Day: November 26, 2025

Bill’s time: 7m 41s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10A Growth on one side of trees : 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.

14A Psalm starter : O GOD

The Greek word “psalmoi” originally meant “songs sung to a harp”, and gave us the word “psalms”. In the Jewish and Western Christian traditions, the Book of Psalms contains 150 individual psalms, divided into five sections.

15A Home to the renowned Khan el-Khalili bazaar : 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”.

Our word “bazaar”, meaning “market”, comes from the Persian “bazar” that means the same thing.

18A “An assault on the eyes, the ears, the brain, common sense and the human desire to be entertained” (1998) : ARMAGEDDON

As one might expect from the title, “Armageddon” is a disaster movie, released in 1998. The storyline centers on attempts to destroy an asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth. The cast includes quite a few big names, led by Bruce Willis. “Armageddon” was a huge success when released, even grossing more money than “Saving Private Ryan”, which came out the same year. That, I cannot explain, because I think “Armageddon” is a very average film, and “Saving Private Ryan” is a masterpiece …

21A Jewish ceremony performed eight days after birth : BRIS

A mohel is a man who has been trained in the practice of brit milah (circumcision). Brit milah is known as “bris” in Yiddish. The brit milah ceremony is performed on male infants when they are 8 days old.

23A “To love ___ is the beginning of a lifelong romance”: Oscar Wilde : ONESELF

If you didn’t know Oscar Wilde was Irish, you will when you see the name he was given at birth: Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde!

28A With 34-Across, “Like taking a bus trip with someone who has needed a bath for a long time” (2000) : BATTLEFIELD …
34A See 28-Across : … EARTH

“Battlefield Earth” is a 2000 sci-fi film based on a 1982 novel of the same name by L. Ron Hubbard. A lot of controversy accompanied the release of the film. It stars John Travolta, who had been trying to get the film made since the mid-1990s. Travolta is a noted Scientologist, and the book’s author L. Ron Hubbard was the founder of Scientology. Critics of Scientology labeled the movie as a recruitment tool for the church.

30A Fannie ___ : MAE

The Federal National Mortgage Association is commonly called “Fannie Mae”, a play on the initialism “FNMA”. Fannie Mae was founded during the Great Depression as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.

33A Loch viewed from the village of Drumnadrochit : NESS

Scotland’s Loch Ness is famous for its fabled “monster”, referred to affectionately as “Nessie”. The loch is the second-largest lake in the country (Loch Lomond is the largest). Loch Ness takes its name from the River Ness that flows from the loch’s northern end.

37A Pa Clampett on “The Beverly Hillbillies” : JED

Jed Clampett was played by Buddy Ebsen in “The Beverly Hillbillies”.

40A Amazon wrapper : BOA

Boa constrictors are members of the Boidae family of snakes, all of which are non-venomous. Interestingly, the female boa is always larger than the male.

42A QB Brady : TOM

Quarterback Tom Brady signed up with the New England Patriots in 2000, and led the team to more Super Bowl appearances than any other player in history. He signed up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, and led them to win the Super Bowl in his first season. Brady is from San Mateo, California, which isn’t very far from here. He dated actress Bridget Moynahan for a couple of years, and the pair have a child together. Brady was also married to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen, for thirteen years.

43A “A two-hour movie squeezed into three hours” (2001) : PEARL HARBOR

I thought that the 2001 war movie “Pearl Harbor” was excellent, with some great action sequences. The film is in two parts, as far as the action is concerned. It deals with the attack on Pearl Harbor itself, and then with the amazing Doolittle Raid on Japan.

50A Filmmakers with distinctive styles : AUTEURS

We use the term “auteur” to describe a film director with a distinctive style, and someone who is distinguished enough to overcome the influence of a movie studio and other commercial pressures. Examples often cited are Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks and Jean Renoir. “Auteur” is a French word meaning “author”.

52A Book after Judges : RUTH

The Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament tells the story of Ruth. Ruth was one of two women who married the two sons of Elimelech and Naomi. Father and sons died, leaving the three widows to fend for themselves. Naomi decided that it was best to go to Bethlehem. Orpah was Naomi’s second daughter-in-law, and she decided to return to her home. Ruth decided to stick with her mother-in-law, using the words “Whither thou goest, I will go”.

53A Cable channel since 1981 : MTV

The first video played at the launch of MTV the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” (I love that song), followed by Pat Benatar singing “You Better Run”.

54A Pulitzer-winning critic known for his perceptive, sometimes sharply worded reviews, as seen in 18-, 28-/34-, 38- and 43-Across : ROGER EBERT

“I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie” is a collection consisting of a couple of hundred of Roger Ebert’s most acerbic and negative film reviews. Included are reviews of “Armageddon” (1998), “The Beverly Hillbillies” (1993) and “Police Academy” (1984).

61A ___ Universe : MISS

The Miss Universe beauty pageant was founded in 1952. The organization running the contest was bought by Donald Trump in 1996.

63A Apple product introduced in 2010 : IPAD

The groundbreaking iPad was introduced by Apple in 2010. The iOS-based iPads dominated the market for tablet computers until 2013, when Android-based tablets (manufactured by several companies) took over the number-one spot.

