Grab your stake and crucifix pendant, we're going vampire-hunting! Well, vampire-etymology-hunting. The podcast Buffering the Vampire Slayer, which recaps the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode by episode, invited me to answer their listeners' questions of language that the show had provoked. Together with BVTS hosts Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs, I tackle the etymology of coven, vampire/vampyre, wigging out, the name Buffy and Bovril; as well as google as a verb, conlang on TV, and why Latin is so often the language of spells and spookiness.
Read moreAllusionist 8: Crosswords
Cryptic crosswords: delightful brain exercise, or the infernal taunting of the incomprehensible?
Either way, crossword setter John Feetenby explains how they're made and how to solve them. He reveals how he composes clues (even one for 'Zaltzman'), why crosswords reign supreme over sudoku, and why 'jacuzzi' is rarely the answer.
ADDITIONAL READING:
If, like me, you suck at cryptic crosswords, to start off here's Cryptic Crosswords for Dummies.
I'll never be able to do The Guardian's crossword, but if that's the crossword mountain you want to climb, here's the Guardian's Cryptic Crosswords for Beginners series. I can do the Telegraph crossword a bit, so here's the Telegraph's guide too.
This is a very handy compendium of what words mean in crosswordese.
Here's a summary of the differences between UK and US crosswords.
I'm aware that crosswords from other countries work differently to British ones, so do illuminate me about your own local crossword practices.
RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
waterbrash
Say hi at facebook.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, and come back in a fortnight for the next episode.
- HZ
CREDITS
John Feetenby's crosswords appear every Sunday in one of Britain's major newspapers. He is @feexby on Twitter and his website is feexby.com, via which you can find his own podcasts.
This episode was presented and produced by me, Helen Zaltzman.
MUSIC:
'Allusionist Theme' - Martin Austwick
'I don't Get It' - Cowboy Junkies
'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' - The Animals