tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post4275954713444599908..comments2024-03-29T04:46:57.646-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Country getaways in Russia / TUE 9-9-14 / Cher's son Chaz / Discovery in British mystery / Pinball infraction / Old-fashioned charityRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75984585626903031122015-01-08T01:50:12.504-05:002015-01-08T01:50:12.504-05:00(wikipedia). • • •. A number of problems here. Fir...(wikipedia). • • •. A number of problems here. First, "Come on let's twist" isn't a great stand-alone phrase, as there is no part in that song wherein ... <a href="http://wikogetaway.blogspot.de" rel="nofollow">wikogetaway.blogspot.de</a><br />Wiko Getawayhttp://wikogetaway.blogspot.denoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25274755019952019222014-10-14T20:06:41.467-04:002014-10-14T20:06:41.467-04:00@Z - I'm thinking neon colored italicized bold...@Z - I'm thinking neon colored italicized bold 14 point font, underlined, for constructors, or maybe they'd settle for equal billing with Will and a bigger paycheck.<br /><br />324 - oh sure, now it shows up.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22503965913058823922014-10-14T19:01:25.479-04:002014-10-14T19:01:25.479-04:00@Dirigonzo - 1. Yes. B. Where do you stand on SEPI...@Dirigonzo - 1. Yes. B. Where do you stand on SEPIA Shortz fonts for constructor names issue?Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17904323151358065912014-10-14T17:06:48.696-04:002014-10-14T17:06:48.696-04:00I liked Chubby Checker, I liked the Twist (it'...I liked Chubby Checker, I liked the Twist (it's still my go-to dance to anything that's not a waltz, I just disguise it a little), (is that an Oxford comma?) and I liked this puzzle.<br /><br />About the NLERS in the exact center of the grid, has anyone mentioned that the Reds and the Pirates are both in the Central division of the National League? That made me like the answer a lot.<br /><br />@rainy - yeah, I read too many of the comments, too. Sometimes it feels like going by a car wreck - I don't really want to see it but I can't look away.<br /><br />3565 - a digit too far.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14710861931396147212014-10-14T16:57:24.502-04:002014-10-14T16:57:24.502-04:00The above was supposed to say "the X-axis is ...The above was supposed to say "the X-axis is displacement from the origin". Kinda took the pith out of my idea.<br /><br />108 Hey! Double winner. Gimme the big font!rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71432653908415418062014-10-14T16:46:41.164-04:002014-10-14T16:46:41.164-04:00Imagine a graph where the Y-axis is Time, and the ...Imagine a graph where the Y-axis is Time, and the X-axis is . The squiggly line containing the phrase, "come on, let's twist", is an apt depiction of one's hips while doing the TWIST. Could also be snapshot of a conga line; could also be half a DNA strand. Could also be the path of drunk individual trying to walk a straight line prior to suffering the DTS. So, I think Will Shortz has created quite the elegant theme here. However, I think I'm important and deserve a larger font. It would make my turgid comments easier to read. Just thinking about the commenters here who really sweat the important stuff.<br /><br />243 Well, dog my cats.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57719967891095760312014-10-14T14:48:42.932-04:002014-10-14T14:48:42.932-04:00First glance at this one set me to expect somethin...First glance at this one set me to expect something about snakes, maybe Cleopatra, so, "doin' the twist" was a fun surprise. Only slow downs in solving were ACCEpt for ACCEDE, and Niece for NANAS. Fortunately any other hang ups fell unseen from the crosses (e.g NLERS, DAL). I'm always surprised when I read the comments to find discussions of things I never saw. Recall someone here in Syndieland (@SIS?) saying he always read over a completed puzzle for every word. Perhaps if I did I'd learn a thing or two, but I'm always eager to come check out my results against Rex's world, where I indeed learn a lot. Retaining it may be something else again!<br /><br />142 for a tie with @Spacecraft.<br /><br />DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3594216517911948272014-10-14T11:34:08.704-04:002014-10-14T11:34:08.704-04:00I am right with OFL and others. NINETEENSIXTY is d...I am right with OFL and others. NINETEENSIXTY is dull--but acceptable in form. You would never put "19SIXTY" or "NINETEEN60" in your puzzle. That would be like writing "AANDE." Get it?<br /><br />So here we are with the two long down theme gimmes, and fully expecting the center down--five letters--to be TWIST. But what do we find there instead? The awful NLERS. Barf bag, please.<br /><br />As to the helix inaccuracies, again what OFL said. This and other things threw me off enough to agree with the M-C rating. Stuff like "Crossed swords," which I most naturally read to be in the passive voice, thinking it was some heraldry term (on a Tuesday? Ah, you mean like DACHAS??). No, it was just...they crossed swords; they DUELED. OK.