LA Times Crossword 27 Mar 20, Friday

Bill’s time: 10m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 June event that highlighted Zion in 2019 : NBA DRAFT

Professional basketball player Zion Williamson was the number-one pick in the 2019 NBA draft, when he was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans.

9 Questlove’s do : ‘FRO

“Questlove” (also “?uestlove”) is the stage name of musician and DJ Ahmir Khalib Thompson. He is the drummer of hip hop band the Roots. The Roots were the house band on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”, and followed the host when he moved in 2014 to “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”.

12 “__ is human … ” : TO ERR

Alexander Pope’s 1709 poem “An Essay on Criticism” is the source of at least three well-known quotations:

• A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.
• To err is human, to forgive divine.
• For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

14 Asian gambling mecca : 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.

16 Greek goddesses of the seasons : HORAE

The Horae of Greek mythology were the goddesses of the seasons. There were several Horae, many of them associated with natural portions of time. Most commonly there were three, and sometimes ten (later twelve) Horae, or “Hours”, associated with the times of the day. For example, Auge was the goddess of first light, Gymnastika was the goddess of the morning hour for exercise, and Dysis was the goddess of sunset.

17 Anglicized name for Australia’s Uluru : AYERS ROCK

Ayers Rock was discovered by Europeans in 1873, who gave it its name in honor of Sir Henry Ayers who was the Chief Secretary of South Australia at the time. The Aborigines call the landmark “Uluru”, which is the more accepted name these days.

19 Game response that means no : GO FISH

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

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

23 Sell : HAWK

The verb “to hawk” has a Germanic origin, and comes from the Low German word “hoken” meaning “to peddle”. A hawker is actually slightly different from a peddler by definition, as a hawker is a peddler that uses a horse and cart, or a van nowadays perhaps, to sell his or her wares.

25 Disquiet : AGITA

“Agita” is another name for “acid indigestion”, and more generally for “agitation, anxiety”.

27 Oscar winner Kazan : ELIA

Elia Kazan won Oscars for best director in 1948 for “Gentleman’s Agreement” and in 1955 for “On The Waterfront”. In 1999 Kazan was given an Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also directed “East of Eden”, which introduced James Dean to movie audiences, and “Splendor in the Grass” that included Warren Beatty in his debut role.

28 Valentine’s Day buys : VASES

Saint Valentine’s Day was introduced by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD to honor various martyrs with the name Valentine. However, the saint’s day was dropped by the Roman Catholic church in 1969, by Pope Paul VI. Try telling that to Hallmark though …

34 Wannabe : POSEUR

“Poseur” is a French word that we absorbed into English in the mid-1800s to describe someone who pretends to be what he or she is not. The root French verb “poser” means “to affect an attitude or pose”.

45 Tests graded on a scale of 1 to 5: Abbr. : APS

The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers college-level courses to kids who are still in high school. After being tested at the end of an AP course, successful students receive credits that count towards a college degree.

50 Maine college town : ORONO

The town of Orono is home to the University of Maine that was founded in 1862. The college is actually located on an island (Marsh island) lying between the Penobscot and Stillwater rivers. The town of Orono is named after Joseph Orono, a chief of the Penobscot Nation. The school’s athletic teams are named the Maine Black Bears.

56 Winnipeg NHLers : JETS

Winnipeg’s professional hockey team is the Winnipeg Jets. The team was founded as the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999 and relocated to the Manitoba city in 2011. The new team name was chosen in honor of Winnipeg’s former professional hockey team called the Jets, a franchise that was founded in the city in 1972 but relocated to become the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996.

59 Texter’s “But … ” : OTOH …

On the other hand (OTOH)

64 Connecticut college town : FAIRFIELD

The town of Fairfield, Connecticut is home to a pair of colleges, both of which are private Roman Catholic schools. Fairfield University is a Jesuit school that was founded in 1942. Sacred Heart University was founded in 1963.

