Day: August 20, 2025

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Constructed by: Rebecca Goldstein

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Tour Stops

Themed answers are all common phrases reinterpreted as STOPS on specific TOURS cited in the corresponding clues:

• 16A Stop on a fall foliage tour? : LEAVES TOWN
• 30A Stop on a victory tour? : PARTY CITY
• 44A Stop on a wine tour? : DRY COUNTY
• 58A Stop on an apology tour? : SORRY STATE

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

Bill’s time: 12m 24s!

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6A Passover mo., often : APR

The Jewish holiday of Passover (also “Pesach”) commemorates the Israelites being freed from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible. In that narrative, God inflicted ten plagues upon the Egyptians, the tenth being the death of their firstborn sons. God instructed the Israelites to mark their doorposts so that the plague would pass over the firstborn Israelites. This “passing over” gives the holiday its name.

9A Genesis brother : ABEL

According to the Bible, Adam and Eve had several children, although only the first three are mentioned by name: Cain, Abel and Seth.

18A Roman robe : TOGA

In ancient Rome, the toga was a highly symbolic garment, typically a semi-circular woolen cloth draped over the body. Different types of togas indicated a citizen’s status or role: the pure white “toga virilis” was worn by adult male citizens, the “toga praetexta” with a purple border was for magistrates and freeborn boys, and the “toga pulla” (dark-colored) was for mourning.

20A Packers’ pts. : TDS

When Curly Lambeau founded his small-town football team in Green Bay in 1919, he was working for the Indian Packing Company. Lambeau went to his employers looking for sponsorship and was given $250 provided that the team was named for the company. And so, the team was originally referred to as the Green Bay Indians, but by the time they took to the field for their first game it had changed to the Packers, and Lambeau was $250 richer. Curly Lambeau passed away in 1965, and two months later the Packers renamed their City Stadium to Lambeau Field in his memory.

23A Shiny fender material : CHROME

Chrome plating involves applying a thin layer of chromium onto a metal surface. This is done primarily for aesthetic purposes, as chromium provides a shiny, silver-colored finish. However, chrome plating also has functional benefits, as it increases the hardness and durability of the metal, and makes it more resistant to corrosion and wear.

25A “Critique of Pure Reason” philosopher : KANT

Immanuel Kant’s 1781 “Critique of Pure Reason” sought to define the limits and scope of metaphysics, a branch of philosophy that studies the basic structure of reality. In this book, Kant introduced the concepts of “a priori” knowledge (knowledge independent of experience) and “a posteriori” knowledge (knowledge gained through experience). “Critique of Pure Reason” was the publication that really made him famous, and is still his most famous work.

39A Announcement makers in HS classrooms : PAS

Public address (PA) system

46A Los Angeles restaurant with hot dogs named for celebrities : PINK’S

Pink’s Hot Dogs is a famed LA restaurant that was founded by Paul and Betty Pink as a pushcart hot dog stand in 1939. The current restaurant opened for business in 1946. Many celebrities have visited Pink’s over the years, and many have posed for photographs that are on display on the restaurant walls. Sometimes, the celebrity’s order is renamed for that person, e.g. the Rosie O’Donnell Long Island Dog, the SHAQ Dog, the Ozzy Spicy Dog, and the Emeril Lagasse Bam Dog.

50A Shutterbug’s initials : SLR

A shutterbug is an enthusiastic amateur photographer, someone who likes to hear the click of that shutter, someone like me …

51A Mule on the Erie Canal : SAL

The song “Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal” was written in 1905. The lyrics are nostalgic and look back to the days when traffic on the canal was pulled by mules, bemoaning the introduction of the fast-moving engine-powered barges. The first line is “I’ve got an old mule and her name is Sal”.

61A All-father of the Norse gods : ODIN

In Norse mythology, Odin was the chief of the gods. He is usually depicted as having one eye, reflecting the story of how he gave one of his eyes in exchange for wisdom.

63A Pamplona pooch : PERRO

Pamplona, Spain is famous for its San Fermin festival held in July every year, the highlight of which is the Running of the Bulls. Every year, 200-300 people are injured in the bull run, and 15 people have been killed since 1910. If you get to Pamplona two days before the Running of the Bulls, you can see the animal-rights protest event known as the Running of the Nudes. The protesters are as naked as the bulls …

66A Home to the annual Food & Wine Classic : ASPEN

“Food & Wine” is a monthly magazine founded in 1978 that aims to be a more down-to-earth alternative to other food publications. The premier event for the magazine is the annual Food & Wine Classic, held in Aspen, Colorado. This serves as the kickoff to Aspen’s summer season and features wine tasting, cooking demonstrations, and a cooking competition.

