Day: May 10, 2015

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!

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Padlock part HASP
The “hasp” of a lock might refer to more than one thing. The u-shape loop protruding from a padlock is often called a “lock hasp”, for example.

9. Yrs. before college ELHI
“Elhi” is an informal word used to describe anything related to schooling from grades 1 through 12, i.e. elementary through high school.

13. Only major league team without a no-hitter to its credit PADRES
The San Diego Padres were founded in 1969. The Padres took their name from a Minor League team that had been in the the city since 1936. The name is Spanish for “fathers” and is a reference to the Franciscan Friars from Spain who founded San Diego in 1769.

19. Polynesian getaway OAHU
O’ahu has been called “The Gathering Place”, although the word “O’ahu” has no translation in Hawaiian. It seems that O’ahu is simply the name of the island. One story is that it is named after the son of the Polynesian navigator that first found the islands. The island is made up of two volcanoes, Wai’anae and Ko’olau, joined together by a broad valley, the O’ahu Plain.

21. Aslan of Narnia, e.g. LION
In the C. S. Lewis series of books “The Chronicles of Narnia”, Aslan is the name of the lion character (as in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”). “Aslan” is actually the Turkish word for lion. Anyone who has read the books will recognize the the remarkable similarity between the story of Aslan and the story of Christ, including a sacrifice and resurrection.

22. Parthenon dedicatee ATHENA
The Parthenon is the ruined temple that sits on the Athenian Acropolis. Although the Parthenon was dedicated to the goddess Athena as a sacred building in the days of the Athenian Empire, it was actually used primarily as a treasury. In later centuries, the Parthenon was repurposed as a Christian Church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and was used as a mosque after Ottoman conquest.

26. Range ropes REATAS
“Reata” is the Spanish word for “lasso”. We tend to use the spelling “riata” in English, but sometimes can use the original Spanish word.

27. Mosaic part TESSERA
A tessera is an individual tile used in making a mosaic.

38. Garden annoyance MOLE
One of the more commonly known facts about my native Ireland is that there are no snakes in the country. A less known fact is that there are no moles either. There are plenty of snakes and moles in Britain, just a few miles away. Over a pint we tend to give the credit to Saint Patrick, but the last ice age is more likely the responsible party …

40. Prison canary? RAT
A canary is someone who sings, someone who rats out someone else.

48. Cargo unit TON
“Cargo” is freight carried by some vehicle. The term comes into English via Spanish, ultimately deriving from the Latin “carricare” meaning “to load on a cart”.

54. Pertinent APROPOS
“Apropos” comes into English directly from French, in which “à propos” means “to the purpose”. Note that we use the term as one word (apropos), but the original French is two words (à propos).

59. Greenhouse gas regulator: Abbr. EPA
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Greenhouse gases are those that absorb and emit infrared radiation, meaning that they act as an insulator for our planet. The most abundant greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane. Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have increased by about 40% since 1750, and levels of methane have increased over 150% in the same timeframe.

60. Chicago athlete in Denver? MILE HIGH CUB (from “Mile High Club”)
To become a member of the “Mile High Club”, one must have sexual relations on an aircraft.

Denver, Colorado is nicknamed the “Mile-High City” because its official elevation is listed as exactly one mile. Denver City was founded in 1858 as a mining town. The name was chosen in honor of the Kansas Territorial Governor at the time, James W. Denver.

66. Yucatán native MAYAN
The Maya civilization held sway in Central America and Mexico from about 350 AD until the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s.

The Yucatán is one of Mexico’s 31 states, and is located in the east of the country, on the northern tip of the Yucatán peninsula.

68. Bit of kelp, say ALGA
Kelps are large seaweeds that grow in kelp forests underwater. Kelps can grow to over 250 feet in length, and do so very quickly. Some kelps can grow at the rate of 1-2 feet per day.

81. One hoping to find a school ANGLER
We use the verb “to angle” to mean “to fish” because “angel” was an Old English word for a hook.

