LA Times Crossword Answers 26 Mar 2018, Monday

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Constructed by: Paul Coulter
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Reveal Answer: La La Land

Themed answers are LAND locations that include two incidents of the letter sequence LA. Those “LA” sequences are circled in the grid:

  • 40D. 2016 Gosling/Stone film … and, as shown by circles, what each of four answers is : LA LA LAND
  • 17A. Narrow land formation along the Bering Sea : ALASKA PENINSULA
  • 33A. Upstate New York Winter Olympics village : LAKE PLACID
  • 42A. Washington city with a repetitive name : WALLA WALLA
  • 58A. Scottish archipelago : SHETLAND ISLANDS

Bill’s time: 4m 40s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Norway’s capital : OSLO

Oslo is the capital of Norway. The city of Oslo burns trash to fuel half of its buildings, including all of its schools. The problem faced by the city is that it doesn’t generate enough trash. So, Oslo imports trash from Sweden, England and Ireland, and is now looking to import some American trash too.

5. Central Florida city : OCALA

The city of Ocala, Florida was founded near a historic village with the same name. In the local Timucua language “Ocala” means “Big Hammock”. Back in the 1890s, Ocala was famous for its oranges, with over one third of that fruit shipped from Florida coming from the city. Also, thoroughbred horse farming in Florida started in Ocala, back in 1943. Some folks today call Ocala the “Horse Capital of the World”, but I bet that’s disputed by others …

17. Narrow land formation along the Bering Sea : ALASKA PENINSULA

The Alaska Peninsula is the 500-mile long peninsula that stretches from the Alaskan mainland out to the Aleutian Islands. The peninsula separates Bristol Bay in the Bering Sea to the northeast from the Pacific Ocean to the south.

22. Billionaire Bill : GATES

Bill Gates is the former CEO of Microsoft, a company that he co-founded with Paul Allen. Gates has been listed as the wealthiest man in the world on several occasion over the past two decades. He now works full-time as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside his wife Melinda. The Gates’ foundation is the largest transparently-operated charitable foundation in the world.

29. “Citizen Kane” sled : ROSEBUD

A central plot line in the 1941 movie “Citizen Kane” is a newsreel reporter’s quest to find the meaning of the dying word “Rosebud” spoken by the title character. Spoiler Alert … it is revealed at the end of the movie that “Rosebud” is the name of the sled used by Kane in his childhood, which was the only period of his life in which he was really happy.

33. Upstate New York Winter Olympics village : LAKE PLACID

Beautiful Lake Placid in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State borders the village of Lake Placid, which famously was host of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics. Here in the US, the most memorable event of the 1980 Winter Games was the “Miracle on Ice”, in which an amateur US hockey team beat what was in effect a professional USSR team, and then went on to win gold. A lesser known fact from the 1980 Games is that the Lake Placid Middle/High School served as a private bar for the Olympics. It is the only high school in the US to have been issued a license to serve alcohol.

36. Acapulco article : UNA

The Mexican city of Acapulco is on the southwest coast of the country, in the state of Guerrero. The name “Acapulco” translates from the local language into “at the big reeds”.

37. O. Henry specialty : IRONY

“O. Henry” was the pen name of writer William Sydney Porter from Greensboro, North Carolina. O. Henry is famous for his witty short stories that have a clever twist in the tail.

38. It was thrown into the harbor in a 1773 “party” : TEA

The famous destruction of tea in Boston Harbor to protest against the Tea Act took place on December 16, 1773. The action was referred to as the “destruction of the tea” for decades, and it wasn’t until 1834 that the term “Boston Tea Party” first appeared in print.

39. Ingenious : SLICK

Here are a couple of words, the spelling of which I find easy to confound. Someone who is “ingenious” is clever and inventive, exhibits “ingenuity”. Someone who is “ingenuous” is innocent and unsuspecting, like an “ingenue”.

42. Washington city with a repetitive name : WALLA WALLA

The Washington city of Walla Walla used to be called Steptoeville. It was named for Edward Steptoe, an officer in the US Army who served in the Indian Wars. Walla Walla is a Native American phrase meaning “place of many waters”.

48. Hi-tech worker : BOT

“Bot” is an alternative name for a robot.

49. Hindu deity : SHIVA

Shiva is one of the major deities of the Hindu tradition, and is known as the destroyer of evil and the transformer. Shiva is also part of the Hindu trinity known as the Trimurti, along with Brahma and Vishnu.

54. Spy org. called “The Company” : CIA

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the successor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed during WWII. The CIA was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947. The organization is often referred to familiarly as “the Company”.

55. 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).

