LA Times Crossword Answers 22 Sep 2017, Friday










Constructed by: Jeffrey Wechsler

Edited by: Rich Norris

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

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Theme: Noisy Dogs

Each of today’s themed answer includes a sound made by a dog, but that same answer sounds like a common phrase:

  • 21A. Hogwarts chronicler imitating noisy dogs? : JK GROWLING (sounds like “JK ROWLING”)
  • 26A. Devices that record data on noisy dogs? : BARKING METERS (sounds like “parking meters”)
  • 47A. Photographer of noisy dogs? : YIPPER SNAPPER (sounds like “whippersnapper”)
  • 52A. Paintings depicting noisy dogs? : WORKS OF ARF (sounds like “works of art”)

Bill’s time: 7m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0




Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies

Across

5. Thompson of “Westworld” : TESSA

Tessa Thompson is an actress from Los Angeles who is known for playing the supporting role of Jackie Cook on the TV show “Veronica Mars”, and for playing student leader Diane Nash in the 2014 film “Selma”.

“Westworld” is an HBO series that is based on a 1973 movie of the same name, which was written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton. Westworld is a high-tech theme park populated by androids that interact with the guests.

14. Stephen Hawking subject : TIME

Stephen Hawking is a theoretical physicist from Oxford, England. Hawking owes much of his fame in the world of popular science to his incredibly successful book called “A Brief History of Time”. “A Brief History of Time” has sold over 10 million copies and was on London’s “Sunday Times” bestseller list for over four years. Hawking does a wonderful job of explaining many aspects of cosmology without losing the average reader. There is only one equation in the whole book, and that equation is “E = mc2”. Hawking’s life story is recounted in the excellent 2014 film “The Theory of Everything”.

17. Princess Royal of Britain : ANNE

Anne, Princess Royal was born in 1950 and is the only daughter of British Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Anne has been in the public spotlight for many things, including her success as an equestrian. Princess Anne was the first member of the British Royal Family to have competed in an Olympic Games. Her daughter Zara Phillips continued the tradition and competed as a member of the British equestrian team in the 2012 Olympic Games. Zara’s medal was presented to her by her own mother, Princess Anne.

“Princess Royal” is the title given to the eldest daughter of a British monarch.

20. Setup provider’s abbr. : BYOB

Bring Your Own Beer/Bottle/Booze (BYOB)

21. Hogwarts chronicler imitating noisy dogs? : JK GROWLING (sounds like “JK ROWLING”)

Joanne Rowling changed her name to J. K. Rowling at the request of her publisher, who believed that young boys might have shied away from reading the first “Harry Potter” book if they believed the story was written by a woman (this was 1997!). “Jo” Rowling chose J for Joanne, and K for Kathleen after her grandmother (Jo has no middle name to use).

23. Like many deli orders : TO GO

The word “delicatessen” (or “deli” for short) came into English from the German “Delikatessen”. The Germans borrowed the word from French, in which language “délicatesse” means “delicious things (to eat)”. The term’s ultimate root is “delicatus”, the Latin for “giving pleasure, delightful”.

25. Western peer of Tex and Gene : ROY

Cowboy actor and singer Roy Rogers’ real name was Leonard Franklin Slye, and his nickname was “King of the Cowboys”. Roy Rogers married Dale Evans in 1947. Evans’ nickname was “Queen of the West”.

Tex Ritter was a country singer and actor from Murvaul, Texas. On the big screen, Ritter was known as a “singing cowboy”, and appeared in around 40 westerns in which he belted out a tune or two. Tex’s son was actor John Ritter, who played Jack Tripper so well in the sitcom “Three’s Company”.

Gene Autry was a so-called singing cowboy who had an incredibly successful career on radio, television and in films starting in the thirties. Autry’s signature song was “Back in the Saddle Again”, and his biggest hit was “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. He also had a hit with his own Christmas song called “Here Comes Santa Claus”. There’s even a town in Oklahoma called Gene Autry, named in his honor. Famously, Autry owned the Los Angeles Angels baseball team for many years, from 1961 to 1997.

26. Devices that record data on noisy dogs? : BARKING METERS (sounds like “parking meters”)

An early patent for a parking meter, dated 1928, was for a device that required the driver of the parked car to connect the battery of his or her car to the meter in order for it to operate!

