LA Times Crossword 23 Nov 18, Friday

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Constructed by: Jeffrey Wechsler
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): “Tradditions”

Themed answers are common phrases with TR- added at the start:

  • 17A. Imaginary fish? : TROUT OF ONE’S MIND (from “out of one’s mind”)
  • 32A. Participates in a biathlon for physicians? : TREATS AND RUNS (from “eats and runs”)
  • 41A. Where climbing plants flourish? : TRELLIS ISLAND (from “Ellis Island”)
  • 61A. Tire-testing statistics? : TRACTION FIGURES (from “action figures”)

Bill’s time: 7m 32s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Chicken (out) : WIMP

Our term “wimp”, describing a “timid person”, is probably an alteration of “whimper”, the sound that such an individual might make.

5. Mild cheese : GOUDA

Gouda is a cheese that originated in the Dutch city of the same name, although today Gouda is produced all over the world and very little of it comes from the Netherlands. Gouda is often smoke-cured, which gives it a yellowish-brown outer skin and that characteristic smoky taste.

10. Latticework component : LATH

The words “lath” and “lattice” have the same root in Old French. Laths are thin strips of wood that are nailed across a frame forming a backing to which plaster can be applied to finish a wall. The term is also used for the main elements in a trellis, or the lengths of wood in a roof to which shingles are nailed.

14. Grandson of Adam : ENOS

Enos was the son of Seth, and therefore the grandson of Adam and Eve. According to the ancient Jewish work called the Book of Jubilees, Enos married his own sister Noam.

19. QBs’ targets : TES

In American football, a quarterback (QB) might throw to a tight end (TE).

20. Second-largest W. Hemisphere country : USA

The Western Hemisphere is that half of the Earth’s surface lying to the west of the prime meridian (which runs through Greenwich). The opposing half of the planet is the Eastern Hemisphere.

22. Année quarter : ETE

In French, “été” (summer) lasts “trois mois” (three months), one quarter of the “année” (year).

23. Composer Bartók : BELA

Bela Bartók was a composer and a pianist, and after Liszt, he is perhaps considered by many to be Hungary’s greatest composer.

26. Water collection pit : SUMP

A “sump” has been a “pit to collect water” since the middle of the 17th century. Prior to that, a sump was a marsh or a morass.

32. Participates in a biathlon for physicians? : TREATS AND RUNS (from “eats and runs”)

A biathlon is an event requiring expertise in two sporting disciplines. The most common biathlon is the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting. This traditional biathlon was born out of an exercise for Norwegian soldiers.

39. Old auto named for an explorer : DESOTO

The DeSoto brand of car was built by Chrysler from 1928 to 1961. The line was named after the Spanish explorer and conquistador, Hernando de Soto, widely reported as the first European to have crossed the Mississippi River (although Cabeza de Vaca had at least discovered one of the mouths of the Mississippi twenty years earlier).

41. Where climbing plants flourish? : TRELLIS ISLAND (from “Ellis Island”)

Ellis Island is an exclave of New York City that is geographically located within Jersey City, New Jersey. The name comes from a Samuel Ellis who owned the island around the time of the American Revolution. Ellis Island was the nation’s main immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954.

46. “O, that way madness lies” speaker : LEAR

“That way madness lies” is a phrase meaning “taking such an action could drive one crazy”. It is a direct quote from Shakespeare’s “King Lear”. The title character speaks the line while expressing grief for the selfish and cruel behavior of his daughters:

O Regan, Goneril,
Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave all—
Oh, that way madness lies. Let me shun that.
No more of that.

50. Many a Ph.D. : PROF

“Ph.D.” is an abbreviation for “philosophiae doctor”, Latin for “teacher of philosophy”. Often, candidates for a PhD already hold a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, so a PhD might be considered a “third degree”.

54. 50-Across’ subj., perhaps : ENG

English (Eng.)

55. Mail creator : ARMORER

Chainmail is a type of armor consisting of a mesh made from small metal rings linked together.

59. Texting qualifier : IMO

In my opinion (IMO)

60. Where some drives begin : TEE

That would be golf.

64. Common cooking ingredient : KOSHER SALT

What is labeled “kosher salt” usually isn’t “kosher-certified salt”, i.e. it hasn’t necessarily been manufactured in accordance with religious guidelines. Kosher salt is coarser than table salt, and does not include common additives such as iodine. The adjective “kosher” is a reference to the use of such salt in the Jewish religious practice known as kashering, the soaking and salting of meat in order to draw out all of the remaining blood.

66. Language that gave us “plaid” : ERSE

There are actually three Erse languages: Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be Gaeilge (in Ireland), Gaelg (on the Isle of Man) and Gaidhlig (in Scotland).

Tartan is sometimes called “plaid” over here in the US, and is a word not used in the same sense outside of this country. In Scotland, a “plaid” is a blanket or a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder.

68. Last letters in London : ZEDS

The letter named “zed” has been around since about 1400, and derives from the Greek letter zeta. The spelling and pronunciation “zee”, used in America today, first popped up in the 1670s. The spelling and pronunciation “zed” is still used in Britain and Ireland.

