Epee and Oleo

Monday Puzzle #42 or "The Skepticism of a Skeptical Age"

2009-08-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

Holy crap meat. Life has just taken a 90 degree turn. Within a period of three weeks. 90 degrees is fine. I always thought things looked kinda cool over there. But, it was a bit of a sharp turn and I'm still smooshed up against the driver's side door. It's all career related...I'm going from being what I was for the last 15 years to doing something that is pretty different. So, I'm looking forward to doing some crosswording tonight - which feels like meditation to me.

Puzzle #42. The theme turned out to be "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus." The main clue was "Part of a famous 1897 editorial." I got it after answering some other clues and it totally came to me...but I have no idea what it is. I was delighted to read the story behind the editorial and to read the editorial.

New vocab words for me:

1 across, "Borrow without intending to repay." CADGE. MW provides "beg" and "sponge" as alternative words. And, the sentence "cadge a free cup of coffee" as an example.

26 down, "Sailor, slangily." GOB.

46 down, "Artist's workplace." ATELIER

Stuff I just didn't know:

42 across, "Swiss river to the Rhine." AAR

65 across, "City NNE of Paris." LILLE

69 across, "Philosopher known as 'the Stoic'." ZENO

Monday Puzzle #41 or "Stop Violent Acts Against Arbits"

2009-07-31T19:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, this month has been pretty hectic. No time for crosswording, which is sad. But, I have been able to read a little bit of the Pierre Loti book - it's such a short book and so easy to read, I should be done with it by now. AND, I watched Purple Rain last night (that ended up on my Netflix list as a result of the xword project) and LOooooooVED it! It was awesome - not good awesome, but super cheesy 1980's awesome. Except for the music, which was genuinely awesome.

Puzzle #41 was alright. There was one clue and answer that completely surprised me. The clue was "Lone Ranger's cry" and I put Hi Ho Silver. But no, it's Hi Yo Silver. Yo. Yo? Now that I think about it, Hi Ho is kinda weird. That's what the dwarfs on Snow White say...right? Now I'm doubting myself, so I had to look it up. And, yes, they say Hi Ho.

Here's something I've never heard of - Moog Synthesizer. That was the answer to 69 across. Wikipedia tells me that it is "any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog...and is commonly used as a generic term for analog and digital music synthesizers."

There were a lot of answers I got, but don't know. Stutz Bearcat, Gino Vannelli, Julius Larosa, Raga, My Friend Irma, Minot (city in North Dakota), and arbs. That last one - the clue was "Wall St. figures" - stands for arbitrageurs. MW tells me that an arbitraguer is "one that practices arbitrage." Arbitrage is, of course, a violent act against arbits, which I'm totally against.

I was happy to see 13 down, "Part of Q.E.D." ERAT...of course.

Monday Puzzle #40 or "A Penetrating Wind"

2009-07-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

What a week. Crazy busy. I need to figure out how to do this xword project and still be able to do crosswords every day. They really are a great thing for me to do at the end of the day...it helps me relax. But, I haven't been doing them because I want to complete one and then blog about it before I complete the next one. So, it's not really working for me. Maybe I'll keep working on the huge NYT crossword book that I have - do those whenever I want - and just do the research and blogging with the specific M, T, W, etc. books that I buy. Definitely don't think I'm going to be able to do one a day, though.

I did complete a Seattle Times crossword puzzle online on Tuesday (or Wednesday?) and timed myself. Completed it in 7 min 20 sec, which I thought was great. I've never timed myself before.

But, for this post, we're on Monday Puzzle #40. Definitely some weird clues in this one. For example, 11 down was "Penetrating wind." I was thinking gale or (laughingly) fart. But, the answer was OBOE. Common answer in these puzzles, but never heard that clue before.

(Ok, it is now hours later...my life is one long interruption...which is fine, it just makes it more difficult for me to complete anything. BUT, the totally cool thing is I just saw the Space Station zoom by in the sky. Saw a note at 10:32 pm saying it would be visible in the NW sky at 10:33. I ran outside and there it was. I got to call the husband and the kid outside just in time for them to see it. Very cool.)

So, answers that I don't really know were:

10 across, "Damn Yankees siren." LOLA. I have not seen Damn Yankees and have added it to my Netflix queue.

17 across, "Rock bottom." NADIR. MW tells me that nadir means "1. the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer, 2. the lowest point."

And, reflecting my complete lack of any bible/religious information, 58 across, "Creche figures." MAGI. First, I had to look up creche, which is the nativity scene. So, then, the Magi makes sense.

61 across, "Stewpot." OLLA. MW says an olla is "a large bulging widemouthed earthenware vessel sometimes with looped handles used (as by Pueblo Indians) for storage, cooking, or as a container for water."

The last one is 64 across, "Hammer's end." PEEN. That makes sense now that I think of a ball-peen hammer. MW says a peen is "a usually hemispherical or wedge-shaped end of the head of a hammer that is opposite the face and is used especially for bending, shaping, or cutting the material struck."

Alright, that's it for #40. Only 10 more to go in the Mondays and then I start on the Tuesday book.

Monday Puzzle #39 or "Sexual Harassment Runs in the Family"

2009-07-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

Holey moley. Super busy. (And, it doesn't help that I've just discovered I can no longer copy and paste my posts from Word or Notepad...I love downloading Windows updates. There are always little unexpected surprises. Like little Microsoft presents...that SUCK!) Now retyping my blog post and am definitely behind on the crossword project.

The first season of "Get Smart" arrived - the kid loves it. I have enjoyed the few episodes I've watched...and may be developing a weird crush on Don Adams.

Have not made it any further in my Pierre Loti book - had to finish my book club book and am now swamped with the other things in my life. But, I am looking forward to picking it back up as it really is a lovely book.

Now, puzzle #39. Now this was my kind of puzzle. With clues like, "____ Excited (Pointer Sisters hit)," "Zellweger of Bridget Jones's Diary," "Frank Zappa's daughter," and "Stimpy's pal on TV" - this is the stuff I know.

And, this puzzle had "Norma ____, Sally Field Oscar-winning role" - I always knew the answer to that one, but just recently saw the movie because of this project. It's so much more fulfilling to really know the answer...not just have something memorized.

But, there were some answers that I did not know - got them, but don't really know them.

22 across, "A Chaplin." SYD. There are two Syd Chaplins. The first was the half brother of Charlie Chaplin. Syd worked with his half brother and managed his finances. He was also a comedian and actor and had roles in some films. He also started the first privately owned American airline. The most scandalous thing about him (on Wikipedia) is the story behind why he never acted again. Wikipedia says, "Sydney Chaplin was involved in a sex scandal with acrtress Molly Wright in which he was accused of biting off her nipple in a sexual assault." Apparently, the studio settle, "conceding the truth of Wright's claims."

The other Syd Chaplin is Charlie Chaplin's son, Sydney Earle Chaplin. This Sydney just died in March of this year. He was also an actor (Tony winning and nominated) and starred opposite Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl on Broadway. They apparently fooled around in her dressing room while she was married to Elliott Gould. Wikipedia says, after Streisand decided to end their affair, "he started disorienting her on stage by whispering 'nose' to her during their 'You Are Woman' love scene. She asked him to stop, he didn't; she then filed harassmetn charges against him with Actors' Equity."

So, both Sydneys were slapped with harassment charges.

I've added 'Limelight' - a 1952 film with both Sydney and his father - to my Netflix list.

52 down, "Acress Mimieux." YVETTE. She was in "Where the Boys Are"...oh, looks like I'm going to have to add "Jackson County Jail to my queue. It has Tommy Lee Jones in his first starring role.

56 down, "Actor Cariou." LEN. He's Canadian. Tony winning actor. He looks vaguely familiar to me.

That's it for #39.

Puzzles #37 & 38 or "I'm Going to Title My Children's Book 'Ivan the Terrible Czar'"

2009-07-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

Puzzle #37 – completed with no errors. I don’t dare say I’m improving ‘cause that will mean the next puzzle will suck.

There were only two answers that I don’t really know:

11 down, “Actor Morales.” ESAI. He’s a modern day actor (born in ’62) and while I recognize some of the movies and shows he’s been in, I don’t recognize him. He was in La Bamba, Jericho, and a ton of other stuff.

60 down, “School for a future ens.” USNA. It wasn’t until after looking at the answer that I understood that ens. is ensign (a rank in the Navy), so USNA would stand for U.S. Naval Academy.

Since I completed #37 yesterday, but didn’t have time to blog about it – and it was so short – I am going to complete #38 and put it all in the same blog post…

Sometime later and after dinner (for which I made up a new recipe and it was yummy! Sundried tomato and basil polenta cut in ½ inch thick circles and sautéed/fried up a bit in olive oil – put “Just Jack” cheese on top, then slice of tomato, then a little pile a lightly steamed spinach on top – and then just a little dollop of garlic aioli on top of the spinach. Mmmm…).

#38 was great! And, it was chock full of tried and true clues and answers. First, here are a couple that I totally got and are a result of this little project o’ mine:

65 across, “Director Preminger.” OTTO
13 down, “Art Deco designer.” ERTE

The other very common answers were OBOE, ELIE (as in Wiesel), EDAM (as in the cheese), EDEN (lovely place where Adam and Eve allegedly lived), and IVAN (the terrible czar).

Answers I got, but don’t really know are:

26 across, “Money in South Africa.” RAND. Wikipedia tells me that it gets its name from “Witwatersrand, the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and were most of South Africa’s gold deposits were found.”

3 down, “Actor Lloyd ___.” NOLAN. He’s been in a lot of stuff and, by all accounts, was a great actor. One movie I’ve heard of that he is in – but I have not seen – is The House on 92nd Street. That has been added to the Netflix queue.

Monday Puzzle #36 or "I Loooooove Harper's Island"

2009-07-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I am at least proud of myself for continuing this puzzle thing every day. The last five days have been crazy hectic.

Puzzle #36 – couldn’t complete it, but came close. There were some familiar clues:

44 across, “Nick and ___ Charles of ‘The Thin Man’.” NORA. Totally nailed that. AND, this puzzle even had “44-across’s dog.” ASTA. Totally nailed that, too.

This puzzle also had “Art Deco master” as a clue. The answer is ERTE. This was a clue/answer in Puzzle #23. I remembered that I should remember it, but I couldn’t think of his name. But, the other answers gave it to me.

Couple of answers I don’t know are:

25 down, “King of Thebes, in myth.” CREON. I’m really weak when it comes to Greek mythology.

24 across, “W.W. II female.” I knew it was WAP or something like that, but the answer is WAC. WAP is Wireless Application Protocol. WAC is the Women’s Army Corps.

Ugh, so many things to write about and no time (Michael Jackson service is tomorrow! I need to find a countdown to Glee. I need to check out the Netflix queue and get back to my Pierre Loti book.). Actually, there is always time – but I’m going to watch the next episode of Harper’s Island – loooooove it!

Monday Puzzle #35 or "Please Don't Disown Your Lesbian Daughter"

2009-07-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

Puzzle #35 was great. Completed it with no errors. I was happy to see the clue, “Fit for drafting.” ONE A. Learned that in Monday Puzzle #20.

The few answers I got, but don’t really know are:

24 across, “Conservative pundit Alan.” KEYES. Got the answer – know the name – but realized I don’t really know who he is. Did some research (a.k.a. read a bit about him on Wikipedia) and stopped after reading about how he disowned his lesbian daughter (she confirms this, he denies it – but does say that he cannot approve that which destroys the soul and must stand for the truth Jesus Christ represents) and protested Obama’s commencement speech at Notre Dame. Not interested in spending any more time learning about him.

42 across, “Stephen of ‘The Crying Game’.” REA. Once again – got the answer, know the name, even saw the movie. But, wouldn’t be able to pick him in a line up. And, now that I’ve Googled him, I totally know who he is. He’s one of those actors that I feel like I’ve seen in a ton of stuff – totally recognizable – but didn’t know his name.

47 across, “Treated a lawn, perhaps.” LIMED. I just haven’t heard that term before as it relates to lawn treatment. Apparently, lime helps keep the pH level of your soil/lawn where it should be (between 6.0 and 7.0).

61 across, “Singer Lopez.” TRINI. Mexican American musician. I absolutely love the biography on his web site - http://www.trinilopez.com/home.htm It includes a lot of very interesting and life path changing moments in his life, e.g. “When he was 11 years old, his father spanked him for ‘hanging around with the wrong kind of kids’...what a wise man he was to lead his talented son from a life of street gangs to a life of sophisticated graciousness. Trinidad Lopez, Sr., felt so bad about the spanking he had given his son, he bought him a $12.00 guitar he really could not afford. Trini says, ‘A spanking literally changed my life.’”

Monday Puzzle #34 or "Not All Nazis Were Evil Bastards?"

2009-07-04T23:10:00.000-07:00

I’m thinking more about “fray” from the last puzzle. Maybe if the clue had been, “Unravel, as a sweater.”

Puzzle #34. Completed it. No errors. YAY!

A few answers I got, but don’t really know:

2 down, “1952 Leslie Caron film.” LILI. I’ve added it to my Netflix queue, but it is not available right now. I also don’t know who Leslie Caron is. Oh, she was in Gigi. I don’t think I’ve seen that either. It’s in the queue.

30 down, “W.W. II German general Rommel.” ERWIN. Wow, I have to say I was not too interested in learning about this guy – nothing turns me off more than evil Nazi Germany people. But, this is what I learned on Wikipedia: “…soldiers captured during his Africa campaign were reported to have been largely treated humanely. Furthermore, orders to kill captured Jewish soldiers and civilians out of hand in all theatres of his command were defiantly ignored. He was suspected of involvement in the failed 20 July Plot of 1944 to kill Adolf Hitler. Because of his great prestige, he was allowed to commit suicide.”

43 down, “See 46 across.” 46 across is “Annual event at 43-down Stadium.” ASHE. I just don’t know where Ashe Stadium is. I just read about it and you can too, here.

55 down, “Shakespearean villain.” IAGO. Iago is in Othello.

The last one I should remember from Monday Puzzle #10. It was 29 down, “Spirit” and the answer is ELAN.

That’s it for #34!

Monday Puzzle #33 or "Definition of Fray?"

2009-07-04T17:36:00.001-07:00

I started to read a Pierre Loti book (reference Monday Puzzle #8). It is “An Iceland Fisherman” and I am enjoying it very much. So, I am happy that this crossword project has turned me onto an author I am enjoying.

