LA Times Crossword 31 Mar 22, Thursday

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Constructed by: Lin Josephson
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Jigsaw Puzzle

Themed answers each relate to a JIGSAW PUZZLE:

  • 57A Challenge commercialized by mapmaker John Spilsbury circa 1760 : JIGSAW PUZZLE
  • 20A Only way to tackle a 57-Across : PIECE BY PIECE
  • 28A Question muttered while tackling a 57-Across : WHY WON’T IT FIT?
  • 48A Popular theme for 57-Acrosses : NATURE SCENES

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

Bill’s time: 8m 01s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Day __ : SPA

The word “spa” migrated into English from Belgium, as “Spa” is the name of a municipality in the east of the country that is famous for its healing hot springs. The name “Spa” comes from the Walloon word “espa” meaning “spring, fountain”.

4 Door support : JAMB

A door jamb or window jamb is the vertical portion of the frame. The term “jamb” comes from the French word “jambe” meaning “leg”.

14 China shop threat : OAF

The idiom “like a bull in a china shop” has been around since the early 1800s.

15 Native Nebraskan : OTOE

Nebraska gets its name from the Platte River which flows through the state. “Nebraska” is an anglicized version of Otoe and Omaha words meaning “flat water”.

16 Newcomer : ROOKIE

The term “rookie”, used for a raw recruit, first appeared in Rudyard Kipling’s collection of songs and poems called the “Barrack-Room Ballads”, which was originally published in 1892.

17 Red crawler, perhaps : ANT

Fire ants are stinging ants, and many species are known as red ants. Most stinging ants bite their prey and then spray acid on the wound. The fire ant, however, bites to hold on and then injects an alkaloid venom from its abdomen, creating a burning sensation in humans who have been nipped.

24 __ only: sale caveat : ONE TIME

A caveat is a warning or a qualification. “Caveat” is the Latin for “let him beware”.

32 Modern cash source : ATM

Automatic Teller Machine (ATM)

36 Back nine opener : TENTH

There’s an urban myth that the standard number of holes on a golf course is 18 because it takes 18 shots to polish off a fifth of scotch whisky. However, the truth is that the standard number of holes in the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland happened to settle down over time at 18, and that standard was adopted all around the world.

38 Jackson Hole’s county : TETON

Jackson Hole is the name of a beautiful valley in Wyoming formed between the Teton and Gros Ventre Ranges. The name “Jackson Hole” is also used locally for the town of Jackson that is located in the valley.

41 Salem’s lot?: Abbr. : ORE

The Oregon Treaty of 1846 settled a dispute between the US and the UK over sovereignty of the Oregon Country. “The Oregon Country” was the name given by the Americans to a large swathe of land west of the Rocky Mountains. That same disputed land was known as the Columbia Department by the British. Oregon became a US state in 1859.

Salem is the state capital of Oregon. It is thought that the city takes its name from the older city of Salem, Massachusetts.

42 Frottage artist Max : ERNST

Max Ernst was a painter and sculptor, and a pioneer in the Dada movement and Surrealism. Ernst was born near Cologne in Germany in 1891 and he was called up to fight in WWI, as were most young German men at that time. In his autobiography he writes “Max Ernst died the 1st of August, 1914”, which was a statement about his experiences in the war. In reality, Ernst died in 1976 having lived to the ripe old age of 85.

Frottage is an artistic technique developed by Max Ernst. It basically is the same technique as brass rubbing as it involves placing a piece of paper on an uneven surface and “collecting” an image of the surface by rubbing a pencil or pastel over the paper. The term “frottage” is French for “rubbing”.

52 Aptly named “Music From Big Pink” group : THE BAND

The Band was a rock band formed in Toronto in 1967, comprising four Canadians and one American. The group, under the name “the Hawks”, served as a backup band for Bob Dylan as he toured America in 1965 and the world in 1966. They changed their name to the Band in 1968, and started recording as their own act. However, they continued to collaborate with Dylan over the years, and toured together in 1974. The Band’s most famous recording is probably the 1969 release “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”.

57 Challenge commercialized by mapmaker John Spilsbury circa 1760 : JIGSAW PUZZLE

John Spilsbury was an English cartographer who is best remembered for inventing jigsaw puzzles. Spilsbury’s puzzles were maps affixed to wood, and carved out country by country. They were intended for educational purposes.

61 Novelist Graham : GREENE

Graham Greene was a writer and playwright from England. Greene wrote some of my favorite novels, including “Brighton Rock”, “The End of the Affair”, “The Confidential Agent”, “The Quiet American” and “Our Man in Havana”. Greene’s books often feature espionage in exotic locales. Greene himself worked for MI6, the UK’s foreign intelligence agency. In fact, Greene’s MI6 supervisor was Kim Philby, the famed Soviet spy who penetrated high into British intelligence.

