LA Times Crossword Answers 26 Apr 2018, Thursday

Advertisement

[ad_above_grid]

Constructed by: Paul Coulter
Edited by: Rich Norris

Advertisement

Advertisement

Today’s Reveal Answer: Put a Lid On It

Themed answers are common phrases with a type of LID (“headgear”) included as a hidden word, and shown with circled letters in the grid:

  • 54A. “Shut your trap!” … and, graphically, what the circled letters do : PUT A LID ON IT!
  • 16A. Tennessee River city : CHATTANOOGA
  • 24A. Longtime Bob Keeshan kids’ character : CAPTAIN KANGAROO
  • 41A. Philatelist’s pride : STAMP COLLECTION

Bill’s time: 6m 31s

Bill’s errors: 0

Advertisement

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5. Jets and Nets : TEAMS

Just like the New York Giants, the New York Jets are based in New Jersey, headquartered in Florham Park. The Jets and the Giants have a unique arrangement in the NFL in that the two teams share Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Jets were an AFL charter team, formed in 1959 as the Titans of New York. The Titans changed their name to the Jets in 1963.

The NBA’s Brooklyn Nets were the New Jersey Nets until 2012, and were based in Newark. Prior to 1977, the team was known as the New York Nets and played in various locations on Long Island. Ten years earlier, the Nets were called the New Jersey Americans and were headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey.

10. Kenan’s comedy cohort : KEL

“Kenan & Kel” is a sitcom that aired on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2000. It starred Kenan Thompson (now of “Saturday Night Live”), and Kel Mitchell.

“Cohort” can be used as a collective noun, meaning “group, company”. The term can also apply to an individual supporter or companion, although usually in a derogatory sense. “Cohort” comes from the Latin “cohors”, which was an infantry company in the Roman army, one tenth of a legion.

14. Street thief : MUGGER

The verb “to mug” meaning “to attack to rob” dates back to the mid-1800s. The earlier usage described a striking of the the face (the “mug”), especially in the context of boxing.

16. Tennessee River city : CHATTANOOGA

The Tennessee city of Chattanooga developed from a settlement established in 1816 on the Tennessee River called Ross’s Landing. Ross’s Landing was incorporated as the city of Chattanooga in 1839. “Chattanooga” is said to be a local name meaning “rock rising to a point”, which may be a reference to the nearby mountain ridge called Lookout Mountain.

20. Migratory herring : SHAD

The shad is also known as the river herring. The eggs (roe) of the female shad are prized as a delicacy in the Eastern US.

22. H.S. exam for college credit : AP TEST

The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers college-level courses to kids who are still in high school. After being tested at the end of the courses, successful students receive credits that count towards a college degree.

24. Longtime Bob Keeshan kids’ character : CAPTAIN KANGAROO

“Captain Kangaroo” is a TV series for children that CBS aired for a long, long time. The show was first broadcast in 1955, and the last show was aired nearly 30 years later in 1984. The title character was played by Bob Keeshan. Apparently Keeshan had to wear heavy makeup in the early years to make him old enough for his role. The show ran so long that Keeshan had to use makeup to look younger in the latter years.

30. Anatomical canals : ITERS

An iter is an anatomical passageway. The term “iter” is Latin for “path, journey”.

32. Mediterranean peak : ETNA

Mount Etna on the island of Sicily is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy, and indeed the largest of all active volcano in Europe. Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-gauge railway, and two ski resorts.

35. Actress Headey of “Game of Thrones” : LENA

English actress Lena Headey is best known for playing Cersei Lannister on the fantasy series “Game of Thrones”. Although a British citizen, Headey was actually born Bermuda, where her father was stationed as a police officer.

38. Home of college sports’ Green Wave : TULANE

Tulane University is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tulane was founded in 1834 as the Medical College of Louisiana. The university was privatized with the aid of an endowment from philanthropist Paul Tulane in 1884, and as a result the school’s name was changed to Tulane University. The school’s sports teams use the name Tulane Green Wave, and the team mascot is Riptide the Pelican.

