Well, you don’t have to get all snippy about it, you f*cking sore loser Romanian b*tch.

Whoa, what’s that about? Naomi Osaka was dissed by Romanian
Sorana Cîrstea after beating her at the Australian Open. Cîrstea was miffed at the way Osaka was saying “Come on” during the match, something she often does to motivate herself. Cîrstea complained to the official about it at one point during the match but no action was taken, because it’s a ridiculous complaint. Then, after the match, at the traditional handshake, Cîrstea dissed Osaka and accused her of unfair play. Here’s what it looked like:

Osaka noted that Cîrstea said nothing to her about it during the match, and when asked in the post-match on-court interview what it took for her to win the match quipped “Apparently a lot of ‘Come-ons’ that she was angry about, but whatever.”

Our Phil was covering the match for us, and we asked him if Osaka seemed upset over the flap. “Here’s our girl,” he replied. “Does she look upset?”

And here’s sore-ass Sorana.

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There was some great stuff in the puzzle yesterday. A lot of folks loved this clue: “She’s out there!” It’s brilliant. The “out” here means “openly gay.” The answer is LESBIAN BAR. Rex explained the use of the exclamation point in the clue:

“The ‘!’ tells you that the clue is meant to be taken extremely, even absurdly literally—literally in a way that changes the apparent surface meaning. We often get ‘!’ at the ends of clues containing ‘it’ ([Step on it!] for STAIR, [Beat it!] for DRUM, etc.), but today the mystery word isn’t ‘it’ but ‘there’—is she ‘out there’ because she’s wacky, because she’s on the loose, because she’s literally in your backyard? No. She’s ‘out (as in openly gay) there.’ She’s out where? She’s out at the LESBIAN BAR.”

If she meets someone cute, she might resort to what’s at 22D: BEDROOM EYES (“Longing look”). But we may have left that bar by then, because right next to BEDROOM EYES is ERECTOR SET (“Classic toy for budding engineers”). Tee hee. Here are two sets of bedroom eyes, one of each flavor.

It’s a very racy puzzle, even by non-NYTXW standards, because all of the following are crossing the BEDROOM EYES/ERECTOR SET duo: TONGUE, EASY, HARDER, and FREE.

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At 35A “Micromobility option” is E-SCOOTER. Here’s Commenter Gary: I rented an e-scooter once and rode it to the train station in Denver from my old condo. It was fun, but I never did it again. I think it turned me into an old man. That was my last great adventure.

He had more to say about the “hot fudge sundae” that was in the clue at 8D:

Like our current administration, I have reordered the food pyramid. Hot fudge sundae made at home (ideally as a surprise from my wife) with Tillamook old-fashioned vanilla and warmed Hershey’s syrup is on the top of the pyramid obviously. Then under that is Weinerschnitzel-Tastee Freez. I’m pretty sure there’s no real food in those and you don’t expect it, do you? It’s main purpose is to give you an alternative to driving your car off an overpass just so you can feel like a bird. Then of course McDonald’s comes next mainly because there’s a McDonald’s in eyesight from every location in Albuquerque. And finally DQ’s dairy-esque treat substance served in our local shop that smells like cleaning solvent. Those are the four food groups.

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Today, at 14A the clue was “Feeling that a new haircut or a new set of clothes might bring.” I was thinking along the lines of that fresh new feeling you get with stuff sometimes, like the new-car-smell effect. But it’s deeper and more beautiful than that. Think of a young person suffering from gender dysphoria: where he or she feels trapped in the wrong gender. And, if a girl, she finally makes the move to get a boy’s haircut, or to cast away her feminine outfits for male garb. That deep feeling of “rightness” is the answer the puzzle was looking for: GENDER EUPHORIA. Bravo, constructors Adrian Johnson and Ryan McCarty.

As if that weren’t enough, at 36A the clue was “1960s protest singer Phil.” OMG, Phil OCHS! How important a figure was Phil Ochs to us? Well, we had Linda’s sisters Bobbie and Judy learn and perform two songs for our wedding and one was Phil’s Changes. (The other was Dylan’s I Believe In You.)

What made me propose Changes were the opening lyrics, which mirrored my message to Linda on that day: Sit by my side, come as close as the air.

Neil Young performs it below, and after that Phil performs another one of his songs for us.

So sit by my side, come as close as the air
Share in a memory of gray
And wander in my words
Dream about the pictures that I play
Of changes.

There’s no place in this world where I’ll belong when I’m gone
And I won’t know the right from the wrong when I’m gone
And you won’t find me singin’ on this song when I’m gone
So I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here

Rest in peace, Phil — you’re still very warmly remembered — hey, you’re in the f*cking New York Times Crossword on a Saturday!

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Historian Heather Cox Richardson has been relentless in her coverage of Trump’s abuses. It’s hard to take it all in. Sometimes as I click it open I’m hoping for one of her days off when she just shares a lovely photo. Here’s how she opened today:

Tens of thousands of Minnesotans took to the streets today in bitter cold temperatures with wind chills of -20°F to protest the occupation of Minneapolis and St. Paul by federal agents from ICE and CBP. A protester walking down the street held a sign that said: “CLASSIC NAZI BLUNDER: INVADING IN WINTER.”

Look, I may have bumbled my way through law school, but even I see the sanctity of the Fourth Amendment protecting us in our homes. I don’t even like it when company we invite comes over: I certainly don’t want the cops busting in at their whim. Here’s Richardson again:

On Wednesday, Rebecca Santana of the Associated Press reported that ICE has been breaking into homes under the authority provided by a secret memo of May 12, 2025, signed by the acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, saying that federal agents do not need a judge’s warrant to force their way into people’s homes.

What the f*ck!

There’s also this: ICE agents arrived in Maine this week, and one took pictures of a legal observer’s car, prompting her to remind him that it is legal to record their actions and to ask why he was taking her information. He answered: “‘Cause we have a nice little database and now you’re considered a domestic terrorist.” He appeared to be referring to Trump’s September 25, 2025, memo NSPM-7 that describes opposition to the administration’s policies—opposition protected by the First Amendment—as “domestic terrorism.”

My guess is Trump picked Maine because its governor stood up to him recently on some other outrage. I think his shit will go over even worse there than it has in Minny, if that’s possible. Those folks up there are made of granite; right-from-wrong is in their bones. They won’t give an inch.

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Hunker down, Chatterheads. Thanks for stopping in. See you tomorrow!