Browncoat

Particularly since hers was the only name he mentioned publicly as a suggestion to replace him.

Almost instaget FJ for me. I initially focused on the name of the valley, then figured out that maybe "physician" was the more important part of the clue. Which of course it was. I also got the TS of odd man out, Betty White, Michael Landon, Fame, President Snow, and Uriah Heep. (Autocorrect wants to make that Keep.) I was very very sad, and quite surprised that Betty White was a TS.

There wasn’t a direct joint reference, but he did refer to his “Colorado extracurricular activities”, which immediately made me think rolling joints.

If the people with the tiny yard in the Credit Karma ad turned the swing set sideways, their kid would have plenty of room to swing without hitting the fence.

Driver’s ed was part of PE class in 10th grade in my high school. As soon as we got our learner’s permits at 15 and a half, we’d go out with the driver’s ed teacher during PE. Three students in the back seat, and the driver and teacher in the front. I don’t remember how the timing worked — if we switched out drivers during class. There were also driving sessions before and after school and at the weekend, but it was school-sponsored. No one had to pay for private lessons.

Small-town rivalries where I live generally involve high school sports. The consensus seems to be that everyone benefits from tourism -- the towns are close enough together that tourists can patronize a wide variety of restaurants and other tourist services, but there is a fierce pride in sporting events, particularly football. I really felt for D'Arcy with her parents. I mean, when she and Liv showed up at that fancy restaurant, her father ushered both her mother and Liv in, and left D'Arcy to make her own way to the table. If you're going to be polite/sexist to the women, be polite/sexist to all of them. And as we have seen recently in the Olympics, parents and coaches pushing children to be elite athletes can seriously backfire, especially when the child does not perform as expected, or has a career-changing injury. It was clear that D'Arcy's parents were not hearing what D'Arcy was saying, and haven't done so for a very long time, if ever. Sometimes when your child is "just" a bartender and Snow Patrol, your child is actually happy. Until you tear her down and make her feel like shit for her perfectly valid choices. I do wish D'Arcy hadn't stood up the baseball player, though. She let her parents get to her, and that makes me sad. She is confident and capable, and it would be nice if she had some familial support.

I was born in 1964, and I am a Boomer! I absolutely identify more with Boomer things, but that could be because I have older siblings, and grew up surrounded by their Boomer touchstones. I suspect if I'd been the oldest child, I might feel differently.

I did not know Lady Chatterley, but I did know the Tower of London (and Gershwin for the tiebreaker), so there's that. And either there weren't as many TS, or I didn't get as many, or (more likely) I zoned out again in the middle somewhere and missed a few. Either way, these are the ones I got: Game 1: orange, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, licensed practical nurse, and Foucault's pendulum. Game 2: Rocky Mountains, Gila, pitchblende, and 36. For 36, I did have to do the math.

1/5 for me this week.

I will reiterate, thank goodness for Big Bird, as I did not get FJ tonight, either. I loved Matt's response, though. I got a lot of TS, including Generation X, Like Water For Chocolate, gas station, Martin Short, John Alden, warmed over, crucible, and mortar and pestle. I think of them as adults, especially Bert. He seems quite mature. But I do not think of them as brothers.

I can't abide Elmo.

All I had to do for my driver's license (in Virginia, in 1980) was drive around the block. No parking at all, turns in only one direction, and no backing up. It took about 10 minutes. The parking lot was so full when we returned that the examiner just told me to put the car anywhere I could find space, and that part wouldn't count as part of the test.

I had no idea that Zoom was that old. I think I first heard of it in, oh, February 2020.

So, wait. The winners don't automatically advance to the finals? I guess I knew that, based on the explanation someone here posted, but it didn't really register until tonight. That sucks for whoever the fourth player is. I really hope Raymond makes it through. I've already forgotten his score, though. For the first game, I had Mexico for FJ, but said Nicaragua because I couldn't remember what borders Mexico on the south. And for the second game, I also said eyes. Oopsie! I mostly kept track of TS, though again, I zoned out for at least part of both games, and may not have written all of them down. These are the ones I did write down: Game 1: gorillas, Audrey, lightning, and Padma Lakshmi Game 2: Free Guy, Ivory soap, Sherlock Holmes, canal, Zuni, Prozac, and Prince William. I was stunned that they all missed Prince William! I also will recommend Free Guy. I'm not a gamer, but I really liked that movie. It was lots of fun.

Thank you, Big Bird, for keeping me from being shut out this week. Yes, I know it's only Thursday, but given my blanks so far, I don't have high hopes for tomorrow's game. Big Bird was not an instaget, but it was close -- I focused on the "50 years" part. The only TS I got were grammar, "in the eating", and satyr.

I saw the rabbit one last night. It was really cute.

Falling, hitting your head, and dying in your sleep must be more common than we know, since there’s even a nursery rhyme about it. “He bumped his head, went to bed, and couldn’t get up in the morning.”

I got that part, having played many many games of Pong back in the day, but with nothing else to go on, I’m not scanning any QR codes. I barely want to scan the ones associated with something I am familiar with.

I can't really say I'm sorry to see them go -- they were good entertainment. But they definitely screwed up the worst this leg.

Where the hell are Arun and Natalia going?

I am actually amazed that Ryan got that.

I kind of love Dmitra at the souvlaki stand. OMG, the twins are eating another one!

He is really not paying attention, is he? I am sad to say that that would probably be me -- looking at the birds and trees and all the things while my mind wandered. And I don't even have ADHD!

I'm quite impressed with Penn! First for standing there so patiently and paying such close attention, and then for remembering all of those saints -- not only what they looked like, but the little fact, too.

We have a local restaurant called "Souvlaki". Also, souvlaki are delicious.