LA Times Crossword 2 Apr 19, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Craig Stowe
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Uppercase

Themed answers are all in the down-direction. The UPPER part of each answer is a type of CASE:

  • 35D Caps, and a hint to the answers to starred clues : UPPERCASE
  • 3D *Tough period in life : HARD TIMES (giving “hard case”)
  • 9D *Grade school presentation : SHOW AND TELL (giving “showcase”)
  • 24D *Slim-fitting Dior creation : PENCIL SKIRT (giving “pencil case”)
  • 26D *Nuclear treaty subject : TEST BAN (giving “test case”)

Bill’s time: 5m 18s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4 Take a broom to : SWEEP

The sweeping implement known as a “broom” used to called a “besom”. A besom was made from a bundle of twigs tied to a stouter pole. The favored source for the twigs came from thorny shrubs from the genus Genista. The common term for many species of Genista is “broom”. Over time, “broom besoms” came to be known simply as “brooms”.

15 Main artery : AORTA

The aorta originates in the heart and extends down into the abdomen. It is the largest artery in the body.

17 Hawk, in the military sense : WARMONGER

The suffix “-monger” indicates a dealer or trader. For example. A fishmonger sells fish, an ironmonger sells hardware, a warmonger proposes military conflict, and an ideamonger deals in ideas..

20 In the buff : NUDE

Buffe leather was commonly used in the 1500s, leather taken from the original buffalo, a type of ox. This concept of “buffe” as a hide or skin led to the phrase “in the buff”, meaning “in the nude”.

23 Draw sap from, as a maple : TAP

About 75% of the world’s maple syrup comes from the province of Quebec. The US’s biggest producer is the state of Vermont, which produces 5-6% of the world’s supply.

27 Grooming process : TOILETTE

A French person when dressing is said to be attending to his or her “toilette”.

30 Formula __: auto racing class : ONE

In motor racing, the designation “formula” is a set of rules that all participants and cars must abide by. The definition of “Formula One” was agreed back in 1946, with the “one” designating that it is the most advanced of the “formulae”, and the most competitive.

31 Casino convenience : ATM

Convenient for the casino, I’d say …

32 Cacophonous : NOISY

“Cacophony” is such a lovely word, a word used to describe a harsh or jarring sound. The term arises from the Greek “kakos” (bad) and “phone” (voice).

38 Canapé garnish : ROE

A canapé is a finger food, something small enough to eat in just one bite. In French, “canapé” is actually the word for a couch or a sofa. The name was given to the snack as the original canapés were savories served on toasted or stale bread that supposedly resembled a tiny couch.

41 Snap or split veggie : PEA

Sugar peas are also known as snap peas. These peas are eaten before the seeds mature, and the whole pod is consumed.

42 “Casino” co-star Joe : PESCI

Joe Pesci got his big break in movies with a supporting role in “Raging Bull” starring Robert De Niro, earning Pesci an Oscar nomination early in his career. There followed a string of gangster roles played alongside De Niro, namely “Once Upon a Time in America”, “Goodfellas” and “Casino”. But I like Pesci’s comedic acting best of all. He was marvelous in the “Home Alone” films, the “Lethal Weapon” series, and my personal favorite, “My Cousin Vinny”. Pesci gets a mention in the stage musical “Jersey Boys”, which isn’t too surprising as he is one of the show’s producers.

“Casino” is a 1995 Martin Scorsese film. One of the movie’s stars is Robert De Niro, someone who collaborated with Scorsese in eight films in all, “Casino” being the last. The Tangiers Hotel in the movie was actually the Stardust Resort and Casino, which operated in Las Vegas from 1958 until 2006.

48 Studios for artists : ATELIERS

An atelier is an artist’s studio, with “atelier” being the French word for “studio” or “workshop”.

54 Paper size: Abbr. : LTR

Our paper sizes here in North America don’t conform with the standards in the rest of the world. ISO standard sizes used elsewhere were chosen so that the ratio of width to length is usually one to the square root of two. This mathematical relationship means that when you cut a piece of paper in two each half preserves the aspect ratio of the original, which can be useful in making reduced or enlarged copies of documents. Our standard size of “letter” (ltr., 8.5 x 11 inches) was determined in 1980 by the Reagan administration to be the official paper size for the US government. Prior to this, the “legal” size (8.5 x 14 inches) had been the standard, since 1921.

59 Centipede game company : ATARI

Centipede is an arcade game from Atari (it is my favorite!). The game was designed by Ed Logg and Dona Bailey, with Bailey being one of the few female game designers back then (it was released in 1980). Perhaps due to her influence, Centipede was the first arcade game to garner a significant female following.

60 Drambuie and Scotch cocktail : RUSTY NAIL

The cocktail called a Rusty Nail is a mixture of Drambuie and Scotch, and is usually served over ice. Without the ice, the drink is sometimes called a Straight-Up Nail. There is also a Canadian version of a Rusty Nail that uses rye whiskey instead of Scotch that’s called a Donald Sutherland, after the celebrated Canadian actor.

