LA Times Crossword 18 Sep 20, Friday

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Constructed by: David Van Houten
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Morning After

Themed answers are each common phrases AFTER which is added “AM”:

  • 55A Hangover … and a hint to 20-, 34- and 41-Across : MORNING AFTER
  • 20A Nickname for the first Web user? : INTERNET ADAM (from “Internet ad”)
  • 34A General Motors toy? : BABY GRAND AM (from “baby grand”)
  • 41A Cheese snack for the road? : DRIVER’S EDAM (from “drivers ed”)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 01s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Lucy who played Watson on “Elementary” : LIU

Lucy Liu is an actress from Queens, New York. Liu’s big break came when she was chosen to play the Ling Woo character in “Ally McBeal”. I liked her in the 2000 film “Charlie’s Angels” but as I am no fan of Quentin Tarantino, I did not enjoy the movie “Kill Bill”. I do enjoy one of Liu’s more recent projects in which she plays Joan Watson, one of the two lead characters in the TV crime drama “Elementary”.

If you’ve seen the American television show “Elementary”, you will know that it is an adaptation of the classic tales by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that are set in the present day. “Elementary” is similar in look and feel to the excellent BBC series “Sherlock”, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern-day Holmes. We can pick up “Sherlock” in some parts of the country as part of “Masterpiece Mystery” on PBS.

8 10-Down instrument : PIPES
(10 Part-goat god : PAN)

Pan flutes (also “panpipes”) are folk instruments that have been around a long time, and are believed to be the first mouth organs. The pan flute is named for the Greek god Pan, who was often depicted playing the instrument.

15 Miller of “Room Service” : ANN

Ann Miller was a dancer and actress who appeared in several successful Hollywood musicals in the forties and fifties. The most famous of these were “Easter Parade” (1948), “On the Town” (1949) and “Kiss Me, Kate” (1953).

“Room Service” is a 1938 comedy film that is based on a 1937 stage farce of the same name. Stars of the movie are the Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico and Harpo) alongside Lucille Ball. “Room Service” was remade in 1944 starring George Murphy and Frank Sinatra under the title “Step Lively”. Actress Ann Miller played a supporting role in the film, playing a young lady. The studio thought that Miller was 18-19 years old during shooting, because she produced a fake birth certificate, whereas Miller was in fact just 14 years of age.

16 Winner of four FIFA World Cups : ITALY

The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious tournament in the sport of soccer. The competition has been held every four years (excluding the WWII years) since the inaugural event held in Uruguay in 1930. The men’s World Cup is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, even outranking the Olympic Games. And, the women’s World Cup is fast catching up …

17 French toast part : SANTE

“À votre santé” is French for “to your health”. Cheers!

18 Baby goat : KID

Male goats are bucks or billies, although castrated males are known as wethers. Female goats are does or nannies, and young goats are referred to as kids.

19 Arc lamp gas : XENON

The element xenon was the first of the noble gases to be made into a compound, which was somewhat remarkable in that the noble gases were thought by many to be completely inert, unreactive.

Metal halide lamps that are called xenons don’t actually rely on the incorporated xenon gas to generate light. The xenon gas is added so that the lamp comes on “instantly”. Without the xenon, the lamp would start up rather like an older streetlamp, flickering and sputtering for a while before staying alight.

20 Nickname for the first Web user? : INTERNET ADAM (from “Internet ad”)

In essence, the World Wide Web (WWW) is a vast collection of documents that is accessible using the Internet, with each document containing hyperlinks which point to other documents in the collection. So the “Web” is different from the Internet, although the terms are often used interchangeably. The Web is a collection of documents, and the Internet is a global network of computers on which the documents reside. The Web was effectively the invention of British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee. The key to Berner-Lee’s invention was bringing together two technologies that already existed: hypertext and the Internet. I, for one, am very grateful …

23 California peaks, with “the” : SIERRAS

The American Sierra Nevada range lies in California and Nevada. The Spanish Sierra Nevada range is in Andalusia, with the name meaning “snowy range” in Spanish.

