Crossword by: Jack McInturff and edited by Rich Norris
Welcome to the answers to the Friday October 18 2013 LA Times crossword puzzle! Revealed by 59 Across, today’s themed answers are also today’s longest answers and if you were to remove the ‘b’ from the first word of them you will get a common name or phrase. The themed answers are: Cobol Cats (remove the b and you get Cool Cats), Limbo Driver (remove the b and you get Limo Driver), Sables Tax, (remove the b and you get Sales Tax) and Root Beer…you get the drift by now:)
Across Answers
1. Hardly hardy FRAIL
6. Wind instrument VANE
A vane, or a weather vane, is used to show which direction the wind is going.
10. Minute Rice instruction STIR
Minute rice, also called Instant rice, is rice that has been precooked and then dehydrated so it can cook faster from five to less than ten minutes, compared to regular rice that takes about fifteen minutes to cook before it can become ready.
14. Caused LED TO
15. Title lover in a 1920s Broadway hit ABIE
Abie’s Irish Rose is a funny story about a young couple, a Jewish man, and an Irish Catholic woman, who decided to marry in spite of the objections of their family. It was created by Anne Nichols and made into a theater play and film, though the latter was more popular than the latter, as the play received poor reviews from critiques.
16. Cartoonist Peter ARNO
Peter Arno was a cartoonist who had his works published in The New Yorker from 1925 to 1968. He has one daughter, Patricia, with former wife, fashion editor Lois Long.
17. Camp Granada chronicler Sherman ALLAN
Allan Sherman was rumored to be one of President JFK’s favorite comedians. He was also often heard singing the parodies of Allan Sherman. He died while he was playing the piano and entertaining his friends.
18. Hipsters who prefer old-school programming languages? COBOL CATS (from “cool cats”)
The COBOL program was developed by Grace Hopper, who earned the nickname “the mother of the COBOL language.”
COBOL stands for Common BUsiness-Oriented Language.
20. Minute Rice instruction BOIL
21. “Knots Landing” actress __ Park Lincoln LAR
Lar Park Lincoln, a remarkable actress famous for her roles in House II: The Second Story and Friday The 13th part VII, had a double mastectomy on July 2012, and is in remission for breast cancer.
22. Mythical transport CARPET
23. Tiny Timex? BABY WATCH (from “Baywatch”)
26. Challenger, for one DODGE
The Dodge Challenger from Chrysler is one of Chrysler’s best selling cars and has been introduced starting 1959, and from 1974-1979, 1973-1983, and the latest in 2008 (3rd gen)
27. NFL gains YDS
28. One was written to Billie Joe ODE
Ode To Billi Joe was written and recorded by Bobbie Gentry, released in 1967. It is ranked 412th in “the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time” by the Rolling Stone.
29. Bolted, say ATE
31. Not ‘neath O’ER
32. Shot TRY
33. It’s inspired AIR
34. British bombshell Diana DORS
Diana Dors supported a campaign to allow prisoners to have sex with their wives in jail.
35. Golf club used as a dance pole? LIMBO DRIVER (from “limo driver”)
38. Literary __ LION
A literary lion is an author who is famous or has reached celebrity status.
40. Hikes UPS
41. Scam CON
42. Pack animal ASS
43. Friday is one: Abbr. SGT
Joe Friday was a radio series from 1949 to 1956, and then on television from 51-59 and 67-70. One of his famous lines was “My name is Friday, I’m a cop.”
44. Boxers’ org.? AKC
AKC stands for American Kennel Club
45. Memphis-to-Mobile dir. SSE
48. Register button TOTAL
50. Furrier’s assessment? SABLES TAX (from “sales tax”)
The sable fur is very expensive as it remains soft and smooth and can be stroked on any direction without losing its softness.
53. Latin catchall ET ALIA
Et alia is used for a list of names for men and women, wherein et cetera is used for a list of inanimate objects.
