LA Times Crossword Answers 26 Jun 14, Thursday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: C.C. Burnikel
THEME: Echo Chamber … each of today’s themed answer acts as a “CHAMBER” of sorts, for the hidden word ECHO:

17A. Last words of the Parable of the Marriage Feast BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN
28A. Nocturnal bird with a harsh cry SCREECH OWL
43A. Dojo move KARATE CHOP
56A. Add one’s voice JOIN IN THE CHORUS

34A. Radio studio feature, and what each of this puzzle’s four other longest answers literally is ECHO CHAMBER

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 32s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Condo coolers ACS
Room coolers are air conditioning units (ACs).

The words “condominium” and “apartment” tend to describe the one type of residential property, a private living space with facilities shared with others residing in the same building or complex. The difference is that a condominium is usually owned, and an apartment is rented. At least that’s how it is in the US. The word “condominium” comes from the Latin “com” (together) and “dominum” (right of ownership).

4. Link between God and you? BLESS
God bless you!

9. Hostess snack cakes HO HOS
Ho Hos snack cakes were first produced in San Francisco in 1967; not the best thing to come out of the sixties I’d say …

16. Like bighorns OVINE
The bighorn sheep of North America has horns that can weigh up to 30 pounds, about 10% of the animal’s body weight.

17. Last words of the Parable of the Marriage Feast BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN
“For many are called, but few are chosen” is a concluding line in the Parable of the Marriage Feast quoted in the Gospel of Matthew in the Christian New Testament.

21. Rebecca’s firstborn ESAU
Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins “the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)”. As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father’s wealth (it was his “birthright”). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a “mess of pottage” (a meal of lentils).

23. Woodstock style TIE-DYE
1969’s Woodstock Music & Art Fair was held on a dairy farm located 43 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York. 400,000 young people attended, and saw 32 bands and singers perform over three days.

26. Triceps locale ARM
The triceps brachii muscle is found at the back of the upper arm. The muscle’s name translates to “three-headed arm muscle”, fitting as it is actually made up of three bundles of muscles.

31. Banned orchard spray ALAR
The chemical name for Alar, a plant growth regulator and color enhancer, is daminozide. Alar was primarily used on apples but was withdrawn from the market when it was linked to cancer.

34. Radio studio feature, and what each of this puzzle’s four other longest answers literally is ECHO CHAMBER
An echo chamber is a hollow enclosure that is used to produce a particular sound effect for a TV or radio program. Sounds produced in the echo chamber reverberate, creating the impression that the action or conversation is taking place in say a cave or a large hall.

39. Ruler deposed in 1979 SHAH
The last Shah of Iran was Mohammed-Reza Shah Pahlavi, as he was overthrown in the revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. The post-revolution government sought the extradition of the Shah back to Iran while he was in the United States seeking medical care (he had cancer). His prolonged stay in the United States, recovering from surgery, caused some unrest back in Iran and resentment towards the United States. Some say that this resentment precipitated the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran and the resulting hostage crisis.

42. It may be sticky NOTE
The Post-it note was invented at 3M following the accidental discovery of a low-tack, reusable adhesive. The actual intent of the development program was the discovery of a super-strong adhesive.

43. Dojo move KARATE CHOP
“Karate”, means “open hand”, and the related word “karaoke” means “open orchestra”.

The Japanese word dojo literally means “place of the way”. Originally the term applied to training halls that were found in or beside temples. The teaching in a dojo was not limited to the martial arts, but in the Western world we use the dojo as the name for a training facility for judo, karate and the like.

49. MD workplaces ORS
A medical doctor (MD) might work in an operating room (OR).

51. Goddess who turned Medusa’s hair to snakes ATHENA
In Greek mythology, Medusa was one of the monstrous female creatures known as Gorgons. According to one version of the Medusa myth, she was once a beautiful woman. But she incurred the wrath of Athena who turned her lovely hair into serpents and made her face hideously ugly. Anyone who gazed directly at the transformed Medusa would turn into stone. She was eventually killed by the hero Perseus, who beheaded her. He carried Medusa’s head and used its powers as a weapon, before giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield.

52. Subj. of a ’90s CIA search WMD
The first recorded use of the term “Weapon of Mass Destruction” (WMD) was in 1937. The words were used by Cosmo Gordon Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, in reference to the bombardment of Guernica in Spain during the Spanish Civil War by the German Luftwaffe. He said, “Who can think without horror of what another widespread war would mean, waged as it would be with all the new weapons of mass destruction?”

