Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Gun-regulating grp. / WED 8-7-24 / Denver-to-Omaha dir. / Communicate like a Sphynx

Constructor: Meghan Morris

Relative difficulty: Hard (13:17)


THEME: OUGH "homophones" — The theme plays with a classic quirk of the English language, which is that the letters "ough" can be pronounced in a variety of different ways, without any obvious pattern or rule. These words are arranged symmetrically throughout the grid, and form a sort of a cyclical "ladder" or "loop"-- each connects to the last.

Theme answers:
  • Given the way ROUGH (Uneven) is pronounced, you'd expect BOUGH (Main branch of a tree) to rhyme with it; instead we have the word BUFF (Rhyme of 49-Across, but not a homophone of 19-Across)
  • Given the way BOUGH is pronounced, you'd expect COUGH (Attention-getting sound) to rhyme with it; instead we have COW (Rhyme of 19-Across, but not a homophone of 46-Across)
  • Given the way COUGH is pronounced, you'd expect DOUGH (It gets baked) to rhyme with it; instead we have DOFF (Rhyme of 46-Across, but not a homophone of 21-Across)
  • Given the way DOUGH is pronounced, you'd expect THROUGH (By way of) to rhyme with it; instead we have THROW (Rhyme of 21-Across, but not a homophone of 43-Across)
  • Given the way THROUGH is pronounced, you'd expect ROUGH to rhyme with it; instead we have RUE (Rhyme of 43-Across, but not a homophone of 49-Across)

Word of the Day: LIGHT OPERA (Many a Gilbert and Sullivan work) —
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its shorter length, the operetta is usually of a light and amusing character. It sometimes also includes satirical commentaries.
• • •

Hi friends, it's Malaika on a Regularly Scheduled Malaika MWednesday! I had a lovely fish-centric dinner with a friend tonight, and then tried to take the train back to my place. To my despair, it was out of service and I had to walk twenty minutes home in the pouring rain. I patted myself dry with a kitchen towel and immediately began my duty of solving and reporting on the crossword puzzle. I live to serve!!

This puzzle is missing something to me. It took me several minutes to figure out what was going on. I'm not a huge fan of clues that give you zero "free" information, though they are common enough in all puzzles and I will confess that I have even included them in some of my own. What do I mean by zero "free" information? An example (unrelated to today's puzzle) would be saying something like [Anagram of X-down] rather than something like [Food that anagrams to X-down]. In this puzzle we get information about what it rhymes with, but no pure clue. This might cause problems! I could see someone who isn't a Pear Expert and has forgotten the term "homophone" putting in "how" instead of COW, for instance.


I think my biggest problem is that the puzzle goes to a lot of lengths to keep some cyclical elegance to this theme, but the crossword isn't ultimately the ideal way to display this. I hope I was able to convey that cycle in my theme bullet points above-- it's cool that the first and last instances of the theme are both ROUGH. And it's also cool, if not genuinely amazing, that every single one of these entries was able to be arranged symmetrically in the puzzle. But I feel like a grid just isn't the right vehicle for this!! I wish this could have been some sort of round or swirling or looping variety puzzle that visually connected these terms in the way they deserve. I've spoken before about how I feel constructors should pitch every creative and outlandish idea they can think of, and editors should reel them in-- I think the editors should have redirected on this one.

Because of the constraints of the theme answers, the grid had to be pretty segmented, with lots of three-letter words. I don't mind a high number of three-letter words (I've definitely made puzzles with 20+ of them!), but I do mind when I notice it while solving, which is what happened in this case. Awkward stuff like AWS, ORS, RNS, and ENE stood out to me, and (due to the nature of the theme) there weren't even a lot of fun longer answers to balance them out.

Of the longer stuff, I was a fan of FEDORA and FUSILLI. My joke is that "I like my pasta like I like my hair-- curly." I always have a packet of gemelli or cavatappi or FUSILLI in my pantry; I love how the sauce clings to the twists. Other entries like SOPHIES, HR ISSUE, and ONE NAME didn't feel in-the-language to me.

Cavatappi is legit my favorite pasta shape. What's yours??

I'm very curious to hear what y'all thought of this puzzle, as I can sense it's going to be divisive! Please remember to be kind and constructive in your critiques <3

Bullets:
  • [Key that might be part of a chain] for ISLE — This took me a second as I am more familiar with the spelling "cay" because of this novel. But "key" is very valid as well; I'm sure many of us have heard of the Florida keys.
  • [Marshland] for FEN— While we're on the topic of books, one of my favorite favorite favorite books is called The Magicians and features a minor (not even secondary-- maybe tertiary??) character called FEN. When I have this entry in a puzzle that I've made, I am always tempted to use that cluing angle, and I always decide not to.
  • [Exerciser's target] for FLAB — Is this true? In my experience, you lose FLAB by changing your diet, unless you're doing enormous amounts of cardio. To me, exercise is more about building strength (or having fun!!)
  • [Park in N.Y.C., e.g.] for AVE — The misdirect here is that Park AVE is a pretty famous street
  • [Leopard's spot] for LAIR — Do leopards famously hang out in LAIRs?? Am I missing something? I thought they slept in tree branches.
xoxo Malaika

P.S. Here's today's homegrown tomato:




[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

120 comments:

  1. Easy-medium. No WOEs and sitU before LIEU was it for erasures. Mostly solid with a fair amount of sparkle including a couple of fine long downs. Unfortunately, cross referencing clues are not my cuppa for reasons so nicely articulated by @Malaika. Didn’t hate it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brian in SLC12:40 AM

    Am I just getting too old and curmudgeonly, or do other solvers get excessively annoyed by puzzles that repeatedly jump you from one clue to others? And to top it off, as Malaika points out, are sort of non-clues? (Still appreciate the grid overall, Meghan)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:27 AM

      I get excessively annoyed, too

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:28 AM

      Normally, I agree about jumping clues and “non-clues.” But the -ough pronunciation mysteries are such a delightfully weird aspect of the English language! Justified the puzzle for me.

