LA Times Crossword 7 Mar 19, Thursday

I Just heard from the puzzle’s editor Rich Norris. He acknowledges the “terribble” error in today’s crossword that slipped past everyone on the editing/checking team. Rich asked me to convey his apologies to the blog’s readers. Even though it’s late in the day, he issued an amended puzzle, the answer grid for which is given directly below.

Bill

Revised Puzzle

Original Puzzle

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Constructed by: Gary Larson
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Breaking Bad

Today’s grid includes four hidden synonyms of BAD that span more than one answer, i.e. are BROKEN up by black squares:

  • 61A. #3 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (as of 2016) … and a hint to what the black squares are doing in four rows of this puzzle : BREAKING BAD
  • 17A. Teacher on call : SUB
  • 18A. John D. Rockefeller’s company : STANDARD OIL (hiding “substandard”)
  • 23A. Record : ENTER
  • 24A. Umbrella part : RIB
  • 26A. Grace word : BLESS (hiding “terrible”)
  • 38A. Woodland goat-man : FAUN
  • 41A. Arraignment answers : PLEAS
  • 42A. Kitchen pests : ANTS (hiding “unpleasant”)
  • 52A. Calf-length skirts : MIDIS
  • 53A. 61-Across kingpin __ Fring : GUS
  • 56A. Subtle shade : TINGE (hiding “disgusting”)

Bill’s time: 6m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4. Tote bag material : CANVAS

Canvas is a heavy cloth that is traditionally woven from hemp, cotton or flax. The term “canvas” comes into English via Old French, and ultimately derives from the Greek “kannabis” meaning “hemp”. Yep … “canvas” and “cannabis” are etymological cousins.

14. Chemical suffix : -IDE

In chemistry, when a metal combines with a nonmetal, the nonmetal is often given the suffix “-ide”. One example would be iron sulfide, made from iron (a metal) and sulfur (a nonmetal).

15. Even though : ALBEIT

“Albeit”is a conjunction meaning “although, even if”. The term dates back to the 1300s, when it was a contraction of the phrase “al be it” meaning “although it be that”.

16. Wrinkly hybrid fruit : UGLI

An ugli fruit is a hybrid of an orange and a tangerine that was first discovered growing wild in Jamaica where most ugli fruit comes from today. “UGLI” is a trademark name that is a variant of “ugly”, a nod to the fruits unsightly wrinkled rind.

18. John D. Rockefeller’s company : STANDARD OIL

John D. Rockefeller was an American industrialist whose biggest success came with the Standard Oil Company that he founded and ran for over 25 years. Rockefeller became the richest man in the world, and America’s first billionaire.

20. Cutlery collection : KNIFE SET

We mainly use the word “cutlery” these days to describe the implements used for eating food, i.e. knives, forks and spoons. In earlier times, the term “cutlery” referred more specifically to “cutting” tools.

22. Moo __ gai pan : GOO

Moo goo gai pan is the American version of a traditional Cantonese dish. In Cantonese, “moo goo” means “button mushroom”, “gai” is “chicken” and “pan” is “slices”.

24. Umbrella part : RIB

Our term “umbrella” ultimately derives from the Latin “umbra” meaning “shade, shadow”.

26. Grace word : BLESS

A grace is a short prayer recited before or after a meal.

30. Bilingual “Sesame Street” Muppet : ROSITA

On the children’s television show Sesame Street, Rosita is a character who is fluent in both English and Spanish. Rosita is operated by Puppeteer Carmen Osbahr. Osbahr originally worked on “Plaza Sésamo”, which is the version of Sesame Street that is broadcast in Mexico.

32. Bath sponges : LOOFAHS

The loofah (also “loofa”, “lufah” and “luffa”, all Arabic words) is a vine, with fruit that’s very popular in Asia and Africa. If the fruit is allowed to mature, it can be processed to remove everything but the more rigid xylem structure (remember your high school botany class?) leaving a soft, sponge-like mass that is used as a skin polisher.

