LA Times Crossword 15 Mar 22, Tuesday

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Constructed by: John Michael Currie
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: What a Breeze!

Themed answers each start with a synonym of “BREEZE”:

  • 58A “Piece of cake!” … and apt description of the starts of 17-, 22-, 36- and 46-Across? : WHAT A BREEZE!
  • 17A Wartime delinquent : DRAFT DODGER
  • 22A ’60s-’70s Chicago Bears running back who is the youngest inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame : GALE SAYERS
  • 36A Flute and oboe : WIND INSTRUMENTS
  • 46A Flaky baked dough : PUFF PASTRY

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

Bill’s time: 5m 55s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Rolex rival : OMEGA

Omega is a manufacturer of high-end watches based in Switzerland. An Omega watch was the first portable timepiece to make it to the moon, Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that James Bond has been wearing an Omega watch in the movies since 1995.

11 Listing at indeed.com : JOB

Indeed (Indeed.com) is a search engine used as a tool to sort through online job listings. Indeed was co-founded in Austin, Texas and Stamford, Connecticut and became a subsidiary in 20121 of Recruit, a company based in Tokyo, Japan.

14 Halloween costume with pointy ears : DEVIL

All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows’ Eve, better known by the Scottish term “Halloween”.

15 Mid-range voice : TENOR

A tenor (plural “tenori”) is a male voice that falls between that of a countertenor and a baritone. The word “tenor” comes from the Latin “tenere” meaning “to hold”. This etymology refers to the tenor part that carries the sustained melody (canto fermo) of a traditional polyphonic composition.

16 One of WD-40’s many : USE

WD-40 is an aerosol spray that is primarily used to displace moisture, to protect from rust and corrosion. In fact, the “WD” in the name stands for “water displacement”.

21 Mufasa’s “The Lion King” brother : SCAR

In the 1994 movie “The Lion King”, the protagonist is Simba, a lion cub born to Mufasa and Sarabi. The main antagonist is Scar, Simba’s uncle and Mufasa’s brother. Simba is voiced by Matthew Broderick, and Scar is voiced by Jeremy Irons. “Simba” is Swahili for “lion, king, strong”.

22 ’60s-’70s Chicago Bears running back who is the youngest inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame : GALE SAYERS

Gale Sayers is a former NFL running back who played pro football in the sixties and seventies. Speedy Gale Sayers is from Wichita, and is nicknamed “The Kansas Comet”. He was famously supportive of his fellow Chicago Bear Brian Piccolo, who was stricken with cancer. The friendship between the players was portrayed in a 1971 movie called “Brian’s Song”.

25 German pastry : STRUDEL

Strudel is a layered pastry that is usually sweet. The word “strudel” means “whirlpool, eddy” in German.

32 __ sci : POLI

Political science (poli sci)

33 Web access co. : ISP

Internet service provider (ISP)

36 Flute and oboe : WIND INSTRUMENTS

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.

40 Drunkard : SOT

Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning “fool”. The word “sot” started to be associated with alcohol and not just foolery in the late 1500s. The derivative term “besotted” means “muddled with drunkenness”, or more figuratively “infatuated”.

41 Sorority T’s : TAUS

Tau is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, and the letter that gave rise to our Roman “T”. Both the letters tau (T) and chi (X) have long been symbolically associated with the cross.

42 Sleep disorder : APNEA

Sleep apnea (“apnoea” in British English) can be caused by an obstruction in the airways, possibly due to obesity or enlarged tonsils.

43 Sam or Michelle of Georgia politics : NUNN

Sam Nunn served as a US Senator for the state of Georgia as a Democrat, for 24 years until 1997. Nunn is married to Colleen O’Brien, whom he met for the first time in the US Embassy in Paris where she was working as a spy for the CIA.

Michelle Nunn was appointed president and CEO of the international aid organization CARE USA in 2015. She is the daughter of former US Senator Sam Nunn, and made an unsuccessful run herself for the US Senate in 2014.

