LA Times Crossword Answers 8 Jan 15, Thursday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Steve Blais
THEME: Private Handshake … each of today’s themed answers contains a four-letter sequence (circled letters in the grid) made from the letters in the word HAND, but all SHAKEN up:

38A. Private club ritual, and a hint to this puzzle’s circles SECRET HANDSHAKE

17A. Film with the song “Maniac” FLASHDANCE
24A. Film in which Garbo said, “I want to be alone” GRAND HOTEL
54A. “Unsafe at Any Speed” author RALPH NADER
63A. “That’s news to me!” I HAD NO IDEA!

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 55s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

6. Cologne scent MUSK
Musk has such an elegant connotation these days because of it’s use in the world of perfumery. However, its origin is not quite so glamorous. The original substance called musk, used in perfumes, was extracted from a gland in the rectal area of the male musk deer. The name “musk” is a Sanskrit word for “testicle”.

Back in 1709, an Italian perfume-maker moved to Cologne in Germany. There he invented a new fragrance that he named Eau de Cologne after his newly adopted town. The fragrance is still produced in Cologne, using a secret formulation. However, the terms “Eau de Cologne” and “cologne”, are now used generically.

14. 2011 Cricket World Cup winner INDIA
Cricket is the national game of England. The term “cricket” apparently comes from the Old French word “criquet” meaning “goalpost, stick”.

15. Actress Gray of “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” ERIN
Erin Gray is the actress who played Kate Summers on the sitcom “Silver Spoons”, and who also appeared as Colonel Wilma Deering on “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”.

Before Buck Rogers made it into the big time in the comic strip “Buck Roger in the 25th Century”, he was a character in a pair of short stories written by Philip Francis Nowlan, the first of which was “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” In the stories, he was known as Anthony Rogers, and was given a name change when he went into the comics. “Buck Roger in the 25th Century” is also a TV series that originally ran from 1979 to 1981.

16. Stores in rows MALL
Surprisingly, our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.

17. Film with the song “Maniac” FLASHDANCE
“Flashdance” is a 1983 romantic drama film about a young welder at a steel plant who aspires to become a professional dancer. The movie’s soundtrack was also a big hit and features songs like “Maniac” and “Flashdance… What a Feeling” performed by Irene Cara that won the Best Original Song Oscar.

20. Philippine tongue TAGALOG
Tagalog, officially known as “Filipino”, is one of the two official languages of the Philippines, the other being English. The name “Tagalog” translates as “river dweller”.

21. Gillette Mach3 predecessor ATRA
Fortunately for crossword setters, the Atra razor was introduced by Gillette in 1977. The Atra was sold as the Contour in some markets and its derivative products are still around today.

23. Uintah and Ouray Reservation residents UTES
The Ute are a group of Native American tribes that now resides in Utah and Colorado. The Ute were not a unified people as such, but rather a loose association of nomadic groups.

24. Film in which Garbo said, “I want to be alone” GRAND HOTEL
“Grand Hotel” is a marvelous film released in 1932 based on a book of the same name by William A. Drake. Drake himself had based his book on a novel by Vicki Baum titled “Menschen im Hotel”. The 1932 movie has a stellar cast including Greta Garbo and John Barrymore. “Grand Hotel” was remade in 1945 as ‘Week-End at the Waldorf”, a film I saw quite recently starring Ginger Rogers and Walter Pidgeon.

Famously, Greta Garbo lived a life of seclusion in New York City after she retired from the entertainment business. Commentators often associated her need for privacy with a line she uttered in the great 1932 movie “Grand Hotel”. Her character, Grusinskaya the Russian ballerina, said, “I want to be alone (…) I just want to be alone”.

31. Spanish demonstrative ESO
“Eso” is Spanish for “that”.

32. __ Coast IVORY
The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire is located in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea. The country is often, mistakenly, referred to as the Ivory Coast, the direct translation from the French. The official language of the country is French, as for many years it was a French colony.

33. Golfer nicknamed “The Big Easy” ELS
Ernie Els is a South African golfer. Els a big guy but he has an easy fluid golf swing that has earned him the nickname “The Big Easy”. He has a child who suffers from autism and so Els has been very effective in raising money for charities that focus on the condition.

35. Winter coat HOAR
The Old English word “har” meant “gray, venerable, old”, and came into English as “hoar” (and later “hoary”) with the same meaning. The term “hoar-frost” dates back to the 13th century, and reflects the similarity of the white feathers of frost to the gray/white of an old man’s beard.

37. Buck Rogers portrayer __ Gerard GIL
Gil Gilbert is an actor best known for playing the title role in the TV series “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”, which originally aired in the 20th century, in the late eighties and early nineties.

44. One on a penny UNUM
From 1776, “E pluribus unum” was the unofficial motto of the United States. “E pluribus unum” is Latin for “Out of many, one”. It was pushed aside in 1956 when an Act of Congress designated “In God We Trust” as the country’s official motto.

