tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post2504758666205990006..comments2024-03-29T01:22:33.864-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: SATURDAY, May 3, 2008 - Patrick Berry (GURU RESIDENCES)Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16460074791026624952008-06-14T16:14:00.000-04:002008-06-14T16:14:00.000-04:00Easy Schmeasy. It's nice to be thrown an occasion...Easy Schmeasy. It's nice to be thrown an occasional bone on a Saturday.impjbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03311105934112373190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30194042803556719372008-06-14T13:46:00.000-04:002008-06-14T13:46:00.000-04:00I liked the puzzle! That said, PhillySolver@4:41 ...I liked the puzzle! That said, PhillySolver@4:41 reminded me of a ditty(?) from my childhood:<BR/><BR/>Mom: C D puppy?<BR/>Kid: M N O puppy!<BR/>Mom: O S M R! C M P N ?Mike the Winohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06130415184285936710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28065005255578374492008-06-14T12:30:00.000-04:002008-06-14T12:30:00.000-04:00How about "Mind Your Z's and Cues" as a theme for...How about "Mind Your Z's and Cues" as a theme for this puzzle?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85889720108674085252008-05-07T10:21:00.000-04:002008-05-07T10:21:00.000-04:00This was my fastest Saturday puzzle ever.- Tom in ...This was my fastest Saturday puzzle ever.<BR/>- Tom in PittsburghGlobalPittsburghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536512741971361058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91559253674803308302008-05-04T17:15:00.000-04:002008-05-04T17:15:00.000-04:00Fun puzzle, though definitely an atypical Saturday...Fun puzzle, though definitely an atypical Saturday. <BR/><BR/>I would like to have seen "QS", like the lines in England.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32253535750862413032008-05-04T02:25:00.000-04:002008-05-04T02:25:00.000-04:00Thanks Orange,Maybe it wasn't quite as clever as I...Thanks Orange,<BR/><BR/>Maybe it wasn't quite as clever as I remember. I recalled the answers as free-standing, as well as extending to the THINKs outside the grid. Also, I don't remember the note, which in retrospect was too much of a giveaway. Nevertheless, as a Saturday April Fooler, it lived up to that special occasion. I wonder if there have been any other puzzles with answers located outside the grid?fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90197835989484130922008-05-04T01:19:00.000-04:002008-05-04T01:19:00.000-04:00Fergus, I blogged about that puzzle, and Jim has t...Fergus, I <A HREF="http://crosswordfiend.blogspot.com/2006/03/saturday-foolth-of-april.html" REL="nofollow">blogged about that puzzle</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.xwordinfo.com/ShowPuzzle.aspx?date=4/1/2006" REL="nofollow">Jim has the grid</A>.Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87327332772971400942008-05-04T00:40:00.000-04:002008-05-04T00:40:00.000-04:00Patrick Berry is just fantastic, and never fails t...Patrick Berry is just fantastic, and never fails to deliver. This was a great puzzle, but as so many of you have commented above, definitely belonged on a Thursday... either that, or it needed considerably tougher clues to deserve its weekend placement. I got through this in under 15 minutes which is certainly not a Saturday time for me!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39019217030779388042008-05-04T00:22:00.000-04:002008-05-04T00:22:00.000-04:00OOh lala was used by sassoon for their jeans ads i...OOh lala was used by sassoon for their jeans ads in the 1980's.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16888618515037838272008-05-04T00:03:00.000-04:002008-05-04T00:03:00.000-04:00Wonder why the clue "lady purchased a stolen pan s...Wonder why the clue "lady purchased a stolen pan set" didn't make it? DOTGOTHOTPOTLOTPhillySolverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06896753042626337920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40783794101418709552008-05-03T23:52:00.000-04:002008-05-03T23:52:00.000-04:00noam:i found one of them: david kahn's saturday pu...noam:<BR/><BR/>i found one of them: david kahn's saturday puzzle from <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/premium/xword/Jul0503.puz" REL="nofollow">july 5, 2003</A>. the theme answers you refer to were<BR/><BR/>[Why the dog caught a cold?] VETLETPETGETWET<BR/><BR/>and<BR/><BR/>[Why the parent gave the kid a spanking?] BADLADHADDADMAD<BR/><BR/>it's a strange-looking grid: lots of 4- and 5-letter words, but a significant number of 8s and 10s in addition to the two 15s.