LA Times Crossword Answers 5 Apr 15, Sunday

Frequently Asked Question: Why isn’t the puzzle in my paper the same as the one shown on your blog?
If the puzzle in your paper doesn’t match the one that I solved, it is probably a Sunday crossword. On Sundays, the “LA Times” chooses to publish Merl Reagle’s excellent crossword, and not their own “LA Times” Crossword. The “LA Times” puzzle is still sent out in syndication, and is also published in the “LA Times” online. I’ve been asked to blog about Merl Reagle’s crossword, but frankly I don’t have the time. Sunday puzzles have lots of clues!

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Kurt Krauss
THEME: Seeing Stars … each of today’s themed answers is a common word or phrase. However, the clue refers to a potential alternate meaning, as if the answer refers to something that is five-star, top-notch:

23A. Five-star auctioneer? BESTSELLER
25A. Five-star bridal accessory? MODEL TRAIN
36A. Five-star Ponzi scheme? GREAT PYRAMID
46A. Five-star pageboy? PRIME CUT
65A. Five-star secluded getaway? FIRST CLASS CABIN
83A. Five-star flugelhorns? TOP BRASS
93A. Five-star spiel? PERFECT PITCH
111A. Five-star competition? IDEAL MATCH
113A. Five-star headgear? SUPERVISOR

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 31m 07s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

7. Texter’s “Oh, I should also mention … ” BTW
By the way (BTW)

10. Houston ballplayer, for short ‘STRO
The Houston baseball team changed its name to the Astros from the Colt .45s in 1965 when they started playing in the Astrodome. The Astrodome was so called in recognition of the city’s long association with the US space program.

14. Building blocks LEGOS
Lego is manufactured by Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1934 and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949. The blocks were originally sold under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks” but I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.

19. Picador’s target EL TORO
In Spanish bullfighting, picadors are horsemen that take on a bull in pairs, using lances to jab the poor creature. The picadors have a specific job, to lacerate the muscle on the back of the bull’s neck and to fatigue him before the toreros (bullfighters) are let loose.

21. One might get caught off base AWOL
The Military Police (MPs) are concerned with personnel who go AWOL(Absent Without Leave).

22. “Waterworld” orphan girl ENOLA
“Waterworld”, a Kevin Costner vehicle released in 1995, really wasn’t that great a movie despite it’s promising storyline about land submerged by melting polar ice caps. The movie was filmed in Hawaii, a massive production with a huge budget overrun. I went SCUBA diving in one of the locations a few years after the film crews had headed home. All along the reef there were small metal plates embedded in the rock, used as anchor points for various floating sets. I would have thought that kind of thing would have been cleaned up, but no …

28. Like NASA and FEMA ALL CAPS
The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite towards the end of 1957, a development that shocked the establishment in the US. Within months, President Eisenhower created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA, now DARPA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Space Race has begun …

Federal emergency management has been structured for over 200 years, but what we know today as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was created in 1979 in an Executive Order issued by President Jimmy Carter.

32. Longest river in France LOIRE
The Loire is the longest river in France. It is so long that it drains one-fifth of the nation’s land mass. The Loire rises in the southeast, in the Cevennes mountain range, then heads north and then due west, emptying into the Bay of Biscay at the city of Nantes.

33. Sonata, e.g. OPUS
The Latin for “work” is “opus”, with the plural being “opera”.

The term “sonata” comes from the Latin and Italian word “sonare” meaning “to sound”. A sonata is a piece of music that is played, as opposed to a cantata (from Latin and Italian “cantare” meaning “to sing”), a piece of music that is sung.

35. They’re hung by drivers UIES
U-turns (Uies)

36. Five-star Ponzi scheme? GREAT PYRAMID
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and yet it is the only one of the Wonders that is basically intact today. Egyptologists believe that the structure took ten to twenty years to complete, and that it dates back to around 2560 BC. The Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest man-made structure in the world for nearly 3,900 years, until it was surpassed by Lincoln Cathedral in England in 1311 AD.

