LA Times Crossword Answers 27 Dec 14, Saturday

Share today’s solution with a friend:
FacebookTwitterGoogleEmail

Quicklink
Jump to a complete list of today’s clues and answers

CROSSWORD SETTER: Barry C. Silk
THEME: None
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 25m 19s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. 2014 high-tech release using the slogan “Bigger than bigger” IPHONE
Apple use the line “bigger than bigger” when marketing the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The original iPhone measured 4.5 x 2.4 inches. The iPhone 6 Plus measures 6.22 x 3.06 inches. But, the original was 0.46 inches thick, while the latest version is a mere 0.28 inches thick.

7. 1987 sci-fi film ROBOCOP
“RoboCop” is a film that was released in 1987, starring Peter Weller in the title role. Weller wore a very impressive “robot” suit for the film, the most expensive item on the set, costing over a million dollars. Weller would lose three pounds a day in sweat alone as temperatures inside the suit went to over 100 degrees F.

16. Feeding trough MANGER
A manger is an open box in which feed is placed for livestock. The term comes from the French word “manger” meaning “to eat”.

17. Opinion TWO CENTS
I’m always giving my two cents’ worth. Sorry about that …

18. Qantas’ main hub, in itineraries SYD
Australia’s Sydney Airport (SYD) is located just five miles south of the city center, and next to Botany Bay. There have been plans to build a second airport on the outskirts of the city, dating back to the 1940s.

QANTAS is the national airline of Australia. The company name was originally an acronym for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services.

19. Winner of the 1997 and 1998 Super Bowls DENVER
The Denver Broncos were a charter member of the AFL and so were formed in 1959 and first played in 1960.

21. Little shaver TOT
“Shaver” is a slang term for a “fellow”, from the sense of “one who shaves”. The term may have arisen in the late 1500s, and over the centuries has come to refer to a younger male. Today we mainly say “little shaver” when referring to a young child of either sex.

22. DJ Alan Freed’s nickname MOONDOG
Alan Freed was an early disk-jockey, who was known by the nickname “Moondog”. The nickname came from his use of an R&B record called “Moondog” as his theme song, in the days when he broadcast late into the night. Based in the US, Freed also recorded radio shows for broadcast in Europe. He earned quite a reputation promoting African-American rhythm and blues music, and ultimately rock and roll. However, Freed’s career came to an abrupt end when it was proven that he was at the receiving end of “payola” payments, profiting from promotion of specific records on his shows.

27. 1959 Bobby Rydell hit WE GOT LOVE
The singer Bobby Rydell was a teen idol back in the sixties. His biggest hits were “Wild One” and “Volare” from 1960, and his last major chart hit was “Forget Him” from 1964. If you’ve seen the musical “Grease”, the high school setting of “Rydell High” was named after Bobby Rydell.

34. Big name in lingerie OLGA
Olga is a brand name of lingerie.

“Lingerie” is a French term, but as used in France it just means any underwear, worn by either males or females. In English we use “lingerie” to describe alluring underclothing worn by women. The term “lingerie” comes into English via the French word “linge” meaning “washables”, and ultimately from the Latin “linum”, meaning “linen”. We tend not to pronounce the word correctly in English, either here in the US or across the other side of the Atlantic. The French pronunciation is more like “lan-zher-ee”, as opposed to “lon-zher-ay” (American) and “lon-zher-ee” (British).

38. Knight wear TABARDS
Tabards were tunics worn by knights over their armor. Often, the tabard was quite colorful and wa emblazoned with the knight’s coat of arms. It was this usage of the word “tabard” that gave rise to the Tabard inn, which features in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”.

40. Hunny lover POOH
Winnie-the-Pooh’s favorite food is “hunny”.

Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne was an English author, best known for his delightful “Winnie-the-Pooh” series of books. He had only one son, Christopher Robin Milne, born in 1920. The young Milne was the inspiration for the Christopher Robin character in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Winnie-the-Pooh was named after Christopher Robin’s real teddy bear, one he called Winnie, who in turn was named after a Canadian black bear called Winnie that the Milnes would visit in London Zoo. The original Winnie teddy bear is on display at the main branch of the New York Public Library in New York.

41. Body exhibiting sudden increases in brightness FLARE STAR
Flare stars are variable stars, stars with a brightness that varies. Flare stars get dramatically brighter for a few minutes, with the event happening as often as every few days. It is believed that the brightness events are similar to solar flares observed in our own sun.

44. Monterrey jack? PESOS
“Jack” is a slang term for money.

Monterrey is a Mexican city, the capital of the state of Nuevo Leon in the northeast of the country. Monterrey is the second largest city in Mexico in terms of area, but third largest in terms of population (the largest area city in the country is Mexico City, and the most populous are Mexico City and Guadalajara).

