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Constructed by: Pranav Daryanani

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Breaking News

Themed answers each feature the word “NEWS”, BROKEN into two halves and serving as “bookends” for the entry:

• 54A “This just in!,” or what 20-, 33-, and 40-Across are doing? : BREAKING NEWS

• 20A “Bridgerton” and “Stranger Things,” for two : NETFLIX SHOWS
• 33A Cushions for napping on long flights : NECK PILLOWS
• 40A Statutes that attempt to ensure a carbon-neutral future : NET-ZERO LAWS

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 5m 34s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Cauliflower unit : HEAD

Cauliflower is a vegetable that is closely related to cabbage. The name “cauliflower” can be translated as “cabbage flower”. Yum …

9A “I __ Feeling”: Black Eyed Peas hit : GOTTA

The 2009 hit “I Gotta Feeling”, released by the Black Eyed Peas, broke a lot of records. In 2011, it became the first song in digital history to surpass seven million downloads in the US. As of 2025, it was the highest-selling, non-charity digital single ever in the US. Great song …

14A Biblical ark maker : NOAH

According to the Bible’s Book of Genesis, Noah was instructed to build his ark 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. That’s about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.

15A Ivy that was the first U.S. school to issue a Ph.D. : YALE

The concept of a research-heavy Ph.D. model originated in Germany in the early to mid-19th century. US universities were the first to import the concept, with Yale starting to grant Ph.D. degrees in 1861. Although research degrees appeared in the UK in the late 1800s, Ph.D. degrees weren’t introduced until 1917.

16A Barcelona bills : EUROS

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain, after the capital Madrid. It is also the largest European city that sits on the Mediterranean coast, and the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia.

20A “Bridgerton” and “Stranger Things,” for two : NETFLIX SHOWS

“Bridgerton” is a fascinating period drama TV series based on a series of historical romance novels by Julia Quinn. Most of the action takes place in London’s high society during the Regency Era. An intriguing element is the show’s approach to race. There is a common, albeit unfounded, assertion that King George III’s wife Queen Charlotte was of African descent. “Bridgerton” runs with this assertion, portraying the era’s society as quite diverse.

“Stranger Things” is a sci-fi horror TV show made for Netflix that aired its first season in 2016. I don’t do horror, and so haven’t seen it …

24A Letters between names : AKA

Also known as (aka)

27A Vegas venue : CASINO

The term “casino” originated in the 1700s, then describing a public room for music or dancing. “Casino” is a diminutive of “casa” meaning “house”.

38A Sombrero, e.g. : HAT

In English we think of a sombrero as a wide-brimmed hat, but in Spanish “sombrero” is the word for any hat. “Sombrero” is derived from “sombra” meaning “shade”.

40A Statutes that attempt to ensure a carbon-neutral future : NET-ZERO LAWS

To have net zero emissions globally, the carbon dioxide generated by human activities balances out with the removal of those emissions. We aren’t there yet, not even close …

53A Dipping bread : SOP

A sop is a piece of bread or toast used to soak up liquid from a bowl. The word “sop” shares its roots with “soup”, which originally referred not to the liquid itself, but to the bread placed at the bottom of a dish to absorb the broth. Quite interesting …

59A Magic or ventriloquism performance, say : VARIETY ACT

Ventriloquism (also “ventriloquy”) is the art of making one’s voice seem to come from somewhere else. The concept comes from Ancient Greek civilization, and the term “ventriloquy” comes from the Latin “ventriloquus” meaning “belly speaking”. The original Greek didn’t describe a form of entertainment, but rather a rumbling, internal speech said to come from spirits or demons in the belly.

65A Marvel-ous mutants? : X-MEN

In the Marvel Comics universe, mutants are beings with an X-gene. Such mutants are humans who naturally develop superhuman powers. The most celebrated of these mutants are known as the X-Men.

66A Land near 41-Down : TIBET
[41D Only mountain taller than K2 : EVEREST]

Tibet is a plateau region that is part of China, and is located north of the Himalayas. Tibet declared its independence from China in 1913, but fell back under Chinese control after the Invasion of Tibet in 1951. The Tibetan leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled the country during the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion. Since then, he has led the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India.

67A State bird of Hawaii : 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.

Down

2D “Encore!” : MORE!

“Encore” is French for “again, one more time”, and is a shout that an audience member will make here in North America to request perhaps another song. But, the term is not used this way in France. Rather, the audience will shout “Bis!”, which is the Latin for “twice!”

5D Personal cleanliness : HYGIENE

Hygieia was both the Greek and Roman goddess of health and cleanliness. She was a daughter of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. The name “Hygieia” gives us our contemporary term “hygiene”.

8D New __, India : DELHI

New Delhi is the capital city of India. The city resides within the National Capital Territory of Delhi (otherwise known as the metropolis of Delhi). New Delhi and Delhi, therefore, are two different things.

9D Message on a hospital bouquet : GET WELL

“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.