34. Most babbling : GASSIEST

A person who is babbling might be described as gassy, i.e. emptily verbose.

37. Bunk : ROT

The word “bunk” is short for “bunkum”, the phonetic spelling of “Buncombe”, which is a county in North Carolina. Supposedly, a state representative made a dull and irrelevant speech that was directed to his home county of Buncombe, bringing the term “bunkum” into the language with the meaning of “nonsense”. The derivative word “debunk” first appeared in a novel by William Woodward in 1923, when he used it to describe “taking the bunk out of things”.

38. Woodland goat-man : FAUN

Fauns are regarded as the Roman mythological equivalent of the Greek satyrs, but fauns were half-man and half-goat and much more “carefree” in personality than their Hellenic cousins. In the modern age we are quite familiar with Mr. Tumnus, the faun-like character encountered by the children entering the world of Narnia in C. S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”.

41. Arraignment answers : PLEAS

In the law, to arraign someone is to call that person before a court to answer charges.

43. Racing Unsers : ALS

The Unser family seems to have auto racing in their blood. Al Unser, Sr. won the Indy 500 on four occasions. Al’s brother Jerry was the first of the Unsers to compete at Indianapolis. Al’s other brother Bobby, won the Indy three times. Al’s son, Al Junior, won the Indy twice. Al Junior’s son is also a racing driver who competes at the Indy Speedway.

46. German mathematician Bernhard : RIEMANN

Bernhard Riemann was a German mathematician who was active in the mid-1800s. Riemann contributed to several areas of mathematics, and is said to have laid the foundations for the mathematics underlying Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

53. 61-Across kingpin __ Fring : GUS
(61A. #3 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (as of 2016) … : BREAKING BAD)

On the hit AMC television show “Breaking Bad”, the character Gus Fring is a Machiavellian drug lord who fronts his illegal activities with a successful chain of fast food restaurants called Los Pollos Hermanos. Fring is played by actor Giancarlo Esposito.

59. Speed trap equipment : RADAR GUN

Radar speed guns were first used to monitor traffic by Connecticut State Police in the town of Glastonbury, way back in 1947!

61. #3 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (as of 2016) … and a hint to what the black squares are doing in four rows of this puzzle : BREAKING BAD

The AMC drama “Breaking Bad” is a well-written show about a high school teacher stricken by lung cancer who turns to a life of crime to make money. It turns out that the teacher has a talent for making high-quality crystal meth. The show was created by Vince Gilligan who had spent many years as producer and writer of “The X-Files”. There is a “Breaking Bad” spin-off show running on AMC called “Better Call Saul” that focuses on the life of lawyer Saul Goodman. To be honest, I enjoyed “Better Call Saul” even more than the original show …

66. “Star Trek” race : BORG

The cyborgs known as the Borg first showed up in the “Star Trek” universe as the villains in the movie “Star Trek: First Contact”, and then spread to other “Star Trek” productions. “Cyborg” is an abbreviation for “cybernetic organism”, a being that is made up of both organic and synthetic parts.

67. Mariner’s patron : ST ELMO

Saint Elmo is the patron saint of sailors. More formally referred to as Erasmus of Formia, St. Elmo is perhaps venerated by sailors as tradition tells us that he continued preaching despite the ground beside him being struck by a thunderbolt. Sailors started to pray to him when in danger of storms and lightning. He lends his name to the electrostatic weather phenomenon (often seen at sea) known as St. Elmo’s fire. The “fire” is actually a plasma discharge caused by air ionizing at the end of a pointed object (like the mast of a ship), something often observed during electrical storms.

68. __ Lingus : AER

Aer Lingus is my favorite airline! Well, the service isn’t that great, but when I get on board an Aer Lingus plane I feel like I am back in Ireland. Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland, with “Aer Lingus” being a phonetic spelling of the Irish “aer-loingeas” meaning “air fleet”. These days Aer Lingus can only lay claim to the title of Ireland’s oldest airline as it is no longer the biggest. That honor goes to the controversial budget airline called Ryanair.

