LA Times Crossword 25 Dec 19, Wednesday

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Constructed by: Blake Slonecker
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Come to Your Senses

Merry Christmas, everyone! Themed answers each end with a SENSE:

  • 64A Wake up … or what five long Across answers do? : COME TO YOUR SENSES
  • 18A Pretrial proceeding to determine if the accused is released or held during trial : DETENTION HEARING
  • 23A Tawdry : IN POOR TASTE
  • 37A Stop communicating : LOSE TOUCH
  • 46A Programmer’s hint of a still bigger problem : CODE SMELL
  • 58A Soothsayer’s ability : SECOND SIGHT

Bill’s time: 7m 38s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “The Chosen” novelist Potok : CHAIM

Chaim Potok was a Jewish American author. Potok’s most famous novel is “The Chosen”, which recounts the life of a Jewish youth in New York City during WWII.

6 Doofuses : SCHMOS

“Schmo” (also “shmo”) is American slang for a dull or boring person, and comes from the Yiddish word “shmok”.

“Doofus” (also “dufus”) is student slang that has been around since the sixties. Apparently the word is a variant of the equally unattractive term “doo-doo”.

12 Itinerary info : ETA

Estimated time of arrival (ETA)

15 Light weight : OUNCE

Our term “ounce” comes from the Latin “uncia”, which was 1/12 of a “libra”, the Roman “pound”. “Uncia” is also the derivation of our word “inch”, 1/12 of a foot.

16 Hullabaloo : HOOPLA

The word “hoopla” means “boisterous excitement”. The term probably comes from “houp-là”, something the French say instead of “upsy-daisy”. Then again, “upsy-daisy” probably isn’t something said very often here in the US …

Our word “hullabaloo” meaning a “commotion” is a derivative of an older term “hollo-ballo”. “Hollo-ballo” was a word used for an uproar in the north of England and Scotland.

17 “Your Moment of __”: “The Daily Show” bit : ZEN

“Your Moment of Zen” is a segment on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” that is aired at the end of the broadcast. The segment consists of a short video featuring something that makes you scratch your head, wondering “did this really happen, did he/she really say that?”

23 Tawdry : IN POOR TASTE

Saint Audrey (commonly “Awdry”) was an Anglo-Saxon queen. The queen’s admirers were in the habit of buying lace trimmings for their clothes at an annual fair held in her name. Centuries later, this lacework came to be viewed with distaste as the Puritans came to influence social standards. The lace trimming was deemed to be old-fashioned and cheap. The queen’s name “Awdry” then evolved into our word “tawdry”, meaning cheap and of poor quality.

32 Again, in Spanish : OTRA VEZ

“Otra vez” is Spanish for “again”, translating literally as “other time”.

34 Having a low pH : ACIDIC

As we all recall from chemistry class, a pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything less than 7 is an acid, and anything above 7 is a base.

45 Actress Vardalos : NIA

Not only is the delightful Nia Vardalos the star of the 2002 hit movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, she also wrote the screenplay. The film never made it to number one at the box office, but it still pulled in more money than any other movie in history that didn’t make it to number one. That record I think reflects the fact that the film wasn’t a blockbuster but rather a so-called “sleeper hit”, a movie that people went to see based on referrals from friends. The big fat mistake came when a spin-off TV show was launched, “My Big Fat Greek Life”. It ran for only 7 episodes. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” hit movie theaters in 2016.

46 Programmer’s hint of a still bigger problem : CODE SMELL

When a programmer notices a characteristic in a program that indicates that a deeper issue may be present, then he or she might describe that characteristic as a “code smell”. Code smalls aren’t bugs, as they don’t in themselves break the code. Rather, they are indicators of a less than robust design.

54 Costa __ : RICA

Costa Rica is a country in Central America that is bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the South. Costa Rica is remarkable in my opinion, a leader on the world stage in many areas. It has been referred to as the “greenest” country in the world, the “happiest” country in the world, and has a highly educated populace. In 1949, the country unilaterally abolished its own army … permanently!

55 Source of chips : SPUD

The word “spud” is used as a slang term for a potato and was first recorded in the mid-1800s, in New Zealand would you believe?

58 Soothsayer’s ability : SECOND SIGHT

A soothsayer is someone who claims to have the ability to predict the future. The term comes from “sooth”, an archaic word for “truth”. So a soothsayer was supposedly one who told the “truth” (about the future).

