Learned something new today.
Solving today's NYT crossword, I came upon the theme entry at 44 across, clued "Place to buy wine". The clue had me puzzled, because intersecting entries strongly suggested the intended answer was PACKAGE STORE. But that made no sense to me. I was convinced that the puzzle had a typo, and the clue was intended to read "Place to buy twine". But nobody else was saying anything about it on the NYT crossword forum.
A quick trip to Merriam Webster revealed that a package store is, in fact, a liquor store. Which perhaps explains why I'm never able to get stamps there.
Ironically, I think I hit this same term a couple of years ago in a crossword and was equally perplexed. Maybe it'll stick this time.
Posted by Peter at January 28, 2004 05:13 PMI've only ever seen "package store" as a popular name for liquor stores here in MA, Peter; might be a very regional term.
Posted by: Joe Huber on January 28, 2004 05:45 PMGreat. Now the New York Times' crossword puzzle has a regional bias. Oh, wait...
Posted by: Nathan Beeler on January 29, 2004 11:36 AMIts because the liquor stores in Washington are still state run. Gotta love making your check out to the "State of Washington" when buying Jagermeister. Worth a vacation there more than once every 18 months. Oh, and the scenery is a good reason too.
Posted by: Matt on January 29, 2004 12:02 PM