Bill’s time: 5m 31s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Longstocking of kiddie lit : PIPPI

Pippi Longstocking appears as the heroine in a series of books written by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Lindgren was quite the activist, very well known in the circles working for children’s and animal rights, In particular, Lindgren campaigned heavily against corporal punishment.

6 “Jason Bourne” star Damon : MATT

Matt Damon is an actor and screenwriter from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Damon’s big break came with the 1997 movie “Good Will Hunting”, in which he starred. He co-wrote the screenplay with his childhood friend Ben Affleck.

The “Bourne” series of films are based on a series of three “Bourne” novels penned by Robert Ludlum. The first three “Bourne” movies star Matt Damon in the title role of Jason Bourne. Damon opted out of the fourth movie (“The Bourne Legacy”), and so a new lead character was added and played by Jeremy Renner. Damon returned for the fifth film in the series, but has suggested that he is unlikely to take on the role again.

10 Shell rowers : CREW

A scull is a boat used for competitive rowing. The main hull of the boat is often referred to as a shell. Crew members who row the boat can be referred to as “oars”. And, a scull is also an oar mounted on the stern of a small boat. It’s all very confusing …

14 Biting, as criticism : ACERB

“Acerb” is a variant of “acerbic”, with both terms meaning “sour, bitter-tasting, acidic”.

16 Hill worker : AIDE

Washington D.C.’s designer Pierre L’Enfant chose the crest of a hill as the site for the future Congress House. He called the location “Jenkins Hill” and “Jenkins Heights”. Earlier records show the name as “New Troy”. Today we call it “Capitol Hill”.

17 Earl Grey relative : PEKOE

A pekoe (or more commonly “orange pekoe”) is a medium-grade black tea. There is no orange flavor in an orange pekoe tea. The “orange” name most likely derived from the name of the trading company that brought the tea to Europe from Asia.

The Earl Grey blend of tea is supposedly named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey who was Prime Minister of the UK from 1830 to 1834. Earl Grey tea has a distinctive flavor that is largely due to the addition of oil from the rind of the bergamot orange.

18 Old Roman fiddler : NERO

The Great Fire of Rome raged for five and a half days in 64 AD. Of the fourteen districts of Rome, three were completely destroyed and seven more suffered serious damage. The emperor at the time was Nero, although reports that he fiddled, played his lyre or sang while the city burned; those accounts are probably not true. In fact, Nero was staying outside of Rome when the fire started and rushed home upon hearing the news. He organized a massive relief effort, throwing open his own home to give shelter to many of the citizens who were left living on the street.

20 #1 in Major League Baseball career earnings : ALEX RODRIGUEZ

Baseball player Alex Rodriguez, nicknamed “A-Rod”, broke a lot of records in his career, albeit under a shroud of controversy due to his use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. When he signed a 10-year contract with the Texas Rangers for $252 million in 2000, it was the most lucrative contract in sports history. In 2007, Rodriguez signed an even more lucrative 10-year contract with the New York Yankees, worth $275 million. Rodriguez retired in 2016.

24 Chaney of “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925) : LON

Lon Chaney, Sr. played a lot of crazed-looking characters in the days of silent movies. He did much of his own make-up work, developing the grotesque appearances that became his trademark, and earning himself the nickname “the man of a thousand faces”. Most famous were his portrayals of the title characters in the films “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925).

25 Acidity nos. : PHS

As we all recall from chemistry class, a pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything less than 7 is an acid, and anything above 7 is a base.

28 1970s joint U.S.-Soviet space flight : APOLLO-SOYUZ

The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was a joint US-Soviet space flight that marked the end of the Space Race. The 1975 mission involved the docking in space of an Apollo command and service module with a Soyuz 19 capsule. The symbolic highlight of the project was the handshake exchanged by mission commanders Alexei Leonov and Tom Stafford through the open hatch of the Soyuz capsule. The ASTP also marked the final flight of an Apollo spacecraft, as NASA realigned resources to support the Space Shuttle program.

37 Actors’ union, briefly : SAG

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was formed back in 1933, at a time when Hollywood stars were really being exploited by the big movie studios, especially the younger and less inexperienced performers. Early supporters of the Guild included famous names like Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney (you could imagine them in a negotiation!). Past presidents of SAG were also big names, such as Eddie Cantor, James Cagney, Ronald Reagan, Howard Keel, Charlton Heston, Ed Asner and Melissa Gilbert. SAG merged with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) in 2012 to create SAG-AFTRA.

39 Fortified city of Castile and León : AVILA

Ávila is famous for the walled defenses around the old city that date back to 1090. They were constructed out of brown granite, and are still in excellent repair. There are nine gateways and eighty-towers in all. Even the cathedral built between the 12th and 14th centuries is part of the city’s defenses, so it looks like an imposing fortress.

Castile and León is the largest of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain, and is located in the northwest of the country. The separate kingdoms of Castile and León were united in medieval times, but the autonomous community was constituted much more recently, in

41 Diamond stat : RBI

Run batted in (RBI)

43 “MASH” corporal : RADAR

Corporal Radar O’Reilly is a character in the “M*A*S*H” television series and film. The role was played by Gary Burghoff in both the film and on television.

44 “Cape Fear” star : DE NIRO

Robert De Niro is noted for his longtime and highly successful collaboration with the director Martin Scorsese, in such films as “Taxi Driver” (1976), “Raging Bull” (1980), “Goodfellas” (1990) and “Casino” (1995). De Niro is also noted for his commitment as a method actor. Famously, he gained a full 60 pounds in order to play Jake Lamotta in “Raging Bull”.

The 1991 film called “Cape Fear” is a Martin Scorsese remake of a 1962 movie of the same name. The 1991 version stars Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte, and there are also cameo appearances by Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck who starred in the 1962 original.

48 Building bricks brand : LEGO

Lego produces some wonderful specialized sets with which you can build models of celebrated structures, including:

• The Statue of Liberty (2,882 pieces)
• The Sydney Opera House (2,989 pieces)
• The Eiffel Tower (3,428 pieces)
• Tower Bridge (4,295 pieces)
• The Taj Mahal (5,922 pieces)

49 Math class surprise : ALGEBRA QUIZ

Algebra (alg.) is a branch of mathematics in which arithmetical operations are performed on variables rather than specific numbers (x,y etc). The term “algebra” comes from the Arabic “al jebr” meaning “reunion of broken parts”.

52 Arles article : LES

Quite a few years ago now, I had the privilege of living just a short car-ride from the beautiful city of Arles in the South of France. Although Arles has a long and colorful history, the Romans had a prevailing influence over the city’s design. Arles has a spectacular Roman amphitheater, arch, circus as well as old walls that surround the center of the city. In more modern times, it was a place Vincent van Gogh often visited, and was where he painted many of his most famous works, including “Cafe Terrace at Night” and “Bedroom in Arles”.

54 Sis or bro : SIB

A sibling (sib) is a member of a family (fam).

56 Musical genre of Tito Puente and Dizzy Gillespie : AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ

After serving in the Navy in WWII for three years, musician Tito Puente studied at Juilliard, where he got a great grounding in conducting, orchestration and theory. Puente parlayed this education into a career in Latin Jazz and Mambo. He was known as “El Rey” as well as “The King of Latin Music”.

Dizzy Gillespie was a musician from Cheraw, South Carolina who was best known as a jazz trumpeter. Gillespie was also known for playing a “bent” trumpet, one with the bell projecting upwards at a 45-degree angle. The unusual configuration of the instrument came about accidentally, when a pair of dancers fell on it during a birthday party. The damage to the instrument caused a change in the tone which Gillespie liked, so he left it as is.

70 Route-finding app : WAZE

Waze is a navigation app that is similar to Google Maps and Apple Maps. Waze was developed in Israel, and was acquired by Google in 2013.

71 Risqué message : SEXT

Sexting (a portmanteau of “sex” and “texting”) is the sending of explicit dialog and images between cell phones. The term “sexting” was coined by the UK’s “Sunday Telegraph Magazine” in a 2005 article.

“Risqué” is a French word, the past participle of the verb “to risk”. So in English we use “risqué” to mean “racy”, but in French it means “risky”.

Down

1 Hemingway moniker : PAPA

Apparently, author Ernest Hemingway picked up the moniker “Papa” on the birth of his first child (as one might expect!). Hemingway seemed to like the nickname and welcomed its use outside of the family, and his admirers obliged.

2 Eur. island country : ICEL

Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in the whole of Europe, with two-thirds of the nation’s population residing in and around the capital city of Reykjavik. Iceland was settled by the Norse people in AD 874, and was ruled for centuries by Norway and then Denmark. Iceland became independent in 1918, and has been a republic since 1944. Iceland is not a member of the EU but is a member of NATO, having joined in 1949 despite not having a standing army.

3 Chow kin, briefly : PEKE

The pekingese (“peke”) breed originated in China, as one might suspect from the name. Breeding practices have resulted in the dog having many health problems, including breathing issues related to the “desirable” flat face. Standards have been changed in recent years, demanding an “evident muzzle” in an attempt to breed healthier “pekes”.

The chow chow is a breed of dog that originated in China. The Chinese name for the breed is “Songshi Quan”, which translates as “puffy-lion dog”, a rather apt name given its appearance …

4 Voting substitute : PROXY

Our word “proxy”, meaning “the agency of one who acts instead of another”, comes from the Latin “procurare” meaning “to manage”. So, “proxy” has the same root as our word “procure”.

5 Spanish airline : IBERIA

The airline called Iberia is the flag carrier for Spain and is based in the country’s capital city at Madrid-Barajas Airport.

7 Asian PC brand : ACER

Acer is a Taiwanese company that I visited a couple of times when I was in the electronics business. I was very impressed back then with the company’s dedication to quality, although I have heard that things haven’t gone so well in recent years …

11 Upscale hotel : RITZ

César Ritz was a Swiss hotelier, who had a reputation for developing the most luxurious of accommodations and attracting the wealthiest clientèle. He opened the Hotel Ritz in Paris in 1898 and the second of his most famous hotels, the Ritz Hotel in London, in 1906. Ritz was lucky in his career, as before starting his own hotel chain he had been dismissed from the Savoy Hotel in London, implicated in the disappearance of a substantial amount of wine and spirits. Today’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company was founded in 1983, although the chain has its roots in the properties developed by César Ritz.

12 LSU URL letters : EDU

The .edu domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

• .com (commercial enterprise)
• .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
• .mil (US military)
• .org (not-for-profit organization)
• .gov (US federal government entity)
• .edu (college-level educational institution)

LSU’s full name is Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, and is located in Baton Rouge. LSU was founded in 1860 as a military academy, with then-Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman as superintendent.

22 Racing giant Bobby : UNSER

The Unser family seems to have auto racing in their blood. Al Unser, Sr. won the Indy 500 on four occasions. Al’s brother Jerry was the first of the Unsers to compete at Indianapolis. Al’s other brother Bobby, won the Indy three times. Al’s son, Al Junior, won the Indy twice. Al Junior’s son is also a racing driver who competes at the Indy Speedway.

25 Italian fashion house : PRADA

Prada started out in 1913 as a leather-goods shop in Milan, one established by the two Prada brothers. One of the brothers, Mario Prada, prevented the female members of his family participating in the company as he didn’t believe women should be involved in business (!). When the sexist brother died, his son had no interest in the business so it was his daughter who took over and ran the company for about twenty years, handing it over to her own daughter. I’d say the devil loved that …

27 David’s weapon : SLING

In the story of David and Goliath, the Israelites and the Philistines faced each other in battle at the Valley of Elah. Goliath was the warrior champion of the Philistines and each day he challenged the Israelites to send out their champion to decide the battle in a one-on-one fight. No one was courageous enough to accept the challenge until young David agreed to face the mighty Goliath. David felled the giant soldier with a stone from his sling.

30 Rainbow flag letters : LGBTQ

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ)

The best-known rainbow flag is the one representing gay pride. Such usage of the rainbow flag was popularized in 1978 by artist Gilbert Baker. The varying colors of the flag represent the diversity of the gay community.

31 National gemstone of Australia : OPAL

97% of the world’s opals come from Australia, so it’s no surprise perhaps that the opal is the national gemstone of the country. The state of South Australia provides the bulk of the world’s production, i.e. about 80%.

34 Binary system digits : ZEROS

We use a base-ten numbering system, with ten digits (0 – 9). The binary system, or base-two, uses just two digits (0 & 1). The binary system is used at a fundamental level in computing, because the number 0 and 1 can be represented by microcircuits being switched “on” or “off”.

36 Peace Nobelist Wiesel : ELIE

Elie Wiesel was a holocaust survivor, and is best known for his book “Night” that tells of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was also the first recipient of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Award, which was later renamed the Elie Wiesel Award in his honor.

40 Ann __, Michigan : ARBOR

Ann Arbor, Michigan was founded in 1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey. Supposedly, Allen and Rumsey originally used the name “Annsarbour” in recognition of stands of bur oak that were on the land they had purchased and in recognition of their wives, both of whom were called “Ann” (i.e. Anns’ Arbor)

42 Debtor’s promise : IOU

I owe you (IOU)

45 Team nicknamed the Birds : ORIOLES

The Baltimore Orioles (also, the O’s, the Birds”) are one of the eight charter teams of MLB’s American League, so the franchise dates back to 1901. Prior to 1901, the team has roots in the Minor League Milwaukee Brewers, and indeed entered the American League as the Brewers. In 1902 the Brewers moved to St. Louis and became the Browns. The team didn’t fare well in St. Louis, so when it finally relocated to Baltimore in the early fifties the team changed its name completely, to the Baltimore Orioles. The owners so badly wanted a fresh start that they traded 17 old Browns players with the New York Yankees. The trade didn’t help the team’s performance on the field in those early days, but it did help distance the new team from its past.

47 Italian tower town : PISA

The city of Pisa sits right on the Italian coast, at the mouth of the River Arno. The city is perhaps most famous for its Leaning Tower. The tower is actually the campanile (bell tower) of the city’s cathedral, and it has been leaning since it was completed in 1173. Just shows you how important good foundations are …

51 Alphabetically last flower on a list of familiar ones : ZINNIA

Zinnias are plants in the daisy family that are named for the German botanist Johann Gottfried Zinn. A NASA astronaut started an experiment in 2015 to grow flowering crops in space, aboard the International Space Station. As a result, zinnias became the first flowers ever grown outside the Earth’s biosphere.

55 Tennis great Borg : BJORN

Björn Borg is a retired tennis player from Sweden, and a former World No. 1. Borg won 41% of the 27 Grand Slam singles tournaments that he entered, which is a record that stands to the day. He was known for reacting very calmly under pressure on the tennis court and hence earned the nicknames “Ice Man” and “Ice Borg”, which is my personal favorite.

57 The Piltdown Man, notably : FAKE

The Piltdown Man hoax is the most famous deception in the world of paleontology. The hoax played out in 1912 when a Charles Dawson announced that he had a skull fragment that was discovered at a gravel pit near the village of Piltdown in East Sussex in England. Most of the scientific community believed this was the fossilized remains of a form of man unknown up to that point. It was forty years later when it was determined that the skull fragment was in fact a composite of a medieval human skull, a 500-year old orangutan and some fossilized chimpanzee teeth. No one is really sure who pulled off the hoax, but I believe the police are looking at the usual suspects …

58 Operating system since the ’60s : UNIX

Unix is a computer operating system that was developed at Bell Labs in 1969. The initial name for the project was Uniplexed Information and Computing Service (Unics), and this evolved over time into “Unix”.

59 Orion’s __ : BELT

A subset of three particularly bright stars in the constellation of Orion is named “Orion’s Belt”. The three bright stars sit almost in a straight line and are about equidistant. They’re usually the easiest way to spot the constellation of Orion in the night sky.

61 Cab alternatives : ZINS

Zinfandel is one of my favorite red wine varietals. It amazes me that the rich and heavy red Zinfandel comes from the same grape as does the sweet White Zinfandel.

62 Lemon peel : ZEST

The cabernet sauvignon (often just “cab”) grape has been around since the 17th century, and is the result of a chance crossing in southwestern France of the cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc grapes.

63 AAA service : TOW

The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on lobbying, provision of automobile servicing, and selling of automobile insurance. The AAA was founded in 1902 in Chicago and published the first of its celebrated hotel guides back in 1917.

64 “Eureka!” : AHA!

“Eureka” translates from Greek as “I have found it”. The word is usually associated with Archimedes, uttered as he stepped into his bath one day. His discovery was that the volume of water that was displaced was equal to that of the object (presumably his foot) that had been submerged. He used this fact to determine the volume of a crown, something he needed in order to determine if it was made of pure gold or was a forgery.

The post LA Times Crossword 19 Nov 19, Tuesday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 7m 47s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Instant : JIFF

“Jiff” or “jiffy”, meaning “short time, instant” is thought originally to be thieves’ slang for “lightning”.

9 Harry’s Hogwarts nemesis : DRACO

Draco Malfoy is one of the regular “bad guys” in the “Harry Potter” stories. Malfoy is one of Potter’s fellow students, the one who sneers a lot. Draco’s father is Lucius Malfoy, a character who becomes more and more relevant as the storyline in the series of books progresses.

15 Puccini piece : ARIA

Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer who was famous for his operas that are so often performed all over the world. Included in the list of his works are “La bohème”, “Tosca”, “Madama Butterfly” and “Turandot”. Puccini died in Brussels, Belgium in 1924 having suffered from throat cancer. An audience attending a performance of “La bohème” in Rome heard of the composer’s death in the middle of the performance. At the news, the opera was stopped, and the orchestra instead played Chopin’s “Funeral March”.

19 Tax audit docs. : RCPTS

Receipt (rcpt.)

20 Jag : SPREE

Our word “spree”, meaning “carefree outing”, might be an alteration of the French “esprit”, a term meaning “spirit, lively wit”.

The word “jag” is used to describe periods of unrestrained activity, particularly involving alcohol, and has been in use since the 1800s.

21 Wisconsin city on Lake Winnebago : NEENAH

The Wisconsin city of Neenah is located about 40 miles southwest of Green Bay. Kimberly-Clark was founded there in 1872 as an operator of paper mills, which earned Neenah the nickname “the Paper City”.

Lake Winnebago is the largest lake located entirely within the state of Wisconsin.

23 Actor Vigoda : ABE

Abe Vigoda played Detective Sergeant Phil Fish in television’s “Barney Miller” in the seventies, and even got his own spin-off show called “Fish”. On the big screen, Vigoda played Sal Tessio in “The Godfather” and Grandpa Ubriacco in “Look Who’s Talking”.

29 __ onion : BERMUDA

Bermuda has been a major producer of onions since the 1880s when seed was brought to the island from the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. Apparently, Ernest Hemingway was a fan, and while buying some of the onions at a market, he met a man called Gregorio Fuentes. He ended up hiring Fuentes as first mate for Hemingway’s boat. Some say that Fuentes was the inspiration for Santiago, the protagonist in “The Old Man and the Sea”. Well, that’s how the story goes …

33 Brigham Young’s Utah settlement : DESERET

When Mormon pioneers were settling what is today the state of Utah, they referred to the area as Deseret, a word that means “beehive” according to the Book of Mormon. Today Utah is known as the Beehive State and there is a beehive symbol on the Utah state flag. In 1959, “Industry” was even chosen as the state motto, for the term’s association with the beehive.

34 Corrida cheer : OLE!

Spanish bullfighting is known locally as “corrida de toros”, literally “race of bulls”.

35 Prime-time time : NINE

In the world of television, prime time is that part of the day when networks and advertisers bring maximize revenues due to the high number of viewers. Prime time is often defined as 7-10 p.m. Mountain and Central Time, and 8-11 p.m. Pacific and Eastern Time.

38 Overseas business abbr. : LTD

In Britain and Ireland the most common type of business (my perception anyway) is one that has private shareholders whose liability is limited to the value of their investment. Such a company is known as a private limited company, and has the letters “Ltd” after the name. If the shares are publicly traded, then the company is a public limited company, and has the letters “plc” after the name.

39 Hemingway’s 1930s Florida home, and a hint to the answers to starred clues : KEY WEST

Key West in the Florida Keys is the southernmost city in the contiguous US, and is the southern terminus of US Route 1. The southernmost point in the continental US is Whitehead Spit, which is located within the bounds of Naval Air Station Key West.

Ernest Hemingway moved around a lot. He was born in Illinois, and after leaving school headed to the Italian front during WWI. There he served as an ambulance driver, an experience he used as inspiration for “A Farewell to Arms”. He returned to the US after being seriously wounded, but a few years later moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent. He covered the Spanish War as a journalist, from Spain, using this experience for “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. During the thirties and forties he had two permanent residences, one in Key West, Florida and one in Cuba. In the late fifties he moved to Ketchum, Idaho, where he committed suicide in 1961.

43 UPS Store item : CTN

Carton (ctn.)

The franchised UPS Stores make up the world’s largest network of retail shipping, printing and business service centers. The first such outlets were branded and owned by Mail Boxes Etc., starting in 1980. UPS acquired Mail Boxes Etc. in 2001, and introduced the UPS Store brand in 2003. I’m a big fan …

44 Broadway barber : TODD

“Sweeney Todd” was originally a 1936 film, and later in 1973 a play, then a 1979 musical and a movie adaptation of the musical in 2007. After Sweeney Todd has killed his victims, his partner in crime Mrs. Lovett helped him dispose of the bodies by taking the flesh and baking it into meat pies that she sold in her pie shop. Ugh!

47 Summer sign : LEO

Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.

52 Title role for Gary Cooper and Adam Sandler : MR DEEDS

“Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” is a 1936 Frank Capra romantic comedy starring Gary Cooper in the title role, and Jean Arthur in her first leading role. The wonderful 1936 original inspired a less-than-wonderful 2002 remake “Mr. Deeds” starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder.

54 *Small computer : NOTEBOOK (giving “keynote”)

The “keynote” is the lowest note in a musical scale, as one might imagine. The term started to be used to mean a leading idea in the late 1700s, and the expression “keynote address” dates back to 1905.

59 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.

66 *Center stage : LIMELIGHT (giving “key lime”)

Limelight was an early form of stage lighting that was also known as Drummond Light. The illumination came from the burning of quicklime (calcium hydroxide), hence the name. Although limelights are a thing of the past, the term “in the limelight” is still used when describing someone in the public eye.

The species of citrus fruit called a key lime is so named due to its association with the Florida Keys.

69 Document sent online : EFAX

An efax is similar to a fax. A fax is an image of a document that is sent over a telephone line between two fax machines, whereas an efax is sent over the Internet.

70 Hungarian wine region : EGER

Eger is a city in the northeast of Hungary that is noted for its thermal baths and for its wine production. Back in Ireland, I would quite often drink “Bull’s Blood”, which is Hungary’s most famous red wine, and which comes from the Eger wine region.

71 7UP and Sprite : SODAS

7UP was introduced to the world as “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda”, and was a patent medicine that contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug. The introduction of a mood-stabilizing medication was pretty timely, as 1929 Wall Street Crash happened just two weeks later. 7UP’s “Uncola” advertising campaign dates back to 1967.

Sprite is Coca-Cola’s answer to the very successful soft drink 7UP. Sprite was introduced in 1961, and Coca-Cola used its muscle to topple 7UP from its dominant position in the market. Sprite has been the number-one selling lemon soda since 1978.

73 Extinct bird : DODO

The dodo was a direct relative of the pigeon and dove, although the fully-grown dodo was usually three feet tall. One of the reasons the dodo comes to mind when we think of extinction of a species, is that it disappeared not too long ago (last recorded alive in 1681) and humans were the reason for its demise. The dodo lived exclusively on the island of Mauritius and when man arrived, we cut back the forests that were its home. We also introduced domestic animals, such as dogs and pigs, that ransacked the dodo’s nests. The dodo was deemed to be an awkward flightless bird and so the term “dodo” has come to mean a dull-witted person.

Down

1 Clerical vestments : ALBS

An alb is a white, neck-to-toe vestment worn by priests, usually with a rope cord around the waist. The term alb comes from “albus”, the Latin word for “white”.

5 Shoot the breeze : JAW

To shoot the breeze is to participate in casual inconsequential conversation. The idiom “shoot the breeze” arose in the US in the early- to mid-10th century. The phrase probably evolved from the use of “breeze” as a slang term meaning “rumor”.

6 OPEC member : IRAN

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

9 Hip-hop tops : DO-RAGS

Hip-hoppers might wear do-rags today, but they have been around for centuries. The etymology of “do-rag” is pretty evident, i.e. a piece of cloth (rag) to hold a hairstyle (do) in place.

10 Seismologist with a scale : RICHTER

The Richter scale was developed in 1935 by Charles Richter at the California Institute of Technology. The Richter Scale has largely been abandoned, replaced by the moment magnitude scale (MMS). Even though the US Geological Survey has been reporting earthquakes using the MMS since 2002, the media is prone to mix things up and use phrases such as “Richter magnitude”.

18 Prove false : DEBUNK

The word “bunk” is short for “bunkum”, the phonetic spelling of “Buncombe”, which is a county in North Carolina. Supposedly, a state representative made a dull and irrelevant speech that was directed to his home county of Buncombe, bringing the term “bunkum” into the language with the meaning of “nonsense”. The derivative word “debunk” first appeared in a novel by William Woodward in 1923, when he used it to describe “taking the bunk out of things”.

24 Singer Brickell : EDIE

Edie Brickell is a singer-songwriter from Dallas, Texas. Brickell has been married to fellow singer Paul Simon since 1991.

26 Software giant : ORACLE

Oracle is a huge software company with headquarters in Redwood City, California. Oracle’s main product is enterprise software, software that meets the needs of an organization rather than an individual user. Oracle was co-founded in 1977 by Larry Ellison, who is now one of the richest business people in the world.

28 Group with a common culture : ETHNOS

“Ethnos” is a Greek word meaning “people, nation”. We use “ethnos” in English to to describe an ethnic group, a group with a common culture.

29 Crooner Michael : BOLTON

“Michael Bolton” is the stage name used by singer/songwriter Michael Bolotin. In fact, Bolton’s first album was titled “Bolotin”.

31 Social website with “AMA” sessions : REDDIT

Reddit.com is a networking and news website that started up in 2005. It is essentially a bulletin board system with posts that are voted up and down by users, which determines the ranking of posts. The name “Reddit” is a play on “read it”, as in “I read it on Reddit”. One popular feature of the Reddit site is an online forum that is similar to a press conference. Known as an AMA (for “ask me anything”), participants have included the likes of President Barack Obama, Madonna, Bill Gates, Stephen Colbert and Gordon Ramsay. President Obama’s AMA was so popular that the high level of traffic brought down many parts of the Reddit site.

40 Blight-stricken tree : ELM

Dutch elm disease is a fungus devastating to all species of elm trees that is transmitted by the elm bark beetle. The disease is thought to have originated in Asia and is now rampant in Europe and North America. Even though there is a hybrid of elm known as the Dutch elm, the disease isn’t named after the tree. Rather, the disease is called “Dutch” as it was identified in 1921 by a phytopathologist (plant pathologist) in the Netherlands.

41 “Water for Elephants” novelist Gruen : SARA

“Water for Elephants” is a 2006 novel by Canadian author Sara Gruen. The book was adapted into a 2011 film with the same title starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Christoph Waltz.

42 Bathroom brand : TY-D-BOL

Ty-D-Bol is one of those disinfectant products that turns toilet water blue. Ty-D-Bol Man appeared in TV commercials from the sixties through the eighties, piloting a boat in a toilet tank.

49 Cavs and Mavs : NBA’ERS

The Cavaliers are the professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavs joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1970.

The Mavericks are the NBA franchise in Dallas, Texas. The team was founded in 1980, and the Mavericks name was chosen by fan votes. The choice of “Mavericks” was prompted by the fact that the actor James Garner was a part-owner of the team, and Garner of course played the title role in the “Maverick” television series.

50 Cracker Jack bonus : TOY

Cracker Jack snack food was introduced to the public at the 1893 Chicago World Fair. It didn’t get the name “Cracker Jack” until a few years later when someone declared to the producers that the candied snack was “crackerjack!”. Prizes were introduced into each box starting in 1912. The list of toy surprises included rings, plastic figurines, temporary tattoos and decoder rings.

58 Guy with the FBI : G-MAN

The nickname “G-men” is short for “government men” and refers to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

60 Waffle made without an iron : EGGO

Eggo is a line of frozen waffles and related products made by Kellogg’s. When they were introduced in the 1930s, the name “Eggo” was chosen to promote the “egginess” of the batter. “Eggo” replaced “Froffles”, the original name chosen by melding “frozen” and “waffles”.

61 Batted but didn’t field, in MLB lingo : DH’ED

Baseball’s American League (AL) allows a designated hitter (DH) in each team’s lineup, whereas the National League (NL) does not.

62 Texas MLBer : ‘STRO

The Houston baseball team changed its name to the Astros (sometimes “’Stros”) from the Colt .45s in 1965 when they started playing in the Astrodome. The Astrodome was so called in recognition of the city’s long association with the US space program. The Astros moved from the National League to the American League starting in the 2013 season.

63 Guitar great Paul : LES

Les Paul was a guitarist, songwriter and inventor. When he was 33 years old, Paul was involved in a near-fatal car crash that left his right arm and elbow shattered. Surgeons offered him the choice of amputation or a rebuilding of the limb that would leave him unable to bend his elbow. He told them to set his arm at just under 90 degrees so that he could at least hold his guitar and perhaps play it.

64 “Evil Woman” gp. : ELO

The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) recorded the song “Evil Woman” in 1975. “Evil Woman” was written by the band’s lead vocalist Jeff Lynne, in just thirty minutes!

67 Strait’s “All My __ Live in Texas” : EX’S

“All My Ex’s Live in Texas” is a song released in 1987 by country singer George Strait.

The post LA Times Crossword 20 Nov 19, Wednesday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 8m 52s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Many big reds : CABS

The cabernet sauvignon (often just “cab”) grape has been around since the 17th century, and is the result of a chance crossing in southwestern France of the cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc grapes.

5 Namely : TO WIT

The verb “to wit” means “to know”. The verb really isn’t used anymore except in the phrase “to wit” meaning “that is to say, namely”.

10 X-ray units : RADS

A rad is a unit used to measure radiation levels that is largely obsolete now. The “rad” has been superseded by the “rem”.

X-rays were first studied comprehensively by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (also “Roentgen”), and it was he who gave the name “X-rays” to this particular type of radiation. Paradoxically, in Röntgen’s native language of German, X-rays are routinely referred to as “Röntgen rays”. In 1901, Röntgen’s work on X-rays won him the first Nobel Prize in Physics that was ever awarded.

14 Honolulu happening : LUAU

Nowadays the word “luau” denotes almost any kind of party on the Hawaiian Islands, but to the purist a luau is a feast that always includes a serving of poi, the bulbous underground stems of taro.

15 Lacking significance : INANE

Our word “inane” meaning silly or lacking substance comes from the Latin “inanitis” meaning “empty space”.

16 Music halls of old : ODEA

In ancient Greece an odeon (also “odeum”) was like a small theater, with “odeon” literally meaning a “building for musical competition”. Odea were used in both Greece and Rome for entertainments such as musical shows and poetry readings.

18 Play lightly, as a guitar : STRUM

A kithara (also “cithara”) was a lyre-like instrument in ancient Greece. Our word “guitar” is ultimately derived from “kithara”. Indeed, “kithara” is the modern Greek word for “guitar”.

19 Apt. part : BDRM

Bedroom (bdrm)

20 Upscale boutique : POSH SHOP

“Boutique” is a French word describing a small shop.

22 Holden Caulfield’s little sister : PHOEBE

“The Catcher in the Rye” is the most famous novel from the pen of J. D. Salinger. The main character and narrator of the story is Holden Caulfield, a teenager who gets expelled from a university prep school. Caulfield also makes appearances in several short stories written by Salinger, as do other members of the Caulfield family. The title “The Catcher in the Rye” is a reference to the 1782 poem “Comin’ Thro” the Rye” by Scottish poet Robert Burns.

24 Constellation near Scorpius : ARA

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

The constellation Scorpius is named for the scorpion. One of the brighter stars in Scorpius is Antares, which has a clearly perceptible red hue that is said to rival the redness of the planet Mars.

29 Tire spec : PSI

Pounds per square inch (PSI) is a measure of pressure.

32 Berkeley Breathed’s cartoon penguin : OPUS

“Opus” is a comic strip that originally ran from 2003 to 2008. It was drawn by Berkeley Breathed, the cartoonist who is best known for “Bloom County”. “Opus” is set in Bloom County, and centers on the adventures of Opus the Penguin. When Breathed ended the strip, he went so far as killing off the main character. That said, it was revealed in a “Bloom County” episode that Opus is still alive, and has just been unconscious.

33 Old money that looks new : CRISP SCRIP

Scrip isn’t legal tender, but operates just like currency in specific applications. It is in effect a form of credit. Originally the word “scrip” was used for a certificate giving one the right to receive something, often shares of a stock. “Scrip” is probably short for (sub)script(ion) receipt.

40 Small craft on the deep sea : OCEAN CANOE

The boat known as a canoe takes its name from the Carib word “kenu” meaning “dugout”. It was Christopher Columbus who brought “kenu” into Spanish as “canoa”, which evolved into our English “canoe”.

43 Big fishhook : GAFF

A gaff is a dangerous-looking metal hook on the end of a pole that fishermen use to drag large fish into their boats.

44 Way to go: Abbr. : RTE

Route (rte.)

45 He broke Lou’s record for consecutive games played : CAL

Cal Ripken played his entire, 20-year professional baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles. Ripken was known as the “Iron Man” because he showed up for work every day, come rain or shine. He played 2,632 straight games, blowing past the previous 2,130-game record held by Lou Gehrig.

46 Accolades : KUDOS

Our word “kudos” means acclaim given for an exceptional achievement. “Kudos” is both a singular and plural noun, and comes from the Greek “kyddos” meaning “glory, fame”.

47 Valedictorian’s time to shine : SPEECH

A valediction is an act of taking one’s leave, from the Latin “vale dicere”, to say farewell. An example of a valediction would be the words “yours truly” at the end of a letter. And, the valedictorian (here in the US anyway) is the student in a graduating class that is chosen to say the final words at the graduation ceremony, a farewell to the classmates.

