LA Times Crossword 10 Apr 21, Saturday

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Constructed by: Stella Zawistowski
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: None

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 9m 00s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Calendario square : DIA

In Spanish, we can look at a particular “día” (day) on the “calendario” (calendar).

4 SAT prep topic : VOCAB

Today, the standardized test for admission to colleges is known as the SAT Reasoning Test, but it used to be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, which led to the abbreviation “SAT”.

9 George Harrison played one in “Norwegian Wood” : SITAR

“Norwegian Wood” is a Beatles song from 1965. It is a somewhat groundbreaking number in that George Harrison is playing a sitar, marking the first time the sitar was used by a rock band on a record. And, if you like to waltz around the dance floor, this is one of the few Beatles records that is in triple time.

15 Warren Buffett’s birth city : OMAHA

Warren Buffett is often referred to with nicknames “Wizard of Omaha” and “Oracle of Omaha”. Despite being one of the wealthiest men in the world, Buffet lives a relatively frugal and modest life. Buffett also has a very Jeffersonian attitude towards the role his wealth plays within his family. He has set up his estate so that his children will inherit enough money to be independent, but the vast majority of his assets are going to charity, both before and after he dies. My hero …

18 Big wheels? : LIMOS

The word “limousine” derives from the name of 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 …

19 Breads sometimes served with meze : PITAS

Meze is a platter of small dishes served as appetizers in several Mediterranean locales.

20 Middle of dinner? : ENS

There are two letters N (ens) in the middle of the word “dinner”.

22 Weapon for Buffy : 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 defines where the body should be pierced. Most often, the stake was driven through the heart, but Russians and northern Germans went for the mouth, and northeastern Serbs for the stomach.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is a TV series that originally aired from 1997 to 2003. “Buffy …” was incredibly successful, especially given that it wasn’t aired on one of the big four networks. The show was created by Joss Whedon and stars Sarah Michelle Gellar in the title role.

23 Put down : DISS

“Dis” (also “diss”) is a slang term meaning “insult” that originated in the eighties. It is a shortened form of “disrespect” or “dismiss”.

27 Some anti-mob agents : T-MEN

A T-man is a law-enforcement agent of the US Treasury (“T” stands for “Treasury”).

33 Fluffy herder : COLLIE

The collie isn’t actually a breed of dog, but rather the name given to a group of herding dogs that originated in Scotland and Northern England. An obvious (and wonderful) example would be the Border collie. Many dogs classed as collies don’t have the word “collie” in the name of the breed, for example the Old English sheepdog and the Shetland sheepdog.

34 Kind of bird Blu is in the 2011 movie “Rio” : MACAW

Macaws are beautifully colored birds native to Central and South America that are actually a type of parrot. Most species of macaws are now endangered, with several having become extinct in recent decades. The main threats are deforestation and illegal trapping and trafficking of exotic birds.

“Rio” is a 2011 animated movie about a male blue macaw (Blu) that is brought to mate with a female blue macaw (Jewel) in Rio de Janeiro, hence the movie’s title. Fans can also see “Rio 2”, which was released in 2014.

35 1981 hit known for its drum break : IN THE AIR TONIGHT

“In the Air Tonight” is a 1981 hit for drummer and singer Phil Collins. His debut single, it is often referred to as his signature song. There’s an urban legend that “In the Air Tonight” is about a drowning. The story is that Collins was too far away to help the drowning victim, but he saw someone nearby who could have saved the person, but failed to do so. Collins has denounced the story, but it persists. Eminem even mentions the legend in his 2000 song “Stan”.

40 10th-century Holy Roman emperor : OTTO I

Otto I the Great ruled the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) in the 10th century, from 962 until his death in 973.

41 “The Bathers” artist : RENOIR

“The Bathers” is a 1918/1919 oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir that is housed in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. One of the models Renoir used for the work was actress Catherine Hessling. A few years after posing, Hessling married Pierre-Auguste’s son Jean Renoir, who was to become one of France’s most famous film directors.

45 Carlisle of the Go-Go’s : BELINDA

The Go-Go’s were an all-female rock band that was formed in Los Angeles back in 1978. The band’s biggest hit is “We Got the Beat”, which was released in 1982. The best-known member of the Go-Go’s is probably Belinda Carlisle.

47 Baja resort : CABO

Cabo San Lucas is a major tourist destination at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. “Cabo” is sometimes referred to as the “Fort Lauderdale of Mexico”.

