LA Times Crossword Answers 8 Jun 15, Monday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Gareth Bain
THEME: PBS …. each of today’s themed answers comprises two words with the initials PB:

60D. “America’s largest classroom” network … or, read as a plural, a hint to 20-, 28-, 46- and 53-Across PBS

20A. Ursine kiddie-lit character with a battered suitcase PADDINGTON BEAR
28A. “Love Is a Battlefield” rocker PAT BENATAR
46A. Superman’s “dressing room” PHONE BOOTH
53A. Venerated dancer PRIMA BALLERINA

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 4m 46s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

6. Greek god of love EROS
Eros, the Greek god of love, was also known as Amor.

10. Shakespeare’s nickname, with “the” BARD
William Shakespeare is known as the Bard of Avon as he was born and raised in the lovely town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the English midlands.

14. Finnish telecommunications giant NOKIA
I do enjoy classical guitar music, but there isn’t a huge choice on CD. There is one very special piece called “Gran Vals” by Francisco Tárrega, written in 1902. This piece has a unique reputation as it contains a phrase that it is the most listened to piece of music in the whole world. Just a few bars into the work one can hear the omnipresent Nokia ring tone!

18. Cuba, to Cubans ISLA
In Spanish, Cuba for example (por ejemplo), is an island (isla).

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean. The exact etymology of the name “Cuba” seems a little unclear. Most believe “Cuba” to be derived from the Taíno terms for “where fertile land is abundant” (cubao) or “great place” (coabana).

20. Ursine kiddie-lit character with a battered suitcase PADDINGTON BEAR
Paddington Bear is a character from a series of books written by Michael Bond. Paddington is an immigrant from Peru who is found sitting on his suitcase in Paddington Railway Station in London.

23. Low-fat, as milk SKIM
What we call “skim” milk here in North America is known as “skimmed” milk on the other side of the Atlantic.

28. “Love Is a Battlefield” rocker PAT BENATAR
Pat Benatar is a singer from Brooklyn, New York. Benatar’s biggest hits are “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”, “Love is a Battlefield” and “We Belong”.

34. Tracks down, as a UPS package TRACES
United Parcel Service (UPS) is based in Sandy Springs, Georgia and has its own airline that operates out of Louisville, Kentucky.

37. LPGA golfer Michelle WIE
Michelle Wie is an American golfer on the LPGA Tour. Wie began playing golf at the age of four and was the youngest player ever to qualify for an LPGA tour event. She turned pro just before her 16th birthday …

40. Skip over in pronunciation ELIDE
“To elide” is to pass over, omit or slur a syllable when speaking.

42. Biblical beast ASS
The ass or donkey is mentioned several times in the Bible. One of the most-quoted biblical stories involving an ass is the story of Balaam. Balaam was a diviner who appears in the Book of Numbers in. In one account, Balaam is held to task by an angel for particularly cruel treatment of an ass.

46. Superman’s “dressing room” PHONE BOOTH
Superman’s comic book creators gave their title character’s alter-ego the name “Clark Kent” by melding the names of Clark Gable and Kent Taylor, two leading men of the cinema at the time Superman was created. However, they modeled Clark’s character more on the silent film actor Harold Lloyd.

49. Truman’s first lady BESS
Harry and Bess Truman met when they were very young children, at Sunday school. They were friends right through high school and became engaged in 1918 just before Harry went off to France during WWI, marrying the next year. Bess Truman never really took to the Washington scene when she became First Lady and stayed out of the limelight as much as she could. Perhaps that contributed to her longevity. Mrs. Truman lived to the age of 97, making her the longest living First Lady in US history.

51. Parisian lover’s word AIME
“J’aime” is the French for “I love”.

53. Venerated dancer PRIMA BALLERINA
The title of “prima ballerina” is the second-highest awarded to a female dancer in a company. The more prestigious “prima ballerina assoluta” is only awarded to the most notable dancers.

62. Prom gown material SATIN
The material known as “satin” takes its name from “Zayton”, the medieval Arabic name for the Chinese port city of Quanzhou. Quanzhou was used for the export of large amounts of silk to Europe.

63. Fillet’s lack BONE
A “fillet” is a boneless cut of meat or fish. The term comes from the Old French “filet” meaning “small thread, filament”. Apparently we applied the term to food as the piece of fish or meat was tied up with string after it was boned.

