LA Times Crossword Answers 16 Oct 14, Thursday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Gail Grabowski & Bruce Venzke
THEME: Case Solved … each of today’s themed answers starts with something that helps SOLVE a criminal CASE:

62A. Climactic announcement suggested by the starts of the answers to starred clues CASE SOLVED

17A. *Programs that generate hardware sales KILLER APPS
26A. *Certain repair site BODY SHOP
40A. *Brings up to speed CLUES IN
52A. *Bargain for less jail time COP A PLEA

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 8m 48s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Dangler on a dog ID TAG
The identification tags worn by soldiers are often called “dog tags”, simply because they do resemble tags worn by dogs. US military personnel are required to wear dog tags when in the field. Each soldier wears either two tags or a special tag that breaks easily into two identical pieces. The idea is that if a soldier is killed then one half can be removed for notification and the remaining half stays with the body. Each tag contains basics such as name and ID number, medical information like blood type, and possible a religious preference.

6. D-Day city ST LO
Saint-Lô is a town in Normandy that was occupied by Germany in 1940. Saint-Lo stood at a strategic crossroads and so there was intense fighting there during the Normandy invasion of 1944. After a prolonged bombardment, very little of the town was left standing.

14. 19th-century English novelist Charles READE
Charles Reade was an English author who came to public attention with a two-act comedy play called “Masks and Faces”. Reade turned the play into a prose story in 1852 that he called “Peg Woffington”. Reade also wrote a historical novel called “The Cloister and the Hearth” about a married man who becomes a Dominican friar on hearing that his wife has died. Years later he discovers that his wife is in fact still living and a struggle develops between the man’s obligation to family and his obligation to the Roman Catholic Church.

15. Greenish-blue CYAN
“Cyan” is short for “cyan blue”. The term comes from the Greek word “kyanos” meaning “dark blue, the color of lapis lazuli”.

17. *Programs that generate hardware sales KILLER APPS
In the world of technology marketing, a “killer app” is one that is such a big hit that users are willing to purchase other items, such as a particular piece of hardware, just gain access to the app. One example is Lotus 1-2-3, one of the first spreadsheets to hit the market. I remember a company that I was working bought a lot of IBM computers, largely because access to a spreadsheet was viewed as being so advantageous.

20. Paperless publication EZINE
An “ezine”, an online magazine.

21. “Ditto!” I DO TOO!
“Ditto” was originally used in Italian (from Tuscan dialect) to avoid repetition of the names of months in a series of dates. So “ditto” is just another wonderful import from that lovely land …

23. Having “but one life to give for my country,” to Hale REGRET
Nathan Hale fought for the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and was most famous for operating as a spy against the British. It was Nathan Hale who uttered the words, just before he was hanged by his British captors, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country”.

31. Gael or Druid CELT
The Celts were a very broad group of people across Europe, linked by common languages. The Celts were largely absorbed by other cultures, although a relatively modern revival of the “Celtic identity” is alive and well in the British Isles. Such Celtic peoples today are mainly found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany in France..

The Gaels are one of the Celtic ethnic groups, speakers of the Gaelic or Erse languages. There are actually three Erse languages. Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be Gaeilge (in Ireland), Gaelg (on the Isle of Man) and Gaidhlig (in Scotland).

Druids were priests in Celtic Europe during the Iron Age.

32. Retin-A target ZIT
Retin-A is a brand name for the drug Tretinoin, the acid form of vitamin A that is used to treat acne.

35. __ Martin: flashy car ASTON
Aston Martin is a British car manufacturer, founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin. The Aston part of the company name comes from Aston Hill, a famous site for hill-climbing cars that is nearby the original factory. Aston Martin cars are much loved by the British entertainment industry. Of course James Bond was given one in “Goldfinger”, and Michael Caine drove one in the 1969 version of “The Italian Job”. Roger Moore’s character drove a yellow Aston Martin in the seventies television show “The Persuaders!”.

