Mystery actor

[Click for a larger view.]

Recognize her? Leave your best guess in a comment. I’ll drop a hint if necessary.

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Here’s a hint: She’s best known for her work on television, but not as an actor.

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I thought this one would be easy. Oh well. Here’s another clue: This actor was half of an odd couple.

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One last hint: She spent much of her career filling in blanks.

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The answer is now in the comments.

More mystery actors (Collect them all!)
? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ?

[Garner’s Modern English Usage notes that “support for actress seems to be eroding.” I use actor.]

Good Reports

Mark Hurst, who wrote the excellent book Bit Literacy, has a new website, Good Reports, with recommendations for online products and services that are “viable alternatives to exploitative Big Tech services.” The recommendations start with the DuckDuckGo search engine. Worth a careful look.

Nancy in the wind

[Nancy, March 7, 1953.]

Today, winds from the nothwest, 25 to 30 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph. And Elaine and I are about to join Nancy on a walk.

Related reading
All OCA Nancy posts (Pinboard)

To read today

Heather Cox Richardson’s latest installment of Letters from an American might be just the thing you, too, need to read today.

“Nancy 11/1/2020 strip”

Today’s Nancy is a winner. Olivia Jaimes once again expands the possibilities of what’s possible in panels.

Related reading
All OCA Nancy posts (Pinboard)

The death tour, continued

From The New York Times:

A group of Stanford University economists who created a statistical model estimate that there have been at least 30,000 coronavirus infections and 700 deaths as a result of 18 campaign rallies President Trump held from June to September.

See also a USA Today analysis of the fallout from five Trump* rallies. Truly, Trump* = death.

Breaking news

[“Fall Back.” xkcd, October 28, 2020.]

Just one panel from Wednesday’s xkcd. Last night I dreamed the breaking news that Donald Trump* was replacing Mike Pence with an unidentified woman. More on this story if it develops.

Saturday night lineup

Is there a viewer anywhere who can name every current Saturday Night Live cast member? Me, twelve of twenty. I think it’s twenty.

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Okay, 1-A, five letters, “Macbeth witches’ place”? That’s easy. Try 1-D, five letters, “British contemporary of Richard Strauss.” Is he British? I guess he must be. 2-D, five letters, “Get away from Handel operas”? Eh, pretty obviously clued. And 9-D, nine letters, “. . . Tin Tin plot portion, per the title”?

Wait — is it Saturday? Because this Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Brad Wilber, doesn’t solve like a Saturday Stumper. It’s an exceptionally easy Saturday, with answers that are only slightly 33-A, six letters, “Oblique.” But the puzzle is not at all 14-A, six letters, “Yawn-inducing.” It’s full of pleasant surprises. For instance:

4-D, fifteen letters, “Yogurt or oatmeal.” A weird and wonderful answer.

10-D, fifteen letters, “‘To get right to the point . . .’” I can’t remember the last time I heard anyone say the words of the answer.

30-A, eight letters, “Many of today’s tennis pros.” Well, yes.

37-A, seven letters, “What high schoolers sometimes get free.” CHROMEB? — no.

39-A, six letters, “Brown named for a town.” Ah, childhood.

61-A, eight letters, “Instructions to a sitter.” I got it right away. With “instruction,” DONTMOVE would make a good answer.

My favorite clue in this puzzle: 38-D, five letters, “Tubes watched in the kitchen.”

No spoilers: the answers are in the comments.

“Rats!”

[Peanuts, October 31, 1973. Click for a larger view.]

Yesterday’s Peanuts is today’s Peanuts, or, really, yesterday’s Peanuts. This strip from 1973 ran again yesterday in color.