Criterion Newsletter: Clues and More, Volume Four

[Brian C]

I still think Raisin in the Sun is the most convincing, but I'll just throw this one out there: Suntan oil. Bunch of grapes.

The Oiled Bunch = The Wild Bunch

A slight reach but still plausible and at the very least kinda clever. It's the first guess here that really fits the spirit of a typical clue.

[solaris72]

Grape tannins? Sideways?

[mfunk9786]

Pretty clear that it’s The Wild Bunch or Raisin in the Sun, so let’s lock ‘er up

[FrauBlucher]

This is interesting. Good sleuthing from a bluray.com poster

[swo17]

But then why the suntan lotion? And why that Masumura film?

[soundchaser]

Now you're thinkin' with possums

[mfunk9786]

Are we still litigating the newsletter clue? C'mon.

[Brian C]

Personally I think you locked the newsletter thread too early - I’m not sure anyone thinks it’s been definitively solved.

[mfunk9786]

Seemed to me like the Sideways guess was the beginning of a run of ridiculousness, which I'd also classify this as. But OK, it's headed over there.

[Brian C]

Seemed to me like the Sideways guess was the beginning of a run of ridiculousness, which I'd also classify this as. But OK, it's headed over there.

Well, I don’t disagree on either point regarding ridiculousness!

I’ve been convinced this is for The Wild Bunch, so if others agree, speak up and let’s kill this baby already.

[swo17]

I think that's the most likely answer, even if it's a bit weak as a pun.

[jedgeco]

I’ve been convinced this is for The Wild Bunch, so if others agree, speak up and let’s kill this baby already.

While I want it to be The Wild Bunch, suntan oil doesn't have a high SPF. (I know this is a bit of a pedantic interpretation.)

"Grape Sunbath" makes much more sense to me, even though I don't want it to be correct.

[Brian C]

I agree that “oiled bunch” is a bit of a stretch as a pun, but “grape sunbath” stretches the entire concept of a pun to its existential breaking point. You can’t even say that in a goofy Jerry Lewis accent to make that sound close.

[movielocke]

I agree that a raisen in the sun doesn’t make sense because why do grapes instead of a raisin, you could draw a California raisin style cartoon without infringing copyright. And it doesn’t include the lotion/oil.

Oiled bunch seems to fit in better with the kind of clues they make up.

[J M Powell]

As a child (mid-'80s) I had a book of knock-knock jokes. I've long forgotten every joke in that book. Except one:

- Knock, knock.
- Who's there?
- Darth Vader.
- Darth Vader who?
- Darth Vader cookie crumbles.

This joke stuck in my mind for decades because neither I nor any adult I asked could make sense of it.

Then a few years ago the epiphany came. Someone had thought "Darth Vader" sounded hilariously like "That's the way the"; and this individual was put in charge of compiling a book of jokes.

So "oiled bunch," "grape sunbath," "ill sore possum," they're all the same to me, and all fully plausible. I've been through hell and have returned to tell the tale.

[KJones77]

I like blu-ray.com answer that led to Grapes of Wrath, as it is a bunch of grapes sunbathing, which is a grape sunbath.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p ... unt=175760" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's definitely an "il sorpasso" type of reasoning, just as Raisin in the Sun is the obvious answer like Midnight Cowboy was.

[Minkin]

I think The Wild (oiled) Bunch is by far the best answer. They've already used a California Raisin in a New Years clue, so there's no reason not to do so again. Plus these clues are like 90% puns. I know people like to argue these things, but whoever wins between Wild Bunch / Raisin in the Sun / Grapes of Wrath will be determined by whichever is announced first. I like the idea of Grape Escape, but why wouldn't they use an image of the boardgame? I'm reminded of the Coat Unknown (back when I convinced us it was for Young and Innocent - oops!).

If only Criterion would hire this puzzle maker instead:



In case you can't figure it out, the puzzle fortunately gives you the answer upside-down: Star Wars

[Yaanu]

[domino harvey]

Finally

[rbonaime]

Arsenic and Old Lace. Peter Lorre plays a character named Dr. Hermann Einstein and the main characters hide a body in a trunk.

[jedgeco]

Technically, Mortimer finds the corpse in the window seat. But I got nothing better.

[JSC]

To be nit-picky it's technically not the trunk but the rumble-seat. Hence Lorre's
line "But Johnny, we can't just leave a dead body in the rumble seat."

[mfunk9786]

Arsenic and Old Lace. Peter Lorre plays a character named Dr. Hermann Einstein and the main characters hide a body in a trunk.

Although if it's this, where's the pun?

[rbonaime]

To be nit-picky it's technically not the trunk but the rumble-seat. Hence Lorre's
line "But Johnny, we can't just leave a dead body in the rumble seat."

Don't they also hide a body in a trunk/chest as well? That's what I was thinking of when I said trunk.

[soundchaser]

Some elsewhere have suggested "Das Boot," but it relies upon a very tenuous use of the British term for trunk and a questionable way to show German-ness (Germanity?).