LA Times Crossword 6 Mar 20, Friday

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Constructed by: Ed Sessa
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Solved by One’s Elf

Themed answers are two-word phrases reconfigured “moving” a letter S to make a possessive:

  • 17A What Dr. Frankenstein kept at his bar? : MONSTER’S ALE (from “monster sale”)
  • 24A Sass from a therapist? : FREUDIAN’S LIP (from “Freudian slip”)
  • 38A Uncle Buck, perhaps? : DOE’S KIN (from “doeskin”)
  • 52A Dracula’s haul in the poker game? : VAMPIRE’S TAKE (from “vampire stake”)
  • 62A Big cat’s belly? : LEOPARD’S POT (from “leopard spot”)

Bill’s time: 6m 23s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Mid-size Nissan : ALTIMA

Nissan has been making the Altima since 1993. In 2007 the company started to produce a hybrid version, Nissan’s first foray into the hybrid market and a successful one by all accounts. Altima hybrids are even used as police cruisers by the New York Police Department.

7 Ammo sold in rolls : CAPS

Cap guns are toy guns that use as ammunition a small quantity of explosive that is shock-sensitive. The small disks of ammunition come as individual pellets or perhaps in plastic rings. The cap guns that I used as a child came with about 50 pellets of ammunition on a roll of paper. As a kid, I used to think that cap guns were so cool. Now, not so much …

14 Like many arcade games : COIN-OP

Our word “arcade” comes from the Latin “arcus” meaning “arc”. The first arcades were passages made from a series of arches. This could be an avenue of trees, and eventually any covered avenue. I remember arcades lined with shops and stores when I was growing up on the other side of the Atlantic. Arcades came to be lined with lots of amusements, resulting in amusement arcades and video game arcades.

15 Helter-skelter : AMOK

The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had a good reason for that frenzy …

16 Mantra syllables : OMS

“Om” is a sacred mystic word from the Hindu tradition. “Om” is sometimes used as a mantra, a focus for the mind in meditation.

A mantra is a word that is used as a focus for the mind while meditating. The term is Sanskrit in origin, and is now used figuratively in English to describe any oft-repeated word or phrase.

17 What Dr. Frankenstein kept at his bar? : MONSTER’S ALE (from “monster sale”)

Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel has the full title of “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”. The subtitle underscores one of the themes of the book, i.e. a warning about the expansion into the Industrial Revolution.

19 Fiddle player of rhyme : CAT

The nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle” has been around at least since the mid-1700s.

Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such fun,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

20 North-of-the-border gas : ESSO

The Esso brand has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

21 Zany trio member : MOE

If you’ve seen a few of the films starring “The Three Stooges” you might have noticed that the line-up changed over the years. The original trio was made up of Moe and Shemp Howard (two brothers) and Larry Fine (a good friend of the Howards). This line up was usually known as “Moe, Larry and Shemp”. Then Curly Howard replaced his brother when Shemp quit the act, creating the most famous trio, “Moe, Larry And Curly”. Shemp returned when Curly had a debilitating stroke in 1946. Shemp stayed with the troupe until he himself died in 1955. Shemp was replaced by Joe Besser, and then “Curly-Joe” DeRita. When Larry Fine suffered a stroke in 1970, it effectively marked the end of the act.

24 Sass from a therapist? : FREUDIAN’S LIP (from “Freudian slip”)

A Freudian slip is an error that is interpreted as being due to an unconscious wish for the same outcome. Named for psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the “slip” is also called a parapraxis.

28 “SNL” castmate of Gilda and Jane : LARAINE

Laraine Newman is a comedian, and one of the original members of the “Saturday Night Live” team. On the show, she played several recurring characters including Sheri the Valley Girl and Connie Conehead.

Gilda Radner was a comedian and actress, and one of the original cast members of the hit television show “Saturday Night Live”. Radner left her first husband to marry comedic actor Gene Wilder, whom she met while they were both filming the Sidney Poitier movie “Hanky Panky”.

Comedian and actress Jane Curtin was an original cast member of “Saturday Night Live”. She also had leading roles in the hit comedy series “Kate & Allie” and “3rd Rock from the Sun”, as well as the 1993 movie “Coneheads”.

31 It “hath charms to soothe a savage breast” : MUSIC

William Congreve was an English playwright and poet who was educated at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. His 1697 tragedy “The Mourning Bride” gave us a couple of oft-quoted lines:

  • Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak
  • Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned

Congreve’s 1695 play “Love for Love” gave us:

  • O fie, miss, you must not kiss and tell.

33 Marine mammal group : POD

A group of whales can be called a gam, as well as a pod.

