You know that one annoying woman you see now and then whose voice just grates on you like nails on a chalkboard? Well, if you lived in Afghanistan, she wouldn’t be a problem. This is from today’s NYT: Taliban leaders published rules that, among other restrictions, make it illegal for a woman’s voice to be heard by male strangers in public.
Wait, what? No typos up there folks. Welcome to Kabul!
Back in the states, where Haitian immigrants are chowing down on Fido and Whiskers, Stanley Woolner, of St. Paul, MN, has come up with a solution in his letter to the Times today. We need to start arming pets!
I think he was kidding. No, I’m sure he was kidding. Probably.
Re: Today’s puzzle at 38A: How’s this as a clue for RAIN?: “Petrichor is the aroma produced by this.” So you know that neat smell from rain? Had no idea it has a name. It comes from petra (rocks) + ichor (the fluid that flows like blood in the veins of the Gods). It’s formed by the liquification of organic compounds.
At 22A today, the clue was “Gets ready for the national anthem, maybe,” and the answer was RISES. The guest blogger for Rex noted that the “maybe” here is doing a lot of heavy lifting. It contains the whole issue of should you stand or not stand as a political statement. Or take a knee even (hi Colin!).
I shared the following, on a different aspect of RISES:
About 20 years ago, when I still went to our temple now and then, I was at a holiday service, and I noticed at one point when we were asked to stand that a woman I knew several rows ahead of me was not standing. And then I saw why. She was seated next to a little girl in a wheelchair. And to make the little girl feel less uncomfortable about not being able to stand, she stayed seated too. It was a beautiful gesture I have never forgotten.
Great clue/answer at 50A: “It might cause some unsurprised looks.” Answer: BOTOX.
At 52D, the clue was “2024 Charli XCX album with a lime green cover,” and the answer was BRAT. In modern pop culture, brat refers to someone who is confidently rebellious, unapologetically bold, and playfully defiant. Anyway, here you go — turn it up.
There was a PIANO BENCH in the puzzle today, at 28D. Who the hell put that in there? It reminded me of the great Victor Borge who would, from time to time, fall off of his. I challenge you not to laugh when it occurs in this two-minutes of pure piano nonsense.
T-shirt sold by The Onion for $29: “Jurisprudence Fetishist Gets Off On Technicality.”
This excellent observation is from Frank Bruni’s “For the love of sentences” feature:
In The Washington Post, Monica Hesse parsed JD Vance’s insistence that parents are intrinsically more invested in a society’s health than childless people are: “If it took having your own children to care about quality education, clean air and safe cities, then I have bad news: Parenthood didn’t make you less of a narcissist; it merely widened your umbrella of narcissism just enough to keep your own genetic offspring dry.”
Bruni himself started off his assessment of the debate with:
In Kamala Harris’s big general-election debate four years ago, she faced off against an opponent with a fly on his head.
In her immeasurably bigger debate on Tuesday night, she confronted an opponent with bats inside his. And out they came, flapping and screeching, when he brought up cats and dogs.
[OC True Confessions Dept: I stole the “Fido and Whiskers” reference, above, from Frank.]
Let’s sign off with this note and reply from the Dull Men’s Club (UK). And please be advised that a “roundabout” is a traffic circle, and to “indicate” is to use your turn signal.
Troy Doherty’s post:
So whilst sat at a round about today, several cars turned off before they got to me but didn’t indicate so I didn’t go. I wonder how much time would be saved across our nation if everyone indicates at roundabouts and junctions?
Peter Saxton’s response:
They may have been indicating. Are you sure you weren’t just blinking in synchronisation with their indicators being in off phase of their performance?
Thanks for popping by! See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 