Day: May 5, 2025

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Constructed by: Kevin Christian & Andrea Carla Michaels
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Kentucky Derby

Themed answers each start with a word used to describe one of the first three finishing spots in the KENTUCKY DERBY:

• 50A First leg of the Triple Crown, whose levels of success can be found in this puzzle’s circled letters : KENTUCKY DERBY

• 20A Offerings at some cocktail parties : WINE AND CHEESE
• 27A Improvement that may be based on psychology instead of medicine : PLACEBO EFFECT
• 44A Accessory that may coordinate with bath mats : SHOWER CURTAIN

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

Bill’s time: 5m 13s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15 Visa competitor, informally : AMEX

“Amex” is short for “American Express”, the name of the financial services company that is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler’s check businesses. The company name is indicative of its original business. American Express was founded in 1850 in Buffalo, New York as an express mail service.

16 Mallorca, por ejemplo : ISLA

The Island of Majorca (“Isla Mallorca” in Spanish) is Spain’s largest island, and is located in the Mediterranean Sea. The population of the island ballooned over the past few decades as Majorca became a mecca for tourists from all over Europe.

17 Savanna hunter known for its laugh : HYENA

The spotted hyena of Sub-Saharan Africa is also known as the laughing hyena because of the sound it often makes, which resembles maniacal laughter.

19 Canned Hormel product : SPAM

The Hormel food processing company was founded in 1891 by George Hormel as a meat packing operation. Personally, when I hear “Hormel”, I think of Spam …

20 Offerings at some cocktail parties : WINE AND CHEESE

Our word “cocktail” first appeared in the early 1800s. The exact origin of the term is not clear, but it is thought to be a corruption of the French word “coquetier” meaning “egg cup”, a container that was used at that time for serving mixed drinks.

25 Prez after JFK : LBJ

President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) is one of only four people to have held all four elected federal offices, namely US Representative, US Senator, US Vice-President and US President. As President he is perhaps best remembered for escalating involvement in the Vietnam War, and for his “Great Society” legislation.

27 Improvement that may be based on psychology instead of medicine : PLACEBO EFFECT

A placebo is a medical treatment that is ineffective, but that is deliberately formulated to deceive the patient into thinking it is real. Placebos can be given as control treatments in trials, and so the level of deception can be relatively low, as the patients are aware of the possibility of being given an ineffective treatment. The term “placebo” is the Latin word for “I shall please”. The idea is that the treatment is given more to please than to benefit the patient.

34 Lightbulb unit : WATT

James Watt was a Scottish inventor. He figured prominently in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, largely due to the improvements he made to the fledgling steam engine. The SI unit of power is called the watt, and was named in his honor.

35 Apple beverage : CIDER

The term “cider” is used in most English-speaking countries to describe the alcoholic drink made from fermented apple juice. Here in the US, we often use the term to describe sweetened, unfiltered apple juice, and use “hard cider” to describe the alcoholic beverage. So in Britain and Ireland, beware of what you order …

43 Jumper cable connection : ANODE

On most cars using a 12V battery, the recommended sequence of connections used when jump-starting is:

1. Dead battery positive terminal … to good battery positive terminal
2. Good battery negative terminal … to bare metal on the dead car, as far away from the battery as possible.

The final connection is made to bare metal (like an engine mounting bolt) because such parts are connected to the negative terminal of the dead battery. The final connection is made away from the battery so that any spark created is less likely to ignite the explosive hydrogen gas that might be emitted by a battery.

48 BofA convenience : ATM

Today’s Bank of America traces its roots back to the Bank of Italy, believe it or not, which was a San Francisco bank founded in 1904 to service working-class Italian Americans. Bank of Italy evolved into Bank of America through a series of mergers.

