LA Times Crossword 18 Dec 18, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Gerry Wildenberg
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Firesides

Themed answers comprise two words, each of which can follow the word FIRE:

  • 60A. Warm, cozy places … and a hint to what can precede both parts of the answers to starred clues : FIRESIDES
  • 17A. *Entrance protection from the elements : STORM DOOR (firestorm & fire door)
  • 24A. *Monopoly utility : WATER WORKS (firewater & fireworks)
  • 35A. *Lotto America, since 1992 : POWERBALL (firepower & fireball)
  • 51A. *Home security system : HOUSE ALARM (firehouse & fire alarm)

Bill’s time: 5m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Zsa Zsa’s older sister : MAGDA

Magda Gabor was the elder sister of Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor. Like her sisters, Magda was an actress and socialite. Magda married six times in all. Her most famous husband was probably the fifth, the English actor George Sanders, although that only lasted for 32 days. Sanders had been married to Magda’s younger sister Zsa Zsa.

6. NYC winter hours : EST

Eastern standard time (EST)

9. Italian city known for its cheese : PARMA

Parma is a city in northern Italy that is famous for its ham (prosciutto) and cheese (parmesan). The adjective “Parmesan” means “of or from Parma”.

14. How French fries are fried : IN OIL

French fries are called “chips” back in Ireland where I grew up. And what we call “chips” in the US are known as “crisps” in Britain and Ireland. In France, French fries are known as “pommes frites” (fried potatoes).

15. Sgt., e.g. : NCO

A non-commissioned officer (NCO) might be a sergeant (sgt.) or a corporal (cpl.).

21. Yankee or Oriole, for short : ALER

The New York Yankees baseball team has the nickname “the Bronx Bombers”. The nickname reflects where the team plays (the Bronx) and the team’s reputation for hitting (bombers). The New York Yankees were the first team to retire a uniform number, doing so on July 4, 1939. That day they retired the number 4 in honor of Lou Gehrig.

The Baltimore Orioles (the “O’s”) are one of the eight charter teams of MLB’s American League, so the franchise dates back to 1901. Prior to 1901, the team has roots in the Minor League Milwaukee Brewers, and indeed entered the American League as the Brewers. In 1902 the Brewers moved to St. Louis and became the Browns. The team didn’t fare well in St. Louis, so when it finally relocated to Baltimore in the early fifties the team changed its name completely, to the Baltimore Orioles. The owners so badly wanted a fresh start that they traded 17 old Browns players with the New York Yankees. The trade didn’t help the team’s performance on the field in those early days, but it did help distance the new team from its past.

22. __-deucey : ACEY

Acey-deucey is a fast-played variant of backgammon. Apparently, the game has been a favorite with members of the armed forces since the days of WWI.

24. *Monopoly utility : WATER WORKS (firewater & fireworks)

In most versions of the board game Monopoly, the two utilities are Water Works and Electric Company.

30. John at a piano : ELTON

Elton John won the 1995 Best Original Song Oscar for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from “The Lion King”. He won the 2000 Best Original Musical Score Tony Award for the musical “Aida”, which he wrote with Tim Rice.

34. Wall and 42nd, in NYC : STS

New York’s famous Wall Street was originally named by the Dutch “de Waalstraat”.

42nd Street is a major thoroughfare in Manhattan that is home to many of New York’s theaters, particularly around Times Square, where 42nd Street intersects with Broadway. It’s the association with the theater district that led to the naming of 1932 novel and 1933 film “42nd Street”, which follows the staging of a Broadway musical. That same intersection of 42nd Street with Broadway was the eastern terminus for the famed Lincoln Highway that crossed the continent, terminating on the West Coast at Lincoln Park in San Francisco.

35. *Lotto America, since 1992 : POWERBALL (firepower & fireball)

The Powerball lottery game is available in most states of the US, as is its major rival called Mega Millions.

Lotto America was a lottery game offered by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) from 1988 until 1992. The MUSL is a consortium of US states that band together to maximize the prizes that can be offered. Lotto America was replaced by Powerball in 1992, although a version of Lotto America was reintroduced by 13 states in 2017.

43. Western law group : POSSE

Our word “posse” comes from an Anglo-Latin term from the early 15th century “posse comitatus” meaning “the force of the county”.

