Fun article, but what’s ‘a sober maple banquet’?

Hmmmm ...., we poke fun at some mis-spellings here. Sad to see the NYT miss this. Soon they'll be describing the most fashionable dinning rooms in Manhattan.

I've seen sober used as a synonym of somber, like the pics in the RH catalog.

I would need to edit for daily life but the pictures certainly turned my "sober" mood around, this morning!

ETA I keep going back to look at the attic. I love it all, with the exception of the wallpaper.

Well, it's not my cuppa tea, but pretty cool for visiting, i dare say.

In French we say sober to mean serious, and without frivolity. The OED's second and third definitions cover the same sense of the word:

2) serious, sensible and solemn,

3) muted in color

So not quite somber, as I see the word.

As for cutting down on editorial staff, you ain't kidding, WB! I have seen some doozies- in both the copy itself and the reporting, sadly.