tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post66743308295558637..comments2024-03-29T09:57:04.522-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: 1968 hit song spawned 1978 movie 1981 TV show / MON 8-17-15 / Gucci alternative / Bit of textspeak unshortened / Mysteries starting with Tower Treasure House on Cliff / Pueblo brick / Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85683488992532100792015-09-22T12:06:45.386-04:002015-09-22T12:06:45.386-04:00.....and all letters of the alphabet were used.....and all letters of the alphabet were usedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53195200353988134662015-09-21T11:49:18.973-04:002015-09-21T11:49:18.973-04:00Even with cluing SILLS and ADOBE (and perhaps BEAM...Even with cluing SILLS and ADOBE (and perhaps BEAM and ITO) as common words, is there no limit on how many proper nouns are allowed in a puzzle??? And almost nobody finds that disturbing??<br /><br />Because I guess that featuring puzzle words isn’t enough and a comment or two must be required. <br />JOE GETS UGLY<br />It seems HARSH to be lumped in with those RASCALs, DRUNKS and DEBTORS,<br />So ALOHA, UNPLUG me, SARI, but I’ll see you in the future ORR the PASTURE.<br />--- KUBLA EZRA ETNA ALFA URSA OZAWA<br />today’s stream of unconsciousness brought to you by a non-HARVARDGRADUATE<br />And the faux author’s name(s) are only those ending in “A”. Doesn’t anyone care??? Will? Rex? Anyone?? <br />I was actually making that point without saying it directly. Am I the only one who GETS it?<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64508523313130541942015-09-21T10:54:33.737-04:002015-09-21T10:54:33.737-04:00"Several" proper nouns? Let's break ..."Several" proper nouns? Let's break it down--across only:<br /><br /> 1. actual word<br /> 5. NAME<br /> 9. NAME<br />14. brand NAME (partial)<br />15. place NAME<br />16. NAME<br />17. NAME (but to be fair, an actual word at the end)<br />20. brand NAME<br />21. RRN*<br />22. actual, but overused, word<br />23. see 22<br />25. NAME<br />27. NAME<br />35. NAME<br />36. foreign word<br />37. two-word run-on<br />38. NAME<br />41. foreign article<br />43. brand NAME<br />44. NAME......<br /><br />OK, I'm getting tired. Talk about no-win: I finally find a puzzle I can finish--and I wish I hadn't. The theme was cute but not earth-moving, and the fill! Sometimes I don't understand OFL. He is obviously very good friends with the constructor or else he would have 62-down that fill to shreds. A Peppermint Patty special: D-.<br /><br />* Curiously, that exact RRN, XCI, is found in yesterday's LA Times puzzle--as well as the written-out SWEEPEA. Did someone do that grid and then build this one?<br /><br />spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38362122823131068502015-09-21T10:23:22.201-04:002015-09-21T10:23:22.201-04:00What a surprise to have an Acme puz on a Monday. S...What a surprise to have an Acme puz on a Monday. She even slipped her moniker into the clues. I suppose most solvers won’t get it. Except here. And of course OFL’s write-up does everything it can to disparage her, or at least divert attention. Finished with usual Monday EASE.<br /><br />On this date in 1968 HARPERVALLEYPTA hit No. 1; heard that on the way to work. Nice coincidence.<br /><br />JESSE James (Decker), country-pop super yeah baby. Married to former Cold Spring, MN Gopher turned NFL star wide receiver.<br /><br />DEB KERR, yeah baby from here to eternity.<br /><br />ROSIE and SHERRI not so much, but one atop another in the puz, paints quite a picture. LOL?<br /><br />IRV Cross ended up working in MN after the NFL announcing gig.<br /><br />HARmless Mon-puz from Ms. TIPTOP.<br />rondonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13488379706378084642015-09-21T10:16:14.226-04:002015-09-21T10:16:14.226-04:00JOE GETS UGLY
It seems HARSH to be lumped in with...JOE GETS UGLY<br /><br />It seems HARSH to be lumped in with those RASCALs, DRUNKS and DEBTORS,<br />So ALOHA, UNPLUG me, SARI, but I’ll see you in the future ORR the PASTURE.<br /><br />--- KUBLA EZRA ETNA ALFA URSA OZAWA<br /><br />today’s stream of unconsciousness brought to you by a non-HARVARDGRADUATE<br />Burma Shavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68374249410947631952015-08-17T22:08:15.768-04:002015-08-17T22:08:15.768-04:00Made my first ever attempt at a unidirectional sol...Made my first ever attempt at a unidirectional solve. Probably a tactical error to go for across-only. Still, made a good showing but was undone by several proper nouns (OZAWA, ROSIE, SHERRI) and HARDY BOYS _____. Needed to go to the downs for those areas.