47. Shallow sea areas : SHOALS

A shoal is an underwater ridge or bank that is covered with a material such as sand or silt.

50. Trouser measure : INSEAM

Trousers are pants, the garment covering the lower body and each leg separately. Ultimately, the word “trousers” evolved from the Erse word “triubhas” that described close-fitting shorts. Back in the 1600s there was a colorful saying:

A jellous wife was like an Irish trouze, alwayes close to a mans tayle

55. Furry “Star Wars” creature : EWOK

The Ewoks are creatures who live on the moon of Endor in the “Star Wars” universe. First appearing in “Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”, they’re the cute and cuddly little guys that look like teddy bears.

56. Chicago daily, familiarly : TRIB

“The Chicago Tribune” was first published in 1847. The most famous edition of “The Trib” was probably in 1948 when the headline was “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”, on the occasion of that year’s presidential election. When it turned out Truman had actually won, the victor picked up the paper with the erroneous headline and posed for photographs with it … a famous, famous photo, that must have stuck in the craw of the editor at the time.

59. Pierce, as an hors d’oeuvre : SPEAR

An hors d’oeuvre is the first course in a meal. “Hors d’oeuvre” translates from French as “apart from the work”, really meaning “not the main course”.

63. Slowly, in music : LARGO

Largo is an instruction to play a piece of music with a very slow tempo. “Largo” is an Italian word meaning “broadly”.

64. Fla. neighbor : ALA

Alabama is known as the Yellowhammer State, in honor of the state bird. Alabama is also called the “Heart of Dixie”.

66. Director Welles : ORSON

Orson Welles is perhaps best-remembered in the world of film for his role in 1941’s “Citizen Kane”. In the world of radio, Welles is known for directing and narrating 1938’s famous broadcast of “The War of the Worlds”, a broadcast that convinced many listeners that the Earth was indeed being invaded by aliens.

68. Cylindrical pasta with pointed ends : PENNE

Cylindrical pasta is known in general as “penne”, and there are many variants. For example, ziti is a particularly large and long tube with square-cut ends. “Penne” is the plural of “penna”, the Italian for “feather, quill”.

Down

6. WWII bomber __ Gay : ENOLA

The Enola Gay was the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb, the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in August 1945. Enola Gay was the name of the mother of pilot Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr.

8. Rich cake : TORTE

A torte is a type of cake made primarily with eggs, sugar and ground nuts (but no flour).

12. Kalahari mongoose : MEERKAT

The meerkat (also called a “suricate”) is a mongoose-like mammal that is native to parts of Africa including the Kalahari and Namib Deserts

The Kalahari is a vast desert region in southern Africa that covers much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. The desert is located within a larger lowland known as the Kalahari Basin, which covers almost a million square miles. The name “Kalahari” comes from one of two Tswana words, meaning either “the great thirst” or “a waterless place”.

23. Berkeley sch. : CAL

The University of California, Berkeley (Cal) is the most difficult public university to get into in the world. It opened in 1869 and is named for Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley.

25. Actress Hayworth : RITA

Rita Hayworth was born in Brooklyn as Margarita Carmen Cansino. Her father was a flamenco dancer from Spain and so his daughter fell naturally into dancing. The family moved to Hollywood where Hayworth’s father set up a dance studio, and there worked with the likes of James Cagney and Jean Harlow. The young Hayworth had a slow start in movies, finding herself typecast because of her Mediterranean features. When she underwent extensive electrolysis to change her forehead and dyed her hair red, she started to get more work (how sad is that?). In 1941 she posed for that famous pin-up picture which accompanied GIs all over the world.

28. Year, in Yucatán : ANO

Yucatán is one of Mexico’s 31 states and is located in the east of the country, on the northern tip of the Yucatán peninsula.

Yucatán is one of Mexico’s 31 states and is located in the east of the country, on the northern tip of the Yucatán peninsula.

31. Disney collectible : CEL

In the world of animation, a cel is a transparent sheet on which objects and characters are drawn. In the first half of the 20th century the sheet was actually made of celluloid, giving the “cel” its name.