Completed Puzzle #33 and only have a couple of answers that I don’t really know. They are:

1 across, “Unravel, as a cord.” FRAY. Fray, to me, means – well, I think of it in the context as “in the fray.” So, I would define it as something complicated or busy or where the action is. And, MW does provide, “a usually disorderly or protracted fight, struggle, or dispute” as a definition. It also provides, “a raveled place or worn spot (as on fabric).” The definitions of the verb fray are “1a. to wear (as an edge of cloth) by or as if by rubbing, b. to separate the threads at the edge of, 2. Strain, irritate.” The intransitive verb definitions are, “1. To wear out or into shreds, 2. To show signs of strain.”

So, I’m not sure if I agree with this clue. If the clue referenced a worn cord or shredding/torn cord. But, to unravel a cord…I, at least, don’t see that in these definitions.

The other one is another vocab issue. It is 8 down, “What usurers do.” LEND. MW tells me that a usurer is “one that lends money especially at an exorbitant rate.”

This puzzle had “Safe sword” as a clue – EPEE! I love it when epee or oleo show up in the puzzle.

Monday Puzzle #32 or "Freckle Juice"

2009-07-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

Went on a field trip with the kid’s summer day camp today. 16 five and six year olds. Invariably when I chaperone these things, no exceptions, I get asked the question. "What are those (fill in either 'things,' 'spots,' or 'dots' - sometimes add brown or black first - and occasionally 'that dirt') on your skin?" Today it was "What are those things on your skin?" Last field trip, it was “What are those black spots on your skin?” I then get to say that they are freckles (today got some follow up questions – what are freckles? what is pigment?) and have a lot of fun watching their eyes get really big when I show them that I have freckles on my fingers, toes, lips, and eyelids. The kid’s mom is pretty cool after that.

Puzzle #32 was great if only because it had, “Fencing weapons” as a clue. EPEES! However, I was unable to complete the puzzle. These are the clues I could not answer:

14 across, “Geometry calculation.” Have I mentioned that I haven’t taken a math class since sophomore year of high school? That would be over 20 years ago. I had A_EA. The answer is AREA.

17 across, “Laurel or Musial.” STAN. (I had S_AN). Stan Laurel is the Laurel & Hardy guy. Stan Musial was a baseball player. I should have gotten this clue because I know Laurel’s first name is Stan and Puzzle #20 had, “Stan’s partner in old comedy” as a clue. Also, Puzzle #19 and “Baseball’s Musial” as a clue.

(But, I know I am learning some stuff because this puzzle had “Draft org.” as a clue and I knew it was SSS – thanks to Puzzle #26.)

2 down, “But is it ____?” ART. I only had the A.

16 across, “Asia’s ____ Sea.” I had the ARA of ARAL. (also should have known because of previous puzzle)

13 down, “Omits, in pronunciation.” ELIDES. MW tells me that elide means, “to suppress or alter (as a vowel or syllable) by elision.”

Answers I got, but don’t really know are:

23 across, “Giant Hall-of-Famer.” OTT. Name sounds familiar. WikiP tells me this is Mel Ott, aka “Master Melvin.” He was the first National League player to surpass 500 home runs.

42 down, “____ the Hyena.” LENA. Lena the Hyena was a character in the Lil’ Abner cartoon. It’s a pretty interesting story, which you can learn about here.

67 down, “Cakes and ____, Maugham novel.” ALE. I have added this to my reading list. My very long reading list.

Monday Puzzle #31 or "Xanadooo-oo-oooh"

2009-07-01T23:06:00.001-07:00

Puzzle #31. Completed it with one very silly error. It was in 23 across, “Summer drink.” ADE. This is a very common clue. I always get it. But, not today. Today I put ale.

That meant that I got 12 down wrong, “Famed New York restaurateur.” First of all, I thought restaurateur would have an “n” in it. It doesn’t. The answer is SARDI (I had Sarli). I’ve heard of Sardi’s – know it’s that famous restaurant – may have even gone there? But, I just couldn’t think of it when completing this puzzle.

Everything else I got right and there were only a few answers I don’t really know:
15 across, “Multiplatinum album with the 2002 hit ‘Ain’t It Funny’.” JLO. Yeah, not a big Jennifer Lopez fan.

17 across, 25 across, 38 across, 52 across, and 64 across all had to do with Get Smart. I’ve never seen the show. Didn’t see the movie. I’ve added the first season to my Netflix queue. Thinking that the kid will like it.

50 across, “Artist Bonheur.” ROSA. French painter, 1800’s. I don’t recognize her two most recognized paintings, “Ploughing in the Nivernais” and “The Horse Fair.”

67 across, “Xanadu band, for short.” ELO. I have never seen that movie! And I always wanted to. It’s now in my Netflix queue, but it has one and three quarters stars. Can’t even eke out two stars.

25 down, “Rubik who invented Rubik’s Cube.” ERNO. Did not know his first name. The Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974. I totally remember my brother trying to master it. According to WikiP, as of January 2009, 350 million have been sold worldwide.

54 down, “Israeli desert.” NEGEV.

57 down, “Physicist Enrico.” FERMI. Hmmm, after reading the first sentence of the WikiP biography, sounds like someone I should have learned about at some point. No memory. This is what WikiP says: “Enrico Fermi was an Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics. Fermi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1938 for his work on induced radioactivity and is today regarded as one of the top scientists of the 20th century.”

That’s it for Puzzle #31. I clearly still need to master the “easy” puzzles, but I am looking forward to moving on to Tuesdays. Maybe it will be one of those weird things where I’m better at the harder puzzles. Hah!

Monday Puzzle #30 or "Exhibit A - I Ain't That Quick"

2009-06-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I watched Dr. Zhivago last night. ALL of it. And, it was good. I particularly enjoyed the first 5 hours – the historic context, the costumes, the scenery. The last 27 hours turned a bit into a late ‘60’s/70’s love movie (aka The Way We Were or The Goodbye Girl). I don’t know – maybe it was the mustache or the sweaters…but, overall, very enjoyable.

The film had some great crossword project references – Alec Guinness (he was an answer in a recent puzzle), Geraldine Chaplin (Puzzle #22 – daughter of Oona Chaplin – said she based her performance on her mother), AND, my favorite, during the intermission they threw up a screen that said, “Entr’acte.” (reference puzzle #28).

Puzzle #30 was fine. Had one of those “duh” moments with 44 down, “Grapevine contents.” I did not get off of the literal definition of the word “grapevine.” GOSSIP, the answer, makes a lot of sense. I ended up with gossup and figured it was some sort of sap or something used in the processing of wine…? I don’t know.

That also meant that I got 64 across wrong. The clue was, “Look ___ (study).” I had unto, but the correct answer is INTO.

I had a few clues I could not answer:

15 across, “’Potpourri’ for a thousand, _____.” ALEX. Huh? Gotta look that up. Oh, it’s a reference to Jeopardy.

7 down, “Outfielder Moises.” ALOU. Looked him up. Baseball player.

9 down, “Most damning evidence, maybe.” EXHIBITA. Omg. Ok, I just looked up “exhibita” in MW and Googled it. Why do I need to go through those steps to finally realize it is Exhibit A? Sigh.

Answers I got but don’t really know:

16 across,”Mother of Apollo and Artemis.” LETO.

2 down, “With 60-Across, Thornton Wilder play” and 60 across, “See 2-Down.” OUR TOWN. I’ve added the film version to my Netflix queue.

31 across, “English cathedral site.” ELY. You can learn all about The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely here.

66 across, “Les ____-Unis.” ETATS. Oh, I think that’s French for The United States.

And, that’s it. I have 20 more Monday puzzles to complete. I certainly need the practice.

Monday Puzzle #29 or "Just Add Cushioning"

2009-06-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

Saw a funny craigslist ad today. A guy was selling 55 gallon barrel dog houses for $5.00 each. It said, “Just add bedding.” Yeah – and something to keep your dog from rolling away. (Also, I’m curious about how sharp those edges and corners are.) I love entrepreneurs…it’s what keeps America, well, America.

Puzzle #29 had two tried and true clues and answers:

56 down, “Bygone U.S. gasoline. ESSO. And, one I haven’t memorized yet, 60 across, “Japanese sashes.” OBIS.

The other clues I was unable to solve were:

55 down, “Theater award.” OBIE. These are the Off-Broadway Theater Awards. So, what the Tony Awards are for Broadway.

8 down, “1-to-12, gradewise.” ELHI. I get it – elementary high school. But, I don’t like the clue or the answer.

15 across, “Disney’s ‘____ and the Detectives’.” EMIL. I haven’t heard of it or seen it. And, Netflix doesn’t have it. It is based on a 1929 German novel and came out in 1964. Since I can’t find it, I really want to see it.

I had one error, which affected two answers:

32 across, “Wading bird” and 34 down, “Helicopter feature.” I had egmet and motor. The correct answers are EGRET and ROTOR. I know egret. But, I had that M in there and was thinking, “huh, never heard of an egmet before.”

And that’s it, really. Everything else I knew – one vaguely and after the other clues gave me the answer. It was 26 down, “1930’s vice president John ____ Garner.” NANCE. As soon as Nance was in there, it rang a bell. But, I couldn’t have answered it without the other clues. You can read some interesting facts about Cactus Jack here.

Even though I had an error and I didn’t complete the puzzle, I do feel like I did better on this one than some more recent puzzles (that’s right #27 and 28 – I’m talking about you.)

Monday Puzzle #28 and "Also My Review of Rebel Without A Cause"

2009-06-28T21:29:00.001-07:00

I watched Rebel Without a Cause last night and I think it has got to be one of the weirdest movies I’ve ever seen. As I was watching it, I was thinking, “This is a terrible movie! Why is this movie so well known, loved, and respected?” And yet, today, I can’t stop thinking about it and how strange it was. James Dean was, I admit, fascinating. He reminded me a lot of Brad Pitt. Sam Mineo played an interesting character – and he reminded me of Ralph Macchio. (Are we just regurgitating film stars?) Oh, and by the way, the homosexual innuendos were not that innuendoish.

The movie was weird from the very beginning (although I did like the opening with James Dean and the monkey). But in the police station – the weird questioning by the cops. The cops acting as counselors. The policeman taking Dean into the other room.

And, the questioning of Sam Mineo! “Why’d you shoot those puppies?” “Where’d you get the gun?” And he’s at school the next day?

Natalie Wood – and her father? How weird was that? And, Wood’s face is like putty – during the scene where she’s being questioned by the police, I felt like I could reach out and move her features around.

Overall, the movie was painfully slow paced and the dialogue was so awkward. And, everything happened in one day? Wood’s boyfriend just died in a horrible accident and now she’s in love with Dean? Her boyfriend – whom she seemed to like (and, it looked as if she was going to jump off the cliff after him) - was just killed! What happened to a mourning period?

Oh, and totally weird – Dean’s parents’ smile at the end? What was up with that?

AND, that guy walking into the planetarium as the credits are rolling. Isn’t that a crime scene? Didn’t a boy just get shot by police on those steps? And he’s just walking past the police cars, up the walk, up the steps…time to go to work.

The whole movie was so effing weird!

Puzzle #28 was better than #27. I was happy to see the tried and true clues/answers “Canadian gas brand,” ESSO, “Island of Napoleon’s exile,” ELBA, and “Sea eagle,” ERNE. TRICE showed up again as an answer – the clue was “Instant.” I learned this in Puzzle #14.

There were a few clues I just couldn’t figure out. They were:

43 across, “Opposite of ja,” NEIN.

47 across, “Mythical being with horns.” SATYR. WikiP tells me that they are almost identical to fauns – half goat and half man. WikiP says, “In mythology (satyrs) are often associated with sex drive and vase-painters often portrayed them with perpetual erections.” Those vase painters.

26 down, “North Carolina’s ____ University.” ELON.

27 down, “Swings around.” SLUES. MW tells me that slue is a variant of slough. And, a variant of slew. Slew, as a transitive verb, means “1. to turn (as a telescope or a ship’s spar) about a fixed point that is usually the axis, 2. To cause to skid.” As an intransitive verb, it means “1. To turn, twist, or swing about, 2. Skid.”

37 down, “Inter ____.” ALIA. Apparently inter alia means “among other things.”

41 down, “Theater intermission.” ENTRACTE. WikiP tells me that “entr’acte is French for ‘between the acts.’”

Errors:

51 across, “Gives the gas,” REVS UP. I had revs it.
53 down, “Ignored, as a bridge suit.” UNBID. I had inbid.
54 down, “Hurdles for H.S. juniors.” PSATS. I had TSATS.

Answers I got, but don’t really know are:

1 across, “British rule in India.” RAJ. WikiP says “British Raj primarily refers to the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947.”

49 across, “Playing card dot.” PIP. There’s Gladys Knight and the Pips. There’s PIP Printing. The third entry for pip in MW says, “one of the dots used on dice and dominoes to indicate numerical value.”

9 down, “____ Sea, which is really a lake.” ARAL. It’s that huge lake in Kazakhstan that is shrinking and you can see old ships just sitting on the ground.

34 down, “Comin’ ____ the Rye.” THRO. Comin’ Thro the Rye is a Scottish poem/song written by Robert Burns.

I don’t know, I feel like #28 had some pretty obscure clues and answers.

Monday Puzzle #27 or "Feels Like the Very First Time"

2009-06-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

I’m just going to get right into the puzzle because #27 SUCKED. MW tells me that “sucked” means “to be objectionable or inadequate.” So, to clarify, I sucked at puzzle #27. The puzzle itself, I’m sure, is very lovely – especially to those who obtain and retain knowledge normally.

So, let’s get into it. These are the clues and answers I was not able to complete:

31 across, “Pharmacy weights.” DRAMS. MW tells me dram means “1a. see weight table, b. fluid dram, 2a. a small portion of something to drink, b. a small amount.” It also provides the etymology of the word – from Greek “drachme, literally, handful, from drassesthai to grasp.” I’m going to need to look this up a little more because I’m not seeing any reference to pharmacy weights. Well, just Googling pharmacy and dram shows that the term is clearly related to the field. I did find that 8 drams equals one ounce.

37 across, “Exactly right.” DEAD ON. I thought it might be spot on, but that wasn’t making sense for the other clues/answers. I didn’t get those other clues/answers either.

