LA Times Crossword 18 Mar 20, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Paul Coulter
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer-ish: Spin Doctor

The four corners of the grid include circled letters in a circular formation. Those letters spell out famous DOCTORS:

  • 71A With the circled word in the grid’s center, what each circled word is? : SPIN … DOCTOR
  • DOCTOR JEKYLL
    Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was published in 1886. There are many tales surrounding the writing of the story, including one that the author wrote the basic tale in just three to six days, and spent a few weeks simply refining it. Allegedly, Stevenson’s use of cocaine stimulated his creative juices during those few days of writing.
  • DOCTOR DOOM
    Doctor Doom is a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and is an archenemy of the Fantastic Four.
  • DOCTOR PHIL
    Dr. Phil (McGraw) met Oprah Winfrey when he was hired to work with her as a legal consultant during the Amarillo Texas beef trial (when the industry sued Oprah for libel over “Mad Cow Disease” statements). Oprah was impressed with Dr. Phil and invited him onto her show, and we haven’t stopped seeing him since!
  • DOCTOR WATSON
    In the marvelous Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes’ sidekick Dr. Watson is referred to only by his family name, except for two occasions when it is revealed that his first name is John. However, in a third and final mention, Dr. Watson is called “James” by his wife, perhaps indicating a lapse in memory on the part of the author.

Bill’s time: 6m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 __ d’art : OBJET

An “objet d’art” is an item that has artistic merit. The term is French for “art object”. The plural is “objets d’art”.

6 It’s sold in bars : SOAP

Soap is basically made by adding a strong alkali (like lye) to a fat (like olive oil or palm oil). The fats break down in the basic solution in a process called saponification. The crude soap is extracted from the mixture, washed, purified and finished in molds.

10 Axlike tool : ADZE

An adze (also “adz”) is similar to an axe, but is different in that the blade of an adze is set at right angles to the tool’s shaft. An axe blade is set in line with the shaft.

15 “In memoriam” bio : OBIT

Our word “obituary” comes from the Latin “obituaris”. The Latin term was used for “record of the death of a person”, although the literal meaning is “pertaining to death”.

“In memoriam” is a Latin phrase that we use in English to mean “in memory of” when referring to a person that is deceased.

19 Hip ’60s Brits : MODS

“Mod” is short for “modernist”, and describes a subculture that originated in London in the late fifties. Young men who called themselves mods tended to wear tailored suits, listen to pop music and drive around on Italian motor scooters. Mods came into conflict with another subculture that emerged at the same time in the UK called the rockers. Rockers were into rock and roll music, and drove motorcycles I remember as a young kid in school having to declare myself as either a mod or a rocker. I don’t think our “gangs” back then were quite the same as they are today though …

20 Rodeo ropes : LASSOS

Our English word “lasso” comes from the Spanish “lazo”, and ultimately from the Latin “laqueum” meaning “noose, snare”.

“Rodeo” is a Spanish word that is usually translated into English as “round up”.

23 Montréal mate : AMI

The original name of Montreal was Ville-Marie, meaning the City of Mary. Ville-Marie is now the name of a borough in the city, the borough which includes the downtown area and “Old Montreal”. The present-day city covers most of the Island of Montreal (in French, “Île de Montréal”) that is located where the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers meet. The name “Montreal” comes from the three-headed hill that dominates the island and is called “Mount Royal”.

27 “Cold Mountain” hero played by Jude Law : INMAN

The novel “Cold Mountain” was written in 1997 by Charles Frazier. It’s the tale of a deserter in the Civil War named W. P. Inman and his trek home to his beloved Ada Monroe, who lives in the rural community of Cold Mountain in North Carolina. The plot has been compared with Homer’s “The Odyssey”, which tells of the long journey home of Odysseus to Ithaca after the Trojan War. In the 2003 film adaptation of the same name, Ada Monroe is played by Nicole Kidman, and Inman is played by Jude Law.

