LA Times Crossword 3 Mar 20, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Gail Grabowski & Bruce Venzke
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Gets the OK

Themed answers each include the letter sequence OK, with the first word ending in O, and the second starting with K:

  • 60A Receives a go-ahead … and a hint to what’s hidden in 16-, 29-, 35- and 46-Across : GETS THE OK
  • 16A Steinway parts : PIANO KEYS
  • 29A Hobbyist’s blade : X-ACTO KNIFE
  • 35A “Are you serious?” : NO KIDDING?
  • 46A Cartoon character who is five apples tall : HELLO KITTY

Bill’s time: 5m 39s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

8 Stage surprise : AD LIB

“Ad libitum” is a Latin phrase meaning “at one’s pleasure”. In common usage, the phrase is usually shortened to “ad lib”. On the stage, the concept of an ad lib is very familiar.

15 Far from posh : SEEDY

We use the word “seedy” to mean “shabby”. The usage probably arose from the appearance of a flowering plant that has gone to seed.

No one really knows the etymology of the word “posh”. The popular myth that “posh” is actually an acronym standing for “port out, starboard home” is completely untrue, and is a story that can actually be traced back to the 1968 movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. The myth is that wealthy British passengers travelling to and from India would book cabins on the port side for the outward journey and the starboard side for the home journey. This trick was supposedly designed to keep their cabins out of the direct sunlight.

16 Steinway parts : PIANO KEYS

Steinway & Sons is supplier of handmade pianos based in New York City and in Hamburg, Germany. The company was founded in Manhattan in 1853 by German immigrant Henry E. Steinway. One element of Steinway’s business model is to offer a “piano bank” service. Performing artists can “borrow” a particular piano from the bank for a particular concert or tour. About 400 pianos are in the bank, and are located all over the world. The value of the bank’s collection of pianos is estimated at over $25 million.

18 Whack, biblically : SMITE

To smite is to strike with a firm blow. The term “smite” can also mean “strike down and slay”.

19 Space-saving abbr. : ETC

The Latin phrase “et cetera” translates as “and other things”. The term is usually abbreviated to “etc.”

20 Mayberry kid : OPIE

Opie Taylor is the character played by Ron Howard on “The Andy Griffith Show”. Opie lives with widowed father Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) and his great-aunt Beatrice “Aunt Bee” Taylor (played by Frances Bavier). Ron Howard first played the role in 1960 in the pilot show, when he was just 5 years old. Howard sure has come a long way since playing Opie Taylor. He has directed some fabulous movies including favorites of mine like “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind” and “The Da Vinci Code”.

21 Bk. before Philippians : EPH

It seems that the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians (Eph.) is now regarded by scholars as written “in the style of Paul” by someone who was influenced by Paul’s thought.

22 Cajun crustacean : CRAWDAD

“Crawdad” and “crawfish” are alternative names for crayfish, with “crawdad” being more common in the south of the country.

28 Bell-shaped lily : SEGO

The sego lily is the state flower of Utah, and is a perennial plant found throughout the Western United States.

29 Hobbyist’s blade : X-ACTO KNIFE

The X-Acto knife was invented in the thirties by a Polish immigrant, although his intention was to come up with a scalpel for surgeons. The knife couldn’t cut it as a scalpel though (pun!), because it was difficult to clean. The inventor’s brother-in law suggested it be used as a craft knife, and it is still around today.

31 Laura of “Marriage Story” : DERN

Actress Laura Dern is the daughter of the actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd. Among her many notable roles, Laura played the Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris in the 2008 movie “Recount”, and Dr. Ellie Sattler in the 1993 blockbuster “Jurassic Park”.

“Marriage Story” is a 2019 movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver as a couple going through a messy divorce. The critics loved this one; me, not so much …

33 BMW competitor : AUDI

The predecessor to today’s Audi company was called Auto Union. Auto Union was formed with the merger of four individual entities: Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer. The Audi logo comprises four intersecting rings, each representing one of the four companies that merged.

34 Merged comm. giant : GTE

GTE was a rival to AT&T, the largest of the independent competitors to the Bell System. GTE merged with Bell Atlantic in 2000 to form the company that we know today as Verizon. Verizon made some high-profile acquisitions over the years, including MCI in 2005 and AOL in 2015.

