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Constructed by: Joe Deeney
Edited by: Rich Norris
Today’s Reveal Answer: Butter Churn
Themed clues include the hidden word “BUTTER”, but the order of the letters has been CHURNED, changed:
- 52A. Dairy implement, and a hint to what’s hidden in 16-, 23-, 32-, and 44-Across : BUTTER CHURN
- 16A. Rolls off the alley : GUTTER-BALLS
- 23A. Swing era dance : JITTERBUG
- 32A. Smoking hazard : CIGARETTE BURN
- 44A. Anticipatory counterargument : PREBUTTAL
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 8m 57s
Bill’s errors: 0
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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Minimally : A TAD
Back in the 1800s, “tad” was used to describe a young child, and this extended into our usage of “small amount” in the early 1900s. The original use of “tad” for a child is very likely a shortened version of “tadpole”.
10. “Man With a Plan” network : CBS
“Man With a Plan” is a sitcom starring Matt LeBlanc as Pittsburgh construction worker planning on spending more time at home with the kids after his wife relaunches her career. I watched a few episodes, and put it on my list to binge watch one day …
15. No longer active: Abbr. : RET
Retired (ret.)
16. Rolls off the alley : GUTTER-BALLS
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.
19. College Board exam, briefly : AP TEST
The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers college-level courses to kids who are still in high school. After being tested at the end of the courses, successful students receive credits that count towards a college degree.
21. It’s calculated using ht. and wt. : BMI
The body mass index (BMI) is the ratio of a person’s height to his or her mass.
23. Swing era dance : JITTERBUG
The energetic dance known as the jitterbug was popularized in the 1930s by Cab Calloway. Calloway released “Call of the Jitter Bug” in 1934, and appeared in a 1935 musical short titled “Cab Calloway’s Jitterbug Party”.
If you’d like to be a jitter bug,
First thing you must do is get a jug,
Put whiskey, wine and gin within,
And shake it all up and then begin.
Grab a cup and start to toss,
You are drinking jitter sauce!
Don’t you worry, you just mug,
And then you’ll be a jitter bug!
27. Badgers : NAGS
To badger is to harass. The verb “to badger” comes from the cruel practice of badger-baiting, which dates back to medieval times. Badger-baiting is a blood sport in which a dog is used as bait for a badger in its den, to draw it out into the open. The den is an artificial structure built to resemble a natural badgers’ den, complete with a tunnel entrance. The dog is sent down the tunnel causing the badger and dog to lock their jaws on each other. The badger and dog are then removed from the den by pulling on the dog’s tale. Horrible …
29. “Be My __ Ono”: Barenaked Ladies song : YOKO
“Be My Yoko Ono” was the first single released by the Canadian band Barenaked Ladies.
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The somewhat quirky name chosen by the band tends to reflect the group’s concert style. The band is noted for kidding around on stage with lots of banter between songs. They’re also noted for composing and performing the catchy theme song for the hit sitcom “The Big Bang Theory”.
30. West Coast athletic footwear company : LA GEAR
LA Gear is an athletic shoe manufacturer based in Los Angeles.
44. Anticipatory counterargument : PREBUTTAL
A procatalepsis (sometimes “prebuttal”) is a tactic sometimes used by someone making an argument. It involves the speaker raising an objection to their own argument, and then immediately answering that objection. The idea is to deal with any “rebuttals” before the audience can raise them.
47. Goldfinger’s first name : AURIC
“Goldfinger” is the Ian Fleming’s seventh James Bond novel, and was first published in 1959. Fleming was in the habit of naming his characters after people in the real world. The novel’s colorful antagonist Auric Goldfinger was named after Hungarian-born British architect Ernő Goldfinger.
48. Three-time NBA Finals MVP Duncan : TIM
Tim Duncan is professional basketball player from La Croix in the US Virgin Islands. Duncan was a natural swimmer, with his eyes on the 1992 Olympic Games. He was forced to turn his attention to basketball when Hurricane Hugo destroyed St. Croix’s only Olympic-sized pool in 1989.
