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Constructed by: Zhou Zhang & Kevin Curry

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: A River Runs Through It

Themed answers each include circled letters I and T. Removing the single letter between the I and T gives a common phrase. The down-answer RUNNING THROUGH that “I-T” is the name of a RIVER. Clever …

• 26A Performs for only one side of the audience? : EXISTS STAGE RIGHT (from “exits stage right”)
• 27D Slithering reptile : SNAKE

• 35A Support for a fractured fruit? : BANANA SPLINT (from “banana split”)
• 12D Seattle-based retail giant : AMAZON

• 69A Sew angry? : RAGE-QUILT (from “rage-quit”)
• 60D “Slow down” light color : YELLOW

• 94A Mass celebrations? : PIETY PARTIES (from “pity parties”)
• 78D __ blue: biology stain : NILE

• 110A Needs size EEEEEE shoes? : HAS A PROBLEM WIDTH (from “has a problem with”)
• 100D “Song Sung Blue” Oscar nominee : HUDSON

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

Bill’s time: 20m 47s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

16A __ carte menu : A LA

On a restaurant menu, items that are “à la carte” are priced and ordered separately. A menu marked “table d’hôte” (also called “prix fixe”) is a fixed-price menu with limited choice. “Table d’hôte” translates from French as “table of the host”.

17A Cookies that debuted with a lemon meringue variety : OREOS

The Oreo cookie was introduced in 1912. It was intended to be a competitor to the very similar Hydrox cookie, which had debuted four years earlier. The Oreo won the resulting battle on the grocery store shelves …

21A Italian fashion giant : ARMANI

Giorgio “Gio” Armani was an Italian fashion designer and founder of the company that has borne his name since 1975. Although Armani was famous for his menswear, the company makes everything from jewelry to perfume.

26A Performs for only one side of the audience? : EXISTS STAGE RIGHT (from “exits stage right”)

“Exit stage left/right” is a theatrical direction instructing an actor to leave the stage. If the actor exits stage left, they are doing so to the left from the performer’s perspective facing the house. Is there anyone out there like me, old enough to remember Snagglepuss, the pink Hanna-Barbera cougar? He first uttered his signature “Exit, stage right!” on “The Quick Draw McGraw Show” in 1959.

29A Puzzle pieces? : ZEES

The two pieces/letters in the middle of the word “puzzle” are letters Z (zees).

30A “Bleeding Love” singer Lewis : LEONA

“Bleeding Love” is a 2007 song released by British singer Leona Lewis. The song had remarkable success around the world, and became only the second record to reach number-one in the charts in 35 countries. The first song to achieve that record was “Candle in the Wind 1997” by Elton John.

31A “Otello” baritone : IAGO

Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Otello” was first performed in 1887 at La Scala Theater in Milan. The opera is based on Shakespeare’s play “Othello” and is considered by many to be Verdi’s greatest work.

33A Like mackerel : OILY

The name “mackerel” is applied to over 30 different species of fish, most of which are in the family Scombridae. The term “mackerel” comes from the Old French name for the fish, “maquerel”, with the origins of the earlier name unclear.

34A Natural rope fiber : SISAL

The sisal plant is an agave, the flesh of which is not generally used in making tequila. Sisal is grown instead for the fibers that run the length of its leaves. The fiber is used extensively for twine, rope, carpeting, wall coverings etc. My favorite application though, is in the construction of dartboards. Sisal takes its name from the port of Sisal in Yucatan, Mexico that was a major shipping point for sisal plants.

35A Support for a fractured fruit? : BANANA SPLINT (from “banana split”)

The banana split was created in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1904. This particular sundae was the idea of David Strickler, a young apprentice pharmacist at the Tassel Pharmacy’s soda fountain.

40A Supermodel Heidi : KLUM

German-born Heidi Klum was married to the successful English singer, Seal. Klum is a talented lady and has built a multi-faceted career based on her early success as a model. She is the force behind the Bravo reality show called “Project Runway” that has been on the air since 2004. Klum has been nominated several times for an Emmy for her association with the show. Klum was also signed up as the official ambassador for Barbie in 2009, the 50th anniversary of the Barbie Doll, and for her service that year a Heidi Klum Barbie was produced. She has been adding a touch of class to the judging panel on the show “America’s Got Talent” starting in 2013.