<br /><br />Highway = PIKE. Yeh, OK, a term that has fallen into disuse, but OK.<br /><br />To call the DTS "the shakes" is never to have seen anybody in full-out DTS. It is far more than just shakes, my friends. When I was working as a corpsman in an Air Force hospital, we had a guy who was convinced that thousands of huge cockroaches were crawling all over him. Took five of us to hold him down. Shakes is just the "tremens." The delirium part, that's a whole nother story.<br /><br />I did like the STYX/HELL pairing; woulda been great if appearing on symmetrical lines instead of just one line<br /><br />off. So I echo OFL: "Well, it's off." So, taking off for the non-lyric helix and iffy fill, we go with a second straight C+. COMEON, constructors, you can do better. I know you can.<br /><br />475. Just a little...off.<br /><br />spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7547162475763946382014-09-10T01:07:48.505-04:002014-09-10T01:07:48.505-04:00To @ralphbunker
Many thanks for sharing "The...To @ralphbunker<br /><br />Many thanks for sharing "The Dance of the Molecules."<br />Within 30 seconds, the music, attire, and ambience transported me back to my early 1970s days as a student at Stanford. Just like a fountain of youth!<br /><br />Mind blown!Whirred Whacksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6758285313361540542014-09-09T23:01:58.577-04:002014-09-09T23:01:58.577-04:00This 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 5:28, 6:02, 0.91, 10%, Easy<br />Tue 7:28, 7:54, 0.95, 33%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:42, 3:57, 0.94, 17%, Easy<br />Tue 5:18, 5:24, 0.98, 41%, Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3375982149515756852014-09-09T22:22:54.205-04:002014-09-09T22:22:54.205-04:00@Casco Kid
The Dance of the Molecules@Casco Kid<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9dhO0iCLww" rel="nofollow">The Dance of the Molecules</a>r.alphbunkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00657275501845781384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41968060925366489622014-09-09T21:23:46.223-04:002014-09-09T21:23:46.223-04:00Sorry, sometimes I get my MAS and my M&As conf...Sorry, sometimes I get my MAS and my M&As conflated; it must be that small type. Hars all around.<br /><br />@CKid, my knowledge about nucleic acid stereochemistry is pretty dated, but I think RNA life-forms [viruses and such] are thought to be more ancient; they're still around because they figured out how to hijack the DNA-based system, a big plus if you're small and travel light. It seems as if the ancient nucleic acids might all have been single stranded, but then some of them lined up and got up-close and personal, and their bases touched in a certain special way that made their backbones go all curly. Whatever it was made that happen, it was so good for all concerned that they just stayed stuck that way. You see that sort of thing all the time on the NYC subway.<br /><br />Let me know if this helps with future solving. Or anything else, ever, at all.<br />Leapfingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14243620614139990887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74406214006223528092014-09-09T21:18:09.261-04:002014-09-09T21:18:09.261-04:00@steve j
Perhaps the Styx is the outflow from the ...@steve j<br />Perhaps the Styx is the outflow from the Lake of Fire, aka the final Hell. Hades is temporary, kind of like a purgatory before eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire, aka Hell.<br /><br />I'll try google maps...<br />Questiniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06225633428852696530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31607193126497976772014-09-09T20:59:32.021-04:002014-09-09T20:59:32.021-04:00Easiest Tuesday ever for us. C'mon, when you&...Easiest Tuesday ever for us. C'mon, when you're asked to name a "Starter of a dance craze" old CHUBBY is always your first guess. Checked for X in 59a to make sure of the year (with the near gimme STYX) - puzzle essentially done.<br /><br />Twisting a circled suggestion that we do the twist does not require that the encouragement to do the dance be from the original twist song, or any other for that matter. Lighten up.<br /><br />As far as all the crap today ripping Will Shortz - He has to satisfy a couple of million solvers, 19-year-old computer gurus, and 100 year-old lifetime analog cruciverbalists day in and day out. He gets it done and presents us with a good puzzle almost every day. Don't let the bastards get you down Will.<br />Mohair Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16502840715719161565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78874324856228138062014-09-09T20:32:26.952-04:002014-09-09T20:32:26.952-04:00@Leah712 (who btw is not me), are you angry about...