LA Times Crossword 19 Nov 18, Monday

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Constructed by: Jerry Edelstein
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Horse Around

Themed answers comprise two parts, each of which goes with the word HORSE. The first part of the themed answer follows HORSE, and the second part precedes HORSE:

  • 59A. Engage in tomfoolery … and a hint to what goes with each part of the answers to starred clues, but not in the same way : HORSE AROUND
  • 17A. *Kids’ recreational garb : PLAY CLOTHES (horseplay & clothes horse)
  • 23A. *Two-person log cutter : WHIPSAW (horsewhip & sawhorse)
  • 36A. *Soar : FLY HIGH (horse-fly & high horse)
  • 49A. *Daytona 500, e.g. : CAR RACE (horsecar & racehorse)
  • 3D. *Economic conflict often involving tariffs : TRADE WAR (horse trade & warhorse)
  • 38D. *Hiker’s carryall : BACKPACK (horseback & packhorse)

Bill’s time: 5m 11s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4. Sultan’s group : HAREM

“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.

9. Prickly seedcase : BUR

“Bur” is a variant spelling of the word “burr”. Both terms apply to a seed vessel that has hooks or prickles on the outside.

12. Organ with a hammer and anvil : EAR

The middle ear is the portion of the ear immediately behind the eardrum. The middle ear contains three small bones called the ossicles, the three smallest bones in the human body. The ossicles’ job is to transmit sound from the outer ear to the inner ear. The shape of the bones gives rise to their names: the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus) and stirrup (stapes).

16. Actress Longoria : EVA

Eva Longoria is a fashion model and actress who had a regular role on TV’s “Desperate Housewives” playing Gabrielle Solis.

19. Revolutionary British soldiers : REDCOATS

Here in the US, we refer to the British soldiers fighting in the revolutionary war as “Redcoats”, a reference to the color of their uniforms. Nowadays in the British Army, the red tunic is reserved only for ceremonial purposes. The vivid color proved to be a detriment after the invention of the rifle.

21. John of “Fawlty Towers” : CLEESE

The magnificent actor and comedian John Cleese came to the public’s attention as a cast member in the BBC’s comedy sketch show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. Cleese then co-wrote and starred in the outstanding comedy “Fawlty Towers”. He even had a role in two “James Bond” films.

“Fawlty Towers” might just be the world’s greatest sitcom, and is popular on both sides of the Atlantic. It was written by, and starred, John Cleese and his then-wife Connie Booth. There were two series, one broadcast in 1975, and the other in 1979. There have been three attempts to remake the series in the US, one of which starred John Larroquette as Basil Fawlty, but none of the remakes worked at all.

23. *Two-person log cutter : WHIPSAW (horsewhip & sawhorse)

A whipsaw (also “pit saw”) is a two-man saw that was originally designed for use in a saw pit. A large log would be placed on top of the pit. The “pit-man” would work under the log, and the “top-man” above it. The sawing action was in the vertical, with the blade cutting on the downstroke.

24. Little chess piece : PAWN

In the game of chess, the pawns are the weakest pieces on the board. A pawn that can make it to the opposite of the board can be promoted to a piece of choice, usually a queen. Using promotion of pawns, it is possible for a player to have two or more queens on the board at one time. However, standard chess sets come with only one queen per side, so a captured rook is often used as the second queen by placing it on the board upside down.

26. Genetic initials : RNA

Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by what is called transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA.

28. UFO passengers, presumably : ETS

One might speculate that an unidentified flying object (UFO) is flown by an extraterrestrial (ET).

29. On the house : GRATIS

Something provided “gratis” is supplied free of charge. “Gratis” is a Latin term, a contraction of “gratiis” meaning “for thanks”.

32. Elicit : EDUCE

To educe is to draw out, although the term can also have a meaning similar to “deduce”.

36. *Soar : FLY HIGH (horse-fly & high horse)

Horse-flies are a family of flies that is noted for biting animals to obtain blood. It is only the females that seek out blood, doing so to to get enough protein to produce eggs. When not feeding on blood, horse-flies live on nectar and other suspensions produced by plants.

