LA Times Crossword Answers 22 May 2018, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Debbie Ellerin
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Cookie-Cutter

The grid four groups of circled letters. Those groups of letters each spell out a type of COOKIE, and each group is divided (CUT) near the center by a black square:

  • 34A. With 36-Across, mass-produced … and what each of four black squares in this puzzle is? : COOKIE-
  • 36A. See 34-Across : CUTTER
  • 16A. Bed buyer’s concern : COMFORT
  • 17A. Still on the plate : UNEATEN (giving “fortune” cookie)
  • 23A. “Oliver Twist” criminal : FAGIN
  • 25A. “Sommersby” star Richard : GERE (giving “ginger” cookie)
  • 45A. Bump up against : ABUT
  • 47A. Coastal flock : TERNS (giving “butter” cookie)
  • 53A. Massage technique meaning “finger pressure” in Japanese : SHIATSU
  • 55A. Stocking attachments : GARTERS (giving “sugar” cookie)

Bill’s time: 5m 40s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15. Red hot chili pepper : CAYENNE

The cayenne pepper is a hot chili pepper that is often used in a powdered form, when it might be referred to as “red pepper”. The pepper is named for the city of Cayenne in French Guiana, an overseas department of France located on the northeast coast of South America.

18. Suffix for Gator : -ADE

Gatorade was developed at the University of Florida by a team of researchers at the request of the school’s football team. And so, Gatorade is named after the Gators football team.

19. Like cactus-friendly climates : ARID

The cactus (plural “cacti”) is a member of a family plants that are particularly well-adapted to extremely dry environments. Almost all cacti are native to the Americas, although some succulent plants from the old world are similar in appearance and are often mislabeled as “cacti”.

20. “__ making a list … ” : HE’S

The Christmas song “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” was introduced to us in November of 1934 on Eddie Cantor’s radio show. The song was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie.

23. “Oliver Twist” criminal : FAGIN

Fagin is the colorful antagonist in the Charles Dickens novel “Oliver Twist”. Fagin leads a band of children who earn their keep by picking pockets and committing other petty crimes. Fagin’s most successful pickpocket is the Artful Dodger.

“Oliver Twist” is a novel by Charles Dickens. It is a popular tale for adaptation to the big screen. There were two silent film versions, in 1909 and 1922, and the first talkie version was released in 1933, with many to follow. The latest “Oliver” for the big screen was a 2005 Roman Polanski production.

25. “Sommersby” star Richard : GERE

Richard Gere has played such great roles on the screen, and I find him to be a very interesting character off the screen. Gere has been studying Buddhism since 1978 and is a very visible supporter of the Dalai Lama and the people of Tibet.

The 1993 romantic drama “Sommersby” stars Richard Gere and Jodie Foster. The film is about an imposter who returns after the Civil War and moves in with a woman while claiming to be her husband. The real husband returns, and things get very rancorous. I know it sounds implausible, but the storyline is based on true events that took place in France in the 1500s.

28. Skippy rival : JIF

Jif is the leading brand of peanut butter in the US, and has been since 1981. Introduced in 1958, it is now produced by Smuckers.

Skippy is a brand of peanut butter that has been around since 1933 when it was introduced by Rosefield Packing Co., just down the road here in Alameda, California. The companies that have owned the “Skippy” brand name have for decades been in dispute with the estate of Percy Crosby, the creator of the “Skippy” comic strip, over use of the name.

29. Roadie’s load : AMP

An electric guitar, for example, needs an amplifier (amp) to take the weak signal created by the vibration of the strings and turn it into a signal powerful enough for a loudspeaker.

30. San Antonio Spurs coach Popovich : GREGG

Gregg Popovich took over as coach of the San Antonio Spurs in 1996. He is often referred to as “Pop” or “Coach Pop”. Popovich holds the record for the NBA coach with the longest run of consecutive winning seasons.

38. Arm bone-related : ULNAR

The humerus is the long bone in the upper arm. The bones in the forearm are the radius and ulna. “Ulna” is the Latin word for “elbow”, and “radius” is Latin for “ray”.

