Robyn Weintraub has been creating crossword puzzles since 2011. Today's is her 11th to be published and is her first Sunday crossword. The title is "Nowhere" -- but it's to be read as "No W here." Each theme answer is a familiar phrase with the W omitted. In fact, there are no W's in the entire puzzle:
Cheating millionaire? HEELOFFORTUNE
Black kitten crossing your path? LITTLEOMEN
Transgressions timeline? THEAGESOFSIN
Matching food containers? IDENTICALTINS
Tony Soprano's quilt? DONCOMFORTER
Wrigley's in-house hip-hop group? GUMRAPPERS
New England proceedings concerning allergic reactions? SALEMITCHTRIALS
Cats were first domesticated around 3000 BC in Egypt. They were revered, not feared. But in the 16th and 17th centuries, black cats began to be associated with witches. Superstitious people started regarding a black cat, especially one which crossed their path, as an omen of death or misfortune. A history of the superstition is at
http://www.kinrossfolds.com/cattery/superstition.htmlAs for those supposed "witches," 32 people accused of witchcraft were put to death in colonial Massachusetts and Connecticut in the 17th century. Twenty of those were convicted during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-93. The History Channel website explains the hysteria:
http://www.history.com/topics/salem-witch-trials"Each" is APOP, a term I have never seen or heard anywhere except in crossword puzzles. "Happy, in Juárez" is FELIZ, which is not used in English. "It's done in Paris" is FINI, which is not used in English. "
Don't Bring Me Down group" is ELO. Yes, the Electric Light Orchestra did have a hit song with that title in 1979 -- and ELO appears in crosswords quite frequently -- but music fans know that the
first hit song with that title was by Eric Burdon & the Animals in 1966.
"Like a pin" is NEAT. The phrase "as neat as a pin" means "Particularly tidy, orderly or well arranged" and was originally "as neat as a
new pin." When pins were made by hand, they were often rough and misshapen. When pins began to be made by machines, they were uniformly smooth and shiny. Thus, the expression. The earliest known example of that phrase in print, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, appeared in 1787 in
Columbian magazine and referred to a man who was "as neat as a new pin." At one time, "neat" also meant "shiny."
Now if you'll excuse me, I want to go to Ebay and see if I can get a good price on a case of neat pins.
