Day: September 19, 2025

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Constructed by: Zhou Zhang

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Carbo-loaded

Themed answers sound like common phrases that have been CARBO-LOADED, i.e. one word in the phrase has been changed to a CARB:

• 66A Fueled up before a big race, or a description of the answers to the starred clues? : CARBO-LOADED

• 19A *Earnings for a restaurant with a tandoor? : NAAN PROFITS (from “non-profits”)
• 25A *Bun that’s a really big hit? : STARRING ROLL (from “starring role”)
• 43A *One who eats the same brand of corn flakes every morning? : CEREAL MONOGAMIST (from “serial monogamist”)
• 55A *Ciabatta Chihuahua or pumpernickel Pomeranian? : PURE BREAD DOG (from “purebred dog”)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 21s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A __ second : LEAP

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard used to regulate clocks around the world. Because the Earth’s rotational speed is decreasing ever so slowly, UTC can vary slightly from solar time. As a result, leap seconds are added as required to UTC, on average about once every 19 months. Leap seconds are always added on June 30th or December 31st.

5A Percussion troupe since 1991 : STOMP

The marvelous percussion show called “STOMP” is a worldwide success. It originated in Brighton in the south of England in the early 1990s. I saw it in San Francisco, many years ago …

10A Prickly plants : CACTI

The cactus (plural “cacti”) is a member of a family of plants that are particularly well-adapted to extremely dry environments. Almost all cacti are native to the Americas, although some succulent plants from the old world are similar in appearance and are often mislabeled as “cacti”.

15A Cream alternative : ECRU

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

16A Eaglet’s home : AERIE

An aerie (sometimes “eyrie”) is an eagle’s nest. The term “aerie” can also more generally describe any bird’s nest that is located on a cliff or a mountaintop.

17A Astronaut Ochoa : ELLEN

Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman in space, serving on a nine-day mission on the space shuttle Discovery in 1993. She spent over 1,000 hours in space over the course of four missions. In 2013, Ochoa became only the second woman to serve as Director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

19A *Earnings for a restaurant with a tandoor? : NAAN PROFITS (from “non-profits”)

Naan (also “nan”) bread is very popular in Indian restaurants, as well as in other West, Central and South Asian cuisines. Indian Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.

29A Japanese artist and peace activist : ONO

Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist. She met her future husband John Lennon for the first time while she was preparing her conceptual art exhibit called “Hammer a Nail”. Visitors were encouraged to hammer in a nail into a wooden board, creating the artwork. Lennon wanted to hammer in the first nail, but Ono stopped him as the exhibition had not yet opened. Apparently Ono relented when Lennon paid her an imaginary five shillings to hammer an imaginary nail into the wood.

31A Crocheter’s stash : YARN

Crochet is a process of making a fabric using a hooked needle. “Crochet” is a French word meaning “hook”.

36A Large mammals in matrilineal groups : ORCAS

“Matrilineal” means relating to ancestral descent through the maternal line.

Orcas tend to live in groups. Those groups center around a matriarch, a female orca surrounded by male and female offspring. A male orca tends to stay with his mother for life. A female orca does spend time away from her mother, creating her own pod. Her pod usually travels relatively close to the matriarch’s group.

47A Panache : STYLE

Someone exhibiting panache is showing dash and verve, and perhaps has a swagger. “Panache” is a French word used for a plume of feathers, especially one in a hat.

48A Wasabi __ : PEAS

Wasabi peas are peas that have been fried and then coated with wasabi powder mixed with sugar, salt and oil. They make for a crunchy snack, and are a favorite of mine …

53A Beloved rock, e.g. : PET

The Pet Rock lives on in history even though the fad really only lasted about 6 months, in 1975. It was enough to make Gary Dahl a millionaire though. His next idea, a “sand farm”, didn’t fly at all.

55A *Ciabatta Chihuahua or pumpernickel Pomeranian? : PURE BREAD DOG (from “purebred dog”)

The Italian white bread known as ciabatta is a favorite of mine. “Ciabatta” is Italian for “slipper”, a reference to the shape of the traditional loaf. The simple recipe, with ingredients limited to wheat flour, water, salt and yeast, only dates to 1976 when it was created by a baker in Verona, as something to compete with the French baguette.

