At 8D today, “Charm, to King Charles” was ENAMOUR. The constructor, Brandon Koppy, threw in HRH to let you know you need that British “U” in there. It set LMS off down this path:
Once when I was teaching in WV, on the first day of school, this student (famous for being really smart, boisterous, and funny) came to me after class wanting to flex a bit. Our conversation went something like this:
Carter: Ms. Smith, for some reason when I write, I have to add the U to words like “honor” and “color.”
Me: [Pausing to take his measure… squint my eyes, nod my head, raise one eyebrow] So basically what you’re telling me is that you’re an asshole.
Carter: [Totally *getting* my point and pleased] Yeah. Yeah, that’s exactly what I am.
For the rest of the semester, we muttered asshole to each other if one of us used a fancy word. I miss that guy. He showed me how to use the snipping tool, and my life has changed.
It was a tough puzzle that really made me work. Have you heard of BITTORRENT, a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol? Fuhgedaboutit. Or how about ALAN MOORE: Graphic novelist who created “Watchmen” and “V for Vendetta.” Gimme a break! But I was able to pound them out via the crosses, so all is well.
All of the following were great:
“Things that can really make someone pop?” PATERNITY TESTS.
“Big sister?” MOTHER SUPERIOR
“Ineffectual sorts” WET NOODLES
“Junior mint?” PLAY MONEY
“High point of a trip to California?” EL CAPITAN
“A little taller than normal, say, as a kiddie” ON TIPPY TOE
“In shorthand, it’s written with two S’s and two T’s” WEEK
Great puzzle!
“Teacher’s directive” was SEE ME. If, like me, you can’t get enough LMS, here she is again:
“Teacher’s directive” – wanted “shush” first. I have screamy sign directives everywhere in my room, each one resulting from a little dust-up. KEEP OUT from behind my desk. STAY AWAY FROM THIS WINDOW AND GO BACK TO YOUR SEAT (on door window), DO NOT KNOCK ON THIS DOOR AND INTERRUPT MY CLASS (on outside of my door). No one ever pays attention to that one. Someone’s always knocking and wanting things. Ms. Smith, can I have one of those lip balm things? Do you have any snacks? Can I hang out in here with you? Can I borrow a blanket? Do you have a Band-Aid? Can I have just one piece of grandma candy? (those goo-filled strawberry candies). If I have the class engaged and working, a knock on the door breaks the spell, and I just want to cry.
Not everyone enjoyed the Paternity Tests answer. Here’s a comment from Anonymous: As a non biological father, what makes a Pop a Pop is definitely not a paternity test. You can go f*ck yourself with that joke.
Ouch!
Ray Lewis was a great linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. He led their defense to a Super Bowl win in the Battle of the Harbaughs in 2013 with John Harbaugh, Coach of the Ravens besting his brother Jim of SF 34-31. [Jim coaches the UMich Wolverines now. Go Blue!] Lewis was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame and inducted in 2018. That’s where our story begins: His induction speech ran for 33 minutes and had the entire NFL fandom screaming for mercy. Unbearable. And his was only the worst of a flood of too-long speeches.
To the rescue comes Jezra Kaye, a little gray-haired lady who knows zippo about football. She’s a professional writing coach and has been working with the inductees on shortening their speeches. It’s been a success. Peyton Manning’s speech in 2021 lasted only nine minutes. He mentioned Ray Lewis who he said “just finished giving his speech that he started in 2018.” Tom Flores said his speech would be short because he’s “84 frappin’ years” old and has to be in bed by 9 o’clock. Here’s Lewis. Did I mention, he breathes fire? Scary dude.
Do you recognize this person? She’s been in the news, sadly, lately. I wouldn’t have. It’s Sinead O’Connor, with hair.
She comes up in Rex’s blog today, quite indirectly. The clue at 15A was “1990 film that Roger Ebert called ‘so implausible that it makes it hard for us to really care about the plight of the kid,’” and the answer was HOME ALONE. Rex remembered that Joe Pesci was in it. Rex rarely goes off on tirades about people he hates, but he did today about Pesci. Here’s the story:
Remember the famous SNL episode in which Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the Pope and threw the pieces on the ground? It was to protest the harm done to her personally by the Church in her youth and all the harm it has done to children the world over. It took place before the Church’s sordid and outrageous history of child abuse came out. She was ahead of her time. Anyway, in response, Pesci, hosting a later episode of SNL, showed the crowd that he picked up the pieces and taped it back together. And he proceeded to go on an obnoxious rant attacking her. Rex shared the link and I started watching it but couldn’t finish — it was repulsive. I posted that I’d never be able to watch My Cousin Vinny again. (Sorry, Marisa.)
O’Connor, of course, passed away last week. She was only 56. This beautiful and haunting song is called Three Babies and is about three babies she lost to miscarriages. (She had four children who lived.) I’ll let her usher us out tonight. Rest in peace, Sinead.
See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 