I saw that painting in June. It's really quite exquisite. The online and the paper edition of the paper carries a picture of it with the article (with a man and a child looking at it).

I saw that painting in June. It's really quite exquisite. The online and the paper edition of the paper carries a picture of it with the article (with a man and a child looking at it).

Well, I subscribe to the paper edition during the weekends. So part of the Sunday paper comes on a Saturday. I usually read the Arts and Leisure section first, and then I check the Travel section. These days I can't bear to read the Real Estate section because I missed out on the boom. Every time I read that section I feel that my blood pressure has risen a couple of notches. :-) I also check the politics comics in "Week in Review" though they usually tell me that I've a lot to learn about politics and about pop culture.

You might as well answer the clue! :)

Ok, this is the article.

Leeuwenhoek used the microscope to discover bacteria.

Vermeer painted "View of Delft," now displayed at the Mauritshuis (I used this painting and Proust in another clue -- I think that in Proust's "Remembrance," a character wanted to see this painting before he died or something like that, but I've not read the novel).

The hometown is Delft, of course.

Sorry, link to article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/travel/14delft.html

Clue: A couple of paintings by this artist (6 letters, 5th = "e") featured this mathematical object (two words: 7, 5) and these animals (4 letters).

Hint: This clue has a certain relationship with the previous one, so if you figure out the connection it may help you solve the clue.

BTW, Leeuwenhoek was also the executor of Vermeer's estate when Vermeer died. It shows that the 2 of them knew each other quite well.

These Fodors people really need to get their act together.... The site has been quite unstable....

Was either of them wealthy? I don't know much about them.

By the way, my clue is very easy to Google (I forgot to check that).

Hmmm... I have a feeling that it is Escher.

Yes, that's right.

There's an Escher museum in The Hague (where the Mauritshuis is located), but I didn't get a chance to visit.

I didn't realize about the Escher Museum. His name popped into my head, as I saw his name mentioned in the Leeuwenhoek page on wikipedia:

< Van Leeuwenhoek appeared on an unused design for a 10 Guilder note done by M.C. Escher in 1951. >

I'm still working on the paintings. Moebius strip & Ants?

Yes. It's the Moebius strip and ants.

Weird connection there between L and E. Didn't know that!

I thought Escher only had one work that has both Moebius strip & ants, no? And I believe it is a woodcut, not a painting. (I know, minor details...)

Hm.... You might be right.

Well, as you say, details, details.... :-)

But don't forget to give another clue.

The following clue was all over the news recently:

This person (9,9) paid a record prize for this food item (5,7).

Person: 9,9 ("s" = 7th in first name)
Food: 5,7

"s" from Escher

I'm not in a good mood today and this forum's instability is driving me crazy.

It's Francesco Giambelli for white truffle.

Correct!

For those who missed this piece of news item:

< New York restaurateur Francesco Giambelli dished out a record $41,000 for a 2.4-pound prize Italian white truffle. >

Clue:

She (2 words: 6, 6, 2nd letter of first name = "a") won an (important) award at (place: 6 letters), but, ironically, most of you have never heard of her, unless, perhaps you're (5 words: 2, 3, 4, 3, 4)? (This is a joke but a small hint....)

Most of you have probably not heard of her ex-husband either (person: 7 letters), who's a (nationality: 6 letters) (profession: 8 letters).

Ok, you might be wondering -- if you've never heard of her, then why is she in this clue? Well, you *should* have heard of her.... :-)

Anyway, the little hint there is the title of a movie (just to make the hint a little more explicit). And she's not European, though the place at which the award was taken is definitely European.