LA Times Crossword Answers 3 Jun 2018, Sunday

Advertisement

[ad_above_grid]

Constructed by: Matt McKinley
Edited by: Rich Norris

Advertisement

Advertisement

Today’s Theme : Emergency Room Staff

Each of today’s themed answers is a common phrase with the suffix -ER added to one word:

  • 23A. Proposed explanation for oversize British sausage? : BIG BANGER THEORY (from “Big Bang theory”)
  • 41A. Kiss in the rink? : HOCKEY PUCKER (from “hockey puck”)
  • 62A. Screwballs hanging out at the end of the block? : CORNER FLAKES (from “corn flakes”)
  • 84A. Dollhouse porch chair? : LITTLE ROCKER (from “Little Rock”)
  • 104A. Lackadaisical soccer shot? : SLEEPY HEADER (from “sleepy head”)
  • 123A. Dark ale expert? : PORTER AUTHORITY (from “port authority”)
  • 15A. Dive at the governor’s mansion pool? : CAPITAL GAINER (from “capital gain”)
  • 61A. Fishing pro? : ALL-STAR CASTER (from “all-star cast”)

Bill’s time: 21m 58s

Bill’s errors: 0

Advertisement

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Garments with hooks : BRAS

The word “brassière” is French in origin, but it isn’t the word that the French use for a “bra”. In France, what we call a bra is known as a “soutien-gorge”, translating to “held under the neck”. The word “brassière” is indeed used in France but there it describes a baby’s undershirt, a lifebelt or a harness. “Brassière” comes from the Old French word for an “arm protector” in a military uniform (“bras” is the French for “arm”). Later “brassière” came to mean “breastplate” and from there the word was used for a type of woman’s corset. The word jumped into English around 1900.

5. Metro regions : URBS

“Urbs” is a slang term meaning “city”. My guess is that it is derived from “suburbs”, but I do note that “urbs” is also the Latin for “city”.

9. Complaint : BEEF

A beef is a complaint or a grievance. It’s not quite clear how “beef” came to have this meaning, but one suggestion is that derives from the habit of soldiers at the end of the 1800s complaining about the quality or availability of beef in their rations.

13. Metals industry acronym : ALCOA

The Aluminum Corporation of America (ALCOA) is the largest producer of aluminum in the United States. The company was founded in 1888 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where its headquarters are to this day.

18. Ocular cleaning brand : RENU

ReNu is a brand name of contact lens products sold by Bausch & Lomb.

20. Lewis lion : ASLAN

In the C. S. Lewis series of books known as “The Chronicles of Narnia”, Aslan is the name of the lion character (as in the title “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”). “Aslan” is actually the Turkish word for lion. Anyone who has read the books will recognize the the remarkable similarity between the story of Aslan and the story of Christ, including a sacrifice and resurrection.

23. Proposed explanation for oversize British sausage? : BIG BANGER THEORY (from “Big Bang theory”)

Sausages are often referred to as “bangers” on the other side of the pond.

According to the Big Bang theory, the universe came into being just under 14 billion years ago. According to the theory, the universe started out as a hot and dense mass that began to expand rapidly (in a “big bang”). Within three minutes of the “bang”, the universe cooled so that energy was converted into subatomic particles like protons, electrons and neutrons. Over time, subatomic particles turned into atoms. Clouds of those atoms formed stars and galaxies.

27. News agcy. : 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.

28. Like rainy London skies : GREY

We use the spelling “gray” for the shade between black and white here in North America, whereas the common spelling is “grey” in Britain and Ireland. To further complicate things, we spell the word “greyhound” with a letter E on both sides of the Atlantic. Thanks goodness for spellcheck …

29. Zagros Mountains country : IRAQ

With a length of almost 1,000 miles, the Zagros Mountains form the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq.

32. Rap sheet list : PRIORS

A rap sheet is a criminal record. “Rap” is a slang term dating back to the 1700s that means “blame, responsibility” as in “to take the rap”, “bad rap” and “to beat the rap”. This usage morphed into “rap sheet” in the early 1900s.

35. Scotland, in Scottish Gaelic : ALBA

Alba is the Scots Gaelic word for Scotland. “Alba” is the root word that ultimately made its way to the name Albany, the state capital of New York.

