LA Times Crossword Answers 26 Jun 16, Sunday




LA Times Crossword Solution 26 Jun 16 -90%







Constructed by: Mike Peluso

Edited by: Rich Norris

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Theme: Vice Versa

Today’s themed answers sound like common phrases, but with an “ay” sound changed to an “er” sound, like “vice” becoming “versa”.

  • 27A…Optimal payment arrangements?..THE BEST OF TERMS (from “the best of times”)
  • 42A…Mideast cry of despair?..ARABIAN NERTS! (from “Arabian Nights”)
  • 67A…Gems kept in inventory?..STOCK PEARLS (from “stockpiles”)
  • 96A…Like one brandishing a Super Soaker?..NERF-WIELDING (from “knife-wielding”)
  • 114A…White stallion at school?..SILVER LEARNING (from “silver lining”)
  • 15D…Reason for cowboy unemployment?..NOTHING TO HERD (from “nothing to hide”)
  • 55D…Coquette education?..FLIRT TRAINING (from “flight training”)

Bill’s time: 33m 19s

Bill’s errors: 0




Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies

Across

1…Offed, biblically..SMOTE

“To smite” is to strike with a firm blow. The term can also mean to strike down and slay.

11…Big D school..SMU

Southern Methodist University (SMU) is located in University Park, Texas (part of Dallas), and was founded in 1911. SMU is home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

“Big D” is a nickname for the city of Dallas, Texas.

14…Exchanges from centers..SNAPS

That would be in football.

19…Dash dials..TACHS

The tachometer takes its name from the Greek word “tachos” meaning “speed”. A tachometer measures engine revolutions per minute (rpm).

20…Canadian skater Brian..ORSER

Brian Orser is a retired Canadian figure skater. Orser was one of the “combatants” in the Battle of the Brians, the name given to the rivalry between Brian Orser and US skater Brian Boitano.

22…Forum garments..TOGAE

In Ancient Rome the classical attire known as a toga (plural “togae”) was usually worn over a tunic. The tunic was made from linen, and the toga itself was a piece of cloth about twenty feet long made from wool. The toga could only be worn by men, and only if those men were Roman citizens. The female equivalent of the toga was called a “stola”.

25…Like some exercises..ISOMETRIC

The word “isometric” comes from Greek, and means “having equal measurement”. Isometric exercise is a resistance exercise in which the muscle does not change in length (and the joint angle stays the same). The alternative would be dynamic exercises, ones using the joint’s full range of motion.

30…”Sugar Lips” trumpeter..AL HIRT

Al Hirt was a trumpeter and bandleader. Hirt’s most famous recordings were the song “Java” and the album “Honey in the Horn”, as well the theme song used “The Green Hornet” TV series in the sixties.

31…Lord Grantham of Downton Abbey, e.g…EARL

In the incredibly successful period drama “Downton Abbey”, the patriarch of the family living at Downton is Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham or Lord Grantham. The character is played by Hugh Bonneville. Lord Grantham married American Cora Levinson (played by Elizabeth McGovern. Lord and Lady Grantham had three daughters, and no son. The lack of a male heir implied that the Grantham estate would pass to a male cousin, and out of the immediate family. The Grantham daughters are Lady Mary (played by Michelle Dockery), Lady Edith (played by Laura Carmichael) and Lady Sybil (played by Jessica Brown Findlay). Lady Sybil had the audacity to marry the family chauffeur, an Irish nationalist. The shame of it all …

32…Some hosp. areas..ORS

Operating room (OR)

33…Fifth-century pope..LEO I

The first pope named Leo is now known as Pope Saint Leo the Great. Leo I is famous for meeting with the feared Attila the Hun and persuading him to turn back his invading force that was threatening to overrun Western Europe.

34…”Spare me the specifics”..TMI

Too much information! (TMI)

35…Black-and-white predator..ORCA

The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name “orca”, rather than “killer whale”, is becoming more and more common. The Latin word “Orcinus” means “belonging to Orcus”, with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.

37…Eight-time Coty Award winner..BEENE

Geoffrey Beene was an American fashion designer. He had an impressive list of clients that included First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon and Nancy Reagan.

The Coty Award was introduced in 1943 to celebrate and promote American fashion. The award was sponsored by the the cosmetics and perfume company Coty with the specific intent of providing impetus to the industry during WWII. The Coty Award was discontinued in 1985, reflecting the fact that American fashion was well and truly established.

