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Come As Close As The Air
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.
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.
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.
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 hereRest in peace, Phil — you’re still very warmly remembered — hey, you’re in the f*cking New York Times Crossword on a Saturday!
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.
Hunker down, Chatterheads. Thanks for stopping in. See you tomorrow!
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Yard Goats
It’s National Polka Dot Day! It’s not exclusively linked to Minnie Mouse, but she’s a central figure. BTW, did you know “Minnie” is a nickname? Her name is Minerva (not kidding). Does life imitate art or is it the other way around? Whatever. Get this: One of Minnie’s voice actresses, Russi Taylor, fell in love with and married one of Mickey’s voice actors, Wayne Allwine. They each held their roles for over 30 years. They had four children together: Two boys, a girl, and a toon. Just kidding — actually they had no children together, but Wayne had four from a previous marriage. Russi and Wayne were married for 18 years, until Wayne’s death did them part in 2009.
Polka dots popped into the national consciousness in 1926 when Norma Smallwood was named Miss America and wore a dotted swimsuit in the swimsuit competition. Hubba hubba.
Here’s a shot Phil gave us for the legmen in our Dirty Old Man Dept. That’s Norma (Miss Tulsa) way on the right. Phil himself confesses he went bonkers for Miss Yonkers.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from writing close to 1,000 posts (!) on a blog devoted to nonsense, it’s that nonsense pops up everywhere. It’s not limited to the White House. So it didn’t surprise me to find a course in our local Adult School catalog on “Reliving Past Lives.” It meets once and costs $39. “Many of our present day problems may be traced to a life that may have existed before our time. Using self-hypnosis, discover some interesting things that could help improve your life.” I sent an inquiry via email asking: “If it turns out I took the course before, do I get my $39 back?”
It goes on to say (I am not kidding): “Bring a pillow to class.” That is so fantastic. I just wish I had told that to my students at Hunter. I taught my law class at 8 am one semester, and the hardest part was tiptoeing out of the room when it was over so I wouldn’t wake anyone up.
Here’s the photo Hunter used for my courses in the college catalog.
In the puzzle today, at 14A, for “Goddess depicted with cow’s horns,” the answer was ISIS. At 2D, for “Am I wrong about that?” the answer was IS IT NOT?
Here’s what egs put together for us:
Scene from Bill Clinton’s upcoming Epstein testimony:
Comer: Mr. Clinton, can you please tell me who is the Goddess depicted with cow’s horns?
Clinton: That depends on what your definition of ISIS.
Comer: IS IT NOT ISIS?
Clinton: What ISIS IS IS a terrorist organization.The puzzle had some folks in a tizzy today. The theme was TRAFFIC SIGNALS. And the four theme answers only made sense if you switched GO for GREEN, and STOP for RED. E.g., at 45A, for the clue “Result of missing the boat,” you were to fill in LOREDOPPORTUNITY. So if you (mentally) switch STOP for RED, it becomes LOSTOPPORTUNITY.
And what frazzled a few pearl clutchers was 18A where the clue was simply “Happens.” Exchanging STOP for RED gives you COMES TO PASS, but what got filled in in the grid was COME RED ASS. It’s rare to get a scarlet tuchas in the NYTXW.
The minor league baseball newsletter I get tipped us off to a team we must see play this season: The Hartford (CT) Yard Goats. They play in Dunkin’ Park, dubbed the nicest Double A park in the U.S. It’s in the Colorado system. We’re starting to have baseball fever as the snow piles up.
Yesterday, “What arms might do on a final gym rep,” was TREMBLE. It led Son Volt to share this Laura Cantrell song.
We’ve become big fans of LC. Loved “Bees.” Hauntingly beautiful, she’s a Tennessee girl.
Two worthy ballplayers were voted into the Hall of Fame this week: Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones, both centerfielders. They were born exactly one day apart in 1977, with Jones a day older. Jones is the first player from Curacao to make it into the Hall. Bravo, gentlemen. Jones played most of his career in Atlanta. Beltran bopped around a lot but spent seven years each in KC and NY, with the Mets. He’ll likely go in as a Met, meaning he’ll be wearing a Mets cap on his plaque.
Carlos and wife Jessica live in NYC and have three good-looking kids, below. In 2012, Andruw got into deep shit with his ex-wife in a domestic abuse situation. They have two kids.
Good night, Chatterheads!
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Echo Beach
We discussed Roman Numerals yesterday in connection with the NYTXW where a clue called for the longest number using them. Not many people are aware of “Jewish Numerals.” Here’s the longest number using them:
OYMYBACKISKILLINGMEYOUSHOULDNTKNOWFROMIT
Our Sirens fell behind 3-0 to Ottawa on the ice last night, but rallied to take the game into overtime. They fell, but, still, an OT loss counts for a point in the standings, so “Good work girls!” Two more assists for our Sarah, who is among the league leaders in that stat. Brava, babe!
