tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post5317738912213874165..comments2024-03-28T13:27:40.171-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Province of Saudi Arabia / SUN 8-18-13 / Main hood in Little Caesar 1931 / Old-fashioned street conveyance / You Gotta Be singer 1994 / Island group in Bahamas / New Guinea port from which Amelia Earhart left on her last flight / Old-time announcer Johnny / Michael Clayton director TonyRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52740598088478156452013-08-26T11:34:52.846-04:002013-08-26T11:34:52.846-04:00I DID IT ... or so I thought. Now I see that I mis...I DID IT ... or so I thought. Now I see that I misnamed Ms. GARR (who is best remembered to me from her role in "Young Fronk-un-steen") as BARR, which gave me a why-not of BES for the refrigerators. Another _ES answer that had me buffaloed was Super-NES, which I'd never heard of. Got it from the crosses, though. ALER had me scratching my head as I penned it in, but now I see it's that sneaky A.L.-er for an Oakland A.<br /><br />Got a very late start on this one last night because we spent all day in Denver at the final stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Eight laps around the city and for the last three we stood on a curve where the riders literally went right in front of our noses at 30+ MPH. A very visceral experience.<br /><br />When I went to bed, the NE and NW looked like the Gobi Desert, but the morning brought fresh cognition. <br /><br />Overall, I liked this one a lot. Cleverly applied theme with lots of other good stuff and not an over-abundance of dreck.<br /><br />@Dirigonzo: I loved the picture of the METH lab.Cary in Bouldernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9983780837410084622013-08-25T18:48:26.257-04:002013-08-25T18:48:26.257-04:00I actually got the tony gilroy w/ no help- I am a ...I actually got the tony gilroy w/ no help- I am a charter member of entertainment weekly and that allowed me to answer that with no help- Liz has been doing puzzles forever and when I was much younger I always thought she was easy and the clues and answers un original - but this puzzle had some really different clever cool clues and answers- so well doneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4422012441947282702013-08-25T16:19:01.132-04:002013-08-25T16:19:01.132-04:00Al CAPP made cameo appearances in both this puzzle...Al CAPP made cameo appearances in both this puzzle and today's Premier Crossword by Frank A. Longo - could we say the two were INTERBRED? <br /><br />METH lab reminded of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?gs_rn=25&gs_ri=psy-ab&tok=9j42aQefTUc5rKyQJysSMQ&cp=6&gs_id=m&xhr=t&q=meth+lab&safe=off&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.51156542,d.cWc&biw=1195&bih=597&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=CGYaUuiALYissATi0oAo#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=v4FKxdYyPa4f2M%3A%3BvCoVVSXebmDjwM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fimages.sodahead.com%252Fprofiles%252F0%252F0%252F0%252F0%252F0%252F2%252F6%252F2%252F1%252Fmeth-lab-32800680256.jpeg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sodahead.com%252Ffun%252Fhow-do-you-id-a-meth-lab%252Fquestion-1396821%252F%3B480%3B432" rel="nofollow">this picture</a> which might be of my dogs, except I don't have a chocolate lab.<br />Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55573232529693224452013-08-25T15:37:33.449-04:002013-08-25T15:37:33.449-04:00@bonigreg..... I think you're confusing interb...@bonigreg..... I think you're confusing interbreeding with intrabreeding. I too fell for crossbred, however.<br /><br />DNF because I refused to put COORS at 54D (had to be something more exotic) along with crossBRED, so never got BORDER...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91077133367784488332013-08-25T15:16:10.200-04:002013-08-25T15:16:10.200-04:00Similar to @Sarah in NY's experience, I solved...Similar to @Sarah in NY's experience, I solved this puzzle quickly (for me) and cleanly with only one writeover: con before PIT. Otherwise, caught on to the theme right away and basically went on AUTOPILOT and filled out the PERIMETER then worked my way in. Before coming to the post I thought OFL would label this one "easy."<br /><br />I don't drink light beers. It's just a way to pay money for bad breath and no buzz. Especially don't like the taste of COORS beer.<br /><br />Ms. Gorski, good work on this puzzle. <br /><br />Capcha: xpublic. Gone private?Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24960187110178961962013-08-25T13:55:21.146-04:002013-08-25T13:55:21.146-04:00Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! Thanks Ms Gorski for...Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! Thanks Ms Gorski for a fun Sunday.<br /><br />I do the syndicated puzzles and Saturday killed me but Friday and Sunday were great.