Day: November 7, 2025

Bill’s time: 10m 36s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11A Promote shamelessly : FLOG

“To flog” is a slang term meaning “to sell, to promote vigorously”.

15A Synthetic upholstery material : ULTRASUEDE

Suede is leather made from the underside of an animal’s skin, usually the skin from a lamb. As such it is very soft, although not as durable as leather made from the exterior skin. The soft leather was, and is still used for making gloves. Back in 1859 these gloves were called “gants de Suede” in France, or “gloves of Sweden”. So, the name “suede” comes from the French word for Sweden.

16A Charge : LEVY

A levy is a tax. The term “levy” comes from Old French in which “levée” means “raising”. So a levy is a tax that has been “raised” (in the sense of “collected”, and not “increased”).

18A Hot pair : ITEM

An unmarried couple known to be involved with each other might appear in the gossip columns. This appearance as “an item” in the papers, led to the use of “item” to refer to such a couple, but only since the very early seventies.

19A Bygone office assistant : STENO

Stenography is the process of writing in shorthand. The term comes from the Greek “steno” (narrow) and “graphe” (writing). A stenographer might be a court reporter, or a person provided captions accompanying a live television broadcast.

20A Illustrator of the Tammany tiger : NAST

Thomas Nast was an American caricaturist and cartoonist. He was the creator of the Republican Party elephant, the Democratic Party donkey, Uncle Sam and the image of the plump and jocular Santa Claus that we use today. Thomas Nast drew some famous cartoons in which he depicted the Tammany Society as a vicious tiger that was killing democracy. Nast’s use of the tiger symbology caught on and was used by other cartoonists to harp at the society.

21A Spare things? : PINS

In bowling, the downing of all ten pins in two balls in the same frame is called a spare, and scores ten points. The player gets a bonus, equal to the number of pins downed with the next ball, which could be up to ten. Hence, a spare can be worth up to 20 points

28A Dwellings for nomads : YURTS

A yurt is a wood-framed dwelling that is used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. Although a yurt is a substantial structure, it is also extremely portable.

A nomad is someone who roams about. The term “nomad” comes from the Latin “nomas” meaning “wandering shepherd”. In turn, “nomas” comes from the Greek “nomas” meaning “roaming (especially when looking for pasture)”.

35A Beverage featured in “A Christmas Story” : OVALTINE

Ovaltine is a milk-flavoring product that was developed in Berne, Switzerland in the early 1900s. It is still called by its original name in its native Switzerland, namely “Ovomaltine”. The “ovo-maltine” name reflects the main ingredients back then: eggs and malt.

The 1983 film “A Christmas Story” has become a holiday classic. The movie is based on short stories and anecdotes by Jean Shepherd, whose voice appears in the soundtrack as the adult “Ralphie”. All young Ralphie wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB Gun.

39A Domesticated insect entirely dependent on humans for reproduction : SILK MOTH

Strictly speaking, the term “cocoon” only applies to the tough outer casing created by moth caterpillars. Butterfly caterpillars protect themselves in a hard outer skin to form a pupa known as a chrysalis (plural “chrysalides”). But, butterfly caterpillars don’t go the extra step and a silky cocoon. Famously, silk thread comes from silk cocoons created by silkworms, which mature into silk moths.

40A The Brady household, including Alice, e.g. : ENNEAD

The Ennead is a group of nine gods in Egyptian mythology. The Ennead were all in the same family, all descendents of the god Atum. The word “ennead” is also used more generically for any group of nine things. The term comes from “ennea”, the Greek word for “nine”.

Alice Nelson is the housekeeper on the sitcom “The Brady Bunch”. Alice is portrayed by actress Ann B. Davis. 1995’s “The Brady Bunch Movie” had a different cast from the TV show, with Henriette Mantel playing Alice. But, Davis made a cameo appearance in that movie, as a trucker named Schultzy.

41A Material refined through the Bessemer process : STEEL

Pittsburgh was the world capital of steel production for many years, largely due to the surrounding geography. The area around the city had large deposits of iron, as well as ample forests that provided the charcoal used in smelting. As the supply of wood diminished, local supplies of coal fueled the blast furnaces. Entrepreneurs took full advantage of the local conditions. Henry Bessemer developed the Bessemer process that produced steel, and soon the area’s iron industry converted to steel production. And the demand for steel was high, as the nation started to build a huge railroad network.

42A A long, long time : AEONS

Geologic 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

46A Muscleman of 1980s TV : MR T

Mr. T’s real name is Laurence Tero Tureaud. Mr. T is famous for many things, including the wearing of excessive amounts of jewelry. He started this habit when he was working as a bouncer, wearing jewelry items that had been left behind by customers at a nightclub so that the items might be recognized and claimed. It was also as a bouncer that he adopted the name Mr. T. His catch phrase comes from the movie “Rocky III”. In the film, before he goes up against Rocky Balboa, Mr. T says, “No, I don’t hate Balboa, but I pity the fool”. He parlayed that line into quite a bit of success. He had a reality TV show called “I Pity the Fool”, and produced a motivational video called “Be Somebody … or Be Somebody’s Fool!”.

51A Victuals, informally : GRUB

“Victuals” is a term for food that is fit for consumption. We tend to pronounce “victuals” as “vittles”, and we use the term “vittles” and “victuals” interchangeably.

53A Washington notes : ONES

The nation’s first president, George Washington, is on the US one-dollar bills produced today. When the original one-dollar bill was issued in 1863, it featured a portrait of Salmon P. Chase, President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury.

