LA Times Crossword Answers 6 Jun 14, Friday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Frank Virzi
THEME: Rising Tides … each of our themed answers contains TIDE as a hidden word. The themed answers are all written in the down-direction, and the hidden TIDE appears in reverse, so collectively we have some RISING TIDES:

35A. Boat lifters found in this puzzle’s three longest answers RISING TIDES

4D. Bank offerings CREDIT LINES
7D. Journalism bigwigs MANAGING EDITORS
26D. Journeys of discovery EXPEDITIONS

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 50s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

6. Coldplay gear AMPS
An electric guitar, for example, needs an amplifier to take the weak signal created by the vibration of the strings and turn it into a signal powerful enough for a loudspeaker.

Coldplay is a rock band that was formed in London in 1996 by Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland. Chris Martin is married to the American actress Gwyneth Paltrow, although I heard recently that they have separated after 10 years of marriage.

10. Fix, in a way SPAY
Our verb “to spay”, meaning “to surgically remove the ovaries of” (an animal) comes from an old Anglo-French word “espeier” meaning “to cut with a sword”.

16. Old Milano moola LIRE
The word “lira” is used in a number of countries for currency. “Lira” comes from the Latin for “pound” and is derived from a British pound sterling, the value of a Troy pound of silver. For example, the lira (plural “lire”) was the official currency of Italy before the country changed over to the euro in 2002.

Milan (“Milano” in Italian) is Italy’s second largest city, second only to Rome. Milan is a European fashion capital, the headquarters for the big Italian fashion houses of Valentino, Gucci, Versace, Armani, Prada and others. Mario Prada was even born in Milan, and helped establish the city’s reputation in the world of fashion.

Lettuce, cabbage, kale, dinero, dough and moola (also moolah) are all slang terms for money.

18. Capital on Chesapeake Bay ANNAPOLIS
The city of Annapolis is located on Chesapeake Bay, and is the capital of the state of Maryland. Annapolis also served for almost a year as the capital of the United States, right after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 that marked the end of the American Revolutionary War with Britain. The name “Annapolis” was chosen in 1694 by the British Governor of Maryland, honoring Princess Anne of Denmark and Norway who was destined to become Anne, Queen of Great Britain.

21. Drug initially studied for use in treating angina VIAGRA
Viagra is a trade name for the drug sildenafil citrate that is used primarily to treat erectile dysfunction. The drug was developed in the UK by Pfizer as a treatment for high blood pressure and angina, but the clinical trials showed that it induced penile erections. A decision was made to change the intended market of the drug and in 1998 it became the first orally-taken medication approved by the FDA for erectile dysfunction.

22. To whom Ilsa said “I’ll hum it for you” SAM
The movie “Casablanca” was released in January of 1943, timed to coincide with the Casablanca Conference, the high-level meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill. The film wasn’t a box-office hit, but gained critical acclaim, winning three Oscars including Best Picture. The signature song “As Time Goes By” was written many years earlier for a 1931 Broadway musical called “Everybody’s Welcome”, and was a hit in 1931 for Rudy Vallee. But today we all remember the Casablanca version, sung by Dooley Wilson (who played “Sam” in the film). Poor Dooley didn’t get to record it as a single, due to a musician’s strike in 1943, so the 1931 Rudy Vallee version was re-released that year and became an even bigger hit second time round.

There is a famous exchange in the movie “Casablanca” that results in the piano player Sam singing “As Time Goes By”.

Ilsa: Play it once, Sam. For old times’ sake.
Sam: I don’t know what you mean, Miss Ilsa.
Ilsa: Play it, Sam. Play “As Time Goes By.”
Sam: Oh, I can’t remember it, Miss Ilsa. I’m a little rusty on it.
Ilsa: I’ll hum it for you. Da-dy-da-dy-da-dum, da-dy-da-dee-da-dum…
Ilsa: Sing it, Sam.

