June 20, 2018

The Tuesday NYT crossword puzzle had a "trigger warning" theme with answers — like "bazooka bubblegum" — that began with guns, and the regular crossword-puzzle columnist at the NYT refused to blog it!

The crossword editor, Will Shortz, took over:
There was a behind-the-scenes discussion regarding Peter Gordon’s crossword, which is why I’m writing about it rather than Deb Amlen, the Wordplay editor.

She was so disenchanted with the puzzle’s gun theme — especially in this era of widespread violence — that she didn’t feel she could give it a fair write-up. [This is true. I believe that this puzzle will be upsetting to some people because of its timing, subject matter and revealer, and did not think I could be respectful or kind to it. So I thought that it would be better for you to hear from Will today. — D.A.]

I respect that, so I am writing today’s column, instead.

I liked the puzzle because of the freshness and simplicity of the idea and the elegance in the way it was done.... The revealer of TRIGGER / WARNING (26D/25D) — using this modern phrase in an unexpected way — was icing on the cake.

I added the photo for metaphorical zing. Back to Shortz (somebody stop me from saying "men in shorts"):
The puzzle’s subject of guns didn’t bother me. For better or worse, guns are part of American life. I have my own opinion about guns and their regulation, but as a general matter I try to keep my political views out of the puzzle.
Lots of things are part of American life but kept out of the NYT crossword because they're thought to be inconsistent with the escapist fun of doing the puzzle at breakfasttime. For example, defecation — also part of American life — is excluded.

I don't normally read the NYT puzzle column, though I always do the NYT crossword and I usually read Rex Parker's blog about it. It's via Rex that I ended up looking at Shortz, and the guns bothered Rex too (and before he saw Deb Amlen's resistance:
[G]uns, violence, yuck. This is a personal thing, but I don't really want to participate in crossword gunfests. Guns don't "tickle" me, I guess. Too much daily slaughter in this country for me to be able to enjoy cutesy gun-related wordplay.... But if I just pretend there's no theme, I actually like this grid pretty well, except for WANGLE, which is about the most off-putting word in the English language (67A: Accomplish schemingly). I really wanted WRANGLE there, as it's a good word, as opposed to WANGLE, which is like WIGGLE and DANGLE got together pretended to be a phallus. I mean, come on. It's got WANG right in the name.
An interesting train of thought, but the guns/phallus association is so common it's trite, except to the extent that it's funny, it's some serious analysis of the human tendency toward violence, or it's revelatory of why some people feel instinctive disgust about guns.

The Shortz column has an update:
The original photo on this column, which showed a man firing an automatic rifle at a firing range, was my choice, not Will’s. It was a misguided attempt to demonstrate that words are not just words, and pictures are not just pictures. I apologize for it, and have replaced the photo.
The replacement photograph is of an old man at a lectern, with the caption "English-Canadian musicologist Dr. Alan Walker lecturing on the music of Franz Liszt at the Mannes College of Music." That must seem to fit because the title of the column — and the clue for the answer "trigger warning" — is "Caution Before a Potentially Upsetting Lecture."

A misguided attempt to demonstrate that words are not just words, and pictures are not just pictures... I'm really not sure what that means. The explanation is itself misguided. What was Shortz Amlen attempting to do? Why would a picture of a gun demonstrate that a picture of a gun is not just a picture of a gun and that a word is not just a word? All I can think is — and thanks to the person* who made this image (which I was hoping would exist):
__________________

* The poster — based on the famous Magritte painting "The Treachery of Images" — seems to be by Dave Kinsey. I think you can buy it here.

120 comments:

TRISTRAM said...

Heh, I'd have used a picture of Roy Roger's stuffed horse.

h said...

I want to make one thing clear: I am the most sensitive person in this forum. I am more sensitive than Prof. Althouse, and more sensitive than any of the commenters. I would like to make a list of the subjects on which I am the most sensitive; but I am so sensitive that I am physically unable to type the words. My fingers refuse to work; a gray haze settles over my eyesight; I shake; I weep.

daskol said...

