LA Times Crossword Answers 4 Mar 16, Friday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Tom Pepper & Marcia J. Brott
THEME: Punny Hangouts … each of today’s themed answers is a common word or phrase, but interpreted as some kind of “hangout”.

17A. Hangout for Hyacinth in “Fantasia”? HIPPO CAMPUS (from “hippocampus”)
28A. Hangout for Tchaikovsky’s Odile? SWAN DIVE
37A. Hangout for Heckle and Jeckle? CROW BAR (from “crowbar”)
42A. Hangout for Mickey and Minnie? MOUSE PAD (from “mousepad”)
57A. Hangout for Garfield? KITTY CORNER (from “kitty-corner”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 9m 32s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

11. ’80s defense prog. SDI
One of the positive outcomes of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, also “Star Wars”) was a change in US defense strategy. The new approach was to use missiles to destroy incoming hostile weapons, rather than using missiles to destroy the nation attacking the country. The former doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction went by the apt acronym of MAD …

17. Hangout for Hyacinth in “Fantasia”? HIPPO CAMPUS (from “hippocampus”)
Hyacinth Hippo is a character in the “Dance of the Hours” segment of the Disney movie “Fantasia”.

“Fantasia” was Disney’s third feature length movie, released in 1940. The film had a disappointing critical reception and pushed the Disney company into financial difficulties. RKO took over the film’s distribution in 1946. The folks at RKO cut a full hour off the running time and relaunched the movie into a successful run. If you haven’t seen “Fantasia”, I urge you to do so. It’s a real delight …

Seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus. The genus name comes from the Greek “hippo” meaning “horse” and “kampos” meaning “sea monster”. It’s the male seahorse who carries the fertilized eggs, and not the females. The region of the brain known as the hippocampus, is so called because it resembles a seahorse in shape.

23. Moon observation MARE
A “mare” is a large dark area on the moon. “Mare” is the Latin for “sea. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Mare Tranquillitatis, the “Sea of Tranquility”.

25. Bk. before Job ESTH
Esther was a Jewish queen, wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus, and the heroine of the Book of Esther in the Bible. By the way, Esther is the only book in the Bible that doesn’t mention the word “God”.

26. “Skyfall” singer ADELE
Adele is the stage name of English singer Adele Adkins. Adele’s debut album is “19”, named after the age she was during the album’s production. Her second album was even more successful than the first. Called “21”, the second album was released three years after the first, when Adele was three years older.

I have not been a fan of Daniel Craig as James Bond (preferring Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan in the role). However, I saw “Skyfall” when it first came out and have been won over. “Skyfall” is one of the best Bond films so far, in my humble opinion. And, Adele’s rendition of the title song is an added plus …

28. Hangout for Tchaikovsky’s Odile? SWAN DIVE
“Swan Lake” is such a delightfully light and enjoyable ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. “Swan Lake” tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by a sorcerer. The ballet also features Odile, Odette’s “evil twin”. Odile is disguised to look like Odette with the goal of tricking the prince to fall in love with her. In the ballet, the roles of Odette and Odile are played by the same ballerina.

32. Dendrite counterpart AXON
A nerve cell is more correctly called a neuron. The branched projections that receive electrochemical signals from other neurons are known as dendrites. The long nerve fiber that conducts signals away from the neuron is known as the axon. A neuron that has no definite axon is referred to as “apolar” or “nonpolar”. In apolar neurons the nerve impulses radiate in all directions.

33. Mediterranean country GREECE
Someone from Greece can be called a Hellene. “Ellas” is the Greek word for “Greece”, the name of the country. Greece is also known as the “Hellenic” Republic.

36. Pewter part TIN
Pewter is a relatively soft alloy that is made up mostly of tin, with some copper, antimony, bismuth and lead.

37. Hangout for Heckle and Jeckle? CROW BAR (from “crowbar”)
Heckle and Jeckle are two animated magpies who star in a series of Terrytoons cartoon shorts that were made from 1946 right up to 1981. Magpies are birds in the crow family.

38. iPhone, e.g. PDA
Personal digital assistant (PDA)

39. Lawyer letters ESQ
The title “esquire” is of British origin and is used differently today depending on whether one is in the US or the UK. Here in America the term is usually reserved for those practicing the law (both male and female). In the UK, “esquire” is a term of gentle respect reserved for a male who has no other title that one can use. So a mere commoner like me might receive a letter from the bank say, addressed to W. E. Butler Esq.