39 Awareness-raising TV ad : PSA

Public service announcement (PSA)

46 Cartoon character who is five apples tall : HELLO KITTY

Hello Kitty is a female bobtail cat, and a character and brand name launched in 1974 by the Japanese company Sanrio. She weighs “three apples” and is “five apples” tall. Folks can overpay for stationary, school supplies and fashion accessories with the Hello Kitty character emblazoned thereon.

50 Chase scene maneuvers, slangily : UEYS

Hang a “uey” or “uie”, make a u-turn, make a 180.

52 Some bottled waters : DASANIS

Dasani is a Coca-Cola brand of bottled water. Dasani is simply filtered tap water with some trace minerals added.

56 Fleshy facial feature : JOWL

The term “jowl” can be used for the jaw or cheek, and more specifically for a fold of flesh hanging from the jaw.

57 Student advocacy org. : PTA

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

58 Off-the-cushion pool shot : CAROM

A carom is a ricochet, the bouncing of some projectile off a surface. Carom has come to mean the banking of a billiard ball, the bouncing of the ball off the side of the table.

60 Receives a go-ahead … and a hint to what’s hidden in 16-, 29-, 35- and 46-Across : GETS THE OK

Back in the late 1830s, there were some slang abbreviations coined mainly in Boston. The craze called for two-letter abbreviations of deliberately misspelled phrases. For example “no use” became “KY” from “know yuse”, and “enough said” became “NC” from “nuff ced”. Fortunately (I say!), the practice was short-lived. But, one of those abbreviations persists to this day. “All correct” was misspelled to give “oll korrect”, abbreviated to “OK”.

63 Maiden name lead-in : NEE

“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”. The term “née” is mainly used in English when referring to a married woman’s birth name, assuming that she has adopted her husbands name, e.g. Michelle Obama née Robinson, and Melania Trump née Knavs.

64 Country rocker Steve : EARLE

Steve Earle is an American songwriter and performer, and someone with a reputation of having lived a hard life. Earle’s brushes with the law and drug addiction problems have earned him the nickname “the hardcore troubadour”.

66 FedEx rival : UPS

United Parcel Service (UPS) is based in Sandy Springs, Georgia and has its own airline that operates out of Louisville, Kentucky. UPS often goes by the nickname “Brown”, because of its brown delivery trucks and brown uniforms.

Down

1 Restaurant host : MAITRE D’

The full title of a maître d’ is “maître d’hôtel”, which means “master of the hotel”.

3 Writer Deighton : LEN

I used to walk my dog right past author Len Deighton’s house years ago, as we lived in the same seaside village in Ireland (probably my only claim to “fame”). Deighton wrote the excellent espionage thriller “The IPCRESS File”, which was made into a 1965 movie starring Michael Caine.

4 Dickens’ “The Mystery of Edwin __” : DROOD

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. The story itself is centered not on the title character, but on Edwin Drood’s uncle, a choirmaster named John Jasper.

5 Upstate New York lake : ONEIDA

Oneida Lake is the largest lake lying entirely within the state of New York. Oneida is situated close to New York’s Finger Lakes, but it isn’t one of them. Having said that, some regard Oneida Lake as the “thumb” that goes along with the “fingers”.

6 Actress Dunaway : FAYE

Faye Dunaway won an Oscar for her performance in the 1976 movie “Network”. She also starred in the original version of “The Thomas Crown Affair” in 1968, opposite Steve McQueen. Dunaway had a role in the remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” with Pierce Brosnan, over thirty years later in 1999.

7 Playfully pranks, for short : TPS

TP’ing (toilet papering) is a prank involving the covering of some object or location with rolls and rolls of toilet paper. If you live in Texas or Minnesota, that little “prank” is legal, but if you live here in California it is classed as mischief or vandalism.

10 German city where Wagner was born : LEIPZIG

Richard Wagner was born in the Jewish quarter of Leipzig in 1813. Decades later, Wagner became known not only for writing magnificent music, but also for his anti-semitic views and writings.

Leipzig is a city in Germany located just under 100 miles south of Berlin. The name “Leipzig” comes from the Slavic word ”Lipsk” which means “settlement where the linden trees stand”. Linden trees are also called lime trees and basswood trees.

