26 Comments

I love this, Robyn! You go . . . I'm right there with you!

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Thanks, David!

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You are playing my song here, Robyn! The NYT is all clickbait these days. I wonder if they’re even trying to bring us the news. And I totally agree with you about Connections and Wordle. Thanks for this post. A good read to start my weekend.

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Thanks for reading and commenting, Mary! I found playing Wordle just made me very mad a lot of times and I felt a little stupid at how often I didn't get it. Connections is just the right amount of hard.

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I’m mad at the Wordlebot for replacing “slate” with “trope” as the opening word of a Wordle genius (playing in hard mode). I’m sticking with slate. Perhaps it’s better, and less creepy, to not have the bot tell me, when our choices match, that “We are as one.”

Connections: yes. Some real dopamine hits there.

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Oh, wow--"We are one," is a little creepy. I did love comparing myself to the Wordlebot back in the day. I also found I would get so stubborn about figuring it out before moving on with my morning that it was sort of counter-productive.

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There’s a way to win Wordle pretty much every time, and then it kind of makes it boring. If I want to play, I use the following four words in any order: stork, filed, champ, bungy. That uses all the letters other than Q, Z, X, V, J and W. Obviously, I don’t play it hard mode. Usually by the time I’ve entered all four of those words it really eliminates most of the possibilities.

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Oh, that's interesting. I'm afraid I still wouldn't get it. For someone who spends a lot of time playing with words, I was always amazed by how the very obvious answer on Wordle eluded me.

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Feb 2·edited Feb 2Liked by Robyn Ryle

I think you may be the strangest person I know (a good thing). Of course, I don't know Donald Trump or any Indiana legislators.

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I would like a "Strangest Person Sandy Knows" award, please. Or, I'll take your bread recipe in lieu of such an award. Let us all be thankful that we don't know Donald Trump or any Indiana legislators.

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lol. I love seeing Travis so caught up in admiring her! And I love watching two young people in love. I also love that though, obviously, this has been very public, they’ve also kept it quite private. Now, as for the New York Times and Clickbait, oh, boy, yes. I never read the things they send me an email. I use the games app so I don’t have to open the actual News app to get to the games. Though I have recently put an app, called ClearSpace on my iPad and iPhone, to limit how much time I spend in News apps, social media, and the New York Times game app. I just really love the spelling bee! I have to admit, I kind of love that the whole Taylor Travis thing is pissing off certain men.

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Reading the articles about the certain men who are pissed off at Traylor or Tayvis does make me laugh out loud, I have to say. They sound so frantic and, well, hysterical.

Yes, exactly, you said it better than I did--let's just enjoy two young people in love. What a precious thing.

I think before this year is over I'll have to un-subscribe from that NY Times newsletter. There's a lot I feel so much better just not knowing about.

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Feb 2Liked by Robyn Ryle

Omg! This is effing wonderful! It made me smile.

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Is there any higher praise than having made the Goddess smile? Nope. Calling it a good and fruitful day.

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You nailed it re the New York Times. And yes, I too clicked on the Taylor Swift article. I read something else first, but then I came back and clicked. I guess I too want to know if he really loves her. I know nothing about football, but I feel certain there is no conspiracy going on.

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Do you think she loves him but it's Travis you're skeptical of? I like to believe that his mother would not raise a man to behave in such a way. Also that his brother would beat the crap out of him if he was acting like that. They are, after all, good Midwestern boys.

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Ha ha, well I married two Midwestern boys, so ... Yes, I think Taylor falls in love easily and is in love with Travis. I hope he loves her as much.

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Me, too.

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I really had fun reading this post, despite being someone whose lack of interest in celebrities extends to Travis Kelce (Taylor Swift interests me mostly as a phenomenon, and I did like her Tiny Desk concert). The post's "fuck this" and "fuck thats" fall in all the right places. And I'm fascinated by the fact that the Comments seem, so far, to be mostly about the New York Times. My take: Let ye who has not written clickbaity subject headers cast the first deletion.

But what I really want to know is... How many Substack writers have significant others who read their every word? I mean, I'm happily married for more than 30 years, and my wife has expressed admiration for my writing (though I don't call myself "a writer"), but she doesn't read my Substack posts. Hell, I was into Substack 3 months before she realized that subscribing might be a nice show of support. To be honest, I have a feeling she would read 'em if I accepted paid subscriptions. But that's between us and our couples counselor.

I may have to marry your husband, Robyn. (Also, thanks for the excellent post!)

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Well, first, Bob, I'm sad to say that you cannot have my husband. I might soften the blow by confessing that sometimes it takes some gentle urging for him to read my newsletter, especially given as how he's already heard an oral prelude (tirade?) of what I'm writing about over breakfast or cocktails. He is my first editor for everything else I write. He's like a walking/talking Strunk and White, which comes in handy.

Indeed, I might say the title of this post itself is more than a little clickbaity. It is the way of the world. I should not have been surprised by the lack of substance behind the clickbait.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

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Hullabaloo! You made me chortle out loud a few times with this. Love this piece, Robyn. I’m with you on all of it.

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Also, just curious: do you also have the Pixies Here Comes Your Man run though your head when you see your husband walking toward you? Just asking as a doppelgänger…

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Now I'm laughing out loud. I do not have that song in my head, but I probably will now!

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Oh, good. Writing that makes me laugh out loud is my favorite kind of writing.

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If you can embrace the NFL, maybe I can?? I don’t ship for TS and TK but I kind of love that you do. And I ship for love always 💕

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It's a very complicated love for the NFL, the way we love all things while also knowing they are deeply flawed and hoping maybe they can be better. Yes, always shipping for love.

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