LA Times Crossword Answers 24 Feb 2018, Saturday

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Constructed by: Neville Fogarty & Doug Peterson
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 10m 06s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Arcing “American Ninja Warrior” obstacle : WARPED WALL

“American Ninja Warrior” is an entertaining, televised sports competition that is a spinoff of the very popular Japanese show “Sasuke”. Competitors have to navigate their way through a series of very challenging obstacles, in the fastest time possible.

11. Cut on a Jackson 5 album? : AFRO

The Jackson 5 singing group was originally made up of brothers Tito, Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. The four eldest brothers are still performing, but now using the name “The Jacksons”.

18. Romney’s 2012 running mate : RYAN

Paul Ryan was a nominee for Vice President in the 2012 election, and was on the Republican ticket with Mitt Romney. Ryan was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2015 after John Boehner resigned. At 45, Ryan then became the youngest Speaker since 1875.
Mitt Romney was born Willard Mitt Romney in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. Romney’s parents named him after J. Willard Marriott (the hotel magnate) who was the father’s best friend, and after Milton “Mitt” Romney who was the father’s cousin and quarterback for the Chicago Bears.

19. Letters of address for Washington and Lee? : EDU

After leading the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, Robert E. Lee served as president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. The college’s name was changed to Washington and Lee University in 1870, soon after Lee’s death.

21. Extended narratives : ARCS

A story arc is a continuing storyline in say a television show that runs through a number of episodes. Story arcs are also found in comics, books, video games, and other forms of media.

25. “Whispers of Immortality” poet : TS ELIOT

T. S. Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948, largely due to his “Four Quartets”, a set of four poems that Eliot himself considered to be his life’s masterpiece. He also won a Tony Award in 1950 for Best Play, for “The Cocktail Party”, as well as two posthumous Tony Awards in 1983 for his poems that are used in the musical “Cats”.

27. Norman or Eugene : CITY

Norman, Oklahoma is located just a few miles south of Oklahoma City. The city was named for Abner Norman from Kentucky, who first surveyed the area for the federal government. Norman is the third-largest city in the state, and is home to the University of Oklahoma that was founded there in 1890.
Eugene is the second-largest city in Oregon (after Portland). The city is named for its founder, Eugene Franklin Skinner. Skinner arrived in the area in 1846, after which the settlement he established was called Skinner’s Mudhole. The name was changed to Eugene City in 1852, which was shortened to Eugene in 1889.

28. Kentucky Bourbon Barrel __ : ALE

Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company in Lexington, Kentucky opened for business in 1999. The company started out as a brewery, and introduced its Kentucky Ale in 2000. The distillery operation started in 2008, and Town Branch bourbon was released for sale in 2012 after four years of aging.

31. Former Radiohead label : EMI

Radiohead is an alternative rock band from England that formed in 1985. When the band self-released their 2007 studio album “In Rainbows”, it was a big deal for the music industry. Radiohead offered a digital version of the album using a pay-what-you-want pricing model. Reportedly, most fans paid what would be a normal retail price for the download version of the album. That’s not bad, considering the relatively low cost to produce a download compared to the cost of producing a CD.

43. __ Today: magazine for teachers : NEA

The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the country, and mainly represents public school teachers.

44. Start to bat? : ACRO-

An acrobat is someone who performs gymnastic feats. The term comes into English via French from the Greek “akrobatos” meaning “going on tip-toe, climbing up high”.

46. Once called : NEE

“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.

51. Onion offering : SATIRE

“The Onion” is a satirical news network, with a print newspaper and a heavy online presence. “The Onion” newspaper was founded by two college students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988. The founders sold the operation a year later for about $20,000. The paper grew steadily until 1996 when it began to publish online and really took off. I think it’s worth a tad more than $20,000 today …

53. Meany in an Irving title : OWEN

“A Prayer for Owen Meany” is a novel by John Irving that was first published in 1989. Although Irving’s work is an independent story, it is written as a homage to “The Tin Drum” by Günter Grass.

54. Actress Miranda of “24: Legacy” : OTTO

Miranda Otto is an actress from Brisbane, Australia. Otto played Éowyn in “The Lord of the Rings” series of films.
“24: Legacy” is a spin-off of the incredibly successful TV show “24” that starred Kiefer Sutherland as counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer. “24: Legacy” never really resonated with audiences and was cancelled after one series. However, there is still talk of somehow resurrecting the “24” franchise.

