LA Times Crossword Answers 6 Mar 16, Sunday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Ed Sessa
THEME: Bull Session … each of today’s themed answers sounds like a common phrase, but with a “BULL” sound added:

11A. Lowly glowworm? HUMBLE BUG (from “humbug”)
23A. Turkey’s affectionate peck? GOBBLE SMACK (from “gobsmack”)
36A. Beach brawl? MALIBU RUMBLE (from “Malibu rum”)
44A. Lens cover for a low Earth orbiter? HUBBLE CAP (from “hubcap”)
65A. “Those are stone fragments, all right”? AY, THERE’S THE RUBBLE (from “ay, there’s the rub”)
88A. Mogul mishap? SKI BUMBLE (from “ski bum”)
93A. Slip while washing dishes? SPONGE BOBBLE (from “SpongeBob”)
112A. Warning about an escaped horse? STABLE ALERT (from “stay alert”)
119A. Henry VI’s “O, God forgive my sins, and pardon thee!”? NOBLE EXIT (from “No Exit”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 22m 28s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Fours, on most Augusta National holes PARS
The Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia was founded in 1933 by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts. Famously, Augusta hosts the Masters Tournament each year. Augusta is very much a private club, and some of its policies have drawn criticism over the years. Prior to 1959, the club had a bylaw requiring that all caddies be African American. There were no African-American club members admitted until 1990, and no women until 2012.

5. Gauguin’s island retreat TAHITI
Paul Gauguin was a French artist in the Post-Impressionist period. Gauguin was a great friend of Vincent van Gogh, and indeed was staying with him in Arles when van Gogh famously cut off his ear. Famously, Gauguin “fled” to Tahiti in 1891, to escape the conventions of European life. He painted some of his most famous works on the island.

11. Lowly glowworm? HUMBLE BUG (from “humbug”)
Glowworms aren’t worms at all, but are in fact insects or insect larvae that resemble worms. All glowworms do glow, exhibiting the property known as bioluminescence. It is thought that some larvae glow as a warning to predators, as when eaten the larvae can be toxic. Other larvae glow to attract prey such as midges which snag on snare lines, hence providing food. The adult female glows to attract a mate.

20. Mine, in Montreal A MOI
“À moi” (literally “to me”) is the French for “mine”.

The original name of Montreal was Ville-Marie, meaning the City of Mary. Ville-Marie is now the name of a borough in the city, the borough which includes the downtown area and “Old Montreal”. The present-day city covers most of the Island of Montreal (in French, Île de Montréal) that is located where the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers meet. The name Montreal comes from the three-headed hill that dominates the island and is called Mount Royal.

21. Old block seller ICEMAN
“The Iceman Cometh” is a play written by American playwright Eugene O’Neill and first performed in 1946 on Broadway. The play centers on some down-and-out men in a shabby saloon in Manhattan. The title is a reference to the “iceman”, the man who would have delivered ice to homes back in the time of the play. The reference is to a bawdy joke in which the “iceman” was having an affair with someone’s wife.

23. Turkey’s affectionate peck? GOBBLE SMACK (from “gobsmack”)
“Gobsmack” is slang from the British Isles. “Gob” is also slang, for a mouth. So someone who is gobsmacked has received “a smack in the mouth”, is stunned.

25. Source of a fond melody SERENADER
A ”serenade” is a musical performance in the open air, specifically at night. We tend to think of the term applying to a young man serenading his lover from below her window. We imported the word via French from the Italian “serenata” meaning “evening song”, influenced by the Italian “sera” meaning “evening”.

29. D, for a driver GEAR
PRNDL … that would be Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive and Low. The gear shift for an automatic transmission is sometimes known familiarly as the “prindle stick”, from the abbreviations PRNDL.

34. News anchor Burnett et al. ERINS
Erin Burnett is a television journalist, the host of her own show on CNN called “Erin Burnett OutFront”. Apparently Burnett also shows up occasionally as advisor to Donald Trump on “The Celebrity Apprentice”.

35. Ross on a commemorative 3-cent stamp BETSY
Legend has it that Betsy Ross made the first American flag for General George Washington. However, this story only surfaced during the centennial celebrations of 1876, and although Betsy Ross was indeed one of several flag makers in Philadelphia in the days of George Washington, sadly there’s no definitive evidence that Ross provided that first Stars and Stripes.

36. Beach brawl? MALIBU RUMBLE (from “Malibu rum”)
Malibu is a coastal city near Los Angeles who residents include some of Hollywood’s A-list of celebrities. The beaches of Malibu have also been used as backdrops for many, many movies and TV shows.

