Look, I’m willing to give songwriters wide latitude. I’m even willing to give them longitude. All I ask is that the basic rules of logic apply. For example, in Dylan’s song Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts it’s perfectly fine with me if, in the fifth verse, “Rosemary combed her hair and took a cabbage into town.” We’ve all transported broccoli, cabbage, etc. from time to time. If she needed a cabbage in town for some reason, it’s no concern of mine. But as I was driving to the dentist this morning, one lyric that popped up in a different song got on my goat.
In Chatham (NJ) this time of the year, lawn signs go up all over town congratulating seniors graduating from High School and showing where they will go to college. It’s nice to see. So I passed this sign for Indiana University. Cool. The Big Ten. Then that song popped into my head that has the lyric: “Indiana wants me, but I can’t go back there.” As it happens the poor guy in the song killed a man to protect the honor of the woman he loves and he’s “wanted” in Indiana, like, you know, for murder. That’s the meaning of “Indiana wants me.” What troubled me was the “but.” “Indiana wants me, but I can’t go back there” makes no sense given that meaning of “wants.” It should be “Indiana wants me SO I can’t go back there.”
When I got home from the dentist (everything went well, kinahora) I looked up the lyrics for the Dylan song. It turns out Rosemary took a carriage into town. I don’t know what the f*ck she did with the cabbage. And in the Indiana song the poor guy is saying “Indiana wants me, Lord I can’t go back there.” So you can just ignore everything I just said.
Meeting his minimum daily requirement for idiocy, Trump has called for the investigation of Beyonce, Bruce, Oprah, and Bono, claiming they were paid to endorse Kamala during the campaign. “IT’S NOT LEGAL! For these unpatriotic ‘entertainers,’ this was just a CORRUPT & UNLAWFUL way to capitalize on a broken system,” Trump said.
Of course, they weren’t paid by Harris, and even if they were it’s not illegal. Bono, BTW, is from Ireland and did not publicly endorse Harris.
Headlines from The Onion:
Republican Infighting Erupts Over Whether Trump Bill Beautiful Or Handsome
Relationship Experts Recommend Saying “I Love You” Even If You Don’t Mean It
I paid a visit to the Dull Men’s Club (UK) today and am very happy I did. Jason Paul Flather posted that he was at an accordion concert and was asking if that qualified as dull. [BTW, that’s Mrs. Flather smack dab in the center.]
Rich Smith came back with: Do you mean is looking at a photo of people playing accordions dull? The reason I ask is this evening is my “look at old family photos of accordion playing night” I will add your photo to my collection if you don’t mind. I’ve never done an accordion group photo viewing before so it’s really dulled it up for me. Here’s one of mine.
So I chimed in with: Whichever it is — attending the concert, or looking at a photo of the concert, I’m afraid my vote is that neither is dull at all. Thirteen accordions plus a drummer, with half of them around 90 and falling asleep in their chairs — I’d pay good money for a ticket to that. And Rich Smith —that sexy babe you added with the solo shot — Emma! Get me my heart pills!!
Rich came back with: Oh I’ve got plenty more in my vintage collection, Avi. Better get the defibrillator out.
Me: Bring it on!!
Game One of the PWHL Finals will be played tonight. It’s Minny against Ottawa, best 3 out of 5. Let’s feature the pretty Ottawa defense-woman Samantha (Sam) Isbell. Sam’s 27 and is from Thunder Bay, Ontario. She played college hockey at Mercyhurst U in Erie PA. Knock ’em dead, Sammie!
Let’s end with this license plate sighting by Owl Chatter friend, Riverdale Joe.
Even a dreary Monday morning can be perfect for romance, at least here at Owl Chatter. This poem was today’s “Poem A Day” from Poets.org. It’s by Robin Coste Lewis and is a translation of Konstantin Kavafy’s “I was asking about the quality.”
I came out of the office
where I had been hired in another shitty, low-paying job
(My weekly pay was nothing more than fifty dollars a week, most from tips).
With my waitress shift over, I came out at seven and walked slowly. I fell out
into the street, handsome, but compelling. It felt as if I had finally reached the full potential
of my own beauty (I’d turned sixteen the previous month).
I kept wandering all around the newly-cemented streets,
the quiet and old black alleys, past the cemetery leading to our home.
But then, as I’d paused in front of a clothing store where some skirts were on sale
(polyester, cheap), I saw this face inside—a girl—whose eyes urged me
to come inside. So, I entered— pretending I was looking
for embroidered handkerchiefs. I was asking about the quality—
of her handkerchiefs—how much they cost—in a whispery voice breaking open
with desire—and accordingly came her shop-girl answers—rote, memorized—but beneath her
words, her eyes kept ablaze: Yes. Mine, too, were a psalm of consent.
We kept talking about the handkerchiefs, but all the while our one and only goal was this:
to brush each other’s hands—quickly— over the handkerchiefs—to lean
our faces and lips nearer to each other, as if
by accident. We moved quickly, cautiously, yet deliberately—
in case her grandfather—sitting in the back—were to suspect something.
In that same vein, in the puzzle today the clue at 56A was “Glimmer” and the answer was GLEAM. Per Son Volt, it’s the name of an album by the Avett Brothers on which this song appears.
At 44D today, the clue was “Mom and Pop” and the answer was PARENTS. Not particularly noteworthy, except our old buddy egs wrote: My folks got divorced and Ma got the house so PARENTS.
Spare me the details, please! At 40A EROTICA is crossing 41D TUSH. You couldn’t just have TUSH cross SIT at 19A? GAH! (62D)
The Gnats swept the O’s over the weekend down in Baltimore. In fact, they pounded the crap of them Sat and Sun, scoring ten runs in each game. Yippee! Of course, Baltimore stinks this year and already fired the manager. We’ll see if the surge continues against the Atlantans in DC tomorrow.
Way to go, CJ! CJ Abrams is the brilliant young Gnat shortstop who popped two dingers yesterday and is hitting .312 (sixth best in the NL), kinahora. Damn good glove too.
We are happy to make room in the Owl Chatter Hall of Fame for Officer Michael Fanone, 44, a retired 20-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Dept. of the District of Columbia. Michael recently called Trump and his GOP allies “petty bitches” for refusing to display a congressionally approved plaque honoring police officers who protected the US Capitol during the January 6th attack. Since the plaque is not going to be displayed, Fanone said “I think it would be perfect if the plaque was shoved up his ass,” referring to House Speaker Johnson. Seems reasonable to us.
As you may know, on January 6, Fanone was assaulted by rioters, dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten with pipes, stunned with a Taser, sprayed with chemical irritants, and threatened with his own gun. He suffered burns, a heart attack, a concussion, a traumatic brain injury, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the attack. On the second anniversary of the attack, Michael was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Biden.