57 In an aloof way : ICILY

I suppose one might guess from the “feel” of the word “aloof” that is has nautical roots. Originally “aloof” meant “to windward” and was the opposite of “alee”. A helmsman might be instructed to stay aloof, to steer the boat into the weather to keep a distance from a lee-shore. It is from this sense of maintaining a distance that aloof came to mean “distant” in terms of personality. Interesting, huh …?

62 Vienna-based oil gp. : OPEC

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in 1960 at a conference held in Baghdad, Iraq that was attended by Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Nine more countries joined the alliance soon after, and OPEC set up headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and then Vienna, Austria in 1965. The basic aim of OPEC was to wrest control of oil prices from the oil companies and to put it in the hands of the sovereign states that own the natural resource.

63 “Luke Cage” actor Rossi : THEO

Actor Theo Rossi is perhaps best known for playing Juice Ortiz on the TV show “Sons of Anarchy”.

“Luke Cage” is a Netflix TV show based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. The title character is a reformed convict with superhuman strength, and is portrayed by Mike Colter. Nope …

64 It helps raise dough : YEAST

Yeasts are unicellular microorganisms in the kingdom Fungi. The species of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used for centuries in the making of wine and beer, and in breadmaking. Saccharomyces cerevisiae converts carbohydrates into carbon dioxide and alcohol in the process of fermentation. When making beer and wine, the carbon dioxide and alcohol may be captured by the liquid. When making bread, the carbon dioxide and alcohol is driven off by heat.

65 Bridge position : EAST

The four people playing bridge (the card game) are positioned around a table at seats referred to as north, east, south and west. Each player belongs to a pair, with north playing with south, and east playing with west.

Down

2 Mercury or Saturn, but not Mars : AUTO

The Mercury brand of car was made by Ford from 1938 until 2011. Mercury was introduced by Henry Ford’s son Edsel Ford. Mercury vehicles were positioned as being more luxurious that the regular Ford models, and more economical than Ford’s high-end Lincoln models.

Saturn was a brand of automobile introduced by General Motors (GM) in 1985. The Saturn line was GM’s response to the increase in sales of Japanese imports, and was initially set up as a relatively independent division within the company. Saturn had its own assembly plant, and its own network of retailers.

The surface of the planet Mars has a very high iron oxide content, so Mars is red because it is rusty!

3 Cricket clubs : BATS

Cricket is the national game of England. The term “cricket” apparently comes from the Old French word “criquet” meaning “goalpost, stick”.

5 Campbell-Martin of TV’s “Dr. Ken” : TISHA

Tisha Campbell-Martin is an actress best-known for her supporting role on the HBO sitcom “Martin” that features Martin Lawrence. Tisha Campbell married fellow actor and comedian Duane Martin in 1996. That’s a lot of Martins …

“Dr. Ken” is a sitcom that first aired in 2015. The show was created by Ken Jeong, who also plays the title character. Jeong is a licensed physician in California, but opted to pursue a career in stand-up comedy.

8 Shiba __: Japanese dog : INU

The Shiba Inu is a Japanese breed of dog that was developed for hunting. Although the exact etymology of “Shibu” is unclear, the term translates as “brushwood”. “Inu” is Japanese for “dog”.

10 Stiffly awkward : ROBOTIC

Karel Čapek was a Czech writer noted for his works of science fiction. Čapek’s 1920 play “R.U.R.” is remembered in part for introducing the world to the word “robot”. The words “automaton” and “android” were already in use, but Capek gave us “robot” from the original Czech “robota” meaning “forced labor”. The acronym “R.U.R.”, in the context of the play, stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots”.

11 Fear of poisonous snakes : ADDER DREAD

The common name “black adder” can apply to two different snakes; one venomous and one not. The venomous black adder is also known as the common European adder, and is found throughout Western Europe and East Asia. The non-venomous black adder is endemic to North America, and is commonly known as the eastern hognose snake.

12 Churchill Downs event : DERBY

The first Kentucky Derby took place in 1875, and is a race modeled on the Epsom Derby in England and the Grand Prix de Paris (now called the “Prix de l‘Arc de Triomphe”). As such, the Kentucky Derby was run over 1½ miles, although in 1896 this was shortened to 1¼ miles. The winning horse is presented with a very elaborate blanket made of red roses, and so the Derby is nicknamed “Run for the Roses”. The race is held on the first Saturday in May each year, and is limited to 3-year-old horses.

Churchill Downs is a thoroughbred racetrack located in Louisville, Kentucky that is famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby each year. The track is named for John and Henry Churchill who once owned the land on which the course was built.

25 NBA great “__ Pete” Maravich : PISTOL

Pete Maravich was a professional basketball player who earned the nickname “Pistol Pete”. Maravich was forced to retire from the game in 1980 due to injury problems. He died eight years later from heart failure. An autopsy revealed that Maravich was missing a left coronary artery, which supplies blood to the heart muscle. His right coronary artery was grossly enlarged as a result, compensating for the defect.

26 Limerick lad : BOYO

Limerick is the fourth-most populous city in Ireland, after Dublin, Belfast and Cork. It is located on the Shannon Estuary, in the west of the country.

27 Herculean : EPIC

“The Twelve Labors of Hercules” is actually a Greek myth, although Hercules is the Roman name for the hero that the Greeks called Heracles.

30 School near Albany : SIENA

Siena College is a Roman Catholic school, a Franciscan liberal arts college founded in 1937 in Loudonville, New York near Albany. The college is named for Saint Bernardino of Siena, a Franciscan friar who lives in the 15th century.

33 Trig function: Abbr. : CSC

The most familiar trigonometric functions are sine, cosine and tangent (abbreviated to “sin, cos and tan”). Each of these is a ratio: a ratio of two sides of a right-angled triangle. The “reciprocal” of these three functions are cosecant, secant and cotangent. The reciprocal functions are simply the inverted ratios, the inverted sine, cosine and tangent. These inverted ratios should not be confused with the “inverse” trigonometric functions e.g. arcsine, arccosine and arctangent. These inverse functions are the reverse of the sine, cosine and tangent.

34 “The Raven” writer : POE

The first verse of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

36 Some emailed files : PDFS

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format introduced by Adobe Systems in 1993. PDF documents can be shared between users and read using many different applications, making them more universally accessible than documents saved by one particular program.

43 Private eye : GUMSHOE

“Gumshoe” is a slang term for a private detective or private investigator (P.I.). Apparently the term dates back to the early 1900s, and refers to the rubber-soled shoes popular with private detectives at that time.

46 DIY purchase : KIT

Back in Ireland, we don’t have “hardware stores” as such, but rather “DIY centres” (and that’s the spelling of “centres”). “DIY” is an initialism standing for “do-it-yourself”.

48 Forensic drama set in the Big Apple : CSI: NY

The “CSI” franchise of TV shows has been tremendously successful, but has finally wound down. “CSI: Miami” (the “worst” of the franchise, I think) was cancelled in 2012 after ten seasons. “CSI: NY” (the “best” of the franchise) was cancelled in 2013 after nine seasons. The original “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, set in Las Vegas, hung in there until 2015 when it ended with a two-hour TV movie. The youngest show in the series was “CSI: Cyber”. It lasted for two seasons, before being canceled in 2016.

53 Rap’s Salt-N-__ : PEPA

Salt-N-Pepa are an all-female hip hop trio from New York made up of “Salt” (Cheryl James), “Pepa” (Sandra Denton) and “DJ Spinderella” (Deidra Roper). The group’s 1991 song “Let’s Talk Sex” created quite a fuss as the lyrics explored the subject of sex, and safe sex in particular. A later version addressed the dangers of AIDS.

58 Olympic runner Sebastian : COE

Sebastian Coe is a retired middle distance runner from the UK who won four Olympic medals including golds in the 1500m in 1980 and 1984. After retiring from athletics, Coe went into politics and served as a Member of Parliament from 1992 to 1997. In the year 2000, he was made a Life Peer, and so Coe now sits in the House of Lords. Lord Coe headed up London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

The post LA Times Crossword 21 Nov 19, Thursday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 9m 38s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 New England’s only National Park : ACADIA

Acadia National Park in Maine was created in 1919, although back then it was called Lafayette National Park in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette who famously supported the American Revolution. The park was renamed to Acadia in 1929.

7 Eponymous explorer of Australia : TASMAN

Tasmania is the large island lying off the southeast coast of Australia. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sail past the island. Tasman named his discovery Van Diemen’s Land after the Governor of the Dutch East Indies, Anthony van Diemen. The name was officially changed to Tasmania, after the discoverer himself, in 1856. In Australia, a more familiar name used is “Tassie”.

13 Pressure sensors attached to buoys are parts of their warning systems : TSUNAMIS

“Tsunami” is a Japanese word meaning “harbor wave”.

A deep-ocean tsunami detection buoy is an important instrument used to detect and confirm the presence of tsunami waves following an underwater seismic event. Each tsunami buoy comprises a pressure sensor that is anchored to the seabed, and a buoy floating on the surface. The buoy monitors the height of the column of water above the sensor, and so can detect the dramatic change in height that occurs when a tsunami wave passes. A network of detection buoys relay the height measurements via satellite to a tsunami warning center.

16 Colbert et al.? : WITS FOR THE NIGHT (from “quits for the night”)

Stephen Colbert is a political satirist who hosted his own show on Comedy Central, “The Colbert Report”. Colbert’s first love was theater, and so he studied to become an actor. He then moved into comedy, and ended up on the “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”. He left “The Daily Show” in 2005 to set up his own spin-off, “The Colbert Report”. In his own inimitable way, Colbert likes to use a “French” pronunciation for the name of his show, so “The Colbert Report” comes out as “The Col-bear Rep-oar”. Colbert took over the “Late Show” when David Letterman retired.

20 Coastal raptor : ERNE

“Raptor” is a generic term for a bird of prey, one that has talons to grip its victims.

23 With 53-Down, maxim : OLD …
(53D See 23-Across : … SAW)

A saw is an old saying, one that is often repeated and is very familiar. The term “old saw” is actually a tautology, as by definition a “saw” is “old”.

25 Ob-__ : GYN

Obstetrics and Gynecology (Ob-Gyn)

26 Jacket fabric : DENIM

Denim fabric originated in Nimes in France. The French phrase “de Nimes” (meaning “from Nimes”) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (meaning “blue of Genoa”) gives us our word “jeans”.

27 First name in a 2010s first family : MALIA

Malia Obama is the oldest of Barack and Michelle Obama’s two daughters. Malia graduated from the private Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., the same school that Chelsea Clinton attended. Malia took a gap year after leaving high school, and spent the 2016 summer as an intern in the US Embassy in Madrid, before heading off to Harvard in 2017.

31 Subarctic forest : TAIGA

The word “taiga” is used for an ecosystem largely covered in coniferous forests that exists in northern regions around the world. “Taiga” is Mongolian in origin, and is sometimes used interchangeably with “boreal forest”.

33 Hawke of “Boyhood” : ETHAN

Ethan Hawke is a Hollywood actor who made his breakthrough in a supporting role in “Dead Poet’s Society”, playing opposite Robin Williams. Hawke used to be married to Uma Thurman, with whom he has two children.

“Boyhood” sounds like an interesting 2014 film. It’s about the coming-of-age of a young boy and his older sister. The film was actually shot over an 11-year period, so that the actors were seen to be growing up at the same time as the characters that they were playing. The critics loved this movie.

38 “Over the Rainbow” composer : ARLEN

Harold Arlen is a composer of popular music who will forever be associated with his composition “Over the Rainbow” from the movie “The Wizard of Oz”. Arlen also composed the music to “Come Rain or Come Shine”, “It’s Only a Paper Moon”, “Lydia the Tattooed Lady” and the wonderful “Stormy Weather”.

“Over the Rainbow” is a classic song written especially for the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz”. It was sung by the young Judy Garland (Dorothy) in the film, and it was to become her signature song. There is an introductory verse that wasn’t used in the movie, and is very rarely heard:

When all the world is a hopeless jumble
And the raindrops tumble all around,
Heaven opens a magic lane
When all the clouds darken up the skyway,
There’s a rainbow highway to be found
Leading from your window pane
To a place behind the sun,
Just a step beyond the rain.

40 PD alert : APB

An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

45 “Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself” org. : ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has its roots in the First World War when it was founded to provide legal advice and support to conscientious objectors. The ACLU’s motto is “Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself”. The ACLU also hosts a blog on the ACLU.org website called “Speak Freely”.

49 Keurig Dr Pepper brand : BAI

Bai Brands is a beverage company that specializes in the low-cal soft drinks that include antioxidants.

56 Absinthe herb : FENNEL

Fennel is a hardy perennial plant species in the celery family that is used as a herb. It also goes by the name “sweet anise”. Personally, I can’t stand the stuff …

Absinthe is an alcoholic spirit that is distilled from various plants and herbs, including wormwood. Absinthe was banned in the US in 1915 as it was deemed to be an addictive psychoactive drug. However, the accepted opinion today seems to be that absinthe is no more addictive or dangerous than any other spirit.

Down

3 Adams with negatives : ANSEL

As an avid amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. Adams was famous for clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed primarily for black & white film, it can even apply to digital color images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final photograph with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

5 “Here’s a thought,” briefly : IMO

In my opinion (IMO)

6 Reef diver’s need : AIR TANK

The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was co-invented by celebrated French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

8 Prince Harry’s aunt : ANNE

Anne, Princess Royal was born in 1950 and is the only daughter of British Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Anne has been in the public spotlight for many things, including her success as an equestrian. Princess Anne was the first member of the British Royal Family to have competed in an Olympic Games. Her daughter Zara Phillips continued the tradition and competed as a member of the British equestrian team in the 2012 Olympic Games. Zara’s medal was presented to her by her own mother, Princess Anne.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex is the younger of the two sons of Charles and Diana, Prince and Princess of Wales. Famously, Prince Harry married American actress Meghan Markle in 2018. The groom’s name was Prince Henry of Wales until the marriage, at which time his name officially changed to “Prince Harry”.

10 Early Mississippi flag symbol : MAGNOLIA

The magnolia is the state flower of both Louisiana and Mississippi.

11 Farthest-from-the-sun orbital point : APHELION

In the celestial world, an apsis is a point in an orbit when the orbiting body is at its greatest, or least, distance from it’s center of orbit. The farthest and closest points of orbit are known as the apogee and perigee, when talking about bodies orbiting the Earth. The farthest and closest points for bodies orbiting the sun are known as the aphelion and perihelion.

12 Monarch catcher : NET

The monarch butterfly has very recognizable orange and black wings, and is often seen across North America. The monarch is the state insect of several US states and was even nominated as the national insect in 1990, but that legislation was not enacted.

17 Marseille man : HOMME

In French, an “homme” (man) might be a “père” (father).

22 Pie-topping nut : PECAN

The pecan is the state nut of Alabama, Arkansas and California. Also, the pecan is the state tree of Texas.

24 Newscaster Rather : DAN

Journalist and former news anchor Dan Rather is from Texas, and began his career as a reporter for the Associated Press in Huntsville, Texas. Rather was the man chosen to replace Walter Cronkite as anchor and Managing Editor of “CBS Evening News” when Cronkite retired in 1981.

27 Daydreaming Walter : MITTY

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is a short story by James Thurber that was first published in 1939 in “The New Yorker”. The story was made into a film in 1947 with Danny Kaye in the title role. The Danny Kaye film was remade in 2013 with Ben Stiller playing Mitty. Mitty is a mild-mannered man with a very active fantasy life.

29 Bic’s __-Out : WITE

Wite-Out is a brand of correction fluid made by Bic.

30 First known asteroid : CERES

Ceres is the smallest dwarf planet in our solar system. Ceres was discovered in 1801 and is the largest body in the asteroid belt, and is the only asteroid that is classified as a dwarf planet. For fifty years, Ceres was classified as the eighth planet circling our sun. The Dawn space probe launched by NASA entered Ceres orbit in March 2015, becoming the first mission to study a dwarf planet at close range.

32 Like the seats in an SRO performance : ALL TAKEN

Standing room only (SRO)

34 Funny one : WAG

A card, wag or riot is a very amusing person.

35 She never went to 50-Across ceremonies : GARBO
(50A 1954 Honorary Award for 35-Down : OSCAR)

Famously, Greta Garbo lived a life of seclusion in New York City after she retired from the entertainment business. Commentators often associated her need for privacy with a line she uttered in the great 1932 movie “Grand Hotel”. Her character Grusinskaya the Russian ballerina said, “I want to be alone (…) I just want to be alone”.

37 North African capital : ALGIERS

Algeria is a huge country, the second largest in Africa (only Sudan is larger), and the largest country on the Mediterranean. The capital of Algeria is Algiers, and the country takes its name from the city.

40 Confront boldly : ACCOST

To accost is to confront boldly. The verb “to accost” is a term that ultimately derives from the Latin “ad” meaning “to” and “costa” meaning “side, coast”. Originally, the term applied to warships that were attacking an enemy’s “coast”.

41 China pieces : PLATES

The ceramic known as “porcelain” can be referred to as “china” or “fine china”, as porcelain was developed in China.

48 Tiny insect : MITE

Mites are tiny arthropods in the arachnid (spider) class. Mites are (annoyingly!) very successful creatures that have adapted to all sorts of habitats. And being so small, they generally pass unnoticed. Ick …

50 “Hamilton” award : OBIE

The Obies are the Off-Broadway Theater Awards. The Obies have been presented annually since 1956. The recipients used to be chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper, but now are jointly administered with the American Theatre Wing.

“Hamilton” is a 2015 musical based on the life of US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as described in the 2004 biography by Ron Chernow. The show opened off-Broadway in February 2015, and transferred to Broadway in August of the same year. Advance ticket sales for the Broadway production were unprecedented, and reportedly amounted to $30 million. The representations of the main characters is decidedly ground-breaking. The show is rooted in hip-hop and the main roles such as Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are all played by African-American and Hispanic actors.

51 Scrabble-like app, briefly : WWF

“Words With Friends” (WWF) is a word game application that can be played on smartphones and other electronic devices. “Words With Friends” is basically Scrabble under a different name, or so I hear.

52 Puckish org.? : NHL

Before wooden and rubber pucks were introduced in the late 1800s, ice hockey was played with balls. The first rubber pucks were made by cutting down rubber balls into the shape of discs.

The post LA Times Crossword 22 Nov 19, Friday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 12m 37s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9 Ford muscle cars, familiarly : STANGS

The Ford Mustang car was introduced in 1964. Back then the Mustang wasn’t a brand new design, but was based on the Ford Falcon. The Mustang was the first of the “pony cars”, American models that are compact and affordable, as well as sporty in image and performance.

16 Walk-off hit situation, perhaps : TWO OUT

That would be baseball.

18 Country by the River Shribble : NARNIA

Apparently it’s not certain how C. S. Lewis came to choose Narnia as the name of the fantasy world featured in his series of children’s books, including “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. There was an ancient city in Umbria that the Romans called Narnia, but there is no evidence of a link.

19 “Hands off!” in an ad slogan : LEGGO!

“Leggo my Eggo”, perhaps.

20 “Hamburger Hill” setting, briefly : NAM

“Hamburger Hill” is a 1987 film set during the Vietnam War. The movie was inspired by the real-life Battle of Hamburger Hill, an engagement that many believe started a shift in support for the war by the US public.

22 Clue room : STUDY

Clue is a board game that we knew under a different name growing up in Ireland. Outside of North America, Clue is marketed as “Cluedo”. Cluedo was the original name of the game, introduced in 1949 by the famous British board game manufacturer Waddingtons. There are cute differences between the US and UK versions. For example, the man who is murdered is called Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US), one of the suspects is the Reverend Green (Mr. Green in the US), and the suspect weapons include a dagger (a knife in the US), and a spanner (a wrench in the US). I think it’s a fabulous game, a must during the holidays …

23 For __: not gratis : A FEE

Something provided “gratis” is supplied free of charge. “Gratis” is a Latin term, a contraction of “gratiis” meaning “for thanks”.

27 Rare color : RED

That would be rare meat.

28 Bismarck’s realm : PRUSSIA

Prussia was a German kingdom that had the city of Berlin as its capital. The German monarchies were abolished after WWI, and Prussia ceased to exist as an entity right after WWII.

Germany first became a country of her own in 1871 when the Princes of the various independent German states met at Versailles outside Paris to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as the Emperor of the German Empire. The man behind this historic development was Wilhelm’s Ministerpräsident, Otto von Bismarck. Von Bismarck was a powerful figure in Prussia and indeed on the world stage, and earning him the nickname “Iron Chancellor”.

34 “Funky Monkeys” musical : THE WIZ

“The Wiz”, the 1975 musical, was written by Charlie Smalls and is an African-American adaptation of Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. The film version of the stage show was released in 1978, starring Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow. I haven’t seen it, though. “The Wizard of Oz” scares me, as the flying monkeys creep me out. There, I’ve admitted it in public …

38 Was unmanageable : RAN AMOK

The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had a good reason for that frenzy …

40 Schnitzel meat : VEAL

Veal is the meat from calves, whereas beef is the meat from mature cattle. Most veal comes from male calves, as the females can be more valuable as producers of cow’s milk. Historically, veal production has been one of the most controversial practices in animal farming. Some farmers restricted the movement of veal calves by confining them in crates for the whole of their short lives in order to produce paler and more tender meat.

Schnitzel is an Austrian dish made from slices of meat that have been tenderized and thinned with a wooden mallet, and then coated in breadcrumbs and fried. The variant known as Wiener Schnitzel (i.e. Viennese schnitzel) is usually made from veal, although now that veal had fallen into disfavor due to concerns about animal rights, it is often made from pork.

50 Traje de __: Seville swimsuit : BANO

The city of Seville (“Sevilla” in Spanish) is the capital of Andalusia in southern Spain. Seville is a favored setting for many operas including “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini, “Fidelio” by Beethoven and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and “The Marriage of Figaro”.

51 Indian improvisations : RAGAS

Raga isn’t really a genre of music, but has been described as the “tonal framework” in which Indian classical music is composed. Ravi Shankar was perhaps the most famous raga virtuoso (to us Westerners). Western rock music with a heavy Indian influence might be called raga rock.

54 Boston and Chicago, but not San Francisco : BANDS

Boston is a rock band from … Boston. Boston’s biggest hit was “Amanda”, released in 1986.

The rock band called Chicago was formed in … Chicago. The band’s biggest hits are “If You Leave Me Now” (1976) and “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” (1982). The band’s lineup has changed a lot over the years. The most tragic reason for a change was in 1978 when Terry Kath, one of the band’s founding members, died from an accidentally self-inflicted gun wound. Kath enjoyed playing with guns and as a joke held a pistol with an empty magazine to his temple and pulled the trigger. A round in the chamber killed him instantly.

57 Triumphant GIF phrase : KILLIN’ IT

There are oodles of “killin’ it” GIFs. It’s a thing …

A bitmap is an image file format used to store digital images. Basically, each pixel in a bitmap file is stored as a “bit” of information, hence the name “bitmap”. In 1987, CompuServe introduced a new type of image file called the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). A GIF image takes the same information as a bitmap and then compresses it, resulting in a smaller file size. However, during compression the image may lose some resolution. The GIF format also handles short video clips, usually animations.

59 More intricate : MAZIER

Mazy … like a maze.

61 Small suit maker : SPEEDO

Speedo brand swimwear was first produced in Australia in 1928, by a hosiery company that wanted to diversify. The brand name was chosen after a slogan competition among employees was won by “Speed on in your Speedos”. It was a long time ago, I guess …

Down

2 Michael of “Caddyshack” : O’KEEFE

Michael O’Keefe played young Danny Noonan in the film “Caddyshack” (I’m not a big fan of that movie). He also appeared in the George Clooney film “Michael Clayton”. O’Keefe was married for several years to singer Bonnie Raitt.

4 How a sommelier might sort wine : BY AGE

“Sommelier” is the French word for “wine steward”. If that steward is a female, then the term used in French is “sommelière”.

5 Peace Prize city : OSLO

The Norwegian Nobel Institute was established in Oslo in 1904. The main task of the Institute is to assist the Norwegian Nobel Committee in selecting the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and to organize the annual Nobel event.

7 Heaviest naturally occurring element : URANIUM

The isotope of uranium that is mostly found in nature in uranium-238. Natural uranium also contains a small amount (less than 1%) of uranium-235. When uranium is “enriched”, the percentage of uranium-235 is increased. Uranium containing 80% or more uranium-235 is considered “weapons grade”.

9 Stop on a line: Abbr. : STN

A station (“stn.” or “sta.”) is a railroad (RR) or bus stop.

10 “__ wondrous pitiful”: “Othello” : ‘TWAS

Here are some lines spoken by the title character in William Shakespeare’s “Othello”:

My story being done,
She gave me for my pains a world of sighs;
She swore, in faith ’twas strange, ’twas passing strange;
‘Twas pitiful. ’twas wondrous pitiful,
She wish’d she had not heard it, yet she wish’d
That heaven had made her such a man

11 Vital supply line : AORTA

The aorta originates in the heart and extends down into the abdomen. It is the largest artery in the body.

21 Middle: Pref. : MESO-

The prefix “meso-” means “middle, intermediate” and comes from the Greel “mesos” meaning “middle”. Example of the use of the prefix are in the terms “Mesoamerica” and “Mesozoic”.

24 Brand that sells Arnold Palmers : ARIZONA

The Arizona Beverage Company has been making flavored iced tea drinks since 1992. Paradoxically, the company is based in New York State.

The drink named for golfer Arnold Palmer is made from lemonade and ice tea. The drink named for fellow golfer John Daly is also made from lemonade and ice tea, but with vodka added …

29 Key of Chopin’s first Opus 25 étude : A-FLAT

Frédéric Chopin wrote three sets of études. His 1833 Études Op. 10 were dedicated to fellow-composer and friend Franz Liszt. His 1837 Études Op. 25 were dedicated to Marie d’Agoult, Franz Liszt’s mistress.

31 Flier for 71 years : TWA

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a big carrier in the US, but was perhaps even more recognized for its extensive presence in Europe and the Middle East. For many years, especially after the collapse of Pan Am and TWA’s purchase by Howard Hughes, TWA was considered the unofficial flag carrier for the US. The company started in 1930, the product of a forced merger of Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express. The Transcontinental and Western Air that resulted (the original meaning of the initialism “TWA”) was what the Postmaster General wanted, a bigger airline to which the Postal Service could award airmail contracts.

33 Acct. amount : BAL

Balance (bal.)

34 Most phone button groupings : TRIGRAMS

A trigram is a group of three letters or symbols.

39 Hindu god of desire : KAMA

Kama is the Hindu god of love. He is portrayed as a youth bearing a bow and arrows, much like Eros and Cupid. Kama lends his name to the “Kama Sutra”.

40 Trace : VESTIGE

We use the word “vestige” for a trace, mark or sign. The term comes from the Latin “vestigium” that also means “trace” as well as “footprint”.

43 Notorious B.I.G. discovered her in 1994 : LIL’ KIM

“Lil’ Kim” is the stage name of rap artist Kimberly Denise Jones from Brooklyn, New York. Lil’ Kim spent a year in jail in 2005 for lying to a jury in a case about a shooting.

“The Notorious B.I.G.” was the stage name of rap star Christopher Wallace, who also went by the names “Biggie Smalls” and “Biggie”. While at the height of his fame Wallace was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, a murder case that has never been solved. The 2009 movie “Notorious” is about Wallace’s life and stars fellow rap artist Jamal Woolard (aka Gravy) in the title role.

44 Storm on ESPN : HANNAH

Hannah Storm is a sports journalist who co-hosts the Sunday version of “SportsCenter” on ESPN. Storm is the daughter of sports executive Mike Storen, who was president of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.

45 Purplish blue : INDIGO

The name of the color “indigo” ultimately comes from the Greek “indikon” meaning “blue dye from India”.

48 Bess, __, Jackie … : MAMIE

Harry and Bess Truman met when they were very young children, at Sunday school. They were friends right through high school and became engaged in 1918 just before Harry went off to France during WWI, marrying the next year. Bess Truman never really took to the Washington scene when she became First Lady and stayed out of the limelight as much as she could. Perhaps that contributed to her longevity. Mrs. Truman lived to the age of 97, making her the longest living First Lady in US history.

Mamie Eisenhower was surely one of the most charming of all the First Ladies of the United States. Ms. Eisenhower suffered from an inner ear complaint called Ménière’s disease which caused her to lose her balance quite often. Because she was unsteady on her feet there were unfounded rumors floating around Washington that Ms. Eisenhower had a drinking problem. People can be very unkind …

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was born into a privileged family, the daughter of Wall Street stockbroker John Vernou Bouvier III. Ms. Bouvier moved in the same social circles as the Kennedy clan, and first met the then-US Representative John Kennedy at a dinner party hosted by mutual friends. Years later, after she saw her husband assassinated and then her brother-in-law (Bobby Kennedy) suffer the same fate, Jackie declared that she feared for the life of her children as they bore the Kennedy name. She left the country, eventually meeting and marrying Aristotle Onassis. Reportedly she was very satisfied that the Greek shipping magnate was able to provide privacy and security for her children.

54 Layered lunches : BLTS

The BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) is the second-most popular sandwich in the US, after the plain old ham sandwich.

56 Sign of being packed? : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

58 Actor Chaney : LON

Lon Chaney, Sr. played a lot of crazed-looking characters in the days of silent movies. He did much of his own make-up work, developing the grotesque appearances that became his trademark, and earning himself the nickname “the man of a thousand faces”. Most famous were his portrayals of the title characters in the films “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925).

The post LA Times Crossword 23 Nov 19, Saturday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 15m 34s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “Proud Mary” pop gp. : CCR

Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) was a rock band from San Francisco that played in a Southern rock style, with hits such as “Proud Mary”, “Bad Moon Rising”, “Down on the Corner” and “Who’ll Stop the Rain”.

“Proud Mary” is a song written by John Fogerty and recorded in 1968 by Creedence Clearwater Revival with Fogarty singing lead vocals. The song was famously covered by Ike and Tina Turner in 1970. The “Proud Mary” in the title is a riverboat, with a “big wheel” that keeps on turnin’.

19 Grammy winner Corinne Bailey __ : RAE

Corinne Bailey Rae is a British singer from Yorkshire in the north of England.

20 Lille lover’s word : AIME

“I love you” translates into “te amo” in Spanish, and into “je t’aime” in French.

Lille is a large city in the very north of France that sits right on the border with Belgium. The name “Lille” is a derivation of the term “l’isle” meaning “the island”. The former name “L’Isle” dates back to 1066, and is a reference to a castle that once stood on an island in the Deûle river that runs through the city. The city grew around the island and the castle.

21 Coward in drama : NOEL

Noël Coward was the most flamboyant of personalities. A playwright, composer and actor, Coward worked in a remarkable range of genres. He wrote the wonderfully airy play “Blithe Spirit”, as well as the Oscar-winning WWII naval drama “In Which We Serve”. A couple of his more famous songs, many of which he performed himself in cabaret, are “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” and “London Pride”.

30 Brontë governess : EYRE

“Jane Eyre” is the celebrated novel written by Charlotte Brontë, under the pen name Currer Bell. The love story is perhaps represented by the oft-quoted opening lines of the last chapter, “Reader, I married him”. There is a wonderful 4-hour television adaptation made by the BBC that I highly recommend to fans of the novel …

Charlotte Brontë was the eldest of the three Brontë sister authors. Charlotte’s most famous work is the novel “Jane Eyre”, which she published under the pen name Currer Bell. The pen name veiled her gender, but preserved the initials of her real name. After “Jane Eyre” was published, Brontë started to move in the same circles as other successful novelists of the day, including William Makepeace Thackeray and Elizabeth Gaskell. Just two years after Bronte died in her late thirties, it was Gaskell who published the first biography of Charlotte Brontë.

32 Area 51 creatures, it’s said : ETS

The famed Area 51 is a remote base in the USAF Nevada Test and Training Range. There’s no question that Area 51 is an unusual base in that frontline operational units are not deployed there. It seems that it is used for developing and testing new and classified weapons facilities for the US Military and other US agencies like the CIA. The government did not even acknowledge that Area 51 existed until 1995, and this official position fueled a theory that the base is home to UFOs that landed on Earth.

35 Málaga mlle. : SRTA

“Señorita” (Srta.) is Spanish, and “Mademoiselle” (Mlle.) is French, for “Miss”.

Málaga is the capital city of the autonomous community of Andalusia in Spain. Located on the Mediterranean coast, Málaga is considered the southernmost large city in Europe, and lies about 80 miles north of Africa. Included in the list of notable people born in Málaga are artist Pablo Picasso, and Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas.

39 Dig up buried Burma-Shave relics? : UNEARTH SIGNS

Burma-Shave was a shaving cream brand with ingredients that came from “the Malay Peninsula and Burma”, according to marketing materials. Famously, Burma-Shave billboards could be seen along roads and highways all over the US from the twenties through the sixties. The billboards usually came in series, with the advertising message unveiling in stages. Here’s an example from the 1930s: Does your husband / Misbehave / Grunt and grumble / Rant and rave / Shoot the brute some / Burma-Shave.

44 Roomba, briefly : VAC

The Roomba vacuum cleaner is a cool-looking device that navigates its way around a room by itself, picking up dirt as it goes. Like I said, it’s cool-looking but I am not sure how effective it is …

45 Contrail makeup : VAPOR

We talk so often about global warming these days but there is another fascinating phenomenon that is related, and known as “global dimming”. Global dimming is the reduction in the amount of heat that radiates daily from the planet due to the insulating effect of pollution and vapor trails (contrails) from aircraft that are present in the atmosphere. The effect has been touted as a theory for decades but dramatic empirical data became available in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Planes were grounded and the skies over America were clear for three days. There was a stark change in the temperature range measured across the US for these three days, demonstrating the impact that air travel has on our climate.

47 Defense org.? : ABA

American Bar Association (ABA)

48 Wet suit material : NEOPRENE

Neoprene is the trade name given by DuPont to polychloroprene, a synthetic rubber made by polymerizing chloroprene. Neoprene is perhaps most-readily associated with the manufacture of wetsuits. The version used in wetsuits is foamed neoprene, a material containing gas cells that provide heat insulation.

50 Elm Street surname : KRUEGER

Freddy Krueger is the creepy serial killer in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” movies. Krueger has a burned and disfigured face, wears a brown fedora and a leather glove with metal razors that he uses to kill his victims during their nightmares. He is played by the actor Robert Englund in all of the films.