44A Caterpillar roll ingredient : EEL

You might be able to order a caterpillar roll in your local sushi restaurant. It is an inside-out sushi roll topped with thinly sliced avocado.

48A Ye __ Apothecary : OLDE

Nowadays, we would call an apothecary a pharmacist. “Apotecaire” is an Old French word from the 13th century meaning simply “storekeeper”.

57A Beach volleyball team, e.g. : DUO

Indoor volleyball was invented in 1895 and was originally called “mintonette”, a reference to the related game of “badminton”. The variant called beach volleyball originated in 1915 on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, but was popularized on the beaches of Santa Monica starting in 1920.

59A First woman to be head writer on “SNL” : FEY

Comedian and actress Tina Fey was born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. She is perhaps best known to television viewers as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” (1997-2006), and as the creator and star of the sitcom “30 Rock” (2006-2013).

69A Sew angry? : RAGE-QUILT (from “rage-quit”)

Rage-quitting is the act of abruptly abandoning an endeavor in a fit of frustration or anger. The term “rage-quit” originated in the early days of multiplayer video gaming.

72A Org. that sells “I Read Banned Books” bookmarks : ACLU

The ACLU’s first major defense of literature was in 1933, when the organization was successful in overturning a federal ban on James Joyce’s “Ulysses”. The ACLU sells “I Read Banned Books” bookmarks in a fundraiser to support litigation against such censorship. There were a record 4,240 titles challenged in libraries in 2023.

73A Headache remedy : ASPIRIN

“Aspirin” used to be a brand name for the drug acetylsalicylic acid, which was introduced by the German drug company Bayer AG in the late 1800s. As part of the war reparations paid by Germany after WWI, Bayer AG lost the use of the trademark “Aspirin” (as well as the trademark “Heroin”!) and it became a generic term.

74A Texas symbol : LONE STAR

The single star on the state flag of Texas is a reminder of the “lone star” on the 1836 National Standard of Texas. The single white star on a blue background symbolizes Texas as an independent republic and its struggle for independence from Mexico.

79A High-end camera initials : SLR

Single-lens reflex (SLR) camera

82A Cobbler container : PIE DISH

The dessert called “cobbler” originated in colonial America when settlers invented it as a substitute for suet pudding as they didn’t have the necessary ingredients to make the more traditional dish. Instead, they stewed fruit and covered it with a layer of uncooked scones or biscuits, creating a surface that resembled a “cobbled” street, hence the name.

87A California roll ingredient : CRAB

A California roll is a kind of sushi roll that is made inside-out, with the seaweed inside and the rice on the outside. A California roll often includes rice, seaweed, cucumber and avocado. The dish originated in Los Angeles where a chef at the Tokyo Kaikan restaurant substituted avocado for fatty tuna (“toro”) in a traditional sushi recipe. The chef also put the seaweed on the inside, as his American customers preferred not to look directly at seaweed while they were eating it!

89A Gymnast Suni with six Olympic medals : LEE

Suni Lee is an American gymnast who won the women’s artistic individual all-around event at the 2020 Olympics. A few weeks after her victory in Tokyo, Lee competed in the 30th season of “Dancing with the Stars”, finishing in 5th place.

90A Direction in a Steinbeck title : EAST

According to the Bible’s Book of Genesis, after Cain murdered his brother Abel, he fled to the “Land of Nod”. Nod was located “east of Eden” (from which John Steinbeck got the title for his celebrated novel “East of Eden”).

92A Hindi film star __ Rukh Khan : SHAH

Shah Rukh Khan is an incredibly successful Indian actor who has earned the nicknames “King of Bollywood” and “King Khan”. He is also referred to by his initials “SRK”. Beyond Bollywood, Khan was offered the part of the quiz show host in 2008’s “Slumdog Millionaire”, but he turned it down. The year before, Khan had in fact been quiz show host for the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in real life.