40 across, “Long-billed marsh bird.” SNIPE. So, I thought it might be that, but isn’t a Snipe that thing really hilarious hazers send you out hunting for as a joke? Well, that’s confusing. It IS what hilarious hazers send you out hunting for as a joke. However, it is actually a real bird. So, who’s the joke on? Huh? Huh? huh.

45 across, “Pitts of Hollywood.” ZASU. ZaSu was a film actress and started in silent films. Interesting fact from WikiP: “Mae Questel caricatured Pitt’s voice for the character Olive Oyl for the…animated cartoon version of the comic strip Popeye.”

49 across, “1972 Olympic swimming sensation.” MARK SPITZ. I should remember that since they talked about him so much during the last Olympics when…whatzhisname…shit. Dammit, now I have to look it up…wait! Michael Phelps? Yes! Phew…see, the stuff is in there (i.e. the brain) somewhere.

51 across, “1960’s civil rights org.” SNCC. That is the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

22 down, “George Eliot’s ‘Adam ___’.” BEDE. WikiP tells me that Adam Bede is the first novel written by Mary Ann Evans, who used the pen name George Eliot.” It was published in 1859. I am adding it to my reading list.

30 down, “Henry’s fair lady.” ELIZA. I know that…it just didn’t come to the surface today.

32 down, “Slow symphonic movement.” ADAGIO. I thought that’s what it was, but I was feeling so unsure of myself because I didn’t know so many of the answers…I wrote it in and then erased it.

33 down, “Sacred songs.” MOTETS. MW tells me a motet is “a polyphonic choral composition on a sacred text usually without instrumental accompaniment.” Sounds just plain glorious.

37 down, “Kneehole site.” DESK. What is a kneehole? Well, MW tells me it is “an open space (as under a desk) for the knees.” That makes so much sense. It does make me wonder, however, if we actually need a word for that. We probably do…in the manufacturing plant they are having big conversations about how big the kneehole should be. There's some designer getting a big kneehole innovation award. They are recalling desks with kneeholes that are too small and are, as a result, causing injury.

46 down, “Grp. with F-16’s.” USAF. Again, figured that was it – had the a and the f. Put the US in, but erased it because I thought 49 across might be Mario Pitz (instead of Mark Spitz). Whatever.

52 down, “Musical endings.” CODAS. Same thing – had odas. Was pretty sure it was codas, but not sure enough.

Those were just the answers I didn’t complete. The answers I got, but don’t really know are:

38 across, “Humorist Bennett who co-founded Random House.” CERF.

48 across, “Johanna ____, author of ‘Heidi’.” SPYRI.

7 down, “’____ la Douce,’ 1963 film.” IRMA. I’ve added it to the Netflix queue.

Wow, I feel like a crossword virgin. Filling in those boxes for the very first time. I was beat. Incomplete. Ok, that’s as far as I can take the “Like a Virgin” lyrics.

Monday Puzzle #26 or "Oh Baby Give Me One More Chance"

2009-06-26T23:37:00.000-07:00

Whoa. Long day. Michael Jackson died yesterday. Totally weird. I bought an electronic-techno cd in 1991 or 1992 and the first song was called, “Michael Jackson is in Heaven Now” and I can’t get that song out of my head.

Went to a dinner party and totally blew my diet/nutritional program. Wine, port, coffee, chocolate. And had a great time.

I spent 5 and a half hours in the Honda service customer lounge. 5 ½ hours. At one point, I could hear the music in the service area – it was Jackson Five or Michael Jackson “I Want You Back.” Tonight at the dinner party, one of the guys played the piano and started to play that song. Serendipity moment.

Puzzle #26 was hard – maybe because I had a totally hectic day and felt rushed. I had four errors affecting 6 answers – 15 across, “Samoa’s capital” is APIA, not Apie. And, 9 down, “Plaster backing” is LATH, not leth. 63 across, “Cries of surprise,” is OHOS, not ohss. I knew that wasn’t going to be right, but didn’t know what to put so just threw in that first s. 56 down, “Six-stringed instrument,” is VIOL, not a VISP. 54 down, “Plenty, to a poet,” is ENOW, not enon. And, 66 across, “Corduroy feature is WALE, not nape. MW learns me that wale is “a streak or ridge made on the skin especially by the stroke of a whip.” Definition 3a is “one of a series of even ribs in a fabric.”

Learned the spelling of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Thought it was cemetery.

Other things I learned:

33 across, “Old draft letters.” SSS. I think that stands for Selective Service System.

58 across, “Wrinkled citrus fruits.” UGLIS. According to www.thefruitpages.com, an ugli is “a specific kind of tangelo, easier to peel. A crossing between a tangerine, a grapefruit, and an orange. Looks really ugli and sometimes has brown spots. Can be peeled manually.

65 across, “Georgia and Lithuania, once: Abbr.” SSRS. SQL Server Reporting Services. Social Skills Rating System. Ok, found it. Soviet Socialist Republics.

24 down, “Miss ____ Regrets.” OTIS. It is a song by Cole Porter.

35 down, “Skater Midori.” ITO. Japanese figure skater. WikiP tells me that “in 1988 she became the first woman to land a triple/triple jump combination and a triple axel in competition.”

Tried and true clue: 30 across, “Wide shoe width.” EEE

Don’t know how much I’m going to retain from today’s puzzle. Just kinda going through the motions today.

Puzzle #25 or "The Producers Does Not Take the Cake"

2009-06-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

Watched “The Producers” last night and it was alright. There were some great moments and some good lines. Will Ferrell was fantastic. The guy who played Hitler was brilliant (Gary Beach). But, overall, I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m sure it’s great as a live musical in the theater. I did not know that there is also a 1968 film with Gene Wilder. I absolutely have to see that one…in the queue.

Puzzle #25 – completed with an error. The error was in 69 across, “Horses of a certain color” (ROANS) and 51 down, “Mideast’s Gulf of ____” (AQABA). I had that last a as a u, so rouns and Aqabu. You can see a map of the Gulf of Aqaba here. It's that other one on the other side of the Sinai Penninsula from the Gulf of Suez.

Clues I was happy to see were:

1 across, “Frank ___, leader of the Mothers of Invention.” ZAPPA of course. And, it was puzzle #19 that taught me that this was Zappa’s band.

61 across, “Be a lulu.” TAKE THE CAKE. It was puzzle #16 that taught me that lulu means “one that is remarkable or wonderful.”

Answers I got but don’t really know are:

6 across, “High Ottoman official.” PASHA. WikiP tells me it is the equivalent of the British title “Lord.”

16 across, “Lode deposit.” ORE. I got that I was ore, but I haven’t heard the word lode before. MW says lode means, 1. Waterway 2. An ore deposit 3. Something that resembles a lode; and abundant store.

41 down, “Actor Mineo.” SAL. WikiP tells me that he was in Rebel Without a Cause…omg, another classic that I have not seen. Queued. Sal Mineo was murdered when he was 37. You can read more here.

47 down, “Polish Nobelist Walesa.” LECH. He was President of Poland from 1990 – 1995. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 – looks like for his work in organizing trade unions in Poland. He was arrested in 1981 and was in prison for 11 months.

57 down, “Trick-taking game with 32 cards.” SKAT. I have not heard of skat, but apparently it is huge in Germany and Silesia.

That’s it. Off to watch more of my husband’s Netflix picks so I can get some of mine in the rotation

Wait! I just realized that I'm halfway through the Mondays! Yay!

Monday Puzzle #24 or "Eine Kleine The Producers"

2009-06-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

We completed a disc of The Riches last night, so that is all safely packed up and on its way back to Netflix. So, Dr. Zhivago, my epic, should arrive soon.

Puzzle #24 had an embarrassing mistake. Just moving too fast – that’s my only excuse. 5 across, “Computer/phone line link.” MODEM. I had motem. With a t? Believe me, I know how to spell modem. That meant I got 7 down wrong, “Mafia chiefs.” DONS. I had TONS. Whatever.

Other than that, I completed the puzzle. Clues and answers I got, but don’t really know are:
32 across, “’Every good boy does fine’ and others.” MNEMONIC DEVICES. I don’t know what a mnemonic device is. Oh, it’s a memory or learning device. Never Eat Soggy Waffles (i.e. North, South, East, West). But, what does “every good boy does fine” stand for? Oh, it’s E G B D F – the notes on the scale. In Seattle, we use “Jesus Christ made Seattle under protest” to remember the downtown streets: Jefferson, James, Cherry, Columbia, Marion, Madison, Spring, Seneca, University, Union, Pike, Pine. Of course, you have to remember that there are two for each letter. And, what order they go in…

66 across, “1978 Jazz musical.” EUBIE. Huh? I have never heard of that – not even a little ring of a bell. It won a Tony award and Gregory Hines was in it.

68 across, “Ehrich ___, Houdini’s real name.” WEISS. Did not know that.

11 down, “Rotgut, e.g.” BOOZE. I’ve heard of the term rotgut, but mainly as a term attributed to my coffee. Urban Dictionary provides an entertaining definition:

“Not just cheap, but terrible liquor designed mostly to get you wasted and not much else. The term originated in the old west when many alcoholic beverages were designed purely to be easily afforded by anyone and their dog and to get the drinker hammered, often times, these cheap alcohols would make the drinker sick (due to the extremely low-quality of the ingredients). These days, the term just means something that's not much better in taste than rubbing alcohol and good for nothing more than getting you piss drunk when you're on a budget. The single easiest way to detect rotgut is just by looking at the bottle. If it's in a plastic bottle, chances are good it tastes like piss mixed with gasoline. More often than not, anyone who claims to like rotgut is a poser teenager who thinks getting drunk makes them Billy Badass. Furthermore, a discerning drinker may consider anything below a certain standard of flavour as rotgut. If you can afford the "good" stuff, why the hell would you drink the bad stuff?"

Looooove it!

22 down, “Singer Makeba.” MIRIAM. According to WikiP, she was an African singer and civil rights activist. She died in November of 2008.

36 down, “’___ kleine Nachtmusik’.” EINE. I knew it was something, something, Night Music. But, that doesn’t help me get eine.

42 down, “Rembrandt van ___.” RYN. Apparently, Rembrandt had a last name.

This one I knew, but I’ve never seen it. It was 9 down, “Brooks of ‘The Producers.’” MEL, of course (my favorite movie ever and in the entire world is Young Frankenstein – saw the pre-Broadway run of the musical at the Paramount in Seattle – front row seats). The Producers is now on my Netflix list. Ooh, I can watch it online - might do that tonight.

Tried and true clues were:

“Diva’s solo,” ARIA
“Slender woodwinds,” OBOES
“Native New Zealanders,” MAORIS (I think I protest the plural version of this, but am too tired to Google it.)

Monday Puzzle #23 or "Battle of the Netflix Queue"

2009-06-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

This evening, my husband brought in the mail and said, “Your epic has arrived,” referring to Dr. Zhivago. He has seen it and said it is loooong and may be one of the best movies he’s ever seen. He wants to watch it with me, which means he really must have liked it. My life does not allow me to…OH MY GOD. Oh my god. Omg. Ok, I am in that emotional state where I am deciding whether or not to be pissed. But, I have decided not to be because it was definitely not intended. I was going to say, “My life does not allow me to participate in one activity for (x number of hours),” meaning the length of Dr. Zhivago. So, I opened the Netflix envelope to see how long it is and what popped out? The next Entourage disc. My husband messed with the Netflix queue and bumped Entourage in front of Dr. Zhivago.

This may not seem like a big deal. But, I have been silently suffering my husband’s takeover of the Netflix queue for years. Recently, I have been going in and finding movies I want to watch and bumping them to the top of the queue – but every other movie. So, Dr. Zhivago was 1, Purple Rain is 3, Sunset Boulevard is 5, etc.

So now, we need to get through the three discs he chose before I get Dr. Zhivago. That’s fine. That’s totally fine.

What wasn’t fine was Puzzle #23. I didn’t complete it and I had an error. The error was in 24 across, “With competence,” and 6 down, “Slangy no.” I had “able” and “ixnae.” But, of course, it is ABLY and IXNAY.

The clues I was unable to complete were:

14 across, “1970’s tennis champ Nastase.” Answer is ILIE. He was a Romanian tennis player in the 70’s. My absolute favorite quote from the WikiP page is “Maxim magazine has placed Nastase at number 6 on its top ten ‘Living Sex Legends’ list, as he is reputed to have slept with over 2500 women. After hearing this, his wife said that she was happy to have conquered such a man.”

17 across, “F.D.R.’s dog.” FALA. If Barack Obama had a dog named Fala, do you think he would’ve been elected? Would that have been the straw that broke the Conservative, Paranoid, Right Wingers’ collective backs? I mean, it rhymes with Allah. Actually, it doesn’t. It is pronounced fay-lah. I know this because I heard it come out of FDR’s own mouth. That clip and some interesting information about Fala can be found here. And, the name is Scottish, not Terrorist (although that wouldn’t stop the CPRWers). www.presidentialpetmuseum.com tells me, “At first his name was Big Boy. Franklin renamed him Murray the Outlaw of Falahill after a Scottish ancestor. His nickname became Fala.”

1 down, “Old 45 player.” HIFI. I had the H and the last I.

I was happy to see 64 across, “Top draft level.” Totally got that it is ONEA, thanks to Puzzle #20.

Answers I got but don’t really know are:

66 across, “Noted Art Deco illustrator.” ERTE. If you visit www.erte.com, you will recognize his art.

35 down, “Leave in, as text.” STET. Wikipedia says, “Stet is a Latin word (meaning ‘let it stand’) used by proofreaders to instruct the typesetter or writer to disregard a change the editor or proofreader had previously marked.”

55 down, “College in New Rochelle, N.Y.” IONA.

And that’s it for #23. I’m off to watch…Entourage.

Monday Puzzle #22 or "Asta Boy!"

2009-06-22T12:42:00.001-07:00

Yay! Completed Puzzle #22 with no errors!

The incredibly interesting things I learned in this puzzle are:

28 across, “Mrs. Chaplin.” OONA. I seem to remember hearing her name at some point because it is so unusual. What an interesting life! She is one of those people who grew up in an artistic household in New York City and knew people – went to school and became good friends with Gloria Vanderbilt. Was named debutante of the year when she was 17. WikiP tells me she dated Orson Welles and J.D. Salinger before meeting Chaplin. There was a 36 year age difference between the two. Her half brother and her brother committed suicide. When Chaplin was denied reentry into the U.S., Oona came to the U.S. and secretly collected cash from safe deposit boxes. “She later admitted to sewing $1,000 bills into the lining of her mink coat, thereby saving the Chaplin fortune.” Oona and Chaplin had eight children. One of their daughters is in Dr. Zhivago, which is next on my Netflix list. The daughter (Geraldine) said she based her performance on her mother.

