Clever Clue of the Month

July 2017
Clue: Seat in a British pub?..........................ARSE
Constructor/Editor: Evan Birnholz
Evan Birnholz's Washington Post Crossword, Sunday, July 2, 2017

Clever Clue Nominees

Please vote for the best clue from July (either by email or comments below). The Clever Clue of the Month will be announced on Thursday.

Seat in a British pub?..................ARSE
Cooking class?..........................FOODGROUP
Chemistry test..........................HOTDATE
Kind of boid that catches the woim?.....OILY
Salt facility...........................SEALEGS
Second-hand item, perhaps?..............TIMEPIECE

Can crosswords make your brain younger?

A huge study of 17,000 people aged 50 and over has found that people who engage with word puzzles most often fare better on attention, reasoning, and memory tests than others who don’t complete similar brain teasers.

...Word-puzzle fans have brain function equivalent to 10 years younger than their age on tests of grammatical reasoning, speed, and short-term memory accuracy.

Read more here.

When did the word 'nerd' evolve to mean cool?

I think you'll enjoy this article...

Being an avid fan of some of the challenging crossword puzzles in The New York Times, I occasionally even delve into the puzzle archives and attempt some of the ones from yesteryear.

Recently, I was working on a puzzle from Sept. 15, 1995, in which one of the clues was “teen outcast,” with its answer as “nerd.”

I sent an e-mail to New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz...

Clever Clue of the Month

June 2017
Clue: Domestic flap?...................................DOGDOOR
Constructor: David Alfred Bywaters ; Editor: Mike Shank
Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Clever Clue Nominees

Please vote for the best clue from June (either by email or comments below). The Clever Clue of the Month will be announced on the Fourth.

Refuse work?............................JUNKART
Little pen pals?........................PIGLETS
Free cash?..............................BAIL
Referral from dad?......................ASKMOM
Certain racing vehicle..................BURLAPSACK
Domestic flap?..........................DOGDOOR

Clever Clue of the Month

May 2017
Clue: Diamond mine?....................................IGOTIT
Constructor: Sam Donaldson; Editor: Rich Norris
LA Times, Friday, May 26, 2017