38. Spanish hillsides : CUESTAS

A cuesta is a hill with a gentle slope on one side and a steep slope on the other. The name “cuesta” is Spanish for “slope of a hill”. The steep slope might be referred to as an escarpment.

40. Highly regarded speakers : BOSE

Bose Corporation was founded in 1964 by Amar G. Bose, and is a company that specializes in manufacture of audio equipment.

46. Germane : APT

Something that is germane is relevant. “Germane” originally meant “having the same parents”, but the term was used more figuratively to mean “on topic” by William Shakespeare in “Hamlet”. That’s the way we’ve been using the word since “Hamlet” was first performed in the 1600s.

47. Name of two 134-Acrosses : JOHN PAUL
(134A. Religious leader : POPE )

Pope John Paul I’s leadership of the Roman Catholic Church was one of the shortest in history, as he passed away unexpectedly after only 33 days into his papacy. He was the first pope to choose a double name, opting for “John Paul” in honor of his two predecessors, Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. Also, he took the unusual step of adding the regnal number “I” to his name, and so John Paul was the first pope to designate himself “the First”.

Pope John Paul II led the Catholic Church from 1978 until 2005, a period of over 26 years. That made him the second longest serving Pope in history, after Pius IX who reigned for over 31 years in the mid 1800s. Paradoxically, John Paul II’s predecessor was John Paul I who only ruled for 33 days. John Paul II was a native of Poland, and was the first non-Italian Pope to lead the church since 1523. His birth name was Karol Wojtyla.

50. U.K. governing body : PARL

The UK Parliament is divided into two houses, with the upper house known as the House of Lords and the lower house as the House of Commons. The members of the House of Commons are elected, but most new members of the House of Lords are appointed. Historically, a large proportion of the membership of the upper house were hereditary peers, but recent legislative changes are reducing the numbers who can sit in the House of Lords by virtue of birthright.

52. Vital conduits : AORTAS

The aorta originates in the heart and extends down into the abdomen. It is the largest artery in the body.

59. Greener Living org. : EPA

Greener Living is an initiative of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

62. Screwballs hanging out at the end of the block? : CORNER FLAKES (from “corn flakes”)

The Kellogg Company was founded in 1906 by Will Keith Kellogg as the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. Will established the enterprise while working with his brother John Harvey Kellogg at his Battle Creek Sanitarium. The brothers created corn flakes as a health food for patients at the sanitarium.

66. City on the Orne : CAEN

Caen, on the River Orne, lies in the Calvados department of France in the northwest of the country. Caen is famous for the WWII Battle of Caen that left the town practically destroyed. Caen is also the burial place of the Norman King William I of England, also known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

69. “You __ on My Mind”: 1965 hit : WERE

“You Were on My Mind” was a 1965 hit for the San Francisco-based folk rock group We Five.

72. DuPont acrylic : ORLON

Orlon is the brand name used by the DuPont Corporation for the acrylic fibers the company developed in 1941.

73. Outer __ : SPACE

The exploration and use of outer space is governed by the Outer Space Treaty that came into force in 1967. The initial signatories were the US, UK and USSR, and now 102 nations are party to the treaty. For the purposes of the treaty, outer space begins at the Kármán line, a theoretical sphere that lies at an altitude of 100km about the Earth’s sea level.

76. Summer time? : DISCO ERA

Donna Summer is known as “The Queen of Disco”, with great hits like “Love to Love You, Baby”, “I Feel Love” and “Hot Stuff”. In the late sixties and early seventies, LaDonna Gaines (her real name) lived and worked in Germany. There she met and married an Austrian actor called Helmuth Sommer. They divorced not long after the marriage, but Donna kept his family name, just changing the “o” to “u” to give her the stage name of “Donna Summer”.

80. Slate, for one : E-MAG

“Slate” is an online magazine founded in 1996. “Slate” was originally owned by Microsoft and was part of the MSN online offering. The magazine has been available for free since 1999 (it is ad-supported) and has been owned by the Washington Post Company since 2004.

83. Ferrara family name : ESTE

Este is a town in the Province of Padua in the north of Italy. The town gave its name to the House of Este, a European princely dynasty. Members of the House of Este were important patrons of the arts, especially during the Italian Renaissance. The House of Hanover, that ruled Britain from 1714 to 1901 when Queen Victoria died, was perhaps the most notable branch of the House of Este.