Malibu is a coconut-flavored rum that was introduced in 1893, originally as a way to simplify the making of piña coladas.

41. Service station offering AIR
Apparently, one of California’s best-kept secrets is that gas stations are required to provide free air for a vehicle’s tires, provided the vehicle owner purchases fuel. I must try insisting on that sometimes, because I usually have to put about a dollar’s worth of quarters in the slot.

42. Blue-and-yellow megastore IKEA
The IKEA furniture stores use the colors blue and yellow for brand recognition. Blue and yellow are the national colors of Sweden, where IKEA was founded and is headquartered.

44. Lens cover for a low Earth orbiter? HUBBLE CAP (from “hubcap”)
The Hubble Space Telescope was installed in orbit by the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990. The telescope was named for the astronomer Edwin Hubble, the man who changed our view of the universe by postulating that the universe is expanding.

50. Merged labor org. CIO
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded in 1886, making it one of the first federations of unions in the country. Over time the AFL became dominated by craft unions, unions representing skilled workers of particular disciplines. In the early thirties, John L. Lewis led a movement within the AFL to organize workers by industry, believing this would be more effective for the members. But the craft unions refused to budge, so Lewis set up a rival federation of unions in 1932, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The two federations became bitter rivals for over two decades until finally merging in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO.

53. Chicken-king link A LA
A dish prepared “a la king” (usually chicken or turkey), is food prepared in a cream sauce, with mushrooms, pimentos, green peppers and sherry.

54. Former U.N. chief ANNAN
Kofi Annan is a diplomat from Ghana who served as General Secretary of the UN for ten years until the beginning of 2007. Annan was born into an aristocratic family, and had a twin sister named Efua Atta. Efua and Kofi shared the middle name “Atta”, which means “twin” in the Akan language of Ghana. Annan attended the MIT Sloan School of Management from 1971-72, and graduated with a Master of Science degree.

56. Three times due SEI
In Italian, three times “due” (two) is “sei” (six).

58. Adds a soundtrack to DUBS
If voices needed to be altered on the soundtrack of a film, that means double the work as there needs to be a re-recording. “Dub” is short for “double”, and is a term we’ve been using since the late 1920s.

59. Command to a boxer SIT!
The boxer breed of dog (one of my favorites!) originated in Germany. My first dog was a boxer/Labrador mix, a beautiful animal. Our current family dog is a boxer/pug mix, another gorgeous creature.

61. French postcard word AVION
“Par avion” is the French term for “by airplane”. We’re used to seeing “par avion” on a blue sticker under the words “Air Mail” on our mail.

65. “Those are stone fragments, all right”? AY, THERE’S THE RUBBLE (from “ay, there’s the rub”)
The phrase “ay, there’s the rub!” comes from Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy:

To die — to sleep.
To sleep — perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub!

A “rub” is a difficulty or obstruction. The usage predates Shakespeare, and comes from the game of lawn bowls in which a rub is a fault in the bowling surface.

69. What the god Mars’ symbol represents MALE SEX
The icon used to depict the male gender is known as the Mars symbol. It is supposedly comprised of the shield and spear of the war god Mars. The icon used to depict the female sex is known as the Venus symbol.

71. New, to Dante NUOVA
Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” is an epic poem dating back to the 14th century. The first part of that epic is “Inferno”, which is the Italian word for “Hell”. In the poem, Dante is led on a journey by the poet Virgil, starting at the gates of Hell on which are written the famous words “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”.

77. Ernest J. Keebler, for one ELF
The famous Keebler Elves have been appearing in ads for Keebler since 1968. The original head of the elves was J. J. Keebler, but he was toppled from power by Ernest J. Keebler in 1970.

79. Arcade coin TOKEN
Our word “arcade” comes from the Latin “arcus” meaning “arc”. The first arcades were passages made from a series of arches. This could be an avenue of trees, and eventually any covered avenue. I remember arcades lined with shops and stores when I was growing up on the other side of the Atlantic. Arcades came to be lined with lots of amusements, resulting in amusement arcades and video game arcades.

83. Story opening? SOB
A “sob story” is a one that is excessively sentimental.

84. Early cinema sex symbol HARLOW
Jean Harlow was a Hollywood actress who was at the height of her success in the thirties, appearing in many hit movies for MGM. Sadly, Harlow died in 1937 when she was only 26 years old, from kidney failure that was probably the result of her suffering scarlet fever when she 15. Harlow wrote a novel that took many years to get published. Called “Today is Tonight”, it first appeared on bookshelves in 1965.

