LA Times Crossword 8 Sep 19, Sunday

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Constructed by: Pancho Harrison
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Oh, It’s You Again

Themed answers are common phrases in which a letter O has been replaced with a letter U:

  • 23A Kiss during a nature walk? : TRAIL BUSS (from “trail boss”)
  • 35A Window installer’s course of instruction? : PUTTY TRAINING (from “potty training”)
  • 38A Jam component? : STUCK CAR (from “stock car”)
  • 54A Charles Goodyear, notably? : RUBBER BARON (from “robber baron”)
  • 70A Eccentric who has status in the community? : NUT WITH STANDING (from “notwithstanding”)
  • 88A Big galoot serving as first mate? : CAPTAIN’SLUG (from “captain’s log”)
  • 104A Dent in the hockey arena’s protective shield? : PUCK MARK (from “pockmark”)
  • 106A Cesar Millan specialty? : PUP PSYCHOLOGY (from “pop psychology”)
  • 124A Measure of complacency? : SMUG INDEX (from “smog index”)

Bill’s time: 13m 51s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “Righteous!” in the ’90s : PHAT!

In hip-hop circles, the term “phat” means “excellent, first-rate”.

5 Capital of Turkey : LIRA

The currency of Turkey is the Turkish lira, which is divided into 100 kuruş. In 1927, the Turkish lira replaced the Ottoman lira, which had been in use since 1844.

9 Speed deterrents : BUMPS

The traffic calming device we call a “speed bump” over here in the US, is known by the colorful name “sleeping policeman” in the UK.

20 Fever with chills : AGUE

An ague is a fever, one usually associated with malaria.

21 Caver’s cry? : UNCLE!

“To say uncle” is an American expression meaning “to submit, yield”. Its usage dates back to the early 1900s, but nobody seems to know how “uncle!” came to mean “stop!”

22 Vaughan of jazz : SARAH

Sarah Vaughan was a jazz singer from Newark, New Jersey. The future winner of a Lifetime Achievement Grammy had a humble start to her career, singing and playing the piano at Newark Airport.

23 Kiss during a nature walk? : TRAIL BUSS (from “trail boss”)

To buss is to kiss.

25 Showy parrot : MACAW

Macaws are beautifully colored birds native to Central and South America that are actually a type of parrot. Most species of macaws are now endangered, with several having become extinct in recent decades. The main threats are deforestation and illegal trapping and trafficking of exotic birds.

26 Muse for Shelley : ERATO

In Greek mythology, Erato was the Muse of lyric poetry. She is often depicted with a wreath of myrtle and roses, and playing a lyre.

Percy Bysshe Shelley was an English Romantic poet. Shelley had strong views on vegetarianism. He was dedicated to the cause of all sentient beings, believing that the slaughter of animals by humans for the use of food was a barbaric practice. He wrote a famous essay on the subject called “A Vindication of Natural Diet” in 1813.

27 Protein-building acid : AMINO

Proteins are synthesised in the body from amino acids, which are linked together in specific sequences that are determined by the genetic code. The language of the code is a sequence of nucleotides. The nucleotides are arranged in groups of three called “codons”, with each codon determining a specific amino acid.

30 First-year law student : ONE L

“One L” is a name used in general for first-year law students, especially those attending Harvard.

38 Jam component? : STUCK CAR (from “stock car”)

Originally, a stock car was a car that had not been modified in any way from its original factory configuration, hence the name “stock” car. The term was then used to describe a car that was based on a production model, but had been modified for racing. In this sense a “stock” car is distinct from a “race” car which is built specifically for racing.

42 Creator of Horton the Elephant : SEUSS

Horton the Elephant turns up in two books by Dr. Seuss, “Horton Hatches the Egg” and “Horton Hears a Who!”

43 __ 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.

52 Rich kid in “Nancy” comics : ROLLO

“Nancy” is a comic strip that was originally called “Fritzi Ritz” when it first appeared in 1938. Nancy Ritz is a mischievous young girl, and Rollo is a friendly rich kid.

54 Charles Goodyear, notably? : RUBBER BARON (from “robber baron”)

The Goodyear tire company was founded in 1898. The company was named for Charles Goodyear, the man who invented vulcanized rubber in 1839. Despite the Goodyear name, Charles Goodyear himself had no connection with the company. Sadly, he never really reaped a financial reward for his inventions.

“Robber baron” is a derogatory term used to describe a late-19th century industrialist known to use unscrupulous methods to expand their wealth. The list of those labelled with the term includes many famous, if not infamous, characters, including John Jacob Astor, Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan, William Randolph Hearst, John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Venderbilt.

