tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post5970142980594763928..comments2024-03-29T07:47:07.663-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: SATURDAY, May 5, 2007 - David QuarfootRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62346545950036871022007-06-18T15:08:00.000-04:002007-06-18T15:08:00.000-04:00Hi All,Six weeks and two days behind here. This bl...Hi All,<BR/><BR/>Six weeks and two days behind here. This bloody puzzle has been sitting on the kitchen table since Saturday morning. It was a struggle all the way, and I never did get one last letter, the second "E" in REREDOS, a new word for me. (and Firefox, too, as it would seem. My Firefox spell checker has put a red line under it.) I was mildly disappointed in myself that I hadn't been able to infer that a BEL was 10 DECIBELS.<BR/><BR/>The south east fell first, but not without resistance. I was sure 63a refered to Roe v Wade, but "Port vessels" had to be TUGS, and what first name is spelled J_G_? It didn't help that both Lebanon and Libya are on the Mediterranean. I admit to googling for JANE ROE's first name, which revealed DQ's clever vessel treachery.<BR/><BR/>A big hang-up in the S/W was MURKIER for SMOKIER.<BR/><BR/>I had JAL for UAL for the longest time, and it wasn't until A TO B jumped into my mind in one of those heel - of - the - palm - to - forehead moments that BLUENOSE emerged.<BR/><BR/>I had never heard of "Slice" SODA POP. I was an altar boy when they still said Mass in Latin, so ELEISON and KAI were a gimme, although, like mmpo, I was unsure of the spelling. I had ICEBERG for "Shrinking body" for a while.<BR/><BR/>I liked your goulish little punfest, Rex, and DQ, thanks for a weekend of torture. There were no "breakthrough" moments. It was a slog all the way. I loved this puzzle!<BR/><BR/>About Stephen Colbert; do Republicans watch his show, and do they get it? I suppose that they must think they are getting equal time after Jon Stewart. <BR/><BR/>Now to tackle the Sunday puzzle.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30299853548952055542007-06-16T17:16:00.000-04:002007-06-16T17:16:00.000-04:006wlI loved this puzzle! I never got bogged down an...6wl<BR/>I loved this puzzle! I never got bogged down and did it in well under an hour. For me it was easier than Friday's and Wednesday's and yet it was so elegant (and manly). Nothing forced and enough stuff I didn't know (e.g.ELEISON, REREDOS, DOR, LADANSE) to make it interesting. However, I did have a wee bit of help across the top. I'm a big Colbert fan and about six weeks ago he was bragging about being a NYTs crossword answer. I try to remember stuff like that. I like to think I would have gotten it anyway because I knew he was on Time's list (he really bragged about that) and because SPIKETV, PER, HAAS, ORION, and ESOBESO (thanks Rex) were all gimmes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40719825429571872062007-06-16T16:06:00.000-04:002007-06-16T16:06:00.000-04:00First time I saw ululate was in Lord of the Flies ...First time I saw ululate was in Lord of the Flies when the little heathens stamped around like indians ululating...do american indians ululate?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54973405870786707292007-06-05T11:21:00.000-04:002007-06-05T11:21:00.000-04:00True. (Ululation is a high pitched wavering vocal...True. (Ululation is a high pitched wavering vocal sound. It is common in the middle east and northern Africa. It is used to honor someone and can be heard at weddings and funerals.)<BR/><BR/>Cows are ungulates (hoofed animals). This is the probable source of your confusion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41458048955682408202007-05-06T17:10:00.000-04:002007-05-06T17:10:00.000-04:00owls hoot ... people ululate.owls hoot ... people ululate.Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16163475051283615894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53554956470567864232007-05-06T09:37:00.000-04:002007-05-06T09:37:00.000-04:00"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." --From..."The lady doth protest too much, methinks." <BR/><BR/>--From Hamlet (III, ii, 239)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29458135184288522007-05-05T23:16:00.000-04:002007-05-05T23:16:00.000-04:00DQ - Oh, how I wish your "truthiness" clue hadn't ...DQ - <BR/><BR/>Oh, how I wish your "truthiness" clue hadn't been changed, because then I would have gotten Stephen Colbert right away and I would have spent way less time thinking, "What, did I suddenly get stupid overnight?" As it was, I got "Stephen" fairly quickly, but my mind would only bring up pictures of Steve Carell, wrong guy AND not enough letters! Somehow, I don't think of Colbert as a comic, even though he IS hilarious!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77659289596623387572007-05-05T22:52:00.000-04:002007-05-05T22:52:00.000-04:00Rex,Excellent and very "manly" write-up today! I l...Rex,<BR/><BR/>Excellent and very "manly" write-up today! I laughed so hard that I forgot all about the pain I suffered during the puzzle itself.<BR/><BR/>Didn't know BLUENOSE or POLEAXE or BMXBIKES. For Slice, had PORTION and then SECTION. For Nudist's lack, had SHYNESS and then MODESTY. Thought LOONS lived in the Arctic, someone who was Quite Bright was KEEN, and J.F.K. initials were ETA or ETD or maybe ARR. ATM might have been CFO or CPA, FHA could have been TVA or WPA, and on and on.