tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post135566713937227992..comments2024-03-29T01:22:33.864-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: MONDAY, Sep. 29, 2008 - Sharon Delorme (Main bank vis-a-vis currency / Drunk's sound / Geisha's waistband)Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28292288619244192872008-09-30T12:24:00.000-04:002008-09-30T12:24:00.000-04:00molests as bothers is perfectly legitimate - and i...molests as bothers is perfectly legitimate - and is still a current (and used) definition, even if it may be overshadowed by its more recent connotations.<BR/><BR/>arch 14Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79463429455672482902008-09-30T04:21:00.000-04:002008-09-30T04:21:00.000-04:00I'd think dessert is part of lunch (or dinner), ju...I'd think dessert is part of lunch (or dinner), just the last course.<BR/><BR/>And Oreos can and are eaten any time, with tea in the evening, for instance.<BR/><BR/>And yes ' dror and draw-er and on finger and hunger enunciate the "g" and somewhat drop it in hanger. Go figure!<BR/><BR/>Kathy D.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74908252680817301682008-09-29T20:19:00.000-04:002008-09-29T20:19:00.000-04:00It's been such a long day I can hardly remember th...It's been such a long day I can hardly remember the puzzle. Is that the one with licking Oreos? My first thought: Can't be. Not a proper dessert. After lunch, eat a fruit. After dinner, skip it or make it count. An Oreo, that's a snack. All this flashed through my mind and had to be overcome. My dessert elitism slowed me down. I deserve it.<BR/><BR/>The discussion re pronunciation is very interesting to me. As a non-native speaker, the hardest thing to get under control is pronouncing some of the vowels you're all discussing. Back in grad school, I had a classmate who was deaf and read lips. When he first met me he told me I "sounded British" and was easier to understand than Americans. I actually don't sound British, but I think I just enunciate more explicitly and he could tell... <BR/><BR/>I am teachable though. My son, when he was 6 or 7, went on a mission to get me to properly (mis)pronounce a bunch of things. Like saying "AM PEH THEATER" instead of "AM FEE THEATER". So now, I need to learn to say "drore" and save drawer for, I guess, never.<BR/><BR/>PS. Chef Bea, Congratulations on the terrific performance in the Chili Contest! I hope you will post that recipe on your blog.foodiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13052189131129098616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43410595810623146612008-09-29T19:28:00.000-04:002008-09-29T19:28:00.000-04:00@fikink,You are SO full of wit! But, I prefer wine...@fikink,<BR/><BR/>You are SO full of wit! But, I prefer wine to milk......do OREO's go with wine? I'm thinking so. Would hafta cut it with the right cheese, though. Not sure which would be best in this case.....<BR/><BR/>As far as what I searched for because it reminded me of one of today's comments, I'd rather not say a whole lot AMORE. If I ROTE it down in this comment, I'd probably get SKEWered. AMEER wrong comment and someone might zap me with STUNGUNS. I've taken AVOW not to let that happen. I'm not SORE, and I won't STEW about it.<BR/><BR/>I have to go now. My new music teacher just arrived, and she brought me ALEUT she wants me to try out. I'm not so sure I like the idea, so I might ISSUER an ultimatum. ILE let you know later.<BR/><BR/>Mike the WinoMike the Winohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06130415184285936710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91281386624979992822008-09-29T18:22:00.000-04:002008-09-29T18:22:00.000-04:00rex, i agree that ISSUER in particular is sucky, b...rex, i agree that ISSUER in particular is sucky, but i disagree about your generalization to "hallmark of sucky words: first Google hit = definition." for example:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?q=verklempt" REL="nofollow">verklempt</A><BR/><A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?q=prestidigitation" REL="nofollow">prestidigitation</A><BR/><A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=foofaraw" REL="nofollow">foofaraw</A><BR/><A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=quixotry" REL="nofollow">quixotry</A><BR/><BR/>and will shortz's favorite word, <A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ucalegon" REL="nofollow">ucalegon</A>.<BR/><BR/>these are just off the top of my head, but there are obviously zillions more. i think the point is pretty clear.<BR/><BR/>this puzzle felt lightning-fast even though i had serious trouble with ISSUER, took a while to grasp OREO at 1-across, and didn't pick up on the theme until pretty late in the game. it wasn't a personal record, but if i hadn't stumbled at 1A i bet it would have been a record.