The puzzle today tested your knowledge of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, or, in my case, my ability to recall their names desperately from the crossing answers. It was beautifully constructed by a husband-wife team, Karen and Paul Steinberg. The center answer was GRECO-ROMAN and each corner contained a god/goddess with his or her across name in Greek and the crossing (down) name in Roman. So, e.g., at both 1D and 18A the clue was “Trident-wielding god of the sea,” and the answer at 1D was NEPTUNE and at 18A was POSEIDON. Quite an adventure! The others were ARTEMIS and DIANA (hunter); DEMETER and CERES (harvest); and DIONYSUS and BACCHUS (party-time (burp!)).
And I learned something. APOLLO is the only one of these gods whose name is the same in both Greek and Roman. Can you guess what it is? It’s Apollo — what’s wrong with you? Apollo did not appear in the grid but was in two of the clues. Here’s a nice shot of him, followed by his place.
And here’s Diana, who seems to get her hair done at the same saloon Apollo uses. Tell ’em less gel next time, D. Just sayin’.
Re: yesterday’s puzzle answer “running joke,” Pabloinnh posted this sweet story:
I wasn’t thinking that I would start a RUNNINGJOKE years ago when my son said something innocuous like “I’m going to the bathroom” and I would say “I’ll alert the media.” I guess he never forgot it and carried on the tradition because one day a while ago I said to his daughter, then four, something like “I’m going out to the car to get my glasses” and she of course said “I’ll alert the media”. As ye sow, so shall ye reap.
Life-With-Seniors Dept. There must be a lot of us old timers in the commentariat on Rex’s blog because the clue today for 9D was “Nonvegan fat in a pie crust.” (The answer was LARD.) And a good half-dozen commenters noted that they read the clue as “Norwegian fat.” Ha! What would Norwegian fat even be — whale blubber?
Crossworld meets the real world. The clue for 49D today was “Brand for water fun,” and the answer was SEADOO — a Canadian recreational watercraft company. Commenter Anoa Bob reported:
Ukraine used an Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV)—essentially a drone—to attack the Rooskies’ Crimean bridge. The propulsion system is composed of parts from the Canadian SEA-DOO jet ski company. Whatever it takes!
The Rex group has become a true community. When someone mentions an illness or problem, many express support or try to help. Today, jberg noted that he did the puzzle while waiting for his wife’s radiation treatment to finish. And he noted she was doing fine. I don’t usually chime in with good wishes —- I feel that I’m too new to the group. But I had something I wanted to share today. So I wrote:
jberg. I hope this brings your wife a smile. When I was undergoing radiation treatments, I was sometimes met at the door by a big Black guy, one of the technicians, and he’d break into a smile and ask me: Table for one?
I’m glad to hear she’s fine.
Others expressed their good wishes too (albeit without a brilliant line like mine), and he posted a nice thank you for us later, saying: Thanks for the kind comments for my wife. The radiation oncology staff are wonderful; all happy and supportive, and when someone finishes their treatment they ring a bell and applaud as they leave.
Owl Chatter is taking to the road on Thursday — we’re spending a long weekend in Charm City (Baltimore), including scooting down to DC on Saturday for a Nats game. Our official OC photographer Phil is joining us, of course (we have a king-sized bed), so I’m looking forward to having some good shots to share.
See you tomorrow, everybody!
The Wellington Files 