LA Times Crossword Answers 6 Aug 15, Thursday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
14. Actress Lamarr HEDY
Hedy Lamarr was an American actress, originally from Vienna in modern-day Austria. Not only was Lamarr a successful Hollywood performer, during WWII she was the co-inventor of the frequency-hopping spread-spectrum method of transmitting radio signals that is still used to this day in wireless communication. Impressive …

15. Sharp product HDTV
Sharp Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic goods, headquartered in Osaka. The company takes its name from one of the first inventions of one of its founders: the Ever-Ready Sharp Pencil.

16. Opera’s birthplace ITALY
Opera is a performing art involving musicians as well as singers who perform a dramatic work that combines a libretto and a musical score. The art form developed in the Italy in the late 1500s, with the first opera being recognised as “Dafne”, a work by Jacopo Peri that is now lost but was first performed in Florence in 1598. The oldest surviving opera score is also by Peri, a work called “Euridice” that was first staged in 1600. The oldest opera that is still performed regularly today is “L’Orfeo” by Claudio Monteverdi, which dates back to 1607.

17. Christian denom. EPIS
The Episcopal Church in the US is a branch of the Anglican Communion, and so is associated with the Church of England. The Episcopal Church is descended from the Church of England’s presence in the American colonies, prior to the American Revolution. The American Anglicans split with mother church, largely because the clergy of the Church of England are required to swear allegiance to the British monarch. Members of the Episcopal Church are known as Episcopalians. “Episcopal” is an adjective and “Episcopalian” is a noun.

18. EKTORP sofa seller IKEA
The furniture chain IKEA was founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943, when he was just 17-years-old. IKEA is an acronym that stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd (don’t forget now!). Elmtaryd was the name of the farm where Ingvar Kamprad grew up, and Agunnaryd is his home parish in Sweden.

20. Simply marvelous, with “the” CAT’S MEOW
Something described as “the cat’s meow” is particularly fine, the best. The term was popularized and perhaps coined by Tad Dorgan, a cartoonist active in the early 20th century.

23. Kipling title orphan KIM
“Kim” is a novel by Rudyard Kipling that was first published in serial form, from 1900 to 1901. The title character is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier who lives like a vagabond in India during the days of the British Raj. The boy grows up to become a spy working for the British.

24. Pro Bowl team, briefly AFC
American Football Conference (AFC)

25. General-turned-author Wallace LEW
Lew Wallace was a general in the Union Army during the Civil War, and was also an author. Wallace wrote a very successful and celebrated book called “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ” first published in 1880, which was made into a movie starring Charlton Heston.

27. Soft drink that sounds like a bit of footwear NEHI
The brand of Nehi cola has a name that sounds like “knee-high”, a measure of a small stature. Back in the mid-1900’s, the Chero-Cola company that owned the brand went for a slightly different twist on “knee-high” in advertising. The logo for Nehi was an image of a seated woman’s stockinged legs, with her skirt pulled up to her knees, to hint at “knee-high”.

34. “The Fisher King” Oscar winner Mercedes RUEHL
Mercedes Ruehl is an actress from Queens, New York who is noted for her Academy Award-winning performance in the 1992 movie “The Fisher King”, and for her Tony Award-winning performance in the 1991 Neil Simon play “Lost in Yonkers”.

“The Fisher King” is a 1991 comedy-drama film directed by Terry Gilliam, of “Monty Python” fame. Starring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, the movie tells the story of radio shock jock (Bridges) becomes suicidal, but who is rescued by a homeless man (Williams).

40. Shades of blue TEALS
The beautiful color of teal takes it name from the duck called a “teal”, which has dark greenish-blue (teal) markings on its head and wings.

41. Southern Russia’s __ Republic ALTAI
The Altai Republic is a federal subject of Russia, i.e. one of the 85 political divisions that constitute the Russian Federation. The Altai Republic is very mountainous and is situated in the Russian part of the Altai Mountains that also extend into Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China.

42. Pair of giraffes? EFFS
There are two letters F (eff) in the word “giraffe”.

45. Actress Hudson KATE
The actress Kate Hudson’s breakthrough role was Penny Lane in the 2000 movie “Almost Famous”. More recently, Hudson played Cassandra July on the TV show “Glee”. Hudson is the daughter of actress Goldie Hawn.

