The 13-letter stack in the middle is gold! Reads like a Public Service Announcement: “BINGE WATCHING? HERE’S THE THING: LIFE’S TOO SHORT!” Great construction throughout with some clever clues (20-Across made me laugh, somewhat ironically!) and fair crosses. Nicely done!
"But I'm not an art forger! I've been framed!" ("So that's not a real 'Water Lilies'"? "No, don't waste your Monet.")
@Mike I expect a parade of artist puns now, but I’ll leave them to others, there’s plenty more in the HOPPER.
@Mike If you try to sell that enormous fake, you'll get caught. You can Banksy on that.
@Mike It's tempting to leave a bad pun here, but who wants the brush off?
@Mike Buyer beware! Que Seurat, Seurat! 🌼☮️
@Mike @SP A parade of artist puns? A Manet-splendoured thing, even the Hockneyed puns.
@Mike After canvassing my friends, I’ve decided I’m pastelling them I’m drawn to puns since it’s seen as a little sketchy.
@Mike & Friends I'll cezanne-to the tail of this whizzing comet of comments just to be part of the pun-fun. (I am making an art-quilt version of one of Paul's apple-and-pear still-lifes...Southern Fiber Artists are meeting tomorrow! Doubt I'll be accused of FORGERY...)
@Mike et al: You people are so clever 😊😊
@Mike None of us felt the need to say, "Hello, Dali!" Perhaps the ur-pun on an artist's name. Neat but not Gaudi.
@Mike I hope you see this. I check the comments every day for your puns and when they are there, I feel joy. Please, keep them coming! -- Jim
A fine Friday. Cluing that made you think a bit. Outstanding long entries. Really nice and punchy. Less comments is more. Thank you Geoffrey. Great solo effort.
Congrats on your solo debut! Very worthy Friday and I enjoyed it a lot! Ended up working from the bottom up which I always appreciate, the SE fell first. I have that bit of Ed ASNER trivia in my back pocket. “Lou Grant” was a great show. I think when it came up earlier if anyone could think of another actor (Emmy or not) who transitioned from a comedy to a drama. Barry mentioned Trapper John, MD but now that I think of it, it was a different actor. Anyone else? MORNINGSTAR was another great clue that I got quickly. Maybe Francis our resident astronomy buff can explain better, but the short explanation is it makes sense—since Mercury and Venus are so close to the sun they are only seen near dawn or dusk. Lots of other great fill here. Unfortunately we had a recent similar clue for ARTFORGER but it’s still a great one. It doesn’t get any better than WORDNERDS as a crossword entry. Bad gut feeling, Drinks are on me, CLOWNNOSE, all terrific clues. This one was a WINWIN both for us and the constructor. Thanks Geoffrey!
@SP Thank you for the opening! I think I'll take advantage of the opportunity. Unlike the other planets, we are never between Venus (or Mercury) and the Sun. That's impossible because our orbit is outside theirs. So, unlike Mars and the rest, we never see Venus or Mercury more than a certain number of angular degrees from the Sun. For Venus that's about 45 degrees or about 1/2 way from "straight up" to the horizon. For Mercury it ranges between 18 and 28 degrees. These extremes are called "greatest eastern" and "greatest western" elongations. When the sun sets before the planet sets, it's an "evening star". And when the planet rises before the sun rises, it's called a "morning star". Much of the time these planets are too near the sun to be seen--they are lost in the glare. And most of the time when they are directly in front of the sun or directly behind the sun, they are a little off line, a little too high or too low, to actually "eclipse" the Sun, or to be eclipsed by the Sun. In either case we'd struggle to see them at this point. Except...very occasionally one of them actually passes in front of the Sun. That is called a transit, and the planet shows up as a tiny dark disc against the solar brilliance. The last transit of Mercury was in 2012, and the next one will be in 2032. The last transit of Venus was 2018, and the next one will be in 2117. In about 69,000 years, there will be a simultaneous transit of both planets. I can hardly wait.
"Barry mentioned Trapper John, MD..." SP, Another Barry? I don't think I've ever mentioned that show.
@SP Back to actors Off the top off my head, there's Bryan Cranston who was in Malcolm in the Middle and then Breaking Bad.
