LA Times Crossword Answers 10 Jun 13, Monday

CROSSWORD SETTER: C.C. Burnikel
THEME: To-Do List … our themed answers today are made up of two words, the first starting with TO- and the second starting with DO-

17A. ’70s-’80s Dallas Cowboys running back : TONY DORSETT
24A. The highest price : TOP DOLLAR
51A. “Hang down your head” guy in a Kingston Trio #1 hit : TOM DOOLEY
59A. Comes in for a landing : TOUCHES DOWN

34A and 36-Across. Agenda that consists of 17-, 24-, 51- and 59-Across : TODO
36-Across : LIST

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 30s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Operatic superstar : DIVA
“Diva” comes to us from Latin via Italian. “Diva” is the feminine form of “divus” meaning “divine one”. The word is used in Italy to mean “goddess” or “fine lady”, and especially is applied to the prima donna in an opera. We often use the term to describe a singer with a big ego.

5. Home of principal Norse gods : ASGARD
Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds of Norse religions. It is where the Norse gods live, and is also home to Valhalla, the enormous hall ruled over by the god Odin.

15. Sporty Mazdas : MIATAS
I’ve always liked the looks of the Mazda Miata, probably because it reminds me so much of old British sports cars. The Miata is built in Hiroshima, Japan.

17. ’70s-’80s Dallas Cowboys running back : TONY DORSETT
Tony Dorsett is a former professional footballer who played in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos. Dorsett was born near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has been honored with a Tony Dorsett Drive that is named for him Pittsburgh’s North Shore neighborhood.

23. American rival : DELTA
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 it started carrying passengers and was called Huff Daland Dusters, a crop dusting company based in Macon, Georgia. The name Delta Air Service was introduced in 1928.

26. Communication syst. for the deaf : ASL
It’s really quite unfortunate that American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) are very different, and someone who has learned to sign in one cannot understand someone signing in the other.

27. Sailor’s jail : BRIG
A brig, short for brigantine, is a type of ship. It was the use of brigantines as prison ships that led to use of “brig” as the word for a jail or prison cell on a seagoing vessel.

30. Extinct New Zealand birds : MOAS
Moas were flightless birds native to New Zealand that are now extinct. The fate of the Moa is a great example of the detrimental effect that humans can have on animal populations. The Maoris arrived in New Zealand about 1300 AD, upsetting the balance of the ecosystem. The Moa were hunted to extinction within 200 years, which had the knock-on effect of killing off the Haast’s Eagle, the Moa’s only predator prior to the arrival of man.

38. Moth-repellent closet wood : CEDAR
Cedar is used for the manufacture of some wardrobes and chests as it has long been believed that the fragrant oil in the wood is a moth-repellent. However, whether or not cedar oil is actually effective at keeping moths away seems to be in doubt.

42. Use UPS, say : SHIP
United Parcel Service (UPS) is based in Sandy Springs, Georgia and has its own airline that operates out of Louisville, Kentucky.

48. Swiss painter Paul : KLEE
The artist Paul Klee was born in Switzerland, but studied art in Munich in Germany. You can see many of Klee’s works in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and if you get to Bern in Switzerland, even more of them can be seen at the Zentrum Paul Klee that was opened in 2005.

51. “Hang down your head” guy in a Kingston Trio #1 hit : TOM DOOLEY
“Tom Dooley” is an old folk song from North Carolina that became a 1958 hit for the Kingston Trio. Tom Dula (aka “Dooley”) was a real person, a destitute veteran of the Civil War who murdered his lover Laura Foster. The song tells the sordid tale.

53. Cher’s TV partner : SONNY
Sonny Bono was a recording artist who later moved into the world of politics. As a musical entertainer, Bono was most famous for his recordings as a duo with Cher, who later became his second wife. The couple divorced, but continued to work together. Bono went into politics, first as the mayor of Palm Springs, California and later as a representative for a California district in the US House of Representatives. Sadly, Bono was killed in a skiing accident in 1998. Coincidently, Michael Kennedy (son of Robert F. Kennedy) died in a similar skiing accident just one week earlier.

