LA Times Crossword 22 Mar 19, Friday

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Constructed by: Peter Koetters
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Pop-up Ads

Themed answers each end with the letters AD, but that AD has POPPED from the across-direction into the UP-direction:

  • 55A Online annoyances needed to complete five puzzle answers : POP-UP ADS
  • 17A Embattled World War II city : STALINGRAD
  • 19A Absolutely bonkers : STARK RAVING MAD
  • 36A Capital ESE of Kabul : ISLAMABAD
  • 38A College student : UNDERGRAD
  • 48A Nation of Islam leader who was a mentor to Malcolm X : ELIJAH MUHAMMAD

Bill’s time: 8m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9 Biblical spy : CALEB

According to the Bible, after fleeing Egypt the Hebrews were led by Moses to the promised land of Canaan. Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan (one from each of the Twelve Tribes) to report on what awaited them. Ten spies returned with exaggerated stories of giants who would kill the Hebrew army if it entered Canaan. Two spies, Caleb and Joshua, came back with valid reports, that the Hebrews could inhabit the area. As a result of the false reports from the ten spies, the Hebrews did not enter Canaan but instead wandered the desert for another forty years, before they finally took up residence in the promised land. At the end of the forty years, Caleb and Joshua were the only adults that survived the forty-year journey, a reward from God for their obedience.

14 California resort island : CATALINA

Catalina Island off the coast of California is more correctly referred to as Santa Catalina Island. Santa Catalina is one of the Channel Islands of California, and is located in Los Angeles County. Santa Catalina has been a major tourist destination since the early 1920s when William Wrigley, Jr. of chewing gum fame invested millions of dollars to develop needed infrastructure to attract visitors. Wrigley owned the Chicago Cubs at the time, and so he made the Chicago Cubs use the island for spring training, as part of a publicity campaign. The Cubs trained there until 1951.

17 Embattled World War II city : STALINGRAD

Volgograd is a Russian city on the Volga River. Known as Stalingrad from 1925 until 1961, the city is famous for the Battle of Stalingrad against the German Army in WWII. The Soviets emerged victorious after just over five months of fierce and brutal fighting in what is believed to be the bloodiest battle in the history of warfare.

18 Lady of Las Palmas : SENORA

The Spanish province of Las Palmas comprises about half of the islands of Gran Canaria, and several other small islands, located off the northwest coast of Africa. Gran Canaria is perhaps better known as the “Canary Islands” in English. The province takes its name from Las Palmas, the capital city of Gran Canaria island.

19 Absolutely bonkers : STARK RAVING MAD

The word “bonkers” meaning “crazy” originated in the fifties. The term might come from navy slang meaning “slightly drunk”, behaving as though one received a “bonk” on the head.

21 Source of a mole poblano ingredient : CACAO

The flowers of the cacao tree grow in clusters, directly on the trunk and on older branches. The pollinated flowers turn into ovoid cacao pods, each of which contain 20-60 seeds or beans. The seeds are used as the main ingredient in chocolate.

Mole poblano is a classic dish that is sometimes cited as the national dish of Mexico. Two of essential ingredients in the recipe are chili peppers and chocolate. The chocolate doesn’t dominate the taste, but does serve to offset the heat from the peppers.

26 ’60s Hagman co-star : EDEN

Back in 1964, the second most watched show on American television was ABC’s “Bewitched”. Sidney Sheldon was tasked with the job of creating a rival sitcom and he came up with “I Dream of Jeannie”, which first aired in 1965 and starred Barbara Eden in the title role. The censors had a big say in how the story developed. For starters, Jeannie’s skimpy costume was permitted on air, provided that Eden didn’t show off her navel on the screen. Also, Jeannie was only allowed to live with an unmarried man as long as the story made it clear that she slept in a bottle.

