LA Times Crossword Answers 31 Mar 14, Monday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Ed Sessa
THEME: Where’s the Pudge? … all of today’s themed answers finish with a word ending with the letters UDGE:

17A. Tennis court official LINE JUDGE
24A. Harbor long-term resentment NURSE A GRUDGE
51A. Creamy confection VANILLA FUDGE
64A. “Stay put!” DON’T BUDGE!
11D. Political commentator with an Internet “Report” MATT DRUDGE
29D. Push gently GIVE A NUDGE

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 5m 26s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Insect stage LARVA
The larva is an intermediate stage in the development of an insect. All four stages are embryo, larva, pupa and imago.

16. Mild-mannered reporter Kent CLARK
Superman’s comic book creators gave their title character’s alter-ego the name “Clark Kent” by melding the names of Clark Gable and Kent Taylor, two leading men of the cinema at the time Superman was created. However, they modeled Clark’s character more on the silent film actor Harold Lloyd.

20. Point after deuce AD IN
In tennis, if the score reaches “deuce” (i.e. when both players have scored three points), then the first player to win two points in a row wins the game. The player who wins the point immediately after deuce is said to have the “advantage”. If the player with the advantage wins the next point then that’s two in a row and that player wins the game. If the person with the advantage loses the next point, then advantage is lost and the players return to deuce and try again. If the one of the players is calling out the score then if he/she has the advantage then that player announces “ad in” or more formally “advantage in”. If the score announcer’s opponent has the advantage, then the announcement is “ad out” or “advantage out”. Follow all of that …?

21. More narcissistic VAINER
Narcissus was a proud and vain hunter in Greek mythology. He earned himself a fatal punishment, being made fall in love with his own reflection in a pool. So, take was he by his own image, that he could not leave it and wasted away and died by the pool. Narcissus gives us our term “narcissism” meaning “excessive love of oneself”.

23. Asian New Year TET
The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is Tet Nguyen Dan, meaning “Feast of the First Morning”. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

27. Portuguese explorer Vasco DA GAMA
Vasco da Gama left on his first voyage of discovery in 1497. da Gama journeyed around the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost tip of Africa, and across the Indian Ocean making landfall in India. Landing in India, his fleet became the first expedition to sail directly from Europe to the sub-continent. Vasco da Gama was well known for acts of cruelty, especially on local inhabitants. One of his milder atrocities was inflicted on a priest whom he labelled as a spy. He had the priest’s lips and ears cut off, and sent him on his way after having a pair of dog’s ears sewn onto his head.

30. Open court hearing, in law OYER
“Oyer” is a term used to describe the reading out loud of a document in court.

31. News org. UPI
Founded in 1958, United Press International (UPI) was one of the biggest news agencies in the world, sending out news by wire to the major newspapers. UPI ran into trouble with the change in media formats at the end of the twentieth century and lost many of its clients as the afternoon newspapers shut down due to the advent of television news. UPI, which once employed thousands, still exists today but with just a handful of employees.

32. Construction zone cones PYLONS
“Pylon” is another word for a traffic cone.

36. Earth-orbiting Gagarin YURI
The Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space when his spacecraft Vostok I made a single orbit of the Earth in 1961. Sadly, Gagarin died only seven years later in a plane crash.

42. Early PC interface MS-DOS
MS-DOS (short for Microsoft Disk Operating System) was the main operating system used by IBM-compatible PCs in the eighties and for much of the nineties.

44. More than mono STEREO
Monophonic sound (“mono”) is sound reproduced using just one audio channel, which is usually played out of just one speaker. Stereophonic sound is reproduced using two audio channels, with the sound from each channel played out of two different speakers. The pair of stereo speakers are usually positioned apart from each other so that sound appears to come from between the two. Quadraphonic sound (4.0 surround sound) uses four audio channels with the sound played back through four speakers often positioned at the corners of the room in which one is listening.

46. Workout facility GYM
Our word “gymnasium” comes from the Greek “gymnasion” meaning “public place where exercise is taken”. The Greek term comes from “gymnos” meaning “naked”, as that physical training was usually done unclothed.

