We start off with a twofer on the same pun idea:
That’s sticking it to them! (or not)
We picked up this Wiley Miller one from the Why Evolution Is True website where it was sent in by a reader.
This Rubes from Andréa makes a deprecated usage exactly right for once!
Birthday note!
Today is the 200th for César Franck.
Here is a performance of his Violin Sonata in A:
And here’s another Lard for you for this week!
I wanted to say something like “This is not just a pun, but etymologically correct!”. It turns out something like that is justified, but not quite so simple and direct. Both Etymonline and Dictionary.com recognize a verb maze or amaze meaning “to daze, perplex, or stupefy” or “overwhelm or confound with sudden surprise or wonder,” but seem unclear on how it is related to the noun meaning “labyrinth, baffling network of paths or passages” . But yes, it is related, some way.
Oh gosh, and here’s this entry mazy (adj.) “like a maze, winding, intricate,” 1570s, from maze (n.) + -y (2).! Brings back writing a paper on Book 9 of Paradise Lost, full of narrative about “the mazy serpent”.
The pun is not new, but as an oldie it is a goody!
Truss didn’t make it as prime minister long enough to outlast a head of lettuce, or the lead time for this comic.
Okay, there are clearly a lot of geezer-worthy references, and interlocking backstories. But no, I can’t make sense of most of the remarks.
B&C have been going in for geezer / boomer / retro references a bit lately.
The sender of the Spy v Spy one remarks Prohias stopped drawing “Spy vs. Spy” in 1987, and died in 1998. § Wikipedia claims that the series is still “ongoing”, but I still wonder whether the character in the fourth panel would be recognized by anyone under the age of 50.
Meanwhile, back at the Zippy, more geezer callout action:
William Bendix was among the actors I came to know of from 1950s or early 60s television sitcoms or sometimes drama series ; and found out later had been minor or major movie stars in the 1940s or early 50s. Fred MacMurray, Donna Reed, Raymond Burr…
And from Brian in STL we have a synchronicity of Bill the Cat references:
P.S. This Zippy has in the meantime received the Arnold Zwicky professional treatment.
P.P.S. Here’s that word ‘serf’ again:
I just like this, more than I can defend.
A photo-OY, from Facebook group “Daily Pun”
Here’s a funny pun from Boise Ed:
The dancer’s foot-across move in the last panel seems like just the right punctuation to signal a punch line, much like a rim shot. (Have there been tap-dancing stand-up-comedy acts?)
Picked this one up from Arnold Zwicky’s blog, where there is a full description and analysis.
And I just was watching Beanie Feldstein.
(Not a CIDU) But is it a valid claim?
It may or may not be a don’t-understand, but no doubt it is a puzzle.
Some more covid (in)consistency comics.
From Andréa.
Here the “consistency” issue arises when the character watches old movies.
Dreams also needs to be consistent!
A GoComics commenter commented: ” Nancy (the strip) has had a bit of an uneasy relationship with the pandemic. I don’t think masks have been needed in the same way they were in, say, Arlo and Janis or Luann or Betty, but it makes it a little weird when they’re needed for the joke.”
It took me (Winter Wallaby) an exceptionally long time to parse the sequence of events in this strip.
Comics I Don't Understand 