37 Specimen for 23-Down : DNA
(23D Forensic TV episodes : CSIS)

I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the DNA of living things is so very similar across different species. Human DNA is almost exactly the same for every individual (to the degree of 99.9%). However, those small differences are sufficient to distinguish one individual from another, and to determine whether or not individuals are close family relatives.

38 Uncle Buck, perhaps? : DOE’S KIN (from “doeskin”)

A male deer is usually called a buck, and a female is a doe. However, the male red deer is usually referred to as a stag. The males of even larger species of deer are often called bulls, and females cows. In older English, male deer of over 5 years were called harts, and females of over 3 years were called hinds. The young of small species are known as fawns, and of larger species are called calves. All very confusing …

42 Broadcasting pioneer : RCA

The RCA logo features a dog name Nipper. Nipper was a real dog from England whose owner, Francis Barraud, made a painting of Nipper listening to a gramophone. Barraud then approached several gramophone manufacturers in the hope they would be interested in using the image for advertising. Nipper’s likeness was indeed picked up, and around that time it was Barraud himself who came up with the slogan “His Master’s Voice”.

46 City near the Golden Spike : OGDEN

Ogden was the first permanent settlement by people of European descent in what is now the state of Utah.

The First Transcontinental Railroad was a cooperative project between the Western Pacific, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies. The Western Pacific Railroad constructed line between Oakland and Sacramento in California. The Central Pacific Railroad laid line from Sacramento to Promontory Summit, Utah. The Union Pacific Railroad put down tracks in a westerly direction, from the existing network terminus near Omaha, Nebraska, all the way to Promontory Summit. It was the connecting of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads at Promontory Summit that completed the First Transcontinental Line in 1869. The driving of the Golden Spike (also “Last Spike”) symbolically completed the project. That spike was pounded into the ground by Leland Stanford, president of both the Southern Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads. The spike can now be viewed at Stanford University, the school founded by Leland and named of his son Leland Jr., who died of typhoid fever as a teenager.

48 Veronica of “Hill Street Blues” : HAMEL

Veronica Hamel played public defender Joyce Davenport on “Hill Street Blues”. Davenport was also the girlfriend of Captain Frank Furillo. Each episode would end with the couple chatting in bed, acting out a kind of epilogue. Hamel was also the model who appeared in the last cigarette commercial ever aired in the US. That ad was shown during “The Tonight Show”, and went out at 11:59 pm on New Year’s Day 1971.

As the sergeant on “Hill Street Blues” used to say, “Let’s be careful out there.”

52 Dracula’s haul in the poker game? : VAMPIRE’S TAKE (from “vampire stake”)

Legends about vampires were particularly common in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans in particular. The superstition was that vampires could be killed using a wooden stake, with the preferred type of wood varying from place to place. Superstition also defined where in the body should be staked. Most often, the stake was driven through the heart, but Russians and northern Germans went for the mouth, and northeastern Serbs for the stomach.

55 Orchestras tune to them : OBOES

When you hear an orchestra tuning before a performance, you’ll note (pun!) that the oboe starts off the process by playing an “A”. The rest of the musicians in turn tune to that oboe’s “A”.

56 One of Venus de Milo’s two that are conspicuous for their absence : ARM

The famous “Venus de Milo” is so named as she was discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Milos, on the Aegean island of the same name. I’ve been lucky enough to see the statue, in the Louvre in Paris, and was surprised at how large it is (6 ft 8 in tall).

57 Drink brand with a lizard logo : SOBE

The brand name “SoBe” can be found on teas, juices and bottled waters. SoBe is an abbreviation for South Beach, the neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida.

62 Big cat’s belly? : LEOPARD’S POT (from “leopard spot”)

The four “big cats” are the tiger, lion, jaguar and leopard. The largest of the big cats is the tiger, and the smallest is the leopard.

68 Tater Tots maker : ORE-IDA

Ore-Ida’s founders came up with the idea for Tater Tots when they were deciding what to do with residual cuts of potato. They chopped up the leftovers, added flour and seasoning, and extruded the mix through a large hole making a sausage that they cut into small cylinders. We eat 70 million pounds of this extruded potato every year!

69 Sniggler’s quarry : EEL

A sniggler is a person who angles for eels (also called an “eeler”). The term “sniggler” comes from “snig”, a young eel, which in turn is probably related to Old English “snegge” meaning “snail”.

Down

2 Restrooms for blokes : LOOS

It has been suggested that the British term “loo”, meaning “toilet”, comes from “Waterloo” (water closet … water-loo), but no one seems to know for sure. Another suggestion is that the term comes from the card game of “lanterloo”, in which the pot was called the loo!

“Bloke” is British slang for “fellow”. The etymology of “bloke” seems to have been lost in the mists of time.

