LA Times Crossword 14 Jun 21, Monday

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Constructed by: Catherine Cetta
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Snow Jobs

Themed answers are common phrases, with each ending with a word that often follows “SNOW”:

  • 60A Persuasive efforts using insincere flattery … and a hint to the last words of the answers to starred clues : SNOW JOBS
  • 17A *Emulate Bonnie and Clyde : ROB A BANK (giving “snowbank”)
  • 22A *Highly aware and ready to act : ON THE BALL (giving “snowball”)
  • 37A *Grasps an underlying meaning : CATCHES THE DRIFT (giving “snowdrift”)
  • 52A *Kellogg’s cereal morsel : CORN FLAKE (giving “snowflake”)

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

Bill’s time: 4m 48s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Rigatoni or ziti : PASTA

Rigatoni is a tubular pasta that is relatively short, and with ridges along its length. The name “rigatoni” comes from the Italian “rigato” meaning “ridged, lined”.

Cylindrical pasta is known in general as “penne”, and there are many variants. For example, ziti is a particularly large and long tube with square-cut ends. “Penne” is the plural of “penna”, the Italian for “feather, quill”.

10 Sandwich known by its initials : BLT

The BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) is the second-most popular sandwich in the US, after the plain old ham sandwich.

13 Odysseus’ journey, for example : ORDEAL

“Odyssey” is one of two epic poems from ancient Greece that is attributed to Homer. “Odyssey” is largely a sequel to Homer’s other epic “Iliad”. “Odyssey” centers on the heroic figure Odysseus, and his adventures on his journey home to Greece following the fall of Troy. We now use the term “odyssey” to describe any long series of adventures.

15 “Now I __ me down … ” : LAY

One of the prayers that I was taught as a child goes:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

17 *Emulate Bonnie and Clyde : ROB A BANK

Bonnie and Clyde were criminals who robbed and killed their way across the central US during the Great Depression. Clyde Barrow was born a desperately poor young boy just south of Dallas, Texas. He was always in trouble with the law, first getting arrested at the age of 16. He met Bonnie Parker in 1930 at a friend’s house, and the smitten Parker followed Clyde into a life of crime. The pair were killed by a posse of Texas police officers just four years later in Louisiana.

20 Fab competitor : TIDE

Tide is a laundry detergent that has been made by Procter & Gamble since 1946. Back then, Tide was marketed as “America’s Washday Favorite”.

21 Fairy tale start : ONCE …

The stock phrase “Once upon a time …” has been used in various forms as the start of a narrative at least since 1380. The stock phrase at the end of stories such as folktales is often “and they all lived happily ever after”. The earlier version of this ending was “happily until their deaths”.

22 *Highly aware and ready to act : ON THE BALL

The phrase “on the ball”, meaning “alert”, comes from ball sports. It is a contraction of the expression “keep your eye on the ball”, i.e. stay alert!

25 Airline to Israel : EL AL

El Al Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of Israel. El Al is known for its high levels of security, both on the ground and in the air. Reportedly, the airline’s passenger aircraft have been operating with anti-missile technology for several years.

26 Dutch cheese town : EDAM

Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

31 Poe’s “Annabel __” : LEE

“Annabel Lee” was the last complete poem written by Edgar Allan Poe. The opening lines are:

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;

The closing lines are:

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

42 Part of GPS: Abbr. : SYS

Global positioning system (GPS)

43 Carrot chomper’s “What’s up, __?” : DOC

Bugs Bunny first said “What’s up, Doc?” in the 1940 cartoon short “A Wild Hare”, while addressing the hunter Elmer Fudd.

44 Rice-A-__ : RONI

Rice-A-Roni was introduced in 1958 by the Golden Grain Macaroni Company of San Francisco. The company was run by an Italian immigrant and his four sons. The wife of one of the sons created a pilaf dish for the family diner they owned. It was a big hit, so her brother-in-law created a commercial version by blending dry chicken soup mix with rice and macaroni. Sounds like “a San Francisco treat” to me …

46 Goes kaput, as an engine : DIES

“Kaput” is a familiar term meaning “incapacitated, destroyed”, and comes to us from French (via German). The original word “capot” means “not having won a single trick” in the French card game Piquet.