59 Hurled weapons : BOLAS

Bolas are heavy balls connected by cords that constitute a throwing weapon. Bolas are often used to capture animals by tripping them as they run. The weapon is usually associated with gauchos, the South American cowboys, although there is evidence that the Inca army used them in battle.

62 LiMu ___: bird in Liberty Mutual TV ads : EMU

Liberty Mutual is an insurance company based in Boston. The business was founded in 1912 as the Massachusetts Employees Insurance Association (MEIA). Liberty Mutual has a famous advertising icon named LiMu Emu.

63 Tiny dividers : AMOEBAE

An ameba (also “amoeba”) is a single-celled microorganism. The name comes from the Greek “amoibe”, meaning change. The name is quite apt, as the cell changes shape readily as the ameba moves, eats and reproduces.

74 Quaker in the woods : ASPEN

The “quaking” aspen tree is so called because the structure of the leaves causes them to move easily in the wind, to “tremble, quake”.

77 Like most pretzels : SALTED

Pretzels originated in Europe and are especially popular in Southern Germany where a pretzel is known as “Brezel”. Pretzels were introduced into the US in the 1800s by immigrants from Germany and Switzerland who came to be known over here as the Pennsylvania Dutch.

78 Porcupines and prairie dogs : RODENTS

Porcupines are rodents with coats of sharp quills that afford protection against predators. The name “porcupine” comes from the Latin “porcus” meaning “pig”, and “spina” meaning “spine”.

82 Arthur of “The Golden Girls” : BEA

Actress Bea Arthur’s most famous roles were on television, as the lead in the “All in the Family” spin-off “Maude” and as Dorothy Zbornak in “The Golden Girls”. Arthur also won a Tony for playing Vera Charles on stage in the original cast of “Mame” in 1966, two years after she played Yente the matchmaker in the original cast of “Fiddler on the Roof”.

“The Golden Girls” is a sitcom that originally aired in the eighties and nineties. The show features Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty as four older woman who share as house in Miami.

83 Thriller writer Hoag : TAMI

Tami Hoag is a novelist best known for writing romances and thrillers. She is a prolific writer and once had five consecutive titles on the New York Times bestsellers list, all in a 20-month period.

85 Four-door, usually : SEDAN

The American sedan car is the equivalent of the British saloon car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in the UK), although in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.

88 Big galoot serving as first mate? : CAPTAIN’S LUG (from “captain’s log”)

“Galoot” is an insulting term describing an awkward or boorish man, an ape. “Galoot” comes from the nautical world, where it was originally what a sailor might call a soldier or marine.

The word “logbook” dates back to the days when the captain of a ship kept a daily record of the vessel’s speed, progress etc. using a “log”. A log was a wooden float on a knotted line that was dropped overboard to measure speed through the water.

93 Site of Hercules’ first labor : NEMEA

“The Twelve Labors of Hercules” is actually a Greek myth, although Hercules is the Roman name for the hero that the Greeks called Heracles. The first of these labors was to slay the Nemean lion, a monster that lived in a cave near Nemea. Hercules had a tough job as the lion’s golden fur was impenetrable to normal weapons. One version of the story is that Hercules killed the lion by shooting an arrow into its mouth. Another version says that Hercules stunned the monster with a club and then strangled him with his bare hands.

97 Café container : TASSE

In French, a “tasse” (cup) might contain perhaps “thé” (tea) or “café” (coffee).

101 Its Jun. 2019 additions include “bae” and “yeesh” : OED

Work started on what was to become the first “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) in 1857. Several interim versions of the dictionary were published in the coming years with the first full version appearing, in ten bound volumes, in 1928. The second edition of the OED appeared in 1989 and is made up of twenty volumes. The OED was first published in electronic form in 1988 and went online in 2000. Given the modern use of computers, the publishing house responsible feels that there will never be a third print version of the famous dictionary.

“Bae” is a contemporary term of endearment. It is a pet name that is an abbreviation of “babe, baby”, although I’ve also read that it is an acronym standing for “before anyone else”.

102 Cook-off dish : CHILI

The full name of the dish that is often called simply “chili” is “chili con carne”, Spanish for “peppers with meat”. The dish was created by immigrants from the Spanish Canary Islands in the city of San Antonio, Texas (a city which the islanders founded). The San Antonio Chili Stand was a popular attraction at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and that stand introduced the dish to the rest of America and to the world.

104 Dent in the hockey arena’s protective shield? : PUCK MARK (from “pockmark”)

Before wooden and rubber pucks were introduced in the late 1800s, ice hockey was played with balls. The first rubber pucks were made by cutting down rubber balls into the shape of discs.