Hot off the presses: Deb Amlen does "THAT'S NOT FUNNY," Althouse Impressed

traditionalguy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
daskol said...

in all seriousness, though. she handled it well. stepped away, let her boss step in, and most of all: don't get hysterical about it. she set a good example, one that professionals across the country should emulate. and then the people who work for them can start behaving in a similarly adult and mature fashion as well.

traditionalguy said...

Ok, it's a horrible pic of an assault pistol on fully revolving fire. That would scare the virtue signalers who hire their own armed security to delegate the taint of self defense in the era of outlaws.

Fernandinande said...

especially in this era of widespread violence

Hey lookit me! I be virtuous.

The violence might be as "widespread" as in any other "era", but for the most part the rate is lower than in the past, er, previous eras.

dreams said...

Liberal pussies! Look what they've done to our country.

Henry said...

What was Shortz attempting to do?

Isn't the "me" in the update Deb Amlen, since it refers to Shorts in the third person?

n.n said...

Are scalpels phallic objects?

They are well regarded for self-pleasure. That said, ban assault scalpels.

Anonymous said...

daskol: in all seriousness, though. she handled it well. stepped away, let her boss step in, and most of all: don't get hysterical about it.

I think she kinda did get hysterical about it.

she set a good example, one that professionals across the country should emulate. and then the people who work for them can start behaving in a similarly adult and mature fashion as well.

Albeit in an adult and mature fashion.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Lots of things are part of American life but kept out of the NYT crossword... For example, defecation...

To be fair, the rest of the NYTs is the journalistic equivalent of excrement, so there is that...

Quaestor said...

...it's some serious analysis of the human tendency toward violence, or it's revelatory of why some people feel instinctive disgust about guns.

Instinctive? I doubt it. But assuming that's an apt qualification consider the roots of that instinct, in the genes as all instincts are. Were our apeman forebears divided into two camps — the pointed rock nuts and the "Rock Registration Now!" mutual groomers? Did the anti-pointed rock apes slip out of their trees to cajole a share of the kill from the pointed rock enthusiasts? Did the anti-pointed rock troop draw a distinction between constitutionally protected handaxes and assault cobbles?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Some people are adults, but some adults are children. And some adults seem to be children but are just batshit.

jaydub said...

The Tuesday NYT crossword puzzle is always simplistic crap anyway, so who cares?

LordSomber said...

The NYT crossword sounds all too taxing to bother with nowadays.
Outside of Thursday through Saturday editions, the puzzle is a waste of time.

And regarding the cake -- who the hell uses a Zapf Chancery style script in all caps -- outside of illiterate gang members and their enabling tattoo artists?

Ann Althouse said...

"especially in this era of widespread violence...

As opposed to every other era of widespread violence.

I came in here to say that but did check first to see if I'm repeating an observation, which I am, because Fernandistein said, "The violence might be as "widespread" as in any other "era", but for the most part the rate is lower than in the past, er, previous eras."

etbass said...

Althouse, I am guessing that as you do the daily crossword, you aren't sipping Black Rifle coffee?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MREX7EX?aaxitk=efpGkRpnght95tFsdLvoag&pd_rd_i=B01MREX7EX&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3930100107420870094&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_i=black+rifle+coffee&hsa_cr_id=3097676900001

Ann Althouse said...

"Isn't the "me" in the update Deb Amlen, since it refers to Shorts in the third person?"

Yes, thanks. I've done a correction.

Bilwick said...

I've got bad news for the New York Times: "liberalism" (for which the NYT is shill) and all other forms of statism rests on guns. The State's enforcers do not come armed with love beads and incense. The estimated 150,000,000 to 360,000,000 victims of Democide (murder by government) in the past 100 years did not voluntarily march into mass graves, nor were they talked to death.

robother said...

The Crossword made her cross. Fighting words. Smile when you write that.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Somewhat off-topic, but I was thinking about the class-divide and firearms this morning. There’ve been a couple of incidents in Wal-Mart parking lots recently where the miscreants were foiled because so many of the people they targeted were armed. I guess if you want to go on a retail rampage it’s best to find a Neiman Marcus.

rehajm said...

Lefties hate guns but love love love shooting them.

Henry said...

-- especially in this era of the widespread reporting of violence --

Guns seem to fall into an odd totemic category in which the actual gun-alluding answers (bazooka joe) may be completely mundane. It is the elevation of the category to a theme that brings editorial concern. A vegan puzzle editor could potentially have a problem with a meat-themed puzzle. Maybe? I'm not sure. I'm quite sure that a veal-themed puzzle would never be printed.