47. Water, in Juárez AGUA
The Mexican city sitting across the border from El Paso is more correctly called Ciudad Juarez. Juarez used to be called El Paso del Norte (the North Pass). It was to be the younger settlement on the northern side of the Rio Grande which would retain the “El Paso” name.

56. End of a prof’s URL EDU
The .edu 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)

Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

57. Type of vegetable oil CANOLA
Canola is a type of rapeseed, and Canola oil is made from the seeds. The particular cultivar used in oil production was developed in Canada, and the name Canola in fact comes from “CANadian Oil, Low Acid”.

67. Seventh Greek letter ETA
Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”. Originally denoting a consonant, eta was used as a long vowel in Ancient Greek.

68. Love, to Luciano AMORE
“Amore” is Italian for “love”.

69. Length-times-width calculations AREAS
The area of a rectangle is calculated by multiplying its length by its width.

71. Yankee shortstop Jeter who announced he will retire at the end of 2014 DEREK
Derek Jeter has played his entire professional baseball career with the New York Yankees, and is the team’s captain. Jeter is the all-time career leader for the Yankees in hits, games played, stolen bases and at bats. He is also the all-time leader in hits by a shortstop in the whole of professional baseball.

Down
1. Whatever she wants, she gets LOLA
“Whatever Lola Wants” is a song from the musical “Damn Yankees”. “Damn Yankees” is actually yet another version of the classic German legend of “Faust”, set in Washington, D.C. in the fifties. The show was written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, a production that turned out to be a very successful follow-up to their prior hit, “The Pajama Game”. The future was looking really rosy for Adler and Ross but, sadly, Jerry Ross died of an obstructive lung disease only a few weeks after “Damn Yankees” opened on Broadway in 1955. He was just 29 years old.

3. Rice-A-__ RONI
Rice-a-Roni was introduced in 1958 by the Golden Grain Macaroni Company of San Francisco. The company was run by an Italian immigrant and his four sons. The wife of one of the sons served a pilaf dish at a family diner that was a big hit, so her brother-in-law created a commercial version by blending dry chicken soup mix with rice and macaroni. Sounds like “a San Francisco treat” to me …

4. Capital of Austria VIENNA
Vienna is the capital of Austria. Vienna has a long musical tradition and was home to Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss (I and II), Josef Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler. As such, Vienna is sometimes called the “City of Music”. It is also called the “City of Dreams” as it was home to the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.

6. Dr Pepper and Dr. Brown’s SODAS
Dr Pepper was introduced in 1885 in Waco, Texas, one year before the competing Coca-Cola was released to the market.

Dr. Brown’s is a soft drink brand that is especially popular in New York City and South Florida. The brand was introduced in 1869 as Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda in delis in New York.

7. 1973 Rolling Stones ballad ANGIE
For my money, “Angie” is the greatest ballad ever performed by the Rolling Stones. Despite rumors to the contrary, “Angie” doesn’t refer to a particular woman. If fact, songwriter Keith Richard says that “Angie” is a pseudonym for heroin, and the lyrics tell of his efforts to get off the drug at a detox facility in Switzerland.

8. Davis of “A League of Their Own” GEENA
As well as being a successful Hollywood actress, Geena Davis is an accomplished archer and came close to qualifying for the US archery team for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Davis is also a member of American Mensa. She is quite the lady …

“A League of Their Own” is a comedy drama film released in 1992 that tells a tale about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League active during WWII. The lead actors were Tom Hanks and Geena Davis. The film spawned one of the most famous quotes in movie history: “There’s no crying in baseball!”

11. Political commentator with an Internet “Report” MATT DRUDGE
Matt Drudge came to fame along with the website he founded called the “Drudge Report”. The “Drudge Report” is a news aggregation site, mainly made up of links to stories published by the world media. The “Drudge Report” hit the big time in 1998 when it was first to report on the Lewinsky scandal, after “Newsweek” allegedly refused to run the story.

18. Sunlamp danger, briefly UV RAY
At either end of the visible light spectrum are the invisible forms of radiation known as infrared (IR) light and ultraviolet (UV) light. IR light lies just beyond the red end of the visible spectrum, and UV light lie just below the violet end.