Their next game is in St. Paul, MN, where a different type of ICE has been in the news. We asked Minnesota-born Taylor Heise, who plays forward up there for the Frost, what her thoughts were about the situation. “I can tell you this,” she noted calmly. “If those f*ckers come near any of us girls, they’ll be picking up their teeth with broken fingers.”
[Backing away slowly.] We hear ya, babe.
Here’s Taylor.
Christian Dior was born on this date in 1905 in a seaside town in the north of France, Granville. He served in the French army until 1942, but worked as a designer during the occupation for a French fashion house, where, ironically, he was designing dresses worn by the wives of Nazi officers while his sister was serving in the French Resistance. His post-war “New Look” marked the rebirth of femininity in women’s fashion. “We were emerging from the period of war, of uniforms, of women-soldiers built like boxers. I drew women-flowers, soft shoulders, fine waists like liana and wide skirts like corolla.” Happy Birthday, CD!
This poem by Ted Kooser is from his Winter Morning Walks.
In a rutted black field by the road,
maybe a dozen bulldozed hedge trees
have been stacked for burning—-
some farmer wanting a little more room
for his crops—-but the trees
are resisting, arching their spines
and flexing their springy branches
against settling so easily
into their ashes, into the earth,
so that there is a good deal more wind
in the pile than wood, more tree
than fallen tree, and the sparrows
fly in and out, still singing.
Yesterday’s puzzle revolved around one long neat word. ECHOLOCATION. You hear of it? The clue was “Skill shared by bats and dolphins.” It’s amazing. What a bat does (and a dolphin underwater) is emit a sound, and sense from the echo of the reverberating sound wave where an object is. It’s an effective method I often use myself. The sound I emit is: “Linda! Where the hell are my f’cking keys?” Based on the response, I am able to locate my keys!
Cleverly, in the puzzle, the theme answers were all different things in which you can “locate” an echo. The NATO ALPHABET, in which ECHO is the letter E; GREEK MYTHOLOGY, where ECHO is the nymph in love with Narcissus (below, per John William Waterhouse); AMAZON WAREHOUSE, where ECHO is a device that helps with Alexa; and the GRAND CANYON, for obvious reasons.
Any drummers out there, other than my grandson Isaac? There was a clue/answer for you yesterday at 45D: “Drum kit components descended from ‘sock cymbals.’” Answer HI HATS. Hi hats used to be down at sock level.
Here’s Robin (the artist formerly known as Lianna), at her set (in our basement). The hi-hat is on the right.
Ba da boom!
And here’s a sock puppet.
A SERIAL COMMA was in the puzzle as an answer even though it’s generally not used by the NYTXW. It’s also called an Oxford comma. It’s the comma that appears before the conjunction in a list. “Tom, Frank, Alex and Sally” would use one after Alex. Personally, I like them. (What do you call someone who wildly overuses commas? Commatose!) How do we know the NYTXW does not like them? Well, there is often a list in a revealer clue like “as found in 16, 19, 22 and 26 across” and the serial comma is never used (says Rex, who ought to know).
BTW, Rex shared a nice pic of his mom yesterday. I’d be proud of her too, if she were my mom, aleha hashalom.
“Shout-out to my [Rex’s] mom, out on the streets protesting fascism (that’s her with the “Democracy Depends on Rule of Law” sign) (shout-out to the other lady too!)”
Loved the puzzle today. Let’s start with this poem that comprises the theme clues:
Lee has a hot bowl of [blank] to start his day
Says [blank] to his neighbors, then heads on his way
With gossip and beer over Friday’s [blank] game
Life across the [blank] is much the same.Filling the blank in the final line gives you PACIFIC OCEAN right down the center of the grid. Then, each of the other lines is filled in one way west of the ocean (China) (on the left side of the grid), and a different way east of the ocean (America) (on the right side). CONGEE/OATMEAL; NIHAO/HELLO; and MAH JONG/BRIDGE. (Congee is a Chinese porridge.)
And Son Volt fastened onto the OATMEAL to share this exquisite, devastating song.
What could follow that? See you tomorrow!
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Sirens Win!
Hi everybody! Broadcasting today from our temporary DC headquarters on 16th Street NW, near Dupont Circle.
Here’s the message to the nation:
I’ll tell you who didn’t give up — our Sirens, that’s who. It was a bruiser of a game, end-to-end action throughout. The house was packed: 17,228 fans, the largest crowd ever to watch a women’s pro hockey game in the U.S. With only 1:24 gone, Kristyna Kaltounkova gave us the lead but a power play goal tied it with under a minute to go in the period and Montreal seemed to be carrying the play. We got the feeling that whoever scored next had a good chance of bringing it home. And that’s what happened. Anne Cherkowski scored for us five minutes into the second period and it held up for a 2-1 win. Goalie Osborne was sensational, turning back dead-on shots repeatedly. Our Sarah assisted on both goals! Good game, babe!