28 Bolster : PROP UP

Back in Ireland I often slept in beds that had a “bolster” as well as pillows. The bolster was usually a long, bed-wide, stuffed cushion, harder than a pillow. It served the purpose of raising the pillows, perhaps as an aid for sitting up in bed. Our modern usage of the verb “bolster”, meaning to give a metaphoric shot in the arm, derives from this “bolster” that we used to sit up against.

37 ER personnel : RNS

One might find a registered nurse (RN) and a medical doctor (MD) in an emergency room (ER).

38 Fabric ponytail holder : SCRUNCHIE

When Rommy Wevson patented the Scrunchie hair tie in 1987, she called it a “Scunci” after her pet poodle.

41 Chinese menu surname : TSO

General Tso’s chicken is an American creation, and a dish often found on the menu of a Chinese restaurant. The name General Tso may be a reference to General Zuo Zongtang of the Qing Dynasty, but there is no clear link.

49 Hasty escape : LAM

To be on the lam is to be in flight, to have escaped from prison. “On the lam” is American slang that originated at the end of the 19th century. The word “lam” also means to “beat” or “thrash”, as in “lambaste”. So “on the lam” might derive from the phrase “to beat it, to scram”.

62 Mall directories : MAPS

Surprisingly (to me!), our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to be a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.

63 1850s Eurasian conflict : CRIMEAN WAR

The Crimean War of 1855-1856 was fought between Russia and an alliance comprising France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia. One of the most famous engagements of the Crimean War was the 1854 Battle of Balaclava, which involved the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade.

70 Director Kazan : ELIA

Elia Kazan won Oscars for best director in 1948 for “Gentleman’s Agreement” and in 1955 for “On The Waterfront”. In 1999 Kazan was given an Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also directed “East of Eden”, which introduced James Dean to movie audiences, and “Splendor in the Grass” that included Warren Beatty in his debut role.

71 With the circled word in the grid’s center, what each circled word is? : SPIN … DOCTOR

“Spin doctor” is a slang term describing a professional in the field of public relations (PR).

72 Celestial red giant : S STAR

Stars are commonly classified by the color of the light that they emit. These classifications are, from hottest to coolest, O, B, A, F, G, K and M. One way to remember the order of these letters is to use the mnemonic “Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me”. The colors of these stars range from blue (class O) to red (class M). Our sun is class G, a yellow star. I think we all know that …

Down

1 __Kosh B’gosh : OSH

OshKosh B’gosh is a company that produces and sells children’s clothes. The trademark OshKosh bib-overalls remind us of the company’s roots, as it was originally a manufacturer of adult work clothes based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

2 Rain-__ bubble gum : BLO

Rain-Blo bubble gum balls were introduced in 1940 by Leaf Confectionery, a company that was then based in the Netherlands.

4 One-named singer : ENYA

Enya’s real name is Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, which can translate from Irish into Enya Brennan. Her Donegal family (in the northwest of Ireland) formed a band called Clannad, which included Enya. In 1980 Enya launched her very successful solo career, eventually becoming Ireland’s best-selling solo musician. And, she sure does turn up a lot in crosswords!

5 Boxing decisions : TKOS

Technical knockout (TKO)

7 Corpulent : OBESE

Our word “corpulent”, meaning “having a large body”, comes from Latin. “Corpus” means “body”, and “-ulentus” means “full of”. Very descriptive …

9 War affliction, for short : PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

10 Jordan’s capital : AMMAN

Amman is the capital city of Jordan, and is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world. Amman has been occupied by a number of different civilizations over the centuries, including the Greeks who called it “Philadelphia”, a name retained by the Romans when they occupied the city just after 100 AD.

12 Astrology diagrams : ZODIACS

In astronomical terms, the zodiac is a group of 13 constellations that together form a roughly circular pattern in the night sky. Most of these constellations are named for animals, which explains with the word “zodiac” comes from the Greek “zodiakos” meaning “circle of little animals”. We can’t see the whole Zodiac at any one time in the year, but one constellation does dominate the sky every four weeks. In astrological terms, there are only 12 signs of the zodiac. Astrologists skip the constellation Ophiuchus (visible November/December). Ophiuchus is the serpent bearer.