66 “My name is … ” site : ID TAG

Identity document (ID)

68 LAX abbr. : ETD

Estimated time of departure (ETD)

Los Angeles International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and the busiest here on the West Coast of the US. The airport was opened in 1930 as Mines Field and was renamed to Los Angeles Airport in 1941. On the airport property is the iconic white structure that resembles a flying saucer. This is called the Theme Building and I believe it is mainly used as a restaurant and observation deck for the public. The airport used to be identified by the letters “LA”, but when the aviation industry went to a three-letter standard for airport identification, this was changed to “LAX”. Apparently, the “X” has no significant meaning.

70 Disney’s “Moana” was translated into it : MAORI

The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. They are eastern Polynesian in origin and began arriving in New Zealand relatively recently, starting some time in the late 13th century. The word “māori” simply means “normal”, distinguishing mortal humans from spiritual entities. The Māori refer to New Zealand as “Aotearoa”.

“Moana” is a 2016 animated feature film and the 56th animated Disney movie. The title character is the daughter of a Polynesian chief who heads off in search of the demigod Maui, hoping that he can save her people.

71 __ gratias : DEO

The phrase “Deo gratias”, meaning “Thanks be to God”, is heard repeatedly during the Latin Mass in the Roman Catholic faith.

72 Second opening? : NANO-

“Nanosecond” is more correctly abbreviated to “ns” (as opposed to “nsec”) and really is a tiny amount of time: one billionth of a second.

73 Flanders et al. : NEDS

Ned Flanders lives next door to Homer Simpson on TV’s “The Simpsons”. Ned is voiced by actor Harry Shearer, and has been around since the very first episode aired in 1989.

Down

2 “Electric __”: 1984 dance-pop song : BOOGALOO

“Electric Boogaloo” is a song recorded in 1984 by duo Ollie & Jerry (Ollie E. Brown and Jerry Knight). The title is a reference to the electric boogaloo dance style that originated in the seventies.

3 Sprays from cans : AEROSOLS

Strictly speaking, the term “aerosol” defines a suspension of either liquid droplets or solid particles in a gas. A good example of an aerosol is smoke. We tend to use the “aerosol” to describe what comes out of a spray can, even though the liquid droplets usually fall out of the gas and don’t stay suspended.

6 Salchow support : ICE SKATE

The salchow jump in figure skating is named for Swedish skater Ulrich Salchow, who invented the move.

7 “Waitress” composer Bareilles : SARA

Sara Bareilles achieved success with her 2007 “Love Song” with the help of the iTunes online store. In one week in June of that year, iTunes offered the song as “free single of the week” and it quickly became the most downloaded song in the store, and from there climbed to the number spot in the charts.

“Waitress” is a 2015 musical by Sara Bareilles that is based on a 2007 movie of the same name starring Keri Russell in the title role. Both stage show and film are about a waitress and pie chef who is in an unhappy marriage, and who becomes pregnant. Feeling trapped, she sees a pie contest and its grand prize as her way out of her failed marriage.

8 “The Planets” composer Holst : GUSTAV

Despite the Scandinavian-sounding name, Gustav Holst was born in Britain and was the most English of classical composers. His most famous work is the orchestral suite known as ‘The Planets”. The suite has seven movements, one for each of the planets known at the time (1914-1916) except Earth. Pluto was discovered during Holst’s lifetime, but decades after he had completed his masterpiece. Anyway, Pluto was relegated from the league of planets …

11 Winery fixture : OAK CASK

Oak barrels are sometimes used to store wine during fermentation and aging. The oak wood has a profound effect, usually changing the wine’s color, flavor and texture. If the wine is stored in stainless steel barrels, then a similar effect can be achieved by adding oak chips or staves to the liquid.

13 Outdoorsy retailer : REI

REI is a sporting goods store, with the initialism standing for Recreational Equipment Inc. REI was founded in Seattle by Lloyd and Mary Anderson in 1938 as a cooperative that supplies quality climbing gear to outdoor enthusiasts. The first full-time employee hired by the Andersons was Jim Whittaker, who was the first American to climb Mount Everest.