87. Actress Gardner AVA
Ava Gardner is noted for her association with some big movies, but also for her association with some big names when it came to the men in her life. In the world of film, she appeared in the likes of “Mogambo” (1953), “On the Beach” (1959), “The Night of the Iguana” (1964) and “Earthquake” (1974). The men in her life included husbands Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra. After her marriages had failed (and perhaps before!) she had long-term relationships with Howard Hughes and bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin whom she met through her friend Ernest Hemingway.

88. Mogul mishap? SKI BUMBLE (from “ski bum”)
Moguls are the series of bumps in the surface of snow that arise naturally as a succession of skiers make turns on a slope.

92. Map abbr. RTE
Route (rte.)

93. Slip while washing dishes? SPONGE BOBBLE (from “SpongeBob”)
SpongeBob SquarePants is a cartoon character in a Nickelodeon television series. Spongebob first appeared in 1999, and he “lives in a pineapple under the sea”.

95. Footnote ref. OP CIT
Op. cit. is short for “opus citatum”, Latin for “the work cited”. Op. cit. is used in footnotes to refer the reader to an earlier citation. It is similar to “ibid”, except that ibid refers the reader to the last citation, the one immediately above.

98. Dirty money LUCRE
Our word “lucre” meaning “money, profits” comes from the Latin “lucrum” that means the same thing.

101. Reform Party candidate Perot H ROSS
Ross Perot graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1953, as president of his class. Perot served his 4-year commitment but then resigned his commission, apparently having become somewhat disillusioned with the navy. He was ranked number 101 on the Forbes 400 List of Richest Americans in 2012, and at that time was worth about $3.5 billion. Back in 1992, Perot ran as an independent candidate for US president. He founded the Reform Party in 1995, and ran as the Reform Party candidate for president in 1996.

102. Narrow inlets RIAS
A drowned valley might be called a ria or a fjord, both formed as sea level rises. A ria is a drowned valley created by river erosion, and a fjord is a drowned valley created by glaciation.

103. Orthodontic appliance RETAINER
Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry dealing with the straightening of teeth. The name comes from the Greek “orthos” meaning “straight” and “dontia” meaning “teeth”.

110. Halite extraction worker SALT MINER
Halite is the mineral form of sodium chloride, and is also known as “rock salt”. Halite is used melt ice, as salt water has a lower freezing point than pure water. Adding salt to icy sidewalks can therefore cause any ice to melt (as long as the ambient temperature isn’t too low). A mixture of halite and ice can also be used to cool things below the freezing point of water, perhaps to make ice cream.

117. Port SW of Buffalo, N.Y. ERIE, PA
Erie is a city in the very north of Pennsylvania, right on the southern shore of Lake Erie. The city takes its name from the Erie Native American tribe that resided in the area.

119. Henry VI’s “O, God forgive my sins, and pardon thee!”? NOBLE EXIT (from “No Exit”)
In William Shakespeare’s “Henry VI, Part 3”, King Henry VI dies at the hands of Richard III (Duke of Gloucester). Having been stabbed, Henry’s final words are:

Ay, and for much more slaughter after this.
God forgive my sins, and pardon thee!

120. Stinging crawler RED ANT
Fire ants are stinging ants, many species of which are called red ants. Most stinging ants bite their prey and then spray acid on the wound. The fire ant however, bites to hold on and then injects an alkaloid venom from its abdomen, creating a burning sensation in humans that have been nipped.

121. Crow’s-nest support MAST
A crow’s nest is a structure atop the mainmast of a ship that is used as a lookout point. The first crow’s nest was erected in 1807, and was simply a barrel that was lashed to the tallest mast. Supposedly, the structure is named for the crows or ravens that Vikings carried with them on their voyages. The birds were released and used as navigation aids as invariably, the crow or raven headed straight for the nearest land.

Down
1. When repeated, a Samoan port PAGO
Pago Pago is the capital of American Samoa in the South Pacific. The island was used by the US Navy during WWII and it managed to escape most of the conflict. The only military incident of consequence was the shelling of the city’s harbor by a Japanese submarine. A more devastating event was the tsunami that hit Pago Pago and surrounding areas in 2009, causing widespread damage and numerous deaths.

