LA Times Crossword 7 Oct 22, Friday

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Constructed by: Robin Stears
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Get Nothing in Overtime

Themed answers are common phrases ending in -OT, edited to end in -OOT:

  • 17A Filming that takes place in a vault? : BANK SHOOT (from “bank shot”)
  • 25A Revenue for the Witch Museum? : SALEM’S LOOT (from “‘Salem’s Lot”)
  • 36A Blast from a tugboat powered by spuds? : TATER TOOT (from “tater tot
  • 50A Fantastic display of hustle? : GREAT SCOOT (from “Great Scot!”)
  • 60A Footwear worn in a meatpacking plant? : SPAM BOOTS (from “spambots”)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 21s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Fiddler’s supply : ROSIN

Rosin is a solid form of resin derived from plant sources. Rosin is formed into cakes that players of stringed instruments use to rub along the hairs of their bows to help improve sound quality. The rosin increases the degree of friction between the strings and the bow. That same friction-increasing property comes into play when baseball pitchers use rosin to get a better grip on the ball, or when dancers apply rosin to the soles of their shoes.

6 “Sex Education” actor Butterfield : ASA

Asa Butterfield is a actor from London whose breakthrough came with the title role in the 2008 Holocaust movie “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”. More recently, he starred in the excellent Netflix comedy-drama series “Sex Education”, alongside Gillian Anderson.

“Sex Education” is a marvelous Netflic comedy-drama show made for Netflix that stars Gillian Anderson as a single-mother and sex therapist, and Asa Butterfield as her insecure teenage son. Highly recommended …

14 Like lambs : OVINE

The Latin word for “sheep” is “ovis”, giving us the adjective “ovine” meaning “like a sheep”.

15 ICU staffer : LPN

Licensed practical nurse (LPN)

16 Wikipedia articles that need expanding : STUBS

The Wikipedia community uses the term “stub” to denote an article considered too short. A stub is deemed inadequate in that it provides information about a subject that is insufficient for inclusion in an encyclopedia.

17 Filming that takes place in a vault? : BANK SHOOT (from “bank shot”)

In games like pool and billiards, a “bank shot” is one in which the object ball is bounced off one or more cushions prior to being pocketed.

19 Comet’s path : ORBIT

Comets and asteroids are similar, both being relatively small celestial bodies orbiting the sun. Comets differ from asteroids in that they have a coma or tail, especially when they are close enough to the sun. The coma and tail are temporary fuzzy atmospheres that develop due to the presence of solar radiation. Comets are sometimes referred to as “dirty snowballs”, a reference to their composition: rock, dust, water ice and frozen gasses.

21 Tribeca neighbor : SOHO

The Manhattan neighborhood known today as SoHo was very fashionable in the early 1900s, but as the well-heeled started to move uptown the area became very run down and poorly maintained. Noted for the number of fires that erupted in derelict buildings, SoHo earned the nickname “Hell’s Hundred Acres”. The area was then zoned for manufacturing and became home to many sweatshops. In the mid-1900s artists started to move into open loft spaces and renovating old buildings as the lofts were ideal locations in which an artist could both live and work. In 1968, artists and others organized themselves so that they could legalize their residential use of an area zoned for manufacturing. The group they formed took its name from the name given to the area by the city’s Planning Commission i.e “South of Houston”. This was shortened from So-uth of Ho-uston to SoHo as in “SoHo Artists Association”, and the name stuck.

“TriBeCa” is a clever little acronym that expands into “TRI-angle BE-low CA-nal Street”. The name of the New York City neighborhood was developed by local residents who basically copied the naming technique used by residents of the adjacent area of SoHo, with “SoHo” being short for “SO-uth of HO-uston Street”.

22 Peak southeast of Olympus : OSSA

Mount Ossa in Greece is located between Mount Pelion in the south, and the famed Mount Olympus in the north. Mount Ossa is also known as Kissavos.

23 Cracker with seven holes : RITZ

I’ve always liked Ritz crackers. They’ve been around since 1934 when they were introduced by Nabisco. The name Ritz was chosen because the marketing folks felt that the association with Ritz-Carlton would evoke images of wealth and the highlife.