46. Panda maker FIAT
The Panda is an incredibly successful model of car produced by Fiat since 1980. Designed as a city car, over 6 million Pandas have been sold.

48. Explicit message SEXT
“Sexting” (a portmanteau of “sex” and “texting”) is the sending of explicit dialog and images between cell phones. The term “sexting” was first coined by the UK’s “Sunday Telegraph Magazine” in a 2005 article. Apparently the practice is “rampant” among teens and young adults. Whatever happened to dinner and a movie …?

49. Eleanor’s successor BESS
Eleanor Roosevelt was the daughter of Elliot, brother to President Theodore Roosevelt. Eleanor met Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was her father’s fifth cousin, in 1902, and the two started “walking out together” the following year after they both attended a White House dinner with President Roosevelt.

Harry and Bess Truman met when they were very young children, at Sunday school. They were friends right through high school and became engaged in 1918 just before Harry went off to France during WWI, marrying the next year. Bess Truman never really took to the Washington scene when she became First Lady and stayed out of the limelight as much as she could. Perhaps that contributed to her longevity. Mrs. Truman lived to the age of 97, making her the longest living First Lady in US history.

56. Ab __: initially OVO
“Ab ovo” translates literally from Latin as “from the egg”, and is used in English to mean “from the beginning”.

57. Hangout for Garfield? KITTY CORNER (from “kitty-corner”)
“Garfield” is a comic strip drawn by Jim Davis since 1978. Garfield is an orange tabby cat. Davis named his cartoon hero Garfield after his own grandfather.

“Kitty-corner” means “diagonally opposite”. Apparently, the term is used mainly in the north and west of the US.

59. Like a fiddle? FIT
Someone who is “as fit as a fiddle” is very fit, very well. When the idiom was coined around 1600, the phrase meant “suitable for purpose” as “fit” was more often used in that sense.

61. Tenderfoot TYRO
A tyro (also “tiro”) is a beginner or a novice. “Tyro” comes into English from Latin, in which “tiro” means “a recruit”.

The adjective “tender-footed” originally applied to horse, describing an animal that was young and inexperienced, not sure of foot. That was back in the late 17th century, By the mid-1800s the term was being applied to humans, with a “tenderfoot” being a novice, and particularly a newcomer to the worlds of ranching and mining in the American West.

63. 1979 title role for Vanessa AGATHA
“Agatha” is a 1979 thriller film about the crime writer Agatha Christie. The movie focuses on the actual 12-day disappearance of the author, a disappearance that remains unsolved to this day. “Agatha” offers an explanation for the disappearance, although the Agatha Christie estate strongly disagrees with that explanation and tried to block the making of the film. The film has a marvelous cast including Dustin Hoffman and Timothy Dalton, and Vanessa Redgrave in the title role. I haven’t seen this one, although it is now on “the list” …

64. Simon __ SAYS
“Simon Says” is a kids’ game. The idea is for the players of the game to obey the “controller” who gives instructions. But the players should only obey when the controller uses the words, “Simon says …”. The game has very old roots, with a Latin version that uses the words “Cicero dicit fac hoc” (Cicero says do this).

Down
2. Story of a lifetime OBIT
“Obituary” comes from the Latin “obituaris”, originally the record of the death of a person, although the literal meaning is “pertaining to death”.

3. Canine filler ALPO
Alpo is a brand of dog food first produced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?

4. Some bank agents REPO MEN
Repossession (repo)

5. Japanese IT services giant NEC
NEC is the name that the Nippon Electric Company chose for itself outside of Japan after a rebranding exercise in 1983.

7. Maker of earthquake pills and dehydrated boulders ACME
The Acme Corporation is a fictional company used mainly by Looney Tunes, and within the Looney Tunes empire it was used mostly in the “Road Runner” cartoons. Wile E. Coyote was always receiving a new piece of gear from Acme designed to finally capture the Road Runner, but the equipment always led to his downfall instead.

9. Oscar winner Penelope CRUZ
Penélope Cruz is an actress from Madrid, Spain. Cruz was the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar, and to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

10. Vulcan and Klingon, briefly ETS
Vulcans are an alien race in the “Star Trek” franchise. The most famous (half) Vulcan is Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy. Spock’s father is a Vulcan, and his mother is human.