      Delete
  3. Congrats on the tomato! "Sophies" was a welcome reminder of a terrific book and a very good movie. You should read it or at least watch it. Not fun - but great. Other than that you're right on the money. It works, but it doesn't give me an AHA! moment. More like Oh, sure...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3:38 AM

    Hard. I think SOPHIES CHOICE is pretty “in the language” but I did get trapped on BOSC.

    Really liked ONE NAME and GOOD.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4:09 AM

    Yes, you might exercise in order to get less flabby. Are you kidding me?

    ReplyDelete

  6. Medium for a Wednesday. I mostly ignored the cross-references and got the words that were only clued that way from crosses.

    No WOEs but a few overwrites: core before FLAB at 3D, trUnk before BOUGH at 19A, UieS before UEYS at 20D, aHa before OHH at 36D, ifS before ORs for the conditional words at 51A

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  7. Also TREE for Leopards spot for far too long.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous6:18 AM

    That's one good lookin' tomato.

    ReplyDelete
  9. David F6:38 AM

    I'm with others here - I really dislike puzzles that jump around, especially when (as Malaika pointed out) they give no other information. It makes for a very disjointed solving experience, and I can never get a rhythm going.

    The structure and theme of this puzzle also (as, again, Malaika pointed out) made for a lot of small fill, much of which was painful crosswordese. FEN LEA HUE EWE RNS ENE LAM FRO OTC ATF and worst, the dreaded UEYS. This really felt more like a test of skill for the creator than a pleasurable solve.

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  10. Not at all a fan of all the cross-referenced clues, which step this one over the line into stunt/gimmick (I.e. Thursday) territory for me. So not a fan, but stumbled, bumbled and lumbered through it.

    I did think it was interesting that the NYT team also noticed that there sure seem to be a lot of ONE NAME singers wandering around lately (still not sure if we can lay all of the blame on Madonna for this - Cher may have to share some culpability as well).

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  11. I always dislike cross-referenced clues that are not close together, which is pretty much the theme today, so you can guess my reaction. Plus only two entries over seven letters made for a very choppy fill.

    TREE before lair, a word rarely associated with leopards.

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  12. Seinfeld - and Kramer’s artistry - gave me the corkscrew pasta type (ROUGH ending THOUGH for Frank Costanza).

    Fusilli Jerry!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:45 PM

      One in a million, doc!!

      Delete
  13. To quote 1d from Monday’s puzzle - this was AWFUL.

    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous7:33 AM

    I didn’t like that the word you had to rhyme with was not yet filled in, so you had to work around the theme clues until you had enough letters filled in to guess the word. Too much back and forth created a bit of a mess.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous7:38 AM

    Didn’t have as much trouble with this one, mostly because I was well familiar with a great early Dr. Seuss collection, titled “The Tough COUGHs as He Ploughs the DOUGH”. Everyone should Google it. It’s awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Second day in a row with a puzzle focused on a quirk in our language: today, the myriad ways to pronounce OUGH. I love that English is such an amalgam of quirks, because aren’t we all? English is so human!

    Best moment for me was, with few crosses and the clue [Untruthful], slapping down MENDACIOUS. Not even counting the squares to see if it fit before filling it in! And such a gorgeous word! The combination of getting it, seeing its beauty, and actually using it, even if just in a crossword, got me feeling triumphant – I felt like bursting out of my chair, standing tall and strutting around the room to “Pomp And Circumstance”. That kind of feeling.

    My Libra love of balance was very happy with where the five theme answers began – one in each corner and the fifth right in the center.

    I also oohed over the plethora of answers (10!) ending in the oo sound: EWE, HUE, THROUGH, RUE, LIEU, NEHRU, HR ISSUE, SNAFU, SEE TO, and UNTO.

    BTW, this is Meghan’s fourth puzzle, her others appearing on Sunday, Friday, and Tuesday. Thus, she has an opportunity to do what only one other constructor (Andrew Ries) has – hit the cycle (have a NYT puzzle for every day of the week) in her first seven puzzles.

    Go for it, Meghan! And thank you for a most splendid outing today!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:25 PM

      "Pomp and circumstance" was just the phrazie answer, fwiw.

      Delete
  17. I really enjoyed the conceit of the puzzle but, like a lot of other people it seems, found it frustrating to actually solve because of all the jumping around. Might have to use the finished grid when I'm working with my ESL students though -- it's a good way to illustrate this weird quirk of our language that makes it so difficult to learn! Probably my least favorite answer was HR ISSUE -- I've never heard anyone say it like that. HR VIOLATION sure. But ISSUE just felt like they had HR and were like ... uh what do we put in the rest of these squares???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:12 AM

      Enjoyed puzzle as well, I liked the jumping around.
      Intrigued that you use crosswords for ESL - great idea!
      Have to disagree on HRISSUE - I used to hear that in conversations with low level supervisors all the time

      Delete
  18. I’ve been finding most puzzles to be flat and boring of late, so this was a welcome change of pace. I found it lively and lots of fun, even though it wasn’t much of a struggle. Never really hesitated, except in the bottom left where I had iNTO the breach for a bit.

    Sorry you didn’t like it more, Malaika, but that sure looks like a yummy tomato!

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  19. Anonymous8:01 AM

    Theodor Geisel (later known as Dr. Seuss), when he was at Dartmouth, wrote a book called The Tough Coughs As He Ploughs the Dough, with a suitably silly illustration on the cover.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Bob Mills8:01 AM

    Got THROUGH it fairly quickly. It was a bit TOUGH in the NW, because I couldn't fathom DEAD as an antonym of "hopping." I had no other ROUGH spots, because the drosses were ENOUGH' help. Very clever clue for LAIR, I THOUGHT, because it makes one think the "spots" OUGHT to be on his body.

