LA Times Crossword 25 Aug 20, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Gary Larson
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Home Front

Themed answers each ends with a word that can FRONT “HOME”:

  • 35A Civilian activity site during wartime … and what the end of 17-, 25-, 49- and 59-Across can be : HOME FRONT
  • 17A Crowdfunding website : KICKSTARTER (giving “starter home”)
  • 25A Recliner part : ARMREST (giving “rest home”)
  • 49A Sprint rival : T-MOBILE (giving “mobile home”)
  • 59A “The Silence of the Lambs” Oscar-winning actress : JODIE FOSTER (giving “foster home”)

Bill’s time: 5m 48s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4 Hungarian stew : GOULASH

Goulash is a soup or stew that is seasoned with spices, especially paprika. It is a national dish of Hungary, and the term “goulash” comes from the Hungarian word “gulyás”, which actually translates as “herdsman”. The original goulash was a meat dish prepared by herdsmen.

11 Watch chain : FOB

A fob is attached to an object to make it easier to access. And so a key fob is a chain attached to a key so that it can be retrieved easily. There are also watch fobs, and the pocket in a vest in which a watch can be placed is called a fob. In fact, the original use of the term “fob” was for a small pocket in which one could carry valuables.

17 Crowdfunding website : KICKSTARTER (giving “starter home”)

Kickstarter.com is an increasingly popular crowdfunding website. Kickstarter is a contemporary version of the traditional model in which artists sought out patrons from among their audiences to fund their work. The website brings together individuals willing to fund projects, usually in exchange for some reward from the artist.

21 Fabled loser : HARE

“The Tortoise and the Hare” is perhaps the most famous fable attributed to Aesop. The cocky hare takes a nap during a race against the tortoise, and the tortoise sneaks past the finish line for the win while his speedier friend is sleeping.

22 Sporty Pontiacs : GTOS

The initialism “GTO” was used on several touring cars (including a famous Pontiac) and stands for “Gran Turismo Omologato”. Italian car manufacturers started the tradition of calling their luxury performance cars “Gran Turismo”, and calling those cars they approved for racing “Gran Turismo Omologato”. The phrase “gran turismo omologato” translates as “grand touring homologated”, “homologated” being a technical term signifying official approval.

28 Squalid : SEAMY

We’ve used “seamy” to mean “the least pleasant, the worst” since the 1600s. The idea comes from the seamed side of a sewn garment being the less attractive.

31 Stand for an oil, say : EASEL

The word “easel” comes from an old Dutch word meaning “donkey”, would you believe? The idea is that an easel carries its load (an oil painting, say) just as a donkey would be made to carry a load.

32 Superman’s symbol : ESS

There’s a letter S (ess) on the chest of the uniform worn by Superman.

34 Sinclair Lewis preacher Elmer __ : GANTRY

Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist and playwright. Lewis was the first US writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, which he won in 1930.

“Elmer Gantry” is a 1926 novel by Sinclair Lewis. The title character is a preacher who is also a boozehound and a womanizer. Lewis’ book was adapted into a 1960 film of the same name, in which Burt Lancaster portrayed Gantry in an Oscar-winning performance.

38 Sultans’ groups of wives : HAREMS

“Harem” is a Turkish word derived from the Arabic for “forbidden place”. Traditionally, a harem was the female quarters in a household in which a man had more than one wife. Not only wives (and concubines) would use the harem, but also young children and other female relatives. The main point was that no men were allowed in the area. The term “harem” is also applied to the women, children and staff occupying the quarters.

41 Non-neutral atom : ION

As we all recall from science class, a positive ion is called a cation and a negative ion is an anion. The names “cation” and “anion” come from Greek, with “kation” meaning “going down” and “anion” meaning “going up”.

48 Zodiac critter with horns : RAM

According to the ancient Greeks, the constellation Aries the Ram represents the mythological winged ram with the Golden Fleece. The Greeks “hijacked” the constellation though, because it also represented a ram in late Babylonian times, long before the Golden Fleece came along.

49 Sprint rival : T-MOBILE (giving “mobile home”)

T-Mobile is a German telecommunications company, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. Deutsche Telekom has used the “T” prefix for a number of its services, including T-Com, T-Online and T-Home.

The company that we know today as Sprint has a history that is linked with the Southern Pacific railroad company. Southern Pacific developed a microwave communication system for its internal use across its network using rights-of-way associated with the company’s extensive railway lines. In the early seventies, the company laid huge lengths of fiber optic cable in those rights-of-way, alongside the tracks, primarily for internal use. The railroad sold excess fiber capacity to private companies, allowing those companies to operate long distance telephone service outside of AT&T, which at that time had a long-distance monopoly. Southern Pacific took advantage of changing FCC regulations and started offering voice service directly to consumers. That service was offered under the name SPRINT, an acronym that stood for Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony. Very interesting …

53 Virtual video game people : SIMS

SimCity is a very clever computer game. Players build and grow cities and societies by creating the conditions necessary for people (the Sims) to move in and thrive. SimCity was launched in 1989, and to this day it is consistently ranked as one of the greatest computer games of all time.

