abject (83): Miserable or humiliating.

 

above the fold (74): The prominent placement of an article in a newspaper; if a headline is above the middle fold, it is the first thing a reader will see when buying the paper.

 

angle (9, 36): Viewpoint or slant.

 

aptitude (27): Innate or acquired ability or talent.

 

auspicious (45): Promising success.

 

battalion (58): A large group of troops ready for battle.

 

blowhard (50): An exceptionally boastful person.

 

borough (86, 87): A district or municipality within a city; New York’s boroughs are Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island (known as Richmond in 1899).

 

Bottle Alley (5): An alley that was part of Mulberry Bend, an area in the Five Points neighborhood of lower Manhattan that had particularly poor living conditions.

 

The Bowery (25, 29, etc.): A neighborhood in lower Manhattan; in 1899, the Bowery was an immigrant neighborhood famous for its vaudeville-style plays and musicals.

 

Brighton Beach (86): An ocean-side neighborhood in the southern portion of Brooklyn.

 

bulls (62, 64): Slang for “police officers.”

 

burlesque (24, 25, 80; PH 13): Performances in a variety show format often featuring bawdy comedy and striptease.

 

cavalry (85, 86): A group of mounted soldiers.

 

chancey (8): Uncertain.

 

cheese it (62): Slang for “run away.”

 

chinchilla (28): A small South American rodent whose fur is highly coveted.

 

commie (18): Short for “communist;” a more extreme form of socialism, communism is both an economic system that seeks equality and a political ideology that advocates a classless society.

 

Coney Island (10): An ocean-side neighborhood in the southern portion of Brooklyn; rose to prominence as a resort escape from Manhattan, and in the late 1800s reinvented itself through the construction of three major amusement parks, becoming the largest amusement area in the U.S. at the time.

 

constituent (106): A person who authorizes someone to act on their behalf. corona (33): A particular shape of cigar.

 

crip (12, 62, 64; PH 20): An offensive term used to refer to someone who is unable to use one or more limbs.

 

curdled (8): Spoiled.

 

David and Goliath (47, 53, 54): Biblical figures commonly referred to in an underdog situation, in which a smaller and weaker opponent faces a bigger and stronger adversary.

 

Delancey Street (8): One of the main streets in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

 

depraved (8): Corrupt or perverted.

 

distribution window (13, 32, etc.): The location at which newsies would purchase their papers for the day; each newspaper publisher had its own distribution window.

 

ermine (28): The fur of the white winter coat of the stoat, a type of weasel.

 

fish-eye (56): A suspicious or unfriendly look.

 

flash pot (70): Refers to the flash of antique camera; created with magnesium powder, a puff of smoke is created with each flash.

 

flies (24, 73): The hoist system used in a theater to raise and lower curtains, lights, and other production elements.

 

Flushing (87): A neighborhood in Queens.

 

gam (12): Slang for “leg.”

 

“Go west, young man” (75): A phrase credited to Horace Greeley, an author and newspaper editor; the phrase symbolizes the idea that westward expansion could solve problems such as poverty.

 

gratis (67): French for “free.”

 

hawk (22, 41, 49): To sell by calling aloud in public.

 

highfalutin’ (70): Pompous or bombastic.

 

hoi polloi (30): An Ancient Greek expression meaning “the many” and which refers to the masses; Race uses this phrase incorrectly, referring to the elite.

 

Horace Greeley (75): The founder and editor of the New York Tribune who was a large proponent of America’s westward expansion; in 1859 he traveled across the continent to see the West for himself.

 

Houston Street (61): One of the main streets in lower Manhattan; pronounced “HOW-stun.”

 

impudence (81): Disrespect or audacity.

 

Joseph Pulitzer (11, 18, etc.; PH 15): Publisher of the New York World.

 

kingmaker (47): A person who brings leaders to power through political influence.

 

“lie down with dogs” (53): Part of a proverb which reads in full, “If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas,” meaning that spending time with undesirable people will cause their traits to rub off on you.

 

Long Island Sound (28): A body of water that sits between Long Island and Connecticut.

 

magical other (PH 21): Usually a minority character (person of color and/or with a disability, etc.) that steps into the life of a much more privileged central character and, in some way, enriches that central character's life.

 

muckety-mucks (68): Slang referring to someone in a position of authority or status.

 

Navy Yard (86): The U.S. Navy Yard, also known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard; a shipyard located in Brooklyn on the East River, built in 1801 and in use until 1966.

 

Newsboys’ Lodging House (5; PH 12): A rooming house run by the Children’s Aid Society; newsies and other child workers could purchase beds to sleep in and meals on a daily basis.

 

newsies (5, 6, etc.; PH 11): Young newspaper vendors who purchased their goods from the publisher and re-sold them for a profit; some newsies were as young as six years old, and worked long hours on the streets of American cities.

 

nobbin’ (68): Slang for “hobnobbing,” or mixing socially.

 

nom de plume (82): French for “pen name,” or a fake name used when publishing written work.

 

non-partisan (75): Not biased toward a particular party.

 

palaver (75, 97): Prolonged and aimless discussion.

 

palomino (3, 72): A type of horse with a yellow or gold coat, originally bred in the southwestern U.S.

 

Pied Piper (84): A legendary character who played his magic pipe to lure rats.

 

pontiff (28): The Pope.

 

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (53): A remark contained in a letter from John Dalberg-Acton, an English Catholic historian, to an Anglican bishop regarding limits on power within the Catholic Church.

 

proprietor (45): The owner of a business establishment.

 

Prospect Park (86): A large public park in Brooklyn.

 

puss (16, 68): Slang for “face.”

 

Richmond (87): One of New York’s five boroughs; now known as Staten Island.

 

Santa Fe (1, 2, etc.): The capital city of New Mexico; it attracted a number of artists and writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to its cultural richness and natural beauty.

 

scab (40, 58, etc.): A slang term for an individual who takes work when the regular employees are on strike.

 

señor (31): Spanish for “sir.”

 

Sheepshead Races (68): The Sheepshead Bay Race Track, a horse racing facility in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; opened in 1880, it was converted to an automobile racetrack after a 1908 bill effectively banned racetrack betting in New York State.

 

skunk (12): Slang term referring to defeating an opponent badly.

 

soak (10, 12): To beat or punish severely.

 

socialist (18): A proponent of an economic system that seeks equality among members of society.

 

splitting rails (2): Splitting the wood used to construct a splitrail fence.

 

Taos Mountains (73): A part of the Rocky Mountains located in New Mexico, not far from Santa Fe.

 

Theodore Roosevelt (15, 18, etc.; PH 15): A progressive reformer who was governor of New York from 1899-1900 and president of the U.S. from 1901-1909.

 

took it on the lam (67): Slang for “ran off into hiding” or “fled.”

 

trafficking (81): Trading or dealing in.

 

union (37, 38, etc.): An association of employees that collectively bargains with employers to protect the interests of the workers.

 

vagrancy (80): The state of being a person who wanders idly without visible means of financial support.

 

vaudeville (52; PH 13): A theatrical genre popular between the 1880s and 1930s that involved performances made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts of varying types.

 

William Randolph Hearst (39, 40, 97; PH 15): The founder of Hearst Communications, which published the New York Journal.

 

Woodside (87): A neighborhood in western Queens.