2. Cookie man Wally AMOS
Wally Amos was a talent agent, one who was in the habit of taking home-baked cookies with him as an enticement to get celebrities to see him. He was urged by friends to open a cookie store (the cookies were that delicious, I guess) and this he did in Los Angeles in 1975 using the name “Famous Amos”. The store was a smash hit and he was able build on the success by introducing his cookies into supermarkets. The brand was eventually bought up making Wally a rich man, and Famous Amos cookies are still flying off the shelf.

3. Gen. __ E. Lee ROBT
Robert E. Lee is renowned as a southern officer in the Civil War. Lee was a somewhat reluctant participant in the war in that he opposed the secession of his home state of Virginia from the Union. At the beginning of the war, President Lincoln invited Lee to take command of the whole Union Army but he declined, choosing instead to stay loyal to his home state. During the Civil War, Lee’s men referred to him affectionately as “Marse Robert”, with “marse” being slang for “master”.

4. Site of the world’s longest railway SIBERIA
Siberia is a vast area in Northern Asia. The region’s industrial development started with the construction of the Trans-Siberian railway from 1891 to 1916, which linked Siberia to Russia in the west.

5. Sudden death cause TIE
“Sudden death” in sports is often used as a tiebreaker. It is a round of competition in which play ends as soon as one competitor pulls ahead of the other.

6. Some window extensions, for short ACS
Air conditioning units (ACs) are room (rm.) coolers.

8. Apple for the teacher IMAC
The iMac is a desktop computer platform from Apple introduced in 1998. One of the main features of the iMac is an “all-in-one” design, with the computer console and monitor integrated. The iMac also came in a range of colors, that Apple marketed as “flavors”, such strawberry, blueberry and lime.

9. Nogales nosh TACO
Nogales (properly called “Heroica Nogales”) is a city in the Mexican State of Sonora. Nogales lies right on the Mexico-US border, opposite the city of Nogales, Arizona.

Our word “nosh” has been around since the late fifties, when it was imported from the Yiddish word “nashn” meaning “to nibble”. We use “nosh” as a noun that means snack, or as a verb meaning to eat between meals.

10. Where there’s a quill? INKWELL
Quills have been used as writing implements since the 6th century. Historically, goose, swan and turkey feathers have been the quills of choice. A bird’s feather is well suited for writing, as the hollow shaft acts as a reservoir for ink which then flows to the tip due to capillary action. Choice of feather is important. Right-handed writers are best served by feathers from the left wing, as the feather curves away from the palm of the hand when writing. The tip of the quill is sharpened using a “quill knife”. This quill knife is the ancestor of what we know today as a “penknife”.

11. Mubarak of Egypt HOSNI
Hosni Mubarak was the fourth President of Egypt, taking over after Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981. Mubarak resigned in 2011 in the early months of the Arab Spring after 18 days of public demonstrations. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 and is reported to be extremely sick in detention, and is perhaps even on life support.

12. Ivy League sch. UPENN
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) was founded in 1740 by by Benjamin Franklin. Penn was the first school in the country to offer both graduate and undergraduate courses.

13. Marne moms MERES
Marne is a department in the northeast of France that is named for the river Marne that runs through it. One of the famous locales within Marne is Champagne, home to the vineyards that produce the famous sparkling wine.

14. Fox’s title BR’ER
Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox are characters in the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris. The Uncle Remus stories are adaptations of African American folktales that Harris collected across the Southern States. “Br’er” is an abbreviated form of “brother”.

15. PC interconnection LAN
Local Area Network (LAN)

16. Curio case ETAGERE
An “étagère” is a piece of furniture with open shelves, often used to display small ornaments. The name is French, coming from “étage” meaning “shelf”. I can’t stand them …

17. Plumbing fixture uncommon in North America BIDET
“Bidet” is a French word that we imported into English. In French, the word “bidet” originally described a small horse or a pony. What we know as a bidet was so called because one can straddle it like a horse in order to use it.

18. Iris locations UVEAS
The uvea is the middle of the three layers that make up the eyeball.

The iris is the colored part of the eye with an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.

19. Redistricting eponym GERRY
Elbridge Gerry was the fifth Vice President of the US, serving under James Madison. Gerry only served 1½ years of his term however, as he died of heart failure while still in office. While Gerry was the governor of his home state of Massachusetts he signed a bill that allowed redrawing of electoral boundaries in such a way that it benefited his Democratic-Republican Party. The “Boston Gazette” wrote an article about the bill and termed the political tactic “Gerry-Mandering”. And “gerrymandering” is a term we still use today, and not just in this country but all over the world.

