LA Times Crossword Answers 28 May 2018, Monday

Advertisement

[ad_above_grid]

Constructed by: Roger & Kathy Wienberg
Edited by: Rich Norris

Advertisement

Advertisement

Today’s Reveal Answer: pH Scale

Themed answers each comprise two words, the first beginning with the letter P, and the second with the letter H:

  • 39A. Acidity measurement range … and where you’ll find 17-, 23-, 50- and 60-Across? : PH SCALE
  • 17A. Simon & Schuster, for example : PUBLISHING HOUSE
  • 23A. Jimi Hendrix classic : PURPLE HAZE
  • 50A. Sort in compartments : PIGEONHOLE
  • 60A. One’s cleanliness habits : PERSONAL HYGIENE

Bill’s time: 5m 26s

Bill’s errors: 0

Advertisement

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Emulated Pinocchio : LIED

1940’s “Pinocchio” was the second animated feature produced by Walt Disney, following the success of 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. “Pinocchio” was the first animated feature to win a competitive Oscar, winning for Best Original Score and for Best Original Song “When You Wish upon a Star”.

16. Artist Yoko : ONO

Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist. Ono actually met her future husband John Lennon for the first time while she was preparing her conceptual art exhibit called “Hammer a Nail”. Visitors were encouraged to hammer in a nail into a wooden board, creating the artwork. Lennon wanted to hammer in the first nail, but Ono stopped him as the exhibition had not yet opened. Apparently Ono relented when Lennon paid her an imaginary five shillings to hammer an imaginary nail into the wood.

17. Simon & Schuster, for example : PUBLISHING HOUSE

The publishing house of Simon & Schuster is one of the big-four publishers in the English language, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins. Simon & Schuster started out as a publisher of books of crosswords, would you believe? Richard Simon was asked by his aunt if he knew of any book of crosswords, and as there weren’t any Simon decided to launch a little publishing business with Max Schuster, exploiting a gap in the publishing market. The first book of crosswords was published in 1924, and they’ve been going ever since. And another bit of trivia is that the same Richard Simon was the father of singer-songwriter Carly Simon.

20. Sch. in Charlottesville : UVA

The University of Virginia (UVA) was founded by Thomas Jefferson, who then sat on the original Board of Visitors alongside former US Presidents James Madison and James Monroe. In fact, the original UVA campus was built on land near Charlottesville that was once a farm belonging to President Monroe.

23. Jimi Hendrix classic : PURPLE HAZE

“Purple Haze” is a 1967 song written and recorded by Jimi Hendrix that has been described as a “psychedelic drug song of the sixties”. In fact, the term “purple haze” came to refer to LSD. Hendrix denied any relation of the lyrics to drugs at all.

Many of his contemporaries regarded Jimi Hendrix as the greatest electric guitarist in the history of rock music. Hendrix was from Seattle and didn’t really have a really stellar start to his working life. He failed to finish high school and fell foul of the law by getting caught in stolen cars, twice. The courts gave him the option of the army or two years in prison. Hendrix chose the former and soon found himself in the famous 101st Airborne. In the army, his less-than-disciplined ways helped him (as he would have seen it) because his superiors successfully petitioned to get him discharged after serving only one year of his two-year requirement, just to get him out of their hair.

27. Longtime senator Kennedy : TED

Ted Kennedy was the youngest boy in a family that included older brothers Joseph Jr. (killed in action in WWII), John (assassinated) and Robert (assassinated). Ted went into the US Senate in 1962 in a special election held after his brother became US President. He remained in the Senate until he passed away in 2009, making Ted Kennedy the fourth-longest-serving Senator in history. The 2017 movie “Chappaquiddick” gives some insight, albeit somewhat speculative, about the darker side of Ted Kennedy’s life. It focuses on events surrounding the infamous Chappaquiddick incident in which Kennedy drove off a bridge, resulting in the death of his 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.

29. Like stretchy waistbands : ELASTIC

Oh how I love them …

32. Spot on the tube : TV AD

Television (TV, teevee, the tube, the boob tube)

37. Dove’s call : COO

Taxonomically, doves and pigeons are the only members of the order Columbidae. The terms “dove” and “pigeon” are often used interchangeably. Scientifically speaking, dove species tend to be smaller that pigeon species. Colloquially though, many refer to doves as the white or nearly white species in the family.