38…Bigwig..HONCHO

“Honcho” is a slang term for a leader or manager. The term comes to us from Japanese, in which language a “hancho” is a squad (han) leader (cho).

42…Mideast cry of despair?..ARABIAN NERTS! (from “Arabian Nights”)

“Nerts!” is a slang term, a corruption of “nuts!” and with the same meaning.

The marvelous collection of folk tales from the Middle East called “One Thousand and One Nights” is sometimes known as “Arabian Nights” in the English-speaking world. The original collection of tales did not include the three with which we are most familiar in the West. European translators added some stories, including “Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp”, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, and “The Seven Voyages of Sinbad”.

47…Response to a sinking feeling?..SOS

The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are also mnemonics, introduced after the “SOS” signal was adopted.

52…Yorktown __, N.Y…HTS

Yorktown Heights is located in the town of Yorktown, which is about 45 miles north of New York City.

53…Scrabble 8-pointer..J-TILE

The game of Scrabble has been produced in many international versions, and each of these editions has its own tile distribution to suit the local language. For example, in English we have two tiles worth ten points: one “Q” and one “Z”. If you play the game in French then there are five tiles worth ten points: one “K”, one “W”, one “X”, one “Y” and one “Z”.

56…Lorre’s “Casablanca” role..UGARTE

Signor Ugarte is a wonderful character in the classic film “Casablanca”. Ugarte is played by Peter Lorre, and is the man who has possession of the crucial letters of transit that were obtained by murdering two German couriers.

The marvelous actor Peter Lorre was born in what is now modern-day Slovakia. Lorre’s real name was Laszlo Lowenstein. He started acting in Vienna when he was quite young, only 17 years old. When Hitler came to power, the Jewish Lowenstein headed to Paris and then London, eventually ending up in Hollywood. Lorre found himself typecast as the wicked foreigner in American movies, but I think he sneered and snarled his way to the bank.

66…Govt. benefit..SSI

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is federal program that provides financial relief to persons with low incomes who are 65 or older, or who are blind or disabled. The SSI program is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) even though the the Social Security trust fund is not used for SSI payments. SSI payments come out of general tax revenue.

76…Want ad letters..EOE

Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE)

77…”Apollo 13″ co-star..ED HARRIS

Ed Harris is a very talented actor, noted for two great performances in movies about the Space Program. Harris played John Glenn in “The Right Stuff” in 1983, his “breakthrough” role. Twelve years later he had a “stellar” performance as flight director Gene Kranz in “Apollo 13”.

80…Trustbusting period..TAFT ERA

The Sherman Antitrust Act dates back to 1890. The act makes it illegal for companies to seek a monopoly or to form cartels. It is named for US Senator John Sherman , the principal author of the act. During the Progressive Era, President Theodore Roosevelt sued 45 companies under the Sherman Act, and President William Howard Taft sued 75.

83…Berra famously jumped into his arms during the 1956 World Series..LARSEN

Don Larsen is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Larsen pitched the sixth perfect game ever (out of 20 in MLB history) back in game 5 of the 1956 World Series. That perfect game is the only one to have been pitched in a World Series, and was in a game in which the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers. There’s a famous photo of catcher Yogi Berra jumping into Larsen’s arms right after that perfect game was pitched.

88…Morse code bit..DIT

Samuel Morse came up with the forerunner to modern Morse code for use on the electric telegraph, of which he was the co-inventor. Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. The most common letters are assigned the simplest code elements e.g. E is represented by one dot, and T is represented by one dash.

93…Diarist Anaïs..NIN

Anaïs Nin was a French author, famous for her journals that she wrote for over sixty years from the age of 11 right up to her death. Nin also wrote highly regarded erotica and cited D. H. Lawrence as someone from whom she drew inspiration. Nin was married to banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in 1923. Decades later in 1955, Nin married former actor Rupert Pole, even though she was still married to Guiler. Nin and Pole had their marriage annulled in 1966, but just for legal reasons, and they continued to live together as husband and wife until Nin passed away in 1977.

