Last week, the chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter with 20 co-signers of a like mind to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. The letter complained that the federal government had not responded effectively to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. It referred to a preliminary report by the “Department Of Transportation’s National Transportation Safety Board” and demanded Buttigieg provide “all documents and communications regarding NTSB’s progress on the cause of the derailment.”
Buttigieg responded: “I am alarmed to learn that the Chair of the House Oversight Committee thinks that the NTSB is part of our Department. NTSB is independent (and with good reason).”
C’mon Pete — how are we supposed to know that? Just be happy he spelled your name correctly. (Wait, did he?) Kudos for not referring to the blunder as an “oversight.” Glad to see you’re bigger than that.
I loved today’s puzzle, but was in the minority. Curmudgeon Rex rexcoriated it, as so often happens. Anyway, it took common words or expressions and changed their meanings by doubling up a letter or two. E.g., take the expression “admits defeat.” Use the clue: “Update Wikipedia after the 2012 election?,” and you get: ADD MITT’S DEFEAT.
The best one was part of a mASSive tuchas extravaganza I’ll discuss below. It took the common expression “for the asking.” Then it gave the clue: “Words accompanying an offering to the ruler of the donkeys?” And the answer was FOR THEE, ASS KING. Hysterical, no? Just the type of ridiculous nonsense we live for at Owl Chatter: thank you, Will Nediger! Will’s a veteran constructor. Today’s was his 46th puzzle in The Times.
Since we’re on the topic yet again, the clue at 5D was “Tuchas,” and the answer was PATOOT, as in “you bet your sweet patootie.” The second T in PATOOT met up with the T in ASSORT. And then — get this! The ASS from ASS KING, above, crosses the answer ASSASSIN — a double! — clued as “Charlotte Corday, to Jean-Paul Marat.” Whew, a breathtaking ass-ault, Nediger — well done!
It reminded me of a New Yorker cartoon from many years ago. It’s a dad with his grown-up son, and we see them from the back. And they both have identical enormous rears. Enormous. And the dad has his arm around his son and he’s saying: “It’s about time we discussed your inheritance, Andy.”
Here’s a recent exchange of comments on Rex’s blog (on trans kids):
“I kept hoping that the people who professed an all-embracing acceptance of all kinds of people would extend that inclusivity to those who have differing opinions.”
The reply: “A difference of opinion would be about, say, pizza toppings. Human rights do not fall under the umbrella of opinion. You are either right or wrong about them. No one is under any obligation to extend acceptance to people who literally want LGBTQIA+ people dead.”
Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson, born 1 October 1987, was in the puzzle under her professional name Michaela COEL. She’s a British screenwriter and actress. She won an Emmy for outstanding writing for her work on the 2020 comedy-drama series I May Destroy You. Her parents are Ghanaian but she was born and raised in East London. At an awards ceremony in 2016, Coel wore a dress designed by her mom made out of Kente cloth, a Ghanaian textile. Here’s Ms. Coel, and this may be it. [I can see that fabric making a beautiful owl — amirite, Jenny?]
We had a choice of three kinds of pancakes in the puzzle: 110A: “Russian pancakes,” BLINI; 101D: “Pancake served with sambar,” DOSA, and, of course, 41A: “Yiddish for pancake,” LATKE. All that was missing was a load of CREPE.
I was today old when I learned this may be why (from an anonymouse comment): “All the pancakes seem to be throwing a bone to the fact that this past week included Shrove Tuesday, the last day before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Pancake feeds are a common tradition in many Christian churches.” [Yeah, but latkes? Sure, what the hell?]
Please, help yourself to some dosa.
You may not have heard “of” Marni Nixon, but I bet you heard her. She was clued as “Soprano Nixon” at 96D today. Born Margaret Nixon McEathron on February 22, 1930, she was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She is now recognized as the singing voice of leading actresses on the soundtracks of several musicals, including Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, although her roles were concealed from audiences when the films were released. Nixon also made concert appearances, specializing in contemporary music as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, and gave recitals at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Town Hall in New York. In the Disney film Mulan, she was the singing voice of Grandma Fa. She had a very successful career and in 2011 received the George Peabody Award for Outstanding Contributions to American Music.
She was married three times. Her first husband was Ernest Gold, who composed the theme song for the movie Exodus, starring a young plotz-worthy Paul Newman. Nixon had three kids with Gold before she made her exodus from the marriage. [Yes, I will stoop that low at times.] Sadly, she died in 2016 at the age of 86. I’m guessing she’d like to be remembered in Owl Chatter belting one out.
Here’s a feel-good story from Met Diary today, written by Len DiSesa, that even an old draft dodger like me could enjoy:
Dear Diary:
It was a warm August day in New York in 1969. I was 21 and just back from Vietnam.
I had been drafted into the Army two years earlier, and my second year in Southeast Asia had been the longest in my life. It ended with me returning to the World — Brooklyn — in one piece as one of the lucky ones.
I took a cab from Port Authority to Bensonhurst. I was in my khaki uniform. The cabdriver, a middle-age man, kept looking at me through the rearview mirror. There was no conversation between us. I was lost in a swirl of emotions.
When we got to my block, I could see all of my neighbors sitting out on their porch steps. Someone had strung up a large banner: “Welcome Home, Lenny!” They were all cheering.
Through my tears, I could make out my parents, my sisters and my girlfriend. I was overcome, completely surprised by the reception I was receiving from the people who had watched me grow up.
What moved me the most, though, was when I reached for my wallet to pay the substantial sum of money showing on the taxi meter.
“Put your money away, son,” the cabby said. “You’ve paid enough. This ride’s on me.”
We had a teensy beensy bit of snow yesterday — almost imperceptible. It was a snowless winter here in Jersey. Let’s end today with this poem by Ted Kooser from Winter Morning Walks. See you tomorrow!
The cedars in the roadside ditches
are nearly black against the many grays
of this winter morning, but unlike
most things with darkness at their centers
they don’t turn an impenetrable shell
to the light. Rather, like ink on wet paper,
their dark limbs bleed into the light,
reaching farther and farther
into the whiteness of lightly falling snow.
The Wellington Files 