Actor Larry Hagman is best known for playing two very different characters on TV shows: quirky astronaut Tony Nelson on “I Dream of Jeannie” in the 1960s, and ruthless oil baron J.R. Ewing on “Dallas” in the 1980s. On the big screen, I always remember Hagman playing alongside Henry Fonda in the excellent Cold War drama “Fail Safe” from 1964.

33 Rapper __ Wayne : LIL

“Lil Wayne” is the stage name used by rap artist Dwayne Carter, Jr. from New Orleans.

35 Czech currency : KORUNA

“Koruna” is a word in some Slavic languages meaning “crown” and is used as the name of several obsolete European currencies. The Czech koruna is the only currency still in use that uses the name.

36 Capital ESE of Kabul : ISLAMABAD

Islamabad is a city that was purpose-built in the sixties to replace Karachi as the capital of Pakistan. The port city of Karachi had been the nation’s capital from 1947, when Pakistan gained independence from Britain. The nearby city of Rawalpindi was used as the temporary capital from 1958 until the necessary infrastructure was completed for Islamabad in 1967.

Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. The city has been the site of major conflict for much of the 3,500 years that it has been in existence. In the past, this conflict was mainly driven by the city’s strategic location on the major trade routes of south and central Asia.

39 Partner of Marcus : NEIMAN

Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband A. L. Neiman, were partners with a tidy of profit of $25,000 from a business they had founded. This was 1907 Atlanta, and they were offered the chance to invest in a new company that was just starting to make “sugary soda drinks”, a company called Coca-Cola. The partners declined, instead returning to their home of Dallas and founding a department store they called “Neiman-Marcus”.

40 Zeno’s home : ELEA

Zeno of Elea was a Greek philosopher who lived in Elea, a Greek colony in Southern Italy. Zeno is famous for his paradoxes, a set of problems that really make you think! In the problem known as “Achilles and the Tortoise”, Zeno tells us that Achilles races a tortoise, giving the tortoise a head start (of say 100 meters). By the time Achilles reaches the starting point of the tortoise, the tortoise will have moved on, albeit only a small distance. Achilles then sets his sights on the tortoise’s new position and runs to it. Again the tortoise has moved ahead a little. Achilles keeps on moving to the tortoise’s new position but can never actually catch his slower rival. Or can he …?

44 Place to nosh on a knish : DELI

A knish is a snack food from Germany and Eastern Europe that was made popular in the US by Jewish immigrants. A knish has a filling, often made of mashed potato and ground meat, covered by a dough that is baked or fried.

45 Musician Rundgren : TODD

Todd Rundgren is a philadelphia-born musician who is known as a solo artist as well as a member of Utopia, a rock that Rundgren formed in 1973. He is also a successful record producer, with his list of production credits including Meatloaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” (1977). Rundgren was listed on the birth certificate as the father of actress Liv Tyler. Rundgren’s girlfriend Bebe Buell had a brief relationship with musician Steven Tyler while she and Rundgren were on a break, and that brief liaison resulted in an unplanned pregnancy and the birth of Liv “Rundgren”. Liv learned of her biological father when she was eight years old, and eventually took his name. Liv and Todd Rundgren remain close to this day.

47 Braves slugger : AARON

Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run on 8th April 1974, breaking the record of 714 career home runs held by Babe Ruth. Aaron went on to hit 755 home runs prior to his retirement from the game in 1976.

48 Nation of Islam leader who was a mentor to Malcolm X : ELIJAH MUHAMMAD

Elijah Muhammad led the Nation of Islam, the African-American religious and political movement, from 1934 until his death in 1975. During that time, he served as mentor to several famous people, including Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan and Muhammad Ali.

54 Edible oil : CANOLA

Canola is a type of rapeseed, and Canola oil is made from the seeds. The particular cultivar used in oil production was developed in Canada, and the name Canola in fact comes from “CANadian Oil, Low Acid”.

60 Licorice-flavored brew : ANISE TEA

The essential oil in the anise plant is anethole. Anethole has a licorice-like flavor, and is used extensively in cooking and to flavor several distilled alcoholic drinks.

