LA Times Crossword Answers 19 Feb 14, Wednesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Jeffrey Wechsler
THEME: Leading Leaders … each of today’s themed answers starts with a title used by a ruler of a political entity:

17A. Confederate slogan symbolizing financial independence KING COTTON
24A. Romaine lettuce dishes CAESAR SALADS
39A. “Happy Feet” critters EMPEROR PENGUINS
50A. Study guides for literature students MONARCH NOTES
64A. Sandwich choice KAISER ROLL

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 9m 30s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

7. Cairo cobra ASP
Cairo is the capital city of Egypt. It is the largest city on the continent of Africa and is nicknamed “The City of a Thousand Minarets” because of its impressive skyline replete with Islamic architecture. The name “Cairo” is a European corruption of the city’s original name in Arabic, “Al-Qahira”, which translates as “the Vanquisher” or “the Conqueror”.

10. Selling site with a Half.com division EBAY
Half.com is an eBay company that allows sellers to offer items at fixed prices to potential buyers. Soon after its founding in 1999, the company made a deal with the town of Halfway, Oregon to change its name to Halfway.com for twelve months as part of an advertising campaign.

17. Confederate slogan symbolizing financial independence KING COTTON
In the run up to the American Civil War, it was claimed by many that the economics of cotton production in the South would allow the southern states to secede from the Union to become a viable Confederate States of America. This led to the use of the slogan “King Cotton”.

19. Asia Minor honorific AGHA
“Aga” (also “agha”) is a title that was used by both civil and military officials in the Ottoman Empire.

Asia Minor is also known as Anatolia. It is the geographic part of Asia that protrudes out into the west, towards Europe. It is roughly equivalent to modern-day Turkey.

24. Romaine lettuce dishes CAESAR SALADS
The Caesar Salad was created by restaurateur Caesar Cardini at the Hotel Caesar’s in Tijuana, Mexico. The original recipe called for whole lettuce leaves that were to be lifted up by the stem and eaten with the fingers.

27. Literary alter ego MR HYDE
Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was first published in 1886. There are many tales surrounding the writing of the story including one that the author wrote the basic tale in just three to six days, and spent a few weeks simply refining it. Allegedly, Stevenson’s use of cocaine stimulated his creative juices during those few days of writing.

30. Slowing, to the orch. RIT
Rit. (or sometimes ritard.) is the abbreviation for ritardando, the musical direction to slow down the tempo.

31. Great Lakes’ __ Canals SOO
In the summer of 2010 I spent a very interesting afternoon watching ships make their way through the Soo Locks and Soo Canal between Lake Superior and the lower Great lakes. The name “Soo” comes from the US and Canadian cities on either side of the locks, both called Sault Ste. Marie.

36. Co-founding SkyTeam airline DELTA
The airline alliance known as SkyTeam is headquartered at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. SkyTeam was founded in 2000 by Aeroméxico, Air France, Delta Air Lines, and Korean Air as a competitor to the Star Alliance and Oneworld.

39. “Happy Feet” critters EMPEROR PENGUINS
“Happy Feet” is an animated feature that was released in 2006. The film is about emperor penguins on the South Pole. The impressive cast of voice actors includes Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. The inclusion of Jackman and Kidman might have been influenced by the fact that the film was made in their homeland of Australia.

43. Small thicket COPSE
A copse is a small stand of trees. The term “copse” originally applied to a small thicket that was specifically grown for cutting.

44. Sans serif, e.g. TYPE
Serifs are details on the ends of characters in some typefaces. Typefaces without serifs are known as sans-serif (using the French word “sans” meaning “without”). Some people say that serif fonts are easier to read on paper, whereas sans-serif fonts work better on a computer screen. I’m not so sure though …

45. Razor-billed diver AUK
Auks are penguin-like sea birds that live in colder northern waters including the Arctic. Like penguins, auks are great swimmers, but unlike penguins, auks can fly.

46. “Isn’t __ shame?” IT A
Yes, it is …

50. Study guides for literature students MONARCH NOTES
I guess “Monarch Notes” is a brand name of study guides. New to me …

56. Cousin of edu ORG
The .org domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

– .com (commercial enterprise)
– .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
– .mil (US military)
– .org (not-for-profit organization)
– .gov (US federal government entity)
– .edu (college-level educational institution)

58. Rapper __ Shakur TUPAC
Rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur adopted the inventive stage name “2Pac”. He was a hard man, spending eleven months in prison for sexual assault. At only 25 years of age he was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.

