Trump had his physical exam this week. When the doctor told him he had the body of a sixteen-year-old he said “Please leave Epstein out of this — I never touched that girl!!”
This is true though: Trump boasted about his performance on a cognitive test, saying he “got every answer right.” Have you seen those tests? The questions are like “What day of the week is it?” and “Can you name the President of the U.S.?” Still, I’m surprised he got them all right. May be lying, of course.
When I saw that Sam Ezersky was the constructor of today’s puzzle, I knew I was in for a battle. And I was right. At 45A, “Meet face to face?” turned out to be HEAD BUTT. Ouch! His clue for SOAPY was “Serialized and melodramatic, as a show.” I cry foul! Fifteen yards for unnecessary toughness.
It didn’t help that I was up late watching the Tigers take two minutes under five hours to lose to the Mermen 3-2 in fifteen innings! Torres, Greene, Tork, and Keith (in the 2 thru 5 spots) went a combined 0 for 23! Yeah, you heard me — 0 for 23. And our old buddy Kyle Finnegan, late of the Gnats, came all the way from DC to blow the lead in the seventh. Ouch. He’s a Detroit boy too. Mariners star Cal Raleigh summed it up in his post-game interview: “It took so long, holy shit.” (not kidding, that’s a real quote)
Phil recorded the scene for us but was so drunk by the 15th inning, he pretty much missed everything of significance.
So we move on, inexorably. Rooting for Toronto, and whoever will face LA (Cubbies or Milwaukee). But I don’t really have any more dogs in the hunt.
At 46D, for “Some spring nursery purchases,” the answer was BULBS. It led Son Volt to share this song with us. There is not enough joy in our lives: I say that despite having seven incredible grandchildren who are the embodiment of joy (even the teenager). This song will give you four minutes of joy. Turn it up!
Owl Chatter friend Newton Don had a poster of Van Morrison up in his room back in college or law school. And a cleaning lady pointed to it and asked him: “Is that you?” Don thought she asked “Is that yours?” so he said “Yes.” So there’s a 90-year old Black woman somewhere telling her great-grandchildren about this musician she once met.
In some comments about a puzzle, the commenter tells us a little about him or herself by way of explaining why he or she had so much (or little) trouble solving it. Puzzles sometimes favor older generations or younger, e.g., with, respectively, old movies or song references, or texting terms or computerese. Here’s how one Anony Mouse described himself today: “Hi, I’m a 72-year-old Caucasian with a master’s in history. The newest music I listen to is the early work of John Adams, I have four different pairs of glasses for various distances, and the opinions of anyone who owns a cell phone are invalid.”
And get off my lawn!
A reply included these emojis which I took to be those four pairs of glasses: 🧐🤓😎🥸
The NYTXW’s fascination with boobs was on full display again. (Not complaining.) Earlier this week we had NO BRA DAY, and today the clue at 51A was “‘Longest ____ chain,’ 2019 Guinness feat set by a cancer awareness cause (196,000+ items, 120+ miles).” The answer was BRA. Looks like a lot of fun was had for a very good cause. (Bra)va, ladies!
Material in Rex’s blog inspired Commenter Natasha to construct a puzzle of her own today which she shared with us and it was very good! In particular, take a look at the clue for 32A from it: “Language(s) of the unheard.” I completely whiffed on it, thinking of things like sign language, i.e., for the deaf (the unhearing).
So I tracked it down and learned it’s an MLK Jr. quote from his speech at Stanford, “The Other America,” in April of 1967. (And the answer was RIOTS.)
“Let me say as I’ve always said, and I will always continue to say, that riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. … But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again.”
Back to the NYT puzzle. There was a lot of grumbling about 26D: “Like typical frat boys, informally.” The answer was BROEY, a word (if it is a word) that is new to me. Some folks really hated it. Called it “trash.” Lighten up kids, it’s just an XW puzzle having fun with some wordplay. Sheesh.
Worthless knowledge you can only get here at Owl Chatter (or by doing the puzzle): At 41D: “With fewer than 11,000 people, the world’s second-least-populous country, after Vatican City.” It’s TUVALU. SRSLY. How have we lived so long without knowing that? It’s a country in Oceania, which raises the question, What the hell is Oceania? Well, get this — Oceania is a geographical region including Micronesia and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, with Mainland Australia regarded as its continental landmass. Getting back to Tuvalu, it’s roughly 10 square miles in size (NJ is 8,700), and here’s its flag:
Our Phil got friendly with some of the friendly Tuvalu women. Hi ladies! Love the outfits!
Sadly, one commenter noted, Tuvalu is also known as the first country in the world likely to disappear due to climate change. The highest elevation on it is something like 4 meters; rising sea levels will submerge it by the year 2100.
Sadly differently, we just learned that Diane Keaton passed away today at the age of 79. She never married but had two kids, adopted in her 50s. She said motherhood completely changed her and was the most humbling experience she ever had.
Keaton had relationships with Woody Allen, Al Pacino, and Warren Beatty and stayed on good terms with them all. She took Allen’s side in his ugly battle with Mia Farrow. Of Pacino, she said: “Al was simply the most entertaining man … To me, that’s, that is the most beautiful face. I think Warren [Beatty] was gorgeous, very pretty, but Al’s face is like whoa. Killer, killer face.”
I forgot that she won the Oscar for Best Actress for Annie Hall. Part of her allure was she was very pretty but didn’t hit you over the head with it. She was graceful and natural with her good looks.
One review said of her acting: “It’s hard to play ditzy. … The genius of Annie (Hall) is that despite her loopy backhand, awful driving, and nervous tics, she’s also a complicated, intelligent woman. Keaton brilliantly displays this dichotomy of her character, especially when she yammers away on a first date. The subtitle reads, ‘He probably thinks I’m a yoyo.’ Yo-yo? Hardly.”
Thank you for all of the good work, and the laughs, and for putting yourself out there for us to enjoy so much. Rest in peace.
See you tomorrow, readers. Thanks for dropping by.
The Wellington Files 