84. Gem named for a dinosaur? BARNEY STONE (from “Blarney Stone”)
Barney the purple dinosaur is the title character in the young children’s TV show “Barney & Friends”.

Blarney is a town in County Cork in the south of Ireland. Blarney is home to Blarney Castle, and inside the castle is the legendary Blarney Stone. “Kissing the Blarney Stone” is a ritual engaged in by oh so many tourists (indeed, I’ve done it myself!), but it’s not a simple process. The stone is embedded in the wall of the castle, and in order to kiss it you have to sit on the edge of the parapet and lean way backwards so that your head is some two feet below your body. There is a staff member there to help you and make sure you don’t fall. The Blarney Stone has been labelled as the world’s most unhygienic tourist attraction! But once you’ve kissed it, supposedly you are endowed with the “gift of the gab”, the ability to talk eloquently and perhaps deceptively without offending. Sure, I wouldn’t know …

92. Unprocessed information RAW DATA
Our word “data” (singular “datum”) comes from the Latin “datum” meaning “given”. The idea is that data are “things given”.

94. Hatch, e.g.: Abbr. SEN
Orrin Hatch is a Republican Senator from Utah. He’s also quite the musician, and plays the piano, violin and organ. He has composed various compositions, including a song called “Heal Our Land” that was played at the 2005 inauguration of President George W. Bush.

95. Helena-to-Lincoln dir. ESE
Helena is the capital of the state of Montana, and is known as the Queen City of the Rockies. Helena’s main street has a very colorful name, namely Last Chance Gulch.

The city of Lincoln is the second-largest in Nebraska, and is the state capital. In the days of the Nebraska Territory, the capital was the larger city of Omaha. When the territory was being considered for statehood, most of the population (which lived south of the River Platte) was in favor of annexation to Kansas. The pro-statehood legislature voted to move the capital nearer to that population in a move intended to appease those favoring annexation. As this conflict was taking place just after the Civil War, a special interest group in Omaha arranged for the new capital to be named Lincoln, in honor of the recently-assassinated president. The thought was that the populace south of the River Platte had been sympathetic to the Confederate cause and so would not pass the measure to move the capital if the Lincoln name was used. But the measure passed, the capital was moved, and Nebraska became the thirty-seventh State of the Union in 1867.

96. Islamic official IMAM
An imam is a Muslim leader, often the person in charge of a mosque or perhaps a Muslim community.

105. Don Ho’s instrument UKE
The ukulele (“uke”) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

The singer and entertainer Don Ho apparently had a pretty liberal arrangement with his wife. When Ho was touring with his two backing singers, Patti Swallie and Elizabeth Guevara, all three of them shared a room together. He had two children with each of his roommates, giving a total of ten kids including the six he had with his wife. The arrangement was quite open, it seems, with all ten kids visiting each other regularly. To each his own …

106. Doctor’s order STAT
The exact etymology of “stat”, a term meaning “immediately” in the medical profession, seems to have been lost in the mists of time. It probably comes from the Latin “statim” meaning “to a standstill, immediately”. A blog reader has helpfully suggested that the term may also come from the world of laboratory analysis, where the acronym STAT stands for “short turn-around time”.

107. Bonnie Raitt, for one ALTO
Bonnie Raitt is a blues singer, originally from Burbank, California. Raitt has won nine Grammys for her work, but she is perhaps as well known for her political activism as she is for her music. She was no fan of President George W. Bush while he was in office, and she sure did show it.

108. Gathering that may involve a wagon TEA
A tea wagon is a small table on wheels that is used for carrying the items needed for a tea party. Also known as a teacart, back in Ireland we call the same thing a tea trolley.

111. So last week PASSE
“Passé” is a French word, meaning “past, faded”.

113. Sea raptors ERNS
The ern (also erne) is also called the white-tailed eagle, and the sea-eagle.

“Raptor” is a generic term for a bird of prey, one that has talons to grip its victims.