<BR/><BR/>i like the word MOLEST. honestly, i do. i use it in the non-creepy sense all the time, often in the form "unmolested."Joonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07825085755390339668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58438579132835864102008-09-29T18:07:00.000-04:002008-09-29T18:07:00.000-04:00Hi Guys,In the spirit of SOME of this blog (e.g. m...Hi Guys,<BR/><BR/>In the spirit of SOME of this blog (e.g. me too, I agree, same problem, don't mention b***s any more, NW was hard too, I need to post something, in ink, dead horse still needs beating, etc.):<BR/><BR/>My upstate NY accent pulls out a Droar and looks to see what the Draw-er has created.<BR/><BR/>(Posted in jest, I jest)<BR/><BR/>.../GlitchAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85125015657754843852008-09-29T17:54:00.000-04:002008-09-29T17:54:00.000-04:00@orange I too go to ternaments@orange I too go to ternamentschefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67782048170467539882008-09-29T17:37:00.000-04:002008-09-29T17:37:00.000-04:00@mikethewino, my advice is to pour yourself a glas...@mikethewino, my advice is to pour yourself a glass of milk and eat an OREO. Then PICK your words carefully, making certain they are SPELT correctly, and comment on today's puzzle; "ya know," the clues and the answers, ET. AL., using various words from the GENE pool of today's puzzle. Don't EMOTE too much and SKEW your comments to show your ESTEEM(s) for your colleagues. Then you can weave in your impressions of past puzzles in a personal aside on how you arrived at one of today's answers.<BR/>OBI the way, no puns!fikinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06324570637549775751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35157584632974531362008-09-29T16:47:00.000-04:002008-09-29T16:47:00.000-04:00Since I only comment on Rex's blog, and only occas...Since I only comment on Rex's blog, and only occasionally, I don't know blog etiquette, so I need to ask:<BR/><BR/>Let's say I'm done with today's puzzle, and I wish to refer back to something I saw in this blog some time ago that I was reminded of by reading today's comments. (That was awkward....) So, I do a search for a term, and come across an earlier puzzle with that term. I read the comments all the way through, and one in particular (that had nothing to do with my search in the first place) made me think, "Aha, what a cool idea for an answer to a future puzzle".<BR/><BR/>Is it okay to make a comment in today's blog regarding that "aha moment", or is this considered to be a no-no? If it's a no-no, what is the right forum?<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the enlightenment!<BR/><BR/>Mike the WinoMike the Winohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06130415184285936710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82789549912786860612008-09-29T16:40:00.000-04:002008-09-29T16:40:00.000-04:00@fikink We called my grandmother sesh. Her name wa...@fikink We called my grandmother sesh. Her name was elsie which I couldnt say - it came out seshie - then shortened to sesh<BR/><BR/>@miriamb finger, hanger,hunger - In hanger the g is almost lost.. the other two i pronounce a hard gchefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88476611912374362982008-09-29T15:48:00.000-04:002008-09-29T15:48:00.000-04:00Seth, do you go to ternaments like I do? I do not ...Seth, do you go to ternaments like I do? I do not attend toowurnaments like the Easterners/New Yorkers do.Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58945109392109551642008-09-29T15:04:00.000-04:002008-09-29T15:04:00.000-04:00Sorry, just got to the puzzle now (very long day)....Sorry, just got to the puzzle now (very long day)...<BR/><BR/>I had to go back to find molests. I didn't remember seeing the clue or filling it in...I had it with all of the crosses.<BR/><BR/>Rex, today I'm with you...I would prefer ionized for 5A; Ionic <I>sounds</I> wrong here...<BR/><BR/>JoeJoefromMtVernonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06030453374212116105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80981837349487774212008-09-29T13:57:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:57:00.000-04:00Rex,Love the Archie reference. I used to read Arc...Rex,<BR/><BR/>Love the Archie reference. I used to read Archie comics all the time as a kid. My whole family did. To this day I am not sure exactly why. They aren't particularly funny or interesting, and I remembering thinking that at the time also.DJGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14169359183650145099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39635245666107179862008-09-29T13:44:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:44:00.000-04:00Rex--I read what you wrote in re ISSUER. It was, ...Rex--<BR/><BR/>I read what you wrote in re ISSUER. It was, to me at least, disgust and not denial on your part, and I hope I did not imply otherwise.