Our word “snorkel” comes from German navy slang “Schnorchel” meaning “nose, snout”. Ontario is home to the nation’s capital of Ottawa as well as Toronto, Canada’s most populous city (and the capital of the province). In turn, Lake Ontario’s name is thought to be derived from “Ontari:io”, a Huron word meaning “great lake”. The Canadian province of Ontario takes its name from the Great Lake. It is the term “shortening” that gives us the words “shortbread” and “shortcake”. 57 *Shortbread that doesn’t crumble under pressure? : TOUGH COOKIE The term comes from the Yiddish “schmutz”, which is a slang word used in English for dirt, as in “dirt on one’s face”. “Smut” means “dirt, smudge” and more recently “pornographic material”. Regulation (reg.) 51 Indecent matter : SMUT “Stanza” is an Italian word meaning “verse of a poem”. It empties into the English Channel to the north, at the port city of Le Havre. The Seine is the river that flows through Paris. “Je ne sais quoi” is French for “I don’t know what”. 43 Certain something : AURAĪn aura (plural “aurae”) is an intangible quality that surrounds a person or thing, a “je ne sais quoi”. There is a suggestion that the term comes from the act of shaking dice, as some shakes result in great numbers, and some don’t. The idiomatic phrase “no great shakes” means “not very skilful”, as in “Bill is no great shakes at solving sports clues in the crossword”. 34 *Blended drinks that leave something to be desired? : NO GREAT SHAKES The term “tee” comes from the Scottish “teaz”, which described little heaps of sand used to elevate a golf ball for the purpose of getting a clean hit with a club. 33 Ball-bearing peg : TEEĪ tee is a small device on which, say, a golf ball is placed before striking it. “Deserere” in turn comes from “de” (undo) and “serere” (to join together). The verb “to desert” comes from the Latin “deserere”, which has the same meaning. To desert is to leave, without the intent to return. 27 Significant Civil War concern : DESERTION Well, that’s Mark Twain’s story … 21 First thing lost in the “For Want of a Nail” proverb : SHOEĪccording to Benjamin Franklin’s 1758 essay “The Way to Wealth”:Īnd for want of a horse the rider was lost Īll for want of care about a horse-shoe nail. This reversed “-AKERY” was read by a stranger, and he presumed that the sign gave the name of the camp, and read it as “YREKA”. Leaving it out to dry, all but the B could be seen through the canvas. Back when the area was a mining boomtown, a baker was preparing a canvas sign with the word “BAKERY”. There is, however, a story related by Mark Twain that the name “Yreka” comes from the word “bakery”. “Yreka” derives from the name for Mount Shasta (wáik’a) in the Shasta language, which translates as “North Mountain” or “White Mountain”. The California city of Yreka developed from a miners’ camp called Thompson’s Dry Diggings. That sucks the nurse asleep? 20 Northern California town that once had a palindromic bakery : YREKA Of life at once untie: poor venomous fool, With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate In William Shakespeare’s play “Antony and Cleopatra”, the heroine of the piece addresses the asp as she uses the snake to commit suicide: The first host of “Today” was Dave Garroway. NBC’s “Today” show first aired way back in 1952 when it was the first “morning show” in the world. Here's where to find the best crossword puzzles for free online, in books, as well as some printable options for kids and beginners.Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies Across Except that crosswords are way more fun than salad. In 2017, research carried out by experts at the University of Exeter Medical School and Kings College London concluded that practitioners of word puzzles maintain brain function as they age, especially in the categories of attention, reasoning, and memory.Įssentially, doing crosswords is the equivalent of eating vegetables, for your mind. Successfully completing a crossword puzzle definitely boosts the ego-but there are even more tangible benefits to crosswords than self-admiration. No matter how you approach the crossword puzzle, this remains the same: There's not much in the world more satisfying than filling in that very last square. Gather 'round the Sunday puzzle with friends, helping each other with clues. Fill 'em out on an app, and make the commute whiz by. Do' em at the dining room table on a slow weekend morning, pencil in hand (or pen, if you're feeling reckless). There are endless ways to tackle a crossword puzzle.
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