Wallet stuffer crossword clue

I don't know about the specifics for other syndicated crosswords, but I expect the situation is broadly similar for WaPo, LA Times, and USA Today.
Cons

1. Yes, you have to pay for the full-size puzzles. (Though the Mini is free.) The Games-only subscription is $5/month. IMO, easily worth it if you do crosswords in your free time, but might not be worth it just for the sake of streaming.
   
2. Wednesday-Friday puzzles are probably too difficult to be entertaining on stream at NL's current skill level. At least without consulting chat. I think the average Wednesday would be a half-hour-ish investment and the average Friday would probably be a DNF. (Mondays and Tuesdays are a similar difficulty to the crosswords he already does.)
   

Pros

1. The puzzles are better. Not a mind-blowing quality difference, but good constructors rely less on straightforward clues or obscure trivia and more on cleverness and wordplay.
   
2. You also get access to several other games. Some of them are perfect end-of-stream time fillers, they take about 5-6 minutes and are pretty watchable. Not necessarily better than the web games he's been playing, but good for variety.
   
3. You get access to the full archive of NYT crosswords going back to the 90s. Even if he only does the Mondays, that's as much crossword content as you could possibly ask for.
   
4. Thursdays always have an interesting gimmick, so if the difficulty becomes less of a problem, they could be a fun weekly thing.
   
5. There's a daily Mini, a free 5x5 crossword that generally takes under a minute to finish. Again, could be good to add to the end-of-stream rotation even if a paid subscription is unappealing.
   

I put the cons first because he mentioned them on stream as reasons he didn't want to do syndicated crosswords. He's about 95% correct on both issues, so we're probably not getting an NYT crossword stream any time soon. I'm really just posting this in the hopes that (1) he'll try the Mini and (2) people will stop talking about this in chat all the time.

One of my teachers at school is a big fan on cryptic crossword clues. I want to give him this one for fun, and was hoping some people could help me make sure that it makes sense. Thanks!

Hi everyone! CheckingBackLater here with another trivia for you. As always, the celeb is in the DB and you can submit your answers in the Portal. Celeb classes can be seen in the classification sheet.

• Note that the celeb for today is a Retro celeb.
  
• First, you have a crossword puzzle to solve. Since today is Puerto Rican Emancipation Day (March 22, 1873), the theme will be Puerto Rico!
  
• Once you have each of the correct words, create a tinyURL link by using each of the first letters (lower case) in order of their hint number. An example can be found here. This link will take you to your clue about the celeb.
  

Additional hints will follow only as necessary.

