tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post3282063715348530071..comments2024-03-28T20:26:11.908-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: SUNDAY, Sep. 14, 2008 - Jeremy Newton (Native tongue of R&B singer Rihanna / Symptom of catarrh / Genre explored by Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith)Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30334415493378257902008-09-17T10:06:00.000-04:002008-09-17T10:06:00.000-04:00I love your blog and read it daily. Am always amus...I love your blog and read it daily. Am always amused by the terms you've never heard of when they are familiar to me. As an expat living in Israel I used to work on Raoul Wallenberg Street. Wallenberg was an extraordinary Swedish hero who, as a diplomat in Hungary, rescued thousands of Jews during WWII. His biography is fascinating. He was arrested by the Soviets and his fate hs never been determined. Worth googling him and check out the website established in his name.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26115477952896454282008-09-16T14:15:00.000-04:002008-09-16T14:15:00.000-04:00Two words - MINT JULEPS.Two words - MINT JULEPS.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24594864950540403012008-09-15T14:01:00.001-04:002008-09-15T14:01:00.001-04:00Agree with those who say - once figured out, the p...Agree with those who say - once figured out, the puzzle went pretty quickly. I like this one thousand times more than those horrible turn right/turn left puzzles (which I was afraid this was). I thought maybe the word YEAR was going to twist around somehow. Our power went out just before I started this puzzle, so I took my sweet old time, it was fun and I had no way to look anything up Yikes! I guess I could have used a dictionary. :(Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3655846976924576892008-09-15T14:01:00.000-04:002008-09-15T14:01:00.000-04:00Agree with those who say - once figured out, the p...Agree with those who say - once figured out, the puzzle went pretty quickly. I like this one thousand times more than those horrible turn right/turn left puzzles (which I was afraid this was). I thought maybe the word YEAR was going to twist around somehow. Our power went out just before I started this puzzle, so I took my sweet old time, it was fun and I had no way to look anything up Yikes! I guess I could have used a dictionary. :(Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79346441823821383122008-09-15T13:25:00.000-04:002008-09-15T13:25:00.000-04:00UGH, I never even saw the circular pattern, and I ...UGH, I never even saw the circular pattern, and I kept waiting for them to be in some sort of order. I couldn't see the forest for the trees, or is it through the trees, I can't remember. Even knowing the answer JULES, I was all screwed up because I had MARTINI where MINT JULEP was supposed to go. I'm w/ Franklin, for me it was at UVA drinking out of a sterling silver Jefferson cup. Incidentally, this was a place where we all said WAHOO a lot. <BR/><BR/>I liked that a lot of these clues were gimmees for my generation, though I had REMIX for the Run DMC/Aerosmith answer before I got the whole rebus thing going. <BR/><BR/>FERGUS, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" described cruises exactly as I have imagined them in my nightmares and is my all-time favorite DFW essay. It's funny, I either loved or hated his work, no in-betweens. I also loved his description of the state fair (Illinois? I can't remember the state). I hated "Consider the Lobster," but maybe that's because I love Rockland Maine and felt sorry for it after he skewered their lobster festival. <BR/><BR/>SALLY, I love that French viaduct. A lovely feat of engineering that recalls the amazing aqueducts of the Roman Empire and apparently alleviates what used to be hours of endless traffic.becky from hatchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311252356801679532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50840068506573462932008-09-15T11:28:00.000-04:002008-09-15T11:28:00.000-04:00Word freaks of all stripes want to at least read t...Word freaks of all stripes want to at least read the April 2001 Harper's article by DFW. I've never actually read any of his fiction, simply from not getting around to it yet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4408085655062565922008-09-15T07:57:00.000-04:002008-09-15T07:57:00.000-04:00I had the O from "Abettor" and *so* wanted "marco"...I had the O from "Abettor" and *so* wanted "marco" for "it's usually said with the eyes closed"...