55. Some govt. prosecutors ADAS
Assistant District Attorney (ADA)

61. When rights may not be denied? ON RED
If you’re sitting behind a car that doesn’t make a right on red, it may just be a rental car driven by someone from Europe. Speaking as someone who learned to drive over there, I must admit I held up a few people at red lights when I first visited this country. That’s because in Europe we aren’t allowed to make any move past a red light, unless there is an accompanying green arrow. So, if you’re driving over there, take care …

62. King of Judea HEROD
Herod Agrippa was the grandson of Herod the Great, and like his grandfather was a Roman client king of Judea. It is thought that Herod Agrippa is the “Herod” mentioned in the Bible’s “Acts of the Apostles”, the king who imprisoned Peter and who had killed James son of Zebedee. Agrippa’s grandfather was the King Herod who ordered the Massacre of the Innocents described in the Gospel of Matthew. This was Herod’s attempt to kill the young Jesus by ordering the murder of all boys aged two or younger in Bethlehem and vicinity.

63. Dijon season ETE
One might spend the summer (été) under the sun (le soleil) in French-speaking countries.

Dijon is a city in eastern France, in the Burgundy region. Dijon is famous for its mustard, a particularly strong variation of the condiment. The European Union doesn’t protect the name “Dijon” so anyone can use it on a label. That seems fair enough to me given that 90% of the mustard made in and around Dijon is produced using mustard seed imported from Canada!

64. Self-titled 2000 pop album BETTE
One of my favorite singers, and indeed all-round entertainers, is Bette Midler. If you’ve ever seen her live show you’ll know that “camp” is a good word to describe it, as her humor is definitely “out there” and quite bawdy. Early in her career, Midler spent years singing in the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in New York City. There she became very close friends with her piano accompanist, Barry Manilow. While singing in the bathhouse, Bette only wore a white towel, just like the members of her audience. It was in those days that she created her famous character “the Divine Miss M” and also earned herself the nickname “Bathhouse Betty”.

65. Links measures YARDS
The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name “links” comes from the Old English word “hlinc” meaning “rising ground”. “Hlinc” was used to describe areas with coastal sand dunes or open parkland. As a result, we use the term “links course” to mean a golf course that is located at or on the coast, often amid sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

Down
2. “Katie” host COURIC
Katie Couric left NBC’s “The Today Show” in 2006 and took over as news anchor for “CBS Evening News”. In so doing she became the first solo female anchor of a broadcast network evening news program. Couric also has the honor of being the only person to guest-host on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”. In fact she “swapped jobs” on that particular day, and Leno filled in for Couric on “The Today Show”. Since 2012, Couric has a hosted a daytime talk show called “Katie”.

4. Drone, e.g. BEE
Drone bees and ants are fertile males of the species, whose sole role in life seems to be to mate with a queen.

5. Treasury Secretary Jack LEW
Jack Lew has served as Secretary of the Treasury since 2013, having held the post of White House Chief of Staff for President Obama from 2012 to 2013. Much earlier in his career, Lew was a senior policy adviser to House Speaker Tip O’Neill.

7. Stable stud SIRE
The word “stud”, meaning “a male horse kept for breeding”, is derived from the Old English word “stod”, which described a whole herd of horses.

10. Ab __: from the start OVO
“Ab ovo” translates literally from Latin as “from the egg”, and is used in English to mean “from the beginning”.

12. Poor Yelp rating ONE-STAR
yelp.com is a website that provides a local business directory and reviews of services. The site is sort of like Yellow Pages on steroids, and the term “yelp” is derived from “yel-low p-ages”.

18. Bona __ FIDE
“Bona fide(s)” translates from the Latin as “in good faith”, and is used to indicate honest intentions. It can also mean that something is authentic, like a piece of art that is represented in good faith as being genuine.

19. Baseball’s Yastrzemski CARL
“Yaz” is the nickname for Carl Yastrzemski, a baseball player who spent his whole career with the Boston Red Sox.

29. Poppin’ Pink Lemonade brand HI-C
Hi-C orange drink was created in 1946, and introduced to the market in 1948, initially in the south of the country. The name Hi-C was chosen to emphasize the high vitamin C content in the drink, as it contained added ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

31. Sit in a barrel, maybe AGE
There’s the problem … I’ve been sitting in too many barrels …

35. 2008 Benicio del Toro title role CHE
Benicio Del Toro is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is an Academy Award winner, for the role he played in “Traffic”, released in 2000. He also played the title role in the 2008 movie “Che”.

36. Co-star of Burt in “The Killers” AVA
Ava Gardner is noted for her association with some big movies, but also for her association with some big names when it came to the men in her life. In the world of film, she appeared in the likes of “Mogambo” (1953), “On the Beach” (1959), “The Night of the Iguana” (1964) and “Earthquake” (1974). The men in her life included husbands Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra. After her marriages had failed (and perhaps before!) she had long term relationships with Howard Hughes and bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin whom she met through her friend Ernest Hemingway.

“The Killers” is a film noir based on a short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The film stars Ava Gardner, as well as Burt Lancaster in his big screen debut.

37. Data lead-in META-
“Metadata” is usually defined as “data about data”. The classic example is the card catalog of a library. The catalog is a set of data about a collection of books. Each entry in the catalog is data about a specific publication.

38. Author Harte BRET
Harte was a storyteller noted for his tales of the American West, even though he himself was from back East, born in Albany, New York.