13 Ancient ascetic : ESSENE

The Essenes were a Jewish religious group who are most noted these days perhaps as the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

18 Invite letters : RSVP

“RSVP” stands for “répondez s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “answer, please”.

22 __ al-Fitr: end-of-Ramadan feast : EID

Eid al-Fitr is a religious holiday in the Muslim tradition that is known in English as the “Festival of Breaking the Fast”. It marks the end of Ramadan, a period of dawn-to-sunset fasting.

24 Hosp. scan : MRI

An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine uses powerful magnetic fields to generate its images so there is no exposure to ionizing radiation (such as X-rays). We used MRI equipment in our chemistry labs at school, way back in the days when the technology was still called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI). Apparently the marketing folks didn’t like the term “nuclear” because of its association with atomic bombs, so now it’s just called MRI.

26 MS format details : SPECS

Manuscript (MS)

29 Mexican money : PESO

The peso is used in many Spanish-speaking countries around the world. The coin originated in Spain where the word “peso” means “weight”. The original peso was what we know in English as a “piece of eight”, a silver coin of a specific weight that had a nominal value of eight “reales”.

30 L.A. school : USC

The University of Southern California (USC) is a private school in Los Angeles. Apart from its excellent academic record, USC is known for the success of its athletic program. USC Trojans have won more Olympic medals than the students of any other university in the world. The USC marching band is very famous as well, and is known as the “Spirit of Troy”. The band has performed with many celebrities, and is the only college band to have two platinum records.

35 Milano cathedral : DUOMO

“Duomo” is an Italian word that translates as “cathedral”. The term probably comes from the Latin “domus” meaning “house”, and used in the sense of a cathedral being a house of God, or perhaps the house of a bishop.

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.

36 Prov. bordering four Great Lakes : ONT

The province of Ontario borders four of the Great Lakes, i.e. Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario.

39 Early TV maker : RCA

RCA was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America, and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric (GE). GE divested RCA in 1932, and then reacquired the company in 1986. Today, RCA is just a brand name.

42 Wrinkly dog : SHAR-PEI

The shar-pei breed of dog is that one with the wrinkly face and really dark tongue. The breed originated in China, with “shar-pei” being the British spelling of the Cantonese name.

46 Summer in la ville : ETE

“Ville” is a French word meaning “city, town”.

48 Served like cherries jubilee : FLAMBE

Flambé is the French word for “flamed”, and was originally a term used to describe certain types of porcelain. The word “flambé” crept into cookery just after 1900.

Cherries jubilee might be considered a “light” dessert, certainly not due to the calorie count, but rather due to the “lighting” of the liqueur that is poured over the cherries. Usually one takes cherries, pours a liqueur like Kirschwasser (German for “cherry water”) and then sets the liqueur alight and flambés the cherries. The reduced liqueur and cherries are then poured as a source over vanilla ice cream. Apparently the recipe was invented by French Chef Auguste Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel restaurant in London, to celebrate one of Queen Victoria’s jubilees.

49 British co. letters : LTD

In Britain and Ireland, the most common type of business (my perception anyway) is one that has private shareholders whose liability is limited to the value of their investment. Such a company is known as a private limited company, and has the abbreviation “Ltd.” after the name. If the shares are publicly traded, then the company is a public limited company, and has the letters “plc” after the name.

52 Ottoman title : PASHA

A pasha was a high-ranking official in the Ottoman Empire, and was roughly equivalent to the English rank of lord.

54 French-speaking Caribbean country : HAITI

The Republic of Haiti occupies the smaller, western portion of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. The rest of the island is taken up by the Dominican Republic. Haiti is one of only two nations in the Americas to have French as an official language, the other being Canada.

55 Colorful memory game : SIMON

Simon is an electronic memory game that was released in the 1980s. The idea is to press four big colored buttons in the right order.

