LA Times Crossword Answers 17 Nov 15, Tuesday

Share today’s solution with a friend:
FacebookTwitterGoogleEmail

Quicklink
Jump to a complete list of today’s clues and answers

CROSSWORD SETTER: C.C. Burnikel
THEME: Border River … each of today’s themed answers contains letters at either end (the BORDERS) that are circled. Those letters spell the name of major RIVERS:

58A. It may straddle neighboring countries … and, in a different way, what each of four sets of puzzle circles graphically depicts BORDER RIVER

17A. Badminton court boundary SERVICE LINE (giving “Seine”)
23A. Trilogy with the heroine Katniss Everdeen THE HUNGER GAMES (giving “Thames”)
36A. GameCube, for one NINTENDO CONSOLE (giving “Nile”)
49A. Vehicles for James Cagney GANGSTER MOVIES (giving “Ganges”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 5m 54s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Adjust for daylight saving time, e.g. RESET
On the other side of the Atlantic, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is known as “summer time”. The idea behind summer/daylight-savings is to move clocks forward an hour in spring (i.e. “spring forward”) and backwards in the fall (i.e. “fall back”) so that afternoons have more daylight.

6. Veggies in a sack SPUDS
The word “spud” is used as a slang term for a potato and was first recorded in the mid-1800s, in New Zealand would you believe?

14. The first Mrs. Trump IVANA
Ivana Winklmayr was born in Czechoslovakia. Winklmayr was an excellent skier, and was named as an alternate for the 1982 Czech Olympic Team. She was promoting the Montreal Olympics in New York in 1976 when she met Donald Trump. Ivana and Donald’s marriage was very public and well-covered by the media, but not nearly so well as their very litigious divorce in the early nineties.

15. Plains dwelling TEPEE
A tepee (also written as “tipi” and “teepee”) is a cone-shaped tent traditionally made from animal hides that is used by the Great Plains Native Americans. A wigwam is a completely different structure and is often a misnomer for a tepee. A wigwam is a domed structure built by Native Americans in the West and Southwest, intended to be a more permanent dwelling. The wigwam can also be covered with hides but more often was covered with grass, reeds, brush or cloth.

17. Badminton court boundary SERVICE LINE (giving “Seine”)
The Seine is the river that flows through Paris. The Seine empties into the English Channel to the north, at the port city of Le Havre.

The game of badminton was developed in the mid-1700s by British military officers in India. There was already an old game called battledore and shuttlecock, so the creation of badminton was essentially the addition of a net and boundary lines for play. The game was launched officially as a sport in 1873 at Badminton House in Gloucestershire in England, hence the name that we now use.

19. Minn. summer hours CDT
Central Daylight Time (CDT)

An unofficial nickname for the state of Minnesota is “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. That nickname is quite apt as the state is home to almost twelve thousand lakes that are at least ten acres in size.

20. Bambi’s aunt 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.

23. Trilogy with the heroine Katniss Everdeen THE HUNGER GAMES (giving “Thames”)
“The Hunger Games” is a 2008 novel by Suzanne Collins, the first in a trilogy of titles that also includes “Catching Fire” (2009) and “Mockingjay” (2010). “The Hunger Games” was adapted into a very successful movie released in 2012, with the sequels following soon after. Amazon.com reports more sales of “The Hunger Games” series books than even the “Harry Potter” series.

The River Thames flowing though London is the longest river entirely located in England.

30. Captain Picard’s counselor TROI
Deanna Troi is a character on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” who is played by the lovely Marina Sirtis. Sirtis is a naturalized American citizen and has what I would call a soft American accent on the show. However, she was born in the East End of London and has a natural accent off-stage that is more like that of a true Cockney.

When Gene Roddenberry was creating the “Star Trek” spin-off series “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, I think he chose a quite magnificent name for the new starship captain. The name “Jean-Luc Picard” is imitative of one or both of the twin-brother Swiss scientists Auguste and Jean Felix Piccard. The role of Picard was played by the wonderful Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart.

36. GameCube, for one NINTENDO CONSOLE (giving “Nile”)
The Nintendo GameCube video game console was the successor to the Nintendo 64, and the predecessor to the Nintendo Wii.

Depending on definition, the Nile is generally regarded as the longest river on the planet. The Nile forms from two major tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, which join together near Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. From Khartoum the Nile flows north, traveling almost entirely through desert making it central to life for the peoples living along its length.

