Day: November 1, 2026

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Constructed by: Doug Peterson

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Read That Back to Me

Themed clues need to be READ BACKWARDS to match the corresponding answers:

23A Bonk? : DOOR HANDLE (Knob)

34A Laced? : WINDOW STICKER (Decal)

44A Pacer? : POSTGAME REPORT (Recap)

65A Drab? : MEDIEVAL POET (Bard)

74A Ergo? : FANTASY BEAST (Ogre)

93A Gulp? : BATHTUB STOPPER (Plug)

102A Mined? : JEANS MATERIAL (Denim)

121A Rebut? : FLESHY ROOT (Tuber)

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

Bill’s time: 13m 36s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Low voice : BASSO

The bass is the lowest male singing voice. A man with such a voice might be called a “basso” (plural “bassi”). In an opera, the villain of the piece is usually played by a basso.

20A Undoer of Othello : IAGO

In William Shakespeare’s play “Othello”, the villain of the piece Iago utters the words:

I hate the Moor,
And it is thought abroad that ’twixt my sheets
He’s done my office. I know not if ’t be true,
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,
Will do as if for surety.

Iago is citing the widespread rumor that Othello slept with Iago’s wife Emilia. Iago is not certain that the rumor is true, but just the suspicion of it is enough for him to express his hatred for Othello.

21A Son of Noah : SHEM

In the Book of Genesis, Shem is the eldest of Noah’s three sons who survived the Great Flood aboard the Ark, alongside his brothers Ham and Japheth. Shem fathered his son Arpachshad two years after the flood at age 100 and lived for an additional 500 years, dying at the ripe old age of 600.

22A Absolut rival : STOLI

Stolichnaya vodka originated in Russia, but now it’s made in Latvia. Latvia is of course a completely different country, so you won’t see the word “Russian” on the label anymore. But, the “Stoli” label still bears a drawing of the famous Hotel Moskva, which is located near Red Square in Moscow.

26A March 14 observance : PI DAY

The first three digits of the mathematical constant pi are 3.14. Pi Day has been celebrated on March 14th (3/14) every year since 1988, when it was inaugurated at the San Francisco Exploratorium. In countries where the day is usually written before the month, Pi Day is July 22nd, reflecting the more accurate approximation of pi as 22/7. Interestingly, March 14th is also Albert Einstein’s birthday.

27A Classic record label : EMI

EMI was a British music company, with the initialism standing for Electric and Musical Industries.

28A Repetitive sonata movement : RONDO

A rondo was often chosen by composers in the classical period for the last movement of a sonata (or symphony or concerto, for that matter). In rondo form there is a principal theme that alternates with a contrasting theme(s). So, the original theme anchors the whole piece in between secondary digressions.

29A Trojan hero in a Virgil epic : AENEAS

Aeneas was a Trojan hero of myth who traveled to Italy and became the ancestor of all Romans. Aeneas’s story is told in Virgil’s epic poem “The Aeneid”.

31A London art gallery : TATE

The museum known as “the Tate” comprises four separate galleries in England. The original Tate gallery was founded by Sir Henry Tate as the National Gallery of British Art. It is located on Millbank in London, on the site of the old Millbank Prison, and is now called Tate Britain. There is also the Tate Liverpool in the north of England that is located in an old warehouse, and the Tate St. Ives in the west country located in an old gas works. My favorite of the Tate galleries is the Tate Modern which lies on the banks of the Thames in London. It’s a beautiful building, a converted power station that you have to see to believe. As of 2018, the Tate Modern was the most visited art museum in the UK.

32A Performer honored with a Billboard Icon Award in 2017 : CHER

The Billboard Icon Award has been presented annually during the Billboard Music Awards ceremony since 2011. The first recipient was Neil Diamond.

34A Laced? : WINDOW STICKER (Decal)

A decal is a decorative sticker. “Decal” is a shortening of “decalcomania”. The latter term is derived from the French “décalquer”, the practice of tracing a pattern from paper onto glass or perhaps porcelain.

37A One of Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers : OHIO

Pittsburgh’s famous “Three Rivers” consist of the Allegheny River flowing down from the northeast and the Monongahela River flowing up from the southeast, which converge at Point State Park to form the westward-flowing Ohio River. Local lore claims a fourth subterranean river flows directly beneath the confluence, though geologists explain that this underground water is actually a massive gravel-filled aquifer left behind by melting glaciers rather than a true flowing river.

42A Monopoly token that replaced the iron : CAT

The iron token was one of the original eight Monopoly game pieces introduced by Parker Brothers in 1937. It was retired in 2013 after a public vote, and was replaced with the cat.

