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fauxkloreThe day after the genealogy conference ended, I went up to New York. The primary purpose of the trip was going to Lollapuzzoola, which is a particularly fun crossword tournament. Me being me, I also bought tickets to three Broadway shows. I had tried to make plans with a couple of friends, but they fell apart for various reasons. (In particular, the person I was most looking forward to seeing tested positive for COVID.) I still had plenty of time for walking around the city and took advantage of a less frenetic pace than most of my trips there.
I didn’t want to get up particularly early, so I took a noon train up. This would normally be fine, but there was a problem with a (different) train and its locomotive was blocking everything, so my train and several others ended up being about an hour late. And then my train had some sort of air conditioning problem in one car (not mine) which caused an additional delay in Baltimore. The bottom line is that we got in about an hour and 40 minutes late. That would not normally have been an issue, but I had decided to treat myself to staying at The Library Hotel. Which is about a mile from the train station. I walked there, left my bag in my room (the Poetry Room), and decided it was best to take a taxi back crosstown for my 7 o’clock theatre going. I’d have preferred a leisurely walk, but, oh well.
Two Jews, Talking: I’d bought a ticket to this show, which was in previews, entirely on the grounds that it stars Hal Linden and Bernie Kopell. Hal Linden is, of course, best known from the TV show Barney Miller, but has a long Broadway history, including a Tony for playing Mayer Rothschild in The Rothschilds. Bernie Kopell is best known for playing the doctor on The Love Boat though my real association with him was his role as Siegfried, the head of KAOS on Get Smart. Both of them are 90ish now. The show is only about an hour long (which was good, as I hadn’t had time for dinner beforehand) and consists of two short plays. The first is set “In the desert, 1505 BCE. Late afternoon. On a Tuesday.” In that one, Bud (Bernie) and Lou (Hal) kvetch about the exodus. Lou is all for stopping and opening up a cafe at an oasis he sees, which Bud tells him is a mirage. There’s a running joke that Moses is “L-O-S-T. Lost.” Also, Lou’s feet hurt because he couldn’t find sandals in his size. They argue about religion, food, women, and pretty much everything. It’s pretty slight.
I liked the second half (set “in a park, last week. A summer afternoon.”) better. Here, Marty (Hal) and Phil (Bernie) talk about their families, dying friends, and life in general, There’s a running gag in which Marty says something reminds him of a joke and asks Phil to stop him if he’s heard it before, but Phil doesn’t stop him until the end, when he calls out the punchline. Of course, these are old, familiar Jewish jokes - about as old as the actors. Only when Marty pulls out his lunch and Phil objects do we learn that the park bench they’re sitting on is in a cemetery. That leads to the funniest part of the show, in which they imagine honest epitaphs, e.g. “he never picked up a check” or “she faked every orgasm.” There’s a serious and moving turn at the end. Overall, this wasn’t a brilliant show, but both men are engaging actors and I’m glad I saw it.
Lollapuzzolla: In the late morning on Saturday, I took a bus uptown to Riverside Church for the crossword tournament that had been the main purpose of my trip. My primary goal was to solve cleanly and I succeeded at that, though I was slow. I’ll rot-13 any spoilers in my run-down of the puzzle.
Puzzle 1 by Pao Roy was a bit harder than I expected for an opener. In particular, there were a couple of clues which I had no idea of the answers for. I sussed them out from the crossings, which I was confident in, but that did slow me down. I’m also don’t remember grasping the theme while solving it, though it was obvious looking back.
Puzzle 1 spoilers: V nz abg fhecevfrq abg gb or snzvyvne jvgu gur nafjre gb 23 Npebff, juvpu jnf “Rtlcgvna fbppre fgne Zbunzrq.”. Gung ghearq bhg gb or “Fnynu.”
Gur bgure pyhr V jnf pyhryrff ba jnf 15 Npebff, juvpu jnf “H.F. qvnyrpg jvgu qbhoyr artngvirf.” Gur nafjre jnf “nnir.” V tbbtyrq vg naq vg gheaf bhg gb fgnaq sbe “Nsevpna-Nzrevpna Ireanphyne Ratyvfu.” Bxnl, fher.
Gur gurzr vaibyirq qrfpevcgvbaf bs inevbhf “cnguf” naq vaibyirq nqqvat gur yrggref “fg” (sbe “fgerrg”) gb gur raqf bs snzvyvne cuenfrf.
Puzzle 2 by Ella Dershowitz didn’t have any particularly obscure fill. And there was a helpful revealer that led me to the theme.