52 *Kellogg’s cereal morsel : CORN FLAKE

The Kellogg Company was founded in 1906 by Will Keith Kellogg as the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. Will established the enterprise while working with his brother John Harvey Kellogg at his Battle Creek Sanitarium. The brothers created corn flakes as a health food for patients at the sanitarium.

57 D.C. helper : AIDE

The District of Columbia (DC) was established by the Residence Act in 1790. Article One, Section 8 of the US constitution provides for the establishment of a district outside of the states, over which the federal government has authority. The constitution also specifies that the district cannot exceed an area of ten miles square.

58 Nevada gambling mecca : RENO

The city of Reno’s economy took off when open gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931. Within a short time, a syndicate had built the Bank Club in Reno, which was the largest casino in the world at the time.

60 Persuasive efforts using insincere flattery … and a hint to the last words of the answers to starred clues : SNOW JOBS

We use the phrase “snowed under” to describe a state of being or feeling overwhelmed, as if one was helpless when covered in a snowdrift. The derivative term “snow job” describes an attempt to convince someone that something is true, when in fact it is not.

63 Pre-1991 map letters : SSR

The former Soviet Union (officially “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics” or “USSR”) was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the tsar. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire, and comprised fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs).

64 Slender woodwind : OBOE

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

65 Prom corsage : ORCHID

“Corsage” is a word that we imported from French in the late 15th century and meaning , believe it or not, “body size”. By the early 1800s, a corsage was a bodice, or the body of a woman’s dress. At the beginning of the 20th century, the French term “bouquet de corsage” was being used for a “bouquet worn on the bodice”, and this has been shortened simply to “corsage”.

67 “OMG” or “TTYL” : TEXT

“OMG” is text-speak for “Oh My Gosh!” “Oh My Goodness!” or any other G-words you might care to use …

Talk to you later (ttyl)

68 Hawke of “Boyhood” : ETHAN

Ethan Hawke is a Hollywood actor who made his breakthrough in a supporting role in “Dead Poet’s Society”, playing opposite Robin Williams. Hawke used to be married to Uma Thurman, with whom he has two children.

Down

1 Shrimp relative : PRAWN

The terms “prawn” and “shrimp” are often used interchangeably on menus. Over in the UK, the term “prawn” is most common, while “shrimp” is seen more often here in North America. Sometimes there is a differentiation from a food standpoint, with “prawn” being used for larger species and “shrimp” for smaller species. As a result, “jumbo prawns” seems to be an acceptable descriptor for a dish, whereas “jumbo shrimp” seems to be an oxymoron.

2 Fess up : ADMIT

The term “fess” is most often seen as part of the phrasal verb “to fess up” meaning “to admit to something”. “Fess” is simply a shortened form of “confess”.

4 Fez feature : TASSEL

A fez is a red, cylindrical hat worn mainly in North Africa, and by Shriners here in the US. The fez used to be a very popular hat across the Ottoman Empire. The etymology of “fez” is unclear, although it might have something to do with the Moroccan city named Fez.

5 PC key used in combinations : ALT

The Alt (alternate) key is found on either side of the space bar on US PC keyboards. The Alt key evolved from what was called a Meta key on old MIT keyboards, although the function has changed somewhat over the years. Alt is equivalent in many ways to the Option key on a Mac keyboard, and indeed the letters “Alt” have been printed on most Mac keyboards starting in the nineties.

6 Month that may start with a gag : APRIL

April Fools’ Day is celebrated on April 1st in the Western world. In the US (and Ireland) one can make practical jokes all day long if one wants, but in the UK there is a noon deadline. Anyone pranking after midday is called an “April Fool”.