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85060256673955329232008-09-15T05:23:00.000-04:002008-09-15T05:23:00.000-04:00@shamik, @ pinky: you are not alone with ZAJAN an...@shamik, @ pinky: you are not alone with ZAJAN and DY_ELT, respectively. Me too.<BR/>I do like rebuses. I was amazed that after drawing an arc from SEP through DEC and JAN, was able to decipher where OCT and NOV would fit despite little in the way of surrounding fill. <BR/>I think the puzzle was quite a feat. Congrats to the constructor!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6898362444805666322008-09-15T03:09:00.000-04:002008-09-15T03:09:00.000-04:00Am pretty content about most puzzles, but didn't e...Am pretty content about most puzzles, but didn't enjoy this one too much, found it arduous and not all that exciting when solving it, although I send kudos to the constructor for his cleverness and originality.<BR/><BR/>Kathy D.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38218557110176859742008-09-15T02:19:00.000-04:002008-09-15T02:19:00.000-04:00I'm with the group that likes this puzzle, not jus...I'm with the group that likes this puzzle, not just the construction. <BR/>ATARI games seem in vogue these days. Liked PERUKE, SWANN. Only tried out a few test puzzles in AcrossLite - how do people fit in rebus answers into the square? And does that make it more obvious where the rebus answers are?Darylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04496381028501467886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43515386045172762092008-09-15T01:14:00.000-04:002008-09-15T01:14:00.000-04:00Er, that's "a lot of really hilarious answers." So...Er, that's "a lot of really <B>hilarious</B> answers." Sorry for such a long comment, also.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10202656569528320192008-09-15T01:11:00.000-04:002008-09-15T01:11:00.000-04:00I gotta disagree with Rex about this puzzle. (I go...I gotta disagree with Rex about this puzzle. (I got the sense of "I acknowledge that the puzzle is well-made, but didn't like it and thought many of the clues were lame.") Other than BAJAN (which crossed the very clever TROJAN ARMY and A TO B), I thought this was a fabulous puzzle. I really liked that it skewed young--no 60's TV and a lot of pretty recent pop culture references. I wasn't crazy about the rebus until I discovered the symmetry and that the months went in order. I also thought there were a lot of really answers.<BR/><BR/>My comments:<BR/>STUART - Totally fair. I couldn't remember the name either, but I did remember he was someone I probably should have known.<BR/>ETE (When Cannes heats up) - Pretty standard clue, but I really like the wording. This Newton kid really has a way with words.<BR/>RAP-ROCK - This was where I got the symmetry. I passed by this earlier, and knew, as everyone should, that Run DMC was a hip-hop group, Aerosmith is a rock band, and they collaborated on "Walk this Way," one of the first song to mix the two genres. But I couldn't figure out what the answer could possibly be until I guessed that the months might be in order and penciled in "APR."<BR/>ADRENALINE JUNKIE - Awesome.<BR/>A RAT, ABETTOR - Nice.<BR/>RELOADS ("Equips with new clips") - This is really clever too, and has a nice ring to it. And as a 20-something male, I got it immediately.<BR/>ELECTRO - Semi-obscure Spider-Man villains in the crossword? !!!!!<BR/>PUNT - <B>I</B> liked this. I'd say punting is admitting defeat "in a way," at least of not being able to score on the current drive.<BR/>ACHOO, GENIE, YEAST - These ones made me giggle. ARE and WAS are cute too.<BR/>NDAK - I thought at first this might be a trick, but forgot about it when I came back to it for the longest time. It doesn't help that I can never remember the Canadian provinces.<BR/>DRAUGHT - The fact that DRAFT fits in there is toooooo clever.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49735634039484138022008-09-15T00:48:00.000-04:002008-09-15T00:48:00.000-04:00Joon,To get a good flavor of DFW, find the long Fo...Joon,<BR/><BR/>To get a good flavor of DFW, find the long Folio article he wrote for Harper's about being a passenger on a cruise ship, maybe five or six years ago. And while you're at Harper's there was something else he wrote more recently with brilliantly nested footnotes, but I can't even remember what the ostensible subject was. His longer stuff didn't work for me, but then I didn't much care for Pynchon's books either. <BR/><BR/>And perhaps you're right about improvement from practice, at least with respect to solving time. My point was that I doubt my speed would get anything more than marginally