Puzzle 3 was by Paolo Pasco. I have to admit that I solved it without actually grasping the theme. It was pretty clever once someone else at my table explained it to the rest of us.
Puzzle 3 spoilers: Gurer jrer fbzr pyhrf gung qvqa’g frrz gb znxr frafr. Sbe rknzcyr, 4 Qbja jnf “Srmmrf, rgp.” naq gur nafjre jnf “Rkcrafrf.” Gur erirnyre (39 Npebff naq 66 Npebff) jnf “Gur pvgl gung arire fyrrcf.” Jung guvf zrnag jnf gung lbh unq gb erzbir gur yrggre “m” sebz gur gurzr pyhrf.
Puzzle 4 is traditionally the hardest of Lollapuzzoola. I thought that this year’s, by Francis Heaney, was not quite as hard as usual. It helped that the answer to what most people thought was the most obscure clue was something that was right in my wheelhouse. In short, I thought this puzzle was absolutely brilliant.
Puzzle 4: Gur gvgyr bs gur chmmyr jnf “Gvzrf Fdhner” juvpu zrnag gung lbh unq gb zhygvcyl ahzoref lbh ragrerq va gur tevq ol gur ahzore bs gur pyhr gb trg gur npghny nafjre gb gur pyhr. Gur bar gung tnir vg njnl gb zr jnf 35 Qbja, juvpu jnf “Erqhcyvpngviryl gvgyrq zhfvpny nobhg yneprabhf frcghntranevna ynqvrf.” Vs lbh ner nf zhpu bs n Oebnqjnl trrx nf V nz, gung vf boivbhfyl “70, Tveyf, 70” - na nqzvggrqyl bofpher zhfvpny ol Xnaqre naq Roo. Fb jung lbh unq gb ragre vagb gur tevq jnf “Gjb Tveyf Gjb.” Yvxr V fnvq, nofbyhgryl oevyyvnag.
Puzzle 5: The final puzzle was by Will Nediger. While there were a few clues that I didn’t immediately know the answers for (mostly involving people’s names), this was reasonably straightforward and I don’t really have anything to say about it.
Puzzle 6 was by Brooke Husic and all I can say about it is that I was extremely glad I was nowhere near the top 3 in either division, because I would not have wanted to solve that one in public.
As for how I did, as I said above, I met my goal of solving cleanly. I finished 55th out of 121 in the local division (and 98th out of 166 overall) which I think is solidly middle of the pack. More importantly, I got to see several friends and had a good time. It was worth it for Puzzle 4 alone. And, by the way, you can still order the puzzle pack at bemoresmarter.com.
Mr. Saturday Night: I took the subway back downtown for the second excursion of the theatre binge phase of my trip. Mr. Saturday Night is closing soon and I wanted to see it. So, of course, I had to go on Saturday night. Since it’s another Jewish themed show, I also had to satisfy my periodic need for Jewish soul food, which I did via an open-faced hot turkey sandwich at Ben’s. There are other places I prefer, but proximity sometimes wins out over perfection and it was good enough, albeit a bit saltier than I’d have preferred.
As for the show, the story involves an old comedian, Buddy Young, Jr. (played by Billy Crystal) who is mistakenly shown in the “In Memoriam” segment of the Emmy Awards. This leads to a revival of his career, with complicated results. The first half of this, which includes his rise in the comedy world, is the second funniest thing I’ve ever seen. (The first was Eric Idle’s comic oratorio “Not the Messiah: He’s a Naughty Boy,” after which my laugh muscles were sore for a solid week.) The bit where he skats in pseudo-Yiddish (including audience participation) was worth the price of admission alone. (I had seen video of this, but it was even more amazing in person.) The second half focuses more on the family dynamics between Buddy, his wife, his brother, and his daughter. That’s less hysterical, but it makes the show more than just a showcase for Billy Crystal. Randy Graff as Elaine (the wife) and David Paymer as Stan (the brother) were both excellent. The music by Jason Robert Brown was fine but not especially memorable. Overall, the show was enjoyable, but a bit longer than it needed to be.
Come From Away: I’d planned to have brunch on Sunday with a high school friend on Sunday, but, alas, she got COVID. So I spent a lazy morning reading, before heading out for lunch at a diner and walking around midtown, revisiting my usual touchstones (the library lions, the bas reliefs on the Salmon Tower Building, etc.)
In the afternoon, I went to see Come From Away. I’d seen it before and loved it and, since it is closing soon, decided that would be a good use of my time. It was, indeed, just as wonderful as I remembered. I should note that the cast has changed, but that didn’t make a lot of a difference. (Though it was good to see Kevin McAllister, who I’ve seen a lot in he DC area, as Kevin J.) It’s very much an ensemble show, which is part of the joy of the charm. It’s definitely one of my favorites.
