CROSSWORD FOLLIES REDUX….The solution to yesterday’s crossword puzzle is below the fold, along with explanations for a few of the more obscure clues.
ACROSS
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Inkblot is my cat. He likes to bask in the Southern California sun.
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David Brock coined the phrase “Republican noise machine” in 2004 to describe right-wing media tactics.
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In a 2002 campaign debate, Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele was allegedly pelted with oreos (“black on the outside, white on the inside”).
By the way, did you know that Steele was born on the same day as me? Creepy, huh?
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This is an old joke.
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Lake Erie is the 11th biggest lake in the world. It’s slightly bigger than #12, Lake Winnipeg.
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A snipe hunt is a hunt for something that doesn’t exist.
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The Isle of Man. Commenter JJF is correct that this clue should have been “Man, e.g.”
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Glenn Reynolds is famous for ending posts with the sarcastic comment “Heh.” He lives in Knoxville, TN.
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“No One Lives Forever” is a videogame.
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The old USSR was a union of SSRs, or Soviet Socialist Republics. Kazakh was one of them, and it was in the southeast corner of the country. Thus, it was a SE SSR. I warned you this one was ridiculous.
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The TV show “Lost” is filmed on Oahu.
DOWN
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According to this dictionary entry, one meaning of knot is “a unit of 47 feet 3 inches (13.79 meters) on a log line, marked off by knots.”
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Heyl Sadeh was a group formed in 1939 by the Jewish paramilitary force Haganah. It is abbreviated HI’SH.
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This refers to a 2001 poll showing that most Americans think the government spends 24% of its budget on foreign aid.
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In the movie A Mighty Wind, one of the folk groups sings a song about a diner with a neon sign that says “Eat At Joe’s.” However, two of the letters on the sign have burned out, so the punch line of the song is that the sign now reads “Ea At oe’s.” I warned you that this clue was also ridiculous.
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The Rose theater was a predecessor to the Globe in Elizabethan England.
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From the movie “To Live and Die in LA.”
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The Sui dynasty in China flourished in the 7th century, 300 years before the Song dynasty.
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Bosons are particles that don’t obey the Pauli exclusion principle.
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Marcelo Rios was the #1 tennis player in the world for a short while in 1998.
