LA Times Crossword Answers 20 Jan 2018, Saturday

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Constructed by: Alex Bajcz
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 13m 14s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Color in the brown family : ECRU

The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.

9. Board that decides without voting : OUIJA

The Ouija board was introduced to America as a harmless parlor game at the end of the 19th century, although variations of the board date back to 1100 BC in China, where it was apparently used to “contact” the spirit world. The name “Ouija” is relatively recent, and is probably just a combination of the French and German words for “yes” … “oui” and “ja”.

17. Ducklike bird : COOT

The coot is a water bird in the rail family. It looks as though it is bald because of its markings, but the head is actually covered with feathers. As a result, a person might be described as “bald as a coot”, meaning that the person has no hair at all.

18. Company that pioneered metal drivers in golf : TAYLORMADE

TaylorMade is a brand of golf products that is now owned by Adidas. The Taylormade company was founded in 1979 by Gary Adams in order to manufacture and sell a 12-degree loft metalwood. TaylorMade now sells more drivers than any other company.

19. Perrier units : LITERS

Perrier is bottled from spring water that is naturally carbonated. The natural carbonation is lost during the purification process, and so has to be restored artificially before bottling. The spring used by Perrier is in the South of France, and has been used since Roman times as a spa.

21. Only one fed. holiday falls on it annually : THU

Thanksgiving Day was observed on different dates in different states for many years, until Abraham Lincoln fixed the date for the whole country in 1863. Lincoln’s presidential proclamation set that date as the last Thursday in November. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, arguing that the earlier date would give the economy a much-needed boost.

28. Tail of a cartoon dog? : -DOO

“Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” is a series of cartoons produced for Hanna-Barbera Productions, first broadcast in 1969. The title character is a great Dane dog owned by a young male called Shaggy Rogers. The character’s name was inspired by the famous “doo-be-doo-be-doo” refrain in the Frank Sinatra hit “Strangers in the Night”. Shaggy was voiced by famed disk jockey Casey Kasem.

29. Actress __-Margret : ANN

Ann-Margret is the stage name of Swedish-born American actress, Ann-Margret Olsson. When she isn’t on the stage or screen, Ann-Margret is a motorcycle enthusiast, and broke a few bones coming off a motorcycle in 2000.

31. Lake Itasca, vis-à-vis the Mississippi : SOURCE

Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota is the main source of the Mississippi River. Known by Native Americans as “Elk Lake”, the name was changed by Henry Schoolcraft, who led the 1832 expedition to find the source of the Mississippi River. The name “Itasca” is formed from the Latin words for “truth” (ver-ITAS) and “head” (CA-put).

35. Out indefinitely : IN A COMA

The term “coma” comes from the Greek word “koma” meaning “deep sleep”.

38. Certain landing aid : PONTOON

The aircraft known as a floatplane differs from a flying boat. The former uses pontoons under the fuselage to provide buoyancy, whereas the latter’s buoyancy comes from the fuselage itself.

39. Sara Roosevelt’s maiden name : DELANO

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the only child of Sara Delano and James Roosevelt Sr. The Delano family history in America goes back to the pilgrim Philippe de Lannoy, an immigrant of Flemish descent who arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. The family name “de Lannoy” was anglicized here in the US, to “Delano”. Franklin was to marry Eleanor Roosevelt, and apparently the relationship between Sara and her daughter-in-law was very “strained”.

40. Gordon Shumway’s title alias, in a sitcom : ALF

“ALF” is a sitcom that aired in the late eighties. The title character is a hand-puppet, and supposedly an alien named Gordon Shumway from the planet Melmac. The alien crash-landed into the house of amateur radio enthusiast Willie Tanner. Tanner renamed the intruder “ALF”, standing for “alien life form”.

41. “I didn’t need to know that” : TMI

TMI (too much information!)

42. Book after Exod. : LEV

In the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Leviticus comes after the Book of Exodus and before the Book of Numbers.

51. Many a boat, to its skipper : SHE

The term “skipper”, used for the captain of a ship, comes from the Middle Dutch “scipper”, which has the same meaning. “Scip” is Dutch for “ship”.

59. Pac-12 student : OREGON DUCK

The sports teams of the University of Oregon are known as the Oregon Ducks. The big rivals to the Ducks are the Oregon State Beavers, a rivalry that has been dubbed “the Civil War”. The two schools’ football teams play a game every year for the Platypus Trophy.