62 Demoted to the minors : SENT DOWN

That would be baseball.

Down

1 Many Chrome runners : PCS

Google’s Chrome is now the most popular web browser used in the US, with Mozilla Firefox in second place and Internet Explorer in third. I find Chrome to be much, much more user-friendly than Internet Explorer, and more featured than Firefox. Chrome also works more seamlessly with other Google products and with Android phones.

2 Muppet Rizzo, e.g. : RAT

The Muppet “Rizzo the Rat” is named for Ratso Rizzo, a character in the movie “Midnight Cowboy” played by Dustin Hoffman.

Enrico Salvatore “Ratso” Rizzo is one of the characters in the groundbreaking 1969 movie “Midnight Cowboy”. Rizzo is a down-and-out con man played by Dustin Hoffman.

3 Greek vowel : ETA

Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”. Originally denoting a consonant, eta was used as a long vowel in Ancient Greek.

4 Burrito seller’s array : SALSAS

“Salsa” is simply Spanish for “sauce”.

A burrito is a common dish served in Mexican cuisine. It is a flour tortilla filled with all sorts of good stuff. The term “burrito” is Spanish for “little donkey”, the diminutive of “burro” meaning “donkey”. It’s thought that the name was applied as a burrito looks like a bedroll or pack that might be carried by a donkey.

5 Ginsburg associate : ALITO

Associate Justice Samuel Alito was nominated to the US Supreme Court by President George W. Bush. Alito is the second Italian-American to serve on the Supreme Court (Antonin Scalia was the first). Alito studied law at Yale and while in his final year he left the country for the first time in his life, heading to Italy to work on his thesis about the Italian legal system.

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg serves on the US Supreme Court. Justice Ginsburg was the second woman to join the Court, nominated by President Bill Clinton. She was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999 and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. During that time she did not miss one day on the bench. In 2009 Justice Ginsburg had surgery for pancreatic cancer, and was back to work 12 days later. She had left-lung lobectomy to remove cancerous nodules in 2018, which forced Justice Ginsburg to miss oral argument in January 2019, for the first time since joining the court 25 years earlier. Much of Ginsburg’s life is recounted in the excellent 2018 movie “On the Basis of Sex”.

6 Actress Gershon : GINA

Gina Gershon is an American actress. Gershon has played a lesbian on screen a number of times and has become somewhat of a gay icon.

7 Many an RPI grad : ENGR

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.

8 Limited-access internet area : DARK WEB

“Dark web” is the name given to content on the World Wide Web that requires specific software and/or authorization for access. The dark web is a subset of the “deep web”, the collection of content on the Web that isn’t indexed by search engines. Dark web users refer to the regular Web that you and I access as “Clearnet”.

9 Honduran homes : CASAS

Honduras is a country in Central America that used to be known as Spanish Honduras, in order to differentiate it from British Honduras that is now called Belize. “Honduras” is the Spanish word for “the depths”, which is probably a reference to deep coastal waters.

10 He played Fish on “Barney Miller” : ABE VIGODA

Abe Vigoda played Detective Sergeant Phil Fish in television’s “Barney Miller” in the seventies, and even got his own spin-off show called “Fish”. On the big screen, Vigoda played Sal Tessio in “The Godfather” and Grandpa Ubriacco in “Look Who’s Talking”.

11 Legal scholar Guinier : LANI

Lani Guinier was the first African-American woman to achieve tenure at Harvard Law School.

12 “The most private of private schools”: Hugh Laurie : ETON

Eton College near Windsor in the south of England was founded way back in 1440 by King Henry VI. Originally known as “The King’s College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor”, the school was intended to provided free education to poor boys. Free education today at Eton? Not so much …

English actor and comedian Hugh Laurie used to be half of a comedy double act with Stephen Fry called simply “Fry and Laurie”. Fry and Laurie met in Cambridge University through their mutual friend, actress Emma Thompson. Over in North America, Laurie is best known for playing the title role in the medical drama “House”.

