Well, that was a tariffic decision from The Supremes yesterday. Only Brett “I like beer” Kavanaugh joined the two automatics: Trump’s Black & White cookie.

I was today years old when I learned I have a distant tie to Justice Elena Kagan. And I’m not referring to the fact that she attended Hunter College HS, where her mom taught. (BTW, her brother Marc taught Mayor Mamdani at Bronx HS of Science.) My connection to EK is more distant, or distanter, if you prefer. As the story goes, she clashed with her family’s (orthodox) rabbi over her bat mitzvah. She insisted on it being more traditional, like bar mitzvahs. A compromise was eventually reached (with Clarence Thomas dissenting). Anyway, that rabbi was Shlomo Riskin, who, earlier in life, was my counselor in summer camp one year (Camp Massad, Poconos). He was a good guy. I once hurled a rock intending it to land in a puddle near him (so he’d get splashed), but it hit him right in the nuts. Ouch! He was very forgiving as my intent was clear. How’s that for a 65-year-old memory?

Elena is 65, kinehora, and never married. Consensus is she’s not gay, not that there’s anything wrong with that. We scoured the interweb for swimsuit pix, but came up empty. Here she is anyway — what a beautiful woman.

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The puzzle today kicked up quite the controversy. The clue at 42A was “Savory latke topping.” Answer: LOX.

JLG: I have been eating latkes at Hanukkah for 30+ years and have not once put lox on them. Apple sauce or sour cream, yes. But lox? Am I alone here?

Andy F: Apple sauce? Yes. Sour cream? Yes, please. Lox? Whaaaa?

Jennypf: Nope, never encountered lox served with latkes. Not in my home, nor any friends/family gatherings, not at Chanukah parties at my shul. Not a thing in my world.

David B: Never have I ever in my 69 years put lox on a latke! I’ll take mine with apple sauce!

Puzzlehoarder: JLG, it definitely isn’t just you. When the answer LOX appeared from the crosses I had to reread the clue to make sure I hadn’t read the word bagel and somehow turned it into latke.

Anony Mouse 1: No Jew on earth has ever put lox on latkes. [Will] Shortz has to know this.

Anony Mouse 2: I often serve small bite-sized latkes with lox, garnished with a dollop of sour cream, a sprig of fresh dill, a few capers, or a little caviar. They are always a hit at parties.

OC note: I’ve never had it, but I wouldn’t be averse to it. I googled “lox + latke” and it seems to be a direction fancy-pants Jewish chefs are headed in. (BTW, I googled “latke vs latka” and AI told me “latke” is correct, and “latka” a misspelling of latke.)

The puzzle defeated me today, in the great northwest. I didn’t know that the “Film subgenre exemplified by ‘The Thing’ or ‘The Fly’” is BODY HORROR. Also couldn’t see how “Merely hinted at” could be TACIT.

Ever hear of a MYSTERY BOX? Apparently it’s a thing. The clue was “Item for purchase with a question mark on its side.” A mystery box is a package sold to consumers without revealing its contents beforehand. The idea is simple: you purchase a box, and the items inside remain a surprise until you open it.

Commenter Gary: I thought the question mark itself was on its side on the side of a MYSTERY BOX. It is not.

At 36A, the clue was “A cow can produce about 200 pounds of it a year.” Answer: METHANE.

Southside Johnny: How does one goes about weighing the amount of METHANE produced by a cow in a year. Do you collect it in a giant balloon, then freeze it and weigh it? Am I confusing mass with weight ? Any physical chemists in the crowd?

Anony Mouse: To calculate the weight of methane produced you determine how much food a cow consumes, how many moles of methane are produced by that food, and then its mass and weight from that. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that’s a contributing factor to climate change (although not nearly as important as the carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels) so scientists are keen to understand it. Does that help?

(It did.)

Here are a couple of methane analysts our Phil spent a great deal of time with.

“It gets folded and pressed.” If you’re thinking about dry cleaning, think again. It was the clue for QUESADILLA.

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Gotta close early today: Big UMich basketball game vs Duke coming up soon. I’m a little late to the party (rooting the boys on), but better late than never.

Let’s close with this piece from tomorrow’s Met Diary. It’s called “Special Delivery.”

Dear Diary:

For the love of pizza and my wife, I traveled to Brooklyn Heights to pick up two gluten-free pies. I then wrapped the boxes together with blue painter’s tape to hold them steady for horizontal travel.

I was surprised by how crowded the Manhattan-bound 2 train was when I stepped onto it that early Sunday evening, but I managed to find a spot in the corner where I could protect my precious cargo.

When we got to 14th Street, the car got even more crowded as three young men headed to a Knicks game got on. I had nowhere to go when one of them nearly stepped so close as to jeopardize the entire point of my journey.

As the doors began to close I considered turning the boxes vertically — a sin — when one of the three pulled his friend away from me.

“Hey, man,” he said with a gesture my way. “Respect the pizza!”

Good advice in general — see you tomorrow!

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