LA Times Crossword 8 Jul 20, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Margit Christenson
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: A Long Leash

Themed answers each include the letters L-E-A-S-H stretched throughout:

  • 59A Lots of freedom, as illustrated in each set of circles : A LONG LEASH
  • 17A “Horsefeathers!” : BALDERDASH
  • 27A Imbibes to excess : DRINKS LIKE A FISH
  • 45A Wee-hours program with James Corden : THE LATE LATE SHOW

Bill’s time: 5m 20s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 Bunyan’s blue ox : BABE

Paul Bunyan is a character of American myth. He is a skilled lumberjack, and has a sidekick called Babe the Blue Ox. Both Bunyan and Babe are gigantic in size.

10 Questlove hairdo : AFRO

“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”.

15 “Jeopardy!” host Trebek : ALEX

Alex Trebek has been the host of “Jeopardy!” since the syndicated version of the game show launched in 1984. Trebek has missed just one episode since then, when he and host of “Wheel of Fortune” Pat Sajak swapped roles in 1997 as an April Fool’s joke. In 2014, Trebek picked up the Guinness World Record for hosting the most episodes of a game show.

17 “Horsefeathers!” : BALDERDASH

“Balderdash” means “senseless jumble of words”. The original balderdash (back before the late 1600s) was a jumbled mix of liquids like maybe beer and wine, or even beer and milk!

“Horsefeathers” is probably a euphemism for a similar word that’s a little more crude. The term is said to have been coined by cartoonist Billy DeBeck in 1928. DeBeck’s most famous strip is called “Barney Google”.

20 One-celled creature : AMOEBA

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.

26 Air traffic branch of the DOT : FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was set up in 1958 (as the Federal Aviation Agency). The agency was established at that particular time largely in response to an increasing number of midair collisions. The worst of these disasters had taken place two years earlier over the Grand Canyon, a crash between two commercial passenger airplanes that resulted in 128 fatalities.

President Woodrow Wilson was the first to propose a Department of Transportation (DOT), in 1921. However, the transportation was not elevated to cabinet-level until 1966, while Lyndon B. Johnson was president.

27 Imbibes to excess : DRINKS LIKE A FISH

To imbibe is a drink or take in. The verb “to imbibe” ultimately comes from the Latin “in-” (into, in) and “bibere” (to drink).

32 Actress Chaplin : OONA

Oona Chaplin is an actress from Madrid in Spain. Chaplin got a lot of airtime while playing Talisa Maegyr on HBO’s hit fantasy series “Game of Thrones”. Oona is the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, and is named for her maternal grandmother Oona O’Neill, the daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill.

33 Instrument from the French for “high wood” : OBOE

The oboe is perhaps my favorite of the reed instruments. The name “oboe” comes from the French “hautbois” which means “high wood”.

34 Cal. column : MON

We have seven days in a week because there are seven classical planets in the Solar System. The days were named for these “planets” during the Roman era:

  • Sun (Sunday)
  • Moon (Monday)
  • Mars (Tuesday)
  • Mercury (Wednesday)
  • Jupiter (Thursday)
  • Venus (Friday)
  • Saturn (Saturday)

35 Sea debris : JETSAM

“Flotsam” and “jetsam” are both terms used to describe garbage in the ocean. Flotsam is floating wreckage from a ship or its cargo. Jetsam is similar to flotsam, except that it is part of a ship or cargo that is deliberately cast overboard, perhaps to lighten a vessel.

40 Boater or bowler : HAT

A boater is a straw hat often associated with boating, hence the name.

I think that a bowler hat is usually called a derby here in the US. The bowler was first produced in 1849 in London by hatmakers Thomas and William Bowler, hence the name. The alternative name of “derby” comes from the tradition of wearing bowler hats at the Derby horse race (a major race held annually in England).

41 Sleeper agent : MOLE

A mole is a spy who works from within the ranks of an enemy’s government of intelligence service. The use of “mole” took off after the publication of John Le Carré’s 1974 novel “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”. The author was himself a former intelligence officer and asserts that “mole” was a term used by the KGB, whereas Western agencies used the term “sleeper agent”.

44 Org. that collects workplace injury data : OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

45 Wee-hours program with James Corden : THE LATE LATE SHOW

“The Late Late Show” is a late-night (actually “early morning”) talk show aired by CBS. The show is produced by Worldwide Pants Incorporated, the production company owned by David Letterman. “The Late Late Show” debuted in 1995 with Tom Snyder hosting. My favorite host was the very funny Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson came to the attention of the American viewing audience playing the office boss, Nigel Wick, on “The Drew Carey Show”.

