LA Times Crossword 16 Feb 21, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Pawel Fludzinski & John Witzke
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: If a Celebrity Had an Expression

Themed answers are each common expressions clued with reference to a famous person. That person’s first name starts of the expression:

  • 17A If Nicholson sang, danced and acted, he might be called __ : JACK OF ALL TRADES
  • 40A If Robinson left En Vogue to sing in Jerry Garcia’s group, she might be called __ : DAWN OF THE DEAD
  • 59A If Tomlin came from San Fernando, she might be called __ : LILY OF THE VALLEY

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 4m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Tripoli’s country : LIBYA

The Italo-Turkish War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 1911 and October 1912. At the end of the conflict the Ottoman Empire ceded to Italy the three provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. These provinces became Italian North Africa, and ultimately the country that we know today as Libya. The name “Libya” comes from the Ancient Greek “Libúē”, the historical name for Northwest Africa.

Tripoli is the capital city of Libya and sits on the Mediterranean Coast. The city was founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC and was originally called Oea.

14 Thorny plant : BRIAR

“Briar” is a generic name describing several plants that have thorns or prickles, including the rose. Famously, Br’er Rabbit lives in a briar patch.

15 Latina toon explorer : DORA

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases.

16 Scrabble piece : TILE

The game of Scrabble has been produced in many international versions, and each of these editions has its own tile distribution to suit the local language. For example, in English we have two tiles worth ten points: one “Q” and one “Z”. If you play the game in French then there are five tiles worth ten points: one “K”, one “W”, one “X”, one “Y” and one “Z”.

17 If Nicholson sang, danced and acted, he might be called __ : JACK OF ALL TRADES

Jack Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award more times than any other male actor. He also became the youngest recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award, when he was so honored in 1994.

20 GQ or Cosmo : MAG

The men’s magazine known today as “GQ” used to be titled “Gentlemen’s Quarterly”. It was known as “Apparel Arts” when launched in 1931.

“Cosmopolitan” magazine was first published way back in 1886! It started out life as a family magazine, then as a literary publication. “Cosmo” took its present form as a women’s magazine in the 1960s.

31 Big name in PCs : ACER

Acer is a Taiwanese company that I visited a couple of times when I was in the electronics business. I was very impressed back then with the company’s dedication to quality, although I have heard that things haven’t gone so well in recent years …

32 __ pork: Chinese dish with pancakes : MOO SHU

Moo shu pork (also “mu shu pork”) is a traditional dish from northern China, with the main ingredients being shredded pork and scrambled egg. In North America, the dish is served with tortilla-like wrappers that are sometimes referred to as “moo shu pancakes”.

35 “High” afternoon meal : TEA

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!

36 Forbidden : TABOO

The word “taboo” was introduced into English by Captain Cook in his book “A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean”. Cook described “tabu” (likely imitative of a Tongan word that he had heard) as something that was both consecrated and forbidden.

40 If Robinson left En Vogue to sing in Jerry Garcia’s group, she might be called __ : DAWN OF THE DEAD

Dawn Robinson is a founding member of the vocal group En Vogue. Robinson Parted way with En Vogue several times in order to pursue other musical career opportunities, but returned to the fold repeatedly …

Jerry Garcia was one of the founding members of the rock band, the Grateful Dead. Garcia struggled with cocaine and heroin addiction during most of his life, and died of a heart attack in 1995 in a California drug rehabilitation center.

46 Soul, to Sartre : AME

Jean-Paul Sartre was a leading French philosopher, as well as a writer and political activist. Sartre also served with the French army during WWII and spent nine months as a prisoner of war having been captured by German troops. He was one of the few people to have been awarded a Nobel Prize and to have then refused to accept it. Sartre was named winner of the prize for Literature in 1964, for his first novel “Nausea”. Before his win, Sartre knew that his name was on the list of nominees so he wrote to the Nobel Institute and asked to be withdrawn from consideration. The letter somehow went unread, so he found himself having to refuse the award after he had been selected.

47 Polar parka : ANORAK

Anoraks really aren’t very popular over here in America. Everyone has one in Ireland! An anorak is a heavy jacket with a hood, often lined with fur (or fake fur), and is an invention of the Inuit people.

51 Winona of “Stranger Things” : RYDER

Hollywood actress Winona Ryder’s real name is Winona Horowitz. Ryder was born near the town of Winona in Minnesota, from which she got her name. Her success on the screen has garnered as much media attention as her life off the screen. The papers had a field day when she was arrested in 2001 on a shoplifting charge followed by a very public court appearance. Her engagement with Johnny Depp in the early nineties was another media frenzy. Depp had “Winona Forever” tattooed on his arm, which he had changed after the breakup to “Wino Forever”. A man with a sense of humor …

“Stranger Things” is a sci-fi horror TV show made for Netflix that aired its first season in 2016. I don’t do horror, and so haven’t seen it …

58 Drone or worker : BEE

Drone bees and drone ants are fertile males of the species whose sole role in life seems to be to mate with a queen.