45. Scarfed down ATE
“To scarf down” is teenage slang from the sixties meaning “to wolf down, to eat hastily”. The term is probably imitative of “to scoff”.

54. “Unsafe at Any Speed” author RALPH NADER
Ralph Nader has run as a third-party candidate for the office of President of the United States four times now, in every election from 1996 to 2008. Nader’s name was first first linked with the presidential race in 1971, when the famous Dr. Benjamin Spock offered to stand aside as candidate in the 1972 race if Nader would agree to run, but he declined.

“Unsafe at Any Speed” is a 1965 book by consumer advocate Ralph Nader in which the author accuses car manufacturers of resisting the introduction of safety features in order to maximize profit.

57. Real card RIOT
A “card”, “stitch” or “riot” is a very amusing person.

58. Desert formation MESA
“Mesa” is the Spanish for “table” and is of course is how we get the term “mesa” that describes a geographic feature.

61. Non-PC purchase IMAC
The iMac is a desktop computer platform from Apple introduced in 1998. One of the main features of the iMac is an “all-in-one” design, with the computer console and monitor integrated. The iMac also came in a range of colors, that Apple marketed as “flavors”, such strawberry, blueberry and lime.

66. Actress Tushingham RITA
Rita Tushingham is a favorite actress of mine. Perhaps her most famous roles are in the movies “A Taste of Honey” and Doctor Zhivago”, all from the 1960s. My favorite of Tushingham’s performances though, is in the 1966 unusual adventure film called “The Trap”, in which she stars opposite Oliver Reed.

67. Slimming option, for short LIPO
Liposuction dates back to the 1920s when it was developed by a surgeon in France. However, the procedure quickly lost favor when a French model developed gangrene after surgery. As a result it wasn’t until the mid-seventies that modern liposuction took off, after being popularized by two Italian-American surgeons in Rome.

Down
5. Satirist Mort SAHL
Mort Sahl is a Canadian-born actor and comedian who moved to the US with his family when he was a child. Sahl became friends with John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy became president, Sahl wrote a lot of jokes for the President’s speeches, although he also told a lot of Kennedy jokes in his acts. After the President was assassinated in 1963, Sahl was intensely interested in finding out who was behind the crime and even got himself deputized as a member of one of the investigating teams. He was very outspoken against the results of the Warren Commission report on the assassination, and soon found himself out of favor with the public. It took a few years for him to make his comeback, but come back he did.

6. Thin, on the Thames MEAGRE
“Meagre” is the British spelling of the American “meager”.

The River Thames flowing though London is the longest river entirely located in England.

8. [that’s what it said] SIC
“Sic” indicates that a quotation is written as originally found, perhaps including a typo. “Sic” is Latin for “thus, like this”.

10. “Whose Line Is It Anyway” technique IMPROV
The American improv comedy TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway” is a spin-off of a very successful British show of the same name. The British TV show is itself a spin-off of a BBC radio show that I well remember. Lots of fun …

11. 1777 battle site SARATOGA
The Battles of Saratoga, in September and October of 1777, were a crucial turning point in the American Revolutionary War. The two battles were attempts by British forces led by General John Burgoyne to break through surrounding American forces. Both attempts were unsuccessful, forcing Burgoyne to surrender his whole army. News of the surrender helped spur the French to join the war as an American ally.

12. Yalie ELI
Eli is the nickname for a graduate of Yale University, a term used in honor of the Yale benefactor Elihu Yale.

13. Street of nightmares ELM
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Wes Craven slasher-horror film, released in 1984. As I don’t do “slasher” nor “horror” I learned from crosswords that Johnny Depp was in the movie, making his feature film debut. The Elm Street in the title is located in the fictional Springwood, Ohio.

18. Husky, for one DOG
The Siberian Husky is one of the oldest breeds of dog, and originated in northern Asia. Siberian Huskies were imported into Alaska in great numbers in the early 1900s for use as sled dogs during the gold rush.

26. It may follow eleven NOON
Our word “noon”, meaning “midday”, comes from the Latin “nona hora” that translates as “ninth hour”. Back in Ancient Rome, the “ninth hour” was three in the afternoon. Over the centuries, traditions such as church prayers and “midday” meals shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and so “noon” became understood as 12 noon.

27. Actor Estrada ERIK
Erik Estrada got his big break in the movie “Airport 1975”, before playing motorcycle police officer Poncherello on the television show “CHiPs” from 1977-81.

28. Lovett of country LYLE
As well as being famous in his own right as a successful country singer, Lyle Lovett is known for his marriage to the actress Julia Roberts in 1993. The pair had a whirlwind romance lasting just three weeks before they eloped and were wed. The marriage was also relatively whirlwind, lasting less than two years.