24. 1924 co-defendant LOEB
Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were two well-heeled students at the University of Chicago who famously murdered a 14-year-old boy, apparently just on a whim, to show that they could commit the perfect crime. The crime turned out to be not quite so perfect and the pair were caught and put on trial for the murder in 1924. The trial was big news, especially after the defendants engaged high-profile attorney Clarence Darrow to represent them. In fact, the court proceedings were dubbed “The Trial of the Century”. The crime itself was the inspiration for the 1929 play called “Rope” by Patrick Hamilton, which in turn was the inspiration for the 1948 Hitchcock film of the same name.

28. Dander IRE
The phrases “to get one’s Irish up” and “to get one’s dander up” mean to get riled up, to get angry. I guess we are always picking on the poor Irish!

31. Bus stop spot CURB
“Curb” is another of those words that I had to learn when I came to the US. We park by the “kerb” on the other side of the Atlantic. Oh, and the “pavement”, that’s what we call the “footpath” (because the footpath is “paved”!). It’s very confusing when you arrive in this country from Ireland, and a little dangerous when one has been taught to “walk on the pavement” …

33. Berserk NUCLEAR
Our word “berserk” meaning “deranged” comes from the “Berserkers”, Norse warriors described in Old Norse literature. Berserkers were renowned for going into battle in a fury, and some believe that they consumed drugged food to get themselves worked up for the fighting ahead.

36. Flaky mineral MICA
Mica is a mineral, a sheet silicate. Thin sheets of mica are transparent and are used in place of glass in certain applications. This form of mica is called isinglass, and as it has a better thermal performance than glass it is a great choice for “peepholes’ in boilers and lanterns. Mica is also used in the electronics industry, making use of its unique electrical and thermal insulating properties.

38. “Worthy Fights” co-author Panetta LEON
Leon Panetta was Chief of Staff under President Clinton, and took over as CIA Director in 2009 in the Obama administration. From 2011 to 2013 he also served as Secretary of Defense. Panetta has long been interested in protecting the world’s oceans. As an example, he wrote the legislation that created the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

40. Grafton’s “__ for Burglar” B IS
Sue Grafton writes detective novels, and her “alphabet series” features the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “A Is for Alibi” in 1982 and is working her way through the alphabet, most recently publishing “’W’ is for Wasted” in 2009. Apparently Ms. Grafton is working on her “X is for …” novel, and has already decided that “Z is for Zero” will be the final title in the series. What a clever naming system!

44. Emulate Paul Bunyan HEW
The mythological Paul Bunyan had a sidekick called Babe the Blue Ox. Both Bunyan and Babe were gigantic in size.

45. 4 x 4, briefly UTE
A utility vehicle is often called a “ute” for short. Nowadays one mainly hears about sports utes and crossover utes.

46. Language of southern Africa BANTU
There are hundreds of Bantu languages, mainly spoken in central, east and southern Africa. The most commonly spoken Bantu language is Swahili, with Zulu coming in second.

48. Jessica of “Barely Lethal” ALBA
Actress Jessica Alba got her big break when she was cast in the Fox science fiction show “Dark Angel”. Alba had a tough life growing up as she spent a lot of time in hospital and so found it difficult to develop friendships. As a youngster she twice had a collapsed lung, frequently caught pneumonia, suffered from asthma, had a ruptured appendix and a tonsillar cyst. On top of all that she acknowledges that she suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child. It seems that she has really turned her life around …

52. “Pearly Shells” singer DON HO
The singer and entertainer Don Ho apparently had a pretty liberal arrangement with his wife. When Ho was touring with his two backing singers, Patti Swallie and Elizabeth Guevara, all three of them shared a room together. He had two children with each of his roommates, giving a total of ten kids including the six he had with his wife. The arrangement was quite open, it seems, with all ten kids visiting each other regularly. To each his own …

57. Yoga position LOTUS
“Asana” is a Sanskrit word literally meaning “sitting down”. The asanas are the poses that a practitioner of yoga assumes. The most famous is the lotus position, the cross-legged pose called “padmasana”.

58. “The Circus of __”: 1935 novel adapted into a 1964 Tony Randall film DR LAO
“The Circus of Dr. Lao” is a novel by Charles G. Finney, first published in 1935. There was a famous film adaptation released in 1964 called “7 Faces of Dr. Lao” starring Tony Randall in the title role. Randall wasn’t the first choice, as the director wanted Peter Sellers for the part. However, MGM insisted on an American lead, and a great choice it turned out to be.

