Leafy shelter from the sun / WED 8-3-22 / Carpenter's bladed tool / Healthful practices collectively / Swahili word meaning freedom / Striped aquarium denizen

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Another very brief write-up today, as my Michigan vacation continues for another couple of days. It's going great, thanks for asking. Farmers markets and sand dunes and picnics and hikes and camp fires and cocktails and ice cream and everything you could hope for from Michigan. Even the horrible "Don't Blame Me, I Voted for TRUMP" flag hanging outside a house just down the road turns out to be very handy as a marker for figuring out just when our own driveway is coming up. Even the bad is magically good here in Michigan, is what I'm saying. What is not magically good is this puzzle, holy moly. Let's start with the fact that "D" is not the only tile that's worth two points in Scrabble. "G" also has that point value (if google isn't lying to me). So the very question is stupid from the get-go. The question implies (strongly) that there is just one such tile. There is not. This turns out to the be the least of the puzzle's problems, but it's still a pretty big problem. Then there's the perennial problem of having instructions and/or questions as your theme answers. Always a total vibe-killer. Not at all interesting to uncover. Especially uninteresting in this case, as the question is misleading in the first place (as we've established) and in the second, what the hell "test" would ever have such a question???? The very idea that you would take any test anywhere at any time that would have such a question is flat-out ridiculous. But the worst is that the "D""answer" is supposed to be ... not a "D" (which my software would not accept) but ... [SHADE]. LOL how in the world was I supposed to know that? True, PASTEL [SHADE] and [SHADE] TREE work for their respective clues, but (wait for it, drum roll, etc.) So Do PASTEL and TREE. All On Their Own! Actually, now that I think about it, [SHADE] TREE is at least something I've heard of, but PASTEL [Shade], yikes, no. I mean, the answer is PASTEL. [Shade] is not self-evidently missing. Hoo boy. So bad. That [Shade] / "D" is seriously the worst "rebus" square I've ever seen. And for the world's dumbest, most preposterous "test question." Even the perfect Michigan vibe in which I am currently living cannot make me warmly disposed to this monstrosity.

ODIC!? As a suffix? It's like the puzzle was trying to invent ways to be bad. And the spelling on WOOSH, ouch, my eyes (30D: Rushing sound). It's like when people write WOAH instead of the correct WHOA ... only worse. The word is WHOOSH. I use it a lot, primarily to describe the ideal Friday-solving experience (WHOOSH WHOOSH!). Merriam-Webster agrees with me and has many recent examples for you to peruse if you are so inclined. WOOSH just looks anemic and sad. Which I guess is fitting. Gotta get back to more pleasant diversions. See you tomorrow.