58. Scottish archipelago : SHETLAND ISLANDS

The Shetland Islands in Scotland have given their name to a few breeds of animals, including Shetland cattle, Shetland ponies, Shetland sheep, Shetland sheepdogs and Shetland geese. The Shetlands lie about 110 miles northeast of the Scottish mainland.

63. Ball girl : BELLE

That would be the “belle of the ball”.

A beau (plural “beaux”) is the boyfriend of a belle, a young lady. “Beau” and “belle” are the masculine and feminine forms of the French word for “handsome, beautiful”.

66. Nuclear trial : A-TEST

Atomic test (A-test)

Down

6. “RUR” playwright : CAPEK

Karel Čapek was a Czech writer noted for his works of science fiction. Čapek’s 1920 play “R.U.R.” is remembered in part for introducing the world to the word “robot”. The words “automaton” and “android” were already in use, but Capek gave us “robot” from the original Czech “robota” meaning “forced labor”. The acronym “R.U.R.”, in the context of the play, stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots”.

8. Word with wolf or Ranger : LONE …

“The Lone Ranger” was both a radio and television show, dating back to its first radio performance in 1933 on a Detroit station. The line “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” was a device used in the storyline to signal that a riding sequence was starting, so cue the music!

9. Shapiro of NPR : ARI

Ari Shapiro was the very able White House correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) for several years. He became a co-host of network’s drive-time program “All Things Considered” in 2015.

10. Countenance : VISAGE

“Visage” is the French word for “face”, and is a term we’ve imported into English to mean “face” or “facial expression”.

12. “A __ of Two Cities” : TALE

“A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens is the most printed book that was originally written in English. The novel was first published in 1859 in 31 weekly installments in a literary periodical called “All the Year Round”, which Dickens himself produced. The “two cities” in the title are London and Paris.

13. Mmes., in Madrid : SRAS

Madrid is the largest city in Spain and the 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.

18. __ Kreme: doughnut brand : KRISPY

The Krispy Kreme chain of doughnut stores was founded in 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The company introduced the Whole Wheat Glazed doughnut in 2007, great for folks looking to eat a healthy diet, I am sure …

19. Private nonprofits: Abbr. : NGOS

Non-governmental organization (NGO)

24. Mo. town : STL

The city of Saint Louis, Missouri was founded by French explorers in 1763. Sitting on the Mississippi River it grew into a very busy port. By the 1850s was the second busiest port in the country, with only New York moving more freight.

26. “Mudbound” actress Mary J. __ : BLIGE

Mary J. Blige is a singer-songwriter from the the Bronx, New York. Her best known album is probably “My Life”, released in 1994. Blige is also making a name for herself as an actress, and was nominated for several awards for her performance in the 2017 film “Mudbound”.

“Mudbound” is a 2017 film based on a 2008 novel of the same name by “Hillary Jordan”. The plot centers on two WWII veterans returning home to rural Mississippi.

27. Composer Copland : AARON

Aaron Copland was the most American of all classical composers, I think. Perhaps his most famous work is the “Fanfare for the Common Man”. The piece was written in 1942 and was intended to be uplifting in the gloomy years leading up to WWII. “Fanfare” is recognized not just for performances of the original, but also for the progressive rock version that was recorded by Emerson, Lake & Palmer in 1977.

28. Norwegian toast : SKOAL

“Skoal” is a Swedish and Norwegian toast that has roots in the old Norse word “skaal” meaning “cup”.

29. Mideast money : RIAL

“Rial” is the name of the currency of Iran (as well as Yemen, Oman, Cambodia and Tunisia). Generally, there are 1,000 baisa in a rial.

32. Senegal’s capital : DAKAR

The Republic of Senegal is a country on the far western coast of Africa. For many years Senegal was a French colony, gaining independence in 1960. The capital of Senegal is Dakar. Dakar is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean, thus making it the westernmost capital on the African mainland.

35. Animation frame : CEL

In the world of animation, a cel is a transparent sheet on which objects and characters are drawn. In the first half of the 20th century the sheet was actually made of celluloid, giving the “cel” its name.

40. 2016 Gosling/Stone film … and, as shown by circles, what each of four answers is : LA LA LAND

“La La Land” is a 2016 romantic musical film starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a musician and actress who fall in love in “La La Land” (Los Angeles, i.e. “LA”). The film was written and directed by Damien Chazelle, who had found success two years earlier with the musical drama “Whiplash”. “La La Land” won a record-breaking seven Golden Globes and tied the record number of Oscar nominations at fourteen, winning six.

Ryan Gosling is a Canadian actor who really seems to be riding high right now. He is one of a string of entertainers to graduate from the Mickey Mouse Club on the Disney Channel.

