Tag: Very in slang crossword clue

Bill’s time: 5m 41s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Bread served with baba ghanouj : PITA

Baba ganoush (also “baba ghanouj”) is an Arab dish with the main ingredient of mashed eggplant. It is sometimes served as a (delicious) dip.

11 Symbol in the sky above Gotham City : BAT

Batman is an ally of Police Commissioner Gordon of Gotham City. Gordon orders the shining of a searchlight, known as the Bat-Signal, into the sky to summon Batman when he is needed.

14 Reddit Q&As : AMAS

Reddit.com is a networking and news website that started up in 2005. It is essentially a bulletin board system with posts that are voted up and down by users, which determines the ranking of posts. The name “Reddit” is a play on “read it”, as in “I read it on Reddit”. One popular feature of the Reddit site is an online forum that is similar to a press conference. Known as an AMA (for “ask me anything”), participants have included the likes of President Barack Obama, Madonna, Bill Gates, Stephen Colbert and Gordon Ramsay. President Obama’s AMA was so popular that the high level of traffic brought down many parts of the Reddit site.

15 Like the Bosporus, notably : NARROW

The Bosphorus (also “Bosporus”) is one of the two Turkish Straits, the other being the Dardanelles. The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles lie either side of the Sea of Marmara, allowing continuous navigation from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea. The Turkish Straits also form the boundary between Europe and Asia.

16 Zendaya’s role on “Euphoria” : RUE

“Euphoria” is an HBO teen drama show that is loosely based on a miniseries of the same name from Israel. Lead actress in the show is Zendaya, who plays a recovering teenage drug addict.

17 Washington post? : VALLEY FORGE

The village of Valley Forge is in Pennsylvania, and about 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Famously, Valley Forge hosted George Washington’s Continental Army during the 1777-1778 winter.

23 State trees of Massachusetts : ELMS

The official state tree of Massachusetts is the American elm. The elm was chosen in 1941, in a gesture commemorating George Washington taking command of the Continental Army in 1775. He did so beneath an American elm on Cambridge Common.

26 Hair removal brand : NAIR

Nair is a hair-removal product that has some pretty harsh ingredients. The most important active constituents are calcium hydroxide (“slaked lime”) and sodium hydroxide (“caustic soda”). Other Nair components seem to be there to soothe the skin after the harsher chemicals have done their job. The name “Nair” probably comes from combining “no” and “hair”.

28 London lad : CHAP

“Chap” is an informal term meaning “lad, fellow” that is used especially in England. The term derives from “chapman”, an obsolete word meaning “purchaser” or “trader”.

London, England has been a major settlement for over 2,000 years and was founded as a town by the Romans who named it Londinium. The name “Londinium” may have existed prior to the arrival of the Romans, and no one seems too sure of its origins. Famously, the City of London is a one-square-mile area at the center of the metropolis, the area that marked old medieval London. “The City”, as it is commonly called, has its own Mayor of the City of London (the Mayor of London is someone else), and its own City of London Police Force (the London Metropolitan Police are the police usually seen on the streets, a different force).

31 San Francisco examiner? : FORTY-NINER

The California gold rush actually started in 1848. The first to exploit the find were those people already in California. By 1849 the word had spread and gold-seekers started to arrive from all over the world. The “out-of-towners” who arrived in 1849 became known as forty-niners.

38 What tahini is made from : SESAME

“Tahini” is the Arabic name for a paste made from ground sesame seeds. It is a major ingredient in hummus, one of my favorite dishes.

39 Walker who wrote “The Color Purple” : ALICE

Alice Walker is an author and poet. Walker’s best known work is the novel “The Color Purple”, which earned her the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. “The Color Purple” was adapted into a very successful film of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg.

41 [Not my typo] : [SIC]

[Sic] indicates that a quotation is written as originally found, perhaps including a typo. “Sic” is Latin for “thus, like this”. The term is more completely written as “sic erat scriptum”, which translates as “thus was it written”.

44 Comes down as a wintry mix : SLEETS

Apparently, “sleet” is a term used to describe two different weather conditions. One is a shower of ice pellets that are smaller than hail, and the second is a mixture of rain and snow, with the snow melting as it falls.

46 Road crew’s supply : SALT

Halite is the mineral form of sodium chloride, and is also known as “rock salt”. It is used to melt ice, as salt water has a lower freezing point than pure water. Adding salt to icy sidewalks can therefore cause any ice to melt (as long as the ambient temperature isn’t too low). A mixture of halite and ice can also be used to cool things below the freezing point of water, perhaps to make ice cream.

49 Boston herald? : PAUL REVERE

Paul Revere is famous for having alerted the Colonial militia when the British military arrived in the build up to the battles of Lexington and Concord. Revere earned his living as a silversmith. After the war, Revere returned to his trade and diversified into other metalwork. Revere was the first American to develop a process to roll copper into sheets so that the metal could be used to sheathe the hulls of naval vessels.

51 Beltway bigwigs : POLS

The phrase “inside the Beltway” is used to refer to the infrastructure and politics of Washington, D.C. The Beltway in this case is Interstate 495, also known as the Capital Beltway.

A bigwig is someone important. The use of the term “bigwig” harks back to the days when men of authority and rank wore … big wigs.

52 What baking soda and vinegar simulate, in a classic science fair experiment : LAVA

Baking powder is a mixture of substances used to release carbon dioxide into a batter or dough in order to lighten it. In this respect, baking powder has a similar effect as yeast, and can be described as a leavening agent. A common mixture comprises sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) with a weak acid. The acid reacts with the bicarbonate when water is added, releasing carbon dioxide.

65 Kansas City star? : TRAVIS KELCE

NFL tight end Travis Kelce was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 2013 draft. Kelce’s life off the field garners as much attention as his playing career. He is quite an accomplished golfer, and participates regularly in celebrity tournaments. Oh, and I hear that he started dating Taylor Swift in 2023.