69. Pineapple center : CORE

The original use of the word “pineapple” was to describe what we now call a pine cone, the reproductive organ of a conifer tree. The term “pineapple” was then used by Europeans when they first encountered the tropical fruit, because it looked like a large pine cone.

71. Genetic material : RNA

The two most common nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which play crucial roles in genetics. The DNA contains the genetic instructions used to keep living organisms functioning, and RNA is used to transcribe that information from the DNA to protein “generators” called ribosomes.

Down

3. Ledger entries : DEBITS

A ledger is an account book. The term ”ledger” comes from the Middle English “leggen” meaning “to lay”. The original ledger was a large book “laid” in one particular place permanently, an example being a breviary in a church.

4. Italian city whose Royal Palace has been used as a set in two “Star Wars” films : CASERTA

Caserta is an Italian city located about 25 miles north of Naples. It is most famous as home to the magnificent Royal Palace of Caserta, which is the largest royal residence in the world. The palace was built in the 18th century as the main residence within the Kingdom of Naples. These days, it is a popular filming location and doubled for the Vatican in “Mission Impossible III” and “Angels and Demons”. It also served as the Naboo Royal Palace in the “Star Wars” series of movies.

6. Net or Knick : NBAER

The NBA’s Brooklyn Nets were the New Jersey Nets until 2012, and were based in Newark. Prior to 1977, the team was known as the New York Nets and played in various locations on Long Island. Ten years earlier, the Nets were called the New Jersey Americans and were headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey.

The New York Knickerbockers team is one of only two founding members of the original National Basketball Association that still plays in its original home city. The other is the Boston Celtics.

7. Starbucks order : VENTI

Starbucks introduced us to coffee drinks in a whole range of volumes:

  • Demi … 3 fl oz
  • Short … 8 fl oz
  • Tall … 12 fl oz
  • Grande … 16 fl oz (Italian for “large”)
  • Venti … 20 fl oz (Italian for “twenty”)
  • Trenta … 30 fl oz (Italian for “thirty”)

9. Antlered animal : STAG

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 …

10. Ballet great Nureyev : RUDOLF

Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev’s most famous partnership was with Dame Margot Fonteyn. Nureyev and Fonteyn had their last professional performance together when Nureyev was 50-years-old, and Fonteyn an impressive 69 years. One of Nureyev’s claims to fame is that he was the first Soviet artist to defect to the West during the Cold War, doing so in Paris in 1961 while touring with the Mariinsky Ballet.

11. Psychoanalysis subject : EGO

Sigmund Freud created a structural model of the human psyche, breaking it into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is that part of the psyche containing the basic instinctual drives. The ego seeks to please the id by causing realistic behavior that benefits the individual. The superego almost has a parental role, contradicting the id by introducing critical thinking and morals to behavioral choices.

12. Actor Mahershala __ : ALI

Mahershala Ali is an actor and sometime rapper. Among the more memorable roles Ali has had are lobbyist Remy Danton in TV’s “House of Cards”, and Colonel Boggs in “The Hunger Games” series of movies. He also won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Juan in the 2016 drama “Moonlight”.

13. Rapper __ Jon : LIL

Lil Jon is a rapper from Atlanta whose real name is Jonathan Mortimer Smith. Smith adopted his stage name early in his career, when collaborating with Big Sam and Lil’ Bo.

19. High-tech worker : ROBOT

Karel Čapek was a Czech writer noted for his works of science fiction. Čapek’s 1920 play “R.U.R.” is remembered in part for introducing the world to the word “robot”. The words “automaton” and “android” were already in use, but Capek gave us “robot” from the original Czech “robota” meaning “forced labor”. The acronym “R.U.R.”, in the context of the play, stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots”.

29. Former Air France jets : SSTS

The most famous supersonic transport (SST) is the retired Concorde. Concorde was developed and produced under an Anglo-French treaty by France’s Aérospatiale and the UK’s British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Concordes were mainly operated by Air France and British Airways, with both companies buying the planes with substantial subsidies from the French and British governments. The final Concorde flight was a British Airways plane that landed in the UK on 26 November 2003.