The trip has been excellent. Love our location near Dupont Circle. Able to walk almost everywhere. Excellent Aboriginal Art Exhibit at the National Gallery. Thanks, Bob!
Saturday’s NYTXW had the following clue for the answer running down the entire center (15 letters): Longest number writable in standard Roman numerals. Note they weren’t asking for the largest number, just the longest one (most letters). Rex took a good approach: he listed each numeral as many times as allowed. BTW, I learned you can’t use more than three of a numeral in a row. So the start is MMM. Then you can only use one D, because two would be an M (500 + 500 = 1,000). Then three Cs: the maximum, but only one L because two Ls would be a C. Finally, three Xs, only 1 V, and three Is. So it comes to MMMDCCCLXXXVIII (3,888).
The largest possible roman numeral is MMMCMXCIX (3,999).
At 17A, “Too late, say” was OUT OF TIME. If you’re not in that position, check out these tunes:
At 32D today, “Spot to find a pulse” was WRIST. Commenter Gary made the macabre observation that it’s also the spot to not find a pulse.
At 28D, “Lesser-played part of a 45” was SIDE B. It opened a little door for Rex. This is from Wikipedia: Side B Christians are Christians who identify as LGBT or have LGBTQ+ experiences, but take a traditional view of human sexuality and thus commit to celibacy or a mixed-orientation marriage. The term Side B derives from an Internet forum where Side A Christians, with an affirming view of LGBT sexuality, were contrasted with Side B Christians. In particular, Side B Christians reject conversion therapy. Side B is also distinct from Side Y, which does not affirm LGBT identification.
Saw an 11am showing of Is This Thing On? at the historic Avalon Theater this morning. A tad long, but very good. Then we took a 3-mile round-trip walk down to (and back from) a Potbelly sandwich shop on Connecticut Ave. First choice, Comet Pizza, wasn’t opening until 5. Tired now. Back to Jersey tomorrow.
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Jink
On my fiftieth birthday, twenty-six years ago today, I slipped on our icy front steps and fell on my fat tuchas with a painful thud. Alright, I thought. It’s starting. My “back nine,” as the golfers say.
Now birthdays seem like little personal Yom Kippurs to me. In the ten-day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur the Big Fella reviews your record and decides whether to give you another year. And if it’s thumbs down, God forbid, He works out the specifics. “Who by fire? Who by water?” In my case, it’s “by bladder? by lungs? by heart?”
Oy. Here’s hoping we get another round.
The puzzle today — my birthday puzzle! — defeated me! D’oh! Curse you Kyle Dolan! My downfall came at the cross of 25A/25D. “Nimble, zigzagging maneuver.” Answer: JINK. WTF?? And “Shortest-reigning English monarch (9 days).” Do you really think the 9 days will help anyone? It was JANE GREY. Who?
But at least we got a pretty face in the grid, if tainted. “White House partner, for short,” was FLOTUS. Malaria, of course. Hey Girl: You may want to stay out of Minny for a bit. Unless you like the smell of tear gas in the morning.
Here’s egs on the topic: We’re fed up with FLOTUS and POTUS and SCOTUS — and you can QUOTUS!
Birthday celebrations will take place on the ice tonight as the Princeton Women Tigers take on Harvard at 6pm. Here’s forward Hannah Fetterolf.
Closing the shop early today. Heading down to DC for a few days. Big Sirens game on Sunday. Broadcasting may be spotty. Thanks for stopping in!
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ICE Capades
Things are going so badly. I mean, did you ever think we’d be stressing over Greenland? Greenland? It’s like suddenly having to worry about cottage cheese. Anyway, things are going so badly I think we need a new photo of my grandniece Maeven right away.
In lieu of a poem today, here’s a post by John Scotland of the Dull Men’s Club (UK):
Midweek dullness. With no work booked in, and dry weather in prospect, I walked just over two miles to the nearest village, by an old farm road, past the French Prisoners’ Bush. This took me to the village hall, where the locals were having a coffee morning, with vast amounts of home baking. I had a cheese scone, a plain scone, and a Viennese thingie with my coffee.
Making my way back, I took a slight detour to look at the site of the Auld Kirk of Lindean, one of the alleged sites which is claimed by some as the place where Sir William Wallace was appointed Guardian of Scotland in 1297 / ’98. No proof, of course, he didn’t scratch ” Wallace woz ‘ere ” with the point of his sword, or anything like that. Anyway, I picked up a decent size fallen branch that was lying on the road, and brought it back for firewood.
The newly installed woodburner isn’t lit just now, it’s turned out to be a surprisingly mild day for mid January. Stay dull, good people.
Marion Cochrane: Lovely. Hope the ladies’ home baking doesn’t end up in heartburn.
John: It was excellent, and they gave me a small bag of plain scones to bring back for my girlfriend ( she was busy walking doggies this morning. )
Nigel Andrew: Magnificent.
