LA Times Crossword 3 Feb 19, Sunday

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Constructed by: Pam Amick Klawitter
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Retirement

Themed answers “TURN DOWN THE BED”, i.e. each answer ends with a type of BED, and that ending TURNS DOWN from the across-direction to down-direction:

  • 118A. Item on the housekeeping checklist, or a hint to completing five puzzle answers : TURN DOWN THE BED
  • 26A. Royal title : HIS MAJESTY THE KING (giving “king bed”)
  • 28D. — : KING
  • 40A. First hit, perhaps : DEBUT SINGLE (giving “single bed”)
  • 43D. — : SINGLE
  • 59A. Fred or George Weasley : IDENTICAL TWIN (giving “twin bed”)
  • 62D. — : TWIN
  • 83A. Kids’ summer fun spot : SLEEPAWAY CAMP (giving “camp bed”)
  • 87D. — : CAMP
  • 104A. War hero/actor who played himself in “To Hell and Back” : AUDIE MURPHY (giving “Murphy bed”)
  • 106D. — : MURPHY

Bill’s time: 18m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Baroque music family name : BACH

Johann Sebastian Bach raised a very large family. He had seven children with his first wife, who died suddenly. He had a further thirteen children with his second wife. Of his twenty youngsters, there were four sons who became famous musicians in their own right:

  • Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (aka “the Halle Bach”)
  • Carl Philipp Bach (aka “the Hamburg Bach”)
  • Johann Christoph Bach (aka “the Buckeburg Bach”)
  • Johann Christian Bach (aka “the London Bach”)

Something described as baroque is extremely ornate and convoluted. The term comes from the Baroque Period, in which many of the arts focused on great detail and elaborate design.

5. Busy months for CPAs : APRILS

April 15th wasn’t always Tax Day in the US. The deadline for returns was March 1st from 1913-18, when it was moved to March 15th. Tax Day has been April 15th since 1955.

18. AAA part: Abbr. : ASSOC

The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on lobbying, provision of automobile servicing, and selling of automobile insurance. The AAA was founded in 1902 in Chicago and published the first of its celebrated hotel guides back in 1917.

20. Head huggers : BEANIES

A beanie is a knitted, close-fitting hat with no brim. The name probably comes from the slang term “bean” meaning “head”.

22. Obeyed a triangular sign : YIELDED

The first yield sign in the US was designed by Tulsa police officer Clinton Riggs, and was installed at an intersection in the city in 1950. It was a yellow sign with black lettering saying “Yield Right of Way”. The original design was eventually replaced with the inverted equilateral triangle with which we are familiar today.

23. Mountain dew source : STILL

The illegal distilled spirits known as moonshine can also be referred to as white lightning, mountain dew and hooch.

25. Salad greens : ENDIVES

Endive is a leaf vegetable belonging to the chicory genus, and is in the daisy family. Endive is also known as “escarole”.

29. Toyland notables : BABES

“Babes in Toyland” is an operetta by Victor Herbert, first performed in 1903 in Chicago. The musical play “The Wizard of Oz” had appeared on Broadway the prior year and was a resounding hit, so the creators of “Babes in Toyland” wanted to cash in on that success by producing something in the same genre. While not as big a hit as “Oz”, the show did very well. It played for 192 performances, and is still produced today. The basic storyline makes use of various characters from the Mother Goose nursery rhymes, wound into a Christmas entertainment.

31. Common Market letters : EEC

The European Economic Community (EEC) was also known as the “Common Market”. The EEC was a NAFTA-like structure that was eventually absorbed into today’s European Union (EU).

32. “__ shall live your epitaph to make”: Shak. : OR I

Here is William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 81 in full:

Or I shall live your epitaph to make,
Or you survive when I in earth am rotten;
From hence your memory death cannot take,
Although in me each part will be forgotten.
Your name from hence immortal life shall have,
Though I, once gone, to all the world must die:
The earth can yield me but a common grave,
When you entombed in men’s eyes shall lie.
Your monument shall be my gentle verse,
Which eyes not yet created shall o’er-read,
And tongues to be your being shall rehearse
When all the breathers of this world are dead;
You still shall live–such virtue hath my pen–
Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.

