At 44A yesterday, the clue was “‘I, personally, wouldn’t boast about that.’” The answer was an expression I had never heard: WEIRD FLEX BUT OK. Let’s unpack it. First, to flex (as in one’s muscles) has taken on the meaning of “to boast.” Then you have the concept of boasting about something that you think is neat, but may not really be neat. E.g., “Hey, last weeked I ate 35 hot dogs and threw up all over my new car!” That would be called a “weird flex.” Finally, you have — Hey, that’s something weird to boast about, but whatever turns you on is fine with me: WEIRD FLEX, BUT OK.
According to our friend Miriam W. the expression took off when a comic, Sarah Schauer, tweeted it in response to the rapist Brett Kavanaugh’s statement that he was a virgin in HS and for years after.
Sarah seems likable. Here’s another tweet of hers: I was in line at the bookstore with my mom, and this guy behind me was talking shit about every woman in line: “her boobs are out . . . . those leggings are tight,” so I whispered “the guy behind us is looking at people’s boobs,” and my mom faces the guy and says “this guy is looking at women’s boobs??” Like she did that old person thing where they repeat everything you say and, tbh, I didn’t mind it this time. LMAO.
At 20A, the clue was “____ Seymour, third wife of King Henry VIII.” The only name I could think of was JANE, the actress, but it was right! In fact, the actress was born Joyce Frankenburg, but took the stage name Jane Seymour after the historical figure! She’s 74 now and was a Bond girl in Live and Let Die.
I sent an egg zerpt to Frank Bruni hoping for inclusion in his “For the Love of Sentences” feature. It’s from David Brooks’ piece in the NYT yesterday:
“‘Sinful’ used to be a powerful, resonant, soul-shaking word. Now it is mostly used in reference to desserts.”
At 63A the clue was “According to experiments, they can’t ‘sleep’ in space.” For “sleep” you have to think of the yoyo trick — making the yoyo “sleep.” The answer is YOYOS. You need gravity for the trick so it cannot be done in space.
Did you know there is an opposite to narcissism? It’s ECHOISM. It was in the puzzle today, clued with “Self-effacing personality trait.” It’s from way back in the origin of the myth. Echo, you see, was the nymph who fell madly in love with Narcissus. (Bad move. Just ask Trump’s wife, Malaria.) She was cursed to repeat the last few words she hears, i.e., to “echo” them. So echoists have no voice of their own and a fear of narcissism which leads to self-effacement, as the clue states.
Here’s a shot of Echo, sadly watching Narcissus.
Three items in today’s puzzle were: I GOTTA JET, clued with “Later!” TRADE WARS, clued with “New customs might incite them.” And KING ME, clued with “Demand upon reaching an ‘enemy border.’” (Think Checkers.) Here’s what egs put together:
Reporter: Mr. President, what did you accomplish on your recent Middle East visit?
Trump: IGOTTAJET
Reporter: Any big plans for the coming days?
Trump: TRADEWARS
Reporter: And what would you ask the American people to do at this point?
Trump: KINGME
At 37A the clue was “Need anything else from me?” and the answer was AM I DONE?
egs again:
Shrink: Are you done with your crisis?
Me: AM I DONE? No! I’m AMID ONE right now.
Today’s puzzle was the hardest one I’ve seen in a while. Kudos to me for hacking my way through it. I had nothing the first time through, but slowly got little toeholds and was able to build off them. Here are two samples I had no idea on:
60A: “Slower, musically.” Answer: MENO MOSSO.
31D: “‘I don’t like it,’ in Spanish.” Answer: NO ME GUSTA.
SRSLY?
25A conjured up a sports figure whom I knew but who had to be a WOE (what on earth?) for most solvers: “M.L.B. third baseman Bohm.” It’s ALEC. He’s on the Phillies, but hardly a household name. He’s tall and good-looking, so it was no surprise to learn that his wife (and the love of his life) was this person:
Her name is Jacque Darby, but it’s not a happy story. As far as I can tell, a DNA test revealed that the baby she had was not Alec’s. It led to his difficult decision to divorce her. Here’s Alec.
We attended a memorial service for our dear friend Dan Reynolds today. It was beautiful. Many people spoke, from all the areas of his life, shedding a warm and wonderful light on his memory. Mary and the boys were remarkable. Friends Pam and Jack spoke very movingly — Pam got through it!! Good to see Roy, Didi, David, and Nancy too.
Rest in peace Dan. You lived a good life.
The Wellington Files 