To play, just remember the name – Common Denominator. Thematic word puzzles built around a shared motif. Your first priority should be to discover the Common Denominator. Every example immediately gives you three directions: 1) the clues; 2) some answers and letters; 3) a color. To divine the correct category the color is Key. All the puzzles belong to one of five families indicated by a colored bar in the upper right hand corner. Memorize the colors as the cue word doesn’t appear. Note the color, add some answers – guess the subdivision. See the back of the answer booklet for a more than complete list of categories arranged by family. They are all there – the difficulty is that so are many others. There are about 70 categories used. In the version online the category is shown so the color is less important.

Original appearance CIP May 2006, CD 2001, © 2001 / PRO 654, OO NA, RD 2-15, YP 30/8-15

At first the game Common Denominator might seem a trifle difficult but, as you continue to play, you will find yourself getting better and better at it. That is because there are repetitive patterns throughout the game and as you become familiar with them, more and more answers will leap from your subconscious. Go with the flow. She was right: intuition is it. He knew: patterns pay. Keep it together and you win.

Original appearance CIP May 2006, CD 2001, © 2001 / PRO 569, OO NA, RD 2-15, YP 30/8-15

Napoleon Bonaparte was one of their early students. Class of 1784. The École Militaire must have taught him well. For years he piled victory upon victory. Except at Waterloo and on the seas he was virtually unstoppable. The military school can be proud of this pupil. It was founded in 1751 by Louis XV and built by the architect Jacque-Ange Gabriel, who also did the Place de la Concorde. Its central pavilion has a classical 8 Corinthian pillars and an impressive quadrangular dome. Located on the southeastern end of the Champ-de-Mars it is in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and the Tour Montparnasse on either side. There are practically no signs that indicate this is a military school, or anything else for that matter. Indeed essentially no high government buildings in France have any signs to indicate what goes on inside. There is however out front, across the avenue, a mounted statue of Joffre. I suppose it is a clue.

Original appearance Feb 14, 2006, © 2006 / MILITAIRE / ÉCOLE MILITAIRE, (SCHOOL) / 1 PL JOFFRE, 75007 / NONE OR NL / KEYS : SCHOOL,MILITARY ACDMY,MONUMENT, 1751, PAVILLION,NOT PUBLIC,QUAD. DOME / CIP 194, OO 19, RD 14, YP 30/8-14

She often played a gorgeous ice maiden in the films of Bruòuel, Vadim and Polanski, though not in Jacques Demy’s ‘Umbrellas of Cherbourg’ (1964) which served as her introduction to the world. Catherine Deneuve has starred in close to 100 films the most notable of which were: Repulsion (1965), The Last Metro (1980), Indochine (1992), Place Vendome (1998), and Dancer in the Dark (2000). She has been nominated for 8 César (French Oscar) Awards, but most Americans remember her best from a series of Chanel perfume ads she did. She was sublime. She once said “I don’t see any reason for marriage when there is divorce” and she proved her free spirited, non conformist and unconventional nature by having two children out of wedlock - one by Vadim and one by Mastroianni. She also has two well known sisters who go by her maiden name Dorléac. She ranks right up there as one of the "Grand Dames" of French cinema along with Simone Signoret, Jeanne Moreau and my favorite Juliette Binoche.

Original appearance Nov 14, 2005, © 2005 / Catherine DENEUVE / 1943- / actress, film, ‘Umbr. Of Cherbourg’ / C / 97 / CIP 397, OO 19, RD 14, YP 30/8-14

A little “bespectacled, hunched and wrinkled” old nun retired in 1971 and went to work. She was born Madeleine Cinquin in Brussels in 1908, got a degree in philosophy at the Sorbonne, took her vows in 1929 – and a little over 40 years later she retired. Beginning of the story. In mounds of rubbish, in the toughest streets of Cairo, she found her calling. First protecting the garbage collectors and then expanding to deprived children, she lived with the poor in Cairo. Then she built schools, houses and medical centers in Egypt and the Sudan, all through donations to her non profit organization. Les Amis de Soeur Emmanuelle, with its many chapters, continues her work. At 95 she remains very active though she semi-re-retired again to France in 1993. While she humbly dismisses any comparisons to Mother Teresa with a breezy “its like comparing a mouse to a mountain,” I think Mother Teresa might have agreed she is the Mother’s Sister.

