LA Times Crossword Answers 13 Jul 2018, Friday

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Constructed by: Jim Quinlan
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: UPS Delivery

Themed answers are common phrases with the letter string UPS inserted:

  • 61A. Package on the porch … or what’s been brought to 18-, 24-, 41- and 51-Across : UPS DELIVERY
  • 18A. Calendar model’s argument? : PINUP’S POINT (from “pinpoint”)
  • 24A. Ones who curry favor in Cannes? : FRENCH KISS-UPS (from “French kiss”)
  • 41A. Booms in the poultry industry? : CHICKEN UPSWINGS (from “chicken wings”)
  • 51A. Northern New York gallery, say? : UPSTATE MUSEUM (from “Tate Museum”)

Bill’s time: 8m 42s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Adobe extension : PDF

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format introduced by Adobe Systems in 1993. PDF documents can be shared between users and read using many different applications, making them more universally accessible than documents saved by one particular program.

15. “Logan” superheroes : X-MEN

“Logan” is a 2017 movie that is the tenth (yes, tenth) installment of the “X-Men” series of films. It is also the third movie to center on the character Wolverine (aka “Logan”), who is played by Hugh Jackman. This one was very, very successful at the box office. Anyone interested in a retro-style “Logan” might want to look for the black-and-white version of the film that’s available under the title “Logan Noir”.

16. Bib, essentially : NAPKIN

The word “bib” comes from the Latin “bibere” meaning “to drink”, as does our word “imbibe”. So, maybe a bib is less about spilling the food, and more about soaking up the booze …

17. Cooking acronym : PAM

PAM cooking oil was introduced in 1961 by Leon Rubin and Arthur Meyerhoff. The name “PAM” is an acronym … standing for “Product of Arthur Meyerhoff”. Who’d a thunk it …?

20. First word of The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” : ARUBA

“Kokomo” is song released by the Beach Boys in 1988. It describes a trip taken by a couple to a fictional island off the Florida Keys called Kokomo. The success of the song led to at least one Florida resort adopting the name.

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego,
baby why don’t we go,
Jamaica

22. David Caruso starred in the Miami version : CSI

I quite enjoyed the “CSI” franchise of television shows, all except “CSI: Miami”. I find the character played by David Caruso to be extremely annoying. “CSI: Miami” was cancelled in 2012. No loss …

23. __ periculo: at my own risk : MEO

The Latin phrase “meo periculo” translates into English as “at my own risk”. I guess one might say something like, “I’ll do what you suggest, meo periculo”, i.e. “I’ll do what you suggest, at my own risk”.

24. Ones who curry favor in Cannes? : FRENCH KISS-UPS (from “French kiss”)

Cannes is a city on the French Riviera that is noted as host of the Cannes Film Festival. The decision to host an annual film festival was adopted by the city just before WWII. However, the festival had to wait for the end of the war for its launch in 1946.

A kiss that involves touching of tongues is known as a French kiss, but no one seems to know why. Paradoxically, in Northern France, giving the same type of kiss is known as “baiser anglais”, i.e. English kissing!

29. Jackie portrayer on “Nurse Jackie” : EDIE

“Nurse Jackie” is a comedy-drama series centered on an emergency room nurse at a hospital in New York City. The lead character is played by Edie Falco, who also played Tony Soprano’s wife on the “The Sopranos”. I binge-watched “Nurse Jackie” a while back and found it to be a very well-written show …

30. Spike TV, once : TNN

Spike TV is a 2003 relaunch of The Nashville Network (TNN) and was marketed as the first television channel for men. The station owners ran into trouble though as the director Spike Lee sued, claiming that viewers would assume he was associated with the channel because of the use of “Spike”. The suit was settled when Lee concluded that there was no intention to trade on his name.