5 Bon __ : MOT

“Bon mot” translates from French as “good word”. We use “bon mot” (and sometimes just “mot”) to mean “quip, witticism”.

6 So-called missing links : APEMEN

The term “missing link” is usually applied to the concept that there existed some form of animal that is a hybrid between apes and humans. The idea that there was some “apeman” is discounted these days by the scientific community, who now favor the theory of evolution.

7 Checked out before a heist : CASED

The phrase “to case the joint” is American slang meaning “to examine a location with the intent of robbing it”. The origins of the phrase are apparently unknown, although it dates back at least to 1915.

8 GP’s gp. : AMA

American Medical Association (AMA)

9 D.C. figure : POL

Politician (pol)

11 They help one speak one’s mind : VOCAL CORDS

The vocal cords are also known as the vocal folds, and are two folds of mucous membrane that project into the larynx. The folds vibrate when air passes through the larynx, allowing sounds to be made.

12 Japanese porcelain : IMARI

Imari is a port city located on the island of Kyushu in Japan. What Europeans know as Imari porcelain actually isn’t made in Imari, but rather in the nearby town of Arita. The name Imari was given to the porcelain because it was the port through which the ceramic ware was shipped. In Japan, the porcelains are called Arita-yaki.

18 Scoundrel : ROUE

“Roue” is a lovely word, but one used to describe a less than lovely man, someone of loose morals. “Roue” comes from the French word “rouer” meaning “to break on a wheel”. This describes the ancient form of capital punishment where a poor soul was lashed to a wheel and then beaten to death with cudgels and bars. I guess the suggestion is that a roue, with his loose morals, deserves such a punishment.

23 Forensic TV episodes : CSIS

The “CSI” TV show franchise uses hits from the Who as theme music:

  • “Who Are You” … “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
  • “Baba O’Riley” … “CSI: New York”
  • “Won’t Get Fooled Again” … “CSI: Miami”
  • “I Can See for Miles” … “CSI: Cyber”

27 A4 automaker : AUDI

The predecessor to today’s Audi company was called Auto Union. Auto Union was formed with the merger of four individual entities: Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer. The Audi logo comprises four intersecting rings, each representing one of the four companies that merged.

30 Black Flag product : ROACH MOTEL

Figuratively speaking, a roach motel is a low-priced lodging facility that is in a pretty dilapidated state. There is also a Roach Motel trademarked brand of cockroach traps that is owned by Black Flag. Despite the trademark protection, the term “roach motel” is commonly applied to any device that uses bait to lure cockroaches into a compartment fitted with a sticky trap.

33 Humanities subj. : PSY

The academic studies of human culture are collectively called the humanities. Subjects included in the humanities are languages, literature, philosophy, religion and music.

39 Letters near zero : OPER

On the buttons of a phone you often see TUV on the 8-key and OPER (for “operator”) on the 0-key. Well, you used to …

40 Creator of Perry and Della : ERLE

I must have read all of the “Perry Mason” books when I was in college. I think they kept me sane when I was facing the pressure of exams. Author Erle Stanley Gardner was himself a lawyer, although he didn’t get into the profession the easy way. Gardner went to law school, but got himself suspended after a month. So, he became a self-taught attorney and opened his own law office in Merced, California. Understandably perhaps, Gardner gave up the law once his novels became successful.

Della Street is Perry Mason’s very capable secretary in the Erle Stanley Gardner novels. Street was played on the TV show by Barbara Hale.

41 Kindle rival : NOOK

The Barnes & Noble electronic-book reader is called the Nook. The reader’s name is intended to evoke the usage of “nook” as a familiar place to sit and read quietly.

44 Scotch roll : TAPE

Scotch Tape is a brand of adhesive tape made by 3M. “Scotch Tape” is one of those brand names that has become a generic term for the product. The equivalent brand name of product that we use over in Ireland is Sellotape. This British brand also has become a generic term, and so is our equivalent to “Scotch tape”.

47 Hangman player, e.g. : GUESSER

The word-guessing game called Hangman seems to have been played first in Victorian England. At one time it was known as “Birds, Beasts and Fishes” as the words to be guessed had to be types of animal.

50 First razor with a pivoting head : ATRA

Fortunately for crossword constructors, the Atra was introduced by Gillette in 1977, as the first razor with a pivoting head. The Atra was sold as the Contour in some markets and its derivative products are still around today.

51 Force (through) : RAMROD

A ramrod is a stick that is inserted into the barrel of an older firearm in order to pack the bullet or ball tightly against the charge of gunpowder. A ramrod can also be used to push a cleaning rag through the barrel of a gun. We use the verb “to ramrod” figuratively, to mean “to force acceptance”.

