LA Times Crossword 1 Oct 21, Friday

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Constructed by: Paul Coulter
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer(s): Turn Over a New Leaf

Circled letters in the grid are synonyms of “TURN”. Those synonyms of TURN each sit OVER A NEW arrangement of the letter sequence L-E-A-F hidden in the answer immediately below. Complicated, but clever …

  • 1A Go bad : TURN
  • 9A Finished : OVER
  • 65A From the top : ANEW (A NEW)
  • 67A Preceded by 1-, 9- and 65-Across, what each circled word literally suggests : LEAF
  • 17A Public relations staple : SPIN
  • 19A Certain ranch : CATTLE FARM (hiding “L-E-F-A”)
  • 34A Relent : BEND
  • 38A Father’s love, say : PATERNAL FEELING (hiding “A-L-F-E”)
  • 48A Christian Science founder Mary Baker __ : EDDY
  • 50A Morning drink choice : CAFFE LATTE (hiding “”F-E-L-A”)

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

Bill’s time: 10m 13s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Heart : CRUX

“Crux” is the Latin word for “cross”. The term came into English meaning “a central difficulty” in the early 1700s.

13 Successor org. to the Bureau of Labor Standards : OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 during the Nixon administration. It is a direct successor to the Bureau of Labor Standards that dealt with some work safety issues since its founding in 1934. OSHA regulates workplaces in the private sector and regulates just one government agency, namely the US Postal Service.

18 Character in all but one “Star Wars” film, familiarly : ARTOO

Artoo’s proper name is R2-D2 (also “Artoo-Detoo”). R2-D2 is the smaller of the two famous droids from the “Star Wars” movies. British actor Kenny Baker, who stood just 3 feet 8 inches tall, was the man inside the R2-D2 droid for the first six of the “Star Wars” movies.

31 Cafeteria patrons : EATERS

“Cafeteria” is a Mexican-Spanish word meaning “coffee store” that we imported into American English around 1840. Somehow, that coffee store became a self-service dining establishment in the 1890s.

37 Ashtabula’s lake : ERIE

Ashtabula is a city in Ohio that is located on the Ashtabula River, right where it flows into Lake Erie. The name “Ashtabula” comes from the Lenape word “ashtepihəle” that translates as “always enough fish to be shared around”.

41 Many a newspaper one is written in well in advance : OBIT

Our word “obituary” comes from the Latin “obituaris”. The Latin term was used for “record of the death of a person”, although the literal meaning is “pertaining to death”.

42 Blue dye : ANIL

“Anil” is another name for the indigo plant, as well as the name of the blue indigo dye that is obtained from it. The color of anil is relatively close to navy blue. The main coloring agent in indigo dye is a crystalline powder called indigotin.

43 __ wrench : ALLEN

The Allen wrench (or “Allen key”, as we call it back in Ireland) is a successful brand of hex wrench that was trademarked in 1943 by the Allen Manufacturing Company of Hartford , Connecticut. However, the hex wrench had in fact been around since the mid-to-late 1800s.

44 Scheduled : SLATED

Back in the early 1800s, “to slate” meant “to nominate”, perhaps by writing a name on a slate. By the end of the 1800s, this usage of “slate” extended to “propose, schedule”.

48 Christian Science founder Mary Baker __ : EDDY

Christian Science is a set of practices and beliefs first outlined in the 1875 book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy. Central to Christian Science is the position that the sick should be treated not by medicine but by prayer.

50 Morning drink choice : CAFFE LATTE (hiding “”F-E-L-A”)

The term “latte” is an abbreviation of the Italian “caffelatte” meaning “coffee (and) milk”. Note that in the correct spelling of “latte”, the Italian word for milk; there is no accent over the “e”. An accent is often added by mistake when we use the word in English, perhaps meaning to suggest that the word is French.

59 Cinematic beekeeper : ULEE

“Ulee’s Gold” is a highly respected film from 1997 in which Peter Fonda plays the title role of Ulee. Ulee’s “gold” is the honey that Ulysses “Ulee” Jackson produces. It is a favorite role for Peter Fonda and he has shared that playing Ulee brought to mind his father Henry Fonda, who himself kept a couple of hives. So if you see Peter Fonda in “Ulee’s Gold” you’re witnessing some characteristics that Peter saw in his father.

62 Outdated : PASSE

“Passé” is a French word, meaning “past, faded”. We’ve imported the term into English, and use it in the same sense.

63 Teri of “Mr. Mom” : GARR

Actress Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffers from multiple sclerosis. She is a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

“Mr. Mom” is a 1983 comedy written by John Hughes that stars Michael Keaton and the great Teri Garr. The movie is all about an engineer in the auto industry in Detroit who loses his job and then takes over the running of the household while his wife heads back to work. It’s funny stuff …

66 Salt Lake City team : UTES

The Utah Utes are the athletic teams of the University of Utah.

Down

1 Deck (out) : TOG

The verb “to tog up”, meaning “to dress up”, comes from the Latin “toga” describing the garment worn in ancient Rome. “Tog” can also be used as an informal word for a coat or a cloak. Back in Ireland, togs are what we call swimming shorts.