55. Bluesman Redding : OTIS
Otis Redding is often referred to as the “King of Soul”, and what a voice he had. Like so many of the greats in the world of popular music it seems, Redding was killed in a plane crash, in 1967 when he was just 26 years old. Just three days earlier he had recorded what was to be his biggest hit, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”.

56. Tippler : SOT
Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning a fool. The word “sot” started to be associated with alcohol and not just foolery in the late 1500s.

57. Samuel with a telegraph code : MORSE
Samuel Morse was a very accomplished and reputable painter (he was engaged to paint a portrait of President John Adams, for example). In 1825 Morse was in Washington working on a commissioned painting when he received a one-line letter by horse messenger telling him that his wife was ill. He left immediately for his home in New Haven, Connecticut but by the time that Morse arrived his wife had already died and had been buried. This single event spurred him to move from painting to the development of a rapid means of long distance communication, leading to the single-wire telegraph and Morse code.

64. Nobelist Wiesel : ELIE
Elie Wiesel is a holocaust survivor, best known for his book “Night” that tells of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

65. Dorm mgrs. : RAS
RAs are resident assistants or resident advisers, the peer leaders found in residence halls, particularly on a college campus.

Down
1. “Who __?”: Saints fans’ chant : DAT

Who dat?
Who dat?
Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?

5. “Famous” cookie guy : AMOS
Wally Amos was a talent agent, one who was in the habit of taking home-baked cookies with him as an enticement to get celebrities to see him. He was urged by friends to open a cookie store (the cookies were that delicious, I guess) and this he did in Los Angeles in 1975 using the name “Famous Amos”. The store was a smash hit and he was able build on the success by introducing his cookies into supermarkets. The brand was eventually bought up making Wally a rich man, and Famous Amos cookies are still flying off the shelf.

9. Like movies for the whole family : RATED G
The Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) film-rating system (R, PG-17, G etc.) is purely voluntary and is not backed by any law. Movie theaters agree to abide by the rules that come with the MPAA ratings in exchange for access to new movies.

10. This year, it ends Nov. 3rd : DST
On the other side of the Atlantic, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is known as “summer time”. The idea behind summer/daylight-savings is to move clocks forward an hour in spring and backwards in the fall so that afternoons have more daylight.

11. Alphabet read with the fingers : BRAILLE
The Braille system of reading and writing was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, who was himself afflicted with blindness. Braille characters are composed of six positions or dots, each arranged in two columns of three dots each. Every dot can be raised or not raised, given a total of 64 possible characters.

12. “Très chic!” : OOH LA LA!
“Très chic” is a French term meaning “very stylish”.

24. Jackson 5 brother : TITO
Tito Jackson was the third oldest of the Jackson children, and was known in Motown as the “quiet Jackson”.

The Jackson 5 singing group was originally made up of brothers Tito, Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael.

35. Pulled-apart cookie : OREO
The Oreo was the best-selling cookie in the 20th century, and almost 500 billion of them have been sold since they were introduced in 1912 by Nabisco. In those early days the creme filling was made with pork fat, but today vegetable oils are used instead. If you take a bite out of an Oreo sold outside of America you might notice a difference from the homegrown cookie, as coconut oil is added in the overseas version to give a different taste.

36. __ of the valley : LILY
Lily of the Valley is the common name for a highly poisonous flowering plant that is found in woodlands across much of the world.

37. Suffix with Canaan : -ITE
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Canaanites were the descendants of Canaan, who was the son of Ham and the grandson of Noah.

40. Pizza chain with a rectangular three-dot logo : DOMINO’S
Domino’s Pizza started out as DomiNick’s, a pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The store was purchased by Dominic’s founder Tom Monaghan in 1960, along with his brother. Tom bought out his brother a few months later, for the price of a used VW! The store was renamed Domino’s Pizza in 1965, and two years later the first franchise store was opened. There are now over 8,000 stores worldwide, including one in Tallaght in Ireland, the town where I lived for many years in my youth. That Tallaght store became the first Domino’s outlet in the world to hit a turnover of $3 million a year. We Irish obviously have terrible taste when it comes to pizza …

43. Princess Leia rescuer : HAN SOLO
Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.

57. Autodom’s Cougar, briefly : MERC
Ford made the Mercury Cougar from 1967 to 2002. The Cougar was originally based on the Ford Mustang, then the Thunderbird, and finally the Contour/Mondeo.

