Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 19h

Timely and not entirely obscurity-free cryptic clue:

Subject of the month's most appalling media story except for, surely, bundling E! with debut of Showtime (4,5)

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 1d

The Way We Live Now.

Trollope is a god to me; my only beef with him is that he turned me against* Dickens.

*opened my eyes to the flaws of…

Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 1d

Zero lies detected

Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 1d

Solution: PECK

Kiss lightly: definition
at first, please: P (first letter)
don't begin: delete first letter of...
make out: ... [n]ECK

New puzzle and clue on Thursday!

Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 5d

Kiss lightly at first, please — don’t begin to make out (4)

In our latest Out of Left Field cryptic crossword, sent to subscribers this morning, @hpicciotto.bsky.social and I offer some kiss cam advice for newbies.

www.patreon.com/posts/puzzle...

a man with a beard and a woman in a pink shirt are kissing

Alt: A man with a beard and a woman in a pink shirt are kissing.

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Joshua Kosman

Meredith Plays Horn @meredithmoo25.bsky.social · 2d

This is so Cousin Greg coded

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 4d

Trump said he deserved a cut for brokering the TikTok deal, and at once there was agreement that his son Baron would have a top executive slot... though he hasn't asked for it, and has no apparent qualifications to hold it. This is how Trump 2.0 works. www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025...

Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job

US president’s 19-year-old son could be appointed to the app’s board

www.telegraph.co.uk

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Reposted by Joshua Kosman

Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine.bsky.social · 2d

We have armed secret police kidnapping people off the street based on the color of their skin.

When we win: we will haul them before a Senate committee. The masks will come off. There will be consequences.

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Reposted by Joshua Kosman

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 3d

theonion.com/ice-raids-my...

MYTH: ICE agents lack proper training.

FACT: Most have been racists their entire lives.

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 3d

j'avais aujourd'hui ans quand j'ai appris que «oscariser» est un verbe

Le Monde @lemonde.fr · 3d

Diane Keaton, actrice américaine oscarisée pour « Annie Hall », est morte à l’âge de 79 ans

Diane Keaton avait obtenu son premier grand rôle dans « Le Parrain », de Coppola, avant de tourner plusieurs films avec Woody Allen.

www.lemonde.fr

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 4d

What a thread. Condolences.

Celeste Ng @pronounced-ing.bsky.social · 4d

Hi, friends. I'm sad to report that my mom passed away on Sept. 22. She was peaceful and comfortable, which is a blessing, but I'll really miss her. She taught me the most important things--help others; be curious--by example, and I would absolutely not be the person I am without her influence.

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Reposted by Joshua Kosman

AmeriKraut @inchargeofthegirls.bsky.social · 5d

sherman, for the love of god!

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Reposted by Joshua Kosman

Jesse Lansner @jesse.lansner.com · 4d

This is a little heavy-handed, but how else is she expected to learn what an actual journalist’s job involves?

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 5d

News: Bari Weiss just sent a memo to staffers at CBS News asking them to produce a memo explaining "how you spend your working hours—and ideally, what you've made (or are making) that you're most proud of."

One CBS News staffer puts it like this to me: "We just got Elon Musked."

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks to my regular 2am bout of insomnia for waking me just in time for this.

www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace...

Nobel Peace Prize 2025

The Nobel Peace Prize 2025 was awarded to Maria Corina Machado “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transi...

www.nobelprize.org

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Reposted by Joshua Kosman

Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcc.bsky.social · 5d

Higgledy piggledy
Timothée Chalamet
Has a name meriting
Endless design

Much like his forerunner
Benedict Cumberbatch:
Hexasyllabically,
Easy to rhyme

tweet from childish branzino @absflora:
timothée chalamet is the new benedict cumberbatch in the sense that you can say ANYTHING and we know who you mean. tiffany chevrolet. timpanogos charlemagne. symphony cabernet. jiminy castaway.

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 5d

Kiss lightly at first, please — don’t begin to make out (4)

In our latest Out of Left Field cryptic crossword, sent to subscribers this morning, @hpicciotto.bsky.social and I offer some kiss cam advice for newbies.

www.patreon.com/posts/puzzle...

a man with a beard and a woman in a pink shirt are kissing

Alt: A man with a beard and a woman in a pink shirt are kissing.

media.tenor.com

1 1

Reposted by Joshua Kosman

Free Parking 🚘 @free-parking.bsky.social · 6d

This is exactly what we need. This is it.

"New York City Council member Chi Ossé, a close ally of Zohran Mamdani, is privately discussing a run against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)"

Scoop: Mamdani ally weighs challenging Hakeem Jeffries

Just talking about a potential campaign could drive a further wedge between Mamdani — the democratic socialist in line to be New York's next mayor — and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)

www.axios.com

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Reposted by Joshua Kosman

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 6d

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violent alien @blipstress.bsky.social · 6d

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 6d

New post at On a Pacific Aisle, with thoughts on Samuel Adams, Gustavo Gimeno, and "Noises Off."

pacificaisle.substack.com/p/double-stu...

Double stuffed

In its Berkeley premiere, a new concerto sounded rewarding but overextended

pacificaisle.substack.com

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 6d

This asshole can’t get out of our lives fast enough for me

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 7d

YES. From your mouth to God's ears

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 7d

Absolutely joy-inspiring stuff.

Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 8d

please read my memo www.theverge.com/business/793...

Memo to Bari Weiss Re: CBS News: You’re doomed

Bari Weiss has sold her company, The Free Press, to manage the decline of broadcast news at CBS. How many ways can it go wrong?

www.theverge.com

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 7d

I beg your pardon, sir? I assure you the scansion has no kind of fault or flaw.

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 7d

Thanks, this is terrific! Apologies for the long silence — the rhyme was stumping me.

Laura Braunstein
Is as industrious as a mows-all-the-neighborhood-lawns teen.
But instead of a beautiful front yard, what she does’ll
Leave you with a puzzle.

Laura Braunstein @laurabrarian.bsky.social · 12d

we need to write them about each other

Joshua Kosman
He’s the boss, man
At constructing a cryptic
In times apocalyptic

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Reposted by Joshua Kosman

Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 9d

They’re using American tax dollars to fund infrastructure in Argentina because that’s where they’re all going to flee when we kick them out of office

Ryan Grim @ryangrim.bsky.social · 13d

After announcing a $20 billion bailout of Argentina, the White House now says it's pausing $18 billion in funding for NYC infrastructure projects

Russ Vought would love nothing more than to tear this country down to its studs

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Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 10d

This is wonderful! Thank you

Joshua Kosman @joshuakosman.bsky.social · 10d

I tried so hard to read this in Yiddish but in vain

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