Good Shabbos everybody! Let’s make it a wonderful day! George — is the coffee ready yet? Don’t wake Phil — till, like, tomorrow.
Before we begin discussing today’s puzzle, let’s meet the constructor, Carly Schuna (not to be confused with Charley the Tuna).
We have seen some of Carly’s wonderful acrobatic work before. Here’s the video she shared with the NYT Wordplay column today.
OK, on to the grid!
At 41D, “First part of an ancient Greek ode” was STROPHE. So, of course, if you had to decide between the first parts of several of them, it would be a real Strophe’s choice. And if you made the wrong decision: cata-strophe!
49A was a bruiser: “Flag carrier of Panama.” Answer: COPA. A flag carrier is a nation’s transport company, like an airline. Panama’s is COPA Airlines. It brought to mind for Rex, Barry Manilow’s “At the Copa.” Here’s how he put it: “I just think you shouldn’t pass up any chance to Manilow your grid. Missed Manilopportunities make me sad. This puzzle RAN LOW (47D) on Manilow. You don’t have to go straight at the song, if that seems too obvious for a Saturday. Why not, ‘Cabana entrance?,’ something like that.”
Manilopportunities!
Georgie — how’s that coffee coming along? Sometime before noon would be good.
The clue at 43D was “#iwokeuplikethis style,” and the answer was BEDHEAD. Cousin of “hathead.” A student once asked if he could talk with me about something, and I said, “Sure, how about after class?” He said that was no good because he had to have some photos taken then. But he came up after class anyway. I said, “What about the photos?” and he said he wasn’t going because his hair looked funny because he had been wearing a hat. And I said, “Yes, I see. It’s called Hathead.”
BEDHEAD is not necessarily a bad thing. For some, it can be a desired look.
For others, not so much.
At 14D, the clue was “Dog park?” and the answer was FOOTREST. Get it? You’re parking (resting) your dogs (feet).
Did you know this, from 22D? “Word that, when searched, causes Google to display all results at an angle.” The answer is ASKEW. Try it — we did! The google results are slightly off kilter — it’s funny.
SHEL Silverstein was in the grid today — writer of one of Caity’s favorites when she was little: The Giving Tree. It also inspired one my favorite New Yorker cartoons, which I was able to track down:
“Without a compass, say” was AMORAL and it was right next to RACISM. In that connection, there was also Ijeoma OLUO at 53D. WTF??? She wrote So You Want To Talk About Race.
Another nice duo were 23D and 24D, sort of a good cop, bad cop deal. 24D was “My pleasure,” GLAD TO DO IT, right next to 23D: “Let me play the world’s smallest violin for you” — NO ONE CARES.
At 31A, CAGE could have been clued in so many different ways. Carly chose “‘National Treasure’ star,” who was actor Nicholas CAGE. Do you remember him opposite Cher in Moonstruck?
“Chrissie — Bring me the big knife!”
Last one: “Occasions to read letters:” EYE TESTS. Good puzzle! Thanks, Carly!
Our Pistons fell to the Heat in Miami last night 108-95. Too bad — they were riding a three-out-of-four wave. Have to face Miami again tomorrow in Motown. We’re 12-54 now. It didn’t help that Cade was held to 11 points. Maybe some home cooking will be good.
How many unwanted pregnancies and/or abortions could be avoided if birth control stuff were given out at the concerts of sexy rock stars? That was the thinking of Olivia Rodrigo who teamed up with reproductive rights groups to do just that at her shows. It’s perfectly legal in all 50 states. Of course, right-wing lunatics are aghast — there are children at these shows! And they’ve been successful in getting Rodrigo’s program cut back in some locations. Through many avenues, she’s a substantial supporter of reproductive rights. Good going, OR!
Many of you have commented on that poor moose that was killed in self defense in the Iditarod last week. Well, the race finally ended and moose-slayer Dallas Seavey won for the sixth time — the most wins ever. Dallas, you may recall, shot and killed the moose when it got tangled up with his dogs and posed a danger to them. One of the dogs was seriously injured. Under race rules, Seavey had to gut the moose and save the edible parts for donation to charity. He spent only ten minutes doing so, though, and was penalized two hours for his shoddy work. He still won. Sadly, three other dogs died separately in connection with the race. Animal rights groups oppose the race.
Seavey is 37 and traversed the 1,000 mile route in 9 days, 2 hours, 16 minutes and 8 seconds and won just over $55,000 for first place. As he neared the finish line, Seavey jumped off his sled and ran with his dogs, pumping his fists. At the finish, he hugged each dog on his team — and they gave him sloppy dog kisses as they sat on the winner’s podium. Awwww. Woof!
See you tomorrow folks!
The Wellington Files 