LA Times Crossword Answers 6 Jun 2018, Wednesday

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Constructed by: C.C. Burnikel
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Reveal Answer: Back Pay

Each of today’s themed answers includes the hidden word “PAY”, although it’s written BACKWARDS:

  • 40A. Past due salary … and what’s literally hidden in 17-, 23-, 52- and 63-Across : BACK PAY
  • 17A. Good thing to bring to the table : HEALTHY APPETITE
  • 23A. Tailless Atlas Mountains monkey : BARBARY APE
  • 52A. Sugary snack on a stick : CANDY APPLE
  • 63A. 1995 Woody Allen film : MIGHTY APHRODITE

Bill’s time: 5m 29s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4. Condé __: Vanity Fair publisher : NAST

Condé Nast is a mass media corporation that has a very large portfolio of publications, including “Vogue”, “GQ”, “House and Garden”, “Golf Digest”, “Wired”, “Vanity Fair” and “The New Yorker”.

“Vanity Fair” is a pop culture and fashion magazine that was originally published from 1913 to 1936, and revived in 1983.

16. Show with skits : REVUE

“Revue” is the French word for “review”.

20. Strunk and White topic : STYLE

Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style” was first published in 1918. “The Elements of Style” is a relatively thin book, when compared to its modern counterpart “The Chicago Manual of Style”. Both books give guidance on the correct use of American English. The Chicago version is one of the most frequently used references on my bookshelf, and a constant reminder of my inadequacies!

23. Tailless Atlas Mountains monkey : BARBARY APE

The Barbary macaque is also known as the Barbary ape. The Barbary macaque is native to parts of North Africa, although there is famous population that lives in Gibraltar. The Barbary macaques of Gibraltar are the only wild apes or monkeys found in Europe.

The Atlas Mountains are a range stretching across Northern Africa, through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts are on one side of the range, and the Sahara Desert on the other.

35. Arizona’s third-largest city : MESA

The city of Mesa, Arizona is in effect a suburb of Phoenix. The original settlement of non-Native Americans was founded by Daniel Webster Jones who led a Mormon group from St. George, Utah. The settlement was first called Jonesville, then Fort Utah and eventually Lehi. A second group of Mormons arrived and formed a settlement on top of a nearby mesa. It was this use of a mesa that eventually gave the city its current name.

39. SunTrust Park MLB team : ATL

SunTrust Park is the baseball stadium that has been home to the Atlanta Braves since 2017. The Braves had been playing in Turner Field since 1997, which was a stadium built for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

45. Deadly septet : SINS

The cardinal sins of Christian ethics are also known as the seven deadly sins. The seven deadly sins are:

  • Wrath
  • Greed
  • Sloth
  • Pride
  • Lust
  • Envy
  • Gluttony

46. Polo or tee : TOP

René Lacoste was a French tennis player who went into the clothing business, and came up with a more comfortable shirt that players could use. This became known as a “tennis shirt”. When it was adopted for use in the sport of polo, the shirts also became known as “polo shirts”. The “golf shirt” is basically the same thing.

47. Mescaline-yielding cactus : PEYOTE

The peyote is a small spineless cactus that is native to southwestern Texas and Mexico. When ingested, the peyote is known to have a psychoactive effect. One of the psychoactive alkaloids in peyote is mescaline, a recreative drug of choice for the likes of Aldous Huxley and Pablo Picasso.

49. Evian water : EAU

Évian-les-Bains (or simply Évian) is in the very east of France, on the shores of Lake Geneva directly across the lake from Lausanne, Switzerland. As one might imagine, Évian is the home of Évian mineral water, the most successful business in town. Personally, I can’t stand the distinctive taste of Évian water …

52. Sugary snack on a stick : CANDY APPLE

“Candy apple” is yet another term that I had to learn when came to the US. Candy apples are called “toffee apples” outside of North America.

59. Livy’s lucky number? : VII

In Roman numerals, the number VII (7) is considered lucky by many.

Titus Livius (aka “Livy”) was a Roman historian who lived from 59 BC to AD 17. Livy wrote the definitive history of Rome at that time.

63. 1995 Woody Allen film : MIGHTY APHRODITE

“Mighty Aphrodite” is a 1995 Woody Allen romantic comedy starring Mira Sorvino. The film was inspired by George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion”. I know, the critics loved “Mighty Aphrodite”, but I can’t stand it …

71. Namesake of the sports-oriented Courage Award : ASHE

The Arthur Ashe Courage Award has been presented annually since 1993 as part of the ESPY Awards. Named for tennis great Arthur Ashe, the Courage Award is presented to individuals whose contributions “transcend sports”. The list of recipients includes Howard Cosell (1995), Muhammad Ali (1997), Billie Jean King (1999), Nelson Mandela (2009), Caitlyn Jenner (2015) and Eunice Kennedy Shriver (2017).