The two men sentenced to prison for attacking Officer Fanone have, of course, been pardoned by Trump. In February, while attending a conference, Fanone was confronted by other gentlemen who were pardoned and they called him a coward. It’s okay though. We have no problem welcoming cowards into the Owl Chatter Hall of Fame.
God bless America.
Stuart Davidson, of the Dull Men’s Club (UK), posts the following:
I recently had the experience of viewing the initial segment of the motion picture Gladiator II. It is with some regret that I must inform you that my viewing duration was limited to the first fourteen minutes of the presentation, at which point I elected to cease watching.
The primary reason for my discontinuation of viewing pertains to what I perceived as a number of deviations from established historical understanding, specifically in the depiction of Roman naval siege operations. These deviations, in my estimation, were rather disconcerting.
While it is generally acknowledged that the Roman civilization possessed a significant naval force, the portrayal of siege towers of such considerable height as to allow for the scaling of the defensive structures of a fortified coastal settlement, coupled with the depiction of naval vessels making direct impact with the shoreline in what appeared to be somewhat turbulent waters, struck me as implausible. Furthermore, the visual representation of the Romans employing short-range catapults situated on these vessels, while perhaps not entirely without some basis in historical reality, seemed to exaggerate the capabilities of such devices. Specifically, the notion that these catapults would possess the capacity to create breaches in stone fortifications through the projection of containers filled with burning pitch appeared to me to be an overstatement of their likely effectiveness.
To no surprise, Davidson’s post created quite an uproar. Here are the dullest of the 57 comments it drew:
Jay Russell: Give Star Wars a go. It’s much more realistic
Richard Hall: I had a similar moment at the beginning of Skyfall when Bond is shown using the track control to lower the boom on the excavator, but I gritted my teeth and got through it.
Amber Corns: Wait till you get to the sharks in the Colosseum.
Davidson: I turned it off.
Neil Stewart: If you’d stuck with it you’d have seen the bit where a Centurion gets beamed aboard an alien spaceship for experiments. He’s wearing completely the wrong sort of sandals through the whole thing, and I don’t think he would have been eating a Pot Noodle.
Sandy Grogan: Good job it was made for entertainment rather than as an historically accurate documentary.
Davidson: Saving Private Ryan was made for entertainment. Whilst still remaining historically accurate around the fictional plot line.
Tony Ross: A short search on Saving Private Ryan: A soldier fires seven shots without reloading, exceeding the capacity of his Springfield 1903 rifle. Several times, Corporal Upham’s .30 caliber ammunition belts appear to have missing primers. The movie depicts the men firing at the German 20mm cannon from a distance which would be extremely inaccurate and ineffective. And in the final battle, the tanks are not actual German Tiger tanks but mocked-up T-34s, and there is no historical basis for Tigers in Normandy at that time.
We had a rare visit in the puzzle today from Oksana BAIUL, the famed figure skater who is 47 now. With all those vowels, you’d think we’d see her more often. Oksana won the world championship in 1993 and Olympic gold in 1994. She was born and raised in Ukraine, but has lived in the US since ’94. She’s been married to her manager Carlo Farino for ten years and they have a daughter Sophia. Here’s a shot of her from her skating days.
Oksana was raised in the Russian Orthodox Church, but when she was 25 she learned her maternal grandmother was Jewish, and she has identified as Jewish since then. She also lived in Cliffside NJ for 14 years, so we are definitely claiming her as one of ours. Her past includes a difficult struggle with alcoholism, and she has called her sobriety more important than her Olympic gold. Amen to that, girl.
Oksana’s charitable activities include support of the Tikva Children’s Home, which aids the Jewish children of Odessa. The family lives in Shreveport, LA. Stop in to see us at Owl Chatter the next time you’re in the area, guys. We’ll go to the pierogi place in Morristown. Sophia can play with my Zoey.
This story by Simone Pinet was in today’s Met Diary.
I was getting on an M5 bus going downtown from Columbia. I was on a call with my husband and hauling a suitcase, which made it difficult to use a phone to pay my fare.
“I love you,” my husband said as I fumbled with the phone.
“I love you too,” the bus driver said.
In yesterday’s puzzle, I thought “End of a trail, perhaps” was a tough clue for APEX. Apex does mean “highest or culminating point,” so it’s certainly not incorrect. Egs noted: “Got a primate infestation in your hut? Try APEX! Guaranteed to work or I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.” So a better clue would have been “Solution for a primate infestation.”
You familiar with Saweetie? Me neither. She’s a rap artist, a blind spot of mine. The clue today was “Hip-hop artist with the 2019 hit ‘My Type.’” Despite the spelling, it’s pronounced Sweetie. She’s 31 and has a degree in Communications from USC.
The southwest quadrant of the puzzle today was a one-two-three punch for our Dirty Old Man Dept. First, Gal Gadot popped in, the gorgeous Israeli actress who played Wonder Woman and a bunch of other roles, including, of course, the lead in Waiting for Gadot. (Just kidding.) She popped onto the scene in 2004 as Miss Israel and then, like most beauty pageant winners, spent two years in the army. She’s sorta the Israeli Ana de Armas, except she’s been married to a real estate developer from Amsterdam since 2008 and they have four girls.
Next came LOVE HOTELS. You hear about these? Here’s Rex explaining them, citing Wikipedia: They’re short-stay hotels, of Japanese origin, designed specifically for sex. Prostitution may be involved, but mainly it’s just a discreet place, often in city districts (near train stations, and highways). There are hourly rates and interaction with staff is kept to a minimum. Discretion! Rooms are often selected from a panel of buttons, and the bill may be settled by pneumatic tube, vending machine, or paying an unseen staff member behind frosted glass. Parking lots are concealed and windows will be few, so as to maximize privacy. Higher-end hotels may feature fanciful rooms decorated with anime characters, be equipped with rotating beds, ceiling mirrors, karaoke machines, and unusual lighting. Architecture is sometimes garish, with buildings shaped like castles, boats or UFOs and lit with neon lighting. This one seems pretty discreet.
Third, at 96A, the clue was “Apparel feature that a bandeau lacks,” and the answer was BRA STRAP. Rex posted this picture which led to a funny exchange:
One commenter asked: What do they call that hat she’s wearing?
Pabloinnh responded: She was wearing a hat?
Let’s close with the Big Man tonight. Here’s another story from today’s Met Diary. It’s by Mandy Cooper.
Dear Diary:
In 1984, I was fresh out of college and living on East 44th Street and Second Avenue. I had an entry-level job on East 74th and I took the Second Avenue bus home every night.
