LA Times Crossword 29 Oct 18, Monday

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Constructed by: Paul Coulter
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Surprise Test

Themed answers each contain a sequence of circled letters. Each SURPRISE sequence of letters is the abbreviated name of a TEST endured by schoolgoers:

  • 54A. Unexpected classroom announcement … and, initially, one hiding in each set of puzzle circles : SURPRISE TEST
  • 20A. Protective net above a cradle : DREAMCATCHER (hiding “MCAT”)
  • 34A. Government prosecutor : STATE’S ATTORNEY (hiding “SAT”)
  • 40A. Reduced responsiveness to medication : DRUG RESISTANCE (hiding “GRE”)

Bill’s time: 5m 18s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5. Cutlass automaker : OLDS

Oldsmobile introduced the Cutlass in 1961, and used the name on a succession of models right up to 1999.

9. Stick-on design : DECAL

A decal is a decorative sticker. “Decal” is a shortening of “decalcomania”. The latter term is derived from the French “décalquer”, the practice of tracing a pattern from paper onto glass or perhaps porcelain.

14. Fever with chills : AGUE

An ague is a fever, one usually associated with malaria.

16. 100 bucks : C-NOTE

Benjamin Franklin is featured on one side of the hundred-dollar bill (also called a “C-spot, C-note”), and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on the other side. There is a famous error in the image of Independence Hall. If you look closely at the clock face at the top of the building you can see that the “four” is written in Roman numerals as “IV”. However, on the actual clock on Independence Hall, the “four” is denoted by “IIII”, which has been the convention for clock faces for centuries.

“Buck” is a slang term for “dollar”. The term has been around at least since 1856, and is thought to derive from the tradition of using buckskin as a unit of trade with Native Americans during the frontier days.

19. “Wizard of __ Park”: Edison : 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.

20. Protective net above a cradle : DREAMCATCHER (hiding “MCAT”)

A dreamcatcher is a willow hoop surrounding a woven net, and which is often adorned with feathers or beads. The term “dreamcatcher” is somewhat misleading. The Ojibwe Native American people, who made the original dreamcatchers, used them as protective charms for infants to ward off evil. As dreamcatchers became commercialized, a story developed that the web was designed to catch bad dreams, while allowing good dreams to pass through and float down the hanging beads and feathers to the sleeping child.

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)

23. __ Paulo, Brazil : SAO

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil. It is also the city with the highest number of helicopters in the world. This is partly driven by the horrendous traffic jams in São Paulo, but also by the wealthy having a very real fear of being kidnapped on the city’s streets.

24. Some tech sch. grads : EES

Electrical engineer (EE)

25. Type of energy or reactor : ATOMIC

A nuclear reactor is a device designed to maintain a self-contained nuclear chain reaction. Nuclear fission generates heat in the reactor core. That heat is transferred out of the core by a nuclear reactor coolant, and is used to turn steam turbines. Those steam turbines usually drive electrical generators, or perhaps a ship’s propellers.

29. ’60s-’70s quarterback Tarkenton : FRAN

Fran Tarkenton is a former football player who played for the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants. Tarkenton has had quite the life after retiring from football in 1978. He co-wrote a murder-mystery novel, several self-help books and started his own software company.

34. Government prosecutor : STATE’S ATTORNEY (hiding “SAT”)

Today, the standardized test for admission to colleges is known as the SAT Reasoning Test, but it used to be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, which led to the abbreviation “SAT”.

37. Philip of “Kung Fu” : AHN

The actor Philip Ahn is perhaps best known for playing Master Kahn, one of Caine’s teachers on the television show “Kung Fu”. Ahn was the first Asian-American actor to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

39. “Ich bin __ Berliner”: JFK : EIN

“Ich” is the German for “I”, as in “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner), the famous words of support uttered by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 in a speech in West Berlin. The supposed translation of “Ich bin ein Berliner” as “I am a jelly doughnut” … that’s just an urban myth. President Kennedy’s use of German was perfectly correct.

40. Reduced responsiveness to medication : DRUG RESISTANCE (hiding “GRE”)

Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.

45. “Casablanca” pianist : SAM

The movie “Casablanca” was released in January of 1943, timed to coincide with the Casablanca Conference, the high-level meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill. The film wasn’t a box-office hit, but gained critical acclaim, winning three Oscars including Best Picture. The signature song “As Time Goes By” was written many years earlier for a 1931 Broadway musical called “Everybody’s Welcome”, and was a hit in 1931 for Rudy Vallee. But today we all remember the Casablanca version, sung by Dooley Wilson (who played “Sam” in the film). Poor Dooley didn’t get to record it as a single, due to a musician’s strike in 1943. The 1931 Rudy Vallee version was re-released that year and became an even bigger hit second time round.

47. Blues singer James : ETTA

Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.

51. Airline to Stockholm : SAS

SAS was formerly known as Scandinavian Airlines System and is the flag carrier of three countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. SAS is based at Stockholm Arlanda Airport located just north of the Swedish capital.