57 Brief period of apathy? : UNMOVING DAY

Apathy is a lack of emotion. The term “apathy” comes quite directly from the Greek “”a-” meaning “without” and “pathos” meaning “emotion.

61 Iowa Straw Poll city, once : AMES

The city of Ames, Iowa is famous for holding the now-defunct Ames Straw Poll (also “Iowa Straw Poll) in advance of presidential elections. The poll in question was used to gauge the level of support for two or more Republican candidates, although non-Republicans were allowed to cast a vote. To vote one had to be an Iowa resident and had buy a ticket to the fundraising dinner at which the vote is taken. The event got a lot of coverage, so it boosted the local economy as journalists hit the town. It was a very successful fundraiser for the Republican Party in Iowa as well, but the usefulness of the straw poll in predicting the eventual winner of the nomination was less clear. There were six straw polls from its inception in 1979, and just 2 out of the 6 times the poll winner went on to capture the party’s nomination. The Republican Party decided to pull the plug on the event in 2015.

62 Do as Vassar did in 1969 : GO COED

Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York is now a coeducational school, after over a century of operating as a women’s college since its founding in 1861. The school was officially declared co-ed in 1969, although it had accepted a handful of male students on the GI Bill after WWII.

64 NOYB part : NONE

None of your business (NOYB)

66 Feminine side : YIN

The yin and yang can be illustrated using many different metaphors. In one, as the sun shines on a mountain, the side in the shade is the yin and the side in the light is the yang. The yin is also regarded as the feminine side, and the yang the masculine. The yin can also be associated with the moon, while the yang is associated with the sun.

75 Vital opening? : VEE

The opening letter in the word “vital” is a letter V (vee).

77 Verizon subsidiary : AOL

Telecom giant Verizon acquired AOL in 2015, and Yahoo! in 2017. Just after the latter purchase, Verizon launched Oath, a subsidiary company that served as the umbrella under which AOl and Yahoo! continued to operate. Oath was renamed to Verizon Media Group after a corporate reorganization at the end of 2018.

81 German gent : HERR

In German, a “Herr” (Mr.) is married to a “Frau” (Mrs.), and they live together in a “Haus” (house).

89 “The Ten Commandments” role : RAMESES

“The Ten Commandments” is an epic movie directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and released in 1956. The cast is as epic as the film, with Charlton Heston playing the lead role of Moses. Also appearing are Yul Brynner as Rameses, Edward G. Robinson as Dathan, Vincent Price as Baka and Anne Baxter as Nefretiri.

94 URL ending : EDU

The .edu domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

• .com (commercial enterprise)
• .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
• .mil (US military)
• .org (not-for-profit organization)
• .gov (US federal government entity)
• .edu (college-level educational institution)

95 Marner of fiction : SILAS

“Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe” is a novel written by George Eliot and first published in 1861. There’s an excellent BBC TV version of the tale (shown on PBS) starring Ben Kingsley in the title role, with Patsy Kensit playing Eppie, the young orphaned child that Marner takes under his wing.

96 Jeans go-with : TEE

Denim fabric originated in Nimes in France. The French phrase “de Nimes” (meaning “from Nimes”) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (meaning “blue of Genoa”) gives us our word “jeans”.

97 Orthodontist’s concerns : UNSOUND BITES

Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry dealing with the straightening of teeth. The name comes from the Greek “orthos” meaning “straight” and “dontia” meaning “teeth”.

100 Contest on horseback : TILT

Tilting is the most recognized form of jousting. Jousting can involve the use of a number of different weapons, but when lances are used, the competition is called tilting.

107 Title after vows, perhaps : MRS

Mr. is an abbreviation for “mister”, and Mrs. is an abbreviation for “mistress”.

109 Ten Benjamins : THOU

Benjamin Franklin’s portrait is featured on one side of the hundred-dollar bill (also called a “C-spot, C-note, benjamin”), 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.

115 Rinky-dink : CHEESY

“Cheesy” can mean “of poor quality”. The term’s usage dates back to the late 1800s when it evolved from the Urdu “chiz” meaning “thing”. “Chiz” was used to describe a big thing, something important, and our word “cheesy” is an ironic derivative from that sense.

“Rinky-dink” can mean “cheap, poor quality”, and is an old carnival term dating back to the early 1900s. It may be imitative of the sound of banjo music.

116 Morgan of “The Bucket List” : FREEMAN

Actor Morgan Freeman hails from Memphis, Tennessee. As well as his outstanding performances in front of the camera, Freeman is noted for his distinctive, deep voice. That voice gets him a lot of work narrating television shows and commercials.

“The Bucket List” is a 2007 film starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two men who have terminal illnesses. The pair go on a road trip with a “wish list” of things they want to do before “kicking the bucket”, hence the name of the movie.

123 Sistine Chapel mural setting : EDEN

The Sistine Chapel is located in the Pope’s residence in Rome. The chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who was responsible for restoring the old Capella Magna in the 15th century. It was about a century later (1508-1512) that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel under the patronage of Pope Julius II.

128 Part of GPS: Abbr. : SYS

A global positioning system (GPS) is known as a satellite navigation system (Sat Nav) in Britain and Ireland.

Down

4 Guitar amp units : WATTS

James Watt was a Scottish inventor. He figured prominently in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, largely due to the improvements he made to the fledgling steam engine. The SI unit of power is called the watt, and was named in his honor.

6 Moody music genre : EMO

The emo musical genre originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from “emotional hardcore”. “Emo” is also the name given to the associated subculture. Not my cup of tea …

7 “Blue-Backed Spelling Book” author : WEBSTER

Not only is Noah Webster’s name inextricably linked with his series of dictionaries, but he is also renowned as an advocate for English spelling reform. He argued that “traditional” English is hard to learn, and that it should be simplified and standardized (instead of “standardised”). He published spelling books that were used in schools, and from edition to edition he changed the spelling of words in order to simplify the language. Examples are the use of “s” over “c” in words like “defense” (in Ireland we have defence and defense depending on usage), “-re” became “-er” as in center instead of centre (reversing the influence of French), and he dropped one of the Ls in words like traveler (I learned “traveller”). Mind you, he also spelled “tongue” as “tung”, but he didn’t get very far with that one.

Lexicographer Noah Webster published “The First Part of the Grammatical Institute of the English Language” in 1783. It was a speller, a book containing exercises for teaching spelling. The title changed a couple of times to something less wordy, but most people referred to it as the “Blue-Backed Speller” as it had a blue cover.

9 Small decision-maker : COIN

The two sides of a coin are known as the “obverse” and the “reverse”. The obverse is commonly referred to as “heads”, as it often depicts someone’s head. The reverse is commonly called “tails”, as it is the opposite of “heads”.

10 2018 Masters champ Patrick : REED

Golfer Patrick Reed is particularly noted for his success representing the United States in the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup. As such, he has been nicknamed “Captain America”.

11 Trees with berries : ELDERS

The stems, leaves and roots of elder trees and bushes are poisonous. Elderberries are safe to eat, although the seeds in the fruit need to be cooked in order to destroy chemicals that can produce a buildup of cyanide in the body.

12 Vardon Trophy org. : PGA

The Vardon Trophy is awarded annually to the player who has the lowest scoring average on the PGA Tour. The trophy is named for professional golfer Harry Vardon, winner of six Open Championships (from 1896 to 1914), a record that stands to this day.

15 King and a Norman : LEARS

Shakespeare was inspired to write his famous drama “King Lear” by the legend of “Leir of Britain”, the story of a mythological Celtic king.

Norman Lear wrote and produced some great television shows, including “All in the Family”, “Sanford and Son” and “The Jeffersons”. He also did some film work, including writing and producing the great 1967 movie “Divorce American Style”.

17 TV’s Jim Rockford, for one : TEC

The TV drama “The Rockford Files” stars James Garner as a private investigator in Los Angeles. The show was co-created by Roy Huggins, who had also created Garner’s other hit show “Maverick”. Huggins basically designed “The Rockford Files” as a modern-day “Maverick”, complete with the same actor playing the title roles.

18 Cockney adverb : ‘ERE

A Cockney is someone who, according to tradition, is born within the sound of Bow Bells in the center of London. The Cockney accent is usually considered “working class”. Cockney speakers often use a wonderful form of speech called rhyming slang. So, Cockney’s drink a lot of “Rosie Lea” (tea), and climb the “apples and pears” (stairs) using their “plates of meat” (feet). Cockneys also tend to “drop their aitches”, so “home” becomes “‘ome” and “horse” becomes “‘orse”.

24 Under Cupid’s spell : IN LOVE

Cupid was the god of love in Roman mythology. Cupid’s name comes from the Latin verb “cupere” meaning “to desire”. Cupid’s Latin name was Amor, and his Greek counterpart was Eros.

25 “Frozen” snow queen : ELSA

“Frozen” is a 2013 animated feature from Walt Disney Studios that is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Snow Queen”. The film is all about the exploits of Princess Anna, the younger sister of Elsa, Snow Queen of Arendelle. Spoiler alert: Prince Hans of the Southern Isles seems to be a good guy for most of the film, but turns out to be a baddie in the end. And, a snowman named Olaf provides some comic relief.

36 Suffers a sudden decline : TANKS

Apparently, the first use of the verb “to tank” to mean “to lose or fail” can be pinpointed quite precisely. Tennis great Billie Jean King used the verb in that sense in an interview with “Life” magazine in 1967, with reference to male players. A more specific use of “tanking” in recent years is “deliberately losing” a contest.

37 Links rarities : ACES

One well-documented hole in one (ace) was during a round of the British Open in 1973. American golfer Gene Sarazen achieved the feat that day, at the age of 71. A less well-documented series of holes in one was reported by the North Korean press in a story about the Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The report was that Kim Jong-il scored 11 holes in one in his one and only round of golf.

46 Flu symptom : AGUE

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

52 Do a “Wheel of Fortune” job? : UNCOVER LETTERS

Vanna White is the lady who turns the letters on the “Wheel of Fortune” game show. White is big into knitting and crochet, and has her own line of yarns called “Vanna’s Choice”.

53 “Anne of Green Gables” setting : AVONLEA

“Anne of Green Gables” is a 1908 novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery that she set in the fictional Prince Edward Island community of Avonlea. Montgomery wrote several sequels to “Anne”, with them all being set on Prince Edward Island (PEI), from where the author hailed.

54 Imposing building : EDIFICE

To edify is to provide instruction in order to improve spiritually, morally or intellectually. The intent is to “build up” someone’s faith or morality, and so “edify” comes from the Latin “aedificare” meaning “to build, construct”. This Latin root also gives us our word “edifice”, meaning “massive building”.

59 Quran deity : ALLAH

The Koran is also known as the “Qur’an” and “Quran” in English. “Qur’an” a transliteration of the Arabic name for the holy text of the Muslim faith. The literal translation of “Koran” is “the recitation”.

63 Met works : OPERAS

The Metropolitan Opera (often simply “the Met”) of New York City is the largest classical music organization in the country, presenting about 220 performances each and every year. Founded in 1880, the Met is renowned for using technology to expand its audiences. Performances have been broadcast live on radio since 1931, and on television since 1977. And since 2006 you can go see a live performance from New York in high definition on the big screen, at a movie theater near you …

69 Frat letter : TAU

Tau is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, and the letter which gave rise to our Roman “T”. Both the letters tau (T) and chi (X) have long been symbolically associated with the cross.

70 Pre-BBQ treatment : DRY RUB

It is believed that our word “barbecue” (BBQ) comes from the Taíno people of the Caribbean in whose language “barbacoa” means “sacred fire pit”.

74 Initial orders? : BLTS

The BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) is the second-most popular sandwich in the US, after the plain old ham sandwich.

76 “Un Ballo in Maschera” aria : ERI TU

“Un ballo in maschera” (“A Masked Ball”) is an 1859 opera by Giuseppe Verdi. It tells the story of the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden during a masked ball, which is an event that actually took place in 1792. “Un ballo in maschera” includes every crossword constructors favorite aria “Eri tu”.

80 Funny Bombeck : ERMA

Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years. She produced more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns under the title “At Wit’s End”, with all describing her home life in suburbia.

81 Paris abductee : HELEN

According to Greek mythology, Helen (later “Helen of Troy”) was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. When Helen reached the age of marriage, she had many suitors as she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Menelaus was chosen as her husband, and he took her back to his home of Sparta. Paris, a Trojan prince, seduced Helen, as she eloped with him and travelled to Troy. This event sparked the Trojan War that waged between the city of Troy and Greece. Because of this war, Helen was said to have “the face that launched a thousand ships”. And because of this phrase, it has been suggested, probably by author Isaac Asimov, that the amount of beauty needed to launch a single ship is one “millihelen”.

83 Arabian Peninsula port : ADEN

Aden is a seaport in Yemen that is located on the Gulf of Aden by the eastern approach to the Red Sea. Aden has a long history of British rule, from 1838 until a very messy withdrawal in 1967. A native of Aden is known as an Adeni. Some believe that Cain and Abel are buried in the city.

84 Energetic risk-taking type, so it’s said : ARIES

Aries the Ram is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, and is named after the constellation. Your birth sign is Aries if you were born between March 21 and April 20, but if you are an Aries you would know that! “Aries” is the Latin word for “ram”.

86 Spreadsheet filler : DATA

Our word “data” (singular “datum”) comes from the Latin “datum” meaning “given”. The idea is that data are “things given”.

92 2010 World Cup host: Abbr. : RSA

Republic of South Africa (RSA)

95 Sgt. played by John Wayne in “Sands of Iwo Jima” : STRYKER

“Sands of Iwo Jima” is a WWII film released in 1950. The movie follows US Marines from boot camp through to the Battle of Iwo Jima, and stars John Agar and John Wayne. Interestingly, the film dialog contains the first recorded use of the phrase “lock and load”, meaning “get ready to fight” or “get ready to drink!”

99 Apple since 1998 : IMAC

The iMac is a desktop computer platform that Apple introduced in 1998. One of the main features of the iMac is an “all-in-one” design, with the computer console and monitor integrated. The iMac also came in a range of colors, that Apple marketed as “flavors”, such as strawberry, blueberry and lime.

102 Stahl of “60 Minutes” : LESLEY

Television journalist Lesley Stahl first appeared on “60 Minutes” in 1991, after serving as moderator on “Face the Nation” for almost 8 years starting in 1983. Stahl is married to author and journalist Aaron Latham. One of Latham’s claims to fame is that he wrote the article that inspired the movie “Urban Cowboy”.

103 Hush-hush meetings : TRYSTS

In its most general sense, a tryst is a meeting at an agreed time and place. More usually we consider a tryst to be a pre-arranged meeting between lovers. The term comes from the Old French “triste”, a waiting place designated when hunting. Further, a tryst taking place at lunchtime is sometimes referred to as a nooner.

105 “The Rapture of Canaan” novelist Reynolds : SHERI

Sheri Reynolds is an author of fiction set in the American South. Her most successful work to date is the novel “The Rapture of Canaan”, which was helped along its way by being selected for Oprah’s Book Club in 1997.

110 Sharif of “Che!” : OMAR

Omar Sharif was a great Hollywood actor from Egypt, someone who played major roles in memorable movies such as “Doctor Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia”. But to me, he was my bridge hero (the card game). In his heyday, Sharif was one of the best bridge players in the world.

“Che!” is a 1969 biopic about the life of Che Guevara. It stars Omar Sharif in the title role, and Jack Palance as Fidel Castro. I haven’t seen the film, and apparently it wasn’t well received. Well, an Egyptian (Sharif) playing an Argentine Marxist, and a Ukrainian American (Palance) playing a Cuban revolutionary? That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen …

113 Lhasa __ : APSO

The Lhasa apso breed of dog originated in Tibet and is named after “Lhasa” (the capital city) and “apso” (a Tibetan word meaning “bearded”). The Lhasa apso has been around since 800 BC and is one of the oldest breeds in the world, one very closely related to the ancestral wolf.

114 Bee-eater’s prey : WASP

While the wasp is considered to be a nuisance by many, the insect is very important to the agricultural industry. Wasps prey on many pest insects, while having very little impact on crops.

Bee-eaters are small colorful birds that feed on flying insects, especially bees and wasps. The bee-eater catches its prey in its bill and then hits and rubs the bee or wasp on a hard surface until the stinger is dislodged, then it partakes of its meal.

115 Tech news site : C|NET

c|net is an excellent technology website. c|net started out in 1994 as a television network specializing in technology news. The host of “American Idol”, Ryan Seacrest, started off his career as host of a c|net show.

117 Brazil map word : RIO

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Year’s Day in 1502.

118 Name change indicator : 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.

The post LA Times Crossword 24 Nov 19, Sunday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 4m 34s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Pole on the Pequod : MAST

The Pequod is the whaling ship that figures in Herman Melville’s classic novel “Moby Dick”. The ship is owned by a consortium of the citizens of Nantucket Island, including Captains Ahab, Bildad and Peleg.

10 Auto loan figs. : APRS

Annual percentage rate (APR)

14 Smoothie berry : ACAI

Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

17 *Soccer ref’s formal warning : YELLOW CARD (giving “time card”)

A series of colored penalty cards is used by referees and umpires in several sports, most notably in soccer. The cards were first used in the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, after language difficulties created confusion during the prior competition in 1966. The main cards used are a yellow card indicating a caution, and a red card indicating expulsion from the game.

22 Cerebral __: brain layer : CORTEX

The outermost layer of an organ is known as the cortex. The cortical layer that is most familiar to the man on the street (like me!) is that of the brain, the cerebral cortex.

24 Name of many pharaohs : RAMSES

Ramesses (also “Ramses”) was the name taken by eleven of the Egyptian pharaohs. “Ramesses” translates as “Born of the sun-god Ra”.

26 Singer Mars : BRUNO

Bruno Mars is a singer-songwriter from Honolulu who has been active in the music business since 2006. “Bruno Mars” is a stage name, as Mars was born Peter Hernandez.

30 Emeril catchword : BAM!

Emeril Lagasse is an American chef who was born in Massachusetts. Lagasse first achieved celebrity as executive chef in Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. Now famous for his television shows, his cuisine still showcases New Orleans ingredients and influences. Lagasse started using his famous “Bam!” catchphrase in order to keep his crew awake during repeated tapings of his show.

33 Like XLII, numeral-wise : ROMAN

In Roman numerals, “42” is written as “XLII”.

36 Elevator innovator : OTIS

Elevators (simple hoists) have been around for a long time. What Elisha Otis did was come up with the “safety elevator”, a design that he showcased at the 1853 World’s Fair in New York. At the Fair, Otis would stand on an elevated platform in front of onlookers and order his assistant to cut the single rope holding up the platform. His safety system kicked in when the platform had only fallen a few inches, amazing the crowd. After this demonstration, the orders came rolling in.

37 Classic theater name : ROXY

The original Roxy Theater opened in 1927 in New York City, and was designed to be the biggest and best “motion picture palace” of the day. The first theater operator was Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel, someone who had a lot of experience in the industry. As part of the deal to entice Rothafel to take the job, the owners offered to name the theater after him.

38 Eurasian border range : URAL

The eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia and Kazakhstan is generally regarded as the natural divide between the continents of Europe and Asia.

40 Four-leaf clover, to some : OMEN

Clovers are species of flowering plants in the pea family. Famously, clover leaves are trifoliate, have three leaflets. There are about 5,000 three-leaf clovers for every 1 four-leaf clover, leading to the association of a four-leaf clover with good luck.

41 Astronaut Armstrong : NEIL

Neil Armstrong was the most private of individuals. You didn’t often see him giving interviews, unlike so many of the more approachable astronauts of the Apollo space program. His famous, “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind” statement; that was something that he came up with himself, while Apollo 11 was making its way to the moon.

43 “In Xanadu did __ Khan … “: Coleridge : KUBLA

“Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is my wife’s favorite poem. Coleridge wrote his masterpiece one night in 1797 after a vivid dream heavily influenced by opium.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

45 *Area where cellphones don’t work : DEAD ZONE (giving “time zone”)

Local solar time was replaced with standard time zones due to the increasing use of rail travel and telecommunications as the variations in local solar times became somewhat inconvenient. Time zones in the US vary in hourly increments, but in some parts of the world a 30-minute or even 15-minute difference can apply.

49 Montblanc topper : PEN CAP

Montblanc is a manufacturer of luxury goods, notably high-end pens, that is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany.

57 Rose of rock music : AXL

Axl Rose is the lead vocalist of the American rock band Guns N’ Roses.

63 Bay window : ORIEL

An oriel window is a bay window that projects from a wall, but does not reach all the way to the ground.

64 Many an Omani : ARAB

Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula and is neighbored by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Oman is a monarchy, and the official name of the state is the Sultanate of Oman. All of the country’s legislative, executive and judiciary power resides with the hereditary sultan.

66 Simultaneous equation variables : X AND Y

A simultaneous equation is one of a set of algebraic equations with the same unknowns that are solved together, simultaneously. A simple example is a pair of straight lines. Each line is defined by an equation containing the variables x and y. The solution to the pair of simultaneous equations representing those lines is the point at which they cross, the intersecting values for x and y.

Down

2 Amtrak express train : ACELA

The Acela Express is the fastest train routinely running in the US, as it gets up to 150 mph at times. The service runs between Boston and Washington D.C. via Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. Introduced in 2000, the brand name “Acela” was created to evoke “acceleration” and “excellence”.

3 Witch trial town : SALEM

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.

5 Formal words of confession : IT WAS I

The much debated statement “it is I” is grammatically correct, and should not be “corrected” to “it is me”. Traditionally, pronouns following linking verbs, such as “is”, “appear” and “seem”, are written in the nominative case. Examples are:

• It is I (who called)
• It was he (who did it)
• It is we (who care)

6 Hickey spot : NECK

The slang term “hickey” (also “hickie”) is used for a red mark left on the skin after a passionate kiss.

9 Disaster relief organization : RED CROSS

Back in 1859, a Swiss businessman called Henri Dunant went to meet French emperor Napoleon III, to discuss making it easier to conduct commerce in French-occupied Algeria. The Emperor was billeted at Solferino, where France and Austria were engaged in a major battle. In one day, Dunant witnessed 40,000 soldiers die in battle and countless wounded suffering on the battlefield without any organized medical care. Dunant abandoned his business agenda and instead spent a week caring for the sick and wounded. Within a few years he had founded the precursor to the Red Cross, and in 1901 he was awarded the first ever Nobel Peace Prize.

11 *Sneak into the shot : PHOTOBOMB (giving “time bomb”)

Photobombing is the act of intruding during the taking of a photograph as a practical joke. The term has gotten a lot of usage in recent years due to the proliferation of smartphone cameras. Collins English Dictionary named “photobomb” as Word of the Year for 2014.

12 Level with a wrecking ball : RAZE

To raze (“rase”, in UK English) is to level to the ground. I’ve always thought it a little quirky that “raise”, a homophone of “raze”, means “build up”.

13 River of Hades : STYX

The River Styx of Greek mythology was the river that formed the boundary between the Earth and the Underworld (or “Hades”). The souls of the newly dead had to cross the River Styx in a ferry boat piloted by Charon. Traditionally, a coin would be placed in the mouths of the dead “to pay the ferryman”.

18 Neptune’s realm : OCEAN

Neptune was a Roman god, of both the sea and of freshwater. He was sometimes known as “Neptunus Equester” as he was also the god of horses and patron of horse-racing.

23 Part of KO : OUT

Knockout (KO)

26 Cheesy pancake, perhaps : BLINTZ

A blintz (also “blintze”, and “blin”, plural “blini”) is a thin pancake similar to a crêpe although unlike a crêpe, a blintz may contain yeast.

28 Cosmetics giant : L’OREAL

L’Oréal is a French cosmetics company, and indeed the largest cosmetics and beauty company in the world. Here in the US, L’Oréal runs a “Women of Worth” program that honors women who volunteer in their communities.

31 Ice skating feat : AXEL

An axel is a forward take-off jump in figure skating. The maneuver was first performed by Norwegian Axel Paulsen at the 1882 World Figure Skating championships.

32 Mimicking bird : MYNA

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

33 Littlest of the litter : RUNT

Back around 1500, a runt was an old or decayed tree stump, and by the early 1600s “runt” was being used to describe animals that were similarly old and decayed. Ultimately “runt” came to mean the smallest and often sickest in a litter.

34 Snack sometimes eaten from the inside out : OREO

There’s a smartphone app featuring the Oreo cookie. It’s a game in which one twists Oreo cookies apart, “licks” the cream from the center and then dunks the remainder of the cookie in a glass of milk.

35 *iPad’s giant ancestor : MAINFRAME (giving “time frame”)

In contemporary usage, a “mainframe” is a large and powerful computer tasked with high-volume and processor-intensive tasks. Mainframes are typically used by large businesses and scientific institutes. In the ranking of computers, mainframes would sit below supercomputers, and above the personal computers with which we are all so familiar.

37 City where Joan of Arc died : ROUEN

Rouen is the major city in Normandy in northern France. During the days of Norman Britain, Rouen was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties. Rouen was also where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431.

Joan of Arc (also “Jeanne d’Arc”, her birth name) led the French Army successfully into battle a number of times during the Hundred Years War with England. When she was eventually captured, Joan was tried in Rouen, the seat of the occupying English government in France at that time. There she was burned at the stake having been found guilty of heresy. In fact, after the fire died down, the executioner raked the coals to display the charred body, proving Joan had died, and then burned the corpse again, twice, so that relics could not be collected. The remaining ashes were then cast into the Seine River. Joan of Arc was canonized some 600 years later, in 1920, and is now one of the patron saints of France.

43 Weak- or knock- follower : KNEED

The condition known as “knock-knee” is more correctly referred to as “genu valgum”, which translates from Latin as “knee bent out”. That Latin name is a little confusing, as a “knock-knee” usually bends inwards.

45 Crime scene sample : DNA

DNA was first isolated in 1869 by Swiss physician and biologist Friedrich Miescher. The molecular structure of DNA was identified in 1953, by the American and British team of James Watson and Francis Crick.

48 “Peer Gynt” dramatist : IBSEN

Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright who is considered by many to be the greatest playwright since William Shakespeare. Ibsen was famous for shocking his audiences by exploring subjects that offended the sensibilities of the day (the late 1800s).

Henrik Ibsen’s play “Peer Gynt” is based on a Scandinavian fairy tale “Per Gynt”. The incidental music to the play, written by Edvard Grieg, is some of the most approachable classical music ever written, at least in my humble opinion …

50 Egypt’s capital : CAIRO

Cairo is the capital city of Egypt. It is nicknamed “The City of a Thousand Minarets” because of its impressive skyline replete with Islamic architecture. The name “Cairo” is a European corruption of the city’s original name in Arabic, “Al-Qahira”.

52 Annapolis frosh : PLEBE

A “plebe” is a freshman in the US military and naval academies. The term is probably short for “plebeian”, the name given to someone of the common class in ancient Rome (as opposed to a Patrician). “Pleb” is a shortened version of “plebeian”, and is a term used outside of the military schools.

The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is located in Annapolis, Maryland. The USNA was founded in 1845 and educates officers for both the US Navy and the US Marine Corps. The motto of the USNA is “Ex Scientia Tridens”, which translates as “From Knowledge, Sea Power”.

54 Norse king : OLAV

Of the many kings of Norway named Olaf/Olav (and there have been five), Olaf II is perhaps the most celebrated, as he was canonized and made the patron saint of the country. Olaf II was king from 1015 to 1028 and was known as “Olaf the Big” (or “Olaf the Fat”) during his reign. Today he is more commonly referred to as “Olaf the Holy”. After Olaf died he was given the title of “Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae”, which is Latin for “Norway’s Eternal King”.

55 Girl Scouts’ __ Mints : THIN

Depending on which bakery makes the particular variety of Girl Scout cookies, the name can vary. For example, Little Brownie Bakers makes the Samoa cookies, while ABC Bakers uses the same recipe and calls the cookies Caramel deLites. The assumption is that these cookies have the exotic name of “Samoa” because they contain the tropical ingredients of coconut and cocoa. The most popular variety of Girl Scout cookies sold are Thin Mints.

The post LA Times Crossword 25 Nov 19, Monday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 4m 35s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4 “West Side Story” sides : GANGS

Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story” is based on William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. The musical is set in New York City and features two rival gangs: the Sharks from Puerto Rico and the Jets with working-class, Caucasian roots. Tony from the Jets (played by Richard Beymer) falls in love with Maria (played by Natalie Wood) from the Sharks. All this parallels Romeo from the House of Montague falling for Juliet from the House of Capulet in the Italian city of Verona.

9 Cul-__: dead-end street : DE-SAC

Even though “cul-de-sac” can indeed mean “bottom of the bag” in French, the term cul-de-sac is of English origin (the use of “cul” in French is actually quite rude). The term was introduced in aristocratic circles at a time when it was considered very fashionable to speak French. Dead-end streets in France are usually signposted with just a symbol and no accompanying words, but if words are included they are “voie sans issue”, meaning “way without exit”.

14 Versatile truck, for short : UTE

A utility vehicle is often called a “ute” for short. Nowadays one mainly hears about sport-utes and crossover-utes.

17 Transmission specification : GEAR RATIO

Here’s yet another term that confused me when I moved across the Atlantic. Back in in Britain and Ireland, a car’s transmission is the whole drivetrain. Here in America, the term “transmission” tends to be synonymous with “gearbox”.

19 Divided island of Southeast Asia : TIMOR

Timor is an island in Maritime Southeast Asia. The island is politically divided into West Timor, belonging to Indonesia, and the independent state of East Timor. The name “Timor” comes from a Malay word for “east”, and is used as Timor lies at the eastern end of the Lesser Sunda Islands.

21 Irish watering hole : PUB

Oh, how I miss the Irish pub …

23 Trucker on a radio : CB’ER

A CB’er is someone who operates a Citizens Band (CB) radio. In 1945, the FCC set aside certain radio frequencies for the personal use of citizens. The use of the Citizens Band increased throughout the seventies as advances in electronics brought down the size of transceivers and their cost. There aren’t many CB radios sold these days though, as they have largely been replaced by cell phones.

25 Stockholm-born three-time Best Actress nominee : GRETA GARBO

Famously, Greta Garbo lived a life of seclusion in New York City after she retired from the entertainment business. Commentators often associated her need for privacy with a line she uttered in the great 1932 movie “Grand Hotel”. Her character Grusinskaya the Russian ballerina said, “I want to be alone (…) I just want to be alone”.

28 Barfly : SOT

Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning “fool”. The word “sot” started to be associated with alcohol and not just foolery in the late 1500s.

30 Weekend show with Aidy Bryant, to fans : SNL

“Saturday Night Live” (SNL)

Actor and comedian Aidy Bryant made her debut on “Saturday Night Live” in 2012. Bryant married fellow comedian Conner O’Malley in 2018.

32 Actress Berry : HALLE

Actress Halle Berry was the first African-American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar, which she received for her performance in the 2001 movie “Monster’s Ball”. Berry also won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress in 2005 for playing the title role in “Catwoman”, and she very graciously accepted that award in person. Good for her!

34 Real estate units : ACRES

The terms “realty” and “real estate” actually date back to the late 1600s. Back then, the terms meant “real possessions, things owned that are tangible and real”.

36 Longtime New Year’s Eve bandleader : GUY LOMBARDO

Violinist and bandleader Guy Lombardo started his career in his native Canada before moving to the US. Lombardo and his band were in demand for years to play live music on New Year’s Eve broadcasts, which earned him the nickname “Mr. New Year’s Eve”. For many years, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians could be heard live on CBS Radio before midnight, and on NBC Radio after midnight. To this day, the first song of the new years played in Times Square in New York City is the Royal Canadians’ recording of “Auld Lang Syne”.

39 Dalmatian marks : SPOTS

The Dalmatian breed of dog originated in Dalmatia, in the Republic of Croatia. Here in the US, Dalmatians are known as “firehouse dogs”. This association dates back to the use of Dalmatians in firehouses to guard the valuable horses that pulled the fire engines.

42 PC key near Z : ALT

The Alt (alternate) key is found on either side of the space bar on US PC keyboards. The Alt key evolved from what was called a Meta key on old MIT keyboards, although the function has changed somewhat over the years. Alt is equivalent in many ways to the Option key on a Mac keyboard, and indeed the letters “Alt” have been printed on most Mac keyboards starting in the nineties.

47 Suffix with Brooklyn : -ESE

The New York dialect of English is sometimes referred to as “Brooklynese”. In Brooklynese, we might take “dis”, “dat”, “dese” or “dose” (this, that, these or those).

50 Video game series with a Warriors of Rock edition : GUITAR HERO

Guitar Hero is an amazingly successful series of video games, first published in 2005. It is the third best selling franchise of video games, after Mario and Madden NFL. Sales have dropped in recent years though, and there are no plans for further releases.

53 Dashing style : ELAN

Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours, i.e “style, flair”.

55 Comfy footwear : MOC

“Moc” is short for “moccasin”, a type of shoe. The moccasin is a traditional form of footwear worn by members of many Native American tribes.

57 Secret Service role : AGENT

The Secret Service was created by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, with the mission of fighting currency counterfeiters. The additional task of protecting the US President was added by Congress in 1902 following the assassination of President William McKinley in the prior year. Only one Secret Service agent has given his life in the course of an assassination attempt. That was Private Leslie Coffelt, who was killed when two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to assassinate President Harry S. Truman in 1950 while he was residing in Blair House.

62 Rodeo rope : REATA

A riata is a lariat or a lasso. “Riata” comes from “reata”, the Spanish word for lasso.

64 Gp. that isn’t gun-shy : NRA

National Rifle Association (NRA)

65 Welles on-screen : ORSON

Orson Welles is perhaps best-remembered in the world of film for his role in 1941’s “Citizen Kane”. In the world of radio, Welles is known for directing and narrating 1938’s famous broadcast of “The War of the Worlds”, a broadcast that convinced many listeners that the Earth was indeed being invaded by aliens.

66 Hall of Fame pitcher Ryan : NOLAN

Nolan Ryan is famous for having more career strikeouts that any other baseball pitcher. However, he also holds the record for the most career walks and wild pitches. Another record that Ryan holds is the most no-hitters, a total of seven over his career.

Down

1 Hole-making tools : AUGERS

An auger is a drill, a boring tool [Yawn] 🙂

2 Den music system : STEREO

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.

