Thu., 3/12 Alex Miller

[magus]

THEME:   anagrams of MARCH in random phrases   
      
GOOD ONES:       
Annual sports event {& theme}   MARCH MADNESS      
Some Persians   RUGS [but some Spanish would not be rice]      
Sleep soundly?   SNORE      
Lions, Tigers, and Bears   TEAMS [In my league there'd be Roaches, Asses, and Slugs]      
Fords that never got going   EDSELS [would Gerald be included?]      
      
BTW:      
Bagel topping   SCHMEAR [only if one is lucky enough to have lived near a Kosher deli]      
      
Orioles div.   AL EAST [I think I went to school with him]      
      
FANFIC sounds like a portmanteau word and fiction I don't want to read.  MuggleNet sounds like a site I am not terribly likely to enjoy.      
      
But, I might look extra fine in crop pants --- lotsa guys from the projects wore them.      
      
RATING:       
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun      

[Thomps2525]

SCHMEAR comes from the Yiddish word shmir, which means "smear." I'm not Yiddish. Heck, I can't even find the country of Yiddia on any map! But how is SCHMEAR a "bagel topping"? Merriam-Webster defines schmear as "an aggregate of related things ('the whole schmear')." Who puts an "aggregate of related things" on a bagel?

I've gotten used to seeing CELEB, SITCOM, ROMCOM, NTEST, ATEST and other shortened words and phrases in crosswords but FANFIC is a new one. I hope I never see it again. It sounds like a curseword! MuggleNet is a site for fans of the Harry Potter books and movies. Fans are encouraged to write their own Harry Potter stories and post them to the site. J.K. Rowling has written seven Harry Potter books and has no plans to write an eighth one...otherwise, she could easily draw inspiration from all that fan fiction: "Thanks for coming up with the clever plot devices, kids!"

http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/

[magus]

In a Kosher deli, the counterman would call a bagel order to the food preparer.  If the bagel order contained cream cheese, the counterman would add, "...with a schmear."  Every employee seemed at his limit of patience, the places were stark at best, but the food was great and well worth the prices.  (My work sometimes would take me near Katz' Deli in Lower Manhattan, and I ate there at every chance.)

[rbe]

Of course Katz' is also famous for Meg Ryan's scene in "When Harry Met Sally."

[magus]

Thanks, rbe, I remember that great scene of Meg Ryan's but had forgotten that it was at Katz'.