25 Pen name : BIC

Société Bic is a company based in Clichy in France. The first product the company produced, more than fifty years ago, was the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen that is still produced today. Bic also makes other disposable products such as lighters and razors.

29 Benjamin Hoff’s “The __ of Pooh” : TAO

Author Benjamin Hoff is best known for his 1982 book “The Tao of Pooh”, and a successor title published in 1992 called “The Te of Piglet”. Both books use the “Winnie the Pooh” stories to illustrate Taoist beliefs.

30 Japanese wrestling : SUMO

Sumo is a sport that is practiced professionally only in Japan, the country of its origin. There is an international federation of sumo wrestling now, and one of the organization’s aims is to have the sport accepted as an Olympic event.

31 Middle of summer? : EMS

There are two letters M (ems) in the middle of the word “summer”.

34 General Motors toy? : BABY GRAND AM (from “baby grand”)

The Pontiac Grand Am was introduced in 1972. Aptly enough, the Grand Am was built in Pontiac, Michigan.

A grand piano is one with the frame supported horizontally on three legs. An upright piano has the frame and strings running vertically. Grand pianos come in many sizes. For example, the length of a concert grand is about 9 feet, a parlor grand is about 7 feet, and a baby grand is about 5 feet.

39 Tarzan’s Cheeta, for one : APE

The chimpanzee named Cheeta was a very popular character in most of the Tarzan movies and television shows. However, he/she (the sex changed back and forth) never appeared in the original novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

41 Cheese snack for the road? : DRIVER’S EDAM (from “drivers ed”)

Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

45 Vogue rival : ELLE

“Elle” magazine was founded in 1945 in France and today has the highest circulation of any fashion magazine in the world. “Elle” is the French word for “she”. “Elle” is published monthly worldwide, although you can pick up a weekly edition if you live in France.

“Vogue” magazine has been published for an awfully long time, with the first issue appearing in 1892. Over the decades the magazine has picked up a lot of criticism as well as its many fans. Famously, an assistant to the editor wrote a novel based on her experiences working with the magazine’s editor, and called it “The Devil Wears Prada”.

46 Volume-increasing addition, usually : ESS

Adding a letter S on the end of a noun usually indicates a plural, and hence a “volume increase”.

47 Small untruth : FIB

To fib is to tell a lie. The verb likely comes from “fibble-fable” meaning “nonsense”, with “fibble-fable” coming from “fable”.

49 Mall __ : RAT

A mall rat is someone who spends a lot of time shopping malls.

55 Hangover … and a hint to 20-, 34- and 41-Across : MORNING AFTER

The main cause of hangover symptoms seems to be dehydration. Ethanol causes increased urine production, leaving the body short of water and resulting in headaches, dry mouth and a lack of energy. The symptoms can be alleviated by drinking a lot of water.

57 “Death of a Salesman” family name : LOMAN

“Death of a Salesman” is a famous play by Arthur Miller that was first produced in 1949. “Death of a Salesman” won a Pulitzer and several Tony Awards over the years. The “Salesman” is the famous character Willy Loman. The play originally opened up on Broadway and ran for 724 performances. The lead role was played by veteran actor Lee J. Cobb.

60 Ambient music pioneer Brian : ENO

Brian Eno was one of the pioneers of the ambient genre of music. Eno composed an album in 1978 called “Ambient 1: Music for Airports”, which was the first in a series of four albums with an ambient theme. Eno named the tracks, somewhat inventively, 1/1, 1/2, 2/1 and 2/2.

61 SoFi Stadium NFLer : LA RAM

SoFi Stadium is an arena in Inglewood, California just a few miles from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). It is the home of two NFL teams: the LA Rams and the LA Chargers.

