Bruce Haight came up with a cute idea for today's
Los Angeles Times crossword: "Highway segment for slower traffic" is RIGHTLANE -- and the end (the right side) of each theme answer can be followed by LANE.
Friends of man's best friend: DOGLOVERS
Tidy sum that doesn't sound like much: PRETTYPENNY
Sport involving some rolling on the grass: LAWNBOWLING
Forgetting the unpleasant parts: SELECTIVEMEMORY
The expression "man's best friend" was first used by Frederick II, former King of Prussia (1740-86). He was unmarried and preferred to spend time with his greyhounds rather than with people. He referred to one of his dogs as "man's best friend" and even asked that he be buried next to his greyhounds on the vineyard terrace at his residence in Potsdam. However, his nephew and successor Frederick William II instead ordered the body to be entombed next to the body of Frederick I near the Potsdam Garrison Church.
In 1967, the Beatles had a number-one hit in several countries with
Penny Lane, written by Paul McCartney. There is indeed a Penny Lane in Liverpool. One day in November 1966, Paul was waiting at a bus shelter for Beatles bandmate John Lennon. While there -- or
whilst, as the British would say -- Paul wrote down descriptions of what he saw, including the bank, the barber shop, the roundabout and the nurse selling poppies for Remembrance Day, and turned his dsescriptions into a song. The "shelter in the middle of the roundabout" was the Penny Lane Bus Station, which no longer exists. After the
Penny Lane song was released, Beatles fans stole all the street signs.
"Columbus craft" is PINTA ("The Painted One") -- but is it really? Historians say
La Pinta was a nickname. Ships in Columbus's time were named after saints. Columbus also had the
Santa Clara (which was nicknamed
La Niña) and the
Santa Maria. No one is certain what the
Pinta's real name was. For more information about the three ships, go to
http://www.indepthinfo.com/columbus-christopher/nina-pinta-santa-maria.htmAnd before you ask, no, I don't believe there was ever a ship called the Santa
Claus.