Charles Ponzi was born in Luigi, Italy in 1882 and arrived in the US in 1903, flat broke having gambled away all his money on the voyage to Boston. Ponzi devised a scheme to buy what were known as “international reply coupons” through friends in Italy, which he had sent to him in the US so that he could redeem them on this side of the Atlantic. As the value in the US was greater than that in Italy, he could make a handsome profit. This was in itself an “illegal” transaction, buying an asset in one market at a low price, then immediately selling it in another market at a higher price. But it’s what he did next that became known as a Ponzi Scheme. He couldn’t redeem his coupons quickly enough due to red tape so he approached other investors, initially friends, and had them give him cash so that he could buy more coupons in Italy. He promised the investors he would double their money, which they did initially. Many people wanted to get in on the scheme seeing that Ponzi was able to make the new investors a profit and double the money of the original investors. Eventually, somebody did the math and word started to get out that the investment was risky, so the number of new investors started to fall. Without sufficient new investors Ponzi couldn’t double the money of his latest investors, and the whole scheme unraveled.

40. Explosive experiment A-TEST
Atomic test (A-test)

41. Thai appetizers SATAYS
The dish known as “satay” originated in Java, Indonesia and is marinated pieces of meat served on a skewer in a sauce, often a spicy peanut sauce. “Satay” is the Indonesian spelling, and “sate” is the Malay spelling.

44. Author Follett KEN
Ken Follett is a Welsh author specializing in thrillers and historical novels. Among his most famous works are “Capricorn One”, “Eye of the Needle”, “The Man From St. Petersburg” and “On Wings of Eagles”. Quite a few of Follett’s novels have been adapted for the big screen, and you may recognize some movies made from the preceding list of titles.

45. E.U. member SWE
The country of Sweden emerged during the Middle Ages, and became one of the great powers of Europe in the days of the Swedish Empire in 17th and early 18th century. Since then Sweden’s influence has waned. What was the eastern part of Sweden was lost to Russia in the early 1800s, and is now modern-day Finland. In the 20th century Sweden has adopted a very non-aggressive stance and was neutral in both World Wars.

46. Five-star pageboy? PRIME CUT
What we now know as the “pageboy” hairstyle was apparently one introduced and made famous by the fifties fetish model, Betty Page. Women’s magazines dissociated themselves from the connection with Ms. Page and sold the hairstyle to the public as one worn historically by English pageboys, hence the name. A pageboy hairstyle is sort of like a “long bob cut” I guess. But don’t listen to me; I get a “number one all over” at my local barber shop …

49. “Big four” record company EMI
The Big Four recording labels were (until EMI was broken up in 2012 and absorbed by what became “the Big Three”):

1. Universal Music Group
2. Sony Music Entertainment
3. Warner Music Group
4. EMI

53. 0.0000001 joules ERG
An erg is a unit of energy or mechanical work. “Erg” comes from the Greek word “ergon” meaning “work”. A dyne is a unit of force. The name “dyne” comes from the Greek “dynamis” meaning “power, force”. Ergs and dynes are related to each other in that one erg is the amount of energy needed to move a force of one dyne over a distance of one centimeter.

James Joule was an English physicist who spent much of his life working in the family brewing business. Joule used his work in the brewery to study the relationship between heat and mechanical work. In honor of his achievements, his name is used for the unit of energy in the International System of Units (i.e. the joule).

56. 1953 Pulitzer-winning dramatist 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”.

57. “SNL” alum alongside Hartman and Carvey NEALON
Off screen, Kevin Nealon is friends with fellow “Saturday Night Live” alumna Dana Carvey. When Carvey landed a spot on SNL, he recommended Nealon to the show’s producers and both stand-up comedians joined the cast in the same year, 1986.

Phil Hartman was a Canadian actor and and comedian who got his big break on “Saturday Night Live” in the late eighties. He was particularly known for his impersonations of President Bill Clinton. Sadly, Hartman was murdered in 1998 by his wife.

Dana Carvey, along with the likes of Phil Hartman and Kevin Nealon, was part of the new breed of “Saturday Night Live” comedians credited with resurrecting the show in the late eighties. One of Carvey’s most popular characters was the Church Lady, and he became so associated with her that among fellow cast members Carvey was often referred to simply as “the Lady”. Carvey had open-heart surgery in 1997 to clear a blocked artery, but the surgical team operated on the wrong blood vessel. To recover, he had to have five more procedures. He ended up suing for medical malpractice and donated his $7.5 million compensation payment to charity.