“Ferrara” is the name of a province and its capital city in northern Italy. The city is located just 30 miles northeast of Bologna. The city was also home to a branch of the princely House of Este during the 14th and 15th centuries.

84. Dollhouse porch chair? : LITTLE ROCKER (from “Little Rock”)

The city of Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas, and is located in the center of the state. Early French travelers used a small rock formation on the Arkansas River as a landmark, a formation that they named “La Petite Roche” (The Little Rock) in 1722. “The Little Rock” actually lies across the river from a large bluff known as “Big Rock”, which was once the site of a rock quarry.

87. “Kidnapped” monogram : RLS

Robert Louis Stevenson (RLS) was a Scottish author. He was most famous for his novels “Treasure Island”, “Kidnapped” and “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”.

“Kidnapped” is a novel written by Scotsman Robert Louis Stevenson that he targeted at a young male audience. The book’s full name is the most descriptive title I’ve ever seen:

Kidnapped: Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: How he was Kidnapped and Cast away; his Sufferings in a Desert Isle; his Journey in the Wild Highlands; his acquaintance with Alan Breck Stewart and other notorious Highland Jacobites; with all that he Suffered at the hands of his Uncle, Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws, falsely so-called: Written by Himself and now set forth by Robert Louis Stevenson.

88. Country suffix : -STAN

The suffix “-stan” in many place names is Persian for “place of”.

89. Reason for an R : GORE

The Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) film-rating system (PG-13, R, etc.) is purely voluntary and is not backed by any law. Movie theaters agree to abide by the rules that come with the MPAA ratings in exchange for access to new movies.

90. Prime minister after Begin : SHAMIR

Yitzhak Shamir was the seventh Prime Minister of Israel. Shamir was born Yitzhak Yezernitsky in part of the Russian Empire that is now Belarus. Both of his parents and two sisters were killed during the Holocaust. The future Prime Minister adopted the name Shamir as he had used it on a forged identity card.

Menachem Begin was Prime Minister of Israel from 1977 to 1983. Perhaps most notably, Begin signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, following the Camp David Accords of 1978. This agreement earned Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat the Nobel Peace Prize.

92. Stigmatic fictional symbol : RED A

The main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter” is Hester Prynne. After the birth of her illegitimate daughter Pearl, she is convicted by her puritanical neighbors of the crime of adultery. Hester is forced to wear a scarlet “A” (for “adultery”) on her clothing for the rest of her life, hence the novel’s title “The Scarlet Letter”.

98. Expiate : ATONE FOR

To expiate is to make amends for something. The term comes from the Latin verb “expiare”, which has the same meaning.

102. “Mad Men” network : AMC

AMC, formerly known as “American Movie Classics”, is one of my favorite television channels. Although the channel’s focus has shifted from airing classic movies to including other programming, there’s still a lot of quality output. AMC’s flagship shows are “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad”.

“Mad Men” was the flagship show on the AMC television channel for several seasons. Set in the sixties, it’s all about an advertising agency located on Madison Avenue in New York (hence the title). “Mad Men” became the first show created by a basic cable channel to win an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.

104. Lackadaisical soccer shot? : SLEEPY HEADER (from “sleepy head”)

In the game of soccer, a common move is to head the ball, to use the head to pass, shoot or clear the ball. I used my head a lot (literally) in my soccer-playing days, which might explain my frequent “duh” moments when solving crosswords. The US Soccer Federation has issued guidelines that call for the elimination of heading in games played by children 10 and under, and limiting the amount of heading in practice sessions for children aged 11 to 13. Yep, playing soccer has been linked with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), just like American football and boxing.

108. Wild Blue Yonder seller since 2003 : CRAYOLA

In the year 2000 the Crayola company, very cleverly I think, held the “Crayola Color Census 2000” in which people were polled and asked for their favorite Crayola colors. President George W. Bush chose “Blue Bell” and Tiger Woods chose “Wild Strawberry”.

113. Canadian tank fillers : ESSO

The brand name Esso has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

120. No and Phil : DRS

“Dr. No” may have been the first film in the wildly successful James Bond franchise, but it was the sixth novel in the series of books penned by Ian Fleming. Fleming was inspired to write the story after reading the Fu Manchu tales by Sax Rohmer. If you’ve read the Rohmer books or seen the films, you’ll recognize the similarities between the characters Dr. Julius No and Fu Manchu.