49 Explosive material : TNT

“TNT” is an abbreviation for “trinitrotoluene”. It was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

50 First leg of the Triple Crown, whose levels of success can be found in this puzzle’s circled letters : KENTUCKY DERBY

The first Kentucky Derby took place in 1875, and was a race modeled on the Epsom Derby in England and the Grand Prix de Paris (now called the “Prix de l‘Arc de Triomphe”). As such, the Kentucky Derby was run over 1½ miles, although in 1896 this was shortened to 1¼ miles. The winning horse is presented with a very elaborate blanket made of red roses, and so the Derby is nicknamed “Run for the Roses”. The race is held on the first Saturday in May each year, and is limited to 3-year-old horses.

The US Triple Crown horse races are, in order through the year:

1. The Kentucky Derby
2. The Preakness Stakes
3. The Belmont Stakes

In a horse race, the first-place finisher is said to “win”. The second-place finisher “places” and the third-place finisher “shows”.

55 Post-WWII transnational gp. : NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded not long after WWII in 1949 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The first NATO Secretary General was Lord Ismay, Winston Churchill’s chief military assistant during WWII. Famously, Lord Ismay said the goal of NATO was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

56 Bygone Apple player : IPOD

The iPod is Apple’s discontinued signature line of portable media players. The iPod first hit the market in 2001 with a hard drive-based device, now known as the iPod Classic. Later models all used flash memory, allowing a smaller form factor. The smallest of the flash-based models is the iPod Shuffle, which was introduced in 2005.

60 Beige kin : ECRU

The color ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.

Our word “beige” comes from the Old French “bege”, a term that applied to the natural color of wool and cotton that was not dyed.

61 Spelling of “BH90210” : TORI

Tori Spelling is an American actress who made a name for herself playing Donna Martin on television’s “Beverly Hills, 90210”. Tori is the daughter of film and television producer Aaron Spelling.

“Beverly Hills, 90210” is a drama that aired on Fox from 1990 to 2000. The show follows the lives of little rich kids in Beverly Hills. Many of the cast members have made it big following their appearances on “90210”, including Jason Priestly, Luke Perry, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling. I’ve never even seen one episode …

63 One of the five W’s of journalism : WHAT?

The Five Ws (or “Five Ws and one H”) is a journalistic concept used for gathering information. For a story to be complete, six questions need to be answered:

1. Who is it about?
2. What happened?
3. Where did it take place?
4. When did it take place?
5. Why did it happen?
6. How did it happen?

64 Pentathlon blade : EPEE

The original pentathlon of the ancient Olympic games consisted of a foot race, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus. When a new pentathlon was created as a sport for the modern Olympic Games, it was given the name the “modern pentathlon”. First introduced in 1912, the modern pentathlon consists of:

1. pistol shooting
2. épée fencing
3. 200m freestyle swimming
4. show jumping
5. 3km cross-country running

Down

2 Gymnastics gold medalist Raisman : ALY

Aly Raisman is a retired gymnast. She captained the US gold-winning teams in the Olympics in 2012 (“The Fierce Five”) and in 2016 (“The Final Five”).

4 “Breathe Again” singer Braxton : TONI

“Breathe Again” is a ballad released by Toni Braxton in 1993. The accompanying music video was filmed at the grand Longleat House in Wiltshire, England. I have enjoyed several tours of Longleat over the years …

5 Comics legend who co-created Spider-Man and the X-Men : STAN LEE

As writers for the comic book industry, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee worked together a lot throughout the 1960s. The Kirby-Lee team created such icons as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the Hulk.

6 Language of World War II code talkers : NAVAJO

There are more speakers of the Navajo (also “Navaho”) language than any other Native American language north of the US-Mexico border. Famously, the Navajo language was used by the “code talkers” in the Pacific Theater during WWII to send secure communications by radio. These Navajo “coded” messages were used in fast tactical communications, with one bilingual Navajo speaker talking over the radio to another speaker, and the two acting as translators at either end of the conversation. The Navajo code was never broken by the Japanese.