94…Former prime minister who grew up in Milwaukee..MEIR

Golda Meir was known as the “Iron Lady” when she was Prime Minister of Israel, long before that sobriquet came to be associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Golda Meir was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev (in modern-day Ukraine), and when she was a young girl she moved with her family to the United States and settled in Milwaukee. As a teenager she relocated to Denver where she met and married Morris Meyerson, at the age of 19. She and her husband joined a kibbutz in Palestine in 1921, when she was in her twenties. Meir had been active in politics in the US, and continued her political work in Palestine. She was very influential during WWII, and played a leading role in negotiations after the war leading to the setting up of the state of Israel. By the time she was called on to lead the country, Meir had already retired, citing exhaustion and ill health. But serve she did, and led Israel during turbulent times (e.g. the massacre at the Munich Olympics, and the Yom Kippur War). She eventually resigned in 1974, saying that was what the people wanted.

95…__ culpa..MEA

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”.

96…Like one brandishing a Super Soaker?..NERF-WIELDING (from “knife-wielding”)

Hasbro produces the Super Soaker water gun under the “Nerf” brand.

The Super Soaker brand of water gun first went on sale in toy shops in 1989. Since then, over a billion dollars worth of Super Soakers have been sold.

101…Heavy hammers..MAULS

A maul is a large, heavy hammer, one often used for driving stakes into the ground. The term comes from the Old French “mail”, and ultimately from the Latin “malleus”, both meaning “hammer”.

103…Santa Monica landmark..PIER

The California city of Santa Monica lies on Santa Monica Bay and is in Los Angeles County. The city is home to the world-famous Santa Monica Pier, which opened in 1909.

The United States Information Agency (USIA) was established under President Eisenhower in 1953, and continued operating until 1999. It’s mission was “public diplomacy”, another term for propaganda broadcast over radio airwaves. The intent from day one was to avoid having the broadcasts identified as propaganda, and speaking as a former listener to the USIA’s Voice of America (VOA) over in Europe, there were a lot of fun programs that had one coming back to hear more, but we all knew it was propaganda quite frankly …

107…Former VOA overseer..USIA

The United States Information Agency (USIA) was established under President Eisenhower in 1953, and continued operating until 1999. It’s mission was “public diplomacy”, another term for propaganda broadcast over radio airwaves. The intent from day one was to avoid having the broadcasts identified as propaganda, and speaking as a former listener to the USIA’s Voice of America (VOA) over in Europe, there were a lot of fun programs that had one coming back to hear more, but we all knew it was propaganda quite frankly …

111…It has finals in June..THE NBA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America. The NBA name was adopted in 1949. Of the four major sports leagues in North America, the NBA has the highest average annual salary per player.

114…White stallion at school?..SILVER LEARNING (from “silver lining”)

Famously, the Lone Ranger’s horse was called Silver and Tonto’s mount was named Scout. But in the early shows, Tonto rode a horse called White Feller.

The idiom “every cloud has a silver lining” suggests that there is something good to be found in in every bad situation. The phrase “silver lining” was coined by English poet John Milton in “Comus”, a piece of dramatic entertainment that was first performed in 1634. The relevant lines are:

Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night?
I did not err; there does a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night,
And casts a gleam over this tufted grove.

118…”In Rainbows” Grammy-winning rockers..RADIOHEAD

When the rock band Radiohead self-released their 2007 studio album “In Rainbows”, it was a big deal for the music industry. Radiohead offered a digital version of the album using a pay-what-you-want pricing model. Reportedly, most fans paid what would be a normal retail price for the download version of the album. That’s not bad, considering the relatively low cost to produce a download vs a CD.

120…One-celled critter..AMEBA

An ameba (or “amoeba” as we spell it back in Ireland) is a single-celled microorganism. The name comes from the Greek “amoibe”, meaning change. The name is quite apt, as the cell changes shape readily as the ameba moves, eats and reproduces.

121…City west of Youngstown..AKRON

For part of the 1800s, the Ohio city of Akron was the fasting growing city in the country, feeding off the industrial boom of that era. The city was founded in 1825 and its location, along the Ohio and Erie canal connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio River, helped to fuel Akron’s growth. Akron sits at the highest point of the canal and the name “Akron” comes from the Greek word meaning “summit”. Indeed, Akron is the county seat of Summit County.

123…Madre’s hermana..TIA

In Spanish, the “hermana” (sister) of your “madre” (mother) is your “tia” (aunt).

125…New Hampshire college town..KEENE

The New Hampshire city of Keene was named in 1753 after Sir Benjamin Keene, who was the British Ambassador to Spain at the time. Keene is home to Keene State College as well as Antioch University New England.

