LA Times Crossword Answers 10 Jul 13, Wednesday

CROSSWORD SETTER: Joel D. Lafargue
THEME: The Bar at the End … each of today’s themed answers ends with a type of bar or pole:

20A. Member of a “joint” military group CHIEF OF STAFF
28A. Franklin invention LIGHTNING ROD
46A. Make a relay race connection PASS THE BATON
55A. Cocktail accessory SWIZZLE STICK

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 7m 53s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Urban rails ELS
“Els” are elevated railroads.

14. 2002 NBA Rookie of the Year __ Gasol PAU
Pau Gasol is a Spanish basketball player who turns out for the Los Angeles Lakers. Pau’s younger brother is Marc, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies.

18. Author Jong ERICA
The author Erica Jong’s most famous work is her first: “Fear of Flying”, a novel published in 1973. Over twenty years later she wrote “Fear of Fifty: a midlife memoir”, published in 1994.

20. Member of a “joint” military group CHIEF OF STAFF
In the US Military, the Joint Chiefs of Staff is comprised of:

– Chief of Staff of the Army
– Commandant of the Marine Corps
– Chief of Naval Operations
– Chief of Staff of the Air Force
– Chief of the National Guard Bureau

23. “__ evil …” SEE NO
The old adage “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” originated in the 17th century. The phrase comes as an interpretation of a wood carving over a door in a shrine in Nikko, Japan. The carving depicts the “Three Wise Monkeys”:

– Mizaru, covering his eyes
– Kikazaru, covering his ears
– Iwazaru, covering his mouth

25. Pub. of an oft-quoted journal AMA
The AMA has been publishing the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) since 1883.

28. Franklin invention LIGHTNING ROD
The noted polymath Benjamin Franklin was one of the US’s Founding Fathers. Franklin was born into a working class family in Boston in 1706. He went on to invent the lightning rod and bifocals. He became the first US Ambassador to France, the US’s Postmaster General and the Governor of Pennsylvania. He played the violin, the harp and the guitar and composed a string quartet. He was also an accomplished chess player, the first to be known by name in the American colonies. The list of the Benjamin Franklin’s accomplishments seems to be endless …

36. Like much of King’s work EERIE
Stephen King is a remarkably successful author having sold over 350 million copies of his books, many of which have been made into hit movies. I’ve tried reading two or three, but I really don’t do horror …

38. Buddhist shrine STUPA
A stupa is a place of worship in the Buddhist tradition. “Stupa” is a Sanskrit word meaning “heap” and a stupa is a mound-like structure that contains relics, possibly even the remains of Buddha.

42. Jazzman Jackson and cartoonist Gross MILTS
Milt Jackson was a jazz vibraphonist. A vibraphone is a similar to a xylophone, but it has aluminum instead of wooden bars. Vibraphones are most commonly seen as part of jazz ensembles. Milt Jackson started his career as part of the band playing with Dizzy Gillespie.

50. Billion-year span EON
In astronomical terms, an aeon (also “eon”) is defined as one billion years.

59. Traditional Islamic garment BURQA
A burqa (also “burka”) is the garment worn by some women in the Islamic tradition to cover up their bodies when in public.

63. One of the Khans ALY
Aly Khan was a familiar name used by the media when referring to Prince Ali Solomone Aga Khan, the Pakistani ambassador to the UN from 1958 to 1960. Khan made it into the papers a lot as he was the third husband of actress Rita Hayworth.

64. Words before “Gave proof through the night” IN AIR

“And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there”

are lines from “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

The lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” were written first as a poem by Francis Scott Key, inspired by the bombarding by the British of the American forces at Fort McHenry that he witnessed during the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814. The words were then set to the tune of a popular British drinking song penned by John Stafford Smith called “The Anacreontic Song”, with the Anacreontic Society being a men’s club in London.

65. Clerical residence MANSE
A manse is a minister’s home in various Christian traditions. “Manse” derives from “mansus”, the Latin for “dwelling”. The term can also be used for any stately residence.

Down
1. “Lawrence of Arabia” and others EPICS
“Lawrence of Arabia” is a 1962 movie that recounts the real life story of T. E. Lawrence, a British army officer famous for his role in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. The title role in the film is played by Irish actor Peter O’Toole. The role of Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish is played by Omar Sharif.

2. Bat maker’s tool LATHE
Baseball bats, the wooden variety anyway, are formed on lathes.

3. “Wake Up, Little __” SUSIE
“Wake Up, Little Susie” is a song most famously associated with the Everly Brothers, as it was a hit for the duo in 1957. “Wake Up, Little Susie” is, or at least used to be, the favorite song of President George W. Bush.

4. Girl Scouts emblem TREFOIL
A trefoil is a symbol that appears like a trifoliate leaf, a leaf with three leaf-like parts.

