Day: June 5, 2025

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Constructed by: Roland Huget
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Round Trip

Themed answers each include the letter string “TRIP” hidden within, with the order moving ROUND as we descend the grid:

• 61A There and back, or a progression found in 17-, 25-, 35-, 51-, and 61-Across : ROUND TRIP

• 17A Hair removal option : WAX STRIPS
• 25A Underhanded move : CHEAP TRICK
• 35A Growth also known as yellow poplar : TULIP TREE
• 51A Noncommissioned screenplay : SPEC SCRIPT
• 61A There and back, or a progression found in 17-, 25-, 35-, 51-, and 61-Across : ROUND TRIP

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

Bill’s time: 8m 25s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Former “Doctor Who” star Capaldi : PETER

Scottish actor Peter Capaldi might be best known in North America for portraying the title character in the iconic sci-fi series “Doctor Who” from 2013-2017. He is also known for playing the foul-talking Malcom Tucker on “The Thick of It”, the British sitcom that was remade in the US as “Veep”. Fans of the 1983 movie “Local Hero” might remember a very young Capaldi as the naive local oil company representative in Scotland. Great film …

“Doctor Who” is an iconic sci-fi television series that is made in the UK by the BBC. First broadcast in 1963, the show is still running today, making it the longest running sci-fi television show in the world. Doctor Who is a time traveler, from the planet Gallifrey, who “regenerates” from time to time (pun!) so that a new actor fits seamlessly into the storyline. He travels in his famous TARDIS spacecraft. Outwardly, the TARDIS looks like a police call box from the 1950s, but inside it is an enormous, multi-roomed time machine. “TARDIS” is an acronym standing for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.

9 Latches (on to) : GLOMS

“Glom” is a slang term meaning “steal”, although it can also be used to mean “latch onto” when used as “glom onto”. The term probably comes from the Scots word “glam” meaning “to snatch at”.

14 Breakout publisher : ATARI

Breakout is an Atari arcade game that was released in 1976. It is really like a complex version of Pong, and involves destroying a layer of bricks in the top third of the screen using a “ball” that is “batted” against the brick wall. I wasted a few hours playing Breakout back in the day …

21 Apex predator with feathers : EAGLE

An apex predator is at the top of a food chain, and has no other natural predators. Examples are the orca (“killer whale”) in the oceans, the lion in Africa, and the Tyrannosaurus in the days of the dinosaurs.

29 Emblem on a dol. : US SEAL

The Great Seal of the United States is a device used to authenticate some US federal documents. The obverse (front) of the Great Seal is used as the coat of arms of the US, and is a design that can be seen on all American passports.

30 “4 real?” : SRSLY?

“Srsly?” is text-speak for “seriously?”

34 Conniving : SLY

To connive is to conspire with, to cooperate in secret. The term comes from the Latin verb “connivere” meaning “to wink”, the idea being that connivers might give each other a sly wink.

35 Growth also known as yellow poplar : TULIP TREE

The tulip tree is also known as yellow poplar despite not being a true poplar. It is a fast-growing deciduous tree native to eastern North America that has distinctive, tulip-like flowers, typically greenish-yellow with an orange band.

39 Stand __ : PAT

To stand pat is to resist change. The term comes from the game of poker, in which one stands pat if one keeps one’s hand as is, not drawing any extra cards.

50 __ Sea: saline lake in California’s Sonoran Desert : SALTON

The Salton Sea is a lake lying directly on the San Andreas fault in Southern California. It is a rift lake, meaning that it formed as the result of ground subsiding along the fault line. The surface of the Salton Sea actually lies over 200 feet below sea level.

55 Dreamcast maker : SEGA

The Dreamcast is a video game console released by Sega in the late nineties. It was to become the company’s last game console. Since then, Sega has focused on producing video games as opposed to hardware.

56 “Bosch” star Welliver : TITUS

Actor Titus Welliver is probably best known for recurring appearances in TV shows. Perhaps most notably, he played the “Man in Black” in the show “Lost”, and the title character in the excellent Amazon web TV show “Bosch”.

“Bosch” is a well-written police drama series produced by Amazon Studios. The title character, detective Harry Bosch, is portrayed by Titus Welliver. Harry Bosch features in a series of novels by Michael Connelly, who is also the TV show’s creator.

59 Gown partner : CAP

Tasseled mortarboards, or square academic caps, are associated with school graduations all over the world, although traditions do differ. For example, in Ireland (where I come from) mortarboards are only worn by female graduates.

66 Hägar’s dog : SNERT

“Hägar the Horrible” is a comic strip that was created by the late Dik Browne and is now drawn by his son, Chris Browne. “Hägar the Terrible” (not “Horrible”) was the nickname given to Dik by his sons. The strip’s title character is a red-bearded Viking living on the Norwegian coast during the Middle Ages. Hägar lives with his overbearing wife Helga, his sensitive son Hamlet, his pretty daughter Honi, and his clever dog Snert.

68 Deviated from a straight course : YAWED

The word “yaw” means to deviate from the line of a course and is used mainly at sea and in the air. “Yaw” is derived from the Old Norse word “jaege” which means “to drive, chase”. As such, “yaw” is etymologically related to our word “yacht”.

Down

1 Green-skinned fruits in the custard-apple family : PAWPAWS

The papaw (also “pawpaw”) tree is native to North America and has a fruit that looks similar to a papaya. Papaw probably gets its name from the word papaya, but papaw and papaya are two distinct species.

The custard apple or sugar apple is the fruit of a small deciduous tree native to the New World. It is also called a “sweetsop” in some parts of the world. The soursop, the fruit of an evergreen tree that’s related to the pawpaw, has a more sour taste.

