LA Times Crossword Answers 22 Jan 16, Friday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Alan DerKazarian
THEME: Gimme Shelter … today we have a type of shelter hidden at the end of each themed answer:

53A. Classic Stones song … and a hint to what’s hidden at the ends of 19-, 28-, 34- and 44-Across GIMME SHELTER

19A. Cleaned meticulously HAND-POLISHED (hiding “shed”)
28A. Disdainful literary review evaluation TALENTLESS HACK (hiding “shack”)
34A. Ironclad OPEN-AND-SHUT (hiding “hut”)
44A. Malice, in law CRIMINAL INTENT (hiding “tent”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 12m 29s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Cotton fabric PIMA
Pima is a soft cotton that is very durable and absorbent. Pima cotton is named after the Pima Native Americans who first cultivated it in this part of the world.

5. The Cavaliers of the ACC UVA
The University of Virginia sports teams are known officially as the Cavaliers. The unofficial nickname is the Wahoos.

8. Parkinson’s drug L-DOPA
The name of the drug L-3,4-DihydrOxyPhenylAlanine can be shortened, thankfully, to L-DOPA. Swedish scientist Arvid Carlsson won a Nobel Prize for showing that L-DOPA could be used to reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s Syndrome.

13. “What’s Going __ Your World”: George Strait hit ON IN
George Strait is a country music singer, known as the “King of Country”. The moniker seems to be well deserved as Strait has had more number one hits on Billboard’s list of Hot Country Songs than any other artist.

14. “Delta of Venus” author NIN
Anaïs Nin was a French author, famous for her journals that she wrote for over sixty years from the age of 11 right up to her death. Nin also wrote highly regarded erotica and cited D. H. Lawrence as someone from whom she drew inspiration. Nin was married to banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in 1923. Decades later in 1955, Nin married former actor Rupert Pole, even though she was still married to Guiler. Nin and Pole had their marriage annulled in 1966, but just for legal reasons, and they continued to live together as husband and wife until Nin passed away in 1977.

15. “Lincoln,” for one BIOPIC
The 2012 movie “Lincoln” is a historical drama that portrays the last four months of the life of President Abraham Lincoln. The main focus in the story is Lincoln’s work to have the US House of Representatives pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, the amendment that finally abolished slavery. “Lincoln” was co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field and Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. It’s a film I’d recommend …

17. Internet __ BOT
A bot is computer program that is designed to imitate human behavior. It might “crawl” around the Web doing searches for example, or it might participate in discussions in chat rooms by giving pre-programmed responses. It might also act as a competitor in a computer game.

18. Internet lesson plan company ENOTES
eNotes is website founded in 1998 that provides lesson plans and study guides to help students complete homework assignments. eNotes is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

22. Weather forecast abbr. SSE
South-southeast (SSE)

31. 2013 animated fantasy film EPIC
“Epic” is a computer-animated film based on the children’s book “The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs” by William Joyce. Actress Amanda Seyfried voices the main character, a seventeen-year-old girl named Mary Katherine. Author Joyce’s daughter is also named Mary Katherine in real life.

33. Fan mail encl. SAE
An SAE is a “stamped, addressed envelope”. An SASE is a “self-addressed, stamped envelope”.

39. Voice of Barney on “The Flintstones” MEL
Mel Blanc was known as “The Man of a Thousand Voices”. We’ve all heard Mel Blanc at one time or another, I am sure. His was the voice behind such cartoon characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Woody Woodpecker, Elmer Fudd and Barney Rubble. And the words on Blanc’s tombstone are … “That’s All Folks”.

41. Like MacDonald OLD
There was an American version of the English children’s song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (E-I-E-I-O), that was around in the days of WWI. The first line of the US version goes “Old MacDougal had a farm, in Ohio-i-o”.

42. Fertility goddess ISIS
Isis was the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, as well as the protector of the dead and the goddess of children.

50. __ Riddle, Lord Voldemort’s birth name TOM
Lord Voldemort (born Tom Marvolo Riddle) is the main “bad guy” in the “Harry Potter” series of books. I heard J. K. Rowling, the author of the books, on the radio some time back and she tells us that “Voldemort” is supposed to be pronounced with a silent “t” on the end, so it sounds kind of French. But when the movies came out the actors went with the hard “t”, and that’s the pronunciation that seems to prevail now.

