LA Times Crossword Answers 15 Aug 2018, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Roger & Kathy Wienberg
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Tire Rotation

Themed answers include the circled letters TIRE, and those letters have been moved around, ROTATED:

  • 55A. Regular vehicle maintenance suggested by this puzzle’s circles : TIRE ROTATION
  • 20A. Way to move funds : WIRE TRANSFER
  • 28A. Good manners : PROPER ETIQUETTE
  • 47A. Artist Erté’s real name : ROMAIN DE TIRTOFF

Bill’s time: 6m 25s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Beats Electronics co-founder, familiarly : DRE

Beats Electronics is a company that was co-founded by rapper Dr. Dre. Apple bought Beats for $3 billion in 2014, which is the largest acquisition in Apple’s history.

4. Birdbrain, or an extinct bird : DODO

The dodo was a direct relative of the pigeon and dove, although the fully-grown dodo was usually three feet tall. One of the reasons the dodo comes to mind when we think of extinction of a species, is that it disappeared not too long ago (last recorded alive in 1681) and humans were the reason for its demise. The dodo lived exclusively on the island of Mauritius and when man arrived, we cut back the forests that were its home. We also introduced domestic animals, such as dogs and pigs, that ransacked the dodo’s nests. The dodo was deemed to be an awkward flightless bird and so the term “dodo” has come to mean a dull-witted person.

15. “Right you are!” : AMEN!

The word “amen” translates as “so be it”. “Amen” is said to be of Hebrew origin, but it is also likely to be influenced by Aramaic and Arabic.

16. Vanderbilt of fashion : GLORIA

Fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt was an heiress to the fortune of the Vanderbilt family of New York. After her father died, and when she was quite young, Gloria was the subject of a custody battle between her mother and her aunt. Her mother was depicted as living a raucous lifestyle, and so Gloria was made a ward of her Aunt Gertrude. The young girl came to side with her Aunt over the years, to the extent that Gloria cut off her mother completely from the family fortune when she came of age. Famously, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper is Gloria Vanderbilt’s son with her fourth husband Wyatt Emory Cooper.

17. PD alert : APB

An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

Police department (PD)

22. Slangy turnarounds : UEYS

Hang a “uey” or “uie”, make a u-turn, make a 180.

24. Mardi Gras wear : MASK

“Mardi Gras” translates from French as “Fat Tuesday”, and gets its name from the practice of eating rich foods on the eve of the fasting season known as Lent. Lent starts on the next day, called Ash Wednesday.

33. “Dear Yoko” dedicatee : ONO

“Dear Yoko” is a song by John Lennon from the 1980 album “Double Fantasy”, which was released by Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono. “Double Fantasy” was released just three weeks before Lennon was murdered.

35. Org. with lanes : PBA

Professional Bowlers Association (PBA)

38. Sch. with a Shreveport campus : LSU

Louisiana State University in Shreveport is an OSU campus that opened as a two-year community college in 1967, becoming a four-year college in 1972.

42. Medium for van Gogh : OIL PAINT

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who seems to have had a very tortured existence. Van Gogh only painted for the last ten years of his life, and enjoyed very little celebrity while alive. Today many of his works are easily recognized, and fetch staggering sums in auction houses. Van Gogh suffered from severe depression for many of his final years. When he was only 37, he walked into a field with a revolver and shot himself in the chest. He managed to drag himself back to the inn where he was staying but died there two days later.

47. Artist Erté’s real name : ROMAIN DE TIRTOFF

“Erté” was the pseudonym of French (Russian born) artist and designer Romain de Tirtoff. Erté is the French pronunciation of his initials “R.T.” Erté’s diverse portfolio of work included costumes and sets for the “Ziegfeld Follies” of 1923, productions of the Parisian cabaret show “Folies Bergère”, as well as the 1925 epic movie “Ben-Hur”. Erté’s most famous work by far is an image titled “Symphony in Black”. It depicts a tall and slender woman dressed in black, holding a black dog on a leash.

52. Winter Palace resident : TSAR

The Winter Palace is a magnificent building in St. Petersburg in Russia that was home to the Russian tsars (and tsarinas). Today, the Winter Palace houses the famous Hermitage Museum. I was lucky enough to visit the Palace and museum some years ago, and I have to say that I have rarely been more impressed by a historical building.

54. Limo bar : AXLE

The word “limousine” derives from the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes …

67. They’re fed at curbside : METERS

An early patent for a parking meter, dated 1928, was for a device that required the driver of the parked car to connect the battery of his or her car to the meter in order for it to operate!

