Monday Puzzle #33 or "Definition of Fray?"

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"

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 #17 or "Arty of the Irst Art"

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.