tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post2348623411599139602..comments2024-03-19T06:47:00.387-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: The Lizard constellation / WED 5-16-12 / Violinmaker Amati / Modern home of ancient Elam / Home of MacDill Air Force Base / 1964 Hitchcock thriller / Former world heavyweight champion Johansson / Comment made while elbowing someone / Burgundy budRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5857868287494854752021-10-21T01:39:19.519-04:002021-10-21T01:39:19.519-04:00One more accuracy complaint: PITA is the bread, no...One more accuracy complaint: PITA is the bread, not the "kind" of sandwich. We don't talk about a "rye" or "sourdough" sandwich; the entrée is named after its filling.Prunehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00224476641730508311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53996077115926910812012-06-22T13:04:16.219-04:002012-06-22T13:04:16.219-04:00I liked the theme but was defeated by the NE corne...I liked the theme but was defeated by the NE corner. Bad luck, Kevin. I hope you get another chance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66021119706128620032012-06-20T21:26:53.988-04:002012-06-20T21:26:53.988-04:00Hated it.
- Sirhan SirhanHated it.<br /> - Sirhan SirhanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63501704179555072822012-06-20T15:07:40.630-04:002012-06-20T15:07:40.630-04:00"And so on" had me thinking I could be d..."And so on" had me thinking I could be dealing with a rare Wednesday rebus, so I passed it by and continued through the grid. Finally saw the theme in the SE corner so I worked my way back up the grid (the theme was very helpful) and all the troublesome areas just resolved themselves - except box 38. I didn't know the violin maker or the constellation, so I just left it blank.<br /><br />It's the day of the Summer Solstice here in the northern hemisphere, so happy first day of summer to all! Now I'm off to the pool deck to RETAN my back.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32928357466725043172012-06-20T14:34:12.344-04:002012-06-20T14:34:12.344-04:00My, my! Don't think I've ever seen a const...My, my! Don't think I've ever seen a constructor more candid about what happened to his/her submission than Kevin A. However, I actually enjoyed INGEMAR, NENE & GAMIN so not all of Will Shortz's changes were necessarily on the dark side. Overall, IMHO this breezy puzzle was ideal for a Wednesday. (Okay - except for Will's maybe atrocious clue for ET ALIA.) Bye, bye...Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1484595644880486942012-06-20T13:42:03.966-04:002012-06-20T13:42:03.966-04:00Wow, lots to say today! When I first saw the grid ...Wow, lots to say today! When I first saw the grid I said to my wife "What day is this?" -- Wedensday.-- "Are you sure?" -- Well, you have the paper, look at the top of the page. By golly, she was right. Then as I got into it I realized why a weekendish grid was in the paper on Wedensday. This was easy!<br /><br />Until I got to the NE, and filled in 9 and 10d, which gave me ET to start 16a. What a setup THAT was!! OK, Kevin, ya got me good with that one--priming the repeater pump and everything. It was soon enough fixed, though.<br /><br />Strangely, my biggest objection to the fill is nothing @Rex mentioned. It's INSULATOR. Sorry, dude, asbestos and all that other good stuff is insulatION, period. That's what it is, and you can't change it just to fill your puzzle. But overall I liked it; I don't think it's nearly as "bad" as OFL does.Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39005576905535622862012-06-20T13:39:49.255-04:002012-06-20T13:39:49.255-04:00Maybe a better clue for 16A?? "Author, author...Maybe a better clue for 16A?? "Author, author..."timnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10495542311114388602012-06-20T13:32:12.056-04:002012-06-20T13:32:12.056-04:00Wow! I think I just read 107 comments (108 includi...Wow! I think I just read 107 comments (108 including Rex) about the (mis)definiiton of ETALIA.<br /><br />Then Martin (can someone help me with who he is?) shows up and defends the clue, and he and JFC get into a shooting war.<br /><br />Then, finally, the constructor, Kevin Adamick, arrives and spills the beans on the NYC. Then @Acme comes to his rescue with great insight and encouragement...<br /><br />Whew Whew!<br /><br />I don't watch soaps, but this has to be better than any soap.<br /><br />Kevin, I liked your puzzle, or at least the part they left intact. I hope the clue for TORERO was yours. <br /><br />@Emily Post Institute, you get the @SiS lol award of the day. Love the satire.<br /><br />Capcha: howndot. A hillbilly's canine after a little moonshine.Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41563368605760249312012-05-18T13:37:02.218-04:002012-05-18T13:37:02.218-04:00@ rex Tsk tsk; temper temper.
