tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post3857505264955044522..comments2024-03-29T09:19:29.650-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Concordia University locale / SAT 7-17-10 / British home of Cow Tower Dragon Hall / End of tile game's name / I.B.M. event 1915 / Visionary 1921 dramaRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66604670511731766252010-07-18T23:41:14.683-04:002010-07-18T23:41:14.683-04:00We worked on it while on the road. Was kind of hi...We worked on it while on the road. Was kind of hit and miss, til we got to the hotel (the puz, not the driving), then finished off the leftovers mighty quick, once could actually gaze on the grid and visualize the long critters better. Other than no theme again, thought this was a much fairer puz than the FriPuz. Fighting chance solvable. Worst cross was CERF/NORWICH, w'ich didn't really seem to slow us down much. <br /><br />U's faded out some toward the end, but puz had built up a nice 5-U surplus before then. Thumbs up.<br /><br />"hoseans"... seems like a better FriPuz secret word, than for today's.Masked and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64452382732349439212010-07-18T20:36:33.302-04:002010-07-18T20:36:33.302-04:00Happy that I knew O'dark thirty, but got total...Happy that I knew O'dark thirty, but got totally caught up in SW. Couldn't remember "The Recruit" and definitely didn't get pale sherry, so I had a little gap there. Didn't know oreo-o's or RUR either. The rest was challenging - great for a cross country flight yesterday.Gaylehttp://everydayiwritethebook.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20190615447499221882010-07-17T22:06:15.459-04:002010-07-17T22:06:15.459-04:00err, @ArtLvr, when all was said and done I did fin...err, @ArtLvr, when all was said and done I did find that an underground stream bed was the cause of the frequent flooding and most amazing mold in my former home's basement. I would find big things floating and had to put my furnace/H2O heater on stilts.<br /><br />Installed a rather large french drain system with 2 sump pumps accompanied by a ventilation fan that was triggered by the start of said sump pumps. My other option was to move the house.dkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17317008233459295376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52369847357653865502010-07-17T21:50:08.050-04:002010-07-17T21:50:08.050-04:00Completed at last with no googles, but it took sev...Completed at last with no googles, but it took several visits late in the day. As noted above, HON for a Duke seemed more appropriate than the specifically royal HRH, and I knew JONGG but OREOOS looked wrong. Remembered HANDY but needed crosses for CERF.<br /><br />I'm fairly sure there's yet another Concordia just west of Chicago, possibly in River Forest, IL. And I got NORWICH, but chuckled to think how many British towns there must be ending in ___WICH. The question was Which Wich? (And I pronounce those differently!)<br /><br />The basement flood is back again, and I feel as if an underground river has been diverted to directly beneath the foundation...<br /><br />∑;(ArtLvrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03869528391374878601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19638831031938629332010-07-17T19:28:15.605-04:002010-07-17T19:28:15.605-04:00CC Sabathia prefers not to have periods in his nam...CC Sabathia prefers not to have periods in his name.<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cc_sabathia<br />I guess the Times has the right not to honor the way other companies and people write their names.<br />Someone should take the Gray Old Lady by the arm and escort her into<br />the 21st century.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20759849536493394692010-07-17T18:27:02.848-04:002010-07-17T18:27:02.848-04:00Tooth hurty is the time to go to the dentist.
