Challenge 1057

Extramundane

In Gary Inbinder’s Back of the Yards: At the end, Max Niemand resigns himself to “eating crow.” To what and whom is he referring?
In Charles C. Cole’s Practical Enchantments, Boris Rhetke’s parents and uncle offer him practical advice without preaching. In what way is the story an example of itself?
In Franco Amati’s The Great Log and the Roach: The roach concludes with regretful reminiscence on a lesson learned the hard way. What other endings might the author have chosen for the same or even an opposite purpose?
In Jared Buck’s I’ll See What I Can Do: Does the story imply that there’s no way that Garno’s tavern can have an automatic bouncer? What does Velmore learn is the basic flaw in his spells concerning crowd control?
In Howard Blaise’s The Cairn Years, the name “Urd Thlol” appears. Does any reader know of a language in which a syllable might begin with the consonant combination θ + l (theta plus l)? In the English word “breathless,” the th-consonant ends a syllable, and the [l] begins one.
In M. M. Vaz’s Dinner at Castellanos:
1. Dave appears to Anne in a taxicab when she comes out of the building where her conference has been held, The taxi driver tells Anne he normally seeks passengers at the airport, not at the conference center. At the police station, the taxi driver tells the police that Anne was always the only person in the car and that she appeared to be talking to herself. Why did he bring the taxi to meet Anne at the conference center at 4:00 pm?
2. The police had Anne’s telephone number. Why did they wait for Anne to contact them and not contact Anne earlier?
3. What is the function of the road rage scene aside from enabling Anne to promise to provide a video recording of the incident?

Responses welcome!