39. Acidity measurement range … and where you’ll find 17-, 23-, 50- and 60-Across? : PH SCALE

As we all recall from chemistry class, a pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything less than 7 is an acid, and anything above 7 is a base.

42. Memorable boxer : ALI

After Muhammad Ali passed away in June 2016, there was a large prayer service and funeral procession in his hometown of Louisville. The pallbearers included actor Will Smith and boxer Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson. Eulogies were delivered by Ali’s wife Lonnie, Billy Crystal, Bryant Gumbel and former President Bill Clinton.

44. Stinging insect : WASP

While the wasp is considered to be a nuisance by many, the insect is very important to the agricultural industry. Wasps prey on many pest insects, while having very little impact on crops.

45. Solarium : SUNROOM

A solarium (plural “solaria”) is a sunroom or sun lounge, a structure usually built onto the side of a house that contains a lot of glass to let in the sun.

47. CIA relative : NSA

The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization’s nickname … “No Such Agency”.

49. Series-ending abbr. : ETC

The Latin phrase “et cetera” translates as “and other things”. The term is usually abbreviated to “etc.”

50. Sort in compartments : PIGEONHOLE

Back in the 16th century, a pigeonhole was a small recess used by pigeons for nesting. Towards the end of the 17th century, the term “pigeonholes” had been borrowed to describe compartments at the back of a writing desk. Two hundred years later, we were using the verb “pigeonhole” figuratively, to mean “label mentally”.

56. Mascara mishap : SMEAR

Variants of mascara have been around a long time, and certainly there was a similar substance in use in Ancient Egypt. “Mascara” is a Spanish word meaning “stain, mask”.

58. Westernmost of the Aleutian Islands : ATTU

Attu is the westernmost island in the Aleutian chain, and so is the westernmost part of Alaska. Japanese forces took the island in October 1942, eventually landing as many as 2,900 soldiers there. In May 1943, the US Army retook the island in twenty days of fighting that is now called the Battle of Attu, the only land battle to take place on US soil during WWII. I am very proud of my father-in-law, who served in the Aleutians during WWII …

59. Chicken __ : POX

Chicken pox is a viral infection, and a classic disease of childhood most commonly caught by 4-10 year olds. There is a complication that can arise later in life if the virus reactivates to cause shingles.

64. Young Skywalker’s nickname : ANI

Anakin “Ani” Skywalker is the principal character in the first six of the “Star Wars” movies. His progress chronologically through the series of films is:

  • Episode I: Anakin is a 9-year-old slave boy who earns the promise of Jedi training by young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
  • Episode II: Anakin is 18-years-old and goes on a murdering rampage to avenge the killing of his mother.
  • Episode III: Anakin is 21-years-old and a Jedi knight, but he turns to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader. His wife Padme gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia Skywalker.
  • Episode IV: Darth Vader, comes into conflict with his children, Luke Skywalker and the Princess Leia.
  • Episode V: Darth Vader attempts to coax his son Luke over to the dark side, and reveals to Luke that he is his father.
  • Episode VI: Luke learns that Leia is his sister, and takes on the task of bringing Darth Vader back from the Dark Side in order to save the Galaxy. Vader saves his son from the Emperor’s evil grip, dying in the process, but his spirit ends up alongside the spirits of Yoda and Obi-Wan. They all live happily ever after …

65. Lighter filler : BUTANE

Butane is a highly flammable organic gas, one that is used as a fuel for lighters, for example. Butane was discovered in 1849, and is closely related to butyric acid, a compound discovered in 1814 and from which the gas gets its name. In turn, butyric acid gets its name from “butyrum”, the Latin for butter. Butyric acid was first isolated from butter.

66. Uncle Remus rabbit’s title : BR’ER

Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox are characters in the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris. The “Uncle Remus” stories are adaptations of African American folktales that Harris collected across the Southern States. “Br’er” is an abbreviated form of “brother”.

Down

2. Candy heart words : I LUV U

The forerunner to Sweethearts candy was introduced in 1866, with the famous sayings written on the candy tailored for use at weddings. One of the original expressions was, “Married in pink, he will take a drink”. The original candy was a lot bigger, to fit all those words! The smaller, heart-shaped candy hit the shelves in 1901. We’ve been able to buy Sweethearts with the words “Text me” since 2010.

