LA Times Crossword 2 Sep 22, Friday

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Constructed by: Jeffrey Wechsler
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Letters Shadded?

Themed answers are common phrases if we remove SH- from the start of the second word:

• 19A Storage area for Christmas toys? : SANTA’S SHELVES (“Santa’s elves” + SH)
• 24A Clippers used by Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail? : RABBIT SHEARS (“rabbit ears” + SH)
• 40A Analyst for Ducks and Penguins? : HOCKEY SHRINK (“hockey rink” + SH)
• 46A Earthquake-resistant? : FIT FOR SHAKING (“fit for a king” + SH)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 __ Cass : MAMA

Cass Elliot (born “Ellen Cohen”) was one of the four singers in the Mamas and the Papas, a sensational group from the sixties. “Mama Cass” was performing sold-out concerts in London in 1974 when she was found dead one morning, having had a heart attack. She was only 32 years old. Eerily, Elliot died in the same flat (on loan from Harry Nilsson) in which the Who’s drummer Keith Moon would die just four years later.

5 Some Sappho poems : ODES

Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet born on the Greek island of Lesbos. Sappho was much admired for her work, although very little of it survives today. She was renowned for writing erotic and romantic verse that dealt with the love of women as well as men. It was because of this poetry that the word “lesbian” (someone from Lesbos) is used to describe a gay woman.

14 Ruminant with striped legs : OKAPI

The okapi is closely related to the giraffe, although it does have markings on its legs and haunches that resemble those of a zebra. The okapi’s tongue is long enough to reach back and wash its eyeballs, and can go back even further to clean its ears inside and out.

Ruminants are animals that “chew the cud”. Ruminants eat vegetable matter but cannot extract any nutritional value from cellulose without the help of microbes in the gut. Ruminants collect roughage in the first part of the alimentary canal, allowing microbes to work on it. The partially digested material (the cud) is regurgitated into the mouth so that the ruminant can chew the food more completely, exposing more surface area for microbes to do their work. We also use the verb “to ruminate” in a figurative sense, to mean “to muse, ponder, chew over”.

17 Horror movie locale : CRYPT

A crypt is a chamber that is located partially or totally underground. The term “crypt” comes from the Greek “kryptos” meaning “hidden”.

22 “The Comedy of Errors,” for one : FARCE

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

William Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” is the shortest of all his plays, and one of his earliest. It’s all about two sets of identical twins who are separated at birth. Hilarity ensues …

24 Clippers used by Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail? : RABBIT SHEARS (“rabbit ears” + SH)

Beatrix Potter was an English author famous for the children’s books she wrote and illustrated. The most famous character in her stories was Peter Rabbit, whose sisters were Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail. Potter put her talent as an artist to good use in the scientific world as well. She recorded many images of lichens and fungi as seen through her microscope. As a result of her work, she was respected as an expert mycologist.

Remember rabbit ears television antennas? I don’t recall being told this when I was younger, but to get the best reception the length of the “ears” needs to be set at about one half of the wavelength of the signal of the target channel. If only I had known …

29 Cookies that once came in collectible tins : OREOS

How the Oreo cookie came to get its name seems to have been lost in the mists of time. One theory is that it comes from the French “or” meaning “gold”, a reference to the gold color of the original packing. Another suggestion is that the name is the Greek word “oreo” meaning “beautiful, nice, well-done”.

34 Hors d’oeuvres carrier : TRAY

An hors d’oeuvre is a first course in a meal. “Hors d’oeuvre” translates from French as “apart from the work”, which really means “not the main course”.

35 Hand-picked instrument? : BANJO

The instrument that we know today as the banjo is a derivative of instruments that were used in Africa.

38 Canine that preys on red kangaroo and swamp wallaby : DINGO

The dingo is a wild dog of Australia. It is thought to have originated from domesticated dogs that were brought to Australia with humans that settled the land centuries ago.

39 Après-ski drink : COCOA

The beverages hot cocoa and hot chocolate differ from each other in that the latter contains cocoa butter, whereas the former does not.

40 Analyst for Ducks and Penguins? : HOCKEY SHRINK (“hockey rink” + SH)

The Walt Disney Company founded the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hockey team in 1993, with the franchise’s name being a nod to the 1992 Disney movie called “The Mighty Ducks”. The name was changed to the Anaheim Ducks when Disney sold the team before the 2006-2007 season.