57 Magician’s cry : VOILA!

The French word “voilà” means “there it is”, and “voici” means “here it is”. The terms come from “voi là” meaning “see there” and “voi ici” meaning “see here”.

58 “Mork & Mindy” planet : ORK

“Mork & Mindy” is a sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982. The title characters were played by Robin Williams and Pam Dawber. Mork is an alien from the planet Ork who reports back to his superior called Orson. Orson is played by voice actor Ralph James. Ralph James was also known for providing the voice of Mr. Turtle in famous Tootsie Pop commercials in the seventies. Nanu nanu!

59 “The Silence of the Lambs” Oscar-winning actress : JODIE FOSTER (giving “foster home”)

The wonderful actress and director Jodie Foster got her big break in movies early in her life, playing a very young prostitute in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 film “Taxi Driver”. Sadly, her appearance in “Taxi Driver” led to her being stalked by an obsessed John Hinckley, Jr. Hinckley called Foster on the phone, sent her love letters, and followed her on campus while she was attending Yale. In 1981, Hinckley famously shot and wounded President Reagan, claiming that he believed an assassination of the President would impress Foster.

“The Silence of the Lambs” is a 1991 psychological drama based on a novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. Jodie Foster plays FBI trainee Clarice Starling, and Anthony Hopkins plays the creepy cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter. “The Silence of the Lambs” swept the Big Five Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay) for that year, being only the third movie ever to do so. The other two so honored were “It Happened One Night” (1934) and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975).

62 Like many bazaars : OPEN-AIR

Our word “bazaar”, meaning “market”, comes from the Persian “bazar” that means the same thing.

66 What Dr. Leary tripped on : LSD

Timothy Leary was a psychologist and writer, an icon of the sixties counterculture and a promoter of the use of LSD. Leary popularized the phrase “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out” in the sixties. After he died, some of Leary’s ashes were “buried” in space, launched aboard a rocket that contained the ashes of 24 other people including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry.

Down

1 Suspicious way to look : ASKANCE

To look askance is to look with suspicion, or to look with a side glance.

3 Circle parts, in geometry : SECTORS

A sector is part of a circle that is bounded by two radii and an arc of the circumference. The term “sector” comes from the Latin “secare” meaning “to cut”, so a “sector” is a piece “cut” from a circle.

4 Hydrogen and oxygen : GASSES

There are three naturally occurring isotopes of hydrogen. The most common isotope is what we ordinarily refer to as hydrogen, and it has no neutrons. This particular isotope is sometimes called “protium”. The isotope with one neutron is called “deuterium”. When paired with two atoms of oxygen, deuterium forms “heavy water”. The hydrogen isotope with two neutrons is called “tritium”. Tritium is radioactive, with a half-life of 12.3 years.

The element oxygen has an atomic number of 8, and has eight electrons within each atom. The name “oxygen” was coined (“oxygène” in French) by Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, from the Greek “oxys” meaning “acid” and the French “-gène” meaning “producer”. It was originally believed that oxygen was needed to make all acids.

5 Uneaten morsel : ORT

Orts are small scraps of food left after a meal. “Ort” comes from Middle English, and originally described scraps left by animals.

6 Nevada neighbor : UTAH

When viewed on a map of the US, the state of Utah has six sides. It’s almost shaped like a rectangle, but there is a “bite” out of that rectangle in the northeast corner of the state.

7 Old Roman money : LIRA

The word “lira” is used in a number of countries for currency. “Lira” comes from the Latin for “pound” and is derived from a British pound sterling, the value of a Troy pound of silver. For example, the lira (plural “lire”) was the official currency of Italy before the country changed over to the euro in 2002.

18 Barbie’s beau : KEN

Barbie’s male counterpart doll is Ken, and Ken’s family name is Carson. Barbie’s full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. When Ken was introduced in 1959, it was as Barbie’s boyfriend. In 2004 it was announced that Ken and Barbie were splitting up, and needed to spend quality time apart. Soon after the split, Barbie “met” Blaine, a boogie boarder from Australia. Happily, Barbie and Ken reconciled and reunited on Valentine’s Day 2011.

The famous Barbie doll was created by businesswoman Ruth Handler and first appeared on store shelves in 1959. Barbie was based on a German fashion doll called Bild Lilli that was introduced in 1955. Lilli had been a German cartoon character before taking on a three-dimensional form. Prior to the introduction of Bild Lilli and Barbie, children’s dolls were primarily representations of infants.

22 President with fitting initials : GRANT

US President Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant. Ohio Congressman Thomas Hamer nominated a young Grant to attend West Point, and gave the candidate’s name as “Ulysses S. Grant” in error. Grant tried to fix the error while studying at the military academy, but bureaucracy won out and the future president eventually embraced the inaccurate name as his own.

