Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Anna Stiga, “Stan Again,” Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor, is easy — too easy, really. MEH or SOSO, in crosswordese.

Some clues whose answers interested me:

13-D, six letters, “Blunder.” I had never heard or seen the answer, which is both noun and verb.

29-A, twelve letters, “Yukon Quest and La Grande Odyssée.” I didn’t know they had such noble names.

35-D, eight letters, “Personal-care brand name since 1872.” Ick.

38-A, twelve letters, “What follows a successful shakedown.” BAGFULLOFCASH doesn’t fit.

49-A, ten letters, “James River tributary.” Can anyone spell the answer correctly on the first try?

50-D, five letters, “Two bells, to bosuns.” Right away I thought of Cap’n Jack McCarthy, who hosted one of WPIX’s cartoon shows for kids. “Eight bells, and all is well,” he’d say. That was at noon. So what would two bells signify? Alas, you need — spoiler approaching — more than Cap’n Jack to figure it out. But I enjoyed the reverie.

62-A, five letters, “Tablespoon fractions.” The answer interests me because it has another meaning suggesting something more than fractions of a tablespoon.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

Here in downstate Illinois

Any regular reader knows that Elaine and I live in downstate Illinois, where we had harrowing weather last night. This post is just to say that we are fine.

When we heard the tornado warning on our phones, we brought our electronics and musical instruments downstairs (as we have done many times) and watched the weather on local television for about two hours. We had strong wind and rain, but the closest tornado (quite close) bypassed our town, or nearly all of it. Other places were not nearly so lucky.

And now I am waiting for a news source to post some “How to help” links.

Shadows

[From Johnny O’Clock (dir. Robert Rossen, 1947). O’Clock (Dick Powell), a junior partner in a casino, and his boss Guido Marchettis (Thomas Gomez), in the office of Inspector Koch (Lee J. Cobb). Cinematography by Burnett Guffey. Click for a larger view.]

Yes, that’s a gold watch in the boss’s hand.

Among Burnett Guffey’s films as director of photography: In a Lonely Place , From Here to Eternity , and Bonnie and Clyde.

A related post
A miniature city

Night and the city

[From Johnny O’Clock (dir. Robert Rossen, 1947). Click for a larger view.]

A miniature city.

A related post
Shadows

Barry Harris (1929–2021)

Pianist, teacher. The New York Times has an obituary.

Here’s Barry Harris, playing in 2017, parts 1 and 2.

Giant telephone

[Life, January 30, 1950. Click for a larger telephone.]

Maybe an early version of the monolith?

See also: Giant scissors, giant pencil.

Telephone FTW?

“A recent study suggests that, at least when it comes to two people working together remotely, we might be better off going old-school, and scrapping the cameras”: James Surowiecki suggests that the world of work bring back the telephone.

Overheard

“Oh, it’s jazz. All they do is improvise.”

Related reading
All OCA “overheard” posts (Pinboard)

A mail chute in the movies

[From Nazi Agent (dir. Jules Dassin, 1942). Click for a larger view.]

This mail chute filled the screen. The florid handwriting, which belongs to a courtly stamp and rare-book dealer, fits.

This post is for my friend Diane, who has quite a (virtual) collection of mail chutes from real life. Diane’s attention to mail chutes got me looking at them too.

Doris Miller and democracy

“I hear a lot these days about how American democracy is doomed and the reactionaries will win. Maybe. But the beauty of our system is that it gives us people like Doris Miller”: from the December 7 installment of Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American.