25 Revenue for the Witch Museum? : SALEM’S LOOT (from “‘Salem’s Lot”)

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings held in 1692 and 1693 in colonial Massachusetts, most famously in Salem. As a result of mass hysteria, twenty people were convicted of practicing witchcraft and were executed. The events were deemed to be a terrible injustice almost immediately. As early as 1696, there was a legal ruling by the Massachusetts General Court that referred to the outcome of the trials as a tragedy. In 2001, the Massachusetts legislature officially exonerated all of those convicted.

“Loot” is the name given to anything taken by dishonesty or force, particularly during war. The term came into English from the Hindi “lut” meaning “goods taken from an enemy”.

Stephen King’s “’Salem’s Lot” was published in 1975, his second novel. It belongs to the horror genre, so you won’t catch me reading it. The title refers to the Maine town of Jerusalem’s Lot, or ‘Salem’s Lot for short. There’s an interesting story about the actual publication of the first edition. The intended price of $8.95 was changed at the last minute to $7.95, but not all the price changes were made before release. A few copies “escaped” with the dust cover marked $8.95, and they are now worth a lot of money. Go check your bookshelves …

31 Reprobate : LOWLIFE

A reprobate is a depraved or unprincipled person, and in particular is a lost soul, one rejected by God.

33 Horned herbivore : RHINO

There are five types of rhinoceros that survive today, with the smaller Javan Rhino being the most rare. The rhinoceros is probably the rarest large mammal on the planet, thanks to poaching. Hunters mainly prize the horn of the rhino as it is used in powdered form in traditional Chinese medicine.

35 Mil. officers : LTS

Lieutenant (lt., and “looie” in slang).

36 Blast from a tugboat powered by spuds? : TATER TOOT (from “tater tot”

Ore-Ida’s founders came up with the idea for Tater Tots when they were deciding what to do with residual cuts of potato. They chopped up the leftovers, added flour and seasoning, and extruded the mix through a large hole making a sausage that they cut into small cylinders. We eat 70 million pounds of this extruded potato every year!

39 U.K. lawmakers : MPS

Member of Parliament (MP)

43 Cavalry blade : SABER

A saber (sometimes “sabre”) is a sword with a curved blade and a relatively large hand guard. It is thought that the term originated with the Hungarian verb “szabni” meaning “to cut”.

Back in the late-16th century, a cavalier was a horseman, with the name coming from the Italian “cavalliere”, which described the same thing. Collectively, cavaliers form units known as “cavalry”. In Elizabethan England, the use of “cavalier” came to describe a courtly gentleman, but also a person with swagger, in an obnoxious way. It is the latter use of the term that gives us our modern adjective “cavalier” meaning “high-and-mighty”.

47 Negroni ingredient : CAMPARI

Campari is an alcoholic beverage with a distinctive red flavor and a pleasant, yet bitter taste. It is a key ingredient in one of my favorite cocktails: an Americano (one part Campari, one part sweet vermouth and a dash of club soda).

The Negroni is a lovely cocktail, one that hails from Italy. A classic recipe calls for equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari. According to legend, the drink was first made by bartender Forsco Scarselli at the request of Count Camillo Negroni, hence the name. The count wanted a stronger version of an Americano, and so Scarselli dropped the Americano’s soda water and replaced it with gin!

49 __ Tuesday : SHROVE

To shrive is to obtain absolution by confessing and doing penance. The past tense of “shrive” is “shrove”. The verb gives its name to Shrove Tuesday, the day before the season of fasting known as Lent. Shrove Tuesday is named in recognition of the early Christian tradition of confessing the week before Lent.

50 Fantastic display of hustle? : GREAT SCOOT (from “Great Scot!”)

No one seems to know for sure who the “Scott” is in the exclamation “great Scott!”. One theory is that the reference is to the commander-in-chief of the US Army during the Civil War, General Winfield Scott. Scott weighed in at 300 pounds later in his life, and was so obese that he could not ride a horse.

53 Back up on the job? : ABET

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (literally “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

57 Rapper Dr. __ : DRE

“Dr. Dre” is the stage name of rapper Andre Romelle Young. Dr. Dre is known for his own singing career as well as for producing records and starting the careers of others such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent.

58 “Solutions and Other Problems” writer Brosh : ALLIE

Allie Brosh achieved fame by publishing a blog-cum-webcomic titled “Hyperbole and a Half” starting in 2009. Brosh has a challenging life, which is reflected in her works. She suffers from ADHD and severe depression.

