tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post2111037829932119689..comments2024-03-28T18:52:07.432-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Victor Herbert's naughty girl / SAT 4-6-13 / Biblical boater in Brest / Rajiv's mother / 1960s Greystoke portayer / Colombian cowboys / Minnesota county west of St. Louis / Sidewalk scam / Nordic flier / Mocha residents / Their anthem is LofsongurRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13023377338462342592013-05-13T12:37:30.766-04:002013-05-13T12:37:30.766-04:00I was convinced the Colombian cowboys were herding...I was convinced the Colombian cowboys were herding llamas, so that led me to LLAMEROS, which led me to OPENSTRUNG, with a side of MEANER for NEARER. I considered OVERSTRUNG, but I mean, that still doesn't make much sense to me.<br /><br /><br />Bananafishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29390627436735701252013-05-12T07:25:03.313-04:002013-05-12T07:25:03.313-04:00I've been hoping someone would say this, but.....I've been hoping someone would say this, but... oh, well, here goes: TYCHO is not a "large lunar crater"! I was running names in my head: Clavius, Ptolemaus-Alphonsus-Arzachel, Theophilus-Cyrillus-Catharina... um, Plato...<br />So at least I had the "O". "Splashy" lunar crater would have been better for me. <br /><br />WAYNE was a throwdown for me, but then, I've lived 20 miles from the Fort for 40+ years. To each his own.AquilaAquilegianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35686696340174450602013-05-11T16:29:33.004-04:002013-05-11T16:29:33.004-04:00I agree that this puzzle was not easy. I would cla...I agree that this puzzle was not easy. I would classify it as challenging. I know if I complete a Friday or Saturday puzzle,OFL is going to call it "easy".<br /><br />I left one letter blank so a DNF. <br /><br />Also, never heard of overstrung - highstrung is O.K.<br /><br />Thanks to whoever explained BARK. I could not figure how that was SAIL even though I ran the alphabet to find the "L" and that was the only letter that fit.<br /><br />Still a good puzzle.NM Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14920756034993068695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38376215604867045072013-05-11T15:24:51.100-04:002013-05-11T15:24:51.100-04:00I managed to finish without help today which was a...I managed to finish without help today which was a nice improvement over yesterday. Not fast, just slow and steady. The clue which stumped me the longest was "Bark part" for SAIL. Good one! I also enjoyed learning that it's a knot of TOADS. I've even read "An Exaltation of Larks" but I can't remember most of those collective nouns.<br /><br />I didn't think OVERSTRUNG was too bad. I'm sure I've run into it while reading. It's just a rather old fashioned word.<br /><br />Just to check I did a quick search (using an older date range) and found the word in books ranging from P. G. Wodehouse novels to Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan). So, it's definitely real, but perhaps considered dated or obsolete? Hmmm, like myself? :-)Syndi Solvernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3154751352965450462013-05-11T14:45:55.210-04:002013-05-11T14:45:55.210-04:00My one square ? again today. Managed, eventually, ...My one square ? again today. Managed, eventually, to spell BAILL correctly, but a not-so-famous county crossing an unknown record company??? Guessed AShO, so no cigar. Record companies I recall are Decca and RCA Victor! <br /><br />Enjoyed the stuff for us "oldies". Anyone else remember all the wonderful Victor Herbert (and other) operettas on The Railroad Hour with Gordan MacRae. It was on Monday night just after The Carnation Hour....."you can hear them in the dell, they are contented I can tell". I'll be humming all day!<br /><br />Captcha sounds like a an ancient war cry: Ravashi corpo.DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17102959060345497162013-05-11T14:37:11.390-04:002013-05-11T14:37:11.390-04:00Of course! Thank you, Mr. Kerfuffle! Glad I didn...Of course! Thank you, Mr. Kerfuffle! Glad I didn't cause one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32289179887279213422013-05-11T14:14:19.235-04:002013-05-11T14:14:19.235-04:00@Anonymous, 2:00 PM - I think we can get someone t...@Anonymous, 2:00 PM - I think we can get someone to handle your problem. I'll have my secretary tend to it.Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59741496113201657182013-05-11T14:00:24.378-04:002013-05-11T14:00:24.378-04:00Finally got it all worked out. Knew Ely as he see...Finally got it all worked out. Knew Ely as he seems to be the standard three letter actor in crosswords. Also knew who was naughty, and who was mad from history. <br /><br />However, I do not see how "handles" gets to be "tends to." Can someone help me here?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48943663180615256882013-05-11T13:10:23.191-04:002013-05-11T13:10:23.191-04:00It could be that I had one glass of wine too many ...It could be that I had one glass of wine too many last night, but it took me and google forever to work this one out. Not "easy-medium" for me at all. How do you say "boring" in Brest?Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17541548263395780062013-05-11T12:23:01.957-04:002013-05-11T12:23:01.957-04:00And as in uffish thought I read @Jackj's post,...And as in uffish thought I read @Jackj's post, I LOL'ed.<br /><br />How in tarnation can you call this easy-medium? I had to pry open every section--and the NW needed a big crowbar! I didn't know ANY of that stuff up there; finally tried TYCHO after recalling the site of the "2001: A Space Odyssey" lunar monolith. Then somehow DEPOSITONLY entered my mind, and I was done at last.<br /><br />A major holdup along the way was misremembering Ms. BAIUL's first name as "OxANA." Since the letter count was "wrong," I thought I must have the wrong year (did I mention how terrible I am at timelines?) and left it blank, only to work back around to that unmistakable name anyway.<br /><br />Hand up for the "ugh" at OVERSTRUNG; I agree it should be "high." Every single letter of LLANEROS went in on crosses. Oh, and one final nit--another of my pet peeves:<br /><br />There is no such word as ADE. It can appear as a suffix (lemon-, Gator-, etc.) but is not a stand-alone word.<br /><br />Let me repeat that. ADE is not a word. Can you hear me now?Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75076841232841633712013-04-07T16:40:01.274-04:002013-04-07T16:40:01.274-04:00Ultra- challenging for me.........but I got it.......Ultra- challenging for me.........but I got it.........finally!Stevlb1https://www.blogger.com/profile/03814855846710624128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54957426079517265562013-04-07T01:21:45.793-04:002013-04-07T01:21:45.793-04:00Elle54 - I don't see where anyone answered you...Elle54 - I don't see where anyone answered your other question. 1A really looked like it would be "something"-money, but ithe correct answer was DEPOSIT ONLY. (As one wirtes a check"For Deposit Only".)Ellen Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473445503706985149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9689046391790637282013-04-06T22:35:52.057-04:002013-04-06T22:35:52.057-04:00NYT readers dont have to know monte.
thats a game...NYT readers dont have to know monte. <br />thats a game for people who read the Daily News...while scratching off their lottery tickets on NJT.<br /><br />this was a typical outcome:<br />http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/3-card-monte-dealer-slain-b-klyn-street-article-1.828800A-Train Residentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32521479834738103002013-04-06T19:33:36.106-04:002013-04-06T19:33:36.106-04:00Gill I.P. -- if this wasn't addressed earlier,...Gill I.P. -- if this wasn't addressed earlier, 3 card monte was extremely popular in New York City in the good old days, before Guiliani. A dealer, a shill or 2 and a couple of losers. Oh, by the way, close but DNF. Just have to trust myself a little more.jerry khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16281709143821361912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32050394512052229842013-04-06T19:11:36.594-04:002013-04-06T19:11:36.594-04:00I needed every single cross to produce OKSANABAIUL...I needed every single cross to produce OKSANABAIUL - happily they were all obtainable. Ended with a lucky guess at the last two letters of ATCO. Some other answers I wrote in without knowing why they were right, but they were - my brain works in mysterious ways.<br /><br />@mitchs - I suspect the everyone is being courteous and avoiding any discussion that might constitute "spoilers" to those of us who have not yet completed the puzzle.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24332092572432361202013-04-06T18:16:47.095-04:002013-04-06T18:16:47.095-04:00really surprised because I thought there'd be ...really surprised because I thought there'd be a ton of comments about the Rex/Matt G solving and analysis of the Maleska puz. It's really entertaing, follow the link at the end of Rex's blog. mitchsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69518914248573648762013-04-06T18:04:51.946-04:002013-04-06T18:04:51.946-04:00This 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 7:02, 6:12, 1.14, 92%, Challenging<br />Tue 7:22, 8:19, 0.89, 16%, Easy<br />Wed 9:25, 10:16, 0.92, 30%, Easy-Medium<br />Thu 20:46, 16:58, 1.22, 84%, Challenging<br />Fri 15:18, 22:18, 0.69, 5%, Easy (9th lowest ratio of 171 Fridays)<br />Sat 25:42, 25:08, 1.02, 67%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:22, 3:42, 1.18, 96%, Challenging (8th highest ratio of 172 Mondays)<br />Tue 4:21, 4:52, 0.89, 13%, Easy<br />Wed 5:20, 6:04, 0.88, 18%, Easy<br />Thu 14:10, 9:56, 1.43, 91%, Challenging<br />Fri 8:36, 12:57, 0.66, 4%, Easy (7th lowest ratio of 171 Fridays)<br />Sat 15:06, 14:48, 1.02, 60%, Medium-Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54089018275520541032013-04-06T18:03:57.896-04:002013-04-06T18:03:57.896-04:00down here in Penna we see our pop culture films at...down here in Penna we see our pop culture films at the theatre named for the general who was said to catch a few films there prior to the incident up the road in paoli. legend has it that washington called him "mad" because he spent much of the war talking about the latest movie.