tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post5551321627783173571..comments2024-03-28T09:07:44.866-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Pulitzer winning biographer Leon / THU 6-26-14 / 2008 action thriller with Liam Neeson / Blues rocker Chris / Radiant light around head / Quimby Beverly Cleary heroine / Reagan cabinet member who was previously counselor to the presidentRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35911102168303421362015-06-19T20:01:09.998-04:002015-06-19T20:01:09.998-04:00I liked seeing
ONO
NON
together as part of ONO ...I liked seeing<br /><br />ONO<br />NON <br /><br />together as part of ONO and LENNON. I never noticed that their endings meshed like this.<br /><br />That is all.Steve O.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13905833445106549609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61115554801972127712014-07-31T16:01:17.346-04:002014-07-31T16:01:17.346-04:00Even with IN BED in place and BROKERED staring at ...Even with IN BED in place and BROKERED staring at me from the grid it took a while for the light to go on so I could see Al ROKER in bed - come to think of that's not something I would ever want to see. Anyway, with that revelation in hand I went merrily around the grid filling in the "B"s and "ED"s for the starred clues and I was so happy even ED MEESE couldn't bring me down. I think we have not seen Pawel Fludzinski ERE NOW, so a NYT debut, perhaps?<br /><br />I wonder where an OAT SEED stands in relation to a hay seed on the rural social ladder?<br /><br />644 - I'll join @DMG on the sidelines.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45703725272185471142014-07-31T15:45:13.159-04:002014-07-31T15:45:13.159-04:00Got the idea at BRANCHED, and the rest was a fairl...Got the idea at BRANCHED, and the rest was a fairly smooth solve, strange words and all. Hit two Naticks. One at sq.56 where I knew neither the rocker or the heroine, but correctly guessed "R." The other, sad to say, at sq. 23. No idea about the "action thriller" (movie? book? TV show?) I tried "R" again, noting that rAP must be one of those things I'm not aware of. DUH! And on to tomorrow!<br /><br />205, so I'm out againDMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63245041554955620532014-07-31T11:16:28.988-04:002014-07-31T11:16:28.988-04:00Didn't like it. Too many -ER and -ED entries. ...Didn't like it. Too many -ER and -ED entries. Yes, I know -ED figures into the theme, but even outlying we have SCREAMED, PAROLED, OATSEED (?!) EDEL and EDDY, not to mention that old standby EDMEESE--whose more and more frequent appearance in crosswords is turning him into a cliche. At least we got his whole name this time.<br /><br />But SOARERS? ALERTER?? Yeesh. Too much of that stuff. Other fill is no better: ABOO??? C'mon, man.<br /><br />Some like the AURICLE/AUREOLE column; not me. Too similar. Cluing nit: AWS are NOT cribside "cries." You do NOT "cry" "AW."<br /><br />A few likes: John and YOKO INBED, and a timely plug for the new hot series RECKLESS. Not nearly enough to save this baby. A Peppermint Patty special: D-.<br /><br />10655: 8, the poor man's natural.spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38969654223575541742014-06-26T21:55:49.043-04:002014-06-26T21:55:49.043-04:00@anonimust -- your reasoning is as good as mine, a...@anonimust -- your reasoning is as good as mine, and so is your answer! And yours took more work! WTG!Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21961413342353611302014-06-26T20:28:36.651-04:002014-06-26T20:28:36.651-04:00I'm a little late to the game here. I got the...I'm a little late to the game here. I got the theme right away, so filled in all the BEDs and continued to solve. No Googles - so I'm a happy camper for a Thursday.Arlenehttp://www.listeningclosely.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35330512295978319682014-06-26T18:57:30.738-04:002014-06-26T18:57:30.738-04:00Baseball is played in series of games. If one team...Baseball is played in series of games. If one team wins all three or four games in the series it is called "sweeping" the series. To say the losing team was BROOMED is not uncommon. It is also common in basketball and hockey play off series. You will even see fans with brooms in the stands at times. Perfectly legit.Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-51247358039014581252014-06-26T18:40:25.548-04:002014-06-26T18:40:25.548-04:00In (weak) defense of BROOMED, as a curler, I actua...In (weak) defense of BROOMED, as a curler, I actually used that word all the time. "Broom" as a verb is where the skip places the broom on the ice to give the person throwing the stone a target. As in "I broomed the last shot just outside the eight foot, with the hopes that it would curl around the guard, but Barb was narrow and it crashed. Now that the guard's gone, I think if we try brooming it at the same spot, it should work this time." <br /><br />I said that almost verbatim last night.<br /><br />Which is not to say that this makes it a particularly good entry for this puzzle... but it is a real word in my circles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30164516558984665792014-06-26T18:16:04.757-04:002014-06-26T18:16:04.757-04:00Yup, @wreck and I had the same thought (for a whil...Yup, @wreck and I had the same thought (for a while), to create a palindrome using an entry as the first half, rather than just looking for an existing palindrome.<br /><br />Though I'll have to look up FLEER...anonImustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9840563470832944452014-06-26T18:05:34.930-04:002014-06-26T18:05:34.930-04:00@Lewis, I misunderstood the initial premise. I was...@Lewis, I misunderstood the initial premise. I was looking for an entry like 'senile', that when reversed ('elines'), could take some starting letter (like 'f') that made a real word...and thus get the palindrome.<br /><br />So I came up with ORE ZERO or ORE HERO!anonImustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75502473082498572322014-06-26T17:08:02.413-04:002014-06-26T17:08:02.413-04:00@ Lewis