66 Month before febrero : ENERO

In Spanish, the month of “febrero” (February) is preceded by “enero” (January).

68 “Alien” director Ridley __ : SCOTT

Ridley Scott is a British director who came into the public eye with the success of the 1979 film “Alien”. Since then, Scott has directed some great movies, including “Thelma & Louise” (1991), the Oscar-winning “Gladiator” (2000) and “The Martian” (2015). Scott also directed the groundbreaking “1984” advertisement that launched the Apple Macintosh personal computer.

69 Eggs purchase : DOZEN

Our word “dozen” is used for a group of twelve. We imported it into English from Old French. The modern French word for “twelve” is “douze”, and for “dozen” is “douzaine”.

Down

1 Goldie with a Golden Globe : HAWN

I remember watching the ditsy character played by Goldie Hawn on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”. Hawn used to give great performances on the show, convincing everyone that she was the stereotypical dumb blonde. Well, what a great career she was to carve out for herself!

2 Founder of Edom : ESAU

Edom is an ancient Iron Age kingdom located in the south of modern-day Jordan. The area is known for its red-colored sandstone, which gave the kingdom its name. According to the Bible, the Edomites were the descendants of Esau. “Edom” translates from Hebrew as “red”, and was the name given to Esau when he ate the “red pottage”.

4 Brazilian map word : SAO

In Portuguese, the word “são” can mean “saint”, as in São Paulo (Saint Paul) and São José (Saint Joseph). If the saint’s name starts with a letter H or with a vowel, then the word “santo” is used instead, as in Santo Agostinho (Saint Augustine) and Santo Antônio (Saint Anthony).

5 Hit the jackpot : WON

The term “jackpot” dates back to the 1800s and is from the game of poker. In some variants there are progressive antes. This means that players have to ante up, add to the “pot”, when no player has a pair of “jacks” or better. They build a “jackpot”.

6 Bit of energy : ERG

An erg is a unit of mechanical work or energy. It is a small unit, with one joule comprising 10 million ergs. it has been suggested that an erg is about the amount of energy required for a mosquito to take off. The term comes from “ergon”, the Greek word for work.

7 Strasbourg summer : ETE

Strasbourg is a beautiful city in the Grand Est region of France that I had the privilege to visit some years ago. Strasbourg is home to many international organizations, including the European Court of Human Rights and the European Parliament.

12 Web surfing tool : MODEM

A modem is a device that is used to facilitate the transmission of a digital signal over an analog line. At one end of the line a modem is used to “modulate” an analog carrier signal to encode the the digital information, and at the other end a modem is used to “demodulate” the analog carrier signal and so reproduce the original digital information. This modulation-demodulation gives the device its name: a MOdulator-DEModulator, or “modem”.

22 War on Poverty org. : OEO

The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) was created during the Lyndon Johnson administration. The agency was responsible for administering the War on Poverty programs that were part of the President Johnson’s Great Society agenda. The OEO was shut down by President Nixon, although some of the office’s programs were transferred to other agencies. A few of the OEO’s programs are still around today, e.g. Head Start.

25 Singer Turner’s memoir : I, TINA

“I, Tina” is a 1986 autobiography by Tina Turner. The book was so successful it was adapted into a movie called “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” The film version was released in 1993 and starring Angela Bassett as Tina Turner.

27 Camper’s cover : TARP

Originally, tarpaulins were made from canvas covered in tar that rendered the material waterproof. The word “tarpaulin” comes from “tar” and “palling”, with “pall” meaning “heavy cloth covering”.

28 Plains native : OTOE

The Otoe (also “Oto”) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestward, ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.

33 Irish poet who wrote “Easter, 1916” : YEATS

Irish poet and dramatist William Butler Yeats won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923 for “inspired poetry” that gave “expression to a whole nation”. Yeats was Ireland’s first Nobel laureate.

“Easter, 1916” is a poem written in 1916 by Irish poet William Butler Yeats. The work explores Yeats feelings following the failed Easter Rising that attempted to overthrow British rule in Ireland. Yeats was a nationalist and supported the cause of Irish independence, but he also rejected the use of violence. These conflicting emotions are evident throughout the poem. The closing lines of “Easter, 1916” are:

I write it out in a verse–
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

40 Fr. holy woman : STE

“Sainte” (ste.) is French for “saint”, when referring to a “femme” (woman).

43 Moulin Rouge, notably : CABARET

The Moulin Rouge cabaret is located right in the middle of one of the red light districts of Paris, the district of Pigalle. You can’t miss the Moulin Rouge as it has a huge red windmill on its roof (“moulin rouge” is French for “red windmill”). The nightclub opened its doors in 1889 and soon after, the working girls of the cabaret adopted a “respectable” party dance and used it to entice their clients. That was the birth of the can-can. Nowadays, the Moulin Rouge is home to a lavish, Las Vegas-style show that costs millions of euros to stage. It features showgirls, dancers and acrobats, a whole host of entertainers in fact. And I am sure the can-can features as well …

49 Cross-country southern hwy. : I-TEN

I-10 is the most southerly of the interstate routes that cross from the Atlantic right to the Pacific. I-10 stretches from Santa Monica, California to Jacksonville, Florida. Various stretches of the route have been given different names, for example, the Rosa Parks Freeway, the Santa Monica Freeway, the San Bernardino Freeway and the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway.

