LA Times Crossword 30 Mar 21, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Prasanna Keshava
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Homebound

Themed answers each included circled letters at the start and finish that spell out a HOME:

  • 56A Confined to one’s residence … or, as the circles show, a description of four puzzle answers : HOMEBOUND
  • 17A Perspiration cause by fear of failure : FLOP SWEAT (bound by FLAT)
  • 23A Lucky wristband : CHARM BRACELET (bound by CHALET)
  • 35A “Don’t cheer yet!” : HOLD THE APPLAUSE! (bound by HOUSE)
  • 44A Best woman? : MATRON OF HONOR (bound by MANOR)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 43s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Kilt wearer : SCOT

The Scottish skirt called a “kilt” takes its name from the Middle English word “kilten” meaning “to tuck up”. The idea is that the kilt can be tucked up around the body to give freedom to the legs.

9 “Mazes and Monsters” novelist Rona : JAFFE

Rona Jaffe was an American novelist perhaps most famous for two of her books, “The Best of Everything” and “Mazes and Monsters”. “The Best of Everything” was published in 1958 and has been compared with the HBO television series “Sex and the City” as it depicts women in the working world. “Mazes and Monsters” was published in 1981 and explores a role-playing game similar to Dungeons & Dragons and the impact it has on players.

14 Natural soother : ALOE

Aloe vera is a succulent plant that grows in relatively dry climates. The plant’s leaves are full of biologically-active compounds that have been studied extensively. Aloe vera has been used for centuries in herbal medicine, mainly for topical treatment of wounds.

15 To be, to Balzac : ETRE

Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright from the 19th century. Balzac wrote a huge collection of related novels called “La Comédie humaine” (The Human Comedy). The work includes 91 stories, novels and essays, written from 1815 to 1848. Balzac also left 46 unfinished works as part of the collection.

16 Popular ride app’s basic level of service : UBERX

The basic service offered by ride-hailing company Uber is known as UberX. The service provides a private ride for up to four passengers in a standard car. UberXL provides a minivan or SUV with room for up to 6 passengers.

17 Perspiration cause by fear of failure : FLOP SWEAT (bound by FLAT)

“Flat”, in the sense of an apartment or condominium, is a word more commonly used in Britain and Ireland than on this side of the pond. The term “flat” is Scottish in origin, in which language it used to mean “floor in a house”.

20 X : TEN

In Roman numerals, V (five) is half of X (ten).

21 Turquoise kin : 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.

“Turquoise” is the Old French word for “Turkish”. The name was given to the blue mineral because much of it was brought into Europe from Turkey, although most of the turquoise mines were located in the Khorasan Province of Iran.

22 Indian strings : SITARS

The sitar has been around since the Middle Ages. It is a stringed instrument that is played by plucking, and is used most often in Hindustani classical music. In the West we have been exposed to the instrument largely through the performances of Ravi Shankar and some music by George Harrison of the Beatles, a onetime student of Shankar.

23 Lucky wristband : CHARM BRACELET (bound by CHALET)

“Chalet” is a Swiss-French name for an alpine cottage.

26 Autumn shade : OCHER

Ocher is a light, yellowish-brown color, although variations of the pigment are possible such as red ocher and purple ocher. “Ocher” is usually spelled “ochre” on the other side of the pond.

28 Children’s author Blyton : ENID

Enid Blyton wrote stories for children that were very popular when I was growing up in Britain and Ireland. Not so long ago, I purchased and reread my favorite of her stories growing up, a children’s novel called “The Secret Island”.

30 Fashion label from Milan : PRADA

Prada started out in 1913 as a leather-goods shop in Milan, one established by the two Prada brothers. One of the brothers, Mario Prada, prevented the female members of his family participating in the company as he didn’t believe women should be involved in business (!). When the sexist brother died, his son had no interest in the business so it was his daughter who took over and ran the company for about twenty years, handing it over to her own daughter. I’d say the devil loved that …

39 Gave the go-ahead : OK’D

Back in the late 1830s, there were some slang abbreviations coined mainly in Boston. The craze called for two-letter abbreviations of deliberately misspelled phrases. For example “no use” became “KY” from “know yuse”, and “enough said” became “NC” from “‘nuff ced”. Fortunately (I say!), the practice was short-lived. But, one of those abbreviations persists to this day. “All correct” was misspelled to give “oll korrect”, abbreviated to “OK”.

