Yesterday’s big (Sunday) puzzle had a Broadway theme. It was called Off Broadway Musicals. The clues were musicals, and the answers played off their literal meanings. So for “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” the answer was NEPOTISM. “The Wiz” was EINSTEIN. “The Producers” was PROLETARIAT. And “Mean Girls” was AVERAGE JANES, the counterpart to average Joes, with mean meaning average.
The grid contained the following answers: PLATH (as in Sylvia), PROSTRATE, AROSE, NASTY, CUSPS, and LISPS. So here’s what I came up with:
Sylvia’s parents always felt her agreeable brother Warren was the PLATH of least resistance.
Police Sergeant: Was the body PROSTRATE when you arrived?
Witness: No. Quite the converse. It was antistrate.
Sergeant: Okay. Then I’ll amend my officer’s report to have his PROSTRATE taken out.
Don’t invite Shakespeare and Stein to dinner together.
Will: AROSE (9D) by any other name . . .
Gertrude: Nonsense! AROSE is AROSE is AROSE.
It theems a little NATHTY (71D) for the conthtructor to place CUTHPS (52D) so close to LITHPS (63D).
Here’s Sylvia.
Our Phil spent his time off for Christmas hanging with Tay and Travis at the Chiefs game in KC last week. It was a little sad because KC lost, is out of the playoffs, and it might have been Trav’s last home game (if he retires). Phil says it’s not just an act, Kelce is truly undecided on whether to call it quits.
Yikes. She looks so tiny next to him in that shot. Should we worry? It’s not as pronounced below. I’m not going to worry.
Eugene Niemand of the Dull Men’s Club (UK) asks a reasonable question:
Can someone please explain why this board was not placed 1/2 mile back or forward to avoid all the 1/2 miles on the distances?
Paul Clark: Because it was easier than moving the towns nearer the junction.
[What?]
Jane Knuth: And why all the parentheses?
Andrew Jackson: The parentheses mean the town is not located directly on the road you are on.
Kenneth Harwood: This is the only sign of its kind that I know of.
Eugene: Really? To be honest it’s first one I’ve seen since creating this post but surely there must be more.
Kenneth: I was a Lorry driver, drove all over the UK and I have never seen another with 1/2 miles.
John Heaton: Oddly, there is nowhere on the A347 within 34.5 miles of the sign, as is indicated for Winchester.
Eugene: I know. I did a measurement from where this sign is and in a straight line it overshoots everywhere by about 2-4 miles except Ringwood.
Gord Lynch: I don’t suppose the roads are straight lines though.
Debbie Vogel: The sign was placed near an intersection.
Eugene: Does anyone know where they measure to, like a council building, library, courthouse, etc.?
Andrew Harper: Normally to the main post office in the town.
Eugene: This is getting more interesting.
Avi Liveson: Not really.
The PWHL (Pro Women’s Hockey League) was mentioned approvingly in a call to the afternoon sports talk show on WFAN in NY today. The caller noted that the PWHL has a draft system that does not reward losses (or “tanking”). It’s a big problem (IMO) for the NFL.
Take a look at the Jets. (Sorry. Just for a second.) They stink beyond all reasonable standards of stinkdom. So they need a good draft in April. And draft picks are assigned in the order of how bad your record is. So there’s an incentive for the Jets (and the other weaker teams) to lose games in order to score a more favorable draft position. It’s called “tanking” and goes against everything competitive sports stands for.
Well, the PWHL came up with a solution. Once it’s mathematically impossible for a team to make the playoffs, its draft position is higher the better it does for the rest of the season. Brilliant.
Look at these beautiful and remarkable women. They make me proud to be a sports fan.
At the opposite end of the brilliance spectrum, we have Chris Garten, a moron of the highest order. On Christmas Day, Garten, a Republican Indiana state senator, posted images of himself punching, kicking, and body-slamming Santa Claus in front of the state capitol. His explanation was that he was reacting to the “fact” that “the North Pole is trying to bring more bureaucratic overreach & unfunded mandates down the chimney disguised as ‘Christmas cheer.’” “We The People run Indiana, not the bureaucrats,” he wrote. “Take it back to the North Pole big guy.”
Garten called outrage over the posts “fake” and “a stark reminder of how overly sensitive society has become.”
[Wait. If it was fake how could it be a reminder of anything? It didn’t happen. Gotta pick one CG. It’s an either/or.]
He later blasted the “intolerance, swearing, and outrage” over the images and said: “Some of you clowns are just insufferable…. Merry Christmas, snowflakes!”
Ho-Ho-Ouch!
Frank Bruni ended the year with a collection of the best “For the love of sentences” sentences. I didn’t remember this one:
In The BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal), Kamran Abassi composed a eulogy for honest, factual information. “We live in a world of lies, damned lies, and A.I. hallucinations,” he wrote. “A lie, they say, travels halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on. Today, a lie travels so fast that the truth might as well stay in bed.”
Our trip to Michigan was terrific. New grandbaby Harold Barney is a knockout. Big brown eyes and gorgeous pouty lips. How a slob like me could have anything genetic to do with that punim is one of the great mysteries. Great eats, as always, including kasha this time.
See you tomorrow! Thanks for popping by.
The Wellington Files 