<BR/><BR/>can't find your "S" puzzle, though. i might need a little more help. do you remember what either of the long answers was?<BR/><BR/>(remarkably, BADLADHADDADMAD was also an answer in another puzzle from the same year, the wednesday, september 10, 2003 new york sun.)Joonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07825085755390339668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73259181312842722682008-05-03T23:19:00.000-04:002008-05-03T23:19:00.000-04:00My absolute favorite 'gimmick' was the one where a...My absolute favorite 'gimmick' was the one where an unclued, yet implied, THINK occurred outside the periphery of grid four times, each with a vague reference to 'thinking outside the box.' Two or three years ago ... Orange, or anyone, know how to locate that one?fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27997176586344633522008-05-03T23:11:00.000-04:002008-05-03T23:11:00.000-04:00A themed Saturday is very unusual but not entirely...A themed Saturday is very unusual but not entirely unprecedented: I recall one that had most of the black squares forming an S shape and a pair of 15-letter entries clued simply "S" and "'s"; there was also one (maybe a Friday?) that had two 15-letter entries each consisting of 5 three-letter words forming a plausible albeit Dr.Seussian sentence (like "mad dad had bad fad" but probably better). Are these hints enough to locate those puzzles in the archives?<BR/><BR/>NDEAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57447127778320458382008-05-03T23:00:00.000-04:002008-05-03T23:00:00.000-04:00@ wade: Well, let's look at it this way- when I wa...@ wade: Well, let's look at it this way- when I was a kid, it was still cool to be from Texas! (But wasn't the Cartwright family from Nevada?)Doc Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12540112168511893896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54979971617548603972008-05-03T22:41:00.000-04:002008-05-03T22:41:00.000-04:00@ bill from nj:Keep It Simple Stupid@ bill from nj:<BR/><BR/>Keep It Simple StupidAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43640007636058374562008-05-03T22:35:00.000-04:002008-05-03T22:35:00.000-04:00@Orange, I think I was taught, in Holland, the dif...@Orange, I think I was taught, in Holland, the difference between much and many this way. I think the rule went away at the same time the one about "the woman that" instead of "who" seemed to become acceptable. Still bugs me now.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90900323945464506212008-05-03T22:32:00.000-04:002008-05-03T22:32:00.000-04:00@wade: I agree with you, I do the Sunday puzzle bu...@wade: I agree with you, I do the Sunday puzzle but I don't like the way the paper has a glare when the light isn't good, and I haven't found the right pencil for it yet. It has to be a really dark one.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62604082461411346552008-05-03T22:23:00.000-04:002008-05-03T22:23:00.000-04:00Anonymous 4:45's English teacher sounds like the w...Anonymous 4:45's English teacher sounds like the worst kind of pedant—completely oblivious to reality. I don't suppose any of you academics with access to the OED can tell us just how long "a lot" has been used to mean "many"? I'm betting it's got a long and rich history.Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61038933294597309202008-05-03T21:43:00.000-04:002008-05-03T21:43:00.000-04:00My last square filled in was *R* at the cross of S...My last square filled in was *R* at the cross of SALARY/RERAN. I had an error at 32D (TILT), ran through the alphabet, finally saw the light, changed the *T* to an *E* and completed the puzzle.<BR/><BR/>When I saw PATRICK BERRY, I braced myself for the long-haul expecting obscure cluing and lots of unknown words but as I went forward, I found the simpler I thought, the better.<BR/><BR/>Does anyone recognize the acronym KISS?<BR/><BR/>I bogged down in the NE, failing to get both 12D and 15D and skipped into the SE where, anchored by a WWII airplane & <B>THE FRIG's</B> alma mater, I uncovered the theme, and fixed the NE.<BR/><BR/>The only real problem I had was in the NW but the theme gave the me *B* which helped to get HONEYBS and the puzzle fell.<BR/><BR/>I spent a little time trying to figure what the gimmick was. I had BPYTIC and thought I was missing a *C* and an *R* for some variation on PB CRYPTIC or some such, but I finally gave it up.<BR/><BR/>I didn't enjoy this one as much as other Saturdays, even the one's I didn't finish, for a curious reason: I steeled myself for a difficult puzzle and didn't get one.