33. One-time filler : … AT A …

One at a time.

34. First-ranked competitor : TOP SEED

A seeded player or team in a tournament is one given a preliminary ranking that is used in the initial draw. The intention is that the better competitors do are less likely to meet each other in the early rounds.

38. Polyester fabric : DACRON

Dacron is a brand name for the polyester fabric polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The same material is branded as Terylene on the other side of the Atlantic.

44. Org. concerned with brownfields : EPA

A brownfield site is land that was previously used for industrial or commercial purposes. Such land might be contaminated with hazardous waste and in need of clean up.

45. Class with angles : TRIG

Trigonometry (trig) is a branch of mathematics dealing with triangles, and calculations based on the relationships between a triangle’s angles and the lengths of its sides.

49. Longfellow’s bell town : ATRI

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “The Sicilian’s Tale; The Bell of Atri”, a narrative poem set in the small town of Atri in the Abruzzo region of Italy.

50. Eye care brand : RENU

ReNu is a brand name of contact lens products sold by Bausch & Lomb.

59. Fred or George Weasley : IDENTICAL TWIN (giving “twin bed”)

Fred and George Weasley are two characters in the “Harry Potter” universe. They are older twin brothers of Ron Weasley, Harry’s loyal friend. The twins were born on April Fools’ Day, and love working together to prank people.

64. NBA scoring stat : PPG

Points per game (PPG)

70. Aden Young’s “Rectify” role : DANIEL

Aden Young is Canadian-Australian actor who is best known for his starring role on the TV show “Rectify”. Young was born in Toronto, and moved with his family at the age of 10 years to Sydney.

“Rectify” is TV drama series about a man who is released based from prison based on DNA evidence after spending almost twenty years on death row. The series also has the honor of being the first original show created by SundanceTV.

72. It’s fixed by a bank : CD RATE

A certificate of deposit (CD) is like a less-flexible and higher-paying savings account. Instead of depositing money into a savings account and earning interest periodically, one can open a CD. With a CD one deposits a minimum amount of money but must leave it there for a specified length of time. In return for committing the funds for a fixed period, one is given a higher interest rate than a savings account and can redeem that interest and the initial deposit when the term has expired. CDs are relatively low-risk investments as they are FDIC insured, just like savings accounts.

76. Tabloid material : SLEAZE

“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs, Wellcome and Co,) for a “small tablet of medicine”, a name that goes back to 1884. The word “tabloid” had entered into general use to mean a compressed form of anything, and by the early 1900s was used in “tabloid journalism”, applied to newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

77. Lord in a Christmas song, e.g. : LEAPER

The fabulous Christmas Carol called “The Twelve Days of Christmas” dates back at least to 1780 when it was first published in England, though it may be French in origin. The concept of twelve days of Christmas comes from the tradition that the three kings came to visit the Christ Child twelve days after he was born. This same tradition is the origin of the title to Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night”.

79. Casual Friday surprise : SUIT

The practice of dressing down at work on “Casual Fridays” arose at the end of the 20th century. The custom’s is rooted in the tradition known as “Aloha Friday” that started in Hawaii in 1966. The official designation of Aloha Friday was the result of a successful lobbying campaign by the manufacturing association known as the Hawaiian Fashion Guild.

81. Parasite in the dust : MITE

Mites are tiny arthropods in the arachnid (spider) class. Mites are (annoyingly!) very successful creatures that have adapted to all sorts of habitats. And being so small, they generally pass unnoticed. Ick …

90. Symbolic uncle : SAM

The Uncle Sam personification of the United States was first used during the War of 1812. The “Uncle Sam” term was so widely accepted that even the Germans used it during WWII, choosing the code word “Samland” for “America” in intelligence communiques.

