Today’s puzzle has a “Tom Swifty” theme. Hope you like those.

“What do you mean there are no PlayStations left in stock?,” asked Tom INCONSOLABLY. (Get it? From out of consoles.)

“I’m worried I may have anemia,” said time UNIRONICALLY.

This may be the cleverest, and at 15 letters it ran all the way across the grid. “You guys are supposed to be “Wise Men” and these are the gifts you bring a newborn?,” asked Tom, FRANKLY INCENSED. (From frankincense.)

Other decent ones not from the puzzle include:

“I’ve dropped my toothpaste,” said Tom crestfallen.

“What this team needs is someone who can hit 60 home runs a season,” said Tom ruthlessly.

And how about this variant? — (give it a little time) — “I’m bailing out,” Tom explained.

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“Pastry dough used in crullers and beignets” turned out to be CHOUX, a new word for me, but my friend Joe said he knew it from The Great British Baking Show. It paired nicely across the grid with CHEW TOY, clued as “Target of a canine’s canines, maybe.”

I had no idea why “Flat, for short” turned out to be TWOD. Twod? Then I realized it’s 2-D (Two dimensional.)

Here are some words I learned today from my Merriam-Webster “Word of the Day” email.

Groak — to stare at people who are eating in the hope that they will share food. (Dogs are good at this.)

Snotter — to breathe noisily. It’s a broad term that encompasses snoring, sniffling, etc.

Sialoquent — to spray saliva while speaking. (We’ve all been there, on the receiving end — AMIRITE?)

Cacchinate — to laugh too loudly

Screeve — to write for the purpose of begging, usually for money.

Hard to imagine why these are not more commonly in use. BTW, AMIRITE is now a term in common use. I’ve seen it as a puzzle answer. It’s short for “Am I right?” (Duh)

See you later!