@SP I should mention I mean an actor or actress playing the same character in two different genres, like ASNER for “Lou Grant” which was a drama and “The Mary Tyler Moore show” which was a comedy.
Even after years of solving, I’m still gullible, easily misdirected by sneaky clues. I’m glad for it, actually, because when I finally crack the clue, it brings a double pleasure-burst at getting it and loving the clue’s cleverness. A most happy BAM! That happened a lot today. For [Serve a function], I was thinking along the “useful” line, for [Like a strong bond] I was envisioning synonyms for “sticky”. There were more, and thus I was greatly entertained. Also entertaining was the vibrancy – nine NYT answer debuts with their newness in answer and clue. My favorites were HERE’S THE THING, CLOWN NOSE, BEFORE I GO, and WORD NERDS (that one made me feel seen). The star was that center stack – three terrific phrases, one of them a debut (HERE’S THE THING) and the other two once-befores – and look at how cleanly they’re crossed -- wow! I came into the grid at about zero, Geoffrey, and left hungry to attack the day. A most splendid outing – thank you and more please!
@Lewis I love listening to descriptions of a painting by people who know a lot about painting. It's similar to "listening" to your comments on a puzzle--pointing out things I didn't see, beauty that I missed.
I love ARGON and ARGOT in the same puzzle. I love how the three spanners tell a little story about why one should binge. And now I know about the MANGOSTEEN. Does anyone know the basic taste chemistry of fruit? It occurs to me that I don't think any other food group has such an incredible range of taste. Anyway, I loved the puzzle, even if none of its matter or energy was dark.
@Francis. Think in terms of odor and the wide array of esters that exist. This dominates your sense of flavor. Add in acids for tartness, bases for bitterness, sugars for sweetness, and the combinations are nearly endless.
@Francis Check out this amazing documentary film about people who search for exotic fruit all around the world. Starring Bill Pullman, "The Fruit Hunters" <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2182169" target="_blank">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2182169</a>/
@Francis The taste of a mangosteen is unforgettable. Cutting the very tough rind reveals sections of the juicy fruit within. Try one if you ever get the chance! <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Mangosteens_-_whole_and_opened.jpg" target="_blank">https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Mangosteens_-_whole_and_opened.jpg</a>
@all Really appreciated the responses. @Jeff...esters have long been my favorite functional group. I knew they played a part in fruits, but I may have underestimated them even so @lucky13...Thanks! I will definitely check this out @Barbara...I will keep an eye out for an opportunity to try it.
So HERE'S THE THING -- I get a little endorphin pop when a formal, starchy clue ("SEGUE INTO A THESIS STATEMENT") transforms to a comfy cliché answer. And just as I was thinking that "OREO" was the new "ASNER," I realized that in a pinch, there's still room for both. A fun Friday puzzle, my fellow WORD NERDS.
@NovelaMaven Completely off topic, but are/were you active on Caray Caray?
It has been a really great week of puzzles. In particular, Wednesday, Thursday and now Friday… all top notch!
You'd think "I, GOD" would be the title of Tyler, the Creator's album! I remember seeing a mangosteen martini on the drinks menu of a swank Soho bistro -- maybe man about town Steve M. can speak to an evening with a mangosteen, but I dare say I've never met one. However, a NYT food critic wrote this in 2003: "I'm a big-time mangosteen addict, which presents problems. The mangosteen -- a tropical fruit about the size of a tangerine, whose leathery maroon shell surrounds moist, fragrant, snow-white segments of ambrosial flesh -- can't get a visa. Mangosteens may not legally be imported into the United States. They may not legally be shipped to the mainland from Hawaii, where a few sturdy souls have lately begun to grow them anyway. Here in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, notably Vietnam and Singapore, people buy them by the bagful for small change. In Vancouver and other Canadian cities with big Asian populations, you can find them at street markets and greengrocers. In Paris, Fauchon will sell you one for a prince's if not quite a king's ransom. But back home in Washington, the best I can do without jumping on a plane is the wooden mangosteen, handsomely carved and oiled, that sits on my desk there. *** Apparently things have changed, slightly, and for the better. Imagine that, something has improved since 2003! And that is, you can now buy mangosteens in the US. The catch is they start at $119 for 3lb boxes. Maybe they'll go on sale.