56. Monk’s title : DOM

The honorific “Dom” is used in English for monks of certain orders, such as Benedictines and Carthusians. The term isa shortened form of the Latin “dominus” meaning “master, owner”.

58. Producer Rhimes’ TV production company : SHONDALAND

Shonda Rhimes is the creator and head writer of the TV shows “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal”. She also serves as executive producer for the crime shows “How to Get Away with Murder” and “The Catch”. Rhimes also runs her own production company called Shondaland.

62. Brief plea : NOLO

“Nolo contendere” (sometimes shortened to “nolo”) is a legal term that translates from Latin as “I do not wish to contend”. It’s the plea of no contest, and is an alternative to guilty and not guilty, meaning that one doesn’t admit guilt but nor does one dispute the charge.

63. Sci-fi franchise since 1984 : TERMINATOR

The 1984 movie “The Terminator” was directed by James Cameron. It was a relatively low-budget production, costing $6.4 million. It has grossed around $80 million to date, so no wonder the Terminator said “I’ll be back”.

64. Footnote notation : IDEM

“Idem” is usually abbreviated as “id.” and is the Latin word for “the same”. In research papers, “idem” is used in a list of references, in place of citations “already mentioned above”.

Down

1. Marx asset : WIT

The five Marx Brothers were born to “Minnie” and “Frenchy” Marx in New York City. The more famous older boys were Chico, Harpo and Groucho. Zeppo was the youngest brother, and he appeared in the early Marx Brothers movies. The fifth son was called Gummo, and he decided to pursue a different career off the stage.

4. Combs differently? : P DIDDY

When Sean John Combs started his rapping career, he used the stage name “Puff Daddy”. Then he went with “P. Diddy”, and I think that he is now recording simply as “Diddy”. Having said that, he has to stick with “P. Diddy” in some countries as he lost a legal battle over use of the simpler “Diddy” name as there is another artist called Richard “Diddy” Dearlove.

5. Lassitude : ENNUI

“Ennui” is the French word for boredom, a word that we now use in English. It’s one of the few French words we’ve imported that we haven’t anglicized and actually pronounce “correctly”.
Languor, lassitude, lethargy and listlessness are such lovely words. All are L-words meaning a lack of physical energy.

9. Corps of Discovery Expedition explorer : LEWIS

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were soldiers in the US Army. Lewis was a personal aide to President Thomas Jefferson, even residing in the Presidential Mansion. This exposure contributed to his selection as leader of the famous “Lewis and Clark Expedition”, which was known at the time as the Corps of Discovery Expedition. William Clark was actually Lewis’s boss for a while before Clark retired. Lewis asked Clark to come out of retirement to accompany him on his three-year exploration.

10. Cavalry weapon : LANCE

Lancers were a special type of cavalry soldier, ones who fought with lances!

22. Rapper-turned-actor : ICE-T

Rapper Ice-T must be sick of having his name come up as an answer in crossword puzzles (I know I am!). Ice-T has been interested in acting for decades and made his film debut in the 1984 movie about breakdancing called “Breakin’”. He has also played Detective Fin Tutuola in the TV show “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” since the year 2000.

23. It has a torch and two branches on its back : DIME

The term “dime”, used for a 10-cent coin, comes from the Old French word “disme” meaning “tenth part”.

26. Key __ : LARGO

Key Largo is an island in the Florida Keys. The island gained a lot of celebrity in 1948 when the John Huston movie “Key Largo” was released, starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and Lauren Bacall.

40. “Got to Give It Up” singer : GAYE

“Got to Give It Up” is a 1977 single recorded by Marvin Gaye. He had to be talked into recording the song, as it’s really a disco number, which wasn’t Gaye’s “scene”. But, he needed the money after a litigious divorce and lawsuits filed by former bandmates.

44. “Alias Grace” author : ATWOOD

Margaret Atwood’s 1996 novel “Alias Grace” is a fictionalized account of a real killing that took place in 1843 in Canada. In both novel and reality, two servants were convicted of the murder of their employer and his housekeeper. Atwood’s telling of the story explores the politics of the Irish in a British colony, and the status of women in society.