49. __ Butterworth : MRS
Mrs. Butterworth is a brand of syrups and pancake mixes.
51. Open event gold medalist in the 2016 Chess Olympiad : USA
The Chess Olympiad is a tournament held every two years in which national teams from all over the world compete. The first unofficial Olympiad was held in 1924 in response to a failed attempt to have chess included in that years Olympic Games. The first official Chess Olympiad was held in 1927.
52. Dairy implement, and a hint to what’s hidden in 16-, 23-, 32-, and 44-Across : BUTTER CHURN
Butter churns are devices that convert cream into butter. The churn agitates the cream mechanically, disrupting milk fat. Clumps of disrupted milk fat form larger and larger fat globules. Eventually, the mixture separates into solid butter and liquid buttermilk.
Down
1. Norse gods’ home : ASGARD
Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds of Norse religions. It is where the Norse gods live, and is also home to Valhalla, the enormous hall ruled over by the god Odin.
3. Window-switching keyboard shortcut : ALT-TAB
By pressing the Alt and Tab key at the same time on a PC, a user can alternate between windows open on the desktop. This keyboard shortcut is known as Task Switcher or Flip.
5. Yellow __ : LAB
The Labrador (Lab) breed of dog has been around at least since 1814. The breed comes in three registered colors: black, yellow and chocolate.
6. “Fifty Shades of Grey” heroine : ANA
“Fifty Shades of Grey” is an incredibly popular erotic novel by British writer E. L. James. “Fifty Shades of Grey” is the fastest-selling paperback of all time. There are two other titles to complete the trilogy: “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed”.
8. French toast : SALUT!
In French, “salut” means “hi”, and is less formal than “bonjour”. The term can also be used as a friendly toast.
9. Nail polish brand : ESSIE
Essie Cosmetics is a company that was founded by Essie Weingarten, and which is now owned by L’Oreal. Apparently, Queen Elizabeth II will only wear Essie’s Ballet Slippers color nail polish. Well, that’s what Wikipedia claims …
10. More like Oscar the Grouch : CRABBIER
Oscar the Grouch is the Muppet that lives in a garbage can. Oscar’s persona comes from various sources. He is named after Oscar Brand who was one of the board members of the Children’s Television Workshop, the backers for “Sesame Street” as the Muppets were being developed in the sixties. Oscar’s personality was inspired by an angry waiter that once served Jim Henson (father of the Muppets). The voice was modeled on a grumpy New York cab driver encountered one day by Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who brings Oscar to life.
11. Hamilton local : BERMUDAN
Hamilton is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda located in the North Atlantic Ocean. The city was founded in 1790 and was named for Henry Hamilton, who was Governor of Bermuda at that time. As recently as 2016, Hamilton has topped the list of the most expensive cities in the world in which to live.
12. “In the Heat of the Night” Oscar winner Rod : STEIGER
Rod Steiger played some powerful roles on the screen, perhaps most memorably the Chief of Police in the 1967 drama “In the Heat of the Night”, for which he won a Best Actor Oscar. Steiger was married five times, including a 10-year marriage to fellow actor Claire Bloom. Together Bloom and Steiger had a daughter, the British opera singer Anna Steiger.
“In the Heat of the Night” is a 1967 film based on a 1965 novel of the same name by John Ball. Both tell the story of an African American detective from Philadelphia was gets involved in a murder investigation in a small town in Mississippi. The Oscar-winning film stars Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The most famous line in the movie is “They call me MISTER Tibbs!” This line was used as the title of a 1970 sequel, with Sidney Poitier reprising his role of police detective Virgil Tibbs.
14. B.A. Baracus player : MR T
“The A-Team” is an action television series that originally ran in the eighties. The A-Team was a group of ex-US special forces personnel who became mercenaries. Star of the show was Hollywood actor George Peppard (as “Hannibal” Smith), ably assisted by Mr. T (as “B.A.” Baracus) and Robert Vaughn (as Hunt Stockwell).
