LA Times Crossword 30 Oct 19, Wednesday

Bill’s time: 6m 53s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Salon treatment, briefly : PEDI

Pedicure (pedi)

9 Benjamins : C-SPOTS

Benjamin Franklin’s portrait is featured on one side of the hundred-dollar bill (also called a “C-spot, C-note, benjamin”), and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on the other side. There is a famous error in the image of Independence Hall. If you look closely at the clock face at the top of the building you can see that the “four” is written in Roman numerals as “IV”. However, on the actual clock on Independence Hall, the “four” is denoted by “IIII”, which has been the convention for clock faces for centuries.

15 Curly coif : AFRO

“Coiffure” is a French word that we’ve imported into English meaning “hairstyle”. The term comes from the Old French word “coife”, which was used for the inner part of a helmet.

16 Popular river name from the Welsh for “river” : AVON

There are actually four rivers called the Avon in England, but “Shakespeare’s Avon” lies mainly in Warwickshire. The name “Avon” comes from the Old English word “abona” meaning “river”. Stratford-upon-Avon was the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

17 They’re exchanged in Hawaii : ALOHAS

The Hawaiian word “aloha” has many meanings in English: affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. More recently, “aloha” has come to mean “hello” and “goodbye”, but only since the mid-1800s.

18 Nonstick cookware product : T-FAL

Tefal (also “T-Fal”) is a French manufacturer of cookware that is famous for its nonstick line. The name “Tefal” is a portmanteau of TEFlon and ALuminum, the key materials used in producing their pots and pans.

19 Religious season : LENT

In Latin, the Christian season that is now called “Lent” was termed “quadragesima” (meaning “fortieth”), a reference to the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert before beginning his public ministry. When the church began its move in the Middle Ages towards using the vernacular, the term “Lent” was introduced. “Lent” comes from “lenz”, the German word for “spring”.

25 Chinese zodiac critter : RAT

The Chinese Zodiac is a scheme that relates each year to the attributes of a particular animal in a 12-year cycle. So, the Chinese Zodiac has one sign for each of twelve years, whereas the Western Zodiac has one sign for each of the twelve months.

27 MN and NM : STS

Minnesota (MN) and New Mexico (NM) are states (sts.).

32 Bad-mouth : DIS

“Dis” (also “diss”) is a slang term meaning “insult” that originated in the eighties. It is a shortened form of “disrespect” or “dismiss”.

33 Word before bug or ant : FIRE …

A firebug is a pyromaniac, a person with an irresistible impulse to start fires.

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

34 Prov. bordering four Great Lakes : ONT

The province of Ontario borders four of the Great Lakes, i.e. Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario.

36 Hazardous gas : RADON

The element radon (Rn) is a radioactive gas, and a byproduct produced when uranium decays naturally in the earth. Radon gas can collect and accumulate in buildings and rooms that are particularly well insulated with very little air exchange. The danger is very real, as radon is listed as the second most frequent cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoke.

44 Nero’s 91 : XCI

In Roman numerals, the number “91” is written as “XCI”.

Nero was Emperor of Rome from 54 to 68 CE, and towards the end of his reign participated in the Olympic Games in the year 67. The Roman leader raced in a ten-horse chariot, of which he lost control and nearly perished after being thrown from the vehicle. Acting and singing were Olympic events back then, and Nero also took part in those competitions. By all accounts, Nero performed badly in every event in which he vied, and yet somehow still managed to win Olympic crowns that he paraded around Rome on his return from Greece.

46 Part of UNLV : LAS

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) was established in 1957 as the Southern Division of the University of Nevada, Reno. One of UNLV’s flagship departments is the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, which is consistently ranked as one of the best hotel and hospitality colleges in the nation. I suppose that’s not surprising given the proximity to the Las Vegas Strip.

51 BB-shaped veggie : PEA

A BB gun is an air pistol or rifle that shoots birdshot known as BBs. Birdshot comes in a number of different sizes, from size 9 (0.070″ in diameter) to size FF (.230″). Birdshot that is size BB (0.180″ in diameter) gives the airgun its name.

52 Coll. Board exams : SATS

College Board is a company that develops and administers standardized tests used to determine college readiness in students and to provide a service within the college admissions process. The company was founded in 1899 at Columbia University by a dozen or so schools to provide guidance to secondary schools as they prepared students for third-level education.

53 “I’m sorry, Dave” film computer : HAL

In the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Dr. David Bowman (“Dave”) goes up against the spacecraft computer known as “HAL”.

61 Short hoppers? : ROOS

The word “kangaroo” comes from the Australian Aborigine term for the animal. There’s an oft-quoted story that the explorer James Cook (later Captain Cook) asked a local native what was the name of this remarkable-looking animal, and the native responded with “Kangaroo”. The story is that the native was actually saying “I don’t understand you”, but as cute as that tale is, it’s just an urban myth.

62 Hall of Fame pitcher Randy “The Big __” Johnson : UNIT

Randy Johnson is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. One of Johnson’s many claims to fame is that he became the oldest pitcher to ever throw a perfect game, doing so at 40 years of age in 2004. He was also one of the tallest mean to ever play in the majors, clocking in a height of 6 feet 10 inches and earning the nickname “the Big Unit”.

