LA Times Crossword Answers 24 Dec 15, Thursday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Site in a Steinbeck title EDEN
John Steinbeck considered “East of Eden” his magnus opus. Most of the storyline takes place near Salinas, just south of where I live here in the Bay Area. Two of the characters in the story are brothers Cal and Aron Trask, representative of the biblical Cain and Abel.

5. Hip-hop fan B-BOY
A b-boy is a male fan of rap-music and breakdancing. Apparently the term comes from either “Bronx boy” or “break boy”.

9. Pack with a plot CABAL
A cabal is a small group of secret plotters, perhaps scheming against a government or an individual.

14. Take-out order? DELE
“Dele” is the editorial instruction to delete something from a document, and is often written in red.

19. Old Italian capital LIRAS
The word “lira” is used in a number of countries for currency. “Lira” comes from the Latin for “pound” and is derived from a British pound sterling, the value of a Troy pound of silver.

20. *Sports section summary BOX SCORE
In baseball, the line square is a summary set of statistics for the game. It is seen at every baseball stadium, and includes the number of runs scored by each team per innings, as well as the total number of hits and errors. The more comprehensive box score includes the line score, but also shows the individual performance of each player.

22. Cummerbund folds PLEATS
A cummerbund is a sash worn around the waist by some men, usually with a dinner jacket or tuxedo. Cummerbands came to us from Afghanistan in the early 1600s.

23. Him, to Jacques LUI
In French, “lui” is the word for “him” and “elle” is the word for “her”.

24. Letters after a real name AKA
Also known as (aka)

25. Hyundai rival KIA
Kia Motors is the second largest manufacturer of cars in South Korea, behind Hyundai (and Hyundai is a part owner in Kia now). In recent years, Kia has focused on sales into Europe, and has been remarkably successful.

27. It may lead to a run ERROR
That would be in baseball …

29. *Tatum O’Neal’s Oscar movie PAPER MOON
“Paper Moon” is a 1973 comedy film that tells the story of a father and daughter during the Great Depression. The onscreen father and daughter are played by real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. The original choices for the lead roles were Paul Newman and his daughter Nell Potts, but they left the project after director John Huston also dropped out.

Tatum O’Neal is the youngest actress to win a “competitive” Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1974 when she was just 10 years old, for her role as Addie in “Paper Moon”. The youngest person to win an honorary Academy Award was Shirley Temple, who was only 5 years old when she was presented with an Oscar in 1934.

32. Jeans giant LEE
The Lee company famous for making jeans was formed in 1889, by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.

35. Beaux-__: architectural style ARTS
In France, an École des Beaux-Arts is a school of fine arts. The most famous such school is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts located on the left bank of the Seine in Paris, across the river from the Musée du Louvre. The Beaux-Arts architectural style is that which is taught at the Paris École des Beaux-Arts.

36. *Farfalle BOW-TIE PASTA
“Farfalle” is commonly referred to as “bow-tie pasta” because of its shape. The name comes from the Italian “farfalla” meaning “butterfly”.

41. One crunching nos. CPA
Certified public accountant (CPA)

42. Beehive State cap. SLC
Salt Lake City (SLC) was founded by Brigham Young, in 1847. The city takes its name from the Great Salt Lake on which it sits, and indeed was known as “Great Salt Lake City” up until 1868.

When Mormon pioneers were settling what is today the state of Utah, they referred to the area as Deseret, a word that means “beehive” according to the Book of Mormon. Today Utah is known as the Beehive State and there is a beehive symbol on the Utah state flag.

43. *One with deck skills CARD SHARK
A “card sharp” is someone who is skilled and deceptive with playing cards, particularly when playing gambling games like poker. It seems that the term “card sharp” predates the related “card shark”, both of which have the same meaning.

50. Justice Fortas ABE
Abe Fortas was a US Supreme Court Justice from 1965 to 1969. Fortas has to resign his position on the bench due to a scandal about payments received, allegedly for favors granted.

51. Bill’s “excellent adventure” partner TED
“Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” is a 1989 comedy sci-fi film, starring Alex Winter as Bill and Keanu Reeves as Ted. I don’t usually like “stoner” movies, but I found this one to be quite entertaining. Bill and Ted are two slacker students who travel through time to collect a band of historical figures for a history presentation at school.

54. Native Nebraskan OTO
The Otoe (also Oto) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestwards ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.

