IT'S CROSSWORD PUZZLE DAY! 🤓
On this day in 1913 NY World printed the first crossword puzzle with 32 clues. Readers loved it and newspapers have been printing crossword puzzles ever since.
Crossword puzzles are supposedly good for your brain, so today is a great day to give one a try. You can find plenty of crossword puzzles online, or you can solve the crossword puzzles in the adult activity book we released earlier this year. I mean, unless you bought our adult activity book as a hater of puzzles and purchased it expecting it to be a book of poetry for yaks or summoning spells to conjure giant winged lizards; then I guess you're in for some disappointment, much like this customer:
What *were* you expecting? How did the video and many photos of the interior pages, along with the product description that reads "Dozens of activities to keep you entertained for hours, including, word searches, math puzzles, coloring pages, crossword puzzles, word jumbles, mazes, cryptograms, trivia, logic puzzles, creative writing prompts, Rebus puzzles, and much more!" give you the impression that the book's contents would be something other than what it is?!
*****
Today is also Humbug Day, which pairs nicely with my 12 days of Festivus. Today's gripe goes to reviews like the one above, wherein someone complains an item we painstakingly describe in very specific detail is not as expected.
Over the years we have received complaints that a book described as hardcover was indeed a hardcover, that a short sleeved shirt did not in fact have long sleeves, and that our return policy does not cover replacing items devoured by pets.
My only question is: what is going on in your life outside of shopping with us? Are you demanding pizza at Starbucks? Are you insisting on refunds at movie theaters when it turns out Nightmare on Elm Street is not a documentary about trees in the throes of Dutch elm disease? Things might not be what you expected, dear complainer, but hearing things like "I am disappointed this shipped so fast" or "I didn't expect the Grievance Journal to have all this blank space in it for journaling" wasn't what I expected, either. Now we are both experiencing something unexpected, but your expectations make no goddamn sense.
Today is also the winter solstice, which means you can look forward to the longest night of the year! Bad news if you like the sun I guess, but maybe great news if you're a werewolf.
*****
What happened on December 21sts of the past? Here are a few things:
• Born on this day: French President Emmanuel Macron (1977), actress Jane Fonda (1937), actor Samuel L. Jackson (1948), actor Kiefer Sutherland (1966), singer-songwriter Frank Zappa (1940), and tennis player Chris Evert (1954)
• On this day in 1937 Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was the world's first full-length animated feature film.
• Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium on this day in 1898
• Finally, "Gangnam Style" by Psy becames the first video to reach one billion views on YouTube on this day in 2012, and to this day it remains near the top of my own list of most annoying songs of all time
Alright, you've waited long enough — on to the links!
Just a cute red panda eating some grapes!
The Boredwalk team riffs on a list of reasons Boredwalk fans hate air travel. (Note: this week's list of links is heavy on the cuddly animals, but if you were hoping for more comedy, stop by our Tiktok, Instagram or Youtube for more LOLs.)
3. 🥰 Polar bear delight
Check out this sweet and snuggly baby polar bear cub playing with mom.
Lucie Lass perfectly nails this overused cinematic trope.
Even this tiny soft kitten cannot resist the appeal of cuddling this fluffy sleepy dog.
OK! We'll be back here in your inbox on Friday with more nonsense holidays to dissect, more notable birthdays (and maybe even some notable deathdays!) to celebrate, and more witty content in general. Don't miss it! Until next time...
Peace, love, and darkness,
Meredith
Leave a comment