Day: January 20, 2026

Bill’s time: 8m 20s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Small bouquets : POSIES

“Poesy” was the name given to a line of verse engraved on the inner surface of a ring. The related word “posy”, for a bouquet of flowers, arose with the notion that giving a posy might be a message of love, just as a poesy inside a ring could have the same meaning.

“Bouquet” comes from the French word for “bunch” in the sense of “bunch of flowers”. In French, the term is derived from an older word describing a little wood or small grove of trees. We started using “bouquet” to mean “perfume from a wine” in the early 1800s.

11A Cleopatra’s killer : ASP

The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.

14A One of a record 30+ for Beyoncé : GRAMMY

Beyoncé Knowles established herself in the entertainment industry as the lead singer with the R&B group Destiny’s Child. She launched her solo singing career in 2002, after making her first appearance as an actor. In 2006 she played the lead in the very successful movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls”. Beyoncé is married to rap star Jay-Z. She is also referred to affectionately as “Queen Bey”, a play on the phrase “the queen bee”. Her fan base goes by the name “Beyhive”.

15A Short piano piece : SONATINA

A cantata is a piece of music that is sung, as opposed to a sonata, which is a piece that is played on some instrument, often a piano. A sonatina is in effect a sonata that has been labeled as something lighter and shorter.

17A Improvises : AD-LIBS

“Ad libitum” is a Latin phrase meaning “at one’s pleasure”. In common usage, the phrase is usually shortened to “ad-lib”. On the stage, the concept of an ad-lib is very familiar.

19A It begins with Alfa and ends with Zulu : NATO ALPHABET

The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

21A The Falcons, on scoreboards : ATL

The Atlanta Falcons joined the NFL in 1965. The team name was suggested by a schoolteacher called Miss Julia Elliott. Elliot suggested that “the Falcon is proud and dignified, with great courage and fight. It never drops its prey. It is deadly and has a great sporting tradition.”

24A Follower of “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.

25A Figure depicted in Michelangelo’s “Pietà” : MARY

The Pietà is a representation of the Virgin Mary holding in her arms the dead body of her son Jesus. The most famous Pietà is undoubtedly the sculpted rendition by Michelangelo that is located in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. That particular sculpture is thought to be the only work that Michelangelo signed. In some depictions of the Pietà, Mary and her son are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament. Such depictions are known as Lamentations.

26A Hellenistic storytelling : GREEK MYTHOLOGY

Someone from Greece can be called a Hellene. “Ellas” is the Greek word for “Greece”, the name of the country. Greece is also known as the “Hellenic” Republic.

In Greek mythology, Echo was an Oread, a mountain nymph, who was often consorting with Zeus. Because of this, Zeus’ wife Hera cursed Echo, making her only able to repeat the last words spoken to her (hence our use of the term “echo”). Subsequently, Echo became infatuated with the young Narcissus. Sadly, Echo could only “echo” the words spoken to her, and so she was unable to convey her love to Narcissus. Echo eventually died, and all that remains of her is the sound of her voice.

33A East Coast convenience store chain with a reduplicative name : WAWA

Wawa is an East Coast chain of gas stations and convenience stores. Back in the late 1800s, Wawa was the name of a dairy farm operation that delivered milk to homes. When consumers started buying milk in grocery stores in the 1960s, the owners of Wawa shifted their focus and opened up the Wawa Food Market as an outlet for the milk from the dairy operation. Those early food markets developed into the chain of Wawa convenience stores.

34A Modern pickup spot for delivery drivers : AMAZON WAREHOUSE

Amazon Echo is a voice-controlled hardware device that can be used to provide several services including playing radio programs and music, recording of shopping lists, and managing a calendar. The device just sits in the home listening, until it hears a “wake up” command.

44A Historic destination for Pueblo pilgrimages : THE GRAND CANYON

The Grand Canyon is in Arizona. The canyon continues to be carved out of layers of rock by the Colorado River. It is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and over a mile deep.