45. Big Easy cuisine : CREOLE

In the US, the term “Creole” is most usually a reference to the people descended from the colonial French and colonial Spanish people who settled in the Louisiana region before it became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
The city of New Orleans, Louisiana has the nickname “The Big Easy”. This name might come from the early 1900s when musicians found it relatively “easy” to find work there. The city is also known by the acronym NOLA, standing for New Orleans (NO), LA.

47. Canonized Norw. king : ST OLAV

Of the many kings of Norway named Olaf/Olav (and there have been five), Olaf II is perhaps the most celebrated, as he was canonized and made patron saint of the country. Olaf II was king from 1015 to 1028 and was known as “Olaf the Big” (or “Olaf the Fat”) during his reign. Today he is more commonly referred to as “Olaf the Holy”. After Olaf died he was given the title of “Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae”, which is Latin for “Norway’s Eternal King”.

50. Waters with pipes? : ETHEL

Ethel Waters was a singer and actress. Waters was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award (after Hattie McDaniel, for “Gone With the Wind”). Waters received the nomination as Best Supporting Actress in 1949 for her performance in the film “Pinky”, in which she played the title character’s grandmother.

52. Town in a 1945 Pulitzer-winning novel : ADANO

“A Bell for Adano” is a novel written by John Hersey. Hersey’s story is about an Italian-American US Army officer, Major Joppolo, who found a replacement for a town’s bell stolen by fascists. “A Bell for Adano” was made into a film in 1945, the same year the novel won a Pulitzer.

61. Pepper and others : DRS

Dr Pepper was introduced in 1885 in Waco, Texas, one year before the competing Coca-Cola was released to the market. I spent an entertaining few hours at the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco a few years ago.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Arcing “American Ninja Warrior” obstacle : WARPED WALL
11. Cut on a Jackson 5 album? : AFRO
15. “This is news to me” : I HAD NO IDEA
16. Used miles, perhaps : FLEW
17. Noting : TAKING DOWN
18. Romney’s 2012 running mate : RYAN
19. Letters of address for Washington and Lee? : EDU
20. Great in scope : EPIC
21. Extended narratives : ARCS
22. “Guilty as charged” : I DID IT
25. “Whispers of Immortality” poet : TS ELIOT
27. Norman or Eugene : CITY
28. Kentucky Bourbon Barrel __ : ALE
30. Includes in the mix : ADDS
31. Former Radiohead label : EMI
32. Lemons may be among them : USED CARS
35. Letter’s needs : TENANTS
37. Continuous : ONGOING
41. Links with : TIES INTO
43. __ Today: magazine for teachers : NEA
44. Start to bat? : ACRO-
46. Once called : NEE
47. Court suspension : STAY
48. Pacific states? : TRANCES
51. Onion offering : SATIRE
53. Meany in an Irving title : OWEN
54. Actress Miranda of “24: Legacy” : OTTO
56. Monk’s title : DOM
57. __ swing : MOOD
58. Producer Rhimes’ TV production company : SHONDALAND
62. Brief plea : NOLO
63. Sci-fi franchise since 1984 : TERMINATOR
64. Footnote notation : IDEM
65. Weekend night events, usually : SLEEPOVERS

Down

1. Marx asset : WIT
2. __ moment : AHA
3. Win big : RAKE IT IN
4. Combs differently? : P DIDDY
5. Lassitude : ENNUI
6. Pursue persistently : DOG
7. Spacious : WIDE
8. Took in : ADOPTED
9. Corps of Discovery Expedition explorer : LEWIS
10. Cavalry weapon : LANCE
11. “Yes, sad to say” : AFRAID SO
12. Casting choice : FLY ROD
13. Jerks, say : REACTS
14. Dominates : OWNS
22. Rapper-turned-actor : ICE-T
23. It has a torch and two branches on its back : DIME
24. Hint : TASTE
26. Key __ : LARGO
29. Minus : LESS
32. Pairing : UNION
33. Parlor purchase : CONE
34. Payments for hands : ANTES
36. Unsystematically : AT RANDOM
38. Hint : INTIMATE
39. __ miss : NEAR
40. “Got to Give It Up” singer : GAYE
42. Coming up : IN STORE
44. “Alias Grace” author : ATWOOD
45. Big Easy cuisine : CREOLE
47. Canonized Norw. king : ST OLAV
49. Will run you : COSTS
50. Waters with pipes? : ETHEL
52. Town in a 1945 Pulitzer-winning novel : ADANO
53. Prefix for all : OMNI-
55. Big sport’s words : ON ME
59. Fall off : DIP
60. Conjunction that reverses to a man’s name : NOR
61. Pepper and others : DRS