93. Maple-syrup-to-be : SAP

About 75% of the world’s maple syrup comes from the province of Quebec. The US’s biggest producer is the state of Vermont, which produces 5-6% of the world’s supply.

97. Amphibious assault troop carrier : AMTRAC

“Amtrac” was a nickname given to the WWII vehicle known as the Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT).

100. __ bar : TIKI

The world’s first tiki bar was called “Don the Beachcomber”, and was opened in L.A. in 1933 by Ernest Gantt (also known as “Donn Beach”). The bar became famous for its exotic rum cocktails. Gantt was called to serve in WWII, and the business expanded dramatically under his ex-wife’s management so that there was a 160-restaurant chain waiting for Gantt when he returned stateside.

104. War hero/actor who played himself in “To Hell and Back” : AUDIE MURPHY (giving “Murphy bed”)

Audie Murphy was a highly-decorated combat veteran from WWII before he launched a successful career as a Hollywood actor. One of his most famous films is 1955’s “To Hell and Back” that is based on Murphy’s own memoirs published in 1949. Sadly, Murphy was killed in a private plane crash in 1971.

A Murphy bed is a bed that pulls from a wall for use, and is folded up into closet or cabinet when not in use. The bed is named for its inventor William Murphy. The story is that Murphy lived in a one-room apartment in San Francisco, and was interested in dating a local opera singer. Moral standards at the time prevented him for inviting the young lady into a room with a bed, so he created an arrangement where his room became a parlor during the day.

109. Belgian diamond center : ANTWERP

The port city of Antwerp is the second most populous urban area in Belgium after the capital Brussels. To most of the French-speaking population of the country, Antwerp is known as Anvers. The city’s economy is driven by the volume of traffic through the port, as well as trade in diamonds.

111. The Mustangs of Dallas coll. football : SMU

Southern Methodist University (SMU) is located in University Park, Texas (part of Dallas), and was founded in 1911. The school’s athletic teams are known as the Mustangs. Also, SMU is home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

112. When doubled, a hip-hop dance : NAE

The Nae Nae is a hip hop dance that is named for the 2013 song “Drop that NaeNae” recorded by We Are Toon. The main move in the dance involves swaying with one hand in the air and one hand down, with both feet firmly planted on the dancefloor. Go on, do it. You know you want to …

113. Friend of Pooh : ROO

Like most of the characters in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh”, the kangaroo named “Roo” was inspired by a stuffed toy belonging to Milne’s son Christopher Robin.

116. Dark side Darth : VADER

Darth Vader is (to me) the most colorful antagonist in the “Star Wars” universe. Born as Anakin Skywalker, he was corrupted by the Emperor Palpatine, and turned to “the Dark Side”. In the original films, Darth Vader was portrayed by English bodybuilder David Prowse, and voiced by actor James Earl Jones. Jones asked that he go uncredited for the first two “Star Wars” films, feeling that his contributions were insufficient to warrant recognition. I disagree …

124. Steep slopes : ESCARPS

An escarp or escarpment is a steep slope or cliff. The term is also used for the inner wall of a ditch that is dug around a fortification.

130. Western Wyoming county : TETON

Teton County, Wyoming is home to the Grand Teton National Park and the town of Jackson Hole. Teton has the distinction of having the second highest personal per capita income of any county in the US ($94,672 in 2010), second only to New York County ($111,386 in 2010).

Down

2. Spumante source : ASTI

Asti is a sparkling white wine from the Piedmont region of Italy, and is named for the town of Asti around which the wine is produced. The wine used to be called Asti Spumante, and it had a very bad reputation as a “poor man’s champagne”. The “Spumante” was dropped in a marketing attempt at rebranding associated with a reduction in the amount of residual sugar in the wine.

3. Forensic detectives, briefly : CSIS

Crime scene investigator (CSI)

4. “A Study in Scarlet” detective : HOLMES

Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1887 novel, “A Study in Scarlet“. Amazingly, Conan Doyle wrote the novel in under three weeks, while working as a 27-year-old doctor. Mind you, he only got paid 25 pounds for all the rights to the story. I suppose it’s a good job that he only devoted a few weeks to it.