50A Düsseldorf denial : NEIN

The German city of Düsseldorf takes its name from the Düssel, a small river that meets the Rhine in the city. Düsseldorf is often called the “longest bar in the world”because the half-square-kilometer “Altstadt” (Old Town) contains over 260 bars, restaurants, and breweries packed tightly together. Next time I’m in Germany …

52A One place to find a Brazilian : SPA

Brazilian waxing is the removal of all hair in the pelvic area. The practice took off (pun) relatively recently with the introduction of thong bikinis, especially for the beaches of Brazil. Brazilian waxing was popularized here in the US by J. Sisters International Salon in Manhattan, New York that opened in 1987. The “J Sisters” were seven real sisters from Brazil, named Jocely, Jonice, Joyce, Janea, Jussara, Juracy and Judeseia Padilha.

53A Skill shared by bats and dolphins … or, when read as two words, what 19-, 26-, 34- and 44-Across each is : ECHOLOCATION … or, ECHO LOCATION

Echolocation, when used by animals, is known as biosonar. The best-known example of an animal using biosonar is probably the bat, although not all species of bat use sounds to locate objects.

67A Romeo or Juliet, notably : TEEN

In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, it is explicitly stated that Juliet is 13 years of age, and the assumption is that Romeo is perhaps a little older.

Down

1D Tour overseer, for short : PGA

The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) was founded in 1916 and today has its headquarters (unsurprisingly) in Florida, where so many golfers live. Back in 1916, the PGA was based in New York City.

2D Chicago airport code : ORD

The IATA airport code for O’Hare International in Chicago is ORD, which comes from Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field (OR-D).

3D ___ Minella (“The Muppet Show” Muppet) : SAL

Sal Minella is a Muppet character. He is the bodyguard for fellow muppet Johnny Fiama who is modeled after Frank Sinatra.

5D Set sail : EMBARK

In getting on and off a seagoing vessel, one embarks and disembarks (also “debarks”). The terms “embark” and “disembark” come from the name of the small ship known as a barque.

6D The “S” of A.B.S. : SYSTEM

The first anti-lock braking system (ABS) was developed for use on aircraft, in 1929. The system reduced braking distances for aircraft by 30% because pilots were able to apply a full braking force immediately on landing instead of applying gradual pressure to avoid skidding.

7D Mallorca, por ejemplo : ISLA

The Island of Majorca (“Isla Mallorca” in Spanish) is Spain’s largest island, and is located in the Mediterranean Sea. The population of the island ballooned over the past few decades as Majorca became a mecca for tourists from all over Europe.

8D One pitied by Mr. T, in a catchphrase : FOOL

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!”.

11D Novel feature of the 1974 Olds Toronado : AIRBAG

The Oldsmobile Toronado was a luxury car produced by GM from 1966 to 1992.

13D Shindig : PARTY

“Shindig” is such a lovely word, I think. It describes a party that usually includes some dancing. Although its origin isn’t really clear, the term perhaps comes from “shinty”, a Scottish game that’s similar to field hockey.

20D Prefix for element #8 : OXY-

The element oxygen has an atomic number of 8, and has eight electrons within each atom. The name “oxygen” was coined (“oxygène” in French) by Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, from the Greek “oxys” meaning “acid” and the French “-gène” meaning “producer”. It was originally believed that oxygen was needed to make all acids.

21D Indian tourist city : AGRA

Agra is a medieval city on the banks of the river Yamuna in India that was the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1658. The city is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

• The Taj Mahal: the famous mausoleum built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal.
• Agra Fort: the site where the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was seized.
• Fatehpur Sikri: a historic city that’s home to well-preserved Mughal architecture.

23D “Star Wars” princess : LEIA

Princess Leia is Luke Skywalker’s twin sister in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and was played by Carrie Fisher. Carrie Fisher has stated that she hated the famous “cinnamon bun hairstyle” that she had to wear in the films, as she felt it made her face look too round. She also had to sit for two hours every day just to get her hair styled. Two hours to get your hair done? It takes me just two seconds …

27D Split ___ (New Wave band whose name sounds like a hair problem) : ENZ

Split Enz was a rock band from New Zealand that was most active from 1973 until 1984. The band’s biggest success was the 1980 single “I Got You”.

