Crossword Quiz on Cheeses, Portraits, Myth Culture, Time Units, Sporty Films and Titles

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Across
  1. 5. Word shared by Robert Frost’s poem Acquainted With the ____ and a book written in 14 chapters, each devoted to a division of the subject, examining phenomena such as Las Vegas tourism, sunsets, light pollution, circadian rhythm, Gilgamesh and sudden unexplained death syndrome. (5)
  2. 7. Medieval unit of time, with a solar hour divided into 40 of these based on sundial movement. (6)
  3. 9. Informal term for a very short, unspecified period; in computing, the duration of one tick of the system timer interrupt, typically about 0.01 seconds. (5)
  4. 12. During World War II, resistance members illegally kept portraits of this head of state hidden in their homes. The throne was assumed at age 10 and, by 1948, this ruler was the only surviving monarch among the 17 European rulers reigning at the time of accession. (10)
  5. 13. Igbo word meaning king, traditionally an elective monarch advised by elders; in modern times, the most famous “title bearer” created ripples in London in early 2025 by triggering talk and executing a childhood “homecoming.” (3)
  6. 15. Surname of the cricket poet who served as commentator in The Final Test (1953); on Desert Island Discs, his selection included “Land of My Fathers” by the crowd at the Wales vs. Ireland rugby match on March 12, 1949. (6)
  7. 16. Full surname of the French painter who produced a portrait of Oscar Wilde; a frequent visitor to brothels and a trained chef, he suffered from pycnodysostosis, a condition often referred to by a syndrome bearing his name. (8,7)
  8. 18. Mythological hero who slew the Chimera, after whom the Royal Navy ship was named; nicknamed the “Billy Ruffian” by sailors, the vessel received Napoleon I’s surrender in 1815, as recorded in Lemprière’s Bibliotheca Classica. (11)
  9. 20. Pakistan’s prime minister holds the title of ____-e-Azam, which literally translates to this; the title was originally held by senior officials in the Abbasid Caliphate. (ROMANIZED) (6)
  10. 21. Town whose name forms the first word of a 2025 Malayalam film set in the local gymkhana; mentions by Pliny the Elder provide the town’s second Italian connection, after the first is reflected in the town’s nickname. (9)
  11. 23. He took a self-portrait around 1883 during time as a merchant in Harar, Ethiopia. It shows the poet posed in a local landscape and helps us trace his later life marked by travel, arms dealing and slave trading. (6,7)
  12. 26. Persian imperial title equivalent to beylerbey and amir al-umara, also familiar closer to home as the name borne by the son of a traitor. (3,5 - Can sometimes be 3-1-5)
  13. 27. Phenomenon in which observers perceive a figure on a “disc,” formed by contrasts between darker areas and lighter highlands; in a common Western interpretation, the eyes are Mare Imbrium and Mare Serenitatis, the nose is Sinus Aestuum, and the mouth is Mare Nubium and Mare Cognitum. (3,2,3,4)
  14. 29. Often called the “king of cheeses.” A soft cow’s milk cheese admired by Charlemagne and said to have been sent to Aachen, distinguished by a delicate white rind; the name combines the style of cheese and the town of origin. (4,2,5)
  15. 30. Often called the “king of cheeses.” It may be produced in only three English counties — Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire — yet not in the village in Cambridgeshire whose name it bears; also the surname of a famous Italian children’s book character. (7)
Down
  1. 1. ________ Publishing is a niche segment of tabloid journalism (and blackmail) in the United States that publishes arrest and booking details through print and searchable websites; a related reputation-management industry profits by charging fees to remove such information, often operated by the same entities. (7)
  2. 2. Often called the “king of cheeses.” Its name comes from Occitan for a stronghold in a mountainous region; a sheep’s milk blue cheese linked by legend to a young shepherd who left his bread and cheese in a cave after seeing a beautiful maiden, where mold transformed it. (9)
  3. 3. Only individual to have served as chief creative lead for both the opening and closing ceremonies of a Summer and a Winter Olympic Games; actresses who made acting debuts and received media attention through films directed by this filmmaker are known as “Mou girls.” (5,5)
  4. 4. English cheese first made by French Cistercian monks in the 16th century, later revived in popularity in the late 1980s by a stop-motion man-and-dog duo. (11)
  5. 6. Desperate, low-probability long pass, featured prominently in films such as Remember the Titans, Any Given Sunday and The Blind Side, often symbolizing faith-driven hope for a miraculous victory. (4,4)
  6. 8. Subject of Daughters of the Sexual Revolution, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the group nicknamed “America’s Sweethearts.” They debuted in 1972 with midriff-baring moxie and faced strict conduct rules including bans on dating or speaking to a _______ football player, swearing, smoking, chewing gum or wearing blue jeans in public. (7,12)
  7. 10. Field associated with Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts; a pseudoscience and subculture devoted to the study of cryptids — disputed legendary animals rooted in folklore. (13)
  8. 11. Feminine form of khan, derived from khagan (“khan of khans”), used among Central Asian nomads and now a common surname in the subcontinent; rendered as xotin in Uzbek usage for the Queen of Bukhara. (6)
  9. 14. Mild, melting cheese developed in California, first made by Franciscan friars as Queso del País(“country cheese”); blends easily with other cheeses, lending part of its name to varieties such as Colby and Pepper, with the second word coming from a land speculator who commercialized it. (8,4)
  10. 17. De Mulieribus Claris (On Famous Women), composed in 1361, is a Latin work by this Florentine author presenting biographies of historical and mythological women; better known for a different collection of short stories depicting everyday life, fortune and vice. (8,9)
  11. 19. Office in Anglo-Saxon England reflecting authority derived from age and experience; each governed a shire and the title later evolved into earl, spelled here in Old English. (9)
  12. 22. Astronomical unit of distance equal to about 3.26 light-years, famously misused in Star Wars when Han Solo boasts about the Millennium Falcon’s speed during the Kessel Run. (6)
  13. 24. Element whose atomic transition frequency defines the second; discovered in 1860 by Kirchhoff and Bunsen and one of only five metals liquid near room temperature. (7)
  14. 25. United Nations specialized agency that defines Coordinated Universal Time; originally formed to coordinate international telegraph networks and predates the U.N. itself. (3)
  15. 28. Term coined by early anthropologists to describe a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology; discussed by Bruce Chatwin in The Songlines and later reused in 1989 for a shifting metaphysical plane of belief and imagination. (8)