Did you know about this “rule?” This story is by Kerry Martin and it’s from today’s Met Diary in the NYT:
Dear Diary:
I was on a moms’ night out during the daytime because it was the only time our group could get away.
After sitting in a Ridgewood bar exchanging stories about our children, talking about New York City schools and comparing our work schedules, we decided to treat ourselves to ice cream.
After getting some, we were standing on the sidewalk enjoying our pastel-colored treats when my scoop fell on the sidewalk.
My friends urged me to ask for a replacement, but I was embarrassed and just stood there blushing and giggling.
Other people joined the chorus, saying it was a rule at ice cream windows that you get a replacement if your scoop falls. Someone’s dog was eyeing mine as it melted on the pavement.
Finally, a man in a paper hat approached us and asked who had dropped the matcha scoop that was now trickling into a crack in the sidewalk.
It only took about five seconds for him to bring me a new cone. This one had sprinkles.
And of course there’s the famous Ed Koren cartoon (Hi Bob!). A little boy or girl has dropped his or her ice cream cone —splat — on the ground and is crying. The mom leans down sympathetically and says: “Do you want to talk about it?”
In yesterday’s NYTXW, at 1A the clue was “Hotel room staple,” and the answer was TV SET. A couple of folks said they thought of “Bible” first. And jberg noted: “A couple of years ago I wanted to look something up so I checked my hotel room drawers for the Gideon Bible, but there wasn’t any. Since then I usually do a quick search, and often find none; sometimes there is a sign saying that you can ask the front desk for religious texts. So I guess it’s no longer a staple.”
In 2006, 95% of hotels in the US provided a Bible in the bedside drawer. By 2016, that number had dropped to 79%. In 2018, only 72% of economy hotels and 46% of luxury hotels provided religious materials, in some cases a Hindu or Buddhist text as an option.
Readers have been requesting dental cartoons.
“The last moments of Dr. Steven Puckett, D.D.S.”
Today’s puzzle was brilliant, IMWO. It was called “Working the Night Shift” which was a pun because it’s about the phases (shifts) of the moon. A ring of circled squares placed in an orbit around the grid represented phases of the moon. The phases are represented by waxing and waning spellings of “MOON”—from a blacked out circle representing a new moon, through “M” “MO” “MOO” “MOON” (for full moon) then “OON” “ON” “N” and back to the blacked out circle again. Check it out, below.
The earth appears at 66A, so the moons are circling it. You can see that one of the constructor credits goes to Jeff Chen — he’s a giant in Crossworld. Hey, here he is! — glad you could stop by Jeff!
How’s that blood thing going? Jeff has a goal of donating 20 gallons of blood (“not all at once,” he reminds us), and is about 2/3 of the way there.
Take a load off, buddy. George is still away, but there should be some Diet Coke and Doritos around here somewhere.
BTW, our Georgie (Santos, if you’re new to OC) was in the news, sorta, a bit, this week. He tweeted that some bombshell is going to land soon tying Kamala to the Diddy Combs scandal. A photo came out last month linking the two and went viral, but it turned out to be Montel Williams with the Veep, with the pic doctored to look like Diddy. Oopsies.
George ended his tweet with: I’m alive and plan to stay that way.
Sounds like a plan GS!! Hurry back — We miss you!! Running dreadfully low on Fresca, big fella.
Best clue today: 28A: “Do-to-do delivery?” The answer is OCTAVE. Get it? “Do” is the musical note here, as in “do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do.”
You ever hear of this? At 63A the clue was “Hair-lightening brand,” and the answer was SUN-IN. Huh? Rex nominated this ad for it for the “Worst Use of Rap in a TV Commercial, Ever” award.
It’s an off day for the World Series today. Game 3 is in the Bronx tomorrow. I don’t see the Yanks turning it around. Judge is reeling, and the bottom third of their lineup is dreadful. Their #2 starter (Rodon) got pelted. LA is showing a winning spirit: Ohtani, Betts, and Freddie — look at their faces — they are beaming.
David Baker wrote this poem to send us off tonight. It’s called “Neighbors in October,” and was in today’s Writer’s Almanac.
All afternoon his tractor pulls a flat wagon
with bales to the barn, then back to the waiting
chopped field. It trails a feather of smoke.
Down the block we bend with the season:
shoes to polish for a big game,
storm windows to batten or patch.
And how like a field is the whole sky now
that the maples have shed their leaves, too.
It makes us believers—stationed in groups,
leaning on rakes, looking into space. We rub blisters
over billows of leaf smoke. Or stand alone,
bagging gold for the cold days to come.
Thanks for dropping in. See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 