The poem we shared in our last post by Linda Gregg, as you may recall, was called “Bamboo and a Bird,” despite seeming to have nothing to do with either. It takes place entirely on a subway platform. But I learned that bamboo and a bird is a thing in Asian art. Bamboo represents strength and birds freedom.
Today’s puzzle started off with a Great Gatsby clue. At 1D, the clue was “Jay Gatsby’s obsession in ‘The Great Gatsby,’” and the answer, of course, was DAISY. I proposed an alternate clue: Oopsie _______. But no one listens to me.
At 57D the clue was “Israel’s first U.N. ambassador,” and the answer was EBAN.
So I shared the following observation with the gang: There is a 1939 novel by Ernest Vincent Wright, called “Gadsby” that does not use the letter “E” — not even once in over 50,000 words. I guess the author was observing the EBAN.
[A reply informed me that a few E’s did slip in! OMG. One in “officers” and a couple in a few stray “the’s.” Pesky ones.]
Two answers yesterday were XENA, the warrior princess, and COSSACK, you know, the bad Russian dude. Here’s what I came up with:
1. Fear of women warriors: XENAphobia?
2. My friend Cassie saw a COSSACK dressed in a cassock at a Costco in Coxsackie recently. Must have been buying cashews, no?
This is the sort of wordplay with the grid for which the beloved Commenter egs has gained well-earned notoriety. I was honored when, recently, egs said he wondered if he and I might be distant cousins.
BTW, regarding the recently departed Chuck Norris (at 86), egs noted there is a genre of Chuck Norris jokes, centering on his toughness. E.g., when Chuck Norris left home, he told his father: “You’re the man of the house now.”
For some reason, maybe I dreamt it, I thought Norris might be Jewish. Maybe I was confusing him with Itzhak Perlman, which I’m sure happens often. Anyway, he’s definitely not. For one thing, Norris was born in Oklahoma, and no Jew has ever been born in Oklahoma, ever.
I don’t want to leave the puzzle before sharing this sweet song, courtesy of Son Volt. The “link” was 77D: “South Park co-creator Parker.” Answer: TREY.
We had our first good look at the UMich 5 yesterday, watching their win over St. Louie — the Billikens. I thought a billiken was Irish, perhaps a cousin of a Leprechaun, but I was wrong. It’s a charm doll devised by an art teacher in Kansas City. Here’s the little guy on campus.
So where was I? Oh yeah. The Billikens were good! Made us work for about 3/4 of the game, before pulling away for a 95-72 win. The ‘Rines are very good. Charles Barkley said they’ll make the finals, for sure. The starting five are brilliant: Mara, Lendeborg, Burnett, Cadeau, and Johnson, Jr. Mara is 7/4″ and very good, but Cadeau at point, and Lendeborg (Jersey boy) at power forward make things go. I thought they had someone named Cheddar on the bench, but I see now it’s Tschetter. At 6’8″ 230, that’s one helluva chunk of cheese. Lendeborg’s from Pennsauken and his first name is Yaxel. Says he owes everything to his mom, who was there, up in Buffalo, cheering him on. Love those moms.
Here are some of them. Mara (15) makes Yax (23) seem short, but he’s 6’9″. That’s Cadeau (3) in the middle and Johnson, Jr. in the rear. Go Blue! We’ll find out late tonight whom they play next.
Remember youth? (Sigh)
A duo that had the hit “Steal My Sunshine” back in 1999 was the clue for LEN. It was their only hit. It’s a good tune and is familiar, but I had no memory of their name.
Rex says he would have liked to see LEN Deighton get the honor instead. He says so many of his friends have raved about Deighton that he began checking him out: “I’ve started with The Berlin Game and so far, I’m loving it. It’s got sentences that stop you in your tracks they’re so well written. Not many writers in any genre write sentences that can do that.”
I’ll have to give it a try. That’s high praise coming from a curmudgeonly English prof.
We just got back from an outstanding performance of J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion. Wow. It was at a gorgeous modern church in Ridgewood NJ with great acoustics. They posted the lyrics in German (as sung) and English on screens as the performance ran, and, I gotta tell you, the Jews don’t come off very well in this version. Partway into the second half I started looking over my shoulder. Sheesh.
See you tomorrow Chatterheads. Hang in there, everybody — Opening Day’s right around the corner now.
The Wellington Files 