8 You__: online video site : TUBE

YouTube is a video-sharing website that was launched in 2005 by three ex-PayPal employees. Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Yep, $1.65 billion, less than two years after it was founded …

9 Zeta-theta link : ETA

Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”. Originally denoting a consonant, eta was used as a long vowel in Ancient Greek.

11 Jousting weapon : LANCE

Tilting is the most recognized form of jousting. Jousting can involve the use of a number of different weapons, but when lances are used the competition is called “tilting”. Jousting took place in a roped-off enclosure that was called the lists, or list field. In later medieval times, some castles and palaces had purpose-built “tiltyards” that were used for jousting. Do you remember where the Beach Volleyball events were held in the 2012 London Olympics? Well that was Horse Guards Parade, the former tiltyard for the Palace of Whitehall that was used in the time of King Henry VIII.

12 Little ones : TYKES

“Tyke” has been used playfully to describe a young child since at least 1902 For centuries before that, a tyke was a cur or mongrel, or perhaps a lazy or lower-class man.

13 “The Simpsons” bus driver : OTTO

Otto Mann drives the school bus on the TV show “The Simpsons”. Otto is a Germanic character voiced by Harry Shearer, and his name is a play on “Ottoman Empire”. Whenever Bart sees him, he greets Otto with the words “Otto, man!”

18 Many a Gen Xer parent : BOOMER

A baby boomer is someone who was born in the post-WWII baby boom. The rate of births had been falling fairly steadily in the US at least since 1900, but this trend was sharply reversed in 1946 after WWII. The higher birth rate continued until 1964, when it returned to pre-war levels. Since then the birth rate has continued to decline, although at a slower pace. The period between 1946 and 1964 is often defined as the “baby boom”.

The term “Generation X” originated in the UK where it was the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book detailed the results of a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By one definition, Gen-Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.

20 Yarns : TALES

The phrase “to spin a yarn”, meaning “to tell a tall tale”, originated in the early 1800s with seamen. The idea was that sailors would tell stories to each other while engaged in mindless work such as twisting yarn.

23 Whale’s food-filtering system : BALEEN

A baleen whale feeds by taking in massive amounts of water through its open mouth. It then expels that water with the mouth almost closed. There are two plates of bristles hanging down from the upper jaw that filter out small animals, such as krill, that serve as food for the whale. The filtering bristles are made of a substance similar to keratin (found in human hair and nails), and is referred to as “baleen”.

24 Check the ID of : CARD

Identity document (ID)

28 Here, in Havana : ACA

Havana is the capital of Cuba. The city was founded by the Spanish in the early 1500s after which it became a strategic location for Spain’s exploration and conquest of the Americas. In particular, Havana was used as a stopping-off point for treasure-laden ships on the return journey to Spain.

29 Oxygen, e.g. : GAS

British clergyman Joseph Priestley is often given the credit for the discovery of oxygen, and he was indeed the first person to publish his 1774 findings, doing so in 1775. However, Swedish pharmacist Carl Wilhelm Scheele independently made the same discovery in 1773 or perhaps a year or two earlier. Scheele sent a manuscript describing his findings to his publisher in 1775, but that document was not printed until 1777. It was French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier who gave the newly discovered element its name. Lavoisier mistakenly believed that oxygen was a vital constituent of all acids, and so in 1777 named the gas “oxygène”, from the Greek roots “oxys” meaning “acid, sharp” and “-genes” meaning “producer”.

30 NFL tiebreakers : OTS

Overtime (OT)

32 Mars residents, in sci-fi : ETS

Extraterrestrial (ET)

35 Bay Area hub inits. : SFO

The San Francisco Bay Area is served by three major airports: San Francisco (SFO), Oakland (OAK) and San Jose (SJC).

38 Teen’s witching hour : CURFEW

Our word “curfew” comes from an Old French word meaning “cover fire”. In medieval days a bell would ring in the evenings as a signal to bank the hearths in preparation for sleeping. The intent was to prevent uncontrolled fires starting from fireplaces that were not tended during the night.

