tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post5087933185577279990..comments2024-03-19T08:32:59.615-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Moon-landing vehicles for short — MONDAY, Jan. 4 2010 — Highlands denials / Windbag's output / Melville work set in TahitiRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49805602513474214802010-02-09T08:56:58.180-05:002010-02-09T08:56:58.180-05:00Nice Monday fare... my only issue is BREWERY, whic...Nice Monday fare... my only issue is BREWERY, which usually refers to the building, not the brewer or brewing company, even though this use is technically correct. The bigger issue, though, is that Anheuser-Busch is now AB-InBev, but that probably would have thrown people...MikeinSTLnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44667934058513929242010-02-08T22:58:06.233-05:002010-02-08T22:58:06.233-05:00In from syndication-land:
I enjoyed this puzzle. ...In from syndication-land:<br /><br />I enjoyed this puzzle. The theme isn't dazzlingly brilliant, but I thought it was fun enough for a Monday, and I liked the fill. That kind of easy fill is exactly what I expect to see when Paula Gamache does a puzzle. There wasn't a single clumsy solution, and my only objection is that CRONY was clued as a "bosom buddy". I think that crony carries a connotation of corruption that bosom buddy doesn't, and in a corrupt, cronyist system it is possible to detest the person one is doing a favor for.<br /><br />I had no write-overs, but did slow down a bit over the NE of the puzzle, until I finished the central theme answer and then realized that 25A was TOP BANANA.Nullifidianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15207390447020990907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32464677402616432102010-02-08T17:37:14.423-05:002010-02-08T17:37:14.423-05:00"Author" as in "Author of the comme..."Author" as in "Author of the comment."Rex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64672983653251607242010-01-05T14:59:37.523-05:002010-01-05T14:59:37.523-05:00do all comments that rex doesn't like get &quo...do all comments that rex doesn't like get "removed by the author"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45307404998851520802010-01-05T07:18:59.749-05:002010-01-05T07:18:59.749-05:00In honor of this puzzle I'm changing my title ...In honor of this puzzle I'm changing my title to Capo di Tutti Frutti.Capo di Tutti Capinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55322075012088344092010-01-04T23:24:32.122-05:002010-01-04T23:24:32.122-05:00@Sfingi
I copied and pasted the link, then clipped...@Sfingi<br />I copied and pasted the link, then clipped off a bunch of extraneous stuff. So I don't know how you got extraneous stuff in there, but that's what happened.treedwellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12634227778469664442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13205362156643398592010-01-04T23:10:09.101-05:002010-01-04T23:10:09.101-05:00@RetChemist -Thanx, I'd forgotten about the ha...@RetChemist -Thanx, I'd forgotten about the hamster testicles.<br /><br />@Treedweller - I'm so glad someone got to see the Spry link. I don't know what I did wrong.<br /><br />@Elaine - Asimov wrote a short story supposedly in the future, his anyway, in which there were buildings full of vacuum tubes. The transistor hadn't been invented when he wrote it. I love those details since It could have gone that way.Sfinginoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80706171545831075862010-01-04T22:04:56.083-05:002010-01-04T22:04:56.083-05:00This 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 6:37, 6:55, 0.96, 42%, Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:22, 3:40, 0.92, 28%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7769050893758647272010-01-04T21:43:52.645-05:002010-01-04T21:43:52.645-05:00PS. Not that I did not enjoy many of the comments,...PS. Not that I did not enjoy many of the comments, immensely... but the last two were even more unexpected : )<br /><br /> I've learned to enjoy other Sea Bass (e.g. Black Sea Bass) as replacement for the delicious Chilean Sea Bass (not really a Bass as previously noted). In large because of the overfishing but also because I learned that they live to be 50 years old! That factoid seemed to make it really wrong...foodiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13052189131129098616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2022445778083649102010-01-04T19:56:44.341-05:002010-01-04T19:56:44.341-05:00Alright, I read all 84 comments, and they ranged f...Alright, I read all 84 comments, and they ranged far and wide, from fish to shortening to the DaVinci Code. I cracked up at Crosscan's question: was there a puzzle today? But @RC & George in NYC, you guys truly made it all worthwhile. <br /><br />Still laughing...foodiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13052189131129098616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55866590126994370932010-01-04T19:02:10.662-05:002010-01-04T19:02:10.662-05:00@R-C
Leave my testicles out of this!@R-C<br />Leave my testicles out of this!George NYChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11844466463123158982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75587350462554637412010-01-04T18:51:13.287-05:002010-01-04T18:51:13.287-05:00@ GeorgeNYC re hamsters -
My kids, when growing u...@ GeorgeNYC re hamsters -<br /><br />My kids, when growing up, had hamsters for a few years.<br /><br />Oh yes, they have cheek pouches. (Hamsters, not my kids.) Essentially the pouches are pockets of loose skin on the cheeks which allow the hamster to carry a remarkable amount of (almost always) food to secrete it somewhere.<br /><br />Also, males have the most remarkable genitalia - to scale, each of your testicles would be roughly the size of a large cantaloupe.<br /><br />6:49 PMretired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32393865762410259932010-01-04T18:49:55.426-05:002010-01-04T18:49:55.426-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-70779334731153200822010-01-04T17:28:07.917-05:002010-01-04T17:28:07.917-05:00wiki says an AVOCADO is a berry, a type of simple ...wiki says an AVOCADO is a berry, a type of simple fruit. I should probably know things like this without going to google, but I work on shade trees a lot more than fruit trees, and distinctions like this aren't very relevant to care of the tree, anyway. I'm not aware of any AVOCADO trees in Austin (other than houseplants grown from the seeds), and doubt they'd survive here long.