Klingons are a warrior race often featured in the “Star Trek” franchise of shows. Back in the first “Star Trek” movie, the actor James Doohan (who played “Scottie”) put together some Klingon dialogue that was used in the film. For subsequent movies, the American linguist Marc Okrand was commissioned to develop a working Klingon language, which he duly did, using the original words from Doohan as its basis.

12. AFI’s third-greatest movie villain DARTH VADER
The American Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1967 by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). One of the AFI’s more visible programs is the “100 Year Series”, including lists of Best Movies in several categories and a list of the Best Movie Quotes in 100 years of movie-making.

The top 5 movie villains in the American Film Institute’s list “100 Years … 100 Heroes & Villains” are:

1. Dr. Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs”
2. Norman Bates in “Psycho”
3. Darth Vader in “The Empire Strikes Back”
4. The Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz”
5. Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”

That’s a pretty good list …

13. Bad day for Caesar IDES
Julius Caesar was assassinated on the 15th (the ides) of March, 44 BC. He was attacked by a group of sixty people in the Roman Senate, and was stabbed 23 times. The first to strike a blow was Servilius Casca, who attacked Caesar from behind and stabbed him in the neck. In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, Casca utters the words “Speak, hands, for me!” just before making the fatal blow. The following line, uttered by Caesar, is more famous though: “Et tu, Brute?”

18. Hydrated gemstone OPAL
Chemically speaking, opal gemstones are a hydrated form of silica. The water content of opals is usually between 6 and 10%. Who’d a thunk it …?

22. ’60s trip cause LSD
LSD (colloquially known as “acid”) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …

25. U.S. dept. with a lightning bolt on its seal ENER
The US Department of Energy (DOE) came into being largely as a result of the 1973 oil crisis. The DOE was founded in 1977 by the Carter administration. The DOE is responsible for regulating the production of nuclear power, and it is also responsible for the nation’s nuclear weapons. The official DOE seal features a lighting bolt as well as symbols denoting five sources of energy: the sun, an atom, an oil derrick, a windmill and a dynamo.

26. War on Terror epithet AXIS OF EVIL
The “axis of evil” is a term coined by President George W. Bush, describing the regimes in Iran, Iraq and North Korea. The president introduced the phrase in his 2002 State of the Union address.

27. “Ingenious gentleman” of classic fiction DON QUIXOTE
The full name of Cervantes’s novel is “The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha”. In the story, Don Quixote is a retired country gentleman who heads out as a knight-errant and who renames himself Don Quixote of la Mancha. In his mind he designates a neighboring farm girl called Aldonza Lorenzo as his lady love, and renames her Dulcinea del Toboso.

28. Basted, say SEWED
“To baste” is to sew loosely, just holding a join in a fabric together temporarily using large running stitches.

31. Baroque and Classical ERAS
The repertoire of classical music is usually divided by historians into various eras. The most common of these periods are:

– Medieval (c. 500-1400)
– Renaissance (c. 1400-1600)
– Baroque (c. 1600-1760)
– Classical (c. 1730-1820)
– Romantic (c. 1780-1900)
– 20th-Century (c. 1900-2000)

34. Portuguese cape ROCA
Cabo da Roca (also “Cape Roca”) is the westernmost point of mainland Portugal, and indeed mainland Europe. It lies about 35 miles from Lisbon, to the west. Cabo da Roca was described by the poet Luís de Camões as the place “where the land ends and the sea begins”.

37. Tech news website CNET
c|net is an excellent technology website. c|net started out in 1994 as a television network specializing in technology news. The host of “American Idol”, Ryan Seacrest, started off his career as host of a c|net show.

48. Couch potato’s spot SOFA
“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

49. Cherry variety BING
The bing cherry is the most widely grown sweet cherry in the US. The cultivar was created in Oregon in 1875 by Seth Lewelling. Lewelling was a horticulturist, and he named the cherry for his Chinese foreman Ah Bing.

50. Sundance Kid’s gal ETTA
Etta Place is the schoolteacher character played by the lovely Katharine Ross in the 1969 movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”.

53. Irish New Ager ENYA
Enya’s real name is Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, which can translate from Irish into Enya Brennan. Her Donegal family (in the northwest of Ireland) formed a band called Clannad, which included Enya. In 1980 Enya launched her very successful solo career, eventually becoming Ireland’s best-selling solo musician. And, she sure does turn up a lot in crosswords!

