LA Times Crossword 22 May 23, Monday

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Constructed by: Doug Peterson
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Make the Bed

Themed answers each start with a kind of BED:

  • 55A Complete a morning chore, and what the start of the answer to each starred clue can do : MAKE THE BED
  • 16A *Stage show featuring traditional Irish music : RIVERDANCE (giving “riverbed”)
  • 23A *Candice Bergen sitcom : MURPHY BROWN (giving “Murphy bed”)
  • 35A *Extras in a bowl of chowder : OYSTER CRACKERS (giving “oyster bed”)
  • 44A *1960s counterculture slogan : FLOWER POWER (giving “flower bed”)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 52s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 Pleased with oneself : SMUG

Someone described as smug is said to have a self-satisfied air. Back in the 1500s, “smug” meant “neat, smart”, and then was used to describe a particularly attractive woman. Our current usage started in the early 1700s.

10 Appt. book lines : HRS

Hour (hr.)

13 USWNT star Kelley : O’HARA

Kelley O’Hara is a soccer player who was a member of the national team when the US won the FIFA World Cup in 2015, and Olympic gold in 2012.

United States women’s national soccer team (USWNT)

16 *Stage show featuring traditional Irish music : RIVERDANCE (giving “riverbed”)

The hugely successful Irish music and dance show “Riverdance” originated in 1994. In its first manifestation, the show was a relatively short entertainment created for the interval in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. A few months later, it was expanded into a full show that premiered in Dublin in early 1995. Since then, the show has traveled all over the world and has been seen by over 25 million people.

18 Double-helix molecule : DNA

Both DNA and RNA are complex molecules comprising nucleotide bases arranged in chains. Famously, DNA molecules form a double-helix structure, with two chains coiled around each other. RNA chains are single-stranded structures that usually fold onto themselves.

20 One of the Three Bears : MAMA

The story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” was first recorded in 1837 in England, although the narrative was around before it was actually written down. The original fairy tale was rather gruesome, but successive versions became more family-oriented. The character that eventually became Goldilocks was originally an elderly woman, and the three “nameless” bears became Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear.

23 *Candice Bergen sitcom : MURPHY BROWN (giving “Murphy bed”)

“Murphy Brown” is a very successful sitcom that premiered in 1988 and ran for almost ten full years. The title character is an investigative journalist and television news anchor played by Candice Bergen. In the show’s 1991-92 season, Brown becomes pregnant and decides to have the child and raise it alone, as the father is unwilling to be a parent. Vice President Dan Quayle hit the headlines in 1992 when he criticized the Brown character for “mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone” in a campaign speech. The show’s writers embraced the ensuing public discussion on family values, and used actual footage from the speech to depict Vice President Quayle as passing judgment on the Murphy Brown character in the storyline. To this day, that speech is referred to as the “Murphy Brown speech”.

Actress and former model Candice Bergen is the daughter of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (of Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd fame). The first Candice Bergman film I remember seeing is 1970’s “Soldier Blue”, which was very big on the other side of the Atlantic, and not so much here in North America. She also played the title role in the sitcom “Murphy Brown” for ten years in the eighties and nineties.

A Murphy bed is a bed that pulls from a wall for use, and is folded up into a closet or cabinet when not in use. The bed is named for its inventor William Murphy. The story is that Murphy lived in a one-room apartment in San Francisco, and was interested in dating a local opera singer. Moral standards at the time prevented him from inviting the young lady into a room with a bed, so he created an arrangement where his room became a parlor during the day.

25 Refine metal : SMELT

Metals are found in ore in the form of oxides. In order to get pure metal from the ore, the ore is heated and the metal oxides within are reduced (i.e. the oxygen is removed) in the chemical process known as smelting. The oxygen is extracted by adding a source of carbon or carbon monoxide which uses up the excess oxygen atoms to make carbon dioxide, a waste product of smelting (and, a greenhouse gas).

27 Ensign’s affirmative : AYE

Ensign is (usually) the most junior rank of commissioned officer in the armed forces. The name comes from the tradition that the junior officer would be given the task of carrying the ensign flag.

