LA Times Crossword Answers 27 Oct 14, Monday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Jeffrey Wechsler
THEME: 1, 2, 3, 4 Body Parts … today’s themed answers feature parts of the body, in the numbers one through four as we progress down the grid:

17A. Casino machines ONE-ARMED BANDITS
28A. Novelty item whose user always wins a coin toss TWO-HEADED NICKEL
49A. Cooperative picnic running contest THREE-LEGGED RACE
61A. Game involving eight knights FOUR-HANDED CHESS

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 4m 54s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Indian prince RAJAH
“Raja” (also “rajah”) is word derived from Sanskrit that is used particularly in India for a monarch or princely ruler. The female form is “rani” (also “ranee”) and is used for a raja’s wife.

6. Bert, to Ernie PAL
I’ve always believed that the “Sesame Street” characters Bert and Ernie were named after two roles played in the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”. In the movie, the policeman’s name is Bert and his taxi-driving buddy is named Ernie. However, the “Sesame Street” folks have stated that the use of the same names is just a coincidence.

13. __ Gay: WWII bomber ENOLA
The Enola Gay was the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb, on Hiroshima in August 1945. Enola Gay was the name of the mother of pilot Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr.

14. Dutch cheese EDAM
Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

16. Tibet’s continent ASIA
Tibet is a plateau region that is part of China, and is located northeast of the Himalayas. Tibet declared its independence from China in 1913, but fell back under Chinese control after the Invasion of Tibet in 1951. The Tibetan leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled the country during the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion. Since then, he has led the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India.

17. Casino machines ONE-ARMED BANDITS
Slot machines earned the nickname “one-armed bandits” simply because they had “one arm”, the handle pulled to operate the machine, and they robbed you of all your money!

21. Dashboard prefix with meter ODO-
An odometer measures distance traveled. The word derives from the Greek “hodos” meaning “path” and “metron” meaning “measure”.

22. Fleur-de-__ LIS
“Lys” (also “lis”) is the French word for “lily”, as in “fleur-de-lys”, the heraldic symbol often associated with the French monarchy.

23. Sound from a Guernsey MOO
The Guernsey is a breed of dairy cow that was originally bred on the Channel Island of Guernsey. The Channel Islands are British Crown Dependencies located off the Normandy coast of France, in the British Channel.

38. Connecticut Ivy YALE
Yale Law School was established in 1824. The school only admitted male applicants up to 1918, when it began accepting the first female students.

53. Actor Stephen REA
Stephen Rea is an Irish actor from Belfast. Rea’s most successful role was Fergus in 1992’s “The Crying Game”, for which performance he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. In “The Crying Game”, Fergus was a member of the IRA. In real life, Rea was married to IRA bomber and hunger striker Dolours Price at the time he made the movie.

56. Org. auditing 1040s IRS
Form 1040 was originally created just for tax returns from 1913, 1914 and 1915, but it’s a form that just keeps on giving …

57. Comedian Margaret CHO
Margaret Cho is a very successful stand-up comedian, but she is also a fashion designer with her own line of clothing. Cho also acts, and you might have seen her in the John Travolta/Nicholas Cage movie “Face/Off” in which she played John Travolta’s FBI colleague.

61. Game involving eight knights FOUR-HANDED CHESS
Four-player chess is a variant of chess played on a special cross-shaped board by four players. The four-handed game has been around a long time, with references dating back to about 1500 BC.

67. Christian of couture DIOR
Christian Dior was a French fashion designer. As WWII approached, Dior was called up by the French military, imposing a temporary halt to his career in fashion. He left the army in 1942 and for the duration of the war designed clothes for wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. After the war his designs became so popular that he helped re-establish Paris as the fashion center of the world.

69. French summers ETES
One might spend the summer (été) under the sun (le soleil) in French-speaking countries.

Down
1. __ Speed Wagon: classic truck REO
The REO Speed Wagon (note the space between “speed” and “wagon”) is the vehicle. REO Speedwagon (no space) is the American rock band.

2. “Today” anchor-at-large Curry ANN
The television journalist Ann Curry is perhaps best known for the time she spent as co-host on NBC’s “Today” show. NBC executives asked Curry to resign from the “Today” show because ratings were low. I just read online that Curry was also pushed out because of the way she insisted on dressing and because she refused to dye her gray hair. I hope that isn’t true …

3. Snoopy, when he’s wearing shades JOE COOL
When cartoon beagle Snoopy adopts his “Joe Cool” alias, he puts on sunglasses and just leans against a wall doing nothing.

