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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Dish such as Germany’s hasenpfeffer : RABBIT STEW

“Hasenpfeffer” is a rabbit or hare stew from Germany. The meat in the stew is braised with wine and the sauce thickened with the animal’s blood. The name “Hasenpfeffer” comes from the German “Hase” meaning “hare” and “Pfeffer” meaning “pepper”.

11A Set of 24 for a box jellyfish : EYES

Jellyfish are found all over the ocean, right across the whole planet. They have been around for 500-700 million years, and so are the oldest multi-organ animal extant.

24A Benjamin Franklin invention of the 1780s : BIFOCALS

Benjamin Franklin was a prolific inventor, coming up with bifocal glasses among other things. Franklin never filed for patents for his creations, and wrote:

… as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.

39A Irreverence, of a sort : SNARK

“Snark” is a term that was coined by Lewis Carroll in his fabulous 1876 nonsense poem “The Hunting of the Snark”. Somehow, the term “snarky” came to mean “irritable, short-tempered” in the early 1900s, and from there “snark” became “sarcastic rhetoric” at the beginning of the 21st century.

50A Portal released concurrently with Windows 95 : MSN

The MSN (The Microsoft Network) web portal was launched in 1995 as a subscription-based dial-up online service offered alongside Windows 95. It evolved into a standalone Internet service provider known as MSN Dial-up Internet Access.

51A Many a guest writer’s piece : OP-ED

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in the “New York World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

52A Genetically rare feline that represents autumn in Chinese astronomy : WHITE TIGER

The white tiger is a Bengal tiger that is missing the pigments that produce the usual orange color due to a genetic mutation. The mutation is a rare one, and the probability of it occurring increases with inbreeding. Inbreeding can cause genetic defects, such as crossed-eyes, a crooked backbone and kidney problems.

60A ___ Lydic of “The Daily Show” : DESI

Comedian and actress Desi Lydic is perhaps best known as a correspondent on “The Daily Show”, a gig that she signed up for in 2015. Lydic’s first name is short for her middle name. Her full birth name is Lani Desmonet Lydic.

61A “This is a travesty!” : I’M OUTRAGED!

Back in the 17th century, a travesty was a burlesque or artistic imitation of a serious work, a parody. The term “travesty” has come to mean a distorted representation in general, a sham or a mockery.

Down

1D “Into each life some ___ must fall”: Longfellow : RAIN

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was famous for his own work, like “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “The Song of Hiawatha”, but he was also the first American to translate Dante’s epic poem called the “Divine Comedy”.

2D Common word in Latin dating : ANNO

The Latin for “year” is “annus”, which takes the plural “anni”. “Anno” is the ablative or dative case form, translating to “in the year” (as in “Anno Domini”) or “to/for the year”.

6D She played Sandy Lester in “Tootsie” : TERI GARR

Actress Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffered from multiple sclerosis, and was a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

“Tootsie” is a hilarious 1982 comedy starring Dustin Hoffman in the title role, a male actor who adopts a female identity in order to land an acting job. Jessica Lange won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the film. “Tootsie” also provided Geena Davis with her first movie role.

7D Author Silverstein : SHEL

Author Shel Silverstein had a varied career and did a lot more than write books. He was a poet, composer, cartoonist and screenwriter among other things. One of his successful children’s books is “The Giving Tree”, which was first published in 1964. “The Giving Tree” tells of a young boy who has a special relationship with a tree in a forest. The message of the book seems to be that the tree provides the little boy with everything he needs.

9D Many members of Kuwait’s al-Sabah royal line : EMIRS

The State of Kuwait sits at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf, sharing a border to the north with Iraq. After WWI, Kuwait was a Protectorate within the British Empire and then gained independence from the UK in 1961. Iraq annexed Kuwait in 1990, which led to the Gulf War of 1990-1991.

10D Crisco competitor : WESSON

Wesson cooking oil was named for David Wesson, a food chemist who came up with a process to deodorize cottonseed oil in 1899. Wesson used to be pure cottonseed oil, but is now a mixture of cheaper vegetable oils. Actress Florence Henderson was the longtime spokesperson for the product, appearing in Wesson TV commercials from 1976 until 1996.

The Crisco brand of shortening was the first to be made entirely from vegetable oil. Although that sounds like a good thing, it’s actually made by hydrogenating vegetable oil so that it has physical properties similar to the animal shortening it was designed to replace. This hydrogenation turns good fats into bad fats, so medical professionals suggest limited intake.

