Tag: Pixieish crossword clue

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Constructed by: Amanda Rafkin & Amie Walker

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Hard Launch

Themed answers each start (“LAUNCH”) with a synonym of “HARD”:

• 60A Social media debut of a romantic relationship, or what 17-, 29-, and 45-Across have : HARD LAUNCH

• 17A Cocktail poured with a heavy hand : STIFF DRINK
• 29A Honest amount of reliable work : SOLID EFFORT
• 45A Resilient person : TOUGH COOKIE

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

Bill’s time: 6m 31s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Food that might be served alla vodka : PASTA

Penne alla vodka is a pasta dish with a sauce made of vodka, cream, tomatoes, onions and sausage or bacon.

14A “KPop Demon Hunters” bandmate of Mira and Zoey : RUMI

“KPop Demon Hunters” is a 2025 animated musical film. The plot centers on a chart-topping K-pop girl group named HUNTR/X who lead a secret double life. By day, they are global superstars, but by night, they are elite demon slayers. Their main antagonists are a rival K-pop boy band, the Saja Boys, whose members are secretly demons trying to weaken the barrier between the human and demon worlds. Yikes …

15A Fuel-carrying ship : OILER

An oiler is an oil tanker, an ocean-going vessel used to transport crude oil.

19A Teeny bit : IOTA

Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet, and one that gave rise to our letters I and J. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small, as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

20A Norway’s capital : OSLO

Oslo is the capital of Norway. The city burns trash to fuel half of its buildings, including all of its schools. The problem faced by the city is that it doesn’t generate enough trash. So, Oslo imports trash from Sweden, England and Ireland, and is now looking to import some American trash too.

21A Texting format, briefly : SMS

Short Message Service (SMS) is the name for the text messaging service that many of us still use on our cell phones to contact friends and family.

25A Dessert that quivers : JELL-O

If you like Jell-O, then you might want to stop by LeRoy, New York where you can visit the only Jell-O museum in the world. While at the museum, you can walk along the Jell-O Brick Road …

35A Male cat : TOM

A group of cats can be referred to as a clowder or a glaring. A male cat is a tom or tomcat, and a neutered male is a gib. An unaltered female cat is a queen, and a spayed female might be referred to informally as a molly. A young cat is a kitten.

36A Some church donations : TITHES

Traditionally, a tithe is a payment of one tenth of a person’s annual income and is usually given to a church. Tithing is a practice taught in many traditions, and according to a 2002 survey, about 3% of American adults donate 10% or more of their income to a church.

39A __ and yang : YIN

The yin and yang can be illustrated using many different metaphors. In one, as the sun shines on a mountain, the side in the shade is the yin and the side in the light is the yang. The yin is also regarded as the feminine side, and the yang the masculine. The yin can also be associated with the moon, while the yang is associated with the sun.

40A Hoppy beer letters : IPA

Single, double (or dual), and triple IPAs are all styles of hoppy beer that progressively increase in intensity. Brewers create the stronger double and triple versions by using significantly more malt, which boosts the alcohol content (ABV), with a corresponding increase in hops to balance the sweetness and amplify the bitter, aromatic flavors.

41A Like plagiarized text : STOLEN

To plagiarize is to pass off the writings of another as one’s own. The term comes from the Latin “plagiare” meaning “to kidnap”.

43A Delt neighbor : LAT

The muscles known as the “lats” are the “latissimi dorsi”, and are the broadest muscles in the back. “Latissimus” is Latin for “broadest”, and “dorsum” is Latin for “back”.

44A La Brea __ Pits : TAR

The La Brea Tar Pits, in Hancock Park in Los Angeles, represent one of the world’s richest fossil sites from the Ice Age. Natural asphalt has seeped up from the ground for tens of thousands of years, trapping countless animals, from mammoths and saber-toothed cats to insects and plants, providing an unparalleled record of prehistoric life. The site continues to be an active paleontological excavation.

45A Resilient person : TOUGH COOKIE

Resilience is the ability to adapt to adversity, trauma or significant stress. The word “resilience” has its roots in the Latin verb “resilire”, which translates to “to jump back, recoil”. In the world of physics, resilience is the capability of something to recover its size and shape after being deformed.

49A Sportscaster Musburger : BRENT

Brent Musburger was one of the original presenters of CBS’s program “The NFL Today”, and was considered by many to be the network’s top sportscaster. One of Musburger’s claims to fame is that he is considered the first broadcaster to describe the NCAA Basketball Championship as “March Madness”.

55A Mermaid’s realm : SEA

The mythological creatures named mermaids are usually depicted with the head and upper body of a human female, and with the tail of a fish. The term “mermaid” comes from the Old English “mere” meaning “sea, lake” and “maid” meaning “young woman”. The original mermaids were probably tail-less, with that “fishy” addition likely coming with comparison to classical sirens. The male equivalent of a mermaid is “merman”.

59A Baghdad locale : IRAQ

According to the University of Baghdad, the name “Baghdad” dates way back, to the 18th-century BCE (yes, BCE!). The origin of the city’s name is disputed, but it can be translated into English from the language of ancient Babylon as “old garden” (bagh-) and “beloved” (-dad).