An equally famous exchange takes place a little later in the film, resulting in a reprise of the song:

Rick: You know what I want to hear.
Sam: No, I don’t.
Rick: You played it for her, you can play it for me!
Sam: Well, I don’t think I can remember…
Rick: If she can stand it, I can! Play it!

Great stuff!

25. Natural dye HENNA
Henna has been used for centuries as a dye, not just for leather and wool, but also for the hair and skin. In modern days, henna is also used for temporary tattoos.

27. Advise MENTOR
A mentor is a trusted teacher or counselor. The term comes Homer’s “Odyssey” in which there is a character called Mentor. Mentor is a friend of Odysseus, although he is a relatively ineffective old man. However, the goddess Athena takes on Mentor’s appearance in order to guide Odysseus’s young son Telemachus through difficult times.

28. Nest egg item, for short IRA
Individual retirement account (IRA)

31. Spinoff of TV’s “Hercules” XENA
The Xena character, famously played by New Zealander Lucy Lawless, was introduced in a made-for-TV movie called “Hercules and the Amazon Women”. Lawless reprised the role in a series called “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”. Xena became so popular that a series was built around her character, with Lawless retained for the title role.

33. Carmelite, e.g. NUN
The full name of the Carmelite religious order of the Catholic church is the Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It is thought that the order was founded on Mt. Carmel in northern Israel in the 12th century, giving the name.

34. Buckingham buggy PRAM
Another word used in the UK that’s rarely used over here is “pram”, which in my day was the most common term for what is called a baby carriage in the US. “Pram” is short for “perambulator”.

The English market town of Buckingham was once the county town of the Buckinghamshire, although that honor was passed to Aylesbury in the 1700s.

35. Boat lifters found in this puzzle’s three longest answers RISING TIDES
Tides of course are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the oceans. At neap tide, the smaller gravitational effect of the sun cancels out some of the moon’s effect. At spring tide, the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces act in concert causing more extreme movement of the oceans.

38. Port near the Red Sea ADEN
Aden is a seaport in Yemen, located on the Gulf of Aden by the eastern approach to the Red Sea. Aden has a long history of British rule, from 1838 until a very messy withdrawal in 1967. Someone from the seaport of Aden is known as an Adeni.

The Red Sea (sometimes called the Arabian Gulf) is a stretch of water lying between Africa and Asia. The Gulf of Suez (and the Suez Canal) lies to north, and the Gulf of Aden to the south. According to the Book of Exodus in the Bible, God parted the Red Sea to allow Moses lead the Israelites from Egypt.

40. Alumni directory word NEE
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.

An “alumnus” (plural … alumni) is a graduate or former student of a school or college. The female form is “alumna” (plural … alumnae). The term comes into English from Latin, in which alumnus means foster-son or pupil. “Alum” is an informal term used for either an alumna or an alumnus.

41. Chap LAD
“Chap” is an informal term for “lad, fellow”, especially in England. The term derives from “chapman”, an obsolete word meaning “purchaser” or “trader”.

42. Winter coat RIME
Rime is that beautiful coating of ice that forms on surfaces like roofs, trees and grass, when cold water freezes instantly under the right conditions.

48. It was founded in Oxford in 1946 MENSA
If you ever had to learn Latin, as did I, “mensa” was probably taught to you in Lesson One as it’s the word commonly used as an example of a first declension noun. Mensa means “table”. The Mensa organization for folks with high IQs was set up in Oxford, England back in 1946. To become a member, one is required to have an IQ that is in the top 2% of the population.

52. One-time connection AT A
One at a time

53. White terrier, for short WESTIE
The West Highland White Terrier is a cute-looking little white dog from Scotland. The “Westie” looks very much like a related breed, the little black Scottish Terrier. The two breeds can be seen sitting side-by-side on the famous label of Black & White Scotch whisky.

56. California’s Mission Santa __ INES
Mission Santa Ines is located in the beautiful city of Solvang, California, a city with marked Danish influences.

