tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post3005852767491531823..comments2024-03-28T20:49:13.267-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: French river department / FRI 10-4-13 / Theodore Roosevelt Island setting / Zero times in Zwickau / Mediums for dummies / Subject of 2003 book Power Failure / Hudsucker Proxy director 1994 / Very long European linkRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5282587336835966252022-06-05T18:15:13.274-04:002022-06-05T18:15:13.274-04:00Even here in 2022, doing my nostalgic puzzle solvi...Even here in 2022, doing my nostalgic puzzle solving, ETAIL and OXIDATE have not entered the standard lexicon (M-W, OED, et alia). Why did Mr. Shortz allow these? Is this some egotistical attempt to drive USer vocabulary? Didn't work.<br /><br />Also bad is the clue "Catered to Windows shoppers". The wording is cute, but, without "for one" or other indicator, implies that Windows is a differentiator. This was my last filled word, as I couldn't believe that the OS-agnostic root *also* misconstrued could be the answer.<br /><br />Even given that it's Friday, these made the puzzle feel like a "FU, solver" to me. One more, and I'm going to stop borrowing your publication. :-)Prunehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00224476641730508311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18652765015670117512013-11-09T01:38:42.629-05:002013-11-09T01:38:42.629-05:00Please don't call this easy, 'cause I fini...Please don't call this easy, 'cause I finished a Friday with no Googles or other help. Of course I liked it, and I liked the deviousness of the cluing. With StinkER, before SPRAYER, and OXIDizE, the NE took a while to sort out.<br /><br />38-D reminds me of another Mel Brooks flic, Blazing Saddles, with Madeline Kahn as Lily Von Shtupp singing of "men coming and going, and going and coming, and always TOOSOON."<br /><br />@Spacecraft, thanks for the sick child story. Hubster was a Navy corpsman with the Marines, you guys did a great job.Gingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69231500579380184602013-11-08T18:01:55.441-05:002013-11-08T18:01:55.441-05:00Who's that Aussie swimmer in the SPEEDO(S) wit...Who's that Aussie swimmer in the SPEEDO(S) with the nickname TORPEDO? Good cross.<br /><br />@Diri, I did chuckle with TNT showing up again today. I had the Dynaiti drink yesterday and it blew me away.<br /><br />Took the CHUNNEL from London to Paris with my wife a few years back. Wow it was fast.<br /><br />Good puz Bruce; good clues Shortzie.<br /><br />Have a good weekend, Syndies.<br /><br />Capcha: Nshabno. Didn't he hang with Meshach Shadrach and Abednego? Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89942812546951241072013-11-08T16:43:14.957-05:002013-11-08T16:43:14.957-05:00Apparently @SiS's Dynaiti from yesterday is to...Apparently @SiS's Dynaiti from yesterday is too recent a coinage to be the basis for a TNT clue so the constructor was stuck with the more mundane Blockbuster? cluing. When I saw EXPOS I knew @Waxy would stop by to comment and he did not disappoint. Finished the puz with the AerO/ATMO correction in the SW corner.<br /><br />@spacecraft - If an ICEBATH story can be called heart-warming, yours was. Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45629541630171991972013-11-08T16:02:37.989-05:002013-11-08T16:02:37.989-05:00Struggled with this one, but made it! Had to wait...Struggled with this one, but made it! Had to wait for the musician clues to more or less fill themselves, and reread 11D enough times to see that it din,t say "table banner". In the end I was pleased to fill all the squares, and came here for explanations of ANAG (ugh, even this IPad wants me to write the whole word!) and SOC. Now for The dreaded Saturday which seems lately to be designed for anyone but me!DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80679430962510358552013-11-08T15:07:11.019-05:002013-11-08T15:07:11.019-05:00Wow! Another TNT....who could have guessed. Wasn&#...Wow! Another TNT....who could have guessed. Wasn't surprised to see easy rating. Finished in good time for a Friday with no errors. Liked the TORPEDO/TORNADO cross.eastsacgirlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4506140584342250692013-11-08T15:05:55.730-05:002013-11-08T15:05:55.730-05:00Wow! Another TNT....who could have guessed. Wasn&#...Wow! Another TNT....who could have guessed. Wasn't surprised to see easy rating. Finished in good time for a Friday with no errors. Liked the TORPEDO/TORNADO cross.eastsacgirlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74844045790843528102013-11-08T14:12:49.805-05:002013-11-08T14:12:49.805-05:00Starting with RP, I have never read so much nitpic...Starting with RP, I have never read so much nitpicking and groveling in one day. I am a 76 year old, with a low/high IQ, am semi-smart and faux wise. Get over it! Ask about 100 people who the name Frankenstein belongs to and the greater majority are going to say, "That crazy monster in the movies." Personally, I believe this puzzle was just plain terrific.....and easy.<br />Ron Diego 11/8 11:AM PSTAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58808809587823036622013-11-08T13:22:07.160-05:002013-11-08T13:22:07.160-05:00@Joan, you're correct but Frankenstein himself...