tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post1068652720732155965..comments2024-03-29T00:28:40.417-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Indian bovine — SUNDAY, Nov. 8 2009 — Group with 2002 hit Girlfriend / Diner manager waitress in Garfield / Sherry-like wine / Gibson necessityRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48595699314195945802009-11-19T00:22:50.899-05:002009-11-19T00:22:50.899-05:00Thought this one was a complete waste of time unti...Thought this one was a complete waste of time until MADAMIMADAMANT...a hail mary pass in crossword history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79261618364795774372009-11-15T23:12:10.531-05:002009-11-15T23:12:10.531-05:00I'm just posting to say that BLACK EYED PEASAN...I'm just posting to say that BLACK EYED PEASANT should have been in the puzzle... and that I'm glad I took a poetry class in high school, because I knew CESURAS, which I personally believe should always be written CAESURAE, because a word with two AEs is awesome.mrbinkey04https://www.blogger.com/profile/05200121174459863918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3488170132909892402009-11-10T20:36:53.156-05:002009-11-10T20:36:53.156-05:00I'm usually a big apologist for constructors w...I'm usually a big apologist for constructors when Rex pans their themes, but this left even me going, "was that it?"<br /><br />I liked the SATURN/MOON connection, but quibble with MADTV being called "long-running" in the same clue as SNL.Aviatrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13634111275860140084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30599004335557981672009-11-09T20:19:17.009-05:002009-11-09T20:19:17.009-05:00Interesting article in this week's Newsweek on...Interesting article in this week's Newsweek on <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/221280" rel="nofollow"> Aline Saarinen</a>Art Vandelaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52140660887677479912009-11-09T12:42:29.982-05:002009-11-09T12:42:29.982-05:00" have some Madeira, my dear"--said by t..." have some Madeira, my dear"--said by the rake to the woman he asked up to see his etchings....<br /><br />In my old cocktail waitress days, a Gibson was just a martini with onions instead of olives--this back in the day when you had to specify vodka martini, rather than now when apparently you have to specify gin martini<br /><br />Just noticed how much I seem to know about alcohol....Tetuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15711400315262918915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28846504934288331872009-11-09T05:57:35.262-05:002009-11-09T05:57:35.262-05:00Really a very nice article....and huge fan followi...Really a very nice article....and huge fan following..Neytrihttp://www.neytri.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8479110099868092762009-11-09T03:23:41.176-05:002009-11-09T03:23:41.176-05:00@Rex
Hey! thanks for reprinting Patrick's and...@Rex<br />Hey! thanks for reprinting Patrick's and my puzzle!!!!!<br />I was just going to call him and be all harrumph-y about today's theme, and then I opened your blog, et voila!<br />Ours was rejected for too many black squares, too many three-letter words...fair enough, but the idea was the same, to have the puzzle "crawling" with ants, but to make the grid look like an ant farm.<br />It was published in the WSJ on Jan 2, 2009, a Friday during vacation, so not a soul saw it!!!!!<br />It is easily the puzzle I am most proud of...and, of course, it was Patrick's genius that managed to get 30 ANTS in there...and to pull off the grid-as-ant-farm concept.<br />So thank you thank you for letting it see light of day again...<br />(Or whatever the updated cyber-metaphor would be!)<br />Hey, where are the tweets?<br /><br />On another note, I ran into Manny Nosowsky and his lovely wife Debbie tonight on the BART.<br />I was returning from my Scrabble tournament in Berkeley (where I continue to be going downhill) and they were coming from the Berkeley Rep.<br />I learned tonight that he only has two of his puzzles framed: his first in 1993 and the puzzle that had the lowest square count (well, used to have...)<br />He's doing well and I took it all as a sign...but I don't know of what.<br />He told me to lose the scarf...