That’s one of the things I’m loving about this little crossword project of mine. I keep finding these little cross references, which makes everything I’m doing more meaningful.

33 across, “Euripides drama.” MEDEA. WikiP tells me that Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. In Euripides’ play, Medea’s husband (Jason) leaves her and she wreaks her revenge (how odd for a Greek drama).Oh damn. I just realized that this answer is the same as one in Puzzle #2. In my defense, that clue was, “Jason’s ally and lover in myth.” In my research on that clue, I did not learn that Euripides wrote a play called Medea. But, not in my defense, if this puzzle had the exact same clue (“Jason’s ally and lover in myth”), Medea would not have even entered my conscious mind. However, today’s research uncovered perhaps the weirdest painting I’ve ever seen. Jason and Medea by Moreau (the photo for today’s blog post). Is that ribbon tied around his penis? And, what are all those things flying around them? And, why is he standing on a bird? I know I’ll have to read Jason and the Argonauts or Medea to find out, but I don’t want to.

54 across, “Korean soldiers.” ROKS. Other than being the stock symbol for Rockwell Automation and the Riders of Kawasaki motorcycle club, ROK stands for the Republic of Korea.

38 across, “Nick and Nora’s dog of story and film.” ASTA. (Also, American Society of Travel Agents.) I do want to say that I totally got that this was Nick and Nora from The Thin Man (which is on my list). Since I haven’t seen or read it yet, I hadn’t gotten down to the detail of their dog. You may be surprised to learn (I sure was) that there is an Asta fan club. http://www.iloveasta.com/ Asta’s real name is Skippy and, according to this site, that is a point of contention for fans. There is a sect that prefers to call him Skippy and a sect that prefers to call him Asta. Do they fight at the annual convention? A big Skippy vs. Asta brawl?

32 down, “Theater seats.” LOGES. MW tells me that a loge is “a small compartment…a box in a theater…a small partitioned area…a separate forward section of a theater mezzanine or balcony…a raised section or level of seats in a sports stadium.”

56 down, “Out of Africa author Dinesen.” ISAK. Saw the movie. But how cool – Isak Dinesen is the pen name for Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke. She had a very interesting life, which you can read about here.

And that’s it!

Monday Puzzle #21 or "Stupidity, Conspiracy, and Irony"

2009-06-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

The oats did not kill me and I’m here to crossword for another day. Yay!

Puzzle #21 – completed with one error. I knew this was going to be an error:

31 down, “Twosomes.” It’s DYADS. I put diads (with an i). I just couldn’t decide if it was an i or a y. And then, 35 across was “Field of flowers?” I took the clue literally (a big mistake in crosswording). And, I was focused on the plural of flowers, when the answer would be singular because of “field.” The answer is BOTANY, of course. I had botani. So embarrassing. I was so ready to challenge that fields of flowers are called botani. But, since I thought it should be plural, the i made sense. Which contributed to being confused about the i or the y in dyad. Stupidity feeds on itself in a downward, spiraling cycle.

There were a few clues I was happy to see – tried and true “Popular sandwich cookie,” OREO; “Asian New Year’s festival,” TET (thank you Puzzle #15!); and “Mary Tyler Moore co-star,” ED ASNER. I love Ed Asner. And, I saw “Up” this week and loved it – he was just great.
The BIG news is I only had one “don’t really know” answer!

37 across, “Jong who wrote ‘Fear of Flying’” ERICA. I read about her on, of course, WikiP. I really have never heard of her or her works. I’ve added Fear of Flying to my book list as it sounds interesting. I think it’s funny that she’s been divorced three times and is now married to a divorce lawyer. And, it looks as if she may be a 9/11 conspiracy theorist, which honestly I have little patience for. Could you call it ironic that her book is called Fear of Flying? Probably not. Is it ironic that her fourth marriage is to a divorce lawyer? Or is it with a divorce lawyer?

(p.s. photo found on Christopher D. Sessums blog)

Monday Puzzle #20 or "Separation of Church and Crossword"

2009-06-20T07:31:00.001-07:00

Good morning! I have just put a pot of water to boil. I’m making steel cut oats – my grain selection today. It’s a big experiment. The wheat bread nearly sent me to bed and I’m hoping that’s an anomaly.

As I started checking my answers to Puzzle #20, I was realizing that I should be very proud of myself. I am actually regularly completing these puzzles, which is a huge improvement. In my big book of 500 easy NYT puzzles, I rarely completed one. So, I was feeling pretty good – and then I found the errors. So many errors. Here they are:

42 across, “2005 Christo display in New York City.” I’m assuming this is the big cloth/flags in Central Park? I had no idea what it was called, so relied on the answers to the other clues and got LATEC. Hah! It’s GATES. I looked it up and it is the cloth/flags (gates) in Central Park.

48 across, “Draft status.” ONEA. I had ovea. Other than being the Oregon Narcotics Enforcement Agency, Answers.com tells me that 1-a means eligible for military service.

36 down, “Workshop gripper.” VISE. I had vice. Just a silly spelling error. Did I know the two were spelled differently? Sure I did. I mean, I must know that. I think I do – and yet now I don’t know if I could pass a lie detector test on that.

42 down, “Book before Exodus.” This is the funniest one, I think. It is, of course, GENESIS. But, I had LEVESIS. That totally sounds like a bible book name, right? “And, Joe, I’m going to ask you to read a passage from Levesis for me at my wedding.” Right?

Seriously, I’m serious about this separation of church and crossword thing.

This puzzle had one tried and true clue and answer. 54 across, “Crème cookie.” OREO. That’s a tried and true answer in my life as well. Solves a lot of problems (and explains some too).

Things I got, but wouldn’t be able to actually answer, say on Jeopardy or something:

9 across, “Northern Scandinavians.” LAPPS. WikiP tells me that this term is considered to be derogatory and the better term is Sami.

14 across is a very common clue – and one that I think I am just beginning to memorize. “Toward shelter, nautically.” ALEE. MW does one of those frustrating things with the definition. “On or toward the lee.” Oh, of course. But what the fuck is a lee? (sorry – I think that’s the residual wheat speaking) A lee is “protecting shelter” or “the side (as of a ship) or area that is sheltered from the wind.” Got it.

19 across, “Desmond of ‘Sunset Blvd.’” NORMA. I have added this movie to my Netflix queue.

21 across, “1976 Hoffman/Oliver film.” MARATHON MAN. Have also added this to the queue.

62 & 63 across, “First two names of Guy de Maupassant.” HENRI RENE. I’ve heard of him. But WikiP tells me he was a French writer in the 1800’s. He is considered to be one of the fathers of the modern short story.

2 down, “Stan’s partner in old comedy.” OLLIE. That’s Laurel and Hardy (Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy).

3 down, “Title song of a 1966 hit movie.” GEORGY GIRL. You got it. In the queue.

30 down, “Brendan Behan book.” BORSTAL BOY Now, this is a book I want to read. It is about Brendan Behan’s imprisonment in Ireland for his I.R.A. activities.

34 down, “Nick Charles’ wife.” Who is Nick Charles? Aahhh. WikiP tells me that Nick and Nora Charles are the main characters in The Thin Man. It is a novel adapted to a film. I don’t know if I should read the book or watch the movie.

53 down, “Actor Ken of TV’s ‘Wiseguy’.” WAHL. Never seen the show. Wow, I read about him on WikiP and his life sounds like a mess. And, he’s married to one of the Barbi twins.

Well, I always learn interesting things doing this. It’s all a matter of retention, though.

Monday Puzzle #19 or "The Watery Portion of My Brain Remaining After a Crossword"

2009-06-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

People think Twitter is just telling people about what you ate for breakfast. But, no, that’s what blogs are for!

So, two days ago, I introduced grains back into my diet. I had one small slice of homemade, wheat, thick crusted, healthy bread and, within a few hours, felt like I was going to die. That is, of course, an exaggeration. But, I likened it to what you feel like the morning after one of those nights when the tequila won. Finally feel better today. I’m going to lay off the stuff for another day and then try some steel cut oats for breakfast tomorrow. I promise not to Tweet about it (by the way, you can follow me @xwordproject), but the blog is fair game.

Watched Norma Rae last night and looooved it. If anything, this project is ensuring that I see some really good movies. Eileen Brennan is in Norma Rae (reference Puzzle #11).

Puzzle #19 – completed it with one error. The error was in 9 down and 15 across:

9 down, “Capek who wrote ‘R.U.R’.” KAREL. I had Kyrel because in 15 across, “Cather who wrote ‘My Antonia’,” I put Willy instead of WILLA. I’m such a chauvinist.

Karel Capek’s brother invented the word robot and Capek introduced the word to the world in his play, R.U.R., which stands for Rossum’s Universal Robots. How cool is that?

Willa Cather had a very interesting life, which you can read on WikiP here. I have added My Antonia to my reading list.

Answers I got but don’t really know:

14 across, “Blood fluids.” SERA. MW tells me that sera is the plural of serum. Serum is “the watery portion of an animal fluid remaining after coagulation.” Nice.

16 across, “Personal flair.” ELAN. This word is vaguely familiar to me. MW says, “vigorous spirit or enthusiasm.”

59 across, “Star in Paris.” ETOILE. I should’ve taken French (my 3 years of Latin, one year of Irish, and one year of Spanish have just left me confused – especially since the Irish teacher was a drunk, thickly accented, Welsh man. Very entertaining, but didn’t learn much Irish.)

64 across, “Baseball’s Musial.” STAN. Baseball player.

68 across, “’Tiny Alice’ playwright Edward.” Got that it was ALBEE. But, hadn’t heard of that play. And, after Googling Albee, learned that he’s the guy behind Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? And Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Should I know these things? Yes.

10 down, “Mel Torme’s sobriquet with ‘the’.” VELVET FOG. I’ve heard that nickname before – not sure if I would’ve been able to say that it belonged to Mel Torme. Also, have no idea was sobriquet means – I’m guessing nickname. MW says, “a descriptive name or epithet.”

11 down, “Jai ___.” This is a very common crossword clue and I always get it – ALAI. But, I have no idea what it is. It is not a Thai food dish. It is not an island off of Indonesia. It is a Spanish game that I cannot explain.

22 down “Hoosier senator Bayh.” EVAN. Wow, his first name is Birch. Evan is his middle name.

34 down, “Isinglass.” MICA. Wow. WikiP tells me that “isinglass is a substance obtained from swimbladders of fish…it is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer.” Ok, let me digest that for a second before I try to find the link to mica. Ok, another WikiP page tells me that “thin transparent sheets of mica called isinglass were used for peepholes in boilers and lantern because they were less likely to shatter compared to glass when exposed to extreme temperature gradients. Such peepholes were also used in isinglass curtains in horse-drawn carriages and early 20th century cars…isinglass was made of thin sheets of cracked mica.” So, I can’t figure if the two isinglasses are related…I’m thinking not. But how weird to have that word attached to two totally different things.

48 down, “Archibald of the N.B.A.” NATE. Oh crap, Nate Archibald is also a Gossip Girl character. Nothing scares me more than to have a bunch of Gossip Girl photos and links pop up in my Google search.

50, “Frank of the Mothers of Invention.” ZAPPA. I have to say I am a bit embarrassed about this one. I like Frank Zappa. And I’ve heard of the Mothers of Invention. Just didn’t marry the two in my brain I guess.

62 down, “Kid.” RIB. Oh my god. Another of those – oh, now I get it answers. Kid as in kid around. Not tyke or tot.

Was happy to see these clues:

21 across, “Destructive beetles.” Totally got that it is WEEVIL and spelled it right. Thank you puzzle #14!

61 across, “Title song of a Prince film.” Now, that’s a cultural reference I can get. But, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Purple Rain the movie! Adding it to my list!

56 down, “Trunk closer.” HASP! Thank you puzzle #11!

I’ve decided that I’m dumb and smart. All at the same time.

Monday Puzzle #18 or "The Bird Bird Bird, the Bird is the Word"

2009-06-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

Yay! My Barnes and Noble package arrived this evening. The Tuesday puzzles (which I can’t even think about now), Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and An Iceland Fisherman by Pierre Loti.

Puzzle #18 – was unable to complete it. The clues I didn’t answer were:

39 across, “Derisive laugh.” I thought it might be HAH, and it was. But, I’m often wrong on those types of clues – and the two h’s on the ends weren’t helping me with the other clues.

42 across, “Hollywood’s Ken or Lena.” OLIN. Had everything but the i. And, I have no idea who Ken or Lena Olin are. Oh, ok. So Ken Olin played Michael on Thirtysomething. Lena Olin I don’t recognize. She is a Swedish actress, but has worked in American television and film.

32 down, “L.B.J.’s veep.” HHH. I don’t know who is VP was and the initials do not help. Hubert Horatio Humphrey. My favorite information from the Wikipedia page about him is, “Humphrey spent his last weeks calling old political acquaintances…one call was to Richard Nixon, his former foe in the 1968 presidential election in which Humphrey invited Nixon to his upcoming funeral; Nixon accepted…Living in the hospital, Humphrey went from room to room, cheering up other patients with a joke and listening to them.”

39 down, “Get a move on, quaintly.” HIE. Like in “hie-ho?” But, that’s “hi-ho” – right? MW tells me that hie means, “to go quickly; hasten.” Never heard the word. (Oh boy – just so you know how my mind works – I am now singing “The Bird is the Word” in Peter Griffin’s voice in my head.)

Things I got but don’t really know:

10 across, “’Picnic’ Pulitzer winner William.” INGE. Well, as it turns out, in college I worked on one of his plays, “Bus Stop.” I did lights or props or something. Inge killed himself in 1973 – carbon monoxide poisoning – he was 60. He was depressed and thought he would never write well again.

21 across, “U.N. working conditions agency.” ILO. Stands for International Labour Organization.

23 across, “Guinness suffix.” I could only think of the beer. The answer is EST. I thought maybe it was related to some old marketing campaign for the beer (imagining the big toucan saying “It’s the Greatest” or something like that). Not until I Googled Guinness and the whole book of records thing came up did I finally get it. I’m telling you, I’m not the quickEST.