faster. Same goes for recognition of all the common fill and the other tricks of the trade. If one were a relatively recent convert though, I imagine the progress would be notably more than marginal. <BR/><BR/>As another tournament participant and I concluded yesterday, we were quite content to be fairly confident and adept solvers, while recognizing that we would never reach the higher echelons, and were content to leave it at that.fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47283173805510674642008-09-15T00:10:00.000-04:002008-09-15T00:10:00.000-04:00yeah, all-in isn't necessarily a last resort. in f...yeah, all-in isn't necessarily a last resort. in fact, for a player who is weaker relative to the rest of the table, it can often be a devastating preemptive strategy. (an even better strategy would involving picking up your chips and finding another table.)<BR/><BR/>i had similar thoughts to joe about the construction. it gets a little more amazing every time i look at it.<BR/><BR/>i'm bummed by the DFW (which still looks like dallas ft worth) suicide, too. i haven't even read anything he wrote. and as irreverent as it is, the one thing i am forcibly reminded of is <A HREF="http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27769" REL="nofollow">this onion article</A> from 2003.<BR/><BR/>fergus:<BR/><BR/><I>I don't think I've ever done five crosswords in one day</I><BR/><BR/>i almost spit my coffee out onto the monitor when i read that. (good thing i'm not actually drinking coffee.) from personal experience, i can say that doing five crosswords a day for some time now really has made me much better at it. (whether that's a worthwhile achievement is another question.)Joonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07825085755390339668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63178506906243275022008-09-14T23:14:00.000-04:002008-09-14T23:14:00.000-04:00I also liked this one. I caught on to the rebus e...I also liked this one. I caught on to the rebus early and gleened the circle from the title so I filled in the rebus squares in the South of the puzzle before reading any clues. I always like it when getting the theme helps the solving process. I too like clever construction so clunky never crossed my mind. My only guess was the N in the ION/SWANN crossing which I guess makes me not very literary, although I have read Infinite Jest (over 1000 pages with footnotes that have footnotes). DFW suicide is just sad. There was a thread about suicide in IJ involving a microwave oven. I highly recommend taking the time to read it, it is just amazing!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90272743448430853702008-09-14T22:25:00.000-04:002008-09-14T22:25:00.000-04:00Kudos to Jeremy on this construction feat. The 3-...Kudos to Jeremy on this construction feat. The 3-letter month abbreviations don't all lend themselves to inclusion in longer entries. Not only did Jeremy have to find two examples of each, but you'll notice that some of those entries intersect the ones for other months. Getting the black squares just right must have been a real nightmare. Perhaps some of the theme entries are lesser known as a consequence, but there is plenty of fresh new material in this puzzle. So... two thumbs up from a fellow constructor's point of view. -JoeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-70167484494038834672008-09-14T21:59:00.000-04:002008-09-14T21:59:00.000-04:00I got this, but slowly. I thought it was a clever ...I got this, but slowly. I thought it was a clever theme and was glad to add obiri to my crossword collection of five-letter African animals such as okapi and eland.<BR/><BR/>Did anyone else want to write in "steroid" for weightlifter's helper? I couldn't believe that would be the answer, though, and it wasn't.<BR/><BR/>Really sorry to hear about David Foster Wallace...Michael Chibnikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04700426644898924644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24190173097500102532008-09-14T20:46:00.000-04:002008-09-14T20:46:00.000-04:00Did everyone see Andy Rooney on 60 minutes?? All a...Did everyone see Andy Rooney on 60 minutes?? All about kitchen gadgets...no mention of ricers, dicers, or icerschefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38897424679731610182008-09-14T20:19:00.000-04:002008-09-14T20:19:00.000-04:00Hubby and I are just now at the level where we can...Hubby and I are just now at the level where we can (sometimes) do the Sunday NY Times crosswords, and we found this one way too tricky. Frustrating, even now that we know the answers. Not much fun today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84898083380763689062008-09-14T20:17:00.000-04:002008-09-14T20:17:00.000-04:00Wow, another aspect of Green Mantis: cardsharp! I ...Wow, another aspect of Green Mantis: cardsharp! <BR/>I haven't read Infinite Jest yet either, but am looking for it. I'll start with the tennis article that several people referred to. So sad to hear about a talented person's death, and so much harder to understand when he actually had recognition. I know too many smart, productive, talented young people who have a tough time making it. In this environment the arts are the first to be ignored.