39. LAX listing ETA
Estimated time of arrival (ETA)

Los Angeles International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and the busiest here on the West Coast of the US. The airport was opened in 1930 as Mines Field and was renamed to Los Angeles Airport in 1941. On the airport property is the iconic white structure that resembles a flying saucer. This is called the Theme Building and I believe it is mainly used as a restaurant and observation deck for the public. The airport used to be identified by the letters “LA”, but when the aviation industry went to a three-letter standard for airport identification, this was changed to “LAX”. Apparently the “X” has no significant meaning.

42. “Surfin’ __” USA
“Surfin’ U.S.A.” is a Beach Boys song. The tune for “Surfin’ U.S.A.” is actually the same as “Sweet Little Sixteen”, the rock and roll song written by Chuck Berry.

43. Like painter Jan Steen DUTCH
Jan Steen was a Dutch painter active in the Dutch Golden Age, the 17th century. Steen’s most famous work is probably “The Feast of Saint Nicholas”, which you can see at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

56. Capital on the Sava River ZAGREB
The Sava River in Southeast Europe forms much of the border between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. The Sava also flows through three European capitals, namely Ljubljana (Slovenia), Zagreb (Croatia) and Belgrade (Serbia). In fact, the Sava meets up with the Danube in Belgrade.

58. José’s “Moulin Rouge” co-star ZSA ZSA
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian American actress, born in Budapest as Sári Gábor (the older sister of the actress Eva). Zsa Zsa Gabor has been married a whopping nine times, including a 5-year stint with Conrad Hilton and another 5 years with the actor George Sanders. One of Gabor’s famous quips was that she was always a good housekeeper, as after every divorce she kept the house!

The wonderful José Ferrer was a Hollywood actor from Puerto Rico. He won the Best Actor Oscar for his magnificent performance in the title role of 1950’s “Cyrano de Bergerac”. That made him the first Hispanic person to win an Academy Award. Ferrer had a couple of celebrity wives. His first wife was the German-American actress Uta Hagen. That marriage fell apart after ten years largely due to an affair that Hagen had with singer/actor Paul Robeson. Ferrer’s third wife was singer/actress Rosemary Clooney. Clooney and Ferrer actually married and divorced twice, eventually splitting up completely in 1967 over an affair that Ferre had with Stella Magee, who was was to become his wife in his fifth and final marriage.

“Moulin Rouge” is a 1952 film that tells the story of French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Directed by John Huston, the movie stars José Ferrer as the artist and Jane Avril as a can-can dancer who becomes a subject for some of his artworks.

59. Salvage crew acronym SCUBA
The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was co-invented by celebrated French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

61. Literary bell town ATRI
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “The Sicilian’s Tale; The Bell of Atri”, a narrative poem set in the small town of Atri in the Abruzzo region of Italy.

68. Quaint oath EGAD
“Egad!” developed as a polite way of saying “oh God!” in the late 1600s and is an expression of fear or surprise somewhat like “good grief!”.

69. Antipasto ingredient OLIVE
Antipasto is the first course of a meal in Italy. “Antipasto” translates as “before the meal”.

70. Span. ladies SRAS
In Spanish, a lady (dama) might be referred to as Señora (Sra.).

72. Green MONEY
“Green” is American slang for “money” and is a reference to the green color of the bills (along with black). Green was chosen for the back of US banknotes back during the Civil War, with black being the color on the front. It was felt that the color green was a symbol of stability. This led to the bills being nicknamed “greenbacks”. Ever since then, US banknotes have been printed in green and black, with black being the predominant color on the front, and green on the back.

Down
2. Agnus __ DEI
“Agnus Dei” is Latin for “Lamb of God”, a term used in Christian faiths for Jesus Christ, symbolizing His role as a sacrificial offering to atone for the sins of man.

3. Latvian chess champ of 1960-’61 TAL
Mikhail Tal was truly a chess legend. Tal holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak in competition chess. And the second longest winning streak, well, that was by Tal as well.

4. Only woman to outwit Holmes ADLER
The character Irene Adler only appeared in one of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In that story, “A Scandal in Bohemia”, Holmes expresses remarkable admiration for Adler as a woman and as a foe. As a result, derivative works in the Holmes genre often feature Adler as something of a romantic interest for Sherlock.