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  21. This would have been ROUGH to solve on paper. The app (I solved it on a computer) highlights the theme answer along its related themers, which made locating the cross-references much easier.

    English is indeed a weird language. I before E, except after C, except for weird words like weird. (According to a recent Reddit post, "theres 4280 words that break the rule and only 261 that obey it.")

    (18-A) GOOD puzzle. Well done, Meghan.

    P.S. Angrily munching on cherry tomatoes that I *bought*. Your pic belongs on Google Images, Malaika. Tomato Gang food porn.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You quoted only the first part of the "i" before "e" "rule." If the Reddit person (as so many do) did that as well, well, there is the reason for the skewed numbers.
      * Second part of the rule is, of course, "sounding like a as in neighbor or weigh."

      Delete
  22. The Tough Coughs As He Ploughs the Dough

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:23 PM

      Wouldn’t it be better as
      The Tough Coughs As He Ploughs Through the Dough?

      Delete
  23. Anonymous8:34 AM

    I appreciate the mirrored UEYS and UTES

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  24. EasyEd8:34 AM

    I found this a tough puzzle to crack, very much built for experienced NYT solvers. For example, the “Key-chain” clue might mean nothing to a newcomer but is not new to regular solvers. This was not a “fun” type puzzle but the sheer organization and complexity of construction made it a real challenge. When I finally got MENDACIOUS I was as happy as @Lewis, but it took me a lot longer to get there. Like @Rebecca it took Me a while to get HRISSUE—mainly because I somehow got stuck on HRImagE and could not get out of it despite the chaos it created in the SW—but Googling HRISSUE results in zillions of hits and cross-references so it’s definitely part of the language.

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  25. Liveprof8:42 AM

    There's a pretty famous New Yorker cartoon by Charles Barsotti. A big piece of (penne) pasta with a face and little feet is talking on the phone. He's smiling and saying: "Fusilli, you crazy bastard! How are you?

    https://condenaststore.com/featured/fusilli-you-crazy-bastard-how-are-you-charles-barsotti.html

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous8:45 AM

    I actually really enjoyed it. I instantly figured out what was going on (so, the puzzle itself was easy), and English spelling is fun to complain about. :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Malaika. I am in awe of your both your dedication to the blog and your gardening skills. That is one beautiful homegrown tomato.

    I tend to dislike themes with cross referenced clues so I wasn’t crazy about a this one. But it wasn’t as bad as some and the grid design is definitely appealing. In all fairness and aside from my own personal preferences, this was a solid Wednesday, better than average.

    58A made me think of the Seinfeld episode featuring FUSILLI Jerry and the unfortunate ISSUE which only a proctologist could ASSAY. Turned out it was a pretty BUM DEAL.

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  28. Tampon Tim Walz8:57 AM

    I guess a sphynx is a breed of cat. Learn something new every day.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hey All !
    Good - plenty of F's (7)
    Bad - Plenty of Blockers.(47)

    I did like this puz, in the fact of pointing out the silliness of English Pronunciations. We even have an ENG class at 37D.

    It amazes me people who learn English as a second language, and can comprehend all the nuances English comes with, silent letters, homophones, etc. Like our @Gill. Hi @Gill!

    Construction was good. Tough (Har!) to get all those small Themers in, surrounded by decent fill. Any time you have Themers in all four corners (as in the first Across, last Across in the top row, and symmetrically bottom row), it's tough getting fill to play nice. So, brava Meghan.

    We have GOOD crossed by DOGGIE. Neat. Had nIGHT OPERA for a bit. Also rawDEAL.

    So a nice, different WedsPuz. Hope y'all have a great one!

    Seven F's
    RooMonster
    DarrinV

    ReplyDelete
  30. Not so hard, faster than @M, again finding error (typo of i for U in SWUNG) took an unreasonable amount of time, but that's how it goes!
    SOPHIE'S CHOICE is a book by William Styron, but definitely more famous as a movie for which Meryl Streep won Best Actress but it was in the early 80s, as far in the past as the advent of talkies was when I was a child, so for today's adults, ancient history. Sigh.
    Here's another small pronunciation oddity in English:
    Say "PEAR "





    Now say "PEARL"


    No problem, of course. But how would you explain it to a non-native speaker? Well, I'm retired, so I don't get to figure those things out anymore!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I seemed to have liked this puzzle a little more than most but overall I agree with Malaika and others. Like Malaika mentioned, I sure hope you knew your pear varieties! Also…I also thought of TREE for a leopard’s spot. I guess they WILL hang in caves to cool off if one is available but…when you Google “where do leopards sleep” you get mostly photos of them lolling around…in trees!

    @Rebecca M…unlike you, I have mostly heard of HRISSUE. I mean, these can be things like, the person in the work station next to me wears perfume, they talk too loud, etc. I think of HR violation as actions that might rise to harassment, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous8:59 AM

    I can’t get angry at this puzzle, but it was one of those puzzles where the constructor and I seem two have two entirely different relationships with English.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous9:04 AM

    We've had these pronunciation problems before. Any native NY'er does NOT rhyme "DOFF" and "COUGH." Doff is dahf and cough is cawf.....

    ReplyDelete
  34. I thought the puzzle was very clever. Cracked the code on the second “ough” word & that made everything easy. Short fill justified by elegant construction.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous9:28 AM

    I believe it is "Once more INTO the breach" not "unto" the breach.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wm. Shakespeare, Henry V: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
      Or close the wall up with our English dead!