40 Emcees : HOSTS

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

41 Ballpark officials : UMPS

Back in the 15th century, “an umpire” was referred to as “a noumpere”, which was misheard and hence causing the dropping of the initial letter N. The term “noumpere” came from Old French “nonper” meaning “not even, odd number”. The idea was that the original umpire was a third person called on to arbitrate between two, providing that “odd number” needed to decide the dispute.

42 Fabergé perfume, originally : BRUT

Brut is a brand of men’s grooming products launched by Fabergé in 1964. The folks marketing Brut use the slogan “the Essence of Man”.

43 Surgical tube : STENT

In the world of surgical medicine, a stent is an artificial tube inserted inside a vessel in the body, say an artery, in order to reduce the effects of a local restriction in the body’s conduit.

44 Best woman? : MATRON OF HONOR (bound by MANOR)

The members of the bride’s party in a wedding are the bridesmaids. The principal bridesmaid is the maid of honor. The principal bridesmaid might be referred to as the matron of honor if she is married.

51 University of New Mexico player : LOBO

Los Lobos are an American Chicano rock band who released their first LP in 1978 and are still going strong today. The band’s name “Los Lobos” translates from Spanish as “The Wolves”.

52 Game-winning line : O-O-O

When I was growing up in Ireland we played “noughts and crosses” … our name for the game tic-tac-toe.

55 Arnold of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” : STANG

Actor Arnold Stang was a character actor known mainly for comedic roles. I would guess that his most famous television role was the cartoon character Top Cat, for whom Stang provided the voice.

“It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” is a 1963 comedy film with quite the cast. The list of great comedic actors appearing seems to be endless and includes: Sid Caesar, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, Jonathan Winters, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman, Spencer Tracy, Terry-Thomas, Phil Silvers, Jim Backus, Jimmy Durante and Peter Falk. In addition, there were cameo appearances by Jack Benny, Buster Keaton, Don Knotts, Carl Reiner, the Shirelles and the Three Stooges. I can’t remember any other movie with such a cast …

56 Confined to one’s residence … or, as the circles show, a description of four puzzle answers : HOMEBOUND

Homebound? As if that would ever happen …

61 Church council : SYNOD

The word “synod” comes from the Greek word for “assembly, meeting”. A synod is a church council, usually one in the Christian faith.

62 Redwood, e.g. : TREE

The giant sequoia tree is also known as the giant redwood. There’s only one part of the world where you can see giant sequoias growing naturally, and that’s on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. However, there are plenty of examples of giant sequoias that have been planted as ornamentals all over the world.

63 Aussie hoppers : ROOS

A male kangaroo is known as a buck, jack or boomer. A female is called a jill, flyer or doe. A young kangaroo is a joey, and a group of kangaroos is a mob or troop.

Down

1 Only president who was also chief justice : TAFT

William Howard Taft may have been the 27th President of the United States, but his lifelong ambition was to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The future president had served as dean and professor at the Cincinnati Law School. President Taft was able to realize that dream in 1921, eight years after losing his bid for re-election as president. As Chief Justice, this former US President swore in two new presidents: Calvin Coolidge (in 1925) and Herbert Hoover (in 1929). William Howard Taft is also remembered as the most obese president. In the last year of his presidency, he weighed about 340 pounds (he was 5 feet 11 inches tall). Twelve months after leaving the White House, President Taft had dropped 80 pounds and substantially lowered his blood pressure.

2 Vogue alternative : ELLE

“Elle” magazine was founded in 1945 in France and today has the highest circulation of any fashion magazine in the world. “Elle” is the French word for “she”. “Elle” is published monthly worldwide, although you can pick up a weekly edition if you live in France.

3 One born under the sign of Cancer : MOON CHILD

Cancer is the fourth astrological sign of the zodiac, and is associated with the constellation named Cancer. The zodiac symbol for Cancer is the crab, and “cancer” is the Latin word for “crab”. A person born under the sign of Cancer is sometimes referred to as a Moon Child.