31. He finished hosting “The Tonight Show” 12 years before Fallon was born : PAAR

Jack Paar was most famous as the host of “The Tonight Show”, from 1957 to 1962. When he died in 2004, “Time” magazine wrote that Paar was “the fellow who split talk show history into two eras: “Before Paar and Below Paar”. Very complimentary …

Jimmy Fallon was a cast member for a number of years on “Saturday Night Live” before getting his own talk show in 2009, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”. Fallon took over “The Tonight Show” from Jay Leno in 2014. I’m not a big Fallon fan …

“The Tonight Show” has had six permanent hosts so far:

  • Steve Allen (1954-57)
  • Jack Paar (1957-62)
  • Johnny Carson (1962–92)
  • Jay Leno (1992–2009, 2010–14)
  • Conan O’Brien (2009–10)
  • Jimmy Fallon (2014–present)

44. Wrap label : SARAN

What’s known as plastic wrap in America, we call cling-film in Ireland. The brand name “Saran” is often used generically in the US, while “Glad” wrap is common down under. Plastic wrap was one of those unintended inventions, a byproduct of a development program to create a hard plastic cover for cars.

45. Isaac’s eldest : ESAU

Esau, was the grandson of Abraham and the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When Esau was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the event was described “Now the first came forth, red all over like a hairy garment”. Esau is portrayed later in life as being very different from his brother Jacob, as a hunter and someone who loves the outdoor life.

51. Northern New York gallery, say? : UPSTATE MUSEUM (from “Tate Museum”)

The museum known as “the Tate” is actually made up of four separate galleries in England. The original Tate gallery was founded by Sir Henry Tate as the National Gallery of British Art. It is located on Millbank in London, on the site of the old Millbank Prison, and is now called Tate Britain. There is also the Tate Liverpool in the north of England located in an old warehouse, and the Tate St. Ives in the west country located in an old gas works. My favorite of the Tate galleries is the Tate Modern which lies on the banks of the Thames in London. It’s a beautiful building, a converted power station that you have to see to believe.

57. Latin lover’s word : AMO

“Amo, amas, amat” translates from Latin as “I love, you love, he/she/it loves”.

61. Package on the porch … or what’s been brought to 18-, 24-, 41- and 51-Across : UPS DELIVERY

United Parcel Service (UPS) is based in Sandy Springs, Georgia and has its own airline that operates out of Louisville, Kentucky. UPS often goes by the nickname “Brown”, because of its brown delivery trucks and brown uniforms.

69. Beauty preceder? : AGE

“Age before beauty.”

71. Pudding starch : SAGO

When I was growing up in Ireland I was very familiar with pearl sago, which is very similar to pearl tapioca. Pearls of sago are simply little balls of sago starch used to make breads, pancakes, biscuits, or the steamed puddings that we ate as kids. Sago comes from pith of the sago palm tree. To get at the starch the tree has to be cut down and the trunk split to reveal the pith. The pith is crushed and manipulated to make the starch available, which is then washed out of a fibrous suspension. One sago palm tree yields about 150-300 kg of starch. Personally I love the stuff, but then, I am a bit weird …

Down

1. Smurf with a red hat : PAPA

The Smurfs are little blue people created in 1958 by the Belgian cartoonist who went by the pen name Peyo. The Smurfs became famous in the US when Hanna-Barbera used them in a children’s cartoon series. The characters are largely a group of males. The original lineup included just one “Smurfette”, who is wooed by almost all of the boy Smurfs. Later, another female was introduced into the mix called Sassette, and still later along came Granny Smurf.

2. Fictional miner : DWARF

“Snow White” is a traditional German fairy tale that was published in 1812 in the collection of the Brothers Grimm. There is also a second, very different Grimms’ Fairy Tale called “Snow-White and Rose-Red”, not to be confused with its more famous cousin. In the latter tale, Snow-White and Rose-Red are sisters who get into trouble with a dwarf, but are rescued by a bear who turns into a prince.

3. Longest human bone : FEMUR

The thigh bone, the femur, is the longest and strongest bone in the human body.

5. Bizet’s buddy : AMI

Georg Bizet was a French composer active in the Romantic era. Bizet’s most famous work has to be his opera “Carmen”. “Carmen” initially received a lukewarm reception from the public, even though his fellow composers had nothing but praise for it. Sadly, Bizet died very young at only 36, before he could see “Carmen’s” tremendous success.

6. Base __ : TEN

Our base-10 numeral system is also known as the decimal (sometimes “denary”) numeral system. Another common numeral system is base-2, which is also known as the binary system.

