LA Times Crossword Answers 16 Sep 2018, Sunday

Advertisement

Advertisement

Constructed by: Mark McClain
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Marked Down

Themed answers are common phrases with a “C” MARKED DOWN to a “D”, i.e. a letter C CHANGED to a letter D:

  • 108A. Classic audiophile’s equipment, and a hint to eight long puzzle answers : CD CHANGER
  • 22A. Silo in a rural valley? : DELL TOWER (from “cell tower”)
  • 27A. A+ for a struggling student? : AMAZING GRADE (from “Amazing Grace”)
  • 41A. Neat places to get beers? : DANDY BARS (from “candy bars”)
  • 46A. Nightmare? : SOUR DREAM (from “sour cream”)
  • 62A. Terse Supreme Court decision for lions? : THE PRIDE IS RIGHT (from “the price is right”)
  • 80A. Challenge from an ex-president? : OBAMA DARE (from “Obamacare”)
  • 83A. Southern tavern accents? : PUB DRAWLS (from “pub crawls”)
  • 100A. Wall Street bear? : SHARE DROPPER (from “sharecropper”)

Bill’s time: 17m 56s

Bill’s errors: 0

Advertisement

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Archaeologist’s find : TOMB

“Archaeology” is a word that looks like it’s British English, and one might be forgiven for using the spelling “archeology” in American English. Even though the latter spelling has been around for a couple of hundred years, the former is the standard spelling on both sides of the Atlantic.

5. “Fire” crawlers : ANTS

Fire ants are stinging ants, and many species are known as “red ants”. Most stinging ants bite their prey and then spray acid on the wound. The fire ant, however, bites to hold on and then injects an alkaloid venom from its abdomen, creating a burning sensation in humans who have been nipped.

13. Trickster : SCAMP

Back in the 16th or 17th centuries, the word “scamp” was used to describe a highway robber. The usage evolved to mean “rascal” in the early 1800s.

18. Where the iris is : UVEA

The uvea is the middle of the three layers that make up the eyeball. The outer layer is called the fibrous tunic, and the inner layer is the retina.

The iris is the colored part of the eye. It has an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.

19. Country dance : REEL

The reel is a Scottish country dance that is also extremely popular in Ireland.

20. German camera : LEICA

Leica is a German optics company that is famous for production of lenses and cameras. The 1913 Leica was the first practical camera that could use 35mm film, a size chosen because it was already the standard for film used in motion pictures.

21. Trilateral trade deal : NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is between Canada, Mexico and the United States. When NAFTA came into force in 1994, it set up the largest free trade zone in the world.

24. Allegro __: very fast, in scores : ASSAI

The Italian term “assai” translates as “very”, and is used in music with the same meaning.

27. A+ for a struggling student? : AMAZING GRADE (from “Amazing Grace”)

“Amazing Grace” is a very, very famous hymn, with words written by John Newton in 1779. The words have been set to a number of different melodies, and what we are used to hearing today is music from a tune called “New Britain”.

31. Like a sudoku solution : LOGICAL

Number puzzles similar to our modern-day Sudoku first appeared in French newspapers in the late 1800s. The format that we use today was created by Howard Garns, a 74-year-old freelance puzzle constructor from Connersville, Indiana and first published in 1979. The format was introduced in Japan in 1984 and given the title of “Sūji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, which translates to “the digits are limited to one occurrence”. The rather elaborate Japanese title was eventually shortened to Sudoku. No doubt many of you are fans of Sudoku puzzles. I know I am …

35. “A Writer’s Life” writer : TALESE

“A Writer’s Life” is a 2006 autobiography by journalist and author Gay Talese. Much of the book is focused on articles that Talese researched but failed to get published. One example is a piece that he researched for six months about John and Lorena Bobbitt, only to have it rejected by “The New Yorker”.

37. What a red handset icon may end : CALL

That might be a call on a smartphone.

40. Humongous : VAST

Something humongous is a very, very large. “Humongous” comes from the words “huge” and “monstrous”.

49. Pound or stone : UNIT

The unit of mass that we know today as a pound is descended from the old Roman unit of weight known as a libra. That libra connection is why we abbreviate “pound” to “lb”. The name “pound” though comes from the Latin “pondo” meaning “weight”. Our term “ounce” (abbreviated to “oz.”) comes from the Latin “uncia”, which was 1/12 of a Roman “libra”.

