tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post485199781467419026..comments2024-03-29T01:22:33.864-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Playmate of Tinky Winky Dipsy Po / MON 9-19-11 / Annual celebration on 9/19 / Immature egg cell / California-based oil giant / Onetime money in SpainRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64393931256985983832011-10-25T20:13:40.373-04:002011-10-25T20:13:40.373-04:00ARRg, indeed. Otherwise, liked the puzzle, enjoyed...ARRg, indeed. Otherwise, liked the puzzle, enjoyed learning about FSM (Iwill study up on it more later) but could have done without reading about "woolding".<br /><br />From RPDTNYTCP on this date 5 years ago:<br />- Solving time: 6:40 (or 5:40, I'm not sure) "I timed myself on an analog watch (my beloved Tintin watch, which is super hot but which also ticks louder than the Tell-Tale Heart so can't be kept anywhere near the head of the bed). Anyway, I started at precisely 9:30 pm last night, but when I looked up after finishing the puzzle and checked my watch, I honestly couldn't tell if the minute hand was between the 35 and 36 minute mark or the 36 and 37 (cursed artsy watch with no numbers or minute interval markings!). So I'm erring on the side of slow, since that's more in keeping with past times. But it's possible that this was my fastest Tuesday time ever." Early-Rex needs a new watch.<br />- "Apparently nobody told the good people of the Economic Development Association of Minnesota that their acronym is a cheese. Somewhere nearby, Wisconsin is snickering." After inducting EDAM and STET into "the Crossword Answer Pantheon (CAP!)"<br />- "Man, the things people will say to avoid saying "bullshit!""Occasioned by Fiddlesticks! = PSHAW<br />- " So brava, Gail Grabowski! You Go Girl. (I just said that for the "G"s - the only reason ever to use that horrible phrase anymore)" Early-Rex liked the alliteration of the constructor's name.<br />- "I chose this only to lament the demise of a perfectly good phrase. Thanks, Taco Bell, for turning "good to go" into a phrase that makes me want to kill people." A link to the offending commercial makes it very clear.<br />- "I'll take hot assassins over lumpy dictators (or most Elton John songs) any day."<br />- There were 10 comments including one time-traveler from the future, and this from Rex: "I like to think of "anonymous" as a single person whose opinions about me vary Wildly from day to day."Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-51520286974362466632011-10-24T23:49:08.151-04:002011-10-24T23:49:08.151-04:00Spacecraft here. One of my all-time favorite singl...Spacecraft here. One of my all-time favorite single-panel cartoons is of a pirate, complete with eyepatch, in the optometrist's chair, about to read the eye chart. Naturally, the large letter atop said chart is...<br />well, you know.<br /> Clues I'd like to see:<br /> 1. Jake and Elwood's first stop (PENGUIN)<br /> 2. Yahtzee variation played with colored dice (KISMET)<br /> 3. Typical Mummer's gait (STRUT)<br /> Agree that there's some unfortunate short fill--but interesting longer stuff. I also like the way words in some of the lines go together: BOOTY on one's ANKLE; OVERSEE with a PINKEYE. (Did Kinks' Lola TALKLIKEA HER?)<br /><br />No kidding, the captcha today was sunarer: a fair-weather pirate!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15772130543314904892011-10-24T21:05:20.175-04:002011-10-24T21:05:20.175-04:00@Deb - so I guess you won't be joining the Chu...@Deb - so I guess you won't be joining the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster anytime soon?<br /><br />Hmm, I see my previous post, including the latest chapter of RPDTNYTCP on this date 5 years ago, has disappeared - have I offended our host, do you suppose? Have I broken some blog rule? I'd really like to know. Rex?Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24379459791758326222011-10-24T20:07:45.186-04:002011-10-24T20:07:45.186-04:00I smiled and thought "Oh, fun!" when I ...I smiled and thought "Oh, fun!" when I saw the pirate theme, but am I the only one who sometimes wonders why pirates are so romanticized? I've read a few gruesome news articles over the years about the handiwork of real pirates that makes them easily as frightening as terrorists. I don't mean to be a killjoy, but it's a puzzle.Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16675331024091722316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33260618018291091192011-10-24T15:58:27.321-04:002011-10-24T15:58:27.321-04:00Now see, the Randy Newman connection for me today ...Now see, the Randy Newman connection for me today is "shiver me timbers", which makes me think of "jiggle me tenders" from my favorite episode of Monk.<br /><br />Talk Like A Pirate Day is the greatest holiday ever. No gifts, no relatives, no mattress sales. Just <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejTTJmJSHkk" rel="nofollow">silliness</a>. Of course, every day is Talk Like A Pirate day for my neighbor, who talks like Roberto Clemente.