64. Cigar size ROBUSTO
A “robusto” is a short cigar, just under 5 inches in length.

69. CNN news anchor __ Paul CHRISTI
Christi Paul is a CNN news anchor. Paul works weekdays on HNL (formerly CNN Headline News), and co-anchors CNN’s morning show “New Day” at the weekends.

76. Put under ETHERIZE
Ethers are a whole class of organic compounds, but in the vernacular “ether” is specifically diethyl ether. Diethyl ether was once very popular as a general anesthetic.

79. Purina product ALPO
Alpo is a brand of dog food first produced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?

80. Qing dynasty general of culinary fame TSO
General Tso’s chicken is an American creation, often found on the menu of a Chinese restaurant. The name General Tso may be a reference to General Zuo Zongtang of the Qing Dynasty, but there is no clear link.

81. Deutschland donkey ESEL
The German word for donkey is “esel”.

83. Five-star flugelhorns? TOP BRASS
The flugelhorn is a brass wind instrument that is similar to a trumpet, but with a wider bore. Flugelhorn is a German word that combines “flügel”, meaning “wing, flank”, with horn. Traditionally, the flugelhorn was used by on the battlefield to signal the flanks of an army.

87. Acquisition transaction, briefly LBO
A leveraged buyout (LBO) is a transaction in which an investor acquires a controlling volume of stock in a company, but buys that stock with borrowed funds (hence “leveraged”). Often the assets of the acquired company are used as collateral for the borrowed money. There is a special form of LBO known as a management buyout (MBO) in which the company’s own management team purchases the controlling interest.

89. Tuxedo accessory DICKEY
A dickey is a false shirt-front that can be worn with a tuxedo. Dickeys were popular in the late 1800s and were actually made of celluloid plastic. The advantage to a dickey was that it was waterproof and stain resistant.

93. Five-star spiel? PERFECT PITCH
A spiel is a lengthy speech or argument designed to persuade, like a sales pitch. “Spiel” comes to us from German, either directly (“spiel” is the German for “play”) or via the Yiddish “shpil”.

100. Five-O booking agent DANO
“Five-O” has become urban slang for a police officer, or the police force in general. The term of course is rooted in the 1970s TV Show “Hawaii Five-O”. Hawaii Five-O was a totally fictional police force created for the television show. The name recognizes that Hawaii was the 50th state to join the union. Steve McGarrett in the original show was played by Jack Lord, and “Danno” Williams was played by James MacArthur.

101. Golden AURIC
Something described as auric is golden, or related to gold. “Aurum” is the Latin word for gold. As an aside, the villain who is the title character in the James Bond story “Goldfinger” is doubly golden, as his name is Auric Goldfinger.

102. Magi origin EAST
“Magi” is the plural of the Latin word “magus”, a term applied to someone who was able to read the stars. Hence, magi is commonly used with reference to the “wise men from the East” who followed the star and visited Jesus soon after he was born.

106. Mythological hybrid CENTAUR
The centaur is a creature from Greek mythology, a creature with the upper body of a human and lower body of a horse.

110. Trumpeter Louis PRIMA
Louis Prima was a singer, trumpeter and bandleader who was active from the twenties through the sixties. One of Prima’s more famous performances is “I Wanna Be Like You” from “The Jungle Book”, a duet that he sung with Phil Harris in the 1967 animated movie. Prima also recorded a celebrated version of the song “Just a Gigolo” as a medley with “I Ain’t Got Nobody”. Cover versions of the same medley were released by Village People in 1978 and David Lee Roth in 1985.

115. Dodger manager before Mattingly TORRE
As a manager, Joe Torre was part of four World Series wins, all of them with the New York Yankees baseball team. Torre is an Italian American who was born in Brooklyn, New York. During the run up (pun intended!) to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Torre carried the Olympic flame part of the way through Florence in Italy, handing it over to the next runner at the famous Ponte Vecchio. I’d guess that was quite a thrill for him …

117. Like some phone nos. UNL
Unlisted (unl.)

118. Designer McCartney STELLA
Stella McCartney is an English fashion designer, She is the daughter of musician Paul McCartney (of Beatles fame) and photographer Linda McCartney nee Eastman.

