LA Times Crossword Answers 12 Apr 14, Saturday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: John Lieb
THEME: None
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 28m 56s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Extremely lame, in slang WEAK SAUCE
Someone who is described by the slang term “weak sauce” is no fun at all, not cool.

10. “The Zoo Story” dramatist ALBEE
Edward Albee’s most famous play is “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Albee’s first play, a one-acter, was “The Zoo Story”.

16. Conger cousin MORAY
Morays are a large group of about 200 species of eels found across the world’s oceans. They are carnivorous and look pretty scary but they’re quite shy when confronted and present no threat to humans. One interesting thing about morays is that they will sometimes work in cooperation with the grouper fish found in reefs, the two helping each other hunt for food.

Conger eels can grow to be very, very large, perhaps up to 10 feet in length.

17. African kingdom SWAZILAND
The Kingdom of Swaziland is located in southern Africa and is a nation almost completely surrounded by South Africa. Swaziland is quite a small country, only 120 miles long from north to south, and 80 miles from east to west.

18. Lite-__: classic Hasbro toy BRITE
The LIte-Brite toy was introduced in 1967. It is basically a light box with a grid of holes in which colored pegs can be placed to create designs. You can now get a Lite-Brite app for the iPad.

19. 3 part? ARC
The numeral “3” is made up of two linked arcs.

20. Do followers RE MI
Do re mi fa sol la ti do …

21. Ad lib WING IT
“Ad libitum” is a Latin phrase meaning “at one’s pleasure”. In common usage the phrase is usually shortened to “ad lib”. On the stage the concept of an “ad lib” is very familiar. For example, an actor may substitute his or her own words for forgotten lines using an ad lib, or a director may instruct an actor to use his or her own words at a particular point in a performance to promote a sense of spontaneity.

22. Scott who played the lead in 1976’s “Bugsy Malone” BAIO
Scott Baio is the actor who played Chachi Arcola in the great sitcom “Happy Days” and in the not so great spin-off “Joanie Loves Chachi”. Baio also played the title role in a later sitcom called “Charles in Charge”. Earlier in his career, he played another title role, in the 1976 movie “Bugsy Malone”, appearing opposite a young Jodie Foster.

26. Cádiz cycle ANO
In Spanish, a year (año) starts in January (enero) and ends in December (diciembre).

Cádiz is a port city in southwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz is a remarkable city geographically in that it sits on a thin spit of land that juts out into the sea.

27. Old Colgate competitor IPANA
Ipana toothpaste was introduced in 1915 and was at the height of its popularity in the forties and fifties. Sales declined in the sixties and the product was withdrawn from the US market in the seventies. Bucky the Beaver was the “spokesman” for Ipana. Bucky the Beaver’s slogan was “Brusha… Brusha… Brusha. Get the New Ipana – it’s dandy for your teeth!”

29. Spam producer BOT
A bot is computer program that is designed to imitate human behavior. It might “crawl” around the Web doing searches for example, or it might participate in discussions in chat rooms by giving pre-programmed responses.

30. “Splendor in the Grass” screenwriter INGE
Playwright William Inge had a run of success on Broadway in the early fifties. Inge’s most celebrated work of that time was the play “Picnic”, for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The original 1953 cast of “Picnic” included a young male actor making his debut on Broadway. His name was Paul Newman. Many of Inge’s works are set in the American heartland and so he became known as the “Playwright of the Midwest”.

“Splendor in the Grass” is a 1961 film with an Oscar winning screenplay by William Inge. The film stars Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty, and even Inge himself makes a brief appearance as a clergyman.

35. Mitty creator THURBER
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is a short story by James Thurber first published in 1939 in “The New Yorker”. The story was made into a film in 1947 with Danny Kaye in the title role. Mitty is a mild-mannered man with a very active fantasy life.

