02/03/11 Newsday

[gerryw]

Today's Newsday puzzle was quite easy but I found the clue 1 Down clued as Four __ (theme of the puzzle)  rather mysterious.  The title, Well-Furnished, fit the theme entries which used chest, hutch, bureau, and counter fairly reasonably.  But what does "Four legs" have to do with this?

Gerry

[Eric Maddy]

The title of the puzzle was "WELL-FURNISHED", and all of the themers include pieces of furniture which (presumably) have four legs:

get off ones CHEST
press BUREAU
bean COUNTER
starsky and HUTCH

I'm not going to enter into a discussion of whether a counter might or might not have four legs, but I'm pretty sure this is the idea 1D is supposed to be referencing.

[DrewE]

The title of the puzzle was "WELL-FURNISHED", and all of the themers include pieces of furniture which (presumably) have four legs:

get off ones CHEST
press BUREAU
bean COUNTER
starsky and HUTCH

I'm not going to enter into a discussion of whether a counter might or might not have four legs, but I'm pretty sure this is the idea 1D is supposed to be referencing.

A chest of drawers probably has (short) legs; a toy or blanket or steamer chest, on the other hand, may well be legless.  A counter would seem to me to be generally devoid of legs.  And I generally think of a hutch as a shelf unit that is placed atop a desk or sideboard or whatever; however, Webster's informs me that it can also be the whole combination taken as a unit, particularly in the case of a china cabinet.  (A hutch in the sense of an animal cage certainly has legs, usually four in number unless it's joined together with several other hutches; but one usually doesn't categorize them as "furnishings.")

I'd tend to agree with Gerry that 1D clue is a bit of a stretch for these theme entries.