32. Part of XL: Abbr. : LGE

Extra-large (XL)

33. Toon cat since the silent era : FELIX

Felix the Cat is a cartoon character who dates back to the era of silent movies. A papier-mâché model of Felix was used in one of the first ever broadcasts of a television image, in 1928. At that time, RCA was using a Felix doll in experimental transmissions in New York.

37. War-torn land : IRAQ

Iraq is often called the “Cradle of Civilization” as it was home to Sumer, which was the earliest known civilization on the planet. By 5000 BC the Sumerian people were practicing year-round agriculture and had a specialized labor force. For the first time, a whole race were able to settle in one place by storing food, instead of having to migrate in a pattern dictated by crops and grazing land.

42. St. Anthony’s home : PADUA

The city of Padua is in northern Italy, and not far from Venice. Padua has many claims to fame. For example, Galileo was one of the lecturers at the University of Padua, and William Shakespeare chose the city as the setting for his play “The Taming of the Shrew”.

44. It’s not exactly a pick-me-up : DECAF

The first successful process for removing caffeine from coffee involved steaming the beans in salt water, and then extracting the caffeine using benzene (a potent carcinogen) as a solvent. Coffee processed this way was sold as Sanka here in the US. There are other processes used these days, and let’s hope they are safer …

50. Disney Store collectible : CEL

In the world of animation, a cel is a transparent sheet on which objects and characters are drawn. In the first half of the 20th century the sheet was actually made of celluloid, giving the “cel” its name.

51. Semi bar : AXLE

A “semi” is a “semi-trailer truck”. The vehicle is so called because it consists of a tractor and a half-trailer. The half-trailer is so called because it only has wheels on the back end, with the front supported by the tractor.

58. First name in folk : ARLO

Arlo Guthrie is the son of Woody Guthrie. Both father and son are renowned for their singing of protest songs about social injustice. Arlo is most famous for his epic “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, a song that lasts a full 18m 34s. In the song Guthrie tells how, after being drafted, he was rejected for service in the Vietnam War based on his criminal record. He had only one incident on his public record, a Thanksgiving Day arrest for littering and being a public nuisance when he was 18-years-old.

64. News article intro : LEDE

The opening paragraph in any work of literature is often just called “the lead”. In the world of journalism, this is usually referred to as “the lede”.

69. Bellicose god : ARES

The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

Someone described as bellicose is inclined to favor strife or war. The term comes from “bellum”, the Latin word for “war”.

Down

2. Like a mite : TINY

Mites are tiny arthropods in the arachnid (spider) class. Mites are (annoyingly!) very successful creatures that have adapted to all sorts of habitats, and being so small, they generally pass unnoticed. Ick …

4. Adidas subsidiary : REEBOK

The brand name Reebok was adopted as the new company name for Foster Shoes of the UK in 1960. The name Reebok (more commonly “Rhebok”) is an Afrikaans word for an antelope, and comes from the term “roe buck”.

5. He beat out Sonny & Cher and Herman’s Hermits, among others, for the Best New Artist Grammy : TOM JONES

Tom Jones … now he has a real voice and is a great showman. I saw him in Las Vegas many, many moons ago, and it was one of the best Vegas shows I’ve ever attended. Although “Tom Jones” is a carefully selected stage name (he was born Thomas Woodward) the name isn’t too far from reality as Jones is his mother’s maiden name. The stage name was chosen by his manager to capitalize on the appeal of “Tom Jones”, a filmed version of the Henry Fielding novel that was having a successful run at the time. The name also emphasized Tom’s Welsh roots, as Jones is a very common name in Wales.

The famous duo Sonny & Cher started out in the mid-1960s as backing singer working with Phil Spector. The couple married in 1964, and the next year released their breakthrough numbers “Baby Don’t Go” and “I Got You Babe”. Sonny and Cher divorced in 1975, and dissolved their act that same year. Cher moved onto a successful solo career that continues to this day. Sonny Bono was elected as a US Congressman for California in 1995. Sadly, he didn’t finish his term in the House as he died from injuries sustained in a skiing accident in 1998.

Herman’s Hermits are a band from the north of England that formed in 1964 as “Herman & the Hermits. The band’s list of hits includes “I’m into Something Good” (1964), “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” (1965), “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” (1965) and my personal favorite “There’s a Kind of Hush” (1967).

6. Christine’s phantom admirer : ERIK

In Gaston Leroux’s novel “The Phantom of the Opera”, the young Christine Daaé is obsessively admired by Erik, the “phantom” who lives below the Paris Opera House.

