LA Times Crossword Answers 10 Oct 16, Monday




la-times-crossword-solution-10-oct-16







Constructed by: Joel Mackerry

Edited by: Rich Norris

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Theme: Cash Up Front

Today’s themed answers each start with a slang term for “money”, each has CASH UP FRONT:

  • 62A…Down payment … and what 17-, 25-, 38- and 53-Across have in common (besides being food)..CASH UP FRONT
  • 17A…Pizza topping veggie..GREEN PEPPER
  • 25A…Traditional filled fare of Europe and West Asia..CABBAGE ROLL
  • 38A…Salad staples..LETTUCE LEAVES
  • 53A…Baked-in-their-shells dish..CLAMS CASINO

Bill’s time: 5m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0




Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies

Across

1…”Stay out of my affairs,” briefly..MYOB

Mind your own business (MYOB)

11…CFO’s degree..MBA

A chief financial officer (CFO) might have a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

16…”__ the ramparts … “..O’ER

The words “o’er the ramparts we watched” come from “The Star Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key.

20…Slugger __ Harper of the Nats..BRYCE

Bryce Harper is a MLB right-fielder who was chosen by the Washington Nationals as the first overall pick in the 2010 Draft.

21…Stylish, clotheswise..NATTY

A natty dresser is one who dresses smartly. The term may come from the Middle English “net” meaning “fine, elegant”, in which case it shares its etymology with the word “neat”.

29…Preppy shirt brand..IZOD

Jack Izod was a tailor of some repute over in England, producing shirts for King George V as well as other members of the Royal Family. As Izod was about to retire, he was approached for the use of his name by an American clothing manufacturer based in New York. The brand Izod of London was introduced to America in 1938.

31…Japanese noodle..SOBA

Soba is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. In Japan, the word “soba” tends to be used to describe any thin noodle, in contrast with the thicker noodles that are called udon.

38…Salad staples..LETTUCE LEAVES

Our word “salad” comes from the Latin “salare” meaning “to salt”. The Latin “herba salata” translates as “salted vegetables”, which I guess could be a salad …

44…Revealing, as a bikini..SKIMPY

The origin of the word “bikini”, a type of bathing suit, seems very uncertain. My favorite story is that it is named after the Bikini Atoll, site of American A-bomb tests in the forties and fifties. The name “bikini” was chosen for the swim-wear because of the “explosive” effect it had on men who saw a woman wearing the garment!

46…Eye care brand..RENU

ReNu is a brand name of contact lens products sold by Bausch & Lomb.

50…Savings vehicles for later yrs…IRAS

Individual retirement account (IRA)

53…Baked-in-their-shells dish..CLAMS CASINO

The dish known as clams casino comprises clams served on the halfshell with breadcrumbs and bacon, broiled to a golden brown. The recipe originated in Rhode Island, apparently developed by the staff in a hotel in Narragansett, Rhode Island. The dish was named for the hotel, the Little Casino.

57…NFL scores..TDS

Touchdowns (TDs) are scored in National Football League (NFL) games.

58…Car body style..COUPE

The type of car known as a “coupe” or “coupé” is a closed automobile with two doors. The name comes from the French word “couper” meaning “to cut”. In most parts of the English-speaking world the pronunciation adheres to the original French, but here in most of North America we go with “coop”. The original coupé was a horse-drawn carriage that was cut (coupé) to eliminate the rear-facing passenger seats. That left just a driver and two front-facing passengers. If the driver was left without a roof and out in the open, then the carriage was known as a “coupé de-ville”.

59…Saltwater candy..TAFFY

Salt water taffy was invented in Atlantic City and is now found all over the US, but primarily in coastal towns (for some reason) and not really outside of America. Taffy is made by stretching the solid mass made by boiling up sugar, butter, flavoring, and coloring until it achieves a fluffy texture. Despite the inference in the name, the recipe for salt water taffy does not include “seawater”, but does include both salt and water.

62…Down payment … and what 17-, 25-, 38- and 53-Across have in common (besides being food)..CASH UP FRONT

Lettuce, cabbage, kale, dough, scratch, simoleons, clams, green and moola are all slang terms for money.

68…Sara of baking..LEE

In 1935, businessman Charles Lubin bought a chain of three bakeries in Chicago called Community Bake Shops, and soon expanded the operation into seven stores. Lubin introduced a cream cheesecake that he named after his daughter who was only 8-years-old at the time, Sara Lee Lubin. The cheesecake was a hit and he renamed the bakeries to Kitchen of Sara Lee. The business was bought out by Consolidated foods in 1956, but the brand name Sara Lee persists to this day, as does Ms. Sara Lee herself who now goes by the name Sara Lee Schupf.