We’ve used pounds and stones in Ireland, for all my life there. However, they no longer have any “official” status in the country, as we’ve made the conversion to the metric system. Having said that, many folks still tend to measure body weight in stones and pounds. One stone is equal to fourteen pounds.

50. Bier chiller : EIS

In German, “Eis” (ice) is frozen “Wasser” (water).

54. Ancient temple complex : KARNAK

The Karnak Temple Complex is located near Luxor on the banks of the River Nile in Egypt. The most famous structure at Karnak is the Great Temple of Amun.

59. Alma mater of Clinton and Ford, briefly : YALE LAW

President Gerald Ford was well known for his athletic prowess. He was the star football player both in his high school and later at the University of Michigan. After graduation, President Ford received two offers to play in the NFL, from the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. He turned down both teams opting instead to take a coaching position at Yale giving him the opportunity to apply to Yale Law School. But young Mr. Ford’s plan backfired as Yale Law School turned him down because of his full-time commitment to sports, coaching football, boxing and teaching JV cheerleading. It took three years for President Ford to make it into Yale Law School, but he finally got there, in 1938.

President Bill Clinton was born not as a Clinton, but as William Jefferson Blythe. Bill’s father was killed in a car accident just three months before he was born. His mother remarried a few years later, to Roger Clinton. Bill didn’t formally adopt the Clinton name until he was fourteen years old, although he used it as he was growing up.

65. House Speaker before Pelosi : HASTERT

Dennis Hastert served as Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007, making him the longest-serving Republican in history to hold the office. Hastert resigned his seat in 2007 to become a lobbyist. It emerged some years later that Hastert had molested young boys during his teaching career in the 1970s. As a result, he served 13 months in prison. That makes Hastert the highest-ranking US politician to have spent time behind bars.

Nancy Pelosi is a former Speaker of the House, the 60th person to hold that position. Ms. Pelosi represents a district not far from here, which covers most of San Francisco. She was the first Californian, the first Italian-American and the first woman to be Speaker of the House. As Speaker, she was also second in line, after the Vice President, to take over if President Obama could not finish his term. That made Nancy Pelosi the highest-ranking female politician in US history.

68. Actress O’Hara : MAUREEN

The beautiful and talented Maureen O’Hara was an Irish actress, someone famous for films made with fellow actor John Wayne and director John Ford. Soon after color films hit the theaters, O’Hara earned the nickname “Queen of Technicolor”. This was because the combination of her vivid red hair and bright green eyes showed off the new technology to full advantage. O’Hara was born in a suburb of Dublin called Ranelagh, where many of my own ancestors were born …

73. Many have pins at one end : ALLEYS

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.

74. Kunta in “Roots” : KINTE

Not only did Alex Haley author the magnificent novel “Roots”, but he was also the collaborator with Malcolm X on “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”. His 1976 novel “Roots” is based on Haley’s own family history, and he claimed to be a direct descendant of the real life Kunta Kinte, the slave who was kidnapped in the Gambia in 1767. If you remember the original television adaptation of “Roots”, you might recall that Kunta Kinte was played by LeVar Burton, who later went on to play another famous role, Geordi La Forge on “Star Trek: the Next Generation”.

77. Animation letters : CGI

Computer-generated imagery (CGI)

80. Challenge from an ex-president? : OBAMA DARE (from “Obamacare”)

The correct name for what has been dubbed “Obamacare” is the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ACA).

86. Texas’ __ Duro Canyon : PALO

Palo Duro Canyon in Texas is the second largest canyon in the whole of the US (after the Grand Canyon). The Palo Duro Canyon is 60 miles long, and 20 miles wide in places.

88. Grimm girl : GRETEL

“Hansel and Gretel” is a Germanic fairy tale found in the collection of the Brothers Grimm. It tells of two siblings, Hansel and Gretel, the children of a woodcutter. The youngsters are abandoned in a forest at the behest of an evil stepmother. Clever Hansel hears of the plan and leaves a trail of pebbles so that he and his sister can find their way home, which they do. But the children are abandoned again and this time leave a trail of breadcrumbs. Unfortunately, the crumbs are eaten by birds and so the children do indeed become lost. But eventually they do all live happily ever after …

90. Afghans’ neighbors : TAJIKS

The Republic of Tajikistan is a former Soviet Socialist Republic that lies north of Afghanistan and west of China. Most of the country’s people speak Persian and belong to the Tajik ethnic group. Tajikistan is landlocked, with 90% of the country covered by mountains.

