Zembla casts a spell

I forgot about this screenshot, from Monday’s New York Times Spelling Bee. Somehow I think there must have been more than just this one reader of Vladimir Nabokov’s 1962 novel Pale Fire who had to — had to — spell out Zembla. Zembla, in the words of Nabokov’s narrator Charles Kinbote, is “a distant northern land.” The Bee has also rejected alembic, aporia, and propitiatory. Unlike Zembla , they’re all legit words.

The pangram from Monday’s puzzle: BAMBOOZLE.

Related reading
All OCA Nabokov posts (Pinboard)

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Brew , broth , bread  Now with beer .

Grand old plays and sewing machines

President Harvey of the Alma Hettrick College for Girls (“a chubby, happy man who liked to have the students call him Butch”) is addressing the faculty as the fall term begins:

Jean Stafford, “Caveat Emptor” (1956), in Collected Stories (1969).

The student as customer: President Harvey was ahead of his time.

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All OCA Jean Stafford posts (Pinboard)

Brew , broth , bread

Oh the things we talk about at the breakfast table (which later turns into the lunch table and then the dinner table):

Could brew and broth be related? Ask Merriam-Webster:

Brew :

Middle English, from Old English brēowan; akin to Latin fervēre to boil — more at BARM

And broth :

Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German brod broth, Old English brēowan to brew — more at BREW

And what about bread ?

Middle English breed , from Old English brēad ; akin to Old High German brōt bread, Old English brēowan to brew

So yes, and yes again.

*

And there’s beer:

Middle English ber, going back to Old English bēor, akin to Old High German bior “beer,” Old Norse bjórr; perhaps all going back to a dissimilated form of Germanic *breura-, a nominal derivative of *brewwan- “to BREW entry 1”

Thanks, Elaine.

Taylor Swift and the apostrophe

The New York Times addresses a burning question of the day: Should there be an apostrophe in the title of Taylor Swift’s forthcoming album Tortured Poets Department ?

I say the title is fine without. I’d liken the phrase to “current events podcast” or “retired teachers association.” Or, say, “Elks convention.” No apostrophe needed.

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All OCA apostrophe posts (Pinboard)

[Something to distract myself as the Supreme Court considers the real burning question of the day.]

Luis Buñuel, MoMA hiree

Did Luis Buñuel really work at the Museum of Modern Art? Yes, he did.

This exchange, as recounted by Buñuel, makes me think of what Zippy might say if he were to interview for a job. The interviewer was Nelson Rockefeller:

When he asked if I was a Communist, I told him I was a Republican, and at the end of the conversation, I found myself working for The Museum of Modern Art.

“Pickleball infrastructure?”

[“Wrap Battle.” Zippy, February 8, 2024. Click for a larger view.]

I heard the phrase “pickleball infrastructure” while listening to NPR in December and immediately thought of it as an “over and over,” the kind of thing Zippy might like to repeat. I sent the phrase to Bill Griffith. He liked it, and here it is in today’s Zippy. I’m thrilled. Please click through to the strip and notice what’s in the third panel.

Bill put a name to such repetition in a recent strip: palilogia, also known as epizeuxis. Think of King Lear’s agonized “Never, never, never, never, never.” Or Steve Ballmer’s mildly insane “Developers, developers, developers, developers.” Or Zippy’s carefree “Pickleball infrastructure! Pickleball infrastructure! Pickleball infrastructure!”

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All OCA Zippy posts (Pinboard)

An NYT Vision Pro review

“After using the headset for about five days, I’m unconvinced that people will get much value from it”: Brian X. Chen reviews Apple’s Vision Pro (gift link).

The final comment:

It’s a computer for people to use alone, arriving at a time when we are seeking to reconnect after years of masked solitude. That may be the Vision Pro’s biggest blind spot.

Oh well. There’s always Kranmar’s Vision Pro. Inexpensive, and good at costume parties.

A related post
“It’s an iPad for your face”

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Moleskine, sono pazzi Now resolved.

A Jerry Craft Zoom

Our household watched an Illinois Libraries Present event last night, a Zoom interview with Jerry Craft. I’m a fan of his graphic-novel trilogy, New Kid , Class Act , and School Trip . Some things I learned:

~ Craft’s first work was self-published after countless rejections: Mama’s Boyz , a book of comic strips.

~ He thought he’d never get beyond self-publication, as he was resolved to avoid three topics: slavery, civil rights, and police brutality.

~ New Kid, he said, made him “an overnight success” after thirty years of work.

~ Craft wanted to draw Jordan Banks, Drew Ellis, and Liam Landers as “three of the nicest kids you’ll ever meet.”

~ A live-action movie of New Kid is in development from the SpringHill Company (LeBron James and Maverick Carter) and Universal Pictures.

~ A Christian website faulted New Kid for including an “OMG.” Craft said he’d gladly change it to “Oh my goodness” if that made it possible for one more kid to read the book. (Me: But what kid says “Oh my goodness?” And they’d find something else to complain about anyway.)

~ He had to Google critical race theory after his books were charged with promoting it.

~ He draws in Adobe Photoshop with a digital pen and a Wacom tablet.

~ While answering questions, he drew, in real time, for the son of a librarian, a birthday card with Jordan on it. He has a trick to draw Jordan’s hair consistently: little hills, with two groups for the top of the head, two more for the hairline.

~ There may or may not be a fourth Jordan–Drew–Liam book.

~ Craft is now at work on an unrelated three-book project.