The Penguins are a professional hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They have been around since 1967, and were one of the first expansion teams when the NHL grew from six to twelve teams. The expansion team were to play in Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena, a domed structure known locally as the Igloo. It was the “Igloo” name that inspired a fan to suggest the “Penguins” moniker, which won a contest to choose the name of the new franchise.

45 Cy who pitched the first perfect game of the modern era : YOUNG

Cy Young was a pitcher in the major leagues from 1890-1911. Young is remembered for pitching the first perfect game of baseball’s modern era. Soon after he died in 1955, the Cy Young Award was created and is presented to the best pitcher in each baseball season.

56 Inheritance factor : GENE

A gene is a section of a chromosome that is responsible for a particular characteristic in an organism. For example, one gene may determine eye color and another balding pattern. We have two copies of each gene, one from each of our parents, with each copy known as an allele.

57 Records, in a way : TIVOS

TiVo was introduced in 1999 and was the world’s first commercially successful digital video recorder (DVR).

58 Aerial enigmas : UFOS

Disc-shaped flying objects have been reported in the sky since the Middle Ages. In the modern era, the event that launched the term “flying saucer” was a UFO sighting in 1947, which was covered widely in the media. Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine unidentified flying objects in formation near Mount Rainier in Washington. In describing the objects, he repeatedly used the words “saucer”, “disc” and “pie-plate”. Newspapers latched onto the terminology, and we’ve been seeing flying “saucers” ever since.

59 Set up: Abbr. : ESTD

Established (“est.” or “estd.”)

61 Some lit. degrees : MFAS

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Down

2 Hail, in a hymn : AVE

“Ave” is a Latin word meaning “hail” as in “Ave Maria”, which translates as “Hail Mary”. “Ave” can also be used to mean “goodbye”.

4 Assistant in Mass production : ALTAR BOY

The principal act of worship in the Roman Catholic tradition is the Mass. The term “Mass” comes from the Late Latin word “missa” meaning “dismissal”. This word is used at the end of the Latin Mass in “Ite, missa est” which translates literally as “Go, it is the dismissal”.

5 Pod that may be fried or pickled : OKRA

The plant known as okra is mainly grown for its edible green pods. The pods are said to resemble “ladies’ fingers”, which is an alternative name for the plant. Okra is known as “ngombo” in Bantu, a name that might give us the word “gumbo”, the name for the name of the southern Louisiana stew that includes okra as a key ingredient.

7 Actor Omar : EPPS

Omar Epps is the actor who played Eric Foreman on the excellent television series “House”. Prior to playing Dr. Foreman, Epps had a recurring role playing Dr. Dennis Gant on “ER”. He is good friends with actor and comedian Marlon Wayans. Epps and Wayns were classmates at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

8 Order of Darth Sidious : SITH

Palpatine is the Dark Lord of the Sith in the “Star Wars” universe. He is also known as “Darth Sidious” and “the Emperor”. In most of the films in the series, Palpatine is played by Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid. In “The Empire Strikes Back”, he was actually played by a woman. Palpatine was portrayed physically by the wife of special makeup effects artist Rick Baker, and voiced by New Zealand actor Clive Revill.

10 Silk source : LARVA

The textile known as silk is made from a natural protein fiber produced from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm. Ethical vegans tend to avoid silk as many, many silkworms die in order to produce a relatively small amount of fabric. Raw silk is obtained by boiling the silkworms alive inside the cocoons that yield the fibers.

14 Chamber group : OCTET

Chamber music is a style of classical musical that is written for a small group of instruments, as opposed to a full orchestra. That number of players should be able to stage a performance in a “chamber”, traditionally a large room in a palace or other grand residence.

20 CBS military drama with regional spinoffs : NCIS

NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which investigates crimes in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The service gives its name to the CBS TV show “NCIS”, a spin-off drama from “JAG” in which the main “NCIS” characters were first introduced. The big star in “NCIS” is the actor Mark Harmon. “NCIS” is now a franchise, with spin-off shows “NCIS: Los Angeles” and “NCIS: New Orleans”.