13 Marine threat : BERG

An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice that is floating freely after having broken off from a glacier or ice shelf. Out use of “iceberg” comes from the Dutch word for the same phenomenon “ijsberg”, which translates literally as “ice mountain”.

21 2010s Caesars Palace regular, familiarly : CELINE

French-Canadian singer Céline Dion first came to international attention when she won the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, in which she represented Switzerland in the competition that was hosted in Dublin, Ireland. She is now the the best-selling Canadian artist of all time.

Caesars Palace is one of my favorite hotels on the Las Vegas strip, even though it is beginning to show its age. Caesars opened in 1966.

23 “Heads or tails” : CALL IT

The two sides of a coin are known as the “obverse” and the “reverse”. The obverse is commonly referred to as “heads”, as it often depicts someone’s head. The reverse is commonly called “tails”, as it is the opposite of “heads”.

26 Vigorous spirit : ELAN

Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours, i.e “style, flair”.

30 Phone in crime shows : BURNER

Prepaid cell phones are sometimes referred to as burner phones in the world of crime and policing. Anyone can buy a pay-as-you-go phone, and then top it up with a cash transaction. There is no need to register the phone or SIM card, and so police cannot track the phone’s owner. Nefarious characters might use such a phone to facilitate a criminal transaction, and then “burn” (discard) it, before buying a new phone in a retail outlet.

31 San __, Texas : ANGELO

San Angelo is a city in West Central Texas. It was founded as a village in 1867 outside Fort Concho, one of a series of frontier forts established around that time. Settler Bartholomew Dewitt named the village Carolina Angela, after his wife. The later changed to San Angela, and eventually to San Angelo in 1883 at the insistence of the “grammar police” in the US Postal Service.

32 Tongue-in-cheek award eponym : DARWIN

The tongue-in-cheek Darwin Awards were launched officially in 1993 with the creation of a website. According to that website:

In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species’ chances of long-term survival.

34 Wisenheimer : SMART ALEC

Apparently the original “smart Alec” (sometimes “Aleck”) was one Alec Hoag, a pimp, thief and confidence trickster who plied his trade in New York City in the 1840s.

A smart Alec or wise guy might be called “Wisenheimer”. The term is mock German or Yiddish and dates back to the very early 1900s.

37 __ Zion Church : AME

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) Church was formed in New York City. The church was established by African-American Christians who faced discrimination when attending other churches. Initially the African-American congregations were led by Caucasian Methodist ministers, with the first African American being ordained in 1820.

38 Last: Abbr. : ULT

Ultimate (ult.)

46 Orchard Field, today : O’HARE

O’Hare International was the world’s busiest airport from 1963 to 1998. The original airport was constructed on the site between 1942 and 1943, and was used by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the manufacture of planes during WWII. Before the factory and airport were built, there was a community in the area called Orchard Place, so the airport was called Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field. This name is the derivation of the airport’s current location identifier: ORD (OR-chard D-ouglas). Orchard Place Airport was renamed to O’Hare International in 1949 in honor of Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare who grew up in Chicago. O’Hare was the US Navy’s first flying ace and a Medal of Honor recipient in WWII.

48 Cardio readout : ECG

An EKG measures electrical activity in the heart. Back in my homeland of Ireland, an EKG is known as an ECG (for electrocardiogram). We use the German name in the US, Elektrokardiogramm, giving us EKG. Apparently the abbreviation EKG is preferred as ECG might be confused (if poorly handwritten, I guess) with EEG, the abbreviation for an electroencephalogram.

49 Indochinese Peninsula nation : LAOS

The official name for the country of Laos is the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. In the Lao language, the country’s name is “Meuang Lao”. The French ruled Laos as part of French Indochina, having united three separate Lao kingdoms. As there was a plural of “Lao” entities united into one, the French added the “S” and so today we tend to use “Laos” instead of “Lao”.

