The puzzle opens with KALE today, baby-clued by “Vegetable rich in vitamin K, appropriately.” C’mon man, it ain’t Monday. I could have gotten the K by myself. In one of life’s little dietary ironies, as I wrote in KALE, I was scarfing down (see below) a breakfast of leftover pizza from (granddaughter) Lianna’s birthday party last Saturday. At least it was veggie pizza.

But KALE is an appropriate opener today, because the puzzle was good for me! Full of wonderful delights. First of all, it was a “pangram,” containing all 26 letters of the alphabet. (Q appeared in QED crossed by QUAY. The X, in Prix FIXE, crossed by TAXED.) There were a whole bunch of female names, any one of which could be your AMIGA (“Close chica”) — MARIE (Kondo), SALLY (Mustang Sally), MERCEDES, MAYA, (Justice) ELENA (Kagan), gymnast ALY (Raisman), and (Lady) GAGA. Quite a treat for us womanizers. No wonder Sam Malone popped up too, clued as “Actor Danson,” with the answer TED appearing right below the answer AGED. Ouch! But right above AGED is BADASS (“Supercool individual”), so he must still have it! Way to go, Sammy!

I became a fan of Cheers many years ago (duh) when my mother was visiting Linda and me in Brooklyn from Florida, and I was looking for a TV show that might engage all of us. I had heard vague positive rumblings about Cheers, and when I turned it on, Diane entered the bar and said to Coach “I was at dinner with friends last night and someone mentioned that Sumner [somebody] often comes to this bar. Is that true?” And Coach responded testily: “How would I know what was said at your dinner last night?” Okay, I’m in.

Back to the puzzle, KALE also appeared in deKapitated form: ALE, oddly clued as “What XXX might represent in comics.” Huh?

There was a nice duo of (depressing) long answers: UGLY TRUTHS and EMAIL SCAMS. And my favorite mini-theme today: Water balloons! They appear twice in clues. Once in a great clue for AMMO (“Water balloons on a hot day, say”), and again in “Water balloon sound” — SPLAT.

If you were wondering how “scarf down” became a term for eating, it has nothing to do with scarves. It may come from an obsolete Scottish word scaff which meant to ask for something (food, e.g.), in a mean or contemptible manner. Ever lose patience with a waiter? Me neither.

It’s funny what can trigger a memory of someone from your past. I was making tuna salad for lunch, and my old boss from the 1980’s (before my teaching days) popped into my head. He was Jim Cheeks. His full name was James E. Cheeks, and the E was for Elmo. How great is that? He was a good boss. Anyway, when you handed in some writeup, if the writing was a little loose — too wordy — he might return it with a note: “Too much mayonnaise.” I’ll be careful Jim.