tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post2112519666474472950..comments2024-03-28T06:54:54.038-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Seemingly mad Muslim monk / MON 7-8-13 / Jacob's father in law in Bible / Midpoint between midi and mini / Filmmaking brother Joe EthanRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52558993042559145332013-08-13T01:11:55.662-04:002013-08-13T01:11:55.662-04:00Love it!!Love it!!texas syndy solvernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33217883712310348252013-08-13T00:43:58.520-04:002013-08-13T00:43:58.520-04:00I am not aMUSEd.
Acme, schmackme.I am not aMUSEd.<br /><br />Acme, schmackme.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-459020428041166402013-08-12T19:12:53.006-04:002013-08-12T19:12:53.006-04:00I don't care what day of the week it is, you c...I don't care what day of the week it is, you cross BARA with LABAN and I will need a lucky guess to finish.<br /><br />I recorded my thoughts on the "mobility scooter" issue a while back on <a href="http://dirigonzo.blogspot.com/2013/02/he-aint-haughty-hes-my-brother.html" rel="nofollow">my own blog</a> so there's no need to repeat them here.<br />Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50958436317750422642013-08-12T18:53:44.195-04:002013-08-12T18:53:44.195-04:00Puzzles like this one make me pine for the cryptic...Puzzles like this one make me pine for the cryptics. With those, even if the answer is unfamiliar the clue tells you how to derive it. Well, not always, but often enough to make crosses like BARA/LABAN excusable.<br /><br />I did enjoy the SIT/SIC trap though.straylinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13536180563789923012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56486382228404979132013-08-12T17:06:44.044-04:002013-08-12T17:06:44.044-04:00You must realize that the oh so offended person wh...You must realize that the oh so offended person who claimed to be in heart failure was nothing more than a troll.<br /><br />You should not have fed him.<br /><br />By the way, Acme, you were right on and I laughed out loud at your sign comment. You got it.<br /><br />He was, for sure, the same anonymous who accused the author of plagiarism. Both remarks are clearly designed to inflame and do not ring true to an informed audience. I this, I that, I am so the other thing. He loves to say the word I. He<br /><br />Now, having said all that, the point remains well made by others and taken here that appearances can be deceiving. Not only that, even when appearance are not deceiving, such as when you see someone who is morbidly obese you must not judge them. You don't know why they are big.<br /><br />I was recently substitute teaching a high school health class and learned that 20% of overweight people got that way because of their parents. Heredity, I mean. Even more factors include the famous thyroid problem, a high fat diet as a child, no access to healthy food because there are no good stores nearby or the food is too expensive, bad education as to how to eat healthy, the list goes on. My eloquence has run out of steam. You get the point. Heck, you had the point 6 weeks ago.<br />SyndicateBobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58139600523765173782013-08-12T14:19:43.647-04:002013-08-12T14:19:43.647-04:00Names galore! As noted by earlier commenters, thi...Names galore! As noted by earlier commenters, this type of puzzle is more trivia than crossword. Either you know the answer or you are out of the game. No chance to work out an answer from what you know, or think you know, about words. That said, I solved this one straight through, with only one write-over where I mistakenly put an answer in the wrong slot. But it really wasn't any fun. Its slanted towards those of us who are older and those who have more crossword experience. Really not fair for a Monday newbie.<br /><br />A brief comment on the brouhaha above. Those of us who have limited mobility (I'm one who can walk but not far) have enough problems as it is. Don't judge us by the cheaters!<br />DNGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52182194740261297622013-08-12T14:18:08.052-04:002013-08-12T14:18:08.052-04:00@spacecraft - Well said,