94A Mass celebrations? : PIETY PARTIES (from “pity parties”)

The principal act of worship in the Roman Catholic tradition is the Mass. The term “Mass” comes from the Late Latin word “missa” meaning “dismissal”. This word is used at the end of the Latin Mass in “Ite, missa est” which translates literally as “Go, it is the dismissal”.

99A Shanghai salutation : NI HAO

One might say “ni hao” (also “nihao”) in Chinese to mean “hello”, although a more literal translation is “you good”.

Shanghai is a major city on the east coast of China that is home to the busiest container port in the world. The name “Shanghai” translates as “Upon-the-Sea”.

103A Prop for Zach Galifianakis’s talk show : FERN

“Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis” is a comedy show that airs over the Internet, and has done so since it was introduced in 2008. In each show, Galifianakis interviews a celebrity, with the guest sitting between two potted ferns. The list of VIPs who have appeared between the ferns includes Natalie Portman, Ben Stiller, Justin Bieber and even President Barack Obama.

117A Moo __ pork : SHU

Moo shu pork (also “mu shu pork”) is a traditional dish from northern China, with the main ingredients being shredded pork and scrambled egg. In North America, the dish is served with tortilla-like wrappers that are sometimes referred to as “moo shu pancakes”.

118A Scottish monster, affectionately : NESSIE

Scotland’s Loch Ness is famous for its fabled “monster”, referred to affectionately as “Nessie”. The loch is the second-largest lake in the country (Loch Lomond is the largest). Loch Ness takes its name from the River Ness that flows from the loch’s northern end.

119A Chow for a Clydesdale : OATS

The Clydesdale horse originated in the mid-18th century along the River Clyde in Scotland. It was specifically bred for the heavy labor of hauling coal and timber.

120A American Red Cross visitor : DONOR

Clara Barton was deeply disturbed by her experiences caring for the wounded during the Civil War. She dedicated herself after the war towards American recognition of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The American Red Cross was formed in 1881, and Barton was installed as its first president.

121A Yoga chants : OMS

In the West, we tend to think of yoga as just a physical discipline, a means of exercise that uses specific poses to stretch and strengthen muscles. While it is true that the ancient Indian practice of yoga does involve such physical discipline, the corporeal aspect of the practice plays a relatively small part in the whole philosophy. Other major components are meditation, ethical behavior, breathing and contemplation.

Down

2D Vronsky of “Anna Karenina” : ALEXEI

I have to admit to not having read Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”, but I did see the excellent 1977 British television adaptation starring Nicola Pagett. I also saw the 2012 film adaptation with a screenplay by Tom Stoppard and found that to be far from excellent, awful in fact. I am no Stoppard fan …

6D First MLS player to win consecutive MVP awards : MESSI

Lionel “Leo” Messi is a soccer player from Argentina. Before becoming a global superstar, a 13-year-old Messi was so impressive during a tryout that FC Barcelona’s sporting director immediately drew up his first contract on a paper napkin because no other paper was available. That napkin was later auctioned off for nearly $1 million.

7D Can opener : POP TAB

The term “pop-top” refers to a whole family of designs for opening the top of a soda can. The oldest method is the “pull tab” or “ring pull”, invented in Canada in 1956. The design was long-lived, but it had its problems, so the world heaved a sigh of relief with the invention of the stay-on-tab in 1975. The new design led to fewer injuries and eliminated all those used pull tabs that littered the streets.

8D Zen garden tool : RAKE

Japanese Zen gardens are inspired by the meditation gardens of Zen Buddhist temples. They have no water in them, but often there is gravel and sand that is raked in patterns designed to create the impression of water in waves and ripples.

10D A maximis ad __ : MINIMA

“A maximis ad minima” is a Latin phrase that translates to “from the greatest to the least” or “from the largest to the smallest”.

15D Actress Spacek : SISSY

Actress Sissy Spacek got her big break in the movies when she played the title role in the 1976 horror movie “Carrie”, which is based on a Stephen King novel. Her most acclaimed role is the lead in the 1980 biopic about Loretta Lynn called “Coal MIner’s Daughter”, for which she won a Best Actress Oscar. Spacek’s first cousin was the actor Rip Torn.

