tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post2630805650619210768..comments2024-03-29T07:17:55.045-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: SATURDAY, Apr. 5, 2008 - Rich Norris (ANCIENT DENIZEN ALONG THE CASPIAN)Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1530525947732518582008-05-20T16:38:00.000-04:002008-05-20T16:38:00.000-04:0038A: Runway topper (tiara)I was thinking of an air...38A: Runway topper (tiara)<BR/><BR/>I was thinking of an airport runway.<BR/><BR/>asphaltAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73838403015521842332008-05-18T04:24:00.000-04:002008-05-18T04:24:00.000-04:00@Joannie's "wear shoes": When I was in the Peace C...@Joannie's "wear shoes": When I was in the Peace Corps many moons ago, a Volunteer buddy had a unique approach to community development: he'd throw open the door to his house each morning and yell, so he claimed, "Wear shoes!" Which, of course, most folks in the countryside did not.<BR/><BR/>@Rikki - Thanks very much for the Pandora Radio tip. I've registered and as a test, I made Alabama 3 - the group that did the wonderful, "Woke up this Morning," intro to the "Sopranos" - my radio station. Pandora took me to a cut from A3's "La Peste," then to Alison Krauss and Union Station, then to Paul Simon, then to Nine Horses, back to A3, etc. An interesting trip. I'll try Django, the greatest jazz guitarist ever, next time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29189092014839378212008-05-17T18:53:00.000-04:002008-05-17T18:53:00.000-04:00Tori is a mathematical term and examples are the ...Tori is a mathematical term and examples are the surface of an inner tube or doughnut.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65037427509686531722008-05-17T17:58:00.000-04:002008-05-17T17:58:00.000-04:00Am I the only Canadian who has problems with Ameri...Am I the only Canadian who has problems with American geography/sports etc.? I did transplant from the UK 36 years ago, but still get totally stuck on county names, college sports.<BR/>PenjAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86123314369073867332008-05-17T17:14:00.000-04:002008-05-17T17:14:00.000-04:00TAPDANCE in the NE (with crosses ARIA and HEAD), t...TAPDANCE in the NE (with crosses ARIA and HEAD), then STAYS LIT in the SW (I heat my house with a woodstove, and that's what we hope the stove will do in the winter). Made for a tough solve for me.<BR/><BR/>As a former math major, it was always RADICES, never RADIXES, in my younger days. I also wanted ORDS (for Ordinals) instead of GPAS (clue was "Ranking nos."). This would have made for a nice symmetry, to have both base numbers and ordinals in the puzzle.<BR/><BR/>ODOULS was my first answer--a given since I tried to fit it in place of ADAMS ALE in the Friday puzzle.<BR/><BR/>The TORI are tubes in the inner ear, I believe.embienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01991001167394653649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12214512735067984922008-05-17T13:04:00.000-04:002008-05-17T13:04:00.000-04:00Oops. Meant to say "Brightidea" for 56A. Maybe t...Oops. Meant to say "Brightidea" for 56A. Maybe too much metal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40516746920793548462008-05-17T13:00:00.000-04:002008-05-17T13:00:00.000-04:00Had much the same experience as others. 17A was t...Had much the same experience as others. 17A was the first clue that fell and was a gimme because I'm a huge metal fan, and Maiden rules! Kept trying to jam Talmud into 23A and kept trying to go with Brainchild for 56A until it became obvious that none of the crosses would fit.<BR/>Overall, a fun puzzle and for me more in the medium to difficult range, but again, I'm not Rex.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82124821856989282562008-04-06T00:24:00.000-04:002008-04-06T00:24:00.000-04:00Yeah that makes perfect sense Bill. There are the...Yeah that makes perfect sense Bill. There are the "things you only know because of crosswords," as Rex often mentions, and there are the things you know but only know you know when given the chance to know them by crosswords. Heh, it's late.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90799626656372453862008-04-05T23:44:00.000-04:002008-04-05T23:44:00.000-04:00mac, I am SOOO embarrassed. I did both the Saturd...mac, I am SOOO embarrassed. I did both the Saturday and Sunday puzzles this evening, and of course in some instances I was inadverently making referemce to the Sunday puzzle. Yes, TRIVALENT, LAR, HERESY, RADIXES, AMD ERICTHERED appeared in the Saturday puzzle. As to the other words, I hope you and everyone else will forget that I mentioned them. I am so sorry to have made this gaffe, and I don't wonder that you were confused! I wish I know how to delete that particular message for the good of the blog.miriam bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506593846362044050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22800525977213111342008-04-05T23:18:00.000-04:002008-04-05T23:18:00.000-04:00Of course I mean Miriam b.Of course I mean Miriam b.