Dr. Phil (McGraw) met Oprah Winfrey when he was hired to work with her as a legal consultant during the Amarillo Texas beef trial (when the industry sued Oprah for libel over “Mad Cow Disease” statements). Oprah was impressed with Dr. Phil and invited him onto her show, and we haven’t stopped seeing him since!

121. Ballet attire : TUTUS

The word “tutu”, used for a ballet dancer’s skirt, is actually a somewhat “naughty” term. It came into English from French in the early 20th century. The French “tutu” is an alteration of the word “cucu”, a childish word meaning “bottom, backside”.

123. Dark ale expert? : PORTER AUTHORITY (from “port authority”)

Porter is a dark beer that originated in London in the 1700s and is named for the street and river porters with whom it was very popular. Porter is a well-hopped beer made using brown malt, which gives it the dark color.

129. Brand for pain : ALEVE

Aleve is a brand name used for the anti-inflammatory drug Naproxen sodium.

131. Ballet bend : PLIE

The French word for “bent” is “plié”. In the ballet move known as a plié, the knees are bent. A “demi-plié” is a similar move, but with less bending of the knees.

134. Religious leader : POPE

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome and the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The term “pope” comes from the Latin “papa”, and ultimately from the Greek “pappas”, with both terms being a child’s word for “father”.

136. Like eyes “you can’t hide,” in an Eagles hit : LYIN’

The Eagles song “Lyin’ Eyes” was recorded in 1975. Written by band members Don Henley and Glenn Frey, the lyrics were inspired by a meeting between a man and a woman the composers witnessed in Dan Tana’s Bar & Restaurant in Los Angeles. Henley and Frey imagined a scenario of secret love, and “Lyin’ Eyes” was born.

You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin eyes

Down

1. Texter’s “Need a short break” : BRB

Be right back (BRB)

2. Portuguese king : REI

“Rei” is the Portuguese word for “king”.

4. Order in the court : SUBPOENA

A subpoena is a writ issued by a court compelling a person to testify before the court, or compelling a person or organization to produce evidence before the court. The term comes from the Latin phrase “sub poena” meaning “under penalty”. The court has the authority to penalize a person or organization that does not comply with the subpoena.

5. Keats subject : URN

The poet John Keats is famous for writing a whole series of beautiful odes. The most renowned are the so-called “1819 Odes”, a collection from the year 1819 that includes famous poems such as “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Ode to Psyche”.

6. TV’s Mrs. Peel : RIGG

Diana Rigg is a marvelous actress from England who is best known for playing Emma Peel on the hit sixties show “The Avengers”. Rigg also won an Emmy for her performance in a 1997 television adaptation of “Rebecca”. In my humble opinion, she was also the best-ever Bond girl (opposite George Lazenby, the worst-ever Bond guy), in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” …

“The Avengers” was must-see television when I was growing up. “The Avengers” was a sixties comedy spy series set in England during the days of the Cold War. The hero was John Steed, played ably by Patrick MacNee. Steed had various female partners as the series progressed, the first of which was Cathy Gale, played by Honor Blackman (who also played Pussy Galore in “Goldfinger”). Following Ms. Gale was Emma Peel played by the wonderful Diana Rigg. Finally there was Tara King, played by Linda Thorson.

7. Orange Free State settler : BOER

“Boer” is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for “farmer”, a word that was used to describe the Dutch-speaking people who settled parts of South Africa during the 1700s.

The Orange Free State was formed by the Boers in southern Africa in middle of the 19th century. The republic took its name from the Orange River.

10. Saskatoon-to-Winnipeg dir. : ESE

Saskatoon is the largest city in the province of Saskatchewan. The city is named for the saskatoon berry. “Saskatoon” is an anglicization of a Cree word meaning “at the place of many saskatoon berries”, a reference to the fruit that grows in the area.

The Manitoba city of Winnipeg is the largest city in the province, and its capital. The city is named for the nearby Lake Winnipeg, which in turn is an anglicization of a Cree word meaning “muddy waters”.

11. Fair-haired sci-fi race : ELOI

In the 1895 novel by H. G. Wells called “The Time Machine”, there are two races that the hero encounter in his travels into the future. The Eloi are the “beautiful people” who live on the planet’s surface. The Morlocks are a domineering race living underground who use the Eloi as food.