39. Emma Frost portrayer in “X-Men: First Class” JANUARY JONES
January Jones is a model and actress from Brookings, South Dakota. Most famously, Jones plays Betty, the wife of Don Draper, on the TV show “Mad Men”. My favorite movie featuring Jones is 2011’s “Unknown” in which she starred opposite Liam Neeson.

42. Letters before P, perhaps VSO
Cognac is a famous variety of brandy named after the town of Cognac in the very west of France. To be called cognac, the brandy must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in very specific French oak barrels. It is the length of this aging that defines the various grades of cognac (and other brandies):

– VS: Very Special … at least 2 years storage
– VSOP: Very Special (or Superior) Old Pale … at least 4 years storage
– XO: Extra Old … at least 6 years
– VSO: Very Superior Old … 12-17 years

47. Sch. where chapel service attendance is mandatory ORU
Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ORU was founded relatively recently, in 1963 by the late televangelist Oral Roberts. The campus includes a Prayer Tower at its center, a spectacular glass and steel structure designed by architect Frank Wallace. The tower includes an observation deck, and is a popular tourist attraction.

48. Silk-spraying movie monster MOTHRA
Mothra is a giant moth-like monster that made its big-screen debut in the 1961 film “Mothra”. Mothra turns up quite often in “Godzilla” movies.

60. Month abroad ENERO
“Enero” is Spanish for “January”.

61. Klondike product with a shell CHOCO TACO
A Choco Taco is an elaborate ice cream dessert that was created in the eighties by the Jack and Jill Ice Cream Company in Philadelphia.

62. V-shaped fortification REDAN
A “redan” is a v-shaped projection in a fortified wall that juts out in the direction of an anticipated attack. “Redan” is a French word meaning “projection”.

Down
1. Hot stuff WASABI
Sometimes called Japanese horseradish, wasabi is a root used as a condiment in Japanese cooking. The taste of wasabi is more like mustard than a hot pepper in that the vapors that create the “hotness” stimulate the nasal passages rather than the tongue. Personally, I love the stuff …

3. Mimosa family member ACACIA
Acacia is a genus of tree and shrub, also known as thorntree, whistling thorn and wattle.

Some members of the Mimosa genus of plant are capable of rapid movement. For example, if you touch the leaves of the Mimosa pudica, they curl up in less than a second.

4. AM radio abbr. KHZ
The unit of frequency measure is the hertz (Hz) and is the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon.

5. Liszt’s “Harmonies du __” SOIR
Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer and a fabulous pianist. Particularly towards the end of his life, Liszt gained a tremendous reputation as a teacher. While he was in his sixties, his teaching jobs caused him to commute regularly between the cities of Rome, Weimar and Budapest. It is quite remarkable that a man of such advanced age, and in the 1870s, could do so much annual travel. It is estimated that Liszt journeyed at least 4,000 miles every year!

6. City on the Rhone ARLES
A few years ago I had the privilege of living just a short car-ride from the beautiful city of Arles in the South of France. Although Arles has a long and colorful history, the Romans had a prevailing influence over the city’s design. Arles has a spectacular Roman amphitheater, arch, circus as well as old walls that surround the center of the city. In more modern times, it was a place Vincent van Gogh often visited, and where he painted his famous “Cafe Terrace at Night”, as well as “Bedroom in Arles”.

The Rhone river rises in Switzerland and flows through the southeast of France.

7. One of the five basic taste sensations UMAMI
Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. “Umami” is a Japanese word used to describe “a pleasant savory taste”. Umami was proposed as a basic taste in 1908, but it wasn’t until 1985 that the scientific community finally accepted it as such.

10. Extent AMBIT
An ambit is an outer boundary or limit, a circumference. The term can also be used to mean the sphere or scope of influence. “Ambit” comes from the Latin “ambire” meaning “to go around”.

11. Bereft, old-style LORN
To be “lorn” is be “bereft, forsaken”. “Lorn” is an archaic term meaning “lost”. A lovely word, I think …

12. Outlaws BRIGANDS
A “brigand” is someone who pillages and robs, and who usually lives in a gang. Back in the 1400s, a brigand was a lightly armed foot soldier.