70…Franc replacement..EURO

The French franc was made up of 100 centimes, before being replaced by the Euro.

71…Oral health org…ADA

American Dental Association (ADA)

73…French state..ETAT

The French word for “state” is “état”.

Down

1…Fuel efficiency no…MPG

Miles per gallon (mpg)

5…Pet adoption org…ASPCA

Unlike in most developed countries, there is no “umbrella” organization in the US with the goal of preventing cruelty to animals. Instead there are independent organizations set up all over the nation using the name SPCA. Having said that, there is an organization called the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) that was originally intended to operate across the country, but really it now focuses its efforts in New York City.

6…Nerdy types..DWEEBS

Dweeb is relatively recent American slang that came out of college life in the late sixties. Dweeb, squarepants, nerd, they’re all not-nice terms that mean the same thing: someone excessively studious and socially inept.

7…BMOC, for one..VIP

Big Man On Campus (BMOC)

8…Sixth sense, for short..ESP

Extrasensory perception (ESP)

9…MLB scoreboard letters..RHE

On baseball scoreboards we see the letters RHE, standing for Runs, Hits and Errors.

10…”In Treatment” star Gabriel __..BYRNE

Irish actor Gabriel Byrne is probably probably still best known for his starring role in the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects”, although he has an impressive resume of roles since the mid-nineties. One of his more noted television roles was playing therapist Dr. Paul Weston on the HBO series “In Treatment” from 2008 to 2010. Byrne was married to actress Ellen Barkin from 1988 until they divorced in 1999.

The HBO series “In Treatment” stars Gabriel Byrne as a psychologist who holds weekly sessions with his patients, and with his own therapist. The show is a remake of an Israeli TV series titled “BeTipul” (meaning “In Therapy”), and indeed some episodes use the same script as the original show, just translated into English.

11…Salt brand with an umbrella girl..MORTON

Morton Salt started doing business in 1848 in Chicago, and now is the largest producer of salt in North America. The product’s logo is the Morton Salt Girl, a young girl walking with an open umbrella in the rain, scattering salt behind her from a cylinder.

12…Fab Four member..BEATLE

The Beatles were described on the sleeve notes of their 1963 album “With the Beatles” as the “fabulous foursome”. The press picked up on the phrase and morphed it into “the Fab Four”.

13…Socks pattern..ARGYLE

The argyle pattern is based on the Campbell tartan. The Campbell clan is based in the Argyll region (note the spelling) in the west of Scotland, giving the Argyle pattern its name.

18…Metropolis served by JFK and LGA..NYC

The three big airports serving New York City (NYC) are John F. Kennedy (JFK), La Guardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR).

22…Noah’s project..ARK

The term “ark”, when used with reference to Noah, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tebah”. The word “tebah” is also used in the Bible for the basket in which Moses was placed by his mother when she floated him down the Nile. It seems that the word “tebah” doesn’t mean “boat” and nor does it mean “basket”. Rather, a more appropriate translation is “life-preserver” or “life-saver”. So, Noah’s ark was Noah’s life-preserver during the flood.

23…Circle ratios..PIS

The ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter is a mathematical constant, which we denote with the Greek letter pi (π). Approximate values for the pi that are often used in calculations are 22/7 and 3.1415926. If you count the letters in each word of the mnemonic “How I wish I could calculate pi easily”, the sequence gives you the first eight digits of the value of pi, i.e. 3.1415926.

24…Blue, in Baja..AZUL

Baja California is both the most northern and the most western of the Mexican states. The name translates from Spanish as “Lower California”.

26…Spanish groceries..BODEGAS

“Bodega” is the Spanish term for a winery, or these days for a grocery store.

27…Adam’s second son..ABEL

According to the Bible, Adam and Eve had several children, although only the first three are mentioned by name: Cain, Abel and Seth.

30…Mar.-to-Nov. hrs…DST

On the other side of the Atlantic, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is known as “summer time”. The idea behind summer/daylight-savings is to move clocks forward an hour in spring (i.e. “spring forward”) and backwards in the fall (i.e. “fall back”) so that afternoons have more daylight.

34…UFO pilots, presumably..ETS

One might speculate that an unidentified flying object (UFO) is flown by an extraterrestrial (ET).

35…Belted Forum garment..TUNIC

The Roman forum was the public space in the middle of a city, taking it’s name from the Latin word “forum” meaning “marketplace, town square”. “The Roman Forum” is most famous example of such a space. The Forum is at the heart of the city of Rome, is surrounded by the ruins of several ancient government buildings, and has been referred to as the most celebrated meeting play in the world.

