Day: January 7, 2026

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Constructed by: Joe Deeney

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Right as Rain

Themed answers have a kind of RAIN to the RIGHT, at the end:

• 64A Perfectly satisfactory, or an apt description of 18-, 26-, 39-, and 54-Across : RIGHT AS RAIN

• 18A 1991 operation that ended with the liberation of Kuwait : DESERT STORM
• 26A Celestial event such as the Perseids : METEOR SHOWER
• 39A Communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing : BITTORRENT
• 54A Sweet finish for fried chicken : HONEY DRIZZLE

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

Bill’s time: 8m 17s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

16A Sushi wrapper : NORI

Nori is an edible seaweed that we used to know as “laver” when we were living in Wales. Nori is usually dried into thin sheets. Here in the US, we are most familiar with nori as the seaweed used as a wrap for sushi.

17A Rep on arm day : CURL

The biceps muscle is made up of two bundles of muscle, both of which terminate at the same point near the elbow. The heads of the bundles terminate at different points on the scapula or shoulder blade. “Biceps” is Latin for “two-headed”.

18A 1991 operation that ended with the liberation of Kuwait : DESERT STORM

Many of us tend to use “Operation Desert Storm” as the overall name for the conflict more correctly called the Persian Gulf War. Operation Desert Storm was in fact just the air and land battle that took place between January 17th and April 11th 1991. The buildup of forces was called Operation Desert Shield, and the withdrawal of forces after the liberation of Kuwait was known as Operation Desert Farewell.

23A Sault __ Marie : STE

“Sault Ste. Marie” is the name of two cities on either side of the Canada-US border, one in Ontario and the other in Michigan. The two cities were originally one settlement in the 17th century, established by Jesuit Missionaries. The missionaries gave the settlement the name “Sault Sainte Marie”, which can be translated as “Saint Mary’s Falls”. The city was one community until 1817, when a US-UK Joint Boundary Commission set the border along the St. Mary’s River.

26A Celestial event such as the Perseids : METEOR SHOWER

The two most famous meteor showers are the Perseids and Leonids. The Perseid meteor shower is most visible around August 12th each year, and the Leonid meteor shower is most notable around November 17th. The Perseids appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus, and the Leonids from the constellation Leo (hence the names “Perseids” and “Leonids”).

30A “Succession” actor Culkin : KIERAN

Kieran Culkin began his acting career alongside his older brother Macaulay in the 1990 film “Home Alone”. Kieran’s most lauded performance was the title role in 2002’s “Igby Goes Down”, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

“Succession” is a very popular dark comedy-drama series that premiered in 2018. It’s about a family-owned, global media company. The “succession” in question is who will get to run the empire after the passing of the ailing family patriarch. The marvelous Scottish actor Brian Cox plays the head of the company Logan Roy. Great stuff, albeit quite depressing and terrifying …

34A Basilica niche : APSE

In its modern usage, the term “basilica” applies to a Roman Catholic church that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope.

35A __ economy : GIG

Musicians use “gig” to describe a job, a performance. The term originated in the early 1900s in the world of jazz. The derivative phrase “gig economy” applies to a relatively recent phenomenon where workers find themselves jumping from temporary job to temporary job, from gig to gig.

37A Structure whose roof begins near its foundation : A-FRAME

An A-frame house is one that has a steeply-angled roof, one forming the shape of the letter “A”. The A-frame design is popular in snowy regions, as the roof is so steeply pitched that it does not collect snow.

39A Communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing : BITTORRENT

In the digital world, torrenting is a form of peer-to-peer sharing, one that uses the BitTorrent network (hence the name). BitTorrent allows a user to download a file from several other users at the same time, and also allows the upload of a file to several users simultaneously. Torrenting makes it very easy to share files, and so is often associated with piracy of copyright-protected movies, music, games and software.

42A Two __ and a lie: icebreaker game : TRUTHS

“Two truths and a lie” is an ice-breaking exercise in which participants make three statements about themselves, two of which are true, and one of which is a lie. The idea is for the other participants to identify the lie.

44A Leb. neighbor : ISR

The Israel-Lebanon border is technically a temporary “line of withdrawal” known as the Blue Line. It was established by the UN in 2000 to approximate colonial borders from 1923. The lines of demarcation remain highly volatile due to long-standing territorial disputes.

45A Frittata need : EGGS

A frittata is an omelet dish from Italy. The word “frittata” is Italian, and comes from “fritto” meaning “fried”.

52A Balance sheet column : ASSETS

The balance sheet of a company is a snapshot (single-point-in-time) view of a company’s financial position. The balance sheet lists all the company’s liabilities, all of its assets, and all of its ownership equity. The assets of a company, less its liabilities equals the ownership equity. The term “balance” is used because assets always balance out with the sum of liabilities and shareholder equity.

58A Cards, in NFL scores : ARI

The Arizona Cardinals were founded in 1898 as the Chicago Cardinals. That makes the Cardinals the oldest, continuously-run, professional football team in the whole country.

64A Perfectly satisfactory, or an apt description of 18-, 26-, 39-, and 54-Across : RIGHT AS RAIN

To be “right as rain” is to be in perfect condition, or restored to good health. The phrase first appeared in the late 19th century. Earlier versions of the term, with the same meaning, includes “right as a trivet” and “right as ninepence”. Why rain? I don’t think that we really know …

69A Taiwanese computer company : ACER

Acer is a Taiwanese company that I visited a couple of times when I was in the electronics business. I was very impressed back then with the company’s dedication to quality, although I have heard that things haven’t gone so well in recent years …

70A Stewpot with a conical lid : TAGINE

The term “tagine” refers to both a North African stew and the earthenware vessel used to cook it. The stewpot’s conical lid is a clever engineering adaptation designed to trap rising steam and return it to the dish as condensation. A continuing self-basting cycle keeps the food moist while requiring very little added water (historically significant in dryer parts of North Africa).