5. Eccentric sort GEEZER
Geezer and codger are two not-so-nice terms for an old man.

7. Laid-back sort TYPE B
The Type A and Type B personality theory originated in the fifties. Back then, individuals were labelled as Type A in order to emphasize a perceived increased risk of heart disease. Type A personality types are so called “stress junkies”, whereas Type B types are relaxed and laid back. But there doesn’t seem to be much scientific evidence to support the linkage between the Type A personality and heart problems.

8. Indy circuit LAP
The first Indy 500 race was held on Memorial Day in 1911. The winner that day was one Ray Harroun. Harroun had seen someone using a rear view mirror on a horse-drawn vehicle, and decided to fit one on his Marmon “Wasp” motor car. Supposedly that was the first ever use of a rear-view mirror on a motor vehicle.

9. Kind of surprise kick ONSIDE
In American football, an onside kick is one in which the ball is kicked a short distance so that the kicking team is unlikely to give up possession.

11. Word in two state names SOUTH
That would be South Dakota and South Carolina.

12. White house? IGLOO
The Inuit word for “house” is “iglu”, which we usually write as “igloo”. The Greenlandic (yes, that’s a language) word for “house” is very similar: namely “igdlo”.

13. Lens setting F-STOP
Varying the f-stop in a lens varies how big the lens opening (the aperture) is when a photograph is taken. Smaller apertures (higher f-stop values) admit less light, but result in sharper photographs.

22. “Lay Lady Lay” singer DYLAN
I’m not a big fan of Bob Dylan, to be honest, but I like his 1969 song “Lay Lady Lay”. Dylan’s voice is less abrasive than usual on his recording of this song, and perhaps that’s why I took to it. “Lay Lady Lay” was written for the soundtrack of the movie “Midnight Cowboy”, but Dylan missed the deadline for submission so it never made it into the film.

24. “Un Ballo in Maschera” aria ERI TU
The aria “Eri tu” is from Verdi’s opera “Un ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball). The opera tells the story of the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden during a masked ball.

27. Dublin-born playwright O’CASEY
Seán O’Casey was an Irish playwright noted for his works exploring the plight of the working class in Dublin. O’Casey’s most famous works are “Juno and the Paycock” and “The Plough and the Stars”.

The city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is known as Baile Átha Cliath in Irish (“town of the hurdled ford”). The English name “Dublin” is an anglicized form of the older Irish name for the city, “Dubh Linn” meaning “black pool”.

34. Chase scene maneuver, slangily UEY
Uey, u-turn, 180 …

37. Missouri river or county OSAGE
Much of the Osage River in Missouri is now taken up by two large reservoirs created behind two dams that provide power for St. Louis and the surrounding area. The two reservoirs are the Truman Reservoir and the Lake of the Ozarks.

38. Mover and shaker NABOB
A nabob is a person of wealth and prominence. “Nabob” derives from the title of a governor in India.

40. Blokes CHAPS
“Chap” is an informal term for “lad, fellow”, especially in England. The term derives from “chapman”, an obsolete word meaning “purchaser” or “trader”.

“Bloke” is British slang for a fellow. The etymology of “bloke” seems to have been lost in the mists of time.

41. Troopers, e.g. ISUZUS
Isuzu is a Japanese auto manufacturer, very successful in the medium and heavy truck market in particular. You’ll be seeing fewer and fewer Isuzu passenger cars on American roads though, as the company exited the US passenger car market in 2008. The Isuzu Trooper was one of their most successful SUVs, produced between 1981 and 2005.

52. Business magnates CZARS
The term czar (also tsar) is a Slavic word that was first used as a title by Simeon I of Bulgaria in 913 AD. “Czar” is derived from the word “Caesar”, which was synonymous with “emperor” at that time.

53. Very hot celestial orb O STAR
Stars are usually classified based on the color of the light that they emit. These classifications are, from hottest to coolest, O, B, A, F, G, K and M. One way to remember the order of these letters is to use the mnemonic “Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me”. The colors of these stars range from blue (class O) to red (class M). Our sun is class G, a yellow star, but I think we all know that …

54. Arctic garb PARKA
A parka is a hooded, often fur jacket that is worn in cold weather. The original parka was a pullover design, but nowadays it is usually zipped at the front. “Parka” is the Russian name for the garment , absorbed into English in the late 1700s via the Aleut language.