61. Aesop’s also-ran : HARE

“The Tortoise and the Hare” is perhaps the most famous fable attributed to Aesop. The cocky hare takes a nap during a race against the tortoise, and the tortoise sneaks past the finish line for the win while his speedier friend is sleeping.

62. “East of Eden” director Kazan : ELIA

Elia Kazan won Oscars for best director in 1948 for “Gentleman’s Agreement” and in 1955 for “On The Waterfront”. In 1999 Kazan was given an Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also directed “East of Eden”, which introduced James Dean to movie audiences, and “Splendor in the Grass” that included Warren Beatty in his debut role.

63. Blender button : PUREE

A purée is a food that has been made smooth by straining or blending. “Purée” is a French term, which I believe is now used to mean “pea soup” (more completely written as “purée de pois”). The French verb “purer” means “to strain, clean”, from the Latin “purare” meaning “to purify, clean”.

68. IRS form IDs : SSNS

The main purpose of a Social Security Number (SSN) is to track individuals for the purposes of taxation, although given its ubiquitous use, it is looking more and more like an identity number to me. The social security number system was introduced in 1936. Prior to 1986, an SSN was required only for persons with substantial income so many children under 14 had no number assigned. For some years the IRS had a concern that a lot of people were claiming children on their tax returns who did not actually exist. So, from 1986 onward, it is a requirement to get an SSN for any dependents over the age of 5. Sure enough, seven million dependents “disappeared” in 1987.

Down

2. Greek marketplace : AGORA

In early Greece, the agora was a place of assembly. The assemblies held there were often quite formal, perhaps for the reading of a proclamation. Later in Greek history, things became less formal as the agora evolved into a marketplace. Our contemporary word “agoraphobia” comes from these agorae, in the sense that an agoraphobe has a fear of open spaces, a fear of “public meeting places”.

3. Hitchhiker’s principle? : RULE OF THUMB

The exact origin of the phrase “rule of thumb” appears to be unclear. However, the expression does exist in languages other than English, although the wording can vary. In Finnish and German the equivalent is “rule of fist”, and in Hebrew the phrase is “rule of finger”.

4. Actress Ward : SELA

The actress Sela Ward turns up in crosswords a lot. Ward played Teddy Reed in the TV show “Sisters” in the nineties, and was in “Once and Again” from 1999-2002. I don’t know either show, but I do know Ward from the medical drama “House” in which she played the hospital’s lawyer and Greg House’s ex-partner. That was a fun role, I thought. Ward also played a lead role on “CSI: NY” and was a very welcome and much-needed addition to the cast.

6. “Star Wars” mastermind : LUCAS

The producer and director George Lucas has amassed an incredibly large fortune, primarily due to the phenomenal success of his movie franchises “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones”. Worth about $3 billion, Lucas has gone the way of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, agreeing to give half of his fortune to charity as part of “The Giving Pledge”.

9. U.S. capital transit system : DC METRO

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) provides transit service within and around Washington, D.C. The service generally goes by the name “Metro”. The authority’s two main services are Metrorail and Metrobus.

10. First month of el año : ENERO

In Spanish, “el año” (the year) starts in “enero” (January) and ends in “diciembre” (December).

12. Braves, on scoreboards : ATL

The Atlanta Braves are the only team to have won baseball’s World Series in three different home cities. They won as the Boston Braves in 1914, the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and the Atlanta Braves in 1995.

13. DiCaprio, in fan mags : LEO

Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio is from Los Angeles, California. DiCaprio’s mother was visiting a museum in Italy when she was pregnant and felt the first kick of her unborn child. At the moment of that first kick, Mama DiCaprio was looking at a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and so named her son Leonardo.

22. “B.C.” cartoonist Johnny : HART

“B.C.” is a comic strip that was drawn by Johnny Hart, and now since Hart’s passing, is produced by his grandson. Hart introduced “B.C.” in 1958. One of the non-human characters in the strip is the Anteater, who sucks up ants with his sticky tongue making a “ZOT” sound. Hart’s Anteater is the inspiration for Peter the Anteater, the team mascot for UC Irvine. Johnny Hart’s other famous comic strip is the brilliant “The Wizard of Id”.

26. Tennis great with nine Grand Slam singles titles : MONICA SELES

Monica Seles has a Hungarian name as she was born to Hungarian parents, in former Yugoslavia. Seles was the World No. 1 professional tennis player in 1991 and 1992 before being forced from the sport when she was stabbed by a spectator at a match in 1993. She did return to the game two years later, but never achieved the same level of success.

27. Goodnight woman of song : IRENE

“Goodnight, Irene”, also known as “Irene, Goodnight”, is a lovely American folk song that was first recorded commercially back in 1932 by blues singer Lead Belly. The song made it to number one in the charts for the Weavers in 1950 and for Frank Sinatra in the same year.

28. Coquettish : COY

A “coquet” is a male flirt, with “coquette” being a female flirt. The word comes from French, and is the diminutive of “coq”, the word for a cock.

