LA Times Crossword 11 Apr 19, Thursday

Bill’s time: 5m 25s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Sizzling Tex-Mex meat : FAJITA

“Fajita” is a Tex-Mex term that refers to grilled meat served on a tortilla. The original Mexican-Spanish term “fajita” is used to describe a small strip of chicken or beef. Nowadays, fajitas are often served on a sizzling platter with the tortillas and condiments on the side.

7 Polling results: Abbr. : PCTS

Percent (pct.)

11 Adams of “Vice” : AMY

Amy Adams is an American actress, although she was actually born in Vicenza, Italy while her father was a US serviceman stationed on an Italian base. My favorite Amy Adams film so far is the outstanding “Julie & Julia” in which she acted alongside Meryl Streep. I highly recommend this truly delightful movie.

“Vice” is a very interesting and entertaining 2018 biopic that tells the story of road Dick Cheney’s took to become possibly the most powerful US vice president in history. Christian Bale does a remarkable job playing Cheney, with Amy Adams playing Cheney’s wife Lynne Vincent Cheney. Anyone thinking about viewing “Vice” should be aware that there’s a lot of satire included …

14 Boy whose wings melted in the sun : ICARUS

Daedalus was a master craftsman of Greek mythology who was tasked with creating the Labyrinth on the island of Crete that was to house the Minotaur. After the Labyrinth was completed, King Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus in a tower, so that he could not spread word of his work. Daedalus fabricated wings so that he and Icarus could escape by flying off the island. Despite being warned by his father, Icarus flew too close to the sun so that the wax holding the wings’ feathers in place melted. Icarus drowned in the sea, and Daedalus escaped.

16 Forest female : DOE

A male deer is usually called a buck, and a female is a doe. However, the male red deer is usually referred to as a stag. The males of even larger species of deer are often called bulls, and females cows. In older English, male deer of over 5 years were called harts, and females of over 3 years were called hinds. The young of small species are known as fawns, and of larger species are called calves. All very confusing …

18 Salinger title teen : ESME

J. D. Salinger wrote a short story called “For Esmé – with Love and Squalor” that was originally published in “The New Yorker” in 1950. It is a story about a young English girl called Esme and an American soldier, and is set in WWII.

20 Drawer in the court : SKETCH ARTIST (hiding “char”)

The genus of fish known as chars are mainly coldwater fish that inhabit fresh water, although many species migrate to the sea.

26 Grafton’s “__ for Alibi” : A IS

Sue Grafton wrote detective novels, and her “alphabet series” feature the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “A Is for Alibi” in 1982 and worked her way up to “Y is for Yesterday” before she passed away in 2017.

28 “You OVERREACT when you’re hungry” candy bar : SNICKERS ALMOND (hiding “salmon”)

Snickers is a candy bar made by Mars. When I was growing up in Ireland, the same candy bar was sold as a Marathon. The name was changed in Europe to Snickers in 1990. 75% of the world’s Snickers bars are made in the Mars factory in Waco, Texas.

33 Brand of suit Bania gave Jerry in a memorable “Seinfeld” episode : ARMANI

Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer and founder of the company that has borne his name since 1975. Although Armani is famous for his menswear, the company makes everything from jewelry to perfume.

34 Lamb’s alias : ELIA

The “Essays of Elia” began appearing in “London Magazine” in 1820, and were immediate hits with the public. The author was Charles Lamb, and “Elia” was actually a clerk with whom Lamb worked. The most famous of the essays in the collection are probably “Dream-Children” and “Old China”.

35 Indiana state flowers : PEONIES

The flowering plant called a peony is named for Paean, the mythical physician to the Greek gods.

42 Banking biggie : CITI

During the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, the US government rescued Citibank by providing loan guarantees and two payments of $25 billion each. It turns out that the government made a tidy profit on that deal, as Citibank has since repaid the loans in full, along with interest.

44 Acrobatic dive : GAINER

A diver or an acrobat might perform a backward somersault while moving forward. Such a maneuver is known as a gainer.

49 Nice dad? : PERE

The French city of Nice is on the Mediterranean coast in the southeast of the country. Although Nice is only the fifth most populous city in France, it is home to the busiest airport outside of Paris. That’s because of all the tourists flocking to the French Riviera.