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60154011016139149592008-04-05T23:17:00.000-04:002008-04-05T23:17:00.000-04:00Meriam, where did you try to squeeze in jete, Dest...Meriam, where did you try to squeeze in jete, Destijl and Allende? I just can't figure this out.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17164126563972918572008-04-05T23:04:00.000-04:002008-04-05T23:04:00.000-04:00RADIX isn't a word i knew from studying math. i be...RADIX isn't a word i knew from studying math. i believe the first time i saw it was in a computer science context. the radix sort is the one where you sort numbers based on each digit (or strings based on each letter) at a time.<BR/><BR/>i thought this puzzle wasn't that tough for a saturday, but add my name to the list of people who were kicking themselves at needing a bunch of crosses for IRONMAIDEN. i also wanted TAPDANCE (but it never went into the grid because i was 100% sure of TIGRIS). DEPAUL, on the other hand, was a gimme.<BR/><BR/>some very strange repetition of key words in the grid/clues: YDS/YARDSTICK, ERICTHERED/[A little red]; MEDIUMRARE/[Medium in a tube]. surprising stuff. it didn't bug me but i know it will bug others.<BR/><BR/>i don't try the newsday saturday stumper every week (i don't have a printer, so i rarely do puzzles that aren't in across lite), but today i did and boy was it tough. i did eventually finish though.Joonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07825085755390339668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34845632457668952362008-04-05T22:53:00.000-04:002008-04-05T22:53:00.000-04:00Not too bad, overall. I had "MANLAW" (you know, l...Not too bad, overall. I had "MANLAW" (you know, like in the beer commercials!) for 23A until the very end.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32434449580318387422008-04-05T22:50:00.000-04:002008-04-05T22:50:00.000-04:00DESTIJL and HERESY and TRIVALENT and RADIXES and E...DESTIJL and HERESY and TRIVALENT and RADIXES and ERICTHERED and JETE ans LAR and ALLENDE, among others, jumped right out at me, enabling me to get the pop and sports references via crosses, inference, or dumb luck. A good mix of clues covering a wide range of interests. This is what a puzzle shouold be all about.<BR/><BR/>I have never before seen VIET; assumed that these folks are called Vietnamese. But it fit.miriam bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506593846362044050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77954011841043714002008-04-05T22:37:00.000-04:002008-04-05T22:37:00.000-04:00I'm late on today's puzzle because, well, it just ...I'm late on today's puzzle because, well, it just took me a long time. I couldn't finish without Googling, but at least I finished WITH Googling (hate it when I can't even do THAT).<BR/><BR/>@john reid: I thought I was going to hate yesterday's Sun puzzle when I read the Notepad, but I ended up really liking it.<BR/><BR/>@andrea: Ashford & Simpson? Wow! They must be, like, a hundred years old. Did they do "Get Up and Do Something'"? I love that song.PuzzleGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06835502266781516627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40601045609805361952008-04-05T21:12:00.000-04:002008-04-05T21:12:00.000-04:00I'm with Senor Wences.... I didn't have good insti...I'm with Senor Wences.... I didn't have good instincts about trivalent, wanted alae instead of ells, stays lit, fate, brainstorm, etc. and had never heard of Ashanti. Thank goodness my son could help me with Iron Maiden (these are guys!!) and DePaul. I love short straw and dark horses.<BR/><BR/>@artlover, hope you are still awake, want to recommend two more mystery writers: Sarah Caudwell and Margery Allingham (very, very old).machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59570174499886677142008-04-05T20:58:00.000-04:002008-04-05T20:58:00.000-04:00Late to the game as usual. For those not familiar ...Late to the game as usual. <BR/><BR/>For those not familiar with the Newsday Saturday puzzle, they are pretty tough. However, the toughest of even these stumpers are by Stan Newman himself, aka 'Anna Stiga' and 'S.N.'. When you see one of those bylines, you know you're likely in for an extra-rough ride.Howard Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00766792795622192271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48401084029060905502008-04-05T20:41:00.000-04:002008-04-05T20:41:00.000-04:00Orange: I'm in Gainesville, due north of Ocala. I...Orange: I'm in Gainesville, due north of Ocala. Inverness is about the same distance from Ocala, but south.