LA Times Crossword Answers 17 Jan 2018, Wednesday

Advertisement

[ad_above_grid]

Constructed by: David Poole
Edited by: Rich Norris

Advertisement

Advertisement

Today’s Theme: Math Teacher’s Favorites

Themed clues are similarly worded: “Math teacher’s favorite …” Each themed answer is a melding of a mathematical term with something referenced by the end of that clue:

  • 18A. Math teacher’s favorite sport? : TIMES TABLE TENNIS (times table & table tennis)
  • 31A. Math teacher’s favorite brew? : SQUARE ROOT BEER (square root & root beer)
  • 47A. Math teacher’s favorite hat? : PIE CHART TOPPER (pie chart & chart topper)
  • 62A. Math teacher’s favorite cut of beef? : PERFECT CUBE STEAK (perfect cube & cube steak)

Bill’s time: 6m 00s

Bill’s errors: 0

Advertisement

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6. Director of the final episode of “M*A*S*H” : ALDA

Hawkeye Pierce is the lead character in the “M*A*S*H” novel, movie and TV series. Hawkeye was originally portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the film, and then by Alan Alda in the television show. Pierce is the only character appearing in all 250 episodes of the groundbreaking TV series.

10. Food inspector’s concern : E COLI

Escherichia coli (E. coli) are usually harmless bacteria found in the human gut, working away quite happily. However, there are some strains that can produce lethal toxins. These strains can make their way into the food chain from animal fecal matter that comes into contact with food designated for human consumption.

15. Jazz singer O’Day : ANITA

“Anita O’Day” was the stage name of the jazz singer Anita Colton. She chose the name as “O’Day” is Pig Latin for “dough”, a slang term for “money”. O’Day had problems with heroin and alcohol addiction leading to erratic behavior, and earning her the nickname “The Jezebel of Jazz”.

16. Osso buco meat : VEAL

“Osso” is the Italian word for bone, as in the name of the dish “osso buco”, which features braised veal shanks.

17. Swerved at sea : YAWED

The word “yaw” means to deviate from the line of a course and is used mainly at sea. “Yaw” is derived from the Old Norse word “jaege” which means “to drive, chase”. As such, “yaw” is etymologically related to our word “yacht”.

18. Math teacher’s favorite sport? : TIMES TABLE TENNIS (times table & table tennis)

Ping-Pong is called table tennis in the UK, where the sport originated in the 1880s. Table tennis started as an after-dinner activity among the elite, and was called “wiff-waff”. To play the game, books were stacked in the center of a table as a “net”, two more books served as “”rackets” and the ball used was actually a golf ball. The game evolved over time with the rackets being upgraded to the lids of cigar boxes and the ball becoming a champagne cork (how snooty is that?). Eventually the game was produced commercially, and the sound of the ball hitting the racket was deemed to be a “ping” and a “pong”, giving the sport its alternative name. The name “Ping-Pong” was trademarked in Britain in 1901, and eventually sold to Parker Brothers in the US.

24. Rock’s Grateful __ : DEAD

The Grateful Dead were a rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area that was founded in 1965. “The Dead” disbanded in 1995 following the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia. Grateful Dead fans (the ranks of whom include my wife) refer to themselves as “Deadheads”.

26. Fiat fuel : GAS

Fiat is the largest car manufacturer in Italy, and is headquartered in Turin in the Piedmont region in the north of the country. Fiat was founded in 1899 by Giovanni Agnelli, when the company’s name was “Fabbrica Italiana di Automobili Torino” (FIAT). A few years ago, Fiat became the majority shareholder in Chrysler.

31. Math teacher’s favorite brew? : SQUARE ROOT BEER (square root & root beer)

Root beer is a beverage that is very North American, and is rarely found elsewhere in the world. Root beer originated in the 1700s and was made from the root of the sassafras plant. The traditional root beer was a beverage with a very low alcohol content, and today there are many versions that contain no alcohol at all. The sassafras root was used as the primary flavor ingredient right up until 1960, when the FDA banned its use as tests determined that it was a carcinogen.

36. Arrowhead Stadium NFL team : CHIEFS

Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri is home to Kansas City Chiefs NFL team. Arrowhead was constructed in the late sixties/early seventies as part of a two-stadium complex, alongside Kauffman Stadium that is home to the Kansas City Royals MLB team. Spectators at Arrowhead set a Guinness World Record for the loudest stadium in October 2013, in a game between the Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. They lost that record temporarily to CenturyLink Field in Seattle, but regained it in December 2013 in a game between the Chiefs and the New England Patriots.

