As covid seems to be winding up, I reached out to my barber to see if she’s going to be opening up again soon. The last message I’d had from her was in May of last year. It turns out she’d moved to San Diego and opened up there! I don’t know if anyone who reads this lives in San Diego, but I strongly recommend Dorie Spiegel. I went to her for the first time almost a decade ago, and until many, many months into covid, I didn’t trust anyone else to cut my hair. I forwent getting a haircut at all until it became overwhelming and I let Calah cut my hair. And while Calah has done an amazing job and put others’ covid haircuts to shame, Dorie is a cut above. You know, because she’s a professional in this field. Dorie has recommended someone who is near me, but it’s scary to go to someone new for a haircut. When you find someone you trust in this area–someone to whom you can say, “I trust you to cut my hair to the appropriate length because this is your field,” and know you’re going to come out looking good–you don’t want to that person ever to go away. I’ll miss Dorie and her dog Braxton. I can’t recommend her highly enough.

Yesterday I missed ELAN, ENTENTE, LATEN, NATAL, and TAUTEN.

Meatier Misses

ANTENATAL: Before birth; prenatal.
EXEUNT: Used as a stage direction in a printed play to indicate that a group of characters leave the stage.
LANTANA: A tropical evergreen shrub of the verbena family, several kinds of which are cultivated as ornamentals.
LATEEN: A triangular sail on a long yard at an angle of 45° to the mast.

LUNATE: Crescent-shaped.
LUNETTE: An arched aperture or window, especially one in a domed ceiling.
LUNULA/LUNULAE: The white area/s at the base of a fingernail.
NATANT: Swimming or floating.

Today’s summary

Final score: 18 words for 91 points.
Genius minimum: 90 points.
First word: PAYMENT.
Pangram: PAYMENT.