I believe I’m mentioned this before. It’s something of an experiment of a video for 3LR about a man doing a New York Times Sunday crossword. It doesn’t really go well, due to his own incompetence, and his friends’ kibitzing, although he blames it on the erstwhile Mr. Shortz.
Also, his friends have the power to travel through some wormholes through space and… well, not time. Just space. And probably they’re not wormholes, but I’m not sure what the technical term would be. I hope that it will be cool to watch, though.
“Will Shortz is Slipping”
JAKE is sitting on his couch, doing a New York Times Sunday crossword.
JAKE
31 across. Egg dish. 8 letters. So… not souffle.
JAKE ponders, but to no avail.
JAKE
Bugger. 34 across. Cheese that’s made backwards? C’mon, Shortz!
TOM’s scene pops in. Tom is in a kitchen, cooking.
TOM
Jakey!
JAKE
(Distracted) Whatup, Tom?
TOM
Just whippin’ up a frittata.
JAKE
Ooh! Frittata! That’s it!
TOM
Crossword? Lame!
TOM snaps his fingers, and Matt’s scene pops in. Matt is in front of a playground with a tall tornado slide (whose top ends out of frame) and a floppy rider thing near the edge of frame closest to JAKE. You can hear kids playing, but not see them. MATT is disoriented, but he recovers quickly; this kind of thing happens a lot.
MATT
Wha? Oh. Stop saying I’m lame!
TOM
Howdy, Papa.
JAKE
Way to breed, Matthew.
MATT
I’m not lame. You’re just jealous that you don’t have a beautiful wife with whom you could theoretically have constant sexual relations with if you weren’t both so tired.
As he’s talking, MATT walks to the floppy rider and begins riding it; as his head goes out of frame, it appears in JAKE’s.
TOM
Matt, I’m a man-whore.
JAKE
And I’ve got two hands.
JAKE looks up.
JAKE
That’s reasonably distracting.
MATT
It’s not my fault.
TOM
It kind of is.
MATT
No, 51-down. Bacall wasn’t in Porgy and Bess.
JAKE
Then who?
RYAN’s scene pops in. Ryan is doing some doofusy home workout thing, complete with neon sweatbands.
RYAN, TOM, and MATT
Bailey!
RYAN
Pearl Bailey. Emmy and Tony winning actress.
TOM
How can you do the Times crossword but still be so ignorant?
MATT
And just for your edification, Bess is traditionally black.
RYAN
Porgy too.
JAKE
Porgy too?
MATT
It’s not Shortz’s cleverest clue.
JAKE
Well… if you’re so smart, where are your kids?
MATT looks around
MATT
Crap.
MATT begins exploring, looking for his kids. He’ll explore his own area, but he’ll then also move to other zones. Periodically, he can call out his kids’ names, Madison and Brayden. And ultimately, Savannah.
TOM
Hey, Jakey. 54 across.
JAKE
What about it? Hevea product? (he pronounces it “Heavy-ya”
RYAN
Hee-vee-ya.
JAKE
Hee-vee-ya? What is that, like, some kind of Greek goddess?
MATT
I should have used two.
TOM
Three.
MATT
Three?
RYAN
Yeah, three.
MATT has to think about this.
MATT
Aw, crap. Madison! Brayden! And Savannah! Shoot!
JAKE
Don’t shoot your kids. (A sudden brainstorm) Magnum!
TOM
(Mock frustration) Not magnum.
JAKE
What, Trojan, then?
RYAN
Trojan?!?
JAKE
It fits!
TOM drops a superball, which falls through his scene and into JAKE’s.
TOM
Oops.
JAKE
Gosh darn it, Tom, why are you dropping your little rubber ball at me.
RYAN
Yeah, Tom, gosh darn it.
RYAN begins shooting rubber bands at TOM, although they too drop down onto JAKE.
Meanwhile, MATT walks from the playground set into JAKE’s. He’s holding an inflated bike inner tube, which he drapes around JAKE’s shoulders.
MATT
Have you seen my kids? I’ll trade you this curiously rubbery tube made of rubber.
JAKE
I’m kind of distracted. (To himself:) Hevea? Darn it, Shortz.
RYAN
You might as well just move on. Unless you’re watching a Davis Cup match.
As he’s talking, RYAN finishes his workout and walks into TOM’s zone to swipe some food.
TOM
Hey!
TOM gives RYAN a good-natured shove. He falls backwards through his own zone, down the slide in MATT’s, and into JAKE’s.
RYAN
It wasn’t that good anyway.
TOM
Shut it!
TOM takes a cupful of water and dumps it; he’s aiming at RYAN, but it douses JAKE instead.
JAKE
Come on! This isn’t You Can’t Do That on Television!
RYAN
75-down.
RYAN exits JAKE’s zone as he says it.
JAKE
You Can’t Do That on Television singer? That clue sucks, Shortz.
MATT, by this point, is in RYAN’s zone.
MATT
Morissette!
JAKE
Smart-ass!
JAKE points at the two zones above him. He shakes them, causing MATT and TOM to shake too and lose their balance, and then switches their position. Upon switching, Matt looks offscreen to the left.
MATT
There you are! Madison! Brayden! And… you! You almost got Daddy in trouble.
MATT runs offscreen to the left.
TOM
Aww.
TOM tries to follow MATT to the left, but when he reaches the edge of his screen, it’s a solid wall. He bumps against it and falls. RYAN climbs up to TOM’s zone to check on him.
JAKE
Man with power over space and time: Jake!
JAKE snaps his fingers up and then to the side. As he does so, the two now empty zones disappear.
RYAN
Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s Thor. 81 across.
JAKE gives him a look of venom, and then, maliciously, snaps his fingers up and diagonally. The zone with TOM and RYAN disappears.
JAKE
Will Shortz is slipping.