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Joshua Kosman

@joshuakosman.bsky.social

Retired classical music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. Co-constructor, Out of Left Field cryptic crossword. pacificaisle.substack.com. He/him

2,779 Followers  |  434 Following  |  3,657 Posts  |  Joined: 07.06.2023  |  2.037

Latest posts by joshuakosman.bsky.social on Bluesky

โ€ฆraises a lot of questions answered by my dating profileโ€ฆ

18.10.2025 21:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
A protest sign with a drawing of a large orange butterfly captioned THE ONLY MONARCH I WANT!

A protest sign with a drawing of a large orange butterfly captioned THE ONLY MONARCH I WANT!

San Francisco

18.10.2025 20:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 13    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Itโ€™s impossible to imagine a right-wing equivalent to large, nationwide rallies like No Kings. Itโ€™s nice to remember that we have numbers.

18.10.2025 18:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1124    ๐Ÿ” 143    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 43    ๐Ÿ“Œ 8
Someone appears to have gotten their hands on a NO PARKING ANY TIME sign, but they blocked out the par part so it says no king lol

Someone appears to have gotten their hands on a NO PARKING ANY TIME sign, but they blocked out the par part so it says no king lol

ooh well done

18.10.2025 15:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3036    ๐Ÿ” 672    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 19    ๐Ÿ“Œ 26

bsky.app/profile/josh...

18.10.2025 16:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Remember it? I still say it!

18.10.2025 14:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Sharif don't like it
Block the White House
Block the White House

17.10.2025 23:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Congrats!

17.10.2025 22:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Aiden K. Feltkamp @transcherubino.bsky.social in the first group too, obviously. (Sorry, was unaware of the relevant context here.)

17.10.2025 22:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Eh Iโ€™m not sure. Lorenzo da Ponte, Auden & Kallman, Royce Vavrek, absolutely. Luigi Illica, che me ne frega.

Am I wrong? Not feeling doctrinaire about this.

17.10.2025 22:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Lenny Bruce performing with a handheld microphone.

Lenny Bruce performing with a handheld microphone.

Arcane comedic art: going blue (10)

In our latest Out of Left Field cryptic crossword, sent to subscribers yesterday, @hpicciotto.bsky.social and I delve into the world of dirty jokes.

www.patreon.com/posts/puzzle...

17.10.2025 16:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

My feeling is that the most important opportunity for the 2026 midterms is not flipping Congress to the Dems, but flipping the Dems to an actual opposition party.

17.10.2025 12:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 304    ๐Ÿ” 88    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 13
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NEW: Pope Leo Set To Break Up Opus Dei If Pope Leo does indeed approves a plan that effectively dissolves Opus Deiโ€™s structure, it would be the most significant internal action of his short pontificate to date.

Not a Catholic, no dog in this fight, but seeing evildoers vanquished is always right

17.10.2025 01:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Slow cooking A Berkeley recital by the Isidore String Quartet shone most brightly in restraint

New post at On a Pacific Aisle, with thoughts on the Isidore String Quartet and the Kahanes pรจre et fils.

pacificaisle.substack.com/p/slow-cooking

15.10.2025 17:39 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Timely and not entirely obscurity-free cryptic clue:

Subject of the month's most appalling media story except for, surely, bundling E! with debut of Showtime (4,5)

14.10.2025 18:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The Way We Live Now.

Trollope is a god to me; my only beef with him is that he turned me against* Dickens.

*opened my eyes to the flaws ofโ€ฆ

13.10.2025 20:34 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Zero lies detected

13.10.2025 20:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Solution: PECK

Kiss lightly: definition
at first, please: P (first letter)
don't begin: delete first letter of...
make out: ... [n]ECK

New puzzle and clue on Thursday!

13.10.2025 15:08 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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We have armed secret police kidnapping people off the street based on the color of their skin.

When we win: we will haul them before a Senate committee. The masks will come off. There will be consequences.

12.10.2025 16:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 24992    ๐Ÿ” 6937    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 789    ๐Ÿ“Œ 721
MYTH: ICE agents lack proper training.

FACT: Most have been racists their entire lives.

MYTH: ICE agents lack proper training. FACT: Most have been racists their entire lives.

theonion.com/ice-raids-my...

11.10.2025 23:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 13868    ๐Ÿ” 3532    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 112    ๐Ÿ“Œ 69

j'avais aujourd'hui ans quand j'ai appris que ยซoscariserยป est un verbe

11.10.2025 20:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

What a thread. Condolences.

10.10.2025 17:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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sherman, for the love of god!

10.10.2025 01:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5822    ๐Ÿ” 1831    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 126    ๐Ÿ“Œ 450

This is a little heavy-handed, but how else is she expected to learn what an actual journalistโ€™s job involves?

10.10.2025 15:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Nobel Peace Prize 2025 The Nobel Peace Prize 2025 was awarded to Maria Corina Machado โ€œfor her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transi...

Thanks to my regular 2am bout of insomnia for waking me just in time for this.

www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace...

10.10.2025 09:13 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
tweet from childish branzino @absflora:
timothรฉe chalamet is the new benedict cumberbatch in the sense that you can say ANYTHING and we know who you mean. tiffany chevrolet. timpanogos charlemagne. symphony cabernet. jiminy castaway.

tweet from childish branzino @absflora: timothรฉe chalamet is the new benedict cumberbatch in the sense that you can say ANYTHING and we know who you mean. tiffany chevrolet. timpanogos charlemagne. symphony cabernet. jiminy castaway.

Higgledy piggledy
Timothรฉe Chalamet
Has a name meriting
Endless design

Much like his forerunner
Benedict Cumberbatch:
Hexasyllabically,
Easy to rhyme

09.10.2025 18:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2081    ๐Ÿ” 631    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 53    ๐Ÿ“Œ 50
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a man with a beard and a woman in a pink shirt are kissing Alt: A man with a beard and a woman in a pink shirt are kissing.

Kiss lightly at first, please โ€” donโ€™t begin to make out (4)

In our latest Out of Left Field cryptic crossword, sent to subscribers this morning, @hpicciotto.bsky.social and I offer some kiss cam advice for newbies.

www.patreon.com/posts/puzzle...

09.10.2025 15:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Scoop: Mamdani ally weighs challenging Hakeem Jeffries Just talking about a potential campaign could drive a further wedge between Mamdani โ€” the democratic socialist in line to be New York's next mayor โ€” and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)

This is exactly what we need. This is it.

"New York City Council member Chi Ossรฉ, a close ally of Zohran Mamdani, is privately discussing a run against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)"

09.10.2025 00:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4110    ๐Ÿ” 595    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 77    ๐Ÿ“Œ 211

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

08.10.2025 22:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3775    ๐Ÿ” 1115    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 59    ๐Ÿ“Œ 220

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