59 If Tomlin came from San Fernando, she might be called __ : LILY OF THE VALLEY

Lily Tomlin is a comedian and actress who got her big break as a regular member of the cast of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” in the late sixties and early seventies. Tomlin created several great characters on the show. My personal favorite is Ernestine, the condescending telephone operator with the marvelous nasal voice and snorting laugh. Ernestine was fond of saying “One ringy dingy …” I really enjoy Tomlin’s performances as an actress, notably in the movies “9 to 5” and “All of Me”, and on the TV shows “The West Wing” and “Grace and Frankie”. I went to her stage show many years ago in San Francisco, and just did not enjoy it. I was devastated …

The San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County is home to almost 2 million people, as well as some of the largest film studios, e.g. Warner Bros. and Walt Disney. Back in the 1970s, “the Valley” was also home to a multibillion-dollar pornography industry and many adult film production companies. This gave rise to some inventive nicknames, such as Porn Valley, Silcone Valley and San Pornando Valley.

69 Religious doctrine : DOGMA

A dogma is a set of beliefs. The plural of “dogma” is “dogmata” (or “dogmas”, if you’re not a pedant like me!)

71 Benchmarks: Abbr. : STDS

A benchmark is something that serves as a standard used to measure others. The original benchmark was a point of reference used by surveyors. Literally, a benchmark was an angle-iron driven into the ground as a support (or “bench”) for a levelling instrument.

Down

1 JFK’s successor : LBJ

President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) is one of only four people to have held all four elected federal offices, namely US Representative, US Senator, US Vice-President and US President. As President he is perhaps best remembered for escalating involvement in the Vietnam War, and for his “Great Society” legislation.

3 Flickable lighter : BIC

Société Bic is a company based in Clichy in France. The first product the company produced, more than fifty years ago, was the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen that is still produced today. Bic also makes other disposable products such as lighters and razors.

6 Samuel Barber’s “__ for Strings” : ADAGIO

Samuel Barber was one of the most respected composers of 20th-century classical music. Barber’s most famous work is probably “Adagio for Strings”, a piece that has been used a lot in television and movies, including a memorable scene in the movie “Platoon”.

7 Cyberchortle : LOL

Laugh out loud (LOL)

8 Web addresses : URLS

An Internet address (like NYXCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) is more correctly called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

10 Georgia or Washington : STATE

What is now the US state of Georgia, was the last of the original Thirteen colonies to be established. It was named for King George II of Great Britain.

The Territory of Washington was created in 1853 when it was separated from the Oregon Territory that had been formed in 1848. Washington Territory covered all of modern-day Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming, before the boundaries were redrawn in 1863. Washington became a state in 1889, and is the only state named for a US president.

13 “Roundabout” rockers with a positive name : YES

Yes Is a rock band from England that formed in 1968 and was most successful in the 1980s. The band’s biggest hit was “Owner of a Lonely Heart” from 1983.

19 Capitol feature : ROTUNDA

In architecture, the word “rotunda” describes a building with a circular ground plan. Often the building has a dome, but that isn’t a strict requirement. The term can also refer to a round room within a building. The most famous example in this country is the Rotunda in the US Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

A capitol is a building in which a legislature meets. Such buildings are often constructed with an impressive dome. The term “capitol” is a reference to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, the most important temple in ancient Rome, and which sat on top of Capitoline Hill.

22 Cave hanger : BAT

Bats are the only mammals that are capable of sustained flight. There are a lot of different kinds of bats, and indeed they make up about 20% of all mammalian species.

23 Plato’s school, with “the” : … ACADEMY

The Academy was founded by Plato circa 387 BC in Athens. Aristotle studied at the Academy for twenty years and then founded his own school called the Lyceum.

25 Tweezer targets : BROWS

Tweezers are small metal pincers used in handling small objects. Back in the 1600s, “tweeze” was the name given to the case in which such an implement was kept, and over time the case gave its name to the device itself. “Tweeze” evolved from “etweese”, the plural of “etwee”, which in turn came from “étui “, the French word for “small case”.

26 Whirlybirds : COPTERS

Our term “helicopter” was absorbed from the French word “hélicoptère” that was coined by Gustave Ponton d’Amécourt in 1861. d’Amécourt envisioned aircraft that could fly vertically using rotating wings that “screwed” into the air. He combined the Greek terms “helix” meaning “spiral, whirl” and “pteron” meaning “wing” to give us “helicopter”.

37 Province on four Great Lakes : ONTARIO

The Canadian province of Ontario takes its name from the Great Lake. In turn, Lake Ontario’s name is thought to be derived from “Ontari:io”, a Huron word meaning “great lake”. Ontario is home to the nation’s capital of Ottawa as well as Toronto, Canada’s most populous city (and the capital of the province).

41 Bass ending : -OON

Our modern bassoon first appeared in the 1800s and has had a place in the concert orchestra ever since.

42 Pendulum direction? : FRO

A weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely is called a pendulum. The term “pendulum” comes from the Latin “pendere” meaning “to hang”.

