All the BS aside, I still like the Home Run Derby, for the main reason that...it's a home run derby. And with it being in a stadium I know so well, it will be cool to see where people can reach--the black seats, the left field bleachers, the left field upper deck, etc. But it's always so long and drawn out, and with no Sox in there, I may just catch the replay or just the highlights. And about the All-Star Game itself--I still say it should be an exhibition game, and it's preposterous that the winner determines HFA in the WS. If you want to not have HFA go back and forth, there's an easier and fairer way: whichever team has the better record gets it. Duh.

So I've been working on the Sunday NYT puzzle. Last time (2 weeks ago?), I had it totally done by the end of Monday. This time, I've got the mid-section pretty much done, but I'm still trying to figure out the long answers. Which, in this case, is one long phrase. I've got one word of it, but I'm just not grasping it yet. But I'm sure I will soon. I'll keep you posted.

A good Shortz-ism from this week: "veiled comment" = IDO. I had the D, and once I got the pirate's name which provided me with that I, I knew it. Shortz! Oh, and my favorite pasta made the puzzle. The clue is "tasty tubes." Know it? You probably should, since I just told you it's a pasta-type.

Other X-word stuff about me: I always do it in pen. I just write over a letter if I need to change it. I write all letter upper-case, except e. My dad does those two things, too. I never read the clues in order. I just jump in at a random point, and once I get an answer, I try to get the clues nearby, until I give up on that section and jump to a new one.