LA Times Crossword 11 Mar 22, Friday

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Constructed by: Jeffrey Wechsler
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Doctored Up

Themed answers are common phrases with AMA (an initialism standing for American Medical Association) inserted:

  • 54A Altered, in a way … and a hint to the org. that helped create the answers to starred clues : DOCTORED UP
  • 18A *Crèche, for example? : CHRISTIAN DIORAMA (from “Christian Dior”)
  • 26A *Recent president scrutinizing a book on jurisprudence? : OBAMA EYING THE LAW (from “obeying the law”)
  • 42A *Animal rights goal in the Andes? : JUSTICE FOR A LLAMA (from “justice for all”)

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

Bill’s time: 12m 25s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “‘And hast thou __ the Jabberwock?'”: Carroll : SLAIN

Here is a verse from “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll, probably the one poem that we all just loved learning to recite at school:

And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

6 Steady guy : BEAU

A beau (plural “beaux”) is the boyfriend of a belle, a young lady. “Beau” and “belle” are the masculine and feminine forms of the French word for “handsome, beautiful”.

10 Event involving hidden matzo : SEDER

The Passover Seder is a ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish Passover holiday celebrating the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

Matzo is an unleavened flatbread used in Jewish cuisine, and which plays a central role in the Seder ritual feast that marks the beginning of Passover.

15 Shell material : NACRE

Nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, is the strong iridescent material laid down by some mollusks on the inside of their shells, and it’s also what makes up pearls. The creature lays down nacre as a defensive mechanism, protecting the soft tissue of its body from the rough surface of the outer shell. Similarly, it uses nacre to encapsulate harmful debris or a parasite that penetrates the shell, and that’s how a pearl is formed. Cultured pearls are made by inserting a tissue graft from a donor oyster, around which the nacre is laid down.

18 *Crèche, for example? : CHRISTIAN DIORAMA (from “Christian Dior”)

In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also “crèche”) is a display representing the scene of the birth of Jesus. Nativity scenes might be subjects for paintings, for example, although the term is usually used for seasonal displays associated with the Christmas season.

A diorama is a full-scale or small-scale replica of a scene. We mostly see full-size dioramas in museums, whereas our kids might create small-scale dioramas as homework projects. The original diorama was a picture-viewing device that was invented in 1822 by Louis Daguerre and Charles Marie Bouton. These historic dioramas were quite large, and featured scenes that appeared to change as the lighting was manipulated.

Christian Dior was a French fashion designer. As WWII approached, Dior was called up by the French military, drawing a temporary halt to his career in fashion. He left the army in 1942 and for the duration of the war designed clothes for wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. After the war his designs became so popular that he helped to re-establish Paris as the fashion center of the world.

21 Geode feature, perhaps : CRYSTAL

A geode is a rock in which there is a cavity that is lined or filled with crystal formations.

23 Current type : ELECTRIC

There are two types of electric current. The 120V supply that is distributed throughout our homes provides us with alternating current (AC). The AC current moves back and forth every 1/60 second, in two different directions. AC is great for transmission around the country, and that’s the main reason that AC is piped into our homes. However, all of our electronic devices need direct current (DC), current that flows in one direction. That’s why those devices have adapters at the end of a power cable. The 120V AC supply is converted by the adapter into the DC supply used by the device.

26 *Recent president scrutinizing a book on jurisprudence? : OBAMA EYING THE LAW (from “obeying the law”)

Not only did future president Barack Obama attend Harvard University, so did his birth father, Barack Obama, Sr. President Obama’s parents separated when Barack Obama, Sr. went off to Harvard, leaving his wife and child back in Hawaii. Barack Obama, Jr. enrolled in Harvard Law School in 1988, and later became the first black president of the “Harvard Law Review”.

34 Grammy-winning pianist Peter : NERO

Peter Nero is a pianist and conductor of “pops” orchestral concerts. Nero had a huge hit in the pop music charts in 1971 with the theme tune from the movie “Summer of ’42”.