72. Ambulance letters : EMS

Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

Down

7. Buzzed : TIPSY

The term “tipsy” comes from the verb “to tip” meaning “to overturn, knock over”, and has been meaning “drunk” since the late 1500s.

10. Nike competitor : AVIA

The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

14. “Enchanted” fantasy film girl : ELLA

“Ella Enchanted” is a fantasy novel written by Gail Carson Levine, and published in 1997. It is a retelling of the story of Cinderella, with lots of mythical creatures added. A film adaptation was released in 2004, starring Anne Hathaway in the title role.

18. U. of Maryland athlete : TERP

The sports teams of the University of Maryland are called the Maryland Terrapins, or “the Terps” for short. The name dates back to 1932 when it was coined by the the university’s president at the time, Curley Byrd. He took the name from the diamondback terrapins that are native to the Chesapeake Bay.

24. “Roll Tide” school : BAMA

The athletic teams of the University of Alabama (“Bama”) are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, which is a reference to the team colors of crimson and white.

25. Smart ones? : ALECS

Apparently the original “smart Alec” (sometimes “Aleck”) was one Alec Hoag, a pimp, thief and confidence trickster who plied his trade in New York City in the 1840s.

26. Bride’s throwaway : POSY

“Poesy” was the name given to a line of verse engraved on the inner surface of a ring. The related word “posy”, for a bouquet of flowers, arose with the notion that giving a posy might be a message of love, just as a poesy inside a ring could have the same meaning.

28. Daniel LaRusso, to Mr. Miyagi : TUTEE

The 1984 film “The Karate Kid” starred Ralph Macchio in the title role, with Pat Morita playing the enigmatic karate teacher Mr. Miyagi. There is an excellent 2010 remake, starring Jaden Smith (Will Smith’s son) as the Karate Kid himself, with Jackie Chan playing the teacher. In the original 1984 movie, the Karate Kid was named Daniel LaRusso, and in the 2010 remake was named Dre Parker.

31. Follow orders : TOE THE LINE

The idiomatic expression “to toe the line” means “to obey”. The etymology of the phrase is disputed, although it is likely to come from the Royal Navy. Barefooted sailors were required to stand to attention for inspection lined up along the seams for the wooden deck, hence “toeing the line”.

32. Muffed grounder, e.g. : ERROR

That would be baseball.

36. Take part in a biathlon : SKI

A biathlon is an event requiring expertise in two sporting disciplines. The most common biathlon is the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting. This traditional biathlon was born out of an exercise for Norwegian soldiers.

37. Sleep clinic focus : APNEA

Sleep apnea (“apnoea” in British English) can be caused by an obstruction in the airways, possibly due to obesity or enlarged tonsils.

40. __ carotene : BETA

Carotene is an orange pigment that plants use in the process of photosynthesis. Carotene gives carrots their orange color, and it is carrots that give the pigment its name. “Carota” is the Latin for “carrot”. Carotene is found in nature in two structural forms: alpha-carotene and the more common beta-carotene.

41. Often-barked letters : ASAP

As soon as possible (ASAP)

44. Dance in a gym : SOCK HOP

Sock hops were high school dances typically held in the school gym or cafeteria. The term “sock hop” arose because the dancers were often required to remove their shoes to protect the varnished floor in the gym.

48. Reason to go green? : ENVY

William Shakespeare was one of the first to associate the color green with envy. He called jealousy the “green-eyed monster” in his play “Othello”.

53. __ Prince, Wonder Woman’s alias : DIANA

The superhero Wonder Woman first appeared in print in 1941, in a publication from DC Comics. As she was created during WWII, Wonder Woman’s first foes were the axis powers. In the less realistic world her biggest foe was and still is Ares, a “baddie” named for the Greek mythological figure. Wonder Woman had several signature expressions, including “Merciful Minerva!”, “Suffering Sappho!” and “Great Hera!”. She also has several devices that she uses in her quest for justice, e.g. the Lasso of Truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets and a tiara that can be used as a deadly projectile. Wonder Woman uses the name “Diana Prince” when “out of uniform”.

55. Helen of Troy’s mother : LEDA

In Greek mythology, Leda was the beautiful Queen of Sparta who was seduced by Zeus when he took the form of a swan. Leda produced two eggs from the union. One egg hatched into Clytemnestra and the beautiful Helen of Troy, over whom was fought the Trojan War. The other egg hatched into the twins Castor and Pollux. Castor and Pollux had different fathers according to the myth. Pollux was the son of Zeus and was immortal, while Castor was the son of Leda’s earthly husband, and so he was a mortal. In the world of the arts, William Butler Yeats wrote a famous sonnet called “Leda and the Swan” in 1924, and Peter Paul Rubens made a copy of a now-lost painting called “Leda and the Swan” by Michelangelo.