Down

1D Mingle : HOBNOB

“To hobnob with” means “to rub elbows with, associate with”. The phrase dates back to the mid 1700s and is derived from “hob and nob”, an expression meaning to toast each other in turn, or to buy alternate rounds of drinks.

2D Lizard with an oceangoing subspecies nicknamed Godzilla : IGUANA

An iguana is a lizard, and as such is cold-blooded. There are times when pet iguanas need heat from an IR lamp to maintain body temperature. They can also be very large lizards, sometimes growing to a length of six feet.

4D Once-common pesticide banned in 1972 : DDT

DDT is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (don’t forget now!). DDT was used with great success to control disease-carrying insects during WWII, and when made available for use after the war it became by far the most popular pesticide. And then Rachel Carson published her famous book “Silent Spring”, suggesting there was a link between DDT and diminishing populations of certain wildlife. It was the public outcry sparked by the book, and reports of links between DDT and cancer, that led to the ban on the use of the chemical in 1972. That ban is touted as the main reason that the bald eagle was rescued from near extinction.

5D Color of a literary “A” : SCARLET

The main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter” is Hester Prynne. After the birth of her illegitimate daughter Pearl, she is convicted by her puritanical neighbors of the crime of adultery. Hester is forced to wear a scarlet “A” (for “adultery”) on her clothing for the rest of her life, hence the novel’s title “The Scarlet Letter”.

6D Tax on imports : TARIFF

Tariffs are taxes imposed by a government on imported goods or services. They serve several purposes, including protecting domestic industries by making imported goods more expensive, generating revenue for the government, and influencing international trade policy. While tariffs can protect domestic producers from foreign competition, they can also lead to higher prices for consumers and potentially trigger retaliatory tariffs from other countries, leading to trade wars.

8D Nest egg inits. : IRA

A nest egg is an amount of money laid down as a reserve. This is the figurative use of “nest egg” that originally described an artificial egg left in a nest to encourage a hen to lay real eggs in that spot. So our financial nest egg is set aside in anticipation of continued growth, more eggs being laid.

13D ID with two hyphens : SSN

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. Starting in 1973, the Area Number reflected the ZIP code from which the application was made. The GG in the SSN was the Group Number, and the SSSS number the Serial Number. This is all moot today. Since 2011, SSNs have been assigned randomly. Some random numbers, however, have been excluded from use, i.e. Area Numbers 000, 666 (!) and 900-999.

33D ___ Dame : NOTRE

“Notre Dame” is French for “Our Lady”.

35D Potatoes, in Indian cuisine : ALOO

Aloo gobi is a very tasty vegetarian dish in Indian cuisine made from potatoes and cauliflower, flavored with traditional Indian spices. “Aloo” translates to “potato” and “gobi” to “cauliflower”.

40D Drinking sprees : BENDERS

The terms “jag” and “bender” describe periods of unrestrained activity, particularly those involving alcohol. Both words have been in use since the 1800s.

44D Big name in upscale fashion : LAUREN

Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer, born Ralph Liftshitz in the Bronx, New York. Lauren started off working as a salesman for Brooks Brothers after spending two years in the US Army. He then opened a necktie store, featuring his own tie designs. The ties were sold under the name “Polo”, which became Lauren’s most famous brand. Other Lauren brands are Purple Label and Black Label.

45D Unfair accusation : BUM RAP

A rap sheet is a criminal record. “Rap” is a slang term dating back to the 1700s that means “blame, responsibility” as in “to take the rap”, “bad rap” and “to beat the rap”. This usage morphed into “rap sheet” in the early 1900s.

46D Jenna of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” : ORTEGA

Actress Jenna Ortega has been in the entertainment industry since she was a child. In 2014, she found her breakthrough role as young Jane in the CW comedy-drama series “Jane the Virgin”. She went on to star in the Disney Channel series “Stuck in the Middle”. Ortega is quite the sports player. Apparently, she almost gave up acting to pursue a career playing soccer.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is a 2024 film directed by Tim Burton, a sequel to the original 1988 cult classic “Beetlejuice”. Michael Keaton reprises his iconic role as the title character, and he once again disrupts the lives of the Deetz family. Winona Ryder returns to play Lydia Deetz, a goth teenager in the original, and mother of daughter Astrid in the sequel. Catherine O’Hara also returns, playing Lydia’s stepmother Delia Deetz.

47D Answered an invitation : RSVP’ED

RSVP is an initialism derived from the French phrase “Répondez s’il vous plaît”, meaning “Please respond”. It’s a polite way to ask your invited guests to let you know if they will be attending your event.

49D People looking for hookups, informally : RVERS

One using a recreational vehicle (RV) might be called an RVer.

52D Car at an auction, maybe : REPO

Repossession (repo)

54D Part of a Bahama Mama : RUM

If you’d care to try the drink called a Bahama mama, one recipe is:

• 1 part rum
• 1 part coconut rum
• 1 part grenadine
• 2 parts orange juice
• 2 parts pineapple juice

55D Belt in judo : OBI

The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. It can be tied at the back in what is called a butterfly knot. The term “obi” is also used for the thick cotton belts that are an essential part of the outfits worn by practitioners of many martial arts. The color of the martial arts obi signifies the wearer’s skill level.

Practitioners of judo and karate proceed through a series of proficiency grades known as the kyu-dan system. At each progression, a different colored belt is awarded.

57D Letter after chi : PSI

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