<br /><br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/23711298@N07/3484453620/Wayne Residentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33794958654069606922013-04-06T16:44:54.973-04:002013-04-06T16:44:54.973-04:00Got very close what with Googling a bunch of indiv...Got very close what with Googling a bunch of individual clues for help, but still had big problems after putting down LLAmEROS. The N made a big difference. Mearer made no sense, and I wasn't smart enough to see that the M couldn't have been right. . The cross of HOGS and WAGGED plus OVERSTRUNG caused me to fill out a few words incorrectly also. I used Tas rather than RAS at a31. So a lot of the NE corner was pretty messy. <br />But still not bad for me for a Saturday--Saturdays often ending in failure. I can now watch the Giants beat the Cardinals in comfort.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29074680757962917062013-04-06T16:33:44.943-04:002013-04-06T16:33:44.943-04:00@OISK - VIR is the Latin word for "man"....@OISK - VIR is the Latin word for "man". Cognates include virile and triumvirate.Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19009355520631876422013-04-06T16:30:01.304-04:002013-04-06T16:30:01.304-04:00@Rex:
I'm sure it's more common than I re...@Rex:<br /><br />I'm sure it's more common than I realize. When I got UTILITY POLE I had wondered if it referred to fishing....holding the fishing line, I guess. I've always said TELEPHONE POLE so the right answer caught me off-guard.Evanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15440942981870183719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49155249711841514372013-04-06T16:15:26.980-04:002013-04-06T16:15:26.980-04:00@Evan,
I meant to say something about OVERSTRUNG...@Evan, <br /><br />I meant to say something about OVERSTRUNG, namely that it's not a thing anyone says. Ridiculous. UTILITY POLE, however, seems fine.<br /><br />RPRex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82876512047330088182013-04-06T16:03:21.272-04:002013-04-06T16:03:21.272-04:00Liked this one a lot, and pretty much zoomed thoug...Liked this one a lot, and pretty much zoomed though it, smiling all the way, except for "vir" (someone explain?) which I got easily from the down clues, and Itasca, which was a pure guess, since I never heard of ATCO, nor ever owned a "BeeGees" recording. Itasca just seemed right, which means I probably have seen it before. Never heard of Carla either, but if you are going to give me Naughty Marietta, (from which I can sing all the songs, and own two recordings ) I guess I shouldn't quibble with Carla Thomas. It is always nice to complete a Saturday without help, after missing two squares on yesterday's pop-infested Friday. Yet most others liked Friday's...Ah sweet mystery of life...OISKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808675378318214461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13508267544061364462013-04-06T15:05:34.475-04:002013-04-06T15:05:34.475-04:00I didn't enjoy this puzzle as much as Rex and ...I didn't enjoy this puzzle as much as Rex and others did. The southeast stack is really good, and crossing it with MAD LIBS and TERIYAKI is fun. The other long answers didn't strike me as that exciting, unfortunately, except for BANANA CREAM and the clue for DRILL PRESS, which are great.... okay, DILETTANTE is good, too.<br /><br />But like others above, I've heard it called HIGH STRUNG, not OVERSTRUNG. I'm also not used to it being called a UTILITY POLE -- it's usually been a TELEPHONE POLE in my experience, but I guess UTILITY is a better catch-all term for different kinds of wires rather than just telephone lines. Maybe TELEPHONE POLE is a regional thing?<br /><br />Lots of short fill I wasn't crazy about -- VIR, ATCO, EPIS, RIS, OLA, ITASCA, NOE, TOLEDOS, and ISL. I had to guess at the MARIETTA/LLANEROS crossing -- I don't know much Spanish, and thought it could possibly be LLANEDOS or LLANEJOS. MARIETTA seemed like the only plausible cross, though, so I got it right.<br /><br />Well done, Rex and Matt, on the Maleskan conversation -- I was surprised I got as far in that puzzle as I did, but I also got stymied by the same sections.Evanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15440942981870183719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90956275386875788742013-04-06T14:55:21.597-04:002013-04-06T14:55:21.597-04:00@bob kerfuffle
And I was all set to thank you for ...@bob kerfuffle<br />And I was all set to thank you for that interesting ITASCA trivia! However, I still thank you for pointing me over to Crossword Fiend today, which I usually don't get to these days...<br />First of all, fewer comments but generally more polite and erudite, but also Orange is in fine form today and laugh out loud funny (cf Pulaski comment)Acmenoreply@blogger.com