58 Heart tests, briefly : ECGS

An EKG measures the electrical activity in the heart. Back in my homeland of Ireland, an EKG is known as an ECG (for electrocardiogram). We use the German name in the US, Elektrokardiogramm, giving us EKG. Apparently the abbreviation EKG is preferred, as ECG might be confused (if poorly handwritten, I guess) with EEG, the abbreviation for an electroencephalogram.

60 Golden Triangle country : LAOS

“Golden Triangle” is the name given to one of the main opium-producing areas in Asia. The triangular area includes part of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.

61 SASEs, e.g. : ENCS

Enclosure (enc.)

An SAE is a “stamped, addressed envelope”. An SASE is a “self-addressed, stamped envelope”.

64 Missy Elliott music genre : RAP

Melissa “Missy” Elliott is a rap artist who was childhood friends with fellow rapper Timbaland.

66 GI’s furlough : R’N’R

Rest and relaxation/recuperation/recreation (R&R, R‘n’R)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 __ d’art : OBJET
6 It’s sold in bars : SOAP
10 Axlike tool : ADZE
14 Move furtively : SLINK
15 “In memoriam” bio : OBIT
16 Cow conversation : MOOS
17 Rite of Christian ordination : HOLY ORDERS
19 Hip ’60s Brits : MODS
20 Rodeo ropes : LASSOS
21 Honeybunch : DEARIE
23 Montréal mate : AMI
25 Fights (for) : VIES
27 “Cold Mountain” hero played by Jude Law : INMAN
28 Bolster : PROP UP
31 Enhance, as an expense report : PAD
33 Whiz : ACE
34 Sticking points : TINES
35 Carries out : DOES
37 ER personnel : RNS
38 Fabric ponytail holder : SCRUNCHIE
41 Chinese menu surname : TSO
43 Foldable beds : COTS
44 Pet store enclosures : CAGES
48 Dismissive syllable : FEH!
49 Hasty escape : LAM
50 Computer key : DELETE
51 Bounded : LEAPT
53 Quite : OH SO
56 Leaves in the afternoon? : TEA
57 Irritate by rubbing : ABRADE
59 Supermarket walkways : AISLES
62 Mall directories : MAPS
63 1850s Eurasian conflict : CRIMEAN WAR
67 “Ick!” : BLEH!
68 Spanish cat : GATO
69 Salty expanse : OCEAN
70 Director Kazan : ELIA
71 With the circled word in the grid’s center, what each circled word is? : SPIN …
72 Celestial red giant : S STAR

Down

1 __Kosh B’gosh : OSH
2 Rain-__ bubble gum : BLO
3 Word whose meaning wouldn’t change if it began with “z” : JILLION
4 One-named singer : ENYA
5 Boxing decisions : TKOS
6 “Me too” : SO DO I
7 Corpulent : OBESE
8 Ultrathin MacBook : AIR
9 War affliction, for short : PTSD
10 Jordan’s capital : AMMAN
11 Entry-level job? : DOORMAN
12 Astrology diagrams : ZODIACS
13 Ancient ascetic : ESSENE
18 Invite letters : RSVP
22 __ al-Fitr: end-of-Ramadan feast : EID
23 Fitting : APT
24 Hosp. scan : MRI
26 MS format details : SPECS
29 Mexican money : PESO
30 L.A. school : USC
32 Tray filler : ASH
35 Milano cathedral : DUOMO
36 Prov. bordering four Great Lakes : ONT
37 Authentic : REAL
39 Early TV maker : RCA
40 Freezer cubes : ICE
41 Game for little hitters : TEE-BALL
42 Wrinkly dog : SHAR-PEI
45 Jumps in the lake : GETS WET
46 Summer in la ville : ETE
47 Vast quantity : SEA
48 Served like cherries jubilee : FLAMBE
49 British co. letters : LTD
50 A teaspoon, say : DOSE
52 Ottoman title : PASHA
54 French-speaking Caribbean country : HAITI
55 Colorful memory game : SIMON
58 Heart tests, briefly : ECGS
60 Golden Triangle country : LAOS
61 SASEs, e.g. : ENCS
64 Missy Elliott music genre : RAP
65 Battery for small electronics : AAA
66 GI’s furlough : R’N’R