Down

3. Alaskan burger choice : MOOSE MEAT

The moose is the largest species in the deer family, and can stand almost at 7 feet at the shoulder. Moose are a little unusual in that they are solitary animals, unlike other deers who tend to move in herds. We use the term “moose” here in North America, but confusingly, the same animal is referred to as “elk” in British English.

4. Nittany Lions’ sch. : PSU

The athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University (PSU) are called the Nittany Lions, or in the case of the female teams, the Lady Lions. The Nittany Lion was introduced as a mascot way back in 1904 and is modeled after mountain lions that used to roam Mount Nittany located near the school’s campus.

6. Remains at the butcher : OFFAL

The internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal is referred to as “offal”. Examples of dishes that make use of offal would be sausages, foie gras, sweetbreads and haggis. The term is a melding of the words “off” and “fall”, and dates back to the 14th century. The idea is that offal is what “falls off” a butcher’s block.

7. Aerial enigma : UFO

Unidentified flying object (UFO)

Our term “enigma” meaning “puzzle, riddle” comes from the Greek “ainigma”, which means the same thing.

8. Microwave signal, sometimes : DING

Ding! The microwave has finished reheating your dinner.

9. Hardware brand : ACER

Acer is a Taiwanese company that I visited a couple of times when I was in the electronics business. I was very impressed back then with the company’s dedication to quality, although I have heard that things haven’t gone so well in recent years …

12. Mortise partner : TENON

One simple type of joint used in carpentry is a mortise and tenon. It is basically a projection carved at the end of one piece of wood that fits into a hole cut into the end of another. In the related dovetail joint, the projecting tenon is not rectangular but is cut at a bias, so that when the dovetails are joined they resist being pulled apart. You’ll see dovetail joints in drawers around the house.

16. That, in Madrid : ESA

Madrid is the largest city in Spain, and is the nation’s capital. Madrid is located very close to the geographical center of the country. It is the third-largest city in the European Union (after London and Paris). People from Madrid called themselves Madrileños.

24. __ Arbor : ANN

Ann Arbor, Michigan was founded in 1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey. Supposedly, Allen and Rumsey originally used the name “Annsarbour” in recognition of stands of bur oak that were on the land they had purchased and in recognition of their wives, both of whom were called “Ann” (i.e. Anns’ Arbor)

27. Henry VIII’s sixth : PARR

Henry VIII was the English King with the most wives. Well, something rubbed off on his last wife, Catherine Parr. She was to become the English Queen with the most husbands! By the time she married Henry she had been widowed twice, and after Henry died she married once again, racking up four husbands in all.

Famously, King Henry VIII had six queens consort. There is a rhyme that is commonly used to help remember the fates of each of his wives, which goes:

King Henry the Eighth, to six wives he was wedded. One died, one survived, two divorced, two beheaded.

The use of the term “divorce” isn’t quite accurate though, as in fact Henry had two of his marriages annulled. His wives (and their fates) were:

  1. Catherine of Aragon (Annulled),
  2. Anne Boleyn (Beheaded),
  3. Jane Seymour (Died)
  4. Anne of Cleves (Annulled),
  5. Catherine Howard (Beheaded),
  6. Catherine Parr (Survived).

30. Square root of neun : DREI

In German, “drei” (three) is the square root of “neun” (nine).

31. Find (out) : SUSS

The verb “to suss” means “to figure out”. The term originated in the 1950s as police slang, and is a shortening of “to suspect”.

34. Recital numbers : SOLI

“Soli” (the plural of “solo”) are pieces of music performed by one artist, whereas “tutti” are pieces performed by all of the artists.

36. 2014 “NCIS” spinoff locale, briefly : NOLA

The city of New Orleans, Louisiana has the nickname “The Big Easy”. This name might come from the early 1900s when musicians found it relatively “easy” to find work there. The city is also known by the acronym NOLA, standing for New Orleans (NO), LA.

NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which investigates crimes in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The service gives its name to the CBS TV show “NCIS”, a spin-off drama from “JAG” in which the main “NCIS” characters were first introduced. The big star in “NCIS” is the actor Mark Harmon. “NCIS” is now a franchise, with spin-off shows “NCIS: Los Angeles” and “NCIS: New Orleans”.

37. Pecan, for Texas : STATE TREE

The pecan is the state nut of Alabama, Arkansas, California. Also, the pecan is the state tree of Texas.

40. How brooms are usually stored : ON ONE END

The sweeping implement known as a “broom” used to called a “besom”. A besom was made from a bundle of twigs tied to a stouter pole. The favored source for the twigs came from thorny shrubs from the genus Genista. The common term for many species of Genista is “broom”. Over time, “broom besoms” came to be known simply as “brooms”.

42. Org. affected by net neutrality : ISP

The principle of Net neutrality holds that those entities managing the Internet should treat all data passing through equally. The term “Net neutrality” was coined in 2003 by Tim Wu, a media law professor at Columbia University.

46. Hanukkah serving : LATKE

A latke is a delicious potato pancake (I’m Irish, so anything made with potato is delicious!).