2 Summer Games org. : USOC

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has a federal charter but it doesn’t receive any funds from the US government. As such, it has to engage in fundraising just like any other charitable organization. The USOC was founded in 1894, and is headquartered in Colorado Springs.

3 Saturn’s second-largest moon : RHEA

Rhea is the second-largest of Saturn’s moons, and the ninth-largest of all the moons in our solar system. The moon is named after the Titan Rhea from Greek mythology. Unlike our moon, Rhea might have an atmosphere of sorts, and even rings.

4 Tammany Hall caricaturist : NAST

Thomas Nast was an American caricaturist and cartoonist. He was the creator of the Republican Party elephant, the Democratic Party donkey, Uncle Sam and the image of the plump and jocular Santa Claus that we use today. Thomas Nast drew some famous cartoons in which he depicted the Tammany Society as a vicious tiger that was killing democracy. Nast’s use of the tiger symbology caught on and was used by other cartoonists to harp at the society.

The building known as Tammany Hall was home to the Tammany Society, an organization in New York City that came to be the political machine behind the Democratic Party that held sway in New York State from the late-18th century to the mid-20th century. The society was named for Tamanend, a leader of the Native American Lenape people.

6 What pros know, with “the” : … ROPES

As one might expect perhaps, the phrase “learning the ropes” is nautical in origin. A new recruit on a sailing vessel would have to learn how to tie the appropriate knots and learn which rope controlled which sail or spar.

8 TV role for Lucy : XENA

The Xena character, played by New Zealander Lucy Lawless, was introduced in a made-for-TV movie called “Hercules and the Amazon Women”. Lawless reprised the role in a series called “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”. Xena became so popular that a series was built around her character, with Lawless retained for the title role. The fictional Xena supposedly came from the “non-fictional” Greek city of Amphipolis.

9 Bruins legend : ORR

Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking. While still 31 years old, in 1979, Orr became the youngest person inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Prior to that, in 1967, Orr became the youngest person named the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.

The Boston Bruins professional ice hockey team goes way back, and has been in existence since 1924. The National Hockey League back then was a Canadian-only league, but was expanded to include the US in 1923. The Bruins were the first US-team in the expanded league.

12 “Suspicion” studio : RKO

“Suspicion” is a 1941 Hitchcock film starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. The film is based on a 1932 novel called “Before the Fact” by Francis Ile. Fontaine won the Academy Award for Best actress for her performance, marking the only time that any actor won an Oscar under the direction of Alfred Hitchcock.

15 Eastern Gulf Coast city : TAMPA

The Florida city of Tampa has been known as “the Big Guava” since the seventies. The term is imitative of New York’s “Big Apple”, and refers to the unsuccessful search for the reported wild guava trees that were once hoped to be the basis of a new industry for the area. Tampa has also been called “Cigar City”, a reference to the cigar industry that fueled the area’s growth starting in the 1880s.

21 Paris’s __ la Paix : RUE DE

Paris’s Rue de la Paix (Peace Street) is known for its many high-end jewelry stores. For example, the Cartier store has been located there since 1989. As an aside, Rue de la Paix is the most expensive property in the French version of the board game Monopoly.

24 Stanley’s wife in “A Streetcar Named Desire” : STELLA

“Stella! Hey, Stella!” is a famous line in the movie “A Streetcar Named Desire”. It is cried out by Marlon Brando’s character (Stanley Kowalski) as his wife Stella (played by Kim Hunter) leaves for the last time, with their child.

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is a Tennessee Williams play that was first performed in 1947, on Broadway. The original cast included Jessica Tandy as Blanche Dubois, Karl Malden as Mitch Mitchell, and Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski. Malden and Brando reprised their stage roles in the celebrated 1951 big screen adaptation. Vivienne Leigh played Blanche Dubois in the movie, having performed the part in the London production of the play.

26 Groups of three : TRINES

“Trine” means “threefold”, from the Latin “trinus” which means the same thing. “Trine” is also used for a group of three.

27 Mob leaders : CAPOS

More properly called a caporegime, a capo is a high-ranking member of the Mafia (Cosa Nostra).

29 One-named Venetian master : TITIAN

Titian was an Italian painter and a founding member of the Venetian School of the 16th century. His most famous work is probably “Assumption of the Virgin”, which was commissioned for the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice and which can be seen there on the high altar to this very day.

30 One-named folk singer : ODETTA

Odetta Holmes (or just “Odetta”) was a singer and a human rights activist. She has been cited as an influence by such singers as Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and Carly Simon.

32 Repeat symbol, in music : SEGNO

“Dal segno” can appear on a musical score, sometimes abbreviated to “D.S.” The term translates from Italian as “from the sign”. It is an instruction to repeat a passage starting from a special sign, one often called the “segno” in English.

35 Either Bush, in school : ELI

Yale University has educated quite a few of our recent US Presidents, including George H. W. Bush (#41), Bill Clinton (#42) and George W. Bush (#43).