4 Triage ctrs. : ERS

Triage is the process of prioritizing patients for treatment, especially on the battlefield. The term “triage” is French and means “sorting”.

7 Copious : AMPLE

Something described as copious is plentiful in number. “Copia” is a Latin word meaning “abundance, ample supply”, and “Copia” was the Roman goddess of abundance (as in “cornucopia”).

8 Hebrew prophet : HOSEA

Hosea was one of the Twelve Prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The Twelve Prophets are also known as the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible.

9 Hall of Famers : GREATS

The first Hall of Fame (HOF) established in the US was the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, an outdoor sculpture gallery located in the grounds of Bronx Community College in New York City. Completed in 1900, it is an open-air colonnade featuring the bronze busts of renowned Americans such as President George Washington, author Henry David Thoreau, musician John Philip Sousa and baseball legend Jackie Robinson. The Hall of Fame of Great Americans was inspired by the Ruhmeshalle (“Hall of Fame” in German) located in Munich, Germany that exhibits busts of important people from Bavaria.

11 Egg cell producers : OVARIES

The ovaries are the female reproductive organs. Most female vertebrates have two ovaries. However, only the left ovary develops in female birds, with the right remaining vestigial.

24 Jackson of the Modern Jazz Quartet : MILT

Milt Jackson was a jazz vibraphonist. A vibraphone is similar to a xylophone, but it has aluminum instead of wooden bars. Vibraphones are most commonly seen as part of jazz ensembles. Milt Jackson started his career as part of the band playing with Dizzy Gillespie.

John Lewis was a jazz pianist who founded the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) in 1952. Most of the MJQ, including Lewis, had played together in the rhythm section of Dizzy Gillespie’s big band in the 1940s.

26 Ragdoll sound : PURR

The ragdoll breed of cat only dates back to the 1960s. The breed was developed in Southern California, basically by selectively breeding alley cats. Ragdolls are often described as “dog-like” because of their innate behavior, following people around, lack of aggression towards other pets, and their willingness to be handled. When picked up, they tend to go limp, which is how the breed earned the name “ragdoll”.

28 Alma mater of Spike Lee and Ang Lee: Abbr. : NYU

Film director Spike Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia but has very much made New York City his home and place of work. Most of Lee’s films are set in New York City, including his first feature film, 1986’s “She’s Gotta Have It”. That film was shot over two weeks with a budget of $175,000. “She’s Gotta Have It” grossed over $7 million at the US box office.

Ang Lee made history at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002 when he won the Best Director award for “Brokeback Mountain.” He became the first Asian person to win the award and the first non-white person to win in the category.

33 Skater Midori : ITO

Midori Ito is a Japanese figure skater. She was the first woman to land a triple/triple jump and a triple axel in competition. In fact, Ito landed her first triple jump in training when she was only 8 years old. Ito won Olympic silver in 1992, and was chosen as the person to light the Olympic cauldron at the commencement of the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

36 “The Mod Squad” role : LINC

The 1999 movie “The Mod Squad” was an adaptation of the seventies television show of the same name. The part of Lincoln “Linc” Hayes was played by Omar Epps, Claire Danes played Julie Barnes and Giovanni Ribisi played Peter Cochran.

37 Bullpen stat : ERA

Earned run average (ERA)

38 Anago and unagi : EELS

“Unagi” is the Japanese term for” freshwater eel”, and “anago” is the term for “saltwater eel”.

39 Some Degas works : PASTELS

A “pastel” is a crayon made from a “paste” containing a powdered pigment in a binder. The term “pastel” can also be used to describe a work created using pastels.

Edgar Degas was a French artist who was famous for both his paintings and his sculptures. Some of Degas’ most beautiful works feature female ballet dancers, and others depict women bathing.

40 Medicine cabinet staple : 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.

44 Was humiliated : ATE CROW

The phrase “eat crow”, an alternative to “eat humble pie”, perhaps refers to the fact that cooked crow may be edible, but is not a great food choice.

45 Hair growth option : ROGAINE

Rogaine is a brand name for the drug minoxidil. It was developed as an oral medication to treat high blood pressure, but was found to have an exploitable side-effect. It caused an increase in the rate of hair growth. A topical solution was marketed to promote growth of hair especially in balding men. The drug seems to work well, but when the patient stops using it, things go back to normal in about 60 days. Wouldn’t dream of touching the stuff myself …

48 One who may download Microsoft software : PC USER

Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen met and became friends in high school. Gates was three years younger than Allen, but the pair gravitated towards each other due to a shared interest in computers. One of their first programming projects was to create a computerized version of tic-tac-toe, which they did together on a time-shared computer that was donated to the school by the Mothers’ Association. The two parted company when they graduated and went to different colleges, Allen to Washington State and Gates to Harvard. Allen dropped out of school to start work as a programmer, and he later convinced Gates to drop out of Harvard so that they could create Microsoft.

50 Diehard fan, in slang : STAN

“Stan” is a song by rapper Eminem (featuring Dido) that was recorded in 2000. The title refers to a fictional Eminem fan named “Stan” who becomes obsessed with the rapper, and who grows irate when his letters to his idol go unanswered. Stan’s final act is to make a voice recording as he drives into a river, with his pregnant girlfriend locked in the trunk. One of the legacies of the song is that “stan” is now used as a slang term for an obsessed and maniacal fan.

54 Decorative feather : PLUME

“Plume” is a French word meaning “feather”. The term migrated into English from Old French in the late 1500s with the same meaning. We also use “plume” to describe something resembling a feather, like perhaps a “feathery” stream of smoke above a fire.

58 Annual celebration, briefly : B-DAY

Birthday (b-day)

62 Passenger-screening org. : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.