119. Related maternally ENATE
Something that is enate is growing outward, and “enate” is used to describe ancestors related on the mother’s side. Something that is agnate comes from a common source, and “agnate” is used to describe relatives on the father’s side of the family tree.

120. Massachusetts motto opener ENSE
The motto of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is “Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem”, a Latin phrase that can be translated as “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty”. The quotation is from a passage written by English politician Algernon Sidney who was executed for treason by King Charles II.

121. The Carolinas’ __ Dee River PEE
The Pee Dee River takes its name from the Pee Dee tribe of Native Americans from the southeast of the United States.

Down
4. Pick 6, for one LOTTO GAME
Originally “Lotto” was a type of card game, with “lotto” being the Italian for “a lot”. We’ve used “lotto” to mean a gambling game since the late 1700s.

5. Language that gave us “galore” ERSE
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).

Our word “galore”, meaning “in great numbers”, comes from the Irish phrase “go leór” that translates as “sufficiently, enough”.

8. Nickname for baseball’s Durocher THE LIP
Baseball player and manager Leo Durocher was noted for being outspoken, and was given the nickname “Leo the Lip”. In 1946, while he was manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Durocher expressed the opinion that teams like his successful Dodgers would always do better than teams replete with personable individuals (naming Mel Ott in particular). He used his most memorable phrase to encapsulate the sentiment … “nice guys finish last”.

10. Native corn porridge SAMP
“Samp” is a New England term used for cornmeal mush.

12. Hot __ ROD
A “hot rod” is an American car that has been modified for speed by installing a larger than normal engine. A “street rod” is generally a more comfortable type of “hot rod”, with the emphasis less on the engine and more on custom paint jobs and interiors. By definition, a street rod must be based on an automobile design that originated prior to 1949.

13. 1993 A.L. batting champ John OLERUD
John Olerud is a former professional first baseman who was noted for his hitting. Olerud has the nicknames “Johnny O” and the not very complimentary “Big Rude”.

15. Coming or going EN ROUTE
“En route” is a French term that means “on the way”.

16. Deke victim GOALIE
A deke, also known as a dangle, is a technique used to get past an opponent in ice hockey. “Deke” is a colloquial shortening of the word “decoy”.

17. Tapenade ingredients OLIVES
The dish known as tapenade is traditionally made from olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil. The name comes from the Provençal word for capers, “tapenas”.

24. Like a fantasy land? LA-LA
La-la land is a euphemism for a state of unconsciousness.

26. Beethoven’s “__ Adieux” sonata LES
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major goes by the name “Les Adieux”, meaning “The Farewells”. There is a suggestion that the sonata was written on the occasion of Beethoven’s patron Archduke Rudolph quitting of Vienna after the French attack led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1809.

37. Manhattan part RYE
The cocktail called a Manhattan is made from rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters. I make my own version of a Brandy Manhattan, using brandy, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.

41. Remedy from a doctor? SPIN
“Spin doctor” is a slang term for a professional in the field of public relations.

42. “Alfred” composer ARNE
“Alfred” is a sung work for the stage with music by Thomas Arne. “Alfred” was first performed as a masque in 1740. Arne further developed the piece into an oratorio that debuted in 1745, and then an opera that opened in 1753. The finale of all three versions is the stirring song “Rule, Britannia!”.

43. Buster Brown’s dog TIGE
“Buster Brown” was a comic strip created in 1902 by Felton Outcault. Outcault took his name Buster from the very popular film star at the time, Buster Keaton. Buster’s dog Tige, was an American Pit Bull Terrier. Apparently when Tige started to “talk” in the strip, he became the first talking pet in American comics.

45. Photographer’s accessory STROBE
In the world of photography, a strobe light is a flash unit that is free-standing, unlike on-camera flash.

49. Hebrew for “skyward” EL AL
El Al Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of Israel. The term “el al” translates from Hebrew as “to the skies”.

50. Rainier, for one MONACAN
The lovely American actress Grace Kelly led the US delegation to the Cannes Film Festival in 1955 and there she met Prince Rainier III, at a photo-op in the Palace of Monaco. Twelve months later the pair were married and Kelly retired from acting at the age of 26. She suffered a stroke while driving her car in 1982, not long before her 53rd birthday. She died in the resulting car crash, but her daughter Princess Stéphanie survived the accident.