3 San Simeon castle builder : HEARST

William Randolph Hearst got into publishing when he took over “The San Francisco Examiner” from his father George Hearst. Beyond his work in the newspaper business, William Randolph Hearst was also a politician and represented a district of New York in the US House. His life was the inspiration for the lead role in the 1941 movie “Citizen Kane” with Orson Welles playing the Hearst-like character. If you’re ever driving along the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco, I’d recommend a stop at Hearst Castle, William Randolph’s magnificent estate located near San Simeon.

4 Teri of “Young Frankenstein” : GARR

Actress Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffers from multiple sclerosis. She is a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

I am not really a big fan of movies by Mel Brooks, but “Young Frankenstein” is the exception. I think the cast has a lot to do with me liking the film, as it includes Gene Wilder (Dr. Frankenstein), Teri Garr (Inga), Marty Feldman (Igor) and Gene Hackman (Harold, the blind man).

5 Gardner of the silver screen : AVA

Ava Gardner is noted for her association with some big movies, but also for her association with some big names when it came to the men in her life. In the world of film, she appeared in the likes of “Mogambo” (1953), “On the Beach” (1959), “The Night of the Iguana” (1964) and “Earthquake” (1974). The men in her life included husbands Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra.

6 Badminton divider : NET

The game of badminton was developed in the mid-1700s by British military officers in India. There was already an old game called battledore and shuttlecock, so the creation of badminton was essentially the addition of a net and boundary lines for play. The game was launched officially as a sport in 1873 at Badminton House in Gloucestershire in England, hence the name that we now use.

7 Beef : GRIPE

A beef is a complaint or a grievance. It’s not quite clear how “beef” came to have this meaning, but one suggestion is that derives from the habit of soldiers at the end of the 1800s complaining about the quality or availability of beef in their rations.

8 Strong ales : STOUTS

The term “stout” was first used for a type of beer in the 1600s when was used to describe a “strong, stout” brew, and not necessarily a dark beer as it is today.

10 CNN journalist Hill : ERICA

Erica Hill was the co-anchor of “CBS This Morning”, and before that she was co-anchor of CBS’s “The Early Show”. Hill moved in 2008 to NBC News and co-hosted the weekend edition of “Today”. She moved to CNN in 2016.

11 Mariachi’s hat : SOMBRERO

In English we think of a sombrero as a wide-brimmed hat, but in Spanish “sombrero” is the word for any hat. “Sombrero” is derived from “sombra” meaning “shade”.

The name “mariachi”, used for a typically Mexican popular band, is said to be a corruption of the French word for “marriage” (i.e. “mariage”). This perhaps dates back to the times of Napoleon II when France had political and cultural influence over Spain.

12 One-celled swimmers : AMOEBAE

An ameba (also “amoeba”) is a single-celled microorganism. The name comes from the Greek “amoibe”, meaning change. The name is quite apt, as the cell changes shape readily as the ameba moves, eats and reproduces.

13 Orange veggies : CARROTS

The notion that carrots are good for eyesight is a myth, a myth with a well-documented origin. The Royal Air Force improved its ability to pinpoint the approach of German bombers during WWII due to the development of Airborne Interception Radar (AI). In an attempt to maintain secrecy about AI, the British leaked very specific stories to the press about RAF pilots who had developed extraordinary night vision by eating copious amounts of carrots. The stories were largely accepted by the British public as well, who started consuming carrots in heavy doses in efforts to improve vision during blackouts.

18 Hogwash : ROT

“Hogwash” means “rubbish, of little value”. “Hogwash” was originally the name of swill fed to pigs.

25 Fish organ : GILL

A fish’s gills are the organs equivalent to the lungs of many land animals. The gills can extract oxygen dissolved in water and excrete carbon dioxide.

33 Ambulance letters : EMS

Emergency medical services (EMS)

35 S&L offerings : CDS

A certificate of deposit (CD) is like a less-flexible and higher-paying savings account. Instead of depositing money into a savings account and earning interest periodically, one can open a CD. With a CD one deposits a minimum amount of money but must leave it there for a specified length of time. In return for committing the funds for a fixed period, one is given a higher interest rate than a savings account and can redeem that interest and the initial deposit when the term has expired. CDs are relatively low-risk investments as they are FDIC insured, just like savings accounts.

Savings and Loan (S&L)

37 Transvaal settler : BOER

“Boer” is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for “farmer”, a word that was used to describe the Dutch-speaking people who settled parts of South Africa during the 1700s.

In geographic terms, the Transvaal is an area in modern-day South Africa that lies north of the Vaal River. “Transvaal” translates as “across the Vaal”.

38 Florence’s river : ARNO

The Arno is the principal river in the Tuscany region of Italy, and passes through the cities of Florence and Pisa. Famously the Arno flooded in 1966, the worst flood in the region for centuries. There were numerous deaths and extensive destruction of priceless art treasures, particularly in Florence.

39 Arizona cactus : SAGUARO

The saguaro is a beautiful cactus, one that is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. Arizona is proud of its saguaros, featuring them prominently on its licence plates. If you ever get a chance to visit the Saguaro National Park in southern Arizona, I thoroughly recommend it.

45 Feudal Japanese military ruler : SHOGUN

The shoguns of Japan were military dictators who generally inherited their position and power. The term “shogun” can be translated as ‘general”. The position of shogun was effectively eliminated in 1867 with the demise of the Tokugawa shogunate. The modern equivalent of a shogun in Japan is a prime minister.

47 “Seinfeld” regular : ELAINE

The character Elaine Benes, unlike the other lead characters (Jerry, Kramer and George), did not appear in the pilot episode of “Seinfeld”. NBC executives specified the addition of a female lead when they picked up the show citing that the situation was too “male-centric”.

48 Former Justice __ Day O’Connor : SANDRA

Sandra Day O’Connor is a former associate justice on the US Supreme Court. O’Connor was the first woman appointed to the court, and was in office from 1981 after being appointed by President Reagan. As the court became more conservative she was viewed as the swing vote in many decisions. As a result, O’Connor was known as one of the most powerful women in the world. She retired in 2006 (replaced by Samuel Alito), and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2009.

51 Lone Ranger’s pal : TONTO

Tonto was played by the actor Jay Silverheels In the television version of “The Lone Ranger”. In the terrible 1981 movie “The Legend of the Lone Ranger”, Tonto was portrayed by Michael Horse. Tonto was then played by Johnny Depp In the 2013 movie “The Lone Ranger”. Famously, the Lone Ranger’s horse was called Silver and Tonto’s mount was named Scout. But, in the early TV shows, Tonto rode a horse called White Feller.

53 Sci-fi beings : ETS

Extraterrestrial (ET)

56 British firearm acronym : STEN

The STEN gun is an iconic armament that was used by the British military. The name STEN is an acronym. The letters S and T come from the name of the gun’s designers, Shepherd and Turpin. The letters EN comes from the Enfield brand name, which in turn comes from the Enfield location where the guns were manufactured for the Royal Small Arms Factory, an enterprise owned by the British government.

58 Color like khaki : TAN

“Khaki” is an Urdu word that translates literally as “dusty”. The word was adopted for its current use as the name of a fabric by the British cavalry in India in the mid-1800s.

61 Hagen of Broadway : UTA

Uta Hagen was a German-born, American actress. Hagen married Jose Ferrer in 1938, but they were divorced ten years later after it was revealed that she was having a long-running affair with Paul Robeson. Her association with Robeson, a prominent civil rights activist, earned her a spot on the Hollywood Blacklist during the McCarthy Era. This forced her away from film, but towards a successful stage career in New York City.

The post LA Times Crossword 26 Nov 19, Tuesday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 6m 48s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Roster entry : NAME

Our word “roster”, meaning “list, register”, actually comes from the same root as our word “roast”, would you believe. “Roster” came into English from the Dutch “rooster”, meaning “table, list”. An alternative use of the Dutch “rooster” was “gridiron”, from the “roosten” meaning “to roast”. The connection is that a roster of names is often listed on a sheet of paper that has grid lines resembling the marks left by a gridiron on roasted meat. Quite interesting …

5 Opens, as a car hood : POPS

The hinged cover over the engine of a car is referred to in the US as a “hood”, and in Britain and Ireland as a “bonnet”. On the other side of the Atlantic, a hood is a fabric cover that goes over a car’s passenger compartment. That same cover is called a “top” here in the US.

14 Foundry by-product : SLAG

The better lead ores are processed in a blast furnace, to extract the metal. The waste from this process is called “slag”. Slag does contain some lead and it can be processed further in a slag furnace to extract the residual metal. Slag furnaces also accept poorer lead ores as a raw material.

18 Will of “The Waltons” : GEER

Actor Will Geer died in 1978 just after filming the sixth season of “The Waltons”, in which he played Grandpa Zeb Walton. Geer was a noted social activist and was blacklisted in the fifties for refusing to appear before the all-powerful House Committee on Un-American Activities.

19 Vinaigrette holder : CRUET

A cruet is a small glass bottle that holds a condiment or perhaps a dressing. The word “cruet” comes from an Old French word meaning “earthen pot”.

23 “Price negotiable,” in ads : OBO

Or best offer (OBO)

24 Soft drink choice : COLA

The first cola drink to become a commercial success was Coca-Cola, soon after it was invented by a druggist in 1886. That original Coca-Cola was flavored mainly with kola nuts and vanilla. The formulation was based on an alcoholic drink called Coca Wine that had been on sale for over twenty years.

33 “Winter Song” musician John : TESH

John Tesh is a pianist and composer, as well as a radio and television presenter. For many years Tesh presented the show “Entertainment Tonight”. For “ET” he once covered the filming of an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. As part of the piece, he volunteered to act as a Klingon warrior. If you see the “Star Trek: TNG” episode called “The Icarus Factor” in reruns, watch out for John Tesh engaging in ritual torture with Mr. Worf as his victim.

35 Bear up? : URSA

The constellation Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called “the Big Dipper” because of its resemblance to a ladle or dipper. Ursa Major also resembles a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland, “the Plough”.

Ursa Minor (Latin for “Smaller Bear”) sits right beside the constellation Draco (Latin for “Dragon”). Ursa Minor used to be considered the wing of Draco, and so was once called “Dragon’s Wing”. The tail of the “Smaller Bear” might also be considered as the handle of a ladle, and so the constellation is often referred to as the Little Dipper.

37 Pride youngster : CUB

Here are some colorful collective nouns:

• A pride of lions
• A shrewdness of apes
• A cloud of bats
• A bench of bishops
• A clowder of cats
• A waddling of ducks
• An army of frogs
• A knot of toads

40 Tennis great Graf : STEFFI

Steffi Graf is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, which is more than any other man or woman other than Margaret Court. She is married to another former World No. 1, namely Andre Agassi.

43 Goya subject : MAJA

María Cayetana de Silva was the 13th Duchess of Alba. She was a favorite subject of the Spanish painter Francisco Goya. The duchess is the subject in the famous portraits known as “La maja desnuda” (The Nude Maja) and “La maja vestida” (The Clothed Maja). “Maja” translates from Spanish as “beautiful lady”.

47 Finally, Lucky joins March Madness and fills out a __ : PERFECT BRACKET

“Bracketology” is a term used to describe the process of predicting which college basketball teams will advance in a bracket in the annual NCAA Basketball Tournament. President Barack Obama famously participates in an ESPN segment called “Baracketology” in which he predicts the outcome of the tournament, game by game.

“March Madness” is the name given to the NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Championship (among others), that is held in the spring each year.

50 Lascivious look : LEER

“Lascivious” is such an appropriate-sounding word, I always think. It means “lecherous, salacious”.

51 Letter after phi : CHI

The Greek letter chi is the one that looks like our letter X.

58 Geeky type : DWEEB

“Dweeb” is relatively recent American slang that came out of college life in the late sixties. Dweeb, squarepants, nerd; they’re all not-nice terms that mean the same thing, i.e. someone excessively studious and socially inept.

60 Unresponsive state : COMA

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

61 Like a cloudy London day : GREY

The spellings “gray” and “grey” are used on both sides of the Atlantic, but “gray” appears about twenty times more often than “grey” in the US. That same ratio is reversed over in Britain and Ireland.

London is the largest metropolitan area in the whole of the European Union (and one of my favorite cities in the world). London has been a major settlement for over 2,000 years and was founded as a town by the Romans who named it Londinium. The name “Londinium” may have existed prior to the arrival of the Romans, and no one seems too sure of its origins. Famously, the City of London is a one-square-mile area at the center of the metropolis, the area that marked old medieval London. “The City”, as it is commonly called, has its own Mayor of the City of London (the Mayor of London is someone else), and it’s own City of London Police Force (the London Metropolitan Police are the police usually seen on the streets, a different force).

62 “Laughing” critter : HYENA

The spotted hyena of Sub-Saharan Africa is also known as the laughing hyena because of the sound it oftens makes, which resembles maniacal laughter.

64 Old-time teacher : MARM

“Marm” is short for “schoolmarm”, a quaint term for a female teacher.

65 Giant opening? : SOFT G

The opening letter of the word “giant” is a soft letter G.

Down

1 “Careful where you open this link” shorthand : NSFW

The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. It’s Internet slang used to describe online content that is best not viewed at work.

2 Jai __ : ALAI

Jai alai is a game that derives from Basque pelota, and is known as “cesta-punta” in the Basque language. The name “jai alai” translates from the original Basque as “merry festival”.

3 Grammy winner Aimee : MANN

Aimee Mann is a rock singer and guitarist from Virginia. Mann is married to Michael Penn, the brother of actor Sean Penn.

4 Yuletide mugful : EGGNOG

It’s not really clear where the term “nog” (as in “eggnog”) comes from although it might derive from the word “noggin”, which was originally a small wooden cup that was long associated with alcoholic drinks.

Yule celebrations coincide with Christmas, and the words “Christmas” and “Yule” (often “Yuletide”) have become synonymous in much of the world. However, Yule was originally a pagan festival celebrated by Germanic peoples. The name “Yule” comes from the Old Norse word “jol” that was used to describe the festival.

5 Doglike facial feature : PUG NOSE

The pug is a breed of dog of Chinese origin. Our current family pet is a boxer/pug cross, and is a good-looking mutt!

6 Universal donor’s type, briefly : O-NEG

In general, a person with type O-negative blood is a universal donor, meaning that his or her blood can be used for transfusion into persons with any other blood type: A, B, AB or O, negative or positive (although there are other considerations). Also in general, a person with type AB-positive blood is a universal recipient, meaning that he or she can receive a transfusion of blood of any type: A, B, AB or O, negative or positive.

7 Artist Mondrian : PIET

Piet Mondrian was a painter from the Netherlands who also lived and worked in Paris, London and New York. Mondrian’s works ranged in style from Impressionism to Abstract.

9 Touchdown preventer, often : TACKLER

That would be football.

13 Source of blowups : TNT

“TNT” is an abbreviation for “trinitrotoluene”. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

22 Future stallion : COLT

There are lots of terms to describe horses of different ages and sexes, it seems:

• Foal: horse of either sex that is less than one year old
• Yearling: horse of either sex that is one to two years old
• Filly: female horse under the age of four
• Colt: male horse under the age of four
• Gelding: castrated male horse of any age
• Stallion: non-castrated male horse four years or older
• Mare: female horse four years or older

25 “Tennessee’s Partner” story writer : HARTE

Bret Harte was a storyteller noted for his tales of the American West, even though he himself was from back East, born in Albany, New York. One work attributed to him is “Ah Sin”, a disastrously unsuccessful play written by Bret Harte and Mark Twain. The two writers didn’t get on at all well during the writing process, and when the play was produced for the stage it was very poorly received. Nevertheless, Twain suggested a further collaboration with Harte, and Harte downright refused!

“Tennessee’s Partner” is an 1869 short story penned by author Bret Harte. The story was adapted into four moves, starting in 1916 with “Tennessee’s Pardner”, and more recently under the original title in 1955. The cast of 1955’s “Tennessee’s Partner” includes future Us president Ronald Reagan, with an uncredited appearance by actress Angie Dickinson, her second on the silver screen.

26 Racing family name : UNSER

The Unser family seems to have auto racing in their blood. Al Unser, Sr. won the Indy 500 on four occasions. Al’s brother Jerry was the first of the Unsers to compete at Indianapolis. Al’s other brother Bobby, won the Indy three times. Al’s son, Al Junior, won the Indy twice. Al Junior’s son is also a racing driver who competes at the Indy Speedway.

28 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”.

30 Large chamber group : NONET

Chamber music is a style of classical musical that is written for a small group of instruments, as opposed to a full orchestra. That number of players should be able to stage a performance in a “chamber”, traditionally a large room in a palace or other grand residence.

31 Monopoly token since Mar., 2017 : T REX

The Tyrannosaurus rex (usually written “T. rex”) was a spectacular looking dinosaur. “Tyrannosaurus” comes from the Greek words “tyrannos” (tyrant) and “sauros” (lizard) and “rex” the Latin for “king”. They were big beasts, measuring 42 feet long and 13 feet tall at the hips, and weighing 7.5 tons.

The tokens included with a game of Monopoly have changed over the years. Two of the more interesting tokens are the battleship and cannon. These were created by Hasbro for a board game called Conflict. When Conflict failed in the market, the excess tokens were recycled and included with Monopoly.

32 Transition point : CUSP

The word “cusp” comes from the Latin “cuspis” meaning “spear, point”. In the world of astrology, a cusp is an imaginary line separating two signs of the zodiac. For example, some whose birthday is between April 16 and April 26 is said to have been born “on the cusp” between the signs Aries and Taurus.

38 MacLaren’s on “How I Met Your Mother,” e.g. : BAR

“How I Met Your Mother” is a sitcom that CBS has been airing since 2005. The main character is Ted Mosby, played by Josh Radnor. Mosby is also the narrator for the show looking back from the year 2030 (the live action is set in the present). As narrator, the older Mosby character is voiced by Bob Saget.

42 Drink with a polar bear mascot : ICEE

Slush Puppie and ICEE are brands of frozen, slushy drinks. Ostensibly competing brands, ICEE company now owns the Slush Puppie brand.

44 Jenny’s mate : JACKASS

A female donkey/ass is known as a jenny, and a male is known as a jack, or sometimes “jackass”. We started using the term “jackass” to mean “fool” in the 1820s.

45 Post-CrossFit woe : ACHE

CrossFit is a trademarked fitness, strength and conditioning program that was introduced in 2000.

49 Checkers cry : KING ME!

In the game of checkers, when a “man” reaches the other side of the board, it is promoted to “king”. The king is designated by placing a second piece on top of the first.

52 Atoll barrier : REEF

An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring that encloses a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside internal to the circling coral reef.

54 “When you’re right, you’re right!” : AMEN!

The word “amen” translates as “so be it”. “Amen” is said to be of Hebrew origin, but it is also likely to be influenced by Aramaic and Arabic.

55 Caspian Sea land : IRAN

The Caspian Sea is a landlocked body of water lying between Asia and Europe. By some definitions, the Caspian is the largest lake on the planet. The name “Caspian” comes from the Caspi people who lived to the southwest of the sea in South Caucasus.

57 Places with elliptical trainers : GYMS

Our word “gymnasium” comes from the Greek “gymnasion” meaning “public place where exercise is taken”. The Greek term comes from “gymnos” meaning “naked”, as that physical training was usually done unclothed in ancient Greece.

58 Dept. that includes the TSA : DHS

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created in 2002 after the September 11th attacks. Today, the DHS has over 200,000 employees making it the third largest department in the cabinet (the biggest employers are the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs). The formation of the DHS was the biggest government reorganization in US history, with 22 government agencies drawn into a single organization.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.

59 Old Faithful’s st. : WYO

Old Faithful is a geyser in Yellowstone National Park. It erupts almost every 63 minutes on the nose, making it one of the most predictable geographic features on the planet. It was this predictability that led to the name “Old Faithful”. In the early days of Yellowstone’s existence as a park, the geyser was used as a laundry. Dirty linen clothing was placed in the geyser’s crater during the quiet period. The clothing was ejected during the eruption, thoroughly washed.

The post LA Times Crossword 27 Nov 19, Wednesday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 6m 33s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 More, in Madrid : MAS

Madrid is the largest city in Spain, and is the nation’s capital. Madrid is located very close to the geographical center of the country. It is the third-largest city in the European Union (after London and Paris). People from Madrid called themselves Madrileños.

13 Peter of Herman’s Hermits : NOONE

Peter Noone is a great personality in the entertainment world, most famous as the “Herman” in the sixties group Herman’s Hermits. Noone was only 15-years-old when he started as lead singer with the band.

14 Winds in a pit : OBOES

When the members of a full orchestra tune their instruments, they almost always tune to an “A” played by an oboe. A wind ensemble usually tunes to a B-flat, as this is an “open” note on many instruments, one in which all valves are open on trumpet for example, or the slider on a trombone is in home position.

18 “Counting Sheep” company : SERTA

Serta was founded in 1931 when a group of 13 mattress manufacturers came together, essentially forming a cooperative. Today, the Serta company is owned by eight independent licensees in a similar arrangement. Serta advertisements feature the Serta Counting Sheep. Each numbered sheep has a different personality, such as:

• #1 The Leader of the Flock
• #½ The Tweener
• #13 Mr. Bad Luck
• #53 The Pessimist
• #86 Benedict Arnold

20 2015 Marvel feature, after budget cuts : FANTASTIC THREE (from “Fantastic Four”)

“Fantastic Four” (also “FANT4STIC”) is a 2015 reboot of the “Fantastic Four” franchise of films. This one failed miserably at the box office, and was a big winner at the that season’s Golden Raspberry Awards.

23 Wee bits : IOTAS

Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet, and one that gave rise to our letters I and J. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small, as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

25 Historical capital of Bohemia : PRAGUE

The beautiful city of Prague is today the capital of the Czech Republic. Prague’s prominence in Europe has come and gone over the centuries. For many years, it was the capital city of the Holy Roman Empire.

The region known as Bohemia covers most of the Czech Republic. Centuries ago, it was wrongly believed that gypsies came from Bohemia, giving rise to the term “Bohemian” meaning a “gypsy of society”.

28 Federal IDs : SSNS

Social Security number (SSN)

29 1995 romantic comedy, after budget cuts : EIGHT MONTHS (from “Nine Months”)

I’d describe “Nine Months” as a pretty average romantic comedy, despite a great cast led by Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore. Also appearing are Tom Arnold, Joan Cusack, Jeff Goldblum and Robin Williams. 1995’s “Nine Months” is a remake of 1994’s French film “Neuf mois” (“Nine Months” in English).

32 “The Shawshank Redemption” actor Robbins : TIM

Tim Robbins is a Hollywood actor, director and producer. I’d say that Robbins’ best-known roles are the leads in “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Player”. Robbins also wrote, produced and directed the 1995 movie “Dead Man Walking” starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Robbins was married for almost thirty years to Susan Sarandon, although they split up in 2009.

Stephen King’s novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” was adapted into a 2009 stage play and a 1994 film, both of which were titled “The Shawshank Redemption”. The Ohio State Reformatory was used for exterior shots of the fictional Shawshank Prison. That same facility was used for the prison scenes in the 1997 film “Air Force One”.

36 Arthur with Emmys : BEA

Actress Bea Arthur’s most famous roles were on television, as the lead in the “All in the Family” spin-off “Maude” and as Dorothy Zbornak in “The Golden Girls”. Arthur also won a Tony for playing Vera Charles on stage in the original cast of “Mame” in 1966, two years after she played Yente the matchmaker in the original cast of “Fiddler on the Roof”.

37 The Velvet Underground singer : NICO

Nico was the stage name of a German singer born Christa Päffgen. Nico was one of Andy Warhol’s superstars, a group of personalities that gathered around him and whom he promoted in the sixties and seventies. It was Warhol who introduced Nico to the Velvet Underground, the New York City band that Warhol was managing at the time.

The Velvet Underground was an influential New York City rock band active in the late sixties and early seventies. The group was formed by Lou Reed and John Cale, and was managed by pop artist Andy Warhol.

39 2018 heist thriller, after budget cuts : OCEAN’S SEVEN (from “Ocean’s Eight”)

2018’s “Ocean’s 8” is the fourth in the “Ocean’s” series of films made by Steven Soderbergh. The lead character in the original trilogy is Danny Ocean, played by George Clooney. The lead character in “Ocean’s 8” is Danny’s sister Debbie Ocean, played by Sandra Bullock. The gang of “8” thieves is an all-female troupe played by the likes of Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter.

43 Rap fan : B-BOY

A “b-boy” is a male fan of rap-music and breakdancing. Apparently the term comes from either “Bronx boy” or “break boy”.

45 Lucille Ball’s son : DESI, JR

Desi Arnaz, Jr. is the youngest child of Hollywood celebrity couple Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. Lucille’s pregnancy was very public, and became part of the storyline of her show “I Love Lucy”. When Desi junior was born, he appeared on the cover of the very first issue of “TV Guide”.

50 1957 courtroom drama, after budget cuts : ELEVEN ANGRY MEN (from “Twelve Angry Men”)

The powerful 1957 movie “12 Angry Men” was directed by Sidney Lumet, and has a stellar cast of “jury members” including Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Klugman and Ed Begley. If ever there is a movie that clearly was based on a play, it’s this one. Practically the whole film takes place on one set, the jury room.

56 Bit of climbing gear : PITON

A piton is a piece of mountaineering equipment, an anchor designed to protect a climber if he or she falls. It is a metal spike driven into a crack in the rock face with a hammer. Pitons have eye holes through which a rope is attached using carabiners. “Piton” is a French word for a “hook”.

58 Submachine gun in action films : UZI

The first Uzi submachine gun was designed in the late 1940s by Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal of the Israel Defense Forces, who gave his name to the gun.

59 Léopard relative : TIGRE

In French, one needs to be wary of a “léopard” (leopard) or a “tigre” (tiger).

60 Radii neighbors : ULNAE

The humerus is the long bone in the upper arm. The bones in the forearm are the radius and ulna. “Ulna” is the Latin word for “elbow”, and “radius” is Latin for “ray”.

62 They’re worked with pull-ups and pull-downs : LATS

The muscles known as the “lats” are the latissimi dorsi, and are the broadest muscles in the back. “Latissimus” is the Latin for “broadest” and “dorsum” is Latin for “back”.

63 Lynx and Mercury : TEAMS

Both Minnesota professional basketball teams are owned by billionaire businessman Glen Taylor. The Timberwolves play in the NBA, and the Lynx in the WNBA.

The Phoenix Mercury plays in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in 1997 and is owned by businessman Robert Sarver, who also owns the Phoenix Suns of the NBA.

Down

1 Wile E. Coyote supply : TNT

Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner are two much-loved cartoon characters from Warner Bros. Wile E. Coyote was created first, and Road Runner was invented as someone for Wile E. to play off. I love this cartoon; definitely one of the best …

2 Reindeer foot : HOOF

The reindeer species of deer is also known as the caribou in North America.

3 Parks of Alabama : ROSA

Rosa Parks was one of a few brave women in days gone by who refused to give up their seats on a bus to white women. It was the stand taken by Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955 that sparked the Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott. President Clinton presented Ms. Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. When she died in 2005, Rosa Parks became the first ever woman to have her body lie in honor in the US Capitol Rotunda.

6 __ nova : BOSSA

Bossa nova is a style of music from Brazil that evolved from samba. The most famous piece of bossa nova is the song “The Girl from Ipanema”.

7 Helps in a heist : ABETS

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (it literally means “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.

8 Sushi seaweed : NORI

Nori is an edible seaweed that we used to know as “laver” when I was living in Wales. Nori is usually dried into thin sheets. Here in the US, we are most familiar with nori as the seaweed used as a wrap for sushi.

10 One of New Zealand’s official languages : MAORI

The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. They are eastern Polynesian in origin and began arriving in New Zealand relatively recently, starting some time in the late 13th century. The word “māori” simply means “normal”, distinguishing mortal humans from spiritual entities. The Māori refer to New Zealand as “Aotearoa”.

15 Lustrous fabrics : SATINS

The material known as “satin” takes its name from “Zayton”, the medieval Arabic name for the Chinese port city of Quanzhou. Quanzhou was used for the export of large amounts of silk to Europe.

25 Two dry gallons : PECK

A peck is a dry measure equal to a quarter of a bushel. The term can be used figuratively to mean a considerable quantity in general, as in the phrase “a peck of trouble”.

28 Spider-Man co-creator Lee : STAN

Stan Lee did just about everything at Marvel Comics over the years, from writing to being president and chairman of the board. If you like superhero movies based on the characters from Marvel Comics, then you could spend a few hours trying to spot Stan Lee in those films as he had a penchant for making cameo appearances. Lee can be spotted in “X-Men” (2000), “Spider-Man” (2002), “Hulk” (2003), “Fantastic Four” (2005), “Iron Man” (2008) and many other films.

31 Cultural funding org. : NEA

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an agency funded by the federal government that offers support and financing for artistic projects. The NEA was created by an Act of Congress in 1965. Between 1965 and 2008, the NEA awarded over $4 billion to the arts, with Congress authorizing around $170 million annually through the eighties and much of the nineties. That funding was cut to less than $100 million in the late nineties due to pressure from conservatives concerned about the use of funds, but it is now back over the $150 million mark. I wonder how long that will last though …

32 Pioneering DVR : TIVO

TiVo was introduced in 1999 and was the world’s first commercially successful digital video recorder (DVR).

34 Coltrane collaborator : MONK

Thelonious Monk was a jazz pianist and composer, actually the second-most recorded jazz composer after the great Duke Ellington. That’s a pretty impressive statistic given that Ellington wrote more than 1,000 songs, whereas Monk only wrote about 70. Monk was a pioneer in the development of the jazz style called “bebop”, which gained popularity in the 1940s.

John Coltrane was a jazz saxophonist who also went by the nickname “Trane”. John’s son Ravi Coltrane is also a noted jazz saxophonist.

40 Mazola product : CORN OIL

Mazola is a brand of corn oil now owned by Associated British Foods.

41 __ City: Baghdad suburb : SADR

Sadr City is a suburb of Baghdad that has oft been in the news in recent years. Sadr City is named after the deceased Shia leader Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr.

43 End of the rainbow mnemonic : BIV

“Roy G. Biv” can be used as a mnemonic for the colors in a rainbow:

• Red
• Orange
• Yellow
• Green
• Blue
• Indigo
• Violet

46 Dushku of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” : ELIZA

Faith Lehane is one of the Vampire slayers on the show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. She is played by actress Eliza Dushku. Dushku was a minor when she joined the show, and had to go through the legal process of emancipation in order to put in the long hours required in production. The 17-year-old went through that process in order to sidestep child labor laws.

49 Shrek and Fiona : OGRES

Princess Fiona is the title character’s love interest in the “Shrek” series of films.

51 Fish tank growth : ALGA

Algae are similar to terrestrial plants in that they use photosynthesis to create sugars from light and carbon dioxide, but they differ in that they have simpler anatomies, and for example lack roots.

52 One of Italy’s trio of active volcanoes : ETNA

Italy is home to three active volcanoes:

• Stromboli (in the Tyrrhenian Sea, of the north coast of Sicily)
• Vesuvius (overlooking Naples)
• Etna (on the island of Sicily)

53 Linguist Chomsky : NOAM

Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics at MIT. Chomsky is known as one of the fathers of modern linguistics.

57 Mario Bros. console : NES

Mario Bros. started out as an arcade game back in 1983, developed by Nintendo. The more famous of the two brothers, Mario, had already appeared in an earlier arcade game “Donkey Kong”. Mario was given a brother called Luigi, and the pair have been around ever since. In the game, Mario and Luigi are Italian American plumbers from New York City.

The post LA Times Crossword 28 Nov 19, Thursday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 7m 07s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

13 Lope opening? : ANTE-

“Antelope” is the name given to just over 90 species of deer-like mammals. As a group, antelopes aren’t defined taxonomically, although they might be described as all members of the family Bovidae that aren’t sheep, cattle or goats.

16 “The disease of kings” : 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.

17 Plumbing expert? : DRAIN BRAIN (from “brain drain”)

The term “brain drain” arose in Europe after WWII when it was used to describe the emigration of scientists and technologists to North America. The corresponding positive effect, experienced by the receiving locale, is “brain gain”.

19 Tasmania’s highest peak : OSSA

Mount Ossa is the highest mountain in the Australian island state of Tasmania. The peak was named for Mount Ossa in Greece.

20 Lively movements : RONDOS

A rondo was often chosen by composers in the classical period for the last movement of a sonata (or symphony or concerto, for that matter). In rondo form there is a principal theme that alternates with a contrasting theme(s). So, the original theme anchors the whole piece in between secondary digressions.

27 Mex. neighbor : USA

The Mexico-US border stretches almost 2,000 miles, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. It is the most frequently crossed international border in the whole world, with about 350 million legal crossings annually.

30 Candlemaker’s choice? : WICK PICK (from “Pickwick”)

“The Pickwick Papers” is an 1837 novel by Charles Dickens that was first published as a serial from 1836 to 1837. Dickens was originally commissioned to provide text linking a series of planned illustrations depicting the misadventures of the members of hunting and fishing club as they ventured out into the countryside. In the end, Dickens’ story took precedence, and the picture artists found themselves illustrating what Dickens wrote, rather than vice-versa.

35 Food distribution giant : SYSCO

It’s hard to drive down any highway in the US without coming across a Sysco truck. It really is a huge company, the largest food service enterprise in the country. “Sysco” is an abbreviation for Systems and Services Company.

39 Name related to Marge : PEGGY

At first glance, “Peggy” appears to be an unlikely nickname for “Margaret”. “Peg” and “Peggy” actually come from “Meggy”, which is a diminutive form of “Margaret”.

42 __ beer : NEAR

“Near beer” is a slang term describing a malt liquor that doesn’t contain enough alcohol to be labelled as “beer”. An example would be “O’Doul’s”, a beverage that I tend to consume in a glass full of ice when I am the designated driver.

43 Two-run homer situation : ONE ON

That would be baseball.

45 Zookeeper’s job, at times? : BEAR CARE (from “Care Bear”)

The Care Bears franchise includes a line of toys as well as TV shows and movies. The original Care Bears were characters created for greeting cards marketed by American Greetings starting in 1981.

47 United Kingdom language : SCOTS

Scots is a variant of English that is commonly spoken in Lowland Scotland. Scots is very different from Scottish Gaelic, a variant of the Celtic language that is more likely to be encountered in the Scottish Highlands. Much of the work of poet Robert Burns was written in Scots.