11 Crime after a data breach, perhaps : ID THEFT

Identity document (ID)

17 Title planet in a 2001 sci-fi film : K-PAX

“K-PAX” is a 2011 movie starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges that is based on a 1995 novel of the same name by Gene Brewer. Spacey plays a psychiatric patient who claims that he is an alien from the planet K-PAX, and Bridges plays the psychiatrist who is treating the patient. “K-PAX” is a sci-fi mystery film, and so things aren’t quite what they seem.

24 __ finder: carpenter’s tool : STUD

A stud finder is a handy little device used locate framing studs behind drywall, something necessary say when searching for a stud to use in hanging a picture.

25 Wine city near Sacramento : LODI

Lodi, California may not be as well known as a wine producer as Sonoma and Napa counties, but it has been given the moniker “Zinfandel Capital of the World”.

30 Coast Guard Academy student : CADET

The Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is located in New London, Connecticut. The USCGA was founded in 1876 as the School of Instruction of the Revenue Cutter Service. The main training vessel used by the academy is the USCGC Eagle, a tall ship formerly known as the Horst Wessel that was received from Germany in 1946 as a war reparation.

36 Dee who sang with Elton : KIKI

Kiki Dee is an English singer best known for her hit duet with Elton John from 1976 called “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”. Kiki Dee had the honor of being the first Caucasian singer to be signed by Motown.

37 Spring flower : 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.

38 Joint ailment : GOUT

Gout is caused by an elevation of the levels of uric acid in the blood. As a result of the high concentrations, the uric acid can crystallize out in tissue causing extreme discomfort. What we tend to call gout occurs when the crystals are deposited in the big toe. Gout is sometimes referred to as “the disease of kings” or “the rich man’s disease”, as it is associated with a traditionally opulent diet.

39 Prof.’s degree : PHD

“Ph.D.” is an abbreviation for “philosophiae doctor”, Latin for “teacher of philosophy”. Often, candidates for a PhD already hold a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, so a PhD might be considered a “third degree”.

45 Ventricular contraction : SYSTOLE

In the heart, the term “systole” describes the rhythmic contraction of the ventricles to pump the blood around the body.

The heart has four chambers. The two upper chambers (the atria) accept deoxygenated blood from the body and oxygenated blood from the lungs. The atria squeeze those blood supplies into the two lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles), “priming” the pump, as it were. One ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs, and the other pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

47 Hercules’ 12 challenges : LABORS

“The Twelve Labors of Hercules” is actually a Greek myth, although Hercules is the Roman name for the hero that the Greeks called “Heracles”. The first of these labors was to slay the Nemean lion, a monster that lived in a cave near Nemea. Hercules had a tough job as the lion’s golden fur was impenetrable to normal weapons. One version of the story is that Hercules killed the lion by shooting an arrow into its mouth. Another version says that Hercules stunned the monster with a club and then strangled him with his bare hands.

48 Low-risk govt. securities : T-NOTES

A Treasury note (T-note) is a government debt that matures in 1-10 years. A T-note has a coupon (interest) payment made every six months. The T-note is purchased at a discount to face value, and at the date of maturity can be redeemed at that face value. A Treasury bill (T-bill) is a similar financial vehicle, but it matures in one year or less, and a T-bond matures in 20-30 years.

49 Evergreens used for archery bows : YEWS

Yew is the wood of choice for the longbow, a valued weapon in the history of England. The longbow is constructed with a core of yew heartwood (as the heartwood resists compression) that has a sheath of yew sapwood (as the sapwood resists stretching). The yew was in such demand for longbows that for centuries yew trees were in short supply in Britain and the wood had to be imported from all over Europe.

51 Buffy’s weapon of choice : STAKE

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is a TV series that originally aired from 1997 to 2003. “Buffy …” was incredibly successful, especially given that it wasn’t aired on one of the big four networks. The show was created by Joss Whedon and stars Sarah Michelle Gellar in the title role.

56 Wrangler maker : JEEP

Chrysler’s Jeep Wrangler is a direct descendent of the military “Jeep” vehicle that the US military relied on heavily during WWII.

