LA Times Crossword 15 Aug 20, Saturday

Bill’s time: 15m 13s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Sony videocassette brand developed in 1982 : BETACAM

Betacam is a range of video cassette products that was released by Sony starting in 1982.

13 Wide-brimmed hat : SOMBRERO

In English we think of a sombrero as a wide-brimmed hat, but in Spanish “sombrero” is the word for any hat. “Sombrero” is derived from “sombra” meaning “shade”.

14 Plunder : BOOTY

“Booty”, meaning “plunder, profit”, is derived from the Old French word “butin” that has the same meaning.

17 “Out of the Cellar” rock band : RATT

Ratt is a heavy metal band based in Los Angeles. Ratt was formed out of a San Diego group called Mickey Ratt. Mickey Ratt was named for an underground comic called “Mickey Rat”, which in turn was named as a parody of Mickey Mouse.

19 Last ruler of the Julio-Claudian dynasty : NERO

The Julio-Claudian dynasty comprised five emperors from the families Julii Caesares and Claudii Nerones:

1. Augustus: the first emperor of the Roman Empire
2. Tiberius: the stepson of Augustus
3. Caligula: the nephew, and adopted son, of Tiberius
4. Claudius: the uncle of Caligula
5. Nero: the great-nephew of Claudius

20 Organisms that move via pseudopodia : AMOEBAS

A pseudopod is a projection of a cell’s membrane that develops to facilitate the cell’s movement. Amoebae use this type of movement.

23 Sporty Audis : TTS

The TT is a 2-door sports car that Audi introduced to the market in 1998. The “TT” name comes from the Isle of Man TT motorcycle race. In turn, the abbreviation “TT” used in the name of the race stands for “Tourist Trophy”.

26 French pointillist : SEURAT

Georges Seurat was a French Post-Impressionist. His most famous work is “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte – 1884”, a work in the pointillist style that can be viewed in the Art Institute of Chicago. If you’ve seen the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, it features quite prominently in a wonderful, wonderful scene shot at the gallery. The painting features ordinary people enjoying a day at a park, and is the inspiration for the 1984 musical by Stephen Sondheim called “Sunday in the Park with George”.

Pointillism is a style of painting that grew out of Impressionism. The pointillist technique calls for the artist to use small, distinct dots of bold color to build up the image. Pointillism was developed in the late 1800s by the great French painter, Georges Seurat. You can go see his magnificent work “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” at The Art Institute of Chicago the next time you’re in town.

27 Cookout options : WEENIES

“Wienie” and “weenie” are informal variants of “wiener”.

What we call a wiener in this country is known as a Vienna sausage in Germany. It was first produced by a butcher from Frankfurt who was living in Vienna, hence the name “Wiener”, which is German for “of Vienna”. Paradoxically, the same sausage is called a Frankfurter in Vienna, as it was created by someone from Frankfurt. It’s all very confusing …

29 Honolulu setting: Abbr. : HST

Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time (HST)

Honolulu is the largest city in Hawaii, and the state capital. Located on the island of Oahu, the name “Honolulu” translates from Hawaiian as “place of shelter, calm port, sheltered bay”.

30 Genre originally called the West Coast Sound : YACHT ROCK

Yacht rock is a genre of soft rock music that originally went by the name “West Coast sound”. The genre covers music created from the mid-seventies to mid-eighties, but the moniker “yacht rock” was only coined in 2005. The term “yacht rock” is a reference to the sport of sailing, which is a popular pastime in Southern California.

32 Gender identity spectrum : NON-BINARY

The non-binary spectrum of gender identities covers those that do not qualify as exclusively masculine or feminine.

33 “I am Iron Man” speaker : TONY STARK

Iron Man is another comic book superhero, this one created by Stan Lee for Marvel Comics. The character is the alter ego of Tony Stark, and has become very famous in recent years since the appearance of the 2008 action movie “Iron Man” starring Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role. Iron Man’s love interest, Pepper Potts, is routinely played by Gwyneth Paltrow in the same series of films.