50 Private __ : EYE

A private eye is a private investigator, a PI.

51 School sports upset : JOCK SHOCK (from “shock jock”)

A shock jock is a radio personality who uses humor that is likely to offend much of the audience, and/or who expresses exaggerated opinions designed to generate a heated reaction. The list of broadcasters who have been labelled “shock jocks” includes Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, and Don Imus. Not a fan …

54 Kosher deli offering : LATKE

A latke is a delicious potato pancake (I’m Irish, so anything made with potato is delicious!).

64 Inflated thread-count scam? : SHEET CHEAT (from “cheat sheet”)

The thread count of a textile is the number of threads counted along two perpendicular sides of a square inch of material. The lower the thread count, the more coarse is the fabric. Experts tell us that thread counts greater that about 400 are really a marketing ploy to get us to pay more for our bed linens.

68 Wight, for one : ISLE

The Isle of Wight is the largest island in England, and lies about five miles off the south coast of the country. For many centuries, the island was a kingdom in its own right. One popular tourist attraction on the Isle of Wight is Osborne House, a former royal residence that was built as a summer home for Queen Victoria, and that was designed by the queen’s consort Prince Albert. Queen Victoria died in Osborne House, in 1901.

70 Pugilistic victories, briefly : TKOS

Technical knockout (TKO)

“Pugilism”, another word for “boxing”, comes from the Latin “pugil” meaning “boxer”. In turn, “pugil” derives from “pugnus”, the word for “fist”.

Down

1 Familia member : MADRE

In Spanish, a “madre” (mother) is a member of “la familia” (the family).

2 Company whose failure brought down an accounting firm : ENRON

After all the trials following the exposure of fraud at Enron, several of the key players ended up in jail. Andrew Fastow was the Chief Financial Officer. He plea-bargained and received ten years without parole, and became the key witness in the trials of others. Even Fastow’s wife was involved and she was sentenced to one year for helping her husband hide money. Jeffrey Skilling (ex-CEO) was sentenced to 24 years and 4 months. Kenneth Lay (CEO) died in 2006 after he had been found guilty but before he could be sentenced. The accounting firm Arthur Andersen was found guilty of obstruction of justice for shredding thousands of pertinent documents and deleting emails and files (a decision that the Supreme Court later overturned on a technicality). But still, Arthur Andersen collapsed under the weight of the scandal and 85,000 people lost their jobs (despite only a handful being directly involved with Enron).

4 Alpine protagonist : HEIDI

“Heidi” is a children’s book written by Swiss author Johanna Spyri and published in two parts. The first is “Heidi’s years of learning and travel”, and the second “Heidi makes use of what she has learned”. The books tells the story of a young girl in the care of her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. The most famous film adaptation of the story is the 1937 movie of the same name starring Shirley Temple in the title role.

5 Banned pollutants : PCBS

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were banned with good reason. Apart from their link to cancer and other disorders in humans and animals, they are extremely persistent in the environment once contamination has occurred. Among other things, PCBs were used as coolants and insulating fluids in electrical gear such as transformers and large capacitors, as well as a transfer agent in carbonless copy paper.

6 Tool secured by tholes : OAR

In a boat, a thole is a wooden peg or pin that acts as a fulcrum for an oar that it is used in rowing. The thole is inserted into a hole in the gunwale, the top edge of the side of the boat.

7 Oro y __: Montana’s motto : PLATA

“Oro y Plata” means “gold and silver”, and is the state motto of Montana. The motto was written in Spanish, solely because “it had a nice ring to it”.

8 Taint : SMIRCH

“Besmirch” is a derivative of “smirch”, with both words meaning to “make dirty”. In particular, to besmirch is to sully someone’s reputation.

9 Psych 101 subject : EGO

Sigmund Freud created a structural model of the human psyche, breaking it into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is that part of the psyche containing the basic instinctual drives. The ego seeks to please the id by causing realistic behavior that benefits the individual. The superego almost has a parental role, contradicting the id by introducing critical thinking and morals to behavioral choices.

11 Bach’s bailiwick : MUSIC

Johann Sebastian Bach died when he was 65-years-old, in 1750. He was buried in Old St. John’s Cemetery in Leipzig, and his grave went unmarked until 1894. At that time his coffin was located, removed and buried in a vault within the church. The church was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid during WWII, and so after the war the remains had to be recovered and taken to the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig.

“Bailiwick” is a word dating back to the mid-1600s. The term originally meant “district of a bailiff”.

22 Pitchfork-shaped letters : PSIS

Psi is the 23rd and penultimate letter of the Greek alphabet, and the one that looks a bit like a trident or a pitchfork.

26 Timberlake’s former band : NSYNC

Justin Timberlake got his break by appearing on TV’s “Star Search” from which he was given a starring role in “The New Mickey Mouse Club”. It was on “The New Mickey Mouse Club” that he met his future girlfriend Britney Spears, as well JC Chasez who would join Timberlake in the lineup of the boy band NSYNC.

32 Orchestral climax : CRESCENDO

Crescendo (cresc.) is an Italian word meaning “gradually becoming louder”, and is often seen on a musical score. The term with the opposite meaning is “diminuendo” (dim.).

34 Cold War agcy. : KGB

The “Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti” (KGB) was the national security agency of the Soviet Union until 1991. The KGB was dissolved after the agency’s chairman led a failed attempt at a coup d’état designed to depose President Mikhail Gorbachev.

37 Smeltery supply : ORE

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).

40 Nerd : GEEK

Originally, a geek was a sideshow performer, perhaps one at a circus. Sometimes the term “geek” is used today for someone regarded as foolish or clumsy, and also for someone who is technically driven and expert, but often socially inept.

51 Stuns at the altar : JILTS

To jilt someone with whom you have a relationship is to drop them suddenly or callously. “Jilt” is an obsolete noun that used to mean “harlot, loose woman”.

55 Ladybug prey : APHID

Aphids are called “greenfly” back in Britain and Ireland where I come from. The most effective way to control aphids, in my experience, is to make sure there are plenty of ladybugs in the garden (called “ladybirds” in Ireland!).

The insect we know as a ladybug has seven spots on its wing covers. These seven spots gave rise to the common name “ladybug”, as in the Middle Ages the insect was called the “beetle of Our Lady”. The spots were said to symbolize the Seven Joys and Seven Sorrows, events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary called out in the Roman Catholic tradition.

57 Eucalyptus eater : KOALA

The koala bear really does look like a little bear, but it’s not even closely related. The koala is an arboreal marsupial and a herbivore, native to the east and south coasts of Australia. Koalas aren’t primates, and are one of the few mammals other than primates who have fingerprints. In fact, it can be very difficult to tell human fingerprints from koala fingerprints, even under an electron microscope. Male koalas are called “bucks”, females are “does”, and young koalas are “joeys”. I’m a little jealous of the koala, as it sleeps up to 20 hours a day …

Eucalyptus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs that is particularly widespread in Australia. The species known as mountain ash or swamp gum is the tallest flowering plant in the world, with the tallest example located in Tasmania and standing at over 325 feet tall.

65 Fair-hiring letters : EEO

“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

The post LA Times Crossword 29 Nov 19, Friday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 9m 39s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Raccoon in a dumpster, facetiously : TRASH PANDA

The raccoon is native to North America. In captivity, raccoons can live to over 20 years of age, but in the wild they only live two or three years. The main causes for the shorter lifespan are hunting and road traffic.

“Dumpster” is one of those words that we use generically even though it is actually a brand name. The original “Dumpster” was patented by the Dempster Brothers of Knoxville, Tennessee. “Dumpster” is derived from “dump” and “Dempster”.

15 1950s-’90s preschool program with many local versions : ROMPER ROOM

“Romper Room” is a television show for children that targets preschoolers. The show’s original run in the US lasted from 1953 to 1994.

17 Daniel Radcliffe co-star in eight films : EMMA WATSON

Emma Watson is the English actress famous for playing Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” series of movies. Watson continued her education while pursuing her acting career and studied at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Daniel Radcliffe is the former child-actor who played the title role in the “Harry Potter” series of films. Radcliffe is doing okay in terms of money. He earned about 1 million pounds for the first “Harry Potter” movie, and about 15 million pounds for the last.

19 Certain petty officers : YEOMEN

In the US Navy, a yeoman is tasked with administrative and clerical work. In fact, the position of yeoman is the oldest rating in the navy. You’ll also see a lot of yeomen in the background on “Star Trek”.

20 Well-punctuated reaction : EMOTICON

An emoticon is a glyph created using text characters to represent facial features, and usually oriented sideways. The emoticon is designed to indicate emotion or attitude. The classic example is the smiley face: 🙂

22 Original “King Kong” co. : RKO

When RKO released the 1933 movie “King Kong”, the promotional material listed the ape’s height as 50 feet. During filming, a bust was created for a 40-foot ape, as well as a full-size hand that went with a 70-foot Kong.

24 Sharp grabbers : TALONS

A talon is a claw of a bird of prey. The term “talon” ultimately derives from “talus”, the Latin word for “ankle”.

25 Squat : NADA

“Squat” is a slang word meaning “nothing”, and is a term that probably has a distasteful derivation related to a bodily function.

29 Easy, as a job : CUSH

Our term “cushy”, meaning “easy and profitable”, is actually Anglo-Indian slang coming from the Hindi word “khush”, which translates as “pleasant, happy”.

32 Cooking acronym : PAM

PAM cooking oil was introduced in 1961 by Leon Rubin and Arthur Meyerhoff. The name “PAM” is an acronym … standing for “Product of Arthur Meyerhoff”. Who’d a thunk it …?

33 Roman : Discordia :: Greek : __ : ERIS

In Greek mythology, Eris was the goddess of discord. The name “Eris” is derived from the Greek word for strife, and translates into Latin as “Discordia”. In Greek her counterpart was Harmonia, and in the world of the Roman gods, Concordia. The largest dwarf planet in our solar system is called Eris, named after the goddess.

39 1963 folk album, and its title song : WE SHALL OVERCOME

The exact origins of the protest song titles “We Shall Overcome” is a little unclear. Some say that it is based on an early gospel song “I’ll Overcome Someday”, but there doesn’t seem to be much similarity between the two works beyond the titles. Early performers of the song who helped to popularize its use were Pete Seeger and Joan Baez.

43 Numerical pair? : ELEVEN

That would be a pair of ones.

45 Sister of Helios : EOS

In Greek mythology, Eos was the goddess of the dawn who lived at the edge of the ocean. Eos would wake each morning to welcome her brother Helios the sun. The Roman equivalent of Eos was Aurora. Rather delightfully, Homer referred to Eos as “rosy-fingered dawn” in both “Iliad” and “Odyssey”.

48 Architectural recess : APSE

The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally, apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

62 Purim month : ADAR

Adar is the twelfth month of the Hebrew ecclesiastical calendar. Adar is equivalent to February-March in the Gregorian calendar.

Purim is a festival commemorating the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to wipe them out by Haman the Agagite, as recorded in the Book of Esther.

68 Thai food staple : STICKY RICE

Sticky rice is actually a type of rice, and not a means of preparation. Sticky rice is more usually called “glutinous rice”, even though it does not contain dietary gluten.

Down

1 Long shot, in hoops lingo : TREY

A trey is a three in a deck of cards. The term “trey” can also be used for a domino with three pips, and even a three-point play in basketball.

2 Capital of Italy’s Lazio region : ROME

Lazio is one 20 administrative regions that cover Italy. Lazio is in the center of the country on the west coast, and is home to the capital city of Rome.

3 Some rounds : AMMO

The word “munitions” describes materials and equipment used in war. The term derives from the Latin “munitionem” meaning “fortification, defensive wall”. Back in the 17th century, French soldiers referred to such materials as “la munition”, a Middle French term. This was misheard as “l’ammunition”, and as a result we ended up importing the word “ammunition” (often shortened to “ammo”), a term that we now use mainly to describe the material fired from a weapon.

4 Filter target : SPAM

The term “spam”, used for unwanted email, is taken from a “Monty Python” sketch. In the sketch (which I’ve seen) the dialog is taken over by the word Spam, a play on the glut of canned meat in the markets of Britain after WWII. So “spam” is used for the glut of emails that takes over online communication. I can just imagine nerdy Internet types (like me) adopting something from a “Monty Python” sketch to describe an online phenomenon …

10 Rebuttal during recess : AM NOT!

To recess is to go back, to retreat. The use of the noun “recess” to mean “period of stopping from usual work” dates back to the early 1600s. This usage might stem from the action of parliamentarians “recessing” into, returning to private chambers.

11 “Blue eyes and a ponytail” girl in a 1962 hit : SHEILA

“Sheila” is a 1962 song that was written and recorded by Tommy Roe. Roe composed the song using the name and title “Frita”, inspired by a student at Roe’s high school. The record’s producer requested a change of name, and Roe came up with “Sheila”. That name was inspired by Roe’s Aunt Sheila, who happened to be visiting him at the time.

12 Dummy : NINCOMPOOP

The word “nincompoop”, meaning a fool, seems to have been around for quite a while. It has been used since the 1670s, but no one appears to know its origins.

14 Lowly workers : PEONS

A peon is a lowly worker who has no real control over his/her working conditions. The word “peon” comes into English from Spanish, in which language it has the same meaning.

21 Make a point : TAPER

I used to think that the word “taper” was used for a slender candle because said candle was “tapered” in shape, but it’s exactly the opposite. It turns out that our word “tapered” comes from the candle. “Taper” and “tapur” are Old English words meaning “candle”. From these nouns arose the verb “to taper” meaning “shoot up like flame”. This meaning evolved into “become slender” from the idea that a candle’s flame has such a shape.

25 Garter snake prey : NEWT

The garter snake is found right across the continent, It is in fact the most widely distributed genus of reptile in North America, being found anywhere from the Southeast Alaska to Central America.

27 New Orleans Square site : DISNEYLAND

New Orleans Square is a themed area in Disneyland that opened for business in 1966 and is modeled on the city of New Orleans in Louisiana. If you slip down to the telegraph office beside the New Orleans Square train station, you can hear some Morse code. The message being sent comprises some lines spoken by Walt Disney when he dedicated Disneyland in 1955:

TO ALL WHO COME TO DISNEYLAND, WELCOME. HERE AGE RELIVES FOND MEMORIES OF THE PAST, AND HERE YOUTH MAY SAVOR THE CHALLENGE AND PROMISE OF THE FUTURE.

35 Community in New Jersey’s Edison Township : MENLO PARK

The township of Edison, New Jersey was established as Raritan Township in 1870, but changed its name to Edison in 1954. That change was in honor of inventor Thomas Edison who worked in the Menlo Park section of the township. The motto appearing on the town seal is “Let There be Light”.

37 Avian sprinters : EMUS

The emu has had a tough time in Australia since man settled there. There was even an “Emu War” in Western Australia in 1932 when migrating emus competed with livestock for water and food. Soldiers were sent in and used machine guns in an unsuccessful attempt to drive off the “invading force”. The emus were clever, breaking their usual formations and adopting guerrilla tactics, operating as smaller units. After 50 days of “war”, the military withdrew. Subsequent requests for military help for the farmers were ignored. The emus had emerged victorious …

38 Old Red Rose : PETE

Pete Rose was a talented baseball player who holds the record for all-time Major League hits. Rose’s nickname was “Charlie Hustle”. In recent years, his reputation has been tarnished by admissions that he bet on games in which he played and managed.

The Red Scare (i.e. anti-communist sentiment) following WWII had such an effect on the populace that it even caused the Cincinnati baseball team to change its name from the Reds. The team was called the Cincinnati Redlegs from 1953-1958, as the management was fearful of losing money due to public distrust of any association with “Reds”.

40 Greek storyteller : AESOP

Aesop is remembered today as a fabulist, a writer of fables. Aesop lived in ancient Greece, probably around the sixth century BC. Supposedly he was born a slave, somehow became a free man, but then met with a sorry end. Aesop was sent to the city of Delphi on a diplomatic mission but instead insulted the Delphians. He was tried on a trumped-up charge of stealing from a temple, sentenced to death and was thrown off a cliff.

41 Pro filer : CPA

Certified public accountant (CPA)

46 Posthumously published Puzo novel : OMERTA

Novelist and screenwriter Mario Puzo, was best known for his book “The Godfather”, which he also co-adapted for the big screen. Puzo also wrote two sequels, “The Last Don” and “Omertà”, the latter being published after his death. His name is less associated with some very famous screenplays that he wrote, including “Earthquake”, “Superman” and “Superman II”. Puzo won two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay: for “The Godfather” (1972) and for “The Godfather Part II” (1974).

50 “Buckaroo Holiday” ballet : RODEO

“Rodeo” is a ballet with a score by Aaron Copland that was originally choreographed by Agnes de Mille. First performed in 1942, “Rodeo” is one of the earliest examples of a truly American classical ballet.

55 Vet school subj. : ANAT

A veterinarian (vet) is a professional who treat animals for disease and injury. The word “veterinary” comes from the Latin “veterinae” meaning “working animals, beasts of burden”.

56 Igloo competitor : YETI

YETI is a manufacturer of coolers and related products, and is based in Austin, Texas. There was a kerfuffle between YETI and the National Rifle Association in 2018, when YETI removed the NRA from its membership discount program. That kerfuffle got quite public when some NRA members published video of themselves destroying their own YETI products in protest.

59 “Avatar” race : NA’VI

In James Cameron’s epic “Avatar”, the “blue people” are the Na’vi, the indigenous species that lives on the lush moon called Pandora. The main Na’vi character featuring in the film is the female Neytiri. According to Cameron, Neytiri was inspired by the character played by Raquel Welch in the movie “Fantastic Voyage” and the comic book character Vampirella.

2009’s epic “Avatar” is a science fiction film from James Cameron, who was the director, writer and producer. It was an expensive movie to make and to promote, but was destined to become the highest-grossing film in the history of cinema. 20th Century Fox made a deal with Cameron to produce three “Avatar” sequels.

61 Proofer’s mark : DELE

“Dele” is the editorial instruction to delete something from a document, and is often written in red.

64 Mo. originally tenth in the Roman calendar : DEC

December is the twelfth month in our calendar but was the tenth month in the old Roman calendar, hence the name (“decem” is Latin for “ten”). Back then there were only ten months in the year. “Ianuarius” (January) and “Februarius” (February) 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.

The post LA Times Crossword 30 Nov 19, Saturday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 16m 41s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Milky white kind of glass : OPAL

Milk glass is a glass with a milky white color. It is produced by adding opacifiers to the molten glass, particles that make the glass opaque. Milk glass was first made in 16th-century Venice, with the range of colors available not limited to white. For much of the 19th century, milk glass was referred to as “opal glass”.

5 “Dumb and Dumber” co-star : CARREY

Jim Carrey is a comedian and actor from Newmarket, Ontario. Carrey’s big break in films came with the title role the first “Ace Ventura” film, in 1994. My favorite of his big screen performances is in the fascinating film “The Truman Show”, released in 1998.

“Dumb and Dumber” is a 1994 comedy starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as two pretty dumb guys, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne. There was a prequel released in 2003 titled “Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd”, and a sequel in 2011 called “Dumb and Dumber To”.

18 Stellar phenomenon : NOVA

A nova (plural “novae”) is basically a star that suddenly gets much brighter, gradually returning to its original state weeks or even years later. The increased brightness of a nova is due to increased nuclear activity causing the star to pick up extra hydrogen from a neighboring celestial body. A supernova is very different from a nova. A supernova is a very bright burst of light and energy created when most of the material in a star explodes. The bright burst of a supernova is very short-lived compared to the sustained brightness of a nova.

20 Self-officiated game with a disc : ULTIMATE

Ultimate is a team sport that is similar to football or rugby in that the goal is to get a flying disc into an endzone or goal area. The sport used to be called “Ultimate Frisbee”, but the “Frisbee” was dropped as it is a registered trademark.

21 Inspiring Gates? : ELECTRIC BILL (GATES)

Bill Gates is the former CEO of Microsoft, a company that he co-founded with Paul Allen. Gates has been listed as the wealthiest man in the world on several occasions over the past two decades. He now works full-time as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside his wife Melinda. The Gates’ foundation is the largest transparently-operated charitable foundation in the world.

24 Upright Fosse? : PLUMB BOB (FOSSE)

Bob Fosse won more Tony Awards for choreography than anyone else, a grand total of eight (and another Tony for direction). Fosse also won an Oscar for Best Director for the 1972 movie “Cabaret”, even beating out the formidable Francis Ford Coppola who was nominated that same year for “The Godfather”.

26 Driver’s lic. info : DOB

Date of birth (DOB)

27 Red dye : EOSIN

Eosin is a red dye that fluoresces under light, and that is used in the lab as a stain on microscope slides. It is particularly effective in staining animal tissues. Eosin is also used as a toner in cosmetics.

32 Something read to the rowdy? : RIOT ACT

The Riot Act was a British law that was in force from 1715 to 1967. According to the Riot Act, government entities could declare any gathering of twelve or more people “unlawful”. Our expression “read the Riot Act to” is derived from the requirement for the authorities to read out the Riot Act proclamation to an unlawful assembly before the Act could be enforced.

35 English breakfast __ : TEA

English breakfast tea is a blend of black teas dominated by teas from Assam, Ceylon and Kenya. The blends are created to go well with milk and perhaps sugar, as indeed one might drink tea with an English breakfast. Irish breakfast tea is mainly a blend of teas from Assam. It is also created to go well with milk, especially after a few pints of Guinness. Okay, I made up that last bit …

40 Very funny sort : CARD

A very amusing person might be referred to as a card, stitch, wag or riot.

42 Hostess output : CUPCAKES

Hostess CupCake is a bakery product that has been around a long time, with the first being sold in 1919.

44 It has an eye on TV : CBS

CBS used to be known as the Columbia Broadcasting System. CBS introduced its “eye” logo in 1951. That logo is based on a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign.

47 1980s Panamanian dictator : NORIEGA

Manuel Noriega was forcibly removed from power by US forces in 1989 after he spent six years as military dictator of Panama. Noriega was found guilty of several crimes in a US court, including drug-trafficking. He served time with prisoner-of-war status in Florida for 17 years, until 2007. Noriega was extradited from the US to France in 2010, where he served more time for money-laundering. He was then extradited from France to Panama to face trial for human rights violations. Noriega remains in a Panamanian prison to this day.

49 Refined Bailey? : CULTURED PEARL (BAILEY)

Pearl Bailey was an actress and singer who won a Tony Award playing the title role in a 1968 production of the stage musical “Hello, Dolly!”

Nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, is the strong iridescent material laid down by some mollusks on the inside of their shells, and it’s also what makes up pearls. The creature lays down nacre as a defensive mechanism, protecting the soft tissue of its body from the rough surface of the outer shell. Similarly, it uses nacre to encapsulate harmful debris or a parasite that penetrates the shell, and that’s how a pearl is formed. Cultured pearls are made by inserting a tissue graft from a donor oyster, around which nacre is laid down.

51 Careless Montana? : SLOPPY JOE (MONTANA)

Joe Montana played most of his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, and the last two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. With the 49ers, Montana went to the Super Bowl four times, winning every time. In retirement one of his activities is to produce wine, so keep an eye out for his “Montagia” label.

Sloppy joe is a dish usually made of ground beef, onions, ketchup and seasonings, all served on a bun. There are two stories that supposedly explain the origin of the name “sloppy joe”. One is that it comes from Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Key West, Florida; the other is that it was invented by a cook named Joe in Sioux City, Iowa.

53 Type, in Calais : SORTE

Calais is a major ferry port in northern France that overlooks the Strait of Dover, which is the narrowest point in the English Channel. The strait is just over 20 miles wide, making Calais the nearest French town to England.

54 Westminster landmark : ABBEY

The actual name for the Gothic church we know as Westminster Abbey is the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster. The Abbey is a favored location for coronations and royal weddings and burials.

55 Jumbles : OLIOS

“Olio” is a term meaning “hodgepodge, mixture” that comes from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used for cooking.

56 House shower : C-SPAN

C-SPAN is a privately-funded, nonprofit cable channel that broadcasts continuous coverage of government proceedings.

58 Causes of frequent break-ins? : SPONSORS

Those would be break-ins to tout a sponsoring company on TV and/or radio.

60 IBM competitor : NEC

“NEC” is the name that the Nippon Electric Company chose for itself outside of Japan after a rebranding exercise in 1983.

61 1942 Philippine battle site : BATAAN

Bataan is a peninsula in the Philippines that is located on the side of Manila Bay opposite to the capital city. In WWII, Bataan was where American and Filipino forces made their last stand before the Japanese took control of the country. The Battle of Bataan lasted three months, at the end of which 75,000 captured prisoners were forced to march from Bataan to various prison camps. It is thought that between 6,000 and 11,000 men died on the march, many from the physical abuse above and beyond the rigors of the 5-6 day march without food or water. For obvious reasons, the 5-6 day trek is referred to as the Bataan Death March.

63 Cold sheet : FLOE

An ice floe is a sheet of ice that has separated from an ice field and is floating freely on the ocean.

64 Vividly expressive Carney? : GRAPHIC ART (CARNEY)

Art Carney was best known as the actor who played Ed Norton on the fifties television show “The Honeymooners”. Carney walked with a limp for much of his life, as one leg was almost an inch shorter than the other due to a wound he received during the Battle of Normandy in WWII.

67 Outgoing Macdonald? : SOCIAL NORM (MACDONALD)

Norm Macdonald is a standup comedian from Quebec City who is perhaps best known as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” starting in 1993. He also had his own sitcom called “The Norm Show” that ran on ABC from 1999 to 2001.

73 Actor Neeson : LIAM

Irish actor Liam Neeson got his big break when he played Oskar Schindler in the Spielberg epic, “Schindler’s List”. Neeson was in the news some years ago when he lost his wife, actress Natasha Richardson, in a tragic skiing accident in 2009.

74 Fortune-telling aids : TAROTS

Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future. The list of tarot cards includes the Wheel of Fortune, the Hanged Man and the Lovers.

75 One of the fire signs : LEO

Each of the twelve astrological signs is associated with one of the classical elements:

• Fire signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
• Earth signs: Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo
• Air signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini
• Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

76 Period of the first dinosaurs : TRIASSIC

The Triassic period lasted from about 250 to 200 million years ago. It was during the Triassic that dinosaurs first appeared. A major extinction event at the end of the Triassic that allowed dinosaurs to dominate the landscape throughout the subsequent Jurassic period.

80 State with a panhandle : TEXAS

The Texas Panhandle is the most northerly part of the state. The most populous city in the Panhandle is Amarillo.

81 Plane angle symbol : THETA

The Greek letter theta is commonly used in geometry to represent the angle between two lines (say at a corner of a triangle).

83 Very long time : AEONS

Geological time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

• supereon
• eon (also “aeon”)
• era
• period
• epoch
• age

84 Some corporate jets : LEARS

Learjet is a company making business jets that was founded in 1960 by William Powell Lear. The original Learjet was a modified Swiss ground-attack fighter aircraft.

86 Slothful Sontag? : LAZY SUSAN (SONTAG)

Susan Sontag was a writer and political activist from New York City. Sontag wrote extensively on a number of subjects, including photography. She spent the last decade of her life in a relationship with renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.

A lazy Susan is a circular tray at the center of a dining table that can be rotated by those partaking in the meal. The term “lazy Susan” was introduced in the early 1900s, first appearing in an article in the magazine “Good Housekeeping”. Before this designation, the device had been called a “dumbwaiter”, a term that we now reserve for a small elevator used for transporting food from the kitchen to the dining room.

89 Seafaring Davis? : NAUTICAL MILES (DAVIS)

Jazz musician Miles Davis was born into a relatively affluent family, so he had plenty of music lessons as a child. After high school, Davis studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York but he dropped out before finishing his studies. He stated later that the Juilliard classes focused too much on European and “white” music, but he acknowledged that the school gave him a foundation in music theory that helped him in later life.

92 Where to find an idiomatic pig : IN A POKE

“Poke” is an old term meaning “sack”. One wouldn’t want to buy “a pig in a poke”, i.e. in a sack and sight unseen.

93 Family docs : GPS

General practitioner (GP)

96 Outlaw Kelly : NED

Ned Kelly was an Irish-Australian outlaw who is regarded by many as a symbol of resistance against the British ruling class in Australia in the 19th century. There have been two famous films made of his life story. “The Story of the Kelly Gang” was released in 1906, and is recognized today as the first feature film ever made. We might be more familiar with the film called “Ned Kelly” released in 1970, as it starred Mick Jagger in the title role.

97 “Ben-Hur” studio : MGM

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio was founded in 1924 by Marcus Loew. Loew was already a successful movie theater owner when he purchased Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919, and then Goldwyn Pictures in 1924. Later in 1924, Loew also purchased Louis B. Mayer Pictures, mainly so that Louis B. Mayer could merge all three studios and run them himself as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The celebrated 1959 Charlton Heston movie “Ben-Hur” is a dramatization of a book published in 1880 by Lew Wallace titled “Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ”. The 1959 epic film won a record 11 Academy Awards, a feat that has been equaled since then but has never been beaten. The other winners of 11 Oscars are “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Rings”.

100 Clearasil target : ZIT

Clearasil acne medication was developed in 1940 by Ivan Combe and Kedzie Teller. Combe promoted the product by sponsoring the television show “American Bandstand” for many years.

105 Opposite of piano : FORTE

In musical notation, the Italian word “piano” (p) instructs musicians to play softly, and “forte” (f) to play loudly. The additional notation “pianissimo” (pp) means “very soft”, and fortissimo (ff) means “very loud”.

107 Young socialite : DEB

“Deb” is short for “debutante”, which translates from French as “beginner” when referring to a female.

113 Forthcoming Tyson? : OPEN MIKE (TYSON)

Boxer Mike Tyson, nicknamed “Iron Mike”, has said some pretty graphic things about his opponents. For example:

• About Lennox Lewis: “My main objective is to be professional but to kill him.”
• To Razor Ruddock: “I’m gonna make you my girlfriend.”
• About Tyrell Biggs: “He was screaming like my wife.”

115 Forceful Kelly? : DOMINANT GENE (KELLY)

Actor and dancer Gene Kelly was from Pittsburgh. Kelly’s best-known performances were in the films “An American in Paris” (1951) and “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952). “Singin’ in the Rain” was co-directed by Kelly and the great Stanley Donen. A few years later, in 1960, Kelly married Jeanne Coyne, Donen’s ex-wife.

119 Fan of Jerry Garcia’s band : DEADHEAD

The Grateful Dead were a rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area that was founded in 1965. “The Dead” disbanded in 1995 following the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia. Grateful Dead fans (the ranks of whom include my wife) refer to themselves as “Deadheads”.

120 Flea market deal : RESALE

Flea markets are known by various names around the world. In Australia, the term “trash and treasure market” is used. Such outdoor events are called car boot sales, whereas indoor versions might be jumble sales or bring and buy sales.

Down

1 Till stack : ONES

What we usually call a cash register here in North America, we mostly call a “till” in Ireland and the UK. I haven’t heard the word “till” used much here in that sense.

2 Game played in an anagram of itself : POLO

“Polo” is an anagram of “pool”.

The sport of water polo is thought to have originated in Scotland, where it was a feature of fairs and festivals. Men’s water polo was introduced into the Olympic Games in 1900, making it one of the oldest team sports in the games.

4 What loafers lack : LACES

The loafer slip-on shoe dates back to 1939. “Loafer” was originally a brand name introduced by Fortnum and Mason’s store in London. The derivative term “penny loafer” arose in the late fifties or early sixties, although the exact etymology seems unclear.

5 Burnable medium, briefly : CD-R

“CD-ROM” stands for “compact disc read only memory”. The name indicates that you can read information from the disc (like a standard music CD for example), but you cannot write to it. You can also buy a CD-RW, which stands for “compact disc – rewritable”, with which you can read data and also write over it multiple times using a suitable CD drive.

8 Browning’s Ben Ezra, e.g. : RABBI

“Rabbi Ben Ezra” is an 1864 poem by Robert Browning. The first verse is:

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!”

9 Former U.K. recording giant : EMI

The Big Four recording labels were (until EMI was broken up in 2012 and absorbed by what became “the Big Three”):

1. Universal Music Group
2. Sony Music Entertainment
3. Warner Music Group
4. EMI

10 Fashion initials : YSL

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) was an Algerian-born French fashion designer. Saint Laurent started off working as an assistant to Christian Dior at the age of 17. Dior died just four years later, and as a very young man Saint-Laurent was named head of the House of Dior. However, in 1950 Saint Laurent was conscripted into the French Army and ended up in a military hospital after suffering a mental breakdown from the hazing inflicted on him by his fellow soldiers. His treatment included electroshock therapy and administration of sedatives and psychoactive drugs. He was released from hospital, managed to pull his life back together and started his own fashion house. A remarkable story …

11 “__ want for Christmas … ” : ALL I

“All I Want for Christmas” is a song released by Mariah Carey for the 1994 holiday season. It was to prove to be Carey’s most successful single internationally.

13 __City: computer game : SIM

“SimCity” is a very clever computer game. Players build and grow cities and societies by creating the conditions necessary for people (the Sims) to move in and thrive. “SimCity” was launched in 1989, and to this day it is consistently ranked as one of the greatest computer games of all time.

14 Eclipse shadow : UMBRA

A shadow usually has three distinct parts called the umbra, penumbra and antumbra, with the terms most often used with reference to the shadows cast by celestial bodies. The terms can also be used to describe the levels of darkness in sunspots. The umbra (Latin for “shadow”) is the innermost, darkest part of a shadow. The penumbra (“almost shadow”, from Latin) is a lighter part of a shadow, where part of the light source “leaks” around the body casting the shadow. The antumbra phenomenon is experienced when the object casting the shadow is sufficiently far away from the viewer so that it appears smaller than the light source, with an annular ring around it. When the eye is in the shadow cast by an object that has light passing around it, the eye is in the antumbra.

15 “Streamers” playwright : RABE

David Rabe is an American playwright, a veteran of Vietnam. He is the author of a trilogy of plays that draw on his own experience during the Vietnam War:

1. The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1971)
2. Sticks and Bones (1969)
3. Streamers (1976)

16 School since 1440 : ETON

Eton College near Windsor in the south of England was founded way back in 1440 by King Henry VI. Originally known as “The King’s College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor”, the school was intended to provide free education to poor boys. Free education today at Eton? Not so much …

20 Parvenus : UPSTARTS

A parvenu is an upstart, someone who has recently achieved wealth or power but who has yet to demonstrate the ability to handle that wealth or power with dignity.