47. Seas, to Sartre MERS
Jean-Paul Sartre was a leading French philosopher, as well as a writer and political activist. He also served with the French army during WWII and spent nine months as a prisoner of war having been captured by German troops. Sartre was one of the few people to have been awarded a Nobel Prize and to have then refused to accept it. He was named winner of the prize for Literature in 1964, for his first novel “Nausea”. Before his win, Sartre knew that his name was on the list of nominees so he wrote to the Nobel Institute and asked to be withdrawn from consideration. The letter somehow went unread, so he found himself having to refuse the award after he had been selected.

49. Card game cry GIN!
Gin rummy is a variant of the slower game of standard rummy and was introduced in 1909 by one Elwood Baker and his son.

50. Never, in Nuremberg NIE
Nürnberg (anglicized as Nuremberg) is a Bavarian city located north of Munich. Historically it is remembered for the huge Nazi Nuremberg rallies, and the Nuremberg trials that took place at the end of WWII. Nürnberg is sometimes confused with the city of Nürburg in the west of Germany, famous for the Nürburgring race track.

52. No. after a period CTS
Cents (cts.)

58. Formerly employed by The Company EX-CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the successor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed during WWII. The CIA was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947. The CIA is sometimes referred to as “the Company”.

60. Nepal locale ASIA
Nepal lies to the northeast of India. Today, the state is known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. In 2008, the Communist Party of Nepal won the country’s general election. Soon after, the Assembly voted to change the form of government, moving away from a monarchy and creating a secular republic.

61. Preserves, in a way CORNS
Corned beef is beef that has been cured with salt. “Corn” is an alternative term for a grain of salt, giving the dish its name. Corned beef is also known as “salt beef”, and “bully beef” if stored in cans (from the French “bouilli” meaning “boiled”).

62. Skelton’s Kadiddlehopper CLEM
Red Skelton was an American comedian who started out in show business as a teenager working with the circus. Skelton had a very successful career on radio before moving to television in the early fifties. His popularity only began to fade in the early seventies, when he had difficulty appealing to younger audiences. Skelton spent less time performing in his latter years, and turned to his other great love … painting.

63. It operates under the Dept. of Homeland Security USCG
The US Coast Guard (USCG) has the distinction of being the country’s oldest continuous seagoing service. The USCG was founded as the Revenue Cutter Service by Alexander Hamilton in 1790.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was a created in 2002 after the September 11th attacks. Today the DHS has over 200,000 employees making it the third largest department in the cabinet (the biggest employers are the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs). The formation of the DHS was the biggest government reorganization in US history, with 22 government agencies drawn into a single organization.

65. Aperture HOLE (giving “sound hole”)
The hole(s) in the upper sound board of a stringed musical instrument is known as a “sound hole”. Interestingly, the hole itself isn’t the main source of the musical sound, but rather allows for more vibration of the sound board, which provides most of the sound.

Down
4. “The Swiss Family Robinson” author WYSS
“The Swiss Family Robinson” is an adventure novel by Johann David Wyss that was first published in 1812. Wyss was a pastor and wrote the novel as a series of episodes or lessons designed to teach his four sons good family values and the virtue of having a good relationship with the natural world. “Robinson” is of course not a Swiss name, and Wyss chose it in honor of Robinson Crusoe.

6. Three-term New York City mayor ED KOCH
Ed Koch was a Democratic Representative in the US Congress from 1969-73, and then Mayor of New York City from 1978-89. From 1997 to 1999 Koch was a “judge” on the TV show “The People’s Court”. And in 2004, he collaborated with his sister Pat Koch, and wrote a children’s book called “Eddie, Harold’s Little Brother”, a tale about Ed’s own childhood experiences.

7. Pot-au-feu, e.g. STEW
Pot-au-feu is a French stew made with beef and is similar to many stews made around the world, containing cheap cuts of meat with mainly root vegetables and spices. The name “pot-au-feu” means “pot on the fire”, and used to apply to a pot that was kept on the fire during cold weather, with ingredients being added when they became available, and stew doled out when needed.

8. New Deal dam org. TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has to be one of America’s great success stories when it comes to economic development. Created in 1933, the TVA spearheaded economic development in the Tennessee Valley at the height of the Great Depression. Central to the success was the federally-funded construction of flood-control and electricity-generation facilities.

9. Black or golf follower WIDOW
“Widow spider” is a common name given to several species of spider in the genus Latrodectus. The name comes from the reported behavior of the female eating the male after the pair have mated. The female wins the battle with the male largely because the female’s venom is three-times as potent as that of the male. The most notorious widow spider is the “black widow”. The female black widow’s venom glands are unusually large and the bite can be quite harmful to humans.