68. Icelandic literary work : EDDA

The Poetic Edda and Prose Edda are two ancient works that are the source for much of Norse mythology. Both Eddas were written in the 13th century, in Iceland.

69. “Danny and the Dinosaur” author Hoff : SYD

Syd Hoff wrote the children’s readers “Danny and the Dinosaur” and “Sammy the Seal”. Hoff also drew two syndicated comic strips, “Tuffy” (1939-1949) and “Laugh It Off” (1958-1978).

Down

2. Thin sword : RAPIER

A rapier is a very thin sword with a sharp point that is used to kill and maim by thrusting the point into the body, rather than by slashing.

5. Actor Sharif : OMAR

Omar Sharif was a great Hollywood actor from Egypt, someone who played major roles in memorable movies such as “Doctor Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia”. But to me, he was my bridge hero (the card game). In his heyday, Sharif was one of the best bridge players in the world.

6. The aughts, for one : DECADE

An “aught” is a zero. The term can be used in the context of dates as in “the aughts”, the years 2000-2009. I’ve also heard those years referred to as “the noughties”.

8. “Bring on the weekend!” : TGIF!

“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF) is a relatively new expression that apparently originated in Akron, Ohio. It was a catchphrase used first by disk jockey Jerry Healy of WAKR in the early seventies. That said, one blog reader wrote me to say that he had been using the phrase in the fifties.

9. Natural emollient : ALOE

An emollient is a moisturizer. The term “emollient” comes from the Latin “mollire” meaning “to soften”.

10. Foodie : GOURMET

A gourmand is someone who takes great pleasure in consuming food and drink, often eating and drinking to excess. The related term “gourmet” refers to someone who has a refined palate.

11. Hosp. areas : ERS

Emergency room (ER)

13. __ trader : DAY

A day-trader is an investor (of sorts), one who buys securities and sells them on the same day in an attempt to make a quick profit.

21. Bruins star Phil, to fans : ESPO

Phil “Espo” Esposito is a former professional hockey player who played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers.

27. Vegas game : KENO

The name of the game keno has French or Latin roots, with the French “quine” being a term for five winning numbers, and the Latin “quini” meaning “five each”. The game originated in China and was introduced into the West by Chinese immigrants who were working on the first Transcontinental Railroad in the 1800s.

29. Baritone Chou in the opera “Nixon in China” : EN-LAI

Zhou Enlai (also “Chou En-Lai”) was the first government leader of the People’s Republic of China and held the office of Premier from 1949 until he died in 1976. Zhou Enlai ran the government for Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong, often striking a more conciliatory tone with the West than that of his boss. He was instrumental, for example, in setting up President Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972. Zhou Enlai died just a few months before Mao Zedong, with both deaths leading to unrest and a dramatic change in political direction for the country.

“Nixon in China” is an opera by John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman. The piece was inspired by President Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972.

30. Violinist’s supply : ROSIN

Rosin is a solid form of resin derived from plant sources. Rosin is formed into cakes that players of stringed instruments use to rub along the hairs of their bows to help improve sound quality. The rosin increases the degree of friction between the strings and the bow. That same friction-increasing property comes into play when baseball pitchers use rosin to get a better grip on the ball, or when dancers apply rosin to the soles of their shoes.

31. Kinda-sorta : QUASI

“Quasi” is a Latin word meaning “as if, as though”. We use the term in English to mean “having a likeness to something”.

35. Left on board? : PORT

The left side of a ship used to be called the “larboard” side, but this was dropped in favor of “port” as pronunciation of “larboard” was easily confused with “starboard”, the right side of the vessel. The term “port” was chosen as it was customary to dock a ship, for loading in port, with the left side of the vessel against the dock.

37. Michigan city or college : ALMA

Alma College in Alma, Michigan was founded by Michigan Presbyterians in 1886. The school has a Scottish heritage of which it is very proud. Alma has its own Scottish marching band, a Scottish dance troupe and even its own design of tartan.

46. Coup d’__ : ETAT

A coup d’état (often just “coup”) is the sudden overthrow of a government, and comes from the French for “stroke of state”. The Swiss-German word “putsch” is sometimes used instead of “coup”, with “Putsch” translating literally as “sudden blow”.

48. Rode (around) : TOOLED

The phrase “tooling around” can be used to mean “driving a vehicle”. The suggestion is that driving a vehicle is using it skillfully, like a tool.

49. Rust and lime : OXIDES

Rust is iron oxide. Rust forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

The name of the element calcium comes from the Latin “calcis” meaning “lime”. “Quicklime” and “burnt lime” are common names for calcium oxide.