I was a trucker. This happened to me four weeks ago.
It was about 11:34 pm, and it was raining heavily outside. Real torrential stuff and the trees were all freaking wagging like dog tails. My windshield looked like a waterfall, and my headlights could just barely illuminate the road ahead of me. I've driven through storms before, but I'd never seen anything like this. It was a real pain in the ass. But, it was also kind of cozy at the same time, me being in my nice warm truck and listening to the rain pattering on the roof. It was so soothing that my lids started to feel a little heavy, and the coffee wasn't helping all that much.
Up ahead, I could see someone walking along the side of the road. As my headlights neared the figure, I saw that it was a man. All he was wearing was a dark green overcoat, dark trousers, and muddy boots. I was frigging flabbergasted. Why would anybody be out in this kind of weather? Plus he wasn't wearing the appropriate attire.
I started feeling kind of bad for the guy. Now, us truckers aren't allowed to take in hitchhikers. We need permission to allow someone else into the truck. Not to mention it isn't always safe to allow some random person into the vehicle. But I'm a pretty empathetic guy, I was just raised that way. I just didn't feel right to leave that man out there in that crappy weather. Plus, I'm a decently big guy, so I thought I could handle myself if this guy tried anything.
I honked my horn and slowed my truck to a stop. The man stopped walking and looked over at my truck. I rolled down the windshield and called to him.
"Hey! Do you need a ride? It's pissing down out here!"
The man cocked his head to the side and continued to stare at me.
"Its alright. I'm just a truck driver! I don't bite!"
The man stood there, silently regarding me. Then he started walking towards my truck slowly. I rolled my window back up, and then I opened the passenger door for him. When he appeared at the door and I got a close-up look at him, my eyes widened.
This guy was huge, bigger than I was. Real tall, and sort of "wiry-strong" built. His face was really weird looking. It was long and very sharply featured, and his jawline was very narrow. His nose was broad and flat, his lips were thin and colourless, and his hair was long and slicked back, reaching down to the base of his neck. His skin was as pale as the damn moon.
The strangest thing about him though was his eyes. They were big and very vibrant green in colour. I'd never seen anything like them before. They kind of reminded me of a cat's eyes. They were just... uncanny.
The man entered my truck, sat down in the passenger seat, and shut the door. Then he put his seatbelt on. He didn't have any luggage with him or anything. All he had was the clothes on his back. However, I did notice something in one of the pockets on his overcoat, and I thought it might have been his wallet.
"So, where do you need to go?" I asked the man, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
The man just glanced at me and said:
"Are there any towns near here?"
"Do you need to go to any specific ones?" I asked.
"No." Answered the man.
"Well, would it be okay if I drop you off in the town I'm heading to?"
"Yeah, that sounds fine."
We drove in silence for a few minutes. The only noise was the rain pattering on the roof, and the mechanical whirring of the windshield wipers vainly trying to keep the windshield from being engulfed. The man was mostly just staring out the passenger window, or occasionally glancing at the windshield. Eventually, the silence got a bit awkward for me, so I tried starting up a conversation.
"So uh... what's you're name? Mine's Keith."
The man glanced at me, his green eyes emotionless and uninterested.
"Lyall." He briefly replied.
"So, Lyall, where're you from? Have you always lived in New Hampshire?"
"I'd rather not say where I'm from."
"Oh, that's fine. Sorry for asking." I replied with a small smile.
"Have you always lived here?" He asked.
"Yeah. I was born in Bartlett and lived there until I was ten. And then my family moved to Clarksville." I replied.
Lyall then turned to fully face me, and I had to stop myself from looking away from his eyes. They were just so damn... intense. Like full-on soul-gazing.
"What are the smallest towns in this county?" He asked.
"Um... I can't really think of any off the top of my head. But, I'd say most of the towns around here aren't super big. This county's the least populated one in the whole state." I replied.
"I see." Replied Lyall.
Things went quiet again for a little while. But then Lyall leaned back in the passenger seat and let out a wide yawn, and I got a full view of his chompers. My god, they made my frigging jaw drop. His canines were enormous, much bigger than any I'd seen on any other person before. Big and curved, kind of like smaller versions of a Chimpanzee's. Lyall caught me staring.
"Its not polite to stare, y'know." He said.
I shook myself out of my stupor and tried to think up an excuse. And, well, it ended up being a crappy one.
"Sorry, Lyall. Its just... uh... My brother-in-law is a dentist and he likes talking to me about... dentistry stuff and... I've developed a bit of a... fascination with teeth." I said with a red face.
Lyall just stared at me. God, his eyes were like daggers. Then, he smiled slightly, and I felt anxiety begin to swell up in my mind.
"Oh, he's a dentist is he? What's his area of expertise?" He asked.
"Um... he's a..."
Lyall cut me off before I could think up an excuse.
"You must know. I mean he does talk to you in detail about it. So, what is it? Orthodontic? Periodontal? Pediatric? Prosthodontic? Endodontic? Cosmetic? Or is he just a general dentist?"
I weighed my options. I didn't know any of them. So in the end, I just settled on a general dentist.
"Oh, he's a general dentist. He doesn't really discuss his procedures with me or anything." I replied with an awkward smile.
Lyall eyes narrowed, and I felt like crapping myself. He looked frigging scary with his eyes like that. Hell, he looked scary anyway, but his glare just made him even scarier.
"He's not a dentist, isn't he?"
I looked down in defeat
"No. No he isn't."
Lyall just sat there, pretty much scolding me with his eyes. And then he turned away from me, faced the windshield, and sighed.
"Just so you know, these fangs aren't actually mine. They're implants. You know, cosmetic surgery? I'm... into body modification."
"Are you? Oh that's cool. Sorry for staring and all that bullcrap about dentistry. I just... didn't want to seem rude or anything." I replied.
"Well, just don't lie. Truthfulness is a better virtue." Said Lyall.
Silence returned, much to my relief. Lyall was pretty damn difficult to talk with. I just couldn't look into his eyes for very long, and those teeth weren't exactly pleasant to look at either. Plus, I kind of found him to be a bit stuck up too. His listing off all those dentist professions just to stump me was kind of unwarranted. I would've given a piece of my mind about that if he weren't so damn scary-looking.
Not feeling like talking to Lyall anymore, I decided to turn the radio on. I went onto one of the news stations and stumbled upon a pretty disturbing story. A vagrant had been found dead about five miles away from our location. He'd been mauled something fierce, limbs had been torn off as well as his bottom jaw.
"Jesus christ." I breathed as I listened to the gruesome incident.
Lyall just sat there staring at the radio, and then he reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a plastic bag that looked like it was filled with beef jerky. He opened up the bag, pulled out five strips of jerky, and shoved them all into his mouth.
Despite his loud and rather gross chewing, I eyed the jerky. It looked pretty damn good. Lyall noticed my hungry eyes, and he pulled out three strips and offered them to me with a small smile.
"Want to try some?"
"Yes please." I said with a grin.
I put one of the strips into my mouth, and Lyall watched me eat it with a somewhat amused look on his face. Much to my surprise, it wasn't beef jerky at all. It was pork jerky.
"This stuff is really good, did you make it yourself?" I asked.
"No. I... bought it at a... roadside barbecue."
I swiftly scarfed down the other two strips. God, that was probably the nicest jerky I'd ever tasted. It was like heaven in a piece of desiccated meat.
"Kinda messed up what happened to that hobo. A big bear must've gotten him. Oh, I saw a frigging massive Black Bear near Shelburne once. God, it had to be about seven feet and probably four-hundred pounds at least. Looked like a damn grizzly. My dad would've given his left hand to shoot that thing." I said.