49 Many a Snapchat user : TEEN

Snapchat is a messaging system that allows users to send photos and video clips to a limited list of recipients. The photos and clips, called “snaps”, can be viewed for only a few seconds before they are deleted from the recipient’s device, and from the Snapchat servers.

52 Current moment : NONCE

The quaint phrase “for the nonce” means “for the present, for now”.

57 Like Romantic music : TONAL

The Romantic era was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated towards the end of the 18th century, and lasted until the mid-19th century. In terms of music, the era is more usually defined as the period between 1800 and 1850. The composers Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven tend to be “pigeon-holed” into the preceding Classical era, with the likes of Chopin, Schumann, Debussy and Liszt labeled as Romantic composers.

58 Watson’s co. : IBM

Watson is a computer system developed by IBM. Watson is designed to answer questions that are posed in natural language, so that it should be able to interpret questions just as you and I would, no matter how the question is phrased. The program is named after the founder of IBM, Thomas J. Watson. Today’s Watson competed in a few memorable episodes of “Jeopardy!” in 2011 taking out two of the best players of the quiz show. That made for fun television …

59 No-holds-barred happening : MELEE

Our term “melee” comes from the French “mêlée”, and in both languages the word means “confused fight”.

60 Nocturnal carnivore : HYENA

Hyenas have the reputation of being cowardly scavengers. That said, the spotted hyena that lives in Sub-Saharan Africa actually kills about 95% of its food and a pack of spotted hyenas are capable of driving off leopards or lionesses before they can consume their kill.

61 Aromatic neckwear : LEI

“Lei” is a Hawaiian word meaning “garland, wreath”, although in more general terms a lei is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.

62 Deltoid-working exercise : PRESS

The deltoid “muscle” is actually a group of muscles, the ones that cover the shoulder and create the roundness under the skin. The deltoids (delts) are triangular in shape resembling the Greek letter delta, hence the name.

64 “Silent Spring” subj. : DDT

DDT is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (don’t forget now!). DDT was used with great success to control disease-carrying insects during WWII, and when made available for use after the war it became by far the most popular pesticide. And then Rachel Carson published her famous book “Silent Spring”, suggesting there was a link between DDT and diminishing populations of certain wildlife. It was the public outcry sparked by the book, and reports of links between DDT and cancer, that led to the ban on the use of the chemical in 1972. That ban is touted as the main reason that the bald eagle was rescued from near extinction.

Down

1 Lorenzo who sponsored Michelangelo : DE’ MEDICI

Lorenzo de’ Medici in effect ruled the Florentine Republic at the height of the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, included in his court were some of the greatest artists of all time, including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

2 How Gregorian chants are sung : IN UNISON

The word “Gregorian” is an adjectival form of the name “Gregory”. I suppose the most common uses of the term are in Gregorian chant and Gregorian calendar. Gregorian chant is named for Pope Gregory I, and the Gregorian calendar is named for Pope Gregory XIII.

6 Muscly Chevy : CAMARO

The Chevrolet Camaro is a car produced by General Motors from 1966 to 2002, and reintroduced in 2009. The Camaro shared much of its design with the Pontiac Firebird, and was introduced as a potential competitor to the Ford Mustang.

7 This minute, in Tijuana : AHORA

Ahora is the Spanish for “now”, although that “now” really means “pretty soon, in the near future”. The phrase “ahora mismo” is used to mean “right now”.

11 Teahouse floor covering : TATAMI

A tatami is a traditional mat used on floors in Japan. The term “tatami” comes from the Japanese word “tatamu” meaning “to fold”, reflecting the fact that the mat is designed to be folded up for storage.

24 Many profile portraits : SILHOUETTES

A silhouette is an outline, usually of a person’s profile, which has been filled in with a solid color. One theory is that the term comes from the name of the French Minister of Finance in 1759, Étienne de Silhouette. Said minister made major cutbacks in spending to finance the Seven Years War, cutbacks that were not popular with the citizenry. His name came to be used for a cheap way of making someone’s likeness, a “silhouette”.

26 Response to huge applause, maybe : ENCORE

“Encore” is French for “again, one more time”, and is a shout that an audience member will make here in North America to request perhaps another song. But, the term is not used this way in France. Rather, the audience will shout “Bis!”, which is the Italian for “twice!”

30 It’s about 950 miles north of LAX : SEA-TAC

Sea-Tac Airport (SEA) is more fully known as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Sea-Tac is the main hub for Alaska Airlines.