93. Bellamy’s sister on “The 100” : OCTAVIA

“The 100” is a science-fiction TV show that started airing in 2014. The “100” in the title are 100 juvenile prisoners who are sent from a massive orbiting space station to determine if the Earth is habitable after devastating nuclear apocalypse.

97. Underworld figure : SATAN

According to some Christian traditions, Lucifer was an angel who rebelled against God and so was condemned to the Lake of Fire. Lucifer is also known as Satan or the Devil.

100. Wall Street bear? : SHARE DROPPER (from “sharecropper”)

The terms “bull market” and “bear market” come from the way in which each animal attacks. A bull thrusts his horns upwards (an “up” market), whereas a bear swipes with his paws downward (a “down” market).

102. How Albee’s “The Zoo Story” is written : IN ONE ACT

Edward Albee’s most famous play is “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Albee’s first play, a one-acter, was “The Zoo Story”.

106. Grammatical separator : COMMA

Our word “comma” comes into English via Latin from the Greek “komma” meaning “clause in a sentence”.

107. Senator Hatch : ORRIN

Orrin Hatch is a Republican Senator from Utah. Hatch is also quite the musician, and plays the piano, violin and organ. He has composed various compositions, including a song called “Heal Our Land” that was played at the 2005 inauguration of President George W. Bush.

109. Adrien of cosmetics : ARPEL

The Adrien Arpel cosmetic company was founded in 1962 and initially sold its products across Europe. The company started selling in the US in 1968.

111. Greeting from Kermit : HI HO!

Kermit has to be the most readily recognized puppet character created by the late great Jim Henson. Henson came up with Kermit way back in 1955 when he appeared on a puppet show called “Sam and Friends” that aired in Washington, D.C. Kermit is loved so much that he even has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

112. Marginal mark : DELE

“Dele” is the editorial instruction to delete something from a document, and is often written in red.

114. Fictional navigator Phileas : FOGG

“Around the World in 80 Days” is just a wonderful adventure story written by French author Jules Verne and first published in 1873. There have been some great screen adaptations of the story, including the 1956 movie starring David Niven as the protagonist Phileas Fogg. In almost all adaptations, a balloon is used for part of the journey, and is perhaps the most memorable means of transportation on Fogg’s trip around the world. However, if you read the book, Fogg never uses a balloon at all.

Down

3. Sporty Spice, familiarly : MEL C

The five members of the English pop group the Spice Girls are:

  • Scary Spice (Melanie Brown, or Mel B)
  • Baby Spice (Emma Bunton, and my fave!)
  • Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell)
  • Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham)
  • Sporty Spice (Melanie Chisholm, or Mel C)

Melanie C is a member of the English girl band the Spice Girls, with whom she has the nickname “Sporty Spice”. “Mel C” got the gig with the Spice Girls by replying to an ad in “The Stage” magazine, and auditioning alongside about 40 women who responded to the same ad. Sporty Spice really is quite sporty, and has completed the London Triathlon, twice.

4. Cause of a walk : BALL FOUR

That would be baseball.

8. Camera initials : SLR

Single-lens reflex camera (SLR)

10. “Hungarian Rhapsodies” composer : LISZT

“Hungarian Rhapsodies” is a suite of piano pieces by Franz Liszt that are based Hungarian folk music. Liszt himself was a virtuoso pianist, and many these 19 pieces are noted for being difficult to play on the piano.

11. Palm tree berry : ACAI

Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

12. Most of Italy, to 14-Down residents : MAINLAND

14. See 12-Down : CAPRI

The island of Capri off the coast of Southern Italy has been a tourist resort since the days of ancient Rome. Capri is home to the famous Blue Grotto, a sea cave that is illuminated with sunlight that’s colored blue as it passes through the seawater into the cave.