12. Castmate of Alda and Swit : FARR

Actor Jamie Farr is best known for playing the cross-dressing Max Klinger in the sitcom ”M*A*S*H”. Although Farr landed a role in the 1955 movie “Blackboard Jungle”, his career didn’t really take off until he started appearing regularly on “The Red Skelton Show”. Years later he managed to get a one-episode appearance in ”M*A*S*H”, and his character and performance were received so well that he became a regular on the show. Farr actually did serve in the US Army in Korea, although it was after hostilities had ended. The dog tags that Farr wore when filming ”M*A*S*H” were the ones that he actually wore while serving in the military.

15. Dive at the governor’s mansion pool? : CAPITAL GAINER (from “capital gain”)

A gainer is a dive in which the diver leaves the board while facing forward, but makes a backward somersault, entering the water feet first.

21. New York City suburb on the Hudson : NYACK

The village of Nyack is a suburb of New York City located on the western shore of the Hudson River, close to the western side of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Realist painter Edward Hopper used to live in Nyack, and the village is home to the Edward Hopper House Arts Center.

25. Perry who created Madea : TYLER

Tyler Perry is an actor, comedian and writer who is perhaps best known in front of the camera for his drag performances as tough elderly woman “Madea”. Perry also created the sitcom “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” that ran for eight seasons from 2006 until 2012.

30. “‘Sup, Juan?” : QUE PASA?

In Spanish, “que pasa?” translates literally as “what happened?” But, it is used to mean “how have things been going with you?”.

32. Lunchbox staple, casually : PBJ

Peanut butter and jelly (PB&J or PBJ).

33. Kanga’s kid : ROO

In A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh” collection of stories, Pooh has many friends in Hundred Acre Wood. Besides Christopher Robin, who doesn’t actually live in the wood, the list includes Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Tigger and Owl.

34. Gless of “Cagney & Lacey” : SHARON

Sharon Gless is best known for playing Christine Cagney on the police drama “Cagney & Lacey” in the eighties. A few years after “Cagney & Lacey” ended its run, Gless married the show’s executive producer, Barney Rosenzweig. More recently, Gless had a recurring role playing Madeline Westen on the TV show “Burn Notice”.

36. Playoffs privilege : BYE

The word “bye”, as used in sport, originated in cricket. A bye is a run scored due to an error by the wicketkeeper (similar to a catcher in baseball) when he fails to stop a ball bowled by the bowler (like a pitcher in baseball). Later the word “bye” in sport came to mean the position of a player in a tournament who is left without a competitor when the rest have drawn pairs. In these commercial times, those byes tend to be awarded to the best (seeded) players, so that the most popular players always advance past the first round of competition.

37. Kindle download : APP

Amazon’s Kindle line of e-book readers was introduced in 2007. The name “kindle” was chosen to evoke images of “lighting a fire” through reading and intellectual stimulation. I bought myself a Kindle Fire HD not that long ago. I’ve started reading e-books for the first time in my life, as well as enjoying other computing options available with the tablet device. I love it …

39. Mound meas. : ERA

Earned run average (ERA) … that would be baseball.

42. Strange : OUTRE

The word “outré” meaning “unconventional, bizarre” comes to us from French, as one might imagine. It is derived from the verb “outrer” meaning “to overdo, exaggerate”. “Outrer” is also the ultimate root of our word “outrage”.

44. Celestial bear : URSA

The constellation named Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called the Big Dipper because of its resemblance to a ladle or dipper. Ursa Major also resembles a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland, the “plough”.

Ursa Minor (Latin for “Smaller Bear”) sits right beside the constellation Draco (Latin for “dragon”). Ursa Minor used to be considered the wing of Draco, and so was once called “Dragon’s Wing”. The tail of the “Smaller Bear” might also be considered as the handle of a ladle, and so the constellation is often referred to as the Little Dipper.

48. Pennsylvania’s __ Mountains : POCONO

The Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania are home to many popular vacation resorts.

51. Mother of Joseph : RACHEL

According to the Bible, Rachel was one of the two wives of Jacob, the other being Rachel’s sister Leah. Jacob’s intention had been to marry Rachel, but the Leah and Rachel’s father “switched” his daughters and provided Leah as the veiled bride. Jacob married Rachel a week later, and lived with the two wives concurrently.

