dogscats

DOGS & CATS in CROSSWORDS are in

CHUCK'S CROSSWORD COLUMN
by Chuck Schnebel

In this column we are dealing with some of the most frequently used references to dogs and cats in crosswords. The following named little rascals are probably familiar to almost any puzzle solver I know as well as all of you whom I don't know, since they have all fitted cosily into many a crossword for decades. Check them out and see if you don’t agree.

Let’s start with one which has persistently shown up in puzzles for the past sixty years or so. Is that enough of a clue?

ASTA…It has been reported that this little wirehaired terrier received even more fan mail than his costars Myrna Loy and William Powell. At any rate, their mutual popularity was responsible for a series of six"Thin Man" moviesduring the 1930s and 1940s. For our own purposes in solving a crossword it is probably most important to remember that ASTA is the pet of Nick and Nora Charles in these films since more often than not we will be asked to name "the Charles’ dog," "Nora’s pooch" or perhaps "Nick’s barker." Click on the portrait above left or on ASTA's high-lighted name to take you to Tribaby's web page about Skippy, the real name of this canine star and find out about his other many movie credits and famous costars of the 1930s. Learn more about the Thin Man movie series from Tim Dirks by clicking on the high-lighted words six "Thin Man" movies. Asta might also turn up in a puzzle as a "cinema canine" or "dog star", but these clues might just as easily refer to our next often-used crossword dog., the very famous and well-loved TOTO.

TOTO…That’s Dorothy’s dog, TOTO, in the center of the picture. By this time she and TOTO are a long way from Kansas, and she’s rallied her friends to go in search of "The Wizard of Oz." So, whether you are asked for "Dorothy’s pet," "the Kansan pooch" or "’Wizard of Oz’ dog," TOTO it is. Since the movie was first shown in theaters in 1939 it has been a continual favorite first in movie theaters, then as a yearly special on television and presently in video sales and rentals. No wonder TOTO has had as long a life in crosswords as has ASTA. Click on TOTO's picture to visit Wendy's Wonderful Wizard of Oz website for 65 (!) pages of pictures and information. A click on Toto's high-lighted name at the beginning of this paragraph takes you to Jim Whitcomb's webpage telling us all about the cairn terrier named Terry who was finally chosen to portray Toto and containing everything we are ever likely to know about this little wonder dog.

FALA…This little black Scottish terrier has been around as a crossword puzzle item almost as long and as often as the two listed above. He was an occupant of the White House with Franklin Delano Roosevelt from 1940 to 1945, and he traveled all over the world with the President. He might turn up as "FDR’s Scottie," "FDR’s pet" or "FDR's dog," but he’s still FALA. For lots of new information about Fala and his relationship with FDR (along with lots of stories about Barney, the current White House black Scottish terrier in residence), click on his picture or on his high-lighted name above.

ODIE…This little guy is fairly new on the crossword puzzle circuit, but already he is gaining the same kind of attention crossword composers have been giving to Asta, Toto and Fala. Whether he shows up as "Garfield’s friend" or "Garfield’s nemesis" he’s ODIE. You can meet ODIE, and learn all about how he came to be connected with Garfield by clicking on either his high-lighted name or his picture above..

Do we need a line of demarcation between the dogs and the cats? If so, this is it.

KRAZY KAT…This is probably one of the earliest comic strips to appear in print. It is also a forerunner of the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Happily, you don’t have to remember any of this since the clue in any crossword I’ve ever seen has always been the same. Krazy _ _ _ . It never varies, and the answer, of course, is always the same. K A T. However, by clicking on either the high-lighted name above or KRAZY KAT's accompanying picture, you can pay a visit to Coconino County, the home of not only KRAZY KAT, but also of that wonderful little poet laureate cockroach, Archy, and his one true love, Mehitabel, the cat who claims to be a reincarnation of Cleopatra.

CATS…It used to be that there would be an occasional clue like "manx and Abyssinian" or something to that effect. This would be a clue, of course, for CATS. Then along came Andrew Lloyd Webber to change all that. Suddenly the clues would read "long running Broadway musical" or just "Broadway musical" or "musical with ‘Memories’." The clue writers were obviously ecstatic to have found a whole new reason to be able to use such an adaptable word as CATS in their puzzles, and the word popped up nearly every few days in one crossword or another. A click on the CATS panel above will take you to information about the musical CATS.

TABBY…The only other cat which seems to show up in crosswords with any regularity is the TABBY, usually clued as either a "house cat" or just plain "cat." Calligrapher Sydney Hauser's picture of a TABBY along with its caption, is one of my favorites. Clicking on either the picture or name will take you the the website of The Tabby Cat, Hauser's shop in Sarasota, Florida which features all manner of products with a feline theme.

CROSSWORD LINKS

Among the thousands of websites about Crossword Puzzles, I've found two that are especially helpful both to the novice as well as the veteran puzzle solver. You might enjoy checking them out. Ray Hamel's Crossword Puzzle Page
Dave Fisher's Crosswords/Puzzles About.Com Page

If you are into online crosswords, and have a Java-powered browser, you might like
to try Timothy Parker's Universal Crossword. Just click on the logo below.

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