klobrien2 Karen O Reads in 2023 -- Part 6

This is my dear, sweet gone-to-heaven husband Art. I miss him so incredibly much.

Welcome to my sixth 2023 reading thread!

I've been with the 75-bookers for many years now, and I enjoy so much the camaraderie and book talk that happens here. I'm very glad to join with you all again!

The year 2023 has continues to be a terrific time for reading. I find myself reading pretty much as the spirit leads. I participate in the American Author Challenge, and plan to continue with them. A long-term project of mine is to accomplish reads from the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" book, so that may guide my reading a little. Current 1001 Books count: 215.

What directs my reading more are my friends here on LT, so keep those recommendations coming!

This is my fifteenth year participating in the 75 Books Challenge. In 2009, I read 94 books; in 2010, I made it to 148!; 153 in 2011; 160 in 2012; 114 in 2013; 92 in 2014; 109 in 2015; 145 in 2016, 210 in 2017, 200 in 2018, 180 in 2019, 225 (3 x 75!) in 2020, 242 in 2021, 286 in 2022. In 2023? Maybe I'll shoot for 287?

In addition to reading books, I've also discovered the world of Great Courses DVD lifelong learning courses. I love them! Below is a list of the courses I've completed, and I will try to always have at least one course going all the time.

A list of the Great Courses I have done can be found here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/331920

I've also begun some serious magazine reading, using my public library as source once again. I keep track of and read some fifteen magazines, on a range of topics: science, quilting, nature, birding, cats, news, etc.

I read two daily newspapers (St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune), and I also read a lot of daily newsletters from the NYTimes.

Here's where I'll list the books I read (the number at the end of each line represents the post number where I listed the book).

Books from January and February are detailed on my "Part 1" thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/347174#

Books from March and April are detailed on my "Part 2" thread:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/349008#

Books from May and part of June are detailed on my "Part 3" thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/350579#

Books from rest of June through part of August are detailed on my "Part 4" thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/351719#

Books from rest of August through most of September are detailed on my "Part 5" thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/353046#

The books I read in January:

1. Yellowrocket by Todd Boss
2. Mara's Stories: Glimmers in the Darkness by Gary Schmidt
3. Flying Solo: A Novel by Linda Holmes
4. Murder in the Dark (Phryne Fisher #16) by Kerry Greenwood
5. The Lost Soul by Olga Tokarczuk
6. Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death (Agatha Raisin #7) by M. C. Beaton
7. Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from an Unlikely Life on a Farm by Molly Yeh
8. Game of Thrones, Vol. 4 (Graphic) by Daniel Abrahamson
9. The Canary Trainer: From the Memoirs of John H. Watson, MD by Nicholas Meyer
10. Noah's Ark: From Genesis, Chapters 6 - 9 ad. by Linda Falken, from Metropolitan Museum of Art
11. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Alliance by Larry Millett
12. Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose (Cat Kid Comic Club #3) by Dav Pilkey
13. Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young &@&*! by Art Spiegelman
14. The Paper Chase by John Jay Osborn Jr
15. Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations (Cat Kid Comic Club #4) by Dav Pilkey
16. Captain Carter: Woman Out of Time by Jamie Mckelvie
17. Moonflower Murders (Susan Reyland #2) by Anthony Horowitz
18. Troll Magic: Hidden Folk from the Mountains and Forests of Norway by Theodor Kittelsen, trans. Tiina Nunnally
19. Milk Street: The World in a Skillet by Christopher Kimball
20. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
21. Selected Poems by U. A. Fanthorpe
22. Number One is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions by Steve Martin, illus. Harry Bliss
23. Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (Agatha Raisin #8) by M. C. Beaton

The books I read in February:

24. Zabar's: A Family Story, with Recipes by Lori Zabar
25. The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television by Koren Shadmi
26. Home is Where the Eggs Are: Farmhouse Food for the People You Love by Molly Yeh
27. Museum Masterpieces: The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Richard Brettell
28. A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection by Harry Bliss and Steve Martin
29. Bleeding Heart Yard: A Novel by Elly Griffiths
30. "Modulation," from Best American Short Stories 2009, by Richard Powers
31. Foster by Claire Keegan
32. Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, ill. by Kevin Hawkes
33. Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden (Agatha Raisin #9) by M. C. Beaton
34. The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, ill. Robert Ingpen
35. Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons by Ben Fong-Torres
36. Where the Wild Things Are: The Art of Maurice Sendak by Maurice Sendak
37. Agate: What Good is a Moose? by Joy Morgan Dey and Nikki Johnson
38. A Hole is to Dig by Ruth Krauss, ill. Maurice Sendak
39. Enola Holmes: The Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes #1) by Nancy Springer
40. Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein
41. Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam (Agatha Raisin #10) by M. C. Beaton
42. Verity by Colleen Hoover
43. Small Batch Bakes: Baking Cakes, Cookies, Bars and Buns for One to Six People by Edd Kimber
44. The Cathedral (Great Courses) by William R. Cook
45. Triple Jeopardy (Nero Wolfe #20) by Rex Stout
46. Marigold and Rose: A Fiction by Louise Gluck
47. Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula by Koren Shadmi
48. No Filter: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful by Pauline Porizkova
49. Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections by Shaun Tan

The books I read in March:

50. Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell (Agatha Raisin #11) by M. C. Beaton
51. The Case of the Left-Handed Lady: An Enola Holmes Mystery (Enola Holmes #2) by Nancy Springer
52. Barnum's Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World by Tracey Fern, ill. Boris Kulikov
53. Murder on a Midsummer Night (Phryne Fisher #17) by Kerry Greenwood
54. Treasures of Egypt: A Legacy of Photographs from the Pyramids to Cleopatra, ed. Ann R. Williams
55. 1066: The Year That Changed Everything (Great Courses) by Jennifer Paxton
56. Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands by Linda Ronstadt and Lawrence Downes, photographs by Bill Steen
57. Fen, Bog, and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and it Role in the Climate Crisis by Annie Proulx
58. American Cult: A Graphic History of Religious Cults in America from the Colonial Era to Today, ed. by Robyn Chapman
59. Bliss on Toast: 75 Simple Recipes by Prue Leith
60. Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came (Agatha Raisin #12) by M. C. Beaton
61. The Red Green Book: Wit and Wisdom from Possum Lodge by Red Green (Steve Smith and Rick Green)
62. North: Poems by Seamus Heaney
63. Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks
64. The Rise of Rome (Great Courses) by Gregory S. Aldrete

I read these books in April:

65. Dr. No by Percival Everett
66. On Noah's Ark by Jan Brett
67. Arrowsmith #2: Behind Enemy Lines by Kurt Busiek
68. The Best American Poetry 2021, guest editor Tracy K. Smith
69. The Idea of North: The Paintings of Larwen Harris
70. Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate (Agatha Raisin #13) by M. C. Beaton
71. Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
72. The Next Place by Warren Henry
73. The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets (Enola Holmes #3) by Nancy Springer
74. Enola Holmes: The Graphic Novels, Volume 1 by Cerena Blasco
75. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House (Agatha Raisin #14) by M. C. Beaton
76. Musical Tables: Poetry by Billy Collins
77. Dead Man's Chest (Phryne Fisher #18) by Kerry Greenwood
78. Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks
79. Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage, and Survival by Velma Wallis, ill. Jim Grant
80. Big Tree by Brian Selznick

I read these books in May:

81. The Windeby Puzzle by Lois Lowry
82. Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea (Dog Man #11) by Dav Pilkey
83. The Deadly Dance (Agatha Raisin #15) by M. C. Beaton
84. Remember by Joy Harjo, illus. Michaela Goade
85. Castle Rock Kitchen: Wicked Good Recipes from the World of Stephen King by Theresa Carle-Sanders
86. The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan (Enola Holmes #4) by Nancy Springer
87. Heathen, Volume 3 by Natasha Alterici
88. Creation Stories of the Ancient World (Great Courses) by Joseph Lam
89. Whatever Next? Lessons from an Unexpected Life by Anne Glenconner
90. Amazing Cows: A Book of Bovinely Inspired Misinformation by Sandra Boynton
91. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

I read these books in June:

92. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
93. The Perfect Paragon (Agatha Raisin #16) by M. C. Beaton
94. The World's Greatest Engineering Icons by Mike Bluett
95. The Last Remains (Dr. Ruth Galloway #15) by Elly Griffiths
96. The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline (Enola Holmes #5) by Nancy Springer
97. Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild! by Mem Fox, illus. Marla Frazee
98. Howard and the Mummy: Howard Carter and the Search for King Tut's Tomb by Tracey Fern, illus. Boris Kulikov
99. Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
100. Love, Lies and Liquor (Agatha Rasin #17) by M. C. Beaton

101. Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan, illus. Brian Selznick
102. All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
103. Rose Quartz: Poems by Sasha taqwseblu LaPointe
104. Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg
105. The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye by Nancy Springer
106. The Woman Who Fell From the Sky: Poems by Joy Harjo
107. Enola Holmes: The Graphic Novels (Volume 2) by Serena Blasco

I read these books in July:

108. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
109. The Violet Bakery Cookbook by Claire Ptak
110. The Lost Soul by Olga Tokarczuk, illus. Joanna Concejo
111. The Talk by Darrin Bell
112. Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells
113. Galatea: A Short Story by Madeline Miller
114. Never Forget Eleanor by Jason June, illus. Loren Long
115. The Imitation Game: Alan Turing Decoded by Jim Ottaviani, illus. Leland Purris
116. On the Curry Trail: Chasing the Flavor That Seduced the World by Raghavan Iyer
117. She-Hulk: The Complete Collection by Charles Soule, illus. Javier Polido
118. Promises of Gold by Jose Olivarez
119. Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche (Enola Holmes #7) by Nancy Springer
120. Maureen: A Harold Fry Novel by Rachel Joyce
121. Under the Blanket Sky by Tim Fischer
122. You're Strong With Me by Chitra Soundar and Poonam Mistry
123. She-Hulk, Volume 1: Jen, Again by Rainbow Rowell
124. Enola Holmes: Mycroft's Dangerous Game by Mickey George
125. Captain America: The Ghost Army by Alan Gratz, illus. Brent Schoonover
126. Rogue Protocol (Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells
127. The Bones of Birka: Unraveling the Mystery of a Female Viking Warrior by C. M. Surrisi
128. The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill
129. You're Safe With Me by Citra Soundar and Poonam Mistry
130. You're Snug With Me by Citra Soundar and Poonam Mistry
131. Owl Babies by Martin Waddell, illus. Patrick Benson
132. The Enigma of Garlic: A 44 Scotland Street Novel (44 Scotland Street #16) by Alexander McCall Smith 2
133. Exit Strategy (Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells

I read these books in August:

134. Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade (Enola Holmes#8) by Nancy Springer
135. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus. Kadir Nelson
136. The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee
137. In Every Life by Marla Frazee
138. She-Hulk Volume 2: Jen of Hearts
139. Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems by Billy Collins
140. He's Got the Whole World in His Hands by Kadir Nelson
141. If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson
142. Mirror by Jeannie Baker
143. 1964: Eyes of the Storm (Photographs and Reflections) by Paul McCartney
144. Quietly Hostile: Essays by Samantha Irby
145. Prisoner's Base (Nero Wolfe #21) by Rex Stout
146. All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley
147. Tigers & Tea with Toppy by Barbara Kerley with Rhoda Knight Kolt, illus. Matte Stephens

148. Jacques Pepin: The Art of the Chicken: A Master Chef's Paintings, Stories, and Recipes of the Humble Bird by Jacques Pepin
149. Kissing Christmas Goodbye (Agatha Raisin #18) by M. C. Beaton
150. A Dog So Small by Phillipa Pearce
151. Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller by Oliver Darkshire
152. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
153. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
154. Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
155. I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott, ill. Sydney Smith
156. Big by Vashti Harrison
157. Once Upon a Time in Persia by Sahir Doustar, ill. Daniela Tieni
158. We Are Starlings: Inside the Mesmerizing Magic of a Murmuration by Robert Furrow and Donna Jo Napoli, ill Marc Merton
159. Weslandia by David Fleischman, ill. Kevin Hawkes
160. Love is a Pink Cake: Irresistible Bakes for Morning, Noon and Night by Claire Ptak
161. The Trees by Percival Everett

I read these books in September:

162. All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, ill. Marla Frazee
163. A Spoonful of Poison (Agatha Raisin #19) by M. C. Beaton
164.The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley, ill. Brian Selznick
165. One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
166. Make Way for McCloskey: A Robert McCloskey Treasury by Robert McCloskey, intro by Leonard S. Marcus
167. Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
168. Wishes by Muon Thi Van, ill. Victo Ngai
169. What You Know First by Patricia MacLachlan, engravings by Barry Moser
170. My Shadow is Purple by Scott Stuart
171. In a Village by the Sea by Muon Thi Van, ill. April Chu
172. Leonardo da Vinci and the Italian High Renaissance (Great Course) by George R. Bent
173. There Goes the Bride (Agatha Raisin #20) by M. C. Beaton
174. Network Effect (Murderbot Diaries #5) by Martha Wells
175. Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts) by Samuel Beckett
176. It's Time to Sleep, My Love by Eric Metaxas, ill. Nancy Tillman
177. Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel
178. The Horror at Red Hook by H. P. Lovecraft, ed. Leslie S. Klinger
179. Track of the Cat (Anna Pigeon #1) by Nevada Barr

180. Busy Body (Agatha Raisin #21) by M. C. Beaton -- 3
181. Lean on Me by Bill Withers (song lyrics), ill. Rachel Moss -- 24
182. Eleanor: Quiet No More: The Life of Eleanor Roosevelt by Doreen Rappaport, ill. Gary Kelley -- 24
183. The Golden Spiders (Nero Wolfe #22) by Rex Stout -- 33

I read these books in October:

184. Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M. Schulz, by Luca Debus and Francesco Matteuzzi -- 35
185. As the Pig Turns (Agatha Raisin #22) by M. C. Beaton -- 54
186. Curves for Days by Laura Moher -- 55
187. Christmas Crumble (Agatha Raisin #22.5) by M. C. Beaton -- 64
188. Gidget by Frederick Kohner -- 71
189. The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club #4) by Richard Osman -- 79
190. Artemisia by Nathalie Ferlutk, ill. Tamia Baudouin -- 80
191. Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot Diaries #6) by Martha Wells -- 91
192. The Puppets of Spelhorst (A Norendy Tale) by Kate DiCamillo, ill. Julie Morstad -- 105
193. Hiss and Hers (Agatha Raisin #23) by M. C. Beaton -- 121
194. Let's Make Ramen: A Comic Book Cookbook by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan -- 133
195. The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass -- 134
196. Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher -- 148
197. The Wild Robot by Peter Brown -- 149
198. Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes by Robin Ha -- 152
199. Someone Like Me by Patricia MacLachlan, ill. Chris Sheban -- 162
200. The Hundred-Year Barn by Patricia MacLachlan, ill. Kenard Pak -- 162
201. Yellow Elephant: A Bright Bestiary by Julie Lavros, ill. Julie Paschkis -- 162

I read these books in November:

202. Holly by Stephen King -- 189
203. Something Borrowed, Someone Dead (Agatha Raisin #24) by M. C. Beaton -- 197
204. The Blood of an Englishman (Agatha Raisin #25) by M. C. Beaton -- 214
205. The English Experience: A Novel by Julie Schumacher -- 228
206. The Wild Robot Escapes (The Wild Robot #2) by Peter Brown -- 240
207. Small Saul by Ashley Spires -- 244
208. The Jewish Deli: An Illustrated Guide to the Chosen Food by Ben Nadler -- 256

Here is where I'll list the authors selected for the 2023 American Authors Challenge, the books I will read, and if I complete them (here's hoping!)

JANUARY: Children’s classics: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum - COMPLETED
FEBRUARY: Richard Powers: short story "Modulation" -- COMPLETED
MARCH: Poetry: The Best American Poetry 2021, ed. David Lehman -- Reading, North by Seamus Heaney -- COMPLETED
APRIL: Ursula Hegi -- Going to skip
MAY: John Edgar Wideman -- Going to skip
JUNE: Mary Gordon -- Going to skip
JULY: US Presidents as authors -- Going to skip
AUGUST: Percival Everett -- The Trees -- COMPLETED
SEPT: American Ladies of Crime -- Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr -- COMPLETED
OCT.: Dorothy Canfield Fisher -- Understood Betsy -- COMPLETED
NOV.: Canadian authors -- Read first story from The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro
DEC.: Benjamin Alire Saenz -- Plan to read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
WILD CARD: AAC 2014 REDUX

My 2003 "Books Read" list (casually kept, and probably incomplete): http://librata.blogspot.com/2012/04/karens-2003-reading-list.html
My 2004 "Books Read" list (see above caveats: things get better!):
http://librata.blogspot.com/2012/04/karens-2004-reading-list.html
My 2005 "Books Read" list (most pathetic list yet): http://librata.blogspot.com/2012/04/karens-2005-reading-list.html
My 2006 "Books Read" list : http://librata.blogspot.com/2012/04/karens-2006-reading-list.htm
My 2007 "Books Read" list : http://librata.blogspot.com/2012/04/karens-2007-reading-list.html
My 2008 "Books Read" list : http://librata.blogspot.com/2012/04/karens-2008-reading-list.html
My 2009 "Books Read" list : http://librata.blogspot.com/2012/04/karens-2009-reading-list.html
My 2010 "Books Read" list : http://librata.blogspot.com/2012/04/karens-2010-reading-list.html

Here is a link to my last thread from 2011: http://www.librarything.com/topic/122919

Here is a link to my last thread from 2012: http://www.librarything.com/topic/138897

Here is a link to my last thread from 2013:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/156012

Here is a link to my thread from 2014: http://www.librarything.com/topic/163564

Here is a link to my thread from 2015: https://www.librarything.com/topic/186139

Here is a link to my thread from 2016: http://www.librarything.com/topic/211096

Here is a link to my last thread from 2017: http://www.librarything.com/topic/268142#

Here is a link to my last thread from 2018: https://www.librarything.com/topic/298557

Here is a link to my one-and-only thread from 2019: https://www.librarything.com/topic/301738

The books I've read in the first half of 2020 (115 of them) are here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/314888

The books I read in the second half of 2020 are here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/322010#

The books I read in the first half of 2021 are here:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/328372#

The books I read in the second half of 2021 are here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/333390#

The books I read in the first quarter of 2022 are here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/338204#n7791489

The books I read in April and May of 2022 are here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/340601#n7851702

The books I read in June, July, part of August of 2022 are here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/342092#

The books I read in August through part of October of 2022 are here:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/343494#n7961305

The books I read from October to the end of year are here:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/345382#

Good reading to you!