6 Third-stringers : C-TEAM

We’ve been using the phrases “first string” and “second string” in athletics since the mid-19th century. The expressions come from archery, in which a competitor would carry a second bowstring in case the first broke.

7 Dental care brand : ORAL-B

The Oral-B toothbrush was introduced to the world in 1950, designed by a California periodontist. The first “model” was the Oral-B 60, a name given to reflect the 60 tufts in the brush. In 1969, the Oral-B was the first toothbrush to get to the moon as it was the toothbrush of choice for the crew of the Apollo 11 spacecraft.

8 Asian New Year : TET

The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

11 Born in the wild : FERAL

“Feral”, meaning “existing in a wild or untamed state”, comes from the Latin word “fera” meaning “wild animal”.

12 “__ Jacques” : FRERE

“Frère Jacques” is a children’s song from France. The French lyrics are:

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous ? Dormez-vous ?
Sonnez les matines ! Sonnez les matines !
Ding, daing, dong. Ding, daing, dong.

The lyrics are usually translated into English as:

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Brother John? Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

18 Sun, for one : STAR

A yellow dwarf is more correctly called a G-type main-sequence star. Main-sequence stars are those that generate thermal energy in their core through the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium. The term “G-type” refers to the star’s surface temperature, and the resulting yellow light that is emitted. The yellow dwarf with which we are most familiar is our own Sun.

22 “500” initials on Wall Street : S AND P

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is a financial services company that is famous for its stock market indices, especially the S&P 500. The company also publishes credit ratings for sovereign governments, and in 2011 famously lowered the rating of the US federal government from AAA to AA+.

26 It’s eight in Madrid : OCHO

Madrid is the most populous city in Spain, and is the nation’s capital. It is located very close to the geographical center of the country. Madrid is the second-largest city in the European Union by population, after Berlin. People from Madrid called themselves Madrileños.

30 Italian sauce with pine nuts : PESTO

Pesto sauce is more completely called “pesto alla genovese”, i.e. pesto from Genoa. A traditional recipe calls for crushed garlic, pine nuts, salt, basil leaves, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Yum …

31 Word before race or trap : RAT …

We use “rat race” figuratively to describe an endless, pointless pursuit. The term comes from the laboratory, where one might imagine rats racing around a maze in search of some cheese.

33 “SportsCenter” channel : ESPN

“SportsCenter” is the flagship program of the ESPN television network, and has been on the air since 1979. Original versions of “SportsCenter” appear on multiple times during the day, so that there have been over 50,000 episodes broadcast to date, more than any other show on US television.

37 Elvis’ “__ Dog” : HOUND

The Elvis Presley classic “Hound Dog” was a big hit, but his wasn’t the first version of the song to make it to number one in the charts. Presley released “Hound Dog” in 1956, but Big Mama Thornton had brought the song to the top spot back in 1953.

42 Best Actor winner for “On the Waterfront” : BRANDO

Actor Marlon Brando really hit the big time with his Oscar-winning performance in the 1951 movie “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Brando went on to win another Best Actor Oscar for his performance in 1972’s “The Godfather”, which gave him the platform to establish himself as a political activist. He turned down the award and didn’t attend the ceremony. Instead he sent a Native American rights activist called Sacheen Littlefeather who made a speech protesting the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood movies. Brando wasn’t the first person to refuse an Oscar. George C. Scott did the same thing when he won for playing the title role in 1970’s “Patton”. Scott just didn’t like the whole idea of “competing” with other actors.

The 1954 drama “On the Waterfront”, starring Marlon Brando, told a story of violence and corruption among longshoremen. The movie was based on a series of 24 articles written by investigative journalist Malcolm Johnston and published in “The New York Sun”. The original news stories uncovered mob infiltration on the New York City Waterfront, but the location for the film was chosen as Hoboken, New Jersey.

43 Hoity-toity sort : SNOB

Believe it or not, the term “hoity-toity” has been in the English language since the 1660s, but back then it meant “riotous behavior”. It began to mean “haughty” in the late 1800s, simply because the “haughty” sounds similar to “hoity”.

44 Parts of Western landscapes : MESAS

“What’s the difference between a butte and a mesa?” Both are hills with flat tops, but a mesa has a top that is wider than it is tall. A butte is a much narrower formation, and taller than it is wide.