64. New York canal ERIE
The Erie Canal runs from Albany to Buffalo in the state of New York. What the canal does is allow shipping to proceed from New York Harbor right up the Hudson River, through the canal and into the Great Lakes. When it was opened in 1825, the Erie Canal had immediate impact on the economy of New York City and locations along its route. It was the first means of “cheap” transportation from a port on the Atlantic seaboard into the interior of the United States. Arguably it was the most important factor contributing to the growth of New York City over competing ports such as Baltimore and Philadelphia. It was largely because of the Erie Canal that New York became such an economic powerhouse, earning it the nickname of “the Empire State”. Paradoxically, one of the project’s main proponents was severely criticized. New York Governor DeWitt Clinton received so much ridicule that the canal was nicknamed “Clinton’s Folly” and “Clinton’s Ditch”.

65. Court reporter STENO
Stenography is the process of writing in shorthand. The term comes from the Greek “steno” (narrow) and “graphe” (writing).

66. Sheltered Greek promenade STOA
A stoa was a covered walkway in Ancient Greece. A stoa usually consisted of columns lining the side of a building or buildings, with another row of columns defining the other side of the walkway. The columns supported a roof. Often stoae would surround marketplaces in large cities.

68. Saudi Arabia neighbor YEMEN
Yemen is located on the Arabian Peninsula, lying just south of Saudi Arabia and west of Oman. Yemen is the only state on the peninsula that is a republic (its official name is the Republic of Yemen). Everyone over the age of 18 gets to vote, but only Muslims can hold elected office. Yemen has seen many rebellions over the centuries, and has been suffering through a Shia uprising since February 2015.

Down
2. Unconscious state COMA
The term “coma” comes from the Greek word “koma” meaning “deep sleep”.

5. High-tech eye surgery LASIK
LASIK surgery uses a laser to reshape the cornea of the eye to improve vision. The LASIK acronym stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis”.

6. Hard puzzle ENIGMA
Our term “enigma” meaning “puzzle, riddle” comes from the Greek “ainigma”, which means the same thing.

8. Norwegian capital OSLO
Oslo is the capital of Norway. The city of Oslo burns trash to fuel half of its buildings, including all of its schools. The problem faced by the city is that it doesn’t generate enough trash. So, Oslo imports trash from Sweden, England and Ireland, and is now looking to import some American trash too.

9. The Hulk’s co-creator STAN LEE
Stan Lee did just about everything at Marvel Comics over the years, from writing to being president and chairman of the board. If you like superhero movies based on the characters from Marvel Comics, then you could spend a few hours trying to spot Stan Lee in those films as he has a penchant for making cameo appearances. Lee can be spotted in “X-Men” (2000), “Spider-Man” (2002), “Hulk” (2003), “Fantastic Four” (2005), “Iron Man” (2008) and many other films.

The comic book hero called the Hulk first made an appearance in 1962. The Hulk is the alter ego of reserved and withdraw physicist Bruce Banner. Banner mutates into the Hulk when he gets angry.

10. Hispanic grocery BODEGA
“Bodega” is the Spanish term for a winery, or these days for a grocery store.

13. Dodgers manager Mattingly DON
Don Mattingly is a former professional baseball player who played his entire career with the New York Yankees. Mattingly has been coaching the LA Dodger since 2011.

26. “When __ Eyes Are Smiling” IRISH
“When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” is an American song paying tribute to Ireland that dates back to 1912. The lyrics were written by Chauncey Olcott and George Graff, Jr., and the tune was composed by Ernest Ball.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, sure ’tis like a morn in spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter, you can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy, all the world seems bright and gay,
And When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, sure, they steal your heart away.

27. Wrangler’s rope LASSO
Our English word “lasso” comes from the Spanish “lazo”, and ultimately from the Latin “laqueum” meaning “noose, snare”.

29. Kemo Sabe sidekick TONTO
“Kemosabe” is a term used by the Tonto character in the iconic radio and television program “The Lone Ranger”. “Kemosabe” doesn’t really mean anything outside of the show, and in fact was written as “ke-mo sah-bee” in the original radio show scripts. The term was created by longtime director of “The Lone Ranger”, Jim Jewell. To come up with the term, Jewell used the name of a boy’s camp that his father-in-law established called Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee.

30. Skivvies brand BVD
The men’s underwear known as BVDs are made by the Bradley, Voorhees & Day. The company was started in 1876 to make bustles for women, and is named for its founders.

