Best Friend
The photograph above is of our daughter’s amazing dog, Tractor, the most loving, devoted, and occasionally goofy dog around. Since his arrival in our family, most everything that happens seems to revolve around him. Which is, of course, as it should be.
We had Tractor very much in mind while constructing this week’s puzzle, though, in truth, we initially set out to make an acrostic about the difference between cats and dogs, based on a quote from Dave Barry:
“Cats have the morals of Hannibal Lecter. If you come home and find your cat inside your parakeet’s cage, holding your dead parakeet in its jaws, your cat will be like, ‘Obviously this parakeet committed suicide.’ Meanwhile your dog, if you have one, will be moping around under the cage going, ‘I did it! I ate the bird!’”
But the quote was way too long, and none of our attempts to shorten it really worked. Fortunately, we discovered Mikita Brottman’s book about dogs and decided to focus on canines only this time around. Perhaps cats will find their way into a future puzzle.
Dogs are, of course, everywhere in popular culture, from Sherlock Holmes to Scooby-Doo. We particularly enjoyed placing “Roll over” in Answer C immediately following “Beethoven” in Answer B. We also included Answer V (“Breakfast”) — even if the British idiom “a dog’s breakfast” may strike some as a tad obscure. How many other dog references did you spot?
And as for Answer O, perhaps this will jog your memory:
My late, wonderful domestic partner was a cat person who tried unsuccessfully to convert me from dogs to cats. I would have loved to tell her about Dave Barry’s quote. Right on. I am looking forward to a cat acrostic.
A delight, as always.
Obvious canine-related clues: (i.e. names of actual breeds), A, K, M and S.
Slightly less obvious (i.e. names of fictional dogs — B (movie of the same name), L (Doc’s dog in Back to the Future) and U (long-running Hanna Barbera cartoon series).
Then there’s C (classic command to dogs); N (classic transliteration of a dog’s bark); and W (what little lap dogs often are – definitely not describing Tractor!)
Scooby Doo was after my time, but my kids watched and enjoyed it. I appreciate it its skeptical perspective. Many episodes involved something weird or paranormal, like ghosts, monsters, vampires, etc. But in the end, all these creepy goings-on are exposed as just the work of normal bad guys. I thought it was a rare and welcome attempt to introduce children to basic critical thinking.
Re: word P, I wondered if, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” fit that category. I found it considered a proverb and also a myth; old dogs CAN learn new tricks. Had forgotten how much I enjoyed Back to the Future (and Einstein).
Loved RUFF and YAPPER. This was a lot of fun and one of the easiest of yours because I caught on to the theme pretty quickly.
Love all the dog references, especially Scooby Do. After I caught on to the dog theme, I was thinking there’d be a clue like Farm Vehicle; Space Beam. And here we have a photo of Tractor! Please give that adorable guy a pat from me.