OK, got the David Copperfield one. Not sure how it's linked to Las Vegas -- if it were just David Copperfield and New York it would have been easier, I think.

If spam were selling real products, how much of it would you want? I'm trying to imagine a world in which my credit card debt could vanish without negative repercussions, or that Nigerian princess really did need my help, or I could get a perfectly normal degree online with no work.

I'd probably only be tempted by the Nigerians. Not the prescriptionless drugs or the low interest rate mortgages. Can't say why.

Hey Rick! As a non-academic type person, I've gotten the idea that European grad degrees are seriously harder than USanian ones -- the public examination in a foreign language certainly gives that impression.

And I just watched tommy's link to a carrier landing, which led me to other vids of landings and takeoffs. Having spent a lot of this weekend listening to the commentary on BSG S1 and how the producers try to build in the reality of the Galactica being a kind of aircraft carrier, I can see where they're coming from, literally. Cool beans!

I also slept in until past 10... it's going to be tough to get back into the work world, I anticipate.

Okay, I am missing exactly TWO answers (provided those two don't open up a bunch more....) and I wish to be done with this cursed thing.

But first.....

Hil, the one between second and hand that's not used is something that's bad for people, and there are commercials about it all the time. In most indoor places these days, you won't run into it, though there are still a few states where it's a problem. But outside there's still plenty of it.

As for the two that I'm missing: I need a hint for the item between Microsoft and monopoly, and a hint for the item that's above House in the medical dramas square.

Rick--that's so cool (for you--probably less so for the person defending).

Rick, posting mid-Atlantic is almost as cool as the whole reason you were on a plane to begin with, by the way.

That's true!

[link] Aunt Fugly isn't available, so Unkle Fugly's taken the reins as guest columnist for the Fug Girls.

Too hours of questions in a foreign language (English, because I was the examiner) in front of an audience of fifty people. Chilling prospect.

To say the least. Ack.

I had to take a break from the puzzle.

Sean, for the first one, think of litigation against Microsoft in the past 10 years or so, which is tied to what happens when there is a monopoly. For the second, think of the other pairs of clues in that box, but don't get too wedded to specifics.