Down

1D Home of the Blues, for short : STL

The St. Louis Blues hockey team takes its name from the song “St. Louis Blues”, a jazz and popular music classic.

3D Russian range : URAL

The eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia and Kazakhstan is generally regarded as the natural divide between the continents of Europe and Asia.

7D Alloy in some costume jewelry : PEWTER

Pewter is a relatively soft alloy that is made up mostly of tin, with some copper, antimony, bismuth and lead.

8D South African currency : RAND

The rand is the currency of South Africa. Much of South Africa’s famed gold comes from mines around Johannesburg in the Witwatersrand (Afrikaans for “the ridge of white waters”). The rand currency takes its name from this ridge.

10D Dessert tray? : BROWNIE PAN

Apparently, the first brownies were created for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. The recipe was developed by a pastry chef at the city’s Palmer House Hotel. The idea was to produce a cake-like dessert that was small enough and dainty enough to be eaten by ladies as part of a boxed lunch.

11D Format before cassettes : EIGHT-TRACK

“8-track” is a common term describing the sound-recording technology more correctly called “Stereo 8”. 8-track became popular for a while because its magnetic tape came in a cartridge that was convenient to use in a car.

17D __ and estar: Spanish 101 lesson : SER

The Spanish verbs “ser” and “estar” both translate as “to be”:

1. Ser: Used for permanent or essential qualities (personality, origin, time). Think “what” something is, e.g. Soy alto. (I am tall.)
2. Estar: Used for temporary states or conditions (location, emotion, condition). Think “how” something is, e.g. Estoy cansado. (I am tired.)

21D Service replaced by Microsoft Teams : SKYPE

The main feature of the Skype application, when introduced, was that it allowed voice communication to take place over the Internet (aka VoIP). Skype had other features such as video conferencing and instant messaging, but the application made its name from voice communication. The app was created by two Scandinavian entrepreneurs and the software necessary was developed by a team of engineers in Estonia. The development project was originally called “Sky peer-to-peer” so the first commercial name for the application was “Skyper”. This had to be shortened to “Skype” because the skyper.com domain name was already in use. Skype was retired as an app in 2025, and replaced by Microsoft Teams.

24D Fuchsia relative : MAGENTA

The colors fuchsia and magenta are identical when used on the Web. The name “magenta” comes from an aniline dye that was patented in 1859 in France and called “fuchsine”. The dye was renamed in honor of a victory against the Austrians in the Battle of Magenta of 1859, which was fought near the northern Italian town of Magenta.

26D “Bah,” in Berlin : ACH

Berlin is the capital of Germany. It is the nation’s largest city, and used to be the second-most populous city in the European Union, after London. Then, the UK left the EU …

27D Oscar, but not Elmo : AWARD

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is the organization that gives the annual Academy Awards, also known as the “Oscars”. The root of the name “Oscar” is hotly debated, but what is agreed is that the award was officially named “Oscar” in 1939. The first Academy Awards were presented at a brunch in 1929 with an audience of just 29 people. The Awards ceremony is a slightly bigger event these days …

29D Source of easy money : GRAVY TRAIN

The original “riders of the gravy train” were railroad men in the 1920s who were assigned a run that had good pay and little work. Since then, the phrase “gravy train” has come to mean any job that is easy and pays well. The term “gravy” had been slang for easy money since about 1900.

31D Bottom : TUSH

“Tush”, a word meaning “backside”, is an abbreviation of “tochus” that comes from the Yiddish “tokhes”.

43D Home team at PNC Park : PIRATES

PNC Park is home to the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. The park is sponsored by PNC Financial Services, the sixth largest bank in the US, and one founded and based in Pittsburgh.

49D Very, in Venezuela : MUY

The country name “Venezuela” originated with the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Vespucci saw stilt houses around Lake Maracaibo that reminded him of the city of Venice, leading him to call the region “Veneziola” meaning “Little Venice”. Over time, “Veneziola” evolved into “Venezuela” as a result of Spanish influence.

54D Irving character : GARP

John Irving’s 1978 novel “The World According to Garp” is somewhat biographical. In fact, Irving’s mother found parts of the novel difficult to read, recognizing elements of herself in Garp’s mother Jenny Fields.

60D Geologic age : EON

Geologic time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

• supereon
• eon (also “aeon”)
• era
• period
• epoch
• age