61 Watering hole : OASIS

An isolated area of vegetation in a desert is called an oasis (plural “oases”). As water is needed for plant growth, an oasis might also include a spring, pond or small lake. We often use the term “oasis” more generally to describe a haven, a place of rest.

63 Vicinity : AREA

A vicinity is an area surrounding a place. The term “vicinity” ultimately comes from the Latin “vicus” meaning “group of houses, village”.

72 Chicken-king link : A LA

A dish prepared “à la king” (usually chicken or turkey), is prepared in a cream sauce with mushrooms, pimentos, green peppers and sherry.

73 Polar jacket : ANORAK

Anoraks really aren’t very popular over here in America. Everyone has one in Ireland! An anorak is a heavy jacket with a hood, often lined with fur (or fake fur), and is an invention of the Inuit people.

74 Dishonorable fellow : KNAVE

We’ve been using “knave” to mean a cad since about 1200, and as an alternative name for the jack in a deck of cards since the mid-1500s. “Knave” comes from the Old English word “cnafa”, a “boy, male servant”.

76 Big Apple area, with “the” : BOWERY

Peter Stuyvesant was director-general of the Dutch colony of New Netherland from 1647 until 1664. That made him the last administrator of the colony, as New Netherland became New York when it was ceded provisionally to England in 1664. Stuyvesant operated a farm that he named the “Bouwerij”, which is simply the Dutch word for “farm”. “Bouwerij” gives us the name “the Bowery”, which is used for a major street and neighborhood in Manhattan.

Apparently, the first published use of the term “Big Apple” to describe New York City dates back to 1909. Edward Martin wrote the following in his book “The Wayfarer in New York”:

Kansas is apt to see in New York a greedy city. . . . It inclines to think that the big apple gets a disproportionate share of the national sap.

Over ten years later, the term “big apple” was used as a nickname for racetracks in and around New York City. However, the concerted effort to “brand” the city as the Big Apple had to wait until the seventies and was the work of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau.

77 Nasser’s successor : SADAT

Anwar Sadat was the third President of Egypt right up to the time of his assassination in 1981. Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 along with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin for the role played in crafting the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1978 at Camp David. It was this agreement that largely led to Sadat’s assassination three years later.

Gamal Abdel Nasser was the second president of Egypt, and was in office from 1956 until he died in 1970. He stood alongside Muhammad Naguib, Egypt’s first president, during the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 that overthrew the ruling monarchy of Egypt and Sudan. Nasser was an advocate of Pan-Arabism, an ideology promoting unification of Arab peoples and countries. President Nasser went so far as forming the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union between Egypt and Syria that started in 1958 but fell apart in 1961 when Syria withdrew.

Down

1 Northern Pacific catch : COD

In Britain and Ireland, the most common fish that is used in traditional “fish and chips” is Atlantic cod. Cod has been overfished all over the world, and is now considered to be an endangered species by many international bodies. Confrontations over fishing rights in the North Atlantic led to conflicts called “the Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK in the 1950s and the 1970s, with fishing fleets being protected by naval vessels and even shots being fired.

3 Bad picnic omen : ANT

Our term “picnic” comes from the French word that now has the same meaning, namely “pique-nique”. The original “pique-nique” was a fashionable potluck affair, and not necessarily held outdoors.

5 __ Park: Edison lab site : MENLO

Thomas Alva Edison (TAE) was nicknamed “The Wizard of Menlo Park” by a newspaper reporter, a name that stuck. He was indeed a wizard, in the sense that he was such a prolific inventor. The Menlo Park part of the moniker recognizes the location of his first research lab, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

6 Japanese faith : SHINTO

It is perhaps best not to describe Shinto as a religion, but more as a “spirituality of the Japanese people”, a spirituality that encompasses folklore, history and mythology. Having said that, “Shinto” translates literally as “Way of the gods”. Most people in Japan who are described as practicing Shinto, also practice Buddhism.

9 Speed letters : MPH

Miles per hour (mph)

11 Defunct Swedish automaker : SAAB

“SAAB” stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. Although we usually think of SAAB as an auto manufacturer, it is mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. A Chinese consortium purchased the assets of SAAB Automotive in 2012, and so SAAB vehicles are in production again. The new vehicles are using the SAAB name, but cannot use the SAAB griffin logo, the rights to which have been retained by the mother company.