"Not much honour in shooting a beast. Up close with a knife, spear or your bare hands is better. It's more even that way. Gives the beast a fighting chance." Said Lyall.
"Easy for you to say. You're built like a goddamn bear." I remarked with a smile.
"Eh, you have a point." Replied Lyall.
"Now, I can find it feasible to fight a wolf or maybe a puma with a knife, but no way in hell with a bear. Especially a grizzly. Kodiaks and Polars are just out of the question. Fighting any animal bigger than a dog with your bare hands is completely out of the question, Lyall."
Lyall turned to face me and grinned. There were tiny bits of jerky still stuck between his big as-hell teeth.
"You want to know what it's like to get bitten, by a bear?"
I cocked an eyebrow up at his question.
"Have you ever been bitten? Crap, have you actually fought bears?" I asked.
Lyall ignored my question and then leaned towards me, and I couldn't help but shy away from his nasty-looking chompers and those goddamn eyes. His breath stunk too.
His voice a hissing whisper, he told me what it felt like.
"It feels like having three bear traps clamping onto your arm, the spikes sinking into your flesh like butter. And then the pressure increases and increases until the bone cracks in half like a stick. Bears also like to go for the jawbone too, because that's how they often fight with each other. Bears tend to attack humans like they're other bears."
My skin turned pale white as Lyall's words slithered into my ears. Lyall backed off, quietly chuckling. I started laughing nervously a little myself.
He suddenly leaned toward the windshield and squinted his eyes. Then he sat back against the chair.
"There's a gas station up ahead."
"Oh good. I need to top up my coffee and maybe get some food. And I need to take a piss too. You need anything?"
Lyall shook his head.
"No. I'll wait in the truck."
I slowed my truck to a stop just outside the gas station. When the dome light came on, I noticed Lyall's eyes suddenly flash yellow for a split second. You know like when you shine a torch at a dog or a cat and their eyes start glowing? It was kind of like that. I was weirded out for a second. But I quickly ended up just disregarding it as me just seeing things out of tiredness.
I stepped out into the pouring rain and howling wind, fastened my jacket, and then ran for the gas station entrance. The guy behind the counter looked half asleep, and the light on the ceiling was dim and emitted a faint buzzing sound. In short, the place looked like a craphole in serious need of renovations.
The first thing I needed to do was use the restroom. Judging by the state of the main area of the building, I mentally prepared myself for what I would witness in there. I opened the door and much to my surprise, found the restroom to be surprisingly clean. There wasn't much of an odour either. I walked in, shut the door behind me, and entered one of the stalls. I've just never liked using urinals, too pee shy. I emptied my bladder into the bowl, flushed, and then washed my hands. The hand wash they had smelt like heaven.
When I exited the restroom, the clerk was no longer behind the counter. I just shrugged it off and thought that he was maybe sleeping in the backroom or something. The poor bastard looked like he needed it. I grabbed a bag of chips and got myself a fresh coffee from the coffee machine, and then I left the money for it on the counter.
When I got back to my truck, Lyall was gone. He'd left a note on my dashboard. He thanked me for giving him a ride, and he'd also left me fifteen dollars, and that bag of delicious pork jerky too. Bitchin. I drove away from the gas station, now continuing my journey alone. Although we'd only known each other for about two hours, and he'd scared the crap outta me a couple of times, I'd be lying if I said I didn't kind of miss Lyall. At least I'd had someone to talk to. Trucking can be pretty damn lonely sometimes.
I arrived at my destination around at 5:47 in the morning. I dropped off my cargo, and then I booked a room in this cozy little motel. I had a nice sleep for about three hours before being woken up by a loud knocking at my motel room door. I groggily got up, put my trousers and jacket back on, and answered the door. My eyes widened like saucers when I saw two cops standing at the doorway.
"Mister Devereux?" Asked one of the officers.
"I am." I replied.
"We need to take you down to the station for questioning." Said the same officer.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"We'll explain when we get there."
When we got to the station, I was frigging shocked by what the police told me. The clerk at the gas station we stopped at had gone missing. And what made it all the more shocking was the CCTV footage that they showed me. The security camera at the back of the gas station had captured a dark figure ripping open the backdoor and entering the building. As soon as I saw the footage, I knew that it was Lyall.
The next footage they showed me chilled me to the bone. This one was captured by the camera in the main room. It showed me entering through the sliding doors, checking the place out, and then heading to the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom, the footage showed Lyall opening the door to the storage room behind the counter, grabbing the clerk, and pulling him into the storage room before slamming the door shut. God, he'd frigging rag-dolled the guy.
The footage after had been captured by the camera in the storage room. It showed Lyall biting into the clerk's neck and tearing out his throat. Then he slung the man over his shoulder and walked out the backdoor and then vanished into the woods behind the gas station.
I watched this all in silent terror. After showing me the footage, the police started questioning me. I told them everything. How I'd picked up Lyall from the side of the road, drove to the gas station, and how he was gone when I returned to my truck. I told them that I thought he'd just gone off on his own and I'd had no idea that he'd attacked the clerk. Luckily, they believed me. But they did ask to check my truck out for any clues, such as Lyall's fingerprints and stuff.
I had to phone the company I worked for and explain to them what had happened. And well, my ass ended up getting canned. I was stuck in that town for a week, and my god it was the worst week of my life. Stuck in that motel room, staring up at the ceiling from my bed, ruminating on the fact that I'd sat inches away from some animalistic maniac for over two hours, and been chummy with him. How I'd been in a restroom nonchalantly doing my business while an innocent man was being ripped apart in the other room. The nightmares I had were fucking horrific. Even now, after all this time, I'm still hit with them late at night.
It felt like heaven when I finally got my truck back and could leave that town. But of course, now I was no longer a trucker. After I gave the truck back to the company, I headed back to my hometown and now I'm working in my parents' diner again. Can't say I won't miss trucking. Thanks a lot Lyall.
Something strange happened to me a couple of weeks after the incident. Two FBI agents (I think) showed up at my house and started asking me questions about Lyall. They told me they needed a bit more information to help with the case, as they'd still not managed to find either him or the body of the gas station clerk. They wanted to know everything about him, even the most minute of details. What he looked like, how he moved, how he talked, and even how he smelt. They wrote down every single thing I told them, no matter how brief. They thanked me for my time and then they left.
A short while after that, another weird thing happened. When I was manning the counter at my folks' diner, this woman came in. She was wearing sunglasses and a scarf. She looked almost exactly like Lyall. Tall and lean, and a long face with a narrow jaw. She had different coloured hair though, auburn compared to Lyall's deep black.
She sat at one of the booths, and she noticed me staring at her. She then grinned at me, and much like Lyall, her canines were huge. I promptly told my parents that I didn't feel well, and finished work early that day. When I got home, I locked all of my doors and windows and stayed in my bedroom for the rest of the day. I frigging cleared out my closet and turn on every single light in my bedroom. And I didn't dare look out of my window blinds. Unsurprisingly, for me anyway, a trapper went missing that night.
I don't go out much anymore. And I sure as hell don't pick up random people off the side of the road anymore either.