39 First name in 1970s gymnastics : NADIA

Nadia Comaneci won three golds in the 1976 Summer Olympics and was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of ten in the gymnastics competition. Comaneci published a book called “Letters to a Young Gymnast” in 2003, and now lives in the United States.

45 Host : EMCEE

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

46 Goof-offs : IDLERS

A goof is a mistake. The verb “to goof off” was coined in 1941 meaning “to make a mistake at drill”. After the war, the meaning extended to describe wasting time, loafing around.

48 Key of Beethoven’s “Emperor” concerto : E-FLAT

Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73” is better known as the “Emperor Concerto”. It was written between 1809 and 1811 and was his last piano concerto. The nickname “Emperor” was coined not by the composer himself, but rather by the publisher of the concerto in England.

49 Caterpillar rival : DEERE

John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”. The Deere company that John founded uses the slogan “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”, and has a leaping deer as its logo.

Back in the early 1900s, Benjamin Holt invented a steam tractor that was able to move over soggy land. The new vehicle crawled over the ground using wheels that drove tracks. Someone apparently noted that the tractor moved along like a caterpillar, and so the enterprise that was to be known as the Caterpillar Tractor Company was born.

51 Risky-to-eat pufferfish dish : FUGU

“Fugu” is the Japanese name for pufferfish, also known as blowfish. Fugu is a notorious dish on a Japanese menu as it can be extremely poisonous. The liver, ovaries and eyes of the pufferfish contain lethal amounts of the poison tetrodotoxin, which paralyses muscles causing death by asphyxiation.

52 Marsh duck : TEAL

The beautiful color teal takes its name from the duck called a teal, which has dark greenish-blue (teal) markings on its head and wings.

54 Columnist Bombeck : ERMA

Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years. She produced more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns under the title “At Wit’s End”, with all describing her home life in suburbia.

55 Therapists’ org. : APA

American Psychiatric Association (APA)

61 Troubling bank msg. : NSF

Not sufficient funds (NSF)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Go bad : TURN
5 Heart : CRUX
9 Finished : OVER
13 Successor org. to the Bureau of Labor Standards : OSHA
14 Cooked : DONE
15 Follow : TRACK
16 Passes (by) : GOES
17 Public relations staple : SPIN
18 Character in all but one “Star Wars” film, familiarly : ARTOO
19 Certain ranch : CATTLE FARM (hiding “L-E-F-A”)
22 Healthy-looking, in a way : ROSY
23 Unexpected result : UPSET
27 Excise : CUT OUT
31 Cafeteria patrons : EATERS
33 Playwright’s vehicle : ASIDE
34 Relent : BEND
37 Ashtabula’s lake : ERIE
38 Father’s love, say : PATERNAL FEELING (hiding “A-L-F-E”)
41 Many a newspaper one is written in well in advance : OBIT
42 Blue dye : ANIL
43 __ wrench : ALLEN
44 Scheduled : SLATED
46 Forceful words after “because” : … I SAY SO!
47 As a friend, to François : EN AMI
48 Christian Science founder Mary Baker __ : EDDY
50 Morning drink choice : CAFFE LATTE (hiding “”F-E-L-A”)
55 Divert : AMUSE
59 Cinematic beekeeper : ULEE
60 Make : EARN
62 Outdated : PASSE
63 Teri of “Mr. Mom” : GARR
64 Charity : ALMS
65 From the top : ANEW
66 Salt Lake City team : UTES
67 Preceded by 1-, 9- and 65-Across, what each circled word literally suggests : LEAF

Down

1 Deck (out) : TOG
2 Summer Games org. : USOC
3 Saturn’s second-largest moon : RHEA
4 Tammany Hall caricaturist : NAST
5 Input feature of many laptops : CD SLOT
6 What pros know, with “the” : … ROPES
7 Ally : UNIFY
8 TV role for Lucy : XENA
9 Bruins legend : ORR
10 Winery vessel : VAT
11 Tourism lead-in : ECO-
12 “Suspicion” studio : RKO
15 Eastern Gulf Coast city : TAMPA
20 More loyal : TRUER
21 Paris’s __ la Paix : RUE DE
24 Stanley’s wife in “A Streetcar Named Desire” : STELLA
25 How a campfire story might be told : EERILY
26 Groups of three : TRINES
27 Mob leaders : CAPOS
28 Functional : USABLE
29 One-named Venetian master : TITIAN
30 One-named folk singer : ODETTA
32 Repeat symbol, in music : SEGNO
34 Prohibition : BAN
35 Either Bush, in school : ELI
36 Draft org. : NFL
39 First name in 1970s gymnastics : NADIA
40 No-sweat class : EASY A
45 Host : EMCEE
46 Goof-offs : IDLERS
48 Key of Beethoven’s “Emperor” concerto : E-FLAT
49 Caterpillar rival : DEERE
51 Risky-to-eat pufferfish dish : FUGU
52 Marsh duck : TEAL
53 It may be a tall one : TALE
54 Columnist Bombeck : ERMA
55 Therapists’ org. : APA
56 Guy : MAN
57 Apply : USE
58 Capt.’s heading : SSW
61 Troubling bank msg. : NSF