62 Winner of 15 Grammys (2009-2017) : ADELE

“Adele” is the stage name of English singer Adele Adkins. Adele’s debut album is “19”, named after the age she was during the album’s production. Her second album was even more successful than the first. Called “21”, the second album was released three years after the first, when Adele was three years older. Her third studio album “25”, released in 2015, broke the first-week sales records in both the UK and the US.

63 Fort Worth sch. : TCU

Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private school in Fort Worth, Texas. TCU used to be called AddRan Male & Female, named after an AddRan Clark, the son of Addison Clark who died at the age of 3-years-old from diphtheria. Poor young AddRan was named after his father and his brother, Addison and Randolph.

64 Snail trail : SLIME

Snails and slugs are referred to collectively as gastropods. There are many, many species of gastropods, found both on land and in the sea. Gastropods with shells are generally described as snails, and those species without shells are referred to as slugs.

65 Loser to Roosevelt and Truman : DEWEY

As well as being three-term governor of New York, Thomas E. Dewey twice ran as Republican candidate for president. He was defeated in both races, in 1944 and 1948. In 1944, Dewey lost to incumbent President Roosevelt, and in 1948 he lost to incumbent President Truman. “The Chicago Tribune” called the latter incorrectly and ran that famous headline “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”. Dewey didn’t run for president in 1952 but did help General Eisenhower get the nomination, and ultimately secure the White House. If you drive along the New York State Thruway, you’ll see Dewey’s name a lot, as the highway is named in his honor.

Down

3 Al __ : DENTE

The Italian expression “al dente” literally means “to the tooth” or “to the bite” and is used to describe not only pasta, but also vegetables that are cooked so that they are tender and yet still crisp.

5 Land O’__: dairy aisle brand : LAKES

Land O’Lakes was introduced by a co-op of creameries in 1921, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The brand name of course comes from the nickname of the state of Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Lakes.

8 “Cars” maker : PIXAR

“Cars” is a 2006 animated feature from Pixar. The great cast of voice actors includes Paul Newman in his last movie role before he passed away in 2008.

9 Tabloid twosome : ITEM

An unmarried couple known to be involved with each other might appear in the gossip columns. This appearance as “an item” in the papers, led to the use of “item” to refer to such a couple, but only since the very early seventies.

“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs Wellcome) for a “small tablet of medicine”, a name that goes back to 1884. The word “tabloid” had entered into general use to mean a compressed form of anything, and by the early 1900s was used in “tabloid journalism”, which described newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

10 Part-goat god : PAN

In Greek mythology, Pan was a lecherous god, one who fell in love with Echo the mountain nymph. Echo refused Pan’s advances so that he became very angry. Pan’s anger created a “panic” (a word derived from the name “Pan”) and a group of shepherds were driven to kill Echo.

11 “Evil Woman” gp. : ELO

The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) recorded the song “Evil Woman” in 1975. “Evil Woman” was written by the band’s lead vocalist Jeff Lynne, in just thirty minutes!

12 Example, for instance: Abbr. : SYN

Synonym (syn.)

14 Adjective for Alexander’s day, in a Judith Viorst kids’ book : TERRIBLE

“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” is a 1972 children’s book by Judith Viorst. The comprehensive title pretty much describes the book’s plot. Disney produced a live-action film with the same title that is loosely based on Viorst’s book. The film stars Steve Carrel and Jennifer Garner as Alexander’s parents.

21 Mars rover org. : NASA

There have been several rovers sent to Mars from Earth. The Soviet Union’s Mars 2 landed in 1971, and failed. Mars 3 landed the same year, and ceased operation just 20 seconds after landing. NASA’s Sojourner landed in 1997 (what a great day that was!) and operated from July through September. The British rover Beagle 2 was lost six days before its scheduled entry into the Martian atmosphere. NASA’s Spirit landed in 2004, and operated successfully for over six years before getting trapped in sand and eventually ceasing to communicate. NASA’s Opportunity also landed in 2004, and operated for over fourteen years. And then NASA’s Curiosity made a spectacular, hi-tech landing in 2012 and is continuing to explore the planet today.

