LA Times Crossword Answers 24 Aug 15, Monday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
4. Alabama protest city SELMA
The Bloody Sunday march took place between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama on 7 March 1965. The 600 marchers involved were protesting the intimidation of African-Americans registering to vote. When the marchers reached Dallas County, Alabama they encountered a line of state troopers reinforced by white males who had been deputized that morning to help keep the peace. Violence broke out with 17 marchers ending up in hospital, one nearly dying. Because the disturbance was widely covered by television cameras, the civil rights movement picked up a lot of support that day.

17. *Historic Chicago landmark co-founded by Jane Addams HULL HOUSE
Hull House was a settlement house, a haven for needy immigrants, that was founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889. Addams had seen a similar establishment in London’s East End while traveling in Europe, and decided to introduce the concept in Chicago. The name of the facility came from the existing name of the first building that was used. Hull Mansion had been built by real estate developer Charles J. Hull in 1856.

20. Angler’s basket CREEL
A creel is a basket used for catching sea creatures (lobsters, for example). Creel is also the name given to the small wicker basket used to hold fish that have been caught by an angler. “Creel” is originally a Scottish word.

23. Fishtank organism ALGA
Algae are similar to terrestrial plants in that they use photosynthesis to create sugars from light and carbon dioxide, but they differ in that they have simpler anatomies, and for example lack roots.

29. Bill, Louis and Carrie NYES
That would be “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. Bill’s show ran on Disney for 4 years from 1993-97.

Louis Nye was the stage name used by Louis Neistat, a comedy actor from Hartford, Connecticut. Nye never retired, and was working right up until he passed away in 2005 at the age of 92.

Carrie Nye was primarily a stage actress. She was married to the TV talk show host Dick Cavett.

30. Porthole view OCEAN
A porthole is a circular window in the side of a ship that provides light and air. As it penetrates the hull of the ship, the porthole cover provides a strong, watertight seal. The name “porthole” has nothing to do with the port side of a ship, and rather is derived from the French word “porte” meaning “door”. Henry VI of England hired a French shipbuilder to come up with a way mount large guns on his warships, below the upper deck. The design called for holes in the hull, and “doors” (“portes”) to be fitted for use in heavy weather.

32. Either of the first two consonants in “coccyx,” but not the third HARD C
The human coccyx is what is left of a tail that our evolutionary ancestors possessed.

34. “We __ Overcome” SHALL
The exact origins of the protest song titles “We Shall Overcome” is a little unclear. Some say that it is based on an early gospel song “I’ll Overcome Someday”, but there doesn’t seem to be much similarity between the two works beyond the titles. Early performers of the song who helped to popularize its use were Pete Seeger and Joan Baez.

44. Annual athletic awards ESPYS
The ESPY Awards are a creation of the ESPN sports television network. One difference with similarly named awards in the entertainment industry is that ESPY winners are chosen solely based on viewer votes.

46. Actor Connery SEAN
Sean Connery is most famous for playing the original James Bond in the successful series of movies. Back in his native Scotland, Connery is very active in politics and is a member of the Scottish Nationalist Party. He actively campaigns for Scottish independence from Britain and has stated that he believes Scotland will achieve that goal within his own lifetime. That seems less likely now, given the result of the 2014 Scottish referendum on independence.

47. “Midnight Cowboy” hustler Rizzo RATSO
Enrico Salvatore “Ratso” Rizzo is one of the characters in the groundbreaking 1969 movie “Midnight Cowboy”. Rizzo is a down-and-out con man, played by Dustin Hoffman.

The 1969 movie “Midnight Cowboy” is a Hollywood adaptation of a novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It’s a pretty depressing story about a young Texan (played by Jon Voight) who heads to New York City to make money as a hustler, hiring himself out to women for sex. Pretty soon the young man ends up selling his body for sex with males as well. Prior to release the MPAA gave the movie an R-rating, but the United Artists studio took advice and decided to release it with an X-rating. When “Midnight Cowboy” won the Best Picture Academy Award in 1969, it became the only X-rated film to be so honored.

49. Cantina snack TAPA
“Tapa” is the Spanish word for “lid”, and there is no clear rationale for why this word came to be used for an appetizer. There are lots of explanations cited, all of which seem to involve the temporary covering of one’s glass of wine with a plate or item of food to either preserve the wine or give one extra space at the table.

55. Stein fillers ALES
A stein is a type of beer glass. The term is German in origin, and is short for “Steinkrug” meaning “stone jug”. “Stein” is the German for “stone”.

56. Coeur d’__, Idaho ALENE
The city of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho is named for the Coeur d’Alene People, Native Americans who lived in the area when it was first explored by French Canadian fur traders. “Coeur d’Alene” translates from French as “heart of an awl”. The Native American people were given this name as they were perceived as shrewd traders by their Canadian counterparts.