64 Sky-high stunt : LOOP

An aerobatic loop takes place when an aircraft pulls into a vertical climb and then continues pulling until it is upside down and flying horizontally. The loop continues with a downward dive, and the airplane righting itself on the horizontal. The end result is a 360-degree turn in the vertical plane.

66 Amazon delivery : PARCEL

Amazon.com is the largest online retailer in the world. It is also the largest Internet company in the world by revenue. The company was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, in his garage in Bellevue, Washington. I’m a big fan of Amazon’s approach to customer service …

68 PC rescue key : ESC

The escape key (Esc) was originally used just 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.

71 Friend of Fidel : CHE

Ernesto “Che” Guevara was born in Argentina, and in 1948 he started to study medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. While at school he satisfied his need to “see the world” by taking two long journeys around South America, the story of which are told in Guevara’s memoir later published as “The Motorcycle Diaries”. While traveling, Guevara was moved by the plight of the people he saw and their working conditions and what he viewed as capitalistic exploitation. In Mexico City he met brothers Raul and Fidel Castro and was persuaded to join their cause, the overthrow of the US-backed government in Cuba. He rose to second-in-command among the Cuban insurgents, and when Castro came to power Guevara was influential in repelling the Bay of Pigs Invasion and bringing Soviet nuclear missiles to the island. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to continue his work as a revolutionary. He was captured by Bolivian forces in 1967, and was executed. Fidel Castro led the public mourning of Guevara’s death, and soon the revolutionary was an icon for many left-wing movements around the world.

Down

2 Kind of button or room : PANIC

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.

4 Margaret of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” : JOSEPHS

“The Real Housewives” reality television franchise is incredibly successful, and far reaching. The original show was “The Real Housewives of Orange County”, which started airing in 2006. Just a few of the many, many versions of the show are:

  • “The Real Housewives of New Jersey”
  • “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City”
  • “The Real Housewives of Dubai”
  • “The Real Housewives of Sydney” (Australia)
  • “Dublin Wives” (Ireland)
  • “The Real Housewives of Jersey” (UK)
  • “Les Vraies Housewives” (France)
  • “The Real Housewives of Toronto” (Canada)

5 Run __ : A TAB

When we run a “tab” at a bar, we are running a “tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.

6 “Holy __!” : MOLY

The mild expletive “Holy moly!” is a euphemism for “Holy Moses!”

9 Downfall for Narcissus : CONCEIT

Narcissus was a proud and vain hunter in Greek mythology. He earned himself a fatal punishment, falling in love with his own reflection in a pool. So, taken was he by his own image that he could not leave it, and wasted away and died by the pool. Narcissus gives us our term “narcissism” meaning “excessive love of oneself”.

10 “Gigi” novelist : COLETTE

The best known work of French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette is “Gigi”, the source material for the wonderful film starring Leslie Caron in the title role. The novel that brought Colette celebrity was published in 1920, called “Cheri”. “Gigi” followed much later, in 1944. “Cheri” was adapted into a screen version starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Colette led a very colorful life. She had three marriages, an affair with her stepson, and many affairs with other women.

11 Usually four-stringed instrument : UKE

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

12 Peach center : PIT

There are two broad categories of peaches: freestones and clingstones. Clingstones (also “cling peaches”) have flesh that clings tightly to the pit. Freestones are easier to consume as the flesh separates easily from the pit.

21 Crow’s cry : CAW

Ravens and crows are very similar species, and it can be difficult to tell them apart. Ravens are a little larger and often travel in pairs, whereas crows are a little smaller and are usually seen in larger groups. Crows make a cawing sound, while the raven’s call is more like a croak.

25 “__ for You”: Dylan song to his first wife : IF NOT

“If Not for You” is a 1970 Bob Dylan recording that he wrote as a love song to his first wife, Sara Dylan.

26 British bishop’s headdress : MITRE

A miter (also “mitre”) is a traditional headdress worn by bishops in some Christian traditions. The term “miter” comes from a Greek word for “headband, turban”.

27 “I Love Lucy” role : ETHEL

In the hit television show “I Love Lucy”, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz play Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The Ricardos’ best friends are also their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The Mertzes are played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance.

30 Apt adjective for Stuart Little : WEE

“Stuart Little” is a children’s novel published in 1945. Penned by E. B. White, it was his first book for children. The title character is a human boy from New York City who is just two inches tall and who looks like a mouse.

32 CIA worker : AGENT

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”.

33 Synagogue scroll : TORAH

The Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, are traditionally believed to have been written by Moses. As such, they are sometimes referred to as the Law of Moses, or Mosaic Law. Those five books are:

  • Bereshit/Genesis
  • Shemot/Exodus
  • Vayikra/Leviticus
  • Bamidbar/Numbers
  • Devarim/Deuteronomy

34 Three-card con : MONTE

Three-card monte is a confidence trick in which someone is goaded into betting money on the assumption that he or she can find the “money card” (usually a queen) among three cards placed face down. The “mark” who is being duped has all sorts of ways to lose and there are usually several people in on the scam, including others playing who seem to be winning.