29 “30 Minute Meals” host Rachael : RAY

Rachael Ray is a celebrity chef and host of several shows on the Food Network television channel. Ray comes from a family that owned and managed a number of restaurants in the northeast of the country. One of Ray’s TV shows is “$40 a Day”, in which she demonstrates how to visit various cities in North America and Europe and eat three meals and a snack on a daily budget of just $40.

31 Disappearing Asian sea : ARAL

The Aral Sea is a great example of how humankind can have a devastating effect on the environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …

35 *Extras in a bowl of chowder : OYSTER CRACKERS (giving “oyster bed”)

Oyster crackers are small, salted crackers with a taste similar to a saltine. They are particularly popular in the northeast of the country, and are often served with clam chowder and oyster stew.

43 Train station postings, for short : SKEDS

Schedule (sked)

A group of oysters is commonly referred to as a “bed”, and oysters can be farmed in man-made beds. The largest body of water producing oysters in the US today is Chesapeake Bay, although the number of beds continues to dwindle due to pollution and overfishing. Back in the 1800s, most of the world’s oysters came from New York Harbor.

The type of soup known as “chowder” is possibly named for the pot in which it used to be cooked called a “chaudière”, a French term.

44 *1960s counterculture slogan : FLOWER POWER (giving “flower bed”)

“Flower power” was a slogan coined by Allen Ginsberg in 1965 to portray the ongoing war protests in a more positive light.

49 Tilted, to a Brit : LEANT

The past tense of the verb “to lean” can be “leaned” or “leant”. The form “leant” is commonly used in British English, whereas “leaned” is favored in American English.

50 Hoppy beverages, for short : IPAS

India pale ale (IPA) is a style of beer that originated in England. The beer was originally intended for transportation from England to India, hence the name.

54 Colorado NHLers, in headlines : AVS

The Colorado Avalanche is a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche (“Avs”) were founded in Quebec in 1972 as the Quebec Nordiques, and moved to Denver in 1995.

59 Signed off on : OK’ED

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”.

60 Giant squid’s home : OCEAN

Giant squids can be really, really big, possibly growing to over 40 feet in length. Most of that length is taken up by the tentacles, with a mantle growing to about 7 feet.

62 Throw to a tight end, say : PASS

In American football, a quarterback (QB) might throw to a tight end (TE).

63 __ dots : POLKA

A polka-dot pattern is one featuring an array of filled circles, usually of the same size and color. There doesn’t seem to be any connection between the name of the pattern and the polka dance, other than both the dance and the pattern gaining popularity around the same time, in the late nineteenth century.

Down

2 Dayton’s state : OHIO

Dayton is a city in the southwest of Ohio that is famously home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The city is also referred to as the “Birthplace of Aviation”, as it was in Dayton that Orville and Wilbur Wright built and improved the Wright Flyer. The Wright Flyer made the first controlled and sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

4 Three, in Turin : TRE

Turin (“Torino” in Italian) is a major city in the north of Italy that sits on the Po River. Back in 1861, when the Kingdom of Italy was formed, Turin was chosen as the first capital of the country.

5 Rabbi’s headwear : YARMULKE

A yarmulke is a skullcap worn in the Orthodox Jewish tradition. It is also known as a kippa or hech cap.

6 Item sold in sheets and coils : STAMP

Postage stamps were first introduced in 1840 in the UK, with the first stamp sold being the famous penny black, which is adorned with the head of Queen Victoria. The second stamp followed a few weeks later, and is known as the two penny blue.

7 Avian mimic : MYNAH

Some species of myna (also “mynah”) birds are known for their ability to imitate sounds.

8 Bars scanned by checkers : UPC

Universal Price Code or Universal Product Code (UPC)

10 Prefix with electric : HYDRO-

Hydroelectric power is the most common source of renewable energy on the planet, with hydropower accounting for about one sixth of the world’s generated electricity.

