Students are excellent beggars. I love this aspect of teaching. Before I share a note I received this week, I must tell you about a class my friend Maxine (a’h) took (at Hunter!) back in our college days. She and her friend Linda needed a science class to meet some requirement so Max found an arithmetic class and said these famous words to Linda: “How hard can it be? Arithmetic — two plus two.” So they signed up and it started off, like, with vectors or something and took off into the stratosphere from there. The only way they passed was by going to the professor’s office and making a big scene crying and begging. He finally said he’d give them D’s if they’d just leave his office. For many years, whenever Max came up with some insane idea, Linda would say “Two plus two – how hard can it be?”
Here’s a note I got a few days ago, verbatim. The student’s keyboard must have a defective period key, because it’s all one long stream of consciousness, or unconsciousness.
Good afternoon professor sorry for the late notice but I was wondering if I will be able to take the exam next Tuesday since we have off on Thursday because I’m not feeling well since Friday and I have a lot of family issues at home at the moment and I know I won’t preform well on the exam and for these unforeseen circumstances I don’t want it affecting my grade my parents are going through a big divorce and I am not feeling well and hope I can be given an extension so once I feel better I can study so I won’t fail the class just wondering if I can be given this opportunity it’s not me making excuses but just alot going on the moment and wish to see if I can take the exam next Tuesday so I can be given time to study to take care of what I need too I’m Abraham I always go to class so I hope you don’t think I’m lying and hope you understand
How could I say no to such a plea? I told him he could take a makeup, and I suggested his parents try a little divorce before going for a big one.
OK, let’s ease into some puzzle stuff. 43A today was “Evergreen tree with poisonous seeds.” Yikes! The answer was YEW. (Yes, yew and yew and yew.) And I liked this comment someone posted: “I did not know YEW seeds were poisonous, but to be honest I didn’t know YEW trees had seeds, in fact, I don’t think I know what a YEW tree is.” Amen to that. I love the descent into ignorance.
Today’s theme was brilliant. It was about colored rings. It started off with “Red and yellow circles.” The answer was MASTERCARD LOGO. Then it progressed to “Red, yellow, and green circles,” which was TRAFFIC LIGHT.” Then “Red, yellow, green, and blue circles,” which was TWISTER MAT (remember those?). Twister took off in popularity after Eva Gabor played it with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. And, finally, “Red, yellow, green, blue, and black circles,” OLYMPIC RINGS.
There was a fantastic word for the tuchas watch too — VASSAR – it gives you an ASS in both directions(!), thus giving a whole new meaning to the expression “ass backwards.” (There was also ASSORT.)
The clue for VASSAR was “Poet Elizabeth Bishop’s alma mater.”
Here’s a poem she wrote called “I Believe.”
I Believe
that the steamship will support me on the water
& that the aeroplane will conduct me over the mountain,
that perhaps I will not die of cancer or in the poorhouse,
that eventually I shall see things in a “better light,”
that I shall continue to read and continue to write,
that I shall continue to laugh until I cry with a certain few friends,
that love will unexpectedly appear over and over again,
that people will continue to do kind deeds that will astound me.
41D was “‘Patton’ or ‘Platoon,’” and the answer was WAR DRAMA. Rex said he would prefer “war movie,” and that any movie or show about war had to be a drama, but that was roundly disputed by the commentariat. There are a whole bunch of war comedies: MASH, Hogan’s Heroes, and others.
On Hogan’s Heroes, Robert Clary, the little French guy, died last week. He was Jewish and a holocaust survivor. The actor who played Klink, Werner Klemperer was born to a Jewish family (his dad was the conductor Otto Klemperer), and he had one condition for taking the role – that Klink could never emerge as the hero in an episode. (Not a problem.) And the actor who played Schultz, who famously “knew nothing,” was also Jewish, John Banner, and was (in real life) a sergeant in the U.S. army during WWII. The show ran for 168 episodes over six seasons. Here’s Robert Clary:
Did you know that an OPAL can come from petrified wood? According to 21A it can. Wood opal is a form of petrified wood which has developed an opalescent sheen.
And did you know that the Ural Mountains are a formation made by a collision of the continents Laurasia and Kazakhstania? (59A) Huh? I ain’t heard of those continents. They’re certainly not on the board in Risk.
Yesterday’s puzzle had a neat theme too. The phrase CUTTING THE CARDS ran straight down near the center of the puzzle and at five points it “cut” through different types of “cards.” E.g., it ran through GIFT OF GAB, and TAKING CREDIT FOR, which caused it to cut a “gift” card and a “credit” card.
Van Morrison made a rare appearance — I don’t ever recall him popping up in the puzzle before. He was in the clue: “Van Morrison song aptly featured in ‘An American Werewolf in London.’” The answer was MOONDANCE, which has nothing to do with werewolves, but I guess the moon makes it apt.
The lovely Anya Taylor-Joy from The Queen’s Gambit visited too, and songstress Trisha Yearwood — Don’t play chess with her, Trish!
The clue for STRUT was “Swagger like Jagger.” Hi Mick! Our friend Richie is a brilliant chef, retired now out in SF. For a while he was catering private parties in the Hamptons, and Mick Jagger was a guest at one. During the event, Richie was refilling some dish on the main table and he noticed Jagger was eating one of his pastries. Jagger took a bite and caught Richie’s eye and gave him a very nice nod of approval. Satisfaction!
Let’s end with a poem (or two). Ogden NASH was a guest in today’s grid. Commenter Barbara shared his poem “The Lama” with us, and added a verse of her own.
The Lama
by Ogden NASH
The one-l lama,
He’s a priest.
The two-l llama,
He’s a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn’t any
Three-l lllama.
Barbara decided to add a second verse:
The one-l lama, he sat
In meditation on his bamboo mat
The two-l llama, he spat
In agitation at a threatening cat
The three-l lllama, there’s chat
He was last seen in Gujurat.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
The Wellington Files 