35 2020 N.L. batting champ Juan : SOTO

Juan Soto is a professional baseball player from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. He made his MLB debut with the Washington Nationals in 2018, and in so doing became the youngest player in the majors (at 19).

36 “Sula” author Morrison : TONI

“Sula” is a 1973 novel by Toni Morrison. The title character is a young woman who returns to her hometown in Ohio. Sula’s return disrupts the community as she defies social norms.

42 *Animal rights goal in the Andes? : JUSTICE FOR A LLAMA (from “justice for all”)

The llama is a camelid mammal very much associated with the Andean cultures. Despite the association with South America, it is thought that the ancestors of the modern llama migrated south from the Great Plains of North America about 40 million years ago.

“… and justice for all.” are the closing words of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Pledge of Allegiance of the US was composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and was adopted by Congress in 1942. The actual words used in the pledge have changed over time. Here is the original 1892 version shown in comparison to the current version that was adopted in 1954:

1892: I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

1954: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

47 Sugar suffix : -OSE

Sugars are usually named using the “-ose” suffix e.g., glucose, fructose, sucrose.

49 Spirit that’s also a game : GIN

The spirit known as gin gets its unique flavor mainly from juniper berries. The name “gin” comes into English from the translation of “juniper” from either French (genièvre), Dutch (jenever) or Italian (ginepro).

Gin rummy is a faster variant of standard rummy. It was introduced in 1909 by one Elwood Baker and his son.

50 “Molto __”: “Very good” : BENE

In Italian, the crossword solving experience might be “molto bene” (very good).

59 Plain : VANILLA

The flavor extract that we call “vanilla” comes from the pod-like fruit of climbing orchids belonging to the genus Vanilla. Genuine vanilla is a relatively expensive spice, second only to saffron, due to the amount of work required to grow and harvest the fruit (also called “beans” and “pods”). Spanish and Portuguese explorers came across the Vanilla orchid while exploring the Gulf Coast of Mexico. They gave it the name “vainilla” meaning “little pod”.

62 Soviet-born ballet immortal : NUREYEV

Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev’s most famous partnership was with Dame Margot Fonteyn. Nureyev and Fonteyn had their last professional performance together when Nureyev was 50-years-old, and Fonteyn an impressive 69 years. One of Nureyev’s claims to fame is that he was the first Soviet artist to defect to the West during the Cold War, doing so in Paris in 1961 while touring with the Mariinsky Ballet.

66 Broad-topped trees : ACACIAS

Acacia is a genus of trees and shrubs that is also known as thorntree, whistling thorn and wattle. The acacia is the primary food source for the giraffe in the wild, with the animal eating the leaves high in the tree, leaves that are inaccessible to competing species. The natural gum from two species of acacia tree is known as gum arabic, which is used in the food industry as a stabilizer.

69 Poker-faced : DEADPAN

The term “deadpan”, slang for “impassive expression”, comes from “dead” (expressionless) and “pan” (slang for “face”).

Down

1 ’60s civil rights gp. inspired by student sit-ins : SNCC

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was an organization that was very active in the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties. Apart from organizing protest events, the SNCC did a lot of work driving voter registration throughout the southern states.

2 Lion player Bert : LAHR

The Cowardly Lion in L. Frank Baum’s “Land of Oz” books was portrayed by Bert Lahr in the celebrated 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz”. The costume that Lahr wore in the film was made from real lion fur, and weighed a whopping 60 pounds.

3 “__ in the Dark”: 1988 Neill/Streep film : A CRY

“A Cry in the Dark” is the title used outside of Australia and New Zealand for the 1988 Australian film “Evil Angels”. The movie stars Sam Neill and Meryl Streep as a couple accused of killing their nine-week old baby. Based on a true story, the wife was eventually convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor. The couple argued that the child had been attacked and dragged away by a dingo. After three years in prison, the wife was released when a piece of the child’s clothing was found near a dingo lair.