22 Bench press muscles : TRICEPS

The triceps brachii muscle is found at the back of the upper arm. The muscle’s name translates to “three-headed arm muscle”, fitting as it is actually made up of three bundles of muscles.

31 Like some turkey stuffing : SAGY

In Britain, sage is listed as one of the four essential herbs. And those would be “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme”.

34 Certain Sooner : TULSAN

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma (after Oklahoma City). Tulsa started out as a settlement established by the Loachapoka and Creek Native American tribes in 1836. These early settlers called their new home “Tallasi” meaning “old town”, and this name morphed into “Tulsa” that we use today.

The 1889 Indian Appropriations Act officially opened up the so called Unassigned Lands, land in Oklahoma on which no Native American tribes had settled. Once the Act was signed, those lands became available for settlement. Those people that settled the same lands illegally, prior the date specified, they were termed “Sooners” as their situation was defined in the “sooner clause” of the Act. “Sooner State” is now a nickname for Oklahoma.

36 ESPN Deportes language : ESPANOL

ESPN Deportes Radio is a sports channel that broadcasts in Spanish (Español ). “Deports” is Spanish for “sports”.

39 Symphony originally dedicated to Napoleon : EROICA

Beethoven originally dedicated his “Symphony No. 3” to Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven admired the principles of the French Revolution and as such respected Bonaparte who was “born” out of the uprising. When Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven (and much of Europe) saw this as a betrayal to the ideals of the revolution so he changed the name of his new symphony from “Bonaparte” to “Eroica”, meaning “heroic, valiant”.

41 Friend of TV’s Sheldon : RAJ

Raj Koothrappali is a character on the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” who is played by British-Indian actor Kunal Nayyar. Nayyar is married to Neha Kapur, a former Miss India.

44 Popular spring break locale, informally : CABO

Cabo San Lucas is a major tourist destination at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. “Cabo” is sometimes referred to as the “Fort Lauderdale of Mexico”.

45 Uncle Remus title : BR’ER

Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox are characters in the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris. The “Uncle Remus” stories are adaptations of African American folktales that Harris collected across the Southern States. “Br’er” is an abbreviated form of “brother”.

46 Stone and Stallone : SLYS

Sly and the Family Stone are a rock, funk and soul band from San Francisco that’s still performing today, although their heyday was from 1966 to 1983. They were one of the first rock bands to have a racially-integrated lineup, as well as representatives of both sexes.

If ever there was a movie that defines a career breakthrough for an actor, it would have to be “Rocky” for Sylvester Stallone. Stallone was a struggling actor in 1975 when a Muhammad Ali fight inspired Stallone to write a screenplay for a boxing movie, which he did in just three days. His efforts to sell the script went well but for the fact that the interested studios wanted a big name for the lead role, and Stallone was determined to be the star himself. Stallone persevered and “Rocky” was eventually made with him playing title role of Rocky Balboa. The movie won three Oscars, and “Sly” Stallone had arrived …

48 Wall St. news : IPO

An initial public offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).

49 French Oscar : CESAR

The César Award is the national film award of France. The first César was awarded in 1975, named after the French sculptor César Baldaccini. The awards themselves are reproductions of an actual Baldaccini sculpture.

50 “Barnaby Jones” star : EBSEN

Barnaby Jones is a character on the seventies detective show “Cannon”. The Jones character was played by Buddy Ebsen. Ebsen then starred in the title role of the spin-off show “Barnaby Jones”.

59 Rio greetings : OLAS

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Year’s Day in 1502.

62 Lombardy-based football club : AC MILAN

The famous Italian soccer club Associazione Calcio Milan is better known as AC Milan. AC Milan has won four world club titles, more than any club in the game anywhere. The team’s home ground is San Siro, which has a capacity of just over 80,000, the highest in the country. AC Milan is owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

67 Early rock horn : SAX

The saxophone was invented by Belgian musician Adolphe Sax. Sax developed lip cancer at one point in his life, and one has to wonder if his affliction was related to his saxophone playing (I am sure not!). I had the privilege of visiting Sax’s grave in the Cemetery of Montmartre in Paris a few years ago.

69 Toledo thing : COSA

Toledo is a city in central Spain that is located just over 40 miles south of the capital Madrid. Toledo is sometimes called the “City of Three Cultures”, due to the historical co-existence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish traditions.

70 “Little House” family name : OLESON

On the iconic television show “Little House on the Prairie”, the proprietor of Oleson’s Mercantile is Nels Oleson, who was played by actor Richard Bull.

74 Green cars : TESLAS

Tesla Motors shortened its name to just “Tesla” in early 2017.

80 Deked, say : TRICKED

A deke, also known as a dangle, is a technique used to get past an opponent in ice hockey. “Deke” is a colloquial shortening of the word “decoy”.

81 Bolshevik’s foe : TSARIST

At the second party congress of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903, a split developed. The faction with the most support was led by Vladimir Lenin. As they were in the majority, the group became known as the Bolsheviks, a term derived from the Russian word for “more” or “majority”. Lenin and the Bolsheviks led the October Revolution of 1917, as a result of which Lenin came to power. He headed the new Soviet State during its formative years.

82 March opening : HUP …

Hup two three four …

85 “He’s __ notable coward … “: Shak. : A MOST

Here’s a put down worth remembering. It’s from William Shakespeare’s play “All’s Well That Ends Well”:

… he’s a most notable coward, an infinite and
endless liar, an hourly promise-breaker, the owner
of no one good quality …

88 Santa __ Valley: California wine region : YNEZ

The Santa Ynez Valley is a winegrowing region in Santa Barbara County in California. The Santa Ynez Valley was the setting and location for the wonderful 2004 film “Sideways”.

99 Horace, for one : ODIST

One of ancient Rome’s leading lyric poets was Quintus Horatius Flaccus, or “Horace” as we tend to know him. Horace’s most famous work is probably his collection of Latin lyric poems titled “Carmina” (the Latin for “Odes).

101 “Animal House” party attire : TOGAS

The very funny 1978 movie “Animal House” has the prefix “National Lampoon’s …” because the storyline came out of tales that had already appeared in “National Lampoon” magazine. “Animal House” was to become the first in a long line of successful “National Lampoon” films. The main pledges in the movie are Tom Hulce (Pinto), who later played a magnificent “Amadeus”, and Stephen Furst (Flounder), who later played a regular role on television’s “Babylon 5”.

102 Some UPS deliveries : CODS

Cash on delivery (COD)

103 Duel tool : EPEE

The sword known as an épée has a three-sided blade. The épée is similar to a foil and sabre, although the foil and saber have rectangular cross-sections.The sword known as an épée has a three-sided blade. The épée is similar to a foil and sabre, although the foil and saber have rectangular cross-sections.

106 “Just __ is not __”: AT&T slogan : OKAY

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T, Ma Bell) was a subsidiary of the original Bell Telephone Company that was founded by Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. AT&T was forced to divest several subsidiaries in 1982 when the company lost an antitrust lawsuit. Those subsidiaries were known as Regional Bell Operating Systems, or “Baby Bells”.

108 Island near Java : BALI

Bali is both an island and a province in Indonesia. It is a popular tourist spot, although the number of visitors dropped for a few years as a result of terrorist bombings in 2002 and 2005 that killed mainly tourists. Bali became more popular starting in 2008 due to a significant and favorable change in the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Indonesian rupiah.

Java is a large island in Indonesia that is home to the country’s capital, Jakarta. With a population of over 130 million, Java is the most populous island in the world, with even more people than Honshu, the main island of Japan.

110 Mardi Gras follower : LENT

“Mardi Gras” translates from French as “Fat Tuesday”, and gets its name from the practice of eating rich foods on the eve of the fasting season known as Lent. Lent starts on the next day, called Ash Wednesday.

114 Old reciprocal electrical unit : MHO

Conductance (measured in “mhos”) is the inverse of resistance (measured in “ohms”). The mho has been replaced by the SI unit called the siemens.

116 Mt. Hood’s home : ORE

Mount Hood is a volcanic peak in northern Oregon. It is the highest peak in the state, and is located about 50 miles southeast of Portland. There are six ski areas on the mountain, including a resort called Timberline that has North America’s only lift that operates year-round for skiing.

117 __ culpa : MEA

Many Roman Catholics are very familiar with the Latin phrase “mea culpa” meaning “my fault”, as it is used in the Latin Mass. The additional term “mea maxima culpa” translates as “my most grievous fault”.

The post LA Times Crossword 1 Dec 19, Sunday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 4m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 German philosopher who wrote “The Phenomenology of Spirit” : HEGEL

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, and one of the founders of the German idealism movement. “Idealism”, in the context of the movement, was the principle that objects did not have properties in themselves, but rather that an object’s properties depended on the person perceiving the object.

10 Microsoft Surface competitor : IPAD

Microsoft Surface is a series of portable computing devices that includes a line of 2-in-1 detachables, which are crosses between tablets and laptops.

15 Amazon assistant : ALEXA

Alexa is a personal assistant application that is most associated with the Amazon Echo smart speaker. Apparently, one reason the name “Alexa” was chosen is because it might remind one of the Library of Alexandria, the “keeper of all knowledge”.

16 Italia’s capital : ROMA

In Italian, “Roma” (Rome) is the “capitale” (capital) of “Italia” (Italy).

20 Mai __: cocktail : TAI

The mai tai cocktail is strongly associated with the Polynesian islands, but the drink was supposedly invented in 1944 in Trader Vic’s restaurant in Oakland, California. One recipe is 6 parts white rum, 3 parts orange curaçao, 3 parts Orgeat syrup, 1 part rock candy syrup, 2 parts fresh lime juice, all mixed with ice and then a float added of 6 parts dark rum. “Maita’i” is the Tahitian word for “good”.

26 Ave. and tpk. : RDS

Back in the 15th century, a turnpike (tpk.) 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.

28 Word with York or Jersey : NEW …

During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the Province of New Netherland in North America was claimed by Charles II of England. Charles awarded it to his brother, the Duke of York (and future king, James II). James dispatched a fleet in 1664 to New Netherland, where the Dutch governor surrendered. New Netherland was renamed to the Province of New York, in honor of the duke. Soon after, the Duke of York gave part of the Province to his friends Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. Carteret’s ancestral home was the Island of Jersey in the English Channel, and so the awarded land was named the Province of New Jersey.

43 Mario Kart console, initially : SNES

The name Super NES (or “SNES”) stands for Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

44 “__, but no cigar” : CLOSE

The expression “close but no cigar” is a reference meaning that one can come close in a competition, but may not win the prize, the cigar.

46 Christen, as a knight : DUB

Kneel, and a monarch might “dub thee a knight” if you’re lucky. “Dub” is a specific term derived from Old English that was used to mean “make a knight”. As the knight was also given a knightly name at the same time, “dub” has come to mean “give someone a name”.

51 ISP option : DSL

An Internet service provider (ISP) is just what the name indicates, a company that provides its customers with access to the Internet. One way that ISPs differentiate themselves from each other is in the way in which end users are connected to the ISP’s network. So, there are cable ISPs, DSL ISPs, dial-up ISPs and satellite ISPs.

63 Modern in-flight amenity : WI-FI

“Wi-Fi” is nothing more than a trademark, a trademark registered by an association of manufacturers of equipment that use wireless LAN (Local Area Network) technology. A device labeled with “Wi-Fi” has to meet certain defined technical standards, basically meaning that the devices can talk to each other. The name “Wi-Fi” suggests “Wireless Fidelity”, although apparently the term was never intended to mean anything at all.

66 Earl __ tea : GREY

The Earl Grey blend of tea is supposedly named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey who was Prime Minister of the UK from 1830 to 1834. Earl Grey tea has a distinctive flavor that is largely due to the addition of oil from the rind of the bergamot orange.

67 Etsy’s biz, e.g. : E-TAIL

Etsy.com is an e-commerce website where you can buy and sell the kind of items that you might find at a craft fair.

Down

2 Guns N’ Roses frontman Rose : AXL

Axl Rose is the lead vocalist of the American rock band Guns N’ Roses.

4 Bothersome browser apps : ADWARE

Adware is “advertising-supported software”, an application that includes ads in some form so that the developed can generate revenue. Sometimes deceptive practices can be used to entice a user to install such programs, so adware can sometimes be classed as malware (malicious software).

7 Heredity units : GENES

A gene is a section of a chromosome that is responsible for a particular characteristic in an organism. For example, one gene may determine eye color and another balding pattern. We have two copies of each gene, one from each of our parents, with each copy known as an allele.

10 Persia, now : IRAN

Before 1935, the country we know today as Iran was referred to as Persia by the Western world. The official name of the country since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 is the “Islamic Republic of Iran”.

12 Change for the better : AMEND

The verb “to amend” means “to change for the better, put right, alter by adding”. The related verb “to emend” is used more rarely, and mainly in reference to the editing of professional writing. Both terms are derived from the Latin “emendare” meaning “to remove fault”.

13 Pub game : DARTS

Darts is a wonderful 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.

19 Former filly : MARE

There are lots of terms to describe horses of different ages and sexes, it seems:

• Foal: horse of either sex that is less than one year old
• Yearling: horse of either sex that is one to two years old
• Filly: female horse under the age of four
• Colt: male horse under the age of four
• Gelding: castrated male horse of any age
• Stallion: non-castrated male horse four years or older
• Mare: female horse four years or older

21 Prefix for Venice’s country : ITALO-

The city of Venice in northeast Italy is built in a saltwater lagoon on the Adriatic Coast, on 117 small islands. The classic transportation along the waterways is the gondola, but this is really only used for tourists these days, as well as on ceremonial occasions. The locals rely on the motorized water-buses.

24 Bagel flavoring : ONION

The bagel was invented in the Polish city of Kraków in the 16th century. Bagels were brought to this country by Jewish immigrants from Poland who mainly established homes in and around New York City.

25 “The Hunger Games” star, to fans : JLAW

Jennifer Lawrence (sometimes “J.Law” in the press) is an actress from Louisville, Kentucky who really hit the big time when she was cast as Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist in the “Hunger Games” series of films.

“The Hunger Games” is a 2008 novel by Suzanne Collins, and the first in a trilogy of titles that also includes “Catching Fire” (2009) and “Mockingjay” (2010). “The Hunger Games” was adapted into a very successful movie released in 2012, with the sequels following soon after. Amazon.com reports more sales of “The Hunger Games” series books than even the “Harry Potter” series.

32 Insta upload : PIC

Instagram (often abbreviated to “Insta”) is a photo-sharing application, one that is extremely popular. Instagram was started in San Francisco in 2010. Facebook purchased Instagram two years later, paying $1 billion. The billion-dollar Instagram company had just 13 employees at the time of the sale …

33 NBC late-night weekend staple, familiarly : SNL

NBC first aired a form of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in 1975 under the title “NBC’s Saturday Night”. The show was actually created to give Johnny Carson some time off from “The Tonight Show”. Back then “The Tonight Show” had a weekend episode, and Carson convinced NBC to pull the Saturday or Sunday recordings off the air and hold them for subsequent weeknights in which Carson needed a break. NBC turned to Lorne Michaels and asked him to put together a variety show to fill the vacant slot, and he came up with what we now call “Saturday Night Live”.

34 Freudian focus : EGO

Sigmund Freud created a structural model of the human psyche, breaking it into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is that part of the psyche containing the basic instinctual drives. The ego seeks to please the id by causing realistic behavior that benefits the individual. The superego almost has a parental role, contradicting the id by introducing critical thinking and morals to behavioral choices.

38 13-digit pub. codes : ISBNS

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) was invented by one Gordon Foster who was a professor at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. The code was originally developed for booksellers, so that they had a unique number (and now a barcode) for each publication.

40 ’60s hallucinogen : LSD

The drug LSD is often sold impregnated into blotting paper. The paper blotter is usually divided into squares with ¼-inch sides, with each square referred to as a “tab”.

41 Org. providing workplace safety posters : OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 during the Nixon administration. OSHA regulates workplaces in the private sector and regulates just one government agency, namely the US Postal Service.

47 Lyft competitor : UBER

In some locations, the transportation network company Uber offers water-taxi services under the brand name UberBOAT. Most notably available in the city of Istanbul in Turkey, the service is also offered in other locations, often during special events.

52 Drum type : SNARE

Snare drums are so called because they have a set of wire strands (snares) stretching across the bottom surface of the drum. When the drum is struck, the snares vibrate against the bottom drumhead producing a unique sound.

53 Three-star mil. officer : LT GEN

Historically, the rank of lieutenant general (lt. gen) dates back to medieval times, when it was subordinate to a captain general. The latter was in command on the battlefield, and the former was his “lieutenant”, his second in command. Today, the rank of lieutenant general usually falls below general, and above major general (despite the fact that a “major” outranks a “lieutenant”).

55 Panna __: Italian dessert : COTTA

Panna cotta is an Italian dessert made from cream, sugar and gelatin and perhaps some flavoring. The name “panna cotta” really wasn’t used in Italy until the 1960s, and the dish became popular in the US starting in the 1990s.

59 “I-” rds., e.g. : HWYS

The US Interstate System is more correctly known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, a nod to President Eisenhower who championed the construction. The President had come to recognise the value of the German autobahn system in his experiences during WWII, and resolved to give the US a similar infrastructure. In real terms, the US Interstate construction project is said to have been the largest public works project since the Pyramids of Egypt.

The post LA Times Crossword 2 Dec 19, Monday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 5m 59s

Bill’s errors: 2

• ALANA (Alena)
• ERAGON (Eregon)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Desert Storm missile : SCUD

Scud missiles were developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Soviets called them R-11 missiles at first, with later versions known as R-17 and R-300 Elbrus. The name “Scud” was actually the name NATO used for the missile, a name created by Western intelligence officers. Ballistic missiles haven’t been used a lot in actual warfare, the exception being the German V-2 rocket attacks on England during WWII. After the V-2, the second most-used ballistic missile in warfare is the Scud, which featured in a number of conflicts:

• used by Egypt against Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973
• used by the USSR in Afghanistan
• used by Libya against a US Coast Guard station in the Mediterranean in 1986
• used by Iranians and Iraqis in the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88
• used by Iraq in the Gulf War of 1990-91

5 Jed Clampett portrayer Buddy : EBSEN

Actor Buddy Ebsen was best known for playing Jed Clampett in television’s “The Beverly Hillbillies”. Ebsen had been cast in the role of the Tin Man in the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz”, but he developed an allergy to the aluminium dust that was used in the makeup. He ended up in hospital and had to walk away from the part. Ebsen blamed “The Wizard of Oz” on persistent problems that he had with his lungs in subsequent years. But Ebsen lived 16 years longers that any of the other major cast members of the film, so maybe he got the last laugh!

10 Newspaper ad meas. : SQ IN

Square inch (sq. in.)

14 Greek liqueur : OUZO

Ouzo is an apéritif from Greece that is colorless and flavored with anise. Ouzo is similar to French pastis and Italian sambuca.

16 German wheels : AUDI

The Audi name has an interesting history. The Horch company was founded by August Horch in 1909. Early in the life of the new company, Horch was forced out of his own business. He set up a new enterprise and continued to use his own name as a brand. The old company sued him for using the Horch name so a meeting was held to choose something new. Horch’s young son was studying Latin in the room where the meeting was taking place. He pointed out that “horch” was German for “hear” and he suggested “Audi” as a replacement, the Latin for “listen”.

19 “The Way You Love Me” singer Faith : HILL

Faith Hill is a country singer from Ridgeland, Mississippi. Hill is married to fellow country singer Tim McGraw.

21 Medieval clubs : MACES

A mace is a relatively simple weapon in essence. It is a heavy weight on the end of a handle that is used to deliver powerful blows on an opponent’s body.

22 Vampire played by Cruise : LESTAT

Lestat de Lioncourt is the central character in Anne Rice’s series of erotic and Gothic novels “The Vampire Chronicles”. Lestat was played by Tom Cruise in the 1994 movie adaptation of Rice’s first novel “Interview with the Vampire”.

34 Eastern neighbor of Tenn. : NCAR

The states of North and South Carolina are referred to collectively as “the Carolinas”. Before statehood, the Carolinas were known as the Province of the Carolinas. The province was given the name in honor of King Charles II of England (“Carolinus” is Latin for Charles). The father of Charles II, Charles I, had given a land grant for the area in the name of “Corolana”. Earlier still, French settlers called the region “Caroline”, in honor of King Charles IX of France.

35 “FBI” actress De La Garza : ALANA

Alana De La Garza is an actress from Columbus, Ohio. De La Garza is perhaps best known for her recurring role as Connie Rubirosa on television’s “Law & Order”.

37 “Strange Magic” rock band : ELO

“Strange Magic” is a song by English rock band the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) that was released as a single in 1976. It had appeared earlier as a track on the ELO’s 1975 album “Face the Music”.

38 California’s Big __ : SUR

Big Sur is a lovely part of the California Coast located south of Monterey and Carmel. The name “Big Sur” comes from the original Spanish description of the area as “el sur grande” meaning “the big south”.

41 UFC sport : MMA

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport in which competitors use a variety of techniques from a variety of traditional combat sports and martial arts.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the largest promoter in the world of mixed martial arts competitions. I think the idea is that competitors fight each other in various disciplines to see who is the “best of the best” …

42 Psychic’s “gift” : ESP

Extrasensory perception (ESP)

43 “Gesundheit!” evoker : ACHOO!

“Gesundheit” is the German word for “health”, and is used in response to a sneeze in Germany, as indeed it is here in the US quite often.

53 Singer Joplin : JANIS

Famously, the singer Janis Joplin died from an overdose of heroin when she was just 27 years old. That puts her in the “27 Club”, a group of famous rock and blues musicians who died at the same age. In the club along with Joplin, are Brian Jones (of the Rolling Stones), Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse and a few others.

58 Samsung product : SMARTPHONE

Samsung is a huge multinational company based in Seoul, South Korea. We tend to think of Samsung as a supplier of consumer electronics perhaps, but the company is into so much more. Samsung Heavy Industries is the world’s second-biggest shipbuilder, and Samsung Techwin is a major manufacturer of aeronautic and weapons systems. The name “Samsung” means “three stars” in Korean.

65 Bamboo muncher : PANDA

The giant panda is a bear, and so has the digestive system of a carnivore. However, the panda lives exclusively on bamboo, even though its gut is relatively poorly adapted to extract nutrients from plants per se. The panda relies on microbes in its gut to digest cellulose, and consumes 20-30 pounds of bamboo each day to gain enough nourishment.

66 Black stone : ONYX

Onyx is a form of quartz that comes in many different shades, but most often it’s the black version that’s used for jewelry. The name “onyx” comes from the Greek word for “fingernail”, as onyx in the flesh color is said to resemble a fingernail.

67 Pigged out (on), briefly : OD’ED

Overdose (OD)

68 Fur tycoon : ASTOR

John Jacob Astor was the patriarch of the famous American Astor dynasty. He was the country’s first multi-millionaire, making his fortune in the trade of fur, real estate and opium. In today’s terms, it has been calculated that by the time of his death he has accumulated a fortune big enough to make him the fourth wealthiest man in American history (in the company of the likes of Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Bill Gates, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller).

69 Designer Chanel : COCO

Coco Chanel was a French fashion designer. I’m no fashionista, but if I had to pick a designer whose clothes I really liked, it would be Chanel. She had a way of creating simpler designs that look so elegant on a woman.

Down

3 Special forces weapon : UZI

The first Uzi submachine gun was designed in the late 1940s by Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal of the Israel Defense Forces, who gave his name to the gun.

6 Barbershop quartet member : BASS

Barbershop music is played in the a cappella style, meaning that it is unaccompanied vocal music. Barbershop music originated in the African-American communities in the South, as gospel quartets often gathered in neighborhood barber shops to sing together.

8 Flight board abbr. : ETD

Estimated time of departure (ETD)

9 “Bill __ Saves the World”: science talk show : NYE

“Bill Nye Saves the World” is a Netflix show hosted by science communicator Bill Nye. In each episode, Nye explores scientific issues that affect our lives, such as alternative medicine, climate change and video games.

10 Arid African expanse : SAHARA

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.

13 Rock’s Lofgren : NILS

The musician Nils Lofgren was a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band for over 25 years. Lofgren provided vocals and played guitar, and was hired as the replacement for Steven Van Zandt.

21 Southeast Asia’s __ Peninsula : MALAY

The Malay Peninsula is a long, thin land mass that forms the southernmost part of the Asian mainland. On the peninsula are the countries of Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Singapore (an island nation off the southern tip of the peninsula). People of the Malay ethnic group are mainly found on the Malay peninsula.

25 Driveway surface : TAR

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.

27 Jeremy Irons film based on a Christopher Paolini fantasy novel : ERAGON

Christopher Paolini began writing his best-selling fantasy story “Eragon” at the age of 15. Christopher’s parents, when they read the final version two years later, they decided to self-publish it and support Christopher as he toured the US promoting the novel. It was eventually republished by Alfred A. Knopf in 2003, and became the second-best-selling children’s paperback of 2005. The book was adapted for the big screen in 2006. I’d call that a success story …

Jeremy Irons is much-respected English actor who is noted for his stage, television and film performances. My favorite of these performances is the one that brought him into the limelight, playing Charles Ryder in the 1981 TV adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited”. Irons won a Best Actor Oscar for playing Claus von Bülow in 1990’s “Reversal of Fortune”. He is married to Irish actress Sinéad Cusack, and the couple own a castle in County Cork in the south of Ireland.

30 One of Santa’s reindeer : DASHER

We get the names for Santa’s reindeer from the famous 1823 poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, although we’ve modified a couple of the names over the years. The full list is:

• Dasher
• Dancer
• Prancer
• Vixen
• Comet
• Cupid
• Donder (originally “Dunder”, and now often “Donner”)
• Blitzen (originally “Blixem”)

Rudolph was added to the list by retailer Montgomery Ward, would you believe? The store commissioned Robert L. May to create a booklet that could be handed out to children around Christmas in 1939, and May introduced us to a new friend for Santa, namely Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

32 “Get Shorty” novelist __ Leonard : ELMORE

Elmore Leonard used to write a lot of westerns in the fifties and moved onto crime and suspense novels later in his career. A lot of his books have made it to the big screen, including “Get Shorty” and “Mr Majestyk”.

36 Late July zodiac sign : LEO

Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.

39 City districts : WARDS

In the US, wards are local authority areas that are often used as electoral districts. American wards are usually divided into precincts.

40 Slushy treat : ICEE

Slush Puppie and ICEE are brands of frozen, slushy drinks. Ostensibly competing brands, ICEE company now owns the Slush Puppie brand.

48 GM security system : ONSTAR

The OnStar system was developed as a joint venture between GM, EDS and Hughes. The product itself was launched in 1996. Today, OnStar is only available on GM cars, although it used to be offered on other makes of car through a licensing agreement. OnStar is a subscription service that packages vehicle security, telephone, satellite navigation and remote diagnostics.

53 Roman queen of the gods : JUNO

Juno was the patron goddess of Rome and the Roman Empire, and also looked after the interests of the women of Rome. Juno was the sister and wife of Jupiter, the king of the Roman gods.

54 Retired MLB slugger : A-ROD

Baseball player Alex Rodriguez, nicknamed “A-Rod”, broke a lot of records in his career, albeit under a shroud of controversy due to his use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. When he signed a 10-year contract with the Texas Rangers for $252 million in 2000, it was the most lucrative contract in sports history. In 2007, Rodriguez signed an even more lucrative 10-year contract with the New York Yankees, worth $275 million. Rodriguez retired in 2016.

56 Word on a dollar : ORDO

The Latin phrase “novus ordo seclorum” means “new order of the ages”. These words appear on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States, a device used to authenticate some US federal documents. “Novus ordo seclorum” also appears on the back of one-dollar bills. The phrase itself is lifted from one of the works of the ancient Roman poet Virgil.

58 Place for TLC : SPA

Tender loving care (TLC)

59 Humanities degs. : MAS

The academic studies of human culture are collectively called the humanities. Subjects included in the humanities are languages, literature, philosophy, religion and music.

60 Ad __ committee : HOC

The Latin phrase “ad hoc” means “for this purpose”. An ad hoc committee, for example, is formed for a specific purpose and is disbanded after making its final report.

61 Lennon’s love : ONO

John Lennon and Yoko Ono married at the height of the Vietnam War in 1969. The couple decided to use the inevitable publicity surrounding their wedding and honeymoon to promote peace in the world. They honeymooned in the Presidential Suite of the Amsterdam Hilton, inviting the world’s press to join them and to witness their “bed-in”. They spent the week talking about peace, and an end to war. The marriage and bed-in is chronicled by the Beatles in their song “The Ballad of John and Yoko”. A few weeks after the marriage, Lennon adopted the middle name “Ono” by deed poll.

62 Grand Central Sta. site : NYC

Grand Central Terminal in New York City is the largest railroad station in the world in terms of the number of platforms (44). Those platforms are all underground, and on two levels. The official name for the facility is “Grand Central Terminal”. The name “Grand Central Station” is very common, and is actually the name of the facility that the terminal replaced in 1913.

63 Skeleton prefix : EXO-

An animal with an endoskeleton has a supporting skeleton inside its body. So, we humans have an endoskeleton. A turtle, on the other hand, has both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton, its outer shell.

The post LA Times Crossword 3 Dec 19, Tuesday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 6m 06s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Retina 5K computer : IMAC

“Retina Display” is a brand name used by Apple for screens that have a high enough pixel density so that individual pixels are not visible to the naked eye at normal viewing distance.

5 Pet collar clip-on : ID TAG

Identity document (ID)

10 Theme park with a geodesic dome : EPCOT

EPCOT Center (now just called “Epcot”) is the theme park beside Walt Disney World in Florida. EPCOT is an acronym standing for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, and is a representation of the future as envisioned by Walt Disney. Walt Disney actually wanted to build a living community for 20,000 residents at EPCOT, but he passed away without that vision being realized.

Spaceship Earth is perhaps the structure that comes to mind when we think of Epcot in the Walt Disney World Resort. It is the large, white, 18-story geodesic sphere.

The term “geodesic” originally applied to the shortest route between any two points on the Earth’s surface. In this sense, a geodesic is an arc, a segment of a great circle that goes around the whole of the Earth. A geodesic dome is a structure that gets its strength from an interlocking network of triangular elements. The sides of those triangles are geodesics, arced segments of great circles that encompass the dome.

15 Bite : NOSH

Our word “nosh” has been around since the late fifties, when it was imported from the Yiddish word “nashn” meaning “to nibble”. We use “nosh” as a noun that means “snack”, or as a verb meaning “to eat between meals”.

16 Bête __ : NOIRE

“Bête noire” translates from French as “black beast”, and is used in English to describe something or someone that is disliked.

19 Crooner who co-wrote the “Chestnuts roasting … ” song : TORME

Mel Tormé was a jazz singer, with a quality of voice that earned him the nickname “The Velvet Fog”. Tormé also wrote a few books, and did a lot of acting. He was the co-author of the Christmas classic known as “The Christmas Song”, which starts out with the line “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire …”

21 Holiday song whose first line ends, “come sailing in” : I SAW THREE SHIPS

“I Saw Three Ships” is a popular Christmas carol from England. According to the song’s lyrics, the title vessels, “they sailed to Bethlehem”. That’s hard to do, given that the nearest body of water to Bethlehem is the Dead Sea, the shores of which are about 20 miles away.

24 Pooh’s dour friend : EEYORE

Eeyore is the donkey character in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”. Eeyore is very lovable, but has a gloomy and pessimistic outlook on life.

25 Leader with a dot-edu address : DEAN

The .edu domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

• .com (commercial enterprise)
• .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
• .mil (US military)
• .org (not-for-profit organization)
• .gov (US federal government entity)
• .edu (college-level educational institution)

26 Brief “If only I could unhear that … ” : TMI …

Too much information (TMI)

29 2018 US Open winner Osaka : NAOMI

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese-born tennis professional who became the first Asian player to be ranked number-one in singles.

37 Marathoner’s woes : CRAMPS

The marathon commemorates the legendary messenger-run by Pheidippides from the site of the Battle of Marathon back to Athens, and is run over 26 miles and 385 yards. The first modern Olympic marathon races were run over a distance that approximated the length of the modern-day Marathon-Athens highway, although the actual length of the race varied from games to games. For the 1908 Olympics in London, a course starting at Windsor Castle and ending in front of the Royal Box at White City Stadium was defined. That course was 26 miles and 385 yards, the standard length now used at all Olympic Games. Organizers of subsequent games continued to vary the length of the race, until a decision was made in 1921 to adopt the distance used in London in 1908.

41 Holiday song first recorded by Gene Autry : FROSTY THE SNOWMAN

“Frosty the Snowman” is a song that was recorded first by Gene Autry, in 1950. The song was specifically written in the hope that it would become a follow-up hit to Autry’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” that topped the charts the previous year.

Gene Autry was a so-called singing cowboy who had an incredibly successful career on radio, television and in films starting in the thirties. Autry’s signature song was “Back in the Saddle Again”, and his biggest hit was “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. He also had a hit with his own Christmas song called “Here Comes Santa Claus”. There’s even a town in Oklahoma called Gene Autry, named in his honor. Famously, Autry owned the Los Angeles Angels baseball team for many years, from 1961 to 1997.

45 “The Nutcracker” skirt : TUTU

The word “tutu”, used for a ballet dancer’s skirt, is actually a somewhat “naughty” term. It came into English from French in the early 20th century. The French “tutu” is an alteration of the word “cucu”, a childish word meaning “bottom, backside”.

Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” is one of the most popular ballets in the repertoire. It was premiered in St. Petersburg in 1892, but its public appeal really only emerged in the late 1960s. It’s “must-see ballet” during the Christmas holidays.

46 Like some owls : HORNED

The great horned owl is a large owl that is native to North and South America. Also called the tiger owl, it is the most common true owl in the region.

47 Cottonelle layer : PLY

Cottonelle is a Kimberly-Clark brand of toilet paper.

53 Nonprofit aid gp. : NGO

Non-governmental organization (NGO)

54 Opera set in Egypt : AIDA

“Aida” is a celebrated opera by Giuseppe Verdi that is based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Mariette also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first staged in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radames is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then complications arise!

