The clue at 53D today was, boringly, “Health class topic, in brief,” and the answer was SEX ED. But LMS shared a different reading of the word via her veterinarian daughter and took a fun departure from it.
My daughter (vet) recently used the word SEXED, but as a real verb. She was talking about some puppies or kittens or whatever, and she said that they hadn’t been SEXED yet, meaning they hadn’t checked the genders. I could reimagine using that ED as an abbreviation for education all day. Ya know, classes that people take:
big headed – for the therapist specializing in narcissism
broken hearted – for the future cardiologist.
birdbrained – for the avian neurologist
large breasted – for the plastic surgeon
rear-ended – for the budding proctologist
I tried to come up with some of my own, but it ain’t easy. Parroted — for the ornithologist? Closeted — for the home organizer?
The puzzle today was a punfest called “The Game is Afoot” and the theme clues each used a type of footwear punnily. E.g., “1970s-era sneakers” was the clue for WATERGATE BURGLARS. (Get it?) “Custom-fitted pumps” was ARTIFICIAL HEARTS. “Fresh pair of loafers” was BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD. Cute, right?
It lead to some shoe-y comments:
Joaquin wrote: This puzzle reminded me of my 11th-grade biology class where we each had to deal with an “open toad.”
From egs: It’s just as well that the 12th president died in office. Most historians feel that, had he not, the electorate would have decided to “chuck Taylor.”
Here’s a snazzy “Chuck Taylor Converse Hi-Top All-Star:”
And from me: I see the FBI’s Footwear Division uncovered another terrorist slipper cell.
Friday night in Texas, Clevelanders Josh and Bo Naylor, who are brothers, both homered in the same inning (the third). Both homers were two-run jobs, and they gave the Guardians (nee Indians) a 4-0 lead. Cleveland went on to lose 12-4, but who cares?
Back in April of 2013, brothers B.J. and Justin Upton homered back-to-back for the Braves. The only other brothers to homer back-to-back were Hall of Famers Lloyd and Paul Waner, for the Pirates on Sept. 15, 1938, 75 years earlier. The Naylors’ HRs were in the same inning, but not back-to-back.
On Sept. 14, 1990, the Ken Griffeys, Senior and Junior, hit back-to-back home runs for Seattle against the Angels — the only time in MLB history a father and son accomplished this. In looking this up, I learned that the Griffeys were both born in the same small town (Donora, PA) in which the great Stan Musial was born, and, get this — Ken Jr. has the same birthday as Musial, November 21st.
Here’s Stan the Man’s 1961 Topps card:
Regular Owl-Chatter readers can probably guess how thrilled we are at all the hoopla surrounding the Barbie movie. For one thing, Margot Robbie, who plays the doll, is quite a doll herself. She has charmed OC photographer Phil, who might as well sublet an apartment near her home (in Venice Beach, CA) for all the time he’s spending out there on the assignment. (It’s okay with us, buddy — just check the local anti-stalking laws.) Here’s one he’s sent in, for starters. (Yikes! Could you plotz?)
The NYT Style Section today has a front page story on the various elements of Barbie that make her Barbie. Vanessa Friedman was assigned Barbie’s measurements, which “are unlike anything ever made in nature.” It’s not surprising given that the original Barbie was “based on a German doll meant to be enjoyed at bachelor parties.”
Friedman says: “Her pneumatic bosom, teeny waist and endless legs are just the most obvious distortions.” Scaling her up to adult size clocks her in at about 39-18-33. According to a report in Rehabs.com on Barbie’s effect on girls’ body image, the odds of finding someone with that ratio are in the billions. Her neck would be too thin to support her head, and her torso would have room for only half a liver. For you liver freaks, that would be a deal-breaker, no?
Barbie got a new body in 1998 with a slightly wider waist and smaller chest and hips, and since 2016 fans have had a choice of petite, tall, and curvy Barbies. But Friedman says “impossible Barbie” remains the standard for many.
Hold on a sec. “Pneumatic bosom?” You ever hear pneumatic used like that before? Me neither. So I checked with our old friends Merriam and Webster and, sure enough, definition #3 is: having a well-proportioned feminine figure, especially having a full bust. Then, to confirm, I checked with the Britannica dictionary and it was even more exciting, I mean informative. It said: US, informal, of a woman : having a body with full, pleasing curves.
I’ll never be able to look at a street crew in the same way again.
Here’s curvy Barbie. You can really see the difference.
Back to the puzzle (sorry, fellas), the answer at 28A was RUE, which is almost always clued with something like “regret.” But today the clue was “Plant also called herb-of-grace.” (Not to be confused with “herb of Alpert.”) Heard of it? Here’s what it looks like:
According to a comment on Rex’s blog, “rue” is in Hamlet:
Act IV, Scene 5. Ophelia says to the Queen, “There’s rue for you; and here’s some for me. We may call it herb of grace a Sunday’s. O, you must wear your rue with a difference.”
Apparently rue (which is quite bitter) was a symbol of repentance. Also a symbol of adultery, hence the gift to the Queen.
Good night, everybody! See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 