James Corden is an English actor and comedian who is best known in the US as the host of “The Late Late Show”, a talk show for which he took the helm in 2015. Prior to establishing his career on this side of the Atlantic, Corden was quite the celebrity in Britain and Ireland. He appeared in the sitcom “Gavin & Stacey” (great show), which he also co-wrote. He also hosted the comedy-sports panel show “A League of Their Own” (also great).

51 Treatise on verse : POETICS

“Poetics” is a treatise on literary theory by the Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle. It is the oldest known such work.

53 Confession about the last piece of cake : I ATE IT

Yer darn tootin’ …!

58 Fencing sword : EPEE

There are three fencing events in the modern Olympics, with each distinguished by the weapon used:

  • Foil
  • Épée
  • Sabre

62 Alan of “M*A*S*H” : ALDA

Hawkeye Pierce is the lead character in the “M*A*S*H” novel, movie and TV series. Hawkeye was originally portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the film, and then by Alan Alda in the television show. Pierce is the only character appearing in all 250 episodes of the groundbreaking TV series.

63 Head of France : TETE

In French, Marie Antoinette lost her “tête” (head) in “la Révolution française” (the French Revolution).

64 App with pics, familiarly : INSTA

Instagram (often abbreviated to “Insta”) is a photo-sharing application, one that is extremely popular. Instagram started in San Francisco in 2010. Facebook purchased Instagram two years later, paying $1 billion. The billion-dollar Instagram company had just 13 employees at the time of the sale …

66 Canadian gas : ESSO

The Esso brand has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

67 Early fur trader : ASTOR

John Jacob Astor was the patriarch of the famous American Astor dynasty. He was the country’s first multi-millionaire, making his fortune in the trade of fur, real estate and opium. In today’s terms, it has been calculated that by the time of his death he has accumulated a fortune big enough to make him the fourth wealthiest man in American history (in the company of the likes of Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Bill Gates, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller).

Down

1 Org. with the Sun, Storm and Sky : WNBA

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) includes the Connecticut Sun, San Antonio Stars, Seattle Storm and the Chicago Sky.

3 “Life is short” initialism : YOLO

You only live once (YOLO)

4 “The Neverending Story” author : ENDE

Michael Ende was a children’s author from Germany. His most famous novel is the fantasy work titled “The Neverending Story”, first published in 1979.

5 Adidas subsidiary : REEBOK

The brand name Reebok was adopted as the new company name for Foster Shoes of the UK in 1960. The name Reebok (more commonly “Rhebok”) is an Afrikaans word for an antelope, and comes from the term “roe buck”.

The Adidas brand dates back to when Adolf “Adi” Dassler started making his own sports shoes in his mother’s laundry room in Bavaria after returning from WWI. With his brother, Adi founded Dassler shoes. The company’s big break came in 1936 at the Berlin Olympics, when Adi persuaded American sprinter Jesse Owens to use his shoes, and with the success of Jesse Owens came success for the fledgling shoe company. After WWII the brothers split, acrimoniously. Adi’s brother, Ru-dolf Da-ssler, formed “Ruda” shoes (later to become Puma), and Adi Das-sler formed “Adidas”.

7 Chicken __ king : A LA

A dish prepared “à la king” (usually chicken or turkey), is prepared in a cream sauce with mushrooms, pimentos, green peppers and sherry.

8 Custom-made : BESPOKE

The adjective “bespoke”, meaning “custom-made”, has for centuries been mainly used with reference to tailoring, as in a “bespoke” suit.

10 Have __ in one’s bonnet : A BEE

To have a bee in one’s bonnet is to be preoccupied with an idea. An earlier and related phrase is “to have bees in one’s head”.

12 Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer : RASTAS

I must admit that I don’t really know much about Rastafarianism. I do know that a “Rasta”, such as Bob Marley, is a follower of the movement. Some say that Rastafarianism is a religion, some not. I also know that it involves the worship of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.

Bob Marley was the most widely-known reggae performer, with big hits such as “I Shot the Sheriff”, “No Woman, No Cry” and “One Love”. A little sadly perhaps, Marley’s best-selling album was released three years after he died. That album would be the “legendary” album called “Legend”.