43A Corned beef __ : HASH

Corned beef is beef that has been cured with salt. “Corn” is a term describing a grain of salt, giving the dish its name. Corned beef is also known as “salt beef”, and “bully beef” if stored in cans (from the French “bouilli” meaning “boiled”).

49A “Jingle Bells” transport : SLEIGH

The Christmas song “Jingle Bells” was originally published in 1857 under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh”. It was written by James Lord Pierpont for a Thanksgiving program at his Sunday school in Savannah, Georgia. It’s one of the most widely recognized and frequently performed Christmas songs in the world, even though it wasn’t originally intended for Christmas.

53A South Pacific island group : SAMOA

The official name for the South Pacific nation formerly known as Western Samoa is the Independent State of Samoa. Samoa is the western part of the island group, with American Samoa lying to the southeast. The whole group of islands used to be known as the Navigator Islands (or Navigators Islands), a name given by European explorers in recognition of the seafaring skills of the native Samoans.

55A Los Angeles Philharmonic, e.g. : ORCHESTRA

Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra (the “LA Phil”) was founded in 1919 by copper baron and amateur violinist William Andrews Clark Jr. Since 1922, it has spent its summer seasons performing outdoors at the Hollywood Bowl, while its winter season relocated in 2003 from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall.

59A Sorceress whose aunt is the sorceress Circe : MEDEA

In Greek mythology, Medea was the wife of Jason, the heroic leader of the Argonauts. She was a sorceress who pledged to help Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece, on condition that he take her as his wife. According to some accounts, Jason left Medea and took up with Glauce, the daughter of the king of Corinth. Medea got her own back by sending Glauce a golden coronet and dress that were covered with poison. The poison killed Glauce, and her father the king. To further her revenge on Jason, Medea killed two of her own children that were fathered by him.

In Greek mythology, Circe was a sorceress who had the ability to transform people into animals. In Homer’s “Odyssey”, she turns Odysseus’s men into swine after they feast in her halls, a literal interpretation of the idea that men can be “pigs”!

65A Drab? : MEDIEVAL POET (Bard)

The original bards were storytellers, poets and composers of music in medieval Britain and Ireland, with the term coming from the Old Celtic word “bardos” that described a poet or singer. I guess the most famous bard was William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon.

68A __-Wan Kenobi : OBI

Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the more beloved of the “Star Wars” characters. He was portrayed by two fabulous actors in the series of films. As a young man Kenobi was played by Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, and as an older man by Alec Guinness.

71A Sticky pine product : RESIN

Resinous trees have evolved the ability to secrete resins in response to an injury. The resin serves as a barrier, protecting the tree from insects and pathogens that might otherwise exploit the site of the injury.

72A Padmé’s beloved : ANI

In the “Star Wars” universe, Padmé Amidala is the Queen of the planet Naboo. Played very ably by Natalie Portman, Padmé becomes the secret wife of Anakin “Ani” Skywalker, later revealed to be Darth Vader. As such, Padmé is also the mother of Luke Skywalker and his sister, Princess Leia Organa.

73A JFK predecessor : DDE

Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) was the 34th US president, but he wanted to be remembered as a soldier. He was a five-star general during WWII in charge of the Allied Forces in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). President Eisenhower died in 1969 at Walter Reed Army Hospital. He was buried in an $80 standard soldier’s casket in his army uniform in a chapel on the grounds of the beautiful Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas.

79A Egyptian cross : ANKH

The ankh was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character for “eternal life”. The ankh wasn’t just used in inscriptions but was often fashioned into amulets and as surrounds for mirrors (perhaps symbolizing a view into another world). The ankh is also known as “the key of the Nile” and “crux ansata” (Latin for “cross with a handle”).

80A __ Hall : MONTY

Monty Hall is the stage name of Canadian-born television personality Monte Halperin. Hall is perhaps best known as the longtime host of the game show “Let’s Make a Deal”.

81A Princess introduced in season four of “The Crown,” familiarly : LADY DI

Actor Emma Corrin’s breakthrough role was portraying Diana, Princess of Wales in the hit drama “The Crown”. Corrin appeared on the cover of “Vogue” in 2022, and in so doing became the magazine’s first non-binary cover star.

“The Crown” is a historical drama produced for Netflix that covers the life of British Queen Elizabeth II from her marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. For the first two seasons, Elizabeth is played by Claire Foy and Philip by Matt Smith. For the next two seasons, Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies take over as Elizabeth and Philip. The show finishes up with Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce in the roles.