      Delete
  36. Anonymous9:31 AM

    I am delighted to have conquered this "hard" puzzle...I'm feeling Mensa right about now....yay me.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous9:39 AM

    https://ncf.idallen.com/english.html I assume everyone on this website is familiar with this poem. But it’s fun to read aloud.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous9:40 AM

    this person should have their crossword privilege revoked for putting FEN on top of LEA

    ReplyDelete
  39. Teddy9:40 AM

    Wonder why Dr Suess didn’t say “Tough coughs as he ploughs THROUGH the dough.”

    ReplyDelete
  40. See, this is why -OUGH words are stupid and somebody somewhere needs to declare an end to the nonsense. Wonder who has the horsepower to fix the English language? LMS? She could do it over the weekend. Some people probably like the nonsense. They're the ones who see an ANCHOR, and a four letter opening, and write in MOOR without losing sleep over it. They're not sailors and they should try to understand the differences as it is kinda interesting. They're the type that knows better than to get on a boat in the first place. They saw Titanic and know moor or anchor, the bottom is way far down and by the time you sink to the depths the subtlety between anchors and moors, or boughs, bows, and buffs will be lost.

    I worked in an ASSAY office in high school. We had a chem lab that could burn your SINUSES out, and a fire assay department where I worked filled with lead oxide compounds, 2000 degree ovens, bone crucibles, and glass slag. I would weigh (-eigh words are stupid too) these teeny bits of gold in this fancy scale. One time opening soil samples from South America, a scorpion jumped out of the box. I don't know how I didn't die at that job.

    OHH, I sure wish it was OHO, and I am sitting here in Denver and wondering what direction Omaha is from here. ENE apparently. I don't remember ever seeing the word MENDACIOUS before, but I graduated from public school after working at an assay office, so - IOUS words are probably too big for me.

    I'm a fan of DOGGIE, and HR ISSUES, and YEESH, and LIGHT OPERA, and people with ONE NAME.

    Malaika:And BUCATINI is my must have pasta for life. It's a long thicker noodle with a hole in the middle and when you use it instead of plebian spaghetti your pasta dish emits a warm healthy glowing aura and angels sing.

    Propers: 2
    Places: 2
    Products: 3
    Partials: 10 (ugh) (or, ough)
    Foreignisms: 1
    --
    Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 18 of 78 (23%)

    Funnyisms: 2 😕

    Tee-Hee: RUB ON.

    Uniclues:

    1 Ambitious (but recently deceased) department of motor vehicles employee still tops the productivity reports.
    2 Worms.
    3 Frank Costanza's estimation of the final location of a statue of Jerry Seinfeld made from pasta.
    4 My reaction to a hat store offering knowing every single man I've ever seen in one seems like a tool.
    5 Pinocchio's reputation.

    1 DEAD AGENT GOOD
    2 BOUGH DOUGH
    3 BUM DEAL FUSILLI
    4 FEDORA? GOD NO.
    5 MENDACIOUS FAME

    My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: 🌹. ROSE UPLOAD.

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Gary -- well, if nothing else is easy on this new format, answering other people is actually easier. And I love, love, LOVE your moor/anchor/ Titanic observation!

      But, oh, your BUCATINI observation -- No, no, no, NO! Here's my pasta rule: the less DOUGHiness the better! (It's all about the sauce, anyway.)
      I made the mistake once of ordering BUCATINI and absolutely couldn't get it down. Don't like pasta that is thick in any way, regardless of its shape. My go-to: Plain old regular spaghetti -- and always cooked al dente.

      Delete
    2. @Nancy 11:59 AM
      Laughing here! So we'll agree to disagree on BUCATINI. It's life changing in my book and pure sludge in your book. 😂 (But I'm still right.)

      As for boats, I think everyone can agree they're lovely to look at from the shore, moored or anchored or floating free, but if you're underneath one at the bottom of the ocean, or sea, or river, or pond, or bathtub, we'd have to agree the risk wasn't worth the reward. Hail all ye landlubbers.

      Delete
  41. What variety of tomato is that luscious-looking specimen? I DOFF my chapeau to you, @Malaika!

    Starting off with a “looky-loo” clue? GOD NO. I decided to ABSTAIN from the NW and go elsewhere. After what seemed like A TON of AWS, ORS, RNS and UTES, the AHA moment came and I was no longer ANTI-looky-loo. What fun to discover the various themers, and then to see that the homophones were with their (but not there or they’re) own separate corners, except for THROW crossing THROUGH in the center.

    I loved the NE partners GOOD DOGGIE and FRO FAD, and that SNAFU and NEHRU are symmetrical. MOUSIER is fun to imagine as a French word. “Qui est le monsieur mousier?”

    So I went from YEESH to YASSA (ASSAY). Thanks for the ride, Maghan Morris.

    Rachmaninoff’s ISLE of the DEAD (based on a black-and-white version of Arnold Böcklin’s painting) is about as far as you can get from LIGHT OPERA.

    Ugh, we’re back to the future on the format. Can't preview link - hope it works.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I have to say that I quite enjoyed the puzzle and the theme; it forced me out of my lazy zone and into a creative mode to deal with the rhymes/homophones. It woke my brain up early; that's a good thing. Nice tomato there Malaika; I just finished a salad featuring my first picking of tomatoes and cucumbers and green onions and lettuce. I love this time of year when my garden starts feeding me.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Anonymous9:51 AM

    BOSCs are my favorite pears and cavatappi is my favorite pasta (sorry, FUSILLI!)

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anonymous10:00 AM

    Took me a while to figure out what was going on, but once I did things started to fall in pretty quickly. Biggest hang up was I kept confusing which words were the rhyming ones and which ones were the homophones! Otherwise fun and artfully constructed.

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  45. @Malaika - Thank you for pointing out the "loop" of the theme answers. After reading your post, I went back over the grid with highlighters of different colors, following the path you laid out - quite something in the construction department!