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11 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 24 Feb 2018, Saturday”

  1. LAT: DNF in 81 minutes, 8 errors. Hardest Saturday LAT in a long time, and harder than the last few NYT Saturdays I’ve done. WSJ: DNF in 43:13, 19 errors. Newsday: DNF, bunch of wrongly filled in stuff. Pretty much the usual. Overall, another day that proves I really can’t do crossword puzzles. At least I’m 1/2 right now on meta puzzles that expire this weekend.

  2. LAT: 20:56, no errors, but a slow solve. Had a lot of trouble at the intersection of WARPED WALL (something I had never heard of) and P DIDDY (of whom I was aware, but it took me a long time to finally remember his real name, which was necessary in order to understand the clue). And, although I had heard the name Shonda Rhimes, I had never heard of Shonda LAND, so I got it through crossing entries.

    Newsday: 21:07, no errors; relatively easy one, I thought. WSJ: 26:27, no errors; not too bad.

  3. The puzzle was very difficult today for me. I finally finished but still didn’t get the clue to 35 across even after I saw it. I’ll probably feel foolish if someone enlightens me. Susan

  4. 15:28, 2 errors @ 53A/44D. Susan, clue to 35A was using “let” (and letter for one who lets) in the sense of lease or rent out.

  5. 32:44. Was definitely hard in spots. Helped that I got TS ELIOT, ADANO, ICE T and ST OLAV because it’s always TS ELIOT, ADANO, ICE T, and something with OLAV..

    Some clever cluing in this one. P DIDDY “Combs differently?” gave me a chuckle as did the misdirect of “Onion”. I originally put “savory”…which also makes me laugh after the fact.

    I always thought of “lassitude” as meaning “fatigue” and ENNUI as meaning “boredom” so I didn’t equate them right away. I suppose they can me synonymous…

    @Dave –
    11 minutes to finish today’s NYT?? I think I had about 12 letters filled in after 11 minutes, but I eventually finished….

    1. @Jeff …

      Well, full disclosure: it actually took me 11 minutes and 33 seconds … but that last 33 seconds was pretty frantic! … ?.

      Seriously, the NYT was one weird puzzle for me: I did it after plodding through the WSJ, so I was kind of relaxed and in a groove, and then it somehow played to all of my strengths and none of my weaknesses. I got a lot of the long answers from a crossing letter or two. And I’m lovin’ it (and I’d better, ‘cause it’s unlikely to happen again any time soon… ?).

  6. I have to write to Carrie, and tell her how happy I was, especially for her sake, that the US team won the GOLD medal in the Men’s curling competition, against Sweden. I normally don’t watch curling or anything resembling it – but I did make an effort to watch the results of the finals —- and also learn all about the game, on Wikipedia.

    Happy medal day, Carrie !!@!

    Have a great weekend, everyone.

  7. Searched all over for a paper and finally gave up and did it on-line. Made some headway – I had P. Diddy, Ennui, Satire but eventually started turning on the red letters to get some progress. So, 42 minutes, with a lot of cheating.

    Great on the US curling win at the Olympics. According to the German tabloids, everyone is going crazy about the gold medal game between Germany and Russia. They got past great Sweden and a highly motivated Canada and now face a tough Russia for the gold. It’s on now, so bye all…

  8. Hello friends!!! ?
    Made it thru this rather gnarly puzzle with no errors! A fun solve.
    At first I thought of LeeAnn Rimes and looked for her name in there but it wasn’t happening! Apparently she spells her name differently….What do I know??? ….. but I guess I knew enough to finish this grid! ? I echo Jeff’s sentiments — I’m glad to see some familiar crosswordese sprinkled in.
    Vidwan, thank you for the happy medal wishes! Curling is so cool, and the US men had a great underdog story, I think.
    Dirk, I’m sorry that Germany lost! Achtung! (I’m quite sure that word doesn’t fit there, but it works better than the other five words of German that I know….?)
    Hope Sunday’s puzzle isn’t a boring slog! I’ll think positively….
    Be well~~™??

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