126…Unkempt..MANGY

Mange is a skin disorder in animals caused by parasitic mites that embed themselves in the skin, perhaps living in hair follicles. The same disorder in humans is called scabies.

The word “unkempt” means “disheveled, not well-combed”. It derives from the Old English word “cemban” meaning “to comb”. The opposite to the more common “unkempt” is … “kempt”.

128…Stiff collars..ETONS

An Eton collar is a wide, stiff, buttoned collar that is still part of the formal school uniform at Eton College near Windsor in England.

129…Maritime birds..ERNES

The ern (also erne) is also called the white-tailed eagle or sea-eagle.

Down

2…One of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters”..MASHA

Olga, Masha and Irina were the “Three Sisters” in the play by Anton Chekhov. The three title characters were inspired by the three Brontë sisters, the English authors.

4…”Terror has no shape” sci-fi creature..THE BLOB

The 1958 horror film “The Blob” was the first movie in which Steve McQueen had a leading role. “The Blob” wasn’t a success at all, until Steve McQueen became a star that is. Using McQueen’s name, the movie was re-released and gained a cult following and was particularly successful at drive-in theaters.

5…Latin 101 verb..ESSE

“Esse” is the Latin for “to be”. “Sum” means “I am” and “erat” means “he, she was”.

6…Monk associate..COLTRANE

John Coltrane was a jazz saxophonist who also went by the nickname “Trane”. John’s son Ravi Coltrane is also a noted jazz saxophonist.

Thelonious Monk was a jazz pianist and composer, the second-most recorded jazz composer after the great Duke Ellington. That’s a pretty impressive statistic given that Ellington wrote more than 1,000 songs, whereas Monk only wrote about 70. Monk was a pioneer in the development of the jazz style called “bebop”, which gained popularity in the 1940s.

7…Double Stuf treats..OREOS

Double Stuf Oreo was introduced in 1975, and has twice the normal amount of white cream filling as the original cookie.

8…”Wild Blue Yonder” mil. branch..USAF

The official song of the US Air Force is entitled “The US Air Force”, and was written in 1938 by Robert MacArthur Crawford. The original title was “Army Air Corps”, and this was changed to “Army Air Force” during WWII when the service changed its name. The current title was adopted in 1947, when the USAF became a separate service. Regardless of the official name, the sonf is commonly referred to as “Wild Blue Yonder”.

Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder
At ’em boys, Give ‘er the gun!
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing can stop the U.S. Air Force!

11…Peres of Israel..SHIMON

Shimon Peres is an Israeli statesman who was born in Poland. Peres served as President of the State of Israel from 2007 to 2014. Born Szymon Perski in Poland, while president Peres was the oldest head of state in the world. While serving foreign minister, he represented Israel in the secret negotiations that led to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. For that work, Peres was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat.

13…Digit in diez..UNO

In Spanish, the first digit in the number “diez” (ten) is “uno” (one).

14…Mariner’s patron..ST ELMO

St. Elmo is the patron saint of sailors. He lends his name to the electrostatic weather phenomenon (often seen at sea) known as St. Elmo’s fire. The “fire” is actually a plasma discharge caused by air ionizing at the end of a pointed object (like the mast of a ship), something often observed during electrical storms.

17…Au __..PAIR

An “au pair” is a domestic assistant from a foreign country working and living as part of a host family. The term “au pair” is French, and means “on a par”, indicating that an au pair is treated as an equal in the host family.

18…Shakers, but not movers..SECT

“Shakers” is a the more common name for the religious sect more properly called the United Society of Believer in Christ’s Second Appearing. The sect’s doctrine was based on the teachings of Ann Lee.

26…Compulsory British subject..MATHS

Yep, on the other side of the Atlantic we learn “maths” and not “math” …

28…L.A.’s environs..SOCAL

Southern California (SoCal)

29…Roger of “Cheers”..REES

Roger Rees was a Welsh actor. Rees played the character Robin Colcord on “Cheers”, the posh love interest for Rebecca Howe played by Kirstie Alley. Rees also appeared periodically on “The West Wing” as the marvelously flamboyant and eccentric Lord John Marbury, the British Ambassador.

37…City near Anaheim..BREA

The city of Brea, California takes its name from “brea”, the Spanish word for “tar”. Back in the 1800s, entrepreneurs were attracted to the area by the “black gold” (crude oil) that was bubbling up from the ground in some instances.