60 Footwear worn in a meatpacking plant? : SPAM BOOTS (from “spambots”)

Spam is a precooked meat product that is sold in cans. It was introduced by Hormel Foods in 1937. The main meat ingredients are pork shoulder meat and ham. The name “Spam” was chosen as the result of a competition at Hormel, with the winner earning himself a hundred dollars. According to the company, the derivation of the name “Spam” is a secret known by only a few former executives, but the speculation is that it stands for “spiced ham” or “shoulders of pork and ham”. Spam is particularly popular in Hawaii, so popular that it is sometimes referred to as “the Hawaiian steak”.

Spambots are nasty little computer programs that send out spam emails and messages, often from fake accounts. This blog gets about 300 spam comments a day that I have to delete, almost all of which are written by spambots.

63 Communication sys. at Gallaudet : ASL

American Sign Language (ASL)

Gallaudet University is a private school in Washington, D.C. that is focused on the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. Gallaudet was founded in 1864 and is officially a bilingual institution, with classes held in both English and American sign language (ASL).

65 Equivocate : HEDGE

The verb “to equivocate” comes from the Latin “aequus” meaning “equal” and “vocare” meaning “to call”. So, to equivocate is “to call equally”, and is used in the sense of giving equal emphasis to two sides of an argument, to be non-committal, to hedge, to equivocate. So, something described as “unequivocal” is the opposite, is unambiguous and clear.

66 Bad start? : DYS-

The prefix “dys-” comes from the Greek for “bad”. Examples of the use of the prefix would be: dyslexia (bad + word), dyspepsia (bad + digested).

Down

1 The MLB’s __ Clemente Award : ROBERTO

Roberto Clemente was a Major League Baseball player from Puerto Rico who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 to 1972. Clemente devoted much of his spare time to charity work in Caribbean countries, and in 1972 flew to Nicaragua to deliver aid to earthquake victims. While en route, Clemente was killed in a plane crash. The Roberto Clemente Award has been presented annually since 1971 to an outstanding baseball player who is known for his personal involvement in community work.

3 “From Here to Eternity” Oscar winner : SINATRA

Frank Sinatra was the only child of Italian immigrants living in Hoboken, New Jersey. Like so many of our heroes, Sinatra had a rough upbringing. His mother was arrested several times and convicted of running an illegal abortion business in the family home. Sinatra never finished high school, as he was expelled for rowdy conduct. He was later arrested as a youth on a morals charge for “carrying on” with a married woman, which was an offense back then. But Sinatra straightened himself out by the time he was twenty and started singing professionally.

“From Here to Eternity” is a 1953 film adaptation of a James Jones novel of the same name. The main characters in the story are three soldiers stationed in Hawaii in the days prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The soldiers are played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra. Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed play the love interests. The film (and novel) title is a quotation from the 1892 poem “Gentlemen-Rankers” by Rudyard Kipling:

5 Loch near the Moray Firth : NESS

Scotland’s Loch Ness is famous for its fabled “monster”, referred to affectionately as “Nessie”. The loch is the second-largest lake in the country (Loch Lomond is the largest). Loch Ness takes its name from the River Ness that flows from the loch’s northern end.

Moray Firth on the northeast coast of Scotland is the largest firth (inlet) in the country. Several rivers flow into Moray Firth, the most famous of which is probably the River Ness, which flows from the “monstrous” Loch Ness.

6 “Welcome to Hawaii!” : ALOHA!

The Hawaiian word “aloha” has many meanings in English: affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. More recently, “aloha” has come to mean “hello” and “goodbye”, but only since the mid-1800s.

8 Industrious insect : ANT

“Formicary” is another name for “ant nest”, and comes from the Latin “formica” meaning “ant”. The phrase “ant colony” describes the ants living in an ant nest. A formicarium is similar to an aquarium, and used to house an ant colony perhaps for study. The phrase “ant farm” is usually reserved for ant nests built by an ant colony in a formicarium.

12 “Just Dance” game company : UBISOFT

Ubisoft is a video game company headquartered in the suburbs of Paris. I’m no video gamer, so I only recognize one of the company’s titles, namely “Assassin’s Creed”.

18 One expecting an RSVP : HOST

“RSVP” stands for “répondez s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “answer, please”.

24 Time, in German : ZEIT

“Zeit” is the German word for “time”, as in “zeitgeist”, a word imported into English meaning “the spirit of the times”.