6. Porridge veggies, old-style : PEASE

Pease pudding, or pease porridge, is a very English dish that is similar to split pea soup. We used to sing a nursery rhyme as kids:

Pease pudding hot, pease pudding cold, pease pudding in the pot, nine days old.

8. Racing series including the “500” : INDY CAR

The Indianapolis 500 race is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race is run around a 2.5 mile oval, hence requiring 200 laps for completion. The first Indy 500 race was held on Memorial Day in 1911. The winner that day was one Ray Harroun. Harroun had seen someone using a rear view mirror on a horse-drawn vehicle, and decided to fit one on his Marmon “Wasp” motor car. Supposedly, that was the first ever use of a rear view mirror on a motor vehicle.

9. Agenda, e.g. : LIST

“Agenda” is a Latin word that translates as “things to be done”, coming from the verb “agere” meaning “to do”.

10. Upright swimmer : SEAHORSE

Seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus. The genus name comes from the Greek “hippo” meaning “horse” and “kampos” meaning “sea monster”. It’s the male seahorse who carries the fertilized eggs, and not the females. The region of the brain known as the hippocampus, is so called because it resembles a seahorse in shape.

12. Mythical voyager : SINBAD

Sinbad is the hero of a set of fictional tales from the Middle East. Sinbad comes from the port city of Basra and had fantastic adventures on voyages throughout the sea east of Africa and south of Asia.

14. “Arabian Nights” character : ALI BABA

There is some controversy about the story “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” in that it has been suggested it was not part of the original collection of Arabic tales called “One Thousand and One Nights”. The suggestion is that the Ali Baba tale was added by one of the European translators of the collection.

15. Contraction with two apostrophes : I’D’VE

“I would have” can be abbreviated to “I’d’ve”.

16. Denim purchase : LEES

The Lee company that is famous for making jeans was formed in 1889 by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.

17. ’60s antiwar gp. : SDS

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was an activist group in the sixties. The SDS organized the largest student strike in the history of the United States on 26 April 1968, with about a million students staying away from class that day. The “Students for a Democratic Society” name was revived in 2006 with the foundation of a new US-based student organization with left wing beliefs. Today’s SDS was founded by a pair of high school students from Greenwich Village, New York.

19. Red wine choice : CLARET

Clairet is a dark rosé wine. Although it is uncommon today, clairet used to be the most common wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. For centuries now, English consumers have used the derivative term “claret” to describe any red wine from Bordeaux.

27. Heckler’s input : JEER

Originally, the verb “to heckle” meant to question severely, and for many years was associated with the public questioning of parliamentary candidates in Scotland. In more recent times, the meaning has evolved into questioning that is less polite and that is directed at stand-up comics.

34. Garr on screen : TERI

Actress Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffers from multiple sclerosis. She is a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

35. Slanted column : OP-ED

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

37. DJ’s collection : DISCS

The world’s first radio disc jockey (DJ) was one Ray Newby of Stockton, California who made his debut broadcast in 1909, would you believe? When he was 16 years old and a student, Newby started to play his records on a primitive radio located in the Herrold College of Engineering and Wireless in San Jose. The records played back then were mostly recordings of Enrico Caruso.

39. Cartoon frame : 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.

41. Perfect spot : UTOPIA

The word “Utopia” was coined by Sir Thomas More for his book “Utopia” published in 1516 describing an idyllic fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. More’s use of the name Utopia comes from the Greek “ou” meaning “not” and “topos” meaning “place”. By calling his perfect island “Not Place”, More was apparently making the point that he didn’t think that the ideal could actually exist.

42. Saint-__: Riviera resort : TROPEZ

Saint-Tropez is a town in southeastern France on the French Riviera. These days, Saint-Tropez is very much associated with the European and American jet set. The town is named for a legendary martyr named Saint Torpes of Pisa. Torpes was supposedly executed on the orders of the Roman Emperor Nero. Having been beheaded, his head was tossed into the river Arno, and his body placed in a boat along with a cock and a dog who were to eat the body. The boat came ashore at the present-day location of Saint-Tropez, with the body untouched by the cock and the dog. The local people named their village in honor of Saint Torpes.