60. “Ditto” THE SAME
“Ditto” was originally used in Italian (from Tuscan dialect) to avoid repetition of the names of months in a series of dates. So, “ditto” is just another wonderful import from that lovely land …

64. Sticks by, as a stickup man ABETS
The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (it literally means “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

65. Court defense ALIBI
“Alibi” is the Latin word for “elsewhere” as in, “I claim that I was ‘elsewhere’ when the crime was committed … I have an ‘alibi'”.

66. Bedroom community EXURB
Derived from the term “suburb”, an “exurb” is an area beyond the suburbs at the very outskirts of a city. Often “exurb” is used to denote an area inhabited by more wealthy people.

67. Soprano Lear EVELYN
Evelyn Lear was an operatic soprano from Brooklyn, New York. Lear was married to bass-baritone Thomas Stewart from Texas. Both Lear and Stewart were very much associated with roles written by Richard Wagner.

68. Capital on Interstate 40 RALEIGH
Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina, although the largest city in the state is Charlotte. The capital is named for English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh, the man who sponsored Roanoke, the “lost colony” founded on nearby Roanoke Colony.

70. Out of control AMOK
The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had good reason for that frenzy …

78. Sound engineer’s device FADER
A fader is a knob (or usually a slider) that gradually increases or decreases the level of an audio signal. You’ll often see audio engineers at a performance or in a recording studio sliding buttons up and down. Those are faders.

80. Political pundit Marvin KALB
Marvin Kalb is a journalist most famous for his 30-year stint reporting for CBS and NBC News. Kalb was the last person to be recruited by journalism icon Edward R. Murrow.

82. Hoopster Archibald NATE
Nate Archibald is a retired basketball player who played mainly for the Kansas City Kings and the Boston Celtics. Archibald could get the ball in the basket, but was also willing pass to a teammate when advantageous. He is only player to lead the league in assists and scoring in the same season.

84. Jabba, for one HUTT
Jabba the Hutt is the big blob of an alien that appears in the “Star Wars” movie “The Return of the Jedi”. Jabba’s claim to fame is that he enslaved Princess Leia and kitted her out in that celebrated metal bikini.

85. Chinese steamed bun BAO
A baozi (also “bou, bao”) is a steamed, filled bun in Chinese cookery.

86. Prefix with call ROBO-
Political calls, including robocalls, are exempt from regulation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), so we can’t stop them by putting our phone numbers on the “Do Not Call Registry”.

89. __-Myers Squibb: Big Pharma firm BRISTOL
The Bristol-Myers pharmaceutical company (now Bristol-Myers Squibb) was founded in 1887 by William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers in Clinton, New York.

90. “For Hire” detective SPENSER
Robert B. Parker wrote a series of detective novels featuring a Boston private eye named Spenser. The series of novels was continued after Parker’s death by Ace Atkins. The character also features in a TV show called “Spenser: For Hire”, as well as series of “Spenser” films based on the original novels. Spenser was played by Robert Urich on the weekly show, and by Joe Mantegna in three TV movies. We never learn Spenser’s given name.

91. Son of David ABSALOM
According to the Hebrew Bible, Absalom was the third son of David, after Amnon and Chileab.

93. Mumbai mister SRI
“Sri” is a title of respect for a male in India.

Mumbai is the most populous city in India, and the second most populous city in the world (after Shanghai). The name of the city was changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995.

94. DOL division OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 during the Nixon administration. OSHA regulates workplaces in the private sector and regulates just one government agency, namely the US Postal Service.

95. Welles of “War of the Worlds” ORSON
Orson Welles starred in and directed 1938’s famous radio play “The War of the Worlds”. This adaptation of the H. G. Wells science-fiction novel included several apparent news broadcasts that reported the effects of an alien invasion. Many people who heard the broadcasts didn’t realise that they were part of a play. It is estimated that of 6 million people who tuned it, 1.2 million listeners were genuinely frightened by what they were hearing.

97. Biblical spy CALEB
According to the Bible, after fleeing Egypt the Hebrews were led by Moses to the promised land of Canaan. Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan (one from each of the Twelve Tribes) to report on what awaited them. Ten spies returned with exaggerated stories of giants who would kill the Hebrew army if it entered Canaan. Two spies, Caleb and Joshua, came back with valid reports, that the Hebrews could inhabit the area. As a result of the false reports from the ten spies, the Hebrews did not enter Canaan but instead wandered the desert for another forty years, before they finally took up residence in the promised land. At the end of the forty years, Caleb and Joshua were the only adults that survived the forty-year journey, a reward from God for their obedience.