106 Cesar Millan specialty? : PUP PSYCHOLOGY (from “pop psychology”)

Cesar Millan is the real name of television’s “Dog Whisperer”. Millan has been working with overly aggressive dogs on his show “Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan” since 2004. Millan was an illegal immigrant from Mexico in the US back in 1990, became legal in 2000 and then became a US citizen in 2009.

111 Linguist Chomsky : NOAM

Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics at MIT. Chomsky is known as one of the fathers of modern linguistics.

112 Deposed Iranian despot : SHAH

The last Shah of Iran was Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. The post-revolution government sought the extradition of the Shah back to Iran while he was in the United States seeking medical care (he had cancer). His prolonged stay in the United States, recovering from surgery, caused some unrest back in Iran and resentment towards the United States. Some say that this resentment precipitated the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran and the resulting hostage crisis.

113 Quod __ demonstrandum : ERAT

The initialism “QED” is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. QED stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

114 Daggers of old : SNEES

“Snick or snee” is the name given to cut and thrust while fighting with a knife. The phrase is rooted in a pair of Dutch words. The expression gave its name to “snickersnee” (sometimes just “snee”), a term describing a light sword-like knife.

120 Hanna-Barbera’s __ Doggie and Doggie Daddy : AUGIE

Augie Doggie and his father, Doggie Daddy, appeared in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon classic series, “The Quick Draw McGraw Show”. Doggy Daddy was famous for his regular line referring to Augie, “Dat’s my boy who said dat”.

124 Measure of complacency? : SMUG INDEX (from “smog index”)

“Smog” is a portmanteau formed by melding “smoke” and “fog”. The term was first used to describe the air around London in the early 1900s. Several cities around the world have a reputation of being particularly smoggy. For example, the most smog-plagued city in Latin America is Mexico City, which is located in a highland “bowl” that traps industrial and vehicle pollution.

127 British county : SHIRE

The word “shire” comes from the Old English “scir” meaning “administrative district”. The term was replaced with county as far back as the 14th century, but the usage persists to this day, largely because some counties retain the use of “-shire” as a suffix (Yorkshire, Lancashire etc.).

128 Domus Aurea builder of 64-68 AD : NERO

Following the great fire of 64 AD in Rome, many large homes on the slopes of the Palatine Hill in the center of the city were burned to the ground. The emperor Nero cleared the area completely and used the land to construct an extravagant villa called the Domus Aurea (Latin for “Golden House”).

130 Flippant : SASSY

The adjectives “flip” and “flippant” mean the same thing, namely “frivolously disrespectful, lacking in seriousness”.

131 Calcutta wraps : SARIS

Kolkata (formerly “Calcutta”) is the capital of West Bengal, India. Kolkata grew up around a fort that the British built in the area in 1712. Prior to the arrival of the British, there were three villages at the site, one named Kalikata. Kalikata gave its name to the city that eventually developed. This was anglicized to “Calcutta” which became the official name for centuries, until it was changed back to Kolkata in 2001.

132 Good name for a tuxedo cat : OREO

A tuxedo cat is one with a white and black coat. Specifically, the coloring is a solid black coat with white fur on the paws, belly chest, throat and sometimes the chin.

133 Defib specialists : EMTS

A defibrillator (defib) might be operated by an emergency medical technician (EMT).

Down

1 Animal rights gp. : PETA

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a very large animal rights organization, with 300 employees and two million members and supporters worldwide. Although the group campaigns for animal rights across a broad spectrum of issues, it has a stated focus in opposition of four practices:

  • Factory farming
  • Fur farming
  • Animal testing
  • Use of animals in entertainment

3 Three-syllable 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.

5 Black __ : LAB

The Labrador (Lab) breed of dog has been around at least since 1814, and the chocolate Labrador appeared over a century later in the 1930s. The name “Labrador Retriever” is simply a reference to the breed’s origin and behavior. Labs originally “retrieved” from the “Labrador Sea”.

6 Spiny lizard : IGUANA

Iguanas have what is known as a “third eye” on their heads. Known as the parietal eye, it can sense levels of light, although it cannot make out details.

7 Auto body concern : RUST

Rust is iron oxide. Rust forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

8 Greek fabulist : AESOP

Aesop is remembered today as a fabulist, a writer of fables. Aesop lived in ancient Greece, probably around the sixth century BC. Supposedly he was born a slave, somehow became a free man, but then met with a sorry end. Aesop was sent to the city of Delphi on a diplomatic mission but instead insulted the Delphians. He was tried on a trumped-up charge of stealing from a temple, sentenced to death and was thrown off a cliff.