10 down, “Director Berman.” Now, I totally know this is Ingmar. Famous European (Swiss or Norwegian?) director that used weird camera angles or something. But, not sure if I can name a single film. I know I’ve seen at least one of his films. WikiP confirms he was Swedish. Also says “His influential body of work often dealt with themes such as bleakness and despair, as well as comedy and hope, in his cinematic explorations of the human condition.”

Interestingly, Lena Olin’s father (Stig Olin) appeared in some Berman films.

43 across, “Spy novelist John.” I got le Carre, but wouldn’t be able to name one of his books. Now I know he’s the author of many famous books – “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”, “The Little Drummer Girl,” “The Constant Gardener,” (I saw the movie).

49 down, “Bigwigs.” NABOBS. MW tells me nabob is a Hindi word. The second definition is “a person of great wealth or prominence.”

60 across, “Rhoda’s TV mom.” IDA. I liked Rhoda on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. I don’t know if I ever watched Rhoda the spinoff.

61 down, “10th anniversary metal.” TIN. This is good to know as my 10 year anniversary is in a couple of weeks.

This puzzle had two tried and true clues & answers:

18 across, “Bread spreads.” OLEOS. However, I’m not so sure about the plural form being proper. But, I looked it up and it is a noun. I guess I was thinking of it as a brand. Or, would you say “margarines?” I guess.

And, 44 across, “Shooting marble.” IMMIE. The problem is – as in Puzzle #9 – the answer to this clue was TAW. My Google research tells me that the shooting marble is usually called the taw, boss, or shooter. An immie is another name for an agate, or a fake agate. I’m sure I’ll have to do a lot more research on marbles to find out that an immie can be a shooter, but I don’t want to.

Ok, I admit to feeling a bit discouraged. I can’t possibly learn all of this stuff. Sigh. I need good ol' HHH right now.

Monday Puzzle #17 or "Arty of the Irst Art"

2009-06-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

I completed Puzzle #17 yesterday, but didn’t have time to post about it because I spent all of my free time watching Anatomy of a Murder – 2 hours and 40 minutes long! But, worth every minute because it was brilliant.

I watched it because of Puzzle #1’s clue, “Director Preminger.” I’d never heard of Otto Preminger (director of Anatomy of a Murder). I’d heard of the movie, but hadn’t seen it.

Anyway, it is great. Not a “world through rose colored glasses” film that was so typical of the era (movie was released in 1959). The dialogue and the filming were so sophisticated and real. I felt like I was getting a real glimpse into life at that time. AND, the issues surrounding rape, how women were treated…that wasn’t even the premise of the movie. It’s just so interesting to see how that topic was handled 50 years ago.

James Stewart was 51 when the film was released. I had to look up how old George Clooney is today (48) because I see many similarities between the two.

Anyway, it’s a great film – great acting, dialogue. A really good courtroom drama. And a fantastic look at life in the 50’s.

Now, Puzzle #17 went pretty well. I completed it and had one error. Two big things:

1. It had EPEE as an answer! Yay! I have now encountered EPEE and OLEO in this project - hence the name of the aforementioned project.

2. It had “Singer Sumac” as a clue. I did not get it right away. How can I have researched this woman, read about her life, watched her and listened to her on YouTube, and blogged about her – see this clue – and say to myself, “Oh! That’s sounds familiar. I think some sort of modern country singer…it’ll come to me.” It came to me when I completed the other answers and, therefore, got YMA. And, even then I looked at it for a second and thought, “That’s weird.” And then finally, the wheel slowly and squeakily turned and it all came together for me. Ugh.

My error was in 25 across, “52 in old Rome.” LII. But, I put VII. I really don’t know my Roman numerals. This meant that 8 down, “Verdi’s Moor” was wrong. It’s supposed to be Otello and I put Otelvo. I know Verdi and I know Othello. But, WikiP tells me that Otello is an opera adapted from Shakespeare’s “Othello, the Moor of Venice.”

Things I got, but don’t know are:

5 across, “Body of water in Italy.” LAGO. Wordreference.com tells me lago means lake in Italian.
16 across, “Fred’s dancing partner.” ADELE. I know they’re talking about Fred Astaire. I think of him as partnering up with Ginger Rogers. WikiP tells me that Adele was Fred’s older sister and they grew up performing together.

29 down, “TV actress Georgia.” ENGEL. Don’t know who that is. OH! She’s Ted Baxter’s wife on The Mary Tyler Moor Show. I LOVE her.

48 down, “Half-brother of Tom Sawyer.” SID. I read that so long ago…

An answer I was really proud that I got was 52 down, “’A Bar at the Folies-Bergere’ painter.” Somehow, somewhere, Manet emerged out of my brain. I did have to Google the painting to see what it looks like and I do remember it from art history class. Why do I get Manet, but not Yma Sumac?

Answers I got – but realized I don’t know a lot or much about:

36 across, “Singer Sedaka.” NEIL. I totally got that it was Neil Sedaka. But, realized I couldn’t name one of his songs. So, I looked him up and I know a BUNCH of his songs – Calendar Girl, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.

21 down, “Norma ____.” RAE. Again, Norma Rae came right out of my brain. And, I know it’s a movie with maybe Sally Field or someone like that…but that’s where the knowledge ends. Luckily I can watch it streaming on Netflix, so will do that in the next few days. (And, yes, it is Sally Field.)

Ok. Today was the last day of school. I have somehow ended up with 4 kids and am going to go see "Up" with about 4,000 other kids. I love it. End of the school year is so full of energy - feels like looking toward the future - excitement. Love it.

Monday Puzzle #16 or "It's a Lulu of a Lollapalooza"

2009-06-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

Puzzle #16 – completed it, one error, and very few don’t knows. But first, one may be wondering how the diet is going. I am at the end of week two and I no longer feel like I am going to die. I actually feel great. I’m not as hungry as I used to be. I don’t crash like I used to. I’m almost completely off of caffeine (was drinking 6 cups of green tea a day at the beginning, now down to one in the morning). I had to make cupcakes for my son’s class last night and that was…excruciatingly difficult. But, I was good.

Couple of things we didn’t expect from this real/whole food program – we have much less garbage and recycling. Like, startlingly less. I am taking less over the counter medication (Zantac, Advil Sinus). And, in general, I just feel normal. I am really hoping that, when the 28 day program is over, I don’t go back to what I was eating before. I’m enjoying this life.

And, I enjoyed puzzle #16. My only error was with 26 across, “Knit and ___.” PURL. But, I put “perl.” That also meant that I got 31 across wrong, “Terre ____, Ind.” HAUTE (instead of Haete). Now, I’m wondering what is so great about Terre Haute, IN that it made it into a crossword puzzle. Ooooohhhh. According to BFF Wikipedia, the federal death row is at the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex. It is also on the Erie Canal. Not the federal death row. Terre Haute. But, I guess the federal death row as well.

Things I got and don’t know:

66 across is a common crossword clue, “Yale students.” ELIS. Wikipedia says it is a nickname for Yale students, after benefactor Elihu Yale.

5 down, “Pique.” SNIT. Vocab issue. It’s funny because I’ve definitely will say things like, “that piqued my curiosity.” But, I would say that pique means raised or aroused. MW says, “a transient feeling of wounded vanity.” The transitive verb is “to arouse anger or resentment in” or “to excite or arouse especially by a provocation, challenge, or rebuff.” Since MW says a snit is “a state of agitation,” it makes sense that pique = snit. I suppose a transient feeling of wounded vanity could be a snit.

11 down, “Cathay and the environs, with ‘the’.” ORIENT. According to Wikipedia, Cathay is the Anglicized version of “Catai” and an alternative name for China in English.

41 down, “Lollapalooza.” I put “tour” at first, but it came out as LULU with the other answers. This took me a while to figure out on the web. I finally had to look up the word “lulu” in MW. It says, “one that is remarkable or wonderful.” The definition of lollapalooza is “one that is extraordinarily impressive.”

45 down, “Santa ____, one of the Solomon Islands.” ISABEL. Santa Isabel Island is the longest of the Solomon Islands. (of course, got my info from Wikipedia)

I was very happy to easily get 15 across, “Miss from Marseille: Abbr.” MLLE. Learned this is the abbreviation for mademoiselle in Puzzle #14. So, I’m learning. A little bit.

Monday Puzzle #15 or "Seattle Travel Advisory"

2009-06-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

Puzzle #15 was difficult only because of the excruciating pain in my right arm, wrist and hand. I strained or sprained or brained it while working in the yard on Saturday. Now I can’t open the fridge, pick anything up, turn on the faucet, wash my hair. Just the small stuff. I have a big ace bandage on it, which is helping to keep it stable. Typing only hurts a little bit. But, I did have to complete the puzzle with my left hand. Dedicated, no?

The puzzle actually went quite well. Completed it with no errors. And, just a few things that I need to look up.

1 across, “Tams.” CAPS. Hmpf. Actually pretty interesting. BFF tells me that the tam comes from Ireland/Scotland and derives from the Scottish national hat, the tam o’shanter. The tam is the hat that you would think of a Rastafarian wearing – big, colorful, with the dreadlocks tucked inside. I have to say that the tam has changed quite a bit from the tam o’shanter. And, why do all of these black culture items/words all have European derivations? I mean, I know why. But, it’s pretty frustrating.

34 across, “Katmandu’s land.” Got NEPAL. But, honestly never really thought about Katmandu being the capital of Nepal. Or, forgot.

40 across, “Vietnamese holiday.” TET. It’s the Vietnamese New Year.

19 down, “Communion plates.” Here we go with the religious stuff again. Can’t we have a separation of church and crossword? PATENS. I’ve seen a ton of patens – brought a few up to the alter way back when. I would’ve called it the little communion plate thingy.

21 down, “La ___, Bolivia.” PAZ. Heard of it. People go there. Other people oooh and aaaah when they hear that their friends are going there. That’s all I know. I now know that it is the capital of Bolivia. And, it looks like a totally cool place to visit. It is interesting to read the State Departments overview of Bolivia and the very factual way it states things such as, “In September 2008…the Bolivian government declared the U.S. ambassador persona non grata…(and) the Embassy encouraged all U.S. citizens to consider leaving Bolivia. Security concerns lead to the temporary suspension of Peace Corps activities in Bolivia, the removal of all volunteers, and the closure of most of its offices. The Bolivian government subsequently expelled the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from Bolivia as of January 2009.”

I also appreciate the instructions on how to handle roadblocks, especially since protesters “have reacted with force when travelers attempt to pass through or go around roadblocks, and occasionally, have used explosives…U.S citizens who find themselves in a roadblock should not attempt to “run” a roadblock, as this may aggravate the situation and lead to physical harm…given that roadblocks may occur without warning and have stranded travelers for several days, travelers should take extra food and water.”

I wonder what the State Department’s travel advisory about Seattle would be like. “In 1999 protesters took to the street to speak out against the WTO in what is now called the Battle in Seattle. Travelers should avoid Nike wearing teenagers protesting globalization and corporate oppression by throwing rocks at McDonald’s…The last Friday of every month is the Critical Mass bike ride, which causes major traffic backups in downtown Seattle during rush hour. Travelers should hole themselves up in their hotel during Critical Mass. In general, travelers should avoid bicyclists in the Seattle area. And pedestrians. And, don’t jaywalk. And definitely pay attention to the don’t walk signals. Otherwise, a pedestrian and/or bicyclist will sneer at you.”

39 down, “Meets, greets and seats.” SEESIN. Another one of those “I’m not that quick” answers. Sees In. I was looking at it as See Sin. And then though maybe seesin is a word? It’s not.

47 down, “Colossus of ____ (one of the Seven Wonders).” I did actually get this – took me a while, but I remembered it is Colossus of Rhodes. Wanted to look it up just to help cement it in my brain. Very interesting.

That’s it. I’m off to rest my wrist.

Monday Puzzle #14 or "Gitmo Say Attainder Gnot Knice"

2009-06-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

I really should be starting out this post ranting and complaining about Puzzle #14. But, I’m having such a great weekend that I can’t get too riled up about it. Friday night was book club. I love my book club and love that I dropped Plato’s “The Republic” in the discussion. I also used “apiary” in a conversation with my neighbor yesterday. She asked if that had something to do with apes, which made me feel better about not knowing what it was. Of course I simply said, “It’s for bees,” and did not let on that I had just learned that hours earlier.

Last night was my friend’s big showing of her documentary. It was at Seattle Art Museum, the theater was packed, and the film was great. So great. Touching, real. So many people in the audience laughed and cried and clapped spontaneously at different spots in the film. It is called “Stormy Lessons” and hopefully you will be able to see it on PBS soon.

And, today is just a great, lazy Sunday. So, how frustrated can I be that I was unable to complete the puzzle, had several errors, and clearly have much, much more to learn?

Here we go.

History/culture gaps in knowledge

15 across, “Tennis champ Goolagong.” EVONNE. First of all, what a fantastic name. I did get this answer, but only because of the other answers. Never heard of Evonne Goolagong. She was an Australian tennis champ.

37 across, “Legislative act that imposes punishment without a trial.” BILL OF ATTAINDER. My BFF Wikipedia tells me that in jolly old England a criminal could be declared “attainted,” which meant his civil rights were null and void. Therefore, he could be sentenced without a trial. Last time this happened was in 1798. The US Constitution forbids it. Hmmmm….I wonder what Gitmo thinks about that.

57 across, “River of oblivion.” LETHE. Got it but don’t know it. It is one of the rivers of Hades. And here I was thinking Hades only had one river.

3 down, “Shepherdess in Virgil’s Eclogues.” Eek – log – wayz? BFF tells me that it is the first of three major works by Virgil. Sacred-texts.com says it consists of ten poems written between 42 and 39 BC. It’s hard to find any information about Delia. When I Google it, I find other crossworders asking who the shepherdess in Eclogues is. I’m sure it’s eck-logs. Or eck-low-gs.

9 down, “Delaware tribe.” LENAPE. You can learn more about the Lenape here.

25 down, “Inventor Howe.” ELIAS. Interesting and brief info about Howe here.

31 down, “Mont Blanc, e.g.” ALP. Heard of Mont Blanc, didn’t automatically place it as an Alp.

40 down, “RCA dog.” NIPPER. Wow, Nipper was a real dog.