62. Femme fatale VAMP
A “vamp” (short for vampire) is a seductive woman.

A “femme fatale” is a dangerously seductive woman. “Femme fatale” is French for “deadly woman”.

64. Sandwich choice KAISER ROLL
The crusty roll known as a Kaiser roll was invented in Vienna, Austria. It is thought that the “Kaiser” name was applied in honor of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I.

67. Sci-fi staples ETS
Extraterrestrial (ET)

68. Rest of the afternoon SIESTA
We use the word “siesta” to describe a short nap in the early afternoon, taking the word from the Spanish. In turn, the Spanish word is derived from the Latin “hora sexta” meaning “the sixth hour”. The idea is that the nap is taken at “the sixth hour” after dawn.

Down
1. Launchpad thumbs-ups A-OKS
Our term “A-OK” is supposedly an abbreviation for “A(ll systems are) OK”, and arose in the sixties during the Space Program.

2. Review, briefly CRIT
Criticism (crit.)

6. Potent ’60s-’70s Pontiac GTO
The acronym GTO stands for Gran Turismo Omologato.

7. Stars in Kansas’ motto ASTRA
The motto of the State of Kansas is “ad astra per aspera”, a Latin expression meaning “to the stars through difficulties”. Kansas shares the same motto with quite a few other institutions, including an English grammar school, an Australian high school, and even Starfleet, the service to which the USS Enterprise belongs in the “Star Trek” series.

8. Animal trail SPOOR
“Spoor” is both a verb and a noun, and describes the track left by an animal, or the act of following said track. We’ve been using it in English since the early 1800s, an Afrikaans word.

9. Khakis, e.g. PANTS
“Khaki” is an Urdu word, translating literally as “dusty”. The word was adopted for its current use as the name of a fabric by the British cavalry in India in the mid-1800s.

12. Sap sucker APHID
Aphids are called “greenfly” back in the British Isles where I come from. The most effective way to control aphids in my experience is to make sure there are plenty of ladybugs in the garden (called ladybirds in Ireland!), which prey on the aphids.

18. “Very funny” TV station TBS
Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) adopted the slogan “Very Funny” in 2004. The slogan is meant to contrast TBS with its sister channel TNT, which focuses on drama shows. The TNT slogan is “Drama, Period”.

22. Good start? HARD G
The first letter in the word “good” is a “hard G”.

25. Architect Saarinen EERO
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect, renowned in this country for his unique designs for public buildings such as Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles International Airport Terminal, and the TWA building at JFK.

26. In __ of: replacing LIEU
As you might imagine, “in lieu” comes into English from the Old French word “lieu” meaning “place”, which in turn is derived from the Latin “locum”, also meaning “place”. So, “in lieu” means “in place of”.

27. Connection rate meas. MSEC
A millisecond is one thousandth of a second, and is often abbreviated to “msec”. However, the more correct abbreviation for millisecond is “ms”.

28. Cowboys quarterback Tony ROMO
Tony Romo is a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Romo is also an avid amateur golfer and has even tried (unsuccessfully) to qualify for the US Open golf championship.

33. Getty collection ART
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is one of the most visited museums in the country. Like many museums in developed countries these days, the Getty has been embroiled in disputes about ownership of artifacts. The curators of the Getty have gone so far as to repatriate some items in recent years, especially to Greece and Italy.

Jean Paul Getty was famous as an industrialist, but also as a grandfather who had a grandson kidnapped for ransom. John Paul Getty III was 16 years old when he was taken in Rome in 1973. The ransom demand to his father was for $17 million, a sum that he had to ask from the child’s grandfather, as he was the one with all the money. Jean Paul Getty refused to pay and 4 months later an envelope was delivered to the family containing a lock of hair and an ear. The grandfather then entered into negotiation with the kidnappers, beat them down to $2 million, and the boy was released. Getty’s grandson never really recovered. He got into drugs, and an overdose left him speechless, blind and paralyzed. Sad story …

34. Le Carré’s Smiley, for one SPY
George Smiley is the protagonist in many of John Le Carré’s spy novels.

John Le Carré is the pen name of David Cornwell, an English author famous for his spy novels. Cornwell worked for British Intelligence during the fifties and sixties, even as he was writing his spy thrillers. He left MI6 soon after his most famous 1963 novel “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”, became such a great success.

40. Picasso’s “this” ESTA
Pablo Picasso’s full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso, a name he was given right from birth. Got that?

48. “The Dick Van Dyke Show” surname PETRIE
“The Dick Van Dyke Show” is a sitcom that ran from 1961 to 1966 starring Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore as Rob and Laura Petrie. This classic show was created by the great Carl Reiner, who also had a supporting role on the screen.

