Well, Natalie Harp has certainly popped into the news at just the right time, what with Pam and Karoline exiting stage right. As pretty as she is sycophantic, Nat has been a president groupie since the days of W, writing them fawning letters, according to her estranged brother in a CNN interview. No surprise she hit the jackpot with DJT. That pretty much sums up her job now, in fact. She just feeds him ego-boosts all day.

You may have heard about the time she was desperate to accompany Trump somewhere but his aides took all the seats in his car, excluding Nat, despite her hysterical protestations. So she hopped into the SUV’s trunk for the ride. (Girls only did that for me at gunpoint.)

[Linda! — I’d jump into the trunk to be with you — no hesitation. (That’s the new test for devotion. Ride or die.)]

Here’s whom the press is harping on. Hubba, hubba.

Here’s Nat with You-Know-Whom, both pretending to be thinking about serious matters of state.

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I signed up for this year’s Lollapuzzoola XW tourney in the city but skipped it to spend the day with Robin. So they sent me the puzzles to do at home. I got through the first three pretty well, but the fourth threw me off the roof. It was insidious. There was a dotted line that represented the int’l date line. Seven answers crossed it. And we were supposed to intuit, with only the slightest of hints, that the clues for those answers had a “date” in them that you had to bring back one day (since they crossed the line). So, e.g., at 42A, the clue was “Third out” and the answer turned out to be UNSETTLE. Makes no sense, right? Well, since that answer crossed the date line, you had to change the “th” in third to “we,” (thurs to weds). So “Third out” becomes “Weird out,” which is UNSETTLE. Fuhgedaboutit. Not a chance.

There was a great clue/answer in Puzzle #3. The clue was “Carry-on item?” Answer: TEMPER TANTRUM. Get it? If you are having a tantrum, you are carrying on.

I really enjoyed the tourney the last two years. Hope I can make it next year, kinehora.

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In the puzzle today, at 2D we were tasked with knowing that the “Language spoken by Jesus” was ARAMAIC. Okay, but, when appropriate, he delivered punchlines in Yiddish. It really was for all the bad jokes that he got, you know, hung up.

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We’re heading down to Baltimore tomorrow for a short getaway and to catch the O’s taking on the Rays on Sunday. Planning a blow-out dinner at Grano’s Pasta Bar on West 36th Street Saturday, and an incredible pie at Angeli’s Pizza after the game on Sunday. Topped off by perfect burgers at the Holy Hound Taproom in York PA on the way home Monday. I studied the beer menu and am leaning towards the Two Roads Summer Heaven Tropical IPA, from Stratford CT. (Burp!)

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Keeping it short today. Enjoy the weekend! Thanks for stopping by.