I didn't do the puzzle. Did shinkansen make an appearance?

Bruce Hayden said...

What seems to be going on is an attempt to get around the 2nd Amdt, and start gun grabbing, through imposition of Wrongthink. A portion of the country believes that they can achieve civilian gun elimination by making it impossible to discuss guns in public by programming society to fear even the thought or mention of guns. It may be partially successful though, as the left programs themselves to go catatonic when faced with guns. Of course, criminals will love this, that they can get whatever they want from this segment of the population by just allow ding to having a gun.

Ralph L said...

I came in here to say that

Is this the padded commenting room?

Elie Weisel is connected with the vilest mass murder, but it never stops them from using his name when they need to.

Bob Boyd said...

If our era was actually violent these people wouldn't be so precious. They are actually surrounded and protected by guns, but the guns are out their sight and out of their minds.
Somehow they seem to have concluded that they are kept safe by their own extraordinary virtue.

rhhardin said...

A feminine hygiene product theme would have lots niceness names.

robother said...

In this era of manspreading violence, she might have womansplained.

Sebastian said...

"this era of widespread violence"

Already covered by Fernandistein, but progs are such bullshitters: of course violence is down compared to most other "eras" for which we have data. See Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, summarizing a pretty large mass of evidence.

Puzzle for progs: in the U.S., over the last generation, gun ownership has gone up, violence down. Connection?

buwaya said...

We just saw the Magritte pipe painting Saturday, in Los Angeles.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Bruce Hayden understands their plan.

John Scott said...

Does this mean we won't see gat, uzi or STEN anymore?

AustinRoth said...

When will the term "trigger warning" itself be attacked and declared verboten by the woke? Guns have triggers, so that term itself is triggering!

dreams said...

"I respect that, so I am writing today’s column, instead."

As these two effete liberal losers enjoy their mutual respect, they've earned my disrespect, my contempt.

Quaestor said...

The original photo on this column, which showed a man firing an automatic rifle at a firing range, was my choice.

How did Shortz determine the rifle was automatic from a photograph?

Everyone knows that rifles are for fighting and guns are for fun.

tim maguire said...

revelatory of why some people feel instinctive disgust about guns.

No one has an "instinctive" disgust of guns. No one. Some people have a childish disgust of guns. They want to pretend that all the advantages we have in our advanced society are the normal state of affairs and they need neither be grateful nor willing to defend it. That lack of willingness to defend is very much anti-instinctual.

As others have pointed out, we do not live in an era of widespread violence. Widespread is relative, and there is no other era against which it can be compared that would support any conclusion other than that violence is rare. We are safe. These people are fools and children.

Freeman Hunt said...

It's pretty funny that the reveal on a puzzle that someone was such a baby about is "trigger warning."

dreams said...

You know, in earlier harder times people had to supplement their food supply with game procured by the use of guns. History.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

She was so disenchanted with the puzzle’s gun theme — especially in this era of widespread violence — that she didn’t feel she could give it a fair write-up.

This is the paper of record. This paper has an army of fact checkers.
Let's consider the phrase "this era of widespread violence."
Does there now exist widespread violence?
Objectively, empirically: is the current era violent when compared to any other era of human history? Compared to the recent past? How does NY's gun crime rate today, for example, compare to the same rate 15 years ago? 20 years ago?

Is it too much to ask that the Media actually back up such a casually-tossed off characterization?
"Reality based community" my ass.

Wince said...

What? Bazooka Joe and his Gang were not available for comment?

I never trusted Mort and that turtleneck pulled over his face, now I learn this.

Burned Lower Half Of Mort's Face Revealed In 'Bazooka Joe' Stunner

NEW YORK—The world of bubblegum-related comics was forever changed Monday, when, after more than 50 years, the Bazooka Joe supporting character known as "Mort" finally revealed the lower half of his face to be a grotesque mask of third-degree burns...

In the strip, a wisecracking Mort pulls down his trademark red turtleneck and, for the first time, exposes millions of readers to the jumbled mass of flesh and bone that lies beneath it.

