(JIM) HOLT, WHY DOES THE WORLD EXIST? — Fred Hoyle felt that an explosion was an undignified way for the world to begin, rather like "a party girl jumping out of a cake."... Hoyle sardonically referred to the hypothesized origin as "the Big Bang." The term stuck.
| A. | Hero by another name | HOAGIE |
| B. | Customary haggis ingredient | OATMEAL |
| C. | 1600s mathematician who invented mechanical calculators | LEIBNIZ |
| D. | Some toy store displays | TRAINS |
| E. | Struck out | WHIFFED |
| F. | Prepare to deliver a wallop; cart away (2 wds.) | HAULOFF |
| G. | Terrier type, for short | YORKIE |
| H. | Lexicographer's lot, per Samuel Johnson | DRUDGERY |
| I. | Mental dullness; imperviousness to light | OPACITY |
| J. | Domenikos Theotokopoulos (2 wds.) | ELGRECO |
| K. | Made to feel like a nobody | SLIGHTED |
| L. | Designed to retain body heat | THERMAL |
| M. | Tree usually found indoors (2 wds.) | HATSTAND |
| N. | What an isolated system tends toward | ENTROPY |
| O. | Gym equipment | WEIGHTS |
| P. | Protest that may be sustained | OBJECTION |
| Q. | Canary, singer | RATFINK |
| R. | What the Stoic Chrysippus is said to have died of (alcohol was involved) | LAUGHTER |
| S. | It has a head and hops (2 wds.) | DRAFTBEER |
| T. | Opting out of a traditional ceremony | ELOPING |
| U. | Instrument played by jazzman Red Norvo | XYLOPHONE |
| V. | "Hmmm ..." (2 wds.) | IWONDER |
| W. | Peak visible from Yreka, Calif. | SHASTA |
| X. | Fully equipped, ready to operate | TURNKEY |