4. Banned fruit spray ALAR
The chemical name for Alar, a plant growth regulator and color enhancer, is daminozide. Alar was primarily used on apples but was withdrawn from the market when it was linked to cancer.

5. Loser to the tortoise HARE
“The Tortoise and the Hare” is perhaps the most famous fable attributed to Aesop. The hare takes a nap during a race against the tortoise, and the tortoise sneaks past the finish line for the win while his speedier friend is sleeping.

8. In 2014, it fell on September 1 LABOR DAY
Labor Day is a federal holiday observed every year on the first Monday in September. The tradition of honoring workers with a holiday started in Boston in 1878, when a day of observance was organized by the Central Labor Union, the major trade union at the time. There was a bloody dispute in 1894 between labor unions and the railroads called the Pullman Strike, which led to the death of some workers when the US Military and US Marshals were instructed to maintain order. President Grover Cleveland submitted a “Labor Day” bill to Congress which was signed into law just six days after the end of the strike. The introduction of a federal holiday to honor the worker was a move designed to promote reconciliation between management and unions after the bitter conflict.

11. “__ Kane”: Welles film CITIZEN
“Citizen Kane” was the first film made by Orson Welles, one considered by many to be the finest film ever made. It’s a remarkable achievement by Welles, as he played the lead and also produced and directed. Despite all the accolades for “Citizen Kane” over the decades, the movie was far from a commercial success in its early run and actually lost money at the box office.

12. Fez danglers TASSELS
“Fez” is the name given to the red cylindrical hat worn mainly in North Africa, and by Shriners here in the US. The fez used to be a very popular hat across the Ottoman Empire. The etymology of “fez” is unclear, although it might have something to do with the Moroccan city named Fez.

15. “Like a Prayer” singer MADONNA
Madonna’s full name is Madonna Louise Ciccone. Born in Bay City, Michigan, Madonna was destined to become the top-selling female recording artist of all time.

18. Prefix with physics META-
The word “metaphysics” comes from the Greek “meta” (beyond) and “physika” (physical), and is a branch of philosophy that investigates reality beyond the principles of science. Not something I would understand …

23. NYC subway org. MTA
The MTA is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has public transportation responsibility in the state of New York (as well as part of Connecticut). MTA might also refer to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is known as the Metro and sometimes the MTA.

26. TKO signaler REF
In boxing, a knockout (KO) is when one of the fighters can’t get up from the canvas within a specified time, usually 10 seconds. This can be due to fatigue, injury, or the participant may be truly “knocked out”. A referee, fighter or doctor may also decide to stop a fight without a physical knockout, especially if there is concern about a fighter’s safety. In this case the bout is said to end with a technical knockout (TKO).

29. Massive group HORDE
A “horde” is a large crowd. “Horde” ultimately derives from the Turkish “ordu” that means “camp, army”.

30. Train schedule abbr. ETA
Estimated time of arrival (eta)

36. Round Table knight GALAHAD
Sir Galahad is one of the Knights of the Round Table of Arthurian legend. Galahad is the illegitimate son of Sir Lancelot, so appears a little later in the tales. He is very gallant and noble, and some see him as the embodiment of Jesus in the Arthurian tradition. Indeed, legend has it that his soul was brought to heaven by Joseph of Arimathea, the man who donated his own tomb for the burial of Jesus according to the Gospels.

39. Flat panel TV component LCD
Liquid crystal display (LCD)

41. Cigar with open, untapered ends CHEROOT
A cheroot cigar is cylindrical in shape, untapered and with both ends clipped. This simple shape allows them to be rolled mechanically instead of by hand, making cheroots relatively cheap to produce and to purchase.

44. British sports cars MGS
My neighbor used to keep his MG Midget roadster in my garage (away from his kids!) back in Ireland many moons ago. The Midget was produced by MG division of the British Motor Corporation from 1961 to 1979, with the MG acronym standing for “Morris Garages”.

46. Droopy-faced hounds BASSETS
The Basset Hound wouldn’t be my favorite breed of dog, to be honest. Basset Hounds have a great sense of smell with an ability to track a scent that is second only to that of the Bloodhound. The name “Basset” comes from the French word for “rather low”, a reference to the dog’s short legs.