Singer/songwriter Bunny Wailer was one of the original members of the Wailers, along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Bunny Wailer (then “Neville Livingston”) was friends with Bob Marley from the days that they both were toddlers in the village of Nine Mile in Jamaica.

22 Peruvian pack animal : LLAMA

Many female mammals lick off their newborn. That’s not an option for llamas as their tongues only reach out of their mouths about half an inch. Instead, llama dams nuzzle their young and hum to them.

24 Neighbor of Greece: Abbr. : ALB

The Republic of Albania is a country in the Balkans in southeastern Europe. Albania was made a communist state after WWII but became independent again with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. Albania has been a member of NATO since 2009, and was accepted as an official candidate to join the European Union in 2014. The nation’s capital and largest city is Tirana.

25 2016 Olympics city : RIO

Even though the 2016 Olympic Games was a summer competition, it was held in Rio de Janeiro in winter. As Rio is in the southern hemisphere, the opening ceremony on 5th August 2016 fell in the local winter season. The 2016 games was also the first to be held in South America, and the first to be hosted by a Portuguese-speaking country.

27 Attorney General’s org. : DOJ

Attorneys General (AGs) head up the Department of Justice (DOJ). When the office of the Attorney General was created in 1789 it was a part-time job, with no departmental support. The Department of Justice came into being in 1870.

28 __ v. Wade : ROE

Roe v. Wade was decided in a US District Court in Texas in 1970, and reached the Supreme Court on appeal. The basic decision by the Supreme Court was that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy applied to an abortion, but that this right had to be balanced with a state’s interest in protecting an unborn child and a mother’s health. The Court further defined that the state’s interest became stronger with each trimester of a pregnancy. So, in the first trimester the woman’s right to privacy outweighed any state interest. In the second trimester the state’s interest in maternal health was deemed to be strong enough to allow state regulation of abortion for the sake of the mother. In the third trimester the viability of the fetus dictated that the state’s interest in the unborn child came into play, so states could regulate or prohibit abortions, except in cases where the mother’s life was in danger. I’m no lawyer, but that’s my understanding of the initial Supreme Court decision …

29 Overwhelmed with diner orders, as a servant : IN THE WEEDS

To be in the weeds is to be tied up in the details about something. The phrase “in the weeds” is also used as restaurant slang to describe a server who is overwhelmed with diners’ orders.

30 Like Fran Drescher’s voice : NASAL

Fran Drescher’s real name is Francine Jane Drescher. She is a comedian and comic actress best known for playing Fran Fine on the sitcom “The Nanny”. Fran was born in Queens, New York (go figure!). Her big break came with a small role, but in a huge movie. You might recall in “Saturday Night Fever” that John Travolta was asked by a pretty dancer, “Are you as good in bed as you are on the dance floor?” Well, that young lady was Fran Drescher.

36 Pong game maker : ATARI

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

41 The first “M” in the MMR vaccine : MEASLES

The MMR vaccine protects against three diseases, namely measles (M), mumps (M) and rubella (R).

43 Philosopher __-tzu : LAO

Lao Tse (also “Lao-Tzu”) was a central figure in the development of the religion/philosophy of Taoism. Tradition holds that Lao-Tzu wrote the “Tao Te Ching”, a classical Chinese text that is fundamental to the philosophy of Taoism.

45 Ambitious, outgoing sorts : TYPE AS

The Type A and Type B personality theory originated in the fifties. Back then, individuals were labelled as Type A in order to emphasize a perceived increased risk of heart disease. Type A personality types are so-called “stress junkies”, whereas Type B types are relaxed and laid back. But there doesn’t seem to be much scientific evidence to support the linkage between the Type A personality and heart problems.

46 Hubbub : HOOPLA

The word “hoopla” means “boisterous excitement”. The term probably comes from “houp-là”, something the French say instead of “upsy-daisy”. Then again, “upsy-daisy” probably isn’t something said very often here in the US …

47 Beer named for a Baja city : TECATE

Tecate is a Mexican beer that takes its name from the city of Tecate in Baja California. Tecate is a brand produced by Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery, along with beers such as Dos Equis, Bohemia and Carta Blanca.

48 Latin “and others” : ET ALIA

“Et alii” (et al.) is the equivalent of “et cetera” (etc.), with “et cetera” being used in place of a list of objects, and “et alii” used for a list of names. In fact, “et al.” can stand for “et alii” (a group of males, or males and females), “et aliae” (a group of women) and “et alia” (a group of neuter nouns, or a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).

