In a book called Kosher by Design by Susie Fishbein, there is a recipe for brisket called Mexican Brisket, that is so easy and comes out so good that it completely changes one’s view on the making of brisket. It’s not as high a hill to climb anymore. We’ve used it three times now, with great success.
Here’s how easy it is to use. Take a 3-4 lb brisket, sear it on each side in a pot in a little oil for a few minutes, add a 24-oz jar of salsa, a 12-oz can/bottle of beer, potatoes (5), carrots (3), and an onion, and that’s it. Simmer covered for 3 hours. Done. Easier to slice (against the grain, of course), if you let it cool a bit.
M’wah.
There are things that never get boring. Zoey’s face. Lianna’s crazy banter about her music or characters. Leon’s jokes. All the stuff of all the grands really. Their mishegas is inextinguishable. And I thought of them when I read what Daniel (“Danya”) Naroditsky, who became a grandmaster at the age of 17, said about chess:
“Even at my level, I can still discover beautiful things about the game every single time I train, teach, play or am a commentator at a tournament.” Every single time.
His older brother Alan introduced the game to him when he was six but he didn’t explode into it, and Alan routinely beat him for about six months. Chess was just one of the things they played, and his early memories are more generally of loving to play anything with his brother. Then he started getting good. As a fifth grader, he became the youngest person ever to win the Northern California K-12 Championship, then he was the under-12 world youth champ, and earned the title of international master at the age of 15. He was still in high school when became a grandmaster.
After graduating from Stanford with a degree in History, he took a paying position at the Chess Center in Charlotte NC, wrote about chess, became a commentator and on-line presence, and took on students. In 2022, he became the chess columnist for the NYT. Everyone he came in contact with remarked on how clearly he expressed difficult topics and how funny he was.
In October of 2024, a former world chess champ named Vladimir Kramnick accused Naroditsky (and numerous others) of cheating in online games. Many prominent chess leaders rose to Danya’s defense, but it took a terrible toll on his spirit. “To do what Kramnik has done and what everybody who supports him have done, in my mind, morally, it makes you worse than dirt.” He called Kramnik’s campaign “a sustained, evil, and absolutely unhinged attempt to destroy my life,” adding, “He is trying to ruin my life; he’s trying to inflict emotional harm, physical harm on me. He knows exactly what he’s doing.” It may have worked. Naroditsky died last Sunday, just shy of his 30th birthday. The cause of death was not announced. Some speculate suicide or a drug overdose.
What a terrible loss of an extraordinary young man. Rest in peace, Danya.
From The Onion:
Trump Touts Productive Call With Putin About Ballroom Sconces
“You know, Vladimir and I aren’t as far apart as critics believe. There’s a lot of overlap in terms of our love for hand-cut crystal, gilded iron, and warm-toned bulbs. This bodes well for when we get to picking chairs,” Trump noted.
So much good stuff in the puzzle today! I got a chuckle out of 9B where the clue was “Plan B, for seniors.” Ready? — SAFETY SCHOOL. Commenter Mark didn’t get it, so asked for someone to explain it. That led to about six responses like: “A high school senior is worried he may not get into Harvard, so he applies to UMass as a SAFETY SCHOOL.” Then I posted the following: “It’s like a safety pin, but with a school.” I got one LOL, which is rare, so I’m happy.
Other solid Friday-level clues: 10D. “It’s on the right in the second row.” Answer: THREE PIN.
53A. “Number discovered in the 1500s.” Answer: ETHER. (Think “numb,” not math.)
12D. “Bolted some nuts down.” Great clue for the simple word ATE.
18A: “Synthetic oil producer?” ART FORGER.
61A. “Bobblehead, e.g.” Great word: TCHOTCHKE. Murder to spell.
In the center, across, there was one long answer that spanned the grid. The clue was “Snarky reply to a question that starts ‘Can I …?’” And the (snarky) answer was: I DON’T KNOW, CAN YOU? It breaks the XW rule against dupes: having the same word in both the clue and the answer. But it has to, because the whole point is the focus on the word “can” as opposed to “may.” (The kid in the clue is being chided for saying “can” instead of “may.”)
Our Phil tells us Taylor and Trav are planning for the wedding to take place at the Breakers Mansion in Newport RI. He’ll be there as a guest, of course, but not in any professional capacity. We’re sure he’ll sneak a few shots out to us though.
Looking good, sweetheart, as always. You hear about George?
Well, the Dodgers’ plans to steamroll over Toronto went about as well as Putin’s grab of Kyiv. If last night’s 11-4 drubbing is any sign, it may be a long hard slog. Kudos to the Jays’ handsome young (25) slugger, Addison Barger, for his pinch hit grand slam dinger that iced the game for Canada. He was a “barger,” all right — he barged right up those Californian tuchases. BTW, it was the first ever pinch hit grand slam in World Series history. Suh-weet!
Here’s a shot of him when the buffet opened at his cousin Yitzhak’s bar mitzvah.
See you tomorrow! Thanks for stopping in.
The Wellington Files 