3. Imprison : EMBAR

“To embar” is to hinder or stop, to perhaps hinder with a bar. The related term “embargo” describes the action of barring vessels from entering or leaving a nation’s ports.

4. ISP alternative : DSL

An Internet service provider (ISP) is just what the name indicates, a company that provides its customers with access to the Internet. One way that ISPs differentiate themselves from each other is in the way in which end users are connected to the ISP’s network. So, there are cable ISPs, DSL ISPs, dial-up ISPs and satellite ISPs.

7. Twin Cities suburb : EDINA

Edina, Minnesota lies just southwest of Minneapolis. The town takes its name from Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The name was suggested by a Scottish mill owner at the time the new village was founded in 1888.

8. Novelist Deighton : LEN

I used to walk my dog right past author Len Deighton’s house years ago, as we lived in the same village in Ireland (probably my only claim to “fame”). Deighton wrote the excellent espionage thriller “The IPCRESS File”, made was into a 1965 movie starring Michael Caine.

9. Hollywood’s __ Awards : SAG

The Screen Actors Guild Awards are presented annually by the SAG-AFTRA labor union that represents film and television personalities. The awards were initiated in 1995. The most SAG Awards have been won by actor Alec Baldwin.

12. Frost or Browning : POET

The wonderful poet Robert Frost was a native of San Francisco, but lived most of life in New England. He also spent a few years in England, just before WWI. Frost was well recognized for his work during his lifetime, and received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He was also Vermont’s first Poet Laureate, a position that he held from 1961 until his death in 1963.

Robert Browning met fellow poet Elizabeth Barrett in 1845. Elizabeth was a sickly woman, confined to her parents’ house in Wimpole Street in London, largely due to the conservative and protective nature of her father. Robert and Elizabeth eventually eloped in 1846, and lived in self-inflicted exile in Italy. Away from the country of his birth, Browning was moved to write his now famous “Home Thoughts, From Abroad”, the first line of which is “Oh, to be in England …”

15. Pi follower : RHO

Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”, although it is equivalent to the Roman letter R.

19. Disposal scraps : ORTS

Orts are small scraps of food left after a meal. “Ort” comes from Middle English, and originally described scraps left by animals.

25. Greek Zs : ZETAS

Zeta is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a precursor of our Roman letter Z. The word “zeta” is also the ancestor of the letter name “zed”, which became “zee”, the term that we use here in the US.

26. Israeli airline : EL AL

El Al Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of Israel. The term “el al” translates from Hebrew as “to the skies”. The company started operations in 1948, with a flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv. Famously, El Al only operates six days a week, not flying on the Sabbath.

32. First word in Moore’s Christmas poem : ‘TWAS

The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” was published anonymously in 1823, and is better known today by its first line “‘Twas the night before Christmas”. Most scholars believe that the poem was written by Clement Clarke Moore, a theologian from New York City. Others say that it was written by Henry Livingston, Jr. a poet from Upstate New York.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash …

34. For now, in Latin : AD INTERIM

We use the Latin phrase “ad interim” to mean “temporarily”. A literal translation would be “in the time between”.

36. PC monitor type : LCD

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) are the screens that are found in most laptops today, and in flat panel computer screens and some televisions. LCD monitors basically replaced Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) screens, the old television technology.

40. Hula __ : HOOP

Hula hoops were a big craze in the 1950s, but they have been around in various forms at least since the year 500 BCE.

52. Prefix with centric : ETHNO-

To be ethnocentric is to believe in the superiority of one’s own race, or to have an obsessive concern with race.

53. Rossini work : OPERA

Gioachino Rossini was a prolific and very successful composer from Pesaro, Italy. During his lifetime, Rossini was lauded as the most successful composer of operas in history. His best known opera today is probably “The Barber of Seville”. His best known piece of music is probably the finale of the overture from his opera “William Tell”.

56. Fix at the vet : SPAY

Our verb “to spay”, meaning “to surgically remove the ovaries of” (an animal) comes from an old Anglo-French word “espeier” meaning “to cut with a sword”.

61. Pencil remnant : NUB

A much-used pencil might be worn down to a nub.

63. PC pioneer : IBM

The original IBM Personal Computer is model number 5150, which was introduced to the world on August 12, 1981. The term “personal computer” was already in use, but the success of the IBM 5150 led to the term “PC” being used for all computer products compatible with the IBM platform.