65. Dutch bloom TULIP
Tulip festivals are held in a few cities around the world. The largest of these is the Canadian Tulip Festival that is held every year in the capital city of Ottawa. The tradition of growing tulips in Ottawa really started at the end of WWII. The Dutch royal family presented the city with 100,000 tulip bulbs as an act of thank for having sheltered Princess Juliana and her children while the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. The first Canadian Tulip Festival took place in 1953.

69. Aliens, briefly ETS
Extraterrestrial (ET)

Down
4. 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.

5. Novelist 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.

6. Comical Costello LOU
Lou Costello was half of the Abbott & Costello double act. One tragic and terrible event in Lou Costello’s life was the death of his baby son, Lou Costello, Jr. Lou was at NBC studios one night for his regular broadcast when he received word that the 11-month-old baby had somehow drowned in the family swimming pool. With the words, “Wherever he is tonight, I want him to hear me”, he made the scheduled broadcast in front of a live, unsuspecting audience.

7. __ Butterworth MRS
Mrs. Butterworth is a brand of syrups and pancake mixes.

8. Iron-poor blood condition ANEMIA
The term “anemia” (or “anaemia” as we write it back in Ireland) comes from a Greek word meaning “lack of blood”. Anemia is a lack of iron in the blood, or a low red blood cell count. Tiredness is a symptom of the condition.

10. Racetrack near Miami HIALEAH
The city of Hialeah, Florida is part of the Miami metropolitan area. It’s thought that the name “Hialeah” is a Muskogee word meaning “pretty prairie”. Hialeah is known as the most densely populated city in the country that does not include a skyscraper within its limits. However, the city is home to the historic Hialeah Park Race Track that first opened in 1921.

12. Animation still CEL
In the world of animation, a cel is a transparent sheet on which objects and characters are drawn. In the first half of the 20th century the sheet was actually made of celluloid, giving the “cel” its name.

13. __ lime pie KEY
The species of citrus fruit called a key lime is so named due to its association with the Florida Keys.

25. Adaptable, electrically AC/DC
Anyone with a laptop with an external power supply has an AC/DC converter, that big “block” in the power cord. It converts the AC current from a wall socket into the DC current that is used by the laptop.

26. “Waiting for Godot” playwright Samuel BECKETT
An Irishman I may be, but I have sat through so many Samuel Beckett plays (the Irish dramatist) and I have yet to come away feeling satisfied that I spent my time well. I recognize that I am in the minority, as Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot” was once voted the most significant English language play of the 20th century. Maybe I will try again one day …

27. Writer __ Stanley Gardner ERLE
I must have read all of the Perry Mason books when I was in college. I think they kept me sane when I was facing the pressure of exams. Author Erle Stanley Gardner was himself a lawyer, although he didn’t get into the profession the easy way. Gardner went to law school, but got himself suspended after a month. So, he became a self-taught attorney and opened his own law office in Merced, California. Understandably, he gave up the law once his novels became successful.

28. Film cameo, e.g. ROLE
Even in my day, a cameo role was more than just a short appearance in a movie (or other artistic piece). For the appearance to be a cameo, the actor had to playing himself or herself, and was instantly recognizable. With this meaning it’s easy to see the etymology of the term, as a cameo brooch is one with the recognizable carving of the silhouette of a person. Nowadays, a cameo is any minor role played by a celebrity or famous actor, regardless of the character played.

35. Hyphen-like punctuation DASH
“Hyphen” is a Greek word that came into English via Latin, retaining the meaning “mark joining two syllables or words”. It is speculated that the mark was introduced to indicate how a word should be sung. The term “hyphen” comes from the Greek “hypo” and “hen” and translates literally as “under one”.

36. Cookie with a Thins variety OREO
For those of us counting calories, Oreo Thins were introduced in 2015. There are only 40 calories in each thin cookie, compared to 53 calories in the real deal.

37. Rascal SCALAWAG
Scallywag is actually a term we use in Ireland to describe a rogue, usually one that is harmless, and it comes from the Irish word “sgaileog” meaning a farm servant. The American use of “scalawag” as a rogue was originally borrowed as a nickname for southern white people who supported reconstruction after the Civil War.

39. __ buco: veal dish OSSO
“Osso” is the Italian word for bone as in the name of the dish Osso Buco: braised veal shanks.

40. “Once __ a time …” UPON
The stock phrase “Once upon a time” has been used in various forms as the start of a narrative at least since 1380. The stock phrase at the end of stories such as folk tales is often “and they all lived happily ever after”. The earlier version of this ending was “happily until their deaths”.