38. Dickens pen name : BOZ

The English author Charles Dickens used the pen-name “Boz” early in his career. He had already established himself as the most famous novelist of the Victorian Era when he came to visit America in 1842. He was honored by 3,000 of New York’s elite at a “Boz Ball” in the Park Theater.

41. City hall bigwig : MAYOR

A bigwig is someone important. The use of the term harks back to the days when men of authority and rank wore … big wigs.

44. Artist’s deg. : MFA

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

46. Moscow’s land: Abbr. : RUS

Moscow is the capital of Russia. If one considers Europe to be all points west of the Ural Mountains, then Moscow is the most populous city on the European continent. Moscow also is home to more billionaires than any other city in the world, according to “Forbes” magazine. The city is named for the Moskva River which flows through Moscow. People from Moscow are referred to as Muscovites.

49. *Daytona 500, e.g. : CAR RACE (horsecar & racehorse)

The coastal city of Daytona Beach in Florida is known for hard-packed sand on the beach. This makes a good surface for driving motorized vehicles, and resulted in Daytona Beach becoming a center for motorsports. The Daytona 500 is the event with the largest purse on the NASCAR calendar.

A horsecar is a horse-drawn tram or streetcar. The first horsecar passenger service started operation in Swansea in South Wales in the UK in 1807. The first such service in the US launched in New York City in 1832.

59. Engage in tomfoolery … and a hint to what goes with each part of the answers to starred clues, but not in the same way : HORSE AROUND

In Middle English, in the mid-14th century, a mentally deficient man might be referred to as a “Thom Foole”. We retain the old pejorative term in our contemporary word “tomfoolery” meaning “clowning around”.

64. Michael of “SNL” : CHE

Michael Che is a standup comedian from New York City. Che had worked as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), and then started to appear in front of SNL cameras in September 1914. One of his roles was co-anchor for the “Weekend Update” segment of the show.

67. London’s __ Gardens : KEW

Kew Gardens is a beautiful location in southwest London that was formerly known as the Royal Botanic Gardens. Kew Gardens has the world’s largest collection of living plants.

Down

3. *Economic conflict often involving tariffs : TRADE WAR (horse trade & warhorse)

“David Harum” by Edward Noyes Westcott was a very successful novel when it was first published in 1899. The book is noted for introducing the colloquial term “horse trading” into the language (meaning “shady business practices”).

4. “Papa Bear” of football : HALAS

The NFL’s George Stanley Halas, Sr. was nicknamed “Papa Bear”. He also earned the well-deserved nickname of “Mr Everything” as he was a player, coach, inventor, jurist, producer, philanthropist, philatelist and NFL owner. He led the Chicago Bears from 1921 to 1967.

5. 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.

6. “Curious George” creators Hans and Margret : REYS

Curious George is a character in a series of children’s books written by husband and wife Hans Augusto and Margret Rey. The couple wrote the original stories in Paris, taking the manuscripts with them as they fled from the city ahead of the Nazi invasion in 1940.

7. Corner PC key : ESC

The escape key (Esc) was originally used to control computer peripherals. It was a key that allowed the computer operator to stop what the peripheral was doing (cancel a print job, for example). Nowadays the escape key is used for all sorts of things, especially in gaming programs.

8. Chips in a garden : MULCH

Mulch is a layer of material applied by gardeners over the top of soil. The intent can be to retain moisture, to add nutrients, to reduce weed growth, or just to improve the look of the garden.

14. __ sci: college major : POLI

Political science (poli sci)

18. Conical home : TEPEE

A tepee (also written as “tipi” and “teepee”) is a cone-shaped tent traditionally made from animal hides that is used by the Great Plains Native Americans. A wigwam is a completely different structure and is often a misnomer for a tepee. A wigwam is a domed structure built by Native Americans in the West and Southwest, intended to be a more permanent dwelling. The wigwam can also be covered with hides but more often was covered with grass, reeds, brush or cloth.

