As the nation careens towards Super Bowl LVIII, do we really need the distraction of Brittany Mahomes (QB Patrick’s wife), posing so suggestively on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue that even our drunk and depraved Phil was aghast? We won’t reproduce it here, for decency’s sake. Go ahead — call us prudes.
Brittany, btw, is quite an athlete in her own right — she played professional soccer in Iceland — and we are happy that Patrick and she have two beautiful kids. We wish them the best. And she does look very pretty in SI.
As for the game, we are pulling for KC. We didn’t appreciate how SF treated our Detroiters in their game. We’d like to see them get their comeuppance.
How about those Pistons!! Two wins in a row for the first time since October! This time the victim was Portland, again with a late-game surge. We went into the 4th quarter trailing by 13, but tied it and dominated in overtime, 8-2. We’ll be taking on a very tough Clippers team in LA tomorrow night. Keep it up, men!
Headline in The Onion: Bank Repossesses Brain Of Man Who Defaulted On Student Loans.
Today’s puzzle set the tone from the get-go. 1A was “Beaming,” and the answer was ALL SMILES.
Here’s Caity’s Leon — he’s six and a half now! Kinahora.
At 55A, the clue was “It makes a spin around a dance floor,” and the answer was DISCO BALL. You know, – this thing:
It brought up some painful memories for egs, who wrote: ”I used to stay at the clubs til dawn, dancing to the likes of Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor. Had to quit when I developed a case of DISCOBALLS.” Ouch!
The puzzle was by Christina Iverson, who is on the NYT puzzle staff, and it’s nice and crisp. Other good clues/answers are:
14A: ”Wind up alone?” Ans: FLUTE SOLO. The flute is a “wind” instrument and the soloist is up alone. Iverson shared that this was a favorite of hers among all the clues/answers she’s ever written.
32A: ”Trend for unengaged employees:” Ans: QUIET QUITTING. You familiar with this? It’s when you just do what you need to do at work, but put in no additional effort.
16A: ”Fuzzy exotic pet” is a TARANTULA. Wanderlust noted: “My friends and I kept a TARANTULA in our dorm room in college. Her name was Buttercup, and she was adorable.” Seriously?
12D: ”DC Comics weapons, one of which can be seen at the Smithsonian.” Answer: BATARANGS. Remember those? That was a long time ago.
You can buy them on Amazon. These go for just $8.03 (down from $11.95).
At 24D, “Facial concealer” was VEIL. Wanderlust said she had “vein” before veil as the facial concealer, and thought “that would have to be a pretty big vein.” Yup.
At 25A, ask me to come up with a clue for PLOW, and I’ll probably involve oxen in some fashion. But Iverson came up with: ”Yoga pose with arms extended and legs folded over the head.” What? Legs folded over the head? I don’t think Jews do that — There’s something in the Torah on that.
It looks like parts of two different people, assembled incorrectly. A person from Ikea, with bad instructions.
Don’t try that pose, TK! You’ll never get out of it! Hey, readers, Ted Kooser’s here today! Great to see you, as always Mr. Bigshot Poet Laureate. What do you have for us, to kick off this fine weekend?
This is from Winter Morning Walks
The weight of my old dog, Hattie — thirty-five pounds
of knocking bones, sighs, tremors, and dreams —
just isn’t enough to hold a patch of sun in its place,
at least for very long. While she shakes in her sleep,
it slips from beneath her and inches away,
taking the morning with it — the music from the radio,
the tea from my cup, the drowsy yellow hours —
picking up dust and dog hair as it goes.
Sadly, Hattie passed away since that poem was written. We’ll share the poem Ted wrote for Hattie upon her death tomorrow.
Thanks for popping by!
The Wellington Files 