Vocab/spelling issues

1 across, “Blackguard.” CAD. I know what (or who) a cad is. But, I have not heard the word blackguard. MW tells me it is a “rude or unscrupulous person.” Ok, so a cad.

14 across, “Sport ___ (all-purpose vehicle).” UTE. I have honestly never heard this word before. Sport-ute or sport ute. I’ve heard sport utility vehicle, but not sport ute. I had to Google it to see that ute is just short for utility. I thought it would stand for something (like atv is all terrain vehicle).

47 across, “Cotton menace.” I put down bull weevel. But, it is BOLLWEEVIL.

1 down, “Three-dimensional.” CUBIC. I had guessed it was cubic. Had the b-i-c. Even wrote in the c & u, but then erased them. Oh well.

7 down, “Small knob.” KNURL. I ended up with knull. MW says, “1. A small protuberance, excrescence, or knob, 2. One of a series of small ridges or beads on a metal surface to aid in gripping.” It also says the etymology is likely a blend of knur and gnarl. Protuberance is a great word. Excrescence? Never heard that one. MW says, “a projection or outgrowth especially when abnormal.” Knur, also a great word. MW says, “a hard excrescence (as on a tree trunk)” and references gnarl as a similar word. Knurl, knur, gnarl. Nice.

12 down, “Instant.” TRICE. MW says, “a brief space of time…used chiefly in a phrase (such as) in a trice.”

47 down, “Touched in the head.” So, I’m thinking kooky or crazy or something like that. But, it is BALMY. Balmy means warm – maybe humid – weather, to me. Let me turn to MW – balmy weather means calm weather. Ok, I stand corrected on that. The second definition is crazy or foolish. This seems odd to me as the first definition is “have the qualities of balm” or “mild.” So, it just seems like the second definition is almost the opposite of the first.

48 down, “Common daisy.” OXEYE. Ok.

49 down, “ ____ apso (dog).” LHASA. I got it, but didn’t spell it right. I thought it was Lopsa or Lapsa or something like that.

51 down, “African terrain.” Savannah? Jungle? Big open fields? Nope, VELDT. Back to MW, “a grassland especially of southern Africa usually with scattered shrubs or trees.” Interesting that it comes from the Dutch word for field and is close to Old English feld (field). I wonder what the actual, original word was for it. I'd like to see that etymology.

I’m creating a new category – Foreign Language

10 across, “Mlle from Acapulco.” SRTA. I got this answer and did figure out (eventually) that Mlle is Mademoiselle and Srta is Senorita.

29 across, “Berlin maidens.” I got that it was FRAULEINES after getting a couple of the letters from other answers. But, I didn’t know how to spell it. And, was so thrown by this puzzle, I put an e on the end instead of an s.

22 down, “German the.” DER

And, random errors:

21 across, “Grand Prix, e.g.” Couldn’t figure that one out. I had race from the other answers. I eventually put down LONG RACE. But the answer was ROAD RACE.

33 down, “Popular vodka, informally.” STOLI. My wrong answers to the other clues threw me on this. I know Stoli. Boy, do I know Stoli.

56 across, “What a lumberjack holds.” I got the ndle of AXHANDLE.

58 across, “Tilt.” LEAN. The spelling of Lhasa apso was throwing me on some of these.

62 across, “Pioneering computer game.” I was thinking Pong or Pac Man or something like that. The answer is MYST. I played Myst when it came out. And, for the time, it was – well, I’d say evolutionary, not revolutionary. But, considering I’m not really a big vid game player and it is one of the only games I’ve ever purchased, I would say that it was pioneering if it got to me. Maybe?

43 down, “Biases.” SLANTS. Yeah, just didn’t get that one.

And that’s it. 27 clues out of 128 wrong. That’s 21%. Gnot good. Knot goooood.

Monday Puzzle #13 or "Veni, Vidi, Vici?"

2009-06-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

Lucky #13! AND, it’s the 13th. Creeeepy. Not really, but you look for it where you can.

First of all, this puzzle had “Taj Mahal city” as a clue and I totally got it! (AGRA, reference puzzle #1) So, maybe this project is working at least a little bit.

Also, I completed the puzzle, had no errors, and there are just a few clues/answers that I don’t really know.

9 down, “House that’s for the birds.” I got that it was AVIARY. But, at first I put down APIARY. I changed it to the V when I did 16 across, “Competed.” VIED. But, then I realized that I wasn’t sure what the difference between an apiary and an aviary is. So, looked it up and an apiary is for bees.

29 down, “Leon ____, who wrote Mila 18.” I got URIS. I’ve heard of Leon Uris…not sure if I’ve ever read anything by him. Looked him up and recognize Trinity, but haven’t read it. I read a summary of Mila 18. Not sure if I’ll add it to my reading list just because I’ve been reading a lot about the Holocaust lately and I’m a little bummed out.

50 down, “What V-J Day ended.” Once again, I got WWII. But, I don’t know what V-J Day is. My best friend, Wikipedia, tells me it is Victory over Japan Day and is the name chosen for the day that Japan surrendered. Japan announced the surrender on August 15, 1945. But, the formal signing of the Potsdam Declaration was on Sept 2, 1945. The name is, can be, and has been attached to both dates.

I am feeling boosted and energized as I feel I am getting closer to conquering Mondays.

Ok, off to conquer the front yard and the piles and piles of crap in the house.

Monday Puzzle #12 or "Philosophical Questions About Gaiters"

2009-06-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

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.

Monday Puzzle #11 or "Bad As It's Ever Been"

2009-06-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

Puzzle 11 kinda sucked. Didn’t finish it, had errors, and there were a lot of answers I got but don’t really know.

Didn’t get:

15 across, “Printed mistakes.” ERRATA.

23 across, “____ Rebel (1962 #1 hit)” HESA. As in, he’s a. Just listened to it online and I can’t believe I’ve never heard it before. I was way into 50’s and 60’s music when I was in high school (can you believe I’m way into crossword puzzles now?) and thought I’d heard everything.

9 down, “Siouan tribe.” OTOE. I guess it would be helpful if I knew was Siouan was. Ok, looks like it is a Native American language family and the Otoe are one of the tribes that spoke it. There are 17 languages and then sub-languages. The Otoe language is Chiwere. Their land was in what is now Nebraska/Kansas.

There was a whole section that I didn’t get. I couldn’t get a single word, so no stumbling upon the answer by accident or getting a clue from other answers. Here’s the section:

11 across, “Hit on the head.” BOP
11 down, “Intolerant person.” BIGOT.
12 down, “Scent in England.” ODOUR.
13 down, “Small-minded.” PETTY
16 across, “Suffix with chlor-“ IDE. I knew it had to be ide or ine. But, I couldn’t figure out the other answers…
19 across, “Understood.” GOT. I thought it might be “saw.”
24 across, “Way in.” ENTRY. Had the e and the n. But, knew it couldn’t be enter. Why does my brain not then take me to entry?

I know. Look at those. So easy. One of the things that threw me is the mistake I made in 20 across, “Inquire about the leaving time?” It was “check on check out” and I put “check on check off.” Check off? I was thinking take off. (In my defense, the answer to 54 across was “take over take off.”)

Anyway, just a bunch of stupid mistakes/misses.

Answers I got, but don’t really know:

17 across, “Dr. Zhivago’s love.” LARA. Um, I don’t think I’ve seen that Dr. Zhivago movie. I saw the movie that had Dr. Strangelove in it…I think. Time to look this up and make sense of it all. Ok, yes, Dr. Strangelove I have seen. Dr. Zhivago – have not seen. I have added it to my Netflix queue.

32 across, “Actress Brennan.” EILEEN. Ok, I totally recognize her from Private Benjamin.

66 across, “Book before Nehemiah.” EZRA. Yeah, I just don’t do the bible stuff. You’d think with all the years of Sunday school, CCD, being confirmed…none of it stuck.

7 down, “____ II (razor brand).” TRAC. Apparently, I need to learn my razors (reference puzzle #2 and Atra).

25 down, “Padlock holder.” HASP. Have heard the word, just don’t really know what it is. MW says, “any of several devices for fastening; a fastener especially for a door or lid consisting of a hinged metal strap that fits over a staple and is secured by a pin or padlock.”

28 down, “Intrinsically.” PERSE. Sigh. Per se. Not perse. I never said I was quick.

Another example of that is 50 down, “The L of XXL.” I was thinking Roman numerals and dates. I got LARGE…eventually.

56 down, “Lady of Arthurian romance.” ENID. I only know Guinevere. Enid must be pissed.

Monday Puzzle #10 or "Rebecca's the Name, Wild Cow Milking's the Game"

2009-06-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

Stir Crazy was brilliant! Not much different than any buddy comedy that’s out today (Pineapple Express, Role Models, etc.). Except for the fact that Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor are geniuses! I loved how Wilder was smiling and laughing during Pryor’s scenes. And Wilder was fantastic – talking to his dead mother, asking to be kept in the box for just one more day…hilarious. But, why didn’t Pryor get a girl in the end? Why was the gay inmate his only love interest?

I had to find out if there actually are prison rodeos – and there are! There’s the Angola Prison Rodeo and the Oklahoma State Prison Rodeo. I can’t figure out if prisons actually compete against each other in rodeos though. One disturbing thing (on top of all the things some activists find disturbing about rodeos) is the Women’s Barrel Racing at the Angola Prison Rodeo. The web site says, “This is the only event in which inmates do not participate. It is a tour stop for The Girl’s Rodeo Association.” I’m just sayin’ that I’m happy that the prison was not one of the stops for my high school girls’ swim team. Although, further research reveals that it is now called the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association and you must be at least 18 to join.

Other events at the Angola Prison Rodeo include Bust Out (“All six chutes open simultaneously, releasing six angry bulls, with temporarily attached inmate cowboys. The last man to remain on the bull wins the event.”), Wild Cow Milking (“Teams of inmate cowboys chase the animals around the arena trying to extract a little milk. The first team to bring milk to the judge wins the prize.”), and Convict Poker (“It’s the ultimate poker game, and even winning has a price. Four inmate cowboys sit at a table in the middle of the arena playing a friendly game of poker. Suddenly, a wild bull is released with the sole purpose of unseating the poker players. The last man remaining seated is the winner.”)

I am loving what I’m learning.

Puzzle #10 – completed with errors. The errors were:

33 down, “Wander about.” I originally had ROAM as the answer. But the other answers forced me to change it to ROME and I was like, “What? NYT Crossword has an error? That’s lame!” I’m so quick to blame others. Turns out the answer is ROVE.

Which explains 44 across, “’Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ girl.” EVA. Not Ema. I have never read Uncle Tom’s Cabin…it’s going on my list.

64 across, “Poker-faced.” I put STONE, but it is STONY. Classic error…gotta keep true to the tense/form of the clue. I was thinking “stone-faced.” Anyway, that made 51 down, “Big maker of office supplies” AVERY, not AVERE. I know that. I think I was just being tired/lazy with this puzzle.

The answers I got right, but don’t genuinely know are:

51 across, “Baseball’s Felipe.” ALOU.

63 across, “Archaic verb ending.” EST. I guess that means “est” would be used at the end of a verb in the olden days?

1 down, “Fancy dressers.” FOPS. I know the word, but it’s one of those words that I hear or read but don’t really know. My good friend Merriam Webster says a fop is, “1. A foolish or silly person 2. A man who is devoted to or vain about his appearance or dress.” I would’ve guessed definition number one. M-W also lists coxcomb and dandy as similar words.

12 down, “Part of ancient Asia Minor.” IONIA.

13 down, “____ Shorthand course.” GREGG. It is a form of shorthand that was founded by John Robert Gregg in 1888 (Wikipedia).

53 down, “Great flair.” ELAN. MW says, “vigorous spirit or enthusiasm.”

Noted that this puzzle had the tried and true clue, “Wide shoe spec.” EEE of course!

Monday Puzzle #9 or "BMOC Says What?"

2009-06-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

The kid likes to do crossword puzzles and he got a hold of my book. It would be fine, if he could read. So, he makes up clues and answers. Luckily I was able to stop him before it turned into a “cute” colored on the floor or got into Mommy’s makeup type situation.

Puzzle nine kinda sucked. I completed it, but just barely. I had to come back to is several times over several hours. Sometimes it just helps to put the puzzle down and then pick it back up again in a few hours with a fresh perspective.

One answer I was happy to get was 34 down, “1980 Wilder/Pryor comedy.” STIR CRAZY. I totally know this (even though I’ve never seen the movie) because I remember when it came out. I really wanted to see it. The trailer looked so funny – I have a flash of a picture of a chicken costume? Anyway, some kid on the playground said he saw it and we were all like, “Oooooh. You saw a rated R movie!” I was 9, so this impressed me.

I was very happy to discover that I can watch Stir Crazy on Netflix online, which I will do tonight (hopefully).

Where I had trouble:

20 across, “Fraction of a joule.” What? Huh? Is that some sort of money or something? No, according to Wikipedia, it is “the derived unit of energy in the International System of Units. It is the energy exerted by a force of one newton acting to move an object through a distance of one metre. Algebraically: 1 J = 1 kg × m (to the 2nd) × s (to the -2nd)” Seriously? Oh please let me have a drink. And, to top it off, the answer is ERG. Erg? That’s what my brain is doing right now. But, again according to Wikipedia, “1 joule is equal to 1 x 10 (to the 7th) ergs.” Next!

21 across, “Danish money.” KRONE. Oh good lord.

24 across, “Shooting marble.” TAW. I’ve seen this clue before. I will see it again. Taw rhymes with blah.

60 across, “Second letter before iota.” ETA. I don’t know the Greek alphabet, even though I lived across from Greek Row freshman year. This will come back to bite me, I’m sure. (As will some of those Greek Row escapades.)

65 across, “Indian title.” RANEE. What?!?!? How many things are there is this world that I don’t know? A ranee (also rani) is a princess or queen in India.

32 down, “Popular coll. guy.” BMOC. Ok, I’m looking at that and I have no idea what it means. Ohhhhhkay. Big Man On Campus.

I have determined that today is not a good crossword puzzle day. I am feeling bitter and sarcastic about the ways of the crossword puzzle. Perhaps Stir Crazy will lighten my mood.