Once, someone reached into my purse while I was on the bus and stole my wallet without my even noticing. The thief got my credit cards, my driver’s license, and what little cash I had. (I didn’t carry much at the time since I only made about $186 a week.)
What was truly devastating was the loss of a Heineken label I had been carrying in my wallet for some time. It was from a memorable evening.
I was at Big Man’s West in Red Bank, N.J., a club owned by Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band. I was sitting at a table with Clarence himself.
Out of sheer nervousness, I had peeled the Heineken label off a bottle in one piece. Clarence saw me do it, took the label and signed it: “Right on! Love, The Big Man, Clarence Clemons.”
I could get a new license and credit cards, but that label was irreplaceable.
About three weeks later, I received a notice from the post office. A package with $1.08 postage due was waiting for me there.
It turned out that the thief had taken the money and then tossed my wallet into a mailbox. I got back my license, credit cards and, unbelievably, the Heineken label!
I still have it to this day but no longer carry it with me. I know I couldn’t get that lucky twice.
Juan Soto, who won a World Series with the Gnats way way way back in 2019, and who jilted the Yanks and grabbed $765 million from the rival Mets, heard it from jovially angry Yankee fans last night in his first return to the Bronx. It seemed to be all in good fun, as far as I could tell. The baseball gods participated by making sure enough Mets got hits or walked so JS came up in the ninth with two men on base and two out. The Mets were down 6-2, so a Soto hit could have generated some serious nail-biting. The Yanks were concerned enough to yank their pitcher. But Soto flew out to end the drama.
Did someone mention the Gnats? Their win last night over the hapless Orioles was unusual. Unusual in that they won at all, of course, but also because they were outhit by the birds by a whopping 14 to 5. Ouch. Yet they outscored Baltimore 4 to 3. Gnat starter MacKenzie Gore only lasted 3.2 innings. He struck out nine of the eleven outs he got, but gave up ten hits. Just two runs though.
It was 3-3 entering the ninth. Tena was on second, but there were two outs. Nasim Nunez was up: one of those little fast guys that can drive you crazy. He hit a grounder to first and the pitcher ran over to cover. No problems, smooth, for the third out, right? No! Nunez was a blur down the line and beat the throw. No way! Yes, way. And Tena never stopped running when he hit third — the Baltimore pitcher was slow reacting to the safe call at first and his throw home had no chance. So it was 4-3 Gnats! In the bottom of the ninth, Finnegan, as usual, put the leadoff batter on. But he was nailed trying to steal by a perfect throw (Ruiz) and tag (Abrams), and the Gnats held on for the win. Sweet.
It was quite a sports night in NY, with the Knicks dispatching the stunned Celtics in a romp. The Indy Pacers come next. And the sexy Ottawa Charge of the Pro Women’s Hockey League completed their upset of the first-seeded Montreal ladies in a thrilling 2-1 game. We were sitting for our g’kids so only got back in time to watch the last few minutes of the game, but, man, it was tense.
Amazingly, for the second straight game, the skater we featured in Owl Chatter scored a key goal: Emily Clark. Way to go, Em! We’ll continue to root for Ottawa in the finals against Minny.
And let’s give a special shout-out to brilliant Ottawa goalie Gwyneth Philips, whose three playoff wins included a spectacular 1-0 shutout. Again, let me issue my usual warning about these hockey women: Don’t let the pretty face fool you — she’ll rip your head off with her bare hands and fling it into the corner of the rink without hesitating if the situation calls for it.
This poem is by Ellen Bass and is called “Deceiving the Gods.” It’s from today’s Writer’s Almanac. It includes a rare kinahora sighting, the first I recall seeing in the wild.
The old Jews rarely admitted good fortune. And if they did, they’d quickly add kinahora— let the evil eye not hear. What dummkopf would think the spirits were on our side? But even in a tropical paradise laden with sugarcane and coconut, something like the shtetl’s wariness exists. In Hawaii, I’m told, a fisherman never spoke directly, lest the gods arrive at the sea before him. Instead he’d look to the sky, the fast-moving clouds, and say, I wonder if leaves are falling in the uplands! Let us go and gather leaves. So, my love, today let’s not talk at all. Let’s be like those couples eating silently in restaurants, barely a word the entire meal. We pitied them, but now I see they were always so much smarter than we were.
One of the most popular composers in Crossworld is Erik Satie. All those vowels in Satie are hard for constructors to resist. So I am quite familiar with the name but had no idea how funny he was. He was born on this date in 1866 in a seaport town in northern France.
I am stealing the writeup on him from The Writer’s Almanac because it’s very fresh and funny and because I can.
Satie is known for his simple piano pieces with exotic titles like “Veritable Flabby Preludes (for a Dog).” When he was accused of writing music without form, he composed a series of piano duets called “Three Pear-shaped Pieces.” Many of his scores gave unusual instructions to the performers, like “Light as an egg,” “With astonishment,” or “Work it out yourself.” He invented what he called “furniture music,” which was meant to be listened to in the background. He was a friend of Picasso and collaborated with him to create the ballet “Parade,” which included typewriters, pistols, factory sirens, and airplane engines in its orchestra. He said, “Before writing a work, I walk around it several times accompanied by myself.”
Known as “the velvet gentleman,” he owned 12 identical velvet costumes, 84 identical handkerchiefs, and nearly 100 umbrellas. He walked several miles to a cabaret in Paris every evening, where he played all night before walking back with a hammer in his pocket for protection. He said: “My only nourishment consists of food that is white: eggs, sugar, shredded bones, the fat of dead animals, veal, salt, coconuts, chicken cooked in white water, moldy fruit, rice, turnips, sausages in camphor, pastry, cheese (white varieties), cotton salad, and certain kinds of fish (without their skin). I boil my wine and drink it cold mixed with the juice of the Fuchsia. I have a good appetite, but never talk when eating for fear of strangling myself.”
According to a story in People Magazine (so you know that it’s true), a man named Tim Petit was disappointed in the pink “limited edition” Donald Trump wristwatch he bought for $640 for his wife Melanie. (“Limited edition” means production is limited to as many as they can sell, per Jerry Seinfeld.)
When the watch arrived, the word “Trump” on its face was missing its important “T,” leaving it emblazoned with the word “Rump.” When Melanie saw it, she cried.
Rump! You can’t make this stuff up.
“I’m very disappointed. I wanted to do a special thing for her,” Petit said. “And we expected that it would have the integrity of the president of the United States and good follow-through.” [Note to Tim: It did have the President’s integrity — that’s the problem.]