Fun fact - Mangosteens are banned in many Southeast Asian hotels (also durians, but that's mainly for the smell) because their dark purple juice leaves permanent, hard-to-remove stains on hotel linens, towels, and carpets.
@Rahul I would rather have mangosteen dyed on my skin forever than smell / taste! durian ever again.
So I had to WAKE up at 4:30 a.m., not because LIFE'S TOO SHORT and I have an urge to glimpse the MORNING STAR to feel I LIVE, but for a SCAN appointment at 5:45 in one of those UFO/ET TUbes they put you in when you've HIT A SNAG in the wellness department (and telling mom about it is part of the fun because she'll lovingly always say , "Oh honey, I'm sorry I can't help you; the factory is closed and the warranty is expired" lol.) Funny how time flies when you're BINGE WATCHING a great show, but gets to being OVERLONG when you're lying motionless in an MRI machine. When the SCAN was done, I turned to the radiologist, letting him know I was fine when asked how I was doing, and adding, perplexed, "But HERE'S THE THING BEFORE I GO, this baby must cost at least a cool MIL and still they can't get it to be cushy and comfortable?" "I KNOW, right?" he replied. "And you got the newest model. You should see the older one in the other room!" So I started the day counting my WINs. After all, I got CATERED to with the (brand new) Ferrari of MRI machines! I drove home, still bleary-eyed, BUT with a smile on my face, and feeling lucky. About the puzzle...Were it not to tell my own personal TALE, it would still have been a delightful solve. Thank you, Geoffrey, and congrats on the solo crafting! (And BTW, there's no shame in using the same grid pattern as Rafa and Robyn; it simply puts you in the company of some of the best, and deservedly so!)
@sotto voce I KNOW I'm not the only one who's GONNA be hoping for a good SCAN result!
@sotto voce Does anyone know why an MRI machine sounds like a truck with a broken axle, being pushed along railroad tracks by a locomotive? I hope they found nothing but healthy tissue.
@sotto voce Great storytelling, friend! I also hope for good news... And answers. I recently had to get a head, neck, and thoracic MRI and there was no way in all of the universe that it was going to happen without Valium and my husband in the room making his presence known... And no helmet until the drugs fully kicked in and I absolutely had to have it. So, good on you for facing it with such grace and good humor! ❤️
This puzzle has spunk. I hate spunk.
That started very slow, but quickly picked up, and ended after about my average Friday time — but it felt much faster. I haven't had a mangosteen since visiting Thailand in 1968 — but I have never tasted a fruit as delicious. (They weren't allowed in the U.S. until recently, due to fear of insect pests. Maybe I can find one now.)
For those who never knew the BAR CAR: <a href="https://vinepair.com/articles/where-did-americas-commuter-bar-cars-go" target="_blank">https://vinepair.com/articles/where-did-americas-commuter-bar-cars-go</a>/
@Barry Ancona But wouldn’t the drinks be in the bar car, not on it?
@Barry Ancona Wow that article made me nostalgic. We've reduced our lives to the most efficient loneliness, isolation, and boredom that we can find. Oh boy.
@Barry Ancona Thanks, BA! Brought back a few good memories from around 1990. My first rate case testimony; hearing in our old Broome St. office; grilled by utility lawyer for hours because of the big downward adjustment to their rate proposal. Still remember the delicious hot and sour soup in Chinatown during lunch break, and the “Manhattan” my colleagues bought me from the Amtrak bar car on the way back to Albany (I think it was just bourbon on the rocks because they didn’t have vermouth.)
Good puzzle. But I feel like “fixing to” should have been FINNA. I wonder if that’s ever been in a puzzle?
@Brett I would have *loved" it if FINNA had been the answer.
@Brett Curious. Where is VN? Is it obvious? Or obscure? Vancouver?
@Brett I believe the correct spelling is FIDNA.
Where's my copy of Martin Luther's 05 Theses? Ah yes, right there in the preamble; Dear Leo X, HERE'S THE THING...
This was tough but fun. Lots of opaque misdirection but in each case once the penny dropped it felt gratifying rather than like having been shortchanged by the clue. Top work.
46a: WORDNERDS. Hey! I resemble that remark!