52. Port on Italy’s “heel” TARANTO
Taranto is a port in Southern Italy (in the “heel” of the “boot”). During WWI Taranto was home port for the Italian Navy, and in WWII it was subject to air attacks by the RAF in what is called the Battle of Taranto. And, it is likely that the city gave its name to the large biting spider known as the tarantula.

53. Some dashes ENS
In typography, there are em dashes and en dashes. The em dash is about the width of an “m” character, and an en dash about half that, the width of an “n’ character. An en dash is used, for example, to separate numbers designating a range, as in 5-10 years. Th em dash seems to be going out of style, and indeed the application I am using to write this paragraph won’t let me show you one!

54. “Balderdash!” ROT!
“Balderdash” means “senseless jumble of words”. The original balderdash (back before the late 1600s) was a jumbled mix of liquids, like maybe beer and wine, or even beer and milk!

55. Flip side of Ronny & the Daytonas’ “Hot Rod Baby” GTO
The 1964 song “G.T.O” was the debut recording for the surf rock group from the sixties known as Ronny & the Daytonas.

58. Station for film buffs AMC
AMC, formerly known as American Movie Classics, is one of my favorite television channels. Although the channel’s focus has shifted from airing classic movies to including other programming, there’s still a lot of quality output. AMC’s flagship show is “Mad Men”.

63. Whistler, e.g. ARTIST
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born painter who spent most of his working life in Britain. His most famous work is the 1871 painting usually referred to as “Whistler’s Mother”. That actual title of the piece is “Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1”.

66. Illegal payments SOPS
Cerberus is a dog with three heads that appears in both Greek and Roman mythology. Cerberus had the job of guarding the gates of Hades and preventing those who had crossed the River Styx from ever escaping. A sop is a piece of food that has been dipped in some liquid, as one might sop a piece of bread in soup. There is an idiomatic expression, “to give a sop to Cerberus”, which means to give someone a bribe, or pay someone off. The idea is that if one could bribe Cerberus, give him a sop to eat, then he would let you pass and escape from Hades.

67. Mortarboard sporters: Abbr. SRS
Mortarboards, or square academic caps, are associated with school graduations all over the world, although traditions do differ. For example in Ireland (where I come from), mortarboards are only worn by female graduates.

69. This, in Toulouse CET
Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France, and is locate in the southwest of the country. These days, Toulouse is noted as home to the Airbus headquarters and is known as the center of the European aerospace industry.

70. Brooklyn __, N.Y. HTS
The part of the borough of Brooklyn known as Brooklyn Heights was the first commuter town for New York, blossoming when the a steam ferry service started to run between the Heights and Wall Street in the early 19th-century.

73. Criticism FLAK
“Flak” was originally an acronym from the German term for an aircraft defense cannon (FLiegerAbwehrKanone). Flak then became used in English as a general term for antiaircraft fire, and ultimately a term for verbal criticism as in “to take flak”.

74. Abbey nook APSE
The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

77. Actress Barkin ELLEN
Ellen Barkin is an actress from the Bronx in New York City. I mostly know Barkin from her roles in the 1989 movie “Sea of Love” and 2007’s “Ocean’s Thirteen”.

79. Bow-and-arrow sets ARCHERIES
“Archery” is the collective name for the equipment used by an archer, the bow and the arrows.

85. Lighter name BIC
Société Bic is a French company, based in Clichy in France. The first product the company produced, more than fifty years ago, was the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen that is still produced today. Bic also makes other disposable products such as lighters and razors.

86. Remedy for a freeze RESTART
A restart might be called for when a computer screen freezes.

88. Back-to-back ’90s Super Bowl champs BRONCOS
The Denver Broncos were a charter member of the AFL and so were formed in 1959 and first played in 1960. The Broncos won the Super Bowl twice, in the consecutive seasons of 1997 and 1998.

91. Fashion photographer Richard AVEDON
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. Avedon was the inspiration for the character “Dick Avery” played by Fred Astaire in the wonderful film “Funny Face” starring Audrey Hepburn. Avedon’s most famous portrait is in fact a close-up of Audrey Hepburn, whom Avedon referred to as his muse.

