LA Times Crossword 12 Jun 20, Friday

Bill’s time: 18m 22s!

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Like some firs : NOBLE

The noble fir is also known as red fir, and even “Christmastree” as it is a popular choice for decoration during the December holiday.

10 After-school treat : MALT

Walgreens claims to have introduced the malted milkshake, back in 1922.

14 Actress Anderson : LONI

Loni Anderson’s best-remembered role is Jennifer Marlowe on the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati”. Anderson has been married four times, most famously to actor Burt Reynolds from 1988 to 1993.

16 Cooking acronym popularized by Rachael Ray : EVOO

Virgin olive oil is oil produced from olives with no chemical treatment involved in the production process at all. To be labelled “virgin”, the oil must have an acidity level of less than 2% and must be judged to have “a good taste”. Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) comes from virgin oil production, and is the portion with acidity levels of less than 0.8% acidity that is judged to have “superior taste”.

17 Emulates Ogden Nash? : MINTS WORDS (from “mince words”)

Ogden Nash was a poet well known for his light and humorous verse, such as:

Candy
Is dandy
But liquor
Is quicker

Parsley
Is gharsley

The verb “to mince” can mean “to make light of”, and more specifically “to criticize using polite language”. William Shakespeare used the term in such a sense in a couple of his plays, although the derivative expression “mince words” was first used in print in Benjamin Disraeli’s first novel “Vivian Grey”, published in 1826:

Your Lordship’s heart is very warm in the cause of a party, which, for I will not mince my words, has betrayed you.

So, to mince words is to moderate one’s language while still giving criticism. The related phrase “minced oath” describes a euphemistic phrase used to replace a more profane phrase, e.g. “gosh” for “God”, “heck” for “hell”.

21 Student of Graham : AILEY

Alvin Ailey was a dancer who formed his own troupe in New York in 1958, naming it “the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater”. The most famous work that Ailey choreographed was called “Revelations”. President Barack Obama awarded Ailey the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously in 2014.

Martha Graham was a much-respected modern dancer and choreographer from Pittsburgh. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976 by President Gerald Ford. In fact, First Lady Betty Ford had studied dance with Martha Graham in New York City in the 1930s.

25 Ones working with maître d’s : GARCONS

The term “garçon” is still sometimes used in French to describe a waiter, as it is an abbreviated form of the more complete “garçon de café” (meaning “café boy”). My sense is that older Francophones might still use the term, but it has fallen out of favor for obvious reasons. It is considered extremely rude to attempt to attract the attention of male waiter by shouting out “Garçon!” A polite “S’il vous plait, monsieur!” is much more appropriate.

30 Word on a dipstick : ADD

One form of measuring dipstick is used to measure the level of oil in an internal combustion engine.

31 Country singer Blake who’s a coach on “The Voice” : SHELTON

Blake Shelton is a country singer who is also known as a coach on the reality show “The Voice”. Shelton also served as a judge on the shows “Nashville Star” and “Clash of the Choirs”.

“The Voice” is yet another reality television show. It is a singing competition in which the judges hear the contestants without seeing them in the first round. The judges then take on chosen contestants as coaches for the remaining rounds. “The Voice” is a highly successful worldwide franchise that originated in the Netherlands as “The Voice of Holland”.

35 Want ad initials : EEO

“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

43 Slip in a pot : IOU

I owe you (IOU)

51 Kooky : WEIRD

“Kooky” is a slang word meaning “out there, crazy”. The term has been around since the beatnik era, and it may be a shortened version of the word “cuckoo”.

53 Gifford’s successor on “Live!” : RIPA

When Kelly Ripa secured the co-host spot on morning television with Regis Philbin, she was still acting in “All My Children” in a role she had been playing for over ten years. After a year of holding down two jobs, she eventually gave up the acting gig. Ripa has acted as spokeswoman for several brands over the years, including Electrolux and Rykä.

Kathie Lee Gifford is most famous for working alongside Regis Philbin on the talk show “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee”, in a stint that lasted for about 15 years.

54 Tracks on a lily pad? : FROG PRINTS (from “Frog Prince”)

“The Frog Prince” is a fairy tale about a princess and her encounter with a frog who magically turns into a prince. In the version that is most common today, the prince appears when the princess kisses the frog. In the original Brothers Grimm version of the tale, the transformation takes place when the princess throws a gold ball against a wall in disgust at seeing the frog. In even earlier versions of the tale, the frog changes into the prince when it is allowed to spend a night on the princess’s pillow.

59 Rep on the street : CRED

“Street cred” is slang for “street credibility”, of which I have none …

60 Deck with a Hanged Man : TAROT

Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future. The list of tarot cards includes the Wheel of Fortune, the Hanged Man and the Lovers.

61 Duck that lends its name to a color : TEAL

The beautiful color teal takes its name from the duck called a teal, which has dark greenish-blue (teal) markings on its head and wings.

Down

1 West __: upscale store : ELM

West Elm is an upscale furniture store that is owned by Williams-Sonoma. The chain was founded in 2002.

2 “Who, me?” : MOI?

“Moi” is the French word for “me”. One might say “Moi?” when feigning innocence.

4 Some church contributions : TITHES

Traditionally, a tithe is a payment of one tenth of a person’s annual income and is usually given to a church. Tithing is a practice taught in many traditions, and according to a 2002 survey, about 3% of American adults donate 10% or more of their income to a church.