30. Tolled like Big Ben : RANG

Big Ben is the name commonly used for the large bell in the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster (aka the Houses of Parliament). Big Ben’s official name is the Great Bell, and there is some debate about the origins of the nickname. It may be named after Sir Benjamin Hall who oversaw the bell’s installation, or perhaps the English heavyweight champion of the day Benjamin Caunt. Big Ben fell silent in 2017 to make way four years of maintenance and repair work to the clock’s mechanism and the tower.

31. Romeo’s rival : PARIS

In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo And Juliet”, Count Paris is a rival of Romeo’s for the hand of Juliet. At the end of the play, Romeo kills Paris in a duel. There’s a lot of dying in “Romeo and Juliet” …

32. Salt Lake City team : UTES

The Utah Utes are the athletic teams of the University of Utah.

34. Leftovers wrap : SARAN

What’s known as plastic wrap in America, we call cling-film in Ireland. The brand name “Saran” is often used generically in the US, while “Glad” wrap is common down under. Plastic wrap was one of those unintended inventions, a byproduct of a development program to create a hard plastic cover for cars.

35. Postage-paid enc. : SASE

An SAE is a “stamped, addressed envelope”. An SASE is a “self-addressed, stamped envelope”.

40. Brit. military award : DSO

The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a British military award that is usually presented to officers with the rank of major or higher.

41. Job applicants’ preparations : RESUMES

A résumé is a summary of a person’s job experience and education and is used as a tool by a job seeker. In many countries, a résumé is equivalent to a curriculum vitae. “Résumé” is the French word for “summary”.

50. Buenos __ : AIRES

Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina, and is located on the estuary of the Ria de la Plata. As it is a port city, the people of Buenos Aires are known as porteños (“people of the port”).

52. From China, say : ASIAN

The world’s most populous country is the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Republic of China (ROC) is the official name of the sovereign state we usually call Taiwan.

58. Auditing pro : CPA

Certified public accountant (CPA)

60. Altar in the sky : ARA

The constellation of Ara takes its name from the Latin word for “altar”.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Autos : CARS
5. Cutlass automaker : OLDS
9. Stick-on design : DECAL
14. Fever with chills : AGUE
15. Hide, as a bone : BURY
16. 100 bucks : C-NOTE
17. Breadbasket item : ROLL
18. Read bar codes on : SCAN
19. “Wizard of __ Park”: Edison : MENLO
20. Protective net above a cradle : DREAMCATCHER (hiding “MCAT”)
23. __ Paulo, Brazil : SAO
24. Some tech sch. grads : EES
25. Type of energy or reactor : ATOMIC
29. ’60s-’70s quarterback Tarkenton : FRAN
31. Content cat sound : PURR
33. Spanish gold : ORO
34. Government prosecutor : STATE’S ATTORNEY (hiding “SAT”)
37. Philip of “Kung Fu” : AHN
38. Live and breathe : ARE
39. “Ich bin __ Berliner”: JFK : EIN
40. Reduced responsiveness to medication : DRUG RESISTANCE (hiding “GRE”)
45. “Casablanca” pianist : SAM
46. She sheep : EWES
47. Blues singer James : ETTA
48. At first, second or third : ON BASE
50. Long __ of the law : ARM
51. Airline to Stockholm : SAS
54. Unexpected classroom announcement … and, initially, one hiding in each set of puzzle circles : SURPRISE TEST
58. Gorge : CHASM
61. Aesop’s also-ran : HARE
62. “East of Eden” director Kazan : ELIA
63. Blender button : PUREE
64. Barely makes, with “out” : EKES
65. A short distance away : NEAR
66. Accumulate : AMASS
67. “Wild” frontier place : WEST
68. IRS form IDs : SSNS

Down

1. King and queen : CARDS
2. Greek marketplace : AGORA
3. Hitchhiker’s principle? : RULE OF THUMB
4. Actress Ward : SELA
5. Lewd : OBSCENE
6. “Star Wars” mastermind : LUCAS
7. “Dang!” : DRAT!
8. Lip-__: mouth the words : SYNC
9. U.S. capital transit system : DC METRO
10. First month of el año : ENERO
11. Pro’s opposite : CON
12. Braves, on scoreboards : ATL
13. DiCaprio, in fan mags : LEO
21. Potatoes partner : MEAT
22. “B.C.” cartoonist Johnny : HART
26. Tennis great with nine Grand Slam singles titles : MONICA SELES
27. Goodnight woman of song : IRENE
28. Coquettish : COY
30. Tolled like Big Ben : RANG
31. Romeo’s rival : PARIS
32. Salt Lake City team : UTES
34. Leftovers wrap : SARAN
35. Postage-paid enc. : SASE
36. Cost of living? : RENT
40. Brit. military award : DSO
41. Job applicants’ preparations : RESUMES
42. Pretty pitcher : EWER
43. Most concise : TERSEST
44. “Don’t look __ like that!” : AT ME
49. Beasts of burden : ASSES
50. Buenos __ : AIRES
52. From China, say : ASIAN
53. Popular performers : STARS
55. “That was close!” : PHEW!
56. Leaves gatherer : RAKE
57. Addition column : TENS
58. Auditing pro : CPA
59. Run smoothly : HUM
60. Altar in the sky : ARA

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