Monday Puzzle #8 or "Crosswordz in the Hood"

2009-06-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

Today started out with a car chase and gun shots…you can’t say that about every day. 4:30-ish am, police siren, sounds like they are driving quickly in big loopy circles around the neighborhood. Because I’ve watched enough “COPS” to know these things, I thought, “Hmmm, sounds like a car chase.” Then, the siren seemed to stay in one place for a bit. Then, “Pop! Pop!” Now, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a gunshot in my life, but this sounded like what people who are being interviewed by the local tv news describe as what they heard when their neighbor went crazy with the gun. So, being the deductively reasonable person that I am, I thought, “Holy shit! That sounded like a gun!” And then, immediately after that, I heard a car zoom crazy fast up the street while the police siren went on and on and on and on in that one place. For about 10 minutes. And then the helicopters came. And then I fell asleep.

News this morning confirmed that there was a car chase in my neighborhood – they came to a dead end – policeman got out of his car and as he was walking to the suspect’s car, the suspect put the car in gear and slammed into the police car (managed to break the policeman’s hand). Policeman fired shots at the fleeing vehicle. Fleeing vehicle ended up going over a little embankment and almost ramming into a house. 3 people caught, 1 on the loose.

I lived in the city for years and, yes, one night someone was arrested in our back alley (with police dogs and everything). But, I never heard gunfire – or ever had my car and garage broken into – until I moved to the burbs. Love it.

And, to top it all off, after reading up on the happenings in the news, then dropping the kid off at school, got home and the phone rang. Caller ID said “DOC.” Now, this person had called a few times the night before, but I didn’t answer because it looked like a solicitor. So, with this fourth call, I wanted to answer – find out who it was – and then ask to be taken off of the list. The automated, professional, slightly upbeat but not too upbeat recorded female voice said, “You are” at the same time I said, “Hello!?” and went on to say, “receiving a collect call from,” and then insert slightly embarrassed, tired, rough, resigned, definitely not upbeat voice that says, “Scotty.” Back to the automated lady, “an inmate at the Monroe Correctional Facility. If you accept this…” At this point it has all computed – this is not the Democratic somethin’ or other Committee. This is not my sister calling me collect. This is an inmate. Calling collect. So, automated lady says, “If you accept this call…” and I say in a slightly raised, incredulous, with just a hint of hysteria voice, “Wrong number!!” and hang up.

Poor Scotty. I hope he found who he was looking for. And I’m happy (hoping) it’s not me.

Puzzle number 8. Completed it. No errors. If this continues, I will need to start timing myself. But, I hadn’t planned on doing that until I got to Sunday puzzles. I’m assuming there will be some automated timer thing that’s inserted into the NYT crossword puzzle BCI in 2035, so I won’t have to mess with a stopwatch.

However, as always, there were some clues and answers that – even though I solved the puzzle – I don’t really know them.

5 across, “Peach ____ (dessert).” MELBA. Now, I’ve heard of cobbler and pie. But melba? I’ve heard of melba toast. Ok, on this diet, it is pretty torturous for me to go Googling Peach Melba. I had to stop when I got to the Food Network’s recipe and photo. Suffice it to say that Peach Melba is a dessert. A very yummy looking dessert…

5 down, “Food critic Sheraton.” Oh come on! Food again!!! I’m going to have to go find something to trick my body into thinking I’m giving it chocolate. Answer is MIMI. Mimi Sheraton. According to http://www.starchefs.com/, Mimi was “born into a food loving family.” Thank god. How horrible would it have been for her if she’d been born into a food hating family.

37 down, “French novelist Pierre.” LOTI. I don’t think I’ve heard of or read any of his work. I’ll have to go to the library to see if they have something I can check out.

38 down – another common clue that I have not committed to memory yet! “Summers on the Riviera.” ETES.

62 down, “Prefix with acetylene.” OXY. A mixture of oxygen and acetylene. Used in welding…hence the oxyacetylene torch.

That’s it! We’ll see what Number Nine brings us.

Monday Puzzle #7 or "Fly Like An Erne to the Sea."

2009-06-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

Wasn’t able to complete this puzzle. But, came pretty close. The clues I was not able to decipher were:

26 across, “Boxer Sonny.” Answer is LISTON. He was the world heavyweight champ in 1962. Learning about Liston involves reading a lot about the size of fists, knockouts, etc. Sounds like he had a terrible childhood and may have been murdered.

40 across, “Sea eagle.” ERNE. This is a common clue and answer and I never remember it. (This puzzle also had the good ol’ “wide shoe spec,” EEE.)

62 across, “____ and Novak (old news partnership)” EVANS. Refers to Rowland Evans and Bob Novak. I have heard of/seen Bob Novak. Evans doesn’t ring a bell. It’s funny how there are these male news partnerships – Woodward & Bernstein, Hannity & Colmes, Siskel & Ebert (I know, not news). It’s like a Batman & Robin thing. I wonder if Colmes was Batman or Robin. All the other guys go solo - O’Reilly (The Joker), Anderson (Superman), Schultz (Mr. Incredible). And then there are the token women scattered in there – Catwoman (Campbell Brown), Wonder Woman (Rachel Maddow), The Bionic Woman (Christiane Amanpour), Dr. Girlfriend (Ann Coulter).

19 down, “Villa d’____” ESTE. Villa d’Este? Never heard of it. It is a thing. A villa. In Italy. A UNESCO world heritage site. Renaissance style architecture.

26 down, “Put on board.” LADE. Another vocab issue. My good, free friend Merriam-Webster says, “1a. to put a load or burden on or in, 1b. to put or place as a load especially for shipment.”

Another vocab issue with 23 across, “Withered.” SERE. M-W says, “being dried and withered.”

Monday Puzzle #6 or "Does the CPG Exist?"

2009-06-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

Doing better today. Definitely still dealing with caffeine and sugar cravings. I’m drinking a lot of green tea, but it’s not the same as coffee and diet coke. But, it’s looking like I will survive this. And, I’m actually having fun looking at my old recipe books, making my own hummus, actually using leftovers rather than throwing them away. This may not be so crazy after all.

Puzzle # 6 went great. Completed it with no errors. This is what I don’t know:

1 across, “False god.” I thought it was idol, but it is BAAL. I’d have to do more research, but sounds like Ba’al was a god (or the name could have referred to various gods), but the Bible used “ba’al” to refer to local spirits/gods/cult images and considered ba’al to be false gods, because, of course, anybody else’s god would be a false one. Since I’m an atheist and, therefore, have no god, I wonder if that means I have a false no god and that is some sort of proof that there is a god. Q.E.D. And, I don’t know where this puts the CPG.

63 across, “Longtime Yugoslav leader.” TITO. There’s Tito Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and Marshal Tito, the President of Yugoslavia from 1953 – 1980.

7 down, “Casa parts.” I know that this answer will be in Spanish – and will probably be “rooms” in Spanish. I don’t know the word for “room” in Spanish. The word is sala. So, the answer is SALAS.

58 down, “Mahmoud Abbas’s grp.” PLO. I do, of course, know about the PLO. I guess I shouldn’t say “of course” as there are so many other things that I should “of course” know, but don’t. And, I’ve heard of Mahmoud Abbas. But, no connection between the two in my brain. When I think of Palestine, Hamas, the PLO, Arafat, etc., it all just melts into one big stressful cluster fuck in my mind.

This puzzle wasn’t too bad. Completed it, no errors, and a low number of “don’t knows” compared to the other puzzles. I suspect this means the next puzzle is going to suck.

Ok, off to make a spinach and brown rice casserole with pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top. (I know, I know. It makes me shudder, too.)

Monday Puzzle #5 or "A1 Steak Sauce is Super Duper!"

2009-06-05T21:37:00.001-07:00

Right on cue, today is the day of the diet meltdown. It’s the day that your body says, “Oh, you were serious about this no sugar and coffee thing? Well then, FU.”

Ugh. The nutritionist said we would go through chemical/sugar/caffeine withdrawal and have withdrawal symptoms. He said “You don’t have apple withdrawals, so think about what going through these withdrawals may mean for what is really healthy for your body.” My response today is FU. My response next week will be, “I’ve never felt so energetic. I can’t believe how dependent I was on coffee and sugar. I’ll never go back.” In 18 months when I’m on the next 30 day diet and going through sugar and caffeine withdrawal, I’ll be thinking, “FU.”

Oh, and a big thanks for putting the picture of the scrumptious looking piece of apple pie with a dreamy looking scoop of vanilla ice cream on top on the cover of the crossword puzzle book. Oh…and just noticed…that is my dinnerware. Dansk Allegro Blue. So, just to make it all seem so much more attainable…put it on one of my plates. FU!

What puzzle are we on? Oh, puzzle #5. Again, completed it. And, no errors this time. I was so happy to see some of the old standards, especially part of this blog’s namesake – 7 down, “Butter substitute.” OLEO! That is in so many puzzles – I think because of the number of vowels. The other standard is 4 down, “Wide shoe designation.” EEE. That might also have something to do with the vowels.

Even though I completed it with no errors, there are definitely some clues and answers that I don’t really know.

15 across, “Banned orchard spray.” ALAR. Banned in 1989. Study found it caused tumors in mice.

39 across, “Super-duper.” AONE. Other than being the American Organization of Nurse Executives…oh, I just got it. It’s a-one. Like “Wow, this apple pie is a-one!” What’s up with a-one? Something doesn’t just get an “A,” it’s number one as well. It’s A-1. A1 Steak Sauce. It’s super duper. Google A-1 and discover the countless companies that start with A-1. A-1 Locksmith, A-1 Cheap Towing, A-1 Asphalt Paving, etc. Interesting.

40 across, “Brit. word reference.” OED. Oxford English Dictionary.

60 across, “____ fixe (obsession).” IDEE. Merriam Webster says…actually, I’ll look it up in the OED (www.oed.com). Oh man! Annual subscription? $295!! Ok, back to MW. “an idea that dominates one’s mind especially for a prolonged period.”

53 down, “Latvia’s capital.” RIGA. I don’t know where Latvia is. Wow, ok, there it is. On the Baltic Sea. Riga is on the Gulf of Riga, which is convenient. Riga has a population of just over 700,000. And, its German Art Nouveau architecture is unparalleled anywhere in the world (Wikipedia).

Ok, off to sleep off my food-like substance withdrawals.

Monday Puzzle #4 or "Have You Heard of Humphrey Bogart?"

2009-06-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

Omg Peter Lorre (reference Monday Puzzle #1) is in The Maltese Falcon! Saw his name in the opening credits, did a nod to the CPG, and began to wonder if the film would have a Greek mythology theme and if Yma Sumac was going to pop out at some point and start throat singing (reference YouTube Tumpa – El Secreto de los Incas video).

So, The Maltese Falcon was awesome – such a great movie. I have a respect for Humphrey Bogart that I didn’t have before – mainly because I really haven’t seen any of his movies. I know. I’m 38 years old. How did Bogart not make it onto my movie viewing list. I don’t know. I vaguely remember watching Casablanca when I was a kid. But, I couldn’t tell you what it is about (guy and girl fall in love in a bar with a piano player and one of them leaves on a plane and is sad?).

Anyway, Bogart was brilliant. And Mary Astor was fantastic. And the fact that Bogart turns her in in the end…that he won’t play the sap for her. May replace Young Frankenstein as my most favorite movie ever.

And Peter Lorre was awesome! I had seen the scene where Cairo is introduced in some PBS documentary about the history of gay and lesbian characters in film. That character…and the acting.

I feel like someone who just had sex for the first time and is running around telling everybody they should do it…but everyone already has and is over it. But, I am enjoying my own little moment of discovering The Maltese Falcon.

And, to top off this gay mood, I completed puzzle #4! All the boxes filled in. That never happens. Seriously…maybe 5 times. In the interest of full disclosure, I did have one error. For 24 down (“_____-turvy”), I put TOPSY. That made 30 across (“Sly maneuver”) PLIY. I thought, “Pliy? Well, that’s one I’m going to have to look up.” So, caught that when I checked the answer key to make sure I got them all right.

There are a couple of answers that I only got because of the other clues. For example, “Swiss canton.” URI. I don’t understand the clue or the answer. I guess a canton is like a state or a region and Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland.

44 across, “Cry in court.” OYEZ. I had no idea that at the beginning of each session of the Supreme Court, the marshal of the Court says, “Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting.”

49 across, “Prosperity.” WEAL. This is a vocab issue. Merriam Webster definition is “a sound, healthy, or prosperous state.”

10 down – another hole in the ol’ vocab – “Bring forth as evidence.” ADDUCE. M-W says, “to offer as example, reason, or proof in discussion or analysis.”

61 down, “Portico in Greek architecture.” STOA. I remember learning these in high school
While I did a little jump up and down dance for completing the puzzle, it does not count because I had one error. And, I want to know every answer…not just luck out because of the other answers.

Monday Puzzle #3 or "Just Because You Can Sing Doesn't Mean You Can Sing"

2009-06-03T22:15:00.001-07:00

Omg. Crazy diet. Heat wave. The kid is melting down. The husband is aggravating said melt down. I’m definitely in KIT mode right now. I will let the husband be the nurturer (now that I’ve pointed out that his response to the melt down is only making things worse) and I will focus on…that’s right…crossword puzzles. Wtf?

So, puzzle number 3. Went better than 2, which was better than 1. Hope this trend continues.

But, before I get into the details of #3, is swearing allowed while crosswording? I find myself transformed into a more refined person when I’m puzzling. Or, just more guilty. Like I need to act as if I’m in church. Is God watching me complete these crosswords? Oh good lord, that’s exactly what I need. I’m an atheist, so I’m not too concerned about God condemning my crossword cursing. Or, am I a polytheist and think there could be a Crossword Puzzle God. How do you prove the existence of the CPG? I don’t know, but I suspect s/he/it is mischievous and malicious.

Let’s start with 41 across, “The ‘E’ of Q.E.D.” I mean, it’s ok for me to yell out, “god dammit!” when I see that, right? What use is it that I know that QED is something they write at the bottom of a mathematical proof to show that the final formula or calculation or whatever is what they were trying to prove and, therefore, the proof is over. I would write, “The End,” or “Ah ha!” or “So there!” But, I’m not an academic and all Latiny.

But, I don’t know what the E in QED is, even though I just learned it last night. 38 and 39 down are not helping with “Asia’s shrinking ____ Sea” and “’The Lion King’ Lion” respectively. But, with 34 down (“Nafta concept”), 42 down (“Cooking meas.”), 47 across (“Counterpart of midterms”), and 51 across (“Close of a swimming race”), I am able to kind of guess and piece it together – and confirm by looking at the answer key.