    I enjoy "fun with English" themes, and appreciated the five different renditions the constructor found for -OUGH. The theme helped me, when I was able to reject Aetna for AFLAC's C for COUGH. Bonus fun: MENDACIOUS, BUM DEAL, MOUSIER.

    ReplyDelete
  46. I offer a single HDW* Clue today, in keeping (somewhat) with the theme of the puzzle:

    Rhyme of hot fad (FAD), but not a homophone of sexy threads (THREADS)

    (Answer below)

    My solve was very similar to @mmorgan--moved through the grid with great ease (aided by the way that the app highlighted the connected theme answers), but entered iNTO before "UNTO the breach."
    First thought that came to mind for the avian insurance mascot was EMU, but Liberty was too long for 25D; bring on the DUCK. (Yet another example of our quirky language: quoting Petey Fisk in the play Greater Tuna, "When you say duck, people don't know if you're talking about a bird or an accident.")

    Answer to the HDW* Clue:

    LASE (begins with the L in 60D, LIEU--rhymes with craze, not a homophone of lace)

    And now I DOFF my FEDORA and BID EWE "GOOD REST"

    ReplyDelete
  47. Welcomed Malaika saying that she is aware of the limit on threes in a puzzle -- 20. I take it that she will exceed it in constructing only if it gives her something good.

    I liked the puzzle. Got a little dizzy jumping around the grid, though.

    Remember Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, bellowing his hatred of mendacity in the world?

    ,



    ReplyDelete
  48. My thoughts on this rhyme with my comment from 6 days ago, but are not a homophone of my comment from July 2.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @egs -- Best comment of the day! So funny! I read it on the "new format" of the blog which I hate, but the blog didn't return to normal when I clicked on the icons I was told to click on. Anyone else?

      I probably won't be back today if it doesn't clear up. The new process of commenting and reading comments is as annoying as today's puzzle.

      Delete
    2. @Nancy
      Really don't like the new format at all & agree with your comment on the puzzle :(

      Delete
    3. sharonak1:47 PM

      Eggs agree with Nancy below. Great comment LOL

      Delete
  49. Hey that's a nice looking tomato!

    To my mind it was confusing to read : given the way cough is PRONOUNCED you'd expect it to rhyme with rough/ bough/ dough etc.

    It would make more sense to me that given the way cough is SPELLED you'd expect it to rhyme with...

    I enjoyed the puzzle and how it highlights the crazy quilt that makes up English spelling and pronunciation.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Andrew Z.10:29 AM

    Boring and unenjoyable. Quit 3/4 of the way through bc I was tired of wasting my time.

    ReplyDelete
  51. I was really annoyed by the clue for 1-A. What!? You expect to solve half the puzzle just to fill in the first entry? C'mon! But once I realized we were dealing with variants on the OUGH sound, something we've probably all played around with in our idle hours, I came to appreciate it. And the symmetry was awesome.

    I loved MENDACIOUS, what a nifty word; I questioned LIGHT OPERA at first, as to me that means a work that is completely sung, i.e. with recitative rather than spoken dialogue; G&S wrote operettas. But Wiki P. says operetta is a subgenre of light opera, so I guess it's OK. As an entry, it's fine, I was just bothered by the clue.

    The hardest part for me, once Id grokked the gimmick, was remembering Prince Hal's speech (and this after I'd recited the identical line to my wife two days ago); did he say iNTO or oNTO? Nope, turns out it was UNTO! What a BUM DEAL!

    That's all I've got; now I'll go see what the rest of you have to say.

    ReplyDelete
  52. My favorite pasta shape is strozzapreti, as much for the meaning of the name (“priest strangler”) as for the shape (which is also great).

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  53. Anonymous10:48 AM

    I liked the puzzle! Fun! Favorite pasta is little shells. Lov

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  54. Anonymous10:51 AM

    I liked this puzzle! Favorite pasta is little shells. I enjoy your write-ups.

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  55. Anonymous10:51 AM

    Toughest Wednesday That I can remember… And that followed yesterday’s toughest Tuesday. But honestly, I appreciate the challenges.

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  56. What on earth is a BIM DEAL? I checked all my crosses three times and never once questioned "once more INTO the breach." I guess I don't know my Shakespeare as well as I think I do. Anyway, all I could think of was DIM DEAL-- and I know that there's no pear called a DOSC. So a DNF because I never corrected it.

    Did anyone else find all the required jumping around as annoying as I did? I got no pleasure out of the cluing because I couldn't be bothered to go back and check all the non-rhymes and non-homophones. I just sort of approximated what they probably were and relied on the crosses to fill them in. Yes, I'm lazy and yes I'm happy to be THROUGH with this puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:38 PM

      @nancy it’s a BUM DEAL. The quote is “Once more UNTO the breach.”

      Delete
  57. OHH, Right up my allay. BOUGH DOUGH, you look so sophisticated. I wasn't exactly thrilled that I had to jump hither and yon, but you certainly reminded me of my homophone conundrum life.

    Spelling! Sounds like? Lots of UGH endings here....Then I get to the blank Choice clue. Peoples Choice? Oh, wait....we're talking SOPHIES here cause MENDACIOUS has to be right, right? And so it went.

    This was different. I like different. I'm voting for Kamala. I love your tomato! I wonder why OTC is plan B and now I'm going to go look up homophones. The Olympics...Did you see Hocker run the 1500? One of the thrills of my day.....Good write-up, Malaika....

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  58. I used to know a school teacher who had some charts called "words in color." It showed all the letter combinations that could be pronounced different ways, and color coded them -- the kids would try to think of other examples, and I think there were books that used the color coding to help them pronounce them properly. I was famous in my own family for reading a Dick and Jane book out loud and pronouncing brother and sister with a long o and a long i respectively.