20. Ray Charles’ “I __ Stop Loving You” : CAN’T

The song “I Can’t Stop Loving You” was written by country singer Don Gibson, and first released by him in 1958. The most successful cover version was by Ray Charles, which version made it to the top of the charts in 1962.

Ray Charles came up with his stage name by dropping the family name from his real moniker “Ray Charles Robinson”. His life was a wild ride, well represented in the excellent biopic called “Ray” released in 2004 and starring Jamie Foxx in the title role. Ray Charles was married twice and fathered 12 children with nine different women. As I said, a wild ride …

23. Dry riverbed : WADI

“Wadi” is an Arabic term referring to a valley, or perhaps a (mostly) dry riverbed. In English we might call this a wash, or in Spanish an “arroyo”.

24. Links gp. : PGA

The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) was founded in 1916 and today has its headquarters (unsurprisingly) in Florida, where so many golfers live. Back in 1916, the PGA was based in New York City.

The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name “links” comes from the Old English word “hlinc” meaning “rising ground”. “Hlinc” was used to describe areas with coastal sand dunes or open parkland. As a result, we use the term “links course” to mean a golf course that is located at or on the coast, often amid sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

25. Radio host Shapiro : ARI

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

27. India’s first prime minister : NEHRU

Jawaharlal Nehru was the very first prime minister of India, serving from 1947-64. Nehru was basically the heir to his mentor Mahatma Gandhi. Nehru’s only daughter Indira, also became prime minister (known as Indira Gandhi through marriage, though she was no relation to Mahatma).

30. “__ tree falls … ” : IF A

If a tree falls in a forest and nobody’s around to hear it, does it make a sound? Answers on a postcard please …

34. Former Energy secretary Steven : CHU

Steven Chu is a former Secretary of Energy in the Obama Cabinet. Chu is a physicist by trade, and a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997.

39. Beatle bride : ONO

John Lennon and Yoko Ono married at the height of the Vietnam War in 1969. The couple decided to use the inevitable publicity surrounding their wedding and honeymoon to promote peace in the world. They honeymooned in the Presidential Suite of the Amsterdam Hilton, inviting the world’s press to join them and to witness their “bed-in”. They spent the week talking about peace, and an end to war. The marriage and bed-in is chronicled by the Beatles in their song “The Ballad of John and Yoko”.

40. Buddhist discipline : ZEN

Zen is a Buddhist school that developed its own tradition in China back in the 7th century AD. Zen is a Japanese spelling of the Chinese word “chan”, which in turn derives from the Sanskrit word “dhyana” meaning “meditation”.

41. Roger who hit 61 in ’61 : MARIS

Roger Maris (whose original family name was “Maras”) was the son of Croatian immigrants. It was Maris’s single-season record of 61 home runs that Mark McGwire broke in 1998 (hitting 70 that season). Maris’s own record of 61 runs (from 1961) beat the previous record of 60 set in 1927 by Babe Ruth.

45. Bordeaux brothers : FRERES

Bordeaux is perhaps the wine-production capital of the world. Wine has been produced in the area since the eighth century. Bordeaux has an administrative history too. During WWII, the French government relocated from Paris to the port city of Bordeaux when it became clear that Paris was soon to fall to the Germans. After the Germans took France, the capital was famously moved to Vichy.

47. Neaten (up) : SPRUCE

Our verb “to spruce up” means “to make trim or neat”. The term comes from the adjective “spruce”, meaning “smart, neat”. In turn, the adjective comes from “spruce leather”, which was a Prussian leather that was used in England in the 15th and 16th centuries to make a popular style of jerkin that was widely considered to look quite smart.

49. Silver salmon : COHOS

The Coho salmon is dark blue with silver along the side of its body, but only during the phase of its life while it is in the ocean. When spawning and heading up into a freshwater river, the Coho has bright red sides.

57. 1975 Wimbledon winner Arthur : ASHE

The great American tennis player Arthur Ashe spent the last years of his life writing his memoir called “Days of Grace”. He finished the manuscript just a few days before he passed away, dying from AIDS caused by a tainted blood transfusion.

