tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post1887120614537953880..comments2024-03-29T09:24:38.958-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Choreographer Lubovitch / THU 12-5-13 / Nephew of Moses / Democritus Leucippus philosophically / 2012 political chant / Locale of long-running Mideast conflict / Holyfield rival / Clarke who played bride of Frankenstein Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29507890026150256502014-01-09T21:14:12.935-05:002014-01-09T21:14:12.935-05:00Was stymied by this one for a while so worked on t...Was stymied by this one for a while so worked on the revealer which suddenly cleared up the, uh, CONFUSION. Fun, very creative Thursday puzzle. Loved INLALALAND (which Quebec often is) and BATTENDOWN.<br /><br />Creepiest VESPERS service I ever attended was held in the Norman crypt, deep in the bowels of Worcester (England) Cathedral surrounded by ancient coffins and sarcophagi(?). Brrrr.<br /><br />Studied ancient Greek philosophy in university but somehow must of missed the ATOMISTS. (they're pretty tiny, I guess).<br /> Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16916816217927168112014-01-09T19:16:12.220-05:002014-01-09T19:16:12.220-05:00My brain was totally addled with CONFUSION, and I ...My brain was totally addled with CONFUSION, and I was unable to grok this perfectly fine theme. My fault, not the puzzles. Was watching Gov Christie's press conference. He didn't make sense and neither did the puzzle. I'm hoping for better luck tomorrow.<br /><br />House rules, deuces wild, I have five nines and a pair of fours..;-0 (9 9 9 2 2 4 4)Gingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07156872089175084024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30368137087240589052014-01-09T18:33:35.826-05:002014-01-09T18:33:35.826-05:00Felt a bit of ***ceit at figuring out Dan's tr...Felt a bit of ***ceit at figuring out Dan's trickery pretty early. Really ***curr with those who like this puz.<br /><br />@DMG, thanks for the heads up re @law prof. Agree. My lol was @LMS selling THESINAI oceanfront lots.<br /><br />@Diri, @Ginger, four nines.Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8237547268448471492014-01-09T17:17:24.505-05:002014-01-09T17:17:24.505-05:00I like Thursday puzzles for the trickery they usua...I like Thursday puzzles for the trickery they usually employ and this one was just fine - but then, I live in a constant state of CONFUSION.<br /><br />If the skies (CIELs) are clear in your part of syndiland tonight, look for the Northern Lights which promise to be brilliant due to recent solar storm activity. Check out the forecast <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-northern-lights-20140109,0,4762412.story#axzz2pwSw2CG6" rel="nofollow">here.</a><br />Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86903168871850825802014-01-09T16:49:21.521-05:002014-01-09T16:49:21.521-05:00Except for the mid-east my only write over was BuT...Except for the mid-east my only write over was BuTToNDOWN to BATTENDOWN. But the mid- east!! Foiled by seeing the revealer as CONFUSIng, and misreading the music clue as "kind", so wasn't looking for a proper name. So, once again, DNF, but had fun solving what I got. "@lawprof"s write-over gave me a smile!DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48100508458223621902014-01-09T15:09:06.686-05:002014-01-09T15:09:06.686-05:00Not a lot to add, but I'll do it anyway. Afte...Not a lot to add, but I'll do it anyway. After getting TEMPT, and squinting at it, and then struggling with TACT, it dawned that CON was involved somehow, but I stuck to the notion that 1A had to start sith 'T', until I got the revealer, and then all was well. Sure, a couple weak entries, but overall, a tight, clever, and enjoyable puzzle.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28545468145905031262014-01-09T13:49:23.147-05:002014-01-09T13:49:23.147-05:00A little irony here. One of my last discoveries w...A little irony here. One of my last discoveries was Eleazar, my Hebrew name.LongBeachLeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33571535038740397472014-01-09T11:47:33.655-05:002014-01-09T11:47:33.655-05:00I could've done without all the comments on ON...I could've done without all the comments on ONAN; TMI, IMHO. There is much to like in this one. Clever, tight theme. Since CON- is a prefix, it's not too surprising that the perimeter words all stand alone; I wouldn't make as much of that as others seem to. But the revealer, centrally located, is spot on.<br /><br />Also to like is a lot of the longer fill; INLALALAND is great.