Tag: Bit of regal headwear crossword clue

Bill’s time: 21m 46s

Bill’s errors: 2

• MAMI (momi)
• CHAO (Choo!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Bit of regal headwear : DIADEM

A diadem is a type of crown that is worn as a sign of royalty. The original diadem wasn’t made of metal and was simply an embroidered silk ribbon that was worn by a king as a symbol of his authority.

7A Singer Horne : LENA

Lena Horne was an American jazz singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne started her career as a nightclub singer and then began to get some meaty acting roles in Hollywood. However, she ended up on the blacklist during the McCarthy Era for expressing left wing political views. One of Horne’s starring roles was in the 1943 movie “Stormy Weather” for which she also performed the title song.

11A Develops alopecia : GOES BALD

Alopecia is hair loss, usually from the head. The term “alopecia” comes from the Greek for “loss of fur” and originally referred to the fur of a fox. The Greek for “fox” is “alopex”.

20A 2022 World Series champ : ASTRO

The Houston baseball team changed its name to the Astros (sometimes “’Stros”) from the Colt .45s in 1965 when they started playing in the Astrodome. The Astrodome was so called in recognition of the city’s long association with the US space program. The Astros moved from the National League to the American League starting in the 2013 season.

22A College town nicknamed “A2” : ANN ARBOR

The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is the oldest university in the state, having been founded in 1817 in Detroit. The move to Ann Arbor from Detroit was made in 1837. Michigan’s athletic teams are known as the Wolverines.

23A Like the Gospel of Mark, sequentially? : AFTER MATTHEW (“aftermath” + U)

The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament in the Christian Bible. Despite the book’s title, the author is not named, with the words “according to Matthew” added about two centuries after it was written.

The suffix “math” evolved from an Old English word meaning “a mowing, cutting of grass”. So, as strange as it seems, an aftermath was a second crop of grass grown after harvesting the first. An aftermath was also known as an aftergrass or an aftercrop. By the 16th century, the term “aftermath” was being used figuratively to mean “period following a ruinous event”. That’s quite a leap …

26A Matriarch of six of the 12 tribes of Israel : LEAH

According to the Bible, Leah was one of the two wives of Jacob, the other being Leah’s sister Rachel. Jacob’s intention had been to marry Rachel, but Leah and Rachel’s father “switched” his daughters and provided Leah as the veiled bride. Jacob married Rachel a week later, and lived with the two wives concurrently.

30A 1982 film whose name is a security program : TRON

Released in 1982, Disney’s “Tron” was one of the first mainstream films to make extensive use of computer graphics. The main role in the movie is played by Jeff Bridges. The original spawned a 2010 sequel called “Tron: Legacy”, as well as a 2012 TV show called “Tron: Uprising”. More recently, a 2025 movie “Tron: Ares” starred Jared Leto, with Bridges reprising his iconic role.

42A Rock’s Plastic ___ Band : ONO

The Plastic Ono Band was a so-called “super-group”, brought together by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969. Members of the group included John and Yoko, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Keith Moon.

45A Molecule that might be modeled with Twizzlers and gummies in biology class : DNA

Francis Crick and James Watson discovered that DNA had a double-helix, chain-like structure, and published their results in Cambridge in 1953. To this day the discovery is mired in controversy, as some crucial results collected by fellow researcher Rosalind Franklin were used without her permission or even knowledge. In 1962, along with molecular biologist Maurice Wilkins, Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Twizzlers candy has been produced since 1845, although back then the only flavor available was licorice. Twizzlers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, namely Twists, Bites and Nibs. My wife is addicted to strawberry Twizzlers. Can’t stand the stuff myself …

49A Plant used in pickling : DILL

Dill is a herb in the celery family. Dill seeds can be used for flavoring food, as can dill leaves. In this sense, dill “leaves” are sometimes referred to as dill “weed”.

50A H.S. exam whose highest score is 36 : ACT

ACT is an abbreviation for American College Testing. The ACT is an entrance exam used by many universities. It has four sections, English, Reading, Math and Science, and an optional 40-minute essay.

