Dave Barry defined “old person” as someone who remembers when there was no velcro. Well, it was on this day in 1958 that Velcro was patented by Georges de Mestral, an electrical engineer from Switzerland. The name comes from the French words velour (velvet) and crochet (hook).
Mestral invented velcro after he took a walk through burdock and studied the burrs he removed from his clothing and from his dog under a microscope. It’s not clear how he got his dog under the microscope, but that’s not our concern. He found tiny hooks attached themselves to fabric or fur, and the rest is history.
Here’s how Michelle Cottle’s Op-Ed piece starts today:
“Americans like feeling as though they know their political leaders personally. And yet I think many of us now feel we know a little too much about Kristi Noem.
“First, you definitely do not want the South Dakota governor to pet sit. Just, no.
“Second, when it comes to reminiscing about meeting world leaders, Ms. Noem has a touch of George Santos about her.”
Georgie! Free publicity! You’ve still got it, buddy!
This is she, killing something else. Jeez Louise, girl, — give it a rest! Don’t go all Dexter on us!
The puzzle was very neat today. The theme centered on the phrase that spanned the center of the grid: HOLE IN ONE SHOT. The first O was shaded to represent a golf tee, and the last O had a little flag in it to represent the hole. And a trail of Os running up and down the entire grid ran from the first one to the last one, representing the hole-in-one shot clanking around on a miniature golf course and rolling in. (A separate answer at 18A was MINIGOLF.)
If you did the puzzle on the NYT App, when you finished, a little yellow animated golf ball popped off the tee and made its way via the Os into the hole. Adorable. Aside from the long path of Os, there were no other Os in the grid, a nice touch. See if you can follow the path of Os starting from the O in 33A and ending with the one in 35A. I’ll wait.
William Mathews wrote this poem called “Iowa City to Boulder.” It appeared in today’s Writer’s Almanac.
I take most of the drive by night.
It’s cool and in the dark my lapsed
inspection can’t be seen.
I sing and make myself promises.
By dawn on the high plains
I’m driving tired and cagey.
Red-winged blackbirds
on the mileposts, like candle flames,
flare their wings for balance
in the blasts of truck wakes.
The dust of not sleeping
drifts in my mouth, and five or six
miles slur by uncounted.
I say I hate long-distance
drives but I love them.
The flat light stains the foothills
pale and I speed up the canyon
to sleep until the little lull
the insects take at dusk before
they say their names all night in the loud field.
The ban in Nassau County preventing transgender women from participating in team sports as women was thrown out by Justice Francis Ricigliano of Nassau County Supreme Court. The ban had been imposed by the bigot Bruce Blakeman, the county executive who was found to have exceeded his authority.
Phil refuses to photograph the schmuck. He suggested we go with a red-winged blackbird from the poem instead. Good idea.
How do you feel about mutton chops? It was in the puzzle at 50A, well, one of them was, clued with “Cut of meat that lent its name to a facial hairstyle.” MUTTON CHOP. Rex was troubled that there was only one chop in the answer. The poor fellow will have to grow another, he pointed out. This guy grew a pair. Back away slowly Philly. He seems upset about something.
Do you know the difference between a lamb chop and a mutton chop? Lamb chops are small cuts of meat from young sheep, typically between four months and a year old. Mutton chops, on the other hand, refers to meat from adult sheep at least a year old. And most sheep sold as mutton are well over two years.
Egsforbreakfast shared this today:
NEWS FLASH!!! The NYT is looking for a puzzle editor. Not the big one, but a nice job. Qualifications:
•
3+ years editing puzzles for publication
•
An appreciation for word games and puzzles
•
Basic experience with web production, and basic knowledge of web tools and interfaces
•
Basic knowledge of journalism ethics and standards
Responsibilities
•
You will report to the Editorial Director and are responsible for editing and creating and quality puzzles for New York Times Games
•
Duties may include working on the New York Times Crossword or a new beta game
The pay is $100,000.
Commenter Gary replied:
I would like to apply for that job. Here are my qualifications:
1. I am very good at complaining about puzzles.
2. I have been writing “uniclues” now for almost two years and only about 1000 people have complained about them.
3. I own a computer and I think it connects to something called an internet.
4. I work well with others as long as they agree with me.
Oy. Tired. See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 