7. Sleuths, briefly TECS
The word “sleuth” came into English from Old Norse as far back as 1200 when it meant the “track or trail of a person”. In the mid-1800s, a sleuthhound described a keen investigator, a hound close on the trail of the suspect. Sleuthhound was shortened to “sleuth” and was used for a detective in general.

8. New York’s __ Island STATEN
Staten Island is part of New York City and is the least populous of the city’s five boroughs. The island was originally called Staaten Eylandt by Henry Hudson and was named after the Dutch parliament, the Staaten Generaal.

10. Win by trumping, in bridge RUFF
In a trick-taking game like bridge or whist, “to ruff” is to take a trick using a trump, unless a trump is the first card played in the trick. Some people use the verb “to trump” instead of “to ruff”.

11. Que. neighbor ONT
The ten Canadian provinces are, alongside their accepted abbreviations:

AB – Alberta
BC – British Columbia
MB – Manitoba
NB – New Brunswick
NL – Newfoundland and Labrador
NS – Nova Scotia
ON – Ontario
PE – Prince Edward Island
QC – Quebec
SK – Saskatchewan

12. Beehive State native language UTE
The Uto-Aztecan language family consists of about 30 languages spoken in the Western United States and Mexico. Included in the list of Uto-Aztecian languages is Ute, Comanche and Hopi.

When Mormon pioneers were settling what is today the state of Utah, they referred to the area as Deseret, a word that means “beehive” according to the Book of Mormon. Today Utah is known as the Beehive State and there is a beehive symbol on the Utah state flag.

13. Put on DON
One doffs one’s hat, usually as a mark of respect. To doff is to take off, with “doff” being a contraction of “do off”. The opposite of “doff” is “don”.

22. Bush spokesman Fleischer ARI
Ari Fleischer was the White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush. Fleischer now runs his own media consulting firm that specializes in representing sports players and organizations. Fleischer helped Mark McGwire handle the media when he had to admit to the use of steroids, and was briefly hired by Tiger Woods as he planned his return to the PGA after dropping out of the spotlight to handle the problems in his personal life.

26. Wavy pattern MOIRE
A moiré pattern is a phenomenon in physics, a so-called interference pattern. If you lay two sheets of mesh over each other for example, slightly offset, then what you see is a moiré pattern. “Moiré” is the French name for a textile that we know simply as “moire”. The rippled pattern of the textile resembles that of the interference pattern.

27. “Doe, ___ …” A DEER
The famous song that starts off with “Doe, a deer …” is a show tune from the 1959 musical “The Sound of Music”, by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The correct name of the song is “Do-Re-Mi”.

29. APO mail recipients GIS
The initials “G.I.” stand for “Government Issue” and not “General Infantry” as is often believed. GI was first used in the military to denote equipment made from Galvanized Iron and during WWI, incoming German shells were nicknamed “GI cans”. Soon after, the term GI came to be associated with “Government Issue” and eventually became an adjective to describe anything associated with the Army.

Army Post Office (APO).

30. FDR’s successor HST
Harry Truman wanted to go to West Point having served with the Missouri Army National Guard on active duty in WWI, but he couldn’t get in because of his poor eyesight. Young Truman didn’t have the money to pay for college anywhere else. He did manage to study for two years towards a law degree at the Kansas City Law School in the twenties, but he never finished his schooling. So, Harry S. Truman was the last US President (out of a list of ten) who did not have a college degree.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the only child of Sara Delano and James Roosevelt Sr. The Delano family history in America goes back to the pilgrim Philippe de Lannoy, an immigrant of Flemish descent who arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. The family name “de Lannoy” was anglicized here in the US, to “Delano”.

31. Opposable digit THUMB
Most animals don’t have that all important “opposable thumb” that allows us to work so efficiently with our hands.

34. Inventor Howe ELIAS
Elias Howe was an American inventor. Howe wasn’t the first to come up with the idea of a sewing machine, but he was the first to develop one that was functional.

35. Ballroom dance, in Burgundy VALSE
“Valse” is the French for “waltz”.

The Burgundy region of France is famous for its wine production. If you’re looking at a label that isn’t translated into English though, you’ll see Burgundy written in French, namely “Bourgogne”.

47. __ polloi HOI
“Hoi polloi” is a Greek term, literally meaning “the majority, the many”. In English, “hoi polloi” has come to mean “the masses” and is often used in a derogatory sense.

48. Digestive protein ENZYME
Enzymes are basically catalysts, chemicals that act to increase the rate of a particular chemical reaction. For example, starches will break down into sugars over time, especially under the right conditions. However, in the presence of the enzyme amylase (found in saliva) this production of sugar happens very, very quickly.

52. Rigg who played Mrs. Peel DIANA
“The Avengers” was must-see television when I was growing up. “The Avengers” was a sixties comedy spy series set in England during the days of the Cold War. The hero was John Steed, played ably by Patrick MacNee. Steed had various female partners as the series progressed, the first of which was Cathy Gale, played by Honor Blackman (who also played Pussy Galore in “Goldfinger”). Following Ms. Gale was Emma Peel played by the wonderful Diana Rigg. Finally there was Tara King, played by Linda Thorson.