<br />(I was wearing this sort of bath-matty looking one that a friend's 14-yr-old daughter made for my bday, and I'm bound to lose it anyway, so his directive was redundant. He thought I was covering up some hideous neck wounds, but it's really just these rings I've had since I was 6. thus the scarf in the TV kitchen)<br /><br />Anyway, I'm inspired now to have another West Coast constructor's lunch and will report back. Both of us would like to come to the ACPT, but the prospect of NY in mid-February is less than enticing!<br /><br />Found an old copy of "Games Magazine" I was leafing thru from 1996 and the ACPT was held April 6-8th!!!!!!!!<br />There was also a BEQ puzzle in it!<br />He must have been very young when it was made! I was shocked!<br />(It's all part of my decluttering intervention...the only problem is I feel compelled to still skim thru everything before I toss/re-distribute.antrea carlant michaelantsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42230249041249324372009-11-08T23:48:49.214-05:002009-11-08T23:48:49.214-05:00I remember Angela Cartwright from "Lost In Sp...I remember Angela Cartwright from "Lost In Space," but I was never enamored of her. At first, I thought there was a connection with the Original 13 (colonies) somewhere in the answer. Alas, not that inventive of a puzzle.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15523269995780584726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83616472547038383292009-11-08T23:44:07.653-05:002009-11-08T23:44:07.653-05:00I thought the puzzle was ok except for "inuti...I thought the puzzle was ok except for "inutile." If there is an uglier, less necessary word in English, I don't know it.<br /><br />That is to say -- "inutile" is inutile.michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41542412998883373312009-11-08T22:19:49.628-05:002009-11-08T22:19:49.628-05:00A routine puzzle, especially after yesterdays angs...A routine puzzle, especially after yesterdays angst ridden affair. Got the theme relatively early for me and moved in a Southeasterly direction till I reached the Florida Keys and then raced up the East Coast and hit the unusually bad CESURAS/INUTILE(!?)/LIBELEE/PLATTED/SEREST patch in the Mid-Atlantic region that had to be the worst series of answers I have ever seen.<br /><br />I had the odd experience of working with a couple of gentlemen, one of whom was described to me as being a beard for the other, so I was familiar with the term. Finished in Baja California at PEDANTXING. (I love the geographic description we use to describe the area of the puzzle in which we are working, some of them extremely colorful and inventive.)edith bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12048817959846956992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60492944633761940322009-11-08T21:14:27.699-05:002009-11-08T21:14:27.699-05:00@pednsg: that's hysterical about "plain d...@pednsg: that's hysterical about "plain dealer"<br /><br />The last 11 years of my newspaper career were spent at the Plain Dealer. Don't really miss it, actually.<br /><br />The Plain Dealer is also the newspaper that Janet (Susan Sarandon) is reading and then holds over her head as she and Brad (Barry Bostwick) run in the rain from the car to the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry) in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."<br /><br />And thus ends our Plain Dealer trivia segment. Thanks for playing!<br /><br />Oh...the puzzle? Did. Not. Care. For. It.jeff in chicagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10492964479021891094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40213925651084209242009-11-08T20:39:43.370-05:002009-11-08T20:39:43.370-05:00Hand up here for a long-ago crush on Angela Cartwr...Hand up here for a long-ago crush on Angela Cartwright.archaeoprofhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17956231727789223463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28350470202961776982009-11-08T20:33:33.216-05:002009-11-08T20:33:33.216-05:00Thank you Glitch and Mr. Kerfuffle for the two won...Thank you Glitch and Mr. Kerfuffle for the two wonderful you-tube versions of "Have Some Madeira, My Dear." Listening to them made the years disappear in a trice. PollyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8996165383906324552009-11-08T20:12:14.987-05:002009-11-08T20:12:14.987-05:00Okay, breaking the Rule of 3, but...