40…With 109-Down, uncommon eagle..HOLE …
(109D…See 40-Down…..IN ONE)

The following terms are routinely used in golf for scores relative to par:

  • Bogey: one over par
  • Par
  • Birdie: one under par
  • Eagle: two under par
  • Albatross (also “double eagle”): three under par
  • Condor: four under par

No one has ever recorded a condor during a professional tournament.

44…Base runners..AWOLS

The Military Police (MPs) often track down personnel who go AWOL (absent without leave).

46…Heart test: Abbr…ECG

An EKG measures 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.

48…Warren Commission subject..OSWALD

Lee Harvey Oswald was the assassin who killed President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Oswald served with the US Marines from 1956 until 1959. One month after leaving the military, Oswald traveled to the Soviet Union via a circuitous route across the Atlantic and Europe. He entered the Soviet Union on a visa that was only valid for one week, but once in the country he made it clear that he wanted to stay. Oswald settled in Minsk for a few years, working there as a lathe operator and living in government-subsidized housing. In 1961, Oswald married a 19-year-old Russian student and the couple had a baby girl a year later. Oswald grew tired of life in Russia though, so he and his new family moved to the US in 1962, settling in the Dallas area. Oswald’s widow still lives in Texas.

The Warren Commission was set up by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The most-oft quoted conclusions of the 889-page report are that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating the president, and that Jack Ruby acted alone in killing Oswald. Chairman of the commission was Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. Sitting alongside Chief Justice Warren was US Representative Gerald Ford and future President of the US.

55…Coquette education?..FLIRT TRAINING (from “flight training”)

A “coquet” is a male flirt, with “coquette” being a female flirt. The word comes from French, and is the diminutive of “coq”, the word for a cock. A cock might well be accused of “strutting his stuff” around the chicken run.

57…Rodeo competitor..ROPER

“Rodeo” is a Spanish word, which is usually translated as “round up”.

62…Peter or Paul..TSAR

Peter the Great was perhaps the most successful of the Romanov tsars, famous for modernizing Russia and expanding the country’s sphere of influence, creating the Russian Empire. He ruled from 1682 until his death in 1725.

Paul I was Tsar of Russia, and the only son of Peter III and Catherine the Great. Paul was on the throne for only five years, before being assassinated in a conspiracy that brought his son Alexander I to power.

63…It retired its spokesbaby in 2014..E*TRADE

E*Trade is mainly an online discount brokerage. It was founded in 1982 in Palo Alto, California, and I used to drive by its headquarters almost every day. The company is now run out of New York City. E*Trade produced those famous Super Bowl ads with the talking babies staring into a webcam.

68…Breton or Gael..CELT

The Celts were a very broad group of people across Europe, linked by common languages. The Celts were largely absorbed by other cultures, although a relatively modern revival of the “Celtic identity” is alive and well in the British Isles. Such Celtic peoples today are mainly found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany in France..

A Breton is a native of Brittany. Brittany is a large peninsula in the northwest of France, known in French as “Bretagne”.

A Gael is anyone who speaks or spoke one of the Erse tongues. There are actually three Erse languages. Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be Gaeilge (in Ireland), Gaelg (on the Isle of Man) and Gaidhlig (in Scotland).

69…Ukulele wood..KOA

The ukulele originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants. The more pricey ukuleles are made from koa, a Hawaiian wood.

70…Take more People..RENEW

There used to be a “People” page in each issue of “Time” magazine. This page was spun-off in 1974 as a publication of its own, which we now call “People” magazine. “People” is noted for its annual special editions with features such as “Best & Worst Dressed” and “Sexiest Man Alive”. The “Sexiest Man Alive” edition now appears at the end of November each year. The first choice for “Sexiest Man” was Mel Gibson, in 1985.

72…Quaker Oats product suffix..-A-RONI

Rice-a-Roni was introduced in 1958 by the Golden Grain Macaroni Company of San Francisco. The company was run by an Italian immigrant and his four sons. The wife of one of the sons served a pilaf dish at a family diner that was a big hit, so her brother-in-law created a commercial version by blending dry chicken soup mix with rice and macaroni. Sounds like “a San Francisco treat” to me …

The Quaker Oats Company was founded in 1901 when four oat mills merged, including the Quaker Mill Company of Ravenna, Ohio. Quaker Mill’s owner Henry Parsons Crowell played the key role in the new company and remained at the helm until 1943.