55. Garden tool HOE
56. __ bene NOTA
Note Bene is a Latin phrase that means to observe carefully.
57. R2D2’s bar order? ROBOT BEER (from “root beer”)
59. Kind of acid BORIC
Boric acid is often used as antiseptic, in the form of powder mixed with water.
60. Mime APER
61. Part of Q.E.D. ERAT
QED stands for Quod Erat Demonstrandum, a Latin phrase which means “that which was to be demonstrated” in English.
62. “A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length” author EBERT
Roger Ebert is a film critic who released a book in 2012 that is titled “A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length.” It was also the same phrase he said after watching “Transformers: The Revenge Of The Fallen.”
63. “We should!” LET’S!
64. Mates LADS
65. Two-part curves ESSES
Down Answers
1. Carrying extra weight FLABBY
We like to call it “adorable love handles.”
2. Another round, perhaps RELOAD
3. Goes off script AD LIBS
Ad lib is a popular phrase that came from the Latin phrase “ad libitum” which translates to “at one’s pleasure” in English. It’s still being used today to instruct someone to use their own words when an actor forgets their lines from the script.
4. 2006 World Cup champion ITALY
Italy won the FIFA World Cup against France in 2006.
5. Colleague of Boris LON
Lon Chaney Jr. was famous for playing all the classic monster roles in film. He was the wolf man in “The Wolf Man,” Frankenstein as “The Ghost Of Frankenstein,” the mummy in “The Mummy’s Tomb, and as Dracula’s son, Count Anthony Alucard in “Son of Dracula.”
6. Get out VACATE
7. Options above “none of the above” A, B OR C
8. Pointed end NIB
9. Org. created by the 1964 Civil Rights Act EEOC
EEOC stands for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
10. Iliac lead-in SACRO-
11. Magician’s way out, maybe TRAPDOOR
12. Whole number INTEGER
13. Team lists ROSTERS
19. Fill the hold LADE
21. Aphid predator LADYBUG
Aphids are very common pests frequently found in the garde. Some people use ladybugs to control them from rapidly increasing.
24. Type of malware WORM
25. Bristle HAIR
30. Slow flow TRICKLE
32. Western star makeup TIN
33. Pop-ups, e.g. ADS
34. Cozy retreat DEN
35. Had to wear the winning team’s jersey, say LOST A BET
36. Decides OPTS
37. Viva __ VOCE
Viva Voce is an oral examination for academic purposes
38. Like some files LATERAL
There are two kinds of filing cabinets: Vertical and lateral. Vertical file cabinets are deep, while lateral file cabinets are wide.
39. Carbon-14, e.g. ISOTOPE
43. Narrow cut SLIT
44. Scrubs ABORTS
45. Puts away STORES
46. Ricky Gervais’ forte SATIRE
Satire is criticism while using humor or ridicule in exposing other people’s stupidity. It is often used in political context. Ricky Gervais is very famous for this.
47. Demands, as payment EXACTS
49. “Zut __!”: French exclamation ALORS
French phrase which means “Good heavens!” or “Oh no!”
51. In front AHEAD
52. Hoity-toity types SNOBS
54. “Great Expectations” convict Magwitch ABEL
Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens, about a young boy Pip, who helped the convict Abel Magwitch seek shelter for the night as he hides from the police. He was given food by Pip, an act of kindness he will remember all his life. Abel was deported to New South Wales, eventually started a life there, and became rich.
He never forgot about the young boy so he decided to send him money, without letting Pip know where it’s coming from.
Well.. It’s a great book. And if you want to find out the rest of the story, I encourage you to read it.
58. Stat for Clayton Kershaw ERA
Clayton Kershaw is a 25-year old All-Sar MLB pitcher who was drafted by the Dodgers right after High School. He won the 2011 Cy Young award for the LA Dodgers.
59. Busy one that has made its mark in this puzzle’s five longest answers BEE
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