15. Company with a quacking mascot : AFLAC

In 1999, Aflac (American Family Life Assurance Company) was huge in the world of insurance but it wasn’t a household name, so a New York advertising agency was given the task of making the Aflac brand more memorable. One of the agency’s art directors, while walking around Central Park one lunchtime, heard a duck quacking and in his mind linked it with “Aflac”, and that duck has been “Aflacking” ever since …

16. Crete peak: Abbr. : MT IDA

There are two peaks called Mount Ida that are sacred according to Greek mythology. Mount Ida in Crete is the island’s highest point, and is where one can find the cave in which Zeus was reared. Mount Ida in Asia Minor (located in modern-day Turkey) is where Ganymede was swept up by Zeus in the form of an eagle that took him to Olympus where he served as cupbearer to the gods.

17. Pi __, “Life of Pi” hero : PATEL

The 2012 movie “Life of Pi” is based on a 2001 novel of the same name by Yann Martel. The “Pi” in the title is an Indian boy named Pi Patel who finds himself adrift for 227 days in small boat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

27. Bass et al. : ALES

The red triangle on the label of a bottle of Bass Ale was registered in 1875 and is UK Registered Trade Mark (TM) No: 00001, the first trademark issued in the world.

34. Casino, to gamblers : HOUSE

The term “casino” originated in the 1700s, then describing a public room for music or dancing. “Casino” is a diminutive of “casa” meaning “house”.

36. Gamer’s game face : AVATAR

The Sanskrit word “avatar” describes the concept of a deity descending into earthly life and taking on a persona. It’s easy to see how in the world of “online presences” one might use the word avatar to describe one’s online identity.

37. City near Le Havre : 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.

Le Havre is a city on the mouth of the river Seine on the northwest coast of France. The city’s name translates as “The Haven”.

39. MASH staff : DRS

The first Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) was deployed in August 1945. MASH units really came into the public consciousness after publication of the 1969 Richard Hooker novel “MASH”, which spawned the hit film and TV series that were both titled “M*A*S*H”.

43. Last Stuart queen : ANNE

Queen Anne was the last of the Stuarts to rule in the British Isles, and the first sovereign of the Kingdom of Great Britain (after England and Scotland united). Anne was the last of the Stuart line because she died without any surviving children, despite having been pregnant seventeen times.

44. Iranian dough : RIAL

Rial is the name of the currency of Iran (as well as Yemen, Oman, Cambodia and Tunisia). Generally, there are 1,000 baisa in a rial.

45. NYSE listings : STKS

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) can give some quite descriptive ticker symbols to companies, for example:

  • Anheuser-Busch (BUD, for “Budweiser”)
  • Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP, as in “beer tap”)
  • Steinway Musical Instruments (LVB, for “Ludwig van Beethoven”)
  • Sotheby’s (BID, for the auction house)

48. Missouri senator McCaskill : CLAIRE

Claire McCaskill has been a US Senator for Missouri since 2007. Prior to taking her seat in DC, McCaskill served as State Auditor of Missouri for eight years. In 2004, she ran for Governor of Missouri and defeated incumbent Bob Holden in the Democratic primary, only to lose to Republican Matt Blunt in the gubernatorial election.

53. Alaskan native : ALEUT

The Aleuts live on the Aleutian Islands of the North Pacific, and on the Commander Islands at the western end of the same island chain. The Aleutian Islands are part of the United States, and the Commander Islands are in Russia.

54. Stout container : KEG

The term “stout” was first used for a type of beer in the 1600s when was used to describe a “strong, stout” brew, and not necessarily a dark beer as it is today.

55. US Open stadium namesake : ASHE

The Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York opened in 1997 and for years was the largest outdoor, tennis-only venue in the world. The stadium was often criticized for not having a retractable dome to protect the playing surface from inclement weather. Well, that changed in 2016 when the stadium debuted its new retractable roof, a $150 million investment in the facility.

61. Ground cover plant also called periwinkle : VINCA

Vinca is a plant genus with six species all native to Europe, Africa and Asia. Vincas are vine-like in their growing behavior, which explains the name “vinca” as “vincire” is Latin for “to bind”. Vinca is often referred to as “periwinkle” in English.

64. Nike rival : REEBOK

The brand name Reebok was adopted as the new company name for Foster Shoes of the UK in 1960. The name Reebok (more commonly “Rhebok”) is an Afrikaans word for an antelope, and comes from the term “roe buck”.

66. Matty with a .307 lifetime batting average : ALOU

Matty Alou played major league baseball, as did his brothers Jesus and Felipe, and as did Felipe’s son Moises.

70. Skedaddles : SCATS

Our word “scat!” means “get lost!” It comes from a 19th-century expression “quicker than s’cat”, which meant “in a great hurry”. The original phrase probably came from the words “hiss” and “cat”.

