crossword puzzles are good for your brain....most often...

OK, I admit to being a crossword fan.  but sometimes I am stumped.  The Thursday NYT crossword this week starts with "ARCTIC RESIDENT' 4 letters.  My immediate response was "POLE."  But Poles do not live in the Arctic as a rule, even though there are two of them--North and South.  All the other suspects don't fit:  Inuit (5 letters), eskimo (6 letters), ice (3).  Bear with its 4 letters fits, but the cross word clue is "school allowance" (8 letters).  Whatever the hey that might be if it starts with B.  I'll have to keep on checking the cross words.  #2 is "immortal flower in 'Paradise Lost'."  Milton??...and so it goes. Feliz Sabado, y'alls!