LA Times Crossword Answers 19 Jun 2018, Tuesday

Advertisement

[ad_above_grid]

Constructed by: Joe Schewe
Edited by: Rich Norris

Advertisement

Advertisement

Today’s Reveal Answer: Wired

Themed answers each end with something that is WIRED:

• 39A. Tense with excitement … and a hint to the ends of the four longest puzzle answers : WIRED

• 17A. Carry only a carry-on, say : TRAVEL LIGHT
• 24A. MLB’s National League nickname (because it was founded first) : SENIOR CIRCUIT
• 47A. Unscrupulous sales tactic : BAIT AND SWITCH
• 57A. Chaw in a cheek : TOBACCO PLUG

Bill’s time: 5m 00s

Bill’s errors: 0

Advertisement

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Like aged cheddar : SHARP

Cheddar cheese takes its name from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset. Over 50% of the cheese sold in the UK is cheddar. Here in the US cheddar is the second most popular cheese sold, behind mozzarella.

11. Clavell’s “__-Pan” : TAI

“Tai-Pan” is a novel by James Clavell, and the second in his famous “Asian Saga” suite of six titles. The six books are:

• “King Rat”
• “Tai-Pan”
• “Shōgun”
• “Noble House”
• “Whirlwind”
• “Gai-Jin”

14. Down-yielding duck : EIDER

Eiders are large sea ducks. Their down feathers are used to fill pillows and quilts, giving the name to the quilt called an “eiderdown”.

15. IRA-establishing legislation : ERISA

ERISA is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, enacted in 1974. ERISA regulates the operation of a pension plan once it has been established. However, ERISA does not require that a pension plan be offered by an employer. ERISA is also the legislation that introduced what is now referred to a traditional IRA (individual retirement account).

16. __ Tin Tin : RIN

The original Rin Tin Tin was a real-life dog, a puppy discovered by a GI in a bombed-out kennel in France during WWI. The soldier named the pup Rin Tin Tin, the same name as a puppet given to American soldiers for luck. On returning to the US, “Rinty” was trained by his owner and was spotted doing tricks by a film producer. Rinty featured in some films, eventually getting his first starring role in 1923 in the silent movie “Where the North Begins”. Legend has it that this first Rin Tin Tin died in the arms of actress Jean Harlow. Not a bad way to go …

22. Bacteria in food recalls : E COLI

Escherichia coli (E. coli) are usually harmless bacteria found in the human gut, working away quite happily. However, there are some strains that can produce lethal toxins. These strains can make their way into the food chain from animal fecal matter that comes into contact with food designated for human consumption.

31. Rainbow-shaped : ARCED

Sunlight shining through airborne water droplets can produce rainbows. The water droplets act as little prisms, dispersing the white light into its constituent colors. Sometimes we see double rainbows. If we look carefully, we can see that the order of the colors in the first and second arcs is reversed.

34. Five-time Silver Slugger Award-winning catcher Joe : MAUER

Joe Mauer is a professional baseball player from St. Paul, Minnesota who started playing for the Minnesota Twins in 2004. Mauer is famous for wearing long sideburns, it says here …

The Silver Slugger Award is presented annually to the best offensive MLB player at each baseball position in the American and National Leagues. The award was inaugurated in 1980, and is decided by the MLB coaches and managers as a group.

35. The 2% in 2% milk : FAT

The fatty component of milk is known as butterfat (sometimes “milkfat”). To be labeled whole milk, the butterfat content must be at least 3.25%. Low-fat milk is defined as milk containing 0.5-2% fat, with levels of 1% and 2% commonly found on grocery store shelves. Skim milk must contain less than 0.5% fat, and typically contains 0.1%.

38. Nobel physicist Niels : BOHR

Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who won his 1922 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics and atomic structure. Later in his life, Bohr was part of the team working on the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bomb. Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein had a series of public debates and disputes in the twenties and thirties. Although the two respected each other very highly, they held very different views on quantum theory, different views on the laws of physics at the atomic level. The passage of time has shown that Bohr won out in those debates.

43. Aleppo’s land : SYRIA

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and is located not far from Damascus, the nation’s capital. Aleppo owes it size and history of prosperity to its location at the end of the Silk Road, the trade route that linked Asia to Europe (and other locations). The Suez Canal was opened up in 1869 bringing a new route for transport of goods, and so Aleppo’s prosperity declined over the past one hundred years or so. The city’s population has suffered terribly since the start of the Syrian Civil War, with the Battle of Aleppo raging from 2012 to 2016.

44. Martin of “Route 66” : MILNER

Martin Milner is a former actor who is best known for playing lead roles on the TV shows “Route 66” and “Adam-12”. Milner is enjoying his retirement in California, as the owner of a productive walnut farm.

“Route 66” is a classic television show from the early sixties about two young men traveling across the US in a Corvette. The original lead characters were Tod Stiles (played by Martin Milner) and Buz Murdock (played by George Maharis), with Murdock being replaced by a character called Lincoln Case (played by Glenn Corbett) in the third season.

46. Buddhist discipline : ZEN

Zen is a Buddhist school that developed its own tradition in China back in the 7th century AD. Zen is a Japanese spelling of the Chinese word “chan”, which in turn derives from the Sanskrit word “dhyana” meaning “meditation”.

47. Unscrupulous sales tactic : BAIT-AND-SWITCH

The term “bait-and-switch” describes a kind of fraud engaged in by disingenuous retailers. Customers are drawn in (baited) by advertising products at an extremely attractive price. Once the customer visits the store in search of the deal, he or she discovers that the advertised goods aren’t in fact available. A deceptive salesperson then guides (switches) the customer to a similar and higher-priced item.