"Readers will never look at Mort or, for that matter, any of the other Bazooka Joe characters the same way again," said noted bubblegum-art historian and author Phillip Weissenthal. "This changes everything—Mort's relationship with Jane, the time he and Bazooka Joe went to the zoo together, his fervent dislike of Metaldude. It's a paradigmatic shift on a scale never before seen in bubblegum literature."

"That face," Weissenthal continued. "God, that scarred and blistered face."

According to sources at Topps, the shocking revelation represents five decades of careful planning on the part of the strip's many artists. Though initially concerned about unveiling Mort's scorched and deformed face to the public, all agreed that the time had come to show what had remained covered all these years.

Henry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Henry said...

It would have been better for Amlen to write "an era of concentrated violence."

Violence is concentrated both geographically and temporally.

It is the means by which the criminal, the criminally insane and the criminal terrorist kill many people quickly that demands extra scrutiny.

clint said...

"...especially in this era of widespread violence..."

Good grief.

Static Ping said...

Our betters have the mindset of two-year-olds.

Ken B said...

I don’t get your shitting analogy. Political opinions are part of American life too. Yet you deploy your shitting analogy only to suggest guns, not political opinions, are best left out of escapist fun.

Ever see a James Bond movie? Escapist fun, right? Gun free you think?

daskol said...

Angle-Dyne, Angelic Buzzard said...
daskol: in all seriousness, though. she handled it well. stepped away, let her boss step in, and most of all: don't get hysterical about it.

I think she kinda did get hysterical about it.


She kept her cool. She didn't think it was funny or appropriate. She's very much of The Age of That's Not Funny. However, she's not part of The Attack of the Single-Loop Learners. She has her opinion, no doubt influenced by the culture we're surrounded by. But Deb Amlen didn't say "Don't publish it!" She didn't say "If you publish it, I quit!"

She just said she didn't want to write it up. That's a woman who knows what she likes and what she doesn't. She may have a deficient sense of humor, but that's not hysterical. It's the way to deal with disagreement in the workplace. Good for her.

daskol said...

Really funny puzzle, though. Very clever.

Bill Peschel said...

You can tell how comfortable a culture in decline is by what upsets them.

Deb Amlen is upset over a crossword puzzle.

She needs to see "Night and Fog" or visit the socialist paradise of Venezuela to reset her meter.

MD Greene said...

There's a place called Bulletproof Coffee near the beach in Venice/Santa Monica, an area not known for ungood views.

If the brand goes national, could it be a puzzle answer in the NYT?

Fernandinande said...

Quaestor said...
How did Shortz determine the rifle was automatic from a photograph?


It probably had a shoulder thing that goes up, or a forward-leaning pistol grip. That's how you can tell.

Comanche Voter said...

Is Rex frightened by the word "twang"? And as for bazooka, (A) the WW II weapon no longer exists--it was replaced by the LAW (another word that frightens NYT editors--at least laws they don't like); and (B) the original name came from a musical instrument.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

So someone has a weird personal aversion to a common object and Just Can't Even? And this is regarded as acceptable and normal?

Etienne said...

Je ne vois pas la...

...pourrait être caché dans la forêt

Anonymous said...

No "triggers", my actions are my choices, blaming how I feel, or what I do, on what some one else does is an old fashioned cop out. Grow up

tcrosse said...

It's not enough to be Sensitive. One must be seen to be Sensitive.

Bob Boyd said...

Guns are haram in the prog religion.

DanTheMan said...

>>One must be seen to be Sensitive

...and others must, therefore, bow to your whims.
Because being Sensitive makes you superior to the Less Sensitive Than Me.

PM said...

Crossword steganography. All I thought of was Bazooka Joe and his too-high turtleneck. I also recall when breasts were called bazooms.

mockturtle said...

For the NYT, history began in about 1990.

hstad said...

AA you're correct - "....Lots of things are part of American life but kept out of the NYT crossword because they're thought to be inconsistent with the escapist fun of doing the puzzle ....." But those things are not given extra publicity like the resistance to guns. Classic liberal response to a non-issue.

George Grady said...

These people need to calm down. It's not like someone put mayo on their sandwich, or said the word "moist".

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

bubblegum literature.

