tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post1658026462248671507..comments2024-03-19T07:23:25.439-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: SATURDAY, Feb. 2, 2008 - Natan Last (FORMER GIANT ROBB _____)Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35105742051078797772008-04-01T04:33:00.000-04:002008-04-01T04:33:00.000-04:00I wasn't sure that CANCER was wrong until I saw it...I wasn't sure that CANCER was wrong until I saw it was crossing DEAD.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58849067034287781882008-03-16T02:59:00.000-04:002008-03-16T02:59:00.000-04:00Dizzy Gillespie wrote a piece called "Djibouti," b...Dizzy Gillespie wrote a piece called "Djibouti," because, I recall, he thought it was a cool name. I agree.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72560943082719955832008-02-03T16:18:00.000-05:002008-02-03T16:18:00.000-05:00ZYZZYVA the literary magazine is still around. It...ZYZZYVA the literary magazine is still around. It is intended for West Coast writers and artists. The name was chosen to be the "last word". It debuted while I was a graduate student in California, and I bought the first issue just for the word. I haven't seen it at all since coming back east. (Later issues, that is. That first issue is somewhere safely lost on my shelves.)<BR/><BR/>I, too, thought it was "weevil".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3693783637169491402008-02-03T15:49:00.000-05:002008-02-03T15:49:00.000-05:00Jae: Of course, though we see ADE the beverage in ...Jae: Of course, though we see ADE the beverage in the crossword all the time, it's kinda lousy as words go. Lemonade and limeade, sure, but when does anyone in real life talk about having a glass of ade?<BR/><BR/>There's a difference between the breakfast test of things that are gross or risque or pertain to bodily functions or are considered vulgar vs. Things That Bum People Out. How many hundreds of thousands of NYT crossword solvers have either had cancer, lost a loved one to cancer, or know someone fighting cancer today? Far too many. Just as GENOCIDE and RAPE and MOLESTED could evoke sadness and shock in solvers, so can CANCER. A random FART or GOTOHELL might offend some people, but it's unlikely to sadden them.Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18323302930343646492008-02-03T03:31:00.000-05:002008-02-03T03:31:00.000-05:00is it too late to chime in about loving DJIBOUTI, ...is it too late to chime in about loving DJIBOUTI, JENESAISQUOI crossed with VENTRILOQUIST?!<BR/><BR/>Never heard of NEN and wondered why I hadn't stumbled upon AEN before! Didn't even realize I was wrong, which should be filed under Thank-god-for-Rex (TGFR)<BR/>what about that other sports palindrome SELES.<BR/><BR/>I agree, why breakwind and not Cancer? (altho I'd just as soon go the other way and NOT have break wind in any puzzle...even windbreaker is pushing it with me!)<BR/><BR/>yes, of course French/Latin will be more often! Other than EINE in German, French is rife with vowel heavy short words, a boon for constructors: OEIL, EAU, LIEU and Latin gives us those nice AE endings :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30784426659463926772008-02-03T01:34:00.000-05:002008-02-03T01:34:00.000-05:00Doc John... I'm going to have to take back some of...Doc John... I'm going to have to take back some of those nice things I said about you. Prepare to weep.<BR/><BR/>Puzzlegirl... your daughter is clearly brilliant!<BR/><BR/>Janie... thanks so much for that link. I love those guys... see there I go. That is one show I will not miss if it comes to town.<BR/><BR/>Welcome HarrietLou of Philly. And congrats to Macha. I almost fainted the first time I finished a Saturday puzzle.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30531150264493261052008-02-02T21:13:00.000-05:002008-02-02T21:13:00.000-05:00I knew ABRAM and still had trouble with the SW. SL...I knew ABRAM and still had trouble with the SW. SLOANE is not too many letters apart from SUEANN.<BR/><BR/>I suprised myself with PASCHAL, didn't realize I knew the word.<BR/><BR/>I shall call those <A HREF="" REL="nofollow">JimH</A> moments from now on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9045739757519114172008-02-02T20:18:00.000-05:002008-02-02T20:18:00.000-05:00Loved this one. What made Djibouti utterly gorgeou...Loved this one. What made Djibouti utterly gorgeous was the fact that Somalia's biggest neighbor is Ethiopia -- with the same number of letters. (I had to erase.) Wicked and pretty.Renardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12802975395654228088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39446374144631864212008-02-02T20:01:00.000-05:002008-02-02T20:01:00.000-05:00@range re 10:51 post. Looks like Will made the exc...