39. Sellout sign letters : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

41. Chanel competitor : 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 reestablish Paris as the fashion center of the world.

44. 1869-’77 pres. monogram : USG

Ulysses S. Grant (USG) had risen to commander of all the Union armies by the end of the Civil War. He was elected as the 18th president of the US in 1869. Grant served two terms as president, and also made a failed bid for a third term. Grant’s reputation was tarnished by his apparent tolerance of corruption in his administration. On the other hand, Grant worked hard to protect African Americans during Reconstruction after the Civil War, and pursued peaceful relations with Native Americans.

45. Place for private dining? : MESS

“Mess” first came into English about 1300, when it described the list of food needed for a meal. The term comes from the Old French word “mes” meaning a portion of food or a course at a meal. This usage in English evolved into “mess” meaning a jumbled mass of anything, from the concept of “mixed food”. The original usage, in the sense of a food for a meal, surfaced again in the military in the 1500s when a “mess” was a communal eating place.

46. New York hockey team : SABRES

The Buffalo Sabres joined the National Hockey League in the 1970-71 season. The team took the name “Sabres” following a fan contest.

47. Math teacher’s favorite hat? : PIE CHART TOPPER (pie chart & chart topper)

A pie chart can also be referred to as a circle graph. It is often stated that Florence Nightingale invented the pie chart. While this is not in fact true, she is due credit for popularizing it, and for developing the pie chart variation known as the polar area diagram. The earliest known pie chart appears in a book published in 1801 by Scottish engineer William Playfair.

53. Activist 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.

61. Old conductance unit : MHO

Conductance (measured in mhos) is the inverse of resistance (measured in ohms). The mho has been replaced by the SI unit called the siemens.

62. Math teacher’s favorite cut of beef? : PERFECT CUBE STEAK (perfect cube & cube steak)

A perfect cube is a number that is the cube of an integer. For example, 8 is the perfect cube of 2. On the other hand, 10.648 is just the cube of 2.2 (an non-integer).

Cube steak is a cut of beef that has been tenderized and flattened by pounding. The name “cube” comes from the shape of the indentations left by the blows from a meat tenderizer.

67. As scripted : ON CUE

Our word “cue” originated as a stage direction, specifically something on or off stage that is followed by a specific line or action. “Cue” come from “Q”, which was possibly an abbreviation for the Latin “quando” meaning “when”. Shakespeare’s texts use “Q” and “cue” interchangeably.

68. World Golf Hall of Famer Isao : AOKI

Isao Aoki is one of Japan’s greatest golfers. Aoki’s best finish in a major tournament was runner-up to Jack Nicklaus in the 1980 US Open.

69. Cosmic comeuppance : KARMA

Karma is religious concept with its basis in Indian faiths. Karma embraces the notion of cause and effect. Good deeds have good consequences at some later point in one’s life, one’s future life, or one’s afterlife. And, bad deeds have bad consequences.

To receive one’s “comeuppance” is to get one’s just deserts, an unpleasant consequence for one’s actions. The term likely comes from the concept of being told to “come up” to a higher authority for judgment.

71. Editorial override : STET

“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

Down

1. With __ breath : BATED

“Bated breath” is breath that has lessened in intensity, that has “abated”.

2. Japanese art genre : ANIME

Anime is cartoon animation in the style of Japanese Manga comic books.

3. “L.A. Confidential” Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner : KIM BASINGER

Kim Basinger’s big break in movies came when she played a Bond girl, Domino Petachi in “Never Say Never Again” opposite Sean Connery. Basinger’s more famous roles were in “L.A. Confidential”, “9½ Weeks” and “8 Mile”. My personal favorite of her films though was the thriller “Cellular”, released in 2004.

“L.A. Confidential” is a 1997 movie based on a novel of the same name by James Ellroy that was first published in 1990. The story is set in the early fifties and is built around a multiple homicide at the Nite Owl coffee shop.

4. Bastille Day time : ETE

In French, the season of “été” (summer) starts in “juin” (June).

The Bastille is a former fortress in Paris that was used as a prison by the kings of France. On 14 July 1789, an angry mob stormed the Bastille during the French Revolution. The mob was actually after the stores of gunpowder in the fortress, but while inside the building freed seven prisoners and killed the Bastille’s governor. The storming of the Bastille became a symbol of the French Revolution and has been celebrated in France on every July 14th since 1790. That celebration is referred to as “la fête nationale” (the national day) in France, but in English-speaking countries it is usually known as “Bastille Day”.