57A Discontinued iPods designed to fit into watch pockets : NANOS

The iPod Nano was the successor to the iPod Mini and was introduced to the market at the end of 2005. There were seven versions of the Nano, until it was discontinued in 2017.

58A Original people to move into Cancún’s peninsula? : THE SETTLERS OF YUCATAN (“The Settlers of Catan” + U)

The Yucatán Peninsula is located in southeastern Mexico, where it separates the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest from the Caribbean Sea to the southeast.

The Settlers of Catan (now just “Catan”) is a board game that was introduced in 1995, in Germany as “Die Siedler von Catan”. The game is very popular in the US and was called “the board game of our time” by the “Washington Post”. My son plays it a lot, and as a lover of board games, I am going to have to check it out …

63A Affectionate term for una madre : MAMI

In Spanish, a “madre” (mother) is a member of “la familia” (the family).

64A Designation for the Louisville Bats and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp : AAA

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins that play their home games at 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville, Florida. The team is named for the shrimp that are caught in the area.

65A Preceder of Peacock and White in the game Clue : MRS

Clue is a board game that we knew under a different name growing up in Ireland. Outside of North America, Clue is marketed as “Cluedo”. Cluedo was the original name of the game, introduced in 1949 by the famous British board game manufacturer Waddingtons. There are cute differences between the US and UK versions. For example, the man who is murdered is called Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US), one of the suspects is the Reverend Green (Mr. Green in the US), and the suspect weapons include a dagger (a knife in the US), and a spanner (a wrench in the US). I think it’s a fabulous game, a must during the holidays …

66A “Big” comic protagonist : NATE

“Big Nate” is a comic strip that was launched in 1991, written and illustrated by Lincoln Peirce. The hero of the strip is a rebellious sixth-grader named Nate Wright.

75A Dove’s dwelling : COTE

The Old English word “cote” was used to describe a small house. Our modern word “cottage” comes from “cote”. We now use “cote” to describe a small shelter on a farm for sheep or birds. In an urban context, a cote is more likely to house racing pigeons.

76A Wii remote batteries : AAS

“Wiimote” is an alternative name for the Wii Remote, the controller for the Nintendo Wii gaming console.

77A Sloth in 2002’s “Ice Age” : SID

In the “Ice Age” series of animated feature films, the character named “Sid” is a ground sloth, and is voiced by actor John Leguizamo. Sid is a ground sloth who once lived in a tree with other sloths. But, Sid is dull-witted and accident-prone, and so the other sloths want to leave him behind.

78A Sensation before a migraine, medically : AURA

A person who suffers from migraines might experience visual disturbances known as auras. Often, an aura may signal the onset of the migraine.

87A Japanese craft that literally translates to “tray planting” : BONSAI

The term “bonsai” is used more correctly to describe the Japanese art of growing carefully shaped trees in containers, although it has come to be used as the name for all miniature trees in pots. “Bonsai” translates literally as “tray planting”.

88A “This Is your brain on drugs,” e.g., for short : PSA

Public service announcement (PSA)

90A One of 2,214 for Babe Ruth : RBI

Baseball legend George Herman Ruth, Jr. had several nicknames, the best known being “Babe”. He was also called “the Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat”.

92A “Shrek!” author William : STEIG

William Steig had two distinct major careers. He was a very successful and celebrated cartoonist for “The New Yorker” starting in 1930, and began his second career as a children’s book author at the age of 61. He is now most famous for his 1990 picture book “Shrek!”, which was the basis for the blockbuster film series of the same name.

99A It might come with a shell : OAR

A scull is a boat used for competitive rowing. The main hull of the boat is often referred to as a shell. Crew members who row the boat can be referred to as “oars”. And, a scull is also an oar mounted on the stern of a small boat. It’s all very confusing …

103A List of restaurant offerings for kids not yet three years old? : TWO AND A HALF MENU (“Two and a Half Men” + U)

“Two and a Half Men” is a TV sitcom that had a remarkably successful original run despite being fraught with controversy. The eighth season had to be suspended when the show’s star Charlie Sheen went into drug rehab and made disparaging comments about the show’s producers. Sheen was fired, and his role was taken over by a new character played by Ashton Kutcher. In 2012, Angus T. Jones who plays young Jake urged fans not to watch the show as it was “filth”. Jones had recently converted to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the show’s themes clashed with the church’s standards. Well, I enjoy the show …

107A Kerfuffle : TO-DO

“Kerfuffle” comes from the Scottish “curfuffle”, with both words meaning “disruption”.