57. Aster relative DANDELION
The name “dandelion” comes from the French “dent de lion” meaning “lion’s tooth”. The name is a reference to the coarse, tooth-like edges of a dandelion’s leaves.

59. Schubert’s “Eine kleine Trauermusik,” e.g. NONET
A nonet is a piece requiring nine musicians for a performance. Franz Schubert’s “Eine kleine Trauermusik” was written for two clarinets, two bassoons, a contrabassoon, two horns and two trombones. The name of the piece translates into “A little music for mourning”.

60. Martial __ ARTS
“Martial arts” are various fighting traditions and systems used in combat or simply to promote physical well-being. The term ultimately derives from Latin and means “Arts of Mars”, a reference to Mars, the Roman god of war.

61. French 101 infinitive ETRE
The French for “to be” is “être”.

63. GPS part: Abbr. SYST
Global Positioning System (GPS)

65. From Nineveh: Abbr. ASSYR
Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River in modern-day Iraq. The ruins of the city are located just on the other side of the river from the Iraqi city of Mosul. At one time, Nineveh was the largest city in the world.

Down
1. Fragrant fir BALSAM
The Balsam fir is an evergreen tree that is native to eastern and central North America. The Balsam is commonly used as a Christmas tree, especially in the northeastern US.

3. Sore spot LESION
A lesion is a wound or any abnormal tissue found in an organism. The word “lesion” comes from the Latin word “laesio” meaning “injury”.

5. Abbr. after Cleveland or Brooklyn HTS
Cleveland Heights is a city in Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

The part of the borough of Brooklyn known as Brooklyn Heights was the first commuter town for New York, blossoming when the a steam ferry service started to run between the Heights and Wall Street in the early 19th-century.

8. Sign of engine trouble, perhaps PING
Pinging is also known as “engine knocking”. It is a metallic sound, created when not all of the fuel-air mixture is detonated by the spark plug, with some of it detonated late in the cycle. The late detonation causes the knocking/pinging sound. Additives (anti-knock agents) in gasoline can help reduce the chances of pinging.

11. Pale lagers PILSNERS
Pilsener (also pilsner or pils) is a pale lager. The name “pilsener” comes from the city of Pilsen, now in the Czech Republic. It was in Pilsen, in 1842, that the first bottom-fermented lager was produced. A bottom-fermented beer is much clearer that a top-fermented beer, and has a crisper taste. The “top” and “bottom” refers to where the yeast gathers during the brewing process.

Lager is so called because of the tradition of cold-storing the beer during fermentation. “Lager” is the German word for “storage”.

12. Author Huffington ARIANNA
“The Huffington Post” is a news website founded in 2005 by Arianna Huffington. It is a very active site, with 3,000 people contributing blog posts (including many celebrities and politicians), and readers leaving over one million comments every month. “The Huffington Post” was sold to AOL in 2011 for $315 million, with Arianna Huffington staying on as editor-in-chief.

19. Tuba note PAH
Oom-pah-pah

21. Vestal __: Roman flame tenders VIRGINS
In Ancient Rome the priestesses of the the goddess Vesta were known as the Vestals. They were also called the Vestal Virgins as they took a vow of chastity, although they weren’t required to be celibate for life. Each priestess entered the order before puberty and promised to live a celibate life for thirty years. The first decade was spent as a student, the second in service, and the final ten years as a teacher. Upon completion of the thirty years the Vestal was free to marry, but few did. Life was a lot better for a woman in the priesthood than it was subject to Roman Law.

30. Dye-making compound ANILINE
Aniline is a relatively simple organic compound, mostly used in dyes. Hopefully the compound’s strong smell warns one to stay away, as aniline is a poison.

38. Seagoing forces ARMADAS
The most famous Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England in order to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I in 1588. It failed in its mission, partly due to bad weather encountered en route. Ironically, the English mounted a similar naval attack against Spain the following year, and it failed as well.