54 Flavor : SAPOR

“Sapor” is another word for “flavor, a quality that can be tasted”. “Sapor” is Latin for “taste, flavor”.

58 Andy’s catfishing partner : OPIE

Opie Taylor is the character played by Ron Howard on “The Andy Griffith Show”. Opie lives with widowed father Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) and his great-aunt Beatrice “Aunt Bee” Taylor (played by Frances Bavier). Ron Howard first played the role in 1960 in the pilot show, when he was just 5 years old. Howard sure has come a long way since playing Opie Taylor. He has directed some fabulous movies including favorites of mine like “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind” and “The Da Vinci Code”.

59 Beefcake features : BODS

It’s not really clear how the word “cheesecake” came to be used for a provocative picture of a woman. It is known that the term arose in the 1930s, and originally applied to to the covers of pulp magazines that used the images of the attractive young females to attract a largely male audience. One theory is that during the depression years, the luscious cheesecake dessert was unattainable, as were the “luscious” models depicted on the magazine covers. The male equivalent of “cheesecake” is “beefcake”.

60 Flight deck data, briefly : ETAS

Estimated time of arrival (ETA)

65 R&B group __ Hill : DRU

Dru Hill is an R&B singing group from Baltimore, Maryland. Dru Hill was formed in 1992, and is still going strong today. The name “Dru Hill” comes from Druid Hill Park which is found on the west side of Baltimore.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Mid-size Nissan : ALTIMA
7 Ammo sold in rolls : CAPS
11 By way of : VIA
14 Like many arcade games : COIN-OP
15 Helter-skelter : AMOK
16 Mantra syllables : OMS
17 What Dr. Frankenstein kept at his bar? : MONSTER’S ALE (from “monster sale”)
19 Fiddle player of rhyme : CAT
20 North-of-the-border gas : ESSO
21 Zany trio member : MOE
22 “See if __” : I CARE
24 Sass from a therapist? : FREUDIAN’S LIP (from “Freudian slip”)
28 “SNL” castmate of Gilda and Jane : LARAINE
31 It “hath charms to soothe a savage breast” : MUSIC
32 Oak fruit : ACORN
33 Marine mammal group : POD
34 Bed foundation? : SOIL
37 Specimen for 23-Down : DNA
38 Uncle Buck, perhaps? : DOE’S KIN (from “doeskin”)
42 Broadcasting pioneer : RCA
43 Religious offshoot : SECT
45 Meddle : PRY
46 City near the Golden Spike : OGDEN
48 Veronica of “Hill Street Blues” : HAMEL
50 Spurred on : AROUSED
52 Dracula’s haul in the poker game? : VAMPIRE’S TAKE (from “vampire stake”)
55 Orchestras tune to them : OBOES
56 One of Venus de Milo’s two that are conspicuous for their absence : ARM
57 Drink brand with a lizard logo : SOBE
61 Leave in ruins : GUT
62 Big cat’s belly? : LEOPARD’S POT (from “leopard spot”)
66 Take advantage of : USE
67 Parrot : ECHO
68 Tater Tots maker : ORE-IDA
69 Sniggler’s quarry : EEL
70 It may be cracked open : DOOR
71 Sweat inducer : DURESS

Down

1 Highest point : ACME
2 Restrooms for blokes : LOOS
3 Metal containers : TINS
4 To such an extent : IN SO FAR
5 Bon __ : MOT
6 So-called missing links : APEMEN
7 Checked out before a heist : CASED
8 GP’s gp. : AMA
9 D.C. figure : POL
10 Knitter’s supply : SKEINS
11 They help one speak one’s mind : VOCAL CORDS
12 Japanese porcelain : IMARI
13 __ in the right direction : A STEP
18 Scoundrel : ROUE
23 Forensic TV episodes : CSIS
25 Melon feature : RIND
26 Reassurance after a fall : I’M OK
27 A4 automaker : AUDI
28 Youths : LADS
29 Teen malady : ACNE
30 Black Flag product : ROACH MOTEL
33 Humanities subj. : PSY
35 Cold drink brand : ICEE
36 Come down : LAND
39 Letters near zero : OPER
40 Creator of Perry and Della : ERLE
41 Kindle rival : NOOK
44 Scotch roll : TAPE
47 Hangman player, e.g. : GUESSER
49 Took for a ride : MISLED
50 First razor with a pivoting head : ATRA
51 Force (through) : RAMROD
52 Popularity : VOGUE
53 Treat badly : ABUSE
54 Flavor : SAPOR
58 Andy’s catfishing partner : OPIE
59 Beefcake features : BODS
60 Flight deck data, briefly : ETAS
63 Prefix with conscious : ECO-
64 “I see it now!” : OHO!
65 R&B group __ Hill : DRU