Cluing B-Words

No, not "female dogs."

Every now and then a few short B-words keep cropping up, and in looking for novel clues for them, I sometimes end up learning something new.

For instance, I knew about boa constrictors (my friend Kelsey has one who looks even derpier than the one in this picture—she likes to sit on my lap and watch TV). And I knew about the feather boa…but not that it was an accessory of choice for Hulk Hogan. And I’d heard the name BoA before, but—exposing a gap in my pop-cultural knowledge—I did not know she was considered “the Queen of K-Pop.”

Pretty cool.

With BAT, you’ve got the option of the flying animal (also derpier-looking than its fearsome reputation would suggest…nobody show the picture above to the Joker). Then there’s the wooden stick used in baseball, as well as the one used in croquet and the pair of them used to direct planes. Also, one can bat an eye (showing fear) or bat an eyelash (showing interest). Plus there’s bat mitzvah and (maybe) .bat files.

If you get the letters BTS and you care about the last 13 years of music, then you’re gonna want to clue the boy band. Honestly, you’re gonna want to clue the boy band even if you’re just pretending to care about new music, because BTS is about as close as the modern era comes to the Beatles.

But if you really want to appeal to the parents whose dials are stuck on oldies stations, BTS is sometimes used to abbreviate back to school sales. And if you’re aiming even older, back in the day, “BTS” in a puzzle usually signified body temperatures (BT’s).

Finally, you might appreciate this article about the history of BRA in crosswords. My favorite clue for that one? “Car protector.”