And why they threw the first palindromist into the ocean — In 1986, a writer in St. Augustine, Florida, named Lawrence Levine published a 167-page novel that reads the same backwards as it does forwards. Its palindromic title was Dr. Awkward & Olson in Oslo, and it tells the story of a bumbling private eye named Sam X. Xmas battling the…

A short history of that infamous homewrecker, the Crossword Puzzle — If Wardle is the Wardle of the Wordle, then Wynne was the Wardle of The World. Put less stupidly, Arthur Wynne’s 1913 “Word-Cross” puzzle for Joseph Pulitzer’s World newspaper was not the first such puzzle, but it was the first to be laid out in a recognizable proto-crossword format, and…

Even Nature’s most majestic beasts have off days — Nature, in her staggering diversity and variety, has produced such wonders as the African Caracal, whose beautiful tufted ears can pick up sounds from miles away; the Poison Dart Frog, whose kaleidoscopic beauty is matched only by her deadliness; and the Clouded Leopard, whose gorgeous markings mimic the play of…

Kefir the kitty is 27 pounds of powerful, purring catliness — Kefir is large. He is, by all accounts, something of a big boy. He is a kitty of considerable — even copious—capacity. One might be tempted to describe his size as “excessive,” but that would be wrong: He is exactly the right size—it’s just that the size that he happens…

Are you one of these Zoom dogs? — The One Who’s Always on Mute Somehow Waffles thinks that if he just shouts loud enough he’ll be able to overpower the mute button. The One Who Thought Their Camera Was Off Barkley’s gotten very used to the remote-work lifestyle but he still hasn’t quite mastered the “Stop Video” button. This is unfortunate for everyone involved.

You can learn everything you need to know about a person based on how they start a Wordle — Some Wordlers choose their starter word based purely on its aesthetic qualities. Others prefer to slaughter as many vowels as possible with hate in their hearts and the ruthless efficiency of a machine. And some Wordlers flit from word to word like whimsical little sprites with no damn sense of…

Rebranding for the 13th century — The Middle Ages were a pretty tough time to live through, what with the Black Death, average life expectancy at around 33 years, the brutal conditions of serfdom, and (as far as my research can discover) absolutely zero access to Brand Strategy Consultants who could help your business develop a…

A lovely, silly image captured at just the right moment — Nature is a beautiful mystery and a photographer with the right eye can pay homage to its endless variety by patiently waiting for precious moments like the morning sun catching dew drops on a marigold, or a pronghorn fawn frolicking with her siblings. But it’s widely known that the real…

Illustrated, quite helpfully, by Medieval art. — There is no known cure for the affliction of being a “people pleaser,” and even if there were, those of us who are sufferers would likely turn it down out of fear that it might be too much trouble for someone to administer. Or else we’d be too busy helping…