11. Nutritious berry : ACAI

Açaí is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

13. Giant film primate : KONG

When RKO released the 1933 movie “King Kong”, the promotional material listed the ape’s height as 50 feet. During filming, a bust was created for a 40-foot ape, as well as a full-size hand that went with a 70-foot Kong.

24. Desktop animation image suffix : GIF

A bitmap is an image file format used to store digital images. Basically, each pixel in a bitmap file is stored as a “bit” of information, hence the name “bitmap”. In 1987, CompuServe introduced a new type of image file called the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). A GIF image takes the same information as a bitmap and then compresses it, resulting in a smaller file size. However, during compression the image may lose some resolution. The GIF format also handles short video clips, usually animations.

26. Control tower signal : BLIP

Scientists have been using radio waves to detect the presence of objects since the late 1800s, but it was the demands of WWII that accelerated the practical application of the technology. The British called their system RDF standing for Range and Direction Finding. The system used by the US Navy was called Radio Detection And Ranging, which was shortened to the acronym RADAR.

27. Indian shrine site : AGRA

Agra is a medieval city on the banks of the river Yamuna in India. Agra was also the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1658. The city is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

  • The Taj Mahal: the famous mausoleum built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal.
  • Agra Fort: the site where the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was seized.
  • Fatehpur Sikri: a historic city that’s home to well-preserved Mughal architecture.

30. CFOs, e.g. : EXECS

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

31. Orient Express feature : SLEEPER CAR

The Orient Express was a celebrated luxury passenger train service that operated from 1883 until 2009. The cities served by the Orient Express varied over the decades, but most famously ran between Paris and Constantinople (Istanbul).

35. Shakespeare’s shrew : KATE

William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” is about a courting couple. The male in the couple is Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, and the female is Katharina/Kate, the so-called “shrew”. As the play progresses, the “shrew” is “tamed” and becomes an “obedient” bride … a controversial storyline in the contemporary world, to say the least. Regardless, modern adaptations have been made, including 1948’s Broadway musical “Kiss Me Kate” and the 1999 romantic comedy “10 Things I Hate About You”.

36. Vega, for one : STAR

Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra. Vega (along with Altair and Deneb from other constellations) is also part of the group of three stars that is called the Summer Triangle. Vega is the star at the right-angle of this triangle.

43. Homo sapiens relatives : APES

The hominids are the great apes, and belong to the family of primates called Hominidae. Extant genera that make up the family Hominidae are:

  • chimpanzees
  • gorillas
  • humans
  • orangutans

The literal translation of “Homo sapiens” from Latin is “wise or knowing man”. The Homo genus includes the species Homo sapiens (modern humans), but we’re the only species left in that genus. The last known species related to humans was Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man) which died off about 24,000 years ago. However, another species was discovered in Indonesia in 2003 that has been dubbed Homo floresiensis (Flores Man … sometimes called “hobbit”), and it may possibly have lived as recently as 12,000 years ago. Watch this space …

48. Small wading bird : PLOVER

Plovers are small wading birds with relatively short bills. Many of the 60-70 species of plovers are referred to as dotterels.

49. State of matter : PLASMA

When I was a schoolkid, I was taught that there were three fundamental states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. I think it is now generally accepted that there is a fourth fundamental state matter, namely plasma. Plasma is a state without a definite shape or volume, and in that sense is similar to a gas. In a plasma, electrons have been ripped away from their nuclei, forming a conductive electron “sea”. Plasmas are created from gases by applying a massive voltage difference or an extremely high temperature.

55. Gift from Prometheus : FIRE

In Greek mythology, Prometheus was one of the Titans. He was said to have created man from clay as well as giving fire to humanity, hence allowing the human race to prosper.

57. Play polo, say : RIDE

The sport of polo originated in Iran, possibly before the 5th century BC. Polo was used back them primarily as a training exercise for cavalry units.