10 Article in Spain’s El Mundo : UNA

“El Mundo” is one of the three natioinal newspapers of record in Spain, along with “El País” and “ABC”. “El Mundo” is a relatively young publication, being first published in 1989.

11 Feud group : MCCOYS

The Hatfield and McCoy families of West Virginia and Kentucky were involved in a notorious feud that lasted from 1863 to 1891. The feud was somewhat resurrected in 1979 when representatives from both families appeared on the game show “Family Feud”. The McCoys came out ahead on TV and went home with over $11,000 and a pig.

13 Betsy Ross, notably : SEWER

Legend has it that Betsy Ross made the first American flag for General George Washington. However, this story only surfaced during the centennial celebrations of 1876, and although Betsy Ross was indeed one of several flag makers in Philadelphia in the days of George Washington, sadly there’s no definitive evidence that Ross provided that first Stars and Stripes.

15 What “strikes deep,” in Stephen Stills’ “For What It’s Worth” : PARANOIA

The musician Stephen Stills is best known as a member of the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, although he also worked for many years with Buffalo Springfield.

“For What It’s Worth” is a protest song written by Stephen Stills and recorded by Buffalo Springfield. There is a common misapprehension that the song was written about the Kent State shootings. However, those unfortunate shootings took place in 1970, and “For What It’s Worth” was released four years earlier, in 1966. Great song …

There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down

16 Tabriz native : IRANI

Tabriz is a large city in the northwest of Iran that once served as the country’s capital. The city is famous for its hand-woven rugs and jewelry.

17 Language for the Masses? : LATIN

The principal act of worship in the Roman Catholic tradition is the Mass. The term “Mass” comes from the Late Latin word “missa” meaning “dismissal”. This word is used at the end of the Latin Mass in “Ite, missa est” which translates literally as “Go, it is the dismissal”.

31 Some beams : LASERS

The term “laser” is an acronym standing for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”. It has been pointed out that a more precise name for laser technology is “light oscillation by stimulated emission of radiation”, but the resulting acronym isn’t quite so appealing, namely “loser”.

34 Circus swinger : ACROBAT

An acrobat is someone who performs gymnastic feats. The term comes into English via French from the Greek “akrobatos” meaning “going on tip-toe, climbing up high”.

36 “Swan Lake” skirt : TUTU

The word “tutu”, used for a ballet dancer’s skirt, is actually a somewhat “naughty” term. It came into English from French in the early 20th century. The French “tutu” is an alteration of the word “cucu”, a childish word meaning “bottom, backside”.

“Swan Lake” is such a delightfully light and enjoyable ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. “Swan Lake” tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by a sorcerer. The ballet also features Odile, Odette’s “evil twin”. Odile is disguised to look like Odette with the goal of tricking the prince to fall in love with her. In the ballet, the roles of Odette and Odile are played by the same ballerina. Odette’s love interest is Prince Siegfried, the only character in the ballet to appear in all four acts.

37 Two-syllable foot : IAMB

An iamb is a metrical foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The lines in William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” use five sequential iambs, e.g. “Shall I / compare / thee to / a sum- / -mer’s day?” With that sequence of five iambs, the poem’s structure is described as iambic pentameter.

38 Milan’s La __ : SCALA

La Scala Opera House opened in 1778. It was built on the site of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which gave the theater its Italian name “Teatro alla Scala”.

39 Stride pianist Art : TATUM

Art Tatum was a jazz pianist who overcame the disability of being nearly blind from birth. Many laud Tatum as the greatest jazz pianist of all time.

40 Seventh planeta : URANO

In Spanish, “Urano” (Uranus) is a “planeta” (planet) in the Solar System.

48 JFK but not SFO : PRES

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) was the son of Joe Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald, hence the president’s double-barreled name.

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) served as the main base of operations for Virgin America (sold to Alaska Airlines), and is also the maintenance hub for United Airlines.

49 “La Dolce Vita” setting : ROME

The title of the celebrated 1960 Federico Fellini film “La Dolce Vita” translates from Italian as “The Good Life”. There is a character in the film called Paparazzo who is a news photographer. It is this character who gives us our word “Paparazzi”, a term used for photographers who make careers out of taking candid shots of celebrities.