Kevin's comment...@ rex Tsk tsk; temper temper.<br /><br />Kevin's comment requires a response from Will.<br /><br />Btw, I love the theme.Edward S Edwardsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78491964048839010852012-05-17T19:46:35.752-04:002012-05-17T19:46:35.752-04:00Re: ET ALIA
Funny, in yesterday's Blondie stri...Re: ET ALIA<br />Funny, in yesterday's Blondie strip, Dagwood is at the diner.<br /><br />Dagwood: What's the special today?Cook: I'll give you a quick hint... GOBBLE, GOBBLE GOBBLE<br /><br />Dagwood: Great! A turkey sandwich!!<br /><br />Cook: Nope! A grilled cheese sandwich<br /><br />Dagwood: Then what was that stupid Gobble-Gobble stuff all about?!<br /><br />Cook: I didn't say it was an obvious hint!acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21141055610644809862012-05-17T10:07:03.181-04:002012-05-17T10:07:03.181-04:00@Kevin...indeed, thanks for the insight. And @acm...@Kevin...indeed, thanks for the insight. And @acme, thanks to you too.<br /><br />It is discussions like these on a forum such as this one that converted me from an occasional solver to one who pays the NYT (and others) for crossword subscriptions to feed my now daily habit.Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41984972729858012472012-05-17T07:48:30.305-04:002012-05-17T07:48:30.305-04:00@Kevin A: Thanks for stopping by & for the ex...@Kevin A: Thanks for stopping by & for the explanation. As I mentioned, I thought the puzzle had a cute theme but poor fill. Now I see that the poor fill wasn't even yours! Sorry that your puzzle was altered so significantly; that must be discouraging.<br /><br />@acme: Thanks too for your post - it gives the rest of us some behind-the-scenes idea of how puzzle publishing works.JenCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71452803163847940082012-05-17T03:21:15.450-04:002012-05-17T03:21:15.450-04:00@Kevin
If it's any consolation, I know for a f...@Kevin<br />If it's any consolation, I know for a fact that @Will never ever holds a grudge...It's one of the most admirable things about him! <br />(And believe me, we have gone to the mat many many times, which I so respect him as an editor and friend.)<br /><br />He takes a good puzzle no matter by whom or what you may have said publicly or privately.<br /><br />What you went thru would have made me suicidal.<br />I don't know what his rule is about letting you rewrite it yourself.<br />I know some of the time I'm given the opportunity, some of the time it's just rejected, and every once in a while, someone else tinkers with it, sometimes improving, sometimes making me cringe.<br /><br />I have totally experienced what you are going thru. One of my scripts for "Designing Women" was left with my title and little else, but my name still on it (and I still get residuals 20 years later) and it was enough for me to leave Hollywood over. <br />Nothing worse as a writer to have your work totally altered.<br />But where did that get me? Now the only place I have a chance to write is on a blog...for free! ;)<br /><br />In this case, your puzzle and the ETALIA controversy + less than standard fill and then to have it lead to all the things people criticized must be maddening!<br />( Tho to be fair, we don't know folks might not have criticized what you submitted even more so, it's hard to know. Or it might never have appeared at all.)<br /><br />Don't forget, as someone pointed out, in the long run, people remember the cleverness of the theme, not the one or two words that were less than ideal!<br /><br /><br />Anyway, good for you for speaking up. Know that it's happened to all of us. <br />Doesn't excuse it, but don't think you can't speak up and have to fear you'll not be published by Will again (I mean, look what he's been thru with @Rex and he still gets published!)<br /><br />In time it will make a good story...<br />Just keep writing them. It was a wonderful idea, you got an unnamed/ unwelcome, collaborator this time around, unfortunate...but that won't necessarily be the case in the future.<br /><br />When I worked with Peter Gordon originally, he actually changed a theme answer to a sports guy I'd never even heard of!!!! I was furious, till I realized the puzzle was about 83% improved over all!<br /><br />I'm not saying to just sit back and collect the residuals, but use it as a lesson to make sure your puzzles are so good and tight that they have no reason to mess with it at all.<br />But I am sorry you had this experience, esp if it's your debut.<br /><br />It really sucks to take the knocks for other people's monkeying with your work. On the positive side, know that what people liked was your IDEA which to me trumps all.<br />Hold your head high and say, "Next!"<br />(and then bitch like crazy to friends in private!) ;)acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67406524437673440792012-05-17T01:08:22.306-04:002012-05-17T01:08:22.306-04:00FOR THE RECORD: This puzzle was submitted over one...FOR THE RECORD: This puzzle was submitted over one year ago and then most of it was changed by the NYT. I was never informed of the changes. I first viewed the final draft of this puzzle last night.