About today's (July 08, 2021) WSJ Crossword
This an ingenious theme and good play on words by Matthew Sewell, and a very insightful puzzle choice by editor Mike Shenk.
Why? Here’s what my “research” findings show, so far:
1. Whereas a house mouse is same in colour as other such ones, a field mouse usually has a greyish-white belly and reddish-brown fur on its back and a yellow line of "fuzz" along its chest. Its ears are also less rounded than those of the house mouse. The main distinction between the house mouse and the field mouse is in their behaviour.
2. The idea of the 'Mad March Hare' comes from the hare behaviour you're likely to witness in the month of March. The sort of behaviour you might see includes madcap chases and furious boxing matches. This is not 'mad' behaviour; it’s courting behaviour of mating hares.
3. Although box turtles are superficially similar to tortoises in terrestrial habits and overall appearance, they are actually members of the American pond turtle family
4. A draft horse (US), draught horse (UK) or dray horse (from the Old English dragan meaning "to draw or haul"; compared to Dutch dragen and German tragen)
Kumar (Kem) Balani