30 Underworld society : MAFIA

Apparently, “Cosa Nostra” is the real name for the Italian Mafia. “Cosa Nostra” translates as “our thing” or “this thing of ours”. The term first became public in the US when the FBI managed to turn several members of the American Mafia. The Italian authorities established that “Cosa Nostra” was also used in Sicily when they penetrated the Sicilian Mafia in the 1980s. The term “Mafia” seems to be just a literary invention that has become popular with the public.

36 ’70s-’80s Dodge model : OMNI

The Dodge Omni is basically the same car as the Plymouth Horizon, and was produced by Chrysler from 1978-90. The Omni is a front-wheel drive hatchback, the first in a long line of front-wheel drive cars that were very successful for Chrysler. The Omni was actually developed in France, by Chrysler’s Simca division. When production was stopped in the US in 1990, the tooling was sold to an Indian company that continued production for the Asian market for several years.

38 “Let’s tip our caps (to) … ” : HATS OFF

One doffs one’s hat, usually as a mark of respect. To doff is to take off, with “doff” being a contraction of “do off”. The opposite of “doff” is “don”, meaning “to put on”.

43 Portable warehouse platforms : PALLETS

There is a difference between a wooden pallet and a wooden skid, both of which are used for shipping. A pallet has boards on top and bottom, whereas a skid only has boards on top.

46 Aptly named soccer shot : HEADER

In soccer, a header is a pass or shot on goal made by heading the ball, by hitting and directing the ball with the head.

47 Like umami’s taste : SAVORY

Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. “Umami” is a Japanese word used to describe “a pleasant savory taste”. Umami was proposed as a basic taste in 1908, but it wasn’t until 1985 that the scientific community finally accepted it as such.

55 Singer Turner : TINA

“Tina Turner” is the stage name used by Anna Mae Bullock, the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Turner has always loved Europe and moved there in the eighties. She now splits her time between her homes in England, France and Switzerland.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Massage reactions : AHS
4 Hungarian stew : GOULASH
11 Watch chain : FOB
14 Watch : SEE
15 Entertainer : ARTISTE
16 Make fun of : APE
17 Crowdfunding website : KICKSTARTER (giving “starter home”)
19 Medicinal bath site : SPA
20 Starts a poker pot : ANTES
21 Fabled loser : HARE
22 Sporty Pontiacs : GTOS
23 “__ here”: “The place is empty” : NO ONE’S
25 Recliner part : ARMREST (giving “rest home”)
27 Surly mutt : CUR
28 Squalid : SEAMY
31 Stand for an oil, say : EASEL
32 Superman’s symbol : ESS
33 Notable period : ERA
34 Sinclair Lewis preacher Elmer __ : GANTRY
35 Civilian activity site during wartime … and what the end of 17-, 25-, 49- and 59-Across can be : HOME FRONT
38 Sultans’ groups of wives : HAREMS
41 Non-neutral atom : ION
42 Covert missions : OPS
45 Deck out : ADORN
46 Can’t stomach : HATES
48 Zodiac critter with horns : RAM
49 Sprint rival : T-MOBILE (giving “mobile home”)
51 Wander from the talking point : RAMBLE
53 Virtual video game people : SIMS
54 Food for horses : OATS
57 Magician’s cry : VOILA!
58 “Mork & Mindy” planet : ORK
59 “The Silence of the Lambs” Oscar-winning actress : JODIE FOSTER (giving “foster home”)
61 Service charge : FEE
62 Like many bazaars : OPEN-AIR
63 Had a bite : ATE
64 Cook in oil : FRY
65 Oppressive rule : TYRANNY
66 What Dr. Leary tripped on : LSD

Down

1 Suspicious way to look : ASKANCE
2 Shockingly evil : HEINOUS
3 Circle parts, in geometry : SECTORS
4 Hydrogen and oxygen : GASSES
5 Uneaten morsel : ORT
6 Nevada neighbor : UTAH
7 Old Roman money : LIRA
8 Off the mark : ASTRAY
9 Navigate : STEER
10 Sailor’s pronoun : HER
11 First to the finish : FASTEST
12 One against : OPPOSER
13 Really awful, as weather : BEASTLY
18 Barbie’s beau : KEN
22 President with fitting initials : GRANT
24 “It’s not how it __” : SEEMS
26 Intend : MEAN
29 “__ you joking?” : ARE
30 Underworld society : MAFIA
34 One who’s done for : GONER
35 Kitchen rack lineup : HERBS
36 ’70s-’80s Dodge model : OMNI
37 Nonsense : ROT
38 “Let’s tip our caps (to) … ” : HATS OFF
39 Fan who might be secret : ADMIRER
40 Item a hotel guest might forget to return on leaving : ROOM KEY
42 Relating to a planetary path : ORBITAL
43 Portable warehouse platforms : PALLETS
44 Ruined the reputation of : SMEARED
46 Aptly named soccer shot : HEADER
47 Like umami’s taste : SAVORY
50 Eccentric : LOOPY
52 Yr.’s 12 : MOS
55 Singer Turner : TINA