17 Game room missile : DART

Darts is a game that’s often played in English and Irish pubs, even over here in America. The scoring in a traditional game of darts is difficult to describe in a sentence or two, but the game of darts called “Round the Clock” is simply hitting the numbers 1 through 20 on the dartboard in sequence.

22 More dilapidated : CREAKIER

Something dilapidated has fallen into a state of ruin, a state of decay. Ultimately, the term “dilapidation” comes from the Latin “lapis” meaning “stone”, with the Latin verb “dilapidare” meaning “to throw away, squander”, literally “pelt with stones”.

24 Actress DaCosta of “Chicago Med” : YAYA

Yaya DaCosta got her career break in 2004 when she was named runner-up in the reality show “America’s Next Top Model”. That success led to work as an actress, mainly on TV shows such as “Ugly Betty” and “Chicago Med”. In 2015, DaCosta portrayed singer Whitney Houston in the Lifetime television movie “Whitney”.

25 __ terrier : SKYE

The Skye terrier is a breed of dog that is under threat of extinction. A few years ago, there were only 30 Skye terriers born in the breed’s native land of the UK. The breed was named for the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

26 Creative inspiration : MUSE

In Greek mythology, the muses are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. The number of muses is a subject of debate at times, but the most popular view is that there are nine:

  • Calliope (epic poetry)
  • Clio (history)
  • Erato (lyric poetry)
  • Euterpe (music)
  • Melpomene (tragedy)
  • Polyhymnia (choral poetry)
  • Terpsichore (dance)
  • Thalia (comedy)
  • Urania (astronomy)

28 Piglet’s 20-Across : SOW
[20A One of the Three Bears : MAMA]

A male pig is a boar, and a female is a sow. Young pigs are piglets.

29 Maker of HD tablets : RCA

Radio Corporation of America (RCA)

30 “Wherefore __ thou Romeo?” : ART

In the balcony scene in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Juliet utters the famous line:

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?

Every school kid must have commented with a giggle “he’s down in the garden!” Of course, “wherefore” isn’t an archaic word for “where”, but rather an old way of saying “why”. So Juliet is asking, “Why art thou Romeo, a Montague, and hence a sworn enemy of the Capulets?”

32 “Sanford and Son” star Foxx : REDD

“Redd Foxx” was the stage name of John Elroy Sanford, who was best known for starring in “Sanford and Son”. “Sanford and Son” was an American version of a celebrated hit BBC sitcom that I grew up with in Ireland called “Steptoe and Son”.

33 Bloodthirsty Greek god : ARES

The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

34 Perception-changing drug, for short : LSD

LSD (known colloquially as “acid”) is lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist named Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …

36 Winnebago driver, briefly : RV’ER

Winnebago Industries is a company that has been manufacturing travel trailers in Forest City, Iowa since 1958. The company made its first motor home in 1966. Winnebago motor homes were very successful because they were priced so reasonably. The line was so successful that “Winnebago” entered the language as a generic term describing a motor home.

42 Swiffer alternative : WET MOP

Swiffer is a brand of cleaning products introduced by Procter & Gamble in 1999. The mainstays of the Swiffer cleaning system are the Swiffer WetJet mop and the Swiffer Sweeper.

44 Speedy DC Comics superhero : FLASH

The Flash is a DC Comics superhero who is nicknamed “the Scarlet Speedster” or “the Crimson Comet”. The Flash’s superpower is his ability to move extremely quickly, with speed that defies the laws of physics.

45 Flood barrier : LEVEE

A levee is an artificial bank, usually made of earth, that runs along the length of a river. It is designed to hold back river water at a time of potential flooding. “Levée” is the French word for “raised” and is an American term that originated in French-speaking New Orleans around 1720.

46 Sahara havens : OASES

The name “Sahara” means “greatest desert” in Arabic. The Sahara is just that, a great desert covering almost 4 million square miles of Northern Africa. That’s almost the size of the United States.

47 Roads with tolls : PIKES

Back in the 15th century, a turnpike (tpk., trke.) was a defensive barrier across a road. By the 17th century the term was used for a barrier that stopped travelers until a toll was paid. By the 18th century a turnpike was the name given to a road with a toll.