70 Derrière : REAR

“Derrière” is a French term meaning “back part, rear”.

71 Southwest forecast, for short : ETA

When Southwest Airlines started flying, the company operated out of Dallas Love Field. The company then chose a “love” theme, offering “love bites” (peanuts) and “love potions” (drinks) to passengers during flights. That’s why Southwest is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as “LUV”.

Down

6 Half-___ (coffee order) : CAF

Caffeine is a naturally occurring stimulant that is found in several plants. The chemical serves as a natural pesticide by paralyzing and killing certain insects that would otherwise feed on the plant. Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug that is consumed by humans across the world.

8 Like a drive in the woods? : ERRANT

That would be golf.

9 Hot summer period named for the constellation Sirius : DOG DAYS

“Dog Days” is the term given to the warmest and most humid days of summer. The term derives from the ancient belief that hot weather was caused when Sirius (the Dog Star) was in close proximity to the sun.

12 Bronco or Beetle, e.g. : AUTO

The Bronco is an SUV that was made by Ford from 1966 to 1996. O. J. Simpson was driving a white Ford Bronco in that famous low-speed chase by the LAPD that resulted in Simpson’s arrest.

“VW” stands for “Volkswagen”, which translates from German into “people’s car”. The original Volkswagen design was the Beetle and was built under a directive from Adolf Hitler, who wanted a cheap car built that ordinary people could afford to purchase. Hitler awarded the contract to engineer Ferdinand Porsche, whose name (paradoxically) would forever be associated with high performance, expensive cars. The Beetle was the official name of the VW model released in North America, but it was usually referred to as a “Bug” here in the US, and a “Beetle” elsewhere in the world.

24 R.I.S.D. grad’s degree : MFA

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is a college in Providence, Rhode Island. The RISD is located right next door to Brown University.

30 “Bye-bye,” to Bonaparte : ADIEU

Napoléon Bonaparte was a military professional from Corsica who rose to prominence after the French Revolution during the French First Republic. He took over the country in 1799 in a coup d’état and installed himself as First Consul. Soon after, he led France in the Napoleonic Wars, conflicts between the growing French Empire and a series of opposing coalitions. He was eventually defeated at the Battle of Leipzig and was forced into exile on the Italian island of Elba off the Tuscan coast. Napoleon escaped in 1815 and regained power, only to be finally defeated a few months later at the Battle of Waterloo. The British dispatched him to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic where he lived out the last six years of his life as a prisoner.

33 Kind of chip named for its inventor, Ignacio Anaya : NACHO

The dish known as “nachos” was supposedly created by the maître d’ at a restaurant called the Victory Club in the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. The name of the maître d’ was Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya.

35 Uses Airbnb or Vrbo : RENTS

Airbnb is a website-based service that matches people wanting to rent out short-term living quarters to people seeking accommodation. The company was founded in 2008 as AirBed & Breakfast. The original concept was renting out an “air bed” and providing “breakfast” to someone looking for cheap, temporary accommodation. That’s right; the “Air” in “Airbnb” has nothing to do with “air” travel …

VRBO is an online marketplace for vacation rentals. The initialism stands for Vacation Rentals by Owner. VRBO was founded in 1995, and is headquartered in Austin.

37 World Heritage Site in Jordan : PETRA

The archaeological city of Petra in Jordan sounds like a fabulous sight, and is known for its beautiful buildings that have been carved out of the natural rock. Because of the color of the sandstone used, Petra is known as “Rose City”. It is Jordan’s most visited tourist attraction.

51 Hoosier hoopers : PACERS

The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, who play in the NBA. The name was chosen when the team was formed in 1967. “Pacers” is a homage to harness racing pacers (famed in Indiana) and the pace car used in the Indianapolis 500.

55 Item of apparel for Zorro or Dracula : CAPE

“Zorro” is a 2005 novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende. The title character comes from a series of stories and pulp fiction from the early 1900s by American author Johnston McCulley. Allende’s work is presented as a biography of Don Diego de la Vega, and an origin story of his alter ego “El Zorro” (The Fox). I’ve put this one on my reading list …

“Dracula” is a novel written by the Irish author Bram Stoker and first published in 1897. Dracula wasn’t the first vampire of literature, but he certainly was the one who spawned the popularity of vampires in theater, film and television, and indeed more novels. Personally, I can’t stand vampire fiction …

56 Condo, e.g. : UNIT

The terms “condominium” and “apartment” tend to describe the same type of residential property, namely a private living space with facilities shared with others residing in the same building or complex. The difference is that a condominium is usually owned, and an apartment is rented. At least that’s how it is in the US. The word “condominium” comes from the Latin “com-” (together) and “dominum” (right of ownership).

61 Smart ___ (wiseacre) : ALEC

Apparently, the original “smart Alec” (sometimes “Aleck”) was one Alec Hoag, a pimp, thief and confidence trickster who plied his trade in New York City in the 1840s.

The word “wiseacre” dates back to the late 1500s, when it was a botched translation of the Middle Dutch word “wijsegger” meaning “soothsayer”. Originally, there was no derogatory connotation to the word, but over time a wiseacre had become a know-it-all.

62 Org. for the SEC and ACC : NCAA

Southeastern Conference (SEC)

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)

63 Belgrade native : SERB

Belgrade is the capital city of Serbia. The name “Belgrade” translates into “White City”.

65 Extra attention, in brief : TLC

Tender loving care (TLC)

66 Gerund suffix : -ING

A gerund is a form of a verb that can be used as a noun. For example, the gerund of the verb “to solve” is “solving”, as in the phrase “we really enjoyed the solving of the crossword”.