Part 53
TW: Intense, masochistic sexuality.
Caliope, Clever Little Shit
Caliope sat in the back of the transport, still parked in front of the fancy house somewhere in south LA. Finally, she had her hands cuffed in front of her body, and she could reach her crotch. She dug fingers in her panties and inside of herself, reaching deep, into her posterior fornix. The thrill of stimulation there barely registered, even though it was her favorite spot for a cock or dildo to hit. She was too angry.
She pushed hard, twisting at the cuffs until she fit her entire hand inside of herself, and she could finally reach the scar. It had been there for years, waiting for this exact opportunity.
She dug her fingernails in, the sensitive tissue sending howling signals of pain to her brain, where her own psychology twisted them into signals of pleasure. Blood flowed as she scratched and clawed at herself, but she eventually found what she was looking for. Flesh parted, revealing a small, artificial lump.
She seized in in slippery fingers and pulled it out. It was a tiny handcuff key, with a tiny bit of her own brand of magic stored inside of it, wrapped in layers of cling-wrap. She quickly unwrapped it as blood soaked through her panties and smeared the seat.
She finally got it unwrapped and wasted no time unlocking her handcuffs. The bleeding did not concern her, she knew she would heal rapidly once she was done. She touched the key to the collar around her throat and felt the relief as its magic failed. She quickly used the sharpened tooth on the key to saw through the strap of the collar.
Her own magic filled her, and she let some of it turn to healing. She turned some more into physical strength. Then she checked the doors.
Locked, of course. The DCM was not known for ignoring non-magical security measures. She saw the two officers moving towards her vehicle, and decided that violence was the way to go. She placed her hands in her lap and waited.
They climbed in and started the vehicle.
"Listen," the driver said. "Here's how this works. You don't give us any problems, we don't give you any problems, okay?"
She nodded. "I understand," she said. "No problems."
"Good. We're probably gonna hit a drive-thru on the way. You can get something if you're hungry," the passenger said. Caliope nodded. "Thank you," she said, demurely. A drive-thru would be the perfect time to strike.
She sat in the back quietly as they drove her north. Around Anaheim, they pulled into a Jack in the Box, stopping in front of the menu. "Figure out what you want," the passenger said, turning to face her. "It's my treat."
Caliope smiled at him. He smiled back, then turned to face forward, and that's when Caliope struck.
She felt like she'd gotten a raw deal, the last time. She had never really gotten the chance to fight, except when she faced off with that psycho lunatic who'd surprised her and beaten her to within an inch of her life before she even understood what was happening. She had been training to fight for years and years, and yet when the time came, she managed to catch the guy who was, according to everything she understood, out standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the gods themselves.
But these two, they were former soldiers or cops. Not demigods, not magical beings of immense power.
She surged forward and grabbed the driver by the head, digging fingers into his eye sockets. The man let loose a howl that brought a smile to her face as she blinded him and slammed his head against the seat rest. She brought her feet up and wedged them against the back of his seat even as the passenger spun, a can of paper spray coming up. She ignored him, even as the magical shield triggered by the can popped into place on the man's face and tried -unsuccessfully, thanks to her fingers- to form over the driver's face.
The man let loose and the liquid splattered her face, immediately causing an intense burning sensation. She shuddered as the pain made her cum and redoubled her efforts. With magically enhanced strength, it didn't take long to bend the headrest back, hyperextending the man's neck. His struggles abruptly stopped as she felt something pop in his body and he slumped against her.
The passenger had apparently realized that the pepper spray was just this side of worthless and drawn his sidearm. He thrust it towards he, and she had just enough time to duck her head and seize his wrist before it went off.
The sound was deafening in the enclosed space. Caliope's ears rang as she squeezed the man's wrist and slammed it into his own headrest. He reached back with his free hand and grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking forward and slamming her face into the back of his seat. She felt her nose break and another orgasm swept through her as she grabbed the hand holding her head.
She slammed his wrist again and again, and finally he dropped the gun. She tried to catch it, but missed and it clattered to the floor. She reached down for it, but the man's grip on her hair kept her from it. She strained against him, reaching for the gun.
His right hand vanished, then she felt a heavy impact in her side. She glanced down to see the man drawing the four-inch blade of a combat knife out of her ribs. The impact began to throb and burn as she whipped her head around and warded his knife off with one hand, still straining for the gun with the other.
The knife darted and slashed, opening her arm in two places. She brushed the gun with her fingertips, shifting it. Caliope sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the burning in her side and her arm that made her want to touch herself, and yanked down hard on the hand holding her hair. Her scalp erupted into more burning as he yanked a large clump of hair out by the roots, but she could now reach the gun.
She picked it up and pressed it to the back of the seat, squeezing the trigger until the slide locked back. The cracks of the shots were loud, but her still-ringing ears muted them. The guard slumped, his hands going limp. He dropped the knife into the foot well.
Caliope leaned back and gave in to the urge that had been with her ever since the pepper spray struck her. She wiped her face, wetting her hands and then stuck them both in her panties, coming immediately as her vulva began to burn. She played with herself for several minutes, until she couldn't afford to remain here any longer. Someone in the restaurant or the buildings nearby would have heard the gunshots and the local police might be on the way already.
She grabbed the driver and hauled him into the back, then climbed up to the driver's seat. She put the vehicle, still idling, back into drive and spun it around, pulling back out of the parking lot.
She glanced at the body next to her. "You don't give me any trouble, I won't give you any trouble," she said with a grin.
----
A few miles later, she pulled into a mostly empty parking lot in front of a strip mall. She turned onto the road as she reached over and patted the pockets of the dead guard. She found his cellphone in his pants pocket and pulled it out. She used his phone to unlock it and opened the web browser, typing in a URL that she knew by heart. It took a second to load, and when it did, it immediately loaded a chat room.
U there? she typed and hit send. She waited.
Less than ten seconds passed before the indicator that someone was typing flashed on. A few seconds after that, a new message appeared.
Waiting on u, it said. Caliope grinned.
I no where theres guns an shit, Caliope typed, pausing to check the history of the vehicle's on-board GPS. in san clemente. im in anaheim rn
The typing icon appeared, cycled through its animation and vanished.
Coming there where r u? the chat read. Caliope's grin widened. She hit back on the GPS until it showed her current location, giving the intersection at the top.
Euclid st n katelia ave, in a car w dcm stickers by the arbys
A second later, the icon appeared and then vanished before it could animate.
Omw, the chat read.
Caliope turned and wrestled the other guard's body into the back, then got out and opened the rear hatch. She found raincoats, rifles, a shotgun and assorted gear, mostly tools that would be useful in a rescue situation. She grabbed a raincoat and a blanket and then closed it up.
She threw the blanket over the bodies in the back, then stripped out of her bloody clothes and threw the raincoat on. It was translucent, but she didn't care. She checked their pockets and then the center console of the vehicle, finding a few bills in their wallets and a mass of change in the center console. She took it and walked into a laundromat that was part of the strip mall.
She washed her clothes, smiling at the men who kept sneaking peeks at her body through the raincoat. After they came out of the dryer, she stripped right there and pulled them on. Two of the younger men cheered for her when she pulled the raincoat off.
She left and went to sit in the driver's seat of the DCM vehicle. She waited for another thirty minutes, until a beat-up old Toyota pulled into the spot next to her, and her sister and two men climbed out.
She rolled down the window. "Hulks or ninjas?" she asked the two men. Both sneered at her. "Hulks," one of them said, sounding offended. She smiled. "Good. There's only four guards left to watch the place until the cops come. If we hurry, this should be easy."
----
"Griselda, are you done?" Caliope asked, sticking her head into the kitchen. Griselda sat there, in front of the last survivor of their assault on Garcia's home. He was slumped over, insensate, the hand she had duct-taped to the table by the wrist flayed open to expose muscle and tendons.
Griselda pouted at her sister. "He fainted," she said.
"We're all geared up," Caliope told her. "We're ready to decide what to do."
Griselda stood. She picked up a sewing needle from the table and jammed it into the man's shoulder as she passed him by, but he didn't react. He really was out cold.
The two hulks, Johnny and Bob, stood in the living room, next to the shimmering portal.
"So where we going? We splitting up, or sticking together?" Bob asked.
"Well," Griselda said. "We don't really have any money. Just a couple hundred bucks. And we're on the run, so we need money."
"These guns are worth a pretty penny," Johnny said, hefting a shotgun. Caliope shook her head. "They're not worth enough for us to split up and vanish, the way we need to."
"Duke told us what to do," Bob pointed out.
"He goes by 'Dylan' now," Griselda told him, glancing at Caliope for confirmation. She nodded.
"He did, but the question is whether we want to work for him again," Caliope said.
"I don't give a shit who I work for, as long as I get paid," Johnny said.
"Duke was always good about making sure we got paid," Bob agreed.
Caliope was less sure. She looked at her sister, who shrugged. "Why not?" Griselda asked. "I mean, it's right there. The dead world. We don't even have to look for it, it's right in front of us."
Caliope nodded. Finding the dead world had always been the 'tricky part' of Duke-er, Dylan's emergency plan. But there it was, right through that portal. With that problem solved, the idea of teaming back up with their old boss was a bit more appealing.
"Fuck it," Caliope said. Griselda grinned at her. "Let's go."
They all walked through the portal, checking behind them to make sure the way back was still there as they emerged onto a concrete road, surrounded by concrete buildings and dried-out corpses. It was, the dark ritual room a shocking contrast to the midday sun around them.
