Nicholas Mitchell
Boulder Creek, California
I do not believe 34A was not deliberate, but I needed Deb's coy direction of the importance of a tilde in some Spanish words. Sometimes I solve the puzzle but don't get the Wordplay photo and caption. I admit that I am at this moment stymied, but my brain is a little worn out after ...COMPLETING THE SOLVE! YAY ME!
I've definitely heard lam as a verb, usually with "it". "They're onto us, Bugsy, We got no choice now but to lam it." They didn't make us memorize the periodic table in secondary school, so I used up all the crosses to spell Astatine. (And props to my autocorrect for correcting my spelling just then.) Heavy stuff, that At.
As for 14D, I was once a directory assistant operator (back in the early eighties) when I responded to an elderly sounding woman inquiring about a place of business, and knowing the area I confidently offered what seemed a good fit. When she expressed some timidity I told her, "Go for it!". My supervisor was monitoring me at the time and afterwards gently told me that this maybe wasn't quite the professional way to offer encouragement.
I can't be the only one who would spell 88A with M's instead of B's.
@Cat Lady Margaret Now I feel bad for thinking of that first.
@Becca Ah, my sentiments exactly. In the early days of Internet chat intra-university, I made a friend with a fellow student whose online name was Meep after the call of the cartoon desert bird.
@Andrzej I engaged in a robust conversation about this clue in another crossword puzzle forum. Because I "got it" and appreciated it right away I didn't think much about it, but others had strong opinions otherwise. I am convinced I understood how the constructor wanted this bit of construction to be received. AI is here to stay and it, alluding to the theme song to M*A*S*H, will bring on many changes. I'm a writer of creative fiction and AI frequently causes me existential anxiety, and deserves our attention to, and conversation about, it
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