"If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you that I came to live out loud."
Émile Zola was a prolific French writer and one of the most important figures in the naturalism literary movement. He was also known for his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair of the late 1890s. This political scandal began when a French agent stole a letter to a German military officer. The commanders of the French army decided that Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish soldier, is a spy within the French top army staff. He is imprisoned and awaits many years for trial. It is discovered that another soldier is actually the spy, but he gets sent to a distant post instead. Dreyfus's wife pleaded with Zola to take up this cause. Zola publishes a letter in a newspaper with the heading J'Accuse (I Accuse). He is brought to trial for libel and is imprisoned for a year. A new army administration finally admits that Dreyfus is innocent, but Zola dies of carbon monoxide poisoning the day before Dreyfus is exonerated. For a complete list of Zola's works, see http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL32772A/%C3%89mile_Zola.Today's puzzle (by Norma Steinberg) is called "I Got Your Back." The theme answers:
20A: Minimal uncertainty (SHADOW OF A DOUBT). This is also the name of 1943 Hitchcock thriller. In this classic film starring Theresa Wright and Joseph Cotten, a teenager named Charlotte "Charlie" Newton is visited by her favorite uncle. However, "Uncle Charlie" is not the man he appears to be and has some very dark secrets. No spoilers!
40A: Child's Game (FOLLOW THE LEADER). This morning, the "Today" show featured 2,000 Zumba instructors led by their guru, Beto Perez. One of my favorite Zumba songs happens to be "Follow the Leader" by the Soca Boyz. Here are the boys in a live performance:
55A: Be behind, with 30 minutes of football left (TRAIL IN THE HALF). I don't think we will be seeing football for a while. They're on strike. Good riddance!
Jessica Alba appears on the September Lucky. She looks fabulous!
Bought skinny cargo pants from Loehmann's today. Next up, trying to find a hot pink sweater to go with my new black-and-white dress. There's always turquoise.
Till tomorrow. . . .
Signing off,
The Puzzlechick
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