Alex Eaton-Sainers' first published crossword appeared in November 2016 in the
Los Angeles Times. The theme was "Tumbleweeds" and each of four long answers included various cominations of the letters W, E, E and D. His crossword today includes five answers which have no clue. The last answer in the grid is UFOS and the unclued answers are BIPLANE, GOODYEARBLIMP, HANGGLIDER, HELICOPTER and HOTAIRBALLOON. They are literally "unidentified flying objects," at least as far as this puzzle is concerned.
"Infantry equipment carrier" is BUTTPACK, a word I have never seen in a crossword until today. Certainly someone could have come up with a better name than that! "Color on le drapeau français" is BLEU, which is not used in English. "Judge's address" is HERHONOR -- but that is wrong. A judge is addressed as "
Your Honor." The term "
Her Honor" would be used in speaking
about a female judge, not
to her. I'm reminded of a scene in a Three Stooges comedy where Curly is appearing before a judge and starts to explain what he did: "Well, it's like this, My Honor....." The bailiff corrects him, "Not
My Honor --
Your Honor." Curly says, "Why? Don't you like him?"
"
Happy Valley airer" is BBC. The crime drama stars Catherine Cawood as a police sergeant in Calder Valley, West Yorkshire in northern England. Because of the valley's drug problem, local police call the area "Happy Valley." Six episodes aired in 2014, six more episodes aired in 2016 and there are plans for more episodes in 2018. The series aired on BBC One and, in the United States, on Netflix.
"
Lenore poet" is POE. In 1831, Edgar Allan Poe published
A Paean, a short poem about a young man expressing grief over the death of his wife. Her name was not given. In 1843, Poe published a revised, and lengthier, version of the poem. It was titled
Lenore and the person mourning the young woman's death is her fiancé. The poem can be seen at The Literature Network website -- it includes the word "peccāvimus," Latin for "We have sinned."
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/574/Lenore appears again in Poe's
The Raven, published in January 1845. Poe wrote, "I pondered, weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore." I do that same thing when I'm forced to look up crossword puzzle answers relating to names and terms I'm unfamiliar with!
