LA Times Crossword 25 Jun 19, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Roland Huget
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Hiss Sound

Themed answers each include the letter sequence S-S-S:

  • 64A Leaky tire noise found in five puzzle answers including this one : HISS SOUND
  • 17A Contents of a landscaper’s spreader : GRASS SEED
  • 25A Hollywood or Vine, vis-à-vis the other : CROSS STREET
  • 38A Formal attire : DRESS SUIT
  • 53A Social hierarchy : CLASS SYSTEM

Bill’s time: 5m 09s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Scottish Celt : GAEL

A Gael is anyone of a race that speaks or spoke one of the Erse tongues. There are actually three Erse languages. Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be Gaeilge (in Ireland), Gaelg (on the Isle of Man) and Gaidhlig (in Scotland).

5 Brake component : DISC

The drum brake was invented in 1902 by Louis Renault (founder of Renault, the automobile company). In a drum brake, there is a set of brake shoes that usually presses on the inner surface of the drum to slow down rotation. Nowadays, the disc brake system is more popular, a design which uses brake pads instead of brake shoes.

15 Marc with a clothing brand : ECKO

Marc Ecko is a fashion designer from New Jersey. Marc was born Marc Milecofsky. In college, he became a fan of graffiti and used the name “Ecko” to tag his drawings.

19 Jeans material : DENIM

Denim fabric originated in Nimes in France. The French phrase “de Nimes” (meaning “from Nimes”) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (meaning “blue of Genoa”) gives us our word “jeans”.

23 MDX ÷ X : CLI

In Roman numerals, MDX ÷ X = CLI (1510 ÷ 10 = 151).

25 Hollywood or Vine, vis-à-vis the other : CROSS STREET

Vine Street is a famous thoroughfare in Hollywood. Hollywood’s movie industry grew up around the intersection of “Hollywood and Vine”, where Hollywood Boulevard crossed Vine Street. That same intersection is now home to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the collection of brass stars embedded in the sidewalks that are monuments to achievement in the entertainment industry.

We can use the French phrase “vis-à-vis” as a preposition meaning “compared with”. When used as an adverb or adjective, it means “face-to-face”, which is a more literal translation from French.

33 Harp constellation : LYRA

Lyra (Latin for “lyre, harp, lute”) is a constellation that includes the star Vega, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. The constellation Lyra is surrounded by the neighboring constellations of Draco, Hercules, Vulpecula and Cygnus.

45 Part of UAE : ARAB

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates (states) in the Middle East. Included in the seven are Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with the city of Abu Dhabi being the UAE capital and cultural center.

56 School support gp. : PTA

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

57 Grain bristle : AWN

“Awn” is the name given to hair- or bristle-like structures found in numerous species of plants. In some species, like barley, the awns can contain photosynthetic tissue.

64 Leaky tire noise found in five puzzle answers including this one : HISS SOUND

Here’s another example of terms that change as we cross the Atlantic Ocean. When talking about tires (“tyres” in Britain and Ireland), a defect can cause a “flat” (“puncture” in Britain and Ireland).

67 “Fear of Flying” author Jong : ERICA

The author Erica Jong’s most famous work is her first: “Fear of Flying”, a novel published in 1973. Over twenty years later, Jong wrote “Fear of Fifty: a midlife memoir”, published in 1994.

69 “Rule, Britannia” composer Thomas : ARNE

Thomas Arne was an English composer from London. Arne wrote some iconic compositions, most notably “Rule, Britannia!” He also wrote a version of “God Save the King” that became the British national anthem.

“Rule, Britannia!” was a poem by James Thomson, for which Thomas Arne composed the famous music.

71 Nashville venue : OPRY

The Grand Ole Opry started out as a radio show in 1925 originally called the WSM “Barn Dance”. In 1927, the “Barn Dance” radio show was broadcast in a slot after an NBC production called “Musical Appreciation Hour”, a collection of classical works including Grand Opera. In a December show, the host of “Barn Dance” announced, “For the past hour, we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opera. From now on we will present the ‘Grand Ole Opry'”. That name was used for the radio show from then on.

The Tennessee city of Nashville was founded in 1779 near a stockade in the Cumberland River valley called Fort Nashborough. Both the settlement and the fort were named for General Francis Nash, a war hero who died in combat during the American Revolution.

72 “The Walking __”: zombie show : DEAD

“The Walking Dead” is a horror television show made by AMC that is based on a comic book series of the same name. There are lots of flesh-eating zombies featured, so I won’t be caught “dead” watching it …

A zombie is a corpse that has been brought back to life by some mystical means. Our modern use of the term largely stems from the undead creatures featured in the 1968 horror movie called “Night of the Living Dead”. Now that film I haven’t seen, and probably never will …

Down

3 Online merchant : E-TAILER

“E-tail” is the term used these days for online shopping (coming from “retail”). E-tail is often compared to regular shopping in the “real world” by juxtaposing it with a “brick and mortar” store.

4 Red ink : LOSS

To be in the red is to be in debt, to owe money. The expression “in the red” is a reference to the accounting practice of recording debts and losses in red ink in ledgers. The related phrase “in the black” means “solvent, making a profit”.