92. Family subdivisions GENERA
Biological classification is a method used to group organisms by biological type. The method uses a hierarchy of nested classes, with an organism being classified with reference to evolutionary traits. The major taxonomic ranks used are:

– Life
– Domain
– Kingdom
– Phylum (plural “phyla”)
– Class
– Order
– Family
– Genus (plural “genera”)
– Species

94. “The Purloined Letter” monogram EAP
“The Purloined Letter” is the third of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories to feature Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin, Poe’s famous detective. The two earlier stories were the celebrated “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Mystery of Marie Roget”.

96. Godhead, for one TRIUNE
A triune is another word for a trinity, three beings in one.

The term “Godhead” is used in many traditions, with varying meanings. In the most general sense, the term refers to the essential nature of a god or divinity. The word comes from an Old English word “godhad” meaning “godhood”, the state of being a god. In Christianity, Godhead can refer to the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

100. Doo-wop syllable DUM
Doo-wop developed in the 1940s and can be described as a vocal-based R&B music. Even though the style has been around since the forties, the name doo-wop wasn’t introduced until the early sixties.

103. United divider? AISLE
An aisle might divide up a United airplane.

104. Young salmon SMOLT
When young salmon (born in freshwater) are at the smolt stage, they become adapted to saltwater and head for the sea.

105. “__ Bulba”: Gogol novel TARAS
Nikolai Gogol was a Russian writer, born in Ukraine. Gogol wrote a lot of satirical pieces that attacked corrupt bureaucracy in Russia, which led to his being exiled. His most famous work is probably “Taras Bulba”, from 1836.

110. Ryan and Benjamin: Abbr. PVTS
“Saving Private Ryan” is an epic 1998 movie directed by Steven Spielberg, a real “must see”. The D-Day invasion scenes were shot over a two-month period on the southeast coast of Ireland.

“Private Benjamin” is an entertaining comedy movie that features Goldie Hawn in the title role. Private Benjamin is a new recruit in the US Army who joins under a misapprehension about the army lifestyle. She gets a rude awakening, and hilarity ensues …

114. Golfer Ernie Els’ homeland RSA
Republic of South Africa (RSA)

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 is a former World No. 1 and won four majors: the US Open (1994 & 1997) and the British Open (2002 & 2012).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Ranted (at) RAILED
7. Texter’s “Oh, I should also mention … ” BTW
10. Houston ballplayer, for short ‘STRO
14. Building blocks LEGOS
19. Picador’s target EL TORO
20. “Bingo!” AHA!
21. One might get caught off base AWOL
22. “Waterworld” orphan girl ENOLA
23. Five-star auctioneer? BESTSELLER
25. Five-star bridal accessory? MODEL TRAIN
27. About to explode IRATE
28. Like NASA and FEMA ALL CAPS
30. Clear up RESOLVE
31. __ death: repeat too often DO TO
32. Longest river in France LOIRE
33. Sonata, e.g. OPUS
35. They’re hung by drivers UIES
36. Five-star Ponzi scheme? GREAT PYRAMID
40. Explosive experiment A-TEST
41. Thai appetizers SATAYS
44. Author Follett KEN
45. E.U. member SWE
46. Five-star pageboy? PRIME CUT
49. “Big four” record company EMI
51. Leather ending -ETTE
53. 0.0000001 joules ERG
56. 1953 Pulitzer-winning dramatist INGE
57. “SNL” alum alongside Hartman and Carvey NEALON
59. Thinks better of it DARES NOT
61. Once called NEE
62. Go-to guy MAIN MAN
64. Cigar size ROBUSTO
65. Five-star secluded getaway? FIRST CLASS CABIN
69. CNN news anchor __ Paul CHRISTI
72. Baronial headpiece CORONET
73. Hardly around the corner FAR
76. Put under ETHERIZE
78. Knocks on RAPS AT
79. Purina product ALPO
80. Qing dynasty general of culinary fame TSO
81. Deutschland donkey ESEL
82. Slip-__: shoes ONS
83. Five-star flugelhorns? TOP BRASS
86. Backstabber RAT
87. Acquisition transaction, briefly LBO
89. Tuxedo accessory DICKEY
90. Carried on RAGED
93. Five-star spiel? PERFECT PITCH
99. Times to get ready EVES
100. Five-O booking agent DANO
101. Golden AURIC
102. Magi origin EAST
106. Mythological hybrid CENTAUR
108. Break for mom NAPTIME
110. Trumpeter Louis PRIMA
111. Five-star competition? IDEAL MATCH
113. Five-star headgear? SUPERVISOR
115. Dodger manager before Mattingly TORRE
116. Bad end DOOM
117. Like some phone nos. UNL
118. Designer McCartney STELLA
119. Related maternally ENATE
120. Massachusetts motto opener ENSE
121. The Carolinas’ __ Dee River PEE
122. Strengths ASSETS