Vivian Comer: A larger than life-size statue of Sir William Wallace watches over the city&county drinking water reservoir in my Baltimore Maryland USA neighborhood park. Thank you for sharing your morning walk, coffee&scones
Steve Price: Oooooh, wood.
I added this photo of the Baltimore statue for the gang:
Remember during Trump 1.0 a whole spate of articles appeared urging us not to dismiss his supporters as brainless losers, but to respect them and try to appreciate their positions? Can we agree now that was all a huge crock of sh*t? Those f*cking morons have broken America. Even the polls showing Trump sinking continue to show him with 35% or so. These idiots still don’t see anything. I remember Barney Frank responding to a question once by saying, “Madam, talking to you would be like talking to a table.”
A recent obit in the NYT brought a Holocaust story to my attention. The woman who died was Hessy Levinsons Taft. She was 91 and died in San Francisco. In 1934, Hessy’s parents were opera singers in Berlin and arranged for a well-known photographer, Hans Ballin, to take her portrait. She was 6 months old. Here it is.
So her folks kept it on their piano, and one day their cleaning lady mentioned that she saw the photo on a magazine cover. And it wasn’t exactly Ladies Home Journal. It was a pro-Nazi publication Sonne ins Haus, or Sun in the Home. WTF??!! They ran to Ballin to find out what was going on.
He told her the Nazis invited him to submit photos for a contest to find a baby representing the epitome of the Aryan race, and Hessy’s was among those he included in his submission. Goebbels chose the winner: Hessy.
“But you knew that this is a Jewish child,” Hessy’s mother told the photographer.
He replied, “I wanted to allow myself the pleasure of this joke.”
The photo went viral, to use the current term. It appeared everywhere: in ads, on postcards, in people’s homes. Hessy’s parents were terrified that if the truth got out they’d be killed. So they kept Hessy as hidden from public view as possible and eventually fled. Only in 1987, as her parents advanced in age, did Hessy put the story out.
The family kept three copies of the magazine. Hessy donated one to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC, and another to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial center. Her children kept the last copy.
In retrospect, Hessy was pleased with how things turned out. “I thank him [Ballin] for having the courage to do that, as a non-Jew, to challenge his own government. It was an irony that needed to be exposed.”
Hessy is survived by her children, Nina and Alex Taft; four grandchildren; and her sister. Rest in peace, Hessy.
A neat story in a minor league newsletter I get listed the oldest minor league stadiums. I’ve been to two! One was Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver. (Hi Joe!). And the other is in Reading PA (Hi Chris!).
The oldest is in Daytona Beach FL, Jackie Robinson Ballpark, which opened in 1914 as City Island Ballpark. In 1989, 75 years after it opened, it was named after Jackie Robinson. This rechristening was in honor of the events of 1946, when Robinson played at the park during spring training. This marked his first appearance as an active player in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization, more than a year before his epochal Major League debut. Here’s how it looks today:
Gosh, Karoline Leavitt just gets sexier and sexier as the lies grow bigger and bigger. It’s a reverse Pinocchio effect. In response to a question about ICE, she asked reporter Niall Stanage “Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?”
Stanage replied: “Are you asking me my opinion? Because an ICE agent acted recklessly.”
“Oh, okay, so you’re a biased reporter with a left-wing opinion,” Leavitt said. “Yeah, because you’re a left-wing hack. You’re not a reporter. You’re posing in this room as a journalist. And it’s so clear by the premise of your question. And you and the people in the media who have such biases but fake like you’re a journalist. You shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat.”
She went on: “Do you have the numbers of how many American citizens were killed at the hands of illegal aliens who [sic] ICE is trying to remove from this country? I bet you don’t. I bet you didn’t even read up on those stories.”
“I bet you never even read about Laken Riley or Jocelyn Nungaray or all of the innocent Americans who were killed at the hands of illegal aliens in this country. And the brave men and women of ICE are doing everything in their power to remove those heinous individuals and make our communities safer. And shame on people like you in the media who have a crooked view and have a biased view and pretend like you’re a real honest journalist.”
Did you hear that, Stanage? Shame on you.
According to ICE’s own data, ICE is currently holding over 68,900 individuals and has made over 352,000 arrests.
Hubba hubba.
See you tomorrow, Chatterheads.
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All Hope, No Blame
At 46D today, the clue was “Modern suffix with situation,” and the answer was SHIP. Situationship. Here’s a string of comments it inspired:
SharonAK: ??Situationship?? Is this really a word? How is it used and by whom?
Anony Mouse 1: Situationship is a very common current term (prob the most current in this puzzle). It’s when you are hooking up and going on dates with someone but there’s no formal label or commitment so you are sitting in limbo.
Anony Mouse 2: Situationship is Gen Z slang. Its something in between “friends with benefits” and an all out relationship.
Anony Mouse 3: Situationship is a real term! It means like a temporary relationship that works for the time being, it’s kinda the new “it’s complicated.”
Liveprof (me!): It’s a naval term describing the conditions on board a vessel. The captain will often ask his second in command to provide him with the situationship each morning.
