Hint: The house that John Jarndyce and (for some time) Esther Summerson called home.
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First Letter: B
Hint: Today's Wordle is holy, and the fellows from Monty Python are looking for it.
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First Letter: G
Hint: Today's Wordle is so fake ... but in the future may become a word to describe those people who wander around constantly absorbed in the small electronic devices they carry everywhere with them.
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First Letter: P
Hint: Riddle: When is the door to fraternity membership not closed to bricklayers? Answer: When it's ajar .
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First Letter: M
Hint: Some people are described this way because they personally demonstrate laudable qualities; others merely because they've inherited aristocratic titles.
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First Letter: N
As posted at ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em site (straight picks, no spreads, etc., and I've created a group for those who would like to play along with me):
My Question:
If a tree falls in the middle of the forest and no one is there to hear it, is the squirrel that it falls on and kills wearing a digital watch?
Bing Chat's Answer:
This is a classic philosophical question that has been debated for centuries. The answer depends on how you define "sound." If you define sound as the physical phenomenon of pressure waves traveling through the air, then the tree falling would create sound waves regardless of whether anyone is there to hear it or not. However, if you define sound as the subjective experience of hearing, then no, there would be no sound because there would be no one there to hear it.
As for the squirrel, it's unlikely that it would be wearing a digital watch. Squirrels are not known for their fashion sense or their ability to tell time. However, if it were wearing a digital watch, it would still be killed by the falling tree regardless of its timekeeping abilities.
My traditional answer:
Of course not -- the squirrel was obviously using the shadow of the tree to figure out the time.
Hint: Today's Wordle may arouse feelings of irritation and/or resentment.
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First Letter: P
Hint: If at first you don't succeed ...
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First Letter: R
Hint: My friend Ari tells me that the four varieties of this are material, formal, efficient, and final. Sometimes I think he's just lipping off for effect, though.
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First Letter: C
Hint: Whether you solve today's Wordle slowly or quickly, the answer will be all about your pace.
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First Letter: T
Hint: Just assume today's Wordle, and you'll have presented yourself with the answer.
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First Letter: G
Hint: Today's Wordle has a condescending smile on its face.
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First Letter: S
My mechanic, who works from home, decided to try Instacart's "premium" service out, and accidentally checked the "pay for a whole year" instead of "pay by the month" box. He was kind of bummed and thought about seeing if he could get that fixed, but then just decided to use the hell out of the service since it saves him a bunch of shopping time.
It's been about a month, I think.
And so far, he's gotten two auto repair jobs from, and sold one car (he does a little of the "buy it cheap, fix it up, flip it" stuff) to, Instacart delivery drivers.
If you've got any kind of job or side hustle that your average Instacart driver might be interested in, you might get some work from that. If you have an Instacart account, anyway. If you don't, here's my affiliate link. You get $10 credit on your first order, and I make ten bucks too.
"No legislative function can occur on the House floor until a new speaker is elected," according to the Washington Examiner's Jack Birle. "No votes or any other basic functions can occur on the floor of the House until the election has been resolved."
For some reason, I see some people saying that like it's a bad thing.
But if Congress can't do anything, Congress can't do anything bad. And "bad things" is pretty much Congress's job description.
If I did Christmas cards, I think I'd add US Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to my Christmas card list. Just sayin' ...
Hint: Today's Wordle comes to mind as really happening.
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First Letter: O
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The blogging goal I set for the year was 550 posts. This is post #550. See you in 2024!
Just kidding.
Moral Clarity consists of agreeing with me, without caveats, that the side I support is without sin and totally righteously aggrieved, while the side I oppose possesses no valid grievances or redeeming characteristics whatsoever.
Moral Equivalence consist of hatefully and erroneously evaluating the side I support using the same standards as you use to evaluate the side I oppose.
Hint: You probably think of today's Wordle as an icky, cartoonish sound, but it's also a chair part.
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First Letter: S
Apparently it's against the law in Florida to paint your vehicle black and tan.
So now I know what I'll be doing with a scooter or motorcycle if I ever decide to go ahead and get a driver's license (got a scooter on my Amazon Wish List, but no, I'm not really expecting anyone to blow $1,100 on a vehicle for me).
