Day: March 15, 2026

Bill’s time: 17m 26s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

12A Plagiarized : CRIBBED

A crib is plagiarism. It is most commonly the copying of an answer in an examination.

To plagiarize is to pass off the writings of another as one’s own. The term comes from the Latin “plagiare” meaning “to kidnap”.

19A Notion that’s difficult to dispel : IDÉE FIXE

An “idée fixe” (a French term) is basically a fixed idea, an obsession

22A “One large head, shredded, with the outer leaves discarded” : ROMAINE

Romaine is also known as cos lettuce, with the “romaine” name being most common here in North America.

23A Record label for the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy : DEF JAM

Def Jam is a US record label, one focused on hip hop music.

25A Handled vessel in a museum : AMPHORA

An amphora is a ceramic vase with two handles on either side of a long neck. The name “amphora” is Latin, coming from the Greek meaning “on both sides of the carrier”, referring to the two carrying handles.

26A 1977 Robin Cook medical thriller : COMA

“Coma” is a 1977 novel by Robin Cook, one that marked the author’s first commercial success. It was made into an entertaining 1978 feature film directed by Michael Crichton and starring Geneviève Bujold and Michael Douglas.

27A Bon ___ (“Skinny Love” band) : IVER

Bon Iver is a folk band that started up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin in 2007. The band’s name comes from the French “bon hiver” meaning “good winter”. The phrase “bon hiver” was popularized by the fun nineties TV show “Northern Exposure”.

28A Brand of canned beans : GOYA

Goya Foods is a supplier of food products headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey. The company was founded in 1936 by two immigrants from Spain.

38A Ian who portrayed Bilbo Baggins : HOLM

English actor Sir Ian Holm was very respected on the stage in the UK, but is better known for his film roles here in the US. He played the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in two of the “Lord of the Rings” movies and two of “The Hobbit” movies, and also played the character who is revealed as an android in the film “Alien”.

39A ___ Jones, bobsledder and hurdler who has competed in both the Winter and Summer Olympics : LOLO

Lolo Jones is a track and field athlete from Des Moines, Iowa and is the American record holder for the 60m hurdles. She is a year-round competitor, as she is also a brakeman on the national bobsled team.

40A Mushroom prized by chefs : MOREL

A morel is a mushroom with a honeycomb-like structure on the cap. They are highly prized, especially in French cuisine. Morels should never be eaten raw as they are toxic, with the toxins being removed by thorough cooking.

48A ___ Lupin, gentleman thief of literature : ARSENE

Arsène Lupin is a character created by the French writer Maurice Leblanc. Leblanc was writing in the days of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and his gentleman thief Lupin stories are as popular in the French-speaking world as Sherlock Holmes stories are in English.

55A Chaucer collection : TALES

“The Canterbury Tales” is a collection of stories penned by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. Written in Middle English, the tales are presented as a storytelling contest held by a group of pilgrims as they travel from London to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. “The Canterbury Tales” is often cited as a landmark piece of English literature as it popularized the use of vernacular English, as opposed to the French or Latin works that were commonly published up to that time.

57A 5/8 or 2/14 : V-DAY

World War II started on 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) was celebrated on 8 May 1945, when the German military surrendered in Berlin. V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day) was celebrated on 2 September 1945 when the Japanese signed the surrender document aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

The movement known as V-Day was founded on Valentine’s Day in 1998 by playwright and activist Eve Ensler (who now goes by the mononym “V”). The movement grew out of performances of Ensler’s celebrated 1996 play “The Vagina Monologues”. V-Day’s mission is to raise awareness and funds to end violence against women and girls.

59A One might be noble : GAS

The noble gases (also “rare gases”) are those elements on the extreme right of the Periodic Table. Because of their “full” complement of electrons, noble gases are very unreactive. The six noble gases that occur naturally are helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon.

60A “Foucault’s Pendulum” author : ECO

“Foucault’s Pendulum” is a 1988 Italian novel by Umberto Eco that was translated into English by William Weaver the following year. The title of the book refers to a large pendulum that was constructed by French physicist Léon Foucault to demonstrate the effect of the Earth’s rotation.

