LA Times Crossword Answers 21 Jul 16, Thursday




LA Times Crossword Solution 21 Jul 16







Constructed by: Scott Ober & Peter Koetters

Edited by: Rich Norris

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

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Theme: Last to Lust

The starts of today’s themed answers give us a vowel progression through words in the format L-ST:

  • 17A…King of the Hill winner..LAST MAN STANDING
  • 20A…Repeated phrase in Kipling’s “Recessional”..LEST WE FORGET
  • 31A…It’s rarely paid to a car dealer..LIST PRICE
  • 48A…Recovery site?..LOST AND FOUND
  • 52A…Scholar’s motivation..LUST FOR LEARNING

Bill’s time: 8m 30s

Bill’s errors: 0




Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies

Across

14…”It was you,” in a Verdi aria..ERI TU

Every crossword constructors’ favorite aria “Eri tu” is from Verdi’s opera “Un ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball). The opera tells the story of the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden during a masked ball.

15…Word on mail from Spain..AEREO

“Aereo” is the Spanish for “air”.

16…Unit of RAM..MEG

Random-access memory (RAM) is a form of computer storage.

17…King of the Hill winner..LAST MAN STANDING

King of the Hill (or King of the Mountain) is a children’s game in which one player endeavors to stay at the top of a hill, while the others try to knock him or her off, to take over as “king of the hill”.

20…Repeated phrase in Kipling’s “Recessional”..LEST WE FORGET

“Lest we forget” is an oft-quoted phrase, one that comes from a poem by Rudyard Kipling called “Recessional”. Kipling wrote the piece on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897 and used it to express sadness at the waning of the British Empire. The phrase “lest we forget” is used in this context, a warning that the empire will decline. Ever since WWI we’ve been using the words on memorials as a plea not forget the sacrifices made by others in the past.

21…Certain balloter..ABSENTEE

Today a “ballot” is a piece of paper used to cast a vote. Back in the 1500s, a “ballot” was a small “ball” used in the process of voting.

25…Phil Collins’ old group..GENESIS

The English musician Phil Collins is best known for his work as drummer with the rock group Genesis, as well as for his solo career. In fact, Collins is often grouped with Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, two other artists who had tremendous solo success after careers with very well-known bands.

35…Large merchant ships..ARGOSIES

A large merchant ship might be referred to as an “argosy”, especially if it carries a rich cargo. The term comes from the Croatian city of Dbrovnic, which lies on the Adriatic coast. Once called Ragusa (“Arragosa” in English), the city was the departure point for ships laden with goods imported into 16th-century Britain.

38…Chihuahua cheer..OLE!

Chihuahua is a state in northern Mexico that shares a border with Texas and New Mexico. Chihuahua is the largest state in the country, so has the nickname “El Estado Grande”. The state takes its name from the Chihuahuan Desert which lies largely within its borders. And of course the Chihuahua breed of dog takes its name from the state.

42…Persian Gulf island nation..BAHRAIN

Bahrain is an island nation located off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. Bahrain is connected to Saudi Arabia by a series of causeways and bridges constructed in the eighties.

46…Instrument to which an orchestra tunes..OBOE

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

47…Turned down for easy reference..DOG-EARED

The folded-down corner of the page of a book, a temporary placeholder, is known as a “dog-ear”. I suppose that’s because it looks like the ear of a dog …

57…Make dim..BLEAR

“To blear” is to dim the vision, usually with watery eyes.

58…Mello __..YELLO

Like so many beverages introduced by the Coca-Cola Company, Mello Yello was launched to compete against a successful drink already on the market. Mello Yello first hit the shelves in 1979, and was designed to take market share from Pepsico’s “Mountain Dew”.

59…’60s radical gp…SDS

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was an activist group in the sixties. The SDS organized the largest student strike in the history of the United States on 26 April 1968, with about a million students staying away from class that day. The “Students for a Democratic Society” name was revived in 2006 with the foundation of a new US-based student organization with left wing beliefs. Today’s SDS was founded by a pair of high school students from Greenwich Village, New York.

Down

1…”Alice” diner owner..MEL

The sitcom “Alice” is set in Mel’s Diner, which is supposedly frequented by locals and truckers on the outskirts of Phoenix. There is a real Mel’s Diner in Phoenix, and the restaurant’s sign is used in the opening credits. The real-world Mel’s was called “Chris’ Diner”, but the owner agreed to a temporary change in name for the purposes of the show. But, “Chris” never came back, and “Mel’s” is still serving customers today.

