LA Times Crossword Answers 2 Jun 2018, Saturday

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Constructed by: Erik Agard
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Theme : None

Bill’s time: 20m 31s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Pitch sign : CLEF

“Clef” is the French word for “key”. In music, a clef is used to indicate the pitch of the notes written on the stave. The bass clef is also known as the F-clef, the alto clef is the C-clef, and the treble clef is the G-clef.

5. Saturn, for one : GAS GIANT

The eight planets of our solar system can be sorted into two categories. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are “terrestrials” as they are largely composed of rock. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are “gas giants”, as they are largely composed of gaseous material. Uranus and Neptune can be called “ice giants”, a subcategory of gas giants. Ice giants have a lower mass than other gas giants, with very little hydrogen and helium in their atmospheres and a higher proportion of rock and ice.

Saturn is easily visible from Earth with the unaided eye, but we need some help to see the planet’s famous rings. Galileo was the first person to see Saturn’s rings, when he turned his primitive telescope towards the night sky in 1610. However, he misinterpreted what he was observing and assumed that the rings were in fact two smaller planets located at either side of the larger Saturn.

13. Super-fancy : LUXE

“Luxe” is another word for “luxury”. The term came into English via French from the Latin “luxus” meaning “luxury”.

15. Most eligible for service : ONE-A

The US government maintains information on all males who are potentially subject to military conscription, using what is called the Selective Service System (SSS). In the event that a draft was held, men registered would be classified into groups to determine eligibility for service. Class 1-A registrants are those available for unrestricted military service. Other classes are 1-A-O (conscientious objector available for noncombatant service), 4-A (registrant who has completed military service) and 4-D (Minister of religion).

16. Pluralis majestatis : THE ROYAL WE

The “royal we” is more correctly called the majestic plural (or “pluralis majestatis”), and is the use of a plural pronoun to describe a single person in a high office. I suppose the most often quoted phrase that uses the majestic plural is, “We are not amused”, often attributed to Queen Victoria. The editorial “we” is a similar concept, in which a newspaper editor or columnist refers to himself or herself when giving an opinion.

17. Bee’s home : SACRAMENTO

“The Sacramento Bee” was founded in 1857 under the name “The Daily Bee”. The front page features the Scoopy Bee mascot, a famous logo that created for the paper by Walt Disney in 1943.

19. Te __: iconic Chickasaw actress : ATA

Te Ata Fisher (usually known simply as “Te Ata”) was an actress from the Chickasaw Nation who was known for her one-woman shows featuring Native American songs and stories. Famously, Te Ata was a friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and represented Native Americans at many state dinners in the 1930s.

20. Layer of very large eggs : EMU

Emu eggs are very large, with a thick shell that is dark-green in color. One emu egg weighs about the same as a dozen chicken eggs.

21. Grilled, in Mexican fare : ASADA

The name of the dish called “carne asada” translates from Spanish as “roasted meat”.

22. Jefferson, for one : DEIST

Deism (from the Latin “deus” meaning god) is the belief that a supreme being created the universe, a belief based on observation and reason and without the need for faith. Further, a deist does not accept divine intervention and rather believes that the supreme being, having created the universe, leaves the world to it own devices.

President Thomas Jefferson’s views on religion evolved over time, but he was inclined towards deism for much of his adult life while following moral principles espoused in Christianity. He attended the Episcopal Church and raised his daughters in that tradition. Famously, Jefferson espoused the concept of “Separation of Church and State”.

28. Pixy __: candy : STIX

Pixy Stix is powdered candy that’s packaged in what looks like a straw. The “candy” was sold back in the thirties as a drink mix, but when kids were found to be eating the sweet & sour-tasting mix directly from packets, the producers began to packaging it as candy.

29. Modern navigation aid : URL

Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

30. Some Spitzes, for short : POMS

The Pomeranian is a small breed of dog named for the Pomerania region of Europe (part of eastern Germany and northern Poland). The breed was much loved by the royalty of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria owned a particularly small Pomeranian. Due to the notoriety of the monarch’s pet, the Pomeranian was bred for small size, so that during the Queen’s admittedly long reign, the size of the average “pom” was reduced by 50% …

Spitz-type dogs are those with long thick fur that is usually white. Most spitz-type dogs seem to have originated in the Arctic and/or East Asia. Examples of breed described as spitz-type are the Alaskan Malamute and the Canadian Eskimo Dog.