@Francis DeBernardo Yeah! That sounds as if it means something bad! To whomsoever concocted that clue: It's not just the intricate definitions, with their connotations, that we love. We also have an ear for the lilt of pronunciation and the poetry of usage that sometimes emerges.
One of the best Fridays in a very, very long time. Delightful puzzle. Thank you Geoffrey!
This puzzle didn’t resonate with me. No, I’m not one of the complainers. I just couldn’t get my head in the same place as the constructor. Sometimes everything comes together and sometimes I’m clueless. Today was the latter. I’m always in awe when long answers are stacked on top of long answers and so on…. Well done.
BEFOREIGO, HERESTHETHING, LIFESTOOSHORT to have a SNIT when you HITASNAG. Fun clues for WORDNERDS, CLOWNNOSE and BINGEWATCHING.
"Got a light mac?" "No, but I've got a dark brown overcoat." ---Bonzo Dog Band, another meaning of Mac.
@jes "And the banker never wears a mac, in the pouring rain, very strange. Penny Lane ...."
Much has been said about MANGOSTEENs (and their evil cousins, durians). In my teens in small town Southeast Asia in the 80s, both fruits were seasonal (unlike now, durians seem to be on sale yearlong) and their seasons overlapped. It was common knowledge that you ate mangosteens (which were “cooling”) after eating durians (which were “heaty”) to balance things out.
A personalized clue for MANGOSTEEN: “White flesh, red rind, I know that fruit, I know it! but what is it called, have never eaten one, oh drat I know I’ll know it when I see it” And yes LIFE’S TOO SHORT, so must try to find a mangosteen to eat ASAP.
@Cat Lady Margaret I was visualizing a dragonfruit, which didn't fit...
Wow! Ok… I get that the constructor wanted to make a hard to solve puzzle, but doing it by using terrible clues and using nonsensical answers is just plain sloppy and this puzzle should have been rejected. For example, 4D Warning next to a suspicious link, perhaps = NSFW? Not Safe For Work? That is an acronym used by people that the attachment is not HR appropriate not something from a suspicious sender.. BARCAR, MANGOSTEEN? No idea how these fit… I really, REALLY hate it when constructors end their clue with , perhaps. Basically, they are saying this answer may not be valid, but perhaps to someone in the MultiVerse it is, so perhaps…. Rating: 1/10 Editors: major fail.
@Darren I liked BARCAR. Had BARTAB for quite a while. Good misdirection.
Hi Darren, Sorry you had a rough time. Stats suggest this was a typical Friday these days (of easier Fridays). <a href="https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2026-07-24" target="_blank">https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2026-07-24</a>
@Darren The clue didn't say what kind of suspicious -- and it definitely didn't say the *sender* was suspicious. Late-week clues are often misdirects on purpose. If you haven't seen a mangosteen, do an internet search. They look just as the clue describes them. As to the "perhaps", I've seen comments along the lines of "The clue says A and the answer says B but not all As are Bs". Adding a "perhaps" makes this explicit. e.g. not all suspicious links have NSFW content, but some do, when the suspicious aspect of the link makes it look suspiciously NSFW. It can even be a clue that the first association you have (e.g. suspicious meaning spam or scam) isn't necessarily the right one...
A solid early-20s Friday and a tough nut AE. TIL asthenosphere. Love powerful and clever clues for tiny fills so they're not gimmes. (Looking at AAA.)
@Matt I'd never run across asthenosphere but my long acquaintance with neurasthenia (νευρασθένεια) from Victoria literature saved the day! Incidentally, while hunting for the Greek spelling, I found this report about "Russian nervousness": <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1044763" target="_blank">https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1044763</a>/ 😄
Haven't finished yet but just want to say mangosteen is perhaps nature's finest flavor. I haven't had one in years and crave it regularly.
@Dan I could not agree more strongly. Not sure of NJ, but I have seen them imported in Chinese markets in at least four different North American cities, if you ever want to hunt. Only available seasonally and prepare to pay a fairly high price. Quality is not the same as Asia, but they still scratch the itch. Without leaving the country, the island of Hawai'i is the best place I've found to get mangosteen domestically. To my knowledge it's the only part of the US that can reliably grow it.
