Day: June 6, 2025

Advertisement

Constructed by: Baylor Gallagher & Katie Hale
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Non-Standard

Themed answers are STANDARD phrases with NO “N”, with a letter N removed:

• 64A Out of the ordinary, or parsed differently, what has been applied to the phrases in 18-, 24-, 41-, and 53-Across? : NON-STANDARD or NO N STANDARD

• 18A False claim about a DIY project? : ASSEMBLY LIE (“assembly line” – N)
• 24A Overall condition of steel girders and beams? : METAL HEALTH (“mental health” – N)
• 41A “Do you know who my father is?”? : I’M KID OF A BIG DEAL (“I’m kind of a big deal” – N)
• 53A “Just put the succulent down and go!”? : LEAVE ME ALOE (“leave me alone” – N)

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

Bill’s time: 6m 42s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Dashboard tech : GPS

Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a “board” placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hooves of the horses. Quite interesting …

4 Queen with icy powers : ELSA

“Frozen” is a 2013 animated feature from Walt Disney Studios that is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Snow Queen”. The film is all about the exploits of Princess Anna, the younger sister of Elsa, Snow Queen of Arendelle. Elsa was originally intended to be a villain, a malicious and power-hungry character. By the final version of the film, Elsa had transformed from a one-dimensional villain into a fully fleshed-out protagonist.

13 Daiquiri ingredient : RUM

Daiquirí is a small village on the coast near Santiago, Cuba and a key location in the American invasion of Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Supposedly, the cocktail called a “daiquiri” was invented by American mining engineers in a bar in nearby Santiago.

14 Purple hue : MAUVE

The name given to the light violet color that we know as “mauve” comes via French from the Latin “malva”. The Latin term translates as “mallow”, the common name of several species of plants, many of which have mauve-colored flowers.

17 Rollover subj. : IRA

A rollover IRA is a subtype of traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA). The funds for a rollover IRA come from another qualified plan such as a 401(k) or 403(b) account.

20 Word of thanks : MERCI

“Thank you” translates to “merci” in French, “gracias” in Spanish, and “danke” in German.

22 “Thus with a kiss __”: Romeo’s final line : I DIE

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

O true apothecary!
They 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.

27 __ in November : N, AS

November is the eleventh month in our calendar. The name comes from the Latin “novem” meaning “nine”, as November was the ninth month in the ancient Roman calendar.

46 Sea eagles : ERNS

The ern (sometimes “erne”) is also known as the white-tailed eagle or the sea eagle.

47 Tropical tree : PALM

Palms are perennial flowering plants that take many forms, some as shrubs and some as vines, for example. Some take on a tree-like shape, with a woody stem topped by a crown of leaves. Such palms are usually referred to as “palm trees”. The coco de mer palm tree has the largest seeds of any plant on the planet. We are more familiar with the coconut palm tree, which has the second-largest plant seeds known.

51 Commanders org. : NFL

The Washington Commanders NFL team was founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves. The name was changed to the Boston Redskins in 1933, which was followed by a move to Washington, DC in 1937. The racially insensitive name persisted for decades, until “Redskins” was dropped in 2020. The “Washington Football Team” played for the following two seasons, becoming the Commanders in 2022.

53 “Just put the succulent down and go!”? : LEAVE ME ALOE (“leave me alone” – N)

Succulent plants are those with thickened stems and/or leaves that have evolved to retain water. As such, succulents are often found where the climate is particularly dry. The term “succulent” comes from the Latin “sucus” meaning “juice, sap”.

68 Large venue : ARENA

A venue is a specified locale used for an event. The term “venue” came into English via French from the Latin “venire” meaning “to come”. So, a “venue” is a place to which people “come” for an event.

70 Letters of urgency : SOS

The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots). That said, in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so “SOS” is really only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are back-formations that were introduced after the SOS signal was adopted.

Down

1 Fairy tale brother : GRIMM

The Brothers Grimm (Jacob and Wilhelm) were two German academics noted for collecting and publishing folk tales. Among the tales in their marvelous collection are “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella”.

2 Step in making some soups : PUREE

A purée is a food that has been made smooth by straining or blending. “Purée” is a French term, which I believe is now used to mean “pea soup” (more completely written as “purée de pois”). The French verb “purer” means “to strain, clean”, from the Latin “purare” meaning “to purify, clean”.

5 Part of UNLV : LAS

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) was established in 1957 as the Southern Division of the University of Nevada, Reno. One of UNLV’s flagship departments is the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, which is consistently ranked as one of the best hotel and hospitality colleges in the nation. I suppose that’s not surprising given the proximity to the Las Vegas Strip.

6 Girl in “Calvin and Hobbes” : SUSIE

In the “Calvin and Hobbes” cartoon strip, Calvin has a love/hate relationship with his classmate Susie Derkins. Susie is a strong female character. She often plays imaginary games in which she is a lawyer or politician, and Calvin is her househusband. The strip’s creator Bill Watterson has confessed that Susie’s character represents the type of woman that he himself found attractive, and indeed married.

7 Eco-friendly spa brand : AVEDA

Horst Rechelbacher was traveling in India in 1970 when he was introduced to the Hindu science of longevity called Ayurveda, which inspired him to set up his own company of skin and hair care products that he called Aveda. The company opened its doors in 1978 and is based in Blaine, Minnesota.