31. Colorado snowboarding mecca : ASPEN

Aspen, Colorado used to be known as Ute City, with the name change taking place in 1880. Like many communities in the area, Aspen was a mining town, and in 1891 and 1892 it was at the center of the highest production of silver in the US. Nowadays, it’s all about skiing and movie stars.

33. “Cotton Comes to Harlem” director Davis : OSSIE

Ossie Davis was a very successful actor, but also a director, poet, playwright and social activist. One of Davis’s better known performances was in the 1993 movie “Grumpy Old Men”, in which he played the owner of the bait shop by the lake.

“Cotton Comes to Harlem” is a 1970 action movie that is based on a 1965 novel of the same name by Chester Himes. The film saw the debut performance of Cleavon Little, who went on to star in the Mel Brooks comedy “Blazing Saddles”. Stand-up comic Redd Foxx also made his debut movie performance in “Cotton comes to Harlem”, after which he won the title role in the TV show “Sanford and Son”.

35. Urban Dictionary content : SLANG

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.

36. Iraq War weapon: Abbr. : IED

Improvised explosive device (IED)

What we now know as the Iraq War started on 20 March 2003 with an invasion by a coalition of forces led by the US. The end of the Iraq War has been set at 15 December 2011, on which date there was a flag-lowering ceremony in Baghdad. The last US troops left Iraq three days later.

39. Et __: and others : ALII

“Et alii” (et al.) is the equivalent of “et cetera” (etc.), with “et cetera” being used in place of a list of objects, and “et alii” used for a list of names. In fact, “et al.” can stand for “et alii” (a group of males, or males and females), “et aliae” (a group of women) and “et alia” (a group of neuter nouns, or a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).

42. Group at Asgard : AESIR

The gods and goddesses of Norse mythology generally belong to either the Aesir tribe or the Vanir tribe. Most of the Norse gods with which we are familiar belong to Aesir, including Odin, Thor, Frigg and Tyr. Examples of the Vanir gods are Freya and Njord. The Aesir live in Asgard, and the Vanir in Vanaheim. The Aesir and Vanir eventually united into one pantheon after the Aesir-Vanir War.

44. Cornea-reshaping surgery : LASIK

LASIK surgery uses a laser to reshape the cornea of the eye to improve vision. The LASIK acronym stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis”.

The cornea is the transparent part of the eye in the front, covering the iris and the pupil. Even though the cornea is not part of the lens it acts as a lens, and in fact does most of the work focusing light coming in through the eye. The cornea is in effect a fixed-focus lens passing on light to the variable-focus lens that is inside the eye.

45. One facing charges? : MATADOR

The term “torero” is used to describe all bullfighters. The term “matador” is reserved for the bullfighter whose job is to make the final kill. Aptly enough, “matador” is Spanish for “killer”.

47. Desert illusion : MIRAGE

A mirage occurs when light rays are bent by passing say from cold air to warmer air. The most often cited mirage is a “lake” seen in a desert, which is actually the blue of the sky and not water at all. The word “mirage” comes to us via French from the Latin “mirare” meaning “to look at in wonder”. “Mirage” has the same root as our words “admire” and “mirror”.

50. Vietnamese-American poker star Scotty : NGUYEN

Scotty Nguyen is a flamboyant professional poker player who has won five World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets. However, Nicole and will never be seen wearing his 1998 WSOP bracelet. That’s because after his victory that year, the very next day one of his brothers was killed back in Vietnam in an auto accident.

51. Biological subdivisions : GENERA

Taxonomy is the classification of organisms or maybe even just items into groups or categories. We are most familiar with the classification of organisms in the major taxonomic ranks of:

  • Life
  • Domain
  • Kingdom
  • Phylum
  • Class
  • Order
  • Family
  • Genus (plural “genera”)
  • Species

55. Black : SABLE

Sables are small mammals, about two feet long, that are found right across northern Europe and northern Asia. The sable’s black pelt is highly prized in the fur trade. Sable is unique among furs in that it feels smooth no matter which direction it is stroked.