56A Long way to go? : LIMO

The word “limousine” derives from the name of the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes …

57A Modern identification method : RETINA SCAN

The retina is the tissue that lines the inside of the eye, and is the tissue that is light-sensitive. There are (mainly) two types of cells in the retina that are sensitive to light, namely rods and cones. Rods are cells that best function in very dim light and only provide black-and-white vision. Cones on the other hand function in brighter light and can perceive color.

61A Elephant ___ (pastries) : EARS

Elephant ears are (usually) sweet snacks much associated with carnivals and seaside resorts. They are made from dough that has been deep-fried and sprinkled with toppings such as cinnamon, maple syrup or perhaps even cheese.

Down

1D Novelist Fannie who wrote “Imitation of Life” (1933) : HURST

“Imitation of Life” is a 1933 novel by Fannie Hurst. It was adapted for the big screen in 1934 and 1959. The 1934 movie stars Claudette Colbert and Warren William, and the 1959 film stars Lana Turner and John Gavin.

2D Mexican street corn : ELOTE

Corn in a cup (“elote en vaso”, or simply “elote”) is a Mexican street food. It is made with fresh corn kernels mixed with mayonnaise, cheese, lime and chile.

3D Bamboozled : AT SEA

It’s thought that the lovely word “bamboozle” came into English from the Scottish “bombaze” meaning “perplex”. We’ve been using “bamboozle” since the very early 1700s.

4D Site of a Counter-Reformation council, 1545-63 : TRENT

Trento is a city in northern Italy that is famous as the host of the 16th-century Council of Trent held by the Roman Catholic Church. This Ecumenical Council meeting was held largely in response to the growing Protestant Reformation. The decisions made at the Council of Trent led to the Counter-Reformation, the revival of the Catholic church over the following 100 years.

5D Speaker of the line “… your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs” : IAGO

In William Shakespeare’s “Othello”, Iago is the villain of the piece. At one point he readily admits this, saying “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse”. Here he is claiming to make money out of making fools of others. In this case, he takes money from Roderigo, who believes that Iago will help him bed Othello’s wife Desdemona.

6D Code-breaking grp. : NSA

National Security Agency (NSA)

7D It might bring a patient to surgery : GURNEY

Gurneys are stretchers with wheels that are used in hospitals and ambulances for transporting patients. Outside of North America, gurneys are usually called “trolleys”. The term “gurney” may have been used as the design is similar to a horse-drawn cab that was patented by one J. Theodore Gurney.

8D “Step on it!” : PEDAL TO THE METAL!

A speed demon is someone who likes to drive at high speeds, likes to floor it, put the pedal to the metal.

13D Tandoor, e.g. : OVEN

A tandoor is a cylindrical clay or metal oven used in cuisines from several Asian locales, including India.

14D Elliptical areas : GYMS

The elliptical trainer exercise machine entered the market in the nineties. It is intended to provide a cardiovascular workout with very little impact on the body. The low impact motion is achieved because the movement of the pedal ensures that the heels stay in contact with the pedals. At the same time, the elliptical motion of the pedals allow the foot to roll from toe to heel, just as if the user is running.

23D “The Mysterious Lady” actress, 1928 : 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”.

31D Kind of floor covering : MOSS

There is a traditionally-held belief that in the northern hemisphere there is a heavier growth of moss on the north-facing side of trees. The assumption is that the sun creates a drier environment on the south side of the tree, an environment that is less conducive to the growth of moss.

38D 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.

43D Shakespearean duke : ORSINO

Orsino, Duke of Illyria is a character in William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”. The opening lines of the play, spoken by the love-smitten Orsino, are:

If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.

47D Phony one : POSER

Something or someone described as phony (sometimes “phoney”) is not genuine or real. There is a suggestion that the term “phony” comes from “fawney”, which was a gold-plated brass ring used by swindlers in place of a one made of pure gold.

48D Riches : LUCRE

Our word “lucre” meaning “money, profits” comes from the Latin “lucrum” that means the same thing.

50D Seven-time Emmy winner Ed : ASNER

Ed Asner was most famous for playing the irascible but lovable Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and on the spin-off drama “Lou Grant”. Off-screen Asner was noted for his political activism. He served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), and was very involved in the 1980 SAG strike. When “Lou Grant” was canceled in 1982, despite decent ratings, there was a lot of talk that the cancellation was a move by the network against Asner personally. In fact, one of Asner’s activist colleagues, Howard Hesseman (who played Johnny Fever) found that his show “WKRP in Cincinnati” was also canceled … on the very same day.

52D World capital on both banks of the Daugava River : RIGA

Riga is the capital city of Latvia. The historical center of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of the city’s magnificent examples of Art Nouveau architecture. In fact, Riga has the largest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in the world, with over 750 buildings in the city center designed in the style.

54D Focus of the historians Tacitus and Suetonius : NERO

Gaius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian and senator. He wrote two major histories, “Annals” and “Histories”, that cover the history of the Roman Empire from 14 to 70 AD.

55D “___ Nagila” : HAVA

“Hava Nagila” is a Hebrew folk song, with the title translating into “Let Us Rejoice”. The melody is from a Ukrainian folk song. The words to “Hava Nagila” were composed in 1918 to celebrate the British victory in Palestine during WWI.

58D Pres. advisory grp. : NSC

The National Security Council (NSC) was created by President Harry S. Truman in 1947. It is chaired by the sitting president and meets in the White House Situation Room.