The lovely bread known as pumpernickel is made with a recipe that originates in the Westphalia region of Germany. The version of the bread that we eat in North America has been adapted over the years from the original recipe, largely to produce a cheaper product. If you taste the European version beside the American version, it’s hard to believe they have the same origins.

Chihuahua is a state in northern Mexico that shares a border with Texas and New Mexico. It is the largest state in the country, earning it the nickname “El Estado Grande”. Chihuahua takes its name from the Chihuahuan Desert which lies largely within its borders. The Chihuahua breed of dog takes its name from the state.

The Pomeranian is a small breed of dog named for the Pomerania region of Europe (part of eastern Germany and northern Poland). The breed was much loved by the royalty of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria owned a particularly small Pomeranian. Due to the notoriety of the monarch’s pet, the Pomeranian was bred for small size, so that during the Queen’s admittedly long reign, the size of the average “pom” was reduced by 50% …

62A Actor Idris : ELBA

Idris Elba is a British actor and DJ. He was born in London to a Sierra Leonean father and a Ghanaian mother. Elba’s breakthrough role came in 2002, when he was cast as Stringer Bell in the HBO series “The Wire”.

64A __ bean : LIMA

The lima bean is also known as the butter bean or madagascar bean. It was introduced to Europe from the area around Lima, Peru, hence the name.

65A ID on a map : IDAHO

Idaho was admitted as the 43rd state of the union in 1890. The passage to statehood was not without difficulty. There had been plans in Washington to split what is now Idaho between the new states of Washington and Nevada.

66A Fueled up before a big race, or a description of the answers to the starred clues? : CARBO-LOADED

Only relatively small amounts of carbohydrate can be stored by the human body, but those stores are important. The actual storage molecule is a starch-like polysaccharide called glycogen, which is found mainly in the liver and muscles. Glycogen is a quick source of energy when required by the body. Most of the body’s energy is stored in the form of fat, a more compact substance that is mobilized less rapidly. Endurance athletes often eat meals high in carbohydrates (carbo-loading) a few hours before an event, so that their body’s glycogen is at optimum levels.

70A Kiwi-shaped : OVAL

What we call kiwifruit today (and sometimes just “kiwi”) used to be called a Chinese gooseberry. Marketing folks in the fifties decided to call it a “melonette”, and then New Zealand producers adopted the name “kiwifruit”.

76A Confidentiality docs : NDAS

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

Down

2D Pizzazz : ECLAT

“Éclat” can describe a brilliant show of success, as well as the applause or accolade that one receives for that success. The word “éclat” derives from the French “éclater” meaning “to splinter, burst out”.

Pizazz (also “pizzazz”) is energy, vitality. There’s a kind of cool thing about the “pizzazz” spelling, namely that it is the only 7-letter word in English that cannot be played in Scrabble. You can get close by using the Z-tile with the two blank tiles to get to three of the required four Zs, but there’s no way to get to the fourth Z.

5D __ Diego : SAN

The name of the California city of San Diego dates back to 1602, when Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno named the area after the Catholic Saint Didacus. Saint Didacus was more commonly referred to as San Diego de Alcalá.

6D Leaves that might be red or read : TEA

Red tea is made from the leaves of the South African rooibos plant. The name “rooibos” translates as “red bush”.

Tasseography is the reading of fortunes by interpreting the patterns of tea leaves, coffee grounds and wine sediments that are left in the bottom of a cup or glass.

7D Chimp kin : ORANG

Orangutans (also “orangs”) are arboreal creatures, the largest arboreal animals known to man. They are native to Indonesia and Malaysia, and live in rainforests. Like most species in rainforests these days, orangutans are endangered, with only two species surviving. The word “orangutan” is Malay, meaning “man of the forest”.

8D Like a key that may evoke sadness : MINOR

Experts, unlike me, can wax lyrical on the technical differences between major and minor keys and scales. To me, music written in major keys is very strident, often very joyful and “honest”. Music written in minor keys (usually my favorite) is more feminine, more delicate and often quite sad.