73…”Mr. Mojo __”: repeated words in The Doors’ “L.A. Woman”..RISIN’

Jim Morrison was the lead singer for the Doors. Famously, Morrison died at only 27 years of age in Paris. It is thought that his dependence on hard drugs contributed to his demise, although this is disputed. Morrison’s grave site is one of the most-visited attractions in Paris. Morrison was also known as “Mr. Mojo Risin'”, which is an anagram of “Jim Morrison”. “Mr. Mojo Risin’” is also a repeated lyric in the Doors hit “L.A. Woman”.

78…United choice..AISLE

United Airlines (UAL) has a complicated history, but can trace its roots back to Aviation Enterprises, founded in 1944 and later called Texas International. The first use of the “United” name in the company’s history was when airplane pioneer William Boeing merged his Boeing Air Transport with Pratt & Whitney to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) in 1929. The Air Mail Act of 1934 required that UATC be broken up into United Aircraft (which became United Technologies), the Boeing Aircraft Company and United Air Lines.

79…Lennon work..SONG

Singer-songwriter John Lennon was chosen as the 8th Greatest Briton in a poll conducted by the BBC in 2002, the highest ranking entertainer on that list. The top ten make interesting reading:

  1. Sir Winston Churchill
  2. Isambard Kingdom Brunel
  3. Diana, Princess of Wales
  4. Charles Darwin
  5. William Shakespeare
  6. Sir Isaac Newton
  7. Queen Elizabeth I
  8. John Lennon
  9. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson
  10. Oliver Cromwell

Others on the list include Sir Paul McCartney (#19), Queen Elizabeth II (#24), Stephen Hawking (#25), Boy George (#46), Jane Austen (#70) and J.K. Rowling (#83).

80…Pyramid, to Tut..TOMB

King Tut is a name commonly used for the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen. Tutankhamen may not have been the most significant of the pharaohs historically, but he is the most famous today largely because of the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter. Prior to this find, any Egyptian tombs uncovered by archaeologists had been ravaged by grave robbers. Tutankhamen’s magnificent burial mask is one of the most recognizable of all Egyptian artifacts.

81…Economical Chevy..AVEO

The Chevrolet Aveo is a subcompact automobile that has been around since 2002. The Aveo is manufactured by GM Daewoo, the GM subsidiary in South Korea. Although the Aveo name is still used in some markets, here in North America the Aveo has been sold as the Chevrolet Sonic since 2012. By the way, GM Daewoo is the third largest manufacturer of automobiles in South Korea, after Hyundai and Kia.

82…__ accompli..FAIT

“Fait accompli” is a French term, literally translating as “accomplished fact”. It is used in English to mean “a done deal”.

84…Latvia and Estonia, once: Abbr…SSRS

Latvia is one of the former Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs). People from Latvia are called Letts.

Estonia is one of the former Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs) and is located in Northern Europe on the Baltic Sea, due south of Finland. Estonia has been overrun and ruled by various empires over the centuries. The country did enjoy a few years of freedom at the beginning of the 20th century after a war of independence against the Russian Empire. However, Estonia was occupied again during WWII, first by the Russians and then by the Germans, and then reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944. Estonia has flourished as an independent country again since the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

85…”Unbelievable” band..EMF

EMF is an alternative rock dance band from England. EMF’s biggest hit was 1990’s “Unbelievable” that made it to the number one spot here in the US. The initialism “EMF” supposedly stands for “Epsom Mad Funkers”.

89…Diamond hit..I AM… I SAID

“I Am… I Said” is a song written and performed by Neil Diamond, first released in 1971. “I Am… I Said” earned Diamond his first ever Grammy nomination.

I saw Neil Diamond in concert many years ago, and I must say he does put on a great show. His voice is cracking a bit, but that didn’t seem to spoil anyone’s enjoyment. I’ve also seen Diamond interviewed a few times on television, and I wouldn’t say he has the most scintillating of personalities.

92…Canon competitor..LEICA

Leica is a German optics company, famous for production of lenses and cameras. The 1913 Leica was the first practical camera that could use 35mm film, a size chosen because it was already the standard for film used in motion pictures.

The Japanese company called Canon is largely known in the US for producing quality cameras. The company started out as Precision Optical Industry Laboratory in 1937 making camera bodies. The name was changed in 1947 to Canon.