<br /><br />SILLS AND JOE gave me HARDY BOYS SERIES, but I still needed SWEE to gat OZAWA.<br /><br />HARSH, ALOHA AND IRV gave me ROSIE, but still needed RISER to get to SHERRI - a definite WoE for me.<br /><br />I found it an interesting exercise, and in general I think it will be a good way to inject some life into some duller Mondays. Don't think I'm up to trying it any later in the week.<br /><br />Very cute theme. I missed the full extent - thinking it was just HAHAHA.<br /><br />kitshefnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56307348488975359862015-08-17T20:31:45.598-04:002015-08-17T20:31:45.598-04:00Tiptop puzzle ACME; I smiled the whole time I was ...Tiptop puzzle ACME; I smiled the whole time I was solving it, and then I came here (LOL). <br /><br />@Leapy, I only consider William Carlos Williams-Sonorous when I have some extra money to spend on overpriced kitchenware. <br /><br />Everyone (but I think especially @Leapy -- "I never joined a sonority" is wet-my-pants funny) thank you for the extraordinarily clever comments. Ellen Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473445503706985149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66658827493120688102015-08-17T20:31:38.092-04:002015-08-17T20:31:38.092-04:00I only had one issue with this crossword. ELKS is ...I only had one issue with this crossword. ELKS is not the plural of elk. ELK is. Mike Reeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12348423514499308808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66010256404043157312015-08-17T19:45:42.733-04:002015-08-17T19:45:42.733-04:00Wow! Mrs. Sam did the puzzle solo today so I almo...Wow! Mrs. Sam did the puzzle solo today so I almost didn't come here - would have missed Lollapuzzoola write-up. Neat stuff @Rex, felt like I was there with you - you should drink more. Golfers will recognize your Phil Mickelson leap, btw.<br /><br />All this chatter about Binghamton State is actually theme related - as the school sprang from HARpur College, which still exists there.<br /><br />Anybody here besides me and @Nancy who didn't know Newman, Woodward, or Redford?Mohair Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16502840715719161565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44728890511667073652015-08-17T19:28:40.424-04:002015-08-17T19:28:40.424-04:00Lovely puzzle today. My LOL stopped at HA HA HA so...Lovely puzzle today. My LOL stopped at HA HA HA so finding the HARDY HAR HAR when I got here was a bonus.<br /><br />I'm sure that someone else whose comment is in the posting wings will comment on this (my ITO aha was certainly spoken of way before I got here) but I liked ALF And ALFA, and ALEE, ALI and (V)ALLEY.<br /><br /> SEERED is a nice DOOK, the verb of what a SEER does?<br /><br />The HARPER VALLEY PTA album by Jeannie C Riley was a hoot. Several songs on it featured the stories of the people called out as hypocrites in the PTA meeting that Momma crashed. My neighbors owned it and we wore it out when we were kids.<br /><br />Thanks, Acme and congrats on the #50.Teedmnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12832353448839187816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40698716028970061392015-08-17T19:22:49.497-04:002015-08-17T19:22:49.497-04:00The streak continues! I enjoyed the puzzle, finish...The streak continues! I enjoyed the puzzle, finishing in a little over twelve minutes. Thanks to the folks giving Kubla Khan attention. I love that poem, and would amaze students complaining about memorizing verse by quoting the first few lines which I learned in 1975, forty (!) years ago. That and "Annabel Lee" would leave kids slack-jawed.<br /><br />"Yellow lol." Must have been an echo. bwalkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11171297580941770571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35769241071823846392015-08-17T18:11:52.888-04:002015-08-17T18:11:52.888-04:00@Aketi --
Once again, I did not mean to denigrate...<br />@Aketi --<br /><br />Once again, I did not mean to denigrate, and apologize if it came off to you as such.<br /><br />Sorry I mis-spelled Binghamton, thinking of "Hampton," I guess. <br /><br />When it comes to public schools in NY, places like Stony Brook and several of Cornell's specializations come to mind, but frankly Binghamton -- to me-- just isn't top-of-mind. Among non-New Yorkers, I suspect I'm not alone. Sorry, just the facts, ma'am, didn't mean to offend.<br /><br />Speaking of big research bucks for upstate NY universities, I seem to recall that Rensselaer recently got a several-hundred million dollar grant from an anonymous donor to beef up its biotech program, one of several such unrestricted grants totaling over $1b in the past decade.