57. Chaw in a cheek : TOBACCO PLUG

“Chaw” is a slang term for “chew”, often a plug of tobacco.

62. Knight’s title : SIR

Kneel, and a monarch might “dub thee a knight” if you’re lucky. “Dub” is a specific term derived from Old English that was used to mean “make a knight”. As the knight was also given a knightly name at the same time, “dub” has come to mean “give someone a name”.

67. Vetoes : NIXES

The use of “nix” as a verb, meaning “to shoot down”, dates back to the early 1900s. Before that “nix” was just a noun meaning “nothing”. “Nix” comes from the German “nichts”, which also means “nothing”.

The verb “veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The term was used by tribunes of Ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.

Down

1. Meyers of late-night TV : SETH

Seth Meyers is an actor and comedian who is perhaps best-known for his appearances on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), for which program he served as head writer. Meyers now hosts his own late night talk show on NBC.

3. Frequent Yosemite photographer Ansel : ADAMS

As an avid amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. Adams was famous for clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed primarily for black & white film, it can even apply to digital color images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final photograph with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

6. Upright violin kin : CELLO

The word “cello” (plural “celli” or “cellos”) is an abbreviation for “violoncello”, an Italian word for “little violone”, referring to a group of stringed instruments that were popular up to the end of the 17th century. The name violoncello persisted for the instrument that we know today, although the abbreviation ‘cello was often used. Nowadays we just drop the apostrophe.

7. Ocean State sch. : URI

The University of Rhode Island (URI) was chartered as an agricultural school back in 1888. Rhody the Ram was chosen as the school’s mascot in 1923, a nod to URI’s agricultural past. As a result, the school’s sports teams are known as the Rams. URI’s main campus is located in the village of Kingston.

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union, and is the second most densely populated. (after New Jersey). Rhode Island is known as the Ocean State, largely because about 14% of the state’s area is made up of ocean bays and inlets. Exactly how Rhode Island got its name is a little unclear. What is known is that way back in 1524, long before the Pilgrims came to New England, the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano likened an island in the area to the Island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean. There were subsequent references to “Rhode Island” in English publications, before the colonists arrived.

8. The __ Dipper : BIG

The constellation 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”.

12. Garlicky mayo : AIOLI

To the purist, especially in Provence in the South of France, aioli is prepared just by grinding garlic with olive oil. However, other ingredients are often added to the mix, particularly egg yolks.

13. Alaskan native : INUIT

The Inuit peoples live in the Arctic, in parts of the US, Russia, Greenland and Canada.

18. Floral garlands : LEIS

“Lei” is the Hawaiian word for “garland, wreath”, although in more general terms a lei is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.

23. IV units : CCS

Cubic centimeter (cc)

31. Old hoops org. : ABA

American Bar Association (ABA)

37. Earl Grey, e.g. : TEA

The Earl Grey blend of tea is supposedly named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey who was Prime Minister of the UK from 1830 to 1834. Earl Grey tea has a distinctive flavor that is largely due to the addition of oil from the rind of the bergamot orange.

39. Casino mogul Steve : WYNN

Steve Wynn is a businessman who made most of his fortune building and refurbishing casinos during the resurgence of Las Vegas in the 1990s. Today, Wynn is quite the art collector and has paid record prices for paintings by both Turner and Rembrandt. Wynn stepped down as CEO of Wynn resorts in 2018 as he faces dozens of accusations of sexual misconduct.

45. Hairy Addams cousin : ITT

In the television sitcom “The Addams Family”, the family had a frequent visitor called Cousin Itt. Itt is a short man with long hair that runs from his head to the floor. Cousin Itt was played by Italian actor Felix Silla.

46. Galvanizing metal : ZINC

Steel or iron can be galvanized to prevent rusting. The galvanization process involves the application of a protective zinc coat. The most common method used is hot-dipping in a bath of molten zinc metal.

48. Eagle’s nest : AERIE

An aerie is the nest of an eagle, and is also known as an eyrie.

50. DNA structure : HELIX

Francis Crick and James Watson discovered that DNA had a double-helix, chain-like structure, and published their results in Cambridge in 1953. To this day the discovery is mired in controversy, as some crucial results collected by fellow researcher Rosalind Franklin were used without her permission or even knowledge.

54. Ancient character : RUNE

A rune is a character in an alphabet that is believed to have mysterious powers. In Norse mythology, the runic alphabet was said to have a divine origin.

58. __-Wan Kenobi : OBI

Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the more beloved of the “Star Wars” characters. Kenobi was portrayed by two fabulous actors in the series of films. As a young man he is played by Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, and as an older man he is played by Alec Guinness.

59. Mass. MLB team : BOS

The Boston Red Sox is one of the most successful Major League Baseball teams and so commands a large attendance, but only when on the road. The relatively small capacity of Boston’s Fenway Park, the team’s home since 1912, has dictated that every game the Red Sox has played there has been a sell-out since May of 2003. I recently had the pleasure of touring Fenway Park. It’s quite a place …

60. “All systems go!” : A-OK

Our term “A-OK” is supposedly an abbreviation for “A(ll systems are) OK”, and arose in the sixties during the Space Program.

61. __ Beta Kappa : PHI

Phi Beta Kappa was the first collegiate Greek fraternity in the US, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary. The organization served as a model for future collegiate fraternities and sororities, although in the 19th century Phi Beta Kappa distanced itself from the fraternal focus and transformed into the honor society that it is today, recognizing academic excellence. The initials Phi Beta Kappa stand for “philosophia biou kybernētēs”, which translates into “philosophy is the guide of life”. The symbol of the Phi Beta Kappa Society is a golden key.