46. Transcript no. : GPA

Grade point average (GPA)

48. Besides Jan., only month with two federal holidays : NOV

Veterans Day used to be known as Armistice Day, and is observed on November 11th each year. This particular date was chosen as the Armistice that ended WWI was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

Thanksgiving Day was observed on different dates in different states for many years, until Abraham Lincoln fixed the date for the whole country in 1863. Lincoln’s presidential proclamation set that date as the last Thursday in November. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, arguing that the earlier date would give the economy a much-needed boost.

57. Gorsuch predecessor : SCALIA

Antonin Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Reagan in 1986, and was the longest-serving member of the court on the occasion of his passing in 2016. Justice Scalia’s minority opinions were known for the scathing language that he used to criticize the Court’s majority.

Neil Gorsuch was nominated to the Supreme court by the Trump administration, and assumed office in 2017. Gorsuch took the seat on the court that was left vacant with the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016. Gorsuch is the first Supreme Court justice to serve alongside another justice for whom he once clerked, doing so for Anthony Kennedy from 1993 to 1994.

60. Pole emblems : TOTEMS

“Totem” is a word used to describe any entity that watches over a group of people. As such, totems are usually the subjects of worship. Totem poles are really misnamed, as they are not intended to represent figures to be worshiped, but rather are heraldic in nature often celebrating the legends or notable events in the history of a tribe.

61. Two-nation peninsula : IBERIA

The Iberian Peninsula in Europe is largely made up of Spain and Portugal. However, also included is the Principality of Andorra in the Pyrénées, a small part of the south of France, and the British Territory of Gibraltar. Iberia takes its name from the Ebro, the longest river in Spain, which the Romans named the “Iber”.

63. Shapely leader? : ESS

The leading letter in the word “shapely” is a letter S (ess).

68. Specks in a river : AITS

Aits are little islands found in a river. Aits aren’t formed by erosion, but by the deposition of silt over time. As a result, aits often have a long and narrow shape running parallel to the banks as the sediment builds up with the flow of the water. Many of the islands in the River Thames in England have been given the name “Ait”, like Raven’s Ait in Kingston-upon-Thames, and Lot’s Ait in Brentford.

69. Topples (over) : KEELS

To keel over” is to capsize”, to turn a boat over so that her keel lies up from the surface. We also use the phrase “keel over” figuratively to mean “collapse, faint”.

71. Packaging abbr. : NET WT

Net weight (net wt.)

73. “The Untouchables” studio (1959-’63) : DESILU

As one might imagine, “Desilu” is a contraction of the names of the production company’s owners, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The name “Desilu” was first given to the couple’s ranch in Chatsworth, California. Desilu produced some great shows, including the original “Star Trek” and “Mission: Impossible”.

“The Untouchables” is a 1957 memoir by famed Prohibition agent Eliot Ness. The book was adapted into a TV show of the same name that in the late fifties and early sixties, starring Robert Stack as Ness. The same memoir was the basis of the 1987 film, again of the same name, with Kevin Costner in the lead role.

75. John in court : DOE

Though the English court system does not use the term today, “John Doe” first appeared as the “name of a person unknown” in England in 1659, along with the similar “Richard Roe”. An unknown female is referred to as “Jane Doe”. Variants of “John Doe” are “Joe Blow” and “John Q. Public”.

79. Photo tint : SEPIA

Sepia is that rich, brown-grey color so common in old photographs. “Sepia” is the Latinized version of the Greek word for cuttlefish, as sepia pigment is derived from the ink sac of the cuttlefish. Sepia ink was commonly used for writing and drawing as far back as Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. The “sepia tone” of old photographs is not the result of deterioration over time. Rather, it is the result of a deliberate preservation process which converts the metallic silver in the photographic image to a more stable silver sulfide. Prints that have been sepia-toned can last in excess of 150 years.