50 Human rights lawyer Clooney : AMAL

Amal Alamuddin married celebrated Hollywood actor George Clooney in 2014. Alamuddin was born in Beirut, Lebanon and moved with her family to London when she was a toddler. She is a lawyer specializing in international law, with one of her more renowned clients being the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange.

51 Greek “Father of History” : HERODOTUS

Herodotus was a historian from ancient Greece. Roman orator Cicero referred to him as “the Father of History” as Herodotus was regarded as the first historian to work methodically and publish a well-constructed narrative. The only known work completed by Herodotus is “The Histories”.

57 Birdie plus one : PAR

The following terms are routinely used in golf for scores relative to par:

  • Bogey: one over par
  • Par
  • Birdie: one under par
  • Eagle: two under par
  • Albatross (also “double eagle”): three under par
  • Condor: four under par

No one has ever recorded a condor during a professional tournament.

60 “Mad Men” network : AMC

“Mad Men” was the flagship show on the AMC television channel for several seasons. Set in the sixties, it’s all about an advertising agency located on Madison Avenue in New York (hence the title). “Mad Men” became the first show created by a basic cable channel to win an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.

61 Hazardous gas : RADON

The element radon (Rn) is a radioactive gas, and a byproduct produced when uranium decays naturally in the earth. Radon gas can collect and accumulate in buildings and rooms that are particularly well insulated with very little air exchange. The danger is very real, as radon is listed as the second most frequent cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoke.

62 Shenanigan : ANTIC

I suppose one might be forgiven for thinking that “shenanigan” is an Irish term, as it certainly sounds Irish. Usually written in the plural, shenanigans are acts of mischief, pranks. Apparently the word is of uncertain derivation, but was coined in San Francisco and Sacramento, California in the mid-1800s.

64 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.

65 Everycow : BOSSY

“Bossy” is a common name used for a cow, just like a cat might be called “Kitty”. “Bossy” comes from the Latin word “bos” meaning “ox, cow”.

Down

3 Emergency copter op : EVAC

Evacuation (evac.)

5 Mid-range voices : ALTI

In choral music, an alto (plural “alti”) is the second-highest voice in a four-part chorus made up of soprano, contr(alto), tenor and bass. The word “alto” describes the vocal range, that of the deepest female singing-voice, whereas the term “contralto” describes more than just the alto range, but also its quality and timbre. An adult male’s voice (not a boy’s) with the same range as an alto is called a “countertenor”.

6 Without a key : ATONAL

Atonal music is not written in any particular key, and therefore does not have a key signature. I’m not a fan, not at all …

7 Olympic goal : MEDAL

In the Ancient Olympic Games, the winner of an event was awarded an olive wreath. When the games were revived in 1896, the winners were originally given a silver medal and an olive branch, with runners-up receiving a bronze medal and a laurel branch. The tradition of giving gold, silver and bronze medals began at the 1904 Summer Olympic Games held in St. Louis, Missouri.

9 Actress Kravitz : ZOE

Zoë Kravitz is an actress and singer. Zoë has a couple of famous parents, namely musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet.

12 Letter before Papa : OSCAR

The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

13 Coronas and Buds : BEERS

The Mexican beer called Corona is the biggest-selling imported beer in the United States.

The American beer Budweiser (often shortened to “Bud”) is named for the Czech town of Budweis (“České Budějovice” in Czech). The name is the subject of a dispute as here is an original Czech beer with a similar name, Budweiser Budvar. American Budweiser is sold in most European countries as “Bud”.

18 Venetian elder of yore : DOGE

Doges were the elected chief magistrates of the former republics of Venice and Genoa.

21 Australian airport code : SYD

Australia’s Sydney Airport (SYD) is located just five miles south of the city center, and next to Botany Bay. There have been plans dating back to the 1940s to build a second airport on the outskirts of the city.

