By the way, yes, cmt, I knew it had something to do with langue d'oc (from the Latin hoc, I believe) -- modern French is more closely associated with langue d'oil (sp?), right? I did read about this at one point. Then of course, Frederic Mistral was used as a clue earlier. Some search turned up Felibree though (I had no idea that there was a festival by this name).

ttt, KT or cmt?

I already posted Margherita, but KT hasn't returned yet to say whether that's the answer she had in mind.

Why don't you just go? She didn't wait for my confirmation either.

I mean, it should be obvious if you got it or not. When I give a clue and another gets it, as far as I'm concerned, that person can just give the next clue.

Well, (s)he -- I don't know if KT is a man or a woman....

Sorry, I've been away from the computer. Yes, it's Margherita. And I'm a she.

I didn't wait for 111op's confirmation 'cause I couldn't imagine any other answer would fit all four of those criteria. But now I realize I should have built on Charles Aznavour, not Notting Hill. Thanks for having patience with a novice.

cmt, go to it!

Name this person's birthplace. He DIED on Sept. 11. It is said that in his youth, this miner's son worked as a shepherd, locksmith, and pipefitter, but those were not the occupations that made him famous. The name of his birthplace has 9 letters. Like "Margherita," it has two As, one in second place, and one last.

Name the birthplace. If you want to, name the person as well. His name is usually spelled with 6 letters in the first name, 10 in the last. The penultimate letter in the first name is a T, as in Margherita, and the penultimate letter of the last name is the E from Margherita.

Hi KT, you could build on any of the answers -- I mean, this is only a game. We're not a police state.

I'll have to check the thread later. Not yet sufficiently addicted to pay 30c a minute at Kinko's to Google search random clues.

Nikita Khrushchev, born in Kalinovka

http://www.rusnet.nl/encyclo/k/khrushchev.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev

Since it's Sunday, I've some time on my hands. I'm going to assume that I got it and here's the next clue.

Clue: Important architect, whose real name is (3 words: 7, 7, 9, 3rd letter of last name is "a&quot, and whose reputation seems to have declined. A famous phrase said was that a house was a (word: 7 letters) for (word: 6 letters). An important building was this: (2 words: 5, 6). Designed own tomb and buried at the cemetery at (place: 10 letters).

So, need to provide:

1. architect
2. house as blah for blah
3. important building
4. cemetery where buried

Charles Édouard Jeanneret (aka Le Corbusier)
house as machine for living
Villa Savoye?
Roquebrune?

Yes!

Oh no, I don't want to play this game on a Sunday.

Villa Savoye sounds very interesting. I've to add this to my list of places to go. It's supposedly accessible by RER-A from Paris. Has anyone seen it?

I've seen it listed in a couple of guide books, and interestingly, the Fodor's new blog has an entry on this about a month ago.

While doing my research on Corbusier, I came across this Guardian article on Eileen Gray. It's pretty interesting:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/st...524083,00.html

"She was, for a brief moment in the 20s, in the vanguard of architectural modernism, feted for the 'little refuge' she built on France's southernmost tip. So why is Eileen Gray's contribution overlooked?"

This writer/poet had written plenty of plays & poems.
One of his poem (3 words, 2,3,6) was incooperated into a symphonic work.
Several of his plays have been the basis of operas, including:
2 words (3,6) by famous composer (last name 5)
and
4 words (3,8,3,7) by (last name 11)

The writer had a very long name, but the shorter version is (9,3,8). The "e" from Jeanneret is the 7th letter of last name.

A minor correction:
The second opera title should have been 2 words: 11,4 (in its original language)
The play by the writer in his language was 4 words (3,8,3,7)

Sounds like the sort of thing I should know, but I don't off the top of my head. Oh well.

You definitely know the answer (at least part of it).

Now that I look at the clue again, I guess I do know part of it.

The first opera is Don Carlos by Verdi. I searched and the author must be Schiller (Friedrich von Schiller). What's the long name?

I need to think about the second opera.

By the way, Don Carlos is sometimes spelled Don Carlo. One is a French version; the other is an Italian version. I can never remember which one has the "s." There're also multiple versions to this opera -- that much I know. I've never seen it or heard it though.

Obviously the other one is "Ode to Joy" ("An die Freude&quot -- the famous last movement of Beethoven's 9th.

I still need the second opera.

Ok, the second play must be

DIE JUNGFRAU VON ORLEANS, 1801 - The Maid of Orleans

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/schiller.htm

I did guess that the composer must have been Tchaikovsky (who else has such a long name? ).

It's called "Orleanskaia deva" in Russian.

I actually have never even heard of this opera.