    I sort of thought SOPHIE'S choice had crept into the language as a metaphor, but maybe it hasn't lasted, and Hobson has been restored to the throne.

    Malaika, you might consider signing up for Uber; you don't have to use it much, but it's very nice in an emergency. But if you enjoy walking in the rain, you may not need it.

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  59. Anonymous11:35 AM

    Loved this puzzle due to the cleverness and word play aspects. The English language quirks reminds me of why "GHOTI" is pronounced:

    enouGH (f)
    wOmen (i)
    naTIon (sh)

    FISH!

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  60. Anonymous11:42 AM

    thanks malaika for bringing up and explaining the "zero free information" aspect to this puzzle, because it did trip me up in one spot [heh] which was LAIR crossing RUE. i thought the clue meant that there was a specific name for the spots on a leopard's fur, and having only "rhymes with through" to go on, i guessed cUE. i know LAIc is a word...that doesn't mean leopard's spot, but i thought maybe it did, also, somehow. LAId/dUE was also up for grabs. i did fix my error but i don't think you should be doing misdirect clues when the cross is a zero free information one. [again, in this context, it was easy enough to fix but, on principle.]

    anyway, must be nice to still be young enough and/or have the genes where you can lose FLAB through diet alone. that ship sailed for me by my 20s. now i'd have to exercise, which i hate. definitely not "fun" lol!

    beautiful tomato. my favorite pasta shape, well, it depends. i really like campanelle, mezze rigatoni, and good ol' regular spaghetti. i think that covers most of my regular pasta usage, but i really enjoy just about any shape as long as it's cooked well, with the exception of angel hair, and dried linguini/fettuccini [fresh is ok].

    -stephanie.

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  61. @Andrew (7:25) I see we were of like minds this morning. When you see that word it’s really hard not to recall Frank’s “rough ending,” as you put it. 😄

    @Gary J (9:41) I see you also remembered Costanza Senior in your Uniclues. Good ones today, BTW. In fact, your entire post was so compelling that I’m going to make it a point of trying some Bucatini in an effort to hone my tastes to your more refined level. 😉

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Whatsername 11:46 AM
      Now I am worried because @Nancy hates BUCATINI, and she's from New York City, where Pace picante mocked, but where they might know more about Italian food than the Italians. Maybe BUCATINI is for us country mice. I hope you still try it as a spaghetti substitute. I think it's the answer to "what should I do to change my life for the better." And if you're in a hurry and don't have two days to make sauce, Rao's Arrabbiata is a crossword blog discovery I made here a year or so ago. Try it. Yum.

      Delete
  62. Glad to see this get the "hard" label, which I rarely see used on this site. I did this while in the car (not driving, of course) so the environmental distractions didn't help, but this still seemed very sluggish for a Wednesday. Fusilli, for me, always evokes the Seinfeld episode with "Fusilli Jerry" and the "ass man." Classic.

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  63. I usually dislike cross referenced clues, but it was in service of a fun aspect of the english language- so I got over my initial reaction and came to appreciate the puzzle. Sure, there were some less than ideal 3s, but not enough for me to be bothered. Had to work just a bit harder than usually on Wednesday, and that isn’t a bad thing.

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  64. Hi Malaika,
    Gotta say I liked your write-up & tomatoes better than I liked this puzzle. Although this post is beneath me, a mere solver, & this is not a Rhyme or Homophone, my take on it is one 3 letter word - UGH (sorry) :(

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  65. Anonymous11:57 AM

    Not too tough. But would've been TOUGH had a "light, porous rock formed by consolidation of volcanic ash" (TUFF) been in the puzzle.

    Another nice day without any little circles, shaded squares or other silly games. But tomorrow is Thursday.

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  66. Anonymous12:05 PM

    I loved that book, The Cay. Thanks for reminding me of its existence.

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  67. I think I at least know what Rex-site I'm on when I really want to be on the computer site. People are always saying that when they comment on their smartphones, their response to a comment appears right under the comment they're responding to. Well, that's what's happening to me -- even though you couldn't pay me to type my comment on a smartphone or try to read on a smartphone what anyone else has typed. SO HOW THE BLEEP DO I GET BACK ON THE REGULAR COMPUTER SITE? I've tried the formula that I forget who gave to me; I've tried it 4 times, and it DOESN'T WORK! HELP!!!

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  68. MetroGnome12:09 PM

    HRISSUE?! Gobbledygook brand names (NIVEA, AFLAC)?! And what the hell is an OTC??!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:18 PM

      Over the Counter. Any drug you can buy without a prescription.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:29 PM

      Over the counter

      Delete
    3. Anonymous4:00 PM

      But what does that have to do with plan B ?

      Delete
  69. @Nancy

    I'm having the same problem and it was @Lewis who provided the first solution.

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    Replies
    1. Yes! Indeed, it was Lewis. (If only I had a memory like everyone else.) Also I'm glad to know you're having the same problem since Misery Loves Company. I hope that's not another INTO/UNTO thing and that the correct phrase isn't Misery Loses Company :)

      Delete
  70. Anonymous12:34 PM

    Not interested in a goose chase. No desire to spend time on this one. Ugh!

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  71. Anonymous12:36 PM

    I enjoyed the puzzle. I get why people would be annoyed by the jumping around and “missing” clues, but overall I enjoyed it.

    Also want to throw love to The Magicians! A great series (and a great (though different) TV adaptation, where FEN is more important and very fun character).

    ReplyDelete
  72. Unlike some readers, I find feats of construction and clever new ideas as satisfying to finish as the more typical wordplay. I guess that’s why I also like doing SB, Connections, and Strands. The symmetry and the “ loop” today were pretty amazing. I enjoyed it and it engendered a wow response from me.

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  73. For those of us who hate this format, is this a NYT thing or, I would think, something Rex has control over since it's his blog (not to give you more to do, Rex)! 🤞🏻
    Where did it come from & why?

