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Puzzles

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Anyone do the WaPo Mini Meta? (I'm looking at you, TBB, who I think introduced me to it.)

Last week's: (1) a very obscure answer (at least to me) and (2) there was a very strong push towards an alternative solution (i.e., there was an obvious other set of five words). Don't want to be the spoiler.

I've noticed that more lately...that there are potentially two sets of "five word descriptions".

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I think last week's was fairly straightforward to me, but the week before (?) led me up a garden path! Very sneaky of them!

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the Hungarian one? (I'm assuming that the population of people who I might be spoiling for is very small.) maybe I'm just culturally illiterate!

but, even with that, usually the Meta clue words are not use in the same context as the daily clues. But for this one, 2D on 5 June was a direct clue.

I thought it'd be Tom Hanks Movie With ??? (is where I got stuck)

Hanks was "Thick clumps of hair", which besides not being about the actor, was also a word I've never heard before.

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i just tried it right now for first time. seems a touch harder than the NYT Daily Mini.

i have a small group (4-5) of friends where we post our time each day.

the average is about 45sec. best times are about 10 sec.

i cant type that fast or accurately so my record is somewhere near 13s.

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it's very diff than the NYT Daily Mini (I think?). It's a six-day meta. whereas the NYT is just a small puzzle, yeah?

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ah ok. the NYT mini is literally a 5x5 crossword that you finish instantly

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thought so. last week's questions (and associated meta answer) were way more complicated than I've ever seen before. I had to use the interwebs to find the answer, and the last vowel online was diff than that in the meta answer.

and there was another perfectly fine set of five words (one each for Mo to Fr) that created another "topic".

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not on sale, but we bought this semi-non-stick pan recently that we like. sort of a one-size fits all that we are thinking of getting my daughter for college apt.

https://hexclad.com/

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The longer I cook on my two sets of All Clad, the less I like them. They're fine for sauce pans, water boiling, and steamers, but I prefer the enameled for bigger pots, carbon steel for fry pans, cast iron skillets, hand hammered woks, and ceramic for non-stick.

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the all-clad stuff is mostly good for all purpose stuff, but all the things SGBear mentions are all individually better.

i like my big enameled pot as well.

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2 kayakers in San Luis Obispo Bay got a unique view of a humpback whale. They survived unharmed.

https://twitter.com/PeeperNews/status/1665486656990765057?t=d-Vi18ZsY6yRzucZ3KDIWw&s=19

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You've been kidnapped and you can only escape if you talk them to death. What are you talking about?

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Banking regulations

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the intersection of government procurement policies and processes with long term software development best practices and why most big systems initiatives will either fail or go over budget

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Newellbany’s life story…

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Cake?

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let me check w/ my kids!

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Quantitative Research Methods course I took in preparation for composing my dissertation.

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Statistics and data analysis. I'll bore 'em to death

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I could give them a lengthy history of Cal football and my time as a Bears fan. Surely they'd take pity on me after that and I'd be released.

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Worst present you ever received

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Yellow rubber gloves with green scrubby patches on the palms. It was my Christmas gift from my (now ex-) sister in law.

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it was both the worst and the best: a partially used bottle of bay rum aftershave. From my wife's paternal grandmother. A year after my wife's grandfather died. The real gift was having a good response for questions like this.

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my aunt got my one of those collectors item type plates that you used to see advertised on TV. it also had the most ridiculous picture of a young boy playing in the fields.

it was for my HS graduation.

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Do you still have it?

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A suit for Christmas to wear to the church - I was sooooooooooooo unhappy with that gift. Must have been 10.

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Ant farm but all the ants were dead.

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More like an ant cemetery. Did it come with tiny headstones?

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An ugly wrought iron art piece that a relative got me as a wedding present. I was poor, young, and had a reasonable wedding registry. The piece rusted within a year.

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Cable

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I haven’t had it since 2007.

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Minced pork

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Made minced pork with eggplant last night over noodles bc I was too lazy to cook rice

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i get lazy for many things, but rice is never one of them

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long beans + minced pork is a weeknight dinner at our house that gets better than average ratings on a 29 point scale.

29 is the "best thing you ever ate" ... so most meals at home are in the 5-13 point range from our very harsh food critic children.

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I try to make the dry braised green beans with pork that you can get at a chinese restaurant. Can't get it right. I did find an Epicurous recipe for Mapo Tofu that is very very good.

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So... a wacky comment about a great dinner (Sunday is always good) - a very great Champaign to start, we were having roast chicken, but with Southwestern sauce outside, so I thought I get a bit bigger wine than a Pinot Noir to go with (also a great salad with about 8 veggies + bits of cotija cheese) and garlic bread - SO I thought I'd grab one of my best wines to match: a 1995 "Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva - which was so fucking awesome, but the Southwestern sauce was too spicy for it!

Yikes!!!

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What's the last photo in your phone?

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A screenshot of Brandon Belt's reaction to Brandon Crawford's pitching stint. Last non-screenshot is a picture of a Wet Woody.

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dbd late-nite

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A picture of the ceiling at the Metro Center red line platform.

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Daughter and a couple of her classmates at the parklet outside Gus’s on Haight. (Lunch after biking and playing in GG Park.)

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A picture I took on a hike of a great blue heron fishing in a marsh.