<br /><br />Now for the not-so-much to like. The O of NARCOS is almost like a "cheater square." It's legit, but the O-less NARC is much more often used. ATOMIST? Never heard of it: those guys were surely WAY ahead of their time! But the killer is ELEAZAR, a prime candidate for Mr. Obscurity 2014. I had to run the alphabet--literally all the way to the end--to come up with LAZE, which doesn't exactly mean unwind, but close enough, I guess. Toughest square of the grid, for sure.<br /><br />Then there's the THE of 9d. THE SINAI? Is that a place? Mount, OK. Peninsula, OK. But THE? Yuck. That's flag fodder. Many of the 3's were ugly too. CMI is the worst.<br /><br />Solving experience-wise, it took a little work to get the trick; it was slow going till then, but picked up ***siderably once I got it. Thank you for the nod to CAROLE King; she's one of the greats. One thumb up and one down. Hate to be ***trary.spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65569673261668984402014-01-09T11:36:51.319-05:002014-01-09T11:36:51.319-05:00Terrific puzz. I agree it was an easy/medium, once...Terrific puzz. I agree it was an easy/medium, once you cracked the "con." Thank you Dan S for a pleasant 1/2 hour while sipping on my morning coffee.<br /><br />Ron Diego 8:30 AM PST 1/9/14<br /><br />This ancient old man has been doing puzzles on and off for 50 yrs. Like Poirot, it helps my little grey cells.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42919679231172912622013-12-06T09:01:42.528-05:002013-12-06T09:01:42.528-05:00@gifcan - Best reason to get the comments emailed?...@gifcan - Best reason to get the comments emailed? Late comments like yours.Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64973083209354855532013-12-06T02:20:20.960-05:002013-12-06T02:20:20.960-05:00The best of the week, and I'm not damning it w...The best of the week, and I'm not damning it with faint praise. I fought with the theme, knowing something was up when I got CORD. I thought maybe it was a variation of "accord." For some reason I missed the clue clue, so once I got that it all fell into place. (Except TEMPT, which was a nice reveal eventually. <br /><br />I appreciated the symmetry of it as well as the neatness of all the theme answers being actual words and not some kind of Thirsdayish nonsense. Living in SoCal where the Oscar races are underway, I enjoyed the grouping of SCRIPT, NOMINEE, and INLALALAND, which made up for the only really dismal answer (RIBBER? Sounds like a frog with a speech impediment.)<br /><br />JoeyZenMonkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01351161309102608706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56097675671886198212013-12-06T00:09:58.380-05:002013-12-06T00:09:58.380-05:00Like @Mohair Sam said. Exactly!
And . . .
Great...Like @Mohair Sam said. Exactly!<br /><br />And . . .<br /><br />Great revealer @Pete - JAILBREAK!<br /><br />Also failed on CAROLE King. I couldn't get Elvis and Michael Jackson out of my head.<br /><br />So ONAN did the map of Hawaii thing?gifcanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12612467417938884430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83662731724852297122013-12-05T22:11:00.210-05:002013-12-05T22:11:00.210-05:00Rex = old crank. Get a life pal.Rex = old crank. Get a life pal.dogbreanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35958592175679656212013-12-05T22:03:15.486-05:002013-12-05T22:03:15.486-05:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak I've made to my method. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week's median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.<br /><br />All solvers (this week's median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Mon 5:43, 6:07, 0.93, 19%, Easy<br />Tue 8:18, 8:12, 1.01, 57%, Medium<br />Wed 10:50, 9:52, 1.10, 73%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 19:17, 17:47, 1.08, 66%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:40, 3:46, 0.97, 31%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 4:46, 5:01, 0.95, 31%, Easy-Medium<br />Wed 6:26, 5:49, 1.11, 76%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 10:32, 10:07, 1.04, 57%, Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26753771357238243822013-12-05T21:23:59.061-05:002013-12-05T21:23:59.061-05:0051. Anatomical foot : PES
The Latin word for “foot...51. Anatomical foot : PES<br />The Latin word for “foot” is “pes”, the genitive singular of which is “pedis”. “Pedis” evolved into the suffix -pede, as in centipede and millipede.nytcrossword.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23741972828632359372013-12-05T21:13:43.227-05:002013-12-05T21:13:43.227-05:00@LaneB