95…Chatty bird..MYNAH

Some species of myna (also “mynah”) bird are known for their ability to imitate sounds.

102…Avia competitor..ADIDAS

The brand name Adidas dates back to when Adolf “Adi” Dassler started making his own sports shoes in his mother’s laundry room in Bavaria after returning from WWI. With his brother, Adi founded Dassler shoes. The companies big break came in 1936 at the Berlin Olympics, when Adi persuaded American sprinter Jesse Owens to use his shoes, and with the success of Jesse Owens came success for the fledgling shoe company. After WWII the brothers split, acrimoniously. Adi’s brother, Ru-dolf Da-ssler, formed “Ruda” shoes (later to become Puma), and Adi Das-sler formed “Adidas”.

106…Truman veep Barkley..ALBEN

Alben Barkley served as Vice President of the US under President Truman. Truman and Barkley fought the famously close presidential race against Thomas Dewey and Earl Warren in 1948. As President Truman finished his second term, Vice President Barkley announced his candidacy for the highest office, but was pressured to pull out of the race as he was considered too old at 74 years.

110…Actress Moorehead..AGNES

Agnes Moorehead was an actress best remembered for her role as Endora, Samantha’s mother on the sitcom “Bewitched”. Moorehead died in 1974 from uterine cancer. She was one of over 90 out of 220 cast and crew members of the 1956 movie “The Conqueror” who all died from cancer, including co-stars Susan Hayward and John Wayne. There is wide speculation that the people working on the film were affected by radiation from eleven nuclear explosions that had taken place the prior year at the Yucca Flats Nevada Test Site that was located nearby and upwind.

112…Maui’s scenic __ Highway..HANA

Maui’s Hana Highway (commonly “Road to Hana”) is a spectacular stretch of roadway connecting Kahului on the northern coast with Hana in the east, and continuing to Kipahulu in the southeast. Even without stops, the 64-mile drive usually takes 2½ hours. I’ve driven the route a couple of times, and cannot imagine making the trip without several stops to enjoy the amazing ocean and rainforest vistas.

116…Ashcroft’s predecessor..RENO

Janet Reno was Attorney General of the US from 1993 to 2001. Reno was the person to hold the office second longest, and was our first female Attorney General. In 2002, Reno ran for Governor of Florida but failed to win the Democratic nomination. Thereafter she retired from public life.

John Ashcroft served as US Attorney General in the administration of President George W. Bush. Ashcroft is quite the musician and has composed some religious tunes in particular. When he was a member of the US Senate (representing the state of Missouri) he formed a barbershop quartet along with three of his colleagues that was called the Singing Senators.

119…Greek vowel..ETA

Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”. Originally denoting a consonant, eta was used as a long vowel in Ancient Greek.

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Complete List of Clues and Answers

Across

1…Offed, biblically..SMOTE

6…Matter..COUNT

11…Big D school..SMU

14…Exchanges from centers..SNAPS

19…Dash dials..TACHS

20…Canadian skater Brian..ORSER

21…Mother __..HEN

22…Forum garments..TOGAE

23…Butt ends..ASHES

24…New car option..LEASE

25…Like some exercises..ISOMETRIC

27…Optimal payment arrangements?..THE BEST OF TERMS (from “the best of times”)

30…”Sugar Lips” trumpeter..AL HIRT

31…Lord Grantham of Downton Abbey, e.g…EARL

32…Some hosp. areas..ORS

33…Fifth-century pope..LEO I

34…”Spare me the specifics”..TMI

35…Black-and-white predator..ORCA

37…Eight-time Coty Award winner..BEENE

38…Bigwig..HONCHO

42…Mideast cry of despair?..ARABIAN NERTS! (from “Arabian Nights”)

47…Response to a sinking feeling?..SOS

49…Radiate..GLOW

50…Finalize, with “up”..SEW

51…Lining fabric..FLEECE

52…Yorktown __, N.Y…HTS

53…Scrabble 8-pointer..J-TILE

54…In the sky..ALOFT

56…Lorre’s “Casablanca” role..UGARTE

59…Yelled excitedly..WHOOPED

61…Election figure..POLLSTER

64…Tic-tac-toe loser..O-O-X

65…Writer: Abbr…AUTH

66…Govt. benefit..SSI

67…Gems kept in inventory?..STOCK PEARLS (from “stockpiles”)

71…Attention..EAR

74…Bring up, or something to bring up..REAR

76…Want ad letters..EOE

77…”Apollo 13″ co-star..ED HARRIS

80…Trustbusting period..TAFT ERA

83…Berra famously jumped into his arms during the 1956 World Series..LARSEN

86…Defiant retort..I DO SO!