61A Drummer with the coffee table book “Another Day in the Life” : STARR

Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Known for his unique drumming style and genial personality, he also had a successful solo career after the band’s breakup, with hits like “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Photograph”. I was lucky enough to see Ringo live, with his All-Starr Band, and what a great concert that was …

63A All-star pitcher Hershiser : OREL

Orel Hershiser is big into poker now that he has retired from Major League Baseball. Hershiser lives in Las Vegas and when he isn’t working for ESPN, apparently he is at the poker tables, playing professionally. When Hershiser is eliminated in a poker tournament, he is in the habit of presenting the person who ousts him with an autographed baseball.

65A Sch. whose team name is a poisonous nut : OSU

Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus was founded back in 1870 as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The athletic teams of OSU are called the Buckeyes, named after the state tree of Ohio. In turn the buckeye tree gets its name from the appearance of its fruit, a dark nut with a light patch thought to resemble a “buck’s eye”. The school’s athletic mascot was introduced in 1965, and is an anthropomorphic buckeye nut named Brutus Buckeye.

67A The Bard of ___ : AVON

William Shakespeare is referred to as the Bard of Avon, as he was born and raised in the lovely town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the English Midlands.

68A Thanksgiving is always on the fourth one in Nov. : THUR

Thanksgiving Day was observed on different dates in different states for many years, until Abraham Lincoln fixed the date for the whole country in 1863. Lincoln’s presidential proclamation set that date as the last Thursday in November. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, arguing that the earlier date would give the economy a much-needed boost.

69A Infamous warning for 126-Across … and for solvers, when filling in seven squares in this puzzle? : BEWARE THE IDES

In Act I of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, a soothsayer warns the doomed leader 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.

73A Creature to take a gander at on Haleakala? : NENE

The nene is a bird that is native to Hawaii, and is also known as the Hawaiian goose. The name “nene” is an imitation of its call. When Captain Cook landed on the islands in 1778, there were 25,000 nene living there. By 1950, the number was reduced by hunting to just 30 birds. Conservation efforts in recent years have been somewhat successful.

If you visit the island of Maui, a trip to the Haleakala National Park is a must. One section of the park features the spectacular Haleakala Crater, where you would swear you are on the moon. The second part of the park is the Kipahulu section, which features the very picturesque pools accessed along the Hana Highway. When we visited (quite a few years ago), “The Road to Hana” was a tad undeveloped and rental car companies would not allow you to drive their cars there. Funnily enough, the only cars you’d meet on the Road to Hana were rental cars …

76A Tabby talk : MEOW!

Tabbies aren’t a breed of cat, but rather are cats with particular markings regardless of breed. They have coats with stripes, dots and swirling patterns, and usually an “M” mark on the forehead.

79A ___ Lanka : SRI

The island nation of Sri Lanka lies off the southeast coast of India. The name “Sri Lanka” translates from Sanskrit into English as “venerable island”. Before 1972, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, a name given to the country during British rule.

90A Holiday harmonies : CAROLS

The word “carol” came into English via the Old French word “carole”, which was a “dance in a ring”. When “carol” made it into English, about 1300 AD, the term was used to describe a dance as well as a joyful song. Around 1500 AD, carols that were sung came to be associated with Christmas.

96A Period of glaciation : ICE AGE

Ice ages are periods in the Earth’s history when there are extensive ice sheets present in the northern and southern hemispheres. One might argue that we are still in an ice age that began 2.6 million years ago, as evidenced by the presence of ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica.

98A Title role for both Patti LuPone and Madonna : EVITA

“Evita” was the follow-up musical to “Jesus Christ Superstar” for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Both of these works were originally released as album musicals, and very successful ones at that (I remember buying them when they first came out). “Evita” was made into a film in 1996, with Madonna playing the title role and Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce playing her husband Juan Perón.

100A Uncle Remus title : BR’ER

The “Uncle Remus” stories are adaptations of African American folktales that Joel Chandler Harris collected across the Southern States.

102A Tree from which turpentine may be derived : LARCH

Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. It is a colorless, oily, odorous, flammable, water-immiscible liquid. Showing my age perhaps, I mostly think of turpentine as a paint thinner, and a solvent used to clean paint brushes.

104A Hullabaloo : ROAR

Our word “hullabaloo”, meaning “commotion”, is a derivative of an older term “hollo-ballo”. “Hollo-ballo” was a word used for an uproar in the north of England and Scotland.

