tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post4840370107209550647..comments2024-03-28T12:49:16.793-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: 1962 Neil Simon musical / WED 3-21-12 / Horsehide leather / Southwestern spread / Bees big company in personal care productsRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62762746382059993272012-04-25T17:24:52.792-04:002012-04-25T17:24:52.792-04:00@Diri, I'm impressed, reminds me how amazed I...@Diri, I'm impressed, reminds me how amazed I was when Dick Cavett demonstrated his ability at anagraming! <br />@Sis, Beware of 404!<br />Just failed a robot test. Will give it one more try.DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56706238578919264912012-04-25T16:52:46.853-04:002012-04-25T16:52:46.853-04:00@Diri & @DMG, my gosh, I remember wondering wh...@Diri & @DMG, my gosh, I remember wondering why the lockers in the Baghdad bus station were in Roman numerals. Do you think???Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43521337715050642592012-04-25T16:08:21.029-04:002012-04-25T16:08:21.029-04:00FRIAR was my last word in and it gave me FAIN and ...FRIAR was my last word in and it gave me FAIN and NOOR, neither of which I knew. PhIS (wrong Greek letter) before PSIS and Soir (wrong language) before SERA, continued my streak of unforced errors due my propensity to guess wrong whenever I have a choice between two equally likely answers.<br /><br />The theme and @Spacecraft's comment prompted me to put in my cassette (yes, really) of the soundtrack from "The Blues Brothers" - I never get tired of that music. A few days ago I commented that I wouldn't mind seeing a tribute puzzle to that movie - maybe this was the first installment of a serialized tribute? Other artist who performed include Taj Mahal, James Brown, Ray Charles and Cab Calloway - all puzzle-worthy in their on right.<br /><br />@DMG - @SiS is pulling your leg. In fact, your captcha is an exact reproduction of an encrypted message from from an informant to UN inspectors looking for Saddam Hussein's WMDs; when unscrambled it reads "weapons in cdiv" - if only they had known what "cdiv" meant they would have found those weapons for sure.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21043014470615599522012-04-25T15:43:29.877-04:002012-04-25T15:43:29.877-04:00Not only was this not in my wheelhouse, it wasn...Not only was this not in my wheelhouse, it wasn't on the same boat! Of course I've heard of Aretha Franklin, but what I knew of her was buried, somewhere with the VASES of antiquity. <br /><br />So...this made for a really tough Wed. I did finish, with a lot of help from Google. On the other hand, knew cordovan (I think the color came from the leather, not the other way around). My troubles were extended by some pretty basic spelling mistakes, BRISqETS, PoNhM, SUzANN, NOhR.<br /><br />Forgot that Chuck Yeager was a WWII air ace before he became a test pilot even though I've read his book. BTW - Pretty good read! Tom Wolfe in 'The Right Stuff' covered a lot of the same material.Gingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67548678731761949852012-04-25T14:46:00.123-04:002012-04-25T14:46:00.123-04:00@DMG, your capcha is the Bulgarian National Assemb...@DMG, your capcha is the Bulgarian National Assembly public television station.Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14579659165979595132012-04-25T14:35:56.162-04:002012-04-25T14:35:56.162-04:00Not into Aretha's music, so for a while had &q...Not into Aretha's music, so for a while had "queen of scat", corrected by "bow". But ended up coming here to find what was wrong with "love you babyi". Not knowing Burt didn't help.