53 MGM co-founder : LOEW

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio was founded in 1924 by Marcus Loew. Loew was already a successful movie theater owner when he purchased Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919, and then Goldwyn Pictures in 1924. Later in 1924, Loew also purchased Louis B. Mayer Pictures, mainly so that Louis B. Mayer could merge all three studios and run them himself as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

56 City on the Rhine : BONN

After WWII, Bonn was chosen as the capital of West Germany. That choice was promoted by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer who was from the area. After German reunification, the nation’s capital was moved to Berlin.

58 Code carrier : GENE

Nucleobases are molecules that form the backbone of DNA and RNA chains. It is the sequence of these bases in the DNA chain that makes up the so-called “genetic code”. In DNA, the four bases are adenine (A), guanine (G), thymine (T) and cytosine (C). The same bases are found in RNA, except that thymine is replaced by uracil (U). In DNA, the nucleobases exist in “base pairs”.

60 Satirist Mort : SAHL

Mort Sahl is a Canadian-born actor and comedian who moved to the US with his family when he was a child. Sahl became friends with John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy became president, Sahl wrote a lot of jokes for the President’s speeches, although he also told a lot of Kennedy jokes in his acts. After the President was assassinated in 1963, Sahl was intensely interested in finding out who was behind the crime and even got himself deputized as a member of one of the investigating teams. He was very outspoken against the results of the Warren Commission report on the assassination, and soon found himself out of favor with the public. It took a few years for him to make his comeback, but come back he did.

64 Carl’s Jr. bread : BUN

The Carl’s Jr. fast-food restaurant chain was founded in 1941 by Carl Karcher. Karcher’s first restaurant was a full-service establishment called Carl’s Drive-In Barbeque. He then built on his first success by opening a chain of smaller restaurants with a smaller menu and called them simply “Carl’s”, which was changed to Carl’s Jr. in 1954.

66 L.A. setting : PST

Pacific Standard Time (PST)

67 Notre Dame figs. : STES

“Sainte” (ste.) is French for “saint”, when referring to a “femme” (woman).

Notre-Dame de Paris is the spectacular Gothic cathedral that sits on the Île de la Cité, one of the islands in the middle on the River Seine in Paris. Notre Dame is home to many beautiful and significant artifacts, the most famous of which is the Crown of Thorns supposedly worn by Jesus Christ at his execution, placed in the cathedral in 1239. It’s also home to some magnificent gargoyles on the roof, and you can climb up to the roof and take a very close look at them. Well, you used to be able to, until the tragic fire of 2019.

72 Apothecary’s weight : DRAM

I think that the dram is a confusing unit of measurement. It has one value as an ancient unit of mass, and two different values as a modern unit of mass, another value as a unit of fluid volume, and yet another varying value as a measure of Scotch whisky!

73 “Rhinoceros” playwright : IONESCO

Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright who was very active in the Avant-garde and Theater of the Absurd movements.

76 Bearded Smurf : PAPA

The Smurfs are little blue people created in 1958 by the Belgian cartoonist who went by the pen name Peyo. The Smurfs became famous in the US when Hanna-Barbera used them in a children’s cartoon series. The characters are largely a group of males. The original lineup included just one “Smurfette”, who is wooed by almost all of the boy Smurfs. Later, another female was introduced into the mix called Sassette, and still later along came Granny Smurf.

79 New, in Nicaragua : NUEVA

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America. It lies between Honduras to the north, and Costa Rica to the south. The etymology of the name “Nicaragua” is not very certain. One suggestion is that it is a melding of the name “Nicarao” and “agua”, the Spanish for “water”. Nicarao was the name of the largest city in the area when the Spanish arrived, and it is thought that “agua” refers to the two large lakes: Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua.

80 Clemson athlete : TIGER

Clemson University was founded in 1889. The school takes its name from the town in which it is located: Clemson, South Carolina. The athletic teams of Clemson University have been called the Tigers since 1896 when football coach Walter Riggs arrived from Auburn University. Riggs was an admirer of the Princeton Tigers, so he gave his new school the tiger mascot.

81 Baby carrier? : STORK

In German and Dutch society, storks resting on the roof of a house were considered a sign of good luck. This tradition led to nursery stories that babies were brought to families by storks.

94 Acid neutralizer : ALKALI

The “opposite” of an acid is a base. Acids turn litmus paper red, and bases turn it blue. Acids and bases react with each other to form salts. An important subset of the chemicals called bases are alkalis, hydroxides of the alkali metals and of ammonium. The term “alkali” is sometimes used interchangeably with “base”, especially if that base is readily soluble in water.

102 Cuban dance : CHA-CHA

The cha-cha-cha (often simplified to “cha-cha”) is a Latin dance with origins in Cuba, where it was introduced by composer Enrique Jorrin in 1953.

