Today’s Newsday Saturday crossword is by Greg Johnson. It’s a satisfying puzzle, if a bit on the easy side, mixing familiar crosswordese (35-A, three letters, “Insignificant amount”; 31-D, four letters, “Source for feta”) with novelty items (1-A, seven letters, “From where pesto originated”; 8-A, seven letters, “Former Snickers shelfmate”). Former? That shows how far removed I am from candy stores and bars.
Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:
3-D, five letters, “Four-Emmy sitcom brother (1995–2004).” Because it was a great role.
21-D, nine letters, “Cheesy, saucy casserole.” Because it’s a casserole, a cheesy and saucy one. What’s not to like? More? Yes, please.
25-A, three letters, “Bowling ball residue.” Because eww, gross.
26-A, twelve letters, “Acrobats to compete at the 2024 Olympics.” Because I knew the answer.
36-A, fifteen letters, “Seating for oboists.” Because I like being reminded that there will be concerts again.
42-A, three letters, “Snack to dispense with.” Because I’ve always liked the idea of it, though I’m not sure I’d call it a snack. My first everyday carry.
My favorite answers in this puzzle are two that came in crosses, so I missed the wit while solving. I thought that the answer for 5-D, three letters, “Shortening in semi-sweet chocolate” had to be some sort of acronym and paid it no attention. I also missed the cleverness of 55-D, four letters, “Thing with an anchor.” I hope it has one. If not, things will be tough for that thing. Even with one, things will be tough.
No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.
Saturday, February 20, 2021
Today’s Newsday Saturday
Friday, February 19, 2021
And speaking of AOC
She’s leading an effort (one of many, of course) to raise money for Texans in need. So far: one million dollars in one day.
[Yes, our household donated.]
Mary Miller vs. AOC
My representative in Congress, Mary (“Hitler was right on one thing”) Miller (R, Illinois-15), had the poor judgment to reply in an unimaginatively snarky spirit to a tweet from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, New York-14). Ocasio-Cortez replied in turn. And Miller got, as they say, ratioed.
Always bet on the Bronx.
Related posts
January 5 and 6 in D.C., with Mary Miller : The objectors included Mary Miller : A letter to Mary Miller : Mary Miller, with no mask : Mary Miller, still in trouble : Mary Miller in The New Yorker
Snowboots
Marcel Proust, The Guermantes Way, trans. Mark Treharne (New York: Penguin, 2002).
But guess what? Mme de Parme thinks that rubbers are wonderful: “It’s so practical! What a very sensible man.” And everyone else suddenly agrees.
In the spirit of self-mortification: This passage resonated with me. In my sophomore year of high school, the biology classes went on a one- or two-night excursion to a nature preserve. The boys slept in one barracks; girls, in another. I, for some reason, was the only boy in the barracks who had brought a pair of slippers. Unending mockery. And no Mme de Parme on site. Not that she would have made much difference.
Related reading
All OCA Proust posts (Pinboard)
Hi and Lois watch
[Hi and Lois, February 19, 2021. Click for a larger view.]
Today’s Hi and Lois marks, to my knowledge, the second time a resonator guitar has appeared in the strip. Two were on display last November, when Chip was in a music store to — I think — get his guitar strings changed. Maybe he walked out with another guitar?
Related reading
All OCA Hi and Lois posts (Pinboard)
[I know: the guitar has no frets.]
Thursday, February 18, 2021
A twenty-four-hour Cruz
Ted Cruz flew to Cancun yesterday with his family as his fellow Texans struggled. He is now, the Associated Press says, “expected to return immediately.”
Every time I see Ted Cruz, I am glad that I am someone with more scruples. And a better beard.
[About the post title: I was thinking of the Gilligan’s Island theme song. But it seems that Cruz’s round-trip may take less than twenty-four hours. Ashley Parker reports that Cruz spent ten hours in Mexico and landed back in Texas “almost exactly” twenty-four hours after departing.]
The Duc and art
The Duc de Guermantes has been to The Hague. So he must have admired Vermeer’s View of Delft ? But the Duc is “less informed than arrogant”:
Marcel Proust, The Guermantes Way, trans. Mark Treharne (New York: Penguin, 2002).
Reminds me of Sarah Palin: “All of ’em!”
Related reading
All OCA Proust posts (Pinboard)
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
What’s happening in Texas
Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American has a helpful explanation of what’s happening in Texas. Here’s the rejoinder to the claims that wind turbines and a Green New Deal will destroy life as we know it:
Most of Texas is on its own power grid, a decision made in the 1930s to keep it clear of federal regulation. This means both that it avoids federal regulation and that it cannot import more electricity during periods of high demand. Apparently, as temperatures began to drop, people turned up electric heaters and needed more power than engineers had been told to design for, just as the ice shut down gas-fired plants and wind turbines froze. Demand for natural gas spiked and created a shortage.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) told Sean Hannity that the disaster “shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal” for the United States, but Dan Woodfin, a senior director for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the organization in charge of the state’s power grid, told Bloomberg that the frozen wind turbines were the smallest factor in the crisis. They supply only about 10% of the state’s power in the winter.
Frozen instruments at gas, coal, and nuclear plants, as well as shortages of natural gas, were the major culprits. To keep electricity prices low, ERCOT had not prepared for such a crisis. El Paso, which is not part of ERCOT but is instead linked to a larger grid that includes other states and thus is regulated, did, in fact, weatherize their equipment. Its customers lost power only briefly.
With climate change expected to intensify extremes of weather, the crisis in Texas indicates that our infrastructure will need to be reinforced to meet conditions it was not designed for.
“Wall lichen and cat fur”
The Guermantes complexion, hair, wit:
Marcel Proust, The Guermantes Way, trans. Mark Treharne (New York: Penguin, 2002).
Related reading
All OCA Proust posts (Pinboard)
H. Neil Matkin again
It’s still a good day not to be teaching at a campus that has H. Neil Matkin as its president. L.D. Burnett explains why: “What a Public-Information Act Request Revealed About My College President” (The Chronicle of Higher Education).
A related post
Meet H. Neil Matkin
[You can read Chronicle articles that aren’t behind the paywall using Reader View or the Kill Sticky Headers bookmarklet.]