<br /><br />I was afraid early on that all the proper names I never heard of we going make me DNF but the crosses were so fine I aced it.<br /><br />The last thing I got was RED at the bottom because I forgot I had to add LINE to it and of course it then made perfect sense.BedfordBobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08348600333498878554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1121665636451065382013-08-25T11:54:10.585-04:002013-08-25T11:54:10.585-04:00Back-to-back Berry/Gorski--now there's a RED-l...Back-to-back Berry/Gorski--now there's a RED-letter weekend! Very well done, dense theme, and although in spots IFFIER (!) than her usual, the fill is tremendous.<br />OK, the NE could use some tweaking; UNENDED/RESEE/ELEE, and ALER is an old-time groan, but by and large meeting or exceeding tough Gorskian standards.<br /><br />Besides, a thumbs-up must go to any grid containing the talented and scrumptious TERIGARR. Hand up for DESREE as a WOE; on the other hand Allen FUNT was a gimme for me. Son Peter CARRIESON the show's tradition.<br /><br />I actually found this more mediumish than OFL, so smoothly does it come together. Yes, a bit of trouble cracking the central egg, but once I had "Oh, THAT light!" COORS, all was well. Thanks, Liz--again, and again...spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73451114321990244152013-08-25T01:39:36.889-04:002013-08-25T01:39:36.889-04:00I really don't care if something is hard to co...I really don't care if something is hard to construct; I'd like it to be interesting to solve. No matter how hard it might be to arrange twelve phrases with "line" around the edges, they were totally boring to solve. So the entire outside of the puzzle was a waste of time, in my opinion.paulsfohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07721639286466422944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9847751435520565572013-08-23T03:40:49.652-04:002013-08-23T03:40:49.652-04:00Hi, thanks for this wonderful post! awsome tools!C...Hi, thanks for this wonderful post! awsome tools!<a href="http://soldbyshortsale.com/philadelphia-avoid-foreclosure/chester-county-short-sale/" rel="nofollow">Chester County Short Sale</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487310556533529004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55212901728389815042013-08-19T12:57:23.610-04:002013-08-19T12:57:23.610-04:00In response to earlier question, "dedicated l...In response to earlier question, "dedicated line" is, I think, something like the hotline to Moscow that is supposedly in the Oval Office (or that used to be there). So it's a telephone line specifically devoted to one thing. <br /><br />And when you pack for a picnic, you pack your stuff -- shrimp, too, e.g. -- in ice so that it does not get warm before you get to your picnic location.<br /><br />In unrelated news, this was the first Sunday crossword in my ENTIRE LIFE that I finished on a Sunday, all by myself, every square in the right place, no need to look up anything! I know that happens to most people on this site most of the time, but to me, that really felt like something. <br /> sarah in new yorknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41988079676211295952013-08-19T02:45:00.081-04:002013-08-19T02:45:00.081-04:00@photo Ed: ha ha. I use poisonous solvents like i...@photo Ed: ha ha. I use poisonous solvents like in the good old days.Ellen Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473445503706985149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29200474317255398412013-08-18T22:52:17.182-04:002013-08-18T22:52:17.182-04:00This 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 7:35, 6:09, 1.23, 98%, Challenging (5th highest ratio of 191 Mondays)<br />Tue 9:26, 8:16, 1.14, 82%, Challenging<br />Wed 10:26, 9:43, 1.07, 71%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 15:07, 16:30, 0.92, 32%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 21:15, 18:52, 1.13, 78%, Medium-Challenging<br />Sat 26:04, 25:53, 1.01, 60%, Medium<br />Sun 26:59, 27:42, 0.97, 48%, Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:52, 3:47, 1.29, 99%, Challenging (2nd highest ratio of 191 Mondays)<br />Tue 5:41, 5:00, 1.14, 82%, Challenging<br />Wed 6:12, 5:35, 1.11, 79%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 8:07, 9:30, 0.85, 21%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 11:35, 11:02, 1.05, 59%, Medium<br />Sat 16:51, 16:06, 1.05, 64%, Medium-Challenging<br />Sun 18:40, 19:20, 0.97, 43%, Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61152919543925579212013-08-18T21:28:33.627-04:002013-08-18T21:28:33.627-04:00How does Liz Gorski do it? Very impressive constr...How does Liz Gorski do it? Very impressive construction...<br /><br />Got quarterback protectors right away.<br /><br />@jburgs: Too funny! Let us know how it all works out.