One of the clues/answers in today’s puzzle is so beautiful, I’m tapping it as our opening note today. First, I had to look up “tendril” to appreciate it. Here’s the definition:
- a slender threadlike appendage of a climbing plant, often growing in a spiral form, that stretches out and twines around any suitable support.
- something resembling a plant tendril, especially a slender curl or ringlet of hair: “the wind fitfully moved the dark tendrils around her forehead”
Okay, so at 48A the clue was “Smoky tendrils.” And the answer was WISPS. Like a wisp of smoke that becomes a tendril. Lovely. Here’s a pretty wisp. Not sure it’s very tendril-y though.
Also sounds like an appetizer, no? “OK — we’ll share an order of the smoky tendrils and the fried calamari, please.”
Here’s a life-or-death issue that arose: At 104A, the clue was “He literally jumped the shark on ‘Happy Days,’” and the answer was FONZ. Well, some folks threw a hissy fit claiming it has to be either “The” Fonz, or “Fonzie.”
My view was my usual “close enough for crosswords,” but Commenter Dan took the issue head on:
“The complaints about FONZ are definitely unwarranted. Arthur Fonzarelli, Fonzie, The Fonz were the most common references, but I was sure I could remember hearing Richie call him FONZ. ‘Hey Fonz, wanna go to Arnold’s?’ or something like that.
“Sure enough, I did a google search and in the first random video from the show that I watched, Mr. C, Mrs. C, and Joanie all call him Fonzie. And then Richie pipes in with ‘Why don’t you sit down, Fonz?’
“If Richie can call him Fonz, I think the puzzle can, too.”
Hrrrrrrrrrumph!
Here’s the Fonz with Pinky Tuscadero, who seems much less into this dance than he does. C’mon Pink — lighten up!
This story was sent in to Met Diary by Susan Spector. It’s called “Fresh Loaves of Rye.”
Dear Diary:
My sister was getting married in a small town in Maine. Both she and the groom were transplants from Brooklyn.
My sister asked that I bring two large, fresh loaves of rye bread as a special treat for the wedding. The day before, I stopped at Lords Bakery at Nostrand and Flatbush Avenues after finishing my classes at Brooklyn College.
I told the woman at the counter that I was buying the bread to bring to my sister’s wedding in Maine the next day.
I asked whether I should get the loaves sliced. The woman said the bread might stay fresher on the long trip if it was unsliced.
It turned out that the groom had asked his brother to bring up two large, fresh loaves of rye. The brother also went to Lords and asked the same woman for two large rye breads, explaining that he would be bringing them to a wedding in Maine the next day.
“Are you pulling my leg?” the woman said. “A lady was in here earlier asking for two rye breads for her sister’s wedding in Maine tomorrow. Am I on ‘Candid Camera?’”
The groom’s brother displayed complete ignorance.
“She got hers unsliced,” the woman said, referring to me. “Maybe you should get yours sliced?”
The puzzle today was called “Feeling Possessive,” and the trick was to take an expression and alter its meaning by adding an apostrophe to make it possessive. E.g., you can say Tom “POOLS RESOURCES” with Ellen. But if the clue is “Noodles and floaties,” you would add an apostrophe to make it “POOL’S RESOURCES.”
Cute wordplay, fairly typical for a Sunday puzzle. But do you get the feeling Rex wasn’t too impressed? Here’s what he wrote:
“I don’t even know where to begin with how inadequate this theme is. How limp and last-century it is. It’s giving nothing. It doesn’t even have corniness going for it. Our job is to imagine … apostrophes? Look, if you’ve got a simple (very simple) gimmick that yields great results, hey, go for it. Go. For. It. But this ain’t it. This. Ain’t. It. I cannot conceive why this was made, let alone why it was accepted. The clues aren’t even trying to be amusing / entertaining / zany. Where is the … joke? The fun? The … anything? This is the “Jeremy’s Iron” of puzzles (see below).”
It occurred to me today that Rex is like a rock musician whose ears have been blown out by too many concerts so he can only hear the high notes. Most puzzles are just an annoying buzz to him — only the great ones make an impression. But that’s okay. Commenter Lewis forms the counterview — he’s always positive. And the Commentariat as a whole is a pleasure to read. Rex’s blog has become an important part of my day. I recall a commenter writing once that he was sitting in a reception area waiting for his chemotherapy infusion and the only activity that offered him relief was reading Rex’s blog and the comments. I can see it.
The poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti was born on this date in 1919 in Yonkers, NY. He died in SF just a month shy of his 102nd birthday. He said: “Make your mind learn its way around the heart.”
We’re trying.
See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 