110A “Roger that!” : YEP!

The term “roger”, meaning “yes” or “acknowledged”, comes from the world of radiotelephony. The British military used a phonetic alphabet in the fifties that included “Roger” to represent the letter “R”. As such, it became customary to say “Roger” when acknowledging a message, with R (Roger) standing for “received”.

114A Relative of a husky : MALAMUTE

The Alaskan Malamute was bred as a working dog, and in particular to pull sleds. The breed takes its name from the Mahlemut tribe of Inuit people. The Alaskan Malamute was designated as Alaska’s official state dog in 2010.

118A Wedding planner’s aid? : VENUE DIAGRAM (“Venn diagram” + U)

Englishman John Venn was an expert in the field of logic, and introduced the Venn diagram in his book “Symbolic Logic” in 1881. Venn diagrams are used in set theory, to illustrate the logical relationships between sets of variables.

Down

6D Bad thing not to get (especially at the office?) : MEMO

“Memorandum” means “thing to be remembered” in Latin, from the verb “memorare” meaning “to call to mind”.

7D The Cinnamon Dolce or the Blonde Vanilla, at Starbucks : LATTE

Starbucks is a coffee company based in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest coffeehouse company in the world and has almost 40,000 stores. In the 1990s, Starbucks was opening one new store every single day! Starbucks is named after the chief mate on the Pequod in Herman Melville’s book “Moby Dick”.

12D Like George H.W. Bush, but not George W. Bush : ONE-TERM

President George W. Bush (GWB) is named for his father, George H. W. Bush (GHWB). The “W” in the name of both father and son stands for “Walker”. Walker was the family name of President George H. W. Bush’s mother, Dorothy Walker.

13D Starters’ followers : ENTREES

“Entrée” means “entry” in French. An entrée can be something that helps one get “a way in”, an interview for example perhaps helped along by a recommendation letter. In Europe, even in English-speaking countries, the entrée is the name for the “entry” to the meal, the first course. I found the ordering of meals to be very confusing when I first came to America!

18D Hippocratic oath followers, for short : DRS

The Hippocratic Corpus is a collection of about 70 medical works that were at one time believed to have been written by the Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, although authorship has been called into question. Within the collection is a document known as the Hippocratic Oath (but again, the authorship has been questioned). The oath is still used today as the basis for oaths taken by medical graduates before they enter into medical practice.

24D Car financing figs. : APRS

Annual percentage rate (APR)

32D “Hidden Figures” co-star Janelle : MONAE

Janelle Monáe is a singer and actress. I’m not familiar with her as a singer, but did see Monáe play NASA engineer Mary Jackson in the excellent 2016 film “Hidden Figures”.

“Hidden Figures” is an excellent 2016 film based on a book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly. Both book and film tell the story of female African American mathematicians who worked for NASA during the Mercury and Apollo programs in the 1960s.

34D Breathable fabric used in mosquito nets : VOILE

Voile is a soft and sheer fabric, usually made from cotton, that is often used as a window treatment. Voile curtains are similar to net curtains and may be used as mosquito nets, for example. Aptly enough, “voile” is the French word for “veil”.

36D What a bad student might play : HOOKY

Apparently the term “hooky” comes from “hoekje”, the Dutch name for the game hide-and-seek. To play hooky is to shirk one’s responsibility, as in a schoolkid taking a day off without permission.

37D Menzel of Broadway : IDINA

Actress and singer Idina Menzel came to public attention when she was a member of the original Broadway cast of “Rent”. She is known on the small screen for playing Shelby Corcoran on the musical TV show “Glee”. On the big screen, her most noted performance was as the voice actor behind Queen Elsa in the Disney hit “Frozen”. It is Menzel who sings the Oscar-winning song “Let It Go” in “Frozen”.