The term “Hanukkah” derives from the Hebrew for “to dedicate”. Hanukkah is a holiday lasting eight days that commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem after successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucids in the 2nd-century BCE. The story of Hanukkah includes the miracle of the one-day supply of oil that kept the menorah alight for eight days.

49. Basel-based pharmaceutical giant : ROCHE

The giant pharmaceutical and medical diagnostics company Hoffmann-La Roche is based in Basel, Switzerland. The company was founded back in 1896 by Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, and initially produced vitamins.

51. Feature of many a Daniel Boone depiction : RIFLE

Daniel Boone was a pioneer and folk hero. For frontiersman Boone, the frontier was what we now call the state of Kentucky. He led the building of the Wilderness Road through the famous Cumberland Gap in the Appalachians, a route subsequently taken by hundreds of thousands of migrants into Kentucky. Boone fought in the Revolutionary War with distinction, and after the war returned to Kentucky and got himself into land speculation. He became mired in debt, forcing him to emigrate to Missouri to settle down on land that was at that time owned by the French. It was there that he spent the last decades of his life.

56. GPS datum : RTE

A global positioning system (GPS) might point out a route (rte.).

57. Land of the banshee : EIRE

A banshee is a female spirit in Irish mythology, from the Irish “bean sí” meaning “woman of the fairy mounds”. The banshee is supposedly heard wailing in the night, especially when someone is about to die.

58. Civil rights icon Parks : ROSA

Rosa Parks was one of a few brave women in days gone by who refused to give up their seats on a bus to white women. It was the stand taken by Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955 that sparked the Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott. President Clinton presented Ms. Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. When she died in 2005, Rosa Parks became the first ever woman to have her body lie in honor in the US Capitol Rotunda.

62. Canadian rapper with the album “Reckless” : NAV

“NAV” is the stage name of Toronto rap artist Navraj Singh Goraya.

63. Big name in snack food : UTZ

Utz is the largest privately-held producer of snack foods in the US. The company was founded in 1921 and is based in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Chicken (out) : WIMP
5. Mild cheese : GOUDA
10. Latticework component : LATH
14. Grandson of Adam : ENOS
15. Behind-the-scenes retail space : OFFICE AREA
17. Imaginary fish? : TROUT OF ONE’S MIND (from “out of one’s mind”)
19. QBs’ targets : TES
20. Second-largest W. Hemisphere country : USA
21. Clutches : GRABS ON
22. Année quarter : ETE
23. Composer Bartók : BELA
25. Email tab : SENT
26. Water collection pit : SUMP
28. Uh-huh accompaniers : NODS
32. Participates in a biathlon for physicians? : TREATS AND RUNS (from “eats and runs”)
38. Of limited scope : NARROW
39. Old auto named for an explorer : DESOTO
41. Where climbing plants flourish? : TRELLIS ISLAND (from “Ellis Island”)
44. More than a peck : KISS
45. Yours, to Yves : A TOI
46. “O, that way madness lies” speaker : LEAR
50. Many a Ph.D. : PROF
54. 50-Across’ subj., perhaps : ENG
55. Mail creator : ARMORER
59. Texting qualifier : IMO
60. Where some drives begin : TEE
61. Tire-testing statistics? : TRACTION FIGURES (from “action figures”)
64. Common cooking ingredient : KOSHER SALT
65. Campsite sight : TENT
66. Language that gave us “plaid” : ERSE
67. Architectural projections : EAVES
68. Last letters in London : ZEDS

Down

1. Record-breaking, rainwise : WETTEST
2. Reciprocally : IN RETURN
3. Alaskan burger choice : MOOSE MEAT
4. Nittany Lions’ sch. : PSU
5. Dickensian holiday dish : GOOSE
6. Remains at the butcher : OFFAL
7. Aerial enigma : UFO
8. Microwave signal, sometimes : DING
9. Hardware brand : ACER
10. Symbols of innocence : LAMBS
11. Spring up : ARISE
12. Mortise partner : TENON
13. “I __ noticed” : HADN’T
16. That, in Madrid : ESA
18. One may include a shower : TUB
24. __ Arbor : ANN
27. Henry VIII’s sixth : PARR
29. They may be long at the track : ODDS
30. Square root of neun : DREI
31. Find (out) : SUSS
33. Long haul : TREK
34. Recital numbers : SOLI
35. Leatherworker’s set : AWLS
36. 2014 “NCIS” spinoff locale, briefly : NOLA
37. Pecan, for Texas : STATE TREE
40. How brooms are usually stored : ON ONE END
42. Org. affected by net neutrality : ISP
43. Fully comprehends : DIGESTS
46. Hanukkah serving : LATKE
47. Wrong turn, say : ERROR
48. Bring together : AMASS
49. Basel-based pharmaceutical giant : ROCHE
51. Feature of many a Daniel Boone depiction : RIFLE
52. Skips : OMITS
53. Driving hazard : FOG
56. GPS datum : RTE
57. Land of the banshee : EIRE
58. Civil rights icon Parks : ROSA
62. Canadian rapper with the album “Reckless” : NAV
63. Big name in snack food : UTZ

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