Aesop’s Fables
This animal won the race in “The Tortoise and the Hare.”
tortoise
The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race.
When nighttime temperatures drop below freezing, do this to your faucets.
dripping the water
The operative word is drip; you do not need a steady stream of water.
The money you pay for insurance
a premium
It’s derived from a Latin word meaning “reward” or “prize.” When you cash in on homeowners’ or auto insurance, it can feel like a prize rather than paying out of pocket.
Launched in 1979, this cable network is the go-to station for sports.
ESPN
The network is now a global franchise, broadcasting some of the most significant international sporting events.
In a multi-dog or multi-cat household, this Greek letter indicates the leader of the pack.
alpha
The term is also applied to a dominant, confident, or aggressive person.
It laid the golden egg.
a goose
The fable is “The Goose and the Golden Egg.” It’s a story about greed.
If you don’t clean your dryer vent, you risk this.
fire
In addition to cleaning your lint filter after each use, professionals recommend annual dryer maintenance, which includes cleaning the dryer vent.
Payment to support an ex-spouse
alimony
Unlike child support, which is typically granted, alimony is not always granted, even if the ex-spouse makes little or no money.
He was called “the most trusted man in America.”
Walter Cronkite
He anchored the CBS Evening News and signed off every broadcast saying, “And that’s the way it is.”
We learned in high school geometry that this letter represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
pi
That ratio is constant: 3.14159, or more commonly, 3.14.
This person cried wolf.
the boy
The fable is “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” We all know people who always think the sky is falling. It not only gets tiresome but also makes it impossible to discern when a real emergency exists.
Electrical panels used these before they had circuit breakers.
fuses
Fuses had to be replaced; you only have to flip the circuit breaker.
Payment to release kidnap victims
ransom
During the 1970s, ransoms peaked in the millions of dollars. The highest ransom on record is $134 million, paid for the release of a Hong Kong businessman’s son.
This Korean War–era sitcom holds the viewership record for its series finale.
M*A*S*H
Few sitcoms today have the star power Alan Alda brought to the show or the broad appeal it had during its time.
This is the term for the final test before the release of a product or software program, and also a type of brainwave.
beta
Beta tests allow users to find bugs that developers have overlooked. Beta brainwaves are associated with a conscious, thinking state.
The ant worked all summer to store food, while this insect sang, danced, and played his violin instead of gathering his winter sustenance.
grasshopper
The tale is “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” and the moral is to get work done before playing.
This is the three-letter word for a Grecian jar, often shaped like a vase.
urn
Urns date to antiquity, and you can buy copies of ancient urns.
Excessive interest charges
usury
There is no federal limit on the interest rates that credit card companies can charge, but they must communicate their interest rates to cardholders and card applicants.
On this show, Peter Falk plays this eccentric detective, whose signature line is, “One last thing...”
Columbo
The show was ranked No. 1 on Ranker’s 150+ Best Detective Shows of All Time list. It originally aired from 1971 to 1978 and is still in reruns.
Sediment that flows downstream in a river can build up and move from its mouth into this other body of water, creating a wetland.
delta
An example is the Mississippi Delta. As the sediment builds up, it can cause flooding.
These animals wanted a king.
frogs
“The Frogs Asking for a King” is a tale about a leaderless group of frogs who wanted a king, and the moral of the fable is that you should be careful about what you wish for.
This bathtub is named for its appendages.
clawfoot
This Victorian-era tub design dates to 1700 Dutch furniture design. The tub became popular in the 1850s and is still in use today, more for its design features rather than for its functionality.
A formal gift, often for research or education
grant
Pharmaceutical companies partially fund drug research and development through grants. University professors fund some of their salaries through research grants, while students can finance part of their tuition through educational grants.
He will always be remembered for calling his show the “really big shew.”
Ed Sullivan
On February 9, 1964, The Ed Sullivan Show earned its place in history by introducing the Beatles to the United States. When the show first aired in 1948, it was called Toast of the Town.
If it doesn’t matter at all, it doesn’t matter one of these.
iota
One iota represents an infinitesimal amount. It’s analogous to saying, “I could not care less.”