98. Fine china LENOX
The Lenox Corporation is a manufacturer of tableware and collectibles in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1889 by Walter Scott Lenox, the company is the only producer of bone china in the US. Lenox has made tableware for six US presidents, from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush.

99. Biological incubators UTERI
The Latin “uterus” (plural “uteri”) translates as both “womb” and “belly”. The Latin word was derived from the Greek “hystera” also meaning womb, which gives us the words “hysterectomy”, and “hysterical”.

100. Proofing mark CARET
The character known as a caret was originally a proofreading mark, used to indicate where a punctuation mark was to be inserted. “Caret” is Latin for “it lacks”.

103. Ancient mariner’s story, e.g. RIME
“Rime” is an alternative spelling of “rhyme”. In fact, the contemporary spelling came from “rime”, the evolution taking place in the 17th century because of confusion with “rhythm”.

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is an epic poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge first published in 1798. The publication of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is said to mark the beginning of the Romantic period of British literature.

104. To be, to a Breton ETRE
A Breton is a native of Brittany. Brittany is a large peninsula in the northwest of France, known in French as “Bretagne”.

107. Self-named sitcom REBA
Reba McEntire is a country music singer and television actress. McEntire starred in her own sitcom called “Reba” that aired on the WB and the CW cable channels from 2001 to 2007.

109. Proofing mark STET
“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

111. GI fare MRE
The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) comes in a lightweight package that’s easy to tote around. The MRE replaced the more cumbersome Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) in 1981, a meal-in-a-can. In turn, the MCI had replaced the C-ration in 1958, a less sophisticated meal-in-a-can with a more limited choice.

113. Emmy recipient Arthur BEA
Actress Bea Arthur’s most famous roles were on television, as the lead in the “All in the Family” spinoff “Maude” and as Dorothy Zbornak in “The Golden Girls”. Arthur also won a Tony for playing Vera Charles on stage in the original cast of “Mame” in 1966, two years after she played Yente the matchmaker in the original cast of “Fiddler on the Roof”.

114. Hosp. staffer LPN
A licensed practical nurse (LPN) might work in an intensive care unit (ICU).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Fours, on most Augusta National holes PARS
5. Gauguin’s island retreat TAHITI
11. Lowly glowworm? HUMBLE BUG (from “humbug”)
20. Mine, in Montreal A MOI
21. Old block seller ICEMAN
22. Spy OPERATIVE
23. Turkey’s affectionate peck? GOBBLE SMACK (from “gobsmack”)
25. Source of a fond melody SERENADER
26. Prefix with arthritis OSTEO-
27. Sharer of the prize CO-WINNER
29. D, for a driver GEAR
30. Spy mission, for short RECON
34. News anchor Burnett et al. ERINS
35. Ross on a commemorative 3-cent stamp BETSY
36. Beach brawl? MALIBU RUMBLE (from “Malibu rum”)
41. Service station offering AIR
42. Blue-and-yellow megastore IKEA
43. Snap back RECOIL
44. Lens cover for a low Earth orbiter? HUBBLE CAP (from “hubcap”)
50. Merged labor org. CIO
51. Letter-shaped bike locks U-BOLTS
52. Bit of information DETAIL
53. Chicken-king link A LA
54. Former U.N. chief ANNAN
56. Three times due SEI
57. Far from choice LOW-END
58. Adds a soundtrack to DUBS
59. Command to a boxer SIT!
61. French postcard word AVION
63. Rips into TEARS AT
65. “Those are stone fragments, all right”? AY, THERE’S THE RUBBLE (from “ay, there’s the rub”)
69. What the god Mars’ symbol represents MALE SEX
71. New, to Dante NUOVA
72. Vote in favor YEA
73. Leave out OMIT
74. Some dorm accommodations SUITES
77. Ernest J. Keebler, for one ELF
79. Arcade coin TOKEN
83. Story opening? SOB
84. Early cinema sex symbol HARLOW
85. Makes fuzzy, as one’s vision BLEARS
87. Actress Gardner AVA
88. Mogul mishap? SKI BUMBLE (from “ski bum”)
90. Tie the knot SAY “I DO”
91. Ended a flight ALIT
92. Map abbr. RTE
93. Slip while washing dishes? SPONGE BOBBLE (from “SpongeBob”)
95. Footnote ref. OP CIT
98. Dirty money LUCRE
101. Reform Party candidate Perot H ROSS
102. Narrow inlets RIAS
103. Orthodontic appliance RETAINER
106. Sources of heavenly strains? HARPS
110. Halite extraction worker SALT MINER
112. Warning about an escaped horse? STABLE ALERT (from “stay alert”)
116. Whatever number ONE OR MORE
117. Port SW of Buffalo, N.Y. ERIE, PA
118. Reeded instrument OBOE
119. Henry VI’s “O, God forgive my sins, and pardon thee!”? NOBLE EXIT (from “No Exit”)
120. Stinging crawler RED ANT
121. Crow’s-nest support MAST