127. Shipbuilding tool ADZE
An adze (also adz) is similar to an axe, but different in that the blade of an adze is set at right angles to the tool’s shaft. An axe’s blade is set in line with the shaft.

128. Little red schoolhouse lady MARM
“Marm” is short for “schoolmarm”, a quaint term for a female teacher.

130. Brahms’ symphonies, e.g. TETRAD
Johannes Brahms was a leading German composer from the Romantic period. Brahms is one of the “Three Bs” of western classical music, often grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven.

131. Tenderfoot NAIF
A naïf is someone who is naive, as “naïf” is the French word for “naive”.

The adjective “tender-footed” originally applied to horse, describing an animal that was young and inexperienced, not sure of foot. That was back in the late 17th century, By the mid-1800s the term was being applied to humans, with a “tenderfoot” being a novice, and particularly a newcomer to the worlds of ranching and mining in the American West.

132. Shampoo additive ALOE
Back in the 1760s, the verb “to shampoo” was an Anglo-Indian word meaning “to massage”. A century later we started to shampoo our hair.

Down
1. Like some wings HOT
There are a few stories about how Buffalo wings were first developed, most of them related to the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. If you’re looking for Buffalo wings on a menu in Buffalo, you’ll note that in and around the city they’re just referred to as “wings”.

4. Out-of-style Boy Scout shelters PUP TENTS
A pup tent is a small ridge tent, meant for use by 2-3 people. The term “pup tent” has been around since the mid-1800s. Sometimes a pup tent used to be called a dog tent.

6. Little newts EFTS
Newts wouldn’t be my favorite animals. They are found all over the world living on land or in water depending on the species, but always associated with water even if it is only for breeding. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental stages during their lives. They start off as larvae in water, fertilized eggs that often cling to aquatic plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, the first developmental form of the newt. After living some months as tadpoles swimming around in the water, they undergo another metamorphosis, sprouting legs and replacing their external gills with lungs. At this juvenile stage they are known as efts, and leave the water to live on land. A more gradual transition takes place then, as the eft takes on the lizard-like appearance of the adult newt.

9. FDR was one ELK
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) was founded in 1868, and is a social club that has about a million members today. It started out as a group of men getting together in a “club” in order to get around the legal opening hours of taverns in New York City. The club took on a new role as it started to look out for poor families of members who passed away. The club now accepts African Americans as members (since the seventies) and women (since the nineties), but atheists still aren’t welcome. The BPOE has boasted at least five US presidents in its roster of members: Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Gerald R. Ford.

12. Cricket, for one INSECT
The sound made by crickets is usually referred to as chirping, although the scientific term is “stridulation”. The sound is made by male crickets as they rub the top of one wing along a serration on the other wing.

15. Hindu duty DHARMA
In the context of Buddhism, “dharma” can mean the collection of teachings and doctrines of the faith. The term is also used to describe proper and correct behavior that maintains the natural order of things.

24. “… sadness comes __ me”: Longfellow O’ER
Here are the opening verses of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Day is Done”.

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o’er me
That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

25. Baby moose CALF
The moose is the largest species in the deer family. The name “moose” is used in American English for the animal called an “elk” in British English. What Americans call an elk is also known as the wapiti. A mature male moose is called a bull, a female a cow, and an immature moose is a calf.

31. Western chasers POSSE
Our word “posse” comes from an Anglo-Latin term from the early 15th century “posse comitatus” meaning “the force of the county”.

33. Green Giant deal? PEA BARGAIN (from “plea bargain”)
The Jolly Green Giant was introduced by Minnesota Valley Canning in 1925 to help sell the company’s peas. He was named after one of the varieties of pea that the company sold, the “Green Giant”. The Jolly Green Giant first appeared in a television commercial in 1953, walking through a valley with young boys running around at his feet. That first commercial proved to be so scary for younger viewers that it was immediately pulled off the air.