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  74. Anonymous1:31 PM

    Fun puzzle, challenging for a Wednesday.

    I couldn’t figure out my mistake today. I had EEtSY/TEHRU instead of EENSY/MEHRU. I originally filled in “bitsy” from -sy and then when I fixed the crosses, “eetsy” looked like an alternate/cutesy spelling of “itsy.” Transcribing baby talk and words like UEYS is so ugly.

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  75. @PH nailed it for me early when he said those who solve on paper probably didn't have much fun with this. Bingo.

    Late today as I went to bed at 6 PM and got up at 10 AM. Not sure what hit me but it sure does make you tired.

    Not a fan today, too choppy, no flow to be had. If I want to see MENDACIOUS I'll watch the news. I'm with @Nancy in knowing it was "into the breach" which I have now misquoted more than any other Shakespeare I thought I knew, but then again, maybe not.

    I like your idea MM, but it Meant Mostly jumping around, which I don't like. Thanks for some fun at least.

    Malaika-Recommending Guy Clark's "Home Grown Tomatoes" which hou can find easily on youtube. I'd post a link if I knew how.

    ReplyDelete
  76. This puzzle seems tailor-made for an amusing anecdote from Loren Muse Smith. I miss her missives. I got hung up as usual on EENEY vs TEENY vs EENSY vs EENIE vs whatever.

    I spent a year teaching English in China after college and the maddening variety of OUGH sounds in English was my students’ #1 complaint. They weren’t wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  77. sharonak1:51 PM

    Really hated the references, Incredibly annoying. ubt once I got started on the puzzle I could pretty well ignore them, so finished the puzzle and did not hate it.
    Liked mendacious and a few other answers.

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  78. Enjoyed this, despite the skipping around - looking forward to cataract surgery which should make it easier to see the numbers....Really surprised to learn that it is "unto" and not into the breach....I've misquoted it frequently. I also thought it was, "Once more, dear friends, into the breach," when it is actually, "Once more unto the breach dear friends..." Still learning!

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  79. Bonnie Buratti3:51 PM

    Someone has probably mentioned this already, but Fagliano is a total cat man. He announced this in a mini in which the answer for a cat resting with its paws in was "loaf", and this week we already had "paws" and "meow" as answers. Lynx appeared about a week ago. And today this zinger: "communicate like a sphynx": meow.

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  80. MetroGnome3:55 PM

    Okay, then -- so what does "Over The Counter" have to do with some hypothetical optional plan ("Plan B")?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:29 PM

      @MetroGnome in the event this is a genuine inquiry, plan b is a name brand. it's an emergency contraceptive - a pill you take to avoid becoming pregnant after unprotected sex, or when a condom breaks, or sexual assault, etc. it's not meant to replace traditional birth control methods and it's not the abortion pill. :)

      -stephanie.

      Delete
  81. Does this email to Rex seem "angry" to any of you?

    "The new format is back -- and this time the instructions Lewis provided won't fix it. For a whole slew of reasons I won't bore you with, this format is EXTREMELY user-unfriendly. You've always had the best, the most completely user-friendly blog on the internet. Why is it suddenly gone? Can't you get it back? Of the people who say they've been affected, absolutely no one likes it! Check the comments for confirmation and then please, please DO SOMETHING! Thanks, Rex!

    Best, Nancy"

    The word I would use is "unhappy". Or "frustrated". "Desperate", even. Certainly not angry. But that's what Rex accuses me of in a very unpleasant email in which he says I'm the only one who's complaining, that he has no idea what I'm talking about, and that he doesn't run Blogger.

    Anyway, this was not an idle email that I sent Rex just for the hell of it. I really can't spend my life scrolling and "collapsing", more scrolling and then "uncollapsing", and never knowing when I come back on the blog if any new comments have been added or not since I was last there.

    I suppose I can handle this the way I mostly handle the Wordplay blog -- also exceedingly non-user-friendly in its scrolling system. I can come to the Rexblog once after finishing the puzzle, post a comment, not read anyone else, and not return until the next day -- thus having to scroll and collapse only once a day. But somehow that ruins the whole Rex experience I've come to enjoy so much over the last decade. Because it's really about all of you, isn't it?

    I will come back to let you know when Will Nediger and my puzzle is appearing in the LAT. I think it will be in Sept. And I just learned today that another puzzle of ours has been accepted by the WSJ. It could be a long time until it appears, but when it does, I'll certainly let you know that too.








    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:33 PM

      Yeah I mean @nancy I don’t know if you know how blogs work but the blogger isn’t in control of the software of the blog. And you’re wildly over the top complaining about just having to click a few extra buttons does seem extensive. Just…learn how to operate a computer? I’d agree with Rex’s frustration towards you. It’s not his fault, there’s no need to yell at him with all caps (which is indeed what that means), and he couldn’t change it anyway even if he wanted to. Just chill out and learn how to work a computer like the rest of us.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:39 PM

      @Nancy i agree "desperate" would be a better way to describe the tone ;) one thing i would have done differently, would be to explain what features you liked before that are now no longer there, or what is there that wasn't before...and included some screenshots. it's impossible to know from your email [if that is the email in its entirety] what the issue is and thus what may be causing it.

      as for me, i have always gone to the mobile site, but on my desktop. because i hate typing/reading on my phone, but i also don't like replies to who knows who randomly dispersed throughout the comment section. (and also, this the most personal of my listed preferences but, i think that dull yellow background is ugly and hard on the eyes, where the mobile link has a plain white background.) you just add ?m=1 to the end of the link [after the .html]

      so the link for today's post looks like:
      https://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2024/08/gun-regulating-grp-wed-8-6-24-denver-to.html?m=1

      maybe you will still hate it compared to whatever you saw before, or maybe whatever's plaguing you will remain, i don't know. but i figured i'd throw it out there. :)

      -stephanie.

