LA Times Crossword 23 Jan 20, Thursday

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Constructed by: Bruce Haight
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Raise Money

Themed answers are in the down-direction. Each includes a unit of MONEY that has been RAISED (written in the up-direction):

  • 34D Get support, in a way … and what the puzzle circles do : RAISE MONEY (hiding “yen” raised)
  • 3D New Year’s Day event in Pasadena : ROSE PARADE (hiding “peso” raised)
  • 10D Finish impressively : END WITH A BANG (hiding “baht” raised)
  • 21D Lamb Chop puppeteer : SHARI LEWIS (hiding “lira” raised)
  • 25D It helps you go places : TRAVEL BUREAU (hiding “ruble” raised)

Bill’s time: 8m 07s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

8 Longest-serving Japanese prime minister : ABE

Shinzo Abe first became Prime Minister of Japan in 2006, at which time he was the youngest person to hold the post since WWII and was the first PM born after the war. Abe was in office for less than a year, but was voted in again 2012. At the end of 2019, Abe became the longest-serving Prime Minister in the history of Japan.

11 Ave. crossers : STS

By convention, a road is a way connecting two locations. A street is a road with buildings on both sides. An avenue has buildings or trees on both sides, and generally runs perpendicular to streets.

14 Steel foundry input : IRON ORE

Steel is an alloy that is composed mainly of iron, with a small percentage of carbon.

18 Lamaze class attendee : DAD-TO-BE

The Lamaze technique for childbirth was developed by a French obstetrician called Fernand Lamaze. He introduced the technique in the west after observing similar practices in the Soviet Union during a visit there in 1951.

22 About 24% of the U.S. Congress : WOMEN

Jeannette Rankin was a Montana politician and activist who was elected to the House of Representatives in 1916, making her the first woman to hold a US federal office. Ranking, a Republican, was a lifelong pacifist. Along with 49 of her House colleagues, she opposed the 1917 declaration of war against Germany. Decades later, Rankin was the sole member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The first woman to serve in the US Senate did so for just one day. That lady was Rebecca Latimer Felton, a prominent member of the women’s suffrage movement. Georgia governor Thomas W. Hardwick got the opportunity to appoint Felton to the US Senate when Senator Thomas E. Watson died prematurely. Hardwick nominated Felton in October of 1922, partly as a ploy to secure as many votes as possible from new women voters. Congress was not in session and the election was imminent, so Hardwick did not expect Felton to be sworn in. However, Hardwick lost the election, and Felton made a deal with election winner Walter F. George that called for her to sworn in, and for George to take his seat the following day. Feltman was just a couple of months shy of 88 years at the time, making her the oldest freshman senator to enter the US Senate.

23 Stations : DEPOTS

Our term “depot”, meaning “station, warehouse”, comes from the French word “dépôt”. The French term translates into English as “deposit” or “place of deposit”.

26 Place for choppers : HELIPORT

“Chopper” is an informal term used for a helicopter.

31 Broadway song that begins, “The most beautiful sound I ever heard” : MARIA

“Maria” is a song from “West Side Story”.

Maria!
Say it loud and there’s music playing,
Say it soft and it’s almost like praying.
Maria,
I’ll never stop saying Maria!

37 Co-tsar with Peter I : IVAN V

Peter I and Ivan V were half-brothers who serves as joint Tsars of Russia between the years 1682 and 1696. Peter was the most influential of the duo by far. After Ivan died, Peter went on to bring Russia into a new age, earning himself the moniker Peter the Great.

39 Missile Command game company : ATARI

Missile Command is a fun arcade game that was introduced by Atari in 1980. Playing the game involves protecting six cities that are being attacked by ballistic missiles. The original game’s design featured six cities in California, namely Eureka, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Diego.

42 Newcastle Brown __ : ALE

Newcastle Brown Ale is an English beer that was launched in 1927. In the late nineties, it was the most-widely distributed beer in the UK. Its popularity has waned somewhat in its homeland, and now most sales of Newcastle Brown are in the US.

50 Rum drink : DAIQUIRI

Daiquirí is a small village on the coast near Santiago, Cuba and a key location in the American invasion of Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Supposedly, the cocktail called a “Daiquiri” was invented by American mining engineers in a bar in nearby Santiago.