<br /><br />I was unaware of the term "Public Ivy," so I just googled it. The first hit says that the term was originally coined by a guy named Richard Moll in a 1985 book, listing ten institutions and another 10 as "worthy runner-ups', one of which was SUNY Binghampton. Since that was the only NY institution in this 20, I guess it's fair to say it's the best NY Public Ivy, so you're right on that point; I stand educated.<br /><br />And yes, I did mean the University of California System and was remiss in not so specifying.<br /><br /><br /><br />Wm. C.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90759123499089631982015-08-17T18:02:29.952-04:002015-08-17T18:02:29.952-04:00@rex I see you've edited your explanation of t...@rex I see you've edited your explanation of the theme :) makes me feel smart LOL.Music manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12461992972280438819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26572308121203872372015-08-17T16:54:58.963-04:002015-08-17T16:54:58.963-04:00@Rex: Feel free to delete this OT response to an O...@Rex: Feel free to delete this OT response to an OT comment, but its in defense of Binghamton.<br /><br />@WmC <br />I didn't make up the fact that Binghamton (without a "p") is actually classified as a "Public Ivy" on all the lists of "Public Ivies" I've seen. It is typically ranked as number 1 in New York State. It also has received a large amount of new research funding and has new equipment for many of its lab facilities. <br /><br />There are two types of California Universities - the University of California system and the California State Universities. I would imagine you meant the former. Aketihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07059835429995060000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61004236328474139242015-08-17T15:32:49.766-04:002015-08-17T15:32:49.766-04:00Oh, Nancy, as someone new to the blog, you must ha...Oh, Nancy, as someone new to the blog, you must have missed the story of my dinner with John Travolta . . . Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18791783145876416532015-08-17T15:03:27.174-04:002015-08-17T15:03:27.174-04:00Who says White Men Can't Jump? Rex has a good...Who says White Men Can't Jump? Rex has a good 2" vertical going there, maybe 3". Awesome!Wesley Snipesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57093540366599148272015-08-17T14:40:39.869-04:002015-08-17T14:40:39.869-04:00@Leapy -- your comment hadn't appeared when I ...@Leapy -- your comment hadn't appeared when I typed my last post or I would have answered you then, re Williams. The answer is, no I don't consider him sonorous. That doesn't mean he doesn't have beautiful and original things to say, nor does it mean he fails to say them beautifully and originally. But sonority implies a musicality that I think is absent from his work. (I'm sure one could find exceptions, but in general.) Both the lines you quoted are very arresting lines, very strong lines, very memorable lines, but neither would I think of as musical. That said, I can see why you love his work. Sonority isn't the ONLY measure of a poet; it just happens to be the one that matters most to me.Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16737377749030219974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81295281713484574002015-08-17T14:26:03.046-04:002015-08-17T14:26:03.046-04:00So, yes, here in NYC we have Eataly and the Empire...So, yes, here in NYC we have Eataly and the Empire State Building and Candela 79 and all that, but in Westport, everyone's running into Newman, Woodward and Redford and having close-up encounters and finding them lovely people. Sigh. I may have to move to Westport. I almost never see anyone famous in NY. (Of course, I usually am lost in my thoughts and not noticing much of anything around me.) One of my rare sightings was of Vladimir Horowitz on the UES maybe 15 years ago. He was with his wife. They were sitting on a bench outside The Jewish Museum. I'm awkward around celebs. I never know what to say. Despite that, I walked up and said hesitantly: "Excuse me, but by any chance are you--" Not letting me finish, he barked back: "NO, I'M NOT!!!"<br /><br />Oh, and Aketi -- good luck to your son in his college tours and applications.Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16737377749030219974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15767607482735883922015-08-17T14:25:00.176-04:002015-08-17T14:25:00.176-04:00@Aketi (and Rex). --
A bit OT, perhaps....