22 Couture giant : DIOR

Christian Dior was a French fashion designer. As WWII approached, Dior was called up by the French military, drawing a temporary halt to his career in fashion. He left the army in 1942 and for the duration of the war designed clothes for wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. After the war his designs became so popular that he helped to re-establish Paris as the fashion center of the world.

“Haute couture”, literally “high dressmaking” in French, is a name given to the creation of exclusive fashions. A couturier is someone who creates or sells such fashions.

26 It might be spitting : IMAGE

“Spitting image” is used to describe someone who looks very much like another. The phrase used to be written as “spit and image”, and makes use of the concept that a person is made up of the stuff of one’s parents (i.e. the spit) and has the look of one’s parents (i.e. the image). The expression “you are the very spit of your mother/father” uses the same ideas.

27 Dancer companion : COMET

We get the names for Santa’s reindeer from the famous 1823 poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, although we’ve modified a couple of the names over the years. The full list is:

  • Dasher
  • Dancer
  • Prancer
  • Vixen
  • Comet
  • Cupid
  • Donder (originally “Dunder”, and now often “Donner”)
  • Blitzen (originally “Blixem”)

Rudolph was added to the list by retailer Montgomery Ward, would you believe? The store commissioned Robert L. May to create a booklet that could be handed out to children around Christmas in 1939, and May introduced us to a new friend for Santa, namely Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

30 __-cone : SNO

A sno-cone (also “snow cone”) is just a paper cone filled with crushed ice and topped with flavored water. Italian ice is similar, but different. Whereas the flavoring is added on top of the ice to make a sno-cone, Italian ice is made with water that is flavored before it is frozen.

32 Actress Gibbs of “The Jeffersons” : MARLA

Marla Gibbs is an actress from Chicago who is best known for playing Florence Johnston, the maid on the sitcom “The Jeffersons” in the seventies and eighties. Gibbs was also a singer who released several albums. She also owned a jazz club for almost 20 years in South Central L.A. called “Maria’s Memory Lane Jazz and Supper Club”.

The very popular sitcom called “The Jeffersons” ran from 1975 until it came to an abrupt end in 1985. CBS cancelled the show without even allowing a series finale that “wrapped things up”. In fact, lead actor Sherman Hemsley learned of the show’s cancellation in the newspaper.

35 Baby beds : BASSINETS

A bassinet is a basket or bed made up for a young baby in the first few months of his or her life.

52 Naturally lit courtyards : ATRIA

In modern architecture, an atrium (plural “atria” or “atriums”) is a large open space usually in the center of a building and extending upwards to the roof. The original atrium was an open court in the center of an Ancient Roman house. One could access most of the enclosed rooms of the house from the atrium.

53 Paper quantities : REAMS

A ream is 500 sheets of paper. As there were 24 sheets in a quire, and 20 quires made up a ream, there used to be 480 sheets in a ream. Ever since the standard was changed to 500, a 480-sheet packet of paper has been called a “short ream”. We also use the term “reams” to mean a great amount, evolving from the idea of a lot of printed material.

54 Big Apple sports mascot : MR MET

Mr. Met is the mascot of the New York Mets. He is a guy with a large baseball as a head. There’s also a Mrs. Met, a mascot who was previously known as Lady Met.

Apparently, the first published use of the term “Big Apple” to describe New York City dates back to 1909. Edward Martin wrote the following in his book “The Wayfarer in New York”:

Kansas is apt to see in New York a greedy city. . . . It inclines to think that the big apple gets a disproportionate share of the national sap.

Over ten years later, the term “big apple” was used as a nickname for racetracks in and around New York City. However, the concerted effort to “brand” the city as the Big Apple had to wait until the seventies and was the work of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau.