I maintain a weekly "roundup" of the books I am reading: here is the roundup from last Friday:

Friday Reading Roundup!

Because I rely on libraries so much for my reading (and do so much eBook reading), what I'm reading at any given time changes often, and changes quickly.

Karen's current reading (09/22/2023):

Actively reading (or soon will be!)

Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot #6) by Martha Wells -- p. 2 of 168
The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club #4) by Richard Osman -- p. 17 of 322
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, ill. Grahame Baker Smith -- p. 6 of 191
The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith -- p. 128 of 424
Unnatural Habits (Phryne Fisher #19) by Kerry Greenwood -- p. 49 of 255
The Golden Spiders (Nero Wolfe #22) by Rex Stout -- p. 50 of 148
People of Darkness by Tony Hillerman -- p. 24 of 305
Busy Body (Agatha Raisin #21) by M. C. Beaton -- p. 23 of 278
Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M Schulz by Luca Debus and Francesco Matteuzi -- p. 50 of 440

I'm overbooked! I'll probably leave these on the list, but I can't truly say that I am actively reading them right now:

Sister of Grendel by Susan Thurston -- p. 4 of 164
The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E. M. Anderson -- p. 11 of 310
The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even by Alexander McCall Smith
I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai
The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer, p. 4 of 202
Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers by Emma Smith -- p. 31 of 314
Ready Player One (audiobook) by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton
Thursday Next in the Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde -- p. 10 of 373
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead -- p. 26 of 288

I try to participate in the American Authors Challenge. In September, we are reading Women Authors of Crime. I am reading the first Anna Pigeon, Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr -- p. 144 of 245.

I usually am reading/watching Great Courses. My current course is Understanding the Periodic Table by Ron B. Davis Jr, 24 half-hour lectures. I've finished 1 of 24.

Not-So-Time-Sensitive-But-Still-Want-to-Get-to-Them (so, these are readily available to me although I might not be reading them quite yet or may have had to return them to the library; most are my own books)

The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer -- p. 3 of 238
The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes by Larry Millett -- p. 0 of 340
Marple: Twelve New Stories by assorted authors
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
The Bob-iverse books! (reread)

180. Busy Body (Agatha Raisin #21) by M. C. Beaton



Now Agatha and the gang have two murders to solve, and they may or may not be connected. There's a new intern detective in the agency, young Simon Black, and he is appears to be a great fit with the group. This was a fun read.

I loved this passage: "Mrs. Bloxby had often wished that her friend would grow out of her silly obsessions, but she thought, Agatha without an obsession seemed gutted somehow."

Happy new thread, Karen!

New 🧵 orisons, Karen O.! *smooch*

Happy new thread, Karen. xx

Happy new one, Karen!

Happy new thread :)

Happy Wednesday, Karen. Happy New Thread. I am glad we plan to keep Film Fest going!!

Happy New 🧵, Karen! Many good reads ahead.

>4 atozgrl: >5 richardderus: >6 PaulCranswick: >7 katiekrug:>8 >9 msf59: >10 vancouverdeb: Thank you all for the lovely new thread greetings!

Wordle 830 3/6 irate, chime, smile

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Etymonline.com: smile (v.)
c. 1300, smilen, "assume a facial expression or change of features indicative of amusement and pleasure," perhaps from Middle Low German *smilen (compare Middle High German smielen) or a Scandinavian source (such as Danish smile "smile," Swedish smila "smile, smirk, simper, fawn"), from Proto-Germanic *smil-, extended form of PIE root *smei- "to laugh, smile" (source also of Sanskrit smayate "smiles;" Latvian smiêt "to laugh;" Latin mirus "wonderful," mirari "to wonder;" Old English smerian "to laugh at, scorn," Old High German smieron "to smile"). Related: Smiled; smiling; smilingly.
It gradually pushed the usual Old English word, smearcian (modern smirk), into a specific, unpleasant sense. Of the eyes, from 1759. Figuratively (of Fortune, etc.), as indicating favor or encouragement, from c. 1400. In Middle English to smile still (c. 1400) was to smile to oneself.
The saying smile and the world smiles with you is by 1884, in quotation marks, in newspaper poetry. An early second line to it was, frown, and it frowns again. 1886, credited to E.L. Ellsworth, "Cleveland Leader"
The Romance, Celtic, and Slavic languages tend to use a diminutive of the word for "laugh" to mean "smile" (such as Latin ridere "laugh;" subridere "smile"), perhaps literally "small laugh" or "low laugh."
also from c. 1300
smile (n.)
mid-15c., "expression of the face like that at the start of a laugh, indicating amusement, pleasure, etc.," from smile (v.).

Connections
Puzzle #108
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Happy new one, Karen.

Happy new thread, Karen!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Karen!

Happy new thread and happy Wednesday, Karen :)

>13 BLBera: >14 alcottacre: >15 drneutron: >16 FAMeulstee: >17 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you all for your warm welcome! Have a wonderful Thursday!

Wordle 831 4/6 irate, bland, champ, coach

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etymonline.com: coach (n.)
1550s, "large kind of four-wheeled, covered carriage," from French coche (16c.), from German kotsche, from Hungarian kocsi (szekér) "(carriage) of Kocs," village where it was first made. In Hungary, the thing and the name for it date from 15c., and forms are found since 16c. in most European languages (Spanish and Portuguese coche, Italian cocchino, Dutch koets). Vehicles often were named for the place of their invention or first use (compare berlin, landau, surrey). Applied to railway passenger cars by 1866, American English. Sense of "economy or tourist class" is from 1949.
Meaning "instructor/trainer" is c. 1830 Oxford University slang for a private tutor who "carries" a student through an exam (compare pony in the student slang sense "translation"). Transferred sense in sports, "person employed to train athletes for a contest" is attested from 1861. A more classical word for an athletic trainer was agonistarch, from Greek agonistarkhes "one who trains (someone) to compete in the public games and contests."
All panelled carriages with seats for four persons inside, and an elevated coachman's seat, are designated coaches. The town coach proper, has windows in the doors, and one in each end, the quarters being panelled. Henry William Herbert ("Frank Forester"), "Hints to Horse-Keepers," New York, 1859
also from 1550s
coach (v.)
1610s, "to convey in a coach," from coach (n.). Meaning "to tutor, give private instruction to, prepare (someone) for an exam or a contest" is from 1849. Related: Coached; coaching.

Connections — I took my time with the sorting and had success.

Puzzle #109
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215 is a lot of books from the 1001 list. I started reading it, and have read quite a few of the classics, but they just ended up to literary for me to read book-after-book. I am a sliw reader and like a little fluff. Well about 50% fluff, in reality.

>3 klobrien2: Looks like a fun read, Karen! Happy Weekend ahead!

>20 The_Hibernator: I have really slacked off on my reading from the 1001 Book list. There are too many other books that come to my attention (both new and not so new). I've enjoyed the 1001 Books reading, and maybe I'll try to do more in the new year.

Thanks for stopping by!

>21 vancouverdeb: I really like the Agatha Raisin books! Good thing there are so many of them. Happy weekend to you, too!

A couple of great picture books, featuring heroes. Thanks again to whisper1 for her recommendations!



181. Lean on Me: A Children's Picture Book by Bill Withers, ill. Rachel Moss



Sweet picture book featuring the lyrics of the classic Bill Withers song, with pictures illustrating the lives of four children through their early years.



182. Eleanor: Quiet No More: The Life of Eleanor Roosevelt by Doreen Rappaport, ill. Gary Kelley



The life of Eleanor Roosevelt, beautifully illustrated, and masterfully told.

Wordle 832 4/6 irate, arose, agree, azure

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Etymonline.com: Love this word! And its etymology ain’t bad, neither!
azure (n.)
"sky-blue color; pigment or paint made of powdered lapis lazuli," early 14c., from Old French azur, asur, a color name (12c.), from a false separation of Medieval Latin lazur, lazuri (as though the -l- were the French article l'), which comes from Greek lazour, from Persian lajward, from Lajward, a place in Turkestan mentioned by Marco Polo, where the stone was collected.
also from early 14c.
Entries linking to azure

lapis lazuli (n.)
"azure-stone, rich ultramarine silicate stone," early 15c., from Middle Latin lapis lazuli, literally "stone of azure," from Latin lapis "a stone" (see lapideous) + Medieval Latin lazuli, genitive of lazulum, from Arabic lazuward (see azure).

Connections
Puzzle #110
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>25 klobrien2: One of my favorites on all fronts. Have the weekend delightful, dear lady! *smooch*

>26 richardderus: I even like just saying today’s word…I hope you have a wonderful weekend, Richard!

Friday Reading Roundup!

Because I rely on libraries so much for my reading (and do so much eBook reading), what I'm reading at any given time changes often, and changes quickly.

Karen's current reading (09/29/2023):

Actively reading (or soon will be!)

Holly by Stephen King -- p. 2 of 449
The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club #4) by Richard Osman -- p. 71 of 322
The Golden Spiders (Nero Wolfe #22) by Rex Stout -- p. 114 of 148
Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot #6) by Martha Wells -- p. 2 of 168
Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M Schulz by Luca Debus and Francesco Matteuzi -- p. 150 of 440
The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E. M. Anderson -- p. 24 of 310
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, ill. Grahame Baker Smith -- p. 19 of 191
Unnatural Habits (Phryne Fisher #19) by Kerry Greenwood -- p. 49 of 255
People of Darkness by Tony Hillerman -- p. 24 of 305

I'm overbooked! I'll probably leave these on the list, but I can't truly say that I am actively reading them right now:

The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith -- p. 128 of 424
The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even by Alexander McCall Smith
I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai
The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer, p. 4 of 202
Ready Player One (audiobook) by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton
Thursday Next in the Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde -- p. 10 of 373
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead -- p. 26 of 288

I try to participate in the American Authors Challenge. In October, we are reading books by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I will read Understanding Betsy.

I usually am reading/watching Great Courses. My current course is Understanding the Periodic Table by Ron B. Davis Jr, 24 half-hour lectures. I've finished 1 of 24.

Not-So-Time-Sensitive-But-Still-Want-to-Get-to-Them (so, these are readily available to me although I might not be reading them quite yet or may have had to return them to the library; most are my own books)

The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer -- p. 3 of 238
The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes by Larry Millett -- p. 0 of 340
Marple: Twelve New Stories by assorted authors
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
The Bob-iverse books! (reread)

Wordle 833 4/6 irate, cloud, dandy, daddy

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Etymonline.com: daddy (n.)
c. 1500, colloquial diminutive of dad, with -y (3). Slang daddy-o is attested by 1949, from bop talk.
Daddy-long-legs is from 1814 in Britain as "crane-fly," a slender, long-legged summer fly. In the U.S., it was used by 1865 as the word for a spider-like arachnid with a small round body and very long, slender legs.
A superstition obtains among our cow-boys that if a cow be lost, its whereabouts may be learned by inquiring of the Daddy-Long-legs (Phalangium), which points out the direction of the lost animal with one of its fore legs. Frank Cowan, "Curious Facts in the History of Insects, Including Spiders and Scorpions," Philadelphia, 1865
also from c. 1500
Entries linking to daddy

dad (n.)
"a father, papa," recorded from c. 1500, but probably much older, from child's speech, nearly universal and probably prehistoric (compare Welsh tad, Irish daid, Lithuanian tėtė, Sanskrit tatah, Czech tata, Latin tata "father," Greek tata, used by youths to their elders). Compare papa.
-y (3)
suffix in pet proper names (such as Johnny, Kitty), first recorded in Scottish c. 1400; according to OED it became frequent in English 15c.-16c. Extension to surnames seems to date from c. 1940. Use with common nouns seems to have begun in Scottish with laddie (1546) and become popular in English due to Burns' poems, but the same formation appears to be represented much earlier in baby and puppy.

Connections
Puzzle #111
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>29 klobrien2: Interests me that the word's ancestry is described as "near-universal"...where's it NOT used? Curious the paths that etymology leads my brain down.

A long-ago friend told me that my love of trivia and oddball information was me giving chew-toys to my brain to keep it from eating the furniture. I've never felt so seen before or since.

>30 richardderus: That's great ("chew-toys for the brain"). I'm getting a lot of entertainment and comfort from my puzzles lately, that's for sure.

I really look forward to seeing you here! You have been a faithful friend! Or, is that "faithful fiend," haha.

>30 richardderus: "chew toys for the brain" -- I love it!!

183. The Golden Spiders (Nero Wolfe #22) by Rex Stout



I really enjoyed this one, about a set of murders involving a woman wearing spider earrings. I remember this plot from the TV series. Art bought me my own DVD set of the show; I should start watching that again!

>31 klobrien2:, >32 RebaRelishesReading: It's the perfect description of my obsessive quest for information, and it's so pithy it's vey quotable.

Happy-Sunday *smooch*

Fiendishly yours,
Me.

184. Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M. Schulz by Luca Debus and Francesco Mateuzzi



A really interesting approach to the presenting of a biography--it's in comic strip form. Thanks to msf59 for bringing the book to my attention!

Wordle 834 4/6 irate, treT, rebut, beret

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Etymonline.com: beret (n.)
also berret, "round, flat, woolen cap," originally worn by Basque peasants, 1827 as a fashionable accessory, from French béret, 19c., from dialect of Béarn, from Old Gascon berret "cap," from Medieval Latin birretum, diminutive of Late Latin birrus "a large hooded cloak," a word perhaps of Gaulish origin. For the clerical version, see biretta.
also from 1827
Entries linking to beret

biretta (n.)
square cap worn by Catholic clergy, 1590s, from Italian beretta, from Late Latin birrus, birrum "large cloak with hood;" which is perhaps of Gaulish origin, or from Greek pyrros "flame-colored, yellow."

Connections —a few false starts, but I deselected and shuffled and rethought.

Puzzle #112
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Just had a lovely two-day visit from daughter Cindy and my two grandsons, Rory (12) and Quin (8). What fun, loving people! And they were so helpful, doing chores, and keeping me entertained. The house seems extra quiet now!

Cindy had the Barbie movie on an app, so we watched that last night, and I loved it! We watched a few “Ren and Stimpy” episodes, which we loved when Cindy was Rory’s age, and which the boys are crazy for now.

>37 klobrien2: We have a grandson Quinn (ours with 2 n's) who is 5 :) I've run into a few girls around that age named Quinn but yours is the first other boy I'm "met". So nice you got to spend a couple of days with him, his brother and his mother.

>38 RebaRelishesReading: “Quin” is actually short for Quinlan; “Rory” is short for Riordan. They hardly ever get called by their full names, probably unless someone is quite upset with them, I guess. They are great boys!

Thanks for stopping by!

Very lucky second guess (wanted to use the two found letters and figure out the last).

Wordle 835 3/6 irate, mercy, merry

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Etymology: merry (adj.)
Middle English mirie, from Old English myrge "pleasing, agreeable, pleasant, sweet, exciting feelings of enjoyment and gladness" (said of grass, trees, the world, music, song); also as an adverb, "pleasantly, melodiously," from Proto-Germanic *murgijaz, which probably originally meant "short-lasting," (compare Old High German murg "short," Gothic gamaurgjan "to shorten"), from PIE root *mregh-u- "short." The only exact cognate for meaning outside English was Middle Dutch mergelijc "joyful."
The connection to "pleasure" likely was via the notion of "making time fly, that which makes the time seem to pass quickly" (compare German Kurzweil "pastime," literally "a short time;" Old Norse skemta "to amuse, entertain, amuse oneself," from skamt, neuter of skammr "short"). There also was a verbal form in Old English, myrgan "be merry, rejoice." For vowel evolution, see bury (v.).
Not originally applied to humorous moods or speech or conduct, yet the word had a much wider senses in Middle English than modern: "pleasant-sounding" (of animal voices), "fine" (of weather), "handsome" (of dress), "pleasant-tasting" (of herbs). The evolution of the modern senses is probably via the meaning "pleased by a certain event or situation or state of things" (c. 1200). Of persons, "cheerful by disposition or nature; playfully cheerful, enlivened with gladness or good spirits," by mid-14c.
Merry-bout "an incident of sexual intercourse" was low slang from 1780. Merry-begot "illegitimate" (adj.), also "bastard" (n.) are in Grose (1785). Merrie England (now frequently satirical or ironic) is c. 1400, meri ingland, originally in a broader sense of "bountiful, prosperous." Merry Monday was a 16c. term for "the Monday before Shrove Tuesday" (Mardi Gras).

Connections —The last two took some thinking…

Puzzle #113
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>40 klobrien2: I do so love merry-begot for bastard! Bloody-minded English, with its plethora of be-verbs!

*smooch*

>41 richardderus: I love that one, Richard Never heard it before.

Wordle 836 3/6 irate, whine, while

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Etymonline.com: (Me: interesting how the “hw” switched to “wh”!) while (n.)
Old English hwile, accusative of hwil "a space of time," from Proto-Germanic *hwilo (source also of Old Saxon hwil, Old Frisian hwile, Old High German hwila, German Weile, Gothic hveila "space of time, while"), originally "rest" (compare Old Norse hvila "bed," hvild "rest"), from PIE *kwi-lo-, suffixed form of root *kweie- "to rest, be quiet." Notion of "period of rest" became in Germanic "period of time."
Now largely superseded by time except in formulaic constructions (such as all the while). Middle English sense of "short space of time spent in doing something" now only preserved in worthwhile and phrases such as worth (one's) while. As a conjunction, "during or in the time that; as long as" (late Old English), it represents Old English þa hwile þe, literally "the while that." Form whiles is recorded from early 13c.; whilst is from late 14c., with unetymological -st as in amongst, amidst. Service while-you-wait is attested from 1911.
while (v.)
"to cause (time) to pass (without dullness)," 1630s, earlier "to occupy or engage (someone or something) for a period of time" (c. 1600), new formation from while (n.), not considered to be from Middle English hwulen "to have leisure," which is from a Germanic verb form of while (n.) (compare German weilen "to stay, linger"). An association with phrases such as Shakespearean beguile the day, Latin diem decipere, French tromper le temps "has led to the substitution of WILE v by some modern writers" OED (see wile (v.)).

Connections
Puzzle #114
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>43 klobrien2: A really interesting coincidence on the day I was finishing up Menewood! A really cool synchronicity.

