Day: November 11, 2026

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Constructed by: Robbie Cottom

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Southbound

Themed answers are all in the down-direction (SOUTHBOUND), and each is BOUNDED by the word “SOUTH”:

• 11D Following the path of a snowbird, perhaps, or what the answers to the starred clues are, in two ways : SOUTHBOUND

• 4D *Manhattan ingredient : SWEET VERMOUTH
• 7D *Personal asset during a crisis : SOURCE OF STRENGTH
• 23D *”Zip it!” : SHUT YOUR MOUTH!
• 36D *Recording studio space : SOUND BOOTH

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

Bill’s time: 6m 01s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Draconian : HARSH

Constitutional law was brought to Athens and ancient Greece by a legislator called Draco. The legal code that Draco developed was relatively harsh, which is why we use the term “draconian” to describe unforgiving rules.

6A Yoga pose : ASANA

The word “asana” comes from the Sanskrit root “as”, which means “to sit” or “to be present”. In ancient yogic texts, “asana” primarily referred to a stable and comfortable seated position for meditation, rather than the array of physical postures that we associate with modern yoga practice today.

16A Bozo : OAF

The unsavory word “bozo” describes a person with a low IQ, and someone who is usually quite muscular. The term has been used since the early 1900s, and possibly comes from the Spanish “bozal” that was used to describe someone who spoke Spanish poorly.

17A New York City’s “Crossroads of the World” : TIMES SQUARE

Times Square in New York City isn’t a square at all, but rather a triangle. When the New York Times newspaper opened new headquarters in the area in 1904, the city agreed to the name “Times Square”, changing it from Longacre Square.

19A G7 member : USA

The G6 was a group of six industrialized nations that formed in 1975 and whose governments met on a periodic basis. The founding members were France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. The membership expanded in 1976 with the addition of Canada, forming the G7. Russia was given representation in the group in 1997, forming the G8. Russia’s membership was suspended in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea.

27A Sibilant “Zip it!” : SHH!

“Sibilant” is a lovely word that describes a sound of speech, i.e. the sound of an “s” or “z”, a hissing sound. The word “sissies”, for example, has three sibilant sounds.

42A Glamping shelter : YURT

A yurt is a wood-framed dwelling that is used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. Although a yurt is a substantial structure, it is also extremely portable.

“Glamping” is “glamorous camping”, camping with comforts and amenities.

43A “The Wizard of Oz” creator : BAUM

The Land of Oz is a fantasy world that was created by L. Frank Baum and introduced in 1900 in his children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. Such was the success of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” that Baum ended up writing a total of 14 novels in his “Land of Oz” series:

1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
2. The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)
3. Ozma of Oz (1907)
4. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908)
5. The Road to Oz (1909)
6. The Emerald City of Oz (1910)
7. The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913)
8. Tik-Tok of Oz (1914)
9. The Scarecrow of Oz (1915)
10. Rinkitink in Oz (1916)
11. The Lost Princess of Oz (1917)
12. The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918)
13. The Magic of Oz (1919)
14. Glinda of Oz (1920)

44A Meditation sounds : OMS

“Om” is a sacred mystic word from the Hindu tradition. It is sometimes used as a mantra, a focus for the mind in meditation.

52A Singer Erykah known as the “Queen of Neo-Soul” : BADU

“Erykah Badu” is the stage name of Erica Wright, an American “neo-soul” singer. Badu gained some notoriety in March of 2010 when she shot a scene for a music video in Dallas. In the scene, she walks to the spot where President Kennedy was assassinated, removing her clothes until she is nude, and then falls to the ground as if she has been shot in the head. For that stunt, she was charged with disorderly conduct.

53A Seattle MLB player : MARINER

The Seattle Mariners (SEA) are the only Major League team never to have appeared in a World Series.

55A “Mic Drop” K-pop band : BTS

“Mic Drop” is a 2017 song by the boy band BTS from South Korea. They released two versions of the song, one in Korean and one in Japanese.

65A British medical sys. : NHS

The UK introduced the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948 as part of a package of major social reforms introduced in the wake of the Second World War. The NHS is mainly funded by National Insurance contributions (similar to, but more expansive than, Social Security contributions in the US). National Insurance contributions basically fund the UK’s universal healthcare program, public pension program and unemployment benefits.

66A Patron saint of Norway : OLAV

Of the many kings of Norway named Olaf/Olav (and there have been five), Olaf II is perhaps the most celebrated, as he was canonized and made the patron saint of the country. Olaf II was king from 1015 to 1028 and was known as “Olaf the Big” (or “Olaf the Fat”) during his reign. Today he is more commonly referred to as “Olaf the Holy”. After Olaf died he was given the title of “Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae”, which is Latin for “Norway’s Eternal King”.

67A “The Bear” Emmy winner Edebiri : AYO

Actor, comedian and television writer Ayo Edebiri gained prominence for her role as Sydney Adamu, the young sous-chef in the very successful Hulu series “The Bear”.

“The Bear” is a comedy-drama TV show that started airing in 2022. It stars Jeremy Allen White (of “Shameless” fame) as a chef from a Michelin-star restaurant who heads home to Chicago to run his family’s sandwich shop after his brother dies. I really enjoyed this one …

68A Engineer from a Cambridge sch., e.g. : MIT GRADUATE

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was founded in 1861 and first offered classes in 1865, in the Mercantile building in Boston. Today’s magnificent campus on the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge opened in 1916.