According to People, “Ironically, in a video ad for the watches, Trump specifically touts the quality of the timepieces. ‘We’re doing quite a number with watches,’ the president says in the ad. ‘And the quality, to me, is very important.’”
When Tim complained to the company, he received no response. Only when he reached out to a local TV station to intervene did they offer to replace the watch.
If, like me, you’d like to get to know these good folks a little, take a look at this short video.
From the ridiculous to the sublime. With the womens’ ice hockey playoffs nearing the final stage, we are thrilled to note the WNBA is swinging into action this weekend! So many beautiful and incredibly talented women across the land. You know these two:
Caitlin is in her second season with the Indiana Fever (Iowa was college), and UCONN’S Paige is a rookie with the Dallas Hot Wings. Actually, it’s just the Dallas Wings, but with PB on the roster, . . .
If you are wondering whether women’s basketball has really caught on, or it’s all just PR fluff, I looked into tickets to see Caitlin or Paige when they come to NY (Brooklyn, actually), and the cheapest seats go for $150, or $105, respectively. Ouch. Sorry ladies. TFC (too cheap). Maybe we’ll have an Owl Chatter night at a Liberty game that is less in demand — that should run about $30 a ticket. They play in Brooklyn, in the Barclay Center, a beautiful arena where the NBA’s Nets play. Maybe we can catch the Vegas Aces. We’d see league MVP A’ja Riyadh Wilson then.
Wilson was named for her father’s favorite song, “Aja” by Steely Dan. Her middle name Riyadh came from the Saudi Arabian capital, where her maternal aunt was deployed in Operation Desert Storm. Good thing she wasn’t deployed to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Wales. Just sayin’.
There are 13 teams in the WNBA, but none in Boston. What gives? Closest is Connecticut (Sun). They play in Uncasville, CT. Been there? It’s in the bottom right part of the state, near Rhode Island.
According to historian Heather Cox Richardson, at a concert in Manchester, England this week, Bruce Springsteen said: “In America, the richest men are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They’re defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands. They’re removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons. This is all happening now.” He criticized lawmakers who have “no idea of what it means to be deeply American.”
And yet, he said: “The America that I’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and, regardless of its faults, is a great country with a great people, so will survive this moment.”
Hope so Boss.
Let’s finish up today with this tune by Mike Nesmith that was new to me. It’s called “Rio” and it was shared by Rex since there was a BANANA BOAT in the puzzle today. See you next time, Chatterheads!!
The Gnats snapped their losing streak at seven last night. Good to breathe again. They were down 4-1 to Atlanta going into the seventh, but plated two in the seventh and eighth and held on for dear life for a 5-4 win. Our good buddy closer Kyle Finnegan started off the ninth as usual by putting the leadoff batter on, via a hit, and a ground out moved him to second. Two scary good hitters were up next: Austin Riley and Marcel Ozuna, but KF struck Riley out and Ozuna flied out to right. Whew.
Next I caught the end of a thrilling Tiger-Bosox matchup. Now, you may be asking, how do I, who live in the NY region, have access to Washington and Detroit games? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s great. I uncharacteristically splurged on an MLB-TV subscription. I get to watch all MLB out-of-town games: all. And I can watch them when I want to, e.g., the Gnats play a day game today, but I can watch it tonight if I wish.
Anyway, I looked in on Detroit last night and watched briefly (and in horror) as they blew a 5-2 lead and Boston still had the bases loaded with only one out in the 7th when I fled in terror. When I returned much later, I opened up the game in the 8th inning and it was still 5-5 thanks to a double play ending the seventh. Yay. And in Detroit’s (home) ninth, something happened that I never saw before. Veteran fireballer Aroldis Chapman was on the mound for Boston. He walked the leadoff batter, Ibanez — a cardinal sin. The Tiger announcer noted Boston had removed its catcher Narvaez for some offensive reason and so had a lesser fielder at backstop. Sure enough, Ibanez took off to steal second and the catcher’s throw sailed into center field: Goodbye ball! After sliding into second, Ibanez jumped up and alertly took third. At that point, Boston challenged the call on unusual grounds. They claimed that when Ibanez got up from his slide at second, he was past second on the first base side by a step. And they said he failed to touch second again on his way to third. Clearly, if for some reason he had started running back to first after touching second and then reversed direction and headed towards third, he would have to touch second again on the way. That’s what Boston claimed he failed to do. But the call was upheld. The ump said Ibanez at no time turned to head back towards first, so he could continue on to third without again touching second. (Confused? Now you know how my students felt for all those years.)
Moving on, that put Ibanez on third with no outs as the tying run!! The game was in the bag, right? Except the batter struck out on the next pitch and the next batter popped out. Ouch. Now it would take a hit to bring Ibanez in. Molloy came in to pinch hit. Chapman was throwing hundred mile an hour blazers, one after another. You couldn’t see them, let alone hit them. But Molloy got a hold of one and drilled it solidly into the outfield for a hit — game over. Tigers win. Wow.
Lines from a poem we are not sharing:
The coasts ebb and forgo iambic lines drafted in silt. Plastic adds a climate of metaphor that upends the couplet heroic.
Our style and culture consultant, Ana de Armas tells us she was featured in a Harper’s Bazaar story this week. She’s in town (NYC) publicizing her new adventure film in the John Wick series, Ballerina, with Keanu, but the story was about her jumping on what they called the “bra as top” trend. Kristen Stewart took the look in a sporty direction, and Doechii in a scholarly one. They described Ana’s approach as coquettish. Okay. Whatever.
Sheesh — tight security. Is that guy glued to you, Armas?
Favorite clue/answer from today’s puzzle: 52A “Call for delivery?” Answer: PUSH. (Think baby.) Also neat was how PUSH was crossed by UTERI at the U (“Baby carriers”).
And the weirdest/hardest: 1D “Small, clingy bristles on a gecko’s foot.” WTF??!! SETAE. (SRSLY.)
At 69A, the clue was “Any member in the group with the 1965 hit ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’” and the answer was BYRD. Son Volt shared this tune of theirs with us.
My grandson Rafi got a pretty serious haircut. I guess it’s the short-hair look for the summer. I asked if his daddy gave it to him, and his brother Leon cut in and said a walrus gave it to him.
Who writes their material?
From The Onion:
U.S. Military Bans Men With Girl Names From Combat
WASHINGTON—In a move that significantly restricts the eligibility of thousands of American troops to fight for their country on the front lines, senior U.S. military officials announced Wednesday that all men with girl names would now be forbidden from serving in combat roles.
