Crosswords:
Friday: 26:48 (1 Google)
Saturday: 29:01 (2 Google)
Sunday: 51:06 (1 Google)

Minor Black Panther plot points spoiled below. The hype is appropriate, go watch it..

A reasonable Friday. Today's puzzle was a little tricky, although I had some duh moments, not seeing UMP for "diamond authority." That particular misdirection with the dual meaning of diamond is so common, you should think of baseball before the gem.

I saw Black Panther at 1:00 on Friday (the matinee "bargain" was still $10.95), but the theater was full. After a little mini-history, the first dateline came up: "Oakland, 1992." And the crowd goes wild. Almost the entire movie is set in Wakanda, but hometown crowds love a shout-out. Nobody cheers in New York or L.A. when they mention those cities. Unlike the last few Marvel movies, this doesn't go hard on jokes or self-parody. The only real lmao moment was the "WHAT ARE THOSE?" line. It also stands alone very well in the Marvel universe, and doesn't need references to larger plot lines outside itself. Sure, you have Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis, but their roles in previous films were minor. Extremely minor in Freeman's case. He actually gets something to do here. But the only connection to the larger MCU is in the post-credits scene, which we knew was coming. The performances were great, especially Michael B. Jordan. Women were kicking ass as well. Some of the plot is telegraphed a mile away, or at least you're not surprised that Black Panther didn't really die halfway through the movie, even if you were unaware of his presence in future movies, and another "twist" is such a ridiculously overused trope, that you also see it coming as soon as the element is introduced. I was hoping for some more music, considering how it was used in the trailer. It doesn't need to be a hip-hop Guardians of the Galaxy, but I hope the Official Soundtrack has some great songs, because the movie did not have many. Make no mistake, this is a movie about race, but it doesn't get political. Do not fear, white people, the only guy preaching black supremacy is the bad guy.

After an interlude at Friday Night Magic, I came home and watched a new Chris Rock special. Getting all woke up in here.