64 Pennsylvania county : ERIE

There are three Erie Counties in the US:

• Erie County, New York (with Buffalo as the county seat)
• Erie County, Ohio (with Sandusky as the county seat)
• Erie County, Pennsylvania (with Erie as the county seat)

65 5 for B or 6 for C : AT NO

Boron is the chemical element with the atomic number of 5 and symbol B. It lies over to the right in Group 13 of the Periodic Table of the Elements. Uncombined, elemental boron is not found naturally on Earth. The boron that is mined is found in oxide form, not as uncombined boron.

The chemical element carbon has the symbol C and atomic number 6. Pure carbon exists in several physical forms, including graphite and diamond.

Down

3 Second Commandment adjective : GRAVEN

In the Christian tradition, the second commandment prohibits the worship of “any graven image”. Usually, this means that graven images can be created but not worshipped.

5 Silicon Valley city : PALO ALTO

The city of Palo Alto, California takes its name from a specific redwood tree called El Palo Alto (Spanish for “the tall stick”) that is located within the bounds of the city. The tree is 110 feet tall and over a thousand years old.

6 Pentathlon’s five : EVENTS

The original pentathlon of the ancient Olympic games consisted of a foot race, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus. When a new pentathlon was created as a sport for the modern Olympic Games, it was given the name the “modern pentathlon”. First introduced in 1912, the modern pentathlon consists of:

1. pistol shooting
2. épée fencing
3. 200m freestyle swimming
4. show jumping
5. 3km cross-country running

9 West Point students : CADETS

West Point is a military reservation in New York State, located north of New York City. West Point was first occupied by the Continental Army way back in 1778, making it the longest, continually-occupied military post in the country. Cadet training has taken place at the garrison since 1794, although Congress funding for a US Military Academy (USMA) didn’t start until 1802. The first female cadets were admitted to West Point in 1976, and as of 2018, about 15% of all new cadets were women.

11 Classic video game : PONG

Do you remember the arcade video game that was like a game of tennis, with paddles moving up and down to hit what looked like a ball, over what looked like a net? Well, that was Pong. The arcade version of Pong was introduced in 1972, with Atari selling a home version through Sears for the Christmas market in 1975.

13 __ chi : TAI

More correctly called “t‘ai chi ch‘uan”, tai chi is a martial art that is mostly practiced to improve overall health and increase longevity.

14 Boomer that no longer booms : SST

The most famous supersonic transport (SST) is the retired Concorde. The Concorde routinely broke the sound barrier, and cruised at about twice the speed of sound. Above Mach 2, frictional heat would cause the plane’s aluminum airframe to soften, so airspeed was limited.

22 Screwdrivers, e.g. : DRINKS

The cocktail called a screwdriver is a mix of fresh orange juice with vodka. Apparently the drink originated with a group of engineers in the late forties who used to spike small cans of orange juice with vodka, and then stir it in with their screwdrivers.

28 Slacks, briefly : TROU

“Trou” is short for “trousers”.

The term “slacks” was introduced in the early 1800s with the meaning “loose trousers”. Those early slacks were part of a military uniform.

33 Mystic on a bed of nails : FAKIR

A fakir (also “faqir”) is an ascetic in the Muslim tradition. The term “fakir” is derived from “faqr”, an Arabic word for “poverty”.

When someone lies on a bed of nails, there is a sufficiently high number of nails so that the pressure exerted by each nail is not enough to puncture the skin.

36 Soda since 1905 : RC COLA

Claude A. Hatcher ran a grocery store in Columbus, Georgia. He decided to develop his own soft drink formula when he balked at the price his store was being charged for Coca-Cola syrup. Hatcher launched the Union Bottling Works in his own grocery store, and introduced Royal Crown Ginger Ale in 1905. The Union Bottling Works was renamed to Chero-Cola in 1910, the Nehi Corporation in 1925, and Royal Crown Company in the mid-fifties. The first RC Cola hit the market in 1934.

37 Explore OfferUp : SHOP

OfferUp is an online platform for buying and selling used goods. The platform is optimized for smartphones, and uses geo-location to facilitate transactions between parties that are in close proximity to each other. OfferUp also partners with local police stations to establish safe, sign-posted meeting places where goods can be exchanged.

46 Coffeehouse orders : LATTES

The term “latte” is an abbreviation of the Italian “caffelatte” meaning “coffee (and) milk”. Note that in the correct spelling of “latte”, the Italian word for milk, there is no accent over the “e”. An accent is often added by mistake when we use the word in English, perhaps meaning to suggest that the word is French.

47 Sure winner : SHOO-IN

A shoo-in is a surefire winner, especially in politics. Back in the 1920s, a shoo-in was a horse that was prearranged to win a race, a race that was fixed.

49 White-coated weasel : ERMINE

The stoat has dark brown fur in the summer, and white fur in the winter. Sometimes the term “ermine” is used for the animal during the winter when the fur is white. Ermine skins have long been prized by royalty and are often used for white trim on ceremonial robes.

56 Hockey’s Phil, to fans : ESPO

Phil “Espo” Esposito is a former professional hockey player who played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. Espo scored 126 points in the 1969 season, hence becoming the first NHL player to score 100 points in a season.

58 Waikiki bash : LUAU

Nowadays the word “luau” denotes almost any kind of party on the Hawaiian Islands, but to the purist a luau is a feast that always includes a serving of poi, the bulbous underground stems of taro.

Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu that is home to the famous Waikiki Beach. The name “Waikiki” means “spouting fresh water” in Hawaiian.

59 Needing no Rx : OTC

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs don’t need a prescription (Rx).

60 Egg __ yung : FOO

Egg foo yung is a dish served in Chinese restaurants, and is basically an omelet. It probably takes its name from a flower called the Fu Yung.