41. News letters : UPI

Founded in 1958, United Press International (UPI) used to be one of the biggest news agencies in the world, sending out news by wire to the major newspapers. UPI ran into trouble with the change in media formats at the end of the twentieth century and lost many of its clients as the afternoon newspapers shut down due to the advent of television news. UPI, which once employed thousands, still exists today but with just a fraction of that workforce.

44. Soft French wheel : BRIE

Brie is a soft cheese that is named for the French region in which it originated. Brie is similar to the equally famous (and delicious) Camembert.

47. Coastal flock : TERNS

Terns are a family of seabirds. They are similar to gulls, but more slender and more lightly built. Many species of tern are known for their long-distance migrations, with the Arctic tern migrating so far that it is believed to see more daylight in a year than any other animal.

48. Blues-rocker Chris : REA

Chris Rea is a singer-songwriter and respected blues guitar player from England. Rea’s biggest hit is a song that he wrote himself called “Fool (If You Think It’s Over”), released in 1978.

49. Somerhalder of “The Vampire Diaries” : IAN

Ian Somerhalder got his big break as an actor in the TV drama “Lost”, and followed that up with a part in TV’s “The Vampire Diaries”.

“The Vampire Diaries” is a series of horror novels by L. J. Smith that is aimed at teens. There is a spin-off television series of the same name. I don’t do vampires …

51. Prompt on stage : CUE

Our word “cue” originated as a stage direction, specifically something on or off stage that is followed by a specific line or action. “Cue” come from “Q”, which was possibly an abbreviation for the Latin “quando” meaning “when”. Shakespeare’s texts use “Q” and “cue” interchangeably.

53. Massage technique meaning “finger pressure” in Japanese : SHIATSU

“Shiatsu” is a Japanese word meaning “finger pressure”, and is the name given to a style of massage.

55. Stocking attachments : GARTERS

A garter is a band or strap used to support a sock or stocking. The term comes Old French “jartier”, which means the same thing. The equivalent Modern French word is “jarretière”.

59. Rodeo ropes : LASSOES

Our English word “lasso” comes from the Spanish “lazo”, and ultimately from the Latin “laqueum” meaning “noose, snare”.

60. Massachusetts site of Phillips Academy : ANDOVER

Phillips Academy is a university-preparatory school located in Andover, north of Boston. It was founded way back in 1778 as an all-boys school. Phillips merged in 1973 with the neighboring Abbot Academy, an all-girls school founded in 1829.

62. Dangerous wave : TSUNAMI

“Tsunami” is a Japanese word meaning “harbor wave”.

Down

1. Bashful pal : DOC

In the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale called “Snow White”, the seven dwarfs were not given any names. The names were added for the 1937 classic Disney film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. The seven dwarfs are:

  • Doc (the leader of the group)
  • Grumpy (that would be me, according to my wife …)
  • Happy
  • Sleepy
  • Bashful
  • Sneezy
  • Dopey

2. Texter’s “If you ask me” : IMO

In my opinion (IMO)

3. Vigor’s partner : VIM

“Vim” and “pep” are words that both mean “energy, power”.

4. “Terrible” French kid : ENFANT

An “enfant terrible”, French for “terrible child”, is one who embarrasses his or her parents with untimely candid remarks.

5. Crucifix : ROOD

A rood is a crucifix that specifically symbolizes the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

In many of the Christian traditions, a crucifix is a representation of Jesus on the cross. The term comes from the Latin “cruci fixus” meaning “fixed to a cross”.

7. Guinness suffix : -EST

“The Guinness Book of World Records” holds some records of its own. It is the best-selling, copyrighted series of books of all time and is one of the books most often stolen from public libraries! The book was first published in 1954 by two twins, Norris and Ross McWhirter. The McWhirter twins found themselves with a smash hit, and eventually became very famous in Britain hosting a TV show based on world records.

10. “The __ is calm tonight”: “Dover Beach” opening : SEA

“Dover Beach” is 1867 poem by English poet Matthew Arnold.

The sea is calm tonight.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; —on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!

13. Present perfect, for one : TENSE

Although we often say “perfect tense” in English, we are usually referring to the “present perfect tense”. The present perfect takes its place alongside the past perfect and future perfect. Verbs in the perfect form use the auxiliary verb “to have” alongside a past participle. For example:

  • I had solved the puzzle (past perfect)
  • I have solved the puzzle (present perfect)
  • I will have solved the puzzle (future perfect)

21. Polynesian nation : SAMOA

The official name for the South Pacific nation formerly known as Western Samoa is the Independent State of Samoa. Samoa is the western part of the island group, with American Samoa lying to the southeast. The whole group of islands used to be known as Navigators Island, a name given by European explorers in recognition of the seafaring skills of the native Samoans.