Down
1. When repeated, a Samoan port PAGO
2. Cookie man Wally AMOS
3. Gen. __ E. Lee ROBT
4. Site of the world’s longest railway SIBERIA
5. Sudden death cause TIE
6. Some window extensions, for short ACS
7. Hesitant sound HEM
8. Apple for the teacher IMAC
9. Nogales nosh TACO
10. Where there’s a quill? INKWELL
11. Mubarak of Egypt HOSNI
12. Ivy League sch. UPENN
13. Marne moms MERES
14. Fox’s title BR’ER
15. PC interconnection LAN
16. Curio case ETAGERE
17. Plumbing fixture uncommon in North America BIDET
18. Iris locations UVEAS
19. Redistricting eponym GERRY
24. 1924 co-defendant LOEB
28. Dander IRE
31. Bus stop spot CURB
32. Embossed cookies OREOS
33. Berserk NUCLEAR
35. One in a wallet BILL
36. Flaky mineral MICA
37. Related AKIN
38. “Worthy Fights” co-author Panetta LEON
39. Whodunit why MOTIVE
40. Grafton’s “__ for Burglar” B IS
41. Comply with ABIDE BY
44. Emulate Paul Bunyan HEW
45. 4 x 4, briefly UTE
46. Language of southern Africa BANTU
47. Thing to fight for CAUSE
48. Jessica of “Barely Lethal” ALBA
49. Ago PAST
51. Blood amounts UNITS
52. “Pearly Shells” singer DON HO
55. Up to now AS YET
57. Yoga position LOTUS
58. “The Circus of __”: 1935 novel adapted into a 1964 Tony Randall film DR LAO
60. “Ditto” THE SAME
62. “What else __?” IS NEW
64. Sticks by, as a stickup man ABETS
65. Court defense ALIBI
66. Bedroom community EXURB
67. Soprano Lear EVELYN
68. Capital on Interstate 40 RALEIGH
69. Tree-hugging greenery MOSS
70. Out of control AMOK
75. In bed, maybe ILL
76. Part of a foot TOE
78. Sound engineer’s device FADER
80. Political pundit Marvin KALB
81. Like some film geniuses EVIL
82. Hoopster Archibald NATE
84. Jabba, for one HUTT
85. Chinese steamed bun BAO
86. Prefix with call ROBO-
89. __-Myers Squibb: Big Pharma firm BRISTOL
90. “For Hire” detective SPENSER
91. Son of David ABSALOM
93. Mumbai mister SRI
94. DOL division OSHA
95. Welles of “War of the Worlds” ORSON
96. Grand on stage PIANO
97. Biblical spy CALEB
98. Fine china LENOX
99. Biological incubators UTERI
100. Proofing mark CARET
103. Ancient mariner’s story, e.g. RIME
104. To be, to a Breton ETRE
105. Sneak attack RAID
107. Self-named sitcom REBA
108. Ones in a league of their own PROS
109. Proofing mark STET
111. GI fare MRE
113. Emmy recipient Arthur BEA
114. Hosp. staffer LPN
115. Put away EAT

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3 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 6 Mar 16, Sunday”

  1. 5 errors total. Usual kind of cluing for a Sunday grid, with a few specious clues. Again, surprising for me though. Either an easy week or I've gotten a bit better somehow. Save Thursday (which is undoubtedly my hard grid of the week), pretty good week overall.

  2. 34:09, two errors. I wrote in SERENADES instead of SERENADER, giving me GESRY instead of GERRY, and failed to notice the glitch. What can I say? … Tired, distracted … dumb … no, wait … strike that last word … 🙂

  3. I always thought that the "Rime" of the Ancient Mariner referred to the frost that occurs on the hull of ships in cold weather and the frost in the Mariner's beard, since the poem takes place mostly in the Arctic. Interesting to get this take on it.

    Nate Archibald may have had good reason to pass the ball off and have a lot of assists. He was very undersized for his position at 6'1". In fact his well known nickname was Nate "Tiny" Archibald.

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