LA Times Crossword 17 Sep 21, Friday

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Constructed by: Annemarie Brethauer
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Teed Off

Themed answers are common phrases, but each has a letter TEE taken OFF the start:

  • 48D Steamed … and like five answers in this puzzle? : TEED OFF
  • 18A Guitar connoisseur? : AX COLLECTOR (from “tax collector”)
  • 36A Cabdriver’s pickups during a storm? : RAIN FARE (from “train fare”)
  • 41A Savings for replacing old tools? : RUST FUND (from “trust fund”)
  • 62A One with a lofty greeting? : HIGH SLAPPER (from “thigh-slapper”)
  • 1D Platform for primates? : APE DECK (from “tape deck”)

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

Bill’s time: 9m 29s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4 “Morning Joe” network : MSNBC

“Morning Joe” is a show broadcast by MSNBC each weekday morning. It is hosted by Joe Scarborough, and first went on the air in 2007. Given the name of the show, Starbucks was very happy to be the show’s sponsor from 2009 through 2013, and got lots of product placement.

9 Bach’s instrument : ORGAN

Johann Sebastian Bach died when he was 65-years-old, in 1750. He was buried in Old St. John’s Cemetery in Leipzig, and his grave went unmarked until 1894. At that time his coffin was located, removed and buried in a vault within the church. The church was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid during WWII, and so after the war the remains had to be recovered and taken to the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig.

15 “Goodies” singer : CIARA

Ciara is a singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas. She used to date rapper Bow Wow, but married Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in 2016.

16 Muralist Rivera : DIEGO

Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter who was famous for his murals. His wife was the equally famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

18 Guitar connoisseur? : AX COLLECTOR (from “tax collector”)

In the world of music, “axe” is a slang term describing a musical instrument, especially a guitar or horn.

24 Shakespearean villain : REGAN

In William Shakespeare’s “King Lear”, Regan is the king’s second daughter. Regan vies with her older sister for influence over her father, and for the attention of Edmund, illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester.

26 Shakespearean villain : IAGO

In William Shakespeare’s play ”Othello”, the villain of the piece Iago utters the words:

I hate the Moor,
And it is thought abroad that ’twixt my sheets
He’s done my office. I know not if ’t be true,
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,
Will do as if for surety.

Iago is citing the widespread rumor that Othello slept with Iago’s wife Emilia. Iago is not certain that the rumor is true, but just the suspicion of it is enough for him to express his hatred for Othello.

29 Coopers’ creations : CASKS

A cooper is a craftsman who makes wooden vessels, such as barrels. The term “cooper” ultimately derives from the Latin “cupa” meaning “barrel”.

31 Lets go : SACKS

The phrase “get the sack” means “get dismissed from work”. One suggestion is that the expression derives from a worker leaving his place of employment with his or her tools in a bag.

33 Burbank-to-Fresno dir. : NNW

The California city of Burbank is located just northeast of Hollywood in Los Angeles County. Burbank is sometimes referred to as the “Media Capital of the World”, and is home to the headquarters of several media companies including Walt Disney and Warner Bros. The city is named for dentist turned rancher/farmer Dr. David Burbank, who raised sheep and grew wheat in the area starting in 1867.

Fresno is the largest inland city in the state of California. The city was named for the many ash trees that lined the San Joaquin River, as “fresno” is the Spanish for “ash tree”.

34 Old Austrian money : KRONEN

The krone was the currency of Austria from 1919 until 1925, when it was replaced by the schilling. The euro replaced the schilling in 2002.

38 Dunkable cookie : OREO

There is an “official” competition involving Oreo cookies, in case anyone is interested in participating. A competitor has to take several steps to finish an OREO Lick Race:

  1. Twist open the cookie.
  2. Lick each half clean of creme.
  3. Show the clean cookie halves to the fellow competitors.
  4. Dunk the cookie halves in a glass of milk.
  5. Eat the cookie halves.
  6. Drink the milk.
  7. Ready, set, go …

41 Savings for replacing old tools? : RUST FUND (from “trust fund”)

Rust is iron oxide. Rust forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

45 Chew out : RAIL AT

To rail at or against something is to complain bitterly about it.

52 “The Wreck of the Mary __” : DEARE

“The Wreck of the Mary Deare” is a novel by Hammond Innes, as well as a 1959 movie adaptation of the book, starring Gary Cooper.

53 Hoffman title role : HOOK

“Hook” is a very enjoyable 1991 movie directed by Steven Spielberg that is based on J.M. Barrie’s 1911 novel “Peter and Wendy”. Spielberg elicited great performances from a great cast in “Hook”. Included in the cast are Robin Williams as Peter, Dustin Hoffman as Hook, Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell, Bob Hoskins as Smee and Maggie Smith as a mature Wendy.