5 __ Moines : DES

The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others do contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.

6 Rink surface : ICE

The first ice resurfacing machine was developed in 1949 by one Frank Zamboni. The eponymous Zamboni machine works by simultaneously executing a number of tasks. First, the surface of the ice is scraped off by a sharp blade. Next the ice is “washed” with water sprayed from the front of the Zamboni, and that wash water is vacuumed back up and filtered to remove impurities. Water is then reapplied to the scraped ice by a wet towel dragging behind the machine, forming a new skating surface.

7 Depicts unfairly, as data : SKEWS

Our word “data” (singular “datum”) comes from the Latin “datum” meaning “given”. The idea is that data are “things given”.

10 Civil War prez : ABE

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the US, elected in 1860 as the first president from the Republican Party. Lincoln’s electoral support came almost exclusively from the north and west of the country, winning only 2 out of 996 counties in the Southern slave states. Lincoln led the country through Civil War, and then was assassinated in 1865 just a few days after Robert E. Lee surrendered his army of Northern Virginia. President Lincoln was succeeded in office by Vice President Andrew Johnson.

12 Hex-dispensing stare : EVIL EYE

The evil eye is a curse that is cast by giving a malicious glare.

“Hexen” is a German word meaning “to practice witchcraft”. The use of the word “hex” in English started with the Pennsylvania Dutch in the early 1800s.

13 Some Middle East natives : SEMITES

The word “Semitic” comes from the Greek for “Shem”, one of the three sons of Noah. A Semite is one of a large list of peoples, from the Assyrians and Babylonians to the Hebrews. The term “anti-Semite” however, almost always refer to anti-Jewish sentiment.

22 Ballpark fig. : EST

The phrase “in the ballpark” means “within an acceptable range of approximation”. The term was coined in the mid-fifties as jargon used by scientists developing atomic weapons. The first “ballpark” in this sense was the broad area within which a missile was forecast to return to earth.

26 Artist Magritte : RENE

Belgian artist René Magritte was a surrealist. His most recognized work maybe is “The Son of Man”, a painting he created as a self-portrait. It is the work that shows a man in a bowler hat with his face covered by an apple. The image features prominently in a great movie, the 1999 remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair”.

28 __ bar: Polynesian-themed spot : TIKI

The world’s first tiki bar was called “Don the Beachcomber”, and was opened in L.A. in 1933 by Ernest Gantt (also known as “Donn Beach”). The bar became famous for its exotic rum cocktails. Gantt was called to serve in WWII, and the business expanded dramatically under his ex-wife’s management so that there was a 160-restaurant chain waiting for Gantt when he returned stateside.

29 U-Haul truck, e.g. : RENTAL

The U-Haul company was started by married couple Leonard Shoen and Anna Mary Carty in Ridgefield, Washington in 1945. The Shoens used $5,000 of seed money to build trailers in their garage, and then cleverly recruited gas station owners as franchisees with whom they would split the rental revenue. There are now about 15,000 U-Haul dealers across the country.

35 Govt. code-breaking org. : NSA

National Security Agency (NSA)

36 Fancy tie : ASCOT

An Ascot is a horrible-looking (I think!), wide tie that narrows at the neck, which these days is only really worn at weddings. The tie takes its name from the Royal Ascot horse race at which punters still turn up in formal wear at Ascot Racecourse in England.

39 Flag maker Betsy : ROSS

Legend has it that Betsy Ross made the first American flag for General George Washington. However, this story only surfaced during the centennial celebrations of 1876, and although Betsy Ross was indeed one of several flag makers in Philadelphia in the days of George Washington, sadly there’s no definitive evidence that Ross provided that first Stars and Stripes.

40 __ Reader: eclectic digest : UTNE

The “Utne Reader” is known for aggregation and republishing of articles on politics, culture and the environment from other sources in the media. The “Utne Reader” was founded in 1984 by Eric Utne, with management taken over by Eric’s wife Nina Rothschild Utne in 1990.

41 Gaming centers : ARCADES

Our word “arcade” comes from the Latin “arcus” meaning “arc”. The first arcades were passages made from a series of arches. This could be an avenue of trees, and eventually any covered avenue. I remember arcades lined with shops and stores when I was growing up on the other side of the Atlantic. Arcades came to be lined with lots of amusements, resulting in amusement arcades and video game arcades.

42 Invasive computer software : MALWARE

Malware is software and program code that is created to intentionally disrupt and exploit computer systems. Viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware are all covered by the term. “Malware” is short for “malicious software”.

47 Insect’s feeler : ANTENNA

Ants use their two antennas to detect chemicals, air currents and vibrations. Ants can also use their antennae to communicate between each other using a sense of touch.

48 Like Abe Lincoln and Santa Claus, facially : BEARDED

There is a story that just before Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, he received a letter from a 12-year-old girl who criticized Lincoln’s appearance and his pockmarked, gaunt face. The little girl, Grace Bedell from New York, promised to get her brothers to vote for Lincoln if he would just grow a beard. However, Lincoln waited until after the election to grow his famous whiskers, a distinctive look that would forever be associated with his presidency.