@range re 10:51 post. Looks like Will made the exception you were referring to (if I haven't misread you) for 1a which is usually clued "summer cooler" or something similar.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50478350137073406222008-02-02T19:55:00.000-05:002008-02-02T19:55:00.000-05:00OOPS - typo. aFicionadaOOPS - typo. aFicionadamiriam bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506593846362044050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81026801183758774892008-02-02T19:49:00.000-05:002008-02-02T19:49:00.000-05:00@artivr: I think N-test means nuclear test (or, a...@artivr: I think N-test means nuclear test (or, as way too many presidents, ex-presidents and others who should know better have pronounced it, "nucular").<BR/><BR/>@dick swart: Keep the tedium coming! I have a couple of books which are compilations of Bob & Ray scripts. It's hard to cite a favorite. I really love The House of Toast, but those two comic geniuses never failed to amuse.<BR/><BR/>I'm a longtime TSE avicionada. You brought back fond memories of the semester in college when I wrote a term paper on The Waste Land. I can still quote long passages, though you'd plotz if I told you which reunion I attended in 2006. <BR/> <BR/>"Now Albert's coming home, make yourself a bit smart. He'll want to know what you done with that money he gave you to get yourself some teeth."miriam bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506593846362044050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61636689444230632622008-02-02T18:26:00.000-05:002008-02-02T18:26:00.000-05:00green mantis @6:15 All I can say is that a number...green mantis @6:15 All I can say is that a number of other commentators here also initially wrote "cancer" instead of "rancor." Of course, "rancor" is a completely fair answer, but I think most people would agree that "cancer" would also have been a reasonable answer. And my guess (perhaps wrong) is that more solvers thought "cancer" initially than "rancor."Michael Chibnikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04700426644898924644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19115826681086180482008-02-02T18:15:00.000-05:002008-02-02T18:15:00.000-05:00Re: cancer "trap": not to be a jerk or anything, b...Re: cancer "trap": not to be a jerk or anything, but I don't see the "trapness" of this at all. Malignant doesn't show up for malignity except on a medical site; in general usage it shows up as a state of ill will. Rancor fits well with that, in my opinion. <BR/><BR/>I stared at the empty Ferris Bueller girlfriend spot for a while, thinking, "It's like Paige, or Blaine, or some other appliance-esque word." It finally came to me after I spent some time floating around in that mental space, like when you have to unfocus your eyes to see the spaceship emerge on those posters. Isn't it weird that you can not know something exactly but have a sense of it, its texture? The human brain, mmm.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83479108084124392142008-02-02T17:19:00.000-05:002008-02-02T17:19:00.000-05:00I found this for the most part easy and enjoyable....I found this for the most part easy and enjoyable. I especially like ventriloquists. But I fell into the cancer trap, even though Norm Abcam looked wrong. And I had advice instead of advise leaving me with "cleane" as the name of Ferris Bueller's girlfriend which also didn't seem right (and wasn't).Michael Chibnikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04700426644898924644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50300784446018190992008-02-02T17:01:00.000-05:002008-02-02T17:01:00.000-05:00Rex, I just knew that this being the first Saturda...Rex, I just knew that this being the first Saturday crossword that I have ever finished completely on my own, that you would have it labeled EASY however I still opened your site with trepidation hoping against hope that just maybe it would have been a MEDIUM or higher ... but no alas ... someday ....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47592914619493647612008-02-02T16:44:00.000-05:002008-02-02T16:44:00.000-05:00As I recall on the day of the ASOK/BEAN fiasco the...As I recall on the day of the ASOK/BEAN fiasco the puzzle was rated as 98% easy and 2% WTF. Am I the only one who believes that today's puzzle deserves the same rating? An obscure and uncommon name like Nen crossing with 3 possible correct answers seems a tad unfair. <BR/>Then you have 2 obscure names separated by a clue like zyzzva and most people staring at _anc_r 2columns over...give me a break. I have been doing this puzzle every day for 25 years and I finally said enough.