According to Greek mythology, Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. When Helen reached the age of marriage, she had many suitors as she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Menelaus was chosen as her husband, and he took her back to his home of Sparta. Paris, a Trojan prince, seduced Helen, as she eloped with him and travelled to Troy. This event sparked the Trojan War that waged between the city of Troy and Greece. Because of this war, Helen was said to have “the face that launched a thousand ships”. And because of this phrase, it has been suggested, probably by author Isaac Asimov, that the amount of beauty needed launch a single ship is one “millihelen”.

58. Double-curved arch : OGEE

An ogee is a type of S-curve. Specifically it is a figure consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite directions (like an S) but both ends of the curve end up parallel to each other (which is not necessarily true for an S).

61. Tabloid twosome : ITEM

An unmarried couple known to be involved with each other might appear in the gossip columns. This appearance as “an item” in the papers, led to the use of “item” to refer to such a couple, but only since the very early seventies.

“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs, Wellcome and Co,) for a “small tablet of medicine”, a name that goes back to 1884. The word “tabloid” had entered into general use to mean a compressed form of anything, and by the early 1900s was used in “tabloid journalism”, applied to newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

64. Pulls a Charmin shenanigan, briefly : TPS

TP’ing (toilet papering) is a prank involving the covering of some object or location with rolls and rolls of toilet paper. If you live in Texas or Minnesota, that little “prank” is legal, but if you live here in California it is classed as mischief or vandalism.

Charmin is a brand of toilet paper made by Procter & Gamble.

I suppose one might be forgiven for thinking that “shenanigan” is an Irish term, as it certainly sounds Irish. Usually written in the plural, shenanigans are acts of mischief, pranks. Apparently the word is of uncertain derivation, but was coined in San Francisco and Sacramento, California in the mid-1800s.

66. GPS output : RTE

A global positioning system (GPS) might point out a route (rte.).

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Feature of distressed jeans : RIP
4. Condé __: Vanity Fair publisher : NAST
8. It may be set on a smartphone : ALARM
13. Qualified : ABLE
15. Dead set against : ANTI
16. Show with skits : REVUE
17. Good thing to bring to the table : HEALTHY APPETITE
20. Strunk and White topic : STYLE
21. Colour suffix : -ISE
22. False front : MASK
23. Tailless Atlas Mountains monkey : BARBARY APE
27. Hog heaven : STY
29. Close friend : PAL
30. Hang around : LOITER
34. Hockey trophy : CUP
35. Arizona’s third-largest city : MESA
38. Sound from one with 37-Down, perhaps : SNORE
39. SunTrust Park MLB team : ATL
40. Past due salary … and what’s literally hidden in 17-, 23-, 52- and 63-Across : BACK PAY
42. Big Band __ : ERA
43. Apartment agreement : LEASE
45. Deadly septet : SINS
46. Polo or tee : TOP
47. Mescaline-yielding cactus : PEYOTE
49. Evian water : EAU
51. Day divs. : HRS
52. Sugary snack on a stick : CANDY APPLE
56. “No harm done” : I’M OK
59. Livy’s lucky number? : VII
60. Sub shops : DELIS
63. 1995 Woody Allen film : MIGHTY APHRODITE
67. Hospital prep area : PRE-OP
68. Orderly : NEAT
69. From square one : ANEW
70. Trickles (through) : SEEPS
71. Namesake of the sports-oriented Courage Award : ASHE
72. Ambulance letters : EMS

Down

1. Shouts from the stands : RAHS
2. “Fat chance!” : I BET!
3. Detailed sports commentary : PLAY-BY-PLAY
4. “No can do” : NAH
5. At all : ANY
6. Part of an angled case : STAIR
7. Buzzed : TIPSY
8. “Odds __ … ” : ARE
9. Admission demand : LET ME IN!
10. Nike competitor : AVIA
11. Dirt road features : RUTS
12. Timid : MEEK
14. “Enchanted” fantasy film girl : ELLA
18. U. of Maryland athlete : TERP
19. Big ring : PEAL
24. “Roll Tide” school : BAMA
25. Smart ones? : ALECS
26. Bride’s throwaway : POSY
27. Massage target : SCALP
28. Daniel LaRusso, to Mr. Miyagi : TUTEE
31. Follow orders : TOE THE LINE
32. Muffed grounder, e.g. : ERROR
33. Harvests : REAPS
36. Take part in a biathlon : SKI
37. Sleep clinic focus : APNEA
40. __ carotene : BETA
41. Often-barked letters : ASAP
44. Dance in a gym : SOCK HOP
48. Reason to go green? : ENVY
50. Bun, e.g. : UPDO
53. __ Prince, Wonder Woman’s alias : DIANA
54. “Holy cow!” : YIPES!
55. Helen of Troy’s mother : LEDA
56. Little tricksters : IMPS
57. Boggy area : MIRE
58. Double-curved arch : OGEE
61. Tabloid twosome : ITEM
62. Tends to tears : SEWS
64. Pulls a Charmin shenanigan, briefly : TPS
65. “That’s a laugh!” : HAH!
66. GPS output : RTE

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