tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post5029262320197093561..comments2024-03-28T09:22:03.720-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: 1975 Tony winner for best play / THU 7-26-12 / European blackbirds / Sportscaster Scully / Time's 1986 Woman of Year / Pioneering Isaac Asimov book / Unit of length that's roughly diameter of protonRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35600321669996950552020-12-24T05:35:25.751-05:002020-12-24T05:35:25.751-05:00I think it’s literally the last letter of the clue...I think it’s literally the last letter of the clue. Bladehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14861218236665588031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6502584974898963282012-09-29T22:22:17.850-04:002012-09-29T22:22:17.850-04:00Can't really call this one "fun." B...Can't really call this one "fun." But I did complete it without any assistance - though in record long time.<br /><br />Pound mass / pound force blah blah blah: Before the metric system was inflicted on us, mass and force were related by the only gravitational acceleration known: that of the earth. Pounds mass / pounds force - either is a unit in Newton's 2nd Law.<br /><br />Crossword puzzles have gotten to be so gimmicky these days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34748089023956498212012-08-31T06:17:59.486-04:002012-08-31T06:17:59.486-04:00Was looking for AIDS at 4D ...Was looking for AIDS at 4D ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58573645674183291232012-08-30T20:31:24.743-04:002012-08-30T20:31:24.743-04:00@Spacecraft - my first instinct, which I probably ...@Spacecraft - my first instinct, which I probably should have followed, was to let your comment pass without a reply but Evan Williams convinced me, after a lenghty debate, that one of your statements could not be left unchallenged.<br /><br />You are certainly entitled to your opinion of the puzzle and the cluing - I always look forward to your posts to see what you thought of the offering of the day - but when you say, "Anybody who says they did this puzzle without EXTENSIVE Googling I simply do not believe.", you go from legitimately critizing the puzzle to questioning the credibility of many commenters, including me. I assure you I completed the puzzle with NO googling, as I suspect did @Solving in Seattle and many of the earlier commenters who shared their solving experience. We all have days when we succeed and days when we come up short, but a tough day for you does not mean that everybody else had the same experience. <br /><br />Maybe you were just having a bad day, or maybe I've just had too much bourbon - either way I look forward to your comments and criticism of the puzzle.<br />Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4551208662409226272012-08-30T19:03:03.529-04:002012-08-30T19:03:03.529-04:00Too tough for me. TROOP is a VERB???? They trooped...Too tough for me. TROOP is a VERB???? They trooped across the country. Sure. BAH! Have you ever heard it used as a verb? Neither have I. I'm putting this down as a totally unfair clue. Nor have i ever heard of ONACONTINUUM as being "between two extremes." And I'm sure we're all familiar with the good ol' IGNISFATUUS. Anybody who says they did this puzzle without EXTENSIVE Googling I simply do not believe.<br /><br />Besides TAM not being Irish, as has been mentioned, LBS do NOT measure mass, they measure weight. There's a difference. Will, did you police these clues? EDNORTON could have done a better job.Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23781056871868374442012-08-30T16:19:12.588-04:002012-08-30T16:19:12.588-04:00I knew something tricky was afoot when the perfect...I knew something tricky was afoot when the perfectly obvious DOYO[UU]NDERSTAND wouldn't fit into the squares allotted to it, but it wasn't until I got to the MUUMUU<br />OTTAWA cross that had my aha! moment. I would not have found all of the occurrences of the rebus were it not for their perfect symmetry in the grid. This was a marvelous Thursday puzzlewhere even the 3 letter fill was made challenging (PIC for Shot? Oh, yeah, as in a photo shoot - now I get it!) and of course, LBS which the physicists are still arguing about.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53541797731073304842012-08-30T14:46:00.358-04:002012-08-30T14:46:00.358-04:00Joel Fagliano, U hit this one oUt of the baWlpark!...Joel Fagliano, U hit this one oUt of the baWlpark! What a fun, brilliant crossword puzzle.<br /><br />Luckily, I saw EQUUS on broadway with Tony Perkins in the star role back in '75, so I knew a rebus was afoot. I started by putting the extra U with the S. Really caught on to the key with SWIT.<br /><br />Like @Acme, I had Idos before IOUS, and I agree with @Two Ponies that TAM is Scottish, not Irish - my only clue nit.<br /><br />@Loren, I too enjoyed the crossing of MAPLE and ELM, and SSNS and NAMING. Thanks for pointing out SWIT and NEHI adjoining.<br /><br />@SiS lol award of the day to Anon 5:54pm. <br /><br />IGNIS FATUUS should have been the WOTD.Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44910115075170473672012-08-30T13:13:35.925-04:002012-08-30T13:13:35.925-04:00From an old puzzle guy, doing puzzlew over 50 year...From an old puzzle guy, doing puzzlew over 50 years, this is up there with the very best. Excellent work, Mr. Fagliano! And, thank you. Ron DiegoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83945548813555625882012-07-31T14:55:22.039-04:002012-07-31T14:55:22.039-04:00Much harder than the Friday last week, which I bre...Much harder than the Friday last week, which I breezed through. This I had to put down a few times. Took a while to get the theme- got it from muumuu. Kept trying to fit Eddie Haskel in for Ed Norton and thought that had something to do with the clue. For some reason had a Honeymooners brain fart.Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09382385095545716698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20954254216304974052012-07-27T12:22:14.180-04:002012-07-27T12:22:14.180-04:00This 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 6:30, 6:49, 0.95, 29%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 7:23, 8:56, 0.83, 7%, Easy<br />Wed 13:44, 11:47, 1.17, 86%, Challenging<br />Thu 24:54, 18:56, 1.32, 92%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:40, 3:41, 1.00, 52%, Medium<br />Tue 4:21, 4:38, 0.94, 37%, Easy-Medium<br />Wed 7:42, 5:54, 1.31, 97%, Challenging (5th highest median solve time of 158 Wednesdays)<br />Thu 13:31, 9:22, 1.44, 94%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82398727760363269232012-07-27T10:37:40.253-04:002012-07-27T10:37:40.253-04:00I've been working on sort of the inverse of th...I've been working on sort of the inverse of this theme on and off forever (WORLDWIDEWEB spans the grid as UUORLDUUIDEUUEB, with each U in its own box), but props to Joel for great execution on this. I had a simultaneous "oh wow" and "oh damn" reaction when I grokked the theme. I guess I've got at least five years now to keep tweaking my grid!<br /><br />Hand up for trying to make a rebus work with ETHELMERTZ where EDNORTON is.<br /><br />Even as a 19-year-old, I love Perry Mason. Inherited that gene from my dad. We watch reruns on the Hallmark Channel.fvigelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01432477374403343832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68996914011067754942012-07-27T02:40:52.479-04:002012-07-27T02:40:52.479-04:00@Mary Rose — I had one goof in the puzzle (had MEL...@Mary Rose — I had one goof in the puzzle (had MELLS instead of MERLS), and I had used Ws instead of UUs. After trying both Ws and UUs, I eventually discovered the MERLS error, and then had to try both Ws and UUs before figuring out that the ipad wanted the UUs.Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15336260911834780345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13339911460740228662012-07-27T02:11:25.307-04:002012-07-27T02:11:25.307-04:00Ps my other mess up that took a long long time to ...Ps my other mess up that took a long long time to clear up...<br />22A Brief promises? I had "I DOs"...<br />KISS!Aquino Continuum Muumuusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32169495425249698202012-07-27T02:03:38.198-04:002012-07-27T02:03:38.198-04:00So cuul, Joel!!!!
Late ringing in, bec DNF...Neve...So cuul, Joel!!!!<br /><br />Late ringing in, bec DNF...Never got the NW (NUU?) corner...<br />If only I had realized the symmetry of the rebuus!!!! <br />So even tho I changed unES to RUES, I missed EQUUS and stuck with CATS! Triple embarrassment bec I sawEQUUS in 1975 AND Amy AQUINO, is my best(ess) pal from college.<br /><br />Anyway, two years of Latin here, (I mean literally here here, as I'm back in my childhood hometown) but ignorant (ignisant?) of IGNISFATUUS, Plus guessed adPERPETUUM. :(<br /><br />@dk, @sethg, I'm Here in Mpls for a national Scrabble tournament! (Just in case it ever comes up, a D is worth two points!) ;)<br /><br />For those who think they haven't heard of the opera THAIS, imagine the i has two dots over it (or either side?) and i'll bet it will seem more familiar.<br /><br />@Tobias<br />The fact that STPETE and VIN were my first two entries is clearly a sign of the apocalypse...tho I hope not before I see @dk next week!Andruua Carluu Michuulsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9015090997642468872012-07-26T21:34:57.915-04:002012-07-26T21:34:57.915-04:00Beautiful puzzle! I had a lot of it filled in befo...Beautiful puzzle! I had a lot of it filled in before I got the theme at Wyle/in perpetuum. Totally accepting mumu as the correct spelling in the SE did not help at all. <br /><br />I liked the elm/maple crossing as well, but, @Loren, where's the reveal?? <br /><br />Database was a bit of a let-down, I expected something a little more esoteric. Merl = merel in Dutch, plus it is my niece's name. Never new the English word.<br /><br />I'm flying to Portland, Oregon, early Wednesday morning for the Saturday wedding of another niece.<br /><br />Now on to yesterday's puzzle, haven't had any time.