56. Disney head Robert : IGER

Robert Iger took over from Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005. Iger worked for ABC when it was taken over by Disney in 1996, and in 1999 he was named president of Walt Disney International. Iger is doing okay for himself; he earned more than $29 million in 2009.

59. Hammett dog : ASTA

Asta is the wonderful little dog in the superb “The Thin Man” series of films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (as Nick and Nora Charles). In the original story by Dashiell Hammett, Asta was a female Schnauzer, but on screen Asta was played by a wire-haired fox terrier called “Skippy”. Skippy was also the dog in “Bringing up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, the one who kept stealing the dinosaur bone. Skippy retired in 1939, so Asta was played by other dogs in the remainder of “The Thin Man” films.

Dashiell Hammett was an American author known for his detective fiction. Hammett was the creator of such enduring characters as Sam Spade from “The Maltese Falcon” as well as Nick and Nora Charles from “The Thin Man”. Outside of writing, Hammett was also politically active and serves as the president of a group the Civil Rights Congress (CRC) after WWII. The CRC was deemed to be a Communist front group and was listed as a subversive organization by the US government. At one point, he even served time in jail for contempt of court, after refusing to answer some questions in a trial in which the CRC was involved.

61. Monopoly deed abbr. : AVE

The commercial game of Monopoly is supposedly a remake of “The Landlord’s Game” created in 1903 by a Quaker woman called Lizzie Phillips. Phillips used her game as a tool to explain the single tax theory of American economist Henry George. The Landlord’s Game was first produced commercially in 1924. The incredibly successful derivative game called Monopoly was introduced in 1933 by Charles Darrow, who became a very rich man when Parker Brothers bought the rights to the game just two years later in 1935.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Beats Electronics co-founder, familiarly : DRE
4. Birdbrain, or an extinct bird : DODO
8. Scrap : TAG END
14. The guy for ewe : RAM
15. “Right you are!” : AMEN!
16. Vanderbilt of fashion : GLORIA
17. PD alert : APB
18. In fun : FACETIOUSLY
20. Way to move funds : WIRE TRANSFER
22. Slangy turnarounds : UEYS
23. “Silly me!” : D’OH!
24. Mardi Gras wear : MASK
28. Good manners : PROPER ETIQUETTE
33. “Dear Yoko” dedicatee : ONO
34. Volcanic event : ERUPTION
35. Org. with lanes : PBA
38. Sch. with a Shreveport campus : LSU
40. Activate, as a mobile app : TAP
41. Wee hour : TWO
42. Medium for van Gogh : OIL PAINT
45. Understand : SEE
47. Artist Erté’s real name : ROMAIN DE TIRTOFF
52. Winter Palace resident : TSAR
53. Mexican gold : ORO
54. Limo bar : AXLE
55. Regular vehicle maintenance suggested by this puzzle’s circles : TIRE ROTATION
60. Spring cleaning may lead to them : GARAGE SALES
63. Firecracker that doesn’t crack : DUD
64. Brought to mind : EVOKED
65. Small change : CENT
66. Afore : ERE
67. They’re fed at curbside : METERS
68. Icelandic literary work : EDDA
69. “Danny and the Dinosaur” author Hoff : SYD

Down

1. Prepare, as plans : DRAW UP
2. Thin sword : RAPIER
3. Early stage of life : EMBRYO
4. Birdbrained : DAFT
5. Actor Sharif : OMAR
6. The aughts, for one : DECADE
7. Musically monotonous : ONE-NOTE
8. “Bring on the weekend!” : TGIF!
9. Natural emollient : ALOE
10. Foodie : GOURMET
11. Hosp. areas : ERS
12. Zero : NIL
13. __ trader : DAY
19. Summer top : T-SHIRT
21. Bruins star Phil, to fans : ESPO
25. Working hard : AT IT
26. Put in the overhead bin : STOW
27. Vegas game : KENO
29. Baritone Chou in the opera “Nixon in China” : EN-LAI
30. Violinist’s supply : ROSIN
31. Kinda-sorta : QUASI
32. Bunk with a ladder : UPPER
35. Left on board? : PORT
36. “About the author” pieces : BIOS
37. Michigan city or college : ALMA
39. Annuls : UNDOES
43. Share (in) : PARTAKE
44. Upscale apartment feature : TERRACE
46. Coup d’__ : ETAT
48. Rode (around) : TOOLED
49. Rust and lime : OXIDES
50. Like a baker’s hands : FLOURY
51. Shifted (for oneself) : FENDED
56. Disney head Robert : IGER
57. Wine list heading : REDS
58. Take care of : TEND
59. Hammett dog : ASTA
60. Real peach : GEM
61. Monopoly deed abbr. : AVE
62. Go bad : ROT

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