The term “Polynesia” was coined in 1756 by the author Charles de Brosses, when he used it to describe all the islands in the Pacific. This was later restricted to what we now refer to as a subregion of Oceania.

26. Risqué : RACY

“Risqué” is a French word, the past participle of the verb “to risk”. So in English we use “risqué” to mean “racy”, but in French it means “risky”.

28. Soup du __ : JOUR

The French phrase “du jour” translates as “of the day”.

32. Vintage hue on a photo app : SEPIA

Sepia is that rich, brown-grey color so common in old photographs. “Sepia” is the Latinized version of the Greek word for cuttlefish, as sepia pigment is derived from the ink sac of the cuttlefish. Sepia ink was commonly used for writing and drawing as far back as Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. The “sepia tone” of old photographs is not the result of deterioration over time. Rather, it is the result of a deliberate preservation process which converts the metallic silver in the photographic image to a more stable silver sulfide. Prints that have been sepia-toned can last in excess of 150 years.

33. Scary-sounding lake : ERIE

“Erie” sounds like “eerie”.

35. Nautical speed unit : KNOT

A knot (kt.) is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour. Traditionally a vessel’s speed was determined by using a “chip log”. A chip log is made up of a wooden board attached to a line wrapped around a reel. The line (called a “log-line”) had knots tied in it at uniform spacings. To determine the vessel’s speed the board was thrown overboard and the line allowed to unroll. The speed was then the “number of knots” paid out in a fixed time interval.

36. Cross-sectional X-rays : CAT SCANS

A CT (or “CAT”) scan produces (via computer manipulation) a three-dimensional image of the inside of an object, usually the human body. It does so by taking a series of two dimensional x-ray images while rotating the camera around the patient. The issue with CT scans is that they use x-rays, and high doses of radiation can be harmful, causing damage that is cumulative over time.

38. Development site : UTERUS

The Latin “uterus” (plural “uteri”) translates as both “womb” and “belly”. The Latin word comes from the Greek “hystera” that also means “womb”, which gives us the words “hysterectomy”, and “hysterical”.

39. Metallica drummer Ulrich : LARS

Lars Ulrich is a drummer from Denmark, and one of the founding members of the American heavy metal band called Metallica. Lars is the son of former professional tennis player Torben Ulrich, the oldest Davis Cup player in history.

44. Nantes native : BRETON

A Breton is a native of Brittany. Brittany is a large peninsula in the northwest of France that is known in French as “Bretagne”.

Nantes is a beautiful city located on the delta of the Loire, Erdre and Sèvre rivers. It has the well deserved nickname of “The Venice of the West”. I had the privilege of visiting Nantes a couple of times on business, and I can attest that it really is a charming city …

46. Iranian faith : BAHA’I

The Baha’i Faith is relatively new in the grand scheme of things, and was founded in Persia in the 1800s. One of the tenets of the religion is that messengers have come from God over time, including Abraham, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and most recently Bahá’u’lláh who founded the Baha’i Faith.

47. Stun gun brand : TASER

Victor Appleton wrote a novel for young adults called “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle”. The company that developed the TASER electroshock weapon partly named its product as a homage to the novel. The acronym “TASER” stands for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle”.

50. Winnebago relative : OTOE

The Otoe (also Oto) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestward, ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.

The Winnebago people of Nebraska takes their name from the Fox River that flows below what is now called Lake Winnebago in eastern Wisconsin. The muddy water of the river led to the people nearby being named “winepyekoha” in the Potawatomi language, which translates as “person of the dirty water”.

52. Pakistan’s national language : URDU

Urdu is one of the two official languages of Pakistan (the other being English), and is one of 22 scheduled languages in India. Urdu partly developed from Persian and is written from right to left.

54. Mt. St. Helens output : ASH

The active volcano in Washington state called Mount St. Helens was named by explorer George Vancouver for his friend, British diplomat Lord St Helens. 57 people died when When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, making it the deadliest eruption in the history of the US.

