I wouldn’t have brought in Alvarado, but what do I know? I used to enjoy an announcer for the Nats named FP Santangelo, former Expo player, before he was Me Too-ed the hell out of there. Whenever he second-guessed a manager, he’d say something like, “but there’s a reason he’s down there and I’m up here wearing makeup.” Remember that song, “Desperado?” It works for Alvarado perfectly — “Alvarado, Why don’t you come to your senses . . . . “
Jeremy Pena deserved the World Series MVP for his Jeter-esque performance. Got a hit whenever he had to. First rookie non-pitcher ever to win the WS MVP. (The pitchers were Livan Hernandez (Florida, 1997), and Norm Sherry, way back in 1959 for the Dodgers.) How neat is this? — when Dusty Baker, Astro manager, made his managerial debut with the Giants on Opening Day in 1993, the leadoff batter for the opposing team (St. Louis) was Geronimo Pena — Jeremy’s father. (Cue the eerie music.)
Triva fans — did anyone ever win the WS MVP from the losing team? Yes! Bobby Richardson on the 1960 Yanks, in the Series Pittsburgh won on Mazeroski’s famous HR over the left field wall in Forbes Field. Forbes Field has been torn down, but the site of the wall has been saved. Linda and I visited it in August. Here’s a shot of me catching Maz’s shot in front of the (rebuilt) wall.
And here’s some chatter on Saturday’s and Sunday’s puzzles.
If, like me, you’ve been wondering where Tasmanian Emus have been all your life, wonder no more. According to today’s puzzle, they’ve been extinct since around 1865, according to an Australian database. They were hunted as a pest and for food, but would have avoided extinction due their great speed, if only guns had been used against them. The introduction of domestic hunting dogs into Tasmania were their great undoing (woof woof).
Saturday’s puzzle featured some great words and clues. The clue for 36A was “This clue’s answer might contain more than seven letters,” but we were given only seven squares to fill! WTF? The answer: MAILBAG. Get it? A mailbag “contains letters.”
45A: “Met for a few hours in the evening?” The answer: OPERA (“Met”ropolitan Opera).
20A: “Raise people’s spirits?” — HOLD A SEANCE.
14D: “Game where It always counts.” — HIDE AND GO SEEK. (The “It” had a capital I.)
23D: “Shot only you can take.” — SELFIE
Even some of the small fill was clever: 4D: “Unsalted, perhaps.” — ICY (Think Winter, sidewalk).
Some other niceties in the grid: FLIRT was just a short distance from LADIES. (Come here often, girls?) RESTING was crossed by EASY CHAIR. And how about this? 13A: “Famous game-saving 1954 World Series play by Willie Mays” was THE CATCH, not far from FIELD DAYS.
I learned a weird new word too — “Ochlocracy,” meaning MOB RULE.
And how about METONYM, the last across answer? That’s when a word, name, or expression is used as a substitute for something it’s closely associated with. For example, Washington is a metonym for the federal government, K Street for lobbyists, Hollywood for the film industry, etc.
Metonym led LMS down the “nym” rabbit hole, where she found capitonym. That’s when a word changes meaning when it’s capitalized. Polish/polish; Turkey/turkey; March/march. And there’s aptronym (also called euonym), when a name is “apt.” For example, the racer Usain BOLT, a redhead named Scarlet, an Asian lawyer (who really exists) named SUE YOO. There’s a dentist near me named Dr. FANG. The opposite (or antonym) is an inaptronym, when a name is inapt — a misnomer. A conservative named Lefty, a boring person named Wildman. And how about oronym? That’s when two phrases or words differ in meaning and spelling, but sound the same. New deal and nude eel; I scream and ice cream; depend and deep end. All oronyms.
The word “daith” was in a clue: “Location of a daith piercing.” Answer: EAR. LMS called daith a nobodyknowswhatthehellthatisonym. She added these additional examples: philtrum, lunule, and glabella. (I’ll look them up later. Maybe.) A “daith piercing” is a piercing through the smallest fold of cartilage in your ear, just above the entrance to your ear canal. There is anecdotal evidence (but no scientific evidence) for daith piercing helping with migraine headaches.
Sunday’s was a BAD ASS puzzle (alert the tuchas squad!) The clue for BAD ASS was “Intimidating in a cool way.” There was also tuchas-related apparel: THONGS, boringly clued as “Some beachwear.” (Boo, jeered Avi cheekily.)
The puzzle was called LENGTH-ENING, and the trick was to add the letters EN to some phrases, to arrive at a cute result with the spelling after the EN changed, but not the pronunciation. Also, the EN had to be pronounced (like the French) “ON.” E.g., for the clue “How Shamu acknowledged the crowd’s appreciation?,” the answer was MARINE ENCORE. So the change was made to “Marine Corps.” Another one was: “Why the party’s about to get less hip?” SQUARE EN ROUTE (from “square root”). In each case the spelling but not the pronunciation is altered, and the EN is French. The best one was funny: “Prepare for a sword fight, McKellen, Fleming, all other namesakes out there!”? EN GARDE, IANS OF THE GALAXY!
The answer MEAGRE is usually clued with something like “Scarce in London,” because it’s the British spelling of meager. But today it was clued with “‘The ________ Company’ (Frans Hals portrait).” Here’s what it looks like, below. You think you have a bad commute? Hals was unhappy about having to schlep to Amsterdam from Haarlem to work on the painting, and it wound up being finished by someone else (Pieter Codde).
We had a nice time in Saratoga Springs. Here’s a shot of Linda near a tree.
We especially enjoyed a wonderful cup o’ coffee and breakfast sandwiches this morning at Uncommon Grounds right in the middle of town. What a nice scene.
Last, the Jets upset the big bad Bills today! Whodathunkit?!
The Wellington Files 