@LMS I feel confident t...@spacecraft - Well said, <br /><br />@LMS I feel confident that no offense was intended, especially in light of your many insightful and amusing posts. I also appreciate your 6:18 post. Saying sorry is hard to do. If you haven't already, do read @spacecrafts's post of 12:36.<br /><br />About the 'an apron' etc discussion. I'm guessing it may be the root word for 'Nappies', a Brit baby diaper, being currently used on the future heir to the throne.<br /><br />Gingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23578278632186685682013-08-12T12:36:24.913-04:002013-08-12T12:36:24.913-04:00Pretty much echoing OFL today (except for the ridi...Pretty much echoing OFL today (except for the ridiculous time: sorry, but I just won't solve as if the building is on fire). Only unknown for me was LABAN, forced in on crosses. It's amusing that 20a coud be REVOLVINGDOeR (!) making 11d ALIeN.<br /><br />[sigh] In today's blogs, we once again prove that this is the Age of Taking Offense. I just wonder: how did anybody living today survive third grade recess? Grow a skin, people! A chance remark (innocent, I'm sure) sets somebody off. Yes, sure, you can take offense at that--IF YOU WANT TO. Is offense in such short supply in your life, that you need to go out and hunt for it? Slap a handicap sticker on your car (in your condition, I'm certain your doctor would approve) and let that be enough. The hell with what we think. You know what you need, and that should be enough. If anyone is rude enough to actually confront you, you owe them nothing. The best thing to do with rudeness is totally ignore it.spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2865537119420537542013-07-11T00:57:54.103-04:002013-07-11T00:57:54.103-04:00Imagine my chagrin... My first time doing Monday c...Imagine my chagrin... My first time doing Monday crossword ("This is so easy. What's all the fuss about?") and I find out it really was easy. The easiest ever! Oh well... Erikahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06196571033012324924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23242498865163072912013-07-09T15:37:53.875-04:002013-07-09T15:37:53.875-04:00This was clearly not in my wheelhouse. Too many ch...This was clearly not in my wheelhouse. Too many chains of non-Monday crosses:<br /><br /><b>A__IN / CAN__E / __D_ / __E_ / _TTL__ / L_B_N / _AR_</b><br />CANINE is perfectly Monday, but I got hung up on 'dogtooth' and couldn't see it. Haven't seen <i>Argo</i>, but eventually I guessed A__IN was probably ARKIN, a crossword favorite. So __D_ (for which I still wanted LANE) → R_D_ → RIDE ∴ CANI_E → CANINE, but then KNE_ / _TTLE_ / L_B_N / _AR_ were all still WTF. Guessed two initial A's in _AR_ would be wrong ∴ <b>B</b>AR_ / <b>B</b>SIDE, but that didn't help with the rest. Neither did guessing KNEE.<br /><br /><b>I__N / O_ANI / O_TES</b><br />Never heard of Muscat; learned of IMAN in another crossword but promptly forgot her name. Guessed OATES, but that didn't help with the M cross. Guessed H.<br /><br /><b>E_PS / _I_R / K_RR</b><br />No idea until I finally saw PIER (not sure I've ever actually seen a boardwalk IRL), although EPPS and KERR seem like fair play that I'm just not familiar with. Omar EPPS seems to be common puzzle fodder now, although I forget it every time.<br /><br /><b>SI_ / _HEX</b><br />Knew _HEX had to be CHEX, but that left SIC totally WTF. The <i>sic erat scriptum</i> ("thus it was written") sense would be a thousand times more solid for a Monday. Felt gypped on that.<br /><br /><b>UGLI (?!)</b><br />No clue. Looked so wrong, I had to triple-check all crosses to be sure they weren't an unfortunate string of viable alternate answers. Then look it up.<br /><br /><b>RUHR</b><br />Don't know many German (or European) rivers off the top of my head, but when crosses fell in I recognized it. Totally fine for a Monday, except in combination with so much more difficult material. <br /><br /><b>LIEU, AGNEW</b><br />Felt fortunate to know these for a Monday.<br /><br /><b>ELHI</b><br />This insidious piece of crosswordese really just needs to die.<br /><br />Difficult clues:<br /><b>"Dog or dogtooth"</b> - never heard of 'dogtooth', though once the crosses forced me into CANINE, I felt mostly dumb, but also a little gypped.<br /><b>"Midpoint between a midi and a mini"</b> - still completely WTF. No idea at all how this relates to KNEE.<br /><b>"Seemingly mad Muslim monk"</b> - how did this pass muster? WHIRLING DERVISHES emerged from about a third of the crosses, but I didn't know what that phrase actually referred to. After looking it up, this has to be the most inaccurate clue I've seen in some time. 'Monk' is a stretch; 'seemingly mad' seems just plain wrong.<br /><br />Thought for sure this would be a Challenging or Medium-Challenging. Disappointed to be the odd one out, but I guess that happens. :-)morganiqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11000576378552346657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80835269801611258582013-07-09T14:14:47.316-04:002013-07-09T14:14:47.316-04:00Congrats to lms for taking highroad.