23. Copacetic : JAKE
Both “jake” and “dandy” are slang words meaning “fine”, as in “things are just dandy”.
Something described as “copacetic” is very fine, very acceptable.
25. Old World Style sauce : RAGU
The Ragú brand of pasta sauce is owned by Unilever. The name ” Ragù” is the Italian word for a sauce used to dress pasta, however the spelling is off a little. In Italian the word is “Ragù” with a grave accent over the “u”, but if you look at a jar of the sauce on the supermarket shelf it is spelled “Ragú” on the label, with an acute accent. Sometimes I think we just don’t try …
27. Swed. neighbor : NORW
Norway has been ranked as the country in the world with the highest standard of living almost every year since 2001. Norway is rich in natural resources and has a relatively low population. The people benefit from a comprehensive social security system, subsidized higher education for all citizens and universal health care. And Norway is famous for her success at the Winter Olympic Games, having won more gold medals than any other nation in the world.
29. Retired NBAer Ming : YAO
Yao Ming is a retired professional basketball player from Shanghai who played for the Houston Rockets. At 7’6″, Yao was the tallest man playing in the NBA.
30. Tax : LEVY
A levy is a tax. The term “levy” comes from Old French in which “levée” means “raising”. So a levy is a tax that has been “raised” (in the sense of “collected”, not “increased”).
31. Japanese prime minister since 2012 : ABE
Shinzo Abe first became Prime Minister of Japan in 2006, at which time he was the youngest person to hold the post since WWII and was the first PM born after the war. Abe was in office for less than a year, but was voted in again in 2012. Abe is usually characterized as a right-wing nationalist.
32. Big name in juice pouches : CAPRI SUN
Capri Sun is juice concentrate that was introduced in 1969. The brand is famous for the laminated foil pouches in which the juice is sold.
35. Home Depot purchase : TOOL
The Home Depot is the largest home improvement retail chain in the US, ahead of Lowe’s. Home Depot opened their first two stores in 1979. The average store size if just over 100,000 square feet. The largest Home Depot outlet is in Union, New Jersey, and it is 225,000 square feet in size. That’s a lot of nuts and bolts …
39. Ready to sire : AT STUD
The word “stud”, meaning “a male horse kept for breeding”, is derived from the Old English word “stod”, which described a whole herd of horses. The term “stud” can be used figuratively for a “ladies’ man”.
45. Sunspot center : UMBRA
Sunspots have two parts, the umbra and penumbra. The central umbra is the darkest part of the sunspot, and the penumbra is a lighter surrounding fringe.
Sunspots are dark patches observed on the surface of the sun. They are temporary, and are associated with intense magnetic activity. The darkness is indicative of a localized reduction in temperature. Sunspots tend to occur in pairs, with each spot having opposite magnetic poles. Also, solar flares tend to originate from sunspots.
47. Theater chain initials : AMC
The AMC theater chain used to go by the name American Multi-Cinema Inc., hence the initialism “AMC”.
50. Form W-9 org. : IRS
IRS form W-9 is a Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. The W-9 is filled out by employees and used by employers for payroll purposes. The form is not submitted to the IRS.
53. Explosive stuff : TNT
“TNT” is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.
