Ha. Not to, ahem, rub it in the face of, ahem, certain siblings of mine who doubted my ability in predicting predictions, but Iowa State is a one-point favorite over the 'Huskers on at least Sheridan's line, with all the others I've found (Vegas casinos, etc.) either being a pick 'em or Nebraska by one point. No chance, Ed? No chance?

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I think we need some clues on last week's point opportunity. Here's one or two words in each puzzle:

1) O. T.: "Other Than."
2) Uh. Uh. I don't remember the answer to this one right now. Two bonus points to whomever solves it if they figure out the answer before I remember it.
5) First "W": "Whose"; Second "W": "Was"
6) I: "I"; Z: "Zero."
7) F.: "Falls."
8) S.U.: "Should Usually."
13) S.R.: "Square Roots"
14) T. O.: "This One."
15) E.: "Eight."
16) M.: "Man."
17) D. I.: "Doesn't Include."
19) Second E.: "e."
20) V. K.: "Visible Knuckles."

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Carrots: A Poem

pity the poor carrot with its opaque orange skin, its green unwaggable tail, its volume so easily described as one-third pi r squared h, its unshakable association with an uber-copulating mammal; it can

only and this is the one-and-only only

be glad that it is not

not not even close to being

an onion.

unless it’s one of those onion/carrot hybrids that are on the market right now, of course. those are freaky.

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Greatest "Law & Order" moment from the Emmy telecast: Seeing (ill? aging?) Michael Moriarty get an Emmy from former "L&O" comrade Jill Hennessey. How lovely the show was back then.

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Second-greatest "Law & Order" moment from the Emmy telecast: Conan making a joke about "Jerry Orbach's posse."

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Greatest non-"Law & Order" moment from the Emmy telecast: In his crankiest voice, Larry David saying the name of his show, "Curb Your Enthusiasm," while driving in a car. That three- or four-second moment was funnier than many entire episodes of "Seinfeld," and the small bits of episodes shown earlier in the telecast looked equally enchanting. (It makes sense: The main deficiency in "Seinfeld" is the stagey, unrealistic performances by four of the five regulars [W. Knight included; J.L. Dreyfus excepted], and so a partially improvised "Seinfeld" -- what "Enthusiasm" seems to be -- could be a logical improvement.) Forget "The Mezzo-Sopranos" and "Making Love in the City"; "Enthusiasm" is the HBO show I'd most like to see.