@Joan, you're correct but Frankenstein himself was still a pretty monstrous doctor...Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67560263646968805652013-11-08T13:18:38.213-05:002013-11-08T13:18:38.213-05:00Very easy Friday coming as a relief after yesterda...Very easy Friday coming as a relief after yesterday's slog. Only problem was the SIRI/AMISTAD cross which was a personal nattick. 9D a gimme, albeit a choker-upper for most Montrealers - we wuz robbed!<br /><br />captcha = icyand which sounds like yet another cryotherapy choice.Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47337721251156928542013-11-08T11:48:06.568-05:002013-11-08T11:48:06.568-05:00Interesting puzz. OFL is one hard-to-please dude. ...Interesting puzz. OFL is one hard-to-please dude. He names TOOSOON--one of my least favorite fills--as an exception (!) to the so-so fill quality. How can you not like taking an AIRTAXI over (or in this case, under) the CHUNNEL? Or hitting the AMISTAD with a TORPEDO?<br /><br />Hand up for BONJOVI, and especially OXIDIZE--what with all the scrabbliness I'd run into so far, that one seemed a delicious gimme. Had to work up that section from the bottom to prove the wrongness of the IZ. Hated to erase that.<br /><br />I do agree that the ALIMONY-DIVORCE entries were a bit sub-Friday in difficulty, but the other clues stood tall and kept this out of the easy category for me.<br /><br />One entry in particular evoked a poignant memory. Working as a corpsman in an Air Force hospital many years sgo, I was on duty when a small child was brought in, burning up with fever. As soon as the nurse touched him she started barking orders. "Plug that sink and fill it with cold water. Get all the ice trays from the fridge and dump 'em in." She was taking his temp: it was 108.6! I can still feel his shivering body and hear his plaintive cries as we rubbed ice cubes over his face and head. I said, "This seems so cruel." Nurse replied, "His brain is literally cooking. We don't get his temp down, he'll die--or worse: become a vegetable." Well, the ICEBATH worked. For the first time, I felt as though I had actually helped save a life. There's no feeling like that.spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21392552674517515602013-10-19T12:50:50.725-04:002013-10-19T12:50:50.725-04:00X-Banner Stands –Give a Professional look in a lea...X-Banner Stands –Give a Professional look in a least Expensive Way!<br />Add extra impact to your trade show with our stunning collection of X Banner Stands. Being extremely versatile and an excellent sidewalk signage they can be used to promote a new product, service or trade show offer. It can also used as a side wall for your exhibition standThomas Garyhttp://www.dxpdisplay.com/x-banner-standsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19352056904615160532013-10-07T09:47:47.370-04:002013-10-07T09:47:47.370-04:00Re Friday, Frankenstein WAS the doctor. These pett...Re Friday, Frankenstein WAS the doctor. These petty quibbles in the clues drive me mad!!! Joannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43984287023768484262013-10-04T22:29:38.345-04:002013-10-04T22:29:38.345-04:00Ok @Just Sayin. I'll bite with whatever you s...Ok @Just Sayin. I'll bite with whatever you say about Yellowfin albeit it's still TUNA. So, It's still TUNA TUNA.<br />Iberico is not just any ham my friend. How many hogs you know are fed acorns and given a fairly long life roaming beautiful hills and vistas before being slaughtered and gracing our plates. $100 a pound at a NY Deli probably means you're getting something equivalent to prosciutto. :-)GILL I.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05605766053820226324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82225765369743417032013-10-04T22:11:29.165-04:002013-10-04T22:11:29.165-04:00This 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 6:45, 6:07, 1.10, 87%, Challenging<br />Tue 9:17, 8:15, 1.13, 78%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 9:38, 9:44, 0.99, 47%, Medium<br />Thu 20:05, 16:30, 1.22, 84%, Challenging<br />Fri 15:50, 17:34, 0.90, 34%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:12, 3:50, 1.10, 85%, Challenging<br />Tue 5:21, 5:10, 1.04, 60%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 5:55, 5:36, 1.06, 66%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 11:50, 9:27, 1.25, 83%, Challenging<br />Fri 9:16, 10:00, 0.93, 34%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />@Z ... the Sharks came out flying last night and dominated the Canucks. For whatever reason, they've had Vancouver's number the past couple of years, having beaten them in 10 straight (including a sweep in last year's playoffs). But San Jose is always one of the top teams in the regular season team and, unlike your Wings, a perennial disappointment in the playoffs (Datsyuk is my favorite player in all of hockey to watch ... it's crazy that he's never won the Hart Trophy). I'm hoping that this is the year the Sharks finally get to the finals. We'll see. Good luck to your Tigers. I've picked them to face the Dodgers in the Series, but I'm afraid I'll be pulling for the local team here in the Division Series.sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12263532583513902992013-10-04T21:40:24.534-04:002013-10-04T21:40:24.534-04:00OXIDATE - no way. Like Chem Prof, never heard it. ...OXIDATE - no way. Like Chem Prof, never heard it. Would have dinged any student who used the word on an exam.