2…Factor in MLB’s Cy Young Award..ERA

Earned run average (ERA)

Cy Young was a pitcher in the major leagues from 1890-1911. Young is remembered for pitching the first perfect game of baseball’s modern era. Soon after he died in 1955, the Cy Young Award was created and is presented to the best pitcher in each baseball season.

4…Prime minister after and before Churchill..ATTLEE

Winston Churchill was the UK’s prime minister before and after Clement Attlee. Well, if one thinks about it, that also means that Atlee was PM before and after Churchill. The terms were:

  • 1940 – 1945 Winston Churchill
  • 1945 – 1951 Clement Attlee
  • 1951 – 1955 Winston Churchill

Clement Attlee served as leader of Britain’s Labour Party and as Deputy Prime Minister in the coalition government during the war years under the leadership of Winston Churchill, a Conservative. Attlee swept into power right after WWII in a landslide victory over Churchill and was responsible for major changes not only in Britain but around the waning British Empire. It was under Attlee that former British colonies like India, Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka and Jordan became independent. Also, the Palestine Mandate was terminated in 1948, while he was in office, with the state of Israel being declared the very next day.

5…Light bulb units..LUMENS

The lumen is a measure of the amount of visible light emitted by a source.

6…Edmond __: the Count of Monte Cristo..DANTES

“The Count of Monte Cristo” is an 1844 novel by the French author Alexandre Dumas. Dumas’ other famous title is “The Three Musketeers”.

7…”__ Can”: 2008 slogan..YES WE

The 2008 campaign that resulted in the election of President Barack Obama used the slogan “Change we can believe in”, along with the associated chant “Yes We Can”. The words “Yes We Can” were perhaps borrowed from the United Farm Workers, which organization uses the motto “Sí, se puede”. “Sí, se puede” translates as “Yes, it is possible” and is a phrase very much associated with labor leader Cesar Chavez.

8…Prado hangings..ARTE

The Museo del Prado is in Madrid, the capital of Spain, and has one of the finest art collections in the world. The gallery’s most famous work is “Las Meninas” By Velazquez.

9…Like many Gallaudet College students..DEAF

Gallaudet University is a private school in Washington, D.C. that is focused on the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. Gallaudet was founded in 1864 and is officially a bilingual institution, with classes held in both English and ASL.

10…Prefix with gram..SONO-

A sonogram is an image made created using ultrasound. “Ultrasound” is the name given to sound energy that has frequencies above the audible range.

18…Piedmont city..ASTI

Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. It is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine. Moscato d’Asti is produced from the same grape (Moscato Bianco) but is a much sweeter wine with a lower alcohol content. It is usually served as a dessert wine.

23…__-Cat..SNO

The brand name Sno-Cat is owned by the Tucker company. All “snowcats” are tracked vehicles built to work in snow, famously used in expeditions to the polar regions. The modern Sno-Cat from Tucker differs from its competitors in that it has four independently-mounted tracks.

26…Inspiring msg…SER

A sermon (ser.) might be described as an inspiring message (msg.).

27…Ryssdal of NPR’s “Marketplace”..KAI

Kai Ryssdal is a radio journalist who is famous as the host of the weekday business program “Marketplace”. Ryssdal has been doing the job since 2005.

30…Turning meas…RPS

Revolutions per second (RPS)

31…”Cowboy Man” singer..LOVETT

As well as being famous in his own right as a successful country singer, Lyle Lovett is known for his marriage to the actress Julia Roberts in 1993. The pair had a whirlwind romance lasting just three weeks before they eloped and were wed. The marriage was also relatively whirlwind, lasting less than two years.

32…Rose-rose link..IS A

“Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” is a line from a poem called “Sacred Emily” that was written by Gertrude Stein. In the poem, Rose is actually a person. In later writings Stein used the phrase “a rose is a rose is a rose” to mean “things are what they are”.

33…Caesar known for being funny..SID

Sid Caesar achieved fame in the fifties on TV’s “Your Show of Shows”. To be honest, I know Sid Caesar mainly from the very entertaining film version of the musical “Grease”, in which he played Coach Calhoun.