“Skedaddle” is a slang term meaning “run away” that dates back to the Civil War.

72. Investor’s concern : YIELD

In the world of finance and investing, the yield curve for a particular investment is the relation between the interest rate that can be locked in, and the length of time the loan will be in place. Typically, the longer you are willing to lend your money (say by buying a government security), then the higher interest rate the borrower is willing to pay. So, the yield tends to move upwards over time.

76. Texter’s “Holy cow!” : OMG

“OMG” is text-speak for “Oh My Gosh!” “Oh My Goodness!” or any other G-words you might want to use …

80. “Chocolat” co-star : OLIN

Lena Olin is a Swedish actress, and clearly someone who had acting in her blood. Her mother was the actress Britta Holmberg and her father the actor and director Stig Olin. Olin had a very successful career in Sweden, often working with the great Ingmar Bergman. Olin’s breakthrough international and English-speaking role was playing opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” released in 1988. Way back in 1974, the lovely Miss Olin was crowned Miss Scandinavia in a beauty pageant for Nordic women held in Helsinki, Finland.

The movie “Chocolat” released in 2000 is a big screen adaption of the novel of the same name by Joanne Harris. “Chocolat” tells the story of a young mother with a six-year-old daughter who opens up a chocolate shop in a French village. The mother is played by the talented Juliette Binoche.

81. Mystical secrets : ARCANA

Arcana are deep secrets or mysteries. “Arcana” is from the Latin adjective “arcanum” meaning “secret, hidden”.

86. Unmistakable : PATENT

Something described as patent is clearly evident, obvious. The term ultimately derives from the Latin “patentum” meaning “open, lying open”.

87. Cracked a bit : AJAR

Our word “ajar” is thought to come from Scottish dialect, in which “a char” means “slightly open”.

91. Don Quixote’s squire __ Panza : SANCHO

Sancho Panza is Don Quixote’s squire, and a character who spouts out humorous comments called “sanchismos”.

93. Grumpy Muppet : OSCAR

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.

95. Buccaneers’ home : TAMPA

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the NFL in 1976, along with the Seattle Seahawks, as an expansion team. The Bucs had a tough start in the NFL, losing their first 26 games. Things went better in the early eighties, but then the team went through 14 consecutive losing seasons. Their luck changed again though, and they won the Super Bowl at the end of the 2002 season.

97. Thyme bit : SPRIG

In Ancient Greece, thyme was burned as incense and used in baths as it was believed to be a source of courage.

99. Pacific salmon : COHOS

The Coho salmon is dark blue with silver along the side of its body, but only during the phase of its life while it is in the ocean. When spawning and heading up into a freshwater river, the Coho has bright red sides.

101. Nabisco bite : OREO

If you take a close look at the embossed design on the front and back of an Oreo cookie, you’ll spot the main elements of the Nabisco logo. Those elements are an oval with a cross on top, a cross with two bars. Usually the company name “Nabisco” is inside the oval, but for the cookie it’s the brand name “Oreo”. The current embossed design was introduced 1952.

103. Tommie of the 1969 Miracle Mets : AGEE

Tommie Agee was a Major League Baseball player who played mainly with the Indians, White Sox and Mets. He was one of the “Amazin’ Mets”, and was famous for making two phenomenal catches in game three of the 1969 world series, potentially saving five runs. Agee was also the first Mets outfielder to win a Gold Glove, doing so in 1970.

105. Not kosher : TREF

According to Jewish dietary law, kosher food is fit to eat, and food that is not fit to eat is referred to as treif (or “tref”). The usage of “kosher” has extended to include anything considered legitimate.