58. Japanese soup : MISO

Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes miso soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

60. Lady of Spain : DAMA

In Spanish, a “dama” (lady) might be referred to as “Señora” (Mrs.).

61. Eng. channel : BBC

The marvelous British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is mainly funded by the UK government through a television licence fee that is levied annually on all households watching TV transmissions. Currently, the fee is 145 UK pounds, about 230 US dollars.

62. Pal of Piglet : ROO

Like most of the characters in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh”, the kangaroo named “Roo” was inspired by a stuffed toy belonging to Milne’s son Christopher Robin.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Cleared (of) : RID
4. Tote bag material : CANVAS
10. Down-to-earth : REAL
14. Chemical suffix : -IDE
15. Even though : ALBEIT
16. Wrinkly hybrid fruit : UGLI
17. Teacher on call : SUB
18. John D. Rockefeller’s company : STANDARD OIL
20. Cutlery collection : KNIFE SET
22. Moo __ gai pan : GOO
23. Record : ENTER
24. Umbrella part : RIB
26. Grace word : BLESS
30. Bilingual “Sesame Street” Muppet : ROSITA
32. Bath sponges : LOOFAHS
34. Most babbling : GASSIEST
37. Bunk : ROT
38. Woodland goat-man : FAUN
41. Arraignment answers : PLEAS
42. Kitchen pests : ANTS
43. Racing Unsers : ALS
44. Preparation period : LEAD TIME
46. German mathematician Bernhard : RIEMANN
48. Softening : EASING
52. Calf-length skirts : MIDIS
53. 61-Across kingpin __ Fring : GUS
56. Subtle shade : TINGE
57. Glass lip : RIM
59. Speed trap equipment : RADAR GUN
61. #3 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (as of 2016) … and a hint to what the black squares are doing in four rows of this puzzle : BREAKING BAD
65. Check out : EYE
66. “Star Trek” race : BORG
67. Mariner’s patron : ST ELMO
68. __ Lingus : AER
69. Pineapple center : CORE
70. “Mercy me!” : OH DEAR!
71. Genetic material : RNA

Down

1. One who agrees to a dare : RISKER
2. “Got me” : I DUNNO
3. Ledger entries : DEBITS
4. Italian city whose Royal Palace has been used as a set in two “Star Wars” films : CASERTA
5. Hgts. : ALTS
6. Net or Knick : NBAER
7. Starbucks order : VENTI
8. Give a leg up : AID
9. Antlered animal : STAG
10. Ballet great Nureyev : RUDOLF
11. Psychoanalysis subject : EGO
12. Actor Mahershala __ : ALI
13. Rapper __ Jon : LIL
19. High-tech worker : ROBOT
21. Affect : FEIGN
25. Pasture cry : BLEAT
27. Pull down : EARN
28. Opportunity : SHOT
29. Former Air France jets : SSTS
31. Colorado snowboarding mecca : ASPEN
33. “Cotton Comes to Harlem” director Davis : OSSIE
35. Urban Dictionary content : SLANG
36. Iraq War weapon: Abbr. : IED
38. One to grow on : FARM
39. Et __: and others : ALII
40. Hand-me-down : USED
42. Group at Asgard : AESIR
44. Cornea-reshaping surgery : LASIK
45. One facing charges? : MATADOR
47. Desert illusion : MIRAGE
49. Ready to roll : IN GEAR
50. Vietnamese-American poker star Scotty : NGUYEN
51. Biological subdivisions : GENERA
54. Implored : URGED
55. Black : SABLE
58. Japanese soup : MISO
60. Lady of Spain : DAMA
61. Eng. channel : BBC
62. Pal of Piglet : ROO
63. Goof up : ERR
64. Extreme : NTH