61. Parachute fabric : NYLON

The polymer known as “nylon” was developed by Dupont in the 1930s. The first application for the new product was as bristles in toothbrushes, in 1938. The second application became more famous. The first stockings made from nylon were produced in 1940, and since then stockings have been known as “nylons”. The polymer was developed as a replacement for silk, which was to become in short supply during WWII.

The term “parachute” was coined by Frenchman François Blanchard, from “para-” meaning “defence against” and “chute” meaning “a fall”.

Down

1. O.T. book : ECCL

Ecclesiastes is a book in the Hebrew Bible and in the Christian Old Testament. The term “ecclesiastes” is usually translated as “teacher” or “preacher”, although a more literal translation is “gatherer”.

2. Fancy enamelwork : CLOISONNE

“Cloisonné” is an ancient technique that uses vitreous enamel to decorate metalwork. The technique involves the addition of metal compartments to the surface of the piece, made by soldering silver or gold wires that form the edges of each compartment. Vitreous enamels of various colors are then added to each compartment and the whole piece fired. “Cloison” is a French word meaning “compartment, partition”.

3. Endodontic therapy : ROOT CANAL

The specialty field of dentistry known as endodontics is concerned with the treatment of the dental pulp, the living tissue found within a tooth.

6. Political commentator Navarro : ANA

Ana Navarro is a Nicaraguan-born American political strategist and commentator. Navarro is a lifelong Republican who worked for Governor Jeb Bush and for Senator John McCain. However, she was very critical of presidential candidate Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign. She was so vehement in her anti-Trump views that she ended up voting for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the election.

8. 2010 Commonwealth Games host city : DELHI

New Delhi is the capital city of India. New Delhi resides within the National Capital Territory of Delhi (otherwise known as the metropolis of Delhi). New Delhi and Delhi, therefore, are two different things.

What we know today as the Commonwealth Games, were inaugurated in 1930 as the British Empire Games. The title of the event evolved along with the fluctuation of Britain’s influence in the world.

10. Rail stop between Stuttgart and Munich : ULM

Ulm is a city in the south of Germany that sits on the River Danube. Ulm is famous as home to the tallest church in the world, Ulm Minster, a Gothic building with a steeple that is 530 feet tall, with 768 steps to climb. Ulm is also the birthplace of Albert Einstein, and is where the entire Austrian army surrendered to Napoleon after the Battle of Ulm in 1805.

11. State in both the Pacific and Mountain time zones : IDAHO

The US state of Idaho has a panhandle that extends northwards between Washington and Montana, right up to the border with Canada. Across that border is the Canadian province of British Columbia. Most of Idaho is in the Mountain Time Zone, but Northern Idaho (the Panhandle) is in the Pacific Time Zone.

12. “A __ Fury”: “Star Wars” DVD segment : JEDI’S

The Jedi are the “good guys” in the “Star Wars” series of movies. The most famous Jedi knights from the films are Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Alec Guinness, and later Ewan McGregor) and Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz). Well, they’re my favorites anyway …

24. Word of amore : CARA

In Italian, “cara” (dear) is a word of “amore” (love) that is spoken “con affetto” (with affection).

25. Mob hiree : GOON

The term “goon” was coined by American humorist Frederick J. Allen in a 1921 “Harper’s” piece titled “The Goon and His Style”. The article defines a good as “a person with a heavy touch” someone lacking “a playful mind”. The term was popularized in the “Thimble Theater” comic strips featuring Popeye. The first use of “goon” to describe a hired thug was in 1938, with reference to strikebreakers.

34. Lover of Geraint : ENID

“Idylls of the King” is a cycle of twelve poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson that retells the tale of King Arthur. One of the “idylls” is the story of Geraint and Enid. This story is told in two parts: “The Marriage of Geraint” and “Geraint and Enid”. Tennyson’s Enid gave her name to the city of Enid, Oklahoma.

45. Mediterranean sauces : AIOLIS

To the purist, especially in Provence in the South of France, aioli is prepared just by grinding garlic with olive oil. However, other ingredients are often added to the mix, particularly egg yolks.

46. Do only what he says : SIMON

“Simon Says” is a kids’ game. The idea is for the players of the game to obey the “controller” who gives instructions. But the players should only obey when the controller uses the words, “Simon says …”. The game has very old roots, with a Latin version that uses the words “Cicero dicit fac hoc” (Cicero says do this).

47. “Rescue Me” star Denis : LEARY

Actor Denis Leary started his career as a standup comedian working in Boston. One of his more famous roles on the big screen was Detective Michael McCann in the 1999 version of “The Thomas Crown Affair”. On the small screen, Leary was co-creator and star of “Rescue Me”, a comedy drama about New York City firefighters that ran from 2004 till 2011.