14 Island thanks : MAHALO

In Hawaiian, “mahalo” means “thank you” and “mahalo nui loa” translates as “thank you very much”.

18 Baltic capital : RIGA

Riga is the capital city of Latvia. The historical center of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of the city’s magnificent examples of Art Nouveau architecture.

20 “__ Walks in Beauty”: Byron poem : SHE

“She Walks in Beauty” is one of the most famous poems written by Lord Byron. The poem is very descriptive of an elegant and beautiful woman. He wrote it the day after seeing his cousin, who was in mourning, walking by in a black dress set with spangles. The opening lines are:

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies

22 Car ad fig. : MSRP

Manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP)

24 Jackpot, e.g., and a hint to completing four puzzle answers : WINDFALL

A windfall is a piece of good fortune, like a piece of fruit that has fallen from the tree when the wind blows.

30 __ generis : SUI

“Sui generis” is a Latin expression meaning “of its own kind”. The term can be used in a number of fields, and in philosophy it refers to an idea which cannot be included in a wider concept, and idea of its own kind.

32 Western treaty gp. : OAS

The Organization of American States (OAS) was founded in 1948, and has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Not all of the independent states in the Americas are members. Cuba was barred from participation in the organization after a vote in 1962. Honduras had her membership suspended after the country’s 2009 coup.

37 Daft Punk, for one : DUO

Daft Punk is an electronic music duo from Paris, France.

38 Shoe brand first made for an NBA star : AIR JORDAN

Air Jordan is a Nike brand of shoe (and other apparel), endorsed by NBA great Michael Jordan. The silhouette of a basketball player that features on Air Jordans is known as the “jumpman” logo.

44 Sumptuous : POSH

No one really knows the etymology of the word “posh”. The popular myth that “posh” is actually an acronym standing for “port out, starboard home” is completely untrue, and is a story that can actually be traced back to the 1968 movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. The myth is that wealthy British passengers travelling to and from India would book cabins on the port side for the outward journey and the starboard side for the home journey. This trick was supposedly designed to keep their cabins out of the direct sunlight.

45 Allergy medicine discontinued in the U.S. : ACTIFED

Actifed is a medication (now discontinued in the US) that combines an antihistamine with a nasal decongestant. Famously, the drug was included in the medical kits used by the Apollo astronauts. Our marketing friends jumped on the opportunity to hire former astronauts to appear in Actifed advertising.

49 Money symbolized by a stylized L : POUNDS

The official name of the currency of the UK is the pound sterling (plural “pounds sterling”). The most plausible suggestion for the etymology of the term “sterling” is that it derives from the Old English “steorra” meaning “star”, with the diminutive “-ling”. The resulting “little star” or “sterling” referred to a silver penny used by the English Normans. The pound sterling is the world’s oldest currency still in use.

52 Crude dude : BOOR

Back in the early 1500s, a boor was a rustic person, a peasant farmer, someone associated with the countryside. The term “boor” ultimately comes from the Latin “bos” meaning “cow, ox”. By the mid-1500s, someone described as boorish was considered rude in manner, which is our usage today.

53 Northern seabird : PUFFIN

Puffins are seabirds that are found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. They feed primarily by diving into the water to catch fish, and are known for their ability to swim underwater using a “flying” technique.

61 John/Rice musical : AIDA

The rock musical “Aida” is based on Giuseppe Verdi’s original opera. It premiered in 1998 and is still performed today. Music is by Elton John and lyrics are by Tim Rice.

65 Southeast Asian language : LAO

Lao, the language of Laos, does not use spaces between words (or periods!), although this is apparently changing. Spaces are used between sentences and clauses.

67 PFCs, e.g. : GIS

The initialism “GI” stands for “Government Issue”, and not “General Infantry” as is widely believed. “GI” was first used in the military to denote equipment made from Galvanized Iron and during WWI, incoming German shells were nicknamed “GI cans”. Soon after, the term GI came to be associated with “Government Issue” and eventually became an adjective to describe anything associated with the Army.

Private First Class (PFC)