This poem is called “The Age of Reason.” It’s by Mary Jo Salter, below, and is from today’s Writer’s Almanac.
“When can we have cake?” she wants to know.
And patiently we explain: when dinner’s finished.
Someone wants seconds; and wouldn’t she like to try,
while she’s waiting, a healthful lettuce leaf?
The birthday girl can’t hide her grief—worse, everybody laughs. That makes her sink
two rabbity, gapped teeth, acquired this year,
into a quivering lip, which puts an end
to tears but not the tedium she’ll take
in life before she’s given cake:“When I turned seven, now,” her grandpa says,
“the priest told me I’d reached the age of reason.
That means you’re old enough to tell what’s right
from wrong. Make decisions on your own.”
Her big eyes brighten. “So you meanI can decide to open presents first?”
Laughter again (she joins it) as the reward
of devil’s food is brought in on a tray.
“You know why we were taught that?” asks my father.
“No.” I light a candle, then anotherin a chain. “—So we wouldn’t burn in Hell.”
A balloon pops in the other room; distracted,
she innocently misses talk of nuns’
severities I never knew at seven.
By then, we were Unitarianand marched off weekly, dutifully, to hear
nothing in particular. “Ready!”
I call, and we huddle close to sing
something akin, you’d have to say, to prayer.
Good God, her hair—one beribboned pigtail has swung low
as she leans to trade the year in for a wish;
before she blows it out, the camera’s flash
captures a mother’s hand, all hope, no blame,
saving her from the flame.
Today’s puzzle was all about the Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George. There were circled letters we were to connect to spell out “Look, I made a hat,” and they formed the shape of a hat. (See it?)
“Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981–2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Wafflings, Diversions and Anecdotes” was the second book of two covering SONDHEIM’s lyrics. The two volumes were packaged together as Hat Box: The Collected Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim. “Look, I made a hat where there never was a hat” is also an actual lyric from the song “Finishing the Hat” from Sunday in the Park with George.
Commenter Danny added: George Seurat, the main character of the musical at hand, was a pointillist—so the dots/circles are incredibly apt!
Sondheim was an avid fan of puzzles and games. He is credited with introducing cryptic crosswords, a British invention, to American audiences through a series of cryptic crossword puzzles he created for New York magazine in 1968 and 1969. Sondheim was “legendary” in theater circles for “concocting puzzles, scavenger hunts and murder-mystery games”, inspiring the central character of Anthony Shaffer’s 1970 play Sleuth. Sondheim’s love of puzzles and mysteries is evident in The Last of Sheila, an intricate whodunit written with longtime friend Anthony Perkins. (Wikipedia)
Bernadette Peters was in George. Phil complains that it’s hard for the camera to pin down how beautiful she is. Still, gotta try, buddy.
At 51A, “Unappetizing gruel” was SLOP. SLOP was the “Word of the Year” for 2025, per the editors at Miriam Webster. They define it “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” The flood of slop in 2025 included absurd videos, off-kilter advertising images, cheesy propaganda, fake news that looks pretty real, junky AI-written books, “workslop” reports that waste coworkers’ time… and lots of talking cats. “AI Slop is Everywhere,” warned The Wall Street Journal, while admitting to enjoying some of the cats.
Speaking of George, we had to wake up our own George early today to open up the Owl Chatter Hall of Fame for the immediate induction of T. J. Sabula, the Ford employee who shouted “pedophile protector” at Trump yesterday. Sabula was immediately suspended by the toadies at Ford but donations in excess of $500,000 have already gushed in for TJ from admirers.
TJ, 40, and a proud union man, says he has no regrets. “I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” he said. “And today I think I did that.” So do we. Scoot over folks — make room in our Hall of Fame for him. And get him a beer, George.
Closing up shop a little early tonight. Tired from a hunting/gathering outing to Costco. See you tomorrow!
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Stayin’ Alive
On the third anniversary of Susan’s death: a motto associated with her:
Even a Monday puzzle can have a WOE or two. That’s an XW acronym for “what on earth?” Yesterday there was “Leaf on a sushi tray.” You know, that little green leaf next to or under the wasabi? In gas station or supermarket sushi it’s plastic. Otherwise it’s SHISO. Here’s how to use it in a sentence: I’m so hot for her and SHISO cold. Don’t the gents look young here?
Everybody’s favorite clue/answer yesterday was “Put in a good word, perhaps?” Answer: EDIT. Here’s Commenter Lewis: Here’s a word appearing more than 700 times in the NYTXW, and you’d think the well would have run dry on new clues. But this one is not only terrific, it’s a debut. Mwah!
We love this: Did you know that in many sites when CPR is performed the music used to provide the rhythm is “Stayin’ Alive?” We learned that from the clue for CPR at 28A today: “E.M.T. process often administered to the beat of ‘Stayin’ Alive.’”