ERAT. It is erat.

Other clues giving me trouble:

43 across, “Greek cross.” TAU. Read a little bit about it. Not that interested. Last letter of the Greek alphabet. T. Cross.

49 across, “Mary of old films.” ASTOR. Hmmm, The Maltese Falcon. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that…hold on…ooh, it’s available to watch instantly on Netflix. Maybe I’ll do that tonight. Astor won Best Supporting Actress for The Great Lie. I’ll add that one to the queue. Looks like she had an interesting life…according to Wikipedia (sorry).

So, last night I tried to find an Yma Sumac movie for my Netflix queue and neither of her two films are there. So, I went to YouTube and listened to some of her music. Um, I will say that her voice is amazing. And the whole 4.5 or 5 octave thing is definitely impressive. But, and I hate to say this because she seems to have a bit of a following so maybe I’m way off base, but I know what a cat in heat sounds like and…well…how to describe? If you take a song and turn it into muzak and then take the muzak version of the song and put it to words…and the “it just gets worse at each step” continuum remains consistent…THAT’S Yma Sumac. It’s not her voice (necessarily). It’s the arrangements or the lack of discipline or control over her voice. It’s just messy. And bad. Oh my god, whatever you do, don’t listen to the Sleeping Beauty remake. It makes me shudder.

I’m sorry Yma. You’re beautiful and you had an amazing life. May you rest in peace.

(shit, the CPG is breathing down my neck)

58 across, “Ballet rail.” BARRE. Ok.

So, that helped me figure out “Sanford of ‘The Jeffersons’” (ISABEL), “’His Master’s Voice’ sloganeer” (RCA), and “Elicit” (EDUCE).

There was another one that I got because of the other clues. 19 across, “Box office take.” The answer is GATE. I looked at http://www.merriam-webster.com/ and the 7th out of 7 definitions is, “the total admission receipts or the number of spectators (as at a sports event).”

I need to go eat something.

Monday Puzzle #2 or "Lessons in Greek Mythology"

2009-06-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

Why did I start this the same week I started this crazy diet? I get frustrated with metro areas when it feels like they don't communicate about major events occurring all at the same date/time/place. For example, I live in Seattle and wonder if anybody spoke to anybody else about the pros and cons of having a Mariner's game, the RV show at Qwest Field, the viaduct closed for a marathon, and construction on 4th & Royal Brougham all at the same time at the end of a holiday weekend when all of the ferry traffic will be unloading into the same area.

But, here I am doing the same thing. The Kid's Kindergarten year is wrapping up and there are all sorts of end of school year open houses, fiestas, graduations, half days popping up out of nowhere. I'm finally starting physical therapy on my ankle tendonitis (tomorrow). And, I am suddenly off of sugar, dairy, wheat or grains of any kind (except for brown rice, which is no consolation prize), coffee, alcohol. The nutritionist who is leading this program - and who is very nice - told us to focus on all the things we can eat. All fruits, all vegetables, all meat, eggs, etc. So, there is a lot - but, no butter, no mayo, no salt, no breadcrumbs. So, on top of going through sugar and caffeine withdrawals (although I am going to drink as much green tea as a human possibly can), I need to figure out how to cook without the things I always cook with (butter, mayo, salt, breadcrumbs, etc.). Enough whining. I'll be fine. BUT, my brain will not be in the best place to recall vocab words and little factoids.

So, puzzle #2 started out strong. I thought, "Ok, that first one was just to throw you - so you didn't think you were going to be able to whip through this book. Good one, Mr. Shortz. But now, I've hit my stride." Until 55 across. "Meat-packing pioneer." And it went downhill from there. I'd say a good 80% of the puzzle is completed, but now I need some help.

I'm splitting this up into vocab and "things of substance." (Can't think of a better name for that category yet - basically, historical & cultural events and references - everything other than just a lack of vocab.)

First the vocab.

12 down, "At right angles to a ship." ABEAM. I had everything but the M.

53 across, "End of a proof." QED. Q.E.D. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum, which means "which was to be demonstrated." It is now used at the end of mathematical proofs to signify that the last statement was the one being demonstrated...and, therefore, shows the completion of the proof.

And now the Google, research stuff

13 down, "Jason's ally and lover in myth." MEDEA. I just read a kind of Cliff Notes version of the myth of Jason and the Argonauts and Medea. I'm surprised it is not familiar to me...we read a ton of Greek myths in high school and college. I've certainly heard of Jason and the Argonauts - and, I've heard of Medea. Just don't know the myth...until now. Pretty typical Greek myth - sheesh. Lots of killing of fathers, uncles, sons. Love, deceit, politics, and tragedy.

24 across, "Singer Sumac." YMA. I just read a biography of Yma Sumac here. Pretty amazing life - and she just passed away 7 months ago. I've added one of her albums and movies to my to do list.

41 across. This one I should know and am embarrassed. "Ancient Roman censor." I have C _ _ O and I know it's Cero or Ciro or something like that...ok, CATO. Sure, that's what I meant. Apparently the Ancient Roman Censor maintained the census. Technically, shouldn't censor have been capitalized in this clue? Not that that would have helped.

46 across, "Sign outside a hit show." SRO. Standing room only. Ok. So, that answer gave me EASE for "Facility" and ATRA for "Gillette brand." I've never heard of Atra. When I Google atra, I get Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association. Try again with Gillette and find out it's one of their razors.

55 across, "Meat-packing pioneer." So, the answer to this one revealed that I had 50 down wrong. The clue is "Final approval" and I put STAMP. But, the answer is SAYSO. The meat-packing pioneer is ARMOUR. (coincidentally, my husband just IM'd me with "bacon! we can eat bacon!!!!) According to Wikipedia (sorry, that is my main source of quick information), Armour and Company was founded in 1867 and was the first company to produce canned meat and to use an assembly line technique in its factory.

62 across, "What?!" This is one of the theme clues. There are four and they are all "What?!" I got "Not to be believed," "How can that be," and "Give me a break." This one I couldn't get. It is "You're not serious."

49 down, "Phedre playwright." RACINE. Jean Racine, 1639 - 1699. Wrote Phedre in 1677. Another Greek mythology reference (subject of Phedre).

As a result of those answers, I was able to complete some others (just having one or two letters really helps!). But, there are definitely a few that I did not (do not) know.

66 across, "'The Thin Man' wife." NORA

67 across, "European car." OPEL

69 across, "Son of Seth." I don't get any of these biblical clues...major weakness. ENOS.

Wow. One a day is going to be really difficult. There's a lot I don't know. Maybe one every other day to give me time to research things and write up my post. That means my next post will be right in the middle of my food chemical withdrawal break down. Fun!

Monday Puzzle #1 Cont. or "Agra Peas are Yummy"

2009-06-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

At this rate, I'm going to be doing one puzzle per week. I am a bit disappointed in how many words I don't know in just the first puzzle. But, I suppose getting the other clues to fill in the answers I don't know is just part of crossword puzzling? But, I still want to be able to answer those...especially since these are the easy puzzles.

As I mentioned in the last post, Agra (Taj Mahal site) is one I see all of the time. So, I Googled Agra and the Taj Mahal, just to learn a little bit more about both. But, I only spent a minute or so doing that because I think I'll remember this next time - mainly because I remembered a pre-packaged dinner we used to get that I really liked - Agra Peas from Tasty Bite. Mmmm.

Next one that got filled in because of other answers was 7 down, "Basic rhyme scheme." ABAB. Ok.

Another was "actor Milo" - answer is O'Shea. Never heard of him. Apparently he is an Irish character actor born in 1926. HOWEVER, I totally recognize the photo of him playing Friar Laurence in Romeo & Juliet (1968). AND, I was tickled to see that he played Dr. Durand Durand in Barbarella. I was a major Duran Duran fan and my circle of friends thought we were so cool for knowing where the band's name came from...and we felt a little mischievous when we were finally able to see the film.

Ok, back to AMAH, the "Asian nurse." Looks like it could also be ayah. Indian/Hindi for a woman who has been hired to take care of the house/children.

Next, "Ne plus ULTRA." http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ defines it as "The highest point, as of excellence or achievement; the ultimate." Merriam-Webster gives the derivation as New Latin, from 1637, "the highest point capable of being attained." http://www.etymonline.com/ says these words were inscribed on the Pillars of Hercules.

Otto Preminger...never heard of him. 1905 - 1986. I recommend reading about his father on Wikipedia...impressive. But, in a nutshell, Otto was a director known for film noir style mysteries. Received Best Picture Oscar nomination for Anatomy of a Murder (1959). I'll have to add that to my Netflix queue.

Aga - "Old Turkish title." This is another one I see quite a bit. When I Google aga, I get American Gastroenterological Association.

And, finally, another common one - "Poetry Muse." ERATO. From Greek mythology, Erato is one of the Greek muses. She is the muse of lyric poetry - especially love and erotic poetry. (All from Wikipedia).

Well, that's it for Puzzle #1. I know less than I thought I did.

Monday Puzzle #1 or "I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again"

2009-06-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

Ugh. This is why I need to do this. First of all - right off the bat - 2 down - "Taj Mahal site". I see that all of the time in crossword puzzles and still don't know it. I ended up getting Agra because of the other answers.

I completed all of the clues that I know (or think I know) and there are quite a few left. I'm going to look at the answers and Google anything of substance to get more information.

39 across - "cheater's aid" four letter word. With the other clues, I have the 2nd & 3rd letters as R & I. So, _ R I _. Cheater's aid...? I have to look at the answer in the back of the book...CRIB. Of course.

That answer gave me the last letter in 26 down - "agreement." I had F A _ T. I thought of FACT, but didn't understand how "agreement" was a clue for "fact." Still don't. I mean, you agree on the facts, but...

On to 29 down - "noisy public speaker." I have T U B T _ _ M P E R. Tub trumper? I don't know...look it up...ok, tubthumper. Never heard of it...gotta Google it. Wikipedia says it is an album by Chumbawamba. Merriam Webster online says "tub-thumper" is from 1662 and is defined as "a vociferous supporter (as of a cause)." http://www.yourdictionary.com/ says "a speaker or advocate characterized by speech or rhetoric that is passionate, pompous, blustering, etc." Related form is tub-thumping. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ says tub-thump is "to argue for or promote something vigorously." A tub-thumper is "a noisy or ranting public speaker."

Ahhh - this is what I'm looking for. http://www.worldwidewords.org/. Question posted: "In a magazine article about Australia, the term tub thumping was used. My students asked me what it meant and I couldn't figure it out. Any idea?" Answer: "Many Americans are more familiar with Bible-thumping, which has much the same sense. The phrase originally referred to a preacher of a type still familiar: one who does so in an aggressive way and who bangs on the pulpit to give emphasis. At the time the expression was first recorded - in the Cromwellian period of English history, roughly the 1650's - the allusion was to nonconformist preachers. There may be a connection here with the literal tub-thumping of an outdoor orator using an inverted tub as an informal lectern, or perhaps the practice of converting washtubs into improvised drums during processions or demonstrations."

That makes sense. A little obscure for a Monday puzzle?

Next one is 40 across, "Yellowish Shade" With the other answers, it's gotta be ocher...but I'm not familiar with that word...look it up...yes, ocher. Merriam Webster - ocher or ochre is "an earthy usually red or yellow and often impure iron ore used as a pigment."

The "r" in ocher filled in the rest of 25 down for me - "Peter who played Mr. Moto." Peter Lorre lived from 1904 to 1964. Born in Hungary. Student of Sigmund Freud. Took refuge in Paris in 1933, then London, discovered by an associate producer tied to Alfred Hitchcock. Went to Hollywood. Starred in a series of Mr. Moto movies in which he played a Japanese detective (all from Wikipedia).

42 across - "Asian nurse." Amah. That ended up giving me 36 down - "oscar winner Jannings." Answer is Emil. Emil Jannings lived from 1884 - 1950, was a Swiss actor, and was the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor - which was the first Academy Award ever handed out. Interesting information here about the first awards ceremony.

64 across - "ne plus ____" I have U L _ _ A. ultra? Yup. That gave me 58 down, "director Preminger." Otto. I'll look those two up later.

That fills in all the boxes. I'll take a quick look at the answers to make sure it's all right...oh boy. It's PACT, not FACT. That, of course, makes total sense. That means 26 across, "Hamburger meat" is PATTY, not FATTY. In my defense, I'm going on a diet tomorrow and had a hamburger at lunch as kind of a last meal...so subconsciously, I was right.

Man, I was hoping the easy puzzles would be...easy. I have some other clues/answers to look up - ones that I only got because of the other answers. But, definitely too tired to do it tonight.

What is this?

2009-06-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing. I've had this ENORMOUS book of easy New York Times crossword puzzles (The New York Times Supersized Book of Easy Crosswords - 500 Puzzles!, 2006) for, literally, years. And, I'm not progressing.

What I want? To be able to complete a Sunday NYT crossword puzzle...in pen. And, when I allow myself to get really silly with the goal - to go on that nationwide crossword puzzle competition (I loved that documentary).

Why? I love crossword puzzles. They are relaxing and meditative for me. Also, they meet an innate need I have for tangible accomplishments. Fill in the boxes. Did it, done, good job.

But, I'm not progressing because I only answer the ones I know and leave the others blank, thinking I'll go back one day and look at those and learn them. Also, there's the whole sense of feeling like I'm cheating if I look at the answers...but how am I supposed to do it otherwise? But, even when I do look at the answers, it doesn't seem to actually seep into my brain.

So, my goal is to complete one NYT crossword puzzle each day (I have a job and a kid and a husband, so I'm not sure how realistic that is) and, when I am stumped, look up the answer, Google it, etc. What I know about myself and my learning style is that I need to know the story behind something in order to truly understand it and for it to sink into my brain. And, it has always been helpful for me to write something down in order to recall it later (I always did this in college when studying for tests). So, if the answer is some obscure musical from the 1940's that I've never heard of, if I Google it, research it a bit, get some context, etc., I've learned something and am much more likely to remember that answer in a later puzzle.

I'm discarding the huge book of 500 puzzles (which, in my defense, I did misplace for over a year) and just picked up The New York Times Easy Crossword Puzzles - 50 Monday Puzzles, 2009. I just realized that I'm not sure if they have books of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc. puzzles, but my intention is to easy my way up to - and master - Sunday.

Plus, it's just fun learning this stuff.