45. Navigation acronym SONAR
The British developed the first underwater detection system that used sound waves. Research was driven by defence demands during WWI, leading to production of working units in 1922. This new sound detection system was described as using “supersonics”, but for the purpose of secrecy the term was dropped in favor of an acronym. The work was done under the auspices of the Royal Navy’s Anti-Submarine Division, so ASD was combined with the IC from “superson-ic-s” to create the name ASDIC. The navy even went as far as renaming the quartz material at the heart of the technology “ASDivite”. By the time WWII came along, the Americans were producing their own systems and coined the term SONAR, playing off the related application, RADAR. And so the name ASDIC was deep-sixed …

48. O, at times HUG
In the sequence XOX, the X represents a kiss, and the O a hug. Hugs and kisses …

49. 1944 Pacific island battle site SAIPAN
Saipan is the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands in the western Pacific. Japan captured the island during World War I, and considered it part of the country’s last line of defense towards the end of World War II. The US Marines and Army landed on Saipan in 1944 and suffered through three weeks of heavy fighting before securing the island from the Japanese. 3,425 US troops were killed, and an estimated 30,000 Japanese defenders. 20,000 Japanese civilians also died. About 1,000 Japanese civilians committed suicide by jumping off a cliff rather than being taken prisoner.

51. __-eared LOP
A creature that is “lop-eared” has bent or drooping ears.

Down
4. Shocked letters OMG
OMG is text-speak for Oh My Gosh! Oh My Goodness! or any other G words you might think of …

7. “Lady Jane Grey” dramatist ROWE
Nicholas Rowe was an English playwright and poet who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715. His last play was “The Tragedy of Lady Jane Grey”.

9. Raymond James Stadium NFLer BUC
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the NFL in 1976 along with the Seattle Seahawks as expansion teams. The Bucs had a tough start in the NFL, losing their first 26 games. Things went better in the early eighties, but then the team went through 14 consecutive losing seasons. Their luck changed again though, and they won the Super Bowl at the end of the 2002 season.

Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL. The naming rights for the stadium were purchased in 1998 Raymond James Financial, which is headquartered in St. Petersburg.

13. Grinder PESTLE
I’ve always loved the sound of the words “mortar” and “pestle”, ever since I was first introduced to them in the chemistry lab. The Romans called a receptacle for pounding or grinding things a “mortarium”, giving us “mortar”. Mortarium was also the word for the product of pounding and grinding, which gives us our “mortar” that’s used with bricks to build a wall. And further, short stubby cannons used in the 16th century resembled a grinding bowl and so were called “mortars”, which evolved into our contemporary weapon of the same name. As far as the pestle is concerned, it is also derived from its Latin name “pistillum”, which comes from the word for “crush”.

15. Group label further popularized by a 1991 self-named documentary MTV GENERATION
The phrase “MTV Generation” refers to those people of the age to be influenced by the MTV television channel i.e. the youth of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The phrase was coined by the MTV channel itself in reference to their teenage viewing audience.

23. Fat substitute OLESTRA
Olestra is a fat substitute. Naturally-occurring fats are made of of a glycerol molecule holding together three fatty acids. Olestra is made of a sucrose molecule, holding together several fatty acids. Olestra has a similar taste and consistency as natural fat, but has zero caloric impact because it is too large a molecule to cross the intestinal wall and passes right through the body. Personally, I steer clear of it. It is banned in Britain and Canada due to concerns about side effects, but I guess someone knows the right palms to grease (pun intended!) here in America, so it’s in some of our “low fat” food.

24. Brief creator: Abbr. ATT
Attorney (att.)

26. Like La Niña, e.g.: Abbr. FEM
The ocean-atmosphere phenomenon known as “La Niña” (Spanish for “the girl”) is the opposite of the more familiar “El Niño”. During a period of La Niña, the surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern Central Pacific Ocean is lower than usual by 3-5 degrees centigrade. During a period of El Niño, that same temperature is higher than normal.

When the surface temperature of much of the Pacific Ocean rises more that half a degree centigrade, then there is said to be an El Niño episode. That small temperature change in the Pacific has been associated with climatic changes that can stretch right across the globe. El Niño is Spanish for “the boy” and is a reference to the Christ child. The phenomenon was given this particular Spanish name because the warming is usually noticed near South America and around Christmas-time.

31. Some parlors, briefly OTBS
Off-Track Betting (OTB) is the legal gambling that takes place on horse races outside of a race track. A betting parlor can be referred to as an OTB.

39. __ Lingus AER
Aer Lingus is my favorite airline! Well, the service isn’t that great, but when I get on board an Aer Lingus plane I feel like I am back in Ireland. Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland, with “Aer Lingus” being a phonetic spelling of the Irish “aer-loingeas” meaning “air fleet”. These days Aer Lingus can only lay claim to the title of Ireland’s oldest airline as it is no longer the biggest. That honor goes to the controversial budget airline called Ryanair.