39…Siena sweetheart..CARA

In Italian, “cara” (dear) is a word spoken “con affetto” (with affection).

Siena is a beautiful city in the Tuscany region of Italy. In the center of Siena is the magnificent medieval square called Piazza del Campo, a paved sloping open area made up of nine triangular sections. The square has to be seen to be believed. Twice a year, the famous bareback horse-race called the Palio di Siena is held in the Piazza.

46…Coke competitor..RC COLA

Nehi Corporation was the nickname for the Chero-Cola/Union Bottle Works that introduced the Nehi drink in 1924. Years later the company developed a new brand, Royal Crown Cola (also known as RC Cola). By 1955, RC Cola was the company’s flagship product, so the “Nehi Corporation” became the “Royal Crown Company”. In 1954, RC Cola became the first company to sell soft drinks in cans.

48…Queasy feeling..NAUSEA

“Nausea” is a sick feeling in the stomach. The term derives from the Greek “naus” meaning “ship”, and so was originally associated only with seasickness.

66…Org. for marksmen..NRA

National Rifle Association (NRA)

67…Tyke..TOT

“Tyke” has been used playfully to describe a young child since at least 1902, but for centuries before that a tyke was a cur or mongrel, or perhaps a lazy or lower-class man.

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Complete List of Clues and Answers

Across

1…”Stay out of my affairs,” briefly..MYOB

5…Briefly, e.g…ADVERB

11…CFO’s degree..MBA

14…Window section..PANE

15…Like the sound of tall grass in the breeze..SWISHY

16…”__ the ramparts … “..O’ER

17…Pizza topping veggie..GREEN PEPPER

19…Dusting cloth..RAG

20…Slugger __ Harper of the Nats..BRYCE

21…Stylish, clotheswise..NATTY

23…Remit..PAY

25…Traditional filled fare of Europe and West Asia..CABBAGE ROLL

29…Preppy shirt brand..IZOD

31…Japanese noodle..SOBA

32…Replaceable joint..KNEE

33…Much-photographed evening event..SUNSET

36…Showroom model..DEMO

38…Salad staples..LETTUCE LEAVES

43…Unexpected obstacle..SNAG

44…Revealing, as a bikini..SKIMPY

46…Eye care brand..RENU

50…Savings vehicles for later yrs…IRAS

52…Copied..APED

53…Baked-in-their-shells dish..CLAMS CASINO

57…NFL scores..TDS

58…Car body style..COUPE

59…Saltwater candy..TAFFY

61…Covert __: secret missions..OPS

62…Down payment … and what 17-, 25-, 38- and 53-Across have in common (besides being food)..CASH UP FRONT

68…Sara of baking..LEE

69…Band on the road..TROUPE

70…Franc replacement..EURO

71…Oral health org…ADA

72…Emphasize..STRESS

73…French state..ETAT

Down

1…Fuel efficiency no…MPG

2…Pirate’s cry..YAR!

3…Singly..ONE BY ONE

4…Bar pint contents..BEER

5…Pet adoption org…ASPCA

6…Nerdy types..DWEEBS

7…BMOC, for one..VIP

8…Sixth sense, for short..ESP

9…MLB scoreboard letters..RHE

10…”In Treatment” star Gabriel __..BYRNE

11…Salt brand with an umbrella girl..MORTON

12…Fab Four member..BEATLE

13…Socks pattern..ARGYLE

18…Metropolis served by JFK and LGA..NYC

22…Noah’s project..ARK

23…Circle ratios..PIS

24…Blue, in Baja..AZUL

26…Spanish groceries..BODEGAS

27…Adam’s second son..ABEL

28…Fun and __..GAMES

30…Mar.-to-Nov. hrs…DST

34…UFO pilots, presumably..ETS

35…Belted Forum garment..TUNIC

37…Wine barrel wood..OAK

39…Siena sweetheart..CARA

40…Through, in itineraries..VIA

41…Remove everything from, as a fridge..EMPTY OUT

42…Zoomed..SPED

45…NFL gains..YDS

46…Coke competitor..RC COLA

47…Snuck out to get hitched..ELOPED

48…Queasy feeling..NAUSEA

49…Strike caller..UMP

51…Abs strengtheners..SIT-UPS

54…Religious factions..SECTS

55…Neck areas brushed by barbers..NAPES

56…Not working today..OFF

60…At no cost..FREE

63…Museum display..ART

64…Fem. campus group..SOR

65…Shade of color..HUE

66…Org. for marksmen..NRA

67…Tyke..TOT

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