55 Hindu royalty : RAJAS

“Raja” (also “rajah”) is a word derived from Sanskrit that is used particularly in India for a monarch or princely ruler. The female form is “rani” (also “ranee”) and is used for a raja’s wife.

58 Like some bulls : PAPAL

A bulla (also “bull”) is a type of seal impression. A papal bull is a formal document from the Vatican that has such a seal attached, hence the name of the document.

60 Like many tuxedo shirts : PLEATED

Apparently, the style of men’s evening dress called a “tuxedo” was first worn to a country club event in 1886 in New York. The use of a dark dinner jacket without tails became fashionable at the club with the members, and the tradition spread from there. The country club was located in Tuxedo Park, New York, giving the style of dress its name.

62 One with a lofty greeting? : HIGH SLAPPER (from “thigh-slapper”)

The celebratory gesture that we call a “high five” is said to have been invented by former baseball players Dusty Baker and Glenn Burke when they were both playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the late 1970s.

65 Texter’s lead-in : IMO

In my opinion (IMO)

66 Dividing range : URALS

The eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia and Kazakhstan is generally regarded as the natural divide between the continents of Europe and Asia.

67 Hollow winds : REEDS

Woodwind instruments are a subcategory of wind instruments that were traditionally made of wood, although some are now made from metal. There are two main classes of woodwind: flutes and reed instruments. Flutes produce sound by blowing air across the edge of a hole in a cylindrical tube. Reed instruments produce sounds by blowing into a mouthpiece, which then directs the air over a reed or reeds, causing them to vibrate.

68 __ Wiedersehen : AUF

“Auf Wiedersehen” is German for “goodbye”, literally translating as “till we see each other again”.

69 Home __ : DEPOT

The Home Depot is the largest home improvement retail chain in the US, ahead of Lowe’s. Home Depot opened their first two stores in 1979. The average store size is just over 100,000 square feet. The largest Home Depot outlet is in Union, New Jersey, and it is 225,000 square feet in size. That’s a lot of nuts and bolts …

71 Bad check ltrs. : NSF

Not sufficient funds (NSF)

Down

1 Platform for primates? : APE DECK (from “tape deck”)

The tailless primates known as apes (also “hominoids”) are divided into two main branches: gibbons (lesser apes) and hominids (great apes). The hominids are the great apes, and belong to the family of primates called Hominidae. Extant genera that make up the family Hominidae are:

  • chimpanzees
  • gorillas
  • humans
  • orangutans

3 Song with the phrase “kiss me mucho” : ESO BESO

“Eso Beso” is Spanish for “That Kiss”, and is the title of a 1962 hit song recorded by Canadian-born singer Paul Anka.

4 MD-to-be’s exam : MCAT

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)

5 44-Down, once : SIXER
(44D Four-time pro basketball MVP : DR J )

The Philadelphia 76ers basketball team is one of the oldest franchises in the NBA. The “Sixers” were formed in 1946 as the Syracuse Nationals. The team moved to Philadelphia in 1963, and the name 76er was chosen in a fan contest, a name that honors the men who fought for the country’s independence in 1776.

6 Caviar spoon materials : NACRES

Nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, is the strong iridescent material laid down by some mollusks on the inside of their shells, and it’s also what makes up pearls. The creature lays down nacre as a defensive mechanism, protecting the soft tissue of its body from the rough surface of the outer shell. Similarly, it uses nacre to encapsulate harmful debris or a parasite that penetrates the shell, and that’s how a pearl is formed. Cultured pearls are made by inserting a tissue graft from a donor oyster, around which the nacre is laid down.

Caviar is the roe of a large fish that has been salted and seasoned, and especially the roe of a sturgeon. Beluga caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon, which is found primarily in the Caspian Sea. It is the most expensive type of caviar in the world. 8 ounces of US-farmed beluga caviar can be purchased through Amazon.com for just over $850, in case you’re feeling peckish …

8 Arrange local transportation : CALL A CAB

A hansom cab is a very specific design of horse and buggy that was patented by Joseph Hansom in 1834 in England. The “cab” in the name is short for “cabriolet”, an earlier design of carriage on which the hansom was based. It’s from “hansom cab” that we get our modern term “cab”.

9 Baltic feeder : ODER

The Oder river rises in the Czech Republic, and forms just over a hundred miles of the border between Germany and Poland. Downstream, the Oder breaks into three branches that empty into the Gulf of Pomerania in the Baltic Sea.

10 Daytime host Lake : RICKI

Ricki Lake is perhaps as well known for her “Ricki Lake” talk show, as she is for playing Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 movie “Hairspray”.