10. Google’s was in 2004, briefly : IPO

An initial public offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).

19. Penultimate Greek letter : PSI

Psi is the 23rd and penultimate letter of the Greek alphabet, and the one that looks a bit like a trident or a pitchfork.

26. “Die Lorelei” poet : HEINE

Heinrich Heine was a German romantic poet whose work often became noted through the derivative lieder composed by Robert Schumann in particular. Heine died in 1856, after spending the last eight years of his life bedridden. I like his last words … “God will forgive me. It’s his job.”

The Lorelei is a 300-foot tall rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine in Germany. The Lorelei juts out into the river creating a strong current as the water is forced through the narrows. The current combined with numerous rocks under the waterline have led to numerous boating accidents. Appropriately enough, Lorelei is the name of a legendary mermaid who lured fishermen to their death on the rocks by singing a beautiful song.

28. Not in the book : UNLISTED

City directories listed names and addresses of residents in particular cities, and became quite common starting in the 1700s. The first known telephone directory was issued in 1878, and listed just fifty subscribers in New Haven, Connecticut.

31. Cubicle fixtures : PCS

The original IBM Personal Computer is model number 5150, which was introduced to the world on August 12, 1981. The term “personal computer” was already in use, but the success of the IBM 5150 led to the term “PC” being used for all computer products compatible with the IBM platform.

39. Custard base : EGG

Our word “custard” evolved from the Middle French “croustade” meaning “meat or fruit pie with a crust”. Over time, the letter R fell away from “croustade” leading to “custard”, possibly due to the influence of the other food item “mustard”.

40. Org. that abhors leaks : NSA

Edward Snowden is a former NSA contractor who leaked several top secret NSA documents to the media beginning in June 2013. After disclosing his name as the source of the leaks, Snowden tried to seek asylum in Ecuador. While travelling to Ecuador he had a layover in Moscow. While in Moscow, the US government revoked his passport, which effectively left him stranded in the transit area of Moscow Airport. The Russian government eventually granted him annually-renewable temporary asylum.

42. Windsor, for one : KNOT

A necktie can be tied using a Windsor knot, which results in a wide but symmetrical triangular knot. The knot was popularized by British King Edward VIII, who was known as the Duke of Windsor after he abdicated. On the very rare occasion that I wear a tie these days, I usually employ a half-Windsor knot.

43. “Star Trek” lieutenant : SULU

Mr. Hikaru Sulu was played by George Takei in the original “Star Trek” series. Takei has played lots of roles over the years, and is still very active in television. Did you know that he appeared in the 1963 film, “Pt-109”? He played the helmsman steering the Japanese destroyer that ran down John F. Kennedy’s motor torpedo boat. From destroyer helmsman to starship helmsman …

51. Decided on a diamond : UMPED

Back in the 15th century, “an umpire” was referred to as “a noumpere”, which was misheard and hence causing the dropping of the initial letter N. The term “noumpere” came from Old French “nonper” meaning “not even, odd number”. The idea was that the original umpire was a third person called on to arbitrate between two, providing that “odd number” needed to decide the dispute.

55. __ Dictionary : URBAN

Urban Dictionary is a website that was founded in 1999 by a computer science student at Cal Poly. The site contains definitions of mainly slang terms, and is maintained by the site’s members.

60. One who works with feet : POET

In poetry, a foot is a metrical unit comprising usually two, three or four syllables. Lines of verse are often classified by the number of feet that they contain, e.g. pentameter: containing five feet.

62. FedEx alternative : DHL

Back in the sixties, Larry Hillblom was making pocket money as a Berkeley law student by doing courier runs between San Francisco and Los Angeles. After law school, Hillblom decided to parlay his experience into his own business and set up a courier service flying bills of lading ahead of freight from San Francisco to Honolulu. He brought in two buddies, Adrian Dalsey and Robert Lynn, as partners and the three were soon hopping on and off commercial flights and gradually making more and more money. And DHL was born … D (for Dalsey) H (for Hillblom) L (for Lynn).