48 Metz man : HOMME

The city of Metz is in the northeast of France, and close to the German border. Given the proximity to Germany, Metz has both a strong German tradition and a strong French tradition. Metz was handed over to the French following WWI, after nearly 50 years of German rule. It quickly fell back into German hands in 1940 during WWII, with many German officers delighted to have back the city of their birth. Perhaps because of this long association with Germany, the US Army under General Patton encountered stiff resistance when liberating Metz in 1944. The cathedral in Metz is home to the largest expanse of stained glass in the world, almost 70,000 square feet in all.

56 Post-WWII pres. : HST

The letter “S” in the middle of the name Harry S. Truman (HST) doesn’t stand for anything. The future-president was named “Harry” in honor of his mother’s brother Harrison “Harry” Young. The initial “S” was chosen in honor of young Harry’s two grandfathers: Anderson S-hipp Truman and S-olomon Young.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Holiday sub : TEMP
5 Kilt wearer : SCOT
9 “Mazes and Monsters” novelist Rona : JAFFE
14 Natural soother : ALOE
15 To be, to Balzac : ETRE
16 Popular ride app’s basic level of service : UBERX
17 Perspiration cause by fear of failure : FLOP SWEAT (bound by FLAT)
19 “Is it too risky?” : DARE I?
20 X : TEN
21 Turquoise kin : TEAL
22 Indian strings : SITARS
23 Lucky wristband : CHARM BRACELET (bound by CHALET)
26 Autumn shade : OCHER
28 Children’s author Blyton : ENID
29 Spiral shape : COIL
30 Fashion label from Milan : PRADA
32 Gross less deductions : NET
35 “Don’t cheer yet!” : HOLD THE APPLAUSE! (bound by HOUSE)
39 Gave the go-ahead : OK’D
40 Emcees : HOSTS
41 Ballpark officials : UMPS
42 Fabergé perfume, originally : BRUT
43 Surgical tube : STENT
44 Best woman? : MATRON OF HONOR (bound by MANOR)
50 Gofer’s task : ERRAND
51 University of New Mexico player : LOBO
52 Game-winning line : O-O-O
55 Arnold of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” : STANG
56 Confined to one’s residence … or, as the circles show, a description of four puzzle answers : HOMEBOUND
58 “All kidding __ … ” : ASIDE
59 Totals : SUMS
60 Poker stake : ANTE
61 Church council : SYNOD
62 Redwood, e.g. : TREE
63 Aussie hoppers : ROOS

Down

1 Only president who was also chief justice : TAFT
2 Vogue alternative : ELLE
3 One born under the sign of Cancer : MOON CHILD
4 Oomph : PEP
5 Refuse conduit : SEWER
6 Third-stringers : C-TEAM
7 Dental care brand : ORAL-B
8 Asian New Year : TET
9 Court-ordered, as a review : JUDICIAL
10 Eased up : ABATED
11 Born in the wild : FERAL
12 “__ Jacques” : FRERE
13 Live and breathe : EXIST
18 Sun, for one : STAR
22 “500” initials on Wall Street : S AND P
24 Repressed, with “in” : HELD …
25 Harvests : REAPS
26 It’s eight in Madrid : OCHO
27 “Order up!” shouter : COOK
30 Italian sauce with pine nuts : PESTO
31 Word before race or trap : RAT …
32 Top dog : NUMERO UNO
33 “SportsCenter” channel : ESPN
34 Midterm or final : TEST
36 Crowded into : THRONGED
37 Elvis’ “__ Dog” : HOUND
38 Camera setting that does everything except point and shoot : AUTO
42 Best Actor winner for “On the Waterfront” : BRANDO
43 Hoity-toity sort : SNOB
44 Parts of Western landscapes : MESAS
45 Culturally pretentious : ARTSY
46 Get in shape : TRAIN
47 Pancake maker’s need : FLOUR
48 Metz man : HOMME
49 Quite overweight : OBESE
53 Fully aware of, as a scheme : ONTO
54 Lofty verses : ODES
56 Post-WWII pres. : HST
57 Rowboat mover : OAR