The actress Emma Stone is from Scottsdale, Arizona. Stone really came to prominence with her performance in the 2010 high school movie called “Easy A”. She won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the 2016 movie “La La Land”. Now one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood, Stone values her privacy and works hard to maintain a low profile. Good for her, I say …

46. Monastic hood : COWL

A cowl is a long garment with a hood that is primarily worn by monks in the the Christian tradition.

52. Loafer or moc : SHOE

The type of slip-on shoe called a “loafer” dates back to 1939. “Loafer” was originally a brand name introduced by the Fortnum and Mason’s store in London.

54. Tech news site : CNET

c|net is an excellent technology website. c|net started out in 1994 as a television network specializing in technology news. The host of “American Idol”, Ryan Seacrest, started off his career as host of a c|net show.

56. __ B’rith : B’NAI

B’nai B’rith is a Jewish service organization founded in New York City in 1843. “B’nai B’rith” is Hebrew for “Sons of the Covenant”.

59. Attorneys’ org. : ABA

American Bar Association (ABA)

61. Retired flier, briefly : SST

The most famous Supersonic Transport (SST) was the Concorde, a plane that’s no longer flying. Concorde had that famous “droop nose”. The nose was moved to the horizontal position during flight to create the optimum aerodynamic shape thereby reducing drag. It was lowered during taxi, takeoff and landing, so that the pilot had better visibility. The need for the droop nose was driven largely by the delta-shaped wings. The delta wing necessitates a higher angle of attack at takeoff and landing than conventional wing designs, so the pilot needed the nose lowered so that he or she could see the ground.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Norway’s capital : OSLO
5. Central Florida city : OCALA
10. Distillery containers : VATS
14. Procrastinator’s promise : SOON
15. Something in the air : VAPOR
16. Building beam : I-BAR
17. Narrow land formation along the Bering Sea : ALASKA PENINSULA
20. Price hike: Abbr. : INCR
21. Bard’s “before” : ERE
22. Billionaire Bill : GATES
23. Puts on the line : RISKS
25. Marshy area : BOG
26. Most despicable : BASEST
29. “Citizen Kane” sled : ROSEBUD
33. Upstate New York Winter Olympics village : LAKE PLACID
36. Acapulco article : UNA
37. O. Henry specialty : IRONY
38. It was thrown into the harbor in a 1773 “party” : TEA
39. Ingenious : SLICK
41. __ long way: help considerably : GO A
42. Washington city with a repetitive name : WALLA WALLA
44. Intertwined : ENLACED
47. Not as cold, as weather : MILDER
48. Hi-tech worker : BOT
49. Hindu deity : SHIVA
51. “Nonsense!” : PSHAW!
54. Spy org. called “The Company” : CIA
55. Hamburg’s river : ELBE
58. Scottish archipelago : SHETLAND ISLANDS
62. Hot under the collar : SORE
63. Ball girl : BELLE
64. Bothers no end : NAGS
65. Like golf balls at the start of a hole, usually : TEED
66. Nuclear trial : A-TEST
67. Weight loss plan : DIET

Down

1. Mama bear, in Mexico : OSA
2. Songs sung alone : SOLI
3. Student aid : LOAN
4. In the movies : ON SCREEN
5. Egg cells : OVA
6. “RUR” playwright : CAPEK
7. Copycats : APERS
8. Word with wolf or Ranger : LONE …
9. Shapiro of NPR : ARI
10. Countenance : VISAGE
11. Adjoin : ABUT
12. “A __ of Two Cities” : TALE
13. Mmes., in Madrid : SRAS
18. __ Kreme: doughnut brand : KRISPY
19. Private nonprofits: Abbr. : NGOS
24. Mo. town : STL
25. Physique, informally : BOD
26. “Mudbound” actress Mary J. __ : BLIGE
27. Composer Copland : AARON
28. Norwegian toast : SKOAL
29. Mideast money : RIAL
30. Erect a house : BUILD
31. Parent’s brother : UNCLE
32. Senegal’s capital : DAKAR
34. Barely more than not at all : A TAD
35. Animation frame : CEL
39. Turn like a chair : SWIVEL
40. 2016 Gosling/Stone film … and, as shown by circles, what each of four answers is : LA LA LAND
42. Dripping __: soaked : WET
43. Parisian pal : AMI
45. Died down : ABATED
46. Monastic hood : COWL
49. Move furtively : SIDLE
50. Waves for, as a taxi : HAILS
51. Hissed “Hey!” : PSST!
52. Loafer or moc : SHOE
53. “Take this” : HERE
54. Tech news site : CNET
56. __ B’rith : B’NAI
57. Barely beat : EDGE
59. Attorneys’ org. : ABA
60. Filming site : SET
61. Retired flier, briefly : SST

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