LA Times Crossword 6 Oct 25, Monday

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Constructed by: Agnes Davidson & Zhouqin Burnikel

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Court Appearance

Themed answers each end with something that APPEARS in a COURT:

• 37A Proceeding that may follow a subpoena, and what the ends of 16-, 23-, 46-, and 59-Across can make? : COURT APPEARANCE

• 16A Spot to paste a URL in a browser window : ADDRESS BAR
• 23A Holds firm against opposition : TAKES A STAND
• 46A Hall of Fame catcher who won two World Series with the Cincinnati Reds : JOHNNY BENCH
• 59A Place for oils and watercolors : ART GALLERY

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

Bill’s time: 4m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “That’s tragic” : SO SAD

The words “tragic” and “tragedy” have a pastoral origin, deriving from the Greek “tragoidia” that literally translates to “goat-song”. The term combines “tragos”, meaning “goat”, and “oide”, meaning “song, ode”. The exact connection between tragedy and goats is unclear, but the leading theories point to the dramatic festivals of ancient Athens where tragedies were performed. One idea is that a live goat was the prize awarded to the winning playwright. Another theory suggests that the chorus members in early dramas were dressed in goatskins to represent satyrs. A third possibility is that a goat was ritually sacrificed before the performance to honor the god Dionysus, in whose honor the plays were staged. Crazy …

13 Ingredient in pepper pot soup : TRIPE

Tripe is the rubbery stomach lining of an animal such as a cow. It is also a traditional dish in British cuisine, prepared by poaching it with onions in milk. Further, “tripe” can be an informal term meaning “rubbish, of little value”.

14 Love, in telenovelas : AMOR

A telenovela is a “television novel”, a form of programming that is very popular in Latin America. It is somewhat like a soap opera that has an end in sight, and that runs for less than a year. I like this quote from an executive at Telemundo:

A telenovela is all about a couple who wants to kiss and a scriptwriter who stands in their way for 150 episodes.

16 Spot to paste a URL in a browser window : ADDRESS BAR

An Internet address (like NYXCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) is more correctly called a uniform resource locator (URL).

20 Épée handle : HILT

The hilt of a weapon is its handle. One might push in the blade of a knife to the hilt, to the maximum degree.

21 Colorado ski town : ASPEN

Aspen, Colorado used to be known as Ute City, with the name change taking place in 1880. Like many communities in the area, Aspen was a mining town, and in 1891 and 1892 it was at the center of the highest production of silver in the US. Nowadays, it’s all about skiing and movie stars.

22 48 hrs. before Sun. : FRI

The name “Friday” comes from an Old English word meaning “day of Frigg”. Frigg was a goddess from Norse mythology who was usually depicted as the wife of Odin.

27 Tree gunk : SAP

There are two types of sap in a plant. Xylem sap is a watery solution that moves from the roots to the leaves. Phloem sap is a sugary solution that moves from the leaves (where sugars are produced) to the parts of the plant where sugars are used.

30 Colombian city : CALI

In terms of population, Cali is the third-largest city in Colombia (after Bogotá and Medellin). Santiago de Cali (the full name for the city) lies in western Colombia. Apparently, Cali is a destination for “medical tourists”. The city’s surgeons have a reputation for being experts in cosmetic surgery and so folks head there looking for a “cheap” nose job. Cali has also been historically associated with the illegal drug trade and money laundering.

37 Proceeding that may follow a subpoena, and what the ends of 16-, 23-, 46-, and 59-Across can make? : COURT APPEARANCE

A subpoena is a writ issued by a court compelling a person to testify before the court, or compelling a person or organization to produce evidence before the court. The term comes from the Latin phrase “sub poena” meaning “under penalty”. The court has the authority to penalize a person or organization that does not comply with the subpoena.

43 Internet dial-up pioneer : AOL

AOL (America Online) began as an online service and later became a major ISP, especially popular for its dial-up access in the 1990s, offering its own network and content in addition to Internet access. I remember it oh so well when I used to travel for work. AOL was great, having dialup access numbers all over the world …

46 Hall of Fame catcher who won two World Series with the Cincinnati Reds : JOHNNY BENCH

Johnny Bench is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds. After a career as a baseball catcher, his natural hip joint was in bad shape and so he had replacement surgery in 2004. Bench then became a spokesperson for the Stryker Corporation, the company that made his hip implant.

56 “Slumdog Millionaire” actor Kapoor : ANIL

Anil Kapoor is an Indian actor who is probably best known in North America for playing the game show host in the 2008 film “Slumdog Millionaire”. He also played the president of the fictional nation of Kamistan in the eighth season of the hit TV show “24”.

The brilliant film “Slumdog Millionaire” is a screen adaptation of a 2005 novel by Indian author Vikas Swarup. A low-budget movie, it ended up winning eight Oscars in 2008. I reckon it turned a profit …

58 Hornet, for one : WASP

A hornet is a large type of wasp, with some species reaching over two inches in length.

61 Blues singer James : ETTA

Etta James had a tough upbringing and faced many challenges. She was born to an unmarried teenage mother and never knew her father. She experienced abuse and hardship, and even dealt with heroin addiction. Despite all this, she rose to become one of the most iconic and influential singers of all time, known for her powerful voice and soulful performances.

62 EverQuest monster : OGRE

EverQuest, launched in 1999, is a 3D fantasy multiplayer online role-playing game. Apparently, it’s quite addictive, earning itself the nickname “EverCrack”, a reference to crack cocaine.

64 __ Moines River : DES

The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.