40. Insulin, e.g. HORMONE
The hormone insulin is secreted by structures in the pancreas called the islets of Langerhans, named for their island-like appearance under a microscope and for their discoverer Paul Langerhans. The hormone is named for the “islets”, as the Latin for island is “insula”.

45. Secretary of Labor under Bush CHAO
When President George W. Bush appointed Elaine Chao as Secretary of Labor, he made a bit of history as Chao then became the first Chinese American in history to hold a cabinet post. It turned out that Chao became the only cabinet member to hold her post for President Bush’s full eight years in office. In 1993, Chao married Mitch McConnell, the Republican Leader of the US Senate.

46. “Marnie” star HEDREN
Tippi Hedren is an actress from New Ulm, Minnesota who is best known for her starring roles in two Alfred Hitchcock classics: “The Birds” (1963) and “Marnie” (1964). Famously, Hedren claimed that Hitchcock destroyed her movie career because she would not succumb to his sexual advances, a charge that has been denied.

“Marnie” is a good example of the Hitchcock genre of psychological thrillers, although it wasn’t as well received as so many of Hitchcock’s works. Released in 1964, “Marnie” stars Tippi Hedren (who also starred in Hitchcock’s “The Birds”) and Sean Connery of James Bond fame.

54. Ostrich kin RHEA
The rhea is a flightless bird native to South America. The rhea takes its name from the Greek titan Rhea, an apt name for a flightless bird as “rhea” comes from the Greek word meaning “ground”.

57. Monarch catcher NET
The monarch butterfly has very recognizable orange and black wings, and is often seen across North America. The monarch is the state insect of several US states and was even nominated as the national insect in 1990, but the legislation was not enacted.

59. Dried fish in lutefisk COD
Lutefisk is a Norwegian dish made from air-dried cod that is soaked in water for several days, and then in water and lye for a couple of more days. The resulting gelatinous mass is extremely caustic, with a dangerous pH of 11-12. So there needs to be another soaking and rinsing in cold water for six days to make the fish suitable for cooking. The name “lutefisk” translates from Norwegian as “lye fish”.

60. Most TVs, now HDS
High-definition television (HDTV)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Condo coolers ACS
4. Link between God and you? BLESS
9. Hostess snack cakes HO HOS
14. Clog part TOE
15. Hair-raising EERIE
16. Like bighorns OVINE
17. Last words of the Parable of the Marriage Feast BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN
20. Introductory studio class ART I
21. Rebecca’s firstborn ESAU
22. Braying beast ASS
23. Woodstock style TIE-DYE
26. Triceps locale ARM
27. “Am __ believe …” I TO
28. Nocturnal bird with a harsh cry SCREECH OWL
31. Banned orchard spray ALAR
32. On the job AT IT
33. Not for the squeamish GORY
34. Radio studio feature, and what each of this puzzle’s four other longest answers literally is ECHO CHAMBER
39. Ruler deposed in 1979 SHAH
41. Eternally EVER
42. It may be sticky NOTE
43. Dojo move KARATE CHOP
49. MD workplaces ORS
50. Zip PEP
51. Goddess who turned Medusa’s hair to snakes ATHENA
52. Subj. of a ’90s CIA search WMD
53. Behind REAR
55. Some govt. prosecutors ADAS
56. Add one’s voice JOIN IN THE CHORUS
61. When rights may not be denied? ON RED
62. King of Judea HEROD
63. Dijon season ETE
64. Self-titled 2000 pop album BETTE
65. Links measures YARDS
66. Go-ahead NOD

Down
1. Plate appearances AT BATS
2. “Katie” host COURIC
3. Volleyball position SETTER
4. Drone, e.g. BEE
5. Treasury Secretary Jack LEW
6. Chunk of history ERA
7. Stable stud SIRE
8. Vacillate SEESAW
9. Dull HO-HUM
10. Ab __: from the start OVO
11. Alluring dockside greeting HI, SAILOR!
12. Poor Yelp rating ONE-STAR
13. Kind of overload SENSORY
18. Bona __ FIDE
19. Baseball’s Yastrzemski CARL
24. Word accompanying a fist pump YEAH!
25. Outer: Pref. ECTO-
29. Poppin’ Pink Lemonade brand HI-C
30. Questionnaire catchall OTHER
31. Sit in a barrel, maybe AGE
34. Dines on humble pie EATS DIRT
35. 2008 Benicio del Toro title role CHE
36. Co-star of Burt in “The Killers” AVA
37. Data lead-in META-
38. Author Harte BRET
39. Calculated flattery SNOW JOB
40. Insulin, e.g. HORMONE
43. Sharp KEEN
44. “Why bother?” attitude APATHY
45. Secretary of Labor under Bush CHAO
46. “Marnie” star HEDREN
47. Working by itself ON AUTO
48. Avoided flunking PASSED
50. It’s hard to swallow PRIDE
54. Ostrich kin RHEA
57. Monarch catcher NET
58. Go amiss ERR
59. Dried fish in lutefisk COD
60. Most TVs, now HDS

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