106A Word before stick or after Scotland : YARD

London’s Metropolitan Police Service was originally headquartered at 4 Whitehall Place, and the rear entrance to the building was in a street called Great Scotland Yard. As the public entrance to the headquarters became that rear entrance, the headquarters and the force itself became known as “Scotland Yard”. The current headquarters is nowhere near that first building, and hasn’t been so since 1890, and the new facility is called New Scotland Yard.

109A “The kissing disease” : MONO

Mononucleosis is a viral disease that is also known as “glandular fever”, or simply “mono”. The virus that causes the disease can only be contracted through direct exposure to infected saliva. As a result, mono is often called “the kissing disease”.

110A Some savanna groups : PRIDES

A group of lions is known as a pride. It’s possible that the term “pride”, in this context, derives from the Latin “praeda” meaning “prey”.

A savanna (also “savannah”) is a grassland. If there are any trees in a savanna, by definition they are small and widely spaced so that light can get to the grasses allowing them to grow unhindered.

111A “___ for Ricochet” (Sue Grafton mystery) : R IS

Sue Grafton wrote detective novels, and her “alphabet series” features 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.

113A Commoner : PLEB

In ancient Rome, the patricians were the members of the families in the ruling classes. Those Romans who were not patricians by birth were known as plebs.

115A Human rights lawyer Clooney : AMAL

Amal Alamuddin married celebrated Hollywood actor George Clooney in 2014. She was born in Beirut, Lebanon and moved with her family to London when she was a toddler. Alamuddin is a lawyer specializing in international law, with one of her more renowned clients being the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange.

127A Samurai sword : KATANA

A katana is a curved sword worn by the samurai of Japan. It is sometimes referred to as a “samurai sword”.

129A Stile coins that have gone out of style : TOKENS

A stile is a structure allowing people to pass over or through a fence, while at the same time preventing livestock from escaping. The derivative term “turnstile” describes a revolving structure in a wall or fence that allows the controlled passage of people.

130A Contemptuously laughed at : DERIDED

To deride is to treat with contemptuous mirth. The term comes into English via Old French from the Latin “deridere” meaning “to ridicule”. In turn, “deridere” comes from the prefix “de-” (down) and ”ridere” (to laugh). So, to ridicule or deride is “to laugh down at”.

Down

2D Spelling ___ : BEE

The National Spelling Bee was started in 1925 by the Louisville Courier-Journal. The first winning word was “gladiolus.”

4D “3/4 teaspoon, Grey Poupon preferred” : DIJON MUSTARD

Grey Poupon mustard dates way back to 1777 when Maurice Grey started making mustard with Auguste Poupon in Dijon, France.

6D Soupçon feature : CEDILLA

A cedilla is the diacritical mark found under the letter C in many French words, as in the words “garçon” and “façade”.

“Soupçon” translates from French into English as “suspicion”, and can be used in the sense that a “suspicion” of something is just a hint, a crumb.

10D Onetime org. for Jimmy Carter and J.F.K. : USN

President Jimmy Carter is a graduate of the US Naval Academy. Carter served in the Navy on surface ships and submarines, and chose to pursue a career in the submarine service as he was interested in nuclear power and believed it had a great future in submarine design. As a result, he became an expert in nuclear propulsion. In 1952, the Navy sent the young Carter to the Chalk River Laboratories in Canada to lead the US effort to shut down the reactor after an accident and partial meltdown of a reactor core. He and his team had to be lowered into the leaking reactor core for mechanical disassembly, staying there for only seconds at a time to minimize exposure to radiation. Decades later as US President, it was this experience that influenced Carter’s decision not to complete the development of the neutron bomb.

Future US president John F. Kennedy served with the US Navy during WWII. Famously, Lieutenant Kennedy was assigned to a Motor Torpedo Squadron. Kennedy’s most noted command was Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109. PT-109 was sunk in an engagement with a Japanese destroyer in the Solomon Islands. The story of the crew’s evasion of the Japanese and subsequent rescue is told in the 1963 film “PT 109”.

11D Bean counter’s book : LEDGER

A ledger is an account book. The term ”ledger” comes from the Middle English “leggen” meaning “to lay”. The original ledger was a large book “laid” in one particular place permanently, an example being a breviary in a church.

12D Its box is yellow and green, with many colors in between : CRAYOLA

The company that we know today as Crayola was founded as Binney & Smith in 1885 by Edwin Binney and Harold Smith, two cousins. The company originally manufactured industrial pigments, including the carbon black used in car tires and the red iron oxide that gave American barns their signature color. Binney & Smith introduced crayons in 1903, the first product being an eight-color box that sold for five cents.