9D __-Bismol : PEPTO

Pepto-Bismol was originally marketed as a remedy for infant diarrhea, and sold under the name “Bismosol: Mixture Cholera Infantum”.

10D GM’s Mary Barra, for one : CEO

Mary Barra started working at General Motors as a co-op student, back in 1980. In 2014, she took over as GM’s chief executive officer, making her the first female head of a global automotive manufacturing company.

11D Italian auto, familiarly : ALFA

The “Alfa” in “Alfa Romeo” is actually an acronym, one standing for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (“Lombard Automobile Factory, Public Company”). ALFA was an enterprise founded in 1909 and which was taken over by Nicola Romeo in 1915. In 1920 the company name was changed to Alfa Romeo.

13D Western Wyoming county : TETON

Teton County, Wyoming is home to the Grand Teton National Park and the town of Jackson Hole. Teton has the distinction of having the second highest personal per capita income of any county in the US ($94,672 in 2010), second only to New York County ($111,386 in 2010).

14D Insta browsing goal, perhaps : INSPO

The informal term “inspo” is used to describe something inspirational or motivational.

22D Sign of a packed house : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

27D Benchmarks : NORMS

A benchmark is something that serves as a standard used to measure others. The original benchmark was a point of reference used by surveyors. Literally, a benchmark was an angle-iron driven into the ground as a support (or “bench”) for a leveling instrument.

28D Tibetan monk : LAMA

“Lama” is a Tibetan word meaning “chief, high priest”.

39D Like a system that’s revolutionary? : SOLAR

Heliocentrism is the astronomical model that has the Earth and other planets revolving around the Sun at the center of the Solar System. The geocentric model holds that the Earth is the center of the Universe.

41D PreCheck org. : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operates its precheck program known as “TSA Pre✓” (or “TSA PreCheck”). Members of the program receive expedited screening at most airports. In order to become a member, a traveler must apply online, appear in person at a designated office for a background check and fingerprinting, and pay a fee for a 5-year membership.

42D GRE org. : ETS

In about half of the states in the US, someone wanting to become a professional teacher must pass the Praxis test. Administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), a Praxis test measures a candidate’s general and subject-specific knowledge, as it relates to the profession of teaching. The Praxis test replaced the National Teacher Examination (NTE).

Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.

50D Rock’s Jethro __ : TULL

Jethro Tull is a rock band from the UK, formed in 1967 and active until 2012. The band used the name of an 18th-century, English agriculturist.

52D __ chi : TAI

More correctly called “t‘ai chi ch‘uan”, tai chi is a martial art that is mostly practiced to improve overall health and increase longevity.

53D Louisiana’s state nut : PECAN

The pecan is the state tree (and state nut) of Texas, and also the state nut of Alabama, Arkansas, California and Louisiana. That’s not all: Oklahoma’s official state meal includes pecan pie!

The official nickname of Louisiana is the Pelican State, but it is also known as the Bayou State, the Child of Mississippi, the Creole State, the Sportsman’s Paradise and the Sugar State.

59D Naturalist Attenborough : DAVID

The fascinating Sir David Attenborough is a British broadcaster and naturalist, and the younger brother of actor Richard Attenborough. I’ve known him from British television for almost all of my life, but he has become recognizable over here in the US more recently due to his appearance and narration in the television series’ “Life On Earth”, “The Living Planet”, “The Blue Planet”, “Life” and “Planet Earth”. However, US versions of David Attenborough shows tend to be voiced-over by American personalities, so some recordings of “Planet Earth” feature the voice of Sigourney Weaver”, and “Life” features the voice of Oprah Winfrey.

60D Family, in Hawaiian : OHANA

“‘Ohana” is a Hawaiian word meaning “extended family”.

61D Gym chain that began in Venice Beach : GOLD’S

The chain of fitness centers called Gold’s Gym was founded in 1965 by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California.

68D Fish that swims by generating waves : EEL

Eels swim through water by generating waves that travel the length of their bodies. By reversing the direction of the waves, they can actually swim backwards.