Margaret Seikel’s puzzle today in the NYT pays homage to two very successful women writers: Sally Rooney who wrote “Normal People,” and Meg Cabot who wrote “The Princess Diaries.” Here’s the Irish Ms. Rooney, from County Mayo, who is only 31,
and Ms. Cabot, 55, a Hoosier (or, if you prefer, an Indianian).
Top them off with ROSIE the Riveter, and you’ve got a real ladies day at the NYTXW. Rosie represented the women who took jobs in the shipyards and factories during WWII, allowing the men to go off to fight.
Who’s the real Rosie? It was originally believed the image of Rosie in the classic poster was inspired by Geraldine Doyle, who died at age 86 in 2010. In 1942, Geraldine found work as a metal presser for a machine company in Ann Arbor, MI, but quit after two weeks fearing she might injure her hands — she was a cellist.
During her brief time at the company, a UPI photographer took a photo of her. In the 1990’s she came to believe the image in the poster was based on that photo, and the media advanced her claim.
[Shortly after quitting her job, in 1943, she married a dentist, Leo Doyle. They had six children and remained married for 67 years, until his death in 2010. They could do it!]
But it was later determined that the more likely model for the poster was Naomi Parker Fraley. Fraley worked in a Pratt & Whitney aircraft factory during the war, and the poster was based on a photo taken of her on the job, not Doyle. Researchers have credited her claim over that of Doyle’s but not until 2015. The long life of Doyle’s claim was attributed to the “Woozle Effect,” which occurs when a source is widely cited for a claim it does not adequately support, giving the claim undeserved credibility. Fraley died at the age of 96 in 2018. Here she is, on the job.
Today’s theme was MOVE FAST AND BREAK THINGS, the corporate motto coined by Mark Zuckerberg for Facebook (now Meta).
LMS thought a variant: BREAKFAST AND MOVE THINGS, could be the slogan for Kellogg’s All-Bran.
Ben W. said: “MOVE FAST AND BREAK THINGS, in the timeline of tech startups, is actually not particularly modern. Facebook jettisoned it as a principle 7 or 8 years ago after they discovered that too many things were breaking. I worked there in 2016, during the subsequent culture shift, and boy were people having a hard time figuring out how to refocus on ‘not’ breaking things.”
The clue for 25D was “What a budget motel might have,” and the answer was ONE STAR. It set LMS off, who said:
“What a budget motel might have” – Where do you even start with this? An odor, for sure. A noisy thermostat that doesn’t really work. A commode with an anemic flush. A sour-smelling shower curtain. A half-clogged bathtub drain that leaves you ankle-deep in water by the time you’re done showering – that Creeps. Me. Out. I know my way around a cheap motel, buddy.
I would add “and a very friendly Pakistani family,” at least there’s one at the very budget-y (but nice) Rodeway Inn in Brookville, PA, halfway between Detroit and Jersey, our favorite stop for Michigan trips.
Here’s a new bad joke!!
“Have you heard about the inattentive two-headed man? Everything you tell him goes in one ear and out the other and in one ear and out the other.”
The “Italian pressed sandwich” at 11D was PANINI, but someone balked at that, pointing out that PANINI should be the plural form, so a single sandwich should be a PANINO. Along that line, would a single strand of spaghetti be a spaghetto? Merriam-Webster notes that panini is indeed the plural in Italian, but as adopted into English it represents a single sandwich as well, so you could even say “paninis” if you’re really hungry.
182 years ago today, Herman Melville set off on the whaling vessel Acushnet from New Bedford, MA. Fairly new to sailing and whaling, Melville learned the ins and outs of whaling, helping to harpoon the whales, harvest them, and process their oil aboard the ship. He also listened to the tales his fellow whalers told, particularly of a legendary white sperm whale called “Mocha Dick,” that had destroyed numerous ships. In November of 1851 Moby-Dick was published in the U.S.
Here’s a quote from it: “Human madness is oftentimes a cunning and most feline thing. When you think it fled, it may have but become transfigured into some still subtler form.”
Amen to that, Herm.
Also on this date in 1870 construction began on the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge opened in 1883, and for several years it was the tallest structure in the western hemisphere.
If you thought 2023 might bring an end to the NYTXW’s fascination with tuchases, think again. Yesterday, right up top at 10D, we had ASS-backwards, and today, near the bottom (appropriately), we had ARSES (British bottoms).
And we heard back from Joey Babka. I posed the question to him — “Joey Babka,” I said, “where are you in the great babka debate — is a babka a cake or a bread?” He gave it some thought. Then, “It’s a babka!” he said. Well put, Joey B!
Let’s close with a poem of Ted Kooser’s from Winter Morning Walks:
Walking by flashlight
at six in the morning,
my circle of light on the gravel
swinging side to side,
coyote, raccoon, field mouse, sparrow,
each watching from darkness
this man with the moon on a leash.
The Wellington Files 