57 Curtains : DRAPES

When I was growing up on the other side of the pond, a drapery was a shop where one could buy cloth for making clothes or curtains. It was only when I came to America that I heard the term “drapes” used for curtains.

61 Holiday song based on a traditional German folk song : O CHRISTMAS TREE

“O Tannenbaum” is a traditional German Christmas carol, the title of which is usually translated as “O Christmas Tree”. “Tannenbaum” is the German name for a fir tree.

65 Storybook pachyderm : BABAR

“Babar the Elephant” originated in France, a creation of Jean de Brunhoff in 1931. The first book was “Histoire de Babar”, a book so successful it was translated into English two years later for publication in Britain and the US. Jean de Brunhoff wrote six more Babar stories before he died in 1937, and then his son Laurent continued his father’s work.

A pachyderm is a large mammal noted for having very thick skin and hooves, or nails resembling hooves. In terms of taxonomy, animals such as elephants, rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses used to be classified in the order Pachydermata (from the Greek for “thick” and “skin”). That order is now obsolete, as it has been shown that the aforementioned “pachyderms” do not in fact share a common ancestor. Despite the reclassification, “pachyderm” persists in common, non-scientific usage.

68 __ Kong : HONG

Hong Kong first became part of the British Empire after the First Opium War in 1842. In 1898, Britain signed a 99-year lease to retain control of Hong Kong. That control ended 99 years later in 1997 with a formal transfer of sovereignty back to China.

69 “Home Alone” actress Catherine : O’HARA

Catherine O’Hara is an actress and comedienne from Toronto, Ontario. One of O’Hara’s more famous film roles is Kevin’s mother in the Christmas classic “Home Alone”. She also plays a lead character in the excellent sitcom “Schitt’s Creek” alongside Eugen Levy.

“Home Alone” is a 1990 film starring Macaulay Culkin that has become a Christmas classic. Culkin was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for his performance, becoming the youngest actor ever to be so honored.

70 Line dance : CONGA

The conga line is a dance that originated as a Cuban carnival march. It became popular in the US starting in the thirties. The dance is apparently named after the Congo region of Africa, and it was originated by slaves who were brought from there to Cuba.

74 What 21-, 41- or 61-Across is … and, phonetically, a curiously apt common feature of those answers : NOEL and NO L

“Noël” is the French word for the Christmas season, and ultimately comes from the Latin word for “birth” (natalis). “Noel” has come to be used as an alternative name for a Christmas carol.

Down

2 Reindeer cousin : MOOSE

The moose is the largest species in the deer family, and can stand almost at 7 feet at the shoulder. Moose are a little unusual in that they are solitary animals, unlike other deers who tend to move in herds. We use the term “moose” here in North America, but confusingly, the same animal is referred to as “elk” in British English.

The reindeer species of deer is also known as the caribou in North America.

7 Hankook product : TIRE

Hankook is a tire manufacturer based in Seoul, South Korea that is the seventh largest producer of tires in the world. Apparently, the name “Hankook” can be translated simply as “Korea”.

9 “Six __ a-laying … ” : GEESE

The fabulous Christmas Carol called “The Twelve Days of Christmas” dates back at least to 1780 when it was first published in England, though it may be French in origin. The concept of twelve days of Christmas comes from the tradition that the three kings came to visit the Christ Child twelve days after he was born. This same tradition is the origin of the title to Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night”.

10 Valuable fur : ERMINE

The stoat has dark brown fur in the summer, and white fur in the winter. Sometimes the term “ermine” is used for the animal during the winter when the fur is white. Ermine skins have long been prized by royalty and are often used for white trim on ceremonial robes.

13 Granola kernel : OAT

The names “Granola” and “Granula” were trademarked back in the late 1800s for whole-grain foods that were crumbled and baked until crisp. Granola was created in Dansville, New York in 1894.

14 MLB playoffs broadcaster : TBS

The tbs cable television station started out in 1967 as local broadcast TV station in Atlanta. The station’s first call letters were WJRJ-TV, and this was changed to WTCG in 1970 when it was acquired by Ted Turner (the TCG stood for Turner Communications Group). In 1976, Turner started distributing WTCG via satellite making its programming available in other parts of the country. WTCG was only the second channel to transmit via satellite, following HBO. The difference was that WTCG was broadcast without requiring a premium subscription. The station’s call sign was changed again in 1979 to WTBS, with “TBS” standing for Turner Broadcasting System. In 1981, the channel adopted the moniker “Superstation WTBS”.

31 Texting qualifier : IMHO

In my humble opinion (IMHO)

33 Gaping hole : MAW

“Maw” is a term used to describe the mouth or stomach of a carnivorous animal. “Maw” is also used as slang for the mouth or stomach of a greedy person.

38 Where the Amazon begins : PERU

The Amazon River of South America is the world’s largest in terms of volume, and accounts for an amazing one-fifth of the world’s total river flow. Perhaps even more amazing is that there are no bridges across the Amazon! There isn’t even one, mainly because the river flows through tropical rainforest, where there are few roads and cities.

39 Nine-digit IDs : SSNS

A Social Security number (SSN) is divided into three parts i.e AAA-GG-SSSS, Originally, the Area Number (AAA) was the code for the office that issued the card. Since 1973, the Area Number reflects the ZIP code from which the application was made. The GG in the SSN is the Group Number, and the SSSS in the number is the Serial Number. However, this is all moot. Since 2011 SSNs are assigned randomly. However, some random numbers have been excluded from use, i.e. Area Numbers 000, 666 (!) and 900-999.

42 Mystery writer Grafton : SUE

Sue Grafton wrote detective novels, and her “alphabet series” feature the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “A Is for Alibi” in 1982 and worked her way up to “Y is for Yesterday” before she passed away in 2017.

50 Title for Patrick Stewart : SIR

Sir Patrick Stewart is perhaps most famous for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. Stewart’s Hollywood career became so successful that he moved from the UK to Los Angeles, but he returned to his homeland in 2004. He stated at the time that he was homesick, and wanted to get back to playing roles in the theater.

52 Eponymous hot dog guy Handwerker : NATHAN

Nathan’s Famous is a chain of fast food restaurants that specialize in hot dogs. The chain’s first outlet was a hot dog stand in Coney Island set up by husband and wife Nathan and Ida Handwerker. Nathan’s Famous has held a Hot Dog Eating Contest every July 4th since 1916, and always at the same place on Coney Island, where that first hot dog stand was located..

55 Summer songs? : DISCO

Discotheques first appeared during WWII in Occupied France. American-style music (like jazz and jitterbug dances) was banned by the Nazis, so French natives met in underground clubs that they called discotheques where records were often played on just a single turntable. After the war, these clubs came out into the open. One famous Paris discotheque was called “Whiskey a Gogo”. In that Paris disco, non-stop music was played using two turntables next to a dance-floor, and this concept spread around the world.

Donna Summer is known as “The Queen of Disco”, with great hits like “Love to Love You, Baby”, “I Feel Love” and “Hot Stuff”. In the late sixties and early seventies, LaDonna Gaines (her real name) lived and worked in Germany. There she met and married an Austrian actor called Helmuth Sommer. They divorced not long after the marriage, but Donna kept his family name, just changing the “o” to “u” to give her the stage name of “Donna Summer”.

56 __ Martin: British car : ASTON

Aston Martin is a British car manufacturer, founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin. The Aston part of the company name comes from Aston Hill, a famous site for hill-climbing cars that is nearby the original factory. Aston Martin cars are much loved by the British entertainment industry. James Bond was given one in “Goldfinger”, and Michael Caine drove one in the 1969 version of “The Italian Job”. Also, Roger Moore’s character drove a yellow Aston Martin in the seventies television show “The Persuaders!”.

59 Choice start : EENIE

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch the tiger/monkey/baby by the toe.
If it hollers/screams let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you are it!

60 Jason of “The Muppets” : SEGEL

Actor Jason Segel is best known for playing Marshall on the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother”. Segel is an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church and performed a wedding ceremony on “The Tonight Show” in 2010.

“The Muppets” is a 2011 film starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams. It was the first “Muppet” film to be released after a hiatus of twelve years, with a sequel coming out in 2014.

66 Sashimi choice : AHI

Yellowfin and bigeye tuna are usually marketed as “ahi”, the Hawaiian name. They are both big fish, with yellowfish tuna often weighing over 300 pounds, and bigeye tuna getting up to 400 pounds.

Sashimi is thinly sliced raw fish, although it can also be raw meat. The word “sashimi” translates literally as “pierced body”, which may be a reference to the practice of sticking the tail and fin to sliced fish to identify it.

The post LA Times Crossword 4 Dec 19, Wednesday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 7m 03s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Distillery mixture : MASH

In brewing and distilling, the mash is the mixture of grain and water that is heated so that enzymes break down starch into sugars. The sugary liquor extracted from the mash is called the wort. Yeast is added to the wort, resulting in the sugars being converted to alcohol.

5 The Flyers’ Gritty, e.g. : MASCOT

Gritty is the mascot of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team. He is a youngster, relative to other NHL mascots, having made his debut appearance in 2018.

15 Corrida figure : EL TORO

Spanish bullfighting is known locally as “corrida de toros”, literally “race of bulls”.

17 *Line never spoken by James Cagney : YOU DIRTY RAT! (giving “rat terrier”)

When Jimmy Cagney accepted the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1974, he addressed one of the most famous movie “non-quotes”. He told the audience, “I never said ‘Mmmmmm, you dirty rat!”. The closest he ever came to saying that line, so often used by impressionists, was in the 1932 movie “Taxi!” in which he starred opposite Loretta Young. In that film he had the line “You dirty rat, I’m going to get rid of you, just like you gave it to my brother.”

The rat terrier is known as a farm dog, and was especially common on farms in the twenties and thirties. The breed has a great reputation as a hunting companion and for controlling vermin.

20 4,300-mile range : ANDES

The Andes range is the longest continuous chain of mountains in the world. It runs down the length of the west coast of South America for about 4,300 miles, from Venezuela in the north to Chile in the south. The highest peak in the Andes is Mt. Aconcagua, at an elevation of 22,841 feet. Interestingly, the peak of Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest point on the Earth’s surface from the center of the planet. That’s because of the equatorial “bulge” around the Earth’s “waist”.

21 Novelist Waugh : ALEC

Alec Waugh was the older brother of the more famous Evelyn Waugh. Both were successful novelists (Evelyn of “Brideshead Revisited” fame), but what I like about Alec is that he supposedly invented the cocktail party. He invited his friends around “for tea” in the twenties, and served them all rum swizzles instead!

22 “In __ of gifts … ” : LIEU

As one might imagine perhaps, “in lieu” came into English from the Old French word “lieu” meaning “place”, which in turn is derived from the Latin “locum” that also means “place”. So, “in lieu” translates as “in place of”.

23 *Rock pile at a prehistoric gravesite : BURIAL CAIRN (giving “cairn terrier”)

A cairn is a man-made pile of stones that can have various uses. A cairn might be a prosaic trail marker, or a distinctive landmark or monument. Our term “cairn” derives from the Gaelic “carn” meaning “rocky hill, heap of stones”.

The cairn terrier breed of dog originated in the Highlands of Scotland. The breed is named for the original task given to the dog, rooting out rats and other rodents from man-made piles of stones called cairns.

26 Protect with a levee : EMBANK

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.

30 Canon SLR : EOS

I’ve been using Canon EOS cameras for decades now, and have nothing but good things to say about both the cameras and the lenses. The EOS name stands for Electro-Optical System, and was chosen because it evokes the name of Eos, the Titan goddess of dawn from Greek mythology.

31 Gorilla expert Fossey : DIAN

Dian Fossey carried out her famous study of gorilla populations in the mountain forests of Rwanda. She wrote a 1983 autobiographical account of her work titled “Gorillas in the Mist”, which served as a basis for a 1988 film of the same name starring Sigourney Weaver as Fossey. Sadly, Fossey was found dead in her cabin in Rwanda in 1986, murdered in her bedroom, her skull split open by a machete. The crime was never solved.

40 *Like Juárez, vis-à-vis El Paso : ACROSS THE BORDER (giving “border terrier”)

The Mexican city sitting across the border from El Paso is more correctly called Ciudad Juárez. Juárez used to be called El Paso del Norte (the North Pass). It was to be the younger settlement on the northern side of the Rio Grande which would retain the “El Paso” name.

Border terriers take their name from the Scottish borders, where they were bred to hunt small game and to kill rodents.

43 MGM part : METRO

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio was founded in 1924 by Marcus Loew. Loew was already a successful movie theater owner when he purchased Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919, and then Goldwyn Pictures in 1924. Later in 1924, Loew also purchased Louis B. Mayer Pictures, mainly so that Louis B. Mayer could merge all three studios and run them himself as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

44 Cork’s place : EIRE

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland. Cork has been a major port for many years, and was the last port of call for many, many Irish emigrants to America. When these Irish people reached the US it was common for them to give their point of origin as “Cork”, whereas they may have come from almost anywhere in Ireland. It’s because of this that many descendants of Irish immigrants who had been told they were from a Cork family often find out they were under a misapprehension as their ancestors just sailed from Cork.

45 Racing legend Earnhardt : DALE

Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was known for his aggressive driving style, which earned him the nickname “the Intimidator”. Earnhardt was stubborn, and so some referred to him as “Iron Head”. Earnhardt died in a crash in the 2001 Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is also a NASCAR driver.

46 Brouhaha : ADO

“Brouhaha”, meaning “ado, stir”, was a French word that back in the 1550s meant “the cry of the devil disguised as clergy” . Wow!

50 *Far-fetched, as a story : COCK-AND-BULL (giving “bull terrier”)

A cock-and-bull story is a tale that is fanciful and unbelievable. There are several etymologies floated for the phrase “cock and bull story”. One is that they described fabulous tales related in two coaching inns called “The Cock and Bull” located in Buckinghamshire, England. Another is that the reference is to tales about magical cocks and bulls. Take your pick …

Bull terriers do have uniquely-shaped heads, and are the only dogs with triangular eyes. Like all pure-bred dogs, they have their health challenges. More than 20% of white bull terriers are born deaf. One of the more famous bull terriers is Bill Sikes’ dog Bull’s-eye, in Charles Dickens’ novel “Oliver Twist”.

56 Car rental giant : AVIS

Rental car company Avis used the tagline “We Try Harder” for five decades, starting in the early 1960s. The slogan had its roots in a 1962 ad campaign in which the company made brilliant use of its position behind market leader Hertz. The first rendition of the new tagline was “When you’re only No. 2, you try harder. Or else”. Within a year, Avis turned its first profit in over a decade, and within three years, increased the company’s market share from 29% to 36%. Avis eventually moved on to the slogan “It’s Your Space” in 2012.

57 “Royal” seaside bird : TERN

There are two subspecies of tern known as the royal tern, one native to the coasts of North And South America, and the other native to the West African coast. I suspect that the adjective “royal” is used because they sport a black cap during the breeding season.

63 GQ or EW : MAG

The men’s magazine known today as “GQ” used to be titled “Gentlemen’s Quarterly”. It was known as “Apparel Arts” when launched in 1931.

“Entertainment Weekly” (EW) is a magazine focused on entertainment media news and reviews of movies, television, books, etc. “EW” was launched in 1990.

64 “__, Batman!”: Robin’s cry upon spotting the ends of the answers to starred clues? : HOLY TERRIER!

Batman’s partner Robin is known for his very creative “Holy …!” exclamations. Here are few worth repeating from the original “Batman” TV show:

• “Holy Tintinnabulation!”
• “Holy Knit One, Purl Two!”
• “Holy Oleo!”
• “Holy Hole in a Doughnut!”

66 Lyft driver’s ballpark fig. : ETA

Lyft is a ridesharing service that is based in San Francisco, as is Uber, Lyft’s biggest competitor.

67 Café option : AU LAIT

“Café au lait” (coffee with milk) is usually strong drip coffee to which one adds steamed milk. Well, that’s the way we tend to make in this country.

69 Anthem contraction : O’ER

The words “o’er the ramparts we watched” come from “The Star Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key.

70 “Hard to Stop” air conditioners : TRANES

The heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) company called Trane was formed in 1913 by father and son James and Reuben Trane. James was a Norwegian immigrant, and Reuben earned his mechanical engineering degree at the University of Wisconsin. As the company’s marketing folks say, “It’s hard to stop a Trane”.

Down

1 “The Good Place” Emmy nominee Rudolph : MAYA

Comic actress Maya Rudolph got her break as a regular cast member on “Saturday Night Live”. Rudolph’s mother was singer Minnie Ripperton, who had a big hit in 1975 with the single “Lovin’ You”.

2 In a trice : ANON

“Anon” originally meant “at once”, but the term’s meaning evolved into “soon” apparently just because the word was misused over time.

3 Poker choice : STUD

“Stud poker” is the name given to many variants of poker, all of which are characterized by the dealer giving each player a mix of cards face-down and face-up. The cards facing upwards are called “upcards”. The cards facing downwards are called “hole cards”, cards only visible to the individual who holds that particular hand. This gives rise to the phrase “ace in the hole”, a valuable holding that only the player with the ace is aware of.

5 Debussy’s “La __” : MER

“La Mer” is a lovely group of three symphonic sketches for orchestra by the French composer Claude Debussy. Listen to it, and you can feel yourself at the ocean. “La Mer” is French for “The Sea”.

6 Chancel feature : ALTAR

The chancel of a Christian church is the space surrounding the altar. The chancel sometimes includes the choir and the pulpit.

8 Chick with Grammys : COREA

Chick Corea is an American jazz pianist. Corea is noted for his work in the area of jazz fusion, as well as for his promotion of Scientology.

9 Soothsayer : ORACLE

In ancient Greece and Rome, an oracle was someone believed inspired by the gods to give wise counsel. The word “oracle” derives from the Latin “orare” meaning “to speak”, which is the same root for our word “orator”. One of the most important oracles of ancient Greece was the priestess to Apollo at Delphi.

A soothsayer is someone who claims to have the ability to predict the future. The term comes from “sooth”, an archaic word for “truth”. So a soothsayer was supposedly one who told the “truth” (about the future).

11 Circle lines : RADII

“Radius” (plural “radii”) is a Latin word, as one might expect, a word meaning “spoke of a wheel”. Makes sense, huh …?

18 Library ID : ISBN

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) was invented by one Gordon Foster who was a professor at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. The code was originally developed for booksellers, so that they had a unique number (and now a barcode) for each publication.

22 Hall of Fame Dodger manager Tommy : LASORDA

Tommy Lasorda had been with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers for over sixty years when he retired in 1996 (although he did spend one season playing with the Kansas City Athletics).

24 Luau strings : UKES

The ukulele (uke) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

25 Estée contemporary : COCO

Coco Chanel was a French fashion designer. I’m no fashionista, but if I had to pick a designer whose clothes I really liked, it would be Chanel. She had a way of creating simpler designs that look so elegant on a woman.

Estée Lauder was a very successful businesswoman, and someone with a great reputation as a salesperson. Lauder introduced her own line of fragrances in 1953, a bath oil called “Youth Dew”. “Youth Dew” was marketed as a perfume, but it was added to bathwater. All of a sudden women were pouring whole bottles of Ms. Lauder’s “perfume” into their baths while using only a drop or two of French perfumes behind their ears. That’s quite a difference in sales volume …

26 Mild cheese : EDAM

Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

27 Nursery rhyme trio : MICE

Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
As three blind mice?

28 Frequent prank caller to Moe’s Tavern : BART

On the animated TV comedy “The Simpsons”, Bart likes to prank-call Moe’s Tavern. Bart asks Moe to “page” someone in the bar using a fictitious name, a name which sounds like a rude phrase when called out loud. This running joke on “The Simpsons” is a homage to a series of legendary calls made in real life to the Tube Bar in Jersey City by John Elmo and Jim Davidson that were taped and circulated widely in the mid-seventies. Some of the milder names used in the original prank calls were:

• Al Cholic (alcoholic)
• Cole Kutz (cold cuts)
• Sal Lammy (salami)
• Anita Bath (I need a bath)

29 Arctic garb : ANORAKS

Anoraks really aren’t very popular over here in America. Everyone has one in Ireland! An anorak is a heavy jacket with a hood, often lined with fur (or fake fur), and is an invention of the Inuit people.

34 McBride of “Hawaii Five-0” : CHI

Actor Chi McBride plays Captain Lou Grover on the reboot of the crime drama “Hawaii Five-0”. He was born Kenneth McBride in Chicago, from where he was given the nickname “Chi”.

49 “The Sopranos” actor Robert : ILER

Actor Robert Iler’s most famous role was A.J., son of mob leader Tony Soprano in HBO’s “The Sopranos”. Apparently Iler’s screen persona has spilled over into his personal life, as he was arrested for armed robbery of two tourists in 2001 (and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge).

50 Brief appearance : CAMEO

Even in my day, a cameo role was more than just a short appearance in a movie (or other artistic piece). For the appearance to be a cameo, the actor had to playing himself or herself, and was instantly recognizable. With this meaning it’s easy to see the etymology of the term, as a cameo brooch is one with the recognizable carving of the silhouette of a person. Nowadays, a cameo is any minor role played by a celebrity or famous actor, regardless of the character played.

53 Street of mystery : DELLA

Della Street is Perry Mason’s very capable secretary in the Erle Stanley Gardner novels. Street was played on the TV show by Barbara Hale.

54 “Trumbo” Oscar nominee Cranston : BRYAN

Actor Bryan Cranston is best known today for playing Walter White in the crime drama “Breaking Bad”. Prior to joining that incredibly successful show, Cranston play Hal in the sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle”. He also had a recurring role on “Seinfeld” from 1994 to 1997, as Jerry’s dentist Dr. Tim Whatley.

59 CT scan component : X-RAY

A CT (or “CAT”) scan produces (via computer manipulation) a three-dimensional image of the inside of an object, usually the human body. It does so by taking a series of two dimensional x-ray images while rotating the camera around the patient. The issue with CT scans is that they use x-rays. High doses of radiation can be harmful, causing damage that is cumulative over time.

61 Traditional dance : REEL

The reel is a Scottish country dance that is also extremely popular in Ireland.

62 Mostly depleted sea : ARAL

The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his 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 …

65 UFO passengers, supposedly : ETS

One might speculate that an unidentified flying object (UFO) is flown by an extraterrestrial (ET).

The post LA Times Crossword 5 Dec 19, Thursday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 10m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11 Umami source, briefly : MSG

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of a naturally-occurring,non-essential amino acid called glutamic acid. It is used widely as a flavor enhancer, particularly in many Asian cuisines. Whether or not it is harmful seems to be still under debate. I say that something produced in a test tube shouldn’t be in our food …

Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. “Umami” is a Japanese word used to describe “a pleasant savory taste”. Umami was proposed as a basic taste in 1908, but it wasn’t until 1985 that the scientific community finally accepted it as such.

19 Filch : ROB

“Filch” is a slang word meaning for “steal”. One suggestion is that the term derives from the German “filzen” meaning “comb through”.

20 Tee preceder : ESS

The letter S (ess) precedes the letter T (tee) in the alphabet.

21 Sufferer cleansed by Jesus : LEPER

The horrible disease known as leprosy is also called Hansen’s disease, named after the Norwegian physician famous for isolating the bacterium that causes the disease. We can use the term “leper” to mean someone in general who is shunned by society.

23 “Who wants to visit Muscle Beach?”? : VENICE, ANYONE? (from “tennis, anyone”)

The original Muscle Beach was located on the south side of Santa Monica Pier in Southern California. Bodybuilders started working out on the beach back in the 1930s when exercise equipment was installed there as part of the WPA program. Some of the equipment was removed in the fifties, so the bodybuilding community shifted to the Venice Beach Weight Pen. That area was developed and is now known as Muscle Beach Venice.

26 AFC South athletes : TITANS

The Tennessee Titans are a football team based in Nashville. The team relocated to Nashville from Houston in 1997. They were called the Tennessee Oilers for two seasons, before adopting the “Titans” moniker.

29 Sen. Warren, e.g. : DEM

Elizabeth Warren is the senior US Senator from Massachusetts, and the first female to hold that office for her state. Warren is a prominent Democratic and is a favorite of the progressive wing of the party.

30 “… for none of woman __ / Shall harm Macbeth” : BORN

In William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”, the title character sees several apparitions when he goes to visit the Three Witches. One of these apparitions is a bloody child who tells Macbeth:

Be bloody, bold and resolute: laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.

40 Shutterbug who bugs : PAPARAZZO

The title of the celebrated 1960 Federico Fellini film “La Dolce Vita” translates from Italian as “The Good Life”. There is a character in the film called Paparazzo who is a news photographer. It is this character who gives us our word “Paparazzi”, a term used for photographers who make careers out of taking candid shots of celebrities.

A shutterbug is an enthusiastic amateur photographer, someone who likes to hear the click of that shutter, someone like me …

41 Brewer’s kiln : OAST

An oast is a kiln used for drying hops as part of the brewing process. Such a structure might also be called an “oast house” or “hop kiln”. The term “oast” can also apply to a kiln used to dry tobacco.

42 VW Golf model : GTI

The Volkswagen Rabbit is a small, front-wheel drive car that is sold as the Volkswagen Golf outside of North America. There is a very popular GTI version of the Golf that was introduced in 1976. The initialism “GTI” stands for Grand Tourer Injection.

45 Dumps litter in the woods, e.g.? : VEXES RANGERS (from “Texas Ranger”)

The Texas Rangers are a law enforcement agency that has been around since 1835, although an unofficial force existed since 1823.

51 Stout choices : ALES

The term “stout” was first used for a type of beer in the 1600s when was used to describe a “strong, stout” brew, and not necessarily a dark beer as it is today.

53 Onetime part of Portuguese India : GOA

Goa is the smallest state in India, and is located in the southwest of the country. The Portuguese landed in Goa in the early 1500s, at first peacefully carrying out trade, but then took the area by force creating Portuguese India. Portugal held onto Portuguese India even after the British pulled out of India in 1947, until the Indian Army marched into the area in 1961.

56 Drug injector : PEN

An autoinjector (sometimes just “pen”) is an easy-to-use medical device that delivers a single dose of a drug. Essentially, it is a spring-loaded syringe.

57 King’s pulse, BP, etc.? : ROYAL VITALS (from “royal titles”)

There are four primary vital signs that are measured by health professionals:

1. Body temperature
2. Blood pressure
3. Pulse
4. Breathing rate

60 Tokyo-born artist : ONO

Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist. Ono actually met her future husband John Lennon for the first time while she was preparing her conceptual art exhibit called “Hammer a Nail”. Visitors were encouraged to hammer in a nail into a wooden board, creating the artwork. Lennon wanted to hammer in the first nail, but Ono stopped him as the exhibition had not yet opened. Apparently Ono relented when Lennon paid her an imaginary five shillings to hammer an imaginary nail into the wood.

64 Numbers game : KENO

The name of the game keno has French or Latin roots, with the French “quine” being a term for five winning numbers, and the Latin “quini” meaning “five each”. The game originated in China and was introduced into the West by Chinese immigrants who were working on the first Transcontinental Railroad in the 1800s.

65 Pinball wizard’s reward : REPLAY

Our modern game of pinball evolved from an earlier table game called bagatelle which used balls, pins and holes (and I remember playing bagatelle as boy in a pub in Ireland). The first “pinball” machine was made by a British inventor who settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. He modified the game of bagatelle, adding a coiled spring and a plunger to introduce balls at the end of the table, a device that is still in use today. From there, manufacturers developed coin-operated versions of pinball, which became popular during the depression as they provided a little entertainment for a few pennies. One distributor of the coin-operated pinball machines started manufacturing them himself as he couldn’t source new games fast enough. He called his pinball game Ballyhoo, and eventually named his company Bally, a brand name well known in the gambling industry to this day.

Down

2 First name in couture : YVES

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)

“Haute couture”, literally “high dressmaking” in French, is a name given to the creation of exclusive fashions. A couturier is someone who creates or sells such fashions.

4 Carrier with Tokyo HQ : ANA

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline, one that is now larger in size that the nation’s flag carrier Japan Airlines (JAL).

6 Winning slot machine line : SEVENS

Slot machines earned the nickname “one-armed bandits” simply because they had “one arm”, the handle pulled to operate the machine. Well, they also rob your money!

7 Where to claim a W-4 head-of-household allowance : LINE C

A W-4 is an IRS tax form that is used by an employer to calculate the appropriate amount of tax withholding from an employee’s wages.

8 Author Gide : ANDRE

André Gide was an author from Paris who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947. His works weren’t popular with the Roman Catholic church, and were placed on the Index of Forbidden Books in 1952.

9 Airborne mystery : UFO

Unidentified flying object (UFO)

10 Palme __: film award : D’OR

The “Palme d’Or” (or “Golden Palm” in English) is the highest award given at the Cannes Film Festival. The Palme d’Or goes to the director of the film that is selected as the best shown at the festival that year. The palm was selected as an emblem for the award as there is a palm featured on the coat of arms of the Commune of Cannes.

11 Super __ : MARIO

“Super Mario” is the name of the series video games created by Nintendo that features the character Mario, and his adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom.

13 Gothic architecture feature : GABLE

Gothic architecture is a style that dates back to the mid and late medieval period, following on from the Romanesque style. Gothic architecture originated in France in the 12th century, and was prevalent until the 16th century, when it was largely superseded by the Renaissance style. Gothic buildings often feature pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses. The best known example of Gothic edifices are magnificent cathedrals and abbeys across Europe, many of which are still used today. Examples of the style can be seen in Notre Dame de Paris in France, Westminster Abbey in England, and Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin.

18 56-Across prefix : EPI-
(56A Drug injector : PEN)

EpiPen is a brand of epinephrine auto-injector. An EpiPen delivers a measured dose of epinephrine, which is a common treatment for an extreme allergic reaction.

22 Fitness training apparel : GYM SHOES

Our word “gymnasium” comes from the Greek “gymnasion” meaning “public place where exercise is taken”. The Greek term comes from “gymnos” meaning “naked”, as that physical training was usually done unclothed in ancient Greece.

24 Port SSE of Sana’a : ADEN

Aden is a seaport in Yemen that is located on the Gulf of Aden by the eastern approach to the Red Sea. Aden has a long history of British rule, from 1838 until a very messy withdrawal in 1967. A native of Aden is known as an Adeni. Some believe that Cain and Abel are buried in the city.

Sana (also “Sana’a”) is the capital city of Yemen. Sitting at an elevation of 7,380 feet, Sana is one of the highest capital cities in the world. Within the bounds of today’s metropolis is the old fortified city of Sana, where people have lived for over 2,500 years. The Old City is now a World Heritage Site. According to legend, Sana was founded by Shem, the son of Noah.

26 Culinary meas. : TBSP

Tablespoon (tbsp.)

27 “Field of Dreams” locale : IOWA

“Field of Dreams” is a fantasy drama about baseball, released in 1989 and starring Kevin Costner. The movie is an adaptation of a 1982 novel titled “Shoeless Joe” by Canadian author W. P. Kinsella. Shoeless Joe Jackson was a real baseball player, and someone associated with the Black Sox Scandal that allegedly affected the outcome of the 1919 World Series. Jackson was portrayed by Ray Liotta in the movie. “Field of Dreams” was also the last film in which Burt Lancaster made an appearance. The baseball stadium that was built for the movie can be visited in Dubuque County, Iowa.

32 Hatchet relative : ADZ

An adze (also “adz”) is similar to an axe, but is different in that the blade of an adze is set at right angles to the tool’s shaft. An axe blade is set in line with the shaft.

33 John in Albert Hall : LOO

It has been suggested that the British term “loo”, meaning “toilet”, comes from “Waterloo” (water closet … water-loo), but no one seems to know for sure. Another suggestion is that the term comes from the card game of “lanterloo”, in which the pot was called the loo!

The beautiful Royal Albert Hall in London is most famous as the home to the BBC Prom concerts that have been performed each summer since 1941. The concert hall was opened in 1871 by Queen Victoria. The Queen ordered that the intended name for the new hall be dropped in favor of the “Royal Albert Hall” in honor of her husband Prince Albert, who had passed away ten years earlier.

36 Low mil. ranks : PVTS

The lowest military rank of soldier is often called “private” (pvt.). The term comes from the Middle Ages when “private soldiers” were hired or conscripted by noblemen to form a private army. The more generic usage of “private” started in the 1700s.

38 Old PC monitors : CRTS

Cathode ray tube (CRT)

39 ’60s musical : HAIR

The full name of the famed show from the sixties is “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical”, although the 1979 film adaptation was simply titled “Hair”. This controversial work outraged many when it was first performed in the sixties, as it attacked many aspects of life at the time. For example, the song “Air” is a satirical look at pollution, sung by a character who comes onto the stage wearing a gas mask. The opening lines are “Welcome, sulfur dioxide. Hello carbon monoxide. The air … is everywhere”. How things have changed over the past few decades said he … satirically …

43 Sommelier, e.g. : SERVER

“Sommelier” is the French word for “wine steward”. If that steward is a female, then the term used in French is “sommelière”.

44 White weasel : ERMINE

The stoat has dark brown fur in the summer, and white fur in the winter. Sometimes the term “ermine” is used for the animal during the winter when the fur is white. Ermine skins have long been prized by royalty and are often used for white trim on ceremonial robes.

46 John Paul’s successor : ELENA

Elena Kagan was the Solicitor General of the United States from 2009 until 2010, when she replaced Justice John Paul Stevens on the US Supreme Court. That made Justice Kagan the first female US Solicitor General and the fourth female US Supreme Court justice. Kagan also served as the first female dean of Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009.

John Paul Stevens retired as an associate justice on the US Supreme Court in 2010 after having served for over 34 years. That made him the third longest serving justice in the history of the court. Stevens had been nominated by President Gerald Ford to replace Justice William O. Douglas, who had been the longest serving justice in the court (at over 36 years).

47 Element from the Greek for “strange” : XENON

Xenon was the first of the noble gases to be made into a compound, which was somewhat remarkable in that the noble gases were thought by many to be completely inert, unreactive.

48 Indo-__ languages : ARYAN

The Indo-Aryans are a collection of peoples that speak languages that share the same linguistic roots, traced back to the ancient Indo-Iranian peoples. Included in the Indo-Aryan group of peoples are the Bengali people, the Gurkhas, the Kashmiri people and the Punjabi people.

50 128 fl. oz. : GAL

The name of our fluid measure called a “gallon” ultimately comes from the Medieval Latin term “galleta” meaning “bucket, pail”.