@Leah712 (who btw is not me), are you angry about the puzzle answer or about Florida?<br /><br />@CascoK, I dearly want to talk to you about nucleic acid stereochemistry, but there's limits on fat finger typing on a cell. If my Puter ever finishes its malware run, watch this space!<br /><br />HAR! @ M&A, and esPESHally at the culmination of the byline size wars.<br /><br />Shall now eat my soup with a runtzible spoon.<br /><br />Another day when the blog addax immeasurably to the puzzle.<br /><br />L. FingerL Fingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2551263528943438122014-09-09T18:11:23.168-04:002014-09-09T18:11:23.168-04:00@jberg: I had the same thought about the River STY...@jberg: I had the same thought about the River STYX being Hades-adjacent, not Hell-adjacent. However, Dante's has the river in Hell, so I think the clue for STYX actually works in this specific instance, since Hell's clue referred specifically to Dante.Steve Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185067739452052656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64626413532415426872014-09-09T18:00:59.598-04:002014-09-09T18:00:59.598-04:00P.S. MAS's post is hilarious!P.S. MAS's post is hilarious!machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20450635975876018512014-09-09T17:53:40.869-04:002014-09-09T17:53:40.869-04:00OK Tuesday puzzle, but I did have trouble with the...OK Tuesday puzzle, but I did have trouble with the serpentine line not matching the songs.<br /><br />I guess I also agree with a problem with 32 and 41A: when I had the W at 32A I thought of "white water".<br /><br />Clearly a signature at the bottom, Ed. S.!<br />machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22041215723435638252014-09-09T17:43:45.554-04:002014-09-09T17:43:45.554-04:00Sorry, forgot what year it was. Two of the last fo...Sorry, forgot what year it was. Two of the last four: 2000 and 2012.leah712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5419123961059192352014-09-09T17:38:09.013-04:002014-09-09T17:38:09.013-04:00The last region to report election results in two ...The last region to report election results in two of the last three presidential elections was Florida, although that wouldn't have fit. But I'm still angry about it.leah712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66658893847445288852014-09-09T16:06:12.424-04:002014-09-09T16:06:12.424-04:00Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 8/1/2...Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation of my method and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak to my method):<br /><br />All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Tue 7:29, 7:54, 0.95, 33%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Tue 5:28, 5:25, 1.01, 52%, Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41294153829009448792014-09-09T16:01:22.345-04:002014-09-09T16:01:22.345-04:00@M&A
har.
RooMonster@M&A<br /><br />har.<br /><br />RooMonster RooMonsternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89142685861731254332014-09-09T15:31:02.326-04:002014-09-09T15:31:02.326-04:00I call bullshit on a SEPIA being a photograph. No...I call bullshit on a SEPIA being a photograph. Nobody EVER uses it that way. Here's Oxford: "NOUN<br /><br />1A reddish-brown color associated particularly with monochrome photographs of the 19th and early 20th centuries.<br />MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES<br />1.1A brown pigment prepared from a black fluid secreted by cuttlefish, used in monochrome drawing and in watercolors.<br />MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES<br />1.2A drawing done with sepia.<br />1.3A blackish fluid secreted by a cuttlefish as a defensive screen.<br />MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES<br />ADJECTIVE<br /><br />Back to top <br />Of a reddish-brown color:<br />old sepia photographs"<br /><br />Note it says a "drawing." <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3144979490374795592014-09-09T15:10:12.557-04:002014-09-09T15:10:12.557-04:00@leapfinger well, I only saw one strand, and mRNA ...@leapfinger well, I only saw one strand, and mRNA is single stranded, so that's how I made the leap, as it were. mRNA forms super-structures by coiling back on itself, but that seemed a bit much for a 15x15 TuesPuz, anyway. ;)<br /><br />Speaking of nucleic acids and dance, does anyone remember the famous short film Dance of the Biomolecules produced by Prof. Kent Wilson at UC Berkeley in the NINETEENSIXTYs. The young asst prof dragooned 500 undergrads and the entire dance department to perform a semi-choreographed interpretation of the central dogma. Quite a feat. I saw it once. Can't find it on YouTube. It is a classic.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07107804787389636647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86973331557667046142014-09-09T14:50:17.802-04:002014-09-09T14:50:17.802-04:00Ditto!Ditto!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com