<br /><br />@jae, @milford, @r_c: Once my son played the very first B.Bad episode for me, I was completely hooked! We watched all 54 episodes on Netflix streaming.<br /><br />55 is on right now...JenCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6459221551860921382013-08-18T19:55:50.639-04:002013-08-18T19:55:50.639-04:00Once the " line" additive became clear,...Once the " line" additive became clear, I managed to slog through the rest of it except for the middle of the south end. It had to be ONIONDOME, of course, but the Morph--- clue threw me since I had not heard of EME as a suffix. That made LAUDE Questionable ( isn't it plural " honorS" ?) But DOUSER saved me from a DNF<br /><br />Maybe I was in a bad mood but this puzz was somewhat irritating, particularly the clues for DOO, EDDY and NES. I suppose that will always be a problem when there are Los of 3- letter fills.<br /><br /><br />LaneBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20815925620870928932013-08-18T19:09:21.236-04:002013-08-18T19:09:21.236-04:00@shari
As @Carola explained earlier, an Oakland A...@shari<br /><br />As @Carola explained earlier, an Oakland A, short for Athletics- is an American Leaguer. AL-ER.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24781934820534472912013-08-18T18:19:22.650-04:002013-08-18T18:19:22.650-04:00I often disagree with Rex, but this time reactions...I often disagree with Rex, but this time reactions to the the puzzle are similar to his. Had some trouble with the cetner but eventually got it.michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18893795775116399902013-08-18T18:17:55.217-04:002013-08-18T18:17:55.217-04:00Help!?! 110D ALER ??Help!?! 110D ALER ??sharihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11436710086889939627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26691429408618497752013-08-18T17:57:31.128-04:002013-08-18T17:57:31.128-04:00@jackj-
I always look forward to your clever comm...@jackj-<br /><br />I always look forward to your clever commentary on the puzzle. In most cases, I agree with your take, but even when I don't quite agree, I admire your writing skills, your knowledge and wit! Can't say enough!<br /><br />same anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34159141002902257012013-08-18T17:40:27.128-04:002013-08-18T17:40:27.128-04:00For Anon, Lewis and Rob C, from two days ago-
Bel...For Anon, Lewis and Rob C, from two days ago-<br /><br />Belated thanks for the welcoming words.jackjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02699305265544975575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1231452326515956632013-08-18T17:38:28.637-04:002013-08-18T17:38:28.637-04:00Thought this was a fun, clever puzzle; about mediu...Thought this was a fun, clever puzzle; about medium for me.<br /><br />One issue though, 47D Hybridized is just about the exact opposite of interbred. A hybrid organism is the result of breeding outside the genetic line, not interbreeding.bonigregnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5727864187301024772013-08-18T17:22:23.385-04:002013-08-18T17:22:23.385-04:00BIMINI brings back memories of the hard working mi...BIMINI brings back memories of the hard working middleweight of the 1955-65 era who was always introduced as "Yama Bahama from Bimini in the Bahamas"Arthur Mercantenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91970939667339433952013-08-18T16:58:42.195-04:002013-08-18T16:58:42.195-04:00About medium difficulty for me. Yeah, the middle w...About medium difficulty for me. Yeah, the middle was a bit tough to break into. I thought some of the mid-length fill was great. A fair amount of it was add a prefix/suffix (ENHALO, RESEE, UNENDED, DOUSER, IFFIER...)<br /><br />All of the LINES were solid. All in all a fun puzzle.<br /><br />METH LAB today, Bong last week. What's going on here?Rob Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73598238742634938152013-08-18T16:45:51.989-04:002013-08-18T16:45:51.989-04:00I love it when a puzzle gives you an AHA moment. t...I love it when a puzzle gives you an AHA moment. todays did it with "line". <br />thanx to rexfans for the explanation of ALER.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6277476637006187792013-08-18T16:31:37.057-04:002013-08-18T16:31:37.057-04:00@chefwen just copied your coment and sent it to h...@chefwen just copied your coment and sent it to her. Thanks. Now to google your newspaperchefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59215606890880255412013-08-18T16:09:45.091-04:002013-08-18T16:09:45.091-04:00Sorry to go "off topic" - @chefbea your ...Sorry to go "off topic" - @chefbea your daughter was on the cover of the Honolulu Advertiser Travel section today, rubbing elbows with the likes of Anthony Bourdain (her picture was better) I see it was taken from a NYT article, you must be BEAming! Very cool.chefwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03999206352243329280noreply@blogger.com