Thi...Tooth hurty is the time to go to the dentist.<br /><br />This one had me at PIANOLEG. STPAUL is just across the river and as I went to Hamline (part of a college consortium) the Concordia clue was easy peasy.<br /><br />The rest was just plan fun. <br /><br />*** (3 Stars)<br /><br />Boring puzzle related stories:<br /><br />As a young dk we belonged to a WASP country club. As a result of a court order the club began to admit members of the Mah JONGG playing persuasion. I was fascinated by the game, although I never learned how to play. Thus JONGG I knew.<br /><br />Researched Alan Freed and WCHANDY's name come up along with Josh White and a few others for a high school newspaper project. And, during a stint as the worst rhythm guitar player in all of upstate NY I insisted our band (using the term loosely) play those old blues tunes and Gene Pitney songs. 24 Hours From Tulsa... sigh, Diving Duck Blues... double sigh.<br /><br />Thanks Mark<br /><br />secret word is: dismsht - which sounds so much like dim sh*t I had to comment.dkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17317008233459295376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19131762817958353822010-07-17T18:18:51.580-04:002010-07-17T18:18:51.580-04:00Since it's a slow day, following up on @SethG&...Since it's a slow day, following up on @SethG's comment,<br /><br />Per the IBM website:<br /><br />"The growth and extension of Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company's activities made the old name of the company too limited, and, on February 14, 1924, C-T-R's name was formally changed to International Business Machines Corporation. By then, the company's business had expanded both geographically and functionally, including the completion of three manufacturing facilities in Europe."<br /><br />Thus, neither IBM nor I.B.M existed, much less had an event, in 1915.<br /><br />BTW: They call themselves IBM throughout their website, but list:<br /><br /> International Business Machines Corp.<br /><br /> in their "official" mailing address.<br /><br />.../GlitchGlitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14940000404613329056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55228485477203455812010-07-17T18:15:44.495-04:002010-07-17T18:15:44.495-04:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=35115061&postID=3588389571383499624&isPopup=true" rel="nofollow">7/30/2009 post</a> 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 7:33, 6:56, 1.09, 85%, Challenging<br />Tue 9:21, 8:49, 1.06, 71%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 9:40, 11:46, 0.82, 11%, Easy<br />Thu 21:08, 19:10, 1.10, 72%, Medium-Challenging<br />Fri 27:50, 26:41, 1.04, 62%, Medium-Challenging<br />Sat 34:37, 30:42, 1.12, 80%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:10, 3:42, 1.13, 91%, Challenging<br />Tue 4:48, 4:31, 1.06, 73%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 4:44, 5:47, 0.82, 11%, Easy<br />Thu 10:22, 9:10, 1.13, 75%, Medium-Challenging<br />Fri 13:58, 12:58, 1.08, 72%, Medium-Challenging<br />Sat 19:08, 17:35, 1.09, 76%, Medium-Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80104463709957546532010-07-17T17:44:08.450-04:002010-07-17T17:44:08.450-04:00Dateline Nov. 23, 1915, the NYT reported that the ...Dateline Nov. 23, 1915, the NYT reported that the Stock Exchange Governing Committee added "$6,081,400 stock of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company" to the trading list. It wasn't IBM at all back then.<br /><br />Which has nothing to do with anything.SethGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13753036404140901368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74098088968853675562010-07-17T17:42:34.413-04:002010-07-17T17:42:34.413-04:00Beach day, medium-hard puzzle, just right.
Too ma...Beach day, medium-hard puzzle, just right.<br /><br />Too many write-overs to list, most already mentioned, but one Contemplation (i.e.,something I thought long and hard about but didn't put in): For 1 A, Bed bottoms?, OCEAN FLOORS is just the right number of letters!Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79978325223566503672010-07-17T17:36:21.439-04:002010-07-17T17:36:21.439-04:00A just-right level of difficulty for a Saturday pu...A just-right level of difficulty for a Saturday puzzle. I poked along, but eventually got it all. Surprised by jongg and didn't know odarkthirty and kept trying to get Montreal to fit for Concordia.michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77089792646255822632010-07-17T17:05:44.525-04:002010-07-17T17:05:44.525-04:00Very nice/interesting puzzle. Medium works for me...Very nice/interesting puzzle. Medium works for me. Hand up for SELLERS. Only place I got bogged down was SE until I reluctantly put in the aforementioned awkward DONOTGO.jaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03385568014046336373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81206513230441020712010-07-17T16:29:08.365-04:002010-07-17T16:29:08.365-04:00@wade - me too on the Marc Cohn song. One of my d...@wade - me too on the Marc Cohn song. One of my desert island cd's, along with "come on, come on" by Mary Chapin Carpenter.<br /><br />Great puzzle - felt more like a mesium to me.nanpillahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05548473809500612699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66491694514840734522010-07-17T15:53:16.789-04:002010-07-17T15:53:16.789-04:00@Anonymous (Chrissy, if that is your real name . ....@Anonymous (Chrissy, if that is your real name . . . )<br /><br />OOO refers to Tic Tac Toe, though I suppose it could also conceivably be a slot machine line. You will also see "Tic Tac Toe loser" or a variation in many a puzzle, the answer to which could be any combination of Xs and Os.Harrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77319780159493661882010-07-17T15:51:13.246-04:002010-07-17T15:51:13.246-04:00oops! librarian, not livrarian!oops! librarian, not livrarian!The Big Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00383322329027962325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76766656138492634972010-07-17T15:49:28.078-04:002010-07-17T15:49:28.078-04:00@Anonymous 3:17 (Chrissy the school livrarian) - O...