51. Málaga title: Abbr. SRA
The equivalent of “Mrs.” in French is “Mme.” (Madame) and in Spanish is “Sra.” (Señora).

The city of Málaga is on the Costa del Sol in the South of Spain, as are the famous European tourist destinations of Torremolinos and Marbella. The Costa del Sol was made up of sleepy little fishing villages until the 1980s when the European sunseekers descended on the region. I wouldn’t recommend it for a holiday quite frankly …

53. Classic Stones song … and a hint to what’s hidden at the ends of 19-, 28-, 34- and 44-Across GIMME SHELTER
The 1969 Rolling Stones song “Gimme Shelter” is in essence a duet featuring lead singer Mick Jagger and guest vocalist, American soul singer Merry Clayton. In the original and some subsequent releases, Clayton’s given name was written mistakenly as “Mary”.

59. Debt-laden fin. deal LBO
A leveraged buyout (LBO) is a transaction in which an investor acquires a controlling volume of stock in a company, but buys that stock with borrowed funds (hence “leveraged”). Often the assets of the acquired company are used as collateral for the borrowed money. There is a special form of LBO known as a management buyout (MBO) in which the company’s own management team purchases the controlling interest.

61. Arboreal marsupials KOALAS
The koala bear really does look like a little bear, but it’s not even closely related. The koala is an arboreal marsupial and a herbivore, native to the east and south coasts of Australia. Koalas aren’t primates, and are one of the few mammals other than primates who have fingerprints. In fact, it can be very difficult to tell human fingerprints from koala fingerprints, even under an electron microscope. Male koalas are called “bucks”, females are “does”, and young koalas are “joeys”. I’m a little jealous of the koala, as it sleeps up to 20 hours a day …

63. “Lonely Boy” singer ANKA
Canadian-born Paul Anka’s big hit was in 1957, the song entitled “Diana”. Anka was the subject of a much-lauded documentary film in 1962 called “Lonely Boy”. “Lonely Boy” had been a number-one hit for Anka in 1959.

64. Not relaxed at all ANTSY
The word “antsy” embodies the concept of “having ants in one’s pants”, meaning being nervous and fidgety. However, “antsy” has been used in English since the 1830s, whereas “ants in the pants” originated a century later.

65. Pindaric __ ODE
Pindar was an Ancient Greek poet, best known perhaps for composing a series of Victory Odes that celebrated triumph in competition, most notably the Olympian Games of the day.

66. Hardy soul? TESS
The full name of Thomas Hardy’s 1891 novel is “Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented”. When it was originally published, “Tess …” received very mixed reviews, largely because it addresses some difficult sexual themes including rape, and sexual double standards (society’s attitude towards men vs women). I suppose the most celebrated screen adaptation is Roman Polanski’s “Tess” released in 1979. Polanski apparently made “Tess” because his wife, Sharon Tate, gave him Hardy’s novel as her last act before she was murdered by the Manson family. There is a dedication at the beginning of the movie that simply reads “To Sharon”.

Down
3. Home city of the WNBA’s Lynx MINNEAPOLIS
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul has six Major League sports teams:

– Minnesota Twins (baseball)
– Minnesota Vikings (football)
– Minnesota Lynx (women’s basketball)
– Minnesota Timberwolves (basketball)
– Minnesota Swarm (lacrosse)
– Minnesota Wild (hockey)

The Minnesota Wild is the only one of these six teams that plays in St. Paul, while the rest play in Minneapolis.

4. “And giving __, up the chimney … ” A NOD
“And giving a nod, up the chimney …” is from the poem “A Visit for St. Nicholas”.

The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” was published anonymously in 1823, and is better known today by its first line “‘Twas the night before Christmas”. Most scholars believe that the poem was written by Clement Clarke Moore, a theologian from New York City. Others say that it was written by Henry Livingston, Jr. a poet from Upstate New York.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash …

6. Spectrum color VIOLET
The number of colors in the visible spectrum is actually infinite because the spectrum is a continuum. However, the human eye can distinguish about 100 different colors in all. The brain tends to divide the rainbow of colors into a smaller number, seven so-called primary colors:

– Red
– Orange
– Yellow
– Green
– Blue
– Indigo
– Violet

9. “Camptown Races” refrain syllables DOO-DAH
“Camptown Races” is a comic song written in African American vernacular dialect. The song was written by Stephen Foster in 1850, and was originally title “Gwine to Run All Night”.

11. Entrée follower, perhaps PIE
“Entrée” means “entry” in French. An entrée can be something that helps one get “a way in”, an interview for example perhaps helped along by a recommendation letter. In Europe, even in English-speaking countries, the entrée is the name for the “entry” to the meal, the first course. I found it very confusing to order meals when I first came to America!