<br />Is there a program that will rearrange the captchas? I'm no good at anagrams, but sure mine today must represent something: cespanow idenevDMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35840334248955591082012-04-25T14:20:48.163-04:002012-04-25T14:20:48.163-04:00Augh! @Rex, how could you NOT post the CHAINOFFOOL...Augh! @Rex, how could you NOT post the CHAINOFFOOLS scene from Michael? Or at least the THINK scene from Blues Brothers?<br /><br />Oh well. First oddity I noticed was: no central square: we got us a 16er. Nice puzzle; I love ARETHA to pieces. Forgot BABYILOVEYOU for a moment there; thought the leather was spelled CORDObAN and that would make 10d TOBEYOU, and for a while I thought, "I don't remember her doing a cover of 'It Had to be You.'" Then, of course, I realized that 7a wasn't THETOT but THELOT (a chiefly British expression, but quite OK).<br /><br />Mostly good fill; maybe a couple too many UNs (UNPRICED, UNSTOP). Liked the shout-out to U(sain)BOLT.Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85410260679635032912012-04-25T13:46:01.372-04:002012-04-25T13:46:01.372-04:00In the 70s I went to an Aretha concert at Seattle ...In the 70s I went to an Aretha concert at Seattle Center. It was too funny to watch all the guys singing along with her... "when I put on my makeup..."<br /><br />I got the theme from THINK, then changed COc to COQ. Also had DEARest until crosses solved it. SE came last because I had Ken for 45D and have never heard of BURTS Bees. Aha moment came when I realized 48A was SATE, not eATE, and the Wildcats became KSU - OOLALA!<br /><br />@Lawprof, a puzzle themed on JS Bach would be fun. If you like Bach and haven't already read it, try Douglas Hofstadter's "Goedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid," one of my favorite books.<br /><br />Capcha: ecinic pecke. Funny, my doctor diagnosed me with this.Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25062626516148286782012-04-25T11:46:04.261-04:002012-04-25T11:46:04.261-04:00Liked the puzzle, but was really looking for "...Liked the puzzle, but was really looking for "Freeway of Love" to show up. Not there, oh well.Lola505https://www.blogger.com/profile/09249427833942985450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77576429078759141412012-03-22T01:26:51.706-04:002012-03-22T01:26:51.706-04:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post 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 6:15, 6:49, 0.92, 17%, Easy<br />Tue 10:29, 8:51, 1.18, 90%, Challenging<br />Wed 14:31, 11:51, 1.23, 91%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:30, 3:40, 0.96, 31%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 5:12, 4:35, 1.14, 88%, Challenging<br />Wed 7:14, 5:53, 1.23, 92%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88897317368520150092012-03-21T23:38:31.325-04:002012-03-21T23:38:31.325-04:00@Acme...re:
"Harrunph, I wonder when Dr. Fill...@Acme...re:<br />"Harrunph, I wonder when Dr. Fill reads this blog if HE has to prove he's not a robot!"<br /><br />That made my day!! :DTitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81941390501275342992012-03-21T21:53:16.654-04:002012-03-21T21:53:16.654-04:00@JenCT - Thank you so much for the link :-)@JenCT - Thank you so much for the link :-)Kathynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64880684060702174552012-03-21T21:34:53.796-04:002012-03-21T21:34:53.796-04:00JUST. Now realized it's a 15 x 16 grid with as...JUST. Now realized it's a 15 x 16 grid with asymmetric theme answers! I always giveup if i cabt make ' em match, but this shows me how it can be done and so well!<br /><br />I invite people to look at what @rex pointed out with the 12 letter CHAINOFFOOLS crossing the two 14s. Whether you care about construction or not, or are into serendipidity, or the genius of those guys noticing, it's worth admiring.Acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81688293667001026772012-03-21T21:05:45.768-04:002012-03-21T21:05:45.768-04:00Thanks @JenCT!