4 Bearded bloom : IRIS

Iris is a genus of flowering plants that come in a wide variety of flower colors. The term “iris” is a Greek word meaning “rainbow”. Many species of irises are called “flags”. One suggestion is that the alternate name comes from the Middle English “flagge” meaning “reed”. This term was used because iris leaves look like reeds.

5 Iced drink brand : NESTEA

Nestea is a brand of iced tea made by Nestlé. The name is a portmanteau of “Nestlé” and “tea”.

6 Irish liqueur made by an English company : BAILEYS

A “cream liqueur” is one that includes dairy cream. The most famous example is probably Baileys Irish Cream, which is made from cream and Irish whiskey. A “crème liqueur”, on the other hand, is one that includes a lot of added sugar, but no dairy cream. Examples are crème de cacao (chocolate-flavored), crème de menthe (mint-flavored) and crème de cassis (blackcurrant-flavored).

Diageo is a beverage company based in London that was formed in 1997 with the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan. It is a very large company, and owns some very famous brands, for example:

  • Scotch: Johnnie Walker, Talisker, Black & White
  • American whiskey: Seagram’s
  • Canadian Whiskey: Crown Royal
  • Vodka: Smirnoff, Ketel One
  • Rum: Captain Morgan
  • Liqueur: Baileys
  • Tequila: Don Julio
  • Gin: Gordon’s, Tanqueray
  • Beer: Guinness

7 LAX stat : ETA

Los Angeles International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and the busiest here on the West Coast of the US. The airport was opened in 1930 as Mines Field and was renamed to Los Angeles Airport in 1941. On the airport property is the iconic white structure that resembles a flying saucer. This is called the Theme Building and I believe it is mainly used as a restaurant and observation deck for the public. The airport used to be identified by the letters “LA”, but when the aviation industry went to a three-letter standard for airport identification, this was changed to “LAX”. Apparently, the “X” has no significant meaning.

8 Chicago’s __ Center : AON

The Aon Center in Chicago is the third-tallest building in the city. There is also an Aon Center in Los Angeles that is the second-tallest building in that city.

11 Catalan cash : EURO

Catalonia is an autonomous community in the northeast of Spain, the capital of which is the city of Barcelona. Sandwiched between Catalonia and France to the north, is the lovely Principality of Andorra that is nestled in the Pyrenees. Andorra is the country in the world in which Catalan is an official language.

13 Girl in a Salinger title : ESME

J. D. Salinger wrote a short story called “For Esmé – with Love and Squalor” that was originally published in “The New Yorker” in 1950. It is a story about a young English girl called Esme and an American soldier, and is set in WWII.

20 D.C. part?: Abbr. : INIT

Initial (init.)

The District of Columbia (DC) was established by the Residence Act in 1790. Article One, Section 8 of the US constitution provides for the establishment of a district outside of the states, over which the federal government has authority. The constitution also specifies that the district cannot exceed an area of ten miles square.

24 AFL partner : CIO

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded in 1886, making it one of the first federations of unions in the country. Over time the AFL became dominated by craft unions, unions representing skilled workers of particular disciplines. In the early thirties, John L. Lewis led a movement within the AFL to organize workers by industry, believing this would be more effective for the members. But the craft unions refused to budge, so Lewis set up a rival federation of unions in 1932, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The two federations became bitter rivals for over two decades until finally merging in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO.

25 Blasted stuff : TNT

“TNT” is an abbreviation for “trinitrotoluene”. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

29 __ Blanc : MONT

Mont Blanc is the highest peak in the Alps. The name “Mont Blanc” translates from French into “white mountain”. The mountain lies on the border between France and Italy, and it has been generally accepted for decades that the summit lies within French territory. However, there have been official claims that the summit does in fact fall within the borders of Italy.