23 “Star Trek” helmsman : SULU

Mr. Hikaru Sulu was played by George Takei in the original “Star Trek” series. Takei has played lots of roles over the years, and is still very active in television. Did you know that he appeared in the 1963 film, “Pt-109”? He played the helmsman steering the Japanese destroyer that ran down John F. Kennedy’s motor torpedo boat. From destroyer helmsman to starship helmsman …

26 Fairy tale bears, e.g. : TRIO

The story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” was first recorded in 1837 in England, although the narrative was around before it was actually written down. The original fairy tale was rather gruesome, but successive versions became more family-oriented. The character that eventually became Goldilocks was originally an elderly woman, and the three “nameless” bears became Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear.

27 “Seasons of Love” musical : RENT

The musical “Rent” by Jonathan Larson is based on the Puccini opera “La bohème”. “Rent” tells the story of struggling artists and musicians living in the Lower East Side of New York, and is set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic. We saw “Rent” on Broadway quite a few years ago, and were very disappointed …

28 Amer. money : USD

The dollar sign ($) was first used for the Spanish-American peso, in the late 18th century. The peso was also called the “Spanish dollar” (and “piece of eight”). The Spanish dollar was to become a model for the US dollar that was adopted in 1785, along with the dollar sign.

32 Halves of qts. : PTS

A US pint comprises 16 fluid ounces, and an imperial pint is 20 fluid ounces. The term “pint” comes into English via Old French, ultimately from the Latin “picta” meaning “painted”. The name arose from a line painted on the side of a beer glass that marked a full measure of ale.

33 Holiday and Days : INNS

The first Holiday Inn hotel opened in 1952. The name for the hotel chain was inspired by the 1942 movie “Holiday Inn” starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. The Holiday Inn chain has been British-owned since 1988.

34 Editor’s “Let it be” : STET

“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

35 Free TV ads : PSAS

Public service announcement (PSA)

39 Eco-conscious govt. group : EPA

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

43 Super Bowl org. : NFL

Super Bowl I was played in January 1967 between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers emerged victorious in a game with a score of 35-10. That game was officially known as the AFL-NFL Championship Game, as the name “Super Bowl” wasn’t applied until two seasons later. That “first” Super Bowl is now known as Super Bowl III and was played between the New York Jets and the Baltimore Colts. The Jets came out on top.

44 Roaming, like a knight : ERRANT

Someone described as errant is roving around, especially in search of adventure, as in “knight-errant”.The term “errant” has come to mean “behaving wrongly” and “straying outside the bounds”.

45 Brief invite equivalent of “Drinks are not on me!” : BYOB!

Bring Your Own Beer/Bottle/Booze (BYOB)

46 Like decrees from Francis : 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.

47 Fish sauce taste : UMAMI

Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. “Umami” is a Japanese word used to describe “a pleasant savory taste”. Umami was proposed as a basic taste in 1908, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the scientific community finally accepted it as such.

48 Screwball comedy : FARCE

A farce is a comedy play that features an exaggerated and improbable storyline, with lots of physical humor. I love a good farce …

The original screwball was a delivery in the sport of cricket. That term “screwball” was imported into baseball in the 1920s, and applied to an erratic baseball pitch. By the 1930s, a screwball was an eccentric and erratic person.

49 Grand __ National Park : TETON

Grand Teton National Park (NP) is located just south of Yellowstone NP, and a must-see if you are visiting the latter. The park is named after the tallest peak in the magnificent Teton Range known as Grand Teton. The origins of the name “Teton” is not very clear, although one story is that it was named by French trappers, as the word “tetons” in French is a slang term meaning “breasts”.

53 Napa prefix : OENO-

In Greek mythology, Oeno was the goddess of wine, giving us “oeno-” as a prefix meaning “wine”. For example, oenology is the study of wine and an oenophile is a wine-lover.