82. Defunct carrier : TWA

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a big carrier in the US, but was perhaps even more recognized for its extensive presence in Europe and the Middle East. For many years, especially after the collapse of Pan Am and TWA’s purchase by Howard Hughes, TWA was considered the unofficial flag carrier for the US. The company started in 1930, the product of a forced merger of Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express. The Transcontinental and Western Air that resulted (the original meaning of the initialism “TWA”) was what the Postmaster General wanted, a bigger airline to which the Postal Service could award airmail contracts.

85. Hill staffer : AIDE

Washington D.C.’s designer Pierre L’Enfant chose the crest of a hill as the site for the future Congress House. He called the location “Jenkins Hill” and “Jenkins Heights”. Earlier records show the name as “New Troy”. Today we call it “Capitol Hill”.

90. Seat of the Bishop of London : ST PAUL’S

The famous and very beautiful St. Paul’s Cathedral in London was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. St. Paul’s was completed in 1708 and was constructed as part of a rebuilding program necessary after the devastation of the Great Fire of London of 1666. St. Paul’s is the second largest church building in the country, after Liverpool Cathedral.

The BIshop of London is the third-most senior official in the Church of England, after the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. The bishop’s seat is St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is located on Ludgate Hill not too far from the River Thames.

92. Juin preceder : MAI

In French, the month of “mai” (May) comes before “juin” (June).

99. Propellant developed to replace gunpowder : CORDITE

Cordite is an explosive powder that was developed as a replacement for gunpowder and is used for propelling bullets and artillery shells. Cordite was developed so that the finished product had plasticity, allowing it to be extruded into “cords”, hence the name.

106. — : MURPHY

A Murphy bed is a bed that pulls from a wall for use, and is folded up into closet or cabinet when not in use. The bed is named for its inventor William Murphy. The story is that Murphy lived in a one-room apartment in San Francisco, and was interested in dating a local opera singer. Moral standards at the time prevented him for inviting the young lady into a room with a bed, so he created an arrangement where his room became a parlor during the day.

108. Pool toy : NOODLE

Pool noodles are foam flotation devices and much-loved swim-toys by kids who turn up in this house. The grumpy guy who owns the place (me) ends up throwing them out every winter, and new ones just keep turning up …

110. Start of the fire? : WHERE’S …

Where’s the fire? Slow down!

116. Brandy bottle letters : VSOP

Brandy is a spirit distilled from wine. The term “brandy” ultimately comes from the Dutch “gebrande wijn” meaning “burnt wine”. The length of this aging of the spirit defines the various grades of brandy:

  • VS: Very Special … at least 2 years storage
  • VSOP: Very Special (or Superior) Old Pale … at least 4 years storage
  • XO: Extra Old … at least 6 years
  • VSO: Very Superior Old … 12-17 years

117. Crop unit : ACRE

At one time, an acre was defined as the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. Then, an acre was more precisely defined as a strip of land “one furrow long” (i.e. one furlong) and one chain wide. The length of one furlong was equal to 10 chains, or 40 rods. A area of one furlong times 10 rods was one rood.

119. The Hague’s home: Abbr. : NETH

“Den Haag” is the Dutch name for the city in the Netherlands that we know in English as The Hague. Even though the Hague is the seat of the Dutch parliament and is where Queen Beatrix resides, it is not the country’s capital city. That honor goes to Amsterdam.

120. Beatty and Kelly : NEDS

Actor Ned Beatty is possible best remembered for the rather disturbing “squeal like a pig” scene in the movie “Deliverance”. Beatty also earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1976 movie “Network”.

Ned Kelly was an Irish-Australian outlaw, regarded by many as a symbol of resistance against the British ruling class in Australia in the 19th century. There have been two famous films made of his life story. “The Story of the Kelly Gang” was released in 1906, and is recognized today as the first feature film ever made. We might be more familiar with the film called “Ned Kelly” released in 1970, as it starred Mick Jagger in the title role.