The ban, which goes into effect immediately, prohibits male personnel with clearly feminine names like Jamie, Sandy, and Alexis from serving in all artillery, infantry, and armored units. According to a Defense Department memo, the military is less effective as a fighting force when it deploys men named Francis, Sloan, Carol, or Loren in active conflict zones.
“For too long, we’ve sacrificed combat readiness in the name of inclusivity, ignoring the fact that there are innate differences between a Hank and a male Tracy,” said Gen. Doug H. Sandoval, who is a longtime opponent of men with girl names in the military and who worked with top appointed officials at the Pentagon to devise the new ban. “All these Shelleys and Dakotas are a liability. Imagine you’re in a heavy firefight, and your commander tells you to lay down cover fire for Casey. Your brain takes an extra moment to realize Casey is a man even though that’s a lady’s name, and in that split second of hesitation, your entire squad is overrun by the enemy.”
“Or suppose your special forces team is parachuting into hostile territory,” he continued. “Can you really order someone named Ashley to jump out of a plane? It defies common sense.”
The Pentagon confirmed that servicemen with girl names would be reassigned to noncombat roles and that their pay would be lower as a result, an outcome officials justified by arguing that men named Allison should not be the primary breadwinners in their household anyway. Some hardliners have suggested these men should not be in the armed forces at all, and should instead stay home to father the Johns and Harolds needed to fight America’s wars.
Some exceptions will reportedly be made on the basis of spelling, with men named Nicky, for example, being eligible for combat deployment so long as their name ends with a y instead of an i. A military spokesperson told reporters tabs will be kept on once-masculine names that are starting to become girly, the way Charlie and Riley seem to have lately.
“America must project strength to keep our adversaries in check, and we can’t do that with men named Taylor on the battlefield,” said Navy Vice Adm. Scott Rigby, observing that the soft consonants of unisex names like Sasha and Avery never sat right with him. “China will never take us seriously so long as we’re sending Leslies to enforce our interests abroad. And if Russia ever learned we let men named Dana pilot our fighter jets? Forget it. When it comes to soldiers, we need big, strong Chets, Mikes, and Jakes out there, full stop.”
President Trump signaled his personal approval of the ban in a post on Truth Social, writing: “Bye bye, Bailey. He’s got to leave the fighting to GUS!!!”
The ban has been met with fierce condemnation from many effeminately named male veterans, including Aubrey Hart of the advocacy group Man Enough to Fight, which plans to mount a legal challenge on behalf of 24-year-old Army sniper Mandy Wright.
“Just because a man is named Stacy or Carey doesn’t mean he can’t fight like a Brock or an Axel,” Hart said. “Back when I served, there may have been a few snickers the first time I introduced myself, but once I set my fellow soldiers straight about Aubrey being a perfectly normal thing for a boy to be called, my name was never a distraction. To suggest otherwise is an insult to me and all the male Aubreys who have bled and died for their nation.”
While congressional Republicans appear to have fallen in line behind the Trump administration’s support for the ban, one GOP lawmaker was willing to speak on the record against it.
“This is the most egregiously unfair, bigoted, and discriminatory policy I have ever encountered,” said the senator and Air Force veteran Lindsey Graham. “I won’t stand for it.”
In a recent post in the Dull Men’s Club (UK) a woman posted a photo of a loaf of bread in its plastic bag, but the bread was resting sideways. That is, instead of the top of the loaf coordinating with the lettering on the plastic bag, it was sideways. She was asking the members for advice on what to do.
One person accused her of taking the loaf out of the bag herself and reinserting it on its side! But the membership came to her defense strongly and chewed out the accuser. “How cruel can you be? Who hurt you?” The accuser defended himself by saying it should have been clear that he was just kidding. It’s possible — I couldn’t tell for sure. It would have helped, one person observed, if he had put a smiley emoji at the end of his note.
My favorite comment-with-reply came from one person who said: “What difference does it make if the bread is sideways?” To which the immediate reply was: “You’re new to this club, right?”
I would have shared the photo and much more with you — but when I went back to the club site seeking the post, it had disappeared! WTF!!
Alright, I think that’s enough nonsense for today. See you tomorrow. And until then remember – never let a walrus cut your hair!
The puzzle today opened the door for some limericking. At 31D the clue was “Playful poetry,” and the answer was LIGHT VERSE. Egs shared this one:
There was a young lady named Bright Whose speed was far faster than light; She set out one day In a relative way And returned on the previous night.
And I shamelessly stole mine from Garrison Keillor who wrote it in honor of one of his kid’s teachers. He felt they worked so hard and were insufficiently appreciated.
There once was a teacher named Dede Who came home to her squeeze and said: Sweetie I’m so tired I’m wobbly So pour me some Chablis And don’t be emotionally needy.
We all have our weaknesses, areas that confound us in puzzles. I’m weak on rap stars and most current pop music names beyond the very biggest. Many folks grumble over Simpsons clues. Anyway, a big black hole for me is anything to do with fashion. So I learned a new term/definition today at 4D. Did you know that BODICE is what “the close-fitting part of a dress” is called? I would have guessed TOP.
Why so glum, princess?
Food items in the puzzle today included, at 19A: “Colombian cakes that have been around since pre-Columbian times.” AREPAS. Also, at 41D: “Sushi seaweed” was NORI. Here’s egs on them:
Boy: Hey Ma! Whose Colombian cakes are these? Ma: Those AREPAS AREPAS. Boy: At least it’s not seaweed, cause I don’t eat seaweed. Ma: NORI.
The arepas really look good, said Tom droolingly.
Did someone mention NORI? NORI? We were taken to task yesterday by OC friend Norrie for not noting the Knicks’ great upset victory over the Bostoners earlier this week. The Celts are reeling from the loss of their star Tatum to injury, but Game 5 still won’t be a cakewalk. Are the ‘Bockers inching their way towards their first crown since the Willis Reed era? Hope so, but it’s still a long way to go, amirite Knicks City Dancers?
Was Owl Chatter spot-on yesterday, or what? Our selection of lady hockey player Mannon McMahon to feature was prescient. M scored the winning (and only) goal as Ottawa bested favored Montreal to go up 2-1 in the PWHL semi-finals. How’s this for an image of pure joy? Nice shot Philly!
Let’s feature Emily Clark today, brilliant skater for Ottawa. Em’s 29 and from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She skated brilliantly for Wisconsin in college, and scored a goal in the 2018 Winter Olympics for Canada in its 5-0 win over the Russians. She is the youngest of six hockey-playing kids in her family. Don’t ease up on Friday, Clark! Love those smoky killer eyes.
The Times Higher Education has named Brandeis University #10 on its list of Best Small Universities in the World, according to an email Brandeis sent me today. No other U.S. school is in the top 20.