*smooch*

This was in today’s post from my CSA (my “farm box” people):

Let us Give Thanks for a Bounty of People

As the second-to-last week of our CSA season arrives, we find ourselves at a juncture where the bounty of the harvest is soon to transition into the stillness of winter. In this moment of reflection and gratitude, we turn to words of Reverend Max Coots, whose poignant poem captures the essence of our journey. His prayer, which we share every season, reminds us to honor the diverse friendships and relationships that have nurtured us throughout the season, drawing parallels between the people in our lives and the ever-changing, yet enduring, cycles of nature. In the spirit of thankfulness, let us embrace this prayer as a heartfelt expression of our appreciation for the abundance we’ve shared and the connections we’ve forged.

by Reverend Max Coots

Let us give thanks for a bounty of people:
For children who are our second planting, and though they grow like weeds
and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation
and fondly remember where their roots are.
Let us give thanks.
For generous friends with hearts as big as hubbards, and smiles as bright as blossoms;
For feisty friends as tart as apples;
For continuous friends, who, like scallions, keep reminding
us that we’ve had them;
For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;
For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant
as a row of corn, and others as plain as potatoes, and so good for you.
For funny friends, as silly as brussel sprouts; and serious friends,
as complex as cauliflower and as intricate as onions;
For friends as unpretentious as cabbage, as subtle as summer squash,
as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini,
and who, like parsnips, can be counted on to see you through the long winter;
For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, and
young friends coming on as fast as radishes;
For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us,
despite our blights, wilts, and witherings;
And finally, for those friends now gone like gardens past,
but who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter;
For all these we give thanks.

>44 richardderus: Hiya, Richard! I love synchronicities! And juxtapositions. They’re all copacetic with me! 8>)

>45 klobrien2: Lovely prayer or post, as you wish. Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated Monday , October 9, though my family is having a get together -dinner on the 8th instead.

It's a beautiful prayer.

I'm glad you had the visit from your daughter and your grandsons. When I was young, there was a family down the road with 4 boys, Ray, Ryan and Rory. The 4 th son also was an R name, but I can't remember it now. My mom mightk now.

Happy Wednesday, Karen. I am so glad you read and enjoyed Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M Schulz . I am about halfway and having a good time with it too. I knew very little of his background.

I also liked the prayer up there.

>47 vancouverdeb: My brother and SIL named all their boys with “W” names—Wesley, Warren, William, and Walker.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to you! In America, the day used to be known as Columbus Day, but now is officially referred to as Indigenous Peoples Day (which I much prefer).

Thanks for stopping by to chat!

>48 msf59: Hi, Mark! Thank you for pointing Funny Things out to us! I did like the book. The authors didn’t shy away from portraying Schulz’s complicated character. The book did tend to bog down for me at times. But I thought the comic strip approach was terrific!

Thanks for visiting!

Did a lot of thinking about this one! I had 2 letters, but absolutely no idea what the word might be. I knew what the vowel had to be, and I knew the ending letter was probably one of my two foundlings. My third word was mostly a lucky guess, but I was very happy with it!

Wordle 837 3/6 irate, throw, spurt

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Etymonline.com: spurt (v.)
"to gush out, squirt," 1560s, said to be a variant of spirt, itself of obscure origin, perhaps related to Middle High German spürzen "to spit," and sprützen "to squirt" (see sprout (v.)), perhaps ultimately imitative. Related: Spurted; spurting. The noun in this sense is attested from 1775.
also from 1560s
spurt (n.)
"brief burst or outbreak of some activity," 1590s, variant of spirt "brief period of time" (1540s), which is of uncertain origin, perhaps connected with spurt (v.).



Connections
Puzzle #115
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>51 klobrien2: They used this word...! It's common enough in only one usage I know of describing "growth" and beyond that it's not too much used as far as I recall anyway. Wordle wins the interesting choices derby today.

Happy Wednesday, Karen O.

>52 richardderus: “Wordle wins the interesting choices derby today.”

No kidding! Seemed really an unusual choice! And kind of a boring etymology.

I’ll be to your thread in a bit!

185. As the Pig Turns: An Agatha Raisin Mystery (Agatha Raisin #22) by M.C. Beaton



Another excellent installment in the Agatha Raisin series. I remember this one from the TV series, although plot elements, of course, were changed; the basic structure remained. Lots of old characters, a few new ones. Good times.

186. Curves for Days by Laura Moher



I don't read many "romance" books; if they were all as good as this, maybe I would read more. The author writes from the POVs of both Rosie and Angus, and so we're able to know how both characters are feeling and thinking. No faking. There is some nice, hot, passion, but it's love and redemption that are the important things here. Topics of bullying, PTSD, body positivity...lots to think about.

I read about this book in a recent Booklist. I'm psyched to know that this book is planned to be the first in a series!

>55 klobrien2: - Karen, you might give Olivia Dade's books a try if you want something similar. Start maybe with Spoiler Alert...

>56 katiekrug: I concur. I love Spoiler Alert and The Brown Sisters is another good option for a body positivity series.

>56 katiekrug: >57 dreamweaver529: Thanks for the reccies, you two! I’ve requested Spoiler Alert from my library, although there’s a bit of a wait.

I have to say, with Curves All Day, the “body positivity” was only a minor element, not a big theme. Not what one might think from the title or the cover.

Thanks for coming by!

Flailed around a little bit today, but eventually got there!

Wordle 838 5/6 irate, cloud, mucky, hunch, bunch

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Etymonline.com: bunch (n.)
mid-14c., "a bundle;" late 14c., "protuberance on the body, swelling, knob, lump," probably from Old French dialectal bonge "bundle," a nasalized form of Old French bouge (2), 15c., from Flemish bondje diminutive of boud "bundle." The sense of "a cluster, joined collection of things of the same kind" is from mid-15c. The looser meaning "a lot, a group of any kind" is from 1620s.
also from mid-14c.
bunch (v.)
late 14c., "to bulge out," from bunch (n.). The meaning "to gather up in a bunch" (transitive) is from 1828; sense of "to crowd together" (intransitive) is from 1850. Related: Bunched; bunching.

Connections —squeaked out a solve!

Puzzle #116
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>33 klobrien2: I think I have only read the first of the Nero Wolfe's books. That is a series that I really should read!

>54 klobrien2: I read the Agatha Raisin series early on but stopped at about book 10(?) I had no idea it was still ongoing.

>55 klobrien2: I do not read much romance these days - I used to read a ton - but that one sounds pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation, Karen.

>59 klobrien2: hmmm

Strange etymology...anither weird word, too.

Happy Thursday's reads, smoochling!

>59 klobrien2: Thanks for dropping by my thread; it meant I came to find you again.

I didn't get the Connections today - too many US-centric combinations for me, I think. I'm not sure what aunt is, in the context they used it.

>62 humouress: Oh, yes, I can understand that! "aunt" pronounced "ant"

I hope you don't give up on Connections! I almost thought I was out of luck today.

Thanks for stopping by!

187. Christmas Crumble (Agatha Raisin #22.5) by M. C. Beaton



A short story written for the 20th anniversary of Agatha Raisin. Very skimpy and unsatisfying. I don't think the Agatha Raisin thing works in a short story format. But the inclusion of several oldsters ("crumblies" in UK slang?) and Christmas traditions was kind of fun.

>62 humouress: - that category was *insect homophones*. That's why the context was confusing. It took me getting all the others and being left with only those last 4, and then I saw the category label. aunt/ant

Wordle 839 3/6 irate, biome, chime

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Etymonline.com: I almost heard bells in my ears when reading this etymology! chime (n.)
c. 1300, chymbe "a cymbal," from Old French chimbe or directly from Latin cymbalum (see cymbal, the modern word for what this word originally meant). Old English had cymbal, cimbal in the "cymbal" sense. Evidently the word was shortened in Old French then misinterpreted in Middle English as chymbe bellen (a form also attested from c. 1300) and its sense shifted to "set of bells in a church or clock tower, apparatus or arrangement for striking bells," which is attested from mid-15c. Meaning "set of bells tuned to a musical scale" is from 1560s.
also from c. 1300
chime (v.)
mid-14c., chyme, from chime (n.). Originally of metal, etc.; of voices from late 14c. To chime in originally was musical, "join harmoniously;" of conversation by 1838. Related: Chimed; chiming.

Connections
Puzzle #117
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Taking a cue from Jessibud2 and spoiler-ing today’s Connections: Yellow—Laughter, in a text; Green—Art movements; Blue—Peter Pan characters; Purple—Lady ____

Out of the blue, a blessing: One of my lovely neighbors brought over a bouquet of flowers to cheer me (sorry that the picture is so dark! Cat Midnight wanted to smell the flowers, is lurking in back):

From today’s GriefShare email: “Fear, depression, anger, loneliness, despair—these emotions come and go with dizzying unpredictability. Your life is like a roller-coaster ride that you can’t get off.

Stay on the ride. You cannot hurry the grieving process. Each time one of these emotions comes flooding back, it is a sign that you are recovering.”

I found this so reassuring! It is truly a “blessed assurance”!

I can’t recommend the GriefShare program enough, for those of the Christian persuasion, or the religiously tolerant.

>68 klobrien2: - I am not Christian and not religious at all in any way but the first part of what you quoted speaks volumes to me. I am not sure I agree with the last sentence but that's ok, that's just me. Thank you for posting this.

>67 klobrien2: How very kind, and what a great choice of color!

*smooch*

188. Gidget by Frederick Kohner



I grew up watching a lot of TV, and "Gidget," with Sally Fields and Don Porter and Pete Duel(!) was in the rotation. When I decided to read the book on which the show, and lots of movies with Sandra Dee, was based, I really didn't expect much from the reading.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the book. The author based the book on his daughter and her experiences with the surf culture of "Old Malibu." The language was imaginative and the characters were charming. Lots of humor and love shown.

I've started watching the 32 episodes of the TV show on YouTube. It has okay subtitles though the audio on my laptop is so much better than that on my TV that I sometimes don't need them. The show does have a canned laugh track, but I can tune that out. Overall, it's very enjoyable. Little bits of fun with those great shots of the Pacific and surfing!

Friday Reading Roundup!

Because I rely on libraries so much for my reading (and do so much eBook reading), what I'm reading at any given time changes often, and changes quickly.

Karen's current reading (10/06/2023):

Actively reading (or soon will be!)

The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club #4) (TIOLI #2 shared read) by Richard Osman -- p. 143 of 322
Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot #6) by Martha Wells -- p. 2 of 168
Holly by Stephen King -- p. 31 of 437 (Nook)
The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E. M. Anderson -- p. 24 of 310
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, ill. Grahame Baker Smith -- p. 19 of 191
Unnatural Habits (Phryne Fisher #19) by Kerry Greenwood -- p. 49 of 255
Three Men Out (Nero Wolfe #23) by Rex Stout -- p. 13 of 154
Hallowe'en Party (basis for "Haunting in Venice") by Agatha Christie (Nook)

I'm overbooked! I'll probably leave these on the list, but I can't truly say that I am actively reading them right now:

The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith -- p. 128 of 424
The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even by Alexander McCall Smith
I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai
Ready Player One (audiobook) by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton
Thursday Next in the Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde -- p. 10 of 373
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead -- p. 26 of 288

I try to participate in the American Authors Challenge. In October, we are reading books by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I will read Understood Betsy (TIOLI #1 shared read) -- p. 7 of 114.

I usually am reading/watching Great Courses. My current course is Understanding the Periodic Table by Ron B. Davis Jr, 24 half-hour lectures. I've finished 1 of 24. I had to return to the library, but I should have it back in 3 weeks or so.

Not-So-Time-Sensitive-But-Still-Want-to-Get-to-Them (so, these are readily available to me although I might not be reading them quite yet or may have had to return them to the library; most are my own books)

The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer -- p. 3 of 238
The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes by Larry Millett -- p. 0 of 340
Marple: Twelve New Stories by assorted authors
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
The Bob-iverse books! (reread)

“Phew!”, indeed! Really struggled with Wordle today. I even resorted to the “2309” list for help, and it did help.

Wordle 840 6/6 irate, china, mafia, pizza, villa, viola

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Etymonline.com: viola (n.)
"tenor violin," 1797, from Italian viola, from Old Provençal viola, from Medieval Latin vitula "stringed instrument," perhaps from Vitula, Roman goddess of joy (see fiddle), or from related Latin verb vitulari "to exult, be joyful." Viola da gamba "bass viol" (1724) is from Italian, literally "a viola for the leg" (i.e. to hold between the legs).
also from 1797
Viola
fem. proper name, from Latin viola "the violet" (see violet).

Connections —got a “Phew!” here, too

Puzzle #118
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yellow-rhymes, green-natural features, blue-irregular verbs, purple-palindromes

I sort of "fell into" Wordle today but I struggled with Connections too.

>67 klobrien2: Oh, how nice!

>68 klobrien2: Stay on the ride. You cannot hurry the grieving process. Each time one of these emotions comes flooding back, it is a sign that you are recovering. I have found that to be so true. I am glad you found it to be reassuring, Karen!

>72 klobrien2: I am currently reading The Last Devil to Die and enjoying it. I hope you do as well whenever you get to it.

>67 klobrien2: How lovely!

>73 klobrien2: I got Wordle in 3 today; my starter word used to be the same as yours until my son gave me audio and then I got all the letters on my second guess but in the wrong order.

>67 klobrien2: What a nice neighbour! Is that sheet music under the flowers?

>75 alcottacre: Hi, Stasia! Thanks for your kind remarks. I just finished The Last Devil to Die and will post it today.

>76 humouress: That is a great first word! I wish you continued success in Wordle! 8>)

>77 figsfromthistle: Yes, it's the sheet music of "Across the Great Divide," under plexiglass on the coffee table. No particular reason other than I came across the pages years ago at a antiques shop.

Thank you all for stopping by! I'll be around to your threads in a bit.

189. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman



Thoroughly enjoyed this fourth installment in the Thursday Murder Club books. I have missed the characters, and I'm glad to see how they continue to evolve. I chuckled and cried my way through the book, and am glad to know that the author is planning more books, after a switch to a new set of crime solvers.

A miscellany of quotes from the book:

“She spent her next few years too sad to live but too scared to die, reeling through a haze of grief and madness, always quick with a cup of tea and a smile for her customers, accepting their well-meaning sympathies, playing bridge, tending the shop, reciting from memory the pleasantries and the platitudes, while hoping every day might be her last.”

“May you be granted health and wealth and wisdom, and may you see your beauty reflected in those around you.”

And the meaning behind the book title:

“However noble the causes of her career were, they weren’t noble enough to excuse the disregard for life. Day after day, mission after mission, ridding the world of evil? Waiting for the last devil to die? What a joke. New devils will always spring up, like daffodils in springtime.”

“That’s the thing about Coopers Chase. You’d imagine it was quiet and sedate, like a village pond on a summer’s day. But in truth it never stops moving, it’s always in motion. And that motion is aging, and death, and love, and grief, and final snatched moments and opportunities grasped. The urgency of old age. There’s nothing that makes you feel more alive than the certainty of death.”

I just love Osman’s writing!

190. Artemisia by Nathalie Ferlut and Tamia Baudouin (ill.)



This graphic fictionalization of the life of Artemisia Gentileschi is dramatic and compelling, but the artwork and lettering is rough and almost comical at times. The action keeps jumping around and I was lost on the "road trip" a few times. This still was a fun read!

Happy Sunday, Karen. I hope you are having a good weekend. I am still making my way through "Funny Things". I am enjoying it very much but it could have edited better. I think a 100 pages shorter, would have worked.

Gidget! OMIGAWSH

I'd completely forgotten that show, and if we ever watched it, I don't recall it. I know I never knew that Pete Duel was in it, since the only thing I remember about him is that he killed himself while starring in a cop show in the early 1970s.

Happy week-ahead's reads, Karen O.

>81 msf59: About Funny Things being too long— I agree, completely.

>82 richardderus: Yes, it was very sad about Pete Duel. From IMDB: “evidence pointing to death by suicide with depression and serious alcohol problems seen as contributing factors.” I had such a crush on him as a girl.

He’s got a fun role in Gidget—he’s husband to Gidget’s sister, kind of nerdy, psychiatry student.

Happy Sunday to you both!

Wordle 841 3/6 irate, guile, binge

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🟦⬜🟦⬜🟧
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Etymology: binge (n.)
1854, "drinking bout," also (v.) "drink heavily, soak up alcohol;" dialectal use of binge "soak" (a wooden vessel). Said to have been originally as a dialect word. Binge is noted in Evans' "Leicestershire Words, Phrases and Proverbs" (London, 1848) as a dialect verb for "To soak in water a wooden vessel, that would otherwise leak," to make the wood swell. He adds that it was extended locally to excessive drinking ("soaking").
The sense was extended c. World War I to include eating as well as drinking. Binge-watching is from 1996. Related: Binged; bingeing.

Connections
Puzzle #119
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yellow (easiest)—celebratory occasions; green—phone connectivity; blue—cities and towns in England; purple (hardest)— ____ opera

Wordle 842 3/6 irate, froth, truth

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Etymonline.com: truth (n.)
Old English triewð (West Saxon), treowð (Mercian) "faith, faithfulness, fidelity, loyalty; veracity, quality of being true; pledge, covenant," from Germanic abstract noun *treuwitho, from Proto-Germanic treuwaz "having or characterized by good faith," from PIE *drew-o-, a suffixed form of the root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast." With Germanic abstract noun suffix *-itho (see -th (2)).
Sense of "something that is true" is first recorded mid-14c. Meaning "accuracy, correctness" is from 1560s. English and most other IE languages do not have a primary verb for "speak the truth," as a contrast to lie (v.). Truth squad in U.S. political sense first attested in the 1952 U.S. presidential election campaign.
At midweek the Republican campaign was bolstered by an innovation—the "truth squad" ..., a team of senators who trailed whistle-stopping Harry Truman to field what they denounced as his wild pitches. Life magazine, Oct. 13, 1952
Let Truth and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter. Milton, "Areopagitica," 1644

Connections
Puzzle #120
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yellow—crops, green—slang for head, blue—song, purple—things that whistle

>85 klobrien2: The Milton quote's very comforting, but I fear fails to mention the time lag in its execution. *sigh*

Happy week-ahead's reads, Karen O. *smooch*

Wordle 843 3/6 irate, plain, snail

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Etymonline.com: snail (n.)
common name for a small gastropod on land or in fresh water, Middle English snail, from Old English snægl, from Proto-Germanic *snagila (source also of Old Saxon snegil, Old Norse snigill, Danish snegl, Swedish snigel, Middle High German snegel, dialectal German Schnegel, Old High German snecko, German Schnecke "snail").
This is reconstructed to be from *snog-, a variant of PIE root *sneg- "to crawl, creep; creeping thing" (see snake (n.)). The word essentially is a diminutive form of Old English snaca "snake," etymologically, "creeping thing."
Snail also formerly was used of slugs. Symbolic of slowness at least since c. 1000; snail's pace "very slow pace" is attested from c. 1400. Related: Snaily; snailish; snailing.