Original appearance Nov 14, 2005, © 2005 / Sœur EMMANUELLE / 1910- / Sister, humanitarian, ASMAE / better / B / 27 / CIP 327, OO 19, RD 14, YP 30/8-14

He is inside our Statue of Liberty and at the end of our dream trips. Yes, he built the armature inside the Statue of Liberty, and he constructed the Eiffel Tower. Before that Gustave Eiffel designed and produced the wrought-iron lattices and metal structural work in numerous bridges and viaducts – a notable example being Ponte Maria Pia in Portugal, 1864. Later there was a sorry connection to the Panama Canal project with Ferdinand de Lesseps, but his part was minor and his conviction later annulled. Another Paris landmark worth a visit is his La Ruche, a three story beehive of artist’s studios with some pretty famous bees (Apollinaire, Chagall, Modigliani to name a few). Still his tour de force was the Tour Eiffel built with 10,100 tons and 18,000 pieces of iron, and having had over 200 million visitors since its construction.

Original appearance Nov 14, 2005, © 2005 / Gustave EIFFEL / 1832-1923 / engineer, tower / best / A / 25 / CIP 325, OO 19, RD 14, YP 30/8-14

This one surprised me. To be honest I did not recognize his name initially, but I have been long familiar with the organization he founded and ran from 1971-1979, Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontiérs or MSF). Over the years my initial respect for that organization had declined. In 1980 Bernard Kouchner founded Médecins du Monde after a conflict of opinion with Claude Malhuret the Director of MSF. He was also the official in charge of UN/KFOR in Kosovo 1999-2001, and held various Minister of State posts from 1988-2002, usually related to humanitarian and health issues. To hold any reasonably high official position in France you have a choice of being mildly, moderately or stridently anti American. He chose the first. In addition he supported the ouster of Saddam Hussein on humanitarian grounds - though through international intervention rather than through actual war. This in France constitutes being surprisingly balanced.

Original appearance Nov 14, 2005, © 2005 / Bernard KOUCHNER / 1939- / politician, doctor, w/o borders / mixed / D / 74 / CIP 374, OO 19, RD 14, YP 30/8-14

For sheer delight as to what can be done deep in the heart of a city go to Parc Monceau. An island of peace in the tumult. In the 8th, but bordering my 17th, it is perhaps a ten minute walk from my home. When I make that stroll I know I am a very lucky man. Carmontelle designed it back about the time of the revolution and it remains a green haven to this day. Little lakes, colonnades, statuary, a pyramid and a pagoda have all decorated this oasis. The first parachutist in history (Garnerin, October, 1797) landed right here.

Original appearance May 16, 2005, © 2005 / MONCEAU / PARC MONCEAU, (PARK) / BLVD DE COURCELLES, 75017 / 01 42 27 08 64 / CIP 110, OO 16, RD 13, YP 30/8-13

The quality of acting in French cinema is remarkably good. Perhaps it is because much of their production deals with more substantive issues than our action films. Possibly because the star system does not seem as entrenched here. Certainly because hype has considerably less weight and content more in the relative balance. Yes, they have some big name stars like Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. Mostly though, they have very experienced actors and actresses. It is obvious that craft has much more value than simple youthful good looks. It is refreshing but the language is a major difficulty.

Original appearance May 16, 2005, © 2005 / CIP 067, OO 16, RD 13, YP 30/8-13

The streets, the subways and the busses of Paris are alive with a kaleidoscope of colors and costumes. Some are tourists but most actually live here. Having ranted elsewhere on the evils of class consciousness, I would like now to wax poetic on this sublime diversity. There is something august and almost transcendent in the mixing of cultures on the avenues of the City of Light. It is somehow pleasing to see a kimono, a poncho, and a shador all on the very same block. It does this old boy’s heart good. Ah yes, there are plenty of suits and ties, but there are also mandarin collars, Nehru jackets, and colorful African dashikis. It is captivating. It is colorful. And it is right.

Original appearance May 16, 2005, © 2005 / CIP 049, OO 16, RD 13, YP 30/8-13