No di...@Aketi (and Rex). --<br /><br />A bit OT, perhaps....<br /><br />No disrespect intended, but Binghampton is rated by US News as number 38 among US public Universities Since there are only 8 Ivies, calling it one of the "public Ivies" seems a bit of a stretch. The 8 Ivies are all ranked in the national top 16, and 4 hold the top 4 slots.<br /><br />To be fair, though, there are hundreds of public colleges and universities in the US, so being ranked number 38 is pretty good. <br /><br />Interestingly (to me, anyway) six of the top 11 universities are in the California University System, and others near the top include the likes of Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Virginia, and William&Mary -- so there's a ton of very high-quality competition at the top.Wm. C.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80630279176875171102015-08-17T14:05:54.612-04:002015-08-17T14:05:54.612-04:00Very EZ and cute.
Liked cluing TAUT Andy HARDY BOY...Very EZ and cute.<br />Liked cluing TAUT Andy HARDY BOYS SERIES.<br />Very little CrosswordEASE.<br />Thanks ACMCharles Flasterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16588962898277593533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41161616229302040572015-08-17T13:51:05.483-04:002015-08-17T13:51:05.483-04:00@Nancy, 'undeserved bad parody'? That'...@Nancy, 'undeserved bad parody'? That's HARSH. You don't catch other sonorous poets passing themselves off as ALF, Lord Tennyson, do you? Even though I never joined a sonority in college, I do appreciate it, but much more so when it isn't rooted in being higher than a kite.<br /><br />btw, Wait till you hear what Canadians do to "Idylls of the King", the first thing being to pronounce it 'Iddles'.<br /><br />With respect to e.e. cummings, you won't find me doing a parody of:<br /><i> "Jesus<br />he was a handsome man<br /> and what i want to know is<br />how do you like your blueeyed boy<br />Mister Death</i>"<br /><br />or of:<br /><i>“Bon Dieu! may I some day do something truly great. amen.”</i><br /><br />or of the last line he wrote in one of his introductions:<br /><i>"Always the beautiful answer that asks a more beautiful question."</i><br /><br />umm, would you call William Carlos Williams-Sonorous?<br />Leapfingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14243620614139990887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12142901256454100342015-08-17T13:25:12.041-04:002015-08-17T13:25:12.041-04:00I never comment on the theme and I guess I'm a...I never comment on the theme and I guess I'm an outlier here today, but I hated it! I thought it was pretty lame, even for a Monday, and I was annoyed with the inconsistency of using both a full word (Hardy) and partials (Har x2) as the theme. I must be super cranky today. Apologies. Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05980511260482048263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36198304647135288712015-08-17T12:08:26.159-04:002015-08-17T12:08:26.159-04:00Mmmm Eataly!!! Order your Christmas pannetone from...Mmmm Eataly!!! Order your Christmas pannetone from them if so inclined. Delicious and so worth the cost of shipment.<br /><br />@Ludy, and what can compare to "An Affair to Remember" oh and that scene at the Empire State Building. It might be why I moved to NY.<br /><br />@Nancy, "sonority" is a gorgeous word in it's own right. I might try and use it several times today.<br /><br />In re the last several days' comments: I lived in the same apartment building as Hermione Gingold and she was every bit as fabulous in person as she and Maurice appeared in "GIGI". Fabulous voice and fabulous hair!<br /><br />The ELKS reminds me that my husband tried to convince me that B. P. O. E. meant "best people on earth" because his mother had told him that as a child and he never questioned it. She must have had a giggle. I know I did. <br /><br />I also live near Westport and had several Newman, Woodward, Redford encounters. Lovely people with no pretensions.Hartley70https://www.blogger.com/profile/00557118655188472450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68757120669599520182015-08-17T11:49:46.235-04:002015-08-17T11:49:46.235-04:00Very good puzzle. Played a little slow for me (9 m...Very good puzzle. Played a little slow for me (9 minutes or maybe 10) probably because I was not drinking (not at 8:30 a.m., that's for sure). I thought HARVARDGRADUATE was out of place, myself. <br /><br />I loved Rex's Fuller Explanation of his experience in NYC. The Flatiron Building and its neighborhood is my favorite in Manhattan. Glad to know Eataly is still there, too, and I'll keep that place in the Bowery in mind.old timernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66836728101368392902015-08-17T11:44:34.695-04:002015-08-17T11:44:34.695-04:00I love seeing your name on a Monday, Andrea, and y...I love seeing your name on a Monday, Andrea, and you didn't disappoint today. Your puzzles have a lightness that just make me smile. The theme was perfect.<br /><br />Rex, thanks for more of the Lollapuzzoola experience. It sounds like a super weekend! If you get bored with the teaching gig, think sales.Hartley70https://www.blogger.com/profile/00557118655188472450noreply@blogger.com