<BR/><BR/>In SHORTZ, very tricky cluing on the DQ.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77973806415640518002007-05-05T20:41:00.000-04:002007-05-05T20:41:00.000-04:00How do I love this puzzle? Let me count the ways....How do I love this puzzle? Let me count the ways...<BR/><BR/>I highlighted My Favorite Entries in this grid, and there are no less than 16 of them. In my book, that's an A+, with a capital A P-L-U-S.<BR/><BR/>I am most definitely a DQ fan on any given day, but when I am Really On His Wavelength, doing a DQ puzzle is a very nice way to start a Saturday.<BR/><BR/>In honor of Cinco de Mayo: muy bien, DQ!<BR/><BR/>MNAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77668548684191331522007-05-05T18:11:00.000-04:002007-05-05T18:11:00.000-04:00Bingo, Orange, that's exactly the context in which...Bingo, Orange, that's exactly the context in which I think of the term. <BR/><BR/>Rock rabbit, I am relieved to know that at least one other person thought of manes. When's the Derby on, I need to check for the exact location, shoulders-wise. ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3458216967026313322007-05-05T17:37:00.000-04:002007-05-05T17:37:00.000-04:00Isn't "let on" more often non-pretend or in the ne...Isn't "let on" more often non-pretend or in the negative? "She let on that she knew the answer" can mean that she didn't hide her knowledge, not that she pretended to know something she didn't. And in the negative "He'd never let on that he had a crush on her"—no pretending involved, just no admitting.Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55501977566977843282007-05-05T16:51:00.000-04:002007-05-05T16:51:00.000-04:00Wendy, we're on the same wavelength. Embarrassingl...Wendy, we're on the same wavelength. Embarrassingly, I didn't key in on the Wade + court connection! I, too, fell for RONALDO after gooogling (I feel like I need to go back and re-read Free To Be You And Me ten times.....) And I was insistently sure of MANES (instead of LANES)! They are between the shoulders in horses and hyenas, at least. <BR/><BR/>In my mind, LET ON is a rarely used colloquialism.... you could use it in a sentence like "he let on that he had forgotten his wife's birthday so that the surprise party was even more of a shock to her".<BR/><BR/>Lots of fun anyway!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74301032979569404802007-05-05T16:34:00.000-04:002007-05-05T16:34:00.000-04:00He LET ON like he was interested but his mind was ...He LET ON like he was interested but his mind was elsewhere.<BR/>Speaking of ESSO, I thought train station, so...Saskatoon or Regina...so SASK was my first tentative fill-in there. Very tentative, as it was also the first four letters of SASKatchewan, which just didn't seem likely.<BR/>Also, FARR was pretty much a gimme, as was AIM AT, but in both cases, the possibility that some unknown answer was eluding me was not absent from my cogitations, and RONALDO was definitely a contender...I also had an ever so brief hesitation on the meaning of FIFA, as we just had the Festival International du Film sur l'Art (FIFA) here in Montreal, a few weeks ago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5996262285546089062007-05-05T15:55:00.000-04:002007-05-05T15:55:00.000-04:00Another thing - why are LET ON and pretend the sam...Another thing - why are LET ON and pretend the same thing? I'm not seeing it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1367176742271582082007-05-05T15:51:00.000-04:002007-05-05T15:51:00.000-04:00Man this was a killer. You know the day's gonna r...Man this was a killer. You know the day's gonna require a massive dose of humility when initially the only answer you can get, without checking, is Chiang KAI-shek. Shee-it. <BR/><BR/>I was pretty sure about STEPHEN COLBERT, but could get no crosses from it so I didn't want to commit to that out of the box. <BR/><BR/>I was one of those who had Ronaldo instead of MIA HAMM, even after googling (what's up with that?) and somehow convinced myself that it was manes instead of LANES since, after all, isn't a horse's mane between his shoulders (sort of?) No, not really. But I was desperate. <BR/><BR/>Basically I "knew" very little here and could infer even less, able to start working the puzzle without help only by googling every third word. I'm always amused by the variety of ways ESSO stations are clued, and ORION was original too. So was DESOTO! We had one when I was a kid, a convertible as I remember. <BR/><BR/>I was sickened by not being able to infer JANE ROE. Guess I've never seen "Henry" Wade before, or not remembered that I did, so it wasn't even close to percolating to the surface. Didn't know Oprah had conquered radio, so thought her "friends" were on Oxygen, but that didn't fit.<BR/><BR/>Well, ya win some, ya lose some. I do enjoy Quarfoot even if it hurts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49720250297001102832007-05-05T15:49:00.000-04:002007-05-05T15:49:00.000-04:00The first time I remember hearing the term MAN'S M...The first time I remember hearing the term MAN'S MAN was on an episode of Mary Tyler Moore, in which they played on the potential ambiguity of the term. <BR/>Within a year or two of that, I went to a music camp and sang in a choir for the first time (I went as a trombonist). We sang Schubert's Mass in G, which naturally included a Kyrie ELEISON. So that was a gimme for me, though I must admit I was not 100% sure of the spelling.