63. Simpson trial figure Kaelin KATO
The actor Kato Kaelin’s 15 minutes of fame came in 1964 when he was called as a witness in the trial of O. J. Simpson for the murders of his wife and Ronald Goldman. Kaelin had been staying at the guest house on the Simpson property and was called to account for some of the movements of O. J. on that fateful night.

65. Some Millers LITES
The first light beer was produced by Chicago’s Meister Brau brewery in the sixties. Miller took over Meister Brau, reformulated the light beer using the same process and became the first of the big breweries to come out with a light beer, “Lite Beer from Miller” introduced in 1973. There really wasn’t a serious competitor to Miller Lite until Anheuser-Busch finally came up with a process and a product in 1982 that they called Bud Light.

66. Comet, to some OMEN
Comets and asteroids are similar, both being relatively small celestial bodies orbiting the sun. Comets differ from asteroids in that they have a coma or tail, especially when they are close enough to the sun. The coma and tail are temporary fuzzy atmospheres that develop due to the presence of solar radiation.

Down
3. Quack’s concoction ELIXIR
An elixir is a solution of alcohol and water that is used to deliver a medicine. The term “elixir” can also be used to mean a medicine that has the power to cure all ills.

A “quack” is a person who pretends to have knowledge that he or she does not in fact possess. The term especially applies to someone fraudulently pretending to have medical skills. Our modern word is an abbreviation of “quacksalver”, an archaic term with Dutch roots that translates as “hawker of salve”, Back in the Middle Ages, quacksalvers would shout out (quack) as they sold their pseudo-medical wares.

4. Storied loch NESS
The Loch Ness monster has been talked about for centuries, but modern interest started in 1933 when a spate of sightings was reported. Those sightings don’t seem to have stopped, with photographs really sparking the imagination.

7. Jon Arbuckle’s dog ODIE
Jon Arbuckle is a fictional character, the owner of Odie from Jim Davis’s comic strip “Garfield”. Garfield is Arbuckle’s orange tabby cat. Odie is his less-than-smart beagle.

9. Place to pick a rosé CELLAR
Rosé wines get their color from the skins of the grapes, although the intensity of the color is not sufficient to make them red wines. Of the varying type of rosé wines available, we are most familiar with sweet White Zinfandels. Personally I am fond of Provençal rosé wines, which are quite dry.

10. Friend, in Haiti AMIE
The Republic of Haiti occupies the smaller, western portion of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. The rest of the island is taken up by the Dominican Republic. Haiti is one of only two nations in the Americas to have French as an official language, the other being Canada.

11. Island in French Polynesia BORA BORA
Bora Bora is one of the Society Islands of French Polynesia. The name “Bora Bora” is imitative of the Tahitian name for the island and should really be pronounced “pora pora”. “Bora bora” translates as “first born”.

12. How harness racers move AT A TROT
In harness racing, the horses race using one of two specific gaits: trotting or pacing.

21. Rod who was an A.L. All-Star for 18 consecutive years CAREW
Rod Carew is a former Major League Baseball player from Panama. Actually. Carew is a “Zonian”, meaning that he was born in the Panama Canal Zone, a political entity that existed for decades from 1903.

22. Some religious sculptures PIETAS
The Pietà is a representation of the Virgin Mary holding in her arms the dead body of her son Jesus. The most famous “Pietà” is probably the sculpted rendition by Michelangelo which is located in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. In some depictions, Mary and her son are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament, and these depictions are known as “Lamentations”.

25. Music genre for South Korean artist Rain K-POP
K-pop (Korean pop) is a genre of music from South Korea that emerged in the early nineties. It’s a bit beyond me …

37. Device that runs FaceTime IPAD
FaceTime is an Apple videotelephony application. I guess it’s similar to Skype …

39. National Enquirer fodder SCANDAL
The “National Enquirer” tabloid has been on the shelves since 1926. It was founded as a broadsheet called “The New York Evening Enquirer”. A tabloid sex and violence theme came along in 1953, which morphed into a celebrity, occult and UFO motif in 1967. The “National Enquirer” also hit supermarket shelves in 1967.

40. Middle Eastern salad TABOULI
Tabouleh (also “tabouli”) is one my my favorite dishes. It is usually made from bulgur, tomato, cucumber, parsley, mint, onion, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Just writing that list of ingredients gets my mouth watering …

45. __ chop KARATE
“Karate”, means “open hand”, and the related word “karaoke” means “open orchestra”.