108. Role in “Evita” : CHE

Che is the narrator in the musical “Evita” by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Advertisement

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Archaeologist’s find : TOMB
5. “Fire” crawlers : ANTS
9. Cartoon explosion word : BLAM!
13. Trickster : SCAMP
18. Where the iris is : UVEA
19. Country dance : REEL
20. German camera : LEICA
21. Trilateral trade deal : NAFTA
22. Silo in a rural valley? : DELL TOWER (from “cell tower”)
24. Allegro __: very fast, in scores : ASSAI
25. Like some statues at night : UPLIT
26. Surrounded : ENCLOSED
27. A+ for a struggling student? : AMAZING GRADE (from “Amazing Grace”)
29. Opposing teams : FOES
30. __ chin : CLEFT
31. Like a sudoku solution : LOGICAL
32. Allergic reaction : ACHOO!
35. “A Writer’s Life” writer : TALESE
37. What a red handset icon may end : CALL
38. Ought to : SHOULD
40. Humongous : VAST
41. Neat places to get beers? : DANDY BARS (from “candy bars”)
46. Nightmare? : SOUR DREAM (from “sour cream”)
48. Authenticity on the street : CRED
49. Pound or stone : UNIT
50. Bier chiller : EIS
51. Police dept. rank : SGT
52. Place for an updo : SALON
54. Ancient temple complex : KARNAK
56. Grab the tab : TREAT
59. Alma mater of Clinton and Ford, briefly : YALE LAW
61. Marina sights : VESSELS
62. Terse Supreme Court decision for lions? : THE PRIDE IS RIGHT (from “the price is right”)
65. House Speaker before Pelosi : HASTERT
68. Actress O’Hara : MAUREEN
69. Position paper, e.g. : ESSAY
73. Many have pins at one end : ALLEYS
74. Kunta in “Roots” : KINTE
75. Prefix with warrior : ECO-
77. Animation letters : CGI
78. In a trice : SOON
79. Rides the bench : SITS
80. Challenge from an ex-president? : OBAMA DARE (from “Obamacare”)
83. Southern tavern accents? : PUB DRAWLS (from “pub crawls”)
86. Texas’ __ Duro Canyon : PALO
88. Grimm girl : GRETEL
89. Tied : EVEN
90. Afghans’ neighbors : TAJIKS
92. Inspected prior to a job : CASED
93. Bellamy’s sister on “The 100” : OCTAVIA
97. Underworld figure : SATAN
98. Military sch. : ACAD
100. Wall Street bear? : SHARE DROPPER (from “sharecropper”)
102. How Albee’s “The Zoo Story” is written : IN ONE ACT
106. Grammatical separator : COMMA
107. Senator Hatch : ORRIN
108. Classic audiophile’s equipment, and a hint to eight long puzzle answers : CD CHANGER
109. Adrien of cosmetics : ARPEL
110. Misleading move : FEINT
111. Greeting from Kermit : HI HO!
112. Marginal mark : DELE
113. Good __: enjoyable books : READS
114. Fictional navigator Phileas : FOGG
115. Negotiation obstacles : EGOS
116. Note recipient, at times : SELF

Down

1. Arrogance, in slang : ‘TUDE
2. Range feature : OVEN
3. Sporty Spice, familiarly : MEL C
4. Cause of a walk : BALL FOUR
5. Came up : AROSE
6. Most recently made : NEWEST
7. Aggravated, with “off” : TEED
8. Camera initials : SLR
9. “Take care!” : BE SAFE!
10. “Hungarian Rhapsodies” composer : LISZT
11. Palm tree berry : ACAI
12. Most of Italy, to 14-Down residents : MAINLAND
13. Warm and cozy : SNUGGLY
14. See 12-Down : CAPRI
15. Company with a quacking mascot : AFLAC
16. Crete peak: Abbr. : MT IDA
17. Pi __, “Life of Pi” hero : PATEL
20. Least plausible : LAMEST
23. Ineligible for kiddie rides : TOO OLD
27. Bass et al. : ALES
28. Miner’s find : GOLD
30. Digger’s find : CLAM
32. Strength : ASSET
33. Group in a loft : CHOIR
34. Casino, to gamblers : HOUSE
36. Gamer’s game face : AVATAR
37. City near Le Havre : CAEN
39. MASH staff : DRS
41. Nod off : DROWSE
42. Pops, as a bubble : BURSTS
43. Last Stuart queen : ANNE
44. Iranian dough : RIAL
45. NYSE listings : STKS
47. 54-Across’ land : EGYPT
48. Missouri senator McCaskill : CLAIRE
52. Most squad cars : SEDANS
53. Alaskan native : ALEUT
54. Stout container : KEG
55. US Open stadium namesake : ASHE
57. Make it to : ATTEND
58. Unnamed persons : THEY
60. Caps : LIMITS
61. Ground cover plant also called periwinkle : VINCA
63. Hesitant sounds : ERS
64. Nike rival : REEBOK
65. Padlock hardware : HASP
66. Matty with a .307 lifetime batting average : ALOU
67. Unkempt sort : SLOB
70. Skedaddles : SCATS
71. Match : AGREE
72. Investor’s concern : YIELD
74. Firing device : KILN
76. Texter’s “Holy cow!” : OMG
79. Really quit : SWEAR OFF
80. “Chocolat” co-star : OLIN
81. Mystical secrets : ARCANA
82. Lost driver’s disappointments : DEAD ENDS
84. Exposes : REVEALS
85. Intensely supportive : AVID
86. Unmistakable : PATENT
87. Cracked a bit : AJAR
90. Sealing, as a package : TAPING
91. Don Quixote’s squire __ Panza : SANCHO
93. Grumpy Muppet : OSCAR
94. Task list entry : CHORE
95. Buccaneers’ home : TAMPA
96. Dangerous companion? : ARMED
97. Thyme bit : SPRIG
99. Pacific salmon : COHOS
101. Nabisco bite : OREO
102. “With ya so far” : I DIG
103. Tommie of the 1969 Miracle Mets : AGEE
104. Biological unit : CELL
105. Not kosher : TREF
108. Role in “Evita” : CHE