Among the reasons cited for this honor was the success of Brandeis alumni which include Abbie Hoffman, Pulitzer Prize winners, leading authors, a Nobel laureate, creators of the TV show Friends, and the producer of the highly unpopular blog Owl Chatter, not to mention countless ex-cons and ne’er-do-wells (seriously, don’t mention them). Way to go, alma mater!
Let’s end tonight with Jung-hoo Lee. He’s a Korean ballplayer with the SF Giants. He plays the outfield and is doing well, hitting .288 with 27 RBI and 29 runs scored. He plays with speed and an obvious love of the game. A fan club for him has developed: the Hoo Lee Gans (get it? — hooligans). They wear fire wigs and special t-shirts.
Things went a little crazy (in a good way) last night. It was Korean Heritage Night so there was special food, music, and a Jung-hoo Lee jersey giveaway. Lee played the part by blasting a three-run dinger in the 8th inning — his first homer in front of the Hoo Lee Gans. You can imagine.
The following clip is the Korean broadcast of a Lee home run he hit a while back in Yankee Stadium. You don’t have to speak Korean to enjoy it.
Wish we could end with joy like that every night. See you tomorrow!
This poem is called “Spring” and is by Linda Pastan. It’s from today’s Writer’s Almanac.
Just as we lose hope she ambles in, a late guest dragging her hem of wildflowers, her torn veil of mist, of light rain, blowing her dandelion breath in our ears; and we forgive her, turning from chilly winter ways, we throw off our faithful sweaters and open our arms.
Food fight! Gird yourself for a tomato in your ear. What? Speak up. I can’t hear you — there’s a tomato in my ear.
Those of us who do the NYT puzzle each day got embroiled in one today, courtesy of constructor Joe Rodini. At 38A: “Cafeteria shout.” FOOD FIGHT!
Each theme answer was made up of a food plus a fight word, viz., FRUIT PUNCH, CORNBELT, LAMB CHOP, and my favorite, BANANA SLUG. The clue for LAMB CHOP was “Bone-in cut whose name became an endearment.” Remember Shari Lewis and her hand-puppet Lamb Chop? Oh, Lord, where has my youth gone?
The clue for BANANA SLUG did not reference the UC Santa Cruz mascots, instead going with “Bright yellow creature that moves about 6.5 inches per minute.”
I hope you saw Pulp Fiction. If you did, you may recall Travolta and Samuel L. sort of accidentally get blood and gore all over themselves and show up at Tarantino’s suburban home. He gives them gym-type clothes to change into. Hold on, — here they are. Thanks Phil. So there’s your banana slug shirt.
The doorbell rings insistently in this guy’s house. When he answers it, there’s no one there, but he notices a little slug in front of the door. He bends over and flicks it away, across the porch. Ten hours later the bell rings again. He opens it and the slug is there again. And it says “What the f*ck was that all about!!”
In sharing that dreadful joke with the Commentariat, I noted: There is no explanation within the joke as to how the slug managed to ring the doorbell. It’s just one of those joke mysteries. And Commenter Pablo noted: “I remember the choice of BANANASLUG as a mascot because the male has an inordinately large body part, but that may be an urban legend.” He suggested that may be how the slug reached the bell. Hmmmmm.
At 34A, “Blanket draping a mountain at dawn,” was MIST. Commenter Raymond noted: When Table Mountain (in Cape Town) is covered with white mist (actually cloud) it’s called the “tablecloth.”
At 40D, “African animal with horns” was GNU. Egs noted: Dyslexic second amendment enthusiasts are GNU rights advocates.
Right next to GNU came GNASH (“Grind, as one’s teeth”). That was gnice.
Which reminds me, we watched the Gnats drop their sixth straight game to Los Bravos in Atlanta last night. Except for a James Wood dinger, the offense was moribund and they headed into the ninth down 3-1. With one out, Ruiz and Garcia singled. We have a life!! Bell’s squibbler back to the mound was mishandled twice but a strong throw still nailed him at first. To his credit, Bell ran hard all the way.
So there were two down and runners on second and third. Nunez pinch-ran for Garcia, in a move that had consequences later — everything can matter in baseball. Crews grounded to short, which should have been the third out to end the game, but SS Nick Allen threw the ball away!! Both runners scored. After playing dead all night, the Gnats had suddenly tied it up. We moved on to the bottom of the ninth knotted at 3.
Leadoff batter Eli White drilled a shot to the secondbaseman. It was Nunez who pinch-ran for Garcia, and he couldn’t handle it, so the leadoff man was on. Could Garcia have snared it? We’ll never know. Next, the same Nick Allen who made the errant throw just a short while before, laid down a bunt moving White to second. The bunt was hit pretty hard right back to the mound. Could pitcher Rutledge have caught White at second? Again, we’ll never know. Clearly, he felt he had to get the out. The Gnats then played the odds and brought in lefty Chapin to face Verdugo. But a single up the middle brought the speedy White home with the winning run. Tough loss.
The PWHL (Pro Women’s Hockey League) playoffs are in full swing. Our NY Sirens (who play in Jersey) did not make the playoffs. Next year for sure ladies! But Ottawa and Montreal are locked in a tight 1-1 duel, and Minny’s on top of Toronto 2-1, in their best-of-five series.
Here’s Ottawan Mannon McMahon. Don’t let the pretty smile fool you. She’ll rip your throat open as calmly as she’d pour a cup of tea. Mannon is 23 years old and is from Maple Grove, Minnesota. She played college hockey at U. of Minnesota Duluth, where she set the school record with 173 consecutive games played. She has two brothers, Mason and Aiden, who are afraid of her.
Our Sirens had a decent year, all things considered. For example, their goals for/against record was 71/80, identical to that of Ottawa which finished in third place. Our Owl Chatter sports consultant, the beautiful Sarah Fillier, led the team in goals scored (13) and assists (16), and her 29 total points tied for the league lead with Boston’s Hilary Knight. Way to go, Babe!
Brace yourselves, fellas — here’s Sarah in her sexy hockey uniform. Hey, take it easy on us, girl! We’re only human.
In other sports news, Major League Baseball has removed the late Pete Rose from its “permanently ineligible list,” raising, among other issues, the question of what the hell “permanently” means. The dead superstar is now eligible for election to Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Other deceased ballplayers, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, were also granted eligibility. Commissioner Manfred stated that “permanent ineligibility” in general terminates at death from now on.
Here’s Petey, in a quiet moment. Thinking about stuff.
See you tomorrow Chatterheads! Thanks for popping by.
