Thursday, March 08, 2007

Things I Learned From Today's Crossword Puzzle


This is something I've learned a thousand times from a thousand crossword puzzles, but it never seems to sink in -- "Amah" which means "A housemaid, especially a wet nurse, in India and the Far East." It comes up all the time in crossword puzzles and nowhere else. I am determined to remember it, so I'm thinking mnemonics-- about Asian Mother's Assistant Housekeeper?

"Rhine Tributary" AAR -- Aargh! I hate all rivers and geographic terms.

Maginot -- the clue was "Frenchman with a famous line" and I'm thinking fashion designer, but it turns out to be, according to Dictionary.com "French politician who as minister of war (1922-1924 and 1929-1932) proposed a line of fortification, called the Maginot Line, along France's border with Germany. Thought to be impregnable, the line was bypassed and later captured by the Germans" Unlike Amah, I give myself permission to forget this one as I don't imagine I'll ever see it again.

Katzenjammer. All I know about katzenjammers is from the Katzenjammer Kids comic strip, so I figured katzenjammer must have something to do with bratty kids, but katzenjammer is (again from Dictionary.com): "the discomfort and illness experienced as the aftereffects of excessive drinking; hangover," which I guess pretty well describes parenthood.

2 comments:

Rex Parker said...

Very hot stamp picture, which I have now stolen. Thank you!

Rex

Norrin2 said...

You're welcome to it, Rex. Looking forward to seeing you at Stamford