@rex
since ...Congrats to lms for taking highroad.<br /><br />@rex <br />since you've used my defending her initially to disparage me, I'd like to say what I was responding to was an anonymous person taking one sentence out of a long post, zeroing in, as a personal attack on loren which was indeed off topic.<br />I wasn't saying that anecdote was fabulous, simply saying she was ...and didn't want the bullies, dying or not, to dampen her spirit or make her too self conscious to write her long interesting posts in the future, lest there is one less-than-generous or amusing thought that someone might take personally.<br /><br />And that poster and you decide to shift the focus and attack me when I was defending @lms who has brought light and life into your blog. <br />You have personally seen me at my highest and lowest, so that's particularly surprising to imply my true colors are not what they might appear.<br />Acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72617914384852077702013-07-09T09:07:20.371-04:002013-07-09T09:07:20.371-04:00Re: Anon 6:22
For the first time ever, an anonymo...Re: Anon 6:22<br /><br />For the first time ever, an anonymous is 100% correct. <br /><br />Thanks to LMS for sincere apology. <br /><br />I really hope everyone reads acme's comment at 6:29. True. Colors.<br /><br />In the future, staying somewhere close to on-topic and not using comments solely to disparage people would be Great.<br /><br />RPRex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81087759024090171072013-07-09T06:18:04.975-04:002013-07-09T06:18:04.975-04:00@Acme – thanks for the heads-up on that post. I w...@Acme – thanks for the heads-up on that post. I would have missed it.<br /><br />Point well taken. I deserved that, and I genuinely apologize that I ignorantly contributed to a stereotype that does exist because there are many people who, unlike you, simply choose not to walk. Recently, I saw two people I actually know using a cart: a woman who works in the home of a friend of mine and a prison employee. I have chatted many times with these people with no mention of any health issue, and they seem to get around fine, albeit slowly, without one. But you’re right – I don’t know their story and if carts were available in their places of employment, they might use them there as well.<br /><br />Just yesterday, I was talking to a member of the club where I work who is a private investigator. He told me he has lots of cases simply proving that someone claiming workman’s comp is actually healthy. And last year, the stepson of my hairdresser asked if he could live with his dad and her because he said so many of the girls in his high school had one goal: to get pregnant so they could drop out of school and go on welfare. <br /> <br />I guess I’m dismayed at all the people who are just trying to take the step-saver approach to life.<br /> <br />Nonetheless, I should consider next time that the couple in front of me in their motorized carts who get up and seem to walk fine might be similar to you. And I’ll refrain from being so flip about it. I’m sorry. And I’m sorry for your disease and wish you all the best.<br /><br />I would have sent you an email, too, with a personal apology, but I don't know who you are.Loren Muse Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05308030011870397977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65099086008939926902013-07-09T01:33:38.363-04:002013-07-09T01:33:38.363-04:00This 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 5:34, 6:09, 0.90, 10%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:17, 3:46, 0.87, 2%, Easy (4th lowest ratio of 186 Mondays)sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69395571869777663182013-07-08T21:51:39.086-04:002013-07-08T21:51:39.086-04:00@ Anonymous 9:37 People guess wrongly when they ...@ Anonymous 9:37 People guess wrongly when they don't have the clues. I hope you stay well for a very long time. Questiniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06225633428852696530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64744347216889605362013-07-08T21:50:14.636-04:002013-07-08T21:50:14.636-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Questiniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06225633428852696530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7799934760821055062013-07-08T21:43:35.438-04:002013-07-08T21:43:35.438-04:00Did anyone else raise an eyebrow at ELHI? Maybe it...Did anyone else raise an eyebrow at ELHI? Maybe it's a regional thing or something? I mean, I get Elem-High school, but it seems to me like a term only in use in Crossworld. <br /><br />Also ELLEN has a funny brother, also a funny DeGeneres who was on the Daily Show for a while. I paused there briefly and said, "Hm. What was that dude's name?" and then thought, "Nah, they would never make me remember that on a Monday." Cha-ching! I was right. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04386174844528805806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65405756889087072192013-07-08T21:41:04.507-04:002013-07-08T21:41:04.507-04:00Epps