@Anonymous 3:17 (Chrissy the school livrarian) - OOO is a winning lineup in Tic-Tac-Toe. <br /><br />I liked the puzzle a lot today, but got hung up a couple of times and had to rethink:<br />Had Curse Words, instead of swear.<br />Got "Hold" and immediately put in "on a sec." That screwed me up a while.<br />And like others, I had primal before animal.<br /><br />My grandmother said O dark thirty all the time - said she had grown up with that expression on the Eastern Shore of MD. While I know the military uses that expression, and it seems to only be attributed to military slang when googled, I wonder if it actually did have it's origins in the military and not on the farm...<br /><br />Overall, good puzzle!The Big Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00383322329027962325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37934339441130131572010-07-17T15:49:11.170-04:002010-07-17T15:49:11.170-04:00@Anonymous 10:35 -- IBM's name is "Intern...@Anonymous 10:35 -- IBM's name is "International Business Machines Corporation". That is the name on its charter. How anybody, including IBM, chooses to abbreviate its name doesn't override the NYT style manual. And why should it?<br /><br />(@chefwen -- Thanks for the heads up on the caves.)Clarknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9081032669681641902010-07-17T15:17:38.332-04:002010-07-17T15:17:38.332-04:00Please explain OOO = Winning lineup. Is it like a ...Please explain OOO = Winning lineup. Is it like a slot machine win?<br /><br />For me NW was the hardest -- had PRIMAL for 6D and was trying to fit PLANTS into the end of 1A (plants go in garden beds....)<br /><br />I liked the puzzle. Glad to learn 0 dark thirty and its beer variation.<br /><br />I enjoy RP and the comments so much!<br /><br />--Chrissy the school librarianAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47563018435771799392010-07-17T14:55:15.204-04:002010-07-17T14:55:15.204-04:00re counting noses - pretty much any of my Japanes...re counting noses - pretty much any of my Japanese colleagues, when in Japan, touches his nose when asking if he was the one I was referring to. Counting noses is IMO about as universal as counting heads. <br /><br />FWIW they seem not to use this gesture in foreign countries, I would guess because they are not sure it isn't some kind of insulting gesture they might inadvertently be making.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40940832882443461352010-07-17T14:49:25.083-04:002010-07-17T14:49:25.083-04:00One is an HRH because one is a member of the royal...One is an HRH because one is a member of the royal family;one may then also be awarded a title,like duke;a duke may coincidentally royal-Tried to fit Earl(fatha)HInds in as my jivey HRH-didn't Tom Sawyers cousin always tell him "you're gonna get a lickin'still some really nice stuff-piano legs swear words-o dark thirty (yup military brat)will forgive OOO and OREO Ossyndyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16814698406887041710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7258065564595586852010-07-17T14:01:25.437-04:002010-07-17T14:01:25.437-04:00One more 3-letter play:
him by e.e.cummings (1927...One more 3-letter play:<br /><br />him by e.e.cummings (1927)purplepamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86366667870271655442010-07-17T13:54:35.260-04:002010-07-17T13:54:35.260-04:00Somhow my mind quite quickly went to "drugs&q...Somhow my mind quite quickly went to "drugs" when I saw the word traffic, so selling came eventually. Will not explore the tendencies of my mind.Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09137198432140767652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12899599130959583452010-07-17T13:22:09.829-04:002010-07-17T13:22:09.829-04:00Tough puzzle. Tried to do it while having a yard s...Tough puzzle. Tried to do it while having a yard sale. Finally had to put it down and wait til sale was over.<br />Still DNF<br /><br />There is Concordia Seminary in St. Louischefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21931313455418599332010-07-17T13:03:45.902-04:002010-07-17T13:03:45.902-04:00I learned about W.C. Handy (a/k/a The Convenient T...I learned about W.C. Handy (a/k/a The Convenient Toilet) from the great Mark Cohn song "Walking in Memphis."<br /><br />Slo Pokes were common when I was growing up and I think they're still around. They're one of those dusty bottom-shelf candies, with the orange circus peanuts and Mike and Ike, except they're really good. Prepare to surrender a couple of teeth eating one, though.<br /><br />There's also a Concordia University in Austin. When I first lived in Austin and heard of it somebody said it was a Lutheran school and I misheard it as "luthier" and thought they made guitars there. I thought the name was some sort of pun on "chord." Actually I just made that up. I thought they made supersonic airplanes for church missions.<br /><br />I liked this puzzle because it had lots of compound words but my crossing knowledge didn't break along the lines of the two words making the compound. I hate it when I have half of every compound word and can't get a foothold in the other half. You neologists can get to work on that phenomenon.Wadehttp://www.nutcrackerbuck.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72832042452164430302010-07-17T12:57:52.295-04:002010-07-17T12:57:52.295-04:00Wiki has Amontillado as a sherry darker than fino ...Wiki has Amontillado as a sherry darker than fino (pale) but lighter than Oloroso. Not that it matters, as somehow I had Amontillado as a PILESHERRY, because at 3AM, the only word I could come up with for WH_TS was WHITS.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com