      Delete
    3. @Nancy - it may be a generational thing. All caps in an email, which to you or me indicates either emphasis or perhaps desperation, is seen by some people as the written equivalent of shouting and showing anger. Imagine if you were face-to-face with Rex and you angrily shouted a question at him - that may be how he perceived your email.

      Anyway, I suspect that Rex not only has no idea why the format has changed, but does not even know that it did change. A few days ago, when some of us observed the format oscillating back and forth, he commented that there was no change. If he only looks at the blog in the mobile format, he would have no idea that there was a change on the desktop display. And since Blogger is run by Google, good luck getting a hold of anyone to say why it changed even if he did notice.

      I hate the format, too, but am hoping either it will change back again or I'll get used to it.

      Delete
  82. @Nancy - I may, however, have a partial solution for you. 1) Go to Rex's blog page however you usually do. 2) On the right-hand side of the page, look for the 'Blog Archive' 3) Click on the 8-6-24 puzzle listed in the Blog Archive. You will then see Rex's regular column, but if you scroll down you will see all the comments so far in the old 'most recent at the bottom' format.

    The reason it's only a partial solution is if then you go to add another comment, it takes you to the new format. But for checking responses over the course of the day it's way better.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Thanks, @kitshef -- I tried the archive-based "fix" you told me about off-blog, but it didn't work. At least not for Luddite me who possibly didn't do it correctly? But thanks for trying.

    ReplyDelete
  84. I liked this one in spite of not even trying to figure out the theme. All that jumping back and forth and up and down was too off putting. So I solved it as a themeless and, again, in spite of a super high black square count and a slew of 3s, I enjoyed it. I didn't get the theme until after reading Malaika and comments, so that was like a cherry on top.

    I like the replies nested under the comments in question in this new format but I miss the "Preview" option. That was always helpful when posting links. There are a lot of places where I can screw one or more of all those letters, ", <,>,/a, etc. The preview option would show me where I had a mistake.

    ReplyDelete
  85. Anonymous9:56 PM

    I am surprised no one linked this classic I love Lucy scene where Ricky is reading all these words…. https://youtu.be/uZV40f0cXF4?si=zb8gbVcM9Pi42rM3

    ReplyDelete
  86. @Nancy: No I would not label your email as “angry.” However, I think @kitshef made some excellent points as to how it might have been interpreted by Rex. Also, knowing that he is currently on a vacation, perhaps it just struck him wrong or caught him at a bad moment. In any case, it sounds as though he has no more control over it than we do. And while I’m completely in agreement with you, I also believe it’s a situation where we may just have to adjust our expectations and try to make the best of it.

    ReplyDelete
  87. I miss what would have been Rex’s vitriol expressed about this awful puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Anonymous1:06 AM

    This puzzle and it’s clues sucked.

    ReplyDelete
  89. @Moderators: I'm jJust now noticing that Mailaika but the wrong date on her writeup (look at the puzzle's URL - it should say 8-7-24). I have no idea if that is something you can fix.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Anonymous8:28 AM

    Boring, boring, boring.

    ReplyDelete
  91. Anonymous10:31 AM

    Interesting wordplay but it felt somehow incomplete.

    ReplyDelete
  92. Different. The vagaries of our strange language are put on display. keeps me in awe of people of another tongue who speak ENG. so well.

    Some clues, THOUGH, seem to need explaining. #!: "Opposite of hopping." Well, I grant that if you're DEAD you probably can't hop--unless you're a chicken--but really, that's a non-sequitur. #2: How is OTC related to Plan B? Inquiring minds want to know.

    This played pretty ROUGH for a Wednesday, and the fill was an EENSY bit out there, but okay. Par.

    Wordle par.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:30 PM

      Plan B can be purchased Over The Counter.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:31 PM

      A venue may be “hopping” or “dead.”

      Delete
  93. Burma Shave2:22 PM

    @Burma Shave has been on vacation, so to catch up:

    ISLE LAIR

    TO get HER_ON THROUGH
    when the ISSUE is ROUGH,
    if NO bed USE IN LIEU
    A BOUGH IN the BUFF.

    --- SOPHIE LAM

    From Tuesday:
    NONSTOP TRAP

    ASILIVE AND BREATHE,
    IT’s AMORAL IN A way,
    to PLEASE YOU ASWESPEAK,
    DASHIT HAPPENS ASTHEYSAY.

    --- ARIANNA MARA-SAHL

    From Monday:
    FINER BOAST

    IT’s UNSAID, but DEE DEE AGREES,
    IWILL KEEPIT, if I could,
    IT’s ALLDONE DAILY, except me,
    NO ONE with A CHERRYWOOD.

    --- ADELE BOONE

    From Sunday:
    DOUBLE UP

    ASFARAS PARIS,TEXAS,
    OHH, THISBEARSREPEATING, JEN,
    EVERY NIGHTBIRD UNDRESSES,
    IFNOT before, then AFTER KEN.

    --- STAN & OLLIE

    From Saturday:
    U.S.S.R. STAR

    On THE LONGESTDAY IN ST.TROPEZ,
    you’re PREPARED IN THE C.I.A.,
    but IDON’TGET
    THE STORY YET
    of ECSTASY IN whom I CHALET.

    --- KATY CAREY

    From Friday:
    LET’S SEE

    POINTTAKEN, IT’SONME? NOT!
    SO what SHALT A DREAMDATE do?
    AND IAMNOTAROBOT,
    THERE’s nothing to UNSCREW!

    --- PEG “ANGEL” ROSEN

    ReplyDelete
  94. Anonymous4:25 PM

    I'm often challenged for the way I say challah, but since I am a Rasta who detests pasta, I'd rather compare pairs of pears.

    ReplyDelete