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90611597420349986442012-07-26T21:04:59.216-04:002012-07-26T21:04:59.216-04:00I may not be a fan of The Three Stooges, but I sur...I may not be a fan of The Three Stooges, but I sure do get a chuckle out of watching Jiminy F Cricket reply to his own posts. (I trust I'm not the only one.)Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16675331024091722316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58886209116464197092012-07-26T20:07:18.599-04:002012-07-26T20:07:18.599-04:00A similar uu for w trick was just used by Will Sho...A similar uu for w trick was just used by Will Shortz in a Sunday NPR puzzle in June involving adding v and e to a French word to get its English synonym - vin becomes wine.Kimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30057952333549570382012-07-26T19:10:57.234-04:002012-07-26T19:10:57.234-04:00@Deb--The UU/double-U puz you described above does...@Deb--The UU/double-U puz you described above doesn't quite ring a bell. There was an amateur one made by a "Friend of M & A", back in 2011, that did most of that, but didn't use a rebus gimmick and didn't vary the UU=W based on direction. So probably not your fond memory.<br /><br />Lookin' forward to 31's upcoming TuesPuz. An add-NZ puz? Would have to be one of them rush job deals, so probably not. Whatever it is, I know it'll be first class. And unlikely to be a pangram.A little more M and Anoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35254252664175083962012-07-26T19:02:10.543-04:002012-07-26T19:02:10.543-04:00@Z - I had the exact sanme thought - Women of the ...@Z - I had the exact sanme thought - Women of the year was going to be some rebus for Sally Ride, and MIR confirmed it - was delighted about that!Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33395455304199707692012-07-26T18:16:19.074-04:002012-07-26T18:16:19.074-04:00@5.54 Anon
I'm lovin it.@5.54 Anon<br /><br />I'm lovin it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67321534440491221912012-07-26T17:56:18.051-04:002012-07-26T17:56:18.051-04:00if BID means OFFER (which i still dont concede), t...if BID means OFFER (which i still dont concede), then LBS can be a legitimate abbreviation for pounds-mass, despite the fact that some professions would disagree.<br />i wouldnt use it in a scientific journal, but in common usage the clue is correct.<br />when i saw it i cringed and figured the cross reference was to be cute even while making the clue less accurate than it could have been.<br /><br />the bigger clue problem is for ONACONTINUUM, which is not mathematically correct at all.<br /><br />but hey, im just happy i finished this with only 1 letter wrong - that damn S.Numbers Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15073498950619150459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22028179050154192532012-07-26T17:54:22.782-04:002012-07-26T17:54:22.782-04:00Posting here as anonymous
Might place you ONACONTI...Posting here as anonymous<br />Might place you ONACONTINUUM<br />Somewhere between cowardly<br />and lazy at a minimum<br /><br />Rex won't read ya'<br />You're a persona non grata<br />Not that there's anything wrong with that<br />Yadda, yadda, yadda...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91617353149945157132012-07-26T17:42:22.759-04:002012-07-26T17:42:22.759-04:00We've got a real race here! Will there be more...We've got a real race here! Will there be more comments about pounds, force, and mass? Or about how obscure "Thais" is or is not? They're neck and neck!<br /><br />It took me until MUUMUU to get the theme, partly because I was thinking IGNIS FATUa or FATUi or something like that. Also had unES, like everybody ese, apparently - and REcall before REHIRE. So it was tough for me - and I finished with an error, due to not knowing SWIT and to looking at DO YOU NDERSTAND and not noticing that a U was missing. Also, I didn't know VIN Scully, and had OUTPACEd instead of OUTPACES, for no good reason, so I ran the alphabet on _EDT a couple of times before I finally realized the D should be an S.<br /><br />Conclusion: a great, challenging puzzle, and I should improve my skills.jberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02169065390875378077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89022268619265307112012-07-26T17:38:15.457-04:002012-07-26T17:38:15.457-04:00I agree, Rex, about Erle Stanley Gardner--I've...I agree, Rex, about Erle Stanley Gardner--I've always enjoyed his succinct style and minimal yet vivid descriptions. I'm glad to have an English prof's endorsement for the Perry Masons!KarenSampsonHudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12072958906391798661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8434157670462272692012-07-26T16:40:49.333-04:002012-07-26T16:40:49.333-04:00What a great week of puzzles! I love a puzzle tha...What a great week of puzzles! I love a puzzle that fires up my brain, as this one did.Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.com