41. Key of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 24 F-SHARP
Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his Piano Sonata No. 24 in 1809, and dedicated it to Countess Teréz Brunszvik de Korompa. The Countess was a student of Beethoven, and because of the dedication the sonata has the nickname “A Thérèse”.

43. “Measure for Measure” deputy ANGELO
Angelo is the deputy to the Duke of Vienna in Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure”, and is the play’s main antagonist.

“Measure for Measure” is one of William Shakespeare’s plays, ostensibly a comedy. The title “Measure for Measure” is actually a quotation from the Bible found in the Gospel According to Luke.

44. Prison buddy? PEN PAL
“Pen” is a slang term for “penitentiary”. Back in the early 1400s, a penitentiary was a place to do “penance”, a place of punishment for offences against the church.

47. Small flying predators WASPS
While the wasp is considered to be a nuisance by many, the insect is very important to the agricultural industry. Wasps prey on many pest insects, while having very little impact on crops.

49. Zaire’s Mobutu __ Seko SESE
Mobutu Sese Seko was the longtime President of Zaire (later to be called the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Mobutu was known to be a very corrupt dictator and it is believed that he embezzled over $5 billion from his country. On a lighter note, Mobutu was the money man behind the famous 1974 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman known as “The Rumble in the Jungle”. Mobutu was anxious to expand the image of Zaire so he used his nation’s funds to entice the fighters to have a go at each other in his homeland.

50. Quark locale ATOM
Quarks are elementary atomic particles that combine to make composite particles called “hadrons”. I’m really only familiar with the really stable hadrons i.e. protons and neutrons. There are six types of quarks (referred to as “flavors”). These flavors are up, down, strange, charm, bottom and top.

55. Pierre’s pinch? SEL
A Frenchman might use a pinch of salt (sel).

57. Pierre’s permission OUI
“Oui” is “yes” in French, and “non” is “no”.

Share today’s solution with a friend:
FacebookTwitterGoogleEmail

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. 2014 high-tech release using the slogan “Bigger than bigger” IPHONE
7. 1987 sci-fi film ROBOCOP
14. Pointer, perhaps BLAMER
15. Soften MODULATE
16. Feeding trough MANGER
17. Opinion TWO CENTS
18. Qantas’ main hub, in itineraries SYD
19. Winner of the 1997 and 1998 Super Bowls DENVER
21. Little shaver TOT
22. DJ Alan Freed’s nickname MOONDOG
24. Seething ABOIL
26. 14-Across’ concern FAULT
27. 1959 Bobby Rydell hit WE GOT LOVE
30. Luncheon follower? -ETTE
31. Concede OWN UP TO
32. Pickle MESS
33. Meeting focus THEME
34. Big name in lingerie OLGA
38. Knight wear TABARDS
40. Hunny lover POOH
41. Body exhibiting sudden increases in brightness FLARE STAR
44. Monterrey jack? PESOS
45. Navigation acronym SONAR
46. Rose in a big way TOWERED
48. O, at times HUG
49. 1944 Pacific island battle site SAIPAN
51. __-eared LOP
53. Against AVERSE TO
56. Cuddles SPOONS
58. Trusts RELIES ON
59. Features of many impromptu speeches PAUSES
60. “Something wrong?” PROBLEM?
61. Least honest SLIEST

Down
1. Some old notebooks IBMS
2. Kid’s bud PLAYMATE
3. Fliers, maybe HANDOUTS
4. Shocked letters OMG
5. “You __ bother” NEEDN’T
6. Fumbled, say ERRED
7. “Lady Jane Grey” dramatist ROWE
8. Sign of something gone bad ODOR
9. Raymond James Stadium NFLer BUC
10. Encouraging word OLE
11. Playground retort CAN TOO!
12. Holy Roman emperor, 1209-’15 OTTO IV
13. Grinder PESTLE
15. Group label further popularized by a 1991 self-named documentary MTV GENERATION
20. Exasperated words NOW WHAT
23. Fat substitute OLESTRA
24. Brief creator: Abbr. ATT
25. Goof BLOOPER
26. Like La Niña, e.g.: Abbr. FEM
28. Gingerbread house adornment GUMDROP
29. Reveals, poetically OPES
31. Some parlors, briefly OTBS
35. Hopeless LOSE-LOSE
36. Joker’s array GOOD ONES
37. Relaxed responses AHS
39. __ Lingus AER
41. Key of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 24 F-SHARP
42. Vent part LOUVER
43. “Measure for Measure” deputy ANGELO
44. Prison buddy? PEN PAL
47. Small flying predators WASPS
49. Zaire’s Mobutu __ Seko SESE
50. Quark locale ATOM
52. “Hey!” relative PSST!
54. Needle RIB
55. Pierre’s pinch? SEL
57. Pierre’s permission OUI

Return to top of page