13D ___ Empire : ROMAN

Ancient Rome went through three distinct periods. From 753 to 509 BC, Rome was a kingdom founded by the legendary Romulus. From 509 to 27 BC, Rome was a republic. The Roman Republic started with the overthrow of the last monarch Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. He was replaced by two elected consuls who were advised by a senate. The Republic evolved over time, but came to an end when Octavian expanded his power and declared himself “First Citizen”. Octavian effectively became Rome’s first emperor, and took the name “Caesar Augustus”. The “Fall of the Western Roman Empire” took place in the 5th century, formally ending in 476 CE when the last emperor Romulus Augustus was deposed. The Eastern Roman Empire survived as the Byzantine Empire, which was centered on Constantinople.

14D Rapscallion : IMP

We might call a little imp a “rapscallion”, an evolution from “rascallion” that in turn comes from “rascal”.

15D Curmudgeon’s exclamation : BAH!

“Curmudgeon” is a favorite word used by my wife to describe me. A curmudgeon is a bad-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions. I am sure she uses the term very affectionately …

16D “Sully” or “Spartacus” : BIOPIC

“Sully” is a 2016 film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks in the title role. The movie is based on the autobiography “Highest Duty” by Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the captain of US Airways Flight 1549 that crash-landed in the Hudson River in 2009. Although the film covers the crash and miraculous escape of all aboard, it is more about the investigation that seemed intent on proving that the accident was caused by pilot error. Sully managed to clear his name. He was listed second on “Time” magazine’s list of the “Top 100 Most Influential Heroes and Icons of 2009”, right after Michelle Obama.

“Spartacus” is a famous 1960 historical drama directed by Stanley Kubrick. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of Spartacus and his role in the Third Servile War, the last of the unsuccessful slave rebellions of ancient Rome. Spartacus is played by Kirk Douglas, and indeed Douglas was very much the driving force behind making the movie. He had failed to win the title role in “Ben-Hur”, losing out to Charlton Heston. Douglas then decided to make a competing film, with a similar theme and setting. You judge which is best …

36D Cups o’ joe : JAVAS

Back in 1850, the name “java” was given to a type of coffee grown on the island of Java, and the more general usage of the term spread from then.

37D The “U” of UX : USER

User experience (UX)

40D George Eliot masterpiece … or a punny hint to seven squares in this puzzle : MIDDLEMARCH

George Eliot’s novel “Middlemarch” was first published in installments in 1871-72. The storyline is set some fifty years earlier, in the fictional English Midlands town of Middlemarch.

45D “What am I, chopped ___?” : LIVER

“What, am I chopped liver?” is a Jewish-American expression meaning “Why do I get overlooked”. One suggestion for the rationale behind the expression is that chopped liver was traditionally served as a side dish rather than a main course, and so might be overlooked.

47D Swiatek who has won the U.S. Open, French Open and Wimbledon : IGA

Iga Swiatek is a professional tennis player, and the first from Poland to win a major singles title (the French Open in 2020).

49D Workers’ rights org. : NLRB

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was set up in 1935. The NLRB is an independent government agency with the roles of conducting elections for labor unions as well as investigating and rooting out any labor practices that are deemed to be unfair.

52D Army Corps of Engineers project : LEVEE

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.

58D Start of a pirate-y pillaging song : YO-HO!

The fictional sea shanty called “Dead Man’s Chest” was introduced in Robert Louis Stevenson’s great novel, “Treasure Island”. In the book, Stevenson only describes the chorus, which goes:

Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest–
…Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest–
…Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

62D Flower with a cup-shaped bloom : TULIP

We usually associate the cultivation of tulips with the Netherlands, but they were first grown commercially in the Ottoman Empire. The name “tulip” ultimately derives from the Ottoman Turkish word “tulbend” that means “muslin, gauze”.

64D Las Vegas football player : RAIDER

The Las Vegas Raiders football team was founded in 1960, and was originally intended to play in Minnesota. Instead, the team played in Oakland from 1960 to 1981 and then spent 12 years in Los Angeles before returning to Oakland in 1995. In 2017, the Raiders announced their plan to relocate to Las Vegas starting in 2020.