26 Not for the hoi polloi : ELITE

“Hoi polloi” is a Greek term that translates literally as “the majority, the many”. In English, “hoi polloi” has come to mean “the masses” and is often used in a derogatory sense. Oddly, the term has also come to describe “the elite”.

27 Hi-fi setting : MONO

Monophonic sound (“mono”) is sound reproduced using just one audio channel, which is usually played out of just one speaker. Stereophonic sound is reproduced using two audio channels, with the sound from each channel played out of two different speakers. The pair of stereo speakers are usually positioned apart from each other so that sound appears to come from between the two. Quadraphonic sound (4.0 surround sound) uses four audio channels with the sound played back through four speakers that are often positioned at the corners of the room in which one is listening.

Hi-fi systems were introduced in the late 1940s. They are pieces of audio equipment designed to give a much higher quality reproduction of sound than cheaper systems available up to that point. “Hi-fi” stands for “high fidelity”.

28 Sports logo since 1972 : SWOOSH

I remember seeing a lady named Carolyn Davidson on the television show “I’ve Got a Secret”. Davidson created the Nike “swoosh” back in 1971 when she was a design student at Portland State. She did it as freelance work for Blue Ribbon Sports, a local company introducing a new line of athletic footwear. The “swoosh” is taken from the wing of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike. Years later, BRS changed its name to Nike, so I suppose the company should be grateful to Carolyn for both the great design, and a great company name.

30 Oslo Accords participant : ARAFAT

Yasser (also “Yasir”) Arafat was born in Cairo in 1929, the son of two Palestinians and the second-youngest of seven children. Arafat was beaten by his father as a child and so did not have a good relationship with him. Arafat did not attend his father’s funeral, nor did he visit his grave. The beatings were apparently administered because the young Arafat was repeatedly attending religious services in the Jewish quarter of Cairo. Arafat’s explanation was that he wanted to “study the mentality” of the Jewish people.

The Oslo Accords grew out of secret negotiations between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in a residence in Oslo in the early nineties. The delegates shared the same house while they conducted 14 meetings. While eating all their meals together at the same table, the negotiators came to respect one another and apparently, friendships developed.

33 Smithsonian artifact : RELIC

A relic is something that has survived from the past, reminding us of that past.

The Smithsonian Institution was established in 1846 as the United States National Museum. The institution was renamed in honor of British scientist James Smithson who indirectly provided the initial funding. The funds were collected from England on the orders of President Andrew Jackson, and arrived in the form of 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns.

34 Appt. book divisions : HRS

Appointment (appt.)

37 Patches up, as a driveway : TARS

The terms “tarmac” and “macadam” are short for “tarmacadam”. In the 1800s, Scotsman John Loudon McAdam developed a style of road known as “macadam”. Macadam had a top-layer of crushed stone and gravel laid over larger stones. The macadam also had a convex cross-section so that water tended to drain to the sides. In 1901, a significant improvement was made by English engineer Edgar Purnell Hooley who introduced tar into the macadam, improving the resistance to water damage and practically eliminating dust. The “tar-penetration macadam” is the basis of what we now call “tarmac”.

38 “Teen Titans Go!” voice actress Strong : TARA

Actress Tara Strong is perhaps best known for her voice work. The list of her voice roles includes Dil Pickles on the TV series “Rugrats”.

39 “Supergirl” actress Katie : MCGRATH

Katie McGrath is an actress from Ireland who is perhaps best known on this side of the Atlantic for playing Lean Luthor, a recurring role in the TV show “Supergirl”.

40 One on conditional release : PAROLEE

“Parole” is a French word that we use in English, with the French “parole” meaning “word, speech”. Of particular interest is the French phrase “parole d’honneur” which translates as “word of honor”. In the early 1600s we started using “parole” to mean a promise by a prisoner of war not to escape, as in the prisoner giving his “word of honor” not to run off. Over time, parole has come to mean conditional release of a prisoner before he or she has served the full term of a sentence.

