WARM-UP ACT

What’s an article of outerwear for a champagne drinker? – Bubble Wrap

What’s so funny about this? The New York Times’ crossword puzzles are a great source of puns. They are funniest at the moment of discovery; some of them fizzle after the second or third reading, but others continue to tickle. This on got to me; it was the best of four similar puns in the puzzle on that particular day. It’s pretty sophisticated for a language learner because you have to know that the term “bubbly”, while a common adjective, can also be used as a noun slang term as a synonym for champagne. Needless to say, you would also need to be familiar enough with this beverage to know that it belongs to the category of sparkling wines. The wines in the category all have bubbles; the better ones have the bubbles naturally while the cheaper ones have the bubbles artificially enhanced. Bubbles, which are really trapped air, are a byproduct of fermentation, the process of creating alcohol. Some wines have more of t