34…Fore site?..TEE

No one seems to know for sure where the golfing term “fore!” comes from. It has been used at least as far back as 1881, and since then has been called out to warn other golfers that a wayward ball might be heading their way. My favorite possibility for its origin is that it is a contraction of the Gaelic warning cry “Faugh a Ballagh!” (clear the way!) which is still called out in the sport of road bowling. Road bowling is an Irish game where players bowl balls along roads between villages, trying to reach the end of the course in as few bowls as possible, just like in golf!

35…Many moon missions..APOLLOS

The Apollo program is very much associated with President Kennedy, as he gave NASA the challenge to land men on the moon by the end of the sixties. However, the Apollo program was conceived during the Eisenhower administration as a follow-up to Project Mercury that put the first Americans in space.

38…Galley tool..OAR

Galleys were large medieval ships mainly found in the Mediterranean. They were propelled by a combination of sails and oars.

43…Lago contents..AGUA

In Spanish, “un lago” (a lake) contains “agua” (water).

44…English king who was a son of William the Conqueror..HENRY I

Henry I of England was a son of William the Conqueror. According to legend, Henry died from eating “a surfeit of lampreys”, or more likely food poisoning. Lampreys look like a cross between a fish and an eel.

The Norman Conquest of England started in 1066 when William, Duke of Normandy defeated King Harold II of England at the Battle of Hastings. William was crowned King William I of England, and was dubbed William the Conqueror.

45…Original “SNL” cast member..RADNER

Gilda Radner was a comedian and actress, one of the original cast members of the hit television show “Saturday Night Live”. Radner left her first husband to marry comedic actor Gene Wilder, whom she met while they were both filming the Sidney Poitier movie “Hanky Panky”.

49…HQs for B-2s..AFBS

Air Force Base (AFB)

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is more familiarly called the Stealth Bomber. The original plan was for the US Military to buy 132 B-2 bombers but the cost became so high (over a billion dollars each in today’s money) that only 21 were actually ordered. One of these crashed in 2008 and the remaining 20 aircraft are still in service.

50…Longtime Steelers coach Chuck..NOLL

Chuck Noll was the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1969 to 1991. Noll won the Super Bowl four times in all as head coach, an NFL record.

51…Half of sechs..DREI

In German, half of “sechs” (six) is “drei” (three).

54…N.Y. Mets’ div…NLE

National League East (NLE)

55…Word on U.S. coins..GOD

From 1776, “E pluribus unum” was the unofficial motto of the United States. “E pluribus unum” is Latin for “Out of many, one”. It was pushed aside in 1956 when an Act of Congress designated “In God We Trust” as the country’s official motto. “In God We Trust” had appeared on US coins since 1864, but was only introduced on paper currency in 1957.

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Complete List of Clues and Answers

Across

1…Alloy component..METAL

6…Twosomes..DYADS

11…Time for preparations..EVE

14…”It was you,” in a Verdi aria..ERI TU

15…Word on mail from Spain..AEREO

16…Unit of RAM..MEG

17…King of the Hill winner..LAST MAN STANDING

20…Repeated phrase in Kipling’s “Recessional”..LEST WE FORGET

21…Certain balloter..ABSENTEE

24…”Milk’s favorite cookie”..OREO

25…Phil Collins’ old group..GENESIS

26…Grilling aids..SKEWERS

29…Bigheadedness..EGO

30…Adjust for the new tax year..REASSESS

31…It’s rarely paid to a car dealer..LIST PRICE

35…Large merchant ships..ARGOSIES

38…Chihuahua cheer..OLE!