7 Persian Gulf sultanate : OMAN

Qaboos bin Said al Said was Sultan of Oman, until his death in 2020, after coming to power in a coup in 1970 by deposing his own father. Qaboos had no children, and no agreed heir. After his death, the country’s Defense Council opened a letter left by Qaboos that named his successor, his cousin Haitham bin Tariq.

12 Supremely unconcerned : BLASE

Qaboos bin Said al Said was Sultan of Oman, until his death in 2020, after coming to power in a coup in 1970 by deposing his own father. Qaboos had no children, and no agreed heir. After his death, the country’s Defense Council opened a letter left by Qaboos that named his successor, his cousin Haitham bin Tariq.

24 Funny bone neighbor : ULNA

The ulnar nerve runs alongside the ulna (one of the bones in the lower arm). It is the largest unprotected (not surrounded by muscle or bone) nerve in the human body. The nerve can be touched under the skin at the outside of the elbow. Striking the nerve at this point causes an electric-type shock known as hitting one’s “funny bone” or “crazy bone”.

35 Crow’s cry : CAW!

Ravens and crows are very similar species, and it can be difficult to tell them apart. Ravens are a little larger and often travel in pairs, whereas crows are a little smaller and are usually seen in larger groups. Crows make a cawing sound, while the raven’s call is more like a croak.

38 Exercise with barnyard animals : GOAT YOGA

Believe it or not, goat yoga is a thing, a thing that has been around since 2016. It’s doing yoga on a farm with goats around you.

39 Creator of Norse mythology? : ODIN

In Norse mythology, Odin was not the sole creator, although his role in the formation of the cosmos was pivotal. After the primordial giant Ymir’s death, Odin and his brothers, Vili and Vé, used Ymir’s body to fashion the world: his flesh became the earth, his blood the seas, his skull the sky, and his eyebrows the barrier between the realms of men and gods. Odin also breathed life into the first humans, who were carved from trees.

42 Streaming option : ROKU

Roku is a manufacturer of digital media players that allow access to audio and video programming over the Internet that is shown on television. The company was founded in Los Gatos, California in 2002 by Anthony Wood. Wood chose the name “Roku” as it is the Japanese word for “six”, and Roku is the sixth company that Wood founded.

44 Nissan sedan : SENTRA

The Nissan Sentra is sold as the Nissan Sunny back in Japan. I remember driving a Nissan Sunny over in Ireland, many moons ago …

45 Golfer’s gofer : CADDIE

“Caddie” is a Scottish word, as one might expect given the history of the game of golf. It is a local word derived from the French “cadet” that describes a younger son or brother, or a student officer in the military. The variant spelling “caddy” is quite common.

46 Sport-__: off-road auto : UTE

A utility vehicle is often called a “ute” for short. Nowadays one mainly hears about sport-utes and crossover-utes.

47 Bellini fruit : PEACH

The Bellini is a classic Italian cocktail that originated in the celebrated Harry’s Bar in Venice. It’s traditionally made with Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine, and white peach purée or nectar. The drink is called the Bellini because its unique pink color reminded Giuseppe Cipriani, the founder of Harry’s Bar, of the pink hues in the paintings of 15th-century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini.

52 BTS music genre : K-POP

K-pop (Korean pop) is a genre of music from South Korea that emerged in the early nineties.

BTS is a boy band from South Korea with seven members. The initialism “BTS” stands for the phrase “Bangtan Sonyeondan”, which translates literally as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”. It is the best-selling musical act in the history of South Korea.

53 Days of knights : YORE

We use the word “yore” to mean “time long past” as in “the days of yore”. “Yore” comes from the Old English words for “of years”.

59 Before, to Byron : ERE

George Gordon Byron, known simply as “Lord Byron”, was an English poet active in the early 1800s. Byron was equally as famous for his poetry as he was for the wild excesses in his personal life. Byron lived much of that life outside of England, and fought for revolutionaries in both Italy and Greece. He died from a fever contracted while fighting for the Greeks against the Ottomans.