Connections —struggled with the last two groups! Had the right idea, but lacked knowledge.

Puzzle #121
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Today’s categories: yellow—origin, green—Bible books, blue—NHL teams, purple—power ____

>87 klobrien2: I struggled with the blues too and ended up not getting it done in time :(

>79 klobrien2: I loved it too! I am looking forward to his new series while waiting for more Thursday Murder Club books.

>89 alcottacre: Yep, that's how I feel about Richard Osman's books! Since we now will wait patiently for another TMC, I'm sure what he does next will be a lot of fun, too!

>88 RebaRelishesReading: The blue connection was definitely NOT in my wheelhouse, but I had the right idea. The purple, I had no clue at all.

>86 richardderus: Hiya, Richard!

Thank you all for stopping by!

191. Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot Diaries #6) by Martha Wells



Such a good reread of such an action-packed Murderbot entry!

My quest for completeness led to the discovery of a Murderbot short story, placed as the 0.5 entry in the canon:



Compulsory (Murderbot Diaries #0.5) by Martha Wells



Fun story, but VERY short. Very much an origin story for Murderbot. She (in my mind) is so heroic! I won't list this as "a book read" because it was so little.

I have yet to read a book by Richard Osman, but I own the first one and they seem so well liked on LT , I need to get to it. I bombed out on yesterdays Connections. Ah well!

>92 vancouverdeb: I think you should read Osman, and I hope you like the book(s)! Sorry about your Connections yesterday. As you can see, I barely made it myself. Better luck today!

Guessed my head off today! Really slow start…

Wordle 844 3/6 irate, cloud, skunk

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⬜⬜⬜🟦⬜
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Etymology: skunk (n.)
common weasel-like mammal of North America that emits a fetid odor when threatened, 1630s, squunck, from a southern New England Algonquian language (perhaps Massachusett) word, from Proto-Algonquian */šeka:kwa/, from */šek-/ "to urinate" + */-a:kw/ "fox" Bright.
Among Europeans, who sometimes called it after their polecat, the skunk is one of the earliest noted and described of the North American animals. Sagard-Théodat's "Histoire du Canada" (1636) introduced it to the naturalists as "enfans du diable, que les Hurons appelle Scangaresse, ... une beste fort puante," etc. Karen adds a translation: “Children of the devil, whom the Hurons call Scangaresse,... a very stinky beste”
Eighteenth-century Jesuit missionary Martin Dobrizhoffer, who tangled with one, wrote, "Had I a hundred tongues I should think them all insufficient to convey an adequate idea of the stench" and concluded that "Europe may be congratulated upon her good fortune in being unacquainted with this cursed beast" "An Account of the Abipones," as translated from the Latin by Sara Coleridge, the poet's daughter.
Its fur has been marketed as Alaska sable. As an insult, "contemptible person," attested from 1841. Skunk cabbage, which grows in moist ground in the U.S. and gives of a strong pungent odor when bruised, is attested from 1751; earlier was skunkweed (1738); so called from their odor when bruised.

Connections
Puzzle #122
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yellow—film set directives, green—conditional words, blue—foremost, purple—_____ paper

"Beste fort puante" made me laugh so hard I got a stitch. No joke, M Sagard-Théodat.

Happy Wednesday *smooch*

>92 vancouverdeb: I will echo Karen's recommendation, Deborah!

Have a wonderful Wednesday, Karen!

>95 richardderus: I added a translation of the phrase, and I agree, it’s very funny. It seems like you can hear the guy’s voice, with a very whiny French accent, non?

Happy mid-week, Ree-CHARD (with a French accent!

>97 alcottacre: Thanks for visiting, Stasia!

>98 klobrien2: That collection of French sounds is just a hoot with the accent, but even funnier in an American one..."PYEW-ant" lolololol

Wordle 845 4/6 irate, steel, cleft, knelt

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Etymonline.com: knelt
past tense and past participle of kneel (v.).
Entries linking to knelt

kneel (v.)
Old English cneowlian "to kneel, fall on the knees," from Proto-Germanic *knewljan (source also of Middle Low German knelen, Middle Dutch cnielen, Dutch knielen Gothic knussjan), from PIE root *genu- (1) "knee; angle." Past tense knelt is a modern formation (19c.) on analogy of feel/felt, etc. Related: Kneeler; kneeling.


Connections — I didn’t do too well today!

Puzzle #123
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yellow—conceal, green—parts of a watch, blue—Wonder Woman’s costume, purple—things that can run

Wordle 846 5/6 irate, globe, melee, duple, uncle

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⬜🟦⬜⬜🟧
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Etymon,ine.com: uncle (n.)
late 13c., from Old French oncle, from Latin avunculus "mother's brother" ("father's brother" was patruus), literally "little grandfather," diminutive of avus "grandfather," from PIE root *awo- "grandfather, adult male relative other than one's father" (source also of Armenian hav "grandfather," Hittite huhhas "grandfather," Lithuanian avynas "maternal uncle," Old Church Slavonic uji "uncle," Welsh ewythr "uncle"). Boutkan, however, says "the root probably denoted members of the family of the mother."
Replaced Old English eam (usually maternal; paternal uncle was fædera), which represents the Germanic form of the same root (source also of Dutch oom "uncle, grandfather, brother-in-law," Old High German oheim "maternal uncle, son of a sister" German Ohm "uncle," Old Norse afi "grandfather").
Also from French are German, Danish, Swedish onkel. As a familiar title of address to an old man, attested by 1793; in the U.S. South, especially "a kindly title for a worthy old negro" Century Dictionary. First record of Dutch uncle (and his blunt, stern, benevolent advice) is from 1838; Welsh uncle (1747) was the male first cousin of one's parent. To say uncle as a sign of submission in a fight is North American, attested from 1909, of uncertain signification.

Connections
Puzzle #124
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yellow—beans, green—cities beginning with “l”, blue—poetry terms, purple—“the(e) rappers”

I'm told by my stepson that Connections is easy, but he must be doing a watered down version. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks hard.

>103 The_Hibernator: I've found Connections to be variable-difficulty. If the day's puzzle hits your individual proclivities, it can be easier. I don't know that I would ever call it an easy puzzle, though. The trick is making correct groupings, when particular words can fit in more than one set.

It would be interesting to see which Connections puzzle he is doing? How does he access it?

Great to see you here, Rachel!

192. The Puppets of Spelhorst (A Norendy Tale) by Kate DiCamillo, ill. Julie Morstad



"From master storyteller Kate DiCamillo comes an original fairy tale, enchantingly illustrated, in which five puppets confront circumstances beyond their control with patience, cunning and high spirits. Once, there was a king. And a wolf. And a girl with a shepherd's crook. And a boy with a bow and arrow. And also, there was an owl..."

Really lovely book, with humor and beauty, lost love, and fulfilled dreams. This is a brand new book, a brand new series for DiCamillo, and I'm really looking forward to further offerings.

Friday Reading Roundup!

Because I rely on libraries so much for my reading (and do so much eBook reading), what I'm reading at any given time changes often, and changes quickly.

Karen's current reading (10/13/2023):

Actively reading (or soon will be!)

Holly by Stephen King -- p. 152 of 437 (Nook)
The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith -- p. 137 of 424
The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E. M. Anderson -- p. 28 of 310
Unnatural Habits (Phryne Fisher #19) by Kerry Greenwood -- p. 49 of 255
Three Men Out (Nero Wolfe #23) by Rex Stout -- p. 13 of 154
For Whom the Book Tolls by Laura Gail Black -- p. 6 of 214
Too Much Sea for Their Decks by Michael Schumacher -- p. 12 of 251

I'm overbooked! I'll probably leave these on the list, but I can't truly say that I am actively reading them right now:

Hallowe'en Party (basis for "Haunting in Venice") by Agatha Christie (Nook)
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, ill. Grahame Baker Smith -- p. 25 of 191
The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even by Alexander McCall Smith
I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai
Ready Player One (audiobook) by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton
Thursday Next in the Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde -- p. 10 of 373
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead -- p. 26 of 288

I try to participate in the American Authors Challenge. In October, we are reading books by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I will read Understood Betsy (TIOLI #1 shared read) -- p. 27 of 114.

I usually am reading/watching Great Courses. My current course is Understanding the Periodic Table by Ron B. Davis Jr, 24 half-hour lectures. I've finished 1 of 24. I had to return to the library, but I should have it back in 3 weeks or so.

Not-So-Time-Sensitive-But-Still-Want-to-Get-to-Them (so, these are readily available to me although I might not be reading them quite yet or may have had to return them to the library; most are my own books)

The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer -- p. 3 of 238
The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes by Larry Millett -- p. 0 of 340
Marple: Twelve New Stories by assorted authors
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
The Bob-iverse books! (reread)

Happy Saturday, Karen. How is "Holly" so far? I am several books behind on Mr. King. Hopefully, next year I will start catching up with him.

>107 msf59: I am loving Holly! The “Mr. Mercedes” books were wonderful, and this one continues with the character of Holly (and several characters from the previous books).

Happy weekend, Mark!

I had some false starts today! “2309” list for some guidance.

Wordle 847 5/6 irate, cloud, steam, theta, agent

⬜⬜🟦🟦🟦
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟦🟧🟦⬜
🟦⬜🟧⬜🟦
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: agent (n.)
late 15c., "one who acts," from Latin agentem (nominative agens) "effective, powerful," present participle of agere "to set in motion, drive forward; to do, perform; keep in movement" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move").
The meaning "any natural force or substance which produces a phenomenon" is from 1550s. The meaning "deputy, representative" is from 1590s. The sense of "spy, secret agent" is attested by 1916.
also from late 15c.
agent (adj.)
"acting, sustaining action," 1610s, from agent (n.).

Connections
Puzzle #125
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yellow—butt, green—rotary phone parts, blue—slang for home, purple—plunder

A little guessy-guessy today, but I made it…

Wordle 848 5/6 irate, seamy, heavy, peaky, leaky

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Etymonline.com: leaky (adj.)
mid-15c., from leak (n.) + -y (2). Related: Leakiness. Slang sense of "unable to keep a secret" attested from 1704.
also from mid-15c.
Entries linking to leaky

leak (n.)
"hole by which liquid enters or escapes," late 15c., from leak (v.) or Old Norse cognate leka. Sense of "revelation of secret information" is from 1950. Meaning "act of urination" is attested from 1934 ("Tropic of Cancer"); but the verb meaning "to piss" is from 1590s: "Why, you will allow vs ne're a Iourden i.e. a chamberpot, and then we leake in your Chimney." "I Hen. IV," II.i.22


Connections
Puzzle #126
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yellow—tools, green—pull, blue—shortcut commands, purple— title movie animals

Feeling great relief in that I have my 2022 tax returns ready to mail off! The powers-that-be give you 6 months leeway in the event of the death of a joint filer, and I let it go to the day! Art had pretty much finished and left a short list of things to add (very thoughtful of him!). BUT…I was new to Turbo-Tax and Art’s laptop is an antique cow of a computer. Pfui! This year’s taxes will be mega-complicated, and staff at my financial advisor’s will be doing them, thank goodness! Fingers crossed!

I want to suggest to everyone to have passwords available in a safe place for your loved one(s) in the unfortunate event of your passing. Art had most of his passwords saved for me, but some critical ones (like his phone‘s!) were not. And so many things were linked to his AOL email, and I didn’t have that password either. Save yourself some trivial grief in the event of real grief!

>111 klobrien2: I'm glad you have been able to complete tax returns for 2022 . What a relief that must be.

>112 klobrien2: Thanks for the suggestion, Karen. I know I don't have Dave's phone password. I'll ask him after work tonight - when he gets home. I have a password book for myself - I'll make sure Dave is aware of that.

>113 vancouverdeb: I have a password book, too, and I’ve made sure my kids know that I do, and where the book is. I’m thinking of using one of the electronic password apps.

It was a tremendous relief to get the returns reviewed and printed! I’ll mail them off today. Phew!

Always great to see you here, Deb! Have a great week!

Wordle 849 4/6 irate, gravy, grand, graph

⬜🟧🟧⬜⬜
🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜
🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: graph (n.)
1878, shortening of graphic formula (see graphic). The verb meaning "to chart on a graph" is from 1889. Related: Graphed; graphing.
also from 1878
Entries linking to graph

graphic (adj.)
"vivid, describing accurately ," 1660s (graphically "vividly" is from 1570s), from Latin graphicus "picturesque," from Greek graphikos "of or for writing, belonging to drawing, picturesque," from graphe "writing, drawing," from graphein "to write" (see -graphy). Meaning "pertaining to drawing" is from 1756. Meaning "pertaining to the use of diagrams" is from 1866. Related: Graphically. Graphic design is attested by 1956. Graphic equalizer is from 1969.

Connections
Puzzle #127
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨

yellow—days of the week, green—go bad, blue—“Addams Family” characters, purple—fat _____

>114 klobrien2: You make a good point. It's an obvious thing - in hindsight.

I keep an (physical) address book for passwords, mainly for trivial apps like store cards (everything is apps these days) but I have to remember to update it if I'm out of the house and sign up for something. Mind you, some of the passwords are for time limits on my kids' devices, so I'm not telling them about the book. I did tell my husband when I went overseas in April, though I don't think he paid much attention to it.

And yay for getting the taxes done. I keep hearing that US taxes are a pain. Not that I'm earning, but Singapore has managed to automate it, mostly, so you just have to check that it's correct each year.

>112 klobrien2: An excellent idea...my digital survivor will have all my website passwords on the password manager, which password is on the paperwork; but I'll add my device passwords to that one, too.

New-week *smooch*

>116 humouress: When my life was simpler, I never had trouble doing my taxes. I think the IRS does a fairly good job of documenting what a simple tax return needs to be. The tax software is very helpful, too. I couldn’t have completed our return this year without it.

>117 richardderus: Hiya, Richard! I think you’ve got the right idea! And a big (hug) and *smooch* to you!

Wordle 850 3/6 irate, cloud, adult

⬜⬜🟦🟦⬜
🟦⬜🟧⬜🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: adult (adj.)
1530s (but not common until mid-17c.) "grown, mature," from Latin adultus "grown up, mature, adult, ripe," past participle of adolescere "grow up, come to maturity, ripen," from ad "to" (see ad-) + alescere "be nourished," hence, "increase, grow up," inchoative of alere "to nourish," from a suffixed form of PIE root *al- (2) "to grow, nourish."
The meaning "mature in attitude or outlook" is from 1929. As a euphemism for "pornographic," it dates to 1958 and does no honor to the word. In the old British film-rating system, A indicated "suitable for exhibit to adult audiences," and thus, implicitly, unsuitable for children (1914).
also from 1530s
adult (n.)
"adult person," 1650s, from adult (adj.).

Connections
Puzzle #128
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

yellow—taunts, green—failure, blue—rudely break off contact, purple—rock ____

Got this wonderful letter from MetLife telling me they were planting a tree in memory of Art. Isn’t that great?! He would have liked that!

193. Hiss and Hers (Agatha Raisin #23) by M. C. Beaton



A typical Agatha Raisin, fun and entertaining.

>119 klobrien2: I LOVE that it's a past participle. LOVELOVELOVE.

>120 klobrien2: That's a wonderful thing for them to do, and cheap good publicity to let you know that they have no need for you to do anything. Great PR move and corporate stewardship.

Spend a lovely, peaceful day. *smooch*

>120 klobrien2: That is really lovely!!

>123 richardderus: >124 RebaRelishesReading: Really, it was one of those win-win situations. Sure made me feel good, I know!

Wordle 851 4/6 irate, loner, rebus, mercy

⬜🟦⬜⬜🟦
⬜⬜⬜🟦🟦
🟦🟧⬜⬜⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: mercy (n.)
late 12c., "God's forgiveness of his creatures' offenses," from Old French mercit, merci (9c.) "reward, gift; kindness, grace, pity," from Latin mercedem (nominative merces) "reward, wages, pay, hire" (in Vulgar Latin "favor, pity;" in Medieval Latin "thanks; grace"), from merx (genitive mercis) "wares, merchandise" (see market (n.)). In Church Latin (6c.) it was given a specific application to the heavenly reward earned by those who show kindness to the helpless and those from whom no requital can be expected.
Meaning "disposition to forgive or show compassion" is attested from early 13c. Sense of "an act or exercise of forbearance or good will" is from c. 1300. As an interjection, attested from mid-13c. (short for may God have mercy, have mercy on me, etc.). Many of the English senses are found earlier in French, but in French the word largely has been superseded by miséricorde except as a word of thanks. Sense of "discretionary action" (as in at (one's) mercy) is from mid-14c. Seat of mercy "golden covering of the Ark of the Covenant" (1530), hence "the throne of God," is Tyndale's loan-translation of Luther's gnadenstuhl, an inexact translation of Latin propitiatorium, ultimately a rendering of Hebrew kapporeth, literally "propitiatory."

Connections
Puzzle #129
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

yellow—something tiresome, green—bit of wind, blue—piquancy, purple—singular of things seen in pairs

>126 klobrien2: A truly fascinating look at the history of a word I've used, unthinkingly, without so much as a scintilla of religious sentiment. Thanks for the interesting deepening of my understanding of the metastatic nature of the religion in the world.

Wordle 852 3/6 irate, gloat, splat

⬜⬜🟦🟦⬜
⬜🟦⬜🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: splat (v.)
"to land with a smacking sound," 1897, imitative of the sound. Related: Splatted; splatting. As a noun from 1958. Middle English splatten meant "to splay, extend, spread out; split a fish" (for cooking) and might be related to split.
also from 1897
Entries linking to splat

split (v.)
1580s, transitive and intransitive, "cleave or rend lengthwise, divide longitudinally," not found in Middle English, probably from a Low German source such as Middle Dutch splitten, from Proto-Germanic *spleitanan (source also of Danish and Frisian splitte, Old Frisian splita, German spleißen "to split"), according to Pokorny from PIE *(s)plei- "to split, splice" (see flint), but Boutkan finds the proposed cognates beyond Celtic and Slavic "problematic" and gives the West Germanic group "No certain PIE etymology."


