Well, that was exciting!
Of course the race isn't over yet, but after this past Tuesday it seems pretty clear who the winner's going to be and the gremlins are clamoring aggressively to be allowed to post their top picks for the VP slot now.
I told them it would be better to wait. As Kos pointed out Wednesday:
Yes, I know we're a reality-based community. Even so, it would be wise (and polite) to hold off on declaring a winner and at least pretend for another 6 weeks that this thing isn't over and that the votes of those of us in California, Oregon, New Jersey, and New Mexico actually matter in helping select the candidate.
(And don't overlook the feelings of folks in Nebraska, West Virginia and Kentucky, either. We probably won't win those states in November but there's looking to be a real shot, and that's got the GOP even more scared than their candidates antics.)
Both our candidates handled Tuesday's outcomes extremely well. Hillary Clinton had a pitch-perfect statement: "I've greatly enjoyed the discussions Bernie Sanders and I have engaged in during the debates. I think they've been a wonderful opportunity for outlining the issues which matter and the policies we'd pursue to address these issues. I'm looking forward to our final debate next month and to taking our case to the voters in the remaining primary states."
Sander's statement was good as well: "My respect and admiration for Hillary Clinton, already high, has grown even higher during the course of this campaign. It's been an honor and a pleasure talking together before the American people about the challenges facing our nation and the best ways to address these problems. The month ahead will be an exciting time as we go into the last stretch of this race."
Quite a contrast to the way the Republican candidates have handled things! Rand Paul's departure speech ("I was your last chance, and you blew it") seemed like it would be one for the record books, but Ted Cruz managed to top it just 2 weeks later in those "private" comments he made. At least Carly Fiorina managed a classy departure. Oh, wait -- no, she didn't.
Let's see if we can't be as classy as Clinton and Sanders by pretending for 6 more weeks that the race is still on. Your cooperation with this will be appreciated.
"So you see", I told the gremlins, "we should respect Kos' request and wait at least another month before you start announcing your VP picks."
No! they insisted. Stupid human! (It wasn't clear if they were referring to Kos or to me.) Need to post picks now!
"What's the hurry?" I asked. "Why the urgency?"
They looked at me disdainfully. Al Gore picked Joe Lieberman. John McCain picked Sarah Palin. You want to take chance on Bernie Sanders picking... And they mentioned a possibility so revolting and so horrifying that I was too weak and nauseous to argue with them any further. So I gave them permission to post their picks early. Hopefully Kos won't notice.
So for the next few weeks the gremlins will be posting their top 4 Sanders' VP picks. Tonight features their # 1 pick.
("Wouldn't you rather start with # 4 and work your way up?" I asked. No! they told me, staring at me as if I was incredibly stupid. And perhaps they're right. Their first pick has already been mentioned in a number of diaries as a good possibility, so probably won't be too difficult for you to guess; their other choices may be more surprising.)
Tomorrow's regular Sunday Puzzle diary will feature their # 2 pick. (I thought tomorrow would be the potluck puzzle party, since it's the first Sunday in May, but the gremlins assured me it was all taken care of and potluck would be next week. They must have arranged a trade of diary dates with pucklady. So remember, if you'd like to share a puzzle at the potluck you've got a week to polish it up and KosMail it to pucklady.)
Next week's warm-up puzzle will feature their # 3 pick. They'll take a break for potluck Sunday, then post their # 4 pick on May 14th.
And then they've got a bonus puzzle. All the people they've chosen have something in common -- something which, the gremlins assure me, will be a big help to Sanders in the general election. Can you guess what it is before they reveal it in the May 15 Sunday puzzle?
Oh. I nearly forgot: Welcome to Sunday Puzzle Warm-Up, a weekly series for people who enjoy light mental exercise spiced with politics, humor, odd bits of trivia, and the occasional furry animal. Tonight's puzzle (courtesy of the gremlins) awaits you below.
Tonight's JulieCrostic has 5 rows, with 3 answers per row. If you're familiar with how JulieCrostics work, you can jump right in; if you're new and don't yet know how JulieCrostics work, you can find complete instructions in the bottom part of the diary.
(Also if you're new, a request: please don't post any answers or other spoilers in comment subject lines. Instead, please put any guesses at possible answers into the comment itself. Thanks!)
Okay, I think that covers the basics. Here are the clues. Have fun!
1. boys
2. reproaches
3. toys that roll
4. felony
5. place of famous charge
6. title of patriotic song
7. go after
8. look for
9. Boston river
10. dirt
11. one who removes dirt
12. something everyone who takes part in solving these puzzles does
13. action words
14. defies
15. nocturnal rodents
instructions for solving JulieCrostics
In JulieCrostics you are given a set of clues, such as these:
To solve the puzzle, figure out the answers to the clues and enter them into a grid of rows and columns, like so:
All the rows in the grid will be the same length (i.e. have the same number of answers). All the answers in a column will be the same length (i.e. have the same number of letters). And the words in each column are one letter longer than the words in the column to its left. That's because each word in a row has all the letters of the word before it plus one new letter.
For instance, if the clues for a row were
1. say what's not so
2. resting
3. concede
then the answers might be LIE, IDLE (= LIE + D), and YIELD (= IDLE + Y)
Write the added letter in the space between the word which doesn't have it and the word which does. For the row in the example you'd write:
1. LIE D 2. IDLE Y 3. YIELD
When you have solved all the clues and written down all the added letters, the added letters will form columns that spell out a message of some sort. It might be a person's name, it might be the title of a book, it might be a familiar phrase, or it might be a series of related words. Your challenge is to solve all the clues, fill in the vertical columns, and figure out what the vertical columns mean.