38D Guitar string material : NYLON

The polymer known as “nylon” was developed by Dupont in the 1930s. The first application for the new product was as bristles in toothbrushes, in 1938. The second application became more famous. The first stockings made from nylon were produced in 1940, and since then stockings have been known as “nylons”. The polymer was developed as a replacement for silk, which was in short supply during WWII.

39D Fish traditionally in the British dish “pie and mash” : EELS

Eel pie is a traditional dish associated with the working classes in London, England especially during the Victorian era. Eel was chosen as an ingredient as it was one of the few fish that could live in the polluted River Thames.

41D What kitsch exhibits : BAD TASTE

“Kitsch” is a German word, an adjective that means “gaudy, trash”.

46D ___ Lama : DALAI

The Dalai Lama is a religious leader in the Gelug branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th to hold the office. He has indicated that the next Dalai Lama might be found outside of Tibet for the first time, and may even be female.

51D Former transportation secretary Elaine : CHAO

When President George W. Bush appointed Elaine Chao as Secretary of Labor, he made a bit of history as Chao became the first Chinese American in history to hold a cabinet post. It turned out that Chao became the only cabinet member to hold her post for President Bush’s full eight years in office. In 1993, Chao married Mitch McConnell, the Republican Leader of the US Senate.

52D Chinese competitor of Amazon : TEMU

Temu is an online marketplace founded in 2022. The company’s business model depends on vendors in China being able to ship directly to customers, without the cost of local distribution in the customer’s own country, hence lowering costs (and presumably prices).

57D Grp. that Sweden joined in 2024 : NATO

The country of Sweden emerged during the Middle Ages, and became one of the great powers of Europe in the days of the Swedish Empire in the 17th and early 18th century. Since then Sweden’s influence has waned. What was the eastern part of Sweden was lost to Russia in the early 1800s, and is now modern-day Finland. In the 20th century Sweden has adopted a very non-aggressive stance and was neutral in both World Wars. Sweden is a member of the European Union, although the country does not use the euro as its currency. And, Sweden joined NATO in 2024, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

59D Vegas : SIN CITY

The Las Vegas nickname “Sin City” is not a modern marketing invention. It dates back to the early 1930s, when the construction of the nearby Hoover Dam brought a massive influx of male workers to the area. The combination of legalized gambling and the establishment of red-light districts quickly earned the city its enduring moniker.

62D Hearts or spades, but not diamonds : CARD GAME

Hearts is a fun card game that is in the whist family of trick-taking games, as are bridge (my favorite) and spades.

69D Classic Orson Welles protagonist : KANE

1941’s “Citizen Kane” was the first film made by Orson Welles, and is considered by many to be the finest movie ever made. It’s a remarkable achievement by Welles, as he played the lead and also produced and directed. Despite all the accolades for “Citizen Kane” over the decades, the movie was far from a commercial success in its early run and actually lost money at the box office.

70D Ameliorates : EASES

To ameliorate is to make better, with the verb coming to us from French. The French word for “better” is “meilleur”.

73D Greek god whose name becomes a flower if you move the first letter to the end : EROS

In Greek mythology, Eros is the god of love, desire, and sexual attraction. He is often depicted as a winged youth carrying a bow and arrows, with which he shoots either golden arrows to inspire love or leaden ones to inspire aversion. His Roman counterpart is Cupid.

74D Golden Globe nominee Rooney : MARA

Actress Rooney Mara is noted for her role in the 2010 film “The Social Network” and for playing the title character in the 2011 hit movie “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. Mara has American football in her blood. Her mother’s family founded the Pittsburgh Steelers, and her father’s family founded the New York Giants.

80D Padmé Amidala’s home planet in “Star Wars” : NABOO

In the “Star Wars” universe, Padmé Amidala is the Queen of the planet Naboo. Played very ably by Natalie Portman, Padmé becomes the secret wife of Anakin Skywalker, later revealed to be Darth Vader. As such, Padmé is also the mother of Luke Skywalker and his sister, Princess Leia Organa.

