QR1777

“We put the Q in QR1777”: “Fake AI ads in the West 4th Street subway station unite commuters in hatred of AI ads” (Gothamist ).

Here’s a short video of ads going up.

Farther and further

My brother Brian called attention to the Bobby Bland song “Farther Up the Road,” sometimes mistakenly titled “Further Up the Road.” And sometimes performed thusly.

There’s also Bruce Springsteen’s “Further On (Up the Road).”

Taj Mahal has it both ways, with a song titled “Farther on Down the Road (You Will Accompany Me).” But he sings “further.”

[Context: the comments on this post. Composer credit for “Farther Up the Road” is uncertain. “Farther on Down the Road” is credited to Taj Mahal, Jesse Ed Davis, Gary Gilmore, and Chuck Blackwell.]

Labor Day

[Nancy, September 7, 2026. Click for a larger view.]

Today’s Nancy borrows from Ricardo Levins Morales’s original, which itself borrows an old labor slogan.

Related reading
All OCA Nancy posts (Pinboard)

[I can’t say that I’m a fan of Caroline Cash’s Nancy. But I like today’s strip.]

“The Moon Is Ours”

Anyone who doubts that the current occupant has slipped the surly bonds of reality should take a look at his afternoon efforts in his TЯuth Social account. Thirty-six posts in two hours, nutty and nuttier.

One restaurant, three names

Okay, if you’ve skipped the Yankee Diner and you’re not in the mood for Pure Food, take a walk on the wild side — in other words, a little farther down Avenue U. Where are we going for lunch? Is it to the Airport Oyster & Chop House? Or is it to Pete’s Airport Clam Bar? Or both?

[4200 Avenue U, Marine Park, Brooklyn, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]

The 1940 directory keeps it simple.


The airport would be Floyd Bennett Field, used by the United States Coast Guard and Navy.

Notice the sign for Love Nest candy, much smaller than the one atop this Manhattan diner.

And notice this guy, looking pretty rough.

[Click for a larger view.]

Related posts
More photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives (Pinboard)

“How Do You Talk?”

“How Do You Talk?” is an American accent quiz. I took the full quiz (122 questions).

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by the puzzle’s editor, Stan Newman, constructing as Lester Ruff. Indeed, today’s puzzle was Les than Ruff. It’d be a good one for someone who wants to sample the Stumper.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

2-D, nine letters, “Sicilian kin.” My first thought was SARDINIAN.

6-D, six letters, “Collect, as condensation.” New to me.

15-A, six letters, “Paid, in a phrase.” I wonder where it comes from.

17-A, six letters, “Not quite perfect.” Heh.

18-A, eight letters, “Greyhounds’ home.” Territory I know only from the black-and-white world.

26-D, four letters, “Diamond Head’s surroundings.” “Diamond Head” is the name of a beautiful instrumental by Brian Wilson. But that has nothing to do with the answer.

28-D, seven letters, “Pioneer of the ‘howcatchem’ drama.” When you know from the start whodunit.

37-A, fifteen letters, “Walt’s early name for Disneyland.” Eww.

43-A, seven letters, “His songs are seen by many musicians as a badge of honor.” Meaning that they’re so complex that it’s a test of one’s ability to perform them? No.

43-D, three letters, “Poacher, at times.” I caught on.

My favorite in this puzzle: 48-D, five letters, “Scroll successor.” Just because I like the word.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

A Mutts anniversary dinner

[Mutts , September 5, 2026. Click for a larger view.]

Mutts premiered on September 5, 1994. For today’s strip , Millie has prepared a very special meal.

Venn reading
All OCA comics posts : comics and sardines posts : sardine posts (Pinboard)

Word of the day: matriculate

Matriculate is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day:

Anybody who has had basic Latin knows that alma mater , a fancy term for the school you attended, comes from a phrase that means “fostering mother.” If mater means “mother,” then matriculate probably has something to do with a school nurturing you just like good old mom, right? Not exactly. If you go back far enough, matriculate is distantly related to the Latin mater , but its maternal associations were lost long ago — even in terms of Latin history. It is more closely related to the Late Latin word matricula, which means “public roll or register.” Matricula has more to do with being enrolled than being mothered, but it is the diminutive form of the Latin noun matrix, which in Late Latin was used in the sense of “list” or “register” and earlier referred to female animals kept for the purposes of breeding.

As M-W explains, “to matriculate is to enroll or be enrolled as a student, especially at a college or university.” When I was in college, I never knew what to check on the registration form asking if I was matriculated. Sometimes Yes, sometimes No. I never thought to ask, never thought to look up the word, and the answer never seemed to make a difference.

In life and in the theatre

Adolfo Bioy Casares, The Invention of Morel, trans. Ruth L.C. Simms (New York: New York Review Books, 2003).

Also from this novella
Suspicion