New-Age music is created to provide a relaxing and stress-free atmosphere. The New Age movement is often said to have begun with the release of an album called “Spectrum Suite” by Steven Halpern in 1975.

55. Boy with a bow EROS
Eros, the Greek god of love, was also known as Amor.

57. Soul from Seoul KIA
The Kia Soul is a compact car produced in South Korea, although it was designed by Kia here in the US, in Irvine, California. Yep, the Kia Soul is made in Seoul …

58. Windy City transit initials CTA
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)

It seems that the derivation of Chicago’s nickname as the “Windy City” isn’t as obvious as I would have thought. There are two viable theories. First that the weather can be breezy, with wind blowing in off Lake Michigan. The effect of the wind is exaggerated by the grid-layout adopted by city planners after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The second theory is that “windy” means “being full of bluster”. Sportswriters from the rival city of Cincinnati were fond of calling Chicago supporters “windy” in the 1860s and 1870s, meaning that they were full of hot air in their claims that the Chicago White Stockings were superior to the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Call of the wild ROAR
5. Shade NUANCE
11. ’80s defense prog. SDI
14. Competent ABLE
15. Walk down the aisle, maybe ESCORT
16. Dough unit WAD
17. Hangout for Hyacinth in “Fantasia”? HIPPO CAMPUS (from “hippocampus”)
19. Poetic preposition ERE
20. Condescend STOOP
21. “__ Louise!” GEEZ
22. Agreeable word LET’S
23. Moon observation MARE
25. Bk. before Job ESTH
26. “Skyfall” singer ADELE
28. Hangout for Tchaikovsky’s Odile? SWAN DIVE
32. Dendrite counterpart AXON
33. Mediterranean country GREECE
35. Hoop holder EAR
36. Pewter part TIN
37. Hangout for Heckle and Jeckle? CROW BAR (from “crowbar”)
38. iPhone, e.g. PDA
39. Lawyer letters ESQ
40. Warm to the max NICEST
41. Runs out of gas DIES
42. Hangout for Mickey and Minnie? MOUSE PAD (from “mousepad”)
44. Pep squad output CHEER
46. Panda maker FIAT
47. __ ed PHYS
48. Explicit message SEXT
49. Eleanor’s successor BESS
52. Rub the wrong way PEEVE
56. Ab __: initially OVO
57. Hangout for Garfield? KITTY CORNER (from “kitty-corner”)
59. Like a fiddle? FIT
60. Still together INTACT
61. Tenderfoot TYRO
62. Something for the inn crowd ALE
63. 1979 title role for Vanessa AGATHA
64. Simon __ SAYS

Down
1. 44-Across cries RAHS
2. Story of a lifetime OBIT
3. Canine filler ALPO
4. Some bank agents REPO MEN
5. Japanese IT services giant NEC
6. Linguistic practices USAGE
7. Maker of earthquake pills and dehydrated boulders ACME
8. “Ain’t gonna happen” NOPE
9. Oscar winner Penelope CRUZ
10. Vulcan and Klingon, briefly ETS
11. Honey alternative SWEETIE PIE
12. AFI’s third-greatest movie villain DARTH VADER
13. Bad day for Caesar IDES
18. Hydrated gemstone OPAL
22. ’60s trip cause LSD
24. Maintain, as golf clubs REGRIP
25. U.S. dept. with a lightning bolt on its seal ENER
26. War on Terror epithet AXIS OF EVIL
27. “Ingenious gentleman” of classic fiction DON QUIXOTE
28. Basted, say SEWED
29. Entanglements WEBS
30. Some kind of trick A CATCH
31. Baroque and Classical ERAS
32. “Lemme __!” AT ‘EM
34. Portuguese cape ROCA
37. Tech news website CNET
41. Leaves high and dry DESERTS
43. Met SAT
45. Shot provider HYPO
47. “Gotcha!” PSYCH!
48. Couch potato’s spot SOFA
49. Cherry variety BING
50. Sundance Kid’s gal ETTA
51. Strikeout-to-walk ratio, e.g. STAT
53. Irish New Ager ENYA
54. Not just somewhat VERY
55. Boy with a bow EROS
57. Soul from Seoul KIA
58. Windy City transit initials CTA

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