41. Philatelist’s pride : STAMP COLLECTION

Philately is the practice of collecting postage stamps. The term “philately” was coined (in French, as “philatélie) in 1864 by French collector Georges Herpin. He came up with it from the Greek “phil-” meaning “loving” and “ateleia” meaning “exemption from tax”. Apparently “exemption from tax” was the closest thing Herpin could find to “postage stamp”.

45. Mass communication? : LITANY

The principal act of worship in the Roman Catholic tradition is the Mass. The term “Mass” comes from the Late Latin word “missa” meaning “dismissal”. This word is used at the end of the Latin Mass in “Ite, missa est” which translates literally as “Go, it is the dismissal”.

53. “The Producers” screenwriter Brooks : MEL

“The Producers” is a 1968 satirical movie written and directed by Mel Brooks, and was indeed the first film he ever directed. Brooks adapted the movie into a hugely successful Broadway musical that won a record 12 Tony Awards. The original leads in the stage show, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, then appeared in a 2005 movie adaptation of the musical version of the original film.

59. Sinewy : ROPY

“Sinew” is another name for “tendon”. Tendons are bands of collagen that connect muscle to bone. Tendons are similar to ligaments and fasciae, which are also connective tissue made out of collagen, but ligaments join bone to bone, and fasciae connect muscle to muscle. We also use the term “sinew” to mean muscular power.

60. Common ID : SSN

Social Security number (SSN)

Down

1. Computers that may run Virtual PC : MACS

Virtual PC for Mac is a program that lets users run Windows-only applications on a Macintosh computer.

2. K-12 : ELHI

“Elhi” is an informal word used to describe anything related to schooling from kindergarten through grade 12, i.e. elementary through high school.

4. Famous final question : ET TU?

It was Shakespeare who popularized the words “Et tu, Brute?” (meaning “And you, Brutus?”). They appear in his play “Julius Caesar”, although the phrase had been around long before he penned his drama. It’s not known what Julius Caesar actually said in real life (if anything at all) as he was assassinated on on the steps of the Senate in Rome.

8. “A Wrinkle in Time” girl : MEG

“A Wrinkle in Time” is a book by Madeleine L’Engle. Published in 1962, it is described as a science fantasy. Included in the book’s cast of characters are Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, all of whom turn out to be supernatural beings who transport the antagonists through the universe. “A Wrinkle in Time” was adapted into a 2018 movie of the same name starring Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling as the three “Mrs” characters.

9. Mme., in Madrid : SRA

The equivalent of “Mrs.” in French is “Mme.” (Madame), in Spanish is “Sra.” (Señora) and in Portuguese is also “Sra.” (Senhora).

10. Where to get gefilte fish : KOSHER DELI

Gefilte fish is a dish usually comprising patties of deboned and ground, poached carp, whitefish or pike. The dish’s name is a Yiddish term coming from the Dutch “gevulde vis” meaning “stuffed fish”. The original recipe called for the minced fish to be stuffed into the fish skin during the preparation.

11. Sun Bowl city : EL PASO

The Sun Bowl is an annual college football game played in El Paso. The Rose Bowl is the oldest of the bowl games, but the Sun Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl come in second. The first Sun Bowl was played on New Year’s Day 1935. To be fair to the sponsors, the full name today is the Hyundai Sun Bowl …

22. Muchos meses : ANOS

In Spanish, “muchos meses” (many months) can add up to “años” (years).

23. Links letters : PGA

The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) was founded in 1916 and today has its headquarters (unsurprisingly) in Florida, where so many golfers live. Back in 1916, the PGA was based in New York City.

24. Fr. company : CIE

“Cie.” is an abbreviation used in French. “Cie.” is short for “compagnie”, the French word for “company”, and is used as we would use “Co.”

25. Court fig. : ATT

Attorney (“atty.” or “att.”)