Zach
Magoo
Kerr
Ellen
Arkin
Attlee
Miro
Oates...Epps<br />Zach<br />Magoo<br />Kerr<br />Ellen<br />Arkin<br />Attlee<br />Miro<br />Oates<br />Bara<br />Enzo<br />Tse<br />Laban<br />Coen<br /><br />all say goodnight....Questiniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06225633428852696530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34319540479003351132013-07-08T21:37:40.199-04:002013-07-08T21:37:40.199-04:00I can't believe I am asked to be nice after Lo...I can't believe I am asked to be nice after Loren denigrated disabled people and acme told me I should hang a sign around my neck identifying myself as disabled! Really? As for Z..... The problem with you is that you rely on computer searches for your information. People with Stage 4 Heart failure can be in that stage for quite some time. They need to eat, they need to get out of the house occasionally, go see their daughter in her high school play, make as many memories as they can, especially when one is 49 years old. I almost missed my older daughter's college graduation because I was too embarrassed to use a scooter in public and there was no way I could walk the distances necessary, because I am so painfully aware of the prejudices people like Loren hold. I had to come to terms with the fact that I had to come out publicly as a disabled person so that I can live this last stage of my life with my family and friends. I am not at the point where I need hospice yet, and I have not given up hope.... I don't understand you people- have you no compassion? Are you so clever and jaded that you can be flip with your words and your attitudes without thinking about their targets? Are there actually people here that would fake a devastating illness to make a point, or accuse others of doing so? I have read your comments over the past many months, you have been my companions as I have had my health crises and been stuck in a hospital bed. I have admired acme's positive attitude, and Loren's cleverness. I am not so clever; I feel brilliant if I can finish a Thursday. Until today. Again, whee is your compassion?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32850724330175738822013-07-08T21:32:09.047-04:002013-07-08T21:32:09.047-04:00@Eejit - Ah, thank you. To echo @jae, above, &quo...@Eejit - Ah, thank you. To echo @jae, above, "Learning is one of the nice things about this blog."Carolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15971759975067250908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28721616694320322202013-07-08T21:06:47.265-04:002013-07-08T21:06:47.265-04:00The anonymice are busy tonight. I'm no expert,...The anonymice are busy tonight. I'm no expert, but a quick Internet search suggests that someone with Stage 4 congestive heart failure is more likely preparing for hospice rather than shopping.<br /><br />I saw "Kings of Summer" last night. Good movie. At one point the father (a snarky bastard) asks his daughter, "Am I a bastard?" "no, Dad. A bastard would make everyone around him miserable because he is."Znoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10414473166154674932013-07-08T20:56:59.688-04:002013-07-08T20:56:59.688-04:00@anonymous 6:22 lets be nice..pleeease@anonymous 6:22 lets be nice..pleeeasechefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22552887814799224192013-07-08T19:40:59.595-04:002013-07-08T19:40:59.595-04:00This theme was definitely plagiarized as I knew th...This theme was definitely plagiarized as I knew the answers automatically from having seen them before. This theme comes from one of those easy airport crossword puzzle books; I don't kow if plagiarizing crossword themes is considered as serious as plagiarizing journalistic work but it is most certainly plagiarized. I even remember the themes being in that order. Different fill however.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74795779888627327872013-07-08T19:04:27.344-04:002013-07-08T19:04:27.344-04:00@Carola - No laban is yogurt, labna is strained yo...@Carola - No laban is yogurt, labna is strained yogurt.Eejitnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80772322521136538512013-07-08T18:46:27.994-04:002013-07-08T18:46:27.994-04:00Acme, Loren's comments are neither fabulous no...Acme, Loren's comments are neither fabulous nor amusing. I will wear a sign around my neck that says "don't judge me, I'm dying" when you wear one that says " don't judge me, I'm an ass."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com