Anony Mouse contributed the following: Before “Stayin’ Alive” (we’re talkin’ the ’70s), CPR was taught to the tempo/rhythm of “My Melody of Love” by Bobby Vinton. Thankfully, the docs discovered the pace was too slow to revive enough patients, and we moved on from slow polka to disco!
Sticking with music for a bit, we bid goodbye to Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead. Bob passed away on Saturday at the age of 78. He met Jerry Garcia when he (Bob) was 16 (and Jerry 21). Bob followed some banjo music into a music store where Jerry was about to give lessons. Bob had his guitar with him and they started jamming. They teamed up to form a jug band which later morphed into The Dead.
Bob married very well and had two daughters (Monet and Chloe) with his wife Natascha, who was 20 years his junior. You can see below how pretty she still is as he grew into some sort of rock formation (pun intended).
In 2024, Bob and the Grateful Dead became Trump-Kennedy Center honorees. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and given a lifetime achievement Grammy Award in 2007.
The dreadful news of the day seeped into the crossword today at 43D where the clue was “Vice-presidential candidate of 2024.” TIM WALZ, of course.
It set Rex off:
TIM WALZ is an interesting full name to squeeze in there, though at the moment all it does is remind me of the Siege of Minneapolis (ongoing). Would be nice if Walz and other elected officials had any kind of answer for the violence being perpetrated by the federal government. Give a bunch of weak, poorly-trained, sadistic CLODS (37A: Buffoons) automatic weapons and body armor, set them loose to terrorize ethnic Somalis and other non-white immigrants (so—virtually any non-white person), and let them know in no uncertain terms that they are above the law … and presto, you’ve got yourself your very own Gestapo. That is what ICE is at this point. Bizarre to pretend otherwise. Buncha dudes too incompetent and cowardly for actual war, doing their little war cosplay games in American cities with live ammunition, gleefully, boastfully hurting people. You’re either into it or you’re not, but … Gestapo is the correct analogy.
[ICE was also in the puzzle, at 12D, “Bartender’s supply.”]
I liked the theme today. It centered on the iconic Queen song: WE WILL ROCK YOU. Three theme answer were things that rock you. NEONATAL NURSE, MECHANICAL BULL, and TECHTONIC PLATES.
Boop!
I loved 9D today too. The clue was “Yogi, once.” Answer: BEAR CUB.
At 59A, “Birthplace of Marlon Brando and Warren Buffett,” was OMAHA. It’s also where John and Linda live in this exquisite John Prine song. Joe is somewhere on the road.
Aside from Congress, there is probably no group as dedicated to nonsense as the Dull Men’s Club (UK Chapter). DMC Member Andy Spragg posted the following recently:
As the result of a bout of interior window-cleaning on Friday, I discovered that our long-serving grey plastic bucket had not one but two holes in it (dear Liza). Fracture “stars” in its base to be precise, so that its lack of hydraulic integrity was not visible initially, and only became apparent when it started to leave recurring small puddles on the bedroom floor and window ledge. To my surprise, Asda did not sell a satisfactory replacement, so I was obliged to head for B&Q where they had loads at £1 each. So I bought two, one orange and one black, allowing us to allocate each one by colour to different duty categories yet to be determined.
Le bucket est mort. Vive les buckets!
Jim Dunbar: At the risk of causing a heated debate i feel i must pull you up on the use of the word hydraulic when just referring to water in a bucket.
Andy: I’ve carried out a quick review and I’m going to take this as a lesson learned. Seems the word, correctly used, has more specific connotations than I realised. That said, I found this example of use in the Cambridge English corpus, which corresponds closely to the intended sense in which I used the word: “Melted paraffin wax was poured over the agar to provide an effective hydraulic seal.”
Andy: however, I feel I must also pull you up, not only for twice failing to capitalise your first person singular pronoun, but also for failing to enclose the word ‘hydraulic’ in speech marks. A comma after ‘debate’ would have been nice too. Small points in comparison, I readily concede, but no less valid for that.
Jim: i’ll give you the capitalisation issue, however in casual texts it is allowed. I didn’t use inverted commas as i am not quoting your actual speech, just merely what you typed. (Technical get out
)Can’t accept the Cambridge English example as being close though. The fact that they mention a “seal” via use of wax indicates some form of pressure involved, hence hydraulic.
I did tell you this may cause a heated debate. Not dull but enjoyable. It has resulted in me still being in my PJ’s past midday though.
Andy: Not technical get-outy enough! I said “speech marks” rather than ‘quotation marks’ precisely because you weren’t quoting my actual speech. Technically, what you wrote is grammatical nonsense without the use of some device to indicate that the word in question (‘hydraulic’) is not being used as a word in the context of the sentence in which it finds itself, but rather as a reference back to a previous sentence.
As for the Cambridge English example, there can’t be a lot of pressure involved, agar being a jelly, as used in Petri dishes. There’s not a lot of pressure involved in water in a bucket, either, just the hydraulic head (which is what effects the movement of water through the fractures). So I take it back; I now believe my use of the word was technically correct
This is a most enjoyable debate! Please change out of your PJs before replying, though; we don’t want to frighten the children
Jim: kids long grown up and gone.