26. Modern Olympic event one shoots for? : PENTATHLON

The original pentathlon of the ancient Olympic games consisted of a foot race, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus. When a new pentathlon was created as a sport for the modern Olympic Games, it was given the name the “modern pentathlon”. First introduced in 1912, the modern pentathlon consists of:

  1. pistol shooting
  2. épée fencing
  3. 200m freestyle swimming
  4. show jumping
  5. 3km cross-country running

28. Krypton escapee : KAL-EL

Jor-El was a scientist on the planet Krypton who was married to Lara. Jor-El and Lara had an infant son named Kal-El who they were able to launch into space towards Earth just before Krypton was destroyed. Kal-El became Superman. In the 1978 movie “Superman”, Jor-El was played by Marlon Brando, Lara was played by Susannah York, and Kal-El/Superman was played by Christopher Reeve.

29. Presidential nickname : ABE

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the US. There are several stories told about how he earned the nickname “Honest Abe”. One story dates back to early in his career as a lawyer. Lincoln accidentally overcharged a client and then walked miles in order to right the wrong as soon as possible.

34. Artist whose apartment overlooks Strawberry Fields : ONO

“Strawberry Fields” is a memorial in Central Park in New York City. The memorial is a triangular piece of land found directly across from the Dakota Apartments where Lennon lived and was murdered. At the center of the triangle of land is a circular pathway mosaic of stones with the word “Imagine” in the middle. Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, contributed over one million dollars to help pay for the memorial’s design and upkeep.

37. Prince Valiant’s son : ARN

In the comic strip “Prince Valiant”, Arn is the eldest son of the title character, and Aleta is his wife. Edward, Duke of Windsor, once declared that “Prince Valiant” comic strip the “greatest contribution to English Literature in the past one hundred years”. I’m not so sure …

39. ICU staffer : LPN

Licensed practical nurse (LPN)

42. Auburn or Princeton athletes : TIGERS

Auburn University in Alabama was chartered in 1856 as the East Alabama Male College. The school was renamed when it was granted university status in 1960. Auburn’s sports teams are known as the Tigers, for which supporters use the battle cry “War Eagle!”

Princeton University was founded New Light Presbyterians in 1746 as the College of New Jersey in the city of Elizabeth. Ten years later, the college moved to Nassau Hall in Princeton. That same building hosted the Continental Congress during the summer of 1783. As a result, Princeton was the US capital for four months.

44. New York Harbor’s __ Island : ELLIS

Ellis Island is an exclave of New York City that is geographically located within Jersey City, New Jersey. The name comes from a Samuel Ellis who owned the island around the time of the American Revolution. Ellis Island was the nation’s main immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954.

48. Bern’s river : AARE

The Aar (also called the “Aare” in German) is the longest river entirely in Switzerland. The Aar is a major tributary of the Rhine, and flows through Bern, the nation’s capital.

Bern (sometimes “Berne”, especially in French) is the capital city of Switzerland. The official language of the city is German, but the language most spoken in Bern is a dialect known as Bernese German.

49. Auld lang syne : YORE

We use the word “yore” to mean “time long past” as in “the days of yore”. “Yore” comes from the Old English words for “of years”.

The song “Auld Lang Syne” is a staple at New Year’s Eve (well, actually in the opening minutes of New Year’s Day). The words were written by Scottish poet Robbie Burns. The literal translation of “Auld Lang Syne” is “old long since”, but is better translated as “old times”. The sentiment of the song is “for old time’s sake”.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

50. Carbon compound : ENOL

An enol is an alkene with a hydroxyl group, and so is part-alkene and part-alcohol. The term “enol”, therefore, is a portmanteau of “alkene” and “alcohol”.

52. Eye malady : STYE

A stye is a bacterial infection of the sebaceous glands at the base of the eyelashes, and is also known as a hordeolum.