Advertisement

14 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 16 Sep 2018, Sunday”

  1. LAT: 27:42, no errors. Newsday: 34:02, no errors. About as not straight-forward as possible, compared to the usual.

    Washington Post: 54:45, no errors. A “variety” puzzle that’s deliberately not as straight forward as you can get. Definitely worth trying, if you haven’t, but I won’t say more that will spoil it.

    1. Glenn,

      How come USA and Newsday puzzles are so easy on Sunday?

      Today’s USA is like a Monday puzzle.

      Mark

      1. Different sources and editors edit their puzzles to be certain difficulties. For marketing purposes, they have different philosophies and markets they’re looking for. USA Today is mainly NYT Tuesday difficulty throughout the week. Newsday does a progression in difficulty throughout the week, but is generally easier than the others, except for the Saturday Stumper.

        For someone getting into this, a lot of it is simply finding what works out for you. When I started, I attempted all the LAT puzzles, but did a lot of USA Today, Universal (before Timothy Parker got unmasked as a plagiarizer) and Newsday to fill out the time after I spent 5 minutes failing the other puzzles.

        1. I’m relatively new at crosswords. Do LA times every day, wsj every day. This last Saturday was a killer. Newsdaysnd usa m-fri.And the NYT biggest challenge for me. I do m-w then Thurs which is a big challenge because of rebus. I look forward to your comments on NYT but my NYT puzzles are six weeks old. From Seattle Times. Any suggestions on improving myself would be appreciated.

          Mark

          1. I’d love to hear suggestions on that question myself (for several reasons). My problems these days are starting grids and finishing out certain parts, especially when I don’t know things. All I can say is do puzzles and try to not get too locked into anything when you do things.

            There’s also different logical approaches that can be used aside from outright “knowing” answers like playing hangman with an entry. Single letters can surprisingly be narrowed down based on how words work like plurals and adverbs as indicated in the clue, sequences of letters (i.e. U almost always after Q, vowel must go here given the two letters on the other side of the gap).

            Then if I need to look up an answer, I just do that and always make sure to do as much of the puzzle as I can on my own (I almost always “finish” a grid, even if I DNF it), and then study the clues and answers afterwards, especially the ones I didn’t know or get.

    2. Okay, Glenn, I couldn’t resist … Washington Post: 40:16, no errors. A weird puzzle that definitely lived up to its title (“Something Different”). I didn’t understand the meaning of “an alternative form of storytelling” until I was all done. So … thanks for the suggestion … 😜

      1. For future reference, that kind of puzzle is called a “Something Different” or “Cuckoo Crossword”. You’ll find other examples in various places as different constructors will do them on rare occasions. The author spoiled it in the note, as I’m sure you saw, but a lot of times, all you’ll just see is the crossword with those titles.

  2. Harder puzzle than usual, less comments and Bill’s time was up,
    confirming this analysis. Look for tomorrow.

  3. 47 minutes 50 sec, DNF. Had 12 fills unfilled or incorrect. A few of these were just completely out of ken for me. Saw the theme late, and it helped a little, but not enough. Bottom right section was just a mystery to me.

Comments are closed.