40 Prefix with binary : NON-

The non-binary (NB, enbie) spectrum of gender identities covers those that do not qualify as exclusively masculine or feminine.

49 Marx co-author : ENGELS

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”.

50 ’60s protest gp. : SDS

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was an activist group in the sixties. The SDS organized the largest student strike in the history of the United States on 26 April 1968, with about a million students staying away from class that day. The “Students for a Democratic Society” name was revived in 2006 with the foundation of a new US-based student organization with left wing beliefs. Today’s SDS was founded by a pair of high school students from Greenwich Village, New York.

54 Montezuma follower : AZTEC

Montezuma I and Montezuma II were Aztec emperors. Montezuma II was the ninth Aztec emperor and ruled from 1502 until 1520. He was the leader of the Aztec Empire when the Spanish first made contact and started the conquest of Mexico. Montezuma II was killed in a battle with the Spanish, although the details of his demise are not clear.

58 Dozens and dozens : A LOT

Our word “dozen” is used for a group of twelve. We imported it into English from Old French. The modern French word for “twelve” is “douze”, and for “dozen” is “douzaine”.

60 “The Thinker” has an iconic one : POSE

Rodin’s famous sculpture known as “The Thinker” has been reproduced many times. Rodin’s original version of “The Thinker” is actually a detail in a much larger work known as “The Gates of Hell”. The original plaster version of “The Gates of Hell” can be seen at the magnificent Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

61 Traveler’s aid, briefly : GPS

A global positioning system (GPS) is known as a satellite navigation system (Sat Nav) in Britain and Ireland.

63 Time capsule time : ERA

A time capsule is a container of items chosen to help someone in the future understand society at the time the container is sealed. Although time capsules have been around at least from the 18th century, the term “time capsule” wasn’t coined until 1938.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Day __ : SPA
4 Door support : JAMB
8 Keep busy : OCCUPY
14 China shop threat : OAF
15 Native Nebraskan : OTOE
16 Newcomer : ROOKIE
17 Red crawler, perhaps : ANT
18 Patient shopper’s reward : SALE
19 Bays, e.g. : INLETS
20 Only way to tackle a 57-Across : PIECE BY PIECE
23 Paper bit : SCRAP
24 __ only: sale caveat : ONE TIME
28 Question muttered while tackling a 57-Across : WHY WON’T IT FIT?
32 Modern cash source : ATM
35 Barely flow : SEEP
36 Back nine opener : TENTH
37 Gunk : GOO
38 Jackson Hole’s county : TETON
41 Salem’s lot?: Abbr. : ORE
42 Frottage artist Max : ERNST
45 13-Downs heard in pairs : I DOS
47 Contacts list no. : TEL
48 Popular theme for 57-Acrosses : NATURE SCENES
52 Aptly named “Music From Big Pink” group : THE BAND
53 Enlighten : TEACH
57 Challenge commercialized by mapmaker John Spilsbury circa 1760 : JIGSAW PUZZLE
61 Novelist Graham : GREENE
64 Sky-high stunt : LOOP
65 Shade on a beach : TAN
66 Amazon delivery : PARCEL
67 About : OR SO
68 PC rescue key : ESC
69 Outpourings : SPATES
70 First-time biology student, usually : TEEN
71 Friend of Fidel : CHE

Down

1 Cakes not for eating : SOAPS
2 Kind of button or room : PANIC
3 Time-telling word : AFTER
4 Margaret of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” : JOSEPHS
5 Run __ : A TAB
6 “Holy __!” : MOLY
7 Car talk? : BEEP
8 Familiarize : ORIENT
9 Downfall for Narcissus : CONCEIT
10 “Gigi” novelist : COLETTE
11 Usually four-stringed instrument : UKE
12 Peach center : PIT
13 “Without a doubt” : YES
21 Crow’s cry : CAW
22 Charged particle : ION
25 “__ for You”: Dylan song to his first wife : IF NOT
26 British bishop’s headdress : MITRE
27 “I Love Lucy” role : ETHEL
29 Up to now : YET
30 Apt adjective for Stuart Little : WEE
31 Eye-related : OPTIC
32 CIA worker : AGENT
33 Synagogue scroll : TORAH
34 Three-card con : MONTE
39 Literary homage : ODE
40 Prefix with binary : NON-
43 Sentence focus, grammatically : SUBJECT
44 Newcomer : TRAINEE
46 Attack : SET UPON
49 Marx co-author : ENGELS
50 ’60s protest gp. : SDS
51 “Word” with who or me : SEZ …
54 Montezuma follower : AZTEC
55 Fail to match : CLASH
56 Therefore : HENCE
58 Dozens and dozens : A LOT
59 Eroded : WORE
60 “The Thinker” has an iconic one : POSE
61 Traveler’s aid, briefly : GPS
62 Knock hard : RAP
63 Time capsule time : ERA