Advertisement

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Distribute, with “out” : METE
5. Jets and Nets : TEAMS
10. Kenan’s comedy cohort : KEL
13. Like crazy : A LOT
14. Street thief : MUGGER
15. Bullring “Bravo!” : OLE!
16. Tennessee River city : CHATTANOOGA
18. Luxury hotel facility : SPA
19. Places : SITUATES
20. Migratory herring : SHAD
21. Uni- + bi- : TRI-
22. H.S. exam for college credit : AP TEST
24. Longtime Bob Keeshan kids’ character : CAPTAIN KANGAROO
30. Anatomical canals : ITERS
31. On the ship : ABOARD
32. Mediterranean peak : ETNA
33. Parts : ROLES
35. Actress Headey of “Game of Thrones” : LENA
38. Home of college sports’ Green Wave : TULANE
40. Certain tanker : OILER
41. Philatelist’s pride : STAMP COLLECTION
45. Mass communication? : LITANY
46. Final: Abbr. : ULT
47. Sounds of disgust : UGHS
48. Calming agents : ALLAYERS
53. “The Producers” screenwriter Brooks : MEL
54. “Shut your trap!” … and, graphically, what the circled letters do : PUT A LID ON IT!
57. Old __ : PRO
58. Becomes used (to) : INURES
59. Sinewy : ROPY
60. Common ID : SSN
61. Enclosed for security, in a way : GATED
62. Choice word : ELSE

Down

1. Computers that may run Virtual PC : MACS
2. K-12 : ELHI
3. Precisely : TO A T
4. Famous final question : ET TU?
5. Pay attention : TUNE IN
6. Film directors’ challenges : EGOS
7. Earlier : AGO
8. “A Wrinkle in Time” girl : MEG
9. Mme., in Madrid : SRA
10. Where to get gefilte fish : KOSHER DELI
11. Sun Bowl city : EL PASO
12. Bring about : LEAD TO
14. Motherly start : MATRI-
17. Cheerios : TA-TAS
20. Twinkly, skywise : STARLIT
22. Muchos meses : ANOS
23. Links letters : PGA
24. Fr. company : CIE
25. Court fig. : ATT
26. Modern Olympic event one shoots for? : PENTATHLON
27. Emotional wounds : TRAUMAS
28. Krypton escapee : KAL-EL
29. Presidential nickname : ABE
33. Somewhat blue : RACY
34. Artist whose apartment overlooks Strawberry Fields : ONO
36. Prefix for movement revivals : NEO-
37. Prince Valiant’s son : ARN
39. ICU staffer : LPN
40. Group of eight : OCTAD
41. Competitive dry spells : SLUMPS
42. Auburn or Princeton athletes : TIGERS
43. Soothed : LULLED
44. New York Harbor’s __ Island : ELLIS
48. Bern’s river : AARE
49. Auld lang syne : YORE
50. Carbon compound : ENOL
51. Tears : RIPS
52. Eye malady : STYE
54. Boar, e.g. : PIG
55. Spanish article : UNA
56. Tsk relative : TUT

Advertisement

14 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 26 Apr 2018, Thursday”

  1. LAT: 9:15, no errors. Odd in a way since all the theme answers turned out to be mostly gimmes on this one. Inexplicable to me why that much time… WSJ: 28 minutes, no errors. Completely absurd theme on this one that resulted in the answers making absolutely no sense beyond a certain contrivance. CHE: 21 minutes, no errors. Nice polished grid, overall, with a great theme. A challenge, but nothing screwy in it. Great grid. BEQ to come later…

  2. LAT: 9:10, no errors. Newsday: 8:36, no errors. WSJ: 13:30, no errors; straightforward. CHE: 14:05, no errors.

    BEQ: Not done yet. After about 25 minutes, I had one square left to fill, at the intersection of 52D and 58A, and no letter seemed to work. At 34:26, no progress having been made, I set it aside and will return to it later. The theme entry at 58A has to involve two phrases (a common one and a modified, punny one) and nothing comes to mind. It is probable that I have something else wrong and my mind is stuck in a rut, going round and round and getting nowhere.

    Last night, I did the NYT puzzle from 12/20/2014 that Glenn mentioned yesterday and I intend to review Will Shortz’s comments about the cluing, but won’t get to it until later. FWIW, even though I accidentally saw a couple of entries before it occurred to me that I wanted to do the puzzle before reading about it, it took me 38:19 to finish it (with no errors). Admittedly, I was tired after a long day, but I thought it was a pretty difficult puzzle. I wish I had recorded my time on it when I first did it in 2014.