53. Brilliance ECLAT
Éclat can mean a brilliant show of success, or the applause or accolade that one receives. The word derives from the French “éclater” meaning “to splinter, burst out”.

54. Internet calling service SKYPE
The main feature of the Skype application is that it allows voice communication to take place over the Internet (aka VoIP). Skype has other features such as video conferencing and instant messaging, but the application made its name from voice communication. Skype was founded by two Scandinavian entrepreneurs and the software necessary was developed by a team of engineers in Estonia. The development project was originally called “Sky peer-to-peer” so the first commercial name for the application was “Skyper”. This had to be shortened to “Skype” because the skyper.com domain name was already in use.

55. One of 16 in a 4×4 tile: Abbr. SQ IN
A 4-inch by 4-inch tile has a total area of 16 square inches (sq. ins.).

58. Being, to Brutus ESSE
“Esse” is the Latin for “to be”. “Sum” means “I am” and “erat” means “he, she was”.

The most famous man with the name “Brutus” in Ancient Rome was Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger. It was this Brutus that Julius Caesar turned to when he was assassinated on the steps of the Senate. William Shakespeare immortalized Brutus by featuring him in his play, “Julius Caesar”, and giving his victim the line “Et tu, Brute?”

60. Colorful card game UNO
In my youth I remember being taught a great card game, by a German acquaintance of mine, called Mau Mau. Years later I discovered that Uno is basically the same game, but played with a purpose-printed deck instead of the regular deck of playing cards that’s used for Mau Mau. I hear that Mau Mau is derived from the game called Crazy Eights.

61. Actress Charlotte RAE
Charlotte Rae is an American actress, best known for playing the character Edna Garrett on two sitcoms from the seventies and eighties: “Diff’rent Strokes” and “The Facts of Life”. Towards the end of the series, the Edna Garrett character operated her own gourmet food shop called “Edna’s Edibles”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Urban rails ELS
4. “__ life!” THAT’S
9. Self-satisfied PROUD
14. 2002 NBA Rookie of the Year __ Gasol PAU
15. Put back to zero RESET
16. Total RUN TO
17. ” … book by __ cover” ITS
18. Author Jong ERICA
19. Many times OFTEN
20. Member of a “joint” military group CHIEF OF STAFF
23. “__ evil …” SEE NO
24. Time of one’s life ERA
25. Pub. of an oft-quoted journal AMA
28. Franklin invention LIGHTNING ROD
33. Full of mischief DEVILISH
36. Like much of King’s work EERIE
37. Verbalized sigh ALAS
38. Buddhist shrine STUPA
41. Injured, in a way TORE
42. Jazzman Jackson and cartoonist Gross MILTS
44. More easygoing MELLOWER
46. Make a relay race connection PASS THE BATON
49. Kalamazoo-to-Cincinnati dir. SSE
50. Billion-year span EON
51. Waits BIDES
55. Cocktail accessory SWIZZLE STICK
59. Traditional Islamic garment BURQA
62. Dough raiser YEAST
63. One of the Khans ALY
64. Words before “Gave proof through the night” IN AIR
65. Clerical residence MANSE
66. Short snooze NAP
67. Incessantly NO END
68. Like one’s big brother ELDER
69. Chowed down ATE

Down
1. “Lawrence of Arabia” and others EPICS
2. Bat maker’s tool LATHE
3. “Wake Up, Little __” SUSIE
4. Girl Scouts emblem TREFOIL
5. Protagonist HERO
6. “Yeah, like that’ll happen!” AS IF!
7. Sleuths, briefly TECS
8. New York’s __ Island STATEN
9. Hardly G-rated PROFANE
10. Win by trumping, in bridge RUFF
11. Que. neighbor ONT
12. Beehive State native language UTE
13. Put on DON
21. Doesn’t need to be drafted ENLISTS
22. Bush spokesman Fleischer ARI
25. One-way sign shape ARROW
26. Wavy pattern MOIRE
27. “Doe, ___ …” A DEER
29. APO mail recipients GIS
30. FDR’s successor HST
31. Opposable digit THUMB
32. Start the assignment GET ON IT
33. Moistens DAMPS
34. Inventor Howe ELIAS
35. Ballroom dance, in Burgundy VALSE
39. Green veggie PEA
40. Flight stat. ALT
43. Wine list presenter STEWARD
45. Maine dish LOBSTER
47. __ polloi HOI
48. Digestive protein ENZYME
52. Rigg who played Mrs. Peel DIANA
53. Brilliance ECLAT
54. Internet calling service SKYPE
55. One of 16 in a 4×4 tile: Abbr. SQ IN
56. Enthusiasm ZEAL
57. Catch, as a fish LAND
58. Being, to Brutus ESSE
59. Storage receptacle BIN
60. Colorful card game UNO
61. Actress Charlotte RAE

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