<br />The parts that were changed include the entire northeast section and most of the middle fill. Specifically the following entries were added: INGEMAR, NENE, GAMIN, RACER, ACER, ATAN, RETAN, and RETOOLS.<br />80% of the clues were written by the NYT. This includes the clues for ETALIA, LAR, and ACER.<br />The NYT attempted to save 40% of this puzzle and simply change the rest. By using the same eight theme entries, I was able to create a new puzzle with 27 blocks (instead of 29) that contained smooth fill throughout. I did this last night in thirty minutes. I wish I had been given an opportunity to resubmit this puzzle after two of the theme answers were changed. Whoever remade this puzzle felt the need to keep 7 or 8 non-theme entries and then ran into a stop sign.<br />For those of you who wrote positive comments: Thank you!<br />The rest of you are in luck. After Will Shortz reads this post, I doubt I will ever have another puzzle accepted by the NYT.<br /> <br />Regards,<br />Kevin AdamickKevin Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475666085667237308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83037966269036215252012-05-17T00:16:30.363-04:002012-05-17T00:16:30.363-04:00Really enjoyed solving this one! Only quibble: et...Really enjoyed solving this one! Only quibble: et alia. That one was just wrong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76515505487610541872012-05-17T00:14:17.816-04:002012-05-17T00:14:17.816-04:00Martin - Yesterday Rex was more original and label...Martin - Yesterday Rex was more original and labeled the whole puzzle lipstick on a possum. I just labeled your spin on the clue. As I have suggested before you have a conflict of interest when expressing views that you have previously passed on and are therefore defending what you have already approved. You cannot have an open mind under those circumstances. As for your defense, if X = Y then Y = X. If "and so on" means "et alia" then "et alia" means "and so on." As Rex so succinctly stated: "ET ALIA does not mean [And so on]. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. I swear to you." The only point Rex made I quibble with is that no lawyer worth his salt would ever attempt to argue otherwise. <br /><br />Finally, allow me that et alia is so firmly established as "and others" that any other attempted meaning is from another planet.... <br /><br />JFCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48011619826231206042012-05-16T22:40:52.015-04:002012-05-16T22:40:52.015-04:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation. 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 6:49, 6:50, 1.00, 54%, Medium<br />Tue 9:00, 8:52, 1.01, 63%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 11:09, 11:50, 0.94, 39%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:49, 3:40, 1.04, 70%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 5:02, 4:35, 1.10, 80%, Challenging<br />Wed 6:04, 5:53, 1.03, 63%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />@r.alphbunker ... What I'm doing is comparing the median solve times for today's puzzle (one measure of how difficult solvers found today's puzzle) and comparing it to the average (mean) median solve time for all puzzles in my spreadsheet for the day of the week (this represents an average difficulty for a given day of the week). That gives me a ratio. Ratios above 1 indicate that today's median solve times were higher than the average for the day of the week; those below 1 indicate that they were lower than the average. I standardize the ratio by calculating it's percentile value among all ratios in my spreadsheet for that day of the week. Puzzles with ratios that fall in the lowest quintile (percentiles 0 - 20) are called Easy, those with percentiles between 20 and 40 are called Easy-Medium, etc.<br /><br />So today, the median solve time in the All Solvers group is 11:09 because there were 636 online solvers who submitted times and the 318th ranked time was 11:09. Of 149 Wednesday puzzles in my spreadsheet, the average (mean) median solve time for the All Solvers group is 11:50. So today's puzzle was solved 41 seconds faster than the typical Wednesday puzzle by this group. The ratio is 11:09 / 11:50 = 0.94. I take this to be a measure of how difficult this puzzle was compared to other Wednesday puzzles. The percentile is where this puzzle ranks among all Wednesday puzzles by this measure of difficulty. Since only 39% of Wednesday puzzles have a lower ratio, it's rated as Easy-Medium (although it's at the very upper end of the Easy-Medium range of 20-40%).<br /><br />Most of the time, the ratings calculated for the two groups of solvers are about the same. But for some reason, today's puzzle was relatively more difficult for the Top 100 solvers than it was for the All Solvers group.<br /><br />I hope that helps.sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63617428169774195132012-05-16T20:47:31.231-04:002012-05-16T20:47:31.231-04:00@Martin