35. “All Things Considered” airer NPR
“All Things Considered” is the flagship news broadcast from NPR, aired for two hours every evening.

37. Rogers and Clark ROYS
Cowboy actor and singer Roy Rogers’ real name was Leonard Franklin Slye, and his nickname was “King of the Cowboys”. Roy Rogers married Dale Evans in 1947. Evans’ nickname was “Queen of the West”.

Roy Clark is a country musician, best known as host of the variety show “Hee Haw” from 1969 to 1992.

40. WWII vet, say EX-GI
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.

42. Synthesizer pioneer MOOG
Robert Moog invented the Moog Synthesizer in the sixties, an electronic device that he used to produce music. I used to own a few of his albums, including a Moog version of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”. What a great performance that was …

44. Room in una casa SALA
A room (sala) is a division (división) of a house (casa), in Spanish.

48. Stomach ailments ULCERS
Until fairly recently, a peptic ulcer was believed to be caused by undue amounts of stress in one’s life. It is now known that 70-90% of all peptic ulcers are in fact associated with a particular bacterium.

51. Aqua __: aftershave brand VELVA
The Aqua Velva line of men’s toiletry products includes a famous aftershave. The first product in the line was Aqua Velva aftershave, which was introduced in 1929.

52. Firefighter Red ADAIR
Red Adair was a famous fighter of fires in oil fields, and was a native of Houston, Texas. Adair’s exploits were the inspiration for a 1968 movie called “Hellfighters” starring John Wayne.

53. South American range ANDES
The Andes is the longest continuous chain of mountains in the world, running right down the length of the west coast of South America for about 4,300 miles. The highest peak in the range is Mt. Aconcagua, at an elevation of 22,841 feet. Interestingly, the peak of Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest point on the Earth’s surface from the center of the planet. That’s because of the equatorial “bulge” around the Earth’s “waist”.

54. Pays, as the bill FOOTS
The term to “foot the bill” arose during the 1800s. The idea is that one can total the expenses of say a meal, and this total at the “foot” of the bill is picked up by someone at the table.

55. Radii-paralleling bones ULNAE
The radius and ulna are bones in the forearm. If you hold the palm of your hand up in front of you, the radius is the bone on the “thumb-side” of the arm, and the ulna is the bone on the “pinkie-side”.

59. Skunk’s defense ODOR
Skunks have anal scent glands that can be used as defensive weapons. The glands produce sulfur-containing chemicals that have a really awful smell and that can irritate the eyes and skin.

63. Hawaii’s Mauna __ LOA
Mauna Loa on the “big island” of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Insect stage LARVA
6. Sink down in the middle SAG
9. Heavy haulers SEMIS
14. Not quite spherical OVOID
15. Single ONE
16. Mild-mannered reporter Kent CLARK
17. Tennis court official LINE JUDGE
19. Overzealous type ULTRA
20. Point after deuce AD IN
21. More narcissistic VAINER
23. Asian New Year TET
24. Harbor long-term resentment NURSE A GRUDGE
27. Portuguese explorer Vasco DA GAMA
30. Open court hearing, in law OYER
31. News org. UPI
32. Construction zone cones PYLONS
36. Earth-orbiting Gagarin YURI
39. Birds that symbolize peace DOVES
41. Right, vis-à-vis left: Abbr. OPP
42. Early PC interface MS-DOS
43. Glasses, in ads SPEX
44. More than mono STEREO
46. Workout facility GYM
47. Water, in Juárez AGUA
49. Amazingly enough NO LESS
51. Creamy confection VANILLA FUDGE
56. End of a prof’s URL EDU
57. Type of vegetable oil CANOLA
58. Yucky muck GOOP
62. Soup scoop LADLE
64. “Stay put!” DON’T BUDGE!
66. Partner of vim VIGOR
67. Seventh Greek letter ETA
68. Love, to Luciano AMORE
69. Length-times-width calculations AREAS
70. Opposite of NNW SSE
71. Yankee shortstop Jeter who announced he will retire at the end of 2014 DEREK