87…Egglike..OVATE

88…Morse code bit..DIT

90…Senses, as trouble..SMELLS

93…Diarist Anaïs..NIN

94…Former prime minister who grew up in Milwaukee..MEIR

95…__ culpa..MEA

96…Like one brandishing a Super Soaker?..NERF-WIELDING (from “knife-wielding”)

99…Area for growth?..BOTANY

101…Heavy hammers..MAULS

103…Santa Monica landmark..PIER

104…It’s charged..ION

105…Inactive..IDLE

106…Jump shot shape..ARC

107…Former VOA overseer..USIA

111…It has finals in June..THE NBA

114…White stallion at school?..SILVER LEARNING (from “silver lining”)

118…”In Rainbows” Grammy-winning rockers..RADIOHEAD

120…One-celled critter..AMEBA

121…City west of Youngstown..AKRON

122…__ in itself..AN END

123…Madre’s hermana..TIA

124…Like forks..TINED

125…New Hampshire college town..KEENE

126…Unkempt..MANGY

127…Spots..ADS

128…Stiff collars..ETONS

129…Maritime birds..ERNES

Down

1…Assert..STATE

2…One of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters”..MASHA

3…Brownish shade..OCHER

4…”Terror has no shape” sci-fi creature..THE BLOB

5…Latin 101 verb..ESSE

6…Monk associate..COLTRANE

7…Double Stuf treats..OREOS

8…”Wild Blue Yonder” mil. branch..USAF

9…Tweeting site..NEST

10…Sapling..TREELET

11…Peres of Israel..SHIMON

12…Most unkempt..MESSIEST

13…Digit in diez..UNO

14…Mariner’s patron..ST ELMO

15…Reason for cowboy unemployment?..NOTHING TO HERD (from “nothing to hide”)

16…Farming prefix..AGRI-

17…Au __..PAIR

18…Shakers, but not movers..SECT

26…Compulsory British subject..MATHS

28…L.A.’s environs..SOCAL

29…Roger of “Cheers”..REES

36…Breakups..RIFTS

37…City near Anaheim..BREA

39…Pace..CLIP

40…With 109-Down, uncommon eagle..HOLE …

41…Due..OWED

42…”Stat!” relative..ASAP!

43…HR dept. concerns..RELOS

44…Base runners..AWOLS

45…Introduction to science?..NEURO-

46…Heart test: Abbr…ECG

48…Warren Commission subject..OSWALD

52…Numerical prefix..HEXA-

53…Write (down)..JOT

55…Coquette education?..FLIRT TRAINING (from “flight training”)

57…Rodeo competitor..ROPER

58…Ring site..TOE

60…Sudden silence..HUSH

62…Peter or Paul..TSAR

63…It retired its spokesbaby in 2014..E*TRADE

68…Breton or Gael..CELT

69…Ukulele wood..KOA

70…Take more People..RENEW

72…Quaker Oats product suffix..-A-RONI

73…”Mr. Mojo __”: repeated words in The Doors’ “L.A. Woman”..RISIN’

75…Rare shoe width..EEE

78…United choice..AISLE

79…Lennon work..SONG

80…Pyramid, to Tut..TOMB

81…Economical Chevy..AVEO

82…__ accompli..FAIT

84…Latvia and Estonia, once: Abbr…SSRS

85…”Unbelievable” band..EMF

89…Diamond hit..I AM… I SAID

91…Watches one’s mouth?..LIPREADS

92…Canon competitor..LEICA

95…Chatty bird..MYNAH

96…Empty..NULL

97…Improve, as one’s game..ELEVATE

98…More smashed..DRUNKER

100…Opposite of a star..NOBODY

102…Avia competitor..ADIDAS

106…Truman veep Barkley..ALBEN

108…Sound during a chase..SIREN

109…See 40-Down…..IN ONE

110…Actress Moorehead..AGNES

111…Rail vehicle..TRAM

112…Maui’s scenic __ Highway..HANA

113…Paradise..EDEN

115…Radiate..EMIT

116…Ashcroft’s predecessor..RENO

117…One leaning against a garden fence..RAKE

119…Greek vowel..ETA




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