Joseph Knecht

  High Fives Click on Diagram to Enlarge Shannon Rapp , disguised as Nora Sharpe (a riff on Michael Sharp of Rex Parker fame?), is no stranger to the LA Times.  Here's a bit about her , shamelessly plagiarized from Anon -T 's review of her August 31, 2022 puzzle (and his debut to boot). Today Shannon hints at ways that members of underground societies signal their identities to others in their groups in plain sight .   E.g. Freemasons are well-known for their elaborate systems of handshakes to indicate their level in the Masonic hierarchy;   the 1st-4th century mystery religion of Mithraism , a rival to Christianity, called new initiates  syndexioi , those "united by the handshake";   w hen an early  Christian met a stranger on the road he'd reveal his identity by idly drawing a curved line arcing downward in the dirt with  a stick.  If the stranger responded by drawing the other half of a fish they would know that they&#

    Sports Heroes I was unable to find a trace of Samantha Podos Nowak in the LA Times database, nor anywhere else on the Internet (Google, Facebook, etc), so this looks like her puzzle debut.    The characters referred to in Samantha's theme originated in the comic fantasies of the  Marvel Comic Universe (MCU)   and its competitor DC Comics (DC) .   As a MCU/DC newbie, I can't begin to explain the world they live in, nor their complex relationships, but the preceding Wiki links can get you started if you're interested.  The themers all start with the word "When" and end with a "_____" for you to fill in.  The first word of each fill is a character from one of the universes ( MCU or DC ), followed by a second word giving a common phrase.  The original comics have long since morphed into many movies and video game adaptations and are BIG business .  Several of the characters have appeared in multiple movies, and have been played by multiple ac

   Lunch Break Luncheon of the Boating Party Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1881 The above scene depicts a break for lunch that was taken by a group of the artist Renoir's friends as they were boating down the Seine.  They've disembarked at a shore side restaurant and are treating themselves to quite a feast. The Wiki link in the painting title contains an interactive view of the painting that shows you the identity of each of the friends who appear in the work (can you guess his future wife?).  While the restaurant is real, and the excursion may have actually taken place, obviously Renoir couldn't have painted it in the restaurant; we know that each of the diners posed separately over a period of 16 months, and he then assembled their portraits into the final work.  Not only is it a masterpiece, but it's a tour de force of the painter's craft. You don't have to go to France to see this painting: it's owned by The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.  For a d