Down
1. Whatever she wants, she gets LOLA
2. Zealous AVID
3. Rice-A-__ RONI
4. Capital of Austria VIENNA
5. Wd. modifying a noun ADJ
6. Dr Pepper and Dr. Brown’s SODAS
7. 1973 Rolling Stones ballad ANGIE
8. Davis of “A League of Their Own” GEENA
9. Move like a squirrel SCURRY
10. Right-angle bend ELL
11. Political commentator with an Internet “Report” MATT DRUDGE
12. Discount rack abbr. IRREG
13. Glide on ice SKATE
18. Sunlamp danger, briefly UV RAY
22. Narcissists have big ones EGOS
25. Men pocketing baseballs UMPS
26. Sometimes-illegal turns, for short UEYS
27. Fizzling firecrackers DUDS
28. Each A POP
29. Push gently GIVE A NUDGE
33. Valet’s purview LOT
34. Not shut, poetically OPE
35. “All Things Considered” airer NPR
37. Rogers and Clark ROYS
38. Beliefs ISMS
40. WWII vet, say EX-GI
42. Synthesizer pioneer MOOG
44. Room in una casa SALA
45. Conclude by END AT
48. Stomach ailments ULCERS
50. Lentil or pea LEGUME
51. Aqua __: aftershave brand VELVA
52. Firefighter Red ADAIR
53. South American range ANDES
54. Pays, as the bill FOOTS
55. Radii-paralleling bones ULNAE
59. Skunk’s defense ODOR
60. Fairy tale fiend OGRE
61. Eye on the sly PEEK
63. Hawaii’s Mauna __ LOA
65. Terrible BAD

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10 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 31 Mar 14, Monday”

  1. Good morning Everybody,

    Good start to week puzzle with some clues that made me think.

    I can actually remember using MS-Dos
    way back when. Its all forgotten now.
    27A was a head scratcher at first, I parsed it as Dag Ama…"D'OH!

    For 54D Pays = Foots, This came to mind Calvin

    Have a great day everyone!

  2. Hello Bill, and friends, Hi Pookie !

    I missed the whole weekend for solving – but I still read your blog.
    Today's puzzle, was really easy …. Pookie you must have had a good time as well. I caught on to the theme very early. I was unfamiliar with some of the names – Matt Drudge and Roy Clark were unfamiliar, but no problem – in fact, ExGI was my most difficult clue. Come to think of it, probably one of the fastest solves, for me, ever. Only 36 minutes 😉

    Didn't know Dr. Pepper was invented before Coca Cola – its relative lack of popularity must be due to the taste – can't be all that advertising gimmickry …

    I knew Canola was a). from Rapeseed and b) a Canadian product. But thanks for the 'la' trivia, that its "low acid". Rapeseed oil doesn't sound appetizing. I wonder why it was named so.

    I knew Pylons, as the twisted, rather – the wound, super- heavy duty cables holding up the roadway segments on a suspension bridge, but I didn't know that a lowly orange cone, on the road, is also called a pylon. I guess, well, they do hold up the traffic …

    Finally, I now know a Casa is made up of, hopefully, several Salas. Another entry in my sparse Spanish dictionary.

    I must reluctantly, note, that Sala, ( Saa-laa or Saa-lay ) in Hindi and Urdu, means a brother-in-law…. specifically the wife's brother. I found this actual, original, meaning and the implied relationship out only in the 10th grade, after having studied Hindi for 6 years ! (I was not a good student in the language, I'm afraid …). But I was very familiar with the word itself, since it is the most common swear and curse word, and a serious oath in both languages. Like s.o.b., AH, and damn, all in one. While most speakers are totally unfamiliar, or do not consider its origin – it is considered an extremely offensive term, among strangers – or even commonly, an endearment, among very close friends !!!

    Have a nice day, all.

  3. Apropos to nothing – This past weekend, I saw a Japanese movie, "Departures", winner of the 2009 Oscar for best foreign movie. Its about a funeral undertaker / corpse make-up man. Read up on Google, if interested. If you have ever wondered about the politeness, the deep respect, the never failing common courtesy and the excruciatingly profound dedication that make up the quintessence of Japanese society – this is the movie for you.