87A Norway home of the Munch Museum : OSLO

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian expressionist, and most famous for his painting “The Scream”, painted in 1893. What a wonderful work that is, a true representation of expressionism. The Munch Museum in Oslo is dedicated to his work and life. In 2004, two of Munch’s paintings, “The Scream” and “Madonna”, were stolen from the Munch Museum by armed robbers who subdued the museum guards. The paintings were missing for two years, but recovered in 2006.

92A Carpentry tool : RIPSAW

In woodworking, a cut across the grain is known as a cross cut. A cut along the grain is called a rip cut. Most saws are designed to perform the best cross cuts, but there is a special ripsaw that more easily cuts straight lines along the grain.

102A Mined? : JEANS MATERIAL (Denim)

Denim fabric originated in Nîmes in France. The French phrase “de Nîmes” (meaning “from Nîmes”) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (meaning “blue of Genoa”) gives us our word “jeans”.

111A Schoolbook : PRIMER

A primer is a textbook used to teach the alphabet and basic reading. When “primer” is used in this sense in the US, it is pronounced with a short letter I (giving “primmer”). I’ve never understood why such a pronunciation would be used …

112A Shelter org. : ASPCA

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)

120A “Voulez-Vous” pop group : ABBA

“Voulez-Vous” is a 1979 song by ABBA that served as the title track for an album released that same year. It holds a unique distinction as the only ABBA song ever recorded outside of Sweden. It was written by band members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus during a songwriting trip to the Bahamas, and its backing track was laid down at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, before the vocals were completed back home in Stockholm.

125A Pet aisle brand : IAMS

Iams dog food was introduced by animal nutritionist Paul Iams. He felt that household pets were suffering somewhat by being fed a diet of table scraps, so he developed dry dog food that he felt was more nutritious and suitable for pet dogs. He founded the Iams company in 1946.

126A Maker of iComfort mattresses : SERTA

Serta was founded in 1931 when a group of 13 mattress manufacturers came together, essentially forming a cooperative. Today, the Serta company is owned by eight independent licensees in a similar arrangement. Serta advertisements feature the Serta Counting Sheep. Each numbered sheep has a different personality, such as:

• #1 The Leader of the Flock
• #½ The Tweener
• #13 Mr. Bad Luck
• #53 The Pessimist
• #86 Benedict Arnold

129A Doofus : TWIT

“Doofus” (also “dufus”) is student slang that has been around since the sixties. Apparently the word is a variant of the equally unattractive term “doo-doo”.

Down

2D Particle with an electron cloud : ATOM

The informal term “electron cloud” describes where electrons are located as they orbit an atomic nucleus. According to the electron cloud model, developed by Erwin Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg in 1925, we cannot pinpoint the exact location of electrons at any time. The varying “density” of the electron cloud reflects the probability of finding electrons in a specific area.

3D Philosophy stressing self-control : STOICISM

Zeno of Citium was a Greek philosopher famous for teaching at the Stoa Poikile, the “Painted Porch”, located on the north side of the Ancient Agora of Athens. Because of the location of his classes, his philosophy became known as stoicism (from “stoa”, the word for “porch”). We get our adjective “stoic”, meaning “indifferent to pleasure or pain”, from the same root.

4D Title for Idris Elba : SIR

Idris Elba is a British actor whose most celebrated TV roles are perhaps Stringer Bell in “The Wire”, DCI John Luther in “Luther”, and the lead in the 2023 series “Hijack”. On the big screen, he has played the Norse god Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as Nelson Mandela in the 2013 biopic “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”. While best known for acting, Elba is also a successful musician and DJ, performing at major clubs and festivals under the moniker DJ Big Driis.

6D Literary Huckleberry : FINN

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain was first published in 1884, not here in the US but rather in England. The original launch planned for the US had to be delayed until the following year because some rascal had defaced the plate for one of the illustrations, making an obscene joke. Once the problem was spotted a new plate had to be made, and 30,000 copies already printed had to be reworked to cover up the obscenity.

7D Cheryl of “Charlie’s Angels” : LADD

Cheryl Ladd’s most famous role was Kris Munroe in television’s “Charlie’s Angels”. Ladd replaced Farrah Fawcett-Majors when the latter opted out of the show. Cheryl was the daughter-in-law of famed Hollywood actor Alan Ladd, as she was married to Ladd’s son, David. After the couple divorced, Cheryl retained the Ladd name.

When the TV show “Charlie’s Angels” first aired in the mid-seventies, it was a little unusual in that it featured three women playing private detectives, a role usually reserved for men. The name first chosen for the show was “The Alley Cats”, then “Harry’s Angels”, before finally settling on “Charlie’s Angels”.

