Day: December 18, 2025

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Constructed by: Rebecca Goldstein

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Gives You Wiiings

Themed answers all may GIVE YOU WINGS, in one way or another:

• 55A Red Bull slogan, and what can also be said of 17-, 25-, 28-, and 42-Across : GIVES YOU WIIINGS

• 17A Many an American employee : FLIGHT ATTENDANT
• 25A List of pub grub : BAR MENU
• 28A Contest that starts with a center-ice faceoff : NHL GAME
• 42A Residential upgrades : HOME IMPROVEMENT

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

Bill’s time: 8m 28s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A “In the headlights” animal : DEER

There may be some truth to the idea that a deer can freeze when “caught in the headlights” of a car. This is because the anatomy of a deer’s eye, like many animals, is such that its night vision is very effective. That extra night sensitivity can be a disadvantage when a deer is suddenly illuminated by a strong light like that from a headlamp. Such illumination can be blinding and perhaps bewildering, causing the deer to freeze.

5A Golf tops : POLOS

René Lacoste was a French tennis player who went into the clothing business, and came up with a more comfortable shirt that players could use. This became known as a “tennis shirt”. When it was adopted for use in the sport of polo, the shirts also became known as “polo shirts”. The “golf shirt” is basically the same thing. The Lacoste line of clothing features a crocodile logo, because René was nicknamed “The Crocodile”.

15A “Alas and __!” : ALACK

The archaic interjection “alack!” is an exclamation of sorrow or dismay. It is an abbreviated form of “ah, lack”, with “lack” used in the sense of loss, failure or shame.

16A Some Sharon Olds poems : ODES

Poet Sharon Olds won a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2013. She was also the first American woman to win the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry.

17A Many an American employee : FLIGHT ATTENDANT

American Airlines was founded in 1930 through the acquisition of 82 existing small airlines, and initially operated as American Airways. The company name was changed to “American Air Lines” in 1934. Back then, airlines made their profits by carrying the US mail, and American became the first airline to turn a profit on a route that could solely carry passengers. It did so by working with Donald Douglas to develop the DC-3 passenger plane. At that time, American started calling its aircraft “Flagships” and introduced its more wealthy passengers to the first Admirals Club.

20A __ sauce : TARTAR

Tartar sauce is basically mayonnaise with some chopped pickles, capers and onion or chives. The recipe was invented by the French (as “sauce tartare”) with the name somehow linked to the Tatars, a people who once occupied Ukraine and parts of Russia.

22A Brand of 5-Across : IZOD
[5A Golf tops : POLOS]

Jack Izod was a tailor of some repute over in England producing shirts for King George V, as well as other members of the Royal Family. As Izod was about to retire, he was approached for the use of his name by an American clothing manufacturer based in New York. The brand Izod of London was introduced to America in 1938.

33A HS diploma equivalent : GED

The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a battery of four tests designed to demonstrate that a student has the academic skills of someone who has graduated from an American or Canadian high school.

37A Fruit also known as guanabana : SOURSOP

The custard apple or sugar apple is the fruit of a small 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.

“Guanabana” is the Spanish name for the soursop, a large, prickly green fruit native to the tropical regions of the Americas. It’s most commonly used to make juices, smoothies, and ice cream, though it can also be eaten raw (the black seeds, however, are toxic and should be discarded).

45A Director Lee : ANG

Taiwanese director Ang Lee sure has directed a mixed bag of films, mixed in terms of genre but not in terms of quality. He was at the helm for such classics as “Sense & Sensibility” (my personal favorite), “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hulk”, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi”.

49A Chess greats, for short : GMS

“Grandmaster” (GM) is a title held for life that is awarded by the World Chess Association (FIDE). The only FIDE title higher than Grandmaster is World Champion. Despite the masculine appearance of the title, it is awarded to both men and women.