<BR/>I can't tell you, Rex, what if anything made this tougher than your run-of-the-mill Saturday puzzle for me. I got most of the way (~95%)through it then got impatient or lazy (or something). I started to peek to confirm and quickly moved to peeking to get any answer that I had to think about for more than a second (when there were about four squares left to fill). ATOB? What's an ATOB? Oh. <BR/>When I came up with SODA POP, I dismissed it and briefly tried SOD CHOP! I also thought UVULATE might be a good word but thought SAVAT (savate? Could be a German word for all I know) an unlikely dinner course, given the cluing.<BR/>Good Puzzle, good write-up. NEON, dudes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57878545078804194892007-05-05T15:17:00.000-04:002007-05-05T15:17:00.000-04:00Had only a handful of gimmes. Thanks to seven yea...Had only a handful of gimmes. Thanks to seven years of Catholic school and Mass, I knew Kyrie Eleison. But it didn't open up enough for me. Even with a couple that Mr. Linda knew, I was at a loss. Googled a few, sneaked a few hints from Orange. Still a fairly blank grid.<BR/><BR/>I gave up -- first time in months that I haven't finished a puzzle. More about that elsewhere.Linda Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15816794362786044423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66508203773874074392007-05-05T14:56:00.000-04:002007-05-05T14:56:00.000-04:00I really meant Mr. Mister, not Dire Straits.I really meant Mr. Mister, not Dire Straits.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42214956872913925852007-05-05T14:53:00.000-04:002007-05-05T14:53:00.000-04:00Would you beleive that I looked at Jane Roe for ab...Would you beleive that I looked at Jane Roe for about 5 minutes before the light bulb went on? To me, the case is all one word "RoevWade." Old enough to remember Chiang Kai Shek and the Latin mass (or was it Dire Straits?)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80952277860520622842007-05-05T14:47:00.000-04:002007-05-05T14:47:00.000-04:00Ah Rexy,Beautiful writeup! Glad you stressed the ...Ah Rexy,<BR/><BR/>Beautiful writeup! Glad you stressed the manly theme - this was in honor of Colbert, the biggest MAN'S MAN I know (and your comment re: veiled homoeroticism is surprisingly appropriate for him!). Incidentally, my original clue for STEPHEN/COLBERT was: Comedian who popularized the term "truthiness" - but I can understand why it got changed, and expected that it might.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, great blogging Rex - always a pleasure to read your thoughts.<BR/><BR/>DQAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5946761635662232112007-05-05T13:05:00.000-04:002007-05-05T13:05:00.000-04:00Since I don't have a TV (and haven't since leaving...Since I don't have a TV (and haven't since leaving home for college in the mid '80's, I really blew this one. MODESTY for "nudist's lack" held out in my grid for about two hours this morning, until I googled 8A. Once I got that, I, too, wanted COG- something for 8D. And until your comment about "wheels turning" I never thought of the obvious etymology of one of my favorite words, COG-itate! Chewy writeup, Rex. Always amusing and enlightening. Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40151857962959202802007-05-05T13:01:00.000-04:002007-05-05T13:01:00.000-04:00This fruity confection was a piece of cake!This fruity confection was a piece of cake!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17912781441475877982007-05-05T12:53:00.000-04:002007-05-05T12:53:00.000-04:00I know nothing about X Games (38a) or Ajman (62a) ...I know nothing about X Games (38a) or Ajman (62a) and had much trouble with those answers, but the toughest mislead of the morning was 56d. I still don't get "tun," and my first answer, "tug," conflicted with "Jane Roe" for a long time. I lost a lot of time in those places. The proper names were my favorite answers -- Stephen Colbert, Rip Torn, and Mia Hamm -- all well known, but only Colbert was immediately apparent. I am embarrased for my gender that I thought the FIFA answer was Ronaldo. My taste for renaissance art and music brought me "eleison" and "reredos."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49361098816903752882007-05-05T12:19:00.000-04:002007-05-05T12:19:00.000-04:00Always love DQ. Today, the bottom fell like a "no...Always love DQ. Today, the bottom fell like a "normal" Saturday for me, but the top was gruesome. Never heard of Kyrie Eleison, Haas or Reredos.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2519146369066803302007-05-05T11:52:00.000-04:002007-05-05T11:52:00.000-04:00"So I'm legitimately curious to see where people b..."So I'm legitimately curious to see where people blew it."<BR/><BR/>i actually got off to a (fairly) quick start. but that sw... 38, 39 & 40d; 62a. knew i was dealing with *some* kinda "bike" at 38a, but not till ms. hamm and "adjan" fell was i able to start bringin' this one home.<BR/><BR/><BR/>j.<BR/><BR/>p.s. my last bike was a raleigh 3-speed.... ;-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com