In the strict sense of the term, “Indochina” is a region in Southeast Asia that corresponds to the former French territory known as French Indochina. Today this region is made up of the countries of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. However, the term “Indochina” is more generally used to describe Mainland Southeast Asia, and in this usage it also encompasses Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.

50 Cross letters : INRI

The letters written on the cross on which Jesus died were INRI. “INRI” is an initialism standing for the Latin “Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum”, which translates into English as “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews”.

56 Volume One words, perhaps : A TO …

In a work arranged alphabetically, Volume 1 might be “A to M” and Volume 2 might be “N to Z”.

58 Title of respect, in Tokyo : SAN

The Japanese honorific “-san” is added to the end of names as a title of respect, and can be translated as “Mr.” or “Ms.” The usage is wider than it is in English, though. Sometimes “-san” is added to the name of a company, for example.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Foretold : PRESAGED
9 Biblical spy : CALEB
14 California resort island : CATALINA
15 Let up : ABATED
17 Embattled World War II city : STALINGRAD
18 Lady of Las Palmas : SENORA
19 Absolutely bonkers : STARK RAVING MAD
21 Source of a mole poblano ingredient : CACAO
24 “Now, where __?” : WAS I
25 Spans often presidentially named : ERAS
26 ’60s Hagman co-star : EDEN
28 Turn : GO BAD
33 Rapper __ Wayne : LIL
34 Marble piece : SLAB
35 Czech currency : KORUNA
36 Capital ESE of Kabul : ISLAMABAD
38 College student : UNDERGRAD
39 Partner of Marcus : NEIMAN
40 Zeno’s home : ELEA
41 Just out : NEW
42 Log : ENTER
43 Deal preceder : ANTE
44 Place to nosh on a knish : DELI
45 Musician Rundgren : TODD
47 Braves slugger : AARON
48 Nation of Islam leader who was a mentor to Malcolm X : ELIJAH MUHAMMAD
54 Edible oil : CANOLA
55 Online annoyances needed to complete five puzzle answers : POP-UP ADS
59 More disturbing, as details : GORIER
60 Licorice-flavored brew : ANISE TEA
61 Because : SINCE
62 Demoted to the minors : SENT DOWN

Down

1 Many Chrome runners : PCS
2 Muppet Rizzo, e.g. : RAT
3 Greek vowel : ETA
4 Burrito seller’s array : SALSAS
5 Ginsburg associate : ALITO
6 Actress Gershon : GINA
7 Many an RPI grad : ENGR
8 Limited-access internet area : DARK WEB
9 Honduran homes : CASAS
10 He played Fish on “Barney Miller” : ABE VIGODA
11 Legal scholar Guinier : LANI
12 “The most private of private schools”: Hugh Laurie : ETON
13 Marine threat : BERG
16 It holds water : DAM
20 Bled : RAN
21 2010s Caesars Palace regular, familiarly : CELINE
22 Out of the sack : ARISEN
23 “Heads or tails” : CALL IT
26 Vigorous spirit : ELAN
27 Pat : DAB
29 Claim discovery, perhaps : ORE
30 Phone in crime shows : BURNER
31 San __, Texas : ANGELO
32 Tongue-in-cheek award eponym : DARWIN
34 Wisenheimer : SMART ALEC
35 Proposal support? : KNEE
37 __ Zion Church : AME
38 Last: Abbr. : ULT
40 Turn into : END UP AS
43 Naval brass: Abbr. : ADM
44 Stifled : DAMPED
46 Orchard Field, today : O’HARE
47 Not to be missed : A MUST
48 Cardio readout : ECG
49 Indochinese Peninsula nation : LAOS
50 Cross letters : INRI
51 Become part of : JOIN
52 Refine : HONE
53 Could hear __ drop : A PIN
56 Volume One words, perhaps : A TO …
57 Morning coat? : DEW
58 Title of respect, in Tokyo : SAN