13 Postal motto word : NOR

There is no official creed or motto for the US Postal Service (USPS). However, there is the oft-quoted inscription that is posted (pun!) over the entrance to the James Farley Post Office in New York City:

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

19 More rangy : LANKIER

The term “lank” can describe something that is straight and flat, particularly hair. The usage was extended in the early 1800s (especially in the form “lanky”) to mean “awkwardly tall and thin”.

21 Memorable JFK words after “And so, my fellow Americans” : … ASK NOT

“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country” is a passage from the famous inaugural address delivered by President John F. Kennedy (JFK) in January 1961. Although it is generally regarded as one of the best inaugural addresses, it is the fourth shortest, taking just 13m 59s to deliver from start to finish.

25 Needlefish : GAR

“Gar” was originally the name given to a species of needlefish found in the North Atlantic. The term “gar” is now used to describe several species of fish with elongated bodies that inhabit North and Central America and the Caribbean. The gar is unusual in that it is often found in very brackish water. What I find interesting is that the gar’s swim bladders are vascularized so that they can actually function as lungs. Many species of gar can actually be seen coming to the surface and taking a gulp of air. This adaptation makes it possible for them to live in conditions highly unsuitable for other fish that rely on their gills to get oxygen out of the water. Indeed, quite interesting …

27 Axl’s group, briefly : GNR

Guns N’ Roses (GNR) is a hard rock band founded in 1985 that is still going strong. The group was pulled together by Axl Rose, the lead vocalist. The lead-guitar player back then was Tracii Guns, and it was the combination of Axl and Tracii’s “family” names that led to the band being called Guns N’ Roses.

30 Feudal laborers : SERFS

A serf was a member of the lowest feudal class, someone attached to land owned by a lord. “Serf” comes from the Latin “servus”, meaning “slave”.

Feudalism was a legal and military system that flourished in medieval Europe. Central to the system were the concepts of lords, vassals and fiefs. Lords would grant fiefs (land or rights) to vassals in exchange for allegiance and service.

32 Golfer with three PGA Championship top 10s after age 60 : SNEAD

Sam Snead was probably the most successful golfer never to win a US Open title, as he won a record 82 PGA Tour events. Snead did win seven majors, but never the US Open. He was also quite the showman. He once hit the scoreboard at Wrigley Field stadium with a golf ball, by teeing off from home plate. Snead’s best-remembered nickname is “Slammin’ Sammy”.

37 Curly-haired “Peanuts” girl : FRIEDA

Charles Schulz introduced a character named Frieda in the sixties. She is a little girl with a head of curly, red hair. Schulz modeled Frieda on his longtime friend from real life Frieda Rich, a local artist from Minneapolis.

39 Like a mild chili : ONE-ALARM

The spiciness or “heat” of a serving of chili is often designated by an unofficial scale ranging from one-alarm upwards.

The full name of the dish that is often called simply “chili” is “chili con carne”, Spanish for “peppers with meat”. The dish was created by immigrants from the Spanish Canary Islands in the city of San Antonio, Texas (a city which the islanders founded). The San Antonio Chili Stand was a popular attraction at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and that stand introduced the dish to the rest of America and to the world.

42 Tabloid topic : UFO

“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs Wellcome) for a “small tablet of medicine”, a name that goes back to 1884. The word “tabloid” had entered into general use to mean a compressed form of anything, and by the early 1900s was used in “tabloid journalism”, which described newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

44 Four-time pro basketball MVP : DR J

Julius Erving is a retired professional basketball player who was known as “Dr. J”, a nickname he picked up in high school. Dr. J was a trailblazer in many ways, being the first player associated with slam dunking and other moves above the rim.

46 Vientiane native : LAOTIAN

Vientiane is the capital city of Laos, and is situated on the Mekong River. The city was originally called the “city of sandalwood” by Buddhist monks, naming it after the valued trees that grew in the area. The French took the Pali words for “city of sandalwood” and rewrote it as the French-sounding “Vientiane”.

47 Ross Martin’s “The Wild Wild West” role : ARTEMUS

“The Wild Wild West” is a western TV series that originally aired in the sixties. The show has been described as “James Bond on horseback” and featured two Secret Service agents who solved crimes and protected President Ulysses Grant. The show was adapted into a 1999 movie called “Wild Wild West” starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline.

Actor Ross Martin was best known for playing Artemus Gordon on the Western TV show “The Wild Wild West” in the 1960s. Martin was born Martin Rosenblatt in Poland, and emigrated to the US with his family as an infant.

