The Marx brother who wore a curly wig, was HARPO, according to the puzzle today. Commenter kitshef dug this info up too: His birth name was Adolph, later changed to Arthur. Groucho’s was Julius. Chico’s was Leonard. Gummo’s was Milton. Zeppo’s was Herbert. Also, Zeppo’s wife cheated on him with Frank Sinatra. Ouch! That last tidbit may have been TMI.
Before I forget (as occurred several times already), Rex has been boosting this, below, all week. I did their puzzles in the past (via a contribution) and they were good — mostly moderate (Tues/Weds) difficulty levels. And I’m gonna try them again this year. So if you’re a puzzle person, it’s a good cause (reproductive rights).
These Puzzles Fund Abortion 4 (four!) just dropped this past week—over 20 original puzzles from top constructors and editors—and you can get the collection now (right now) for a minimum donation of $20 (donations split evenly among five different abortion funds—details here). You can check out a detailed description of the collection and a list of all the talent involved here. I [Rex] not only guest-edited a puzzle, I also test-solved puzzles. I have now seen the finished collection, and it’s really lovely, across the board. General editors Rachel Fabi and Brooke Husic and C.L. Rimkus put in a tremendous amount of work ensuring that it would be. The attention to detail—test-solving, fact-checking, etc.—was really impressive. Anyway, donate generously (assuming you are able) and enjoy the puzzle bounty!
Here’s the link:
https://fund.nnaf.org/campaign/these-puzzles-fund-abortion-4/c561096
Also, just to take care of some more business, I received another reminder from our Dirty Old Man Dept about Stormy Daniels being back in the news. Yes — we mentioned that yesterday guys — let’s not go overboard. Okay, we’ll go with just one more shot of her. Here she is at the Wailing Wall — Phil caught her there last Shavuot.
The puzzle today had a number theme. Pretty straightforward: 007 was BOND. 360 was FULL CIRCLE.
Did you know 420 is linked to CANNABIS? I didn’t. Apparently, though, it’s associated with marijuana widely enough to make it into the puzzle. According to Wikipedia, it all started in 1971 when five HS kids in San Rafael CA started meeting at 4:20 to search for an abandoned cannabis crop (never found). It eventually just became the time they met to smoke dope, and their story was popularized in High Times. Then 420 crossed over to mean April 20th too and that became a traditional day for pot parties, as well as an international day of observance for the counterculture.
At 1D “Arizona in Hawaii, e.g.” was SHIP. It’s a reference to the USS Arizona. This ship was struck by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. 1,177 died and the ship itself still sits under the sea, under the USS Arizona Memorial.
Smalltowndoc questioned the propriety of its use in an XW puzzle: “The clue for SHIP was tone deaf, given that the USS Arizona was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor, resulting in the death of almost 1200 sailors. There’s a thousand ways to clue SHIP. Why invoke a horrible tragedy where said SHIP now lies on the ocean floor with most of the dead still entombed within her?”
One reply said: I thought the clue for SHIP was terrific. If this had been Pearl Harbor Day, it would have been even better. To avoid talking about Pearl Harbor is to ignore the lessons of history. Brave men died aboard the Arizona; let’s not treat Pearl Harbor as a taboo subject and minimize their heroism.
Another commenter stated it was disrespectful to leave out USS, so he would have preferred a different clue.
How do I feel about it? Well, I’m glad you asked. I would be upset to see, e.g., Auschwitz, in a puzzle, clued as this was clued, so I come down on the side of viewing this as disrespectful. But this is less extreme, and I’m not super troubled by it. Here’s the ‘Zona Memorial.
“Let me know if you see any corner pieces or ways out of this marriage?”
This poem called “Father” is by our house poet, Ted Kooser, from Delights & Shadows. It’s always a special day when TK drops by. Kick off those boots and settle in, Buddy. As they say in Yiddish: Our casa is your casa — George, see what’s in the fridge.
Father
Today you would be ninety-seven
if you had lived, and we would all be
miserable, you and your children,
driving from clinic to clinic,
an ancient fearful hypochondriac
and his fretful son and daughter,
asking directions, trying to read
the complicated, fading map of cures.
But with your dignity intact
you have been gone for twenty years,
and I am glad for all of us, although
I miss you every day—the heartbeat
under your necktie, the hand cupped
on the back of my neck, Old Spice
in the air, your voice delighted with stories.
On this day each year you loved to relate
that the moment of your birth
your mother glanced out the window
and saw lilacs in bloom. Well, today
lilacs are blooming in side yards
all over Iowa, still welcoming you.
Thanks for stopping by, everybody. See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 