35. Former Sandinista leader ORTEGA
Daniel Ortega is the current President of Nicaragua. Prior to his political career, Ortega was a leader in the Sandinista National Liberation Front.

36. Like the Cheshire Cat’s grin TOOTHY
The Cheshire Cat is a character in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. The Cheshire Cat has an expansive grin, and at one point magically disappears in front of Alice, leaving just the grin visible.

Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin,’ thought Alice; `but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!

41. 2001 French romantic comedy AMELIE
“Amélie” is a 2001 French film, a romantic comedy about a shy waitress in Montmartre, Paris played by Audrey Tautou (who also played the female lead in “The Da Vinci Code”). The movie was originally released under the French title, “Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain” (“The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain”).

43. Tracked winter vehicle SNO-CAT
The brand name Sno-Cat is owned by the Tucker company. All “snowcats” are tracked vehicles built to work in snow, famously used in expeditions to the polar regions. The modern Sno-Cat from Tucker differs from its competitors in that it has four, independently-mounted tracks.

51. Bart Simpson, e.g. IMP
Bart Simpson is the main character in television’s “The Simpsons”. Bart’s name was chosen by the writers as it is an anagram of “brat”. Bart is voiced by actress and comedian Nancy Cartwright.

56. Slacks for the boardroom? POWER PANTS (from “power plants”)
The term “pants”, meaning trousers, is an abbreviated form of “pantaloons” that first appeared in the 1840s. Pantaloons were a kind of tights named for a silly old male character in Italian comedy called “Pantaloun” who always wore tight trousers over skinny legs.

The term “slacks” was introduced in the early 1800s with the the meaning “loose trousers”. Those early slacks were part of a military uniform.

57. Jim Davis canine ODIE
Odie is Garfield’s best friend and is a slobbery beagle, a character in Jim Davis’s comic strip named “Garfield”.

61. Buildup of fluid EDEMA
Both animals and plants can suffer from edema, a swelling cause by excessive accumulation of fluid.

62. Tip a tam UNHAT
“To unhat” is an archaic verb meaning to doff one’s hat. One doffs one’s hat, usually as a mark of respect. To doff is to take off, with “doff” being a contraction of “do off”. The opposite of “doff” is “don” meaning “to put on”.

A tam o’shanter is a man’s cap traditionally worn by Scotsmen. “Tams” were originally all blue (and called “blue bonnets”), but as more dyes became readily available they became more colorful. The name of the cap comes from the title character of Robert Burns’ poem “Tam O’Shanter”.

65. British noblemen EARLS
In the ranking of nobles, an earl comes above a viscount and below a marquess. The rank of earl is used in the British peerage system and is equivalent to the rank of count in other countries. Other British ranks have female forms (e.g. marquess and marchioness, viscount and viscountess), but there isn’t a female word for the rank of earl. A female given the same rank as an earl is known simply as a countess.

73. Inuit wear ANORAK
Anoraks aren’t very popular over here in America. Everyone has one in Ireland! An anorak is a heavy jacket with a hood, often lined with fur (or fake fur), and is an invention of the Inuit people.

The Inuit peoples live in the Arctic, in parts of the US, Russia, Greenland and Canada.

82. Jack __, treasury secretary since 2013 LEW
Jack Lew has served as Secretary of the Treasury since 2013, having held the post of White House Chief of Staff for President Obama from 2012 to 2013. Much earlier in his career, Lew was a senior policy adviser to House Speaker Tip O’Neill.

84. Spree BENDER
Both “jag” and “bender” describe periods of unrestrained activity, particularly involving alcohol. Both words have been in use since the 1800s.

85. Cold War missile prog. SDI
One of the positive outcomes of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a change in US defense strategy. The new approach was to use missiles to destroy incoming hostile weapons, rather than using missiles to destroy the nation attacking the country. The former doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction went by the apt acronym of MAD …

The phrase “Cold War” was coined by the novelist George Orwell in a 1945 essay about the atomic bomb. Orwell described a world under threat of nuclear war as having a “peace that is no peace”, in a permanent state of “cold war”. The specific use of “cold war” to describe the tension between the Eastern bloc and the Western allies is attributed to a 1947 speech by Bernard Baruch.