Really.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Fernandistein said...
Quaestor said...
How did Shortz determine the rifle was automatic from a photograph?

It probably had a shoulder thing that goes up, or a forward-leaning pistol grip. That's how you can tell.


Maybe it had that chainsaw bayonet the media was going on about.

James K said...

How about a "snowflake" tag for stories like this? Not to mention "virtue signaling."

Larry J said...

It's amusing to see leftists dreaming of some Resistance effort (like they had the balls of the French underground) being the same people who piss themselves at the mere sight of a gun in a photo.

fivewheels said...

"She just said she didn't want to write it up. That's a woman who knows what she likes and what she doesn't."

That's a woman who isn't doing her damned job because she's a head case.

fivewheels said...

Eight letters, starts with P, "weak, feeble, unable to function in society like a goddamned grown-up."

MadisonMan said...

Posted without reading the article.

FGS. Grow up lady.

Yancey Ward said...

These people are so immature it is shocking they know how to scratch their own asses.

Anonymous said...

daskol to me: "I think she kinda did get hysterical about it."

She kept her cool.


Yeah, that's why I added that "albeit in an adult and mature fashion".

Jokingly. Her response was laughably childish, regardless of her expressing her childishness calmly. You can defend this sort of silliness all you want, but I'm disinclined to give a grown woman a pass.

Richard said...

Does this new found sensitivity on the part of the New York Times mean that they will no longer review any movie that has guns in it?

Ralph L said...

Eight letters, starts with P

I can only grasp five.

Caroline said...

A misguided attempt to demonstrate that words are not just words, and pictures are not just pictures...
A loaded crossword, in other words.

Stoutcat said...

Quaestor said...
How did Shortz determine the rifle was automatic from a photograph?

Fernandistein said...
It probably had a shoulder thing that goes up, or a forward-leaning pistol grip. That's how you can tell.

Blogger Bill, Republic of Texas said...
Maybe it had that chainsaw bayonet the media was going on about.

But it was the cartoon bubble that said, "Pew pew pew!" that was the real give-away.

n.n said...

NYT infers intent from inanimate objects and is triggered.

Rusty said...

Blogger Henry said...
"It would have been better for Amlen to write "an era of concentrated violence."

Violence is concentrated both geographically and temporally.

It is the means by which the criminal, the criminally insane and the criminal terrorist kill many people quickly that demands extra scrutiny."

In which case Henry, I'm better off armed.

Danno said...

If she thinks the first-world modern era is violent, what would she do if she was in a third world shithole? Or in the historical times of people at war-all-the-time?

daskol said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
daskol said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
daskol said...

Most women of a certain class dislike guns. They're icky and scary things that only soldiers and cops need because they deal with bad guys. The only other people who cling to guns are deplorable. They're icky too. Most women of a certain class feel this way. Not to be mean or anything, but in this case "most women of a certain class" includes Rex Parker. Love his column, he's great, he's fabulous, but is it is it unsurprising he would have a characteristically feminine reaction to guns? No offense intended.

daskol said...

Ceci ne pas un pistolet in Australian: that's not a knife. this is a knife.

Danno said...

Blogger daskol said...in all seriousness, though. she handled it well. stepped away, let her boss step in, and most of all: don't get hysterical about it. she set a good example, one that professionals across the country should emulate. and then the people who work for them can start behaving in a similarly adult and mature fashion as well.

That's complete bullshit. The readers wouldn't even be aware of her lame thoughts if she had handled this properly.

Ann Althouse said...

When we were ar Home Depot, I was uncomfortable around the axes and machetes. How can they just have those out there where anyone could grab one and go wild? Doesn’t the sight of them induce violent impulses in some people?

mockturtle said...

daskol supposes: Most women of a certain class dislike guns. They're icky and scary things that only soldiers and cops need because they deal with bad guys.

Not sure which class you have in mind but the women of British aristocracy were quite fond of shooting as a sport and many were very good at it.

mockturtle said...

A revolver is not a pistol.

Jim at said...

You know, in earlier harder times people had to supplement their food supply with game procured by the use of guns.

Some people still do. Or even better, by bow.

Danno said...

Even the Beatles said ..."Happiness is a warm gun" "Bang. Bang. Shoot. Shoot."

