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

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

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.