83D Bête ___ : NOIRE

“Bête noire” translates from French as “black beast”, and is used in English to describe something or someone that is disliked.

85D Pretzel topper : SALT

Pretzels originated in Europe and are especially popular in Southern Germany where a pretzel is known as “Brezel”. Pretzels were introduced into the US in the 1800s by immigrants from Germany and Switzerland who came to be known over here as the Pennsylvania Dutch.

90D Trees with heart-shaped leaves : REDBUDS

Specifically, the eastern redbud is Oklahoma’s state tree.

95D Last of the 13 original colonies to be founded : GEORGIA

What is now the US state of Georgia, was the last of the original thirteen colonies to be established. It was named for King George II of Great Britain.

97D Some lawn ornaments : GNOMES

In English folklore, the fairy’s anti-hero is the diminutive gnome, an evil ugly character. Although the characteristics of gnomes vary in folklore, typically they are described as diminutive humanoids who live underground. Over the centuries, the gnome has become more lovable. We now have garden gnomes, and even the Travelocity Gnome.

98D Part of E.N.T. : EAR

Ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT)

104D Source of a natural sweetener : AGAVE

Agave nectar (also “agave syrup”) is sweeter than honey, but is much more fluid. The nectar’s sweetness comes from its high fructose content. A lot of agave nectar comes from the blue agave, the same species that is used to make tequila.

105D Last name shared by three actors on “Schitt’s Creek” : LEVY

“Schitt’s Creek” is a very entertaining Canadian sitcom created by two of the four leading actors: Dan Levy and his father Eugene Levy. The other two leads are played by Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy. It is about a very wealthy family who lose their money and relocate to a small town called Schitt’s Creek, which they had once purchased as a joke. Recommended …

111D The Panthers of the A.C.C. : PITT

The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) chose the nickname for its sporting teams in 1909, and claims that it was the first team in the country to adopt the name “Panthers”.

113D Midwest city whose name becomes a Southwest city if you move the first letter to the end : AMES

The Iowa city of Ames was founded as a stop on the Cedar Rapids and Missouri Railroad in 1864. It was named for US Congressman Oakes Ames from the state of Massachusetts in honor of the role that Ames played in the building of the transcontinental railroad.

The city of Mesa, Arizona is in effect a suburb of Phoenix. The original settlement of non-Native Americans was founded by Daniel Webster Jones who led a Mormon group from St. George, Utah. The settlement was first called Jonesville, then Fort Utah and eventually Lehi. A second group of Mormons arrived and formed a settlement on top of a nearby mesa. It was this use of a mesa that eventually gave the city its current name.

114D Not around, informally : MIA

Missing in action (MIA)

115D Hirt and Hirschfeld : ALS

Al Hirt was a trumpeter and bandleader. Hirt’s most famous recordings were the song “Java” and the album “Honey in the Horn”, as well the theme song used “The Green Hornet” TV series in the sixties.

Al Hirschfeld was a caricaturist known for sketching simple, black and white portraits of celebrities. His wife gave birth to a daughter in 1945 who they called Nina. Soon after her arrival into the world, Hirschfeld started to include Nina’s name in his portraits, hiding the word “Nina” somewhere in the drawing. Often her name would appear more than once, so Hirschfeld got into the habit of adding a number after his signature, denoting how many times “Nina” appeared. In 1966 he drew a portrait of Nina herself, and titled it “Nina’s Revenge”. There wasn’t even one occurrence of Nina’s name in the drawing, but there were two appearances each of “Al” and “Dolly”, Nina’s parents!

116D Día de ___ Reyes Magos : LOS

The holiday in the Christian tradition known as the Epiphany falls on January 6th. In some Spanish-speaking countries, the Epiphany is known as “Día de los Reyes”, and in others as “Día de Reyes” (Day of Kings).

120D Today preceder : USA

The “USA Today” newspaper was launched in 1982 and has seen a shift (downward) in its readership in recent years. As of 2025, It has a circulation of about a quarter of a million, divided fairly equally between digital subscribers and print readers.