Day 2,094, Quasi-Quarantine: Back On That Noel Puzzle Vibe

 

Galison has become our go-to holiday puzzler, and we kicked off the season with another 500-piecer recently.

"Winter Wonderland" was a bit on the easy side, with a few tricky parts (the starry night and the ridgeline). Throwing on some Christmas vinyls and working through another puzzle was as peaceful -- and needed -- as we remembered from previous years.

7.5 out of 10, would synergize with a Sam Smith again

Limerick Friday #648: That's Fan Sentiment The Mets Are Flushing -- Day 2,090

Sugar and Polar Bear out the door

And looking at maybe more

Not considering the fans

As part of offseason plans

That's the only thing that's for sure

Made more than one roster tweak

Went on a three-game winning streak

Grabbed a playoff spot

Way to go, Scott

Now's the time to be bold and not meek

Boasts were made

Players were paid

Even though it's early

The fanbase is getting surly

Time to produce, Will Wade

Every hard lesson he learns

The more vitriol he earns

When sentiment has gotten you zero

The Mets need some kind of hero

Would not want to be David Stearns

A reputation I protect

For teammates I don't respect

Roll in like asses

And piss off the masses

An approach I flatly reject

Last time ...

Limerick Friday #647: Make It Five In A Row Over UNC-Fraud -- Day 2,083

Bitching the Cheats

To the sound of hoarse bleats

Despite frigid cold

It'll never get old

Even when it repeats and repeats

Never a huge Nimmo fan

A brain-dead MAGA stan

Ship him anywhere

Let's get better there

And find good dudes where we can

Sports media's degradation

Both local and across the nation

Many factors at play

But you just have to say

Frauds and clowns on every station

Embarrassing the entire team

And coming apart at the seam

They make us all look bad

And don't care a tad

Them quitting would be a dream

Literally asleep on the job

Propped up by his pedo mob

A half-dead fatass felon

Without working cells in his melon

Wakes up only to lie, cheat, and rob

Last time ...

Day 2,080, Quasi-Quarantine: Formulaic "The Reappearance Of Rachel Price" Succumbs To Over-Reliance On Coincidence, Secrets

 

“People were temporary. It was the one thing you could count on: people always left, even Carter.”

Holly Jackson is back with a book that was high on intensity, but ultimately felt cut too closely to the formula she relied on for "Kill Joy," "As Good As Dead," "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder," and

"Good Girl, Bad Blood."

The protagonist of "The Reappearance of Rachel Price," Bel, shared perhaps too many similarities to Pippa -- the hero of the earlier books -- making it difficult for this tale to find its differentiator. The geography of the story was also brushed over entirely too much.

However, the mystery component was certainly compelling, and the documentary angle was a clever way to expose and interrogate truths and incidents.

While the ambition is admirable, the sheer number of coincidences and secrets shared in the final 50 pages or so may make for an overwhelming and cluttered conclusion for some readers.

“Some hurts were good: friends grew apart, people moved away, they left. It didn’t have to last forever to count. Things ended, this was ending, but that didn’t mean it never mattered.”