Which I am listening to as I post this!

dreams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

An axes triggers an inner need to chop down a cherry tree.

A machete demands... nay, orders, that a prairie of high blades grasses, or a jungle of impenetrable greens, be sliced, diced, and recycled.

Sebastian said...

"How can they just have those out there where anyone could grab one and go wild? Doesn’t the sight of them induce violent impulses in some people?"

Of course. Hence all the Home Depot axe murder stories.

Ralph L said...

I've never noticed axes or machetes at our HD or Lowes, and I'd swear I've wandered through every inch of them. They must have them for the Madison crazies for their nude bike ride.

FYI, they both give a 10% discount to veterans, but Lowes now makes you sign up online for a MyLowes card, and they verify your service before they send it.

Ralph L said...

Rhhardin's scythe could probably do more damage, and he has practice.

Bilwick said...

mockturtle wrote: "A revolver is not a pistol." Maybe the usage has changed, but I read a lot of frontier history, and in newspaper accounts and contemporary memoirs, "pistol" is used interchangeably with "revolver," at least into the post-Civil War era when single shot pistols of the flintlock and percussion era were getting scarce. (I understand that "gun" as a synonym for a handgun did not become common until the 1880s. Prior to that "gun" meant shotgun or rifle.) In any event, the dictionary defines "pistol" as a small firearm designed to be held with one hand." Most if not all revolvers would seem to fit in that description. Or has the usage changed.

Bilwick said...

"It's amusing to see leftists dreaming of some Resistance effort (like they had the balls of the French underground) being the same people who piss themselves at the mere sight of a gun in a photo."

I'm sure when the storm troopers charge the barricades, the leftist Resistance will fight them off with love beads and incense.

Rusty said...

Ann Althouse said...
"When we were ar Home Depot, I was uncomfortable around the axes and machetes. How can they just have those out there where anyone could grab one and go wild? Doesn’t the sight of them induce violent impulses in some people?"

MMmmmm. No.
But if you value your life never stand between me and a cheese cake. You've been warned.

robother said...

An unusually well-defended pharmacy: Mortar and Pistol.

Rae said...

You need a hoplophobia tag.

daskol said...

mockturtle, I'm talking about highly educated women in the 2010s US who live in places like NYC (and, say, Madison) and work at places like NYTimes. you know what I mean.

Fritz said...

Ann Althouse said...
When we were ar Home Depot, I was uncomfortable around the axes and machetes. How can they just have those out there where anyone could grab one and go wild? Doesn’t the sight of them induce violent impulses in some people?


Leaving the typo aside, I certainly hope this was tongue-in-cheek. If not, Meade needs to make a plan to repeatedly expose you to ordinary garden tools to desensitize you.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
buwaya said...

Pistol is the more generic term.
Originally applied to single-shot weapons of various sorts.

A revolver is a type of pistol.
In other European languages it is the same - pistola (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese), pistolet (French, see illustration), pistole (German and others), etc.

Hagar said...

Eleanor Roosevelt carried a pistol in her purse. Actually a .22 S&W "Woodsman" revolver with a 6" barrel, so not very practical for fighting off would be assassins, but then she probably carried it mostly from devotion to the donor. However, she was supposed to be a fair shot with it, plinking at targets.

Molly said...

There was an article in Washington Post about Home Depot on Father's Day. There were a number of sweet vignettes -- the mom who after a few years of buying scotch and cigars for her son to give, now turned the decision making over to the son ( a magnetic tray for nuts and bolts and a padded tool bag); the three generations who went to breakfast and then to home depot "They weren’t looking for anything in particular — the trip itself was a kind of gift. 'My dad loves coming here,' [daughter and mom] said. 'I don’t know why.'" And a few slightly sad stories of dads who got custody for father's day and then were a little unsure what to do: "Isabella, 12, trailed him dutifully. She was biding her time, waiting for the right moment to surprise him with her handmade card. 'He’s a great dad,' she said."

buwaya said...

"Actually a .22 S&W "Woodsman" revolver with a 6" barrel"

The real problem with this (and I have shot a good bit with a Woodsman) is not that its a .22 but that its rather large and heavy for a purse. That's not a small pistol.