As posted at ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em site (straight picks, no spreads, etc., and I've created a group for those who would like to play along with me):
Asterisks indicate "upset" picks (i.e. the majority of other people playing the Pigskin Pick'em game disagreed with me at the time I made my picks). Those majorities could change, and if they do I'll change my markings ... if I notice. If I change any actual picks, I'll do so prior to kickoff and note it in an update to this post. Coming into this week I've picked 58 games correctly, 35 incorrectly, and I'm in the 86.6th percentile of Pigskin Pick'em players.
Week 6 settled one "will there or won't there" matter: Since the Eagles and 49ers finally lost games, there are now no undefeated NFL teams for the season. In NFL history, only two teams have managed that. The 1972 Dolphins went undefeated in both the regular season and post-season, and the 2007 Patriots went undefeated in the season but lost Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants.
Hint: First and Last and Always, these Sisters include Andrew Eldritch and Doktor Avalanche.
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First Letter: M
My picks (posted here), with "Tom was right" picks in green and "Tom was wrong" picks in red:
Hint: Today's Wordle is legally permitted to vote, enter into contracts, drink alcoholic beverages, etc.
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First Letter: A
The subject line in an email I received from Wired, and the title of the story it references:
Deepfake Porn Is Out of Control
Which, as you can probably figure out, is about an exploding amount of deepfake porn powered by increasingly powerful AI, etc., and the fact that "the world's biggest search engines are funneling clicks to dozens of sites dedicated to the nonconsensual fakes."
And then ...
"WIRED is not naming or directly linking to the websites, so as not to further increase their visibility."
They just sent out a mass email to a large readership, linking to a full article on the topic that mentions you can find the stuff via the world's biggest search engines.
But it's actually pointing to, or even naming, the sites they refer to that would be "increasing their visibility?"
As virtue signaling goes, that's like me draining a tumbler full of bourbon in front of you, and telling you that it's available at all reputable liquor stores, but refusing to tell you what brand it is so that you'll know just how much I disapprove of drinking.
Hint: While attending today's chart-topping Wordle, you may find there's a line at the bar. While you're waiting, how about some pie?
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First Letter: G
Hint: Like a bucket that doesn't hold water, or an organization that can't keep secrets.
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First Letter: L
Hint: Three types of today's Wordle might be "literary," "secret," and "user."
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First Letter: A
I've seen precisely one scene from it, while channel surfing maybe 25 years ago, and never since have I been able to track it down.
In the scene, two guys are doing some kind of electrical work in an open, just-below-street-level (and visible from street level), compartment, probably in New York City. They're talking, and a screwdriver rolls into the works unnoticed, causing one of them to start getting electrocuted the next time he grabs something. The other guy swears and throws himself at the guy getting electrocuted to knock him loose.
That's all I remember. For some reason, I thought that the guy getting electrocuted was Mickey Rourke, but I'm not finding the flick among his IMDb credits, etc.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can tell me what movie that is so I can check it out and maybe watch the whole thing.
Hint: Many of our parents have siblings with various names, but Bob is today's Wordle in a more universal way.
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First Letter: U
Hint: I didn't necessarily pray to solve today's Wordle, but I did get on my knees.
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First Letter: K
As posted at ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em site (straight picks, no spreads, etc., and I've created a group for those who would like to play along with me):
The only thing I've purchased so far is a second Echo Pop (not an affiliate link). $18.98 with a bonus Kasa Smart Plug (not an affiliate link).
The list price for the Pop is $39.99 and the list price for the smart plug is $22.99, so seems like a pretty good deal.
I'd been planning to pick up another Pop soon anyway. My daughter says that the microphone seems to be going on the Dot (I forget which generation) in her room, so I'll give her the third generation Dot from my office and replace it with the Pop.
Meanwhile, the smart plug I use with the espresso machine started acting wonky recently, seemingly turning on without being told to, so I canned it and will like having a replacement just in time for cool weather and a return to hot espresso instead instead of cold brew dark roast of a morning. Heaven forfend that I should have to crawl out of bed to turn the espresso machine on manually, instead of just telling Alexa to do it so that my four shots are ready by the time I get dressed and make it to the kitchen.