I thought speech was talking. The word hydraulic as many words do, has greek origins. Hydro (water) and aulos (pipe or tube). I didn’t see a pipe or tube and i don’t think a crack counts. As for the last paragraph, you lost me when i saw grammatical spelt incorrectly.
I really must get dressed.
Andy: aaargh! Careless old me. I shall correct “gramatical” forthwith. You are of course right about the origins of the word “hydraulic.” but the word has multiple meanings these days, and pipes and tubes are not involved in all of them, for example: “of, concerned with, or employing liquids in motion.”
Now for goodness sake, soldier, get dressed!
Jim: Ha ha. I am now dressed and i’m in my garage doing some dull woodworking making a 5-drawer cabinet for my woodworking gear.
Sorry about your bucket situation. It’s not easy finding a strong plastic one nowadays.
See you next time, Chatterheads. Thanks for popping by.
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Ragdoll
Happy birthday, Alex. On this date in 1755, Alexander Hamilton was born. He wrote: “The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature by the hand of the divinity itself and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.”
Well, that’s pretty much what we’re going to be testing these next few years, isn’t it? We’ll see what we can do. In the meantime, anyone got two tens for a twenty?
I started taking Zepbound recently and have lost 12 pounds since December 4. I feel good about it. So the obit of Dr. Joel Habener, who died in Newton, MA, at the age of 88 two weeks ago caught my eye. He discovered the stuff, but it’s one of the oddest-ass obits I’ve ever seen.
It spends a lot of time on the discovery, of course. It was almost by accident. (That seems to occur often. For example, Pringles were discovered by accident. They were trying to invent tennis balls.) He planned to work with rats, but found anglerfish to be much more suitable subjects. Happily, one of the folks in his lab had a brother who was a commercial fisherman.
When the key discovery was made, he joked to his wife: “I’m going to Stockholm.” In fact, his team and he won an assortment of prestigious awards, if not the Nobel.
And then the following appears:
In 2005, The Boston Globe reported that Dr. Habener had been accused of attacking his wife. He was indicted on charges of assault with intent to murder a victim over age 60, assault with a dangerous weapon of a victim over 60, and illegal possession of a firearm.
He waived his right to a jury trial and was found not guilty of assault with intent to murder, guilty but not criminally responsible for the other assault charge, and guilty of illegal firearms possession. He went on a medical leave of absence after the incident and returned in 2006 to continue his research.
Despite the above, the doc and his wife remained married. She died in 2017. His sole immediate survivor is his brother. And, of course, all of us fatties who are beyond thankful for his work. Rest in peace, doc.
Love the grid art in the puzzle today. That’s the Greek letter PHI, represented by an overlapping O and I. See it? — formed by the black squares in the center? ϕ.
Along with the art, eight times in the puzzle there was an answer pair with the letters PHI in one square going one way and the two letters I and O going the other way. For example, at 97A and 99D, Regis [PHI]LBIN was crossing FLIP-FLOP SANDALS (FL[I/O]P SANDALS). Very impressive construction, IMO, Dylan Schiff.
Stuff I learned from the puzzle today: 25A, “Sound from a ragdoll.” Answer PURR. What? A ragdoll is a breed of blue-eyed cat. So this doll is not Raggedy Ann (or Andy). Gorgeous.
Also learned that a division sign (in math) is not called a gozinta (as in five gozinta 20 four times). It’s called an obelus. You know, ÷.
The compound that ripens bananas is ETHENE. And as JonB3 explains: Ethene is a shortcut for ETHYLENE, H2C=CH2, a known plant growth regulator which hastens ripening.
Know what CONTES are? The clue was “Short adventure tales.” New to me. Conte is a literary genre of tales, often short, characterized by fantasy or wit. They were popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, until they merged with the short story in the 19th century.
Here’s a conte about NYC in which nothing profound happens, except that it does. It’s from today’s Met Diary and is by Malory Hom.
Dear Diary:
It was a Tuesday night, and I was headed home after teaching my adult literacy class.
I got on the subway at Wall Street. The man sitting across from me was noticeably dancing in his seat. When he got up to get off at his stop, he bumped fists with the man sitting next to him.
A few stops later, the second man asked if I wanted a bag of high-end hair products. He had just come from an event and didn’t need them because he was bald.
I accepted and asked if he knew the man who had fist-bumped him.
“No,” he said. “But he was grooving out.”
From The Onion:
DHS Releases Watchlist Of Mothers Driving Cars
“If you see a minivan with a ‘Baby on board’ sticker, do not engage—many of these women are armed with juice boxes and will not hesitate to use a wet wipe on your face. Maintain a safe distance from any compact SUVs playing Bluey on their entertainment systems.”
See you tomorrow! Thanks for dropping in.