41. __ Friday’s: restaurant chain TGI
T.G.I. Friday’s is an American restaurant chain, founded in 1965 in New York City. Today there are over a thousand T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants in over 50 countries. I think that Friday’s has always been particularly successful overseas. I used to visit one a lot with my family when we lived in the Philippines, and I believe the most successful Friday’s restaurant anywhere in the world is the one in Haymarket Leicester Square in London in the UK.

42. Fuel from a bog PEAT
When dead plant matter accumulates in marshy areas, it may not fully decay due to a lack of oxygen or acidic conditions. We are familiar with this in Ireland, because this decaying matter can form peat, and we have lots and lots of peat bogs.

44. Youngster MOPPET
A moppet is a young child (and a variant of “poppet”).

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

The largest mosque in the world is Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Mecca, sometimes referred to in English as the Sacred Mosque or the Grand Mosque. Al-Masjid Al-Haram is home to the Kaaba, the most sacred location in Islam. Muslims face in the direction of the Kaaba when performing formal worship known as Salat.

49. Vehicles for James Cagney GANGSTER MOVIES (giving “Ganges”)
The River Ganges rises in the western Himalaya and flows through the northeast of India before crossing into Bangladesh where it enters the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges is worshipped by Hindus as the goddess Ganga, and is the most sacred of all rivers in Hinduism.

When Jimmy Cagney accepted the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1974, he addressed one of the most famous movie “non-quotes”. He told the audience “I never said ‘Mmmmmm, you dirty rat!”. The closest he ever came to saying that line, so often used by impressionists, was in the 1932 movie “Taxi!” in which he starred opposite Loretta Young. In that film he had the line “You dirty rat, I’m going to get rid of you, just like you gave it to my brother.”

53. __ Major: Big Dipper URSA
The constellation called Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called the Big Dipper because of its resemblance to a ladle or dipper. Ursa Major also resembles a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland, the “plough”.

54. Double-reed woodwind OBOE
The oboe is perhaps my favorite of the reed instruments. The name “oboe” comes from the French “hautbois” which means “high wood”. When you hear an orchestra tuning before a performance you’ll note (pun intended!) that the oboe starts off the process by playing an “A”. The rest of the musicians in turn tune to that oboe’s “A”.

55. Here, in Juárez ACA
The Mexican city sitting across the border from El Paso is more correctly called Ciudad Juárez. Juárez used to be called El Paso del Norte (the North Pass). It was to be the younger settlement on the northern side of the Rio Grande which would retain the “El Paso” name.

57. Bloke’s bathroom LOO
It has been suggested that the British term “loo” comes from Waterloo (water-closet … water-loo), but no one seems to know for sure. Another suggestion is that the term comes from the card game of “lanterloo” in which the pot was called the loo!

“Bloke” is British slang for a fellow. The etymology of “bloke” seems to have been lost in the mists of time.

62. Target of fall shots FLU
Influenza (flu) is an ailment that is caused by a virus. The virus is readily inactivated by the use of soap, so washing hands and surfaces is especially helpful in containing flu outbreaks.

63. Snoring cause, often APNEA
Sleep apnea (“apnoea” in British English) can be caused by an obstruction in the airways, possibly due to obesity or enlarged tonsils.

65. Labor Day mo. SEP
Labor Day is a federal holiday observed every year on the first Monday in September. The tradition of honoring workers with a holiday started in Boston in 1878, when a day of observance was organized by the Central Labor Union, the major trade union at the time. There was a bloody dispute in 1894 between labor unions and the railroads called the Pullman Strike, which led to the death of some workers when the US Military and US Marshals were instructed to maintain order. President Grover Cleveland submitted a “Labor Day” bill to Congress which was signed into law just six days after the end of the strike. The introduction of a federal holiday to honor the worker was a move designed to promote reconciliation between management and unions after the bitter conflict.

66. Foppish neckwear ASCOT
An Ascot tie is a horrible-looking (I think!) wide tie that narrows at the neck, which these days is only really worn at weddings. The tie takes its name from the Royal Ascot horse race at which punters still turn up in formal wear at Ascot Racecourse in England.

Down
1. Word from the bailiff RISE
Here in the US, the term “bailiff” is sometimes applied to a peace officer who provides security in a court.