Hint: No gray area here, it's a black and white matter: Today's Wordle stinks!
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First Letter: S
... as I point out in today's Garrison Center column. And apparently it's a communicable form of insanity:
Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who are both facing tough re-elections next year, on Tuesday said the Biden administration should immediately “freeze” the $6 billion in funds that are set to be released to Iran as part of a prisoner exchange.
Not that the US government had a stellar trustworthiness rating before, but this would completely crater that where hostage swaps are concerned.
"Sorry, Mrs. Smith, your son's going to die in a cell in Tehran/Pyongyang/Beijing/Moscow/wherever, instead of coming home, because we well and truly outed ourselves as lying sacks of shit in such an over the top way that nobody's willing to do that kind of deal with us anymore."
My picks (posted here), with "Tom was right" picks in green and "Tom was wrong" picks in red:
The mismatch: I guess I got sloppy. I meant to pick the Falcons to beat the Texans. I thought I picked the Falcons to beat the Texans. But on the site, I picked the Texans to beat the Falcons.
The upset thing: I picked the Raiders to beat the Packers, and I was right. Either I forgot to mark that as an upset, or else at the time I picked it the Raiders were ahead among players. As of game time, 76% had picked the Packers and only 24% had picked the Raiders, so it was definitely an upset.
So, if we go by what I meant to pick, I got 11 right and only three wrong. But the site doesn't calculate my performance on what I meant to do, it calculates my performance on what I actually did, so 10 right, four wrong.
I picked five upsets (including the one that either changed or that I forgot to mark). And I'd have picked all five of them correctly, if I hadn't screwed up the Falcons/Texans thing. But due to that screw-up, I went four of five on upset predictions.
I'm now 47-31 for the season and back up into the 80.8th percentile of ESPN Pigskin Pick'em players.
Hint: It's a slow day at Wordle. They must have eaten too much French food for breakfast.
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First Letter: S
Anyone who follows what I have to say about Libertarian Party politics knows that I'm the precise opposite of a fan when it comes to the Mises PAC or Michael Heise. I disagree with them on just about everything. But this is an extraordinarily twisted take on what Heise's saying -- twisted enough that I feel like speaking up about it:
Here’s Michael Heise admitting that the purpose of nominating Michael Rectenwald as the LP Presidential candidate is to funnel donor and email lists to the Mises Caucus’s “Project Decentralized Revolution.” Heise also admits that Rectenwald will struggle in the general election. pic.twitter.com/r8VkXOyvsF
— Savaged! by the Woke Mob (@fakertarians) October 8, 2023
The one area in which Heise is just plain wrong (and he pleads guilty and apologizes in another tweet that I'm not going to bother looking for / linking) is the claim that Jo Jorgensen's campaign didn't share its donor data with the party.
But he doesn't "admit" that Rectenwald will struggle in the general election -- he points out that the LP's presidential nominee, be it Rectenwald or anyone else, will struggle in the general election, especially if RFK Jr. runs as an independent.
News flash: The LP's presidential nominees ALWAYS struggle in the general election, and they have an even harder time of it when there are "big name" candidates running as independents or third party candidates. Heise's just pointing out a fact of reality, not "admitting" some specific weakness of Rectenwald's.
Nor does selling prospective Mises PAC / "Project Decentralized Revolution" access to Rectenwald's donor data as a benefit of backing Rectenwald constitute "admitting" that said prospective access is the purpose of doing so.
There are a bazillion credible avenues of attack on Heise and the Mises PAC. This one is just horseshit.
Hint: Would Wordle lie to you? Well, maybe, but not today.
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First Letter: T
The Continental: From the World of John Wick is a three-episode mini-series (these days usually advertised as "limited series" or "X-Part Event") which finished its run on NBC's Peacock streaming service this last Friday. Trailer ...
TL;DR: I wish we'd seen more concerning the nature of the High Table, but other than that and one non-TL;DR quibble it's a pretty solid prequel -- set in the 1970s, with a very 1970s vibe, and filled with plausible (to the extent that the John Wick universe is plausible) back story on key characters (Winston Scott and Charon).
