language lessons

"On vacation? In Georgetown??"

Yes, believe it or not. And they came from a puzzle-a-day calendar, of all places. I've done a couple of those crossword puzzles while here with Stella, but this was the most fun of the bunch!

"Didn't you do some on your last stay with the dog? I don't recall you making a big deal of any of those."

Yes, I did do crosswords then, too, but I just didn't say anything. I really might see about getting one of these calendars next year. I'll have to see what different makers there are. These were all from the New York newspaper and some of the clues are about people I've never heard of. Maybe I'll find a Jonesin' puzzle calendar!

"Oh, that would be fabulous!! You've done his puzzles for so many years!"

I have! I very much enjoy his sense of humor! This one reminded me of his style, in a way, but what I most enjoyed was learning some new words from other countries.

"I see that you have persisted in using an ink pen on these puzzles."

As I said years ago, the vibration of the graphite in a pencil against the fibers in paper really aggravates my hand. Remember, my right hand still has carpal tunnel syndrome. It was just never so bad that it needed fixing, like my left had.

"Yes, dear."

You can 'Yes, dear' me all you want, that doesn't make it any less true.

"Yes, dear. I mean, do continue about the puzzle, won't you?"

Yes I shall, as that's my purpose here on this beach today. It was actually two school-related clues that really convinced me I was right place, right time. The first was "Vacation, in Swedish, and half of an academic year, in English." How very cool to give an alternate meaning for 'semester' to a retired professor like me! 

"Oh, that was very nice!!! What was the other?"

It was "High school, in Danish, and an indoor sports area, in English." I actually recalled knowing, in my distant past, that 'gymnasium' was that term. I must have picked it up in my reading, back when I read books.

"I have to wonder if our use of that word is maybe from another country."

You're right! The roots are from Italy and Greece. That latter is the more interesting, as it denotes "a place for exercising naked". Hahahaha!

"That's funny!!! So, what else did you learn in that puzzle?"

Here's one: "Vintage car, in German, and a former military person, in English." Who would have thought 'veteran' had that other meaning! Plus, that was another case of right place, right time, for me!

"That's pretty amazing. And do I see that puzzle appeared in the calendar for January 7, 2026? Is that right?"

You're correct. I was working on these crosswords in the order in which they appeared, so this was the seventh I'd run across. Not that I attempted each one, mind. I'd look them over first, to see if I could see a pattern or whether I could answer several of the clues. If I could, then I went for it! I didn't want to leave a bunch of half-done puzzles for Dawn and Koz to work on later.

"Ah, how kind of you? Sure seems like you cherry-picked the easiest ones."

No, I did not. Remember, everyone has different areas of knowledge and experience. I was being selective based on my talents in those two areas. Like with this clue: "Competition, in French, and an instance of agreement, in English." I determined that to be 'concurrence', which actually has its roots in Old French.

"You do so love looking up a word's origin!"

Specifically, that's called a word's etymology. I like to think of it as its genealogy. You can almost follow the migration of people by the travel of a word from one language to another.

"G'friend, you do like tangents, don't you?"

Nice of you to notice!

"So, were those four the only language-learning clues?"

Nope! There was one more, and it seemed meant for me, too! "Plywood, in Danish, and a dwelling with multiple units, in English." Years of working with my brother at his flooring business, coupled with continued forays to cinemas, lead me to 'multiplex', of all things. Whaddaya think of that?

"Perfect!"

Now, I'm going to work on finishing my Stella-in-June Film Festival. So far, I have "The Wedding Singer", "Pitch Perfect", "Pitch Perfect 2", "Shang Jin And The Ten Rings", "I, Robot", and Weekend At Bernie's". Time to add "Grumpy Old Men", as it starts in just a few minutes!

"What a smorgasbord of genres you have there!!!"