Advertisement

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Emulated Pinocchio : LIED
5. Gas and oil : FUELS
10. Puppy sound : YIP
13. Charitable gift : ALMS
14. “How awful!” : OH DEAR!
16. Artist Yoko : ONO
17. Simon & Schuster, for example : PUBLISHING HOUSE
20. Sch. in Charlottesville : UVA
21. Leave speechless : STUN
22. Path around the sun : ORBIT
23. Jimi Hendrix classic : PURPLE HAZE
27. Longtime senator Kennedy : TED
28. Poetic “above” : O’ER
29. Like stretchy waistbands : ELASTIC
32. Spot on the tube : TV AD
35. Hitching post? : ALTAR
37. Dove’s call : COO
38. Rolled-up bunch of money : WAD
39. Acidity measurement range … and where you’ll find 17-, 23-, 50- and 60-Across? : PH SCALE
41. Sing with a closed mouth : HUM
42. Memorable boxer : ALI
43. Highways and byways : ROADS
44. Stinging insect : WASP
45. Solarium : SUNROOM
47. CIA relative : NSA
49. Series-ending abbr. : ETC
50. Sort in compartments : PIGEONHOLE
56. Mascara mishap : SMEAR
58. Westernmost of the Aleutian Islands : ATTU
59. Chicken __ : POX
60. One’s cleanliness habits : PERSONAL HYGIENE
64. Young Skywalker’s nickname : ANI
65. Lighter filler : BUTANE
66. Uncle Remus rabbit’s title : BR’ER
67. “Delish!” : YUM!
68. Ply with alcohol : BESOT
69. Shopping place : MART

Down

1. Drink from a bowl : LAP UP
2. Candy heart words : I LUV U
3. Imprison : EMBAR
4. ISP alternative : DSL
5. Kind of child or parent : FOSTER
6. “Yup” : UH-HUH
7. Twin Cities suburb : EDINA
8. Novelist Deighton : LEN
9. Hollywood’s __ Awards : SAG
10. “Darn tootin’!” : YOU BETCHA!
11. Treacherously sneaky : INSIDIOUS
12. Frost or Browning : POET
15. Pi follower : RHO
18. Cruise stop : ISLE
19. Disposal scraps : ORTS
24. Sci-fi escape vehicle : POD
25. Greek Zs : ZETAS
26. Israeli airline : EL AL
30. Exist : ARE
31. Give a free pass : COMP
32. First word in Moore’s Christmas poem : ‘TWAS
33. Eatery list including 99-cent items : VALUE MENU
34. For now, in Latin : AD INTERIM
35. “Me too” : AS AM I
36. PC monitor type : LCD
39. Expert : PRO
40. Hula __ : HOOP
44. Sob syllable : WAH!
46. Early color TVs : RCAS
47. “Wait a bit longer” : NOT YET
48. Like a bug in a rug : SNUG
51. Fancy parties : GALAS
52. Prefix with centric : ETHNO-
53. Rossini work : OPERA
54. No social butterfly : LONER
55. Apply, as pressure : EXERT
56. Fix at the vet : SPAY
57. Knock over, as a bank : ROB
61. Pencil remnant : NUB
62. Had lunch : ATE
63. PC pioneer : IBM

Advertisement

12 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 28 May 2018, Monday”

  1. 8:08, no errors. Had a pretty hard time getting started on this one for some reason. About 2:30 or so before I finally got into the puzzle…BEQ and New Yorker to come later…

    1. BEQ: DNF, 75 minutes, 2 errors, about 50% filled. New Yorker: DNF, 89 minutes, 4 errors, about 60% filled. This one was utterly ridiculous to me as to how they expect anyone to be able to solve it (I’d rate it about double the difficulty of the last Sat NYT I did). At least I can say that Shortz isn’t the worst crossword editor working these days. Guessed my way through what I did get and noticed that I didn’t know 3/4 of the entries once I saw the answer.

      Definitely a couple of puzzles (out of many) that make me want to throw my hands up and quit this.