106 H.S. exams : PSATS

Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)

107 “Star Trek” officer who famously kissed Kirk in 1968 : UHURA

Lt. Nyota Uhura is the communications officer in the original “Star Trek” television series, and is played by Nichelle Nichols. The role is significant in that Uhura was one of the first African American characters to figure front and center in US television. In a 1968 episode, Kirk (played by William Shatner) and Uhura kiss, the first interracial kiss to be broadcast in the US. Apparently the scene was meant to be shot twice, with and without the kiss, so that network executives could later decide which version to air. William Shatner claims that he deliberately ran long on the first shoot (with the kiss) and fluffed the hurried second shoot (without the kiss), so that the network would have no choice.

115 Retired, as a prof. : EMER

“Emeritus” (female form “emerita”, and plural “emeriti”) is a term in the title of some retired professionals, particularly those from academia. Originally an emeritus was a veteran soldier who had served his time. The term comes from the Latin verb “emerere” meaning to complete one’s service.

121 Big name in ice cream : EDY

Dreyers’ ice cream sells its products under the name Dreyers in the Western United States, and Edy’s in the Eastern states. The company’s founders were William Dreyer and Joseph Edy.

123 Indian title : SRI

“Sri” is a title of respect for a male in India.

125 Half a musical doll? : GOO

The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band established in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New york.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “Righteous!” in the ’90s : PHAT!
5 Capital of Turkey : LIRA
9 Speed deterrents : BUMPS
14 Like cried-over milk : SPILT
19 Apiece : EACH
20 Fever with chills : AGUE
21 Caver’s cry? : UNCLE!
22 Vaughan of jazz : SARAH
23 Kiss during a nature walk? : TRAIL BUSS (from “trail boss”)
25 Showy parrot : MACAW
26 Muse for Shelley : ERATO
27 Protein-building acid : AMINO
28 Matter basics : ATOMS
30 First-year law student : ONE L
32 Has __: knows someone : AN IN
33 Optimist’s words : I CAN
35 Window installer’s course of instruction? : PUTTY TRAINING (from “potty training”)
38 Jam component? : STUCK CAR (from “stock car”)
42 Creator of Horton the Elephant : SEUSS
43 __ Paulo : SAO
44 Life’s work : CAREER
45 Largish chamber group : OCTET
47 Part-time player : SEMI-PRO
51 __ standstill : AT A
52 Rich kid in “Nancy” comics : ROLLO
54 Charles Goodyear, notably? : RUBBER BARON (from “robber baron”)
57 Breather : LUNG
59 Hurled weapons : BOLAS
61 Breaks down : ROTS
62 LiMu ___: bird in Liberty Mutual TV ads : EMU
63 Tiny dividers : AMOEBAE
65 Strikes lightly : TAPS ON
68 Soothes : EASES
70 Eccentric who has status in the community? : NUT WITH STANDING (from “notwithstanding”)
74 Quaker in the woods : ASPEN
77 Like most pretzels : SALTED
78 Porcupines and prairie dogs : RODENTS
82 Arthur of “The Golden Girls” : BEA
83 Thriller writer Hoag : TAMI
85 Four-door, usually : SEDAN
87 Court filing : SUIT
88 Big galoot serving as first mate? : CAPTAIN’S LUG (from “captain’s log”)
93 Site of Hercules’ first labor : NEMEA
95 Self-esteem : EGO
96 Promising young actress : STARLET
97 Café container : TASSE
99 Narrow shard : SLIVER
101 Its Jun. 2019 additions include “bae” and “yeesh” : OED
102 Cook-off dish : CHILI
104 Dent in the hockey arena’s protective shield? : PUCK MARK (from “pockmark”)
106 Cesar Millan specialty? : PUP PSYCHOLOGY (from “pop psychology”)
111 Linguist Chomsky : NOAM
112 Deposed Iranian despot : SHAH
113 Quod __ demonstrandum : ERAT
114 Daggers of old : SNEES
116 Shore thing for a sailor? : LEAVE
120 Hanna-Barbera’s __ Doggie and Doggie Daddy : AUGIE
122 Cybercurrency : E-CASH
124 Measure of complacency? : SMUG INDEX (from “smog index”)
126 Cornered, in a way : TREED
127 British county : SHIRE
128 Domus Aurea builder of 64-68 AD : NERO
129 Not mad : SANE
130 Flippant : SASSY
131 Calcutta wraps : SARIS
132 Good name for a tuxedo cat : OREO
133 Defib specialists : EMTS