52A Indigenous Canadians : CREE

The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Americans on the continent. In the US, Montana is home to most of the Cree nation. They live on a reservation shared with the Ojibwe people. In Canada, most of the Cree live in Manitoba.

55A Red Bull slogan, and what can also be said of 17-, 25-, 28-, and 42-Across : GIVES YOU WIIINGS

Red Bull is a drink from Austria that was introduced in 1987. Red Bull is the most popular “energy drink” in the world. There was some controversy in 2009 when it was discovered that Red Bull imported from Austria contained trace amounts of cocaine.

Red Bull’s original slogan was “Red Bull gives you wings”. In 2014, the company settled a $13 million class-action lawsuit for false advertising, which argued the slogan was misleading (it doesn’t give you “wings”). Following the lawsuit, Red Bull began using the spelling “gives you wiiings” (with three letter I) in its marketing, turning the slogan into a clearly metaphorical and proprietary phrase.

59A Butter Restaurant chef/owner Guarnaschelli : ALEX

Alex Guarnaschelli is an American celebrity chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. I think that her TV career took off when she won the 2012 season of “The Next Iron Chef: Redemption” on the Food Network. Alex’s mother was Maria Guarnaschelli, a renowned cookbook editor, who gave her daughter an early education in food.

60A March follower : APRIL

The exact etymology of “April”, the name of the fourth month of our year, seems to be uncertain. The ancient Romans called it “mensis Aprilis”, which roughly translated as “opening month”. The suggestion is that April is the month in which fruits, flowers and animals “open” their life cycles.

67A Simchat bat, for one : RITE

A Simchat Bat (“Celebration of a Daughter”, in Hebrew), is a Jewish naming ceremony for a newborn girl.

Down

2D “First Lady of Song” Fitzgerald : ELLA

Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Song”, made her real stage debut at the Apollo Theater in Harlem on Amateur Night when she was just 17 years old. She had intended to perform a dance routine, but decided to sing instead after seeing a superior dance act. She won the Amateur Night competition.

3D Qatari commander : EMIR

Qatar is a sovereign state in the Middle East occupying the Qatar Peninsula, itself located in the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar lies on the Persian Gulf and shares one land border, with Saudi Arabia to the south. The emirate has more oil and gas reserves per capita of population than any other country in the world. In 2010, Qatar had the fastest growing economy in the world, driven by the petrochemical industry.

4D “The Entertainer” genre : RAGTIME

Ragtime music was at the height of its popularity in the early 1900s. It takes its name from its characteristic “ragged” rhythms. The most famous ragtime composer was Scott Joplin, who had a big hit with his “Maple Leaf Rag” when it was published in 1899. He followed that up with a string of hits, including the “Pine Apple Rag” (sic). Ragtime fell out of favor about 1917 when the public turned to jazz. It had a resurgence in the forties when jazz musicians started to include ragtime tunes in their repertoires. But it was the 1973 movie “The Sting” that brought the true revival, as the hit soundtrack included numerous ragtime tunes by Scott Joplin, including the celebrated “The Entertainer” originally published in 1902.

7D Muscle worked in dumbbell rows : LAT

A dumbbell is a short bar with weights on either end that is used for strength-training. There is a theory that such an apparatus was used to train church bell ringers. As there isn’t any bell, it was referred to as a dumbbell. Um, I’m not sure …

10D “Good 4 U” singer Olivia : RODRIGO

“Good 4 U” is a 2021 chart-topping single released by Olivia Rodrigo. Three months after its release, Hayley Williams and Josh Farro of rock band Paramore were retrospectively given co-writing credits because the song’s chorus was noted for its influence from Paramore’s 2007 track, “Misery Business”. Ultimately, Williams and Farro received a substantial combined royalty share of 50%, with estimated payments to them falling between $700,000 and $1.2 million.

