Excuses, Excuses!!!

Today's puzzle by Billie Truitt consists of a them in which we can all relate. The clue for all three theme answers was "Student's no-homework excuse." 

20A: I LOST MY BOOK

38A: MY COMPUTER BROKE

52A: THE DOG ATE IT (the oldest excuse in the book!)

I searched the Net and found some more great excuses for forgetting one's homework:

• "With all the turmoil going on in the world today, I can't believe you expect me to focus on something so trivial as my homework . . . I mean . . . REALLY!"
• "I was doing something more important."
• "I was too busy polishing my trophies."
• "I was attending a bar/bat mitzvah."
• "I was receiving an award."
• "I'm allergic to homework."
• "We ran out of wood so my mom had to use it to feed the fireplace (or oven)."
• "My dad used it as toilet paper."
• "What homework???"

The best thing to do, people, is to tell the truth and apologize for your error! The teacher will be angry, but he/she will respect you more.

Frank Clark (1911-1991) is the author of today's cryptoquote:

"Gossip needn't be false to be evil. There's a lot of truth that shouldn't be passed around."

Amen to that! I had to search quite a while to find out who Frank A. Clark was. He was the author of a one-panel cartoon called "The Country Parson", where he poked fun at human faults and weaknesses in a gentle fashion. At its height in the '60s, the column appeared in almost 80 newspapers. To the right is an example of one of his cartoons. His adages definitely made readers think.

I hope you're enjoying as lovely weather as we're having here in NYC today!

Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,

The Puzzlechick