Down

1 Animal rights gp. : PETA
2 Damage : HARM
3 Three-syllable berry : ACAI
4 Skating no-no : THIN ICE
5 Black __ : LAB
6 Spiny lizard : IGUANA
7 Auto body concern : RUST
8 Greek fabulist : AESOP
9 Misleading lead : BUM STEER
10 Article in Spain’s El Mundo : UNA
11 Feud group : MCCOYS
12 Infiltrators : PLANTS
13 Betsy Ross, notably : SEWER
14 Lincoln-to-Topeka dir. : SSE
15 What “strikes deep,” in Stephen Stills’ “For What It’s Worth” : PARANOIA
16 Tabriz native : IRANI
17 Language for the Masses? : LATIN
18 Barely-there beachwear : THONG
24 Gym storage : LOCKER
29 Is required to : MUST
31 Some beams : LASERS
34 Circus swinger : ACROBAT
36 “Swan Lake” skirt : TUTU
37 Two-syllable foot : IAMB
38 Milan’s La __ : SCALA
39 Stride pianist Art : TATUM
40 Seventh planeta : URANO
41 Wad in a pocket : ROLL
46 Formal jacket feature : COATTAIL
47 Ready to proceed : SET
48 JFK but not SFO : PRES
49 “La Dolce Vita” setting : ROME
50 Responsibility : ONUS
53 MGM co-founder : LOEW
55 Expands : BROADENS
56 City on the Rhine : BONN
58 Code carrier : GENE
60 Satirist Mort : SAHL
64 Carl’s Jr. bread : BUN
66 L.A. setting : PST
67 Notre Dame figs. : STES
68 Terminate : END
69 A month of Sundays : AGES
71 Schools of thought : ISMS
72 Apothecary’s weight : DRAM
73 “Rhinoceros” playwright : IONESCO
74 Basics : ABCS
75 Politician’s pursuit : SEAT
76 Bearded Smurf : PAPA
79 New, in Nicaragua : NUEVA
80 Clemson athlete : TIGER
81 Baby carrier? : STORK
83 Colorful tee : TIE-DYE
84 Tiny farm worker : ANT
86 Thought-provoking : DEEP
89 Prizes on the mantel : TROPHIES
90 Brewpub orders : ALES
91 Gas or elec. : UTIL
92 Rainy day wear : GALOSHES
94 Acid neutralizer : ALKALI
98 Symptom : SIGN
100 Colossal : IMMENSE
102 Cuban dance : CHA-CHA
103 Gasbag’s bagful? : HOT AIR
105 On the fence : UNSURE
106 H.S. exams : PSATS
107 “Star Trek” officer who famously kissed Kirk in 1968 : UHURA
108 Novelist’s output : PAGES
109 Pungent salad green : CRESS
110 __ question : YES/NO
115 Retired, as a prof. : EMER
117 Rock’s Queen + __ Lambert : ADAM
118 Let off steam : VENT
119 Former flames : EXES
121 Big name in ice cream : EDY
123 Indian title : SRI
125 Half a musical doll? : GOO

12 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 8 Sep 19, Sunday”

  1. LAT: 13:47, no errors. Newsday: 22:45, no errors. WP: 20:45, 4 errors.

    @Dave
    I think the only thing that I haven’t addressed from yesterday is your comment about human nature. I’d agree, but I think a lot of motivation is how you go about it. I’ll admit to using Bill’s times as a benchmark as of late. But not that I want to beat him (if that mattered to me, I’d be pointing it out when I do), but it’s an idea of what’s possible to push myself to something better. I guess a lot of it is seeing an idea of what’s possible or what could be. If he can get these times, why can’t I?

    I can say that of a lot of other things and people I see just from questions I get, including my frustration of not being able to solve certain puzzles (*) or solve metas at all (still got two here I have no idea of even where to begin on). I guess a lot of it is seeing it as a matter of faith and believing things are possible. If anything the only disappointment I see is not improving, which sadly I see more than I would like.

    (*) – interestingly in other news, I’ve been very slowly going through these Newsday Stumpers in this crossword book. While I blew through the other puzzles like nothing (2 DNFs due to theme topic, rest mainly either perfect or single dumb errors), these are challenging – far more so than the average NYT I’ve been doing. But at the same time, they’re oddly enough more possible to me than the Saturday Stumpers I see from Newsday’s site. Probably an intentional difference in editing, but still kind of funny I’m mostly managing them – almost like finishing the other puzzles without assistance after I stumble around and DNF them the first time for not getting into the puzzle.