Connections
Puzzle #130
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟪🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦

yellow—falsify, green—mild oaths, blue—TV shows, purple—fast ____

>128 klobrien2: I'd always assumed it was an onamotopoeia and only tangentially related to other words, if at all. It's so perfectly imitative, and such a very useful concept. The Frisian connection makes me think its cousin arrived from there, since so much of our basic language seems to have hailed from there.

Happy Thursday, Karen O.! *smooch*

>128 klobrien2: I thought today’s word’s etymology was especially interesting; reminds me of why I started checking the etymologies.

Happy “Thor’s Day” to you too! (I just finished watching “Ragnarok” (Norwegian TV show) on Netflix, so those Norse guys are in my mind).

Ragnarok is on my watchlist...just so many hours, and so much to enjoy in them, but only two tired old eyes to do it with.

Wordle 853 3/6 irate, cloud, occur

⬜🟦⬜⬜⬜
🟦⬜🟦🟧⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: occur (v.)
1520s, "meet, meet in argument," from French occurrer "happen unexpectedly" or directly from Latin occurrere "run to meet, run against, befall, present itself," from ob "against, toward" (see ob-) + currere "to run" (from PIE root *kers- "to run"). Sense development is from "meet" to "present itself" to "appear" to "happen" ("present itself in the course of events"). Meaning "to come into one's mind" is from 1620s. Related: Occurred; occurring.


Connections
Puzzle #131
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟪
🟦🟦🟪🟦
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟪🟨
🟨🟨🟪🟨

yellow—animal homes, green—virtual spaces, blue—equitable, purple—____ burger

194. Let's Make Ramen: A Comic Book Cookbook by Hugh Amano, ill. Sarah Becan



What a great concept: a graphic book and a cookbook, in one! Beautifully illustrated, full of everything one would need to know about how to make the different types of ramen, how to eat ramen (eat it fast! feel free to slurp!), and a lot of background into Japanese/ramen culture.

I don't know if I'll be making my own ramen, but I'll certainly have my eyes open for ramen restaurants around me, and there were lots of tips for making broths (apples in the stock!) that could be used for other types of soup. Very fun read!

195. The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass



Delightful book about libraries, books, and GHOSTS! And it's about families, too, and the travails and triumphs of a newly-middle-school-aged boy, and his attempt to solve a decades-old mystery in his home town.

Here is one of my favorite passages, almost a call to arms:

Being a Great Reader has nothing to do with reading great sophisticated books, or reading great long books, or even with reading a great many books.

Being a Great Reader means feeling something about books.

***********

Mary Oliver's poem, "The Summer Day," is included. That's the poem with the wonderful ending:

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"

*************

A quotation from Albert Einstein ends the book:

"The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library."

This book would be great for middle-grade kids (I plan to get a copy for my grandson who just entered the sixth grade). I really enjoyed this read. Thanks to whoever recommended the book--I think it was katiekrug!

Friday Reading Roundup!

Because I rely on libraries so much for my reading (and do so much eBook reading), what I'm reading at any given time changes often, and changes quickly.

Karen's current reading (10/20/2023):

Actively reading (or soon will be!)

Holly by Stephen King -- p. 217 of 437 (Nook)
The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith -- p. 137 of 424
The Words That Remain by Stenio Gardel
Agatha's First Case (Agatha Raisin #0.5) by M. C. Beaton (Nook)
The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E. M. Anderson -- p. 28 of 310
Unnatural Habits (Phryne Fisher #19) by Kerry Greenwood -- p. 49 of 255
Three Men Out (Nero Wolfe #23) by Rex Stout -- p. 13 of 154
Ready Player One (audiobook) by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton

I'm overbooked! I'll probably leave these on the list, but I can't truly say that I am actively reading them right now:

Hallowe'en Party (basis for "Haunting in Venice") by Agatha Christie (Nook)
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, ill. Grahame Baker Smith -- p. 25 of 191
The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even by Alexander McCall Smith
I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai
Thursday Next in the Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde -- p. 10 of 373
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead -- p. 26 of 288

I try to participate in the American Authors Challenge. In October, we are reading books by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I will read Understood Betsy (TIOLI #1 shared read) -- p. 36 of 114.

I usually am reading/watching Great Courses. My current course is Understanding the Periodic Table by Ron B. Davis Jr, 24 half-hour lectures. I've finished 1 of 24. I had to return to the library, but I should have it back in 3 weeks or so.

Not-So-Time-Sensitive-But-Still-Want-to-Get-to-Them (so, these are readily available to me although I might not be reading them quite yet or may have had to return them to the library; most are my own books)

The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer -- p. 3 of 238
The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes by Larry Millett -- p. 0 of 340
Marple: Twelve New Stories by assorted authors
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
The Bob-iverse books! (reread)

>132 klobrien2: hmmm...the 1620 meaning is the only one I use. The 1520 one is pretty much new to me. I didn't know about the running sense from PIE. Really interesting and fun to learn. Nice weekend ahead's reads, Karen O.

>120 klobrien2: What a wonderful tribute.

Hope you have a lovely weekend

>137 figsfromthistle: Wasn’t the tree donation great?! You have a great weekend also! Thanks for visiting!

Wordle 854 4/6 — did a little flailing about today! Once I played my third word, I resorted to the “2309” list. It was so helpful to know the letters that were NOT in the word. I really like the solution word.

irate, cloud, whirl, smirk

🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟧🟧⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: smirk (v.)
Middle English smirken, from Old English smearcian "to smile." There are no exact cognates in other languages, but probably it is a suffixed form related to smerian "to laugh at, scorn," which is from Proto-Germanic *smer-, *smar-, variant of PIE *smei- "to smile;" see smile (v.).
After c. 1500, smile gradually restricted smirk to the unpleasant sense "smile affectedly; grin in a malicious or smug way," but in some 18c. glossaries smirk still is simply "to smile." Related: Smirked; smirking.
smirk (n.)
"affected or conceited smile," 1550s, from smirk (v.).

Connections
Puzzle #132
🟩🟩🟩🟩 nonsense
🟦🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦 bra parts
🟪🟪🟪🟪 acronyms
🟨🟨🟨🟨 tableware

We have a favorite ramen place close by. It’s getting to be cool weather, so ramen us on the list for takeout!

There are lots of very good Ramen places in my area , Karen. I've not been to one, I don't think. I'll have to get advice from my son's and my daughter in law who are big fans. Meantime, I've been enjoying some delicious home made minestrone soup.

The Lost Library sounds like fun!

>141 vancouverdeb: ^^what Deb said

*smooch*

>140 drneutron: >141 vancouverdeb: >142 richardderus: I’ll have to do some looking , but I’m sure there must be some good ramen places in the Twin Cities. The book got me really interested in ramen!

Thank you all for stopping by!

Wordle 855 4/6 irate, cloud, eking, given

🟦⬜⬜⬜🟦
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟦⬜🟦🟦🟦
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: given (adj.)
late 14c., "allotted, predestined," past-participle adjective from give (v.). From 1560s as "admitted, supposed, allowed as a supposition." From late 14c. as "disposed, addicted." Middle English also had a noun give, yeve "that which is given or offered freely." The modern noun sense of "what is given, known facts" is from 1879. Given name (1827) so called because given at baptism.
also from late 14c.
Entries linking to given

give (v.)
Old English giefan (West Saxon) "to give, bestow, deliver to another; allot, grant; commit, devote, entrust," class V strong verb (past tense geaf, past participle giefen), from Proto-Germanic *geban (source also of Old Frisian jeva, Middle Dutch gheven, Dutch geven, Old High German geban, German geben, Gothic giban), from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive." It became yiven in Middle English, but changed to guttural "g" by influence of Old Norse gefa "to give," Old Danish givæ.


Connections —got stuck and bombed today
Puzzle #133
🟨🟨🟨🟨 relax
🟩🟦🟦🟩
🟩🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟪🟩
🟦🟦🟩🟦

Green catchy song
Blue British cuisine
Purple sticky situation

>133 klobrien2: My grandson adores Ramen and is pretty good in the kitchen so you just gave me an idea for the first Christmas present purchase of the year :) Thank you.

>145 RebaRelishesReading: That’s great! I think the Ramen comic book will be a great present!

Wordle 856 4/6 irate, blest, teddy, tempo

⬜⬜⬜🟦🟦
⬜⬜🟦⬜🟦
🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: tempo (n.)
"relative speed of a piece of music," 1724, from Italian tempo, literally "time" (plural tempi), from Latin tempus "time, season, portion of time" (see temporal). Extended (non-musical) senses by 1898.
also from 1724
Entries linking to tempo

temporal (adj.)
late 14c., "worldly, secular;" also "terrestrial, earthly; temporary, lasting only for a time," from Old French temporal "earthly," and directly from Latin temporalis "of time, denoting time; but for a time, temporary," from tempus (genitive temporis) "time, season, moment, proper time or season," from Proto-Italic *tempos- "stretch, measure," which according to de Vaan is from PIE *temp-os "stretched," from root *ten- "to stretch," the notion being "stretch of time." Related: Temporally.

Connections
Puzzle #134
🟩🟩🟩🟩 impel
🟦🟦🟦🟦 romantic feelings
🟨🟨🟨🟪
🟪🟪🟪🟪 hard ____
🟨🟨🟨🟨 cellphone modes

196. Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher



I read this book for the October American Authors Challenge. Dorothy Canfield Fisher was this month's author. I really enjoyed the read--the plot is a little predictable (city girl goes to live with country relatives) but the theme is wonderfully developed, and there are oodles of great characters. The book is presented as a series of chapters, and would be perfect for reading together over time.

I will look forward to reading more works by this author!

197. The Wild Robot by Peter Brown



Lovely read, a little science-fiction-ey, a little wildlife, a little survival. There is humor, there is pathos, there is truth. Perfect book for middle grade kids, and for adults needing a little emotional healing 8>).

And there are two more books in the series! And there is a movie under development! I think I have the perfect Christmas present for my younger grandson.

>148 klobrien2: Hey there Karen O. I like DCF's fiction for grown people, and read the free ebook of Rough-Hewn that I got from gutenberg.org a while back, with great pleasure. She's got a way with creating characters that really appeals to me. Recommend it especially since you can get it free!

Happy fall *smooch*

>150 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! I'll look into that one. Free is great!

198. Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes by Robin Ha



Another great graphic cookbook! I'd just reported on Let's Make Ramen back in post 130. This one, Cook Korean, is from the same publisher (Ten Speed Press), and they do resemble each other in format. Beautiful illustrations, lots of detail, scads of background into the culture and the history.

Wordle 857 5/6 irate, amble, cache, canoe, cause

⬜⬜🟦⬜🟧
🟦⬜⬜⬜🟧
🟧🟧⬜⬜🟧
🟧🟧⬜⬜🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: cause (n.)
c. 1200, "reason or motive for a decision, grounds for action; motive," from Old French cause "cause, reason; lawsuit, case in law" (12c.), and directly from Latin causa "a cause; a reason; interest; judicial process, lawsuit," which is of unknown origin.
From mid-14c. as "cause of an effect; source, origin." From late 14c. as "that which affords opportunity for a cause to operate, occasion;" also "reason for something taking place or for something being so; rational explanation." Also late 14c. as "proper or adequate reason, justification for an action." The sense of "matter of interest or concern; a side taken in controversy" is from c. 1300. Cause célèbre "celebrated legal case" is 1763, from French. Common cause "a shared object or aim" is by 1620s.
also from c. 1200
cause (v.)
late 14c., "produce an effect," also "impel, compel," from Old French causer "to cause" (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin causare, from Latin causa "a cause; a reason; interest; judicial process, lawsuit," which is of unknown origin. Related: Caused; causing. Classical Latin causari meant "to plead, to debate a question."

Connections
Puzzle #135
🟪🟨🟩🟨
🟦🟦🟨🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨 animal groups
🟩🟩🟩🟩 small opening
🟦🟦🟦🟦 paradigmatic
🟪🟪🟪🟪 rhyming compound words

Wordle 858 4/6 irate, chert, ferry, retry

⬜🟦⬜🟦🟦
⬜⬜🟦🟧🟦
⬜🟧🟦🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: no etymology for “retry” but here’s “try”: try (v.)
c. 1300, "examine judiciously, discover by evaluation, test;" mid-14c., "sit in judgment of," also "attempt to do," from Anglo-French trier (13c.), from Old French trier "to pick out, cull" (12c.), from Gallo-Roman *triare, of unknown origin. The ground sense is "separate out (the good) by examination." Sense of "subject to some strain" (of patience, endurance, etc.) is recorded from 1530s. To try on "test the fit of a garment" is from 1690s; to try (something) on for size in the figurative sense is recorded by 1946. Try and instead of try to is recorded from 1680s.
also from c. 1300
try (n.)
late 15c., "screen for sifting," from try (v.). From 1832 as "an effort, an attempt.".

Connections
Puzzle #136
🟨🟨🟨🟨 grammar tense terms
🟪🟪🟪🟪 ____ syrup
🟩🟩🟩🟩 “Gracious me!”
🟦🟦🟦🟦 12 days of Christmas

I’ve been doing a bit of TV watching lately, which is quite the understatement. And finishing quite a few shows, and coming close on a few more. So here’s a “TV roundup.”

Finished “Only Murders in the Building,” season 3, and loved it! I actually rewatched the first 9 episodes before watching the final. Hulu.

Finished “Ragnarok” season 3. This is the final season (Wah!) lots of good modern-day Norse gods and regular people, too. It’s a Norwegian show with English subtitles. Netflix.

Finished “Witcher” season 3 (the last season with Henry Cavill; the new witcher is Liam Hemsworth (starting in season 4). Good show, but there is a LOT of blood and gore. There is also love (familial, friendship, romantic) and classic Good vs. Evil. Oh, and monsters. Netflix.

Just finished The Outlander” (season 7). Lovely show, historic drama, time-traveling, and love stories. They’re all set up for season 8, which will be the last season, I believe. Starz (on Prime).

Watching “Loki” season 2 on Disney+ (the plot is dragging a little, but I always like seeing Tom Hiddleston.

“Our Flag Means Death” season 2, on Max. One episode left. I’ve really enjoyed this show. I hope there’s a season 3.

“Lessons in Chemistry” on Apple+. Halfway through (3 of 6 episodes are out). I’ve forgotten how frustrating it is to have the protagonist suffer all the patriarchal 50s crap, but things should start happening soon. The show seems to be sticking to the book as far as I can remember.

“Great British Baking Show” season 11? On Netflix. Really enjoy this show!

“Inspector Morse” almost done with season 5. I’ve already watched “Endeavour,” and I’ll watch “Inspector Lewis” when I finish up Morse. I love catching sight of various British actors guest-starring here. Last night (episode 4) was Jonny Lee Miller (of “Elementary” and the “Trainspotting” movies, in a really minor role, when he was like 15 or something.

My most embarrassing watch is that of the one season of the TV show “Gidget” (32 episodes), watched on Youtube. I see it as more of a historical study, or maybe more of a fantasy study. But the shows are quick, and I’m reminded of my childhood, and that’s okay.

OMG, I watch a lot of television! But this is over several months’ time span.

Wordle 859 4/6 irate, smile, binge, pique

🟦⬜⬜⬜🟧
⬜⬜🟦⬜🟧
⬜🟧⬜⬜🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: pique (n.)
1530s, "slight offense taken; feeling of displeasure, resentment, etc. arising from wounded pride, vanity, or self-love," from French pique "a prick, sting, irritation," noun of action from piquer (see pike (n.1)).
Pique is more likely to be a matter of injured self-respect or self-conceit ; it is a quick feeling, and is more fugitive in character. Umbrage is founded upon the idea of being thrown into the shade or over-shadowed ; hence it has the sense of offense at being slighted or not sufficiently recognized ; it is indefinite as to the strength or the permanence of the feeling. Century Dictionary
also from 1530s
pique (v.)
"to nettle, irritate, offend; stimulate to action by arousing envy, jealousy, etc., in a slight degree," 1670s, from French piquer "to prick, sting" (see pike (n.1)). Softened meaning "to stimulate, excite" is from 1690s. Related: Piqued; piquing.

Connections
Puzzle #137
🟪🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨 increase
🟩🟩🟩🟩 excellent, in old slang
🟦🟦🟦🟦 fine bubbles
🟪🟪🟪🟪 spherical things

>104 klobrien2: I suspect he's playing on a Connections knock-off on his school iPad.

Wordle 860 4/6 irate, globe, boule, noble: I used the 2309 list after my second guess! “Boule” is not a usual word for me 8>)

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧
⬜🟦🟦🟦🟧
🟦🟧⬜🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: noble (adj.)
c. 1200, "illustrious, distinguished, of high rank or birth," from Old French noble "of noble bearing or birth," from Latin nobilis "well-known, famous, renowned; excellent, superior, splendid; high-born, of superior birth," earlier *gnobilis, literally "knowable," from gnoscere "to come to know" (from PIE root *gno- "to know"). The prominent Roman families, which were "well known," provided most of the Republic's public officials.
Sense of "distinguished by splendor, magnificence, or stateliness" is from late 13c. Meaning "worthy of honor or respect " is from mid-14c. Sense of "having lofty character, having high moral qualities" is from c. 1600. Noble savage is "primitive man conceived of as morally superior to civilized man;" the phrase itself is from Dryden; the idea developed in the 18c.
I am as free as Nature first made Man,
Ere the base Laws of Servitude began,
When wild in Woods the noble Savage ran.
Dryden, "Conquest of Granada," 1672
A noble gas (1902) is so called for its inactivity or inertness; a use of the word that had been applied in Middle English to precious stones, metals, etc., that did not alter or oxidize when exposed to air (late 14c.), with noble in the sense of "having admirable properties" (c. 1300).
also from c. 1200
noble (n.)
"man of rank, person of acknowledged social or political preeminence; person of rank above a commoner," c. 1300, from noble (adj.). The same noun sense also is in Old French and Latin. From mid-14c. as the name of an English coin first issued in reign of Edward III.