The first commercial winery in Napa Valley, California was established way back in 1858. However, premium wine production only dates back to the 1960s, with the region really hitting the big time after its success at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. The story of that famous blind wine tasting is told in the entertaining 2008 film “Bottle Shock”.

54 Asian holidays : TETS

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.

55 Israeli weapons : UZIS

The first Uzi submachine gun was designed in the late 1940s by Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal of the Israel Defense Forces, who gave his name to the gun.

56 Cabinet dept. head : SECY

In the Westminster system, the Cabinet is a group of sitting politicians chosen by the Prime Minister to head up government departments and also to participate collectively in major governmental decisions in all areas. In the US system, the Cabinet is made up not of sitting politicians, but rather of non-legislative individuals who are considered to have expertise in a particular area. The Cabinet members in the US system tend to have more of an advisory role outside of their own departments.

58 QB targets : WRS

In American football, a quarterback (QB) might throw to a wide receiver (WR).

59 Top __: Monopoly piece : HAT

The tokens included with a game of Monopoly have changed over the years. Two of the more interesting tokens are the battleship and cannon. These were created by Hasbro for a board game called Conflict. When Conflict failed in the market, the excess tokens were recycled and included with Monopoly.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Rolex rival : OMEGA
6 Wow : AMAZE
11 Listing at indeed.com : JOB
14 Halloween costume with pointy ears : DEVIL
15 Mid-range voice : TENOR
16 One of WD-40’s many : USE
17 Wartime delinquent : DRAFT DODGER
19 Slippery road cause : ICE
20 Multipart sofa : SECTIONAL
21 Mufasa’s “The Lion King” brother : SCAR
22 ’60s-’70s Chicago Bears running back who is the youngest inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame : GALE SAYERS
25 German pastry : STRUDEL
30 Provide money for : FUND
31 Playground retort : ARE SO!
32 __ sci : POLI
33 Web access co. : ISP
36 Flute and oboe : WIND INSTRUMENTS
40 Drunkard : SOT
41 Sorority T’s : TAUS
42 Sleep disorder : APNEA
43 Sam or Michelle of Georgia politics : NUNN
44 Online marketing technique : E-BLASTS
46 Flaky baked dough : PUFF PASTRY
50 Human rights lawyer Clooney : AMAL
51 Greek “Father of History” : HERODOTUS
57 Birdie plus one : PAR
58 “Piece of cake!” … and apt description of the starts of 17-, 22-, 36- and 46-Across? : WHAT A BREEZE!
60 “Mad Men” network : AMC
61 Hazardous gas : RADON
62 Shenanigan : ANTIC
63 Falsehood : LIE
64 Surgical tube : STENT
65 Everycow : BOSSY

Down

1 3:1, e.g. : ODDS
2 No more than : MERE
3 Emergency copter op : EVAC
4 Birthday buy : GIFT
5 Mid-range voices : ALTI
6 Without a key : ATONAL
7 Olympic goal : MEDAL
8 Artfully seek, as a promotion : ANGLE FOR
9 Actress Kravitz : ZOE
10 Make a mistake : ERR
11 Electricity : JUICE
12 Letter before Papa : OSCAR
13 Coronas and Buds : BEERS
18 Venetian elder of yore : DOGE
21 Australian airport code : SYD
23 “Star Trek” helmsman : SULU
24 __ husbandry : ANIMAL
25 Logging tools : SAWS
26 Fairy tale bears, e.g. : TRIO
27 “Seasons of Love” musical : RENT
28 Amer. money : USD
29 Wrap a gift, slangily : DO IT UP
32 Halves of qts. : PTS
33 Holiday and Days : INNS
34 Editor’s “Let it be” : STET
35 Free TV ads : PSAS
37 Mom’s mom : NANA
38 Awning, for one : SUNSHADE
39 Eco-conscious govt. group : EPA
43 Super Bowl org. : NFL
44 Roaming, like a knight : ERRANT
45 Brief invite equivalent of “Drinks are not on me!” : BYOB!
46 Like decrees from Francis : PAPAL
47 Fish sauce taste : UMAMI
48 Screwball comedy : FARCE
49 Grand __ National Park : TETON
52 Just plain plain : DRAB
53 Napa prefix : OENO-
54 Asian holidays : TETS
55 Israeli weapons : UZIS
56 Cabinet dept. head : SECY
58 QB targets : WRS
59 Top __: Monopoly piece : HAT