<BR/>And Orange's explanation notwithstanding, I guessed cancer for malignity. While I agree that it is not an answer I have seen much I do believe that in the year 2008 it should not be deemed verboten. I think if we can "break wind" like we did recently we can say the word cancer.dbghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03478736780275240626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79616870825573619592008-02-02T16:38:00.000-05:002008-02-02T16:38:00.000-05:00Still smarting from this one - had to google x 3....Still smarting from this one - had to google x 3. But ya gotta love any puzzle containing "Djibouti". <BR/><BR/>Young Natan: another impressive piece of work but can't you use that considerable brainpower of yours for GOOD instead of EVIL?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26617043786001610892008-02-02T16:35:00.000-05:002008-02-02T16:35:00.000-05:00After reading this blog for weeks, am trying to ge...After reading this blog for weeks, am trying to get past my cyber-shyness and actually post. I've been trying Thursday through Saturday for the last six months and am grateful for an easier one. This blog has really improved both my game and my enjoyment - thanks to all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39917003081076337612008-02-02T16:30:00.000-05:002008-02-02T16:30:00.000-05:00Puzzlegirl, yes, that is extremely great for a 6.J...Puzzlegirl, yes, that is extremely great for a 6.<BR/><BR/>JimAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17603845001623561382008-02-02T16:27:00.000-05:002008-02-02T16:27:00.000-05:00This one gave me all kinds of problems at first an...This one gave me all kinds of problems at first and then I got into the swing of things. Got killed in the SW. Still ended up with a few missed letters, though:<BR/><BR/>Confidently filled in A TEST and forgot about it, not bothering to check the downs when I got REFEREE and RESTS ON.<BR/><BR/>Didn't know how to spell JE NE SAIS QUOI at all, so had to get it from the crosses. In the Passover seder, there's a part where the PASCHAL Lamb comes into play.<BR/><BR/>Also fell into the cancer/RANCOR trap like everyone else. Cancer certainly fell into my medical way of thinking. Thanks too late, Orange, for the tip about cancer. I'll remember that for next time, to be sure.<BR/>I knew that Bueller's girlfriend had an unusual name so Sleane seemed perfectly acceptable, as did ABCAM (although a Genesis song did come to mind at that point, as did a notable FBI sting).<BR/><BR/>I was pleasantly surprised to have guessed right on BEETLE, though. I couldn't get the California town, Zzyzx, out of my mind so was wondering if Zyzzva was another town like that, or maybe the answer had something to do with all the Zs that were in the word, i.e. ZEE---. So after I wrote in BEETLE to finish the puzzle and then googled Zyzzva it came up "weevil" so then I was scrambling to see how that would fit but it didn't so then I thought, "Isn't a weevil a type of beetle?" and it was!<BR/><BR/>Finally, something Rikki and I don't agree on- as a former Miamian and Dolphins fan, I'm rooting against the Pats. Interestingly enough, I'm in Miami visiting relatives so I get to root with the other anti-Pats. Go Giants! (Like that will help- I'm sure the Pats will crush them.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38594964329484003572008-02-02T16:26:00.000-05:002008-02-02T16:26:00.000-05:00@ Rex: Perhaps I thinking A-bombs and H-bombs -- ...@ Rex: Perhaps I thinking A-bombs and H-bombs -- Are you going to say there are also N-bombs? (Neutrino or something?) I'm not going to be surprised...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85905969207974212122008-02-02T15:43:00.000-05:002008-02-02T15:43:00.000-05:00Thanks. I don't know why I thought a singular art...Thanks. I don't know why I thought a singular article wouldn't include the plural form. Trop des idees fixes aujourd'hui.fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89576994379311249012008-02-02T15:42:00.000-05:002008-02-02T15:42:00.000-05:00was pretty easy for a saturday puzzle. Didn't get ...was pretty easy for a saturday puzzle. Didn't get to it til 3:00. busy making chili and all the stuff for super bowl. Big crowd coming over. Go Giants!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41343293004410925272008-02-02T15:22:00.000-05:002008-02-02T15:22:00.000-05:00unas is feminine plural indefinite article. like ...unas is feminine plural indefinite article. like English some.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84105808489139370252008-02-02T14:54:00.001-05:002008-02-02T14:54:00.001-05:00NTEST is reasonably common in the puzzle. Not quit...NTEST is reasonably common in the puzzle. Not quite as common as ATEST, but far more common than HTEST.<BR/><BR/>rpRex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.com