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eruthrosFor reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, I spent most of today nominally working but in practice extremely bored in a place witihout the internet. I do crossword puzzles a lot anyway, but today I did the NYT puzzles from the last couple of weeks plus the reprinted NYT puzzle in my local paper.
And, well, every time I do that I feel like making a post about it. So here it is, all the things I have learned from the New York Times crossword:
1. In NYT Crosswordland, all cars are made by Audi (three vowels) unless they are made by BMW (all consonants). I think I saw one Nissan, once, a long time ago.
2. The only airline in the world is El Al.
3. 100% of skin care products are made of aloe.
4. All beer is ale.
5. If you top your bread with something, it is probably oleo.
6. And of course all cookies are oreos.
7. The only school is Eton.
8. In NYT Crosswordland, people sing arias, never songs.
9. And those arias are set to exclusively to the oboe.
10. There are nine muses, but you will only ever see Erato, or occasionally Clio. Erato is an appropriate muse for NYT Crosswordland, where clues frequently invoke poets to try to get you to "e'er" and "o'er" and "ne'er" and "ere."
11. Some countries have kings, and some have prime ministers, and some have presidents. NYT Crosswordland will only ever have a Tsar or a Czar.
12. If you ever find yourself asea in NYT Crosswordland, note that everyone says "alee," not "leeward."
13. The only mountain range is the Ural.
14. The only sea is the Aral.
15. The only lake is Erie.
16. The only river is the Arno.
17. Some trivia: Edison's middle name is Alva, the dog on the Thin Man is named Asta, Saarinen's first name is Eero, Charlie Chaplin married Oona, Seth's son is Enos, and Captain Hook's first mate is Smee.
That's all I've got offhand, but I've probably forgotten a bunch of really obviously ones.
And, well, every time I do that I feel like making a post about it. So here it is, all the things I have learned from the New York Times crossword:
1. In NYT Crosswordland, all cars are made by Audi (three vowels) unless they are made by BMW (all consonants). I think I saw one Nissan, once, a long time ago.
2. The only airline in the world is El Al.
3. 100% of skin care products are made of aloe.
4. All beer is ale.
5. If you top your bread with something, it is probably oleo.
6. And of course all cookies are oreos.
7. The only school is Eton.
8. In NYT Crosswordland, people sing arias, never songs.
9. And those arias are set to exclusively to the oboe.
10. There are nine muses, but you will only ever see Erato, or occasionally Clio. Erato is an appropriate muse for NYT Crosswordland, where clues frequently invoke poets to try to get you to "e'er" and "o'er" and "ne'er" and "ere."
11. Some countries have kings, and some have prime ministers, and some have presidents. NYT Crosswordland will only ever have a Tsar or a Czar.
12. If you ever find yourself asea in NYT Crosswordland, note that everyone says "alee," not "leeward."
13. The only mountain range is the Ural.
14. The only sea is the Aral.
15. The only lake is Erie.
16. The only river is the Arno.
17. Some trivia: Edison's middle name is Alva, the dog on the Thin Man is named Asta, Saarinen's first name is Eero, Charlie Chaplin married Oona, Seth's son is Enos, and Captain Hook's first mate is Smee.
That's all I've got offhand, but I've probably forgotten a bunch of really obviously ones.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-26 04:15 am (UTC)EXCEPT MADE OUT OF VOWELS I GUESS
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Date: 2011-04-26 05:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-26 04:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-26 05:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-26 05:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-27 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-26 11:32 am (UTC)7. The only college at Oxford is Eton.
...Eton isn't anywhere near Oxford. Nor is it a college - it's a public (that is, a posh private) school for 13-18 year olds.
Clearly NYT Crosswordland is a strange and mysterious place indeed.
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Date: 2011-04-27 04:35 am (UTC)Birds here are also ernes! Unless they are emus.
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Date: 2011-04-27 04:17 pm (UTC)Maybe they're actually all just generated by computers, from a pool of a couple of hundred possibilities? You have to admit, it would change a lot.
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Date: 2011-04-26 03:57 pm (UTC)This is... actually strangely close to the truth. I only discovered this after we acquired an aloe allergy in the house.
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Date: 2011-04-27 04:35 am (UTC)