33. Tummy muscles : ABS

The abdominal muscles (abs) are more correctly referred to as the rectus abdominis muscles. They might be referred to as a “six-pack” in a person who has developed the muscles and who has low body fat. In my case, more like a keg …

36. Ice Cube’s “It __ Good Day” : WAS A

Rapper Ice Cube’s real name is O’Shea Jackson Sr. Since the year 2000, Ice Cube has gradually moved away from rap music and focuses more on acting. The 2015 movie “Straight Outta Compton” tells the story of the gangsta rap group N.W.A., of which Ice Cube was a member. Ice Cube co-produced the film, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. played his real-life Dad on screen.

37. Hosp. staffer : LPN

Licensed practical nurse (LPN)

40. Had a good day on the links : SHOT PAR

The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name “links” comes from the Old English word “hlinc” meaning “rising ground”. “Hlinc” was used to describe areas with coastal sand dunes or open parkland. As a result, we use the term “links course” to mean a golf course that is located at or on the coast, often amid sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

41. Sommeliers, often : POURERS

“Sommelier” is the French word for “wine steward”. If that steward is a female, then the French term is “sommelière”.

45. __ Paulo : SAO

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil. It is also the city with the highest number of helicopters in the world. This is partly driven by the horrendous traffic jams in São Paulo, but also by the wealthy having a very real fear of being kidnapped on the city’s streets.

46. Longtime Mass. senator’s monogram : EMK

Edward Moore Kennedy (EMK)

Ted Kennedy was the youngest boy in a family that included older brothers Joseph Jr. (killed in action in WWII), John (assassinated) and Robert (assassinated). Ted went into the US Senate in 1962 in a special election held after his brother became US President. He remained in the Senate until he passed away in 2009, making Ted Kennedy the fourth-longest-serving Senator in history. The 2017 movie “Chappaquiddick” gives some insight, albeit somewhat speculative, about the darker side of Ted Kennedy’s life. It focuses on events surrounding the infamous Chappaquiddick incident in which Kennedy drove off a bridge, resulting in the death of his 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.

48. Italian cheese : ASIAGO

Asiago is a crumbly cheese that is named for the region in northeastern Italy from where it originates.

49. James of the Lakers : LEBRON

Basketball player LeBron James (nicknamed “King James”) seems to be in demand for the covers of magazines. James became the first African American man to adorn the front cover of “Vogue” in March 2008. That made him only the third male to make the “Vogue” cover, following Richard Gere and George Clooney.

50. ’50s Hungarian premier Nagy : IMRE

Imre Nagy was twice Prime Minister of Hungary. His second term as Prime Minister came during the Hungarian Uprising against the Soviet Union in October 1956. The Soviets invaded in order to quell the rebellion, and arrested Nagy. He was tried in secret, sentenced to death and hanged.

53. Hometown of St. Teresa : AVILA

Avila is famous for the walled defenses around the old city, which date back to 1090. They were constructed out of brown granite, and are still in excellent repair. There are nine gateways and eighty-towers in all. Even the cathedral built between the 12th and 14th centuries is part of the city’s defenses, so it looks like an imposing fortress.

St. Teresa of Avila (also known as St. Teresa of Jesus) was a Carmelite nun living in Spain in the 1500s. She is particularly noted for her writings on Christian meditation and mental prayer.

58. On the double, in memos : ASAP

As soon as possible (ASAP)

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Zsa Zsa’s older sister : MAGDA
6. NYC winter hours : EST
9. Italian city known for its cheese : PARMA
14. How French fries are fried : IN OIL
15. Sgt., e.g. : NCO
16. Knight’s horse : STEED
17. *Entrance protection from the elements : STORM DOOR (firestorm & fire door)
19. Moneyed group : HAVES
20. “You’re asking too much” : IT’S A LOT
21. Yankee or Oriole, for short : ALER
22. __-deucey : ACEY
24. *Monopoly utility : WATER WORKS (firewater & fireworks)
27. Metal fuel holder : GAS CAN
29. “Honestly!” : I SWEAR!
30. John at a piano : ELTON
31. Winter wear : COAT
34. Wall and 42nd, in NYC : STS
35. *Lotto America, since 1992 : POWERBALL (firepower & fireball)
39. Egyptian snake : ASP
42. They’re drawn in pubs : ALES
43. Western law group : POSSE
47. Shallow sea areas : SHOALS
50. Trouser measure : INSEAM
51. *Home security system : HOUSE ALARM (firehouse & fire alarm)
55. Furry “Star Wars” creature : EWOK
56. Chicago daily, familiarly : TRIB
57. Pigged out : OVERATE
59. Pierce, as an hors d’oeuvre : SPEAR
60. Warm, cozy places … and a hint to what can precede both parts of the answers to starred clues : FIRESIDES
63. Slowly, in music : LARGO
64. Fla. neighbor : ALA
65. Love, Italian-style : AMORE
66. Director Welles : ORSON
67. Light brown : TAN
68. Cylindrical pasta with pointed ends : PENNE

