ANIMAL FACTS
The 6 remaining subspecies of this animal include the Bengal & Amur
tiger
Usually thought of as a form of magical transformation, it has a name from Arabic meaning "the chemistry"
alchemy
Turned these dangling ornaments from one side of the cap to the other, the students didn't feel that they'd truly graduated
tassels
"Nevertheless, she persisted", said Mitch McConnell of this woman, who had continued speaking after a warning by the Senate chair
Warren
Unwelcome venues for this type of excessive buildup include the street where you live & inside your lungs
congestion
Trees have rings that reveal their age; in blue whales, growth can be tracked through the oily layers of this, aka cerumen
earwax
These nomadic people take their name from an Arabic word for "a dweller in the desert"
the Bedouin
Had formally laid this symbolic block, the architects felt they hadn't truly begun construction
the cornerstone
Today he might say "tropes", but in 1948 Samuel Goldwyn was quoted as saying he wanted his writers to "come up with some new" these
clichés
Louis XV seemed to be a fan of this word, French for "flood"
déluge
The long call used by the males of this species of red ape native to Sumatra & Borneo can be heard a mile away
orangutan
Mined deposits of this mineral once common in baby powder tend to contain toxic forms of asbestos
talc
Went out on stage to bow for the last time, one of these alliterative appearances, the cast hadn't realized their run was over
curtain call
This Supreme Court justice in 2023, a year after being sworn in: "deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life"
Ketanji Brown Jackson
This 4-letter word is both a verb & a noun; it can mean to consume in excess, or the excess itself
glut
Sadly, this longest venomous snake isn't swaying with good vibes to the snake charmer's flute--it's trying to defend itself
king cobra
It's a striped silk taffeta fabric as well as a word for the striped pattern on some cats
tabby
Complete their PADI checklist with BWRAF, where B is for buoyancy, this activity cannot commence
scuba
"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week", wrote this hard-hitting U.S. WWII general
Patton
This word can mean free of charge (yay!) or unnecessary & uncalled-for (how dare you)
gratuitous
A Nat Geo photographer in Antarctica described how one of these feline-named pinnipeds tried to feed him penguins
leopard seal
This end-of-the-alphabet seasoning is also called Syrian oregano
za'atar
Moved on from the pupal to the adult stage, the monarch butterflies had not completed this 13-letter process
metamorphosis
"The best revenge is not to be like him who wronged you" is one of this Roman emperor's musings
Marcus Aurelius
To the Greeks this was a medical term indicating the excess of a bodily humor; today it just means abundance, humor-ous or not
plethora