Basque game JAI
Even though jai alai is often said to be the fastest sport in the world because of the speed of the ball, in fact golf balls usually get going at a greater clip.

89. Element’s combining power VALENCE
An atom’s valence is the number of electrons that it loses, adds or shares when bonding with other atoms.

90. 2011 Liam Neeson film involving a wolf pack THE GREY
“The Grey” is a 2012 thriller movie starring Liam Neeson. The film is based on a short story called “Ghost Walker” written by Ian MAcKenzie Jeffers and is about some oil-men stranded in Alaska after a plane crash. A pack of wolves moves in, and mayhem ensues …

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.

91. Fjord-like inlet RIA
A drowned valley might be called a ria or a fjord, both formed as sea level rises. A ria is a drowned valley created by river erosion, and a fjord is a drowned valley created by glaciation.

92. Pink Floyd album including “Dogs” and “Sheep” ANIMALS
Pink Floyd were an English rock band founded in 1965. The band’s most famous albums were probably “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall”.

95. Tapped-out letters SOS
The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are also mnemonics, introduced after the “SOS” signal was adopted.

99. Boozer’s affliction DTS
The episodes of delirium that can accompany withdrawal from alcohol are called Delirium Tremens (the DTs). The literal translation of this Latin phrase is “trembling madness”.

104. Stampede rope RIATA
“Riata” is another name for a lariat or a lasso. “Riata” comes from “reata”, the Spanish word for lasso.

110. Pop singer Lambert ADAM
Adam Lambert is one of the “successes” to come out of the “American Idol” machine.

115. Native Nebraskan OTO
The Otoe (also Oto) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestwards ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.

118. Scratch (out) EKE
To “eke out” means to “make something go further or last longer”. For example, you could eke out your income by cutting back on expenses. I always have a problem with the commonly cited definition of “eke out” as “barely get by”. Close but no cigar, I say …

119. Sleep lab acronym REM
REM is an acronym standing for Rapid Eye Movement sleep. REM sleep takes up 20-25% of the sleeping hours and is the period associated with one’s most vivid dreams.

120. TV chef Garten INA
Ina Garten is an author as well as the host of the cooking show on the Food Network called “Barefoot Contessa”. Garten has no formal training as a chef, and indeed used to work as a nuclear policy analyst at the White House!

121. Cause of Cleo’s demise ASP
The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Festive occasion GALA
5. Stinging remark BARB
9. Italian for “small rolls” PANINI
15. Epps of “House” OMAR
19. One working on figures? ICE SKATER
21. Knocked the socks off AMAZED
22. Goody-goody’s “headwear” HALO
23. Tibetan breed LHASA APSO
24. Cinematographer’s concern CAMERA ANGLE
26. Patriotic org. DAR
27. Starts the haggling at ASKS
29. Powerful perch THRONE
30. First Bond girl URSULA ANDRESS
36. Let the tears go SOB
37. In the past AGO
39. Rocker Young NEIL
40. Real estate listing abbr. RMS
41. Palm tree nut ARECA
43. Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks, e.g. OWNER
45. Orange County seat SANTA ANA
47. Max Ernst, for one DADA ARTIST
50. Bases-loaded walk stat RBI
51. Well-stated APT
54. Literally, “the tar” LA BREA
55. Crimson Tide’s home TUSCALOOSA ALABAMA
61. Mao’s successor HUA
64. Jobs offering of 2007 IPHONE
65. Former Bears coach DITKA
66. Full or half holds NELSONS
68. Train-stopping spots: Abbr. STAS
69. Event where the number 12 is important, and a feature of 12 two-word answers in this puzzle AA MEETING
72. Once, archaically ERST
73. Texas Hold ’em variety NO-LIMIT
76. Believing in the green-cheese moon, say NAIVE
77. Smoothing tool PLANER
79. Leveling initials TNT
80. “The Voice” coach CHRISTINA AGUILERA
84. Rub with oil ANOINT
85. Evelyn Waugh, but not George Eliot MAN
86. Pujols blasts: Abbr. HRS
87. Interactive website plug-in JAVA APPLET
91. Unusual thing RARA AVIS
96. Scare ALARM
97. Reacted to a massage AAHED
100. __-de-France ILE
101. Wolfe who tracks crooks NERO
102. “Licensed to __”: Beastie Boys album ILL
103. Sea-Tac posting ARR
106. Its largest hub is in Atlanta DELTA AIRLINES
109. Turtledove DEARIE
111. Hair disheveler GUST
112. Ambulance VIP EMT
113. First Japanese car to be produced in the U.S. HONDA ACCORD
116. Mozart highlight OPERA ARIA
122. Ancient Andean INCA
123. Just as prescribed TO A TEE
124. Save a date, say MAKE PLANS
125. Consider DEEM
126. Bugs ANNOYS
127. Flower stalk STEM
128. Wrist-directed reprimand SLAP