3. Comedian Silverman SARAH
Sarah Silverman is a comedian, and also a singer and actress. Her material is very “edgy”, as she takes on social taboos such as racism, sexism and religion. She had a celebrity boyfriend for five years as she dated Jimmy Kimmel starting in 2002, soon after Kimmel’s divorce from his first wife.

4. Ltr. holder ENV
One places a letter (ltr.) in an envelope (env.).

5. Meditative Chinese discipline TAI CHI
More properly called tai chi chuan, tai chi is a martial art that is mostly practiced to improve overall health and increase longevity.

7. “Moby Dick” ship co-owner PELEG
The Pequod is the ship that figures in Herman Melville’s classic novel “Moby Dick”. The ship is owned by a consortium of the citizens of Nantucket Island, including Captains Ahab, Bildad and Peleg.

8. Longtime newswire org. UPI
Founded in 1958, United Press International (UPI) was one of the biggest news agencies in the world, sending out news by wire to the major newspapers. UPI ran into trouble with the change in media formats at the end of the twentieth century and lost many of its clients as the afternoon newspapers shut down due to the advent of television news. UPI, which once employed thousands, still exists today but with just a handful of employees.

12. Salvation Army symbol RED KETTLE
The Salvation Army is a Christian charitable organization that is organized along military lines. The group was founded by William Booth and his wife Catherine in 1865 in the East End of London. Booth originally described his organization as a “volunteer army”, and soon changed this to a “salvation army”. William spent much of his time preaching to the poor and became known as “the General”. Catherine focused on addressing the wealthy to gain financial support, and earned the moniker “Mother of the Salvation Army”.

13. Memory units BYTES
In the world of computers, a “bit” is the basic unit of information. It has a value of 0 or 1. A “byte” is a small collection of bits (usually 8), the number of bits needed to uniquely identify a character of text. The prefix mega- stands for 10 to the power of 6, so a megabyte (meg) is 1,000,000 bytes. And the prefix giga- means 10 to the power of 9, so a gigabyte (gig) is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Well, those are the SI definitions of megabyte and kilobyte. The purists still use 2 to the power of 20 for a megabyte (i.e. 1,048,576), and 2 to the power of 30 for a gigabyte.

18. Clever move COUP
A coup d’état (often just “coup”) is the sudden overthrow of a government, and comes from the French for “stroke of state”. The Swiss German word “putsch” is sometimes used instead of “coup”, with “Putsch” translating literally as “sudden blow”. We often use the term “coup” more figuratively, to describe an unexpected accomplishment.

26. Gambling town near Carson City 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.

Carson City, Nevada was named for the Carson River, which in turn was named for the Kit Carson, the scout who accompanied the team of European Americans that first arrived in the area in 1843. Carson City is the state capital.

30. Explosive initials TNT
TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

31. Complicated procedure RIGMAROLE
“Rigmarole” is a lovely word, used for an elaborate and complicated procedure. According to the OED, the term evolved from a medieval game of chance called “Ragman’s Roll”. I guess it was a complicated game …

33. URL part DOT
Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

35. The Beatles’ “And I Love __” HER
“And I Love Her” is a lovely ballad recorded by the Beatles in 1964. It is one of my favorite Lennon/McCartney compositions. There’s a lovely rendition of the song in the Beatles movie “A Hard Day’s Night”.

37. Omar of “House” EPPS
Omar Epps is the actor who played Eric Forman on the excellent television series “House”. Prior to playing Dr. Foreman, Epps had a recurring role playing Dr. Dennis Grant on “ER”.

38. Bygone depilatory NEET
The hair removal product “Neet” was launched in Canada in 1901, and was also sold as “Immac”. Today it is sold under the name “Veet”.

A depilatory agent is something capable of removing hair. The root of the term is “pilus”, the Latin for “hair”, and the same word that gives us “pile” (as in a carpet).

45. FedExCup org. PGA
The FedExCup is a championship trophy that has been awarded since 2007 to golfers on the PGA Tour. Players win points throughout the season, with those earning the most points entering into playoff tournaments at the end of the season.

47. “Wuthering Heights” setting MOOR
“Wuthering Heights” is the only novel written by Emily Brontë, one that she published using the pen name Ellis Bell. “Wuthering Heights” was published in December of 1847, a date chosen to take advantage of the wave of success enjoyed by Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” that had been published just two months earlier.