45. Hall of Fame pitcher Eckersley DENNIS
Dennis Eckersley is a former baseball pitcher who goes by the nickname “Eck”. Eckersley played for the Oakland Athletics from 1987 to 1995, and the team retired his uniform number (43) in 2005.

47. Bed denizen OYSTER
Pearls form in oysters because of a reaction that is similar to an immune system response in higher animals. The pearl is formed as the oysters lays down successive layers of calcium carbonate around some microscopic foreign body that has penetrated the shell.

51. Dressing extreme? NINES
The term “to the nines” means “to perfection”. The first person to use the term in literature was Robbie Burns. Apparently the idea behind the use of “nines” is figurative (pun!), with the number nine considered “ideal” as it is arrived at by multiplying three by three.

55. As found, with “in” SITU
“In situ” is a Latin phrase meaning “in the place”, and we use the term to mean “in the original position”.

58. Source of addl. evening light DST
On the other side of the Atlantic, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is known as “summer time”. The idea behind summer/daylight-savings is to move clocks forward an hour in spring and backwards in the fall so that afternoons have more daylight.

59. Surveillance org. NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization’s nickname … “No Such Agency”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Gush forth, as chimney smoke BELCH
6. Coldplay gear AMPS
10. Fix, in a way SPAY
14. Foil AVERT
15. Pace GAIT
16. Old Milano moola LIRE
17. Shakes, as a tail LOSES
18. Capital on Chesapeake Bay ANNAPOLIS
20. Lost traction SLID
21. Drug initially studied for use in treating angina VIAGRA
22. To whom Ilsa said “I’ll hum it for you” SAM
23. Shying away from AVOIDING
25. Natural dye HENNA
27. Advise MENTOR
28. Nest egg item, for short IRA
31. Spinoff of TV’s “Hercules” XENA
32. Place for a cast LEG
33. Carmelite, e.g. NUN
34. Buckingham buggy PRAM
35. Boat lifters found in this puzzle’s three longest answers RISING TIDES
38. Port near the Red Sea ADEN
40. Alumni directory word NEE
41. Chap LAD
42. Winter coat RIME
43. Nursery supply SOD
44. Reply to “No, you couldn’t have!” I DID SO!
48. It was founded in Oxford in 1946 MENSA
50. From the start INNATELY
52. One-time connection AT A
53. White terrier, for short WESTIE
56. California’s Mission Santa __ INES
57. Aster relative DANDELION
59. Schubert’s “Eine kleine Trauermusik,” e.g. NONET
60. Martial __ ARTS
61. French 101 infinitive ETRE
62. Make nasty comments SNIPE
63. GPS part: Abbr. SYST
64. Make nasty comments CUSS
65. From Nineveh: Abbr. ASSYR

Down
1. Fragrant fir BALSAM
2. Develop gradually EVOLVE
3. Sore spot LESION
4. Bank offerings CREDIT LINES
5. Abbr. after Cleveland or Brooklyn HTS
6. “Come __?” AGAIN
7. Journalism bigwigs MANAGING EDITORS
8. Sign of engine trouble, perhaps PING
9. One billed higher than the rest STAR
10. Traffic warning SLO
11. Pale lagers PILSNERS
12. Author Huffington ARIANNA
13. Polite assent YES, MA’AM
19. Tuba note PAH
21. Vestal __: Roman flame tenders VIRGINS
24. Executes DOES
26. Journeys of discovery EXPEDITIONS
29. Track RUT
30. Dye-making compound ANILINE
35. Leftovers REMNANTS
36. Natal opening NEO-
37. Word from a crib DADA
38. Seagoing forces ARMADAS
39. Like many supplements DIETARY
45. Hall of Fame pitcher Eckersley DENNIS
46. Nodding SLEEPY
47. Bed denizen OYSTER
49. Leave dumbstruck AWE
51. Dressing extreme? NINES
54. Monthly pmt. ELEC
55. As found, with “in” SITU
58. Source of addl. evening light DST
59. Surveillance org. NSA

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