Tuesday, July 29, 2025

@Mike So taxing. Can't believe you dredged that up.

@Mike Only if it’s holding back Schitt’s Creek!

@Mike This pun is Best in Show.

@Ιασων You made me imagine what Mt Tushmore would look like 🤣 2029, eh? My wife and I were planning a trip to NYC for the spring of 2025 but we called it off in November 2024. We're waiting for 2029, too. Bend and its area are well worth visiting.

@Ιασων 😂😂😂 If I thought that would happen, I could die a happy man. And I hope you can make it in 2029. And that we can make it until then. I've never really understood how Roosevelt (Theodore) fits with the others. Not that I don't like him, but compared to Washington and Lincoln... I used to think a lot more of Jefferson before I read the Meacham biography.

@Ιασων a la South Park?

@Francis We're on the same page today. So that's something. Which is nice. And go easy on the He; it's in permanently short supply.

@Francis "I'm glad the inert gases got a call out. They are often considered lazy and arrogant, because they don't want to have anything to do with the other elements, for the most part." I feel sorry for the column 18 gases: the way they are bullied by heartless chemists into forming compounds, even if they don't want to, purely to satisfy the chemists' egos. (I feel the same way about the trans-uranian elements; which means, I guess, those six atoms of Organesson got a double whammy.)

@sotto voce Nice. My first thought was Ophelia’s verse in Dylan’s Desolation Row: “ Ophelia, she's 'neath the window for her I feel so afraid On her twenty-second birthday she already is an old maid To her, death is quite romantic she wears an iron vest Her profession's her religion, her sin is her lifelessness And though her eyes are fixed upon Noah's great rainbow She spends her time peeking into Desolation Row.” <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2zbys3" target="_blank">https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2zbys3</a>

@sotto voce One more. Natalie Merchant singing (with lyrics). <a href="https://tinyurl.com/55jwpj23" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/55jwpj23</a>

@sotto voce I simply cannot dance, never could. As a consequence, I think, this guy's motion is utterly mesmerizing for me.

@Andrzej Honestly "Cy" looks like a pretty weird name to me too. I suppose it's short for Cyrus. "Syd" is a similar strange abbreviation....

@Andrzej I assume that, at least in most cases, Cy is the short for Cyrus. I don't know if anyone called Cyrus Vance "Cy," though. Seems doubtful.

@Andrzej Have a great time Andrzej. We'll be here when you get back.

@Lisa Marshall Just so you don't make the IKE mistake ever again... JFK was a signal that initials were needed. IKE has never been clued to another president's initials, although he has been clued to his own initials several times (mostly pre-Shortz). (The latter is valid because it's an equivalency.) But DDE has been clued to JFK (predecessor), HST (successor), RMN (running mate/boss), other abbreviations like POTUS, WWII, etc., and "inits." or "monogram". Hope this helps!

@Kim I found that error troubling as well.

@Kim Reposting myself from below: A PANINo is an Italian sandwich, a PANINI is an Italian-style sandwich everywhere outside Italy. Of course today's clue is acceptable in crosswordese shorthand, but it begs for nits to be picked.

@Andrzej My husband lived in Italy for 6 years. His dad was in the army, stationed in Vicenza. He often talked about how he and his friends would stop for a 'panini' during their days spent riding their motorcycles. I don't ever remember him calling it a panino, but of course, he wasn't Italian, and didn't speak the language except for a few phrases. In any case, he said they were delicious, and missed the food there once they came back to the states.

@Kim - At my last birthday party they threw only one confetto. Sad.

@Kim Just here to represent for the tamales.🫔 Octopi love themselves a couple warm tamales.

@Kim yeah, but we're not conversing in Italian, we're in English. The singular grilled sandwich is a panini, multiple would be paninis.

@Throckmorton To ”cry uncle” is to give up, admit defeat.

@Throckmorton The clue (5D) for ENTREES was [Main courses]. What does that have to do with Oz?

@Cherry Oz is Australia. In Oz and many other places, an ENTREE is a starter not the main course.