59. 1979 Pa. meltdown site : TMI
The Three Mile Island accident was a meltdown of a reactor core that took place at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station just outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1979. The accident was caused by a mechanical failure, compounded by human error.

61. Word between surnames : NEE
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Operatic superstar : DIVA
5. Home of principal Norse gods : ASGARD
11. Long, fluffy wrap : BOA
14. Cries of discovery : AHAS
15. Sporty Mazdas : MIATAS
16. Towel holder : ROD
17. ’70s-’80s Dallas Cowboys running back : TONY DORSETT
19. “That feels so good!” : AHH!
20. Jetties : PIERS
21. Shade of color : HUE
22. Nail shaper : FILE
23. American rival : DELTA
24. The highest price : TOP DOLLAR
26. Communication syst. for the deaf : ASL
27. Sailor’s jail : BRIG
29. Decorative metal grate : GRILLE
30. Extinct New Zealand birds : MOAS
32. Sci-fi visitors : ETS
33. Sandwich loaf : BREAD
34 and 36-Across. Agenda that consists of 17-, 24-, 51- and 59-Across : TO-DO
36-Across : LIST
38. Moth-repellent closet wood : CEDAR
41. Tend a tot : SIT
42. Use UPS, say : SHIP
46. Unmanned planes : DRONES
48. Swiss painter Paul : KLEE
50. Alias letters : AKA
51. “Hang down your head” guy in a Kingston Trio #1 hit : TOM DOOLEY
53. Cher’s TV partner : SONNY
55. Bluesman Redding : OTIS
56. Tippler : SOT
57. Samuel with a telegraph code : MORSE
58. Take the title : WIN
59. Comes in for a landing : TOUCHES DOWN
62. Prefix with system : ECO-
63. Title for Nature : MOTHER
64. Nobelist Wiesel : ELIE
65. Dorm mgrs. : RAS
66. On the same page : IN SYNC
67. Mechanical learning : ROTE

Down
1. “Who __?”: Saints fans’ chant : DAT
2. “Fingers crossed!” : I HOPE SO!
3. Basic ice cream flavor : VANILLA
4. Up to now : AS YET
5. “Famous” cookie guy : AMOS
6. Madam’s partner : SIR
7. Fuel guzzlers : GAS HOGS
8. Really enjoyed : ATE UP
9. Like movies for the whole family : RATED G
10. This year, it ends Nov. 3rd : DST
11. Alphabet read with the fingers : BRAILLE
12. “Très chic!” : OOH LA LA!
13. Stuck as if glued : ADHERED
18. Far from flashy : DRAB
22. Bats one’s eyelashes, say : FLIRTS
23. River blocker : DAM
24. Jackson 5 brother : TITO
25. Planets : ORBS
28. Sunburn color : RED
31. Place for fans to sit : STANDS
35. Pulled-apart cookie : OREO
36. __ of the valley : LILY
37. Suffix with Canaan : -ITE
38. Tall media storage cabinet : CD TOWER
39. Blue writing? : EROTICA
40. Pizza chain with a rectangular three-dot logo : DOMINO’S
41. Merely outlined : SKETCHY
43. Princess Leia rescuer : HAN SOLO
44. “You didn’t fool me!” : I KNEW IT!
45. Pony up : PAY
47. “Already?” : SO SOON?
49. Those, to Juan : ESOS
52. Oafs : LOUTS
54. Judge’s demand : ORDER
57. Autodom’s Cougar, briefly : MERC
59. 1979 Pa. meltdown site : TMI
60. Layer in a coop : HEN
61. Word between surnames : NEE

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