50 MADD ad, e.g. : PSA

Public service announcement (PSA)

Candace Lightner lost her 13-year-old child to a drink driver in 1980. Soon after, Lightner formed the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

51 Holly genus : ILEX

Ilex, commonly known as holly, is a genus of hundreds of species of flowering plants. The holly used for Christmas decoration is Ilex aquifolium. The wood from the holly bush was once a favorite for construction of Scottish bagpipes, until dense tropical woods became readily available.

57 Singer DiFranco : ANI

Ani DiFranco is a folk-rock singer and songwriter. DiFranco has also been labeled a “feminist icon”, and in 2006 won the “Woman of Courage Award” from National Organization for Women.

58 Opera set in Egypt : AIDA

“Aida” is a famous opera by Giuseppe Verdi that is based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Mariette also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first staged in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radames is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then complications arise!

59 Ex-Met pitcher known as “Dr. K” : GOODEN

Dwight Gooden is a former professional baseball pitcher, with the nickname “Dr. K”. “Dr. K” is a reference to the standard abbreviation for “strikeout”, a “K”.

64 Pitch indicator : CLEF

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

66 Carpentry tool : ADZ

An adze (also “adz”) is similar to an axe, but is different in that the blade of an adze is set at right angles to the tool’s shaft. An axe blade is set in line with the shaft.

68 Kids’ card game … and a directive pertaining to the four longest puzzle answers : GO FISH

Go Fish a very simple card game, usually played by children:

Q. Do you have any queens?
A. No.
Q. Go fish!

Down

1 Shark tip-off : FIN

Shark finning is a cruel fishing practice driven by the demand for Chinese shark fin soup. Millions of sharks every year are captured, have their fins sliced off at sea and are then thrown back into the ocean still alive. The mutilated sharks don’t last very long and are usually eaten because they cannot maneuver very easily without their dorsal fins.

2 Bandage brand : ACE

ACE is a brand of elastic bandage that is often used as a compression wrap.

4 Biometric identification technique : IRIS SCAN

An iris scan is a method of biometric identification. It depends on the fact that the complex patterns in the irises are unique to an individual. Not that an iris scan differs from a retinal scan. The latter uses technology that scans the unique pattern of blood vessels in an individual’s retina.

5 Narwhal feature : TUSK

The narwhal is a whale species in which the male has a large tusk. The “tusk” is actually canine tooth that projects from the jaw through the lip. Usually only one tusk develops, on the left side of the jaw. Occasionally, a second tusk develops as well, on the right side of the jaw. The tusk is unlike a tooth in that it contains many nerves, making it a sensory organ. It is rarely used in an act of aggression.

6 Queens tennis stadium : 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.

9 “South Park” rating : TV-MA

“South Park” is an adult-oriented cartoon series on Comedy Central. I don’t do “South Park” …

10 Magic 8 Ball, some hope : SEER

The Magic 8 Ball is a toy, and supposedly a fortune-telling device, introduced by Mattel in 1946. There are 20 answers that the Magic 8 Ball can provide, including:

• Without a doubt
• Ask again later
• My sources say no
• Outlook not so good
• Signs point to yes

11 Brody of “The Pianist” : ADRIEN

Adrien Brody won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in the Roman Polanski masterpiece “The Pianist”. Brody won the award in 2003 at the age of 29, making him the youngest person ever to receive the Best Actor Oscar.

12 Revealed the function of, with “over” : MOUSED

The computer mouse was invented at the Stanford Research Institute in 1963, by one Douglas Engelbart. Sadly for him, his patent ran out before mice became standard equipment on computers, so he never made any money from his amazing invention.

13 Streisand title role : YENTL

“Yentl” is a play that opened in New York City in 1975. The move to adapt the play for the big screen was led by Barbra Streisand, and indeed she wrote the first outline of a musical version herself as far back as 1968. The film was eventually made and released in 1983, with Streisand performing the lead role.

21 La Brea __ Pits : TAR

The La Brea Tar Pits are located right in the heart of the city of Los Angeles. At the site there is a constant flow of tar that seeps up to the surface from underground, a phenomenon that has been around for tens of thousands of years. What is significant is that much of the seeping tar is covered by water. Over many, many centuries animals came to the water to drink and became trapped in the tar as they entered the water to quench their thirsts. The tar then preserved the bones of the dead animals. Today a museum is located right by the Tar Pits, recovering bones and displaying specimens of the animals found there. It’s well worth a visit if you are in town …

22 Ref’s ruling : TKO

Technical knockout (TKO)

23 Quickly, quickly : ASAP

As soon as possible (ASAP)

24 Memo lead-in : IN RE

The term “in re” is Latin, and is derived from “in” (in) and “res” (thing, matter). “In re” literally means “in the matter”, and is used to mean “in regard to” or “in the matter of”.