51. Emulate Cicero ORATE
Cicero was a very influential senator in Ancient Rome, in part due to his renowned ability to deliver a persuasive speech.

53. Marriott rival HYATT
The Hyatt hotel chain takes its name from the first hotel in the group, that was purchased in 1957 i.e. Hyatt House at Los Angeles International Airport. Among other things, Hyatt is famous for designing the world’s first atrium hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta.

Marriott Hotels developed their initial properties in the fifties. The first to open was the Quality Inn near Washington DC, the first purpose-built airport hotel in the country.

55. RN workplaces ORS
Registered nurses (RNs) work in Operating Rooms (ORs).

60. Certain chorister ALTO
In choral music, an alto is the second-highest voice in a four-part chorus made up of soprano, contr(alto), tenor and bass. The word “alto” describes the vocal range, that of the deepest female singing-voice, whereas the term “contralto” describes more than just the alto range, but also its quality and timbre. An adult male’s voice (not a boy’s) with the same range as an alto is called a “countertenor”.

63. West Bank gp. PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964. The PLO’s early stated goal was the liberation of Palestine, with Palestine defined as the geographic entity that existed under the terms of the British Mandate granted by the League of Nations back in 1923. The PLO is recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by over one hundred countries, and was granted observer status (i.e. no voting rights) at the United Nations in 1974.

The bulk of the Palestinian territories are located in the West Bank. The term “West Bank” is a reference to lands west of the River Jordan.

65. Debatable “gift” ESP
Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Appliance connector, briefly AC PLUG
7. Cairo cobra ASP
10. Selling site with a Half.com division EBAY
14. Point in the right direction ORIENT
15. Bather’s facility SPA
16. No longer green, perhaps RIPE
17. Confederate slogan symbolizing financial independence KING COTTON
19. Asia Minor honorific AGHA
20. Swipe STEAL
21. Thin soup BROTH
23. Plywood wood FIR
24. Romaine lettuce dishes CAESAR SALADS
27. Literary alter ego MR HYDE
30. Slowing, to the orch. RIT
31. Great Lakes’ __ Canals SOO
32. Speak harshly RASP
36. Co-founding SkyTeam airline DELTA
39. “Happy Feet” critters EMPEROR PENGUINS
43. Small thicket COPSE
44. Sans serif, e.g. TYPE
45. Razor-billed diver AUK
46. “Isn’t __ shame?” IT A
47. Sudden jets SPURTS
50. Study guides for literature students MONARCH NOTES
56. Cousin of edu ORG
57. Municipal ribbon cutter, often MAYOR
58. Rapper __ Shakur TUPAC
62. Femme fatale VAMP
64. Sandwich choice KAISER ROLL
66. List catchall ET AL
67. Sci-fi staples ETS
68. Rest of the afternoon SIESTA
69. Modernize REDO
70. Messy digs STY
71. How coal may be priced PER TON

Down
1. Launchpad thumbs-ups A-OKS
2. Review, briefly CRIT
3. Long (for) PINE
4. Inheritance LEGACY
5. Naked UNCLAD
6. Potent ’60s-’70s Pontiac GTO
7. Stars in Kansas’ motto ASTRA
8. Animal trail SPOOR
9. Khakis, e.g. PANTS
10. Timeline chapter ERA
11. Deceitful sort, on the playground BIG FAT LIAR
12. Sap sucker APHID
13. Century units YEARS
18. “Very funny” TV station TBS
22. Good start? HARD G
25. Architect Saarinen EERO
26. In __ of: replacing LIEU
27. Connection rate meas. MSEC
28. Cowboys quarterback Tony ROMO
29. Fit to be tied HOPPING MAD
33. Getty collection ART
34. Le Carré’s Smiley, for one SPY
35. Get-up-and-go PEP
37. Fastener with flanges T-NUT
38. Seeks, with “for” ASKS
40. Picasso’s “this” ESTA
41. Provide with new weaponry REARM
42. __ egg NEST
48. “The Dick Van Dyke Show” surname PETRIE
49. Figure of high interest? USURER
50. Man with a van, perhaps MOVER
51. Emulate Cicero ORATE
52. “Ace of __”: 2000s Food Network bakery show CAKES
53. Marriott rival HYATT
54. Like leaf blowers NOISY
55. RN workplaces ORS
59. Military assignment POST
60. Certain chorister ALTO
61. Family group CLAN
63. West Bank gp. PLO
65. Debatable “gift” ESP

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