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Complete List of Clues and Answers

Across

1. Hubbub : STIR

5. Thompson of “Westworld” : TESSA

10. One way to lean : BACK

14. Stephen Hawking subject : TIME

15. Tough tests of knowledge : ORALS

16. Offer the same opinion as : ECHO

17. Princess Royal of Britain : ANNE

18. -, at times : MINUS

19. Reclined : LAIN

20. Setup provider’s abbr. : BYOB

21. Hogwarts chronicler imitating noisy dogs? : JK GROWLING (sounds like “JK ROWLING”)

23. Like many deli orders : TO GO

25. Western peer of Tex and Gene : ROY

26. Devices that record data on noisy dogs? : BARKING METERS (sounds like “parking meters”)

32. Part of XL: Abbr. : LGE

33. Toon cat since the silent era : FELIX

34. Reacts to bad news, perhaps : SULKS

37. War-torn land : IRAQ

39. More rational : SANER

41. All in : BEAT

42. St. Anthony’s home : PADUA

44. It’s not exactly a pick-me-up : DECAF

46. Airport approx. : ETA

47. Photographer of noisy dogs? : YIPPER SNAPPER (sounds like “whippersnapper”)

50. Disney Store collectible : CEL

51. Semi bar : AXLE

52. Paintings depicting noisy dogs? : WORKS OF ARF (sounds like “works of art”)

58. First name in folk : ARLO

61. Choppers : AXES

62. Stop by : VISIT

63. Printer function : SCAN

64. News article intro : LEDE

65. Gradually weaken : ERODE

66. It can be hard to get out of : MAZE

67. It can be hard to get out : KNOT

68. Call attention (to) : REFER

69. Bellicose god : ARES

Down

1. Attempt : STAB

2. Like a mite : TINY

3. “Give me a few minutes” : I’M NOT READY

4. Adidas subsidiary : REEBOK

5. He beat out Sonny & Cher and Herman’s Hermits, among others, for the Best New Artist Grammy : TOM JONES

6. Christine’s phantom admirer : ERIK

7. Emulated 5-Down : SANG

8. Nasty comment : SLUR

9. Categorize : ASSORT

10. Source of much canine delight : BELLY RUB

11. Nutritious berry : ACAI

12. Gym exercise : CHIN

13. Giant film primate : KONG

22. Burdens : WOES

24. Desktop animation image suffix : GIF

26. Control tower signal : BLIP

27. Indian shrine site : AGRA

28. Forest clearing : GLADE

29. Member of the underground economy? : MINER

30. CFOs, e.g. : EXECS

31. Orient Express feature : SLEEPER CAR

35. Shakespeare’s shrew : KATE

36. Vega, for one : STAR

38. Cement type for home repairs : QUICKSET

40. Pursued vigorously : RAN AFTER

43. Homo sapiens relatives : APES

45. 63-Across alternative : FAX

48. Small wading bird : PLOVER

49. State of matter : PLASMA

52. Constitutional : WALK

53. Strong farm team : OXEN

54. Overhaul : REDO

55. Gift from Prometheus : FIRE

56. Beginning : AS OF

57. Play polo, say : RIDE

59. Relax : LAZE

60. Word that can replace “your” : ONE’S

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11 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 22 Sep 2017, Friday”

  1. From yesterday, Jeff, …. as for being a drug dealer, I very much wanted to be one …. but in the more esoteric variety. I tried to get set up in some high class anti-bacterial drugs, like hexa-chlorephene – except that it turned out to be one of the precursors of some carcinogens, like Agent Orange. Drats, foiled again !

    Nowadays, I think explosives seems to be the latest way to go. I read about ATAP, ….. right here, on Bill’s blog – and spent a pleasant afternoon and most of the night reading about the manufacturing process ….. and a few days later, theres the Parson’s Green ( attempted / mucked up / snafu’ed ) train bombing, involving ATAP !

    And its got to be so common, that (even a – ) a Kentucky Fried Chicken ‘fryer’ thinks, he is an expert enough to try to make and handle ATAP !!!

    ( The fried chicken is described as having extremely, extremist, explosive flavors …. )
    Btw, per Wikipedia, ATAP is so explosive/ unstable / risky that it can be ‘set off’ ….. merely by breathing on it !!!
    Truly, fools rush in, where angels fear to tread.

  2. I am already regreeting very deeply at the above tongue-in-cheek post that I wrote earlier … as above. But it is now forever etched in cyberspace …. be careful of what you post, ….. like a spoken word and a spent arrow – it can never be retrieved. I apologise a thousand times for it !!!

    I found this puzzle very difficult and solved with great difficulty. I am now perenially scared of this marvellous constructor. I understood most of the answers after I had solved them …. they are indeed very punny. I marvel at Bill’s times, …. he could so easily cleave his way through all the ruses !