it seems that...Okay, breaking the Rule of 3, but...<br />it seems that "Plain Deal" would be something like a "Square Deal" or "Straight Deal"-- in other words, no frills, fuss, fiddling, or folderol. Just cash on the barrel-head, a straight trade, with no "pig in a poke." <br />Prefer to ignore the Shakespearean "plain dealer."<br /><br />I have some stock, by the way.....Elainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13195458656221202202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34638490636808339872009-11-08T19:52:30.448-05:002009-11-08T19:52:30.448-05:00@Not From Cleveland - thanks. I've never hear...@Not From Cleveland - thanks. I've never heard of that work. Further Googling revealed the following definition: <br /> PLAIN DEALER<br />1. (a) One who practices plain dealing. (b) A simpleton. [Obs.] --Shak<br /><br />That does not seem to be the best name for a major metropolitan newspaper!CoolPapaDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11542059534657415505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68606225300682223832009-11-08T19:20:57.783-05:002009-11-08T19:20:57.783-05:00@Glitch:
Thank you, I never heard that one. There ...@Glitch:<br />Thank you, I never heard that one. There is actually a very good Dutch version by Ted de Braak. I'm going to google it now!machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45613428631506704412009-11-08T19:15:03.765-05:002009-11-08T19:15:03.765-05:00@polly, 2:22 PM --
These days it is so easy to sh...@polly, 2:22 PM --<br /><br />These days it is so easy to share. . . . Would you care to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW_zi8n4HDQ" rel="nofollow">Have Some Madeira My Dear?</a>Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24857120605871486482009-11-08T19:07:30.039-05:002009-11-08T19:07:30.039-05:00@pednsg, 10:08 AM --
The Plain Dealer is an expre...@pednsg, 10:08 AM --<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wycherley" rel="nofollow">The Plain Dealer</a> is an expression that goes much further back than the newspaper.Not From Clevelandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30916919472864571052009-11-08T18:59:24.701-05:002009-11-08T18:59:24.701-05:00Since we seem to be in a bit of a "Sunday lul...Since we seem to be in a bit of a "Sunday lull" (until the end of the games?), I hereby present, for your amusement, the Limelighter's version of the Flanders and Swann, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrbAyHVVYgI" rel="nofollow"> <i> Have Some Madeira M'dear </i> </a>.<br /><br />.../GlitchGlitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14940000404613329056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18608180749590022172009-11-08T18:51:14.191-05:002009-11-08T18:51:14.191-05:00I didn’t really GET the theme - I mean even after ...I didn’t really GET the theme - I mean even after I got it, I didn't get it. The insertion of ant into random clutzy phrases just didn't work for me - for a Sunday NYT puzzle. Might have worked as an LA Times Wednesday, say.<br /><br />It was definitely not the bean, or the chin music we all got brushed back with yesterday - it was more like a balk - I feel like I'm still waiting for the pitch.hazelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04627015904603641109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74340389510428186312009-11-08T18:05:38.887-05:002009-11-08T18:05:38.887-05:00Re: Justin Timberlake et al.
The group's orig...Re: Justin Timberlake et al.<br /><br />The group's original name was 'N Sync. Shortly thereafter they officially became *NSYNC.<br /><br />Around the same time, if I recall, Matchbox 20 became Matchbox Twenty. I'm serious. There were press releases announcing both events.<br /><br />--Stan (ex-News Librarian)Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02681342234536407419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74027809302618675122009-11-08T17:30:01.907-05:002009-11-08T17:30:01.907-05:00At first I was afraid that the theme would be colo...At first I was afraid that the theme would be colonial history, or geography, or something of the kind. I was delighted to discover that it referred to the "colonizing" of the grid by ants. Ants all over the place -- at the beginnings, middles and ends of words. <br /><br />I laughed out loud when the famous palindrome emerged: beautiful.<br /><br />And finally, ANTSY!<br /><br />To me, this puzzle was witty throughout.<br /><br />CharlesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46657264713740069852009-11-08T17:01:18.488-05:002009-11-08T17:01:18.488-05:00Some of you have far more experience than I in doi...Some of you have far more experience than I in doing these puzzles, so perhaps you'll excuse me if I say it was such fun to work it through with NO GOOGLES, and very little whiteout.<br /><br />"Have Some Madeira my Dear" is one of my favorites from Flanders and Swann's "At the Drop of a Hat," which we still have on LP, and which opened at London's Fortune Theater on January 24, 1957. "And a beard in her ear which tickled and said, 'Have some Madeira my dear!' Wish I could reproduce Flanders' lecherous growl on the last line. (Different meaning of beard from our puzzle, of course!)bluebellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07112978237190389791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89017537960757293522009-11-08T16:27:36.633-05:002009-11-08T16:27:36.633-05:00@ anon 2:22 - Have Some Madeira M'dear was wri...@ anon 2:22 - <i>Have Some Madeira M'dear</i> was written by Flanders and Swann. I remember hearing them sing it (1964) in San Francisco. I believe the Limeliters did sing it, as you say.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34756925142518437072009-11-08T15:07:14.221-05:002009-11-08T15:07:14.221-05:00I guess I'm with the consensus here, didn'...I guess I'm with the consensus here, didn't love it, didn't hate it, just did it. I did get hung up on the INUTILE/LIBELEE area (my spell check doesn't like either one of those entries)so I did end up with a couple of holes. Loved MADAM I'M ADAMANT. <br /><br />Can't compare it to Saturday's puzzle as I did not even try to complete that one, was in fear of brain sprain.chefwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03999206352243329280noreply@blogger.com