Not too surprised that the NYT didn’t allow comments on this awful story featuring Russell Vought(Project 2025 architect): “Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him”
@Convoid-04 That's why I'm assuming Minnesota is entirely on its own regarding the wildfires. Blue states pay the taxes, the red states spend them.
@Convoid-04 I wonder if I'll ever feel surprised again. And is there an existing term for rage crying? I'm guessing this post isn't going to stay up too long, but here is the article unlocked article for anyone who wants to read it. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/business/trump-state-grants-canceled.html?unlocked_article_code=1.0FA.F1NT.6S6-YI4Plq1Y&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/business/trump-state-grants-canceled.html?unlocked_article_code=1.0FA.F1NT.6S6-YI4Plq1Y&smid=url-share</a>
Truly fun one, but ten minutes faster than my average. stats is calling it average at present. if you want a B.E. Friday, I just enjoyed this one in the archives while waiting for tonight's to drop: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/daily/2016/06/17" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/daily/2016/06/17</a> Congrats G.S. on your solo debut! looking forward to more.
@Bob T. What do you mean by "stats is calling it average"? Is there some page that tracks the general solving stats for today's puzzle, as opposed to the user's own long-term average?
@Bob T. That was a tough one from the archives. About one and a half times my current average. Thanks for the challenge!
I had noticed the trite oreo hadn't appeared for a few days, well that s over. But I did like the puzzle with its long answers. You had to suss out different ways of saying the sane things in quotes which is somewhat challenging.
Now I'm curious to know how many consecutive Oreo-free days the NYT crossword is capable of giving us.
Great puzzle, I really enjoyed that. Does anyone else cringe every time LITE comes up in a puzzle? I suppose the puzzles are filled with slang, acronyms, abbreviations, foreign words, etc, so it shouldn’t bother me. But whenever I realize LITE is the answer I think “that’s not a word! How dare they!”
Well, actually, by now... <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lite" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lite</a>
@CruciverbalistsUnion It's accepted in the Bee. The hive mind has spoken.
@CruciverbalistsUnion I've reluctantly overcome 'lite' and am now trying to hold the line on the truly nauseating 'amirite'. 😖 Structurally, that should be an ore of some kind. At least, it should still get a slang or informal tag, no?
I have never heard of a MANGOSTEEN, which is quite different from a mango, but it sounds great, if you can find one. Had to run the alphabet on that N which provoked this lookup: "Ed Asner is not the only person (to receive multiple Emmys for the same role); Uzo Aduba also achieved this feat by winning Emmy Awards in both the comedy and drama categories for playing the same character, Crazy Eyes, in Orange Is the New Black" Fun answers and clues in this one. Many thanks.
@John Carson The clue didn’t say “the only person…”
When I started I thought I’d definitely need to lookup at least a few, but was pleasantly surprised when my perseverance paid off and I actually finished in below average time! Lately I’ve decided that LIFEISTOOSHORT to waste time chasing the gold star, but it’s still kind of nice to get one when least expected.
@SFdesi I stopped chasing the gold a long time ago. The puzzles are much more enjoyable to me now.
Ugh, ended a streak of 12 in a row with no hints :( A lot of answers here that I have never heard of at all even after getting them through crosses. MACS ARGOT KIR MANGOSTEEN Also...does the ETON school in London have some sort of marketing deal with the NYT crossword team?
@LW Probably not…., ETON school is not in London! About 50 miles away.
@LW No, but it does have four of the most commonly used letters in English.
Phew! Tough but enjoyable. Took me 1h 11m to complete it unaided. Some of the misdirects definitely misdirected me. And mangosteen... woof, no clue on my end, but the not-so-gentle crosses got me there in the end.
Tough but fun! Longer than my average time for a Friday, which doesn't happen too much anymore!
I really liked this puzzle, and thought it was appropriately stiff for a Friday. ARTFORGER got a snort of approval and WORDNERDS a rueful nod--we know who we are. The messhalls (dining facilities) in a certain near Asian country almost always had mangosteens--their flesh is very white, almost sickly looking, and I couldn't bring myself to try them for a long time, and then very quickly became an addict---they are delicious. More mangosteens, and more puzzles like this please! Thanks to Mr. Schorkopf, and to Will and the puzzle crew, as always!