11D Driver of “Ferrari” : ADAM

Adam Driver is an actor perhaps best known to TV audiences for playing Adam Sackler on the show “Girls” that airs on HBO. Driver’s movie career got a huge boost in 2015 when he played villain Kylo Ren in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

“Ferrari” is a 2023 biopic that is based on the 1991 biography “Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine” by Brock Yates. Adam Driver (pun?!) plays Enzo, and Penélope Cruz his estranged wife Laura Ferrari.

19D Diane of “Law & Order: SVU” : NEAL

Actress Diane Neal is best known for playing Assistant DA Casey Novak on “Law & Order: SVU”. In 2018, she took a break from acting to make a very unsuccessful run for the US House of Representatives.

26D Chewy brand : ALPO

Alpo is a brand of dog food introduced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo dog food in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?

30D Bearing : MIEN

One’s mien is one’s bearing or manner. “Mien” shares the same etymological root as our word “demeanor”.

31D Coup d’__ : ETAT

A coup d’état (often just “coup”) is the sudden overthrow of a government, and comes from the French for “stroke of state”. The Swiss-German word “putsch” is sometimes used instead of “coup”, with “Putsch” translating literally as “sudden blow”. We also use the abbreviated “coup” to mean “sudden, brilliant and successful act”.

40D “Raging Bull” Oscar nominee : PESCI

Joe Pesci got his big break in movies with a supporting role in “Raging Bull” starring Robert De Niro, earning Pesci an Oscar nomination early in his career. There followed a string of gangster roles played alongside De Niro, namely “Once Upon a Time in America”, “GoodFellas” and “Casino”. But I like Pesci’s comedic acting best of all. He was marvelous in the “Home Alone” films, the “Lethal Weapon” series, and my personal favorite, “My Cousin Vinny”. Pesci gets a mention in the stage musical “Jersey Boys”, which isn’t too surprising as he is one of the show’s producers.

I just do not like boxing, nor movies about boxing, but I certainly accept that “Raging Bull” is a true cinema classic. It is a biopic released in 1980, with Robert De Niro starring as Jake LaMotta, and Martin Scorsese directing. Famously, De Niro gained about 70 pounds in weight to lay LaMotta in his early years, showing true dedication to his craft.

47D Olive family shrub : LILAC

The ornamental flowering plant known as lilac is native to the Balkans, and is a member of the olive family. The name “lilac” comes from the Persian word “lilaq,” which means “flower.”

48D Vegan brand owned by Estée Lauder : 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.

49D Device on a snowboarder’s helmet, maybe : GOPRO

GoPro is a company that makes high-definition video cameras that have a rugged design. Famously, GoPro cameras are used in extreme conditions. For example, they are often mounted on moving vehicles or used by people playing sports. Two astronauts on the International Space Station inserted a GoPro camera inside a floating ball of water, and then showed the view from inside the ball of water. Amazing footage …

50D Wall flowers, perhaps : MURAL

A mural is a painting that is applied directly to a wall or a ceiling. The term “mural” comes from the Latin “murus” meaning “wall”.

53D Miso soup mushroom : ENOKI

Enokitake (also known as “enoki”) are long and thin white mushrooms often added to soups or salads.

54D Ibis kin : EGRET

Egrets are a group of several species of white herons. Many egret species were faced with extinction in the 1800s and early 1900s due to plume hunting, a practice driven by the demand for egret plumes that could be incorporated into hats.

The ibis is a wading bird that was revered in ancient Egypt. “Ibis” is an interesting word grammatically speaking. You can have one “ibis” or two “ibises”, and then again one has a flock of “ibis”. And if you want to go with the classical plural, instead of two “ibises” you would have two “ibides”!

55D Wanders (about) : GADS

To gad about is to move around with little purpose. The word “gad” comes from the Middle English “gadden” meaning “to hurry”.

56D Blathers on : YAPS

Our term “blather” meaning “nonsensical talk” probably came to us via Scottish, and ultimately perhaps from an Old Norse word for “mutter”.