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Receipt of breakfast for my expense report.

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You have to submit receipts of breakfast?!? I don't need a receipt for anything below $75.

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I'm required to do it for everything. Small company requirements.

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Normally breakfast is provided but due to belt tightening, hosts aren't providing breakfast anymore.

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My kid at the airport leaving for Europe for the summer. I am officially an empty nester.

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A picture of my kids plays on a Little Tikes bounce house at a birthday party yesterday.

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photo of the Soul Cycle class that i streamed this morning.

i need it to complain to customer service that the classes cut off the last 2-3 minutes of the cool down period. while it does not impact the actual workout, my favorite instructor is funny, so i would love to hear it to the end.

reminds me that i still need to send that email.

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Yes, do it!

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My dog eating a cucumber

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I would like to see, please and thank you

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I would also like to see, unless "dog" and "cucumber" are metaphors.

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A wall in a unit with purple 5/8 sheetrock - waterproof, screwed properly.

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Some lake front property I was looking at, realtor sign

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I hope it's not this one because this is the one I'm going to buy when I win Powerball later tonight. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2020-W-Lake-Blvd_Tahoe-City_CA_96145_M17352-52250

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I quite like that one

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Kinda old-school.

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It’s an interesting mix of cabin and some vaguely mid century modern lines / windows. I don’t know if I’d have gone looking for it but I do like it

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A slice of a lattice peach pie I made on Saturday

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i had peach pie for breakfast. we like to get pie from some place on Long Island called Briemere Farms. we had a little bit left from the pie that some friends brought for my wife's bday.

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PRO

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Crawford secures 10-run lead with scoreless 9th

Joc Pederson and Thairo Estrada both launched two home runs in 13-3 rout of Chicago

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2023/6/11/23757551/mlb-final-giants-chicago-cubs-6-11-2023-recap-joc-pederson-brandon-crawford-thairo-estrada

Two tough losses and Sunday’s Bark at the Park looked to be a dog day in more ways than one for the Giants. But their bats found their bite in the finale with a 13-3 win in which Joc Pederson and Thairo Estrada both doubled down on the long ball—the first time teammates in the orange-and-black had done so in 18 years.

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I was actually at the game the day before. It was Pride Day, and we got the Pride shirt giveaway. But even though the Giants were favored, the Cubs had a no hitter going into the 8th. Wound up being a one hit shutout. Ugh.

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Swinging A's win fifth game in a row.

Estuary Ruiz continues to make push for rookie of the year. Bullpen starting to get folks out. 8-6 victory over the Brew Crew.

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Though a little frustrating when up 8-3 in the 9th.

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Yup

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Sigh, I was going to say 4-0 tonight, but can't now.

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100 wins, here we come!

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😃 Oh hell YEAH!!!!

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Oh you just beat my post

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After 24 hours, 2,893 miles, and many instances of treacherous conditions, Ferrari won its first 24 Hours of Le Mans since 1965

https://www.thedrive.com/news/2023-le-mans-24-ferrari-takes-historic-win-america-steals-the-show

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Reverse boycott tomorrow. Cone thru

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I'll be there with coworkers! Maybe we can meet up!

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Yay! I guess.

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Arizona 3.5 games ahead in the NL West. Whoddathunkit?

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St Louis is dead last in the NL Central race. They can pick up some better pitching, trade for a more reliable bat in the middle of the order, or...

https://twitter.com/katiejwoo/status/1667271504852074497?t=MHht_qNhVWZ8lYJe1Yi5vQ&s=19

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Yankee Announcer John Sterling keepa his composure after getting hit by a foul ball

https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/1668018868034363394?t=dv9Z6bhgastQdXdyr4SADg&s=19

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Top secret documents kept in the water closet. If I were an allied country I would be shocked and appalled by the U.S. lack of controls over potentially compromising information.

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Trumps shitter was full of classified documents. I now understand why Cousin Eddie is such a big trump supporter.

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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Shot their wad in the 1st…

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LSJU makes the College World Series by red lining their hot pitcher's arm

https://twitter.com/NCAABaseball/status/1668110886026788867?t=IQRWUGLKMwGZ74DrVtKFxw&s=19

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I watched some of this game and noticed that when Mathews is in the stretch, he rotates his torso three times toward the plate before he delivers. Can someone explain why that's not a balk?

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Not having seen the motion, I'll venture a guess that he doesn't lift his lead foot while rotating his torso. Ergo, he's not starting his motion to the plate.

That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

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Huh, yeah he doesn't lift his foot when he does it. I didn't know it's not a motion towards home if you don't lift your foot. Some coach once told me to watch a LHP's belt when stealing second and as soon and the belt moves toward home that's when you break. Guess I'd have been picked off.

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This brings up an interesting point - when is it considered a motion towards home for a pitcher once he comes set? I was taught that unless a pitcher's lead foot had moved from the set position, there was no movement towards home plate.

I note, though, that the torso rotation is very unorthodox. Your coach's advice is pretty good EXCEPT in cases like this. Maybe this pitcher adopted that torso twisting to discourage base stealers.

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Begin countdown for Tommy John in 3…2…1…

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CAL

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Go Bears!!!

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He was an unheralded young professor who exploded onto the scene (too soon?).

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That should be Infamous ex-UCB math professor commits suicide.

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