Forum > Today's Puzzles
Fri., 12/12 C.C. Burnikel
magus:
THEME: two poets at each corner of the grid
GOOD ONES:
Westminster Abbey attraction {& theme} POETS CORNER
Swear words I DO
Intro to zoology? ZEE
Private entertainers, briefly USO
A neighbor B-FLAT [I first thought a clue word was missing; didn't realize the A was not an indefinite article but a note]
BTW:
Peut-ETRE: no maybe's about it; it's definitely the bottom of the slippery slope.
Lace place EYELET [I like the rhyme, but its meaning eludes me --- which I'm sure exposes a gap in my education]
Ancient docking site ARARAT [had the clue used Old instead of Ancient, I might've thought computers]
I especially enjoyed the clues placed in the corners of the grid and that the references were to poets and not Star Trek characters. Yet the wide subject matter of the rest of the entries provided something for everyone. And there were some real goodies! (Joining Kilmer to Keats made me cringe a bit but it couldn't be helped.) This one has to be among the best of 2014.
RATING: ;D ;D ;D
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun
Thomps2525:
One definition of eyelet is "In embroidery, a small hole with finely stitched edges, forming part of an ornamental pattern." "A neighbor" was a clever clue. When I saw "Rocky hellos," my first thought was the familiar "Hiya" uttered by Rocky the Flying Squirrel. The reference was to the YOS of Sylvester Stallone's movie character Rocky Balboa.
Today's crossword puzzle included a description of a jigsaw puzzle: PRECUT. Come on! If a jigsaw puzzle is not cut into pieces, then it's not a puzzle---it's just a large picture. I have long decried the unnecessary use of the prefix "pre-." I go to the store and see pre-sifted flour, pre-ground coffee, pre-sliced rolls, pre-stirred yogurt, pre-washed jeans, pre-shrunk jeans and pre-lit Christmas trees. And I hear people talk about having a "pre-existing condition." If someone has a condition, obviously the condition exists! There is no reason to say "pre-existing" or even "existing." "Prefix" is a legitimate word. In all those other examples, the "pre-" is unnecessary.
Thomps2525:
But wait---there's more! When we want to cook something in the oven, we'll often turn on the gas and let the oven reach a certain temperature before we put the food in. We heat the oven. (Actually, the oven heats itself.) There is no need to say pre-heat. And how about all those credit-card offers that say we've been "pre-selected" as opposed to just "selected"?
rbe:
A shoeLACE is threaded through an eyelet.
I had DIECUT for the jigsaw puzzle. PRECUT makes no sense. You couldn't have an uncut puzzle, it would just be a picture.
magus:
RBE, thanks for the "lace" help; I never thought shoelace.
Rewind, I think phrases like "pre-heat the oven" make it easier to say that "before the cooking, the oven must be at a certain temperature" or something like "Before placing the food in the oven, the temperature should be at...."
I do agree about phases like pre-sifted flour, pre-ground coffee, and others you mentioned. What do you think about "predate" or "prequel"?
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