54 Competition that includes snowboarding : X GAMES

The X Games are annual events, with a Summer X Games held every year as well as a Winter X Games. It’s very much a commercial venture, with all aspects controlled by the TV station ESPN. The games focus on extreme action sports, like skateboarding and freestyle motocross in the summer and various extreme snowboarding events in the winter.

57 Pianist Rubinstein : ARTUR

The great Arthur (sometimes “Artur”) Rubinstein was a classical pianist from Poland who became a naturalized American citizen in 1946. Rubenstein was particularly respected as a performer of Chopin’s repertoire.

58 California’s __ Gabriel Mountains : SAN

The San Gabriel Mountains are located between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert in California. In 2014, President Obama used the Antiquities Act to protect most of the range by designating it the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.

64 Mid-Michigan city : SAGINAW

Saginaw is a city in central Michigan. The city blossomed as a lumber town in the 19th century. Logs were floated down the Saginaw river where they were processed in the town’s many sawmills before being loaded onto ships, and eventually onto railroad cars. Growth in the 20th century was driven by the automotive industry, with GM alone locating 12 manufacturing plants in and around Saginaw. Employment declined sharply in the latter 1900s along with the decline in the number of automotive jobs in the US.

67 Uganda’s capital : KAMPALA

Kampala is the capital city of Uganda. The airport that serves Kampala is in the town of Entebbe. Entebbe airport is well known for the daring hostage-rescue carried out by Israeli Defense Forces in 1976 following a hijacking.

68 Accessory for an Aquaman costume : TRIDENT

Aquaman is a comic book superhero who first appeared in 1941. Aquaman was inspired by a character in a Russian science-fiction novel named “Amphibian Man”.

Down

3 New Year’s Day event in Pasadena : ROSE PARADE (hiding “peso” raised)

The first Rose Parade was staged in 1890 on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California. The initial parades were organized by the Pasadena Valley Hunt Club, whose members wanted to highlight the mild winter weather in the area. The initial parades did not feature flowers, but these were added to underscore the favorable climate. It was the inclusion of the flowers that gave rise to the name “Tournament of Roses”. The first Rose Bowl football game was played in 1902.

5 Name in eerie fiction : POE

Edgar Allan Poe (EAP) lived a life of many firsts. Poe is considered to be the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He was also the first notable American author to make his living through his writing, something that didn’t really go too well for him as he was always financially strapped. In 1849 he was found on the streets of Baltimore, delirious and in dire need of medical help. Poe died a few days later in hospital at 39 years of age.Edgar Allan Poe (EAP) lived a life of many firsts. Poe is considered to be the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He was also the first notable American author to make his living through his writing, something that didn’t really go too well for him as he was always financially strapped. In 1849 he was found on the streets of Baltimore, delirious and in dire need of medical help. Poe died a few days later in hospital at 39 years of age.

6 Proper to a fault : PRISSY

The first known use of the word “prissy” in print, meaning “overly prim”, is in the 1895 children’s book “Mr. Rabbit at Home” by Joel Chandler Harris.

[“]Then Mrs Blue Hen rumpled up her feathers and got mad with herself, and went to setting. I reckon that’s what you call it. I’ve heard some call it ‘setting’ and others ‘sitting.’ Once, when I was courting, I spoke of a sitting hen, but the young lady said I was too prissy for anything.”
What is prissy? asked Sweetest Susan.
Mr. Rabbit shut his eyes and scratched his ear. Then he shook his head slowly.
It’s nothing but a girl’s word, remarked Mrs. Meadows by way of explanation. “It means that somebody’s trying hard to show off.”
I reckon that’s so, said Mr. Rabbit, opening his eyes. He appeared to be much relieved.

7 Himalayan legend : YETI

The yeti, also known as the abominable snowman, is a beast of legend. “Yeti” is a Tibetan term, and the beast is fabled to live in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. Our equivalent legend in North America is that of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology, and a cryptid is a creature or plant that isn’t recognized by the scientific community, but the existence of which has been suggested.

The magnificent Himalaya range of mountains in Asia takes its name from the Sanskrit for “abode of snow”. Geographically, the Himalaya separates the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau to the north.

10 Finish impressively : END WITH A BANG (hiding “baht” raised)

The baht is the currency of Thailand, and is subdivided into 100 satang.

12 River near Vatican City : TIBER

The Tiber is the principal river in Italy in that it runs through the capital of Rome. It is also the third longest river in the country.

