Fountain Pen In Crossword Puzzle

[Joane]

I've just been doing a crossword puzzle. One of the answers was "fountainpen." The clue was "Quaint graduation gift!" Just goes to show we've got an uphill battle today, folks, regarding perception of the world's greatest writing instrument.*

 

Just wanted to share that. On the one hand, it's an upper to see the term "fountain pen" or even "pen" or "ink," which occur more frequently, as part of a crossword puzzle. On the other, it's a little unsettling to see it referenced as something from the past. Anyone else here note any pen-related references in puzzles?

 

 

*world's greatest writing instrument = the clue I would use in a crossword puzzle!

[litmajor]

what crossword was it? Newspaper? game book?

[dflorida]

If only that sort of ignorance was limited to fountain pens. A local story on the news a few days ago referred to a Deputy Constable's son shooting a home intruder with an assault rifle. He actually used a pump shotgun.

[Joane]

what crossword was it? Newspaper? game book?

It was the Chicago Sun-Times crossword from Wednesday, April 21, 2010, entitled "Wet Quartet." Sorry I no longer have access to the link.

 

Dflorida, I'm clueless about guns but ITA ignorance is not only limited to fountain pens!

[Tsujigiri]

Why would you give as a graduation gift something that would have been so useful leading up to graduation?

[Joane]

Why would you give as a graduation gift something that would have been so useful leading up to graduation?

 

Good point, TG! That horse is long out of the barn!

Edited July 4, 2010 by Joane

[LisaN]

Why would you give as a graduation gift something that would have been so useful leading up to graduation?

Silly, because when they leave, you want them to write home, if even for money. :ltcapd:

[rsx]

So what do you give for a graduation gift?

 

Most college, and even high school kids today, seem to have most of the material things they want. They all seem to have cars, iphones, clothes. They can buy whatever on their credit cards.

 

What you must give them when they graduate is what they don't realize they need.

 

Like a good pen.

[WendyNC]

I got a Parker 75 for a high school graduation gift (at my request) and it's still the smoothest nib I own since I wrote my way through college with it.

[Joane]

So what do you give for a graduation gift?

 

Most college, and even high school kids today, seem to have most of the material things they want. They all seem to have cars, iphones, clothes. They can buy whatever on their credit cards.

 

What you must give them when they graduate is what they don't realize they need.

 

Like a good pen.

Rsx, I agree 100% with the idea of giving a fountain pen as a graduation gift--or a birthday gift, or an anniversary gift, or a Christmas gift, or a gift for any occasion. What got me about that clue was the idea of calling it "quaint." I personally find it a gift that is very timely and in tune with today.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

I've received a Parker Jotter, Sonnet, Pelikan, Duofold & a MB149 for various academic milestones.

I don't just like 'quaint', I love it.

Bye,

S1

[ZeissIkon]

Silly me, I clicked on this topic thinking it was about using fountain pens to solve the puzzle, not finding them mentioned in the content. FWIW, I work both newspaper crosswords in the local paper, virtually every day I work, and do them all with fountain pen (a 1930s Majestic lever filler loaded with Noodler's Black, the ink that was originally created specifically for newspaper crosswords) -- and when I get to sit in the local tire/repair shop for a few hours, I'll work at (and often finish) the New York Times Sunday puzzle that reprints in the local inflammatory weekly paper -- again, with my Majestic and Noodler's Black -- though the Times puzzle typically takes me up to a couple hours, where the daily puzzles run 6-8 minutes for the small one and 12-20 for the large. Don't recall ever seeing fountain pens mentioned, though I think I did fill in "quill" once a few months ago.