what in the cornbread hell is a burqini, you ask?

i do the ny times crossword puzzle just about every day. hey, there are worse addictions out there.
yesterday i decided to try my hand at the ny sun puzzle.
man, was it was a killer.

my favorite answer: BURQINI
clued as MUSLIM WOMAN'S SWIMWEAR, which i only got by the crossings.

turns out it's a word coined by combining burqa, the traditional head-to-toe covering for Muslim women,


with bikini.

(from wikipedia: "According to the official version, the modern bikini... was named after Bikini Atoll, the site of nuclear weapon tests... in the Marshall Islands, on the reasoning that the burst of excitement it would cause would be like the nuclear device." )






now, if the mental image of a burqa clad surfer isn't funny to you, i really can't do a thing to help you out. but you might at least admit that burqini is a clever word. no?
a fine, fine invention for all concerned.



here is an awesome story about a female, australian, muslim lifeguard. (irony rocks)
she not only has a cool name (ms. laalaa), she wears a burqini while being a good, allah-fearing social activist. now that's my kinda gal.
the puzzle constructor, Francis Heaney, says s/he(? ) began creating the puzzle after reading that article.

holy moly! this all makes me wanta go to the beach and check out the -qinis.
and the-kinis, too.