Across
- 2. Medieval unit of time, with a solar hour divided into 40 of these based on sundial movement.
- 4. Pakistan's Prime Minister holds the title of _____-e-azam, which literally translates to? This title was originally held by senior officials in the Abbasid Caliphate.
- 5. 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.
- 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)
- 9. 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; don't give Romanized name)
- 10. 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.” (3)
- 12. Surname of cricket poet who served as commentator in The Final Test (1953); on Desert Island Discs, his go-to was “Land of My Fathers” by the crowd at the Wales vs. Ireland rugby match on March 12, 1949 among others. (6)
- 13. 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)
- 15. 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. (4-2-4)
- 18. 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)
- 20. 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.
- 22. United Nations specialized agency that defines Coordinated Universal Time; originally formed to coordinate international telegraph networks and it predates the U.N. itself.
- 24. 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.
- 26. 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)
- 27. 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.
- 28. Field associated with the book - 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)
- 29. 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)
Down
- 1. _______ Publishing: 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 about celebs, often operated by the same entities.
- 2. 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)
- 3. Mythological hero who slew the Chimera, after whom the Royal Navy ship was named. Nicknamed the “Billy Ruffian” by the sailors; the vessel received Napoleon I’s surrender in 1815, as recorded in Lemprière’s Bibliotheca Classica. (11)
- 6. Igbo word meaning king, traditionally elective and advised by elders; One such “title bearer” created ripples in London in early 2025 by triggering talk of a high-profile “homecoming.”
- 7. 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)
- 11. 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)
- 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)
- 16. 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)
- 17. Element whose atomic transition frequency defines the second; discovered in 1860 by Kirchhoff and Bunsen and notable for being among one of 5 metals liquid ~at room temperature.
- 19. 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. (8,9)
- 21. 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.
- 23. 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)
- 25. 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.