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18811392887933496122008-04-05T19:02:00.000-04:002008-04-05T19:02:00.000-04:00@green mantis-Re: trivalentThat is exactly how I...@green mantis-<BR/>Re: trivalent<BR/><BR/>That is exactly how I approached this answer. Somewhere in my heat oppressed brain there is a vague equivalence between "chemistry" and "valence" which I went with.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes you just have to go on instinct to see how it all comes out and this is why I like crossword puzzles so much - I just never know how much I know and why.<BR/><BR/>I'm sorry if this doesn't make much sense.Bill from NJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10103923612595508277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44086967072499710572008-04-05T18:37:00.000-04:002008-04-05T18:37:00.000-04:00@bill d - The Across Lite versions of the NY Times...@bill d - The Across Lite versions of the NY Times puzzles are 'locked', which means that you have to type in a code number in order to have access to the solutions. That 4 digit code isn't published until the following day, so you won't be able to see the smiling pencil until then!<BR/><BR/>This is just my understanding of it; someone else may be able to elaborate and/or clarify.<BR/><BR/>@orange - Thanks for the link to Trip Payne's puzzles. I'm sure I will enjoy them! The NY Sun puzzle yesterday really had me cracking up a few times.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69834349577607666332008-04-05T18:22:00.000-04:002008-04-05T18:22:00.000-04:00One helluva puzzle; my brainchildren got lost some...One helluva puzzle; my brainchildren got lost somewhere, and took forever to find themselves, among the DARK HORSES, who overcame the SHORT STRAW.<BR/><BR/>My crime, also, is HERESY, but I'm still contemplating SEDITION.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76632292293227369922008-04-05T18:14:00.000-04:002008-04-05T18:14:00.000-04:00all day today I can't stop thinking of all the thi...all day today I can't stop thinking of all the things that is hard to do barefoot. (COALWALK anyone?) Esp since I had TAPDANCE in that corner for longer than I should have!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-11826982015532222952008-04-05T18:01:00.000-04:002008-04-05T18:01:00.000-04:00Like janeee I blasted through this one on BS and c...Like janeee I blasted through this one on BS and crosswordese. Old NY paper? - HERALD it is; TITICACA - clue sounds Spanish-y and it fits, so in it goes; Icelandic guy? - ERIC THE RED, in he goes; Florida city? - OCALA; Nebraska place? OTOE; Flight? = STAIRS; YIP, ODOULS, WENT AT; RE-ADDS - in they go!<BR/><BR/>I worked the south out first, then plugged through the NW until TAXLAW finally opened up the NNE. Also originally had TOE DANCE for WATERSKI, but finally figured it's difficult to waterski, but impossible to toe dance, barefoot! Wracked my brain to come up with Rob Halford's band (Judas Priest, at last) only to realize it wouldn't fit in IRON MAIDEN's slot. (They went platinum? Really?) At least I'd heard of them, as opposed to ASHANTI...<BR/><BR/>Good week for me after a two-week layoff. Still can't get Across Lite to accept my correct puzzles - any ideas?Bill Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13741876820211768387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19107539073709544442008-04-05T17:58:00.000-04:002008-04-05T17:58:00.000-04:00Stupidly started last night at 1 am, and took me f...Stupidly started last night at 1 am, and took me forever as I was determined not to ggogle, damnit! (and I was watching "AMerica's Next Top Model" I had taped earlier in the week, one of my many many many guilty pleasures to offset doing a Saturday NY Times puzzle!)<BR/><BR/>Finally all came together, but fell down the STAIR/ATAIR like others...and refused to put smiley at first bec I thought a puzzle couldn't have both YDS and YARDSTICK...has anyone else mentioned this?<BR/>Also was convinced ASHANTI was ASHFORD of ASHFORD and Simpson <BR/>(SOlid as a rock!)whom I just saw in NY in this wildly not-meant-to-be-but-was camp show at the St Regis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10395498172303426282008-04-05T17:41:00.000-04:002008-04-05T17:41:00.000-04:00Lucky Alan Rickman he gets to be Rasputin and Seve...Lucky Alan Rickman he gets to be Rasputin and Severus Snape.<BR/><BR/>Was stumped by TAXLAW, wanted outlaw, thought RADIXES had a c not an X and to compound my math block (brain chill, perhaps) I did not get TORI.<BR/><BR/>Moved quickly through the rest via a series of ahas. <BR/><BR/>Spent a long time on sown (as in wild oats) vs. SAWN.<BR/><BR/>SPR vs. apr was....<BR/><BR/>As always love the comments.dkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17317008233459295376noreply@blogger.com