My travel home went more smoothly than the trip up had. Overall, it was a very enjoyable weekend.
I didn’t want to get up particularly early, so I took a noon train up. This would normally be fine, but there was a problem with a (different) train and its locomotive was blocking everything, so my train and several others ended up being about an hour late. And then my train had some sort of air conditioning problem in one car (not mine) which caused an additional delay in Baltimore. The bottom line is that we got in about an hour and 40 minutes late. That would not normally have been an issue, but I had decided to treat myself to staying at The Library Hotel. Which is about a mile from the train station. I walked there, left my bag in my room (the Poetry Room), and decided it was best to take a taxi back crosstown for my 7 o’clock theatre going. I’d have preferred a leisurely walk, but, oh well.
Two Jews, Talking: I’d bought a ticket to this show, which was in previews, entirely on the grounds that it stars Hal Linden and Bernie Kopell. Hal Linden is, of course, best known from the TV show Barney Miller, but has a long Broadway history, including a Tony for playing Mayer Rothschild in The Rothschilds. Bernie Kopell is best known for playing the doctor on The Love Boat though my real association with him was his role as Siegfried, the head of KAOS on Get Smart. Both of them are 90ish now. The show is only about an hour long (which was good, as I hadn’t had time for dinner beforehand) and consists of two short plays. The first is set “In the desert, 1505 BCE. Late afternoon. On a Tuesday.” In that one, Bud (Bernie) and Lou (Hal) kvetch about the exodus. Lou is all for stopping and opening up a cafe at an oasis he sees, which Bud tells him is a mirage. There’s a running joke that Moses is “L-O-S-T. Lost.” Also, Lou’s feet hurt because he couldn’t find sandals in his size. They argue about religion, food, women, and pretty much everything. It’s pretty slight.
I liked the second half (set “in a park, last week. A summer afternoon.”) better. Here, Marty (Hal) and Phil (Bernie) talk about their families, dying friends, and life in general, There’s a running gag in which Marty says something reminds him of a joke and asks Phil to stop him if he’s heard it before, but Phil doesn’t stop him until the end, when he calls out the punchline. Of course, these are old, familiar Jewish jokes - about as old as the actors. Only when Marty pulls out his lunch and Phil objects do we learn that the park bench they’re sitting on is in a cemetery. That leads to the funniest part of the show, in which they imagine honest epitaphs, e.g. “he never picked up a check” or “she faked every orgasm.” There’s a serious and moving turn at the end. Overall, this wasn’t a brilliant show, but both men are engaging actors and I’m glad I saw it.
Lollapuzzolla: In the late morning on Saturday, I took a bus uptown to Riverside Church for the crossword tournament that had been the main purpose of my trip. My primary goal was to solve cleanly and I succeeded at that, though I was slow. I’ll rot-13 any spoilers in my run-down of the puzzle.
Puzzle 1 by Pao Roy was a bit harder than I expected for an opener. In particular, there were a couple of clues which I had no idea of the answers for. I sussed them out from the crossings, which I was confident in, but that did slow me down. I’m also don’t remember grasping the theme while solving it, though it was obvious looking back.
Puzzle 1 spoilers: V nz abg fhecevfrq abg gb or snzvyvne jvgu gur nafjre gb 23 Npebff, juvpu jnf “Rtlcgvna fbppre fgne Zbunzrq.”. Gung ghearq bhg gb or “Fnynu.”
Gur bgure pyhr V jnf pyhryrff ba jnf 15 Npebff, juvpu jnf “H.F. qvnyrpg jvgu qbhoyr artngvirf.” Gur nafjre jnf “nnir.” V tbbtyrq vg naq vg gheaf bhg gb fgnaq sbe “Nsevpna-Nzrevpna Ireanphyne Ratyvfu.” Bxnl, fher.
Gur gurzr vaibyirq qrfpevcgvbaf bs inevbhf “cnguf” naq vaibyirq nqqvat gur yrggref “fg” (sbe “fgerrg”) gb gur raqf bs snzvyvne cuenfrf.
Puzzle 2 by Ella Dershowitz didn’t have any particularly obscure fill. And there was a helpful revealer that led me to the theme.
Puzzle 3 was by Paolo Pasco. I have to admit that I solved it without actually grasping the theme. It was pretty clever once someone else at my table explained it to the rest of us.