Down
1. “The Simpsons” real estate agent Gunderson GIL
2. Hamburger beef? ACH
3. Shows the way (to) LEADS IN
4. Military attack ASSAULT
5. Ovine bleat BAA
6. Men’s tennis org. ATP
7. Thing in court RES
8. Like some shoulders BROAD
9. Lambeau Field pro PACKER
10. Saved up AMASSED
11. Site of ’60s action NAM
12. Modern ending? -IZE
13. “Darn it!” NERTS
14. State with a panhandle IDAHO
15. [Gasp!] OH NO!
16. Oscar winner Anna MAGNANI
17. Asserts sans proof ALLEGES
18. Fish eggs ROE
20. Bush advisor Rove KARL
25. Like koalas ARBOREAL
28. Mexican Mrs. SRA
30. Young __ ‘UNS
31. “Bloom” star Stephen REA
32. Ideal for growing ARABLE
33. OB/GYN test AMNIO
34. Org. in the film “Sneakers” NSA
35. Italy’s La __ SCALA
38. Morsel ORT
42. Very little A DAB
44. 6-Down counterpart founded by Billie Jean King WTA
46. Ireland’s __ Islands ARAN
48. Go out with __ A BANG
49. Soldat’s weapon ARME
51. “__ sure you’re aware …” AS I’M
52. One of Edison’s 1,000-plus PATENT
53. Put in the crosshairs TAKE AIM
55. Quaint “Not so” ‘TISN’T
56. B.J. or Justin of baseball UPTON
57. Commandment verb SHALT
58. Mozart’s “__ fan tutte” COSI
59. Seraglio room ODA
60. J.Lo, for one LATINA
61. Mezzo Marilyn HORNE
62. Racing great Bobby UNSER
63. Stars at the Forum? ASTRA
67. Official emblem SEAL
69. Aweigh ATRIP
70. US Open champ between John and Mats IVAN
71. Grant-providing gp. NEA
74. ’60s defense secretary MCNAMARA
75. Chain with stacks IHOP
77. Coddled kitty, e.g. PURRER
78. Crossword-solving Simpson LISA
81. At a Lakers home game, e.g. IN LA
82. Place STEAD
83. ’90s U.N. secretary-general Boutros-__ GHALI
84. River past Berne AAR
87. Start of a rhyming Basque game JAI
88. Finished ALL DONE
89. Element’s combining power VALENCE
90. 2011 Liam Neeson film involving a wolf pack THE GREY
91. Fjord-like inlet RIA
92. Pink Floyd album including “Dogs” and “Sheep” ANIMALS
93. Abdominal VENTRAL
94. Mad-as-all-get-out state IRE
95. Tapped-out letters SOS
98. Gets away from ELUDES
99. Boozer’s affliction DTS
104. Stampede rope RIATA
105. Casing outing, briefly RECON
107. Physics bits ATOMS
108. Spring LEAP
110. Pop singer Lambert ADAM
113. Kept under wraps HID
114. Crushable container CAN
115. Native Nebraskan OTO
117. Search, with “down” PAT
118. Scratch (out) EKE
119. Sleep lab acronym REM
120. TV chef Garten INA
121. Cause of Cleo’s demise ASP


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One thought on “LA Times Crossword Answers 31 Mar 13, Sunday”

  1. Would you mind explaining the difference between the L.A. Times Crossword "Daily" version dtd Sunday 3/31 by Rhies/Norris, and the actual "Sunday" Crossword dtd 3/31 by Merle Reagle. They are completely different puzzles, but both are dtd Sunday. I didn't realize there were 2 versions until today, and that your blog is for the "Daily" crossword. Do you ever play the "Sunday" version and post answers? Thank you!

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