    IMHO, this movie deserved the award, and more. Thank you for reading.

  4. Hello Bill et al –

    Indeed, a nice Monday puzzle.

    The Dr. Pepper museum is still in Waco. Interesting to see if you're ever there. DP is much more popular in Texas than it is in other states so perhaps it's a regional thing.

    The Spanish word sala also is used to denote gate numbers at airports…as anyone who's spent time at airports knows. Technically it is a division in a house, but in general usage it usually refers to the living room.

    I had never heard of Da Gama so I looked him up while doing the puzzle. I learned of his opening up a sea route to India where he was able to obtain spices from there directly rather than trying to go through more dangerous routes. i thought he must be a hero in Portugal's history books.

    Then I read Bill's factoids about him. Ok – maybe he wasn't such a hero….

  5. Cute rhymes.

    Also didn't know the traffic cone was called a pylon.

    Knew the t not Spanish, but not how to spell them. Half a century ago, we learned about the conquistadors.

    The Drudge Report is worth a look.

  6. Jeff, regarding Vasco Da Gama …. my experience based more particularly on Indian history has been …. Both the British and Portuguese (… plus the French and Danish – ) came to India in search of trade and commerce – but eventually they ( both ) took advantage of their superior technology, management acumen and guns – firepower to conquer their 'customers' , and literally, so to say, 'capture' their markets …

    But, the Portuguese, IMHO, were more religious zealots, involved with religion, and proselytizing and coercion, and much cruelty, which in turn was their downfall. This prevented them from extending their domains and reduced their overall influence and prevented the formation of local partnerships.

    However, the British were religiously tolerant, to a very large degree – and only concerned with commercial exploitation. This enabled them to take advantage of local alliances and partnerships, and thus extend their growth. And the enterprise eventually, as we all know, became very successful. Thus, they were the ultimate colonial imperialists. They brought a long era of peace to the subcontinent and that led to much development.

    Merely the facts of history.

  7. "Angie" is indeed the best Rolling Stone ballad IMHO, but very close runners up are "Wild Horses" and "Beast of Burden". Give them a listen.

    Add to mono, one speaker and stereo, two speakers, now surround sound 5.1, six speakers and surround sound 7.1 , eight speakers. where will it end?

    Red Adair was called out of retirement after the first Iraq war to try and stop the oil well fires in Kuwait that Saddam had set. No one else had that level of expertise.

  8. Interesting stuff, Vidwan –

    I'm realizing there's just no limit to what I don't know…:)

    Best

  9. Hi Bill, Vidwan(hi to you too!), Sfingi(nice to hear from you!)Jeff, Addict, Piano Man. Did the puzzle in the car, as we were gone all day.
    I wasn't a curMUDGEon today!
    Looking forward to re-reading all of your comments tomorrow, as I have to get something on the table.
    Thanks to all of you for checking in. 8 comments today…yaaay!

  10. @Addict
    Oh, I remember the dreaded MS-DOS prompt too. Thank goodness computer operating systems have become more intuitive. My aging brain cells would nver have been able to survive here otherwise.

    @Vidwan
    On the subject of sodas, one drink that I don't think really travels well outside of the US is root beer. The flavoring is the same as that in a numbing cream that is used on mouth ulcers and on a baby's gums when it is teething. Irish people cannot stand root beer, as a result 🙂 Thanks for the recommendation on "Departures", and the comparison between the imperial history of Portugal and Britain. We've only had experience of the latter!

    @Jeff
    I'm sure Vasco Da Gama is like many figures from history, hero or villain depending one's persepctive.

    @Sfingi
    I am happy to hear your traffic cone/pylon remark. I thought I was the only one in the dark 🙂

    @Piano Man
    I'll go find those Sones tracks. I'm more of a Beatles man, I must admit. The speaker system in our den (5 plus a subwoofer) I put in years ago. I've never been encouraged to upgrade it. My wife tells me it just makes things louder 🙂

    @Pookie
    Glad to hear the puzzle went well for you. Maybe the car is the secret!

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