12. Coolers, briefly ACS
Air conditioning units (ACs) are room (rm.) coolers.

21. Lieu STEAD
As one might perhaps imagine, “in lieu” comes into English from the Old French word “lieu” meaning “place”, which in turn is derived from the Latin “locum”, also meaning “place”. So, “in lieu” means “in place of”.

26. Early ‘N Sync label RCA
NSYNC was a boy band from Orlando, Florida that was formed in 1995. The name of the group came from a comment by the mother of band member Justin Timberlake, who said the boys voices sounded “in sync”.

30. Top-ranked tennis star for much of the ’80s LENDL
Ivan Lendl is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. Lendl appeared in eight consecutive US Open finals in the eighties, a record that stands to this day.

36. Chili rating unit ALARM
The spiciness or “heat” of a serving of chili is often designated by an unofficial scale ranging from one-alarm upwards.

The full name of the dish that is often called simply “chili” is “chili con carne”, Spanish for “peppers with meat”. The dish was first created by immigrants from the Spanish Canary Islands in the city of San Antonio, Texas (a city which the islanders founded). The San Antonio Chili Stand was a popular attraction at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and that stand introduced the dish to the rest of America and to the world.

37. “Stand” opposite HIT ME
“Stand” and “hit me” are instructions to the dealer in the card game Blackjack.

39. Bygone telecom co. MCI
MCI was a giant telecom company that suffered a similar fate to Enron, and around about the same time. MCI’s stock price fell in 2000 and in maneuvers designed to protect the price, the company committed illegal acts. The larger-than-life CEO back then, Bernie Ebbers, is now serving a 25-year sentence in Louisiana.

40. Coastal flier ERN
The ern (also erne) is sometimes called the white-tailed eagle, or the sea-eagle.

43. Barely runs? STREAKS
People have been running around naked for an awfully long time, but the application of the word “streaking” to the phenomenon only dates back to 1973. A journalist was reporting on a mass nude run of 533 people at the University of Maryland in 1973, and used the words “they are streaking (i.e. moving quickly) past me right now. It’s an incredible sight!”. The Associated Press picked up the story the next day, and interpreting “streaking” as the term to describe “running naked”, and we’ve been using it that way ever since.

45. Ski bumps MOGULS
Moguls are the series of bumps in the surface of snow that arise naturally as a succession of skiers make turns on a slope.

52. Rich tapestry ARRAS
A famous arras is seen in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. In one pivotal scene, Polonius is hiding behind a tapestry listening to an argument between Hamlet and Gertrude. Hamlet hears Polonius, mistakes his identity and stabs wildly through the cloth, killing Polonius. The name “arras”, used for such a tapestry, comes from the French town of Arras which was famous for the production of fine wall hangings.

54. Muppet who always turns 3½ on February 3 ELMO
The “Sesame Street” character has a birthday every February 3rd, and on that birthday he always turns 3½ years old. The man behind/under Elmo on “Sesame Street” is Kevin Clash. If you want to learn more about Elmo and Clash, you can watch the 2011 documentary “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey”.

55. Future atty.’s ordeal LSAT
The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) has been around since 1948.

56. Blotter letters AKA
Also known as (aka)

A police blotter is (or used to be) a daily record of arrests made.

57. Prince George, to Prince William SON
The British laws of royal succession changed in 2013. The centuries old law dictated that males in a family were ranked higher than all females, regardless of age. The current line of sccession is:

1. Prince Charles (Elizabeth’s eldest son)
2. Prince William (Charles’ eldest son)
3. Prince George (William’s eldest child)
4. Princess Charlotte (William’s second-oldest child)
5. Prince Harry (Charles’ second-oldest son)

Under the old system, should Prince William have another son, then that male would have bumped Princess Charlotte down one rung of the ladder. Under the new system, Princess Charlotte gets to “hold her ground”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Cotton fabric PIMA
5. The Cavaliers of the ACC UVA
8. Parkinson’s drug L-DOPA
13. “What’s Going __ Your World”: George Strait hit ON IN
14. “Delta of Venus” author NIN
15. “Lincoln,” for one BIOPIC
16. “That’s terrible!” OH NO!
17. Internet __ BOT
18. Internet lesson plan company ENOTES
19. Cleaned meticulously HAND-POLISHED (hiding “shed”)
22. Weather forecast abbr. SSE
23. Heated feeling IRE
24. Like a good-sized farm TEN-ACRE
28. Disdainful literary review evaluation TALENTLESS HACK (hiding “shack”)
31. 2013 animated fantasy film EPIC
32. Wear (away) EAT
33. Fan mail encl. SAE
34. Ironclad OPEN-AND-SHUT (hiding “hut”)
39. Voice of Barney on “The Flintstones” MEL
41. Like MacDonald OLD
42. Fertility goddess ISIS
44. Malice, in law CRIMINAL INTENT (hiding “tent”)
49. To such an extent IN SO FAR
50. __ Riddle, Lord Voldemort’s birth name TOM
51. Málaga title: Abbr. SRA
53. Classic Stones song … and a hint to what’s hidden at the ends of 19-, 28-, 34- and 44-Across GIMME SHELTER
56. Take for granted ASSUME
59. Debt-laden fin. deal LBO
60. Skyrocket SOAR
61. Arboreal marsupials KOALAS
62. Plan MAP
63. “Lonely Boy” singer ANKA
64. Not relaxed at all ANTSY
65. Pindaric __ ODE
66. Hardy soul? TESS