55. Dover’s st. : DEL

The city of Dover is the capital of Delaware, and is the state’s second biggest city (after Wilmington). Dover is named after the town of Dover on the south coast of England, and was given that name by William Penn. The English Dover lies in the county of Kent, and the American Dover resides in Kent County.

57. Enterprise offering : RENTAL

Enterprise Rent-A-Car was established in 1957 by Jack. C. Taylor in St. Louis, Missouri, where the company is still headquartered today. The company was originally called Executive Leasing Company. The name was changed in 1962 in honor of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, on which Taylor served during WWII.

64. Bowling unit : FRAME

Bowling has been around for an awfully long time. The oldest known reference to the game is in Egypt, where pins and balls were found in an ancient tomb that is over 5,000 years old. The first form of the game to come to America was nine-pin bowling, which had been very popular in Europe for centuries. In 1841 in Connecticut, nine-pin bowling was banned due to its association with gambling. Supposedly, an additional pin was added to get around the ban, and ten-pin bowling was born.

65. Aptly named Renault : LE CAR

French automaker Renault made the “mini-like” Renault 5 and sold it as the Renault Le Car in North America. My Dad had a Renault 5 in Ireland, back in the day …

68. Dawn-of-mammals epoch : EOCENE

The Eocene Epoch lasted from 56 to 34 million years ago. The name “Eocene” comes from the Greek “eos” meaning “dawn” and “kainos” meaning “new”. This is a reference to the “new dawn” for mammals, which emerged during the Eocene epoch.

71. Recipe words : STIR IN

The Latin “recipere” means “to take”, and the imperative form “recipe” was written at the top of medical prescriptions as an instruction, i.e. take (the following). This use of “recipe” evolved into the instruction for preparing a dish of food in the mid-1700s.

77. “The Fantasticks” narrator whose name translates to “The Rooster” : EL GALLO

“The Fantasticks” is a musical that was first staged in 1960. That original production was off-Broadway in the Sullivan Street Playhouse. That production closed in 2002, after 17,162 performances. That makes “The Fantasticks” the longest-running musical in the world.

78. Atlantic resort city : RIO

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Year’s Day in 1502.

79. Kilmer’s famous last words? : A TREE

The American journalist and poet Joyce Kilmer is primarily known for his 1913 poem titled “Trees”. The original text of the poem is:

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Kilmer died a few years after writing “Trees”. He was a casualty of the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at the age of 31.

86. Libya neighbor : CHAD

The landlocked African country called Chad takes its name from the second largest wetland on the continent, which is known as Lake Chad.

The Italo-Turkish War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 1911 and October 1912. At the end of the conflict the Ottoman Empire ceded to Italy the three provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. These provinces became Italian North Africa, and ultimately the country that we know today as Libya. The name “Libya” comes from the Ancient Greek “Libúē”, the historical name for Northwest Africa.

91. Common HMO requirement : REFERRAL

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

93. U.K. military award : DSO

The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a British military award that is usually presented to officers with the rank of major or higher.

95. Olive not found in martinis : OYL

“Thimble Theater” was the precursor comic strip to the famous “Popeye” drawn by E. C. Segar. Before Popeye came into the story, the brother and sister characters Castor Oyl and Olive Oyl were the protagonists. And then along comes a sailor …

96. Cal. column : THU

In Norse mythology, Thor was the son of Odin. Thor wielded a mighty hammer and was the god of thunder, lightning and storms. Our contemporary word “Thursday” comes from “Thor’s Day”.

97. Conger catcher : EELER

Conger eels can grow to be very, very large, perhaps up to 10 feet in length.

102. Perfumery compound : ACETAL

Acetals are a class of organic compounds, the smaller of which are volatile solvents. The simplest of the group is named simply “acetal”, and is a solvent and ingredient used in cosmetics. A much larger example of an acetal is cellulose.

103. Enterprise helmsman : MR SULU

Mr. Hikaru Sulu was played by George Takei in the original “Star Trek” series. Takei has played lots of roles over the years, and is still very active in television. Did you know that he appeared in the 1963 film, “Pt-109”? He played the helmsman steering the Japanese destroyer that ran down John F. Kennedy’s motor torpedo boat. From destroyer helmsman to starship helmsman …

105. Old West brothers : EARPS

The famous Earp brothers of the Wild West were Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan. All three brothers participated in what has to be the most famous gunfight in the history of the Old West, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Strangely enough, the fight didn’t happen at the O.K. Corral, but took place six doors down the street in a vacant lot next to a photography studio.

