An 8-armed creature would be an octopus, of course. But the puzzle asked for the plural, which is a point of contention for some. The answer for the puzzle was OCTOPUSES. This helpful discussion is from The Ocean Conservancy.

Octopi ❌

While “octopi” has become popular in modern usage, it’s wrong. Octopi is the oldest plural form of octopus, coming from the belief that Latin origins should have Latin endings. However, octopus is not a simple Latin word, but a Latinized form of the Greek word októpus. Consequently, its “correct” plural form would logically be octopodes.

Octopodes ❌

“Octopodes” stems from the belief that because octopus is originally Greek, it should have a Greek ending. This term might be technically correct, but it is the least-used incorrect form of the word for more than one octopus. Using “octopodes” might cause more confusion than it’s worth.

Octopuses ✅

“Octopuses” gives the word an English ending to match its adoption as an English word. Generally, when a noun enters into English, it is pluralized as an English word rather than in its original form. Octopuses may sound peculiar to some, but this is the preferred plural.

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Today’s puzzle was a nod to the World Series. The main theme answer was FALL CLASSIC. And the joke was the other theme answers were all classic nursery rhymes involving “falls:” HUMPTY DUMPTY, JACK AND JILL, and LONDON BRIDGE.

At 5D, the clue was “How often many people brush their teeth (avert your eyes, dentists!).” The answer was ONLY ONCE. Commenter Conrad came up with some data from a dental organization. 55% brush twice a day, 29% once a day, 2% don’t brush at all, and, get this — 14% (the clinically insane) brush 3 or more time a day.

Have I told this joke before? The wife is coming out of the shower and the husband is going in, and just then the doorbell rings. The husband says: Go see who that is, so she wraps herself up in a big towel and goes down to open the door. It’s their neighbor Ned and he takes one look at her and says: “I’ll give you $300 if you let that towel drop.” Boom, she lets it go. He pays her the money, she wraps herself back up and goes back upstairs. She tells her husband it was Ned from next door. He says, “Good. Did he say anything about the $300 he owes me?”

Then she brushed her teeth.

At 50D the clue was “___ Island (historic entry point for immigrants)” and the answer, of course, was ELLIS. An anonymous commenter said he was doing the puzzle on the ferry on the way to work and filled in Ellis Island and then looked up and saw it. Neat!

Speaking of Ellis Island, here’s an item from today’s Writer’s Almanac:

It was on this day in 1886 that the Statue of Liberty was officially unveiled and opened to the public. It was shipped to the U.S. in pieces packed into 214 crates. Workers put it back together in New York. Huge crowds came out for the celebration. The statue was under veil, and the sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi was alone in the statue’s crown, waiting for the signal to drop the veil. A boy down below was supposed to wave a white handkerchief at the end of the big speech. The boy accidentally waved his handkerchief before the speech was over and Bartholdi let the curtain drop, revealing the huge bronze lady, and gunshots rang out from all the ships in the harbor. The speaker, who had been boring everybody, just sat down.

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At 14A the clue was “Friend of Mickey and Goofy,” which, of course, was DONALD. Right above it, at 4A, the clue was “Animal on the state seal of Maine,” which was MOOSE. It made me vaguely remember an old ballplayer who I thought was named Don Moose, but it was Don Mossi. Remember him? He had enormous ears and a face made out of rubber.

Mossi was called up to join the Indians in their pennant-winning year of 1954. The rotation included four eventual Hall of Famers, Early Wynn, Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, and Hal Newhouser. Mossi was used in relief by Cleveland but was traded to Detroit in 1958 and became a starter. He retired after a 12-year career with a record of 101-80 and an ERA of 3.43. He pitched 55 complete games. Upon his retirement he had the highest fielding percentage among pitchers in MLB history (311 chances; 3 errors). Mossi died on July 19, 2019, at age 90. He had been the oldest living member of the 1954 Cleveland pitching staff.

Turns out I was thinking of Bob Moose, who pitched for the Pirates from 1967 to 1976. He was born in Mooscow. [No he wasn’t.] His best year was 1969 when he went 14-3 with an ERA of 2.91 and pitched a no-hitter against the Mets. In 1974, a blood clot formed under the shoulder of his throwing arm. He underwent surgery to remove the clot along with one of his ribs. God later used the rib to create a female moose. Tragically, Moose died in a car crash on his 29th birthday. [Headline might have been Car Strikes Moose.]

Last, the plural of moose is mooses — not moosopods.

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See you next time!