LA Times Crossword Answers 30 Sep 2017, Saturday










Constructed by: Pawel Fludzinski

Edited by: Rich Norris

Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers

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Theme: None

Bill’s time: 10m 12s

Bill’s errors: 0




Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. MTV toon teen : BEAVIS

“Beavis and Butt-Head” is an adult cartoon television show and film. The show ran on MTV, which is only one reason that I don’t watch it …

14. Planned city in California’s Orange County : IRVINE

The California city of Irvine is a planned city that was incorporated in 1971. The Irvine Company started developing the area after it sold land to the University of California in 1959 that was used for what is now the school’s Irvine campus.

20. Ones in a mess, briefly : GIS

“Mess” first came into English about 1300, when it described the list of food needed for a meal. The term comes from the Old French word “mes” meaning a portion of food or a course at a meal. This usage in English evolved into “mess” meaning a jumbled mass of anything, from the concept of “mixed food”. The original usage, in the sense of a food for a meal, surfaced again in the military in the 1500s when a “mess” was a communal eating place.

25. Instrument dating to the Paleolithic age : FLUTE

A flute is a woodwind instrument that doesn’t have a reed. Instead, sound is produced by blowing air across an opening. A flute player is often referred to as a flautist. Flutes have been around a long, long time. Primitive flutes found in modern-day Germany date back 43,000 to 35,000 years, which makes the flute the oldest known musical instrument.

30. Wikipedia is an example of it : CROWDSOURCING

Crowdsourcing is mainly an online phenomenon, and is the solicitation of perhaps services, ideas or content from a large group of people. “Crowdsourcing” is a portmanteau of “crowd” and “outsourcing”. An example of crowdsourcing is crowdfunding, where an individual solicits many small contributions from a large number of people to fund a project.

39. Brody who was the youngest Best Actor Oscar winner : ADRIEN

Adrien Brody won an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in the Roman Polanski masterpiece “The Piano”. Brody won the award in 2003 at the age of 29, making him the youngest person ever to receive the Best Actor Oscar.

44. Old Italian capital : LIRE

The word “lira” is used in a number of countries for currency. “Lira” comes from the Latin for “pound” and is derived from a British pound sterling, the value of a Troy pound of silver. For example, the lira (plural “lire”) was the official currency of Italy before the country changed over to the euro in 2002.

45. “__ oui!” : MAIS

“Mais oui!” translates from French as “But yes!”

47. San Francisco’s __ Valley : NOE

Noe Valley is a neighborhood in San Francisco. The area is named after José de Jesús Noé who was the last Mexican mayor of Yerba Buena, which is what San Francisco was called when it was part of Mexico.

49. Symbolic attitude? : EMOTICON

An emoticon is a glyph created using text characters to represent facial features, and usually oriented sideways. The emoticon is designed to indicate emotion or attitude. The classic example is the smiley face ?

52. Star close to Venus? : SERENA

Serena Williams is the younger of the two Williams sisters playing professional tennis. Serena has won more prize money in her career than any other female athlete.

Venus Williams is the older of the two Williams sisters playing professional tennis. In 2002, Williams became the first African-American woman to earn the World No. 1 ranking by the Women’s Tennis Association in the Open Era.

53. Field of dreams? : LA-LA LAND

“La-la land” is a euphemism for a state of unconsciousness.

Down

1. Digital image format : BITMAP

A bitmap is an image file format used to store digital images. Basically, each pixel in a bitmap file is stored as a “bit” of information, hence the name “bitmap”.

2. Jazz virtuoso Garner : ERROLL

Erroll Garner was a jazz pianist and composer. Garner’s most famous composition by far is 1954’s “Misty”, which is now a jazz standard.

3. Street in Manhattan’s Alphabet City : AVENUE C

Avenues A, B, C and D are the only avenues in Manhattan to have single letter names. The area bounded by Avenues A and D, 14th Street and Houston Street in the East Village is known as Alphabet City, a reference to those single-letter avenues. The “Alphabet City” moniker emerged in the 1980s.

9. Last team to play in the Polo Grounds : METS

The original Polo Grounds in New York city was built in 1876 and as one might expect, it was used to play polo. The property was leased in 1880 by the New York Metropolitans and was converted into a baseball stadium. Over the years, the stadium was replaced, three times in all, but the “Polo Grounds” name was retained.

11. Base fig. : NCO

Non-commissioned officer (NCO)

12. Bulgur salad : TABOULI

Tabouleh (also “tabouli”) is one my my favorite dishes. It is usually made from bulgur, tomato, cucumber, parsley, mint, onion, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Just writing that list of ingredients gets my mouth watering …

Bulgur is a cereal made from the groats (hulled kernels) of wheat, usually durum wheat.

16. Swedish tennis great : EDBERG

Stefan Edberg is a Swedish tennis player, and former world number one. Sadly, one part of Edberg’s legacy is his involvement in a freak accident at the 1983 US Open. A ball struck by Edberg hit one of the linesmen causing him to topple off his chair, fracturing his skull as he hit the ground. That injury was fatal.

26. Inc. kin : LLC

A limited liability company (LLC) is a company structure that limits the liability of the owner or owners. It is a hybrid structure in the sense that it can be taxed as would an individual or partnership, while also maintaining the liability protection afforded to a corporation.