Connections
Puzzle #138
🟨🟨🟨🟨 shameless boldness (brass, cheek, gall, nerve)
🟩🟦🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩 metal elements (copper, gold, nickel, silver)
🟦🟦🟦🟦 WNBA teams (Mercury, Sky, Sparks, Liberty)
🟪🟪🟪🟪 things with trunks (cars, elephants, swimmers, trees)

Made it just in time! Played a lot of fun words—not too many letters left.

Wordle 861 6/6 irate, aglow, bayou, havoc, kazoo, mason

⬜⬜🟦⬜⬜
🟦⬜⬜🟧⬜
⬜🟧⬜🟧⬜
⬜🟧⬜🟧⬜
⬜🟧⬜🟧⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: mason (n.)
c. 1200 (early 12c. as a surname), masoun, "stoneworker, builder in stone, one who dresses, lays, or carves stone," from Old French masson, maçon "stone mason" (Old North French machun), probaby from Frankish *makjo or some other Germanic source (compare Old High German steinmezzo "stone mason," Modern German Steinmetz, with second element related to mahhon "to make"); from PIE root *mag- "to knead, fashion, fit."
But it also might be from, or influenced by, Medieval Latin machio, matio (7c.) which is said by Isidore to be derived from machina (see machine (n.)). The medieval word also might be from the root of Latin maceria "wall." Meaning "a member of the fraternity of freemasons" is attested from early 15c. in Anglo-French. The Mason jar (by 1868), a type of molded glass jar with an airtight screw lid, used for home preserves, is named for John L. Mason of New York, who patented it in 1858.

Connections
Puzzle #139
🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦 agree (ditto, likewise, same, second)
🟨🟨🟨🟨 senses (sight, smell, taste, touch)
🟪🟪🟪🟪 ____moon (blue, harvest, new, sailor)
🟩🟩🟩🟩 appearance (dress, look, manner, style

>155 klobrien2: FYI, season 7 of Outlander isn't over yet. They're on a mid-season break with more episodes due out sometime next year.

>160 MickyFine: Oh, thanks for reminding me! I have it written like that on my watchlist, but forget in my impatience to be done with my lengthy! list. Have you watched the first part? I'm so worried! But it always works out.

Thanks to whisper1 for pointing these books out to me. I had a picture book fest today!



199. Someone Like Me by Patricia MacLachlan, ill. Chris Sheban



Wonderful illustrations, terrific story of growing up to be a writer.



200. The Hundred-Year Barn by Patricia MacLachlan, ill. Kenard Pak



Beautiful book celebrating the construction of a barn that lasted forever, and saw the generations of farmers and farmers' children within its walls. Absolutely gorgeous illustrations.



201. Yellow Elephant: A Bright Bestiary by Julie Lavros, ill. Julie Paschkix



Beautiful and funny "encyclopedia" of animals and colors.

>161 klobrien2: I have watched the first part and I'm looking forward to the second. However, having read the books, I know how things work out. 😊

Wordle 862 4/6 irate, cloud, showy, phony

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟧⬜⬜
⬜🟧🟧⬜🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: phony (adj.)
also phoney, "not genuine," 1899, perhaps an alteration of fawney "gilt brass ring used by swindlers."
His most successful swindle was selling "painted" or "phony" diamonds. He had a plan of taking cheap stones, and by "doctoring" them make them have a brilliant and high class appearance. His confederates would then take the diamonds to other pawnbrokers and dispose of them. "The Jewelers Review," New York, April 5, 1899
The noun meaning "phony person or thing" is attested from 1902.
also from 1899
Entries linking to phony

fawney (n.)
"finger-ring," 1781, colloquial, from Irish fainne "ring."



Connections
Puzzle #140
🟨🟨🟨🟨 mishmash (hash, jumble, medley, stew)
🟦🟦🟦🟦 group of offspring (brood, clutch, hatch, litter)
🟪🟪🟪🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩 go up against (challenge, confront, face, oppose)
🟪🟪🟪🟪 guitar parts (body, bridge, fret, neck)

I’ve been dealing with a case of food poisoning this past week. Some of the sickest I’ve ever been. Can’t say for sure from whence it came, but I really think it was a Chipotle order on Tuesday: I got a nice bag of tortilla chips with some very tasty fresh SALSA! When I researched this later, I discovered news of other poisonings that are local (Minnesota) and recent (the end of September). And the poisonings were caused by salmonella on Chipotle tomatoes.

So, enough whining. I followed the WEBMD treatment plan (Imodium for “the big D”), lots of clear liquids, probably avoid eating (not that I had any appetite at all!) I figured if I wasn’t better in the 3 days they suggested, I would go to my clinic. I very wrongly took some Tums, thinking they’d settle my stomach. Bad move! your body needs that stomach acid to fend off the bad guys. Only did that once!

And I’ve gotten better. I’m actually having hunger pangs! I had a banana for breakfast, and a cup of freshly-brewed coffee (I haven’t partaken all week, so I KNOW I was sick). Everything still tastes a little off.

If you’ve stayed with me through this lengthy post, thank you!

Ugh. Food poisoning is so awful. Glad to hear you're starting to feel better.

Me, too! (I.e., glad that I’m feeling better). A few bites of KFC chicken and mashed potatoes, and it’s sitting well.

I filed a report with Chipotle (well, their chat bot, anyway) and with iwaspoisoned.com. If I can help even one person avoid getting sick, I had to do this.

This also sucks because I really like Chipotle, but can’t imagine ever going back.

Just watched Summer Stock (with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly and a wonderful supporting cast) and it was great! I can’t believe I’d never seen the film before. I think I have to do some kind of “Musicals Fest”—maybe Garland films?

Hello, Karen! I'm slowly making the rounds around the threads on LT, after being out of town and away from wifi for a couple of weeks.

>165 klobrien2: I'm so sorry to hear you've been so sick! But also glad to hear that you're doing better today. I don't think I'd want to go back to Chipotle either after that.

>155 klobrien2: That's a lot of TV shows! Unfortunately, Max is the only one of the services you mention that I have access to--it's included in my Internet subscription. I would love to be able to watch "Only Murders in the Building"! And I wish the "Great British Baking Show" was still on PBS, where I could see it.

>168 klobrien2: Summer Stock is a lot of fun! I've seen it several times. I was big into the old musicals when I was a teenager, and in college. I remember reading that Judy Garland was going through one of her rough times during filming, and by the time they shot "Get Happy" she had lost a lot of weight, so she's thinner there than the rest of the film. I think the "Get Happy" sequence is one of Garland's best ever.

A lot of the old MGM musicals are classics. Any of them would work for a Musicals Fest. I'm partial to the Gene Kelly musicals.

>120 klobrien2: Finally, I love that MetLife is planting a tree in Art's honor! I didn't know any insurance companies did anything like that.

Wishing you good health for the coming week!

Sorry to hear you were ill. Chipotle is sort of notorious for food poisoning - seems like there are always outbreaks from particular stores. I avoid it completely. Hope you are fully recovered now!

>165 klobrien2: I empathize very thoroughly after my recent recurrence of colitis. I'm so glad it's OVER for you.

>168 klobrien2: I absolutely love the silly, frothy musicals of that time. I try my darndest to squint past the many, many things that would never fly today, and so far have been successful...

*smooch*

>169 atozgrl: Hello there! Great to see you here. I agree with you about “Summer Stock” and “Get Happy.” The DVD had a featurette (and a cartoon!) and so explained the background.

>170 katiekrug: Hi, Katie! Unfortunately, it seems that I am not over things yet. Back to the Imodium and Tylenol for me. I didn’t eat much yesterday, but I might stick strictly to the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apple sauce, toast) today, if I feel like eating anything. Thanks for your well wishes.

>171 richardderus: Thanks, Richard, but it seems I’m not out of the woods yet. I do agree with you about the musicals. They are pretty silly sometimes.

Thank you all so much for visiting! It made my day.

Wordle 863 4/6 irate, brain, frail, grail

🟦🟧🟧⬜⬜
⬜🟧🟧🟧⬜
⬜🟧🟧🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: grail (n.)
c. 1300, gral, "the Holy Grail," from Old French graal, greal "Holy Grail; cup," earlier "large shallow dish, basin," from Medieval Latin gradalis, also gradale, grasale, "a flat dish or shallow vessel." The original form is uncertain; the word is perhaps ultimately from Latin crater "bowl," which is from Greek krater "bowl, especially for mixing wine with water" (see crater (n.)).
Holy Grail is Englished from Middle English seint gral (c. 1300), also sangreal, sank-real (c. 1400), which seems to show deformation as if from sang real "royal blood" (that is, the blood of Christ) The object had been inserted into the Celtic Arthurian legends by 12c., perhaps in place of some pagan otherworldly object. It was said to be the cup into which Joseph of Arimathea received the last drops of blood of Christ (according to the writers who picked up the thread of Chrétien de Troyes' "Perceval") or the dish from which Christ ate the Last Supper (Robert de Boron), and ultimately was identified as both ("þe dische wiþ þe blode," "Joseph of Aramathie," c. 1350?).

Connections
Puzzle #141
🟩🟩🟩🟩 blink of an eye (flash, heartbeat, second, wink)
🟨🟨🟨🟨 bird features (beak, feather, talon, wing)
🟪🟪🟦🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦 mahjong tiles (bamboo, dragon, season, wind)
🟪🟪🟪🟪 ____ button (belly, button, panic, snooze)

Hope you're feeling better soon!! I'll admit I went to Chipotle once, wasn't impressed, and haven't been back since -- maybe a good thing!

>174 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks! Just the thought of eating anything resembling Chipotle is not in my future! It’s “baby food” for me, for a while!

Have a good week!

>173 klobrien2: No one's ever been able to really nail down (you should forgive) this word's origin. It's all "probably"s and "maybe"s, so I'm thinking it's time to say it's a coined word, it means this, and let's just get on with life.

>172 klobrien2: Oh noooooo!! All better soonest, then.

Friday Reading Roundup! (Oops! I missed it! Busy being sick, I guess!)

Because I rely on libraries so much for my reading (and do so much eBook reading), what I'm reading at any given time changes often, and changes quickly.

Karen's current reading (10/30/2023):

Actively reading (or soon will be!)

Holly by Stephen King -- p. 258 of 437 (Nook)
Something Borrowed, Someone Dead (Agatha Raisin #24) by M. C. Beaton -- p. 93 of 291
This Boy: The Early Lives of John Lennon and Paul McCartney by Ilene Cooper -- p. 41 of 182
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle -- p. 17 of 149
Almost an Elegy: New and Later Selected Poems by Linda Pastan -- p. 10 of 122
The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith -- p. 141 of 424
Agatha's First Case (Agatha Raisin #0.5) by M. C. Beaton (Nook)
Unnatural Habits (Phryne Fisher #19) by Kerry Greenwood -- p. 49 of 255
Three Men Out (Nero Wolfe #23) by Rex Stout -- p. 13 of 154

I'm overbooked! I'll probably leave these on the list, but I can't truly say that I am actively reading them right now:

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, ill. Grahame Baker Smith -- p. 25 of 191
Ready Player One (audiobook) by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton
Hallowe'en Party (basis for "Haunting in Venice") by Agatha Christie (Nook)
Thursday Next in the Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde -- p. 10 of 373
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead -- p. 26 of 288

I try to participate in the American Authors Challenge. In November, we are reading books by Canadian authors.

I usually am reading/watching Great Courses. My current course is Understanding the Periodic Table by Ron B. Davis Jr, 24 half-hour lectures. I've finished 1 of 24.

Not-So-Time-Sensitive-But-Still-Want-to-Get-to-Them (so, these are readily available to me although I might not be reading them quite yet or may have had to return them to the library; most are my own books)

The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer -- p. 3 of 238
The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes by Larry Millett -- p. 0 of 340
Marple: Twelve New Stories by assorted authors
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
The Bob-iverse books! (reread)

Feel better soon, Karen!

>178 jessibud2: Thank you, my friend! I had some applesauce (no sugar added) and it tasted wonderful. AND a cup of coffee!

Sorry to hear about the food poisoning, Karen. I have never had it but it sounds brutal. Glad you are on the rebound. Have a good week and good luck with all those books.

>180 msf59: Thanks, Mark. It was horrible, but I’m definitely on the upswing. Thanks for stopping by!

Wordle 864 4/6 irate, cloud, alley, bleak

⬜⬜🟦⬜🟦
⬜🟧⬜⬜⬜
🟦🟧⬜🟦⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

etymonline.com: bleak (adj.)
c. 1300, bleik, "pale, pallid," from Old Norse bleikr "pale, whitish, blond," from Proto-Germanic *blaika- "shining, white" (source also of Old Saxon blek "pale, shining," Dutch bleek, Old High German bleih, German bleich), from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white."
The original English sense is obsolete; the meaning "bare, windswept" is from 1530s; the figurative sense of "cheerless" is from c. 1719. The same Germanic root produced Middle English blake "pale" (Old English blac), but this fell from use, probably from confusion with blæc "black" (the surname Blake can mean either "one of pale complexion" or "one of dark complexion"). Bleak has survived, not in the "pale" sense, but meaning only "bare, barren." Related: Bleakly; bleakness.

Connections —only got the yellow connection (easiest) today. What a mess!

Puzzle #142
🟨🟨🟨🟦
🟪🟩🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟪🟪🟦

>182 klobrien2: Well, *that* word's on ye olde nose! All the senses of it back to 1300CE fit the present circs, no?
I'm sad you're not all better yet but pleased for you that things are trending that way. May this be the day when the spigots turn off the "high" setting. *smooch*

>183 richardderus: Thanks, Richard!

>181 klobrien2: Glad to hear you are feeling better! Wordle in 5 for me today. I had the middle 3 letters on my second guess, but it turned into a guessy-guessy day for me. I guess I should have been reading Bleak House; I would have thought of it sooner.

I am glad you are feeling better, Karen. Food poisoning is no fun! It's great that your insurance company is planting a tree in memory of your husband.

>185 atozgrl: Hi, Irene! Thanks for stopping by—I will soon be on my rounds around the threads.

>186 BLBera: Thanks! I am better! I have an appetite, and am looking forward to a little breakfast. One good thing: my blood sugars have been excellent, so much so that I had to ask my doctor what to do if they get TOO low. And I thought the memorial tree was such a tremendous thing! Thanks for stoppin* to chat!

Wordle 865 4/6 irate, glide, shine, noise

🟦⬜⬜⬜🟧
⬜⬜🟧⬜🟧
🟦⬜🟧🟦🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: noise (n.)
c. 1200, "sound of a musical instrument;" mid-13c., "loud speech, outcry, clamor, shouting;" c. 1300, "a sound of any kind from any source," especially a loud and disagreeable sound, from Old French noise "din, disturbance, uproar, brawl" (11c., in modern French only in phrase chercher noise "to pick a quarrel"), also "rumor, report, news," a word of uncertain origin, replacing Replaced native gedyn (see din).
According to some, it is from Latin nausea "disgust, annoyance, discomfort," literally "seasickness" (see nausea). According to others, it is from Latin noxia "hurting, injury, damage." OED considers that "the sense of the word is against both suggestions," but nausea could have developed a sense in Vulgar Latin of "unpleasant situation, noise, quarrel" (compare Old Provençal nauza "noise, quarrel"). Confusion with annoy, noisome, and other similar words seems to have occurred.
From c. 1300 as "a disturbance; report, rumor, scandal." In Middle English sometimes also "a pleasant sound." In 16c.-17c. "a band or company of musicians." Noises off, as a stage instruction in theater, "sound effects, usually loud and confused, made off stage but to be heard by the audience as part of the play," is by 1908.
also from c. 1200
noise (v.)
late 14c., noisen, "to praise; to talk loudly about, spread by rumor or report," from noise (n.) or from Old French noisier, from the noun in French. Related: Noised; noising.

Connections
Puzzle #143
🟪🟦🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨 social media actions (follow, like, share, subscribe)
🟩🟩🟩🟩 use a needle and thread (darn, hem, seam, sew)
🟦🟦🟦🟦 shows set in hospitals (er, house, ratched, scrubs)
🟪🟪🟪🟪 expressions of hesitation (erm, uh, um, well)

202. Holly by Stephen King



Really good instance of the Stephen King non-supernatural niche of crime novel. Featuring one of my favorite characters from the Mr. Mercedes novels, Holly, who is now an investigator running her own agency. Even though the book is not supernatural, it is still pretty spooky (nasty people who you'd never suspect of being so nasty). Holly is great, as an avenging angel, who pushes her own fears aside to bring justice and closure to those she serves.

I liked how this book, which takes place in 2020, features COVID and how it was on everyone's mind. Very realistic.

One of my favorite lines, very illustrative of Holly's nature--"She'll have to be quiet when she's dead but she's not dead yet."

I really hope there are more "Holly" books forthcoming from Mr. King!

>189 klobrien2: How cool! I'm not likely to start another King series because I won't live that long...but the way you describe it *aaalllmost* gets me to try.

>188 klobrien2: More word-origin times I did not think were as recent as they are. Somehow I expected older roots. A word I can't imagine English without no matter when it came to us.

*smooch*

*runs away at top speed to avoid temptation*

>165 klobrien2: Oh no! Food poisoning- ick! Glad you are feeling better!

Wordle 866 4/6 irate, pithy, optic, until

🟦⬜⬜🟦⬜
⬜🟦🟧⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟧🟧⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: until (prep.)
c. 1200, from till (prep.). The first element is un- "as far as, up to" (also in unto), from Old Norse *und "as far as, up to," from Proto-Germanic *und- (source also of Old English oð "up to, as far as," Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Gothic und), from PIE *nti-, from root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before."
The two syllables have the same meaning. Originally also used of persons and places. As a conjunction from c. 1300. Similar formation in Swedish intill, Danish indtil (northern English and Scottish formerly also had intill/intil "into, in"). The Modern German equivalent, bis (Old High German biaz), is a similar compound, of Old High German bi "by, at, to" and zu "to."