<BR/><BR/>Without further commentary, however, it's not clear if you're merely objecting to an ugly sucky mess of letters (like DECOCT) or to a word which looks like special purpose crosswordese sucky coinage but isn't (like DECOCTER, meaning the tea infuser thingie) or to a word which really is a special purpose crosswordese sucky coinage and ought to be blasted (like DECOCTER, meaning a person who DECOCTs).<BR/><BR/>Your commentary did not distinguish between bashing a case one suckiness or bashing a case three suckiness. Case one bashing is always a matter of opinion. Case two bashing is always a mistake. Case three bashing is always proper. Without further information, it was impossible to tell whether you were engaging in 100% case one bashing, 100% case three bashing, or 50%/50% both.<BR/><BR/>Filling in with the back story reveals that in this case, regardless of whether case one applies, ISSUER here is definitely a case two suckiness, not a case three.<BR/><BR/>It's sort of like the frustration of reading past any bad review. Did the reviewer just not like the genre? Did the reviewer just not like the lead actor? Did the reviewer actually understand what he read/saw/heard? A reviewer that bashes a movie for being nothing but an overdone chase scene, well, okay, but maybe I like overdone chase scenes, but only if they're done <I>right</I>. And the reviewer hasn't told <I>me</I> a thing I can use to gauge my potential viewing pleasure.<BR/><BR/>That is, bad works deserve <I>good</I> reviews (which is not the same as <I>positive</I> reviews). Deserve, maybe, but that's not what they get, reality being real and all that, and it's usually nobody's fault. Certainly not for something as trivial as the exact taxonomy of crossword entry suckiness.<BR/><BR/>And blah blah blah, and blah blah blah.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87944002964551603332008-09-29T13:34:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:34:00.000-04:00So, were "one" to use SESS in a sentence, does "on...So, were "one" to use SESS in a sentence, does "one" say SESH or SES?fikinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06324570637549775751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20753090018414872832008-09-29T13:26:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:26:00.000-04:00Yes, easy enough to solve from the Downs, especial...Yes, easy enough to solve from the Downs, especially with the helpful theme that gives 6 letters of each Across clue. Didn't think of vowel change as part of the theme, for the same DRAWER reason already noted. Good point about TOW IN, especially as it could have been clued for TO WIN (as in "playing _____").<BR/><BR/>Without the Across clue, I first guessed ODIUM for 22A from all but the second letter (put that in your pipe etc.), and wondered if 5A:IONIC would be physical/chemical or columnar, and if 31A:HIC was "___ jacet" (possibly the result of failed OPIUM REHAB, but too hard for Monday). 46D:MOLESTS and (without the clue) 67A:SESS hard to believe, but no plausible alternatives...<BR/><BR/>On to Tuesday,<BR/>--NDEAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25747526065352297502008-09-29T13:22:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:22:00.000-04:00As an ESL person, I enjoy wasting time herecajón a...As an ESL person, I enjoy wasting time <A HREF="http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/mispron.html" REL="nofollow">here</A><BR/><BR/>cajón anyone?<BR/><BR/>/emisor miguelAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57488366223514801872008-09-29T13:10:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:10:00.000-04:00My senior class play took place in Okinawa, and it...My senior class play took place in Okinawa, and it was a horrible choice for a school play--the only female role to speak of was an obi-wearer, and not a single female had a line in English. But I still remember how to sing <I>She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain When She Comes</I> in Luchuan.