45. Secret supply STASH
The verb “to stash” is criminal slang that originated at the end of the 18th century. It is suggested that the term is a melding of the words “stow” and “cache”.

48. ’50s nuclear trials A-TESTS
Atomic test (A-test)

50. Strasbourg’s region ALSACE
Alsatia is the Latin name for the region in France known as Alsace. Alsace is a region in the east of France that we sometimes refer to as Alsatia, its Latin name. Alsace is home to Strasbourg, a beautiful city that I had the privilege to visit some years ago. Strasbourg is home to many international organizations, including the European Court of Human Rights.

52. Balance sheet heading ASSETS
The balance sheet of a company is a snapshot (single point in time) view of a company’s financial position. The balance sheet lists all the company’s liabilities, all of its assets, and all of its ownership equity. The assets of a company, less its liabilities equals the ownership equity. The term “balance” is used because assets always balance out with the sum of liabilities and shareholder equity.

57. Once-sacred snakes ASPS
The venomous snake called an asp was a symbol of royalty in Ancient Egypt.

58. Baltic, for one SEA
The Baltic is a sea in northern Europe that is much less saline than the oceans. The lower amount of salt in the Baltic partially explains why almost half of the sea freezes during the winter. In fact, the Baltic has been known to completely freeze over several times over the past few centuries.

62. Land in la mer ILE
In French, an island (île) is a piece of ground (terre) in the sea (mer).

63. Domino dot PIP
A pip is a dot on a die or a domino, or a mark on a playing card.

White masks with black spots were commonly seen in the old Venetian Carnival. The masks were known as “domini”. The domini lent their name to the game of dominoes, due to the similarity in appearance between the mask and a domino tile.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “Just as I suspected!” AHA!
4. Alabama protest city SELMA
9. Crude dwelling SHACK
14. Sun, in Mexico SOL
15. Oak-to-be ACORN
16. Company newbie HIREE
17. *Historic Chicago landmark co-founded by Jane Addams HULL HOUSE
19. With time to spare EARLY
20. Angler’s basket CREEL
21. One thousandth: Pref. MILLI-
23. Fishtank organism ALGA
24. *Anxiety caused by confinement CABIN FEVER
29. Bill, Louis and Carrie NYES
30. Porthole view OCEAN
31. Flight-related prefix AERO-
32. Either of the first two consonants in “coccyx,” but not the third HARD C
34. “We __ Overcome” SHALL
35. Lavish affairs DOS
38. *Dress fancily DECK OUT
41. Summer shirt TEE
42. Curving ARCED
44. Annual athletic awards ESPYS
46. Actor Connery SEAN
47. “Midnight Cowboy” hustler Rizzo RATSO
49. Cantina snack TAPA
53. *Old phone feature for multiple calls HOLD BUTTON
55. Stein fillers ALES
56. Coeur d’__, Idaho ALENE
57. Braying beasts ASSES
58. Drainage conduit SEWER
60. In tidy condition, and a hint to the first words of the answers to starred clues SHIPSHAPE
64. Remove pencil marks ERASE
65. Dutch bloom TULIP
66. Scratching post user CAT
67. Inner turmoil ANGST
68. Oozes SEEPS
69. Aliens, briefly ETS

Down
1. Refuse receptacle ASHCAN
2. Like some regular news updates HOURLY
3. Claim without proof ALLEGE
4. Satirist Mort SAHL
5. Novelist Umberto ECO
6. Comical Costello LOU
7. __ Butterworth MRS
8. Iron-poor blood condition ANEMIA
9. Place for books SHELF
10. Racetrack near Miami HIALEAH
11. Reach, as a destination ARRIVE AT
12. Animation still CEL
13. __ lime pie KEY
18. Collar attachment LEASH
22. Vacation stopover INN
24. Apple discard CORE
25. Adaptable, electrically AC/DC
26. “Waiting for Godot” playwright Samuel BECKETT
27. Writer __ Stanley Gardner ERLE
28. Film cameo, e.g. ROLE
33. Mix in ADD
34. Hog’s home STY
35. Hyphen-like punctuation DASH
36. Cookie with a Thins variety OREO
37. Rascal SCALAWAG
39. __ buco: veal dish OSSO
40. “Once __ a time …” UPON
43. Nonstop ENDLESS
45. Secret supply STASH
47. Compete for a seat RUN
48. ’50s nuclear trials A-TESTS
50. Strasbourg’s region ALSACE
51. Spy on PEEP AT
52. Balance sheet heading ASSETS
54. Artist’s flat hat BERET
57. Once-sacred snakes ASPS
58. Baltic, for one SEA
59. Directional suffix -ERN
61. Color chart listing HUE
62. Land in la mer ILE
63. Domino dot PIP

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