43 Links standard : PAR

The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name “links” comes from the Old English word “hlinc” meaning “rising ground”. “Hlinc” was used to describe areas with coastal sand dunes or open parkland. As a result, we use the term “links course” to mean a golf course that is located at or on the coast, often amid sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

48 Orange-yellow gemstones : AMBERS

Amber’s technical name is “resinite”, reflecting its composition and formation. Amber starts out life as soft sticky tree resin but then under high temperature and pressure from overlying layers of soil, it fossilizes. The sticky resin can trap organisms or other plant matter, and this material can sometimes remain virtually intact inside the amber fossil giving us a unique gift from the past.

49 Ukraine’s capital : KIEV

Kiev is located on the Dnieper River, and is the capital of Ukraine. We tend to use the spelling “Kiev”, but the Ukrainian government decided in 1995 to refer to the city as “Kyiv” when using Roman/Latin script.

52 The Nile runs through it : EGYPT

Depending on definition, the Nile is regarded generally as the longest river on the planet. The Nile forms from two major tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, which join together near Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. From Khartoum the Nile flows north, traveling almost entirely through desert making it central to life for those living along its length.

56 Bosom buds, in texts : BFFS

Best friend forever (BFF)

57 Nouveau-Mexique, par exemple : ETAT

In French, “le Nouveau-Mexique” (New Mexico) is a US “état” (state).

59 TV screen type : LCD

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) are the screens that are found in most laptops today, and in flat panel computer screens and some televisions. LCD monitors basically replaced Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) screens, the old television technology.

64 JFK alternative : LGA

The three big airports serving New York City (NYC) are John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR).

65 Maximum borders? : EMS

The “borders” of the word “maximum” are two letters M (ems).

66 Oft-candied veggie : YAM

Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the world than they are in this country, and are especially common in Africa.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Tripoli’s country : LIBYA
6 College grad : ALUM
10 Kill, as a dragon : SLAY
14 Thorny plant : BRIAR
15 Latina toon explorer : DORA
16 Scrabble piece : TILE
17 If Nicholson sang, danced and acted, he might be called __ : JACK OF ALL TRADES
20 GQ or Cosmo : MAG
21 Photographed : SHOT
22 Inhumane : BARBARIC
27 Salty drops : TEARS
31 Big name in PCs : ACER
32 __ pork: Chinese dish with pancakes : MOO SHU
35 “High” afternoon meal : TEA
36 Forbidden : TABOO
38 Series of missed calls : PHONE TAG
40 If Robinson left En Vogue to sing in Jerry Garcia’s group, she might be called __ : DAWN OF THE DEAD
43 Dog food seller : PET STORE
44 Crop up : ARISE
46 Soul, to Sartre : AME
47 Polar parka : ANORAK
50 Passionate about : INTO
51 Winona of “Stranger Things” : RYDER
53 Brings good luck to : SMILES ON
55 Taunt : GIBE
58 Drone or worker : BEE
59 If Tomlin came from San Fernando, she might be called __ : LILY OF THE VALLEY
67 Trim, as a photo : CROP
68 Dry forecast : FAIR
69 Religious doctrine : DOGMA
70 Credit card balance, say : DEBT
71 Benchmarks: Abbr. : STDS
72 Jerk or twitch : SPASM

Down

1 JFK’s successor : LBJ
2 Nest egg initials : IRA
3 Flickable lighter : BIC
4 Go on and on : YAK
5 Kitchen allure : AROMA
6 Samuel Barber’s “__ for Strings” : ADAGIO
7 Cyberchortle : LOL
8 Web addresses : URLS
9 Subject with numbers : MATH
10 Georgia or Washington : STATE
11 Pot cover : LID
12 It may be blonde or pale : ALE
13 “Roundabout” rockers with a positive name : YES
18 Word before hand or land : FARM-
19 Capitol feature : ROTUNDA
22 Cave hanger : BAT
23 Plato’s school, with “the” : … ACADEMY
24 Paid back, as a purchase incentive : REBATED
25 Tweezer targets : BROWS
26 Whirlybirds : COPTERS
28 Realizes, as a goal : ATTAINS
29 Entertains with a bedtime story : READS TO
30 Give in to gravity : SAG
33 Recital rebuke : SHH!
34 Flower bed tool : HOE
37 Province on four Great Lakes : ONTARIO
39 Spooky : EERIE
41 Bass ending : -OON
42 Pendulum direction? : FRO
43 Links standard : PAR
45 Seemingly forever : EON
48 Orange-yellow gemstones : AMBERS
49 Ukraine’s capital : KIEV
52 The Nile runs through it : EGYPT
54 Detectives’ aids : LEADS
56 Bosom buds, in texts : BFFS
57 Nouveau-Mexique, par exemple : ETAT
59 TV screen type : LCD
60 Fury : IRE
61 Easy throw : LOB
62 Laid low : HID
63 Cut (off) : LOP
64 JFK alternative : LGA
65 Maximum borders? : EMS
66 Oft-candied veggie : YAM