"Okay, now which way?" Johnny asked after they'd all walked through. As if in response, a thunderous roar sounded from off in the distance.
"Towards the monster," Caliope said. Griselda took her hand, digging her nails in, making Caliope whimper. She slipped a hand down the back of her sister's pants and slipped a finger into her ass, wiggling it. They smiled at each and turned to share a deep kiss for a moment before they took off, following the two men.
They trudged through the city for over an hour, not seeing any sign of whatever had done the roaring. Caliope noted the bodies and made a game of trying to guess what they'd been doing when they died. She soon roped Griselda into it, and they began guessing out loud. Before too long, Johnny and Bob joined in.
"Those two were fucking, for sure," Johnny said, pointing to a pair of corpses, one piled on the other.
"With their pants on?" Caliope asked skeptically.
"Fine, but those two were definitely fucking," Bob said, stopping and pointing down an alley. Caliope looked, and sure enough, another pair of corpses were piled there. The one on top had pants around its ankles, and the one on the bottom had a skirt that was hiked up.
They all stopped to laugh at that pair, killed in the middle of their tryst.
Johnny walked over and began messing with the corpses before throwing his head back and laughing. Griselda crouched down next to him, then began to giggle and raised the man's hand to slap her palm against it.
"What?" Caliope asked?
"She's got a toy in her asshole, and the dude is still inside her," Johnny explained, wiping tears from his eyes. Caliope grinned. "Adventurous," she quipped.
"Jesus," Bob said, checking it out for himself. "How fucking jaded do you gotta be to have to get your rocks off by getting DPed in public?"
Griselda jabbed him in the ribs, hard. "Don't mock people's kinks," she said.
Bob turned a look on her. "Oh, you like getting DPed in public? Maybe Johnny and I could help you out a bit," he said. Caliope noted a certain gleam in his eyes and decided to speak up.
"How could you do that, Bob, after my sister cuts your dick off?"
"Heh," Bob chuffed, straightening up. "I know you two have your tricks, but I wouldn't need to get big to toss you both around like rag dolls. Trust me, if I decide to fuck you, I'm gonna fuck you."
"Jesus fuck," Johnny objected. "Shut the fuck up, Bob. If you try to rape one of them, I'll help them beat the shit out of you. We've got more important shit to worry about, right now."
Caliope nodded in agreement. She was beginning to like Johnny. He had that big, blonde gringo thing going for him, and he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.
"Johnny's right, Bob," she said. "And we can target our silence, you know. We could stop you from getting big, while letting him."
Bob laughed, though she detected a tinge of nerve in his tone. "You guys are way too uptight. Can't even tell when you're being fucked with."
"Well, let's stop fucking around," Caliope said. "In fact, we should stop talking, so we can hear if anything's approaching. I'd hate for whatever made that roar to catch us flat footed, talking about whose dick is going in whose asshole."
"My dick," Griselda said, "Goes in everyone's asshole." She stood and brushed sand off her pants, walking away from the fateful lovers.
Johnny joined her, leaving Bob to trail behind as they set off again.
They walked the rest of the afternoon in silence. As the sun set, they stopped to confer about what to do, deciding to stop in an intact building. They had Bob go out and gather grass and leaves and crumbling sticks to make a fire with, and then they heated up some of the camp food they'd found.
After eating, they cleared spaces on the floor and set up their sleeping bags, then went to sleep.
Caliope waited until she could hear three voices snoring before she climbed out of her bag. She stripped down to nothing and walked out of the building. The night sky looked different, she thought. The stars were different and the milky way was thicker and less bright.
She found the bench she'd spotted on their way in. It had small, sharp looking fins protruding from the arms which had caught her eye. She placed a leg on the seat and lowered herself, grinding her hips back and forth. The fins tore at the skin of her vulva, the tugging, burning pain making her body tingle. Blood dripped onto the rusty metal, and she wondered idly if she'd get tetanus from it.
The idea excited her. It was suppose to be a painful condition.
She didn't hear the footsteps approaching over her own whimpers and gasps. She didn't know anyone was behind her until she felt a pair of large hands grab her hips.
She spun, expecting to see Bob there, but it was Johnny. She smiled, seeing him.
"You want to help?" she asked.
"I'm not sure I can, now... You're all torn up," he said. She looked down to see the blood in her pubic hair and on the bench's arm.
"I heal," she said. "Like Dylan used to. It's part of the magic."
"Wish they'd given us that part," Johnny said. He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. She nipped at his upper lip, making him pull back. "Don't bite," he said.
"How else do I get you to bite back?" she asked playfully. She ground herself against the bench again, feeling the slight pop as each fin caught and then came loose of her flesh.
"Ask nicely," Johnny said.
Caliope grinned, then contorted her face into a parody of pleading. "Please bite me," she whispered. Johnny eyed her skeptically for a moment, then suddenly dipped his head and sank his teeth into her neck. She gasped as he did and moaned.
"Harder," she whispered. His teeth clamped down more.
"Harder," she murmured. She felt the sudden release of tension as he broke the skin.
"Harder," she said. He let go, and she could see blood on his lips. He lifted her up and bit down on one of her nipples, and the heat of an orgasm swept her mind away for a moment. When she regained her senses, she cried "Harder!"
He flipped her around and dropped her onto the arm of the bench. It jabbed painfully into her stomach and ripped skin at the tips of each fin. She came again, shuddering as Johnny pressed one hand down on her back. She felt him roughly shove a finger into her ass, followed by a second, making her moan.
As she felt his knuckles slip inside of her, another pair of hands, smaller and softer, grabbed her head and pushed it down, smacking her cheek against the backrest. Caliope caught a glimpse of her sister between the metal bars and grinned. Nobody could hurt her quite like Griselda.
"Here," Griselda said. "Let me show you what she likes."
Caliope melted away in an ocean of delicious agony.
----
Bob seemed oblivious to what he had missed out on the next morning. Caliope moved slowly, not because any injuries lingered, but because a slight ache remained low in her stomach, and she wanted to savor it.
Johnny managed to avoid getting clingy, which Caliope appreciated. Too many men thought that fucking her meant they were now a couple of some sort, and that she needed catering to. Johnny didn't care. He packed his own bag quickly and then started the fire up again and began cooking, never so much as offering to help either of the sisters with their stuff.
They got packed up, then got some food, and then set off. Caliope was beginning to worry that they might be moving in the wrong direction, but they had no other clues to tell them where to go.
It was shortly after noon, and they had left the city, moved through a small suburb and out into the dead countryside when she heard voices. She brought a hand up, then turned and pressed a finger to her lips. Everybody crouched down, Johnny and Bob readying their guns.
The voices were getting closer, coming from the left side of the road. Caliope crept into the dead trees as quietly as she could, until she could see a break and the shine of another concrete road.
Eventually, they clarified, and Caliope could hear what they were saying.
"It's not that," one voice said, a woman's voice. "All things considered, especially with how fucking promiscuous he is, I don't really care about you two fucking. I care about him. He's been my friend for a while, and he's in a bad place."
"I did not initiate it," a second woman's voice said. "I know what he's going through. I don't want to do anything that would hurt him worse than he's already hurting."
"See, that's the thing," the first voice said. "I don't know that's true. Let me be clear, okay? I don't trust you. I know where you come from, and while I believe that you are your own person, with your own goals and whatever, I know that all of... You, comes from her. And the reason I came here is because I want her dead. I want her to die in agony, and you're a part of her."
"I am not her."
"I believe you. My concern is how much like her you are."
"Are we just going to talk about how little you trust me the whole day?"
"Nope!" the first voice said brightly. "I was just wrapping up. So if you do anything, and I mean anything, that I could possibly see as a betrayal, I'll cut your arms and legs off, stop you from healing, and feed you to Shadow."
"I understand," the second voice said coldly.
"I knew you would," said the first voice as two figured came around a bend on the other road. Both were young women, maybe in their mid twenties. One had jet-black hair with blonde roots pulled back into a ponytail, and was dressed in black tactical gear with goth makeup on. The other also had black hair, but it was longer and let free to fall down her back. She wore body armor over a t-shirt and gray cargo pants. The goth one carried a rifle, and the way her arm was casually draped over the stock suggested that she was very familiar with it.
Caliope froze, knowing that the slightest sound might draw their attention. She crossed her fingers, hoping the others wouldn't give away their presence, either. The two women walked, silent now, down the road, heading in the same direction they were moving in.
She watched them pass. When they vanished, she waited a minute or two to be sure before she returned to find the others gone.
She didn't have long to wonder where they'd gone, though. A moment after she got there, while she was still deciding which way they must have gone, the dead bushes rustled and began to shed leaves. Griselda and the two hulks appeared.
"Why'd you hide?" Caliope asked.
"There was a dude flying around," Johnny said.
"It was him," Griselda hissed, her face a mask of anger.
"The guy from the TV show," Bob added, though Caliope already knew who her sister was referring to. "The one that led the attack on the compound."
"Shit," Caliope cursed.
"What are we going to do?" Griselda demanded. Caliope held up a hand, demanding time to think.
After a moment, she gave voice to her thoughts.
"He has to be with the two I saw. At some point, he's got to land. If we follow them, we could get the jump on them."
Griselda's angry look turned into an eager grin. "I want him, after we kill the other two."
"Shit," Bob said. "If the other two are hot, I want one of them."
"So we'll kill one and capture two," Johnny said. "You recognize these fuckers, what do we have to deal with?"
"Nothing important," Caliope said. "Nothing dangerous, at least not once my sister and I take away their magic."
They all shared in Griselda's eager look, then.