29. Exfoliation material : PUMICE

Pumice is volcanic rock that is formed by lava cooling. There are bubbles in pumice due to water and carbon dioxide frothing out of the lava as it cools. Because of the frothy structure, pumice is relatively light and is a great thermal insulator. As such, it is used in construction to make insulating breeze blocks.

31. NFL Titan, once : OILER

The Houston Oilers were an AFL charter team, founded in 1960. The team moved to Tennessee in 1997, and became the Tennessee Titans in 1999.

33. Pasta pellets in Jewish cuisine : FARFEL

Farfel are flake-shaped pieces of pasta used in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine.

35. Breakfast bar : GRANOLA

The names “Granola” and “Granula” were trademarked back in the late 1800s for whole-grain foods that were crumbled and baked until crisp. Granola was created in Dansville, New York in 1894.

41. “Burnt” crayon color : SIENNA

The shade known as “sienna” or “burnt sienna” was originally a pigment made from earth found around Siena in Tuscany.

44. More than a little foolish : LOONY

Something described as “loony” is insane, crazy. “Loony” is short for “lunatic”, an adjective that is now considered offensive. The term arose in the late 1400s when it meant “affected with periodic insanity”, insanity attacks brought on by the cycles of the moon. “Lunatic” comes from the Latin “luna” meaning “moon”.

47. BCS org. : NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was the ranking system used to match up the top ten ranked NCAA football teams for five bowl games. The BCS was abandoned in 2014 with the introduction of the College Football Playoff tournament.

50. North Sea feeder : TAY

The Firth of Tay is an inlet on the east coast of Scotland, into which empties Scotland’s largest river, the Tay. The city of Dundee lies on the Firth, and the city of Perth a little further inland on the Tay.

The North Sea is an offshoot of the Atlantic Ocean that is located between Britain and Scandinavia.

51. They, in Tours : ILS

Tours is the largest city in the Centre region of France. It is said that the people of Tours speak the “purest” form of French in the whole country, and when spoken by a local it is also said to be free of any accent.

52. Radical ’70s org. : SLA

The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was founded in 1973 by an escapee from the prison system, Donald DeFreeze. The group’s manifesto promoted the rights of African Americans although, in the 2-3 year life of the group, DeFreeze was the only black member. Famously, the SLA kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst in 1974. Hearst apparently fell victim to what is called the Stockholm syndrome and became sympathetic to her captors’ cause. She joined the SLA and assumed the name “Tania”.

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Complete List of Clues and Answers

Across

1. MTV toon teen : BEAVIS

7. Sings the blues : LAMENTS

14. Planned city in California’s Orange County : IRVINE

15. Conquered : OVERCAME

17. General courses : TRENDS

18. “Could be worse” : NOT SO BAD

19. __ talks : MONEY

20. Ones in a mess, briefly : GIS

21. Celestial body : ORB

22. Chug-__ : A-LUG

23. Persuaded : SOLD

25. Instrument dating to the Paleolithic age : FLUTE

27. “Go ahead” : PLEASE DO

29. One determining 17-Across : POLLER

30. Wikipedia is an example of it : CROWDSOURCING

32. Like most capital costs : ONE-TIME

33. Kind of response to mortal danger : FIGHT OR FLIGHT

39. Brody who was the youngest Best Actor Oscar winner : ADRIEN

40. Contingency plan : RECOURSE

43. Double-check : RE-ADD

44. Old Italian capital : LIRE

45. “__ oui!” : MAIS

46. Provoke : FAN

47. San Francisco’s __ Valley : NOE

48. Presages : BODES

49. Symbolic attitude? : EMOTICON

52. Star close to Venus? : SERENA

53. Field of dreams? : LA-LA LAND

54. Pucker-inducing : LEMONY

55. Denies : NAYSAYS

56. Parks with games : ARENAS

Down

1. Digital image format : BITMAP

2. Jazz virtuoso Garner : ERROLL

3. Street in Manhattan’s Alphabet City : AVENUE C

4. Salad bar item : VINEGAR

5. __ 500 : INDY

6. His, to Henri : SES

7. Reunion discovery : LONG-LOST FRIENDS

8. Bypass : AVOID

9. Last team to play in the Polo Grounds : METS

10. Sounds from the stumped : ERS

11. Base fig. : NCO

12. Bulgur salad : TABOULI

13. Spruce (up) : SMARTEN

16. Swedish tennis great : EDBERG

23. Like some patches : SEWN ON

24. Harder to explain : ODDER

25. Precede : FOREGO

26. Inc. kin : LLC

28. Blackened from combustion : SOOTED

29. Exfoliation material : PUMICE

31. NFL Titan, once : OILER

33. Pasta pellets in Jewish cuisine : FARFEL

34. Thoughtful guy? : IDEA MAN

35. Breakfast bar : GRANOLA

36. Sought anonymity : HID

37. “Just play along, okay?” : HUMOR ME

38. Exploit : TRADE ON

41. “Burnt” crayon color : SIENNA

42. Prose pieces : ESSAYS

44. More than a little foolish : LOONY

47. BCS org. : NCAA

48. It’s often tapped out : BEER

50. North Sea feeder : TAY

51. They, in Tours : ILS

52. Radical ’70s org. : SLA

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