  2. LAT: 7:41, no errors. Newsday: 5:49, no errors.

    Last night, about three hours before the deadline, I submitted what turned out to be the correct answer for Friday’s WSJ meta. (I got the answer less than five minutes after finishing the puzzle on Thursday, but was unable to completely justify it, as I failed to understand the double meaning of the word CAPS that was involved. So, if I win the mug, I guess I’ll be morally obligated to turn it down … 😜

    About three hours from now, I’ll be starting the Bolder Boulder (walking, not running), so other puzzles will have to wait until this evening.

    1. I didn’t get the CAPS clue either, but got the correct answer. I’ll have to turn down the mug, too!

  3. The theme was easy enough, but some of the initials RHA, LCD, DSL forced me to stop and remember. Did not know ANI. I find these movies tedious. Don’t understand COMP – COMPensation for something? What?
    I guess I’m too old.
    LCD reminded me of something that recently happened. A friend of mine wanted a new tv. The one she had was 39″ and built into a special piece of wall furniture. When they pulled it out, it was a CRT. Gigantic and weighed a ton.

  4. 9:14 with a couple of Monday missteps – e.g. “MAll” before MART. EDINA, for whatever reason, seems to be the most popular U.S. suburb in the crossword world.

    I saw the very first Star Wars movie a year or two after it first came out. I’ve never seen it since nor have I seen any of the subsequent Star Wars movies. Is there something wrong with me? It just doesn’t seem to appeal to me. It sure would make crosswords easier on me if I’d seen them…

    Best –

  5. I had a good time with this Monday puzzle. I was not familiar with Purple Haze or Embar, but the crosses helped. With all the Ph involved, there were no further clues for acids, bases or -enols….
    The “strongest” acid, in the world is fluoro-antimonic acid ( which is a 2:1 ratio of Hydrofluoric acid HF and antimony pentaflouride) and has a Ph of minus 31. Per Wiki.
    I once met George Olah ( a Nobel prize winner – ) at Case Western Reserve University, who among other things, produced this acid.

    Regarding Edina … I think Enid, Oklahoma and Agra seem to be more popular in crosswords. My favorite author growing up, was Enid Blyton – who apparently is not only not popular – but much despised (???) in England !! That too, by librarians !

    Last Friday, I lost two of my posts, each one with 5 paragraphs…. So, I felt frustrated. But the feeling has passed. Friday, I was doing some urgent emergent work, so I just could not post. But, I’m still here, and thanks for the welcomes. On Thursday, I was actually gooing to post a comment on reaming – the machine shop operation – but the day has passed, and I don’t remember the comment anymore.

    Jeff, I read your comment on the Will Shortz interview. Certainly, he has much to be proud about. If Tiger Woods can strut around, so call Will Shortz. And as for Crossword solving being a sport, would you call playing chess, a sport ?

    I had my one day annual visit from my grandchildren on Saturday. My oldest grandson is almost eight, and his first words to me was, if I knew the longest word in the English dictionary…. so we googled it, and I wrote down the word,
    pneu-mono-ultra -microscopic – silico-volcano – co-niosis …. so he could remember it by syllables. He’s got most of it. Its a disease like silicosis, but it just scares the bejeesus out of people in the Emergency Room ……

    Have a happy Memorial Day, all and lets us go onto Tuesday !

  6. I just watched Bryan Gumbel’s HBO program on Will Shortz, Eric Agard and the puzzle tournament.
    All I say is WOW !
    Mr. Gumbel might grumble as to whether it is a sport …. but if 99% of people can’t do it, or compete, or even understand it – its definitely a sport.
    Thank you Jeff, for your notes, and thank you Glenn, for the link !!!

  7. Hiya folks!! 🙃
    No errors. I thought the theme was kinda weak, but I didn’t use it anyway so I guess it makes no difference. I certainly have never heard EMBAR, and I didn’t know AD INTERIM, but perhaps that one shoulda been obvious. 🤔
    Jeff! You Are Not Alone….I liked the first Star Wars, but I’ve never had any interest in seeing the sequels…I know ANI from crosswords. I also know that at some point some character said to another: “Luke, I am your father.” So, I can quote a movie I’ve never seen, should the opportunity ever arise! 😁
    Dave! CONGRATS on completing the Bolder Boulder! That’s awesome. The website says “40 Years Bold!” I like it. 😏
    Be well~~🌷🌻🌺

  8. Thanks, Carrie. I appreciate it. I’m not sure how much longer I can do the BB (but I’m already signed up for next year … 🙂 ).

Comments are closed.