    1. @Dave
      I didn’t want to spoil too much earlier, but 58A is definitely BEQ’s gotcha special of this puzzle…notably my DNF was on a couple of his cultural references that I didn’t know…

      1. @Glenn … I finally caved in on the BEQ, and ended up with the first and fifth squares of 58A filled incorrectly. It must be said that, even if I had discovered how to fill the first and gone with my other (correct) choice for the fifth, I would still have been mystified by the 5-character online entity thereby referenced, something I’d never heard of (I’m proud to say ?). It also didn’t help that Ms. “Mireille”, the concept of “wearables”, and a certain interior designer were all unknown to me, making me think my errors might be even more extensive than they actually were.

        Now, about all those other things I was supposed to be doing this afternoon … ?

    2. @Dave –
      Out of curiosity I went to just glance at the puzzle you reference from 12/20/2014. I noticed one of the setters of that puzzle was the same guy (Ian Livengood) who did the infamous anagram puzzle in the NYT on 9/15/2016 that scars me to this day…

      1. @Jeff … Interesting. I did not remember his name (but I certainly remember his puzzle ?).

  3. 14:34. Breezed through this one except in a couple of areas that I sufficiently butchered and had to clean up…..but not with Comet. The dreaded attorney abbreviation I used ATY at first so ETNA wasn’t obvious. I didn’t know CIE at all. A couple of other areas went that way as well.

    Nice CAPTAIN KANGAROO reference. He and Mr Green Jeans were favorites of mine as a kid. All that talk of him fighting at Iwo Jima is just urban myth. The myth started when Lee Marvin mentioned he fought along side Keeshan at Iwo Jima on the Tonight Show…so the story goes. But Marvin never actually said any of that, he was in the hospital during Iwo Jima and Keeshan enlisted in the marines, but the war ended before he ever saw combat.

    As George Will says – if anything is said three times in Washington, it becomes a fact. I guess the same applies to show biz…

    Best –

  4. Well, I didn’t breeze through this one. I DNF. Oddly, got the long answers but got stuck on a lot of the little ones.

  5. I had a tough time with this puzzle. Not familiar with proper names of actresses and other sports paraphernalia. The long answers were a big, big help – thank god. I finally understood the meaning of Litany – as in a litany of complaints.

    Many ivy league colleges, and other high level colleges, expect the students to have taken some AP courses …. but are reluctant to offer credits….
    There have been many references to A Wrinkle in Time – I may have to read the book, or see the movie.
    I did not pass through Ellis Island, when I immigrated 1970, …. we were processed for immigration, at the JFK Airport, NYC.

    Have a nice day, all.

  6. Had to Google for KEL, SHAD, TULANE and EL PASO (last 2 sports, my worst subject as Trivial Crack always reminds me).

    Had homilY before LITANY.

    My Natick of the day was CIE crosses ITERS, though I guessed “I”

  7. Fairly easy Thursday, done at a leisurely pace while selling my honey. Sales were slow today, so had plenty of time to devote to the puzzle. In the middle of a sale, I noticed CHAT…GA was Chattanooga, which I tried mouthing to get the spelling right. It was amusing…for the customer, who laughed.

    Did have a few issues in the SE, where I had penned in OCTet and I was thinking ALLevERS (drug?), but once I got PUTALIDONIT, OCTAD formed, and I finally got ALLAYERS.

    Also, all my TV show DVD watching (practically non-existent) on the computer, has finally started to come through for me and I got LENA Headey, without having to rely on crosses. I have to say, checking out DVDs of popular TV shows from the library, is sometimes frustrating. I checked out the 1st 6 seasons with no wait, but the 7th season has taken 5 months to not-yet-but-close to get to me.

    Interesting info on the etymology of Philately…so “loving the exemption of tax.”

  8. Hey all! ?
    One wrong letter: I had OCTET and changed it to OCTED — never heard of OCTAD. Oh well. ?
    Turner Classic Movies is holding its film fest here in LA! Not much I want to see except the 1948 “Hamlet”, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. Maybe I’ve mentioned it here before: I actually found that film, in its entirety, on YouTube! The problem is that it was just some guy recording from his TV or something, and the picture is chopped off on all sides. So, the opening credits say Directed By RENCE OLIVI. !!! ? I may go see it — it’s at Graumann’s Chinese! (still calling it that tho the name has changed…)
    Be well ~~??

Comments are closed.