14 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 15 Mar 22, Tuesday”

  1. No errors. Things got tough down there in HERODOTUS and ERRANT land.
    Never heard the phrase “knight-errant”. And certainly didn’t know HERODOTUS.

    took too long for a tuesday. Looks like I had about 16 minutes. Wow.

  2. 7:44

    We’ve had a fair number of gusty days lately, but today it’s just the puzzle.

  3. No errors, no lookups today, but a few “do-overs” – one being changing
    solo to sulu to accomodate “fund”.

  4. As part German, I believe strusel, not strudel, is German. If Wikipedia is correct, strudel has its origin in Hungary, became popular in the Hamburg Empire and is considered a national dish in Austria.

  5. 8:42 – no errors, lookups, or revisions. Kind of breezed right through it!

    “Knight-errant” was new to me. No difficult names, but did not know that Herodotus was considered the Greek “Father of History.”

  6. Anon Mike – Never heard of “knight errant?” Have you ever watched “Man of La Mancha?” Nolanski: Had you been raised on a dairy farm, as I was, truly “everycow” was “bossy.”

  7. 13:30 – couple cheats, I’ve had better days …

    HERODOTUS/OENO and AMAL/UMAMI crosses ate me alive, never heard of any of them.

    Be Well.

  8. 9 mins 6 sec, and 2 errors: the aforementioned HERODOTUS that it seems no one has ever heard of. And this on a Tuesday.

    That the last Across wasn’t some form of BESSIE (BESSY?) was another mystery. Don’t know where our constructor’s reference comes from, but it’s nothing I’ve ever heard of.

    Where’s that new editor??? Can’t take over soon enough.

  9. 10:12, 2 errors. Like others I hadn’t heard of Bossy & put Bessy instead (although in my mind I was picturing Elsie)

  10. Knew Herodotus, but apparently I am not up on Greek name spellings and put an ‘i’ in place of the second ‘o’. I had ‘Bessy’ for the everycow name as that is, in fact, a very common name for cows.

    Could not come up with any prefix for ‘Napa’ since there are none, and with the Greek name spelled wrong and ‘Bessy’ in place of ‘Bossy’, I could make no sense of ‘iene’ and just left it knowing that something wasn’t quite right in that corner of the puzzle.

  11. Concerning “BOSSY” (familiar to me from my days on the farm), see:

    https://www.countryliving.com/life/kids-pets/news/a45432/why-people-call-cows-boss/

    Turns out it’s related to the Latin word “bos” (which I didn’t know, but, after the fact, it makes perfect sense).

    The prefix “OENO” refers to wine (as in the word “oenophile”, meaning a “lover of wine”), and Napa Valley is well known as a wine center, so the connection made by the clue is kind of obvious.

    And, yeah, the name “Herodotus” is pretty well-known to me, though I probably couldn’t have told you what his specialty was.

  12. Mostly easy Tuesday for me; took 12:06 when I got stuck on the first O of OENO, which I was sure was right. Finally scanned around for another error and saw that I’d put in UMAgI which left AgC as a channel that I’d never heard of. Then I got the banner.

    @Peter T Colket – Strudel is correct in this case and refers to a layered pastry. Streusel refers to a crumbly topping for cakes or muffins. Both are delicious and I’m a big fan!

    Learned about Herodotus (484 BCE – 425 BCE) today – the first writer to do systematic investigations of historical events, as opposed to Hieronymus Bosch a famous painter from the Netherlands, who I did know about.

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