63. Want ad abbr. : EEO

“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

64. Actress Gabor : EVA

Eva Gabor was the youngest of the Gabor sisters, all three of whom were celebrated Hollywood actresses and socialites (her siblings were Zsa-Zsa and Magda). One of Eva’s claims to fame is the unwitting promotion of the game called “Twister”, the sales of which were languishing in 1966. In an appearance on “The Tonight Show” she got on all fours and played the game with Johnny Carson. Sales took off immediately, and Twister became a huge hit.

65. Gas pump spec. : REG

The difference between a premium and regular gasoline is its octane rating. The octane rating is measure of the resistance of the gasoline to auto-ignition i.e. its resistance to ignition just by virtue of being compressed in the cylinder. This auto-ignition is undesirable as multiple-cylinder engines are designed so that ignition within each cylinder takes place precisely when the plug sparks, and not before. If ignition occurs before the spark is created, the resulting phenomenon is called “knocking”. We sometimes use the adjective “high-octane” to mean “intense, dynamic, high-powered”

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Adobe extension : PDF
4. Food : EATS
8. Formal affirmation : IT IS SO
14. Amazement : AWE
15. “Logan” superheroes : X-MEN
16. Bib, essentially : NAPKIN
17. Cooking acronym : PAM
18. Calendar model’s argument? : PINUP’S POINT (from “pinpoint”)
20. First word of The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” : ARUBA
22. David Caruso starred in the Miami version : CSI
23. __ periculo: at my own risk : MEO
24. Ones who curry favor in Cannes? : FRENCH KISS-UPS (from “French kiss”)
29. Jackie portrayer on “Nurse Jackie” : EDIE
30. Spike TV, once : TNN
31. He finished hosting “The Tonight Show” 12 years before Fallon was born : PAAR
34. Tool points : NIBS
37. Long past : OLDEN
41. Booms in the poultry industry? : CHICKEN UPSWINGS (from “chicken wings”)
44. Wrap label : SARAN
45. Isaac’s eldest : ESAU
46. Extended tale : SAGA
47. “Just joking!” : NOT!
49. Narrow cut : SLIT
51. Northern New York gallery, say? : UPSTATE MUSEUM (from “Tate Museum”)
57. Latin lover’s word : AMO
58. Cup holder? : BRA
59. Seller of spots : AD REP
61. Package on the porch … or what’s been brought to 18-, 24-, 41- and 51-Across : UPS DELIVERY
66. Main man : BRO
67. Snicker : TEE-HEE
68. Anticipatory times : EVES
69. Beauty preceder? : AGE
70. Small stock purchase : ODD LOT
71. Pudding starch : SAGO
72. Amount realized : NET

Down

1. Smurf with a red hat : PAPA
2. Fictional miner : DWARF
3. Longest human bone : FEMUR
4. Open a satellite shop, say : EXPAND
5. Bizet’s buddy : AMI
6. Base __ : TEN
7. Moved furtively : SNUCK
8. Demand : INSIST
9. One in a pub lineup : TAP
10. Google’s was in 2004, briefly : IPO
11. Be very thrifty : SKIMP
12. Trig functions : SINES
13. In the know about : ONTO
19. Penultimate Greek letter : PSI
21. Six-pack makeup : BEER CANS
25. Picture at Cannes : CINE
26. “Die Lorelei” poet : HEINE
27. __ day: school contingency : SNOW
28. Not in the book : UNLISTED
31. Cubicle fixtures : PCS
32. “I got it!” : AHA!
33. It’s all around you : AIR
35. School __ : BUS
36. Unavoidable jerk : SPASM
38. What might reveal the answer to “Who’s your daddy?” : DNA
39. Custard base : EGG
40. Org. that abhors leaks : NSA
42. Windsor, for one : KNOT
43. “Star Trek” lieutenant : SULU
48. Smartphone alternative : TABLET
50. Parental words of finality : I SAY SO
51. Decided on a diamond : UMPED
52. Sat : POSED
53. Start to cycle? : TRI-
54. Wasp nest sites : EAVES
55. __ Dictionary : URBAN
56. Road sign with a double-tailed arrow : MERGE
57. One on a driveway : AUTO
60. One who works with feet : POET
62. FedEx alternative : DHL
63. Want ad abbr. : EEO
64. Actress Gabor : EVA
65. Gas pump spec. : REG

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