54. Fair-hiring letters : EEO
“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1. Minimally : A TAD
5. Oversight : LAPSE
10. “Man With a Plan” network : CBS
13. One and only : SOLE
14. Fads : MANIAS
15. No longer active: Abbr. : RET
16. Rolls off the alley : GUTTER-BALLS
18. “__ we there yet?” : ARE
19. College Board exam, briefly : AP TEST
20. French assent : OUI
21. It’s calculated using ht. and wt. : BMI
22. Make a face, say : REACT
23. Swing era dance : JITTERBUG
26. Loan application section : DEBT
27. Badgers : NAGS
28. Staff helper : AIDE
29. “Be My __ Ono”: Barenaked Ladies song : YOKO
30. West Coast athletic footwear company : LA GEAR
32. Smoking hazard : CIGARETTE BURN
36. Got close to empty : RAN LOW
37. Area to lay anchor : COVE
38. High style : UPDO
39. Cry related to “hey” : AHOY!
40. Opt out : PASS
44. Anticipatory counterargument : PREBUTTAL
47. Goldfinger’s first name : AURIC
48. Three-time NBA Finals MVP Duncan : TIM
49. __ Butterworth : MRS
50. Post-workout lament : I’M SORE
51. Open event gold medalist in the 2016 Chess Olympiad : USA
52. Dairy implement, and a hint to what’s hidden in 16-, 23-, 32-, and 44-Across : BUTTER CHURN
55. Do a 5K, e.g. : RUN
56. Meets up with the old gang : REUNES
57. “Makes sense” : I SEE
58. Conclusion : END
59. Increase : ADD TO
60. Typically round-neck shirts : TEES
Down
1. Norse gods’ home : ASGARD
2. Head cover : TOUPEE
3. Window-switching keyboard shortcut : ALT-TAB
4. Catch a scent of : DETECT
5. Yellow __ : LAB
6. “Fifty Shades of Grey” heroine : ANA
7. Trial episodes : PILOTS
8. French toast : SALUT!
9. Nail polish brand : ESSIE
10. More like Oscar the Grouch : CRABBIER
11. Hamilton local : BERMUDAN
12. “In the Heat of the Night” Oscar winner Rod : STEIGER
14. B.A. Baracus player : MR T
17. Superlative suffix : -EST
23. Copacetic : JAKE
24. “Makes sense” : I GOTCHA
25. Old World Style sauce : RAGU
27. Swed. neighbor : NORW
29. Retired NBAer Ming : YAO
30. Tax : LEVY
31. Japanese prime minister since 2012 : ABE
32. Big name in juice pouches : CAPRI SUN
33. Hot : IN DEMAND
34. Amorphous mass : GLOB
35. Home Depot purchase : TOOL
36. Burst : RUPTURE
39. Ready to sire : AT STUD
40. Test limits : PUSH IT
41. Excite : AROUSE
42. Yes or no follower : … SIRREE
43. Drama segments : SCENES
45. Sunspot center : UMBRA
46. Leveled, with “up” : TRUED
47. Theater chain initials : AMC
50. Form W-9 org. : IRS
53. Explosive stuff : TNT
54. Fair-hiring letters : EEO
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15 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 13 Sep 18, Thursday”
Comments are closed.
20:36, no errors. A struggle for some reason
33 min. and no errors.
Good puzzle.
After 3 days I finally found this blog again.
LAT: 15:09, no errors; having “AFRO” before “UPDO” for 38A held me up for a bit. Newsday: 8:00, no errors. WSJ: 21:08, no errors; took me a while to see the gimmick in that one. BEQ: 18:27, no errors; not sure I fully understand one of the theme answers, but got it using crosses.
@Jack … In response to your question, I left a comment for you over on “nytcrossword.com” and will repeat an amended version of it here: Try typing “latcrossword.com” in the space up at the top that tells you what page you’re on and hitting return/enter. That should take you to Bill’s blog for the puzzle published in the LA Times on the current date. (Over here, you don’t have to deal with the syndication issue, as you do on the NYT blog.)
There may be even better ways for you to do this. I’m not sure what device you’re using. On my iPad, I use the “Safari” browser, keep a tab open all the time to Bill’s blog for a given day’s puzzle, and then use the links at the bottom of the page to go backwards or forwards a day at a time. (I also use bookmarks a lot, but that’s a whole ‘nother thing 😜.)
Hope this helps …
Tough puzzle! I don’t know how Bill could do this one in eight minutes!
LAT: 15:13, no errors. WSJ: DNF after 34:58, 75% filled, 8 errors. BEQ: 29:11, DNF, about 50% filled, 7 errors. Couldn’t get the non-descript theme using crosses. Another day that proves that I can’t do crossword puzzles.