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Friend of Dorothy
The White House released this latest video of the ICE killing in Minnesota, supporting its claims that the agent was acting in self-defense. Readers should be warned, the footage is fairly chilling.
Three notes from today’s Writer’s Almanac, in lieu of a poem.
From WWII historian and writer Stephen E. Ambrose, who was born on this date in 1936 and died in 2002. “The number one secret of being a successful writer is this: Marry an English major.”
Jewish Detroit poet Philip Levine, who was born on this date in 1928 and died in 2015. Levine fell in love with poetry as a student at Wayne State University. He worked in auto plants as a student and after graduating, and said it was so loud in there that he could recite poetry without anyone hearing.
Last, it’s the birthday of poet Dorianne Laux, Augusta, Maine, 1952, photo below. She is still with us. Whew. She said (and we agree): “Any good poem is asking you simply to slow down.”
We don’t ever sit our children down and tell them, but we should try to illustrate it by how we live our lives. We try to show them that a good career, a good profession, is not pursued for money, as much as we love money and our toys, but because it’s meaningful to us. It allows for creative expression and beneficial human contact. And we try to show them, if we can, if we are lucky, that you need to place your heart in the hands of someone who will cherish it and protect it. It’s more fragile than you can imagine. My parents and older siblings did their best: I have no complaints, zero, only gratitude. And we tried too. I don’t lose sleep over it.
The puzzle was brilliant today. So much crisp, lively material. Kameron Austin Collins. Mwah!
First, to get a song in, at 29A the clue was “Without revealing one’s true intentions, maybe,” and the answer was COYLY. It was enough to move Son Volt to share this song, Shiny, with us. It’s about a visitor to a gypsy fair who falls for one of their girls. She keeps swindling him, but he doesn’t care because he’s so taken by her beauty, especially her dark eyes.
A tawny gypsy girl, sleeping blanketed by stars
Beneath the tilt-a-whirl
Where we were coyly caught alone
All fumbling with your blouseTell me why you lied
And what it is you do to keep your eyes all shiny.But let’s not stereotype. Here’s a pretty gypsy girl who is not a swindler. Phil asked her to marry him. She thought he was joking and hasn’t answered.
Our favorite clue/answer ran entirely down the center of the grid. It was an expression I don’t think I’ve heard before. The clue was “Gay man, per historical slang inspired by Judy Garland.” Answer: FRIEND OF DOROTHY.
And how’s this for a combination at 37A and 37D? BEER and BRISKET.
For us disgusting old men: NOSE HAIR, at 42A (“Trimmer target”), crossing VITAL SIGNS, at 25D (“Figures checked by nurses”).
But don’t worry too much about it, gentlemen: at 1A: YOU LOOK FAB! (“What a darling outfit!”)
I was flummoxed at 6D. For “That dis was goo-ood!!” the answer was OH SNAP! “Dis” here means insult. “Oh snap” is an exclamation of agreement or acknowledgment, often (but not exclusively) used in response to an insult.
Whatsername posted: “Best illustration I ever saw of OH SNAP was at my orthopedic sturgeon’s office where the staff wore T-shirts with those words spelled out under a picture of a fractured bone.”
I replied: LOL (x2).
At 41D, for the clue “Poles can be found next to them,” the answer was CZECHS. Commenter Jazzmanchgo said “the bass player George Mraz, who was born in then-Czechoslovakia, was nicknamed “Bounce” by pianist Jimmy Rowles. He asked Rowles why, and Jimmy replied, ” ‘Cause you’re a b-a-a-d Czech!”
A confession of sorts by Chris James of the Dull Men’s Club (UK): When the kitchen egg tray is found lacking symmetry I have to intervene…
(Additional photos omitted.)
Annabelle Sara Wells: I’m glad I’m not the only one. I also cannot have an odd number of eggs.
Nigel Kingsley: You need your head examined.
Chris: It is. It has an annual CT with contrast scan.
Ruth Hunt: And I bet it’s beautifully symmetrical too (just like my egg box).
Mark Redford: Careful, looks like you’re sending coded messages. Le Carré would’ve loved this.
Chris: Yes it’s the exact time and date the US will invade Greenland.
John Hodgson: So glad you’re including rotational symmetry. Too many people only consider reflection in these situations.
Mark Anderson: Two rows of four, surely?
Karen Wilkin: I do this for balance purposes – to reduce the likelihood of the tray tipping over. So, without looking at your other pics, pics 1 and 2 are risky.
Rohan Thorn: I went to the farm shop for eggs yesterday and made sure I had arranged the remaining eggs symmetrically in the tray after I took mine.
Robin Cooney: Spot on.
Gord Lynch: I hope you never get white eggs in the mix
Chris: Sadly, we do.
Avi Liveson: Egg racist!!
Andrew Jackson: So glad you don’t keep them in the fridge.
Chris: Why would I? These are UK eggs.
See you tomorrow! Thanks for dropping by.
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