My favorite clue/answer in today’s puzzle was at 61A: ”Interesting idea, but … huh-uh.” The answer was YEAH, NO. Rex described it as “colloquiparadoxical.” To which I would add: Wow.
67A was “Silently acknowledge,” which was NOD AT. Rex said it would have been better clued with “Possible response to a dis?” (NO, DAT) (Get it?)
24A was “Product once advertised with the slogan ‘Everything you love about coffee without everything you don’t.’” Ans: SANKA. Decades ago, Sanka mounted an intense ad campaign, sponsoring, among other shows, I Love Lucy and The Twilight Zone and it was so successful that Sanka’s color orange is now the color of decaf. That is, in a diner, the pot of decaf will be identified via an orange handle regardless of what brand it’s using. (To a lesser extent, some use green for decaf stemming from Sanka’s rival Folgers.)
OMG, is Trump right? Eric Olsen, director of elections for Prince William County in Virginia, revealed thousands of vote counting errors in the 2020 election. The errors were caused by formatting issues. The result, Olsen said, was that Biden received 1,648 fewer votes than he should have received and Trump received 2,327 too many.
Oops. Never mind.
I shared my Tuesday Weld material with the gang at Rex’s blog, noting as well, for no reason, that the G in Maynard G. Krebs stood for Fred. But a commenter mbr corrected me and said it stood for Walter, with Maynard explaining the G is silent. Wikipedia supports him or her and notes Maynard was named Walter “for his aunt.” I gained my impression that it was Fred from a memory (maybe wrong) of him telling someone once the G was for Fred. In any case, all in good fun, and nothing to whinge about.
Whinge is today’s Miriam Webster’s “word of the day.” It means to complain fretfully, and is more common in British English.
Here’s another shot of Tuesday — this time on Wednesday.
It is with much sadness and appreciation that Owl Chatter notes the passing, at age 99, of Joyce Randolph, Trixie Norton, the last surviving member of the great Honeymooners quartet. She died of natural causes at her home in Manhattan last Saturday.
Of course, she was beloved and revered by fans of the show. At a 1984 Long Island meeting of the Royal Association for the Longevity and Preservation of the Honeymooners, or RALPH, one could buy a coveted Trixie apron. She was born in Detroit, moved to NY at the age of 19, and began acting. Jackie Gleason discovered her in a chewing gum commercial. Her role as Trixie was the high point of her career.
This is how her obit in the NYT ended:
“Ms. Randolph dedicated an eight-foot bronze statue of Mr. Gleason [as Kramden in his bus driver’s uniform], at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in 2000. [You can still see it there — guaranteed to raise a smile.]
“She got a standing ovation at a USO gala in NY in 2006. “I guess all those young Marines watch television,” she said.”
Here’s a shot of her at age 83 — still looking damn good — in Sardi’s, below caricatures of Ralph, Alice, Ed, and Trixie above the bar.
She married Richard Charles, a business executive, in 1955, the day after the Honeymooners premiered. Charles was a war hero in WW2, saving many lives on rescue missions. They remained married until his death in 1997. They had one son, Randy, who survives her. It was a wonderful marriage, by all accounts — he was a loving and devoted husband and father. He was supportive of Joyce’s career and became good friends with Gleason and Carney.
Rest in peace, Trixie. You will always hold a very special place in our hearts.
Good night, everybody. See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 