Down

1. Prefix with print : MIS-
2. Hill crawler : ANT
3. Most sticky, as a sweet treat : GOOIEST
4. Corrupt policeman : DIRTY COP
5. Donation to the poor : ALMS
6. WWII bomber __ Gay : ENOLA
7. Dart : SCOOT
8. Rich cake : TORTE
9. Disbelieving cries : PSHAWS
10. Having bottomed out, as prices : AT A LOW
11. Worships : REVERES
12. Kalahari mongoose : MEERKAT
13. Much of the Sunday paper : ADS
18. Rooster’s wake-up time : DAWN
22. Have more birthdays : AGE
23. Berkeley sch. : CAL
25. Actress Hayworth : RITA
26. H.S. grads-to-be : SRS
28. Year, in Yucatán : ANO
31. Disney collectible : CEL
32. Iron source : ORE
33. Tummy muscles : ABS
36. Ice Cube’s “It __ Good Day” : WAS A
37. Hosp. staffer : LPN
38. Get stuck in traffic, say : LOSE TIME
39. Campfire residue : ASH
40. Had a good day on the links : SHOT PAR
41. Sommeliers, often : POURERS
44. Attached by thread : SEWED ON
45. __ Paulo : SAO
46. Longtime Mass. senator’s monogram : EMK
48. Italian cheese : ASIAGO
49. James of the Lakers : LEBRON
50. ’50s Hungarian premier Nagy : IMRE
52. Diet-friendly : LO-FAT
53. Hometown of St. Teresa : AVILA
54. Showed once more : RERAN
58. On the double, in memos : ASAP
59. __-mo : SLO
61. Suffix with west : -ERN
62. Set eyes on : SEE

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17 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 18 Dec 18, Tuesday”

  1. LAT: 5:41, no errors. WSJ: 6:06, no errors. Newsday: 4:48, no errors. Jones: 7:45, no errors. CHE: 9:15, no errors. Yesterday’s BEQ: 26:19, no errors. Yesterday’s New Yorker: 16:18, 1 error on a bad guess (26A-6D).

  2. Another fun puzzle today. Better than last week. My brain was somewhere else. @nancy is right, you could only taste a grain if it was by itself, but it did say perhaps. Sooo perhaps thats stretching it abit.

    1. I took a guess at the G because that was the only word I could remotely
      associate with salt. Just got lucky.

      Another good Tuesday puzzle, 0 errors and 0 omissions and in a fast time
      of 40 minutes for us.

  3. 21 ACROSS: Did I miss something??? I STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND why the answer is ALER. (= [maybe???] “AMERICAN LEAGUER”??)

    I RECEIVE ADDITIONAL EDUCATION EVERY DAY! THANK YOU!!!!

    1. It’s a rather unfortunate crosswordese abbreviation that makes it into puzzles. It is indeed as you write: ALer = American Leaguer.

  4. LAT: 6:48, no errors. Newsday: 5:20, no errors. WSJ: 8:15, no errors. Croce later.

    Last night, I discovered ten puzzles that I had forgotten I had, from an LAT crossword contest, and did the first seven of them, including a quite remarkable one from Erik Agard and one Anna Gundlach. (I’m still nursing a nasty cold and looking for things to take my mind off of it.)

    @Dirk … Much thanks for the input about honey! After reading it, I also researched plain corn syrup and HFCS a bit and, on balance, I’ve decided to turn the remainder (1/3 cup) of the mix I was given into an impromptu science experiment. I really don’t think it’s dangerous to consume, but it’s behaving unlike any other “honey” I’ve ever had.

