For those who find NYT’s Monday puzzle too tame, I highly recommend Emmett Quigley’s themeless Monday puzzles.   These are always are challenge, sometimes downright frightening.  I don’t do them every Monday, but do if I have time.    Quigley’s puzzles are particularly cruel if you (like me) aren’t exactly up-t0-date on your pop culture (rap groups, texting abbreviations, pop stars) so there’s often a long answer I have no idea of.

This Monday’s puzzle asks for the “highest grossing actress of the aughts”.   I can’t give much of hint without giving the answer, but I can at least tell you it’s first and last name, that it’s a woman, that the first name is often associated with Kenneth Branagh and the last name is associated with Sherlock Holmes.

“Hypothetically”:  (great clue/answer!) 3 words

Place to pick up a blonde:  the obvious answer is correct in this case

“Story ___”:  2 words, a really, a word and a letter

“Before I forget”: …or “Incidentally”

Beef and Broccoli request:  especially if it’s “in brown sauce”

La _____ (prison where Arsene Lupin was held):  Well I doubt if it was good for his health!

Depth Lines:  Think 3D graphs,a  letter +a  word

Perennial with a large mouth:  Better to eat you with, my dear (though it’s not a fly trap, just something very pretty)

Django unchained genre:  Don’t try fitting guitar in here, the connection to music is only peripheral