55. Tea-producing Indian state ASSAM
Assam is a state in the very northeast of India, just south of the Himalayas. Assam is noted for its tea as well as its silk.

57. Big name in wine GALLO
E J Gallo Winery was founded by Ernest and Julio Gallo in Modesto, California in 1933. Gallo is the largest exporter of wine from the State of California.

66. “L.A. Law” actress DEY
The actress Susan Dey first appeared on “The Partridge Family” when she was 17-years-old when she had no acting experience. Years later, Dey won a Golden Globe for playing the leading role of Grace Van Owen in “L. A. Law”.

“L.A. Law” ran on NBC from 1986 to 1994, and was one of the network’s most successful drama series. It took over from the equally successful “Hill Street Blues” in the Thursday night 10 p.m. slot until, after a six-year run, it was itself replaced by yet another respected drama, “E.R.” The opening credits showed that famous California licence plate. The plate was on a Jaguar XJ for most of the series, but moved onto a Bentley towards the end of the run. For each series the registration sticker was updated, so no laws were being broken.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Dangler on a dog ID TAG
6. D-Day city ST LO
10. “A likely story!” AS IF!
14. 19th-century English novelist Charles READE
15. Greenish-blue CYAN
16. Gear teeth COGS
17. *Programs that generate hardware sales KILLER APPS
19. Religious offshoot CULT
20. Paperless publication EZINE
21. “Ditto!” I DO TOO!
23. Having “but one life to give for my country,” to Hale REGRET
26. *Certain repair site BODY SHOP
28. “__ you finished?” ARE
29. Feel sorry about RUE
31. Gael or Druid CELT
32. Retin-A target ZIT
33. Greenish-blue AQUA
35. __ Martin: flashy car ASTON
39. LAX listing ETA
40. *Brings up to speed CLUES IN
42. “Surfin’ __” USA
43. Like painter Jan Steen DUTCH
45. Assents at sea AYES
46. Capture NAB
47. Extremely attentive RAPT
49. Big laugh YUK!
51. It may need boosting EGO
52. *Bargain for less jail time COP A PLEA
56. Capital on the Sava River ZAGREB
58. José’s “Moulin Rouge” co-star ZSA ZSA
59. Salvage crew acronym SCUBA
61. Literary bell town ATRI
62. Climactic announcement suggested by the starts of the answers to starred clues CASE SOLVED
67. Shed tool RAKE
68. Quaint oath EGAD
69. Antipasto ingredient OLIVE
70. Span. ladies SRAS
71. Feature of some stadiums DOME
72. Green MONEY

Down
1. Aggravate IRK
2. Agnus __ DEI
3. Latvian chess champ of 1960-’61 TAL
4. Only woman to outwit Holmes ADLER
5. Eccentric sort GEEZER
6. Reading at the checkout counter SCAN
7. Laid-back sort TYPE B
8. Indy circuit LAP
9. Kind of surprise kick ONSIDE
10. Confronts rudely ACCOSTS
11. Word in two state names SOUTH
12. White house? IGLOO
13. Lens setting F-STOP
18. Ceremony RITUAL
22. “Lay Lady Lay” singer DYLAN
23. Knocked down RAZED
24. “Un Ballo in Maschera” aria ERI TU
25. Imply GET AT
27. Dublin-born playwright O’CASEY
30. Consider identical EQUATE
34. Chase scene maneuver, slangily UEY
36. One working on pitches TUNER
37. Missouri river or county OSAGE
38. Mover and shaker NABOB
40. Blokes CHAPS
41. Troopers, e.g. ISUZUS
44. Extreme jitters, with “the” CRAZIES
48. Put PLACED
50. Explosive sound KABOOM!
52. Business magnates CZARS
53. Very hot celestial orb O STAR
54. Arctic garb PARKA
55. Tea-producing Indian state ASSAM
57. Big name in wine GALLO
60. Give up CEDE
63. Earlier AGO
64. Rouge or blanc VIN
65. Eden dweller EVE
66. “L.A. Law” actress DEY

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