<br /><br />Any Friday under 10 minutes here is easy. This one was.<br /><br />Lots of good clues, pretty much in my wheelhouse. <br /><br />Thanks, Mr. Sutphin.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41718089823465668772013-10-04T21:39:49.739-04:002013-10-04T21:39:49.739-04:00@Gill IP; Ahi is most commonly used as a substitut...@Gill IP; Ahi is most commonly used as a substitute for Yellowfin, and Yellowfin is most commonly referred to as Yellowfin Tuna, so it does not seem redundant to say Ahi Tuna.<br />Whether in Andalusia or Catalan, I can order Iberico, and I am sure to get ham, but Jamon Iberico is not redundant. It just costs $100/lb at my deli in NY.<br /><br />I liked the misdirection on "Duped", and would have equally appreciated the trademarked Mimeoed. I see nothing wrong here.<br /><br />Oxidate is a perfectly good chemistry word even if it does not appear in Wikipedia. True nerds do not rely on Wikipedia as their sole source of supposed knowledge.Just Sayinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3797656918811606972013-10-04T21:22:26.932-04:002013-10-04T21:22:26.932-04:00There ain't no Haagen, there ain't no Dazs...There ain't no Haagen, there ain't no Dazs ... and there ain't no OXIDATE.<br /><br />Wikipedia entry for "Redox" (ANAG. "do Rex") -- which is a marvelously clear explanation of oxidation-reduction reactions -- contains the words oxidize, oxide, oxidation, oxidant, oxidative, but no OXIDATE. Verb form (implied by the clue) is always oxidize. If OXIDATE is listed in dictionaries, it must be either archaic or extremely specialized.<br /><br />Glad I'm not a constructor, pecked to death by such nerdery.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34929327161723915052013-10-04T21:18:19.927-04:002013-10-04T21:18:19.927-04:00I think this is a verb.
http://www.encyclo.co.uk/...I think this is a verb.<br /><br />http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/etailed<br /><br />http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/electronic-retailing-e-tailing.asp<br />Jeff Bezosnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73124021562943128842013-10-04T21:10:16.768-04:002013-10-04T21:10:16.768-04:00@Rob C...Don't feel too bad. Nobody debunked...@Rob C...Don't feel too bad. Nobody debunked my redundant AHI TUNA question either [sigh].GILL I.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05605766053820226324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29380264372339153222013-10-04T20:13:44.600-04:002013-10-04T20:13:44.600-04:00*up findable = unfindable. Stupid iPad keyboard. *up findable = unfindable. Stupid iPad keyboard. Steve Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185067739452052656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54727220403474957192013-10-04T20:12:20.278-04:002013-10-04T20:12:20.278-04:00Really enjoyed the cluing.
Really, really hated ...Really enjoyed the cluing. <br /><br />Really, really hated ETAILED. The noun is bad enough. The verb is horrible. The past-tense verb is unspeakably terrible. It's he Frankenstein's MONSTER of horrific e- words. (It's also completely up findable, at least by me, on Google in this context - i.e., not involving a text in which it's clearly a typo where someone dropped the d from "detailed".)<br /><br />@Z is right about the Frankenstein clue. It was brilliant and correct. Count me among many who resisted MONSTER thinking it can't be right. @Z is also right that the NYT very, very rarely gets this stuff wrong (as in once every few years). Except for ETAILED.Steve Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185067739452052656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41106632709415791452013-10-04T18:54:39.145-04:002013-10-04T18:54:39.145-04:00OK Z, we all know misdirects are fun, especially o...OK Z, we all know misdirects are fun, especially on fri/sat, but the misdirect should leave us saying <b>aha</b>, not <b>ohno</b>.<br />the sports analogy that fits better here is a professional team calling a really bad play just to catch the other team off guard.Penna Residentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1827542971465829312013-10-04T18:07:06.165-04:002013-10-04T18:07:06.165-04:00A Thousand Clowns -- Barry GordonA Thousand Clowns -- Barry Gordonjaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03385568014046336373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91177744997512349462013-10-04T17:52:27.101-04:002013-10-04T17:52:27.101-04:00It must have been easy, because I managed to solve...It must have been easy, because I managed to solve it on the plane,after getting up at 3 AM to catch said plane. I nodded off a couple times, but I did get it done long before we landed. Have to like the Zs and Xs, however you pronounce them -- I would have liked a J, too, but maybe not Rex.<br /><br />I too thought OXIDATE was odd - but we do talk about Oxidation, right? Paradoxical, or something,<br /><br />Everything else has been said, most of it many times!jberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02169065390875378077noreply@blogger.com