25 Wheels for a celeb : LIMO

The word “limousine” derives from the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes …

29 New York cager : KNICK

The New York Knickerbockers (“Knicks”) team is one of only two founding members of the original National Basketball Association that still plays in its original home city. The other is the Boston Celtics.

In the early days of basketball, when a ball went out of bounds possession was awarded to the player who first retrieved the ball. This led to mad scuffles off the court, often involving spectators. As the game became more organized courts were routinely “caged”, largely because of this out of bounds rule, to limit interaction with the crowd. It’s because of these cages that basketball players are sometimes referred to today as “cagers”.

30 Farm follower? : E-I-E-I-O

There was an American version of the English children’s song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (E-I-E-I-O), that was around in the days of WWI. The first line of the US version goes “Old MacDougal had a farm, in Ohio-i-o”.

31 Jargon : LINGO

Lingo is specialized vocabulary. “Journalese” and “legalese” would be good examples.

“Jargon” can mean nonsensical and meaningless talk, or the specialized language of a particular group, trade or profession. The term is Old French, with the more usual meaning of “a chattering”. How apt …

32 Former Portuguese colony in China : MACAU

Macau (also “Macao”) is an autonomous territory of China located on the Pearl River estuary about 40 miles west of Hong Kong. Macau was a Portuguese colony from the mid-1500s until 1999. It was in fact the first European colony in China, and the last, having been handed back to the Chinese in 1999, two years after Hong Kong was returned by the British. Macau’s economy is driven by tourism and gambling. The territory’s gaming revenue is the highest for any gambling center in the world.

39 Deep blue dye : ANIL

“Anil” is another name for the indigo plant, as well as the name of the blue indigo dye that is obtained from it. The color of anil is relatively close to navy blue. The main coloring agent in indigo dye is a crystalline powder called indigotin.

40 Aloha State bird : NENE

The nene is a bird that is native to Hawaii, and is also known as the Hawaiian goose. The name “nene” is imitative of its call. When Captain Cook landed on the islands in 1778, there were 25,000 nene living there. By 1950, the number was reduced by hunting to just 30 birds. Conservation efforts in recent years have been somewhat successful. The nene was named State Bird of Hawaii in 1957.

The official nickname for Hawaii is “The Aloha State”. Hawaii is also referred to as “Paradise of the Pacific” and “The Islands of Aloha”.

41 “Jurassic World” predator, for short : T REX

The Tyrannosaurus rex (usually written “T. rex”) was a spectacular looking dinosaur. “Tyrannosaurus” comes from the Greek words “tyrannos” (tyrant) and “sauros” (lizard) and “rex” the Latin for “king”. They were big beasts, measuring 42 feet long and 13 feet tall at the hips, and weighing 7.5 tons.

46 Kayak alternative : ORBITZ

Orbitz is one of the big online travel companies, one that is based in Chicago. Orbitz was originally set up as a joint-venture of several airlines including Continental, Delta, Northwest and United.

KAYAK is a travel search engine that was founded in 2004 and has been owned by the Priceline Group since 2012.

47 Actor Stephen who is a UNICEF Ireland Ambassador : REA

Stephen Rea is an Irish actor from Belfast. Rea’s most successful role was Fergus in 1992’s “The Crying Game”, for which performance he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. In “The Crying Game”, Fergus was a member of the IRA. In real life, Rea was married to IRA bomber and hunger striker Dolours Price at the time he made the movie.

The United Nations Children’s Fund is known by the acronym UNICEF because the organization’s original name when it was founded in 1946 was the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. The original focus of the fund was to provide relief to children in countries that had been devastated by WWII. UNICEF is supported by contributions from governments, but also by individual donors. One of the more successful programs for collecting private donations is the Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box that has been a tradition here in North America since 1950.

54 Storage cylinder : SILO

“Silo” is a Spanish word that we absorbed into English. The term ultimately derives from the Greek “siros”, which described a pit in which one kept corn.

61 Canon SLR : EOS

I’ve been using Canon EOS cameras for decades now, and have nothing but good things to say about both the cameras and the lenses. The EOS name stands for Electro-Optical System, and was chosen because it evokes the name of Eos, the Titan goddess of dawn from Greek mythology.