20D Freezer aisle waffles : EGGOS

By definition, a waffle is made from dough or batter cooked between two patterned plates (a waffle iron). Modern-day waffles were preceded in the Middle Ages by communion wafers used in the Christian tradition. Such wafers usually had images of a crucified Jesus imprinted by the iron plates.

21D Playbill word : ACT

I get quite a kick out of reading the bios in “Playbill” as some of them can be really goofy and entertaining. “Playbill” started off in 1884 in New York as an in-house publication for just one theater on 21st St. You can’t see any decent-sized production these days anywhere in the United States without being handed a copy of “Playbill”.

36D Where a QR code may lead : APP

A QR code (for “Quick Response code”) is a two-dimensional barcode that is favored over UPC barcodes as it can read more quickly and can store much more information. The QR code comprises black squares within a square grid on a white background.

37D Toy ball blaster : NERF GUN

Nerf is a soft material used in a whole series of toys designed for “safe” play indoors. The Nerf product is used to make darts, balls and ammunition for toy guns. By the way, “Non-Expanding Recreational Foam” is a popular backronym (an acronym created to fit an existing word) for “NERF”.

39D Holly genus : ILEX

Ilex, commonly known as holly, is a genus of hundreds of species of flowering plants. The holly used for Christmas decoration is Ilex aquifolium. The wood from the holly bush was once a favorite for construction of Scottish bagpipes, until dense tropical woods became readily available.

46D Root vegetable high in vitamin C : RUTABAGA

The names of veggies cause me grief sometimes. What’s called a turnip here in the US, we call a swede back in Ireland. An Irishman’s turnip is a rutabaga over here. Thank goodness a potato is a potato, or I’d just give up altogether …

49D Rapper in the “Fast & Furious” franchise : LUDACRIS

“Ludacris” is the stage name of rapper Christopher Bridges. Beyond music, he is known to movie audiences for playing the character Tej Parker in the “Fast & Furious” series of films.

50D Risky late-night coffee order : DOUBLE ESPRESSO

Espresso is made by forcing extremely hot water, under pressure, through finely ground coffee beans. The result is a thick and concentrated coffee drink that contains quite a lot of solids and a lot of foam. An espresso machine was first patented in 1884 in Italy, although it was a machine to make the beverage in bulk. The first patent for a machine that made individual measures was applied for in 1901, also in Italy.

52D Thin parts on tanks : STRAPS

“Tank top” is another one of those terms that always catches me out, as it has a different meaning on each side of the Atlantic. In the US, a tank top is a sleeveless shirt, something we would call a “vest” back in Ireland (and the US “vest” is what we call a “waistcoat”). A tank top in Ireland is a sleeveless sweater, which further adds to the confusion. The name “tank top” is derived from “tank suit”, an old name for a woman’s one-piece bathing suit. The use of “tank” for the bathing suit came from “swimming tank”, an obsolete term used in the 1920s for a swimming pool.

54D Cooler named for a cryptid : YETI

The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology, and a cryptid is a creature or plant that isn’t recognized by the scientific community, but the existence of which has been suggested.

60D “Slow down” light color : YELLOW

The first traffic lights date back to 1868 when they were installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. They resembled the signals already in use for trains, with semaphore arms and red and green gas lamps for nighttime use. That first system was operated manually, by a policeman at the base. Sadly, one police officer was killed just one year after the light’s installation, when the gas system exploded.

63D Like crosswords : CLUED

Arthur Wynne is generally credited with the invention of what we now know as a crossword puzzle. Wynne was born in Liverpool, England and emigrated to the US when he was 19-years-old. He worked as a journalist and was living in Cedar Grove, New Jersey in 1913 when he introduced a “Word-Cross Puzzle” in his page of puzzles written for the “New York World”. The first book of crossword puzzles was published by Simon & Schuster, in 1924. The collection of puzzles was a huge hit, and crosswords were elevated to the level of “a craze” in 1924 and 1925.