47. Fryolator contents HOT OIL
A fryolator is a deep fat fryer, a kitchen appliance.

49. “From your lips to God’s ears!” HOPE SO!
“From your lips to God’s ears” is an idiomatic phrase meaning “may what you wish for come true”. I couldn’t really uncover a definitive etymology for the expression.

58. “Sing it, Sam” speaker ILSA
There is a famous exchange in the movie “Casablanca” that results in the piano player Sam singing “As Time Goes By”.

Ilsa: Play it once, Sam. For old times’ sake.
Sam: I don’t know what you mean, Miss Ilsa.
Ilsa: Play it, Sam. Play “As Time Goes By.”
Sam: Oh, I can’t remember it, Miss Ilsa. I’m a little rusty on it.
Ilsa: I’ll hum it for you. Da-dy-da-dy-da-dum, da-dy-da-dee-da-dum…
Ilsa: Sing it, Sam.

An equally famous exchange takes place a little later in the film, resulting in a reprise of the song:

Rick: You know what I want to hear.
Sam: No, I don’t.
Rick: You played it for her, you can play it for me!
Sam: Well, I don’t think I can remember…
Rick: If she can stand it, I can! Play it!

Great stuff!

60. Ref’s ruling TKO
In boxing, a knockout (KO) is when one of the fighters can’t get up from the canvas within a specified time, usually 10 seconds. This can be due to fatigue, injury, or the participant may be truly “knocked out”. A referee, fighter or doctor may also decide to stop a fight without a physical knockout, especially if there is concern about a fighter’s safety. In this case the bout is said to end with a technical knockout (TKO).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Site in a Steinbeck title EDEN
5. Hip-hop fan B-BOY
9. Pack with a plot CABAL
14. Take-out order? DELE
15. Not at all refined RUDE
16. Get melodramatic EMOTE
17. “No kidding?” IT IS?
18. Take off OMIT
19. Turkish coins LIRAS
20. *Sports section summary BOX SCORE
22. Cummerbund folds PLEATS
23. Him, to Jacques LUI
24. Letters after a real name AKA
25. Hyundai rival KIA
26. Familiar address BRO
27. It may lead to a run ERROR
29. *Tatum O’Neal’s Oscar movie PAPER MOON
32. Jeans giant LEE
34. Become compost ROT
35. Beaux-__: architectural style ARTS
36. *Farfalle BOW-TIE PASTA
39. Quick-dial symbol STAR
41. One crunching nos. CPA
42. Beehive State cap. SLC
43. *One with deck skills CARD SHARK
46. “Gotcha” UH-HUH
50. Justice Fortas ABE
51. Bill’s “excellent adventure” partner TED
52. Shot spot ARM
54. Native Nebraskan OTO
55. Complaint about equity NO FAIR!
57. Gift counter request involving the starts of the answers to starred clues WRAP IT UP
59. Scheduled to land DUE IN
60. Pointer’s choice THAT
61. Stories of the ages LORE
62. Not asleep at the wheel ALERT
63. Simpson trial figure Kaelin KATO
64. Wrongdoings SINS
65. Some Millers LITES
66. Comet, to some OMEN
67. Part of an extended sentence? ALSO

Down
1. Safe to bolt down? EDIBLE
2. Bypass DETOUR
3. Quack’s concoction ELIXIR
4. Storied loch NESS
5. Trout source BROOK
6. Not a fair shake BUM RAP
7. Jon Arbuckle’s dog ODIE
8. Moreover YET
9. Place to pick a rosé CELLAR
10. Friend, in Haiti AMIE
11. Island in French Polynesia BORA BORA
12. How harness racers move AT A TROT
13. Schoolwork LESSONS
21. Rod who was an A.L. All-Star for 18 consecutive years CAREW
22. Some religious sculptures PIETAS
25. Music genre for South Korean artist Rain K-POP
28. Prayer starter O LORD …
30. Toward the stern AREAR
31. Contest MATCH
33. Metal artisan ETCHER
36. Stocking stuffers? BARE FEET
37. Device that runs FaceTime IPAD
38. Economic decline SLUMP
39. National Enquirer fodder SCANDAL
40. Middle Eastern salad TABOULI
44. Stretches on the job STINTS
45. __ chop KARATE
47. Fryolator contents HOT OIL
48. Results of not following directions, maybe U-TURNS
49. “From your lips to God’s ears!” HOPE SO!
53. Inform against RAT ON
56. Concession ending -AIRE
57. Impact sound WHAM!
58. “Sing it, Sam” speaker ILSA
60. Ref’s ruling TKO

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