Across
- 4. Word shared by Robert Frost’s poem Acquainted With the Night 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.
- 6. 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.
- 10. United Nations specialized agency that defines Coordinated Universal Time; originally formed to coordinate international telegraph networks and predating the U.N. itself.
- 11. Which cricket poet served as commentator in The Final Test (1953); on Desert Island Discs, the selection included “Land of My Fathers” by the crowd at the Wales vs. Ireland rugby match on March 12, 1949.
- 14. Self-portrait taken around 1883 during time as a merchant in Harar, Ethiopia, showing the poet posed in a local landscape and documenting a later life marked by travel, arms dealing and slave trading.
- 15. Mythological hero who slew the Chimera, after whom the Royal Navy ship nicknamed the “Billy Ruffian” was named; the vessel received Napoleon I’s surrender in 1815, as recorded in Lemprière’s Bibliotheca Classica.
- 16. Desperate, low-probability long pass, featured prominently in films such as Remember the Titans, Any Given Sunday and The Blind Side, often symbolizing hope for a miraculous victory against the odds.
- 19. 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.
- 20. Often called the “king of cheeses.” Its name comes from Occitan for a stronghold in a mountainous region; a sheep’s milk blue cheese praised by Pliny the Elder, 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.
- 21. Igbo word meaning king, traditionally elective and advised by elders; in modern times, the most famous “title bearer” created ripples in London in early 2025 by triggering talk of a high-profile “homecoming.”
- 23. Office referenced in the Urdu title ___-e-Azam for Pakistan’s prime minister, first held by senior officials in the Abbasid Caliphate.
- 24. Medieval unit of time, with a solar hour divided into 40 of these based on sundial movement.
- 25. Element whose atomic transition frequency defines the second; discovered in 1860 by Kirchhoff and Bunsen and notable for being among the few metals liquid near room temperature.
- 26. 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.
- 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 by a controversial writer for a shifting metaphysical plane of belief and imagination.
- 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.
Down
- 1. Subject of Daughters of the Sexual Revolution, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the group nicknamed “America’s Sweethearts,” who 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.
- 2. Niche segment of tabloid journalism in the United States that publishes arrest and booking details through print and searchable websites, often paired with paid reputation-removal services.
- 3. 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.
- 5. 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, or disputed legendary animals rooted in folklore.
- 7. 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 of a high-profile “homecoming.”
- 8. 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.
- 9. De Mulieribus Claris (On Famous Women), composed in 1361, is a Latin work by this Florentine author presenting biographies of historical and mythological women; the author is better known for a different collection of short stories depicting everyday life, fortune and vice.
- 12. Phenomenon in which observers perceive a human face or 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.
- 13. 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.
- 17. 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.
- 18. 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.”
- 22. 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.
- 27. 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.
- 30. 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.