51 Shenanigan : ANTIC

I suppose one might be forgiven for thinking that “shenanigan” is an Irish term, as it certainly sounds Irish. Usually written in the plural, shenanigans are acts of mischief, pranks. Apparently the word is of uncertain derivation, but was coined in San Francisco and Sacramento, California in the mid-1800s.

52 Philippines peak: Abbr. : MT APO

Mount Apo is on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. “Apo” means “master” or “grandfather”, which is an appropriate name for the highest mountain in the country. Mount Apo has been a national park since 1936.

58 Bread spread : OLEO

Emperor Louis Napoleon III of France announced a competition to develop a substitute for butter, a substitute that would be more accessible to the lower classes and more practical for the armed forces. A French chemist called Hippolyte Mege-Mouries came up with something he called oleomargarine in 1869, which was eventually manufactured under the trade name “margarine”. The name “oleomargarine” also gives us our generic term “oleo”.

61 2018 National Toy Hall of Fame inductee : UNO

UNO is a card game that was developed in the early seventies and that has been sold by Mattel since 1992. UNO falls into the “shedding” family of card games, in that the goal is to get rid of all your cards while preventing opponents from doing the same.

The National Toy Hall of Fame was established in Salem, Oregon in 1998, but was relocated to Rochester, New York in 2002. There were seventeen original inductees, including:

  • Barbie
  • Etch A Sketch
  • Frisbee
  • Hula Hoop
  • Marbles
  • Monopoly

63 Antonio’s three : TRE

“One, two, three” in Italian is “uno, due, tre”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “I’m clever” chuckle : HEH
4 Take a broom to : SWEEP
9 Rapscallion : SCAMP
14 Pretty __ picture : AS A
15 Main artery : AORTA
16 __ roll: student’s achievement : HONOR
17 Hawk, in the military sense : WARMONGER
19 Get the best of : OUTDO
20 In the buff : NUDE
21 Local residents, to local college students : TOWNIES
23 Draw sap from, as a maple : TAP
25 “I haven’t the foggiest” : IT BEATS ME
27 Grooming process : TOILETTE
30 Formula __: auto racing class : ONE
31 Casino convenience : ATM
32 Cacophonous : NOISY
34 Prescription items : DRUGS
38 Canapé garnish : ROE
39 Competition : CONTEST
41 Snap or split veggie : PEA
42 “Casino” co-star Joe : PESCI
44 Ease up : ABATE
45 Toy with, cat-style : PAW
46 Microbrewery product : ALE
48 Studios for artists : ATELIERS
50 Materials for babies’ rugs : LAMBSKINS
54 Paper size: Abbr. : LTR
55 Consumed amounts : INTAKES
56 Reverb in a chamber : ECHO
59 Centipede game company : ATARI
60 Drambuie and Scotch cocktail : RUSTY NAIL
65 Closer to being harvested : RIPER
66 Month before febrero : ENERO
67 Get it : SEE
68 “Alien” director Ridley __ : SCOTT
69 Eggs purchase : DOZEN
70 Juan’s “that” : ESO

Down

1 Goldie with a Golden Globe : HAWN
2 Founder of Edom : ESAU
3 *Tough period in life : HARD TIMES (giving “hard case”)
4 Brazilian map word : SAO
5 Hit the jackpot : WON
6 Bit of energy : ERG
7 Strasbourg summer : ETE
8 Second section : PART B
9 *Grade school presentation : SHOW AND TELL (giving “showcase”)
10 Come back (with) : COUNTER
11 Naysayers : ANTIS
12 Web surfing tool : MODEM
13 Narrative writing : PROSE
18 Event with courses : MEAL
22 War on Poverty org. : OEO
24 *Slim-fitting Dior creation : PENCIL SKIRT (giving “pencil case”)
25 Singer Turner’s memoir : I, TINA
26 *Nuclear treaty subject : TEST BAN (giving “test case”)
27 Camper’s cover : TARP
28 Plains native : OTOE
29 Excessively : TOO
33 Irish poet who wrote “Easter, 1916” : YEATS
35 Caps, and a hint to the answers to starred clues : UPPERCASE
36 Drive or reverse : GEAR
37 Toothed tools : SAWS
40 Fr. holy woman : STE
43 Moulin Rouge, notably : CABARET
47 Squeeze (out) : EKE
49 Cross-country southern hwy. : I-TEN
50 Some are compulsive : LIARS
51 Shenanigan : ANTIC
52 Philippines peak: Abbr. : MT APO
53 Looks flushed : IS RED
57 Hurries, old-style : HIES
58 Bread spread : OLEO
61 2018 National Toy Hall of Fame inductee : UNO
62 “__ who?” : SEZ
63 Antonio’s three : TRE
64 That, old-style : YON