The universe is nudging us to eat Tootsie Rolls today. First, on WQXR (NY’s classical music station), Jeff Spurgeon’s “Know-It-All-New-Yorker” Question was on the candy developed in NY in 1907 named after the maker’s daughter Clara and hailed for its non-melting character. The answer was Tootsie Roll. Clara’s pet name was “Tootsie.” It was the first penny candy to be individually wrapped in America.
Next came the clue at 49D today: “Wise” bird. The answer was OWL, of course, but Rex (and we) was (are) troubled by the quotation marks:
“LOL scare quotes. ‘So-called.’ What, are OWLs not actually wise now? Which member of the NYT editing team hates OWLs? Everyone knows OWLs are wise. How else could they become professors?”
And the following short video brought us to the Tootsie Roll again:
Loved the puzzle theme today, especially after our visit to the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh a few years back. The theme answers all had an unusual characteristic. Here are two: CANDYLAND and HANDSTAND. Do you see it? The other two are: BRANDY ALEXANDER and SHETLAND ISLANDS. Still no? Each answer has “AND” in it twice. So the revealer was “Boy’s name — or how you might describe the above answers” and it was ANDY, meaning “characterized by ands.”
AW himself was thrown in for good measure at 29D: “Noted painter of soup cans” — WARHOL, crossing the second A in Candyland.
Here’s egs: I really appreciate WARHOL being clued as “Noted painter of soup cans.” At first I missed the word “noted,” and my mind was flooded with dozens of lesser painters of soup cans.
Commenter Lewis had this memory: “I once worked as a waiter in a tony Upper East Side restaurant where Andy WARHOL came regularly. His dinner, every time, consisted simply of a plate piled high with French fries, on top of which he would empty a bottle of ketchup. He came with an entourage, and boy they had a good time.”
Did you know Andy Warhol was in an episode in the last season of “The Love Boat” (1985)?
Here’s a tune by Arthur Alexander, Brandy’s cousin.
The puzzle referenced the Beatles’ song TAXMAN, about a month late. Lewis noted: The album it was on, Revolver, was so named because that’s what a record is on a turntable. [So, nothing to do with firearms.]
The Analogues is an extraordinary Dutch band devoted to reproducing Beatles’ songs with technical precision. I couldn’t find a good quality Taxman, so here’s a different tune.
Let’s Go Gnats! Our boys have fallen on hard times. Since the thrilling victory we witnessed in person last Tuesday they have dropped five straight, the last three a sweep by the Cards. Ouch. Jake Irvin takes the mound against the Atlantans tonight, way down south. Let’s right the ship, fellas.
And, speaking of way down south, a review of “Sinners” in the New Yorker agreed with Owl Chatter that the performances were excellent. Here’s how reviewer Richard Brody put it: “Michael B. Jordan brings both brothers to distinctive life with his powerful presence and a virtuosity that wears its effort lightly. The entire cast carries the action with fierce, pressurized commitment and delivers the characters’ lofty thoughts and sharp-edged talk forthrightly; their performances feel conjured, not acted. Caton, a deep-voiced singer with no prior screen credits, endows Sammie with a preternatural sense of purpose and poise; it’s an extraordinary début.”
With the big boost Chicago is getting these days from the local-boy-makes-good Pope and the rejuvenated Cubbies, the movie counters with this key line of Smoke’s: “Chicago ain’t shit but Mississippi with tall buildings instead of plantations.” BTW, consistent with his devotion to the downtrodden, the Pope is a lifelong White Sox fan — not Cubs. The Pale Hose had, by far, the worst record in baseball last year — a .253 winning percentage (41-121). Even the dreadful Rockies were more than 120 points higher at .377 (61-101).
A report from The Onion, reprinted from 2009:
Study: 74% Of Children Tenting Out In Yard Don’t Make It Through The Night
WASHINGTON—According to a new report released this week by the Department of Health and Human Services, 74 percent of all American children camping out in their backyards never, ever make it through the night.
The study, which surveyed hundreds of innocent children between the ages of 7 and 12, found that, in almost all cases, sleeping outdoors in a tent with a flashlight and comic books and who knows what else lurking around in the dark ended in horrible tragedy.
“We now have definitive proof that most children who camp out in their yards will die a horrific death,” said Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services. “Whether it’s a sudden wolf attack, an escaped mental patient, or just Old Man Greenly, who lost his hand in a gruesome mill accident and now seeks his bloody revenge, young boys and girls rarely live to see their parents or friends again.”
Irving Berlin was born on this date in Russia in 1888. Well, not really. Israel Baline was. When his first song was published a printer’s error called him Irving Berlin and he liked it. Go with the flow. He said, “The toughest thing about success is that you’ve got to keep on being a success.” Amen to that, Irv. That’s why we’re so careful to avoid any hope of success here at Owl Chatter. Happy Birthday!
This story, called “Initiation,” is by Gary Clinton and is from today’s Met Diary in the NY Times.
Dear Diary:
It was the early 2000s. I had been resisting my friends’ invitations to join them in a night of dancing at one of those only-in-New-York, late-night parties held in the kind of dark, crowded clubs that were tucked into quiet streets along the Hudson River at the time.
Intense, sweat-soaked, group experiences like that didn’t appeal to me.
At some point, I gave in and spent six hours one night dancing as hard as I possibly could. It was magic. I had found my tribe.
As the early spring morning broke over Manhattan, seven of us left the club together, footsore, sweaty, exhilarated and exhausted, and then settled in for breakfast at a nearby diner.
I felt like I had been initiated, let into the heavy rites of a secret fraternity. I was now one of those guys.
A world-wise waitress came to the table and scoped out the group.
“Oh, puppy!” she said. “Puppy! What happened to you? Did you get off the porch and play with the big dogs?”
I nodded.
“Don’t say a word,” she said. “I know just what you need.”
She took the other six orders and went to the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later, bringing me a mound of scrambled eggs, several strips of bacon, a toasted bagel and a big glass of cranberry juice.
It was best breakfast of my life.
Today’s puzzle defeated me way down in the bottom left corner. At 83A I didn’t know the “1999 Maeve Binchy novel” was TARA ROAD. And two of the crosses lost me: At 83D I thought “Body building?” was womb — clever, right? But it was TOMB. And 84D stumped me too: “___ Crown Theater (downtown Chicago landmark).” It was ARIE. D’oh!
I learned the term MIDINETTE. The clue was “Shopgirl in a Paris boutique.” Can’t get more exciting than that. It comes from “midi” (noon) and “dinette” (light meal), i.e. a shopgirl only has time for a light lunch.
Here’s one! Bonjour!