Connections
Puzzle #144
🟪🟨🟩🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨 ignite (burn, kindle, light, torch
🟦🟦🟦🟦 small wooded area (dell, glen, hollow, valley)
🟩🟩🟩🟩 information (data, info, intel, news)
🟪🟪🟪🟪 things with cores (apple, computer, planet, reactor)

Wordle 867 4/6 irate, groan, armor, ardor

⬜🟧🟦⬜⬜
⬜🟧🟦🟦⬜
🟧🟧⬜🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: ardor (n.)
"heat of passion or desire," mid-15c., ardour, from Old French ardure "heat, glow; inflammation; passion" (12c., Modern French ardeur), from Latin ardorem (nominative ardor) "a flame, fire, burning, heat;" also of feelings, etc., "eagerness, zeal," from ardere "to burn" (from PIE root *as- "to burn, glow"). In Middle English used of base passions; since Milton's time of noble ones.
also from mid-15c.
Entries linking to ardor

*as-
also *es-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to burn, glow."
It forms all or part of: ardent; ardor; area; arid; aridity; aril; arson; ash (n.1) "powdery remains of fire;" azalea; potash; potassium.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit asah "ashes, dust;" Hittite hat- "to dry up;" Greek azein "to dry up, parch," azaleos "dry;" Latin aridus "parched, dry," ārēre "to be dry," āra "altar, hearth;" Armenian azazem "I dry up;" Old English æsce "ash," Old High German asca, Gothic azgo "ashes."

Connections
Puzzle #145
🟨🟨🟨🟨 nevertheless (however, though, still, yet)
🟩🟩🟩🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩 repeated words in expressions (hear, knock, there, tut)
🟦🟦🟦🟦 words abbreviated with letters (are, see, why, you)
🟪🟪🟪🟪 royal ____ (family, flush, jelly, we)

I am not even trying to catch up, Karen, but just swinging by to wish you a "Fantastic Friday!"

>194 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia!

>193 klobrien2: ...I always thought it was a straight steal from the nominative case in Latin...

Have a great weekend-ahead's reads, Karen O. *smooch*

203. Something Borrowed, Someone Dead (Agatha Raisin #24) by M. C. Beaton

Friday Reading Roundup!

Because I rely on libraries so much for my reading (and do so much eBook reading), what I'm reading at any given time changes often, and changes quickly.

Karen's current reading (11/03/2023):

Actively reading (or soon will be!)

This Boy: The Early Lives of John Lennon and Paul McCartney by Ilene Cooper -- p. 41 of 182
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle -- p. 17 of 149
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, ill. Grahame Baker Smith -- p. 25 of 191
Almost an Elegy: New and Later Selected Poems by Linda Pastan -- p. 10 of 122
The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith -- p. 141 of 424
Agatha's First Case (Agatha Raisin #0.5) by M. C. Beaton (Nook)
Unnatural Habits (Phryne Fisher #19) by Kerry Greenwood -- p. 49 of 255
Three Men Out (Nero Wolfe #23) by Rex Stout -- p. 13 of 154

I'm overbooked! I'll probably leave these on the list, but I can't truly say that I am actively reading them right now:

Ready Player One (audiobook) by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton
Hallowe'en Party (basis for "Haunting in Venice") by Agatha Christie (Nook)
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead -- p. 26 of 288
The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer -- p. 3 of 238
Marple: Twelve New Stories by assorted authors
Fairy Tale by Stephen King

I try to participate in the American Authors Challenge. In November, we are reading books by Canadian authors. I plan to read The View from Castle Rock; Stories by Alice Munro.

I usually am reading/watching Great Courses. My current course is Understanding the Periodic Table by Ron B. Davis Jr, 24 half-hour lectures. I've finished 1 of 24.

Hi Karen! Glad you have recovered from the food poisoning. Never pleasant at all! Marple: Twelve New Stories is a book I hope to get to sometime soon. Happy Weekend ahead.

Wordle 868 5/6 irate, cloud, alibi, mafia, mania

🟦⬜🟦⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟦⬜🟦⬜⬜
🟧🟧⬜🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: mania (n.)
late 14c., "mental derangement characterized by excitement and delusion," from Late Latin mania "insanity, madness," from Greek mania "madness, frenzy; enthusiasm, inspired frenzy; mad passion, fury," related to mainesthai "to rage, go mad," mantis "seer," menos "passion, spirit," all of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE *mnyo-, suffixed form of root *men- (1) "to think," with derivatives referring to qualities and states of mind or thought.
Mania is manifested by psychic elevation, increased motor activity, rapid speech and the quick flight of ideas. Scientific American, September 1973
Sense of "fad, craze, enthusiasm resembling mania, eager or uncontrollable desire" is by 1680s, from French manie in this sense. Sometimes nativized in Middle English as manye. Used since 1500s as the second element in compounds expressing particular types of madness (such as nymphomania, 1775; kleptomania, 1830; megalomania, 1890), originally in Medical Latin, in imitation of Greek, which had a few such compounds, mostly post-classical: gynaikomania (women), hippomania (horses), etc.

Connections —just squeaked by—had the right connections, just not accurate.

Puzzle #146
🟦🟦🟨🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨 ways to prepare (drill, practice, study, train)
🟦🟦🟩🟦
🟦🟦🟦🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩 hollow cylinders (hose, pipe, straw, tube)
🟦🟦🟦🟦 weapons in the game clue (candlestick, knife, rope, wrench)
🟪🟪🟪🟪 “e-“things (cigarette, bike, ticket, sports)

Happy Sunday, Karen. Glad to hear you enjoyed Holly. I will earmark that one for audio. The View from Castle Rock; Stories is one of my favorite Munro collections. I hope you feel the same.

Wordle 869 3/6 irate, snare, flare

⬜🟦🟧⬜🟧
⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: flare (v.)
1540s, "spread out" (hair), of unknown origin, perhaps from Scandinavian or from Dutch vlederen. Meaning "shine out with a sudden light" is from 1630s. The notion of "spreading out in display" is behind the notion of "spreading gradually outward" (1640s). Related: Flared; flaring.
also from 1540s
flare (n.)
"a giving off of a bright, unsteady light," 1814, from flare (v.). This led to the sense of "signal fire" (1883). The astronomy sense is from 1937. Meaning "a gradual widening or spreading" is from 1910; hence flares "flared trousers" (1964).



Connections Only got one Connection today, but it was the second toughest.

Puzzle #147
🟩🟦🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟪🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦 music publications (billboard, pitchfork, rolling stone, spin)
🟨🟪🟨🟩
🟨🟨🟪🟨

yellow was—unchanging (even, level, stable, steady); green was—long, sharp objects (lance, spin, skewer, spit); purple was—words with numerical prefixes (uniform, bicycle, trilogy, quadrant)

Wordle 870 2/6 irate, trade

⬜🟧🟧🟦🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: trade (n.)
late 14c., "path, track, course of action," introduced by the Hanse merchants, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German trade "track, course" (probably originally of a ship), cognate with Old English tredan (see tread (v.)).
Sense of "one's habitual business" (1540s) developed from the notion of "way, course, manner of life" (mid-15c.); sense of "buying and selling, exchange of commodities" is from 1550s. Meaning "act of trading" is from 1829. Trade-name is from 1821; trade-route is from 1873; trade-war is from 1899. Trade union is attested from 1831. Trade wind (1640s) has nothing to do with commerce, but preserves the obsolete sense of "in a habitual or regular course."
also from late 14c.
trade (v.)
1540s, "to tread a path," from trade (n.). Meaning "to occupy oneself (in something)" is recorded from c. 1600. Meaning "to barter" is by 1793. The U.S. sports team sense of "to exchange one player for another" is attested from 1899. Related: Traded; trading. To trade down is attested from 1942; trade up from 1959. Trade places "exchange situations" is from 1917. Trading post is recorded from 1796. Trading stamp, given by merchants and exchangeable for goods, is from 1897.

Connections
Puzzle #148
🟨🟨🟨🟨 investments (bond, cd, option, stock)
🟩🟩🟩🟩 terms for records (lp, platter, vinyl, wax)
🟦🟦🟪🟦
🟦🟪🟪🟦
🟦🟦🟦🟦 cube-shaped (bouillon, die, ice, sugar)
🟪🟪🟪🟪 words that go with bone (funny, herring, soup, fish)

Gosh, I thought I was going to bomb out for sure! Definitely a “phew”!

Wordle 871 6/6 irate, think, pitch, pivot, digit, limit

🟦⬜⬜🟦⬜
🟦⬜🟦⬜⬜
⬜🟧🟦⬜⬜
⬜🟧⬜⬜🟧
⬜🟧⬜🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: limit (n.)
c. 1400, "boundary, frontier," from Old French limite "a boundary," from Latin limitem (nominative limes) "a boundary, limit, border, embankment between fields," which is probably related to limen "threshold," and possibly from the base of limus "transverse, oblique," which is of uncertain origin. Originally of territory; general sense from early 15c. Colloquial sense of "the very extreme, the greatest degree imaginable" is from 1904.
also from c. 1400
limit (v.)
late 14c., "set limits to, restrict within limits" (also "prescribe, fix, assign"), from Old French limiter "mark (a boundary), restrict; specify" (14c.), from Latin limitare "to bound, limit, fix," from limes "boundary, limit" (see limit (n.)). From early 15c. as "delimit, appoint or specify a limit." Related: limited; limiting; limitable.

Connections
Puzzle #149
🟩🟩🟩🟩 tattle (rat, snitch, sing, squeal
🟦🟦🟦🟦 group within a group (camp, division, faction, wing)
🟨🟨🟨🟪
🟪🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪 microsoft products (bing, edge, surface, word)
🟨🟨🟨🟨 digital notification sounds (chime, ding, ping, ring)

>204 klobrien2: I myownself prefer illimitable as my preferred related word to Wordle's choice. Something about a sunny fall day demands it, I think.

Be well, dear lady. *smooch*

Another Wordle-in-6 day! Yikes!

Wordle 872 6/6 irate, axial, basic, pizza, kinda, ninja

🟦⬜🟦⬜⬜
🟦⬜🟦⬜⬜
⬜🟦⬜🟦⬜
⬜🟧⬜⬜🟧
⬜🟧🟧⬜🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧
En.wikipedia.org: ninja (Japanese: 忍者, lit. 'one who is invisible'; ɲiꜜɲdʑa) or shinobi (Japanese: 忍び, lit. 'one who sneaks'; ɕinobi) was a covert agent, mercenary, or guerrilla warfare expert in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.1 Their covert methods of waging irregular warfare were deemed dishonorable and beneath the honor of the samurai.2 Though shinobi proper, as specially trained warriors, spies, and mercenaries, appeared in the 15th century during the Sengoku period,3 antecedents may have existed as

Connections
Puzzle #150
🟩🟦🟨🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩 types of french fries (curly, shoestring, waffle, wedge)
🟪🟪🟪🟪 second words of vodka cocktails (breeze, mary, mule, russian)
🟦🟨🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟦🟨
🟨🟨🟨🟨 brought to the beach (flip-flop, sunscreen, towel, umbrella)
🟦🟦🟦🟦 equivocate (hedge, see-saw, waver, yo-yo)

...Karen...? Come home, dear lady, all is forgiven! *smooch*

On my way back home! I’ll explain all, but I’m glad to say that I’ve been following along with LT, and am edging closer to being truly back.

In pledge of that, here’s today’s Wordle:

Wordle 882 5/6 irate, cloud, tizzy, thigh, think

🟦⬜⬜🟦⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟧🟦⬜⬜⬜
🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Connections
Puzzle #160
🟨🟪🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨

Tough word today! Almost gave up.

Wordle 883 5/6 irate, globe, spume, undue, queue

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧
⬜⬜🟦⬜🟧
🟦⬜⬜🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

>209 klobrien2: Ha! Shelley just commented on her thread that this would be a hard word for the US contingent.

Sunday *smooch*

Almost missed it today—hard word!

Wordle 883 5/6 irate, globe, spume, undue, queue

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧
⬜⬜🟦⬜🟧
🟦⬜⬜🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Connections — I found it really easy today

Puzzle #161
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

Wordle 884 4/6 irate,
Amply, caddy, candy

⬜⬜🟦⬜⬜
🟦⬜⬜⬜🟧
🟧🟧⬜🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Connections
Puzzle #162
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩

So...a million years ago, I contracted food poisoning (suspected Chipotle fresh salsa). I was really sick with the salmonella, but what was even worse is that it morphed into a true monster of an illness which left me in kidney trouble and had me extremely dehydrated.

Luckily, I had a fall which cued the paramedics to come and rescue me. They talked me into going to the ER to get checked out (bless their hearts). My body and brain were filled with toxins, so that I didn't want to go with them until my sister Jannie invoked common sense and the wrath of my RN daughter if I didn't pay attention and give in.

I spent a week with the salmonella, another week with gradual weakening and sickening, and then finally at the hospital, the doctors were able to treat the infections and dehydrations and get me on the road to recovery. I'm still recovering, but I'm at home, among my beloved cats, and surrounded by the knowledge that my family, friends, and neighbors are watching out for me.

The scariest part was knowing that the toxins were in my brain, and not knowing what the permanent impact would be. Glory be! the wonderful feeling when I was able to solve a Wordle (one of the first days I tried, I got it in 2!) I cried with joy. Even more so with Connections--I impressed the heck out of myself. My reading is coming back, too, and is such a blessing.

LT is a huge blessing! i was always following along, not posting, but keenly interested in what was going on with the people that I have come to know and really like.

So now my days are happily spent with reading, puzzles, and working on my health recovery. I had my first visit with the home health nurse today. I see improvements every day.

It is so good to be back!

204. The Blood of an Englishman (Agatha Raisin #25) by M. C. Beaton

>213 klobrien2: Wow! That's a scary story!! Glad you're back indeed.

Oh my, Karen. How scary! I'm so glad you're getting better and that you have such a good support system in place. Take care.

So glad you’re recovering!

>215 RebaRelishesReading: >216 katiekrug: >217 drneutron: Thank you all so much for your kind words. Onward and upward!

>213 klobrien2: Glad to see you posting! What an ordeal you went through. Glad you are recovering well and are feeling more your normal self.

I am so sorry to hear about your scary ordeal, Karen. Wow. It sounds like you are on the mend now. Take care of yourself, my friend and enjoy those books.

>213 klobrien2: Oh yikes, Karen! So glad you're on the road to recovery.

Wordle 885 3/6 irate, chain, piano

🟦⬜🟧⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟧🟦🟦
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Okay, first etymology since my illness! I miss it! piano (n.)
"percussion musical instrument in which tones are produced by blows of hammers upon stretched strings, the hammers being operated from a keyboard," 1803, from French piano (18c.), Italian piano, shortened forms of pianoforte (q.v.).
Essentially, the pianoforte is a large dulcimer with a keyboard ; but historically it replaced the clavichord and harpsichord, which were keyboard-instruments more akin to the harp than to the dulcimer. Century Dictionary
Piano wire "kind of strong steel wire used for strings of pianos," is attested from 1831. Piano-case "wooden box enclosing the mechanism of a piano" is by 1844.
also from 1803
piano (adv.)
musical instruction, "softly, with little force or loudness," 1680s, from Italian piano, which is ultimately is from Latin planus "flat, smooth, even," later "soft" (from PIE root *pele- (2) "flat; to spread").

Connections
Puzzle #163
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩

>219 figsfromthistle: >220 msf59: >221 bell7: Thank you, all! It feels so good to be back among the LT-ers. I’m actually getting some reading done, and really enjoying it. Happy Thanksgiving, all!

>213 klobrien2: What a horrorshow! I'm so glad you are on the mend. It is always amazing to me that the LT community is so welcoming and so invested in the well-being of our far-flung members. Here's to hoping for an easy and steady recovery of your faculties...I'm still a little dyslexic after the strokes and both Wordle as well as handwriting are not happening for me. I keep trying, though.

*smooch* for being sensible

>224 richardderus: Hi, Richard! My illness was, indeed, a horrorshow, especially as I recuperated enough to have some understanding of what had been happening. Absolutely hated being in the hospital, although I did meet some nice medical types.

I found a real solace in my phone and ipad. LT was such a friend to me.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

>213 klobrien2: Hello, Karen, I'm so glad to see you back here! You've been missed!

What a scary illness! I never would have thought that the food poisoning would lead to something like that. It's good to know for future reference. And I am so glad that you are well on the way to recovery! I guess you'll be having a rather quiet Thanksgiving. But lots to be thankful for!

You've had a rough year. You deserve to have a really good year next year.

>226 atozgrl: Yeah, it's been a crappy year, hasn't it?! But I'm learning and recuperating.

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

205. The English Experience: A Novel by Julie Schumacher



The third book of the "Dear Committee Members" trilogy. I've enjoyed the entire trilogy (Dear Committee Members, The Shakespeare Requirement, and now this one). Hilarious and heartbreaking (according to Richard Russo, and I agree!). This third book was my favorite, I think. I might have to procure my own set of the books, eminently re-readable.

Wordle 886 4/6 irate, chief, wizen, pixel i

🟦⬜⬜⬜🟦
⬜⬜🟦🟧⬜
⬜🟧⬜🟧⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: pixel (n.)
"small, square single-colored display elements that comprise an image," 1969, coined to describe the photographic elements of a television image, from pix + first syllable of element.
also from 1969
Entries linking to pixel

element (n.)
c. 1300, "earth, air, fire, or water; one of the four things regarded by the ancients as the constituents of all things," from Old French element (10c.), from Latin elementum "rudiment, first principle, matter in its most basic form" (translating Greek stoikheion), origin and original sense unknown. Meaning "simplest component of a complex substance" is late 14c. Modern sense in chemistry is from 1813, but is not essentially different from the ancient one. Meaning "proper or natural environment of anything" is from 1590s, from the old notion that each class of living beings had its natural abode in one of the four elements. Elements "atmospheric force" is 1550s.

Connections
Puzzle #164
🟨🟨🟩🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪

>228 klobrien2: Oh good, the series is terrible and I will hate it! Wonderful, excellent news, thanks for the warn-off! *smooch*

>229 klobrien2: The 1550s sense surpises me! I thought that would have come after the 1813 usage did...shows you what a complex and fascinating beast our native tongue really is.

I hope tomorrow will be more sweet than bitter, my dear lady. *smooch*

>230 richardderus: My day will be more sweet, for sure. My son Jerry says that he will be here to share some Thanksgiving and to help me out around the old farmstead. I must remember to not count my chickens before they hatch (to continue the farm scenario) because a few times during my unfortunate hospitalization, the details of my release were changed. But I have great hope that Jerry's visit will come true.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my LT friends!

Way back at the end of October, I had stated my intent to catch up up with classic musicals that I had never seen. Well, I did watch a few, but had never reported on them. So, here they are!

First, what I watched back then:



Just watched Summer Stock (with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly and a wonderful supporting cast) and it was great! I can’t believe I’d never seen the film before. I think I have to do some kind of “Musicals Fest”—maybe Garland films?

The Fantasticks (with Joel Grey, Barnard Hughes, Jean Louisa Kelly (great voice!)). It's about young love, feuding fathers, and a wonderfully surreal circus that comes to town.