@Throckmorton Maybe I'm the only one here who grew up in Brooklyn and had a U.S. born mother, daughter of Eastern European immigrants, who also called a starter dish an entree. So not just in OZ or the U.K. But that's what it should be, since its root means "enter," or "begin."

@Throckmorton Bob's your uncle?

@Cherry Throckmorton is in Australia. "Oz" is a slang word for Australia.

@Throckmorton Whenever I run across your handle I smile as I am reminded of the eponymous “sign” we learned in medical school when reading radiographs of the pelvis. Cheers!

@Throckmorton Yeah the entree = main dish is pretty much US only. Who knows how that happened? It comes directly from French, where entrée is the starter, because the word means entrance. Makes sense, eh? Merriam Webster has an explanation, but IMO it doesn't hold water too well. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entree" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entree</a>

@Katie As the Pink Panther once said, "Pedant, pedant, pedant, pedant, pedant..."

@Katie Why don't you expand your horizons and take Italian 101? Guys - it's panino for one of them, and panini for two of them. Knowledge is power.

@SteveL I feel so sad that you haven't responded to D Johnson, who is very obviously new in these here parts, to correct him on his obviously very incorrect assumptions about you. But I know you have a lot going on these days, so I'll hold off on popping the popcorn and enjoying the show. 🧡 ☺️

@Jacqui J Love the “Got Milk?” Commercial! They had a brilliant marketing team! This is my all-time favorite commercial, which is also theirs: <a href="https://youtu.be/eph6_fz49rc?si=_q5tl9_2SWDoqi4B" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/eph6_fz49rc?si=_q5tl9_2SWDoqi4B</a>

@Steve LNever shall I let a dictionary determine my opionions about language. Why bow to authority when you can be a free thinker. Language has been around for 200 millenia or so; dictionaries for a mere fraction of that. Let all human beings retain sovereignty over their own usage. After all, this is how change comes about although many may not like it, and I usually don't. Also, deferring to the dictionary nips many an interesting conversation in the bud.

@Steve L Not that I don't appreciate your comment. I may need to borrow "Sic transit gloria panini" from you. May it find its way into a dictionary somewhere.

@Steve L Pseudopedant??!! I resemble that comment.

@RozzieGrandma Unfortunately they are both Elon-Musk related. He was a big fan of the coin, and that led to his "jokey" development of the name for the cruel US department.

@pat in oregon Just so you know, that's the headline for the Wordplay column. Only Sunday puzzles have titles. The show does sound interesting though.

@pat in oregon Do you know if any of his shows are on-line and accessible for non-Oregonians? BTW, Oregon is one of the half dozen states I've never been to, and it's also somewhat mysterious to me. I have a sense of what most states are like: Arkansas, Alaska, Vermont...but Oregon doesn't seem to fit into any particular pattern. The east is prairie (or desert?), while the west is lush. A very diverse state.

@dutchiris 3:45 a.m. thought: "Adrien" My apologies, Mr. Brody, and personal advice from the elderly: Never write comments in the thick of a terrible day.

@Lauren Ford FWIW, I think you are referring to Eddie from Kentucky. I suspect he’ll show up before long, given his huge following.

@Lauren Ford maybe he hasn’t been done doing the puzz :/

@Jeb Jones He lives in Eriepa.

@Jeb Jones He was born Benito d'Oregano. Got changed at Ellis Island.

@Jeb Jones He's Ben Dover's cousin.

@Nancy J. I guess the unexpected reveler was DDE, but I meant the revealer, BEND OREGON.

@Nancy J. It's not outrage, so much as annoyance from the lack of rigor from the constructor and the editor, who should know and love the use of language. I remember when Alex Trebek would get agiated from "Brussheta" pronounciation. Using "panino" would have been so elegant and satisfying, as well as being correct.

@Maire Merriam Webster has panini as the usual singular form, and says panino is uncommon. So how do you figure it for lack of rigor?

@Rebecca Me too

@Josh I was looking for Oregon Trail in a revealer as well. I never made it as far as Bend, but I did drive through Grant's Pass on the way to Mount Bachelor. (I was staying with a GF in Eugene.) I'll keep an eye out for Deschute's.