Vatican City is a sovereign city-state that is walled off within the city of Rome. Vatican City is about 110 acres in area, and so is the smallest independent state in the world. With about 800 residents, it is also the smallest state in terms of population. Although the Holy See dates back to early Christianity, Vatican City only came into being in 1929. At that time, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini signed a treaty with the Holy See on behalf of the Kingdom of Italy that established the city-state.

21 Lamb Chop puppeteer : SHARI LEWIS (hiding “lira” raised)

Shari Lewis was the original puppeteer behind the PBS children’s show “Lamb Chop”. After Shari Lewis died in 1998, her daughter Mallory took over the role of puppeteer on the show.

The word “lira” is used in a number of countries for currency. “Lira” comes from the Latin for “pound” and is derived from a British pound sterling, the value of a Troy pound of silver. For example, the lira (plural “lire”) was the official currency of Italy before the country changed over to the euro in 2002.

25 It helps you go places : TRAVEL BUREAU (hiding “ruble” raised)

The ruble (also “rouble”) is the unit of currency in Russia, as well as in several other countries in the former Soviet Union. One ruble is divided into one hundred kopecks (also “kopeks”).

28 Part of LAPD : LOS

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is the third largest local law enforcement agency in the country, after New York PD and Chicago PD. Among other things, LAPD is famous for creating the first Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team in the US, in 1965.

31 Pedometer unit : MILE

A pedometer is an instrument worn by a runner or walker that measures the number of steps taken. The name of the device comes from “pes”, the Latin for “foot”.

33 Sport coat : BLAZER

A blazer is a less formal version of a suit jacket, usually one with a less formal cut and often metal buttons. The original “blazer” was a red jacket worn by members of the rowing club at Cambridge University in England. The “blazer” is so called because the Cambridge version was “blazing red” in color.

34 Get support, in a way … and what the puzzle circles do : RAISE MONEY (hiding “yen” raised)

The Korean won, the Chinese yuan, and the Japanese yen (all of which are Asian currencies) take their names from the Chinese written character that represents “round shape”.

35 Writer Gardner : 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.

36 Rock that, oddly, loses to paper : FIST

Rock-paper-scissors is a hand game played by two people, at least here in North America. Back in Ireland we called the game “scissors-paper-stone”, and another name encountered around the English-speaking world is “roshambo”. The game is often used as a way to choose between two options or two people.

40 Puccini opera : TOSCA

Unlike so many operas, Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” was a big hit right from day one, when it was first performed in 1900 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Currently, “Tosca” is the eighth-most performed opera in America.

46 Boxer Laila : ALI

Laila Ali is the daughter of the great Muhammad Ali and is a very capable boxer in her own right. Laila’s professional record is an impressive 24 wins, including 21 knockouts. Now retired, she never lost a fight, and nor did she ever draw. One of those victories was against Jackie Frazier-Lyde, daughter of her father’s nemesis Joe Frazier. Laila is not a bad dancer either, coming in third place in the fourth season of “Dancing with the Stars”.

49 Ventura County city : OXNARD

Oxnard is a coastal city in Ventura County in Southern California. Oxnard is famous for its production of strawberries, producing about a third of the states total volume annually. If you’d care to visit Oxnard’s California Strawberry Festival, then you can sample strawberry pizza, strawberry nachos and strawberry champagne. Personally, I’d go for the champagne …

50 German word of gratitude : DANKE

“Thank you” translates to “merci” in French, “gracias” in Spanish, and “danke” in German.

55 Chris of “Captain America” : EVANS

Chris Evans’ Hollywood career really took off when he was cast as the Human Torch in the “Fantastic Four” movies starting in 2005. He portrayed another superhero in 2011, playing the title role in “Captain America: The First Avenger”.

Captain America is a fictional superhero in comics published by Marvel Comics. He is the alter ego of a weak man called Steve Rogers who was given an experimental serum by the US Government during WWII.

59 Wine made from Muscat grapes : ASTI

Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. It is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine. Moscato d’Asti is produced from the same grape (Moscato Bianco). Moscato is a much sweeter wine with a lower alcohol content, and is usually served as a dessert wine.

Muscat grapes are used to make wine, and are also grown for raisins and table grapes. Muscat is used a lot in Chilean table wines, and relatively rarely in Italian or Californian table wines. However, muscat is used extensively in fortified wines in all wine-growing regions of the world. The sweet dessert wine made from muscat in Spain is called muscatel.

