Monday Puzzle #12 or "Philosophical Questions About Gaiters"

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

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 The brand has been replaced by Exxon.

Things I got but don’t really know:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!