pes/pis, peɪs/ Show Spelled [pees, peys] S...@LaneB<br /><br />pes/pis, peɪs/ Show Spelled [pees, peys] Show IPA <br />noun, plural pe·des /ˈpidiz, ˈpɛdiz/ Show Spelled [pee-deez, ped-eez] Show IPA . Anatomy, Zoology . <br />a foot or footlike part. <br /><br />Dictionary.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25842545331534715672013-12-05T20:04:34.014-05:002013-12-05T20:04:34.014-05:00Late start. Dog care day @ Humane Society. Dtdn...Late start. Dog care day @ Humane Society. Dtdn't do well. Until got the reveal at 34a. Then it went pretty fast until I misspelled CURRENT with a second U.. Finished the NW last. RiPS not RAPS gave me aDNF, but I felt good about the solve anyway.<br />Please explain 51a--unless it refers to the Greek letter.LaneBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48563358755203197552013-12-05T18:54:03.718-05:002013-12-05T18:54:03.718-05:00Rex...I can't believe you didn't use THIS ...Rex...I can't believe you didn't use <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12AcglZ2xGw" rel="nofollow">THIS</a> as your video today.okanaganerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03082227619755246335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45335724533838702612013-12-05T18:23:22.181-05:002013-12-05T18:23:22.181-05:00More to like than not. Hate all "Early (inser...More to like than not. Hate all "Early (insert century here) year" clues, and various geographical time settings, and LTD, however clued. NARCO and ATOE are bad, mmmmmmkay? But, although ATOMIST and ELEAZAR slowed me down, I recognize that they're not necessarily "bad" entries, but, simply, outside my knowledge base. The theme was easily picked up and very well executed. As mentioned by many, I really liked that all themers were fine stand-alone words before their "fusion," and that clue for 6A was a great CONcealer early on. Finished in 6:02, well under usual Thursday time, so I give Dan an "easy" A. August Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09919963003128838777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22026777197826829992013-12-05T15:52:11.637-05:002013-12-05T15:52:11.637-05:00@Lewis -
You suck MITT!
Get on your boat and sink...@Lewis -<br /><br />You suck MITT!<br />Get on your boat and sink MITT!<br />How does RomneyCare sound now MITT?!<br />I kicked your ass MITT!Obamanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28300299459664115212013-12-05T15:39:12.607-05:002013-12-05T15:39:12.607-05:00Of course people have shoulted MITT during the cam...Of course people have shoulted MITT during the campaign.<br /><br />I liked the longer answers, many of which were two or more words, which seems to make a puzzle more interesting.<br /><br />Theme made the puzzle go quicker. I did not like NARCOS -- please! And if you are going to have a four volume encyclopedia, I'm thinking the first volume would go farther than E. But that's picky.<br /><br />Overall, it was fun, enough fun to overlook the ugly fill that was scattered about. I learned PES, and will never ever use it in my life.<br /><br />I was looking for other words in the grid that could start with CON, and the closest I came was TADA, but unless one is a bad speller, it won't work.Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27477805720492223152013-12-05T15:33:50.337-05:002013-12-05T15:33:50.337-05:00@Benko: we were all good. Just can't keep out ...@Benko: we were all good. Just can't keep out of the bowl of pepernoten!<br />machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12619005639118208372013-12-05T14:57:59.701-05:002013-12-05T14:57:59.701-05:00@Rex: You liked NBADRAFT??
(De gustibus ...)@Rex: You liked NBADRAFT??<br /><br />(De gustibus ...)Jordan V.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82805058208047311082013-12-05T14:55:28.866-05:002013-12-05T14:55:28.866-05:00@ Bird - Didn't like NARCOS much myself but it...@ Bird - Didn't like NARCOS much myself but it is in the dictionary as clued, so that's that. ON AN/iN AN - either works well for the clue IMO. <br /><br />We now have pictures of words, for which 42 works as well as it did for pictures of numbers. Agree that the real captchas are tougher now. retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42442302752704588512013-12-05T13:42:37.229-05:002013-12-05T13:42:37.229-05:00Hand up for thinking “corner-Rebus theme” at 1A, b...Hand up for thinking “corner-Rebus theme” at 1A, but spent a couple seconds thinking of 4-letter alternates to CONCAVE. Once I got the theme the perimeter filled itself in. That 54A/54D crossing was tough – I needed to run the alphabet.<br /><br />Love how the unfused words can stand alone and the clue for BART.<br /><br />Don’t care too much for some of the crud (ATOE, NARCOS, thought it was IN AN unrelated manner, CMI and IDS). NBA DRAFT is nice (was NFL DRAFT at first but wrong month).<br /><br />Captchas are getting harder to decipher again - where's the picture of a number?Birdnoreply@blogger.com