Puzzles
Osoyoos trivia
Six quick local questions from Issue 1. Tap to check your answer.
The name Osoyoos comes from a Syilx / Okanagan word often rendered soo-yoos. What does it roughly describe?
Show answer
A place where two lakes meet / the narrows (a shallow crossing or spit that nearly divides the lake).
Osoyoos Lake is widely billed as Canada’s ______ freshwater lake.
Show answer
Warmest.
Just west of town on Highway 3 sits Spotted Lake (also known as Klikuk). What creates those famous “spots” each summer?
Show answer
Mineral-rich water evaporates and crystallizes into coloured circular pools (magnesium sulphate and other salts).
Osoyoos sits in a rare pocket of what kind of landscape — often called Canada’s only true example of it?
Show answer
Desert (pocket / semi-arid desert).
Nk’Mip (Inkameep), used by the Osoyoos Indian Band for local place and business names, roughly means what in the Okanagan language?
Show answer
Bottomland (the valley floor).
During the First World War, labourers skimmed mineral salts from Spotted Lake and shipped them east. What were those salts used for?
Show answer
Munitions / explosives factories (eastern U.S.).
The Issue 1 crossword is in the print PDF (page 2).