Who uses libraries most?

From the Washington Post Department of Data (gift link): “Who uses public libraries the most?”

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by “Anna Stiga,” Stan Again, Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor, offering an easier Stumper of his own making. Easier it was. I took me twenty-odd minutes, with some difficulty in the northwest that cleared up with 4-D, three letters, “Traffic stopper.” Note to self: read every clue.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

1-D, six letters, “Go downhill fast.” Wonderful word.

9-D, five letters, “Tried to keep one’s seat.” Stumper-y.

14-A, eight letters, “One-third power.” POSEIDON would fit (sharing rule with Zeus and Hades).

24-D, seven letters, “Verb coined by Lewis Carroll.” A gift.

26-D, seven letters, “Silhouette border.” I kept thinking of the people with scissors who appear at old-timey recreations.

30-A, five letters, “Pajama-clad title character of a ’51 film.” And look what follows.

31-A, three letters, “Big ape.” Ha!

40-A, eight letters, “Batcave facility.” But of course.

63-A, eight letters, “Sarcastic show of support.” New to me. I’ve seen it but didn’t know the name.

My favorite in this puzzle: 3-D, six letters, “Instrument made from bamboo.” SHAKUHACHI just wouldn’t fit.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

Der Deppenapostroph

From The Guardian, “Germans decry influence of English as ‘idiot’s apostrophe’ gets official approval”:

A relaxation of official rules around the correct use of apostrophes in German has not only irritated grammar sticklers but triggered existential fears around the pervasive influence of English.

Establishments that feature their owners’ names, with signs like “Rosi’s Bar” or “Kati’s Kiosk” are a common sight around German towns and cities, but strictly speaking they are wrong: unlike English, German does not traditionally use apostrophes to indicate the genitive case or possession....

However, guidelines issued by the body regulating the use of Standard High German orthography have clarified that the use of the punctuation mark colloquially known as the Deppenapostroph (“idiot’s apostrophe”) has become so widespread that it is permissible – as long as it separates the genitive ‘s’ within a proper name.

The article notes that a spelling guide used in schools and public institutions gives “Eva’s Blumenladen” (Eva’s Flower Shop) and “Peter’s Taverne” (Peter’s Tavern) as acceptable spellings but proscribes “Eva’s Brille” (“Eva’s glasses”). Because Brille is plural?

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October 12: There’s now an explanation in the comments that seems right: “Eva’s Blumenladen” is a proper noun, the name of a particular shop, but “Eva’s Brille” isn’t. Thanks to Cassidy Napoli for bringing things into focus.

[And it has to be said: the apostrophe is not a matter of grammar. I agree with Geoffrey Pullum that it’s not even a matter of punctuation. It’s a matter of spelling.]

ColorNoise

As I discovered this morning, the Background Sounds feature in macOS Sequoia shuts off for no apparent reason. At least I know it’s not just my problem.

An alternative: the free app ColorNoise: white, pink, and brown noise, available from the menu bar. But you won’t see that Neapolitan ice-cream icon in the menu bar: up there it’s just in black and white.

Note: this app works only from the menu bar. The icon in the dock won’t do a thing. So add the app to your login items and you can then run ColorNoise (and hide the dock icon) via the menu bar.

Thank you, Peter Hafner!

A related post
Noisy macOS, noisy iOS

Overheard

[In a grocery aisle.]

“I’ve heard of those Oreos.”

Related reading
All OCA “overheard” posts (Pinboard)

The Guardian on Milton

From an editorial:

What marks Florida out is the disparity between the concern rightly given to the consequences of the storms and the widespread unwillingness of many there to acknowledge the causes of extreme weather – still less the role in it that the US plays. It has the greatest planet-heating emissions per capita of the top 10 emitters. Global heating makes preparing for such events, and recovering from their consequences, more essential than ever. But it is ludicrous to take such steps without also addressing what is making them more extreme and more frequent.

Clarity itself. Nothing yet from The New York Times editorial board.

“The padlock knocks”

Sarah Orne Jewett, Deephaven (1877).

This image of an empty house being done in by the weather makes me wonder if “Time Passes,” the middle section of To the Lighthouse, owes something to this novel. And Deephaven has a lighthouse. But I see no evidence that Deephaven ever came to Virginia Woolf’s awareness.

Related reading
All OCA Sarah Orne Jewett posts

“Unflavored dulness”

Sarah Orne Jewett, Deephaven (1877).

I can understand why Truman Capote told Willa Cather that Sarah Orne Jewett wrote “one good book,” The Country of the Pointed Firs. But Deephaven is a remarkable book: a picture of female friendship — partnership, really — in a faded fishing village.

Related reading
All OCA Sarah Orne Jewett posts

[Cather thought that The Country of the Pointed Firs was one of three American works of literature likely to have a long life. The other two: The Scarlet Letter and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.]

WARNING

[As seen on a walk. Couldn’t get any closer.]

I like seeing this sort of notice. Some people might find it intrusive. To me, it’s a sign (sorry) that humans have been here. The (syntactically awkward) text reads

UNDERGROUND CABLE
BEFORE DIGGING TRENCHING OR
PUSHING PIPE IN THIS VICINITY
CALL BEFORE YOU DIG

Dug.

Related reading
All OCA signage posts (Pinboard)

University commas

From xkcd: “The Oxford one is the most famous, but many major universities have their own comma.”

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I was won over by the joke. But as shallnot points out in a comment on this post (and as I should have remembered), the Oxford comma takes its name from the press, not from the university.

Related reading
All OCA Oxford comma posts (Pinboard)