Thanks for the explanation. Can't say...@Martin<br /><br />Thanks for the explanation. Can't say I'm completely buying that misdirection or cuteness is justifiable cause to stretch the meaning (or the application of the word) to that extent. But, it's interesting to know the thought process behind it.<br /><br />BTW - Just kidding about the God thing. I think Latin is God's first language anyway, or maybe that's just in the Bible, or movies, or maybe I'm thinking about the Pope. I'm way too tired.Rob Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91361129020328845492012-05-16T19:38:35.377-04:002012-05-16T19:38:35.377-04:00Latin does not change, whether it's Monday, Tu...<i>Latin does not change, whether it's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. (and so forth).</i><br />If the clue were "Latin for 'and so on,'" this would be more compelling. <br /><br /><i>Please do not come here and put lipstick on the pig.</i><br />Is there a set of acceptable comment categories, or is this a one-off for me?Martinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49251268193027988192012-05-16T19:29:19.570-04:002012-05-16T19:29:19.570-04:00Double doubles across the grid vertically and hori...Double doubles across the grid vertically and horizontally. What's not to like? Then there's LACERTA -- is that a Spanish version of that famous mattress or is that two,two mints in one CERT ensconced or really the Lizard constellation?Rudy Shankarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17812778852033694945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79794567826217504352012-05-16T19:25:41.293-04:002012-05-16T19:25:41.293-04:00"for hours the bill was denounced by Senators..."for hours the bill was denounced by Senators Foghorn, Loudmouth, Bloviate and so on" isn't English -- <br />"for hours the bill was denounced by Senators Foghorn, Loudmouth, Bloviate <b> and others</b>" is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79360311512265862952012-05-16T18:13:32.688-04:002012-05-16T18:13:32.688-04:00Martin says: "But if "for hours the bill...Martin says: "But if "for hours the bill was denounced by Senators Foghorn, Loudmouth, Bloviate and so on" is English, the clue is correct. :"<br /><br />No. No. No.<br /><br />Nice try Martin for defending a puzzle you might have previewed. but "and so on" in English is not et alia. <br /><br />No. No. No.<br /><br />Latin does not change, whether it's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. (and so forth). <br /><br />Please do not come here and put lipstick on the pig. It's still a pig. It is worse than that. It is wrong, as in wrong, wrong....<br /><br />JFC<br /><br />PS. I am still cranky.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64618599340202376232012-05-16T17:58:19.383-04:002012-05-16T17:58:19.383-04:00Started off on a very wrong foot with a much more ...Started off on a very wrong foot with a much more correct answer for 1A: KALUAPIG. Mahi mahi is not necessarily Hawaiian. It's just the Hawaiian name for a fish served just about everywhere. That left me a misspelled KEUGEL for my Seder (never been to one, but sounds plausible?).<br /><br />Wanted HERO for kind of a sandwich, since I was eating one while solving. Had ETCETERA instead of YADAYADA before I caught the theme. Never heard of GAMIN, MacDill, INGEMAR, LACERTA, or TORERO (I've heard of "Toreador", though). Hated GOERS, ONEL, and RETAN. Wanted a "Community" (or even a "Cougar Town") clue for ABED.<br /><br />I didn't like this puzzle, but now I don't know if I hated it less before I read Rex's opinion of it.Arbynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64088660258812764342012-05-16T17:01:58.546-04:002012-05-16T17:01:58.546-04:00That said, I'm pretty sure I've seen a sim...That said, I'm pretty sure I've seen a similar theme before (not in the NYTimes, going by xwordinfo), and I was hoping to see SHOWSHOW in the grid — that is, "shows how", a famous example of an accidental duplication, which appeared in the earlier puzzle, as well as "names names" which is not entirely accidental but still more noteworthy than say "hubba hubba".Noam D. Elkiesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46300105340077494352012-05-16T17:00:51.593-04:002012-05-16T17:00:51.593-04:00The ET ALIA clue trades something for cuteness, bu...The ET ALIA clue trades something for cuteness, but is it correctness? (If you hadn't noticed, the clue is reused at 14-Down.)<br /><br />To be wrong, or Will Shortz on drugs wrong and so bad that only Rex and maybe God can correct it wrong, means that "and so on" could never sensibly apply to people. acme, if it can apply to people if signaled ("there was no indication of that"), it can apply to people. A signal would have made it a more <i>obvious</i> clue but not a less incorrect one.<br /><br />Wednesday is hump day. It's the day that a clue can start having a very narrow domain of correctness. Before Wednesday, a clue and entry should match most of the time. After Wednesday, a "good" clue might make sense in only the narrowest of contexts. There is no doubt that this clue traded cuteness for broad applicability. But if "for hours the bill was denounced by Senators Foghorn, Loudmouth, Bloviate and so on" is English, the clue is correct. (As always, that doesn't mean it's good and it doesn't mean you can't hate it.)<br /><br />"Now little nits have lesser nits upon their backs to bite 'em,<br />And lesser nits have lesser nits and so on infinitum."Martinnoreply@blogger.com