73A Stiletto alternative : WEDGE

The stiletto knife was developed in Italy, and is a knife intended for thrusting and stabbing as opposed to slashing and cutting. The term “stiletto” comes from the Latin “stilus”, which was a thin pointed writing instrument used in ancient Rome to engrave wax or clay tablets. And, there are also stiletto heels on some women’s shoes, heels that are long and thin.

Down

1D Up in the air, briefly : TBD

To be determined (TBD)

3D Down Under denizens : AUSSIES

Nowadays we use “denizen” to mean simply “resident”, but historically a denizen was an immigrant to whom certain rights had been granted, somewhat like today’s resident alien.

4D Site with tech reviews : CNET

CNET is a technology website, with the acronym “CNET” standing for “computer network”. It started out in 1994 as a television network specializing in technology news. The host of “American Idol”, Ryan Seacrest, started off his career as host of a CNET show.

5D Hwang Dong-hyuk’s “Squid Game,” e.g. : K-DRAMA

TV dramas made in South Korea in the Korean language are known these days as K-dramas. They have become extremely popular around the world in recent years, with one notable example being the hit show “Squid Game” distributed by Netflix.

Hwang Dong-hyuk is a South Korean writer and director best known for creating the global TV phenomenon “Squid Game”. Although he is best known for his television work, Hwang spent most of his career directing feature films.

6D Hill worker : ANT

Anthills are actually underground nests. The ants in the colony excavate below ground, resulting in a pile of sand or soil above ground.

8D Representation of uncertainty on a graph : ERROR BARS

A single data point on a graph implies exact precision. Error bars are lines extending from that point to visually represent the margin of uncertainty or variability. They demonstrate that the true value is likely not just the specific dot, but falls somewhere within the range of the bar.

9D Assists, in hoops lingo : DIMES

In basketball slang, a “dime” is a particularly precise or spectacular assist. The term originates from the days of payphones, when a call cost a dime. “Dropping a dime” evolved into “making a perfect connection” with a teammate.

10D Type of A/V connector : RCA

The RCA connector is named after its creator, the Radio Corporation of America. It is an analog connector with a trio of color-coded plugs: yellow for video, white for left audio, and red for right audio. The original version of the connector was designed in the late 1930s and had one cable, to carry mono audio. A second cable was added in the late 1950s, with the advent of stereo sound. The yellow video cable was added in the 1970s, to carry video from VCRs.

12D Mentee : PROTEGE

We use the term “protégé” for someone whose career is helped along and guided by a more experienced person, a mentor. “Protégé” is French for “protected”.

A mentor is a trusted teacher or counselor, and the person receiving the advice is the mentee. The term “mentor” comes from Homer’s “Odyssey” in which there is a character named Mentor. He is a friend of Odysseus, although he is a relatively ineffective old man. The goddess Athena takes on Mentor’s appearance in order to guide Odysseus’s young son Telemachus through difficult times.

13D __ Fudd : ELMER

Elmer Fudd is one of the most famous Looney Tunes cartoon characters, and is the hapless nemesis of Bugs Bunny. If you have never seen it, check out Elmer and Bugs in the marvelous “Rabbit of Seville”, a short cartoon that parodies Rossini’s “Barber of Seville”. Wonderful stuff …

24D Alias lead-in : AKA

Also known as (aka)

27D Conclusion starter : ERGO

“Ergo” is a Latin word meaning “hence, therefore”, and one that we absorbed directly into English.

38D Feline in an alley : FERAL CAT

“Feral”, meaning “existing in a wild or untamed state”, comes from the Latin word “fera” meaning “wild animal”.

41D Nabisco cracker : RITZ

I’ve always liked Ritz crackers. They’ve been around since 1934 when they were introduced by Nabisco. The name Ritz was chosen because the marketing folks felt that the association with Ritz-Carlton would evoke images of wealth and the highlife.

47D Classic Pontiac : GTO

The Pontiac GTO was produced by GM from 1964 to 1974, and again by a GM subsidiary in Australia from 2004 to 2006. The original GTO’s design is credited to Pontiac chief engineer at the time John DeLorean, who later founded the DeLorean Motor Company.

51D Completely surrounded : SIEGED

Our word “siege” comes from a 13th-century word for a “seat”. The military usage derives from the concept of a besieging force “sitting down” outside a fortress until it falls.

54D God of the underworld : HADES

Hades was the god of the underworld to the ancient Greeks. Over time, Hades gave his name to the underworld itself, the place where the dead reside. The term “Hades” was also adopted into the Christian tradition, as an alternative name for hell. But, the concept of hell in Christianity is more akin to the Greek “Tartarus”, which is a dark and gloomy dungeon located in Hades, a place of suffering and torment.

55D Nobel-winning physicist Paul : DIRAC

Paul Dirac was an English theoretical physicist, and a co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1933. It was Dirac who predicted the existence of antimatter. What would the Starship Enterprise have done without antimatter?

56D Skin blemish : ZIT

The slang term “zit”, meaning “pimple”, came into the language in 1966, but no one seems to know its exact derivation.

65D Ancient Eur. realm : HRE

The Holy Roman Empire (HRE) existed from 962 to 1806 AD and was a territory of varying size over the centuries that centered on the Kingdom of Germany. The HRE was a successor to the western half of the Ancient Roman Empire. The empire dissolved in 1806 when Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated after a military defeat by the French under Napoleon at Austerlitz.

66D Bank corp. with an orange lion logo : ING

ING is a huge Dutch banking institution created via a merger in 1991. The company headquarters is in a spectacular building in Amsterdam called simply ING House. “ING” stands for Internationale Nederlanden Groep.