Some literal letter play in the theme today. "Nicholson and Nicklaus, e.g.?" are ONEEYEDJACKS, "Soren Kierkegaard and Chris Isaak, e.g.?" are DOUBLEAGENTS, "Percy Bysshe Shelley and Billy Ray Cyrus, e.g.?" are THREEWISEMEN, and "Henry the Eigth and Hubert H. Humphry, e.g.?" are FOURHLEADERS. Two work with sound, two with parsing, and together they make a nice set of four.
Some fun trivia in "Candy whose name derives from the German "Pfefferminz" (PEZ) (mmmmm.... PEZ....). And I love the audacity of IOWEYA ("Next one's on me").
It struck me that many of the references are quite old. The one-eyed Jacks are both in their eighties. Soren Kierkegaard, while he died at forty-two, did so in 1855. Even Chris Isaak and Billy Ray Cyrus are both in their sixties. And then there are two clues from 1939 - "Dorothy, to Em" (NIECE) and "The yearling in the 1939 Pulitzer winner 'The Yearling,' e.g." (DEER). I know they're playing to their audience, but sometimes you feel it more than others.
I liked learning that SARDINES are "Fish thought to be named after a region in Italy," and it's interesting to realize that IRENE is a "Name that becomes another name when its first letter is dropped." And if we continue with the older mindset, it also changes genders. It could also, come to think of it, have been the start of a rather famous philosophical declaration - "I, René, think therefore I am."
Hoo-boy, I think maybe I had too much coffee. Hey, how 'bout Connections today? Did you do it? I went green, yellow, purple, blue. And no, I did not figure out what blue was before I hit submit.
- Horace
Excellent puzzle. I'm not sure what you're referring to about the "one-eyed Jacks" both being "in their eighties," Horace...I figured the reference was to the playing cards. Wonderful finds.
ReplyDeletePurple, yellow, green, blue for me on Connections. I did pause for just a second before entering blue to figure out what it was, having read your blog post. In re: NYT xword puzz, I approve. Kelly, the two people referenced in the clue for ONEYEDJACKS are in their eighties, Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicholson.
ReplyDeleteOh, I knew that, Colum. As I wrote, a wonderful find. For some reason I thought Horace was referring to some band called "The One-Eyed Jacks."
ReplyDelete