32 Comic-Con event : PANEL

San Diego’s Comic-Con was founded in 1970 as the Golden State Comic Book Convention. Held over four days each summer, apparently Comic-Con is the largest show in North America.

34 Sports doc’s pic : MRI

An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine uses powerful magnetic fields to generate images that can be used by medical professionals to diagnose injury and disease.

36 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta that satirizes Parliament : IOLANTHE

“Iolanthe” is a Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera that was first staged at the Savoy Theatre in London in 1882. The opera features a group of fairies who come into conflict with Britain’s House of Lords. “Iolanthe” satirizes many aspects of the country’s government of the day.

43 Sommelier, at times : POURER

“Sommelier” is the French word for “wine steward”. If that steward is a female, then the term used in French is “sommelière”.

45 Brit’s car hood : BONNET

The hinged cover over the engine of a car is referred to in the US as a “hood”, and in Britain and Ireland as a “bonnet”. On the other side of the Atlantic, a hood is a fabric cover that goes over a car’s passenger compartment. That same cover is called a “top” here in the US.

53 Sugar source : CANE

When sugar cane is processed to extract sugar, it is crushed and mashed to produce a juice. The juice is boiled to make a sugary concentrate called cane syrup, from which sugar crystals are extracted. A second boiling of the leftover syrup produces second molasses, from which more sugar crystals can be extracted. A third boiling results in what is called blackstrap molasses.

54 Panache : ELAN

Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours, i.e “style, flair”.

Someone exhibiting panache is showing dash and verve, and perhaps has a swagger. “Panache” is a French word used for a plume of feathers, especially one in a hat.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Calendario square : DIA
4 SAT prep topic : VOCAB
9 George Harrison played one in “Norwegian Wood” : SITAR
14 Point B, usually : END
15 Warren Buffett’s birth city : OMAHA
16 Stunned : IN AWE
17 Makeup of some facial masks : MUD
18 Big wheels? : LIMOS
19 Breads sometimes served with meze : PITAS
20 Middle of dinner? : ENS
21 Impolite look : STARE
22 Weapon for Buffy : STAKE
23 Put down : DISS
25 Competitive event : RACE
27 Some anti-mob agents : T-MEN
28 Argument-ending words : … I SAID SO!
31 Relevant : ON POINT
33 Fluffy herder : COLLIE
34 Kind of bird Blu is in the 2011 movie “Rio” : MACAW
35 1981 hit known for its drum break : IN THE AIR TONIGHT
40 10th-century Holy Roman emperor : OTTO I
41 “The Bathers” artist : RENOIR
42 Mate-related : SPOUSAL
45 Carlisle of the Go-Go’s : BELINDA
46 Waffle __ : CONE
47 Baja resort : CABO
49 Many a Snapchat user : TEEN
50 Autumn colors : RUSTS
52 Current moment : NONCE
55 Is in the past? : WAS
56 Ready to blow : IRATE
57 Like Romantic music : TONAL
58 Watson’s co. : IBM
59 No-holds-barred happening : MELEE
60 Nocturnal carnivore : HYENA
61 Aromatic neckwear : LEI
62 Deltoid-working exercise : PRESS
63 Gone from the table : EATEN
64 “Silent Spring” subj. : DDT

Down

1 Lorenzo who sponsored Michelangelo : DE’ MEDICI
2 How Gregorian chants are sung : IN UNISON
3 Seasons, in a way : ADDS SALT
4 Bks. in a set : VOLS
5 Drop : OMIT
6 Muscly Chevy : CAMARO
7 This minute, in Tijuana : AHORA
8 Manicure layer : BASE COAT
9 Tentative tastes : SIPS
10 Bent on victory : IN IT TO WIN IT
11 Teahouse floor covering : TATAMI
12 Come to : AWAKEN
13 Begrudge : RESENT
24 Many profile portraits : SILHOUETTES
26 Response to huge applause, maybe : ENCORE
29 Plans for losers? : DIETS
30 It’s about 950 miles north of LAX : SEA-TAC
32 Comic-Con event : PANEL
34 Sports doc’s pic : MRI
36 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta that satirizes Parliament : IOLANTHE
37 Out of control : GONE WILD
38 Pull-out furniture item : HIDE-A-BED
39 Convey : TRANSMIT
42 Act stingily : SCRIMP
43 Sommelier, at times : POURER
44 More affordable, perhaps : ON SALE
45 Brit’s car hood : BONNET
48 “Go, me!” : BOO-YA!
51 Spots : SEES
53 Sugar source : CANE
54 Panache : ELAN