LA Times Crossword 10 Jun 19, Monday

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Constructed by: Bruce Venzke & Gail Grabowski
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Movie Trailers

Themed answers each start with a word that often TRAILS (follows) the word “MOVIE”:

  • 49A “Coming attractions” offerings, and a hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues : MOVIE TRAILERS
  • 20A *Opening night Hollywood event : PREMIERE PARTY (giving “movie premiere”)
  • 33A *Recognizable face associated with a cause : POSTER CHILD (giving “movie poster”)
  • 40A *Photographer’s concern : CAMERA ANGLE (giving “movie camera”)

Bill’s time: 5m 35s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Noisy blue birds : JAYS

The bird known as a “jay” is sometimes called a “magpie”, although the terms are not completely interchangeable.

10 Magic charm : MOJO

The word “mojo”, meaning “magical charm, magnetism”, is probably of Creole origin.

14 Stand watch for, say : ABET

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (it literally means “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

15 Shire of “Rocky” : TALIA

Actress Talia Shire is best-known for playing Rocky’s wife Adrian in the “Rocky” series of movies. She also played Connie, the daughter of Don Corleone, in “The Godfather” films. Shire is the sister of movie director Francis Ford Coppola and the aunt of actor Nicolas Cage. Her son is the actor Jason Schwartzman.

17 Lugosi of “Dracula” fame : BELA

Bela Lugosi was a Hungarian stage and screen actor, best known for playing the title role in the 1931 film “Dracula” and for playing the same role on Broadway. Lugosi found himself typecast for the rest of his career and almost always played the role of the villain, often in horror movies. When he passed away in 1956, his wife had him buried in the costume he wore playing Count Dracula on Broadway.

19 Farmer’s place, in a kids’ song : DELL

“The Farmer in the Dell” is a nursery rhyme and singing game that probably originated in Germany.

The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer in the dell

23 VIP vehicle : LIMO

The word “limousine” derives from 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 …

25 Current unit : AMPERE

The unit of electric current is the ampere, which is abbreviated correctly to “A” rather than “amp”. It is named after French physicist André-Marie Ampère, one of the main scientists responsible for the discovery of electromagnetism.

30 Mil. bravery medal : DSC

The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is the second-highest honor awarded to members of the US Army. The DSC is equivalent to the Navy Cross and the Air Force Cross.

35 Brew ordered by its initials : IPA

India pale ale (IPA) is a style of beer that originated in England. The beer was originally intended for transportation from England to India, hence the name.

37 __-Ida Tater Tots : ORE

Ore-Ida’s founders came up with the idea for Tater Tots when they were deciding what to do with residual cuts of potato. They chopped up the leftovers, added flour and seasoning, and extruded the mix through a large hole making a sausage that they cut into small cylinders. We eat 70 million pounds of this extruded potato every year!

38 Colored eye part : IRIS

The iris is the colored part of the eye. It has an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.

44 Part of CBS: Abbr. : SYS

CBS used to be known as the Columbia Broadcasting System. CBS introduced its “eye” logo in 1951. That logo is based on a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign.

45 Run __: go wild : AMOK

The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had good reason for that frenzy …

46 Number of feet between baseball bases : NINETY

The bases on a baseball field are placed at the corners of a square with sides of 90 feet. However, the distance between bases is only 88 feet, when the size of the base bags are taken into consideration.

47 Times two, a Gabor : ZSA

Zsa Zsa Gabor was a Hungarian-American actress, born in Budapest as Sári Gábor (the older sister of the actress Eva). Zsa Zsa Gabor was married a whopping nine times, including a 5-year stint with Conrad Hilton and another 5 years with the actor George Sanders. One of Gabor’s famous quips was that she was always a good housekeeper, as after every divorce she kept the house!

48 Work with freight : LADE

The verb “to lade” meaning “to load” comes from an Old English word “hladan”. “Lade” also used to mean “draw water” and indeed gave us our word “ladle”. So “lade” and “ladle” are close cousins.

