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Constructed by: Max Schlenker

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Shake Shack

Themed answers all include the letter string “SHACK”, but with the order of the letters SHAKEN up:

• 59A Fast-food chain that began as a hot dog cart, and what this puzzle’s circled letters do? : SHAKE SHACK

• 17A Social pariah : BLACK SHEEP
• 25A “All Eyez on Me” rapper : TUPAC SHAKUR
• 35A Laughs during an “SNL” appearance, say : BREAKS CHARACTER
• 51A Drawing toy that uses aluminum powder : ETCH A SKETCH

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

Bill’s time: 8m 13s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Cherubic god : CUPID

A cherub (plural “cherubim”) is an angel. The term “cherub” ultimately comes from the Hebrew “kerubh” (plural “kerubhim”) meaning “winged angel”. In the Jewish tradition, cherubim play a key role in protecting the Garden of Eden, and in particular the Tree of Life.

16A Syllables for a stage magician : ABRA

The incantation “abracadabra” has a long history. It was used as far back as the 2nd century AD in ancient Rome when the word was prescribed by a physician to be worn on an amulet to help his emperor recover from disease. “Abracadabra” is Aramaic, and roughly translates as “I will create as I speak”.

17A Social pariah : BLACK SHEEP

“Pariah” is an anglicized version of the Tamil word “Paraiyar”. The Paraiyar are a social group of about 9 million people found in some Indian states and in Sri Lanka. The term “pariah” came to be a general term for members of the lowest caste in society, outcasts.

19A Social media spammers : BOTS

A bot is a computer program designed to imitate human behavior. It might crawl around the Web doing searches for example, or it might participate in discussions in chat rooms by giving pre-programmed responses. It might also act as a competitor in a computer game.

25A “All Eyez on Me” rapper : TUPAC SHAKUR

“All Eyez on Me” is the fourth studio album recorded by the rapper 2Pac. The February 1996 release was to be the last in his lifetime, as seven months later, 2Pac was shot to death in Paradise, a town adjacent to Las Vegas.

30A “Not answering email,” briefly : OOO

Out of office (OOO)

31A Foxy : SLY

Foxes are often described as cunning or sly. This is a reference to their reputation for eluding hunters.

32A Capitol canvas for “The Apotheosis of Washington” : DOME

At the close of the American Civil War in 1865, the US Congress commissioned a fresco to adorn the ceiling of the Capitol rotunda. Greek-Italian artist Constantino Brumidi spent eleven months completing the work, for which he received $40,000 (just under a million dollars in today’s terms). The fresco was named “The Apotheosis of Washington”, and it depicts George Washington ascending into the heavens flanked by the goddesses of Liberty and Victory, encircled by thirteen star-crowned maidens representing the original colonies.

33A Jilt : SPURN

To jilt someone with whom you have a relationship is to drop them suddenly or callously. “Jilt” is an obsolete noun that used to mean “harlot, loose woman”.

44A “Future Nostalgia” singer Lipa : DUA

2020’s “Future Nostalgia” is a studio album recorded by British singer Dua Lipa. The title reflects the goal of creating a collection of pop and disco songs inspired by the music she enjoyed growing up.

48A Truly fiendish : SATANIC

Satan is the bringer of evil and temptation in the Abrahamic religions. The name “Satan” is Hebrew for “adversary”.

51A Drawing toy that uses aluminum powder : ETCH A SKETCH

Etch A Sketch was introduced in 1960. The toy was developed in France by inventor André Cassagnes, who initially named it “L’Écran Magique” (The Magic Screen).

55A SAT prep subj. : VOCAB

Today, the standardized test for admission to colleges is known as the SAT Reasoning Test, but it used to be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, which led to the abbreviation “SAT”.

56A “Thus with a kiss I die” hero : ROMEO

In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, the last words uttered by Romeo are:

O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.

Juliet’s last words are:

Yea, noise? then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.

58A Tirade in the Times, say : OP-ED

The term “tirade” describes a long and vehement speech, and is a word that came into English from French. “Tirade” can have the same meaning in French, but is also the word for “volley”. So, a tirade is a “volley” of words.

59A Fast-food chain that began as a hot dog cart, and what this puzzle’s circled letters do? : SHAKE SHACK

Shake Shack is a chain of restaurants that started out as a simple hot dog cart doing business in Madison Square Park in New York City in 2001. By 2020, the chain operated in over 250 locations worldwide.

64A Antler point : TINE

The antlers on a deer come to points. The higher the number of points, the more prized the head of the deer as a trophy, so I am told …

65A FX drama about New York City’s ball culture : POSE

“Pose” is a drama series that originally ran from 2018 to 2021. It is set in the 1980s and 90s, and explores New York City’s underground LGBTQ “ball culture”. The show starred Billy Porter as ball emcee Pray Tell, and was groundbreaking for featuring the largest cast of transgender actors in regular roles in TV history.

66A Magazine release : ISSUE

The word “magazine” was originally used to denote a place for storing goods, particularly military arms and ammunition, back in the late 1500s. This usage was extended to include packs of ammunition attached to automatic weapons. The first use of “magazine” in the sense of a periodical or journal dates back to 1731, with the publication of “Gentleman’s Magazine”. “Magazine” had come to mean a printed list of military stores, and the idea was that the new periodical was to be a “storehouse” of information.

Down

1D Zin alternative : CAB

The cabernet sauvignon (often just “cab”) grape has been around since the 17th century, and is the result of a chance crossing in southwestern France of the cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc grapes.