11. Bravery, in the RAF VALOUR
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the oldest independent air force in the world (i.e. the first air force to become independent of army or navy forces). The RAF was formed during WWI on 1 April 1918, a composite of two earlier forces, the Royal Flying Corps (part of the Army) and the Royal Naval Air Service. The RAF’s “finest hour” has to be the Battle of Britain when the vastly outnumbered British fighters fought off the might of the Luftwaffe causing Hitler to delay his plan to cross the English Channel. This outcome prompted Winston Churchill to utter the memorable words:

12. Banderillero’s target EL TORO
In bullfighting, the “banderillero” is the torero (bullfighter) who plants the little flags in the bull’s shoulder. The Spanish “banderilla” translates as “little flag”. I can’t say that I approve …

13. Vegas strategy SYSTEM (giving “sound system”)
Back in the 1800s, the Las Vegas Valley was given its name from the extensive meadows (“las vegas” is Spanish for “the meadows”) present in the area courtesy of the artesian wells drilled by local farmers. Las Vegas was incorporated as a city in 1905, in the days when it was a stopping-off point for pioneers travelling west. It eventually became a railroad town, although with the coming of the railroad growth halted as travelers began to bypass Las Vegas. The city’s tourism industry took off in 1935 with the completion of the nearby Hoover Dam, which is still a popular attraction. Then gambling was legalized, and things really started to move. Vegas was picked, largely by celebrated figures in “the mob”, as a convenient location across the California/Nevada state line that could service the vast population of Los Angeles. As a result, Las Vegas is the most populous US city founded in the 20th century (Chicago is the most populous city founded in the 19th century, just in case you were wondering).

21. French teacher MAITRE
“Maître” translates from French as “master”.

22. Mother __ TERESA
Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in the city that is now called Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. At birth she was given the names Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (“Gonxha” means “little flower” in Albanian). She left home at the age of 18 and joined the Sisters of Loreto, and headed to Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham in Dublin, Ireland in order to learn English. Her goal was to teach in India, and English was the language used there for instruction by the nuns. After Mother Teresa passed away in 1997 she was beatified by Pope John Paul II, a step on the road to canonization. In order for her to be beatified there had to be documented evidence of a miracle that was performed due to her intercession. The miracle in question was the healing of a tumor in the abdomen of a woman due to the application of a locket containing a picture of Mother Teresa. Documentation of a second miracle is required for her to be declared a saint.

30. Dadaist Max ERNST
Max Ernst was a painter and sculptor, a pioneer in the Dada movement and Surrealism. Ernst was born near Cologne in Germany in 1891 and he was called up to fight in WWI, as were most young German men at that time. In his autobiography he writes “Max Ernst died the 1st of August, 1914” a statement about his experiences in the war. In reality, Ernst died in 1976 having lived to the ripe old age of 85.

Dadaism thrived during and just after WWI, and was an anti-war, anti-bourgeois and anti-art culture. The movement began in Zurich, Switzerland started by a group of artists and writers who met to discuss art and put on performances in the Cabaret Voltaire, frequently expressing disgust at the war that was raging across Europe.

31. Magical item in a 1791 opera FLUTE
Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” today is performed more often than any other opera in the repertoire worldwide.

35. Elementary fellow? HOLMES
The celebrated phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” has firmly established itself in our psyche it seems, and is a relatively common “quotation”. However, the line does not appear in any of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The line does appear in the 1929 screenplay for the film “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” starring Basil Rathbone in the title role.

37. __ Bator ULAN
The name “Ulan Bator” translates from Mongolian as “the Red Hero”, and is Mongolia’s capital city. The “Red Hero” name was chosen in honor of the country’s national hero, Damdin Sükhbaatar. Sükhbaatar fought alongside the Soviet Red Army in the fight for liberation from Chinese occupation.

38. Jonquils and daffodils NARCISSI
The bulbous flowering plant known as the jonquil is a species of Narcissus or daffodil. The name comes from “junquillo”, the Spanish for “rush”, reflecting the jonquil’s long, rush-like leaves.

Daffodils are more properly called narcissus plants, a whole genus in the Amaryllis family. Ancient Greeks believe that after the god Narcissus died (while obsessed with his reflection in a pool), his remains were turned in the Narcissus flower, hence the name. Back in the British Isles, the daffodil is most famous as the national flower of Wales. It is also remembered for its appearance in Wordsworth’s poem:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

39. D.C. part DISTRICT
District of Columbia (D.C.)

44. Pivot points FULCRA
A fulcrum is a turning point associated with a lever. “Fulcrum” is Latin for “bedpost, foot of a large chair”.