The Santa Claus with whom we are familiar today largely comes from the description in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, and from the 1863 caricature created by the political cartoonist Thomas Nast. Nast is also responsible for locating Santa’s workshop at the North Magnetic Pole, a fact that he revealed to the world in a series of drawings in 1879.

50 Chinese menu general : TSO

General Tso’s chicken is an American creation, and a dish often found on the menu of a Chinese restaurant. The name General Tso may be a reference to General Zuo Zongtang of the Qing Dynasty, but there is no clear link.

52 Outback birds : EMUS

In Australia, the land outside of urban area is referred to as the outback or the bush. That said, I think that the term “outback” is sometimes reserved for the more remote parts of the bush.

60 “The Wind in the Willows” amphibious Mr. : TOAD

Mr. Toad is one of the main characters in the children’s novel “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame. A. A. Milne (of “Winnie-the-Pooh” fame) wrote several plays based on “The Wind in the Willows”, the first of which is “Toad of Toad Hall”. And, Mr Toad’s Wild Ride was (it’s closed now!) one of the original rides at Disneyland when the park opened in 1955.

62 Novelist Umberto : ECO

Umberto Eco was an Italian writer who is probably best known for his novel “The Name of the Rose”, published in 1980. In 1986, “The Name of the Rose” was adapted into a movie with the same title starring Sean Connery.

63 “Forrest Gump” lieutenant : DAN

Actor Gary Sinise was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Lieutenant Dan Taylor in the 1994 film “Forrest Gump”.

The epic 1994 movie “Forrest Gump” is based on a 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. Groom said that he had envisioned John Goodman playing the title role, and not Tom Hanks.

65 Dame’s counterpart : SIR

In the British honors system, “Dame” is the feminine form of address for the honor of knighthood, and is equivalent to the male form “Sir”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Scottish Celt : GAEL
5 Brake component : DISC
9 Confronts with cockiness : FACES
14 Road runner : AUTO
15 Marc with a clothing brand : ECKO
16 Higher in rank than : ABOVE
17 Contents of a landscaper’s spreader : GRASS SEED
19 Jeans material : DENIM
20 Bring up, as kids : RAISE
21 Very small : WEE
23 MDX ÷ X : CLI
24 Building wing : ELL
25 Hollywood or Vine, vis-à-vis the other : CROSS STREET
30 Voted in : ELECTED
32 T-shirt coloring method : TIE-DYE
33 Harp constellation : LYRA
34 Mexican girl : NINA
37 Tots may be bounced on them : KNEES
38 Formal attire : DRESS SUIT
41 Bud in a cantina : AMIGO
44 Diplomat’s forte : TACT
45 Part of UAE : ARAB
49 Most inexperienced, as a recruit : RAWEST
51 Allowing cars in a single direction at a time, as a bridge : ONE-LANE
53 Social hierarchy : CLASS SYSTEM
56 School support gp. : PTA
57 Grain bristle : AWN
58 Acorn producer : OAK
59 Unmitigated : UTTER
61 Not exactly new : DATED
64 Leaky tire noise found in five puzzle answers including this one : HISS SOUND
67 “Fear of Flying” author Jong : ERICA
68 Leave out : OMIT
69 “Rule, Britannia” composer Thomas : ARNE
70 Determined to do : SET ON
71 Nashville venue : OPRY
72 “The Walking __”: zombie show : DEAD

Down

1 DVD blooper collection : GAG REEL
2 By ear : AURALLY
3 Online merchant : E-TAILER
4 Red ink : LOSS
5 __ Moines : DES
6 Rink surface : ICE
7 Depicts unfairly, as data : SKEWS
8 Secret languages : CODES
9 Short-lived obsession : FAD
10 Civil War prez : ABE
11 Admit defeat : CONCEDE
12 Hex-dispensing stare : EVIL EYE
13 Some Middle East natives : SEMITES
18 Splinter group : SECT
22 Ballpark fig. : EST
26 Artist Magritte : RENE
27 Writer of exalted verse : ODIST
28 __ bar: Polynesian-themed spot : TIKI
29 U-Haul truck, e.g. : RENTAL
31 Mooches : CADGES
35 Govt. code-breaking org. : NSA
36 Fancy tie : ASCOT
39 Flag maker Betsy : ROSS
40 __ Reader: eclectic digest : UTNE
41 Gaming centers : ARCADES
42 Invasive computer software : MALWARE
43 “Give me that!” : I WANT IT!
46 Ecstasy : RAPTURE
47 Insect’s feeler : ANTENNA
48 Like Abe Lincoln and Santa Claus, facially : BEARDED
50 Chinese menu general : TSO
52 Outback birds : EMUS
54 Gleeful shout : YAHOO!
55 Pinch pennies : SKIMP
60 “The Wind in the Willows” amphibious Mr. : TOAD
62 Novelist Umberto : ECO
63 “Forrest Gump” lieutenant : DAN
65 Dame’s counterpart : SIR
66 Messy place : STY