Clues for 38a and 54a were pure dope…I call the merged art forms of Country/Rock Rockabilly. 24d had me humming this little ditty, por ejemplo, by Dwight Yoakam. “PUT THAT (the spray CAN) DOWN, Connie.” This quote by Dwight from the lyric at 3:00 or so of the clip. <a href="https://youtu.be/SqAlBiYoZS8?si=zpXHT5vAeAHznEPE" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/SqAlBiYoZS8?si=zpXHT5vAeAHznEPE</a> Wake up temps down the NJ shore were nice’n cool, in the upper 50’s today. I dug the Friday this fare from G.S.. ET TU, WPers? Chillin’, Bru
This one felt like a Friday puzzle. Solved it unaided, but took about 35 minutes and had to guess at the crossing of KIR and CARLI. Chose "I" simply because that seemed more likely than "Y" at the end of a female name. "Drinks are on me!" for BARCAR was clever. Of course, the inner planets can never appear far from the sun, so are associated with mornings or evenings. (Though seeing Venus by eye high in the sky during daytime was a highlight for me of the April 2024 total eclipse.) Still, the clue "Venus, or sometimes Mercury" seemed odd to me. Why not simply "Venus sometimes"? And is MORNINGSTAR traditionally reserved just for the two inner planets? Can't any of the (visible) planets be a MORNINGSTAR, if it rises shortly before the sun? Yes, I'm a WORDNERD.
@Xword Junkie I'm hoping many of us WORDNERD sorts turn up and coolly turn the disparagment aside.
@Xword Junkie I knew how Ms. Lloyd spells her name, but have you never heard of Carly Simon? (From the music world, I can also name Carly Rae Jepsen and Carly Pearce. And there’s also executive Carly Fiorina, and the Nickelodeon show iCarly. I literally don’t know of anyone else who spells it CARLI.)
@Xword Junkie I believe it’s meant to be a misdirect based on the gods.
Xword Junkie, This shouldn't have been your first KIR. Thu May 7, 2026 20A Wine aperitif Sun Sep 28, 2025 12D French cocktail made with crème de cassis Sun Aug 31, 2025 57D ___ royale (cocktail) Sun Jan 26, 2025 62A French aperitif
Typical tough Friday for me, and a couple of unfamiliar answers (MANGOSTEEN - notably), but just made for a lot of working the crosses and pondering (and a couple of look-ups). Nice puzzle. And... a rather amazing puzzle find today. A Sunday from March 13, 1994 by the great Nancy Nicholson Joline with the title: "Group dynamics." That one was all in the clues. Some examples: "BAILEY, BUCK, WHITE" STRINGOFPEARLS "BUCHWALD, CARNEY, GARFUNKEL, LINKLETTER" ARTCOLLECTION "SIMMONS, STAPLETON" PAIROFJEANS "DENNIS, DORIS" DAYAFTERDAY "BRADLEY, CLINTON, COSBY" OUTSTANDINGBILLS "LEONTYNE, RAY, VINCENT" PRICELIST And there were more. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/13/1994&h=53a" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/13/1994&h=53a</a> ....
🎯 Nothing here for Peaty to latch onto. They don't get much better than this.
BAE: term of endearment (baby, honey) MIL: million (cool million, as in dollars) AAA: the highest rating for a bond (investment)
Ah! Such a delight to see my old friend the asthenosphere in a clue. The soft stuff over which we all float.
@CatDad ASTHENOSPHERE would make a good Saturday answer, n'est-ce pas?
Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Felt just right for a Friday. It came together somewhat more quickly than my average but did not feel quick because I fell for so many of its misdirects. Loved the clues for the criminals, the red faces, the show-stoppers, and the definers. It was fun to see a few crosses suddenly make those make sense. I felt my brain twist a little each time as a new mental pathway sprang open. Also enjoyed the vagueness of Fox and Foxx. That was a powerful misdirect toward a first name and would have been unfair on a Monday or Tuesday. As it was I hesitated, but then thought, "It's Friday, so yeah they'd probably do that!"
“Making plans for the Sunshine State, Waiting at the terminal gate…” from the “This is Us” by Mark Knopfler (performed with Emmy Lou Harris).
@Robert C. Love that song!! Thanks for the reminder.