34 MLB “twin killings” : DPS

Double play (DP)

38 Exclusive MLB cap supplier : NEW ERA

The New Era Cap Company is a headwear manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York. It is New Era that supplies all the official baseball caps used by the Major League teams.

40 Med. insurance plan : HMO

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

42 Wave that maintains its shape and speed through collisions : SOLITON

A soliton (also “solitary wave”) is a special kind of wave that propagates through a medium with very little loss of shape of energy when meeting other waves. For example, a soliton might form in water ahead of a vessel passing through a narrow channel. The phenomenon was first documented by Scottish engineer John Scott Russell in 1834 after observing it in the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal.

43 Swedish pop band : ABBA

I am an unapologetic fan of ABBA’s music. ABBA was the Swedish group who topped the charts in the seventies and eighties. The name ABBA is an acronym formed from the first letters of the given names of each of the band members: Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Anni-Frid. Early in their careers, the four fell in love and formed two married couples: Agnetha and Bjorn, and Benny and Anni-Frid. However, at the height of their success, the relationships became strained and both couples divorced.

45 Peter of reggae : TOSH

Peter Tosh was a musician from Jamaica, a member of the Wailers reggae band. Sadly, Tosh was murdered in a home invasion and extortion attempt in 1987.

48 Alerts about potentially disturbing content : TRIGGER WARNINGS

A trauma trigger is a stimulus that causes a person to recall some prior psychological trauma. The derivative term “trigger warning” describes an alert at the beginning of a work that warns of content that might be upsetting to some readers or viewers.

52 “Elements of Algebra” author : EULER

Leonhard Euler was a brilliant Swiss mathematician and physicist, and a pioneer in the fields of logarithms and graph theory. Euler’s eyesight deteriorated during his working life, and eventually became almost totally blind.

54 Dodger Pee Wee : REESE

Pee Wee Reese was a shortstop who played his professional career with the Brooklyn and LA Dodgers. Reese is remembered not only for his skill on the field, but for his very visible support for teammate Jackie Robinson, who famously struggled to be accepted as the first African-American player in the majors. As he was an outstanding marbles player as a child, Reese was given the nickname “pee wee” after the name for a small marble.

55 Sneaky programs : SPYWARE

Spyware is software that is installed on a computer to gather information without the owner’s knowledge. Nasty stuff …

Down

3 “Full Frontal” network : TBS

Samantha Bee is a comedian from Toronto who found fame as a correspondent on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” starting way back in 2003. Bee left “The Daily Show” in 2015 to host her own late-night talk show “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” on TBS.

4 NL West team, on scoreboards : ARI

The Arizona Diamondbacks (also “D-backs”) joined Major League Baseball’s National League in 1998. By winning the World Series in 2001, the Diamondbacks became the fastest expansion team to do so in Major League history.

5 Pair in a view? : CENTS

To put in one’s two cents is to add one’s opinion. The American expression derives from the older English version, which is “to put in one’s two pennies’ worth”.

6 2012 Affleck thriller : ARGO

“Argo” is a 2012 movie that is based on the true story of the rescue of six diplomats hiding out during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film was directed by and stars Ben Affleck and is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, the same pair who produced the excellent “Good Night, and Good Luck”. I highly recommend “Argo”, although I found the scenes of religious fervor to be very frightening …

Actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck started his career as a child actor in the PBS show “The Voyage of the Mimi”. His big break came with the release of the film “Good Will Hunting” which he co-wrote and co-starred in with his childhood friend Matt Damon. Affleck had a relationship with actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, with the celebrity couple often being referred to as “Bennifer” in the media. He was also married for several years to actress Jennifer Garner, with whom he has three children.

7 Hephaestus’ workshop was said to be under it : MOUNT ETNA

In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was the god of blacksmiths, sculptors, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes. The Roman equivalent of Hephaestus was Vulcan. Given his spheres of influence, it is perhaps not surprising that Hephaestus made all of the weapons for the gods of Olympus.

8 Pilates targets : ABS

Pilates is a physical exercise system developed by, and named for, Joseph Pilates. Pilates introduced his system of exercises in 1883 in Germany.