30. Spade and Hammer SLEUTHS
Private detective Sam Spade is the main character in Dashiell Hammett’s novel “The Maltese Falcon”. Famously, Spade was played by Humphrey Bogart in the 1941 film adaptation directed by John Huston.

Mike Hammer is the protagonist in a series of private detective novels by Mickey Spillane. The novels have been adapted for radio, television and the big screen. The actor most associated with Mike Hammer is Stacy Keach, who played the role in the TV series “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” from 1984 to 1987.

34. Subway map dot: Abbr. STN
Station (stn.)

36. Cavity filler’s org. ADA
American Dental Association (ADA)

39. Novelist Ferber EDNA
Edna Ferber was a novelist and playwright from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ferber won a Pulitzer for her novel “So Big”, which was made into a film a few times, most famously in 1953 starring Jane Wyman.

40. Pen pal? CELLMATE
“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.

41. Island dance HULA
Hula is the name of the Polynesian dance. The chant or song that the dance illustrates, that’s known as the mele.

47. Medicinal syrup IPECAC
Syrup of ipecac is a preparation made from the dried roots and rhizomes of the ipecacuanha plant. The syrup is used as an emetic, a substance that induces vomiting. Ipecac accomplishes this by irritating the lining of the stomach.

60. Piano on a piano? SOFT
The term “piano” on a musical score is direction to play “softly”.

What was remarkable about the piano when it was invented, compared to other keyboard instruments, was that notes could be played with varying degrees of loudness. This is accomplished by pressing the keys lightly or firmly. Because of this quality, the new instrument was called a “pianoforte”, with “piano” and “forte” meaning “soft” and “loud” in Italian. We tend to shorten the name these days to just “piano”.

65. “The Simpsons” shopkeeper APU
The fictional Kwik-E-Mart store is operated by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on “The Simpsons” TV show. Apu is married to Apu, and the couple have eight children. The convenience store owner doesn’t seem to be making much use of his Ph.D in computer science that he earned in the US. Apu’s undergraduate degree is from Caltech (the Calcutta Technical Institute), where he graduated top of his class of seven million students …

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Plenty LOADS
6. Cologne scent MUSK
10. “Now it makes sense!” I SEE!
14. 2011 Cricket World Cup winner INDIA
15. Actress Gray of “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” ERIN
16. Stores in rows MALL
17. Film with the song “Maniac” FLASHDANCE
19. Formally proper PRIM
20. Philippine tongue TAGALOG
21. Gillette Mach3 predecessor ATRA
23. Uintah and Ouray Reservation residents UTES
24. Film in which Garbo said, “I want to be alone” GRAND HOTEL
29. Annoyances PESTS
31. Spanish demonstrative ESO
32. __ Coast IVORY
33. Golfer nicknamed “The Big Easy” ELS
35. Winter coat HOAR
37. Buck Rogers portrayer __ Gerard GIL
38. Private club ritual, and a hint to this puzzle’s circles SECRET HANDSHAKE
43. Lines of praise ODE
44. One on a penny UNUM
45. Scarfed down ATE
46. Like a new candle UNLIT
48. Showed the way LED
50. Treats, as an icy road SALTS
54. “Unsafe at Any Speed” author RALPH NADER
57. Real card RIOT
58. Desert formation MESA
59. Like monastic life AUSTERE
61. Non-PC purchase IMAC
63. “That’s news to me!” I HAD NO IDEA!
66. Actress Tushingham RITA
67. Slimming option, for short LIPO
68. __ position FETAL
69. Biz bigwig EXEC
70. Twirled SPUN
71. Easy paces TROTS

Down
1. Elate LIFT UP
2. Airing in the wee hours ON LATE
3. Words of wisdom ADAGES
4. Earthquake, perhaps DISASTER
5. Satirist Mort SAHL
6. Thin, on the Thames MEAGRE
7. Coffee holder URN
8. [that’s what it said] SIC
9. Massage KNEAD
10. “Whose Line Is It Anyway” technique IMPROV
11. 1777 battle site SARATOGA
12. Yalie ELI
13. Street of nightmares ELM
18. Husky, for one DOG
22. Yearns THIRSTS
25. Embarrassed ASHAMED
26. It may follow eleven NOON
27. Actor Estrada ERIK
28. Lovett of country LYLE
30. Spade and Hammer SLEUTHS
34. Subway map dot: Abbr. STN
36. Cavity filler’s org. ADA
38. Fermented, as milk SOUR
39. Novelist Ferber EDNA
40. Pen pal? CELLMATE
41. Island dance HULA
42. More nourishing HEARTIER
47. Medicinal syrup IPECAC
49. Precise DEAD ON
51. Didn’t come clean with LIED TO
52. Clawed TORE AT
53. Advances a base, in a way STEALS
55. Gets precisely NAILS
56. Appear in print RUN
60. Piano on a piano? SOFT
61. Sore feeling IRE
62. Socialize MIX
64. With it HIP
65. “The Simpsons” shopkeeper APU

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