5 Units of force : NEWTONS

Newtons are units of force. The newton is named for Sir Isaac Newton, the English physicist and mathematician.

6 Chiwere-speaking native : OTOE

Chiwere is a Siouan language spoken by the Otoe people, as well as by the Missouria and Iowa.

9 Yellow pair? : ELS

There is a pair of letters L (el) in the word “yellow”.

11 Toyota model : AVALON

The Avalon is a large sedan that has been produced by Toyota in Georgetown, Kentucky since 1994. “Avalon” was the name of an island featured in Arthurian legend, the place where the sword Excalibur was forged.

13 Tommy Tune’s ten : TONYS

Tommy Tune is an actor, dancer and director from Texas who was at the height of his fame in the late sixties and seventies.

The Tony Awards are more completely referred to as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Broadway Theatre. The awards are named for Mary Antoinette “Tony” Perry, who was a co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.

18 One-named Nigerian singer : SADE

Singer Sade’s real name is Helen Folasade Adu. Although born in Nigeria, Sade grew up and lives in the UK. She was the lead vocalist for the English group Sade, and adopted the name of the band. The band’s biggest hits were “Smooth Operator” (1984) and “The Sweetest Taboo” (1985).

22 WWII supply referred to as “meatloaf without basic training” : SPAM

Spam is a precooked meat product that is sold in cans. It was introduced by Hormel Foods in 1937. The main meat ingredients are pork shoulder meat and ham. The name “Spam” was chosen as the result of a competition at Hormel, with the winner earning himself a hundred dollars. According to the company, the derivation of the name “Spam” is a secret known by only a few former executives, but the speculation is that it stands for “spiced ham” or “shoulders of pork and ham”. Spam is particularly popular in Hawaii, so popular that it is sometimes referred to as “the Hawaiian steak”.

23 Pakistani tongue : URDU

Urdu is one of the two official languages of Pakistan (the other being English), and is one of the 22 scheduled languages in India. Urdu partly developed from Persian and is written from right to left.

25 Prepare for a Hail Mary : GO LONG

A Hail Mary pass (also called “the long bomb”) is a desperation move in American football in which a long pass is thrown with very little chance of success, right at the end of a game or at the end of a half. The term dates back to the thirties, and was probably first used at Notre Dame. The “Hail Mary” is a prayer in the Christian tradition that is of particular significance Roman Catholicism.

33 Nickname in late 20th-century British politics : IRON LADY

Margaret Thatcher served as Prime Minister of the UK from 1979 to 1990, making her the longest serving leader of the country in the 20th century, and the first woman to hold the office. Thatcher’s nickname in the press was the “Iron Lady”, a moniker bestowed on her by a Soviet journalist. The “Iron Lady” was born Margaret Hilda Roberts, the daughter of a grocer. She studied chemistry at Oxford University and worked for a while as a research chemist.

38 Schlep : TOTE

Our word “schlep” (sometimes “schlepp”) means “carry, drag”. “Schlep” comes from Yiddish, with “shlepen” having the same meaning.

41 TGIF part : IT’S

“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF) is a relatively new expression that apparently originated in Akron, Ohio. It was a catchphrase used first by disk jockey Jerry Healy of WAKR in the early seventies. That said, one blog reader wrote to me to say that he had been using the phrase in the fifties.

42 Libretto cousins : SCRIPTS

A libretto can be the book that contains the text of a dramatic musical work, with the text itself also being called the libretto.

44 “On Language” columnist : SAFIRE

William Safire was a syndicated columnist for “The New York Times”. Safire also worked for the Nixon election campaigns in 1960 and 1968, and was a speechwriter for both Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.

46 München mister : HERR

In German, a “Herr” (Mr.) is married to a “Frau” (Mrs.), and they live together in a “Haus” (house).

Munich is the capital of the German state of Bavaria, and is the third largest city in the country (after Berlin and Hamburg). The city is called “München” in German, a term that derives from the Old German word for “by the monks’ place”, which is a reference to the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city in 1158.

51 St.-John’s-__ : WORT

St. John’s wort is a herb that is used by some as a treatment for depression. Extracts are available as over-the-counter purchases here in the US, but back in my homeland of Ireland, one needs a prescription.

52 Showbiz award “grand slam” : EGOT

The acronym “EGOT” stands for “Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony”, and is a reference to performers who have won all four awards. Also known as the “Showbiz Award Grand Slam”, there are relatively few individuals who have been so honored. The first five to do so were:

1. Richard Rodgers in 1962
2. Helen Hayes in 1977
3. Rita Moreno in 1977
4. John Gielgud in 1991
5. Audrey Hepburn in 1994 (posthumously)

54 Uploading letters : FTP

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a standard protocol used when transferring files between computers on a network.

55 India-born author Santha Rama __ : RAU

Santha Rama Rau was a travel writer from India who lived much of her life in the US. As well as writing her own books, Rau also adapted the E. M. Forster novel “A Passage to India” for the stage.

56 Originally : NEE

“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”. The term “née” is mainly used in English when referring to a married woman’s birth name, assuming that she has adopted her husband’s name, e.g. Michelle Obama née Robinson, and Melania Trump née Knavs.