28D American author whose life span closely coincided with Halley’s comet visits : TWAIN

“Samuel Langhorne Clemens” was the real name of the author Mark Twain. Twain wasn’t the only pen name used by Clemens. Early in his career he signed some sketches as “Josh”, and signed some humorous letters that he wrote under the name “Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass”. The name of Mark Twain came from the days when Clemens was working on riverboats on the Mississippi. A riverboatman would call out “by the mark twain” when measuring the depth of water. This meant that on the sounding line, according to the “mark” on the line, the depth was two (“twain”) fathoms, and so it was safe for the riverboat to proceed.

Edmond Halley was an English astronomer who lived at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1705 he declared that comet sightings recorded in 1456, 1531, 1607 and 1682 were in fact observations of the same comet returning to fly by Earth at regular intervals. He predicted that this comet would return in 1758. Halley was right, and so the comet was named after him. Sadly, Halley didn’t live long enough to see that his prediction came true.

37D Sports grp. for Coco Gauff : WTA

Former World No. 1 tennis player Billie Jean King founded the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in 1973.

Coco Gauff is a professional tennis player from Atlanta whose career really got a boost when she beat Venus Williams in the opening round of Wimbledon in 2019. Ironically, Venus, and her sister Serena, were the players who inspired Gauff to take up tennis as a girl.

41D Europe’s highest volcano : ETNA

Mount Etna, located on the island of Sicily, is one of the world’s most active stratovolcanoes and one of the most frequently erupting volcanoes on Earth. It has been active for at least 500,000 years, with historical eruptions documented for over 3,500 years.

45D Drum kit components descended from “sock cymbals” : HI-HATS

In a drum kit, a hi-hat is a pairing of cymbals that sits on a stand and is played by using a foot pedal. The top cymbal is raised and lowered by the foot, hence creating a crashing sound.

46D ___ Holmes, Netflix character played by Millie Bobby Brown : ENOLA

“The Enola Holmes Mysteries” is a series of detective novels for young adults by American author Nancy Springer. The title character is the 14-year-old sister of 34-year-old Sherlock Holmes, the detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Springer’s novels were adapted into a 2020 film “Enola Holmes” that Netflix picked up at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I saw this one, and the sequel, and enjoyed both …

48D Any poster on Yelp, essentially : CRITIC

yelp.com is a website that provides a local business directory and reviews of services. The site is sort of like Yellow Pages on steroids, and the term “yelp” is derived from “yel-low p-ages”.

55D Mayberry boy of ’60s TV : OPIE

Opie Taylor is the character played by Ron Howard on “The Andy Griffith Show”. Opie lives with widowed father Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) and his great-aunt Beatrice “Aunt Bee” Taylor (played by Frances Bavier). Ron Howard first played the role in 1960 in the pilot show, when he was just 5 years old. Howard sure has come a long way since playing Opie Taylor. He has directed some fabulous movies including favorites of mine like “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind” and “The Da Vinci Code”.

56D McIntosh (or Macintosh) component : CORE

Every McIntosh apple grown today can trace its roots back (pun!) to a tree on a farm near Morrisburg in Ontario, Canada. John McIntosh owned the tree, and he started to cultivate seedlings in 1811. Today, the McIntosh is the national apple of Canada.

Macintosh (also “Mac”, since 1998) is a line of computers from Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced in 1984, and I remember someone showing me one at work in those early days of personal computing. There was a piece of white plastic connected to the main computer by a cord, and I was amazed when the guy showed me that it controlled where the cursor was on the screen. My colleague told me that this lump of plastic was called “a mouse” …

57D Port of Yemen : 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 1839 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.

58D One famously preparing for a flood : NOAH

According to the Bible’s Book of Genesis, rain fell for forty days and forty nights, resulting in the Great Flood. All creatures on the land perished, except Noah, his family, and the animals that he brought into the ark.

62D Brita competitor : PUR

Pur is a brand of water filters and related products that was sold to Procter & Gamble in 1999, and sold on again to Helen of Troy Limited.