Pete Muller has come up with a terrific Tuesday, June 3 puzzle (answers.) It worked for me exactly as I imagine it was intended. I figured out the question at 35 Across but the answer wasn't immediately obvious. When I finally sorted out 43 Across, I looked around and was completely delighted to see it was true. It caught me completely by surprise. What fun.
A three-letter word for "do zigzags, maybe" starting with S must be SKI, right? Nope, wrong sport. And who came up with "Jersey parts" as a clue for UDDERS? I laughed out loud at that one. Great job, Mr. Muller. (It's just a coincidence that there's a photo of Mae West here in a post about Jersey parts. I do love My Little Chickadee.)
I don't know anything about the constructor. This is his fourth puzzle and they've all been outstanding. You wanna have some fun? Try this one from July 6, 2006: (NYT Across Lite, or if you're lazy, my solution.) If this site is to be believed, and it must be the same Pete Muller, it's a fascinating story. Wow.
Trope School
Modern crossword clues often make use of various figures of speech to make the puzzle more interesting. Yesterday, LaurenB asked about the word trope and of course PhillySolver, who apparently knows everything, replied with a list of trope types. If it's been a few years since your last Rhetorics class, let's review. Tropes come in various flavors:
| Metonymy | [mi-tawn-uh-mee] substitutes an attribute for something larger. "Counting noses" or "the pen is mightier than the sword." |
| Irony | relies on the contrast of opposites or on outcomes contrary to expectations. "That Saturday puzzle was too hard to finish. How delightful." |
| Metaphor | makes an implicit comparison by describing something in terms not literally true. "The White House said today..." |
| Synecdoche | [si-nek-duh-kee] uses a part to describe the whole or vice versa. "My old car broke down so I bought a new set of wheels." |
| Antanaclasis | [ant-an-uh-klas-is] repeats a single word with a different meaning each time. "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you'll be fired with enthusiasm" — Vince Lombardi. |
| Allegory | is a story with a deeper parallel meaning. Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies are common examples. |
Few people who don't do crosswords care about this stuff. PS went on to say that the Marx Brothers were excellent rhetoricians. That's true and I think it explains why they're so popular with my readers.
I guess that comment justifies another clip, right? This one's from Animal Crackers.
Update: Be sure to check the comments below for more info on this amazing constructor. Thanks, Dan!