<br /><br />@Sfingi<br />thanks for the SPRY link--it solved a mystery of mine. I have a recipe card from my grandmother's box that calls for 1/2 c. spry. Context told me it was butter, margarine, or something like that, but I'd never heard of the product and she doesn't remember it, either. We were a crisco family when I was a kid. Now I stick to butter.treedwellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12634227778469664442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-51745027282803058652010-01-04T17:22:15.970-05:002010-01-04T17:22:15.970-05:00I liked this Monday puzzle and I'm not sure wh...I liked this Monday puzzle and I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because it has lovely words like EMERALD and HAMSTER. <br /><br />Actually I think it's because there aren't any stupid or awkward words. It's just a simple, elegant puzzle. Does Paula do Saturdays? I hope so!Meghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17964374453128401532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46715760912169725412010-01-04T17:22:06.461-05:002010-01-04T17:22:06.461-05:00I'm now close to tears that need to drip into ...I'm now close to tears that need to drip into something, maybe Scotch, but then single-malt, no soda: I'm not interested in the $%^& DaVinci Code or its author--I'm interested in who's the pretty woman in the statue that started it all who's holding a gorgeous male body in her lap. I was intrigued by Rilke's take on Michelangelo, and since I read somewhere that Brown revives the old rumor about Jesus and that woman, I wondered if Brown had summoned Michelangelo as a witness (but that may require more erudition on his part than he appears to possess).<br /><br />But I'm glad you all had fun! Back to my pre-dinner drink...Ulrichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02086202853174403008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77952276426952787652010-01-04T17:03:10.747-05:002010-01-04T17:03:10.747-05:00@Joho
I agree. What some others miss is that it go...@Joho<br />I agree. What some others miss is that it got them THINKING about the subject matter again. Whichever way you believe, sometimes it is good to challenge an idea.<br />And religion is "an idea." <br /><br />@Ulrich<br />If you do drink Scotch, please do not ruin it with Soda.Tinbenihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14661395078047234853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3422585414086244752010-01-04T16:48:28.662-05:002010-01-04T16:48:28.662-05:00I really liked the The Davinci Code ... it is what...I really liked the The Davinci Code ... it is what it is -- entertainment. It wasn't meant to be gospel, for God's sake. Amen.johohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12708487230515532492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8299795411500528472010-01-04T16:38:36.553-05:002010-01-04T16:38:36.553-05:00Was there a puzzle today?Was there a puzzle today?Jeffreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01699404861773455504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7751749624873142472010-01-04T16:36:44.447-05:002010-01-04T16:36:44.447-05:00@Glitch
I would gladly do so, but I have never see...@Glitch<br />I would gladly do so, but I have never seen "The Simpsons" (every time there is a clue, I go "D'OH!" because I learned it in the xwords) or (if it's a show) "Talk Radio." I have read a lot of Isaac Asimov (of the 50's and 60's) but he bases his stories in credible science, so I am guessing I haven't read the requisite fifties SciFi. But I will add those to the Avoid At All Costs list. Thanks! winkElainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13195458656221202202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91835043062531344232010-01-04T16:29:48.677-05:002010-01-04T16:29:48.677-05:00With scotch and soda in hand, maybe @Ulrich could ...With scotch and soda in hand, maybe @Ulrich could read one page of "The Davinci Code" and then wash it down with one poem by Yeats.<br /><br />@georgeNYC<br />you've given me tremendous pleasure today...<br />(@dk pls, no crying in your Kix)andrea just pass(in')by michaelsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67095478629700862312010-01-04T16:21:27.556-05:002010-01-04T16:21:27.556-05:00I'm not of fan of "sounds" clues and...I'm not of fan of "sounds" clues and this puzzle had lots.<br /><br />The American Heritage Dictionary does have slacks (5th entry in the 1st definition of slack) And the Scholastic Children's Dictionary has it as its own entry for slacks (nothing but the best in our household). I've been waiting for the hubby to purchase the OED but this year's reference purchase was for Barrington's Atlas of the Greek and Roman World to aid him while he reads Plutarchk1p2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85302939554719463672010-01-04T16:21:08.477-05:002010-01-04T16:21:08.477-05:00I'm not of fan of "sounds" clues and...I'm not of fan of "sounds" clues and this puzzle had lots.<br /><br />The American Heritage Dictionary does have slacks (5th entry in the 1st definition of slack) And the Scholastic Children's Dictionary has it as its own entry for slacks (nothing but the best in our household). I've been waiting for the hubby to purchase the OED but this year's reference purchase was for Barrington's Atlas of the Greek and Roman World to aid him while he reads Plutarchk1p2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25935327533577532012010-01-04T16:06:49.966-05:002010-01-04T16:06:49.966-05:00@sfingi Gosh. I had forgotten about spry!!!! Gues...@sfingi Gosh. I had forgotten about spry!!!! Guess that's why I'm so spry. grew up on it - also crisco!!!chefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42543392214138070572010-01-04T16:04:57.162-05:002010-01-04T16:04:57.162-05:00This Dan Brown thing is IMHO like the knowledge ba...This Dan Brown thing is IMHO like the knowledge base issue where one person's gimme is another's Wiki... "different strokes".<br /><br />I'd also like to add that pop stuff like <i>"DaVinci"</i>, Family Guy", and the latest randy movie are fodder for xword constructors who in turn provide us with trifles on which to waste our time.Rubehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04773241241484881566noreply@blogger.com