There were some good entries in Frank Bruni’s “For the love of sentences” feature. From The Forward (the Yiddish/English paper), on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Rob Eshman noted: “Sometimes the apple falls so far from the tree, you can’t even believe it’s an apple.”

And in WAPO Ron Charles wrote about censorship from any side of the aisle: “Speech codes and book bans may start in opposing camps, but both warm their hands over freedom’s ashes.”

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Hey, readers!! Are you as upset as I am over this? Are you up in arms? The clue at 49D today was “Showcase guesstimate on a TV game show.” The show, of course, is The Price is Right, and the answer was PRICE. Infuriating, right? Here’s what George F. wrote (and he was not alone in making the point):

“The clue for 49 Down is flat out wrong. The *Showcase* on The Price Is Right is when you ‘guesstimate’ a Price. The *Showcase Showdown* is the spinning of the Big Wheel to determine which contestant advances to the Showcase round. (Yeah, I’m a TPIR nerd … and a recent contestant!) I’m actually going to write NYT about this one …”

God Bless the nitpickers!

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“Root in potpourri” was ORRIS, new to me (I think — who can remember this stuff?). It’s also used in perfume. In Japan, the roots and leaves of the plant were hung in the eaves of a house for protection from evil spirits. Other uses include as a love potion, with the root powder in sachets, or sprinkled around the house or sheets of a bedroom.

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Actor ED HARRIS popped by the grid today, clued with “Oscar nominee for ‘Pollock’ and ‘The Truman Show.’” I always liked Harris: “Failure is not an option.” He’s a Jersey boy, born in Englewood and raised in Tenafly. He was a star athlete at Tenafly HS and captain of the football team. He was also on the football team at Columbia U, playing alongside future US AG Eric Holder.

Harris and actress Amy Madigan have been married for 40 years, and they have a daughter, Lily Dolores. During the 71st Academy Awards, Harris and Madigan openly dissed Elia Kazan by staying in their seats and not applauding when he received an honorary award. This was due to Kazan’s ratting out his friends as communists before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, resulting in their being blacklisted. Kazan never apologized.

New York magazine once described Harris as “the thinking woman’s sex symbol.” [Not to boast (much), but in high school, I was known as “the pastrami-eating woman’s sex symbol.”]

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I gave my first exam in my summer tax class today. Ten students took it and two of them came up to me before it started and asked if I had an extra pencil. I did, but how does that happen? Where are their heads? Of course, I drove Lianna to her tennis camp this morning and we had to turn around and go back for her racquet. Hmmmmm.

Women’s World Cup Soccer is heating up. Owl Chatter looks forward to getting into it as matters progress. Break a leg, Ladies!

See you tomorrow!