54 Painter Frida : KAHLO

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter famous for her self-portraits. She was married to the equally famous artist Diego Rivera. Kahlo was portrayed by actress Salma Hayek in a film about her colorful life called “Frida” released in 2002.

61 In olden days, once : ERST

“Erst” is an archaic way of saying “formerly, before the present time”. The term is mostly seen as part of the word “erstwhile”, an adjective meaning “of times past”.

62 1963 Newman title role : HUD

The modern-day, western movie called “Hud” was released in 1963 and has become a classic. “Hud” stars Paul Newman (in the title role) and Patricia Neal and is an adaptation of a novel by Larry McMurtry called “Horseman, Pass By”. Patricia Neal’s role in the film was relatively small, yet her performance was enough to earn her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Paul Newman was an actor from Shaker Heights, Ohio. Newman won his only Best Actor Oscar for his role in “The Color of Money”, a Martin Scorsese film. Off screen Newman was a very successful racing driver and won several national championships. He also founded a food company called Newman’s Own which donates its profits to charity, an amount that now exceeds $500 million.

64 Louvre Pyramid designer : PEI

When I. M. Pei became the first foreign architect to work on the Louvre in Paris, he not only designed the famous glass and steel pyramid, but also worked on renovations throughout the museum. His design was very controversial, causing a lot of ill feelings among the public. Eventually, when the work was complete, public opinion became more favorable. Personally, I think it is magnificent, both inside and out.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Render speechless, maybe : AWE
4 “Morning Joe” network : MSNBC
9 Bach’s instrument : ORGAN
14 Family nicknames : PAS
15 “Goodies” singer : CIARA
16 Muralist Rivera : DIEGO
17 It may be bruised : EGO
18 Guitar connoisseur? : AX COLLECTOR (from “tax collector”)
20 School team member who argues a lot : DEBATER
22 Capers : LARKS
23 Fleecy females : EWES
24 Shakespearean villain : REGAN
26 Shakespearean villain : IAGO
29 Coopers’ creations : CASKS
31 Lets go : SACKS
33 Burbank-to-Fresno dir. : NNW
34 Old Austrian money : KRONEN
36 Cabdriver’s pickups during a storm? : RAIN FARE (from “train fare”)
38 Dunkable cookie : OREO
40 Tall one : BEER
41 Savings for replacing old tools? : RUST FUND (from “trust fund”)
45 Chew out : RAIL AT
49 Toward the 50-Across : AFT
50 See 49-Across : STERN
52 “The Wreck of the Mary __” : DEARE
53 Hoffman title role : HOOK
55 Hindu royalty : RAJAS
57 Indulge, with “on” : DOTE …
58 Like some bulls : PAPAL
60 Like many tuxedo shirts : PLEATED
62 One with a lofty greeting? : HIGH SLAPPER (from “thigh-slapper”)
65 Texter’s lead-in : IMO
66 Dividing range : URALS
67 Hollow winds : REEDS
68 __ Wiedersehen : AUF
69 Home __ : DEPOT
70 Center : MIDST
71 Bad check ltrs. : NSF

Down

1 Platform for primates? : APE DECK (from “tape deck”)
2 Fight in a big way : WAGE WAR
3 Song with the phrase “kiss me mucho” : ESO BESO
4 MD-to-be’s exam : MCAT
5 44-Down, once : SIXER
6 Caviar spoon materials : NACRES
7 Bud : BRO
8 Arrange local transportation : CALL A CAB
9 Baltic feeder : ODER
10 Daytime host Lake : RICKI
11 Scores high : GETS AN A
12 Previously : AGO
13 Postal motto word : NOR
19 More rangy : LANKIER
21 Memorable JFK words after “And so, my fellow Americans” : … ASK NOT
25 Needlefish : GAR
27 Axl’s group, briefly : GNR
28 Run up a bill, say : OWE
30 Feudal laborers : SERFS
32 Golfer with three PGA Championship top 10s after age 60 : SNEAD
35 Not on any side : NEUTRAL
37 Curly-haired “Peanuts” girl : FRIEDA
39 Like a mild chili : ONE-ALARM
41 Word of support : RAH!
42 Tabloid topic : UFO
43 Thrown-together : STOPGAP
44 Four-time pro basketball MVP : DR J
46 Vientiane native : LAOTIAN
47 Ross Martin’s “The Wild Wild West” role : ARTEMUS
48 Steamed … and like five answers in this puzzle? : TEED OFF
51 Dozed for a bit : NAPPED
54 Painter Frida : KAHLO
56 Wintry rides : SLEDS
59 Soft “Over here!” : PSST!
61 In olden days, once : ERST
62 1963 Newman title role : HUD
63 Real resentment : IRE
64 Louvre Pyramid designer : PEI