48. “Did I do that?” TV nerd : URKEL

Steve Urkel is a character on the TV show “Family Matters” that originally aired in the late eighties and nineties. The Urkel character was the archetypal “geek”, played by Jaleel White. Urkel was originally written into the show’s storyline for just one episode, but before long, Urkel was the show’s most popular recurring character.

49. Sitcom with a 1974 wedding episode : RHODA

The seventies sitcom “Rhoda” starring Valerie Harper was a spinoff of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. The eighth episode of the show was an hour-long special in which Rhoda married her fiance Joe (played by David Groh). At the time of airing it was the second-most watched television episode in history, second only to the 1953 birth of Little Ricky on “I Love Lucy”.

53. Sporty car roof : T-TOP

A T-top is a car roof that has removable panels on either side of a rigid bar that runs down the center of the vehicle above the driver.

57. Eighth mo. in the old Roman calendar : OCT

October is the tenth month in our calendar but was the eighth month in the old Roman calendar, hence the prefix “octo-”. Back then there were only ten months in the year. “Ianuarius” (January) and “Februarius” were then added as the eleventh and twelfth months of the year. Soon after, the year was reset and January and February became the first and second months.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Color in the brown family : ECRU
5. Dusty trail figure : PARD
9. Board that decides without voting : OUIJA
14. Flow hindrance : CLOT
15. Not expected : UNHERALDED
17. Ducklike bird : COOT
18. Company that pioneered metal drivers in golf : TAYLORMADE
19. Perrier units : LITERS
21. Only one fed. holiday falls on it annually : THU
22. A hockey player may check with one : HIP
23. Thing to get one’s claws into : SCRATCHING POST
27. Often-glazed delicacy : ROAST HAM
28. Tail of a cartoon dog? : -DOO
29. Actress __-Margret : ANN
30. Hosp. areas : ERS
31. Lake Itasca, vis-à-vis the Mississippi : SOURCE
35. Out indefinitely : IN A COMA
38. Certain landing aid : PONTOON
39. Sara Roosevelt’s maiden name : DELANO
40. Gordon Shumway’s title alias, in a sitcom : ALF
41. “I didn’t need to know that” : TMI
42. Book after Exod. : LEV
43. Settled things : MEDIATED
46. They go on until dawn : SLUMBER PARTIES
50. More at the end? : -IER
51. Many a boat, to its skipper : SHE
52. Strong denial : I DO NOT!
54. Fulfill, as a promise : MAKE GOOD ON
58. Advanced : LENT
59. Pac-12 student : OREGON DUCK
60. Colon, in analogies : IS TO
61. Parachute fabric : NYLON
62. Bldg. units : APTS
63. Pipe organ component : STOP

Down

1. O.T. book : ECCL
2. Fancy enamelwork : CLOISONNE
3. Endodontic therapy : ROOT CANAL
4. Says : UTTERS
5. Tries to pick up : PUTS THE MOVES ON
6. Political commentator Navarro : ANA
7. Drummer’s creations : RHYTHMS
8. 2010 Commonwealth Games host city : DELHI
9. One making a splash? : OAR
10. Rail stop between Stuttgart and Munich : ULM
11. State in both the Pacific and Mountain time zones : IDAHO
12. “A __ Fury”: “Star Wars” DVD segment : JEDI’S
13. More than competent : ADEPT
16. They may involve cheap shots : ROUNDS OF DRINKS
20. Urban omnivore : RAT
24. Word of amore : CARA
25. Mob hiree : GOON
26. Show displeasure : POUT
27. Carefully timed operation : RAID
32. Worst of the worst : ROTTENEST
33. Flirts with : COMES ONTO
34. Lover of Geraint : ENID
36. Bad state for sailing : CALM
37. Seat for a priority boarder : ONE-B
38. Part of a bargain, maybe : PLEA
40. Hyper : AMPED UP
44. “__ be a shame if … ” : IT’D
45. Mediterranean sauces : AIOLIS
46. Do only what he says : SIMON
47. “Rescue Me” star Denis : LEARY
48. “Did I do that?” TV nerd : URKEL
49. Sitcom with a 1974 wedding episode : RHODA
53. Sporty car roof : T-TOP
55. A big one might be fragile : EGO
56. Geometric suffix : -GON
57. Eighth mo. in the old Roman calendar : OCT

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