**NEARWEEK Daily Newsletter 📩 *\*
**Wednesday, March 22, 2023*\*
**💥 Big things around the ecosystem 💥*\*

• Alex Skidanov shared at EthereumDenver how decentralization is key to unlocking the full potential of AI
• NEAR CEO Illia Polosukhin on the Origins of the Transformer Paper and The Overlap Between AI and Crypto

​
**🎨 NFT & Gaming 🎮*\*

• Introducing SeatlabNFT's new lottery feature
• FewAndFar named a major player in NFTs in "5 Best NFT Marketplaces 2023"

​
**🪅Events🪅*\*

• Near Workshop : WELLDONE Studio will demo their new plugin that enables developers to create and deploy smart contracts on NEAR w/ Remix Project, the most web popular IDE on Ethereum. April 4, 9AM GMT+0
• NEAR Ecosystem Showcase: indexer_xyz. Thursday, 5PM UTC
• NEARWEEK : Crossword puzzles, highlights rewinding, in-depth discussion, and more. Join the opening episode featuring Illia Polosukhin and Matt Lockyer. Mar 23 Thu, 2:00 PM, UTC

​
** 💰 DeFi 💰*\*

• Use your NearX for Leverage Staking on Burrow to earn 17%+ yields
• Trade $REF on WOOFi DEX

​
**🔼 Projects update 🔼*\*

• WELLDONE Code has been officially integrated into the NEAR Protocol developer documentation
• Now open source public goods built on NEAR can get funded the NEAR’s Developer DAO NEARDevGov directly on the “Gigs Board”
• Unmarshal adds Support for Aurora Ecosystem
• Released neard 1.32.0 for mainnet
• FoxWallet partnerships with Aurora

-------------------------------
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I take the PATH train, which uses a SmartLink tap to pay card. This card is not compatible with Apple Wallet. However, when you tap your iPhone near the reader, Apple Wallet pops up but doesn’t go through and take normal card payments. Is there a way to hack the SmartLink card onto Apple Wallet and be able to pay by tapping my iPhone? It feels doable to me but I have no clue if it is. Thank You!

Hi there. Found some old logins for these websites trying to figure out did they srill exists. Was mining like 8/9 years ago and never cashed out. Trying step by step to find it to get my doge back. Do not even remember what type of wallet was that time :-( Apreciate for any clues....

More than $1 billion of ether has been lost forever due to bugs and human error, according to research by Conor Grogan, director of product strategy and business operations at Coinbase.
Roughly half that total some 306,000 ETH is due to a 2017 bug in the Parity crypto wallet. Defunct crypto exchange Quadriga lost 60,000 ETH to a contract fault, and the Akutars NFT collection lost 11,500 ETH in a failed Mint. On top of those, Ethereum users have cumulatively sent 24,000 ETH to a burn address, where the coins can no longer be accessed.
To be honest, I didn't have a clue about this stuff.
But I think that a positive thing in most of these cases, the ether wasn't worth anywhere as near as much in dollars at the time of the loss.
I always stick with Flynt Finance because of this risky stuff, and so far, Flynt has always provided fantastic returns.
What Grogan also stated is that this $1.1B+ number significantly undershoots the actual lost/inaccessible ETH amount, It just covers instances where Ethereum is locked forever.
This is as I read because access to many wallets will have been lost but there's no way of knowing which ones by looking at blockchain data alone.

Hey everyone! So, I'm working on a project which is scaling a lot lately, which means that we have modified a lot our architecture (code and database wise).
In my experience, the most common way to make your software keep working after breaking changes on data is through migrations. Let's say, create a migration to move an information from a database to another.
Recently I've also saw folks creating a specific method responsible for solving those issues when it's noticed within the app runtime. Another quick example: let's say my endpoint should get the wallet from a user, but the walletId property in the user record is empty (because on legacy we used to do the other way around). So the code would use another function that would fix the legacy data for this specific user and everything would keep working. It's similar to what the migration does, but in an incremental way.
Honestly, I don't have a clue of which is the best approach. Other ideas are also welcome. Thanks in advance!
PS: First post. Let me know if it's against any policy or if I should add/change something.