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58433513403821070742008-09-14T18:58:00.000-04:002008-09-14T18:58:00.000-04:00@PG: I had similar thoughts about "going all in." ...@PG: I had similar thoughts about "going all in." If you have suddenly, somehow, lost a great deal of your chip stack, then yes, there would be very few remaining plays at your disposal other than going all in. But going all in is mostly a tool specific to No Limit that provides a unique means of control at any stage of a tournament or ring game. <BR/><BR/>You use it to change the odds on a given hand so that it becomes mathematically incorrect for inferior starting hands to enter the pot or for drawing hands to continue (and possibly develop the winning hand) after each street (betting round). And if one's opponents are prone to loose, aggressive, risky play, it's often the most important tool in the arsenal.green mantishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01823785147354157816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4658603303076008122008-09-14T18:46:00.000-04:002008-09-14T18:46:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.green mantishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01823785147354157816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83704795908074589882008-09-14T18:45:00.000-04:002008-09-14T18:45:00.000-04:00Yuck about this puzzle. Some of the fill seems re...Yuck about this puzzle. Some of the fill seems really good, and I just wanted to enjoy it, but the schmebus got in the way for me. Drag.<BR/><BR/>My psychic powers apparently end with Fergus, because I forgot Mac was a woman yesterday and had to be corrected. <BR/><BR/>My best friend is a short, mixed race woman with a bit of an afro, while I am the tall, lanky, extremely Caucasian one. We refer to ourselves as Hall and Oates.<BR/><BR/>I have not read Infinite Jest, but I was very upset by the news of DFW's death. Depression and suicide among smart creative people is so tragic and confusing. (Tragic in anyone, of course, but...) I guess it acts as a haunting reminder that no matter how brilliant you are, no matter how many people you have touched, it might not be enough. Sorry to get all Eeyore, but why do all these bright lights have to go?green mantishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01823785147354157816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22784818449039270192008-09-14T18:33:00.000-04:002008-09-14T18:33:00.000-04:00I think it was Madge who got ladies to soak their ...I think it was Madge who got ladies to soak their hands in Palmolive. She could be a good first name in gossip.<BR/><BR/>Wow, I just realized how long this took me since I started it sometime in the first quarter of the 49er-Seahawk game, and now it's half way through the third. I didn't see or really expect symmetry in the month abbreviations, which left me looking for rebus squares everywhere.<BR/><BR/>I don't think I've ever done five crosswords in one day (the Saturday puzzle wasn't that satisfying -- I have a picture of Green Mantis finishing it off while we were awaiting the results), but even if I were to make it a regular practice I doubt it would lead to much improvement. Watching Tyler mark up our grids, I saw him go into muscle car processing mode, which I'm sure gets supercharged when actually solving. That is a gear I simply don't have, but it is impressive to observe.<BR/><BR/>DFW suicide was a real shock. I wouldn't have pegged him as likely to do himself in.fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81867797015224598242008-09-14T18:32:00.000-04:002008-09-14T18:32:00.000-04:00Is that a chocolate lab puppy in the gratuitous do...Is that a chocolate lab puppy in the gratuitous dog pix? My chocolate lab Gretchen, age almost 10, the one who feeds from the mysterious hand under the fence, sends greetings.Barbara Bolsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06520568012674731813noreply@blogger.com