So, apparently, when Cesar Chavez was picking tomatoes, he was also picking tomatoes.
I forgot to mention that Angela Davis was an answer in last Thursday’s puzzle! Full name, no less. Her clue was “Activist/scholar known for her work in the prison abolition movement.” She was an undergrad at Brandeis in the early 60s, about five years before Welly and I got there. She was one of only three Blacks in her class. She’s 82, kinehora, and lives in Birmingham AL where she was born.
How’d things go for you in ’71? Davis was TIME Magazine’s “Woman of the Year.” Top that, Whitey.
The theme of yesterday’s puzzle was OFFSIDES, the hockey/soccer infraction. There were five across theme answers and you had to remove the “side” letters for each answer to make sense. And the removed letters spelled FRIES and SALAD. Get it? — “sides.” So, e.g., to get the F and S (at 17A) you solved for “A boatload,” and got FOODLESS, which makes no sense, right? But remove (and save) the F and S and you get OODLES.
Here’s a discussion that arose:
Pabloinnh: Explaining the OFFSIDES rule in soccer to someone with no knowledge of it is like trying to explain the infield fly rule to a non-baseball fan. If you know it you recognize it instantly in a game situation, if you don’t, good luck.
Anony Mouse: Hard disagree. Offside is a simple concept. It has exactly two elements.
kitshef: The official FIFA rulebook devotes three pages to defining Offside, with a further seven pages of explanatory notes and diagrams. The base concept is simple, but there are a lot of subtleties.
Liveprof (me): It’s even more complicated in the Yiddish version.
Separate interesting (?) point by egs: did you know that a horse’s right side is the OFFSIDE and the left side is the near side? This is utilized tons in polo where near side shots are always more difficult because the mallet must be held in the right hand, regardless of whether you are left handed or right.
Pablo’s mention of the infield fly rule, above, led me to post: You got me thinking (no mean feat). If an infielder on purpose drops a catchable ball (to try for a double play), the umpire may use his or her discretion to call the batter out and have the runners return to their bases (i.e., thwart the fielder’s nefarious plan). That being the case, why do we need the infield fly rule, whose purpose is the same?
So I looked it up. It turns out the ump can only use his/her discretion if the ball touches the fielder’s glove and is then dropped intentionally. Nothing prevents the fielder from letting, say, a soft liner, fall in front of him (instead of catching it), and going for a double play. So the infield fly rule is needed for popups that the fielder would let drop untouched.
I got it! I got it!
I didn’t follow the World Baseball “Get Your Handkerchiefs Out” Classic closely but it was clearly terrific for those who did. Here’s how the end was described in yesterday’s Times by Katie Woo:
Manager Omar Lopez had tears running down his face as he celebrated with his coaching staff. William Contreras and Willson Contreras–brothers playing on the same team for the first time–held each other in embrace, both crying.
Eduardo Rodriguez, the starting pitcher who shut down the U.S. team’s offense with four and a third scoreless innings, wiped away tears during his postgame interview. Suarez, the hero of the night after his go-ahead double in the ninth inning, spoke at length about Venezuela’s camaraderie and the privilege of representing your country.
“The unity. We are together the whole time. We’re not just teammates, we are family. This team is awesome. We are family here. That’s why we play with passion, with love, because we feel the jersey. We feel our country in front of us.”
We feel the jersey.
It’s impossible to distinguish actual scenes from the White House from SNL parodies anymore. Did you see DJT with the Japanese Prime Minister yesterday? A Japanese reporter asked why he did not consult with allies before starting the Iran war. Trump said we didn’t want to risk losing the element of surprise. Then he went on to say (and I am not kidding): “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”
Jimmy Kimmel said “I guess we should be grateful he didn’t do an accent.”
“What is going on through that orange head of his?” Kimmel asked. “Let me tell you, there’s no doubt in my mind that everything he knows about Pearl Harbor begins and ends with a movie starring Ben Affleck.”
Beloved Commenter Lewis gave me an opening today when he noticed several answers in the puzzle and wrote: Got me thinking Hemingway, with the OMEN and the SEE.
My reply:
I took up your challenge in Ernest, but this was the best I could do:
AFFAIR Well To Arms
HASAN Also Rises
For Whom The Bell TELLS ALL
I chimed in again later. For the clue “Philosophy of a devil’s advocate?” the answer was SATANISM. Kitshef noted: “Hand up for thinking of SATANISM as a religion, but after research it seems for many Satanists, it really is more of a philosophy. In fact, it sounds very similar to libertarianism.
My reply: “When it comes to sheets, pillowcases, pajamas, etc., my wife is a SATINIST. But that’s very different, I hope.”
Speaking of satinists, these poor girls were knocking on my door all night. I finally had to get up and let them out.
This poem is, for some reason, called “Bamboo and a Bird.” It’s from today’s Writer’s Almanac, and is by Linda Gregg. I bet it becomes one of my candidates for Owl Chatter Poem of the Year.
In the subway late at night.
Waiting for the downtown train
at Forty-second Street.
Walking back and forth
on the platform.
Too tired to give money.
Staring at the magazine covers
in the kiosk. Someone passes me
from behind, wearing an orange vest
and dragging a black hose.
A car stops and the doors open.
All the faces are plain.
It makes me happy to be
among these people
who leave empty seats
between each other.
I had to stick my nose into two more puzzle answers: DINERO (“Pesos or euros”), and JACKPOTS (“Lotto prizes.”).
Diners A-N and P-Z are gone. The only one left is DINERO.
JACKPOTS: Where to cook Jackrabbits.
47D: “It has more than 4,000 islands off its coast.” Who knew? MAINE.
“With these strikes, the President sends a powerful message to the world. We’ll let you know when we figure out what it is.”
In yesterday’s puzzle, a very cute clue/answer was “How Jean Valjean repeatedly breaks out in ‘Les Miserables.’” Answer: IN SONG. Here’s Rex: “What the hell kind of clue is this? How else is he going to ‘break out?’ IN A RASH? IN HIVES?” I think he was kidding. In any event, he then shared this hysterical clip with us.
Thanks for dropping by! See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 