@Dave,@Jack
actually it’s laxcrossword.com … It’s also linked to the side on Bill’s other blog…
Oops, sorry … and thanks, Glenn … 😜
I found this tough also. I couldn’t get the NW started at all, but finally got through the rest. I’ve never heard of “jake” used that way, but had “butter churn” long before the other long clues.
Goofiest clue/answer combo o’ the day: “Do a 5K, e.g.” = RUN. (Throwing a couple of abbreviations in a clue for a three-letter unabbreviated verb … WTH?)
No real problems with the LAT’s, although a little tougher than expected. As Dave Kennison notes above the WSJ gimmick had my head doing loop de loops until, very late in the game, I looked at the puzzle title again and then suddenly saw the gimmick. That epiphany made the grid come together in short order (finally!)
19:06. agreed – challenging for a Thursday. I missed the theme entirely.
When the US won the chess Olympiad in 2016, it was the first time in 40 years. Not surprisingly, that 1976 win came after the Soviet Union had held the title for 24 years. But tainting the 1976 win was the fact that the Soviets (among others) boycotted the competition because it was held in Israel. Indeed a surprise is that the US has never hosted the Chess Olympiad. There may be a reason for that, but I don’t know it. This year’s is in Georgia (the country not the state) and starts in 10 days.
I’ve been to the Soviet/Russian chess federation (I forget its official name) in Moscow. It’s the least impressive institution I’ve ever seen, but it sure produces results.
Best –
16:39, and escaped unscathed. This one wasn’t easy.
I liked the theme, as it actually helped solve a few fills I was having trouble with. 10D was the source of a few write-overs, as I thought TRASHIER and GRUBBIER were better fills than CRABBIER, although, of course, that fouled the crossing fills.
23D, JAKE, is one of those fills I see from time to time that just never feels right. Also, 36A could have been WASLOW, instead of RANLOW, at first glance.
Eventually I worked it all out. Good Thursday challenge.
Our usual hour and a half, 7 omissions and 3 errors. Used my
dictionary’s BLOB instead of GLOB and that messed up
CIGARETTE. I also used PROBUTTAL and BERMUDAN for the
other two misses. Just did not know the omissions. I thought
some of the clues were not specific enough and I never have
considered the themes of these puzzles. Maybe it would help.
Very tough and took a good bit of searching and changing.
But, I will take our result on any day, esp. Thursday and Friday.
Kudos to Bill and Larry (interesting comment).
I had a tough time with this puzzle – and finally finished it.
Unfortunately, I am tied up with a sept 15 tax deadline …. day after tomorrow.
Badger baiting seems to be, very cruel indeed, and it appears to be very popular, even today, among the sadistic set, in parts of England and Wales and Ireland.
Btw, a ‘set’ or ‘sett’ is a technical term for a badger’s’ den(s).
Sad.
Have a nice day, all.
Moderately tough Thursday; took 31:37 with one error. It was the Natick at the juncture of CAPRISUN/USA that did me in. I had to turn on red letters and go through the alphabet on the “S” until I finally got the bell.
Open, to me, implies a competition that involves individuals, not nations, so having no idea about the juice, I assumed we were dealing with an individual with a three letter name. Also had to change BERMUDAn and afro to UPDO. Way too many obscure teevee shows/channels/actors.
Wassup guys and gals?! 🙃
Agreed, this was hard for a Thursday!! Had to cheat in the NW to get thru. I also appropriated CAPRI SUN from Bill’s grid…😮
As for the Chess Olympiad — I don’t know anything about chess, but I once had a student from Azerbaijan who told me that chess is REALLY big there: something like 6 of the top 10 worldwide players are Azerbaijani (or Azeri.) Im assuming the country is in the upcoming Olympiad.
….and speaking of GUTTER BALLS– I once bowled a 15. No I am not kidding. I can only say in my defense that I was an inept teenager with a lot on my mind…😐
Be well ~~✌