Puzzle #2, 2011

So it turns out Netflix is costing me time in this tournament. No, not because I watch too many movies on Netflix (including the Last Exorcism, which you really must see, preferably with your small children or mother-in-law), neglecting more important obligations, such as improving my crossword solving, but because I have Black Swan in my Netflix queue, instead of seeing it in the movie theater (as Cyrus Beagley urged me to do many weeks ago).

So I was ill-prepared for 28-across, "Actress Kunis of 'Black Swan'" (4 letters). Normally not a problem, but it crossed with "Nickname for 1950s-1960s actress Gina" (7 letters). Well I thought Gina's last name was Lollabrigida (which isn't exactly right) and was proud to know that much, since I wasn't even born when she was acting, but her nickname? That's a bit obscure. The rest of puzzle 2 was pretty hard as well (it's the second hardest puzzle of the 7), but when I came back to this one, it was a tense moment. I had LA LOL_O, and MI_A, which in retrospect seems kind of obvious, but since I thought it was Lollabrigida instead of Lollobrigida, I kept obsessing over the last letter, instead of putting an L in the blank and being done with it. ....So curse you Mila Kunis, you and all your little dancing friends! I assume she dances, but I wouldn't really know... now, if she had been in the Last Exorcism, life would be better all around. So it goes.

Here's an interesting one: "World's second-largest city, behind Rome, 2000 years ago" (7 letters). I had EP _ _ _ US.





Answer: Ephesus