11D Khaki-colored cloth : CHINO

Chino is a twill cloth that is most often used to make hard-wearing pants. The pants themselves have come to be referred to as chinos. Chino cloth was originally developed for use by the military, but quickly became popular with civilians.

13D Punctuation mark that may signal an abrupt change : EM DASH

In typography, there are em dashes and en dashes. The em dash is about the width of an “m” character, and an en dash about half that, the width of an “n” character. An en dash is used, for example, to separate numbers designating a range, as in 5-10 years. The em dash seems to be going out of style, and indeed the application I am using to write this paragraph won’t let me show you one!

16D Classic camera brand : KODAK

George Eastman founded the Eastman Kodak Company, which he named after the Kodak camera that he had invented four years earlier. He came up with the name of Kodak after careful consideration. Firstly he was a big fan of the letter “K”, calling it “strong, incisive”. He also wanted a word that was short, easy to pronounce and difficult to mispronounce, and a word that was clearly unique with no prior associations. “Kodak” fit the bill.

24D Vital artery : AORTA

The aorta is the largest artery in the human body. It carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Even though it is a single vessel, it is divided into four main sections: the ascending aorta, the aortic arch, the thoracic aorta, and the abdominal aorta.

36D __ of Wight : ISLE

The Isle of Wight is the largest island in England, and lies about five miles off the south coast of the country. For many centuries, the island was a kingdom in its own right. One popular tourist attraction on the Isle of Wight is Osborne House, a former royal residence that was built as a summer home for Queen Victoria, and that was designed by the queen’s consort Prince Albert. Queen Victoria died in Osborne House, in 1901.

38D Residential community org. : HOA

Homeowners’ association (HOA)

40D Dijon companion : AMIE

Dijon is a city in eastern France in the Burgundy region. Dijon is famous for its mustard, a particularly strong variation of the condiment. The European Union doesn’t protect the name “Dijon” so anyone can use it on a label. That seems fair enough to me, given that 90% of the mustard made in and around Dijon is produced using mustard seed imported from Canada!

41D Lecture series spinoff : TEDX

The acronym “TED” stands for “Technology, Entertainment and Design”. TED is a set of conferences held around the world by a non-profit group called the TED Foundation (formerly the “Sapling Foundation”). The conference subjects are varied, and the meetings are often led by big names such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates and Jane Goodall. The TED Foundation then makes recordings of the conferences available for free online with the intent of disseminating the ideas globally. These conferences are known as “TED Talks”. There are also TEDx events, which are locally-run talks presented under license from TED.

45D Giant fire-breathing turtle in Japanese monster films : GAMERA

Gamera is a giant, fire-breathing prehistoric turtle that debuted in the 1965 Japanese film “Gamera, the Giant Monster”. The movie was the first in the “Gamera” franchise, which was launched to build on the success of the “Godzilla” film series.

46D Pt. of IRA : RET

Individual retirement account (IRA)

47D The Burghers of Calais sculptor : RODIN

The Burghers of Calais (“Les Bourgeois de Calais” in French) is an 1889 sculpture completed by Auguste Rodin that was commissioned by the French port of Calais. The work commemorates six civic leaders who offered their lives to England’s King Edward III in 1347 to end a starving eleven-month siege during the Hundred Years’ War. The men marched out of the city gates barefoot, clad in sackcloth, and wearing halters around their necks to deliver the town keys.

51D “Star Wars” bounty hunter shot by Han Solo : GREEDO

Greedo is a green-skinned bounty hunter employed by Jabba the Hutt in the original 1977 “Star Wars” film. He corners Han Solo inside the Mos Eisley Cantina to collect a debt, but Solo blasts the bounty hunter from beneath the table before Greedo can pull his trigger.

56D Spanish wine similar to Champagne : CAVA

Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine mainly from the Penedès area of Catalonia. “Cava” translates as “cave” or “cellar”, and was adopted in 1970 to distinguish it from French Champagne. The wine must be produced using the traditional method, similar to Champagne.

58D “Keep this private” docs : NDAS

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

63D Congo River tributary : UBANGI

The Ubangi River defines the border between the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Further downstream, it defines the border between the DRC and the Republic of Congo.

The Congo River in Africa is the third-largest in the world in terms of volume of water discharged (after the Amazon and Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna), and the second longest river in Africa (after the Nile). It is also the deepest river in the world, with depths exceeding 700 feet. The name “Congo” comes from the ancient Kingdom of Kongo that was once located at the mouth of the river.