12 Web mag : E-ZINE

Online magazines are variously referred to as webzines, e-zines, cyberzines, hyperzines or maybe e-magazines.

19 Old salt : TAR

A jack tar, or just “tar”, was a seaman in the days of the British Empire. The term probably arose due to a sailor’s various uses of tar back then, including waterproofing his clothes and using tar in his hair to slick down his ponytail.

20 Channing’s role in “Grease” : RIZZO

“Grease” was, and still is, a very successful stage musical. In the story, the leader of “The Pink Ladies” is Betty Rizzo, who is played by Stockard Channing in the blockbuster film version of the play.

23 Genesis father of twins : ISAAC

According to the Bible, Abraham’s son Isaac was born to Abraham’s wife Sarah when she was beyond her childbearing years and when Abraham was 100 years old. Isaac himself lived until he was 180 years old. When Isaac was just a youth, Abraham was tested by Yahweh (God) and told to build an altar on which he was to sacrifice his only son. At the last minute, an angel appeared and stopped Abraham, telling him to sacrifice a ram instead.

24 Wafer brand : NECCO

Necco Wafers were the best-known product line of the candy manufacturer called the New England Confectionery Company. The firm’s name was abbreviated to “NECCO”, an acronym that became synonymous with the wafers.

26 NBA’s Hawks, on scoreboards : ATL

The NBA’s Atlanta Hawks started out as the Buffalo Bisons in 1946, although after only a few months the team was moved to Moline, Illinois as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. The Blackhawks were one of the 17 original teams playing at the founding of the National Basketball Association. There was another move in 1951 and a renaming to the Milwaukee Hawks, and yet again in 1955 when the team became the St. Louis Hawks. The latest move was to Atlanta, in 1968.

27 B’way sellout sign : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

28 Zap with a stun gun : TASE

Victor Appleton wrote a novel for young adults called “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle”. The company that developed the TASER electroshock weapon partly named its product as a homage to the novel. The acronym “TASER” stands for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle”.

33 French 101 verb : ETRE

The verb “to be” translates into German as “sein”, and into French as “être”.

35 “Casablanca” heroine : ILSA

Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund were played by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in the 1942 movie “Casablanca”. I love the words of one critic describing the chemistry between Bogart and Bergman in this film: “She paints his face with her eyes”. Wow …

39 Sure thing : CINCH

The term “cinch” was absorbed into American English from Spanish in the mid-1800s, when it was used to mean a “saddle-girth”. “Cincha” is the Spanish for “girdle”. In the late 1800s, “cinch” came to mean a ‘sure thing”, in the sense that a saddle-girth can provide a “sure hold”.

43 “I’m a Mess” singer Rexha : BEBE

Bebe Rexha is a singer-songwriter from New York City. Her given name at birth was “Bleta”, which is Albanian for “bee”. Folks started to use the nickname “Bebe”, which stuck.

47 __ Bauer : EDDIE

The Eddie Bauer clothing chain was established in Seattle in 1920 by an outdoorsman called Eddie Bauer (unsurprisingly!). Bauer was the man who patented the first quilted down jacket, in 1940.

48 Inc. kin : LLC

A limited liability company (LLC) has a 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.

49 Zodiac feline : LEO

Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.

51 Online news pioneer Huffington : ARIANNA

“The Huffington Post” (now “HuffPost”) is a news website founded in 2005 by Arianna Huffington. It is a very active site, with 3,000 people contributing blog posts (including many celebrities and politicians), and readers leaving over one million comments every month. “The Huffington Post” was sold to AOL in 2011 for $315 million, with Arianna Huffington staying on as editor-in-chief.

53 Snide : SNARKY

“Snark” is a term that was coined by Lewis Carroll in his fabulous 1876 nonsense poem “The Hunting of the Snark”. Somehow, the term “snarky” came to mean “irritable, short-tempered” in the early 1900s, and from there “snark” became “sarcastic rhetoric” at the beginning of the 21st century.

55 Golden St. region : SOCAL

“Golden State” has been the official nickname of California since 1968. The nickname reflects the expansion of the state’s economy that followed the discovery of gold in 1848, and also the fields of golden poppies seen growing wild across California in the spring.