Wimbledon is a suburb of London located in the southwest of the metropolis. Wimbledon translates from Old English as “Wynnman’s Hill”, with “dun” being an archaic word for “hill”. And, the district is home to the All England Club where the Wimbledon tennis championships are played each year.

60. Troy, N.Y., school : RPI

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is a private school in Troy, New York. The university is named after its founder Stephen Van Rensselaer who set up the school in 1824. The goal of RPI has always been the “application of science to the common purposes of life”, an objective set by the founder. Given that, the name for the school’s sports teams is quite apt: the Engineers.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Fast plane : JET
4. Sultan’s group : HAREM
9. Prickly seedcase : BUR
12. Organ with a hammer and anvil : EAR
13. Puts money away, as for retirement : SAVES UP
15. Opposite of WNW : ESE
16. Actress Longoria : EVA
17. *Kids’ recreational garb : PLAY CLOTHES (horseplay & clothes horse)
19. Revolutionary British soldiers : REDCOATS
21. John of “Fawlty Towers” : CLEESE
22. __ lot: stuffs oneself : EATS A
23. *Two-person log cutter : WHIPSAW (horsewhip & sawhorse)
24. Little chess piece : PAWN
26. Genetic initials : RNA
28. UFO passengers, presumably : ETS
29. On the house : GRATIS
32. Elicit : EDUCE
35. Put on TV : AIR
36. *Soar : FLY HIGH (horse-fly & high horse)
38. Dickens pen name : BOZ
41. City hall bigwig : MAYOR
42. Opposite of cruel : HUMANE
44. Artist’s deg. : MFA
46. Moscow’s land: Abbr. : RUS
48. App symbol : ICON
49. *Daytona 500, e.g. : CAR RACE (horsecar & racehorse)
52. Practical joke : PRANK
55. Inexact lunch time : ONEISH
56. Mom’s and dad’s dads : GRANDPAS
59. Engage in tomfoolery … and a hint to what goes with each part of the answers to starred clues, but not in the same way : HORSE AROUND
61. Set a price of : ASK
62. Miners dig it : ORE
63. Sides of an issue : ASPECTS
64. Michael of “SNL” : CHE
65. Snake’s sound : SSS
66. Bogs : MIRES
67. London’s __ Gardens : KEW

Down

1. Boo : JEER
2. Roof overhang : EAVE
3. *Economic conflict often involving tariffs : TRADE WAR (horse trade & warhorse)
4. “Papa Bear” of football : HALAS
5. Gamer’s game face : AVATAR
6. “Curious George” creators Hans and Margret : REYS
7. Corner PC key : ESC
8. Chips in a garden : MULCH
9. Order : BEHEST
10. Repurposes to replace, as a tool : USES AS
11. Stitch again : RESEW
13. Pick out in a crowd : SPOT
14. __ sci: college major : POLI
18. Conical home : TEPEE
20. Ray Charles’ “I __ Stop Loving You” : CAN’T
23. Dry riverbed : WADI
24. Links gp. : PGA
25. Radio host Shapiro : ARI
27. India’s first prime minister : NEHRU
30. “__ tree falls … ” : IF A
31. Underhanded : SLY
33. “Yuck!” : UGH!
34. Former Energy secretary Steven : CHU
37. Days long gone : YORE
38. *Hiker’s carryall : BACKPACK (horseback & packhorse)
39. Beatle bride : ONO
40. Buddhist discipline : ZEN
41. Roger who hit 61 in ’61 : MARIS
43. Take care of : MIND
44. Estate homes : MANORS
45. Bordeaux brothers : FRERES
47. Neaten (up) : SPRUCE
49. Silver salmon : COHOS
50. On the ocean : ASEA
51. Deep depression : CHASM
53. Raves’ companions : RANTS
54. Added conditions : ANDS
56. Suffix with movie : -GOER
57. 1975 Wimbledon winner Arthur : ASHE
58. Twist, as facts : SKEW
60. Troy, N.Y., school : RPI

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