31 Romantic-sounding herb : LOVAGE

Lovage is a perennial plant that is used as a food source. The leaves are used in salads, and as a herb. The roots are eaten as a vegetable, like parsley. Ad, the seeds are used as a spice similar to fennel.

32 Lethargy cause : ANEMIA

The term “anemia” (or “anaemia”, as we write it back in Ireland) comes from a Greek word meaning “lack of blood”. Anemia is a lack of iron in the blood, or a low red blood cell count. Tiredness is a symptom of the condition, and so we use the term “anemic” figuratively to mean “lacking in vitality or substance”.

Languor, lassitude, lethargy and listlessness are such lovely words. All are L-words describing a lack of physical energy.

33 CeCe with 12 Grammys : WINANS

CeCe Winans (real given name “Priscilla”) is a Gospel music singer. She is part of a duo with her brother, BeBe Winans (real name Benjamin).

39 Horned Frogs’ sch. : TCU

The sports teams of Texas Christian University (TCU) are known as the Horned Frogs. The name is a reference to the Texas horned lizard, which is also known as the “horned frog”. The school mascot used to be called “Addy the All-American Frog, but in 1979 was renamed to “SuperFrog”.

40 Seuss cat’s trademark : HAT

“The Cat in the Hat” is a 1957 book penned by Dr. Seuss (aka Theodor Geisel). Written to teach young children how to read, Geisel stated in 1983, “It is the book I’m proudest of because it had something to do with the death of the “Dick and Jane” primers.”

41 English cathedral town : ELY

Ely Cathedral is a famous and beautiful church in the city of Ely in the English county of Cambridgeshire. There is a Gothic door on the north face of the cathedral that was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the man famous as the architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Christopher Wren had a personal link to the church, as his uncle was the Bishop of Ely.

44 Baklava dough : FILO

Filo (also “phyllo”) is an extremely thin unleavened dough used in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. The most famous dish made from filo is baklava, a rich and sweet pastry made from layers of filo filled with chopped nuts and held together with syrup.

Baklava is a very sweet and rich (and delicious) dessert pastry made from layers of filo dough filled with nuts and sweetened with honey or syrup. The name “baklava” comes from the Ottoman Turkish name for the pastry.

55 Miscellany : OLIO

“Olio” is a term meaning “hodgepodge, mixture” that comes from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used for cooking.

58 Up-there bear : URSA

The constellation Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called “the Big Dipper” because of its resemblance to a ladle or dipper. Ursa Major also resembles a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland, “the Plough”.

Ursa Minor (Latin for “Smaller Bear”) sits right beside the constellation Draco (Latin for “Dragon”). Ursa Minor used to be considered the wing of Draco, and was once called “Dragon’s Wing”. The tail of the “Smaller Bear” might also be considered as the handle of a ladle, and so the constellation is often referred to as the Little Dipper.

59 Brief cleaner : VAC

The first practical portable vacuum cleaner was invented by James Spangler in 1907. Spangler sold the patent for the design to his cousin’s husband, William Henry Hoover. Hoover then made his fortune from manufacturing and selling vacuum cleaners. Hoover was so successful in my part of the world that back in Ireland we don’t use the verb “to vacuum” and instead say “to hoover”. Also, “hoover” is what we call a vacuum cleaner, regardless of who makes it.

60 Pressure opening? : ACU-

Acupressure and acupuncture are related alternative medical techniques. Both aim to clear blockages in the flow of life energy through the body’s meridians. The treatment is given by stimulating “acupoints” in the body, by applying pressure in the case of acupressure, and by applying needles in the case of acupuncture.

61 “Illmatic” rapper : NAS

Rapper Nas used to go by an earlier stage name “Nasty Nas”, and before that by his real name “Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones”. Nas released his first album “Illmatic” in 1994, and inventively titled his fifth studio album “Stillmatic”, released in 2001.