13. Causing agita EATING AT
Agita is another name for acid indigestion, and more generally can mean “agitation, anxiety”.

21. Nicklaus rival WATSON
Tom Watson is a professional golfer from Kansas City, Missouri. Watson was the world number one from 1978 to 1982. In 2009, he got very close to winning the British Open Championship, losing in a 4-hole playoff. At the time, Watson was just a few months shy of 60 years age …

Jack Nicklaus is a professional golfer from Columbus, Ohio. Nicknamed “the Golden Bear”, Nicklaus holds the record for winning the most major championships (18). Tiger Woods is in second place, having won 14 to date.

25. __-Novo: Benin’s capital PORTO
Porto-Novo is the capital city of Benin in West Africa. Porto-Novo may be the capital of the country but it isn’t the biggest city, and it isn’t even the most economically important. That honor goes to the city of Cotonou.

28. “Rubáiyát” rhyme scheme AABA
Omar Khayyam was a Persian with many talents. He was a poet as well as an important mathematician, astronomer and physician. A selection of his poems were translated by one Edward Fitzgerald in a collection called “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”. Here are some lines from “Rubaiyat” …

And that inverted Bowl we call The Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop’t we live and die,
Lift not thy hands to It for help–for it
Rolls impotently on as Thou or I.

32. Electronic control mechanisms, briefly SERVOS
Servomechanism (servo)

33. Tabloid scoop TRYST
In its most general sense, a tryst is a meeting at an agreed time and place. More usually we consider a tryst to be a prearranged meeting between lovers. The term comes from the Old French “triste”, a waiting place designated when hunting.

“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs, Wellcome and Co,) for a “small tablet of medicine”, a name that goes back to 1884. The word “tabloid” had entered into general use to mean a compressed form of anything, and by the early 1900s was used in “tabloid journalism”, applied to newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

34. Sun Bowl Stadium coll. team UTEP
The Sun Bowl is an annual college football game played in El Paso. The Rose Bowl is the oldest of the bowl games, but the Sun Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl come in second. The first Sun Bowl was played on New Year’s Day 1935. To be fair to the sponsors, the full name today is the Brut Sun Bowl …

35. ’80s Shatner cop show TJ HOOKER
“T.J. Hooker” is a police drama that originally aired in the 1980s, with William Shatner in the title role, playing a veteran police sergeant.

36. Mr. Clean’s lack HAIRLINE
“Mr. Clean” is a brand of household cleaner from Procter & Gamble. “Mr. Clean” is a sold as Maestro Limpio in Mexico, Monsieur Propre in France, and as Monsieur Net in French Canada.

40. He played Harold in “Harold & Kumar” films JOHN CHO
John Cho is an actor and musician who was born in Seoul, South Korea but who has lived in the US since he was a young boy. Cho’s break in movies came in playing Harold Lee in the ”Harold & Kumar” films. He is now making a name for himself playing Mr. Sulu in the latest “Star Trek” movies.

45. Cite as proof ADDUCE
“To adduce” is to cite as an example or as a means of proof.

46. Counselor at Troy NESTOR
A nestor is a wise old man, named for Nestor, the sage who gives counsel in Homer’s “Iliad”.

48. Elementary particle MESON
A meson is an unstable subatomic particle, made up of one quark and one antiquark.

50. “Cold __”: 1977 hit for Foreigner AS ICE
I always think that the rock band Foreigner has a very apt name. The band was formed in 1976 by two British guys along with an American who were all living in New York City. Foreigner’s biggest hit is “I Want to Know What Love Is”.

53. First name in fashion VERA
Vera Wang’s first choice for a career was figure skating, but she failed to make the 1968 US Olympics team. She switched to the world of fashion, and is now famous for her designs of wedding dresses … but also costumes for figure skaters.