24D Smoking events, for short : BBQS

It is believed that our word “barbecue” (BBQ) comes from the Taíno people of the Caribbean in whose language “barbacoa” refers to a raised wooden framework or grate used for sleeping or for cooking meat over a fire.

25D Major exporter of pistachios : IRAN

The pistachio is a small tree that produces some very tasty seeds. We see the seeds in grocery stores labeled as “nuts”, but botanically they are termed “drupes”. Drupe or nut, they’re delicious …

26D Tidbits of Greek culture? : FETA CHEESE

Feta is a Greek cheese made from sheep’s milk, or a mixture of sheep and goat’s milk. The cheese is salted and cured in a brine solution for several months before it is eaten.

27D Francis’s successor : LEO

Robert Francis Prevost became the first pope from the US, in 2025, taking the name Leo XIV. He chose the name Leo in part to honor Pope Leo XIII, who was known for his social teachings which addressed workers’ rights and capitalism. The choice of name suggests a continuation of the emphasis placed by Pope Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, on social justice and reform.

Pope Francis was elected on 13 March 2013 as the 266th Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic church. The new pope famously took a much simpler and more modest approach to the office, as he did with his life back in Argentina. Francis was the first pope since 1903 not to reside in the papal residence, choosing to live instead in the less lavish Vatican guesthouse.

32D Icebreaker, e.g. : SHIP

In order to be successful, an icebreaker must have a strengthened hull, a shape designed to clear the broken ice, and lots of power to push through thick ice. Russia has a fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. They are so effective that in 1977, Russia’s nuclear-powered NS Arktika became the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.

33D Iconic hairstyle of Jane Fonda and Stevie Nicks : SHAG

A shag cut is a layered hairstyle. Actress Meg Ryan famously sported a shag cut for many years, as did fellow actress Farrah Fawcett.

Jane Fonda is the daughter of Henry Fonda, sister of Peter Fonda, and aunt of Bridget Fonda, making the Fondas quite the acting family. Jane Fonda had many memorable screen performances, but is equally memorable for her anti-war activism. Most famously she was outspoken against the Vietnam War, going so far as to visit North Vietnam during the height of the conflict in 1972, posing for photographs and making radio broadcasts denouncing American leaders as “war criminals”. For her stance, Fonda was nicknamed “Hanoi Jane”.

Singer Stevie Nicks came to fame as the lead singer of Fleetwood Mac. She has a very distinctive voice, heard at its best (I think) on the famous 1977 album “Rumours”.

36D Support while “en pointe” : TOE

“En pointe” is ballet dancing on the tips of the toes, and is a French term. A ballerina wears pointe shoes (sometimes “toe shoes”) to perform this delightful-looking, albeit unhealthy, feat (pun!).

37D I, O, U and Y, but not A or E : ELEMENTS

Here is a list of all the single-letter element symbols:

• B = boron
• C = carbon
• F = fluorine
• H = hydrogen
• I = iodine
• K = potassium
• N = nitrogen
• O = oxygen
• P = phosphorus
• S = sulfur
• U = uranium
• V = vanadium
• W = tungsten
• Y = yttrium

41D Engage in tomfoolery : KID

In Middle English, in the mid-14th century, a mentally deficient man might be referred to as a “Thom Foole”. We retain the old pejorative term in our contemporary word “tomfoolery” meaning “clowning around”.

43D Arriviste : UPSTART

An arriviste is a pushy, ambitious person. The word “arriviste” is French, from the verb “arriver” meaning “to arrive”. The idea is that an arriviste is an upstart, someone intent on “arriving” in society.

49D Maker of the Hacky Sack and Hula-Hoop : WHAM-O

Wham-O was founded in 1948, with the company’s first product being the Wham-O slingshot. Since then, Wham-O has marketed a string of hit toys including the Hula Hoop, Frisbee, Slip ‘N Slide, Silly String, Hacky Sack and Boogie Board.

A footbag is a small bag used to play games that involve kicking it in the air repeatedly, usually in an attempt to prevent the footbag landing on the ground. Although footbags have been around for a long time, the most famous one today is the Hacky Sack, made by Wham-O.

Hula hoops were a big craze in the 1950s, but they have been around in various forms at least since the year 500 BCE.

55D Greenish plum variety : GAGE

Greengages are plum cultivars. They are named for British landowner and politician Sir William Gage, who supposedly was the first to import the fruit from France.