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85396413546364250042011-10-24T11:55:19.966-04:002011-10-24T11:55:19.966-04:00From the syndicate: Robert Newton who starred in t...From the syndicate: Robert Newton who starred in the Adventures of Long John Silver TV show (1955) to me was the archetype of the pirate speak hono(u)red five weeks ago. Not sure anymore what his famous "shiver me timbers, Purity" line addressed to his female co-star was really all about but seemed like great fun at the time. According to Wikipedia, "A West Country native where many famous English pirates hailed from, Newton is credited with popularizing the stereotypical West Country "pirate voice" by exaggerating his West Country accent. Newton has become the "patron saint" of the annual International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19." Aaaarrrrg.Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82762526061869712312011-09-20T00:35:27.092-04:002011-09-20T00:35:27.092-04:00I suppose that "Talk Like a Pirate" Day ...I suppose that "Talk Like a Pirate" Day is harmless enough, but what I mainly used my printed out copy of the puzz for was writing down the contestants' numbers for voting on DWTS's. To each his own.<br /><br />@Ret_Chem: I guess the snake-in-the-house is a Texas thing. We had it a few years ago. Started with birdseed in the house, then mice eating birdseed in the house, then snake hunting mice in the house. Ended with a glue trap. Not pretty, but snakes don't really get to live in the house. <br /><br />Am sending a donation to Binghamton - hope y'all can get dry and warm soon.pknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75909314745348515982011-09-20T00:22:02.500-04:002011-09-20T00:22:02.500-04:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 7/30/2009 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 7:26, 6:51, 1.08, 81%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:51, 3:40, 1.05, 75%, Medium-Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23720920039743688742011-09-19T23:56:18.948-04:002011-09-19T23:56:18.948-04:00How about "Talk Like Educated People Day"...How about "Talk Like Educated People Day" ?<br /><br />or "Think Before You Speak Day" ?PurpleGuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03831764248536980544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67567408459624749222011-09-19T22:20:09.779-04:002011-09-19T22:20:09.779-04:00@ gal-gal - and yet IMO it doesn't. The dictio...@ gal-gal - and yet IMO it doesn't. The dictionaries all seem to imply that a glow is a spontaneous thing, which emission of light from a neon lamp is not. You need to supply energy. That was my point.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1594890605296849692011-09-19T22:08:30.604-04:002011-09-19T22:08:30.604-04:00@ retired chemist....and yet it glows@ retired chemist....and yet it glowsgalileo galileinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78851881128907803852011-09-19T20:50:13.909-04:002011-09-19T20:50:13.909-04:00I have hand-carried chipmunks back to the wild man...I have hand-carried chipmunks back to the wild many times (they don't bite) but Rex's shoebox approach seems equally good, or better.<br /><br />In general, it's pretty easy to get rid of any critter inside your house by throwing a towel over it then grabbing and escorting out. Wash hands and towel thoroughly afterwards.Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02681342234536407419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81031457781161675712011-09-19T18:39:44.152-04:002011-09-19T18:39:44.152-04:00Had ARRg but the HYS changed that. Knew MAGOG, do...Had ARRg but the HYS changed that. Knew MAGOG, don't know why. <br /><br />Sounds as if this Pirate day growing like the big Santa day. Last year there were hundreds of Santas outside my window. Didn't spot any Pirates today. Interesting phenomenon; sort of like flash mobs but not as organized.<br /><br />Enjoyed the solve. Welcome back @Rex. @Tobias. I'm off to read up on Pastafarianism. May the sauce be with you.Sparkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149915526159432838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24662477383502050782011-09-19T18:23:42.408-04:002011-09-19T18:23:42.408-04:00tom waits' shiver me timbers just randomly pla...tom waits' shiver me timbers just randomly played on my shuffling ipod.<br /><br />@whoever is in charge of this holiday - make this its national anthem!hazelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04627015904603641109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83845182800788799062011-09-19T18:21:29.946-04:002011-09-19T18:21:29.946-04:00@Sfingi: good solution to the skunk problem!