50. Bull rider’s venue RODEO
“Rodeo” is a Spanish word, which is usually translated as “round up”.

59. Black __: spy doings OPS
“Black ops” is the name given to covert operations, activities that are usually outside of standard military protocol and may even be against the law. Funding for black ops is usually provided by a secret “black budget”.

60. GOP org. RNC
National leadership of the Republican Party is provided by the Republican National Committee (RNC). Only one former chairperson of the RNC has been elected to the office of US president, and that is George H. W. Bush.

The Republican Party has had the nickname Grand Old Party (GOP) since 1875. That said, the phrase was coined in the “Congressional Record” as “this gallant old party”. The moniker was changed to “grand old party” in 1876 in an article in the “Cincinnati Commercial”. The Republican Party’s elephant mascot dates back to an 1874 cartoon drawn by Thomas Nast for “Harper’s Weekly”. The Democrat’s donkey was already an established symbol. Nast drew a donkey clothed in a lion’s skin scaring away the other animals. One of the scared animals was an elephant, which Nast labeled “The Republican Vote”.

61. Hoppy brew, for short IPA
India Pale Ale (IPA) is a style of beer that originated in England. The beer was originally intended for transportation from England to India, hence the name.

Share today’s solution with a friend:
FacebookTwitterGoogleEmail

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Adjust for daylight saving time, e.g. RESET
6. Veggies in a sack SPUDS
11. Sphere in the night skies ORB
14. The first Mrs. Trump IVANA
15. Plains dwelling TEPEE
16. “Watch it!” HEY!
17. Badminton court boundary SERVICE LINE (giving “Seine”)
19. Minn. summer hours CDT
20. Bambi’s aunt ENA
21. Heart CORE
22. __ one’s nose into: meddle POKE
23. Trilogy with the heroine Katniss Everdeen THE HUNGER GAMES (giving “Thames”)
28. Ballroom moves DIPS
29. Bit of buckshot PELLET
30. Captain Picard’s counselor TROI
33. Eat DINE
34. Imprecise ordinal NTH
36. GameCube, for one NINTENDO CONSOLE (giving “Nile”)
41. __ Friday’s: restaurant chain TGI
42. Fuel from a bog PEAT
43. Pretty pitcher EWER
44. Youngster MOPPET
46. Mosque official IMAM
49. Vehicles for James Cagney GANGSTER MOVIES (giving “Ganges”)
53. __ Major: Big Dipper URSA
54. Double-reed woodwind OBOE
55. Here, in Juárez ACA
57. Bloke’s bathroom LOO
58. It may straddle neighboring countries … and, in a different way, what each of four sets of puzzle circles graphically depicts BORDER RIVER
62. Target of fall shots FLU
63. Snoring cause, often APNEA
64. Disbursed SPENT
65. Labor Day mo. SEP
66. Foppish neckwear ASCOT
67. Lightens up EASES

Down
1. Word from the bailiff RISE
2. Happening EVENT
3. Comedian Silverman SARAH
4. Ltr. holder ENV
5. Meditative Chinese discipline TAI CHI
6. Outboard motor areas STERNS
7. “Moby Dick” ship co-owner PELEG
8. Longtime newswire org. UPI
9. Bear’s home DEN
10. “Catch my drift?” SEE?
11. “You’ve got to be kidding!” OH COME NOW!
12. Salvation Army symbol RED KETTLE
13. Memory units BYTES
18. Clever move COUP
22. Friend PAL
24. Prepare for publishing EDIT
25. Grand-scale tale EPIC
26. Gambling town near Carson City RENO
27. Small valley GLEN
30. Explosive initials TNT
31. Complicated procedure RIGMAROLE
32. Course served in a small crock ONION SOUP
33. URL part DOT
35. The Beatles’ “And I Love __” HER
37. Omar of “House” EPPS
38. Bygone depilatory NEET
39. Set of numbers next to a contract signature DATE
40. Round before the final SEMI
45. FedExCup org. PGA
46. “That wore me out!” I’M BEAT!
47. “Wuthering Heights” setting MOOR
48. Not at all eager AVERSE
49. Large bays GULFS
50. Bull rider’s venue RODEO
51. Roof edges EAVES
52. Public spectacle SCENE
56. Partner of sciences ARTS
58. Cry from a lamb BAA!
59. Black __: spy doings OPS
60. GOP org. RNC
61. Hoppy brew, for short IPA

Return to top of page

12 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 17 Nov 15, Tuesday”

  1. This grid was a lot harder for normal Tuesday standard and had much weirdness to it. 3 errors, one a rather stupid one. I'm amazed I even did that well given all the strangeness in this one (case in point 21-Across).

