Are you an old movie buff or Hitchcock fan? Veteran Rex poster Nancy administered a quiz yesterday. She listed six quotes from Hitchcock films and you were to identify the films. Here are the quotes; the answers appear way below. She warned that she was citing the quotes from memory, but if they are off it’s only by a bit.
1)”He was looking at HER face, but he was strangling ME!”
2) “That’s the problem with latch keys — they all look the same.”
3) [Holding up his hand] “Are you sure you don’t mean THIS one?”
4) “Mother, I’m married to an American agent!”
5) “Do nuns wear high heels?”
6) [Written on a matchbox] “They’re onto you. I’m in your room.”
The Pistons set the record last night, losing to Brooklyn 118-112. It was a good game and I found myself pulling for them and sad that they lost. They have an outstanding player: Cade Cunningham, who scored 41 points. But he doesn’t have enough support and Brooklyn ain’t bad: they are at .500 now. More amazing than Detroit’s 27 consecutive losses is that their record over their last 55 games is 4-51. Last night, they were ahead by 7 with 8 minutes to go, but Brooklyn exploded and couldn’t be stopped..
Here’s Cade. He’s from Texas and played college ball at Oklahoma State for one year before turning pro. He was the first overall pick in the 2021 draft. He was asked about the streak after the game: ”It affects us all the time,” he said. “Everywhere.”
Continuing in a sad key, today’s poem in The Writer’s Almanac is by Louise Katz and is called “Careless World.”
This is a careless world without your voice.
Courtesy is gone; nobody tips their hats.
There is no one to name the shrubs and birds,
To suggest a heavier coat.
You watched while I stood by the window
Saying goodbye to Sixth Avenue.
The pavement was always being torn away.
Watching the hammers
I kissed the glass four times;
Once for you and mother
And Richard and me.
You knew that four was a special number,
My number for watching things end.
You, at the door, made the room mine.
In five months I have lost your voice.
Its tone, a clearing throat;
Trailing off, “be a good girl.”
Today’s puzzle theme was dinosaur-y. Answers contained the names of well-known dinos, but with “saurus” left off. E.g., BRONTO, STEGO, etc. Then at 33D the clue was “Writer’s reference … or what each row of shaded letters is missing?” and the answer was THE “SAURUS.” Get it? (Thesaurus) Also, each dino name was broken up by a black square and the clue/answer at 4D was “What had a major impact on this puzzle’s theme?” — ASTEROID. The idea is that the extinction of the dinos was caused by an asteroid’s hitting Earth.
Commenter Bill adds: The asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs – about 65 million years ago – is considered by many evolutionary biologists to be the most important event (like, ever) in the evolution of mammals. Since we’re the “alpha” species, and we are really just fancy mammals (with all the available “upgrades”), without Chixulub, there would be no hominids, no humans, and the world would still be pristine but savage.
The Chicxulub crater is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is offshore, but the crater is named after the onshore community of Chicxulub Pueblo. It was formed slightly over 66 million years ago when a large asteroid, about six miles in diameter and 12 miles in depth, struck Earth. It is the second largest confirmed impact structure on Earth, and the only one whose peak ring is intact and directly accessible for scientific research.
Another issue that arose is whether the name Brontosaurus has been canceled. According to Wanderlust, “Paleontologists decided that it and Apatosaurus were really the same beast so they dropped BRONTO because Apatosaurus was named first. So it died out in more ways than one.”
But then kitshef chimed in: ”Brontosaurus has been resurrected as a dino name … or not, depending on which classification you believe. Many paleontologists recognize two genera, Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus; others lump them all into Apatosaurus.”
If you’re at all squeamish, please skip the next few photos. These two specimens have done worse than go extinct — they eventually became teenagers. Flee! Run for your life!!
“Novelist King” at 26D wasn’t Stephen, it was his wife TABITHA. She’s also a writer. They’ve been married for over 50 years and have three kids: Two sons who are also writers, and a daughter who is a Unitarian minister.
Answers to Hitchcock quiz:
1) STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
2) DIAL M FOR MURDER
3) THE 39 STEPS
4) NOTORIOUS
5) THE LADY VANISHES
6) NORTH BY NORTHWEST
Here’s a cat who likes to check in with Rex’s blog after finishing the puzzle. Her name is Nellie.
See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 