52. City near Tulsa ENID
Enid, Oklahoma takes its name from the old railroad station around which the city developed. Back in 1889, that train stop was called Skeleton Station. An official who didn’t like the name changed it to Enid Station, using a character from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”. Maybe if he hadn’t changed the name, the city of Enid would now be called Skeleton, Oklahoma! Enid has the nickname “Queen Wheat City” because is has a huge capacity for storing grain, the third largest grain storage capacity in the world.

59. Earth tone ECRU
The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.

62. Charing Cross and Abbey: Abbr. RDS
Charing Cross Road in London is famous for its second-hand bookshops. Helene Hanff’s 1970 book called “84, Charing Cross Road” was inspired by the 20-year correspondence between the author and a buyer at an antiquarian booksellers at number 84 in Charing Cross Road.

Abbey Road in London was named for Kilburn Priory and the Abbey Farm in the priory’s grounds. The road is famous for the Abbey Road recording studios used most famously by the Beatles. The band’s last studio album is called “Abbey Road”, and the famous cover photo depicts John, Paul, George and Ringo walking across the zebra crossing located just outside the studio.

65. Former Air France jet, briefly SST
The most famous supersonic transport (SST) is the retired Concorde. Concorde was developed and produced under an Anglo-French treaty by France’s Aérospatiale and the UK’s British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Concordes were mainly operated by Air France and British Airways, with both companies buying the planes with substantial subsidies from the French and British governments.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Indian prince RAJAH
6. Bert, to Ernie PAL
9. Formal agreement PACT
13. __ Gay: WWII bomber ENOLA
14. Dutch cheese EDAM
16. Tibet’s continent ASIA
17. Casino machines ONE-ARMED BANDITS
20. Small stream CREEK
21. Dashboard prefix with meter ODO-
22. Fleur-de-__ LIS
23. Sound from a Guernsey MOO
25. Intense fear TERROR
27. Suffix with formal or custom -IZE
28. Novelty item whose user always wins a coin toss TWO-HEADED NICKEL
32. Divide into shares ALLOT
33. Foldable self-cooling device FAN
34. Eyeglasses glass LENS
35. From __ to riches RAGS
38. Connecticut Ivy YALE
40. Nailed, as a test ACED
43. Banking convenience, briefly ATM
45. Log home CABIN
49. Cooperative picnic running contest THREE-LEGGED RACE
53. Actor Stephen REA
54. Strikes lightly TAPS ON
55. Work on a hem, say SEW
56. Org. auditing 1040s IRS
57. Comedian Margaret CHO
58. Opinions VIEWS
61. Game involving eight knights FOUR-HANDED CHESS
66. Head of the manor LORD
67. Christian of couture DIOR
68. Weddings, e.g. RITES
69. French summers ETES
70. Twice five TEN
71. Perturbed UPSET

Down
1. __ Speed Wagon: classic truck REO
2. “Today” anchor-at-large Curry ANN
3. Snoopy, when he’s wearing shades JOE COOL
4. Banned fruit spray ALAR
5. Loser to the tortoise HARE
6. Looked when you shouldn’t have PEEKED
7. Contribute ADD
8. In 2014, it fell on September 1 LABOR DAY
9. Writing tablet PAD
10. “… my way” … AS I LIKE
11. “__ Kane”: Welles film CITIZEN
12. Fez danglers TASSELS
15. “Like a Prayer” singer MADONNA
18. Prefix with physics META-
19. Formal “Me neither” NOR I
23. NYC subway org. MTA
24. Hooting bird OWL
26. TKO signaler REF
29. Massive group HORDE
30. Train schedule abbr. ETA
31. Easy to grasp CLEAR
36. Round Table knight GALAHAD
37. “Drive faster!” STEP ON IT!
39. Flat panel TV component LCD
40. Slightly A TRIFLE
41. Cigar with open, untapered ends CHEROOT
42. Sign of a changed test answer ERASURE
44. British sports cars MGS
46. Droopy-faced hounds BASSETS
47. Freezer cubes ICE
48. Hot off the press NEW
50. Scratch into glass, e.g. ETCH
51. Run the country GOVERN
52. City near Tulsa ENID
59. Earth tone ECRU
60. Blender speed WHIP
62. Charing Cross and Abbey: Abbr. RDS
63. Forest female DOE
64. Understand SEE
65. Former Air France jet, briefly SST

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