55. Mobster’s piece : GAT

“Gat” is a slang term for a gun that is derived from the Gatling gun, the precursor to the modern machine gun. The Gatling gun was invented by Dr. Richard J. Gatling in 1861. Apparently he was inspired to invent it so that one man could do as much damage as a hundred, thereby reducing the size of armies and diminishing the suffering caused by war. Go figure …

56. “2 Fast 2 Furious” actress Mendes : EVA

I best know the actress Eva Mendes as the female lead in the movie “Hitch”, in which she played opposite Will Smith. Mendes was known off the screen for dating actor Ryan Gosling from 2011 to 2013.

“2 Fast 2 Furious” … and 2 many “Fast and Furious” movies 2 bother watching …

57. Sleep acronym : REM

“REM” is an acronym standing for rapid eye movement sleep. REM sleep takes up 20-25% of the sleeping hours and is the period associated with one’s most vivid dreams.

58. Indian title : SRI

“Sri” is a title of respect for a male in India.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Far from homogeneous : DIVERSE
8. Fight back : RESIST
14. Threatening : OMINOUS
15. Red hot chili pepper : CAYENNE
16. Bed buyer’s concern : COMFORT
17. Still on the plate : UNEATEN
18. Suffix for Gator : -ADE
19. Like cactus-friendly climates : ARID
20. “__ making a list … ” : HE’S
21. Family guy : SON
23. “Oliver Twist” criminal : FAGIN
25. “Sommersby” star Richard : GERE
26. Deeply absorbed : RAPT
27. Clickable pic : ICON
28. Skippy rival : JIF
29. Roadie’s load : AMP
30. San Antonio Spurs coach Popovich : GREGG
31. Worth having : OF USE
34. With 36-Across, mass-produced … and what each of four black squares in this puzzle is? : COOKIE-
36. See 34-Across : CUTTER
37. “Spun” tales : YARNS
38. Arm bone-related : ULNAR
41. News letters : UPI
42. Trike rider : TOT
43. Having no slack : TAUT
44. Soft French wheel : BRIE
45. Bump up against : ABUT
47. Coastal flock : TERNS
48. Blues-rocker Chris : REA
49. Somerhalder of “The Vampire Diaries” : IAN
50. Two in a row? : OARS
51. Prompt on stage : CUE
53. Massage technique meaning “finger pressure” in Japanese : SHIATSU
55. Stocking attachments : GARTERS
59. Rodeo ropes : LASSOES
60. Massachusetts site of Phillips Academy : ANDOVER
61. This one or that one : EITHER
62. Dangerous wave : TSUNAMI

Down

1. Bashful pal : DOC
2. Texter’s “If you ask me” : IMO
3. Vigor’s partner : VIM
4. “Terrible” French kid : ENFANT
5. Crucifix : ROOD
6. Foolproof : SURE-FIRE
7. Guinness suffix : -EST
8. Carted off to jail : RAN IN
9. Looked at closely : EYED
10. “The __ is calm tonight”: “Dover Beach” opening : SEA
11. Coming up : IN THE FUTURE
12. Show contempt : SNEER
13. Present perfect, for one : TENSE
15. Saving one’s bacon? : CURING
19. Really excited : AGOG
21. Polynesian nation : SAMOA
22. One who strikes while the iron is hot : OPPORTUNIST
24. Top pitcher : ACE
25. Birthday present : GIFT
26. Risqué : RACY
28. Soup du __ : JOUR
30. Essence : GIST
32. Vintage hue on a photo app : SEPIA
33. Scary-sounding lake : ERIE
35. Nautical speed unit : KNOT
36. Cross-sectional X-rays : CAT SCANS
38. Development site : UTERUS
39. Metallica drummer Ulrich : LARS
40. Woman with a habit? : NUN
44. Nantes native : BRETON
45. Flier’s window alternative : AISLE
46. Iranian faith : BAHA’I
47. Stun gun brand : TASER
50. Winnebago relative : OTOE
52. Pakistan’s national language : URDU
54. Mt. St. Helens output : ASH
55. Mobster’s piece : GAT
56. “2 Fast 2 Furious” actress Mendes : EVA
57. Sleep acronym : REM
58. Indian title : SRI

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