@Re...@Sfingi: good solution to the skunk problem!<br /><br />@Rex: my cats have a fondness for chipmunks - once, when one got stuck under the radiator, I tried to pull it out by its tail, which immediately came off. I didn't know they could eject them! Since then, I just try to shoo them out the door (IF they're still alive...)<br /><br />I'll send a donation Binghamton's way...<br /><br />Thought the puzzle was okay, if slightly hard for a Monday.<br /><br />I thought it was spelled LALA.JenCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59099540669599274342011-09-19T17:17:51.803-04:002011-09-19T17:17:51.803-04:00@sfingi: thanks for the advice to Tobias. I should...@sfingi: thanks for the advice to Tobias. I should have been a little more specific...machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6756033750278515812011-09-19T17:03:51.975-04:002011-09-19T17:03:51.975-04:00ARRRR! An error on Monday! The first thing I saw w...ARRRR! An error on Monday! The first thing I saw was the theme, next I threw down Argh for 1A. Then I noticed RAVI so I changed things to ARRg. 4d never jumped out at me.<br /><br />Welcome back Rex! Sorry to hear about the Delta debacle, I've flown into DTW a number of times from Charlottesville VA but then I wasn't connecting.<br /><br />Anyone else notice/dislike the way Blogger is now handling the puzzle grid and other images? I do guess it is a Blogger thing, since it just started happening. Over the weekend I attributed it to the folks subbing for Rex, but I just looked at the syndicated puzzle and it works the same way. At least the videos still work as they used to!skua76https://www.blogger.com/profile/15450051465313263422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90778042354410587072011-09-19T16:59:39.361-04:002011-09-19T16:59:39.361-04:0045 down has that old bromide, "What there'...45 down has that old bromide, "What there's no "I" in" for TEAM, but Hillary Price, clever and thoughtful author of the comic strip "Rhymes With Orange", in a recent strip, offers this admonition from a pictured football player, "But, Coach, there is an "I" in win."<br /><br />FWIW.jackjnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27859302678659995282011-09-19T16:27:31.223-04:002011-09-19T16:27:31.223-04:00Where we live critters are common: squirrels, rabb...Where we live critters are common: squirrels, rabbits, armadillos, feral cats, turtles in our pond, and in fall and winter mice come in to get warm. A never ending battle.<br /><br />Worst home invader by far was a harmless 3 ft. grass snake, which eventually worked his (her?) way into the wall of the master closet under the sliding door. And we had week old puppies at the time - snake might have thought them tasty. But $600 and one sleepless night later all was well. I was out of town so non-puzzle wife managed this by herself. Brave lady!<br /><br />captcha waness - mispelled has only waness so it is misspelled.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30421810737100942062011-09-19T16:25:47.609-04:002011-09-19T16:25:47.609-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1504297337288863132011-09-19T16:24:47.750-04:002011-09-19T16:24:47.750-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26969082344719529812011-09-19T16:06:02.336-04:002011-09-19T16:06:02.336-04:00Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 7/30/...Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 7/30/2009 post for an explanation of my method):<br /><br />All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Mon 7:26, 6:51, 1.08, 81%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:52, 3:40, 1.05, 78%, Medium-Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87738705388924434882011-09-19T15:56:03.609-04:002011-09-19T15:56:03.609-04:00@Sfingi being short is fine, as is being black, ga...@Sfingi being short is fine, as is being black, gay, or any number of other arbitrary qualities that some people stupidly express bias over. <br /><br />Being oblivious to satire can be an indicator of stupidity, but sometimes even smart people make that mistake due to personal issues.medium heightnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90776095364352068562011-09-19T15:55:48.271-04:002011-09-19T15:55:48.271-04:00We had raccoon problems for years. They are very d...We had raccoon problems for years. They are very destructive and loooove to live in attics. They are also filthy and stink. My husband set live traps and over three years got 32, which were released near a lake 30 miles away. They finally gave up and we haven't had them for a year or so. That's me done for the day.quilter1https://www.blogger.com/profile/09569747169212018177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37599441477550145482011-09-19T15:41:45.502-04:002011-09-19T15:41:45.502-04:00@Tobias - but not all the spaghetti; just one nood...@Tobias - but not all the spaghetti; just one noodle. Otherwise, you won't be able to eat any of it.<br /><br />This year I had, under my front steps:<br />1. A cat and 6 kittens. I contacted 2 institutions, The Humane Society and Spring Farm Cares, but they were full up and would charge and then release them back at the same place. Then the cops came and yelled at me. Luckily, a fellow from Pratt rescued them and took them to his farm. I gave him a "reward."<br />2. A skunk. This time I contacted an exterminator who said it would cost a minimum $600. And you need a wildlife license to transport them yourself. So, I stapled wire mesh over the holes, open on the bottom, so he got out and couldn't get back in. We still sniff him occasionally, but farther away.<br /><br />@Medium - so, is being short a vice, or just a stupid thing to be? By the way, I blame it on WWII.Sfingihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06903616949048940858noreply@blogger.com