64 Live-ball __: baseball period : ERA

Baseball’s live-ball era began in 1920, brought on by a series of rules changes. One significant change was a rule requiring that balls be replaced immediately at the first sign of wear. Batters were now swinging at balls that were consistently bright and easier to see. Baseball became a higher-scoring game almost overnight. The period before the changes is referred to retrospectively as the dead-ball era.

65 S.A. country, to the IOC : VEN

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses its own set of three-letter abbreviations for country names, e.g. VEN (Venezuela)

The country name “Venezuela” originated with the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Vespucci saw stilt houses around Lake Maracaibo that reminded him of the city of Venice, leading him to call the region “Veneziola” meaning “Little Venice”. Over time, “Veneziola” evolved into “Venezuela” as a result of Spanish influence.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “‘And hast thou __ the Jabberwock?'”: Carroll : SLAIN
6 Steady guy : BEAU
10 Event involving hidden matzo : SEDER
15 Shell material : NACRE
16 Loads : A TON
17 Horror film burden : CURSE
18 *Crèche, for example? : CHRISTIAN DIORAMA (from “Christian Dior”)
21 Geode feature, perhaps : CRYSTAL
22 Dressed : ENROBED
23 Current type : ELECTRIC
26 *Recent president scrutinizing a book on jurisprudence? : OBAMA EYING THE LAW (from “obeying the law”)
34 Grammy-winning pianist Peter : NERO
35 2020 N.L. batting champ Juan : SOTO
36 “Sula” author Morrison : TONI
37 “That describes me, right?” : AM I NOT?
40 Paradise : HEAVEN
42 *Animal rights goal in the Andes? : JUSTICE FOR A LLAMA (from “justice for all”)
47 Sugar suffix : -OSE
48 Clear thought : LUCIDITY
49 Spirit that’s also a game : GIN
50 “Molto __”: “Very good” : BENE
52 Trough fill : SLOP
53 Huge amounts : SEAS
54 Altered, in a way … and a hint to the org. that helped create the answers to starred clues : DOCTORED UP
59 Plain : VANILLA
62 Soviet-born ballet immortal : NUREYEV
66 Broad-topped trees : ACACIAS
67 Catch : ENSNARE
68 Safekeeping : CUSTODY
69 Poker-faced : DEADPAN

Down

1 ’60s civil rights gp. inspired by student sit-ins : SNCC
2 Lion player Bert : LAHR
3 “__ in the Dark”: 1988 Neill/Streep film : A CRY
4 Bearded bloom : IRIS
5 Iced drink brand : NESTEA
6 Irish liqueur made by an English company : BAILEYS
7 LAX stat : ETA
8 Chicago’s __ Center : AON
9 Experience : UNDERGO
10 Really burn : SCORCH
11 Catalan cash : EURO
12 Colorless : DRAB
13 Girl in a Salinger title : ESME
14 Curl up with a good book, say : READ
19 Story : TALE
20 D.C. part?: Abbr. : INIT
24 AFL partner : CIO
25 Blasted stuff : TNT
26 Out working : ON A JOB
27 Puzzle : BEMUSE
28 Ascended : ARISEN
29 __ Blanc : MONT
30 Shorthand for unlisted items : ET AL
31 Romantic-sounding herb : LOVAGE
32 Lethargy cause : ANEMIA
33 CeCe with 12 Grammys : WINANS
38 Natural resource : OIL
39 Horned Frogs’ sch. : TCU
40 Seuss cat’s trademark : HAT
41 English cathedral town : ELY
43 Sheer joy : ECSTASY
44 Baklava dough : FILO
45 Smell : ODOR
46 Came to fruition : RIPENED
51 Official proclamation : EDICT
53 Use plastic, say : SPEND
55 Miscellany : OLIO
56 Wearing, with “in” : CLAD …
57 Beach feature : DUNE
58 Up-there bear : URSA
59 Brief cleaner : VAC
60 Pressure opening? : ACU-
61 “Illmatic” rapper : NAS
63 Jabber : YAP
64 Live-ball __: baseball period : ERA
65 S.A. country, to the IOC : VEN