73A See 11-Across : OTTER
[11A With 73-Across, semiaquatic mammal that uses rocks as tools : SEA]

Sea otters use skin flaps, akin to “pockets”, to store and transport food they find while foraging on the seafloor, allowing them to bring multiple items to the surface to eat. They also use these pockets to carry a favorite rock, which they use as a tool to crack open hard-shelled prey such as clams, mussels, and crabs while floating on their backs. An otter may keep the same rock for its entire life. Wow!

Down

2D Carrot family plant : ANISE

The essential oil in the anise plant is anethole. Anethole has a licorice-like flavor, and is used extensively in cooking and to flavor several distilled alcoholic drinks.

3D Instant noodles option : RAMEN

Ramen is a noodle dish composed of Chinese-style wheat noodles in a meat or fish broth flavored with soy sauce or miso paste. Ramen is usually topped with sliced pork and dried seaweed. The term “ramen” is also used for precooked, instant noodles that come in single-serving, solid blocks.

4D *Manhattan ingredient : SWEET VERMOUTH

Vermouth is a fortified wine that is infused with various aromatic flavors. The vermouth that we use today originated in Turin, Italy in the late 1700s. The various vermouths produced all use a neutral grape wine as a base, with alcohol added to fortify it. Dry ingredients like herbs or roots are added to give a distinctive flavor, and then sugar can be added to make the drink sweeter. Today, most vermouth comes from Italy and France.

The cocktail called a manhattan is made from whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters. I favor my own version of a brandy manhattan, using brandy, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.

5D Chaps : HES

“Chap” is an informal term meaning “lad, fellow” that is used especially in England. The term derives from “chapman”, an obsolete word meaning “purchaser” or “trader”.

8D “Selma” director DuVernay : AVA

Ava DuVernay is a filmmaker who became the first African American woman to win the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, a feat she achieved in 2012 for her feature film “Middle of Nowhere”. “Middle of Nowhere” tells the story of a woman who drops out of medical school to focus on her husband when he is sentenced to 8 years in prison. DuVernay also directed the 2014 film “Selma” about the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

“Selma” is a 2014 film about the Selma-to-Montgomery marches of 1965. Directed by Ava DuVernay, the movie stars David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson.

9D Brand of spongy toys : NERF

Nerf is a soft material used in a whole series of toys designed for “safe” play indoors. The Nerf product is used to make darts, balls and ammunition for toy guns. By the way, “Non-Expanding Recreational Foam” is a popular backronym (an acronym created to fit an existing word) for “NERF”.

11D Following the path of a snowbird, perhaps, or what the answers to the starred clues are, in two ways : SOUTHBOUND

Snowbirds are people from Canada and the northern US who head south for the winter, to places like Florida and California.

26D Petro-Canada rival : ESSO

Petro-Canada started out as a government-owned corporation in 1976. “Petro-Canada” is now a brand name of Suncor Energy.

34D Big shot : NABOB

A “nawab” (also “nabob”) was a deputy governor in the Mogul empire in India. The term is also used as a Muslim honorific title in India and Pakistan. We use “nabob” in English for a person of wealth and prominence.

35D Nebraska home of the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium : OMAHA

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium is an evolution of the Riverview Park Zoo that opened in 1894. Today, the facility is renowned for its record-breaking immersive habitats, including the world’s largest indoor desert housed within a 13-story geodesic dome. Directly beneath that desert lies the Kingdoms of the Night, the largest indoor swamp in the world, which features a rare colony of white alligators. The zoo is also home to the Lied Jungle, a massive eight-story indoor rainforest complete with a 50-foot waterfall.

40D Weaving machine : LOOM

A loom is a device used to weave cloth. Its fundamental purpose is to hold longitudinal warp threads under tension so that transverse weft threads can be interwoven.

54D Mars rover org. : NASA

There have been several rovers sent to Mars from Earth. The Soviet Union’s Mars 2 landed in 1971, and failed. Mars 3 landed the same year, and ceased operation just 20 seconds after landing. NASA’s Sojourner landed in 1997 (what a great day that was!) and operated from July through September. NASA’s Spirit landed in 2004, and operated successfully for over six years before getting trapped in sand and eventually ceasing to communicate. NASA’s Opportunity also landed in 2004, and operated for over fourteen years. And then NASA’s Curiosity made a spectacular, hi-tech landing in 2012 and is continuing to explore the planet today. Based on the Curiosity design, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in 2021, along with the Mars helicopter named Ingenuity. The China National Space Administration landed its first rover, named Zhurong (after a Chinese god of fire), three months after Perseverance started its mission on the planet.

62D __ Fresh: Tex-Mex chain : BAJA

Baja Fresh is a chain of Tex Mex restaurants based in Irvine, California. The first Baja Fresh outlet was opened in Newbury Park, California in 1990. There are now well over 200 franchises nationwide.

64D Actress Lollobrigida : GINA

Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, and also a photojournalist and sculptor. After her career in movies started to slow down in the seventies, she turned to photojournalism. She has photographed many of the greats, including Paul Newman, Salvador Dali, Audrey Hepburn and even the German national soccer team. In fact, she was also able to arrange an exclusive interview with Fidel Castro, much to the chagrin of the world’s professional journalists.

70D “What’s up, __?” : DOC

Bugs Bunny first said “What’s up, Doc?” in the 1940 cartoon short “A Wild Hare”, while addressing the hunter Elmer Fudd.