10 “10” co-star : BO DEREK

Bo Derek’s most famous role was in the comedy film from 1979 titled “10”, in which she starred opposite Dudley Moore. Born Mary Cathleen Collins in Long Beach, California, she started a romantic relationship when she was 16 with actor and director John Derek, who was thirty years her senior. The couple moved to Germany in order to avoid the statutory rape laws in California, eventually returning to the US to marry in 1976, when Cathleen was 20. Around the same time, she changed her name to Bo Derek.

“10” is a fun romantic comedy released in 1979 starring Dudley Moore, Bo Derek and Julie Andrews. Famously, the movie made stars of Moore and Derek, as well as popularizing Maurice Ravel’s marvelous piece of music called “Boléro”.

11 Development site : UTERUS

“Uterus” (plural “uteri”) is the Latin word for “womb”.

12 Last words of Kipling’s “If—” : … MY SON!

Rudyard Kipling wrote his famous poem “If—” in 1895 as a tribute to British colonial military leader Leander Starr Jameson. Kipling writes in the first person, as if he is giving advice to his son. Here’s the final verse:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son.

16 Longtime New Yorker cartoonist : PETER ARNO

Peter Arno was a cartoonist from New York who had his work published mainly in “The New Yorker” magazine from 1925 until he passed away in 1968. Arno’s real name was Curtis Arnoux Peters.

21 Sharp weapon : BAYONET

A bayonet is a blade that is attached to the muzzle end of a rifle. It’s thought that the term “bayonet” derives from the French city of Bayonne in Gascony, where perhaps bayonets were first made.

24 Diving device : SNORKEL

Our word “snorkel” comes from German navy slang “Schnorchel” meaning “nose, snout”. The German slang was applied to an air-shaft used for submarines, due to its resemblance to a nose, in that air passed through it and it made a “snoring” sound. “Schnorchel” comes from “Schnarchen”, the German for “snore”.

31 Longtime Masters TV venue : CBS SPORTS

Golf’s Masters Tournament is the first of the four major championships in the annual calendar, taking place in the first week of April each year. It is played at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, and has a number of traditions. One is that the winner is awarded the famous “green jacket”, but he only gets to keep it for a year and must return it to the club after twelve months.

32 Snarfing sound : NOM

To snarf down is to gobble up, to eat voraciously. “Snarf” is a slang term that is probably related to “scarf”, which has the same meaning.

33 It acquired the naming rights for the former Safeco Field : T-MOBILE

T-Mobile Park (formerly “Safeco Field”) is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners. Safeco Insurance was the highest bidder when it came to christening the new stadium opened in 1999, paying $40m for a 20-year contract. T-Mobile took over the naming rights in 2019, after signing a 25-year contract.

34 Cold War warm-up : DETENTE

“Détente” is a French word meaning “loosening, reduction in tension” and in general it is used to describe the easing of strained relations in a political situation. In particular, the policy of détente came to be associated with the improved relations between the US and the Soviet Union in the seventies.

The term “Cold War” was coined by the novelist George Orwell in a 1945 essay about the atomic bomb. Orwell described a world under threat of nuclear war as having a “peace that is no peace”, in a permanent state of “cold war”. The specific use of “cold war” to describe the tension between the Eastern bloc and the Western allies is attributed to a 1947 speech by Bernard Baruch, adviser to Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

37 Saturate : IMBRUE

To imbrue something is to stain it, especially with blood.

40 Twitter malcontent : HATER

Still managing to avoid Twitter …

46 Quid pro quo : SWAP

“Quid pro quo” is Latin for “something for something”, i.e. a swap.

49 Its General Test consists of six sections: Abbr. : GRE

Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.

50 Fire TV button: Abbr. : REW

Fire TV is Amazon’s digital media player. It is used to deliver audio and video programming to televisions by picking up content from the Internet. I use the smaller version of the player, the Fire TV Stick, quite a lot when traveling.

51 Kawhi Leonard’s org. : NBA

Kawhi Leonard is an NBA player who is nicknamed the “Klaw” for his ability to claw away the ball from the opposing team.