87. Old lab heaters ETNAS
“Etna” (after the volcano) is another name for a Bunsen burner, invented by Robert Bunsen, that is used in a laboratory.

93. Removed pieces from DISARMED
“Piece” is a slang term for “gun”.

100. Five-time Tony nominee Stritch ELAINE
Elaine Stritch was an actress and singer who had a very successful career, particularly on Broadway. Stritch was nominated for a Tony Award five times, with first nomination coming for her performance in the 1955 production of “Bus Stop”. She eventually won a Tony in 2002, for her one-woman show “Elaine Stritch at Liberty”.

102. Marquee partner COSTAR
A marquee is a large sign that is placed over the entrance to a theater. The marquee usually displays the names of the film(s) or plays currently showing.

103. Fig tree variety BANYAN
The banyan is a fig and germinates in cracks and crevices of a host tree and then sends roots down towards the ground. The roots that head down the the host give rise to a familiar name for the banyan, namely the strangler fig. The banyan tree is the national tree of India.

104. “Transcendence” actor DEPP
“Transcendence” is a 2014 sci-fi film starring Johnny Depp as a scientist whose consciousness is uploaded into a quantum computer.

116. First-century emperor NERO
The Roman emperor Nero had quite the family life. When Nero was just 16-years-old he married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.

117. Hefty volume TOME
“Tome” first came into English from the Latin “tomus” which means “section of a book”. The original usage in English was for a single volume in a multi-volume work. By the late 16th century “tome” had come to mean “a large book”.

119. Bambi family member ENA
Ena is Bambi’s aunt in the 1942 Disney film “Bambi”. The movie is based on the novel “Bambi, A Life in the Woods” written by Austrian author Felix Salten and first published in 1923. There is a documented phenomenon known as the Bambi Effect, whereby people become more interested in animal rights after having watched the scene where Bambi’s mother is shot by hunters.

121. Israeli weapon UZI
The first Uzi submachine gun was designed in the late 1940s by Major Uziel Gal of the Israel Defense Forces, who lent his name to the gun.

124. Wedding page word NEE
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Padlock part HASP
5. Boldly forward PERT
9. Yrs. before college ELHI
13. Only major league team without a no-hitter to its credit PADRES
19. Polynesian getaway OAHU
20. Small number A FEW
21. Aslan of Narnia, e.g. LION
22. Parthenon dedicatee ATHENA
23. Comment after a big raise? THE POT THICKENS (from “the plot thickens”)
26. Range ropes REATAS
27. Mosaic part TESSERA
28. Didn’t let go of KEPT
30. Takes the wrong way? ROBS
31. Scholarly piece PAPER
34. Assign ALLOT
37. Express sorrow CRY
38. Garden annoyance MOLE
39. Dark clouds, perhaps OMEN
40. Prison canary? RAT
42. Faux furs left out in the cold? FROSTED FAKES (from “frosted flakes”)
45. Row SPAT
46. Recess retort AM SO
48. Cargo unit TON
49. “Pshaw!” FIE!
50. Dwindle SUBSIDE
52. Start of many a tribute ODE TO …
54. Pertinent APROPOS
59. Greenhouse gas regulator: Abbr. EPA
60. Chicago athlete in Denver? MILE HIGH CUB (from “Mile High Club”)
63. Pad ABODE
64. Satisfied, as a debt REPAID
66. Yucatán native MAYAN
67. Arrived suddenly BLEW IN
68. Bit of kelp, say ALGA
70. Come down hard TEEM
72. Asian cuisine THAI
74. Do a farming job SEED
75. Uncouth COARSE
77. Field scurrier MOUSE
81. One hoping to find a school ANGLER
83. Skylark sound TRILL
84. Gem named for a dinosaur? BARNEY STONE (from “Blarney Stone”)
86. Life PEP
89. Physically aware SENSATE
91. Fathered SIRED
92. Unprocessed information RAW DATA
94. Hatch, e.g.: Abbr. SEN
95. Helena-to-Lincoln dir. ESE
96. Islamic official IMAM
98. Rural roadside stops INNS
99. Fair-haired castaway? BEACHED BLOND (from “bleached blond”)
105. Don Ho’s instrument UKE
106. Doctor’s order STAT
107. Bonnie Raitt, for one ALTO
108. Gathering that may involve a wagon TEA
109. Calls for NEEDS
111. So last week PASSE
112. Captures NABS
113. Sea raptors ERNS
115. Computer output device PRINTER
118. Food label reader, perhaps DIETER
120. Running buddy’s question? YOUR PACE OR MINE (from “your place or mine”)
126. Preposterous, as an idea INSANE
127. Shipbuilding tool ADZE
128. Little red schoolhouse lady MARM
129. Steady EVEN
130. Brahms’ symphonies, e.g. TETRAD
131. Tenderfoot NAIF
132. Shampoo additive ALOE
133. Covered the gray, say DYED