22 Grain of emmer, spelt, or einkorn : FARRO

The three hulled wheat species known as spelt, emmer and einkorn are referred to collectively as “farro”.

24 “Divergent” novelist Veronica : ROTH

The “Divergent” series of movies is based on the “Divergent” novels written by Veronica Roth. The movies and novels are set in a post-apocalyptic version of Chicago called the Divergent Universe. The story is about a citizenry that is divided into five different factions based on personality traits. The critics weren’t crazy about the first movie in the series, but I really enjoyed it …

25 “Boys Don’t Cry” Oscar winner : SWANK

Actress Hilary Swank had her first major role in “The Next Karate Kid” released in 1994, in which she played the first female student of the sensei Mr. Miyagi. Her most notable performances were in “Boys Don’t Cry” (1999), in which she played a transgender man, and in “Million Dollar Baby” (2004) playing an aspiring boxer.

“Boys Don’t Cry” is a 1999 biographical film about a real-life trans man who is the victim of gang rape and then murder in what was classified as a hate crime. The victim was Brandon Teena, who is portrayed in the movie by female actress Hilary Swank.

33 Deck chair wood : TEAK

Teak is a hardwood tree in the mint family that is commonly found in monsoon forests of Asia. Teak’s tight grain and high oil content make it very suitable for constructing outdoor furniture, where weather resistance is valued. For the same reason, teak is the wood of choice for wooden decks on boats.

35 Shaving brand : 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.

36 Mineral in abrasives : CORUNDUM

Corundum is a form of aluminum oxide, the color of which can vary depending on the presence of impurities. The presence of chromium gives us red rubies, and a range of transition metals result in varying shades of sapphire. Corundum is also very hard, and so it is used as an abrasive, particularly in sandpaper.

39 Woo-shik of “Parasite” and “Train to Busan” : CHOI

Choi Woo-shik is a Canadian actor who was born in South Korea. His most memorable role has to be the lead character Kim Ki-woo in the Oscar-winning movie “Parasite”.

40 Hoisted : HEFTED

The heft of something is its weight, its heaviness. The term “heft” is derivative of the verb “to heave” meaning “to lift, raise”.

41 Wanda who plays Dr. Karl in the “Bad Moms” films : SYKES

Wanda Sykes is a very successful American comedian and comic actress. Interestingly, Sykes spent her first five years out of school working for the NSA. I saw her perform in Reno some years ago, and she is very, very funny.

“Bad Moms” is a 2016 comedy movie about three stressed-out mothers who go on a fling, shirking their maternal responsibilities for a few days. Those “bad moms” are played by Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn.

42 Old enough to vote, say : OF AGE

The minimum age of voters was called out in the US Constitution when it was passed in 1787. This was set at 21 years, and applied only to white, male property owners. Voting age was lowered in the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution in 1971 as a response to student activism. Young people at that time were frustrated that they were mature enough to be drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, yet were not considered mature enough to vote in elections.

43 “Frasier” role : NILES

In the sitcom “Frasier”, Niles Crane is the brother of the title character Frasier Crane. Frasier is played by Kelsey Grammer and Niles is played by David Hyde Pierce. Frasier was originally intended to be an only child in the show’s storyline, but the producers decided to add a brother when they noted the remarkable similarity in appearance between David Hyde Pierce and Kelsey Grammer.

“Frasier” is a very successful sitcom that originally ran for eleven seasons, from 1993 to 2004. Kelsey Grammer plays the title character, psychiatrist Frasier Crane. The show is a spinoff of the equally successful sitcom “Cheers” that ended its original run just a few months before “Frasier” premiered. By the time “Frasier” aired its last show, Grammer’s portrayal of Crane tied the record for the longest-running character on primetime TV. As an aside, that tie was with James Arness’ portrayal of Matt Dillon on “Gunsmoke”. As a further aside, the record was later broken by Richard Belzer’s portrayal of Detective John Munch on the shows “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Law & Order: SVU”.

49 Bee flat? : HIVE

A beehive is a structure specially built to house a colony of bees. A bee colony that houses itself naturally is found in a nest.

54 Mauna __ : LOA

Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

55 Start of spring? : ESS

The word “spring” starts with a letter S (ess).