@Josh In a post below, I mentioned drinking a lager from Costco: in the fine print on the can, I read that it was brewed by Deschutes', and distributed by Costco, labelled as Kirkland

@Francis I wanted to give you a chef's kiss emoji but my emoji bank doesn't have one. Maybe I should try looking for an emojo instead.... Hmm. Anyhow, thought you'd like a zombie instead. 🧟‍♀️ 😉

@Striker Funny you should call me UNCLE. In our family, our two adult children and our adult niece and nephew, and all of their spouses (and our grandniece) often get together for visits. In referring to me in group texts and large-group conversations as "Uncle Daddy". (I call her "Aunt Mommy," too.)

@Stephen Usually as part of a longer name: Think EconoLodge or Ford Econoline.

@Michele Probably figuring common usage in the US is to use PANINI to mean one sandwich, even though it's not correct.

@Michele yes I came to pick that exact nit myself. Mostly I’m ticked that I didn’t pencil it in to remind myself to check against the cross since I knew there was a good chance it would be the wrong, American usage.

@Michele Once a word is adopted into English from another language, spelling and usage may change. You all know that the word in question is no longer Italian, it’s adopted from Italian. The dictionary can usually answer questions about words.

@Michele, I was also momentarily cursed by having a working knowledge of Italian. Thanks for pointing this out. It’s the only nit I have to pick in an otherwise cleverly-themed puzzle.

@Michele Merriam Webster notes panini as the usual singular form with panino as relatively uncommon.

@Michele Merriam Webster not only lists "panini" as a valid English singular, but lists "paninis" as the plural.

@Diana I think I’ll have a zucchino for dinner. Or a raviolo, maybe more than one.

@HeathieJ 😜😆🙃 <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-you-wound-playing-em-oregon-trailem-computer-class-180959851" target="_blank">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-you-wound-playing-em-oregon-trailem-computer-class-180959851</a>/

@HeathieJ, Whew! That was a close one! I’m friends with a man who was one of two or three young programmers who wrote Oregon Trail for an educational organization years ago. Another mutual friend “blamed” him for making his daughter cry every time she played that game, because there was always someone who didn’t make it. 😀

@Shaleen Way better than emus eating oreos while Ali shouts Ole! under the ell near the apse outside Eden....

@B So you *were* serious yesterday 😮 I was sure that was sarcasm!

@alpal Solved this in the back room of Bevel Brewing, one of the few breweries still frequented by locals. 🍻

@alpal Yep, nice puzzle. Roundabout? Signal out!

@HeathieJ When I saw PANINI, the first thing I wondered is how many complaints would pepper the comments?

@Megan Not sure about zeros, but there have been a lot of repeat answers the last few days. I recall seeing: ASAMI RIGID IMON Multiple times recently.

@Megan Never confuse Blige with bilge! Ask me how I know! Arrgh!

@Spmm. Unless you happen to live in America. I know that I have the same reaction every time.

@Spmm And a “panini” is not a grilled Italian sandwich. A panino is a sandwich, grilled or not. Panini is the plural form of panino.

@Spmm seemingly everywhere, except the US. 🤷🏻‍♂️ <a href="https://www.casaschools.com/blog/why-americans-say-entree-for-main-course" target="_blank">https://www.casaschools.com/blog/why-americans-say-entree-for-main-course</a>/

@Spmm G'day, mate. Or, should I say, g'night, since it's morning in America, so it must be nighttime in Oz. In the US, a "mate," BTW, is a husband or wife, or at least a longtime significant other. It's not a pal or a buddy. As the article Paul linked indicates, the original ENTREE was neither a starter/appetizer (as they say by you) nor a main dish (as they say here), but rather a course that was served between the two, which no longer exists in most places. Rather than ditching the word in both places, Anglophones decided to reassign the French word to another course, because, well, it's French. Unfortunately, they assigned it to different courses. I suggest that at this point, we table the discussion for later, and everyone who is complaining have a tamale.

@David I initially thought the same thing.