Down
1. Cries of contempt POOHS
2. Rashly IN HASTE
3. Home city of the WNBA’s Lynx MINNEAPOLIS
4. “And giving __, up the chimney … ” A NOD
5. Yet to arrive UNBORN
6. Spectrum color VIOLET
7. Standing against ANTI
8. Department store section LINENS
9. “Camptown Races” refrain syllables DOO-DAH
10. Decide to be involved (in) OPT
11. Entrée follower, perhaps PIE
12. Coolers, briefly ACS
15. Commands BEHESTS
20. Put (together) PIECE
21. Lieu STEAD
25. Definite CAST IN STONE
26. Early ‘N Sync label RCA
27. Scratch (out) EKE
29. Rim LIP
30. Top-ranked tennis star for much of the ’80s LENDL
35. Stars’ opposites NO-NAMES
36. Chili rating unit ALARM
37. “Stand” opposite HIT ME
38. Exploit USE
39. Bygone telecom co. MCI
40. Coastal flier ERN
43. Barely runs? STREAKS
45. Ski bumps MOGULS
46. “Allow me” IFI MAY
47. Discouraging words from an auto mechanic IT’S BAD
48. More than discouraging words NO HOPE
52. Rich tapestry ARRAS
54. Muppet who always turns 3½ on February 3 ELMO
55. Future atty.’s ordeal LSAT
56. Blotter letters AKA
57. Prince George, to Prince William SON
58. Didn’t start SAT

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6 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 22 Jan 16, Friday”

  1. Not bad for a Friday puzzle. I finished relatively quickly and painlessly, but not error free. I had boohs/bima instead of POOHS/PIMA. Never heard of PIMA. There's something more frustrating about missing the very first letter of the puzzle.

    Since it's Friday, I went right for the theme. That helped a lot.

    The colors of the spectrum…AKA Mr. ROY G BIV. That's how we always remembered them.

    Ready for the weekend.

    Best –

  2. I was curious to see how Bill would define pima, and he describes it as a cotton, not a fabric. I have never seen it described as a fabric. Pima is a variety of cotton and is popular in clothing. I have piles of catalogs that say their shirts are made w/ pima cotton, but none which claim pima fabric. And nobody goes into a fabric store and requests 2 yards of flowered pima.
    I think the clue is wrong.

    Other than that, this was one of those rare Fridays where I was sure of several answers, enough get me through w/ just 2 errors. Usually I DNF.

    Bella

  3. These usually get interesting to read about to at least compare the clues with the answers, especially when I don't get enough to be able to get started on the grid like today (DNF). Of course, that's my usual for Fri/Sat grids. Maybe I'm still not doing something right. Who knows?

  4. I believe you are incorrect about Princess Charlotte. She would have been before Harry in the old system also since she is a child of the oldest son. All of William's children will and would have come before Harry or his children. Otherwise in the old system, Elizabeth would not have been Queen. According to your logic, after King George VI died, the crown would have gone to another of his brothers rather than Elizabeth.

  5. Pima is a form of ELS extra long staple cotton, a hybrid of sea island and Egyptian cotton, abot 1.5 inches staple lenght. The 'extra' lenght and commensurate strength enables the cotton yarn to be spun with more twists and more finely, with a larger 'count', and is used to make finer (and more expensive and desired ) clothing material. The fabric could be percale or supercale etc. Most Pima cultivars and varieties are themselves further hybridized.

    Puzzle was difficult but I did finish, Yeah ! a Friday.

    I'm posting this kinda late, because of various lil problems – But, …. there is a wonderful Google Doodle today on the man who started the Scovill index which is used to measure the 'heat' of various cultivars and varieties and genus of peppers. !!!! Wow, that filts into our hot chili clue ! Don't miss it if you read this before midnight.

    Funny, I was always taught to remember the colors of the spectrum as VIBGYOR, a take off on Vigor.

    Have a nice day, all.

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