Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by S.N., Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor. Too much dated trivia for my taste: e.g., 5-D, six letters, “2009 Forbes Celebrity 100 novelist” and 25-A, seven letters, “It’s sung about in ‘Happy Morning’ ads (c. 2006).” The highlight: two wonderfully unexpected twelve-letter answers.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

6-A, five letters, “Early influence on Asimov.” Think of a writer and you’d be wrong.

14-A, five letters, “Select.” Select your part of speech.

18-A, nine letters, “Selection from Seagram’s.” I think that’s a bit of misdirection.

21-D, four letters, “Surname akin to Russo.“ Huh.

24-D, seven letters, “Basis of comparison re primary school success.” Never heard of it.

37-D, eight letters, “First ones in the fight” Trace Adkins tune. I tried REDNECKS. Oops. Woe is I.

41-D, seven letters, “Bon Appétit’s ‘invention that redefined baking.’” We were just talking about it, though not about the magazine.

42-D, four letters, “Much, much more than a wink.” I thought it had to be LEER.

44-D, six letters and 51-D, five letters, “Title character of 19th-century French lit.” A bit tricky.

55-A, nine letters, “Height of a media mogul’s ambition.” Clever.

One quibble: 34-A, five letters, “Telenovela 39 Down.” I think there’s another word that would be far more typical.

My (obvious) favorites in this puzzle: 30—A, twelve letters, “Many Peruvians’ ancestry” and 40-A, twelve letters, “Extraordinarily bright.” Bright indeed. Brilliant even.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

Mystery actors

[Click for a larger view.]

From a movie teeming with familiar faces in small roles.

If you know their names, or might know them, leave them in a comment.

*

That was fast. The names are now in the comments.

More mystery actors
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Wayne Shorter (1933-2023)

The saxophonist (tenor, soprano) and composer has died at the age of eighty-nine. The New York Times has an obituary.

Here are some “Footprints”: one, and another, and another, and another (incomplete), and one more. The last is an especially great short lesson in musical communication.

Recently updated

“THAT AIN’T HAY” Why the name Rose Dorn.

Glenmorangie redesign

The change was made last summer, but it showed up at our nearby beverage depot only recently.

Here’s what Glenmorangie bottles used to look like. And here’s what they look like now. The standard ten-year-old bottle is now more Glen-orangey, but it also looks pretty dumb: GLEN, MO, RAN, GIE.

And why display Lasanta ($60) and Quinta Ruben ($75) in large glasses crammed with fruit and ice? That stuff is meant to be sipped, I tell ya, sipped, from a tiny little glass, maybe with a tiny little bit of water. The fruit-and-ice presentation makes me think of a purveyor of fine meats showing steaks slathered in ketchup.

Related posts
Glen or Glenda : Spelling Glenmorangie with Slide to Type

A joke in the traditional manner

What do cows like to watch on TV?

The punchline is in the comments.

More jokes in the traditional manner
The Autobahn : Did you hear about the cow coloratura? : Did you hear about the new insect hybrid? : Did you hear about the shape-shifting car? : Did you hear about the thieving produce clerk? : Elementary school : A Golden Retriever : How did Bela Lugosi know what to expect? : How did Samuel Clemens do all his long-distance traveling? : How do amoebas communicate? : How do ghosts hide their wrinkles? : How do worms get to the supermarket? : Of all the songs in the Great American Songbook, which is the favorite of pirates? : What did the doctor tell his forgetful patient to do? : What did the plumber do when embarrassed? : What do dogs always insist on when they buy a car? : What happens when a senior citizen visits a podiatrist? : What is the favorite toy of philosophers’ children? : What’s the name of the Illinois town where dentists want to live? : What’s the worst thing about owning nine houses? : What was the shepherd doing in the garden? : Where do amoebas golf? : Where does Paul Drake keep his hot tips? : Which member of the orchestra was best at handling money? : Who’s the lead administrator in a school of fish? : Why are supervillains good at staying warm in the winter? : Why did the doctor spend his time helping injured squirrels? : Why did Oliver Hardy attempt a solo career in movies? : Why did the ophthalmologist and his wife split up? : Why does Marie Kondo never win at poker? : Why is the Fonz so cool? : Why sharpen your pencil to write a Dad joke? : Why was Santa Claus wandering the East Side of Manhattan?

[“In the traditional manner”: by or à la my dad. He gets credit for the Autobahn, the elementary school, the Golden Retriever, Bela Lugosi, Samuel Clemens, the doctor, the plumber, the senior citizen, Oliver Hardy, and the ophthalmologist. Elaine gets credit for the Illinois town. Ben gets credit for the supervillains in winter. My dad was making such jokes long before anyone called them dad jokes.]

The ghost in the machine

I had the television on for “warmth” and was listening to (not watching) a few minutes of the Murdaugh murder trial when the voices got louder. Were they shouting about something? I looked up and saw the volume rising of its accord. And then dropping down to zero.

Trying to control the volume with either of two remotes — TV, Roku — was hopeless. I’d coax the sound upward only to see it drop down again even as I was pressing Volume Up. Or I’d watch the volume rise further after getting it back to a reasonable level.

I removed the batteries from both remotes. The volume continued to rise and fall.

I looked around the Internets and discovered that rising and falling volume is a common problem with televisions these days. A Sanyo problem? A Roku problem? Hard to say. I tried unplugging the television and waiting thirty seconds before plugging in. No luck. I tried a mysterious Roku remote trick: hit Home five times, hit the Up arrow once, hit Rewind and Fast Forward twice apiece. That’s supposed to reboot the Roku. No luck. One YouTube video advised that it may be necessary to repeat these steps several times. I did. No luck.

I finally figured out that the problem was a Sanyo problem: because when I hit Menu on the TV remote (now with fresh batteries), menu options would flash on and off and on and off the screen. When the options finally displayed long enough for me to select Sound, I chose Automatic, and lo: the volume was once again under my thumb. Although the word automatic better describes what the volume was doing without me.

[Post title from Gilbert Ryle.]

Another imaginary radio show

A fourth imaginary radio show, Soup’s On: On Soup  is all about soup: making it, serving it, eating it, storing leftovers in the fridge or freezer, though there might not be any leftovers considering how great soup is. All soup, all the time.

Other imaginary shows
Blanket Statements : Stemside : Tuck Points

[With no apologies to the podcast series On Being.]

Coffee, yay

“Coffee makes you happy”: in The Atlantic, Arthur C. Brooks writes in praise of coffee.

All OCA coffee posts (Pinboard)

[Gift link, no subscription needed.]

“Slightly blurred”

Arthur Grumm, a slightly blurred little boy:

Steven Millhauser, Portrait of a Romantic (1977).

Related reading
All OCA Steven Millhauser posts (Pinboard)