44 1996 also-ran : BOB DOLE

Despite all Bob Dole’s success in the world of politics, he is remembered by many as the VP candidate who lost to Walter Mondale (and Jimmy Carter) and the presidential candidate who lost to incumbent Bill Clinton. The man is a true war hero. He joined up in 1942 and fought with the Army’s 10th Mountain Division in Italy. In 1945 he was hit by machine gun fire in his right arm and back Dole was so badly injured that his comrades could only dose him up with morphine, write “M” on his forehead with his own blood (so that another, fatal dose of morphine would not be administered) and continue fighting the battle. Dole had to wait nine hours to be evacuated from the battlefield, and wait another three years before being discharged from hospital back in the States.

49 Much of a sunflower : STEM

The common sunflower is so called because it has a flower head that looks like the Sun. Famously, young sunflowers exhibit heliotropism, tilting during the day to face the sun. As the sunflowers mature and bloom, they generally face east and no longer track the movement of the Sun across the sky.

56 Hitting stat : RBIS

Runs batted in (RBIs)

59 Word with private or public : … EYE

A private eye is a private investigator, a PI, a private “I”.

61 Pacific Coast Highway’s route number : ONE

“Pacific Coast Highway” is the name given to several sections of California State Route 1, which runs along much of the state’s Pacific coastline.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Fiddler’s supply : ROSIN
6 “Sex Education” actor Butterfield : ASA
9 Magazine copy : ISSUE
14 Like lambs : OVINE
15 ICU staffer : LPN
16 Wikipedia articles that need expanding : STUBS
17 Filming that takes place in a vault? : BANK SHOOT (from “bank shot”)
19 Comet’s path : ORBIT
20 Delivery guess, briefly : ETA
21 Tribeca neighbor : SOHO
22 Peak southeast of Olympus : OSSA
23 Cracker with seven holes : RITZ
25 Revenue for the Witch Museum? : SALEM’S LOOT (from “‘Salem’s Lot”)
29 Unwrapped with excitement : TORE AT
31 Reprobate : LOWLIFE
32 Sign above a studio door : ON AIR
33 Horned herbivore : RHINO
35 Mil. officers : LTS
36 Blast from a tugboat powered by spuds? : TATER TOOT (from “tater tot”
39 U.K. lawmakers : MPS
42 “Incorrect!” : FALSE!
43 Cavalry blade : SABER
47 Negroni ingredient : CAMPARI
49 __ Tuesday : SHROVE
50 Fantastic display of hustle? : GREAT SCOOT (from “Great Scot!”)
53 Back up on the job? : ABET
54 Restaurant freebie : ROLL
55 Concluded : OVER
57 Rapper Dr. __ : DRE
58 “Solutions and Other Problems” writer Brosh : ALLIE
60 Footwear worn in a meatpacking plant? : SPAM BOOTS (from “spambots”)
62 Quite small : TEENY
63 Communication sys. at Gallaudet : ASL
64 Minor channel : INLET
65 Equivocate : HEDGE
66 Bad start? : DYS-
67 Pips and pits : SEEDS

Down

1 The MLB’s __ Clemente Award : ROBERTO
2 Hand : OVATION
3 “From Here to Eternity” Oscar winner : SINATRA
4 Printer cartridges : INK
5 Loch near the Moray Firth : NESS
6 “Welcome to Hawaii!” : ALOHA!
7 Wire holder : SPOOL
8 Industrious insect : ANT
9 Kin of equi- : ISO-
10 Recreational walk : STROLL
11 Layer above bedrock : SUBSOIL
12 “Just Dance” game company : UBISOFT
13 Grand properties : ESTATES
18 One expecting an RSVP : HOST
24 Time, in German : ZEIT
26 Not for the hoi polloi : ELITE
27 Hi-fi setting : MONO
28 Sports logo since 1972 : SWOOSH
30 Oslo Accords participant : ARAFAT
33 Smithsonian artifact : RELIC
34 Appt. book divisions : HRS
37 Patches up, as a driveway : TARS
38 “Teen Titans Go!” voice actress Strong : TARA
39 “Supergirl” actress Katie : MCGRATH
40 One on conditional release : PAROLEE
41 Sensed, in a way : SMELLED
44 1996 also-ran : BOB DOLE
45 Turned inside out : EVERTED
46 Tries again : RETESTS
48 Losing color : PALING
49 Much of a sunflower : STEM
51 “__-daisy!” : OOPSY
52 Shapes formed by angled spotlights : OVALS
56 Hitting stat : RBIS
59 Word with private or public : … EYE
60 Pathetic : SAD
61 Pacific Coast Highway’s route number : ONE