106. Fearless Fosdick’s creator : AL CAPP

“Fearless Fosdick” is a comic strip that appears within the Al Capp strip “Li’l Abner”. “Fearless Fosdick” is a parody of the “competing” strip drawn by Chester Gould called “Dick Tracy”.

115. Clever maneuver : COUP

A coup d’état (often just “coup”) is the sudden overthrow of a government, and comes from the French for “stroke of state”. The Swiss-German word “putsch” is sometimes used instead of “coup”, with “Putsch” translating literally as “sudden blow”.

116. 2012 Best Picture : ARGO

“Argo” is a 2012 movie that is based on the true story of the rescue of six diplomats hiding out during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film was directed by and stars Ben Affleck and is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, the same pair who produced the excellent “Good Night, and Good Luck”. I highly recommend “Argo”, although I found the scenes of religious fervor to be very frightening …

118. “The Handmaid’s Tale” airer : HULU

Hulu is a video-on-demand service. Although competing directly with Netflix and Amazon Prime, Hulu’s primary focus is the streaming of television shows rather than movies.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a remarkably well-received television adaptation of the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. The story is set in a future United State after a Second American Civil War. The “Handmaids” are the few remaining fertile women in the world, who are ritually raped and forced bear children by their masters.

119. Bluesy Redding : OTIS

Otis Redding is often referred to as the “King of Soul”, and what a voice he had. Like so many of the greats in the world of popular music it seems, Redding was killed in a plane crash, in 1967 when he was just 26 years old. Just three days earlier he had recorded what was to be his biggest hit, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”.

122. French possessive : SES

“Ses” is the French word for “his”, “her” or “its”, when referring to a group of items or individuals.

127. __-tip: beef cut : TRI

A tri-tip is a cut of meat that might also be called tip roast, round tip roast and sirloin tip roast. Tri-tip is a cut of beef from the rear of the animal. It is a triangular muscle, hence the name.

128. “Round __ virgin … ” : YON

“’Round yon virgin, mother and child” is a line from the Christmas carol “Silent Night”.

The beautiful Christmas carol “Silent Night” was first performed in Austria in 1818, with words by a priest, Father Joseph Mohr, and melody by an Austrian headmaster, Franz Xaver Gruber. The carol was in German and called “Stille Nacht”. The English translation that we use today was provided to us by an American bishop in 1859, John Freeman Young from Florida.

Advertisement

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Garments with hooks : BRAS
5. Metro regions : URBS
9. Complaint : BEEF
13. Metals industry acronym : ALCOA
18. Ocular cleaning brand : RENU
19. Hilarious type : RIOT
20. Lewis lion : ASLAN
22. Destined (to) : MEANT
23. Proposed explanation for oversize British sausage? : BIG BANGER THEORY (from “Big Bang theory”)
26. One in a newsstand stack : PAPER
27. News agcy. : UPI
28. Like rainy London skies : GREY
29. Zagros Mountains country : IRAQ
31. Stack : PILE
32. Rap sheet list : PRIORS
35. Scotland, in Scottish Gaelic : ALBA
38. Spanish hillsides : CUESTAS
40. Highly regarded speakers : BOSE
41. Kiss in the rink? : HOCKEY PUCKER (from “hockey puck”)
46. Germane : APT
47. Name of two 134-Acrosses : JOHN PAUL
49. Dupe : REPRO
50. U.K. governing body : PARL
52. Vital conduits : AORTAS
54. Self-serve fast-food item : SODA
56. Farming prefix : AGRI-
59. Greener Living org. : EPA
62. Screwballs hanging out at the end of the block? : CORNER FLAKES (from “corn flakes”)
66. City on the Orne : CAEN
67. “The first thing you must know … ” : RULE ONE …
69. “You __ on My Mind”: 1965 hit : WERE
70. Reducing big-time : SLASHING
72. DuPont acrylic : ORLON
73. Outer __ : SPACE
75. Near the hour : TEN TO
76. Summer time? : DISCO ERA
80. Slate, for one : E-MAG
81. Greet warmly : SMILE AT
83. Ferrara family name : ESTE
84. Dollhouse porch chair? : LITTLE ROCKER (from “Little Rock”)
87. “Kidnapped” monogram : RLS
88. Country suffix : -STAN
89. Reason for an R : GORE
90. Prime minister after Begin : SHAMIR
92. Stigmatic fictional symbol : RED A
94. Ham it up : EMOTE
98. Expiate : ATONE FOR
102. “Mad Men” network : AMC
104. Lackadaisical soccer shot? : SLEEPY HEADER (from “sleepy head”)
107. Diminish slowly : FADE
108. Wild Blue Yonder seller since 2003 : CRAYOLA
110. Quiet time : LULL
111. Gives rise to : YIELDS
113. Canadian tank fillers : ESSO
114. Marine predator : ORCA
117. Bounce : ECHO
120. No and Phil : DRS
121. Ballet attire : TUTUS
123. Dark ale expert? : PORTER AUTHORITY (from “port authority”)
129. Brand for pain : ALEVE
130. Baking staple : SUGAR
131. Ballet bend : PLIE
132. Picked do : AFRO
133. What bait does : LURES
134. Religious leader : POPE
135. Door sign : PUSH
136. Like eyes “you can’t hide,” in an Eagles hit : LYIN’