48 Newspaper opinion pieces : OP-EDS

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

51 Ill-fated biblical brother : ABEL

In the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis, Cain murders his brother Abel. Subsequently, God asks Cain, “Where is Abel thy brother?” Cain replies, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

53 Irish novelist O’Brien : EDNA

Edna O’Brien is an Irish novelist and playwright who is known for her works that shine a light on the problems of women relating to men and society in general. O’Brien’s first novel, “The Country Girls”, was banned, burned and denounced by the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. As a result, O’Brien left the country and now lives in London.

56 Pseudonym lead-in : AKA …

Also known as (aka)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Pushover : SOFTY
6 Pleased with oneself : SMUG
10 Appt. book lines : HRS
13 USWNT star Kelley : O’HARA
14 Misstake in this clue, e.g. : TYPO
15 “Uh-huh” : YEP
16 *Stage show featuring traditional Irish music : RIVERDANCE (giving “riverbed”)
18 Double-helix molecule : DNA
19 Digit that can be wiggled : TOE
20 One of the Three Bears : MAMA
21 Carpenter’s fastener : SCREW
23 *Candice Bergen sitcom : MURPHY BROWN (giving “Murphy bed”)
25 Refine metal : SMELT
27 Ensign’s affirmative : AYE
28 Creep around : SKULK
29 “30 Minute Meals” host Rachael : RAY
31 Disappearing Asian sea : ARAL
35 *Extras in a bowl of chowder : OYSTER CRACKERS (giving “oyster bed”)
38 Unwanted garden plant : WEED
39 Industrial tub : VAT
40 Lent a hand to : AIDED
41 “I __ you big-time!” : OWE
43 Train station postings, for short : SKEDS
44 *1960s counterculture slogan : FLOWER POWER (giving “flower bed”)
49 Tilted, to a Brit : LEANT
50 Hoppy beverages, for short : IPAS
51 Dazzle : AWE
54 Colorado NHLers, in headlines : AVS
55 Complete a morning chore, and what the start of the answer to each starred clue can do : MAKE THE BED
58 “Get it?” : SEE?
59 Signed off on : OK’ED
60 Giant squid’s home : OCEAN
61 Bucks and boars : HES
62 Throw to a tight end, say : PASS
63 __ dots : POLKA

Down

1 Separate, as laundry : SORT
2 Dayton’s state : OHIO
3 #1 preference, slangily : FAVE
4 Three, in Turin : TRE
5 Rabbi’s headwear : YARMULKE
6 Item sold in sheets and coils : STAMP
7 Avian mimic : MYNAH
8 Bars scanned by checkers : UPC
9 Elapses : GOES BY
10 Prefix with electric : HYDRO-
11 Continue a subscription : RENEW
12 Give rise to : SPAWN
17 Game room missile : DART
22 More dilapidated : CREAKIER
23 Major tantrum : MELTDOWN
24 Actress DaCosta of “Chicago Med” : YAYA
25 __ terrier : SKYE
26 Creative inspiration : MUSE
28 Piglet’s 20-Across : SOW
29 Maker of HD tablets : RCA
30 “Wherefore __ thou Romeo?” : ART
32 “Sanford and Son” star Foxx : REDD
33 Bloodthirsty Greek god : ARES
34 Perception-changing drug, for short : LSD
36 Winnebago driver, briefly : RV’ER
37 Place to buy frosted desserts : CAKE SHOP
42 Swiffer alternative : WET MOP
43 Thwack : SWAT
44 Speedy DC Comics superhero : FLASH
45 Flood barrier : LEVEE
46 Sahara havens : OASES
47 Roads with tolls : PIKES
48 Newspaper opinion pieces : OP-EDS
51 Ill-fated biblical brother : ABEL
52 Not very powerful : WEAK
53 Irish novelist O’Brien : EDNA
56 Pseudonym lead-in : AKA …
57 Green prefix : ECO-