At 50A the clue was “Fish that passes the ‘mirror test’ of self-recognition,” and the answer was MANTA RAY. The mirror test—sometimes called the mark test, mirror self-recognition (MSR) test, red spot technique, or rouge test—is a behavioral technique developed in 1970 by psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. to determine whether an animal can recognize itself. My cousin Lou has a hell of a time with it — he’s come pretty damn close the last few times. Keep at it, Louie!
An animal is anesthetized and then marked (e.g. paint or sticker) on an area of the body it normally cannot see (e.g. forehead). When it recovers, it is given access to a mirror. If it touches or investigates the mark on itself, it is taken as an indication that it perceives the reflected image as an image of itself, rather than of another animal. The findings are considered stronger if the animal also says something like “Hey, what’s this shit on my forehead?”
The only fish that pass the test are the manta ray and the bluestreak cleaner wrasse. Here’s a real cool ray:
At 59A, for the answer SWANN, constructor Brendan Emmett Quigley (highly respected) could have gone either of two ways: literature (Proust’s Swann’s Way), or football — great Steeler receiver Lynn Swann. Good to see you Lynnie!
Happy Mother’s Day from Welly and Wilma, everybody! Hope you had a blast!
Stephen Marshall of the Dull Men’s Club (UK) asks: Anyone know what these bugs are and how to get rid of them? Google lens say they are weevils. They have devastated the leaves on our cherry tree.
Gavin Webster: Which is the lesser of two weevils?
Andy Colleran: Closing your hand sharpish should get rid quickly.
Ian Shore: I asked one of my German cousin’s for you Stephen, and he replied: Weevil look into zis for you, weevil try google first! Weevil find a final solution to rid you of zis invasion!”
Andy Bound: I believe they wobble but they don’t fall down unfortunately.
[OC note: Andy is referring to the following:]
This poem is called “Couple at Coney Island.” It’s by Charles Simic and was in today’s Writer’s Almanac.
It was early one Sunday morning, So we put on our best rags And went for a stroll along the boardwalk Till we came to a kind of palace With turrets and pennants flying. It made me think of a wedding cake In the window of a fancy bakery shop.
I was warm, so I took my jacket off And put my arm round your waist And drew you closer to me While you leaned your head on my shoulder. Anyone could see we’d made love The night before and were still giddy on our feet. We looked naked in our clothes
Staring at the red and white pennants Whipped by the sea wind. The rides and shooting galleries With their ducks marching in line Still boarded up and padlocked. No one around yet to take our first dime.
Toni Morrison was in the puzzle yesterday. Did you know her first name is actually Chloe? And Toni is short for her first middle name which is Anthony. Her second middle name is Wofford.
When you make pasta, do you save the water it’s boiled in? The clue at 57A yesterday was “Cooking byproduct sometimes called ‘liquid gold.’” The answer was PASTA WATER. News to me.
Anonymous noted: Despite being Italian, and helping grandma make the homemade pasta , not once did I see her use pasta water. Looked it up. It is a very real thing. And it is supposed to enhance flavor. Tried it this morning with my own homemade pasta sauce and homemade pasta out of curiosity— added nothing to the flavor.
But Teedmn wrote: My understanding is that PASTA WATER isn’t there for flavor but to thicken the sauce so it sticks to the noodles. Before I learned the trick of reserving some of the water for the sauce, my spaghetti sauce would be watery and not cling to the pasta. And Les S. More added: it doesn’t really thicken the sauce so much as it loosens it without thinning it much, if that makes sense. That’s because of the starch. Added bonus: the water is usually a bit salty and adds depth to the sauce’s flavour. Peamut noted he or she was at a cooking class recently and the teacher said using pasta water in making pizza dough was highly recommended.
Anony Mouse 2 said the clue was “baloney,” that chicken fat (aka schmaltz) was “liquid gold,” not pasta water. And get off my lawn!
At 18A, “Downward-facing dog?” which sounds like a yoga position, was a clever clue for the constellation CANIS MAJOR.
It led egs to note: I don’t want to say she has a big butt, but her CANISMAJOR!
This story by Suzanne Schneck is in tomorrow’s Met Diary.
My husband and I were in New York to see “Good Night and Good Luck,” and I had gotten done up for the occasion: dress, hair, makeup, jewelry, a stunning but impractical white coat and an infrequently worn pair of kitten heels.
As we walked to the theater, the promise of spring was in the air, and I was feeling upbeat. I was gliding along. The next thing I knew, I was tumbling in slow motion onto the dirty pavement at Broadway and 44th Street.
My coat and my ego were a bit tarnished as my husband rushed to help me up. To my surprise, two young men also stopped to help.
As I turned to thank them, one of them smiled.
“Hon,” he said, “it was totally worth it! Those shoes are fabulous.”
Jane Eyre was in the puzzle yesterday. So I posted the following: “The bookseller discounted his entire inventory. And when one buyer scooped up everything by Charlotte Bronte, the Eyre went out of his sales.”
Also yesterday, at 30D I had no idea why “Seeking comment?” was the clue for READY OR NOT. Turns out it a reference to the kids’ game “Hide and Seek.” When whoever is it starts to “seek,” he or she announces: “Ready or not, here I come.” Remember Jackson Browne? I saw him perform in Buffalo NY when I was living in Rochester. Excellent show.
Here’s the grid from today’s puzzle, below. It’s unusual for there to be giant black blocks like that. Rex didn’t notice what they are. I didn’t either, but at 8:41 am another Anony Mouse noted that they are kites (with tails). And that works with the answer at 7D: LETS GO FLY A KITE! Nice.
Jeepers, Creepers, where’d you get those peepers? I bet the younger among us have not heard of that idiotic verse (if there are any young among us). Well, the use of “peepers” for eyes is still current. We speak of a “peeping Tom,” for example. It made for a very difficult clue today. At 20A the clue was “Baby blue, perhaps.” It was a reference to blue eyes, but singular. So the answer was PEEPER. Here’s a random pair of blue peepers. (Hi Tay! Sup?)
According to historian Heather Cox Richardson, Trump has tapped Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, who is passionately loyal to him, for the position of U.S. attorney in Washington D.C., the top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital. He noted among her qualifications that she “hosted her own Fox News Show for ten years, and is currently Co-Host of The Five, one of the Highest Rated Shows on Television.”
Fox took Pirro off the air after the 2020 election because of her conspiracy-theory-filled rants. In emails, her executive producer called her “nuts” and a “reckless maniac,” who “should never be on live television.”
On another front, Trump’s replacement pick for surgeon general, Casey Means, did not finish her residency and is not currently licensed as a doctor. At least she’s pretty. Here’s the mighty Casey.
Richardson states: The administration appears not to be able to attract the caliber of federal officials to which Americans have become accustomed.
The Wellington Files 