<BR/><BR/>PS I was thinking Magazine at 32D and finally came up with TILT. It wasn't until I read the comments that I was disabused of that particlur notion.Bill from NJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10103923612595508277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10052068466143157712008-05-03T21:32:00.000-04:002008-05-03T21:32:00.000-04:00@ bill dI don't follow the aviation codes, but you...@ bill d<BR/><BR/>I don't follow the aviation codes, but you can write me on my email posted on my profile. Always glad to learn new things.<BR/><BR/>CXR happens to be the code for the Christmas Islands and I wonder if after this week's exchange if they are accused of taking Christ out of their car tags!PhillySolverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06896753042626337920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27200368545302742582008-05-03T21:12:00.000-04:002008-05-03T21:12:00.000-04:00Wade -- I actually like trickery and rebuses. I'm...Wade -- I actually like trickery and rebuses. I'm more likely to be able to finish a Thurs puzzle if there is some "distracting" trickery. It's that arcane knowledge that always throws me. Which is why it's weird that it is not uncommon for me to have less trouble with Fri than Thurs (even though there are times when an "easy" fri will take longer to complete than a "difficult" Thur). It just seems like there are ways to "puzzle" out a Friday, but sometimes if you don't know something on Thursday, well, tough luck. I dunno, just an observation that I don't have a good answer to (as a person who has been doing the NYTimes xword for about 10 years with varying degrees of regularity and success...).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91192161945661437882008-05-03T20:54:00.000-04:002008-05-03T20:54:00.000-04:00John, as has been noted on Rex's blog and elsewher...John, as has been noted on Rex's blog and elsewhere, Thursdays in particular often (but by no means always) are characterized by some sort of trickery in the puzzle--rebuses, multiple letters in one square, "u-turns" among answers. Sometimes those are fun; I'm less amused (I'm actually more into the British-style cryptic crosswords, such as you see over here in the Atlantic and in Harpers, where that sort of playfulness is throughout the puzzle; in the American-style crossword, I prefer consistency of difficulty throughout the puzzle and no goofiness, and the isolated trickiness is more of a distraction, as I said in an earlier post.) As for your finding a Friday easier than a Thursday, I think if you keep doing the puzzle regularly you will come to expect to see gradations in difficulty with each day of the week, and will also come to be vaguely disgruntled when you find a Friday or Saturday easier than an earlier week puzzle. (But crossword puzzles have a subjective element along with the objective element, so it shouldn't be suprising that sometimes a Wednesday will throw you for a loop and you'll knock a Saturady out of the park.) I'd been doing the puzzle a long time before I even figured out that they were supposed to be harder as the week went on, but that was in the days before the internet, and also I'm not terribly bright.<BR/><BR/>I can't really speak to Sunday puzzles. I rarely do them. I don't know why. Maybe it's the slick paper of the Sunday magazine, but I think really it's that I like the classic 15 X 15 grid, and the Sunday feels sloppy and digressive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2425199518675096722008-05-03T20:41:00.000-04:002008-05-03T20:41:00.000-04:00@puzzlegirl -- I completely agree about the relati...@puzzlegirl -- I completely agree about the relative difficulty about today's and yesterday's puzzles vs. earlier in the week. I had a lot of problems with Wed and Thur this week, but Fri and Sat were, comparatively, less taxing. I posted about this yesterday too, hoping someone would offer an explanation why an intermediate puzzler might have less trouble with Fridays than Thursdays, but no one took the bait. And I doubt anyone will even read this at this late hour... a discussion for another time perhaps.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66115691165723278602008-05-03T20:20:00.000-04:002008-05-03T20:20:00.000-04:00Docjohn, Hoss was from Texas. I'm just sayin'.Docjohn, Hoss was from Texas. I'm just sayin'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2989979898136068442008-05-03T20:10:00.000-04:002008-05-03T20:10:00.000-04:00Philly - do you study the world codes for aviation...Philly - do you study the world codes for aviation registration as well, like <B>N</B> for the USA and <B>OH</B> for Finland? Since they are mainly one or two characters they probably don't have much use in crosswords.Bill Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13741876820211768387noreply@blogger.com