11D Prefix with -ceratops : TRI-

A triceratops was a dinosaur that kind of looked like a rhinoceros, but with three horns. The name “triceratops” is derived from the Greek for “three-horned face”.

19D Marisa of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” : TOMEI

Marisa Tomei’s first screen role was in the daytime soap “As the World Turns”, but her break came with a recurring role in “The Cosby Show” spin-off “A Different World”. Tomei won an Oscar for her delightful performance in “My Cousin Vinny” in 1992.

2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is a superhero film starring Tom Holland in the title role. Zendaya plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s girlfriend MJ Jones-Watson, and Benedict Cumberbatch portrays fellow superhero Dr. Stephen Strange. Apparently, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire appear as alternate versions of Spider-Man, having played the role in earlier films in the Franchise. Filming and release of “… No Way Home” was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions, but it became the first film to gross over a billion dollars during the pandemic.

24D Words for raising spirits? : A TOAST

The tradition of toasting someone probably dates back to the reign of Charles II, when the practice was to drink a glass of wine to the health of a beautiful or favored woman. In those days, spiced toast was added to beverages to add flavor, so the use of the word “toast” was an indicator that the lady’s beauty would enhance the wine. Very charming, I must say …

25D Collectible doll with the same name as a Japanese mayonnaise brand : KEWPIE

Kewpie dolls are figurines that were introduced originally in 1909 as characters in a comic strip drawn by cartoonist Rose O’Neill. The name “Kewpie” comes from “Cupid”, the name of the Roman god of love.

27D “The Office” star Steve : CARELL

Actor Steve Carell has achieved great success on both television and in movies. On the small screen, Carell came to prominence on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and then as the lead in the US version of “The Office”. On the big screen, he starred in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”, “Evan Almighty”. My personal favorite Carell movie is 2007’s ”Dan in Real Life”, in which he stars opposite the wonderful Juliette Binoche.

The excellent sitcom “The Office” is set in a branch of a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. If you haven’t seen the original UK version starring Ricky Gervais, I do recommend you check it out. Having said that, the US cast took the show to a whole new level. Great television …

34D Actor Penn : KAL

Indian American actor Kal Penn made a name for himself in the “Harold & Kumar” series of comedy films. These so-called “stoner comedies” are not my cup of tea, but I enjoyed him playing his more mainstream roles on TV’s “House” and “24”. He left the world of acting when President Obama won the 2008 election to work as an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement (although he did leave the White House briefly to film the “Harold & Kumar” sequel).

37D Kendrick Lamar’s “All the Stars” collaborator : SZA

“SZA” is the stage name of American singer Solána Imani Rowe. The name is essentially a creative code where each letter stands for a powerful word: Sovereign/Self/Savior, Zig-Zag-Zig, and Allah.

Kendrick Lamar is a hip-hop singer from Compton, California. Lamar’s full name is Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, with the singer’s given name honoring Motown artist Eddie Kendricks. Notably, his 2017 album “Damn” won a Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first non-classical or non-jazz album to do so.

41D Only mountain taller than K2 : EVEREST

K2 is the second highest mountain on the planet (at 28,251 ft), with Mount Everest being higher by over 700 feet. Located on the China-Pakistan border, K2 is known as the “Savage Mountain” as it is relatively difficult to climb. 1 in 4 mountaineers who have attempted to reach the summit have perished. It had never been climbed in winter until relatively recently (in 2021 by a team of Nepalese climbers). The name K2 dates back to what was called the Great Trigonometric Survey, a British survey of the geography of India carried out during the 19th century. Included in this survey were the heights of many of the Himalayan peaks, including Everest. The original surveyor, Thomas Montgomerie, included two peaks he first called K1 and K2. He discovered later that the locals called K1 Masherbrum (the 22nd highest mountain in the world), but the remote K2 had no local name that he could find, so it was christened Mount Godwin-Austen. This name was rejected by the Royal Geographic Society although it does still appear on some maps. So, the most common name used is K2, that original notation in a surveyor’s notebook.

51D Like Chichén Itzá : MAYAN

Chichén Itzá is a Mayan ruin located in the Mexican state of Yucatán. It is the second-most visited archaeological site in the country (after the ancient city of Teotihuacan). Chichén Itzá has seen a surge in the number of visitors since the development of nearby Cancún as a tourist destination.

56D Humorist Bombeck : ERMA

Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years. She produced more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns under the title “At Wit’s End”, with all describing her home life in suburbia.

57D Small songbird : WREN

The wren is a small songbird belonging to the family Troglodytidae and the genus Troglodytes. Wrens are known for making dome-shaped nests. Despite their small size, they are known for their loud and complex songs. Male wrens often sing to attract mates and to establish territory. They have been known to attack much larger birds that get too close to their nests.

60D Mate, in Marseille : AMI

Marseille (often written “Marseilles” in English) is the second largest city in France, after Paris. Marseille is also the largest commercial port in the country. I used to live nearby, and can attest that Marseille and environs is a great place to visit …