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.