55. Hydroxyl compound ENOL
An enol is an alkene with a hydroxyl group, sort of part-alkene and part-alcohol. The term “enol” therefore, is a portmanteau of “alkene” and “alcohol”.

58. Short coolers? ACS
Room coolers are air conditioning units (ACs).

59. Pontiac co-designed by John DeLorean GTO
John DeLorean was an American engineer and executive who worked at General Motors for many years, and who was responsible for the design of the Pontiac GTO in particular. His career in the automotive industry really took off, and he began to lead the jet-setter lifestyle. DeLorean left GM in 1973 and formed his own company, eventually manufacturing the famous “DeLorean” car in Northern Ireland. The DeLorean was a V6 with a distinctive stainless steel body and two gull wings (and was chosen as the car for the “Back to the Future” movies). But the DeLorean was a flop, and the company went in receivership. In a bid to save his company, DeLorean spent three months trying to set up a deal that involved smuggling cocaine. He fell foul of an FBI sting operation and was arrested. He was found not guilty though, due to entrapment.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Extremely lame, in slang WEAK SAUCE
10. “The Zoo Story” dramatist ALBEE
15. One with breaking news ANCHORMAN
16. Conger cousin MORAY
17. African kingdom SWAZILAND
18. Lite-__: classic Hasbro toy BRITE
19. 3 part? ARC
20. Do followers RE MI
21. Ad lib WING IT
22. Scott who played the lead in 1976’s “Bugsy Malone” BAIO
24. Maintain the status quo SIT PAT
26. Cádiz cycle ANO
27. Old Colgate competitor IPANA
29. Spam producer BOT
30. “Splendor in the Grass” screenwriter INGE
31. One of the moveable feasts EASTER SUNDAY
35. Mitty creator THURBER
38. As you like it TO TASTE
39. Emma Frost portrayer in “X-Men: First Class” JANUARY JONES
41. Backwoods possessive HIS’N
42. Letters before P, perhaps VSO
43. State tree of Texas PECAN
47. Sch. where chapel service attendance is mandatory ORU
48. Silk-spraying movie monster MOTHRA
51. It only makes sense when it’s broken CODE
52. Oil sources OLIVES
54. Wine quality NOSE
56. Collection to burn CDS
57. High fliers KITES
58. Traumatic expression ACTING OUT
60. Month abroad ENERO
61. Klondike product with a shell CHOCO TACO
62. V-shaped fortification REDAN
63. Postgame finger-pointer SORE LOSER

Down
1. Hot stuff WASABI
2. Swaddle ENWRAP
3. Mimosa family member ACACIA
4. AM radio abbr. KHZ
5. Liszt’s “Harmonies du __” SOIR
6. City on the Rhone ARLES
7. One of the five basic taste sensations UMAMI
8. “Am I seeing things?” CAN IT BE?
9. Intention END
10. Extent AMBIT
11. Bereft, old-style LORN
12. Outlaws BRIGANDS
13. Causing agita EATING AT
14. Good way of seeing EYE TO EYE
21. Nicklaus rival WATSON
23. Kind of lead a closer often has to protect ONE-RUN
25. __-Novo: Benin’s capital PORTO
28. “Rubáiyát” rhyme scheme AABA
30. “Soon” IN A SEC
32. Electronic control mechanisms, briefly SERVOS
33. Tabloid scoop TRYST
34. Sun Bowl Stadium coll. team UTEP
35. ’80s Shatner cop show TJ HOOKER
36. Mr. Clean’s lack HAIRLINE
37. Not appropriate UNSUITED
40. He played Harold in “Harold & Kumar” films JOHN CHO
44. Winter warmers COCOAS
45. Cite as proof ADDUCE
46. Counselor at Troy NESTOR
48. Elementary particle MESON
49. Centrifuge component ROTOR
50. “Cold __”: 1977 hit for Foreigner AS ICE
53. First name in fashion VERA
55. Hydroxyl compound ENOL
58. Short coolers? ACS
59. Pontiac co-designed by John DeLorean GTO

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