    For years, I’ve bought honey from “Ambrosia Honey Co.”, which advertises its product as “raw and gently filtered” and calls it “pure honey from a trusted Colorado company”, and I’ve been more than happy with it, but I did find a couple of consumer reviews that were a bit negative; have you ever heard of the outfit?

    1. @Dave
      >I discovered ten puzzles that I had forgotten I had, from an LAT crossword contest,

      That’s the last set of contest puzzles I ended up with out of many, including actually getting to enter one of them as part of the fee of getting the puzzles. Sadly I never found scoring parameters for the LA Crosswords contest to compare what I did with the people in the contest – and I don’t think I have my results on them anymore. All I can really say out of the batch of contest puzzles as a whole is that I pretty much found out what I wanted to know and probably won’t be getting any more for a while except a sample of more modern ACPT puzzles…

    2. Croce’s latest: 3:23:26, no errors; with, for me, an outrageously difficult lower right corner (not that the rest of it was all that easy 😳😜😳!).

      @Glenn … I finished the LAT crossword contest puzzles. Not counting an easier version of the final puzzle (which I ignored) there were nine puzzles, on which my times were 9:44, 8:19, 8:19 (really!), 6:17, 14:05, 37:09, 19:04, 56:31, and 1:07:29, and I had one one-square error on each of the 2nd, 5th, and 8th puzzles (no errors on the rest). Participant standings are available at this site, which also has other info about the contest. (In particular, the puzzles were scored using the same rules as are used in the ACPT, but I don’t know what the expected times for the puzzles were and, in any case, I’m not that interested in finding out how badly I would have fared 😜.) The puzzles were fun, but I’m less impressed with them than I was with the ACPT puzzles from “Word Play”. In the course of doing these, I realized that I never got around to doing the puzzles from the 2017 ACPT (which were sent to me rather late due to an error in processing my order), so perhaps I’ll try those next, if I’m still cooped up with a cold.

    3. Hi Dave – Don’t know anything about Ambrosia Honey Co., but did a bit of googling and found their website: http://madhavasweeteners.com/product/ambrosia/ which has an “about” that gives a nice story. They seem to buy their honey from local beekeepers from the Boulder/Longmont area.

      I did see some of the negative reviews at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B4IGS3U/?tag=progasgrirev-20&th=1 which seems to me that they’ve just kind of grown a bit too big and maybe are buying honey from further away or from dodgier sources. I can’t really say, since I’ve never tried or heard of them before.

      Personally, I would try to buy from a local beekeeper selling at a Farmers market in your area. If he/she is selling honey/honeycomb along with beeswax and perhaps pollen you can be reasonably assured that they are genuine and selling a quality product. If that’s not possible, the company you mention seems like a reasonable alternative.

  5. 9:36. No issues. Didn’t see the theme until I saw the reveal. Agree – this could just as easily been a Monday puzzle.

    It’s already been a long week for me. Is it Friday yet?

    Best –

  6. And, yes, George Sanders did commit suicide.

    Had Stick before SPEAR and LentO before LARGO. Googled for LEBRON, and that cleared everything up. That was not James who? but who? James. Don’t know sports but did catch ALER.

    Mixed the ASIAGO with the PENNE, and followed with a TORTE in either AVILA or PARMA. Then, had love Italian style.

  7. Since I’m here already; I finished a bit easier than yesterday, with no errors in about 12 minutes.

    @Jane – Nicely done with the Italian medley 🙂

    @Carrie – Nice sign off! I think I have some of those on my phone but not on my new computer. I’ll have to try that sometime.

  8. Aloha meine freunden!!! (sp???)🙃
    No errors– I’m surprised no one here complained about this one! I don’t like to say it, but I thought a lot of the cluing AND answers were pretty weak. Too many initials– and PSHAWS and ACEY….didn’t love it. I do like the mini Italian theme which Sfingi illuminated tho!!😊

    Hey Dirk! I’ve got about 10 thousand emojis on my tablet, and they’re quite detailed! It’s pretty crazy. Our Dave had them before I did– I had to upgrade due to peer pressure!😯🐝

    @Tony from yesterday– thanks!! I just hope I don’t drone on too much…🐝

    Be well~~🥂

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