56 Ancient Cuzco resident : INCA

Cusco (also “Cuzco”) is a city in the southeast of Peru. Historically, Cusco was the historic capital of the Inca Empire, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

57 Bloke : LAD

“Bloke” is British slang for “fellow”. The etymology of “bloke” seems to have been lost in the mists of time.

58 Wordsworth wrote one to duty : ODE

William Wordsworth wrote his poem “Ode to Duty” in 1805. In the poem, Wordsworth uses the term “duty” to mean a devotion to things such as childhood hope and an alignment with the natural world. I guess the message is “leave the rat race behind”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Sit tight : BIDE
5 Lucy who played Watson on “Elementary” : LIU
8 10-Down instrument : PIPES
13 Isn’t with more people? : AREN’T
15 Miller of “Room Service” : ANN
16 Winner of four FIFA World Cups : ITALY
17 French toast part : SANTE
18 Baby goat : KID
19 Arc lamp gas : XENON
20 Nickname for the first Web user? : INTERNET ADAM (from “Internet ad”)
23 California peaks, with “the” : SIERRAS
24 Peace, in Russian : MIR
25 Pen name : BIC
28 Family nickname : SIS
29 Benjamin Hoff’s “The __ of Pooh” : TAO
30 Japanese wrestling : SUMO
31 Middle of summer? : EMS
34 General Motors toy? : BABY GRAND AM (from “baby grand”)
37 Stylish flap : LAPEL
39 Tarzan’s Cheeta, for one : APE
40 Evasive maneuver : DODGE
41 Cheese snack for the road? : DRIVER’S EDAM (from “drivers ed”)
44 Until now : YET
45 Vogue rival : ELLE
46 Volume-increasing addition, usually : ESS
47 Small untruth : FIB
49 Mall __ : RAT
50 Japanese yes : HAI
51 Pitcher’s malady : SORE ARM
55 Hangover … and a hint to 20-, 34- and 41-Across : MORNING AFTER
57 “Death of a Salesman” family name : LOMAN
60 Ambient music pioneer Brian : ENO
61 SoFi Stadium NFLer : LA RAM
62 Winner of 15 Grammys (2009-2017) : ADELE
63 Fort Worth sch. : TCU
64 Snail trail : SLIME
65 Loser to Roosevelt and Truman : DEWEY
66 Remained idle : SAT
67 Keep : LAST

Down

1 Foundation : BASIS
2 Afghan’s neighbor : IRANI
3 Al __ : DENTE
4 Goes into : ENTERS
5 Land O’__: dairy aisle brand : LAKES
6 Competitive : IN IT
7 Intact : UNDAMAGED
8 “Cars” maker : PIXAR
9 Tabloid twosome : ITEM
10 Part-goat god : PAN
11 “Evil Woman” gp. : ELO
12 Example, for instance: Abbr. : SYN
14 Adjective for Alexander’s day, in a Judith Viorst kids’ book : TERRIBLE
21 Mars rover org. : NASA
22 Couture giant : DIOR
25 Mac : BUDDY
26 It might be spitting : IMAGE
27 Dancer companion : COMET
29 Varieties : TYPES
30 __-cone : SNO
31 Ranking member, as in a village : ELDER
32 Actress Gibbs of “The Jeffersons” : MARLA
33 In need of mopping up : SPILT
35 Baby beds : BASSINETS
36 Military leaders : ADMIRALS
38 Portentous time : EVE
42 Bring up : REAR
43 In __: confused : A FOG
48 Come about : BEFALL
50 Dear : HONEY
51 Pig feature : SNOUT
52 Naturally lit courtyards : ATRIA
53 Paper quantities : REAMS
54 Big Apple sports mascot : MR MET
55 Tom or bull : MALE
56 Ancient Cuzco resident : INCA
57 Bloke : LAD
58 Wordsworth wrote one to duty : ODE
59 Pound sound : MEW