Wordle 887 5/6 irate, seedy, cheek, wheel, queen

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟦
⬜🟦🟧⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟧🟧⬜
⬜⬜🟧🟧⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: Long entry for this word, but I found it interesting: queen (n.)
Middle English quene, "pre-eminent female noble; consort of a king," also "female sovereign, woman ruling in her own right," from Old English cwen "queen, female ruler of a state; woman; wife," from Proto-Germanic *kwoeniz (source also of Old Saxon quan "wife," Old Norse kvaen, Gothic quens), ablaut variant of *kwenon (source of quean), from PIE root *gwen- "woman."
The most ancient Germanic sense of the word seems to have been "wife," which had specialized by Old English times to "wife of a king." In Old Norse the cognate word was still mostly "a wife" generally, as in kvan-fang "marriage, taking of a wife," kvanlauss "unmarried, widowed," kvan-riki "the domineering of a wife."
In reference to anything personified as chief or greatest, and considered as possessing female attributes, from late Old English. Figuratively, of a woman who is chief or pre-eminent among others or in some sphere by 1590s. Queen-mother "widow of a king who is also the mother of a reigning sovereign" is by 1570s (colloquial queen mum is by 1960).
English is one of the few Indo-European languages to have a word for "queen" that is not a feminine derivative of a word for "king." The others are Scandinavian: Old Norse drottning, Danish dronning, Swedish drottning "queen," in Old Norse also "mistress," but these also are held to be ultimately from male words, such as Old Norse drottinn "master."
The chess piece (with the freest movement and thus the most power in attack) was so called from c. 1400. As a verb in chess, in reference to a pawn that has reached the opponent's side of the board and become a queen (usually), from 1789. The playing card was so called from 1570s.
Of bees from c. 1600 (until late 17c., they generally were thought to be kings; as in "Henry V," I.ii, but the Anglo-Saxons knew better: their word was beomodor); queen bee "fully developed female bee," the mother of the hive, is used in a figurative sense by 1807.
Meaning "male homosexual" (especially a feminine and ostentatious one) is certainly recorded by 1924; probably as an alteration or misunderstanding of quean, which is earlier in this sense but had become obscure. Cincinnati, Ohio, has been the Queen City (of the West) since 1835. In commercial reference to an extra-large bed size (but generally smaller than king), by 1954.

Connections
Puzzle #165
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩

This one, not a musical, although there are musical elements. Catherine, Called Birdy.
(Written by Karen Cushman, directed by Lena Dunham, starring Bella Ramsey, Billie Piper, and Andrew Scott). I can't find an image from the movie, but this one, from the book, comes close to capturing the sense of the movie.

Happy Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving or Thursday to all!

Sister Jannie just stopped by with some home baked turkey and apple cider doughnuts; now she’s on her way to dinner with another sister, Anita.

Jerry is, indeed, here, and we will soon feast on turkey dinner (with traditional sides) from the local Perkins. Can’t wait!

I’m sure there will be a phone call later with daughter Cindy and her family, in Duluth.

So, kind of a strange recuperation Thanksgiving, but I have so much to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving, Karen!

Happy Thanksgiving, Karen! Sounds like you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving with family. Enjoy!

>237 atozgrl: >238 vancouverdeb: Thank you both! It definitely was a happy (and quiet) Thanksgiving here.

206. The Wild Robot Escapes (The Wild Robot #2) by Peter Brown



I love this series! I don't know how I came across it, but I think it will be the perfect Christmas present for my younger grandson. So much good stuff about intelligence, and modern life, friendship, and the wonder of animals.

Here's one of my favorite passages, and there were a few:

"Your brain might be defective," said Dr. Molovo, "but it certainly is fascinating."

"I did not choose to be this way," said Roz. "But this is who I am. You would be wild too if you had been born and raised in the wilderness. Maybe I am defective, maybe everything I have experienced is the result of a glitch. But if so, what a beautiful glitch! I have my own thoughts and feelings. I made a life for myself."

There is one more book in the series, The Wild Robot Protects. I hope there will be more!

Wordle 888 4/6 irate, trout, thorn, throw

⬜🟦⬜🟦⬜
🟧🟦🟦⬜⬜
🟧🟧🟦🟦⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: throw (v.)
"to project, propel," c. 1300, from Old English þrawan "to twist, turn, writhe, curl," (past tense þreow, past participle þrawen), from Proto-Germanic *threw- (source also of Old Saxon thraian, Middle Dutch dræyen, Dutch draaien, Old High German draen, German drehen "to turn, twist;" not found in Scandinavian or Gothic), from PIE root *tere- (1) "to rub, turn," with derivatives referring to twisting.
Not the usual Old English word for "to throw" (weorpan, related to warp (v.) was common in this sense). The sense evolution may be via the notion of whirling a missile before throwing it. The sense of "put by force" (as in throw in jail) is first recorded 1550s; that of "confuse, flabbergast" is from 1844; that of "lose deliberately" is from 1868. To throw a party was in U.S. college slang by 1916.
To throw the book at(someone) is 1932, from notion of judge sentencing a criminal from a law book full of possible punishments. To throw (one's) hat in the ring "issue a challenge," especially to announce one's candidacy, first recorded 1917. To throw up "vomit" is first recorded 1732. To throw (someone) off "confuse by a false scent" is from 1891.
also from c. 1300
throw (n.)
"act of throwing," 1520s, from throw (v.). Wrestling sense is attested by 1819.

Connections — close, but, couldn’t get the last two

Puzzle #166
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟩🟪🟪
🟪🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟩🟩🟩

>241 klobrien2: I was utterly bumfuzzled by careless reading, and thought the 1732 sense was the 1917 sense. You can imagine that taking some time to puzzle through....

>240 klobrien2: Sounds like a charming middle-grade series!

Have a lovely weekend-ahead's reads.

Well, it's been three weeks since my last "Reading Roundup" and it's time to get back to it. When I was hospitalized, I had my son bring everything back to the library, so I'd start with a clean slate. I'm slowly re-requesting the books I still want to read, and being a little more choosy about which ones that includes. Life is short!

Friday Reading Roundup!

Because I rely on libraries so much for my reading (and do so much eBook reading), what I'm reading at any given time changes often, and changes quickly.

Karen's current reading (11/24/2023):

Actively reading (or soon will be!)

This Boy: The Early Lives of John Lennon and Paul McCartney by Ilene Cooper -- p. 41 of 182
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle -- p. 37 of 149
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead -- p. 66 of 288
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, ill. Grahame Baker Smith -- p. 25 of 191
Almost an Elegy: New and Later Selected Poems by Linda Pastan -- p. 10 of 122
The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith -- p. 141 of 424
Agatha's First Case (Agatha Raisin #0.5) by M. C. Beaton (Nook)
Unnatural Habits (Phryne Fisher #19) by Kerry Greenwood -- p. 49 of 255
Three Men Out (Nero Wolfe #23) by Rex Stout -- p. 13 of 154

I just got these books from the library:

System Collapse by Martha Wells -- this will probably be my primo read
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
The Iliad by Homer, tr. Emily Wilson
The Jewish Deli by Ben Nadler
Somebody's Fool by Richard Russo
Dishing the Dirt (Agatha Raisin #26) by M. C. Beaton

I'm overbooked! I'll probably leave these on the list, but I can't truly say that I am actively reading them right now:

The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer -- p. 3 of 238
Marple: Twelve New Stories by assorted authors
Fairy Tale by Stephen King

I try to participate in the American Authors Challenge. In November, we are reading books by Canadian authors. I plan to read The View from Castle Rock; Stories by Alice Munro. Haven't started this yet--may let this one go.

I usually am reading/watching Great Courses. I'm going to hold off on these for a bit, until life gets to be a little more routine.

207. Small Saul by Ashley Spires



Another great find from whisper1. "Small Saul" is a wannabe pirate, but he knows himself and knows what kind of pirate he wants to be. Lots of humor and joy in this book.

I read end notes, acknowledgements, all kinds of explanatory material. Look what was hiding in the cataloging info on the last page:

"Th artwork in this book was rendered in ink, watercolor, water, flour, a cup of sugar, a dash of vanilla and baked at 350 degrees."

Wordle 889 5/6 irate, poise, whine, glide, guide

🟦⬜⬜⬜🟧
⬜⬜🟧⬜🟧
⬜⬜🟧⬜🟧
🟧⬜🟧🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Etymonline.com: guide (v.)
late 14c., "to lead, direct, conduct," from Old French guider "to guide, lead, conduct" (14c.), earlier guier, from Frankish *witan "show the way" or a similar Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *witanan "to look after, guard, ascribe to, reproach" (source also of German weisen "to show, point out," Old English witan "to reproach," wite "fine, penalty"), from PIE root *weid- "to see." The form of the French word influenced by Old Provençal guidar (n.) "guide, leader," or Italian guidare, both from the same source. Related: Guided; guiding. Guided missile, one capable of altering course in flight, is from 1945.
also from late 14c.
guide (n.)
mid-14c., "one who shows the way," from Old French guide, 14c., verbal noun from guider (see guide (v.)). In book titles from 1610s; meaning "book of information on local sites" is from 1759. In 18c. France, a "for Dummies" or "Idiot's Guide to" book would have been a guid' âne, literally "guide-ass." Guide-dog for the blind is from 1932.

Connections
Puzzle #167
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>245 klobrien2: That's answered something I've wondered about for decades. The English Witan's name has long puzzled me as its given origins don't match what I thought I knew of Old English...now this etymology literally gives me the Old Frankish origins of the word. Another reason to be thankful for you, Karen O., among the many. *smooch*

>246 richardderus: How sweet of you to say! *smooch* right back to you! Glad I could help you figure that out.

Wordle 890 3/6 irate, spiny, solid

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Etymonline.com: solid (adj.)
late 14c., "not empty or hollow, hardened;" of figures or bodies, "having three dimensions," from Old French solide "firm, dense, compact," from Latin solidus "firm, whole, undivided, entire," figuratively "sound, trustworthy, genuine," from suffixed form of PIE root *sol- "whole."
The meaning "firm, hard, compact" is from 1530s. Of arguments, etc., "substantial" (opposed to frivolous or flimsy). The meaning "entirely of the same stuff" is from 1710. Of qualities, "well-established, considerable" c. 1600. Of food from c. 1700.
As a mere intensifier, "thoroughly, downright," by 1830. The slang sense of "wonderful, remarkable" is attested by 1920 among jazz musicians.
As an adverb, "solidly, completely," 1650s. Solid South in U.S. political history is attested from 1858 on the notion of unanimity in voting; solid in this sense (in reference to New York) is by 1855. Solid state as a term in physics is recorded from 1953; the meaning "employing printed circuits and solid transistors" (as opposed to wires and vacuum tubes) is from 1959.
also from late 14c.
solid (n.)
late 14c., "three-dimensional figure or body," from solid (adj.). In Middle English also "a number which is the product of three others." The meaning "a solid substance" (as opposed to a fluid) is from 1690s. Compare also solidus. Latin solidus (adj.) also was used as a noun meaning "an entire sum; a solid body."

Connections
Puzzle #168
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Wordle 891 4/6 irate, catty, tangy, tawny

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Etymonline.com: tawny (adj.)
"tan-colored," late 14c., from Anglo-French tauné "of or like the brownish-yellow of tanned leather," from Old French tanét "dark brown, tan" (12c., Modern French tanné), past participle of taner "to tan hides," from Medieval Latin tannare (see tan (v.)).Related: Tawniness.

Connections
Puzzle #169
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Just got back from my big adventure—my post-hospital visit with my GP. Son Jerry drove me there, but I drove home, and MAN! did that feel good!

Can’t wait to see the labs, as they should indicate how my kidneys are doing. I feel so much stronger and better, I know. I was pretty sick, though. (Eek)

I got my Covid booster and a flu shot as long as I was there. I hope I’m not sorry about doing that.

Reading and puzzling is on the agenda for the rest of the day. Lots of walks around the house for exercise. Little naps with cats. Bliss!

Wordle 892 5/6 irate, globe, phone, spoke, scope

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Etymonline.com: scope (n.1)
extent 1530s, "room to act, free play," also literal (1550s), "room to move in, space;" from Italian scopo "aim, purpose, object; thing aimed at, mark, target," from Latin scopus, from Greek skopos "aim, target, object of attention;" also "watcher, one who watches," which according to Watkins is from a metathesized form of PIE *spek-yo-, suffixed form of root *spek- "to observe." Beekes writes that the the old IE root noun (as in Latin haruspex) from *spek- apparently was replaced in Greek by skopos.
It is attested from 1550s as "that which is aimed at or desired," hence "ultimate aim;" the classical sense of "a mark to aim or shoot at" was in English by 1560s but now is obsolete. Hence "object a speaker or writer has in view" (1530s). The sense of "intellectual range, distance the mind can reach" is recorded from c. 1600. By 1590s as "extent in space." By 1830 as "sphere in which some activity operates." Elizabethan scopious "spacious, wide" did not stick.
also from 1530s
scope (n.2)
instrument for viewing 1872, shortened from telescope, microscope, etc., in which the element (Latinized) is from Greek skopein "to look" (from PIE root *spek- "to observe"). Earlier used as a shortening of horoscope (c. 1600). Extended to radar screens, etc., by 1945 as a shortening of oscilloscope.
also from 1872
scope (v.)
1807, "calculate the scope of," from scope (n.1). The slang meaning "to look at, view" is by 1980s, from scope (n.2). Related: Scoped; scoping.

Connections
Puzzle #170
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>251 klobrien2: Morning, Karen O.! What an invaluable word, with such a great path through our cultures. The 1980s sense was clearly referring to citation dates because we were using it in the 1970s that same way in conversation.

Did your reading and puzzling go as well as hoped yesterday?

*smooch*

>252 richardderus: Greetings, Richard! I had a very nice day yesterday, and today is shaping up well. Had a PT appt this morning, and have a nurse stopping by this afternoon. That kind of splits up the day, but it’s all for my good. I learn something new from each of these people.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Almost gave up on this one! Used some words that I knew were not the solution, to try and close in on the real Wordle.

Wordle 893 5/6 irate, cloud, unify, music, sushi

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Etymonline.com: sushi (n.)
Japanese dish based on small clumps of boiled rice, 1893, from Japanese, where it is said originally to refer to the vinegared rice, not the raw fish that commonly garnishes it.


Connections
Puzzle #171
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A little flailing about today! The flip between words 4 and 5 was fun.

Wordle 894 5/6 irate, prime, cloud, risen, resin

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Connections
Puzzle #172
🟦🟦🟦🟦 sidekicks ( goose, hobbes, robin, watson
🟩🟩🟩🟩 hitchcock movies (birds, notorious, rebecca, rope)
🟨🟨🟨🟨 avoid (dodge, duck, avoid, skirt
🟪🟪🟪🟪 ____ cheese (cottage, cream, string, say

At last! Another book finished!



208. The Jewish Deli: An Illustrated Guide to the Chosen Food by Ben Nadler



This book was a delight to peruse: terrific illustrations, lots of information about Jewish history, both food-wise and cultural. Like a comic book cookbook, with lots of delis and "appetizers" showcased. A real guide to the foodstuffs (esp. the meats, fish, and breads).

>213 klobrien2: Wow! You have gone through a lot, Karen. Happy to see that you are on the road to recovery. I am so glad that you have found LTers to be such a blessing!

>228 klobrien2: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation!

>232 klobrien2: I am also a fan of that one. I very much enjoy "old" movies.

>240 klobrien2: That series looks fun! I will have to see if I can find the books.

>244 klobrien2: Aw, too bad my local library does not have that one.

>256 klobrien2: Adding that one to the BlackHole too!

Take care of yourself! I hope everything continues to improve for you.

>257 alcottacre: Thanks for your kind words. Hope that life is treating you well! Thanks for visiting.

Glad you're feeling better, Karen!

Wordle 895 4/6 irate, steam, fated, taken

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Etymon,ine.com: taken
past participle of take (v.).
Entries linking to taken

take (v.)
late Old English tacan "to take, seize," from a Scandinavian source (such as Old Norse taka "take, grasp, lay hold," past tense tok, past participle tekinn; Swedish ta, past participle tagit), from Proto-Germanic *takan- (source also of Middle Low German tacken, Middle Dutch taken, Gothic tekan "to touch"), from Germanic root *tak- "to take," of uncertain origin, perhaps originally meaning "to touch."
As the principal verb for "to take," it gradually replaced Middle English nimen, from Old English niman, from the usual West Germanic verb, *nemanan (source of German nehmen, Dutch nemen; see nimble).
OED calls take "one of the elemental words of the language;" take up alone has 55 varieties of meaning in that dictionary's 2nd print edition. Basic sense is "to lay hold of," which evolved to "accept, receive" (as in take my advice) c. 1200; "absorb" (take a punch) c. 1200; "choose, select" (take the high road) late 13c.; "to make, obtain" (take a shower) late 14c.; "to become affected by" (take sick) c. 1300.
Take five is 1929, from the approximate time it takes to smoke a cigarette. Take it easy is recorded by 1880; take the plunge "act decisively" is from 1876; take the rap "accept (undeserved) punishment" is from 1930. Phrase take it or leave it is recorded from 1897. To take (something) on "begin to do" is from late 12c. To take it out on (someone or something) "vent one's anger on other than what caused it" is by 1840.

Connections
Puzzle #173
🟩🟩🟦🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪 kinds of wrenches (allen, crescent, monkey, socket)
🟨🟨🟨🟨 (places to shop (mall, market, outlet, store)
🟦🟦🟦🟦 portion of profit (cut, piece, share, take)
🟩🟩🟩🟩 ways to remove hair (shave, thread, tweeze, wax)

>213 klobrien2: Wow, how scary, Karen. You are so lucky you have people looking out for you. That is such a blessing.

>228 klobrien2: I read the first Schumacher book and liked it but didn't feel compelled to read on. I might look for this last one, though.

>240 klobrien2: This looks like such a cute series. I've been trying to convince Scout to read the first one with me.

I hope you are feeling better. Stay well!

Have a fantastic Friday, Karen!

Hi Karen - just catching up and skimming through.

So sorry to hear about your bout with salmonella and subsequent hospitalisation. I'm glad you were discharged in time to celebrate Thanksgiving.

>120 klobrien2: That's wonderful that there will be a tree growing because of Art.

I've started a new thread, the last one for 2023 (what a year!) Please join me here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/355603