49 “Coming attractions” offerings, and a hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues : MOVIE TRAILERS

The term “trailer” was originally used in the film industry to describe advertisements for upcoming features. These trailers were originally shown at the end of a movie being screened, hence the name. This practice quickly fell out of favor as theater patrons usually left at the end of the movie without paying much attention to the trailers. So, the trailers were moved to the beginning of the show, but the term “trailer” persisted.

60 Bit of lingerie : SLIP

“Lingerie” is a French term. As used in France, it just means any underwear, worn by either males or females. In English we use “lingerie” to describe alluring underclothing worn by women. The term “lingerie” comes into English via the French word “linge” meaning “washables”, and ultimately from the Latin “linum”, meaning “linen”. We tend not to pronounce the word correctly in English, either here in the US or across the other side of the Atlantic. The French pronunciation is more like “lan-zher-ee”, as opposed to “lon-zher-ay” (American) and “lon-zher-ee” (British).

61 Eye parts with 38-Acrosses : UVEAS
(38A Colored eye part : IRIS)

The uvea is the middle of the three layers that make up the eyeball. The outer layer is called the fibrous tunic, and the inner layer is the retina.

65 Verne sea captain : NEMO

In the 1954 movie version of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, Captain Nemo goes down with his ship. In the novel by Jules Verne, the fate of Nemo and his crew isn’t quite so cut and dry, although the inference is perhaps that they did indeed head for Davy Jones’ Locker.

Down

2 Mount Rushmore prez next to Teddy : ABE

The four presidents whose faces are carved in the granite face of Mount Rushmore are (from left to right) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Each of the presidents is about 60 feet in height, although they might have been larger. The original intent was for the presidents to be depicted from head to waist, but the project lost funding.

7 Hamburg’s river : ELBE

The River Elbe rises in the Czech Republic and travels over a thousand kilometers before emptying into the North Sea near the port of Hamburg in Germany.

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany (after Berlin), and the third largest port in Europe (after Rotterdam and Antwerp).

10 “__ Secretary”: TV drama : MADAM

“Madam Secretary” is A TV show that first aired in 2014. It is about an ex-CIA analyst who is appointed as US Secretary of State. Téa Leoni plays the title role, ably supported by a favorite actress of mine, Bebe Neuwirth. I like this show …

21 Celt’s land : EIRE

The Celts are a very broad group of people across Europe who are linked by common languages. The original Celts were largely absorbed by other cultures, although a relatively modern revival of the “Celtic identity” is alive and well in Britain and Ireland. Such Celtic peoples today are mainly found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany in France.

22 Western chum : PARD

A chum is a friend. The term “chum” originated in the late 1600s as an alternative spelling for “cham”. In turn, “cham” was a shortened form of “chambermate”, a roommate at university.

26 Tropical eel : MORAY

Morays are a large group of about 200 species of eels found across the world’s oceans. They are carnivorous and look pretty scary but they’re quite shy when confronted and present no threat to humans. One interesting thing about morays is that they will sometimes work in cooperation with the grouper fish found in reefs, the two helping each other hunt for food.

27 Exams for sophs and jrs. : PSATS

Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)

28 Filmdom ogre : SHREK

Before “Shrek” was a successful movie franchise and Broadway musical, it was a children’s picture book called “Shrek!” that was authored and illustrated by William Steig. The title “Shrek!” came from the German/Yiddish word Schreck, meaning “fear” or “terror”.

30 Somber song : DIRGE

A dirge is a slow and mournful piece of music, like perhaps a funeral hymn.

32 “Mighty” Mudville dud : CASEY

“Casey at the Bat” is a poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer, first published in the San Francisco Examiner. The poem became very popular due to repeated live performances in vaudeville by DeWolf Hopper. Casey played for the Mudville Nine, and the last line of the poem is “But there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey has struck out.”

34 Crooner Perry : COMO

Perry Como was my mother’s favorite singer. Como was born about 20 miles from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Famously, his first career was barbering. He learned the trade from a local hairdresser and soon had his own shop in a Greek coffee house, at the age of 14!

50 Capital on a fjord : OSLO

The Norwegian capital of Oslo is located at the northern end of a fjord known as Oslofjord. The fjord is home to 40 islands that lie within the city’s limits. Oslo also has 343 lakes.