6. Gamer’s game face : AVATAR

The Sanskrit word “avatar” describes the concept of a deity descending into earthly life and taking on a persona. It’s easy to see how in the world of “online presences” one might use the word avatar to describe one’s online identity.

7. Syr. neighbor : LEB

Lebanon lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. The nation has a rich cultural history, and was home to the ancient civilization of Phoenicia. The name “Lebanon” derives from the Semitic word “lbn” meaning “white”, and is probably a reference to the snow that caps the mountain range known as Mount Lebanon, which parallels the Mediterranean coast.

8. Half a chipmunk team : DALE

Chip ‘n’ Dale are two chipmunk characters created by Disney in 1943. The characters’ names are a pun on “Chippendale”, the family name of noted English furniture designer Thomas Chippendale.

9. “Roots” author Haley : ALEX

Not only did Alex Haley author the magnificent novel “Roots”, but he was also the collaborator with Malcolm X on “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”. His 1976 novel “Roots” is based on Haley’s own family history, and he claimed to be a direct descendant of the real life Kunta Kinte, the slave who was kidnapped in the Gambia in 1767. If you remember the original television adaptation of “Roots”, you might recall that Kunta Kinte was played by LeVar Burton, who later went on to play another famous role, Geordi La Forge on “Star Trek: the Next Generation”.

11. Cambridge student, informally : CANTAB

The term “Cantabrigian” is used for things pertaining to the city of Cambridge. Often, the term is narrowed to refer to things associated with Cambridge University in particular. “Cantabrigian” comes from the Latin “Cantabrigia”, the medieval name for the city, from the Anglo-Saxon name “Cantebrigge”. The term is frequently shortened to “Cantab”.

14. TSA requests : IDS

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks that check passengers and baggage at airports.

19. Roman robes : TOGAS

In Ancient Rome the classical attire known as a toga (plural “togae”) was usually worn over a tunic. The tunic was made from linen, and the toga itself was a piece of cloth about twenty feet long made from wool. The toga could only be worn by men, and only if those men were Roman citizens. The female equivalent of the toga was called a “stola”.

20. Major Arcana deck : TAROT

Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future. The list of tarot cards includes the Wheel of Fortune, the Hanged Man and the Lovers.

In a 78-card tarot deck, there are four 14-card suits known as the four Minor Arcana. There is also a 21-card trump suit, and a card referred to as the Fool. The Fool and trump suit are sometimes collectively called the Major Arcana.

25. Kicked out of the game, informally : DQ’ED

“DQ” is short for “disqualify”.

29. The Joker portrayer on TV : CESAR ROMERO

Cesar Romero was an American actor of Cuban descent from New York. He played a wide variety of roles on the big screen, but is remembered by many for playing the Joker on the “Batman” television show in the sixties.

30. __ Haute : TERRE

Terre Haute, Indiana is a city close to the state’s western border with Illinois. The city is home to a state prison which in turn is home to the state’s death row. The name “Terre Haute” was chosen by French explorers in the 18th century to describe the location, as “terre haute” is French for “high ground”.

32. Many a tabloid pic : UFO

“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs, Wellcome and Co,) 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”, applied to newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

36. Lingerie size : C-CUP

“Lingerie” is a French term, but 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).

37. Member of a strict Jewish sect : HASID

The Hasidic Jewish movement was founded in the 18th century by Baal Shem Tov, a mystical rabbi from Eastern Europe.

41. Article written by Marx and Engels? : DER

Karl Marx was a German philosopher and revolutionary who helped develop the principles of modern communism and socialism. Marx argued that feudal society created internal strife due to class inequalities which led to its destruction and replacement by capitalism. He further argued that the inequalities created in a capitalist society create tensions that will also lead to its self-destruction. His thesis was that the inevitable replacement of capitalism was a classless (and stateless) society, which he called pure communism.

Friedrich Engels was a German political theorist who worked closely with Karl Marx to develop what became known as Marxist Theory. Along with Marx, he also co-authored “The Communist Manifesto” in 1848, and later he supported Marx as he worked to publish “Das Kapital”.

46. Future fern : SPORE

Spores are produced by many bacteria, fungi and non-flowering plants. A spore is a reproductive body encased in a protective shell that is highly resistant to damage, and resistant to heat in particular.

48. Downy amount : CAPFUL

Downy is a brand of fabric softener produced by Procter & Gamble.

55. Fine : A-OKAY

Our term “A-OK” is supposedly an abbreviation for “A(ll systems are) OK”, and arose in the sixties during the Space Program.

