Monday Puzzle #12 or "Philosophical Questions About Gaiters"

Hoorah! Finished it and no errors! And, finished it pretty quickly, too. Relatively, of course.

This puzzle had a tried and true clue. 26 across, “Old U.S. gasoline.” ESSO. I have this memorized now because I’ve done enough crossword puzzles to learn it. For the purpose of this project, I decided to look it up. My good old friend Wikipedia tells me that it comes from Standard Oil. SO. ESS-O. ESSO. Get it? The brand has been replaced by Exxon.

Things I got but don’t really know:

33 across, “Terse note from a boss.” SEEME. Ohhhhkaaaaay. This is another one of those “I’m just not that quick” answers. I just Googled “seeme” and got all these results with the words “see me” in them…and then…only then…realized that is the answer to the clue. It is not the non-existent word “seeme.” It is “see me,” which will send a jolt of terror down any employee’s spine. Just for fun, I went to MW to see if seeme is a word – and it is not.

4 down, “____ Longa, birthplace of Romulus and Remus.” Now, I love Romulus and Remus. I don’t know why. Maybe because those are the only names/facts I recall from any of my Ancient Greece/Rome classes. I know that they are twins. I know that they were raised by a wolf. And I know that they either founded Rome or had something to do with the founding of Rome. And now, puzzle creator Robert Dillman just has to push my knowledge over the line. I don’t know where they were born. I would’ve said Rome. Or across the river from Rome?

The answer is ALBA. So now I know that they were born in Alba Longa. They were supposed to be killed so they would not take over the throne. Their mom was probably buried alive. Nice. Cause she was supposed to be a vestal virgin and Mars went and seduced her. They were set adrift down a river in a basket, made it to shore, were fed by a woodpecker, and then the wolf. Although, the wolf may have been a prostitute.

Romulus and Remus stood on different hills. The birds flew around Romulus, so he was king of Rome. He then killed Remus at some point. Thanks, Robert Dillman. I was bitter at first. But now appreciate the additional knowledge. (Jessica) Alba (Eva) Longa(oria).

10 down, “Popular charge card.” OPTIMA. If it’s popular, should I have heard of it? Looks like it was American Express’ first real credit card. All of their previous cards required full payment each month.

45 down, “Shoe style.” GAITER. Is a gaiter a type of shoe or is it a shoe accessory?

I ordered a book by Pierre Loti, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and a Tuesday NYT crossword book from Barnes and Noble last night. Early to be ordering the Tuesday book, but like to have it ready when I’m done with the Mondays.