Had just a few remaining clues from a C.C. and needed help.
1.) Try thief for taking contents (6)
__ __ __ __ __ __
2.) Be mean without a drink (8)
__ E __ __ __ __ __ __
3.) Chemistry all about condensation (4)
__ __ __ __
4.) Plump woman's parent (6)
__ __ __ __ __ __
5.) Visual cover of epoch exaggerated (8)
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
6.) Persecutes guys involved in misdemeanors (8)
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
7.) His and her true scion (5)
__ __ __ __ __

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-65014006?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_campaign_type=owned&at_link_origin=BBCNews&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_medium=social&at_link_type=web_link&at_link_id=0EA50B4C-C725-11ED-9093-8FB94744363C&at_format=link
https://news.sky.com/story/bryn-hargreaves-wigan-warriors-and-brother-confirm-death-of-former-rugby-league-player-who-went-missing-in-us-12838760
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11880683/Body-rugby-league-star-Bryn-Hargreaves-year-went-missing-US.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10908841/Fears-rugby-star-Bryn-Hargreaves-ABDUCTED-Brother-says-snatched-shower.html
This is a weird one. I actually completely missed any coverage of when he went missing and hadn't heard about this at all until his body was found today.
So this guy has been living in the states for 10 years, working in the oil and gas industry in West Virginia. He goes missing from his apartment in January 2022. He leaves behind all his ID, his wallet, his keys.. his bank account is never touched, his door is unlocked, his shower is still running. His employer reports him missing after he doesn't turn up for work - the police discover his apartment empty with water leaking into the apartment below from that shower that was still running.
What I've been able to piece together from the articles is - He'd been married to an American woman but they divorced two years ago. he was a 'gas and oil pipe safety inspector'. He didn't take his car when he vanished and was relying on uber after the December accident.
His family think he's maybe killed himself - he's got a history of mental health issues, was isolated in the states and talking about coming back to the UK and was dealing with back pain after a car accident a month before. But they go out to America and look for him and fundraise for a private investigator and question whether he could have been abducted cos the scene is so strange.
And then it takes a year for his body to be found. And we don't know yet any of the details of how he was found or where.
Doesn't this seem incredibly suspicious? Who walks away from their home leaving the shower running? Even someone intending to vanish and kill themselves? Whose final act is to switch on their shower and then just leave it running? That's weird.
The family say the police blocked further investigations into the nearby lake and never checked his phone for any evidence. Which seems lazy at the very least. They did a sniffer dog search but never seem to have found any clue as to where he'd gone. Which seems like he couldn't have gone far - no car, no wallet, no phone and dealing with severe back pain? How would he travel anywhere? So why would it take more than a year to find him?

Hi everyone! I recently decided to learn Japanese, and I know I have a long journey ahead of me. I found the Starters Guide to be a great resource, and I plan to follow it for the majority of my learning journey.
However, I am also looking for other ways to supplement my learning and would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Writing: I am looking for an Android app to practice writing hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Since I have a Samsung tablet with a pen, I think it would be a fun and interactive way to practice my writing skills.
Speaking: I believe the best way to improve speaking skills is to converse with people who speak Japanese. I plan to explore my options for finding conversation partners, but I am also curious if there are any communities or Discord servers dedicated to helping each other practice speaking skills.
Vocabulary: I had a random idea of using a crossword app for hiragana and katakana with English clues to improve my vocabulary. I am looking for fun and engaging ways to help me stay motivated and committed to my language learning journey.
Overall, I am open to any suggestions or recommendations you may have for me. Thank you in advance for your help!

Terms of service:

Before you embark on this thrilling journey, we've got a few ground rules to cover. By using our website and joining our NFT collection, you agree to these terms (Sounds so Web2, right?) . So, let's dive into the fine print:
Squatting wit​h Style: By joining ENSquatters, you pledge to uphold the highest standards of humor and camaraderie within the ENS community. We're here to laugh, connect, and poke fun at the world of #ENSquatters, so leave your serious face at the door.
No Squatter Shaming: As proud ENS "not-targeted" users, we embrace our identity and wear it like a badge of honor. We ask that you respect the community and refrain from any squatter shaming, trolling, or negative behavior. After all, look at our wallets.... we're all in this together! ENS Domains & Responsibility: While we're all about having fun and help ENS grow, we don't encourage or support any illegal or unethical activities related to ENS domains. By joining ENSquatters, you agree to follow the rules and regulations of the Ethereum and ENS ecosystems spaces.
Meme Mastery: As a member of the ENSquatters community, you're expected to appreciate the fine art of memes, puns, and all things funny or ENS. If you can't handle a good dad joke or the occasional groan-worthy pun, this may not be the place for you. ENSquatters Ownership: By minting or purchasing an ENSquatters NFT from secondary market (Minting date TBA), you acknowledge that you're solely responsible for your NFT and the ENS domains associated with it. We're not responsible for any lost, stolen, or damaged NFTs or ENS domains, but we'll be here to offer a sympathetic meme to help ease the pain, lol. Surprises and Hidden Clues: ENSquatters is all about unexpected twists, hidden clues, and delightful surprises. By becoming an ENSquatters holder, you agree to embrace the unknown and enjoy the adventure, even if it takes a turn you weren't expecting.
Amendments & Laughter: We reserve the right to update these terms at any time, but rest assured, they'll always be as funny and lighthearted as possible. After all, laughter is the best medicine, even when it comes to legalese.
Remember, ENSquatters is all about having fun, embracing the chaos, and expose more communities to what ENS has to offer in Web3 #BridgeTheGap. By accepting these terms, you agree to join us in this wild, meme-filled ride. Happy squatting!

Thank you to u/siyoung91 for picking my clue.
Next answer we want to fill in in this grid (https://r-crosswords.github.io/aotw/grids/grid017.html) is 2 Down, which takes the form O _ E _ A .
Some possible answers here: https://www.onelook.com/?w=O?E?A

I was working on this past Friday's Atlantic Crossword. Usually, the clues are somewhat opaque near the end of the week, but I was really stumped with the answer for 1 across. The clue was: Beans
The finished answer was: Domes
Can anyone shed some light on this answer? I've been googling for about 10 minutes and can't seem to find anything. I'm sure I'm just missing something here so I thought the smart folks here might be able to tell me the meaning of the answer.