62 Camera type, for short : SLR

The initialism “SLR” stands for “single lens reflex”. Usually, cameras with changeable lenses are the SLR type. The main feature of an SLR is that a mirror reflects the image seen through the lens out through the viewfinder, so that the photographer sees exactly what the lens sees. The mirror moves out of the way as the picture is taken, and the image that comes through the lens falls onto unexposed film, or nowadays onto a digital sensor.

65 USO show audience : GIS

The United Service Organization (USO) was founded in 1941 at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt “to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces”. A USO tour is undertaken by a troupe of entertainers, many of whom are big-name celebrities. A USO tour usually includes troop locations in combat zones.

66 Wyo. neighbor : IDA

Idaho borders six states, and one Canadian province:

  • Montana
  • Wyoming
  • Nevada
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • Oregon
  • British Columbia, Canada

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Spunky : SCRAPPY
8 Longest-serving Japanese prime minister : ABE
11 Ave. crossers : STS
14 Steel foundry input : IRON ORE
15 Traction-improving : NONSLIP
17 “Try some!” : TASTE IT!
18 Lamaze class attendee : DAD-TO-BE
19 Expectant time : EVE
20 One of the family : SIS
22 About 24% of the U.S. Congress : WOMEN
23 Stations : DEPOTS
26 Place for choppers : HELIPORT
29 Not quite right : AWRY
30 Oodles : A LOT
31 Broadway song that begins, “The most beautiful sound I ever heard” : MARIA
33 Brief encounter : BRUSH
34 Flag thrower : REF
37 Co-tsar with Peter I : IVAN V
38 Saucepan cover : LID
39 Missile Command game company : ATARI
41 Place to stay : LODGE
42 Newcastle Brown __ : ALE
43 Starts bubbling, maybe : BOILS
44 Fleecy one : EWE
45 Loafs : LAZES
47 Strong suit : ASSET
48 Lost, as a big lead : BLEW
49 Way back when : ONCE
50 Rum drink : DAIQUIRI
54 Competition that includes snowboarding : X GAMES
57 Pianist Rubinstein : ARTUR
58 California’s __ Gabriel Mountains : SAN
60 Egg cells : OVA
61 Like the most busy busybody : NOSIEST
64 Mid-Michigan city : SAGINAW
67 Uganda’s capital : KAMPALA
68 Accessory for an Aquaman costume : TRIDENT
69 Before, in poems : ERE
70 Coffee hour sight : URN
71 “Sounds right to me” : I’D SAY SO

Down

1 Positioned : SITED
2 Really want : CRAVE
3 New Year’s Day event in Pasadena : ROSE PARADE (hiding “peso” raised)
4 Tiny toiler : ANT
5 Name in eerie fiction : POE
6 Proper to a fault : PRISSY
7 Himalayan legend : YETI
8 “Furthermore … ” : AND …
9 Fluffy wrap : BOA
10 Finish impressively : END WITH A BANG (hiding “baht” raised)
11 Sportscast technique : SLO-MO
12 River near Vatican City : TIBER
13 Exhausted : SPENT
16 “Hold it!” : STOP!
21 Lamb Chop puppeteer : SHARI LEWIS (hiding “lira” raised)
24 Short, in a way : OWING
25 It helps you go places : TRAVEL BUREAU (hiding “ruble” raised)
27 Gives the slip : ELUDES
28 Part of LAPD : LOS
31 Pedometer unit : MILE
32 Swear : AVOW
33 Sport coat : BLAZER
34 Get support, in a way … and what the puzzle circles do : RAISE MONEY (hiding “yen” raised)
35 Writer Gardner : ERLE
36 Rock that, oddly, loses to paper : FIST
40 Puccini opera : TOSCA
46 Boxer Laila : ALI
49 Ventura County city : OXNARD
50 German word of gratitude : DANKE
51 Wildly cheering : AROAR
52 Knocker’s words : IT’S ME
53 Zinger : QUIP
55 Chris of “Captain America” : EVANS
56 Handled : SAW TO
59 Wine made from Muscat grapes : ASTI
62 Camera type, for short : SLR
63 You basked for it : TAN
65 USO show audience : GIS
66 Wyo. neighbor : IDA