37. “Code Switch” airer : NPR

“Code Switch” is blog and associated podcast that was launched by NPR in 2013. The show explores the themes of race, ethnicity and culture. The linguistic term “code-switching” refers the practice of a speaker switching between languages while in the same conversation.

40. Fired at the table? : FLAMBE

Flambé is the French word for “flamed”, and was originally a term used to describe certain types of porcelain. The word “flambé” crept into cookery just after 1900.

42. Member of a Hindu trinity : SHIVA

The Hindu Trinity comprises Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva (also Siva) the destroyer or transformer.

43. Ones with wide spines : TOMES

“Tome” first came into English from the Latin “tomus” which means “section of a book”. The original usage in English was for a single volume in a multi-volume work. By the late 16th century, “tome” had come to mean “large book”.

46. Young partner : ERNST

Ernst & Young is one of the Big Four accountancy firms, alongside Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ernst & Young is headquartered in London. The company was founded in 1989 with the merger of Ernst & Whinney with Young & Co.

48. Image quality word : RES

Resolution (res.)

49. Long Reach Dusting System brand : OXO

The OXO line of kitchen utensils and housewares is designed to be ergonomically superior to the average household tools. The intended user of OXO products is someone who doesn’t have the normal range of motion or strength in the hands e.g. someone suffering from arthritis.

55. Chaps competitor : IZOD

Chaps is a brand of casual clothes owned by Ralph Lauren.

Jack Izod was a tailor of some repute over in England, producing shirts for King George V as well as other members of the Royal Family. As Izod was about to retire, he was approached for the use of his name by an American clothing manufacturer based in New York. The brand Izod of London was introduced to America in 1938.

56. Powerful slitherer : PINE SNAKE

The pine snake is a large, nonvenomous snake that is endemic to the southeast of the US. Outside of the US, there’s a population that has established itself on the western coast of the Netherland, apparently due to pet snakes that escaped or were released.

57. Red Lobster has one for kids : MENU

The first restaurant in the Red Lobster chain was opened in 1968 in Lakeland, Florida. Red Lobster offered its second “endless snow crab” promotion in 2003, which turned out to be a bit of a financial disaster. The wholesale price of crab legs was at a high, and the management team underestimated the appetite the customers had for crab. As a result, Red Lobster’s parent company had to book a $3 million dollar charge to earnings, and the president of the restaurant chain had to submit her resignation.

58. Wolverines rivals : SPARTANS

Michigan State University’s sports teams used be called the Aggies, as the school was founded as the State Agricultural College of Michigan. The team name was changed to the Spartans in 1925, reflecting the school’s shift in focus beyond agriculture-centered education. The school mascot Sparty hit the scene in 1989.

The Wolverines are the sports teams of the University of Michigan.

Down

1. Secrecy metaphors : CLOSETS

The idiom “skeleton in the closet” means “secret to hide”. On the other side of the Atlantic, the concept is more likely to be expressed as “skeleton in the cupboard”.

In Old French a “clos” was an enclosure, with the diminutive form “closet” describing a small enclosure or private room. Over time this evolved into our modern usage of “closet”, describing a cabinet or cupboard.

2. Green flitter : LUNA MOTH

The lime-green Luna Moth is one of the largest moths found in North America, growing to a wingspan of up to 4½ inches.

4. “The mind-killer,” in Frank Herbert’s “Dune” : FEAR

The less than successful 1984 movie “Dune” (directed by David Lynch) was an adaptation of the spectacularly successful 1965 novel of the same name written by Frank Herbert.

5. 1950 Pulitzer winner for the poetry collection “Annie Allen” : GWENDOLYN BROOKS

Gwendolyn Brooks was a poet from Chicago who was the first African American to win a Pulitzer. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950 for her book of poetry titled “Annie Allen”.

6. Heart lines : AORTAS

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

8. LGBTQ part : GAY

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ)

9. “Barefoot Contessa” host Garten : INA

Ina Garten is an author as well as the host of the cooking show on the Food Network called “Barefoot Contessa”. Garten has no formal training as a chef, and indeed used to work as a nuclear policy analyst at the White House!