A purse of a size to have that thing in it, along with the other impedimenta a woman would be tempted to stuff into such a large volume, would itself be a pretty good weapon.

Static Ping said...

Ann Althouse said... When we were at Home Depot, I was uncomfortable around the axes and machetes. How can they just have those out there where anyone could grab one and go wild? Doesn’t the sight of them induce violent impulses in some people?

Absolutely. I get flashbacks of that time it took me 15 minutes to cut apart a tree branch with a semi-dull axe. Pure rage. It brings me up to DEFCON DARN!

DavidD said...

“ ‘...because of its timing....’ ”

As if there would ever not be a bad time for a gun-themed puzzle for Ms. Amlen.

D 2 said...

Breaking rocks in the hot sun
I fought the law and the law won
You got no chance without no gun
I fought the law and the law won
The State dont love, cmon now hon
Give em an inch and away they'll run
No Crosswords in the gulag to get done
I fought the law and the law won

D 2 said...

Given this era of widespread defecation, I dont feel I can give too many shits for people who want to be seen to be more virtuous regarding crossword themes. Did the non writer put skin in the game by fore-going a days wage?
Yes I get culture changes over time so maybe lets not have a crossword celebrating suttee or cannibalism. Hmm maybe thats wrongthought.

tcrosse said...

Ann Althouse said... When we were at Home Depot, I was uncomfortable around the axes and machetes. How can they just have those out there where anyone could grab one and go wild? Doesn’t the sight of them induce violent impulses in some people?

Look out for these guys

mockturtle said...

Ralph L observes: I've never noticed axes or machetes at our HD or Lowes, and I'd swear I've wandered through every inch of them. They must have them for the Madison crazies for their nude bike ride.

LOL!

daskol said...

Her move was actually conservative, or at least libertarinish: keep your guns and your stories of violence. You can have them, I don't want to take them away. I just don't want them in my crossword puzzles. Do your guns, do your violence, but leave me alone over here in the games section. Don't let the virtue smoke signal (aside in Shortz' column) confuse: this person learns, corrects errors and respects the institution where she works. She may not be one of the "good guys," but she's not part of the problem, except incidentally. Women of a certain class: they go a certain way, but they can go another way too. Process vs. outcomes. There is optimism in this story.

tim in vermont said...

I was walking down the street once in South Florida, and a Haitian guy who was working the landscaping with a machete saw me across the street and ran over to me, machete in hand, and asked “How am I doing, boss?” Not even kidding. I guess we all look alike to him. I have to admit I did have to expend a little effort of will to stay calm as he approached, but he had a friendly expression, so it wasn’t too bad.

Never occurred to me to be nervous around axes and machetes in Home Depot though.

Freeman Hunt said...

Last week I went to the restaurant of a top chef that offers 25% off to concealed carry permit holders on Wednesdays. Great food!

robother said...

Wepner's post boxing foray into plastic surgery and breast reduction for the masses: Bayonetes and Booby Traps.

Bilwick said...

Eleanor Roosevelt packing heat is different because shut up.

Big Mike said...

@William Chadwick, sorry to be so slow to respond to your question from 2:54. I think a majority of people, even among shooters, use “pistol” as an exact synonym for handgun, meaning a firearm meant to be held in the hand, with no shoulder stock, and a barrel of two to seven inches. Others reserve “pistol” for semi-automatic handguns and use “revolver” for, well, revolvers. Manufacturers especially find it convenient for online and hard copy catalog purposes to distinguish the revolvers they sell from their semi-automatic “pistols.” To people in the latter group — and their numbers are substantial even if, IMHO, they are not (yet) a majority — the caption on Althouse’s image is quite correct: it is not a pistol.

Bob said...

Markley's Law: A variant of Godwin's Law: As an online discussion of gun owners' rights grows longer, the probability of an ad hominem attack involving penis size approaches 1.

Rusty said...

Home Depot, Lowes etc. are an interruption on the road to getting something done. Not an end in itself.
You want to browse hardware? Get a McMaster-Carr catalog. If you can find one.

tim in vermont said...

I think that the underlying emotional cast of a liberal is fear and distrust of, and therefore the need to control, one’s fellow humans. Conservatives seem to give people the benefit of the doubt until they do something wrong, then a switch goes off.