My pictures that included you in th...Thanks @JenCT!<br />My pictures that included you in the bar the first night were all too dark to show up.<br /><br />I think I made my facebook post public now. Spent the afternoon with my daughter, seeing the Van Gogh exhibit in Philly, and she told me why no one seemed to be able to see my album on facebook.nanpillahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05548473809500612699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79323972089292242962012-03-21T19:42:08.009-04:002012-03-21T19:42:08.009-04:00Here are some more pix:
Tita's pixHere are some more pix:<br /><br /><a href="http://crucimetrics.blogspot.com/p/american-crossword-puzzle-tournament.html" rel="nofollow">Tita's pix</a>JenCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89166359345378935992012-03-21T19:38:58.563-04:002012-03-21T19:38:58.563-04:00@Kathy: If I did the HTML correctly, here are som...@Kathy: If I did the HTML correctly, here are some pictures from the ACPT:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150742621643767.462847.672503766&type=3&l=c835c4d021" rel="nofollow"> nanpilla's pictures </a>JenCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87333037638655554012012-03-21T18:37:22.365-04:002012-03-21T18:37:22.365-04:00okay,
A year or so back I shared my text analysis...okay,<br /><br />A year or so back I shared my text analysis of our blog posts, revealing that Tuesday was the most hated day, etc. Now for round two.<br /><br />The number of posts is positively correlated with the general feeling toward the puzzle. A puzzle that has a meh or even a meh+ reaction gets a statistically significant lower number of posts than a puzzle that is felt to be good or bad (highly subjective blah, blah blah).<br /><br />A side note is the less exciting puzzles have more extraneous post content. You know ... like a dork going about halter tops.<br /><br /><br />This difference is irrespective or as we say mutually exclusive to the day of the week. So even a most feared Friday or Saturday may have the same number of posts as a Monday if both puzzles are deemed good or bad.<br /><br />I knew you would want to know. For those of you who are curious I use a text analyzer that is roughly akin to the one used by SPSS. In a former life or two I used the same tool to analyze your Facebook posts, Twitter tweets and if you were a bad man or woman your letters, recorded conversations and phone calls.<br /><br />TTFN<br /><br />The Borgdkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17317008233459295376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24131161492340751162012-03-21T18:24:53.162-04:002012-03-21T18:24:53.162-04:00Dear Acme, your neck rings are known as "the ...Dear Acme, your neck rings are known as "the necklace of Venus." Make of that what you will.quilter1https://www.blogger.com/profile/09569747169212018177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49288036238986386992012-03-21T17:52:37.595-04:002012-03-21T17:52:37.595-04:00good, crunchy Weds puzzle with lots of crisp, fres...good, crunchy Weds puzzle with lots of crisp, fresh fill<br /><br />big thumbs up<br /><br />Cherry blossoms starting to bud here in NJ, its crazy -- anybody else think winter has one last shot coming?<br /><br />thanks, Peter and Joelong suffering mets fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37252230464691605252012-03-21T17:45:48.363-04:002012-03-21T17:45:48.363-04:00@nanpilla (or anyone else): Where can I go to see...@nanpilla (or anyone else): Where can I go to see the photos from the ACPT? Thanks.Kathynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-735992813581697922012-03-21T17:15:44.199-04:002012-03-21T17:15:44.199-04:00@David - forgot to respond to you about eatern PA....@David - forgot to respond to you about eatern PA. I work in Bethlehem and live up in the Poconos.Rob Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6938945935928831482012-03-21T16:59:50.029-04:002012-03-21T16:59:50.029-04:00$20 for a few puzzles!?
I'll bet if Google, y...$20 for a few puzzles!?<br /><br />I'll bet if Google, you can find bootleg copies. Then again, they might be scanned images of completed puzzles.Trumpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28394987729137902152012-03-21T16:24:08.808-04:002012-03-21T16:24:08.808-04:00Midday 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):<br /><br />All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Wed 14:19, 11:51, 1.21, 91%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Wed 7:34, 5:53, 1.29, 94%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49002213268523805362012-03-21T16:12:40.180-04:002012-03-21T16:12:40.180-04:00Those looking for the ACPT puzzles should not worr...Those looking for the ACPT puzzles should not worry as I'm sure that Will will put them in the NYT. Maybe as a weeklong theme. It might be a while, but I can wait (I can think of better things to spend $20 on).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80865233912627210682012-03-21T16:08:15.930-04:002012-03-21T16:08:15.930-04:00Oh, Tita, I am so touched. Tearing up.
@M&A: ...Oh, Tita, I am so touched. Tearing up.<br /><br />@M&A: In AcrossLite go to Options, then Printing. You can select gray tones for puzz and save ink. I just found it this week myself.<br /><br />@Sfingi: Know of Litte Me because I worked with Patrick Dennis's wife at an ad agency in the '50s. Isn't it your son's birthday? Haven't been to Rocco's for the St.Joseph's yet. They only stay till the weekend.<br /><br />Happy humpday.Sparkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149915526159432838noreply@blogger.com