Kevin Donovan lives in Calgary, Alberta, and has been constructing crosswords since 2003. His puzzles appear in
Newsday, the
New York Times, the
Los Angeles Times and other publications. In today's crossword, "Following Up," Donovan changes the meaning of seven familiar phrases by having them follow "Up."
Dr. Seuss, e.g.? UPBEATPOET
Profession for the principled? UPRIGHTFIELD
Periods of distress? UPSETTIMES
Promising market indicators? UPTURNSIGNALS
Toy trains for tycoons? UPSCALEMODELRAILROADS
What pillows may do, in a kids’ room? UPHOLDTHEFORT
Outperform crew members in the ship play? UPSTAGEHANDS
The so-called "Beat Poets" were part of the Beat Movement (also called the Beat Generation), a 1950s social and literary movement centered in the bohemian artist communities of Greenwich Village, San Francisco’s North Beach and Los Angeles's Venice West. Members of the Beat Generation, derisively called "beatniks," separated themselves from conventional (or "square") society by being nonconformist, wearing shabby clothes, using "hip" language, taking drugs, listening to jazz and being indifferent to political issues and social problems. Many of the Beats practiced Buddhism and other eastern religions. Among the Beat Poets were Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snider, Philip Whalen, Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Diane di Prima and Neal Cassady. Jack Kerouac, author of
On The Road, is credited with coining the term "The Beat Generation."
"Sask. neighbor" (Saskatchewan) is ALTA (Alberta). Yes, Donovan managed to include his home province in today's crossword. "Knowledgeable, in Nantes" is AUFAIT. "Au fait" is French for "to the fact." Loosely, it means "acquainted with the facts." "Only NATO member with no standing Army" is ICELAND. I never knew that. Actually I never even
thought about it. "Suddenly caught on" is TWIGGED. "Twig" is a verb meaning "to suddenly comprehend or understand" and is a regional colloquialism. The word dates from 1764 and comes from the Irish and Scottish Gaelic
tuig, which means "understand."
"ORD posting" is ETA. ORD is the International Air Transport Association code for Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the fourth busiest airport in the world. O'Hare opened in 1943 and was originally known as Orchard Place Airport, after the nearby community. The Douglas Aircraft Company built C-54 military cargo planes there during World War II. The ORD code comes from "ORchard" and "Douglas." The IATA code remains ORD, even though the airport was renamed in 1949 to honor World War II Navy pilot Edward O'Hare. More than 47,000 airport codes can be found at
https://www.world-airport-codes.comOkay, I have now written
down everything I had to say about the "Following
Up" puzzle. See you next time.