53. Performance place STAGE (giving “sound stage”)
Soundproof studios used for filmmaking are known as “sound stages”.

55. Friend of Pete and Julie on “The Mod Squad” LINC
The 1999 movie “The Mod Squad” was an adaptation of the seventies television show of the same name. The part of Lincoln “Linc” Hayes was played by Omar Epps, Claire Danes played Julie Barnes and Giovanni Ribisi played Peter Cochran.

56. Cockney greeting ‘ELLO
A Cockney is someone who, according to tradition, is born within the sound of Bow Bells in the center of London. The Cockney accent is usually considered “working class”. Cockney speakers often use a wonderful form of speech called rhyming slang. So, Cockney’s drink a lot of Rosie Lea (tea), climb the apples and pears (stairs) using their plates of meat (feet).

59. Berlin beef? ACH!
The German exclamation “ach!” is usually translated into English as “oh!”

Berlin is the capital and largest city in Germany, and is the second most populous city in the European Union (after London).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Group working together CREW (giving “sound crew)
5. Evaluation TEST (giving “sound test”)
9. Surf WAVES (giving “sound waves”)
14. Actress Lamarr HEDY
15. Sharp product HDTV
16. Opera’s birthplace ITALY
17. Christian denom. EPIS
18. EKTORP sofa seller IKEA
19. Ninnies DOLTS
20. Simply marvelous, with “the” CAT’S MEOW
22. Besides TO BOOT
23. Kipling title orphan KIM
24. Pro Bowl team, briefly AFC
25. General-turned-author Wallace LEW
26. Cult following? -URE
27. Soft drink that sounds like a bit of footwear NEHI
29. Get wind of HEAR
31. Sent by FROM
32. Some bolt holders T-NUTS
34. “The Fisher King” Oscar winner Mercedes RUEHL
36. Home theater feature, and a hint to this puzzle’s 10 border answers SURROUND SOUND
40. Shades of blue TEALS
41. Southern Russia’s __ Republic ALTAI
42. Pair of giraffes? EFFS
45. Actress Hudson KATE
47. Seas, to Sartre MERS
48. Common reason for absence FLU
49. Card game cry GIN!
50. Never, in Nuremberg NIE
52. No. after a period CTS
54. Discovered by accident FELL ON
56. Is humbled EATS DIRT
58. Formerly employed by The Company EX-CIA
59. Charity ALMS
60. Nepal locale ASIA
61. Preserves, in a way CORNS
62. Skelton’s Kadiddlehopper CLEM
63. It operates under the Dept. of Homeland Security USCG
64. Album segment TRACK (giving “soundtrack”)
65. Aperture HOLE (giving “sound hole”)
66. Small meal BITE (giving “sound bite”)

Down
1. Verify CHECK (giving “sound check”)
2. Changes the color of, maybe REPAINTS
3. Where to find paste? EDIT MENU
4. “The Swiss Family Robinson” author WYSS
5. Pickup artist? THIEF
6. Three-term New York City mayor ED KOCH
7. Pot-au-feu, e.g. STEW
8. New Deal dam org. TVA
9. Black or golf follower WIDOW
10. Small step A TO B
11. Bravery, in the RAF VALOUR
12. Banderillero’s target EL TORO
13. Vegas strategy SYSTEM (giving “sound system”)
21. French teacher MAITRE
22. Mother __ TERESA
25. Sing the praises of LAUD
28. Wounds HURTS
30. Dadaist Max ERNST
31. Magical item in a 1791 opera FLUTE
33. Permeate SOAK IN
35. Elementary fellow? HOLMES
37. __ Bator ULAN
38. Jonquils and daffodils NARCISSI
39. D.C. part DISTRICT
42. Outcome EFFECT (giving “sound effect”)
43. Bending muscle FLEXOR
44. Pivot points FULCRA
46. Nail covering ENAMEL
49. “Find out” GO ASK
51. Reply from outside a door IT’S ME
53. Performance place STAGE (giving “sound stage”)
55. Friend of Pete and Julie on “The Mod Squad” LINC
56. Cockney greeting ‘ELLO
57. Smear DAUB
59. Berlin beef? ACH!

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