<BR/><BR/>People in Minnesota laugh at me when I say the word "tournament". I grew up in what the NYT called "the Galapagos Islands of American dialect". This was my fastest puzzle ever.SethGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13753036404140901368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3590506133644455332008-09-29T13:06:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:06:00.000-04:00Born and bred in Connecticut (Bridgeport and Strat...Born and bred in Connecticut (Bridgeport and Stratford) educated in NYC, and a resident of Suffolk County, Long Island for longer than I care to admit, I belong to the "drore"/"draw-er" contingent. I give thanks daily that my kids didn't pick up that horrid Lon Guyland accent. <BR/><BR/>BTW, how do you-all pronounce "finger", "hanger", "hunger", etc.? A friend noted that the "g" nearly disappears when I utter such words. It's there, but it's way back near the uvula. This friend has spent some time in Bridgeport, and he AVOWs that this is a regional pronunciation. How large was the sample on which he based his informal study, I wonder? I picture him interviewing people to amass data. <BR/><BR/>I note that two of the theme actions could conceivably be performed: one could draw a drawer or show a shower. I wouldn't try to do crewelwork on a culvert, though, or shlep the Sears Tower.<BR/><BR/>I was a bit bothered (not MOLESTed) by TOWIN, but all in all the puzzle was fine Monday fare.miriam bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506593846362044050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40143059265314933822008-09-29T12:57:00.001-04:002008-09-29T12:57:00.001-04:00Blah blah I work in finance blah blah banks blah b...Blah blah I work in finance blah blah banks blah blah look at your money. ISSUER is a sucky word. Hallmark of sucky words: first Google hit = definition of the word. In this case, three of the first four hits are defs. And that fourth non-def is a Wikipedia stub. Not even a full-fledged entry. I repeat, sucky word.<BR/><BR/>Thanks to my wife for actually reading the words that I wrote. <BR/><BR/>And it's DROHR vs. DRAW-er for me, though as someone said above, "drawer" (in the sense of "one who draws") is not something I'd ever be likely to say. <BR/><BR/>rpRex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84487071089465928802008-09-29T12:57:00.000-04:002008-09-29T12:57:00.000-04:00@fikink: Ira Gershwin seconds the nomination.@fikink: Ira Gershwin seconds the nomination.Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10412634072650228847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17710631715740300852008-09-29T12:50:00.000-04:002008-09-29T12:50:00.000-04:00"Let's call the whole thing off.""Let's call the whole thing off."fikinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06324570637549775751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39850051712583672332008-09-29T12:46:00.000-04:002008-09-29T12:46:00.000-04:00DROHR/DRAW-ER...who actually calls anyone sketchin...DROHR/DRAW-ER...who actually calls anyone sketching a "DRAWER." Usually call them a sketcher or more often, just artist....right, Emily? BTW, grew up in Connecticut....hence DROHR.<BR/><BR/>Easy one....and no bad starts.Shamikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11635283729322415150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60393252068250396942008-09-29T12:45:00.000-04:002008-09-29T12:45:00.000-04:00To Rex and anyone else unhappy about a "main bank"...To Rex and anyone else unhappy about a "main bank" being called an ISSUER. That is what they are, at times. It's not some nonce -ER word that the constructor plugged in out of desperation.<BR/><BR/>Look at some US paper money. It says on the top "Federal Reserve Note". If your bill is a $1 note or an older larger denomination bill (with the small presidential portrait), look at the seal on the left with the majuscule (one of A through L) in the middle. It says "Federal Reserve Bank of [city] [state]". There are also four copies of a number between 1 and 12 (corresponding to the majuscule) arranged in a rectangle around the front. The letter/number is the code for which of the twelve banks was the actual ISSUER of the note in question. A=Boston, B=New York, C=Philadelphia, etc.<BR/><BR/>The newer large portrait bills, festooned with anti-counterfeiting tricks, have, however, simplified the seal to a generic one referring to the "United States Federal Reserve System". Feh. The letter/number identifying the ISSUER is still there though. I'll let you look for it.<BR/><BR/>In the US, at least, you might want to quibble about 12 main banks as opposed to one main bank. Does "main" imply "unique"? I'm not sure. If so, it can't impact the clue's accuracy, however. That would merely mean the clue was never about the US in the first place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19969265020049396322008-09-29T12:44:00.000-04:002008-09-29T12:44:00.000-04:00@artlover: with my mid-Atlantic accent the two dra...@artlover: with my mid-Atlantic accent the two drawers sound awfully alike.<BR/><BR/>Hi Eli, it's been a long time.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.com