52 High times? : TEAS

Especially in the UK, high tea is a major meal served in the late afternoon or early evening. Said meal should of course include a pot of tea!

54 Change for a twenty, maybe : TENS

The obverse of the US ten-dollar bill features the image of Alexander Hamilton, the first US Secretary of the Treasury. As such, ten-dollar bills are sometimes called “Hamiltons”. By the way, the $10 bill is the only US currency in circulation in which the portrait faces to the left. The reverse of the ten-dollar bill features the US Treasury Building.

57 “__ she blows!” : THAR

“Thar she blows!” is a phrase that originated on whaling ships. A lookout spotting a whale surfacing to breathe might see the spray from the blowhole caused by the expulsion of carbon dioxide. Thar (there) she blows!

60 Tie-breakers: Abbr. : OTS

Overtime (OT)

61 Classical prefix : NEO-

Neoclassicism is a movement in the field of music, art or perhaps architecture, one that draws on the classical art of ancient Greece or ancient Rome.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 More ironic, as a smile : WRYER
6 Bunyan’s blue ox : BABE
10 Questlove hairdo : AFRO
14 “… said __ ever” : NO ONE
15 “Jeopardy!” host Trebek : ALEX
16 Dull : BLAH
17 “Horsefeathers!” : BALDERDASH
19 “Piece of cake!” : EASY!
20 One-celled creature : AMOEBA
21 Artist’s paint holder : PALETTE
23 Having prolonged success : ON A ROLL
26 Air traffic branch of the DOT : FAA
27 Imbibes to excess : DRINKS LIKE A FISH
32 Actress Chaplin : OONA
33 Instrument from the French for “high wood” : OBOE
34 Cal. column : MON
35 Sea debris : JETSAM
37 Eateries’ outdoor seating areas : PATIOS
40 Boater or bowler : HAT
41 Sleeper agent : MOLE
44 Org. that collects workplace injury data : OSHA
45 Wee-hours program with James Corden : THE LATE LATE SHOW
49 “Ouch!” : YOW!
50 Take up again : READOPT
51 Treatise on verse : POETICS
53 Confession about the last piece of cake : I ATE IT
58 Fencing sword : EPEE
59 Lots of freedom, as illustrated in each set of circles : A LONG LEASH
62 Alan of “M*A*S*H” : ALDA
63 Head of France : TETE
64 App with pics, familiarly : INSTA
65 Get fresh with : SASS
66 Canadian gas : ESSO
67 Early fur trader : ASTOR

Down

1 Org. with the Sun, Storm and Sky : WNBA
2 Go here and there : ROAM
3 “Life is short” initialism : YOLO
4 “The Neverending Story” author : ENDE
5 Adidas subsidiary : REEBOK
6 Word that oddly can mean “good” in slang : BAD
7 Chicken __ king : A LA
8 Custom-made : BESPOKE
9 Sigh, say : EXHALE
10 Have __ in one’s bonnet : A BEE
11 Common paint choice for ceilings : FLAT FINISH
12 Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer : RASTAS
13 “I remember now” : OH YEAH
18 Kidnapper’s demand : RANSOM
22 Peruvian pack animal : LLAMA
24 Neighbor of Greece: Abbr. : ALB
25 2016 Olympics city : RIO
27 Attorney General’s org. : DOJ
28 __ v. Wade : ROE
29 Overwhelmed with diner orders, as a servant : IN THE WEEDS
30 Like Fran Drescher’s voice : NASAL
31 Pics : FOTOS
36 Pong game maker : ATARI
37 Domesticated farm squealer : PET PIG
38 “What have we here?!” : OHO?!
39 Carpenter’s tool : SAW
41 The first “M” in the MMR vaccine : MEASLES
42 Same __ story : OLD
43 Philosopher __-tzu : LAO
45 Ambitious, outgoing sorts : TYPE AS
46 Hubbub : HOOPLA
47 Beer named for a Baja city : TECATE
48 Latin “and others” : ET ALIA
52 High times? : TEAS
54 Change for a twenty, maybe : TENS
55 Toward sunrise : EAST
56 Analogy words : … IS TO …
57 “__ she blows!” : THAR
60 Tie-breakers: Abbr. : OTS
61 Classical prefix : NEO-