Puzzle 3 spoilers: Gurer jrer fbzr pyhrf gung qvqa’g frrz gb znxr frafr. Sbe rknzcyr, 4 Qbja jnf “Srmmrf, rgp.” naq gur nafjre jnf “Rkcrafrf.” Gur erirnyre (39 Npebff naq 66 Npebff) jnf “Gur pvgl gung arire fyrrcf.” Jung guvf zrnag jnf gung lbh unq gb erzbir gur yrggre “m” sebz gur gurzr pyhrf.
Puzzle 4 is traditionally the hardest of Lollapuzzoola. I thought that this year’s, by Francis Heaney, was not quite as hard as usual. It helped that the answer to what most people thought was the most obscure clue was something that was right in my wheelhouse. In short, I thought this puzzle was absolutely brilliant.
Puzzle 4: Gur gvgyr bs gur chmmyr jnf “Gvzrf Fdhner” juvpu zrnag gung lbh unq gb zhygvcyl ahzoref lbh ragrerq va gur tevq ol gur ahzore bs gur pyhr gb trg gur npghny nafjre gb gur pyhr. Gur bar gung tnir vg njnl gb zr jnf 35 Qbja, juvpu jnf “Erqhcyvpngviryl gvgyrq zhfvpny nobhg yneprabhf frcghntranevna ynqvrf.” Vs lbh ner nf zhpu bs n Oebnqjnl trrx nf V nz, gung vf boivbhfyl “70, Tveyf, 70” - na nqzvggrqyl bofpher zhfvpny ol Xnaqre naq Roo. Fb jung lbh unq gb ragre vagb gur tevq jnf “Gjb Tveyf Gjb.” Yvxr V fnvq, nofbyhgryl oevyyvnag.
Puzzle 5: The final puzzle was by Will Nediger. While there were a few clues that I didn’t immediately know the answers for (mostly involving people’s names), this was reasonably straightforward and I don’t really have anything to say about it.
Puzzle 6 was by Brooke Husic and all I can say about it is that I was extremely glad I was nowhere near the top 3 in either division, because I would not have wanted to solve that one in public.
As for how I did, as I said above, I met my goal of solving cleanly. I finished 55th out of 121 in the local division (and 98th out of 166 overall) which I think is solidly middle of the pack. More importantly, I got to see several friends and had a good time. It was worth it for Puzzle 4 alone. And, by the way, you can still order the puzzle pack at bemoresmarter.com.
Mr. Saturday Night: I took the subway back downtown for the second excursion of the theatre binge phase of my trip. Mr. Saturday Night is closing soon and I wanted to see it. So, of course, I had to go on Saturday night. Since it’s another Jewish themed show, I also had to satisfy my periodic need for Jewish soul food, which I did via an open-faced hot turkey sandwich at Ben’s. There are other places I prefer, but proximity sometimes wins out over perfection and it was good enough, albeit a bit saltier than I’d have preferred.
As for the show, the story involves an old comedian, Buddy Young, Jr. (played by Billy Crystal) who is mistakenly shown in the “In Memoriam” segment of the Emmy Awards. This leads to a revival of his career, with complicated results. The first half of this, which includes his rise in the comedy world, is the second funniest thing I’ve ever seen. (The first was Eric Idle’s comic oratorio “Not the Messiah: He’s a Naughty Boy,” after which my laugh muscles were sore for a solid week.) The bit where he skats in pseudo-Yiddish (including audience participation) was worth the price of admission alone. (I had seen video of this, but it was even more amazing in person.) The second half focuses more on the family dynamics between Buddy, his wife, his brother, and his daughter. That’s less hysterical, but it makes the show more than just a showcase for Billy Crystal. Randy Graff as Elaine (the wife) and David Paymer as Stan (the brother) were both excellent. The music by Jason Robert Brown was fine but not especially memorable. Overall, the show was enjoyable, but a bit longer than it needed to be.
Come From Away: I’d planned to have brunch on Sunday with a high school friend on Sunday, but, alas, she got COVID. So I spent a lazy morning reading, before heading out for lunch at a diner and walking around midtown, revisiting my usual touchstones (the library lions, the bas reliefs on the Salmon Tower Building, etc.)
In the afternoon, I went to see Come From Away. I’d seen it before and loved it and, since it is closing soon, decided that would be a good use of my time. It was, indeed, just as wonderful as I remembered. I should note that the cast has changed, but that didn’t make a lot of a difference. (Though it was good to see Kevin McAllister, who I’ve seen a lot in he DC area, as Kevin J.) It’s very much an ensemble show, which is part of the joy of the charm. It’s definitely one of my favorites.
My travel home went more smoothly than the trip up had. Overall, it was a very enjoyable weekend.