Down
1. Like some wings HOT
2. Warm-bath reaction AAH!
3. Yachting pronoun SHE
4. Out-of-style Boy Scout shelters PUP TENTS
5. Gently touches PATS
6. Little newts EFTS
7. Zaps REHEATS
8. Dancer’s move TWIRL
9. FDR was one ELK
10. Moment of dishonesty LIE
11. Protest on the road HONK
12. Cricket, for one INSECT
13. Bowlful next to the chips PARTY DIP
14. Put away ATE
15. Hindu duty DHARMA
16. Seized again RETOOK
17. Allow ENABLE
18. Gets boldly forward with SASSES
24. “… sadness comes __ me”: Longfellow O’ER
25. Baby moose CALF
29. Factory-built home PREFAB
31. Western chasers POSSE
32. Energize AMP UP
33. Green Giant deal? PEA BARGAIN (from “plea bargain”)
35. Former Sandinista leader ORTEGA
36. Like the Cheshire Cat’s grin TOOTHY
40. Send forth RADIATE
41. 2001 French romantic comedy AMELIE
43. Tracked winter vehicle SNO-CAT
44. Wild FERAL
47. Trick reaction OOH!
51. Bart Simpson, e.g. IMP
53. Reduce in intensity DIM
55. Quite hefty OBESE
56. Slacks for the boardroom? POWER PANTS (from “power plants”)
57. Jim Davis canine ODIE
58. Summon, with “for” SEND
61. Buildup of fluid EDEMA
62. Tip a tam UNHAT
65. British noblemen EARLS
67. Standout BIG-NAME
68. 97-Down pair, frequently ACTS
69. Passed-down learning LORE
71. Smidgen MORSEL
73. Inuit wear ANORAK
76. Cut back SLASH
78. Choral parts may be sung in it UNISON
79. Not agitated SERENE
80. Discriminating ability EYE
82. Jack __, treasury secretary since 2013 LEW
84. Spree BENDER
85. Cold War missile prog. SDI
87. Old lab heaters ETNAS
88. Kid’s adhesive PASTE
90. Struggled for balance TEETERED
93. Removed pieces from DISARMED
97. Play with songs MUSICAL
99. 31-Down quarry BANDIT
100. Five-time Tony nominee Stritch ELAINE
101. Ideally AT BEST
102. Marquee partner COSTAR
103. Fig tree variety BANYAN
104. “Transcendence” actor DEPP
110. Many a TV series DRAMA
111. In accordance with PER
114. Vending machine buy SODA
116. First-century emperor NERO
117. Hefty volume TOME
119. Bambi family member ENA
121. Israeli weapon UZI
122. Field official REF
123. Creeping evergreen IVY
124. Wedding page word NEE
125. Stamp out END

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