Zinfandel is one of my favorite red wine varietals. It amazes me that the rich and heavy red Zinfandel comes from the same grape as does the sweet White Zinfandel.

3D Storied cause of royal insomnia : PEA

“The Princess and the Pea” is a fairy tale from the pen of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The essence of the story is that a prince’s mother tests the royal blood of an apparent princess by placing a pea under a pile of mattresses on which the young girl sleeps. The girl complains of a restless night, demonstrating a physical sensitivity that can only be attributed to a princess. And they all lived happily ever after …

5D Actress Fanning : DAKOTA

Dakota Fanning hit the big time as a child actress at the age of seven years in the movie “I Am Sam” released in 2001. For that performance, she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, making her the youngest nominee ever. Dakota’s sister Elle is also an actress.

7D “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” e.g. : OPERA

Terence Blanchard is a trumpeter and composer. He is a frequent collaborator with movie director Spike Lee, for whom he writes film scores. When New York’s Metropolitan Opera staged his opera “Fire Shut Up in My Bones”, Blanchard became the first African American composer to have a work performed by the company.

9D Ability to see what others can’t : ESP

Extrasensory perception (ESP)

10D “Se __ español” : HABLA

“Se habla español” is Spanish for “Spanish is spoken”.

21D Now, in Nicaragua : AHORA

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America. It lies between Honduras to the north, and Costa Rica to the south. The etymology of the name “Nicaragua” is not very certain. One suggestion is that it is a melding of the name “Nicarao” and “agua”, the Spanish for “water”. Nicarao was the name of the largest city in the area when the Spanish arrived, and it is thought that “agua” refers to the two large lakes: Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua.

22D Cinephile’s site : IMDB

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) website was launched in 1990, and is now owned by Amazon.com. It’s a great site for answering questions one has about movies and actors.

23D Cuckoo clock part : DOOR

Cuckoo clocks are usually regulated with a pendulum and signal the hour with the appearance of a cuckoo and the sound of a cuckoo’s call. They have been around since the 1600s, but really took off in the 1850s when production ramped up in the Black Forest region of Germany for the export market.

26D Manilow’s “hottest spot north of Havana,” familiarly : COPA

The Copacabana of the 1978 Barry Manilow song is the Copacabana nightclub in New York City (which is also the subject of the Frank Sinatra song “Meet Me at the Copa”). The Copa opened in 1940 and is still going today, although it is struggling, and has operated in several locations in Manhattan.

At the copa, Copacabana
The hottest spot north of Havana
At the copa, Copacabana
Music and passion were always the fashion
At the copa…. they fell in love

27D Like a gooseberry : SOUR

You don’t see gooseberries very much over here in the US, but they grew wild in Britain and Ireland when I was growing up. Gooseberry pies and jams were very popular.

34D Org. for Sarah Strong and Hannah Hidalgo : NCAA

American basketball player Sarah Strong was born in Madrid, and lived there for the first ten years of her life. As a result, she is fluent in Spanish. ESPN ranked her the number-one recruit in the high school class of 2024, after which she committed to playing for the UConn Huskies.

Basketball player Hannah Hidalgo grew up in New Jersey, and in 2023 committed to play for Notre Dame. She was named the nation’s best guard for the 2023–2024 season, earning her the Dawn Staley Award.

36D Shish __ : KEBAB

The term “kebab” (also “kabob”) covers a wide variety of meat dishes that originated in Persia. In the West, we usually use “kebab” when talking about shish kebab, which is meat (often lamb) served on a skewer. “Shish” comes from the Turkish word for “skewer”.

40D Comedian André : ERIC

Eric André is a comedian, TV host and musician who is perhaps best known as creator and host of “The Eric André Show”. He also voiced Azizi, one of the spotted hyenas in the 2019 remake of “The Lion King”.

41D “RuPaul’s Drag __” : RACE

RuPaul is a famous drag queen who has developed a diverse career beyond performing on stage. He works as an actor, model, author and a recording artist. Famously, RuPaul doesn’t mind whether one addresses him as “he” or as “she” …

You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don’t care! Just as long as you call me.

He currently hosts his own reality TV show called “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, which is billed as a search for “America’s next drag superstar”.

45D Harmonious society : UTOPIA

The word “Utopia” was coined by Sir Thomas More in his book “Utopia” published in 1516 to describe an idyllic fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. More’s use of the name Utopia comes from the Greek “ou” meaning “not” and “topos” meaning “place”. By calling his perfect island “Not Place”, More was apparently making the point that he didn’t think that the ideal could actually exist.

46D Brogue, for one : ACCENT

It’s possible that the use of the term “brogue”, meaning “Celtic or Irish accent”, is related to the use of “brogue” to mean “stout, heavy shoe”. According to one source, the footwear was “characteristic of the wilder Irish”. I suppose that the accent of the “wilder Irish” came to be known as a “brogue” as a result.

52D Disney villain with hair of blue flame : HADES

In the 1997 Disney animated feature “Hercules”, Hades is a more comedic character than his mythological counterpart. His voice is provided by James Woods, who gives the villain the energy of a sleazy used car salesman.

59D Tanning oil letters : SPF

Sun protection factor (SPF)

62D Chalice, e.g. : CUP

A chalice is a large drinking cup often used for drinking during ceremonies. The term “chalice” comes from the Latin word “calix” meaning “cup”. One notable example is the Holy Chalice of the Christian tradition, in which Jesus served wine to his apostles at the Last Supper.