66D “Toy Story” boy : ANDY

In the 1995 Pixar hit “Toy Story”, the toys are owned by a boy named Andy Davis. Andy’s neighbor is a not-so-nice boy named Sid Phillips. Sid gets a big kick out of destroying and torturing his own toys, and those owned by others.

71D Fashion designer Oscar de la __ : RENTA

Oscar de la Renta is a fashion designer who really came to prominence in the sixties when his designs were worn by Jacqueline Kennedy.

75D Baseball movie with the line “You’re killing me, Smalls!” : THE SANDLOT

The slang phrase “You’re killin’ me, Smalls” is used to express exasperation with someone. The phrase comes from the 1993 baseball film “The Sandlot”. It is used twice in the movie, with the same meaning, when addressing a boy named Scotty Smalls.

76D __ tube : BOOB

“Idiot box” and “boob tube” are nicknames for television.

81D Baton Rouge sch. : LSU

LSU’s full name is Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, and is located in Baton Rouge. It was founded in 1860 as a military academy, with then-Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman as superintendent.

82D Actress and entrepreneur Jessica : ALBA

Actress Jessica Alba got her big break when she was cast in the Fox science fiction show “Dark Angel”. Alba had a tough life growing up as she spent a lot of time in hospital and so found it difficult to develop friendships. As a youngster she twice had a collapsed lung, frequently caught pneumonia, suffered from asthma, had a ruptured appendix and a tonsillar cyst. On top of all that, Alba acknowledges that she suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child.

83D “__ thou love me?”: Juliet : DOST

In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, Juliet addresses Romeo in the famous balcony scene with the words “Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say ‘Ay,’ / And I will take thy word.”

86D __ Thing: green DC Comics superhero : SWAMP

Swamp Thing is a DC Comics superhero who was introduced in 1971. He has had several alter egos over the years. The original human form of Swamp Thing was a scientist named Alec Holland who gets soaked in an experimental formula during an explosion, causing him to morph into plant life with a human consciousness.

87D Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA

Oaxaca is a state in the southern part of Mexico on the Pacific coast. The state takes the name of Oaxaca, its largest city.

102D “Matlock” actor Ritter : JASON

Actor Jason Ritter grew up in an acting dynasty, as the son of John Ritter (of “Three’s Company” fame), and hence the grandson of singing cowboy star Tex Ritter. Jason made his unplanned television debut as a toddler in the Season 6 opening credits of “Three’s Company”, wandering into a shot with Joyce DeWitt at the Los Angeles Zoo. I really only know him for his leading role as a senior partner in the legal drama “Matlock” …

103D “Ratatouille” rat : EMILE

“Ratatouille” is a 2007 animated film produced by Pixar. The hero of the piece is Remy, a rat whose ambition is to become a chef. Remy was voiced by stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt. The veteran actor Peter O’Toole voiced the character Anton Ego, a restaurant critic.

104D West Wing staffers : AIDES

The West Wing of the White House Complex (originally called the Executive Office Building when first constructed in 1902) houses the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room and the Situation Room. The West Wing was constructed at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt to house his staff, leaving the residence to his family alone. President William Howard Taft had the West Wing expanded, and it was he who created the first Oval Office built. President Herbert Hoover had the West Wing rebuilt after it was significantly damaged in a fire. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had the West Wing redesigned to its current layout, including the Oval Office that is used today.

105D Leg bone : TIBIA

The tibia is the shinbone, and is the larger of the two bones right below the knee. It is the second-strongest weight-bearing bone in the human body (after the femur). “Tibia” is the Roman name for a Greek flute and it is thought that the shinbone was given the same name because flutes were often fashioned out of the shinbones of animals.

107D Former TV drama set in SoCal : LA LAW

“L.A. Law” ran on NBC from 1986 to 1994, and was one of the network’s most successful drama series. It took over from the equally successful “Hill Street Blues” in the Thursday night 10 p.m. slot until, after an eight-year run, it was itself replaced by yet another respected drama, “ER.” The opening credits showed that famous California license plate. The plate was on a Jaguar XJ for most of the series, but moved onto a Bentley towards the end of the run. For each series the registration sticker was updated, so no laws were being broken.

117D Big fan, in slang : STAN

“Stan” is a song by rapper Eminem (featuring Dido) that was recorded in 2000. The title refers to a fictional Eminem fan named “Stan” who becomes obsessed with the rapper, and who grows irate when his letters to his idol go unanswered. Stan’s final act is to make a voice recording as he drives into a river, with his pregnant girlfriend locked in the trunk. One of the legacies of the song is that “stan” is now used as a slang term for an obsessed and maniacal fan.