Down
1. Bridge action REBID
2. Last Olds made ALERO
3. Where __ IT’S AT
4. Pick 6, for one LOTTO GAME
5. Language that gave us “galore” ERSE
6. __-eyed DOE
7. Cast selection? BALLOT
8. Nickname for baseball’s Durocher THE LIP
9. Shout during a charge WAR CRY
10. Native corn porridge SAMP
11. Couple TWOSOME
12. Hot __ ROD
13. 1993 A.L. batting champ John OLERUD
14. “Why don’t we!” LET’S!
15. Coming or going EN ROUTE
16. Deke victim GOALIE
17. Tapenade ingredients OLIVES
18. Least likely to blow SANEST
24. Like a fantasy land? LA-LA
26. Beethoven’s “__ Adieux” sonata LES
29. Bubbly beginning? AER-
34. Yearned PINED
37. Manhattan part RYE
38. Bailout key ESC
39. Like, with “to” AKIN
40. Slightly A WEE BIT
41. Remedy from a doctor? SPIN
42. “Alfred” composer ARNE
43. Buster Brown’s dog TIGE
45. Photographer’s accessory STROBE
47. Fitting most people UNISIZE
48. Home on the range TENT
49. Hebrew for “skyward” EL AL
50. Rainier, for one MONACAN
52. Port on Italy’s “heel” TARANTO
53. Some dashes ENS
54. “Balderdash!” ROT!
55. Flip side of Ronny & the Daytonas’ “Hot Rod Baby” GTO
58. Station for film buffs AMC
60. Nearest star to Earth SUN
62. Not see properly MISREAD
63. Whistler, e.g. ARTIST
65. Old cry of disgust FIE!
66. Illegal payments SOPS
67. Mortarboard sporters: Abbr. SRS
68. A wall may need a second one COAT
69. This, in Toulouse CET
70. Brooklyn __, N.Y. HTS
71. Density symbol, in physics RHO
73. Criticism FLAK
74. Abbey nook APSE
75. Looking up ROSY
77. Actress Barkin ELLEN
78. Rain protection ROOF
79. Bow-and-arrow sets ARCHERIES
84. Wash. summer hrs. PDT
85. Lighter name BIC
86. Remedy for a freeze RESTART
88. Back-to-back ’90s Super Bowl champs BRONCOS
90. Reel off RECITE
91. Fashion photographer Richard AVEDON
92. Family subdivisions GENERA
93. Strut PARADE
94. “The Purloined Letter” monogram EAP
95. Dices CUTS UP
96. Godhead, for one TRIUNE
97. Blemish PIMPLE
98. Java Freeze brand ICEE
100. Doo-wop syllable DUM
103. United divider? AISLE
104. Young salmon SMOLT
105. “__ Bulba”: Gogol novel TARAS
107. On the safer side ALEE
109. World-weary words AH ME
110. Ryan and Benjamin: Abbr. PVTS
112. Big load TON
114. Golfer Ernie Els’ homeland RSA

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One thought on “LA Times Crossword Answers 5 Apr 15, Sunday”

  1. The Buster Brown character was adopted by a shoe company using that name in 1904. Their ads showed Buster and his dog looking out of a shoe with the caption reading "I'm Buster Brown. I live in a shoe. That's my dog Tige, he lives in there too." That was an ad shown on an old TV show called Andy's Gang (starring Andy Devine) back in the '50's. Does anyone remember that?

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