121. Restrain : BATE

To bate is to restrain, as in “with bated breath” meaning “with restrained breath”. “Bate” can also mean “lessen”, and is a shortening of “abate”.

122. Thames campus : ETON

The world-famous Eton College is located just outside London. It lies between the River Thames, and the Jubilee River. The Jubilee is a 7-mile stretch of man-made waterway that was built in the late 1990s to take overflow from the Thames and reduce flooding around the nearby towns.

124. That, in Tijuana : ESO

Tijuana is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California, and lies just across the US-Mexico border from San Diego. Tijuana is also the most westerly of all Mexican cities. A lot of Tijuana’s growth took place in the twenties as tourists flocked south of the border during the days of prohibition in the US. One of the many casinos and hotels that flourished at that time was Hotel Caesar’s in the Avenida Revolución area. Hotel Caesar’s claims to be the birthplace of the now ubiquitous Caesar Salad.

125. Abbr. on some business cards : STE

Suite (ste.)

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Baroque music family name : BACH
5. Busy months for CPAs : APRILS
11. Lays into : ASSAILS
18. AAA part: Abbr. : ASSOC
20. Head huggers : BEANIES
22. Obeyed a triangular sign : YIELDED
23. Mountain dew source : STILL
24. Reaches via plane : LANDS AT
25. Salad greens : ENDIVES
26. Royal title : HIS MAJESTY THE KING (giving “king bed”)
29. Toyland notables : BABES
30. Poet’s palindrome : ERE
31. Common Market letters : EEC
32. “__ shall live your epitaph to make”: Shak. : OR I
33. One-time filler : … AT A …
34. First-ranked competitor : TOP SEED
38. Polyester fabric : DACRON
40. First hit, perhaps : DEBUT SINGLE (giving “single bed”)
44. Org. concerned with brownfields : EPA
45. Class with angles : TRIG
47. Step down : RESIGN
49. Longfellow’s bell town : ATRI
50. Eye care brand : RENU
52. Pampering spot : SPA
54. Was in front : LED
55. Painful sequence : OWS
58. Suffix with ball : -OON
59. Fred or George Weasley : IDENTICAL TWIN (giving “twin bed”)
63. Brush fire op : EVAC
64. NBA scoring stat : PPG
65. Corn holders : COBS
66. Minimally adjusts : TWEAKS
70. Aden Young’s “Rectify” role : DANIEL
72. It’s fixed by a bank : CD RATE
75. Milk sources : DAIRIES
76. Tabloid material : SLEAZE
77. Lord in a Christmas song, e.g. : LEAPER
78. Busy, as decor : ORNATE
79. Casual Friday surprise : SUIT
80. Pack animal : ASS
81. Parasite in the dust : MITE
83. Kids’ summer fun spot : SLEEPAWAY CAMP (giving “camp bed”)
88. Bit of broth : SIP
89. Do some carpentry : SAW
90. Symbolic uncle : SAM
93. Maple-syrup-to-be : SAP
94. Words with bow or scarf : TIE A …
95. Winter glider : SLED
97. Amphibious assault troop carrier : AMTRAC
100. __ bar : TIKI
103. Flow blocker : DAM
104. War hero/actor who played himself in “To Hell and Back” : AUDIE MURPHY (giving “Murphy bed”)
107. Menu listing : OPTION
109. Belgian diamond center : ANTWERP
111. The Mustangs of Dallas coll. football : SMU
112. When doubled, a hip-hop dance : NAE
113. Friend of Pooh : ROO
115. Kinda-sorta cousin : -ISH
116. Dark side Darth : VADER
118. Item on the housekeeping checklist, or a hint to completing five puzzle answers : TURN DOWN THE BED
124. Steep slopes : ESCARPS
126. Gather dust : LIE IDLE
127. Give one’s address, maybe : ORATE
128. Spot-on : SO RIGHT
129. Took the deal : SETTLED
130. Western Wyoming county : TETON
131. Sign of alertness : OPEN EYE
132. Hard rain metaphor : SHEETS
133. Email folder : SENT