58. Many a bagpiper : SCOT

Bagpipes have been played for centuries all across Europe, in parts of Asia and North Africa, and in the Persian Gulf. However, the most famous versions of the instrument today are the Scottish Great Highland bagpipe and the Irish uilleann pipes, my personal favorite (I’m biased). The bag in the Scottish version is inflated by blowing into it, whereas the Irish version uses a bellows under the arm.

64. Label for Elvis : RCA

RCA Records is the second-oldest recording label in the US, after Columbia Records.

65. Hula strings : UKE

The ukulele (“uke”) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

The hula is a native dance of Hawaii that uses arm movements to relate a story. The hula can be performed while sitting (a noho dance) or while standing (a luna dance).

66. Lao Tzu ideal : TAO

Lao Tse (also “Lao-Tzu”) was a central figure in the development of the religion/philosophy of Taoism. Tradition holds that Lao-Tzu wrote the “Tao Te Ching”, a classical Chinese text that is fundamental to the philosophy of Taoism.

Advertisement

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Like most cookies : BAKED
6. Director of the final episode of “M*A*S*H” : ALDA
10. Food inspector’s concern : E COLI
15. Jazz singer O’Day : ANITA
16. Osso buco meat : VEAL
17. Swerved at sea : YAWED
18. Math teacher’s favorite sport? : TIMES TABLE TENNIS (times table & table tennis)
21. Diplomatic bldg. : EMB
22. Flying off the shelves : HOT
23. Praise to the heavens : EXALT
24. Rock’s Grateful __ : DEAD
26. Fiat fuel : GAS
28. Perspire nervously, say : REACT
31. Math teacher’s favorite brew? : SQUARE ROOT BEER (square root & root beer)
36. Arrowhead Stadium NFL team : CHIEFS
38. Mark for deletion : X OUT
39. Sellout sign letters : SRO
40. Very confident : CAN-DO
41. Chanel competitor : DIOR
42. Museum worker : GUARD
44. 1869-’77 pres. monogram : USG
45. Place for private dining? : MESS
46. New York hockey team : SABRES
47. Math teacher’s favorite hat? : PIE CHART TOPPER (pie chart & chart topper)
51. Bathtub outlet : DRAIN
52. Product prefix suggesting winter : SNO-
53. Activist Parks : ROSA
56. Minds someone else’s business : PRIES
59. Slice of history : ERA
61. Old conductance unit : MHO
62. Math teacher’s favorite cut of beef? : PERFECT CUBE STEAK (perfect cube & cube steak)
67. As scripted : ON CUE
68. World Golf Hall of Famer Isao : AOKI
69. Cosmic comeuppance : KARMA
70. Gives a hand, in a way : DEALS
71. Editorial override : STET
72. Hog caller’s call : SOOEY!

Down

1. With __ breath : BATED
2. Japanese art genre : ANIME
3. “L.A. Confidential” Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner : KIM BASINGER
4. Bastille Day time : ETE
5. Short run : DASH
6. Gamer’s game face : AVATAR
7. Syr. neighbor : LEB
8. Half a chipmunk team : DALE
9. “Roots” author Haley : ALEX
10. Shoelace hole : EYELET
11. Cambridge student, informally : CANTAB
12. Have title to : OWN
13. Luau loop : LEI
14. TSA requests : IDS
19. Roman robes : TOGAS
20. Major Arcana deck : TAROT
25. Kicked out of the game, informally : DQ’ED
27. Gender-specific, to some : SEXIST
29. The Joker portrayer on TV : CESAR ROMERO
30. __ Haute : TERRE
32. Many a tabloid pic : UFO
33. Fowl poles? : ROOSTS
34. Possessive word : OUR
35. Fishing gear : RODS
36. Lingerie size : C-CUP
37. Member of a strict Jewish sect : HASID
41. Article written by Marx and Engels? : DER
42. Break : GAP
43. App offering fare estimates : UBER
45. Wildly excited : MANIC
46. Future fern : SPORE
48. Downy amount : CAPFUL
49. New faces around the water cooler : HIREES
50. In the slightest : ONE BIT
54. Disgrace : SHAME
55. Fine : A-OKAY
57. Flight sked data : ETAS
58. Many a bagpiper : SCOT
60. Wants to know : ASKS
62. Sci-fi escape vehicle : POD
63. St. Louis-to-Indianapolis dir. : ENE
64. Label for Elvis : RCA
65. Hula strings : UKE
66. Lao Tzu ideal : TAO

Advertisement