Down

1. Texter’s “Need a short break” : BRB
2. Portuguese king : REI
3. Distress : ANGUISH
4. Order in the court : SUBPOENA
5. Keats subject : URN
6. TV’s Mrs. Peel : RIGG
7. Orange Free State settler : BOER
8. Hot time : STREAK
9. Rats relative? : BAH!
10. Saskatoon-to-Winnipeg dir. : ESE
11. Fair-haired sci-fi race : ELOI
12. Castmate of Alda and Swit : FARR
13. Rev (up) : AMP
14. Quantum events? : LEAPS
15. Dive at the governor’s mansion pool? : CAPITAL GAINER (from “capital gain”)
16. Pool unit : ONE LAP
17. Immobile : AT REST
21. New York City suburb on the Hudson : NYACK
24. Fresh __ : AIR
25. Perry who created Madea : TYLER
30. “‘Sup, Juan?” : QUE PASA?
32. Lunchbox staple, casually : PBJ
33. Kanga’s kid : ROO
34. Gless of “Cagney & Lacey” : SHARON
36. Playoffs privilege : BYE
37. Kindle download : APP
39. Mound meas. : ERA
42. Strange : OUTRE
43. Extended family : CLAN
44. Celestial bear : URSA
45. “Order up!” callers : COOKS
48. Pennsylvania’s __ Mountains : POCONO
51. Mother of Joseph : RACHEL
53. Finalizes, with “up” : SEWS
55. Dover’s st. : DEL
57. Enterprise offering : RENTAL
58. Closely watched bars : INGOTS
59. Eats into : ERODES
60. Strict observer : PURIST
61. Fishing pro? : ALL-STAR CASTER (from “all-star cast”)
63. Turn back : REPEL
64. Bowling unit : FRAME
65. Aptly named Renault : LE CAR
68. Dawn-of-mammals epoch : EOCENE
71. Recipe words : STIR IN
74. They may clash on the lot : EGOS
77. “The Fantasticks” narrator whose name translates to “The Rooster” : EL GALLO
78. Atlantic resort city : RIO
79. Kilmer’s famous last words? : A TREE
81. Glide on blades : SKATE
82. Computer’s abundance : MEMORY
85. Holiday hire : TEMP
86. Libya neighbor : CHAD
91. Common HMO requirement : REFERRAL
93. U.K. military award : DSO
95. Olive not found in martinis : OYL
96. Cal. column : THU
97. Conger catcher : EELER
99. Fake : FALSIFY
100. Atypical : ODD
101. Hi-__ image : RES
102. Perfumery compound : ACETAL
103. Enterprise helmsman : MR SULU
105. Old West brothers : EARPS
106. Fearless Fosdick’s creator : AL CAPP
109. “__ grown” : YOU’VE
112. Altar promise : I DO
115. Clever maneuver : COUP
116. 2012 Best Picture : ARGO
118. “The Handmaid’s Tale” airer : HULU
119. Bluesy Redding : OTIS
122. French possessive : SES
124. Wire intrusion : TAP
125. Ode preposition : ERE
126. Sneaky laugh : HEH
127. __-tip: beef cut : TRI
128. “Round __ virgin … ” : YON

Advertisement