  2. 49 min flat and as usual one error and again as usual it was a foreign word ….TOSSE FOR TASSE….very disappointing

  3. LAT: 18:16, no errors. Newsday: 17:47, no errors. Sunday (21×21) Universal: 18:07, no errors. Washington Post: 30:38, no errors.

    Re Bill’s and Glenn’s times: Do you guys keep a fire extinguisher handy, in case your keyboards catch fire? … 😜

    @Glenn … I have company arriving in 17 minutes and so have essentially no time to philosophize … (did I just hear a giant sigh of relief from somewhere?) … maybe later … 😜.

    For what it’s worth, though: It has seemed to me that recent Saturday Stumpers have been pretty difficult: a few of them have made me worry that some of the loose marbles upstairs are starting to roll away … 😜

  4. A lot of it was easy. But then, where was my mind? I kept thinking “Captain Slug?” or Captain Slog, for that matter. Duh.

    1. A nitpick, but I think the “big galoot serving as first mate” is the “captain’s lug”, not “Captain Slug”. He’s first mate, not the captain, and he’s a “lug” – “a big clumsy fellow” per MW, aka a “galoot”. Maybe “Captain Slug” was Captain Hook’s nickname before the crocodile…

      1. @Peter,

        Well spotted. I changed my rather inadequate interpretation of the answer 🙂 Many thanks!

  5. Cute theme, nicely executed, but awfully easy for a Sunday. Only about 40 PPPs (People, Products, Places, other proper nouns), although it seemed like more.

  6. It was either easier than most weekend puzzles or my goofy sense of humor must been the same as the puzzle maker, because I had no errors
    today…and did it fairly quickly. How long I don’t know, I never time myself.
    What is the correct name for “puzzle maker”…that doesn’t seem right, but
    it’s all I could think of.

  7. No errors. Was dizzy after completing the Quote-Acrostic. Had to erase the very first letter I entered. Thought SPCA for 1D. I belong to the alternative PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals.
    Re DNF, etc.- I get much more satisfaction from guessing and turning out correct than I would get from ‘cheating.’ You people that cheat- how do you sleep at night?! To me, it’s all part of the decline of western civilization. (Insert emoji here).
    Today’s theme: Why do I find each theme answer funnier than the preceding one? I guess it wears you down. My own version on the theme-
    Clue: Admonition to an affectionate gourmand?
    Answer: DONTHUGTHEFOOD
    1A. I now realize, before I lost the weight, when I thought people were calling me “fatso,” they must have really been calling me “phatso.” I was a fat loser, until I became a fat-loser.
    22A: I have two of Sarah’s albums. On one, her greatest hits, she sings divinely on all the songs. On the other, backed by Count Basie and his orch., I hate the way she sings. Sometimes it depends on the producer. To sing so differently, there must have been diff. producers on the sessions. I wonder if either was her natural way of singing. On the stuff with Basie, it seemed she was trying to copy Ella. Maybe Ella was supposed to do the vocals but got sick at the last minute, and they used the same charts for Sarah.
    97A: In French, “demitasse” is literally a half cup.
    101A: My Italian-type friends grew up saying “yeesh.” It’s about time it made it into OED.
    111A: I heard Noam’s daughter Aviva, a historian, on the radio show This is Hell two Saturdays ago. She talked about the Green New Deal. Her father, a linguist, is also an anarchist, as am I.
    13D: Betsy Ross is a sewer? That stinks!
    72D: In France’s taverns, etc., a “drink” contains 4cl, same as a shot, but in most joints in America, while the shot also contains 4cl, a “drink” contains 6. Purely second-hand knowledge, of course. Ahem. Also, in France, you pay 17.5% more for a drink delivered to the table than you do if you sit at the bar. The diff. is the automatic gratuity which is built into the published rates. Establishments are required to post the bar prices of all the bevs they serve on a sign facing the sidewalk.
    125D: The Goo Goo Dolls are going on tour with Lady Gaga. Of course they’re calling it The Goo Goo/Gaga tour.
    Correction: I said my IQ was only 4 pts. higher than Jim Morrison’s. Me should of said 14.

  8. Hiya folks!! 🦆

    No errors. Thankfully this was not a boring Sunday slog!! The puns struck me funny.

    Re: easier than usual comments above: I have always thought that Sunday puzzles are SUPPOSED to be easier than Fridays’ or Saturdays’ — I’ve seen this borne out over my 6 years of regular puzzling. Two years or so ago I noticed they’d started throwing in a too-difficult Sunday grid pretty often. Sundays are supposed to be fun!!!

    Dave! Indeed, I could never abandon LOL!!😊

    Be well ~~🚋⚾️

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