65 Topple (over) : KEEL

To keel over is to capsize, to turn a boat over so that her keel lies up from the surface. We also use the phrase “keel over” figuratively to mean “collapse, faint”.

66 Daisylike flower : ASTER

Apparently, most aster species and cultivars bloom relatively late in the year, usually in the fall. The name “aster” comes into English via Latin from the Greek word “astéri” meaning “star”, a reference to the arrangement of the petals of the flower.

Down

1 Office crew : STAFF

The use of the word “staff” to refer to a body of employees is a metaphor that comes from the term’s original use in a military context. A commanding officer’s symbol of authority was a baton or “staff” of office. The group of officers who assisted him came to be known figuratively as his “staff”. They were the human equivalent of a stick that might support a person.This military usage eventually broadened to describe the employees of any organization, such as a school, hospital, or business.

3 Tangential topic : SIDE ISSUE

In geometry, a tangent is a straight line that just touches a curve at a single point and then continues on without crossing it. A tangential remark “touches” on the main subject for a brief moment and then veers off in another direction, much like the line and the curve. The term “tangent” comes from the Latin verb “tangere” meaning “to touch”.

4 Car loan figs. : APRS

Annual percentage rate (APR)

6 Corrective eye surgery : LASIK

LASIK surgery uses a laser to reshape the cornea of the eye to improve vision. The LASIK acronym stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis”.

10 Mea __: acknowledgment of fault : CULPA

Many Roman Catholics are very familiar with the Latin phrase “mea culpa” meaning “my fault”, as it is used in the Latin Mass. The additional term “mea maxima culpa” translates as “my most grievous fault”.

17 Fish prized for its roe : SHAD

The shad is also known as the river herring. The eggs (roe) of the shad are prized as a delicacy, especially in the Eastern US.

21 Happy __ clam : AS A

Our phrase “happy as a clam” dates back to the mid-1600s. Back then it was a more lengthy expression: “happy as a clam in the mud at high tide”. The idea was that a clam would be happy in its muddy home at high tide, because no one from land could get to it and eat it.

24 Angkor Wat’s continent : ASIA

Angkor Wat is a temple in Cambodia that was built in the 12th century. The beautiful building is iconic in Cambodia and is even featured in the center of the country’s national flag.

26 Pampering spot known as jjimjilbang : KOREAN SPA

Jjimjilbang are 24-hour, gender-separated bathhouses that became very popular in South Korea in the nineties. The word “jjimjilbang” literally translates as “heating room” from “jjimjil” (heating, steaming) and “bang” (room).

30 EMS skill : CPR

Emergency medical services (EMS) might administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

31 Primate with no tail : APE

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

34 Social butterfly’s opposite : INTROVERT

The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung popularized the terms “Introvert” and “extrovert”, although he believed that we all have introverted and extroverted sides to us. Nowadays we tend to think of extroversion and introversion as extremes on a continuum. We bloggers, sitting at home glued to our laptops, tend to the introverted end of the scale …

36 German article : DER

The definite article in German is der, die or das, for masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. The indefinite article is ein, eine or ein, again depending on the gender of the noun. A further complication, relative to English, is that the masculine form (and only the masculine form) of the article changes when used in the accusative case, when used with the object of a sentence. The accusative forms are “den” and “einen”.

39 Poison ivy reaction : RASH

Two of the plants that are most painful to humans are poison oak and poison ivy. Poison oak is mainly found west of the Rocky Mountains, and poison ivy to the east.

44 Lowest roll on a die : ONE

The numbers on dice are arranged so that the opposite faces add up to seven. Given this arrangement, the numbers 1, 2 and 3 all meet at a common vertex. There are two ways of arranging the 1, 2 and 3 around the common vertex, a so-called right-handed die (clockwise 1-2-3) or a left-handed die (counterclockwise 1-2-3). Traditionally, dice used in Western cultures are right-handed, whereas Chinese dice are left-handed. Quite interesting …

45 School near Sunset Blvd. : UCLA

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) gets more applications from potential students than any other university in the country. UCLA also has more students enrolled than any other university in the state.

The Los Angeles thoroughfare Sunset Boulevard is 22 miles long, stretching from downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean. The most famous part of Sunset Boulevard is the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, a 1½-mile stretch that is home to high-end boutiques, restaurants and nightclubs.

51 Hawthorne of “The Madness of King George” : NIGEL

Sir Nigel Hawthorne was an English actor who is best remembered for his portrayal of the marvelous Sir Humphrey Appleby on the British sitcom “Yes Minister”. On the big screen, he is perhaps best known for playing the title role in the 1994 film “The Madness of King George”.

The 1994 movie “The Madness of King George” was adapted from Alan Bennett’s stage play, which was titled “The Madness of George III”. The name was deliberately changed for the movie’s release as producers feared that audiences would see the Roman numeral “III” and assume the film was a sequel, skipping it because they hadn’t seen “The Madness of George I” and “The Madness of George II”. Dearie, dearie me …

57 Hoppy brews : ALES

The foodstuff that we call “hops” are actually the female flowers of the hop plant. The main use of hops is to add flavor to beer. The town in which I used to live here in California was once home to the largest hop farm in the world. Most of the harvested hops were exported all the way to the breweries of London, where they could fetch the best price.

59 Hunky-dory : A-OK

Our term “A-OK” is supposedly an abbreviation for “A(ll systems are) OK”, and arose at NASA in the sixties during the space program.

Surprisingly (to me), the term “hunky-dory” has been around a long time, and is documented back in the mid-1800s. Nobody’s really sure of its origin, but some say it is an Anglicization of “Honcho dori”, that back in the day was a street of ill repute in Yokohama, Japan.