Author: warpmaster

Puzzle – I’m a Fool for Yule

Across

1 Famous NYC hosp.
4 Wonderland feeling
7… and I in my ___
10 Sang of A Swinging
Christmas in 1960
11 Test
12 Cuckoo or DiFranco
13 Property claim
14 Under-jacket
15 P.O. abbr.
16 They play with bows
18 Keats dug ’em
19 Marlins’ baseman Gordon
20 ___ up (stimulate)
22 Rhymes with Yule
24 Use for mistletoe

29 Filmmaker Lee
30 Coward and Gallagher
31 Buck’s wish
32 Figgy puddings, for example
34 Men’s magazine
35 Real Curly brother
36 Pie and mode go-between
37 Alvin & Chipmunks wages
40 He leans his ear
45 Muff
46 Before Carson
47 Provoke
48 ___ of reason
49 Rossum hasn’t won one
50 Wight or Capri
51 Before hee
52 Charlotte made one
53 Scarfed!

Down

1 Roman 1052
2 They ‘fly’ through the snow
3 Messiah maker
4 Firewood chopper
5 Sings door-to-door
6 Actor IRL dramas
7 Often depicts a winter scene
8 ‘Before’ prefix
9 Another kind of 32 across
10 Little helper
11 Day before
17 With 46-down, Pepe’s surname
18 Eye Dr. (abbr.)
21 ___ Claus’ 24-down is a mystery
22 Blighter
23 “… kids from ___ to ninety-two”
24 ‘Bob’ is Cratchit’s

25 “___ it snow”
26 Dickens is one, e.g.
27 Fifi’s refusal
28 Fetch
30 Wachowski hero
33 Mobile msg. serv.
34 Angels ‘on high’ sang it
36 ‘Done eating’ sound
37 Undiluted (at the bar)
38 Yen
39 Christmas conifer, e.g.
41 Poetical foot
42 Shout
43“___ menschen werden bruder”
44 “Do you ___ what I ___”
46 See 17 down

Puzzle – By Any Measure

Across

1 Final
5 Pierre’s phone greeting
8 Cleo squeeze
12 8765 hours, give or take
13 Serling of TV
14 EU River
15 Part
16 Roman 102
17 Hindu goddess
18 Older than
21 A Paul
22 Big beef hunk
23 Dancer Twyla
25 Fuss
28 Title word
29 Piri ____ map

30 Notorious Gorgon
32 Frozen dessert
34 Traffic ____
35 Help
36 Hardwood
37 Sci-fi Knight
38 Gobs
40 For vote
41 They regenerate
46 Corleone
48 Isle of ____
49 Harvest
50 Once more
51 Curve
52 Beatles ‘Penny’
53 People-eater
54 West or Whitman
55 Took out

Down

1 Where Vega hangs
2 ____ Flux (sci-fi)
3 Old sailor
4 They hold up hats
5 Region of content
6 Dawdle
7 Jim Davis dog
8 ____ Squad (70s TV show)
9 South Australia capital
10 Turnabout
11 Not soggy
19 Naysay
20 Apple dessert
24 Its teeth are scarce
25 Morning
26 Going to the dogs
27 Records miles
31 Card game
32 Quiet
33 Pica
35 Eritrean capital
37 Philippine port
39 Walley or Sea, e.g.
42 Islamic leader
43 Back part
44 Large dog
45 Volcanos and babies do it
47 In debt

Shakespeare … not so damned clever

Tired of constantly hearing how great Shakespeare was? If so, this article might prove satisfying.

Seems Billy – the OED credits him with 1500 examples of using a word or phrase for the first time was – like most authors who want ANY attention – not above incorporating the vernacular … words or phrases already in use at the time. Internet sites like Early English Books Online are helping to chase down examples.

• “It’s Greek to me.” Not original.
• “wild goose chase.” Not original.

Dr McInnis noted that Shakespeare sometimes appears to have refashioned existing phrases – such as “the better part of valour is discretion” – to make them “concise and catchy”.

Well … there it is. One more chink in the armor. Savor.

WWN Special – 50 years of Trek

•Anniversary articles
– Consider the role that the politics of Star Trek played in the success of the series.
– On the lighter side, how the Captains have ‘rocked a bold look’.
– On the practical side, how to stream all the shows.
– The Register opines why maybe it’s just time to move on.

• A little history:
– Liftoff, Sep. 8 1966
– The original opening and theme
– Roddenberry on To Tell the Truth (1974)
– Ultimate fansite: Memory Alpha
– Trek movie music
– 13 SF authors recall how the show influenced them.

WW News for Sep 4-10 2016

Trek’s 50 !

•Anniversary articles
– Consider the role that the politics of Star Trek played in the success of the series.
– On the lighter side, how the Captains have ‘rocked a bold look’.
– On the practical side, how to stream all the shows.
– The Register opines why maybe it’s just time to move on.

• A little history:
– Liftoff, Sep. 8 1966
– The original opening and theme
– Roddenberry on To Tell the Truth (1974)
– Ultimate fansite: Memory Alpha
– Trek movie music
– 13 SF authors recall how the show influenced them.

Also 50 this week: Beatles album Revolver, and ABC-TV scifi show The Time Tunnel.

Warp’s week …

• The ever-charming yet deeply-concerned Facebook has deleted a post by the Prime Minister of Norway for a world-famous news photo capable of upsetting one or two members of its sensitive majority. /s

• Stubborn landlord mom won’t raise the rent on her San Francisco apartment.

• You’re how old? NYTimes explores workplace ageism.

• Don’t let your rental car remember everything your phone tells it.

• The privacy wars are about to get worse.

Sep. 7, 2016 | Paper cut: The Newspaper Association of America changes its name to the News Media Alliance.

• The bulldozers were stopped in North Dakota, where at least 6 protestors were bitten by dogs. (More) (More)

• Seattle’s bike Batman beats the cops to bike thieves.

• Lego’s problem: Business is too good.

• The Pirates are a political force in Iceland.

Gone surfin’

• Lucky Strike. 36 in a row? Officially, it has only happened 21 times. Bill Fong’s going for it. (long)

• The 2015 best-novel Hugo went to Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem, the first English translation to win the award.
(The 2016 award went to N. K. Jemisin novel The Fifth Season.)

• Take the word uncopyrightable. How many letters are repeated?? It’s tied for longest with dermatoglyphics.

• DIY downhill ‘gravity train’ ride in Colombia. Watch out for 14 miles of stray livestock and weeds!
Bonus: DIY train #2 … motorized.

• HARD TO SAY IT? Ask VOA: Browse by region to learn to pronounce names, places. (English transliterations)

• Before the 1920s alarm clocks were rare. Instead, there were window-tappers.

• State of the Art: clips of the Top 50 Dance/EDM hits in August 2016. Top 3: Chainsmokers, Bieber, Rihanna.

• Life pro tips: moving day etiquette.

• Coming up:
– Sep. 24. Nirvana’s album Nevermind and the song Smells Like Teen Spirit are 25 years old.
Turns out Cobain’s friend, riot grrl Tobi Vail wore Teen Spirit deodorant.

Dept. of Wallpaper | Milky Way in Oregon.

 QUOTE  Aging means giving up, de-accessioning, and knowing that wealth and worldly achievement count for little. Like urban life, it makes you feel a nobody. Paradoxically, it also makes you feel alive. (*)