10. Dwight’s opponent : ADLAI

Adlai Stevenson (AES) ran for president unsuccessfully against Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) in 1952 and again in 1956. Some years after his second defeat, Stevenson served under President Kennedy (JFK) as Ambassador to the United Nations. Stevenson was always noted for his eloquence and he had a famous exchange in a UN Security Council meeting during the Cuban missile crisis. Stevenson bluntly demanded that the Soviet representative on the council tell the world if the USSR was installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. His words were “Don’t wait for the translation, answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’!” followed by “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over!”

11. Older efts : NEWTS

Newts wouldn’t be my favorite animals. They are found all over the world living on land or in water depending on the species, but always associated with water even if it is only for breeding. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental stages during their lives. They start off as larvae in water, fertilized eggs that often cling to aquatic plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, the first developmental form of the newt. After living some months as tadpoles swimming around in the water, they undergo another metamorphosis, sprouting legs and replacing their external gills with lungs. At this juvenile stage they are known as efts, and leave the water to live on land. A more gradual transition takes place then, as the eft takes on the lizard-like appearance of the adult newt.

16. Symbols after many brand names : TMS

Trademark (TM)

22. Christian on a runway : DIOR

Christian Dior was a French fashion designer. As WWII approached, Dior was called up by the French military, drawing a temporary halt to his career in fashion. He left the army in 1942 and for the duration of the war designed clothes for wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. After the war his designs became so popular that he helped re-establish Paris as the fashion center of the world.

25. Liz, to Richard, twice : EX-WIFE

The actor Richard Burton was born in South Wales, as Richard Jenkins. The actor took “Burton” as a stage name in honor of his schoolmaster and mentor Philip Burton. Famously, Burton was married to actress Liz Taylor (twice).

29. Minor in astronomy? : URSA

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.

33. Shakespeare title starter : ALL’S …

“All’s Well That Ends Well” is a play by William Shakespeare, one with elements of both tragedy and comedy. As such, “All’s Well That Ends Well” is classified as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays”, plays that cannot be neatly classified as either tragedy or comedy.

41. Certain Saudi : MECCAN

Mecca is in the Makkah province of Saudi Arabia. It was the birthplace of Muhammad and is the holiest city in Islam. Every year several million Muslims perform the Hajj, a holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

42. Stand-up comic Gilliam : STU

Stu Gilliam was an actor and comedian from Detroit who is perhaps best remembered as a stand-up work on television in the sixties and seventies.

43. Company that developed Bazooka Joe : TOPPS

The Bazooka brand of bubble gum was introduced by the Topps Company soon after the end of WWII. Bazooka have included comic strips in the wrappers for their gum since the early to mid-fifties. The hero of the strip is Bazooka Joe, a young man who wears an eyepatch.

44. Yellow perennial : OXLIP

The plant known as the oxlip is more properly called Primula elatior. The oxlip is often confused with its similar-looking cousin, the cowslip.

45. Chief Tui’s daughter, in a Disney film : MOANA

“Moana” is a 2016 animated feature film and the 56th animated Disney movie. The title character is the daughter of a Polynesian chief who heads off in search of the demigod Maui, hoping that he can save her people.

47. One day, in “The Martian” : SOL

A solar day on Mars is referred to as a “sol” by astronomers. One sol is equivalent to just under 24 hours 40 minutes here on Earth.

“The Martian” is an intriguing 2015 science fiction film starring Matt Damon as an astronaut who is accidentally stranded on Mars. The movie is based on a 2011 novel of the same name by Andrew Weir. One thing that I liked about the film is that the science cited is fairly realistic. In fact, NASA collaborated with the filmmakers extensively from script development to principal casting.

50. Peak in Catania : ETNA

Mount Etna on the island of Sicily is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy, and indeed the largest of all active volcano in Europe. Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-gauge railway, and two ski resorts.

Catania is the second largest city on the island of Sicily (after Palermo). Catania has a long and rich cultural history, and today is best known as a center for technology industries earning it the nickname of the “European Silicon Valley”.

51. Winter coat : RIME

Rime is that beautiful coating of ice that forms on surfaces like roofs, trees and grass, when cold water freezes instantly under the right conditions.

54. “Was __ das?” : IST

“Was ist das?” is German for “What is that?”