67D “2 tbsp., for a briny flavor” : ANCHOVY PASTE

Anchovies are saltwater fish that are quite small, although their adult size can vary from under an inch to over 15 inches depending on the species. Vegans should beware, as they are an ingredient in several common foods including Worcestershire sauce and Caesar salad dressing.

71D Conical dwelling : TEPEE

A tepee (also written as “tipi” and “teepee”) is a cone-shaped tent traditionally made from animal hides that is used by the Great Plains Native Americans. A wigwam is a completely different structure and is often a misnomer for a tepee. A wigwam is a domed structure built by Native Americans in the West and Southwest, intended to be a more permanent dwelling. The wigwam can also be covered with hides but more often was covered with grass, reeds, brush or cloth.

72D Mlle. in Madrid : SRTA

Madrid is the most populous city in Spain, and is the nation’s capital. It is located very close to the geographical center of the country. Madrid is the second-largest city in the European Union by population, after Berlin. People from Madrid called themselves Madrileños.

78D One of a hundred for Pooh and friends : ACRE

Hundred Acre Wood is where Winnie-the-Pooh lives with his friends. According to a map illustrating the books by A. A. Milne, Hundred Acre Wood is part of a larger forest, with Owl’s house sitting right at the center. Piglet also lives in the Hundred Acre Wood, in a beech tree next to a sign that says “TRESPASSERS W”. Piglet says this is short for Trespassers William, which is his grandfather’s name.

83D “Pharsalia” and the “Aeneid” : EPICS

Aeneas was a Trojan hero of myth who traveled to Italy and became the ancestor of all Romans. Aeneas’s story is told in Virgil’s epic poem “The Aeneid”.

85D Poseidon’s domain : OCEAN

Poseidon was the god of the sea in Greek mythology as well as the Earthshaker, the god responsible for earthquakes.

89D “1/2 cup, freshly grated” : PARMESAN

Genuine Parmesan cheese is made in and around the province of Parma in northern Italy, which province gives the cheese its name.

91D 1997 Jim Carrey comedy : LIAR LIAR

The full rhyme used by children to deride someone not telling the truth is:

Liar, liar, pants on fire,
Hang them up on the telephone wire.

The rhyme is the source of the title for the 1997 Jim Carrey comedy “Liar Liar”. “Liar Liar” is an amusing film about a lawyer who finds himself only able to tell the truth and cannot tell a lie, all because his son made a birthday wish.

95D Kemo ___ : SABE

“Kemosabe” is a term used by the Tonto character in the iconic radio and television program “The Lone Ranger”. “Kemosabe” doesn’t really mean anything outside of the show, and in fact was written as “ke-mo sah-bee” in the original radio show scripts. The term was created by longtime director of “The Lone Ranger”, Jim Jewell. To come up with the term, Jewell used the name of a boy’s camp that his father-in-law established called Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee.

97D Peanuts : GOOBERS

Goobers are a brand of chocolate-coated peanuts. Introduced in 1925, the name “goober” is American English slang for “peanut”.

99D Expensive Super Bowl features : ADS

The Super Bowl is used for high-profile advertising because of the high viewership numbers. For example, Super Bowl XLIX (2015) had an average audience of 114 million viewers, making it the most-watched American TV program in history, until it was surpassed by Super Bowl LVII in 2023.

103D Black out, in a way : REDACT

Our word “redact”, meaning to revise or edit, comes from the past participle of the Latin “redigere” meaning “to reduce”.

105D “The Fountainhead” protagonist : ROARK

“The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand was first published in 1943, and was her first novel to achieve public success. The story focuses on an idealistic architect named Howard Roark. Roark is uncompromising in his designs, refusing to give the public what it wants, staying doggedly loyal to his own vision.

107D Longtime Saints QB Drew ___ : BREES

Drew Brees is a quarterback who played for the San Diego Chargers before signing with the New Orleans Saints in 2006. On top of his success in the NFL, Brees was an excellent tennis player in his youth. In one competition, he actually beat a young Andy Roddick who later became the world’s number one.

118D Expressions of appreciation, in texts : TYS

Thank you (TY)

121D “The ___ of Pooh” : TAO

Author Benjamin Hoff is best known for his 1982 book “The Tao of Pooh”, and a successor title published in 1992 called “The Te of Piglet”. Both books use the “Winnie-the-Pooh” stories to illustrate Taoist beliefs.