51 Rockies ski resort : VAIL

The Vail Ski Resort in Colorado is the largest single-mountain ski resort in the whole country. The resort was opened in 1962, basically in the middle of nowhere. It was given the name Vail after Vail Pass which runs by the mountain (now also called Vail Mountain). The town of Vail, Colorado was established four years later in 1966, and now has a population of about 5,000.

58 Patriots’ Brady : TOM

Quarterback Tom Brady signed up with the New England Patriots in 2000, and led the team to more Super Bowl appearances than any other player in history. Brady is from San Mateo, California, which isn’t very far from here. He dated actress Bridget Moynahan for a couple of years, and the pair have a child together. Brady has been married to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen since 2009.

59 DDE’s WWII command : ETO

Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) was the 34th US president, but he wanted to be remembered as a soldier. He was a five-star general during WWII in charge of the Allied Forces in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). President Eisenhower died in 1969 at Walter Reed Army Hospital. He was buried in an $80 standard soldier’s casket in his army uniform in a chapel on the grounds of the beautiful Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Noisy blue birds : JAYS
5 What a wizard may cast : SPELL
10 Magic charm : MOJO
14 Stand watch for, say : ABET
15 Shire of “Rocky” : TALIA
16 State firmly : AVOW
17 Lugosi of “Dracula” fame : BELA
18 MLB app for watching live baseball games : AT BAT
19 Farmer’s place, in a kids’ song : DELL
20 *Opening night Hollywood event : PREMIERE PARTY (giving “movie premiere”)
23 VIP vehicle : LIMO
24 Smash into : RAM
25 Current unit : AMPERE
28 Practice in the ring : SPAR
30 Mil. bravery medal : DSC
33 *Recognizable face associated with a cause : POSTER CHILD (giving “movie poster”)
35 Brew ordered by its initials : IPA
36 Periods often named for music genres : ERAS
37 __-Ida Tater Tots : ORE
38 Colored eye part : IRIS
39 Double-crosser : RAT
40 *Photographer’s concern : CAMERA ANGLE (giving “movie camera”)
44 Part of CBS: Abbr. : SYS
45 Run __: go wild : AMOK
46 Number of feet between baseball bases : NINETY
47 Times two, a Gabor : ZSA
48 Work with freight : LADE
49 “Coming attractions” offerings, and a hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues : MOVIE TRAILERS
55 “Right away!” letters : ASAP!
56 Well in advance : EARLY
57 Life partner : MATE
60 Bit of lingerie : SLIP
61 Eye parts with 38-Acrosses : UVEAS
62 Most of the time : A LOT
63 Fit for sainthood : HOLY
64 Respond : REACT
65 Verne sea captain : NEMO

Down

1 Elbow poke : JAB
2 Mount Rushmore prez next to Teddy : ABE
3 Shrill bark : YELP
4 Hollywood hopefuls, back in the day : STARLETS
5 Speak haltingly : STAMMER
6 Outdoor party area : PATIO
7 Hamburg’s river : ELBE
8 False witness : LIAR
9 Like sideways gridiron passes : LATERAL
10 “__ Secretary”: TV drama : MADAM
11 No longer hung up on : OVER
12 Rude awakening : JOLT
13 Big-eyed : OWLY
21 Celt’s land : EIRE
22 Western chum : PARD
25 Imitators : APERS
26 Tropical eel : MORAY
27 Exams for sophs and jrs. : PSATS
28 Filmdom ogre : SHREK
29 Spot to fish from : PIER
30 Somber song : DIRGE
31 Like milk on the floor : SPILT
32 “Mighty” Mudville dud : CASEY
34 Crooner Perry : COMO
38 Source of a masculine sense of self : INNER MAN
40 12 bottles of wine : CASE
41 Nonprofessional : AMATEUR
42 Investment firm figure : ANALYST
43 Classroom helper : AIDE
47 Lively : ZIPPY
48 Pastel purple : LILAC
49 Prepare, as potatoes : MASH
50 Capital on a fjord : OSLO
51 Rockies ski resort : VAIL
52 “Must-see” review : RAVE
53 Polygon measure : AREA
54 It may result in a commission : SALE
58 Patriots’ Brady : TOM
59 DDE’s WWII command : ETO