The word “skivvies” is used to describe underwear, usually a cotton t-shirt and shorts. Such usage of “skivvies” originated in the thirties as naval slang. “Skivvy” has also been used as a derogatory term since the early 1900s for a female domestic servant.

39. Author Umberto ECO
Umberto Eco is an Italian writer, probably best known for his novel “The Name of the Rose” published in 1980. In 1986, “The Name of the Rose” was adapted into a movie with the same title starring Sean Connery.

45. Golfer Mickelson PHIL
Phil Mickelson is probably the most famous left-handed golfer currently playing on the PGA Tour. Less well know is the fact that outside of golf, he is right-handed.

52. Like Buffalo wings, eating-wise MESSY
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”.

54. Nevada gambling mecca RENO
The city of Reno’s economy took off when open gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931. Within a short time, a syndicate had built the Bank Club in Reno, which was the largest casino in the whole world at the time.

59. In a short time, poetically ANON
“Anon” originally meant “at once” and evolved into today’s meaning of “soon” apparently just because the word was misused over time.

60. “America’s largest classroom” network … or, read as a plural, a hint to 20-, 28-, 46- and 53-Across PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was founded in 1970, and is my favorite of the broadcast networks. I love PBS’s drama and science shows in particular, and always watch the election results coming in with the NewsHour team. PBS is currently using the slogan:

Today’s PBS – America’s Largest Classroom, the Nation’s Largest Stage and a Trusted Window to the World.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Sourpuss’ expression SCOWL
6. Greek god of love EROS
10. Shakespeare’s nickname, with “the” BARD
14. Finnish telecommunications giant NOKIA
15. Egg holder NEST
16. Three-part cookie OREO
17. Chorus in church AMENS
18. Cuba, to Cubans ISLA
19. Campus head DEAN
20. Ursine kiddie-lit character with a battered suitcase PADDINGTON BEAR
23. Low-fat, as milk SKIM
24. Fall behind LAG
25. Missile storage facility SILO
28. “Love Is a Battlefield” rocker PAT BENATAR
34. Tracks down, as a UPS package TRACES
36. Bakery fixture OVEN
37. LPGA golfer Michelle WIE
38. Puts on the line RISKS
39. Termination END
40. Skip over in pronunciation ELIDE
42. Biblical beast ASS
43. Ambassador’s skill TACT
45. Valued (at) PRICED
46. Superman’s “dressing room” PHONE BOOTH
49. Truman’s first lady BESS
50. Higher than, in poetry O’ER
51. Parisian lover’s word AIME
53. Venerated dancer PRIMA BALLERINA
60. Answered a charge PLED
61. __ horse: long shot DARK
62. Prom gown material SATIN
63. Fillet’s lack BONE
64. New York canal ERIE
65. Court reporter STENO
66. Sheltered Greek promenade STOA
67. Like a battery needing a charge DEAD
68. Saudi Arabia neighbor YEMEN

Down
1. Simple fastener SNAP
2. Unconscious state COMA
3. Approved OKED
4. Airport breeze indicator WINDSOCK
5. High-tech eye surgery LASIK
6. Hard puzzle ENIGMA
7. Get some shuteye REST
8. Norwegian capital OSLO
9. The Hulk’s co-creator STAN LEE
10. Hispanic grocery BODEGA
11. Region AREA
12. Backside REAR
13. Dodgers manager Mattingly DON
21. Puppy bites NIPS
22. Large cloth sign BANNER
25. Camera attachment STRAP
26. “When __ Eyes Are Smiling” IRISH
27. Wrangler’s rope LASSO
29. Kemo Sabe sidekick TONTO
30. Skivvies brand BVD
31. A couple of times TWICE
32. Senate staffers AIDES
33. Marsh grasses REEDS
35. Think highly of ESTEEM
39. Author Umberto ECO
41. Set free LIBERATE
44. Rubbed roughly ABRADED
45. Golfer Mickelson PHIL
47. “Search me” NO IDEA
48. Had a heart-to-heart TALKED
52. Like Buffalo wings, eating-wise MESSY
53. Scheme PLOT
54. Nevada gambling mecca RENO
55. Devoid of artwork, as walls BARE
56. Opera solo ARIA
57. List entry ITEM
58. Common opening time NINE
59. In a short time, poetically ANON
60. “America’s largest classroom” network … or, read as a plural, a hint to 20-, 28-, 46- and 53-Across PBS

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