  2. This puzzle was crunchy, for a Tuesday. And I had a problem with some of the clues. Probably, thats my fault. I enjoyed it though.

    I thought Apnea was a disease, viz. causing disturbed sleep, rather than a symptom. I was wrong. I had to sleep in the same room as an apnea sufferer, just last week. It was not pleasant, and my sleep was very fitful. I wonder if I should advise him to wear a modified nose clamp – a totally acceptable scientific method to alleviate the problem. On the other hand, maybe I shouldn't – I might just end up hurting his feelings.

    One of my daughters, when she was a baby, had a tendency to just hold her breath, until she turned all blue in the face. It used to scare the heck out of us. Some babies do that, apparently involuntarily. They normally out grow it, in a couple of years.

    Have a nice day, all.

  3. I thought this was unusually challenging for a Tuesday puzzle, but I finished it without any errors, (it is Tuesday, isn't it?). I had the overwhelming urge to make the 7 Down clue "Moby Dick" ship co-owner "Peg Leg" – must be all those pirate movies I watched as a kid.

    Hope everyone has a good day. See you tomorrow.

  4. Agreed. I had a much more Wednesday-ish time on this one, but that's a good thing. One silly error in this one, I spelled PEAT PEET and couldn't figure out what a DETE number on a contract is. Ouch.

    I always thought it was RIG-a-MAROLE, but then again I had no idea it was a real word in the first place. It is an accepted alternate spelling so I wasn't wrong altogether.

    Best-

  5. On the first pass across I thought I was a goner.
    Veggies in a sack? Bambi's aunt?
    Target of fall shots? Meditative Chinese discipline?
    Sheesh, it's only Tuesday!I thought I was up the river without a paddle. ^0^
    It all came together despite TROI and PELEG.
    Know nothing about NINTENDO or HUNGER GAMES.
    See you all back here tomorrow!

  6. I'm late to this party, but I also appreciate Bill's hard work. I'd never know what was going on w/o him, that's for sure! I also appreciate the civilized tone of the commenters. Obviously a nice bunch of people!

    I was sure the logo of the Salvation Army is a red shield, which it is, and I rarely know anything abt computers beyond how to click, so the NE corner was mostly empty.

    In my family, the word is rigamarole, so had to force that one w/ the crosses.

    Bella

  7. @Carrie
    I just saw your comment from last night. I should have guessed you were a teacher. You have that excited exuberant (is that redundant?) personality all good teachers have. Whatever you teach my guess is no one falls asleep in your classes.

    Best –

  8. Easy, but never heard of IPA or ACA. Also thought RIGMAROLE was rigamarole, all these years.

    @Michaels – I thought the ship owner was Wooden Eye; I hink it was all those bad jokes I know

    @Vidwan – the trouble is that if you put a clothespin on their noses, they just start choking and wake up – and deny they were asleep.

  9. On a side note-since he retired a few yrs ago, my cousin's husband has been a Salvation Army bell-ringer every Dec. He has been their highest collecting ringer every yr, a very friendly, people-loving guy stationed in front of a grocery store. If memory serves, he collects somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000 each Dec.! That's a lot of loose change.

    Bella

  10. Pretty easy puzzle, but not a breeze. I had SAGA instead of EPIC, and I still think it fits the clue better, if not the grid.
    What's with PELEG?! I haven't read Moby Dick, but it seems like a sailor's pun, being so close to the term "pegleg!" I suppose that's not the case, but now I kinda want to Google it (as opposed to actually reading the novel, of course…)
    @Jeff~~yes, one has to be pretty animated–and wacky–to be a teacher. In 30 years of classroom teaching, I have never (to my knowledge) had a student fall asleep. Nowadays, I primarily give private lessons, and it would REALLY be upsetting if a student fell asleep in a one-on-one setting!!!
    Back tomorrow 😀
    Be well~~™

Comments are closed.