Brain Power!

[ Owen and I went to Target to buy a Dyson vacuum. We went by the books, and grabbed this one. He started flipping through it in the back seat as I drove home. ]

[ On the drive home ]

OWEN: There are different kinds of puzzles. Oh look—a crossword. I know one. "10 Across: Spaceman." Astronaut, right?

THANE: How many letters is it?

OWEN: Nine.

THANE: OK, that sounds good. A-S-T-R-O-N-A-U-T.

OWEN: OK, the next one. Number 13. "Obstacle." Barrier?

THANE: [ Glances backward to see if he is cheating and looking at the answers. He isn't. ] How many letters?

OWEN: Six.

THANE: No, "barrier" has seven letters. But good guess. Very good. Thought of it myself, in fact.

OWEN: "17 Across. Assignment." Four letters. I wrote in WHEAT already for one that said "Flour grain."

THANE: What? You wrote in what?

OWEN: WHEAT.

THANE: For what?

OWEN: It says, Flour grain.

THANE: OK, yes, good, right-o. Let's have another one.

OWEN: "Assignment." So it starts with a T.

THANE: How many letters?

OWEN: Four.

THANE: Let's see, "TEST," maybe, but that's not quite right, let's not put anything in there yet...

OWEN: I'm going to write in TASK.

THANE: Ah—yes...

Stuck on Green Earth

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Originally uploaded by thane.