In common parlance, the witching hour is midnight. In the world of the occult, the witching hour last from 3 to 4 in the morning, and is the time at which witches and demons appear and are at their most powerful. This particular hour is chosen as there are no Catholic church services nor prayers called out for that time in the canonical hours.

39 Med. care plans : HMOS

Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) or Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). Make your choice, if you can …

49 So last year : PASSE

“Passé” is a French word, meaning “past, faded”. We’ve imported the term into English, and use it in the same sense.

55 Fashion’s Anne or Calvin : KLEIN

Anne Klein was a fashion designer from Brooklyn, New York. She was born Hannah Golofski, and founded her first clothing company in the 1940s along with her first husband Ben Klein.

Calvin Klein is an American fashion designer who was born in the Bronx in New York City. Klein’s biography, entitled “Obsession”, is named for one the most famous brands in his line of fragrances.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Rigatoni or ziti : PASTA
6 Poker stake : ANTE
10 Sandwich known by its initials : BLT
13 Odysseus’ journey, for example : ORDEAL
14 Sulk : POUT
15 “Now I __ me down … ” : LAY
16 Least wild : TAMEST
17 *Emulate Bonnie and Clyde : ROB A BANK
19 Birdbrains : TWITS
20 Fab competitor : TIDE
21 Fairy tale start : ONCE …
22 *Highly aware and ready to act : ON THE BALL
24 Does some programming : CODES
25 Airline to Israel : EL AL
26 Dutch cheese town : EDAM
28 Before now : AGO
31 Poe’s “Annabel __” : LEE
33 Threat-ending words : … OR ELSE
37 *Grasps an underlying meaning : CATCHES THE DRIFT
41 Take for granted : ASSUME
42 Part of GPS: Abbr. : SYS
43 Carrot chomper’s “What’s up, __?” : DOC
44 Rice-A-__ : RONI
46 Goes kaput, as an engine : DIES
49 University VIPs : PROFS
52 *Kellogg’s cereal morsel : CORN FLAKE
57 D.C. helper : AIDE
58 Nevada gambling mecca : RENO
59 Senseless endeavor : FOLLY
60 Persuasive efforts using insincere flattery … and a hint to the last words of the answers to starred clues : SNOW JOBS
62 Hairpiece : TOUPEE
63 Pre-1991 map letters : SSR
64 Slender woodwind : OBOE
65 Prom corsage : ORCHID
66 Wide shoe sizes : EES
67 “OMG” or “TTYL” : TEXT
68 Hawke of “Boyhood” : ETHAN

Down

1 Shrimp relative : PRAWN
2 Fess up : ADMIT
3 Simmer with anger : SEETHE
4 Fez feature : TASSEL
5 PC key used in combinations : ALT
6 Month that may start with a gag : APRIL
7 Noggin : NOODLE
8 You__: online video site : TUBE
9 Zeta-theta link : ETA
10 Tasteless : BLAND
11 Jousting weapon : LANCE
12 Little ones : TYKES
13 “The Simpsons” bus driver : OTTO
18 Many a Gen Xer parent : BOOMER
20 Yarns : TALES
23 Whale’s food-filtering system : BALEEN
24 Check the ID of : CARD
27 Wears out : DOES IN
28 Here, in Havana : ACA
29 Oxygen, e.g. : GAS
30 NFL tiebreakers : OTS
32 Mars residents, in sci-fi : ETS
34 It may be flipped : LID
35 Bay Area hub inits. : SFO
36 And so on, briefly : ETC
38 Teen’s witching hour : CURFEW
39 Med. care plans : HMOS
40 Electric starter? : HYDRO-
45 Fridge of yore : ICEBOX
47 Serious attempt : EFFORT
48 Posture issue : SLOUCH
49 So last year : PASSE
50 Washer cycle : RINSE
51 Air freshener targets : ODORS
53 Initial stage : ONSET
54 Top dog : ALPHA
55 Fashion’s Anne or Calvin : KLEIN
56 Looked over : EYED
58 Spa cover-up : ROBE
61 Write quickly : JOT
62 Digital water tester? : TOE