56 Renaissance painter Veronese : PAOLO

Paolo Veronese was a Renaissance painter from the Italian city of Verona (hence his name “Veronese”). Veronese is most famous for his paintings “The Wedding at Cana” and “The Feast at the House of Levi”. “The Wedding at Cana” is a massive work, measuring over 21 x 32 feet in size. It has the honor of being the largest painting in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

59 Ob-gyns, e.g. : DRS

Obstetrics and Gynecology (Ob-Gyn)

65 Plastic __ Band : ONO

The Plastic Ono Band was a so-called “super-group”, brought together by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969. Members of the group included John and Yoko, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Keith Moon.

67 Wash. neighbor : 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.

68 Old Mideast org. : UAR

The United Arab Republic (UAR) was a union between Egypt and Syria established in 1958. The UAR dissolved in 1961 when Syria pulled out of the arrangement.

70 Señora Perón : EVA

Eva Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón who was in office from 1946 to 1955. The Argentine First Lady was known affectionately by the people as “Evita”, the Spanish language diminutive of “Eva”. “Evita” is also the title of a tremendously successful musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that is based on the life of Eva Perón.

71 Tennis match unit : SET

Game, set and match.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “The Chosen” novelist Potok : CHAIM
6 Doofuses : SCHMOS
12 Itinerary info : ETA
15 Light weight : OUNCE
16 Hullabaloo : HOOPLA
17 “Your Moment of __”: “The Daily Show” bit : ZEN
18 Pretrial proceeding to determine if the accused is released or held during trial : DETENTION HEARING
21 Family unit : CLAN
22 Ties up : BINDS
23 Tawdry : IN POOR TASTE
30 Get-up-and-go : ZEST
31 Peddle : SELL
32 Again, in Spanish : OTRA VEZ
34 Having a low pH : ACIDIC
37 Stop communicating : LOSE TOUCH
41 Master : ACE
42 Easy throw : LOB
44 Forget a date, e.g. : ERR
45 Actress Vardalos : NIA
46 Programmer’s hint of a still bigger problem : CODE SMELL
50 Pines : YEARNS
52 Plays at, with “in” : DABBLES
54 Costa __ : RICA
55 Source of chips : SPUD
58 Soothsayer’s ability : SECOND SIGHT
61 Watering hole : OASIS
63 Vicinity : AREA
64 Wake up … or what five long Across answers do? : COME TO YOUR SENSES
72 Chicken-king link : A LA
73 Polar jacket : ANORAK
74 Dishonorable fellow : KNAVE
75 Chop off : LOP
76 Big Apple area, with “the” : BOWERY
77 Nasser’s successor : SADAT

Down

1 Northern Pacific catch : COD
2 Cranberry or cherry : HUE
3 Bad picnic omen : ANT
4 Like beer on a summer day, ideally : ICE COLD
5 __ Park: Edison lab site : MENLO
6 Japanese faith : SHINTO
7 Dove’s call : COO
8 Dearie : HON
9 Speed letters : MPH
10 Cry repeated at soccer matches : OLE!
11 Defunct Swedish automaker : SAAB
12 Web mag : E-ZINE
13 Cares for : TENDS
14 Insecure feeling : ANGST
19 Old salt : TAR
20 Channing’s role in “Grease” : RIZZO
23 Genesis father of twins : ISAAC
24 Wafer brand : NECCO
25 Practiced, as a trade : PLIED
26 NBA’s Hawks, on scoreboards : ATL
27 B’way sellout sign : SRO
28 Zap with a stun gun : TASE
29 More than most : EVERY
33 French 101 verb : ETRE
35 “Casablanca” heroine : ILSA
36 Tangle removers : COMBS
38 Strip of gear, as a ship : UNRIG
39 Sure thing : CINCH
40 Attacks : HAS AT
43 “I’m a Mess” singer Rexha : BEBE
47 __ Bauer : EDDIE
48 Inc. kin : LLC
49 Zodiac feline : LEO
51 Online news pioneer Huffington : ARIANNA
53 Snide : SNARKY
55 Golden St. region : SOCAL
56 Renaissance painter Veronese : PAOLO
57 It usually shows AK and HI as insets : US MAP
59 Ob-gyns, e.g. : DRS
60 Personal ad verb : SEEKS
62 Stick a fork in : STAB
65 Plastic __ Band : ONO
66 Pained outburst : YOW!
67 Wash. neighbor : ORE
68 Old Mideast org. : UAR
69 Pathetic : SAD
70 Señora Perón : EVA
71 Tennis match unit : SET