The final unsolved araucarian clue of the weekend was "rook in strawberry tree". Pah, said I and NB, there are no strawberry trees, of what does the man speak? strawberries are small red fruit what grow on the ground! (we were far from electricity and googleability).

The following day, I was learning a list of about 40 names of fruit in french, and halfway down came across: l'arbuste: Strawberry Tree.

The day after, I was reading En Attendant Godot, wherein one guy says to the other, "Is this a tree [arbre]?"  His friend counters with, "Non, c'est une arbuste".

You can go for years without encountering a single strawberry tree, then three come along at once. Sigh.
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In the quick crossword on Thursday, we find this insider clue:
"Ash, chestnut, or araucaria, for example (4)"
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The Times crossword I picked up on one of my commutes has me finding or deriving answers from capitals of countries and states. This is great! I'm learning all sorts of stuff.
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And hurrumph: this week's Guardian weekly's crossword is from their archives. I solved it four weeks ago at my Dharmafest at the beginning of May. Hmph.

Tags: crosswords