58 Bovine chew : CUD

Ruminants are animals that “chew the cud”. Ruminants eat vegetable matter but cannot extract any nutritional value from cellulose without the help of microbes in the gut. Ruminants collect roughage in the first part of the alimentary canal, allowing microbes to work on it. The partially digested material (the cud) is regurgitated into the mouth so that the ruminant can chew the food more completely exposing more surface area for microbes to do their work. We also use the verb “to ruminate” in a figurative sense, to mean “to muse, ponder, chew over”.

59 French Mrs. : MME

The equivalent of “Mrs.” in French is “Mme.” (Madame), in Spanish is “Sra.” (Señora) and in Portuguese is also “Sra.” (Senhora).

60 Oxlike antelope : GNU

The gnu is also known as the wildebeest, and is an antelope native to Africa. “Wildebeest” is a Dutch meaning “wild beast”.

61 Yokohama yes : HAI

Yokohama is the second-most populous city in Japan. Yokohama lies on Tokyo Bay and is just a 40-minute drive from the nation’s capital.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Not very spicy : MILD
5 Time and again, to a bard : OFT
8 Stage surprise : AD LIB
13 More reasonable : SANER
14 Give in to jet lag : NAP
15 Far from posh : SEEDY
16 Steinway parts : PIANO KEYS
18 Whack, biblically : SMITE
19 Space-saving abbr. : ETC
20 Mayberry kid : OPIE
21 Bk. before Philippians : EPH
22 Cajun crustacean : CRAWDAD
24 Lowlifes : SLEAZES
28 Bell-shaped lily : SEGO
29 Hobbyist’s blade : X-ACTO KNIFE
31 Laura of “Marriage Story” : DERN
33 BMW competitor : AUDI
34 Merged comm. giant : GTE
35 “Are you serious?” : NO KIDDING?
39 Awareness-raising TV ad : PSA
42 Lose stamina : TIRE
43 A whole lot : GOBS
46 Cartoon character who is five apples tall : HELLO KITTY
50 Chase scene maneuvers, slangily : UEYS
52 Some bottled waters : DASANIS
53 Most tidy : NEATEST
55 Arcing shot : LOB
56 Fleshy facial feature : JOWL
57 Student advocacy org. : PTA
58 Off-the-cushion pool shot : CAROM
60 Receives a go-ahead … and a hint to what’s hidden in 16-, 29-, 35- and 46-Across : GETS THE OK
62 Render weaponless : UNARM
63 Maiden name lead-in : NEE
64 Country rocker Steve : EARLE
65 Jam-packed : DENSE
66 FedEx rival : UPS
67 React to yeast : RISE

Down

1 Restaurant host : MAITRE D’
2 Like most pet birds : IN A CAGE
3 Writer Deighton : LEN
4 Dickens’ “The Mystery of Edwin __” : DROOD
5 Upstate New York lake : ONEIDA
6 Actress Dunaway : FAYE
7 Playfully pranks, for short : TPS
8 Stubborn equine : ASS
9 Cut down to size : DEMEAN
10 German city where Wagner was born : LEIPZIG
11 Crime after a data breach, perhaps : ID THEFT
12 “See ya” : BYE
13 Architectural details : SPECS
17 Title planet in a 2001 sci-fi film : K-PAX
23 In need of patching : WORN
24 __ finder: carpenter’s tool : STUD
25 Wine city near Sacramento : LODI
26 Just managing, with “out” : EKING
27 Witness : SEE
30 Coast Guard Academy student : CADET
32 “__ your life!” : NOT ON
36 Dee who sang with Elton : KIKI
37 Spring flower : IRIS
38 Joint ailment : GOUT
39 Prof.’s degree : PHD
40 Maritime route : SEA LANE
41 Concession speech deliverer : ALSO-RAN
44 Paging gadgets : BEEPERS
45 Ventricular contraction : SYSTOLE
47 Hercules’ 12 challenges : LABORS
48 Low-risk govt. securities : T-NOTES
49 Evergreens used for archery bows : YEWS
51 Buffy’s weapon of choice : STAKE
54 Make changes to : ALTER
56 Wrangler maker : JEEP
58 Bovine chew : CUD
59 French Mrs. : MME
60 Oxlike antelope : GNU
61 Yokohama yes : HAI