Down

1. Big do : BASH
2. Spumante source : ASTI
3. Forensic detectives, briefly : CSIS
4. “A Study in Scarlet” detective : HOLMES
5. Competent : ABLE
6. Porridge veggies, old-style : PEASE
7. Went off on Twitter : RANTED
8. Racing series including the “500” : INDY CAR
9. Agenda, e.g. : LIST
10. Upright swimmer : SEAHORSE
11. Floor support? : AYE
12. Mythical voyager : SINBAD
13. Composed : SEDATE
14. “Arabian Nights” character : ALI BABA
15. Contraction with two apostrophes : I’D’VE
16. Denim purchase : LEES
17. ’60s antiwar gp. : SDS
19. Red wine choice : CLARET
21. With 67-Down, controversial MLB period : STEROID
27. Heckler’s input : JEER
28. — : KING
34. Garr on screen : TERI
35. Slanted column : OP-ED
36. It’s usually easy to see through : PANE
37. DJ’s collection : DISCS
39. Cartoon frame : CEL
41. Perfect spot : UTOPIA
42. Saint-__: Riviera resort : TROPEZ
43. — : SINGLE
46. Transcript no. : GPA
48. Besides Jan., only month with two federal holidays : NOV
51. Open, in a way : UNCAP
53. Union setting : ALTAR
56. Rolls into a ball : WADS UP
57. Gorsuch predecessor : SCALIA
60. Pole emblems : TOTEMS
61. Two-nation peninsula : IBERIA
62. — : TWIN
63. Shapely leader? : ESS
67. See 21-Down : ERA
68. Specks in a river : AITS
69. Topples (over) : KEELS
71. Packaging abbr. : NET WT
72. Minor league baseball level : CLASS A
73. “The Untouchables” studio (1959-’63) : DESILU
74. Croaked : RASPED
75. John in court : DOE
79. Photo tint : SEPIA
82. Defunct carrier : TWA
84. Opposite of fast : EAT
85. Hill staffer : AIDE
86. Senior __ : YEAR
87. — : CAMP
90. Seat of the Bishop of London : ST PAUL’S
91. Vital vessels : ARTERIES
92. Juin preceder : MAI
96. Contempt : DISDAIN
98. Peak in France : MONT
99. Propellant developed to replace gunpowder : CORDITE
101. Do some craftwork : KNIT
102. Sweater’s comment : IT’S HOT
105. Come out : EMERGE
106. — : MURPHY
108. Pool toy : NOODLE
110. Start of the fire? : WHERE’S …
114. Big-eyed baby : OWLET
116. Brandy bottle letters : VSOP
117. Crop unit : ACRE
119. The Hague’s home: Abbr. : NETH
120. Beatty and Kelly : NEDS
121. Restrain : BATE
122. Thames campus : ETON
123. Wreck reminder : DENT
124. That, in Tijuana : ESO
125. Abbr. on some business cards : STE

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6 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 3 Feb 19, Sunday”

  1. LAT: 27:21, no errors. Newsday: 17:36, no errors. Washington Post: 23:57, with 2 dumb (one-square) errors that I should have known better than to make (and it includes a football-related meta that I’m too busy/lazy/preoccupied to think about 😜). Glad tomorrow is Monday.

    1. Okay … since I’m not NFLiterate, I had to spend some time with Dr. Google to get it, but I did work out the Washington Post meta. Cute. And now … for the rest of the day … nothing more to do with crossword puzzles!

  2. LAT 57:38 no errors
    NYT #0127 from my paper 1 hr and 40 min. With 4 errors. A very tough puzzle IMO

  3. LAT: 33:26, no errors. Rather difficult than the norm. Newsday: 29:45, 1 error. Ditto. Washington Post: 19:42, no errors. Solved the meta. Onward to see what end of week NYT syndies bring.

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