    Finally, I have read Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel – and I am aware that Iraq was the putative area of the beginning of the transformation of homo sapiens from the hunter gathers to the agriculture-pastoral society. It is indeed very sad that that area is now transforming to an almost abyss like descent into de-civilisation.

    Have a nice day, and a great weekend, all.

  3. @Vidwan … I found your comments very amusing, so there’s no need to apologize to me! (But I empathize with your warning to be careful what you post, having recently gone a little overboard myself.) And your comment about Iraq is painfully apt. (Perhaps it has to do with my age, but I am finding much in world news to be sad/distressed/worried about … )

    Today’s LAT: 13:37, no errors. Slow to pick up on the theme.

    Today’s Newsday: 10:25, no errors. Typical Newsday romp, but a little easier than usual, I thought.

    Today’s WSJ: 14:20, no errors (that I know of). A little harder than usual, perhaps, but with an easy meta.

    Contrary to what I said yesterday, I downloaded six more old Tim Croce puzzles and, so far, #280 has me stymied: the upper right is one big Natick.

    1. I need to let the “author” of these insane puzzles know that if I ever meet him (her?) that I plan to do them some form of bodily harm ! Ellen Hoppe

  4. Pretty simple for a Friday from my seat out here in La La Land. Next up the WSJ. I’m glad to hear from David that the meta is simple today – it gives me some (probably false) hope!

  5. 29 minutes, no errors on this. 56 minutes, 1 error (bad guess) on the WSJ. IMO not anywhere near what either constructor is capable of in terms of difficulty, but decently good puzzles (especially the latter). Of course, haven’t looked at the meta yet.

    @Dave
    And I get the feeling on that. Needed to stay away for a couple of days for things I had to do, but too irresistible to not pick up something if everything else is done. Especially for early in the week (for me). Still have a puzzle left on my backlog to finish (current Fireball). The funny part of it for my skill level is that the crosswords don’t last long enough early in the week, and last too long / can’t do them at the end. Funny how that works.

  6. 29:22 . I spent a lot of time doing a Tony (i.e. hunting and pecking) until I could get some traction. Once I figured the theme out, the rest went quickly.

    It always makes me nervous to disagree with someone as brilliant as Hawking. That said, some of his most recent theories and comments (especially those that go a bit beyond theoretical physics) I find a little far fetched. Maybe in a few hundred years, we’ll find out who’s correct…

    Hope to get to the NYT today. I don’t mind missing early week puzzles, but I do savor the late week ones. I usually print them out and save the ones I don’t get to for airplanes, places I don’t want to take a computer etc….but add “a printer” to the list of a thousand of things I still need to get.

    Best-

  7. Fine puzzle today by the esteemed Jeffrey Wechsler, especially since I enjoy punnery at every level. (Re today’s WSJ, I found it a disappointment. Constructed by the highly regarded “CC” Burnikel, it was perfectly adequate — for a Tuesday. But as a Friday puzzle it was, IMHO, a themeless yawner. The NYT was, in comparison, superb — another David Steinberg gem.)

  8. When I got to the LA crossword in our little free local paper it was the same one from yesterday…so I had to do it online. The timer said 34 minutes but I did turn on red letters for a bit of the North and NE…so it probably would have been 40-45 minutes without help.

    Just not as fun as doing it on paper, at least for me.

    @Bill I’m pretty sure the Angels are known as the LA Angels now and used to be called the Anaheim Angels before.

    @Carrie Yep, they’re a football (soccer) team, which did great last year (5th place in the Bundesliga) and desperately need a win on Sunday against Hanover.

  9. Hey guys!! ?
    Where are our female members??!
    I found this puzzle quite easy, as Friday Wechslers go. LEDE!! Wow, THERE’S a term I haven’t heard since 1986, when I (finally) finíshed my BA in journalism. FWIW, the term is spelled that way so that it is pronounced correctly and is not confused with the mineral lead [led].
    Is lead a mineral??! ? Or an alloy??!
    Trying against all odds to maintain my large backyard…. I can’t do the work myself, and it’s near impossible to find yard workers. Just this month, two companies have simply not shown up, while the latest group of guys had to cancel today. They PROMISE they’ll be here Saturday, but I ain’t holding my breath.
    Thanks Dirk!! I shall be pulling for your team… ⚽
    Be well~~™ ?

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