I had NOON at first, then talked myself o...@ Lewis<br /><br />I had NOON at first, then talked myself out of it because of the extra "F" in SENILE F ELINES. I went back to LEER spell, it backwards and get REEL (add an "F") and you get a real word FLEER. <br /><br />I think I waaaay over think things!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72672432202212365862014-06-26T16:53:18.760-04:002014-06-26T16:53:18.760-04:00SERA, not serums!!!!SERA, not serums!!!!Sandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13047772804363984264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56166161145712653982014-06-26T16:47:25.825-04:002014-06-26T16:47:25.825-04:00Post Puzzle Puzzle solution:
"Senile feli...Post Puzzle Puzzle solution: <br /><br /><br />"Senile felines" is a palindrome, and the only palindromic answer in today's puzzle is NOON, so O is the correct answer.<br /><br />@wreck and @sirhillary -- WTG!<br /><br />@anonimust -- curious as to how you got your answer...Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82172399738273899862014-06-26T16:46:19.557-04:002014-06-26T16:46:19.557-04:00I didn't jump up and down with joy over this p...I didn't jump up and down with joy over this puzzle, but it was better than Rex thought. None of the starred clues made any sense, of course, until I found the revealer at 40-A, and then the rest of it came pretty quickly.<br /><br />I agree with SeniorLyn that the clue for ROUNDER is a rather narrow one. Old country music songs, especially from the 1930s, give the impression that a rounder is a general ne-er-do-well. Heavy drinker, yes, but also a shiftless coot who runs through money in a hurry, chases women, gambles, and wanders from place to place, and I don't know what-all. Some of the stories about him might be exaggerations, but I always think of someone like Charlie Poole of the North Carolina Ramblers string band as being the perfect representative of a rounder.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50958860889542438182014-06-26T16:45:52.432-04:002014-06-26T16:45:52.432-04:00I was with @kerfuffle & @jdv in 1st using STEe...I was with @kerfuffle & @jdv in 1st using STEelE for STERNE. The gimmick was easy to figure, though. I groaned over OATSEED & ALERTER, but wth it's a crossword. But I'm surprised there wasn't more objection to SOARERS.Fred Romagnolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11994837736408182418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40167685191566852662014-06-26T16:44:27.556-04:002014-06-26T16:44:27.556-04:00@ Lewis
Now I have talked myself into "E&quo...@ Lewis<br /><br />Now I have talked myself into "E" -- I'm thinking I should just quit!! ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25130907062856306192014-06-26T16:34:29.620-04:002014-06-26T16:34:29.620-04:00Midday 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 and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak to my method):<br /><br />All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Thu 15:16, 17:32, 0.87, 24%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Thu 10:32, 10:41, 0.99, 45%, Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68510456188805348662014-06-26T16:13:00.245-04:002014-06-26T16:13:00.245-04:00I made the same mistake as @Res. I also originally...I made the same mistake as @Res. I also originally had siren for Maggie May until I realized it was side BAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57418160918348724222014-06-26T16:06:03.752-04:002014-06-26T16:06:03.752-04:00Medium Thursday for me, with a couple of barbs. I ...Medium Thursday for me, with a couple of barbs. I was so committed to Bruhaha at 11D that it took me a little while to get out that corner. I looked for the reveal right away (good advise from a constructor years ago) so that part was easy.<br /><br />My biggest problem was 35A because I read "patron" as paTRON and was looking for a term for that.<br /><br />Decent Thursday, all in all.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66826244922785811632014-06-26T15:54:41.849-04:002014-06-26T15:54:41.849-04:00@Lewis
I think it is "O" as well.@Lewis<br /><br />I think it is "O" as well. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22569562095501269332014-06-26T15:39:10.605-04:002014-06-26T15:39:10.605-04:00I got the reveal right away and immediately though...I got the reveal right away and immediately thought of the practice of adding it to the end of a fortune cookie message as we see in Rex's picture number 3—although, rather than add "in bed," we used to add the words "between the sheets".Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17459992224851404501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33153884939908239082014-06-26T15:28:18.295-04:002014-06-26T15:28:18.295-04:00@Lewis - O@Lewis - OSir Hillaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09984338030622316296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61952012272643697882014-06-26T15:13:28.113-04:002014-06-26T15:13:28.113-04:00Short word, @Lewis? EShort word, @Lewis? EAnonImustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4521005249689918812014-06-26T14:19:44.165-04:002014-06-26T14:19:44.165-04:00I loved the clue for DRUMSET, not fond of OATSEED ...I loved the clue for DRUMSET, not fond of OATSEED or ALERTER. My last section to go was the NE. For a while I had Uris instead of EDEL, which didn't help. This was a good workout. Not a wow theme, but as with most if not all things in life, the wows come spaced apart.<br /><br />POST PUZZLE PUZZLE (PPP™): This PPP is much like the one from Saturday, but I posted that very late and I don't think many saw it. So here is a redux, based on today's puzzle --<br /><br />One answer in this puzzle is like senile felines. Which is it? If you wish to post it, so as not to give the answer away, just post the third letter.Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86746034329400899312014-06-26T14:01:57.067-04:002014-06-26T14:01:57.067-04:00@Leapfinger That was a good one!! Hope everyone wi...@Leapfinger That was a good one!! Hope everyone will remember Wen to say Bea!!!chefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.com