If you've invested in a "meme stock" and have researched short hedge funds, chances are you've stumbled across inconceivable flaws in our financial markets. You'll more than likely learned to understand that banksters have designed socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor!
Recent bank news is only highlighting the tip of the iceberg, leaving out the underlying risk as our government and Federal Reserve try to navigate it's titanic full of drunken sailors at the helm. Unfortunately, we will be a victim by trusting in their ability to keep us afloat.
I will highlight a few ways you can prepare your escape; however, there is no guarantee you'll be saved once aboard your raft drifting off into the wide-open ocean.
​
1. THE PROBLEM
Banks have taken the liberty in making risky bets with unimaginable exposure that have far outweighed their "real" assets. I mean why not since there is no repercussion for their actions?
Iceland's success in taking action against bankers during "The Great Recession" is for another topic another day.
In a self-regulated system where banksters are only slapped on the wrist with miniscule fines which are widely perceived as the cost of doing business. This system breeds corruption and continues to run ramped. WELCOME TO DERIVITIVES PARTY! Now, please take the time to click this link and briefly browse the banks sorted by derivatives. Keep in mind they are using these financial tools to hedge against inflation. You know? To manage interest rate risk, duh. The notional derivatives market is estimated to be in excess of $1 Quadrillion. That is 12 times the global GDP! Lots of interest rate risk managing going on. You say, wow OP that is a lot of derivatives! Yes, but wait because the BIS announced that there is $65 Trillion not even being accounted for! Ladies & Gentleman allow me to say the obvious here, they have not a clue as to the size of the monster they have created.
What is a Derivative? "To hedge against inflation!" Yeah, whatever Kenny!
"Derivatives are financial instruments whose value is linked to something else." Frank Partnoy
Watch this video below:
OTC derivatives are not transparent and pose a very serious risk to the stability of our financial markets.
​
2. THE SOLUTION
It is important to understand WHO you bank with! You must know their balance sheet and whether they trade derivatives or not and to watch exposure they may have.
First check the International Swaps and Derivatives Association website to see if your bank is listed.
Step 1. Desktop version only... Click on membership located at the top of the page.
Step 1. Mobile version only... Click on hamburger stack located top right of page and select membership.
Step 2. Both versions, scroll down and select view members.
Step 3. Type the name of your bank into filter by keyword to see if your bank trades derivatives & swaps.
​
3. ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE
So you found out that who you bank with is insolvent, lacks liquidity, trades derivates & swaps, and you've referenced the banking list to see nominally how much they've gambled. Now what?
Per protocol, this is not financial advice, and I am highly regarded with both short- and long-term memory loss who just likes the stock! NO CELL, NO SELL!
Now my research has led me to two options, but I will be the first to admit that there may be several ways to navigate this storm in order to keep your tendies. This is where I hope we can collaborate on what is the best possible solution.
Solution #1
Bank with a local credit union. The main difference between a bank and a credit union is that a bank is a for-profit financial institution, while a credit union is a nonprofit. With a credit union you'll have limited financial product offerings and fewer physical branches. You will need to make sure your credit union is insured and other than seeing a sign at the credit union that says it is NCUA-insured you can go to their website to check. Also, you'll be required to become a member at a meniscal cost. Fact check the credit unions history with its membership for fraud and please check if trades derivatives from this list. If someone can find a better way of checking if a credit union trades derivatives, please share the website in the comments.
Solution #2
Download and establish your GameStop wallet. Lots of commotion surrounding cryptocurrency right now and whether it'll be able to survive the onslaught of attacks right now. Attacks such as CBDC, no regulation, fraudulent exchanges, etc... Regardless, I feel the need to say that DECENTRALIZED BANKING IS THE WAY! It is my belief as to why it is being attacked from every angle! (POWER TO THE PEOPLE) I believe in the Dollar End Game and want to be prepared to protect my assets. You know? The dollar gets dethroned whether by BRIC, CBDC, or some form of cryptocurrency because right now the dollar is dethroning itself! It is notable to say that Bitcoin rose from the ground by the people as a result of the 2008 financial crisis. We now have Ethereum! Ethereum has better technology and provides more uses than Bitcoin, however, Bitcoin has a lower supply and more liquid than ETH. I will not belabor the differences or convince you which is better. I will say this, GameStop wallet lives on the Ethereum blockchain and I am to a default pro RC. So my opinion is biased.

Four letters, ending in O
go.

UPDATE
— Not an actual update, but for anyone following this I think I’m going to make a new post tomorrow evening to compile any new information. I have a plan of action and will include anything new and everything I’ve ruled out in it tomorrow.
Planning to go to the apple shop first, then the police to make a report. I’m on my way to see my gf today and will tell her about this and ask if she has seen anything weird. Meanwhile, I’ve sent messages to my friend who’s insta photo was used on that account that watched my stories, messages to my closest friend group and my gym friend too (they’re all people I trust and interact with a lot, and could also be victims themselves or have some info). I’ve also downloaded an app that was suggested for my android, to check for airtags. I will also ask a trusted source with an iPhone to see if they can connect to the airtag if possible.
I’ve also told my parents and sister to keep an eye out for anyone coming down our private road or approaching our driveway just in case it is a stalker or thief situation. We’re familiar with most regulars that come down our private road. We have cctv and floodlights on our property and so do our neighbours, so if anyone does try something… we should catch them.
Honestly not sure what I’m dealing with here, but will be extra careful when going places now. Everyone is a suspect at this state, but no one stands out as the culprit.
Thank you everyone for the advice so far, I honestly would have had no clue what to do without you lot.
—
Not sure if this is the best place to ask, but wanted some advice because I don’t know what to to do.
I’m 25M and I was searching my gym bag and found an airtag. Im not an iPhone user and don’t know anyone who uses airtags or any reason why it would be in my bag. I’ve seen stories about airtag stalking which is what has me worried and asking about this.
My bag hasn’t left my home since Thursday, so it’s been in there for a least a couple of days now. The airtag was in the shoe compartment which I don’t often use, except for holding water bottles so if it’s been there for a while, it was easy to go unnoticed.
I don’t know if it’s related, but sometime this week my ID disappeared too. I had it last week, but found it missing when I got ID’d in the shop the other day. It stays in my wallet and only comes out when Im asked for it. I often leave my wallet in my bag though, especially when at work or gym. I was actually searching my bag for my lost ID when I came across the airtag.
Also, no clue if these are related but I’ve had some weird instagram interactions lately.

• a blank insta account messaged me saying “hey” I ignored it, thinking it’s some scam/fake account but a couple days after their first message they replied “dickhead” then nothing.
  
• in January I noticed an insta account that doesn’t follow me watching my stories. Weirder still, the accounts profile pic was a picture of me and a friend that she posted on her insta in 2018. The account follows no one but has 1 follower. I didn’t block it or anything, but every time I posted a story I checked to see if this account watched it and most of the time it did until I put my account on private. I almost forgot about this until making this post.
  

Before all this, never had any weird interactions or any signs of a stalker. Have a few ex girlfriends but I can’t imagine any of them doing this, but who knows? Really don’t even know who would bother to stalk me or why. This can’t all be a coincidence though, right? The airtag alone is concerning.
What should I do? Are there any precautions I can take?

There’s a recent NYT crossword (post 2020 i’m pretty sure) where some of the entries were literally the phrases 17ACROSS, 15DOWN, things like that. I think part of the theme also utilized a lot of “See 1 Down” type clues. Could someone help me find it?