64D Yorkie, for one : TERRIER

The Yorkshire terrier is a breed of dog from the county of Yorkshire in the north of England. That part of the country became very industrialized in the 19th-century, and was home to hundreds of clothing mills. The “Yorkie” was developed to catch rats in those mills.

65D Pollution stat : AQI

The air quality index (AQI) is monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

70D Give an expensive coat to : GILD

Gilding is the application of gold leaf or gold powder to a solid surface, perhaps wood or another metal. The method of application can vary, from the use of a brush to electroplating.

75D Basketball Hall of Famer Steve : NASH

Steve Nash is a former professional basketball player who spent most of his playing career with the Phoenix Suns. Nash is from Canada, although he was actually born in South Africa. He became the first NBA player to carry the Olympic torch and light the Olympic cauldron, which he did at the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada.

76D Actor Corddry : ROB

Rob Corddry is an actor and comedian who is known by many for his regular appearances as a correspondent on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”. He became one of the three co-hosts of “Top Gear America” starting in 2021. Rob is the older brother of fellow actor and comedian Nate Corddry.

78D __ blue: biology stain : NILE

Nile blue is a fluorescent dye and stain used to visualize the internal structures of living cells under a microscope. It can be used to differentiate between neutral lipids, which stain pink, and acid substances that stain blue.

83D OutKast hit : HEY YA

“Hey Ya!” is a 2003 song by hip hop duo Outkast. I took a look at the song’s official music video, as I read that it was inspired by the 1964 appearance of the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show”. Fun …

87D __ crisp oil : CHILI

Chili crisp is a hot sauce used originally in Chinese cuisine. The main ingredients are fried chili peppers infused in oil. The best-known brand of chili crisp is Lao Gan Ma, which is made in the province of Guizhou in Southwestern China.

96D Sauce made with pine nuts : PESTO

Pesto sauce is more completely called “pesto alla genovese”, i.e. pesto from Genoa. A traditional recipe calls for crushed garlic, pine nuts, salt, basil leaves, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Yum …

97D Genesis mountain : ARARAT

Mount Ararat is in Turkey. It is a snow-capped, dormant volcano with two peaks. The higher of the two, Greater Ararat, is the tallest peak in the country. Ararat takes its name from a legendary Armenian hero called Ara the Beautiful (or “Ara the Handsome”). According to the Book of Genesis, Noah’s ark landed on Mount Ararat as the Great Flood subsided.

100D “Song Sung Blue” Oscar nominee : HUDSON

“Song Sung Blue” is a very entertaining 2025 biographical musical film starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as Mike and Claire Sardina, who performed as a Neil Diamond tribute act. The movie is itself based on a 2008 documentary of the same name. Jackman and Hudson use their own singing voices in the film, and they are good, very good …

Actress Kate Hudson’s breakthrough role was Penny Lane in the 2000 movie “Almost Famous”. More recently, Hudson played Cassandra July on the TV show “Glee”, and was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role in “Song Sung Blue” (2025). Hudson is the daughter of actress Goldie Hawn.

103D Followers of Bacchus : FAUNS

Fauns are regarded as the Roman mythological equivalent of the Greek satyrs, but fauns were half-man and half-goat and much more “carefree” in personality than their Hellenic cousins, who more closely resembled male humans. In the modern age we are quite familiar with Mr. Tumnus, the faun-like character encountered by the children entering the world of Narnia in C. S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”.

107D “Congo Square” singer-songwriter __ Marie : TEENA

2009’s “Congo Square” was the last album released by singer/songwriter Teena Marie, before she passed away in 2010. The title is a historic open space in Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans. The square served as a gathering place for enslaved people on Sundays during the 18th and 19th centuries, a place where they could trade and play music. In 2005, Teena Marie discovered that her ancestors on her father’s side once lived in New Orleans.

112D Game whose board has 42 territories : RISK

Risk is a fabulous board game that was introduced in France in 1957. It was invented by a very successful French director of short films called Albert Lamorisse. Lamorisse called his new game “La Conquête du Monde”, which translates into English as “The Conquest of the World”. A game of Risk is a must during the holidays in our house …

113D “Stay out of this,” for short : MYOB

Mind your own business (MYOB)