60A Social media debut of a romantic relationship, or what 17-, 29-, and 45-Across have : HARD LAUNCH

In the world of business, a hard launch is when a new product or service is made available to the public in a way that attracts a lot of attention. A soft launch might involve the initial exposure of the product or service to a limited number of people. The terminology has migrated into the world of social media to describe the revealing of a romantic partner. A soft launch involves hints at a relationship, like perhaps a picture of a couple holding hands, with no faces shown. A hard launch might include a clear, romantic photo of the new couple together.

63A iPhone virtual assistant : SIRI

Siri was originally developed as a standalone app by a startup company of the same name. Apple acquired the company in 2010 and integrated the technology into their operating system.

67A Breadmaking need : YEAST

Yeasts are unicellular microorganisms in the kingdom Fungi. The species of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used for centuries in the making of wine and beer, and in breadmaking. Saccharomyces cerevisiae converts carbohydrates into carbon dioxide and alcohol in the process of fermentation. When making beer and wine, the carbon dioxide and alcohol may be captured by the liquid. When making bread, the carbon dioxide and alcohol are driven off by heat.

Down

4D Rummage (through) : RIFLE

The verb “to rummage”, meaning “to search thoroughly”, has an interesting history. Back in the 16th century, a “rummage” was the act of arranging cargo in a ship. In the early 17th century, the verb “to rummage” was introduced, originally meaning to search thoroughly (the hold of a ship). It should be noted that rummaging usually involves moving things around. The first “rummage sales” were used to sell off unclaimed goods at docks. Over time, rummage sales became opportunities to dispose of unwanted items, usually in aid of a charity.

5D “Love Is Blind” personal space : POD

“Love Is Blind” is a reality TV show that Netflix launched in the US in 2020. Participants are single people looking for love and marriage. They are paired off, and then sequestered in special “pods” for ten days. The pods allow for private conversation, but the “dating” couples cannot see each other. Should a couple agree to get engaged within the ten days, then they get to see their fiancés for the first time. The show is a hit, with franchises now produced in several countries around the world.

7D Car-unlocking tool : SLIM JIM

A slim jim is a thin strip of spring steel that is used to open car doors without using a key and without picking the lock. Instead, the slim jim bypasses the lock and manipulates the levers and rods that operate the door.

9D Torah holder : ARK

The Torah ark is found in a synagogue, and is the ornamental container in which the Torah scrolls are stored. The word “Torah” best translates as “teaching” or “law”. The Torah ark is referred to as the “Aron Kodesh” in Hebrew, meaning “Holy Ark”.

10D Assassin’s Creed game company : UBISOFT

Assassin’s Creed is a franchise of video games that was introduced in 2007. The games’ storylines center on the struggle for power between the Assassins and the Templars. “Assassin’s Creed” made it to the big screen in 2016 in a sci-fi action movie of the same name, but it was pretty badly received by audiences.

26D Wright of “Black Panther” : LETITIA

Letitia Wright is a British actress who was born in Guyana. She really hit the big time when she landed the title role in the 2022 superhero film “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”. Wright had played the original Black Panther’s sister, Shuri, in the 2018 film “Black Panther”. After actor Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) died, producers opted not to replace him in the role, and rewrote the planned sequel, promoting the character Shuri. Wright was recognized by her birth nation in 2023 when she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Guyana.

“Black Panther” is a 2018 superhero film starring Chadwick Boseman in the title role. Black Panther is a Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. When not a superhero, Black Panther is the king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, and goes by the name “T’Challa”.

28D Precision knife brand : X-ACTO

The X-Acto knife was invented in the thirties by a Polish immigrant, although his intention was to come up with a scalpel for surgeons. The knife couldn’t cut it as a scalpel though (pun!), because it was difficult to clean. The inventor’s brother-in-law suggested it be used as a craft knife, and it is still around today.

38D Walt Disney Concert Hall designer Frank : GEHRY

Frank Gehry is an architect from Toronto who is based in Los Angeles. Listed among Gehry’s famous creations are the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in Spain, The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and his own private residence in Santa Monica, California. More recently, he designed the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial located in Washington, D.C.

39D Shaggy ox : YAK

The English word “yak” is an Anglicized version of the Tibetan name for the male of the species. Yak milk is much prized in Tibetan culture. It is made into cheese and butter, and the butter is used to make a tea that is consumed in great volume by Tibetans. The butter is also used as a fuel in lamps, and during festivals the butter is even sculpted into religious icons.

42D Letters on some Pride merch : LGBTQIA

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA)

43D Traditional Mexican game of chance : LOTERIA

Lotería (Spanish for “lottery”) is a traditional Mexican game of chance, similar to bingo, but using images on a deck of cards instead of numbered ping-pong balls. The game originated in Italy in the 15th century and was brought to Mexico (then “New Spain”) in the 18th century.

47D Jazz icon 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.

51D All __ Day: November 2 : SOULS’

All Souls’ Day is a religious holiday mainly in the Roman Catholic tradition. All Souls’ Day is observed on November 2nd annually, and is a commemoration of the “faithful departed”.

52D Black Power symbol : FIST

The political slogan “Black power” was coined by author Richard Wright for his 1954 book “Black Power”. The slogan was adopted by civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael in the mid-sixties. Notably, he led participants in the 1966 March Against Fear in chanting “Black power”. The nationally televised event contributed to the spread of the slogan across the US.

54D Like a cranberry, or a dessert that might contain cranberries : TART

When early European settlers came across red berries growing in the bogs of the northern part of America, they felt that the plant’s flower and stem resembled the head and bill of a crane. As such, they called the plant “craneberry”, which evolved into “cranberry”.