53 Conquest for Caesar : GAUL

The Gauls were a Celtic race, with Gaul covering what is now known as France and Belgium. We use the term “Gallic” today, when we refer to something pertaining to France or the French.

By 59 BC, Julius Caesar was a very powerful man in Rome and had just been elected to the position of consul, the highest magistracy in the Republic. Famously, he aligned himself with two other powerful men in Rome, Pompey and Crassus, forming the First Triumvirate. At the end of his year as consul, Caesar was elected proconsul (for 5 years), and was appointed governor of three provinces north of Rome (including Gaul), with control of four legions of the army. Caesar extended the reach of the Roman Republic in the Gallic Wars, and became very popular with the people back in Rome. However the Senate, led by his erstwhile ally Pompey, feared the power that could be exercised by Caesar, so at the end of his term as proconsul they ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome. Caesar agreed to return to Rome, but not to disband his army. On 10 January 49 BC, despite all the warnings, he marched back into Italy by crossing the Rubicon River, along with his army, plunging Rome into Civil War. Since then, “crossing the Rubicon” has come to mean “passing the point of no return”.

54 Lingerie brand : OLGA

Olga is a brand of lingerie that is produced by American clothing retailer Bare Necessities.

57 ’60s A.G. : RFK

Robert “Bobby” Francis Kennedy (RFK) was the US Attorney General (AG) in the administration of his brother President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1964. He then served as a US Senator for the State of New York from 1965 until 1968, when he was assassinated. Bobby was killed during his own run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency.

The post LA Times Crossword 6 Dec 19, Friday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 13m 31s

Bill’s errors: 2

• SHAKSHUKA (shaishuka)
• MARKKA (Marika!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15 Period that ended with the death of Marcus Aurelius : PAX ROMANA

“Pax Romana” is Latin for “Roman Peace”. The term described a period in Roman history for the 1st and 2nd centuries AD during which the Roman Empire was ruled by Caesar Augustus. Under his control, expansionist ideas by powerful generals were held in check, and the peoples of foreign lands ruled by the Romans were relatively calm. The peace enjoyed was considered uneasy as Rome governed its conquered territories with an iron fist, and insurrection was likely at all times. The expression “pax Romana” then came to be used in English to describe any situation in which there is an uneasy peace, a peace imposed by a powerful state on a weaker state.

Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of Rome from 161 until his passing in 180. His death in 180 is generally regarded as the end of the “Pax Romana”, the long period of relative peace in the Roman Empire that started in 27 BCE. So, the death of Marcus Aurelius also marked the beginning of what came to be known as the Fall of the Roman Empire.

18 Former TBS comedy “__ Tribeca” : ANGIE

“Angie Tribeca” is a sitcom created by Steve Carell and his wife Nancy Walls Carell. The title role is an LAPD police detective played by actress Rashida Jones.

19 Longtime E Street Band member : NILS LOFGREN

Musician Nils Lofgren was a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band for over 25 years. Lofgren provided vocals and played guitar, and was hired as the replacement for Steven Van Zandt.

21 Storage areas : CLOSETS

In Old French a “clos” was an enclosure, with the diminutive form “closet” describing a small enclosure or private room. Over time this evolved into our modern usage of “closet”, describing a cabinet or cupboard.

27 Jones of jazz : ETTA

Etta Jones was a jazz singer who was sometimes known as the “jazz musician’s jazz singer”. Because she has a similar name to Etta James, Jones was often confused with the more famous singer. Jones never really had any huge commercial success though, despite the respect that she engendered within the inner sanctums of the jazz world.

34 Org. that runs some 28-Across : USGA
(28A Certain tournaments : OPENS)

The United States Golf Association (USGA) was formed in 1894. The need for a governing body for the sport became evident that year when both the Newport Country Club and the St. Andrew’s Golf Club in Yonkers, declared that the winner of a tournament at each of their courses was the “national amateur champion”. The first president of the USGA was Theodore Havemeyer, and to this day the one and only US Amateur Trophy bears his name.

35 Bight, e.g. : INLET

A bight is a bend in a shoreline, or the body of water bounded by such a bend. A bight is therefore similar to a bay.

36 Words before many words : IN SO …

That would be “… in so many words”.

37 Sci-fi superweapon : DEATH STAR

In the “Star Wars” universe, a Death Star is a huge space station that is the size of a moon. A Death Star is armed with a superlaser that can destroy entire planets.

39 “The Lady of the Lake” author : SCOTT

Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish novelist and playwright, the first English-language author to gain popularity around the world during his own lifetime. The most famous of his works are “Ivanhoe”, “Rob Roy” and “The Lady of the Lake”.

“The Lady of the Lake” is an 1810 narrative poem by Scottish author Walter Scott. The poem includes the original lyrics of the song “Hail to the Chief”, which was to become the official Presidential Anthem of the US.

41 Rival of Kaspersky : MCAFEE

McAfee is a security software company now known as Intel Security Group. Purchased by Intel in 2011, the company was founded by John McAfee in 1987. John McAfee might be described as a “bit of a character”. He lived in Belize for several years, before being forced out of the country. After returning to the US, McAfee went after the Libertarian Party nomination for US president in the 2016 election.

Kaspersky Lab is a cybersecurity company based in Moscow that is perhaps best known for supplying antivirus software. Although popular in Europe, Kaspersky software is used far less over here in the US, largely because of claims by the US government of ties between Kaspersky and the Russian government.

49 One who can’t pass the bar? : TOPER

To tope is to drink alcohol excessively and habitually.

50 Savory North African poached-egg dish : SHAKSHUKA

Shakshouka (also “shakshuka”) is a dish that originated in North Africa. It consists of eggs poached in a sauce made from tomatoes, chili peppers, garlic and several spices. I’m hungry …

Down

2 Standard course number : PAR

That would be golf.

6 NFL great Smith who won “Dancing With the Stars” in 2006 : EMMITT

Emmitt Smith is a retired football player who turned out for the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals. Smith was on three Super Bowl-winning teams with the Cowboys. Smith is also quite a dancer and won the “Dancing with the Stars” mirror ball trophy in 2006.

7 Asian weight units : TAELS

The Far Eastern measurement known as a tael is used to weigh out precious metals, as well as herbal medicines.

8 Fawlty Towers et al. : INNS

“Fawlty Towers” might just be the world’s greatest sitcom, and is popular on both sides of the Atlantic. It was written by, and stars, John Cleese and his then-wife Connie Booth. There were two series, one broadcast in 1975, and the other in 1979. There have been three attempts to remake the series in the US, one of which starred John Larroquette as Basil Fawlty, but none of the remakes worked at all.

12 Combative, slangily : AGGRO

“Aggro” is a term that we use a lot in Ireland, and probably more so than in the UK. It can mean an “annoyance” (short for “aggravation”) but is more often used to mean “trouble”, as in someone caused trouble, created aggro.

13 ’60s-’70s South Vietnamese president : THIEU

Nguyen Van Thieu was president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was also the last person to hold the office, as it was abolished following the reunification of the country at the end of the Vietnam War.

14 Medical tube : STENT

In the world of surgical medicine, a stent is an artificial tube inserted inside a vessel in the body, say an artery, in order to reduce the effects of a local restriction in the body’s conduit.

21 Storage area : CLOUD

In the world of computing, when one operates “in the cloud”, one’s files and key applications are not stored on one’s own computer, but rather are residing “in the cloud”, on a computer somewhere out on the Internet. I do 90% of my computing in the cloud. That way I don’t have to worry about backing up files, and I can operate from any computer if I have to …

23 Onassis’ first : OMEGA

Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and is the one that looks like a horseshoe when in uppercase. The lowercase omega looks like a Latin W. The word “omega” literally means “great O” (O-mega). Compare this with the Greek letter Omicron, meaning “little O” (O-micron).

The long O in “Onassis” would be written as Ω (omega) in Greek.

24 French upper house : SENAT

In French, the “Parlement français” (French parliament) is divided into the “Sénat” (Senate) and the “Assemblée nationale” (National Assembly).

27 Key of Beethoven’s “Eroica” : E-FLAT

Beethoven originally dedicated his “Symphony No. 3” to Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven admired the principles of the French Revolution and as such respected Bonaparte who was “born” out of the uprising. When Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven (and much of Europe) saw this as a betrayal to the ideals of the revolution so he changed the name of his new symphony from “Bonaparte” to “Eroica”, meaning “heroic, valiant”.

29 Ristorante courses : ANTIPASTI

Antipasto (plural “antipasti”) is the first course of a meal in Italy. “Antipasto” translates as “before the meal”.

30 Battery acronym : NICAD

A NiCad rechargeable battery is so called because the electrodes are made of nickel oxide hydroxide and metallic cadmium.

32 Bony prefix : OSTEO-

The prefix “osteo-” is a combining form meaning “bone”. The term comes from “steon”, the Greek for “bone”.

35 Faith with five pillars : ISLAM

Followers of the Muslim tradition believe in the Five Pillars of Islam, five obligatory acts that underpin Muslim life. The Five Pillars are:

1. The Islamic creed
2. Daily prayer
3. Almsgiving
4. Fasting during the month of Ramadan
5. The pilgrimage to Mecca (haj, hajj, hadj) once during a lifetime

38 Julie of “Airplane!” : HAGERTY

The 1980 movie “Airplane!” has to be one of the zaniest comedies ever made. The lead roles were Ted Striker (played by Robert Hays) and Elaine Dickinson (played by Julie Hagerty). But it was Leslie Nielsen who stole the show, playing Dr. Barry Rumack. That’s my own humble opinion of course …

41 Pre-euro Finnish currency : MARKKA

The markka was the currency of Finland that was used until it was replaced by the euro in 2002. The markka was introduced by the Finns in 1860 to replace the Russian ruble.

42 First speaker in “Macbeth” : WITCH

The three witches in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” have some lovely lines as they boil up and evil brew and cast a spell:

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,–
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

43 Marvel Comics’ original Enchantress : AMORA

In the Marvel Comics universe, “Amora” is the real name of one of the superheroes known as the Enchantress. There is a second character known as the Enchantress, who models herself on the first. The real name of the second Enchantress is Sylvie Lushton.

46 “A Guide to Confident Living” author : PEALE

Norman Vincent Peale was the author of the bestseller “The Power of Positive Thinking”. Peale was a Protestant preacher, and for decades was pastor of the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan in New York City. Peale also founded the nonprofit group that publishes “Guideposts” magazine.

48 “Star Trek” villain : KHAN

In the 1982 movie “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” William Shatner played James T. Kirk, and the evil Khan was played by Ricardo Montalbán. Leonard Nimoy didn’t want to appear in the sequel, and only agreed to do so when the producers agreed to “kill off” Spock at the end of the story (but he comes back … and back … and back …).

51 Catalaunian Plains combatant, 451 AD : HUN

The Huns were a nomadic people who originated in Eastern Europe in the 4th century. Under the command of Attila the Hun they developed a unified empire that stretched from modern-day Germany across to the steppes of Central Asia. The whole of the Hunnic Empire collapsed within a year of Attila’s death in 453 AD.

The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains of 451 CE was fought between the Huns and a coalition of Romans and Visigoths. There are many aspects of the battle that are disputed today, including the conclusiveness of the outcome, and the location of the Catalaunian Plains. It is generally agreed that the battle took place in the northeast of modern France, near the city of Troyes. Whether or not the Huns emerged victorious on the day of the battle, it is clear that the Huns returned the following year to invade modern-day Italy and trigger the decline of the Western Roman Empire.

52 Adaptable vehicle, for short : UTE

A utility vehicle is often called a “ute” for short. Nowadays one mainly hears about sport-utes and crossover-utes.

53 Ali had 37 : KOS

Muhammad Ali won 56 professional fights, 37 of which were knockouts. He lost 5 fights, 4 being decisions and one being a technical knockout (TKO). The TKO-loss was Ali’s second-to-last fight, against Larry Holmes. By the time Ali took on Holmes, he was already showing signs of Parkinson’s Syndrome, although the diagnosis would not come until four years later.

54 Blackbeard’s backward : AFT

Blackbeard the pirate was given the slave ship called La Concorde de Nantes in 1717 by his boss, the pirate Benjamin Hornigold. Blackbeard renamed the vessel Queen Anne’s Revenge, possibly as a nod to Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch. Blackbeard lost the vessel off the coast of North Carolina less than a year later. The wreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge was discovered in shallow water in 1996 and is still undergoing excavation.

The post LA Times Crossword 7 Dec 19, Saturday appeared first on LAXCrossword.com.

Bill’s time: 15m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4 Author Janowitz : TAMA

Tama Janowitz is an American writer. Janowitz was born in San Francisco but has lived much of her life in New York City. In New York she hung around with the likes of Andy Warhol and became well known in literary circles. Her most famous work is a collection of short stories called “Slaves of New York”, which was made into a film of the same name in 1989.

8 Green eggs and ham promoter : SAM-I-AM

Dr. Seuss’s famous children’s book “Green Eggs and Ham” was first published in 1960. “Green Eggs and Ham” now ranks twelfth in the list of top selling children’s books. By the way, “Harry Potter” books hold the top four slots in that list. The text of “Green Eggs and Ham” has a lot of “I am” going on. It starts with:

I am Sam
I am Sam
Sam I am

and ends with:

I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am

14 USPS deliveries : LTRS

The US Postal Service (USPS) delivers a lot of letters (ltrs.).

18 Brown of jazz : LES

Les Brown and His Band of Renown are a big band that started to perform in the late thirties and are still going strong today. Les Brown led the band from the start, and worked with the likes of Doris Day, Bob Hope and Tony Bennett. Brown passed away in 2001, and the band is now led by his son Les Brown, Jr.

19 Beats it : SCATS (cat on a lap)

Our word “scat!” means “get lost!” It comes from a 19th-century expression “quicker than s’cat”, which meant “in a great hurry”. The original phrase probably came from the words “hiss” and “cat”.

21 Thorny shrub : ACACIA

Acacia is a genus of trees and shrubs, that is also known as thorntree, whistling thorn and wattle. The acacia is the primary food source for the giraffe in the wild, with the animal eating the leaves high in the tree, leaves that are inaccessible to competing species. The natural gum from two species of acacia tree is known as gum arabic, which is used in the food industry as a stabilizer.

27 Hall of Famers : GREATS

The first Hall of Fame (HOF) established in the US was the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, an outdoor sculpture gallery located in the grounds of Bronx Community College in New York City. Completed in 1900, it is an open-air colonnade featuring the bronze busts of renowned Americans such as President George Washington, author Henry David Thoreau, musician John Philip Sousa and baseball legend Jackie Robinson. The Hall of Fame of Great Americans was inspired by the Ruhmeshalle (“Hall of Fame” in German) located in Munich, Germany that exhibits busts of important people from Bavaria.

32 Curtail : TRUNCATE (cat on a couch)

“To truncate” is to cut short. The term derives from the Latin “truncus” meaning “cut off, deprived of branches or limbs”. The same root gives us our word “trunk”.

38 My Chemical Romance 2-Down : EMO
(2D Category : GENRE)

My Chemical Romance was an alternative rock band from Jersey City that was active from 2001 to 2013.

51 Battery terminal : CATHODE (cat on a chair)

A battery is a device that converts chemical energy into electric energy. A simple battery is made up of three parts: a cathode, an anode and a liquid electrolyte. Ions from the electrolyte react chemically with the material in the anode producing a compound and releasing electrons. At the same time, the electrolyte reacts with the material in the cathode, absorbing electrons and producing a different chemical compound. In this way, there is a buildup of electrons at the anode and a deficit of electrons at the cathode. When a connection (wire, say) is made between the cathode and anode, electrons flow through the resulting circuit from the anode to cathode in an attempt to rectify the electron imbalance.

55 Orchestra section leader : FIRST CHAIR

In an orchestra, the first violins are led by the concertmaster, often referred to as the “first chair” in the US. The first chair is usually regarded as the most skilled of the first violin section, and will usually play any solo passages (unless a guest soloist is performing a violin concerto).

59 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.

60 Tiny lab subjects : AMOEBAS

An ameba (also “amoeba”) is a single-celled microorganism. The name comes from the Greek “amoibe”, meaning change. The name is quite apt, as the cell changes shape readily as the ameba moves, eats and reproduces.

61 Maxwell competitor : REO

The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom Eli Olds (hence the name REO). The company made cars, trucks and buses, and was in business from 1905 to 1975 in Lansing, Michigan. Among the company’s most famous models were the REO Royale and the REO Flying Cloud.

Maxwell was a line cars made in the US in the early 1900s. The manufacturer was named for co-founder Jonathan Dixon Maxwell, an ex-employee of Oldsmobile. At one point, Maxwell operated the largest automobile plant in the world, in New Castle, Indiana. The company overextended itself financially in the 1920s and was eventually absorbed into the Chrysler Corporation that was founded in 1925.

63 “If it’s handcrafted, … it’s on __” : ETSY

Etsy.com is an e-commerce website where you can buy and sell the kind of items that you might find at a craft fair.

64 Designing initials : YSL

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)

65 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.

66 Most Dresden residents : GERMANS

The German city of Dresden was almost completely destroyed during WWII, especially as a result of the famous firebombing of the city in 1945. Restoration work in the inner city in recent decades led to it being designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, in 2006 when the city built a highway bridge close to the city center, UNESCO took Dresden off the list. This marked the only time a European location has lost World Heritage status.

71 Medical suffix : -OMA

In the world of medicine, the suffix “-oma” is used to denote a swelling or a tumor. For example, a lipoma is a benign, fatty tumor.

74 Anatomical canal : ITER

An iter is an anatomical passageway. The term “iter” is Latin for “path, journey”.

76 Its “B” is sometimes turkey : BLT

The BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) is the second-most popular sandwich in the US, after the plain old ham sandwich.

77 Lively musical piece : TOCCATA (cat on a tree)

A toccata is a virtuoso piece of music, one usually written for a keyboard or plucked string instrument, and one that has fast-moving passages that emphasize the dexterity of the performer’s fingers. It is a piece of music with an “improvisatory feel”, a piece that seems very spontaneous in form. The name “toccata” comes from the Italian word “toccare” meaning “to touch”.

81 1993 Literature Nobelist Morrison : TONI

Writer Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Amongst other things, Morrison is noted for coining the phrase “our first black President”, a reference to President Bill Clinton.

95 Part of a Shakespearean soothsayer’s warning : THE IDES

In Act I of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, a soothsayer warns the doomed emperor to “beware the ides of March”. Caesar ignores the prophecy and is subsequently killed on the steps of the Capitol by a group of conspirators on that fateful day.

100 Film __ : NOIR

The expression “film noir” has French origins, but only in that it was coined by a French critic in describing a style of Hollywood film. The term, meaning “black film” in French, was first used by Nino Frank in 1946. Film noir often applies to a movie with a melodramatic plot and a private eye or detective at its center. Good examples would be “The Big Sleep” and “D.O.A”.

105 Bridge positions : EASTS

The four people playing bridge (the card game) are positioned around a table at seats referred to as north, east, south and west. Each player belongs to a pair, with north playing with south, and east playing with west.

113 Excoriate : SCATHE (cat on a carpet)

To excoriate is to abrade or chafe. “To excoriate” also means to strongly denounce something or someone.

114 Queens’ __ Field : CITI

Citi Field is the relatively new baseball stadium used by the New York Mets that sits right next door to the site of Shea stadium, where the Mets had played for decades. And the new facility’s name comes from corporate sponsor Citigroup.

122 Conservative foe, in the U.K. : LABOUR

The UK’s Labour Party was founded in 1900 in response to a demand by the electorate for representation of the urban working class. The party’s first leader was Scottish trade unionist Keir Hardie.

124 “Yo te __” : AMO

In Spanish, one might say “yo te amo” (I love you) “con flores” (with flowers).

127 High-tech workers : BOTS

Karel Čapek was a Czech writer noted for his works of science fiction. Čapek’s 1920 play “R.U.R.” is remembered in part for introducing the world to the word “robot”. The words “automaton” and “android” were already in use, but Capek gave us “robot” from the original Czech “robota” meaning “forced labor”. The acronym “R.U.R.”, in the context of the play, stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots”.

Down

3 Cosmetician Lauder : ESTEE

Estée Lauder was a very successful businesswoman, and someone with a great reputation as a salesperson. Lauder introduced her own line of fragrances in 1953, a bath oil called “Youth Dew”. “Youth Dew” was marketed as a perfume, but it was added to bathwater. All of a sudden women were pouring whole bottles of Ms. Lauder’s “perfume” into their baths while using only a drop or two of French perfumes behind their ears. That’s quite a difference in sales volume …

4 African menaces : TSETSES

The tsetse fly is responsible for the transmission of sleeping sickness, a disease that is more correctly called African trypanosomiasis. The disease is only observed in humans who have been bitten by a tsetse fly that is infected with the trypanosome parasitic protozoan.

5 Orthopedic surgery targets, initially : ACLS

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four major ligaments that support the knee.

7 For face value : AT PAR

In days gone by, when companies first issued a stock, each share would be given a face value (called “par value”). In effect, the company was making a commitment not to issue any more stock under that par value, giving investors confidence that there was no better deal to be had. Nowadays, most stock is issued without such a “guarantee” and is called “no-par stock”.

8 Longtime “The Avengers” comics artist Buscema : SAL

Sal Buscema is a comics artist who is most closely associated with Marvel Comics, and drawing “The Incredible Hulk” and “The Avengers”. Sal’s elder brother John Buscema also drew “The Avengers”.

9 Pressure lead-in : ACU-

Acupressure and acupuncture are related alternative medical techniques. Both aim to clear blockages in the flow of life energy through the body’s meridians. The treatment is given by stimulating “acupoints” in the body, by applying pressure in the case of acupressure, and by applying needles in the case of acupuncture.

11 Post-OR area : ICU

Intensive care unit (ICU)

13 Perchance, old-style : MAYHAP

“Mayhap” is an adverb meaning “perhaps”. The term comes from the phrase “it may hap”.

16 Hebrew for “head” : ROSH

Rosh Hashanah is loosely referred to as “Jewish New Year”. The literal translation from Hebrew is “head of the year”.

17 “__ Loves You”: Beatles hit : SHE

The Beatles song “She Loves You” was released in 1963. It was one of five songs that together achieved an amazing feat in the US charts. At one point that year, those five songs were in the top five positions. The top five songs were:

1. “Can’t Buy Me Love”
2. “Twist and Shout”
3. “She Loves You”
4. “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
5. “Please Please Me”

Further down the charts, and still in the top 100, were seven more Beatles songs.

20 Annual Jan. speech, in Twitter hashtags : SOTU

The US President’s State of the Union (SOTU) address is a requirement called out in Article II of the Constitution. George Washington gave the first address before a joint session of Congress in 1790. Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice of making a personal address by sending Congress a written document that was then read out by a clerk. In 1913, Woodrow Wilson re-established the custom of delivering the message personally, there have been occasions since then when a written address has had to suffice, the last occasion being in 1981 when Jimmy Carter was in office.

30 Ecuadoran gold region : EL ORO

El Oro is a coastal province in the south of Ecuador. El Oro (meaning “The Gold”) takes its name from the gold production industry. The province is also one of the biggest banana exporters in the world.

32 Holy scrolls : TORAHS

The Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, are traditionally believed to have been written by Moses. As such, they are sometimes referred to as the Law of Moses, or Mosaic Law.

39 Deerskin attire : MOCCASINS

“Moc” is short for “moccasin”, a type of shoe. The moccasin is a traditional form of footwear worn by members of many Native American tribes.

43 1992-’93 NBA Rookie of the Year : O’NEAL

Retired basketball player Shaquille O’Neal now appears regularly as an analyst on the NBA TV show “Inside the NBA”. Shaq has quite a career in the entertainment world. His first rap album, called “Shaq Diesel”, went platinum. He also starred in two of his own reality shows: “Shaq’s Big Challenge” and “Shaq Vs.”

45 Architect Saarinen : EERO

Eero Saarinen was a Finnish-American architect who was renowned in this country for his unique designs for public buildings such as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles International Airport Terminal, and the TWA building at JFK. The list of his lesser-known, but still impressive, works includes several buildings erected on academic campuses. For example, the Chapel and Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus, the Emma Hartman Noyes House at Vassar College, the Law School building at the University of Chicago, and Yale’s David S. Ingalls Rink.

47 Penn, e.g.: Abbr. : STA

Penn Station in New York City may have been the first Pennsylvania Station, but it’s not the only one. The Pennsylvania Railroad gave that name to many of its big passenger terminals, including one in Philadelphia (now called 30th Street Station), one in Baltimore, one in Pittsburgh, one in Cleveland, as well as others.

54 Dancer who played a scarecrow : RAY BOLGER

In the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz”, Ray Bolger played the Scarecrow, his most famous role. At the end of the original script, Bolger (in the guise of a farmhand) heads off to agricultural school with Dorothy, hinting that there might be a romance in their future. All that was cut from the film before shooting started.

56 Not yet on the sched. : TBA

Something not yet on the schedule (“sked” or “sched.”) is to be advised/announced (TBA).

58 Capt.’s inferiors : LTS

The rank of lieutenant (lt.) is superior to the rank of sergeant (sgt.), and below the rank of captain (capt.).

62 Fed. fiscal agency : OMB

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the successor to the Bureau of the Budget that was formed in 1970 during the Nixon administration. The main task of the OMB is to prepare the budget for the federal government. The Director of the OMB is a member of the Cabinet.

67 1966 Michael Caine title role : ALFIE

There have been two versions of the movie “Alfie”. The original, and for my money the best, was made in 1966 with Michael Caine. The remake came out in 2004 and stars Jude Law in the title role. The theme song was performed by Cher in the 1966 movie, but it was Dionne Warwick’s cover version from 1967 that was the most successful in the charts.

There have been only two actors who have been nominated for an Academy Award in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s. One is Jack Nicholson, and the other is Michael Caine. Caine is now known as Sir Michael Caine, as he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the year 2000.

69 Aloof : ICY

I suppose one might guess from the “feel” of the word “aloof” that is has nautical roots. Originally “aloof” meant “to windward” and was the opposite of “alee”. A helmsman might be instructed to stay aloof, to steer the boat into the weather to keep a distance from a lee-shore. It is from this sense of maintaining a distance that aloof came to mean “distant” in terms of personality. Interesting, huh …?

72 Loot : MOOLA

Lettuce, cabbage, kale, dough, scratch, cheddar, simoleons, clams and moola(h) are all slang terms for money.

73 2006 Dunst title role : ANTOINETTE

“Marie Antoinette” is a 2006 film by Sofia Coppola that stars Kirsten Dunst in the title role. A lot of the film’s footage was actually shot in the Palace of Versailles. This is an interesting movie, with lavish costumes and a contemporary soundtrack that stands out given the period depicted on the screen.

Marie Antoinette was the wife of Louis XVI, the last king of France. Marie Antoinette was the fifteenth of sixteen children born to the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. The marriage to Louis, her second cousin once removed, was arranged while the two were very young. The prospective bride was “handed over” to the French at a border crossing in 1770 and two weeks later she was married to the future king. Marie Antoinette was just 14 years of age at the time, and Louis only a year her senior. Both Louis and Marie Antoinette were doomed to lose their heads courtesy of the guillotine during the French Revolution.

Kirsten Dunst is a Hollywood actress from Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Dunst is perhaps best known for playing the love interest and female lead in the “Spider-Man” series of movies opposite Tobey Maguire. Personally, my favorite Dunst films are “Wimbledon” and “Marie Antoinette”. Dunst is a dual citizen of the US and Germany, as her father is from Hamburg.

75 Big name in electric cars : TESLA

Tesla Motors shortened its name to just “Tesla” in early 2017.

77 Soldier’s helmet : TIN HAT

The helmet worn by British and American soldiers for much of WWI was known colloquially as a “tin hat”, and more formally as a “Brodie helmet”. Inventor John Leopold Brodie patented the design in 1915 in London. The helmet was pressed from a single sheet of steel, lined with leather and included a leather chin strap.

78 R&B vocalist India.__ : ARIE

India.Arie is an American soul and R&B singer who was born India Arie Simpson in Denver, Colorado.

79 “Bill & __ Excellent Adventure” : TED’S

“Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” is a 1989 comedy sci-fi film, starring Alex Winter as Bill and Keanu Reeves as Ted. It’s about two lazy students traveling through time in preparation for a history assignment, with a lot of “Dude!” and “Excellent!” scattered throughout the dialog. Reading the plot, this isn’t a movie that I’d normally go for, but somehow, I enjoyed it …

80 ’50s political initials : AES

Adlai Stevenson (AES) ran for president unsuccessfully against Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE), once in 1952 and again in 1956. Some years after his second defeat, Stevenson served under President Kennedy (JFK) as Ambassador to the United Nations. Stevenson was always noted for his eloquence and he had a famous exchange in a UN Security Council meeting during the Cuban missile crisis. Stevenson bluntly demanded that the Soviet representative on the council tell the world if the USSR was installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. His words were “Don’t wait for the translation, answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’!” followed by “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over!”

85 Charles River sch. : MIT

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was founded in 1861 and first offered classes in 1865, in the Mercantile building in Boston. Today’s magnificent campus on the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge opened in 1916.

87 Like TV’s “Supernatural,” e.g. : EERIE

The American TV show “Supernatural” started airing in 2005. It’s about two brothers hunting down ghosts and demons. Not my cup of tea …

88 Mother of the Titans : GAEA

The Greek goddess personifying the earth was Gaea (also “Gaia”, and meaning “land” or “earth” in Greek). The Roman equivalent goddess was Terra Mater, “Mother Earth”.

The Titans were a group of twelve older deities in Greek mythology, the twelve children of the primordial Gaia and Uranus, Mother Earth and Father Sky. In the celebrated Battle of the Titans, they were overthrown by the Olympians, who were twelve younger gods. We use the term “titan” figuratively to describe a powerful person, someone with great influence.

89 Former Fords : LTDS

There has been a lot of speculation about what the abbreviation “LTD” stands for in the car model known as “Ford LTD”. Many say it is an initialism standing for “Luxury Trim Decor”, and others say that it is short for “limited”. Although the car was produced in Australia with the initialism meaning “Lincoln Type Design”, it seems that “LTD” was originally chosen as just three meaningless letters that sound well together.

93 Harem room : ODA

Oda is the Turkish word for “room”, and is the name used for a room within a harem in the days of the Ottoman Empire. We use the derivative word “odalisque” for “a concubine” or “a chamber girl”.

“Harem” is a Turkish word derived from the Arabic for “forbidden place”. Traditionally a harem was the female quarters in a household in which a man had more than one wife. Not only wives (and concubines) would use the harem, but also young children and other female relatives. The main point was that no men were allowed in the area.

94 “60 Minutes” network : CBS

The marvelous news magazine program “60 Minutes” has been on the air since 1968. The show is unique among all other regularly-scheduled shows in that it has never used theme music. There is just the ticking of that Aristo stopwatch.

96 Antarctic features : ICE CAPS

The polar ice cap at the north of our planet is floating pack ice in the Arctic Ocean. The southern polar ice cap is an ice sheet that covers the landmass known as Antarctica. About 70% of all the freshwater on Earth is held in the southern polar ice cap.

98 Expert in futures? : ORACLE

In ancient Greece and Rome, an oracle was someone believed inspired by the gods to give wise counsel. The word “oracle” derives from the Latin “orare” meaning “to speak”, which is the same root for our word “orator”. One of the most important oracles of ancient Greece was the priestess to Apollo at Delphi.

102 252 wine gallons : TUN

A tun is a barrel, often a large barrel used in winemaking. The term “tun” came to be a measure of volume, originally 252 gallons of wine. The weight of such a volume of wine was referred to as a “tun”, which evolved into our contemporary unit “ton”.

106 Berne’s river : AAR

The Aar (also called the “Aare” in German) is the longest river entirely in Switzerland. The Aar is a major tributary of the Rhine and flows through Bern, the nation’s capital.

Bern (sometimes “Berne”, especially in French) is the capital city of Switzerland. The official language of the city is German, but the language most spoken in Bern is a dialect known as Bernese German.

107 Fifth-century bishop in Ireland, familiarly : ST PAT

There is a fair amount known about Saint Patrick, some of which comes from two letters written in his own hand. St. Patrick lived in the fifth century, but was not born in Ireland. He was first brought to Ireland at about 16 years of age from his native Britain, by Irish raiders who made him a slave for six years. Patrick managed to escape and returned to his homeland where he studied and entered the Church. He went back to Ireland as a bishop and a missionary and there lived out the rest of his life. There seems to be good evidence that he died on March 17th (now celebrated annually as Saint Patrick’s Day), although the year is less clear. The stories about shamrock and snakes, I am afraid they are the stuff of legend.

111 Photographer Dora who had a relationship with Picasso : MAAR

Dora Maar was a famous French photographer. She became Pablo Picasso’s lover and muse, when she was 29 and Picasso 54. The pair had a complicated relationship that lasted nine years. Picasso painted a portrait of her called “Dora Maar with Cat” that was sold at auction in 2006 for almost $100 million, which at that time was the second-highest price ever paid for a painting.

113 Cottontail’s tail : SCUT

A scut is short erect tail, like that on a rabbit or a deer.

Cottontail are rabbits that are native to the Americas. They are very prolific breeders, but they need to be. Very few young cottontails survive to maturity as they are prey to almost every animal that is larger in size or moves more quickly, including snakes and birds of prey. Their stubby white tail gives the name “cottontail”.

116 Certain corp. takeover : LBO

A leveraged buyout (LBO) is a transaction in which an investor acquires a controlling volume of stock in a company, but buys that stock with borrowed funds (hence “leveraged”). Often the assets of the acquired company are used as collateral for the borrowed money. There is a special form of LBO known as a management buyout (MBO) in which the company’s own management team purchase the controlling interest.

117 Airport near Tel Aviv : LOD

The Israeli city of Lod lies just a few miles southeast of Tel Aviv. Lod is the home of Ben Gurion International, Israel’s main airport.

119 Surg. sites : ORS

Surgery (surg.) is usually performed in an operating room (OR).

120 Ike’s WWII arena : ETO

General Dwight D. Eisenhower (“Ike”) was in command of the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during WWII. If you’re a WWII buff like me, then I recommend you take a look at a great, made-for-TV movie starring Tom Selleck as Eisenhower called “Ike: Countdown to D-Day” that came out in 2004.

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