9 Pastoral poem : IDYL

An idyll (also “idyl”) is a short poem with a pastoral theme, usually depicting the scene in romantic and idealized terms. The word “idyl” comes from the Greek “eidyllion”, which literally translates to “little picture” but was a word describing a short poem with a rustic theme.

10 Tennessee athlete : VOLUNTEER

The Tennessee Volunteers (the Vols) are the men’s sports teams at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The women’s teams are the Lady Volunteers.

11 “I Luh God” gospel singer Campbell : ERICA

Erica Campbell’s song “I Luh God” is a gospel track released in 2015. Notably, the song uses elements of rap music, giving a genre sometimes referred to as “gospel trap”.

15 Wakim of “SNL” : EMIL

Emil Wakim joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a featured player for its 50th season, in 2024. Born in Chicago and raised in Indiana, he was the first Lebanese American cast member on the show, and the fourth with Middle Eastern heritage.

19 __ noire : BETE

“Bête noire” translates from French as “black beast”, and is used in English to describe something or someone that is disliked.

25 Angelic glow : HALO

The Greek word “halos” is the name given to the ring of light around the sun or moon, which gives us our word “halo” that is used for a radiant light depicted above the head of a saintly person.

30 Cognac cocktail with orange liqueur : SIDECAR

The sidecar is one of my very favorite cocktails. It was invented around the end of WWI, possibly in the Ritz Hotel in Paris. It’s a simple drink to make, and contains brandy, cointreau or triple sec, and lemon or lime juice. It’s really the brandy version of a margarita (or vice versa).

32 Cricket official : UMP

Cricket is the national game of England. The term “cricket” apparently comes from the Old French word “criquet” meaning “goalpost, stick”.

33 Some transports in the Arctic tundra : SKIPLANES

Tundra is an ecosystem that is treeless, or very nearly so. There are three types of tundra. Arctic and Antarctic tundra can’t support the growth of trees as the ground is pretty much frozen. Alpine tundra cannot support tree-growth due to high altitude.

36 Regatta tool : OAR

The word “regatta” is Venetian dialect and was originally used to describe boat races among the gondoliers of Venice on the Grand Canal back in the mid-1600s.

40 High trains : ELS

Elevated railroad (El)

48 Colorado’s __ Verde National Park : MESA

Mesa Verde National Park is in Colorado. Mesa Verde is home to ancient cliff dwellings built by the Puebloan people, also known as the Anasazi. The most spectacular of these dwellings is Cliff Palace, which is the largest cliff dwelling in North America.

52 Vegetation : FLORA

The fauna (plural “faunae”) is the animal life of a particular region, and the flora (plural “florae”) is that region’s plant life. The term “fauna” comes from the Roman goddess of earth and fertility who was called Fauna. Flora was the Roman goddess of plants, flowers and fertility.

55 “1876” novelist Gore : VIDAL

Gore Vidal’s “1876” is a historical novel that was first published in 1976. It is the third in his series of novels known as “Narratives of Empire”:

• “Burr” (1973) – Set in the early 19th century, focusing on the life and times of Aaron Burr.
• “Lincoln” (1984) – Chronicles the presidency of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
• “1876” (1976) – Depicts the political landscape of the United States during its centennial year.
• “Empire” (1987) – Covers the period of the Spanish-American War and the rise of American imperialism.
• “Hollywood” (1990) – Explores the film industry in the early 20th century and its connection to politics.
• “Washington, D.C.” (1967) – Although published first, it is chronologically the sixth novel, set from the New Deal era to the McCarthy period.
• “The Golden Age” (2000) – The final novel, spanning from the years leading up to World War II to the beginning of the Cold War.

56 Tour de France stage : ETAPE

“Étape” is the French word for stage, as in a “stage” in the Tour de France. The term is used in English military circles to describe where troops halt overnight, but can also describe the section of the march itself. So, a march can be divided into stages, into étapes.

58 Classic Greek theater : ODEON

In ancient Greece, an odeon (also “odeum”) was like a small theater, with “odeon” literally meaning “building for musical competition”. Odea were used in both Greece and Rome for entertainments such as musical shows and poetry readings.

59 Minuscule : EENSY

“Minuscule” is one of those words that’s often misspelled, usually as “miniscule”.

61 Hyphenated IDs : SSNS

A Social Security number (SSN) is divided into three parts, i.e AAA-GG-SSSS. Originally, the Area Number (AAA) was the code for the office that issued the card. Starting in 1973, the Area Number reflected the ZIP code from which the application was made. The GG in the SSN was the Group Number, and the SSSS number the Serial Number. This is all moot today. Since 2011, SSNs have been assigned randomly. Some random numbers, however, have been excluded from use, i.e. Area Numbers 000, 666 (!) and 900-999.

65 Swift nickname, when doubled : TAY

Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is the first person to become a billionaire primarily through a music career. As of 2024, she is the world’s richest female musician (only Jay-Z has a greater net worth as a musician).

66 Emmy winner __ Cephas Jones : RON

Actor Ron Cephas Jones was perhaps best known for portraying chess master Bobby Fish on the Netflix superhero series “Luke Cage”, and Randall Pearson’s biological father William “Shakespeare” Hill on the TV drama “This Is Us”. Jones was the father of actress Jasmine Cephas Jones, who originated the dual roles of Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds in the Broadway stage musical “Hamilton”.