41…Spread all over..PERVADE

42…Persian Gulf island nation..BAHRAIN

46…Instrument to which an orchestra tunes..OBOE

47…Turned down for easy reference..DOG-EARED

48…Recovery site?..LOST AND FOUND

52…Scholar’s motivation..LUST FOR LEARNING

56…Single..ONE

57…Make dim..BLEAR

58…Mello __..YELLO

59…’60s radical gp…SDS

60…Buttonholes, e.g…SLITS

61…Teed off..IRKED

Down

1…”Alice” diner owner..MEL

2…Factor in MLB’s Cy Young Award..ERA

3…Quaint contraction..’TIS

4…Prime minister after and before Churchill..ATTLEE

5…Light bulb units..LUMENS

6…Edmond __: the Count of Monte Cristo..DANTES

7…”__ Can”: 2008 slogan..YES WE

8…Prado hangings..ARTE

9…Like many Gallaudet College students..DEAF

10…Prefix with gram..SONO-

11…Female political refugee..EMIGREE

12…Thin layers..VENEERS

13…Picnic game that can get messy..EGG TOSS

18…Piedmont city..ASTI

19…Be half-asleep..DROWSE

21…Candle count, perhaps..AGE

22…Ask to be excused, with “off”..BEG

23…__-Cat..SNO

26…Inspiring msg…SER

27…Ryssdal of NPR’s “Marketplace”..KAI

28…Corner key..ESC

30…Turning meas…RPS

31…”Cowboy Man” singer..LOVETT

32…Rose-rose link..IS A

33…Caesar known for being funny..SID

34…Fore site?..TEE

35…Many moon missions..APOLLOS

36…Make a comeback..REBOUND

37…Makes before deductions..GROSSES

38…Galley tool..OAR

39…Twist facts..LIE

40…Pull the plug on..END

42…Jeer leaders..BOOERS

43…Lago contents..AGUA

44…English king who was a son of William the Conqueror..HENRY I

45…Original “SNL” cast member..RADNER

47…Key above C..D-FLAT

49…HQs for B-2s..AFBS

50…Longtime Steelers coach Chuck..NOLL

51…Half of sechs..DREI

53…Kind..ILK

54…N.Y. Mets’ div…NLE

55…Word on U.S. coins..GOD




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9 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 21 Jul 16, Thursday”

  1. I got the theme early and that allowed me to get the whole puzzle pretty quickly. I consider this a miracle because there was a ton of things I didn’t know: the school for the deaf and hard of hearing, the PM between Churchill, Noll, Dantes, and Argosy to name a few.

  2. Decent effort for a Thursday. I had the most trouble with the NE, but indeed the theme was a huge aidin this one.

    EMIGREE for “Female political refugee” was interesting. The semantics of that can make your head spin. En emigre is basically anyone that leaves one land to live in another. A “female political refugee” certainly fits that definition, but it’s only a very specific type of emigree. All female political refugees are emigrees, but certainly not all emigrees are female political refugees. Also – if we go and get them, they are evacuees; it’s only if they come to us, when they are refugees…which opens up a whole different can of worms….but they are all emigres nonetheless. Pop quiz on all of this tomorrow…..

    Best –

  3. RPS got me. I had RPM for 30 Down and then never corrected it so ended up with an incorrect ending for 35 Across “Large merchant ships” with an “m” for the ending instead of the “s”…D’oh!

  4. Forgot to check in yesterday. No problems except ROBIN COO_
    was unknown and got stuck on the first-born being NAMEd ____
    something.
    One wrong letter today.
    nANTES/nYADS.
    Going to be VERY hot today.
    Ugh.

  5. 10:53, no errors, iPad … liked the riff on emigres, emigrees, refugees, evacuees, et. al. … 🙂

  6. Had a tough time with the puzzle, mostly because of dubious clues ( thats my excuse , anyway ) I have to read up on emigrees and such other ilk and Jeff’s take on it , (which I did not inderstand).

    So, Jeff, this is a tautological problem,
    All A’s are B’s
    But some non-A’s are ALSO B’s

    Ergo, ALL B’s are not A’s.
    Sounds reasonable and logical.

    Me, I am an emigre ( I emigrated ) …. but I am not a woman, or overly political or a refugee. I’ll give you this ….. I was trying to get a refuge into a good job in a country with a much higher standard of living. Thus the question remains,,, am I still an emigre or a merely greedy capitalist opportunist ? (sigh)

    Have a nice night, all.

  7. Buzzed through this pretty quickly, but had the same error as Tony with RPm and ARGOSIEm. Still, a fun puzzle.

    On to Friday.

  8. Hi gang!
    Good challenge, successfully completed. I had a laugh over DYADS (tho I’m glad I knew it here) because that’s teacher speak for “pairs,” eg, when you put students in pairs to work together. The term is so pedagogical!! Between you and me, if I heard an educator use that word, it was a tip-off that s/he was probably a stiff, mediocre teacher. Ha!
    I also found the theme helpful here. And I had RPM before RPS, but I fixed it in time. I knew ATTLEE, just thought there was only one T, so it kinda threw me for a minute. And speaking of British history, I had HENRY V, which gave me VEXED. Fixed that too.
    What’s the best museum in downtown Los Angeles? I’m OVER the mid century modern stuff at BOTH the Broad and MOCA. It is time to go to Paris and visit the Louvre I guess…
    Okay, enough on that! Looking forward to Friday & Saturday grids (hope my optimism holds up.)
    Sweet dreams~~™???

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