Nobel-winning writer Andric

IVO Ivo Andrić was a novelist from former Yugoslavia who won the 1961 Nobel Prize for Literature.

One of the Windward Islands

ST LUCIA The Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia has a population of less than 200,000. Remarkably, Saint Lucia has produced two Nobel ...

Election night data

RETURNS It seems that the derivation of Chicago's nickname as the "Windy City" isn't as obvious as I would have thought....

Windy City paper, with "the"

TRIB "The Chicago Tribune" was first published in 1847. The most famous edition of "The Trib" was probably in 1948 whe...

Like the cry "Veni, vidi, vici"

CAESAREAN The oft-quoted statement "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered") is believed by many to have been ...

World capital where Monopoly is banned

HAVANA Apparently, when Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba he banned the very popular game “Monopoly”, as he viewed it as a symbol of capi...

Three-ingredient treats

 S’MORES S'mores are a treat peculiar to North America, usually eaten around a campfire. A s'more consists of a roasted marshmallo...

Latin "was to be"

ERAT “Esse” is the Latin for “to be”. “Sum” means “I am” and “erat” means “he, she was”.

Actor Dullea

KEIR Keir Dullea is an actor best known for portraying one of the two main astronauts in the (1968) film “2001: A Space Odyssey”.

___ Plus

ATRA Fortunately for crossword setters, the Atra razor was introduced by Gillette in 1977. The Atra was sold as the Contour in some market...

Box office

GATE The term "box office" may date back to Shakespearean times. In those days long past, patrons would deposit fees for seeing ...

Overseas prince

EMIR An emir is a prince or chieftain, most notably in the Middle East. In English, “emir” can also be written as “amir” and “ameer” (watc...

"Undo" mark

STET "Stet" is a Latin word meaning "let it stand". In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any c...

Bird: Prefix

AVI- The prefix “avi-” means “bird-related” as in “aviculture”, the breeding of birds.

Half sister of Ares

ATHENA In Greek mythology the god Ares was the half-brother of the goddess Athena, although the two were regarded as enemies. Both deities...

State with the motto "Oro y plata"

MONTANA "Oro y Plata" means "gold and silver", and is the state motto of Montana. The motto was written in Spanish, so...

Chanteuse Eartha

KITT Eartha Kitt sure did have a unique voice and singing style. Her rendition of "Santa Baby" has to be one of the most distin...

Fictional estate

TARA Rhett Butler hung out with Scarlett O'Hara at the Tara plantation in Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind". Tara...

Mideast currency

RIAL The "Rial" is name of the currency of Iran (as well as Yemen, Oman, Cambodia and Tunisia).

"___ Enchanted"

 ELLA "Ella Enchanted" is the title of a fantasy novel written by Gail Carson Levine, and published in 1997. It is a retelling o...

French fine

AMENDE “Amende” is French for “fine”, as in the punishment handed out for violating some laws. One has to make “amendments” for the wrongd...

41-Down's room

 SALA A room (sala) is a division (división) of a house (casa), in Spanish.

Mex. miss

SRTA Señorita (Srta.) is Spanish and mademoiselle (Mlle.) is French for “Miss”.

Don of "The Andy Griffith Show"

KNOTTS Don Knotts was a comedic actor who played two major roles on television: Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show” in the sixties, an...

Tenor from Naples

CARUSO Enrico Caruso was an Italian tenor from Naples, famous as one of the first opera singers to embrace the phonograph technology of th...

Saucier's boss

CHEF “Saucier” is a French term, the name for the cook in charge of making the sauces in a large commercial kitchen. The saucier also make...

Neither blue nor red?: Abbr.

IND On political maps, red states are Republican and blue states Democrat. The designation of red and blue states is a very recent concept...

W.W. II craft

LST LST stands for Landing Ship, Tank. LSTs were the large vessels used mainly in WWII that had doors at either ends through which tanks a...

Cpl.'s inferior

PFC A Private First Class (PFC) is inferior in rank to a corporal (Cpl.)

Two-channel

STEREO Monophonic sound ("mono") is sound reproduced using just one audio channel, which is usually played out of just one speak...

Glad-handing sort

POL Politician (pol) "Glad hand", meaning to extend a welcome" has been around as an expression since the end of the 1800...

Used tire

RETREAD A retread tire is one that has been recycled, possibly more than once. The tread of the old tire is buffed away, and and new rubbe...

One of eight Eng. kings

EDW There have been eight kings of England named Edward. Edward I was on the throne from 1272 to 1307 and was also known as Edward Longsha...

Peevish state

SNIT The exact etymology of “snit”, meaning “fit of temper”, isn’t really known. The term was first used in print in the play “Kiss the Bo...

Cathedral area

NAVE In large Christian churches, the nave is the main approach to the altar, where most of the congregation are seated.

Many ski lodges

A-FRAMES A A-frame house is one that has a steeply-angled roof, one forming the shape of the letter “A”. The A-frame design is popular in...

Sci-fi's Hubbard

L RON L. Ron Hubbard wrote a self-improvement book in 1950 called "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health". A few years...

Prix ___

FIXE On a restaurant menu, items that are "à la carte" are priced and ordered separately. A menu marked "table d'hôte&...

Caroled

SANG The word "carol" came into English via the Old French word "carole", which was a "dance in a ring". Wh...

Close overlap of fugue voices

STRETTO “Stretto” is a musical term. In a fugue, stretto is the imitation of a motif in close succession, so closely that the answer to t...

Trickster of American Indian mythology

RAVEN According to Native American mythology, the god Raven was the creator of the world, yet was also a skillful trickster.

Eagle's org.

BSA As every little boy (of my era) knows, the Scouting movement was founded by Lord Baden Powell, in 1907. The Boy Scouts of America (BS...

Wise men

THE MAGI "Magi" is the plural of the Latin word "magus", a term applied to someone who was able to read the stars. He...

Classic muscle cars

GTOS The acronym GTO stands for Gran Turismo Omologato, which is an Italian phrase that translates as “Grand Touring Homologated”. Italia...

Long March participant

MAOIST “The Long March” was a retreat by the Communist Red Army through much of China, falling back from the advances of the army of the ...

Tony-winning musical with the song "Find Your Grail"

SPAMALOT “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was released as a movie in 1975, and was a great success. Some thirty years later the film’s s...

Italian dish that needs much stirring

RISOTTO Risotto is an Italian rice dish that is usually served as a first course in Italy, but as a main course here in North America.

Cartoon dog

ASTRO Astro is the pet dog on the animated television show “The Jetsons”. “The Jetsons” is an animated show from Hanna-Barbera that had it...

Strangle

GAROTTE The handheld weapon known as a garrote (or garotte) was in particular used by murderers and robbers harassing travelers in India. ...

Cologne conjunction

UND “Und” is the German for “and”. Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, and is known as “Koln” in German.

Low numero

 Low numero : TRE  In Italian, three (tre) is a low number (numero).

Former Nebraska senator James

EXON  J. James Exon was a US Senator from Nebraska and a former governor of the state. Exon was a Democrat, and one who never lost an elec...

Edible plant extract

PALM OIL Palm oil and coconut oil are two of the vegetable oils that aren’t very good for our health. Both are high in saturated fat. Sa...