Longer version:
The Continental: From the World of John Wick tells the story of how Winston Scott came to run, and Charon came to serve as concierge at, the Continental New York hotel, an establishment dedicated to providing room, board, and other services to assassins working for a shadowy underworld organization called the High Table.
At the beginning of the story, Cormac O'Connor (Mel Gibson) operates the Continental. At the end -- this is no spoiler, since he appears in the four John Wick films set decades later -- Winston Scott runs it.
In between, there's lots of 1970s music, lots of 1970s-style Blaxploitation kung-fu, and lots of 1970s-looking New York.
If you've not previously immersed yourself in the John Wick universe, the show will probably still be fun, but not as fun.
My non-TL;DR quibble: If you've followed my blogging on that universe, you know I'm utterly convinced that the John Wick films are Matrix films. There are just too many little clues pointing in that direction to ignore.
One of those clues, in the movies, is that everyone who's not involved in High Table related fuckery is completely oblivious to all the carnage going on around them. At the very most, there'll be a little running and screaming during the most violent street battles, but mostly people just walk past people engaged in mutual murder activities without even noticing. And in one film, Winston appears to stop the action, in the style of Matrix constructs, of everyone who's not part of the story.
In The Continental: From the World of John Wick, a significant character has absolutely no clue what the hotel is about, that the High Table exists, etc., yet takes a large role in the action. It's almost enough to convince me I was wrong about the connection. Almost ... except there are clues in this series that say yes, it's all taking place in the Matrix.
I'll discuss one set of those clues in comments, because in my opinion they constitute a spoiler.
One final note: You can "binge" the three-part event now ... but it was released in one episode per week fashion, just like old school TV. I prefer binge-ability in general, but I made an exception for this one and watched the episodes as they came out.
Anyway ... if you enjoy the John Wick universe, you will want to watch this show. You may not find it entirely satisfying, but it's well done, explains some things, and you won't want your time back. If you haven't watched any John Wick material, I suggest watching the movies first.
IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE SPOILERS, DO NOT READ THE COMMENTS ON THIS POST. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Hint: A bender, gambol, or spree.
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First Letter: B
Hint: Bigger than a fiddle, smaller than a cello.
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First Letter: V
Hint: This instrument can be used to turn the wind into a musician.
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First Letter: C
As posted at ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em site (straight picks, no spreads, etc., and I've created a group for those who would like to play along with me):
Hint: Even if you really, really like to munch on fruit for lunch, you're more likely to eat a "hand" of bananas than the quantity indicated by today's Wordle.
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First Letter: B
Here's how the 2020 presidential election worked out:
In 2024, if Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee, and if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, and if the third party/independent effects on state outcomes are similar, I would expect the following states to become "swing states" to at least some degree:
But large independent/third party effects, or the nominations possibly not going the way they look set to go, would put all kinds of flies in the above ointment.
In my opinion, if RFK Jr. runs a well-funded, well-conducted independent or third party (he's allegedly been in contact with Libertarian Party VIPs) campaign, and it's Biden/Trump on the major party side, Biden will likely win all of the states he won in 2020, plus North Carolina, Florida, and possibly even Texas ... unless RFK Jr.* is assassinated after being denied Secret Service protection by the Biden administration, in which case there might be a significant number of Democrats who abandon Biden in disgust and vote for Cornel West.
* The "RFK Jr." there was originally the word "he," which could be read as referring to Biden, which would in turn produce an absurd meaning. Thanks to reader DRJ for pointing out the poor phrasing!
Hint: A sudden burst -- perhaps of energy, or of blood.
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First Letter: S
My picks (posted here), with "Tom was right" picks in green and "Tom was wrong" picks in red:
Eight right, eight wrong. And none of the four upsets I predicted (as indicated by asterisks) panned out. So not a good week. I'm now 37-27 for the season and only in the 69th percentile of ESPN Pigskin Pick'em players.
Hint: Solving today's Wordle will require a non-specific, but probably fairly short, period of time.
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First Letter: W
Hint: Sigh ... it's not even Halloween yet and Wordle is already breaking out the Christmas words.
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First Letter: M
Hint: JFK called this cap "a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom." In song, however, US Marines describe it as an exotic variety of toilet paper.
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First Letter: B