A coach’s pencil and paper

A football playsheet is laminated. So why does Matt Patricia, coach of the Detroit Lions, carry a pencil?

“The one thing that I learned, especially in New England: Sharpies do not work in the rain or the snow. So even that laminate that you’re trying to write on — it doesn’t work. The only thing that works is a pencil. So you pull out a piece of paper, you pull out your note card, you’re writing down adjustments, you’re writing out calls, and the pencil still works. It’s weatherproof. So that's why I have it.”

The coach also notes that he carries “like a full Staples” in his pocket.

Decoding Manhattan addresses

“Cancel last figure. Divide remainder by 2 and add key number given below. The result is nearest street”: How to find a street nearest a number on any avenue (Ephemeral New York). It’s all on a little card, or was, and it works.

Domestic comedy

Three young women wearing high-school team jackets entered the elevator. Elaine and I followed. We were all headed to the third floor. The doors opened, and I thought of something to say as I stepped to the rear:

“I’m a gentleman. Everybody out!”

Laughter followed, all the way down the hall.

Related reading
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[Not every elevator joke is inappropriate.]

NPR, sheesh

Melee does not rhyme with smelly. As per M-W, the word is pronounced \ˈmā-ˌlā\ or \mā-ˈlā\. NPR, please take note.

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[Have I mispronounced common words? Yes. Was I on the radio? No.]

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Greg Johnson, offers a good challenge. In other words, a challenge that can be met. There are moments of odd trivia, such as 34-Across, ten letters, “Iceland, originally.” Or 55-Down, four letters, “Salutation popularized by ‘A Farewell to Arms.’” And moments of odd opacity, such as 3-Down, four letters, “Organic digger.” Or 48-Down, four letters, “The ‘where.’” (What?)

My favorite clues from this puzzle: 29-Across, eight letters, “What strollers carry with them.” 40-Across, four letters, “She’s seen in middle names.” And 41-Across, ten letters, “Cooler in the summer.” Especially 41-Across.

No spoilers: the answers are in the comments.

Small fish, good

They are cheap, widely available, very healthy, low in contaminants, and sustainable. Modern Farmer explains: “Why We Should All Eat More Small Fish.”

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Voynich code cracked?

Has the Voynich code been cracked? Not everyone thinks so.

“She had shone at a distance”

Maeve Brennan, “The Drowned Man,” in The Springs of Affection: Stories of Dublin (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997).

The stories of enduring failed marriages in this volume are some of the saddest stories I’ve ever read. But beautiful.

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Overheard

A child’s garden of numbers:

“If you have nine-nine-nine-nine, and then you add a one, you have a million dollars — and you’re rich!”

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Maeve Brennan again

Channeling James Joyce’s “Eveline”:


Maeve Brennan, “An Attack of Hunger,” in The Springs of Affection: Stories of Dublin (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997).

Another instance of literary dust.

Related reading
All OCA Maeve Brennan posts (Pinboard)

[From “Eveline”: “She looked round the room, reviewing all its familiar objects which she had dusted once a week for so many years, wondering where on earth all the dust came from.” John is a son who has “vanished forever into the commonest crevasse in Irish family life — the priesthood.”]